FFXV: Subvert Fate

10 - Share His Grief

"The crystal and the king's ring...," Cid says with a contemplative sigh. "What they been after all along....,"

They are standing or sitting in Cid's garage in Hammerhead, solemn-faced one and all. Noctis, Prompto and Cid are on chairs in a loose circle, Noct staring at his hands between his legs, Prompto's usually cheerful face sad. Gladio is leaning against the desk, arms folded and Ignis is mimicking his posture against the Regalia. Chrys is partially hidden in the shadows, half-sitting on the Regalia's hood.

"So all talk of peace was merely a pretext," Ignis murmurs. He is still having trouble believing that Insmonia has fallen.

"They played my father for a fool," Noctis says with bitter anger.

"Don't kid yourself," Cid says with his brand of blunt honesty. "Reggie wasn't born yesterday. Lucis got a losin' hand and your old man played it the best he could." Nocti's dark eyes remain stonily on the garage floor. "He saw this comin' a mile away, and he wasn't gonna go down without a fight. In the end though...," There is a comrade's grief on Cid's face, an expression Ignis has seen far too many times in the past past. Cid sighs. "Well, it just wasn't enough."

No one says anything, the silence somber.

"You need something else, you talk to Cor," Cid says finally, standing up. He glances at a photo on his desk with old eyes. "I can't even remember the last time I saw Reggie. Feels like a lifetime ago," he says quietly as if to himself before leaving them alone in the garage.

Ignis walks over to the desk and looks down at the photo, face expressionless. In the picture, a young Regis, Cid and Cor smile back at the photographer. He has never known Regis without lines on his face and it saddens him to think of how much he didn't know about the king as a person.

Chrys pushes off the car, and slides out on the far side of the Regalia to avoid talking to them. She's been quieter than normal since they got back to Hammerhead and there hasn't been a chance to talk. She has her head down so she doesn't unintentionally meet anyone's eyes and she follows Cid.

The rest of them also can't seem to find the right words. Noctis is brimming with anger and Ignis doesn't have any wrds that won't sound mothering or condescending. Any bursts of anger from Noct have been met with Gladio's put downs, and "put it in perspective". Gladio's worry for his sister Iris is evident in his voice and Ignis has done his best to modulate Gladio's stress. Prompto is a bit more panicky than normal, more unsure about what he can offer to Noctis in light of recent events.

It puts something in perspective for Ignis that he never really understood before. When Chrys was first chosen by Regis as Noctis's retainer, Regis had made a remark that while Prompto provides Noctis with a carefree friend to share happy memories, Chrys will provide Noctis with someone he can speak about his grief with. In the car on the way to Hammerhead, she and Noctis murmured in the backseat together and Noctis seems most calm around her even if Chrys herself is walled off from the rest of them. Ignis has to admit that she does know how to navigate Noctis's anger in a way that he does not.

Seeing her hunch a bit when talking to Cid reminds him of when she first joined the Crownsguard. She is always professional with him, but is more open to joking with Gladio and Prompto and while she may rib Noct on occasion, she is always professional around her prince. Her silence lately and stuttering speech if she does talk reminds him of the quiet thing they first encountered in the Crown City.

It seems like a lifetime ago, although it was less than a year. He can remember talking to her in Noctis's apartment as he prepared dinner, remember the way she hid from him the way she is retreating now.