Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 6

They camped at the Haven near the base, waiting for night to fall in order to infiltrate the place, hopefully unseen. If it was just him, Ichigo could be in and out in minutes but there'd be no way to explain that. Overall, the plan was pretty good if risky since they had no idea who or what was inside the base. Going at night wouldn't affect the MT's, but hopefully it would mean the human officers were nicely tucked up in bed or half asleep.

Ignis cooked up a simple yet filling meal and they settled in to wait, keeping the noise down in case of nearby patrols. It was unlikely they would come over though, hunters and travellers were common, even with Insomnia's fall.

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Ichigo sat down beside Gladio where the younger male was brooding. He'd been brooding ever since that guy….Ravis?...had bested him in the base. Ichigo got it, no one liked to be beaten, especially someone whose life revolved around fighting and protecting.

Maybe he should have gone his own way again, but they needed him whether they knew it or not. The fractures in the group were growing, slowly but surely, all of them too grief stricken and angry at the world to notice or try to fix it. He didn't blame them, their home and loved ones were gone. They were too young and sheltered to be facing what they were…and oh that made him feel old. He'd been younger but his fight had been different.

"Losing one fight, especially with four others there to help, isn't the end of the world," he pointed out after a while.

Gladio just grunted in response.

"Don't let wounded pride get in the way. That guy is older than you and serving high up in the military. So yeah, right now he can beat you in pure strength, doesn't mean you can't beat him in others. Besides, he has an unfair advantage. No way that prosthetic is at human strength levels. Now you know about it so you can work out ways around it," Ichigo told him before getting up, hoping his words made an impact.

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"Oh, Gladdy," Iris sagged into her brothers' arms, alarming the others.

"What's wrong?" he demanded, looking her over for injuries.

"I let you down. I never made it to Caem. The empire came while you were gone," she stepped away, leading them upstairs without saying a word about their new companion. She slumped on the edge of the bed, staring at her shoes. "None of us said a word about Noct. They just showed up and then…poor Jared," she choked and Gladio tensed.

"What do you mean? What happened to Jared!?"

"There was nothing we could do!" she snapped and Noctis swallowed, suddenly knowing where her story was going.

The door to the room slowly opened behind Noctis and he turned to look, finding Talcott there, crying. Noct knelt down to speak with him. "It's…not right. We should've been here." He couldn't say it would be alright because it wouldn't, nothing would bring his Grandfather back.

"I… I couldn't stop them," the kid whimpered.

"But I won't let the empire get away with it," he promised, putting a hand on the kids shoulder." They'll pay for what they've done. I promise."

"I believe in you, Prince Noctis." Talcott looked up at him, trying to wipe the tears away and then he left.

"I'm taking Talcott, and we're going to Caem. We… We can't just stay here and do nothing," Iris spoke up and Noct nodded.

"I understand." They'd thought they would be safe in the city, anonymous, obviously that hadn't worked. Isolation was the next best option.

She nodded and went to pack. The rest of them slowly began settling in for the night, Ichigo slipping away and returning with dinner to save Ignis from cooking. Noctis spent the night locked in strange dreams that he forgot when he woke up the next morning.

They packed up and then realised they had a problem, transport. They had two seats too few in the Regalia, not to mention room for luggage. They needed a second vehicle and to split up.

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Prompto stretched and then fiddled with the dial for the radio, seeing Talcott sprawled in the backseat, watching the scenery. Like the rest of them, the kid had never left the Crown City before the invasion. While they'd been travelling all over, the kid had gone straight to Lestallum. He was subdued but that was normal. He glanced over at the driver's seat to find Ichigo glancing at him.

"Okay?" the hunter asked and Prompto nodded.

He hated being away from Noct and the others, but it had been the split that made sense. He worked well with Ichigo in a fight should anything happen and there'd be no reason for the Empire to stop them, not with Prompto in more casual clothing. There'd be no reason to look twice at a young couple and their younger brother.

They were driving completely separately to the Regalia; they'd left hours ahead of the others and would beat them to Caem. Prompto wouldn't mind lending a hand if it was needed with the repairs to the boat, he liked fixing things.

"Are you coming to Altissia with us?" he asked after a while, feeling Ichigo glance his way again.

"I've never been, it could be interesting, if you guys want me along."

Prompto grinned.

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"Oh, great. Another flying fortress," Gladio scowled as it flew by.

"Let's pull over," Noctis told Ignis who hesitated but readied to pull off the road in Old Lestallum

"Noct…" Iris looked between them.

"Relax. We've got this."

"Are you sure Noct? We are a man down, two if you include Ichigo," Ignis warned.

Noctis grimaced, he was right, but they couldn't just leave the fortress there. He glanced at Iris, she was well trained and on a hunt he'd include her bit for something like a base? He glanced at Gladio who shook his head slightly. "We can handle it. Delivering justice for Jared."

"Iris, I'll need you to wait here," Gladio told her as Ignis parked in front of the hotel.

"Alright."

"Careful, Noct—only fools rush in. I suggest we review our intelligence and devise a plan," Ignis warned and Noctis nodded. They called their Chocobos and headed off to scout the base for another night time infiltration.

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Ichigo made sure the kid was settled and then headed downstairs to where the woman he'd seen back at the Prairie outpost and another older gentleman were puttering about the place.

"Thank you for all of your help Mr Kurosaki," she offered with a polite smile.

"It's Ichigo," he told her, shaking her hand. "Anything I can do to help?" and within minutes he'd been put to work helping to fix up the house.

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"Are you guys excited to visit Altissia or what?" Iris asked as they hugged the coastline, enjoying the view of the ocean.

"I guess," Noctis shrugged slightly.

"I'm so jealous!" She admitted.

"We're not going on vacation," Gladio pointed out, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

"Oh, yeah. You're right," she grimaced slightly.

"Iris?" Ignis glanced at her in the rear-view mirror.

"Something wrong?" Noct focused on her.

"What? No, I'm fine. I-I'm not jealous. I just…had a lot of fun hanging out with you guys. But that'll all be in the past once we hit Caem," she explained, not convincing any of them.

"What're you talking about?" Gladio demanded, worried about her.

"Of course, we can spend time together when we return," Ignis assured her.

"Yeah," Noct agreed, there were so few of them left, of course they'd stick together.

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"Again," Ichigo called and Prompto scrambled to his feet.

Noct had called that morning, they'd be there by early evening as long as nothing went wrong. It would be good to be back together like they should be. He'd been bouncing around so much that Ichigo had dragged him out to help work on the house and then spar to work off the excess nervous energy.

Prompto got back into the correct stance only to end up flat on his back seconds later. He was going to be black and blue before they arrived! Still, he forced himself to focus and take things seriously because his hand to hand training had been very limited, the Marshal had focused on his firearms skills instead, saying the rest could wait until after they returned from the wedding. Obviously that wouldn't be happening so he would take any training he could get.

Ichigo was good, really good, he could teach him a lot so long as he focussed.

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Ignis got out of the car, listening to the siblings bicker as they headed up the dirt path.

"GUYS!" a familiar voice called and then Prompto was running towards them, grinning. "You made it okay?" he looked between them and Ignis smiled.

"We are fine Prompto," he assured him.

"Got to kick some Imperial ass on the way," Gladio smirked.

"What?" Prompto pouted at Noctis, making Iris giggle.

"Sorry, found a base out near Old Lestallum and decided to deal with it. Missed you though," Noctis told him.

"Sounds more fun than home improvements, helping Cid with the boat and getting my butt kicked by Ichigo," he admitted. "Speaking of the boat, we're missing a part and Cindy wants to talk to you."

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Ichigo watched as Gladio pulled Noctis aside, shaking his head as he overheard the Shield. He was letting wounded pride guide his actions, not that Ichigo hadn't done that before. Uryū had been the worst of them for letting that particular emotion lead their actions though.

"Ichigo?" Noctis called and he nodded, grabbing his pack to join them for the walk to the car.

At least they had decided to ask him to come along for extra back up, he'd heard rumours of the Vesperpool from other hunters, it was not a safe place to go. He got in the back of the Regalia with Noctis, Prompto always took the front due to motion sickness. It would take them five days to reach Meldacio HQ from Caem, but it would take four days to reach the Vesperpool itself since they had to pass through it to reach Meldacio. Unless they wanted to add on time and go via Lestallum. o. Unless they wanted to add on time and go via Lestallum.

It was unsurprising when Noctis fell asleep, a little surprising when he slumped down onto Ichigo, but he didn't push him off. It wasn't like it was the first time he'd ever been used as a pillow.

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Noctis stretched as they got out of the car, looking around. There was a Haven across the road but there was enough light left to at least take a look around before making camp. He climbed up a rock, looking around and then pointed. "There's massive ruins over there," he called down and they began the hike.

They were soon walking through shallow marshy water, Prompto wincing as the bugs descended in between fighting off Sahagin and Mushussu. Soon, small ruins began appearing around them, a large wall in the distance.

"Gentlemen, what a pleasant surprise," a hated voice called and Noctis grimaced.

"Ugh! Told you he'd be waiting!" Prompto muttered.

"With my imperial friends, no less," the Chancellor smirked.

"Splendid," Iggy drawled and Noctis bit back a laugh, knowing that tone meant he would love to shove his lance through the man.

"But fear not—I'll put in a good word. Well, come along, then," Ardyn turned and began walking toward the ruins. "Don't stray too far, lest you get left behind. And surely you'd rather avoid unnecessary scuffles, seeing as you're now a trio. Oh, dear. Touchy subject? Pardon me, you've made a new friend have you?" he glanced at Ichigo who remained silent, scowl in place.

"One we won't discuss with you," Ignis warned. The last thing Ichigo needed was Imperial attention.

"Then let's discuss why you're here. Hmm…. It can't be archaeology… Mythril, perhaps?"

"This guy's reading our thoughts!" Prompto swallowed.

"Mythril—it's a precious resource. We can't just let anyone get their hands on it."

"But you'll help us get ours on it, right?" Noctis asked sarcastically.

"I never said that!"

"Of course you didn't," Prompto rolled his eyes.

"Where is the fun in that? I thought you'd rather dig it up yourselves." Ardyn smirked as they walked through a crumbling arch and felt stones beneath their feet, what would have once been a proper path.

Noctis was surprised to see Aranea standing in wait with previously unseen imperial officers against the large stone wall.

Ardyn turned to Noct and the others. "Fear not—I'll be but a moment." He walked over to Aranea and began to speak with her.

"A moment doing what?" Prompto asked quietly.

"Beats me," he shrugged, watching Ardyn closely.

Ardyn suddenly called out to them. "All clear! Go ahead."

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Ichigo watched the Chancellor as the man walked away. He made his skin crawl in a similar way to Aizen. He got the feeling he wasn't really human anymore…he felt almost similar to daemons as well. The cheerful demeanour reminded him of Gin too which just made him more wary, even if that particular sneaky guy had sort of been on their side in the end.

Thankfully, Ichigo was keeping his powers supressed so the man seemed unaware of whatever part of them that kept the daemons away from him. Was this the threat he had been sent to help with? He was the Chancellor; did that make the Emperor the main threat? Or was he the power behind the throne?

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Aranea watched the group as they fought their way through the ruins. They'd traded one fighter for another. The boys may not see it, but she did, this one had seen true battle, had seen war. His name was strange, not anything she could pinpoint a nationality for.

He knew how to move quickly and quietly over the uneven and broken ground unlike the Prince and his friends who made a racket, attracting even more daemons, though the glasses wearing one was rather quiet. Hadn't they taught the Prince stealth?

In the end, they got what they'd come from and headed back up to her ship so she could take them back to Lestallum. After that, she headed for the base to make her other drop off and then back to Niflheim to terminate their employment. It was time to go back to their mercenary roots.

TBC…