Dream Sequence

Noctis walked up the stairs of the hotel ballroom. There were all kinds of people, drinking wines and enjoying the gentle piano playing in the background. Ignis had gone home early for the night, so he and Nyx got to slip out and attend the formal that Stella invited Noct to. I just hope nobody recognizes me. I see quite a few familiar faces here tonight that work in the Citadel. Although he made the effort to not dress too formally, he couldn't avoid it because black was his entire wardrobe. Black, the ever famous color of the Lucian royal family. He was wearing a black suit with a black shirt but he left the tie at home, preferring to have the top buttons undone. Other men were also dressed in black tuxedos so he wasn't too worried about being found out. It also helped that Nyx was nearby undercover. Just in case.

He made his way over to a portrait of the goddess Etro, admiring it to the average eye but really he had studied it meticulously, as was expected of a Lucii. He smiled slightly when he heard a woman clear her throat. She stood next to him, smiling as she spoke, "It's the Goddess Etro. She is the protector of the realm so to speak and she protects the royal family. I find myself drawn to this portrait every time I am in this ballroom. I've heard that there is a HUGE mural in the Citadel with not only the Goddess but the Six as well as the image of the First Oracle and Lucii that was blessed by Bahamut's divine power. It's supposedly one of the most gorgeous murals of art in the world."

Noctis smiled at her words knowing which area of the Citadel she was referring to. Maybe one day he would be able to show her but that would include revealing who he was to her. "That's quite the story you told. Have any aspirations to be a writer?" He smiled at her as he asked, not once taking his eyes off the portrait. She shook her head, "No, I have a friend who visited once. Said that the inside of the Citadel is one of the most gorgeous places of all Eos. And that is saying a lot for someone who lives in Altissia." He whistled low, "The city with walls of water? Heard that place is gorgeous. One of the people I know calls it the Goddess' Fountain."

Now it was her turn to be impressed, "Didn't know you were into the topics of the world. Every time I try to talk to you about something outside of Insomnia, you tend to tense up and not wanna converse about it." "Hey, I have a broad range of interest. I just don't talk about the world because people tend to get political about the times we live in and then I hear the shit that people talk about Insomnia. It just annoys me at the end of the day. So I stay quiet and listen to what you say instead." "Still, it is nice to hear you talk about the world, even if it does bother you." She wrapped her arms around his arm, hugging her breast to him and causing him to blush.

Not missing it she teased him slightly, "Never been this close to a girl before, Noct?" "Not in the intimate kind of way." "A doll like You? Shy with girls? Have you lived a sheltered life?" Her voice still teasing, "Or are you one of those saintly good boys trying to prove he's a bad boy?" Noctis looked at her, his eyes showing his playful nature but his voice was calm and smooth, "No Stella. I'm just a guy who's here with a beautiful woman on his arm and wondering how'd I get lucky enough to have her on my arm." She smiled, kissing his cheek, "You're such a flatterer. Do you talk to all the girls this way?" He interlaced their hands, pulling hers up to his mouth, kissing it softly and causing her to blush a deep shade of crimson. "Nope. Just to the ones I really like."

Present Day

Noctis' eyes shot open. He sat up and gripped his forehead in pain. I haven't had a dream of the past in a while. It's weird but I feel like Luna is triggering things in me from three years ago. He climbed out of bed at the sound of scratching on the door. "I'm coming Umbra," he said as he opened the door to allow the messenger dog to deliver his latest piece of doggy mail.

"Morning Umbra," he stated with a yawn. Umbra had entered as he shut the door, going towards the dog to retrieve their notebook. He wondered what the dog was doing at his hotel room so early. Opening the notebook, he saw the note that Luna wrote fall out onto the floor. Placing the notebook on the bed, he picked up the note, turning it over to read.

"Is she serious? Umbra?" He half expected the dog to respond. "I-I...I can't just do this! But at the same time, she knows where I am. So what the hell is this really all about? It's not like you can answer me anyways." He looked at Umbra, picking up their notebook and opening it to a fresh page.

Luna, I need to know what is going on. Please, be more specific. Better yet, meet me at the cafe Maahgo at noon.

He closed the book, giving it back to Umbra and walking to the door. The guys were standing there, wondering what he was doing. "Morning guys, just letting Umbra out." He looked back at the dog, who had yet to move from his place. "I'm not going to do what that letter says." He placed his hands on his hips while the dog laid down. Letting out a breath of frustration, he let his friends in and looked back at the dog.

Prompto was the first to speak, "What's up man? Lady Lunafreya ask a favor?" Noctis shook his head, "More like wants me to do something major. I honestly can't do what she is expecting me to do. I guess she commanded Umbra to not move unless I did what was asked." He looked at Umbra again, "Can't do so anyways. She says not to tell them. They're here. Kinda pointless don't you think?"

He walked to the bathroom to take a shower. Ignis looked at him but then turned his attention to the paper on the bed. Reading over it, he nudges Prompto and Gladio, passing them the letter. "She wants him to leave here?" Prompto asked quietly. "But this seems almost as if they've been hanging out. They haven't seen each other in twelve years no?" Gladio nodded, "unless his highness has a few more secrets that he doesn't want to tell us about." Ignis nodded, "Time to corner our young prince to find out what exactly is going on."

Noctis had finished his shower and came out of the shower, a white towel hanging off his hips and another in his hands as he dried his hair. He looked up at the trio wondering why they were looking at him.

"What?"

"Highness," Ignis broke the silence as he lifted the letter Luna sent him. "Care to explain the reason the lady oracle sent this?"

"I thought we said no more secrets, Noct." Gladio stated as he folded his arms across his chest and leaning to the side. Prompto just stood there silently waiting for an answer to come out of his best friend's mouth. It was at this point that Noctis let out a deep breath, the towel falling onto his shoulders, and running his hand through his damp hair. He went to retrieve a pair of boxers and his prince's fatigue shorts, putting them on before letting the towel fall off his waist. He grabbed his blackish gray shirt and put it on, not once making eye contact with any of them. As he finished, he turned around looking at the trio, motioning them to sit at the sofas.

"Guess it's time to tell you guys what's been going on for the past couple nights."

First Secretary's Estate

Luna had been waiting for Camilla to send for her so that she could move to a new location. She wanted to get away from the estate so that the chancellor could stop stalking her and Noctis. Camilla had left over an hour ago with no word yet as to what she was going to do. Her advice rang in Luna's heart, there was nothing more she wanted than to be the wife of Noctis the chosen king, but she was hesitant with the looming threat of Ardyn Izunia. He was one that she couldn't read, causing distress in her actions. A light knock caught her attention.

"Enter."

"Lady Lunafreya?"

She smiled at the young girl that was standing at the door. She recognized her as a servant of Camilla. "The First Secretary has asked me to retrieve you from your current quarters so that we can move you to a new location. Will you follow me, please?" Luna nodded as she grabbed her bag, following the girl through the hallway, leading her to another room with a painting of a lady in a red dress. The maid slid the curtains of the room closed as she turned back to the painting, pulling it away from the wall as it revealed a door. "Follow this secret passage. The First Secretary is waiting for you on the other side of this passage." She handed Luna a small lantern so that she could see, Pryna right beside her. They entered, slightly fearful of what was waiting on the other side of the passage. "Noctis..." Luna whispered as she made her way down the darkened pass.

Back with our chocobros

Noctis remained silent, waiting for his entourage to process the past few days events that he was going through, giving minor but slightly vague details. Gladio seemed a bit irritated by the lack of information coming from his charge, knowing that secrets would only cause problems for their group. Although he knew he wasn't one to talk, he had sought out Cor recently so that he could improve his skills as a shield, taking on Gilgamesh. Prompto stared at Noctis with a slightly dropped jaw, he wanted to say something but he wasn't sure which questions bothered him more; the fact that he was seeing the Oracle and not telling them or the possibility that the prince did not trust any of them. Ignis was the one to break the silence in the end.

"She asked you to stay with her for the rest of the week."

A nod.

"What could have possibly caused her to send a letter like this? And to ask you to get rid of it and not tell us no less. Tell me Noct, were you going to tell us?" At this his glasses lowered slightly on the bridge of his nose, green eyes observing the Lucian prince. He had been in his service since Noctis was ten years old. Very little could the boy hide from the royal advisor, Ignis knew all of the tells of a lie said by Noctis.

"I don't know what prompted her to write this letter but I do know that Ravus has seen her at the estate. She didn't want to tell him that she was sneaking out to see me so he slapped her. I am guessing that he must have come again, this time threatening harm over me. But this is just me speculating about the reason," he replied. He looked at Ignis cautiously. I don't want them to know the intimate details, I really hope this was enough. Ignis nodded, glad that at the very least Noctis was being truthful with them.

"Noctis, you should go with her then," was Ignis' response. Prompto jumped up out of his seat, eyes wide, "Iggy, you're serious? I figured you would be the biggest opposition to the idea." Gladio was dumbfounded, Ignis agreeing with letting Noct out of our sight?

"Hear me out you two," the strategist replied. "We know that the rite is Sunday. We also know that Noct and Lady Lunafreya are to enter the rite alone, without either of us to defend them. We also know the empire might attack since according to Weskham, there is a slightly larger fleet outside of Altissia. We could allow the two of them to stick together for convienence sake. We also can consider that Noct is a prince that can defend himself, having been taught by you Gladio and members of the glaive as well as the Marshal, to analyse a situation before entering a battle. He could protect the lady as well. We also would have accomplished our mission of escorting the prince to Altissia."

"This is true but..." Prompto began before he was cut off by Gladio. "But that was before the empire attacked our home, killed our last king and stole our crystal. This is war Ignis, Noct needs to be protected, not reckless." Gladio glared at Noctis, "I am opposed to the idea. You're to stay put. I'm pulling rank as your shield on this one." He glanced at Ignis almost daring him to challenge him.

Prompto found his voice again, "That's not fair Gladio. You can't pull the rank on us now. Why deny Noct the chance at reuniting with her? Besides, it's obvious that Noct is not a threat to the empire right now. Their objective seems to be getting their hands on Lady Lunafreya and preventing the forging of the covenants with the Astrals. Noct is the least of their worries, otherwise this city would be a war zone right now." The three other men stared dumbfounded at the cheerful blonde's serious tone and firm resolve to convince the shield to let his charge go.

"Besides," he continued, his voice holding a slight tease to it. "There's always gonna be someone who out ranks you. And if he wanted to, he could very much COMMAND you to stand down. Isn't that right Noctis?" He looked at the prince who had turned to the window at that point. "Prompt is right." Gladio growled, "You wouldn't dare. You hate to use your royal rank against us."

"Gladio that may be true," Noctis stated somberly. "But you're not giving me much of an avenue to work with. I am prepared to do everything and anything you guys want, I'm asking for you to let me make a choice for myself. For my sake." His eyes were soft as he looked at his shield. "Please. Just this one time, I know what the hell I want. I know what's important. And I know it's the right thing to do for me and my sanity. I'm making a grown up decision, I'm asking for you to trust me. I won't lose contact, I'm not running from my duty, I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation for both of our sakes."

It seemed to be enough for the shield to relent. "Argh! I am not fully okay with this! But if it means that much to you, then go ahead. You're not to lose contact. Twice a day!" He made his way to the door, opening it and slamming it just as quickly as he left the three of them standing there slightly dazed. "I'll make sure he's okay. See ya later Iggy. Noct, say hi to Lady Lunafreya for me!" With that the cheerful blonde left the advisor alone with the prince and the dog.

"Ignis..."

"Not a word, highness."

Noctis let out a deep breath and slouched into the sofa, rustling his hair. "He's gonna be pissed for a while. I'm not looking forward to dealing with that later." Ignis laughed, "No, I will see to it that he is calm by the end of the week. Are you sure you want to do this?" Noctis nodded. "I am sure. Just don't check out the room. I might come back if necessary." Ignis snorted this time, "I highly doubt that the lady would let you leave her side that easily. Rest easy Noct. Enjoy the time you two have together." He smiled at the prince, "Just don't do anything reckless. We did just convince Gladio that you're a mature adult." "Oh I am very much aware of that fact," he replied with a smile.

With Prompto and Gladio

"Gladio!" He ran as fast as he could to keep up with the much taller, much more athletic member of the group but felt like he was failing. The older man stopped outside of the hotel, his eyes clearly agitated. People were avoiding him as they passed by. Prompto shook his head, a few girls walked by him but said nothing to him, but he heard them comment on how hot Gladio was. Another woman had complimented how handsome he was, loving the bad boy look, while sitting at one of the tables in front of the hotel. Prompto smirked when he heard a pair of guys checking out the shield, clearly entertained by the banter of how he could stand out in a crowd with a scowl like that.

"Gladio," he said as he walked up to him. "What's got you so angry big guy?" Prompto figured he should approach the subject semi serious. Last thing he wanted was to be on the opposite end of the shield's fist. Gladio walked over to the gondola, near the hotel, and hopped in, waiting for Prompto to follow. After the blonde hopped in, he instructed the driver to head to Maahgo. He was in need of a serious drink and maybe he could pick Weskham's brain about royal men and their priority lists.

"I don't feel like talking about it at this second. I will talk, just not right now." Gladio stated calmly, something that Prompto was glad for. If the shield was still angry, he was doing a great job of hiding it. He simply nodded in response.

When they got to Maahgo they were surprised to see Cid sitting at the bar, chatting away with the owner, Weskham. The two older gentlemen had looked over at the young crownsguard members, a smile creeping to the older man's face. "Looks like Clarus' boy wears a similar face as Clarus did back in the day whenever Reggie did something to agitate him." Weskham let out a chuckle, "Definitely Clarus' son." Prompto and Gladio sat down at the bar, Prompto asking for a glass of orange juice and Gladio asking for a beer. "It's only ten am, boy," Cid spat out. "Yeah," Gladio responded bitterly. "well you deal with the brat. I am not doing it today." Both men let out boisterous laughs, "Sounds like Clarus." Cid stated.

"My old man have the same problems with his majesty?" Cid nodded, "Reggie was always giving us all kinds of problems. I swear between your old man and Cor, they must have aged at least ten years Every time Reggie pulled a new stunt. That boy of his is very much like him only a bit more headstrong." Prompto found himself smiling at the mental image of the late king causing trouble for the marshal and the shield much like Noct did for Ignis and Gladio. Guess it is a royal thing, in the DNA.

"I understand your frustration with the young prince," Weskham began as he prepared two glasses of orange juice for the two boys. "But in my experience, it helps to let him make the mistakes. Let him fail. He learns how to be a man that can be held accountable for his actions that way. You can't protect him from himself forever. Especially since he is a damn Caelem." He smirked at the two of them as he gave them their juices, nodding slightly at the third member of their party to join them.

"Ignis."

"Weskham, might I trouble you for some breakfast and an ebony?" The older gentleman nodded and began brewing a cup of the powerful coffee that helped Ignis get through any stressful situation. Prompto was gonna say something to him but stopped when the strategist raised a hand, "Prompto, I have a massive headache forming. Between Noct and Gladio, I'm not sure who gave me a more intense headache. Just sit there quietly till I get my coffee before you ask me any questions."

Prompto nodded, turning his attention to Weskham, asking him for some breakfast as well. They sat in relative silence, thankfully the cafe didn't open until lunchtime. So they enjoyed the empty quiet time, the trio contemplating how to deal with the newest wrinkle of their journey.

Meanwhile...

Noctis had followed Umbra out of the hotel and around the way to the bridge that was heading back towards the dock. Instead of going towards it, the dog lead him down a back way that lead him to a small bridge he could walk across. He stopped at the flower vender, buying a red rose, a white rose and a sylleblossom for Luna. He thanked the vendor, paid him and continued to follow Umbra up a set of stairs.

At the top of the landing, there was a straight path of tables, passing it, he ended up in an slightly open area, one way going straight and the other being a covered bridge that he recognized as a back way into the estate. He followed the black dog across the bridge however instead of going up the stairs he knew would take him towards the estate, the dog lead him down a semi hidden flight of stairs. When he got to the bottom, he stood in an underground storage type of area with a huge painting of a woman in a red dress. Standing in front of it was the first Secretary and a group of men and women dressed plainly as well as Altissian guards. The dog barked to alert them to his presence, causing the group to turn around.

"Ah, young King Noctis," Camilla stared coolly. "Perfect of you to join us, I have a surprise for you." Noctis approached the woman, smiling, "I know it's Luna. Umbra led me back to her, so tell me madam Secretary, where is Luna at?" As she was about to answer him, the painting moved, causing Noctis to be on guard but Umbra ran up to the side that was opening to reveal Pryna as well as Lunafreya.

She gave the lantern to a guard standing there and ran into Noctis' arms. "I'm so happy you came." Holding her tightly, he smiled into her blonde locks, "I wasn't getting off the hook as easy as you made it seem like." She smiled looking at him before responding, "Camilla has a solution for what's got me so shaken up. Just hear her out before you say anything." Her eyes were pleading, hoping that he would trust her enough to listen.

"I've arranged your living arrangements for the rest of the week. These gentlemen will take you there. Lunafreya, remember my advice as well. If you need anything, let these men know and they will contact me immediately. Enjoy the rest of the week you two." She winked at them as they turned a deep shade of crimson at the possible inclination of anything intimate between the two royals. "So Luna, you gonna tell me what exactly is going on?" She shook her head, "Not until we make it to our new place for the week. I promise to fill you in on everything." She kissed his cheek and began to follow the groups of people leaving the small area.

Author's Note: man, I really have a hard time trying not to be distracted. So we reach an end of another chapter. Anyone seeing Easter eggs? Haha, can you name them all? Sorry for making Prompto seem like the kind of character that is useless, not my intention. Feel free to leave notes! I appreciate it