Onwards

Once again, Noctis and his odd companions sat in the Regalia, the rear of which had been decorated with a bright yellow Chocobo sticker, a recently bought souvenir from the Chocobo Wiz Post. They were still on their way to Lestallum, albeit the distance had grown significantly shorter over the last hour.

Things are looking up for the local farmers: Hunter HQ reported this morning that Deadeye, the ferocious Behemoth that had been prowling these parts of late, was slain by some of their finest.

"Did you get that?" Prompto leaned forward to turn up the Regalia's radio. "They're talking about us."

Wiz Forlane, owner of the Chocobo Wiz Post, wishes to express gratitude on behalf of the birds, both wild and tame, as well as himself and his employees. "With Deadeye out there, we were close to givin' up shop, but now we can finally operate again."

"Thank the Six they have no clue just how bad that fight went," Gladio said.

Upon hearing the news, Noctis felt an unfamiliar kind of pride. To think that these people were grateful enough to issue a public announcement, and not just because he was royalty, made him glad they had taken on the challenge. Was that how it felt to be a king in service to his people?

Over the past years, Regis' duties had barely extended beyond maintaining the Wall, attending strategic meetings and occasionally showing himself at an opening ceremony. Although he had told Noctis of the travels he had undertaken when he was young, Noctis had never quite been able to picture his father on a road trip.

The world was certainly different outside of Insomnia's walls, and sometimes it felt like everything Noctis had learned in order to succeed his father was nowhere near enough. Sighing quietly, Noctis stood up in the still moving car and lifted himself onto the headrest of the back seat to feel the wind and sunshine on his skin for a while.

When he leaned back on the Regalia's trunk, Ardyn shot him a glance. With a mix of shock and surprise in his expression, he then eyed Prompto, Gladio and Ignis, giving the latter an especially questioning look. "Excuse me? Are you seeing this?"

"What are you talking about?" Gladio asked and shut the book he had just begun reading.

"I believe he is referring to Noct's behaviour," Ignis clarified.

"Correct me if I am mistaken, but isn't it your primary duty to protect the young prince? Why would any of you allow this? Surely, you have realised that his Highness will go overboard as soon as you need to avoid hitting a stray Mesmenir on the road."

Ignis looked at Noctis through the back mirror. "This is less a matter of allowance and more a matter of a mutual disagreement."

"Yeah, we've had the odd discussion," Noctis added. "What do you care, Ardyn? You're not my retainer."

"Oh, please, by all means, stay where you are," he said and turned back to face the road. "If you tumble off the car and end up as a bloody stain on the asphalt, you'll go down in history not only as the last king of Lucis, but also as the one to die the dumbest death. It will bring Somnus' legacy to a most fitting end."

Noctis winced at the image. Now that was taking it a bit too far.

"Sheesh, Ardyn. No need to get insulting."

"I thought you wanted to hear the truth from me more often."

Reluctantly, Noctis slid back onto the car's seat. Anything just to stop Ardyn from arguing with him.

Gladio raised an eyebrow at him. "That worked."

"Perhaps I shall be more direct with you the next time we come to a disagreement," Ignis concluded.

"Perhaps I shall have you arrested for conspiring with the enemy."

"He doesn't mean it," Ardyn said.

"Naturally," Ignis agreed.

Lestallum was a very different city compared to any other Noctis had been to thus far. It was not particularly clean or pretty, but it had that industrial charm of a city of workers. The cityscape was dominated by the crater in its north, where a particularly large shard of the meteor had fallen. The same meteor that the Infernian had summoned to destroy Eos with during the War of the Astrals, and that was still there and burning in the centre of the Disc of Cauthess. Eons later, its flames were burning as strong as ever. Even the shards that had broken off from the meteor still emitted such a heat that people had build a power plant around the largest shard to harvest its energy, and that was how Lestallum had been founded.

So much for what Noctis knew from history class. No one had told him, though, that the meteor shard had also turned Lestallum into one of the hottest places on Eos. If he was to rank locations by temperature, Noctis imagined that the city made third place right after the Rock of Ravatogh volcano in Cleigne and Leide's dry wasteland during daytime. Thankfully, Ignis parked the Regalia at the outlook in the south of Lestallum, where a light breeze blew in from the Taelpar Crag canyon. The outlook offered a perfect view past the canyon and the green valleys of Duscae, all the way to the ever-burning meteor.

From the car park, Noctis and his companions set out to meet Gladio's sister Iris and the retainers of the Amicita family, Jared and Talcott Hester, at the Leville hotel. They were greeted by quite a number of random passer-bys as they passed the food stalls and restaurants on the main street. The unusual friendliness of the people at Lestallum took some getting used to for Noctis.

Their destination for the day, the Leville, sat in a corner of the city, past a small plaza with a square fountain. Noctis was just about to approach the counter in the foyer to talk to the hotel clerk when a black-haired teenage girl wearing a red plaid skirt and a sleeveless, black jacket came down the stairs from the second floor. Although Iris had fled from the battle for Insomnia and lost her home just recently, she looked about as chipper as Noctis remembered her.

"Gladdy!" she called, waving at her brother and laughing. "Look at you all, holding your own out there."

The smile fell from her face the moment she noticed there was a stranger accompanying them. She hesitated to step closer. "Who's he?"

"If I may." Ardyn lifted his hat and bowed. "I am but his Highness' humble escort and opener of Imperial doors. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Iris. Call me Ardyn, if you like."

Her smile returned. "Polite. I like it."

Ardyn had fooled her far to easily with his courtesy, and judging by Gladio's sour expression, her brother did not like it at all. "Tone it down, man. There's nothing for you to gain here."

"Gladdy's kinda right," Iris said. "We escaped from Insomnia with the bare minimum. C'mon, let's go upstairs to talk. Jared and Talcott will want to see you, too."

Just when she set a foot on the lowest step of the stairs, Noctis' head started throbbing. Images appeared before him, of a face with skin as dark and rough like the earth, white lines running across the cheek bones and red eyes boring into his very soul. He saw pointed rocks, burning shards, and fire erupting from the ground. It was some place he had never been to. The headache was strong enough to seep into the rest of his body, but thankfully faded just as quickly as it had come over him. Even so, it left him feeling slightly disoriented, as though he was somewhere he should not be.

Ignis placed a hand on his shoulder. "What is it?"

"That headache came out of nowhere," Noctis said, trying to shake the feeling from his head and make sense of what he had seen. There was only location that could match the images. "I think I saw the meteor."

"A vision?"

"I'm not sure." That face he had seen could have been Titan's. If so, the images might have been a message from the god himself. The Archaean was said to slumber in the depths of the Disc of Cauthess, still holding the meteor after thousands of years. Could it be that Luna had roused him from his sleep, so that he would give Noctis his blessing?

Ardyn chuckled. "It appears our prince has had his very first encounter with the divine. Ah, they grow up so fast." He made it sound like it was something to be taken for granted, adding only to Noct's confusion.

"What?"

"Allow me to recite an old nursery rhyme for you. From the deep, the Archaean calls. Yet on deaf ears, the god's tongue falls. The King made to kneel, in pain, he crawls."

"Is this about Noct?" Prompto asked.

"You seem to forget that the Chosen King's encounter with the gods has been preordained. Of course, any old story regarding the King speaks of his trials."

Ignis looked thoughtful. "It doesn't say what the King is supposed to do."

"It's rather obvious, isn't it?" Ardyn turned from Iggy to Noctis with a smile. "You only need to heed the Archaean's call."

I understand that it is somewhat finicky to animate these characters getting in and out of a car, so I'm not complaining about missing seat belts.
But to have Noctis sit on the Regalia's trunk just because it looks cool is that moment where Ignis really should pull over and be like:
"I ask you to keep the recklessness to a minimum."
But since he doesn't do that, I'll let Ardyn handle it. His way.