Renovating the Heart (FFXV)

LIV) Acceptance, Reassurance, Rinse and Repeat

Petrified, Rue stood frozen in place by the boom of Gladio's growling voice. Signum stumbled down the stairs to approach the crowd, glancing at Rayne. His sister sprung to life, rushing forward and throwing her arms around him, squeezing him tightly with her eyes screwed shut. Ignis frowned, taking in the boy's appearance as he came to fill the space between Rue and Gladio. Thank the gods I'm not next to Big-Scary anymore. But Big-Scary hadn't received an answer yet, and frankly, it was pissing him off. Noctis stood from his seat, staring at the door as if he expected the younger Amicitia to walk through any moment. 

"Where is she?!" Gladio shouted again.

"Gladio," Ignis warned, his tone sharp but his voice gentle. "Give him a moment."

"He's had a lot of #$%^&*^ moments," the shield bit back. Ignis took a deep breath, touching his glasses to reset his flaring ire. "Where is she?"

"Are you okay?" Rayne asked, forcing her brother to look her in the eye. He nodded hesitantly, afraid to look at Gladio—and for good reason. Quickly losing his well-trained patience, Gladio charged forward and forced them apart. Rayne cried out in protest, but he ignored her, towering over Signum.

"What happened?" he snarled, his regularly calm amber eyes flashing all sorts of bright, angry shades. Signum stammered for a moment, trying to find words.

"We were attacked," he said finally. "A group of people came and tried to kill us in Cape Caem." He backed away from Gladio, eyes wide as he looked around at all our faces. "Iris and I held them off as long as we could, but there were too many. We had to run. We set off down the road and traveled all night, but they had people stationed along the roads that ambushed us." His voice wavered and for a long time, he stared at Rue, trying to remember who she was. "I couldn't see anything because they started setting off bombs when we headed into the woods. We were split up." He shuddered. "They chased after her." Gladio looked ready to tear him limb from limb.

"Where is she?"

"I went back the next morning to find her," Signum explained, continuing to create a gap between himself and the enormous, hulking man. "I traced the footsteps and everything. I found her in the woods, but she didn't have a pulse. I did everything I could, but—" His voice cut off when it cracked, and he swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry. I tried so #$%^&*^ hard, I swear I did. I left to find a healer, and when I came back, I couldn't find her. The animals must've..."

Gladio was still and silent, which was arguably even more terrifying than all his shouting and shoving. Beside him, Rayne blinked at her brother, dumbfounded. Iris Amicitia... dead? The entire room took on a chilling silence. Rue's heart found it hard to beat inside her tight chest. She wanted to run, but she was afraid of what might happen if she dared to move a muscle. She'd never had much reason to be scared of Gladio before, but this... this wasn't the Gladio she knew at all.

"You didn't try hard enough," Gladio finally said, his voice low and gritted. "If you hadn't run, she would be here right now."

"You don't know that," Signum stuttered, taking another step back.

"I don't?" Gladio growled, fists clenched at his sides. "Sounds to me like you got scared and hid while she took the fall for your #$%^." Ignis's fingers flexed. Rue wondered what was running through his mind. He could read that man better than Rayne could; he knew what Gladio's next move was before Gladio did. Signum's face hardened and Rayne squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the storm to come. Stunned, Rue watched the scene play out in disbelief.

"Yeah, well, maybe if you weren't so busy #$%^&*^ my sister, you would've picked up the phone when we called for help. Then she would be here, Gladio."