Day 46:
Ignis left before even cleaning up Noctis' office, checking his schedule, or answering a long list of questions about who the hell all the people in council robes were. And they'd only just gotten back. So that was two days without Ignis and half a day sort of with Ignis but not really, and now some indefinite number of days without Ignis again.
Dad had given him an attendant—which was weird just to think about—and at least she was preventing Noct from forgetting to attend anything he had said he would go to. He still didn't know who half these people were, though. And he was starting to wish he had paid a little bit more attention to government lessons.
Too late now.
After Rei and the others had left again, Dad mentioned that Luna wanted a word with Noct. Which was weird, honestly. But when Noct had asked why, his dad had just smiled enigmatically and refused to answer.
So he was up to something. Usually when Dad got that look on his face, it was best to duck and cover. It was the same look he'd been wearing last year at their birthday when he'd asked Ignis to dance with Rei.
Yeah. Not really a look Noctis wanted pointed in his direction.
But no one seemed to be too worried about what Noct wanted right now, and around noon Luna showed up at Noctis' office.
"Lady Lunafreya to see you, Your Highness."
Noct, leaning over his messy desk—another result of Ignis' absence—looked up. Then at his phone for the time. "How long until I'm supposed to be somewhere?"
"Twenty minutes until your next meeting, Your Highness."
"Well, she's got ten. If I can stand that much." He straightened, crossing his arms over his chest, and motioned to his attendant. "Let her in, I guess."
The doors opened and Luna entered. She didn't look how he remembered. When he had first seen her before Daemonfire, she had looked exactly how he expected—still the perfect princess, just older and somehow more perfect. Yesterday he hadn't really paid any attention to her. Now the perfect had slipped out of place and the stuff she hid underneath showed through.
It wasn't just because of what he thought of her. Her hair looked more like it belonged on a real person instead of a doll: a bit messy, a bit dirty, and twisted up just to get it out of the way. She was still wearing a nice dress—that was probably all she had packed—but it didn't hang quite right. And she hadn't bothered to match any jewelry. In short, she looked like a human being.
Not so infalible after all.
"What can I do for you, Lady Lunafreya?" He hadn't quite mastered that blank look Dad gave people when he didn't want them to know what he was thinking, but then again, maybe he didn't want to hide what he was thinking.
"Noct, I—"
"It's Prince Noctis, actually. Or Your Highness, if you're feeling fancy." Only his friends called him Noct. He'd never thought he would order someone to title him, but she needed to be reminded.
They weren't friends anymore.
She dropped her gaze. "Your Highness. You have every reason to hate me. When last we spoke, We left many things unsaid. And there are many more I wish I had left unsaid."
"Oh yeah?" He said.
"I apologize for all those things I said. I was wrong. I should have listened to you and to your sister, but… well. My reasons do not matter. What matters is that I believe the Astrals have done terrible things. I believe they did create the Starscourge and condemn us both to death for their own sakes."
Huh. That wasn't really what he had been expecting from her, given that just last night she had broken Reina down to tears by telling everyone she was tainted with the Starscourge. Like having a disease made Reina a monster.
"I am sorry for not believing her earlier," Luna said. "I should have listened more carefully—thought more critically. I have witnessed first hand what happens when Princess Reina's Dreams are disregarded. But I allowed my mind to be clouded, rather than listen when given a second chance."
"I guess it's hard to believe when you think they've been guiding you all along," Noctis conceded.
"It was. At first I chose to avoid the discomfort by refusing to even consider the possibility. But that caused so many problems of its own. I never meant to stand against you. It was those unintended side effects that ultimately convinced me to take a closer look. And when I did, it tore my world down around me. I confess, even now I have no notion of what I am supposed to be doing or where I am meant to go."
"Yeah, well. Welcome to the human race," he said. No wonder she looked a little more real now. She'd figured out what everyone else had always known: they had no idea what the hell they were doing.
Luna smiled weakly. "I must have seemed rather presumptuous before."
"Nah. I mean, I didn't think you were pretentious twelve years ago, if that's what you're asking. I just thought you knew everything somehow. It was a bit hypnotizing."
"And now?" She asked.
He ran his fingers through his hair. "Dunno. I guess a bit presumptuous. Not right now, but before. When you were still acting like you knew everything, but you were wrong."
"It is only confidence until proven incorrect."
"Yeah, exactly."
"Perhaps a helping of humility is what I needed," she said.
"Maybe. The rest of us got that real early on."
"I hope I will be able to earn some of your good opinion back."
"Not calling my sister a liar is a good start. So's admitting you were wrong. Guess you're right on track for learning that you're just the same as everyone else now."
"You're right," she said. "I'm not even a princess anymore."
"I mean… Tenebrae hasn't been a kingdom for like twelve years."
"Not really, no. But I was still afforded that title under Niflheim's rule. Now there is no empire."
"Yeah. Rei really fixed everything, didn't she?" Noct grinned in spite of himself.
"It does seem that way," Luna said. "Though she isn't finished yet."
"We'll get there."
Hopefully.
"That's why I wished to speak with you," Luna said. "I believe I can help eliminate the Starscourge with no sacrifice required."
"Your Highness, it is time."
Noct glanced toward the door, where his attendant was standing.
"If I can destroy it, neither you nor Reina will have to die for the Astrals' mistake—and your sister will be cured of the scourge."
Noctis hesitated.
"C'mon. Let's walk," he said.
Along the way she told him, in rapid tones so far removed from her usual calm and collected voice that Noct nearly forgot he was talking to Luna at all, of an alternative method of destroying the Starscourge.
"So when the last Astral leaves Eos, Rei is cured?" He asked when she was through.
"Her and all others afflicted on Eos."
"What happens to Ardyn?"
"I fear Ardyn is no longer simply a man tainted with the Starscourge. Cleansing him is out of the question—and two thousand years too late. If the Starscourge is removed in this fashion, Ardyn will turn to dust in the light of the sun, like every daemon on Eos."
Not necessarily a bad thing, but Reina might object. Or maybe not. It was hard to tell with her these days. But Luna was still asking to go behind Reina's back. And yeah, sure, Rei hadn't exactly consulted them when she had run off to go kill the Draconian, but she knew a hell of a lot more about this than he did.
"I only need your authority to grant me transportation across Lucis and I can begin the process," Luna said.
They had reached the conference room.
"Your Highness." His attendant opened the door for him.
"Please, Prince Noctis," Luna said.
"No. I won't give that order until I've spoken with Reina."
"Your Highness, she does not care about the eradication of the Starscourge. I fear how single-mindedly she pursues her goal of killing the Draconian."
"Yeah, well, your record of understanding Rei is pretty bad."
"I only ask—"
"And I'm telling you no. That's final. We can talk more after I've had a chance to call Rei."
He turned toward the open doors. His attendant stopped him and straightened his suit and tie before giving a nod of approval.
"Very well, Your Highness," Luna sounded real small all of the sudden. She looked small. "I'll await further word from you."
He gave her a nod and walked away.