"So, Iris's story about Lady Lunafreya coming through town was true after all," Prompto smiled slightly as we walked.
"Judging by the timing of her visit, she probably set course for the Archaean as soon as she fled the Crown City," Ignis responded with a nod.
"Damn, and we missed her?" I asked.
"You really owe her big time, Noct," Gladio teased.
"Can't wait to thank her in person," Noctis responded, a bit embarrassed.
The sun was setting at this point, the already dark sky growing darker.
"Shit, do we still have the stuff to camp?" I asked. "Or did we lose those when we lost the Regalia?"
"We've still got it," Gladio responded. "I suppose we should find a place to set up camp."
"Gaia, you just had to mention camping," Prompto whined jokingly.
"I just want a break from being drenched in rain," I laughed.
We walked in silence along a trail for a bit before reaching a haven. "Shall we camp here?" Ignis asked.
"Camping sucks when it rains," Noct whined.
"At least we have a tent?" I asked. "Could be worse."
"Less whining, more working," Gladio scolded. I assumed that they kept the camping supplies in the same way we kept our weapons, considering one moment we weren't carrying any of it, and now Gladio was already getting to work on setting up camp.
This armiger stuff sure is strange, I thought, trying to be as helpful as I could.
Once the tent was all set up, we ducked inside. Prompto sat down next to me, "I just realized you never got to try Iggy's cooking before!"
"I take it he's quite the chef?" I asked.
"The best one I know!"
"Oh man, I can't wait then," I laughed. "Hey, I saw you taking some pictures earlier, can I see some?"
"I'll show you some of my favorite shots!" He grinned, grabbing his camera. He slid closer to me and started going through the images he saved.
"Man, some of this stuff makes me wish I joined you guys sooner," I laughed. "Like how the hell do you manage to have the Regalia break down like that?"
"Prompto was the one driving, blame him," Noct teased.
"Hey!" Prompto put a hand to his chest, pretending to be offended.
Once Noctis woke up we were on our way again. It was still pouring rain, making it feel colder than it probably was.
"The hell?" Gladio let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't get ahold of her."
"Iris?" Noctis asked.
"She call you?" Gladio looked over at Noctis.
"No messages."
"She doesn't normally do this?" I asked.
"No, she usually would at least tell me she's busy," Gladio shook his head.
"We're still gonna visit the other royal tombs, right?" Prompto asked, changing the subject.
"Of course. We've simply gone off-road for a spell," Ignis responded.
"Noct could definitely use a hand from his ancestors," Gladio agreed.
"The dead can wait, but gods aren't always forgiving. Let us not keep the Fulgurian waiting."
"Fulgurian," I repeated. "Kinda feels weird to say."
Lightning struck close by, causing Prompto and me to jump.
"That one was pretty close," Gladio stated calmly. I looked over at Prompto and laughed slightly.
"Which means we must be as well," Ignis responded. We approached a cave, the opening looking like it was blown away by some force.
"Look. Over there. I bet that's the spot lightning struck," Gladio stated.
"Oh boy, and we're going inside," I responded.
"Here we are! Fociaugh Hollow!" Prompto announced.
"No telling what waits inside," Ignis warned as we walked in. The others turned on the flashlights they had clipped to their jackets. Unlike the previous cave we were in, this one felt a lot more cramped. We started down a slope.
"We're drifting into the deep end," Prompto sighed.
"I can't quite make out how deep it runs," Ignis responded.
"Only one way to find out, right?" Gladio walked ahead of us.
"Do we really want to find out?" I asked in response as we finally reached level ground. I kept by Prompto's side as we approached an opening into a wider area of the cave. Just our luck, a swarm of bats came flying out. Prompto stumbled back, falling to the ground with a scream. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down with him.
I huffed as I got up, holding a hand out to pull him up. "Next time, please don't try to use me as a meat shield," I laughed. He just rolled his eyes as he got up.
"I've got a bad feeling about this place," he said as he looked around the open area.
Ignis nodded and adjusted his glasses. "As if danger lurks around every corner," he said quietly.
"Avoid all corners. Got it!"
The cave floor continued to slope downward, but at least this time there wasn't any ice. We reached what at first looked like a dead-end before Gladio pointed out a small gap between the cave walls. "Should be able to slip through."
Noctis approached the gap. "Let's see," he said as he slipped into the gap. After a moment, the rest of us followed.
"Tight squeeze," Gladio complained.
"Maybe for you," Prompto teased, "Pretty easy for me though."
"It's just a bit uncomfortable at most," I responded. "Thank the gods I'm not claustrophobic."
We continued navigating our way through, just following Noctis. When we got out, we were in what seemed like a tunnel.
"Keep quiet," Ignis whispered.
"Who? What? Where?" Prompto asked, a hint of panic in his voice.
"I don't know, but I don't like it," Gladio responded softly.
A few imps dropped from the ceiling, causing Prompto to yelp and stumble back again. I rolled my eyes. If anything, I was more annoyed than scared this time. I ran at one, slashing at it with my broadsword. The fight seemed to wrap up quickly, there were five of us and five of them. A perfect number.
After squeezing through another hole in the walls of the cave, we reached a rather tranquil-looking area. The sun shone through an opening in the ceiling, falling perfectly on a small patch of flowers. Next to it was a small body of water, maybe a pond or a river.
"This is a perfect writing spot!" I whispered excitedly. "It looks so nice!"
As if on cue to prove me wrong, more imps dropped from the ceiling, and a new daemon showed up. They appeared to be made up of lightning magic. Thunder Bombs, I realized. I threw my axe at one of them before turning my attention to an imp that was way too close. After finishing off the imp, I grabbed my axe again. Noct warped past me and attacked another thunder bomb, and with that, the battle was over.
"As you were saying about a perfect writing spot?" Prompto laughed.
"Shush, I stand by my word, if this place wasn't infested with daemons," I crossed my arms. After making sure we were all okay, we continued down into the cave.
"It never ends," Prompto muttered. A few more imps showed up, just our luck.
"Starting to get sick of this," I groaned, swinging my axe at one of the imps. Luckily for us, their numbers seem to be getting smaller, as this time, only three crawled out of the ground. We continued onward, making our way further down into the hollow. It only got darker as we went.
"Bring out the shiny sword!" Prompto whispered.
Noctis looked over at him in confusion. "What shiny sword?"
"Don't you have something that glows in the dark?" Gladio asked.
"Yeah, I could have sworn whenever you got a royal arm they glow!" I added.
Ignis shook his head with a sigh. "The power of kings... reduced to a torch."
We reached another tight squeeze. "Think we can fit through there?" Gladio asked.
Noctis approached the gap. "Gotta try," he responded calmly.
"Hold on a sec!" Prompto warned before screaming. Son of a bitch, more imps, I thought, watching them crawl out of the gap. Noctis took care of them rather quickly.
"I hate these things," he muttered as more showed up behind us. We were all quite annoyed at the amount we had to fight up to this point. I made quick work of a couple, one of them knocking my sunglasses off my face. I scrambled to grab them, putting them back on with a sigh.
"Nice catch," Gladio chuckled.
"Don't want these breaking," I laughed. After checking for any more imps, we made our way through the gap, coming to yet another tunnel. Our footsteps echoed loudly around us, and so did the growl of an unseen creature.
"Guys wait! Wha- What was that sound?" Prompto stuttered. I looked over and saw a hole in the wall, rocks blocking us from efficiently climbing through. He walked over to get a closer look.
The creature growled again, this time. I swear I heard it say something. "Prompto, be careful," I warned him. "Come on, we need to go this way."
I started walking down the tunnel some more, following the others when we heard Prompto scream. I spun back around.
"Prompto!" Noctis yelled, running over to where Prompto was.
"You alright?" Gladio yelled before running further into the cave. "Prompto! Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay! This place is literally the worst!" Prompto yelled back. "And why did it have to be a snake? That thing dragged me all the way over here!"
We reached an area full of stalagmites and daemons. Prompto ran over to us. "Hey, at least you're not hurt," I looked him over before attacking one of the mindflayers that snuck up on us.
"They just keep coming," Ignis said as he attacked a nearby imp.
"Then we keep pushing them back!" Gladio slammed his greatsword down on a thunder bomb.
We continued like this for a bit, running around the area and fighting the daemons that showed up as we tried to find our way onward. Ducking through another confined space, we made it to another tunnel.
"She's here. I just know it," Prompto whimpered, before yelling, "Show yourself already!"
"Cool it!" Gladio demanded.
I looked over at Prompto, giving him a small smile. "Hey, you'll be fine. I know you're scared. Just breathe." He nodded slightly. We walked into yet another open area, stalagmites still dotted all over the ground.
Just before we could make it through to another tunnel, a large snake-like creature launched itself from the ground. I let out a small shriek, stumbling back.
"See! I told you!" Prompto yelled, stumbling back. Ignis jumped back as well, Gladio summoning his shield to block a hit from the creature's tail. "There she is! That's her!"
Once I regained my composure, I looked over at the creature. She was a Naga. A distorted woman's head on a snake body. She raised herself above Noctis, looking down at him with all-white eyes.
"Do something, Noct!" Prompto yelled.
"Don't ask me, do it yourself," Noctis responded, cautiously looking up at the Naga.
As if the creepy snake daemon couldn't get any worse, she spoke. "My baby... where..." She seemed to struggle to speak, but the question got across. She's looking for her baby?
"Can't help you," Noctis responded, his voice surprisingly calm.
"Oh, you can... by becoming mine!" The Naga hissed before lunging at us.
"Man I hate snakes!" I whined as I swung my axe.
"Stop bitching, start killing," Gladio responded as he attacked.
The battle seemed to drag on forever, but eventually, the daemon fell to the ground. It sounded like it was simultaneously screaming and hissing, before weakly uttering, "Bring back... my baby..."
I shuddered. "That's enough daemons for one day."
"What was she talking about?" Ignis asked.
"Beats me," Noctis shrugged as we continued on.
"Something about her baby," Gladio stated.
Prompto let out a noise of disgust, "If it's anything like her, I ain't going near it." His tone quickly turned back to fear. "Do you guys see anything?"
"Nothing that's gonna snatch you up," Gladio reassured.
"Yeah, we'll take care of whatever rears its ugly head at us," I laughed.
"Says the girl who screamed when the snake lady showed up," Noctis teased. We reached the final runestone, the sun shining on it like a beacon.
"That's the last runestone," Ignis sounded relieved.
Prompto sighed in relief, "Finally!"
"Alright, you're up Noct," Gladio said, the four of us stopping a few feet away from the runestone, letting Noct go ahead.
He held his hand out like before, a sudden strike of lightning crashing down and seeming to be drawn to him. "This is it, the power of the Storm," he said as he approached us.
"Eh, I expected more fire and brimstone," Prompto joked. He was finally calmed down.
"Some gods are friendlier than others, I guess," Gladio agreed.
"But not all of them," Noctis sighed. "Poor Luna..."
"Perhaps you had better console her in person," Ignis suggested.
"Just a boat ride away!" Prompto chimed.
"And lose that scowl along the way," Gladio teased.
"Yeah, you don't wanna look like you're unhappy about being with her," I laughed.
"Will do," Noct responded as we made our way back to the entrance. I couldn't help but think about that Naga though. She seemed like a caring mother. I shook a thought from my head before running to catch up with the group.
