Author's Note: Whoa, so many people favouriting/following this story! I hope I don't disappoint with how slow this is moving! Thank you so much Wolf Strife for the sweet review! I'm glad my comeback to fanfiction has been seen as 'brilliant'! Haha- okay... so I tried my best to get the whole light-hearted brotherhood feeling right, but I'm not sure if I got Ignis right... it's hard to make him playful and I didn't want to use cringey puns *lets admit it: he's like the worst when it comes to puns in the game- Gladio comes a close second* LOL! Anyways, hope you readers enjoy- any feedback or criticism is also welcome! Also- is Luna's portrayal okay? Was Noctis too... open? Aaah, I don't know anymore! *send help pls*

On with the fic!


Chapter Two: Past and Present Collide

When the empire had first invaded Tenebrae and took her into custody, Lunafreya had convinced herself that sadness was a type of defence. Sadness brought along ruminative clarity and objectivity to her once overly-hopeful thoughts and aspirations. At the mere age of twelve, Lunafreya had learned of loss and deceit. She had lost her childish innocence and she trusted very few.

The tired blonde glanced down at the tired child in her arms and felt her lips turn upwards into a weak, sad smile. This child may have lost her mother, but her father was very much alive. Ignis Scientia was with Noctis, her betrothed, and Luna silently promised the child that she would know the love of a father.

Sure, it would be a shock to the young advisor. It would be a shock to the whole travelling party. Having a child along on the road- one as young as Karina- would prove quite the challenge and hassle. Luna sighed and petted the young girl's matted brown locks in an attempt to bring comfort to the restless child. Both Luna and Karina was stuck in quite the predicament. Luna couldn't possibly bring Karina along with herself- she had a job to do after all. She couldn't possibly journey around with such a young child and awaken the Astrals. Her duty as Oracle was an important one- for the sake of the world's livelihood.

Yet the request of a selfless young mother was extremely hard to ignore.

"Mama…" Karina whimpered into Luna's chest, her brows creased as she was evidently traumatised by her vivid nightmares. Luna pressed her forehead to the young girl's crown and whispered a quiet prayer, letting her magic seep into the child's body before she felt the girl relax in her hold. A sigh of content escaped the little girl's chapped lips as she settled herself against Luna once again, dozing off into what Luna hoped was a restful sleep.

The Oracle willed her tired legs to continue forward, the midday sun's rays beating down on her as she walked on the side of the road. Within her sights lay an outpost- the Hammerhead. If not for that sight, Luna would have collapsed in a heap behind a rock to rest before continuing onwards with the girl in her arms.

Luna had thought about suggesting for the girl to walk beside her earlier on, but had decided against it given the circumstances. If Luna couldn't be strong for Karina now, how would Karina ever trust her to keep her safe? She was only a little girl after all- an injured one at that. Though Luna's magic had healed the superficial wounds and abrasions on the girl's skin, Karina's body was still weary. It would be cruel to make the child walk beside her.

The blonde royal sighed and pumped her tired legs harder as the Hammerhead drew closer and closer with each step she took. Glancing down at Karina's relaxed, grimy face, Luna smiled and pressed a light kiss on the child's forehead.

"We're almost there."


"Hoooo boy- Noct you've gotta see this! They've got Ebony, they've got motor oil, they've got crisps, they've got freaking everything man!" A young man with messy blond hair and crystalline blue eyes waved his arms around the small convenience store haphazardly, hitting the top of a carefully set up tinned food display in his excitement.

"Prompto!" Gladiolus Amicitia glowered at the younger man.

"Heh, knew that was gonna happen," the raven haired man smirked, having just entered the store in time to see the commotion. Prompto Argentum was not the most graceful person on Eos, but there was something so desperately truthful and loyal about the young man, crown prince Noctis Lucis Caelum couldn't help but enjoy the man's company. That was probably why the young prince considered the blond as one of his closest friends and confidants.

"Aw man, I didn't mean to do that…"

"Yes, well, it happened." Ignis Scientia ambled into the store, his eyes briefly drawn to the Ebony display before they settled on the mess Prompto had made. "If I may, I'd like to make a helpful suggestion- clean it up before the store attendant sees it-"

"Heh." Noctis sniggered again, drawing his advisor's attention.

"Noct can help you." Noctis' grin settled into an appalled look as he began to protest.

"I had no part in this!" Prompto edged towards his mess, eyeing the prince and advisor as the two settled into their usual bickering. Gladio's lips twitched upwards in amusement as he ambled away from the scene.

"I'm gonna scope out the area, see what I can glean out of the locals. Good luck with those two," Gladio gestured at Noctis and Ignis before he left. Prompto sighed and picked up a dented can from the ground. All the while, he listened to Noctis and Ignis redundantly duke it out over right to helping him clean.

"I believe it would be character building. Besides, it's an easy job and Prompto's already started." Ignis reasoned, his voice level and logical. Noctis frowned and crossed his arms in defiance.

"Yeah well I'm enough of a character as it is. I pushed the car without a break all the way here. You got to take a break!" the prince argued, pointing a gloved finger at the older man. Ignis adjusted his glasses and settled an amused stare on his young prince.

"The first time I ever took a break in your presence- I would say I've done my share of character building for the day. I think it's only fair you do the same." Noctis raised his eyebrows at Ignis' words.

"Why are you so intent on this character building stuff anyway?" Prompto sniggered as he returned the last dented can to the display, hoping that his positioning hid the damage from the store attendants long enough for them to skedaddle from the scene. Turning to his two friends, Prompto snapped a sneaky picture of the two's relaxed postures.

"Get off it Iggy, I finished. His highness doesn't have to do any dirty work." Prompto announced before flouncing off out of the store. Ignis sighed and shot a wry smile at Noctis.

"Shame." With that said, the taller man of the remaining two exited the store. Noctis turned to follow his friends, only to be stopped by one of the store attendants.

"Oi, you were with that crazy blond kid, weren't ya? You break it, ya buy it. Now I know you technically didn't break it yourself, but you seem chummy with the kid that did, so now you gotta buy it! Now fork over the cash mate, and take the goods." A grumpy middle-aged man grumbled at the prince. Noctis, with lack of anything to say, rifled through his trouser pockets and pulled out the small change he had on his person.

"This is all I got." Noctis held the change out in his palm, embarrassed.

"Crown city currency is no good here boy… but I guess it's better than nothing. No one's buying that shit anyway. Okay, I'll take it- thanks kid." Noctis sighed and watched as the man quickly packed the damaged cans, and some more, into a plastic bag before he thrust the bag into his hands. "There ya go, now get out of here and don't let that blond yahoo come in here unsupervised again!" Noctis nodded quietly and quickly exited the store, meeting a sheepish looking Promto outside near the fuel pump.

Noctis rolled his eyes as he shoved the bag into Prompto's chest and turned around to make a bee-line for Takka's Pit Stop.

"That's all you're gonna be eating for a week."

"Aw, Noct. Don't be like that!" Prompto whined, running after his best friend. Noctis shrugged off the arm Prompto slung over his shoulder and turned to shoot the blond a wry grin.

"I'll be like this until I'm fed." As if on cue, Noctis' stomach grumbled loudly. Prompto's followed in suit as the two young men laughed quietly in embarrassment.

"Bro, I can't believe that old coot charged us two thousand gil for a servicing. Apparently, Cindy hooked us up with some funds after Iggy talked to her about our financial, uh… situation. Isn't Cindy great? She's so great!" Prompto spoke quickly, his ears quickly turning red. Noctis let out a quiet sigh and shook his head at his friend's fickleness.

"You're ridiculous, you know that?"

"No, I'm in love." Prompto retorted, defensive. Noctis chuckled and nodded at his friend solemnly.

"Yeah, in love. Again." Prompto pouted and punched the prince lightly on the shoulder.

"Shut up! Just because you have Princess 'friggin' Lunafreya as your childhood sweetheart, doesn't mean you can make fun of us plebs trying to write ourselves our own dodgy love stories!" At this proclamation, Noctis broke out into laughter.

"Dodgy love stories? Oh man, I didn't know you were such a romantic!" Noctis spluttered, looking very un-princely as he slapped his knee in hysterics. Prompto cracked a smile too, as it wasn't often he saw the prince laugh so freely, despite the fact that he had known the young royal for a few years.

"I am," Prompto winked saucily, sending Noctis into another fit of laughter. Encouraged by Noctis' unending hysterics, Prompto continued on the topic, his own voice full of mirth. "As a matter of fact, I think I could even get Iggy a romantic date with a gorgeous gal with all the stuff I've learned from the countless rom-coms I've watched!" Noctis' laughter abated a little at this. The prince took a deep breath and wiped a tear from his eye as he levelled Prompto with a stare.

"You know, I don't think I've seen Ignis with a girl since the time he was enrolled at the Royal Academy," seeing Prompto's eyes bulge out in curiosity, Noctis continued. "If you could actually set him up with someone it would probably be a miracle."

"Wasn't he, like, seventeen back then? Who would he have dated? They would have all been years older than him!" Prompto's eyes widened at the thought. "It would make sense that he's into older women… he's like an old guy in a young guy's body." Noctis shook his head, a conspiratory grin on his lips.

"Actually, there was this other girl in the academy with him… she was sixteen," Noctis smirked at Prompto's further widening eyes.

"Bro... he found a girl genius? That's like… perfect!" Prompto gushed excitedly.

"Yeah, okay," Noctis said, shooting a perplexed look at his high school friend before he continued with his story. "So apparently they dated for a few months and then it ended. Those few months were so damn blissful, I feel like I was more heartbroken than Specs was when it ended." Prompto gaped at Noctis' words.

"Heartbroken? Ignis?" Prompto gasped incredulously. Noctis sighed and nodded.

"Yeah… he was really bent out of shape about it- kept arguing with me and forgetting appointments and stuff. It was really weird. I think he must have really liked her…" Prompto frowned slightly at Noctis as he spoke.

"Jokes aside… sounds like Iggy really loved this girl. Like, I know next to nothing about the whole situation but if Ignis was that out of it, do you think that maybe… she dumped him?"

Noctis mulled over Prompto's question, quietly shrugging the question off.

"I don't know, but I let's forget about it. I think I've said too much- it wasn't my place." Prompto nodded, his eyes understanding as he stepped away from the prince.

"Yeah… I feel kinda bad now. When I get some gil, I'm gonna buy Specs some Ebony," Noctis smiled and ran a hand through his errant raven locks as he nodded.

"Good idea. While you're at it, buy me some soda too." Prompto merely rolled his eyes at Noctis' blasé request before he jogged off towards Gladiolus, who was engaged in a conversation with a small girl.

As he neared, he noticed that the girl was really dirty… and was that blood on her skin?

Frowning, Prompto quickened his pace.

"… there was a big monster and mama was under the monster. A magic lady was bringing me here but she fell and she's sleeping but now she can't wake up and I'm scared." Prompto's heart lurched at the little girl's teary voice. Gladio, as big and scary as he was, kneeled down in front of the girl and reached for the girl's hand.

"It's okay, I'm a good guy," Gladio's voice called softly, "you don't have to be scared of me. Where's the magic lady?" Gladio asked, his voice quiet, yet serious. The little girl rubbed her grimy hands on her tear stained face to remove her matted light brown hair from obscuring her hazel eyes.

"Over there."

The girl pointed towards a nearby campsite haven, and Prompto thanked the lucky stars that the young girl hadn't run into any savage creatures on her way towards Hammerhead. That would have been a complete disaster.

Gladio nodded at the little girl and turned towards Prompto, who had been silent through the whole interaction since he arrived.

"Prompto, you think you could take little missy to the diner and get her something to drink? I'm going to grab Noctis and check the campsite." Hearing this, the little girl whimpered and hid behind Gladio.

"I don't wanna…" her voice faltered as she broke into quiet, tired tears. Prompto felt his heart break into two as he watched tears trail down the girl's grimy face. Gladio smiled kindly at the girl and placed a strong, warm hand on her little shoulder. Prompto's heart dropped into his stomach in sadness.

She was so small.

"Prompto's my pal, he'll keep you safe- I promise. I'll come back with the magic lady and we'll fix her and then we can all have dinner and maybe… if you're a good girl… we can ask the prince to buy us all ice cream!" Gladio bargained, his usually gruff voice light and gentle. The little girl hiccupped quietly and, after a few short moments, relented. She stepped away from Gladio and stared up with wide eyes at Prompto, who was at a loss of words from the whole scene.

"Wow… ice cream is like, the answer to all of the world's problems, huh?" Prompto said, shooting a concerned look at Gladio. Gladio nodded, his face grim as he nodded at Prompto and jogged towards Noctis.

It was time to hunt.