Chapter 13: The Search Begins – For What?
Amara watched the expressions on her friends' faces (and anyone nearby) change into looks of horror and grief as she told them (select portions of) what she had seen in Insomnia. Pausing after the death of Clarus, as well as the death of Regis, they gave Noctis a few moments to collect himself before urging her to continue. Ending her tale with the same lie she had given Cor, the woman was well aware of the look of disbelief that crossed Ignis made her shrink in on herself, her hands shaking in her lap as she looked away from the guys.
"At least… that's what I told Cor."
"Amara?" the guys were confused now, not knowing her to lie so blatantly.
"The truth is after I reached my house, I ran into Ardyn. He got me out of the city. I think he wants me alive for some reason." She feigned confusion of her own, looking up at them. "To be honest, I don't know how I got out of the city – I fell out not long after I ran into him and don't even remember if he spoke to me. I mean, I'm sure he did but everything's just a blank… Well, I'm sure you guys can understand why I was so scared to tell the Marshall that, what with so many of the Glaives…"
Ignis pushed his cup of coffee across the table to her. "You didn't want him to think you were one of the traitors as well, that's understandable."
Noctis nodded, though it was clear by the look on his face that his mind was still elsewhere. "All that matters is that despite everything you still told us the truth."
"We'll keep this a secret too!" Prompto gave her a smile.
Gladio took a breath, burying his face in his hands. "It doesn't feel right, but if you felt like you had to tell the Marshall that, I won't say any different."
Amara put on a slight smile, motioning to Ignis's cup of coffee. He gave her a nod, then got up to go talk to the diner's owner (had they called him Takka?) leaving her there with the others. With Prompto and Noctis on either side of her she couldn't help but feel a little safer than she had earlier, but guilt still edged her thoughts.
It was still clouding her mind as she followed the boys out to a haven some several yards out behind the Garage – though an easily ended attack from some Sabertusks provided a decent distraction until they reached their camping spot. While the others worked to get everything set up, Noctis pulled her aside and motioned for her to follow him down to a lightning deposit. With the proximity of the crackling deposit blocking a lot of the sound around them – she realized Noct was wanting to talk to her about something he absolutely did not want the others to hear.
"Amara, how are you doing without dad's magic?" despite the events of the day he was still concerned about her abilities?
"I won't slow you guys down, I promise."
"No, no Amara that's not what I mean. The way you reacted when you connected to him, I wanted to make sure it didn't happen again."
She shook her head. "No, it just stung a little bit. I didn't even notice it until later." Noctis seemed satisfied, but when he didn't move, she was left wondering what else was on his mind. "What's up?"
"I want to connect you to my armiger. Those blades of yours are good and all, but if we get attacked by another pack or swarm, I think we'd all feel better knowing you could fight properly."
Fear shot through her, she had to fight to stay calm – keep her armiger from throwing a weapon into her hands. "I don't know… I mean, it hurt so bad when I connected to King Regis… With his being ripped away the way it was, wouldn't it make being connected to you even worse? I'd be out of commission for a while in that case."
"I know, but I think having you at full capacity would be worth it. The Empire has drop ships all over the continent looking for us – fuck the wildlife, if they send a platoon after us, we're in serious trouble without you being your best." His own fear was clear in his eyes, mixing with the grief he still obviously held from their earlier talk. It made her consider just how worried the others must be about it if he so worked up over it. So despite her own fears about it, she nodded.
"Alright, let's do it."
With a nod, she watched the Prince (or should he be 'King' now?) close his eyes and focus on her. She did the same, willing her own powers to play nice and not reveal itself when the connection was made. It came as a surprise when she felt his powers not only reach her but combine with her own, and when she opened her eyes, she realized he seemed to be unaware of her side of things. He gave her a look when he opened his eyes again; with a shrug she summoned one of the weapons she could feel floating around in his armiger's reach, a laugh escaping her when she realized what it was.
"You scored your own spear I see!"
Noct was obviously relieved, giving her a grin and motioning for her to follow him back to the haven as he told her about how he got it from an Imperial Soldier on their way to check out the situation in Insomnia. The guys were also clearly relieved, smiling as the duo rejoined them.
"Did you plan work, highness?" Ignis had the teasing tone again, which triggered a grin to pop up on Gladio's face.
"You do know that since we're so closely connected, we felt her connecting right?"
"I know, I know, I just didn't want you guys to jump on her about it." Noctis sunk down into one of the folding chairs set up around the fire. Amara was content to listen to them bickering playfully as she plopped down on the stone, stretching out until she felt her back pop.
She must've dozed off though, next thing she knew she was trying to sit up in the tent – Gladio and Ignis trapping her between them. Judging by the lack of noise from outside she figured it must still be pretty late and opted to carefully pull herself free to slip outside the tent.
Amara took a seat on the edge of the haven, looking out over the landscape before she laid back on the rock and started to study the sky again. Part of her training with the Glaive was astrology so they could use the stars to navigate if they got lost on missions. It was so much clearer out in the open expanse of the Leide region, though that fact made a pang of homesickness shoot through her.
Her home was really gone, huh?
All of Lucis is your home. It wasn't the usual voice that was overshadowing her thoughts this time – with a jolt she realized it was one of the women she heard the day she was connected to Regis. Your past is not one that is to define you, it is merely to be a guide as you find your true history.
'Who are you?' she tried to reach out but received no answer. A sigh escaped her, and she resigned herself to going back to stargazing. She didn't realize she dozed off again until she felt a pair of arms slipping under her. Opening her eyes, she spotted a mass of tattoo first thing.
"What time is it Gladio?"
"Just after five. Gotta admit you had me worried when I woke up and didn't see you."
"Sorry, it was just too hot in there."
"So, you decided to go sleep on the edge of camp?" he chuckled.
"That's where I usually slept on Glaive missions. We didn't always have room for tents, so we'd have to sleep where we could in what we could a lot. On the bad side though, beds are too damn soft for me now. Fuckers feel like I'm gonna fall straight through." She stood up almost as soon as Gladio sat her in a chair, watching him wince as her stretch made her spine produce a sound akin to an empty water bottle being squeezed. "Whatcha doing up so early?"
"Was gonna go for a run."
"Oh great, where'd my boots go?"
"I'll get them. You might want to make sure your back isn't broken."
"No need, here you go," they both looked in surprise at Ignis as he walked over from the tent. "I heard you two talking and figured I should get ready to make breakfast."
"Thanks Iggy." She was aware of the two watching in curiosity as she expertly pulled on those thigh-high combat boots, checking the straps for those bits of red armor that now braced her shins. They clearly caught the eyes of both men, and the fact that they were not in the placement she had put them in the previous day made her chuckle at the thought of the guys toying with them – imagining their blatant "what the fuck" faces.
That gave her an idea, and as she stood up, she stretched again – starting to walk slowly towards the edge of the haven. "Hey Gladio, how far do you usually run?"
"A couple miles at least."
"That plateau way over there, is it too far?"
"Nah, we can run there no problem."
"How about we race there?"
"Even better," she could hear the grin on his face and felt a smirk spread on her lips.
"Ready?"
"Sure thing."
"Then go!" Ignis laughed as Gladio faltered, seeing Amara run to and launch herself straight off the edge of the haven. She hit the ground several feet away and was already a decent distance ahead when Gladio made it to the base. The woman was incredibly surefooted, far more than Gladio, as she kept her lead, only slowing down as she got closer to the road. Gladiolus crossed it not far behind her, though he fought to catch up when he noticed her laughing at him.
But neither of them were laughing when a pack of Sabertusks interrupted their path. Gladio hadn't even summoned his broadsword when he saw something go flying, a purple glow following it. Amara warped from creature to creature, effectively dispatching each of them and serving to remind her companion of her abilities. She sent him another smirk before darting off towards the plateaus again, leaving him to follow.
"Remind me not to piss you off!"
"You need to be reminded of that?!" she cackled, launching off one foot to jump onto the large stone face and rebounding off it – right over Gladio's head as he closed in on her. It threw him off guard, and she listened in amusement as he clearly slipped on his turn and hit the ground, but she didn't dare turn around to check on him. Amara went ahead and warped herself over the road this time, laughing at her friend's cry of 'cheater', pausing for a moment on the other side to make sure of where he was. His slip up had given her a comfortable lead that he was hurrying to close, sending her running once more when he reached the brush that lined the asphalt. Her lungs were burning as her breathing got heavier, but Gods damn it she was not about to lose her own challenge.
The others may have been fast, but she knew Gladio's training had given him the stamina to keep up with her own. He was a Shield, he had to hold out, she was a Glaive, she had to move fast through unfamiliar terrain while taking on fucking armies. No way in Ifrit's hell was she about to lose to the man.
Opting to use her surefootedness against him on the uneven terrain around the Haven, Amara started leaping from highpoint to highpoint, keeping him several feet behind as he tried to make sure his weight didn't play against him as she was trying to make it do. Ignis and Prompto were waiting at its edge: Ignis sipping on a cup of coffee while the younger man cheered for Amara. She risked a glance back at the shield before losing a summoned blade and warping herself up onto the campsite, though this time her fatigue caught up to her and her landing sent her tumbling across the stone. She came to a stop inches from the folding chairs, her sides heaving as she laughed, though it was choked by her lungs' fight for air. Gladio snarled at her when he reached them, plopping so heavily into a chair she was surprised it didn't break under him.
"Never again."
Prompto's laughter mixed with her own as he helped her up. Ignis was soon handing each of them a cup of coffee before going to wake up the sleeping noble. The sight of him was enough to make the weight of the day's task suddenly land back the Glaive's shoulders, and she gave him a small smile as he came to sit by his Shield. A moment later Ignis was bringing them breakfast and motioning for Amara to take the last chair. She shook her head, sitting down on the stone with her legs crossed under her, though it didn't last long with the armor digging into her thighs. Knowing there was no swaying her, the group simply ate in silence, with Gladio and Ignis finishing first and beginning to pack up. With the younger trio taking a few minutes longer Amara felt like the atmosphere was becoming more and more charged – and several of her scars from using Regis's magic throbbed in response to the feeling.
"We need to be careful today." She finally spoke and felt everybody's eyes on her before she ever looked up from her tray. "Something's going to happen."
"You got some kind of sixth sense or something?" Gladio frowned at her from where he was folding up the tent, earning a nod in reply.
"As a Glaive, I learned very quickly to "read the air" as one of the guys called it." She made no move to explain what she meant, but the weight behind her words seemed almost equal to what was already resting on everyone's shoulders. It made everything pick up the pace (at least a little), so they were soon re-stuffing everything in the Regalia's trunk and amazing the woman with the expert packing that made it all actually fit. As soon as she retrieved her new motorcycle from Cindy - free of charge, much to the boy's chagrin – they were taking off for the outpost Cor had left instructions to head to.
She had been able to study the map they had been given – comparing it to the one she had found in her previous ride's glove box, so once they were all safely on the road she took the first chance she got to whip around them, taking the lead as they rumbled down the road, though Ignis's cursing when he had to hit the brakes only a few miles down the road caught her ear quite easily.
"Amara Solis what in the name of-"
"Shut up!" she snarled from where she sat on her bike ahead of the suddenly tense men. "Hello?"
"Hello?! Is anyone there?! Help!" the voice was close, just a few yards behind them. The woman whipped her bike around and raced towards the dirt road they had just passed, though she pulled off when she reached the rocks just before it. They watched from where they were stopped as she helped a man, a hunter they figured, up from the rocks – noticing the glow from a potion she used on him. The woman took a minute to make sure he was okay and waved down a man in a hideously colored truck that was coming down the dirt road beside them. Only when the hunter was safely in the bed of it did she remount her bike and race back to her friends.
"He said he was part of a group that got scattered. Try to keep your ears out while we're in the area in case they're still out here."
"How did you even hear him?" Prompto was clearly concerned (and a little impressed going by the look on his face).
"I was trained to listen to my surroundings. It there really are masses of Imperials after you guys – you'll learn to do the same very quickly." It was more of a warning than advice, they figured, so they watched her take the lead once more and followed decent distance just in case they did discover another injured hunter that had managed to survive in the wilderness.
And they did: a young woman was found in the ruins of some old buildings a few feet off the road – she had been poisoned, they realized, when Amara came back to them to ask for an antidote. This hunter followed Amara back to her bike and climbed on behind her, holding tight to the red-haired woman as she took off once more.
Thankfully there were no other hapless persons to be found, and they arrived at Prairie Outpost without further incident. The female hunter bid the group thanks, and a generous amount of Gil, before taking off to speak with some fellow hunters, though her place was soon taken by a familiar woman.
"Monica? Hey!" Amara gave the older Crownsguard member a hug and a smile when she joined her, which was happily returned.
"Amara I'm glad you're safe. When we heard about the Glaive, we were concerned…" the brunette shook her head. "But the Marshall was adamant that you'd be alright."
"Alright and back on duty." She motioned to the guys, who had parked the Regalia some several feet away. Monica immediately bowed and gave them a smile when she returned to standing.
"I'm glad you're safe, your highness."
"Monica, where are all the others?" Gladiolus was clearly worried about the fate of his fellow Guards, as was Amara and Ignis, and looks on their faces made Monica's turn grim.
"Most of the Crownsguard didn't make it. It was all we could do to escort Lady Iris out of the city. Dustin's with her as we speak, seeing her the rest of the way to Lestallum."
Gladio looked away. "I owe you guys big time."
Monica shook her head and returned her gaze to the Prince. "Head for the tomb. The Marshall awaits."