Chapter Summary: After reuniting with Gladio the boys partake in the age-old video game tradition of doing other people's chores for them – there's also Cup Noodles.
It was great having Gladio back. Really, it was.
Besides being an all around awesome dude to hang with, the big guy just seemed to bring an added layer of comforting normalcy with his presence. Maybe Prompto was alone in feeling this way, but it never felt quite right when one of his friends wasn't practically in arm's reach. Call it codependency if you will, but he'd gotten used to sticking close in their four man squad since life had gotten twice over as complicated and about a bazillion times more crazy.
He was just maybe having a hard time reminding himself of that fact right about now.
"You could've picked an egg from any bird in all of Eos, and you go with the one nesting on top of a volcano." Even lacking Prompto's usual energy, the words seemed conspicuously loud, spiraling out over the open expanse of several hundreds of feet of elevation – at least – before getting swept off in the flurry of high altitude winds like some ill-fated omen. Though, that last part could've just been the thin oxygen talking.
Gladio, of course, remained undeterred, still riding off the high from his recent victory over his great, great, greeeeaaaat grandpa's creepy cave challenge or whatever. "So it's an uphill climb. Just think about what's waiting at the top."
"Let me guess: one aching back and two very sore feet," Prompto deadpanned, feeling about as far from motivated as possible with the path ahead of them taking on an increasingly more gruelingly vertical grade. Climbing was starting to look a lot more like crawling, and he had to try really hard not to think about how this was all for one lousy cup of noodles. Because no matter how good it ended up being he was pretty sure this kind of strain was more deserving of an entire buffet of warm, greasy food that was in no way health conscious or Iggy approved.
Honestly, who thought stealing a Zu egg was a good idea again?
Well, Gladio obviously, since he still didn't seem to see the problem. "Like you couldn't use some meat on those legs of yours."
"Ugh, really?" Prompto was so not apologizing for looking anything less than a living ad for convincing people to buy into gym memberships. His legs got the job done just fine, thank you – even if his calves kinda felt like they were conspiring to murder him at the moment.
A harsh breeze blew in, actually managing to drag a bit of chill past the oppressive heat that seemingly clung to the whole of the Cleigne region, and Prompto decidedly did not think about deadly winds ripping them off the mountain path. "Do we even know if there's gonna be eggs up there? What if they've all hatched already or, like, what if there aren't any to begin with, huh? Maybe we should call it quits now, you know, before the giant, man-eating momma bird finds out we –"
Prompto cut himself off with a startled yelp as a loose rock slid free from the fine gravel beneath his boots. There was a wild moment of panic where he was half convinced his stomach had tumbled off the side of the volcano right alongside the rock before a steadying hand clamped down on his shoulder and Ignis was redirecting him back to the trail.
"As it happens, nesting is a behavior exhibited primarily for the rearing of eggs," Ignis informed without missing a beat.
"Dude, so not helping!" Prompto couldn't help but complain, even after the save. He really didn't buy that Ignis was anymore over the moon about being dragged up here than the rest of them. It had to be, like, an insult to his honor as a gourmet level chef or something to have to stoop to scouring active volcanoes for a Cup Noodle topping.
Maybe he was just doing it to humor Gladio, or because they had to wait on the boat some more? After they'd handed over the mythril to Holly for processing it had to go back to Caem for Cid and Cindy to work their magic, so it wasn't like they could leave for Altissia just yet.
Still, Prompto could think of almost a million better ways to spend their days in the meantime.
It was a real shame his opinion went largely ignored. At least until Noct was the next to experience the joys of the gravel slip n' slide that make up the trail to the summit of the volcano, skidding dangerously close to the edge of a shear drop off and letting lose a string of muttered curses at the dizzying view of certain death below.
"You alright back there, princess?" Gladio called down.
"Just peachy," Noct answered back sullenly. He was already working to make up for the ground he'd lost and looking to be enjoying himself about as much as Prompto was – potentially even less with the way his back tended to give him trouble when he really stained himself.
Maybe he really was hurting because the grumpy reassurance may have been enough to get Gladio off Noct's case, but Ignis, not so much. He took one look at Noct and then up to the highest point of the trail they could make out before it disappeared further into the depths of the volcano – and straight into another impossibly steep incline for all they knew. "Perhaps it would be best to continue this excursion from the air."
"Come on, Iggy, where would the fun be in that?" Gladio tried to dissuade them, but it was already much too late for that.
"Seriously? All the fun would be in that," Prompto latched onto the idea with feeling. No way was he passing up a chance to do less climbing. Plus, you know, flying.
As kind of a general rule, none of them just asked Ignis to ferry them around to places. Beyond the whole "Imperials are always watching, oh no" mentality they'd started to develop, it seemed like something rude to just ask for out of the blue. But Prompto wouldn't deny he'd been dying for a chance to experience some dragon riding since Cid had given them the repaired armor, and now Ignis was actually offering.
"I'm down for flying," Noct contributed, somehow managing not to sound like all his prayers had just been answered.
"Don't tell me you ladies are wimping out on me already," Gladio grumbled, turning back toward the trail like he thought a bit of goading would be all it took to talk them out of it. "Yeesh, you head out to handle some business for a few days and next thing you know everyone's gone soft on you."
Prompto shared a look with Noct and Iggy. It was hard to say for sure, especially with the glaring sunlight glinting off Iggy's glasses just so and hiding his eyes, but Prompto was pretty sure they were all of the same mind of dropping Gladio off at the very bottom of Steyliff Grove and letting him fight his own way out.
By the time the big guy noticed their silence and turned around to investigate they were already in the air.
Prompto waved down gleefully from his perch on Iggy's fancy armor. "See you at the top, Gladdy!"
… Okay, so they didn't actually make Gladio walk. And, as it also happened, there were a lot of things waiting on them at the top of the volcano besides the aching back and the sore feet. They found the nest – oh so thankfully unguarded. They also found their egg, which was huge and probably weighed as much as an entire person. And then, best of all, there was the view, and it was incredible. Seriously, they could see pretty much all of Lucis from up there.
And in the end, the Cup Noodles turned out pretty good too.
The motel at Old Lestallum was quaint but no more unsavory or rundown than many of the other lodgings they'd taken up recently to get out of the night and away from the daemon threat. Ignis still found himself breathing easier once Noct slipped past the rusted doorway, returning from an errand they could scarcely afford to neglect – after all, even rundown motel rooms were not without cost.
"Find anything good?" Gladio asked from the atrociously patterned armchair wedged between the wall and a tattered desk Ignis had commandeered for a prep station to begin putting together an on-the-go brunch.
Noct shrugged. "Grabbed a bandersnatch bounty. The pay is good at least, and there's a river close to where it was last spotted. Figured we could drop by afterwards."
Ignis couldn't help but narrow his eyes in suspicion at that. Anyone else might have passed off the casual suggestion as the prince's habitual begging off for another fishing detour. But Ignis was privy to the slightest tinge of anxiety clouding the edges of Noct's consciousness. And once he cottoned on to that an unwelcome odor made itself known to his sharper senses. "You've encountered Dr. Yeagre."
By this point, Ignis didn't need further confirmation, but Noct's guilty wince was telling none the less. "Look, she ambushed me by the meat skewer stand."
Ignis didn't bother wondering at what had possessed Noct to accept another task that would doubtless be of the amphibious nature – Sania had already proven to be impressively persistent. And Noct seemed incapable of denying her bidding. Instead Ignis gave in to his impulse of pinching the bridge of his nose just above where his spectacles rested, attempting to forestall the coming headache. It was, as always, a fruitless effort.
Gladio peeked over the rim of his current novel, eyebrows rising in far too much amusement. "So what's the damage this time, we collecting frogs again?"
"Noct just can't say no," Prompto lamented in such a way that lacked the appropriate amount of long suffering that should have accompanied the statement.
Noct, at least, had the presence of mind to appear sheepish. "It's not frogs exactly…"
Ignis could already tell he was much too tired for this. In fact, there was likely not enough Ebony on Eos to allow him his usual patience and grace in the face of what came out of Noct's mouth next.
"… just picking up some gigan toad slime."
The words hung heavy in the air, further souring Ignis' mood and his appetite. Abruptly, he abandoned the sandwiches he'd been preparing for a quick, fortifying meal and strode across the room to snatch the bounty flyer from Noct's limp grasp. "If that's the case then I'll be taking on the bandersnatch. Do take care not to get slime on your uniforms."
"Uh, right."
No one was quite misguided enough to challenge the arrangement.
Helping people could lead to some pretty unexpected circumstances – spelunking for rare gems and frog wrangling being just a few of more unique favors they'd been talked into. You just never knew what kind of jobs people would ask of a couple of nameless hunters.
Noctis found he really never minded that much, even if a lot of them ended up being sorta mundane by most people's standards. It was kinda nice, getting to play at the whole being normal thing.
Except now, bent under the hot sun with knees sunk into the tacky soil of garden rows, he couldn't help but regret agreeing to this particular task.
Maybe the others were right about him having a slight problem with saying no. Not that recognizing his inability to turn people down did much for them after the fact. Annoying as it was, the work was too hazardous to leave to civilians and he couldn't exactly say they had more important things to be doing.
Lately they'd been killing time, sticking close to Lestallum and using the city as an information hub of sorts. Now that the Empire had seemingly cleared out it was safer there than just about anywhere else thanks to the bright lights and the power plant that kept them running. There were also plenty of odd jobs up for grabs that just happened to come with the added bonus of the residents being helpfully loose-lipped about imperial activity in the area.
And since they'd been in the neighborhood they couldn't very well skip out on looking up the kid from the market who'd tipped them off about Talcott and the Empire's trap that had been waiting on them just after they'd gotten the Regalia back. They owed the kid and his family big for helping them; so when Noctis learned the family had a business deal they feared might've fallen through he offered to get to the bottom of it. But what had started out as helping the one vendor with their troubles had led to them being sought out by others. Turned out there were lots of people in the market who needed a hand.
And that lead them to Noctis' current predicament: picking Eos green peas. Ugh.
He kneeled in front of the next plant and did his best to ignore the others, all watching him suffer with varying levels of open amusement like the dirty traitors they were. They were actually supposed to be keeping an eye out for company of the more dangerous variety, but there hadn't been a sign of anything more deadly than a stray rabbit or two since the pack of voretooth they'd taken care of shortly after arriving.
That was why this farm had to go to the trouble of hiring hunters to do the harvesting for them. The area wildlife was known to attack unsuspecting victims, especially those preoccupied with pulling fresh veggies from the ground. So that, unfortunately, was where they came in.
"While we're still young, Noct," Gladio grumped and Noctis realized he'd maybe been having a stare off with the pea plant just a bit too long. "Don't think we'll let you get away with slacking off."
"Yeah yeah, I'm on it." Not wanting to endure another lecture on proper harvesting as well, Noctis made sure to feel along the sides of the pods to check the firmness of the peas housed within the fleshy casings. When the pods held up to inspection he plucked them from their stems, shuttering as he dropped the vile veggies into his basket.
Ignis was wholly unimpressed by the "dramatics" as he called them. Noctis could practically feel the sigh building inside of him. "You should be thankful we've only been tasked to assist with the harvest. Shelling the peas, I'm told, is the real chore."
"Yeah, look on the bright side. At least they aren't beans," Gladio teased and Noctis couldn't help but make a face at that.
Prompto snickered at his revulsion. "Yeah, not like you're gonna have to taste test for them."
Personally, Noctis would rather be elbow deep in another voretooth ambush, but kept his opinion to himself. Ignis already had that look on his face like he was calculating his chances of bribing the vendors to ask them to do just that.
It was a lifelong debate between the two of them, one Ignis only rarely assumed more devious or underhanded methods in unless Noctis somehow managed to really get on his bad side. And, to be honest, that was sorta what he was worried about at the moment.
Over the last few days he'd started to wonder if Ignis was maybe a little miffed at him. He didn't know what he'd done exactly – though it probably had to do with the toad slime quest from last week. Ignis had refused to come near any of them until they'd finally showered off the smell; he'd been more snappish than usual too.
Noctis supposed he should have expected some ire for that one, even if Sania was pretty impossible to refuse. But the irritation seemed to linger longer than called for. At least, Noctis didn't think he was imagining it all. There was definitely a niggling buzz of something steadily building in the corner of his mind that wasn't really his. But whether it was anger or something else he wasn't sure.
Ignis, just as stoic and collected as ever, inspected each of their baskets. "Just a bit more ought to satisfy the quota."
"Awesome!" Prompto hopped up to stretch out a kink in his back. "So, where are we headed after this?"
"To check on a delivery van that's gone missing," Ignis replied dutifully. "They're hopeful we can recover the shipment that went missing along with it."
"And the cargo?" Noct dared to ask.
"Produce," Ignis answered, tone desert dry. "Beetroot, Leiden potatoes, and unless I'm quite mistaken, a fresh harvest of chocobeans."
That settled it. Next time Noctis laid eyes on Dr. Sania Yeagre he was turning the opposite direction and warping away as fast as his magic could take him. Iggy's wrath wasn't worth it.
It had been one stinking hot day.
Gladio wasn't normally one to complain, but the sun had been nothing short of brutal today and the heat off the meteor only added to the misery. By midmorning the air had become so oversaturated with humidity he was convinced it was trying to stick to his skin.
Despite being the largest city this side of the Disk, Lestallum really could feel like the armpit of the world.
He hesitated at a busy intersection, waiting for a hint of an opening before making his move and bulldozing his way into the heavy flow of foot traffic. A lot of people were out and about as city's nightlife was just beginning to hit full swing and the streets had a lot less elbow room as a result. Gladio was just thankful for being a head taller than most anybody else so it wasn't hard to keep track of where he was headed.
It also allowed him the benefit of experiencing the nearly – but not quite – nonexistent breeze that managed to twist its way between the tightly packed shops and multi-storied apartments complexes. Even if the air was warm, at least it was moving.
He felt he'd earned that much after running all over the sweltering city. In an effort to create a bit of cushion for their funds and their upcoming trip across the ocean, they'd spent most of the day on local bounties that had needed dealing with and running errands for Holly – the kind a bit too dangerous for assigning her normal employees.
After that had winded down everyone went their separate ways – Noct and Prompto to cash in on the bounties and Ignis to get a head start on restocking their groceries, along with whatever else he managed to get done while no one else was looking. As for Gladio, he'd gone about sorting through the rumor mill, hoping to get a feel for what the Empire was up to in the area. After their last close call in Lestallum they couldn't afford to let their guard down.
Fortunately, it looked like the Niffs really had pulled out of town for the time being. There was no guarantee things would remain that way, of course, but for now the citizens of Lestallum were breathing out a big sigh of relief. And in the face of that relief Gladio was able to turn his attention to matters just a bit less dire.
He branched off from the crowd he'd fallen in with, holding on a little more tightly to the packages tucked safely under his arms. There had been just one more thing he'd been hoping to get done before calling it a night.
It had to do with something Iris had said to him in passing during their last phone call, likely nothing she'd even remember mentioning with how tense things had gotten lately. He knew Jared's death still weighed on the residents of Caem and the preparations for their voyage to Altissia were taking up a lot of time and resources, not to mention everyone was more than a little on edge over what they might find once they actually arrived at the supposedly neutral territory. Another trap was more than likely.
Of course, Iris felt the need to lend a hand wherever she could, despite not having the engineering know how to work on the boat repairs or being approved to join Crownsguard missions. Instead she helped out in other ways, like keeping an eye on Talcott and planting a garden to help mitigate supply runs. It was also why she happened to get ahold of a dessert recipe she was sure would lift everyone's spirits, if just a little.
Gladio had no doubts it would be a huge hit. Iris might not have been as accomplished a chef as Iggy but she knew her way around the kitchen, better than Gladio at any rate.
The only problem was that some of the ingredients were a bit harder to come by these days with daemons growing bolder and the Empire's meddling slowing supply chains. She had lamented to Gladio over wishing she'd taken better advantage of her stay in Lestallum to stock up from their premier spice market when she'd had the chance. And since it won't be much longer now before Gladio and the others would be leaving to rendezvous with her and others, he'd decided to pick up the spare ingredients as a surprise – an errand that, honestly, would've gone a lot smoother under Ignis' direction.
At first, Gladio had thought about asking the dragon to tag along or even just calling him for advice when he'd run into the choice between Cleigne wheat and fine Cleigne wheat. The market was pretty much Ignis' domain after all, and Astrals knew he had a hell of a lot more experience at picking out baking necessities than Gladio did. He'd probably have even been happy to help, despite having more than enough on his plate already – seriously, the guy was starting to look like he was one misplaced potion away from having an aneurysm. In the end, Gladio hadn't felt right passing his burdens off onto someone else.
Besides, he had been confident he could handle hunting down what Iris needed, even if not entirely on his own. It took a little asking around and more than one semi-embarrassing explanation for what he was up to, but he did manage to grab everything on his list. So it was with a sense of well-earned accomplishment that he left the market behind, bound for the Leville.
He was just considering where along the way he wanted to pick up some grub for himself, knowing the others would have all eaten by now, when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He had to move to the relative shelter of a nearby alcove off the street to pull out the device without fear of dropping anything. Despite everything having been fine the short while ago he'd last seen everyone, he wasn't overly surprised to be greeted by a panicked message from Prompto on the screen.
Short stack: Mayday! We have a situation D;
Gladio rolled his eyes. Great, what did the knuckleheads get into this time?
He pulled up his own text window to get some answers. Hopefully it was nothing and Prompto was just overreacting. The kid tended to do that on occasion over minor things, like convenience stores running short of his favorite hairspray.
Noodleman: Where are you?
Gladio got his answer within seconds. But it was the text that came immediately after that put the icy breath of Shiva in his veins.
Short stack: The hotel
Short stack: Something's wrong with Iggy
He won't wake up!
Did I just end on a cliffhanger? Whoops…
Luckily, the wait for what happens next won't be a long one as I plan to send out the next two chapters fairly quickly. Hopefully it will be a nice break from the longer waits for updates.