Day 35:

She reached out to the power dormant within the crystal, waiting to be called on by the King of Light. She hadn't been certain it would work for her.

But the crystal did not see or hear or feel. It only sensed.

And there was very little difference between the King of Light and his twin.

The light reacted to her command as it might have to Noctis'. It poured out and she shunted it around herself, channeling everything to her father and Clarus and Cor. She would fix everything.

Everything.

The next thing she remembered was his face, though not as she had ever known it to be. It was still his face—unequivocally, undeniably—but his skin held more color and more consistency. The scar around his right eye and across his forehead from prolonged use of the ring was gone. His hair was black at the roots—or so dark brown that even in the light of the crystal it was indistinguishable—and streaked with silver ribbons, which stood out stark and bright.

And he was holding her. Standing on his own feet, bearing his weight and hers.

He was worried and afraid and angry. But it was worth it.

It was all worth it.

She drifted in blackness for a time. And it was there that the Draconian found her.

:O Daemon Queen. Adversary of Fate. Agent of Darkness. Thou fightest a futile fight.:

He made her tiny: smaller than one of his hands while he towered in the spaceless In-Between. Distantly, she wondered if she could change his form like she had done for the Lucii when they attempted the same intimidation tactic. Better not to try. An enemy uncertain of your power is a lesser challenge. And she was so tired.

:Thinkest thou that time can be unwritten?:

He had human eyes beneath his helm. Or eyes made to look human. Perhaps there was nothing underneath his helm at all; the helm was his face, where his eyes sat sunken and eerily familiar.

:Thou drawest power held in store for the Chosen King to prolong the life of a doomed man.:

A doomed man, was he? By whose reckoning?

Perhaps if she persisted in her silence he would tell her on his own. Thus far it had worked in her favor.

:The Usurper must be destroyed. Thou knowest this. The Chosen King shalt call upon the power of the crystal, bolstered by those who came before.:

"Well, then, I suppose he'll simply have to wait several decades more, now that I've reversed your damage and killed your agent of fate."

If Father was meant to die then Drautos had been meant to kill him. If Drautos had been meant to kill him then Bahamut guided the fate of traitors and backstabbers.

And Eos had no room for those who sided with betrayers.

:Heed me, O Daemon Queen. Time runs more fierce than thou knowest. If thou shalt not fall into the place carved for thee by fate, then thou shalt be forced into it.:

He twisted the In-Between around them. Not content to let his words stand as a threat, he showed her in detail what would happen if she resisted fate.

A sword driven through her father's back, this one wielded by the Draconian himself.

Ardyn imprisoned, consumed by light, and burning away in the face of the King of Light's power.

Noctis pinned to the throne. The sword through his chest was one of Bahamut's.

Reina tore her way out of the In-Between and back into her body. She jerked upright, struggling to fill her lungs even as the air stung her throat.

"Reina?"

Her father's voice drifted through lingering visions. She had changed the future. She had changed it. But Bahamut would ensure their fate was unavoidable. Whomever she saved, he would kill.

Hands grasped her shoulders. "Reina. Look at me, my dear."

She blinked, shook her head, and her vision cleared. His face was in front of her—but not the same face she was used to seeing in her Dreams or any number of nights before when he woke her.

This one was younger. The face he should always have had at fifty.

She reached out to touch him. He was real. Solid. Restored.

A tear streaked down her cheek and he brushed it away. He gathered her up in his arms and hugged her more fiercely than she had ever known him to. She had done that. She had fixed everything. He had all his strength back from the damn Wall.

"Have you Dreamed?" He asked.

"No," she said. "Not really. I don't think it was the future so much as a threat."

Though if she did nothing, the threat would become reality.

"What do you mean?"

"Bahamut. He wants you dead. And Noctis too. He always meant for you to die when Insomnia fell and now I've derailed his plans."

"Then we shall have to adjust our plans accordingly." He gaze hardened. "I am very upset with you, my dear. But I am more relieved to have you safe and whole. And in truth I have no one but myself to blame for believing I could stop you before you did as I knew you would."

She had nothing to say to that. He had known she would do whatever was necessary to restore him and the others.

"Cor? And Clarus?" She asked.

"Both hale and healthy." In spite of his disapproval, he did allow her a small smile. "And grateful beyond words."

"I'm not going to get myself killed, Father. I promised that much already. I never want to hurt you."

"I was wondering if you had forgotten," he said.

"Never."