Day 21:
"What do you mean the ships came down? Like they landed?"
"No, Your Highness. They came down. In flames."
Noct looked from the Kingsglaive in front of him to Ignis beside him.
"An equipment malfunction, perhaps?" Ignis suggested.
"Yeah, sure. An equipment malfunction," Noct said. "Anyone seen Rei, recently?"
The Kingsglaive shook her head. Ignis shook his head. Prompto and Gladio both shrugged.
"Great," Noctis said. He pointed to the Kingsglaive. "If Dad asks, you guys took those ships down."
She looked real uncomfortable about that, but bowed anyway. Good Kingsglaive.
"Because if he finds out Rei went up there on her own he's going to find some way to blame it on me."
Okay, so maybe it was Noctis' fault. Sort of. But hey, the imperials were all out of Lucis, so he counted that as a win.
"I'm afraid I don't follow, Noct," Ignis said. "How could Reina possibly have brought those ships down on her own?"
"You tell me. You were in the last one she brought down."
Noctis fished around in his pocket for his phone and tapped Reina's number. She might not have even been carrying her phone. Sometimes she just left it in her room. No idea why, since she seemed so intent on knowing where everyone was all the time. But he tried anyway.
"That one began on the ground," Ignis said.
Rei's phone rang.
From the corner of the room.
Noctis spun around and found her sitting atop a pile of boxes in the corner next to the window, where there was never any natural light. She was watching him, but she still pulled her phone out of her pocket and answered his call.
"This seems an inefficient way to have a conversation," she said.
"Hell, Rei. How long have you been sitting there?"
She shrugged, noncommittal.
And how had she gotten in without him noticing? Or onto those Nif ships? And how had he not seen her before? None of it made sense.
He cut the call and dropped his phone back into his pocket. "What the hell do you think you were doing up there on your own? And how the hell did you get up there in the first place?"
She shrugged again. But this time he caught the quiver that ran through her. Noct sighed. Dad was going to kill him.
"Give us a minute, guys." He glanced at his friends and nodded toward the door. After a brief exchange of significant looks, they went, though Ignis stuck around as long as he could.
When the door shut behind them, Noctis went and wrapped his arms around her. She was stiff as a statue, practically vibrating with tension.
"Hey. It's alright. You got them. No more imperials. Everyone's safe."
It took a solid minute before she relaxed enough that it felt like he was hugging a person and not a lump of stone. She leaned against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist, and let out a breath.
"You wanna go upstairs?" He asked.
"I'm fine," she said. He couldn't decide if she sounded it, but her voice wasn't shaking or anything. In fact, it didn't have much intonation at all. "You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself."
"I could tell you the same thing."
She didn't seem to have a response to that. Or, if she did, it wasn't one she was going to share with him.
"Look, you can't just run off on your own without saying anything or taking anyone with you. We do things together, remember? Twins?"
"I couldn't have taken you with me if I wanted to," she said. "How would you have gotten up there?"
"I don't even know how you got up there."
"By paying a price you don't want to pay. Trust me. I'm the only one who can do what I do. And I'll keep everyone safe, so you don't have to worry about that anymore."
"What if I'm worried about you?"
"Don't be. I can handle it."
And he wasn't likely to change her mind, either. Some spot they were in.
"I'll try to make sure no one else knows," Noct said.
"Thank you."
"But Dad'll probably find out anyway."
Somehow he seemed to know everything that ever went on in Lucis. It didn't matter where or when, he found out about it. Maybe he'd pass the secret on to Noct some day. Crown Prince and all.
Or he'd just smile and say something cryptic like: 'when you know the answer to that question, you will truly be the king.'
Okay. So maybe Rei came by the whole mysterious evasion thing honestly. She wasn't so different. Cold and hard on the outside and broken inside, maybe, but she'd still spent the first twenty years of her life with them no matter what had happened after.
