Chapter 4

Velcia's eyes darted left to right and back again, observing the ring of small Heartless that surrounded her. She was on a round platform, softly glowing in the middle of an eternal void. It felt familiar to her, but her head felt clouded and she couldn't remember quite where she was or how she got there.

The Heartless began closing in, and setting her jaw with determination she quickly sprung to action. Her battles the last several days had begun to hone her instincts well, and these small Heartless were easily dispatched with little fanfare. She turned around slowly to assure herself that they were gone and saw nothing, though there was a bubbling ring of darkness at the edges of the platform that seemed to be simmering in an impotent fury.

She returned to the center of the platform and sat down, taking a deep breath. Her head was clearing, and as it did she began to recognize the platform as the place in her dream the night before. She shook her head softly. "Another nightmare… Perhaps not one I must endure," she mused softly, closing her eyes tight as she attempted to wake herself.

The attempt was, unsurprisingly though still disappointingly, unsuccessful. She stood up again and began studying her environment with her magic senses. Her cheeks felt as though they flushed gently as she did, a soothing familiarity washing over her that seemed to resonate with her heart - as though the world around her was composed of nostalgia. The dark corruption at the edges of this small world now stood out to her like a sore thumb, as if it was a bruise to her soul. Something, she knew, must be done.

She summoned her Keyblade and focused on the warmth in her heart, and as she did a bright orb of light began to expand outwards from the tip of her Key like a bubble. There was a sizzle with tinges of shrieks as the light scoured away the Darkness, bringing a renewed peace to her. This, she knew, was good.

…But why was she here?

A moment of quiet contemplation followed, interrupted shortly by a familiar gentle twinkling sound above her. She looked up quickly, her soft green eyes locking nearly instantly onto a sparkling light that was falling towards her in a slow, swaying motion. This small, glowing snowflake-like wonder seemed to be making its way towards her.

She held out her hands as it fell, catching it gently. It felt important to Velcia, as if it were something close to her heart, but she knew not what it was. "Hello there," she greeted gingerly. The twinkling noises continued without change, but she felt as though it must have understood her. She looked around the platform again slowly, realizing now that there were great swathes of color on the surface that almost seemed as if they should form images - but her eyes would not focus enough for her to determine what of.

A chill began to nip at her, and her hair bristled. She looked up again and saw more objects falling. These were dark and purple, falling much more directly than this small starlight, and as they began to hit the ground around her Velcia realized it was Darkness.

She gasped and held up a hand, projecting a shield of light around her and her small sparkling friend. There was some other platform high in the sky above her that she could just barely see; and only because the falling drops of darkness seemed to be pouring over the sides of it. The drops grew bigger, forming into globs, and quickly the surface of the platform she stood upon was covered. It stopped abruptly, and Velcia could see no more falling towards her.

The small light in her hand began to twinkling and chime in a more excited fashion, and she agreed with its apparent distress. She summoned her Keyblade once more, and with a great exertion began purging the darkness around them. Once it was gone, she dissipated her shield and looked around.

"Where is all this Darkness coming from?" she asked, glancing over at the small chiming light. "Have you been running from it?"

She thought for a second. "But… the last time I saw you, you went straight into it. I remember now…"

She turned back towards the small, glowing star, but could only watch in surprise as it floated slowly back up into the sky. "Wait! Come back!" she called out. "Are you bringing the Darkness here? Why? What do you want?"

The twinkling and chiming slowly faded away, leaving Velcia standing alone and confused. If this really was a dream, she couldn't begin to fathom what it meant.

The next morning, Velcia and Noctis' entourage made their way towards a craggy scar that ran up the face of the imposing cliffs that lined the western side of the valley that led to New Crestholm. It was not the tallest mountain Velcia had seen by any stretch, but the fact that their intention was to scale this towering geological formation meant it felt much more imposing.

Velcia stood at the base of the cliff, slowly removing her hand from the cold rock as she craned her neck to see the top. She took a deep breath, hoping that Noctis and Ignis' plan to scale it would not feel as precarious as it seemed it should. She looked over her shoulder to see them carefully eying the cliffside, with Ignis pointing towards various points of interest as the two worked out their intended path.

Prompto walked over beside Velcia, holding his camera as he looked up in awe. "Good eye, Vel! It's a whole different perspective from right here, what a great contrast between the shade and the sunlight!" he said, pointing the camera nearly straight up before a small flurry of shutter snaps filled the air. She chuckled, feeling some of her tension ease.

Camera still pointed towards the sky, he continued. "So, Vel, are you ready to go up?" he asked, bobbing side to side as he experimented with slightly different angles and settings.

Velcia turned her eyes back towards the rough crag. "I'm very glad that Noctis is the one making the throws for this part of the journey. It's… daunting, to say the least."

"You'll be fine! Noct's really good at this, you know," Prompto encouraged her.

Velcia nodded surely. "I'm certain of it. I have great faith in his abilities."

Gladiolus's deep voice came suddenly from very near behind her. "Good. He trusts you, too, so don't let him down. Remember, this is an Imperial stronghold and it's just the two of you - make sure you watch each other's backs."

Velcia turned towards him, noting his stony expression and crossed arms. Though the sentiments were easily agreed with, it felt as though there was a great weight behind his intentions that she didn't know how to satisfy. "I'll do my best."

The tall man eyed her silently for a moment, but if this pause was meant to be followed by another sentiment it was cut off prematurely by Noctis, who'd overheard the conversation and come over. "Lighten up Gladio, Velcia and I will be fine. The Nifs will be too distracted by you guys to even suspect we're there."

Gladio looked towards him skeptically. "Don't underestimate them, Noct. The longer we take, the more likely they are to get suspicious."

"Ugh, I know," Noctis shook his head with a sigh of exasperation. "It's not like we're going to be taking a tour of the place." Giving Gladiolus no time to respond, he quickly turned his attention to Velcia. "You ready?"

"Yes, I am," she said, summoning her Keyblade to hand.

Noctis walked up to the cliff side, taking one last look up the steep rock face. He nodded surely and peered over his shoulder towards them. "Well, here goes nothing."

He summoned his sword as he steadied his footing, holding his arm back as if he were throwing a spear. Finding his starting point, he quickly threw the sword into the cliffside and warped to it, taking it out, kicking off the wall, and throwing the blade into a spot on the cliff that was higher still.

Velcia was prepared and, as soon as she saw Noctis began to kick off from the rock, held out her arm and pulled herself along the magic streak like a tether, quickly reappearing in the spot Noctis had just warped away from. Her adrenaline was high as her senses frantically adjusted to her new location, an innate panic striking her heart as she saw the ground far below.

The moment she sensed a glimpse of the warp magic she pulled on it quickly, once again appearing in the location Noctis had only just left as he continued his ascent; and in such a fashion the two quickly chained their way up the great cliff face. Once he'd made it just under the ledge, Noctis hung tightly from the handle of his sword, embedded firmly into the rock face. It was only a matter of seconds until Velcia appeared in the air next to him, and he quickly grabbed her free hand and caught her.

Noctis let out a small groan of exhaustion, and looked down towards her. "Alright, I'm going to toss you up, and you use your Keyblade to warp onto the top of the ledge."

Velcia nodded, tightening her grip. Noctis took a couple deep breaths and heaved her upwards, Velcia using a burst of wind magic to assist in the throw. It was well more height than they needed, but she was thankful for the extra time to prepare herself for her own warp strike. She spun quickly and used the momentum to fling her Keyblade towards a small bush well away from the precipice, and in a moment found herself stumbling head-first into the thick leaves.

Noctis, following Velcia's warp strike, appeared beside her suddenly and smirked softly as he watched her free herself from the foliage. "Yeah, landings take some practice," he told her.

Velcia chuckled as she brushed away the leaves and branches that had become stuck in her hair and armor. "It would seem so. We made it, though."

"Yeah." Noctis walked over towards the edge of the cliff and waved down to the others, who returned his greeting and began the journey down the road.

He turned back towards Velcia, who was taking in the sights from the top of the mountain. "You ready?"

"Yes, I am."

The two stowed their weapons and began to make their way across the mountaintop. Here, it was more like a flat plateau, but up ahead as the mountain grew taller the path thinned considerably, snaking precariously along the side.

"Last time I was here, you mentioned you were soon to be married," Velcia spoke up. "I hope your wife has found a safe haven in all of this trouble."

Noctis bit his lip, but continued on. "That… that hasn't exactly happened yet."

"No!" Velcia gasped. "Because of the Heartless?"

"Pretty much," Noctis said with a groan. "Just as we were finally getting ready to travel down to Cape Caem and head to Altissia, word came that the Adamantoise was destroying Leide. The Nifs are a problem, yeah, but… if we left that thing unchecked, there might not have been a kingdom to return to."

"Had it already become a Heartless at that time?" Velcia asked.

"It must've. By time we got here, it was already creating swarms of Heartless and the storm too. Thankfully, it didn't seem like it was going to be able to leave Leide but… those damn Imperials set up blockades on the only roads out of here, so neither could anybody else." Noctis told her.

Velcia paused, watching some loose gravel carefully to be sure her footing was stable. "So this whole time… you've just been trapped here, fighting?"

"Pretty much," Noctis said with an exasperated sigh. "Since I've gathered all the royal arms, we figured we should be able to make good headway against the Nifs and the Daemons, but the longer and harder we've fought the more of those new Daemons have appeared… which we now know are actually Heartless."

The two came up to a thinner part of the ridge, and carefully sidled along it to find that it led to another, much more open plateau on the top of the mountain. They were uncomfortably high up, with the bushes and trees far below little more than indistinct spots. The open area was a welcome relief.

Once they had made it past, Velcia resumed. "And without the power of a Keyblade… no matter how much time you spent fighting them, you couldn't make any headway against them."

"That about sums it up," Noctis agreed, shaking his head. "At least now we know why. Maybe now that you're here we can actually make some progress and get things moving again."

"I truly hope so…" Velcia said sadly, looking out at the enormous swirling storm out in the distant north. "It must have felt so hopeless and frustrating, to be struggling while so many people are depending on you."

Noctis swallowed, a pained frown on his lips. "We've been doing what we can to help… but yeah, it sucks. My father always tried to make sure I was ready to take this kind of responsibility, but with something like these Heartless thrown into the mix…"

"I'll do anything in my power to help you," Velcia said surely, holding her hand to her chest.

Noctis said nothing, but gave her a quick glance and an appreciative nod.

Velcia thought for a moment as they continued on. "It must have been difficult to grow up with such heavy expectations on your shoulders," she said thoughtfully, a pained expression flashing across her eyes. "I can't imagine what it would be like to have the whole Kingdom watching you your whole life…"

Noctis made a gentle sort of huffing noise, one Velcia wasn't sure was a sigh or just a heavier breath from the climbing. "A lot of people idealize being in that kind of position, you know? But I guess I had a hard time focusing on the positives for a while… I didn't appreciate it," he said tersely, the bitter tinge to his voice seemed to be laced with sadness. "But I'm trying to do the best I can for everybody, and they're relying on me to try."

Velcia found her hands tightening. "I'm very glad you've got such good friends to help you."

"Yeah, me too," Noctis replied.

"...I'm sorry I brought all that up," Velcia said after a moment of silence.

"It's fine," Noctis said, wiping some sweat from his brow. "So, new Keyblade, huh?" he asked, changing the subject.

Velcia shook her head. "Well, sort of. It's a little complicated to explain, but to put it simply… last time I was here, it wasn't really a Keyblade. It was, just… it didn't have the powers they normally do, it was just a dead heirloom passed down through my family over the generations," she told him.

"It seemed to have plenty of power, from what I remember," Noctis said, glancing at her questioningly.

"Hm, well, yes, but very little more than if I had enchanted a very good wand to help with spellcasting. In essence, the only magic it used to have was what I myself imbued it with," she said.

"...And that's keeping it simple, huh?" Noctis asked, chuckling wryly.

"It may not seem like it, but yes. Recently though, my Keyblade did come to life and when it did it took its current form. I can't say I expected that to happen, and things have been very… interesting since it did."

"You seem to be taking to it well," Noctis noted, very glad not to be talking about himself anymore.

Velcia chuckled awkwardly. "Heh… I'm trying my best. It's been a bit difficult to separate the reality of having this responsibility from the legends I'd grown up hearing. At this point, I just hope I can do enough to help everyone… I don't want to disappoint or endanger anybody."

Noctis nodded slowly, speaking in a breathless near-whisper. "Yeah, same here…"

Shortly, the pair found themselves on the cliff top overlooking the Viewbliss Outpost down below. When Velcia had passed by the walls two days prior they'd felt oppressively tall, and though she now had quite a high vantage point they still created quite an imposing structure. The mountain stood taller still behind them, and shadowed the entire valley below from the afternoon sun.

In the road out in front of the fortification, several Heartless loomed through the valley. Some of them seemed languid and passive, and some seemed frustrated with an impotent fury. Occasionally a Heartless's thin patience would snap and it would make a mad charge at the outpost only to be met with arms fire from the guns stationed at the top. Those that pressed on despite this bombardment would not last long before exploding into a mist of Darkness; though no matter how many were destroyed in this fashion the number of them in the crowd did not seem to decrease.

Noctis pointed down towards a run-down structure off the side of the road. "That's where the others should be waiting for our signal. You can create a flame to signal them, right?"

Velcia nodded. "Yes, I can."

"Alright, do it. Don't make it too big though," Noctis warned.

Velcia held out her hand, brushing her fingers through the air and twisting the magic energies into a wisp of flame at her fingertips, then held her hand flat underneath it as she nursed it into a small fire about the size of a fist. "Is this good enough?"

Noctis peered down at the decrepit shack, and saw a flame appear momentarily in the window. "Yeah, that's good. Go ahead and put it out."

Velcia did so, and gazed down at the shack. Three figures that she knew to be Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto emerged from the ruined building and began to make their way towards the base.

"Once they start fighting the Heartless outside Viewbliss, we'll Warp Strike to the top of the building down there," Noctis told her, pointing towards one of the higher rooftops. "There's nothing soft to cushion our landing, so be careful you don't hurt yourself."

Velcia nodded. "I'll be careful."

Noctis surveyed the outpost again, and pointed to another building near the northern wall. "I think that building is their hangar. With any luck it'll be our best bet for finding one of those power cores; and with the Nifs distracted by what's going on at the gate they shouldn't be looking too closely there."

Velcia closed her eyes. "I can't sense the magic cores from this distance, but once we're down there I should be able to find them much easier."

Noctis' face broke into a wry grin. "Should be easy."

A cloud of dust burst up from the roof from the impact of Noctis' blade, which was subsequently sent flying further out by the prompt arrival of the King himself. He turned quickly and held his arms out, ready to help cushion the landing of his less practiced companion; but when Velcia appeared in a blue burst of magic she seemed to hang gently in the air, her descent was slow and graceful.

"Huh, that's one way to do it," Noctis said, straightening his posture as he retrieved his blade from the punctured roof tiles.

Velcia smiled softly. "I wasn't sure the slow falling spell would help, but it seems to have been just what I needed."

"Yeah," Noctis chuckled under his breath. "Gladio'd give you hell for it, though."

Velcia stepped towards the edge of the roof and peeked over the edge, making sure to keep herself as concealed as she could. Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto had begun to engage the Heartless outside the Outpost walls and it seemed as if every soldier in the base was hustling to the outer parapets in preparation.

She turned and peered down towards the hangar, but her face was met with a blast of dusty wind from the north. Small specks of sand pelted her face and she couldn't help but to spit out reflexively, but doing so only brought more of the obnoxious grit right back to her. She turned away from this, blinking as she did.

"Agh, what a time for a sandstorm!" she exclaimed in dismay.

"It's worse than that," Noctis said, trying to peer into the horizon through squinted eyes. "Looks like the Adamantoise is on the way over."

Velcia did her best to take quick peeks over, but the only thing she was able to see was the miles-high wall of dust rolling in like a wave. "Will it come here?" she asked cautiously.

"I don't think it can fit through the pass to make it directly to Viewbliss, but it can get close and it'll bring swarms of Daemons and Heartless with it. We'd better hurry," Noctis told her. He stepped up onto the edge of the wall that lined the roof, adjusting his grip on his sword. "You ready to move again?"

"Yes, let us move quickly," Velcia said, taking position behind him.

Noctis threw his blade to the roof of the hangar, and the two quickly followed it with a warp. There was a service ladder not far from where they landed, and the two quickly clambered down it and crept along the base of the wall until they found the door. Noctis held a finger to his lips and opened the door slowly, and with no sign of any occupants they scurried directly inside and away from the rapidly worsening storm.

Once inside, they took a moment to catch their breath as they listened cautiously to their environment. The wind outside howled and the windows began to darken, but there was no sign of any occupants inside the hanger. Velcia felt the tremors in the earth below her and turned to her companion with a look of concern. "Do you think the others will be alright?"

Noctis nodded slowly. "...I think so. We've skirmished with the Nifs in Leide enough that they should know to disengage and get outta there if it gets too dangerous."

Velcia nodded, turning her attention to the task at hand. She closed her eyes, reaching out with her magic senses. "There seem to be many of those magic devices here, but just down and to our left feels like the strongest source of all."

"Lucky break for us," Noctis remarked.

The two found that they had come in through a second-story access door, and made their way across a catwalk that circled the room. The large space below had a small number of the Magitek Airships, as well as several mechanical suits of armor. Noctis' eyes passed over these dismissively at first, but after a moment his attention snapped back to them.

He stood still for a moment, eyes locked onto a set of protruding devices that seemed to be clear retrofits, not yet so much as painted to match the rest of the armor. "Those mechs have some sort of new machinery on them. I wonder what they've added," he mused.

Velcia glanced down at the machines. She had no real understanding of the nature of mechanical devices and, though she could faintly sense the magic energies that powered them, she could not begin to discern the purpose or intent behind the extraordinarily complex spells and enchantments that they housed. Her head felt a little dizzy just trying to figure it out, and she quickly turned her attention away from them. It was too perplexing to focus on right now.

They found their way to a staircase that led to the floor below, and as Noctis followed behind Velcia he noticed a long row of shelves lined with toolboxes and bins of assorted parts. Unfortunately, nothing he could see here seemed remotely like the power cores they were searching for.

Shortly, they came up to a large steel vault embedded in the back wall of the hangar. Velcia paused here for a moment, carefully inspecting this new obstacle as Noctis came up beside her, eying the door curiously.

"They're on the other side of this…" she said, resting her fingertips gently on the door. "I don't know how to interact with the magic that controls these devices that keep it sealed. If I try anything, I could very well break the machines and seal it permanently."

Noctis took a look at the control panel. "It needs a passcode to open. It'll probably trigger an alarm if we get it wrong." He turned away from the door, towards the various Magitek vehicles around the room. "Guess we need to figure out how to take one from one of these."

Velcia nodded and followed him to the nearest Magitek Airship, and using an open boarding ramp in the back they entered the sizable troop bay. The bulkhead wall separating the bay from the front half of the ship was thick and covered with access panels, and Velcia walked over towards the largest of these and carefully pulled on the latch.

The door swung open readily, and inside was one of the very same power cores Cindy had shown them the day before; but it was practically tangled into the machine in a system of wires, pipes, and support braces.

Velcia eyed it hesitantly, then shook her head and stepped back. "I can't even begin to understand what I am looking at," she whispered.

Noctis stepped forward and inspected it. "Kinda wish we could have brought Cindy along with us. I guess we just try to disconnect this and see what happens."

Saying so, he began to carefully pull some of the wires from their sockets. Nothing seemed to explode or trigger any alarms, and with a reassured nod he continued. "Some of these look like they need tools to remove them. There was a shelf with tool boxes near the base of the stairwell. Could you try bringing one of those here?"

Velcia wasted no time and quickly dashed out to find them, and was pleasantly surprised to see that they were organized very well with labeling on each box denoting what the tools were meant to service. Two of these caught her attention, one labeled 'Power Core' and the other 'Airship'. She wasn't sure which of the two to bring along so, with a shrug, she simply grabbed both of them. They were heavier than she expected, and she puffed out her cheeks as she adjusted her grip on them. She found herself thinking back to the apparent ease with which Cindy was able to carry the large power core at the workshop, and a new sense of appreciation came over her.

As she returned to the airship Noctis was working in, a loud clattering sound began to rattle through the hangar. The large rolling doors at the front of the hangar were opening, and the fury of the dust storm made itself well known through this new opening. Velcia scurried quickly back to the flying machine and with one last peek saw a squad of Magitek troops moving in.

Noctis had heard the noise and met her as she practically ran into him. She hadn't got two syllables into explaining before he gently held a finger up to her mouth and peered slowly around the corner.

A group of troopers entered, chattering to one another. "Never thought I'd be glad to have that cursed beast come so close to Viewbliss," one of them said.

"I hear you, normally I hate these damn dust storms. But it's giving us a chance to put these new sensor arrays to the test. The General seems pretty confident in them," one of the others replied. The squad made their way to the mech suits and began to prepare them.

Noctis and Velcia, who had been peeking through the front windshield over the flight console, looked to each other with concern as they watched and listened to the mech pilots.

"How's this new stuff supposed to work, anyway?" one asked.

"It's the same HUD we always use, but now highlights targets in red when they're obscured from the regular sensors. They say we'll see through the dust as if it isn't even there."

"Haha, poor bastards won't even know what hit them!"

Velcia, eyes wide, turned to Noctis. "What do we do?" she whispered.

"Finish what we came here for, and quickly," Noctis said, taking the tool boxes from her and returning to the power core. He opened the boxes quietly and began trying to sort through the tools to figure out what to use.

Velcia crept back and peered out towards the hangar again. The air outside was so thick with dust and dirt that she couldn't see even an arm's length out, just as it was when she'd first arrived. She could hardly move in such a furious storm, let alone see, and as she watched the Magitek Mechs begin marching confidently out the door she felt a great bundle of knots begin to form inside her.

She turned back to Noctis, who was back to work trying to detach the power core. "Is there anything I can do to help with that?" she asked.

"Hold on…" Noctis said, biting his lip as he spun a bolt free from one of the connectors. It sparked suddenly, then with a rumble and a shriek a part of the power core's containment chamber burst; a spray of dark magic blasting out into the bay. Noctis stumbled back, waving his hands in front of him as he held his breath.

He picked up the tool boxes and began to exit the ship, coughing as quietly as he could. "That one's gone. We'll have to try another."

The rumbles of the Adamantoise's footsteps grew ever louder outside, and the shrieks of Heartless and roars of the Daemons could begin to be heard mixed with the howl of the dust storm.

Velcia shuddered, thinking about their friends outside at the front gate. "Noctis… do we need to go help them?"

Noctis paused and looked back outside. "We really only get one chance at this. If we pull out now, I don't think we'll be able to try again… especially now that I've blown a core."

He began to quickly move towards the next airship, and Velcia followed along reluctantly, listening now to the sounds of gunfire join in the cacophony. She sat down on one of the troop benches and closed her eyes, breathing deeply to dispel her nerves as Noctis began his work on the next core.

"I'm worried about them too," Noctis told her after a quick glance over his shoulder. "But they know when to back off… hopefully those mechs don't get too much of a drop on them."

"It's hard to sit here and do nothing to help," Velcia said quietly. "I just hope they'll be alright."

Noctis grimaced as his hand, slick from the expulsion from the last core, slipped off the wrench and dinged a nearby pipe. "Damn it, ouch," he said, shaking his hand and wiping it clean on a rag from inside the toolbox.

"Do you think there may be other cores that are easier to remove?" Velcia asked, coming over to look.

"I don't know, with how much of a pain this one is I kinda get the feeling they've made it hard on purpose," Noctis said. He looked over at her, noting how fidgety she was. He sighed, now feeling more on-edge himself as she hovered over him. "You could go take a look, though."

Velcia's eyes darted between Noctis and the rear of the compartment. "I'll go see if I can find any."

Noctis paused, and turned towards her. "Hey… just… if you do decide to leave and go help them, let me know before you go."

Velcia stopped mid-step, eyes wide. "I… I wouldn't just go without saying anything," she told him, sighing softly as she continued on. The hangar felt much emptier now that the mechs had left, and with fleet but deliberate footing she began to dart around the hangar towards any source of the Magitek energy she could sense. All but one of the power cores she sensed outside of the vault were secured tightly in their craft; and that one exception was heavily damaged with scores of what appeared to be toothmarks. She inspected this one carefully, and with great effort did her best to pick it up to carry it to no avail.

There was a blast and muffled set of surprised swears from the Magitek airship Noctis had been working in, and his dour expression as he quickly emerged from was the only communication needed for Velcia to understand that their mission here was quickly proving fruitless.

"Noctis, this device is quite damaged but doesn't seem to be broken outright," she called out as he approached.

Noctis looked it over as he coughed. "This won't work," he said after a moment's inspection. "All the ports on it are either melted or crushed… it's a bust."

"Perhaps we could break into the vault?" Velcia suggested quietly.

"Without a passcode, there's no way in. We could try to look around for one, but…"

A series of small explosions outside caught their attention, and now Noctis began to look at the hangar doors with some worry as well.

"Noctis, I… we have to go help them," Velcia said pleadingly. "I can't-"

Noctis interrupted. "Go. I'll stay just a couple more minutes and check the offices upstairs and see if I can find the access codes for the vault. Gladio's going to be pissed that I'm staying behind, but I'll work it out with him later. I'll be fine here for a few more minutes at least."

Velcia's nod was nearly imperceptible as she burst into a dash towards the exit, flinging open the small personnel access door. The wind swept her off her feet as she ran outside, but she caught herself from her tumble and quickly created an air barrier around herself. The visibility was poor, but she could hear the turrets on the walls and made her way towards them, using powerful bursts of wind magic in tandem with her slow falling spell to leap up the buildings and scale the wall.

As she reached the top of the outermost wall, several of the Outpost's nearby troops spotted her and began sounding the alarm, but Velcia paid them no heed and jumped down to the ground below. She could sense the Magitek power cores in the mechs ahead of her and made a beeline for them, knowing that they would not be far from her friends.

Velcia summoned her Keyblade to hand as she approached, jumped with more agility than she knew she had to avoid strikes from the Heartless and Daemons that now had a keen interest in her. At last she could sense the others ahead of her.

With a burst of wind magic, she made a great leap to land beside them and held out her Keyblade. "Aero Burst!" she cried out, a great whirlwind of air spiraling out from her Keyblade and pushing the dust away.

"Nice timing!" Gladiolus laughed, taking stock of the mechs and monsters now clearly visible in Velcia's cleared zone.

Velcia held her Keyblade tighter, and another burst of magic rippled out and reinforced the wind currents, stabilizing the large bubble around them.

"Alright, Vel!" cheered Prompto, taking advantage of the clear line of fire and mounting a renewed assault.

Ignis lobbed an Elemancy vial at the nearest mech, a burst of ice erupting from it and sticking the legs fast to the ground. "Where's Noct?" he asked between exhausted breaths.

"He's… He's checking one last thing inside the Outpost," Velcia said, joining in on the strikes against the mechs.

Gladiolus leaped towards the frozen machine and brought down his sword with a crushing blow. "You left him in there alone?" he demanded angrily.

"He said he'd be fine-!" Velcia said, trying to keep her focus on the battle at hand.

"I don't care what he said, we don't leave each other in enemy territory like that!" Gladiolus shouted in rage as he began smashing the mech to pieces.

Velcia came up behind Gladiolus and struck a Daemon that had been approaching from behind him.

"I couldn't sit by and do nothing while you-" Velcia was cut short as Gladiolus turned around, towering over her with a glare.

"While we what? Buy time for you two to find a power core so we can stop the Adamantoise? You're supposed to help watch Noct's back and keep him safe, and now he's stuck in there alone," he told her, hand tightening on his blade.

"Y-yes, but with the dust storm and these mechs-" Velcia stammered, stepping back slowly.

"We were doing just fine without you coming out here and showing off. Now we're stuck out here waiting to see if Noct can make it out on his own. You better hope for your sake that he does," Gladio growled, returning his attention now to the monsters at hand.

A chill washed over Velcia and the loud crashing sounds around her seemed to dull into a high drone, her face pale. She shook her head and tried to re-engage in the battle around her, but now all she could think about was Noctis.

A loud, high-pitched tone pierced through the storm, causing everyone to stop in their tracks and turn their attention towards Viewbliss Outpost.

"Alarms from the Outpost!" Ignis announced. "They must've discovered an intruder in the base."

Velcia could feel a piercing gaze burning at her back, and with great hesitation she glanced back to see Gladiolus standing in silent rage behind her.

The tension was short-lived, however, as a blue streak shot through the perimeter and Noctis appeared beside them, breathing heavily. "You guys are a sight for sore eyes! Let's get out of here!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Prompto shouted, falling in behind Ignis as they began running.

Ignis called out to the others. "We head South! Keep an eye out for more monsters in our path!"

Noctis glanced over at Velcia as the group ran, noting the paleness to her complexion. Gladiolus' disturbingly furrowed brow confirmed his suspicions, and he shook his head with an annoyed scowl. "The mission was a bust!" he called out over the sounds of the storm. "Only managed to nab a broken core, again."

"We'll review later!" Ignis called out, dropping to the ground as the large arm of a previously unseen Darkside swept down towards them.

The group scattered under and around this threat, but didn't dare to engage it in the dust storm and kept running. More Heartless and Daemons began to appear ahead of them, and they did their best to strike only what they needed to in order to keep going.

At last they made their way to the edge of the sandy maelstrom and began to slow their pace, though they kept moving towards New Crestholm.

"Glad to see you made it out in one piece, Noct," Ignis said softly.

"Yeah, and Velcia too!" Prompto added in, averting eye contact with Gladiolus.

Velcia couldn't help but look to the ground as she jogged. "I'm… I'm sorry I left you alone, Noctis," she said softly.

"You don't need-" Noctis started, before being cut off.

"Sorry's not good enough," Gladiolus bit. "We trusted you to watch his back in there."

"I know, but-" Velcia tried to explain.

"We had it covered. Stop shirking your duties and stick to your own job next time," Gladiolus retorted angrily.

Velcia blinked. "I-"

"Lay off, Gladio," Noctis interjected firmly. "I told her to go. We were done anyway and I just wanted to check one last thing."

"Respectfully, Noct… Not done enough," Gladiolus said.

"It's behind us now," Ignis spoke up, shaking his head disapprovingly towards Gladiolus. "We all made it out with our lives and will find another opportunity to obtain a power core."

The large man huffed, but kept quiet. There was a thick, uneasy tension in the air as everyone did their best to move on from the subject.

Prompto, always eager to change the tone, pointed towards the glowing bubble of New Crestholm's haven ahead and bumped Gladiolus playfully with his elbow. "Hey, you know what that means… Dinner's next!"

"Not now, Prompto," Gladiolus bit, eliciting a resigned shrug from his companion.

Velcia stared out into the distance with glazed eyes, and couldn't help but feel responsible for the tension between them all. Her eyes felt dry from the storm, and her legs ached. New Crestholm couldn't come soon enough.