FFXV: Subvert Fate

8 - Insomnia Falls

Thankful to have this nice hotel room to hang out in before breakfast, Noctis stretches his arms above his head. Although he doesn't mind sleeping in the camper with the guys, it was nice to wander over here for breakfast and then chill on the bed for a bit. Ignis talked to the manager about them hanging in a room for a bit before departing for Altissia and the manager was more than happy to do so for the prince.

"Heya, morning," Prompto says to Noct, sitting on the edge of the bed, idly drumming one heel on the skirting board.

Noct surveys the room. Gladio is lounging on one of the chairs. Chrys has her back to them, standing at the wall length window, arms folded, shoulders tight. "Where's Specs?" Noct asks, noting Ignis's absence.

"Should be back any minute now," Gladio says, propping a foot on his needs.

As if on cue, Ignis opens the door. Chrys turns slightly, just enough that they can see her in profile, but all eyes are on Ignis. His face is dejected, eyes downcast. Chrys's eyes spear him with questions but his eyes are on Noctis.

"What's that look for?" Noctis asks Ignis, observant for once of the somber expression on his advisor's face.

Ignis hands the paper to Gladio, who is closest to him. "It's all in the papers," he says lowly.

Chrys walks over to join them, eyes on Ignis before she looks down over Gladio's shoulder. "What is it?" Noct asks as Gladio pales.

Prompto leans in to read, his voice halting. "Insomnia... falls?"

Noctis's jaw drops open and anger rushes to the surface hot and fast. "Is this your idea of a joke?" he blurts at Ignis.

"I need you to calm down so I can explain," Ignis says placatingly. Despite the lack of reaction on her face, Chrys moves closer to Noctis, eyes wary.

"I'm as calm as I'm gonna get!" Noct growls. Chrys gently lays a hand on his forearm, an unexpected, comforting gesture that stalls Noctis's anger for a moment. Ignis flashes her a look of thanks although he is confused by the gesture. Reticent Chrys doesn't touch people.

"There was an attack," Ignis says as calmly as he can manage despite his own roiling heart. "The imperial army has taken the Crown City."

Noctis can feel his breath whooshing in and out too fast, his heartbeat thundering in his ears. Chrys sinks down next to him on the bed, her hand still on his arm as Gladiolus reads from the newspaper.

"As treaty room tempers flared, blasts lit the night sky," Gladio reads, disbelief coloring his voice. "When the smoke about the Citadel had cleared, the kind was found... dead."

Chrys's hand is suddenly gone, and she stands abruptly. "No wait, hold on...," Noctis starts, looking at Gladio in disbelief. Chrys folds her arms and hides her face behind her braids, shadowing her expression but Ignis thinks he sees a vicious kind of grief there before she turns away from them, body posture caving in on itself like a collapsing star.

"We had no way of knowing," Ignis says. His eyes flit from Noctis to Chrys and then back, knowing his king needs him and that outweighs how Chrys is reacting.

"What?" Noctis demands harshly. "Knowing what?"

"That the signing was last night, that Insomnia--," Ignis says, doing his best to keep his words level.

"But the wedding!" Noct interjects. "Altissia!"

"I know, that was the plan," Ignis says a little more forcefully than he intended to. He marshals a calming breath. "Yet the reports of the invasion are all the same. How could every headline in the kingdom be wrong?"