Hi I played FFXV for five hours today and I couldn’t get this scene out of my head.
Insomnia Falls, the headline reads, and Ignis feels like he’s falling with it.
He skims the front page; sensationalism, mostly, but the pertinent details are there. The king’s picture is below the fold, and Ignis puts a hand out to steady himself. He breathes deliberately, and the shopclerk throws him a sympathetic glance. Ignis straightens, pays for his paper, and heads back to the room.
All of Galdin Quay is murmuring about it, in hushed tones as if to speak too loudly will bring the Imperials down on them. Ignis pauses outside the hotel door, composing his features. It’s fallen to him to bring the news to the prince; the least he can do for Noctis is deliver the news calmly. Dispassionately.
But when he opens the door he sees the dead king overlaid on Noctis’ face, freshly out of bed and unaware of what the rest of the world already knows, and it’s too much, even for a boy who would one day be king. Ignis should take the news right to his prince, Noctis deserves that much; but Ignis finds himself turning to Gladiolus instead, hands over the paper and lets Gladio read the headline into the stunned silence.
It’s probably kinder this way. Gladio has a heartfelt touch when he’s not posturing, and his shocked disbelief is probably more comforting than Ignis would be.
There is no easy way to break this news, after all. The others respond admirably: Gladio wants more information, Prompto knows that nowhere is safe - but it’s Noctis that Ignis is watching, the decision to go forward or back the first real test he’s had to face.
“Turn back?” Gladio asks, and Ignis waits to see which side his prince will come down on.
“Yeah,” Noctis says after a long moment, heavy with grief and stunned disbelief. He looks down at his hands and Ignis blows out a breath.
The first, but not the last. Ignis can guide as best he can, but the choice ultimately resides with Noct.
There is no way but forward, now.
