Pointless Fighting.

Across the water and onto the rails, the group makes for Gralea, the imperial capital. Their objective: reclaiming the Crystal, that they might reclaim their homeland. However, the ring's weight proves too much for Noctis to bear. The death of Luna hit him harder than anyone could imagine, several weeks had passed and he still hadn't moved on... and he has refused to wear the ring Luna gave him. Right now, Noctis and the others are riding a train past a savannah-like landscape dotted with the occasional tree; Prompto and Ignis are sitting together in one seat; Noctis sits alone across the aisle from them, hanging his head, while Asuka and Gladio sits across from each other.

"So…we're gonna roll through Tenebrae" Prompto said, though the mood was still depressingly low.

"Not before visiting the royal tomb in Cartanica" Ignis said.

Prompto looks at him "You're sure you're up to that?".

Ignis let out a small sigh "The wounds have mended. Eyesight's a matter of time".

Gladio suddenly walks up to them and stares at Noctis "The hell is wrong with you?".

Noctis slowly raises his head "What?".

"We're not stopping in Tenebrae. You need to grow up and get over it" Gladio said sternly.

Noctis stands and confronts his friend "I am over it. I'm here, aren't I?!".

Gladio grabs Noctis by his jacket and pulls him close "Maybe when you're not too busy moping, you can look around and give a shit about someone worse off than you".

"Let go of me" Noctis warned.

"How's that ring fit ya? You'd rather carry it around than wear it? She gave her life so you could do your duty, not so you could sit around feeling sorry for yourself" Gladio said, getting more aggressive.

Noctis was loosing more self control by the second "You don't think I know that!?".

"You don't! Ignis took one for you too, and for what!?" Gladio almost shouts.

"Enough, Gladio!" Ignis said loudly, but failed to even grab their attention.

"You think you're a king, but you're a coward" Gladio said.

"Shut up!" Noctis shoves Gladiolus and grabs him by his jacket as well.

Prompto quickly stands and addresses Gladio "Don't do this—!"

Gladio puts his hand on Prompto's face and shoves him back. This made Asuka angry. He may be her big brother, but he is really out of line now.

"I get it, alright!? I get it!" Noctis shout as he shoves Gladio away.

"Then get a grip! Pull your head outta your ass already!" Gladio said angrily.

Noctis turns and walks away; Prompto calls after him "Noct!".

"Leave him" Gladio ordered before he turns and walks away in the other direction.

Noctis walks to the other end of the train car and takes another seat; after a moment, he holds his closed hand up and slowly opens it to reveal the Ring of the Lucii; his hand is shaking; Noct closes his fist tight around the ring and grits his teeth; he's also grunting, as though in pain.

Asuka got up and hurried after Gladio and once she caught up to him she grabbed his arm "Hey! What the hell was that back there?!".

"He needs to move on already. He has a duty to fulfill" Gladio said in a bitter tone.

"He lost someone he loved, Gladio. We should know better than most that one can't just brush it of" Asuka argued.

"But we are not the king!" Gladio almost shouted as he freed his arm, making Asuka take a step back "The whole world rests on him now. We can't afford to waste time on pointless road trips".

Asuka was silent for a moment "And what if it had been me?".

"What?" Gladio asked as he finally looked at her.

"If I had been the one who got killed. Would you just get over it like it never happened?" Asuka asked.

"Of course not" Gladio said.

"Really? Because you sure got over father's death pretty damn quickly" Asuka said in a cold tone.

"Watch your tongue Asuka!" Gladio finally snapped, making Asuka jump in surprise "Until this mission is done, at least one of us needs to remain focused. But don't think for a moment I didn't grieve the loss of our father. We all grieve in our own ways, Asuka. I mourned his death, but I decided the best way to honor him was to make sure he didn't die for nothing. You can grieve however you wan't. But I will focus on honoring our father's memory and his legacy".

Asuka was silent she knew it was her turn be out of line, but she just couldn't leave this unsaid "Then help our king, instead of tormenting him".

With her mind spoken, Asuka walked away. She hated that she said that, but she felt like Gladio needed someone to tell him of for a change. Either way, what's done is done. All they could do now was wait for the train to stop. Soon enough, they arrived at Cartanica Station, and walked out of the train. Gladio and Ignis went to grab a bite while Asuka just bought a drink.

She sat down and took a deep sip from her drink before she sighed "Damn it?".

"You alright?" Prompto asked as he walked up to her.

"No... no I'm not. It feels like we are all just falling apart" Asuka said.

Prompto sighed "I know what you mean. Morality has never been this low...".

"Remember when we first left the crown city? And began our little adventure? And how excited we were?" Asuka asked.

Prompto got a small smile "Hard to forget. We finally got to see the outside world after spending our whole lives inside the city".

"We did so much in such a short time. We even stopped and helped a dog along the way. You refused to go any further until we helped the little dog" Asuka said.

"What can I say? I love dogs" Prompto said.

"I am more of a cat person myself. Still we had a lot of fun. Even after we learned the crown city had been invaded... and that my father was dead. We still found a way to move forward and have fun again" Asuka said before looking down "But now, it feels like there is a wound in our group... and it keeps getting worse".

Prompto closed his eyes before he did the only logical thing he could think of. He hugged Asuka, and she gladly accepted it... she needed it after everything that's happened. A little while latter, the group gathered near an elevator that would take them down in to the mine, where the royal tomb should be.

Ignis taps Noctis on his shoulder "Ready to set out?".

"You sure you are up for this Ignis? We don't want to loose you down there" Asuka said.

"I'll manage somehow. Don't worry about me" Ignis assured.

With that, they headed down.


Fodina Caestino. Once rich in resources, this mine fell out of use in recent years, and now serves as little more than a watering hole for wild beasts. According to Cor, however, a royal tomb lies in the quarry's depths, waiting to be uncovered. So the group would need to brave the dangerous mine and find it.

"Feeling a little out of my element" Prompto said.

"We're a foreign species in this environment. Mind we don't end up prey" Ignis warned.

"Right, good tip" Noctis said.

Ignis walks at a slower pace due to his eye injury. So the group had to be careful so they don't accidentally leave him behind. As they begin their exploration of the mine, they could feel the wet ground was slippery. One wrong step could make them slip and fall. This would be extra hard for Ignis since he can't even see where he's going.

"Footing's bad. Watch your step" Gladio warned.

"As best I can" Ignis said.

"Go at your own pace. We'll wait" Prompto assured.

Noctis got a little too far ahead, much to Gladio's annoyance "Is it too much to ask the royal procession sticks together?".

"Too much to ask you to shut it?" Noctis growled out.

Asuka sighed. This was going to be a long, agonizing trip. As they got further down, a group of Gurangatch were in the shallow water below. No way past them, so the group had no choice but to fight. The fight would've normally been fairly easy, but with Ignis' lack of eyesight and the team not being as effective at working together anymore, the fight took a lot longer than it should've. Even after the Gurangatch group was dead, it still didn't feel like a win.

"Hey, you should hang back" Noctis said to Ignis.

"Was I in the way?" Ignis asked.

"No, you weren't. It's just..." Noctis began but couldn't find the right words.

Truth is, they all did have to break of fighting their enemies just to save Igniz who had a hard time even defending himself. But none of them wanted to tell him that. Last thing Ignis needs is feeling even worse than he likely already is. They continued exploring until they comes to a downward sloping path.

"Tomb must be down below" Gladio said.

"Whoa. Careful, Ignis" Prompto warned.

"Right" Ignis said, like he was trying not to sound annoyed.

'He is feeling more and more helpless... I hope nothing bad happens' Asuka thought to herself.

Continuing down the path, the group finds some mining machinery blocking the way further down.

"They parked here?" Gladio asked in annoyance.

"Wish we could write 'em a ticket" Prompto said, earning a small smile from Asuka, which was still leagues better than her looking nearly depressed.

Upon examining the machinery up close Gladio spoke "Nothing but a giant roadblock".

"Ironic for a vehicle" Prompto said.

"If we get its motor running, perhaps we can move it out of the way" Ignis suggested.

They head back and locates a control panel. Maybe it could help them move the machine out of the way.

"This looks promising!" Prompto said.

"Is it operational?" Ignis asked.

"We'll see" Noctis inspects the control panel and starts up the machinery; black smoke begins to pour out of its smokestacks, but abruptly stops after a moment.

"Hey. What're you stopping for?" Gladio demanded.

"I'm not" Noctis said, annoyed.

Prompto checked some instructions "Let's see here… In case of power failure, use backup generators. There's a key in the shed!".

"Good job Prompto. Well let's find it so we can power these things up and get out of here" Asuka said.

The rest silently agreed and they got to work. After some more fights with some enemies, and some uncalled for comments from Noctis and Gladio, they managed to get the backup generators up and running. Noctis and the others return to the machinery's primary control panel; the mechanism that has been serving as an impediment is shown rising out of the way.

"Did you hear that?" Noctis asked.

"Sounds like we're clear!" Prompto said happily.

"Grand" Ignis said.

"Then let's move" Gladio said, bringing down the all to brief happy moment. As the group began to make their way down the newly cleared path Gladio speaks "Hold up" Noct stops and turns to face him "You sure you're ready for this? You got what it takes?".

"To do what?" Noctis asked.

"To face your ancestors and convince them to lend you their strength. Got a long road ahead. Can you see this through? To the end?" Gladio asked.

"Can and will. Whether I like it or not, I've got a duty to fulfill, as king" Noctis said, showing some resolve which made Gladio a little less hostile.

"You're damn right, you do. Then that means you'd better start taking this seriously" Gladio said and walks on past Noctis.

Upon visually confirming that the machinery is no longer in their way Noctis spoke "Good to go".

"We did it! Together!" Prompto cheered, earning no response, but Asuka pets him on the shoulder.

Continuing down the path, they look around at the massive area.

"This cave is huge!" Prompto said.

"The tomb's further in?" Ignis asked.

Noctis looks at him "You wanna wait here?".

"Alone, here" Gladio said, not sounding happy.

"Not what I said" Noctis said, getting annoyed again.

The group draws close to a swamp at the bottom of the mine.

"Man, something stinks around here. Don't slip and fall in whatever that is" Prompto said.

"Noted" Asuka said feeling the stench herself. This will not be fun.

In the swamp at the bottom, outside the entrance to the royal tomb, Noct and the others come across several large organic sacs hanging between some tree roots. And they did not look good at all.

"What is this?" Prompto asked.

"I hate eggs" Gladio said.

"Do we really wanna know what's back there?" Prompto asked.

"I sure don't" Asuka said.

Suddenly, large squirming tentacles come out of the swamp followed by the monster they belong to. A Malboro. Plant-like monster native to Niflheim's southern region of Succarpe. This highly evolved rotifer awaits it prey in silence, then latches onto its victim with its plentiful tentacles and sucks it up in a single breath.

Asuka had read about these things. And for some reason, it was among the only monsters she was really scared of. It's just something about it's large mouth, and worst of all it's tentacles, that really freaked her out and she hoped she never had to face one. But as her luck would have it, she now has to face it.

"That looks like a mouth. Is that its face!?" Prompto asked in horror.

"What? What is it?" Ignis asked.

"Something real bad!" Noctis said.

They attacked the Malboro as much as they could. But this thing was tougher than it looked, and the toxic mist it kept spewing didn't Make it any better. As the battle carries on, malboro sprouts begin to hatch and attack.

"Whoa! Look who's hatching!" Prompto said.

"Bust 'em up!" Gladio ordered.

With the smaller monsters forcing the group to diverge their attention, the Malboro started to gain the upper hand. As Asuka finished smashing one of the smaller ones, the adult Malboro wraps one of it's tentacles around her midsection and pulls her back. Asuka tries to break free, but soon her arms and legs are restrained by more tentacles. Asuka begins to panic as she was brought closer to the massive mouth, with the disgusting tentacles still wrapped tightly around her.

"No! NO! HELP ME!" Asuka screams, showing a rare moment of pure panic.

"Asuka!" Prompto shouts as he fires his weapons at the monster, while Noctis and Gladio desperately tries to cut her free.

Ignis had finally reached the end of his patience. He refused to be useless while one of his friends is in need of help. Luckily while his eyesight was gone, all his trained senses were not gone.

"Noct, I have an idea" Ignis reaches into his jacket and pulls out a magic flask "If I may…" He hurls the magic flask down the malboro's gullet; a second later, flame erupts from the creature's throat, causing it to drop Asuka "Ah, as I suspected!".

Prompto caught Asuka as she fell "It really worked!".

"Nice one, Iggy" Gladio praised.

"Now, we've a fighting chance" Ignis said. He has rejoined the fray, Using Libra Elementia, he torches the malboro to a crisp "Is it dead?".

"It is, and it's all thanks to Iggy!" Prompto praised.

"Iggy, you saved us" Gladio said.

"Seriously. We'd be plant food if it wasn't for you" Prompto said.

Asuka gave Ignis a strong hug "Thank you, Iggy... Thank you so much".

Ignis smiled softly as he pats her back "Happy to help".

"What, no royal commendation from His Majesty?" Gladio asked.

Noctis scoffed at him "None for you, at least".

Upon returning to where the eggs were hanging, Gladio speaks "Whisking them just makes a mess, better fry 'em".

Noctis incinerates the eggs, revealing the door to the royal tomb in this area.

"I think we found it!" Prompto said.

"Just wish they found a better place to build it" Noctis said he enters the tomb and acquires the Katana of the Warrior.

"Alright, let's haul ass" Gladio said.

"Yeah, let's" Noctis said.

There were clearly still tention between them. As the group walks back out into the swamp. Ignis was done being silent.

"A moment?" He spoke making everyone look at him.

"Is everything okay?" Gladio asked.

"It bloody well isn't. And I won't suffer this pointless bickering in silence any longer. Let's be frank. My vision hasn't improved, and probably won't. Yet in spite of this… I would remain with you all. Til the very end" Ignis said.

"Sorry, but I object. War is a matter of life and death" Gladio reminded.

"But, we'll be there!" Prompto argued.

"It's not about us looking out for him!" Gladio shot back.

Prompto glares at him "Uh-huh. Well, then he should be free to choose".

Gladio glares back "There's more to it than just what he wants!".

"I know full well!" Ignis shouts, finally loosing his calm demeanor for only a brief moment, but calms down quickly "I won't ask you to slow down. If I can't keep up, I will bow out".

"What says His Majesty?" Gladio asked.

Noctis was silent until Ignis walks up to him "Noct, you are king. One cannot lead by standing still. A king pushes onward always, accepting the consequences and never looking back" He then turns to Gladio "Gladio, Noct will take his rightful place, but only once he's ready".

Gladio is quiet for a moment before relenting and turning his back "Have it your way. We're still taking a big risk" He turns to look at Noct "We better all be ready".

Asuka was silent before hurrying after him "Gladdy... About what I said before... I'm sorry...".

Gladio looks at her before he sighs "I'm sorry too. Looks like we both need to change a little".

Asuka smiles "Well, what are family for?".

Gladio smiles back and everyone finally leaves the mine. They return to the train station, more than happy to finally be out of that place. And the tensions weren't nearly as high as it was before. First step towards fixing their bond.

"You guys mind if we stop in Tenebrae?" Noctis asked.

"Might as well hop off" Prompto said.

"If it helps him move on" Gladio said, finally dropping his hostile tone.

"Well, maybe it can do us all some good" Asuka said as they prepare to reboard the train.

Noctis looks at Ignis "We're here for you".

"Yeah, let us help you" Prompto agreed.

"We owe you big time, Iggy. Don't forget that" Asuka said as she began helpping Ignis on to the train and the boarding bell begins to ring.

"And we're off!" Prompto makes for the train; Gladio comes along behind him.

"Are we clear?" Gladio asked.

"Crystal" Ignis answered.

"Hey, watch your step" Noctis said.

"You're not pushing onward?" Gladio asked.

"Not at his expense" Noctis answered.

"Fair enough" Gladio said.

As they all board the train, none of them notice Ardyn standing down the platform from them, watching them; Ardyn boards the train; the train departs from Cartanica Station.

.

Tell me what you think.