Day 44:
He'd never thought much about how fast boats travelled before now. Too damn slow, that was how fast.
Cor paced the deck. Cid said three or four hours until they reached Niflheim and Ardyn guessed another thirty minutes to an hour before they reached Cartanica from the sea. He didn't trust Reina on her own for two minutes.
Damn that girl. He spent more time chasing her down than actually doing his gods damned job—and even when he did find her, she wouldn't let him lift a finger. He could support protecting the people he loved. He couldn't support pursuing that with the mindless sort of passion that she seemed to have developed. Trying to protect Cor and Ignis—even Iris—from combat was a damn fool thing to do.
He'd yelled at her more than once about it in the past few days. But then she got that look like she was actually sorry and she would have done anything not to be hated, and he remembered how fucked up she was. He had no idea what she had gone through; he was yelling at her because he loved her and maybe she knew that, but she couldn't tell the difference between real life and Dreams, sometimes.
He never should have let her out of his sight.
He stopped pacing, leaned on the rail, and pinched the bridge of his nose. It wouldn't have made a difference, even if he had been there—hell, he had been there—when she got an idea in her head, it stuck and no one could knock it free no matter how hard they hit that thick skull of hers.
Everyone was silent.
Correction: Everyone besides Ardyn was silent. He was still lounging comfortably on the sofa, smiling and humming to himself like he was having the time of his life. Chaos and suffering. That was when he thrived.
Iris was leaning against the side, opening and closing her fists like an angry cat sharpening its claws. Ignis sat, apart from Ardyn, with his elbows on his knees and his head hanging forward. Three guesses what he was thinking about. They were all torturing themselves over what could be happening while they were stuck on this gods damned boat.
Except Ardyn.
Hours passed. They were only a few minutes out from Niflheim, when Cor's phone rang and Regis' name showed on the screen. Great. Just what he needed.
"Your Majesty," Cor answered.
"I have received word that my daughter is in danger."
He couldn't have heard that she had gotten away from them again. No one but Cor was talking to Regis. Probably.
"The Draconian has sent the Messengers for her."
Cor had to back away from the edge before he dropped his phone in the ocean. Now? He sent them now, while everyone was miles away from her with no way of catching up any faster?
"Cor? Is she safe?"
Hell if he was going to lie to his king, though.
"No."
"What?"
"She went on her own to Niflheim. Just up and disappeared. We're on her trail but no one has that kind of magic, whatever the hell it was. It'll be at least half an hour before we get where she was going."
And when they did, they had no guarantee she would be there anymore.
Regis was silent. It was always dangerous when he didn't say anything.
Finally, he said, "I hardly need remind you how important your duty is, Cor."
"No, Your Majesty."
"Nor tell you to make your way to her with all due haste."
"I am, Your Majesty."
"But I will issue this reminder that I expect you to protect her. At any and all costs."
"I will, Your Majesty."
He had been planning to. But it was difficult to sacrifice anything and everything for her when she was across the ocean in another continent. He didn't have any tricks that he could throw from here to wherever the hell she was.
"When next we speak I expect you to be in her company."
"I will be, Your Majesty," Cor said, but Regis had already hung up.
Cor slipped his phone back into his pocket and ran his hands over his face. "Shit."
"What did His Majesty have to say?" Ignis asked.
Everyone was watching him. Even Cid kept glancing over his shoulder in their direction.
"That every Messenger on Eos is about to swarm Reina while we're stuck on this gods damned boat," Cor said.
Ignis rose to his feet—slowly—the worry on his face fading into deadpan terror. Iris stood up straighter, both hands frozen into fists. Even Ardyn stopped jiggling his foot.
"Is there no way we can reach her sooner?" Ignis asked.
Land was in sight. But Cartanica was not.
"No," Cor said. "We can't." His eyes landed on Ardyn. "But you can."
"Am I to understand that you want to send me to protect your precious princess?"
"You're the only one who can," Cor said, "I know she's tough but there are dozens of Messengers. You know she can't win that. And don't pretend like it doesn't matter to you if she lives or dies."
Ardyn scrutinized him through narrowed eyes.
"Stop staring at me and go!"
A smile stretched across Ardyn's face. His head tipped back and laughter poured out of his mouth. Even as he turned into that same black fog that Reina had, the sound seemed to hang in the air. Whatever that thing she did was, it came from him. From the Starscourge.
Then he was gone. It was just the three of them, pulling into port with only a vague notion of where to find Reina.
"Godspeed, Ardyn," Cor whispered to the wind.