KYLA IS NOW REUNITED WITH GLADIO… BUT HER BROTHER IS DEAD… THE LAST OF HER BIOLOGICAL FAMILY. HOW WILL SHE COPE… I KNOW YOU DON'T READ THE STORY TO FIND OUT. This will be Kyla's dream (italicized).
Kyla never has many out of body dreams, or at least they have not ever been this weird. The dreams have never been of Lady Lunafreya either. But there she is, Luna that is, walking away from Lucis before spotting something. Kyla turns to see two dogs, one black and one white, before Luna runs to them before petting them. She pulls a book from the black one, who Kyla just notices is Noctis' dog Umbra, and looks relieved to see the book. Another girl with black hair, seeming to appear out of nowhere, walks up to Luna, who stands upon her arrival. Luna opens her hand and Kyla sees that it is the ring of the Lucii. The dark-haired girl nods and Luna pulls the ring to her chest. That is all Kyla sees of that before everything fades to white.
"You have seen where the ring has been." Kyla hears a voice in the strange blankness that is going on, not only that but it was also speaking in a language that she shouldn't be able to understand but does. She was about to ask who it was before she was interrupted. "Know this, young one. Obstacles stand in your path. There will be things that will want to stop the King of Light. You will be there to guide him along with the others. It is apart of your calling. You will grow in power as the King does. As he gets the blessing of the gods, you will be able to utilize a small portion of our power. You must see to it that he gets all of ours for you to beat the cursed one. You can pass these words onto the Shield and Advisor only. You have the word of Bahamut, Guardian of Light, that there will be no more troubles as soon as the darkness has been eradicated. The power will no longer be in your possession after. Go now and awaken, your husband is getting too concerned." That is all she hears before she feels like she is moving.
Kyla sits up quickly, a little too quickly because of the sudden dizziness making her lay back the way she was. She figured out that she was leaning on Gladio after she laid back down. Kyla knows that the killer headache that she woke up with, that just mysteriously disappeared in like two seconds didn't come from the fall, she knows that Gladio had ahold of her before she lost consciousness. So, she figures that it comes with having a deity talking in her head. "Kyla!" She hears the boys cheer her name. She reaches up and smacks Prompto on the arm because he was the loudest and makes the headache want to come back.
"Talk about something, as long as it is not about my wellbeing because I feel sore but overall alright. Now, don't ask about my health or what happened, I need more sleep, but I want to talk to Ignis and Gladio later." The boys look at her before nodding, the mentioned two with curiosity.
"Don't suppose the Crownsguard is still active." Gladio says as an icebreaker, Kyla snorts at that.
"Wouldn't count on it, not with the marshal out here," Ignis says while concentrating on the wet roads.
"I wonder how things are in the city…" Prompto says before glancing apologetically to Kyla. Kyla nods and gives a small smile of reassurance that she knows he meant no harm.
"There should be reports before long." Kyla says. "I'll also tell you all when I can grasp what happened." She lays her head back on her husband's shoulder.
"Yeah, something this big can't go ignored." Gladio says before kissing Kyla's forehead to give her a little reassurance.
"And what about us? What do we do?" Prompto says sounding lost.
"We make for Hammerhead now, and figure the rest out later." Gladio says to Prompto.
"Why to Hammerhead?" Kyla quietly asks Gladio.
"Noct got ahold of Cor after you passed out. He said to meet him in Hammerhead. Told us to tell you something about Royal Arms too." Gladio says just as quietly to her. "What's wrong?" He asks her, still in the same tone, as her eyes widened.
"It is duty for a king of Lucis to gather some of the Royal Arms before they ascend the throne. I saw them in action they are ethereal, almost ghostly. The damage they do is surreal, very catastrophic. King Regis gave me more details on them, but it took hours to learn them. I wondered why he wanted to teach me this when we were planning, but now I know why. He wanted me to relay the information to you and Ignis." Kyla says never growing louder than the whisper they have been speaking in to keep the others from hearing them and Gladio nods at that information.
"Secrets don't make friends you two. Care to share with the rest?" Prompto says jokingly. Kyla looks at the mischievous look in Gladio's eye before she giggles and decides to play along with him.
"Sure, I was just telling my wife how much I missed her," He says giving her a subtle wink.
"He was just going into a bit of detail on what he was going to do to me when we are alone. Like-" She was going to continue when Prompto put his hand over her mouth.
"Ok. Ok. I get it… No need to share." Prompto says embarrassed.
"Prom, better watch out she likes that." Gladio says indicating to the covered mouth with the hand that was over Kyla's shoulder. Prompto rips his hand away from the older girl horrified. Kyla gives Gladio a high five before Gladio switched the mood back to serious. "Got a message from my sister: she's with refuges bound for Lestallum. Wants me to thank Kyla for getting her out too, told her she'll get to do it herself."
"Well, at least Iris is okay." Prompto says.
"I wasn't going to lose another sister." Kyla mumbled into Gladio's shoulder. He gives her a reassuring and thankful squeeze around her shoulder.
"Yeah. Doesn't sound like everyone else was so lucky, though." Gladio says referring to what both Iris and Kyla have said.
"We best make haste. Noct won't be dead forever." Ignis says. Kyla figures the Imperial army said that so everyone won't know of their failure.
"No going back—only way's forward." Prompto says this as they pull into Hammerhead and Noctis sighs.
"'No going back.'" Noctis repeats. Kyla reaches over and gives him a reassuring squeeze on his hand. Letting him know that she understands. "Let's go." He says determined. They pull up to the Hammerhead gas station and get out of the car.
"Hey." Gladio says to the blonde woman in a very revealing, in Kyla's opinion, mechanic's outfit.
"Glad y'all made it." She says solemnly. "No weather for drivin' that's for sure." She continues.
"Our thanks." Ignis, the ever so polite one, says in response. "Kyla, this is Cindy. Cindy this is Kyla, Gladio's wife that he wouldn't shut up about." They shake hands and exchange respectful nods.
"Where's Cor?" Noctis asks the woman, Cindy.
"Left to see to business, and left y'all a message with Paw-paw." Cindy says.
"Yeah" Noctis says.
"Boss ain't sat still one second since he heard y'all were comin'" Cindy says in response.
They walk to the garage and Kyla sees an older man sitting on a bench. "That's Cid, Cindy's grandfather.
As they reach the man he speaks up. "Crystal and the kings ring- what they have been after all along…"
"So all talk of peace was merely a pretext." Ignis says.
"They played my father for a fool." Noctis says.
"Don't kid yourself" Cid says forcefully. "Reggie wasn't born yesterday." He continues while picking up a wrench. "Lucis got dealt a loosing hand, and your old man played it the best he could. He saw this coming a mile away, and he wasn't gonna go down without a fight." Kyla remembers watching General Glauca and King Regis fight after she was incapacitated by the Imperial general.
"I saw that first hand. He made contingency plans for contingency plans days before, just not with royals." Kyla speaks up for the first time since getting to Hammerhead. "He planned with me and every possibility we planned for was there. Even daemons. We didn't plan him dying. But he did warn me it would happen." Kyla continues, glancing at all the men in the room. "In the end though… Well, it just wasn't enough." Kyla says looking back down. Gladio pulls her into his side, comforting her without words. The old man nodded at her words.
"You need something else, you talk to Cor." Cid says setting his wrench down and getting up. "I can't even remember the last time I saw Reggie. Feels like a lifetime ago." He says while looking at a picture on the table and walks off. They walk out of the garage a minute after. "Cid left a message, said he'll wait for ya in the tombs. They're to the Northwest of here, just a short ways past the outpost. Find that first." Cid says as they walk out. They ask Cindy to refill and wash off the Regalia before they pay and leave. Not long after they pull out of Hammerhead someone had to break the silence.
"They will have sealed off the city by now." Ignis says.
"What do you think it's like inside?" Prompto asks and Gladio squeezes her hand that he has been holding, silently telling her that she doesn't have to answer.
"I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine." Noctis says.
"You'll see for yourselves in time." Kyla says staring into space, remembering the city after the attack and the two days it took her to get out of the city.
"Indeed. Merely a question of when." Ignis says seeming a bit worried for their female companion.
"Can't believe the Crystal's just gone." Prompto says, not really one to keep quiet.
"The bastards took it all" Gladio says.
"And we'll take it back." Noctis says with finality.
"This is far from over." Ignis says agreeing with Noctis. Kyla lays her head on Gladio's shoulder and sighs peacefully while the car is silent. She realizes that this doesn't happen much and appreciates it while she can. What ended up surprising her is the silence lasted all the way to the hunter's outpost. As they pull into the camp Ignis interrupts the silence again, "Doesn't look like there is a camper. Looks like its camping once again."
"Why don't we just trek forward?" Noctis says.
"I don't think you all are ready to fight a daemon. Of energized enough. Let's test fate some other time and get some much-needed rest after an emotional day." Kyla says instead if Ignis.
"Plus, Kyla needs rest. I bet the trek out of the city took a toll on her along with the events that happened prior to that." Gladio says, looking out for his wife.
"Alright." Noctis consents after realizing that both are right. They walk around the rock outcropping and set up camp on one of the hunter-designated safe havens. As Gladio, Noctis, and Prompto set up camp, Ignis and Kyla cook Broiled King-on-a-Stick, which is honestly Kyla's favorite. Then everyone settled down and relaxed and talked. After a bit Prompto and Noctis both retired and Ignis, Gladio, and Kyla stayed up.
"What is it you wanted to tell us?" Ignis asked Kyla in a quiet tone, not wanting the two in the tent to hear them if she only called out for Gladio and himself.
"Right," Kyla says and nods to herself before telling them what both King Regis and Bahamut told her to share.
"Hmm. This would be something to ask Cor. It doesn't seem too troubling, but it also needs to be slept on before I can be of any help. If that is all I would like to retire. I think you two should do so soon also." Ignis says before giving Kyla's knee a reassuring squeeze at her nod before getting up and going to bed. Gladio and Kyla took his advice before following him in and going to sleep.