An Angel Blooms (Gladio X Reader)

Chapter 5

"This your idea of a joke?" Noct yelled.

"I need you to calm down so I can explain." Ignis said. Noct stomp towards him, getting up in his face.

"I'm as calm as I'm gonna get!"

Ignis sighed, "There was an attack. The imperial army has taken the Crown City."

I turned away from all of them and looked out the glass wall that overlooked the ocean. I didn't want to see any of their faces right now. My lungs began to constrict the longer I held in my breath. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't breathe. My mind was full of questions. Did the King make it out alive? Did he escape in time? What good is a Glaive without a King to protect?

Gladio began reading the article which claimed that the King did not survive. I didn't want to believe that though. Maybe Niflheim just wants everyone to think he's dead. I already knew Lunafreya would be in Insomnia, since I was originally going to be the one to help her escape after she got the Ring from King Regis. Maybe whoever took my place helped him escape too. Noct just couldn't understand what was happening. In the time I've spent with him I realized he really wanted to marry Luna. He didn't really show it, but it was obvious how thrilled he was about the ceasefire. But now that was all crumbling before his very eyes.

"We had no way of knowing," Ignis said, but he was wrong. They did have a way of knowing. If I had just said something, anything, maybe we all could have done something. The silence in the room felt deadly. I continued to look out the window, wanting to disappear before they could ask me anything.

"Y/N," Ignis' voice made my body run cold. I did not look back at him or respond. When he realized I would not speak he continued, "did you know anything about this?" I was still frozen in place. The words would not get past the lump in my throat and my eyes began to burn. I forced out a shaky breath and slowly turned around. I looked at each of their faces starving down on my intensely.

My voice trembled as I spoke, "Y-yes... I did," They all looked shocked and angry. Noct stood up and walked towards me.

"You... Why didn't say anything?!" He yelled.

My jaw fell slightly, "Noct, I" I stopped and sighed. What could I possibly say? What could possibly make this all okay again? I decided to just tell them everything that King Regis told me, "The ceasefire was a lie. Niflheim used it as a pretense so that they could attack the Citadel from the inside. His Majesty already knew, right away, but he didn't want to just sit around and do nothing. He did not send you four out to Altissia so that Noct could marry Lady Lunafreya. He wanted Noct to escape days before the signing and stay safe." It was quiet. None of them knew what to say.

Noct backed away from me. His head shook slightly as if to deny what he heard, "Why?" Noct whimpered, "Why did he lie to me?"

I took a deep breath and continued, "He knew you wouldn't leave his side if he told you."

Gladio sighed, "Well then. What are we supposed to do?" He asked me.

I shook my head, "He didn't say. All he told me was that he was becoming more and more afraid of Noctis' safety. He knew the imperial army would come looking for you all, so he wanted to send another Crownsguard with you guys. However, they were all assigned to escort civilians out of Insomnia. The King felt that the safety of his people was more important than his own, so... he asked Captain Drautos to choose one of the best in the Kingsglaive to accompany you all."

No one said a word. I turned back and looked far beyond the ocean. I knew I would have to tell them eventually, but I knew it would be hard for them to understand. I then heard Gladio speak up, "What else do we know?" I assumed he was referring to everyone now. I shook my head slightly to signify that I was finished. "Well, let's go back and see how bad the damage is." We all faced Gladio, unsure of what to say.