This chapter also proved very difficult to write. I hope you enjoy the result of my efforts!


"Sounds like someone figured out how to disable those horns." Noctis commented when he stepped outside, realizing the blaring klaxon was no longer sounding. "Gladio must have punched something… So, I assume you guys found something?" Noctis asked, flinching as the heavy steel door slammed shut behind him and he winced knowing he had likely startled Lunafreya. Despite her reassurances he knew she would be on edge sleeping in that room alone. His eyes lingered on the door for a moment longer and turning back to the voice talking to him,

"Plenty of rations, even some fresh food." Aranea remarked. "Heard you guys mention this guy can cook, let's see if you can live up to the reputation. Pretty excited to eat something more exciting than an MRE." She clapped Ignis on the shoulder, who shifted his glasses back up his nose.

"I shall try." He answered, a light pink touching his cheekbones. "Come on, there's more than just food in there, we'll need everyone to pack up the Regalia in the morning but at the least I would like some assistance in making inventory of it all." Noctis nodded, sure that Ignis alone would be far more organized than with his help, but didn't want to make his friend do all the work. They walked past several identical buildings,

"How can you even tell where it was? Everything looks the same." Noctis asked.

"Second building down, one to the left." Ignis answered. "I simply counted Noct."

"And here I was thinking you had memorized the entire layout. Disappointed." Aranea tisked, shaking her head.

"Oh." He scratched at his ear, feeling a bit foolish. They typed the code into the keypad outside the door once they reached the building, Ignis again remarking about how foolish it is to use a universal code but grateful that it was making their lives easier. They opened the door to reveal a storage room. Inside was a combination of supplies; the MREs, cans and jars of food, ammunition boxes, Nifleheim uniforms, boots, metal parts, toolboxes, and other miscellaneous office supplies. "Uh… this looks like far too much… stuff for four people, and a dozen MTs." Noctis remarked. I wonder if they were feeding those three people back there. He wondered. The longer he stared the more he realized what was in here. What medical supplies weren't in the building from hell were stashed in here. Needles, infusion supplies, bags of fluids, bandages.

"My thoughts exactly." Ignis answered back. "There must either be more MTs and soldiers out on some mission, or holed up in one of these buildings." Noctis felt goosebumps roll down his arms, glancing behind him and searching the darkness for any signs of movement. The only sounds echoing in the darkness were the hum of the lights casting a red glow on the base and the buzz of insects.

"Shit! Luna!" Noctis cursed, but it was Aranea who gripped his arm, keeping him in place and he had to restrain the urge to twist her wrist.

"Slow down, we wouldn't have left her alone if we thought she was in danger." She explained. "If there's others around they're hiding, or out on some mission and won't be back till morning. Either way let the girl sleep." Noctis stared at her, the two only breaking eye contact when Ignis cleared his throat.

"I agree with my counterpart here. I do feel the Lady Lunafreya is safe."

"She's the most wanted person in Lucis, they probably want her even more than they want me." Noctis countered, fingers flexing and bouncing on one leg. He looked around the darkness again, counting the buildings he could see. He glanced up at the guard towers, eyes lingering as he watched for any shadow crossing through the dim light within.

"If it will help you settle then let us get back to the barracks." Ignis suggested. "Now do they have some form of kitchen?" Ignis inquired, stepping into the storage to go through the MREs, pulling some out to assess the variety available.

"Bigger bases having a dining hall, one this sized probably just stuck a makeshift kitchen in a back room of the barracks." Aranea replied. She was given a monosyllabic noise of reply, and rolled her eyes before joining the pair of men going through the supplies. Ignis had quickly abandoned the shelves with the MREs to check the other available items. Large cans of broth, a poor variety of vegetables, boxes of powdered milk, canned fruit, jars of peanut butter. There was a large bag of oranges, the only fresh food in the room.

"This will tax my culinary abilities to their limits." He sighed, reading the back of one of the cans and curling his lip at the amount of sodium on the label. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and continued to pick through the food.

"Got some anak jerky here." Noctis called, surprised to find the package tucked amongst the MREs.

"Good source of protein when on foot." Aranea explained.

"I may be able to fashion something together." Ignis explained. "Though it seems like a lot of effort when we have these MREs available." He continued.

"I was promised a home-cooked meal. Even if every ingredient comes from a can or a package." Aranea quipped. Ignis hesitated for a moment, and shrugged.

"I would not argue with an activity to occupy myself." Ignis admitted. "Though do not expect this meal to be of highest quality. And with the limited variety Noctis please do eat your vegetables." Ignis sighed. Noctis shrugged, picking through the MREs, figuring he could find one palatable if Ignis was so insistent on a meal laden with green things. The trio tied off the ends of the pants of Nifleheim uniforms to create makeshift bags, stuffing them with MREs, cans, and packages before heading back to the barracks where Lunafreya had been left.

The sound of the steel door slamming shut behind them jolted the Princess awake, sitting up strait with her hair kinked and bangs standing at odd angles. She leapt to her feet, letting out a long breath when her senses caught up with her upon Noctis's hasty apology. She pushed the heel of her hand to her forehead, trying to till away the grogginess.

"Is everything all right?" she inquired, knitting her brows together as they approached.

"Yeah we got some food, Aranea said there would be a kitchen here." Noctis answered her, giving her a quick hug, letting go when he realized how tense she felt in his arms.

"I could do with something to eat." Lunafreya answered, cutting off any questions hesitating on his tongue. He gave her a small smile and a nod. Happy for the company a distraction Lunafreya was eager to suggest going with everyone into the kitchen.

"Well time to strut your stuff!" Aranea cheered, pushing lightly on the back of Ignis's shoulder. Noctis restrained a chuckle when he saw a light smirk on Ignis's face. The man put together a meal for everyone with the provisions available, Aranea leaning against the cabinets making witty comments. Lunafreya and Noctis both sat down together on the floor with their backs to the wall, talking with Ignis and their new companion.

"Man, how the hell did you manage something so delicious made out of Nif canned food?" Gladiolus asked after swallowing a large bite of food.

"Says the man who eats cup-noodle. I don't think you are picky when it comes to soups." Ignis replied.

"Just because I like the glory that is cup-noodle doesn't mean I don't have a refined palate."

"You'd eat anything. You're a human garbage disposal." Prompto quipped, getting a punch on the arm. He hissed, rubbing his bicep and continued talking, "Probably tastes so good from letting it cook for over an hour got all the flavorifics stewing together." Prompto added. "I'm pretty sure we could give Ignis a jar of salt and a moldy loaf of bread and he's like, turn it into magical fried salt-crusted wheat squares or something."

"Gotta hand it to you there sexy glasses,-"

"Ignis" he interrupted Aranea

"You definitely know your way around a kitchen. Turned Nif food into something edible!" she glanced around the table and pointed to Lunafreya, "hey skinny, you need to eat some more." Said woman looked up, catching her expression and quickly took a bite of food. The broth had been seasoned with Nifleheim spices, and the soup filled with the vegetables most common to Nifleheim.

"Oh, a bit tired." She answered. She felt Noctis nudge her slightly and she shook her head, taking a bite of bread and swirling her spoon.

"I did make sure to use the vegetable broth, out of the cans available and did not add the meat until after I had set aside a portion for you." Ignis offered. She looked up at him with this, then back down to her bowl. She managed a small smile and nodded, taking a bite of the stew.

"It's quite good. Thank you Ignis." He nodded his head to her,

"Oh, you're a veggie huh?" Aranea shrugged, and Lunafreya chose not to clarify. "Guess that makes sense." At this, she looked up at the silver haired woman. "What's with the look?"

"Just…" she hesitated but realized she had already begun her statement and it was too late to return to silence. "I didn't expect someone from Nifleheim to react so… casually." A hand fluttered over her stomach and she lightly rubbed it, fingers curling to grip her shirt as a phantom pain shot across her midsection. "Most people call me picky."

"You got enough there?" Aranea asked, quirking a brow. But Ignis gestured to one of the two pots he had brought out from the barracks,

"I made sure to set aside an adequate amount for her." Lunafreya couldn't fight the blush that came to her cheeks that he had put so much consideration into following her dietary preference.

"Hey if Noct hates veggies and Iggy can work around that, why not meat?" Prompto added. She blushed again, a shy smile reappearing on her face. She resumed eating her food when conversation picked back up again about subjects that did not include her.

"Wonder if our friends are hungry." Aranea mused, thumbing to the building where scientists and soldier were still holed up.

"You aren't thinking of feeding those monsters?"

"Huh? Oh hell no!" Aranea held both hands up defensively, "Just wanted to check before-" she paused, clearing her throat, "Oh! How delicious this food is! Man! I want thirds!" she bellowed loudly.

"The patients…" Lunafreya mumbled quietly.

"Oh…" The former Nifleheim woman grimaced. "Think they're in any shape to eat?" she asked, quirking a brow and looking into the room. The group had all sat down together on the ground just outside the building, allowing them to keep an eye on the coded steel doors where they were keeping their prisoners, the disarmed soldier now shoved into the cold room with the scientists. They all agreed sitting on the hard ground was less uncomfortable than the idea of splitting up to eat simply to have the comfort of benches in another part of the base.

"Thoughtful as a Nif." Gladiolus huffed. Aranea rolled her eyes, holding up a middle finger. Gladiolus returned the gesture, shoving a large bite of bread into his mouth.

"How'd you even make freezer-bread taste good?!" Prompto asked, voice quivering slightly. But his question was disregarded, Lunafreya responding to Aranea that the three bedbound individuals were likely not well enough to handle food. She doubted they would recover, and bit down on her lip as she realized how little help she was.

"Hey guys" Noctis interrupted the banter, "Cor just sent me a text. He gathered a bunch of hunters and they should be here within an hour." He explained.

"In the dark?!" Prompto admonished, glancing around the group. "That… that's suicide!"

"These guys hunt daemons every day to make ends meet, pretty sure a whole army of 'em will make it here in one piece." Crowe answered, waving a dismissive hand at him. She grabbed her empty bowl and refilled it, grabbing another piece of grilled bread from the pile and set herself back down beside Lunafreya. The group continued to eat and talk, even Lunafreya managing to eat two full bowls and a piece of bread.

"You should get some sleep, you look like you're about to keel over." Aranea remarked, furrowing her brows at Lunafreya. She was sitting with her legs tucked under her, the circles around her eyes noticeable in the outdoor lights.

"I would prefer to wait until Cor and the others arrive, I fear I would likely feel worse should I lie to sleep only to be roused shortly after." She answered.

"Leave her alone, Nifs have ordered her around enough as it is." Gladiolus snapped, Aranea responding with a glare.

"I'm not ordering anything." She growled, rolling her eyes. "Geeze, you on your period?" Gladiolus began to stand up but dropped himself quickly when each of the group looked up at him, Ignis snapping,

"Sit down Gladio!"

"But she-"

"I do not need people to speak on my behalf." Lunafreya interrupted. "I am capable of making my own decisions. She suggested I sleep, I said no, let us move on." Her tone was low, and everyone stared at her for a few seconds. Gladiolus grumbled, standing up,

"I need to walk off dinner." He mumbled, walking away from the group.

"I apologize for our friend." Ignis offered, but Aranea shook her head,

"Nifs suck, I get it. I promise I'm not secretly planning to shoot you all in your sleep, you're my paychecks until one of us gets sick of the other." She explained.

"He'll calm down eventually he's just…"

"An ass? Bullheaded? Hormonal?"

"I was going to say difficult." Ignis responded to Aranea's list. He moved to start gathering bowls and plates,

"Let me help you wash these." Lunafreya offered, wanting to occupy her hands and thoughts, and to return Ignis's kindess for remembering that she didn't eat meat.

"I was just going to put them in the barracks kitchen and toss them in," he answered. She blushed, biting down on her bottom lip. Of course he wasn't going to actually wash them. What's the point?

"Iggy, leave dirty dishes? I think we have an imposter on our hands!" Prompto feigned,

"I keep my own environment clean but have no desire to expend any more energy than necessary in this place." He responded defensively, bidding his friends a moment away and he would return shortly. Prompto joined him, if only so no one would need to walk through this base alone. "I think too I'll go grab those notebooks I saw, maybe they can clue us in on something." He added, thinking back to the binders and notebooks he saw messily strewn about the makeshift desk in the "hospital" room.

Ignis was sitting on the ground with a notebook in his lap and three more to his left. Aranea was pacing around, too restless to sit, a notebook in her hands as well. Gladiolus had stayed behind to keep guard over the Nifleheimers, Noctis texting back and forth between his shield when both he and Prompto had agreed they were content to allow Ignis and Aranea to be in charge of reading these research notes. I have no intention of giving myself nightmare fuel for the next six months he had explained, and was relieved when no one argued with him. Crowe had coaxed Lunafreya into sitting down and getting some rest after she had refused an offer to go lie down in the barracks.

"Anything interesting?" Prompto asked, wincing in anticipation of the answer.

"These are research notes." Ignis answered. "I don't think this is talking about the three people we saw, but they were conducting experiments on the blight. Its unclear if they intentionally infected people, or merely began tests on people already infected." He stated so matter-of-factly that Noctis stared at his friend for a moment,

"Is that all? Just some fun little experiments?" Ignis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. With his glasses obscured Noctis could see the dark circles around the man's eyes, and winced at his statement.

"I am being… delicate, until I understand what I am reading better. I do not wish to leap to conclusions but these notes…" he paused, shaking his head and flipping a page. "They're quite objective. They simply refer to people as sample and a reference number."

"Shit… so they were just torturing those people to learn more about the blight?" he asked.

"I stated I don't wish to leap to conclusions. It's quite unclear. These notes are not well organized, quite the poor excuse for scientists. But they discuss various methods they have tried to slow or halt the spread of the disease. Their methods may be indelicate-"

"Why are you defending the fuckers? These notes prove our point! They were treating those people like they were a fucking petri dish! You think they care about trying to save a Blight victim when they have them shivering and whimpering, covering them in ice? Hacking off limbs then cutting it up in some sick OR?!" Crowe snapped, getting to her feet.

"They absolutely deserve to be brought to justice for how they treated those people. But I think its possible they may have actually been trying to find a cure, or even a treatment." Ignis responded, holding the notebook up to her.

"I don't want to read that shit! I don't care if they did find a cure! You really want to use a cure if it came from… that?!" she pointed in the direction of the building with a tremulous finger, balling her fist and slamming it against her thigh.

"Crowe, please." Lunafreya asked. "We have contacted people who can help us arrest these men. Ignis has the research notes to go through. Let him finish reading so we can better understand these circumstances." She suggested.

"But… fuck!" she cursed. She sighed, rubbing roughly at her face. "Fine." She stated shortly. "But if those notes don't say they found those people in that condition I'll make sure they're shitting their teeth for a month!" She swore.

"And I won't stop you." Ignis answered.

"Nor I." Lunafreya added quietly. Noctis watched the argument and let out a light chuckle at the mental image of a Nif being on the receiving end of Crowe's threat.

"I'll hold them for you." He added.

"I'll be on the other arm." Prompto gave a thumbs up, earning a wink from Crowe who finally sat back down.

Cor arrived with his entourage of hunters an hour and a quarter later. They were welcomed into the base, all moving quickly for the safety the red lights and hastily shutting the gate behind them, one man fumbling for a padlock, cursing aloud when he couldn't find one.

"They keypad everything." Noctis interrupted, pointing to the device beside the gate. The hunter groaned and murmured a quiet thank you before jogging to catch up with the rest of the hunters who were being led towards the barracks where Cor would catch them to discuss their plans after he had a talk with the Prince. Many were limping, some holding limbs close to them, others supported by comrades. Their clothing were stained with blood and smears of what only the gods knew. One man was slung over the shoulders of another hunter, and the sight had the hair on Noctis's arms standing on end, neck tingling with goosebumps.

"So. Our Prince is all grown up and taking down Imperial bases." Cor's deep voice jarred his focus from the hunters, turning to meet the Immortal's gaze. The man crossed his arms, looking at Noctis, "The King didn't give me many details."

"I didn't give him many myself." He answered shortly. Lunafreya was standing a pair of steps closer to the gate than him. He stepped forward, lightly gasping her wrist and tugging her towards him. She walked backwards, eyes transfixed in the darkness. "Umm.. Come on," he directed. "Let's go to that barracks and I'll bring you up to speed." He gestured at Cor and started walking, his friends already several meters ahead. Lunafreya's focus had moved from the gate to the hunters, her expression tight. She stepped up to walk beside Noctis, Crowe taking her usual position as rear guard. She threw a glance over her shoulder, dismissing the sounds in the distance as nothing but her own fears getting to her.

"I have things to tell you as well. I hope these lights have enough power to keep them running all night."

"Daemons?" Noctis asked, lifting a brow.

"We lost two men. Couldn't even retrieve the bodies. Dave wants to look for the dog tags in the morning, but doing it at the time would have been suicide." Cor answered, Noctis staring at the man waiting for the punchline to the joke. The memories of the bombs and giants pacing the perimeter of their haven, the burns on Crowe and Lunafreya glowed on the backs of his eyelids when he blinked. What the hell could have attacked an army led by the Immortal? He pondered.

"I can aid the injured." Lunafreya's voice rose, Cor turning over his shoulder to look at her and giving her a nod before looking back towards his men. She bit down on her lip and turned her gaze over to Noctis. She shifted her hand within his to twine their fingers, giving his hand a squeeze, and he gripped her tighter in answer. They completed the walk to the barracks in silence. Ignis was outside sitting with Prompto who appeared to be doubled over again several meters away Noctis allowed himself a moment to wonder if Aranea was with Gladiolus back at the room where the Nifs were locked up. They'd probably kill each other. His train of thought was interrupted when Cor stopped suddenly a few paces past the doorway.

Lunafreya stepped around Cor, Noctis brushing past the man with a mumbled apology and stood just behind her with Crowe trying not to bump into the immortal and incur the wrath she was all too familiar with. She had pissed the man off more than once, but her apprehension about the Immortal was interrupted by Lunafreya's gasp, and she exchanged a concerned glance with Noctis. The Oracle stared into the room, squinting back the images of the survivors of that burned village lying in a hospital wing, of the three victims she prayed over for hours. The distinct rubber-like odor invaded her nose as her eyes tracked over the exposed skin of these hunters. Dark red tissue edged with black, acrid burnt hair was coming from the pair whose faces were obscured with discolored skin and missing large tufts of hair from their peeling scalps. The scent was invasive. Skin, hair, clothes. Everything bore singe marks and her nose threatened to send her reeling into old memories.

She took in a breath and let it out slowly through her nose, willing the tension away from her limbs before she walked further into the room. Noctis tracked her movements, and Cor stepped up beside him as the pair watched her kneel next to a bunk and begin to speak to the man lying there.

"Doesn't waste a second, does she?" Cor asked. Noctis let the question hang in the air for a moment, and the man continued. "So what did you find out here that let me get two of my hunters killed?" Cor asked, turning to Noctis. His tone was sharp, fingertips digging into his upper arms.

"I wasn't expecting my dad to send you guys here in the middle of the night." He tried to start, and when Cor took a step towards him immediately dropped that tactic, eyes widening and averting his gaze. "We came to the base hoping they'd have some useful information." He started, and get a little revenge. He tried to hurry through what they've seen, and why he immediately called his father. Cor stared at him, lips thin, a tall silent figure and Noctis began to question everything they'd done since they first located Aranea's downed airship. He looked back up at Cor, a memory playing in the back of his mind staring up at his father as he tried to explain I didn't do it! for whatever mess he had made.

"So you saw firsthand the shit the Nifs do. Why we were at war with them." Cor ground out. "We should shoot those men and put them out of their misery." Noctis flinched, hating his almost instant agreement. He looked back over at Lunafreya who was moving down the line of bunks, praying by each one.

"We should burn this whole base to the ground." He answered back, dropping his voice. Cor grunted, turning his attention back to the men. He watched Lunafreya walking, bunk by bunk, pressing her forehead and whispering her prayers. Noctis stood beside the Immortal, pondering calling his father to better bring him up to speed, and justify himself.

"So show me this room-of-horrors." Noctis nearly flinched at the sudden declaration, nodding and straightening himself.

"Yeah. Let me just tell Luna." He excused himself, catching her before she could move on to the next hunter and explained his intentions. She frowned, hesitating for a moment before nodding and reassuring them she would be safe in Crowe's hands. He disliked the idea of parting from her, and could see in the stiff way she held herself, the white in her knuckles as she gripped her own arms that he was unlikely to get a parting hug from her and instead they exchanged nods before he turned to walk back towards Cor. "We'll be back." He remarked to Crowe who nodded, punching Noctis on the arm before heading towards her charge.

"It's in another building. Gladio is guarding it since we locked the assholes up in a room." Noctis explained. Cor followed him after a curt nod and shouting for five of the hunters to follow them. Noctis could feel the hair on his arms prickling, and left to lead the way. Godsdamn I feel like I'm about to be grounded. He through to himself. Gladiolus was sitting just outside the door as the building came into view, thumbing away at his phone. He looked up at the sound of footsteps his great sword appearing in his hand in a flash of blue, and vanishing almost as quickly before he stood rigid.

"Cor! Welcome sir." Gladiolus greeted.

"Where's Aranea?" Noctis asked, quirking a brow when he saw his Shield was alone.

"With Ignis." He answered. "Time to give these Nifs a taste of Lucian justice?" He asked, turning his attention back to the Immortal.

"Let's see what dragged us out here in the dead of night." Cor answered. Gladiolus nodded, turning into the room and almost coughing on the smell.

"I see why you stood outside." A hunter remarked, slapping a hand over his nose.

"Shit." Cor mumbled, looking around the room. His eyes flicked quickly between the three beds, his own hand covering his nose and mouth as his brows scrunched together. He exhaled sharply through his nose and cursed, shaking his head. The men with him were cursing and coughing, each going around to look over the bedridden figures.

"Are they dead?" One of them asked. No one answered him, Cor making a round of the room and looking at the three figures. He shook his head, tapping at his hip where his gun was holstered, shaking his head.

"No." he answered simply. "What the hell is going on in here?" he asked.

"They all have the blight." Noctis answered.

"Fuck!" A hunter cursed, echoed by his comrades. One lifted his fist, stepping towards Noctis who flinched away and brought up his own arm but the hunter howled in pain as Gladiolus gripped his wrist, twisting his arm behind his back and dropping him to the floor, letting out a hard grunt when the air was forced out of his lungs.

"Were you really about to hit the Prince of Insomnia?" he asked, incredulous.

"Ugh…" he coughed, wheezing for breath as Gladiolus repeated his question. He screamed as further strain was put on his arm, "shit, Cor! Help me out here!" Noctis took a step back from the pair, the hunter thrashing beneath Gladiolus's grip.

"You dug your own hole Rogers." Cor answered shortly, his tone a sharp reminder of why Noctis was always warned never to cross the Immortal. The other hunters were staring at their comrade on the ground, bearing sneers or lifted brows and stepping back to watch the man struggle with the Shield, sure to give the Prince adequate berth. "But he had a point." Cor continued, shifting his tense gaze to Noctis, "You bring us into a room with the blight? We didn't suffer enough with those daemons getting to your sorry ass?"

"Luna used her light." Noctis responded hastily, clearing his voice to shift his defensive tone, "It wasn't enough to cure them… but I don't think she would have let us lead you here if she thought they were still contagious." He supplied as a peace offering. "They're too far gone to fix them. But I think she must have contained it somehow." He was mostly thinking aloud; the actual threat of Blight had never struck him. But she hadn't approached him or the others to heal them after their previous excursion into this room, nor stopped anyone from coming back.

"So what the hell is going on in this room?" Cor asked.

"Blight experiments. Iggy was reading about them. He was still going through things when you guys showed up." Noctis answered. "Looking for a cure. Supposedly. But…" he gestured at the three beds, "I don't think they were being altruistic." Cor grunted at this explanation, curling a lip.

"Where's the damn Nifs?" Cor asked. "And let go Gladiolus before you break his damn arm. We need every body we can get." He added, looking down at Gladiolus who was still pinning Rogers to the floor. The Shield gave him one final push, grinning at Roger's curses before getting to his own feet and stepping to keep himself between the hunter and Noctis. Rogers sat up, rolling his shoulder and reaching out for someone to help him stand, but everyone steadfast avoided his gaze. He cursed, and started climbing to his feet mumbling about haunting everyone after he died from the Blight or being eaten by a daemon because of his bum shoulder and getting the middle finger and a thin lipped glare from Cor when he asked what he planned to do if his shoulder didn't feel normal enough to fight on his next hunt.

"There in that room," Noctis answered his query and pointed at a door when Cor cleared his throat to repeat his question. He recited the door code when Cor reached the door, the man typing the code in quickly and threw the door open hard enough for it to impact the wall. A chorus of cursing came from the room with the sound of objects falling to the floor. Cor stepped inside briefly and had the Niflheimer soldier by the collar of his uniform, dragging him from the room and buried his knee into his chest causing him to fall to the floor. "Care to explain what the fuck we're looking at?"

"Fucking Lucians…" the man coughed, clutching his chest with one arm, using the other to try and hold himself up. "Look at them you idiots. We're trying to help, find a cure for the blight!" he shouted. Noctis lifted a skeptical brow, glancing between him and Cor.

"Search the rest of the base." Cor ordered, looking up to his hunters who quickly began to file out of the room. Rogers was the last to leave, locking eyes with Gladiolus after brushing brusquely past Noctis who lifted a middle finger at the hunter. Cor caught this and pointed at the hunter, "fuck off Rogers you're in a deep enough hole as it is." The hunter shifted the weight on his feet, dodging Cor's glare and turned to follow the others.

"I should have hit him again." Gladiolus sneered as the door shut behind Rogers.

"Saved my ass man." Noctis stated, realizing he had never thanked his shield.

"I dunno, some ladies think black eyes are sexy as hell. Could have dialed up your man-level a few ticks." He laughed, lightly punching Noctis on the shoulder.

"Make Luna jealous as all the girls look my way? Sounds like a good way to end up with a second black eye." He laughed.

"I don't think the Oracle has a violent bone in her body. She'd get Crowe to do it for her."

"Reasons to pay attention to your surroundings." Cor interrupted, "Did I teach you nothing?" Noctis cleared his throat, smile fading from his face and watched as he turned his attention back to the soldier rubbing his sternum on the floor. He tried to ask again about the experiments, but the soldier was steadfast with his answer that they were seeking a cure to the blight, and he could confirm it with his researchers. The three scientists were all cowering in the cold room, and Noctis wondered if the Immortal's reputation preceded him even with the Nifs. As soon as the man dragged them from the room the scientists were a bit more forthcoming with information, but peppered it with technical terms and they danced around many of the questions to circle back to the same defense. We're trying to find a cure.

"Leonis, Sir?" One of the hunters had appeared at the doorway, the three Lucians turning towards him with Gladiolus instinctively stepping in front of Noctis half expecting Rogers to return and be an idiot, but instead it was one of the others who hastily continued without prompt. "We inspected the base like you asked. We found something… there's a second barracks, this one full of prisoners. There were a handful of the damn puppets inside so we blew their circuit boards to shrapnel." Cor cursed, and Noctis winced, wondering what they were going to be walking into.

"You think this is related?" Gladiolus asked, turning to Noctis and Cor.

"I'd be more surprised if it isn't. Guess we have an idea where these guys came from," Noctis thumbed around the room. The smell hit him again, as if looking at the source reminded his brain to stop filtering it out. He wrinkled his nose. "Should we go check it out?" he asked, the need to leave this room hitting him suddenly, chills running down his back with a sudden sense of claustrophobia. What if Luna's anxiety just made her forget about the Blight? He tried to banish the thought, but his attention was drawn sharply back to Cor.

"Put these assholes back in that room and watch the door Gladiolus, Noctis come with me." Cor answered. He was all-too-eager to agree, though his Shield seemed far less enthused with his own task. "And maybe bring Lady Lunafreya back here to ease the suffering of the wretched souls." He added, noting how they shifted in their beds. They had yet to resume moaning, and Noticed noticed the shift in his posture as he spoke about them, his brow furrowing as his arms uncrossed and dropped to his sides.

"Umm yeah. Gladio, she still has my phone. Can you send her a text?" His shield nodded and he gave his friend a parting thumbs-up before following Cor out of the room and joining the hunter outside to lead them to the second barracks. He winced when Cor asked why he hadn't conducted a full search of the base before calling him here, and he struggled with silence for several moments as he debated whether the question was rhetorical or not, settling on the excuse they were simply too shocked by the state of the Blight victims.

After inspecting the second barracks with Cor Noctis went to gather Ignis and brought him and Aranea with their research notes. The pair both looked tense, Ignis's hair fussed as he ran a hand through it for what Noctis assumed must have been the tenth time. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and sighed, agreeing to follow him.

"I know I wouldn't argue with blowing up a few MTs. Any left?" Aranea asked, all-too happy to close the notebook she had been reading.

"I would not argue myself with deconstructing those abominations." Ignis snarled, curling his lip.

"What the hell was in those notes?"