Sorry for the delay! Life is quite busy with a baby and working full time. But here's the next chapter, I do hope you enjoy,


"So we're gonna get you some practical clothes. None of that descended-from-on-high white purity nonsense." Crowe wagged a finger. "Start with some pants. Not sure those shorts you're wearing can count as anything more than fancy undies." Lunafreya flushed, tugging at the bottom of the admittedly limited shorts, and tried to pull down the top she was wearing without accidentally revealing more of her already partially exposed chest.

"I would prefer to be a bit more… covered." She answered. "And I do believe some proper footwear would be prudent." She appreciated the sneakers that she was provided by Cindy, but the soles were partially separating from the bottom of the show, and the fabric was so worn her left pinky toe was poking through.

"Yeah gotta get you a good pair of hiking boots." Lunafreya nodded in reply, and wondered if boots would be as comfortable as the old pair of sneakers she was wearing. She began to knit her fingers to stop herself from mindlessly tugging at her clothing.

"As long as they aren't heels. Quite like this feeling that my skin may actually remain adhered to my feet."

"Well I know a good cheap place. Unlike the bromance clan, I've actually been outside of Insomnia." She led Lunafreya through the streets, occasionally earning the odd turned head. "Ya know, we should get you a hat too." The Shield commented. "You stick out even worse than Prompto with that blonde hair of yours."

"Not many Tenebraeans about?" Lunafreya answered.

"I can't tell if that was sarcasm or a painful naivete. You should play poker with that deadpan of yours."

"Care to make a wager?"

"Oh now I have to play poker with you. I think I can see what Noct sees in you."

"I suppose I could use the extra money." Crowe barked a laugh, promising to get a game set up once they were collectively less broke. She led the way to a clothing store that smelled like cheap perfume and blasted music from wall-mounted speakers. The brightly colored walls were almost disorienting with nonsense patterns, and the dirty stone floor provided a jarring contrast.

"It's like a raver barfed glitter on a yard sale, huh? I swear you'll find some practical clothes here. C'mon." Crowe beckoned Lunafreya into the store when she halted at the doorway and lifted her brow. She shrugged, sighing and followed her Shield. "So what should we stick you in? Hmm… at least one black shirt. You're gonna be a Caelum right? Gotta get you in some black to make you and the brooding Prince a matching set." Lunafreya shrugged and smiled, shifting her gaze to a rack of shirts, idly thumbing through them to keep her hands busy. "What size are you?"

"Hmm? Oh. I know my dress measurements-"

"Naw, that won't work. Here, stick out your arms." Lunafreya lifted a brow a little but reached her arms out, flinching slightly as Crowe dropped a pair of pants in her arms.

"Denim is pretty practical. We'll try on a few sizes, see what your skinny ass fits in." she got a nod in reply, and dropped another pair of pants on her arm. "Okay go try these on, once we know your pant size we'll get started on shirts." She shooed her the changing rooms, and leaned against the wall as she waited for her. She sighed, drumming her fingers against the wall, leg bouncing in place. Her eyes scanned the room, wondering what colors she should try and talk her into, aside from the typical Lucian black. She saw a tie-dyed shirt with a bit of glitter on it and grinned at the thought of Sparklefingers wearing something so, well, sparkly. She shifted through the shifts and settled and pulled out a small version of the shirt, but then put it back for a medium simply for the extra length so she wouldn't be tugging on the bottom of her shirt all day. She felt her phone buzz and pulled it from her pocket, seeing an unread message from Gladiolus on her phone

Mullet: Hey its noct usin gladius phone i dont have ur number luna holding up?

Crowe: Im pretty terrifying but ive manged not to make her run screaming to the end of the continent.

She tapped send and shoved the phone back into her pocket, ignoring the near instant buzz in her pocket. She envied the bond Gladiolus and Noctis had, it was like the one she had with her fellow glaives. She thought about the people's numbers in her phone and wondered if she should message any of them. Were any of them alive, and not traitorous bastards? And she promised herself to pay back Libertus for his recipe stunt. She thought about Nyx, and how his awkward bitter ass had been promoted to The King's Shield. She thought about sending him a message to check it but quickly decided no. She could harass him in person soon enough if she could convince Noctis that interrogating Regis about what the shit happened to her powers was a good idea if he still expected her to protect the damned Oracle.

She turned towards the changing rooms and went back to lean against the wall holding the obnoxious shirt in her hand with every intention of purchasing it and making it her life's mission to get the girl to try it on. She wondered if her charge would even oppose the garment. She was always in white on broadcasts or in published photos; but how much of that was merely Nifleheim's doing? Did she like white? Color? Did she want to wear black and match Noctis or would that just make her seem like someone else's tool again? She sighed, wishing she knew more about the girl. She seemed nice enough, but she knew nothing about her outside of whatever crap the Empire shoved down everyone's throat. Was she still an Empirical puppet? The girl clearly had Noct wrapped around her finger. Oh calm the hell down. She chided herself.

"Crowe?" she turned, and grinned as she saw said woman standing there. "They appear to fit well?" she asked, gesturing down to her legs.

"Hey now, seems we have a success. Spin around," she did as told, awkwardly turning around. She bit back a comment about how good the denim made her ass look, and settled on telling her to get changed up so they could figure out her shirt size, buy what they needed, and get out of the store before the music gave her a headache. They left some time later with the obnoxious glitter shirt, a pair of denim, several shirts, underclothes, a jacket for when they weren't dying from heatstroke in Lestallum, and something to sleep in.

"I feel quite bad spending so much of our money on myself." Lunafreya remarked after they had paid and left the store.

"You hardly purchased a bare minimum to dodge living in the same thing every day. You're allowed to y'know, have things. And in this case you kinda need these things. It's not like you're dashing around collecting jewelry 'n shit. And you helped in the hunt that got us this money, you don't think you're entitled to your own share of it?"

"I merely wish to be practical" she answered.

"Okay we gotta go get something frivolous now." Crowe answered her, and gave Lunafreya a slow push on her arm with a closed fist, "I'm not gonna actually hit you." She added at the way Lunafreya's arm grew tense. "Be a pretty shitty Shield if I did." Lunafreya wanted to offer a reassurance that Regis would not have appointed her if she did not trust she could do the job, but on the same hand she was realistic. She knew that options were limited, and most of the people he had hand-picked to protect his family had turned their backs on the Caelum line and helped to bring upon the fall of Insomnia. But she wanted to trust in her, if only to prove her trust for Regis.

"Don't you need clothing too?" she diverted.

"Oh I got a bag fulla stuff, packed a few days of things when Libertus pulled his little trick." She muttered another threat about the man.

"What exactly did he do? I'm a bit confused on this." She inquired.

"He sent me with an important message for Noctis warning him of an incoming attack on the Citadel, but really all he did was hand me a cookie recipe from a magazine. Probably trying to get me out of the Citadel… but there really was an attack, he sent me away just to get me out of the way." She rolled her shoulders a bit and grinned, "I'll give him what's coming to him." Lunafreya observed the slight change in her gait; her feet hit the pavement with slightly more force, her shoulders more rigid. She shifted her gaze to the road ahead of them to avoid bumping into strangers, letting silence to hang between them rather than prod Crowe further.

"Hey that vendor over there is selling hats." The Shield broke the silence. She looked at the small variety, but let Crowe take the lead. "Any of them catch your attention?"

"I never wore hats, even as a kid. Unbecoming of a Princess my mother would say." She had memories of her brother shoving his hats onto her, most frequently his soldier's cap. He had always aspired to lead the Tenebraean military. "Noctis wears this kind a lot," she mused, lifting one and thumbing the edge of the hat's rim.

"Put it on." Crowe instructed. Lunafreya slipped the had on, opening her palms in a mock ta da gesture, earning a tisk and a shake of the head.

"Nah, not very you. Here, try this one." She grabbed another hat and placed it on Lunafreya's head, and then nodded at her result, "ah, definitely suits you better. You're pretty adorable if I do say so myself." They paid for the item, Crowe broke off the price-tag and shimmied it onto the young woman's head. "Wonder if the Astrals are gonna strike me down for making their Oracle all non-Oracle-y" she remarked.

"Everyone expects Eos to explode if I'm not in a white dress and glowing. I assure you, it merely catches fire." Crowe snorted, patting her roughly on the shoulder, "I think I'm gonna like you." She grinned, and Lunafreya returned her smile.

Crowe talked Lunafreya into eating something before trying to meet back up with everyone else, which worked since it had been fourty minutes with no reply to their attempts at contact. Not used to instant forms of communication Lunafreya couldn't even pretend to be nearly as antsy as her counterpart.

"They're certainly just busy. Ignis wanted to purchase some necessities, and everyone needed clothes as much as I did."

"They're dudes, not teenage girls. They probably just grabbed fistfuls of the first few outfits they saw and bought 'em. Okay except that Prompto." Crowe shrugged, and Lunafreya shrugged in reply. The Shield toured her charge around the city, and talking about the role that women played as the only workforce after the war had drafted nearly all the men of working age, and very few returned home. "And kinda surprised Titan hasn't just eaten everyone out of annoyance. They use the crystals from the meteor as a power source."

"Perhaps the crystals are a gift from the Astrals?" Lunafreya suggested.

"I think the Astrals see us as bugs, too small, insignificant, and stupid to bother communicating with. Isn't that why you're like, some liaison?" She frowned at Crowe's description of her, and wondered how much people outside of the Caelums and Fleurets knew about her role as Oracle.

"My role is to commune with the Astrals-"

"Yeah yeah prophecy, pontifications, doom and gloom. My job is to keep your ass alive, even if it means following you all over the continent. The reason doesn't matter."

"A bit jaded." Lunafreya replied, and avoided meeting Crowe's gaze when she saw her head turn from the periphery of her vision. Crowe flinched when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, the matching chime causing the Oracle to halt her steps and turn towards her.

"Hey, the assholes finally replied. Wanna meet us down that that circle area near where you guys parked that fancy car." She tilted her head to gesture at changing directions and the pair walked to the planned meetup. The group were all either sitting in the Regalia, or leaning against it when they arrived, and from a distance the pair were able to tell that they boys had been up to more than just shopping. "The hell you guys do, pick a fight with a lawn mower?" Crowe called out as they approached, Lunafreya jogging ahead of her towards them.

"I'm okay I'm okay!" Noctis held his hands up and offered her a smile in answer to the way she was knitting her brow and biting down on her lip. Her fingers reached up to a cut above his brow, but he wrapped his fingers around her wrist to lower her hand. "We needed some more money and got word about a couple hunts that just came through." She frowned at his answer, and curled her fingers, tugging against Noctis's grip on her wrist. He apologized and let go, and she shrugged at him.

"Everyone else?" she asked, looking around at them. Gladiolus was sporting a swollen nose, holding a blood soaked rag beneath it, Ignis appeared more agitated by his disheveled clothing than any injuries that could be hidden by clothing, and Prompto was laughing about the advantages of a ranged weapon.

"We're all fine, seriously." Noctis tried to assure her. "And can I just say you are absolutely adorable in that hat, really suits you!" Lunafreya flushed, offering a shy smile and shrugging,

"Crowe thought I needed something to obscure my hair a little since blonde hair isn't very common on this continent. Now stop trying to distract me and let me heal that head of yours."

"It's just a cut," he attempted to insist, but made no attempt to push her hands away, listening to her ramble about head injuries as she gave him her light. His forehead changed from a dull burning sensation to a day-old ache and an itch. "Thanks," he smiled at her, getting one in return.

"Was it worth all the trouble?" she asked, turning to offer healing to the others. Gladiolus accepted this time, Ignis and Prompto both insisting they were uninjured.

"As manly as getting blood stains on my shirt is, I definitely was ready for this nosebleed to stop already. Thanks." Gladiolus responded to her healing before answering her question in the affirmative, being overtaken by Ignis beginning to list the various food and camping supplies they were able to purchase in addition to extra sets of clothing.

"Well now that we got our checklists done, daily dose of entertainment at how much you guys got your asses kicked without us, I think it's time to figure out what the hell the next step is. I vote Hammerhead so I can ask Regis what the shit happened with my badassery tamed down to a hiccupping puppy."

"Yeah we did kinda leave Hammerhead in a rush…" Noctis admitted.

"I was worried about Iris-"

"Me too! I wasn't complaining" Noctis interrupted Gladiolus's defensiveness. "I was just as eager to move as you. But let's head back so I can ask my dad where the next royal arm is." Ignis looked up and held up a finger, but narrowed his eyes and exhaled, bring his hands back down. They all agreed on the plan, making one last stop inside the Leville. Iris refused to have any teary goodbyes, simply punching her brother and hugging Noctis telling them they better visit her with some candy soon enough or she'll hunt them down. They piled into the car, heading back to the garage glad to leave the heat of Lestallum behind.

The sky was red when Regis recognized his beloved car in the distance from his seat next to Cid, despite seeing it as little more than a silhouette in the late dusk lighting. He kneaded the scar tissue on his hand between sips of warm beer. He stood, feeling the shooting pain run down his leg, and winced, placing his beer down on the wobbly metal table, waving a hand at Cid who said any beer that gets put down is up for grabs. He walked closer to the fuel pumps and brought a palm up to greet everyone as the familiar called pulled into the lot, Crowe's motorcycle parking behind it.

"Son, quite dangerous to be driving so close to dusk." He remarked. He sighed, shaking his head and decided not to press the issue. "What news of Clarus's daughter?" He asked as he and Noctis walked up to each other. The others bowed to their King, and Lunafreya stood beside her Prince.

"She's fine, Jared and Talcott too. Though it was kinda confusing they said they were led by Libertus but we didn't see him and no one knows where he is." Noctis answered.

"I'm happy to hear that," he looked up to Gladiolus, giving him a nod and receiving a nod in return. "If you return to Lestallum again please… give her my best." He hesitated. "And my thanks." Gladiolus bowed, squinting a bit and clearing his throat,

"We're just glad you are safe your Majesty." Regis chuckled lightly at the answer,

"You are allowed to be human Gladiolus Amicitia. Clarus was my friend as much my Shield, I would never think less of your or Iris for allowing yourself to mourn." He hesitated when he saw Gladiolus blink several times, shifting the weight on his legs, the muscles in his arms tensing as his hands clamped tighter around his own wrists that were clamped behind his back. He nodded at Gladiolus again and turned his attention back to his son, "You say Libertus made it out as well?" Lunafreya turned her head towards Crowe when she saw her shifting uncomfortably beside her, and turned her attention back to Regis.

"Yeah, he led a bunch of people out of Insomnia. And Ignis heard from his uncle, there's survivors still hiding in Insomnia. Guess some areas even have power! Maybe we can-"

"We cannot reclaim Insomnia just yet Noctis." The Prince grit his teeth, exhaling sharply though his nose. "I understand your frustration… you are not the only one feeling agitated by inaction. But reclaiming the city is not wise at this time." Noctis nodded and lifted his chin.

"It's not why we came back anyway. I need to know which royal tomb to go to next, and Crowe had some questions for you too."

"Well hey thar Prince!" Cindy's voice called across the parking lot, getting a collective of startled looks from everyone. "Knew I recognized that purty engine comin' in. Temptin' death by drivin' this late at night y'all?" she walked up to the Regalia, and immediately began to tisk at it. "I don't know how y'all managed it, gone for a day and the poor thing looks like it drove through a war. Luna be a dear 'n fetch me the blue bucket on the top shelf in the garage. Gonna give the old gal a bath 'n a good waxin to hopefully keep 'er lookin' clean for longer'n a day." Lunafreya exchanged a confused glance with Noctis before walking to the garage.

She saw the King's newly appointed shield next to an open toolbox, whistling along with a song playing out of the radio set beside it. The garage lights were on, allowing enough light for Nyx to work on what appeared to be an abnormally large chainsaw. She looked up on the shelving unit and saw the blue bucket, and her lips tilted when she saw how high the shelf was. She walked up and gave the unit a test shake before stepping on the bottom shelf, groaning slightly as she reached to the top. She swung at the bucket with her fingertips to nudge it closer to the edge.

"Want some help?" Nyx asked.

"I have it." She continued reach at the bucket with her fingertips, her shirt lifting up, and wished she had changed into her new clothing back in Lestallum.

"What the hell happened to you?!" She yelped, her hand knocking the bucket to the floor and she stumbled back away from the shelving unit. Nyx was walking towards her, his finger pointed her ribs.

"I'm all right." She answered him, but he continued his rapid approach.

"Not used to something other than heels and tripping on yourself?" he asked with a hesitant grin. She smiled back and shrugged. "Here I thought you were all graceful." He paused, knitting his brows as he got closer, seeing how large and dark the bruise was before she was able to pull her shirt back down over it. "That doesn't look like you just bumped into something…"

"I told you I'm quite all right." She tried to insist again. "I have a tendency to bruise easily. Always looks worse than it is."

"Doesn't answer my question." He answered back, crossing his arms in front of his chest Lunafreya mirroring him as she wrapped her arms around her chest, palm pressed against her ribs. "I've had bruises smaller than that after having my ass handed to me in a few fights…" He paused, brows shooting up. "Someone hit you."

"You're jumping to conclusions, now I kindly ask you to please leave me be. Cindy asked me to come gather some supplies for her to prepare the Regalia."

"What happened?" He cut her off, gesturing with an open palmed gestured,

"You are being unkind to prod me like this. I stumbled and fell. A bit embarrassing so-"

"That's not the kind of bruise you get from falling over. I've been in enough fights to know." He cut her off. "Guess it's a good thing the King assigned a Shield to you, the Prince can't even keep the Oracle safe?" Her lips thinned, teeth bearing down on the inside of her lip.

"Noct has nothing to do with this."

"So he caused that? Spoiled Prince…"

"How… What? Where did that connection come from? I had this bruise from before Noctis came to Tenebrae!" she answered, trying to take a step back but bumped into the metal of the shelves, knocking over several objects. "I'm quite all right." She brought her arms back up and folded them over her chest again.

"Who put their hands on you?"

"I'm fine." She insisted.

"How does a sheltered little Princess like you get a bruise like that?" She let out a shuttered breath, and felt her pulse racing and throbbing in her ears. She focused on keeping her breathing level, determined not to show this man her fear. "I've seen it enough. I'm gonna kill him, that damn spoiled-"

"Noct had nothing to do with it!" she snapped, fingers curling as she stepped towards him, lifting her chin and locked eyes.

"Is that what he's trained you to say? Like you're trained to speak all proper, walk straight, pretend to care. But I still can't stand by that pathetic Prince laying a hand on you! All those Lucians don't care! They didn't care about Galahad, the refugees, just like he didn't care he did that to you!"

"You speak of things you do not know."

"And what do you know besides what that… boy trains you-"

"Uldor! Caligo Uldor! He's what happened. What do you think was happening to me under his boot for twelve years?" she snapped. Her vision blurred, eyes burned. Her throat tightened and she bit down on her lip to restrain a scream. "Noct was the only one to try and stop it! I will not abide you blaming him. Call me a sheltered Princess, throw it in my face I did not walk along the war-torn streets, call me useless, mock my title, my pretty little powers. But I will not have you accuse Noctis of lifting a hand to me."

"Why would Caligo do that? Hard to dangle you in front of everyone like a treat if you're too injured to move." She shook her head at him, side stepping so he was no longer blocking the path between her and the door and nearly bumped into Noctis who was running towards them, followed by Crowe, Ignis, and Gladiolus.

"Just the man I want to see, what the hell is she going on about?" Nyx asked, his brows furrowed as he pointed at Lunafreya. "How long as she been hiding a giant bruise like that?" Noctis walked past Nyx, reaching for Lunafeya's clasped hands, placing himself between her and Nyx.

"You all right?" he asked, she nodded while looking past Noctis to keep her eyes firmly locked on the man. "I told you It was Caligo Uldor, now that you have the answer to your question please leave me be." She requested. Nyx opened his mouth but quickly clamped it, lip curling when Noctis turned around to stare at him. His eyes looked at everyone watching them before walking away. He kicked a wrench in his path, cursing loudly and left the garage.

"Caligo? The Brigadier General?" Gladiolus asked. Lunafreya's eyes flickered between Noctis and the others, and took a step back from the Prince and pulled her hands back. "What about him?"

"I'm… gonna go check on the big Ox before he kicks everything in Hammerhead and breaks his foot." Crowe remarked, lips pulling back in a forced smile, giving Lunafreya a thumbs up and left the garage.

"I'll give her some backup." Gladiolus added, and walked after Crowe.

"If you're unharmed my Lady I will take my leave as well. Someone needs to be voice of reason in that trio of impulsive anger." Ignis added, and turned to leave after getting a short nod.

"You all right?" Noctis asked again once he was alone with her. Her nod shifted into a shaking of her head, her hands seeking the front of his shirt and she leaned in against him. "What happened?" He reached around her, a hand weaving into her hair, the other rubbing her back between her shoulders, feeling them begin to shake beneath his palm.

***
"Nyx!" Crowe shouted as she followed him. He stopped, letting her catch up to him. "Care to share with the class what the fuck that was about?"

"You ever take a second to pay attention to your charge, Shield? Her ribs look like she was hit by car." He answered her.

"So you yelled at her?!" Crowe answered,

"Okay I'll admit I… overreacted a little."

"A little?!" Neither paid attention as Ignis made a quiet excuse of speaking to Regis.

"Fine, I was an ass. I just thought… that Prince Noctis may have had something to do with it." He answered back, and found himself eye-level with the other Shield,

"You think what?!" Gladiolus snapped, and hardly flinched before he felt Gladiolus's fist impact his cheek, sending a sharp numbness across his face and down his neck.

"Oh come on! You really had to turn scaring the shit out of our Oracle into a dick measuring contest!" Crowe shouted as the two men immediately began to brawl. "Oh for fuck's sake!" She threw her hands up, and decided to let them kick eachother's asses, making a mental note to ensure Lunafreya wouldn't heal them with her bleeding heart, and would tie her to a chair if necessary. She found Ignis talking with Prompto who had been standing near the Regalia talking to Cindy, with an unknown measure of success. "Please tell me you two are able to keep your testosterone in check," she complained as she approached them.

"Should we be worried about them?" Ignis asked, looking up at the two men who had drawn the attention of everyone at the garage. Prompto's attention had finally been diverted from Cindy, and instead to the eyepiece of his camera,

"Naw man, this is great! I can lorde this over them forever!" He answered his friend.

"Well if they kill each other that'll save me a lot of work."

"What are they beating each other senseless over? Heard lots of shouting earlier."

"Was a little confusing. Nyx and Luna were shouting at each other, Nyx stormed off like a todder, then insinuated Noctis had something to do with a bruise on Luna, and they went at each other." She explained. "Though she shouted something about Caligo. You're a smart guy, you piece together this mystery yet?" She asked, lightly punching Ignis on the arm.

"It is no mystery," he rubbed the offended spot. "I would say it is not my place to discuss, but it seems that things are no longer secret to anyone." He explained to Crowe about Lunafreya's life in Tenebrae. He hoped that Gladiolus would eventually stop getting into fights at every opportunity, and wondered why the man was so temperamental as of late.

"Well shit. I'd punch Nyx's face in too if I was the mullet. If he's still in one piece I owe him a punch myself."

"I do think it prudent we all stop fighting… we do need to work as a team, and Sir Nyx is the King's Shield after all. Speaking of," he turned, and saw Regis approaching the fight, Cid laughing from his chair.

"Should we get tickets to the show?" Prompto asked. Ignis adjusted his glasses and nodded, and even Cindy followed the pair across the lot where Regis's booming voice carried across the entirety of Hammerhaed.

"Enough! Nyx Ulric, Gladiolus Amicitia, you both will stand down immediately." The two fighting men froze, quickly letting the other go and standing straight, bowing to their King. "What is this foolish nonsense? You are both protectors of my family, we have enough enemies to fight." He admonished, and both men remained bowed low, neither daring the risk of looking their King in the face. Noctis had emerged from the garaged shadowed by Lunafreya, and Cindy took her place next to Cid with a grin on her face, whispering something to her grandfather who swatted at her arm in reply. Both men stumbled through apologies but were forestalled by Regis's hand held up, insisting that they both stand up and meet him like men. "I will not have the Shields protecting my family squabbling amongst each other like children. Do you understand?"

"Yes your Majesty." They spoke, bowing their heads again. Regis turned from them towards Cid, trying to ignore the amused grin on the man's face. Regis sat with a groan, determined not to greet his old friend's mocking gaze and rubbed his bad knee, mumbling something to Cid that wiped the grin from his face and instead dropped him into conversation.

"Damn Gladio, next time leave some for me. I owed him a hell of a punch, but that just wouldn't be fair." Noctis remarked, looking at Nyx matching set of swollen bruised eyes, swollen bloody nose, split lip, swollen hand, and likely numerous other bruises hidden beneath his clothing.

"We've had enough of fighting Nocits." Lunafreya remarked, and stepped forward. "Here," she reached up to Gladiolus, her fingertips holding a faint golden glow. The Shield wanted to insist he didn't need her light but wanted to give her a measure of control and allowed her too soothe his injuries and he felt as if the fight happened a few days ago, rather than a few seconds. He smiled and nodded at her when she pulled back, and she returned his smile before turning to Nyx, hesitating for a moment before offering him her light.

"I was kinda owed this." He admitted, holding up his hand. "I should learn to watch my mouth. Just take care of yourself okay?" he asked, and gestured at her ribs. Her smile faltered and a palm guarded her ribs.

"Yourself as well Sir Nyx." She answered. He bowed his head to her and began to walk away. Lunafreya sighed, rubbing her face roughly with her palms, and flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to the source of the touch,

"Hey you okay?" Crowe asked. Lunafreya nodded and walked towards the trailer, followed by Noctis and suggested Crowe get herself a

"I'm all right. This has been a long day." She stated, and walked towards the trailer followed by Noctis, Crowe understanding that the young woman didn't want more company.


So I hope Nyx's reaction doesn't seem random. My thoughts are that while he's trying to be grateful for the chance given to him by Regis, he's still bitter about the fall of Galahad, the existence of the wall, and now traumatized at the loss of his second home and all that came with that.