"Cor would be back in a few days," Clarus said as he sat beside his friend on the sofa. "Following some issue in Maidenwater."

Still subdued, Regis nodded. "Prompto, please resume your explanation."

The blond immediately straightened and visibly gathered his courage. "Er, yes, Your Majesty! As I was saying earlier, it was in the mail, and I didn't call Noct about it first thing because, uh, curiosity? Um, sorry about security protocols if I messed it up?"

Regis waved it away.

"A-anyway, I played it, and um, saw things. It's too lengthy, but the gist can be found…" Prompto swiped the controller from the table and pressed Start, revealing a list.

Despite the fact that Midgardsormr was the last thing he played in who-knows-when, thanks to occasionally watching his children, Clarus wasn't too surprised that modern video games now have sophisticated features, like the Theatre.

Chapter 0:
• Insomnia's Waking Nightmare
• Brotherhood:
•• Episode 1: Dogged Runner
•• Episode 2: Sword and Shield
•• Episode 3: Bittersweet Memories
•• Episode 4: The Warmth of Light

Chapter 1: Departure

Chapter 2: No Turning Back
• Kingsglaive

Chapter 3: The Open World

"That's… us!" Gladio pointed to the thumbnails alongside the list. "Astrals, that's really us…"

"But why are we anime in those episodes?" Noctis said in disbelief.

Prompto rubbed his head, fidgeting. "They're backstory stuff. For us four."

"You didn't see this earlier, Noct?" Gladio asked.

"No, I was busy doing hunts…"

Prompto coughed. "Anyway, Your Majesty, the anime shows the past, so are you sure you want to view this? Not that you can't, but you're a busy man…?"

"You wish for me to view the future immediately, I understand," Regis smiled. "But fear not, I can make time tonight. No promises for other days, but for now, I wish to verify how much of the past this Square Enix has accurately captured."

"If their information on our pasts is correct, the future you've seen may be also correct," Clarus nodded, hiding his apprehension. The game may turn out to be a poor joke, which will give Clarus the anger to hunt down this — Clarus picked up the case — director, Hajime Tabata.

…And yet his gut feeling, the one that carried him through harrowing battles and split-second decisions throughout his life, held it in gravitas. A feeling he keenly felt when he heard the news of King Mors' death… and learned who the Chosen King is.

"Lord Amicitia," Ignis said, "would you like some sandwiches? Or perhaps the popcorn?"

Clarus placed the case on the coffee table and accepted both of the snacks. "I'm not exactly against this, but why are we treating this as entertainment?" Everyone, save for Prompto perhaps, knew that a full-blown investigation was protocol; after all, the use of imagery of the Royal Family is under law.

"Noctis has already made me start on some preliminary investigation," Ignis replied, gesturing to an open laptop on a side table, "and while he didn't say it, I believe that he wishes to keep this private for now."

"I kinda want to hang out with Dad too," Noctis piped in, "but mostly it was Prompto's suggestion."

Regis smiled at his son's admission of spending time together. He then asked, "Prompto?"

"Um," Prompto licked his lips nervously, "well, Your Majesty, I, uh, my reason is that mostly… it's to throw off any potential spies."

"What?"

"They'll think that we're just having fun!" Prompto hastily explained as everyone straightened. "It's not foolproof, but at least playing games wouldn't turn heads like investigations!"

"You know who the spies are?" Clarus asked in disbelief. Of course he'd known that there are spies, but there had been no tangible proof.

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't want to name names now, especially if you know them better than I do," Prompto hedged, gripping the controller. "But I promise sir, you'll learn everything when we get to Kingsglaive."

The civilian was braver than Clarus thought. Despite his frantic and fearful eyes, the unbloodied Prompto didn't flinch from the intent gazes of King and the Royal Retinues.

A sudden gasp. The room swivelled its head to the person sitting beside the king.

"Prompto…" Noctis said in mounting horror, "you were very insistent in telling me not to include Drautos."

A cold wave swept over Clarus.

Prompto stiffly nodded. Then he pointed to the screen. "I've seen these cutscenes, and I can say that everything about me is correct. The others though, I'm not sure." He gave a nervous breath, the free hand now rubbing his wrist. "You're here now though, and you can judge for yourself."

The silence stretched.

…Until someone tapped the floor. A familiar cane, but in the quiet room, it rang like one beat of a war drum.

Clarus knew the rumours. An inept king. A lame king. King of Insomnia, not Lucis.

They didn't understand the weight of the crown, or how much strength it took to shoulder the protection of ungrateful citizens and a looming prophecy.

And he was proud of his king. Struggling to walk. Stuck in a hard place and a rock, but continuously doing his duties everyday. Pushing forward for a future.

His friend was dignified on the leather sofa, even without his outer raiment. He appeared akin to whenever he sat on his throne, clasping the cane between two hands like a weapon, ready to be swung in a moment's notice.

King Regis was unbowed as he gestured to the screen, ready and determined to face anything:

"Shall we start?"

~ There's no Theatre option in the game, but for sake of the letting the characters view stuff in chronological/numerical order without spoiling themselves and to save time, I had to make an 'enhanced' version of the game. After all, Regis is a busy man, so he'll mostly view the cutscenes while the chocobros do the work of unlocking them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It's a freaking useful feature though. Why can't all games have this?

Anyway, I didn't plan the Glaucrautos tidbit there. I wanted a way for Prompto not to spoil anything but these characters wrote themselves into that. *shakes fists*

Ah, for ffdotnet readers, there is no tag system, so doing an 'enhanced' version of the game might've been something you didn't know that I already planned for. Sorry 'bout that, I forgot to tell everyone here lol. But feel free to go to my Ao3 account to see the other tags if you want very minor spoilers. :)

~ Hmm… should I rename their enhanced game as Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition Intergrade?

~ Guess what Midgardsormr is.

~ EDIT: Made a minor edit because of future plans.