Author's Note: I do not intend to write a 10+ year story. I have written a 1 year story that took ten years to write. A 10+ year story might take me a century! I don't seek to set out a detailed novel then. Rather, I will write moments, scenes. Some long, some shorter. These moments will span the ten years of the world of ruin and maybe even go beyond. I hope to stick to canon where there is canon. (I do not consider Comrades to be canon, as it somewhat negates canon. Though I may borrow bits from it.) I may even borrow (by referencing title and author) a moment from another story someone else wrote that I feel fits into my story arc. (I have at least one in mind.) Heck, I may even write out of order. But then, I do tend to write linearly.

Also note: I have not played Final Fantasy XV or any other Final Fantasy in my life. But I did become enamored of a certain bespecticled character as I watched my husband play this game where he had to fight some beast every twenty feet he moved or stand around fishing. It got way more interesting to me in Chapter 10. So I went to Youtube and watched playthroughs of Chapter 9. I made sure my husband didn't play unless I was watching the rest of the story and I absolutely couldn't wait for Episode Ignis. I thought of writing how he was blinded but figured Episode Ignis would deliver that and I wouldn't have to. I loved Episode Ignis and take it for canon. But I still found myself with these moments and scenes and realized I just had to write after all.

I start the collection of moments, then, after Gladio, Prompto and Ignis escape Zegnautus Keep and begin the long and dangerous trek back to Lucis.

Momentis
Part I: The Journey

The First Night
by Philippe de la Matraque

It had long since grown dark by the time they found a haven. Exhausted, they set up the camp in silence. Gladio and Prommpto did most of the work. Ignis managed the chairs. He could just make out a slightly less dark area where the campfire was. Besides, he could hear the crackling of the wood and feel its warmth on his face.

Dinner was Cup Noodles again and Ignis felt a pang of sadness. He could easily think of a dozen recepies that would have tested better and satisfied longer. But cooking was another thing he'd lost.

He tried hard not to wallow in self-pity. He'd spent a good three weeks in it back in Altissia. But he had moments when the loss would overpower him and leave him feeling melancholy.

Prompto might have read his mind. "I'm sure you'll figure out how to cook again, Iggy."

Gladio's rumbling voice added, "You'll figure a lot of stuff out. It's only been a month."

Ignis didn't trust his voice not to break so he just nodded. His blindness took a backseat to his main cause of sadness. They had left Gralea without the Crystal and without Noctis. There were very few times in his life that Noctis had not shared, and he felt a certain emptiness at his absense. But all day long, as he'd followed behind his companions' footsteps, he'd been playing and replaying the vision the Oracle's dog had shared with him. He knew for certain that it was the future now. And he knew what it would cost to right the world now.

He took a deep breath. "I have," he started, surprising himself with the steadiness of his voice, "something to share."

"What happened in Altissia?" Gladio asked. "I've been with you otherwise."

"In part," Ignis admitted, "though I do feel now that I can find my way to the rest of it someday soon. This concerns Noctis."

Prompto's voice was quiet, as if he was talking into his own chest. "Do you know what happened in there?"

Ignis nodded. He heard Gladio grit his teeth. "And you're just telling us now?"

"I wasn't certain," Ignis said in his defense. "And I hoped it wasn't or that it could change." When there no more interuptions, he continued. "You know I fought my way to the docks, took a boat."

"Yeah," Prompto said helpfully. Ignis couldn't see if they'd nodded.

"I was attacked by an Imperial general in a large, amphibious machine. I was driven away from the altar, and both I and the boat were thrown back on land. I had to fight that machine as well as various MTs. I defeated them but the general survived. Until Ravus Nox Fleuret ran him through with his sword."

"Ravis?" Gladio exclaimed.

"Yes," Ignis went on, "we formed an uneasy partnership as our goals were the aligned. He wanted to save his sister; I wanted to protect Noctis. We fought our way to the altar, and just as I reached it, I saw a white dog, one of Luna's."

"Pryna!" Prompto offered. "Was she okay?"

Ignis shook his head. "As she died, she began to glow and images started passing through my mind. There was a strange voice. It spoke of the true king and the Accursed and how the latter will be defeated and light returned to the world." He paused. He hated this last part. "And what it would cost."

Prompto's voice shook as he spoke. "Noctis? Did it kill him?"

"No," Ignis replied. "But it will."

It was apparent that Glado didn't like that part either. He stood abruptly, tipping his chair back. "Maybe you heard wrong!"

Ignis just sighed. He was angry, too. "The voice said it three times." He sighed again. "Noctis is in the Crystal. The ring has to absorb the Crystal's light. He will then emerge and fight the Accursed. But then he must go to the throne and pay the blood price to rid our world of darkness. The life of the True King."

"Maybe it was just a hallucination," Gladio tried. "Or the dog was confused."

"It spoke of other sacrifices," Ignis told them. "I saw a glimpse of each of our faces. I saw this." He slowly pointed from one side of his face to the other. "Though my glasses were different."

Gladio collapsed to the ground. "That is so unfair!"

"Yeah," Prompto added from his seat. "Hasn't he sacrificed enough? Haven't we all?"

"I agree." Ignis shook his head. "I took an oath to protect him. To take care of him." The emotion got the better of him. "I can't now," he cried, "and I can't then!"

The was a rustle and then there were arms around his shoulders, a head beside his own. Prompto's. Gladio then pulled them both out of the chair and wrapped them in his arms. That unpreciidented event was too much for at least two of them. Ignis felt tears fall from his eyes—both of them—and Prompto sniffled.

"How long?" Prompto asked after several minutes had passed and they'd let go. They were still sitting huddled together on the ground near the fire. "Could you tell?"

Ignis played it over in his head again. The whole vision until Noctis's face after his own. "He was older, more mature in his face, stern and serious. He had the beginnings of a beard and mustache. His hair was longer."

"Years, then?" Glaadio asked. "But how many?"

"It did not specify," Ignis replied.

They sat again in silence and Ignis imagined they were staring into the fire.

Gladio stiffened beside him, then stood. "So that means we got time."

"Time for what?" Prompto asked. He stood, too, so Ignis picked himself up off the ground.

"Time to get ready for his return. We were with him, right, in the vision, when he was older?"

"Yes," Ignis affirmed. That much he could surmise.

"Then we're going to go back to Lestallum. Iris is there. The power plant may be able to produce enough light to keep the daemons at bay. We've got to survive and make ourselves ready to help him fight the Accursed." He folded up one chair, Ignis heard, then another. "Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow, we train. And, Iggy, we're going to find you a new way to fight."