Prompto shook me awake at the break of dawn. "Gaia, wake up," he whispered, grabbing me by the shoulders.

"What is it?" I muttered, opening my eyes. "Better be good if you felt the need to interrupt a dream."

"What were you dreaming about?" Prompto smiled before winking. "Was it you-know-who?"

I rolled my eyes. "Prompto, you know how Noctis is when we wake him up early?"

"Yeah, why?"

"If you aren't careful, I'll be like that, but worse. So get to the point." I rubbed my eyes before adjusting how I was sitting.

"Well for one, nice job using furniture to sleep on instead of a corner," Prompto smiled. "And two, I was just curious about you and Ravus."

"Why do you care so much?" I asked.

Prompto shrugged. "I just thought since he is, you know, the high commander, that there could be ulterior motives."

"Ulterior, that's a big word for you," I laughed. "But no, as I said before, there were no politics. We never even brought that up, other than a mention of Ardyn."

"Let us know if he tries anything," Prompto responded.

I nodded. "You told me that last night, and I already agreed to. Can I get back to sleep now?"

"Fine, but you have to promise to keep me filled in on details," Prompto smiled.

I paused for a moment. "I suppose I could. But only some details, I don't want to expose everything. For your sake and mine." I knew that if I didn't agree, Prompto would keep pestering me until I did. "But now I don't think I'll be able to fall back asleep. Any other questions you have for me?"

"Why Ravus of all people?" He asked.

"Why do you have a crush on Cindy?" I asked back.

Prompto stayed silent for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek. "Touche," he responded. "But at least Cindy isn't attacking people."

I stifled a laugh. "You got me there, but in his defense, he didn't try to attack me."

"Gaia, you say that like that's a good thing."

I nodded slightly. "I know, I know. I can't even try to justify it. But he just seems different around me, you know? He was smiling!"

"Ravus? Smiling?" Prompto asked. "That sounds scary."

"Look, I get you guys are worried, and I would be too if this kind of thing were to happen to one of you," I laughed. "I just want to let it play out, see what happens. If boundaries get crossed then it'll be over. You have my word. I'm not a woman who likes to be mistreated."

"Alright," Prompto chuckled. We continued talking about random things that just crossed our minds until the others woke up. It was then time to continue with what we had to do. Luckily for us, it was just finding that restaurant and not having to run an errand for a god or sneaking into an imperial base for the umpteenth time.

"Oh hey, think we can make a little detour?" I asked as we walked. "We can take a look at Lunafreya's wedding dress! Assuming there isn't a crowd."

"Sure," Noctis shrugged.

"Alright, let's go!" I smiled. I led the way, hearing people talking about it as we passed. We quickly made our way to the display, where luckily there were fewer people than when I first saw it.

"One hell of a crowd," Prompto mumbled.

"There were more people when I saw it last," I laughed.

"That's the dress. My word," Ignis said softly. Even seeing it for a second time, I still couldn't help but be taken aback by the dress. I suppose an amazing dress was to be expected from Vivian Westwood, but I wasn't one to know about dresses.

"Everyone looks so happy! And it's all because of this one dress," Prompto said after a moment, taking out his camera to grab a couple of pictures. He turned to Noctis once he was done. "I'm real glad for you Lady Lunafreya's safe and sound."

Prompto's tone sounded... different. A little less chipper. Before I could ask him if something was wrong, Gladio spoke. "That settles it. You gotta make it happen. Become a symbol of the peace," he told Noctis. "After we tie up all the loose ends, let's think about the ceremony."

"A fine idea," Ignis agreed.

Noctis approached the display, taking a closer look. "Yeah, I'll think about it," he responded.

"Wait, that's what the whole wedding was about?" I asked. "A peace thing? That's kind of questionable in my opinion. I mean, you and Lunafreya love each other, I get it, but is that why you weren't that excited?"

"I thought everyone knew that. At least, the whole 'symbol of peace' aspect," Prompto chuckled, "Gaia, I thought you would have known that."

"No, not really," I shrugged. "All I knew was that they were getting married."

"Come on," Noctis said, motioning for us to follow him. "Let's get back on track."

"So where exactly are we going to go?" I asked. "Like, how are we going to get to Maagho?"

"By gondola," Ignis responded. "I found it has its own station, so we just need to find one of the other stations nearby. The gondola there can take us directly to Maagho."

"Oh boy, another gondola ride," I laughed. "Not really a fan of them, I'll be honest. But if that's the only way of travel I suppose I'd better suck it up."

We continued, finding a gondola station and successfully getting a ride to Maagho. I adjusted how I was sitting, turning to look at the water. The ride didn't take too long, but boy did it feel like it.

We arrived at an area that reminded me of how a bar would be described in a novel. Glancing around only solidified my impression. I caught a glance of some wine bottles sitting behind the counter, along with what looked like some whiskey and a few other varieties of alcohol on top of it.

"Some of those look nice," I mumbled as we walked up to the counter before turning to the others. "Think we can just have a chill night here?"

"I don't see why we can't," Noctis chuckled.

The man behind the counter turned and greeted us with a smile. "Welcome to Accordo. Cid mentioned you'd be dropping in," he said. "Weskham Armaugh, as you've gathered. My word, you've grown, little prince."

Noctis nodded in acknowledgment and Weskham continued talking, "But of course, you were only a babe at the time. So this is your maiden visit. Enjoying it so far?"

"This country is part fo the empire, isn't it?" Noctis asked.

"You're wary, I understand. But there's no need to jump at every shadow. Just be aware that the terms of our independence grant the empire free reign to come and go as they please."

"Oh that's lovely," I said, sitting down at the bar counter.

"We'll bear that in mind," Ignis said.

"It's admittedly a one-sided arrangement. Most everything we do requires Niflheim's permission, and they wouldn't knowingly permit the Oracle to appear before the public. How our government spun that is quite a mystery," Weskham chuckled.

That's right, Lunafreya was going to give a speech or something, I thought.

"So you see lots of Niffs around here?" Noctis asked, sitting down. I raised an eyebrow at him, unsure if I should feel counted in with that or not.

"We do. Sometimes even at my place," Weskham responded. "Theirs is a familiar presence, and the citizens don't think much of it. Though the high commander did cause a stir when he showed up the other day."

"Ravus," Noctis muttered.

"Hear that, Gaia?" Prompto whispered. "Looks like this might be a good date spot for you two in the future!"

"Shut up," I laughed, elbowing Prompto in the ribs playfully.

Luckily no one else seemed to hear us, as Noctis's conversation with Weskham continued. Talking about Lunafreya and Leviathan, and the empire's possible involvement. I saw a menu on the counter and I slid it over so that Prompto and I could get a better look.

"Fancy stuff," I chuckled.

"Just look at how much gil some of this is!" Prompto stammered. "300 thousand for caviar, damn."

A woman approached Noctis and I quickly turned away from the menu. Food could wait, this woman seemed to have an air of importance to her. Maybe it was the outfit, or maybe it was the soldier that was following her as a guard.

"I won't waste your time," the woman said, looking at Noctis with her arms crossed. "My name is Camelia Claustra."

"First secretary of the Accordo Protectorate," Ignis acknowledged.

"You should know we have Lady Lunafreya in our care. And the empire demands we surrender her."

"What?" Noctis whispered angrily.

"Yet I am loath to acquiesce unless we stand to profit. Hence I've come to discuss terms... with the King of Lucis. If you have a mind to talk, come to my estate."

The Claustra estate, I thought. That's right, Ravus had pointed it out to me yesterday. We watched as she left, remaining silent for a moment.

"She can be oblique at the best of times, but I assure you her heart is in the right place," Weskham spoke, breaking the silence. "At any rate, you must be weary from your journey. Might I suggest you seek your beds now and ponder matters anew in the morning?"

Noctis turned to look at us. "I think we'll stay here a bit. I saw a couple of my friends looking at the menu."

"Hey, we've been exploring all day," I laughed. "And look at the menu, Noctis! The food looks amazing!"

"Alright," Noctis laughed. "Yeah, we're going to stay here for a bit."

"Whoaa, this lasagna is so good!" I laughed. "Iggy, please tell me you have a recipe for this!"

"Gaia, how much have you had to drink?" Prompto chuckled.

I scoffed. "Only like... is this my third glass?" I looked over at my glass of whiskey. It was already mostly down. "Just one more, come on."

Ignis chuckled and shook his head. "It shouldn't come as a surprise that she is the first to become tipsy."

"Tipsy? Me? Naah," I chuckled. "Alright, maybe I am. But you guys let me order some whiskey, so who's really to blame?" I leaned back in my seat. And then I was on the ground.

"Sure about that?" Gladio chuckled. He was well into his second glass of wine. Looked like we were all drinking, but I was the only one who couldn't hold their liquor.

Prompto helped me back up. "You gotta be more careful," He laughed.

"I take it she's new to drinking?" Weskham chuckled.

"Yeah, guess so," Noctis said as he shook his head. "After this, we're going to head back to the hotel."

"That's a good idea," Ignis responded.

"You're getting cut off, Gaia," Prompto teased, elbowing me. I elbowed him back and rolled my eyes. As Ignis and Noctis looked over the bill, I finished the rest of my whiskey and carefully stood up.

"Are we sure Gaia will be fine to ride on a gondola?" Prompto asked.

"I'll be fine, it's not like I am gonna fall in the water," I rolled my eyes.

Noctis chuckled. "If you do, we'll have Prompto jump in after you."

"What? Why me?" Prompto asked with a laugh as we walked back to the gondola, getting a ride back to the Leville.

"Because you're my older brother," I laughed, putting an arm around him.

After we made our way back to the hotel and to our room, I collapsed onto one of the chairs. "So what's the plan?" I asked.

"For tomorrow? I guess I'm meeting with Camelia Claustra," Noctis shrugged. "No clue what you guys might do in the meantime."

"So it's a day off? For us at least?" I asked with a chuckle. "Perfect."

We continued discussing plans for a moment before we called it a night. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be dealing with a hangover on top of it...