The muggy heat pressed in on them to the point that even sweating did them no good. The mine was tight and pressurized and there was a buzzing in the air like flies clinging to trash. Every drop of water echoed through the halls as it dripped into puddles and bounced off the metal carts. Noctis' breathing was labored, the sweat flowing in from the corners of his eyes and causing them to sting. He placed his hand on the slick rock wall as he rounded a corner. Stairs only stretched farther down into the darkness.
"It should be close guys." He reassured his friends as they traveled deeper into the mine. Every step closer felt like he was walking through thick molasses.
"Do we really have to go further?" Prompto whined as he stumbled down the stairs.
"We've gotten this far," Ignis wiped the sweat from his forehead with a grimace, "It would be pointless to turn back now."
Prompto groaned again and they made their way down the stairs only to be greeted by a room so large their lights could never dream of reaching the other side. Noctis stopped, his eyes scanning the darkness as if it would just magically show him the way. He was about to take a step forward when Gladio reached his arm out to stop him.
"Wait..you hear that?"
Sure enough there was a low rumble that sounded like it came from below. His eyes scanned the ground he could see, trying to find a crack or a clue. Nothing revealed itself but the rumbling slowly got louder. A shaper sound accompanied it. It was soft at first, nothing but an annoyance to the ears, but soon it was a screech that shook the walls. Noctis curled in on himself and plugged his ears. The sound was starting to echo off the walls and nobody could tell if it was coming from above or below anymore. The sound was so shrill it sent his head spinning.
"NOCT!"
Noctis couldn't hear Promptos yell as he dropped to his knees. He could feel the pressure building up in his head, in his ears, behind his eyes. It felt like his head was going to burst and the only thing holding it together was his own two hands. He felt it before he saw its source. Something wet hit the back of his head, it came from above him, but he couldn't move his body to look up.
"Come on Noct, this is no time for a nap." He barely heard Ignis shout. He felt him grab his arm and try to pull him away, but he fought him. He didn't want to move, the pressure was too much. He could fall apart, melt straight into the cracks. Gladio had to come over and grab his other arm so the pair of them could drag Noctis out of whatever danger he was in.
"C'mon, get up and walk dammit!"
Noctis couldn't move. It was like he was petrified again but he could still feel. Whatever had dripped onto the back of his head was now slowly crawling down his back.
"At least open your eyes."
Gladio said, a bit quieter this time and Noctis could hear him. Wait, why could he hear him? He took a deep breath and very slowly he opened his eyes. He was face to face with Leviathan herself.
He had no time to react before she opened her mouth and roared, shaking him to the core. He knelt in front of her, his friends gone along with the room. He was on a rock surrounded by nothing but the roaring seas. Waves lapped at the side of the rock, but it was fixed in its position and refused to move. The water sprayed up at him with each wave and the hair on his arms stood on end like grass covered in dew. He removed his hands from his ears, the pressure fading, and he looked up in awe. A wave larger than he had ever seen before was looming closer than he was comfortable and aimed right at him. He still couldn't move. He was rooted to his spot as he watched the wall of water slowly tip, coming closer and closer until-
Noctis jumped awake as a bucket of ice cold water was dumped on his face. He gasped a bit in shock, his body immediately preparing for a fight as he sat bolt upright only to be greeted by Gladio laughing with a now empty bucket in his hands. Prompto stood outside the tent and clutched his sides in laughter.
"Morning sleeping beauty," Gladio said, "Or should i say afternoon now."
He groaned, wiping the sleep and now water out of his eyes. He was soaked to say the least now and so was the inside of the tent, but that didn't seem to bother anyone else. It seemed they cleaned everything out just for this occasion of waking up the prince.
"What time is it?" Noctis sighed
"A little past noon now. Figured it was time to head out, Ignis has started trying to bake."
Noctis' nose scrunched up, "With what?"
"Yea. I know," Gladio leaned over and smacked his shoulder to prod him. "Get up." Noctis just slapped his hand away and glared towards the tents entrance. It took him a moment to muster the strength, but once his eyes were adjusted to the light he followed Gladio out.
Prompto sat down in one of the folding chairs, still giggling to himself, while Ignis fiddled with the small propane stove and Gladio started putting some kind of soup in a bowl. Noctis took a breath and plopped himself in the chair beside Prompto who wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"Oh, dude, you smell like the lake."
"And so does the inside of the tent now."
Noctis took the bowl that Gladio handed him and dug in immediately. It was like he hadn't eaten in years.
"I take full responsibility for that," Gladio snickered as he sat down to join them. "It was mostly my idea to dump water on you."
"Yea," Prompto sat up straighter, "I had nothing to do with it. I just tried putting the alarm next to your ear."
Noctis rolled his eyes and ate the bowl of noodles. It was warm enough that even just sitting outside for a little while dried his skin. The soft breeze caressed his cheek and carried the scent of fresh grass as it passed by. The weather the perfect kiss of summer that allowed them to keep the top down when they finally packed for the long drive. Everyone sat in their usual seats with Noctis sitting with Gladio in the back. Prompto leaned out the side as he took photos of the slowly passing scenery, all thanks to Ignis who drove slowly enough for him to get a good photo whenever he asked. Noctis looked out onto the horizon as it changed, the hills getting higher only to drop off as they got closer to Galdin Quay.
"There it is!" Prompto shouted, standing in his seat the best he could to get a better view of the bay. "It's beautiful.."
"Sit down Prompto," Ignis reached over and pulled at his jacket. Prompto sat back in his seat with a huff, his camera in hand. "It is quite the spectacle, but I believe it will pale in comparison when we arrive in Altissia."
"You think so?" Prompto said with a bit of a dreamy lilt to his voice.
Noctis couldn't pay any attention to his friends conversation. To be quite frank, after tonight this was it. He was to be married to Lunafreya in less than a week. His palms were sweaty even now as he thought about it, what would he be like on that day. He hadn't seen her since they were kids and even though they still communicated it was like she was a stranger to him. What if he wasn't what she imagined?
As they pulled into the parking lot right by the beach he could feel the lump in his throat. They still had the whole night ahead of them, but his heart sunk to think this was the last time he would be with his friends like this. He kept quiet even as they pulled into the beach parking lot. Prompto hadn't even waited for them to stop before he started taking pictures of anything and everything.
"Smile Noct."
Noctis pulled his gaze from the ever interesting door handle of the Regalia to look over at his best friend. He jumped in surprise when Gladio leaned over and threw an arm over his shoulders with a peace sign pointed at the camera. He mustered the best smile he could, but it just ended up looking like an awkward lopsided grin.
"You gotta take so many pictures?" He gently pushed Gladio off who promptly exited the vehicle.
"What," Prompto pouted a bit and shrugged, "We only have one day left together before Altissia. I just..wanna make sure I remember it."
Noctis clicked open the door of the car and stepped out. He stretched his limbs after what felt like forever cooped up in the back seat. In truth, it had only been an hour or two, they had set up camp not far from their destination. Even after breaking down and wasting time having to push the Regalia to Hammerhead they still made it ahead of schedule.
"Hey Noct," Gladio captured his attention to look out at the dock, "Looks like they have a fishing spot over there. You wanna kill some time?"
Noctis felt the corners of his mouth twitch up, "Yea..yea let's do it."
"Not until we get a room first please."
Ignis pulled their bags from the trunk tossing one to Prompto who stumbled to catch it and handed another out to Noctis. He took it and led the way down the boardwalk towards the seaside hotel. They checked in and threw their bags on the bed. Ignis threw open the curtains to let in the last hours of daylight before the sun would set. Noctis and Gladio wasted no time dropping their things and heading over to the docks. It was good for them. There would be no time for things like this after Noctis got married. Not because Lunafreya would tie him down, but his duty to the kingdom would. Work would become of the utmost importance as Ignis would never let him forget. It was nice to just unwind for a while.
Prompto saw the sun setting on the horizon through the windows, the light washing the water in a golden glow. The camera clicked with every shot as he moved about the windows to get that perfect shot. He only had so much time to capture the sunlight. He held the camera vertically and snapped another photo, the same angle for the eleventh time. For some reason on camera it just didn't hold the same heart stopping beauty. He clicked through the already captured shots, cursing as he deleted one after another.
"Perhaps if you actually went outside to take the picture," Ignis chimed in. Prompto glanced over to him in one of the chairs, his legs crossed and thumbing through a book.
"You know I did think about that."
"Did you now.."
"Yea," Prompto sauntered over to the other armchair and sat on the arm of it. He looked up to the ceiling wistfully, "But then I thought, 'who will keep Ignis company'. I just couldn't bring myself to do it."
"I'm sure I'll manage." Ignis didn't look up from what he was reading, but the corners of his mouth curled up ever so slightly.
"You mean it? Or are you just trying to get rid of me?"
Ignis looked up and just tilted his head, that smile starting to spread but never showing teeth. Prompto shrugged and stood.
"Alright, alright."
Prompto left Ignis and headed out onto the deck that encircled the small hotel. He immediately started snapping pictures, finding that they did come out better, but for some reason, they still felt empty. They felt black and white and too plain. He decided to walk down to the dock just a couple feet away. The lacquered wood shone against the light of the setting sun, the golden glow giving way to hues of purple, pink, and orange as it got lower on the horizon. Prompto had the camera up but once he snapped the picture he just let it hang around his neck as he leaned up against the railing.
He looked out across the massive expanse of water and sighed. Altissia wasn't very far away now. He let his head hang for a moment, his eyes closing as the breeze blew and sent a shiver down his spine. After a moment he picked his head up again, but the previous moment was gone, the sun was on its last sliver and soon it dipped so low behind the horizon that it bathed the bay in darkness. Prompto remembered when he was a kid and thinking that since the earth was round all you had to do was walk towards the sunset and it would look like it was rising once again. Now he knew better. It wouldn't rise for a long while.
He scanned the bay, just looking at the lights of ships in the distance until his eyes settled on the dock far down the beach. Prompto couldn't make out much more than a black mass sitting at the end of the wooden structure, but he didn't need details to know it was Noctis still sitting there, his pole set next to him with its lure dangling lazily just over the water and teasing the hungry fish below. He made his way over and immediately dropped to one knee to snap another quick photo. Noctis heard the camera shutter and twisted his body to glance at his friend.
"Where's Gladio?" Prompto asked as he moved to take a seat next to Noctis.
"Went back a little while ago."
They both sat in silence as Noctis looked out onto the water. Prompto fiddled with the camera in his hands for a lack of better things to do.
"Are you scared?" He blurted out. Noctis just looked to him with an eyebrow raised.
"Of what?"
Prompto couldn't keep eye contact and looked down to his hands still fidgeting with his camera.
"Tomorrow. Like..are you nervous?"
Noctis shrugged, but he let out a long breath like he had been holding it in for weeks, "I guess. Like anyone would be."
Prompto nodded a bit too quickly. They both looked out to the water but this time their silence was even thicker than before. So much for his attempt.
"Can you believe we've been friends this long?"
"What are you so nervous about?" Noctis interrupted him.
"What! Ah, why would you ask that?"
" 'cause you're jumpy and you don't usually talk like this unless somethings on your mind."
Prompto really didn't want to keep eye contact with Noctis, but it was hard not to. He kind of caught him red handed without either of them really knowing it.
"Well..I don't know. I guess I am a bit scared."
"Why?" His tone wasn't judgmental, but he didn't sound too happy about the idea. What did Prompto ever worry about?
"Eh..I don't know, I guess I'm just scared that, after this week, you'll just..forget about me."
"What?" Noctis sounded offended Prompto would even suggest such a thing.
"I know what you're thinking and I know it's stupid. But you're my only friend." Prompto had to stop for a moment. He shrugged, at a bit of a loss for words. He didn't really know how to say what he wanted to Noctis without sounding too over dramatic, "let's be real. I'm no people person like Gladio, and I'm not as smart as Ignis. They have to stay around you when you're busy but.."
"Prompto."
"Yea?"
"Shut up," Prompto opened his mouth like he wanted to say something about that, but Noctis was right. He just looked back out to the water. "We've been friends for years now, what makes you think this will be any different?"
"I..I don't know."
"I can always make time for my best friend." Noctis gently pushed Prompto, a soft smile on his face. Prompto nodded and decided to drop it.
"Yea. You're right, sorry I brought it up. You always know what to say..one way or another.."
"Well I've known you long enough."
"You comin' back soon?" Prompto stood and held out his hand in case Noctis wanted to accompany him back. When he didn't take his hand he just let it fall back to his side.
"..Yea, let Ignis know i'll be back."
"Gotcha. Oh and Noct." Prompto had started walking but he paused and turned around. As soon as Noctis turned to look, expecting Prompto to say something more, he snapped one more picture.
"Congratulations."