You slowly opened back up your eyes and looked at Ignis as he held you in his arms. His warm gaze back at you instantly made you relax as you smiled back at him. And as he loosen up his grip on you, was when you realized that you were still on the dance floor after started off the final half of the party with the first dance. But then as the band started to play an up beat song, you couldn't help but to return the same that he gave you before moving you again with the music. Only this time you were joined by several other people as they started to dance to the music as well.

You don't know how long that you had been on the dance floor before you both finally decided to take a break.   All you knew was that your feet were starting to hurt a bit.  Which meant to you that it was a great time to check on the kitchen staff.  So after leaving Ignis for a moment at the table so that he could visit with everyone, you headed to the kitchen.

You were pleased to see when you walked in, that they were all grins and had gone through almost all of the food.  But there was still enough leftover to feed everyone in the kitchen.  In fact there was still a bit of left overs even after they ate.  Which you had already gotten it cleared with King Regis that the staff could separate it out and take it home to their families.  He didn't want the food to go bad before him and Noctis' had a chance to finish it off.  

Which worked out great for everyone.  So after helping everyone separate out the food, everyone started to clean up the kitchen. You went to jump into the dish room to help wash things up. But you were abruptly stopped by a pair of strong arms that gently reached around you and pulled you back.

You slightly jumped from the initial touch. But quickly calmed down when you recognized a certain cologne.  You couldn't help but to smile as you let him pull you flat against him. His arms felt nice as he wrapped them around you.

"I think they can handle it from here." You heard Ignis say in his deep voice.

"But....?"  You started to say before he nibbled on your ear.

Instantly you couldn't form any words anymore. All you could do was gasp as he slipped his tongue in your ear. You reached up with both hands and wrapped them around the back of his head as you were starting to get lost in his touch. He responded by deeply exhaling as he pulled you hard against him.

"Ignis..." You gasped as you felt your whole body start to heat up from him.

He slightly trembled as he pulled you hard to him once again before he loosened his grip.  "I promise I will bed you again when we can do so. But for the time being, I'm afraid that we will have to refrain."

And with that he completely pulled away. You stood there stunned as he turned and walked away from you.  Did he honestly think that he was going to have enough energy after the trial?  No, there was no way. But then what was that suppose to mean?

"Don't worry (y/n)."  You heard one of the baker assistants say.  "We got it from here.  Go be with him.  He needs you more than we do right now."

"Right."  You smiled back at them.  "Thanks."

You then left the kitchen and followed Ignis back out to the ballroom.  But as soon as you stepped out of the kitchen you saw that almost every guest.       was gone or was leaving. You quickly pulled out your phone saw that it was about that time.

Suddenly your heart started to race. It's almost time.

"You alright?" You heard Monica ask as she walked up to you. "You looked scared."

You slowly looked at her before you dropped your gaze as you put your phone away.  "I can't help it. I'm worried about the trial."

"But you have all done it before. It shouldn't be anything different. Right?" She asked as she searched your face.

"Noctis was telling me that it will be a lot more intense this time." You quietly replied. "And besides, we only used a small shard last time. This will be with the crystal itself."

"Hey kiddo. You ready to head up?" You heard your dad asked as he stepped up to you.

You slowly looked up at him. He gave you a fatherly smile as he placed his hand on your back and started to rub it. He could tell that you were scared. But he also knew that it was only natural to feel that way at the moment.

"Don't worry. We won't let anything happen to them." Your dad said with a reassuring smile.  "Okay?"

You slightly smiled back. "Okay."

"And besides, you will be there to help if  they need it." He returned as Monica walked away and over to Gladio.

"But he doesn't know about that." You slightly smiled.

"And hopefully you won't have to show him just yet. But you should take comfort in knowing that at least you can heal him if you have to."  Your dad said in your ear so that the others wouldn't hear before he stood back up

"You're right." You quietly replied.

Then you leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek.  "Thanks dad."

"Your welcome kiddo." He said to you as you quickly moved away from him and caught up with Ignis as they started to head to the crystal room.

You grabbed Ignis' hand and held on tightly as you fell in step with. He gave you a slight smile as everyone headed for the elevator. But you could tell he was nervous when you entered the elevator. So with an encouraging smile to him, you interlaced your fingers with his and wrapped your other hand around his arm as he smiled back down at you before leading the way onto the elevator.

He walked over to the side and leaned up against the wall of the elevator after everyone entered. You moved up against him and tightened up your grip on his arm as you laid your head on his shoulder. He looked down at you and gave your hand a slight squeeze as he gave you a kiss on the head.  You could almost feel the tension in him through his arm as the elevator ascended to the crystal floor.

"During this, the only people who need to be in the actual room will be Noctis and Ignis."  Korn started to explain as he looked around to those present.  "Everyone else will remain outside of the wall. You will be able to watch through the observation equipment that is on the other side of the wall. But you are not to interfere in any way with the trial. No matter what happens in there."

You tightened up your grip again and snuggled up closer to Ignis. He glanced down at you and gave you a kiss on the head. Then he looked at Noctis. Noctis was giving you worried look before he met Ignis' gaze.

They both seemed to think the same thing as you clung to Ignis' arm.  For they both knew that you were scared of what was about to happen. Noctis dropped his gaze as he tried to keep his own nerves under control from the weight of the trial. Ignis pulled you closer as he wrapped his arms around you as he kept calm through you.

"We aren't sure how long you will be in there considering it is different with each person. Some are only in there for a few minutes. While others have been in there for a few hours." Korn continued.

You noticed that your dad seemed to drop his head as he looked away at the mention of the hours part. Which gave you the impression that that had been him. Of course his reaction really didn't help you out. Since all it did was make you even more nervous.

"The ritual should be similar to the one that you would have done at the cottage."  Your dad said as he kept his gaze down.  "The only difference is that this time the crystal is much larger and Noctis wont actually be touching the crystal."

Everyone looked up at your dad as he continued while he looked at Noctis.  "Instead you will be touching a retractable pedestal from which to draw out the power of the crystal.  The pedestal will act like a barrier itself between you and the actual crystal. And even though the protective steel plates that surround the crystal will be open.  You will not be touching the actual crystal.  The full power of the crystal would be too much for you at this point.  Do you remember what happened after you drew the power out of the shard?"

"Yeah."  Noctis said in a flat tone.

"Good."  Your dad said in a serious tone.  "Well, that shard will seem like a tickle compared to this.  Which is why that will wait until your final trial."

"Tonight though will be different than your final trail.  For you final trial won't take place until you are old enough and strong enough to take the throne.  And that will be when you and you alone will touch the crystal itself and take on the full trial of the gods."  King Regis said as he gave Noctis a serious look.  "Because that will be the only way the light will stand a chance to come back to the world."

Your breath caught as a flash of that vision flew across your mind again.  Ignis stirred and looked at you.  But you buried your head in his chest.  You didn't want him to see the fear in your eyes as you once again could see Noctis being absorbed by the crystal.

"What do you mean?"  You heard Noctis ask.

"That is a talk for a later time my son.  For now, let's concentrate on today's trial."  King Regis said as he looked away from everyone.

Suddenly you jumped as the elevator chimed to indicate that you had arrived.  You felt like your entire body was on high alert as everyone started to make their way off the elevator and over to the steel wall that protected the crystal.  But you notice that unlike the empty room from the first time you had visited the crystal, there were three people wearing security uniforms over by the wall.  Two of them were sitting in front of several monitors and where carefully watching the screen and the control panel and were occasional hitting a button or two as if they were monitoring the crystal.  While the third one was wearing a slightly different uniform and was standing behind them watching everything.

But you thought that it was strange that none of the people by the control panel seemed to notice everyone walking over to them. They seemed to be too preoccupied with what was on the screen in front of them. That was until one standing up turned and looked right at King Regis and saluted.

"Good evening your grace." The guard said as he greeted King Regis.

"Good evening." King Regis returned with a slight nod before he turned his attention to the control panel.  "How's it looking?"

"Everything appears to be normal and running smoothly, your majesty." The guard continued as he turned his attention back to the screens.

"Excellent."  King Regis said in a flat tone.  "Then we shall begin at once.  Open up the door."

"Yes your grace."  The guard said and hit a button on the control panel that was next to the screens.

You jumped back when you heard the loud grinding and banging as the locks disengaged from the door hatch before it slowly opened up.  You tightened your grip on Ignis' arm as you felt the tension starting to get to you.  Ignis looked down at you and lifted up your chin so that you had to look at him.  You could see the concern in his eyes as you looked at him.

You could feel the tears starting to develop in your eyes as he moved your hair behind your ear as he gave you a smile.  You fought to smile back.  But your lip only seemed to quiver as you watched him.  He then slowly ran his thumb over your lips as he looked at you with his deep emerald eyes.

"We'll be fine."  He said in a steady voice.  "You'll see."

You opened your mouth to say something.  But nothing seemed to come out as he smiled at you.  Then he leaned down and gave you a gentle kiss.  You couldn't help the tears as they started to roll down your cheeks as you gently kissed him back.

"Ready?"  Noctis said from the door.

Ignis moved away from you and smiled at you as he turned towards Noctis.  "Right behind you."

"Don't worry.  We'll be right back."  Noctis said to you as he smiled at you before they both walked through the doorway.

You had to fight back the tears as they started to cloud your vision as you nodded at them.  You knew that your dad, Korn, and King Regis would never willing do anything that would put them in harm's way.  But after experiencing part of if yourself, you knew a bit of the pain that they were about to feel.  And the thought that it was going to be worse then what you felt, had you petrified as to what they were about to feel.  But as you stood fixed to the floor there was nothing that you could do as you watched both of them walk into the room.

"Go ahead and close it up."  King Regis said to the guard.

"Understood.  Stand clear while we're closing it back up."  The guard said as he hit the button again and the hatch started to move again and close them inside.  

You couldn't seem to breath as you watched Noctis and Ignis move further into the room as the door closed on them.  All you felt was helpless and scared at the same time as the door slowly moved.  Every one of your nerves seemed to be in fire as you watched the door close.  Then you jumped as the door closed and locked back up.  Suddenly you jumped again as you felt a hand on your shoulder.  

"Hey."  You heard Prompto's voice say as he suddenly stood beside you.  "Are you okay?"

You quickly shook your head as you tried to keep your composure before you lost it.  Which wasn't going to take much.  Not as hipped up as your nerves were at the moment.  You were a bit surprised that Prompto's touch didn't send you flying up to the ceiling.

Yeah."  You said as you walked away from him and over to the monitors so that you could watch.

You knew that you had to watch.  Otherwise you were going to go crazy.  But even as you watched Ignis and Noctis stop a short way from the crystal, you could hear and feel your heart pounding in your chest.  You barely heard anything else as King Regis order them to raise the pedestal.

You watched in wonder as part of the base opened up and a single post with a semi small plate on top came up and extended out to Noctis as he stood close to the crystal.  You then saw Noctis walk up to the pedestal before he turned back around and looked at Ignis.

"Are you ready?"  Noctis asked Ignis as he could feel his heart racing in his chest as the moment had come that the two of them had talked about for years.

Ignis moved closer to Noctis so that he was standing beside him.  "Ready when you are."

They both then smiled at each other as the metal plates around the crystal started to open up and cast the whole room in a deep purple haze.  You felt your head start to swim as your vision started to get fuzzy as you looked at the screen.  You kept seeing glimpses of a flickering image of Bahamut in your head as if it was trying to take over.  You shook your head as you tried to get rid of it.

Then you watched Noctis place his hand on the small plate.  Ignis then placed his hand on Noctis'.  And then after one slow nod to each other, you watched Noctis start to use his power as his eyes suddenly started to glow a bright purplish pink as he slowly started to pull some of the power from the crystal through the pedestal. 

A quick flash of an image of him at the tree of lightning crossed your eyes.  You shuddered from the image as you tried to clear your vision again.  You knew these images too well.  They had raced through your head hundreds of times.  

But now was not when you wanted to see them.  Yet it seemed that no matter what you tried, they kept popping up and blocking out your vision.  And even as you shook your head as you tried to clear this image it was replaced by yet another image of him with Bahamut.  You closed your eyes as you tried to clear out all of these images.

Suddenly you heard Ignis call out.  You quickly looked in the direction of the monitors and fought to clear the image away.  And right as you got Bahamut to start to fade, you saw that Ignis was hunched over and seemed to be breathing hard as if he had just raced his IM all over again.  You shook your head and cleared your head again.

Then you watched Ignis as he went to try and put his hand on his head as he grunted loudly.  But Noctis stopped him before he could touch his face.  Instead Noctis held Ignis hand by the wrist and seemed to be talking to him as Ignis kept calling out loudly.

"You can do this Iggy."  Noctis said through his gaze as he held Ignis' wrist.  "Fight through it.  Don't let the power win.  You need this so that you can summon your weapons.  I need you to do this so that you can stay by my side.  And (y/n) needs you to do this so that she knows that you'll be okay." 

"Grrraaaa!"  Ignis called out as he clenched his teeth as he fought through the pain.

Suddenly Ignis felt one of his legs give out and made him fall to his knee.   But when he went to look up at Noctis to make sure that he was okay, he realized that he wasn't looking at Noctis.  Instead he was kneeling on a very high balcony that was in front of a very large being that seemed to be wearing some sort of armor that pic tatted a very large cat.  He knelt there stunned for a moment a he gazed upon this huge heavenly being as he seemed to study Ignis carefully.

"So you wish to serve our future king. The king who will bring back the light to the world when there is none left?"  The being asked in a voice that seemed to be only in his head.

"I...I do."  Ignis started to stumble until he straightened out more.  "And I will do everything in my power to aid him in anyway I can so that he can serve as our king."

"Will you?"  The deity asked as he slightly tilted his head.  "When the time calls for it, are you willing to put your life on the line? Will you sacrifice yourself in order to protect the true king?"

"If it means that he will live and accomplish his true calling.  Then I am."  Ignis said in a firm tone.

"Strong words coming from a mortal."  The deity said as he leaned back a bit as he gave Ignis a judging look.  "But are you truly willing to put him above all overs?  No matter who they are?"

Ignis clenched his jaw for a moment as he thought about you.  But then as he looked back up at Bahamut he knew the answer to that question already. Even if deep down he was afraid of ever being in a situation where he had to choose between the two of you. For he knew who he had to pick first.

"I am.  Because I know that the others will stand beside me to aid him as well, when the time comes and when it really counts."  Ignis said with true conviction as he stood up and gave the deity a firm look.

"The fire in your eyes tells me that you mean what you say."  The deity said.  "But I must warn you.  Choosing this path will test you to your very limits and the limits of those around you.  Be sure to be mindful of those around you so that they don't bring you down or away from your promise that you make here today.  For the path that you have chosen is one of servitude and it's not one to be taken lightly."

"I will not fail with my promise.  And I will serve Noctis until my dying days."  Ignis said in a firm voice.  "And those around me will not bring me down.  For they will all be making the same promise when the time is right."

"Very well."  Bahamut said as gave Ignis a slight nod.  "Then go with my blessing and serve our king well."

"I will."  Ignis said as he closed his eyes and bowed to Bahamut.  "And I thank you."

Ignis then suddenly felt very dizzy.  He tried to open his eyes again.  Only to see nothing but blurry images everywhere he looked.  And as he looked around, he felt both of his legs give out.  And then there was nothing but black.

"OPEN THE DOOR!!"  You shouted at the guys at the control panel as you started beating on the door after seeing both Noctis and Ignis collapse to the floor in a heap.

"(y/n)! Calm down."  You heard your dad say as he came over to you and pulled you off of the door.  "Their fine.  They just collapsed."

"You don't know that! They could be hurt!"  You shouted at him as you started squirming in his hands as you fought to get loose.

You didn't know what happened.  And at the moment you didn't really care.  Because what you did know was that they were both sprawled out on the floor in an unconscious state and they needed you.  And you had to get to them, now!

Suddenly you heard the the grinding and the pounding noise once again as the locking rods on the door were disengaged so that it could be reopened again.  You anxiously stood there frozen for a moment as the door started to opened up.  And as soon as you started to see the room around the edge of the door, you broke free from your dad's grip and slipped through the door and raced over to them.  Your heart was racing when you ran over and fell to your knees in between them.  

You then gently ran your hand over Ignis' face as you tried to get him to stir.  And much to your delight he did.  You leaned down and gave him a gentle kiss.  He responded with the same before you pulled back and looked at him.

"Are you okay?"  You asked as you gave him a scared look as you looked over the rest of him.

"Yeah.  It appears as if I fainted though."  Ignis said in a very groggily state as he looked around.

"It's okay love."  You said back with a smile as a tear ran down your cheek.  "Just relax for a moment while I check on Noctis.  Okay?"

"Noctis?"  Ignis said in an alert tone as he tried to sit up.  "Is he okay?"

"Relax love."  You said and place your hand on his chest as a way of keeping him still for a moment.  "Let me find out."

Ignis laid back down and tried to relax.  Which seemed to be the only logical thing that he could do at the moment since his body felt wiped out.

You leaned over Noctis and ran your hand across his face.  "Noct?  Can you hear me?"

He stirred as well but with a strained look.  "What happened?"

"You collapsed."  You said as you watched him carefully.

"Again?"  He asked as he tried to look up at you.

But despite what he tried, it wasn't working out very well since he couldn't seem to focus on anything.

"Does anything hurt?"  You asked as you placed your hand on his chest and did a once over to make sure that he didn't have any obvious injuries that needed tending to.

"My ego perhaps."  Noctis said as he place his arm over his eyes as he tried to get the room to stop spinning.  "That's twice that I have passed out now."

"Well it appears as if you weren't the only one this time."  Ignis said as he glanced over at Noctis.

Noctis was finally able to focus as he looked over at Ignis and saw his face slowly come into focus.  "It worked then."

Ignis smiled back at him.  "It did."

"I don't know what you two are talking about."  You chimed in as you sat back on heels as you knelt in between the two of them.  "The only thing I know is that you both succeeded in scaring the shit out of me."

They both started to chuckle at you as you sat here shaking your head at them as the others came into the room.   "You two are impossible sometimes."

"It looks like their just fine."  Your dad said as he walked up to you.  "Just like I said they would be."

"Well I couldn't tell."  You argued back as you looked away from your dad.

Then you felt a hand on each leg.  You look back at your legs and saw that Ignis and Noctis had each placed a hand on your leg.  You dropped your head again and placed a hand on each of their theirs.  Truth was, you were just glad that it was over.  

But still.  Was it going to be just like that each time?  If so, then you were looking at having at least three more mini heart attacks. And that was something that you weren't looking forward to. But at least you would be better prepared for the next one.

"Are you sure that your okay?" You asked both of them as they relaxed on the couch in Noctis' room.

"They're going to be fine." Your dad as he kept his hand on your shoulder. "All they need is a good night sleep. Which is exactly what you need as well.

"We'll be fine." Ignis said with a smile.  "I'm staying here for the night and tomorrow we're just going to lay low and relax."

"See." Your dad said as he looked at you as he gave you a slight squeeze. "So now let's head home ourselves. You must be exhausted."

You dropped your head as you hated to admit that it was true. "Okay."

The rest of the weekend was just one big blur since most of it you spent sleeping yourself. And even the following week in school went by in a flash. Before you knew it you were on a bus heading for Regionals. And wasn't going to be a quick trip this time around. It was actually scheduled to take two days to get everyone through. So for this trip you actually were going to be staying overnight in a hotel since it was on the other side of Insomnia.

You felt bad that your dad couldn't come this time because of work. But he had promised to watch with Korn since it was going to be televised live for all of Insomnia to watch. In fact everyone at the citadel and at the school was saying that they were going to be watching. The whole thing was new to you since you had never gone it before.  But none of it bothered you.

Because as Ignis held you close as the bus flew down the freeway, the only thing that you could think about was spending time with him alone somewhere.  Especially since the two of you hadn't been alone in what seemed like a lifetime now. Everywhere you went there always seemed to be someone else there. And it was starting to get to you.

"So can someone explain to me why we are going up two days before Regionals?" Prompto asked as he turned around in his seat so that he could see you and Ignis in the very back seat, with Gladio opposite of you in the other back seat, as he sat next to Noctis.

"It gives us a chance to get us to get use to the pool before we actually race." Ignis explained as he pushed his glasses back on his face with his middle finger.

"So all we're going to be doing is swimming?" Prompto asked with a sigh.

"In a sense, yes." Ignis said as he sat back in his seat and tightened up his on you.

"Ah man. I'm going to feel like a drowned rat by time we leave here." Prompto whined as he flipped back down in his seat.

"We aren't going to be swimming the entire time." You chimed in. "We will get to wander around the area and explore once practice is over."

"Wait? Are you serious?" Prompto asked as he popped back up like an excited puppy.  "But how do you know?"

"Do you honestly think that my dad would let me come if he hadn't found out about every single detail of the trip?" You asked as you half smiled at him.

"Thank you Mr. (L/n).". Prompto grinned as he leaned back against the window. "So then where do we want to go to tonight?"

"Well that will depend on what the coaches have set up for us." Ignis said in a flat tone. "They are in charge after all."

"Right. I forgot about that." Prompto said as he rubbed the back of his head.  "So then what do yo think that they'll have us do first.  After checking into the hotel that is?"

"Hopefully they'll let us hang out around the hotel."  Gladio chimed in.  "Im hoping to be able to stretch out at the gym before bed tonight.  This bus ride is making me cramp up."

"I could go with checking out their arcade."  Noctis said as he relaxed.  "I could really use the distraction right now."

"Ohh.  Do you think they'll have a shooting game?"  Prompto asked Noctis excitedly.

"I don't know."  He replied with a slight smile.  "We will just have to have to see."

"And what about you two love birds?"  Prompto asked you and Ignis as he gave you a slight smirk.  "Are you going to try and sneak out for a secret rendezvous somewhere?"

"We won't  be able to sneak out per-say.  But perhaps a nice quiet walk can be arranged."  Ignis  as he adjusted his glasses again with his middle finger.

"A walk sounds perfect."  You quietly said as you beam up at Ignis.  "Just as long as quiet and peaceful.  I would rather not a respect of what had happened the last timed we rode a bus to a swim meet."

"Huh?"  Prompto asked as he gave you a curious look.  "What happened last time?  Did the bus break down or something?"

No I'm afraid it much worse then just a broken down bus."  Ignis answered as he looked at for a moment before he looked back up at Prompto.  "Our bus had been attacked last time on our way back home."

"Seriously?"  Prompto asked as he leaned against the back of the seat as he looked at Ignis.  "What happened?  Who attacked?"

"My uncle never did figure out exactly who did it."  Ignis said as he slight looked down.  "But he did have a few hunches from the multiple cars that were involved and the people that they took into custody After our bus got trapped like it did.  Unfortunately none of them talked, so it panned out in our favor."

"Whoa.  I had no idea.  That sounds pretty intense."  Prompto said in a nervous tone.  "You don't think that it will happen again do you?"

"It was over three years ago and a lot has changed since then."  You Heard Noctis say as you snuggled up closer to Ignis.  

"So all we can do is hope that it doesn't."  Ignis added as he adjusted himself so that he was more comfortable on the seat.

"But at the same time, still be vigilant."  Gladio continued as he glanced at everyone.

"And rest up every chance we can."  You finished as you closed your eyes as you laid you head on Ignis chest so that you could take a quick nap.

"And that is why I love this girl."  You heard Noctis said from his seat before you felt the heavy sleep start to take over.

******Author Note******

Okay.  So from the trail straight into Regionals.  But not to worry.  It won't t take long here.  After all, there is still a lot going on until the end of the school year.  Plus, after finally talking to Ignis about what happened, its time to take your case to court and put the bastard who hurt you behind bars.

Hopefully I'll see you in the next chapter.  

Thanks for reading.  :)

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