iwillshieldhim | The World We Fought For [for fieryknowledge]

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The World We Fought For [for fieryknowledge]

It was oddly calm in those last moments, a peace that came over him as he fought purely on muscle memory against the massive giant trying to smash him. Somewhere behind him, he could hear Prompto, not just the sound of gun fire, but it sounded like he was screaming, over and over, as he fought. Wordless angry shouts that if he had the time to think, to care beyond second to second of just surviving, would have torn him apart. The sound of pain, of loss, of anger. He'd lost track of Ignis, always so silent, and he feared the worst. He tried to look anyway, find his love in the chaos. Make sure he was still-

Second to second, he shouldn't have looked away. The giant found its opening as Gladio's eyes scanned the wreckage, trying to spot Ignis in all of it. The fear in his heart settled when he spotted the other, still up, still fighting, even as the massive blade slammed under his guard and sent him flying to hit the ground hard. A spike of pain screamed in his shoulder, but he barely noticed.

They had turned their back on Noct to let him die, walking forward to their fates knowing they would do the same. All they had to do was hold on long enough, just long enough to let him truly become the Chosen King. Gladio had accepted what would come, and while he thought Ignis knew, in a way, he was content with this. He had protected Noct until the end. Ignis might still live.

The giant raised its blade, and try as he might, Gladio couldn't get his own blade to lift. It wouldn't be possible on that broken shoulder. He stared up at his death, then let out a breath. ...I kept my promise.

I love you, Iggy.

Let there be light.

It came across the skies like a needle thrust into the heart of the darkness itself, a shaft of light so brilliant and golden that it hurt the eyes. The giants roar hurt almost as much, stabbing into his head until he was forced to close his eyes.

unconscious

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His eyes closed slowly, breathing out equally so. He could remember those very same things, and even now he was there, feeling Ignis' heart beat in time with his. Hearing all of this somehow felt simultaneously felt like a knife and a balm. Finally he turned, hating how rough his voice sounded when he spoke. "...I never stopped loving you, damn it." He never was any good with the emotional stuff, but he also knew that he failed to show it enough... when he wasn't around to show it physically.

There was a rapid sound of his footsteps and then all at once he gathered up Ignis to him, not crushing him but tight, burying his face against his shoulder and letting his voice rumble in his chest. "I'm fucking sorry." Because it didn't feel like there was anything else he could really say at this point.

Each footstep both tightened his chest and eased his spirit. The embrace startled him in a way. When Gladio returned to him during the long night, their coming together was usually quick and hard and damn near desperate but this... this embrace pulled a shuddering sigh from Ignis as he let go of a breath he'd been holding for longer than he'd realized.

The embrace back his backache sharper but this time, it was not only allowable, it was exquisite. Sighing his lover's name, Ignis reached up and sank a hand into Gladio's hair as he settled his forehead against Gladio's shoulder while his other arm tucked itself around him as best he could.

"So am I, love. More than you know."

Gladio turned his head enough to be able to tuck his head along side of Ignis', not caring that they both still really needed a proper shower, that his one arm was unable to properly embrace Ignis, and they still had so many damn problems to deal with. Just give me two minutes, he silently begged the Six, hoping for just that to be able to show anything he could to Ignis. He kept trying, during those years. It had been quick and hard and desperate because it felt like he had so little time to prove anything, even to himself, about what he felt for Ignis that had never stopped.

"...we've got a whole new chance, now. Dunno what's coming, but... we can take it. Figure out how to make this work." All of them? This new world? Their relationship? All of it, really.

They'd embraced while filthy before. This was nothing new and he wouldn't have it any other way. This was the most connected he'd felt to Gladio in a long time and as far as he was concerned, he would keep him right there in his arms for as long as the Six allowed it.

It was all too easy to let himself lean against that familiar frame and allow himself a moment of weakness that had been a decade in the making. A whole new chance. A new world. So much to do, but Ignis was worn. He was tired. Perhaps in a few days, once he'd had the chance to clean up and sleep soundly for the first time in years, then he might see it all differently. For now, he would have to lean on the people he loved even if it wasn't easy for him.

"... we can."

"One step at a time." Because none of them knew what was coming next. None of them even had a clue which way to go. It would all come down to Noct's decision, because none of them would leave him, but as he already had before, again and again, he would shape their world. They all would give their fates to him again.

Gladio silently wondered if Noct would tell them to fuck off with their giving their fates to him. He deserved a freedom he hasn't had before.

He sighed and nuzzled Ignis' head gently. "...What did you say to Prompto that made him cry?" If they were going to do all of this, he needed to know to try and mend it. "Did he say something to you about me leaving?"

One step at a time-

It reminded him of when he'd first started training with Gladio so long ago. He'd be exhausted and aching from head to toe and Gladio would harass him and remind him that it was all one step at a time... Those single steps had gotten them this far. A few more would see them through. Right?

"... he asked why I didn't want both of you back and asked if I only really considered Noctis my family. I called him blind and accused him... and you... of being the ones that always left."

...Ignis looked damn good when he worked out. It helped Gladio to harass him, if in a slightly different way than he had their prince.

"I did leave." Not something he was proud to admit but not so proud he couldn't admit it, not when all of this felt like it was riding on such a damn thin line between them. "I... fuck." This was happening, right now, with Noct still unconscious not that far away and both of them still hurt, but it was happening. He brought his hand up along Ignis' back and into his hair, cradling the back of his skull.

"I didn't know what was worse. The look on your face when I left or the look when I said something angry and stupid and hurtful or when you went cold and blank and far away from me even standing across a room."

"What was I supposed to do?"

Losing Noct had been a blow to all of them. It left them all adrift in the dark and for Ignis, it left him feeling useless and pointless. He'd turned his attention to Gladio at first but when his anger pushed Ignis away, all he could do was withdraw and shut down. When Prompto left, that last part of Ignis that had learned to ease up and laugh with his brothers had died.

There were thing that Ignis wanted to say to Gladio, but he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to, not even in the light of a new day.

"I felt like I wasn't enough to keep either of you close to me. I wasn't enough to keep us together."

"I don't know." Just going to admit that outright because no, he had no idea how to make any of it better back then. Didn't now, either, but he was trying with everything in him because feeling Ignis walk away from him like that... well, maybe he was starting to understand some of the damage he'd caused.

Gladio probably deserved everything Ignis would have to throw at him, and then some.

A soft sigh left him and his hand squeezed gently. "None of us where. When Noct finds out, I'm pretty sure he's going to read us the riot act of how stupid we all were." But the former statement held more weight, twisting in his chest. All he wanted to do was hold Ignis closer but he knew that the other's back was still an issue as was his other shoulder. "I kept coming home where I belonged, thinking it was enough. ...Know it wasn't."

"I should've been able to, though. I looked after everyone for years. It was my-"

Job? Not really. Maybe at first, but not once Ignis realized that he had family and that was what family did for each other. Calling? Again, at first and with Noctis and even that had changed. There really wasn't a word for what he had done for so long.

Huffing a low laugh, he let himself bask in Gladio's presence for a moment longer before slowly unwinding himself from his lover. They were both filthy and injured, even if that was better than before.

"Well, he'd be right. We need to make sure we're all well enough to take a good brow beating from our King once he wakes up."

No question of if.

"Your job?" Gladio raised a brow, shaking his head slightly. "Noct was your job. The rest of us... well, we were supposed to look after each other because we were friends." More than friends. Ignis, even Prompto, had become damn important to him. "Even if I fucked that up first." In the face of their mission, the mission he'd been born knowing the horrible details of and had steeled himself so long ago simply to do, he had put that above all else. Sometimes he had looked back on those moments and hated himself more than that fucker in the coat.

He brought his hand around to brush his thumb over Ignis' cheek briefly before he sighed, looking over towards Noct. When. Never if. He couldn't think if and handle this right now.

"We're gonna need Prompto if we're going to do this. Where'd you leave him? I'll go get him."

There was an ugly little shred of Ignis that wanted to tell Gladio to leave the blonde where he was and let him cry himself out, but he knew he shouldn't. He wasn't sure that he'd ever stop in that case. After all, Prompto had a lifetime of pain and fear and worry to release. He pushed away that unkind side of himself and told Gladio where he'd last left him, quietly hoping that he'd still be there.

He might not be ready to say much to Prompto when Gladio brought him back, but they needed to be together. Noctis would want them to be.

"Go on. I'll watch over Noct while you're gone."

Deal with the kiss to the forehead because it's happening, Ignis. Gladio walked off with that, trusting Noct with Ignis as he went and collected Prompto. It took a little while, possibly longer than Ignis might have imagined. There was... a talk that happened. Prompto was red-eyed and he didn't say anything when he came into the room, instead going straight over to Noct and sitting on the bed, still mostly naked except for his pants and just not even able to care.

He felt tired down to his soul.

Gladio looked to Ignis and let out a slow breath, trying to keep his voice calm as he said, "you asked Prompto to try that stuff too." Statement, because Prompto had admitted it while wanting to know why Gladio thought they shouldn't do it.

Ignis had settled himself next to Noct, his fingers gentle as they carded through his King's hair while he quietly filled him in on everything that had happened. It wasn't much use of course, but Ignis remembered back to when he'd first lost his sight and how soothing someone's quiet voice could be when recovering. Once he heard two sets of footsteps approaching, he quietly excused himself and moved off of the bed and back to the chair he'd vacated earlier, easing himself back even as he tipped his head at Gladio's question.

There wasn't even as 'glance' Prompto's direction. Not yet.

"I wanted to see how it effected him. I still think it would help Noctis."

Nothing was said about Prompto's earlier question, if it might give him his sight back. It was something too cruel to even think about, not that it'd left Ignis' mind and wouldn't anytime soon.

Prompto wasn't looking towards Ignis, either. Really, he had no idea what to feel right now around Ignis. He felt hurt, pretty sure he had hurt, but he still wanted to wrap his arms around the other and bury his face against his shoulder. So instead he sat there, one arm partially wrapped himself and the other hand tangling into Noct's. "I'll still do it," Prompto said after that comment from Ignis, even if he didn't look over. "I don't know what it'll do but something... something's wrong with Noct and we need to fix it."

"Something's wrong?" Gladio threw over, frowning as his arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't know. I don't even know how I know! I just... know." Prompto's hand around him came up and slid through his messy hair.

Gladio looked over to Ignis, wondering if Ignis was buying this. How could Prompto know that? Not that Gladio... disagreed entirely, something was definitely up, but Prompto sounded defensive about it.

Ignis sat silently for several long moments, fully aware that Gladio's eyes were on him. He felt the same way, that something wasn't right, but Prompto... he sounded so sure.

"... Prompto, you didn't have any troubles finding Noctis when I sent you to him, did you? How did you know where to look?"

Now that Ignis mentioned it... Gladio knew that Prompto had only been to the throne room three, maybe four times and spent the rest of the time helplessly lost trying to get anywhere in the Citadel other than the training room. How had he found Noct so easily?

"...No?" That made Prompto's head lift, frowning as he looked, finally, over to Ignis. Gladio could see him trying to think it through before he just admitted, "I don't know. I just- went."

"He's been there a few times." Gladio pointed out, leaning against the wall. "Just remembered." But he didn't sound so certain about that, now.

"A few times."

Hells, anyone could easily get lost in the labyrinthine corridors of the Citadel unless you were pretty much raised there or had worked there daily for years. It'd taken Prompto time to learn his way to the training rooms and even then, it was still easy to get turned around or take a wrong turn.

There was a hint of a quirk to Ignis' lips now as he heard that faint doubt in Gladio's voice.

"Prompto. Can you remember how to get outside from here? Or to Noct's old rooms from here?"

"If you want me to be honest, I don't even know where we are," Prompto admitted, looking down at Noct again.

Gladio's lips thinned and he shook his head. "I've only even been to the King's rooms once, Iggy. That's hardly a fair estimate of any of this."

"If Iggy thinks the potion could help, I think we should do it. ...We'll see what it does on me and- I don't care if I have to go touch the Crystal myself. Just- he's not waking up. We're sitting here talking and think about it! Usually he groans and rolls over and- something! Anything! He hasn't so much as moved!" Prompto's voice finally broke and he found himself gripping Noct's hand hard, eyes squeezed shut. He was so sick of all of this; why couldn't everything just leave them alone for once!? Why did it keep having to be this damn hard!?

... Gladio still didn't trust him on this. That revelation wasn't anything new, but it weighed heavily on Ignis. Prompto did, but if it was out of trust or desperation, he had no idea. At least he was willing to give it a try.

Ignis sighed when he heard the break in Prompto's voice. It made his chest tight just as much as Gladio's lack of trust did.

"... we have to try. Give him the potion, Gladio."

It wasn't Ignis he didn't trust but that damn Crystal! It was supposed to be their salvation, but it had taken Noct from them for ten damn years! How was he supposed to trust something created from it when they had Noct physically here, alive? If they lost him again... he would never forgive himself.

But if some of his trust in Ignis wasn't obvious, he went and picked up the purple vial and didn't smash the damn thing, instead handing it over to Prompto with a clearly disapproving look on his face. Prompto took it, looking down at the thick substance as it shifted inside of the tube.

"...You really think the King was taking this before we left?" He couldn't say 'before he died', not without having his stomach turn over. Quietly he popped the cap on it, but didn't immediately taste it.

That same Crystal had protected them for many years, allowing them a mostly peaceful youth and prosperous city to grow up in. It game them their own power and had allowed them a brief, shining moment of blissful connection that still stood out in Ignis' mind. The Crystal might be its own entity, but here and now, it would be used as a tool. A means to an end.

... hopefully.

"I do as well as the potion I used on you earlier. I believe he was using it to supplement his strength until he knew that Noctis would be ready to take on his duties. Unfortunately, the Empire had other plans and rushed that process along."

"Okay." Quiet. Prompto stared down at it for several long moments, honestly a little bit frightened. He remembered the moment they had activated that feeling inside of him. When his entire world had shook inside and out and made the world shine around him, brought everything into an incredible detail and notice. When Noct had looked at him and the whole world became him. He never had the courage to ask if Noct felt the same.

What Ignis hadn't done was tell Prompto how much of the potion he had tried.

So, Prompto being Prompto, put on his serious business face, put it up to his lips and took a swallow of the stuff.

Gladio almost had a heart attack when he saw Prompto jerk, bolting over and managing to save the damn vial even as he grabbed the blond, spitting out a curse as he looked into those blue eyes that suddenly had pupils no bigger than pinpricks.

Ignis didn't need his sight to tell him that something was wrong. He lurched forward in his chair and onto his feet before he could think, already damn near sprinting the short distance to the bed, an apology knotting up in his stomach as he reached out to try and help Gladio with Prompto.

He'd made the wrong call. He'd convinced him to do it and now-

Whispering the blonde's name, he reached out to card a hand through his hair, trying to get him back to the here and now.

For Prompto, he saw all of it. Or... some of it. He couldn't even name what he was seeing. He heard this strange slow beat in the air but nothing else, not even as he watched Ignis' and Gladio's lips move. There were glowing lines, brilliant and beautiful, shining between them, going from each of them...

He looked down, at the connections, heard the beat again. The connection between themselves and Noct, between each other, pulsing each time he heard the beat in the air. It felt like he was the only thing moving in real time as he reached down and grasped one of the connections between his fingers, even though physically his body didn't move at all.

Ignis would feel it, like something had grabbed a hold of something inside of him like a hand on his shoulder, even as Prompto was ramrod stiff in their hands and staring at nothing with wide eyes.

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