Chapter 31: The Cape

It was late afternoon the next day when the group finally made it back to the Regalia and Amara's motorcycle, having decided to spend another night at the Haven in the Thicket for the woman to recover a bit more of her energy, as well as for them to come up with a plan. There were still a few too many loose ends for Ignis to be comfortable with by the time they eventually recovered, but even he had been unable to account for much outside the realm of the current knowledge now that Amara's secret had been revealed and left the already wildcard that was Ardyn Izunia an even more unpredictable piece.

As everyone returned their previous spots, Amara spared her cousin one more look before she turned over the engine of her bike and pulled away from the gravelly parking spot. The Regalia pulled out close behind her, and Noctis was actually attempting to keep up this time. A sharp right off the dirt road and back onto the freeway had them soon to be speeding around mountain curves until the sea came into view off to their right. She could hear a car horn behind her, so after a quick glance revealed Noctis to be signaling her, Amara pulled off into a parking spot she saw ahead.

"Noctis, what's up? We've hardly been on the road long enough-"

Prompto had run up and slung an arm around his former schoolmate before she could finish and leaned in close so he could whisper to her. "Iris is feeling a little iffy about jumping ship so soon. Noct thought a little more time for her to hang with all of us would help her feel a bit better about it."

"Ah, got it. In that case," the woman pulled out her map to glance over, soon finding where she thought they might be on a long winding road near the coast. "There's a Haven up ahead. I know we only just left the other one, but maybe we can camp out again, and do a little fishing?"

Ignis didn't seem upset at the idea. "It would be nice to restock some of our supplies."

"Alright, I'll go let Noct know!" Prompto grinned and ran back to the car, and after a quick glance back at them Amara stowed her map away and pulled her motorcycle back onto the road. It wasn't too long of a drive, with the ocean stretching out to their right providing a welcome distraction, right up until they started to cross a massive bridge, heading for one of the region's many tunnels. Amara could sense the Haven's power not far away and pulled to a stop close to a concrete staircase that led down to a sloping hill below. Noctis was careful to pull the Regalia up behind her.

"Where's this Haven at?"

"That way." Gladiolus didn't seem impressed but motioned for her to lead the way. With a nod, the redhead started down the steps, taking a moment at the bottom to look out to the mouth of the river that was feeding into the ocean whose salt was stinging her nose. The sea breeze wasn't very strong where they were, sheltered by a rocky outcrop, but she could see the trees rustling overhead. It was a fair slope downward toward the river, with rocks and boulders sticking up everywhere though it did start to clear up as they got closer to the riverbank. As they stepped out onto the open stone bank, she looked over at the cliff framed view of gentle waves, feeling the breeze pick up around them.

"Wow. I've never seen the ocean like this before."

"Really? You would have loved Galdin Quay then!" Prompto laughed, pulling out his camera to take a few photos. "Hey, maybe you should ask Iggy to take you back sometime."

"Sounds romantic," Gladiolus snickered, patting Amara's shoulder as he walked past her. "If you do go, try not to have too much fun."

The woman huffed, giving his sister a look. "I think he's jealous."

"Well he did have a crush on you way back when so-"

"Iris!"

"Wait what?!"

"Dude!"

Ignis, despite the quick adjustment of his glasses, didn't seem fazed by the implication, instead crossing his arms with a rather knowing look. "Come now Gladio, don't blame Iris for telling us something that quite frankly I'm surprised no one else noticed. However, you might want to work on that timing. I believe you're late? And by quite a few years, might I add."

Amara grimaced, turning her look on the elder Amicitia, who looked ready to die (though of what she couldn't tell). "Gladio, how about we agree to forget this happened and get back to what we actually came here to do?"

"Agreed." He nodded, glaring daggers at his smirking sister as she followed the Glaive across the grass covered rocks that lined the bottom of the cliff. It was fairly hazardous to walk across the area without paying attention to where you were stepping, so as Amara tried to focus on making sure she and the younger girl made it to what would be their camp for the night, she just hoped Noctis didn't stick his foot in a half-covered hole and hurt himself. Hearing the guys start to complain behind her as the wind picked up offered a bit of reassurance that they were at least marginally aware of the terrain around them.

"Damn, this wind's strong!" Noctis was struggling to keep his overshirt from whipping up and hitting him in the face, finally reaching down and fastening a few of the buttons to keep it from lifting up too far.

Prompto had other problems though, wearing a heart broken look as he whined. "No! My perfectly groomed hair!"

"You think you got it bad? Check out Ignis!"

"Whoa, you're right!"

The advisor scoffed, trying to ignore the wind that was ruining what might have otherwise been a perfectly put away hairstyle. "It's rude to stare."

Honestly, when she looked back at the guys, none of them looked like they were well "groomed" anyway, but after sleeping at a camp for two nights she didn't know what else to expect. The complaining, though, seemed a bit overkill in light of that though. "You all look like hell anyway, why complain about the wind messing up your hair now?"

"Hey, you're one to talk!"

"Yeah your hair looks just as bad!"

Iris looked between the younger men and their friend before shrugging. "Actually, this whole wind-swept look looks pretty good on her, I'm a little jealous."

"I know, dammit," Prompto looked defeated, running his fingers through his hair. "It's not fair."

"Neither are a lot of things Prom." The woman rolled her eyes, leading everyone around a bend. "Hey, looks like the Haven's over there, but it's got a lot of tide pools around it."

"Wait, is that a dock I see?"

"Well we know where Noctis will be spending his time until we leave."

"In that case, why not try and catch us something for dinner while we set up camp? Like I said before, we should take a chance to replenish our supplies while we can."

"On it!"

His cousin laughed as the King warped ahead of everybody, obviously eager to get to the dock and cast a line. Iris and her brother followed as closely as they could, with a few shouts to mind the erosion on the rocks around them, while the other three split off to start setting up camp. Thankfully Noctis had started storing everything in the armiger and summoned it all out for them before he summoned his fishing rod. So, while the boys set up the chairs and camp kitchen, Amara got to work pitching the tent for them, hammering the anchors into the rock with a fair amount of effort before she set about getting the sleeping bags all set out and ready for the inevitable crash that would come after whatever dinner her boyfriend would whip up with Noct's 'catch of the day'. Once her part of the work was done, she decided to walk over to the edge of the Haven and take a seat to watch Noctis fish for a bit, wondering for a moment how he would have any luck fishing in such a small area beside the literal ocean, before another thought crossed her mind. Looking back at her friends, she was a little hesitant to ask.

"Did King Regis like to fish too?"

"As I recall his majesty did enjoy a few magazines on the topic from time to time, so possibly." Ignis looked at her from where he was preparing a kettle of some sort by the camp stove. "Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure."

The woman took a slow, deep breath, turning her attention back to her friends below. "Yeah… ever though I saw it happen, I keep finding myself forgetting he's really… gone. I saw the Fall, saw nearly everything that happened, and I still don't always think it was real."

"But being a long-lost member of the royal line sunk right in?" Prompto plopped down next to her. "C'mon Ams, with everything that's happened recently, I think your whole revelation the other night was the only thing I could 'forget' was real."

"Yeah, you have a point."

"Let us not forget that her family tree bears two branches of nobility." Ignis came to join them with cups of coffee for them. Taking a place on Amara's free side, he took a moment to sip his drink before looking down to where his king, and friend, was arguing with Gladiolus about being a "backseat fisher". "What light may Lady Lunafreya yet shine on the situation? If she really did convene with your mother, the first Oracle, for so many years until Noctis led her to you, what might have been told, one Oracle to another, that the Kings of Yore couldn't possibly tell you?"

"A great deal, honestly." For a brief moment, she felt her mother's presence, flowing freely in the magic of the Haven. "For all we know, Luna could have a whole other side of the story to tell me. And honestly, I'm kind of afraid of knowing if I'm right about that."

"Ams?"

"Amara, what on Eos could possibly be left to tell that could frighten you?"

"I don't know. That's the scary part. With the Kings, it was all related to my powers as a Lucis Caelum, my place in the family tree - my Lucian lineage and all the attachments, good and bad." Amara looked down at her cup, watching the liquid give off a little bit of steam that was being carried away by the now dying wind. "I don't really know anything about the Fleuret side of myself. Even when I've talked to mother in the dreamscape, she hasn't told me anything about it. Uncle Somnus has been trying to keep the focus of the Caelum side."

"Y'know, it's a little unnerving to hear you talk about them like that," Prompto looked a little nervous. "I mean, yeah, you and Noct have always been a little weird when it came to stuff like that, but he never talked about dead relatives like this."

The woman paused, biting her lip for a moment. "It's like… They're not fully dead to me, and I think that's due to the Fleuret side. They can enter my dreams, appear as visions, all kinds of things. I know from Pip, Noct's guardian messenger, that he is building connections to the past dreams from the Arms like I am, but I don't think they can speak to him the way they do with me."

Ignis looked thoughtful for a moment, but before he could speak, the trio found themselves distracted by a commotion from the dock below. Noctis had reeled in a massive fish and had apparently spotted another judging by his quick recast. The advisor sighed softly, getting up from the edge.

"I best begin preparing for supper."