The few days we chose for a break flew by, and it was now time to set out for the mythril. "That means the lake should be somewhere north of here," Prompto spoke, looking over at Noctis.
"Be wary though. Wherever we go, the empire seems to follow," Ignis warned.
"Feels nice having legroom," I laughed, sitting in Gladio's spot. "I don't have to try to fold myself in half!" I tried to change the subject.
"Enjoy it while you can," Noctis laughed. Another reason why I was thrilled about being in Gladio's spot: Noctis was driving again. If we got into some sort of accident, at least I wouldn't go flying through the windshield. We reached a blockade, which surprisingly opened for us.
"Wait, what happened to 'under imperial lockdown'?" Prompto asked.
"I don't think the blockades would react to my code," I held up my arm, showing the barcode that was tattooed on my wrist. "If it were the case, you'd think the one over by Titan would have opened when we got close."
"They all but turned the key and left the gates open for us- as if awaiting our arrival," Ignis muttered.
"And if anyone's waiting for us, I bet it's that guy," Prompto sighed.
"Chancellor Izunia," Ignis's tone expressed how we all felt about this situation, that being clear suspicion.
"Can't complain as long as he lets us in," Noctis responded casually.
"Who's to say he'll let us out? Not to mention we're a man down. Would that the marshal were with us."
"Oh yeah. Whatever happened to that guy?" Prompto asked.
"Yeah, what's Cor- er, the marshal- up to now?" I smiled slightly.
"As I understand it, he's put his tomb raiding on hold to help the hunters take care of some troublesome beasts," Ignis responded.
"No rest for 'the Immortal'," Noctis sighed.
We rounded a corner and a few yards ahead of us stood an MA.
I rolled my eyes, "Just lovely."
"No way through," Noctis huffed, slamming on the brakes. I couldn't react before my face slammed into the back of Prompto's headrest. We rushed out of the car, quickly engaging the enemy. Lucky for us, other than the MA, there were only two imperial soldiers, but it was obvious there would be more down the road.
"It kinda sucks having to deal with imperials when we're a man down," I huffed, attacking one of the imperial soldiers.
"Gladio's missing out," Prompto laughed. "I know he'd be all for exploring a swampy area like the Vesperpool."
Once the soldier I was focused on fell, I turned my attention to the MA, which was already on its last leg. If anything, battles seemed to feel quicker when Gladio wasn't around. The battle quickly ended, a small explosion from the MA causing me to jump.
"I'm sure Gladio's having fun wherever he ran off to," I shrugged, resting my axe on my shoulder for a moment before letting it return to where ever it goes when I don't need it. The whole Armiger thing still confused me, but it beat having to haul two weapons on my back at all times. We walked back to the Regalia.
"Can Iggy drive?" I asked, quickly getting back to my temporary spot. "Noct slamming on the brakes about broke my nose."
"Gaia, you don't know how to drive, you have no room to talk," Noctis chuckled. "We're almost there, and I promise not to do that again."
"Do you have bones to break?" Prompto asked me.
"Not really, my skeleton is all metal," I laughed.
"So I couldn't break your nose," Noctis laughed as he got behind the wheel again.
"At least we don't need to worry about too many injuries for you," Ignis chuckled.
We drove down the road for at most a minute before Prompto turned to Noctis. "What do you say we take a souvenir shot?" He asked, holding his camera excitedly and pointing toward the lake.
"Yeah, go for it," Noctis responded casually. Prompto cheered as we turned off onto a side road and made our way to the lakefront. Once we got closer, I could see why Prompto wanted to stop for a photo. The view was quite serene, but I assumed that there would be beasts waiting for us near the water. Noctis pulled the Regalia into a parking area just a short walk away from where Prompto wanted to take the shot.
Prompto ran ahead, stopping at the edge of the lake and motioning for us to come over. Well, more like telling us to hurry up. Once we were all there, he set up his camera. "Gaia, you sure you wanna wear your sunglasses in the picture?" He asked.
"Why, you want a picture of me without them?" I asked in return. I took off my sunglasses and hooked them on the collar of my shirt. It'll only be a moment, I thought. "Fine, I'll humor you."
"Sweet!" He smiled and adjusted the camera one last time before running over and joining us in the photo.
"Let's get back on the road," Ignis chuckled, looking at the photo Prompto took. A quick run to the car and we were back on the road again.
It was a quiet drive, for about a minute. Noctis slammed on the brakes again. More Imperials. I barely managed to catch myself before I slammed into Prompto's seat again. "You said you wouldn't slam the brakes again!" I yelled.
"Last thing I need now," Noctis groaned, ignoring me as we all rushed out of the Regalia. Unlike the last time, there were three imperial troopers. The MA was the same model as the previous one, however, so at least we knew the strategy for that part. That's what we did, keeping the strategy the same as the last time. The added imperial trooper added a bit of difficulty, but we pulled through.
"Please, Iggy. I don't want my sunglasses being broken by a damn headrest," I whined.
"Alright," Ignis chuckled, taking his spot behind the wheel. I sighed in relief as I got in the back. Noctis jokingly glared at me, crossing his arms. We luckily didn't have any more interruptions and we drove up to a path.
"Figures, now we gotta walk," Prompto groaned.
"It isn't that far of a walk," Ignis responded, shaking his head slightly. We followed the path, it leading to what looked like a set of ruins. Something else caught my eye. A red car. Ardyn's car. Son of a bitch, I thought. We continued and soon saw him, waiting for us near a couple of pillars.
"What a pleasant surprise," He said with a smile.
"Told you he'd be waiting," Prompto groaned.
"With my imperial friends, no less." I couldn't tell what tone Ardyn had, whether it was sarcasm or his usual saccharine annoying one.
"Splendid," Ignis spat. I ducked behind Ignis, not wanting to have to deal with this longer than we had to.
"But fear not- I'll put in a good word." He smiled before turning and walking further into the ruins. "Well, come along, then. Don't stray too far, lest you get left behind." I rolled my eyes as we followed him. He continued talking, though I felt he knew none of us were listening. "Surely you'd rather avoid unnecessary scuffles, seeing as you are now a group of four." He noticed our annoyance. "Oh dear, touchy subject?"
"Like we'd talk about it to you," I sneered, crossing my arms.
"Feisty as always. Then let's discuss why you're here. It can't be archaeology. Mythril, perhaps?"
"This guy's reading our thoughts!" Prompto gasped. We were trudging through a shallow part of the lake at this point, and I had no clue how Ardyn could stand having his coat getting wet.
"Mythril. It's a precious resource, you see. We can't just let anyone get their hands on it."
"But you'll help us get ours on it, right?" Noctis asked, just as annoyed as the rest of us, if not more.
Ardyn gasped and turned to look at us. "I never said that!" His tone was exaggerated at this point.
"Of course you didn't," Prompto mocked his tone.
"Where is the fun in that? I thought you'd rather dig it up yourselves." Ardyn led us to the main ruin. A couple of imperial troopers stood guard and I tensed up. Standing in front of the entrance to what I could only assume led further into the ruins was that woman from earlier, along with two men none of us have seen before. He turned to look at us. "Fear not, I'll be but a moment," He said before walking over to talk to the woman.
"A moment doing what?" Prompto asked.
Noctis shrugged and looked over at us. "Beats me."
"All clear! Go ahead," Ardyn called over to us. Time for us to figure out how to get that mythril...
