Writing has been a struggle. But here's a new chapter. Mostly a transition to set everyone up for the next action sequence. I took some vacations, allowed myself to see human people, because I live alone and have been pretty much sequestered home for the past five months with nothing but digital interaction to keep my social skills up to a minimum standard. The vacation was sorely needed to say the least. We have lunoct, we have planning and some shots with Ravus and co.

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Stranded

Chapter 29 – The way left ahead

Helping Cor back to his feet revealed the man couldn't walk quite well on his own, at least not after paying a life toll towards the Fulgurian. Ignis offered to carry him out on his back, Noctis whistling for a chocobo as soon as they were out, glad one trained bird answered despite what they had seen earlier. They settled the man on the mount, Luna shushing any of his protests regarding feathered animals and his past trauma related to concerned beasts.

"I'd mount with him if I could to make him steady," Luna sighed, knowing the constant swerving from the yellow bird's walk would be too rough on her.

"I can watch out for him," Prompto offered.

"And I can lead the bird, keep him walking at our pace," Cindy decided.

Aranea offered to scout ahead to locate the nearest resting place, Ignis insisting on finding an actual motel so they could get adequate rest and also a warm shower. They all needed it. Noctis wrapped one arm around Luna to offer her some support, the princess trying to keep Cor awake and eventually accepting that he couldn't sustain a conversation well. Her healing was limited right now, and he'd endured a lot even before the actual covenant.

"I still don't get how that works," Prompto said. "He actually started the thing all on his own?"

"And you saw what it did to him. He was barely himself and he keeps saying the gods took even more from him…" Ignis observed.

"With this, we're almost done, though," Noctis tried to be reassuring. "It will only be Bahamut next and we don't even know…"

Luna leaned her head against his arm, holding back a sigh. "I'll need a chance to research. I think our next step will be Lestallum."

Which meant Glauca and taking out what was left of the empire once and for all. Noctis kissed her hair, sensing her fatigue and feeling a little heavier with every new step. To think in a single day, they had faced Titan, found Cor the Immortal, forged a covenant with Ramuh and… even had a visit from his father.

"I think the next step will be to rest for at least two days, don't you?"

"Oh, we soooo need that," Cindy said.

Ignis dealt with any wildlife they met, clearly more comfortable when Aranea met up with them with the good news there was a motel just a few minutes ahead. Luna was still too shocked about finding Cor to worry about anything other than making him comfortable. Once that was done, she tried to check on every member of the team. The motel was large enough to accommodate every couple with a room and the Immortal with his own. The showers were communal, which meant they took turns, Luna and Noctis agreeing on sharing a stall so they could both be warm and clean faster. They were both too tired to tease each other, their skin brushing as he helped her out of the shower and delicately dried her with a towel, relishing her soft sigh as she closed her eyes and abandoned herself to his care.

The tears started then, even though she wanted to hold them back until they'd gotten back to their room.

"Luna…"

"It's just a lot, I'm fine," she tried, knowing how fake it sounded.

"You're exhausted. Two covenants and you found your old mentor too."

"Noct, I don't want to hog all the comforting, you need me, your father…"

He raised one hand at that, his face dark.

"Let's get you to our room, okay?" His voice broke on the last word, their hands joining as they hurried out despite how sore and exhausted they were.

The room was a small poorly lit space, Luna heaving a sigh as she saw their bags lying in a corner. There was just so much to do and she was on a timeline, her hands stroking her round stomach, Darius answering with a tiny kick in her sorest rib.

"Maybe I should check on Cor?"

"Luna, love, you need rest and he must be sleeping," Noctis whispered to her, squeezing her upper-arm.

She leaned against him, following the motion as he guided her to their bed.

"You're right." He helped her turn around on her left side and back to her right, smiling at how quirky the pregnancy was making her. He laid next to her, as close as he could despite her belly, leaning forehead to forehead. It seemed to unlock the valve on her tears, Luna repeating herself, "you're right, but the fact he's even alive…!"

Guilt gripped her heart, since Noctis's father was a prisoner of his own castle and his brother… She didn't even want to think about it.

"Luna, I got you. Don't hold back for my sake."

"I'm sorry, Noct, I'm so sorry for being like this."

"Stop, it's okay."

"I'm dragging three of you into these covenants now. Three people that matter to me more than…!"

A sob emerged, her whole body shaking, her face already red, Noctis pulling her closer somehow.

"I know. I know."

Luna gave herself up to her pain, hiding her face into his chest, grateful for his arms. Her sobs were cut short by more kicks from Darius, Noctis feeling the jumps in her right side from it.

"Hey, calm down in there, little gremlin," he warned, stroking Luna's stomach.

"Don't call him that."

"He's been a pest with you all day."

"Noct, I really prefer when I feel him move. I put him through so much…"

"And he's definitely good and kicking. Come on, a princeling should be good to his mother."

It was said in earnest, with a gentle smile, but as the words sank in, Noctis's face fell, Luna almost smelling the dread coming from him.

His brother had always been convinced he'd killed their mother and Noctis had always done his best to tell himself it wasn't the truth.

"Hey... Noct, stay with us, will you?"

He pulled her robe open to touch her stomach directly, shifting down to lay a kiss on her stretched skin.

"I know you'll be good, okay gremlin? There's no pressure, there will never be any."

Luna's heart squeezed painfully tight.

"Noctis…"

Looking back into her eyes, he realized she was still crying.

"I'm sorry, you're…" he started, lifting himself up to shuffle closer.

"No, no, it's… You talking to him so much is really adorable. And I'm a hormonal mess."

"You have so many excuses outside of just the hormones, Luna…"

She managed a chuckle at that, reaching out to ruffle his hair. It was still damp from their shower, but the wetness on his cheeks was from something else, Luna frowning.

"Have you noticed you were crying too, Noct?"

"What? I… I have a lot of excuses too!" he feigned defensiveness as he dried his eyes on the back of his sleeve, the motion difficult from how close he held her with his other arm.

"What happened with your armiger. With your father. That clap of thunder…"

"Ravus is in shit again and my dad wants me to save him. Like I even care about that…"

"Noctis, don't say things you'll regret. I know you care. Whenever you have a nightmare about him, you feel bad."

She was hitting close to home.

"Luna, he…"

"Put yourself in your father's shoes, just a second. If it was our Darius who'd made a mistake and was facing something bad…"

Noctis looked almost furious, but kept a straight face as he declared, "I'd give him the correction of a lifetime! You hear gremlin? No grounding for you, I'll train you harder than Gladio does."

"Noct! Cor already said he'd train him."

"I know," her bodyguard started, cupping her face with both hands. "But we're going to have to be strict with him. And I am not letting him go the same path my brother has."

"Of course not. But our boy should be free, Noct, that's what I'm getting at."

He held her close, heaving a sigh. Freedom was something he'd never tasted, not even after being exiled.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us to make that happen."

"I'm sor-…"

"Luna, no. You're doing the job I would have been taking if the crystal had picked me."

Voicing it made the weight even more concrete on his shoulders.

"We're doing this together. We're a team."

She held his face tenderly, Noctis leaning into her, beyond drained.

"Can I ask you something weird?"

"Sure."

"Would you sing me a song? Can be practice for when we try to put the gremlin to sleep."

"Noct!" she laughed despite her genuine outrage.

"I'm serious though."

"Oh… There's an old lullaby my mother used to sing for me. I don't really remember the words."

"I don't need words. I just… I'm not sure I can calm down by myself. I don't wanna worry about my brother when my father…"

She ruffled his hair, clearing her throat as gently as she could. Her voice was sore from crying, and sounded hoarse as she hummed, but it gave him something to focus on. It calmed her down too. They fell asleep holding on to each other.

…

In the morning, they reconvened with the others to plan what they were going to do to enter Lestallum. The safer course of action was to visit every old outpost on the way there to try and locate some hunter that could give them an accurate update on the situation. The inn's owner had had his radios ransacked by Nifelheim soldiers and could only tell them that he hadn't seen anyone stepping off a dropship in the past two weeks. Noctis needed to locate his brother, an endeavor in which Ignis could prove an ally. The man had Gladio and Iris's phone numbers and while Ravus himself would most certainly consider him a traitor, both Noctis and Ignis were convinced Gladiolus would answer.

"He was so fed up with him when I left, I'm a tad worried if the reason why Ravus got hurt wasn't him…"

Ignis started with texts, receiving an answer half an hour after he'd sent the message.

Little prick had a magic meltdown. It doesn't look quite good. Iris is patching him up like she can. Old Lestallum is still free, don't know for how long. We could meet there…

"Well, that's encouraging," Noctis groaned.

Ignis tried to get a little more information, but the next few hours were void of any more answers. They were sitting with Prompto, Cindy, and Aranea, Luna looking after Cor. Noctis knew she needed to catch up with him. He was a little shocked by how nervous he was at the thought of her being away from him. She was right down the hallway, he could warp to her in a matter of seconds, but he couldn't help himself. He was supposed to guard her. And she was so very pregnant…

"Hey man, you're twitching like crazy, if you've caught the worms, I…" Prompto started teasingly.

"The what?" Cindy said, and raised her good hand while shaking her head as she realized what he might have meant. "Forget it, I don't want to ear anything gross. The beans we had are barely settling in my stomach!"

Aranea rolled her eyes, clearing her throat as movement from the hallway caught her attention. Luna was helping Cor walk up to them, the older man immediately recognizing the dots on the map stretched on the table.

"Old Lestallum, huh?"

"It seems to be our best bet to gather intel about Lestallum," Noctis declared.

"How long would be the ride up there?" Luna inquired.

Ignis frowned, tapping one finger across the map as he made a mental estimation.

"I'd say seven hours. If I could do some shopping before we leave to restock on food…"

"Hopefully, we can find something other than canned goods," Aranea sighed.

Cor huffed. He was more awake than the previous day and finally realizing the imperial commodore was part of Lunafreya's retinue.

"Why are we keeping a nif mercenary on a leash?"

Cindy facepalmed, Luna blinking while Aranea's shoulders tensed.

"Mercenary?" she repeated.

"Nea," Ignis intervened. "He's been possessed by a god for the past few months."

"That doesn't make him more trustworthy than I am."

Cor quirked an eyebrow at her, turning his attention to Luna.

"She's been covering for us and looking out for each and every member of this group since she joined. There are still grudges between us and I don't think they'll go away, but the world is at stakes," Luna added.

That effectively quieted both of them, Noctis running his jumpy hand over his hair with a sigh.

"Should we worry about the last Astral?" he asked Luna.

She nodded, rubbing her stomach without even realizing it.

"Bahamut is revered in Tenebrae and the source of my ancestors's power. But there was very little that I could read about them. Would there be any book in Lestallum on the cosmology?"

Ignis shook his head.

"Such books could only be found in the capital, and dare I say, in the Citadel itself."

"We can wait until my father is saved," Noctis suggested. "We are not facing an Astral and Ardyn on the same day."

"I'm starting to know Astrals and they don't seem to care much about how other people feel…" Luna observed.

With a heavy heart, their team set out. Cor, Luna and Cindy sat in the back, Noctis driving and Prompto riding shotgun, Ignis and Aranea following with the second car. Prompto and Noctis had already agreed to switch places mid-way, despite Cor making the comment he could most certainly drive. Cindy had inquired if he still had his license, to which he'd come back empty-handed. The trio in the back talked quietly, all sharing stories from the past. Noctis was still getting his mind around this new situation. Luna had apologized about being so happy to have her mentor back. And he was slowly understanding why. Seeing her smile and chat happily with the man she considered almost like her father… It just made the fact Regis was in danger feel more real.

He wanted to grab Ignis alone to make an actual plan. He wanted to rush to Insomnia and just forget about Ravus, but he couldn't, not if his brother's antics were going to make his armiger go wild.

His armiger. He hadn't thought of it like this before, but it was finally sinking in. He needed to visit the crystal. Give it a good punch for underestimating him. And then, Ardyn…

He couldn't even start to fathom what he would… The man had screwed his entire family and for what? Adagium. It had to go far back in history.

…

Ravus snapped at both of the Amicitias when he woke up. His right arm was the same bundle of painful ache and the fact Iris had bandaged his arm and his shoulder and that metal clips were tightly gripped all over the articulation to seemingly keep it attached didn't help his mood. He had a royal arm, but he had yet to pass the tests that came along with it.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Hey! Language!" Gladio warned him, pulling Iris away from the prince.

Ravus pushed himself to his feet, groaning and swallowing back the burning bile that accompanied the sensation in his right arm. He was feeling it again. Had Iris doused him in enough potion to reawaken his fried nerves?

"Where are we?"

The cramped space told him they were renting an RV again, Iris looking at him with red and puffy eyes, the thought she'd been crying effectively calming some of his anger down.

"Now Rave-shit, I want you to shut up and keep your ass on that bed until I'm done talking," Gladio warned him. "You went magic-crazy at the royal tomb and apparently convinced your ancestor to give you a royal arm, but you also started the biggest motherfucking thunderstorm of the century."

"I…"

"You're the one listening, you hear? I don't now what's wrong with your arm and Iris insisted on trying to fix you but you need…"

"The thing is about ready to fall off, didn't you see?!"

"Ravus, please," Iris managed.

"I'm sorry. I'm so tired of saying the same thing over and over. I'm messed up, I know, but what can I do?"

Gladio nearly pounced on him, grabbing him by his hair and lifting him clean off the floor.

"How about trying to look after something other than your sorry self? Lestallum is under Niff occupation right now. Titan dropped the meteor just the other day and what did you do? You bitched and whined some more."

Titan vanishing from the landscape had been a blow to Ravus's morale, on top of everything else. He knew about Lestallum's state, but the fact the few outposts they'd seen had been doing fine made it feel so unreal. It was like the empire had managed to fall upon Lucis in a single day. Of course, he'd been cooped up in Insomnia for too long, ignoring the state of his own country, as his father seemed to consider best.

Thinking of Regis made everything throb.

"You want to break into Lestallum?" he surmised.

"Well, if you decide to keep up this charade of begging for more royal arms your brother already claimed, I propose we do something more constructive with our time."

It wasn't a logical course of action, not when there was only three of them, with Ravus so severely impaired, Iris feeling this fragile inside and her brother a furious mass of anger ready to snap at the smallest sign. They should be reaching back to Ignis, to Noctis, they were literally one text away, but neither Gladio nor Ignis were certain what the brothers could do to each other once reunited. Ravus was an unstable mess if his last prowess was any proof and the empire was still too much of a problem.

"You think I'm some sort of rabid dog to sic on them?" Ravus realized.

"That's being generous, but if you can focus all the damage you caused yesterday in one point, you might actually be useful…"

…

Luna fell asleep at some point through the ride, much to her own embarrassment, even though no one even teased her for it. Noctis was glad that she could catch some rest, helping her into a long chair where she could stretch her legs and lift her feet, Ignis and Aranea already questioning the diner's patron about potential lodging. OId Lestallum was not quiet in the least, hunters pointing at Noctis and the Oracle while people packed goods into trucks, cars coming and going. Cindy quickly found people who needed help with car repairs and roped Prompto into helping her. Cor was sleeping in the backseat of the car, the top pulled up to shield him from the elements.

"They're moving to a disaffected military base. They feel they'll be safer over there."

"Any recent attacks?" Noctis asked to his friend.

"None around here," Aranea answered him. "But they're smuggling people out of Lestallum."

"Gods… Do you think we could use that as our way in?" Luna suggested.

Ignis nodded.

"I have an uncle in the city, he's linked to the organization aiming to free people. He couldn't send me much information, but we should have the full rundown once we get inside. Though we'll have to be careful about you and Noctis, highness. A veil won't pass here like it did in Altissia."

"We can surely work something out. I mean, I'm quite pregnant but…"

"They must get shipments from somewhere to supply their army," Noctis interfered. "I hate suggesting this, but we could hide in crates or something."

Aranea gave him a strong pat on the shoulder.

"That's the most sensible idea I heard from you yet!"

Ignis chuckled, while Luna shook her head. They devised a plan, interrupted by a worried Cor they had to convince to stay with the refugees. Cindy was exhausted from all the cars she fixed and so was Prompto, who had to do all the manual labor since her arm was still broken. To take as many precautions as possible, they needed to wait for the next scheduled shipment from Old Lestallum to the occupied city, which was two days away. Plenty of time for Aranea to visit the disaffected imperial base to gather potential codes and signals, while Luna would recuperate under Noctis's careful watch. They had little accommodation in Old Lestallum, the royal pair renting one of the many RVs while Cindy and Prompto took a second one, Ignis and Aranea escorting Cor along the refugees.

"Have we been pushing too much work on Ignis and Aranea lately?" Luna asked herself out loud as she sat down on the bed that took the entire space in the backroom. Noctis followed her on the mattress, with a tray where two warm cuppa noodles pot were fuming. He set it carefully between them, Luna attempting to take off her shoes and giving up with a sigh. "Gods, twisting around to grab my feet is a chore and I want to try and kill Glauca…"

"You don't have to do it alone. I'd rather make sure he's nowhere near you. And to answer your first question, I believe Ignis and Aranea are happy for all the occasions to feel useful. Plus, alone time? They try not to act like us, but if they could be naked 24/7 I bet you they would."

She giggled at that, finding it still hard to imagine the ever professional Ignis in a carnal rut. Her laugh was cut short by a violent kick from Darius, Noctis instantly grabbing her wrist in alarm.

"Maybe our little prince is hungry?" she said, noticing how hungry she was herself.

She had been so exhausted and focused on everything else that she hadn't realized until now.

"Well, he's getting salt and more salt tonight. Cause his dad is one of the worst cooks in the world."

"Give me a kiss, you bad cook," she teased him, relaxing as he did, even though the angle was weird with the tray taking up space between them.

They ate in relative silence, hearing the hubbub of cars pulling out of the main street, people talking as they helped with the organization. The walls surrounding them felt like mere cardboard, which made Luna inch closer to Noctis, as though she was exposed.

"Wanna go to sleep right away?" he suggested.

"Do I have dark bags under my eyes or…?"

"Yes, you do, but I'm certain I don't look much better. We've done a lot already. Why don't we just bust a bridge to Lestallum with Titan and I'll zap the rest of the people out with my royal arms and a airship Cindy can steal from the Niffs."

Luna blinked at him, Noctis soon shaking his head.

"That was a joke, Luna."

"But it didn't involve lying in a tiny crate to pass myself and our baby as merchandise," she joked back, wincing as she saw his face falling.

"Luna, we don't want Darius in danger but I knew when I took my job as your bodyguard that I would never be able to tell you what to do. A subtle attempt is better than a frontal assault. I can't watch you do something like what you did in Altissia."

"I know, Noct. I just feel on edge and… more easily susceptible."

"Come here."

She hid between his arms, soon rolling away to ask for help to take off her shoes. They laid back down when they both felt comfortable enough, Noctis wrapped to her side, one of his hand sneaking under her shirt to give lazy strokes to her round stomach.

"We should be building a nursery right now," he observed, not really thinking.

"Oh, I have plenty of rooms back home in Tenebrae," she said.

"The Citadel must have ten unused nurseries and more then one kindergarten just for the kids of all the people working in it."

"Ten royal heirs?! Is that what I'm getting myself into?"

"No, no, I have no idea how many nurseries there are. As long as one kid is picked by the crystal…"

"Will Darius need to go through that trial?" Luna asked him, biting her tongue as he tensed ever so slightly.

"No. No, he'll be Tenebrae's heir first."

"Noct…"

"Would he be an Oracle?"

"There's only ever been female Oracles," Luna sighed. "And if I get all the Astrals and remove the blight, he won't have to pick it up. There will be no plague on our star."

Noctis squeezed her close, Luna squeezing his arm back, bending her neck to meet his gaze.

"I can't remember the last time I looked at life thinking about one day at a time," Noctis confessed.

"You think we can make that a goal for when everything else is done?"

"It'd be nice. But I'll start with the hours I get to have you all to myself."

He kissed her cheek, chuckling as she managed to kiss his nose in answer, holding her close as he could. She wanted to hear more, to talk about lighter subjects, to tell him the only thing that mattered when she thought of Darius's future except for his health was the fact their child could get to actually be a child. Not grow before his years like they had.

To be continued…

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This chapter is short? It sure is. But I feel like things are on a continuum here and it contains something I forever need. Fluff. I hope you enjoy. Next chapter should be called Lestallum, because I want to clear up the case of that city and maybe have the reunion between Noctis and Ravus that I've been dying to write for a while now. Reviews make me happy!