Okay so I've been working on my thesis a lot lately. And work is taking me some time. So I'm kinda so stressed out and tired that writing gets little of my free time. Free time. Is that something that I still have? I decided to put together another chapter of Stranded, because this story is closer to the end than any other I have on FFXV at the moment, and I need some closure with a few unfinished business lol. Also, I guess the HC throughout this chapter was what I needed. There's angst, Lunoct, Ignea, Ravus facing troubles, some action, silvergold and more lunoct. I'm thinking of making a full plan for the next few chapters and to focus on this story so I can finish it this year and then go back to Unexpected like… full time (when there is free time). Thank you all so much for your patience!
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Stranded
Chapter 21 – Just a little comfort
The people had booed their prince. Thrown rocks at him.
Ravus was wearing their father's crown. Their father's coat. Even his ring. Noctis spotted every detail from afar. The smirk on his face. The harshness in his shoulders and the grave further back. Gladiolus was there, missing an arm and the easy smile he used to have.
"To think I once called you brother," Ravus sneered.
Regis had lowered his gaze, casting him away. Exiled. Disowned.
"To think I once called you my son."
Soldiers stood on either side of the path of stones, wearing black with the crest of Lucis on their uniforms. The winged skull Noctis used to etch in the sand without even thinking after leaving his home behind… That skull seemed to be staring at him from every side. Guns were raised, pointed at him. The sky was dark, moonless and the only lights came from a large tower, which looked far too old to be standing.
Crestholm, Noctis realized.
"Did you really bury our father here?" the dark haired man asked, anger ringing through his voice.
Breathing hard as he dug with his hands, blood and dirt up to his wrists, bones crackling under his feet.
"It's your fault he died, Noct," Ravus shot back.
The exiled prince shook his head at the notion, but more sick pictures ran through his mind. A sword embedded in a throne. His sword. Regis's eyes looking up at him, holding a plea. He could hear his voice.
"Don't do this, Noctis. Please…!"
Noctis found himself believing his brother. His brother who was a liar, a schemer, and a jealous prick. He could remember the harshest words they'd shared. The hatred he'd tried to hold back. For their father's sake. But their father was gone now, gone and he couldn't tell who was responsible. All he knew was that Ravus Lucis Caelum was standing there in front of him, glaring and gloating and he wanted to wipe that look from his face.
"I wish you had never been born, false royal," Ravus used to whisper in his sleep.
Anger flared up to a boiling point, royal magic burning through his veins. Luna wasn't around to see him go mad. Ignis wasn't around to hold him back. Regis was gone and that had to mean his baby brother had crossed a line.
"How do I know this isn't another one of your petty illusions?" Noctis had the patience to ask.
Don't be the monster he made you out to be, he pleaded with himself.
"Oh, you'll know what this is once you're dead," Ravus declared, raising his hand in the air.
Noctis had to cover his eyes, for the metallic glow that came from it threatened to blind him.
"Death to the traitor!" Ravus ordered.
The guns clicked and Noctis tapped into his magic instinctively, warping around. Phasing through bullets as he gathered his royal arms. He might have been exiled, but the Kings of old knew who he was and where he was coming from. His right hand answered at lightning speed, his swords ripping through metal and flesh as he focused his gaze on Ravus.
Brother of mine, he thought bitterly. I was never your rival. I was never your enemy. To think there was a time when I wished I could make you smile.
His feet took him across the distance, closer to Ravus and his prideful smile. He wanted to see him twist in pain and scream like he had screamed. Gladiolus had left, vanished and Noctis knew something was wrong, he could feel it, but looking away from Ravus would mean allowing an illusion and he needed to know what was real.
Like the metal thrust across the blond man's chest. Like the blood splashing from the wound and the way Ravus couldn't move away fast enough, not with Noctis grabbing at his coat to hold him in place. Twisting his own arm to angle the engine blade and he could hear it revving. Hungry for the flesh of the second born.
"You're not worthy of that crown," Noctis heard himself barking.
His sword pierced through the black overshirt and the thin armor hiding beneath, Ravus coughing, his right hand finding Noctis's shoulder as his legs weakened. The coat in the exiled prince's hand felt like wool and the hand on his shoulder was suddenly tiny and frail, small eyes blinking, shedding tears, one blue, one a misty shade of purple and Noctis felt his blood freezing at the sight. His brother. Not the prince he'd grown to hate, not the liar.
"Noct, it hurts!" Ravus cried out, his voice weak and too young.
He looked not more than three years old and he had blood at the corner of his lips.
"I didn't mean to...!"
"Why, why, you don't love me?" the boy dying at his feet pleaded.
A single blink and Noctis could see their entire childhood running before him. The few piggyback rides. The games of hide and seek. The sparring sessions where he'd always had to hold back. Both of them laughing as Regis tickled them senseless right before bedtime.
One by one, the memories broke down, leaving nothing but cold steel and the taste of blood in his mouth. Blinking again, he saw tears in Ravus's eyes. Heard Regis's voice pleading for his sons to be better than this.
And then he woke up with a start, gasping and cursing as his sudden movements woke up Lunafreya. The tears were his and his hands looked clean, but he knew that in only a few hours, he might see Ravus for real.
"Noct?" Luna asked.
He realized it was raining above their bed and cursed out loud. His magic had activated on its own. The thought made him worry he could have hurt his fiancée or the baby, even more when he noticed how she was covering herself with the bedsheets as best as she could. But the nightmare was still so vivid, he couldn't apologize.
"I don't wanna kill him," he blurted out.
Luna didn't need more explanation than that, inching closer and running one hand through his now damp hair.
"Noctis…"
"It was just a nightmare, I know that's all it was," he started, blowing air through his nostrils as he tried to collect himself, leaning on her just slightly. The rain above their head turned to snow as he went on, "but… If he were to hurt you… I'm so mad at Rave already, I don't know…"
"Oh, don't worry, I'll beat him up for you," she tried teasing him.
A weak chuckle escaped Noctis's throat.
"Please, I owe him at least one punch. I just… I don't want either of us to go overboard."
"We won't." Luna promised him, planting a light kiss on his shoulder.
Goosebumps ran over his arms and it was a good shiver for once, helping him settle his mind back to the present.
"I'm going to give you a cold at this rate," he berated himself.
"Noct, what girl would complain about having a magical fiancé?" she said, laying her head against his shoulder.
Noctis understood and wrapped his bad arm around her, huffing as she gave him a bear hug in response.
"Gods, do I love you, Luna." He sighed, squeezing her closer.
"Love you too," came her yawned answer and it was adorable, the snow finally subsiding as his eyes turned back to blue. "Keep me warm?" she asked as he laid her back down on the mattress.
"Always. Although… We're both wet now," he paused.
"In my book, that's a good thing," she nearly purred.
"As tempting as that sounds, we should get dry before going back to bed."
She pulled a face at that, which had him chuckling.
"Oh no pouting, darling. I'll make you hot and bothered instead of just warm," he promised her.
…
They would land in Lucis on the following morning and yet Ignis found himself wishing they had arrived already. Aranea wasn't herself anymore. She was jumpy and would yelp at the slightest provocation, cutting herself off from the others, only letting him close and even that seemed to be too much. Cindy had refused to let her pilot for even a minute. And it was eating away at her nerves. He felt a growing ache in his heart as he watched her growing more subdued with every passing hour.
"Nea, how about sleep?" he offered to her as she lied on her side, her arms wrapped around herself.
He had been aiming to give her shoulder a gentle stroke, needing all the touches he could get after being apart for so long, but the brush of his fingertips against her made her turn around and scream. Her eyes were filled with panic and she grimaced as she realized how strongly she'd reacted, shaking her head and struggling to reach her hands out to him as he pulled away.
"Ig…!"
"For the love of the gods, Aranea, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
"No, it's me who's sorry, I… when I didn't pilot an airship, then it meant…"
She shivered, pulling her legs up to her chest as she blinked too quickly. The realization she had been reliving the worst times at the hands of the empire for the past day made Ignis ashamed for not realizing what was going on sooner. He was still processing that, still trying to accept…
"Oh Nea…"
He took her hands, but kept himself from doing anything else.
"It's not happening again, you know? And I swear to you, the people in Lucis will not try to hunt you down. They have other things to worry about."
"I'm not scared of them. I'm just scared and so… so tired of feeling that way."
Ignis swallowed.
"You don't have to let things like this creep up on you. If I can do anything to help…"
Aranea offered him a tight smile.
"I've been trying to erase the memories. Had you touch me everywhere they did, so it wouldn't…"
He could barely hold her gaze, could barely accept what he was hearing.
"Oh dear, you don't have to push yourself."
"I'll get better," she whispered, shifting on the bed to sneak between his arms and find the solace she needed.
"We'll make things better. Peace is not a foreign dream anymore and then we can rest and mend each other properly."
…
There was much mending to be done. Iris had helped Gladiolus with the cleaning of his wounds, fretting about both him and Ravus for most of the day. Ravus felt like he had a new mission and was dead set on making it happen. His father had asked him to help somehow, he was certain the mindflayer hadn't simply imposed an illusion on him for the sake of it.
Maybe I can make amend in some ways, a part of him hoped.
"Ow! Could you be more gentle?!"
Gladiolus was fuming and his sister had to take a step back as he swung his good arm at her out of sheer frustration. Ravus frowned, feeling that something was very wrong with his bodyguard.
"I'm sorry, I barely touched you!" Iris shot back.
"Just be more careful…" Gladio groaned.
Iris proceeded to bandage his wounded arm, her movements tentative and flinchy, especially when the grown man hissed at her, baring his teeth, his eyes dark and bloodshot.
"Something's wrong," Ravus whispered, taking a step closer to the siblings, afraid of the look on his bodyguard's face.
He might have been unable to protect anyone until now, but he would protect Iris. His father would understand that it took priority even over helping him.
"You wanna make fun of me? Those daemons have been out for years and no one is doing anything about it, of course something's wrong!" Gladiolus angrily observed.
Iris somehow managed to finish working on the bandage, pulling away from her brother as he jerked to his feet, kicking at the ground in his restlessness.
"Gladio, you need to calm the fuck down," his sister warned him.
"Watch your language, 'Ris," he snapped at her. "We need to get his highness's butt to safety prompto. Then, maybe I'll calm down."
He took an energy drink from his pack, Iris not quick enough to prevent him from swallowing down the can's content in two gulps. The dark look on his face and the way his lips twitched had her stepping away. Ravus had already whistled for their chocobos and two of the birds had answered, looking even more nervous then when they'd run away.
"Ride with me?" the prince offered, hoping he could get a few words in if Iris was to accept his offer.
They both wanted some space away from Gladio, the sudden shift in the guy's composure leaving them shaken and disconcerted.
"You think there was a venom in those daemons's…"
"Ravus, please, I'm already scared," Iris cut him off as she leaned closer to him, a shiver running up her spine. "This was… I've seen my brother angry before, but this was... different. And it's too sudden. I don't think an antidote or a remedy would change it."
"Iris…"
Right now had to be a wrong time to mention his vision of Regis, but after a full ten minutes of silently riding through the night and confirming they had an half hour more to do at this pace, Iris heaved a deep sigh.
Ravus held her even closer, grateful for the fact she wasn't pulling away from him.
"We can't keep going like this and we're not going to," he promised her. "Earlier, I talked with my father…"
"How?"
"I don't know, the trance the mindflayer put me into allowed me to reach him. He asked for my help. So I think I finally know what we should be doing."
Iris straightened, wishing she could strain her neck far enough to meet his eyes. She had questions about how her own father was faring, about what they could do to help not only Gladio but also all the citizens living outside of Insomnia, who risked their lives regularly due to the monsters roaming all around the place.
"It sounds like we're going to get ourselves in even more trouble then we are," she whispered.
"That might be true, but hopefully, it will give us a way to fix whatever is wrong with Gladio…"
And with me, he thought.
…
"Guys?" Cindy called out on the ship's intercom. "I'm going to need you all to brace yourself."
Noctis and Luna sat up on their bed, both of them frowning.
"We're under attack!" Prompto cut in, rushing in the hallways.
Then the first wav of fire made contact with the lower hull of the ship, the whole room shaking around them. The furniture was bolted down, but bags and random objects flew around the space, hitting the walls, Noctis instantly shielding Luna with his body.
"Oh no, don't…! We need to see if we can help," the princess protested, tensing up as flashback to the last covenant welled up in her brain. The rational part of her mind thought of pulling her shirt back down.
An alarm blared up and Cindy impatiently spoke in the mic again, "I can't lose them, this ship is not equipped for…" Another violent tremor shook the entire cabin. "Oh for fuck's sake! Luna, the engines are dying one by one!"
"Why does she think you…" Noctis started, only to feel Luna struggling against his protective hold on her.
"We've been through this once, Cindy and I," Luna explained, gasping as Noctis warped to the ceiling as the ship was hurled around by the following hits. "Warn me?!" she blurted out.
"I couldn't, I barely reacted in time!" he countered, warping back to the floor, his magic growing almost tangible as he readied himself for anything. The look on his face was one of total concentration, since he had to protect her and the baby she carried.
"Noctis, I… Don't overdo it, will you?"
She wished she could kiss him back to good sense, but there was no time, the next ring of the alarm growing louder and even more annoying.
"Can you have us phase to the cockpit? I need to see what's happening if I'm going to do anything about it."
No phasing was attempted, Noctis too worried of what it could do to the baby, but they quickly made their way through the ship, Luna holding her forehead with one hand, feeling as though everything was still turning from all the warping around. Ignis, Prompto and Aranea were already in the cockpit, the dragoon actually having an argument with Cindy about airship security and auto-defense systems.
"For fuck's sake," Cindy cut off the dragoon, "we can make the autopsy of my failure as an engineer later, can we?!"
"Like I said," Prompto butted in, "there's… Incoming!"
"Godsdammit," their pilot hissed, giving a violent jerk to the ship's steering stick.
All of them grabbed for the nearest seat or object so they could stay upright, Prompto actually grabbing at the console handles to keep Cindy from falling away from the controls. Luna felt a rare wave of sickness rising as Noctis warped her to safety once again.
"Now's not the time to make mama sick," she complained. "Cindy!" she went on, raising her voice. "What do you need?"
"I need to land us!" Cindy yelled back. "But they've taken away two… three of our engines."
"I thought we only had three of those," Prompto squealed.
"Is it really Lucians shooting at us?!" Ignis asked, sounding quite aggravated.
And yet, his hair was impeccable, and he had an arm wrapped around Aranea's waist as the dragoon kept her lance out and ready to make a jump for it. She still had some of her impulsion jump tech in her boots and was ready to risk it.
Luna quickly tapped into her magic, focusing her thoughts on Gentiana, Noctis gasping as he saw her joining her hands in prayer.
"Luna…!"
"We can't crash just anywhere, can't we?" the princess managed as she kept her focus on the Glacean.
Then her eyes were golden and her voice warped to be Shiva's.
"The mountains…" she whispered mysteriously, the cabin turning colder and cold as ice grew over the hull of their ship, drawing a shield that cracked and regrew at every new hit.
From the outside, they could have seen the unbelievable ramp of ice that cushioned their fall and the misty vapor from the freezing air meeting the warmth surrounding Ravatogh. Somehow, it drew a curtain over their ship, the smoking engines sputtering to a drizzle as the ice covered every piece of metal, sealing them in a flying tomb. The ramp slowed them down, leading them along slopes and turns and down to the mountains that lined the edge of Cleigne's territory.
Noctis felt the frostbite from Luna's skin and held her closer still, hoping the gold and blue light around her would fade soon. They needed to land so she could catch her breath, the last time she'd called on Shiva was when she nearly drowned herself facing the empire.
Then Cindy screamed something, and they crashed against solid ground.
...
Everyone was in a bit of shock, Aranea and Ignis isolating themselves while Noctis was smothering Luna with attention once more. Which left Prompto and Cindy on their own to account for wounds and gather all the equipment they could save from the ship's carcass.
Their pilot had a limp and insisted she was fine when Prompto suggested taking a break. He caught her every wince of pain, unable to refrain looking after her instead of himself. His head and neck were both smarting and he might have a few strained muscles here and there, but he'd been through worse crashes before. Their breath was coming out in large puffs of air with Shiva's ice covering the outside of the airship. It gave their vessel the perfect camouflage in case the mad people who had been shooting at them were to come around looking.
Right now, they were walking on the walls of the ship, since it lied on its side and the metal shifted and creaked a little beneath their steps, making Prompto wary about this rushed scavenging expedition.
"Those bastards…" Cindy whispered through clenched teeth as she saw sparkling wires coming out of a hole in the ceiling.
"At least, we were bigger than a bird," Prompto tried to ease the tension in the air.
"Oh, I know we're lucky to be alive!" she groaned, halting in front of the engine room and grunting as she tried to give the lightly bent door a push with her foot. "Dammit, this is bullshit, we were supposed to get in trouble after landing, not…!"
A gasp of pain cut her tirade, standing on a single leg proving to be too much and Prompto was right beside her, catching her waist between his arms.
"If you're angry, you shouldn't take it on the ship or push yourself when you're hurt," he warned her, his voice cracking a little.
She still had bandages from all the times she'd accidentally hurt herself during the weeks they hadn't been talking to each other. It seemed her typical reaction when she failed at something or felt guilty was to dismiss herself entirely.
"Like you're not hurt and pushing yourself? As if Luna is not pushing herself?! We need to retrieve the tents and anything that would help us survive up here. It's cold and Noctis's magic can only work so long…"
"I know, but Dee, you can't ask me to look at you getting hurt because you hurt too bad inside already."
That was when she stopped struggling against him, when a blush reached her cheeks, a blush that wasn't due to anger or self-loathing and for a split second, she looked lost.
And then she was found. She remembered it was okay to be vulnerable around him. Prompto was safe. Which meant right now, she had to be safe, even though they were bending forward to have enough space to fit inside the corridor. This was wrong for a dozen reasons but he might have just the joke to make it feel right waiting in that twisted mind of his. She let out a shuddering breath, leaning her weight against him a little more to save her leg.
"I nearly forgot you'd picked a nickname for me."
He hadn't expected that reaction and while the space around them was cramped, he had to admit, the feel of her next to him made him feel more alive than he had in a while. It might also be the fact they'd just survived a crash, but suddenly, he was feeling lightheaded. Was that the ghost of a smile he saw on her face as she shifted around to better face him?
"Dee? I… I was afraid saying it in front of the others would give them the wrong impression."
And there it was again. The awkward void of a defined relationship where they needed to be for things to be less awkward considering everything that had been said between them. Cindy wasn't sure who she was trying to fool. She had just crashed her only ship. Some strangers had stripped off her wings and taken away her sky. Her best friend had had to risk her life and everyone on her vessel had been endangered. She had been helpless, a state bringing her back to the many bad things from her past.
"You think they're going to have a good impression of me after this?!" she couldn't help the words from coming out of her mouth, neither could she help the warm tears swarming up in her eyes.
"Don't do that to yourself, Dee. This wasn't your fault," came his instant reply.
"I should have been expecting a welcoming committee. I started the descent too early. Luna could…"
She didn't have to voice it, Prompto had known as soon as he'd seen Cindy rushing to the side of her friend after tearing herself off the pilot seat.
"You know she'll be okay."
"But will the baby be fine? I can't… I was foolish and I should have planned ahead, I've been to Lucis a few times and there was no barricade of guns like this one, but it doesn't mean…"
Her voice broke as she tried to go on, the tears and sobs claiming her, Prompto shaking his head at her.
"Damn, Dee, you need to cut yourself some slack. None of us checked if things had changed. We were all too ready to leave Altissia and any memory of the covenant behind us."
"I… I…!"
Now she was shaking and Prompto felt a sense of panic rising deep within. He knew he wasn't quite good with tears, but he knew this was all too fresh to joke around about it. He didn't even had the heart to play with words right now, not when he could feel her shaky breaths against his neck and the way her shoulders were jerking up and down under his hands. He pulled her closer, to have nestling her head in the crook of his shoulder.
"I want you to believe it, okay? This wasn't your fault," he repeated.
Her sobs grew stronger, but she allowed herself to live through it as he gave her pain a shelter. She bite back on a scream of pure frustration at her own helplessness, her sobs coming out in rough breaths and hiccups that all chipped away at his heart. While they had just been through something traumatizing, he could tell her tears came from a very old well she was keeping locked deep inside.
After a few more minutes, her crying calmed down, her throat hoarse and her face red and puffy. She sniffed and apologized, blowing her nose once or twice on a piece of rag that definitely shouldn't be used on her face, seeing how oil stained her nose once she was done. Prompto couldn't help the tenderness swarming in his heart at the sight, so he wrapped one arm around her waist, and wiped off the stain with the back of his sleeve, not even asking for the permission to do it and looking ready to apologize as she blushed at his sollicitude.
"I must look quite pitiful right now."
"I don't think I quite look like a model at the moment," Prompto offered. "But if I can do anything to help you feel better…"
Cindy wanted to take time to think about it, but the proximity and the fact he was looking at her with his clear blue eyes reminded her of how comforted she was when she would just erase the distance between them. So she inched forward, letting out a small breath and flushing a little more.
"If… If I smell, you can push me back," she heard herself saying, feeling sheepish and inconsiderate.
There were many more reasons why he might feel the urge to push her back. Slipping one arm behind his neck, she found his lips, a bit dry and rough but still warm and even more welcoming than she could remember. What started tentatively shifted into pure need, their breath mingling, head shifting to find the best angle,Cindy groaning in appreciation as he pressed her even closer to him, one arm in her back and the other one gripping her thigh to help her keep her balance.
The very touch of his tongue electrified her, and she should have been thinking about the fact they were still mending things, about the fact their situation was quite precarious and they needed to worry about gathering supplies, but right now she had him close and what she needed was this sense of connection.
"This a… comfort thing?" he managed in between kisses.
She could tell he was torn and a knot build up in her throat, her voice coming out rougher than she'd expected.
"This is… you and me, Prom. You make me feel safe like no one else… I…"
I like you.
Surely this was the worst time to say it, and Prompto shut her up with another kiss, fervent and demanding this time.
They were both so starved for affection, indulging each other was like diving into an abyss of sighs and caresses. He kept holding her thigh, his hand pretty much cupping her ass but he was holding the back of her head so delicately at the same time…
"Dee…"
"I like it," she whispered, tugging on his lower lip and nibbling at the tender skin, only for him to rush after her, taking away her voice for a dozen more kisses.
Now she was dizzy and it had nothing to do with the crash. He lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist, both of them forgetting where they were, until a violent creaking sound and the shifting of the wall beneath his feet at them turning white and coming back to their senses.
"Was there a slope or…?"
"I think the ice's melting," Cindy told him, immediately understanding what he was talking about.
The longer they stayed in here and the longer they risked falling down along the ship if the thing decided to move any more.
They untangled from each other, Prompto keeping a hand on her shoulder in case she'd lose her balance. They had to crawl down into the engine room, and then take a chance to grab surviving gear and supplies from another room, managing to finish their salvaging in about fifteen minutes. The ice coating the ship was almost fully gone by then and less than five minutes later, the vessel went down, careening over the edge of the mountain. The horrible sound from this "second" crash echoed around them for a while, the pair standing very still, processing the fact they could have gone down with that thing if they had taken just a little too long.
"Say, Cindy?" Prompto asked, his tongue poking at the corner of his mouth nervously. "I… I'm kinda distressed right now."
She blinked at him, jumping as he dropped the bags he was carrying at his feet. Her breathing was growing faster and she felt a strange sense of exhilaration growing from the pit of her stomach.
"Me too," she told him.
"Surely the others can wait a little before we get this stuff back to…"
She nodded, her eyes going from his eyes to his lips. There was a hint of stubble on his face and she wanted to feel it digging in her skin again, she wanted uninterrupted time with him, and she also wanted to tell him it didn't have to be comfort, it could actually mean something, but it wasn't clear anymore which one of them needed those limits anymore.
"Comfort me?" he asked, his chest rising and falling too quickly already.
She limped till she stood next to him, a little cry coming from her throat as he whirled around and lifted her off the ground. He kissed the corner of her mouth first, turning around and walking them both toward the nearest rock ledge, so he could put his arms on both sides of her and find some balance while keeping her as close as possible despite her pilot suit, jacket and his own layer of clothes.
"Prompto…"
"If anything feels wrong, you tell me, Dee. Right now I just…"
"Hold me," Cindy cut him off, pulling on his collar until his lips were joining with hers once more.
Then the only sound that came were their whispering breath and ushered moans, urgency switching to softness, panic melting into warmth and the fragile, fragile feelings between pooling into a riddle of unsaid words.
As they parted for air, Prompto wondered if he could find anything that would being to cover how his heart was beating madly in his chest. Or what the wild look on her face did to him. He had tried once and that hadn't worked. So he let his hands and lips to the talking, grateful for the fact he could feel needed right now, in this place and at this very moment.
…
Stuck as they were, high in the mountains of Cleigne, in need of rest and shelter, Noctis had done the only thing he could think of. He'd called upon a small blizzard of ice, sculpting it into walls and a ceiling, forming a makeshift igloo that was big enough to fit six people. For Aranea and Ignis's sake, he added two walls on the inside, hoping the semblance of privacy would help them cope with the crash that had just happened. All he'd heard from them before going back to Luna's side was Aranea wondering if they could have been attacked because of her presence on the ship.
There's something wrong with Lucis, they must have made a policy of shooting out of the sky anything that tries to cross the border.
His phone had a sputtering signal and as he checked the news quickly, he realized that policy was for anything crossing the borders, boats of people looking for a refuge from the empire covering the beach of Galdin Quay. Galdin Quay itself had been the victim of a platoon of soldiers, because the people living there had ties to Nifelheim.
By order of King Regis, 113th king of Lucis, anyone related close or far to Nifelheim will be executed. This is the only way to prevent blight contamination and the risk of...
Noctis couldn't read more of the paper, fighting against the bile rising in his stomach. His father would never allow such a thing. To think the soldiers obeyed him. To think the war had lasted so long and dug so deep that former neighbors would willingly kill each other?
Luna sneezed and shivered next to him, his guilt rising even more. When he gestured to shrug his jacket to wrap it around her, she shook her head at him, beckoning for him to sit down with her on the small bedding they'd made out of spare clothes and sheets. They had rushed out of the ship in such a hurry after their crash, they'd barely had the sense to grab what they might need on their way out.
"Are things even worse than you'd think? You look awful."
She wanted to pull out her own phone and find out what he might have discovered. She'd been scanning the news for the past few weeks, but Lucis was even more closed off than Nifelheim. She didn't have access to the same circle of information outside of Tenebrae. She might also be rusty, but right now, she was dizzy and fighting against a splitting headache just to stay awake. A bruise was showing on her forehead, quite similar to the one on Noctis's. He'd tried his best to keep her from hitting anything, but the final crash had them both rushing into the nearest wall. He'd somehow cushioned the blow, but couldn't prevent her neck from snapping forward. She'd bit her lip and the taste of blood remained in her mouth and up her nose despite slouching snow and drinking water.
Noctis sat beside her, his right arm twitching. How could he hold her when his nerves were acting up like that? He bit on his tongue, keeping his voice steady as he answered her.
"I… I was trying to understand why we were welcomed with a shooting squad. But we can talk about that later, Luna. You're cold, aren't you?"
"If I am, your teeth should be chattering. My body is still in shock. Let's blame Shiva for it."
"Oh, Luna…" He pulled her close at that, despite his twitchy arm and the exhaustion he felt, just needing to feel her, hoping he could warm her by snuggling close. She struggled to angle herself in a way that would make it possible to sit in his lap and still hug him, if only partially. Her belly was showing now, one of her hands always ending up stroking it unconsciously, and Noctis reached for it as she settled between his legs, her shoulder leaning against his chest, soon followed by her head in the crook of his neck.
"The baby's fine," she whispered, covering his protective hand with hers. "Can you feel Darius moving?"
She guided him to the spot, feeling the burn in her lip as a smile lit up her face, seeing how his features melted into pure amazement.
"Hey there, lil' buddy. You're going to have way too many adventures before you've even been born at this rate."
A strangled chuckle came out of her, Luna realizing tears were rolling down her cheeks and she mentally chided herself for being weak. Earlier, she had been solely focused on getting her friends out and alive of their predicament. The fact she had the power to do so was incredible, but it was slowly, very slowly sinking in that she had done what she'd promised to avoid since learning of their baby's existence.
I used my magic, no, not even mine, a goddess's magic, while I know the toll would also be on him.
How unfair was it that she steals that tiny spark of life's energy when he was struggling to put himself together?
I should be keeping him safe, but if I die, I can't…
Noctis felt her tensing against him, raising his good hand to stroke gentle circles along her back.
"Hey, what's my princess thinking?"
"I… I hope I didn't hurt our baby. He shouldn't be facing the tolls from calling upon an Astral…"
"Luna, if it wasn't for you, there would be none of us left and no baby," Noctis reminded her. He wanted to comfort her, but a nagging bad feeling kept him from not going any further. "Did the doctors…?"
"They don't know what could happened. I mean, could your mother do magic? Outside of royal families, there is no… There has to be a definitive strain put on him. Just the crash and me getting all nervous and scared can't be good for Darius."
Having picked his name and calling him that already was very comforting for the both of them. They felt closer to their son somehow.
"He's well enough to wiggle around in there," Noctis observed. "Maybe this felt like a roller coaster to him and he's excited to try it again?"
"You've really been spending too much time with Prompto," she snickered despite her tight throat.
"Luna, you saved us. All of us. When he'll grow up, we can tell him stories about how you were always, always looking out for him."
She wanted to talk back, remembering all too well how she felt after nearly drowning herself in her battle against the empire. There was a coiling of knots around her throat now, her lungs feeling too small to gather enough oxygen. She knew it was the stress, anxiety and recent trauma piling up in a mish-mash of panic and yet, there was nothing rational about her feelings. She couldn't panic because she didn't want to stress the baby, but just thinking that was adding up to everything else and now breathing felt too hard.
"What a mother you've picked to be knocked up with your royal heir, huh?", she managed, forcing the self-derision out of her throat.
"Luna, stop," he pleaded with her, cupping her face with one hand, having her raise her teary eyes to meet with his. "I love you. I don't want anyone else to be the mother of my kid. We took a gamble, I should have worked on our transport, I should have reached out to people I know…"
Although the only person he was certain he could trust in Lucis had been on the ship with him and there was a limit even to Ignis's sphere of influence.
"Oh no, I'm not saying this for you to blame yourself, Noct, I'm just an hormonal mess and this pushed me over the edge..."
He kissed her temple softly, shaking his head at her as his fingers trailed along a tangled lock of hair.
"And I'm here for you. Here and now. Glad that you're alive and just slightly bruised. Gods, I wish I could have protected you properly, and yes," he quickly added as he saw her frown, "I know, I did a decent job as it is."
"Noctis dear…"
"Getting angry with myself is my way of coping I guess. Must be why we work so well together."
Somehow, the easy talk had helped her through the tears, Luna realizing she was breathing just fine and didn't feel as tense. Oh she was sore and still dizzy, but now she felt almost grounded. Like her mind was finally landing too. She hugged him as best as she could, heaving a rough breath against the fabric of his shirt.
"I'm so tired…" she sighed. "And not because of... I wish I could just snap my fingers and be done with all of this."
Noctis felt bad, since this detour in Lucis was all for him, although the initial goal had been to reach the Astrals scattered across the continent while evading the Lucian military and royalty. He knew better than to give her an apology, since he knew Luna would only feel worse about making him feel guilty over this.
"I would have done it if I could."
He contemplated offering to have her wait for him, Ignis, Prompto and surely Aranea to return from dealing with the political trouble of Lucis, but voicing that idea would surely result in her slapping him… Multiple times. So instead he brushed his cheek against hers and pulled her scarf from her neck to plant tiny kisses on her skin, relishing the laughs that followed as his hair tickled her face.
"N… Noct!"
"Laughing is good for you and the baby," he observed.
And yes, they might have a lot of things on their plate, but right now, catching their breath and getting each other to smile was the best way they could get over the latest bump in the road of their lives.
To be continued...
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As always, next chapter will come out eventually 😊