Cartanica Outpost

Nearly a week later found the party convening in a greasy, rundown dining car parked just outside the mine at the Cartanica station after a lengthy hike up from the ravine Ignis had chosen for concealing the airship. The game plan was to grab a quick bite before heading down a somewhat questionable looking elevator to search for the royal tomb.

Prompto was attempting to resign himself to existing in the tiny sliver of space not occupied by Gladio's bulk on their side of the slim booth. He couldn't help but glance longingly over the table at the empty space next to Noct – Ravus had gone to speak with one of the service attendants and was probably off being super responsible and all that jazz. Across the car, Ignis was keeping a close eye on Lady Lunafreya, or Luna as she'd politely requested they call her, having claimed the only other available table. The hike seemed to have taken a lot out of the reserved oracle and Prompto spared a moment of curiosity to wonder where her dog had wandered off to. Wherever Umbra was, he had probably been smart enough to skedaddle before all the fun started.

Prompto still didn't really get why they couldn't have conveniently landed right in the mine. But when he'd asked Ignis just that, he'd gotten an overly detailed explanation of how the dense fog made it too dangerous to attempt, that such an action would undoubtedly get them spotted by any Imperials in the train station and so forth. When he'd brought it up again, complaining about the long trek he'd just known was coming, Ignis had informed him he was welcome to jump – rude!

Resisting the urge to squirm, Prompto hunted for a decent distraction from how close Gladio was crammed against his side. Peeking down at the laminated menu proved not to be a good idea. The blond grimaced. "Man, can't we get Ignis to make us something instead; this stuff looks gross."

"Guy's been around all of a week and you're already spoiled," Gladio snarked, but Prompto noticed he wasn't looking too pleased with their dining options either.

"But he likes it – I think." Prompto threw one hand up helplessly. "Noct?"

"Who knows?" Noct wasn't really what you'd call invested in the conversation, already slumped over against the wall of the cab and halfway into a doze.

Ravus chose that moment to rematerialize from wherever he'd disappeared to and reclaim his seat before casting a disapproving look down at the clear tabletop. He regarded the other three men with mild exasperation. "You haven't ordered yet?"

"Dude, have you seen the menu? The food here is cringe worthy," Prompto complained.

Ravus was unimpressed by the argument as was typical. "I suppose you're more than free to go without. Regardless, we'll be entering the mine within the hour."

"What about Luna and Iggy?" Noctis roused himself from his near nap and sat further up in the booth.

Ravus glanced toward the aforementioned pair. "I have spoken with the Fleurets; last I heard Ignis was still attempting to convince Lady Lunafreya to remain behind without much success."

Noct narrowed his eyes in confusion. "How come?"

Gladio rolled his eyes. "Think about it, Princess. She wasn't doing too hot on the way up here."

Ravus nodded. "She's still recovering from the covenants, not to mention her injuries."

"Oh, you think one of us should stay with her, I mean just in case?" Prompto looked over at the table where the Tenebraens were being served trays covered in sparse helpings of peas, fried nuggets of what had likely once been considered cockatrice meat, a pale glob of maybe mashed potatoes and a cookie. There was also a cup of unidentifiable white liquid (gravy or perhaps milk, from this distance, hard to say).

"Like Iggy would let anyone else stay with her but him." Noctis smirked, though the mirth didn't quite reach his eyes. The reminder of Lunafreya's less than stellar health was obviously a bit of a bummer. Still, Noct was right about one thing, Ignis' protective side was very real, very terrifying and very much not to be trifled with as far as Prompto was concerned.

"Perhaps." Ravus picked up the menu to frown down at the offered fare. "We'd do well to abide by their verdict. No sense in getting dragged into a sibling's quarrel."

They all met outside the elevator meant to take them down to the quarry after suffering through a meal that was – as Prompto suspected – less than appetizing. At least the quick break appeared to do something for Lady Lunafreya. She looked less drained and eager to get going, even though they were just headed down into some dark, spooky mine. Ignis stood behind his sister regarding her with a concerned frown. "You're sure you won't be more comfortable at the station?"

Lunafreya's mouth twitched, like she was physically holding back a reaction of some sort. "Yes, I'm quite certain I can manage."

Noct shuffled closer from where he's just been on the phone with Cor. "Don't strain yourself. It's just another royal arm, we can always take care of it ourselves."

Recognizing Noct's attempt at giving Luna another out for what it was, Prompto threw his arm over his buddy's shoulders. "Yeah, don't worry, Your Ladyship! We can totally handle it. We've been through all kinds of creepy tombs and dungeons before."

"Pipsqueak's right, we got this." Gladio crossed his bare arms, backing up the younger men while Ravus agreed with a simple nod.

Lunafreya frowned, a stubborn spark glinting in her eyes. "Be that as it may, I do not wish to remain behind. I am capable for the task, I assure you."

Ignis released the barest of sighs before turning toward the elevator. "As you wish, I only ask that you keep the recklessness to a minimum."

Prompto was pretty sure it was a rare sight to witness the oracle so close to rolling her eyes.

Ravus reached out and called the elevator before things could get any more awkward. "Very well, let's make our descent."

Progress wasn't great. The path became more treacherous the further in they went, with visibility swiftly dropping off into pea soup territory. Gladio would've liked to push the group to show a little more hustle, but it was practically a pipe dream with the way Lady Lunafreya seemed to be flagging coupled with Ignis' hovering and Noct alternating between bashfully checking up on Lunafreya to practically throwing himself at anything that breathed with a brash recklessness Gladio hadn't witnessed in years. All of them were hard-pressed to keep the idiot out of trouble. It was getting downright ridiculous even before Gladio caught Prompto pulling out his camera, as if there was something actually worth photographing in all this muck.

But the stir of the shutter had a certain Fleuret freezing up where he stood, body going nearly rigid – which was a little odd. For the most part, Ignis presented a fairly pleasant and relaxed attitude around them, even going as far as to memorize some of their favorite dishes for when he took charge of their barely used camp stove. For whatever reason the sight of Prompto twisting his camera around for a new angle seemed to dry up some of that good humored demeanor. Ignis cut his eyes over to the blond, seemingly unwilling to turn and face the device directly. "What, if I may ask, do you think you're doing?"

Prompto hesitated in decompressing the shutter release. "Um, taking a picture?"

While Gladio might've figured such a thing an absolute waste of time in a gloomy place like this, he was a little taken aback when all Ignis managed at the answer was to glower at a nondescript puddle ahead along with a clipped, "I see." And was that a muscle spasming in his jaw?

By contrast, Lady Lunafreya seemed to perk up at the idea, though she may have just been thankful for the distraction from her state of health. They were all learning fast that the oracle didn't really appreciate her limitations being pointed out.

The lady brushed back sweaty bangs that had stuck to her forehead in the oppressive humidity before smiling toward Prompto. "I think it sounds like a lovely idea. Won't you smile with me, brother?"

The effect on Ignis was simultaneous, and judging by the devious glint in her eyes, Luafreya knew what she was doing. While he didn't completely drop his obvious hostility for the camera, Ignis did move to stand closer to his sister and attempted not to scowl. "If I must."

Poor guy, the oracle had his number.

Meanwhile, Prompto was ecstatic for the support. From the looks of things, he'd found an ally in corralling them all into group photos. Gladio couldn't exactly say he was thrilled about the development, but seeing the former high commander fret over his sister, trying to accommodate her smallest whim… in a way he gets it. If Iris had gotten mixed up in any part of this mess he would've been hard pressed not to make a fool of himself too.

It was easy to see that Ignis and Lunafreya cared deeply for one another in spite of the rumors and the distance the Empire must've put between them. The way they doted on and teased one another was undeniably sibling in nature. Gladio knew he wasn't the most sensitive of guys, but even he could see the longing to reconnect after everything that had happened. It's just tough luck they had to go about it in a swampy mine of all places.

But despite the crummy conditions, everyone seemed to be in relatively high spirits. Morale had been on the rise since they made it out of Altissia – something they couldn't have done soon enough in Gladio's humble opinion. They'd come too close to taking some costly losses and he couldn't help but keenly feel the phantom sting of those close calls. It was on him to take the heavy hits after all, but lately they all seemed to sail right past him. On top of that, now he not only had to worry about covering one moody prince's ass but the entirety of the surviving Tenebraen royalty to boot, with one unreasonably powerful psychopath out to get them all.

Yeah, nobody said this was gonna be easy.

The whole point of his little side trip down to face the Blademaster had been to prepare for this, to strengthen his mind, body and soul for the task ahead – except, Gladio didn't feel prepared. It felt more like what time they had left was just slipping through his fingers. And as eager as Noct seemed for a fight, Gladio couldn't help but notice the Ring of the Lucci's absence on his finger. Gladio tried not to think about that too much. He had to believe Noct would be ready when the time came, even if Gladio was pretty sure that time was already here. Soon they'd be knocking on the Empire's doorstep and they had better all be ready.

Prompto cut through Gladio's dark musing with a shrill whistle. "Holy cannolis, that's big!"

The kid wasn't wrong. Despite their dragging pace and Noct's wildly reckless combat, they'd managed to reach the positively gargantuan tree springing up from the center of the quarry and supporting most of the mining machinery. It's also where they hit their first roadblock – literally. "They parked here?"

Shirting around the sizable tree toward the deepest depths of the mine led them straight into a large piece of equipment entrenched in their path.

"Wish we could give them a ticket." Prompto frowned up at the half buried hunch of metal. Even he would be hard pressed to squeeze his way through the nearly nonexistent gaps between bark and machinery.

"If we get its motor running, perhaps we can move it out of the way," Ravus, as usual, offered a more sensible solution.

Looking around the deserted dig site, Prompto scratched at his leather wristband. "There's got to be an on button around here somewhere."

Ignis frowned, focusing his eyes back the way they'd come. "We passed a control panel some ways back. Perhaps it's still operational."

"Might as well go and see." Noct led their harried little procession back up the muddy slope to the control panel, but on arrival it became obvious the thing was outta juice.

Prompto read from a faded sign mounted on the wall, "Let's see here, in case of power failure use backup generators. There's a key in the shed."

"Great, where are we supposed to find that?" The idea of blundering around for hours hunting down some random shed didn't exactly appeal to Gladio.

"Perhaps we should try searching from higher ground," Ignis suggested.

"That might expedite the task, though I'm doubtful we'll be able to find much of anything through this blasted fog," Ravus pointed out and Gladio couldn't help but want to agree. The moisture in the air was so dense that seeing more than five feet ahead of yourself was an Astral given miracle.

"True enough, but it shouldn't be a problem for my augmented vision." They all had to pause at the reminder of Ignis' crazy MT eyes. Guess it made sense they were good for more than being straight up unnerving. Still, it was easy to forget about them. Ignis had mostly been keeping them concealed beneath dark shades – shades the man now removed. Two dots of iridescent green pierced the dark miasma like miniature stars.

Glancing away from the unnatural eyes and up at the massive tree roots growing hundreds of feet above their heads, Noctis sighed. "Might as well start climbing."

Moar camera shenanigans! XD
There's just something I really enjoy about Ignis and Luna being siblings in this. Anyway, hoped you enjoyed and are staying safe out there!