So, I shamefully only realized upon another half re-watch of the first movie that the name of it is Kingsman, not Kingsmen. I could change it to emphasize the focus being on Ignis but…this story wouldn't be half as interesting without the others so I think I'll keep it plural. I just figured I'd call myself out on that, lol. Anyways, this chapter is longer as I wanted to set it up for events in the next chapter. I also pose some food for thought at the bottom but I ask that you make your way through the main course first ;)
If Nautical Nonsense Be Something You Wish…
Surprisingly enough, the trip from Insomnia to Cape Caem went without any significant issues. There was a bit of a fight when Noctis learned that they were not going to make a detour to go to the Assassin Festival in Lestallum, but Ignis managed to quell the prince's literal temper tantrum by promising they'd stop by on the way back. However, when he also pointed out that he'd be going without Prompto or Gladio, he finally resigned completely. It'd be no fun without all of his friends there. At the crestfallen look on his young face, Ignis took pity and pulled over for ice cream. Ignis got a modest cone of vanilla while the prince got a triple-scoop cone of various flavors. Nyx one-upped him by getting a quadruple.
They made it to the tiny seaside town in two days and boarded the large speedboat the King secretly kept docked there, simply titled Sea Biscuit. The trip to the new country would only take a few hours and had no obstacles to navigate around once past Angelgard. Ignis set the controls to continue bearing in the right direction and took a breather on one of the soft white couches that were tacked to the deck. He'd just sat down when Nyx quickly took a seat next to him, pulling a stopper out of a vintage bottle of whiskey.
The older Glaive opened his mouth but first took a look around to ensure they were alone. Noctis was too busy entertaining himself by standing on the bow and singing My Heart Will Go On into the wind and giggling when they hit a particularly high wave that caused him to miss a note. Both of them let out enigmatic sighs as they watched him. However, Ignis already knew why Nyx was sitting there and figured he might as well get it over with. "I suppose you're here to chastise me as well for what happened in Insomnia."
Nyx lifted the decanter to his lips but Ignis quickly snatched it away, getting up and finding him a glass near the cockpit. He poured the man a single shot and held protectively to the rest as he sat back down. Nyx swallowed it in a gulp, grimacing hard. "Revolting…but yes, I'm here to give you my two cents as well. Geez, Ig, who all knows about this?" As Ignis thought about the question, Nyx took the bottle and poured himself some more.
"Only Prompto and Gladiolus, as far as I'm aware of. I swear on the gods, I had it! I would never let harm come to Noct." They both looked back over at the prince, who was having a nostalgic moment with rapping to himself the Lonely Island's I'm on a Boat. Neither commented on his sudden turn to the musical arts. "I've known Noct since I was six. He's like a little brother to me, if I may be so bold. If anything were to happen to him, I would never forgive myself." He looked down at his empty hands, blinking hard.
Nyx reached over with a hand and patted him a few times on the back. "Hey, alright, we get it. You had a close call, it happens to the best of us. I mean, not me—"
Ignis gave him a withering glare.
"—But perfection can't be expected from everyone," Nyx said without a single hint of condescension. "Just…try to keep it to a minimum, okay? You know how Cor is; if one of us fucks up, he chews out that person and the one that nominated them. And since I was the one who nominated you, that axe falls on me. So, no more close calls, alright?"
Reminded of that, Ignis fully turned to him and asked, "Just why did you nominate me? It's no secret that I can barely stand you." No more ignoring that elephant in the room.
"You said it yourself. You love that kid like a brother. You'd do anything to protect him. There's no better person to be a Kingsman than you," Nyx said casually, sipping his third glass.
Ignis felt touched and hid it by looking out to the ocean. Nyx had certainly pushed the Glaives in training hard but he'd always been especially harsh towards him. At the time, he'd figured it was just another jock pushing around the intellectual but he had to grudgingly admit that Nyx had the respect of his peers to back up his boasting.
Two years ago, he'd been baffled when he'd opened his locker one day in the changing room to find a hidden gold envelope offering him the chance to become a Kingsman. As a testament to its secrecy, not only was it invitation only, but there weren't even any rumors of the organization amongst any of the soldiers. You either made it, or you (and your next of kin…) quietly disappeared.
It wasn't until after he alone was left remaining from his competitors that Nyx had come forth as the one who'd submitted his name. At the time when Ignis had asked him why he'd done it, he'd simply said, "I knew you had the right stuff."
And to now hear the full truth…Ignis would have to rethink his feelings on the man.
"Aw, damn, you're about to cry, aren't you?" Nyx groaned, starting to inch away. "C'mon, man, don't make this shit gay. Just accept the compliment and move on."
Never mind, he was and always would be an asshole, Ignis doubled-down.
A little damp and very wind-blown, Noctis finally extracted himself from the bow and made his way over to the couches with them. Just as he was about to lie down on an empty one, the pillow closest to him exploded and snowed a flurry of white feathers. "Um, guys—?"
"Down, Noct!" Ignis yelled and slammed the prince to the floor. No sooner had he than he felt multiple bullets fire directly where they'd been standing. When the barrage stopped, he peeked up and saw that Nyx had one hand up casting the shield spell Shell with the other slipping one of his knives from behind him. He threw it and his body was instantly gone, leaving only bright sparks, the trademark sign of one warp-striking with the King's powers. Having only Noctis' powers, Ignis wasn't afforded that skill.
With the lull in the bullets, he rose just high enough to peek over the back of the couch. "Get below the deck, Noct. Nyx and I will handle this." He materialized a polearm and was about to make his way over to the railing but Noctis grabbed his jacket.
"Someone needs to steer the boat though," the prince pointed out. "And I can warp…unlike you," he said softly with a blush. He never quite understood why he and the Glaives could warp-strike but his closest friends couldn't. The only thing he could think of was it had something to do with himself. Borrowing power from him instead of his father made his friends more in-tune with him but it seemed they had limited abilities unlike the full military.
Ignis too flushed a little but covered it quickly. "Alright then, I'll steer. I see a total of four boats of equal or smaller size to this one. Nyx already went to the left so handle the ones on the right. On the count of three…THREE!"
Noctis disappeared in a bluish haze and Ignis made for the controls. Shutting the cockpit door, he took the ship off of autopilot and whipped it to the side. The sudden shift created a large wave, churning the other boats and even caused two to crash into each other. He held his breath as he saw the explosion go up, but then—there! A blue streak flew to another one of the ships like a shooting star and Ignis felt himself almost go weak with relief. Good, that only left two more. This would be wrapped up quickly.
At least that was the plan, until a massive warship materialized on the horizon.
Ignis considered his options. He could wait for Nyx and Noctis to return, then zoom out of there…but then it'd follow. It was slower, but it had the advantage of reach with its weapons. It'd be a massive gamble to zig and zag in the water and hope it didn't shoot them. If it did, they were done.
Or…he could face it head on. The cannons on the side wouldn't reach them if they pulled up next to the boat. Though the ship was large, it probably wasn't staffed with many humans. Niflheim had a shortage of human soldiers, both their greatest strength and weakness. Ignis figured if he could get down to the engine room, he could rework the wiring and disable the ship. The trip to Accordo was too important to turn back now; they'd have to risk it.
To the right, the two smaller ships also crashed into one another, decapitated MT's being the only passengers. Warping back, Nyx and Noctis entered the cockpit with him, cheering and high-fiving. "That was pretty badass! Did you see me, Specs?" The line sounded like it should've come from Noctis and he was about to reward it with a smile to the prince until he realized he wasn't the one who had spoken. Giving a cough, Ignis shrugged. "I mean, it was alright. However, we have another matter to attend to."
He flipped the boat around and raced towards the other ship and his passengers gasped. "Ig, are you crazy?! What the hell are we going to do against that?" Noctis protested, his hands up as though he wanted to rip the wheel from him.
"If we run, they'll follow us, either back to Lucis or on to Accordo. If they're left to follow us, they'll send reinforcements. It's best to take care of this big problem now before it becomes insurmountable." As he continued to race towards it, he saw a line of cannons raise up. "Brace yourselves!"
Several cracks shook the air and Ignis felt his stomach drop when he saw that the accuracy was perfect. There was a moment of silence and he realized that should he make it out alive, the king was going to have his head for the death of his beloved Sea Biscuit.
By instinct of self-preservation though, he jerked the wheel, letting the iron hit the water like massive raindrops. He kept heading toward the ship, zig-zagging between the barrages until he drew up close to the ship and under the cannons. They'd need to work fast to avoid the ship turning and crushing their smaller boat.
"Noct, do you think you could warp me up to the top? From there, I can handle myself," Ignis assured him, turning to him with his weapon.
Nyx though guffawed at him. "You, up there in tight quarters with no land to maneuver around on? Nah, I'm not letting you die on my watch." He grabbed Ignis' hand, his own already glowing red.
Ignis couldn't move away since he was trapped in the enclosed space and so he could only bear whatever torture Nyx had unleashed on him. It certainly hurt, that was sure, but…it was a familiar pain. Like stubbing your toe or banging your shin on a table. He'd felt this pain before…it was the same he'd felt when Noctis had first shared his powers with him. Now it was Nyx who was sharing his. Or, more accurately, he was sharing the King's.
"Did you not know you were supposed to get your powers from the King when you became a—" he stopped abruptly, glancing at Noctis. "I don't know why the King won't let us just tell him…" He muttered low under his breath and the prince blinked at him curiously. Drawing closer to Ignis, he whispered, "We're you-know-what's for a reason. We—"
"Protect both the King and the future kings of Lucis," said Ignis, challenging the other with his eyes to contest him. "And there's a reason I didn't get my powers from King Regis. The same goes for Gladio and Prompto as well. The power of the Crystal is not infinite. The King has already drawn more than any of his predecessors so that he can keep the Wall up and share it with the Glaives. The cost of drawing from the Crystal…is the King's lifesource. The more we take from him, the more we take from his life. Maybe it's foolish, but this family has already given me so much. I couldn't dare ask for anything else."
When Noctis bit his lip, he felt sorry that he'd had to say all of this in front of him.
The room was quiet for a long moment until Nyx finally nodded slowly. "Okay. When you put it that way, it makes sense. Well, you don't have to worry this time. I'm letting you borrow the powers from me, but it's a loan. Once we're back from Altissia, I want 'em back. Now, watch closely 'cause I'm only showing this to you once."
Flipping up his Glaive hood and pulling down a silver mask adorned with a single horn, he took both of his kukris out of their sheaths and stepped out to the deck. He scanned the large ship for a moment until his eyes found where he wanted to go. He threw the blade hard but it didn't pierce anything, only tumbling wildly into the air. Still, Nyx vanished from the spot, the purple streamers adorning his clothes being the last thing seen. He reappeared less than a second later, twenty feet in the air and holding the knife. He threw it again and gained another twenty feet. He continued this until he reached the deck far above them and not long after, they could hear a battle break out.
Noctis turned to Ignis and gave him a brave smile. "I'm flying up by using the Armiger. Are you going to be okay?"
It's what Ignis wanted to ask him and his rueful smile must've conveyed it, for the prince smiled a little wider back. "I'll be fine. Go up there and warm them up for me, will you?"
"Aye ye, capitán," Noct saluted. With a bright pulse of light, the weapons of his ancestors surrounded him and he floated up. Soon, his battle cheers could be heard above as he flitted between his enemies.
Putting away his polearm, Ignis withdrew his daggers. It'd been Nyx who'd recommended he learn how to use them instead of keeping to just a single weapon, though ironically, it seemed that aside from magic, the latter was content with only his own blades as company. Not allowing any time to doubt himself, he flung a dagger into the air and waited.
A second later, he vanished.
Noctis' crew not having a warp-strike has always bothered me. At the time this chapter is being uploaded, the Comrades online feature is only days away from going public but I played the beta. In it, we see that the created characters have Shell (the shield made of hexagons) and can warp strike but never are these talents given to the chocobros. Not just that, but if the Glaives did get their powers from Regis but Regis died, how the hell can any of the powers still be used? Ignis, Prompto and Gladio should be the only ones if they got their powers from Noctis. We even see how Regis' death screws over Nyx, with him having to condescendingly borrow powers from the Kings with the Ring in order to prevail in his final battle. It feels like another unfortunate plot hole left in the game…
And so, I felt it was time Ignis got his wings. Fly high, you magnificent bastard.