Despite the temperature, the man wore many layers of clothing. My eyes were drawn to the strange coat he wore. He turned to look at us, seeming familiar with the others. He appeared older, maybe in his 40s, I would guess. His hair was a red-violet color, the color seemingly natural. "What a coincidence," he said with a wave.
"I'm not so sure it is," Gladio responded, annoyance clear in his voice, confirming the others had encountered this strange man before.
The man approached us, seeming to ignore Gladio's comment. "Aren't nursery rhymes curious things?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. Prompto looked over at Ignis in confusion. "Like this one: 'From the deep the Archaean calls. Yet on deaf ears, the god's tongue falls. The king made to kneel, in pain, he crawls.'"
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The Archaean? One of the Six? This doesn't make sense, I thought.
"So, how do we keep him on his feet?" Prompto asked.
"You need only heed the call," the man responded, walking ahead of us. "Visit the Archaean and hear his plea." He turned around to face us again. "I can take you."
Gladio looked over to Noctis. "We in?"
"I don't know," Noctis responded.
"We take a ride," Prompto began.
"But watch our backs," Gladio responded.
"Fair enough," Ignis agreed.
"Yeah," I nodded.
"Let's do it," Noctis turned to the rest of us. The strange man smiled slightly upon hearing us agree to join him.
He began walking to the parking lot area, and we followed. "I'm not one to stand on ceremony, but such an occasion calls for an introduction! Please, call me Ardyn. Come with me to the car park, that's where I left my automobile."
I quickly grabbed my journal and jotted down a note about the man, Ardyn. Mainly his strange way of speaking. He continued speaking, "She's a dear old thing. Pales in comparison to your Regalia, but she's never let me down.
"So, we take two vehicles. A convoy of sorts. Shall we?" He asked to no one in particular. We remained silent as we followed him. He led us to a red car, a convertible, parked next to the Regalia. I raised an eyebrow. Didn't he say it was old?
"Allow me to do the honor of designating your driver. I choose you," He said to Noctis.
"What if I drive your car?" Noctis joked.
Ardyn put a hand on his hip. "You might find the rental fees more than you bargained for," he laughed. "You drive your car, and I drive mine. With that decided, let us be off."
We got inside the Regalia, letting Ardyn lead the way out of Lestallum. "It feels weird having Noctis drive," I laughed, now sitting between Ignis and Gladio. It wasn't long before we were on the road yet again, still following Ardyn's car.
"First Galdin and then Lestallum. What a coincidence, huh?" Prompto asked.
"Way too convenient to be a coincidence," Gladio responded. "I reckon he's following us around."
"But to what end?" Ignis asked. "That question bothers me deeply. As does his origin."
"It's hard for me to picture that guy in the Empire," Prompto responded.
Gladio countered, "But it's even harder to picture him as a Lucian."
"You've encountered him before? At Galdin? Galdin Quay?" I asked. "He does seem fishy. No pun intended."
Prompto laughed while Gladio responded, "Yeah, we were gonna hop onto a boat to get to Altissia, and he showed up there. Turns out there aren't any ships going to or from Altissia it seems."
"That's creepy. I wouldn't be surprised if he was with the Empire, personally," I shrugged. "Gives bad vibes, especially with him showing up again."
"I'd sooner not rely on him," Ignis spoke after a moment.
"But he may be our only way into the Disc of Cauthess," Prompto sighed.
"What's His Highness's opinion of this Ardyn?" Gladio asked.
Noctis sighed, "Don't really have one. He's nothing more than a creepy old dude to me."
Prompto let out a soft laugh. "You hit the nail on the head right there."
"Well, that's why we came up with a plan," Gladio chuckled.
"Gotta watch our backs the whole way," Noctis responded. I nodded slightly, grabbing my journal again and writing some more.
Another moment of silence passed before Ignis spoke up again. "Noct, how are the headaches?" He asked.
"Eh, fine for now, but they come without warning," Noctis responded.
"Wouldn't want to have one behind the wheel," Gladio commented. I nodded.
"Yeah, that wouldn't end well," I chuckled.
Prompto looked over at Noct with a small smile. "Stop if you need to, alright?" I sat up a little bit when I saw we were approaching a rest stop. Just our luck, our creepy chaperone pulled into the parking lot.
"What say we call it a day here?" Ardyn asked.
Gladio rolled his eyes. "What say we continue on to Cauthess?" He countered as he got out of the car. I slid out after him, crossing my arms out of annoyance.
"The Archean's not going anywhere!"
"Neither are we, under your stewardship," Ignis muttered.
Prompto was also clearly annoyed, stating, "So, we make camp. With Ardyn."
"Hell no," Noctis responded.
"Thanks for offering to take us to the Disc, but I really think we should continue," I jerked a thumb over my shoulder, pointing to the Regalia.
Gladio sighed before saying, "Might as well get the tent up."
"Oh, I'm afraid I've never really been one for the outdoors," Ardyn responded coolly, "I shall foot the bill, so let us stay at the caravan over yonder."
"I can sleep in the car," I stated. "It would be awkward having to sleep with five guys in one cramped trailer."
"But that sounds quite cruel, making the lady sleep outside in the cold," Ardyn looked me over as he spoke.
"I'm fine. I've got a coat and gloves, and sleeping in the open is not a big deal," I was growing annoyed with him. "I've just met you, you think I'd be that comfortable already?"
"Gaia, drop it," Ignis warned. "We'll have to figure something out."
"Gaia, so that's your name," Ardyn responded. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I can only assume you joined with Noctis and the others recently."
"Yeah," I muttered before walking into the shop that was nearby, and it looked like the others had similar ideas of wanting to distance themselves from Ardyn for as long as they could. However, the sun setting put a damper on that plan. So there we were like Prompto said, making camp with Ardyn.
I shielded my eyes from the sun for a moment once I stepped out of the caravan. "Sure is bright out," I muttered, letting my eyes adjust. I waited by the Regalia while the others talked to Ardyn in the shop.
"Well, let's continue. He says we're heading past the point of no return, whatever that means," Noctis said as he started up the car. "We all ready?"
"Well, ready as we'll ever be, I suppose," I laughed, yet again getting wedged between Gladio and Ignis in the backseat.
We took off for the Disc of Cauthess once more. I grabbed my journal from my pocket, ready to write down anything of note.
"You sure do like writing, don't you?" Prompto asked, turning to look over at me.
"Yeah, I suppose it's just something that brings me comfort," I laughed. "I usually just write stuff about my day, but I've taken to also writing about stuff I should remember or just things I notice. I actually wrote down a description of what that royal tomb looked like back in that cave. That way if I am out doing my own thing and come across one, I can be sure to let you guys know. It's also a great stress reliever."
"That's a really smart idea!" He responded with a smile.
Gladio nodded slightly. After a moment of silence between us, he spoke, "Whoever thought of tapping into the Meteor's power is a genius."
"Can you even go near that thing?" Prompto asked.
"They harvest fragments found nearby. Pieces that broke off when the Meteor fell," Ignis responded. "Almost fell, I should say, for the Archaean caught it."
"And he's still there, holding the thing up," Gladio added.
"Guess he never misses leg day," Noctis laughed.
"Or any day for that matter," Prompto chimed in.
Ignis continued, "His unceasing toil and the Meteor's might form the tenets of worship for the locals of Duscae."
"Makes you wonder what it's like down there at his feet," Gladio chuckled.
"So people of different regions worship different members of the Six?" I asked. "Or are there groups who worship them all the same amount?"
Noctis shrugged from behind the wheel. We continued chatting, bringing up Prompto's camera and Ignis's glasses and the concerns about how the temperature might affect them. Ignis had stated that it would be really hot near the meteor.
After a bit, we pulled to what looked like an Imperial blockade. "We're here," Ardyn said as he pulled off to the side.
"This better not be a setup," Noctis groaned. The suspicion and annoyance were obvious in his voice.
"Have I given you reason to doubt me?" Ardyn asked in response.
"You don't really inspire confidence," Prompto responded.
"Yeah, not very straightforward," Gladio agreed.
Ardyn didn't respond to us, instead, he called out to whoever was behind the blockade. "Hello, it's me! Be so kind as to open up!"
I looked over at the others. "Is this going to work?" I asked softly. The doors slowly slid open.
"Wow, that worked?" Prompto asked.
"I may not look like much, but I do have some influence. Aren't you glad we came together?" Ardyn responded. The tone when he asked about us being happy about coming with him felt odd. Patronizing, in a way. At least, that's what I thought, not being able to speak for the others.
"Your audience with divinity lies ahead," He continued.
Prompto again asked a question. "You're leaving?"
"I drop you at the Archaean's open door, and with that, bid you farewell," Ardyn responded and we drove forward carefully. Past the walls of the blockade were a couple of imperial airships, confirming that this was, in fact, one of their blockades.
"I've met some weirdos," Gladio began once we were sure Ardyn couldn't hear us.
"I hope we don't meet that one again," Ignis responded. I stifled a shocked laugh, that comment came out of nowhere.
"Whoa! Little harsh there, don't you think?" Prompto asked, just as surprised as I was.
We continued down the treacherous path, getting closer to the Meteor. After a bit of driving, we reached a dead-end, for the Regalia at least. I glanced at some of the remains of a stone building. Guess it's safe for people to be here, considering this might be the remains of a royal tomb, I thought.
"So we keep going this way," Noctis stated as he got out of the car. The rest of us followed suit.
"Then we'll find out what the empire's up to," Gladio added.
"Look at all this," I whispered as we followed the stone path even further into what I could only assume was part of the crater from the Meteor.
"These ruins," Ignis mumbled. We continued, and sure enough, we found a royal tomb.
"Is that what I think it is?" Prompto asked.
"Didn't expect to find a royal tomb here," Ignis responded. It was safe to say we were all a bit surprised.
"Would be a shame not to grab that power, eh, Highness?" Gladio asked.
Noctis approached the weapon. "Let's grab it and go," he responded. Once again he held out his hand, and a spectral weapon seemed to pierce his chest before joining the rest circling him.
"That's gonna take some getting used to seeing," I laughed, rubbing the back of my neck.
Suddenly the earth began to shake again. "Here we go again!" Prompto yelled. The tremors knocked us off our feet, and I scrambled back a bit.
"This one's huge!" Gladio got up carefully.
Ignis kept himself crouched. "Get away! Quickly!" He ordered. Noctis placed a hand against his forehead. Another headache, of all times. He collapsed to his knees as rubble fell around us.
As if things couldn't get worse, the ledge where Noctis was doubled over in pain began to collapse. Noctis pushed through the pain, running toward us but stumbling. He fell along with the piece of ground he was standing on.
Gladio jumped down after him, and I crawled over to the remains of the ledge. There was Gladio, a long drop down, pulling Noctis up from another ledge. The Meteor lifted, and I could only assume Titan was doing something down there.
"Noct! You okay?" Prompto and Ignis ran over to the ledge, and I carefully got up.
"Thank heavens you're safe! Is there a way back up?" Ignis called down to them.
"No, but there's a path! Gonna see where it leads!" Noctis yelled.
"You three try to get down!" Gladio added.
Ignis nodded. "Very well. We'll look for a way," He said, turning around and motioning for Prompto and me to follow. "Be careful now!"
"You too," Noctis called.
Prompto turned to us, a look of shock on his face. "What? We're going where?" He yelled.
"We have to get down to them," I put a hand on his shoulder. "Who knows what could happen to them. I doubt Titan is very happy about having visitors, but we gotta do what we gotta do."
