4

Noctis scrambled away in horror, watching the magitek armor peeling away from Glauca's face. From Titus' face.

It was Nyx who yelled in protest, but he at least kept going, kept fighting, even as Noctis' legs gave out under him and he felt like the world was spinning.

Somewhere, outside the physical walls that meant nothing for Insomnia's safety, were Luna and Crowe. Noctis was meant to reach them, his destiny had been all his father had spoken of in those last moments. A reminder that he wasn't really a person, he was the Chosen King, he couldn't allow himself to break now.

Yet when Luche slipped through Nyx's defenses and distracted him from Titus, Noctis just stayed in place, watching him approach.

The ring burned on his finger, foreign emotions trying to tangle in his thoughts. Shock, apparently, was a very good way of keeping his ancestors out of his head.

"Noctis, you're injured," Titus scolded, as though that was a perfectly normal thing for the enemy general, a traitor, to do. "I told you to stay in your safe room until this was all over."

That had been baffling at the time. The Imperials were taking control of the Citadel and no matter how strong the walls of the room were, they couldn't last forever.

"I doubt anyone cares if their prized prisoner has some bruises and scratches," he gasped, cringing back as Glauca reached for him.

Titus hesitated, then continued, grabbing Noctis' arms and lifting him. He was, as ever, careful of his back and that made Noctis feel even worse.

There was a cry of denial as Nyx came at them. Titus raised his hand and his suit lit up and Noctis grabbed his wrist without thinking, trying to pull it back down. "Please, Uncle, no."

Nyx had sunk back into a defensive position, watching them. "Your Highness-"

"You heard him, Ulric, your prince wants us to stand down." Titus narrowed his eyes, the smile he gave darker than any look Noctis recognized from him. "I'll even let you stay with him, he could use a loyal dog to watch him."

"Watch me what?" Noctis exchanged looks with Nyx, who seemed to be feeling nearly as betrayed as Noctis himself.

Titus settled Noctis on his own feet, but kept him pressed close, his magitek armor giving off energy that made Noctis' skin crawl. "The Emperor wants the Crystal and Ring, he doesn't care about what happens here beyond that. He promised the safety of my family."

Once it would have meant his mom and his aunt, his grandparents. "Niflheim killed almost everyone else," he pointed out, not missing the way the clawed gloves curled tighter, biting into his skin.

"Mors and Regis allowed it. And it was the nobles here who killed your mother."

"That was never proven."

Titus scoffed. "Never proven enough, we all knew who was behind it. If Regis hadn't abandoned his best political adviser in Accordo, he would have realized what they were planning."

Excuses for everything, Noctis was sure, struck with the memory of other times Titus had revealed this part of himself. He was normally very good at controlling his mood and words, but Noctis had been one of the few he ever seemed to let his guard down around (had that been a trick? had it all been a lie?).

"What are you planning for the prince?" Nyx demanded and Noctis was glad he was asking the questions.

"He'll be a regent for the Emperor."

It was Noctis' turn to scoff. "They won't keep a Lucis Caelum alive, uncle."

Titus answered as he dragged Noctis along with him towards his car. "They'll have what they want, Noct, and both their army and Lucis' relies on me too much for them to kill me off, they'd have the commanders running around like fools."

At no point did his words actually comfort Noctis, who was busy exchanging glances with a reluctantly following Nyx. Maybe if they stayed together, they'd have a better chance at escaping alive.