Inner Daemons (Final Fantasy XV Fanfic)

Chapter XXVII

Ignis parked the Regalia. The four men climbed out, their eyes instantly catching sight of the flags pinned up all over Lestallum. They immediately knew something was wrong. They went straight to the Leville for answers. There, they met up with Iris, who was in tears as she sat them down and explained what happened. They were a bit baffled as to why Angelica hadn't intervened.

"She wasn't around at the time," Iris told them. "I don't know exactly what she was up to, and she hasn't told me much. I've barely even seen her since the incident."

"She hasn't left, has she?" Noctis asked.

The brunette shook her head. "No, I know she's still in town. She's just been secluding herself. I think she's just feeling guilty about what happened."

"Blaming herself again." Gladio slowly shook his head. "She's got a real bad habit of doing that."

"Should we... maybe look for her?" Prompto suggested.

Noctis nodded. "Yeah."

With Gladiolus and Prompto staying at the hotel to help lighten the mood, Noctis and Ignis set out in search of the red-haired girl. They were especially concerned about her, knowing how she could be. They also wanted to hear her side of the story. After all, she was sure to have a valid reason for missing such a huge event. After quite a bit of searching, they finally found her at Tozus Counter, the small restaurant at the far side of the town and right next to the road.

She sat alone at a table, her back to them. She had a plastic cup sitting in front of her. With her elbow on the table, she rested her chin in her hand as she traced her finger along the rim of the cup. Noctis nudged his advisor, pointing to the girl. Ignis silently nodded, following the prince. The two went over, taking a seat across from her. Angelica's eyes boredly glanced up at them before returning to her cup of juice.

"Hey, Angel," Noctis greeted.

"Hi," she mumbled, not the least bit surprised to see them.

"Iris informed us of what happened," Ignis said, "and we'd like to hear your side of it. What exactly were you doing during the events that transpired?"

"Gathering information." She narrowed her eyes down at the cup. "Lotta good that did. I thought it would be useful if I had intel on the empire when you returned. But I hardly got anything, and someone was killed because of my carelessness."

"Angel." Noctis sighed with slight frustration. "I wasn't expecting you to have information for me, that wasn't why I sent you here. I just wanted you to give Iris and Talcott a hand with their preparations for when they leave for Caem."

"Oh..." Angelica slapped her palm over her face, growling lightly. "I'm such an idiot. I messed up big time."

"You aren't at fault for what happened," Ignis added. "No one blames you for it, you know. It's not as if you were the one to commit the murder."

Angelica looked over at them and grimaced. "But it IS my fault. I had two chances to stop this from happening. If I had left for Niflheim like I originally intended, those imperial rats would've been dead long before they ever came here. And even if I didn't go, I should've at least been with Iris and the others during the entirety of the empire's visit." She hung her head down in shame. "I failed you all. I'm a failure. What good is an assassin who can't do her job?"

Ignis reached a hand across the table, patting her shoulder. "You are NOT a failure."

Noctis nodded in agreement, smiling slightly. "Besides, you've been doing your job just fine to me." Angelica looked at them both in surprise. "Now c'mon, whaddya say we go on back to the hotel?"