The Calm Before The Storm
Maagho was not just a bar run by an old friend of King Regis, it was also the place to shop for some of the freshest, finest and most exclusive ingredients Ignis had ever seen.
While Noctis and the others sat the counter, chatting with Weskham about Altissia and listening to the misadventures of the former king of Lucis, Ignis took the time to browse the wares offered by fishermen whose boats were docked all around the wooden deck. A hobby chef like him could but dream of such variety and quality. Although, given how often Ignis had to cook for the entire party, he should be considered at least part-time chef by now.
Keeping everyone fed and healthy was not exactly an easy task.
Noctis went to great lengths to pick his meal apart if there was as much as a trace of vegetables in it – especially so if green beans or the carrot that must not be named were involved – and was a fussy eater in general. Less so than he used to be, but still difficult enough to handle.
Gladio, while being neither fussy nor picky, preferred his meals simple. Too simple, oftentimes. If left to his own devices, Ignis was certain he would be living exclusively off Cup Noodles.
At first glance, Prompto seemed like the easiest to look after. He ate healthy as often as he could, obviously trying to keep his weight. The only trouble with him was that Ignis did not think he should be this scrawny.
Last, but not least, was Ardyn. He had only started to share meals with them after the incident with the Behemoth daemon, and, for someone with a personality as troublesome as his, he surprisingly never fussed or complained. He never praised Ignis' cooking, either, which had led him to wonder what kind of food the chancellor preferred.
Ignis turned around to the bar, where Weskham and Ardyn were indulging themselves in an in-depth conversation about rare bottles of wine. Perhaps the chancellor fancied a more exquisite taste, Ignis mused. With this selection of fine seafood before him, he could certainly try to whip up something out of the ordinary.
"What a most unusual occurrence. The king of Lucis and the chancellor of Niflheim sitting at a bar. I'd say this is some kind of cheap joke, but I don't hear anyone laughing."
From the gondola station nearby, two city guards and a middle aged woman wearing a turquoise suit approached the prince and his companions. Her demeanour and choice of clothing conveyed authority. She was unmistakeably the all-out business type, a proper diplomat.
Knowing that his assistance might be needed, Ignis returned to the others at Weskham's counter.
"How do you know us?" Noctis asked the woman.
A legit question, since they would have never made it this far if his face and title were more commonly known.
"I have my sources," she simply said, gesturing to herself. "Camelia Claustra, first secretary of Accordo."
Ardyn raised his wine glass. "We've had the pleasure already."
"Indeed. Our talks have rarely been pleasant, however."
"If that is the case, allow me to offer my sincerest apologies for failing to entertain you."
He said it with the most insincere tone of voice anyone could muster, effectively insulting her without leaving much room to be accused of the insult. A clever tactic – for someone whose goal was to infuriate everyone around him. Ignis took a mental note to hit both him and his nephew over the head in case Noct ever adopted this specific manner of speaking of his.
The first secretary was, thankfully, not easily irritated, and Noctis seized the moment to cut directly to the chase.
"Is it true that you have the Oracle in your care?"
"The Oracle came to me looking for shelter and, thus far, I have provided her with everything she humbly asked for. What happens from here on out, depends on whether the two of you are willing to negotiate with me. I would prefer to have words with his Lucian Highness first and only, but seeing how Niflheim is involved, of course I will listen to the Empire's terms as well."
Ardyn glanced over to Noctis as if silently nudging him to take the lead in this conversation.
"You'll find the Empire is a lot less involved in this than you think." Noctis raised his chin and put a hand to his hip. "The chancellor and I have come to an agreement of our own." His show of confidence might be feigned, but it looked very convincing, and that was all which mattered.
His statement appeared to capture the interest of Accordo's state leader.
"I suggest you meet me at my office tomorrow morning so we can discuss terms in detail."
"I'll be there," Noctis promised.
With that said and done, the first secretary gave a nod to Weskham and returned to the gondola along with her escort. Had Ignis not already suspected it, he would have realized by now that she had come to Maagho only to meet the prince.
As for Noctis, he had once again proven that he was very much able to express himself in the face of authority. If the situation truly demanded it, Ignis could count on him to live up to everyone's expectations. Sometimes, he even surpassed them. That was how it had always been with the prince.
The only reason Ignis still worried from time to time was that situations which truly mattered and those which did not were not always easy to discern, and if the situation did not matter, Noctis was also able to mess up big time, and then Ignis had to clean up after him.
In a not so literal sense.
Usually.
"That was one strict looking woman," Prompto said once Accordo's state leader was out of hearing range.
"Wonder what she expects from us," Gladio thought out loud.
"She'll have the safety of her people on her mind," Weskham said. "That's the most important thing. If she's talked to the Oracle, she knows what the prince and Lady Lunafreya came here for."
"Yeah, but I don't see how we can guarantee for the safety of her people," Noctis replied, sounding a bit worried. "Of course I'll try to take down Leviathan as quickly as possible, but who knows what damage she'll do just upon her awakening? We could help with evacuating the people beforehand, but even then it's just the five of us."
"Four. The four of you," Ardyn corrected him, but quickly reconsidered. "Three, actually, since his Highness will be preoccupied arguing with the Tidemother as soon as she rises from her slumber."
"I take it you are planning to be elsewhere?" Ignis asked.
"You will find me where I will be most useful to our cause."
Noctis rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."
"Couldn't we get, like, more people from the Crownsguard to help us?" Prompto suggested.
"You seriously think the Marshal's gonna sent all of Lucis' remaining forces to Altissia?" Gladio objected. "A major city under Niff control?"
"I didn't say all of them. Just some, perhaps? We made it here fine, right?" His gaze drifted from Gladio to Noctis to Ardyn.
"Don't look at me as if I were made of gil," the chancellor said and casually finished his glass of wine. "The alternate entry passage for you lot already cost me a fortune, and I have my limits too, you know."
Groaning, Noctis got up from his bar chair. "Let's crash for today. All this worrying is giving me a headache."
Ardyn turned to him as he moved away from the counter. "Already? The evening has only just begun."
"So what? There's no better preparation than a good night's sleep. Just watch me wing it tomorrow."
They said their good-byes to Weskham and took the gondola back to the port. The Leville's subsidiary in Altissia offered one of the most affordable accommodations around the city, but was still more pricey than its counterpart in Lestallum. Despite of his earlier display of confidence, Noctis was by no means averse to Ignis' help regarding the upcoming meeting, and so Ignis spent the evening taking notes and drawing up potential arguments for Noct to consider. With a can of Ebony to help him through the late hours, Ignis moved down into the foyer after everyone else had already gone to bed.
Everyone but one.
The rustle of a heavy coat caused him to look up from his notebook. Ardyn strode purposefully through the foyer towards the door. Whatever was on the man's mind, he appeared to be too lost in thought to notice the prince's advisor sitting at the corner table. It was not the first time Ignis watched him slink off to mind his own business, and although Ardyn had proven he acted in Noctis' best interest, even behind their backs, his disappearances were still alarming.
Whether it was the curiosity that got the better of him or the mistrust the chancellor still inspired, Ignis put his notebook aside and seized the chance to follow Ardyn out of the door.
Shadowing him took considerable effort and skill, because if Ignis and Ardyn had anything in common, it was their keen sense of observation. Thankfully, there were still crowds of tourists out on Altissia's streets Ignis could blend into and the many windings alleys provided ample opportunities to break the line of sight. Now, if only Ardyn would stop looking at every other shop sign or window …
Any passer-by most likely thought he was aimlessly wandering the streets. Even Ignis doubted for a moment or two whether he had a clear destination in mind, but then again, this was Ardyn. He never did anything without a reason.
In front of Vivienne Westwood's the chancellor stopped once again, this time to thoughtfully take in the details of Lady Lunafreya's wedding dress.
Ignis' heart skipped a beat as he struggled to hide behind a building's corner in time.
"Enough with the window shopping already!" he thought to himself.
The more his nervousness grew, the quicker his patience was running out. Thank the Six Ignis was a very patient man by nature. Nevertheless, the most unpleasant thought that Ardyn had already noticed his presence crept upon him. For all he knew, the chancellor might have been playing games with him for the past half an hour.
Finally, Ardyn moved into the government building further down the street. A couple of seconds later, Ignis approached the guards at the entrance himself. They let him in without many question asked. His Insomnian ID proved his affiliation with Lucian royalty.
Once he had made it into the government building, Ignis waited until his target was long gone from his sight, then let the sound of Ardyn's footsteps guide him through the mostly empty halls and corridors all the way to the first secretary's office. He just rounded the corner when Ardyn gave the office door a push and waltzed into the room like he owned the place.
"Please tell me whatever this is about could not wait until tomorrow morning," Ignis heard Miss Claustra from deep within the office say.
"Perhaps it could have waited, but who is to blame a man for making use of his privileges? Ironically, the reason for my coming includes the relinquishment of said rights."
Someone on the inside of the room closed the door, causing the voices of Ardyn and Miss Claustra to become muffled to the point where Ignis had to sneak up close to the entrance to keep listening in. He positioned himself with his back to the wall, trying to look like he was casually waiting for someone. Yet no matter how much he strained his ears, he understood no more than single words. Ardyn spoke of a document more than once, of Niflheim and the Emperor, and he mentioned Tenebrae somewhere in between as well. Certainly, these fragments left a lot of room for speculations, but Ignis knew better than to speculate regarding delicate political matters. At least not until he had gathered all available information.
Many minutes later, the door opened again.
"I wish you the best of luck with your endeavour," Ardyn said to the secretary as he walked out of the room, seemingly unaware of Ignis still leaning against the wall a little further down the corridor.
By clearing his throat, Ignis made his presence known, and the chancellor whirled around, startled.
"Oh, it is you!" A smile spread on Ardyn's face as his gaze settled on the prince's advisor and he lazily clapped his hands. "Well done, I must say! I never even caught as much as a glimpse of you."
"Do you want me to think I've done an especially good job following you, or was it your fault for not paying attention?"
"Both statements can be true, to a varying degree." Ardyn shrugged and eventually closed the office door behind him.
"You have sweetened the deal, am I right?"
"My, my, there's no fooling you, is there?"
"What did you discuss with her exactly?" Ignis demanded to know.
"I will tell you," Ardyn raised a finger. "but on one condition: May I ask that you keep this matter between you and I? You see, I wouldn't want my dearest nephew to think he might be unable to negotiate terms without my assistance."
"I believe Noct will fare much better than you expect. You should place a little more faith in him."
"That would be assuming I had any faith left to give." The chancellor chuckled to himself. "Now then, do we have an agreement?"
"I will keep quiet if and for as long I deem it unharmful to withhold the information."
"Hm. That's only fair, I suppose."
Ardyn did not sound pleased, but that was exactly what Ignis had aimed for. A compromise.
#-#-#
The next morning eventually arrived, as that is what mornings do, no matter how prepared or unprepared the prince was. Except this were not his finals, but an actual negotiation with a state leader, as Noctis reminded himself when he tried to fix his hair in the mirror of the hotel's bathroom.
Yet there was no need to worry. He was well-armed with confidence and a brief run-down of Iggy's notes.
On that day he strode with his head held high into the office of the first secretary. Everything he had ever learned about diplomacy came back to him in time. Although there were brief moments in which he struggled to find the right words, in hindsight, the meeting could not have gone any better. Through empathy and determination, Noctis managed to gain the first secretary's unreserved trust.
He mostly had to thank Iggy for this, because of his notes, but also Ardyn, for actually keeping his mouth shut throughout the entire meeting – apart from that one time Noctis had asked him to rope Aranea into helping with the evacuation. Noctis was not going to forget that baffled look on his face any time soon. As if he could not have a stroke of genius from time to time!
And the best thing about that idea? Noctis had yet to hear a complaint from Ardyn in return.
Ignis' POV is featured in this one, because I cannot cover Episode Ignis in this AU, which is not to say I don't like Ignis.
On the contrary; Ignis is the voice of reason in this party of mad men.
It's just that certain events leading up to Episode Ignis will not happen.
Next chapter is going to feature the fight, and you can expect a couple of different POVs, because Noctis cannot be everywhere, and I'll be juggling 9 characters or more, which - let's be honest - is only truly possible if I split the party.
In case you're like "Why 9 characters!?", that'll be the main party of Noctis, Gladio, Prompto, Ignis and Ardyn, then add Aranea, Ravus and Luna, as well as Caligo to support Ravus. Waiting in line for additional appearances are also Loqi, Ifrit, Gentiana and Somnus.
Now that I'm thinking of it, I'm not sure one chapter will be sufficient, but we'll see. Seeing how I originally thought I'd abandon this somewhere around Chapter 8, I think I'm still doing pretty good.