Chapter Summary: The boys encounter a small problem.

"Really, another cave?"

Gladio couldn't say he shared Prompto's reservations as they ducked under the lip of Fociaugh Hollow's entrance. "At least gets us out of the rain." Rain that had been going nonstop for days. Apparently all thanks to some cosmic agenda to annoy and otherwise inconvenience Noct into showing up at the doorstep of each and every deity waiting in line to become best buds with the Chosen King. Gladio wondered if Ramuh's storm was affecting the cell reception – might explain why Iris had been dodging his calls lately.

Prompto groaned, dragging the noise out far longer than necessary. "Yeah, and now we're drifting into the deep end – most likely to deal with whatever kind of horrible, bloodthirsty monster is waiting for us at the bottom."

Gladio shook his head in amusement. "Don't you think that's maybe a bit dramatic?"

Prompto scoffed, like Gladio was being the unreasonable one. "Dude, dungeons like this always have a boss. I bet it's something really nasty too, like a swarm of giant bugs or maybe it's slimy and gross with long sticky claws."

"Might not be so bad," Noct consoled. "Could just be the regular brand of horrible, bloodthirsty monsters instead."

"Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much better – ah!" They all ducked down as a colony of bats startled and hightailed it out of the cave. Prompto gulped nervously as soon as the flying rodents disappeared from sight. "Okay, it's official. I got a bad feeling about this place."

Ignis offered Prompto a hand to his feet. "As if danger lurks around every corner."

Prompto accepted the hand and hoped up off the ground. "Avoid all corners. Got it."

Avoiding corners or no, they still had a runestone to find. Gladio kept an eye out as they explored deeper into the cavern, hoping to spot some clue to where it might be hiding. There was likely a lot more cave left to cover but the Storm Bringer had gone easy on them with the last two runestones, so Gladio was still feeling optimistic that Ramuh was maybe not about to try to electrocute them all to death.

What he did find tucked away in one of the dark corners of the next room of the cave was slightly more unexpected. "Hey, Noct. Check this out."

Noct narrowed his eyes as he joined him, sizing up the fossilized tooth laying haphazardly on the cave floor. "Wonder how this got in here."

"Probably been here a while," Gladio offered as Ignis and Prompto wandered over out of curiosity.

Prompto bent forward and squinted at the tooth that was easily longer than his entire hand. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yup, definitely dragon," Noct confirmed.

"Whoa." Prompto leaned back on his heels, considering. "But what would a dragon have been doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere? I mean, there's not a tomb here or anything… right?"

"Doubtful," Ignis replied. "There is, however, evidence to suggest dragons weren't always tied to the Line of Lucis. Remains have been dated as far back as the Solheim era after all. Perhaps this one had simply been a protector of this place."

"Huh, really?" Prompto glanced about the empty room, as if something might be hidden in the darkness just outside the reach of their torch lights. "So we could like be in an ancient dragon lair right now?"

Noct nudged his friend's shoulder teasingly. "Who knows, maybe he's still here."

"Haunting this very cave," Gladio agreed, just to get a reaction out of Prompto. The kid didn't disappoint.

A shiver ran down Prompto's spine as he jumped up and backed away from the tooth. "Yeah, I'm gonna hope not."

Ignis stood as well. "I suppose we won't know unless we look."

But as they navigated the cave there wasn't much else to see in the way of signs left behind by ancient ghost dragons and beyond a tight squeeze or two with the resident imps it's mostly easy going. Gladio had even started to think to himself how Ramuh was maybe shaping up to be his favorite of the Six so far. No cave-ins or rockslides. No boiling lava. Heck, even the daemons so far had been relatively sparse. Of course, nothing good ever lasted forever.

"Hey, guys..." Prompto trailed off from behind, "what was that noise?"

"Noise?" Gladio glanced back to where Prompto stood near a dark opening in the cave wall looking like he'd just seen that ghost they'd teased him about. Then there was a voice, muddled and intangible like a whisper on the wind.

"My baby."

Ignis snapped his head around. "Prompto, watch out!"

"Whoooaaaahhhhh!"

Something in the darkness moved, lashing out like lightning right at Prompto. Luckily Ignis was faster. The dragon shoved Prompto down just as something long and sinewy slashed through the air above their heads before withdrawing back into the shadows.

Gladio rushed over to get them both back on their feet. "You guys okay?"

"No, I am not okay! I told you there'd be a boss," Prompto all but wailed as he let Gladio haul him up off the cave floor. "Ugh, and why'd it have to be a snake?"

"A snake, huh?" Gladio hadn't been able to make out much of the moving shadow and glancing through the pitch black hole in the wall didn't really clear much up except that there was a whole lot more cave to go through.

"A naga, unless I'm very much mistaken." Ignis, of course, had no problems identifying a daemon in the dark. "We should exercise caution."

"Oh, great." Prompto slumped in place. "Can we go now? Please, please tell me we can leave?

"We're not finished yet," Noct reminded, offering Prompto an apologetic shrug as he led them further in. The next segment of cave opened up into a maze of pathways crowded between hundreds of stalagmites reaching up for the cavern ceiling and filled with daemons of a tougher crowd. A range of nasties came out to play that spanned from the little imps and thunder bombs that had been harassing them almost since the cave's entrance to the heavier hitting goblins and mindflayers.

Prompto stayed on edge the whole while, practically jumping out of his skin at every sudden noise and shifting shadow. He looked about ready to snap by the time they cleared the large chamber. "She's here – I just know it. Show yourself already!"

"Cool it!" Gladio clamped his hand over the kid's shoulder, steering him forward. "Nobody's getting snatched up, alright?"

"Yeah, pretty sure we can handle one snake," Noct agreed with easy confidence. "Don't worry so much."

"Just don't lower your guard," Ignis warned, watching the shadows just as closely but with less panic and more predator intensity. He stayed close to Noct and Prompto as they stalked ahead while Gladio covered their six.

Despite keeping on their toes they didn't find a single sign of the snake daemon – at least not till they were moving toward the next area of the cave. Without warning the naga sprung at them from the shadows above, the whole of its body cloaked in darkness like a second skin that dissolved before their eyes.

"See? I told you! There she is! That's her!" Prompto shouted in the commotion, shoving Noct forward between himself and the daemon unfurling around them. "Do something, Noct!"

"Don't ask me – do it yourself," Noct complained, as the naga lowered her eerily human-like head.

"My baby… Where…" The words were halting and hissed out awkwardly between sharp fangs, but startlingly coherent for a daemon.

"Uh, sorry, don't know where any babies are," Noct tried, glancing between the daemon and the rest of them as if any of them had any freaking clue how the thing was actually talking to them. "Can't help you…"

"Oh, you can… by becoming mine!" The naga leaned in and opened its mouth wide, releasing a stream of teal tinted gas.

Still clutching to the back of Noct's shirt, Prompto gagged. "Ugh, whatever that is, it's disgusting."

Ignis gasped. "No, don't breathe it in! It's some sort of magic!"

Gladio clamped his mouth shut at the warning, no need for more of them getting affected by whatever that gunk did than necessary. Just as he was about to work his way forward and drag the others out of the tainted air the daemon struck, snapping out with its jaws like a viper. Gladio's shield was likely all that saved him from getting his own dose of poison as he was pushed back across the slick cave floor with the sudden strike. The metal of his shield vibrated all the way up his arm as he bashed it against the snake's thick skull. The naga recoiled, raising its head up out of his range before whipping its long tail around in an attempt to flatten him. Gladio rolled to the side as the heavy mass of the snake's body smacked down at his side and switched to his greatsword to slash at the retreating tail.

He needed to keep this thing busy until he was sure the others were okay after whatever that gas cloud had done. If he listened he could make out the scrape of Lucian steel against the daemon's scaly hide, but it was tougher than it should have been to tell if the others were still where he'd left them and how many were actually fighting. The cave had gotten darker, he noticed. Almost as if the lamps on his friends were cutting out one by one. Crap. "Guys, sound off!"

"Gladio!"

That was Ignis, Gladio thought just before a flare of fire elemancy lit up the cave as it collided with the naga's other side. Gladio had to blink away spots from the sudden brightness. The daemon screeched and the smell of burning flesh filled the air, skulking back to the shadows of the cave as the magic's light flickered out. After that, nothing.

"Guys!" Gladio swung his lamp about, checking for any sign of the others. Seriously, where were they? "Somebody say something!"

All he could hear was the naga hissing in anger, already gearing up for round two, and he didn't have a clue where any of his friends were. So much for protecting the Chosen King.

Sudden movement on the cave floor startled him into looking down. A frog had jumped up onto a rock by his boot, croaking in discontent at Gladio for nearly being stepped on. Wait, a frog…

Gladio shined his lamp about where his friends should have been and sure enough there was another frog, hoping around in a frantic circle. He'd heard of daemons being able to cast curses that changed people but he had always assumed they were a pretty rare occurrence. Probably just their luck they happened to run into one such rare case anyway. Of course, the frogs could have just been a coincidence but Gladio wasn't willing to chance it.

He grabbed up the two frogs and scanned the area for the third. The naga was already making its way out of the shadows, prowling closer and ready for some payback no doubt.

"Come on, who am I missing?"

It didn't make sense. There were no bodies laying unconscious on the ground and Noct and the others had to be somewhere. The only alternative was that the daemon's magic must have done something to them. So how come he could only find two frogs?

Gladio gave the cave one final sweep before he dropped the frogs off behind a semi defensible pile of rocks as far from the daemon as they could get without leaving the area and took up a protective stance in front of them, hoping the frogs at least had enough sense to stay put.

As the naga closed in, Gladio caught a quick flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He blinked as something small swooped in and smacked into the side of the daemon's head. Another bat, maybe? Whatever it was the naga's head wiped to the side with the impact and Gladio had a prime opening to rush the daemon. He swung his sword upwards, cutting diagonally into the naga's less protected underbelly. The blow did serious damage and the naga reeled, curling in on itself and crying out in that creepy of voice that sounded a garbled mix between a daemon's snarl and a human scream. It tried to knock Gladio back with its tail again, forcing him on the defensive. Even injured the naga was still pretty fast and had plenty of weight to throw around.

Gladio was distracted from figuring out how to get back in close by a burst of magic at his back. Feeling a sense of cool dread creeping up his spine, he spun around to check on where he'd left the frogs and nearly sagged in relief when he found Noct and Prompto stumbling away from the cave wall, looking a little green but no worse for wear.

"Oh man," Prompto moaned. "I thought I was gonna croak. What hop'pened?"

"Ugh, just stop." Noct scrunched up his face like he's just had to swallow a serving of vegetables rather than Prompto's horrible puns before glancing around the cave. "Hey, where's Specs?"

Gladio was just thinking how he'd like to know the answer to that questions himself. "Hopefully he's being a smart frog and staying out of sight until we deal with momma sunshine over here."

"Right." Noct didn't look too convinced of the idea but came forward to back Gladio up all the same. "Then let's get this over with fast. Prompto!"

"Right, let me brighten your day!" Prompot summoned one of his starshell flares and fired it toward the cave ceiling. Gladio winced against the light that was more searingly bright than Iggy's earlier fire spell had been, but at least it was doing its job.

The naga writhed under the flare's light and they took full advantage, avoiding the wild swings of the tail and getting at the daemon's vulnerable points. It didn't take long for the three of them to finish it off and when they did it was like the naga burst, drenching the cave floor in liquid shadows that sizzled in the glow of their lamps and the lingering effects of the flare. Its final words seemed to reverberate off the cavern walls before flickering out like a dying flame.

"Bring back… my baby."

Prompto muttered something about not going near it but Gladio was too preoccupied by Ignis' continued absence to really pay attention. "Do you guys see anything?"

"No, but Iggy's still close by. I know it." Noct frowned as his focus turned inward. "I don't get it. Where is he?"

"Uh, shouldn't he be back to normal by now?" Prompto brought up, which was a good point. Even though Ignis had probably been the last to turn he really should have been his old self by now… unless something else had happened to him.

Gladio didn't get to finish that line of thought because at that moment a small cloud of glittering frost floated down in front of his face. He blinked past the miniature ice cycles forming on his eyelashes, trying to decide if he had finally lost his marbles, when a shrill chirp sounded off from over his head.

He followed the noise with his eyes and stared. There clinging upside down to one of the cave's low hanging stalactites was Ignis in his dragon form, the light burnished color of his feathers blending in nearly seamlessly against the pale limestone. He was also perfectly scaled down to no bigger than Gladio's palm and chirping like an upset baby bird.

"Guys, I found our dragon." Immediately Gladio had both Noct and Prompto crowding him on either side to get a look for themselves.

Prompto blinked up at the miniaturized dragon in wonder. "Whoa, dude! I know you said Ignis used to be tiny but I had no idea."

"Not like this." Noct turned his head sideways, considering. "You think that daemon used some kind of shrinking spell on him?"

"The thing was talking so I guess anything's possible. But I didn't catch it doing anything fishy after that first toad curse." Though that still didn't explain why Ignis was still being affected Gladio thought to himself as he reached up to retrieve their sulking dragon from his perch.

Noct nodded. "I know some toxins affect dragons differently. Maybe that's what's going on."

Gladio didn't comment on that particular theory because Ignis took one sniff of his outstretched hand before sinking teeth like miniature knives into his fingers.

"Hey!" Gladio snatched his hand back, scowling at the small rivulet of blood dripping down from his abused fingers. Why was it that anytime he ended up on the wrong side of Ignis there's inevitably blood shed – mostly his?

Prompto made a choked off noise that was an unsubtle mix between shock and glee. "Did he just –"

Noct managed to school his expression a bit better, but his amusement was still easy to pick up on. "Must be because you were holding me and Prompto as frogs. You know how he hates that smell."

Prompto snorted. "Still, who knew Iggy was such a snap dragon."

Gladio was less than amused. "Then why don't one of you two give it a try?"

"Well for one, if he can smell frog on you he'll definitely smell it on us. And I'm pretty sure he's up too high for either of us to reach," Prompto pointed out easily, probably the most pleased he'd ever been about being too short for something.

Gladio glanced up at Ignis who had looped his tail around the hanging limestone and snarled down at him like an enraged squeaky toy from hell, complete with little trails of smoke rising up from the slits of his nostrils. "How long is this supposed to last anyway?"

Noct shrugged. "Don't know. Shouldn't be too long though, at least, I don't think it should…"

Yeah, that was reassuring. Gladio sighed, willing the Astrals to give him strength. If he was gonna do this with all his fingers intact he was gonna need Ignis to cooperate. Maybe he had gone about this all wrong. Deciding on a different approach, Gladio cupped his hands under the dragon. "Look, I get it, Iggy. You're not coming down unless you want to. But we can't stay here, it's not safe. So I'm just gonna hold my hands out right here and you can jump down when you're ready. How's that?"

Seemingly appeased at being presented with an option involving less manhandling, Ignis didn't make them wait long. But instead of dropping down into Gladio's waiting hands as expected he glided down on tiny wings to find a new perch on Gladio's shoulder.

Gladio watched out of the corner of his eye as the shrunken dragon latched onto the leather of his jacket and made himself comfortable. "Guess, that settles that."

Noct hovered close, giving Ignis a quick once over, but wisely refraining from trying to touch him. "You think he'll be alright?"

"No sense in stressing about it now," Gladio decided. They could always try out some remedies if the status effect didn't wear off naturally. "You just worry about sealing that covenant. I'll keep an eye on our pocket dragon."

For the third time since they'd set foot in this place Gladio had to blink the spots out of his vision as a bright flash temporarily blinded him. He scowled over at the culprit.

Prompto hesitantly lowered his camera. "What, I'm preserving the moment."

"How about a little warning next time?" Gladio huffed, and Iggy seemed to agree with him if the shrill chirping noise he made was any indication. Poor guy was scrubbing one of his little paws against the side of his face in agitation. Which Prompto was also quick to document.

At least Prompto's photographer's eye was sated pretty quickly after that, for the time being anyway, and they were able to move on. Good thing too, Gladio had started to think he'd actually have to hide Ignis away in his pocket to keep Prompto's camera at bay.

Luckily, nothing else arose from the shadows to challenge them in the narrow passage way that led them straight to the last ruenstone. They found it sprouting of a shallow pool butting up against all sorts of plantlife. The runestone itself looked like some kind of petrified tree striped clean of its bark and bleached white with age. A shaft of light shone down from a tear in the cave ceiling, making the pale surface of the runestone seem to glow.

Noct stepped forward, pressing his palm to the smooth surface. Seconds later purple lightning zapped down, striking the runestone tree and traveling down into Noct just as had happened at the last two runestones. Except this time one of the arcs of lightning branched off of Noct and headed straight for Gladio. It happened so fast there wasn't time to move or even think about getting out of the way. All Gladio could do was let his eyes fall shut instinctively and brace for an impact that never came. Instead there was an indistinguishable noise at his shoulder before a sudden weight crashed down on him, throwing him back outside the ruenstone chamber and flattening him against the cave floor.

For a moment all he could do was exist there with the wind knocked out of him. Then the weight that had him pinned down disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared and concerned voices washed over him as arms came down to lever him off the ground. Glancing up past a worried Noct and Prompot at a fretting Iggy, towering over them at his normal size, Gladio slowly came to realize he had nearly been crushed under the dragon's feathered tail. Well, at least that was one less problem Gladio supposed.

"Gladio, are you alright?" Ignis asked, guilt and mortification clear in his expression despite the fact that he hadn't yet returned to looking human.

"Yup, takes more than being squished by a dragon to take this shield out," Gladio reassured. He might be a bit wobbly at the moment but he was sure nothing was broken at least.

Noct gave him his own critical once over, probably picking up on all the scrapes from their earlier encounter with the naga. "Yeah, well, this shield looks like he could use a potion anyway."

Gladio accepted the potion, mostly to set everyone's mind at ease.

"Wait, so that was it," Prompto asked, looking between them and back toward the chamber with the runestone.

Noct nodded, absently clenching his fist. "Yeah, that was it… the power of the storm."

"Huh, kinda expected more fire and brimstone and, ya know, epic aerial battle in the heart of the storm and all that mystical jazz." Prompto did his own overly energized version of jazz hands to illustrate his point.

"Probably for the best considering his ride was pint sized," Gladio reminded, more than okay with the lack of fanfare. "Besides, keep talking like that and something's bound to happen."

Prompto immediately changed his tune. "I take it back, boring is fine!"

"Hmm, it would seem not all members of the Hexatheon are so unreasonable," Ignis speculated, though he sounded pretty surprised himself. No small wonder looking back on their run in with Titan. Still, it was nice to know that not every encounter with the Six had to go so explosively. Who knew, maybe dealing with Leviathan would be smooth sailing too.

I, uh, wouldn't count on it Gladio...
But, hey, I finally managed another update and at least the boys have Ramuh on their side now! Not to mention Prompto's pics of pocket Iggy. I want copies.
Thanks to everyone for reading and sticking with this story! As always comments and feedback are super appreciated.