Good god I'm terrible. I'm so sorry for the delays this story is not abandoned.


Lunafreya ran forward into the large room, calling out to Noctis again, her voice lost in the cacophony of sound. A shadow to her left drew her attention and she gasped, seeing one of the tentacles reaching out for her.

"Get down!" She hardly heard Crowe's call before she was tackled to the ground, the tentacle set aflame jerking away from them with a screech. "Get up, get up." Crowe instructed, pulling Lunafreya to her feet and they started to run. "Are you insane woman?!"

"We need to get Noctis to drop his armiger!" Lunafreya responded, throwing her arm out to gesture at him. She saw Crowe shift her attention and saw her body language change. A curt nod and they both started to run towards the Prince. Black whirled around him, sparks of blue and black coming off the marlboro where it was struck. Lunafreya had trouble seeing in the darkness, wondering if the spirals were running around Noctis's skin.

They ran towards him shouting, but he failed to hear them.

"How do we get his attention?" Crowe asked. Lunafreya shook her head,

"I don't know." She answered. After a pause Crowe spoke again,

"I see two options. Either we knock his glowing ass out of the air and deal with his pissiness, or kick this marlboro's ass fast so he can drop the damn hero-act." Crowe suggested. Lunafreya disliked both options, biting down on the side of her tongue and huffed a hard breath,

"Then let's defeat this daemon quickly and allow Noctis to stop." She elected, unable to bring herself to bear arms against him. Her shield nodded, and joined the fray. Fireballs flew with barking bullets, swinging greatsword, tactics being called out by Ignis, and a dragon leaping with her polearm. Lunafreya tried to find her center and pray, throwing her shields to protect her allies from the countless writing limbs of the marlboro, which were quickly growing into a pile at its base, crushed beneath the great beast as it moved across the floor.

The air was thick with the foul stench of the daemon growing worse by the minute as its foul blood was spilled and the ichor inside of the tentacles oozing onto the ground. Everyone's legs and arms were coated in unmentionable horror, the ground now ankle-deep in fetid water. The beast heaved, Ignis calling out a warning to the group moments before it exhaled, filling the small chamber with a thick green gas. Everyone ran, but Crowe was caught by the gas before she could get out of range.

She coughed, staggering and her weapon dropped by her side. Her gait became drunken and her words slurred as she tried to stagger away, only managing to walk in a useless circle.

"I… can't see…" She mumbled, rubbing at her eyes and hissing, her teeth clenched tight together and she began to rub harder.

"Crowe!" Lunafreya called, running towards her shield.

"Hey! Ugly! Over here!" Gladilus's deep voice boomed through the haze, the gas dissipating and settling heavily onto the ground leaving a moss-like coating wherever it touched. Lunafreya tried to calm Crowe who was repeating the loss of her vision. She grabbed the sides of her face, urging her to settle, feeling her magic surge into her hands. But the marlboro wasn't so easily distracted by Gladiolus and she grabbed her Shield to tackle her to the side, trying to dodge a tentacle coming for them. It swung just above them, Lunafreya pinning Crowe to the ground.

"Noct! I need a remedy!" Lunafreya called, yelping as she tackled Crowe again to dodge another tentacle, hoping like hell he could hear her in his blur of weapons.

"Can't you go all sparkle-fingers?!" Crowe barked from under her. "And what the hell are we in?!" She asked. Pinned to the ground Crowe's front was soaked in the filth that coated the floor, splashing up to coat much of Lunafreya as well.

"Quite difficult to sit still long enough to access my magic! "And I'm fairly certain neither of us wants to ponder much on what we're in." she replied, grimacing. She got to her feet as the marlboro turned to Gladiolus who had three tentacles at his feet. He was panting, shoulders heaving as he rested his greatsword on the ground. Lunafreya hoisted Crowe's arm around her shoulder and tried to aide her towards Noctis, who apparently had heard her and was running at them, an energy drink glowing in his hand while Prompto ran towards Gladiolus calling got your back man! Keeping her grip on Crowe was difficult with the thick slimy coating both were covered in, the stench making her eyes water and her stomach churn. Noctis stopped short when he got to them, slamming a hand over his nose and mouth.

"Does she drink it or do we pour it over her eyes?" Noctis asked, rather than address their stench.

"I highly doubt this would be beneficial poured over her eyes." Noctis popped the tab and shoved it in Crowe's hand.

"Good thing I got chuggin' practice drinking the other glaives under the table!" Crowe tried to laugh, her voice dry and shaky and took the drink. "Ugh gods this stuff is foul when it's piss-warm! Really matches my entire look I have going. Nasty on nasty with a sprinkling of disgusting."

"Sorry I don't have a refrigerator up my ass!" Noctis grumbled back at her,

"So that's where you keep everything? No wonder it's so warm!" Crowe finished off the drink, dropping the near-empty can with a yelp as Lunafreya tackled her to the ground, Noctis throwing himself atop them both a moment after a warning was called from Prompto and Gladiolus. The tentacle caught Noctis, who wasn't close enough to the ground, and hurled him across the chamber.

"Noctis!" Lunafreya called when she felt his weight lifted off her back and dared to raise her head enough to see him impact the ground several meters away. She saw Gladiolus charging at him and fought the urge to do so herself, instead keeping her attention on the marlboro to keep herself from ending up across the room herself. "Crowe are you all right?"

"Better, yeah, I can actually see shit now. My eyes feel like I took a sand-blaster to the face but hey I can see again! I'm a pretty shitty Shield though." She complained, and let Lunafreya help her to her feet. "But I'm back to normal. Go fix your Prince." She reached out and shoved Lunafreya's shoulder who gave her a nod and ran off towards where Gladiolus was bending over Noctis, trying to keep her eye on the flailing marlboro, glad that it was writhing in the opposite direction with Prompto and Ignis keeping its attention, Crowe running to join them.

"Noctis!" Lunafreya called once she reached them, dropping to her knees, wincing as more of the fluid splashed up into her face and she gagged, moving to press the back of her fist over her mouth until she caught sight of it and changed her mind. She reached out towards Noctis, throwing a glance at the marlboro who seemed to once again be shifting its attention now that the party was divided clean in half.

"My back…" He whined back. He had curled onto his side, one knee bend and drawn up, now covered in the foulness himself. "My whole leg is numb."

"Let me help."

"Umm can you move Noct? I think hentai here has other ideas." Gladiolus said.

"Ugh…" Noctis groaned, trying to hitch himself into a sitting position, Lunafreya snaking an arm behind his back to try and support him . He squinted hard but got himself upright, panting for breath. He opened his eyes and saw Crowe rushing at them. "Help me up." Noctis asked, feeling ashamed, his voice low and words slurred. Lunafreya got him to his feet just as her Shield reached their sides and put herself between the marlboro and them, summoning fire in her hands while Gladiolus charged ahead.

"Come on Noct, I'll help you. Do you have a potion you can drink?" Lunafreya asked.

"Getting low… want to save it." He replied.

"This counts as an appropriate situation!"

"Why when I have you?" He responded, and managed a smirk.

"Are you honestly flirting with me right now?"

"Is it working?"

"Most unfortunately…." She thought about how he looked at the start of the fight and grimaced, "Noctis do not call upon your armiger. I fear blight might have taken hold of it."

"What do you mean? It's my best chance to help you guys!"

"There was black amongst the normally blue magic of the weapons. I fear it means the blight." She tried to explain, and threw a glance over her shoulder, feeling the sudden burst of heat against her skin as one of Crowe's fireballs met the marlboro's breath and ignited it, sending both her and Gladiolus backwards. But it seemed to do its job. She helped set Noctis down, satisfied that the monster seemed to not want to chase them. After a few more worried seconds waiting for Crowe and Gladiolus to get back onto their feet, Lunafreya turned her attention to Noctis. She rubbed her hands hard against her pants to clean off as much of hte much as she could before she reached for him, whispering an apology and pressing her forehead against his and whispered her prayer, the sound muffled by the pounding of her own pulse in her ears.

The room smelled overpoweringly putrid, as did the smell of herself and Noctis. The burning gas set the six of them coughing, and Lunafreya could feel her eyes starting to burn and her vision blur. Noctis was testing his limbs and found most of his pain and numbness dulled, if not vanished. He helped her to her feet, and once standing she realized how dizzy she felt. He nearly dropped her from how slick with the much she was but managed to hook an arm around her clothes instead. The room was hazy, and she wondered how much of it was smoke and how much was the remaining bad-breath. Her joints were starting to feel stiff, her whole body heavy.

"Luna?"

"I feel funny…" She admitted, and looked around the room to regain her bearings. It was suddenly difficult to remember why they were in this room or what that big shadow was. Or whose arms were around her. She could vaguely remember Crowe warning her, and starting to flail out her arms. "Let go!" she called, staggering back. She stumbled and fell, a splash of foul water coating what little of her was still dry.

"Shit! The bad breath! Your magic must have cured mine…" Noctis shouted to her, but the words made no sense, sounding muffled and distant. Her eyes burned harder and the room faded to complete blackness and panic started to set it.

"No no no!" She called when she felt hands on her, and tried to kick and flail but her limbs didn't reply. She felt pressure under her neck, more words that sounded impossible, and something was pressed against her lips. She coughed as liquid filled her mouth and she half spat, half swallowed, and started hacking as her throat and chest burned. But it was pressed to her lips again and this time she lacked the ability to fight or spit, her whole body feeling rigid. She swallowed, more out of instinct than anything. A few gulps and she felt less heavy, the blackness started to fade. That garbled mess became the familiar words of Noctis and then his face came into view. She recognized the taste of a remedy and brought a shaking hand up to grab the can and finish it herself, an arm around her shoulders holding her into a sitting position. Her eyes felt better, though they stung a bit. Her body answered her instructions, and the haze over her mind lifted. As her senses returned so did, unfortunately, her sense of smell and she coughed, shaking her head.

"By the six." She mumbled as she set the can down, turning over her shoulder.

"Bad breath… Crowe tried to burn it I think but some of it still got through." Noctis explained. Lunafreya nodded and started to her feet, ignoring Noctis urging her to sit back down and rest. She shook her head, needing to help their friends. But when she looked up, it seemed the battle was nearing its end.

Most of the marlboro's tentacles had been hacked off, leaving it vulnerable on the floor, leaning off-center and snapping its teeth uselessly at the air. The floor was saturated in a dark green liquid and smelled horrid. Half its body was aflame, and both its eyes were gory messes, Prompto firing more shots into the ruined sockets for good measure. Aranea stood atop its head, her polearm buried deep into its skull and she looked to be struggling to free it. Gladiolus was finishing hacking off more of the tentacles, and Crowe was hurling fireballs into the gaping maw. Ignis was leaning against his knees to catch his breath, neck bent to keep his eyes on the daemon.

A few more moments and it stilled, everyone standing rigid as they waited for the daemon to move, or exhale, or to explode into thousands of little baby-nightmares.

"Well. That was fun!" Prompto laughed, and got knocked to the ground from a hard slap on the back from Gladiolus, splashing into the ichor. Noctis laughed, helping Lunafreya to rejoin the group, releasing her hand to scratch an irritating itch in his right arm.