Let's just hope this isn't some omen.

Gladio, do me a favor?

What?

Push this thing by yourself

All by myself?

You won't even notice if we just let go

Prompto, don't even think about it

Save some breath for pushing

Ignis, c'mon—time to switch

Noctis sat up feeling a stiffness throughout his entire body matched only by the pounding in his head. The memories and voices playing in his mind fading to silence, it took him a moment to gather his thoughts back together.

The battle against Ardyn. His friends coming to his aid. Luna. Dad.

"He's up!" No sooner had those words tumbled excitedly from Prompto's mouth did Noctis find himself being practically tackled by his friend pulled into a crushing embrace. "You're up, you're really up. Gods I thought you were going to sleep forever."

Noctis felt his breath catch in his throat, and his heartbeat moved into his ears. A heartbeat. He had a heartbeat.

He shifted a bit clutching on to Prompto's arms. "Ardyn?" He asked of the other man's whereabouts a desperate edge seeping into his voice.

Prompto beamed. "Gone." He answered back in a happy tone.

"The daemons?"

"Gone." Prompto sung back grinning even harder now.

"The sun?"

"Go—Wait, no, back!" Prompto corrected himself with renewed enthusiasm turning towards a window. "I mean it's setting right now because you've slept for the past four days, but it's been here."

Noctis let out a sigh of relief having untangled himself from Prompto's embrace and was sitting back now letting the small bits of information sink in. Ardyn and the daemons were gone. The light was back, and he was still alive.

"How are you feeling, Noct?" Ignis was now kneeling beside him looking him over as Gladio leaned in the doorway.

Hungry. Tired. Craving a good long bath. He was feeling a lot of things, but mostly it boiled down to surprise that was alive. A small laugh escape his mouth, and he leaned his head back resting it against the wall.

"I'm alive."

Ignis smiled patting Noctis on the leg. "Yes, well we were a bit worried these past few days."

"Shoulda guessed you were just getting some extra sleep," Gladio scoffed pulling up a chair near Noctis.

The curious look on Noctis's face prompted Ignis to elaborate. "After the battle with Ardyn, the Marshall claims to have found us all on the floor in the throne room. The rest of us managed to awaken not too long after, but you remained unresponsive."

"You were breathing and everything but like you just wouldn't move, man." Prompto cut in.

"It was much like the slumber you went into as a child," Ignis clarified. "To be honest, we were starting to worry that you might not actually come back at all."

Noctis ducked his head. Perhaps the few lingering moments he spent inside that realm with Luna and his father had been much longer than a few minutes. "Sorry." He offered in a sheepish tone.

Wait. Noctis's cognitive functions began to catch up, and he reached out gripping on to Ignis's arm. "You guys were there!" He sputtered. "You, you helped me fight him!" The astonishment in Noctis's voice was clear as he appeared to be still trying to process the events that had transpired.

"Yeah, we know. Like you said we were there." Gladio grinned giving Noctis a friendly shove in the arm.

Noctis frowned rubbing his arm. "You touched me while I was using the ring. It fed off you too."

"Yeah. Again. There." Noctis might not have been able to see it, but Gladio was making a gesture with his hand for Noctis to get to the point.

"I told you not to do that you could have died!" The panic he felt upon seeing his friends show up in the afterlife returned making him feel dizzy all over again.

Gladio gave a half-hearted shrug of his shoulder. "If we didn't do something you were going to."

Noctis felt the tightness in his chest uncoil. Could he really be mad at them for this? Of course, he could he was the King, and they went against his wishes, but a louder voice within his subconscious told him he wouldn't be. After all, he was no King without them.

"Thanks," Noctis whispered and then gave a tiny laugh. "What about the Gods prophecy?"

"I suppose," Ignis began having formulated a theory himself after the events transpired. "When the prophecy was decreed the Astrals expected the King to stand alone. They did not account for such-."

"Insolence?" Noctis supplied helpfully.

"Not the word I was going to use, but I suppose they had not counted on their Chosen King to be so impudent."

"We'll put it on your tomb. Noctis the Insolent." Gladio offered.

"Noctis the Tired." Prompto chimed in.

"Noctis the Reckless," Ignis added.

"I'm leaning more towards Noctis the Savior," Everyone's attention quickly turned to Cor standing in the doorway. "Your Majesty," Cor placed his fist to his heart giving Noctis the proper royal display of respect. "I'm glad to see you well."

Noctis blinked a few times and then turned his head towards Ignis. "Did he just-."

"I dare say the Marshall was showing proper respect to our King," Ignis responded.

He fidgeted a bit out of embarrassment. He had known Cor for as long as he could remember being revered by him now made Noctis feel awkward. "You don't have to do that." He muttered.

Cor offered a small smile. "If you'll be feeling up to it the people would like to hear from their King."

"Hear from me?" Noctis echoed sounding a bit lost.

"Refugees from Lestallum are slowly making their way back to their homes, or whatever is left of them. People are trying to piece together what happened and what they're going to do now. It would be helpful if their King shared his vision for the future."

Noctis broke out into a grin. "Well, I am a man of great vision."

With the daemons banished from Eos, the jewelry business wasn't going to be as lucrative as Dino originally thought. What good is jewelry to counter attack and protect someone from daemons when all the daemons were gone?

Which is why when he was approached with the idea of helping out with a broadcast of a message from the new King of Lucis he jumped right on it.

There was also the whole fact that Noctis had casually pointed out what a shame it would be if the entire world found he had blackmailed the King.

Gods, the King of Lucis was blackmailing him with his own blackmail attempt. That was God tier manipulation that Dino couldn't even get mad about. The only thing he could do was stammer out a thank you for the opportunity and get right down to it.

However, he wasn't expecting the job to be setting up the broadcasting equipment to assure it would reach all corners of the country. Surely they would much rather have him on display as well. Perhaps interviewing the King himself. Dino liked to think him, and Noctis were pretty close. Besides, Dino's was not a face meant to be kept in the background.

"….We just gotta get this logo on the screen somehow. The brand recognition will really draw in a huge crowd of my readers."

Dino suppressed an eye roll. He hardly thought that Vyv's mom and the other four women she played cards with constituted as a huge crowd. "Pretty sure the fact that the King is going to be giving an address will draw in the crowds enough, ya know?"

Vyv opened his arms wide and laughed in a manner that indicated he thought Dino was a short-sighted simpleton. "We really wanna take that risk?"

"You, uh, might wanna take that up with that there Leonis guy. They don't got me around here makin' the big decisions."

There was no way that Dino was going to take the heat and have to explain to Cor why they had set up a logo backdrop for the King.

Fact was Dino assumed that Vyv might just be stupid enough to bring it up.

Dino squinted looking down the long dock at Galdin Quay as a beat up old van pulled into the mostly empty parking lot. "Ay looks like that Exineris girl is here with the supplies." He didn't wait for a response as he dropped the cables he had been untangling and headed down the walkway.

He said a silent prayer to the Gods in thanks for sending him someone other than the blowhard head of Meteor Publishing to talk to.

Holly offered him a quick wave as she opened the back of her van. "I think we've got everything I need to power up that generator. If you've got the cables set up that is."

It had taken everything in his power to not strangle Vyv with the cables, but Dino had gotten them set up.

"We've got the viewing station set up in Lestallum just fine, and a couple of the girls have already set out to make sure the other areas will have a chance to see this too."

"You thinkin' his Majesty's got a date in mind that he wants to do this?" Dino asked taking one of the boxes from Holly and headed back towards the pier. It was eerie how empty Galdin was now. Dino supposed that vacationing at the resort was the last thing on most people's minds.

When the daemons began to rise in number most people had quickly fled to Lestallum. Those who made it there alive were still there now. He still would have been there if Noctis hadn't given him a call.

"We're going to do it from here?" Holly asked gesturing at the small sitting area that overlooked the pier.

"Insomnia is pretty kaput," Dino answered dropping his box. "I think they're spending a lot of time just fixing up the power there, so it's inhabitable. Can't really go expendin' resources on broadcasts when ya don't know if a coupla wires are gonna go takin' out an entire city block."

Holly hummed thoughtfully. "I should see if he wants a couple more girls sent out to help fix things up."

"I mean you could ask, but he seems pretty hesitant on focusin' the bulk of the attention inside the city."

Holly flashed him a confused look to which Dino just shrugged in response.

"Pretty sure I heard 'im say his people live outside the wall too." It was a sentiment that Dino would have heralded as noble if he didn't have the sly knowing smile of Noctis blackmailing him with his own blackmail swimming in his head.

Noctis scrubbed at his face with the palms of his hands. Setting up the broadcast had taken longer than Ignis would have liked, but at Noctis's constant instance they kept the setup team as small as possible.

Noctis hadn't wanted to waste any more people and resources than necessary. He felt that they should be using who they could to make sure clean water and food supplies were getting to the people and that essential living repairs were underway to outlying areas.

"Seriously, just take a statement from me right here and get the word out. We don't have to broadcast it all over the place." Noctis muttered burying himself deeper into his battered gray hoodie. "They don't need to see me."

Ignis raised his eyes resisting the urge to force their now King to sit up straight and stop chewing on the drawstring of his sweatshirt. "I dare say that they do," He said pacing around their suite at the Galdin Resort. "You've been reported dead more times than I care to count seeing you alive in itself would be an inspiration."

Noctis snorted. "You do realize I'm going to have to address them without any prewritten speech or prompter or cue cards." He muttered. He wouldn't be able to see any of that. Anything Noctis said would either have to be memorized or come completely from him in the moment.

He hardly thought he'd be able to provide any inspirational words.

"Noct, dude, come on we you just saved the entire world," Prompto said poking at his friend who moved away petulantly at the prodding. "You gotta let the people bask in your presence."

"We saved the world," Noctis repeated back with emphasis. "If it was just me that did it I'd be dead and peacefully away from public speaking."

"Aww, someone is a little camera shy." Gladio teased.

Noctis made a noise of disgust. "Screw you."

"Spoken like a true royal of Lucis."

"Royally screw you."

"The point is," Ignis interjected loudly turning the attention back to the matter at hand. "Dino and Vyv have already put the word out. The broadcast has been set and like it or not but it seems that your people are looking forward to it."

"That's because they're getting the chance to gawk at the weird recluse they never really got to see or hear from and who died like nine times," Noctis muttered into the crook of his elbow.

Ignis remained silent for a moment. There was some truth to what Noctis was claiming. Hushed whispers and rumors circulating the King were all over the place. Speculation as to what had happened to him. Theories as to where he had been. There were people who didn't even believe he was still alive at all.

Conspiracies were cropping and only growing more outlandish by the day. It was part of the reason Ignis thought to hurry along a broadcast of Noctis's statement. He was growing tired of heading into the towns only to hear people's wild speculations.

"Well, surely you can give them something better to talk about then." Ignis settled on finally placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "If you speak from your heart I'm certain you'll change their misguided perception of you."

Noctis gave a thoughtful frown. Luna had been the well-spoken one of the two of them. Had the treaty and marriage been real his plan had been to allow her to handle the public. While he handled the slow drain of his life force into maintaining the wall.

Maybe that was his best bet now. Maybe he'd have to channel a little of Luna in whatever he told the people.

It was around noon when Cor lead Noctis up to the makeshift podium they had set up on the docks of Galdin Quay. Dino was manning a single video camera with Holly working a mic. Nearby Vyv was waiting to get notes for the article that would go out, and Prompto was already snapping pictures of everything.

"You're going to be great, your Majesty," Cor whispered giving Noctis a pat on the back before backing away.

"We are go," Dino called out as their broadcast went live all across Lucis.

Noctis swallowed the lump that had settled in his throat and resist the urge to shift his weight from one leg to the other. Trying his best to appear every bit the capable King and not the unprepared and frightened child he felt.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath letting it out slowly as he pleaded to Luna and his father for just a little bit of guidance.

"We've had our light back for over a month now," He started a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I mean I haven't been able to tell the difference, but I've been able to sense it. There's hope again, and there's warmth that I haven't felt in a long time.

"But we're not—we're not done yet. We have to continue to bring back the light for each other. We've all lost stuff, homes, family, friends. So sometimes even in the middle of the day, it can still feel dark."

Noctis's stomach began to turn in knots as he clutched on to the rickety podium determined not to fidget.

He took in another deep breath feeling his words catch in his throat as an echo of Luna's message came to his mind.

"When the world falls down around you, and hope is lost, when you find yourself alone, amid a lightless place, look to-." He stopped a moment feeling his voice grow tight. "Look to each other." He continued adapting the words. "Be there for each other."

He made a quick swipe across his face catching any tears that dared to fall. "And I will be there for you too. We will rebuild. We're going to be stronger, and we're going to do it together. It's going to be a process, but I've done a lot of traveling across Lucis, and I know it's people are strong. I know they're creative and skilled. I know they're smart and adaptive." A small grin passed over his face. "And they're weird too, but I know they're survivors and they don't stay down for long. Because I'm one of them and I couldn't be stopped."

Cheers broke out over Lucis as the broadcast ended. A new fire had been lit under its people many of which were surprised to find their lives had been touched personally by their now King.

On a small pier near the Vesperpool, Navyth leaned forward turning off a rickety old portable television before casting his line out again. "Well, now," He said chuckling to himself. "I suppose I'll be havin' to address you as King Noct Gar now. Won't I?"

Up in Meldacio Dave was delivering another set of dog tags informing the family that the King himself had hunted them down and brought them back.

At a rest stop in Duscae Sania laughed picking up a frog and staring at it. "I suppose he really did have something better to do than be my research assistant didn't he?" She mused giving the animal a light tap on the head before releasing it.

And down in the center square of Lestallum Talcott smiled as a man behind him vigorously shook his wife by the arm. "That's him!" He said choking on the excitement in his words. "Marcia that's him that's the guy who helped me fix the car back when it broke down."

It seemed the general consensus was Lucis would be in good hands.

"That was some speech," Cor said the sound of approval clear in his voice.

Noctis ducked his head in embarrassment as Prompto jumped over wrapping an arm around him. "Dude, you looked so good. These pictures I got for Vyv's magazine. You look so cool, and I'm betting the article is going to be awesome."

"You told them you'd be there for them too," Cor noted. "You got a plan for that?"

Noctis gave a small smile. "I'm thinking hands on here. Maybe get a car and just start traveling about. Making stops helping out and getting things situated in each city. Just you know making rounds until things get settled."

Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis all began to exchange glances as Cor raised his eyes at them and looked back to Noctis.

"Well, Your Majesty, if that's your plan," A knowing smile began to form as he spoke. "You're going to need a couple of people to go with you."

"Yeah," Noctis said taking a step back to stand with his three best friends. "I think I know some guys."