hey there, so i just finished the game, but while i was playing, this sort of popped up. it'll be my first ff story ever, hope you enjoy this. i only own my own characters and ideas, nothing else.
...
"Never sit and wonder what could have been, simply take the actions to make you what you are." - Noxima
The dark sky of Lestallum wasn't even illuminated by the moon tonight. It made it much harder to tell the time, though he knew that it wasn't what used to be considered "daylight hours". People were sullen without the sun in their lives, a lot of them dead. Without the power plant he was sure that the entire world would be to. But slowly there were more and more daemon hunters out there, trying to make it at least a little safer. He visited Lestallum often, living in the house provided for him and the others after his last encounter with the team. They hardly saw each other, but he knew that they had come and gone from time to time. Who knew he would be plunged from one darkness unto another? He supposed there was only one person who knew.
He sighed as he looked at his phone. He wasn't surprised that there wasn't any word from either of the people he was looking for. His own eyes reflected back at him as his screen went black. They alone should have reminded him of why one of them would be so silent. He sighed again slightly, as he put his phone away.
...
Ignis sighed slightly as he put his phone away. He frowned, going back to his cooking, hoping his discontent had gone unnoticed.
"Still no luck, huh?" It hadn't. Gladio was working out nearby. He was always working out when they made camp, he enjoyed the outdoors more so that anything. But even while being busy doing his own thing, he was always watching, a shield to them all. And it was how he had caught Ignis' subtle movements. That was part of his job, and he did it well.
"None as of yet, no," he responded as neutral as he could, not wanting any of his frustration to show.
"I wouldn't think too much on it, she's probably back in position. She'll find us."
"It is unnatural to go on in silence this long."
"This isn't a usual every day situation," Gladio pointed out, coming to stand near the cooking area.
Ignis sighed, keeping focus on his work, "Indeed," he had no choice but to agree.
"Whats this about?" asked Noctis, coming over towards them.
"Nothing of consequence," Ignis answered quickly, "Everything here is ready," he didn't need anymore questions on the matter.
...
There was hardly a day that went by that he didn't think of her. He could never forget her, especially now, that she had left him a final gift. But he had to wait. It was time sensitive, something that could only be granted once the darkness was gone from this world. But he promised that he would help rid the world of this plague, and then, only then, could he bring her back. But how long would that be? He couldn't really imagine it. He walked through the door of the house, noting that the light was already on. There were four sets of shoes at the door, curious, seeing as it was hardly ever that he saw one of his former companions, let alone all of them. He walked down the hall, smiling as he saw his friends sitting, chatting, even laughing at their own stories. He imagined that the alcohol was helping, but he wasn't one to judge.
"Ignis!" Prompto noticed him as he walked in. He had grown, filling out his lanky form, starting to sprout hairs on his jaw line.
"Let me get those for you," said Iris, walking up to him. She hugged him first, then took the bag from his hands and went to put them into the kitchen. She had grown as well, longer hair and more of a muscular build.
He shook hands with Cor, "Good to see you," the marshall was sitting next to Gladio. Cor hadn't really aged much, that was probably part of being the immortal soldier. Gladio's hair had grown, and if anything he was even more of a "mountain" than he used to be. But it was good to see his old friends.
"I had not expected all of you here," said Ignis, taking a seat in front of Prompto. Iris returned shortly afterwards, bringing with her a drink for Ignis. He took it, smiling in thanks and taking a long drink. He never really had a taste for sweetened ale before. It was a special blend, one that he had to go to great length to get now that the world was in ruin. But since the light was restored to him - as much as possible in the present circumstances - he had found he enjoyed the drink. He assumed it was a side effect of the magic used to heal him. One of them, anyhow.
"Cor and I were on our way here to see how the survivors were handling, more of them come in every day," said Iris.
"I noticed on my way in. How fares your training?" he asked her politely. She was slowly becoming Iris the daemon hunter, training relentlessly with Cor to try and help people. The less daemons running around the safer the world can be.
"I've trained worse," said Cor, shrugging. Iris punched him playfully on the shoulder while her older brother laughed. Ignis himself smiled, taking a long drink.
"I was passing through Hammerhead and decided to drag Prompto away from poor Cindy. She can't get any work done with him oggling and drooling all over her floor," said Gladio.
"I wasn't drooling!" exclaimed Prompto.
"But you did persist with the oggling?" said Ignis smiling.
The others laughed, Prompto's smile sheepish. But as the laughter died down it settled into something a little more sullen. Their smiles turned sad as some looking at the others, some took a drink, and stared at their feet. Despite being together now, they were still missing two core pieces of the puzzle. It had been three long years of darkness, no one knew when Noctis would return to the world to purge it of darkness. But once he did, Noxima could return.
"I miss them," said Iris.
"We all do," said Gladio.
"We must have patience," said Ignis.
"I know it's been three years, but I still can't get used to seeing you like that," said Prompto.
"It's definitely a side effect of the magic," said Cor.
Ignis' amethyst eyes were thoughtful, as he looked at each of their faces once more. He took another long drink, "Perhaps they will revert to my normal self once this long mission comes to a close."
"I kind of like it," said Iris, "In may ways it keeps her with here, like she's watching over all of us, with him."
"And we'll be ready to take our homes back when Noct gets here," said Gladio,
They could do nothing but agree with his words, as they drank and attempted to lighten up the mood once more.
...
thanks for reading, hopefully it goes well. i'll update soon.