The Depths of A Father's Love

Sea Biscuit swayed gently on the Cygillian Sea, only a few miles south of the Lucian shoreline. It was a chilly morning so Noctis had bundled up with a long-sleeved white shirt worn under a reversible gray and yellow vest with a basic pair of dark jeans. He'd also taken care to put on his favorite fingerless gloves for both grip and dexterity and a simple baseball cap to fend off the inevitable afternoon sunlight. Fishing was serious business and one had to be ready.

Which was why he was shocked when his father volunteered to join him today. Too stunned by seeing his father standing in the Citadel lobby with a full deep-sea fisherman's regalia on, he'd accepted his company. His intention was to have Ignis just drive him to the Galdin Quay and let him be the only one to join as he knew his fishing bored his friends. Ignis had been putting up with his hobbies for years and knew how to handle the monotony better. Actually, he probably relished it, Caelum chaos considered.

Instead though, when his father opted to tag along, he took over as driver, informing Ignis that his services wouldn't be necessary. The profound sadness on Ignis' face when he said this would've made a puppy cry.

But Noctis would've been lying if he said he wasn't excited. His time with his father was always a fleeting thing. Except for eating dinner together two out of seven nights of the week, they rarely spoke at length and even during dinner, they were virtually strangers to each other. When his father wasn't bailing on his kingly duties, he performed them commendably, as though making up for lost time. All of it amounted to: "Go on and eat without me."

He'd find another way to remind Ignis of his value but for now, it was him and his father and the open sea and no stupid meetings or people cawing for his father's attention. In fact, they'd both made a pact to turn off their phones before getting on the royal vessel. It was a slightly moot point though; if something important came up, someone at the Citadel could phone the Galdin Quay who could pass the message to the coast guards who would deliver the information but the gesture was cathartic regardless.

Sitting on the steps at the slanted rear of the boat, Noctis fitted a spool of Spider Silk fishing line to the rod and tied a bright pink lure to the end. Just as he was about to cast out, his father came up the steps from the lower deck, carrying two thermoses of coffee. "Whoa, there, Noctis! Let me see that first."

Turning slightly, he held out the rod and instead took one of the cups, sipping lightly. His father had already added cream and lots of sugar, the real way he preferred his coffee. He was relieved he didn't have to pretend to like another cup of black coffee, the way he would with his friends.

"Is this all you have are fake lures?" Regis asked with evident disappointment, rubbing the pink fish between his fingers.

Noctis shrugged self-consciously. "The fish seem to like them."

"The fish are stuck on dumb and strung-out on stupid," his father snorted and Noctis got the sense that these words were likely passed on from a certain cantankerous mechanic. "Back in my day, we fished with live bait, none of this plastic stuff. But go on, show me what you got."

Noctis indeed had fished once with live bait…and only once. He'd been proud at the age of nine to dig up the worms on his own after a night of rainfall, marveling at how they writhed in mass in the soft dirt. That morning, an attendant drove him and Ignis to a large pond within the city that allowed for fishing. He'd gotten as far as piercing the first worm on the hook and the rancid smell made him lose his breakfast. He subsequently released all of the worms back into the wild and has opted for using plastic ever since.

But his father didn't need to know all of that.

Pulling his arm back, he swung forward and let the reel spin wildly as the line flew away until finally, out in the distance, a faint blop was heard. The pink lure sank into the darkness and out of sight. As the waiting game began, he sipped in pleasure on his coffee, placing it between his knees periodically to slowly reel the line back in a bit in the hopes of enticing something to bite.

After ten minutes, the line was back with nothing on the end. He was about to throw it back out when his father stopped him. "You're never going to catch anything like that. Here, I brought grubs. Use this and the fish will flock to you."

Hidden beside the king was a Styrofoam container filled with dirt and large, white bugs that writhed in a way not much different from worms. Noctis felt his face going green; it wasn't missed by his father.

Regis put a tender hand on his shoulder and inquired with nothing but love: "Where did I go wrong with you?"

"Huh?!"

But the king had already taken the rod and was removing the pink lure. With no hesitation, he speared a grub through the middle, then stabbed another and then another. The hook was barely visible by the time he'd finished and Noctis couldn't bear to watch, keeping his eyes closed and his nose close to his coffee.

"Now this is how you fish!" Regis declared and swung the line out. It went a good ten feet more than Noctis' throw. "When you see I have a bite, grab that net there and we'll scoop it in. The last few feet are when the line is the tightest so we're not going to give it any chance to get away. Put it in the cooler once you get it."

As he spoke, he gestured with a nod here or a twitch there at the net and the cooler already filled with ocean water. Noctis picked up the net, a deep hoop connected to a long pole. It looked better suited for catching butterflies. He was admittedly a little upset with his father for hi-jacking the fishing but he resigned to instead taking turns.

Regis' line was out for less than a minute before there was a hard jerk and the fishing handle began to spin wildly. Dropping his cup and ignoring as it fell into the murky depths, he quickly snatched the handle and began to reel it back. "And here we go!"

But just as soon as it began, it ended. The rod was ripped from his hands. They watched in equal parts amazement and horror as it was pulled nearly out of sight before sinking sharply. Thirty seconds later, it floated back to the top again, snapped in half. It was the best rod they had.

Noctis picked up his cup and began to stand. "Well, whatever is down there isn't to be trifled with. Come on, Dad, let's—Dad, no!"

Regis had thrown his cane, of all things, into the water. More interesting was that he warped with it, splashing below the surface.

Noctis warred with indecision. His father's knee was surely going to cause him to sink. And while the powers of the Crystal allowed them to do many amazing things, he was sure it didn't include growing a set of gills. For the first time, he shamefully considered the possibility that indeed his father wasn't all the way there.

"Damnit, Dad…" He began to peel off his vest and shirt, also kicking off his shoes. The outfit his father was wearing would likely pull him down like a rock and Noctis hurried that much more to undress.

He was just debating on whether to remove the jeans as well when his father came back up, rocketing to the sky and hovering there with the Armiger spinning around him. Seconds afterwards, he felt a roar that swayed the water before a great serpent launched up, causing such a strong wave that the Sea Biscuit nearly capsized. Noctis was instantly doused and he blinked through sopping hair at the scene before him.

Leviathan opened her mouth and roared again but Regis didn't flinch. Radiating self-assurance, even in his ridiculous outfit, he held up a palm of crackling lightning. "Cease your fighting, Hydraean, or I won't hesitate to strike you!" Too strong to be a normal Thunder, Noctis instantly recognized the magic as that of an Electron. He winced; he'd once used the first form of the magic too close to his friends and ended up having to revive all of them with Phoenix Down's. Even an Astral wouldn't be impervious to such power, especially surrounded by water.

Clearly, Leviathan knew this as well as her flaring fins ceased their churning of the water and fell limply beside her. Glaring for a moment, she finally said, "What more do you want, human? Have we not already given you everything?"

"Give my son your blessing!" Commanded the king.

Noctis at once felt immense love and shame. His father had informed he would not be allowed to succeed him to the throne until he gathered all of the blessings from the Astrals. He'd failed getting Leviathan's in Altissia…and after all the damage caused, Accordo and Lucis were now barely allies.

But it was a task for him to complete. He wouldn't let his father cheat for him. "Dad!" he called out. "I'll handle it! It's not fair if you—"

"I already gave him my blessing," Leviathan curtly informed.

"You did?!" Noctis said.

"She did?!" Regis looked to his son.

The Tidemother glared at the prince below her on the boat. "In Altissia, you sneezed. I said 'bless you'. I gave you my blessing. Now leave me be."

"But wait! That…that couldn't be all! I fought you for so long! Why didn't you just let me know you'd given it to me?"

She snorted and a spray of water hit the regal pair. "You wouldn't let me! You attacked me repeatedly so I had no choice but to defend myself. Clearly you wanted to show off to that girl, so I decided to entertain you."

Noctis flushed; he'd definitely been trying to impress Luna.

"If you humans are done now, I have somewhere to be. My husband calls." She drew herself up, readying to dive deep into the water.

"Husband?" both the king and prince questioned together.

She didn't need to answer. Another large swath of ocean began to foam and up rose another dragon, but this one bore red scales…and sparkled. The legendary shiny red Gyarados!

At seeing her husband, she turned the fish equivalent of her "resting bitch face" to him, causing the dragon to flinch back. "Gya…Gyarados?" he asked meekly.

Leviathan roared and he quickly slipped back under the water. "Dinner will be whatever the hell your lazy ass catches! If you wanted a woman that brought you your meals, you should've stayed with your enabling mother!" She followed him under the waves, her chiding being transmitted back in the form of more bubbles until at last they faded.

King Regis slowly drifted back to the deck of the boat and without a word, he packed up their items. Noctis dressed again in his wet clothes and quietly, they steered the ship back to shore. It would be a very long time before either fished again.

The alternative to this chapter would've had Leviathan as a tsundere, fighting against her cold nature to win the affections of Gyarados-senpai.