Chapter 4
The Last Walk
It was the Chancellor who said to Regis, the day after the wedding, "I shall temporarily waive the law that requires the General to be in uniform. I don't wish for him to unintentionally frighten your citizens."
Regis thinly smiled, and it was a very strange moment then, as all eyes in the throne room suddenly turned to Glauca.
...to Ignis' husband.
Still hurt to say it that way.
He had just exited Glauca's suite, and it was an awkward affair even though nothing at all had happened. Noctis wouldn't meet Gladiolus' eyes, Gladiolus wouldn't meet Ignis', and Ignis wouldn't meet Noctis'. None of them could look at the others, and none of them lifted their voices at all in greeting. They just stood there, silently, three lost boys who weren't certain where to go or what to do.
Cor had been waiting just outside the door, and Ignis wondered if he had been there all night, just waiting for the first sign of trouble in order to burst in. Cor looked him up and down upon exiting, and when Glauca followed, in full armor, Cor had studied him, too. Analyzing and calculating and attempting to discern if something nefarious had occurred. Cor must have been satisfied, for his katana at his waist remained sheathed.
And now here, in the throne room, Cor suddenly had a chance to see the man that Ignis had seen the night prior, as everyone snapped their eyes to Glauca and waited for him disrobe, as it was.
Cor stood up very straight, piercing eyes intent and focused, bristled up like a cat. Supposed that fighting against a man for twenty years did tend to evoke an interest in actually seeing the man's face. Clarus as well was leaning forward, the curiosity in him very easy to see.
Ignis, for his part, stared straight ahead and shifted his weight as the entire world suddenly held a great interest in his spouse. Best to keep thinking of Glauca that way, perhaps, to make it easier to swallow.
The Chancellor looked at Glauca, and gave one single nod of his head.
As it had been the previous night, the Magitek armor suddenly began dissolving away.
Noctis and Gladiolus were breathless, leaning forward and lips parted.
Ignis was irritated by the burning gazes, so much scrutiny and attention, because all he wanted to do was lock himself away in his flat and never come out again. Agitated to be the center of attention, as it was, and perhaps Glauca felt that way, too, for his face was much sterner when visible than it had been the night prior.
Cor and Glauca locked eyes in a second, as two coeurls encroaching on each other's territory, and never had Ignis seen a more electric meeting of eyes than in that moment. He swore anyone that walked in between Cor and Glauca then would have been electrocuted.
Only Cor seemed to hold that vetted interest, for everyone else tilted their heads and appeared surprised but not fascinated. Everyone exhaled and fell back down onto their heels, underwhelmed by the true face of Glauca as much as Ignis had been. A mingled crowd of disappointed and relieved faces, to see that the infamous General Glauca really was just a very normal man.
Nothing more, and nothing less.
Not a daemon, not a machine. Just any other man that could have been plucked off the street, if only more scarred than most. Had it not been for the Imperial crest on the back of Glauca's grey undershirt, no one in Insomnia would have glanced at him twice, so normal was he.
Gladiolus and Clarus were the only other ones who seemed interested in Glauca after the reveal, for of course they had been trained to protect the King from this man very specifically. Wondered what was going on in Gladio's mind, his best friend now married to the man that Gladio had spent an entire lifetime being trained to kill on sight.
Without war, these now useless soldiers just awkwardly scuffed their boots around each other and avoided much eye contact.
Only Glauca and Cor yet held gazes, as Ignis glanced frequently at Lady Lunafreya and rather wished he could have just hidden himself away beneath the long, flowing dress she had decided to wear that day.
She wouldn't have denied him, surely.
All he had to do was slink up, look pitiful, and mutter, 'I was born in Tenebrae, as you were, and I don't want to be here, so allow me the chance to hide away beneath your skirt, for I swear I have no interest in women at all and the General would never be so uncouth as to think of looking for me down here.'
Absurd.
His mind was just wandering away ridiculously, for reality was very uncomfortable.
Had little choice but to wake up again when Regis was stepping down amongst them.
Regis smiled thinly at the Chancellor, and said, "Allow us to give our guests a tour, then, now that we can all be more casual. Our newlyweds can walk about the city as they will. With our Crownsguard keeping watch, of course."
The Chancellor perked right up, as Cor came over to Ignis and instantly claimed position of that 'watch keeping', and Regis suppressed a grimace when the Chancellor placed a hand on Regis' shoulder and asked, so eagerly, "May I have a tour as well? Long have I desired to see Insomnia. It would be remarkable to see it with its King."
Ignis loved Regis, blamed him for nothing, but all the same Ignis couldn't help but feel satisfied at the very uncomfortable and very put upon expression on Regis' face. That thinly veiled disgust of a man who was used to having others grovel before him and now had to grovel at someone else's feet, for the Empire had broken them.
Ignis was glad that someone else could walk around Insomnia giving a tour and feeling a fool.
Regis tried so hard to keep his smile, as Clarus did, and then said, "It would be my honor to show the Chancellor our grand city."
The Chancellor smiled away, so happily, and said aloud, "With two weeks at his Majesty's side, I imagine there will be no stone left unturned."
Regis' eyelids fluttered as he attempted increasingly harder to remain composed and not punch the Chancellor in the face as he very clearly desired.
Good.
Ignis was glad Regis had to suffer that smarmy handful for two weeks. To get a little taste of the unpleasantry the lot of them had dumped on Ignis without even consorting with him first.
The next thing dazed Ignis knew, they were walking out of the Citadel, the lot of them, and splitting up into their own cars.
Cor was driving the car that Ignis and Glauca were in, and his eyes very frequently lifted up in the rearview mirror and locked onto Glauca's. Two sworn enemies, now forced to be peacetime acquaintances.
After a long hesitation, Cor finally spoke up, and uttered, in the cold monotone he used when at work or in battle, "What would you like to see?"
Glauca met Cor's eyes in the mirror, and very softly said in turn, "Take me where you will. It matters not to me."
So cooperative.
It was odd to hear Glauca and Cor speaking to each other. Cor's deep and even, smooth voice such a contrast to Glauca's soft and breathy, gritty one.
Cor started driving, and Ignis zoned out for a good long while.
The entire day was mostly a blur, as Ignis walked on Glauca's right and Cor on his left, under the guise of guarding Glauca when really Cor was guarding Ignis from Glauca. For all it mattered, as the man walked so quietly along, arms behind his back and posture perfect, head high and face blank. The very definition of cooperative, indeed. As Ignis, Glauca was expected to perform his duty, and did so with far more grace than Ignis.
Ignis woke up hours later, when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out, and saw a text from Gladio.
'How's your tour going? Better than mine, I hope. Gods I hate this woman.'
Ignis glanced over at Glauca, who was eyeballing a skyscraper, and merely texted back, 'I can't complain.'
True. Could have been much worse, and Regis had gotten the worst hand today by dealing with the Chancellor.
Ignis and Glauca didn't speak directly once that day, nor did they speak the following day. In fact, Ignis had yet to utter one single word to his husband, and Glauca only heard Ignis' voice for the very first time on the fifth day of their touring, and only because Cor had spoken to Ignis.
Another walk as normal, and perhaps Cor was ready to stop tiptoeing and get to know the General at last, for suddenly Cor looked back forth between them, and then asked, curtly, "Ignis. May I take charge of your...husband, for the day?"
The word 'husband' had barely made it past Cor's lips, as if Cor had almost choked on it as much as Ignis ever had.
Ignis nodded, and uttered, very deeply, "You may."
Glauca turned to stare at him, brows lifted at finally hearing his spouse's voice at last.
Ignis was scarcely aware of his surroundings, and Cor turned his intense eyes over to Glauca, and said, with a great deal of tension, "Come walk with me. Alone."
Glauca, ever calm and composed, bowed his head politely, and followed with no words when Cor briskly began stalking off. Ignis used the opportunity to drift to the metro and go straight home, having left his guest in someone else's hands.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall as Cor and Glauca spend the day together. Could only imagine the things said between them, two long-time nemeses now face to face in peacetime. The two highest military commanders of their nations, shaking hands instead of clashing swords.
The following day, early in the morning, Cor texted Ignis.
'I have relieved you of this put upon tour guide duty. Do what you will for the remainder of your time here. Spend it wisely, and call me whenever you have need of me. I've taken over Glauca until it is time.'
How grateful Ignis was to that man.
But Ignis didn't know how to wisely spend his remaining days in Insomnia, because all he really wanted to do was burrow away in bed and try to die.
Ignis called Gladio that night, needing company. Gladio came right over, and then Noct came over, too, and it was one of Ignis' more distressing nights, as he sat there on his couch between Noctis and Gladiolus and broke down. He had never cried in front of anyone, not ever, but he cried that night, because he didn't want to leave.
Gladiolus embraced him as Noctis' hand rested on his back and ran up and down.
However much Ignis wanted time to freeze, it kept on going, and so fast.
Every day flew by too quickly, and it was heartbreaking to stare up at buildings he had seen every day his entire life through and to know that very soon they would be gone. Streets he walked, people he knew, habits and routines he relied upon, every comfort and safety of home, all soon to be gone.
Noctis and Gladiolus had also been relieved of tour duty, perhaps because Gladiolus had called his father and shouted furiously at him about how they were 'wasting their last days with their best friend'. It worked; all three of them were free to spend their time as they would.
The three of them sat in a bar every night, and drank together, for soon they would be unable to.
Only two years, just two years, so short in the grand scheme but so very long when it was somewhere you simply didn't want to be.
Cor had been getting to know Glauca in Ignis' stead, and three days before Ignis was set to leave for Gralea, Cor came over to Ignis' flat. They sat together at the dining table, and Cor was silent for a long while before he uttered, gently, "You know now the time is almost upon us."
Ignis nodded, eyes on the table and heart sinking as his stomach twisted.
Felt nauseous.
Cor clasped his hands together, rested them atop the table, and said, "I have made my position on all of this very clear to the General. He has attempted to assure me that he has as many qualms about this as I do, and I... I do find myself believing him. I do not trust the Emperor, nor the Chancellor, and I made it very clear that should something happen to you, I would very gladly break the treaty myself and barge right into Niflheim if need be. He has promised to keep you safe in my stead, but I— Naturally, I cannot trust this. On the day you...leave, you'll be given a satellite phone, for there will be no other method of communication until you reach Gralea. I want you to call me on the hour, every hour, is that clear? Whatever the time may be, you call me. When you arrive in Gralea, you'll be able to use your phone again. You'll be provided international coverage by the Empire for the duration of your stay. I mean it when I say you call me every day. If you miss a day, I will assume the worst and begin my march. Is this in any way unclear?"
Ignis gathered his courage, and vowed, "Every day. I swear."
Cor's brow crinkled, he swallowed, averted his eyes, and sighed.
"I swore that I would always be there to watch over you. Forgive me that I was unable to hold myself to my own oath. That I have failed you so miserably."
"It's not your fault."
"It is. It is my fault, and Regis', and all of the council's. We signed you away, all of you, and I cannot ever hope to be forgiven. But know that always will I do my best to protect you. So call me, please. And don't... You mustn't despair. The very day your legal tenure ends, I will come to Gralea to personally escort you back home. You have my word on that."
Ignis couldn't lift his eyes, because he felt so sick and his vision was getting blurry. On the verge of crying again, and he couldn't this time, because crying in front of his friends was acceptable, but to cry in front of the Marshal was not.
He held it back, and merely murmured, weakly, "I will uphold the treaty. You have my word on that."
Cor looked distressed more than anything, and, oh, gods...
Suddenly, so soon, the day had come.
The day he was to leave Insomnia behind, and go across the sea and then halfway across the globe. Into the great white unknown, into the arctic of Gralea, into the vast nothingness of someplace he had never seen.
He didn't know what to expect, and that made it harder.
Gladiolus hugged Ignis when he stood there in the throne room, and didn't let him go. Didn't need to see Gladiolus' face then to know that he was crying, and when Noctis came barging up and all but tackled Ignis, Ignis felt his composure breaking. Being enveloped in the arms of his only two friends, as they stood on the brink—no words for that hurt.
But he didn't cry, because Glauca was standing there off to the side, as was the Chancellor, and Cor was watching him. Couldn't be weak, then, because the fates of two nations hung in the balance.
Ignis didn't cry that time, even though Gladio and Noct did, and then Ignis bowed to Regis and Clarus. At last, Ignis came to Cor, and bowed. Cor stared at him for a very long while before he finally returned a bow, and then, so quickly, Ignis was being whisked off to a car. Glauca opened the car door for him, but heavy steps behind him drew his attention. Ignis looked over his shoulder just in time to see Cor coming at him, and suddenly he was being embraced. The first time in his life that Cor had ever actually hugged him.
His eyes began stinging, vision becoming blurry, and Ignis buried his face in Cor's collar then because he needed to save face.
A whisper in his ear.
"Goodbye. I will see you again, and soon. You remember what I said. Call me. Every single hour. Starting now."
Ignis nodded in Cor's collar, and then Cor let him go and stepped back.
As Ignis got into the car, Cor and Glauca once more locked eyes. Glauca merely inclined his head, and got in.
The slam of the car door.
Ignis looked back, even though he wasn't supposed to. Everything he had ever known, all gone, with a flick of a pen. Ignis watched Insomnia through the window until it was no longer visible, and fell into his head, for it felt as if the very world had ended.
Into the winds once more.