Here it is the last chapter finally. C: Hopefully you all enjoy this and think it wraps up rather nicely, I tried anyway. After this, I'll be getting back to the more intense stuff. And the next chapter one will be another deep one, don't wanna give away too much about it though.
Noctis trailed back over to where the eggs were, the majority of them now mere husks, no longer containing the miniature menaces, though there were still those few that still seemed to be intact. Not wanting to risk them hatching on the off chance they weren't just duds, he lit them alight, standing back as they sizzled out of existence. Through the rising steam and melting mucus, a few glimpses of light grey stone caught his eye as the flames danced off the surface of it. "Well, I'll be damned." He practically breathed out, upping the intensity of his flames, burning away the organic barrier in a matter of seconds.
"Is that what I think it is?" Prompto couldn't hide his joy as the last of the vines crisped and fell away, revealing part of the tomb's door.
"I believe it is." The prince confirmed, placing a hand on the side of the building, and allowing it to slide over the marble surface. He's never seen anything so beautiful before. "This is it then, I guess." He glanced back at the others, "You guys ready to get this over with?"
"More than ready." Gladio huffed out, stepping forward to lean against the outside. "I'll wait out here, and make it quick. This already took far longer than it should have."
Noctis cut his eyes over, trying to bite his tongue on this one, but decided to let a little bit of something slip out anyway, craving at least a sliver of satisfaction from it. "Might have been faster if we didn't have a blind man and a half for most of the time." Ok, so that probably wasn't the best thing to say, and he regretted saying it the moment it passed through his lips. An awkward silence fell over them, not even Prompto made a reply to that. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the doors open, seeking out refuge within the tomb, fleeing the undesired situation.
Prompto stared down at his feet while Noctis stepped inside, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he suddenly felt tremendously uncomfortable. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Gladio doing the same, only with his arms crossed. Every now and again he would glance over at the blond. Ignis stood in the middle, for once his vision impairment was a blessing in his opinion. Still, he cleared his throat, hoping that would at least trigger some sort of words being exchanged between the two of them.
The larger of the three finally looked over to Ignis first, then shifted that scrutiny over to Prompto and sighed dramatically. "Alright." He forced out, words sounding strained. "You know what I said earlier, it...it came out wrong."
"I know." The other quickly responded, eyes now trailing up to meet the other's, "It's alright. I know what you were trying to do, and I appreciate it." He gave a short nod at the end, trying to let the other know that was good enough.
Gladio only released another weighted breath, "No, it's really not 'alright'. Man, what is with you and everything being 'fine' all the time, it drives me crazy."
"I'm...sorry?"
"And that." He gestured towards the gunslinger with one hand, "Always with the apologizing, I just don't get you." He ran one hand through his hair, pushing himself away from his support and turned to face the other direction, "I swear you're ass backwards." He laughed to himself. "I should be the one apologizing dammit!" He nearly yelled as he turned back to face him and took a few steps towards him. "Why aren't you pissed about this? You have every right to be."
Prompto swallowed hard, eye contact faltering for a fraction of a moment, "It was an accident, dude. Can't blame someone for something like that when they didn't mean to."
"That's not how this works." He had his tone lowered a bit now, "It doesn't matter that is wasn't on purpose, is still shouldn't have happened." Things quieted for a few moments, both of them allowing the conversation to settle a bit before continuing with it. "My point is, I'm sorry."
The blond nodded a couple more times, eyes flickering from the water to the other. "Yeah, thanks." He offered a slight smile.
"You alright though?" Gladio's gaze fell on the still present bruise, the mark that still lingered behind.
"Mostly." His hand naturally reached up against his will, brushing over it. "You kinda broke my face, so it's still a bit on the sore side, but hey, I can see at least." His eyes widened and he immediately looked over to Ignis, "Uh, I mean, just that, uh you know."
Ignis lifted a hand to cut him off. "It's quite alright." He assured, "No need to change your speech for my sake."
Prompto let out something between a relieved sigh and a nervous laugh. "Right, of course." Changing his attention back to the other, "Really though, it'll be fine now. Thanks to that potion that is, otherwise it would still look pretty messed up...and feel really messed up."
"Sure you don't need another?" He asked skeptically, the purple tones still looking pretty dark to him.
"I'm sure." Prompto pushed, "I'm pretty pale, so it probably just looks worse than it is." He shrugged, seeming to be telling the truth at least. "But it's good now." Gladio noticed the way his eyes ventured by to something behind him as he now seemed more distant in the conversation. Out of curiosity, he turned to see what was so interesting, finding the prince himself watching on as he leaned against a part of the door.
"Don't let me soil the mood." He somewhat joked, though they could hear the bite behind it.
"Oh, don't worry your highness, you won't." Gladio was right back to his previous mood, letting his calm and collected self be chased away by his bitterness. And in an instant the old tension and callousness was back walking among them. "Let's go."
He turned to start making his way back, but Ignis' voice pulled him back, stopping him in his tracks, "I've had about enough of this pointless childish behavior." The authority powered words brought everyone's focus onto him. "I refuse to tolerate you two's nonsense for the duration of another day, so I suggest working it out now."
Both of their reactions were nearly identical, folding their arms and taking on a stubborn stance, neither wanting to speak first. "Don't everyone speak at once." Prompto joked, instantly falling silent once more when no one seemed amused.
"I guess I'll be the bigger person." Gladio started, not holding back with the condescending tone, "When are you going to get it together and quit thinking this is a huge joke?"
"I never thought any of this was a damn joke!" He retorted without hesitation, "Do you honestly think I like people dying and sacrificing themselves in my name? You think I'm ok with all that?!"
"Then why don't you start acting like it?!" Gladio took an intimidating step forward to get his point across, "This isn't some game, you either need to get it together and start acting like the king you're supposed to be, or sulk around until everyone pays the price for it! We can't decide for you though."
"I know that, dammit!" The prince quickly and harshly defended himself. "Tell me what it is that you want from me. I'm sorry I can't be your ideal king, but all this was kinda thrust upon me in case you forgot!" Prompto sheepishly took a few steps away as the argument picked up, biting his lip to prevent himself from putting in his two cents. "I'm trying my best here, alright?"
"Well try harder." Gladio huffed out in a flustered way. "Things may have taken a turn for the worse, but it's only more the reason to get your head in the game." He tried to steady his voice a little, fully aware of how loud he was beginning to get now, "I can't force you to get everything together, that's something you'll have to do for yourself."
Noctis nodded in understanding, the now somewhat calm demeanor of the other overflowing onto him, "And I will, but I can't just switch over into the perfect king just like that."
Prompto sighed from his spot, feeling the tension de-escalate after what seemed like a lifetime to him. They were talking, which was a start. They may not have been on completely level ground yet, but it was a start. They seemed to be on the same page at the very least.
"Noctis is right, Gladio." Ignis intervened, "He will eventually mold into what he needs to be, but it will take some time. I understand that's not something we currently have many reserves of, but we have enough." He lifted his head to face Gladio's general direction, "Everything takes some time to get used to."
Gladio met his gaze, looking directly to the scars marring the mans face, trailing them until he met sunglasses which hid unseeing eyes. "Yeah." He surrendered with that single word, "I think we should head back now, before it gets too late. I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to get back to the train before we get left behind."
"I second that." The blond raised his hand partially into the air, now turning to Ignis, "You good to go?" With a nod, Ignis began heading in the direction he thought they had come from. With a quick helpful turn-around, Prompto guided him to face the right way, "Uh, you almost had it."
"Right." The adviser waved a hand, "Thanks." He gave a courteous nod in his direction, pulling away, trying to indicate to the other that he would be fine walking on his own from this point on. Knowingly, Prompto gave the man his distance, fully aware that he was still in need of some independence.
"I know you're tired of hearing this, but please just be careful."
"You're right, I am." Ignis replied, words carrying light humor. "Need I remind you which one of us slipped more than once?"
"Wait." Prompto jogged up next to the other, "Pretty sure you did too."
"I have an excuse to." Prompto froze, raising one finger in the air to counter that, but nothing came to mind. "Shut up." He said instead, continuing to walk. He glanced over his shoulder at the other two. They were falling behind a small amount, but it appeared as though they were talking still, quietly to one another.
"I guess you were right after all." He spoke silently, not meaning to say it aloud.
"About what?" Ignis asked, despite already knowing what the response would be.
"About them eventually working it out." He threw a thumb back at the others out of habit, "I guess all they needed was a little bit of a push to get the ball rolling on that though." He let out another breath. "I can't say anything though." He threw his head back, "I guess we all need a little help when it comes to people skills."
Ignis hummed in agreement, "It would appear so." His face quickly dropped into a more serious one, "Though, I hate to sour the mood, but I fear things will only descend further into chaos from here. All may seem well for the time being, so I suggest we enjoy this moment of peace while we can."
The blond couldn't help but feel a cool and eerie sensation wash over him. "Yeah, I've noticed." He said softly, "S'pose things are going to be quite different from now on." He gazed back at the others again, his previous relief now replaced with unexplainable unease. Things were definitely changing, and whether it was for the better or worse, he wasn't quite sure, but things were in fact morphing around them and there was nothing that could be done about it.
