Chapter 23
The City of Ruin
The had literally just parked the car in Galdin when Ignis' phone buzzed.
Gladiolus went to check the ferry and buy the tickets, as Noctis and Prompto stretched their legs. Ignis pulled his phone out, and wasn't so startled to see a text from Titus. Titus had said the city would be on lockdown for security purposes, that no texts or calls would be allowed, but naturally Titus could be expected to break his own rule, if only once.
The text itself however, was not at all what Ignis expected, and he stared at it for so long that Gladio had come back, uttering, "Ferry's outta service. Now what?"
Ignis furrowed his brow, and glanced briefly at Noctis.
Noctis lifted his chin, and asked, "What's up?"
"Titus wants me to return to the Crown City."
Gladio pursed his lips and looked somewhat alarmed, as Prompto griped, "But we just got here! Ugh—it was such a long drive."
"He wouldn't ask if it wasn't important," Gladio muttered, as Noctis frowned.
"Did he say why?"
Ignis shook his head.
Ignis was reluctant, torn. The desire to obey Titus, and the desire to cling to Noctis.
Oh, those awful nightmares he had had several weeks ago, seeing his best friend falling and himself powerless to stop it, fire and ash all around, Insomnia ablaze, the King dead upon his throne—
Just nightmares, he knew, but hard to shake.
That man in the dark.
Noctis made a noise in his throat, and then teased, "I wonder... Specs, if you get married before me I'm gonna be kinda pissed."
Ignis snapped his head over, breathless. A rush of adrenaline. Elation. The nightmare was instantly cast aside in favor of the dream. For what other reason would Titus so urgently draw him back?
Could that really be on Titus' mind? He had regretted not having Ignis marry before Noctis, so he had said, so perhaps Titus was looking to drag Ignis back and quickly elope before Noctis could, and it was very pitiful yes but by the gods Ignis would have driven back this very minute.
A long silence, as they each contemplated, and then Ignis offered, "It is a long drive. But...with the ferry out, for the time being, I can make it there and back."
Gladiolus seemed displeased, and grunted, "That's a little inconvenient, don't'cha think?"
"Yes. But, I suppose I must. Don't wait for me when the ferry comes. I can always catch the next one and meet you there."
With Gladiolus there, Noctis would be safe, and Ignis would hurry.
Noctis lidded his eyes, and Gladio sighed, but also joined in on the teasing by uttering, "Alright, alright! If you wanna get married that badly without us, whatever!"
Ignis smiled, in spite of it all.
They huddled together, made new plans, and right when Ignis was about to take charge of the Regalia and head back to Insomnia, another car suddenly pulled up beside them. Wouldn't have caught any of their attention had it not been for the royal plate.
Gladio came forward, ever on guard, when the door opened and an unknown man stepped out.
A border soldier.
"Scientia?"
Ignis came out from behind Gladio's protective watch, and carefully offered, "Here."
The soldier saluted, and said, "I've been sent by Captain Drautos to escort you posthaste back to the Crown City, sir."
Gladio relaxed and started smirking, and Noctis elbowed Ignis in the side, as Ignis tried very hard not to get his hopes up while absolutely having his hopes all the way up.
Still, Ignis hesitated, and looked over at Noctis. Wanted to go, and didn't, for leaving Noctis' side out here made Ignis exceedingly uncomfortable. But Noctis smiled, and shoved Ignis' back to usher him on.
"Go on," Noctis assured. "If you say 'I do' fast enough, you'll catch the ferry with us tomorrow."
Another surge of excitement, and Ignis finally stepped forward.
The border soldier opened the car door, Ignis stepped in, and Ignis heard Prompto whisper to Noctis, "So— This is, like, serious? Ignis and the Captain really are a thing?"
Ignis rolled his eyes, but Prompto was new on the scene and not so well acquainted with anyone other than Noctis.
Gladio grumbled, "Guess the ring on his finger was just a decoration to you?"
Prompto scoffed, and grumbled back, "Well, sor-ry, dude, just kinda hard to imagine them together."
Noctis easily retorted, "Because you don't know them."
That was all Ignis heard, before the car pulled out. Gladio watched them go, guard that he was, and gave Ignis a short wave right before he was out of sight. Ignis tried to settle down and have dignity in the face of this soldier, and refrained from clenching his fists and kicking his legs and squealing.
Oh! How he hoped they were right! To be married before Noctis would have been a great boost of confidence.
He smiled away, taking his phone and texting Titus that he was on his way. Titus didn't respond, but Ignis' smile never faltered in the long hours that the soldier drove.
The soldier kept glancing at him from time to time, and had Ignis not been so up in the clouds, he might have been more unnerved by it, and also by the soldier's very odd smirk. Nearly a leer.
Six hours later, Ignis texted Titus again. No response.
Eight hours, and the border was reached. Ignis tried to call Titus. No answer.
Hm.
The sun had set by then, but the glow of Insomnia was just ahead. They drove up to the checkpoint, and the soldier stepped out of the vehicle, as Ignis rolled down the window and offered his documents. He waited, and was quite shocked when another soldier came back and asked him to step out of the vehicle. Ignis did so, as his ID was held up and he was being compared to his papers. Naturally security was very tight, with the Imperial guests in the city, but Ignis still felt rather offended.
The soldier studying him finally said, "I am sorry, sir. There's a problem. Your ID has been flagged for reentry denial."
Ignis furrowed his brow, and grumbled, "Well, that's never happened before."
Never had his ID failed to pass any security checks, and the soldiers knew who he was, but all the same protocol was protocol. With a flagged ID, Ignis couldn't pass through the border.
The soldier that had driven Ignis was off to the side, speaking on his own phone, and suddenly he came forward, and said, "The Captain says to scan it again."
Ignis crinkled his brow, and glowered just a bit at the soldier. So Titus would pick up for him, but not for Ignis? Lovely. Better have had a good excuse in hand, Titus, when Ignis finally passed through all of this hassle.
The other soldiers walked back into the booth, and scanned Ignis' ID again. It must have gone through, for they returned the documents to Ignis and apologized for the inconvenience, and Ignis was back in the car with that oddly leering soldier once more driving him.
"Will you leave me at the Citadel?" Ignis asked, a bit crankily, as he checked his phone again and saw that Titus still hadn't answered him.
"No, sir. I've been ordered to take you to your domicile."
Ignis sighed shortly, and watched Insomnia passing. His good mood had foundered by then, and yet still he clung to hope that Titus just didn't want to talk to him because Titus had some grand surprise planned and didn't wish to ruin it.
When the car parked before Titus' house, Ignis was happy enough to jump out. As he walked on, the soldier followed Ignis with his eyes, and Ignis glanced back and happened to meet his gaze. That gaze. Oddly familiar, but could never have placed it.
Shadows in the corner.
The hairs on his neck stood up in a brief shiver, but Ignis cast it easily aside, for he had been needlessly jittery lately. Nothing more and nothing less than a nightmare, as Titus had said. All the same, as he walked through the door, he glanced back again.
The car and the soldier were gone.
Ignis tried to shake off his nerves, and stepped inside the house.
Titus wasn't home. Not unusual, but it was beginning to grate Ignis' nerves that Titus wouldn't answer his phone. Went straight to voicemail. Titus was busy, Ignis knew this, and the hour was very late then so Ignis lied on the couch and waited. Couldn't text the others because he knew he wasn't supposed to, and didn't text anyone else because he still didn't know what Titus was up to.
Ignis glanced at the clock; midnight.
Officially the day of the treaty signing, then.
Ignis waited and waited, but Titus didn't come home that night, and still didn't answer his phone. Ignis' hope by then had sank, and he wondered if perhaps Titus had just had a fit of nerves instead and called Ignis back not to marry, but just so he knew that Ignis was within arm's reach.
He went to bed, drifted in and out, and dawn came.
Ignis made coffee and yet waited, ever impatiently as he watched the news, and still Titus never came home.
Noon. No Titus, and no answer of his phone.
So Ignis heaved a sigh, and took his car. But the streets were congested with protestors, and most of them were blocked off, so Ignis left his car in the closest garage and took to the metro. When he arrived at Glaive headquarters, he was antsy and somewhat irritable.
Titus could have made this process a bit easier. How silly it was, to have to hunt his own fiancé down through the city like a cat after a mouse.
When Ignis walked towards headquarters, he was very shocked to see that there was no Glaive guarding the door. Supposed they all had better things to do, with such a chaotic environment now, and Ignis punched the code in the door and walked right in, as he had many times before.
The halls were empty.
Ignis poked his head in here and there, and didn't see anyone, and he took the elevator up to the tenth floor, and knocked on Titus' office door.
The door yanked open quickly, but it wasn't Titus inside.
It was Luche who had answered.
Their eyes locked, and each of them seemed startled and taken aback to see the other standing there. Shocked and alarmed. Ignis looked Luche up and down, and then glanced over Luche's shoulder, but Titus wasn't there, or at least not in sight.
Luche's blue eyes widened, his lips parted, and Luche was very quick to ask, sternly, "What are you doing here?"
A lurch of anxiety. Uncertainty.
Ignis tried to remain calm, and replied, "Titus asked me to return."
An odd clamp of Luche's jaw, and Ignis could see him swallow, and could also see the pulse pounding in his neck.
"You spoke to him?" Luche finally pressed, in a voice that cracked.
"No. He texted me."
Ignis began to wonder if there had been some mistake.
"What did he say?"
"He merely asked me to return to the city. That was all. I haven't been able to get into contact with him since then."
Luche straightened up, pupils dilated and looking very much like a man caught in fight or flight, and Luche then looked around and seemed to be gathering up his thoughts. He snatched out suddenly, grabbed Ignis' arm, and dragged him into the office, shutting the door behind them.
Ignis looked around; no Titus.
"Where is everyone?" Ignis asked, as Luche looked harried and so out of sorts. "I didn't pass a single Glaive on my way up."
"I can't— We're on a mission. I was just about to head out. I'm the last one here, I was just leaving, too, I— We're all going— I can't say. Ignis! You're not supposed to be here. We've been having a lot of security issues since the start of it. Are you sure it was the Captain that texted you?"
Now? Not so sure.
Ignis didn't know what to say, and so shrugged a hapless shoulder.
Luche checked the clock on the wall, as did Ignis. One hour before the treaty signing.
Luche grabbed Ignis' arm once again, sat him down in Titus' chair, and said, "Stay here. I have to go, alright? Don't you move from this spot, got it? Whatever happens, don't you move. I'll come back for you. Turn your phone off. Don't talk to anyone. Just wait for me. Okay? I'll be back, I don't know when, but as soon as I can."
With that, frantic Luche skidded to the door, and yanked it open, as Ignis stared wide-eyed and confused after him.
In the frame, Luche looked back, and said, once more, "I'll come back for you."
Ignis meant to ask, 'Where is Titus?' but it was too late. The door had already shut.
When Luche was gone, Ignis pulled his phone out, and even though Luche had said to turn it off, Ignis sent Titus one more text, hopefully. For naught, for it was never answered, and didn't even seem to go through this time. So, with a heavy sigh and twinge of anxiety, Ignis turned off his phone.
Alone on all sides then, as he sat in an empty building and waited for either Titus or Luche to come collect him.
But he wasn't alone for very long.
The door opened ten minutes or so later, and two other men walked in. Ignis recognized one of them, though the other was unknown. Tredd, his name was, if not mistaken.
Ignis lifted his chin in silent greeting, and because he was nervous and cranky, Ignis asked, perhaps impolitely, "Shouldn't you two be on your mission?"
Tredd and the other shared a look, and then Tredd said, "We are."
Ignis stood up, hoping that they had some word from Titus.
It appeared that they did, for Tredd said, "We are to escort you to a safe-house, for the time being, until the Captain can safely return from beyond the wall."
Ignis hesitated momentarily, for Luche had told him to stay here, not to speak to anyone, and also that there had been 'security' issues. Moreover, what on earth was Titus doing beyond the wall? He should have been at the Citadel, guarding the King.
Ignis looked the two men over, wasn't entirely certain that he trusted them, but also knew that he didn't really have many options then. If there was anyone he could trust, it would be the Glaives, and so Ignis put aside his unease and went with them. His fretting seemed for naught; they put him in a car and drove him out from downtown and into the south end.
He was led into a very forlorn looking building, into a fortified basement, and Tredd said to him, "Wait here. Someone will come to collect you when it is safe."
Ignis rolled his eyes and testily threw himself down at the table in the corner.
What a mess! No one seemed to know what was going on, and they kept throwing him from one corner to another, moving him around here and there, and still he had no earthly idea where Titus actually was and what he was doing.
It was rather dim down here. Ignis' eyes kept wandering anxiously over to the shadowy corner, but there was never anything there.
Once again, clueless Ignis waited and waited, and nothing seemed to happen. Must have been an hour or two before his nerves got the better of him and he stood up and made for the door. Couldn't stand being down here for much longer. He would take the air above, and linger by the door until someone returned.
Impatient Ignis went to the door and pulled the handle.
It didn't budge; they had locked him in.
Seriously?
It did sound like something Titus would order them to do, in all fairness, overprotective as he was, but Ignis still angrily kicked the door and muttered under his breath, trudging back over and reclaiming his seat. They better not have forgotten where they had left him, for if he sat here for days he would murder the lot of them himself when he was finally let loose into the world.
Hours passed, but Ignis didn't know what time it was because his phone was still off and there was no clock.
Waiting and waiting, and not knowing for what.
He held his hair in his hands, rubbed the bridge of his nose, tapped his foot, and tried to keep his mind occupied.
And then, mercifully, footsteps. The sound of a lock jingling. Ignis jumped upright, and hoped it was Titus, coming at last. Once again, it wasn't, for when the door opened Tredd and his companion were back.
Ignis walked up to them, and asked, before they could dart off or change the subject, "Where is the Captain? You kept me here for far too long. I demand to know once and for all what is going on. Where is he?"
Tredd lifted his chin, appearing ever arrogant, and he drawled, as if he were speaking to a disobedient child, "Forgive me. I apologize for the inconvenience. Time goes by a little faster when you're facing daemons than when you're sitting nice and cozy indoors. I can understand it must be difficult, having others risk their lives to always keep you safe within these walls. Next time I take you to a safe-house, I'll be sure to role out the red carpet." A little twinge of shame, but Ignis held his ground because he was too proud to apologize just then. "Follow me. I will take you to the Captain."
Finally.
Tredd turned on his heel and walked out, and Ignis followed him with no other word because he was ashamed and also because it seemed he would finally get to see Titus.
The other Glaive fell into step behind him, and the dismal basement was left behind. He was led to the stairwell, taken up three flights, and then they stopped before a door. Plain. White. The concrete building was empty from the look of it, rather decaying, and Tredd bowed mockingly at the waist and swept his hand to the door.
"Inside."
Ignis bowed his head to Tredd in show, two spiteful little kids at that moment, and it was because Ignis was cranky and scared and anxious and impatient and everything in between that he barged to the door and pushed it open with no second thought.
Two things happened then, and Ignis couldn't have been sure which came first :
For one, he realized he had opened the door to an utterly empty room. No Titus at all within, and actually no anything at all. Merely another vacant room in this seemingly abandoned building. For another, there was a very sharp pain in his side, right beneath the ribs and on the left.
Ignis realized that Titus was not inside at the same moment he realized that Tredd had plunged a knife into his abdomen.
And Ignis also realized for certain then that Titus hadn't texted him.
The daze of confusion, breathlessness, the chill of shock. He managed only to turn his head and meet Tredd's eyes, before Tredd yanked back the knife and tucked it easily back into his belt.
Above all else, Ignis was just hopelessly confused.
Ignis fell into a bit of a surreal haze then, that dreamy-like state that came along with shock, and he pressed a hand into the wound as he stared wide-eyed at this Glaive, who should have been one he could always have trusted. Bewildered and utterly astounded, Ignis couldn't even draw his own arms then, so aghast and confused was he.
Couldn't breathe.
Another mocking bow, and as Tredd and his companion walked off to the stairwell, Tredd turned around, waved a playful hand in the air, and called, "By the way, Insomnia has fallen. The King is dead. Won't be long before the new one follows him. But hey! You can say you were the Hand of the King for..." Tredd checked his watch. "Two hours and twenty-eight minutes. Don't worry. Your King will join you soon."
With that, they were gone.
Gone, these Glaives that had turned, and Ignis tottered back against the wall and slid down.
What to do—
Autopilot took over, as it always did in times of need, because that was how Ignis had been trained.
Survival instinct roared up, as did the need to get out of this city and right back to Noctis. Couldn't focus then on the supposed fall of Insomnia, on the alleged death of Regis, on the potential calamity of rogue Glaives aiding the Empire. Could only think about how to get out of this building alive.
Ignis kept his head then, as years of Cor training him had instilled, and it was that ability to remain somewhat calm that saved Ignis' life. Well—may not have saved it, no, but elongated it, when he ripped the hem of his shirt into shreds, packed them up, and shoved them none too gently into the knife wound. He cried out to no one as the pain became nearly unbearable, but he packed the wound until it simply wouldn't take more cloth, he tried to catch his breath, and looked hopelessly around.
Felt so alone then, and no one he trusted nearby.
Didn't know who he trusted then.
Only Titus and Regis and Clarus and Cor, and didn't know where a single one of them was.
Blood dripped onto the floor, down his side, as Ignis raised himself to one knee and then to his feet. Dizziness, but he settled himself and found his balance and started moving, because every single minute counted. He made it down the stairwell, into the street, and could see on the horizon an orange glow. Sirens wailing all around. He didn't know where he was, or which way to go, and was afraid to turn on his phone then in the case that someone was tracking him.
He looked around at the dark street, saw absolutely no one else, and knew that if he sat here and dawdled he would die. And there was no chance in bloody hell that he was going to go out like this, not like this, and so Ignis stumbled over to the cars on the street and tested them for open doors.
Didn't find one, and so he took up a rock from the street and broke the window.
Ignis may not have been trained like a Glaive, no, but he lived with one and Gladiolus had been an absolute ruffian in their youth, Gladio loved learning the rougher ways of living, and Ignis had watched Gladiolus watching videos on how to hotwire a vehicle.
It wasn't rocket science, now, was it?
This time, those wouldn't be his famous last words, because there was far more at stake now that a broken ceiling.
He crawled in the car, had absolutely no idea what he was doing, and started ripping things apart beneath the steering wheel. The chances were high that he would accomplish nothing but electrocuting himself, but that was a risk he was willing to take because he would be dead come dawn if he didn't get to a hospital.
Wires fell out, and Ignis just grabbed whatever he saw and tried rubbing them together.
Gladio would have at least been proud of him for trying his best.
His stars for once aligned, for after an agonizing twenty minutes or so and nearly crying in frustration, the car started.
Ignis wasted no time in driving off, working hard to figure out where he was and looking for familiar landmarks. Didn't take him too long, and Ignis made a beeline for the hospital, even if he was marked for assassination. Would have been just as foolish to head straight for the border gates, and if those looking for him thought him already dead then his chances of getting in and out of the hospital may have been survivable.
Six above, he would make it known to Tredd that when assassinating someone, it was best to actually make sure they were dead before you left them to their own devices.
He glanced at the clock; two in the morning.
Downtown came, and Ignis saw fire in the distance. Explosions. This city he loved, his home, everything he had known, under siege.
He couldn't focus on it, and before long came up to the hospital.
Or, rather, what was left of it. Flames on one side of the building, and it was apparent in how dark it was that it had no power. No cars in or out; everyone had been evacuated. Ignis slammed his hands on the wheel, and carried on. To the other hospital then, and hopefully they would be operational and not so overwhelmed that Ignis would bleed out in the hallway while awaiting treatment.
He didn't make it to the other hospital; halfway there, as he sped through downtown, an explosion in a nearby building caused a collapse, and Ignis barely skidded to a halt as the building tumbled and blocked the road. Dust and ash, a total lack of visibility. Couldn't even see where he was then, sitting in a car that had been entirely enveloped in the dust of a crumbling skyscraper.
What could he do? Ignis risked it, and pulled out his phone, turning it on at last. Miraculously, there was still a signal. Ignis called Titus; still no answer. He called Cor; no answer.
He couldn't bring himself to call Clarus or Regis, because no answer from them may have broken him.
He called Monica; no answer.
It was desperation alone that led Ignis' hand then, and even though he may have been walking into another trap, Ignis called Luche.
It was only Luche who answered him.
"Where are you? I told you to stay put. Where are you?"
Dazed and confused and so lost, Ignis just uttered, weakly, "I don't know. Can you find me?"
Didn't know if he could trust Luche, but no one else answered, and he was slowly dying.
This was taking 'do or die' to the extreme, and Luche's voice was very tense when he hissed, "If you had just—! Sit tight. I'll try to track you. Leave your phone on, but don't call anyone. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Hurry."
He cut the call, did as instructed, leaving the phone on and waiting.
Thirty minutes later, as Ignis drifted in and out of focus, applying pressure to his side and trying hard to remain calm and preserve his energy, he saw headlights.
Luche leapt out of a car, and Ignis waited within his own, on guard and ready to defend himself from Luche if that happened to be the case. Luche opened the door, grabbed Ignis by the arm, and gave him a gentle shake, chiding, "Why didn't you listen to me? I told you not to go anywhere."
Ignis was silent, eyeing Luche for weapons and keeping his eyes at all times on Luche's free hand. Luche looked down, saw Ignis bleeding, and his anger instantly vanished in favor of panic.
Luche dragged him to the car and threw him in the backseat with no incident, and pulled no arms.
Feeling the first stir of safety, Ignis lied on his back in the backseat of Luche's car, and drifted as Luche sped out. Streetlights, lighting up the dark car in intervals. The edges of his vision were dark. Bleary. Losing focus steadily, as shock kept him going, adrenaline pushing him along, the desire to get to Noctis fueling him.
Dreamy and exhausted, Ignis turned his head to look at Luche, whose phone was at his ear. Not speaking, though, only listening, and Ignis thought he saw, through his daze, a rifle in the front seat. Luche had yet to turn that rifle on Ignis, and had Luche been instructed to kill him, then he clearly wasn't obeying orders.
Ignis drifted away for a while, and came to only when the car stopped.
Luche got out, but left Ignis there in the backseat. He seemed to vanish, and Ignis would have just lied there still and waited had he not heard the blast of the rifle. He jumped, inhaled, and sat up at the waist, crying out as he did so as the pain shot up through the daze.
Voices outside.
Ignis shouldn't have, he knew he shouldn't have, but he held his wound with one hand and opened the car door with the other, tumbling out.
Cool air, laden with the scent of smoke.
At a good distance, Ignis squinted and could see Luche, rifle slung over his back, and Ignis was so very certain that he saw Lady Lunafreya.
Adrenaline.
He was dazed, dizzy, not entirely certain what was happening, but was drawn to Lady Lunafreya because she wasn't supposed to be here, either, and he prayed above all that Noctis wasn't here as well.
Ignis staggered over as fast as he could, leaving drops of blood behind him, and when Ignis was close enough, he saw Nyx on the ground. Still, he couldn't be bothered to actually understand what was going on, and Ignis only fell still when Nyx saw him coming and shouted, "No!"
Luche looked back, and seemed aghast when he saw Ignis coming over.
A shout from Luche.
"Get back in the car!"
Luche darted briefly over to Ignis, but then Lady Lunafreya suddenly broke into a sprint in the opposite direction. Luche lurched after her, stopped, lurched back to Ignis, seemed very torn in two directions, and then hissed, "Shit!" before turning on his heel and running as fast as he could after Lady Lunafreya.
Too tired to move anymore, Ignis just sank down to one knee next to writhing Nyx, and fell into a daze. Surreal and hazy, as he and Nyx both bled out there in the middle of their own city.
The glow of fire in the distance.
A hand on his own, and Ignis glanced up to see sweating Nyx staring at him, before he uttered, "Go. Run. Hide."
Ignis shook his head, because he just couldn't. Didn't have the strength then to even stand, he was sure of it, any more than Nyx did.
What in the name of the gods was even happening?
Lady Lunafreya had run off as if her life depended on it, and now he and Nyx were helpless and disabled. Ignis studied Nyx, with his remaining clarity, and could only assume that the rifle blast had been what had done Nyx in. Which meant that either Nyx or Luche had turned, and Ignis didn't know which one it was. Was afraid to even bother asking, and too tired, so Ignis just fell backwards onto the stone next to Nyx and waited. For what, he wasn't certain.
Ignis stared up at the smoky sky, and prayed that Noctis was safe. Gladiolus would guard him well, as he always had.
The sky was growing ever more orange, as more of the city he loved caught fire.
Headlights suddenly, right atop them.
Nyx lifted his head, and Ignis somehow followed suit. A car came roaring up, a familiar car, and Ignis felt a rush of nothing less than joy when not only did he recognize Noctis' car, but also the man who stepped out.
Titus. At long last. Oh—how beautiful he was!
Absolute and total elation.
Titus was alive, safe and sound and here, where Ignis could see him. Titus may have looked appalled and terrorized, but Ignis was positively beaming, as Titus ran over to him, so quickly and furiously that Titus lost his balance for a moment and nearly fell face forward into the stone. He made it over in remarkable time, fast as he was sprinting, and quite literally skidded down onto his knees.
He grabbed Ignis by the shoulder in one hand and the face in the other, studying him, examining him, as if Titus was so shocked to see Ignis that he was actually attempting to determine if he was real at all. Hands running over his face, his chest, his arms, and then Titus saw the wound, somehow looked ever more appalled, and Ignis thought that Titus' eyes may have been a bit bleary then.
Calm and content, in spite of it all, Ignis just happily stared up at Titus and smiled. If he was going to die, then he was glad he had gotten to see this man's face once more. More so knowing Titus was well.
He reached up, and smoothed Titus' messy hair, because it had become as much of a soothing motion for Ignis as it ever had for Titus.
Titus stared at him, eyes wider than Ignis had ever seen them, and when he finally spoke, it was only to breathe, in a voice that trembled, "What are you doing here? Why are you in the city? I sent you out. How did you get back in? I flagged your ID so you couldn't. Why did you come back?"
Looked utterly horrified, Titus, an expression Ignis had never seen upon his face. Close to tears. A man on the brink of collapse.
"Forgive me," Ignis murmured, against the daze of exhaustion. "I did not see."
He had stumbled into the trap, because he hadn't been able to see the forest for the trees. His hopes of some impromptu wedding; rose-colored glasses had made all the red flags along the way merely look like flags.
Footsteps.
Lady Lunafreya came back; Luche did not.
An odd lurch from Titus, a bristle, and Ignis was just going along with the tide then when Titus picked him up and darted over to Noctis' car, shoving him in the backseat like Luche before him. Once again, Ignis stared up and wondered how he had ever gotten himself into this situation.
Could smell Noctis in here, and that was comforting, at least.
Titus whispered, "Stay here. Don't move." And then he was gone, no doubt back to collect Nyx. Titus certainly had his hands full between Ignis and Nyx, always had, and Ignis closed his eyes then and meant to sleep because at last, for the first time since he had entered Insomnia, he felt safe.
Time slowed down. The lull of unconsciousness, drifting slowly up against the cold of blood loss.
Didn't get his chance to sleep.
Another interruption came, this time in the form of more headlights. White and bright, and Ignis sat up in the back seat of Noctis' car, holding himself up with his palms and turning his head to blearily stare out through the windshield. Blurry. Ignis struggled to keep up with events, as the shock began to wear off and his body began to succumb.
The next events happened so fast, so fast, and Ignis was very certain he had slipped away into the night and was dreaming there on the brink. Couldn't keep up; the other car accelerated, swerved, hit Titus, Ignis gasped and sat up straighter, and then a crash.
Didn't understand a single thing, except that Titus was gone and suddenly General Glauca was there, in the same spot.
Wait—
Ignis pushed open the door and tumbled out, just because he was so certain there had been some mistake. He hadn't seen things correctly, had missed something, because he was dizzy and confused, that was all. Hadn't seen it right. Just his mind, playing tricks on him. He hadn't followed, and so he fell out onto the stone on his hands and knees, grabbed the car door, and pulled himself up.
Wasn't right, simply some mistake, even though Nyx called, with as much confusion as Ignis felt, "Captain?"
Not the Captain; the General, and there was just a misunderstanding on both of their parts.
Had to be.
Couldn't breathe then. Couldn't take a breath at all, as his chest clenched up and tightened, as he fell utterly still, as his mouth parted and his brow crinkled, as his eyes stung and his heart raced. A surge of adrenaline, nausea, and everything else in between, as Glauca stood there, tall and broad in the Magitek armor.
Because he was so determined that there had been a mistake, Ignis used the car for balance and came over, putting himself in between Glauca and Lady Lunafreya. Not because he was protecting anyone, no, but because he was just trying to get a better look, trying to assure himself that was absolutely a completely different man.
He found his footing, stumbled away from the car and over to Glauca, too dazed to feel fear, and studied him. Looked him up and down, and then looked to either side for Titus. Titus should have been here, but he wasn't. Only Glauca. Even though it was dawning, Ignis stubbornly clung to the thin hope that he had been mistaken.
Titus. Glauca. Had always been one or the other, and yet now they seemed one and the same.
Couldn't be true. Couldn't be. Had misunderstood.
Wasn't true.
No air, as the flames of Insomnia lit up the sky in the distance all around them, embers and ash above the city, and although Glauca held his sword ready, he made no move and only stared at Ignis, as Ignis stood there in immobility, having yet to breathe.
Please—
Could hear Nyx and Lady Lunafreya behind him, but couldn't wake up, couldn't come to life, not when Glauca suddenly lifted his iron foot and took a step forward, and then another. Ignis stood there dumbly, offering himself up like a lamb because he was too stubborn to admit the truth. Kept on waiting for Titus to come out of nowhere, but he never did. Only Glauca walked towards him then, and Ignis stayed put, didn't budge, because this man wasn't Titus and one way or another Ignis was going to prove it. Another step, metal thunking on the stone, felt like an eternity that Glauca slowly walked towards him without uttering a word, and then it happened :
Chest to chest, Glauca suddenly sidestepped him, walked around him, left him behind to go straight to Nyx, and it was then that Ignis knew. Glauca didn't raise his sword to Ignis, and in his heart then Ignis knew.
He knew.
Not Glauca. Just Titus. Had been, all along, and Ignis had been utterly blind to it. Had never once suspected, had never known, had never had nightmares anywhere close to the truth.
Titus left him behind.
Ignis just stood there and stared at absolutely nothing, falling into another daze. He settled down on one knee, dizzy and losing the will to keep conscious, and fell into his head, thinking back on every word, every act, every breath, every decision he had ever made.
He might have fainted momentarily. Everything was dark suddenly, and then hands upon him, and the next thing Ignis knew he was back in Noctis' car. Didn't care where he was anymore, really didn't, because Titus wasn't there. Would honestly rather have just unpacked his wound and bled to death right there then have to stand before the world and say, 'My fiancé is General Glauca.'
As he passed in and out of consciousness, there were hands once more upon him, softer and lighter, murmured words. A forehead against his own. Against the darkness, a voice, and a command.
"You must get to Noctis."
The scent of Noctis there in the car, the sound of his name. It pulled Ignis back from the brink, back from that ledge. There was a task yet before him, and dying then would have been a breach of Ignis' oath.
Ignis lingered there in the threshold of some door, as Lady Lunafreya tried to draw him back from the dark.
He clung to the notion of Noctis, and pulled himself back from the brink.
Then the car skidded to a halt again, and when the others stepped out, Ignis went ahead and tumbled out too, barely aware and half-dead, and the Lady grabbed his arm and tried to push him back in.
No; he saw Glauca above the wall, returning to them after having been briefly halted by Nyx.
Ignis shook her off, and didn't know why, but was determined in that moment to stay. Nyx was fighting against his Captain, and so too should Ignis fight against his fiancé. The hurt and confusion was intense, but so was the creeping sense of guilt, humiliation. The need to right this wrong he had unintentionally caused.
She saw his desire, and pulled him again, whispering, "No! You must get to Noctis above all else."
He stubbornly held his ground.
"Go. I can delay him as well."
"Ignis—"
"Go. Tell Noct I'll see him soon."
One way or another.
Seeing she was getting nowhere and realizing that Ignis' decisions were his own to make, as she had made hers, she finally relented. A meeting of her eyes upon his own, a nod of her head, and they returned to the car.
Glauca was coming again, having shaken off Nyx, but this time Ignis was waiting for him, and when Glauca crashed down to the road, Ignis summoned his daggers. He couldn't win, he knew this, but he served his purpose then, as Lady Lunafreya was driven off and Glauca lingered behind to stare at Ignis. Distracted good and well enough, and that would buy enough time until Nyx could catch up.
Or maybe Ignis had stayed behind because he loved this man so and was still hoping against hope that there had been a mistake.
Glauca stared at him, sword as his side as he seemed to observe Ignis' daggers.
A long hesitation, and then a warbled scoff. That awful, frightening voice :
"You would fight me?"
By the gods, Ignis had a little life in him yet left, and had sworn to use every bit of it to keep Noctis safe. He loved Titus, all the way and to the very end, but if it came down to this, to Titus or Noctis, always would Ignis choose Noctis.
Always.
And surely Titus had always known that.
Wouldn't make a dent in the man, not in that state, but didn't need to if he could keep him from going after Lady Lunafreya long enough.
Glauca stood strong, silent, and didn't raise his sword, and turned on his heel to go after the car. At the sight of Glauca's back, Ignis called, with all the strength he had left, "Don't you walk away from me!"
Would have added 'Titus', but didn't have the heart nor nerve.
Glauca hesitated, and looked over his shoulder, as there was a sudden rumble in the distance. Glauca turned to his other side then, and Ignis glanced over long enough to see the huge daemon beyond the bridge. Glauca tuned to Ignis fully then, and said, "Take shelter."
Ignis shook his head.
Glauca once more turned in the direction the car had gone, and meant to go after them.
With little other options, Ignis threw a dagger at his back. It bounced right off the metal, as he knew it would, but all the same Glauca once more stopped and turned around.
A long, awful silence, and Ignis had a thousand questions he wanted to ask, demands he wanted to make, so many things to say, and yet for it all, even then Ignis just wanted Glauca to remove his helmet. Because maybe it really was someone else—
A fool's hope was ever the most fervent.
Glauca took a step towards him then, and Ignis would never know to what end, for Nyx came back, at last, crashing down amidst them, metal clashing, and Ignis topped backwards when the daemon crashed over the wall at the same time. A rush of panic, adrenaline, and Ignis had time only to glance up and see that gargantuan daemon's leg breaking right through the concrete barrier. Flame and ash, dust, and Ignis couldn't see then where Nyx or Glauca were.
Saw only that daemon's paw, rising up as it walked and then coming back down.
Right atop him.
Ignis shielded himself with braced daggers and waited for death, for there was no possible way he could have escaped. Not fast enough with his wound, and lacking the strength to actually skew the footstep.
Knew he was going to die in that moment.
He didn't—before the daemon's paw could fall atop him, there was a great clash, metal on metal, the ground shook, and when Ignis squinted open his eyes in the heat of the fire, something had stopped the daemon short.
Glauca's great sword, held up in both hands and miraculously holding that daemon at bay.
A feat of strength Ignis hadn't ever thought was possible from anything less than a god.
Ignis stared away in his dumb daze, and then Glauca summoned up whatever strength he had, forced the daemon back just a few centimeters, and thrust himself back with enough force to knock himself and Ignis far away and out of reach. Ignis, so demoralized and dazed, stumbled, rolled at the force, his daggers flying out of his hands. He came to a painful halt shortly after, far away from the flames, and lifted his head from the dirt.
Glauca stared down at him, just for a moment, and then he was gone, once more after Nyx.
Ignis lied there, saved from certain death and unable to really move. Couldn't, because of course Glauca hadn't saved him; Titus had, because Titus loved him, and it was Titus there with that sword in hand. Titus had summoned up that impossible strength because men on the verge of losing something dear could accomplish inhuman feats.
There was no misunderstanding at all, and Ignis was forced to accept it then, after Titus had broken away from Nyx to come down and save Ignis without hesitation.
Ignis couldn't find the motivation to attempt to stand then, and it wasn't from blood loss by Tredd's blade. Just didn't feel like it, because for a moment there Ignis didn't want to ever leave this city if Titus wasn't waiting for him on some other side. Always, for his entire life, Titus had been there, always on the other side of the hall. For the last five years, Titus had always been on the other side of the door.
Walking home to know Titus was waiting—
What was the point?
He rolled onto his back, and stared at the smoky sky.
He was utterly spent; nothing at all left. He had pushed himself to the absolute limit, and regretted that he hadn't used his strength more wisely. That he hadn't been able to get out of the city. Seemed hardly any point in trying now, and so Ignis watched the blurry sky, his glasses long gone. Freezing cold, despite the flames all around.
He drifted there in time and space, fading away ever so slowly, and when he opened his eyes again, shortly after, the horizon was pink with dawn.
Things were quieter, now.
By now, the Lady was surely safely outside of the city, and Ignis remembered her command.
Right.
Couldn't lie down and die, not now, because Titus may not have been on the other side of some door, but Noctis was. Ignis was stubborn above all else, and had been trained his entire life through to never stop until he actually died, and he wasn't dead just yet, so he rolled onto his hands and knees and pushed himself up.
Noctis was waiting, and so Ignis somehow found his feet.
Dawn.
The flames died down, and the orange sky lightened into pink, and then blue.
A beautiful morning, over a ruined city that Ignis had loved.
Ignis was shocked, more than anything, that he was actually still alive, that he had hung on for this long, six hours now and still miraculously breathing. Fumbled along through the remnants of his city then, falling at times but always pulling himself right back up.
Ignis had sworn to get to Noctis, and yet as he found himself staggering and stumbling through the rubble, somehow his feet led him to Titus. Whether it had been subconscious or not, he could never have said. Just saw a gleam in the rising sun, the glint of steel, and turned his head.
There he was, Titus, Glauca, propped slightly up atop the ruins, half unmasked. Could see for certain then that it truly had been Titus, all along, and yet Ignis wound his way through the rubble to him all the same.
At the footsteps, Titus opened his eyes, and tilted his head.
A stare between them, as Ignis staggered and fell, and with great intent crawled and clawed his way to Titus' side. The dagger in Titus' breast gleamed away as much as his steel armor did, and yet for it all when Ignis had collapsed beside of him, Titus smiled, just a bit. One of those weak smirks, as he had given the night he had returned from the sea.
A pale, wispy murmur.
"Hey."
Ignis rested his exhausted head atop Titus' shoulder, and replied, just as weakly, "Hi."
Stupid, but what else could they say? Far too much, and neither of them had enough life left then to hold a conversation. Titus tried to lift this arm, Ignis could feel it twitch beneath him, but he simply couldn't, as he faded so quickly.
Ignis observed the dagger, and knew that, however strong and invincible Ignis had always imagined Titus to be, this was the end.
Even now, he regretted it.
Willpower and energy fled, as Ignis lied there atop the arm of the man he had loved, as he slipped away. Whatever bit of strength Lady Lunafreya had imparted onto him had long since been spent, and Ignis was forced to accept then that he wouldn't leave Titus' side. Even if he had stood then and carried on, he wouldn't have made it far before he collapsed. That he was alive at all still was a gift, and perhaps it had been meant that he would spend it with Titus.
He reached up a bloody hand, and rested it atop Titus' breast. With his left, he reached down, and clenched Titus' hand, metal fingers and all.
Titus tilted his head to the right as far as he could, pale eyes running over Ignis' face.
So much left to say and do, so many dreams shattered there in the ruins of Insomnia, and even though it was vague and there was no time for a detailed answer, Ignis still whispered, "Why?"
A long hesitation, as Titus in turn gathered up the very last bit of life he had in him.
Finally, a reply. Soft and breathy. Nearly lost to the air.
"Because I wanted to go home."
As good an answer as dying Titus could give him, and one dying Ignis accepted then, on the brink.
That was all. They spoke no more, because there was no energy left to do so. That was fine—Ignis didn't need to speak to express to Titus how he felt anymore than Titus needed to. The moment their eyes locked, everything was easily said between them. Years of practice in that, and Titus had always known how much Ignis had loved him.
With his last effort, Titus managed to clench Ignis' hand in return.
As it should have been, Ignis and Titus were together at the end of all things, as they had promised each other they would be. May not have been the manner he had dreamed of, but took comfort in it all the same.
A final, very weak smile, one last look, and then Titus closed his eyes.
No time to mourn, to dwell, as the darkness came up. Night overtook dawn, comprehension fled, and in that very last breath of consciousness, Ignis closed his eyes and thought the words he no longer had the strength to speak aloud. Hoped that somewhere on the other side, Titus heard them.
With that, it was all done.
For one last time, Ignis fell asleep beside of Titus.
There was one thing Titus had never lied about; how much he had loved Ignis. Ignis returned it no less fervently at their end as he had at their beginning.
Ignis had sworn he would stand by Titus until they both passed, and held at least that oath fulfilled.
Night.