Renovating the Heart (FFXV)

LVIII) About Time

"It was Libertus."

"Libertus Libertus? Like, Nyx's Libertus?" Rayne asked, eyebrows raised to her hairline. Noctis nodded, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. "Never thought he'd lose his #$%^."

"That's the thing, though. He didn't." Noct turned his eyes to Ignis, who listened patiently. The king and Gladio left together to speak with the Glaives, who surprisingly turned out to be quiet apologetic and personable. "He and the rest of his Glaives went to Caem because they heard—very late—that we were there. The rest of his group was riled up by a few angry guys." He sighed, shaking his dark hair out of his eyes. "He's the one who brought Iris here."

"What do we do about them?" Prompto asked.

"I don't know," Noctis admitted. "I wanted to march in there and kill them all, but I guess it didn't work out that way."

"They get a pass because one guy decided to 'save' Iris after trying to kill her?" Rayne scoffed, crossing her arms. Noctis shook his head.

"No. They didn't understand why we denied them. Thought we were all stuck up and ungrateful. Gladio explained."

"I'm good with words," Gladio chucked. Rayne rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Just because you can read 'em doesn't mean you can speak 'em."

"So...?" Prompto pressed. Noctis sat up straighter.

"They're staying where they are. If they want to come try to impress Rayne, they can. If not, they need to back down and become hunters or something. Either, I think we're safe."

"That's good to hear," Ignis replied, touching his glasses. "How can you be certain they will honor that decision?"

"I trust Libertus."

"Does he want to come back?" Rayne asked. She almost sounded hopeful. Ignis couldn't blame her; it would be nice to have a few more familiar faces around. Noctis shook his head with a grim expression. 

"No. He just wants to go home."

"To Galahd?"

"Yeah."

"It's not there anymore, is it?"

"They've rebuilt," Ignis answered. "It's meager, but it's something." Noctis nodded, standing.

"Yeah." He stretched his arms over his head, thinking. "I'm going to bed. Are we heading back in the morning?"

"That's up to you," Gladio shrugged.

"... We are."

"Fine by me," Ignis nodded, heading for the door. "Goodnight, Majesty."

"Night, Specs."

Ignis headed down the hallway, his back aching from a long day of nothing but sitting around waiting for something to happen. His eyelids felt heavy and his limbs were like dead weight. The door didn't open when he turned the knob, snapping him out of his drowsy autopilot mode. Frowning, he pulled the key from his pocket and unlocked the door. Why had Rue locked it to begin with? Rayne said she wasn't feeling well, but certainly that meant she might appreciate help or at least company. Sighing, he shook his head and stepped inside, exhausted. Rue looked up from her phone, curled up under the covers.

"Finally," she muttered, putting the device on the side table. "I'm bored."

"You have my condolences," Ignis replied wryly, heading toward his suitcase. "We're headed back for the Crown City in the morning."

"We solved our pest problem?"

"Indeed we have." He glanced over at her, eyeing the tossed sheets. She didn't seem unwell, though it looked like she'd been sitting in bed for hours. Pushing the thought away, he briefly explained what Noct just told them. She nodded, fluffing up her pillow as she listened.