Title: Grinning ghosts and magic rings
Genre: Drama, friendship
Summary: Noctis is obsessed over finding his father and his companions begin to question his rationality.
Chapter 11: Grinning ghosts and magic rings
Luna trampled through fallen rubble carefully examining the dust coated floor of what she suspected was once a living room.
"What are we looking for again?"
"The ring of His Majesty", came a muffled reply across the room. Ignis was holding a handkerchief over his nose and mouth while carrying a lantern with his other hand. "A prized heirloom that the locals claim to have seen in these ruins in the form of a shining star."
"And why did not the good locals just take it to their own pockets? Or have they done just that and set us on a wild chocobo chase?" Luna moved a piece of crumbling wall with her foot which only resulted in a new cloud of dust to puff all around her. She sneezed loudly a couple of times followed by a polite "bless you" from Ignis and wiped her hands on her faded trousers.
"They say this place is haunted by those who were buried during the collapse. They dared not to take the ring in fear of being cursed. Highly superstitious lot", he set the lantern down and checked his pocket watch before going back to work.
"How convenient", she muttered dryly. They had been digging around the collapsed building for hours without seeing anything remotely resembling a ring or a 'shining star'. Just tons of rubble and debris caked in dust.
Noctis was negotiating with the little town's mayor about getting permission to buy petrol in exchange for finding the ring and removing the 'ghosts' from the destroyed apartment building. Apparently the locals kept their fuel under a tight lid, saving it for the last remaining vehicle in town; an old truck that had seen much better days. The previous war had hit them hard; trade was minimal and supplies were in shortage. Most of the townspeople were children, women or elderly people. The few men in their prime were severely injured and incapable of providing for their families.
The quintet had felt bad for taking advantage of the townsfolk's fear of ghosts, so Prompto and Gladiolus had stayed behind to help families and further help Noctis soften the mayor to their cause. That left Lunafreya and Ignis rolling in dust and cursing at their rotten luck. But sacrifices had to be made to avoid the imperial hounds and so the five had found themselves in the middle of nowhere with their petrol gauge's arrow pointing at empty.
Better this than at the mercy of the imperials, Luna reminded herself.
The floor cracked forebodingly as Ignis ventured further.
"Sounds like it is about to give in", Luna remarked and walked closer to where she saw Ignis' lantern flickering.
"Perhaps I ought to return to more solid ground", Ignis agreed and turned around. He managed to take one step before the telltale sound of crumbling warned them of the collapsing floor. Ignis made a run for it, but the floor gave in. He disappeared into the gap with a surprised yell. Luna carefully approached the edge of the hole and picked up Ignis' previously discarded lantern from a pile of rubble.
"Ignis? Did you hurt yourself?" she called, trying to keep calm and not give into panic.
A muffled grunt came from the lower floor followed by a breathy "I'm fine."
"I jinxed it, did I not", she attempted to joke, still shaken from the scare. She could hear him scramble to his feet and cough as he attempted to catch his breath.
"That you did."
Luna lowered the lantern down the hole as far as her arm stretched, but the light did not reach any solid surface. The room below remained engulfed in darkness.
"Can you see anything?"
"Visibility is poor, but I see you have my lantern."
Luna withdrew and retreated to where their backpacks were to retrieve a rope. She tied it to the lantern and carefully lay down by the hole. She wasn't too eager to join Ignis down below just to keep him company. Slowly she lowered the lantern to the ground.
"You might as well check the place while you're there. Do you want me to go fetch Gladiolus to pull you out?"
Finally she saw Ignis' form illuminated by the lantern. His glasses were absent from his sand and dust covered face. He spat muck that had invaded his mouth during the fall and attempted to wipe his face with equally dirty gloved hands. He looked absolutely miserable as he shook his head, sand spraying all around him from his dirtied hair.
"Give me a moment to look around and clean myself up. I would rather not be the bottom of a joke for the upcoming week", he coughed as he inhaled more dust.
Something caught Luna's attention from the corner of her eye.
"I think I see something glimmering down there. How well can you see?"
"Not very well, I might need directions."
Luna peered into the darkness and called down to him. "About eight steps to your left." She watched him stumble across the debris. Something else caught her eye on Ignis' path; a flash of light reflecting from the lantern.
"Ignis, wait–!"
Crunch
Too late.
"What–?" Ignis looked down in confusion, but saw nothing beside blurry shapes.
"You just stepped on your glasses."
"Ah."
Well, this was going well. They now had a half-blind driver. They would need to persuade Gladiolus to take the wheel. There was no way they could let Prompto take over after the last time.
"Two more steps forward, one to the right", she called half-heartedly, feeling utterly guilty for the whole mess.
Ignis kneeled and reached for the small shiny object. "I believe I see it now." Just when he was about to touch it he halted and leaned forward to peer at the object closer.
Luna nearly jumped out of her skin when the normally coolheaded royal advisor let out a horrified yell and stumbled backward.
"Ignis?! What is it?" she demanded, her hand reflexively resting on the hilt of her rapier.
Ignis took a few quick breathes before calming himself. "I believe I found our ghost", he replied slightly shaken.
Luna frowned, not understanding what he was trying to say. "Elaborate, please."
Turns out it wasn't King Regis' lost ring that had caught Lunafreya's attention, but a tooth filling of a grinning skeleton. They had found a dust covered corpse that hadn't crumbled along with the other victims of the collapse. The torn faded clothes shed little light to who this person once was, but it was safe to assume he was of the more privileged townspeople who could afford the services of a dentist.
Luna left to find Gladiolus after Ignis had assured her that he was in no immediate danger. It seemed he had forgotten about his appearance and was more concerned about getting out than looking presentable.
With Gladiolus' added strength the two managed to pull Ignis along with his lantern back to solid ground. True to Ignis' prediction once it was clear he was unharmed Gladiolus burst out laughing at the sorry sight of the normally well-groomed man.
"I do not think it is exactly safe to pursue the ring much longer. This building, or what remains of it, is ready to kill any and all who come unprepared. Best we return better equipped and all at once for more thorough search", Luna thought out loud.
"You just don't want the rest of us to be left out from the fun", Gladiolus corrected.
"True as well." She had tried to be sneaky about it, but she felt sorry for Ignis' humiliation and wanted all of them to roll in dust and dirt to share in his misery and be on equal grounds.
"That won't be necessary", Ignis tried to hold on to his wounded pride. Luna shook her head in disbelief.
"What makes you so sure this", she motioned at nothing in particular "lost heirloom is within such a backwater town?"
Gladiolus sighed and dusted his large hands on his leather trousers. "Just another wild rumour Noct's unwilling to look over. The boy's got his heart in the right place, but he outta listen to reason more often."
Ignis shot a sour look to the bigger man. "I've tried. It is as futile as getting him to eat his greens."
Luna tapped her chin in thought. "Mayhap a new voice would go through. You four are close, so close he believes you all share the same perspective. He might listen to a more, hm, detached opinion. I shall talk to him and make our collective thoughts known on the matter." She picked her backpack and turned to head towards the exit.
"Like it or not, you're just as close to him as the rest of us. Just in a different way", Gladiolus called after her.
She didn't bother stopping to face him. "That remains to be seen."
"Noct."
Said raven haired prince snapped out of his musings. He'd been leaning against what she believed to be the remains of a once beautiful town hall, lost in thought. He immediately brightened and jogged to meet her halfway, eager to hear the news.
"Did you find anything?"
"No", was her curt reply. "The only 'shining star' we found was a corpse's tooth filling. Frankly I don't believe we will find anything but an early ticket to the opening of Etro's Gate –lightshow."
Noctis' brow furrowed to a grim frown. "What do you mean?"
"That building is nothing short of a death trap and nearly took Ignis' life."
"What? Is he alright? Is he hurt?" the frown melted into worry as he grabbed her by the upper arms. Luna was aware of his short temper when it came to his companions' safety, but it was a strange feeling to be at the other end of it. His fingers were digging into her skin. She pried his arms off her, glaring at him as she rubbed her bruised arms.
"A little winded and a suffering from a wounded pride, but I assure he's not worse for wear." He visibly relaxed and exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.
"However this will not be the last time one of us gets knocked over if you don't use your head in these matters", she crossed her arms and glared at the prince. She would have to be blunt, rude even, to get the message across in one go. "What evidence is there that your father's ring is within this town? Highly unlikely place, especially considering neither your father nor any of his closest associates have been sighted here."
Noctis sighed and stuffed his hands into his coat's pockets. He wouldn't meet her icy gaze. "While we were sneaking past the imperial base, I heard two high ranked officers talk about a valuable Lucian treasure being found in some backwater settlement, east of the base. They had sent troops to retrieve it, but supposedly were met with resistance. Apparently the rebels' leader had claimed a fancy ring as his own, but he and his group of misfits had met their end when the MTs bombed their hideout. Those buckets of bolt were never good at delicate operations", he chuckled humourlessly. Luna's glare softened, but she remained unconvinced.
The prince briefly returned her even stare before nodding towards the town hall. "The mayor? He hasn't been in his position more than a week. Last one got shot when they failed to help dig up the ring from the rubble."
"What about the MTs, why are they not here? You'd think this place would be crawling with imperials if the ring was so important."
"Probably stationed further ahead on the road waiting to ambush us. They tend to catch wind of our presence rather quickly", he watched as few civilians stopped to stare at him before rushing off, whispering frantically. His face was on every wanted poster across the country. It was only a matter of time before they had to be on the run again. But if his suspicion was correct, they were safe as long as they stayed within the rundown town. "The ring is useless on its own, only I and my father can use it. They probably rather have me find it first and then capture me."
Luna's brows shot up. "So you're willingly walking into a trap?" Her hands rested on her hips as she seized the prince. Noctis turned to her, answering the challenge in her eyes in kind.
"This ring is the only link I have to finding my father. It is more than a mere token or a cheap weapons arsenal upgrade."
And she was the one who was supposed to talk him over.
"Fine", she sighed. "But at least come and bring Prompto with you. We need proper equipment and all the hands we can use to find that elusive trinket."
Noctis' lips curved into a slight smile. "I've already sent Prompto to fetch some gear that the mayor allowed us to borrow. I managed to get the mayor part with two tanks of petrol, too. Already took them to Regalia." At least she wasn't the only one he had managed to win over.
"So what were you doing here all alone, staring at nothing?" she tentatively asked.
"Thinking how to tackle the matter of tin cans. Most likely all the roads are being watched and we can't exactly go cruising through the woods."
"We'll think of something", she offered a small smile. "I'm sure Ignis would like to participate in planning now that he's not fit to drive. Perhaps not even to fight."
He frowned. "I thought you said he was unharmed?"
"He is, but he, uh", she looked anywhere but his face and felt herself fidget uncharacteristically. "I might've accidently directed him step on his glasses."
To her surprise he merely shrugged like it was no big deal. "Ehh. I've asked what his plan is if he loses his spectacles; he's got a spare."
"That man always has a plan", she mused as they began to walk towards the collapsed apartment building. Prompto was already there securing a helmet over his spiky blonde hair with several bags of climbing and digging equipment lying at his feet.
"Yup."
It would seem Ignis wasn't the only thoughtful one of the group. Sometimes the rash prince surprised her. She prayed he would one day sit in his rightful place on the throne. The war torn land would be a much a better place under his rule.
And Tenebrae would stand by him till the end.
A/N: So turns out there will be an actual magic ring in the game that is passed to Noctis from Regis. I had no idea when I started this chapter back in 2015. Talk about a funny coincidence! Only it would appear that Regis gives it to Luna who then gives it to Noctis (if I'm reading the signs right). Good thing this story is completely AU and I don't have to worry about sticking with canon!
This chapter was a bit strange, which is probably why I didn't bother finishing it last year and just left it lying around as a draft. But I wanted my story to show how much Noctis wants to reunite with his father and how his companions are having moments of doubt about trusting their liege.
This chapter could be seen taking place between Sleep and Mutual benefits or after Fencing. Sleep mentioned the bombed road which could be part of the bombing taking place in the town while Mutual benefits has the MT ambush. But at the same time Luna more or less says she's not part of the group, so that could point towards post Fencing timeline when she's still warming up to the men and vice versa.