#both clarus and cor are planning a series of throughout investigations

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

I was rereading Dreams of Our Past recently, and - well, aside from falling in love with the story all over again, I find myself desperately curious about what happened when Regis met his grandchildren. (Also Cor and Clarus' reaction to the Deep City, because they *never knew it existed* - and I'd imagine that's quite a shock.)

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much! For some reason it always surprises me when peolpe say they like Dreams of Our Past. But I appreciate every single one of you with all my little author heart.

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Regis felt like his insides had frozen over. His son was in danger. Finally he saw his son again, and he was in danger. But it was not a danger Regis could fight.

He sat in a cluttered kitchen, at an ancient wooden table along with Clarus and Cor and felt... nothing. Nothing but a fathomless pit called dread. His daughter-in-law was with his son. Something about making sure he drank his potions. The untouched tea in front of him had long gone luke warm.

Remembering his son's deathly pale face, the black slashes across his skin broken open and leaking magic so bright it was hard to look at, made his teeth grind together so hard it hurt.

Hushed noises from the door made him look up. Both Clarus and Cor stopped their hushed discussion, faces set in serious frowns. Regis should have been listening to what they were discussing, but he just... couldn't. The door was slightly ajar. Just enough so for a small face to peek halfway through. All he could see was a mop of wild brownish red hair and honey golden eyes blinking cautiously into the room, but that was enough.

For the first time in only the Gods knew how long, Regis moved. His joints protested rather soundly and a flaring pain in his knee made him press his lips into a tight line. Slowly he moved towards the door, leaning heavily on his cane. The little face vanished. Childish whispering came through the door. No sound of little feet running.

Regis pushed the door open and there they were. Two children, a younger boy and an older girl. Both looked up at him with large eyes, their shape nearly identical. Both so very clearly of the Lucis Caelum line. If Regis had been able, he would have knelt down. As his knee made that impossible, he settled for a warm smile. The searing cold freezing his insides started to thaw.

The boy toddled forward a few steps. A huge grin lit up his face, making him look nigh on identtical to Noctis at that age. Regis's heart nearly burst out of his chest.

"'Lo," the boy chirped. "I'm Astra! This's Soli, she don't like people."

"Astra!" the girl hissed.

"Hello," Regis said nearly on auto-pilot. His eyes burnt. "My name is Regis. It's truly a pleasure to meet you. Both of you."

Astra's storm grey eyes grew huge and his mouth fell into an 'o' shape. "You talk like Iggy! Soli, he talks like Iggy!"

The girl huffed at her brother. The grip she had on his jumper loosened. She looked up at Regis again, more curious now than cautious.

"You're him, right? Our grandpa?" she asked.

Regis could not bring himself to say another word, so he nodded. With a high pitched squeal Astra lurched forward, dragging his sister with him. She held her brother back enough to lessen the impact, but Regis still nearly lost his footing when they both collided with his legs.

Astra clung to his healthier leg like a little monkey while Solaris's arms wound around his waist. Regis nearly dropped his cane in his hast to hug both of them at once. He took a large, shuddering breath and silently the tears started to fall.