I don't know why I'm still bothering to post over here. But whatever. Have another chapter XD
The Shadows Growing Tall
chapter eleven
The ride to the Vesperpool is quiet. Noct's still silently panicking over Gladio's abrupt departure, wondering if it's because of him. Does Gladio truly hate him so much after all, that he doesn't want to be around Noct anymore? Ignis keeps saying to him that Gladio cares, citing examples of it, but Noct's having a hard time seeing that right now. It doesn't feel like Gladio cares. And okay, maybe Noct fucked up by not telling his friends what was going on, and he can understand Gladio's anger over that, but not to the point that Gladio's taken it.
He doesn't even know if Gladio will come back. The thought's paralysing. No matter how much they're at odds right now, Noct doesn't want to lose him. Gladio's his friend, someone who's been a solid constant in his life and one of the few people Noct has always been able to rely on. The thought of a world without Gladio in it seems hollow and wrong.
And if Gladio really doesn't come back, will Ignis and Prompto blame him for it? Even if Gladio hates Noct, he's still Ignis and Prompto's friend, and they'll be upset to see him go. They might get mad at Noct, hate him for it... He clenches his hands in his lap, squeezing his eyes shut tight, trying to keep calm. He can't bear to think about Ignis and Prompto hating him, the thought hurts too much. He doesn't want to lose everybody. He doesn't want to wind up all alone in the world.
He feels the Regalia slowing then, and looks up, thankful to be distracted from his thoughts, wondering with surprise when Ignis put the roof up. He'd been so lost in his dismay that he hadn't even noticed.
"Remember, no magic," Ignis says as he turns off the engine. "And please try to refrain from warping, Noct."
Noct rolls his eyes, making a face at the light drizzle that hits him when he steps out of the car. "I know," he says to Ignis. He pulls the chocobo whistle out and calls for the birds, and soon the three of them are setting off in the vague direction of the ruins where the mythril is supposed to be. It's hard not to feel the absence of Gladio, especially when they wind up in a battle with a gigantoad and don't have his powerful sword to sweep it out of the way, but Noct does his best to focus and shove any thoughts of his Shield to the back of his mind for now. He's sick of being a burden to his friends, and he's determined to hold his own in battle today.
It doesn't take them long to spot the two ruined pillars sticking out of the ground, along with what—or who, rather—is in between them. Noct groans. "What is he doing here?" he asks, a scowl settling on his face. "And how does he know that we'd be here today?"
Ardyn looks up as he hears the chocobos approach, tipping his fedora to them in greeting. Next to him, Noct hears Ignis make a quiet noise of disgust. He rather agrees. He really doesn't want to deal with the chancellor anymore. Back at the Disc of Cauthess had been more than enough for him.
"Maybe it won't be so bad?" Prompto offers hopefully, but Noct only sighs.
Not even five minutes later they're trudging behind Ardyn on foot, following some semblance of a path to the ruins they'll be going through. Noct glares at Ardyn's back as they walk. The man had been as enigmatic as always, brushing aside any attempts at questions and insisting they do as he wished. Noct had really wanted to refuse, and it galls him that he couldn't.
A startled yell from Prompto makes Noct whirl around, just in time to see a sahagin swipe its claws at his friend. He pulls his lance from the Armiger with a wince, and warps at the creature without thinking twice about it. "Fuck," he gasps as he lands, feeling his stomach twist unpleasantly at the crushing sensation on his body, but he ignores the pain, freeing his lance from the sahagin's tough hide and preparing to attack again.
"Noct! You okay, buddy?" Prompto asks anxiously, even as he pulls his gun out from the Armiger.
Noct grits his teeth at the sharp pull coming so soon on the heels of the agony from warping. "Fine," he says. "Let's take them out!"
The battle's tougher than it should be, and it's frustrating, because Noct knows he can do better than this. But he's so tired, and still worn out from the fight with that woman yesterday, and he can't get his body to cooperate with his brain. He falls more than rolls as he dodges a sharp snap of teeth, and then springs back up to twist and jam his lance into the sahagin's neck. It lets out a grunt, slashing at him, and though he moves away he's not quite fast enough, its claws catching the edge of his arm. Blood wells up, but he ignores it, stabbing again, this time hitting the mark he'd intended the first time, his lance driving deep into its skull.
At one point Noct takes a breather to glance around, and notices Ardyn leaning casually against the crumbles of some old ruins, arms folded loosely across his chest as he watches the battle from a safe distance. Noct has no idea if the man can even fight, but it's irritating to him nonetheless. It makes it seem like they're protecting Ardyn, which Noct has no intentions of doing, no matter how helpful the man might be.
A snarl redirects his attention to the fight, and he takes out another sahagin, only to be knocked over from behind by a third. He scrambles away fast before it can pin him, and then climbs to his feet, tossing his lance at its back. He warps after it, holding back a cry of pain when he lands on it, but he can't keep himself from stumbling, his grip faltering. He yanks his lance out and somehow manages to keep from falling. It growls, trying to turn around for an attack, but Noct's luckily fast enough to keep behind it, looking for a good opening to strike.
"Noct!" Ignis calls, tossing him his own lance, and Noct grabs it, jumping up in the air just as the sahagin swipes its tail at him. He uses all his body weight to drive both lances deep into the sahagin as he lands, the two of them piercing all the way through its body and pinning it to the ground. It lets out a shriek, struggling frantically, but it's completely trapped, and after a few minutes of furious thrashing it goes limp. Ignis comes up, retrieving his lance, and sends it through the sahagin's skull for good measure.
Now that the battle's over, Noct really wants to flop down on the ground and rest, mud and rain be damned, but a quick glance to the side tells him that Ardyn is still watching, so he simply flicks his weapon back into the Armiger and starts walking in Ardyn's direction. He doesn't want to show any weakness to the chancellor. Of course, given how heavily he's breathing and the fact that he's walking very deliberately in order to avoid stumbling, he's probably not fooling anyone.
"Ah, it seems the Lucis Caelum line is not what it used to be," Ardyn remarks as they draw near, confirming Noct's thoughts. "Has the Crystal already weakened you so soon? If only you had the ring."
Noct scowls in irritation, not deigning to answer the man. They follow him up to the old ruins in silence, and Noct's too exhausted to be shocked when Ardyn introduces them to Aranea.
"We've met," Aranea says, smirking.
"I'll leave you to it, then," Ardyn says, tipping his fedora to them again, this time in farewell.
"So, you're the new recruits they've sent over for special training," Aranea says. "Nice cover, runaway prince."
Cover? He has no idea what Aranea means, and no idea how to respond to her. He glances to Prompto, his eyes asking for help, but his traitor best friend merely shrugs, offering up a "Thanks!" to Aranea.
"Oh, c'mon!" Noct says in annoyance.
Aranea laughs, making Noct glance back to her in surprise. "Relax, I won't turn you in. I'm just here to help you get the mythril, nothing more."
"It's located inside the ruins, then?" Ignis asks, gesturing to the massive building ahead of them.
"Yeah, but you won't get inside til sundown," Aranea tells him. "Some sort of ancient magic keeps it sealed during the day. Better make yourselves comfortable for the next couple of hours."
"Great," Noct groans. At least now he'll have a chance to sit. He heads up to the ruins, and settles himself down onto the cracked and destroyed steps, putting his back against one of the walls, thankful there's an overhang that keeps the rain off him.
At first, his thoughts turn to Gladio once again, but amongst all the fear and insecurity and guilt, Ardyn's words of earlier keep echoing in the back of his head. If only you had the ring, he'd said. What had he meant by that? Noct needs the ring, yeah, but how would it help with the Crystal killing him? He would think that the ring would only kill him faster. He'd seen firsthand how fast it'd been killing his dad, after all.
And why would Ardyn even make such a remark, regardless of what he meant by it? There's always seemed to be something... off, about Ardyn, ever since they first met him in Galdin Quay—he's always seemed to know more than he should about things. But this—how could Ardyn possibly know that the Crystal is killing Noct without the ring?
Does Ardyn actually know something about it somehow, something that could help save Noct? Of course, if he does, Noct's chances for survival still aren't much improved, as Ardyn appears to find amusement in avoiding answering their questions, only dropping hints here and there. Noct's desperate, though, and terrified of dying, so even the slightest lead is worth pursuing. It's just a matter of deciding whether Ardyn is a lead or not.
He looks up at the sound of footsteps on the stone, watching as Ignis approaches, sitting down nearby. "Are you certain you will be up for this, Noct?" Ignis asks quietly.
Noct shrugs. "Don't have much choice, do I? I can't stay out here alone, the daemons will be out."
"Prompto or I could stay here with you, while Aranea accompanies the other of us inside."
"I'd likely be fighting daemons one way or another," Noct points out. "Might as well not split us up."
Ignis nods his head, conceding the point. "Indeed."
x x x
"Is that a bird or a lizard?" Prompto cries as a giant beast lets out a screech above them, descending from the balcony.
"Does it matter?" Noct asks, ducking as the creature sweeps low over them.
"It's a quetzalcoatl," Ignis says. "A formidable foe, indeed. They're very rare, and only reside in this part of the world. I never thought to see one in my lifetime."
"You can admire it after it's dead!" Noct says, grabbing onto Prompto's arm for support as the quetzalcoatl lands in front of them, making the earth shake.
"Less talking, more killing," Aranea commands, running up to the quetzalcoatl and sinking her lance into its side, drawing first blood. It lets out another screech, sweeping a powerful wing at her, but she's prepared for it, already jumping up in the air to avoid the attack.
Noct follows her lead, stabbing his own lance at the overgrown lizard, aware of Gladio's absence more than ever—big foes always seem to be right up his alley. And he has the feeling an extra person would be really helpful in this battle. Still, Gladio's gone, possibly for good, and Noct's just going to have to deal with it.
Sharp talons shred his side as he tries to dodge, and Noct grunts in pain, feeling the wetness of his own blood rapidly soaking his shirt. He rips a potion out of his Armiger, ignoring the tug, and breaks it over himself, grimacing at the knitting sensation of his skin healing.
The battle seems to quickly go downhill after that. Noct tries hard to stay in the moment and focus, but his worries about both Gladio and Ardyn keep swirling around in his head, making it difficult. His only consolation is that his companions don't seem to be faring much better—he loses track of how many times one of them pulls a potion out of his Armiger. It doesn't help that the quetzalcoatl can fly, because it avoids many of their attacks with ease, and even the ones that connect don't seem to faze it much.
Noct desperately wants to warp strike at the beast, because he knows they'll stand a much better chance of defeating it if he does, but no matter how bad the situation looks, he can't bring himself to. Not because of worrying his friends, but because he's afraid. It isn't like the battle with the sahagins, where a couple of warps is all that's needed. No, it'll be on par with his battle against Aranea, or the base where the Regalia had been stashed. Noct can't face that pain again, he doesn't want to feel himself being ripped apart anymore, and it was all his warping with Aranea that was the tipping point that made Gladio decide to leave. He doesn't want Ignis or Prompto to end up leaving too.
"Doesn't this thing have any weaknesses?" Prompto calls to Ignis in frustration as he narrowly misses getting knocked in the head with a large wing, then has to roll frantically as crackles of energy arc down upon him. He springs up, firing his gun, a few bullets ripping through the wing that almost took him out, then quickly rolls a second time as the quetzalcoatl swipes at him again, shrieking in outrage as it sends down more electricity.
Ignis is silent a moment, circling around the reptile while it's distracted with Prompto, then slides a dagger deep into its flank, moving back almost immediately as it turns—but still not fast enough, as talons rake down his chest, leaving bloody gashes behind. "Ice," Ignis finally answers reluctantly, retrieving a potion from the Armiger.
"Oh," Prompto says quietly as he puts some distance between himself and the quetzalcoatl. "Never mind then."
"Never mind? If you've got it, use it! What's the point of those princely powers otherwise?" Aranea calls to them, flying up in the air to land herself heavily down on the quetzalcoatl's back, shoving her lance deep in between its shoulder blades. It cries out in pain, taking off in flight. Clearly not expecting it, Aranea doesn't manage to keep her grip on her weapon as it flings her off, sending her crashing into a wall.
"Aranea!" Noct says, panic washing over him as his heart thuds fast in his chest. He rushes over to her, yanking a potion out and breaking it over her, feeling relieved when she groans and sits up. He barely knows her, but he can't stand the thought of anyone else dying for him. His dad, Clarus, Jared, everyone in Insomnia that fought... It's too much. It doesn't matter that Aranea is technically the enemy, that's she a part of the Niflheim army. Right now she's down here fighting with them, for him, and he can't let her die on his behalf.
Eyes hardening, he straightens up, firm in his sudden resolve. Leaving Aranea to rest for a moment, he angles himself within enough distance of the quetzalcoatl, then takes a deep breath and pulls out a blizzard spell he'd crafted ages ago, tossing it at the beast. The shattering tinkle echoes loudly around the spacious room, and a cold sheet of frost breezes throughout it, swirling gently around him, making him shiver even as he cries out at the pain in his core, clutching at his chest with a few gasping breaths.
"Noct!" Prompto cries, panic edging his voice as the magic begins to dissipate. "You shouldn't—"
"We're not going to win otherwise!" Noct yells back at him. "Just do it! I can handle it!"
Prompto lets out several noises of distress, firing frantically as the quetzalcoatl snaps at him, trying to bite him. He rolls into a dodge, scrambling away from it, then lets out a frustrated yell as he pops back up, grabbing another blizzard spell out of Noct's Armiger. Noct feels Ignis get one too, and swallows hard. "Not simultaneously," he says. "Please."
"Understood," Ignis says, letting Prompto throw his first. It hits its mark, the quetzalcoatl crying out in pain as it's engulfed in icy frost. Aranea's up again by now, and takes advantage of its incapacitated state to retrieve her lance from where it's still buried in the beast's back.
When she's clear of the quetzalcoatl, Ignis glances uncertainly to Noct, who's sunken down to the ground, breathing heavily, hand still grasping at his chest, his face obviously scrunched up in agony. "Just do it, Specs," Noct says through gritted teeth.
Ignis nods, but grapples with his hesitation for another moment, before finally hurling the spell towards the quetzalcoatl. Noct tries not to, but the pain is overwhelming, and he can't help but let out a quick scream as the spell activates. Ignis is by his side immediately, dropping down in front of him and grabbing his hand, squeezing it. "Steady, Noct," he murmurs. "Deep breaths. It will fade."
Noct does as he says, watching through blurred vision as Prompto and Aranea work together to finish the quetzalcoatl off, at last bringing the giant reptile crashing down to the ground, squawking in its dying throes. Prompto rushes over to him as soon as it's down, plopping down next to him and looking him over, distraught at Noct's obvious pain, although it's already faded considerably. "I'm sorry, Noct, I'm sorry," he babbles. "I didn't want to, I didn't mean to hurt you, is it bad, are you okay, I won't do it anymore, I'm sorry—"
"Prompto," Noct says loudly, cutting off his best friend's word vomit. He waits until Prompto's quiet, meeting his gaze. "I told you to," he says then. "I'm not blaming you. You don't have to apologise to me." He cuts his eyes over to Ignis. "That goes for you too."
They both look at him, stricken expressions on their faces, and then Ignis squeezes his hand again briefly, letting Noct know he understands. Prompto isn't as easily reassured, however. "Noct..." he says, his voice wavering, but Noct shakes his head.
"Please, Prompto," he says, begging his best friend with his eyes. "Don't blame yourself."
Prompto gazes at him longer, before finally sighing reluctantly. "Okay," he says unhappily.
Aranea ambles over to them then, holding out a shiny, silvery ore. Noct takes it, looking up at her. "Thank you," he says quietly, not referring to just the mythril.
She nods, catching on to his deeper meaning. "What's up with you?" she asks then, raising her eyebrows.
He sighs. Normally he wouldn't go around telling his enemies his secrets, but given that Ardyn seems to already know somehow, keeping the information from her seems moot. And he's not so sure she really is an enemy. "The Crystal your army stole is killing me even without the Ring of the Lucii."
Her eyebrows rise even higher. "No kidding."
Noct shrugs. "It shouldn't be. The power comes from the ring, so I'm not sure what's going on. Anyway, using anything related to the Crystal's magic causes me pain."
"There's been rumours, talk of the Crystal flying around since it wound up in Gralea. That somehow it poses a specific threat to daemons, and that it can't be fully harnessed without the power of ring."
"The second part's definitely true, at least..." Noct confirms. "I'm not sure about the first, though. The Wall kept daemons away, but..." He trails off, shrugging again.
"Yes, I'm afraid some of the Crystal's secrets are a mystery to even the royal family still," Ignis says.
"I did overhear that creep chancellor say something to Commander Ravus once," Aranea says hesitantly. "It was something about how 'that fool boy is running around getting the blessing of the Astrals without the ring, we can't have him killing himself just yet,' I believe. Then he'd asked if the commander had found the Lady Lunafreya." She shrugs. "Obviously he was talking about you."
Noct blinks, uncertain what to make of Ardyn's words, and wonders if Aranea had heard them right. He looks to Ignis questioningly, but his advisor only frowns.
"I believe the meaning of that is unclear to us," Ignis says. "But it is information worth pondering nonetheless. Thank you, Aranea."
"Does that mean we can get out of here now?" Prompto pipes up, glancing around at them hopefully. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be here when that thing starts to stink."
A startled laugh escapes Ignis at that. "Indeed, Prompto. I believe we have what we came for, and can safely take our leave."
"Yeah," Noct says. "Let's get out of here."
x x x
"I wonder where the big guy went," Prompto muses, reaching out to fiddle with the volume dial on the radio, switching it on. The techno music he's so fond of begins to blast out. "Do you think he's okay?"
"I'm confident Gladio is just fine," Ignis says, not taking his eyes off the road as he reaches to adjust the radio to a reasonable volume. Prompto pouts, but knows better than to fight him on it.
"What about you, Noct? Where do you think he went?"
In the back seat, Noct grunts, gazing out the window. It's still dark out, and the rain's still pouring out there, so he can't really see much, but it's better than facing Prompto's question. He hears a rustle of clothing that says Prompto's probably turning around to look at him, but he keeps peering into the night.
"You still mad at him?" Prompto asks.
Noct sighs, not answering. He's not mad—he's hurt. And scared. And blaming himself. And he absolutely doesn't want to talk about it.
After a moment, Prompto seems to sense Noct's not going to say anything, and faces the front again, pulling out his camera to fiddle with it, flipping through the pictures he's taken, being careful to keep the glare of the backlight off of Ignis' face. The rest of the ride is relatively quiet, only Prompto's music filling the car and keeping it from complete silence. Noct tends to prefer more of a rock style, finding the electronic sound of Prompto's preferred genre grating, but the music helps keep his thoughts at bay, so he can't be too annoyed by it.
Much later, when they're back in their room in Cape Caem, all three of them laying the darkness pretending to sleep, Prompto speaks up from the other bed. "Noct?" he says softly.
"Yeah?"
"Do... are you blaming yourself for Gladio's leaving?"
At that, Noct feels his throat tighten. Why does Prompto have to bring it back up? "I don't want to talk about it," he mumbles. He wishes he could roll over, away from Prompto, but Ignis is next to him in the bed, awake and listening to the conversation.
"You know it's not your fault, right? I know Gladio was upset, but I don't think he left because of you. He's been worried for you."
Noct chokes out some garbled noise at that, feeling his chest ache with sorrow. He wants so desperately to believe his friends, to think that Gladio's worried for him, and part of him does believe it, but there's a bigger part that constantly whispers loudly in his brain, saying they're wrong, that Gladio doesn't care, and he can't seem to silence it. "I warped," he forces out. "With Aranea, at the base. And then he left."
"Noct, that's..." Prompto stops, letting out a sigh. He sits up, looking over at Noct, though it's too dark for Noct to make out his face. "I'm pretty sure that isn't the reason he left, buddy."
"What else could it be?" Noct asks, his eyes brimming with tears. He swipes angrily at his face, tired of crying. Between the bouts of depression and everything going on, he feels like crying is all he's done lately.
"I dunno," comes the honest answer. "But I'm sure it was important, something he felt he had to do. He wouldn't just abandon you. He's your Shield, isn't he? He wants to protect you."
"It's his job."
Prompto laughs, though it sounds sad. "Pretty sure he's gone way beyond the line of duty for you at this point, Noct."
Noct's quiet for several minutes. Beside him, Ignis' breathing changes, slowing down and evening out a little more as he finally drops into sleep. Noct envies him for it. He's so exhausted and worn out, all he wants is to escape the world for a while, but sleep eludes him, his thoughts too busy screaming at him and keeping him awake. "What if he doesn't come back?" he finally whispers to Prompto. "What if he left for good?"
"I don't think he did. He's gonna come back, Noct. I know it."
Noct swallows, feeling his eyes burning. "I hope you're right."
Thanks to this chapter, I can now spell quetzalcoatl without having to double check it. Mostly.
Also, I apologise for Gladio. Still.