FFXV: Subvert Fate

12 - The Arms, The Ring and The Conduit

That is a truly unnerving prospect when Ignis thinks about it. "You think she is... a threat to His Highness?" He cannot seem to reconcile this fact with the mother bear he has seen Chrys become in defense of Noctis.

But Cor is already shaking his head. "No I do not." He meets Ignis's eyes and the younger man wants to look away at the strength of emotion there. "I think she is a threat to herself more than anyone else. The demons that live in her head are not kind. And she has a hard road ahead of her, one she is not ready to share with you. It will make her shy from you more often than not. Be patient," the marshal counsels Ignis although Ignis is anything but patient right now. "She will find a way to tell you in time."

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The second tomb is located in Keycatritch Trench and the path is long. It's a walkable distance from the first tomb, not long enough that riding in Regalia is truly necessary, but just long enough that Prompto and Noctis will begin to complain about how sore their legs are tonight. Besides this, the six of them won't all fit in the Regalia, at least not comfortably and whoever gets the middle seat is always cranky that evening. They will take two days to get there, walking the first, tenting for the night to Noct's horror and Gladio's grin, and finish the journey tomorrow.

The first day passes quickly enough, Gladio and Chrys loping ahead, scouting and bouncing around each other. Prompto and Noct chat in the middle of the group, alternatively babbling about video games and complaining about the heat and dust. Cor and Ignis stay at the back, talking about the situation in the Crown City.

The evening is passed quietly, with Cor telling them about battles in his youth, the guys leaning in to listen deeply to the stories. Chrys is quiet when she tells Ignis she is going to go into the wilds to replenish arrows and he offers no protest, trying to give her space and time. She's gone late into the night which does make him nervous, but he quells the urge to follow her and goes to sleep, knowing she will return in the morning.

The next day, after the camp is packed and all six of them are ready to go, Noctis asks Cor, "So, once I have the power of kings, will I be able to reclaim the crystal?"

"I'm afraid it's not just the thirteen tombs, Highness," Cor says. "What do you know of the Conduit?"

"The Conduit?" Noct asks, clearly having no clue, looking to Ignis, who sighs.

"I'll admit...," Ignis says with ruefulness. "I don't actually know much about it."

"The king has to acquire the thirteen royal arms, but only with the Ring of the Lucii and the Conduit can he fully wield the power of Kings," Cor explains. "The Ring of the Lucii opens the pathway to commune with the kings of old, but the unfettered power of Kings... well, those deemed unworthy of the King's power,... they experience their wrath instead."

"That's what happened to the kingsglaive soldier who put on the ring of the Lucii then?" Prompto asks. Questioning eyes turn to him. "What?" he asks with a shrug. "It's been all over the gossip columns that one of the kingsglaive put on the Ring to save Luna and he... paid for it with his life."

"Is that true, marshal?" Gladio asks, something between awe and respect on his face.

Cor nods. "It is. Many tried to put the ring on that night and were consumed."

"Who was it?"

Cor turns to Chrys, surprised her voice is so small. She's been quiet all morning, having slunk back to camp in the early hours of the dawn. Her face is full of dread, a nameless kind of fear that Ignis has never seen on her face. There is expectation to it, like she can already guess the answer. He realizes with a jolt that whoever it was could have been one of her comrades, perhaps someone she was close to during the time she served in the kingsglaive.