It seemed like minutes that he stood below, telling himself that Reina wouldn't let Cor fall, while he watched the hatch on the emperor's ship close inch by inch.

And then Cor fell.

"Marshal—!" Ignis took a step forward—pointless, when he knew it would only kill them both if he put himself in the way.

But Cor never hit the ground.

He vanished in a burst of blue fire. For half a second, Reina was visible mid-air, wrapping herself around him and then throwing her naginata again. And they were both gone.

But she had him. Ignis let out the breath he hadn't known he had been holding in.

Iris was pulling at his arm. He turned—behind, the towering daemon grew closer in an uncontrolled rage as it swung for its two opponents. It was all they could do to flee far enough from that monstrosity of a daemon while the Lucii brought it down. It was just as well that they did—the damn thing went up in a blaze of flames when the Rogue's shuriken plunged directly into the glowing red core in its chest. Much as the emperor's craft had.

For a time it seemed everything was over. The MTs were gone—transformed into so much scrap metal burning in a pile near the edge of the plateau—what daemons still lingered stood doing nothing at all like automatons without instructions, the imperial fleet was fleeing—taking what remained of their forces and cutting their losses—and below, in the main of the Crown City, the Old Wall was cleaning up any imperials left behind.

Ignis took the opportunity to look for Reina and Cor. He caught sight of them atop a foundry, but only for a brief second before they disappeared in another burst of blue magic. They didn't reappear—not anywhere Ignis could see, in any case. Odd. If the empire was in full retreat, why not bring Cor back where he could receive appropriate medical attention?

Unless it wasn't over. Movement caught his eye, north near where the emperor's ship had come down. It looked like little more than shadows from the dancing light at first, but then it took shape. Multiple shapes. Had Iedolas survived? Had they gone to apprehend him?

"Uh—Ignis." Iris tugged at his sleeve. "There's another ship coming."

He tore his eyes from the blaze of flames. An imperial dropship approached from the thick of the city leaving little doubt that they were its destination. Ignis reached for his knives again. The emperor would have to wait—Reina and Cor would have him well enough in hand before Ignis could reach them, in any case.

Iris twisted his lance in her hands and squared her shoulders. All around them, the Crownsguard was doing much the same.

The ship opened its hatch as it lowered toward them. Instead of MTs, only a handful of people stood inside. Was that Noct? And King Regis?

All the drawn weapons vanished. The drop ship—piloted by none other than the imperial high commander—landed on the bare pavement and all those standing outside dropped to one knee, half out of relief. Few could stand before King Regis and not feel moved to kneel.

The quiet moment lasted but a breath. Gladio bounded out, seized Iris by the shoulders, and looked her over for every scrape and bruise; she had plenty to catalogue. Iris shot Ignis a long-suffering look and he smiled in return. She had done astounding work—Gladio and her father would both be proud, once they overcame the initial shock and worry.

Prompto, Noctis, and King Regis exited more slowly and with more dignity. Or at least, King Regis did.

"Specs." Noct came first to him. "Where's Rei?"

Ignis rose hastily to his feet as the king appeared behind Noctis.

"Your Majesty." He bowed, though he had only just stood up. "I believe that Her Highness and the Marshal have gone to investigate the state of the emperor."

As he turned to look toward the blazing imperial ship, the tell-tale flash of blue magic lit just enough of the shadows to see Reina and Cor chasing after a massive, armored figure as it dragged a smaller, white-clad man along. One imperial ship remained grounded and whole. That was their destination. The imperials reached it first—but only because Cor was struggling to keep up and Reina refused to leave him behind.

Ignis' feet were moving practically before his brain had begun to process the images before him. That was Glauca. Impossible. After Reina had abandoned her assault on him in favor of saving Cor, he had flown away to the fleet of fleeing imperial ships.

...hadn't he?

Admittedly, Ignis had not actually seen him board one of the ships. The more pressing matter of life or death had rather distracted him. Was it possible he had stayed behind to aid in the emperor's retreat?

Iris was beside him, keeping up remarkably well for all that she was nearly a foot shorter than him. Behind them, the king shouted orders and boots thundered on pavement in response. Ignis kept his eyes fixed ahead.

By that time, Reina and Cor had disappeared inside the belly of the ship. And the engines were flaring to life. Ignis rounded the burning ship and caught sight of them once more just as the Magitek engine lifted off from the ground.

"Reina!" Ignis shouted after her. What he wouldn't have given for her ability to warp just then.

She spared him a fleeting glance and a "Turn back, Ignis," before turning her attention toward something inside the ship.

Ignis redoubled his efforts to reach them before the ship was too high. Already it was several feet off the ground. With perfect timing and a calculated leap, he might barely manage.

Iris caught his sleeve and he looked back at her. She wore a look that required no words. Ignis only nodded. He held his hand out to her and she took hold of his arm with both hands.

They took but a handful of steps; Ignis turned, bending one knee to give her a boost, and propelled her into the air as they had done before when he launched her over the Magitek forces to halt the emperor's escape. She caught the still-open hatch easily, hoisting herself up with practiced ease and hooking one leg over the edge to keep her balance.

"Iris—!" Gladio shouted after them.

Ignis took a running jump after her; his hands connected with the smooth metal lip of the ramp and Iris' fingers closed around his wrist. He hauled himself up and she dragged him aboard, both of them rolling together into the imperial ship as the hatch angled inward.

Outside, blue lights streaked past, indicating the arrival of the Kingsglaive—or Noctis. Whoever it was, none of them made it through the rapidly closing gap as the Magitek engine took to the skies.

Ignis sat up and straightened his glasses. They were standing in the passenger bay—if it could be called that, when it was meant only to hold empty soldiers—of the Magitek engine. Reina and Cor stood at the opposite end of the hold, where a closed and sealed door barred their way. They had turned, however, when Iris and Ignis tumbled in.

"It seems you were wrong, Your Highness," Cor said. "Those two are at least as stubborn as me."

Reina crossed her arms over her chest and glared at both of them. Though she was streaked with ash, she appeared unharmed. "Why can no one around here follow simple instructions?!"

Behind him, the hatch closed fully.

"With all due respect, Your Highness." Ignis picked himself up off the ground. "There are times when a monarch's retinue must make the conscious decision to disobey an order. For the good of their king or queen."

"Yeah!" Iris said. "If you wanted MTs to follow you around, there were plenty of those, just now. But you're with people, instead."

"Accept the truth, Your Highness," Cor said. "Bodyguards follow orders. Friends rarely do."

Reina looked from face to face—somewhere between Ignis, Iris, and Cor, the annoyance faded. Ignis had no word to describe the look that took its place: like a smile trying not to cry.

"You're right," she said, too quiet. "I should remember what it's like to have friends."