Day 45:

The last time they had sat, all assembled in the lounge, she had run head first into the walls that had trapped her ever since. This time she had clothes that fit and a retinue to match. But could she truly face everyone and admit what had occurred during her Dream? For a month and a half she had been avoiding it. Refusing even to admit it was haunting her.

But they needed only know Ardyn's story. And while his was wrapped with hers, she could tell it without so much pain.

She caught his eye across the lounge. He held her gaze. Intense. Intrigued.

"You're worried about what Ardyn is," Reina began, pulling her eyes from Ardyn's and looking around the room. "Perhaps you fear I don't know. That somehow he has tricked me into thinking he's a man and not a monster. In truth we have never denied that he is the heart of the Starscourge, that his death will bring the end of it, and that he is what has been called Adagium in Caelum family history. All those things are true.

"Beyond that, I can only guess what misinformation has been passed on. Nothing that Somnus has written or spoken can be trusted. I think he came to regret his errors in death, and certainly in those ten years of my Dream, but nothing excuses what he did."

A familiar hatred flashed across Ardyn's features. She met his gaze and held it for a moment. Somnus would have what he had earned; she would see to that. Regret or not, he would suffer. Endlessly—with no chance of redemption or freedom—for all of eternity.

She looked to her father. "If you don't believe my words, you may ask Somnus yourself. I have shown the Lucii the truth—else they never would have granted me the power of the ring—and he will not lie to you any longer. The truth, as it stands, is this:

"The founder king is a fraud. A usurper, who took the throne from the Chosen King after the crystal had passed judgement. He had his own brother imprisoned. Demonized. And wiped from history. The true king of Lucis—the first king of Lucis—was Ardyn Lucis Caelum."

Eyes swiveled from Reina to Ardyn. Even Luna, with all her answers, stared at Ardyn as if she had never seen him before. For his part, Ardyn smiled, tipped his hat off his head, and bowed in his chair.

"You do know how to give an introduction, Little Dreamer."

Reina's father looked at her. "The whole story, my dear. From the beginning."

She gave it, as he requested. As she had Dreamed it. As Ardyn had lived it. From the man who had been a healer to the monster who was the root of all darkness on Eos. Woven in with Ardyn's story was that of the Starscourge and it's divine origin. If Ardyn's past earned incredulous looks, this was simply unbelievable at first glance to them.

"Your doubts are founded," she said, filling the silence that fell at the conclusion of her tale. "But I have lived this history myself. If you believe in my Dreams, if you believe that Tenebrae fell when there was no need—" She looked pointedly at Luna "—or that Insomnia stands still because I knew precisely how the empire would act, then you must also believe this. I have gained the favor of the Lucii because they believe me. Do you truly think Ardyn's manipulations could change the mind of one hundred and twelve Lucian monarchs—one of whom experienced first hand the events I speak of? Who knew Ardyn as he was, rather than as he has become?

"The Astrals created this monster. And he is a monster. Just as I am. But only because of what was done to him." They had accepted her as she was. Either they would do the same for him or admit they were hypocrites.

Silence fell once more. This time she let it sit as her eyes swept the room. Lunafreya would not meet her gaze, Father was torn—faced with truths he could not reasonably deny and struggling with his upturned world—and Noctis was looking at Ardyn like he was working sums in his head. Ravus was silent on the line. Of those assembled, only Reina's retinue looked vindicated rather than stunned.

"See?" Iris kicked Ardyn's boot. "Just like bullies."

"If this is true," Ravus spoke for the first time, "As I must believe it is, then our goals must change. We no longer seek a method to destroy Ardyn without sacrificing lives."

"I beg to differ," Ardyn said.

No one paid him any attention.

"We oppose the Astrals directly," Ravus said, as if Ardyn had not interrupted.

Lunafreya was studying Reina. "Your Highness, you have neglected to address one crucial issue. You have the Starscourge. You carry the very plague your family has sought to destroy for over a hundred generations and it threatens to overtake you—mind and body—as soon as you lose your grip. Do you deny this?"

Reina's mouth went dry. Her voice died in her throat before a single word could escape.

She had taken the scourge into herself, stripped every last thread of corruption from those people Sania had inadvertently corrupted. She had saved tens of thousands of lives. And as the black ichor filled her lungs and choked in her throat, they had stared at her in horror.

Corrupted.

Daemon.

Monster.

"Reina?" Father's voice sounded distant, though he sat beside her.

"I'm fine," she said automatically.

Everyone was staring at her. Could they see it inside her? Her arms were clear of black veins, her face dry of ichor, but they would see. Somehow they would guess. Luna had already spoken the truth. She could run away now, before anyone else could walk away from her. As soon as they knew, they would do to her what they had done to Ardyn, what they had done before.

She caught Ardyn's eye across the room. They could leave together. He would take her away right now and they could do what they had both meant to do before Cor and Iris and Ignis could catch up and after that… at least everyone else would be safe when she was gone.

"Tell them, Little Dreamer," Ardyn whispered, his voice impossibly audible across the room.

"I… have the Starscourge," Reina said haltingly.

Silence met her words. Reluctant as she was to see the result of her confession, she needed to know. She looked up and around the room, forcing herself to meet the eyes of the others.

Iris was wide-eyed and confused. But Reina saw her standing in a broken Lestallum:

"I can't do this anymore, Rei." Iris shook her head. "I can't do it. I can't watch you do this to yourself anymore. If you wanna be some daemon queen ruling Lucis from the shadows then… just don't take anyone else with you."

Cor's brow was furrowed, more bemused than disapproving. But Reina could still hear his words. Still see him walking away.

"I'd like to say I can't believe what you've done. But the fact is that I can, which is almost more disturbing than you, by yourself," Cor told her. "So congratulations. You've managed to make me thankful that Regis is dead. At least he never had to see what you turned into."

Reina ducked her head as the tears fell.

"I'm sorry." She only trusted her voice to whisper. Anything louder would crack. "I only wanted to protect everyone…"

That was all she could explain. It wasn't enough, but the tears fell too thickly after that.

The sofa shifted as her father gathered her up in his arms and held her against his chest. "You have nothing to apologize for."

She leaned into him, tears falling thickly as her breath caught in her throat. She needed to explain. She needed to tell them it wasn't what they thought. If she couldn't get the words out, they would all walk away. Again.

Still, it seemed an age before she could manage any sound except a sob.

"It isn't in the way you're thinking." She forced the words out between tears. "It's not a disease that afflicts me so much as a… a beast caged inside me."

She took another breath and tried to explain. Tried to prevent them from fleeing like they had in her Dream. "Ardyn's magic allows me to control the daemons—and the Starscourge. But the range of my own power wasn't enough to reach all the way across Insomnia and collect all the daemons that had gotten inside. I… gained more power, and extended my range, by absorbing the daemons."

"Whatever it is or however it came to be," her father said, "We will reverse it."

"I need it, still," Reina said.

"No, my dear," he said firmly. "You do not."

"To destroy Bahamut I will need every tool at my disposal. In my Dream, when we faced him, it was the scourge that destroyed the Draconian."

"And, in this Dream, how many stood at your side?" He asked.

"Only Ardyn." Her eyes flicked across the lounge toward him.

"Mh. And how many stand at your side now?"

Her eyes swept over the others assembled. She could still see the blame, even if it wasn't there. "I don't know."

"Well, there's three of us," Cor said.

"Four," Ardyn said.

"You don't count."

"Five," Father said, catching Noctis' eye across the room and giving him a nod.

"I count as at least four people." Noctis waved a hand toward Prompto and Gladio on the other end of his sofa. "So that's really seven, since you counted Ignis already."

"If you're permitted to count your retinue, then Clarus makes us eight," Father said.

"Call it nine," Ravus said.

Ardyn shrugged. "Evidently I don't count. Otherwise it would be an even ten."

Only one other person sat in the lounge. Lunafreya startled as attention turned toward her. Her eyes swept the room for a friendly face and, finding none, dropped to her feet.

"I don't know what to believe." On her, the small, uncertain voice seemed starkly out of place. Had her perfect worldview ever been shaken before? Had she ever in her life wondered what she was supposed to do? She was four years older than Reina and Noctis, but in that moment she seemed a decade younger.

Luna looked to Father, as if for guidance. "I'm sorry, I… I need to think. If I could return to my rooms…?"

He motioned to the Crownsguards at the elevator and in a moment she was being led away, leaving them once more in silence.