#there...is a method to the madness...

"Libertus! Nyx" A familiar woman's voice called out to the two who had been observing the Glaive that were in-training. Her hurried footsteps only served to make both men turn to see their friend and fellow member of the Kingsglaive, Crowe Altius. She wore this grave expression on her face as she beckoned to them. "Come here, guys. You gotta see this."

There were little words spared between the three as Crowe turned back to lead them toward one of the recreational areas where they often found themselves able to take a break and kick up their feet. Up in the center of the brick and mortar room hung a steel-reinforced support that held up four television screens. Each one was was tuned into the LN24 News station, a news anchor already in the middle of a report.

The headline under the news anchor's mug was a good indicator as to what they could expect: 'BREAKING: GOV'T DECLARES CEASEFIRE'

"—ital today as the Lucian government announced full acceptance of what some are criticizing as the unilateral peace terms proposed by Chancellor Izunia of Niflheim. The signing of the trust will see power over all Lucian territories transferred to the empire, with the sole exception of Insomnia.

"In return, Niflheim guarantees the safety of Insomnia and its citizenry, as well as a cessation to all hostilities, bringing a decisive end to this long and bitter war."

There was not a single positive expression on any of the other Glaives that were standing around, eyes pointed toward the screens. Most just looked disappointed, if not, then angry. When Nyx glanced in and saw Luche, he noticed that he was the only one that looked mildly pensive about the announcement running on the television.

Nyx could only turn away, a welling of grief settling in his chest and stomach at the news. He could hardly blame Libertus for how his face contorted into a grimace of anger. And then there was Crowe and how she continued to stare up at the screen with this look of cold incredulousness in her gaze.

"All that fighting we did," Crowe began, her voice laced with indignation. "All for nothing."

Libertus looked as if he were holding everything back from giving a violent outburst as he bounced on his good leg. His face was still scrunched with anger. Before he could decide on actually aerating his grievances and frustrations, a voice cut through the hall.

"Glaives."

Captain Drautos had appeared — from where from was anyone's guess. What Nyx knew what that the Captain had not been there prior when he and the others had walked in. All Drautos had was a rather curt command for them all: "Assemble in the briefing room. Now."

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Every current recognized Glaive of the West Division was present in the briefing room — all of them with arms behind their backs (save for Libertus for obvious reasons), stood at attention. Since the last attack on the Wall, their numbers were paltry — though they were probably faring no worse than the other divisions that made up the whole of the Kingsglaive. Yet, still they appeared for what Captain Drautos had to say to them.

Nyx watched as Drautos slowly got himself settled front and center before everyone.

"The king has spoken, and you have heard," Drautos started, eyeing the room critically. "All lands beyond the Wall are to be relinquished to the empire."

"Will no regions be spared?" Luche asked. The intonation of his question made Nyx's skin crawl… It was almost robotic in inflection.

"None." It was a simple and to the point response from Drautos.

"But your home's out there, too!" Libertus spoke, the growl of lingering anger evident in his tone.

"It is." Yet another simple response from the Glaive Captain as he looked in Libertus' direction.

Nyx could practically see Libertus shaking with anger. Could he blame him? The king's decision — this 'peace treaty' was like a slap in the face for all the efforts they had given the Crown as Kingsglaive. What was the point of fighting for the Crown when their homes were to be given to their enemies — the people who razed their homes in the first place — so easily?

"Why would the king do this?" Libertus asked. That was surely a question on many of the other Glaives' minds. Why would the king do this?

"Because it'll end this damn war," Drautos said, his steely gaze meeting Libertus'. His expression had not changed since he came before all of the other soldiers within the hall.

When no further response came, Drautos turned and walked ahead toward the other end of the room. All the while, he called out one name: "Crowe."

"Sir!" Crowe straightened her posture and kept her eyes forward. Nyx kept his eyes down, cast in her direction. He could also take note of how Luche and Pelna were watching her, hanging onto whatever she may say or do next… After all, she had made it apparent that she was also not happy with the king's decision.

"Prepare to deploy." Drautos paused and looked over his shoulder over at Crowe. "You're being sent to infiltrate Tenebrae."

A flicker of confusion crossed Crowe's face. "Tenebrae, sir?"

"Mission details are classified," Drautos replied, glancing around again at everyone else who was not meant to be privy to such details. "Report to my office for briefing in thirty minutes."

Nyx could feel the want to disregard Drautos' gaze when it fell upon him, though he held firm.

"And, Nyx…"

There it was.

Nyx stood at attention.

"You're off the West Gate. You've been reassigned to castle guard." Casting another brief and cursory look around the briefing room, Drautos then declared: "That is all."

He took his leave, though no one dared to break formation until the doors closed behind Captain Drautos. Libertus was the first to hobble forward, his gaze filled with disdain pointed toward the exit of the room. His lip curled, and he addressed Luche without looking at him; "So this is what you were talking about, Luche?"

"You heard the captain…" Luche replied, a halfhearted shrug accompanying his words. He then canted his head in Libertus' direction, stating the truth — or perhaps his truth — of the matter with them merely being Kingsglaive: "This wasn't our decision to make."

"Not ours to make?" Libertus growled, his grimace becoming more intense. He pointed his attention in Luche's direction, his expression a disgruntled sneer. Hobbling forward, Libertus brought himself closer to where Luche was standing, anger continuing to color his tone; "Those are our homes out there! Our people! You're just gonna go along and abandon them?"

Before Libertus could get too close, Crowe thrust her hand out, grabbing his arm. Pelna himself had stepped forward, his fingers pressed against Libertus' chest. Meanwhile, Luche had edged back, keeping his distance.

Convinced that Libertus would not — could not — go past his friends, Luche replied with a grim expression: "If we don't go along with them, the empire will unleash all hell on Insomnia."

Libertus bulldogged forward. "We'll unleash it right back at them!"

"Easy, easy!" Pelna became more proactive in stepping in to hold Libertus back. Even Nyx stepped forward to make sure Libertus did not make it past to do anything rash to Luche.

It was Nyx who made Libertus look at him, though.

"He's not the enemy…" Nyx said once he and Libertus locked eyes with one another.

Libertus shrugged Nyx's hand off with with a low growl of annoyance, turning away from him and the others.

It, however, had not taken long for someone else to step forward and stir the pot, as it were. Another Glaive with rather fiery auburn hair held his hands out. Everyone in the West Division knew him as Tredd Furia; the only thing more notable than his hair was the scar that ran down along his face. Of course, there was also the combative nature he had, proven by the words that spilled from his mouth made Nyx believe that he was posturing — piggybacking off of Luche's words: "Don't you get it?"

Tredd dropped his arms to his sides, shaking his head as he paced slowly before the windows of the briefing room.

"We're nothing to them…" Tredd continued. It was at this point that Libertus looked back, watching Tredd, catching him as he lifted his brow while his tone became laced with singsong aggrievement: "Rats, snuck in from beyond the Wall." Tredd jerked his thumb behind him toward one of the maps of Galahd that hung on the wall.

"Sure, they had a use for us…" Tredd went on, lowering his hand to rest at his side. An incredulous scoff left him. "Those damned royals and nobles realized that we could work their magic."

Walking forward, Tredd motioned with his hands as if plucking things from thin air. "So they handpicked us from all the other rats out there—" one of his hands came up, his fingers and thumb opening and closing against one another, "—and just let us nibble away at his royal majesty's precious power. But as soon as this war's all over?"

Another scoff left him, and he pointed both his fingers at himself before gesturing to everyone else left standing around; "It'll be back to the sewers for all of us."

Nyx had been content to keep himself at Libertus' side, ignoring the posturing that Tredd had been doing. He did not want to let the other Glaives who were — rightfully — upset to get under his skin. But it seemed that in the midst of all of this, Tredd wanted to single Nyx out specifically. Because Tredd approached Nyx, pointing at him with a cocked smirk.

"That means you, too, hero."

Nyx finally deigned to look at Tredd, his expression showing nothing.

Tredd's attention went to Libertus next. "You missing home so much, Libertus, why don't you and Nyx head on back?" Again, Tredd opened his arms — this time to emphasize what he had to say: "I'm sure Niflheim will welcome you with open arms."

That was what finally managed to sink and crawl its way under Nyx's skin as he rushed Tredd, grabbing the collar of his uniform and bracing the length of his arm against his clavicle. He pushed Tredd back, angrily snarling out at him, "You've got a home out there, too!"

Suddenly, Tredd's taunting expression changed to one of scorn. He pushed Nyx's arm away from him and started walking away.

So much for all that posturing, Nyx figured.

"Or was that something you forgot?" Libertus asked before Tredd got too far, adding onto Nyx's outburst.

Tredd looked at them, walking backwards with a sneer. He dismissed them with a wave of his hand accompanied by an equally dismissive grunt. Then he spit at their feet before turning back around and continuing on his way. Nyx watched after him, one of his hands slowly curling into a fist.

"Damn it!" Angrily, Libertus thrust one of his crutches with a bellow. It clattered against the floor, and Libertus was left to support himself with the one he had left. "I'm not going to let it end like this."

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Crowe stood behind a yellow van, its decals showing off the mobile ad for the Speedy Chocobo Cleaning Services. She was dressed out of her Kingsglaive uniform and more in casual travel clothing. Before her was a steel box that she sat on the bed of the back of the van, opened up to reveal a rather expensive looking hair comb. She needed it open to have a look at it, and as she did, she fiddled with a new watch that adorned her wrist. At least, that was what it looked like to Nyx and Libertus as they stood not that far behind her.

Collecting the box, Crowe brought it over as she prepared to bid both Nyx and Libertus farewell.

"A hairpin?" Nyx chuckled, having glimpsed the object. His smirk remained as he teased Crowe further, "I didn't think you were into that kind of thing."

Libertus chortled as well, and Crowe met them both with a subdued look of annoyance before she closed the case and tucked it away into the pouch that hung at her thigh. "It's not for me. It's gift for the princess."

She then sighed, lowering her voice. "But…keep that quiet. Nobody's supposed to know."

The amused expressions on both Nyx and Libertus' faces fell, and the horn to the van honked twice. It seemed Crowe's chaperone for the mission was signaling her to get herself loaded into the back. The engine started, as if emphasizing this fact.

Crowe looked back at the two and sighed. "Well, that's me."

"Watch your back out there," Nyx said, his tone having sobered.

Libertus hobbled forward. "I know you're sick of hearing it, but you're like a little—"

"—little sister to you," Crowe interjected, finishing his sentence. She gave him this mildly annoyed look. "Yeah, I am sick of hearing it."

Turning, Crowe stepped into the back of the van, being mindful of the motorcycle and other equipment that had been loaded within. As she reached out to pull the doors closed, Libertus called out to her: "Just make sure you come back in one piece, all right?"

Crowe paused for a moment, letting out a brief scoff of amusement. She reaffirmed her grip on the doors, leaning forward. She regarded Libertus with a jest: "Says the guy in two pieces."

Once the doors were closed, the driver wasted no time in getting the van started. It was quick enough that it jostled Crowe in the back to have to brace her hand against the wall as she took a knee to the bed. She glanced behind her at the grated vent that offered a peek into the front of the van and then shook her head. With everything going on, she did suppose that this was a time-sensitive operation.

At least the trip out of the city should have been good to give Crowe time to familiarize herself with a map of Gralea. Pulling out the folded up map that had been provided to her from Drautos, Crowe spread it across the floor and used her flashlight to have a look at it. There were already markings on it to where she was being dropped off so she could meet with their contacts to get her across the sea…

A low hum of consideration left Crowe. Gralea was uncharted territory for her… Hell, she had never been anywhere that was not in Galahd, Insomnia, or even what little bit she had seen of Cavaugh as a whole. Traveling all the way to the western reaches of Lucis and sailing the sea? It would have been exciting if the situation that was bringing her there were not so important. Certainly too important to treat it like a vacation in any respect.

Crowe let out a low sigh, inhaling soon after. She muttered to herself, her voice contained to her ears only: "Get to the manor. Find the princess. Extract the princess. Take her to Altissia…"

Simple.

On paper.

Returning her attention to the map, Crowe focused on remembering names and routes beyond the Wall.

Sitting back and resting against some of the boxes in the back, Crowe then dug back into her inner jacket pocket and pulled out some other items she had been given: photographs. She had really only seen snippets of the princess of Tenebrae in newspapers or reports…and for good reason. In her briefing, Crowe had been told that Princess Lunafreya was a prisoner in her own home due to Niflheim's iron rule in having annexed the nation.

Poor thing…

Crowe took in Princess Lunafreya's appearance, noting how her head was crowned with flaxen hair, the curve of her jaw, the slope of her nose, and the tilt of her eyes… There was no mistaking that the imprisoned princess was lovely. It would have been difficult to mistake her for anyone else, that was for sure. At least, that was what Crowe reassured herself with as she placed the photo down on the map close to where the Gralean territories were.

Next, Crowe looked at the photos she had been provided of what she was told was the Fenestala Manor — a grand and opulent structure that looked like something out of a fairy tale versus the largely brick and mortar structure of Insomnia. It was certainly a structure that would have been interesting to infiltrate… The comforting thing that Crowe at least had were the floor plans that had been saved to her burner phone as well.

A sigh left Crowe. She spent the better part of the trip like this. The driver seemed to have been in no mood to talk, not that she necessarily wanted to talk through the grate herself. Honestly, she lost track of the time — the trip felt long and like it took no time at all. By the time it felt like she was aware of most of the map route that seemed most optimal, the van had lurched to a stop outside the Walls, new and old, and past the grand bridge that connected Cavaugh with the rest of the continent of Lucis. She had since gotten her map and photos tucked back away into her inner jacket pockets.

Standing up, Crowe groaned as her muscles ached and screamed at her for sitting in one position for so long in the back of the van. There was no need for her to pop the back doors open — the driver had taken care of that themselves, only offering her a nod and watching as she got the motorcycle eased out the back. Once it was out, Crowe offered a two-fingered farewell before hitching her leg over and getting the key turned in the ignition.

"Careful out there, Glaive," the driver said, voice low and carrying perhaps a touch of concern.

"I will be," Crowe assured them, soon kicking a foot up and getting the bike going onto the road with a cloud of dust forming under the wheel.

It was time to start her mission in earnest.

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The last thing Crowe expected was having any obstacles on her path. During her meeting with Drautos, she had been told that she should have had a straight shot through Leide as the roads were not as busy as she should have later expected getting closer to Lestallum in Cleigne.

Now though?

There was no explanation for the gray van that started following her, speeding up to even keep pace with her. Trying to discern who the driver was proved fruitless with the black-tinted windows.

With her attention so caught between trying to outpace the car and even going off road, Crowe grit her teeth. There was too much risk in casting a spell to make the van back off. No, she needed to outmaneuver whoever was behind the wheel of it. Astrals, was she attempting to put everything she had learned in her two-wheeled vehicle training into whatever was going on now.

There were too many glances toward her pursuer, though, and without proper eye wear shielding her, Crowe was buffeted by a gust that blew in. Sand got into her eyes, and as she was trying to use one hand to protect her face and blink back the discomfort, she found herself tumbling through the air after losing control of the handle. The next thing she knew, she was flying over dirt and brush before being sent rolling across the dirt and dried out scrub.

While Crowe was pushing herself back up, and staggering to her feet, she heard the car skid to a halt before the doors opened. A noise she recognized reverberated before she was kicked back down to the ground, the wind knocked back out of her recovering lungs. Squinting up, Crowe soon found herself staring down the barrel of a gun, the person holding it a blurry silhouette as she continued to try and blink back sand and tears.

"You know…you were one of the only ones I liked out of your group…" a familiar voice spoke. It definitely belonged to a man Crowe knew.

The trigger was pulled before Crowe could connect the dots forming in her head, and a searing pain tore through her arm as a scream fell from her throat. Her opposite hand instantly came up to grasp at the newly formed wound. She could feel the blood as it flowed freely, staining her fingers and clothing. What felt worse was how she heard the chortling from someone else that had been with her assailant.

They were reveling in this.

"What was it that Libertus always said about you?" the voice spoke again. "That you're…'like a little sister to him'?"

A stone formed in the pit of Crowe's stomach. When she raised her glaring gaze up at the man, that was when she got a better look at him. She got a good look at how a smirk was split across his face. She got a good look at how he knelt down to be more eye-level with her.

"… Luche…" Crowe growled. For the barest of moments, her eyes flicked past him to the other two that were with him. She recognized them as well… The largely bald one with a pattern shaved into his head she remembered was called 'Sonitus'. And then there was Tredd, that look of amusement on his face striking a burning rage into Crowe as she felt mana starting to well within her arms…

"Surely you can choose better last words than that…" Luche replied. He looked down, gently shaking his hand with the gun.

"Why are you doing this?" Crowe managed between grit teeth when she returned her gaze to Luche.

"Why?" Luche scoffed, looked back at the other two, and then back at Crowe. His next words were spoken in a condescending manner, treating Crowe as if she were not capable of understanding: "Were you not there for our dear captain's briefing?"

Luche's expression steeled fell after a moment. "What you're doing is going to keep this war going. We don't want that. So…unfortunately, since you'll only get in our way, you have to die."

Just as Crowe thrust her uninjured arm out, Tredd summoned and threw his kukri before warping out in front of her and kicking her back swiftly, making her roll back against the dirt. She cried out and groaned as her newly made injury throbbed and ached with each external push into it.

"… Do you know what a hollow point does to a person's insides?" Luche rhetorically asked, standing back up and releasing the magazine of his pistol. He pocketed the magazine and took out a different one, sliding it into place and stepping slowly towards Crowe as she struggled to push herself back up.

Of course Crowe knew what hollow points did — what they would do to a human body at the point of impact. What it meant in this context was likely that Luche wanted to make sure the job he was about to perform was done with no mistakes.

"If you don't, I guess it'll be the last thing you learn." Luche stopped just before Crowe and pressed the nozzle of the gun against the top of her head.

The sensation made Crowe freeze.

This…was really the end for her…

Crowe's lips pulled back into a grimace as her eyes welled with tears. Were they born of fear? Anger? Grief? All of it?

… And she failed to even express her care and love for both Libertus and Nyx before she left.

Gods damn it all… Her only family, and this was how it was to end?

…

Another reverberation sounded, and Crowe felt a hand hook under her good arm and pull her up. Though she wanted to look at whoever had brought her to her feet, Crowe could only look at the scene in front of her. Luche, Tredd, and Sonitus were all…frozen in place? They were so statuesque, that it was…jarring. It was as if all time had stopped.

"Get your legs moving. My spell won't last for long…" a woman's voice said.

Finally, Crowe looked over at the woman that was hurrying along, guiding her briskly to a point to hide.

"Wha—who?" Crowe managed.

"Don't worry about that for now. I'll explain things later." The woman kept her voice terse. Once they were hidden behind one of the nearby boulders. What Crowe noticed when she got a good look, however, was that the woman kept her eyes pointed at the three men behind them, her steeled gaze never breaking.

Once Crowe was situated and could hide easily, her unknown savior hurried back over toward the three, her hand flying to a pouch on her person. Crowe only watched, vested in seeing what exactly this woman was doing. It seemed the woman wrenched the gun from Luche's hand and swapped out the magazine in the gun before returning it to him and putting herself into the position Crowe had been in prior. Then, not long after — and in a move that left Crowe baffled — the woman's form shifted…into Crowe…

The air rippled, and Crowe ducked back against the rock. She was deathly curious… This was, after all, magic she was not privy to in what had been granted to her from the king when she was made into a Glaive.

Just who was this woman?

As if no time had passed at all, Luche and the others started moving again, and the trigger was pulled on the gun not long after. The noise cracked through the air, sending this intense shiver of dread down Crowe's spine. She could only quickly press her back against her hiding spot as she kept herself out of view, eyes wide as she tried to process what exactly prompted this absolutely ludicrous stint.

Did that woman literally just…take a bullet for her?

Crowe waited, not even noticing how she shook against the rock face. Beyond her hiding spot, she could hear the three talking, but their words did not register. It was not until she heard the doors to the vehicle they had used opened and closed that Crowe dared to peek out once more. She watched as the vehicle sprung to life and was quick about being driven back toward Insomnia. Once it was out of view, Crowe tentatively stood up, uninjured arm coming up to press her hand back against her wound. She walked over toward the crumpled body on the ground.

… It was just so uncanny. Like looking at a vision of herself — what she would have been… The injury. The blood. The gaping wound.

The lifeless body.

It was hard to look at, and Crowe turned away from it.

"… They're gone then?" The woman's voice gave Crowe a start, causing her to stagger back in surprise and look back at the reflection of herself on the ground. Everything that she had seen prior had vanished, replaced by the woman pushing herself back up to her feet who had been largely unharmed. It was a sight that gave her pause as she realized what had happened.

"You…used illusion spells?" Crowe asked.

"Yes. A couple forms of Green and Black Magic. Stopga, Disguise, Protect, and, well, Illusion," the woman clarified, leaning down and dusting herself off. She then tilted her head and gave a half smile, sheepish in nature. "It…also helps that I replaced that guy's bullets with blanks. Still hurt a little bit. Definitely less fatal than an actual bullet."

It was here that Crowe really drank in the appearance of the woman after what sounded like a rather impressive repertoire of spells. Her hair was this kind of rusty red and braided back into neat, low hanging twin tails behind her. She was short — shorter than Crowe, at any rate. The woman's eyes, though…they seemed the most striking to Crowe; they were this deep green that she had never seen anyone else with before. No one but Commander Ater Somnium.

It seemed, however, that the use of magical spells took its toll on the woman. Crowe noticed how blood started to drip down from her nostrils. The woman took out a napkin from her back pocket — as if this was a normal occurrence for her — and used it to wipe her nose.

"… Who…" Crowe sharply took in a breath, her wound smarting again to remind her she had it. Stifling any sounds of pain, she continued: "Who are you?"

The woman approached Crowe, reaching back into the pouch slung across her hip and pulling out a familiar vial filled full with green liquid within — a potion. A smile, more genuine than the ones Crowe had been seeing on Luche and the others that had been with him, appeared on the woman's face. She held out the potion, soon clicking the stainless steel button on it and releasing the healing green substance within. Crowe breathed deep of the healing mist, still awaiting an answer.

The woman also breathed in the mist before finally introducing herself: "My name is Mollis."