The three remaining members of the royal retinue are sitting in the dining car. Ignis and Gladio sat at a table, Noctis sat at the bar by himself. Biggs addresses them over the loudspeaker. "Oi! Uh-attention all passengers! We're on our way to our final destination in the imperial capital. Enjoy the ride. I'll be in touch if anything comes up." Biggs ceases his address, the loudspeaker deactivating.

Gladio glanced out the window, his arms littered with goosebumps. "Look at all that snow. No wonder it's so cold in here."

"We must be approaching the Glacian's cadaver," Ignis informed the shield.

"Won't be a blessing if all we got's a body."

"Let us hope we pass through the gorge without incident."

"It's what's after the gorge I'm worried about," Gladio shared his thoughts.

Noctis overheard the conversation before standing up from the bar. He gradually made his way over the door leading to the next car, but he froze when feeling the train shake slightly. Unbeknownst to him, the locomotive began barreling through large chunks of ice that have formed over the tracks, causing the front of the train to start icing up.

When the train's brakes bring it screeching to a halt, Noctis gripped the counter of the bar to keep him from falling.

Gladio looked around in puzzlement. "I wonder what it could be this time."

Just then, Biggs addresses them over the loudspeaker once more. "Attention, eh!"

"Yeah?" Noctis responded.

"You may have noticed we've stopped. As for the cause... Outside, ya think?"

"We'll take a look."

The prince begins to head outside. Gladio climbs out of the booth with a grunt. "Hope it's just a quick snow-shoveling job."

"Indeed," Ignis agreed. The shield and tactician follow after Noctis.

Outside, the raven-haired boy has his arms wrapped around himself in an attempt to stave off the cold. "It's freezing!"

"Better keep moving to stay warm," Gladio advised.

Although unable to see, Ignis could feel the unnatural coldness of the blizzard. "The Glacian did this."

Noctis' eyes narrowed as he stared into the distance. Through the blizzard, he could see Shiva's lifeless body. "I think I can see her."

"It's a shame. She's lying dead." Gladio could feel his teeth threatening to clatter. "Damn, it's cold!"

"Let's clean up out here, warm up in there."

"Better make this snappy."

Suddenly, the trio is attacked by several daemons. They quickly dispose of the creatures, dispelling their weapons. Noctis stands outside the train trying to catch his breath. From the doorway to get back onboard, Gladio leans out and calls to him. "Hey, Noct! You'd better get in here. Something's not right." He goes back inside and guides Ignis through the train. "C'mon, Iggy."

Noctis begins to follow them inside. Just as he's about to walk up the steps to get inside, he sees Ardyn walk past him, already onboard the train. The prince was taken aback at seeing the man. "No way." He sprints up the stairs and pursues the chancellor. "You! Hold it! That son of a bitch."

He follows Ardyn into the train car where Gladio and Ignis were headed to find it filled with mist and cold air. "What the hell?" Noctis muttered. Making his way into the next car, he opens the door to be buffeted by snow and cold winds. He can make out Ardyn's silhouette at the other end of the car and pushed through the cold. Wrapping his arms around himself, Noctis struggles through each step to keep advancing. "Stop! Stop, dammit! Where are they? Where's Prompto? What'd you do to (Y/n)?"

"Oh, there you are!" Ardyn acted surprised even though he knew the prince had been following him. "I'm worried about your friends. They've fallen and they can't get up. Why not lend them a hand?"

Noctis manages to get a few feet from Ardyn. Beyond him, he can see Ignis and Gladio on the floor. They were both covered in ice.

"A coldness that can only be hers," Ardyn said.

The boy falls to his knees, his vision beginning to blur. Managing to lift his head, he takes notice of a person in the doorway past Ignis and Gladio. He recognized the woman as Gentiana.

Ardyn turns and realizes she's there as well. His expression momentarily becomes one of surprise, then nonchalant. He watched her as she begins walking towards them. "Ahh, the face you wore the day you-"

Gentiana touches her finger to her lips, then touches Ardyn's lips. The chancellor's entire body turned to ice. Strolling past the frozen man, she then walks up to Noctis. "Let it now be done...as promised to the Oracle." She gestures widely with her arms and floats into the air before being obscured by a flash of blue and white light. As the light fades, the form of Shiva has taken Gentiana's place.

Noctis flabbergasted at the discovery. "Gentiana-it's you. You're the Glacian. Wha-"

"O King of Kings, restore Light unto the world." Gentiana raises her hands and conjures Lunafreya's trident. She hands it to Noctis who leans forward and grasps it. The two are enveloped in another flash of light. When the light dissipates, Gentiana is gone and the blizzard that was enveloping the train car ceased.

Noctis walks up to the frozen Ardyn, conjures the Trident of the Oracle, and shatters the chancellor's frozen body with the weapon. "Damn you." He then loses his balance and stumbles to his downed friends. "Hey. Wake up."

Gladio was the first to awaken. He looked around, confused. "The hell happened?"

"I saw the Glacian. It's okay, she's gone now. You guys check on our drivers," Noctis explained.

"Got it." The shield turns to Ignis, who woke up right after him, and places his hand on his shoulder. "You good?"

Ignis nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Let's go."

Noctis remains on the floor for a moment as they leave. After a few minutes, he gets to his feet and makes his way through the next train car. When he did, he realizes he's not alone. The moment he turns around, he finds Ardyn standing a few feet away.

"I feel I've earned the right to call you Noct. For a moment I felt death's chill wind, such is the might of the gods. But then, I remembered I'm immortal. Such is my blessing and curse. Your attack hurt me, nevertheless..." The chancellor feigned a wounded expression before it transformed into a fierce scowl. His voice also becomes something of a growl. "My feelings at least."

Ardyn falls silent for a moment before continuing. "And after all the memories we've shared. Remember this?" He reveals what's in his hand. It was one of Prompto's guns. He pointing it at Noctis. "Ah, I should have asked if you remember him. Truly a blast from the past, nay?" The man casually walks up to Noctis and places the side of the gun against the boy's chest. He tries to grab it, but Ardyn pulls it out of his reach and turns away. "Ah, ah, ah! You mustn't take what's not yours."

"Where is he?!" Noctis demanded angrily.

""He"?" Ardyn parroted before turning back to face the raven-haired boy. "The little gunman's a short shot away." He raises his finger and points.

"Where?" Noctis, once again, commanded.

"Where else but Gralea, the seat of the empire? I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you. And you might even find your Crystal. With all these daemons about, you could certainly use it. But do be wary for I've acquired quite a gem that will turn the tides in my favor. A second Crystal lost to the passage of time. A splendid gift, if I were to speak from the heart."

Noctis' eyes widen in horror when realizing who he was talking about. "(Y/n)..."

"A rose with many thorns, that one," Ardyn chuckled. He walks towards the boy, deliberately pushing past him before coming to a halt. "Off you go, then. I wouldn't want to keep you from your friends." He raises his hand, in which he is holding a small device. He presses a button on the device with his thumb, then leaves without another word.

Noctis stares after Ardyn, gritting his teeth. He remained in the car for a short while before heading to the dining car. There, he found found Gladio and Ignis sitting at one of the booths and joined them. He sat down and told them what Ardyn had shared with him moments ago.

Ignis was perplexed as to how Ardyn would obtain the power of the second Crystal due to its location. "How would the chancellor succeed in claiming the power of Vanaheim's Crystal? Did (Y/n) not mention it lies at the depths of the sea?"

"I was kinda confused, too," Noctis confessed.

Gladio, on the other hand, knew exactly how he was going to do it. "(Y/n)'s got a shard of the Crystal embedded in her chest. It's how she's still able to use the Crystal's power."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"Very, but it's how her people would wield the Crystal's power." The shield glanced out the window. "This train better move faster if that really is the bastard's plan."

"Something the matter?" Noctis asked.

"If he wants that shard from (Y/n), he'll have to kill her for it."

Just then, a figure manifested in the dining car. Noctis was the first out of his seat when recognizing it was Death. "Hey!" He shouted as her body crumpled to the floor. Kneeling beside her, he noticed the large gash across her body that reached from her left shoulder to her right hip. There was so much blood. Noctis provided a potion and was able to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't enough to heal the entire wound. "What happened to you?"

"Th-That bastard of a ch-chancellor...has done the unspeakable," Death managed to say. "H-He's fused War with...the dullahan..."

Gladio couldn't believe what the Horseman was saying. "What?"

"The dullahan is f-feeding off her. It's only...a matter of t-time before...it consumes her entirely. Not even I c-could stand against it with how...powerful it's become."

"That...doesn't sound good," Noctis muttered.

"Where was this thing?" Gladio pried.

"Zegnautus Keep..." Death mumbled.

"Zegnautus Keep?" Noctis reiterated.

"An imperial megafortress said to be impregnable," Ignis clarified.

"With Prompto, (Y/n), and the Crystal inside it," the raven-haired boy added.

"What goes in, must come out," Gladio declared.

Noctis looked back down at the injured Horseman when realizing she fell silent. He noticed she wasn't breathing, eyes widening. He patted his pockets in search of another potion, but he couldn't find one. "Dammit...!" He glanced at her just in time to see the wound beginning to mend. He watched in awe as the injury healed, not even leaving behind a scar. When she opened her golden eyes, he gazed into them. "You okay?"

Death nodded with a sigh. "Fine." She pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Thanks for the potion. It helped a lot."

"Yeah. No problem." Noctis helped her up off the floor.

"I'm heading back to the Keep," she said.

"After what that thing did to you?"

"Yes. I need to find Famine and tell her what's happening."

"Hold on," Gladio spoke up, stopping the girl from vanishing. "Is there a way of separating (Y/n) from that damned thing?"

"Brute force will be the only way. I tried, but it's gonna take more than one person," Death answered.

"We'll get her back," the shield proclaimed.

Noctis nodded in agreement. "Yeah. (Y/n)'s still gotta teach me some of her cool tricks."

"Indeed. Her teachings have been wondrous for Noct," Ignis added.

"I appreciate your help, everyone," she smiled at them. "Please, be careful." With those final words, she was gone.

Noctis returned to his seat with a sigh of relief. For a moment, he'd forgotten the sable-haired girl was immortal. However, his thoughts were cleared of the girl when his shield asked, "So, are we buying this story that the Crystal can purge daemons?"

"The proof is in the purging, but it does stand to reason. We've observed that as the nights have grown longer, the daemon hordes have grown stronger. If they are in fact averse to the Crystal's Light, it could save not only Lucis, but the world," Ignis answered.

"We'll find out once we take it back," Noctis said.

Suddenly, the train comes screeching to a halt. The trio braces themselves to avoid any injuries. "The hell?" Gladio growled.

"What is it?" Ignis asked.

"My guess? Something to sidetrack us."

The three get up and move into the cabin car. As they walk past the series of large windows, they all suddenly crack and the train car shakes. "What now?" The shield groaned.

The loudspeaker comes to life and Biggs speaks to them. "City's trying to keep us out...with the daemons."

At that moment, small imp-like daemons known as snagas begin swarming across the windows. "Whoa-whoa," Gladio gaped in shock at the sheer amount of daemons.

Biggs speaks over the loudspeaker again. "Gotta run! Don't worry about us."

One of the daemons busts through the glass and lands in front of Noctis and the others. He holds out his hand to tell Gladio to move back, then attempts to conjure a weapon into his hand. "Let's get to work..." When his sword didn't appear in his hand, he was utterly confused.

Gladio noticed the boy's bewilderment. "What's wrong?"

"The weapons...they're stuck!"

Gladio's attention was drawn back to the snaga when seeing it move. "Get back!" He pulls Noctis away from the now charging daemon and kicks it in the face.

"Run!" Ignis shouted.

As the tactician retreats, Gladio pats Noctis' shoulder. "C'mon, move it!"

The three run as fast as they can through the train. Moving from car to car, they dodge the daemons threatening to kill them.

When they passed through the cabin car, Gladio took a short detour to their room. He entered, grabbed (Y/n)'s blade, and left. "Noct, here!" He tossed the crimson-bladed sword towards the younger boy.

Noctis caught the weapon with ease, but he was shocked at how heavy it was. He recognized the blade as War's and didn't hesitate to slice through a few daemons that jumped in their path as they continued to the rear of the train.

As the three enter another car, more daemons took chase. "Only a matter of time before we run out of room to run!" Ignis bellowed.

"Got a better idea?" Noctis asked, slicing through another daemon.

"We trade the train for the Regalia!"

"C'mon!" Gladio hollered.

"On my way!" Noctis replied. He caught up with his companions and cut down a couple more enemies.

"Noct! The freight car!" Ignis yelled

"Keep moving!"

After a long, treacherous struggle through the train, the trio make it to the Regalia located in the freight car. Noctis gets into the driver's seat while Gladio gets in the passenger's seat and Ignis in the back. "Strap in," Noctis said.

"Gun it!" Gladio yelled.

Noctis drives the Regalia out of the freight car and onto the train tracks. As they rode down the tracks, an automated message rings out.

"Threat upgraded. Activating level 4 security measures. Sealing all gates."

Hearing the announcement, they could see the gates beginning to lower in the distance. Noctis drove as fast as the Regalia could go. He drives the car through a tunnel and onto a tracks bridge in the city. While racing down the bridge, an artillery shell suddenly strikes near the car, causing a small explosion.

Ignis was startled and bewildered by the sudden explosion. "What was that?!"

"They're trying to blow us off the tracks," Noctis calmly replied.

Artillery continues striking around the Regalia. One after another, they begin hitting their mark. In the distance, an imperial drop ship can be seen falling out of the sky. More artillery strikes the Regalia, causing a flame to ignite. Noctis gripped the steering wheel tightly. "You can do it, girl. You can get through this."

As the Regalia closes in on the gate, several more artillery strikes land directly on the car. The moment the car makes it through the rapidly closing gate, another strike lands square on the vehicle, briefly engulfing it in flame.

Noctis brings the car to a screeching halt on the other side of the gate near the debris of a train car that stretches across the width of the bridge, one end propped up above the tracks. The Regalia now sits sizzling on the tracks, all its windows shattered.

Noctis, Ignis, and Gladio get out of the car and begin to walk away from the destroyed vehicle. The raven-haired boy turns to look back at the car with a somber expression, recalling a memory from childhood of his father stepping out of the car and embracing him. "Dad... Thanks for everything."

After a moment, Gladio speaks up. "Are we seriously marching into the capital with only one sword?"

"And with no assurances the Crystal can beat back the daemon hordes," Ignis added.

"Guess we'll find out the hard way. No turning back now, right?"

Noctis gripped (Y/n)'s sword tighter. "No way in hell. Let's go."