A/N: Hello again! It's time to go back to our dear friends! I don't want to beat up Ardyn anymore, I am actually bonding with him through this story! Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Reasons

(Back to Ardyn POV)

Ardyn and Dorian stared at Gladio in shock. "What? Are you serious?" Dorian said.

"Of course I am serious! I meant it when I said that traitors do not deserve to live!" Gladio snapped.

He's pretty desperate to die. Why? Why would anyone want to die? Ardyn thought. Gladio still looked up at them with that determined face. He must tell us why he would do such a thing first! That is something that Dorian deserves to know. She deserves to know why someone would kill her father, Ardyn thought.

"Tell us why you did it. Tell us why you would kill Noctis. Your own king!" Ardyn said. Gladio looked down, as if too ashamed to tell them why he killed Noctis. "Tell us!" Ardyn snapped.

"I did it to protect my family. It was Nifelheim, that treacherous empire threatened my family! I need to protect them! If I don't kill every last one of the people who sided with Noctis on his mission to defeat you, then they will kill my wife, my child! I'd much rather kill a close friend than lose my whole family! You don't know what it's like to have an entire empire on your tail!

"I'd much rather get a divorce, then have my wife and baby get slaughtered right in front of my helpless eyes. I don't want to lose my wife, my child! If I don't kill Ignis next, Nifelheim will kill my family. I can't do it! I can't keep up this fight! My whole family will die, and it will be all my fault! Harmony, Moon, I'm so sorry!" Gladio said, tears streaming down his face.

Dorian looked on the verge of tears herself. Gladio, the strong, fierce man who had fought Ardyn once before, was giving up. Ardyn looked down at Gladio, heartbroken. He could tell that Gladio wanted to die, not because of his quote, but because he did not want to see his loved ones killed. He did not want to see his friends killed.

"Gladio, we will protect your family, even if we die trying. Are you sure you want to die? You have so much ahead of you. You have a baby who is probably waiting for you to come home. You have a wife who is probably pacing, and anxiously waiting for you to come home," Dorian said.

"Yes, I am sure. Please, I need you to kill me. I want them to know that I have not abandoned them. I want them to know that they have been in my heart this whole time. I want them to be safe. Kill me now, my life isn't worth theirs," Gladio said.

Ardyn let out a sad sigh and summoned his royal glaive. Gladio nodded, and Ardyn stabbed Gladio in the heart. Gladio let out a grunt, and then a small sigh. Ardyn gently withdrew the sword from Gladio's chest. Gladio collapsed on the rough sand.

"He needs a proper burial, he is too honorable for this fate," Dorian said.

A/N: That chapter nearly brought me to tears, anyway, see you next time. Please review.