This terrible slacker is back!


"What the hell is that?" Aranea asked. Down the hall appeared to be a minecart removed from its track, thick vines wrapped around the middle of it and a mass of black and grey in the center, the room too dark to identify color; the only light came from dimly glowing flowers blooming along the length of the vines that reached out and adhered to the wall, dragging the cart it was wrapped around down them with a grinding screech, sparks flashing as the wheels dragged across the hallway floor.

"Time to do some landscaping?" Prompto suggested. He took a few steps forward to get beside Aranea, flicking the safety off his guns. Another step forward and he felt a crunch beneath his foot. He stopped and looked down, and leapt back beginning to curse.

"What?!" Aranea asked, backing away from him and her back collided with the wall. She made a disgusted sound and stepped away from it again, her back damp. "Gods this place…"

"Bones!" Prompto answered her, kicking with his toes wondering if he could identify the partially crushed skull.

"This place is just lovely. Respectful burial ground for your ancestors!" Gladiolus bellowed. He pushed forward and was the first to strike. His sword severed several of the vines the mass was using to pull its car along the length of the hallway, new ones quickly writhing up to wrap around the offending weapon. Aranea was fast to follow, attempting to wedge her polearm under the cart to force it to tilt but the weapon was likewise wrapped in vines and pulled from her grip. Both jumped back, Noctis flexing his fingers regretting that he forgot, once again, to gather more magic.

Crower pushed back him, barking at Lunafreya to stay back. But the woman didn't listen and rushed ahead, watching as Crowe threw a fireball and cast a domed shield over the minecart. The mass bubbled and the vines flailed, the noise coming from it sounding like a person gargling mouthwash. It sputtered and gurgled. The fire started to fade out and Lunafreya released her shield, fanning her hands and letting out a hard hiss of air through her teeth. Crowe shouted something about having told her to stay behind before turning her attention back to the flaming mass.

Noctis's attention turned back to Lunafreya, reaching to his pocket for a potion which she didn't post an argument for. The deep red in her palms started to fade into a dark pink, and the pain faded with it. She looked up and saw that their trick had worked, in spite of riling up her shield. She felt unusually tired after such limited use of her magic and blamed it on her recent events.

Crowe threw more fire at the mass and smoke filled the hall. Everyone backed away from the thing in the cart, covering their mouths. Prompto got to the floor, Lunafreya doing to the same, both shouting for the others to get down. Not the smartest attack. Lunafreya thought to herself. But the thing in the cart had stopped pulling itself down, and the gurling stopped. There was no more flailing and they watched it for several seconds.

"Well this was fun." Crowe remarked. They all huddled by the elevator shaft, coughing and wheezing waiting for the smoke to dissipate. It was several minutes before anyone talked, checking on each other, Gladiolus and Aranea able to fetch their weapons back from the charred vines they were tangled in.

"Bed time yet?" Prompto asked, coughing and slamming his fist against his chest.

"Would quite like a nap." Lunafreya agreed. And truthfully she would like one. She ached and her eyes felt heavy. Her whole body felt heavy. She wanted to blame the pain of her injuries, but the weariness was deeper; and getting herself back to her feet was hard. She wanted to stay on the floor. Give in to the fatigue. But she wrapped her fingers around his hand, and followed his tug to get herself back to her feet. She winced, placing a hand over her ribs, and reassured the volley of concern that she was all right. She hung at the back of the group, glad for the slow pace.

There was little space between the mine cart and the hallway walls, and it stank of rot and burnt meat. It was dark, and they felt it was safe and they wished they had brought their phones with them. The devices would have made handy flashlights and being underground they were unlikely to ping any towers.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Noctis asked, and the repetition was starting to give her a headache.

"I will be." She offered instead, hoping admitting to a degree of her discomfort would help him settle. "Bones take time to mend." She gave a half smile and held up her arm, giving him a shrug.

"What about a Hi-Potion?" He offered. She wanted to reject it, having drank a potion not long before. But she nodded, hoping that perhaps it would speed up her recovery. Thinking on it, she was surprised that she felt so tired with all the caffeine and other ingredients in the energy drink based medicine. She accepted the offer from Noctis, popping the top and sipping at it as they walked. It was cloyingly sweet, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. Her sweet tooth had no shame, an old memory of sucking on sugar cubes stolen from the tea setting coming to mind. "Any better?"

"A bit." Lunafreya answered. The deep heavy weariness hadn't faded but she could feel that false energy from the caffeine and hoped it would be enough to keep her on her feet through the mines. The hallway led down to a wider hallway.

In the center was track for minecrates, and either side were alcoves for old machinery, storage rooms for tools and goods the miners would need during their shifts. Some alcoves were old habitation rooms with ancient bunks covered in nearly fully rotted mattresses over rusted frames. She thought about finding the least offensive mattress and pulling it off the frame and sleeping on top of it until they found the tomb and collected the arm. But guilt panged her stomach at the selfish impulse, and instead tried to think about the caffeine she had ingested to try and convince herself to wake up.

She took a step and the ground shook. the few lights that were somehow still powered flickered and a deep rumble rolled through the mine. She pressed a hand to her temple, momentarily thinking that she was just dizzy and then thought that she was about to pass out. But then she heard the others giving concerned shouts and realized that everything was shaking.

"Another monster?!" Prompto asked, squatting down to keep from falling as the shaking grew more intense. Everyone else followed suit, the rumbling grew too loud to talk to each other. Lunafreya felt the vibrations like blows to her body and she whined, glad for the sound that drowned her out. Her arm and ribs felt on fire, her tender palm pressed against the ground felt freshly burned and the dull headache behind her eyes flared fully to life. The shaking wore off and quiet settled once more. Of the few lights that had been illuminating the hall less than half were left.

"Well that was… interesting." Aranea remarked. She stood up and brushed off the seat of her pants. She offered her hand to Ignis next to her. Prompto helping Crowe up. Gladiolus standing up while Noctis helped Lunafreya.

"You okay over there Sparkles?" Crowe asked, coming over to her charge. "I've been a pretty shitty Shield today."

"You could not have fought a groundquake." Lunafreya countered.

"You don't look so good."

"The shaking was unkind to my injuries." She admitted, "But it will wear off. We should keep moving. With these lights gone I fear what shall grow bold in the darkness."

"Just the thought I needed!" Prompto cheered, and got a slap to the back of the head from Aranea.

"She has a point." Noctis said and nodded in the direction they had been walking. "You feel okay to keep moving? We can take a break if you need it."

"The potions are helping. We should just keep moving." Crowe hung back with Lunafreya, though Noctis ignored the suggestion to take point and lead them through the mines. Ignis taking that role instead with Aranea at his side. Gladiolus hung back to guard their tails. Prompto started humming to himself, dancing a bit as they walked.

"You need any medicine or anything?" Crowe asked.

"Noctis gave me another Hi-Potion a bit ago and I feel a mite better." Lunafreya replied. She was unable to keep the sharpness of her tone held back, growing weary of everyone asking about her. She had a few broken bones, she was likely to hurt and need time to heal. She expected some quip but Crowe held her tongue, instead asking about music, wondering what song Prompto was attempting to sing. They walked and talked, Lunafreya feeling embarrassed at her limited music selection.

"Man Sparkles, gotta get you a proper playlist. Next time we go to Lestallum let's go kill some little daemon fuckers for cash and get this girl an MP3 player."

"Do they even sell those things outside Insomnia?" Noctis asked.

"CD-players are still more common but we aren't in the fuckin' stone age. You seen people with smart phones." Crowe snapped. Noctis winced, realizing the stupidity of his question and a flash of guilt about how little he still understood about life outside the city's protection. His mind drifted off to thoughts of home, and tried to push them back before the mounting guilt made him feel nauseous and tried to tell himself to get these damn royal arms to kick some Empire and Astral ass.

"Noctis did get me a quite nice CD of a violin player in Altissia. I cannot seem to recall his name." Lunafreya said. A small smile played her face when she thought about how he stole into her room with a bag of little gifts for her. She hoped there would come a day where they could be at peace. Where they could grow out their lives together. Where thinking of lying atop a bed eating candy and listening to music wouldn't be some fanciful memory and distant dream.

"Sparkles?" Lunafreya jerked out of her thoughts and shrugged at Crowe,

"Sorry. A bit tired. What did you say?"

"I said you like violin stuff?"

"Yes." she replied with a slight shrug, folding her hands in front of her.

"There's this metal band I liked back home, they used violins and shit. Sounded great. Wonder if you'd like that. Show you some real music."

"There is nothing wrong with instrumental, orchestral, and classical music." Lunafreya defended.

"Just not my cup of tea. Let me infect you!" Crowe countered. "Hey! Aranea! Agree with me!" Crowe called.

"Whatever she said! Unless she's wrong. Then slap her! I trust your judgement Luna." Aranea called back. Lunafreya smiled, chuckling, and gave her a thumbs up before she turned back to continue her conversation with Ignis.

The lights down the entire length of the hallway showed equal amounts of damage. The lights had the faint buzzing of the ancient type of light they once used, the fake-yellow color giving the group a headache. All the sugar in her stomach was making Lunafreya feel nauseous, but the full effect of the curatives seemed to finally be kicking in. While she would easily sleep if given the opportunity, the idea of staying awake was no longer torturous.

The hallway ended in a large circular chamber. The hallway curved into a circle around a deep opening in the center. There was a gate in the railing that rimmed the deep opening. The group spread out and each leaned against the railing, trying to look down and see what lay below.

"Please tell me there's no more doom elevators." Prompto asked.

"Stairs right here." Gladiolus answered, giving the rail gate a shake. The entire railing shook, dust kicked up from the loose and rusted fittings into the cement ground. Everyone backed away from the railing, not trusting its strength. "Well, ladder." he clarified.

"If its as sturdy as this railing I place my complete faith in it." Aranea replied.

"Can anyone see the bottom?" Crowe asked. A chorus of no. She called up a fireball and threw it down, watching it illuminate the walls of the hall and briefly light up the room below. It seemed to be a room similar to this one, though rather than a hole the center of the room was filled with water. Hallways led off in at least one direction, the brief look unable to tell them much more. "So. Hi ho, Hi ho, its off to work we go?"

Crowe was the first on the ladder, the others climbing down the long ladder. The large chamber at the bottom of the ladder felt warmer than the area above. A deep groan thrummed through the large room. It smelled damp, and above the sound of the groaning was the dripping and rushing of water. Fewers of the lights seemed to be working, and a few more fireballs from Crowe helped them get a better idea of where they were.

The mine, having meant so much to the ancient Lucians, bore a room that seemed to be used for ceremony. It was large and circular, four sets of ladders at ninety degrees from each other. The floor was a smooth stone, oddly untouched by the thick black tendrils or the damp moss. The emblem of the family of Lucius was imprinted in the center, holes in various places that looked like they once were embedded with some adornment. The walls were harder to see with the limited flashes of light but they were not as untouched as the floor. There were carvings in the wall, partially covered in moss and black vines. The far side of the room had a long hallway that led into the darkness, and likely where the sounds they were hearing were coming from.

"Think its down that way?" Prompto asked.

"Got three choices. May as well just pick one." Crowe answered.

"You need a break?" Noctis asked in a low voice, hanging back near the ladder as their friends walked to the center of the room to investigate.

"I'm quite well." Lunafreya answered. She walked to rejoin their friends, Noctis tailing a pace behind her with a frown. He took a breath to speak more, but Crowe and Gladiolus started to draw the party ahead. Crowe hesitated at the doorway to the selected hall, watching everyone pass and following once she was closer to her charge. Another reassurance she was fine had Lunafreya pick up her pace.

The hallway narrowed and the ceiling lowered, but the walls were still smooth and the floor untouched. The deem rumble was growing lowder, as was the sound of trickling and running water. The stale smell of the air grew stronger, and a pungent odor had everyone pull the collars of their shirts over their noses.

"What is that?" Prompto's asked, voice muffled by the hand clamping his shirt over his nose and mouth.

"Sulfur." Ignis replied,

"Gladio's ass?" Crowe suggested.

"I'm afraid the source is producing far more sulfur than a diet comprised of fifty-percent cup-noodle could account for."Ignis shook his head.

"He did put an egg in his cup-noodle for breakfast." Aranea said.

"Ah, very true. Fully explains this phenomenon." Ignis replied.
"I'm trying to ignore you but the urge to punch someone is rising." Gladiolus shouted over them.

"Urge to kill… rising." Prompto quipped. The floor rumbled and he squeaked, "maybe literally?" he asked.

"Earthquake again?" Gladiolus asked, looking all around them. "Or aftershock?"

"Perhaps a mine is not the wisest place to be." Ignis answered. But the shaking was brief and they continued walking. The smell grew more intense, triggering gagging and everyone pressed their hands harder over their faces, shirts pulled up. Aranea was walking beside Ignis, and cocked her head to the side, eyes drifting down.

"Well hey now sexy glasses, that's an adorable happy-trail you got there. Pretty sure mine is thicker than that." Arana remarked, giving him a rough shove by bumping into him.

"I'm pretty sure a newborn has more body hair than him." Gladiolus shouted over his shoulder. Even walking behind the others Noctis could see Ignis's face and ears were reddened and he huffed hard out of his nose as he tugged his shirt back down and tucked it back into his pants.

"There is nothing wrong with my sparse hair, it merely decided it was better placed upon my head." Ignis replied.

"You're adorable. Here, look," Aranea lifted her shirt to just below her bust, and made a gesture below her navel.

"I see not the vast landscape of hair that you alluded to."

"It's just as white as the stuff on my head." She shrugged, and pat at the offending area.

"I still insist you have quite the flattering… umm… arrangement?" Ignis replied with a slight uptone.

"Awe, you're hot as hell too." Aranea replied, pressing a hand into his shoulder to stand on her toes and plant a kiss on his cheek. "you're just terrible at flirting." she added bluntly.

"I merely have skills in other fields." Ignis replied.

"You do now?"

"I-I merely mean-"

"Oh I'm teasing. I don't want your face permanently stuck that shade of red." Aranea reached out and linked her fingers with Ignis's, walking a step closer to him.

"How are you guys talking, let alone flirting?! Just breathing makes me wanna puke!" Prompto called, voice muffled by the hand clamped tight over his mouth.

"You sure it's not Ignis digging himself into a deeper hole that makes you wanna puke? Worse than the royals!" Gladiolus replied.

"Well who pissed in your cereal? Or did your right hand cancel another date?" Crowe asked.

"How am I friends with any of you weirdos?" Prompto asked.

"I'm too damn sexy not to be friends with." Gladiolus replied. "Speaking of sexy, the hand is just looking for a 3-way to shake things up. Think your right hand is interested?"

"And you think Ignis was bad at flirting? How about I buy you some baby powder so all the solo-dates don't cause chaffing?" Crowe answered.

"Uh guys. Instead of all flirting like the most pathetic orgy ever how about we notice that." Prompto shouted. Everyone fell quickly silent and tried to look down the hall. They stopped walking, trying to find what Prompto had talked about. Ignis was the first to spot it next, calling out his dagger. "Dude what is that thing? Except for hentai-nightmares come to life?"

"Watching that much hentai?" Crowe asked.

"Oh totally, why do you think I keep asking for a tent to myself? Poor Gladio has to deal with me watching hentai on my phone all night." Prompto replied.

"Marlboro." Ignis provided the answer, moving to the head of the pack with Aranea beside him. Noctis warped forward, startling everyone into a chorus of shouts and curses.

"Time to deal with it." Noctis said. He warped once more, and from the back Lunafreya squinted at the flash of light that left a ghostly trail for a few seconds. The usual blue was streaked with black, and seemed to spark. She rubbed the heel of her hand over her eyes and tried to focus on him again. The others had started to chase after him, Gladiolus clearly unhappy his charge was acting so reckless. Crowe hung back to look at Lunafreya over her shoulder, understanding with a curt nod that Lunafreya was not going to be sitting the battle out.

The new adrenaline made Lunafreya forget about the foul stench, dulled the ache in her bones. She called her trident and ran into the chamber. It was large, the miners having clearly discovered a natural underground cavern. The ceiling almost looked fifty meters high, fifty meters across. The water was coming from high above the far wall and vanishing into somewhere she couldn't make out. Coming now to join the center of the frey was the monster Ignis called the Marlboro. It was a mass of tentacles ten meters tall, numerous ending in wet blinking eyeballs. From its body longer black and green tendrils spread across the entire chamber, up the walls and into the floor. The monster nearly bisected itself to open its maw, lined with what looked like broken glass more than teeth, and Ignis's warning coming only two seconds before the creature exhaled.

The air immediately became dense and impenetrable to light. The sulfurous smell intensified and everyone was once again rendered gagging and staggering back. Their eyes burned, skin burned. Lunafreya reached deep into her magic, calling out esuna and from a few meters away from her an expanding ball of blue light pushed away the offending gass. The Marlboro hissed, the tentacles in the bottom of its body thrashing like living tree roots.

"Be wary of its breath!" Ignis tried to give another warning, still coughing. Noctis was across the room, and in a flash of light called out his armiger, letting out an animalistic scream as he warped to the Marlboro. Lunafreya's suspicions were confirmed when she saw the blue and black lights that swirled around him. She could see one of the weapons was nearly entirely black.

"Noctis! Drop your Armiger!" she tried to call, but he didn't hear her.