Ignis woke up groaning with pain. "Where am I?", he asked as he wanted to sat up, but hissed and fell back. The twinge he felt in his chest was beyond painful.
"Take it easy", Noctis said. Apart from his missing glasses Ignis' double vision impeded his power of sight. He was surrounded by blurriness.
"What happened?", he asked as he rubbed his eyes, hoping he will see better. "You were-", Noctis was interrupted by Prompto, who bursted into the room with joy on his face, followed by Gladiolus.
"Hey, Iggy! You're awake!", Prompto nearly screamed. "How many fingers am I holding up?", he asked cheekily with a grin.
Ignis sighed. His head drones because of the fearful din Prompto is causing. But he knew that was the way Prompto deals with serious situations like this. Acting a play, acting like a blithe spirit, not showing how high his walls are.
The injured could almost see clearly again. Then he muttered, "two." "Ding ding! Correct answer", Prompto kept yelling, "Not bad, Iggy. And that without you having your glasses on"
"Ignis, we fought against a behemoth, do you remember? It hit you and you lost conciousness", Gladiolus explained. "Behemoth?", he asked himself in confusion. They fought against a behemoth. Noctis wanted to help Gladiolus, but the monster attacked him. "I remember", Ignis responded. He remembers everything. Right down to the last detail.
"Where are we?", he asked once again.
"We're in a motel far from that palace. We're safe, Ignis. For now ", Noctis assured, then after a while noted, "Your bandage." His bandage was soaked with blood. "We need to put on a new one."
The prince unbandaged him carefully and examined three elongated deep wounds. He blamed himself for Ignis' injuries. If he didn't run after Gladiolus, Ignis wouldn't have been hit by that monster.
Prompto creased his face, "That doesn't look good", he commented.
"Seems like they need to be stitched up", Gladiolus said. "It really is deep", Lucida noted.
"Okay, guys. I have no idea how to stitch a wound. I'm off the hook", Prompto said and made his way out of the room again, followed by Gladiolus, "You don't expect me to have steady hands, do you?", he said and left the room with his blonde companion. The eyes of the remainders fell on Noctis, but he just approached his sister saying, "I'll go get you the tools. You can doctor him, nurse", and beat a retreat. Lucida heaved an internal and eternal sigh. Why me, she asked herself.
"I hope I can at least count on you, Highness", Ignis murmured. Lucida smiled and seated herself next to him. "Don't worry. I won't let you down, Ignis." She helped him to sit up. "But you should know, that I've never sewed a wound before", she forewarned. "It's quite simple actually" , Ignis said. Right on time Noctis arrived with the utensils and gave them to Lucida: a needle, cotton, bandages and a bottle of vodka. Then he quickly made a bunk with his father and left doctor and patient alone.
"Now what, instructor?", she asked. Ignis smirked. "First of all you clean and dis-infect the wound", he guided.
"Got it." She took the bottle of vodka and cleaned the wound and the needle. As the alcohol got in contact with the wound, Ignis's face slightly contorted with pain, which eased afterwards.
"Now that you sterilized the needle, you start sewing the wound. Make sure you keep as close to the edge of the skin as possible", he instructed.
She pressed the needle through his skin, which made Ignis hiss and give a wince of pain. The stitch was anything but close to the edge.
"Sorry", she said and gave him a pitying look.
"That was painful", Ignis said with a smirk. He leaned forward, first looking her deep in the eyes then staring at her soft lips. "You have to make up for this", he purred, which made her heart race. He tilted his head, slowly coming closer and closer. Lucidas eyes blazed scarlet. His lips almost came into touch with hers, but he pulled back. He watched Lucidas eyes freeze to its usual azure. "You should continue sewing the wound", he said and averted his face. How dare he try to kiss the princess. King Regis' daughter. Noctis' little sister. Retain control, he thought. Now is not the time to come up with foolish ideas.
In pure silence Lucida sewed Ignis injury, this time more carefully than before, and finished with a decent knot in the cotton. This extemporary treatment took a couple of minutes, yet felt like eternity. The injury on his chest was nothing compared to the shame he felt. Trying to keep temper, he said "I thank you, Highness."
"N-No worries", she stammered and took flight as soon as possible.
Noctis and his father stood outside leaning their arms on the railing, watching the moon emerge from the dark clouds.
As Lucida came out of the room she joined them at the railing. "How's Ignis?", Noctis asked.
"He's alright. His wounds is all stitched up", she responded. "Good", he nodded.
It was a quiet evening, almost like the calm before the storm. "Father," Noctis dared vanquishing his slight fear and asked, "what happened 18 years ago?"
The King let out a deep breath. After he met Lucida he knew his son would ask sooner or later. "18 years ago, Rosa was involved in the peace treaty between Lucis and Niflheim. It was two years after your mother passed away. Rosa and I fell in love, but there was always only one woman for me. Your mother, Noctis. So I abandoned Rosa," he said. "She was a member of the Royal Council, but after we quit she switched sides and the peace treaty failed," he explained. "Since then she is with the Military General of Niflheim, Aemulus Dux, claiming the last crystal by force."
Noctis and Lucidas eyes met, having the same tought in mind. "Does she want to take vengeance?", Noctis asked.
"Maybe so. In any case, her hurt feelings are of advantage to Aemulus. To him she is just a mere puppet," Regis explained. Lucida hung her head low, "Why, mother?" , she muttered to herself. The King gazed at his daughter and tried to find consolatory words, "The Rosa I met in Niflheim is not the one I knew 18 years ago. Back then she was full of confidence and never lost faith."
Lucida remained silent. There is nothing good Lucida sees in her mother. Her mother betrayed the Kingdom of Lucis. Everyone makes mistakes, but did her mother merely made a mistake or did she commit an unforgivable sin? To stop herself from overthinking once again she decided to have an early night. "I'm going to bed", she said and headed to her room.
When the two remaining were alone, the King noted, "Aemulus craves for the crystal. He is a threat to the whole of Lucis."
"He will pay," Noctis said resolutely. "Because of him mother...", Noctis hands clinged firmly to the railing. "Because of the imperial army mother died", he said clenching his teeth. Every Misfortune is caused by Aemulus, he thought. It all leads to him. Noctis lost his mother in the war, and now Lucida may have the same fate as him. He swore he won't let that happen. Aemulus has to pay for what he has done to him. For what he has done to them all.
The King patted his hand on Noctis's shoulder and gave him a comforting look. "Listen to me Noctis, I thought that it all was in the past," he said. "Believe me, I never knew about Lucida. I never wanted to hide anything, my son. Back then you were just a little boy."
Noctis nodded. "I know. The past cannot be changed," he said. "I'm just glad you are safe now, father."
"I wish I could have saved you all the trouble," the King said. "I am sorry." But Noctis was the one who felt sorry, thinking that he was unable to protect the Kingdom of Lucis nor his father.
Accompanied by the feeling of strain, they went to bed.
Noctis's heart pounded. His blood throbbed through his veins. Eyes wide opened and staring t the ceiling. His thoughts kept him awake and let hours pass by. He couldn't think about anything but Aemulus. He is the reason for everyone's suffering. Noctis made up his mind. Aemulus Dux will pay.
Slowly and quietly he moved out of his bed, not waking his father or Ignis, who slept in his room as well. He took the car key from the table and opened the door slightly to look whether the coast is clear. Just when he was about to sneak out he heard footsteps coming closer and closer. He dared a glance outside and recognized the silhouette of a slinking woman. It was Lucida. In an instant he stepped outside asking, "where are you going?"
Lucida stopped immediately. "Uh," she didn't turn around. "I wanted to go for a walk and catch some fresh air, you know."
Noctis closed the door, so none of the others would wake up and hear them talking. "You're a bad liar," he noted. Lucida finally turned around and looked at him with a slight smile. "Is it that obvious?", she asked.
"Yeah, a rather lousy performance," he responded and made Lucida let out a quiet giggle. Suddenly Noctis night-time jokes turned into a stern rebuke, "So where did you wanna go?" She responded with absolute silence. "Did you want to safe your mother?" he asked whilst he already knew the answer. Lucida nodded and averted her face. "All by yourself?", he spoke in a loud whisper, "Are you completely nuts?", his whisper screamed. Noctis had to pull himself together to not arouse the entire motel from deep sleep.
Then his sister muttered, "I know it's foolish."
"Listen to me, Lucida. I can't blame you for wanting to safe your mother from Aemulus, but I won't let you do this alone," he said and stepped two vigorous steps closer to Lucida. Now he sounded more anxious than angry. She can't step into his life and then just leave like that, he thought. Noctis gazed at her, awaiting an answer.
"I'm sorry, Noct" she said after a brief hush, "I'm sorry for putting you through all this."
Out of nowhere her brother suggested, "Let's go and get Aemulus together"
Confusion was written all over her face. "Huh?"
"This is our fight. Let's finish him together", he said. Hesitating for a moment she took a deep breath and then nodded, "okay."
After she realized the imprudent plan they made, she quipped, "We have a much higher chance now with the two of us"
Noctis could feel the pure irony. "Are we getting cocky again?", he bantered. "But at least I have this," he said and held up the car key with a proud half smile. She returned a smile and the siblings made their way to the Regalia and got in. Noctis started the engine. "Let's hit it", he said and drove off in the direction of Niflheim.
The night seemed calm but was full of chaos instead. Ignis' wound ached and burned like hell and woke him from his sleep. He sat up with slight groaning and switched on the bedside lamp. That was when he realized Noctis' bed was empty. Then he looked over to the dark bathroom and called with low voice, "Highness?" But he got no response. In a flash Prompto and Gladiolus came rushing in. "Is Luce in here?", Prompto asked and alerted the king. Then he fell all silent. "Where's Noct?", Gladiolus asked. As Ignis noticed the missing car key he leaped to his feet but immeadiately lost balance. Gladiolus is swift to react and rescued him from toppling down. "Steady on!", he exclaimed.
"The keys!", Ignis noted.
They looked over to the table but the car key is nowhere to be found. "Where's the key?", Gladiolus asked.
Then Ignis explained in haste, "He must have taken the keys along with the princess to reach Niflheim and to oppose him."
"him?", Prompto questioned. "Aemulus" the King affirmed. Ignis ran his hand through his hair. He has never been this nervous in his life before.
"I got a plan", Gladiolus said. Ignis' and Prompto's eyes met, both wondering what Gladiolus is up to. The bodyguard took the phone that was fortunately left on the table and dialed a number. After a while Gladiolus said, "Cindy? This is Gladio. We need your help."