Stand By Me

Chapter 8: So I heard you like water?

It was a peaceful morning, with the sun blazing away in the cloudless sky. Birds were chirping, fish were swimming, monsters were roaming, you know, just the usual. The three Glaives were currently still fast asleep given the chaos that went on the night before (i.e. the snots to the face and the subsequent pandemonium). Alas, the serenity was soon to be denied as their 'beloved' Leader slammed the door wide open, "Rise and shine, boys and girl!"

In that instant, three shuriken, an explosive tag and hook was flung at him. With absolute ease, he batted them all away, and smirked, "Nice reactions, but that doesn't excuse your laziness! Now get up! We've got visitors coming today!"

"Urgggh…" Crowe groaned as she got up, trying to blink the weariness out of her eyes. The physical training in the water was bad enough as it was, and she had to learn how to control her 'magic' blasts which was all mental strength, so if anything, she was doubly as tired as the other two.

Nyx showed a slight discomfort as he got up, stretching his body out to try and get rid of the fatigue. Libertus followed shortly after, giving a wide yawn since he got the least amount of sleep. After Crowe had pummelled the crap out of him, it took him a while to get over the trauma of the whole thing (it was very hard, but for the sake of his 'sister', he would endure) before he finally succumbed to the lures of slumber.

"Geez, you guys are hardly presentable company, go wash up and all that."

Three pairs of glares went his way as he nonchalantly left them, hopefully to prepare breakfast or something. In their time with the Glaives, they had their tough times, they had their strict orders and they had abided by them easily. They've just never been this tired. They had been the perfect examples of disciplined soldiers, always on time, always getting the job done. It only took Naruto a couple of weeks to make them like this. The shame…

"Wait a minute." Crowe squinted at her other two companions, "What did he mean we've got 'guests'? Aren't we supposed to be, I don't know, a secretive group and stuff?"

Nyx and Libertus stared back, before shrugging in unison, "No idea."

Rolling her eyes, the brunette turned and walked out of the room, "Grr…"

Not wanting to draw her ire, Libertus breathed a sigh of relief as flashes of his 'torture' last night came back to him, "They just grow up so fast."

Nyx deadpanned as he handed his friend a towel, "You do know that she'll probably kill you if she heard you say that."

Taking the towel with thanks, Libertus quickly gave a wipe over his face (just to make sure there wasn't any more snot left) before replying, "That's why I whispered that."

"Sis-con."

"Psh, you're just jealous I've got such a big, caring heart."

***** ~ XV ~ *****

"Are you alright, Noctis?" A worried Iris asked as she sat between her brother and the Prince on their drive to Cape Caem.

The group had been silent, pensive and just a bit tense throughout their trip. They had all tried to act like nothing had happened when they came back to Lestallum this morning, but it was clear as day to even an outsider that something important had transpired. er brother tried his best to keep her entertained but the atmosphere just felt extremely solemn. Ignis was just his cool self as always, showing no visible emotion as he manned the wheel and Noctis was his usual apathetic and quiet self. Even Prompto appeared slightly more subdued than what she had expected, though he did still chatter quite a bit.

She had tried her best to make conversation with the group, wanting to help lighten the mood, doing what little she can to take their minds of their worries but so far it hadn't worked as well as she had hoped. They had all responded to her banter accordingly but it just lacked the usual fervour she was expecting. Something had definitely happened to put this group in such low spirits. She knew it wasn't her place to ask about it, but seeing the determined glint in Noctis' eyes as well as the way he would subtly clench his fists every now and then, she couldn't help but be worried for him.

"Hm? Ah, yes, I'm fine." Said Prince gave her a small smile as he ruffled her hair like he used to when they were young, "Don't worry about it."

Surprisingly, her brother didn't say anything about his action. Normally, he would go all over-protective and yell at Noctis for daring to lay a hand on his precious sister (pft, brothers).

Reactively tucking her head in, she felt helpless and vulnerable in this situation. She was young and weak, unable to be of any help to them. She knew they had a long road ahead of them and given recent events, she herself had already seen what horrors they must face. It was so painful watching people you care about suffer, yet being unable to do anything about it. So now, all she could do, was just smile and pretend, just like they were, that nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Mo! You're messing up my hair!"

"You're in for it now, Noct! You should know better than to screw up a lady's hairstyle!"

"Pft, it wasn't intentional, idiot! Go take pictures of the scenery or something. Shoo."

"Ah! That's so mean! Ignis! Noctis is bullying me!"

"You're overreacting, Prompto. I'm sure Noctis has nothing but love for you."

"That's a blatant lie and you know it!"

"Ha! Is little Prompto shy his crush on the Prince is finally being requited?"

"H-Huh?"

"What she said."

"Gladio! You too?!"

"Look, there's some grass over there. Why don't you take a picture?"

"Gaaaah! Everyone's so mean all of a sudden!"

With that, everyone present laughed. It might not be genuine, it might be a bit forced, and it might be temporary, but Iris was determined to bring some joy back to them. It was the least she could do after all they've done for her.

***** ~ XV ~ *****

"Keh, still alive and kicking eh?" The grizzled old man eyed the bubbly blond with exasperation as he ambled up the slope.

"You could have acted more surprised." Naruto joked as he quickly went over to Cid to help him with his luggage.

"Too old for that shit."

"Just give me a hug already you big teddy bear."

The Glaives were treated to a heart-warming sight of their Leader embracing his grandfather figure during his time back when he was situated back in Insomnia. They go way back with their history and even after Cid and Regis had their fight, Naruto had always maintained contact with the engineer.

"How's Cindy?"

"She's fine, all set and ready to take over the business. That's why I'm okay with making the trip all the way over here."

"Heh, she has always been a tough little lady."

"You're lucky she didn't realize it was you. Otherwise she would have come over just to slap you a good one."

"Why I never! What have I done?"

"Pretending to be dead wasn't enough?"

"Er… Erhem, I mean apart from that."

"You know, she never believed you were dead. Vehemently denied it and declared that she would kick your ass when you showed up eventually."

"Aw, I love her too."

"Brat."

Naruto had sent a request to Cid with a coded request that was only decipherable by the old man himself. It was delivered by a clone henge-d to look like some random stranger, so Cindy wouldn't pick up on it. It was a code Naruto and Cid created out of boredom quite a while back, so it wasn't like it was a professional military digital code or anything, making it look like a normal request for a car engine to others.

"That was cheeky of you to send that."

"Heh heh, I knew you would figure it out. Now come clean, how long did it take you to work out it was me?"

"Keh! I knew it straight away!" The old man huffed as he replied in a smug manner, "It'll be many more years before you can pull a trick in front of me."

"Sure, sure."

After some more banter, teasing and joking around, they all settled down back in the lounge.

"Alright boys and girl, meet Cid, the legendary tinkerer of all things. You give him a piece of crap from the junkyard, he can turn it into something amazing, like a watch or whatever. The point is, he's the best there is at what he does."

Nyx, Crowe and Libertus gave a polite nod. They had all given brief introductions of who they were already, and they have long since heard about the tales of the great Cid Sophiar, so it wasn't much of a surprise to hear the praise their Leader was heaping onto him.

"Cut the crap and get to the point."

Naruto grinned as he knew how the old man always got irate when he exaggerated his feats to other people, "Anyways, the point is. You guys set sail today."

Three pairs of owl blinks came back his way, "What?"

"Good old Cid here brought in the gear I ordered for you guys ages ago, so Nyx and Crowe, you're all set! Happy swimming!"

Funnily enough, it was Libertus who put up his hand next.

"Yes, Lib?"

"What about me?"

"You, my friend, will be helping Cid fix up a boat. Once it's done, you shall accompany him back to Hammerhead Garage to act as a bodyguard of sorts."

Again silence ensued. To be fair, the announcement was rather sudden, so one couldn't blame the three for not knowing how to respond.

"By the way, you have one day to get to Altissia."

That did it. Nyx had already closed his eyes and seemed resigned to his fate. Crowe wasn't having any of that. She immediately grabbed the closest object she could find (which just happened to be ibertus' mug, to the poor man's dismay) and flung it towards the blond, wanting to clobber him something bad.

"You, you, you absolutely insufferable arse!"

Not only did he drop the bombshell that they were going to be leaving for Altissia by way of swimming today out of nowhere, he also just casually expected them to get there in one day. They weren't even sure if they would survive the damn swim and now they had to do it within a time limit?! What was this bullshit?!

Cid simply sat where he was, sipping on the tea that had been prepared for him by a clone, ignoring the failed attempts at brutal murder by a beautiful young lady that he had just met a few minutes ago and the completely childish behaviour from the brat that he had come to treat as his family. It was good to see that he was still alive, but he supposed it was just too much to ask for him to change his childish personality even slightly.

After all, it was that infectious smile of his and those 'juvenile antics' that helped get Cindy out of the funk when her parents passed away. He was partly responsible for the growth of a little girl who was absolutely lost and miserable into the cheerful, bubbly woman she was today. Naruto had taught her much, shared his life stories with her just to prove to her that he could relate to her, thereby earning her trust. Naruto had understood the pain of children who had to grow up way too soon, and hence did everything he could to ensure Cindy knew he was there to help.

A smirk came to Cid's face even as he remembered the day Cindy was told that her Naru-chan had passed away. She had declared with the utmost confidence that there was no way that was true and that he was merely playing a prank on them all. Naturally, Cid didn't believe the news one bit either, so both Grandfather and granddaughter went about their lives as per norm – confident and strong. It only meant that they would keep all their 'anger' at the 'idiotic blond' bottled up so that when they next saw him, they would 'express' their displeasure.

Then again, it just didn't have quite the same effect when the person in question didn't actually mind you 'expressing' the displeasure. He would just take it with a smile on the face and that kinda defied the point of even bothering to in the first place. Besides, if he really wanted to dodge, it would be like what was happening now, where the poor girl couldn't even land a single hit on him, no matter what she threw. From the looks of it, she was about to throw an entire bed at him before she was stopped hurriedly by her two comrades.

"Oh yeah, I'll need you to have a look at the ship and see what materials we're missing, if any. I've " In the midst of the 'fighting', Naruto managed to direct the comment at Cid that was actually relevant to his presence.

"I guess I might as well do it while you guys kill each other."

"Or die trying."

"Or that." Cid chuckled as he got up slowly, and made his way towards the port, ignoring the frantic yells coming from within the cabin, "Nice day today."

***** ~ XV ~ *****

"You alright up there?" A disgruntled Kurama grumbled as he continued their journey across the sea.

If anyone had caught sight of them, they would be absolutely floored by what they saw. Right in the middle of the ocean, was a gigantic crimson fox slowly walking on the surface of the water with a blonde lady dressed in white idly sitting on its head, her hand caressing its ears as they traversed the 'terrain'.

"Oh Kurama-san, you worry too much, I'm perfectly fine." Lunafreya couldn't help but chuckle as the fox asked her the same question he had five minutes ago, pretty much since they've started making their way towards Altissia on water.

"I don't know, you might be sea-sick."

"Even if I was prone to that, you're walking so carefully that I barely feel any movement at all." It was true, Kurama was taking extra care to ensure the entire ride was comfy, safe and enjoyable.

"Pft, yeah well, it's hard to walk on water." Yes, foxes can blatantly lie through their teeth with no repercussions whatsoever. Oh yes, it wasn't like he was a trickster or anything.

"I love you, you big softie."

To be fair, Kurama really, really didn't like water. It was why he was always pretty damn annoyed when he was locked in a sewer of all places when he was first stuck in a Jinchuuriki's seal. For someone who had always had free reign of the world, to be confined within a tight space with a representation of stale water wasn't exactly the nicest place. For years and years, within Mito, Kushina and throughout Naruto's childhood, he was forced to stay in that place. Things eventually worked out but that sort of experience stuck to you and wasn't something you would just forget. You move on from it (since he was such a forgiving being), but subconsciously, icky stuff were still icky.

One would think a fox the size of the Titan would send alarm signals running through Niflheim at the earliest notice, and it would, provided people could actually see him. With his power, creating an illusion cloak that shrouds over him was a piece of cake. If any Imperial airships were spying on the ocean, they wouldn't be able to see anything different to your everyday sea waves.

When Naruto and himself first arrived in Eos, and their control was completely out of whack, it would have probably been a lot harder to walk on water, considering they still weren't used to how the energies or magic or whatever worked around this place. Come to think of it, it would have been a rather hilarious experience for both of them, what with them stumbling and drowning all over the place.

Needless to say, Lunafreya was pleasantly surprised when a snort was heard. The slight shaking of his head tickled her and she asked curiously, "What's so funny?"

"Heh, just imagining Naruto using his crappy control to water-walk when we first got to Eos." Needless to say, he would never mention himself in a similarly awkward situation. Bijuu pride demanded he never be embarrassed, especially not by adorable girls like Luna. At least, that was what he kept telling himself.

"Ah! So you do miss him!" That was not the response he expected.

"Wait, what?" Kurama's eyes narrowed, "I do not!"

"Aww, you guys have such a great bond!"

"H-Huh? How did you go from me laughing at his sorry ass to this conclusion?"

"It's okay, Kurama-san, I'm sure we'll see him soon."

"Th-this, I don't miss him! It's all for your sake!"

"I'm sure he misses you too Kurama-san."

"Gaaa-haaa-urgh…" It's super-effective, especially because Naruto, unlike tsundere Kyuubi, would have no qualms declaring to the world that yes, he did miss his best buddy Kurama. He wouldn't even be joking if he said their friendship stood the test of space and time.

Kurama was about to respond before Lunafreya gave a wistful sigh, "I hope Noctis-sama is well too."

That would have been the perfect timing for the fox to get some teasing and revenge in but judging from her tone, he decided to let her off this time, well, partially anyway, "Heh, he better be, or I'll eat him."

"Kurama-san!"

"Pft, he should be grateful I'm even considering it. I bet you he tastes like crap."

Naruto would have yelled straight back, Are you trying to tell me you know what crap tastes like? You've eaten it before, haven't you?! You must have!

Lunafreya, on the other hand, simply pouted and whacked him lightly on the head, "Oh you!"

Just like usual, the banter continued. It wasn't like there was really that much else to do when you're strolling across the sea.

***** ~ XV ~ *****

"So, what are we missing?" Naruto asked cheerfully as he stood by Cid. Nyx and Crowe were finishing up their final preparations before heading out into the sea for their 'trip'. It was vital that they try out the underwater suits Cid had crafted for them. The request was a special one because it required the suits to generate a steady supply of oxygen whilst they were underwater the entire way. Needless to say, GPS and all other related technology had to be water-proof (wouldn't do to be electrocuted under the sea and having a crab sing songs about you) and it had to somehow mediate the under-water pressure to negate any discomfort the person might feel.

Either way, it was a tedious task but Cid had come through for him once again with two marvellous suits and currently, Nyx and Crowe were testing it out. Even if something did go wrong, Naruto had placed two Hiraishin beacon markers on their arms, so that in the event of an emergency, they could teleport back to Cape Caem safe and sound.

"Hm…" The elderly engineer scratched his chin contemplatively as he ran through his list quickly, "A few bits and pieces would do well in fortifying this thing, nothing crazy. There is one problem with the engine though."

"Oh? What's wrong with it?"

"Could have been damaged from its last excursion, or could have been just deterioration over time, but we're gonna need a new one."

"Really? That bad?"

"Yeah."

"Just write me down the model, I'll steal one for ya."

Rolling his eyes, Cid whacked him on the arm, "No stealing. Honestly, you and your ways of thievery."

"Fine, buy one for you."

"Much better, the only problem being that I don't think they even sell for an engine model this old anymore. I'm going to have to make one."

"… Are you serious?" The deadpan was strong with this one.

"I don't remember ever joking with you."

"That's because you're pretty much senile."

"You would know all about it, wouldn't you?"

"Uh huh, so how long will this take then? I don't think the Emperor of Niflheim is willing to wait much longer. Luna will most definitely be at Altissia in the next couple of days."

Running a hand through his hair, the elderly engineer did a quick mental calculation, "You're lucky I have most of the stuff I need with me, though I would probably need a few tools back at Hammerhead now that I think about it. The main problem would be finding a nice, big chunk of mythril."

"Mythril? What, regular metals won't work?"

"If you want it to break down in a day again, then sure."

"What? Why would it break down so easily? We haven't used this boat in ten years… oh."

"Yes, now go find me that mythril."

"Hell no, that stuff is heavily regulated by Niflheim."

"Just waltz in and steal some."

"Erm, excuse me. Who was the one who discriminated against me for thievery?"

"You're going to Hell anyway, one more sin won't hurt you."

"That's harsh! That's really harsh, old man!"

"Stop yer whining and get outta here. I've got a job to do, you're distracting me."

Just like that, the blond was unceremoniously kicked out of the workshop. The old man was never one for soft persuasion. Drumming his fingers on his chin, Naruto frowned as he pondered on the probabilities of sneaking a clone into the territory to steal it. It was possible, but not really ideal, considering he didn't want Ardyn to know that he was helping Noctis and co. directly. The Chancellor would instantly know it was him if word got out that some mythril was missing. No one else that wasn't Noctis would bother with 'stealing' from the Empire. To be fair, no one else could clone themselves, turn that clone into a different person and have the skills required to perform the theft.

It really shouldn't matter this much considering how they were going to clash eventually, and Ardyn most definitely knew he wasn't dead; but even still, an element of surprise was still something to be used to your advantage if you had it.

Shrugging, he pulled out his phone and dialled to his 'friendly' informant on the Imperial Army side, "Hey, how's it going –"

"I beat them! Ha!"

"… Beat who?"

"Your precious protégés! I wasted them easily, one on four. They got nothing on me!"

"O…k? Good for you?"

"Of course! You owe me one now."

"I… wait, what?"

"You lost the bet! You said they would beat me! Ha! As if they could."

"I did?"

"Yeah! Wait, you're not trying to back out of it, are you?"

"Well, no, I would never –"

"Damn straight you wouldn't. Don't worry, I won't cash it in yet, I'll give it a good, long think first."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto could just imagine her gloating face as she said that, "Ok, that's good and all, but I need another favour from you."

"Another one? Didn't I just give you those suits?"

"Yes, and I'm eternally grateful for them. Now, any chance you could get me some mythril?"

"Sure I can. I just need to break fifty Imperial Military rules, kill twenty soldiers on duty and bribe the Chancellor fifty million gil to get him to pretend he didn't know about all this."

"That bad, huh?"

"No shit, Sherlock. But I do have some good news for you."

"Oh?"

"I've been tasked by the high and almighty Chancellor himself to accompany the great Lucis Prince himself into the depths of Steyliff Grove to retrieve mythril when he arrives there."

"… Wait, why would he give you such an order? Noctis doesn't even know he needs mythril yet."

"No clue. He was very confident when he gave his order, and I didn't bother checking. Though now that you've brought it up too, it's piqued my interest. What's the mythril for anyway?"

"Huh, so he knows of the boat, knows that Noctis will come to Cape Caem, and somehow knows that the boat needs mythril."

"What boat?"

"It's an old Royal beauty, though it hasn't been used in ages, so we're getting someone to fix it up to get the four of them to Altissia."

"Ooooh, right, of course. That reminds me, I need to get someone to swap their shift with me so I can actually get to see all the fun that's gonna happen in Altissia."

"Well, at least I guarantee you'll be able to witness a Tsunami first-hand."

"Heh, we'll see. But yeah, don't worry about the mythril, just tell the Prince to come to Vesperpool and I'll sort him out."

"Alright, thanks again."

With that, the line went off on the opposite end. Staring at his cellphone, Naruto sighed as he tried to process this new line of info he just received. It always puzzled him why the Chancellor waited so long to carry out his plans. He supported Niflheim and somehow convinced their previously benevolent Emperor to begin his conquer of the world. Why waste so much time and effort when he had so much power at his disposal already? If it was grudge against the Lucis Family, then why not simply brute force his way through Insomnia and just kill Noctis when he was a child? Surely he had the power to do that. Even now, he let Noctis and his friends roam the world freely, occasionally sending Imperial magitek infantries after them but it felt more like an act of formality.

At the Disc of Cauthess, he should have left them there to perish, but he actually escorted them out. What was his motive? He knew the man had a love for flair and grandeur, but what was the point of appearing to be Noctis' 'ally'? To 'betray' him at the final second? For what?

Naruto would never understand ultra-evil mastermind antagonists. If you wanted to kill somebody, just do it, why drag it out? To create openings for others to somehow defeat you in the end? It was nice of them to do so, but it just felt weird and lame.

Shrugging, Naruto poked his head inside the workshop again and yelled, "Oi old fart! Noctis and co. are probably going to be here in the next couple of days. When they get here, tell them to go sort out the mythril. They'll know where to go and all that."

"Getting someone else to do your work for you again?"

"It's called using resources effectively!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Rolling his eyes at Cid's dismissive attitude, Naruto left to check on his group. Cid was always like this when he was working.

So Ardyn planned for Noctis to go to Altissia, where he knew for sure Luna would be to awaken Leviathan. Was this the Chancellor's bait to try and draw him out? If that was the case, that could mean that Ardyn had either gathered enough power to the point where he believed he could take Naruto head on, or he had a way to limit the blond's power. Slightly worrying, but at the end of the day, Naruto was quite confident in his abilities. If worse comes to worst, then he would still be able to regroup with Kurama, and he highly doubted there was any enemy that he couldn't take on with his buddy by his side.

Not to mention they would also have the Oracle's awesome healing powers, if for some reason they couldn't heal themselves using chakra, so they have that sorted. Depending on the way things played out, he might need to set up a barrier to contain the damage. Maybe Ardyn wanted him to exhaust himself trying to protect the citizens of Altissia?

So many questions, so little answers.

Ah well, let's just get Nyx and Crowe going first. Luna and Kurama have probably reached Altissia by now. I'll just improvise on the fly. If his target is me, then it makes things easier. If his target is Luna, he'll be in for a bit of a surprise. If his target is Noctis, then all goes according to plan.

Win-win dattebayo!

***** ~ XV ~ *****

A/N: Slightly shorter chapter compared to the other ones, just bridging the main story. The reason why I haven't added more 'sidequests' for Noctis and co. is because it makes no sense in terms of the 'story'. Like you're being chased by Niflheim, why would you go around taking hunts instead of figuring out a way to convene with the Oracle? In-game, that's fine, but when you're writing it out, it feels a bit awkward. Noctis would totally fish for 5 days just to up his fishing level to 10 whilst Ardyn and Lunafreya patiently waits in Altissia.

Though if there certain sidequests you believe would be really interesting to see, feel free to suggest it =D

Cheers guys.