"So, you're the new recruits they sent over for special training," She spoke. "Nice cover, runaway prince." She muttered the last part, keeping her voice down. Noctis remained quiet.

"At ease, recruits. There's nothing in it for this ex-mercenary to turn you in," She continued. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Show?" Prompto asked.

"Forgot about your training? Well, I'm being paid to escort you. Just watch yourselves in there."

"I trust you'll be civil. Commodore Aranea Highwind, I leave them to you," Ardyn chimed in with a smile before leaving.

"Search until sundown. It won't do you any good," Aranea said calmly. "If you're looking to get inside, you're gonna have to wait."

I looked up at the sky. Sundown would be soon, luckily enough. She walked over to me with a smirk. "So you're the one the empire was making a fuss about? Besides the Prince, of course." She asked quietly.

I shrugged. "So what if I am?"

"I'm not going to get involved, doesn't benefit me any," She responded.

"Works for me," I nodded, returning the smirk.

"So now it's just killing time until sunset?" Prompto asked. Noctis nodded slightly, leaning against the wall nearby.

Once the sun started to set we made our way into the ruins. "What kind of place was this?" Prompto asked, looking at some of the pillars. "Any idea, Ignis?"

"None," Ignis responded.

"Gee, I wonder what happened to the locals."

"Why not head inside and look for them?" Aranea asked. I stifled a laugh. We approached a stairway, and I noticed something strange. The walls were glowing. Prompto pointed it out, confirming I wasn't just seeing things. At the top of the stairs there sat an entrance to the ancient building.

"Knew there was something not quite right. Gotta follow your gut sometimes," Prompto smiled as we walked in. For once he seemed confident while entering an area that could only be assumed to be swarmed with daemons. Probably because he was trying to impress Aranea.

"Yeah, we'd be lost without you," Aranea said sarcastically.

Noctis turned to me, laughing, "Looks like your sass has competition."

"Maybe," I shrugged before changing the subject. "Why build stairs up to the entrance if they're just going to have us go down another flight just to move forward?"

Prompto seemed focused on talking to Aranea. Yep, he's got a crush, I thought. "So, those guys your friends or something?" He asked, referring to the two men we saw waiting with her earlier.

"You appeared to be on good terms," Ignis added.

Aranea seemed confused for a second. "Who? Biggs and Wedge?" She asked.

We continued down even more stairs. "How far does this go?" Prompto whined.

"Yet a ways still," Ignis responded calmly.

We made it down the last flight of stairs, walking into a small room that was somehow still illuminated. I shuddered slightly, having a change of heart about going in here.

"Who left the lights on?" Prompto asked nervously. "Maybe the owners are still home?"

"No," Noctis responded, turning to look at Prompto with a look of someone who was more than used to his stupid questions.

Aranea looked around cautiously. "I doubt we can expect a warm welcome."

"Fun. Wonderful. This is great," I summoned my axe, readying myself for anything.

"Gaia, are you scared?" Noctis chuckled.

"Why would I be scared? It's not like this abandoned ruin doesn't have the lights on still!" I threw my arms in the air, sarcasm obvious in my voice. My axe almost fell to the ground and I scrambled to catch it.

"She's scared," Prompto laughed.

"Stay sharp," Ignis warned.

"You think it's an ambush?" Prompto asked.

"Oh hell no, it better not be an ambush," I stammered, losing my calm facade.

"Perhaps," Ignis responded.

Prompto seemed just as stressed as I was. He laughed nervously, "Yeah... Anybody know if there's a bathroom around here?"

We carefully made our way to one of the other rooms. Just our luck, a small horde of skeletons emerged from the ground. Of course, this place is crawling with daemons, I thought.

"Let me give the orders this time," Ignis said as he readied his daggers.

"Just keep it short," Noctis responded.

Prompto chimed in next, readying his gun, "And simple!"

Ignis paused for a moment, looking over at them. "Attack."

"That might be too simple," I laughed, summoning my sword and attacking a couple of skeletons.

"What? You don't have confidence in them?" Aranea asked with a laugh.

I jumped out of the way of Aranea's spear, realizing I got a bit too close. "Have you seen them?" I had to admit, upon getting a closer look at her weapon, it was pretty badass. It appeared to have some sort of magitek enhancements.

With the four of us, the battle wrapped up faster than I expected. "Damn, you're badass, Aranea," Prompto smiled over at her.

"Aw, thanks," She responded. She sounded flattered. We continued into the absolute maze of a building.

"This place has seen better days," Ignis muttered.

"So basically, it could fall on our heads without warning?" Prompto asked.

"Don't jinx it," I glared at him. As if to prove his statement right, a few rocks fell in front of us. Not enough to block the way but just enough to make us reconsider adventuring in here. "Maybe we should pick up the pace," I laughed nervously, looking up at the ceiling. Noctis nodded and we continued, reaching a large door. Once we managed to get it open we were treated to quite an amazing sight.

The room we were in appeared to be underwater. Light cast down to the lowest level, and the water seemed to ripple peacefully.

"Beautiful beyond words," Ignis spoke after a moment. We just seemed to collectively need a moment to take this all in.

Aranea sighed, seeming to be in awe. "That is pretty neat."

Prompto gestured to the water above us, sounding a bit more nervous than the rest of us. "Look up!"

"Whoa. If that's the water's surface," Aranea muttered.

"Wait, what? Does this mean we're underwater?"

"It sure doesn't feel like it," I responded. "But look! Fish!" I pointed at a few swimming nearby.

"The hell is this place?" Noctis asked.

"Could we truly be submerged?" Ignis asked as we walked down the only path ahead of us.

We reached a small balcony and I ran over to take in more of the view. A creme brulee fell right in front of me and I fell back with a yelp. "Damn it," I huffed, brushing myself off and summoning my broadsword.

Aranea readied herself to attack another one of the daemons. "Maybe don't run off next time?" She asked.

"And miss the chance to fight another gooey, disgusting monster?" I responded sarcastically. "I think this is a perfect way to spend the day."

"I can't tell if you guys are being sarcastic or genuinely arguing," Prompto laughed.

"I'm being sarcastic," I responded, swinging at the creme brulee that attacked me. "I can't speak for Aranea though." I turned my attention from the daemon once I defeated it, noticing a few skeletons had joined in on the attack. "Man, if daemons keep jumping us like this, we'll be in here for a while."

"Then let's make it quick," Noctis responded, quickly warping from one skeleton to the other. "Get the mythril and get out."

The battle wrapped up after what felt like an eternity and we continued down the path. "What does the empire seek here?" Ignis asked Aranea. We found a staircase leading to a lower level of the ruin.

"Specimens. And we're stuck harvesting them," Aranea responded, walking ahead of us.

"Specimens?" Prompto asked.

"Daemons."

"I'd hate to be stuck doing that job," I chimed in.

"So what's all this about the army and daemons?" Prompto continued to ask questions to our new party member.

Aranea scoffed, "What do you think it is?"

"Nice," Prompto responded sarcastically, "I love guessing games. Gaia, can't you tell us?" I remained silent, more focused on trying to not get startled by daemons again. Prompto recognized I wasn't listening, and so Aranea spoke again.

"Turns out the empire makes weapons out of them," She explained.

"Weapons?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you've seen your share by now."

"Weaponized daemons," I mumbled. I knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Something's not quite right with the empire lately," Aranea continued. It was strange that she was telling us so much about what the empire was up to, but who were we to complain?

"It's not just lately," Noctis responded as we walked down another flight of stairs.

"True. Maybe it's time I left."

"Really?" Prompto asked. "What would you do if you left the army?"

Aranea shrugged. "Whatever I want. I was a mercenary once. Maybe I'll round up my men and hunt daemons for cash?" Her confidence was inspiring.

"That's a heck of a plan."

I laughed. "Hey, if it pays the bills. Can't say I'd choose that kind of job but more power to you."

"What about the empire strikes you as not quite right?" Ignis asked.

"The emperor and the new high commander, for starters," Aranea responded. Annoyance was clear in her tone. "Then there's that charmer of a chancellor. I really can't stand that guy."

The high commander, I thought. "We ran into the high commander a bit ago," I laughed. "It was my first time seeing him actually."

"Yeah, he was a real treat," Noctis responded with a scowl. Despite everyone's negative feelings about Ravus, I didn't seem to find myself as annoyed. I didn't know what I was feeling.

Prompto seemed to pick up on something. "Don't tell me you have a crush on Ravus," He groaned, pretending to be disgusted.

"What?" I asked. "I saw him one time, and he didn't give a good impression, remember? Throwing Gladio into a car and threatening to kill Noctis?"

"Whatever you say," Prompto laughed.

"Is this some kind of revenge for me giving you shit about having a crush on Cindy?" I punched his arm playfully.

"Hey!"

"Come on you two," Noctis yelled. While we were talking, the others went off a little bit ahead.

Many daemon encounters and a few collapsing walkways later, we were almost to the bottom. We stood in front of a large bridge. One that hopefully wouldn't collapse on us like the other walkways did earlier.

"A place to cross, huh," Prompto stated before sighing. "We've come to the bridge. So now we cross it."

"What's wrong?" Noctis asked as we walked across. As if on cue, more daemons, skeletons specifically, emerged from the darkness on the other side.

"Seems they don't want us to cross," Aranea scoffed, readying her spear.

"Well then, maybe we shouldn't?" Prompto asked.

I shook my head. "We're already crossing it. We've already fought so many daemons, where's the harm in a few more." As we tried to progress further, a few creme brulee jumped in from behind us. "I just hope this is the last of them, at least for a while."

It was, in fact, not the rest of them. Once we defeated those, more daemons were waiting for us as we made our way down to the final floor of the ruins.

"What was that about those daemons being the rest of them?" Noctis asked with a laugh.

"I shouldn't have said anything," I huffed, trying to scrape the remains of another creme brulee off my boot. "Disgusting."

We reached one final stairway, the room connecting to it leading to an open area. Finally, we reached the bottom.

"Oh, spacious!" Prompto looked around as we entered. "There is so going to be a big nasty here."

We walked to the center of the large room, and we saw it. Perched on a walkway was a giant creature I could only describe as a mix of bird and dragon. A Quetzalcoatl. It spotted us and took to the air before diving at us. It landed behind us before trying to attack us from the air again.

"Son of a bitch," I muttered, jumping out of the way when it tried to attack us with its hind claws. "Not really built for fighting flying creatures! I don't think throwing my axe or sword would do any good!"

"We'll just make it land then," Aranea responded, leaping into the air like she did at that imperial base and bringing her spear down on the creature. It fell to the ground and we continued the attack. The battle felt like it went on forever, having to repeat the strategy every time it got back up and tried to fly again, but the beast finally fell.

"Woohoo! We're alive! Let's celebrate by eating something dead!" Prompto cheered.

I looked over at him, trying not to laugh. "Please, never say that again."

Noctis ran over to something and picked it up. "I think this is the mythril we were here for," he said as he held it up.

"That concludes our business here," Ignis chuckled.

Prompto walked over to Aranea. "Say, Commodore," he began.

"Aranea," she corrected.

"You said the empire uses daemons to make weapons?"

"Listen. You've seen magitek troopers, right?"

I felt everyone look at me at once. I laughed nervously, "Hey, this feels kinda targeted, don't you think?"

"They're born from daemons. In a lab," Aranea continued. "Gaia, do you care to share any more details?"

"Born from daemons," Prompto repeated.

"I'd rather not get into it," I admitted. "It's a touchy subject. But yeah daemons are involved with making magiteks, and in a way that includes me. Don't worry, you aren't going to catch the Starscourge."

"Darkness is coming," Aranea warned Noctis. "If I were you, I'd watch my princely ass. Uh- 'kingly' ass."

"Will do," Noctis said calmly as we began the long journey to get back to the entrance.

"Any specific reason you don't want to tell us more?" Prompto asked.

"I just don't want to. Please understand when I say it's a touchy subject, I mean it's a touchy subject," I sighed, running a hand over my face.

Noctis chuckled, "Let her be, Prompto. She'll tell us when she feels comfortable."

Aranea turned back to us once we made it out of the ruins. She had to yet again put on the act of us being recruits. "Congrats, that concludes your training," She said. "You've still got a hard path ahead, but don't let anyone tell you how to walk it."

"You may have been hired under false pretenses, but your assistance was invaluable all the same," Ignis smiled.

Aranea crossed her arms but still seemed amused. "Tell me something I don't know. You can spare the pleasantries."

"Take care walking your path, Aranea."

"Oh, right. Thanks. I will. And I'll train you some more if our paths cross again," She seemed caught off-guard by Ignis wishing her well. "Oh, and before I forget. His Excellency instructed me to give you lot a ride back. If you need a lift, feel free to hop on."

Ignis checked his phone, and it must have been a serious matter given how it seemed to take all his attention. Prompto turned to us after Aranea walked away. "Well, glad that's over with!"

"You and me both," I laughed. "I was thinking we'd never get out of there."

"Noct, I have just received word from Cindy," Ignis spoke as he put his phone away.

"And?" Noctis asked.

"We're to return to Lestallum. Her friend works as an engineer at the power plant. She'll take care of the mythril."

"And that'll take care of our boat problem!" Prompto added.

With our next destination in mind, we made our way to Aranea, seeing her waiting with her own dropship. I shielded my eyes from the bright light that illuminated the area it was hovering over.

"You're headed to Lestallum, right?" She asked. "I'll take you there, but no further."

"Got it," Noctis responded with a nod. With that, we boarded Aranea's dropship and prepared to finally be done with that mythril errand. The trip was quick, and it went much better than the ride with Ardyn.

Once we arrived at the power plant, Aranea turned to address us again. "Sounds like a spot of trouble's popped up at the power plant. Wish I could help, but I'm powerless to do anything I'm not ordered to. I'll leave the keeping of the peace to you."

"Of course," Ignis nodded.

I shrugged. "No worries, not your fault something's happening."

We got off the ship and made our way to the power plant. After Holly, Cindy's friend that Ignis mentioned, explained the situation, it was decided one of us would have to go into the power plant.

"Loving the outfit, Noct!" Prompto teased. Noctis was the one who got dragged into going inside the power plant. With that came having to wear a special thermal suit to make sure he could withstand the temperatures. It looked like an old spacesuit, and I stifled a laugh. Admittingly, it was funny to see.

"Why don't you two wear one?" Noctis glared at us.

"Well, that's the only one. And if anyone stands a fighting chance in there, it's you," Ignis responded. "Forget about fashion and go."

After a while, Noctis returned with someone else in tow. We had been informed of a hunter going in shortly before Noctis, but it was a surprise to see who it was. It was Gladio.

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to say anything.

"Hey, big guy!" Prompto was beaming. I suppose it was nice to see Gladio again, even if we weren't on the best terms.

"How you been, fellas?" Gladio asked.

"Whoa, someone did a number on you." Prompto was right. Gladio had a new scar going across his forehead.

"You should see the other guy. Anyway, I'm back and better than ever."

Now it was time to head back to Caem, and to yet again be wedged between Noctis and Gladio while riding in the Regalia...