Day 44:

Sometimes she caught a glimpse of the light, like a distant door down a dark hallway. They loved her. She could see that much on their faces, in their actions. Everything would have been much easier if they hadn't, but she couldn't do that again. She couldn't face another lifetime when she pushed them away and walked this path on her own, for the greater good.

But that didn't mean she deserved what they gave her.

From atop the lighthouse, all of Lucis and more was laid at her feet. A land full of people who had no notion of what was sacrificed for them every day. Not that they would care. It was in mankind's nature to take and take for granted.

"All alone up here, little Dreamer?" His voice came first. Then the cloud of black miasma, swirling and coalescing into a man with darkness clinging to him. "But you have so many friends now."

"Sometimes it's all too much and I have to step away."

He leaned against the rail beside her. "Introversion is all fine and well until Lion breaks down the door in his frantic search for you."

"Don't tell me you're here because of Cor."

"Perish the thought, little Dreamer! Do you truly believe he would trust me to keep an eye on you?"

"It seems unlikely." Nevertheless, there was less open hostility between them than Reina had expected.

Ardyn spread his hands as if to say there's your answer.

"It isn't introversion, though," she said. "Not as such. Sometimes they are so much light and I feel the dark inside me burning in their presence." Reina gripped the rail until her knuckles turned white. She shook her head. "I still can't face telling them. Everything I did. Everything I became. If they knew, they would do the same thing they did in my Dream."

"What you did? Little Dreamer, what you did was protect Lucis and everyone in it from the darkness, awaiting the Chosen King's return."

"They called me the Daemon Queen."

"You encouraged that."

"People used to flinch when I looked at them."

"Yes… you had the most striking stare I have ever seen in a mirror. But let's be reasonable, little Dreamer, these were the same people who would prostrate themselves before anyone who looked moderately important."

"Cor said himself he was glad Father was dead so he never saw what I became."

Ardyn sighed. He turned and leaned back against the rail.

"And here I had you categorized as an intelligent person, little Dreamer." He crossed his arms over his chest. "What they said—what they believed—was exactly what you wanted them to. When you record a man hunting innocent beasts and cut out the footage where he brings food home to his poor, starving horde of children, that does rather look like a monster, wouldn't you agree? They knew only what you wanted them to know. If you're wondering what they would do, had they seen the whole picture, you have no further to look than the present."

"They don't know. They didn't see the monster I became."

"Don't be a fool, little Dreamer." Ardyn sighed and shrugged dramatically. "I can see you are in no fit state to utilize that little brain of yours. I rather hope it switches back on soon. Until then…"

He pushed away from the rail and walked back toward the door.

"Ardyn, wait."

He stopped.

"Will you hold them back for me?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "One last ditch effort to shake your pursuers? It will never work."

"It will if you help me. I only need a few minutes. No one knows where we're going and you can follow after."

"And if I should refuse?"

That was not a possibility she had truly considered before. In hindsight, she should have. She knew him well enough to know he never did something for nothing.

"Then I suppose I'll have to make a scene. But you know if they catch up with us, you'll have to tolerate their company again."

"A travesty." Ardyn scrutinized her. With a start she realized she couldn't guess what he was thinking. They had strayed too far from a path she knew. She couldn't even begin to predict how he would behave here.

"Make a scene, little Dreamer." He turned back around. "It's what I do."