I am the worst at updating
The Regalia had been driven so close to the walls of the great tower Ignis had worried about knocking off one of the side mirrors. Noctis laid flat against the stone platform before the entrance to Costlemark with Lunafreya fast asleep with her head on his lap. The others were around him trying to catch some rest while they waited for darkness to fall and the doors to open; though like him, it seemed no one outside of Lunafreya was managing any sleep.
Prompto was lethargic, but not managing any sleep. He had been given a Hi-potion and another surge of Lunafreya's magic to keep the pain to a tolerable level but his entire body felt exhausted. A headache formed behind his eyes from the caffeine in all the converted energy drinks, and made sleep even more of a fallacy.
The group was eventually roused by shaking, everyone sitting upright and looking around them. The sky was dark-red and streaked with shadowed clouds. The doors to Costlemark remained steadfastly closed. Once the rumbling stopped a round of complaints echoed as sleep was given up on and instead they all sat around and tried to pass the time talking about whatever came to mind. The sky turned from dark red to purple, and to the black of nightfall, when the second rumble hit.
This time, the door opened. Dust shook and the sound had everyone covering their ears.
"How is there still enough stone there to grind and make so much noise after gods-know-how-long this place has been sitting here like a creepy monolith?!" Prompto complained.
"Probably made of unobtanium instead of rock?" Gladiolus suggested, trying to awkwardly shrug while keeping both palms clamped over his ears.
"Or that super-hero stuff… I can't remember the name." Prompto replied.
"Super hero stuff?" Aranea asked.
"Yeah! The mutant with the metal bones, Badger!" Prompto explained, his shouting reduced to normal speaking when he realised the door was done rendering them all deaf. "Don't tell me you don't know about the RadMen! They're like the best comic books ever!"
"Lucian entertainment is a little hard to get your paws on in the Empire." Aranea suggested, and looked towards Lunafreya, "Right?"
"I must I admit I as well am not familiar with these RadMen. Though Noctis did tell me about many a comic that he was reading in our letters."
"Few of the rifle-jockeys I tagged with when they were still playing better than the Nifleheimers would talk about how the media was better back home. Few even smuggled books or movies with them when they crossed the drink. But gil is gil so movies weren't as hard to find." Aranea shrugged.
"I admit I am less than knowledgeable about movies. I busied myself with books, or tending to the ill." Lunafreya said. Aranea nodded with an odd sideways head-tilt.
"Had to keep the pure little Oracle looking like the perfect holy figure. No letting her be a human for a few goddamn hours." Aranea replied.
"Bastards." Noctis cut in.
"I'll drink to that. See if we can find a liquor store not crawling with nightmare-vines when we get out of this place. I have something crawling up my spine and we haven't even gone in yet." Aranea said, looking up the imposing height of the tower. What they needed from this place was deep below it. If they were able to construct it so high, how far below had they managed to dig? Hell, when was the last time anyone was stupid enough to go inside.
The group followed Gladiolus's lead and entered the tower. Several meters in and the darkness was almost complete. Everyone clicked the flashlights on their jackets, and with Gladiolus still in the lead his light landed upon the answer to Aranea's question. The skeletal remains of a corpse, or rather, half of it, was pressed against the wall with no sign of where the lower half of the body had vanished to.
Lunafreya was standing close to Noctis, having lacked a light of her own. But her eyes didn't miss what had been found. She expected to find black tendrils shooting from the body. To see a bone move and shift. For the smell of fire and decay to hit her nose, the hiss of remnant bombs that had yet to detonate themselves. Or an Iron Giant to make its presence known, brandishing the weapon that cleaved this body in half.
It was wearing a Nifleheim HP-unit uniform, the usual distinct helmet had been caved in. The left arm was intact enough to make out the patch identifying their position. This soldier was no MT. And was someone normally reserved for Caligo's personal guard. Verstael had managed to creep even him out, and by extension, he never trusted the man's precious machines to guard him, and had an elite force of loyalists. He could probably have convinced those men to assassinate the Emperor himself had he chose to. So what the hell was one of these men doing in Costlemark? What was in this tower?
She remembered that village again. The bodies. Pieces skattered around, bones charred. The smells. The sights. The barks of the soldiers. The few survivors. The smell of burnt flesh caked into them as she wore herself beyond the point of exhaustion trying to heal them.
Lunafreya flinched when she felt Noctis's arm tug her, and she realized everyone was staring at her. How long had she zoned out for? She tried to blink away images and smells, to steady the shaking in her palms.
"Luna." Noctis said, and his tone meant her name had been said more than once.
"I apologize. I was lost in thought." She replied, and let out a long breath, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice.
"Any idea what the hell did that?" Gladiolus asked, gesturing needlessly at the body.
"Pretty sure for once the source of tonight's nightmares isn't the blight." Crowe remarked. Lunafreya flinched again, and Crowe pat her roughly on the shoulder. "Sorry Sparkles. I'm jumpy too. And I'm loud on a good day." Lunafreya shrugged back at her and then back to the body. She wanted to suggest that they bring the body outside to bury it, but as she stared at that patch on the arm far less benevolent thoughts superseded it.
"Come on. We need to keep going." Noctis said. Gladiolus grunted and started to walk, Lunafreya nodded, and managed not to flinch when Crowe rested a hand on her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.
They walked on.
The halls were dark, their lights casting sharp shadows that threw illusions on the walls. Deep groans carried through the stone structure. Sounds of settling, water from an unknown location. Of dust and pebbles kicked down unknown depths from ancient cracks and holes in the pathway they followed down. Lunafreya observed that there were no stairways up, only down. And she wondered if there even was anything above them beyond the hollow shell of the tower that stood like a beacon of pride for whomever constructed this place.
"Ignis… are you much learned in the history of Costlemark?" Lunafreya asked.
"Apologies my lady, but my knowledge seems to be lacking in this regard." He admitted.
"I studied much of history in Tenebrae. Though I fear I have significant gaps in my own knowledge. Between limited memory of my education ending at the age of twelve, and the surely doctored history I was taught by the Empire."
Ignis made a sympathetic noise at her, and she decided to believe the sound was empathetic at her inability to gain knowledge where wanted, and offense that anyone would dare to doctor something as important as history. But she didn't want to allow her mind to drift into philosophical wanderings.
"Do any of you have your phones on you? Maybe this far underground we're safe from signals being noticed?" Noctis asked.
"How long have we been walking?" Prompto replied.
"Not sure I feel safe turning them on. What if whatever-the-fuck is scary enough to stop the blight makes us forget to turn it back off on the way up? Or this thing can somehow carry a signal. I can't see Nifs having the balls to come digging in this place without a way to keep the big-wigs updated while they stay safe far away." Gladiolus replied.
"But they also see people as canon fodder." Aranea countered. "Wouldn't be against throwing a few meat-sacks at the place. MTs are more expensive."
"That body was a member of Caligo's personal guard. He would have found this a mission of great importance to send such a valuable resource. I am afraid I concur with Gladiolus. It is quite likely they have equipped this place with some degree of technology to allow communication to work. And by extension, see if anyone else dared to come here."
"You think they check on this place then? That they'll notice the Regalia?" Prompto asked.
"With Verstael's obsession with the blight I am surprised that there is not a research base close to here to find out what is holding it back." Lunafreya answered.
"We didn't exactly take the scenic route, it's possible he does." Crowe added.
"Well thanks for putting that fear into my head." Prompto replied.
"Pretty sure I've had enough research bases to fuel my nightmares for the rest of my life. I'll be old and senile and still squacking about the shit we saw." Gladiolus said.
"It's best we set forward, obtain Noct's weapon, and return to the Regalia." Ignis suggested, and got an echo of agreement around him. They started through the halls, the air getting colder and more humid the deeper they traveled. Their legs and backs quickly fatigued as they carried as much of their equipment as they could, since Noctis's pocket where he stored his weapons apparently had a limit.
"There's nothing in here." Prompto said. To Lunafreya, his voice sounded low and tired. His words slurred, and punctuated with a whine. She paused, lagging a few steps behind Noctis who didn't notice her stop right away.
"Allow me to help." she offered, gesturing at the bandaged hand he was tugging close to his body.
"You've used a lot of magic on me." He protested. Noctis held up a hand and in a flash of blue wiggled a can in the air, the liquid sloshing inside.
"Do not pop it right away after shaking it so." Lunafreya scolded, and reached out for Prompto who didn't protest this time, but still frowned that she was healing him once again. Her warmth chased away the chill in his body, the burning and aching in his hand. His mind felt clearer now that he wasn't focusing on falling unconscious for a few blessed hours without sleep. She lingered, sensing a few stubborn threads of blight clinging inside his body. Her light chased it, and dissolved. She hoped that the nature of his wounds wasn't causing it to hide and fester.
"Thanks." He smiled at her, and she replied with her own smile.
"I suggest that we rest here for the night." Ignis said. He held up his hand to interrupt Noctis before he could protest. "We are all tired from waiting for the tower to open, Prompto is tired from his injuries, and whether she drinks an ether or not lady Lunafreya is likely tired from how much of her magic she has been using." He explained. Lunafreya felt as though she could keep going, even without the ether. She thought about the ring around the tower, the blight refusing to inch forward. Similarly, she didn't feel the same general drain on her body.
"Yeah." Noctis replied with a shrug. He held out the can to Lunafreya who shook her head, insisting that a night's sleep would replenish her without it. Looking at Ignis, she had a hunch he was using the others to cover his own fatigue. His eyes drooped, and he didn't hold his usual rigid posture. His glasses obscured around his eyes, and she was certain they would be dark. He stepped back to lean against the wall, resting his head back. Aranea was already sitting on the floor when he did so.
"I'm agreeing with specs. I'm tired as hell." Crowe said.
"Might sleep good for once not having to worry about a Giant kicking things down to break my face." Gladiolus replied, and sat down next to her. She swatted at him and scooted a few feet further down the hall.
"I'm a little restless, so I'll go back and just make sure there's no signs of being followed." Noctis suggested. Gladiolus looked about to protest, probably to demand he be the one to do it. Crowe also shifted like she was about to stand up. But Noctis assured them he just needed to burn off energy and would run at the first sign of trouble, and gave a reminder he could phase through walls to duck out even faster.
"I'll join you." Lunafreya said. "I feel… oddly energetic."
"She can't phase through walls." Crowe pointed out. Noctis reached out, grabbed Lunafreya's wrist, and phased them through the wall silencing her startled yelp. They reappeared a moment later, Lunafreya giving a slap at his arm.
"Warn me!" She scolded. He laughed, rubbing at his arm and apologized.
"Okay point made. And sparkles, you don't have to pretend to be so pure give him a proper slap for that." Crowe replied, and slapped her own palm. Lunafreya chuckled and shook her head.
"Shall we go?" Lunafreya asked.
"A romantic walk with my lady?" He asked, holding out his elbow. She chuckled, slipping her around his.
"By your lead, Prince Noctis."
"Dear Gods just go before I puke." Crowe barked.
"Behave kids!" Aranea added. Lunafreya didn't miss the middle finger he held up to their friends as they started back up the winding path that brought them deep into the tower.
"You want that ether?" he asked when they had walked a short way, the dim conversation of their friends fading away in the ambient noise of the tower. It sounded like wind and water, though the air didn't feel like it moved and there was no sign of the water they could hear outside the humidity that increased the deeper they went into the tower.
"I am no more tired than the others of our party, I shall be alright. Should Prompro require further aide, I will drink one." She replied.
"Surprised you don't want one just for the sugar." he teased.
"Were these curatives forged from hot cocoa, then you would be hard pressed to maintain a supply without my drinking them all. But the caffeine-laden energy drinks are a mite less appealing." She replied. "There is something however, I have been wanting." She said. Noctis looked at her, and before he could ask her what it was she linked both hands behind his neck, standing on her toes to capture his lips. He hardly hesitated before responding, his hands around her back and pulled her close. She sighed against his mouth, and his tongue slid across her bottom lip. She responded in kind, their mouths parting, tongues dancing and seeking.
"I guess I need to go for pointless walks more often." Noctis said when they parted, and sighed and nodded before kissing him once more. She brought a hand down over to his cheek, her thumb rubbing over the coarse stubble on his cheeks. He backed up against the wall, feeling the way she pressed into him. He welcomed the soft weight, pulling her even closer. Their lips parted, and he tilted his head to nibble at her earlobe. His tongue bore down gently before his tongue found the spot on her neck just beneath it, sucking lightly at the spot. She sucked in a sharp breath, fingers weaving into his hair and tilting her head back to encourage him to keep going. Gods damn he loved it when she did that. And she felt a regrettable heat between her legs, wishing the hotel hadn't been warped by those black tendrils and she could have enjoyed the morning in a warm bed with him.
"Miss this?" He asked.
"Why do you taunt me by asking? I should insist that you sleep on the couch tonight." She replied.
"Which one, we have like twenty."
"The small love-seat in the library." She replied.
"Loveseat? Sounds like the perfect place to sleep if I drag you with me." He replied, giving her a goofy grin that caused her to laugh.
"Your mind is locked in quite the impure place." She responded.
"I'm not the one who named it a love seat and then chose that as the spot to banish my horny misbehaved fiance." He teased her.
"I find then I must correct myself. You have earned an upgrade to the sofa in the library." She decided. "How I miss a properly stocked library." She lamented with a sigh. Noctis hummed, and kissed her neck again and rerouted her thoughts back to the present. Noctis's hand stroked the cheek on the other side of her face, fingers drifting across her neck and traced the line of her collar bone beneath the loose collar of her top. His hand drifted over the fabric and palmed her breast, causing Lunafreya to pull back from him and give his wrist a swat.
"What?" He asked, with an inflection to his words that made her want to swat at him again.
"You know quite well what. Our friends are quite close and we are supposed to be assessing the area for danger." She replied. Noctis nearly gave her breast another playful squeeze until he paid closer attention to her expression. Her eyes were wide, even for the darkness. Her brow was knit close together, and her shoulders came in tighter.
"I'm sorry." He replied, and chose instead to reach for her hands. She nodded at this, and he moved slowly to pull her into his arms and she welcomed his embrace, her head against his chest.
"I am the one who should apologize. We have been want for time alone-" He pulled back and pressed two fingers to her lips and shook his head.
"You don't apologize here. You can draw a line." He told her, and placed a kiss to her forehead. Her first thought was to apologize again, aware of her own needs and sure he wasn't in a different state. But she still felt too exposed, and turned her head to the hall they had been walking up as if she expected to see familiar uniforms. She idly rubbed at the side of her chest, and turned her attention back to him.
"A line may have been drawn, but that also implies I may have been… appreciative, of the attention as we approached it." She decided to say. She could feel her heart racing in her chest and tried to tell herself it was racing because of his arms around her and not the shadows beyond the stony corner. It took a few moments before she moved, wanting to feel and taste his kiss. Wanting his arms around her, his breath against her mouth and skin. His whispers and the way his fingers would dance down her back. She tried not to think of the hair raising on her arms and the back of her neck, at fear prickling making her fingertips go numb.
She kissed him hard, both hands cupping his face and drawing him to her. Her back pressed tighter against the wall as she leaned back and pulled him with her. He followed, but after a moment she felt him grab her wrists and carefully pull her hands away.
"Hey…" He said She looked at him, the way he frowned at her and the lines of concern drawn across his face. "It's okay, we can just walk." He told her. She shook her head and both his hands gripped hers. "You're shaking." He said.
"I am quite alright." She replied, but he shook his head again and hugged her instead.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to scare you like this." He had forgotten the years of fear, caught up in a moment with her. Having enjoyed this time with her, without Caligo's damn MTs a few meters away. But he couldn't get the words to get out of his throat. The mere thought that he had forgotten made him want to apologize to her a thousand times over. He hugged her tighter.