Day 42:

"It's about time you guys showed up—holy heck, what happened to you, Cor?"

Cor looked down, like he hadn't noticed his shirt and pants were covered in blood.

"Nothing," he said. "The hell are you doing out here?"

"You drove me," Iris said. No need to disclose the rest of the story. You know. That part where she had spent several hours locked in a trunk and becoming well acquainted with the tire iron and spare tire? Yeah. That part.

Cor looked at Rei. Rei looked at Iris, and she looked confused about it.

"Why?" She asked.

Iris shrugged. "You went missing. You think I could leave Cor to do something important that doesn't include stabbing something?"

Cor crossed his arms over his chest. Iris took a step back. Just in case.

Rei didn't look convinced.

"Look. I'm part of your retinue, right?" Iris said. "And I'm an Amicitia. We always protect the Caelums."

And also she was tired of sitting around at home while Dad and Gladdy both had important things to do and the whole world was busy except her. But never mind that part.

"How endearing." Ardyn came up behind Reina. "What a happy family you've made, little Dreamer."

Iris wrinkled her nose. "You brought him, but not me? Sheesh. Thought you had better taste."

"He's important," she said. "And you're not enemies."

"Yet." Ardyn smiled. Creepy.

"O-kay. So. Where are we off to next?" Iris asked.

"We aren't going anywhere. You're going back to Insomnia," Cor said.

"How? You drove me here," Iris said. "I'm not gonna walk back."

Cor looked at Reina.

"We can't go back," she said. "Not yet." She looked at Iris. "But I don't want you in danger."

Sheesh. Did everyone think she was a kid? "Look, I wasn't sitting at home when Niflheim attacked, okay? I was out there keeping the emperor on the ground with Cor and Ignis. And in case you forgot, I was up in that ship with you, too!"

Still, Rei wasn't giving in.

"Look, you need someone, because Cor looks like he went through a meat grinder and I happened to make some friends in Ravatogh last night. And I know you didn't bring any luggage." Because she had been in the trunk, where luggage was supposed to go. But she didn't say that part. "I'm sure I could score some showers, a change of clothes, and breakfast."

They all looked at each other again. Reina even looked at Ardyn, who shrugged colorfully.

"Alright," Rei said eventually. "I guess you're staying. Let's get cleaned up."

"Now you're talking!" Iris grinned. "There's a guy outside the general store that makes some really good fried chicken."

They drove down the street to Verinas Mart. Not like it was far to walk, but that made it a little faster. Good thing she hadn't actually managed to kick through one of the back seats or else the trip would have been way more awkward and a bit uncomfortable for four people.

The people she'd met in the little outpost were accommodating and friendly. Everyone got a shower and Cor even got a new shirt. Which was good, since the other one was halfway missing.

After that they were on the road again. Rei never gave much information about where they were going, just told Cor where to turn and when to stop. They ended up at the end of a dirt road past a rotting wood sign that said 'Malmalam Thicket' and something about 'Do Not Enter,' but they were with royalty, so what did that really matter?

Iris had never seen so many trees in one place. The road they'd come from had disappeared and it was just wild all around and a thin dirt trail leading deeper in.

"You should stay with the car," Reina said.

"What, me?" Iris asked.

"Both of you." She glanced at Cor.

Yeah, right. Had she met Cor?

"It could be dangerous," she said. "I don't want anyone getting hurt. Again."

She looked pointedly at Cor when she said that. Ouch. Whatever he'd done to mess up his shirt and get covered in blood, it sure hadn't earned him any points with Reina.

"And I don't want you getting hurt." Cor crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'll be fine," she said.

She said that a lot. Usually she said it when she was looking really not fine, so that kind of took some of the weight out of it.

"Are you going to stop me from following you?" Cor asked.

"I could order you to stay," she said.

"You could," Cor said. But he wasn't going to listen to that order, if Iris knew anything about him.

Reina sighed and turned down the path. "Very well."

They went along with. She led them through the forest along a bunch of twisting dirt trails like she'd been through here a hundred times before. Maybe she had. No one knew what had happened during those ten years she had Dreamed. Or hardly anything about it, anyway.

Eventually she led them into a cavern. Except it was open on top, so it was more of a… crevasse? Something like that. There were definitely things living inside. Like the biggest bugs Iris had ever seen in her life and hoped never to see again.

Who knows what Rei was worried about, though. She killed everything before Cor even drew his sword. She moved like a ghost, just barely visible for the instants when she struck before disappearing in a purple flash. Iris forgot to watch anything else. The only sound was Reina's blade and giant bug bodies hitting the ground.

When nothing else was moving, Reina landed on the ground, dusted herself off, and straightened. Ardyn was leaning against the rock wall, grinning in that creepy way. He hadn't bothered to draw a weapon—if he even had one. Cor was still standing at the ready, katana in hand.

It was about then Iris realized she hadn't brought a weapon. Drat. That was really going to help her reputation here.

"Hey, um, Rei? I know Noctis shares magic with Gladdy so Gladdy always has a sword with him, and you don't want me to fight but maybe… just in case…?" Iris said.

Reina considered her. Who knew what she was thinking, because it sure wasn't written on her face. Finally she said, "If you want," and held her hand out.

Iris took it. There was a burst of purple light and warmth wrapped up around her like a great big hug. The light glowed all around her and finally sank into her skin, leaving her with this weird awareness of the air around her. Like her sense of touch extended an inch beyond her skin, everywhere.

When the glow stopped, Reina's released her.

"Let's go," Reina said.

"Reina," Cor called after her. "Don't use the ring unless you have to. It's too expensive."

She stopped, glanced over her shoulder at him, and smiled. Not like a friendly smile or a happy smile, but something a little bit creepy and a little bit like the one Ardyn had been wearing.

"I didn't," she said.

So that was just her, then. Iris hadn't seen many Caelums fight. King Regis never did because, well, he was the king and he held the Wall and all that, and when Noctis sparred with Gladdy he never moved like that. Yeah, Iris had been at the warehouses and then in the Magitek ship with Rei on Daemonfire, but she had been paying more attention to not getting shot and not crashing at the time.

Iris jogged to catch up with Cor. "Was that just Caelum magic?"

"I guess so," Cor said.

They had to hurry to follow after Rei by then. The rest of the thicket went about the same way. They slogged through a knee-deep creek, but the water never seemed to slow Reina down. It was probably better that way, because Iris would have had a hard time kicking some of the stuff in here. At least MTs kept both their feet on the ground.

There was a beast five times as tall as Cor on four legs at the end. The whole thing looked like it was made out of spikes and tusks and teeth. Cor did manage to get his sword out in time to hit that one, but only a couple times before it gave up under Rei's onslaught.

She was so cool.

If Cor was impressed that she could have taken something like that down by herself he didn't say anything. But he usually didn't say anything. And he usually didn't look like anything except a little bit grumpy all the time and that was what he looked like now, so probably he wasn't really grumpy.

Just normal grumpy.

After the monster was just a heap on the ground Rei led them through a pair of carved stone doors that looked really out of place in there. Inside was a tomb, complete with a sarcophagus with a statue laying on top.

"What is this place?" Iris whispered to Cor. It felt like the kind of place that should be whispered in.

"A royal tomb," Cor said. "The final resting place of a king of Lucis."

Reina stood before the sarcophagus and something happened that Iris didn't understand. A scepter rose up out of the grave but it was made out of blue light, like when Noctis used his magic. It lifted up and slammed into Reina's chest and all of her seemed to glow as nine violet glaives formed around her in a circle. The scepter was one of them.

She waved her hand. The glaives vanished and took the light with them.

"Let's go." Reina turned around. "Hammerhead. I need to ask for a favor."