Noctis opened his eyes, trying to blink away the blur in his eyes. His limbs ached, fingers and toes burning, his whole body feeling heavy. He groaned, trying to shift his weight to ease the ache in his lower back, old scar tissue tingling and his left leg number than the rest of him. He looked around and saw Prompto sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. The sound of movement caught his attention and the blond man leapt to his feet,
"Noct! You're awake!" he jogged up to his friend, "Whoa settle dude, you got your butt kicked only like a couple hours ago."
"Ugh… where am I?" he felt disoriented, his last memory was of fire in his veins and grass beneath his back. "Luna!" his memories became clearer, and he suddenly remembered the unconscious Oracle.
"Right next to you dude." He turned his head, his vision still partially blurred and found that Lunafreya was indeed in the bed right next to him. "And we're at Wiz's. Brought you and Luna back here once you finished with Ramuh's covenant." Prompto explained. With his vision slowly coming back into focus Noctis noticed he was in a small room, the bed he was on he realized was hardly big enough to fit both him and Lunafreya. A dresser was cross from the bed with just enough space between it and the foot of the bed to allow someone to pass through, and an armchair was pushed into the corner of the room and was close enough that Prompto could have rested his feet on the bed if he had wanted to. "I should tell the others you're up. How you feeling man?"
"Like I was trampled by a garula that lost a fight with a power line." He answered. He turned his head to Lunafreya, "she wake up at all?"
"No not yet. But Gentiana insisted she'll be okay." Noctis reached out to Lunafreya, fingertips hovering above her forehead for a moment, wondering if he would shock her with this fire in his veins. He brushed her bangs from her face, sighing a bit. "One down Luna… hope I didn't let you down." He groaned and shifted himself up into a sitting position, despite Prompto loudly protesting that he still needed more rest.
"I feel stiff… I needed to change positions." He argued back. "Those lightning strikes… everyone else okay?"
"Yeah dude. So weird, never seen lightning behave like that."
"Where is Gentiana?" Noctis asked, hoping to speak with her.
"Getting coffee with Ignis. He convinced her to take a break from sitting vigil over Lunafreya, so I took over.
"She needs coffee?" Noctis couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.
"Not really, but she was curious about it. I'm gonna let everyone know you're awake."
"No… Luna needs her rest if she's still asleep. Help me up, I'll go outside with everyone." Noctis shook his head, groaning as he tried to move to the edge of the bed. Prompto hesitated, debating protesting Noctis's decision but knew how stubborn his friend could be and agreed to help him sit up. Noctis stood, and after a half-minute felt steady enough on his feet to walk without support. Moving was helping to ease the numbness in his leg and the ache in his lower back, the burning starting to fade with activity. "And hey man listen… thanks for coming with me."
"Huh?"
"When you asked my dad to make you a Crownsguard… you were just signing up to bring me to a wedding. Not this world-saving shit. Just… thanks man. For not running off."
"You really think I'd run off man, hell no!" He punched Noctis on the arm, bouncing back to give him two thumbs up. "Crownsguard means sticking around no matter what, right? Besides, imagine the ladies I can get if I tell them these badass stories?" Noctis chuckled at Prompto's enthusiasm,
"Might actually find yourself a girlfriend."
"Hey! I've had girlfriends." Prompto protested quickly. "Just none that could handle dating the Prince's best friend!"
"Is that so?" Noctis chuckled.
"Hell yeah. Why else wouldn't they stick to this piece of awesome? Well if you feel like your not a wet noddle anymore lets go see the others, they're worried sick."
"And Luna?"
"We can ask Gentiana to watch her until she wakes back up." Prompto suggested. "If you'd rather not leave her I can just go tell the guys…"
"No… it's okay. I know they're worried." Noctis countered, though Prompto wasn't wrong. He wanted to lie in bed with her and watch over her until she woke up and he could ensure she was all right and tell her that they did it, they forged the first covenant. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but he could feel the power within him like when he tried to call a royal arm. His unconsciousness had been filled with odd dreams filled with imagery of storms, though he could make little sense of the pictures Ramuh was sending him.
"Can you walk?" Noctis nodded his head, and walked the three paces to the door and walked out into a small hallway. Prompto waved his hand and guided Noctis through the narrow hallway and into a common room where customer's of Wiz's Chocobo Post could rest indoors.
"Hey guys." He called, surprised his voice sounded so gravelly now that he was shouting into a room. His voice felt scratchy, and he wished he had some water.
"Noct!" Ignis shouted, standing to his feet,
"There he is!" Gladiolus barked, slapping his thigh and getting up as well. Gentiana was still sitting in an old chair, a plain white mug in her hands, and Crowe leaned back, also cheering Noctis's appearance.
"Sorry to scare you all." He commented, rubbing at his neck.
"I don't scare so easily. I'd go to hell just to drag you back and kick your ass for making me fail at my job." Gladiolus laughed, walking up to Noctis and startling him by pulling him into a bear hug, slapping his back hard before pulling back sharply. "How's our other badass doing?" he asked.
"Still asleep. I was actually going to ask Gentiana if she wouldn't mind watching over her until she wakes up." The aforementioned woman stood, nodding at Noctis and carrying her mug with her as she approached.
"I see the King's concern for the Oracle in his eyes. I shall watch over her in his stead." Noctis wanted to ask if she would be all right, and if he had made this covenant with Ramuh like he was supposed to. But he sensed that if there was something left in his task with Ramuh the messenger would have told him, and instead simply nodded at Gentiana.
"Enjoy your coffee." He remarked, nodding down at the mug in her hand. Gentiana peered at it, then back at Noctis before giving him a smile and vanishing through the door to the hallway.
"How do you feel Noct?" Ignis asked, and Noctis shrugged,
"A little better moving around." He answered.
"Come sit down, you should have something to eat and drink after everything you've endured."
"Can't argue with that." Noctis answered. With the pain and discomfort fading hunger settled its way into his stomach, and the smell of food filling this central room was too tempting to pass up. "Though I need some fresh air, lets eat outside." Everyone took turns congratulating Noctis on successfully forging a covenant with an Astral, reassuring him that Lunafreya would surely be fine, heading outside to sit at the tables for some food.
"So what's it like being B-F-Fs with a God?" Prompto asked.
"I don't really feel very different yet." He explained. "Besides wishing I could crawl back into bed for the next month."
"You always feel like that" Gladiolus quipped back.
"Yeah yeah." Noctis rolled his eyes.
"Well look who's up!" Wiz's voice called, jarring the Prince. "How ya feelin? You looked a right mess when they dragged you back here, the Oracle too." He added. "How is she farin?"
"Sleeping, but she'll be okay. Thanks for letting us rest here." Noctis answered her. "We really appreciate it."
"Anythin for our Prince." Wiz answered. Noctis nodded with a small smile, glad that they were given a bed to recuperate on rather than atop a sleeping bag in a tent. Wiz provided them another meal, once again refusing any offers of payment.
"There's gotta be something we can do for him." Noctis lamented as he took his first bite of food, realizing just how damn hungry he was and quickly taking a second bite.
"Well I was asking him about the chocobos earlier and he mentioned something was spooking all the birds but was too dangerous for him to handle, even some of the hunters won't take the job." Prompto explained. Noctis wondered if they could handle a beast even other hunters were turning their nose up at.
"Oh yeah, I saw a bounty on the poster when we first got here, Deadeye. Looks like a behemoth." Gladiolus explained. Crowe let out a long whistle, shaking her head.
"A behemoth? I don't want to mess with that shit!" Crowe responded.
"Can't hurt to ask about it." Prompto suggested. "Think of the chocobos!"
"We do owe Wiz, for free meals, and letting me and Luna rest here… he's been really generous. And was always good to me as a kid. It's the least we could do." Noctis answered back, though he shared Crowe's doubts.
"If we can handle all these daemons we can handle a behemoth." Gladiolus argued. "I'm gonna go ask. I agree with Noct, we owe Wiz." The large man stood up quickly, ordering Prompto to keep their Prince safe for thirty seconds while we went off to speak to Wiz. It didn't take long for him to gather the information he wanted and returned to the table.
"What's the verdict?" Noctis asked.
"Well it's apparently a very old behemoth, and blind in one eye. I think this gives us a hell of a shot. I say we go scout out its lair, and come up with a gameplan. You feeling up for that Noct? We can spend a bit more time resting if you need."
"Give me a couple hours and ask me again." Noctis admitted. He wanted to rush off to handle this problem for Wiz. But knew how damned stupid that impulse decision would be.
"Should also wait for our Lady to wake up. I do feel that a battle against a behemoth may carry less risk should we have our white mage available." Ignis suggested. Noctis wrinkled his nose at the suggestion, not liking the idea of bringing Lunafreya onto the battlefield in any state, let alone if her ass had been kicked by this covenant as hard as his own. Her prolonged slumber hinted at her having an even worse time of it than him.
"Let's see how she feels when she wakes up first." He had suppressed his original thought to suggest she stay behind and they merely stock up on some energy drinks he could convert to necessary curatives. "She should get to make that choice for herself." Ignis praised his discretion, Gladiolus hmmphing, his personal preference on the matter clear.
It was dark when Lunafreya stirred from her slumber. Noctis had peeked into the room multiple times to check on her, getting various reassurances from Gentiana all the while. After several hours he had settled into the chair in the corner of the room, occupying himself with his phone. Gentiana had been sitting vigil on the side of the bed Noctis had previously slept on.
"Luna?" he called over when she began to stir, shifting from her back onto her side with a moan.
"Mmm… Noct?" It had taken several more seconds and her name being repeated for her to respond to him, eyes opening and squinting as they tried to focus.
"I'm right here." He got up, stepping towards the bed and dropping to his knees to be at her level.
"My lady awakens." Gentiana smiled, reaching down to pet Lunafreya's hair.
"Gentiana?" she inquired, eyes flicking about. She groaned, wincing slightly at the throb in her joints. "Where am I?" she inquired, noticing the unfamiliar surroundings with a jolt that sent her heart racing.
"You're safe." Noctis answered her quickly, placing a palm against her cheek to try and keep her focus on him. "You're at Wiz's. After Ramuh the guys took us here. Gentiana's been watching you ever since you woke him." He explained. Lunafreya tilted her head slightly towards the warm palm on her cheek, letting out a low sigh as she tried to regain control of herself.
"The Lady has done well, Ramuh no longer slumbers and stands by her King."
"The covenant?" Lunafreya asked.
"Yeah. You did it… you woke his butt up and I was able to make the covenant. One down." He smiled. Her vision was refocusing, and her mouth pulled back in a smile of her own.
"I suppose this isn't exactly what you had in mind when we were children and talking about saving the world." She couldn't help her sad chuckle.
"Yeah… but we're in it together, right?"
"Together. How are you feeling Noct? I fear I cannot recall anything after speaking with Ramuh and pleading for him to stand with you." She inquired, expression scrunching in thought.
"You've been out like a light since then. Man, you call me sleepy!" he teased. She tried to laugh, but stopped and wrapped an arm around her chest with a wince. "Hey… I know my jokes are bad, but they aren't that bad." He frowned.
"I'll be all right with time. But you never answered me. How are you Noct?" She wished she could have watched him forge the covenant, stood beside him to offer him her light as he took the toll of it. But her own toll had been far greater than she had expected, and fear found its way into her heart as she thought about what still lay ahead of them.
"A lot better now. Felt pretty bad when I first woke up but fresh air and a meal made me feel a lot better. Will make you feel better too I think, once you feel up for moving." She shifted again, wincing as she moved herself into a sitting position and rested her back against the headrest. She turned to see Gentiana still sitting peacefully beside her, where she had been keeping vigil for many hours. The women exchanged smiles and nods, Lunafreya thanking her.
"Go forth, a long path awaits you." She stood, bowing her head once more before parting from the room.
"I should get up, to eat, as you suggested." Lunafreya stated once alone in the room with Nocits. "But first… my toll." She flushed a bit with her words, and reached out to touch Noctis's cheek. He followed her light tug and greeted her in a kiss, Despite the light touches already exchanged he almost expected a shock just before their lips met, sighing against her mouth. Once parted, he rested his forehead against hers, letting silence hang between them for several moments.
"Yeah… like Gentiana said we have a long road. Don't want to do it on an empty stomach." He stood, holding out to help Lunafreya stand. She was unsteady on her feet for several moments, pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead to wait out a pass of lighthedeness, trying not to sway and worry Noctis any further. "How's your ribs? You seemed sore."
"Everything is sore." She admitted.
"I was too at first. Thought it would last a while but once I walked around and ate I almost felt normal again."
"I can use my light-" she lifted her hands, but Noctis was quick to grab her wrists, gently lowering her hands and shook his head.
"You need your strength. Come on, you seemed to like that chocobo burger earlier, what do you say to another one?" She nodded, letting him guide her from the room and outside where everyone was waiting.
"Hey Sparkles! Welcome back!" Crowe was the first to greet her, sticking her thumb in the air. The others were quick to greet her, and she couldn't help the flush that overtook her cheeks at the attention. Crowe pat at the seat beside her, "You still look half-dead like the Prince did earlier. Sit your pretty ass down." After a moment's hesitation, "Uh, M'lady" she added quickly.
"Please, no formalities." She wrinkled her nose at the title and Crowe chuckled, nodding and patting at the seat again. She followed the gesture, sitting down beside her Shield, Noctis sitting down beside her. She answered the round of how you holding ups with nods and reassurances that she was quite all right. Wiz echoed all their concerns, promising to be quick when Noctis asked him to prepare a chocobo burger for her. Lunafreya appeared ready to protest when told to put her money away,
"We're paying him back for all his kindness don't worry Luna." Noctis reassured her. He brought her up to speed about Deadeye. Gladiolus and Prompto had asked around while he had watched over sleeping form, Crowe taking her bike to a nearby hunter spot to gather some information from them. Together they were able to paint a clearer picture of what was plaguing the post. Hunters had been paid to take down the beast, one party blinding it but losing some of their own in the process. "They told us there's some old fuel barrels down there. If we gather some fire…" Noctis suggested, lifting his palm and flexing his fingers.
"If it will help the people of this area and repay the kindness of Wiz I fully support this endeavor." Lunafreya responded when Noctis had finished.
"Hah! That's the spirit!" Crowe laughed.
"Are you feeling up to this task?" Ignis asked.
"As Noctis had suggested, I feel quite a bit better with fresh air and a meal. Though I would advise against this particular action so soon… perhaps after another night of rest. For us all."
"Can't really argue with that."
Wiz was happy to allow the Lucian retinue one more night, giving the royal pair the spare bedroom the others insisting Wiz sleep in his own bed tonight and they were all comfortable sleeping in their tents. Noctis and Lunafreya's concerns about taking the only bed while the others slept on the ground was met with the insistence that they needed the better rest than any of them. Come morning the royal pair woke nearly simultaneously, unsure which had woken the other with the creaking of old bedsprings.
"Good morning…" Lunafreya whispered, getting a mumble in reply. She chuckled, reaching out to brush some hair from Noctis's face. Without his hair styled back it fell messily around his face, and she found herself wishing for Prompto's camera to capture this moment. Most of the ache had left her body, though a lingering tingle remained in her fingertips. She found herself longing for more sleep, but knew it was prudent to get up from the bed. She looked around for a clock to determine the time, only finding one who's battery had long run out with the hands stuck at reding twenty-two past seven.
Noctis hand blindly slapped around the small table that was wedged between the bed and the wall with hardly a finger width of space between it and the wall. He jerked his phone towards himself clumsily, tapping a button on the side and wincing at how bright the screen appeared, focusing his eyes on the time reading that it was nearly eleven.
"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, sitting up straight. He pulled up his messages, expecting to find a plethora of missed texts from Ignis, and checked the service when he had none.
"Easy now." Lunafreya chuckled at how quickly he moved. "I've never seen you move so fast in the morning before. What's the time?" she gasped when he told her, and she tried to recall a time she had ever slept past seven, let alone nearly noon. "I suppose we truly did need another night's rest!"
"Yeah… you weren't kidding. We should get outside. And prepare for a lot of teasing." He sighed. "It's too bad we couldn't take advantage of being in a bed," he chuckled, giving her a suggestive smile, reaching across the space between them to brush his fingers along the side of her neck. She hummed, tilting her head and sighing when his fingers traced along the skin she was bearing to him.
"Do not put such thoughts in my mind when we are lying in someone else's bed." She answered, but made no move to stop his hands. Noctis chuckled at her response, and she could hear the sheets rustling as he shifted closer to her and his lips connecting to where the ghost of his touch still tingled. "Not… fair…" she mumbled.
"Yeah… really not fair that this isn't your bed…" he answered. His free hand rested against her waist, tugging her closer to him, lips finding a new spot on her neck to make her sigh, wishing he could leave a mark on her flawless skin, or that she could return the favor. "But we can still enjoy a few more minutes…"
"A Princess should not behave as such."
"Guess it's up to her Prince then to be all misbehaved. You just relax and let me do the work." She flushed, her mind drifting to impure thoughts and the things she wished he would do with his fingers and tongue, cursing the fact she could not enjoy him so. She pulled back, answering his whine with a kiss, needing to cease his attentions against her neck to keep herself from caving to impulse.
"You are quite misbehaved this morning. I suppose this is a sign you are feeling a bit better than last night?"
"Much… you seem to feel better too." He pulled back from the kiss, her hands resting on his chest and he took her hint, sitting back against the headboard.
"I do feel better than last night." She reassured him. "We should dress." She suggested, if only to give herself a task to try and realign her mind away from Noctis. Though this proved an ineffective method once he was standing nude, save for boxers. She bit her lower lip, caving to her impulses and shifted over to the edge of the bed, standing up behind him and wrapping her arms around him, resting her head against his back.
"I thought you wanted to get dressed?"
"I can hug you." She countered.
"Hard to get dressed this way." He laughed. His hands came down to cover hers, closing his eyes to relish in her touch.
"Hmm…" she sighed, and pulled back. "I suppose you're right." While she wanted to enjoy more time alone with him, she got dressed herself, packing her sleep clothes in her bag while Noctis did the same. They emerged outside expecting teasing from the others in the group, and were surprised when instead they merely inquired about how they were feeling.
"Did I look that shitty last night?" Noctis asked, giving Lunafreya a concerned look who merely shrugged in reply. Gladiolus laughed, insisting he always looked like shit, to which Ignis replied he would never allow that, being his advisor. He gave rude hand gestures to his friends, sharing a laugh with them.
When he was told they were going to try and take down Deadeye for him, Wiz first tried to talk them all out of it. Once he realized that there was no stopping them, he insisted that they allow him to feed them one more time to give them the energy they needed to take the behemoth on. After promising to turn back should they find the fight out of their league.
"So to review one final time, we will collect some magic for Noctis, so he can ignite the fuel barrels around Deadeye's lair, hopefully injuring it enough for us to defeat it." Ignis stated. Everyone around him concurred with this idea, and the plan to further refine their strategy once they were in the den and had an idea of what everything looked like. "So where do we collect this magic?"
"The crystals tend to grow around havens… I think the magic in the havens makes them grow better or something." Noctis answered. "That's where my dad always took me as a kid to practice." Before the wall went up. He thought to himself. There were magical canisters stashed in the underground storage of the Citadel that Regis had used to help his son practice, but Noctis still felt unsure of his ability to use his elemancy under such pressure. He felt a palm against his forearm and looked to his right, seeing Lunafreye smile at him and give a light squeeze. He reached over to place a palm over her hand for a moment before they both drew their hands back into their laps.
"We should get going then. Ignis you pack any vials?"
"Your father made sure of it… it case of emergencies, he stated, and thus there are two back at the Regalia."
"Guess we should head back to the car once we eat." The others concurred, eating their breakfast and double-checking they had their belongings before heading to the car. Prompto hung back for a moment, walking up to the chocobo paddock,
"Hey guys, we'll kick this behmoth's butt for ya!" He reached out to pet the nearest bird, it letting out a happy kweh! before rubbing its head to try and garner more attention from Prompto.
"Hey bird-brain you coming or we leaving you behind?" Gladiolus called, trailing behind the others.
"Be back soon!" Prompto gave the bird one final pet before jogging to catch up to Gladiolus, staggering to keep his balance when the man threw a bag at his chest. He caught it, calling his friend an ass and slung the bag over his shoulder. "So time to dope Noct up on some magic so we can kick some behemoth ass?" Prompto asked, looking at his friend walking next to Lunafreya several meters ahead of him and Gladiolus. He couldn't help but notice the limp the Prince's step, frowning slightly and wanting to suggest postponing this adventure by another day.
"Sounds like."
"Time to go relax and make Noct do all the work before we kick some butt!"
"Hell yeah!" Gladiolus laughed, giving Prompto a light punch on the arm. "Come on let's go watch his royal highness bust his ass collecting magic while we all enjoy the scenery." They finished the walk to the car, packing their belongings into the trunk with a comment from Prompto about how the hell the roof of the car and all their belongings managed to fit in the space, which led to a debate between Gladiolus and Prompto about whether or not the car had a magic pocket like Noctis, Ignis groaning as he struggled not to point out the logic in their illogical debate.
"So you think the car can also collect magic and dish it out?"
"Maybe that's why the car overheated! Collected to much fire magic!"
"You'll survive this Iggy." Noctis patted his back, "You've done it for years."
"And each has their limits." He replied, stepping into the driver's seat and pulling the door shut. Gladiolus rounded the car to sit on the passenger side, Lunafreya sandwiching herself once again between Noctis and Prompto reassuring them she was quite all right with her designated seat. The roar of Crowe's motorcycle drowned out the quieter hum of the Regalia, and the retinue pulled out of the post and onto the road to drive towards the nearest havens.
"I see the runes up ahead," Gladiolus pointed through the windshield,
"You should see crystals nearby. It's like the ancient magic of the runes encouraged the crystals to grow."
"Gonna have to walk over there. You really think this low ride can handle off-roading?" Gladiolus asked.
"I think Cid just woke from a deep slumber with the urge to slap you with all his might, so slapped your dad for good measure." Prompto reached over Lunafreya's lap to shove Noctis.
"Why me?! I never said to take the Regalia over there!"
"The thought existed so therefore Cid will want to slap you." Prompto assured. "Come on you lazy bums!" Prompto opened the door once the Regalia pulled to a stop, nearly leaping out of the car.
"Wait until I at least set the car into park and pull my foot from the brake!" Ignis started to shout after him, but Prompto had already shut the door and pulled out his camera to take photos of the landscape.
"If only he could gift us just a touch of that energy. I feel as if I never slept last night." Lunafreya commented quietly to Noctis, getting a chuckle from him before he stepped out of the car and helped her stand from the low vehicle.
"Maybe collecting a little lightning will zap me awake?"
"Was… was that a pun?" Lunafreya lifted a brow at him.
"Sounded like. And a terrible one. I'll slap him for you." Gladiolus answered, stepping towards Noctis and swiping to slap the back of his head, the Prince dodging poorly leaving him with a pink ear.
"Hey!" he snapped back. "It was unintentional!" The words had hardly left his mouth when he felt Lunafreya's hands on him, her light pouring into him and soothing the sting of his ear. He opened his mouth to tell her to stop that she didn't need to tax herself over a slapped ear but the light had already faded as did the sting from the slap. "Uh, thanks. But he didn't hit me that hard."
"Your ear was pink." She counted quickly, cheeks flushing before she turned away from him. "Let's look for those crystals." She deflected.
"Uh, yeah." He agreed, and jogged the couple steps to catch up beside her. Once they were halfway towards the haven Ignis found the first crystal, the group all converging on it. "Fire." He commented.
"Figured it was glowing red because it was ice. Huh. Guess that's why you're the black mage of the party, huh?"
"Oh shut up." Noctis quipped. He put his hand out to the crystal, calling on the same thing he did when he tried to call a royal arm from a tomb, remembering lessons with his father as a child. The magic filled him, and he asked Ignis for one of the phials they had brought with them. Like with the royal arms his friends stood around him, fascinated by the display, and try to pry from him how the magic worked but he didn't have any answers that could slake their curiosity.
"Just one of those freaky things from the crystal?" Prompto asked, when his how do you do it was answered with vague answers about just reaching out and pulling.
"I guess. My dad never really explained it to me."
"So how much of this do we need to kick Deadeye's ass?"
"We only have three phials so… three phials." Noctis answered.
"Can you hold in the fire like, without putting it into a phial?"
"I can hold it but I can't control it really well. Like… if I don't shove it into these phials its about as well controlled as a forest fire when I let it loose. Learned that the hard way with some ice magic as a kid. Froze half the garden, and almost lost the tips of some fingers to frostbite. I wear my dad still has scars on his ears from the frostbite himself" he explained.
"So suck up this crystal then on to Deadeye, then some chocobos!" Prompto declared.
"I'll have to race you, see who got rustier after all this time."
"Hell yeah! I'll totally win, I'm like. One with the birds in spirit. So can you get all three phials here?" Noctis shook his head, stating one crystal would not fill three phials. He drained the magic that he could, the red glow of the crystal formation fading and he gestured for them to return to the Regalia. With a declaration of onward they pulled off the shoulder and back onto the road.
A half-dozen kilometers down the road they took a turn, Ignis quirking his head, asking if anyone else in the car could see the large square mass surrounded by smoldering trees along the edge of where the forest had begun to thin out.
"Yeah… wonder what it is." Gladiolus remarked. "Get closer."
"Need I remind you, once again that this car is not meant for such off-road adventuring? I do hope you are in the mood for a pleasant stroll should you want to investigate what that is." Ignis answered. They traveled down the road a bit further when Crowe pulled up beside the Regalia and began gesturing for them to pull over. Ignis guided the car over to the shoulder, taking note before turning off the engine that they were down to a quarter tank of fuel. Crowe was parked beside them, setting her helmet on the ground beside the bike to walk up to the passenger side window.
"Guys, that's an Imperial airship." Crowe stated through the window. "If they figure out where we are, we're in a world of hurt." She added quickly.
"How do you know that?" Gladiolus asked.
"She's right." Lunafreya confirmed, voice monotonous. "That is an Imperial airship landed by the trees."
"I don't think this was some calm landing." Gladiolus answered. "I think it dropped out of the sky."
"If it's disabled maybe we can just avoid it and sneak under their radar. This car doesn't really scream subtle." Crowe quipped back, drumming her fingers on the car's roof.
"If we can see them maybe they can already see us, we should go over there and just blow the thing up. If they have like, GPS and shit on that ship maybe more airships will come for their downed comrade." Gladiolus wondered.
"Wouldn't mind a little good old fashioned revenge. For everything. Insomnia, my dad, Altissia…." Gladiolus listed, balling his fist. Ignis winced at this train of thinking, his own mind thinking of everything he wanted to balance the scales for, Noctis was beginning to tap the side of the car with his own fist and Lunafreya fidgeted from beside him. A long silence hung in the air,
"We could get important information from that airship. Perhaps any information they have on Noctis or Lady Lunafreya. Or maybe they have something about the state of Insomnia, or Accordio." Ignis suggested, wanting to latch onto something other than pure blind revenge. He flicked his eyes up, and watched the way Noctis's brows were furrowed, his leg bouncing. Have any of us taken the damn time to process any of this? He wondered.
"I say we do it." Noctis added, slamming his fist against the top of the rear door. "Revenge, information, who cares. Go tear the thing apart of anything useful then blow it to hell. Wouldn't mind caving in the heads of some MTs while we're at it." His voice shook with his declaration. Lunafreya placed her hand on his shoulder, hoping to steady the tremor in his arm and his voice. He looked at her, noticing the dilation in her eyes, and the rigid way she was holding her shoulders. "We can pay them back. Sure it probably won't make a damned dent in the Empire's end-game, but if we can do something. Show the people of Lucis their leaders are going to kick their asses right back get some payback for Insomnia… Altissia, every time they-they hurt-"
"I concur with Ignis, that we may gleam important information from that ship." Lunafreya stated, interrupting Noctis as he began to speak faster and louder, tripping over his words.
"Uh so the people who just kicked our butts we're just gonna walk up to that airship? Shouldn't we like… make a plan?" Prompto asked.
"I concur with Prompto… perhaps some forethought would be prudent." Ignis added.
"If that thing was filled with MTs or soldiers they'd be pacing all over the place. Either everything inside the ship was killed… do MTs die or do they just break? Or it had just one idiot pilot who forgot which way was up. Let's go get this taken care of, we've only got like, four hours of light left and I'm still a bit tired from getting my ass kicked by the last set of daemons we faced." Crowe rambled before stalking off towards the ship. The others posted protests for several seconds.
"I'll carry your skinny ass back to the car if you don't turn it around." Gladiolus barked.
"Big guy, you forget I make bombs with my hands?" she spun around, summoning flame in her palm and holding it. He halted in his steps, holding up his palms and barked a laugh,
"Point made. Fine, we go storming in there like a bunch of idiots then what? That thing could be filled with MTs!" He pointed at the ship.
"I don't think so. Been to Accordio and Tenebrae a few times, never was dumb enough to wander closer to Nifleheim but those fuckers wouldn't just sit still in there. It's like they're programmed to be restless as well as stupid." She explained. Lunafreya let herself fall a few paces behind the others, remembering the MagiTek soldiers pacing the hallways of the Manor, and the grounds outside. They would stand guard outside her door when ordered and escort her anytime she left her room. She halted, swearing she could smell their exhaust and tried to take a moment to squint away the memories.
Noctis turned, noticing Lunafreya had halted her pace while Gladiolus and Crowe were busy arguing the merits of her plan to simply barge up to the ship. Ignis was attempting to interject into the conversation but found the pair too damned stubborn to just shut up, and Prompto was uncomfortably quiet.
"Luna?"
"Hmm?" She hummed in answer, flicking her eyes back up to him.
"Hey… would be you be more comfortable waiting back at the car?" he asked, closing the distance between them and resisted the instinct to pull his hand away when he felt her flinch to his touch.
"There may be injured in that ship and I do not wish for our supply of curatives to be exhausted. I can offer my light, so I am more useful with you than standing idly by the car because of my own pettiness." She answered him. She lifted a hand to his cheek, forcing a smile. "Come now, we are falling behind and it seems that Crowe is quite determined to simply open the doors to that ship, we may be needed." Noctis hesitated but nodded, suppressing the dozen protests that were rising in his mind.
It was a ten-minute walk to close the distance to the fallen ship, and no sign of detection was made. No soldiers came from the door, no shots from the canons on the ship or any sound come from it. They had been able to smell the burning trees, oils, and metal from the side of the road but as they approached it was nearly overwhelming. Lunafreya tried to steel herself from any sights they may see when they opened the door, remembering the charred bodies from the Tenebraen village razed by daemonic bombs.
"Maybe no one's home." Crowe quipped. The airship was far larger than they first thought, "Imagine flyin' 'round in this thing? We'd have all those royal arms and Astrals in a day!" she laughed.
"Shh… they'll hear you. Shouldn't we like, sneak?" Prompto asked.
"What's the fuckin' point by now? They would have seen us coming and already blown us up into little pink clouds with a few red and black chunks scattered around by now if they were a threat."
"And you were okay with becoming a pink cloud enough to just barge down here?" Prompto asked.
"He's got a point." Gladiolus added when the woman groaned and rolled her eyes.
"I concur." Ignis added
"Can't you guys be more like Emo Prince and Sparkles, all nice 'n quiet?" she asked. "Guess you haven't run into enough airships yet to know they can see you from miles away. They would have seen us before we saw them. How many times do I gotta say it?!"
"Doesn't mean marching up to one of these things won't make me nervous." Gladiolus answered back. Ignis mumbled something about it could be a trap keeping the comment mostly to himself knowing the woman wasn't likely to suddenly come to her senses and listen.
"Well put on your big-girl panties." Crowe quipped back. She looked up at the ship and began to pace. "How to get in… I mean, I could just bomb it open but that could damage any information we need." She mused.
"As well as any injured." Lunafreya added softly and flushed with regret as all eyes turned to her. "If information is something you wish to gleam, murdering the injured is not the prudent path." She clarified. Crowe shrugged,
"Got a point." She resumed her pacing and realized what she thought was merely a grove in the metal was the seam for a large door spanning the height of the airship . The keypad beside it was dim, and when she tapped at it no light or sound indicated if the device was working. "the Empire does love their obnoxious lights ,so pretty sure this shit is broken if it ain't glowin like a kid's toy" she commented.
"Nothing on the other side." Ignis announced as he came back around with Prompto at his side. Gladiolus also reported not finding anything on his walk around the ship. Noctis stood beside Lunafreya who couldn't seem to stand still and began to walk the length of the ship her eyes scanning it though he couldn't tell if she was even taking in information. He felt a buzz from his pocket and ignored it, trying to keep pace with the restless Oracle while finding a way inside this ship.
"I think I see something." Prompto remarked, standing near Crowe. "It's got a keypad but I think this thing is hydraulic." He pointed to some piping running along the top edge of the ship.
"What kind of idiot makes a ship with hydraulics that have exposed pipes?" Gladiolus asked.
"The kind that are so desperate to rush out airships to fill the skies that they don't waste any time with a final armor layer. Saves them lots of money, but means these things are glass cannons. Beginning to see why this thing fell out of the sky." Crowe explained.
"Perhaps this is how they caught Insomnia and Altissia so unaware. We may not have been officially at war, but their behavior for decades has warranted caution and reconnaissance has always been on the military docket. They may have needed to rush the production of the airships to keep the attack a surprise." Ignis surmised, pushing his glasses back up his nose as he gazed at the ship and saw other places where corners had been cut. Welds were not smooth at some seams, and the ship lacked much decorative flair save for what appeared to be lights running the length.
"Either way. " Crowe shrugged, and elbowed Noctis beside her pointing up, "Hey Noct warp your ass up there and cut the hydraulics so we can pry this door" Noctis followed her fingers and wondered if his engine blade could sever the pipes and almost suggested having Gladiolus do it with his greater strength and larger sword. But instead he shrugged, calling his blade.
"Got it." He warped to the top of the ship, looking down at his friends. "When you're ready."
"We should be ready for trouble just in case." Ignis stated and Everyone gave him a nod, moving away from the door and their weapons in hand. Gladiolus took a glance around them and gave him a thumbs up gesture to Noctis. Red-brown fluid poured out of the exposed piping once Noctis ruptured them, grunting with the effort as it took three more strikes to sever the thin metal. He leapt back to avoid being sprayed with the stuff, wrinkling his nose at the strong smell. The others did the same on the ground, watching until the spraying stopped and slowed to a drip.
"Did good! You earned a treat! Sparkles, go give him a kiss." Crowe gestured from Lunafreya to Noctis, the former flushing and dodging her gaze. The Prince warped back to the ground and looked at Lunafreya with furrowed brows after she walked up to him to place her hands on his shoulders and plant a simple peck on his lips. Crowe smiled and chuckled at the sight, giving Lunafreya a light pat on the shoulder when she parted from the Prince.
"Showtime." Gladiolus punched his palm and walked up to the door, gripping an external handle likely used to tether the airship to a carrier or an airfield. He grunted, giving it a hard tug, "Won't…. Budge…." He groaned.
"Okay… physics 101 big guy, door this big, pull from the top.
"Then do you have any more suggestions for how the hell to do that?" Gladiolus asked, pointing to the handles at the top of the door three meters above their heads.
"I'll warp you up." Noctis suggested, looking up with a palm shielding his eyes from the sun and squinting through the brightness. "There's more of these handles up there we should be able to push the door open from up there."
"You ever done this?"
"Nope." He didn't give his friend a chance to put up a protest, hooking an arm around the large man's waist and warped to the top of the airship in a blur of blue leaving a vapor trail of their image that lasted several seconds. Once there, Gladiolus's legs buckled, taking Noctis down with him and started vomiting until he had ejected what was left of his breakfast, spitting out stomach acid with a few final heaves. Noctis pressed the back of his hand to his mouth to keep himself from barfing from the smell and the sounds, wondering how the hell Lunafreya handled being around sick people so much. He couldn't help but begin to laugh at the sight of how poorly his friend handled the warp, intending to hold this against the next time the Shield got up his ass.
"Holy shit. How do you do that all the time?" Gladiolus asked. Noctis shrugged, laughing too hard at his friend to search for words, and Gladiolus wore he could also hear the others chuckling from the ground and promised himself to give them all a beating to remember. He gave Noctis a middle finger, which he returned, and it was several minutes before either of them were ready to try and pry the airsip's door open.
"Okay ready?" Gladiolus asked once him and the Prince were kneeling on the edge of the ship. He nodded, the Shield beginning a countdown. "Three… two… one…" Both men groaned, straining to push open the heavy door. They felt a slight shift, but after a few more seconds Noctis fell back, groaning and trying to catch his breath.
"Okay … I felt it budge… I'll go warp Prompto and Ignis up here… with four people we should be able to get that thing open. Gladiolus hesitated, leaning over with his palms on his knees before nodding, agreeing with a thumbs-up. Noctis warped to the ground, grabbing Prompto quickly, ignoring the way he stepped back and repeatedly chanted no no no! and warped up.
"Ugh…" he groaned, clutching his stomach and scrunching his face. "That… sucked."
"At least you didn't barf." Gladiolus commented. It took some convincing to get Ignis to endure the warp after watching how Gladiolus and Prompto reacted to it, but he agreed that he was indeed needed to get into the airship. Prompto and Ignis a min took a minute to collect themselves, the latter also managing not to vomit, before the three of them positioned themselves at the edge of the roof. They reached down to grab the handles, shifting their stances to avoid straining their backs. "Ready?" Gladiolus asked, and like before counted down. On the mark of three the trio grunted, pushing the door with all their might. With a loud grinding screech the door came loose, and collided into the ground sending dust and dirt into the air. Gladiolus jumped off the ship, preferring to risk his ankles over his stomach, but Prompto and Ignis agreed to be warped back down.
"Any sign of trouble?" Noctis asked Lunafreya and Crowe who had backed away from the open door.
"Naw, think it's empty?"
"Let's go check it out." Noctis took a step forward but Gladiolus clamped a hand over his shoulder,
"I got this stay behind me." The big man had his sword in his hand, and jumped up onto the door that now served as a ramp. He peered inside the dark compartment, readying his stance when he heard a pained groan. He squinted and saw a figure lying on a bunk at the far end of the ship. She was fair skinned with silver hair, wearing a black uniform traced with red, a metallic helmet on the floor beside a pair of tall heeled boots. A sword rested against the wall and she reached for it but winced, bringing her hand back over her chest, face contorted in pain.
"And who the hell are you?" She asked.
