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Gladio stood in the middle of the room, his broad chest heaving with each breath he took. How had it come down to this? He had always known that one day, he might be put in a situation where he would have to make a difficult choice, but he had never thought it would be quite like this.
Cold tawny eyes regarded him from across the room, dancing with wickedness and a sadistic kind of delight. The Chancellor stepped forward, a smile on his face that was anything but comforting. In the dim light, his eyes almost seemed to glow. He moved to the left, where you were strapped to a wide iron bar. Despite the fact that you couldn’t move, you glared back at the man who had taken you captive. Reaching out, he trailed a gloved finger down the side of your face. “So lovely… But I’d wager that you would look even more beautiful bathed in blood.” His eyes turned to Noctis. “But then…the blood of a prince is also delightful.”
Gladio took a step forward, but Ardyn produced a small dagger, extending his other arm and pressing it against Noctis’s throat.
“Be careful, now. Don’t do anything you might regret. Besides, I have a much better idea.” He straightened, turning to face the furious shield. “I have a little question for you. Duty or love…which is more important to you?”
Gladio’s brow furrowed. “What are you getting at?”
“Exactly what I asked. Caught between the two, which one would you choose?” He opened both arms, gesturing to you and Noctis on either side of him. “Which life is more precious to you? Let’s find out, shall we? One will live, but the other must die…by your hand. If you refuse, I’ll kill them both.”
The shield’s amber eyes widened slightly, and he looked between the two of you; the love of his life, and his prince. How was he possibly supposed to make a choice like that?
“Tick tock, Gladio…the sand in the hourglass is running out, and Death grows impatient.”
For once in his life, Gladiolus Amicitia was lost for words. He knew which one he had to choose; he had been raised knowing what his top priority was, but he couldn’t make himself say the name. It felt like a betrayal of everything the two of you had become.
“Choose me!” you said suddenly, pulling against the restraints that bound you, even though you knew it would do no good. “Gladio, just choose me! I’m not scared of death. Noctis is… He has to survive, no matter what. You know that as well as I do!”
Ardyn glanced over at you, an amused smile on his face. “Oh? It seems we have a volunteer. What do you say, Gladio? Are you going to ignore your beloved’s selfless offer? How cruel of you.”
Gladio’s teeth clenched hard enough that you could hear it halfway across the room.
“Let me go,” you told Ardyn. “If he won’t choose, I will! Please, let me go!”
“Very well, then. I can’t ignore a plea like that.” Ardyn moved around behind you, unfastening the restraints that held you tightly to the bar.
As soon as the straps came loose, you lunged forward, summoning your daggers in a burst of blue light. Gladio’s eyes widened as you swiftly closed the distance between the two of you, slashing at him as fast as you could. If you had time to think about it, you knew you would lose your nerve.
Gladio took a step back, summoning not his broadsword, but his shield, deflecting your attack. The blades scraped along the metal, creating a shower of sparks that rained down on the both of you.
“Fight back!” you screamed, willing your voice not to crack. Gladio could never stand to see you upset, and if you cried in front of him now, there was no telling what he might do. You had to be strong, for the both of you.
Spinning in a tight circle to gain momentum, you lashed out at his unprotected side, scoring a shallow slice along his forearm and making him clench his teeth. Not backing down, you upended the daggers and drove them towards his side. He turned in the opposite direction, once again catching your blow and turning it aside.
“Don’t be a coward, Gladio,” you almost spat. “You’re the King’s Shield. You know what you have to do. So do it!” A sob rose in your throat, but you fought it back. Never before had you spoken to your lover like that. It hurt, each word needing to be ripped from your throat and forced past your lips.
“Gladio, don’t!”
This new voice came from Noctis, making the both of you pause for a moment. His voice was pained, and you could hear it trembling. “I won’t… I’m not going to ask you to choose. Don’t play his game!”
Ardyn reached up, placing a hand over the prince’s mouth. “Hush, now, you’ll ruin the fun.” His eyes were fixed on you and Gladio, drinking in your every move. The bastard was getting off on this, that much was for certain.
His words just made you even angrier. Noctis would never encourage Gladio to harm you, and it looked like the shield wasn’t going to do it himself.
A primal scream tore from your throat, and your movements went from controlled to reckless as you forced him back. It became harder and harder to block your attacks; you had always been fast in battle – a lot faster than him, and his shield couldn’t cover his entire body. More and more often, your blades bit home, opening shallow wounds along his arms.
Suddenly, you saw your chance. A tiny opening, just to the right of his shield.
Feinting to the left, you drove the point of one dagger upwards, aiming just beneath the head of the eagle tattoo that spread across his body. Your vision was obscured by a brilliant blue light, and a sharp, hot pain cut across your neck. Warmth spread down your shoulder, soaking into your jacket, and you stumbled back with a gasp.
A trickle of red made its way down the edge of the broadsword, and four sets of eyes tracked its progress.
“(Name), I-” Gladio’s deep voice held a note you had only heard once before; the day you’d gotten the news of Insomnia’s fall. He watched as your grip on your daggers loosened, and the blades clattered to the floor, disappearing. His own weapons soon followed, and he lunged forward, catching you as your knees buckled, your legs folding beneath you.
His hand came up to rest against the side of your neck, desperately trying to stop the flow of blood. The wash of crimson flowed over his fingers, and he could feel your pulse weakening slightly.
“Excellent…”
His head snapped up as he heard Ardyn’s voice, breathy and soft. “You’ll regret this, Izunia. I swear it.” Gladio’s own voice was vicious, and his eyes blazed with pure hatred.
“I don’t think you have time for that, Gladio,” Ardyn replied silkily. “Even from here, I can see the precious light fading from your beloved’s eyes.”
Gladio’s attention immediately returned to you, and he was horrified to see that Ardyn was correct. Your beautiful eyes, once so expressive, were beginning to dim. But beneath the haze, he could still see the love you felt for him. All the hostility had drained from your body, and you had returned to being the sweet woman he loved so much.
With a trembling hand, you reached up, placing it gently against his stubble-roughened cheek. “It’s…okay. You did…the right thing,” you murmured, a trickle of blood making its way out of the corner of your mouth as you spoke. “I knew when I fell in love with you…that it might one day end like this. You were born…to protect Noctis. I accepted that from the beginning. You need to…choose him. Above everything else. Even me.”
Tears welled up in Gladio’s amber eyes, splashing onto your face as he bent forward, resting his forehead against yours. “I was supposed to protect you, too,” he replied, his shoulders shaking. “I swore I would…”
You shook your head, using what was left of your rapidly-draining strength to tilt his face up slightly and place a gentle kiss on his lips. “My time with you…was more than I ever could have asked for. I’m happy with that. I just…wish it could have lasted longer.”
A small smile came to your face. “Protect him…Gladio. Protect them all. For me. And remember…how much I…love…”
You never got to finish your sentence. Darkness overwhelmed you, and your hand slipped from his face.
Tears obscured Gladio’s vision, and he reached up, gently closing your unseeing eyes. His arms wrapped tightly around your limp form, crushing you to him as he buried his face in your neck.
“Gladio…” Noctis’s voice was quiet, rough.
Slowly, Gladio stood up, still holding you against him. He wasn’t about to leave you here in this horrible place. “Let Noctis go,” he said, his voice hard as steel.
Ardyn smiled amicably. “As you wish. I have what I wanted, after all.” His eyes lingered on the puddle of blood that had formed on the ground. “Quite a performance, I must say.” He quickly unbuckled the straps holding the prince captive, and Noctis stumbled forward, wincing a little as bloodflow was restored to his limbs.
Noctis moved over to Gladio, placing a hand on the shield’s arm. “Let’s get out of here,” he said quietly, refusing to look at you, cradled against your lover’s chest.
Gladio was still for a long time, his eyes burning into Ardyn. But at last, he turned away, following Noctis out of the room. There were more important things he had to attend to. Rejoining Prompto and Ignis, and then finding a place to…
No, he couldn’t think about that at the moment. But your words echoed in his mind. You did the right thing. Protect him, Gladio. Protect them all.
One day, he knew that he would be reunited with you. But for now, there were other things he had to do.
He was the King’s Shield, after all. It was his duty.