"I can hear you," said Ignis through cracked lips. "I'm blind, not deaf." Ignis had fully expected to be torn apart when the demons had caught him, but instead they'd searched him, tied him up with rope of all things, and carried him away. They'd reached some sort of primitive outpost and dumped him in a cell. His earlier adrenaline had worn off, and he lay exhausted, trying to keep the pressure off of his aching arms and shoulders. "Please, if you're not going to kill me, I need water."

"He's right," said the woman who was currently arguing with Captain Dorngale. "It's my job. Let me take a look at him."

"He's dangerous!"

"He's dying," she corrected. "Look at him! You said yourself he was probably sunstruck and hallucinating."

"He attacked us with ice; he's one of Hers," came the reply. "I can't promise you'll be safe if you go in there."

"I won't do anything," Ignis said. "I swear it. Please!"

"You know we have to help him," said the woman, and Dorngale sighed deeply.

"If you make one wrong move, I'll shoot you," he warned through the bars of Ignis' cell. The door unlocked and swung open, and Ignis heard something enter with him.

"What's your name?" asked the woman calmly.

"Ignis Scientia," he said.

"Well, Ignis, can I help you sit up?" she said. She stepped towards him, her feet clicking on the floor, not the same as Dorngale, but not like shoes either. And yet human hands carefully eased him off of the floor to lean against the wall; human hands took his temperature and checked his pulse; and human hands brushed his hair away from his face as he retched violently. The change in position had made his head spin most uncomfortably and his empty stomach had rebelled.

"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely. She held a cup of water to his lips, and he drank gratefully.

"I'm going to remove your glasses," she said. "I need to see your eyes."

"It happened several weeks ago," Ignis said as she felt the painful marks on his face and probed the bruises from his earlier fall. "My sight has not returned, and I do not expect it to."

"How did it happen?" she asked, delicately holding his most-functional eyelid open a little wider so she could see the pupil, assuming he still had pupils. Ignis didn't actually know what his eyes looked like. He'd never asked, and his friends hadn't wanted to bring it up.

"I asked the Ancient Lucii for the power to save my King, and there was a cost," said Ignis. "I expected them to take my life, so losing my sight was a small price to pay."

"Well, I do think you're concussed," she said, giving him another sip of water. "Obviously dehydrated--when was the last time you ate?"

"It's been a while," admitted Ignis as she placed his tinted spectacles back on his face.

"I'll go fetch some medicine and something to eat," she said. "You sit there and try not to throw up again, alright?"

"Thank you," he said quietly. He flexed his fingers, hearing Dorngale shift restlessly on the stone floor. She wasn't gone long. He heard her tapping steps from down the hall.

"Alright, Ignis, I want you to drink this," she said. He heard liquid poured into a cup. "It's still warm, but it should help with the pain and clear up your head." It was vile. He gagged but forced himself to swallow it all. There were easier, more amusing ways to kill him than poisoning him, he reassured himself.

"Can I ask you something?" he said as she began to clean and bandage his face. He'd cut himself falling.

"Certainly."

"What happened to you?" he asked. "How did you become...what you are?" He wanted to say 'a half-demon hybrid', but that sounded unconscionably rude, even in his head.

"After the witch was defeated, I wanted to do something to help the Narnians," she said. "I applied to be in the guard, and they trained me as a medic after I proved to be dismal with a sword."

"No, I mean," said Ignis awkwardly. "I can tell that you're not fully human anymore. May I ask what happened?"

"I was never human," she said with a laugh. "I'm a faun."

"I don't understand."

"I'm a faun," she said. "I've always been a faun! Nobody made me."

"I've never heard of a faun before," he said. "You were born this way?"

"Of course," she said, a little incredulously.

"What is a faun? What do you look like?" he asked.

"I look mostly human from the waist up," she said. A spoon bumped against Ignis' lips. He took a bite, finding a simple sweet porridge. She fed him as she spoke. "I have two short horns, but you can barely see them in my hair. My ears are different from yours. They're longer and more sensitive. I have two legs like you, but I have fur from my waist down. I have hooves and a tail."

"Are you unique?" asked Ignis, "or are there others like you?"

"A fair few, though there used to be more, before the witch," she said. "But we're still common enough. How are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you," said Ignis.

"I'll be back to check on you a bit later," she said.

"I appreciate the help," said Ignis politely. "I don't suppose you could untie me before you go?"

"Not a chance," interrupted Captain Dorngale.

"What could I do? I'm locked in here," said Ignis, trying very hard to keep the indignation out of his voice. "You've taken all of my items, and my cane." The creature simply walked away, and he was left alone with his thoughts.

This could all be a trick of Ardyn's, Ignis mused, but what would he have to gain? Nothing, as far as he could tell. The man certainly had powers of illusion, so he could be deceiving him, making him see things or hear things that weren't real, but if that were the case Ignis had no way of discerning truth from fiction. Even before he'd lost his sight, when Ardyn had been masquerading as Gladio, one of his best friends, he hadn't known. It had taken Ravus to see through the disguise. And what a bizarre set of circumstances to fabricate! If the man truly was trying to deceive him, wouldn't he have picked something more reasonable, something more realistic than intelligent, half-human beasts? Besides, Ardyn had seemed truly convinced that the four friends were dying and defeated as they'd been sucked into the crystal.

No, it was best that Ignis move forward as though this was no trick of Ardyn's. He would just be sure not to give out any information from which their enemy might benefit, not that there was much of that, these days. But if this wasn't a grand scheme, then what was it?

If Ardyn hadn't dumped him here, then it must have been the crystal. Surely an ancient artifact of the Lucian kings would protect its Chosen! But where was he? Certainly not Lucis or even Niflheim--never in his studies had he ever heard of creatures such as fauns, and he'd studied fauna and demonology extensively. The doctor had spoken of ice and witches as if those were the real threats, not the starscourge or demons. Then there was that people she had mentioned--the Narnians. Ignis had never heard of such a place or such beings, and he was confident that he would've at least heard or read something in his duties as advisor to the Crown Prince of Lucis. For crying out loud, he could even name each province of Niflheim and describe their basic geography from memory!

The more he thought, the more attractive one alternative seemed, fantastic though it might be. He tested it when the doctor returned a while later. "Have you ever heard of Lucis or Niflheim?" he asked.

"No," she said, checking his pulse again. "Who are they?"

"They're places," he said. "Lucis is my home, and the Niflheim Empire is the enemy of life itself."

"How did you come to be in Narnia?" she asked, giving him some more water.

"I don't really know," he admitted. "Has there been any sign or word of my companions?"

"None," interjected Captain Dorngale. "But we have scouts searching for them. They'll be found." It was clearly a threat. Ignis felt nervous, but reminded himself that he had no control and that anxiety would be a waste of brainpower.

"Do you have demons in Narnia?" he asked. "Hostile creatures that only appear at night and dissolve into smoke in the dawn?"

"No," she said. "Are they common in Lucis?"

"It's an ever-growing problem," said Ignis solemnly.

"I hope you find a solution soon." The doctor finished feeding him a bit of bread and cheese, and thoughtfully brushed the crumbs from his clothing. "Captain, he's on the mend. He'll soon be healthy enough to travel."

"Good," said Dorngale. "We'll get on the road first thing in the morning. The Queen's sending an escort for us."

It was a long, painful night. While his captors had been careful not to impede proper circulation, his shoulders ached from being so tightly wrenched behind him. He'd tried to struggle, but his restraints held him firmly; he soon gave up. Incapable of sleeping in such discomfort, he lay awake and listened to the crackle of the fire and the pacing of the guards and prayed that the Six would protect his friends, that Noctis and the others were alright, and that he would be with them again soon.

Despite his best efforts, Ignis found himself dwelling on the vision he'd seen in Altissia, the way his King had summoned the Royal Arms and sacrificed his life for the world. He wanted to weep at the fate the Gods had set his charge. To save everyone--to save the world--would cost the life of his prince, the boy he'd supported and practically raised, even though he himself was only a few years older. Noctis was kind and shy, afraid of failing his people and desperate to fulfill his destiny and be a good king. If he was called upon to sacrifice himself to save the world, he would do it.

So many times since Altissia, Ignis had opened his mouth to confess what he knew, but the words had stuck. Ignis knew what had to be done, knew that Noctis needed to know what fulfilling his task would entail, but he couldn't bear to be the one to crush his young king's hope of success and survival, especially so soon after the Oracle's death. He had desperately hoped that somehow Noctis would be able to defeat the demons using the Crystal instead. Now, because of Ignis' inaction, Noctis might be dead. Eos might be lost.

Please, he prayed. You answered me once. I beg you--let Noctis and the guys be alright. Please let them find me. But if not, please help Noctis find the strength to purge the world of the starscourge and save Eos. If a life must be paid, let it be mine.