Chapter 3

When she woke up, Lyne felt totally rested. She wasn't used to that, but it made her hopeful. At first, she couldn't quite remember the reason for the joy she felt. Then, as she realised an arm was wrapped around her waist, it hit her: she'd left her world, it wasn't a dream. The joy she felt doubled at that thought. Anything was possible. She lifted her head to see who was sleeping next to her. She'd gone to bed early the previous night, the guys nearly fighting to let her use their camping equipment. She'd found herself sleeping on Ignis' mattress, with Prompto's pillow under her head, and wrapped in Gladio's blanket. Noctis had lent her a flashlight, just in case she needed to get up during the night. She'd been so touched by how nice they all were! But if she was going to stick around, she'd better find her own equipment. Taking advantage of people's kindness was not something she approved of.

The strong arm wrapped around her middle belonged to that bear of a man, Gladio. He was fast asleep next to her, and had probably not even realised what he was doing. Lyne took that opportunity to study his face. He looked much more gentle when sleeping. His brow was relaxed, and his slightly parted lips seemed to have been made to smile (a part of her thought "and so much more!" and she blushed at that: she had no idea where that had come from). He had a scar on the left side of his face, that went from his forehead to his cheek, but instead of making him look ugly, it brought out his fierce features. One of the guys next to Gladio sighed, and that took Lyne out of her reverie. She sat up, taking Gladio's arm in her small hands to put it away from her middle. At her touch, Gladio inhaled deeply and opened his eyes.

"Mornin' sweety, slept well?" He said.

Sweety? Nobody ever called her cute names, apart from the man she used to share her life with, but that was to piss her off more often than not, as he was careful to chose names she hated. But in Gladio's mouth that sounded different. She was surprised at how much she liked it.

"Perfect", she muttered shyly. She had to admit that now he was awake, the guy still impressed her a tad bit.

Wearing only a pair of boxers, Gladio got up and out of the tent. Lyne couldn't help but stare at his perfect body. She couldn't decide what was more sexy, between his perfect ass or his well defined abs. The bird tattooed on his back was fascinating (she wondered if it was an eagle, only to remind herself that in this world eagles probably didn't exist). She forced herself to stop staring, and closed her gaping mouth the moment he turned back toward her – she wasn't sure if he'd caught her, but chose not to dwell on that as she felt heat creeping on her cheeks.

"Are you coming? Iggy's got breakfast ready."

She hadn't even noticed that Ignis was not in the tent. Now that Gladio mentioned it, if she strained her ears she could listen to the telltale sounds of someone cooking.

"Sure", she answered at once, forcing herself to leave the warmth of her borrowed bed.

Outside, the sun was rising, shedding light on the landscape offered to her eyes. Their camp was set at the edge of a forest and in front of her vast grasslands stretched to both sides. To her right, she could see strange beasts halfway between a buffalo and a mammoth grazing. Farther away an enormous four-legged monster was half immersed in the lake it was drinking from. The horizon was blocked by mountains, but to her left she could see strange rock formations she had never seen the like of in her world, that arched over land as well as roads. The view was simply breathtaking. She turned toward Ignis, who was busy over breakfast and hadn't noticed her yet. He was already perfectly groomed, his dark blonde hair swept up at the front of his head. Lyne couldn't help wondering if he slept in a sitting position to keep it perfect or if he got up really early to style it. The sleeves of his dark purple shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and it gave him a more relaxed air that contrasted with his serious face. He had refined features that drew the eye. She wouldn't have called him handsome if she'd seen him on a picture only, but the way he moved, his regal attitude, his polite and formal manner, gave him another kind of beauty. He was charming, and while she was looking at him, unnoticed, Lyne wondered if he was aware of this. He turned his turquoise eyes toward her, and that time the young woman was sure she'd been caught staring. As her face turned red for the second time in less that two minutes, she forced herself to greet Ignis to dissipate the growing awkwardness.

"Good morning", she said simply.

"Good morning Lyne", he answered amiably, giving no hint that he knew what she'd just been doing, for which she was thankful. He was definitely a gentleman.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her while pouring himself a cup of something that looked like coffee, but didn't smell quite the same.

She never ate in the morning, since it was the most depressing moment of the day for her, having nothing worth waking up for. She had scarcely any appetite in the day, but in the morning she had none. That day though, she realised she was famished. She nodded, and asked him what it was that he was drinking.

"That, my dear, is Ebony. Although my companions will tell you they find it disgusting, I, for one, think it is the most delectable beverage."

"Want me to settle the matter?" she replied with a smile.

She wasn't usually so bold with people she'd just met, but she supposed that between basically saving the young men's lives and the fact that she'd slept with them in the same tent, she felt comfortable enough to be more friendly.

"Certainly", Ignis said, smiling too.

He poured a small cup of Ebony, and handed it to her. She had never liked coffee in her world, but liked the smell well enough. She feared it would be the same with Ebony, but she wanted to give it a try. Inhaling the strong scent, she tried to find similarities with the things she was familiar with. It did smell like coffee, but there was another, undefined note underneath. She raised the cup to her lips, and sipped, aware that Ignis had not averted his gaze since he'd given her the cup. He was clearly expectant.

"Well, I'm sorry Ignis, but I will have to side with them on that one. Frankly, It tastes awful."

The young man chuckled. That was a pleasant sound.

"I feared you would say that. Well, on a positive note it means I won't have to share my provisions with anyone."

Lyne had feared he might be offended, but thankfully, Ignis was indeed quite the gentleman. He offered her tea instead, and she drank it with pleasure. During breakfast they were joined by Gladio, who'd probably gone to take a bath, given his wet hair. Lyne couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed that he'd found more clothes to put on, but she was so engrossed in her chat with Ignis that this time, she didn't even stare.

"So, where are we headed next?" Prompto asked.

They had just arrived at Wiz Chocobo Post, to collect the bounty for the death of Deadeye. The guys had insisted that Lyne take all the money, since, as Gladio put it, she had "killed the beast all by herself". Lyne was embarrassed, but ended up accepting, since she needed to buy a weapon and camping equipment. She'd found what she needed for camping at the shop near the chocobo stables, then they'd stopped to pet the chocobos, with which Lyne had instantly fallen in love, before heading toward the weapon-selling truck.

"I think it would be an appropriate time for Noctis to heed the call of the Fulgurian", Ignis suggested.

The guys had explained to Lyne what the Astrals were the previous night, and she was mesmerized by the fact that in this world gods actually existed and you could meet them if you were bold enough (or stupid), although she would believe it when she saw it. They'd told her Noctis had received the power of Titan, and that he was now supposed to ask Ramuh, the storm god, for his help.

"Let's get a weapon for Lyne first", Noctis replied.

That morning at camp, while Noctis and Prompto were getting ready after having been kicked awake by Ignis, Gladio had insisted she give a try at wielding their weapons, to see what she was more comfortable with. She hadn't even been able to lift Gladio's huge sword, so that one was out of the question. Being quite short, a polearm was not the best weapon for her either and it was quickly discarded. She'd liked Prompto's gun well enough, but she sucked at aiming. Noctis' one handed sword was fine, but Lyne lacked the strength to deal powerful blows, so in the end they all agreed that daggers were probably the best choice. She was to train with Ignis when they next made camp, much to her delight. She had to admit that he really was charming, and the prospect of spending time with him alone stirred something in her, emotions she'd thought long dead. Naturally, the young man had volunteered to help her choose the best daggers, and she soon walked away from the truck, a brand new pair of daggers in her bag. For the time being she was to use only curatives and watch the fights from a distance, but as soon as she could fight well enough they would come in handy.

"So, hum, Noctis, will I be able to summon my weapons like you guys do?"

Lyne was a bit awkward around the prince. She could see that the other guys treated him like an equal, but she didn't feel comfortable enough to do the same. After all, they weren't exactly close friends, and he was a prince. She tried very hard not to call him by his title. She'd done that a few times already that day, and Gladio had teased her every time about it. "Come on, you saved his life when none of us could, if anyone's entitled to call him Noct it's you", he'd barked at Lyne with a smile, a hand on her shoulder. His touch had sent heat through all of the young woman's body, and it was all she could do not to flinch. It was not that she didn't like being touched, but she wasn't used to people being so tactile with her. Plus there was the fact that Gladio was incredibly sexy, and her natural shyness usually caused her to avoid being in contact with such people.

"Yeah, the prince replied, you should be able to summon them once I've linked them to the king's magic. But learning to summon the weapons requires a whole training session, so we should probably wait till you've learned to fight."

The group decided to rent chocobos to travel to their next destination. The king's car had gone missing after they'd escaped Titan's lair, they'd explained to Lyne. Of course, she'd never ridden the big birds before, so Prompto was only too happy to show her. At first she was a bit tense, and they had to go slowly, but after a while she adjusted to the creature, and started to enjoy the trip. They were approaching the place where Noctis sensed the power of Ramuh, when she heard Gladio shout.

"Noct, overhead!"

She lifted her head to the sky, and sure enough, a kind of flying vehicle was hovering above them. She watched as the guys dismounted, and did the same. Comprehension hit her. The ship was not friendly, and she was going to go through her first fight. Well, second if you counted the behemoth, but since she'd had no idea what what happening at that time, it had felt entirely different. Ignis came to her in three long strides, as the airship's big door opened slowly. She could feel panic seizing her.

"Remember, you watch the fight, and if you see one of us in any kind of difficulty, you are to throw a potion, an elixir or a remedy. If one of us is knocked out, you will have to use a phoenix down. Do not, under any circumstances, come close to the Imperials. If they come at you, run, or shout out, and one of us will come to your help."

She nodded, unable to find her voice. The young man looked her in the eye, and seeing the fear there, added reassuringly: "Everything will be all right Lyne, don't worry."

With that, he turned around, and ran to his friends, jumping in the fight.

Watching it from a distance, Lyne was in awe of the guys' talent. Each of them was a master with their own weapon. Gladio handed powerful blows on the humanoid robots (Lyne remembered hearing Prompto use the word MT), nearly reaping them in half, while Prompto shot the things in all the right places. Ignis used his polearm with such dexterity, that it was almost impossible to follow his movements. She heard a cry, and her eyes darted to the place where Noctis was. He'd been hit by one of the MTs, and was limping a little bit. He was trying to put some distance between him and the enemy, and suddenly he vanished with a blue light, only to reappear half a heartbeat later, landing a blow on an MT that'd been trying to hit Gladio. Prompto shouted Lyne's name. She searched with her eyes in the melee, and then she saw him. A deep cut was covering his left arm with blood, and as he was trying to get closer to her, she noticed that he was heavily favouring his right leg. Prompto was in danger. That thought shook off her fear in the blink of an eye. She took one of the green bottles from her bag, and threw it at the blonde guy, who caught it, drank it, and went back to the fight as if nothing had happened. Lyne couldn't help feeling a surge of pride at that simple action. She'd done it, she'd been able to help!

The fight in front of her was coming to an end. Ignis used his daggers to finish off the last MT still standing, and the young woman let out a sigh of relief. The strategist turned her way, a smile on his face, but suddenly his expression changed to an angry frown. Quick as a cat, he leapt toward Lyne and threw his dagger at her. Paralysed with surprise, she didn't even try to dodge, and only gasped with fear, preparing to die as the weapon got closer and closer.