I want to ride my chocobo all day!

Once the daemons started to dissipate, Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto were able to make their way to the elevator as well. How much time had passed, since Noct made his departure? It was almost impossible to tell, but it didn't matter, as they hurried forward down his path, hoping to catch up with him before it was too late.

But when they finally made their way to the Crystal, glowing and pulsating with its odd bluish-purple light, they found no sign of Noctis, and all that stood there was the familiar, imposing figure of Ardyn Izunia.

He turned toward them, with a sweep of his arm toward the Crystal to explain that they were too late, but his explanation didn't get much further than that before Gladio charged forward with a mighty slash of his broadsword. It hit with a force that sent his shoulder knocked back with a release of black smoke, but he kept moving forward, past them. Prompto leveled his gun at Ardyn, pulling the trigger, sending a shot into his other shoulder. Ardyn pitched forward, more black smoke issuing from the wound, but he kept staggering forward. Ignis stood firm, barring the way forward, but it would seem he didn't need to, as a second shot went smashing through Ardyn's back and the man finally crumpled forward in a heap, as his hat tumbled forward from his head and rolled until it settled, still and motionless, at Ignis' feet.

For the brief moment before Ardyn picked himself back up again and snatched it back up, settling it on his head firmly where it belonged, grinning at them all. He gave his hand a grand, sweeping gesture of goodbye, and, in their stunned silence, made his calm, cool exit once more, and left them standing there, with their Crystal, but without their King.


[[ and thus concludes Chapter 13, as well as my constant Final Fantasy XV spamming for...at least a few months while Noctis takes a decade long dirt nap! This and previous parts are obviously NFB, NFI, open to OOC, of course, while I enjoy a well-deserved break. why do I do this to myself? x_x ]]

The King of Lucis and his Kingsglaive were back on the move again, not through the comfort of their own lands, or even the familiar comfort of the Regalia, but first by boat again, and now by train, rumbling through the arid deserts, deeper into Empire territory. Their final destination: Gralea, the capital of Niflheim, where the Crystal that had been stolen from Insomnia had been taken. But, before then, a pitstop: Cartanica, a station located southeast on Fodina Caestino, a long abandoned mine where the Marshall's research may have located another royal tomb. Another weapon for Noctis to add to his arsenal, especially since, at this point, they truly did need all the help they could get.

But the real difficulty, it would seem, would come from actually getting there first..

Not because of any outright danger or Imperial attacks or violent gods, as they'd dealt with weeks, months before this moment. But because of themselves.

( The train car was quiet, only the steady clacking of the wheel on the rails below and the soft murmur of the conversation of other passengers around them… )

And Prompto just sat there, useless, not knowing what to say, not having any way to make any of it better.

Eventually,though, Noctis meandered back, and Prompto used that opportunity to at least try. "Hey," he offered up softly. "We're almost to Cartanica."

"One step closer to finding the next tomb," murmured Noctis, as he collapsed into his seat, and looked out across the bright deserts of Succarpe passing them by.



[[ Welcome to Final Fantasy XV Chapter 10 - "Heart of a King", or as I like to call it: this meme." NFB, NFI, OOC always ]]

Time was of the essence, so there was no wiggle room in the schedule for sleeping in that morning. Prompto did try, almost desperately, to see if he could get a call or a text or anything out to Liz, to Summer….even to Yang...which in retrospect would have been foolish, anyway, since he wouldn't have been able to talk if he'd gotten through, but he thought if maybe….if he just knew that it would….

But, of course, it didn't. He almost wanted to throw his phone against a wall in frustration, but there were other things to focus on now instead. Infiltrating an Imperial base, so that they couldn't establish a blockade to cut them off from everywhere else outside of Leide. Dismantling their Magitek soldiers, and the Nif in control of it all. It was rough going, but, in the end they managed to take it down and keep the road open…

( ....for now, at least. )

Reluctantly, Prompto agreed. Ignis was right; he usually was. Iris and the others were waiting, and what was a few more hours, anyway, when it had already been days? He just hoped Liz wasn't worrying too much or that she was starting to get mad at him, thinking he'd forgotten or that he was neglecting her, or abandoning her…

…or this was all about to end up like it had with Yang. Where they were desperately trying to reach other, but to no avail…

The shot he got of them all with the glowing Disc of Cauthess behind them was absolutely amazing. Breathtaking, really.

But it sure as hell didn't make Prompto feel even remotely better.

[[oh-so-establishy, nfb, all that good stuff, and actually not taken mostly from FF XV except in summary. I should have made more Regalia icons for this plot, O H W E L L ]]

The morning started out much like the morning before, with a hunt, although this time, it was for gemstones and not for some beast bent on killing them. It had required the chocobros to climb up into the mountains and sneak past an incredibly large bird that could have killed them, easily, if they had been spotted, but, thankfully, the massive thing took flight so they could get the gemstones that Dino had requested and return to him for their hopeful passage, finally, to Altissia.

But, unfortunately, either way you sliced it, the boat wouldn't be ready until tomorrow, meaning they had nothing but time to kill. It was a good time for some training, then, which meant a good portion of their time at this beautiful resort was spent....running in sand (thanks, Gladio!) and taking care of some monsters for the local Hunters, and plenty of great photo ops. They also ran an errand or two for Coctura, the chef at the resort's famed restaurant, the Mother of Pearl, which meant debating amongst each other whether or not Ignis was actually flirting with her or just showing a professional interest (it was sooooo hard to tell with that guy!). And then...

....this.

Fishing.

Of course they'd be fishing, but at least they (well, Noctis, while the others just sort of stood around and waited) were fishing with a purpose: they'd found a stray cat, and decided they would find him a nice tasty meal for the day. Which, you know, was adorable and sweet and Prompto was all for, except for the fact that...man, these fish? Were not biting. But Noctis was determined, especially since Galdin had more than a few good fishing spots available.

But Prompto was definitely going to take this as an opportunity to squeeze in a phone call.

Eventually, right as the sun was setting, Noctis got his fish, the cat got its dinner, and the boys were ready to settle in for the night. An amazing meal from Coctura (had Ignis actually just working his way up to a substantial discount? That was completely accurate, too!), some of the Quay's infamous massages, and, much to Prompto's complete delight, actual rooms that evening! So even though he'd called her earlier, as they were all getting settled in the room, with the fantastic view of the ocean right there outside the tall plate glass windows, Prompto was still sending his evening check-in text to Liz:

We've gone from roughing it to the lap of luxury tonight! 😁😁😁 We're actually staying here at the hotel at Galdin Quay, even ate some of the food here, Ignis was NOT kidding about it being amazing! You really can't beat that kind of fresh seafood! Also? MASSAGES. (Turns out Noct is ticklish, by the way lol). I am definitely taking you here one day and pampering you like crazy this place is great! 💕💕💕

we FINALLY set sail for altissia tomorrow!!! I can't wait to get there, I can't wait to see you. I hope everything is still going okay back there in Fandom. We're almost there!

They were, of course, definitely not almost there, not by a longshot, but, of course, as night settled in around them outside the little gem of a resort in the Cygillan Ocean, none of them could have had any idea what was in store for them in the morning.


[[ NFB, obvs, but totes open for any calls, texts, etc, with any of the boyos while you still can; things are going to get much more complicated for them from here on in.

And, yes, fishing for the cat is an actual FF XV side quest, thank you ]]

It had been a very long day.

They'd left Insomnia that morning, after an awkward blessing and some awkward and intense departing words from the King. "I ask not that you guide my wayward son," Regis had told them, as they stood on the steps of the Citadel on their way out, "merely that you remain at his side." Easy enough, right? That was, after all, the plan.

It had not, however, been the plan that the Regalia, the king's own royal vehicle that they were borrowing for this trip, would break down before they even got halfway to their destination of Galdin Quay, the quaint seaside port that would whisk them all away to the Altissia, capitol of Accordio, where the wedding would take place. Thankfully, the Hammerhead garage was not too far down the road...

At least, it wasn't supposed to have been that far down the road, but when you had to make the travel by pushing a big, heavy classic car down the scorching desert roads winding through the sun-blasted plains of Leide...it seemed like it had taken a lifetime. Even with muscle like Gladio's behind it, pushing the car into the Hammerhead had been slow going, already eating up a good chunk of their day.

The repairs wouldn't be quick, either, and, according to Ignis, they were also not cheap. The costs had quickly eaten into most of their funds, leaving very little allowance left over for any room, board, food and supplies they might need, which seems a bit more pressing now that they weren't making a straight shot to Altissia anymore. Luckily, Cindy, the quirky, plucky, and rather...noticeably dressed granddaughter of the Hammerhead's own and, apparently, according to Fandom, one of Prompto's potential future baby-mamas, which did not make the meeting awkward at all, no, not even a little, had some errands for them to run to kill some time and maybe put a little extra gil back into their pockets.

And that is what led them here, to the Merrioth Haven just west of the Hammerhead in the Three Valleys, setting up camp around the soft glow of one of the many spot throughout Eos magically enhanced to protect against the marauding daemons that would come out with the encroaching night, already beat and bruised from a day of pushing cars and hunting down reapertails--varmints, as Cindy liked to call them--and helping to find some lost hunter named Dave....who also wanted them to help take down a more dangerous beast that had been giving them some trouble. All of that had eaten most of the day, though, and it was dangerous to travel at night, so there they were, setting up camp to rest up for the big hunt, eat some amazingly delicious camp pizza from Ignis, and, hopefully, take down the beast and get back on the road nice and early in the morning.

But not...too early, Prompto hoped. And, as he let dinner settle and listened to Gladio and Noctis training behind him, Ignis cleaning up his camp kitchen, he looked out over the sunset, lifted his camera to get a good shot of it, and, smiling softly to himself, went to send it and a couple of texts over to Liz:

Just look at this view!

With that message she'd get a bunch of heart emoji and the dusky orange sky, the rough terrain of Leide giving way to mountains in the distance, where the shining, glowing twist of the Disc of Cauthess could be faintly seen far, far, far in the distance, and, much closer, to their left, the jagged tooth of Longwythe Peak.

Plans are a little delayed. We ran into some car trouble, but it should be fixed and back on the road to Altissia tomorrow! So it's camping out here in the Leidan wilds until then! My first night out of the city, but Igs insists the Havens are safe from the daemons. Definitely going to send you a shot of the night sky, even if it's only half as beautiful as people say it is. Hope everything's going well back at Fandom. Miss you! Love you! 😘😘😘

With that, he sighed, sitting back in his chair and looking out over the horizon, his first actual Eos sunset out in the wild, outside of the city, as things settled down for the evening and he felt Gladio's hand fall on his shoulder.

"Better wrap it up for the night," he said, "another long day ahead of us in the morning."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Prompto brushed it off, but with a grin, as Noctis pulled up a chair and flopped into it next to him. "We'll get there. What's the rush, big guy?"

"I just don't want to hear you whining about being tired when I kick you two out of the tent tomorrow to go take on that beast."

"Don't worry," Noctis offered, "we'll have plenty of other things to complain about, too."

That earned him a roll of Gladio's eyes and a chuckle from Prompto, before he sighed again and just thought that this was kind of nice, actually, like it was just the four of them against the world.


[[ and so it begins, the point of no return for the boyos, as we finally enter Final Fantasy XV proper! NFB for distance, but open for interaction if anyone, particularly texted girlfriends, would like to get in touch....while they still can (bum bum BUM!). May be slow, though, as I will actually be stomping around a convention center as one of these dudes all day today ]]

There had been a little bit of redecorating around the crown prince of Insomnia's apartment over the weekend, redecorating all around quite possibly the best painting in the entire multiverse, of Noctis hanging from his sword from the top of the Citadel while the world spun around him, and there was definitely a singing fish and a burrito blanket featured heavily, as any great piece of art should have.

And Prompto had seen it probably a million times since Nina installed it, but he still couldn't help pausing every once in a while as they were all hanging out, and just sort of...marveling.

"It's almost hard to think that I know the people who painted that," he commented, not for the first time, shaking his head a moment before popping a chip into his mouth and trying to go back to focus on the game he was currently kicking Noct's ass in.

"It is a bit of a masterpiece, isn't it?" Ignis commented from behind the counter in the kitchen, where he was diligently putting dinner together for the lot of them. "Shame that it's hidden up here where so few people will even be able to bask in its glory. Perhaps I should talk to someone about having it moved down to the Citadel? I'm thinking the main entrance hall..."

"Don't. You. Dare," growled Noctis, doing a poor job of sounding intimidating with it. "It's fine where it is."

"I don't know, Noct," Gladio said as he placidly flipped the page of his book. "Iggy's got a point, it would look great hanging in the dining hall, too, maybe."

"Haven't we already been over this?"

"Only about five times every day since you got it, buddy!"

But Prompto really hoped they were joking about that. Not for Noct's sake, though, but rather for his own, because that painting was huge and a pain to move, so he'd be perfectly fine if it stayed right where it was.

He was pretty sure Noctis would miss it if it was moved, too.

[[ open for chocobrothers, chocosisters, chococalls and chocotexts! ]]

It had been...a very long day. Prompto whose mun figured that plot breakages was pretty much inevitable at this point had decided to tell the others...everything. About the worlds of darkness, about the crystals, about Noctis' sacrifice, about...about the clones, about the monsters, about all the terrible possible futures and what they could potential mean for them all. About how he kind of didn't want to go back, about how much more he could take.

( All the more DRAMATIC PARTS cut for length, yo. )

"Hey," Gladio broke in, grin broadening, "you know, even if you didn't have all these great classes Iggy and I picked out for you to go back to, you'd still have to go back. No way we're dealing with Nina if you tried to stay here. We'd never hear the end of it!"

Groaning, rolling his eyes, Prompto slumped in his chair, considering the slew of text and pictures he'd gotten from her at the beginning of the week, during her party on Wednesay, and mostly expecting something else if not tonight then tomorrow, and for every other day until he actually did get back. And even if he did groan and roll his eyes for show in front of the boys, he couldn't really deny the little thrill of appreciation in there, too. He tilted his head, so he could look at Gladio warningly when he said, "I'd watch what you say about Nina outloud, dude. She probably has this place bugged to high heaven..."

Then he realized what he'd said.

Then he realized how it was probably true.

And the others were realizing it, too, he noticed, as they were all now giving him a mutual, expectant look.

"Right," he said, rolling out of the chair and hopping to his feet to go rig up a nice debug pulse through the apartment, "on it!"

[[ NFB for distance, of course, but post is open! ]]