The Imperator reached Satherhaven, an imperial port town, around midafternoon. The sun was already quickly setting. Noctis and his Crownsguard followed the throng of passengers as they exited the ship and headed for the dock. Ignis felt a little overwhelmed by all the crowd noise-it made it more difficult to get a sense of his surroundings. He didn't resist Prompto's offer of help. Ignis had just gotten used to their quarters on the ship. Having to start over again was a little overwhelming.
Once they were on the dock, Ignis recommended that they retrieve the Regalia from the hold. He truly missed driving that car. Because of their travel situation, he hadn't thought about it much. Now that they'd actually be riding in the car, he felt surprisingly moved. He'd spent countless hours behind the wheel and now he'd likely never be able to drive again. He sighed in response to his thoughts, but didn't let his emotions get the better of him.
"Are you alright?" Prompto asked, noticing something was bothering him.
"I'm fine. I will be happy to have the Regalia back." After an unexpectedly long time, Noctis and Gladio were able to convince the cargo crew to bring the car out of storage.
"Who's going to drive?" Prompto asked innocently enough. Ignis hung his head a little-feeling more useless than he had for a few days. Noctis noticed and quickly stepped in.
"I'll do it-been awhile since I've been behind the wheel." In a matter of moments, they heard the distinctive hum of the Regalia's engine as it drove down the ramp onto the dock. A dodgy looking crew member stepped out of the driver's seat. He clearly wanted a tip. Gladio handed him a few gil with a snarl and accepted the keys back. He tossed them towards Noctis.
"Ready for more?" Noct said lightly. Prompto climbed into the passenger seat as he always did (his tendency to get carsick secured the spot for him long ago). Ignis waited for Gladio to open the doors before he attempted to take his seat. He cautiously touched the open door and was able to climb in. Gladio thought better of trying to help him-he knew that wouldn't be well received by his friend. Ignis settled the cane between his legs and held onto it with both hands. Gladio shut the door and took his spot.
"All set. What now?" Noctis asked.
"We need to find the main thoroughfare and review the maps. We should head to Cartanica first."
"Then Tenebrae." Noctis insisted. Gladio huffed.
"Gralea should be our top priority."
"Lunch should be our top priority," Prompto interjected, hoping to calm the mood. Gladio decided to cede the argument for now and leaned back in his seat. Noctis headed for the main street in Satherhaven feeling very unsure of this ability to drive them anywhere in Niflheim, let alone all the way to Gralea.
The Niflheim roads looked identical to the modern ones found in Lucis, but they were eerily empty. The surrounding environment was an arid, but beautiful desert filled with Acacia trees. Prompto took dozens of photos. Despite the beauty, it was an ominous place given its connection to the empire. Noctis found he didn't like driving there at all. He didn't see any of the familiar businesses that he knew in Lucis and didn't know if he could trust any of the locals. He stayed silent most of the drive, but Gladio was entertaining himself with brochures.
"Hey Iggy, you'll be glad to hear they have Ebony in Niflheim," Gladio said, reading from a restaurant guide he had taken from the port. It elicited no response from the man sitting next to him. Gladio looked up from the brochure and over at Ignis. He was leaning forward slightly; head bent a little downward.
"Are you asleep?" Gladio said, a little shocked. After a moment Ignis responded.
"No, I was just….meditating." Ignis found it very difficult to admit that even he could doze off.
"I've been reading you this brochure for the last 20 minutes," Gladio replied a little annoyed, "you really need some coffee."
"That would be splendid," he admitted.
"That last sign said there is a gas station up ahead, we should stop," Prompto chimed in. Noctis agreed and floored it to a small, family-run place. It looked a lot like the Coernix stations in Lucis, but it was more rundown, more abandoned. They piled out of the car and had a look around. The sun was fading fast despite the fact that it wasn't even 5 o'clock. The gas station looked even more dilapidated up close. The blacktop was fractured and a couple of pumps were out of order. There was even a stray dog eating out of a trash can near the shop entrance. Prompto, being such an animal lover, attempted to pet the dog, but it snarled and charged off with something it had found.
"Tough crowd," Gladio said, and pushed through the door. A tinny bell rung telling the shopkeepers that some customers had arrived. An older woman came to the counter. She was excited to have actual customers at first, but her expression became worried and suspicious once she got a look at them. The royal entourage didn't think of themselves as imposing, but Gladio in particular could be a bit frightening. Prompto started searching for snacks while Noctis absentmindedly walked down the hardware aisle. He instinctively searched for fishing equipment in such shops, but he had no desire to enjoy his hobby at the moment.
"You guys have any coffee?" Gladio asked. "My friend could really use some."
"Yes, we have own blend. I think you will like it." She responded with a little pride. Gladio ordered the largest size available. She nervously poured a steaming cup of coffee. Ignis' sense of smell had sharpened since his injury and he greatly anticipated tasting the aromatic drink. As she handed the cup to Gladio, the woman's husband came out of the office. He was in good shape for his age, not that he could pose a real threat to the four, battle hardened young men, but he had a menacing presence.
"What brings you boys out this way?" he asked. Prompto and Noctis both had a feeling there could be trouble so they moved back towards the counter.
"We are on our way to Gralea," Gladio said, "we have been away on business and really want to get back." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth. The old man didn't seem to be buying it. Prompto dropped his armful of snacks onto the counter and Mrs. Shopkeeper started to ring them up; her hands were shaking slightly.
"By road? You'd might as well walk," the old man said with a scoff. These boys are definitely not from around here, he thought. Ignis sensed his thoughts and decided to step in.
"We typically travel by train," he said, knowing his accent would match some of the northern regions in Niflheim fairly well, "but we thought it might be more scenic to travel by car."
"It'd be scenic alright-up until you get to the Ghorovas Rift and freeze your asses off," Mr. Shopkeeper replied.
"Indeed, but I must confess I am a bit curious to see the Glacian's frozen form." Ignis had read about the incident in history books in Insomnia. His 3 friends, were a little more perplexed. In M.E. 745, Shiva had awakened in the Ghorovas Rift. The imperial army attacked and after a sustained and bloody fight, she was defeated. Shiva's physical form was frozen in stone, and a devastating blizzard descended that transformed the desert like region surrounding Gralea into a tundra of ice. The blizzard had still not ceased. Cecily had told him about how much it had affected life in Gralea.
"Young men are so adventurous," Mrs. Shopkeeper said, seeming to warm up to them up a bit. Ignis inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes, and stupid too, believe me I know," the older man said with a smile, "I recommend you go by train. You can look out the windows from a safe distance."
"Thanks for the tip," Gladio said as he picked up the bag of snacks and handed Ignis his coffee.
"Farewell," Ignis said in the general direction of the older couple.
"Stay safe out there," Mrs. Shopkeeper replied genuinely.
Once they were outside, they decided it was time to make tracks.
"People are real suspicious around here, aren't they?" Prompto observed.
"Indeed," Ignis said, "it seems our casual attire isn't enough to relax them."
"It's getting dark, we need to find a haven," Gladio observed.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? It might be a long walk before we find one," Prompto noted.
"Are you that much of a wimp? A little exercise would be good. We've been resting for weeks," Gladio responded, not catching Prompto's implication.
"He means Ignis can't handle it," Noctis said in a nearly monotone voice. That wounded Ignis and he didn't hide it as well as he'd hoped. Gladio got annoyed at himself for not realizing and at Noctis for being so blunt.
"Noct," Prompto said with a little reproach in his voice.
"You don't have to spare my feelings, Prompto. Perhaps we should return to Satherhaven for the night," Ignis said.
"Yeah," Gladio replied. "Besides, I think that old codger was right-we should travel by train."
"I agree, I don't want to 'freeze my ass off'," Prompto responded with conviction. Noct nodded, but kept watching Ignis' face. He knew he'd hurt him, but he couldn't bring himself to apologize. That would probably just wound his pride further. He offered an olive branch instead.
"Specs, what do you think we should do?" Noct finally asked.
"I think we ought to make train travel arrangements. The extra funds the First Secretary supplied should be enough to get us, and the Regalia, to Gralea-if we are cautious with our spending along the way."
"Sounds like a plan," Gladio said as he dropped the bag of snacks into the back seat. Ignis reluctantly accepted Prompto's help finding his seat and quietly sipped his coffee for most of the trip back.
Night had fallen by the time they arrived in Satherhaven. Gladio made arrangements for the train tickets while Prompto and Ignis secured hotel rooms for the night. Once they were settled in, Prompto ordered some room service for dinner.
"This is disgusting," Prompto announced after taking one bite of what was obviously some sort of microwaved pasta concoction. Gladio took a taste-determined to prove that Prompto was a whiner.
":OK, you're right this is awful. What in Eos is it?" Even though Ignis had very little appetite, he was now curious form a culinary perspective what had gone wrong with the dish. He asked to taste it.
"At one point in its life, this was a lasagna, most likely," Ignis said after taking a moderately sized forkful of it, "you have as good a chance of being poisoned by that as you do being nourished." The cuisine on the Imperator had softened the blow of losing Ignis' fresh cooked meals, but now it was painfully obvious that they'd suffer without the use of his culinary talents.
"Makes me appreciate your cooking more," Prompto said as he scraped the atrocity into the trash. Ignis didn't reply. He appreciated the compliment, but just thinking about the fact that he'd likely never be able to cook at the level he had again caused him too much personal anguish. It wasn't just a skill to him, it was his passion. One of his greatest joys was to see how much people enjoyed the food he prepared. He sat down in a wingback chair he'd nearly tripped over when they came in and leaned forward against his cane.
"OK, cup noodles it is." Gladio announced and set off to find a microwave. Prompto took a seat in the chair opposite Ignis.
"Hey, Iggy. I'd be happy to help you cook if you want. I'm not too good in the kitchen, but I'm not the worst," Prompto suggested. Ignis was surprised by the offer and by how raw his emotions still were.
"Thank you. Perhaps some time in the near future," Ignis responded. He didn't truly have confidence that he would ever been spending much time cooking again, but he was thankful for the glimmer of hope that Prompto's offer gave him.
Author's note: I invented the city of "Satherhaven" on the assumption that there had to be some port town for them to land in. The ocean around the Cartanica region is called the "Sathersea" so I based it on that. If you haven't watched some of the out-of-bounds-glitch videos of the Niflheim region I strongly recommend you do it! There is a lot out there that you never really get to see in game. I added this short road trip in part because there are roads all over Cartanica! Maybe we will one day get these areas in an update. On to the train! As always, thank you for reading and commenting. It is much appreciated.