After the Light (FFXV)

Chapter 24

       "Y-you're mother?" Prompto asked.
         "Be careful, Gladio. It could be Cain." Ignis warned.
         "Mr. Izunia is too busy to come out and play with you." The woman said.
         "So he sent you instead?" Noctis snarked.
         "Oh no. He wants you to find him. I'm here to see my son before you get on the train." She said.
         Aranea folded her arms. "You look a little too young to be the mother of a man in his thirties."
        "We all have our secrets. Now come, Gladio." She said.
         "Don't do it." Noctis commanded.
         "I can speak for myself. Why should I trust you?" Gladio asked.
         "You don't have to trust me, but we share a common interest; getting your sister out of there." The woman tightened her fists, and pain filled her eyes. "It was only supposed to be the Oracle and her brother. Not Iris."
           Gladio was torn. He hadn't seen his mother in a very long time. As one of Insomnia's leading spies, she was always busy with work, and often left the city for that reason. The last time they were together, was the night before he left the city with Noctis. After that night, he and Iris never heard from their mother again. The woman who stood before him, looked and sounded like his mother, but she also appeared to be in her forties.
"I won't go with you. Instead, you'll come with us." Gladio insisted.
          She chuckled. "Still so loyal to your king. Fine. I'll go with you."
          As she turned to walk, Prompto asked, "What's your name?"
         "Gloriosa." She answered.

          On the train, they sat in groups of two. Noctis with Prompto, Ignis with Aranea, and Gladio with Gloriosa.
They kept their eyes on each other; the mother and son. His gaze was sharp, focused, and he sat with his arms crossed. He wanted to know what her plan was, and how she was going to backstab them. Her eyes were the same as his, almost like looking in the mirror, but she held a very endearing expression on her face. For Gladio, that expression made it harder to not believe she was his mother. Still, he couldn't be too careful.
         "I wish you wouldn't look at me like that, but I guess I do owe you an explanation." She said.
         "Then start talking." He demanded.
         "After we get Iris. I won't explain myself twice." She responded sharply.
         "Why wait for me in the city? You knew that Iris wasn't supposed to be taken with Stella; so why didn't you go get her?"
         "I had other business to attend to. This all could've gone much worse if I left it alone. I know your sister is fine."
          "Didn't sound like it when she called us." Noctis jumped in before moving to a seat closer to them.
          "Then I guess he's screwing with all of us, your highness." She exclaimed.

         Out of breath, Ravus pushed a door closed and locked it. They'd been battling hordes of magitek troops and daemons, in their attempt to escape the facility. He turned to face Stella and Iris, who were searching for another exit.
        "This is the only way out. After we've rested, we'll go." He told them.
"You have the ring." Iris pointed out. "Does that mean you..."
Stella shook her head. "No. This was my way out of that cell."
"It looks like the Ring of the Lucii." Ravus tilted his head slightly, observing the ring.
"Everything seems to be about cloning with Cain. I feel terrible for what he's done to Lunafreya." Stella glanced at the ring.
"That daemon was not our sister." There was so much pain in his voice. "That bastard won't get away with this."
"...Who else does he have?" Iris wondered.
"What do you mean?" Stella asked.
Iris slowly paced around the room. "Cain wants you to open the door and capture souls. Lunafreya's clone had to be ready around the time you had that dream. Now he's ready for more souls. Whose souls?"
        "He also said something about using Umbra's blood. Do you think that's to speed up the aging process?"
         "Perhaps." Ravus raised his hand up to his chin. "I assume it depends on when the clones were made. If they're plagued with the starscourge, then they're immortal."
         "That...makes sense, I guess." Iris leaned against the wall and folded her arms. "Rather than wait years for the clones to grow, he uses time travel to speed up the process, so he can infect their older and stronger bodies with the starscourge. Depending on the amount of clones, how much of Umbra's blood does he need per clone?"
        Ravus shrugged. "It's probably only a small amount of clones."
       "...Unless he cloned Umbra. If it can also time travel..." Stella began.
       "...Then Cain can use the blood of Umbra's clones." Ravus finished.

A loud explosion faintly heard outside of the room, forced Ravus away from the door. The trio glanced at each other, wondering if the explosion was caused by friends or foes. They readied their weapons, and cautiously left the room.
"Check over there!" They heard the echo of Ignis' voice.
Iris' face lit up. "That's Iggy!"
"Ignis?!" Stella called out.
They quickly, but cautiously made their way down the hall. Ignis and Prompto peeked out of the room, and then stepped out, followed by Aranea.
"Are you all right?" Ignis gestured for Iris to raise her wrists, and took out a potion.
"We are now. Thanks." Iris let out a sigh of relief as the potion healed her wrists.
"You're missing two." Stella pointed out, wondering where Noctis and Gladio were.
"They must've gone on ahead." Prompto assumed, peeking back into the room before running in. "Noct! Gladio!"
The rest of the team followed, and no sooner did they hear the shriek of a worried Noctis. "Prompto!"
Rushing through the next door, they found Prompto standing with his hands up, as Cain held his sword up to Prompto's throat. Noctis and Gladio, stood on the opposite side, while Gloriosa quickly turned the next corner to avoid being seen.
"You have something that belongs to me. Will you cooperate now, Stella?" Cain pressed the sword against Prompto's skin.
"Yes! Just-....Please don't hurt him." Stella pleaded.
"Then move your feet." He demanded.
Cain watched as Stella cautiously made her way over to him. He directed her towards the elevator at the end of the hall.
"We're a little behind schedule. So sit tight, your highness." He smirked at Noctis, before following Stella, with Prompto, to the elevator.