Disclaimer: not mine
Chapter Edited.
Chapter 2
Ignis found the couch unoccupied when he got up, the bathroom door open. It appeared their host was no longer with in the house, which concerned him some, but the other male was likely working. He took a quick shower and the redressed before beginning on breakfast. Gladio was next up, heading out for a morning run and after a while Prompto staggered out to grab a shower. "Is Noctis awake?"
"Getting there," the blonde answered. He moved back into the bedroom and soon emerged with a half asleep Noctis, pushing him into the shower.
The door opened to admit their host, fully dressed and armed. "Bad news, ferries are still out." He tossed some bounty forms onto the table. "Figured you'd want to make some funds. Also, there's someone who might be able to help you get transport. Name's Dino, he hangs around the resort and ferry dock. He'll want something in exchange, but he likely already knows the Prince is here and since his day job is as a reporter, getting him on side will help keep you out of the papers."
"Thank you, for all of your help," Ignis offered as he began dishing up five plates. He held one out to Ichigo who accepted it.
"Two meals I didn't have to cook is always nice," Ichigo grinned and dug in. Ignis chuckled in return as the others gathered to eat, Gladio returning from his run right on time. "You're an excellent cook," Ichigo praised and Ignis smiled.
"Thank you, I do my best." He then handed the bounty forms out. "Ichigo brought these back for us to choose from."
"What about you?" Prompto asked and Ichigo shook his head.
"I've been at this longer, I've got a higher rank," he explained. "You can stay here till you arrange transport. I've got a hunt today and one tonight."
"Thank you, if there's anything I can offer in return," Noctis offered, sounding official.
Ichigo shook his head. "Just a hunter helping a few newbie hunters out.
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Ichigo headed back to turn in his bounty, body aching in the good way from the work out.
"Hey kid!" a familiar voice called, and he turned to nod at Dino, walking over to him.
"Need something?"
"I sent the Prince off to get me a gemstone for my jewellery business. I'm working on getting them passage to Altissia, should be ready tomorrow."
"Good to hear, it'd be a pain if he missed his own wedding," Ichigo grinned.
Dino chuckled, "Pretty sure they won't hold it till he arrives, he is one of the guests of honour after all. Good hunting?"
"Yeah, I've got a night hunt tonight, hobgoblins."
"Close?" Dino asked in concern.
"Up the gorge near the Haven from reports," Ichigo answered, and Dino frowned.
"They never used to come so close," the reporter told him, and Ichigo nodded.
"They're getting bolder, is there a way to expand where the lights cover?" it covered the resort, parking area, the beach up to the fishing dock, caravan, and then the local's houses, but that was it. Not even the route to the Haven was covered all of the way.
"We'd need more lights to do that. That'd mean Lestallum or Crown City," Dino shrugged. "Think we should ask the Prince?"
"Worth a shot, a lot of people form Insomnia pass through here on vacation," Ichigo shrugged. "I'll see you later, I want to get some sleep before tonight."
"Good hunting."
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Ichigo walked into the lights of the resort and relaxed, eyes fading from black and gold back to amber. Hollows had far better night vision, so he tended to use it when taking night hunts. He'd been on edge all night though, something in the air that had Shiro on edge, something in the direction if Insomnia, worse than the night before. He hesitated but then took to the air, launching off at his fastest Shunpo/Sonido hybridised version, what should have taken over a day of driving he covered in a far, far, shorter time period. He stopped, staring in horrified shock, ships surrounded the city in the distance, the Wall gone. He could feel people dying by the dozens and he moved closer. He saw massive daemons smashing around and then strange…stone statues? They were attacking the building sized daemons. Without a second thought he drew out Shiro's blade, unsealing them with a whispered word and then he was moving. He sent out a Getsuga Jūjishō at the closest daemon, watching as it imploded.
He ran in past the physical walls and saw two figures fighting like crazy, one of them seeming to teleport around the battlefield. He paused, watching them, and then he recognised the gear the teleporting one was wearing, Kingsglaive. He'd never met one, but they were in the news as the frontline troops. That made it obvious who to help so he dropped to the ground, making sure his tags were out and visible. He sent a Byakurai at the heavily armoured figure, sending it back, giving the Glaive some breathing space. The man glanced his way and frowned in confusion when he saw him. "Looked like you could use some help."
"I've got this," the man gasped out. "The people…"
Ichigo stared at him and realised he was dying, and it was due to outside forces. It was obvious he had something personal against the armoured guy and Ichigo nodded, able to understand. "The King?"
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"Dead. The Oracle should be out of the city by now," Nyx wasn't sure why he was telling the stranger but there was something about him that seemed trustworthy, he'd hit Glauca with what had looked like a thunder spell, a Crownsguard undercover as a civilian maybe? Light glinted off something on his chest and Nyx realised they were the tags Hunters wore. "The Prince…"
"Safely in Galdin, should be asleep at my place," the stranger assured him, swords in hand as he watched their surroundings.
That was a relief, the Prince was safe, Lunafreya would get the Ring to him. he just needed to stop Glauca. "They came for the Crystal and Ring. She has the Ring to deliver to the Prince, but they took the Crystal," he winced as the burns spread. A glance at the horizon showed sunrise wasn't too far and Glauca was getting back up. "Help the people."
The stranger nodded and then he was gone, and Nyx focused back on his last fight.
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Ichigo threw up a Bakudō #81 Dankū between a group of fleeing civilians and the approaching group of MT's and daemons, before going on the attack. The city was in utter chaos, surely there had been plans in place for if something went wrong during the signing? They had to have known it was a trap, right? Why else send the Prince away? He moved ahead of them, clearing a gate for them to get out through and then went back, getting the people moving towards the cleared exit and the slightly more safe wild areas outside of the city, across the bridge. No one asked questions when he obviously knew what he was doing, too relieved to have someone guiding them.
He got the last group across as the sun rose, feeling as one more life ended, the young Glaive had defeated his foe and now his life had ended as well. Ichigo kept an eye on the Imperial forces but they just formed a blockade without pursuing the refugees, so he found a convenient rock to drop behind and get his breath back, pushing back horror memories of the war as he did. It had been a while since he had fought like that and he'd obviously lost a bit of the fighting edge and fitness he'd had during the war, getting him some berating from both of his spirits and he knew they were right. Just because he'd lived in peace for three years, hadn't meant he'd always have peace and he'd known it; he'd just been so tired of fighting. He needed to get back to his place, though what could he see without explaining how he had gotten to Insomnia and back in one night?
Ichigo got up and headed back to Galdin Quay, barely remembering to turn in his bounty before heading home. He found them all still asleep, so he silently stripped down and collapsed on the couch to catch an hour or two of sleep. It wouldn't take long for the news to spread, what would the Prince….no King, do now? Surely the wedding was off if the Peace Treaty has failed?
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Ichigo woke to the Prince yelling, sitting up to find them sitting around, the Prince standing, hands balled into fists…a newspaper in Ignis' hands. They knew then. "What's going on?" he asked, yanking his shirt on. Ignis simply handed the paper over and Ignis skimmed it. "It reports you as dead, how accurate do you think the rest is?"
"Every paper is reporting it," Ignis answered stiffly.
"But the wedding! Altissia!" The Prince snapped.
"I know, that was the plan. Yet the reports of the invasion are all the same. How could every headline in the kingdom be wrong?"
"…Lies."
"…If only," the young blonde whispered shakily.
Ichigo got up and went to the kitchen, putting tea on, they could all use a hot drink for the shock. He really felt for the young Prince, for all of them, he doubted their families had made it out if they were close to the Crown.
"What else do we know?" Gladio asked, accepting the mug when Ichigo offered it. Ignis shook his head even as he accepted one as well. "Then we can't be sure until we see it with our own eyes."
"And that means we go back to Insomnia."
"It won't be safe for you, if they're smart they've got blockades up," Ichigo warned.
"Might not be safe for us here," Prompto countered shakily, blue eyes very wide.
Gladio turned to Noctis, as Prince it was his decision. "Turn back?"
Noctis cast his eyes downward. "Yeah," he whispered.
Ichigo pressed the mug into his hands. "Drink, it'll help, and you need to stay hydrated," he told the younger man and tortured blue eyes rose to meet his. He knew that look; how many times had he seen it during the war? And there was nothing he could do, his Father was dead, nothing could take that pain away. "I'll get breakfast together; you all need to eat first." When they tried to protest he sent them to pack and shower. He put together a quick, hearty meal and ensured they ate it, packing away more fresh food for them to take on the road. He glanced over at them and then grabbed his own pack, making sure he had everything he may need in it still. He walked them to the car, watching them, seeing trembling hands and the lingering shocked expressions, he'd made the right choice. "Yeah, no. Keys."
"Pardon?" Ignis asked, pushing his glasses up.
"None of you are in fit condition to drive. I'm not letting you cause a crash or something."
"I assure you…." Ignis trailed off as he looked at the flat expression Ichigo aimed his way before slowly handing the keys over and getting in back with the Prince and Prompto. Ichigo sat in the driver's seat and checked the controls over before starting the engine and pulling out. Good thing his Dad had insisted he learn to drive; it had come in handy since arriving. "Want the top up or down?" he asked as he drove.
"Down," the Prince answered and Ichigo hit the button.
Ichigo kept his senses tuned as he drove, the car was very distinctive, as were the plates on it. Five people instead of four in it might through off the casual observer but he doubted the Empire would care. The last thing they needed right now was a fight, their heads weren't in the right place.
An hour later Ichigo had to put the top back up as it began to rain. The day was spent in silence, none of them eager to speak, other than Ignis occasionally giving instruction on which way to turn to Ichigo. They only stopped for a few bathroom breaks, eating the food Ichigo had packed when he pushed them to, grief and fear killing their appetites.
As the sun moved lower Ichigo spotted the smoke of a Haven and parked, urging them out of the car and up to the rock. Gladio managed to set up the camp while Ichigo cooked something hearty but easy to eat, a good stew.
"You're sleeping out here?" Prompto asked in concern and Ichigo smiled at the younger man.
"I always do when Hunting, not a fan of tents."
"You sure? It'd be a squeeze, but we could fit."
"I'm good Prompto, you've had a horrible day, go get some sleep."
"Thanks," he whispered, crawling into the tent while Ichigo stretched out on the stone, using his pack as a pillow, staring up at the stars until he fell asleep.
He was first up, getting some oatmeal out for breakfast, before once again taking the driver's seat.
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"I hope everyone's okay…" Prompto whispered, kind of glad he was squished in the middle as the shortest, it felt better to have Noct and Iggy pressed against him, grounding him as his anxiety kicked in. Were his parents okay? Had they even been in the city? He hadn't seen them in months but that didn't mean he wasn't worried; they'd done their best over the years. He knew he hadn't been the easiest kid to raise, too foreign looking, too fat, too shy…
"Lotta good hoping's gonna do," Noct snapped and he flinched back into Ignis a little.
"You mustn't lose faith," Ignis chided, gently gripping Prompto's arm which helped.
"Really? Can faith stop a fleet of imperial dreadnoughts?" Noctis almost sneered at his Advisor.
Prompto took a deep breath, it wasn't personal, Noctis was just scared.
"Give it a rest," Gladio looked back at them from the front passenger seat.
"My old man had plenty of faith—"
"Enough," The Shield growled.
"The empire lied. They betrayed us," Prompto whispered and Ignis shifted to wrap an arm around him. He may have grown up in Insomnia, but he'd always known his birth parents were from Niflheim, for all he knew he'd been born there. He'd heard the snide comments all his life from strangers and classmates, only befriending Noct had stopped the ones in school. He hated the Empire, but a lot of people didn't care about that, now he had even more reason to hate it.
"Conjecture gets us nowhere. We're searching for truth," Ignis tried to offer comfort.
"All you'll find are lies—like that ceasefire," Noctis turned his head to stare out at the passing scenery though Prompto doubted he was really seeing it.
They drove in silence for a few hours and then they spotted them overhead, heading the same way they were, towards the city.
"Look at the size of those things," Gladio whistled in awe at the size of them.
"Imperial dreadnoughts, they transport soldiers—namely, the magitek infantry."
"The robots?" Gladio twisted to look at Ignis.
"Mass-produced humanoid weapons of warfare, to be more precise."
"We've been seeing more of them around lately," Ichigo pointed out as he drove carefully. "Though usually the smaller ships. Anyone need a pitstop? I'm going to have to stop to refuel at the next station, don't want to be low on fuel if we have to make a quick getaway."
"There is a station up ahead in the Longwythe Rest Area, or at Hammerhead which is only a few miles from the first checkpoint into the city," Ignis informed their driver.
He nodded and made the turn for Longwythe when it came up. He pulled up beside the petrol pump and then looked at them. "Stay in the car and keep your heads down, no need to announce your presence when you've been reported dead," he told them before getting out to fill up the car. He vanished inside to pay and came back with a bag. "Eat."
"Not hungry," Noctis sulked.
"Too bad, you need to keep your strength up, plus the sugar will help with any lingering shock."
Ignis blinked in surprise at that. "You have medical training?"
"My Dad was a doctor, ran his own clinic, I grew up helping out when needed," he answered as he pulled back onto the road.
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Ichigo frowned at the totally empty road, they hadn't seen any dreadnaughts for a while but that didn't mean much. "Any way close other than the main road?" he asked.
"There's a side road, follow that wall," Gladio pointed and Ichigo pulled off the road and onto the dirt, moving to drive along the cliff that turned into a dark tall wall the closer they got to the checkpoint. He drove as far as was safe and then parked and they got out. He followed them into a mess of narrow passages, heading upwards until they came out onto a flat area. Fog from the sea cloaked the city in the distance but even with that, they could see the thicker black of smoke and the red of fires.
TBC….