#like I know Noct throws weapons and then warps to meet them

[procrastineon]

I probably don’t need to be considering the intricacies of Lucis Caelum warp mechanics at 3 in the morning And Yet

[glon-morski]

On Noctis’ Injury And Its Effects On His Magic

A̷ ̷f̷i̷l̷l̷ ̷f̷o̷r̷ ̷t̷h̷i̷s̷ ̷k̷i̷n̷k̷m̷e̷m̷e̷,̷ ̷I̷ ̷g̷u̷e̷s̷s̷.̷.̷.̷?̷

Anyone who has played FFXV knows that as a child, Noctis suffered from an injury that rendered him unable to walk for a while – the reason for his visit to Tenebrae as a kid, and thus his first meeting with Luna shortly before Tenebrae fell. The Brotherhood anime and Kingsglaive movie expand on it a little bit, giving more information on the extent of the injury, as well as what caused it: a daemon called the Marilith. As a reminder, I mean this thing:

The injury was severe enough that Noctis remained in a coma for an unspecified amount of time (though most likely at least a couple weeks, if not a couple months) and even once he woke and recovered a bit, he was unable to walk, his legs being paralyzed (or he was literally paraplegic, meaning paralyzed from the waist down; that’s a valid possibility as well, and an even more likely one all things considered). Furthermore, it is a widely assumed headcanon (and rather heavily implied, though never actually stated in the game) that he was infected by the Starscourge through this injury. For these reasons, he was taken to Tenebrae so the Oracle may heal him, though this led to Niflheim attacking and conquering Tenebrae as a result.

Well, fine, he was healed. That’s that then. Except it’s not, according to Noctis’ character sheet in the game’s archives.

“An injury incurred as a young boy deprived him access to the full potential of his innate power”, huh?

Unless there was another ‘childhood injury’ that we don’t know about, which is unlikely, this references the Marilith. And that injury, though healed by the Oracle, apparently left marks deep enough that it affected Noctis’ ability to use his magic. But that begs the question: how exactly was he affected? No part of the game or the anime or ANYTHING gives us any real indication on that. So all we can do is speculate. That said, here are some thoughts I had on the matter.

1 – Warping

Noctis can warp. That’s obvious to anyone who played the first five seconds of the game’s gameplay or watched the first minute of the brotherhood anime. It’s one of the basic abilities he should have as a royal, of course he learned how to warp.

Here’s the thing, though: just because he can doesn’t mean it was (or still is) easy. In fact, Noctis had experienced uncommon difficulty in mastering this skill, as stated in the book/script ‘Prologue: Parting Ways’. Ignis outright says there that Noctis actually only mastered warping recently and goes as far as to speculate that his difficulty in learning might be connected to his childhood injury, which is as much of an indication that it’s the case as we can get since the characters visibly aren’t supposed to know for sure. Furthermore, if we consider Gameplay-Story-Integration – something FFXV does in spades, far more than I think I’ve ever seen any other game do – at the very beginning of the game, warping (and warp strikes in particular) is very costly in MP. In fact, unless you’re on a New Game+ (which doesn’t count), overusing warp strikes is the best way to end up in Stasis in only a few attacks, along with aerial combat which, surprise surprise, also makes Noctis warp and phase a lot to not fall down prematurely.

The effect lessens as Noct gains levels and thus more MP, but even late game you can sometimes end up in Stasis against stronger, aerial opponents if you’re not careful. That said, while the gameplay mechanic of gaining more MP as you level up is nothing new, here it could be explained in-story as well: as Noctis grows stronger because he’s fighting nearly every day and is thus forced to practice both his combat skills and his warping, he perfects the skill he had so he doesn’t need to use as much magic for it. He may have ‘mastered’ it before leaving Insomnia in the sense that he never fails to warp when he wants to, but for most of his journey he’s perfecting it so he can do it with more ease and using less of his reserves of Magic, and thus not fall into Stasis so easily.

Speaking of which…

2 – Stasis

Stasis is something akin to a ‘status ailment’, yet different. It’s what the state of having 0 MP is called. When in Stasis, Noctis can’t attack because he can’t summon his weapons and can’t avoid attacks well because he can’t phase, much less warp. He can’t use the magic flasks, either. The only thing he can do is run around but that, interestingly, only makes the Stasis last longer. In order to recover MP and thus get OUT of Stasis, he needs to stop moving entirely (and preferably hunker down behind a rock or something of that nature). Stasis only ends when he recovers all of his MP.

There’s a few things interesting about Stasis. The first, as I already mentioned above, is how to get out of it. You need to stop and cease moving entirely – which, if you’re in the middle of combat, is of course nothing short of idiotic. But then, since you can’t do anything anyway, Stasis is something you usually need to get out of ASAP if you’ve already failed to not fall into it in the first place. Finding a hiding spot and hunkering down helps as Noctis’ magic recovers faster that way. While there’s no indication how Stasis may feel to Noctis, however, there’s a widely-accepted headcanon that it is not pleasant. The fact that you have to stop and that crouching makes Noct recover faster lead to believing he might feel dizzy and maybe even nauseous or otherwise sick, that he as a character feels the need to sit or lie down when he ends up in Stasis. Which would make sense considering that, as far as we know, his Magic is and always has been a part of him, so having it deplete to zero is likely to not feel nice. It might be similar to when you’re anemic for the exact same reason: you need a certain amount blood and hemoglobin for your body to function properly. It’s not too much of a stretch to assume that it’s the same for Noctis and his magic power.

Noctis, however, is not the only character who may have to deal with Stasis if he’s not careful about his magic use. The others are the members of the Kingsglaive, as shown in the Comrades DLC. However, even at the very beginning of DLC, you have to try really hard to get the Kingsglaive character into Stasis. Like, fighting an aerial enemy and constantly warp striking it even though you have shuriken you can throw from a distance kind of try. In fact, in all the time I played Comrades, I only managed to get into Stasis ONCE and my reaction to it was ‘wait what? Stasis? HOW?!’ that’s how surprised I was that it actually happened, even though I theoretically knew it could. Furthermore, at no point in the Kingsglaive movie was Stasis ever so much as mentioned as far as I recall. So in this case, it is safe to assume that it’s either a case of Gameplay-Story-Segregation, or in case it’s not, that most Glaives only know vaguely that Stasis can happen, but rarely-to-never actually experience it. By comparison, early-game Noctis falls into Stasis nearly all the time (or he did the first time I played the game and before I learned to watch my MP and periodically point-warp, a tactic I largely dropped late-game and barely use in Comrades).

There’s one thing, though: magic is not a native ability of the Glaives. They get the ability to use magic by borrowing said magic from the king. Their bodies are not as adapted to it as Regis’ and Noctis’ would be by virtue of magic being an energy they don’t usually have access to. This is further reinforced by the fact that they have varying affinity for magic. So since the energy wasn’t theirs and their bodies were not meant to be able to use it, but do so anyway due to their connection to the king, it would make sense if there was a limit of how much magic they could borrow before something blocked them – either because the ‘sharing’ works by them having a certain stock which runs dry or because their bodies refuse to accept more magic from the king past a certain threshold, thus inducing Stasis. The same cannot be said for Noctis. He’s of royal blood. He was born with his ability to use magic. It’s part of him. It’s his magic, not someone else’s that he’s borrowing.

Furthermore, there is King Regis, who we know is weakening due to sustaining the Wall. He’s been weakened to the point that already at the time of Brotherhood, he lost access to his Arminger – not the entire arsenal, he can still summon regular weapons, but the Royal Arms no longer appear to him because he’s too weak. Yet even this weakened monarch withered by years of using the Ring of the Lucii is never so much as implied to experience Stasis, or to ever have experienced it. Even now, when he can hardly use magic in general, there’s nothing that may imply he’s close to or dealing with Stasis. His magic is there, he just cannot use it. But if Noctis’ father never experienced Stasis in all his life, then it would mean it’s weird that Noctis does, especially as easily as he does in early-game.

Unless, of course, his childhood injury and the Starscourge play a role in it. Hence why I believe they do.

3 – Elemental Magic

Another direct ability connected to his magic that Noctis has is his Elemancy and general spell-casting. And here’s where things get really interesting in my opinion. I’ll be breaking this into two separate parts, one about the obvious Elemancy from the game (i.e. making the magic flasks) and one less obvious aspect. Let’s start with the less obvious one.

3.1 – Elemental Deposits

In order to use elemental magic in the form of flasks, Noctis has to first store the energy from elemental deposits. These are strewn about all over Eos, most notably with one of each element (fire, ice, lightning) around every haven blessed by an Oracle. However, they’re also found in different locations to varying amounts. Mt. Ravatogh is littered with fire deposits and maybe a lighting here and there, but you won’t find any ice, which makes sense considering it’s a volcano. The cave behind the waterfall, aptly named Glacial Grotto, is littered with ice deposits and you’ll be hard pressed to find anything else (though there is exactly one fire and one lightning deposit). This implies that elemental magic is part of the very earth itself, which is important when you consider another thing:

Noctis is the only character who requires these depositis. Everyone else can cast spells ‘just like that’ as far as we know. The Kingsglaive? Both in the movie and in the Comrades expansion, they just do it. There’s not even so much as a mention of the deposits. Ignis, who’s implied to be the most magically adept of Noctis’ companions? His entire fighting style when you play him relies on elemental magic, and when you don’t play as him, he has elemental techniques to use via the tech bar like Sage Fire. He can do both whether or not Noct has stored any elemental energy himself, so it’s not connected to that.

Where, then, do these characters draw the magic from?

At first, one may think that they draw from the royal family. It’s how the Kingslaive’s abilities are explained in-game, after all. They can use magic because of their connection to the king, because the king gives them access to his own magic. The same goes for the Crownsguard, though to a lesser degree, as they don’t seem able to do much more than just conjure and dismiss weapons from the arsenal. Cor doesn’t warp once the few times he’s a guest member in your party and, unless I’m misremembering, none of the Crowsguard were able to warp in the Kingsglaive movie, either. Same for the Crownsguard enemies in Episode Ardyn. Outside the royal family, only the Glaives could do that.

So they draw their magic from their sovereign – King Regis in most cases, Noctis in the case of Ignis, Gladio and Prompto. Except we just talked about how Ignis’ fighting style, particularly when he’s the player character, relies heavily on elemental magic and he can use it whether or not Noctis has any elemental magic from deposits stored. This leads me to believe that using elemental spells is actually a two-fold job. Because the magic of the royal family is bound to the Crystal. But the elemental deposits can be found literally anywhere (even in cities in odd containers) and the kinds of deposits you find in certain terrain depends on that terrain, meaning the elemental energy is something that can be found in the earth… and by extension likely the sea and the air, too, it would only make sense.

So the royal family doesn’t actually have direct use of elemental magic, but their Crystal magic gives them a way to manipulate these elemental energies to form spells. This is further reinforced by the fact that when Noctis absorbs elemental energy, it is portrayed as colorful, smoke-like wisps or something. There’s no small flame or ice particles or sparks of electricity in the energy he absorbs (though they are there on the deposit before he starts siphoning it). That only comes when actual spells are cast. Which would mean it’s possible that whoever gets access to the Crystal’s magic via connection to the royal family gains an ability to manipulate those energies as well, and is thus capable of using elemental magic. Which would also explain why some people have more of an affinity for it than others because let’s be honest, that sounds like complicated, hard work.

As I said before, though: Noctis is the only character to actually use the energy deposits. So where do other characters grasp the elemental energy to manipulate it with the Crystal’s magic to create spells? The answer is simple: everything around them. The earth. The water. The very air. They can draw that energy from those places and manipulate it to form spells. And Noctis should be able to do the same. Yet he seems to require the deposits instead.

Could it be due to the fact that, for some reason, he lacks some aspect of his Crystal magic, be it fine-tuned control or something as simple as the instinct for it, that would allow him to weave these energies from the very air around him? Could it be that in order to grasp those energies and manipulate them, he requires a higher concentration of that energy? It seems to be the case. And by that logic, unless we assume he simply doesn’t have the affinity for magic, the only other possible explanation is his childhood injury.

But wait. One thing doesn’t add up. Noctis can use elemental spells in his parries, after all. Against certain enemies, when you block at the right moment and then press the attack button when prompted, an animation will start where Noctis counters, usually with magic. For instance, he can jump onto the flat side of a Red Giant’s sword, run up to it, up its chest, jump away and throw a fire spell at it. A similar counter is possible with one of the Niflheim machine enemies of the X generation (X-Angel or something along those lines, I think). And those counters, much like Ignis’ fighting style, can be executed whether or not Noctis happens to have elemental energies for Elemancy stored.

And that’s true. But there’s a few details to consider here. First, these counters are available against specific, late-game enemies. Besides which, no matter what the enemy’s weakness or resistances might be, Noctis will only ever use a fire spell in those parries, and not an overly powerful one, either. So going by Gameplay-Story-Integration again, this can be explained thus: by virtue of fighting and using magic far more often than he ever had to in Insomnia, Noctis eventually learned to draw the elemental energy from the air as well, but still not in what can be considered an effective manner. Especially since I’d consider fire to be the easiest spell to cast of the three (even if blizzard, by virtue of being connected to water, may be the one for which the energy is easiest to draw from the air in particular). Because lightning would be difficult to conjure from the air in general and blizzard, while probably having an amplitude of water energy that can be used, needs far more manipulation because you need to freeze it and stuff. By contrast, with fire, you just have to manipulate it enough that there’s a first spark and the rest is a chain reaction because the flames use the air (or rather the oxygen in the air) as fuel to burn. Furthermore, compared to blizzard and lightning spells, fire spells have far less of an area of effect. They’re more concentrated and thus safer to use for a counter without endangering one’s comrades, but that’s another matter entirely.

There’s another aspect of the deposits, too, namely that they’re the one thing in the game that Noctis’ companions never point out. If you pass a shop, they’ll talk about shopping or getting curatives. If you pass a haven, Gladio will often ask if you want to make camp. If you’re near a fishing spot, either Noctis or one of the others may comment on the opportunity to fish. But elemental deposits are never commented on by anyone. Almost as if they’re not seen. (Much like mineral deposits and places where you can pick up food, but admittedly, those really can be overseen. The same can’t really be said for elemental deposits, considering their glow and stuff.)

Which… actually would make sense if you think about it. Episode Gladio and Prompto were both in locations that should have been rich in deposits – Gladio’s by virtue of being a generally magical location and Prompto’s because it’s still relatively near to Shiva’s resting place, which should make him stumble upon ice deposits all over, especially considering that there were several of them in abandoned containers on the railway where the train Noctis, Gladio and Ignis were using was forced to stop (you know, that spot right to Shiva’s corpse’s head?). Yet in neither location is even one deposit to be found. Not even in a ‘yeah, there is one here, but obviously you can’t make use of it’ kind of way. Similarly, there were a couple deposits in containers in Altissia, but when you play Episode Ignis, there is not a single one. Finally, there were even deposit containers in the ruined Insomnia. I find it hard to believe those would have been brought there by Niflheim, so they had to have been there before Insomia’s fall and might even have been lying around for years. And yet you also don’t see a single one when you play Episode Ardyn. Ardyn who, being a Lucis Caelum, has access to the Crystal’s magic as well as far as we know. Admittedly, he never uses the elemental aspect, though. Actually, all he does use is warping and the Royal Arms during his final fight with Noct. Nothing else. Almost as if… as if he’s lost access to it. Maybe because of all the Starscourge he’s absorbed.

Much like Noctis, who had been infected with it to a lesser degree as a child and who thus has issues with using it as well.

But back to the deposits. One more interesting thing to note in the case of Insomnia is that these deposits lie literally in random spots among the rubble. With the addition of the Glaive Encampment and stuff in the Royal Edition, you would think there wouldn’t be deposits at least around the encampment, right? The Glaives might not need them, but still, why would they just leave them lying around in random spots like this? Especially if it was known Noctis makes use of them. Then it would have been even more logical to gather them in a safe place for him, if only to make sure they’re preserved for him to use whenever he comes back. So why wouldn’t they do that? Why just leave them? Why won’t Noctis’ comrades ever comment on them, even when you have nothing stored and they would usually remind you to maybe stock up like they do with everything else?

Simple: no one but Noctis can actually see/sense them.

As I said before, one of the possibilities of how elemental magic is weaved into spells from the Crystal’s magic and natural elemental energy is that it’s done instinctively. It’s not that the characters can SENSE the elemental energies and decide to use them. They just go ‘I need this spell’ and instinctively reach for the energies they need for it. As the energies they need are literally everywhere around them, there’s no NEED for them to be able to sense them.

But Noctis is different in that the energies flowing all around him are not enough for him to actually grasp and weave into spells. He needs spots where those energies are concentrated. Spots which he needs to FIND. And so he may have developed a sort of sixth sense, a way to sense elemental energies when they’re concentrated enough (and possibly the Crystal magic, too, because the two likely aren’t that different; the Crystal magic could even be a sort of fourth element). A way that no one else has, because no one else NEEDS to find these places. Hence why they’re only actually there in the main game, which is from Noctis’ PoV. No other character could make use of them and because they don’t even need them, no other character can even sense/see them.

3.2 – Magic Flasks

As extensively discussed above, Noctis cannot easily cast spells, not the way the Glaives or Ignis do (and his father as well before he’s been weakened by the Ring of the Lucii, at least according to ‘A King’s Tale’). He can’t draw the energy from just anywhere, it needs to be concentrated enough. Furthermore, considering you can’t draw from elemental deposits even when you happen to be right next to one in a fight (and you can do a lot of things in the middle of combat via even the main menu in FFXV) and that it’s an ability that you can ‘level up’ via Ascension, it would be safe to assume even that is not easy for him. It takes time and he needs to concentrate. Because of this, it’s very possible that the difficulty of just drawing the energy makes the simultaneous manipulation of it into a spell nearly impossible for him (the exception being the aforementioned, tiny fire spell in counters). As a result, instead of drawing energy, manipulating it and then releasing the crafted spell simultaneously like the Glaives (as well as his father) do, Noctis needs to separate the steps.

Step one has been discussed extensively above. He draws the energy from places particularly rich in elemental energy – the deposits.

Step two, an intermediate step necessary due to the apparent difficulty in drawing elemental energies, is storage. As Noctis cannot manipulate the energy at the same time as he draws it, he needs to do something with it so he can do so later. The only logical thing to do is to store it, which he does likely in his own body (as he can do it since the beginning of the game and there’s no item or anything that’s in any way required for it).

Step three: he forges the spells. Now this one is interesting, because it doesn’t seem like Noctis has much issue with this particular step. Once he has the elemental energy necessary, spell-crafting seems to be simple, at least if one looks at it once again through Gameplay-Story-Integration glasses. As stated earlier, you can’t draw elemental energy from deposits while in combat. You can, however, craft spells mid-combat via the use of the main menu. So, going by the same rules as we did for the drawing of energy, this means that crafting spells is quick, easy and doesn’t require much concentration on Noctis’ part.

Why then does he always store them in flasks? If crafting the spells is so easy, why not cast them directly from his own energy storage?

Well, another widely accepted headcanon (to my knowledge) is that Noctis can’t control the spells that well. Not in terms of crafting them, but in terms of their power and where they land. Thus, he uses the flasks to both have better control in terms of aim, as well as actual power. This idea is supported by two things.

The first is how crafting spells works. You can decide how much of each elemental energy you want to infuse into a flask and you see what the end result will be before you actually craft the spell. This is, of course, an obvious game mechanic to avoid frustration for the players so they don’t craft blindly. But it would also make sense if this was another bit of Gameplay-Story-Integration, because Noctis himself likely doesn’t craft the spells blindly hoping he’ll get the right one, either. He can either ‘sense’ what spell will come out, or he’s practices crafting spells long enough to just know from experience.

The second thing is the difference in spells between Noctis and the Glaives. Whether you look at the Comrades DLC or the Kingsglaive movie, the magic of the Glaives is far more controlled than Noctis’. It’s more focused while being just as destructive and there doesn’t seem to be nearly as much risk of getting your comrades caught up in the cross-fire, and considering I only ever played Comrades offline (meaning with AI), trust me that the difference wasn’t between actual people knowing to get out of the way. Especially since it’s not like Comrades actually has a chatting system or anything, so it’s not like you can warn anyone ‘magic incoming!’ or anything. And yet unlike the main game, your party members are never actually caught in the crossfire.

Of course, there’s one big difference between throwing a flask (which is basically a magic bomb) and casting a spell yourself, and that’s the amount of control you have over the spell at any given moment. You need to control it to cast it, control where it lands by aiming and likely control it at the very moment of casting, so when the magic is released and possibly what it considers a target, as well. Flasks remove one-and-a-half of those. Noctis still needs to control the spells when he crafts them so they don’t blow up in his face or something before he stuffs them into flasks. But he doesn’t need to keep controlling it when he aims and he literally can’t control it at the moment of casting, because that happens on its own when the flask breaks. So while the Glaives can be assumed to control even the release of the spell (exactly when it goes off, how far it reaches etc.) this is out of Noctis’ hands. Once a flask breaks, that’s it, the energy inside literally explodes outward in a big, destructive mess. And that’s exactly how Noctis’ flasks work: a big explosion of magic that decimates everything in its path.

But then we return to the question: why bother? Why not just cast from his ‘internal storage’ where he keeps the elemental energy before he puts them in flasks?

I believe that is due to the fact that casting normally would be too difficult and demand too much concentration, much like drawing the energy from elemental deposits in the first place. As I said before, putting the magic into flasks removes two steps of casting where tight control of the magic is needed: to aim and to release (and potentially to designate the targets versus the people who are not to be harmed). And that is the EASY step, as Noctis can even do it mid-combat. It’s the aiming and release that likely pose issues, which would make sense. When it’s merely in ‘wisp-form’, the energy may be more or less difficult to manipulate, but is likely easy to contain. Once it’s crafted into the spell and becomes magic, however, the actual power/strength of it likely amplifies, since you’re combining various energies together. It’s like a chemical reaction. As soon as you start mixing stuff, a kind of reaction happens and energy is released. This is likely the same. And containing that energy, that pure power that’s created when a spell is crafted, may be beyond Noctis’ grasp on his magic. Which would mean that he does not have that tight or fine-tuned a control over it. He can manipulate it to craft spells, but anything other than that is either difficult and demands a lot of concentration, or is outright beyond his capabilities.

(Again, there’s this one little spell he does in counter-attacks, but that might be about all he can safely manage.)

4 – Healing Magic

There’s one more aspect of Noctis’ magic in terms of spell-casting: healing, otherwise known as the Cure-line of spells (Cure, Cura and Curaga, as well as potentially Raise and Arise, though the latter two don’t seem to be a thing in FFXV in general). It’s the one type of magic that’s nearly entirely unavailable to Noctis.

He can’t cast healing spells. The Glaives can and do.

On the other hand, Glaives don’t use potions. I don’t think a potion, or any other kind of curative, has even been mentionned in the Kingsglaive movie (though it’s been a while since I’ve seen it so I may be wrong), and they definitely aren’t in Comrades. Curatives are something only Noctis and his companions have access to, and the description of each points out that they only work ‘by way of Noctis’ power’. So he’s the one that makes them.

The idea here is similar and yet different to magic flasks. For magic flasks, Noctis needs to gather elemental energy first. He doesn’t seem to have any need for it to create curatives. On the other hand, he can’t just stuff healing magic into a flask. He requires a medium of sorts, apparently preferably in liquid form considering he always uses various types of energy drinks. Interestingly, the potency of the curative doesn’t seem to be how much magic Noctis’ stuffs into it, otherwise they could probably buy Hi-Elixirs for the price of a mere potion, but rather what kind of medium (so energy drink) he uses. Almost like the magic he infuses it with directly interacts with the chemical contents of the medium to determine the curative’s potency. Which is, at the very least, plausible.

Here we have another wonderful bit of Gameplay-Story-Integration in that you can buy curatives of any sort nearly anywhere, up to and including Gralea. Which makes sense if Noctis himself is the one who creates them. Surely even the empire would have energy drinks for their human citizens, right? And furthermore, with the exception of one (1) cutscene in Episode Prompto where Aranea uses a curative (which, considering she’s met Noctis and the others in Tenebrae before, she might have gotten from them; even if they didn’t have enough stock themselves, Noctis could have turned all energy drinks she had into curatives to further enable her relief efforts; and let’s be honest, it’s totally something Noctis would do) no one else but Noctis and his crew ever uses curatives, or even seems to know they exist. I mean, all those hunters you rescue in random side-quests? You’d think they’d have their own potions and antidotes and stuff on them if it was something that could be bought anywhere. Except all they can buy is an energy drink. Only Noctis can actually make it into a curative.

As for actually casting a healing spell in any form, Noctis cannot do that at all. The only thing he can do is mix a curative or some food into his elemental spells to create healcast spells. (Which, by the way, is another example of magic actually interacting with matter on a chemical level or something of that nature – though it’s likely more abstract than that - to determine an additional effect. If you use other items, you get stopcast, venomcast, failcast etc.)

5 – Sharing Magic With Others

The final point in which Noctis’ injury may have affected how well he can use his magic is actually sharing it with others, the same way Regis does with the Crownsguard and the Kingsglaive. However, at first glance, in this one point, it doesn’t seem like Noctis has any difficulty compared to his father. He shares his magic with Ignis, Gladio and Prompto easily enough and they can do everything a Crownsguard is supposed to.

As stated before, the Crownsguard doesn’t seem to have that much access to elemental magic, at least going by what little we see of them in the movie and the fact that in-game, Cor isn’t very magically inclined in terms of elemancy, either. However, they can materialize weapons from the arsenal. But they can’t warp. Cor never does and neither do the Crownguard operatives in Episode Ardyn.

The Glaives (and the Royal Guard they’re derived from) can use elemental magic and they can warp (though some are better than it than others). They can also manifest their weapons, as prove in both Episode Ardyn and Comrades.

I don’t remember if it was said in the Kingsglaive movie itself or if I read about it elsewhere, but I’m pretty certain it was stated somewhere that these differences were due to how powerful the ‘sharing link’ between King and subject is. The Crownsguard, being a ‘defense and reaction only’ kind of force and derived of what used to be the Lucian army to boot, only have the most basics of links to allow them access to the arminger arsenal. The Kingsglaive, on the other hand, was meant to basically be the new Lucian army (and yet, ironically, they’re based on the former Royal Guard). They were meant not to be a defense force, but an attack force. And since most of the magic the king can make available is more attack-oriented anyway, he bestowed those powers to them.

There’s also the fact that this more powerful link is more draining, too, which was likely another reason the Crownsguard only got the bare minimum of magic access.

Thing is, Ignis, Gladio and Prompto are all part of the Crownsguard, so they should also only have this ‘basics only’ connection. And yet Ignis can use elemental magic like no other Crownsguard member. Which leads me to believe that Noctis, being young and not yet burdened by the Ring, gave the strongest connection he could to his friends, allowing them access to every aspect of his magic.

But wait. If that’s the case, why don’t the other three warp? Ever?

Well, in Prompto’s case, that’s simple. He’s only been trained for a couple of months and while he was accepted into the Crownsguard, it’s downright said at the beginning of the game that his training was more meant for self-defense than to actually protect Noctis. Ignis and Gladio, however, don’t have that excuse. Gladio in particular has been trained in combat all his life. You’d expect him of all people to know how to warp, right?

Here’s the thing though: if you look at the Brotherhood anime, then outside of the few scenes actually set after the beginning of the game, neither Ignis nor Gladio are shown to be able to use magic. Even in the scene in episode 3 (I think?) where Gladio and Noctis trained with wooden weapons, they didn’t call for them or dismiss them with magic. In Noctis’ case, he might not have wanted to or he might still have been struggling to, since he was still a teenager then. In Gladio’s case, it’s safe to assume he hasn’t had access to it at that point. Especially since neither Ignis nor Gladio wear a Crownsguard uniform in the anime.

So that would mean their link to Noctis, and thus his magic, is relatively recent. Two, three years at most. And warping isn’t something that’s easily learned. Noctis might have additional trouble with it because of his injury, but even among the Glaives there are those who warp better (Nyx) than others (Libertus, who complains it makes him nauseous and that he needs to practice more). And these are highly skilled combatants with lots of experience and decent-to-exceptional magical affinity who have likely been training for years before being sent into the field (a lot can be said about Regis, but definitely not that he would send poorly-trained soldiers into a war). So learning to warp, whether you have aptitude for magic or not, takes time. Thus it is very likely that Ignis and Gladio could learn to warp if given the time and opportunity to do so. It’s just that once they leave Insomnia, they never do.

There’s one more thing, too: Ignis has a tendency to throw his daggers in combat and Gladio often throws his sword at Noctis during training. Both ultimately end up summoning the blades back to them in the end, but there’s always a second or so of delay before they do, as if they were originally trying to do something else. Like warping after the weapon. It’s thus very possible that shortly before leaving Insomnia, they have both begun warp training, it’s just that they haven’t had the time to finish it and actually learn to warp. And then once they leave Insomnia and then Insomnia falls, they don’t get much opportunity to train. Even during the ten years Noctis is in the Crystal, or rather especially during that time. Because daemons are springing up all over, the nights are getting longer and it’s basically the apocalypse. You don’t really get the chance to learn a new skill when something like that happens, you focus on the skills you already have to better them in a way that can make it possible for you to survive. So in the end, they never really learned. And after the Dawn, they didn’t really have the opportunity to anymore.

However, looking at everything else, it’s safe to assume Noctis allows them free, full access to his magic. His ability to do so is not hindered by his childhood injury.

In conclusion:

Noctis’ injury, sustained by the Marilith and likely made worse by a Starscourge infection, affected his magic on nearly every level. It made warping (and possibly conjuring weapons and other items) more difficult for him to learn. It immensely impacted his ability to cast spells, both of the elemental and the healing variety. It made him susceptible to falling into Stasis. Almost every aspect of his magic that we know of has been affected in some way. The only part of it that still seems perfectly fine (or at least there’s no reason to believe it’s been affected in any way) is his ability to create a ‘sharing link’ to give someone else access to magical abilities.

[echoes-of-the-clockwork]

Book Three: Pestilence (Ignis x Reader) Chapter Seven

Nighttime fell across all of Lucis. Prompto and Gladio split from the others once they infiltrated Fort Vaullerey to cause a distraction. Noctis, Ignis, and (Y/n) currently stood behind a few crates, crouching down and avoiding detection. The Horseman peered over the wooden crates, surveying the area. Her (e/c) eyes landed on a man in ornate armor walking straight toward them. "There. That must be the commander."

Ignis peeked out from behind their cover, listening to the man ramble on to his bodyguards. "The insolence of that up-jumped mercenary...And there is still no word. This cannot be borne. Such behavior besmirches His Radiance's good name."

"That's our target," Ignis whispered. "Let's follow him. Seize him on my signal. Stay hidden 'til then." (Y/n) and Noctis nodded in unison.

As they snuck alongside the commander using whatever they could as cover, the Horseman tuned in to the man's conversation as he rambled on. "What is that chancellor playing at? I'm no man's fool. He sent Highwind to watch me."

Continuing to sneak through the shadows, Pestilence ended up further ahead than Noctis and Ignis. She kept to the shadows, scanning the enemies that blocked them from moving forward. In the blink of an eye, she vanished and reappeared directly behind a soldier. She conjured a single chakram and sliced the blade through the man's back deeply, killing him instantly. She stepped back from the body as it fell to the ground before evaporating.

Noctis, spotting the second soldier not far from where (Y/n) was standing, warped and killed him with a single blow. The two exchanged nods before killing the next two soldiers in unison.

Further along, the duo eavesdropped on the commander's conversation as they took out another few guards patrolling the catwalks above. "It's no mere coincidence she and I meet wherever I go. Claims to "trust her as a person." Hollow words from the mind behind the magitek movement."

While distracted with listening, (Y/n) didn't sense the approaching patrol. She was suddenly tackled to the ground behind a large piece of machinery and out of sight before the trio of men could spot her. She winced in pain from the abrupt impact and stared up at the person who pinned her to the ground, unconsciously gripping their uppers arms in the process. She ended up staring into a pair of jade eyes masked behind a pair of glasses. She turned her head when she heard the guards' metal boots clacking against the ground on the other side of the machine they were hidden behind. "Seems I was careless."

"Forgive me for my abruptness, (Y/n)," he whispered to girl pinned underneath his lean body.

"I should be thanking you. I would've ruined our plan," she whispered in response, focusing her (e/c) eyes back onto him.

The two fell silent as they heard the commander's voice, once again, as he walked through another magitek-powered gate. "I may have acted in haste with that impudent steward back in Lestallum, but my mission remains clear. And I'll be damned if that mercenary gets her grubby hands on the prince before Caligo Ulldor."

(Y/n)'s and Ignis' eyes widen when they knew exactly who the man was talking about. The Horseman pushed against the advisor who still had her pinned to the ground. He refused to move, knowing she was just as angry as him and would act rashly. "Ignis," she hissed. "Let me-!"

"I partake of your detestation," he responds calmly. "But we must act accordingly."

Pestilence inhaled deeply before exhaling a heavy sigh. "You're right. I'll continue to aid Noctis in annihilating the guards."

Ignis was hesitant in releasing (Y/n), but he nodded and removed himself from her. She stood up, offering him a gentle smile before disappearing. He stared at the spot where she once stood before pushing forward.

<-------<<<<<<

Ulldor comes to a stop before another magitek-powered gate and gives orders to the magitek troopers standing guard on either side of him. "I'll give Highwind one last chance to respond. Stand guard here. If the commodore arrives, send her through."

Noctis and (Y/n) stood side by side on a catwalk above, watching the commander step through the gate and leave his guards behind. The Horseman could hear Ignis' voice from the prince's earpiece. "Now's your chance, Noct. Close in from behind. And remember: we need him alive." Noctis warp-strikes into position behind Caligo and hits him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. (Y/n) appears at his side just as Ignis approaches. "You're in fine form. Keep it up."

An explosion suddenly rocks the base, grabbing the trio's attention. "Seems it's time," Pestilence muttered.

"Looks like they've set to work. (Y/n) and I will escort him off the base. You regroup with the others," Ignis said to the raven-haired boy.

"Guess it's time to let loose." Noctis throws his sword, warping away and out of sight.

The ivory-haired girl's gaze traveled down to the unconscious man beside her feet. "It will prove to be arduous to carry him out in such a state." She kneeled down beside the commander and placed his hands behind his back. Then, she hooked her hands around his wrists and created a pair of handcuffs out of solid ice. "There. Now, to wake him."

Ignis watched (Y/n) like a hawk as one of her hands was consumed in bright flames. She placed it against the back of his armor, the fire melting the metal and reaching the man's clothes underneath.

Caligo's eyes flew open and he cried out in pain from the intense heat on his upper back. He tried to yank his arms free, but the ice didn't crack or shift in any way. "W-What the hell is this?!"

Using her foot, (Y/n) turns the commander over onto his back with a smirk. "Glad to see you're awake, commander."

"Y-You..." He growled. "Get the hell away from me, you monster!"

Ignis crosses his arms, glaring down at Caligo. "It seems our esteemed guest is acquainted with your title."

"It appears so," (Y/n) said, her grin widening. She squatted next to Ulldor, eyes searching his face. "If I'm the monster, that would make you a hypocrite. A monster calling another person a monster is quite hypocritical, don't you think? Or is it because you believe all you've done is for a greater cause that benefits the entirety of Eos?"

"Go to Hell, Horseman," Caligo spat.

"Oh," (Y/n) snickered. "I've been to Hell and back. It's actually quite lovely this time of year. For tainted souls like yours...not so much. Now, on your feet, commander.

Ignis grabbed the man by the arms and yanked him to his feet, earning a yelp of pain from him. "You'll both pay for what you've done here," he growled. "A damn Horseman and the one and only royal advisor to Prince Noctis himself-Ignis Scientia."

"Seems he also knows you," (Y/n) remarks, looking toward the tactician.

"The hunters shall decide your fate," Ignis vehemently stated, dragging Caligo out of the fort and handing him over to the hunters in the area.

Once the commander was dealt with, (Y/n) and Ignis returned to Fort Vaullerey and searched for Noctis, Prompto, and Gladio.

While searching the fort, Ignis received a transmission from the hunters he handed Caligo over to only a few minutes ago. He frowns after receiving the news of the commander's escape. (Y/n) waited for the strategist to end the transmission before speaking. "I could pursue the commander if you desire, Ignis. That man has done unspeakable things and deserves to pay for it all."

"No," he shook his head. "I would much prefer your presence at my side."

Ignis hadn't realized what he said until it rolled off the tip of his tongue. He looked away from (Y/n), unable to meet her (e/c) gaze after such a comment. She clasped her hands behind her back, stepping forward to stand beside him. She popped her hip out and bumped it against his own, sending him tumbling sideways slightly. "I'll be right here when you need me, Ignis."

Unbeknownst to the royal advisor, Pestilence was smiling brightly as her heart thumped wildly in her chest. She took the lead, taking the opportunity to hide her slightly red cheeks and giddy smile.

They followed the sound of explosions and gunfire, which led them to the missing members of their party. Another booming explosion shook the fort as the trio took down one of the larger machines.

Ignis deactivates the security gate and he and (Y/n) stepped through, rejoining the others. "Glad to see you lot were successful."

"Does that mean you guys weren't?" Noctis asked, his sword dissipating from his grasp.

"We placed our captive into the hunters' custody, but we've just been informed he's fled. He lives to die another day."

"And I'll gladly help him with that."

As the five prepare to depart, (Y/n) suddenly grabbed Noctis by the back of his jacket and yanked him behind her. She summoned her staff just in time to block the lance that was heading directly toward the prince. "Not who I wanted, but you'll do, snowflake," the woman wielding the weapon chuckled darkly. She flips backward away from her, then takes up a fighting stance. "Never fought an immortal before, but you won't hear me complaining. Let's see what you can do!"

The woman charged at (Y/n), who swapped out her staff for her chakrams. She blocked her attack and managed to knock her off balance, creating an opening. She kicked the woman in the side, sending her to the ground. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stun her.

The mysterious woman quickly recovered and swung her lance at Pestilence. Before the Horseman could block it, someone jumped in front of her and parried the attack. It was Noctis. Then, a gunshot rang out alongside Prompto's voice. "This doesn't look too good."

"Quite the formidable foe, indeed," Ignis said, using his javelin to attack the assailant.

Gladio swung his greatsword around, but the woman easily blocked each swing before putting some distance between her and the group.

(Y/n) switched out her chakrams for her staff, immediately casting a shadow spell the moment her hand wrapped around the thin, cool metal. A single black tendril surged through the ground and wrapped around the woman's ankles, preventing her from escaping. The boys swiftly swarmed her and attacked. She was only able to block a few blows while she felt the pain of the others.

Once the shadow tendril vanished from around her ankle, the woman leaps away from them to higher ground. She rids herself of her lance and feigns a pouting expression. "Aw, is it that time already?"

"What time?" Noctis asked curiously, eyes narrowed.

"Quittin' time. Sorry, but this girl doesn't work after hours. I could, but there wouldn't be a single gil in it for me." Her eyes fell upon (Y/n), her pout morphing into a grin. "We should play again sometime, snowflake." She leaps out of sight and disappears as quickly as she appeared.

"Who the hell was she?" The prince grumbled in bewilderment.

"I'm as baffled as you," (Y/n) confesses, dispelling her staff. "But by her skills in combat, she is no normal imperial."

"Does this mean we won?" Prompto's joyous tone sliced through the serious atmosphere surrounding the group.

"I do believe so," Ignis stated.

"Great," Gladio sighed. "Let's get the hell outta here and back to Iris."

The freckled blonde nodded in agreement. "Right behind ya on that one, big guy."

<--------<<<<<<<

On the trek back to Old Lestallum, Erra reappeared with a jubilant neigh. (Y/n) was glad to see her steed wasn't injured or captured by the empire. "Good boy, Erra," she smiled from the saddle of Ignis' chocobo. The horse followed beside the smaller animal for a few seconds before disappearing into a plume of smoke.

As the five were crossing the highway, numerous of black vehicles sped in their direction on both sides. The boys pulled their chocobos to a quick halt as all the cars slammed on brakes.

"Not again," (Y/n) murmured, Ignis being the only one who heard her.

The same group of men who ambushed them on the bridge emerged from the vehicles and circled around them, blocking any points of exit. The leader, Silas, pushed through his lackeys and slowly approached the chocobo Pestilence sat upon behind the royal advisor.

(Y/n) dismounted the bird, earning a glower of disapproval from Ignis. She crossed her arms with a frown. "Your men are in the way, Silas."

When the boys thought the leader of the gang was going to grab her, they were shocked when they saw him fall to his knees instead. "I beg of you, Pestilence. Grant us your power and we'll purge all of Eos of those who refuse to see the real beauty behind the Four Horsemen."

Her (e/c) gaze sharpened into a deadly glare, a bright flame lit in her eyes. "A desperate man never finds resolve. He only discovers more pessimism and desires to eradicate all."

Silas shook his head. "No! I only desire your power! Nothing more, nothing less."

"I should eliminate you where you stand," she hissed. "Leave before I act irrationally."

The man lashed out and grabbed the girl's arms tightly. "You will give me your-ah!"

(Y/n)'s eyes widened in shock when she saw the dagger embedded in Silas' shoulder. She recognized it as one of Ignis' blades and looked over her shoulder to see he had dismounted his chocobo alongside the others.

"Damn you!" Silas growled, glaring past the Horseman to meet Ignis' gaze as he ripped the blade from his flesh. He raised his hand in the air, signaling his men. They pointed their firearms at the four boys with their fingers resting on the triggers.

Before Silas could order his men to shoot, (Y/n) acted quickly. Her eyes scanned the crowd. One by one, men crumpled to the ground with blood oozing from their mouths, noses, and eyes. Many vomited blood before their bodies became lifeless. The only ones to survive her gaze were a couple of lackeys and Silas himself.

The man in front of her looked around after hearing his men fall. "N-No!"

(Y/n) stumbled backwards after feeling her own blood dripping from her ears and eyes. As she was about to fall to her knees, an arm wrapped around her waist and kept her from falling. Looking to see who caught her, she saw a familiar pair of beautiful jade eyes.

Ignis supported her body with his and used his other hand to wipe the blood excreting from her eyes. He was puzzled as to why she was bleeding in such a way. "What is the cause of such bleeding?"

"Exhaustion. If I exhaust my plague ability, some of the side effects rebound and affect my body," she explained just above a whisper, eyes fluttering and threatening to close. "I'll be fine..." (Y/n) used the remaining of her strength to stand on her own.

Ignis was reluctant to let her go, but he knew she could be stubborn when it came to her own well-being.

The Horseman decided to summon Erra and ride back on him to avoid getting blood on Ignis. She slipped a few times while trying to mount the horse, but she finally was able to climb on his back. She followed behind the four chocobos up the road, but she didn't make it far before her body slumped forward and she lost consciousness.

[sparklecryptid]

and the snakes start to sing

WARNING FOR: EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE, MEDICAL TRAUMA

Hesperia thinks she knows what love is. Her father feeds her, calls her a pretty thing and pats her on the shoulder when she does something pleasing. It doesn’t matter that he has no interest in her drawings, that he tells her to shut up when she sings. He is her father and he loves her.

Hesperia is ten years old and thinks that she knows what love is.

__

Hesperia knows her father is a busy man. She knows that as the princess of an evergrowing empire she has to be useful, she has to help her empire in whatever way possible. Hesperia thinks she’s doing a good thing, giving small gifts of food to the maids and servants. She knows that ever since the Blizzard had covered their lands that many are struggling to make ends meet.

The Imperial Princess thinks she is doing something to help. She doesn’t understand why her father seems to think otherwise.

Her cheek still stings from where his hand had connected with her face and while she doesn’t understand why he hit her she knows it must have been because she was bad.

Only bad girls get hit after all.

Hesperia doesn’t want to be a bad girl. And when her father hands her off to his General’s to be trained she doesn’t complain no matter how much it hurts.

She’s a good daughter. She has to be.

___

Hesperia is twelve when she meets the Oracle. She is twelve and a Good Daughter, she has seen battlefields, watched men die by her lance and her gun and she thinks that it’s worth it for even the mildest praise from her father.

She’s a weapon, but that’s what her people need, that’s what her father needs so it’s okay.

The Oracle, Luna, blinks up at her and Hesperia wonders if Luna has always been so pretty.

“You’re Hesperia?” Luna asks, her head tilted though fear shines through her eyes.

“Yes,” Hesperia says, “I am. You’re the Oracle.”

“I’m Luna,” the blond girl stresses and Hesperia wonders why the other girl put such stock in her name.

Hesperia blinks at her.

“You’re weird,” Hesperia tells Luna.

“So are you,” Luna says and Hesperia knows that what Luna says is true. Hesperia aches something fierce with each life she takes and she doesn’t know why but she does know that she shouldn’t.

Her father’s general’s don’t.

She shouldn’t either.

Hesperia keeps visiting Luna.

“Do you like sweets?” Luna asks one day, “I was- I was allowed into the kitchens today and I brought up some cupcakes.”

Hesperia cocks her head to the side and stares at Luna.

“I don’t remember,” Hesperia admits.

Shock writes itself on Luna’s face and Hesperia lets the other girl grab her and push her into a chair. Luna moves over to the small fridge in her room and comes back with two cupcakes.

“Take both,” Luna orders, “Their yours.”

“You should have one,” Hesperia argues, “You’re the one that got them.”

“I am,” Luna agrees, “But how are you going to pick a favorite if you don’t try both.”

Hesperia frowns before an idea crosses her mind. She bends down and pulls a knife from her boot. Ignoring how Luna flinches at the sight she cuts both cupcakes in half.

“There,” Hesperia says, satisfied, “Now we both get half.”

Luna looks at her and laughs. “ ‘Peria,” she says, “You are the best.”

__

Nothing good lasts forever. And it was only a matter of time before Iedolas found out that Hesperia liked someone.

It was only a matter of time before he did something about it.

Luna is talking, telling Hesperia about the Astrals as her hands weave braids into the Imperial Princess’s hair.

“Ifrit the Infernian,” Luna says, “Was Shiva’s lover.”

“They broke up?”

Luna laughs. “Something like that, rather-” The door slams open causing the shelves on the wall to rattle and the contentment Hesperia had felt disappears in an instant as she recognizes Glauca standing in the doorway.

Her purple hair falls from Luna’s hands, the braid unfinished as Glauca strides forward he stops in front of the two sitting girls.

“Lunafreya Nox Fleuret,” the warped voice comes, “Come with me.” Hesperia can’t explain what happened next, why she suddenly stood and blocked Luna from Glauca’s view, All she knows is that she is afraid of what Glauca will do to the Oracle, terrified of what could become of her-

of her friend.

“Leave her alone,” Hesperia tells Glauca. She can feel the gaze boring down on her from behind his mask, can feel the way he looks at her and deems her useless because she’ll never be the weapon he is.

Glauca doesn’t answer, his hand lands heavy on Hesperia’s shoulder and he throws her into the wall hard enough that the last thing she feels before she loses consciousness is the warmth of blood seeping through her hair.

The last thing she hears is Luna’s scream.

__

Hesperia wakes to white walls and a cell.

She hates that she knows where she is, that she has seen the cells from the outside before but she never thought that she would see the inside of one. 

Her father loves her after all. He wouldn’t put her in one unless she deserved it but Hesperia is a Good Daughter so why is she in a cell?

Why has her father given her to Verstael of all people? She’s been good she hasn’t helped anyone in ages why is she here-

The burning at the back of her eyes signal tears and she lets them fall, not truly aware of why she’s crying.

__

They make her kill. They train her and make her kill. The strap her to stretchers and shove needles into her and she screams but its muffled by the gag in her mouth. After, they make her fight until she collapses. They make her fight until her arms tremble and her knees quake. Until her eyes drop and the lance falls from her grip.

They make her until she’s almost dead. Hesperia is certain of that.

She wishes she knew what she did wrong.

She wishes that she still had Luna.

___

They put her in front of the Infernian and it is then she realizes that they want her to die. She stills, the lance in her hand heavier than rock and she wonders-

Did her father ever love her? She doesn’t have an answer, she wants to believe that he did but Hesperia is going to die and she doesn’t have time to find the answer.

Ifrit looks at her, and she wonders what he sees. But Hesperia is tired, tired, and lonely and afraid and she wants Luna and her gentle touch. She wants to eat cupcakes with her friend again, she wants to listen to the maids gossip and laugh with her before they all became afraid of her.

Hesperia wonders, as Ifrit comes closer, as his flames lick her skin, if this is what the sun felt like.

She can’t remember.

“You’re warm,” she tells Ifrit, afraid but calm. It is as though she is there but not.

She sets her lance on the ground and leans closer to the gods fire.

What do you want? she thinks she hears him ask.

“I want to see the sun again,” Hesperia tells the god, “I want to eat cupcakes with Luna and give food to the maids. And I want to hear people laugh. I want-” a sob rips itself out of her throat “-I want a home.”

I want to be loved, is what she doesn’t say, for what could love a monster like her?

The god looks at her.

She thinks thats how a father should look at someone.

That’s her last thought as fire engulfs her vision.

___

Later, she picks her way out of the rubble.

Later, she stumbles through the cold with snow melting beneath her feet.

The sun rises, the world turns and she doesn’t know what to do.

Insomnia, the god in her head whispers.

Luna, Hesperia thinks, I want to see Luna. Yet she thinks of slamming doors and being forced to kill.

She thinks of cages and her father.

“Insomnia,” she says softly, to herself, “To Insomnia.”

She wonders if the Noct Luna liked so much is still there.

She wonders if she’ll be made to fight there as well.

[oodanijadeoo]

Nature’s Balance (Ardyn x OC) Chapter 3

“Noct and I have conferred with Cindy,” Ignis had Noctis in tow, meeting Vendrixia halfway between the shop and an irritated Gladio. “She has informed us of a pest problem. If we take care of that we will be able to replenish part of our funds.”

“Alright,” Vedrixia sighed, ready to blow off some steam. “What kind of pests are we talking?”

“Reapertails, apparently,” Noctis huffed. “Come one, let’s go get this over with,” Noctis walked off to fetch Prompto and Gladio, leaving Ignis and Vedrixia to their own devices. 

“So, Ms. Astar-”

“Vedrixia or Drix, please, Ignis.”

“Er, right, Vedrixia. Well, are you ready to go on a small expedition? I know it wasn’t exactly on the itinerary.”

“It’s perfectly fine, Ignis,” She reassured him. “I’m along for the ride for whatever needs to be done to get the young Highness to his wedding. Besides, a few little reapertails? Piece of cake. I could do well to get a little practice in during our extended trip anyway,” Vedrixia shook out her arms in anticipation. Noticing Ignis’ gaze drift to her hand Vedrixia followed, but saw nothing of concern. Raising her head, she watched as Ignis furrowed his eyebrows, eyes glazed as he was lost in thought. 

Hearing the clambering shouts of the three boys making their way back, Ignis’ focus returned to him and he shook his head, raising it back to meet Vedrixia’s gaze.

“Uh, where did you go?” She chuckled.

“Away, it would seem,” he said, adjusting his glasses. “I apologize, I thought I saw something but it must’ve been a sun glare from my glasses,” he took them off now, inspecting the lenses.

“Alright guys, let’s roll out!” Prompto exclaimed. His face then dropped, “Oh, wait,” as he dejectedly remembered the group’s lack of transportation.

“Yeah, no car yet, bud,” Drix sighed sympathetically.

“Time for a hike!” Gladio said with a sideways grin as his clasped Prompto’s shoulder, roughly rocking him from side to side. 

With the retinue back together, they began making their way through the desert in search of the reapertail packs.

Ignis motioned for them all to crouch behind a large boulder, “Looks like we’ve located our first targets. Ready, Noct?”

With that, Noctis immediately warped to a nearby tower, dangling by the hilt of his weapon. The blue glow from the summon had yet to fade before he found his mark, launching down to pin a reapertail to the ground with his blade. 

Ignis and Prompto were quick to follow, throwing bullets and blades with deadly precision. Drix and Gladio didn’t even have the chance to get in on the action before the three reapertails were dispatched with.

“Excellent work,” Ignis said, dusting off his gloved hands. “On we go.”

The group only had to walk a short distance before coming across the second small pack. They fell behind another boulder and Vedrixia summoned one of her daggers, spinning it in her hand with anticipation, Ignis taking note.

“A fan of daggers, I see?” Ignis questioned quietly. She sent an eager grin his way.

“Want to test out how reapertails fare against two dagger-wielders?” She asked, growing more excited by the second.

There was a new glint in Ignis’ eye, “I believe I might.”

With that, the two of them launched from behind the boulder and found themselves back-to-back, daggers being thrown at a dazzling pace. Each reapertail quickly went down swiftly and elegantly. As the last two were left, Ignis and Drix slowly followed the two remaining reapertails as they circled the duo.

Prompto’s jaw hit the floor as the scene before him happened with such precision, he thought time itself had slowed.

“Now, Drix!” Ignis shouted. He reached out with two daggers, slicing the legs of the reapertail in front of him. Just as he began to spin to face Drix, she threw herself into the air, backflipping over Ignis to land her daggers in the back of the reapertail’s neck, sending blue lightning bolts all down its body. Ignis swiftly slit the throat of the remaining reapertail with an icy blade. 

When the final reapertail fell, the deadly pair met each other’s gaze with labored breaths and smiled.

“Well, that was exciting,” Vedrixia said, her wild grin plastered on her face.

“Indeed,” Ignis straightened back up to his full height.

Prompto, recovering from his shock began to clap enthusiastically, “Whoa! I didn’t know you could move like that, Iggy!”

“I suppose the opportunity had not previously presented itself,” Ignis responded, adjusting his sleeves as he cast Drix a smile.

Noctis was still staring dumbfounded at the pair when Gladio grabbed him by the shoulders, directing him to the next location as he ground out a simple, “Let’s move.”

After finishing off the last pack of reapertails Noctis’ phone began to ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Cindy. How goes the huntin’?”

“Actually, we just finished.”

“That’s great, cause I got one more hunt for you y’all. Only this time, it’s a person. Fella named Dave went off and we ain’t heard from him since. Reckon he staked out a spot in an old shack nearby.”

“Old shack…” Noctis said, looking around. Vedrixia began to look as well, overhearing the conversation. The Prince’s phone volume was up so high he might as well have had Cindy on speaker.

Drix and Noctis spotted the shack at the same time, “Got it, we’ll take a look.”

The group made their way forward to a  run-down, rickety-looking shack. Vedrixia and Ignis were the first to enter.

“Not a very structurally sound place to camp out at,” Vedrixia said as she ran her hand along the rough grain of the wooden wall.

“No,” Ignis commented. “I suppose not.”

Noctis came to a pause at the table next to Drix, “What’s this?” Noctis picked up a flyer.

Mutant Dualhorn Sighting Codename; Bloodhorn Characteristics: Red tusks, extremely violent Outstanding bounty on Sabertusks in the area

Ignis unleashed a shout, “NOCT!”

Everyone turned to see a pack of Sabertusks racing into the shack, one going toward each of them. However, each animal was swiftly disposed of. 

“You okay?” Prompto asked to no one in particular.

“We are now,” Gladio responded, cracking a potion over his chest.

Heading outside, Gladio noticed another shack that looked suspiciously like the one Cindy had described.

“Hey, what about that shack over there?” 

Each member followed Gladio’s gaze, spotted a nearby shack being conveniently circled by Sabertusks.

Vedrixia sighed, “Are those daemonic overgrown cats everywhere out here?”

“Looks like it,” Prompto chuckled. “Here kitty, kitty, kitty,” he crooned before receiving a swift elbow to the stomach from Drix.

“Alright,” Prompto wheezed. “Point taken.”

Ignoring the antics of Drix and Prompto, Ignis stated, “I suggest we take cover behind that boulder and come up with a strategy.”

~~~

“Hey! Who’s out there?” 

The winded retinue turned toward the sound, weapons still out and ready for another Sabertusk to come running their direction.

And older man hobbled out of the shack, clearly wounded. He had a worn appearance, tattoos running up his arms with dog tags around his neck. He leaned against the doorframe of the rickety building.

“And look who’s here,” Gladio said with a flourish. “Man of the hour. Dave, right? We’ve been lookin’ all over for you.”

“Didn’t mean to cause y’all trouble,” Dave’s head lowered slightly in shame. “Been stuck here on account of my sprained ankle. Somethin’ funny about them varmits. I gave ‘em hell but couldn’t finish the job. Still one mean mutt about. Y’all don’t look much like hunters, but whaddaya say? Put that puppy to rest for me?”

“Oh, yeah,” Noctis said, surprising the entire group. “We’ll do it for free.”

Vedrixia wondered if the Prince had hit his head a little too hard when he was knocked down by a Sabertusk.

“Y’all got guts, that’s for sure,” Dave said, a bit exasperated but clearly thankful. “Lemme tell y’all where I last saw it.”

~~~

Ignis walked up alongside the Prince, “A word, Noct?”

“Yeah?”

“It would be wise to rest up before we set out.”

Noctis looked around, noting the setting sun, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Excellent. I shall inform the others. There is a nearby haven where we can stay the night,” Ignis replied with a nod of his head, turning to go inform the others.

[ffxv-chocoheadcanons]

Oh boy a new FFXV blog!! So excited to read the headcanons and stories you write! Request: The bros are fighting against a daemon and just before they are able to kill it, it emits a toxin, hitting their crush. This toxin puts said crush into a kind of "sleeping death" state and the bros actually think they're dead. How would they react a.) when it happened, and b.) when the toxin wears off some time later? Fluff and confessions abound!! Good luck with your new blog!! ^_^

Hello! i hope you like them im trying to get them done faster, but it takes a day or two to write them ;w; and this was a hard request to do in trying not to have them so similar, but lets see how this goes!

Note after making this: HOLY SHIT THIS TOOK A WHOLE DAY, 9am - 3:06am holy shit this was hard, please love it.. im sorry if its bad ;w; i tried so hard to get this done, im done go night i need my bed, my Arthritis is flaring up so bad in my back, legs and hands ahh this hurts. please do enjoy!

Word count:4583

They were not ready for the deamon that game up from the ground right under them. Camp wasn’t to far as the sun was already down. Startled and in a small daze you didn’t summon your weapon fast enough turning away ready to be crushed under the blade of the deamon, but it never came. No death no pain but the loud cry from Noctis as he blocked the attack taking you from the ground getting you on your feet.

“You okay?” he asked with consent in his voice. You gave a nod before summoning you’re weapon now having time to think for a moment before rushing into battle. Tuning on your feet avoiding blow after blow the deamon was becoming weaker and weaker. Watching if for a moment thinking it was final going down but with a loud roar the deamon shot a toxin at you all, Gladio summoned his shield as the guys his behind it. Trying to get behind it in time you fell feeling the burning on your face from the toxin as is seeped into your skin.

Noctis

How he reacts

Panics

Pure panic

He falls over his feet to get to you

Grabbing you he pulls you close to him calling your name over and over again. He’s scared. He really is scared. The guys move on and take the deamon out before coming over to him as he is trying to wake you up.

Hes panicked he doesn’t know what to do

He looks to Ignis for some form of help before turning back to you and getting potions out, potions as well as antidotes something anything that might help you.

He doesn’t want to lose you

(and if he thinks lunas already gone because the fall of insomnia) he doesn’t want to lose you like he already lost Luna and his father.

So many people he cares about have died.

Ignis is going to have to force the potions out of Nocts hand talking him down.

They make camp for the night and Ignis gets you settled before Noct heads into the tent worried by the long face that was on Ignis.

When he gets inside seeing you motionless body he sits next to you looking down at you.

Hes hurt, he wants to do something but he can’t

The guys already know about his crush so it’s hard seeing Noct like this.

He didn’t want to eat his dinner when Ignis opened the flap to the tent. No matter how good is smelled or even if it was one of nocts favorite meal he would leave your side.

He would hold your hand and just break because it’s so cold, you feel as if you are already gone.

Already left him.

The guys would stay for a day or two before they really need to think of something.

Gladio and Ignis both agree on taking you to Cape Ceam.

The car ride was silent. No laughs. No warmth around them.

You normally kept them alive when on long car rides and you used to be so upbeat with them and joking.

But here you are you head on Nocts shoulder in his lap as he held you close.

You body cold to the touch.

Getting there Noct wouldn’t let the guys touch you. He held you close his jacket over you’re cold body as he walked. Limp in his arms.

Getting there Iris would answer and start throwing questions the moment she seen you.

He would take you up stairs and into the beds pulling a chair over sitting down and not moving for a while.

How he reacts to when you wake up

You have been asleep for several weeks

Almost a full month

You still cold to the touch and Noct has been not so active

He refuses to leave the place.

He would leave to get food and water but would end up back at the bed.

If they really needed him to leave he would do it but would be snippy and moody the whole time.

You would wake up when iris came to see you and bring things to keep you alive.

She would walk in the door with a few things and see you sitting up holding your head confused.

Dropping them all she would scream your name hugging you in tears.

Confused you pat the girl as she sniffles in your shirt.

What happened? You like fell asleep for a moment when you got hit by the deamon.

Why was she crying?

Did the guys do something?

Who do you have to murder

She would finally sit up rubbing her face and fumble to get her cellphone out her hands shaking as she calls Noctis.

He would answer with a sharp tone in his voice but stop the moment she tells him you’re awake.

It didn’t take long for the guys to get there. Noctis used one of iggys daggers and warped to the top of the stairs the moment he got inside.

Confused on hearing the loud thump and Nocts appearing in the door

you freeze like a deer in headlights.

The look he is giving you is filled with pain.

He walks past Iris to you as you open your mouth to ask him what’s wrong but his lips meet yours and it’s a hard kiss.

You had a small crush on the prince for a while but why was he acting like this.

Letting him kiss you he held your face in his hands looking you over. Almost as if you were fake.

Sitting on the side of the bed he explains what happened.

“y/n… we thought well.. I thought you were going to leave us.. I.. it was the acid from the deamon we fought.” noct reaches for your hand taking it in his. He was shaking so bad as he felt the tears run down his face. “I thought i lost you for good.. I keep losing people and i didnt want to lose you as well” he let the tears ceom free something he never did often.

Normally Noct held all his tears inside as well as his emotions but now now he was coming undone. You felt your heart thump louder as you moved your hand to wipe the tears away from his face. He never came undone like this you never seen him like this. Pulling him closer to you’re frame sitting up his head fell on your shoulder letting his shoulders shake some leaning your head on his rubbing his back. He needed to get these emotions he held in for so long out.

“Y/n… i know this might be a bad time, but i need to tell you this i wanted to tell you before all of this but i want to tell you know, i love you, i love you so much” he said turning his head looking in your e/c eyes. Giving him a soft smile leaning into him. “About time you said something” you sigh hissing his head and hugging him as he wraps his arms around you as well tears that ran down his face slowly moving down and dripping onto the bed and you. He didn’t want to let go. He was scared he might lose you again.

Prompto

How he reacts

He screams

He screams your name and bolts out from behind Gladios shield when the guys let him go. Rushing to your side he falls to his knees hand sout not sure where to touch you. It takes him a moment but he reaches for your shoulders turning you so you’re on you’re back and shakes you some calling you name.

He’s in tears they are running down his face and he’s a mess.

Hes leaning over you confused.

Why won’t you wake up

Please.. Please he needs to see your eyes

He wants to hear you laugh again

He wants you to make silly poses for pictures again

You’re alive! You HAVE TO BE!

When the guys defeat the monster they come back to you and Prompto.

Prom is refusing to let you go destroyed. He was going to tell you at camp later today how he felt about you. He was going to confess to his feelings. He wanted to tell you he loved you.

Now, maybe just maybe he never got the chance to tell you that.

Gladio had to pick him up as he struggled to get from his arms shouting that something was wrong with you, you didn’t wake up, you aren’t breathing.

Ignis leans down taking your pulse and what not to confirm you are still alive, but barely.

The guys get you to a hotel room. Prompto’s request. He sits on your bed glancing over at you every few second. His Camera in his hand as he is flipping through pictures. Some of the guys and him but several of them of you.

Wide awake bright and glowing you’re you’re h/l h/c a bright smile on your lips. Laughing and making funny poses for him.

Noctis come to talk to prompto on how he was feeling. He doesn’t say anything to him. Ignis stands silent for a moment before turning to gladio and Noct. “Why don’t we go into the diner across the street for a meal tonight?” Gladio gets up and so does Noct.

“You going to be fine?” Noct asked prompto but only got a nod from his best friend.

Leaving with the others Prompto sits still for a moment looking at his Camera of you leaning on him with a smile alongside him. A single droplet hits the scream as he turns the camera away using his other hand to hide his face in letting himself fall apart again.

Why.. Why did this happen.

It took some time but he turned to you brushing some hair back on your head before sniffling.

“Why.. why didn’t you get to us in time.. Please please wake up soon.. I miss you.. No Six i love you i wanted to tell you tonight under the stars that i loved you” he leans forward placing a kiss on your head before leaning his forehead on yours tears hitting your face he he wipes his tears from your face.

He is scared to touch you.

You’re not warm anymore.

You’re ice cold to his fingers.

He doesn’t like the fact he can’t hear or see you breath

It’s so shallow. He thinks he will lose you and he will never let you know how he feels about you.

He’s broken for so long.

He refuses to talk and move all he does is look at his camera while the guys are trying to make a plan on what to do with you.

How he reacts to when you wake up

The guys agreed to move you to the Hunters HQ

It was the closest place as well as something they needed to figure out what happened

They knew the most about the things.

You had been trapped in you’re sleep for almost 2 months.

It’s been hard on Prompto.

Hes so frail now and quiet.

He feels like you’re on the edge of death.

He came to visit you again after a hunt.

Sitting on the side of the bed he ran his hand over you’re cold face. “Hey… im back again.. Things went will with our hunt today”

He was silent for a while and sighed feeling a tear slide down his face again. Reaching out for your hand he feels it twitch and he freezes.

You mumble something you eyes blinking open and groan in pain at the sudden bright light.

Prompto is frozen. You awake, you’re AWAKE!

He screams your name and clings onto you’re crying into your shirt. His face in your chest as his body shakes with cries. He rambling on how much he missed you. He thought you died and he loves you so much.

It takes you a moment to catch all that’s going on but smile and take your hand running it into his blonde hair.

You mumble his name you’re voice hoarse and dry and take a breath as he looks up at you with his violet eyes glossed over by tears.

You smiled at him. It’s been a long time you wanted to see this blonde person. With a painful smile you run your fingers in his hair. “Prom-”

“You’re back.. I’m so happy you’re back i missed you so much-”

“Prompto… i know i hurd you” He stopped for a moment looking at you.

“What do you mean?” he asked rubbing his eye for a moment to see your face better without the tears.

“I hurd it all, what you said everyday.. Thank you” he smiled.

“I wanted to keep you up to date on us all” he didn’t want to let you go. Wrapping your arms around him you took in the silence of having him hold onto you not wanting to leave you alone.

“Prompto? Did you mean what you said ? that you loved me?” you asked looking at his face. Prompto was silent for a while before he nods looking away. He was flustered he let it slip so many times. He wanted to tell you and all this time he thought you never hurd him. With a smile on your face you cupped his face pulling it closer for a kiss on his sweet lips. It was warm and welcoming kiss. Prompto leaned in closer with a smile on his face as you pulled away some. “I love you to Prompto” you smiled as you felt a tear slide down your face. You wanted to tell him for so long. Each and every day you laid with your eyes closed you wanted to tell him.

Gladio

How he Reacts

He felt his chest tighten.

His heart skipped a beat

Watching you scream in horror and go limp his head snapped.

When the toxins are no long in the hair he’s rushing into battle

Hes filled with rage

Anger

Everything between pain and anger his hit with a wave of emotions and he takes it out on the deamon.

One the deamon is dead he will look over to your body hoping you got up.

But all he is greeted with is ignis holding you in his arms trying to get a response from you.

All Gladio can think is that you’re gone.

You left him alone

Well not only him but the guys.

You used to be so cheerful

Never did shy away when he would flirt with you.

Why

He told you the night before how he felt but you wanted some time to think.

You told him you would tell him that night on what you thought of it.

He agreed and kept to himself that day and acted as if nothing happened the night before.

He’s scared to get closer. He wants to cry. He really does.

He shouts your name his voice filled with emotions as he gets to your body in iggy’s hands.

Gladio gently takes you from Iggy and looks you over in his arms.

The guys didn’t say anything as they knew of the request from the night before. 

Noctis was spying on you two with Prompto when they hurd him ask at the edge of Camp. 

surprised both of them fled before this could get horrible for their eyes to see.

The guys didn’t know about your answer by by how Gladio was acting. Something happened last night that brought you two closer.

They made a camp that night in a nearby haven. Gladio didn’t want to go into the tent that night as he sat there thinking about you. The way you looked and how your eyes would light up with the glow of the campfire.

You took his breath away when he would see you smile.

But now, now he didn’t know if he could ever see your face light up like it has done before. It takes him some time and talking to from ignis to go into the tent and to sit by your side incase you did wake up.

Gladio agreed and went into the tent.

He stopped the moment he seen you

Laying there in a bedrool face resting as if you are asleep.

Sitting on the ground he felt a tear slide down his face before he could catch it but let it fall touching your hands that resting on your middle.

Cold

That’s all he felt

Cold under his large warm hands.

He sat there before Ignis came inside of the tent telling Prompto and Noct to sit by the fire.

He talks with Gladio about what happened.

He knows about these deamons and what they do to people.

Gladio felt his heart sink more.

Ignis suggested to take you to Cape caem with Talcot and Gladios younger sister iris.

Gladio didn’t want to take you there, no it would be hard on is sister he didn’t want to watch her suffer but he needed to.

They needed to get you someplace safe and have someone watch you.

Gladio held you in the car. He didn’t say anything but held you close. He wanted to try and warm up up in some way. But no matter what you always felt cold.

Leaving you there was the hardest thing he could ever do. He didn’t want to let you go he was scared to leave. But he couldn’t stand seeing you like this.

How he reacts to when you wake up

He has been gone for a while. He left for some time. The guys had no idea how to find him.

He wouldn’t answer his phone he just disappeared for a while.

Gladio had to leave for some time because he needed to clear his head.

He wanted to be ready to know that he could lose you any day.

He came back almost 2 months later. It was in the middle of the night. The guys all fell asleep and he walked into Iris room where she was still asleep. He did his best not to wake her. Sitting on your bed he looked at your face.

Still to peaceful like a dream then the last time he seen you.

Iris shifts in her own bed making him freeze for a second before going back to you. He feels horrible for leaving but he needed to clear his mind. Getting ready to leave in the semi dark room he stood up and places a kiss on your head.

Gladio didn’t want to leave but he knew the guys would he angry at him if the found him. Holding your hand tighter he felt a tear glide down his face into the stubble on his face. Leaning his forehead on yours he chewed his lip to keep quiet.

“I love you so much y/n, i’m sorry but i’m going to leave again.. Please wake up.. I want to see you hear you’re again” he kissed your nose then you’re lips letting them linger for a while before he stood up turning away letting your hand go but stopped feeling cold fingers grab his wrist in a weak tug.

“Gladio” you’re voice was faint and horse from being asleep for so long. Gladio froze turning his head around so fast it could have snapped his neck. “Please.. Dont go again” you whimpered feeling tears fall down your face. You could hear everyone. Each day of being asleep you wanted to scream to them. Tell them you’re there and you can hear them. You are here and want them to know, stop worrying about you.

Gladio choked on a sob as he gripped you tightly taking you’re smaller fame into his arms and refused to let you go. He quietly sobbed in your arms gripping you like if he let go he would lose you all over again.

A Light turned on in the room as Iris gasped. She looked at the people before her. Gladio clutching onto you as he tried to keep his sobs quiet. You finally awake letting him holding on scared that if you close your eyes again or let him go you wouldn’t wake up again.

“Gladio! y/n!” Iris beamed before taking into account that you might want some alone time. Getting up from her bed her bare feet moved over the wooden floors as she made her way for the guys room knocking on the door asking to come in.

Gladio didnt care what anyone seen at this moment. He didnt care what they said all he cared about at the moment was he had you in his arms again. Alive, awake and breathing, moving and everything.

“Y/n, i love you so much, please please forgive me for leaving you” you didn’t say anything as you held back you’re own sobs. Only a nod before he crashed his lips into yours again. Taking a while before he broke away he moved his roug large hand and wiped away tears.

“I love you to” you said softly leaning into his hand not wanting to look away from those bright amber eyes.

Ignis

How he reacts

His blood ran cold.

He shouted your name when he noticed you wouldn’t get behind the shield fast enough.

Watching you fall he wanted to run after you himself

His was something he didn’t think Iggy would do.

Gladio had to grab him and hold him back as the toxins hit you’re skin.

Ignis knew what it did

He knew what deamon this was

He tried to tell them before they ran into battle.

No one listened to him.

When Gladio let you go to finish the deamon he fell to you’re side looking over you’re skin watching as the toxins seemed into your skin away from his sight.

“You’re going to be fine y/n”

That was the only thing he could say. Over and over again as he tried to think of something, anything he could remember to help you.

Nothing came into his mind as he tried a few special potions he had stashed away.

When the fight was over the rest of them walked over to iggy as he frantically tried almost everything he could.

Gladio had to place his hand on iggys to get his attention.

Ignis started to explain the deamon and the toxins it used.

The guys didn’t say anything but looked at your body as it slept. You’re body grew colder and colder as Ignis held you there.

“We are leaving for a hotel room tonight” he said picking you up and turning away from the guys. They never seen Iggy like this. Something was off about how he was acting. Gladio knew what it was.

He was the only one who new about the crush became he asked Gladio about a pick up line once.

Ignis placed you between Gladio and Noctis for them to hold you still as he drove. He removed his jacket and placed it around your body. As he drove to the closest hotel he kept looking back at your body as your head would move to the side of each turn or small movement of the car.

“Gladio, hold y/n head still.. They will hurt there neck if it keeps moving like that”

When the hotel room was bought Gladio carried you inside as Ginis did not show any emotions on his face.

It was blan

Nothing

The guys were trying to figure something out, maybe trying to get iggy to talk to them?

He seemed to be the most stressed about this whole thing.

Prompto, Noct and Gladio wanted to head to the dinner and asked Iggy to come along but he said he wanted to stay with you and keep trying to wake you.

Once the guys leave he removes his glasses and sits on the other side of the bed watching you’re sleeping form.

The shallow rise and fall of your chest.

Then he loses it.

He lets tears fall down his cheeks. He held it in all this time and put his hands over his face letting a small sob come from his mouth.

He didn’t want it to come to this.

He was starting to get scared

So many people die in this state

And so many never wake up again.

He talks to the the hotel manager and request that they stay there and will pay him to let them.

He agrees and they stay there for awhile.

How he reacts to when you wake up

Ignis would be sitting in the hotel room for the past 2 months.

reading books over every deamon known. He has been trying to wake you for so long.

Hes heart broken.

He has feelings for you he never though he would be able to admit

He would talk to you every day

And so would the guys

One day they needed gil

And they left telling iggy they will be back.

Ignis lets them and looks back to your body

His heart was jumping out of his chest again

It hurt seeing you still like this.

He started to think he would never see you’re bright e/c eyes again.

How love how you enjoyed his food

Or helped him cook from time to time

Ignis is sitting on the side of your bed as he started to chat. It was something he tends to do because some victims can still hear. He didn’t want to let you feel lonely in this slumber that claim you. He started to calm about random things. From how the guys are small rants about Noct not eating and being picky again. Small things that he used to talk to you all the time about. After some time he stops and his voice fades away as he comes to realize something. He keeps calling you Love and dear.

His head leaps out of his chest as he sighs. As he leans forward his hands on his face as he takes his glasses off holding them in his other hand.

“Y/n.. i am sorry i couldn’t keep you safe from the deamon love.. Please forgive me.. I love you so much” he said as the tears left him again. His heart swelled as he thinks about you. He wants nothing more to wrap his arms around you kissing you. He jumps out of his skin when he feels someone touch on his back.

“Ignis…” you’re voice was soft and almost dead silent as it came out. Turning to face you he reached out a hand scared to touch you. Scared if he moved his hand wrong you would shatter under his touch.

“You’re awake….” he said softly before leaning in closer to you. He froze as you moved the rest of the way catching his lips in a sweet kind kiss. A smile fell on your face looking at him. Pulling away some you looked at him.

“Did you mean that? You love me?” Ignis is silent for a while but nods and kisses your head.

“I do mean that love.. Please sit up and let me get you something to eat and drink” you nod before giving him a soft kiss again.

“Six y/n.. I love you so much”“I love you to Ignis…”

[marmolita]

deleted scenes from heart & soul

Hey so there was a bunch of stuff I cut from heart and soul because it wasn’t pushing the plot forward, but I hate throwing away stuff I wrote, so here you go!  Uncertain if this will ever make it back into anything or not.

Noctis/Ignis and Noctis/Gladio and Noctis/Ignis/Gladio, D/s-verse.  Unfinished because this is deleted material, it was supposed to be a callback to the beginning but?  Eh.

*** "It'll be the exhibition match on Thursday afternoon, then the swearing-in ceremony Friday evening, then the banquet right after," Ignis says, thumbing through email on his phone as he pulls on his clothes.  "Gladio, I assume you'll have His Highness in top form for the exhibition?"

"'Course I will.  He's been training with the Glaives for the last couple weeks, right Noct?"  Gladio prods Noctis with the ball of his foot, and Noctis swats him away.

Laying back on the pillows, Noctis says, "As long as I don't have to go against Nyx I'll be fine.  That guy could kick Gladio's ass."

"Yes, well.  I'm sure he'd let you win for show anyway," Ignis says as he buttons up his shirt.

"I don't want to win for show -- that wouldn't help with the whole filling-in-for-my-dad in the ceremony.  People already think I'm too young, or too weak, or too . . . whatever."

Ignis sits on the bed next to him, setting a hand on Noct's knee through the blanket.  "Don't worry about what they think.  You're going to do just fine."

"You think so?"

Ignis leans in and kisses him, soft and light.  "I know so."

*

The exhibition is in the courtyard, with bleachers erected on both sides.  Gladio eyes the crowd briefly, then turns to survey the arena.  "Don't forget the Glaives can warp just as well as you can," he murmurs in Noct's ear.  "You can't just warp out of the way and think you'll be able to hang out and catch your breath."

"Right," Noctis says, and Gladio can read his nerves in his tone of voice.

"You're fast, and you're flexible.  The magic is yours, it's not borrowed.  If you want to swap weapons you can probably do it faster than they can.  Don't forget to watch your back, and watch your left side -- they probably know you're a little weaker there."

"Got it."  Noctis is clenching and unclenching his hands, like he's ready to pull his blade from the ether, but his eyes are still darting around the crowd.  Gladio steps in front of him to block his view, forcing Noctis to look up at him.

"You got this," he says.  "Even if you lose, you're gonna put up a good fight and show 'em what you can do."

Noctis takes a deep breath, holds it, then lets it out.  "Thanks," he says, and Gladio claps him on the shoulder.

In the middle of the arena, Drautos raises his arm and the crowd falls quiet.  "Ladies, Gentlemen . . . new recruits," he says expansively, "thank you all for coming.  Today we'll see a demonstration of the power of the Crystal, and the power of the Kingsglaive.  His Royal Highness Prince Noctis will battle one of our fiercest warriors."  Noctis takes another breath, and Gladio can see his public mask settle into place.  He walks out into the arena, smiling and waving.

"Now," Drautos says, "let us see who his opponent shall be."

An assistant brings out a bowl full of scraps of paper and holds it out to Noctis, who reaches in and selects one.  Noctis looks at the paper for a moment, his face carefully blank, then announces, "Nyx Ulric."  Shit.

The audience bursts into applause and Nyx takes the field, grinning.  Drautos backs away to the sidelines, and Noctis summons his Engine Blade in a shower of sparks.  Nyx makes the first move, throwing his short blade and warping straight for Noctis.  Noctis phases through the attack, then swings hard, nearly connecting before Nyx warps away again.

To a layman, what follows is just a blur of blue sparks and phase shadows, clashing blades and flying kicks.  To Gladio, it's Noctis putting in his best effort and having it be just enough to keep him on his feet, barely dodging each of Nyx's attacks.  Their weapons clash together a few times, but the fight is mostly a series of fast warps as the two of them flicker from one end of the arena to the other.

Noctis throws his sword up so it rams into a high post, warping to hang from it briefly, then as Nyx starts to follow him, Noctis yanks the sword from the post, lets it dissolve back into the ether, and pulls out a javelin instead.  He throws, warps, executes a mid-air backflip, and dives down toward Nyx with the javelin in his hand.  For a moment, Gladio's breath catches as he thinks Noctis might just pull this off.

But then, Nyx throws up a crystalline shield, and Noct's attack is blocked entirely.  Before his feet hit the ground, Nyx drops the shield and swings, his blade slicing into Noct's arm.

"First blood to Ulric!" Drautos calls.  Both men drop their weapons and step back, breathing hard.  Gladio's heart is in his throat, waiting to see how Noctis will take his loss.  But Noctis ignores the blood running down his arm and turns to Nyx with a grin.  Nyx executes a perfect bow, and when he rises, Noctis extends a hand to him, which Nyx clasps firmly.

"Your skill is an honor to Lucis," Noctis says, loud enough to carry to the crowd.  "May all the new recruits grow as strong as you."

"You honor me, Your Highness," Nyx replies, appropriately deferential like he never is in training.

Drautos reminds everyone of the ceremony to be held the next day, and the crowd begins to file out as a page brings a potion to heal Noct's arm.  By the time Gladio gets to his side, any sign of the injury is gone.

Noctis keeps his polite smile on until they're alone in the locker room, then sinks onto the bench with a groan.  "Damn it," he says, slamming his fist into his thigh, "why did it have to be Nyx?"

"Hey, that aerial attack with the javelin was quick thinking," Gladio says, tossing Noctis a towel.  "You did good."

"I got my ass handed to me," Noctis grouses.

"But you did it well.  Iggy's gonna be proud of you for how you handled that."

"I'm supposed to swear in the new recruits tomorrow but all they're gonna be thinking is, 'Why should we swear our allegiance to this kid?'  Ugh.  Remind me why Dad can't do this again?"

Gladio sighs.  "His Majesty is tied up with the ambassador from Accordo.  You know that."

"Ugh," Noctis says again, slamming the door to the shower stall on his way in.

*

The ceremony is held in the throne room, with the recruits lined up in formation and Noctis standing in front of the throne.  He holds himself tall, and nobody would know that only minutes before Ignis had been adjusting the drape of his cape and fixing his tie and cufflinks while Noctis frantically repeated his speech over and over.

"On behalf of my father, the king, I welcome you all to the Kingsglaive.  Today you join the ranks of Lucis's most elite warriors, and begin your service to the people and the Crown."  Noctis's voice is strong, and Ignis sees a hint of his father in the tilt of his chin.  He hesitates for a barely detectable moment, then says, "Are you ready to pledge your loyalty?"

As one, the recruits fall to their knees and bow their heads, a hush falling over the room as Noctis descends the stairs.  He approaches the first recruit and lays his hand on the back of her head.  "I give myself in service to the Crown and the Crystal," she says, "and pledge to use the power granted to me to protect the people of Lucis."

"Do you give your life to the Crown?" Noctis asks.  Normally, with Regis performing the ceremony, the line would be, do you give your life to me? but Noctis had felt it would be disingenuous, and Ignis finds he rather agrees.

"I do."

His hand slides around the side of her head and cups her chin, lifting her face.  "Then rise, and join the ranks of the Kingsglaive."  The recruit stands, and Ignis can see the shine in her eyes as she rises.  Noctis smiles at her before moving on to the next recruit.  The ceremony is repeated for the whole group, Noctis taking one oath after another, until the group of them are all standing.

As the audience bursts into applause, Noctis ascends the stairs again.  When he reaches the throne, he materializes his sword and swings it high above his head, then spins it in a flashy circle and slams the point down into the floor in front of him, in the crack left there by this very same ceremony in the past.  "The Crystal welcomes you, as do the people of Lucis," he says strongly, and the newly minted Glaives cross their fists over their chests and bow.

The applause is thunderous, and when it finally starts to die down, Noctis banishes his sword and makes his way down the stairs.  Ignis meets him at the bottom as the recruits and the audience begin to file out of the chamber.  "Well done, Your Highness," he says.

"You think so?  My sword has nothing on Dad's Armiger."

"You saw the look in the recruits' eyes.  They were proud to be swearing their loyalty to you."

"To my dad," Noctis corrects.

"It may have been him in intent, but it was you in practice.  I remember swearing my own oath of loyalty to you, you know."

Noctis laughs.  "You mean when we were kids?"

"We may have been children, but I've always taken it seriously."

Looking at him with a small smile playing at his lips, Noctis says, "Me too."

"Well then," Ignis says, "I believe the banquet is ready to begin."

*

"Ceremony went well," Gladio comments, as he follows at Noct's heels through the ballroom.

"Guess so."  A server proffers a tray of champagne, and Noctis takes two flutes, handing one to Gladio.  "The recruits were probably disappointed Dad wasn't there.  Did you hear how his talks with the ambassador were going?"

"Heard they might be wrapping up early and joining the banquet, anyway."  Gladio leans in a little closer.  "That cape looks good on you."

Noct's eyes narrow and flash, and his lips curl up in a smirk.  "I was gonna take it off, but maybe I'll keep it on after all."

Noctis is seated with Ignis, Drautos, and Cor, the other seats at their table left empty for the king and his entourage.  Gladio takes up his place standing against the wall behind Noctis.  He probably shouldn't be drinking champagne on guard duty, but in a room full of Glaives it's hardly like Noctis will be unprotected.  Noctis is at ease with Drautos and Cor, as the older men give him advice on how he might best Ulric the next time they're paired against each other.

They're most of the way through the first course when King Regis arrives with the Accordan ambassador and Gladio's own father in tow.  As one the room rises, bowing.  Regis strides forward to Noct's table, and Noctis straightens from his own bow as his father places a hand on his shoulder.  "I must apologize for being unable to attend your swearing-in ceremony," Regis says smoothly, addressing the room at large.  "But know that I welcome you into the Kingsglaive with open arms.  Please, don't let me interrupt the feast."  A wave of his hand is all it takes for the servers to move back into action, bringing out more food and wine as Regis sits down next to Noctis.

"Hey, Dad," Noctis says in greeting.  Regis introduces the ambassador to Noctis, and Gladio begins to tune out the conversation. ��It's not until the third course that he notices the Accordan ambassador staring at him.

"Who is that fine gentleman guarding us so stolidly?" the ambassador asks, his eyes wandering over Gladio's body.  Gladio tries not to visibly sigh.  The ambassador, a middle-aged man with graying hair and a frail body, is very much not his type.

"That's my son, Gladiolus," Clarus says.  "He's Shield to Prince Noctis as I am to His Majesty."

"Is that so?  I had thought--  Well, nevermind."

"Thought what?" Noctis asks, a little warily.

"It's just that in Accordo, it's traditional for submissives to kneel behind their dominants, but if they stand instead, it implies that they are . . . available for liaisons.  I thought perhaps he was associated with one of you who might be interested in sharing him."  Gladio frowns, more at the look on Noct's face than on the ambassador's words.  "Of course I would never presume to make assumptions about your son, Lord Clarus.  The traditions of Lucis are very different from those of Accordo."

"No offense is taken, I'm sure," Regis says lightly.  Clarus inclines his head in agreement.

Gladio think that's the end of the conversation, but the ambassador keeps glancing at him throughout the rest of the meal.  When Regis and Clarus take their leave to make the rounds of the room and greet the new recruits and their families, bringing Drautos and Cor along with them, the ambassador eyes Noctis consideringly.

"So, the young man behind you is your Shield, is that right, Highness?" he asks.

"That's right," Noctis says.  Gladio watches Ignis frown; Noct's tone of voice wasn't quite as polite as it should have been, probably.

"And is he also your submissive?"

"A Shield is collared to his king, or his prince, in this case.  It represents the loyalty and dedication that his service requires," Ignis says mildly.

"I see," says the ambassador, "a symbolic collaring."  His eyes are on Gladio again, and Gladio makes himself ignore it.

"Gladio is mine," Noctis says firmly, "in all ways."  While on the one hand it's frustrating that Noctis should feel like he has to claim him, rather than letting Gladio take care of it himself, on the other hand it sends a little thrill through Gladio's nerves to hear those words from Noctis.  As he's still on duty, he holds himself back from making any comment on the matter.

"Ah," the ambassador says, smiling at Noctis.  "I understand.  Perhaps a matter you did not wish to bring up when your fathers were present."  Noctis flushes, averting his gaze, and the ambassador smiles.  "Not to worry, Your Highness, I meant no offense, truly.  A cultural misunderstanding; I'm sure you understand."

"Of course," Ignis says, and Noctis nods.  With that, the ambassador excuses himself, leaving Noctis and Ignis at the table, and Gladio behind them.  "Noct," Ignis chides him, "there's no need to be rude to the ambassador."

"You saw how he was looking at Gladio!" Noctis hisses back.

"I saw it too," Gladio says, finally.  "I could have handled it myself, you know."

Noctis glances up at him, then looks back to his wine glass.  "I don't like it when people think you're just-- when they look at you like you're--"

"A piece of meat?" Gladio asks.

"Available," Noctis finishes.  "Or-- or whatever."

Gladio laughs at the embarrassed look on Noct's face.  Ignis hides a smile behind his hand, then says, "I think we've had enough of this party, don't you?  I hear there's going to be a particularly clear night tonight.  I thought perhaps we might relive the glory days of our youth and sneak out to stargaze."

[fangirlmiv]

What really happened in Steyliff Grove

HighSpecs

Rating: SFW (eventually NSFW)

Genre: Humor/drama

Word count: 4152

So, a long time ago, I wrote a one-shot, Warping what?? https://archiveofourown.org/works/10481478, in which Aranea Highwind had some pretty serious accusations to lay at Ignis’ feet, and Ignis realized that warping can have rather unforeseen results. I always wanted to write how the two lovebirds actually got in bed together, but I just couldn’t get it right. Before now. I have split the fic into smaller parts, and there’s the first. Have 4152 words of Ignis being in denial. Story will get smutty, no worries!

Chapter 1 - Sparring

As dismayed as Ignis is to spot the likeness of Chancellor Ardyn Izunia, the puce-haired weasel himself, just as pleased is he to find out that their “escort” will be the silver-haired woman that they fought at Fort Vaullerey. She has been on his mind more than he cares to admit (and so he has spoken naught about her at all), especially considering the rather blunt comments regarding her “assets” that has been coming from both Gladiolus and Prompto. Ignis is no prude, but those two hormonal dunderheads would no doubt reroute his speculations in decidedly distracting directions. Yes, she is “smokin’ hot”, he is not blind, but that does not make her any less of a treat.

As the Chancellor makes the introductions, Ignis mentally tallies his facts. Aranea Highwind, mercenary turned Imperial Commodore, and a prodigy with the lance. Ignis is a lance-wielder himself, and he knows with some vanity that he is better than most. The Commodore’s mastery, however, is on another level. He is not above admitting to being somewhat jealous. Based on her fighting style, he has surmised that she is probably a Dragoon, a rare class of fighters specializing in aerial movements and fighting primarily with polearms. Dragoons are not native to Insomnia and Ignis does not have much information to go on. He’s tentatively tried to emulate some of her moves, and falling frustratingly short.

He’s quite sure there’s magic or tech, or mix of both, at work. Dragoons are rumored to wield their own variety of elemental magic and she was able to fight eye to eye with Noctis, staying airborne and countering the King move for move. She was a match for the four of them, loathe as he is to admit it. He could still vividly recall her slightly mocking tone as she forfeited the fight.

There is no guarantee they will emerge unharmed from another skirmish, and he was grateful for this change to interact with her, and possibly learn more about her fighting style. And how to counter it, most importantly.

Especially since buying her off is out of the question, given their financial situation.

So, all things considered, the proposed arrangement are two tentative birds in their hand, despite the looming shadow of Chancellor Izunia and his no doubt nefarious plans.  

Beggars cannot be choosers. But they can still be wary of the hand that feeds them.

“I trust you’ll be civil. Commodore Aranea Highwind, I leave them to you,” the Chancellor says, interrupting his speculations. With a flourish of his hat, the Chancellor takes his leave.

“So, special training…” Aranea Highwind says after a tense moment of silence, arms crossed. She looks them up and down with a sardonic mien.

She truly is a striking woman, especially as she is without the spiky, somewhat ridiculous helmet. Though of average height, her slender frame exudes confidence and strength, and her silver hair, a shade he has never seen before, only makes her stand out even more. He wonders if the silver, unless it’s an expert dye-job, is a clue to her origins. He’s never seen hair like that before, and Dragoons are said to originate from somewhere beyond the Imperial Continent. Intriguing, indeed.

“Look, we don’t want any trouble –“ Noctis begins.

“Relax, none taken,” the Commodore interrupts. “As I said, this is your show. I’m getting my gil and the rest is none of my business.”

“Okay, that sounds alright, I guess,” Noctis says, looking sideways at Ignis, who nods discreetly.

“Don’t worry, I don’t bite. Now that the Chancellor has deprived us of his delightful company, let’s get this show on the road. It’s pretty clear that this is to be no ordinary training excursion, your Majesty.”

“Just call me Noctis,” Noctis says tightly. He’s not at all comfortable with the title, and Ignis is grateful when Prompto cuts in.

“Hey, don’t forget about us plebs,” he exclaims.  

“I see you, sunshine,” the Commodore says, turning her attention to Prompto. Predictably, he grins from ear to ear. Noctis and Ignis both roll their eyes behind his back.

“Commodore Highwind,” Ignis begins, trying to get the situation back on track.

She laughs and shakes her head. “First of all, drop the formalities, I’m not your commanding officer. You are the damned opposition. As I see it, I’m here to make sure you get your asses and your loot out of that dungeon in one piece, and that’s it.”

“Might we try an overture of teamwork? It will no doubt make for more effective fighting,” Ignis points out, looking over the Commodores shoulder and into the looming darkness of the dungeon’s entrance. He would like the chance to ask her a few cautious questions, but this is hardly the time or place.

“Sure thing, Four-Eyes, I can do teamwork,” she replies, her voice not exactly hostile. Ignis nearly corrects her, but stops himself. Aranea Highwind likes her nicknames and he doesn’t think he can make her change her style of address. So, Four-Eyes it is. He’s heard worse.

He sighs and reminds himself that is only going to be a brief acquaintance, in any case. Get the mythril, get out alive, and they’ll hopefully be on their way.

“Let’s gear up and move out, then,” Noctis says and Aranea holds up a hand.

“No can do. This place is built by Solheim. The dungeon only opens at night, so we have some hours to kill.” She indicates the clear, sunny sky. A collective moan of annoyance is uttered by Prompto and Noctis.

“I know you boys can fight,” she continues with a cheeky grin, that has Noct scratch the back of his head and Ignis frown slightly.

“How about a friendly sparring match? Would be good for that teamwork-thing and I can assess your skills. No way I am going into any daemon-infested ruin without knowing your limits.”

Despite her playful tone, this is clearly not up for discussion and Prompto nearly throws her a salute, hand quivering at his side. And Ignis? Ignis finds himself almost humming with anticipation. He has been mentally preparing for this ever since their first encounter. Aranea Highwind will undoubtedly be the most skilled adversary he will ever have the opportunity to spar against.

“A sparring-match would be welcome,” he agrees. Gladiolus leaving and subsequently meeting up with the Chancellor has them all on edge. Even Noctis has not even brought up fishing, even though the Vesperpool is but a stone’s throw away. A workout is needed.  

"You got your weapons?" she asks.

"Yeah, fully weaponized," Noctis says with a smirk, restored to cockiness, and Aranea looks him up and down and grins.

"Well, let’s get at it. C'mon, recruits, this way.”

Ignis cannot help but chuckle at her attitude. For a mere “escort” she is awfully bossy. She retrieves her helmet, and leads them away from the dungeon, towards the drier slopes.

“We cleaned out the oversized chickens when we set up camp so we’ll not get interrupted,” she explains.

“Do you have any of the meat left?” Ignis cannot help but ask, falling in step next to her. He has a recipe that incorporates poison fowl, and he is keen for a chance to try it out.

Aranea squints at him. Her eyes are dark green, like summer foliage, he notes.

“You do know they are smack full of toxins?” she says slowly.

“Of course. That's the beauty of it. Prepared in the right way, the components can be very beneficial.”

“If you say so…” she trails off, clearly not convinced.

"I assure you that my cooking is perfectly safe. And beneficial!" Ignis says indignantly. He can't help it. He takes a lot of pride in his cooking. And he's not used to being questioned on his skills.

"Okay, I believe you, Four-Eyes," she says breezily. "There should be some gobbets in storage, feel free to play house when we get back."

Ignis just nods stiffly, letting himself trail behind. Prompto is more than willing to take his place, pulling out his camera and showing it off to the Commodore.

Aranea Highwind is obviously smart, candid and somewhat of a potty-mouth, and Ignis decides on the spot that he's going to outdo himself with dinner tonight and show her wrong. The recipe called for the leg of a chick, but he might have to improvise, depending on what is available, and he is sure he has the rest of the ingredients – he's brutally booted out of the mental kitchen when Prompto grabs his arm and pulls him to the side. Suddenly, he finds himself squeezed in between Noctis and – Astrals help him – Aranea, as Prompto wastes no time making himself comfortable on the Commodore's other side and extends his arm.

“Cheese, guys!" the blond paparazzi yells, and Ignis looks at the camera and smiles, a pavlovian conditioning resulting from weeks of traveling with Prompto. There's a fast series of clicks and Prompto lowers the camera and looks excitedly at the LCD-display.

"Hey, this one is pretty good," he says and holds up the camera for them to see.

To Ignis’ surprise, Aranea leans in and looks at the camera with interest.

"Not bad, sunshine," she says, "but I'm easy on the lens – I don't have any bad sides," she goes on, tossing on her head so her multitude of tiny ponytails fly about her head, shining like silver in the sunlight.

"Man, I completely agree, I mean look at your cheekbones –" Prompto joins in excitedly, his inner photographer coming out in full force. Aranea shakes her head and straightens.

"At ease, recruit. I think we better get the training kicked off," she says gruffly, though be eyes twinkle.

Prompto nods, blushing a bit and fumbles with his camera, quickly deconjuring it.

"That is rather impromptu," Ignis cannot help but admonish. Aranea looks at him, and snorts.

"Give a gal a warning next time," she mutters, and then turns around and suddenly her lance is in her hand and she brandishes it at them, and for one terrible moment Ignis thinks that she will skewer them (is his pun truly that bad?), that this is some sort of horribly convoluted trap.

"You, Prompto, wanna go first?" Aranea grins and the moment deflates like a soufflé gone wrong.

They are standing in an area relatively free of rocks and large vegetation, and the ground looks level. A good place to spar, he realizes.

Aranea points her lance at Prompto, who gulps and then runs a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, I'm up for it," he says and walks forward with an exaggerated strut.

“A moment, if you please,” Ignis says, raising a hand. Prompto stops, looking back at him, and Aranea tilts her head.

“Yes, Four-Eyes?”

“Rules of engagement for this … assessment?” he inquires.

She rolls her shoulders, and says in a slightly overbearing tone of voice. “How about first blood?”

First blood? Ignis stares at her.

“Hey, isn't that a bit barbaric?” Prompto exclaims.

“No way!” Noctis says with finality.

“The king has spoken,” Aranea makes a mock bow and then snickers. “Close your mouths, recruits, got some nasty bugs around here with a fondness for dark, moist places.” Belatedly, Ignis realizes that she was not serious. An Imperial with a sense of humor? Fascinating.

“Eh, yes, I have,” Noctis makes an effort to sound regal, clearly confused about the Dragoon’s shift in attitude.

“No blood. Okay, it’s like this, fights continue until one part yields, by word or deed, and no interference from the outside. Spells prohibited. Is that acceptable, gentlemen?”

Ignis nods, that’s more or less the same rules imposed by the Crownsguard.

“Yeah. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Noctis says softly, and in that moment, Ignis have a very adult moment with Aranea Highwind. He knows exactly what she is going to say, and it’s too harsh. He quickly captures and holds her gaze, and shakes his head. She frowns slightly and then, surprisingly, her eyes soften.

“No blood, I promise,” she says, and even sounds quite honest. She better be.

“I feel so much safer now,” Prompto pipes in, sarcastically, or as close to sarcasm as Prompto can get, and Noctis pushes him forward with a grin. “Don’t worry, go show her what the men of Insomnia are made of,” and Aranea winks at the blond boy as she dons her helmet.

“I don't bite. Much.”

Apparently, the men of Insomnia are made of blushes.

He does put admirable effort into the fight, though. Being primarily a gunner, Prompto should have the advantage, if only he can keep his distance, but it turns out that Aranea is not only freakishly fast and maneuverable, she also possesses a shield technology that is devastatingly effective against single-source barrages. Ignis mentally notes this with a frown. He had observed that Aranea made good use of shielding, but he has not expected her to be able to focus the shield into a much smaller, and by extrapolation, much stronger, area, and certainly has not anticipated that she is able to move the focal point with such speed.

Prompto lasts less than two minutes. Aranea lets him get in a few shots, that simply deflects off her, like they are mere pebbles, and when he pulls out the bioblaster, she jumps straight up, avoiding the poison easily and hurls her lance at him. It does Prompto honor that he does not panic and tries to take aim at her, though he should probably have concentrated on getting out of range, Ignis dryly notes as the impact of the lance knocks the blond boy down, and in flash, Aranea is standing above him, boot on his Adam's apple. Prompto just looks up at her with a silly grin because at that angle he can look straight up her legs, and Ignis pinches the bridge of his nose. Really, the boy can’t help it but Astrals, he could do with some self-restraint.

“Eyes down, recruit,” Aranea says dryly, and Prompto scrambles to get on his feet even before she removes her boot. Rubbing his bruised throat, he babbles out an excuse and beats a hasty retreat, hiding behind Noctis.

“Noct, do something,” he mouths, and gives the King a regular shove forward.

“Volunteering, Noctis?”

“I suppose so,” Noctis grounds out, shooting Prompto a look. A sword appears in Noctis’ hands in a shimmer of light and Ignis nods in approval as he recognizes the airstep sword. The sword’s ability to reduce Noct’s requirement for mana will certainly come in handy against a foe like Aranea.

           “Hold that thought,” the Commodore says and then whips her head to the side, locking her eyes on Ignis. The advisor has been around enough military personnel to recognize that look; Cor comes to mind, all ruthless … ruthlessness, and he squares his jaw, reminding himself that he has been wanting to do this for a long time.

“Saving you for last, pretty boy,” she says. “I want a go at Four-Eyes first.”

“Saving the best for last,” Noctis retorts with a slight preen.

Aranea huffs. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Ignis pushes his glasses up, and takes a deep breath, flexing his fingers. He has seen her in battle and he has analyzed her moves over and over, and even her brief match against Prompto has given him valuable information. He stands a chance if he can maneuver her just right…

Aranea inclines her head, and he steps forward, studying her stance and tries to keep his racing heart from showing. He has the uncomfortable feeling that Aranea is seeing right through him, reading his mind as easily as she reads his movements.

He pushes away the unease, focusing on the fight. The magic flows through him with the ease of practice, and the drain lance, newly upgraded, appears in his hand. He’s not completely comfortable with the weapon’s new range of traits, but it will have to do. He has chosen it for a specific reason, and only hopes that he is correct in his chosen strategy.

“Interesting choice,” Aranea notes with genuine interest. “Let’s see what it can do.”

She spins her own weapon in her hands, an imposing weapon of Niflheim make that Ignis cannot categorize beyond its ability to channel energy, and comes at him hard.

He deflects the first blow easily, the shafts of their weapons clashing loudly, and for a moment their eyes meet, before Ignis pushes back, doing a backflip and realizing his mistake even before his feet hit the ground. However, there is no metal in his guts, and Aranea is still in the same spot, smirking at him.

I’ll give you this one, she seems to say, and Ignis clenches his teeth. Unforgivable. He is on his own, and he better remember that from now on. No room for fancy maneuvers, this is back to basic.

They trade blows for several minutes and Ignis finds that he enjoys it immensely. He rarely spars against fighters specializing in polearms, and the constant need to push himself to his limit and beyond is exhilarating. He even manages to get in a near hit, dodging and sidestepping, and then doing a reverse thrust using the butt of the lance, nearly catching her in the side.

“Not bad, Four-Eyes,” she exclaims. From above him, and Ignis’ hits empty air, because Aranea is not there. She lands several yards away, touching down with an almost mocking lightness, and it is a stark reminded of her true range of abilities.

Ignis stands tall and grabs his lance with both hands. It's clear that he cannot beat Aranea in naked combat, she is simply too skilled. It irks him, loathe as he is to admit it. He can read an opponent much better than a person, and right now she is so smug Noctis is probably taking notes.

Seems he has to run the gauntlet.

He becomes more conservative, blocking and retreating rather than pressing the attack, even when she presents her unprotected flank to him, an obvious trap. She responds by intensifying her moves, turning into a mercurial storm that is both terrifying and exhilarating, and she plays right into his court. If only he can keep from getting killed.

He considers himself in descent fitness, but Aranea seems inexhaustible. He cannot help but wonder if she has been subject to magitech modifications, even though he can hardly equate the mindless drones with the vivacious woman fighting him.

When he yet again refuses to follow up on a series of attacks, Aranea’s annoyance is palpable.

She comes at him with a series of thrusts and spins that he barely manages to dodge, and lands a kick to his abdomen that he doesn't quite manage to dodge, her heel slamming into him, sending him reeling backwards, and then she is gone, taken to the air again and his skin prickles as the storm gathers. He can feel her coming down upon him like a bolt of lightning, and he must get this right, this is his only chance.          

He rolls to the side, just as Aranea slams into the ground right next to him, activating the drain lance at the same time. He has on purpose not used the weapon’s special abilities before, as to not clue her into his intent.

The sudden tingling in his hand and up his arm are tell-tale signs of his assertion being correct – there’s elemental magic mixed into the Commodore’s energetic discharges, and quite a lot of it! The lance is fairly throbbing in his hand, the metal growing hot.

Willing himself to ignore the pain in his stomach, he jumps up, dismisses the lance and calls upon his daggers instead. Gripping the soothingly cold metal, he aims for her chest, the exposed patch above her décolletage.

Aranea Highwind lets out a growl and raises her arms, twisting her body at the same time. One dagger deflects on her metallic vambrace as she grabs his other wrist and manages to halt his attack. At the same time, she thrusts her head upwards, the black horn on her helmet slashing upwards.

Everything stops.

Both breathing heavily, they eye each other wearily. The blade mounted on the front of Aranea’s helmet jabs into the soft skin under Ignis’ jaw. The tip of his dagger is hovering above her chest, his hand locked in her vice-like grip.

He deconjures the dagger, accepting his defeat.

“Neat trick, Four-Eyes,” she declares, moving her head. Ignis scrambles backwards, rubbing his jaw. She’s nicked his skin, but as promised, there’s no blood.

“I must commend you on your skills, Commodore. You have me quite humbled.”

“Pish posh,” the Commodore says, getting to her feet and stretching. “You penetrated my defenses, didn’t you, and I’m the gold standard.” Then she winks at him, and Ignis, wrist smarting and stomach still on fire, has absolutely no idea how to reply.

Grinning, Aranea turns to the crowd and yells out: “You’re up, pretty boy!"

Astrals, what do they feed soldiers in Niflheim? Ignis wonders as he leaves the battlefield.

“Your face’s red,” Noctis remarks as he steps forward, and Ignis has a rare urge to throttle his king.

“It was a rather intense match,” he mutters. “Good luck.”

“Thank. I’m gonna need it.”  

“Wow, that is some show!” Prompto greets him, bumping his arm.

“I do prefer less painful ways of entertaining,” Ignis sighs. He pulls up his shirt, inspecting his stomach. He decides it’s not worth a potion but those heels are not to be taken lightly.            

“Hey, at least you managed to land a hit,” Prompto goes on, soothingly.

"Hedgehog's dilemma," Ignis muses, more to himself than anyone else, and doesn't notice Prompto's quizzical expression.  

They watch silently as Aranea runs the king through an aerial duel that proves that Aranea was right. Even though he is soon breathless and sweating, Noctis is able to hold his own against the Dragoon. Ignis feels a sudden surge of pride, as he watches Noctis’ training bearing fruit, and Aranea is visibly elated, grinning widely and even letting out an exhilarated outburst when Noctis manages to warp behind her and land a cut across her back that sends her reeling towards the ground. In the last instance, she gets her feet under her, and lands in a crouch. No doubt that she lives to fight, revels in using her powers.

Only a sight hesitation on Noctis’ behalf prevents him from taking the victory right there. The King is used to fighting as part of a quartet, and it’s clear that he is instinctively waiting for someone to follow up on his strike.

He gets his wits about him quick enough, but it’s a fatal error in a battle against an opponent like Aranea, and she is back up, advantage lost.

Ignis notes it with some regret. Clearly, they have been neglecting an obvious weakness in Noct’s skill set – that he might have to fight alone. He recalls his own error, and realizes it’s something they must correct for all of them.

Aranea holds up a hand. “I yield,” she says, and Noctis looks confused, but lowers his sword. Aranea takes off her helmet and gives them a broad smile. “This ol’ gal needs a break. Well fought, all of you. They really are something, those powers of yours. The might of the Kings of Lucis…"

Noctis runs a hand through his hair and looks away. "Thanks, I guess," he replies, a bit flustered.  

"Okay, boys, not so shabby. I even think you stand a good chance of getting your treasure by yourself,” she continues. “Makes you wonder why the Chancellor was so concerned about your success he had me chick-sit you.”

"So do we," Ignis echoes. He’s come to the somewhat baffling conclusion that there’s no trick or trap here. The Chancellor truly wants them to retrieve the mythril. Which is even more disconcerting than any trickery. Could the man be a traitor to the Empire? Ignis scoffs at the notion even as he frames it. The man is as slippery as a greased snake and as trustworthy as a hungry behemoth. He gives Ignis “the heebies-jeebies” as Prompto so succinctly puts it. He’ll let out a breath of relief when they are in Altissia and Noctis can meet up with Lady Lunafreya.

"Right now, I don’t care,” Noctis says plaintively. “We need that ore.”

Aranea nods. "I understand. Listen, I'll do my best to help you. The Chancellor is many things, but stingy is not one of them. I’m being paid too much to let you die."

What else to except from a former mercenary? Ignis thinks. He’s surprised how much her words disappoint him. After all, Commodore Aranea Highwind is only an ex-mercenary and enemy soldier. Hardly anyone he would want as a long-term associate.

[365runesofthesystem]

So, here it is again: NM.

I am late so sorry but I have two different updates that I am posting as a single thing so yay!

They have sharing titles again so another yay!

Read it on AO3 as well!

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV / Relationship: Noctis/Prompto

Tags: papa!Cor, Regis, Noctis, Prompto, Accidents, Close calls, Angst, Anger, Fights, Lessons, All the other things.

Chapters 12 & 13: In Understanding Weakness... There’s New Strength.

Prompto was almost positive Cor didn’t like him.

Not that the man was obviously screaming at him to leave or anything - no one had, surprisingly, tried to run Prompto out - but it was just more of the fact that Prompto always, always seemed to run into the man.

He remembered, when he was first becoming Noct’s friend, that one day he had gotten lost and unfortunately, run into the more boisterous people of the Citadel.

Boisterous in the fact that the prince shouldn’t be messing around with commoners who had little value to him - And yeah okay, he might have been a little right but Astrals forbid Prompto was going to give him that - and Prompto almost died when Cor appears and quickly shut the man up and sent him on his way, giving Prompto the advice not to stray to far from his friends.

Or a time, after he had figured out who the King was, he remembered Cor’s dry remark that Prompto probably didn’t even know what he getting into when he became friends with the prince - and okay, no he wasn’t too sure on the details of everything but the whole world didn’t have to know that right!? - and he felt himself blush with embarrassment.

Or, when the Cor’s voice drawled on and on as they trained, listening out every single one of Prompto’s flaws. And when he tried to get Cor to at least hint him on how to fix it, he remembered Cor’s face, completely blank, tell him:

‘If you can’t figure out the problem, how are suppose to understand the solution?’

It wasn’t a hate, Prompto would say - he didn’t know if he could hate Cor, the man still held a place of respect - but he was borderline almost done with everything coming out of his mouth.

-

Ignis looked at him, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Prompto, I do believe Cor is just trying to help.”

Prompto shook his head, his hair whipping around.

“How can that be helping? The man practically hints at my incompetence on a daily basis!”

Gladio snorted, giving him a pat on his back.

���Trust me kid, if Cor hated you - and he doesn’t - he wouldn’t give two cents about your performance. More just silently watch you fail again and again until someone mentions your lack of worth.”

Prompto frowned as Ignis sighed, “Gladio!”

Gladio shrugged, moving away and Prompto grumbled, going to sit next to Noct. He leaned into him, not giving much thought to Noct’s slight blush as he did.

“Noooct! Help me out here! Cor hates me right?!”

Noct sighed and simply ran fingers through Prompto’s hair, messing it up. Prompto didn’t even mind, until he started talking.

“Sorry Prom, gotta agree with everyone else. Especially since Cor used to train me, back whenever Gladio was busy with something. The man is a bi-” Ignis threw a spoon at Noct, the object clanking against his head and Noct rubbed the sore spot, glancing behind him. “A beast, but he isn’t heartless. He knows when to push people, knows how to look at someone and know what buttons to push. But he doesn’t do it without a reason.”

Prompto sighed, and Noct just smiled.

“Trust me Prom, if Cor didn’t like you, he wouldn’t beat around the bush. And, if what my dad says is true, Cor definitely has nothing against you. So don’t worry so much.”

-

Prompto was definitely sure everyone was wrong.

They were out in the training grounds, Noct going through more warping training, Gladio and Ignis helping him with Cor there as supervision.

The Kings Glaives were there as well, everyone doing different trainings but mostly just watching Noct try and fail.

Prompto was there taking photos, the King asking him to take some pictures so people knew what was going on within with the army and the prince, a total PR setup, but Prompto didn’t mind.

What he did mind were the stares he could feel Cor give him as he worked but the Six be damned if he was going to let him throw him off the one thing he was actually good at.

He was trying to get the Glaives to stay still for a picture of the whole group but gods, they were worse than children, one or all of them moving the instant the picture was taken, decidedly ruining Prompto’s efforts with blurry figures and stupid faces.

“Come on Nyx! Just stand still for a second!”

Everyone laughed as Nyx flinched, his face underneath the hood probably red.

-

Noct huffed, his body already screaming from the warping he was doing, even though he only had gone three times.

Cor’s voice broke through, slightly amused.

“Is that all that you’ve got prince? Should we call it a quits?”

Gods, he hated when the man pushed his buttons. He was starting to see where Prompto was coming from.

Ignis instantly charged him, his spear swinging around and Noct reached for his sword, swinging to meet him.

A loud clang rang out, Ignis giving an approved smile before jumping away.

Gladio was instantly there, on his right, his sword already fullswing and Noct instantly changed to his daggers and warped away, into the air.

He heard a laugh from the Glaives, Prompto’s whine reaching his ears without real words.

He spun and threw the dagger, adding two more for good measure.

Gladio just smiled and swung at them, the daggers hitting the metal and spinning off.

Noct was starting to fall when his eyes betrayed him, looking at where the knives were spinning to, wondering if he could warp down to them when he saw it.

All three were spinning wildly, heading straight for the group that was off to the side.

Heading straight for the blonde who was a ways off, his camera already positioned for a shot.

He felt his blood run cold.

“PROMPTO!”

-

They set up for another shot, Prompto giving up on getting them organized when it happened.

“PROMPTO!”

He half-turned, seeing Nyx instantly running to him but didn’t even get a chance to think when he felt himself being pulled down and squished. He dropped his camera somewhere and he was instantly thrown into a broad chest and arms curled around him as he felt something hit wood almost right next to his ear. There was a roar in his ears, and his body was numb and his eyes didn’t focus until a second later when he realized…

Cor was holding him.

He was tucked into the man, basically sitting on his lap, legs underneath him and one arm thrown around him, squeezing him against his chest.

He blushed, feeling his embarrassment climb until he turned away, getting a full picture.

Cor was holding up one of a wooden shield, the ones that Gladio used when he was practicing with his dad, and two daggers were sunk into it, Prompto seeing the tips of the blades from where he was.

He felt horror hit him hard, his breath catching as his mind caught up to events.

Cor relaxed, letting the shield drop to the ground and instantly fixing Prompto so he was on his knees and not cradled into him. Prompto simply sat there, his eyes fixed on the shield.

That could have been him.

Would have, if Cor hadn’t been there.

He shuddered, his body slowly starting to shake.

Nyx instantly dropped down next to him, his hood off and his eyes wide with fear.

Prompto gave him a shaky smile, trying his hardest not to freak.

“I-I'm fine.”

His voice broke and Nyx seemed to flinch from just that. Everyone else was slowly coming forward, their faces all ashamed.

Prompto swallowed, tried to stop shaking as Cor stood up.

Noct ran up, Gladio and Ignis right behind him and stopped in front of Cor.

“I-”

“Enough.”

Noct instantly flinched, as did everyone else as Cor spoke. Prompto couldn’t blame them. His voice was clear but short, his anger flowing out with that single word.

“I must say that this is the most horrendous job done your Highness. Had it been anyone else, had someone not been close enough, had your little stunt been just seconds quicker, you would be burying a body.”

Noct instantly paled, his eyes meeting Prompto’s for a second before going back to Cor. Ignis and Gladio were even shocked into silence, their faces slowly draining along with their prince.

Prompto felt a hand on his shoulder, flinched and turned to see Nyx. He gave him a tight smile and helped him up. Prompto had the realization that his legs didn’t seem to want to work, his hands gripping Nyx’s hard as he tried to balance on them.

Crap.

Cor continued.

“Please explain to me how this happened.”

It wasn’t an invitation, even Prompto knew that. But even so, Gladio stepped forward, his eyes scared.

“It was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention to my sur-”

Prompto saw Cor turn his head slightly, towards Gladio, and the man instantly closed his mouth. Cor turned back, Prompto knowing his eyes back on Noct.

“That was obvious, Shield. But don’t worry, you weren’t the only idiot in this incident. For the Prince to allow his weapons to hit anything but the target - much less an innocent bystander - is something that lies solely with him.”

Ignis and Gladio opened their mouths to protest - heck, even Prompto was ready to say something - but Noct gave his head one shake, silencing them all. His eyes met Prompto, filled with a guilt Prompto didn’t know the reason for, as he answered.

“You’re right sir. The fault is mine. I should never allow my weapons to become something other than tools to protect my people. I could have killed someone today.”

He bowed slightly, just the tiny drop of his head, towards Cor. Everyone tensed.

“You have my thanks.”

Prompto could stand it any longer, he pushed himself away from Nyx, and reached out a hand towards the men.

“Cor, it isn’t th-”

His legs betrayed them, the bastards, buckling almost instantly and he yelped as he fell.

Cor swung around and caught him, his hands, holding onto his outstretched one as he helped him to stand. Prompto licked his lips, noting the small cuts in his uniform. Right where the shield was.

The daggers...

He glanced up, ready to say ‘thank you’ - or something - when he met Cor’s eyes.

They were filled with something Prompto didn’t know. Something that made a lump form in Prompto’s throat. Something that made everything come crashing down on him.

He choked and Cor’s hands slightly tightened their grip around his arms.

He made sure he was steady before he slid his hands away. He turned back towards the group, his voice rough.

“Practice is over. I would see to your friend. And it seems you owe him a new camera.”

And with that Cor walked away, everyone staying silent as he left.

-

Cor was not easily shaken.

He had been watching the session, taking in the fact that Noct was getting used to the warps, though a bit slowly.

So he pushed, just gently, into the prince’s stubborn pride.

It seemed to work, the prince going on strong again.

His daggers were knocked away but it was no matter, they would easily disappear and he could continue.

Only they didn’t.

Cor felt the realization hit him as his body moved, his hands grabbing a shield as he bolted to the boy, painfully oblivious as he readied to take a picture. He could hear the prince scream, could see the Glaives move, felt his body know that he wasn’t going to make it.

Screw it.

He made it just in time, pulling the boy back - seeing one dagger lodge itself into his camera as it fell - and throwing him into himself, bringing the shield up just in time to feel the hard thunks of the other two as they went too far into the wood, scratching his arm.

The thought of getting there just a fraction of a second too late was too painfully obvious to him.

He hadn't needed to say anything, the obvious remorse and understanding on the Prince’s face enough of a punishment.

But for the love of the Astrals.

The boy didn’t even seem to fully grasp the situation, trying to tell him it was fine when even his body knew the difference.

The boy shaking slightly, his face pale as the realization did hit him, the tiny choke as he tried, failed to talk.

The fear as he looked at Cor.

He instantly threw his hand into the wall, feeling the slight crack under his hit.

He took a deep breath, bringing his hand from the small indent he had made.

He continued on walking.

-

Noct felt like he was going to puke.

Prompto had instantly fallen back down as soon as Cor had left, his eyes staring right at his camera.

A dagger had managed to lodge itself into it.

Ignis and Nyx had instantly went to him but Noct couldn’t move, his eyes slowly moving to the shield.

That could have been Prompto.

The image flashed into his head, of Cor not making it, of the daggers digging themselves into Prompto’s body instead of the wood.

Noct had to cover his mouth, feeling bile run up his throat.

Gladio walked up, gave him a pat and then went to clean up their training.

Noct took a breath, tried to calm his nerves, and walked over to Prompto, who had calmed down and was trying to rid himself of Ignis’ and Nyx’s fussing.

“Guys, really. I am fine. Just a little sh-”

He stumbled again, his legs not ready to move yet.

Noct caught him, Nyx and Ignis giving him a look before backing off a bit. Prompto smiled, and it was shaky but there, as he gripped his arms for support.

“Thanks buddy.”

Noct couldn’t reply.

-

Regis heard the knock on the door and instantly stopped writing, putting the pen down and taking a breath.

“Come in.”

The door cracked open, a shock of black hair appearing before blue eyes peeked through, giving Regis a guilty look.

He just smiled and gestured for his son to come in.

“Come on then Noct. I think we have something to discuss.”

-

Prompto might be a little slow on the uptake, but he wasn’t an idiot.

When Noct explained to him that he should steer clear of the practice grounds for a bit - to let everyone cool off - he knew exactly what his friend was saying. And while he completely understood where his friend was coming from, he didn’t enjoy the rock that sat at the bottom of his stomach.

But when Noct pressed, with that smile that was all sorts of broken, with that tired body that told him Noct probably was stressing, with those eyes that still couldn’t completely look at him yet, he had just smiled back and whispered, “Okay.”

At least he had gotten a new camera.

Now he regretted it, as he took a few pictures of the murals, if only because of the fact that no training grounds meant he couldn’t even shoot to let off some steam.

He sighed, looking up at one the murals of the kings.

Something flashed in his peripheral vision and Prompto immediately flinched, head whipping around, body ducking and his hands almost dropping his camera.

Cor let his hand fall back to his side, giving Prompto a considering look.

“It seems even you have a sense to remember your earlier adventures.”

Prompto cursed.

He had been doing it since the incident, some stupid, fright reaction his body had now every time he saw something out of the corner of his eyes.

He had done it a few times to Ignis, done it during a practice session with Gladio and even made the mistake of doing it front of Noct.

And now, here it was, his stupid fears coming out full force for the man in front of him.

Prompto turned away, moodily looking through his camera.

“I am fine.”

He heard Cor shift behind him, could just see the slight way the man would raise an eyebrow, could he hear when he spoke again.

“I am sure you are. Who wouldn’t be okay after almost dying?”

Prompto pursed his lips.

Gods, did he hate it when the man talked.

“It was fine. Just an acciden-”

“One that almost cost you your life.”

“-And no one even got hur-”

“Only because we were lucky enough to avoid it.”

“-And it over no-”

“Your body would beg to differ.”

Prompto spun around, feeling the anger build.

“And it wasn’t even that bad! I am fine!”

Cor’s lip curled.

“By fine, do you mean the fact that you have been avoiding practice? Fine meaning the way you flinch every time something comes close? Fine meaning that you haven’t actually talked to your precious prince about  it?”

Prompto flushed, feeling the stinging mockery behind the words.

It wasn’t any better that he hit every nail on the head.

“I mean, fine as in, it’s not any of your business.”

It felt like a slap to the face.

From Cor’s slight expression to the way it made Prompt’s stomach twist with the knowledge that he had actually said something like that.

It felt like he had just slapped the man in the face.

Hell, it would have been better if he did.

But then the expressions melted away and Cor was back, his face unreadable.

“Is this how you’ve handled your problems? With anger and cowardice?”

Prompto turned, walking away.

“It’s worked fine until now.”

Cor grabbed his arm, spinning him around and looking straight into his eyes. Prompto was done, about to shout when he saw the look in the man’s eyes.

There was a raw desperation, something Prompto had never seen before.

But it still reminded him of something, a fuzzy memory keeping him there.

“That’s not how it works. You can’t just put it off and lock it away. It won’t settle itself that way. It will eat at you until there is nothing left. At least…” He looked away for a second, like he was trying to gather his thoughts. Prompto waited, noting how he sighed and let go, dropping Prompto’s hand. He stayed even then, looking at Cor as he clicked his tongue.

“At least, tell Prince Noctis about it.”

Prompto waited a beat, his anger smothered. He looked up, knew that Cor was done, and bowed slightly before walking away.

-

Noct was tired.

He was tired from the training, from the fact that he couldn’t even wield the stupid daggers anymore, his warps so off that Ignis had decidedly banned them from his armory.

He was tired from not sleeping, from the fact that every time he closed his eyes, his mind would play back the incident, only showing worse and worse outcomes every time.

He was tired from playing the delicate game of cat-n-mouse with Prompto, from the fact that his friend was still very much terrified but also very much determined to lie about it.

So much so that when he was told by Ignis that his dad wanted him, he wasn’t even fazed until he reached the door, his mind barely warning him about the reason for the summons as he walked in.

His dad smiled, giving him an encouraging nod as he motioned to the chair across from him.

“Have a seat, Noctis. You look exhausted.”

Noct did sit, letting himself show his true fatigue as he sunk into the seat.

Not use in hiding it if his dad already knew.

“Yeah, just a bit. You know, training and all.”

His father nodded in agreement, his hand dancing a pen across a page.

They sat in silence for a minute, Noctis almost asleep when his dad spoke again.

“Cor tells me that there was an accident the other day. Out on the training grounds.”

Noctis wanted to slap himself.

Of course, his dad had heard about it.

He sat up, running his hands along his thighs.

“Yeah, something like that.”

The pen didn’t stop but his dad frowned slightly, like he was thinking through something.

“What happened?”

Noct felt a lump in his throat and coughed to clear it. He looked down, watching as he wrung out his hands.

“Well… it was an accident… And no one got hurt… And, uh…”

“Noctis.”

He looked up, saw that his dad had stopped writing, the pen still in his grip. He didn’t look up, didn’t even acknowledge him, as he started writing again.

Noct knew what it meant, his dad having used the same strategy since he was little.

It was a sign to just stop and breathe, a chance for Noct to get his thoughts together so, when he did speak, he wouldn’t sputter and stutter around the truth.

It reminded him of a bad end in his games, the last save giving him a chance to not kill it again.

It was more like a chance to tell him what happened, not the excuses that Noct had thought up before that moment.

Noct swallowed and looked down again, trying to gather his thoughts.

They sat in silence for  a while, his dad just writing while Noct tried to calm his heart.

With more courage than he felt, he tried again.

“I… almost killed Prompto.”

He heard it. His dad had stopped writing, his mouth thinned into a line, his hand gripping the pen just a bit too tight. Noct saw the tear, a thin line right where he had been writing. Noct waited, expecting the fury and disappointment he knew his dad was capable of.

But his dad just sighed, smoothing out the page and starting to write again, careful with the imperfection in the page.

“I see.”

Silence overlapped again, Noct looked at his father as he wrote.

“That’s it?”

His dad glanced up at him, his pen not stopping.

“I do believe so.”

Noct was instantly annoyed.

“I almost killed Prompto.”

Regis raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on Noctis’ tone.

“Yes, so you have told me .”

“I almost killed my best friend! Why aren’t you mad!?”

Regis put down his pen, giving his son a look.

“What is there to do? As you have said, it was an unfortunate accident but no one was hurt.”

Noct sputtered, trying to get his father to understand.

Because he didn’t.

He didn’t understand.

“I almost killed him! He could have died! I did something that no king should even have considered a possibility! I, I, I-”

“Noctis.”

“I made him terrified of everything! Made Cor practically hate my guts! Made Ignis and Gladio tip-toe around us both! Made half the Glaive ashamed because they couldn’t stop it!”

“Noctis, it wasn’t your fault. It was a simple acci-”

“To hell with accident!”

Noct jumped up, heard his chair fall back, and slammed his hands against the desk. He felt the anger. Felt the tears burning his eyes. Felt the hitch in his voice.

“Dad, you weren’t there! You didn’t see it! Prompto could have died! Had Cor not been there, he would of! Or one of the Glaive trying to protect him! I messed up! Be mad! Get angry! Or disappointed! Something!”

His dad sat back, his hands folding gently in front of him but saying nothing through the whole thing. Now he sat forward, letting his head rest on his folded hands and considered Noct for a moment.

“Exactly.”

Noct blinked for a second, taking in his dad.

“What?”

His dad smiled, that one that told Noct that he wasn’t even angry at him. One he hadn’t seen in awhile.

“Exactly, Noctis. You’re right. You did mess up. You didn’t take things seriously. You let yourself go in the spur of the moment. You set yourself up for failure and it almost ended in tragedy. You weren’t paying attention to the things that you ought to. You messed up.”

He stood and moved around his desk so he was standing next to Noct. He  gently took Noct’s hands from where they were planted on the desk, catching his eye.

“But you know that you did. You understand the consequences for your failure. You realize what could have happened. You know.”

He gave Noct’s hands a shake, releasing them and grabbing his shoulders instead.

“That is a great lesson to learn. The lesson of owning up to your mistakes, no matter how grave they were. Now is the next one: learning from them. But I am afraid this one is a bit harder than the first.” He gave Noctis a knowing look. “Have you apologized to Mr. Argentum yet?”

Noct looked at him confused.

“Of course I have Dad.”

His dad shook his head, pinning him with a slight frown.

“I don’t mean a confession Noctis. I think we all know you made a mistake. I think even young Argentum can figure out that it wasn’t on purpose. That is was a simple accident. What I am asking is, did you apologize?”

Noct opened his mouth to answer, of course he did, when he got it. He blinked, his mouth clamping shut. His dad nodded, and let him go, turning back to his desk.

“I do believe you know what to do.”

-

They were both on the balcony, their legs swinging off the railing with their backs to the (now shared) apartment because Ignis had no chill and Gladio was definitely trying to snoop and Prompto had wanted to talk to Noct alone, too.

So there they were, sitting side-by-side, Noct noticing how Prompto looked more calm than he had in the last week.

Prompto glanced at him, catching his eye and nodding, a sign for him to go first.

Noct shook his head and waited.

Prompto always caved first.

“So… I wanted to tell you something.”

Noct could hear the slight nervousness in Prompto’s voice, could feel him wringing his hands.

He waited, hoping that he wasn’t too late.

Hoping Prompto wasn’t going to kill him.

“I… Uh… Well, I was kinda…”

He was instantly reminded of when his dad would say his name, hopefully understanding why he did now.

He knocked his shoulder against his friend, giving him a smile.

“Prom.”

Prompto sighed, knocked back and just sat there for a bit, leaning against Noct.

It filled him with a guilty joy, having Prompto this close to him.

But soon he left his side, his friend slowly working up the courage to talk again.

“I… Well, I guess first off, I never thought it was your fault.”

He could hear it in the way Prompto was talking, could see how his friend was piecing things together to form his sentences.

“I never thought that it was something to worry about.”

He looked up and Noct did too, Prompto giving him a smile. He looked down for a minute, his lip being worked on before he nodded and met his gaze.

“I trust you Noct. Don’t think any differently buddy.”

There was a ‘but’ in there.

Noct could feel it.

He could also feel how his stomach went icy.

“But… uh… I have to tell you something.”

Noct nodded, didn't say anything as Prompto waited a bit before continuing.

“I…  was scared. Still am, to be honest.”

It hit him harder than he thought.

The ice hit him harder than he thought.

The voice, the one that told him Prompto was actually terrified, hit him harder than he thought.

He almost gasped, thankful that he hadn't, as Prompto continued.

“I… was trying really hard not to be. Cause I knew that you would blame yourself. So I kept it to myself. I thought it was fine…”

He rubbed the back of his head. “I guess I wasn't.”

Noct remembered how his dad had explained it; actually realized now what he had meant.

Noct shook his head, leaning against Prompto.

“Prom?”

“Yeah?”

Noct swallowed the lump in his throat.

“I’m sorry.”

Prompto huffed out a sigh and just nodded. He leaned against Noct too, his hands snaking into his and his legs swinging against the railings.

“Yeah.���

[disneygirl2202]

Final Fantasy XV AU

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

This Night Is Permanent Part 5

Prompto’s P.O.V.

I would set Y/N into the truck as I pull out one of the potions I have on me, using it on her to heal some of the more serious wounds. I shut the door and walk to the drivers side and quickly drive away from the crown city. I find a nearby haven and pull over to it and quickly bring her up there and lay her down as I make multiple trips from the truck to bring over a tent and sleeping bags. 

Once I have camp set up, I pull out some of my personal pictures I have saved over the years. I find the one of Y/N and Noct in the park back home when Y/N and I first started dating. 

-~-

“Noct, give me my dagger back. I have training with Gladio shortly and he would kill me if I didn’t have my weapon.” Y/N says

“No he won’t. He likes training with you. You actually give him a challenge.” Noct says

“Not anymore. He’s like twice my size now, it’s a lot harder to take him down.” She says, giving up trying to get her dagger

“Oh whatever you always take him down unlike somebody here.” He says, throwing her her dagger

She catches it then makes it disappear, glaring at her brother then looking over at me, moving some of her hair out of her face.

“How do you deal with us everyday?” she asks 

I shrug with a laugh, pulling out m camera. She shakes her head then looks away and tries to figure out what Noct is looking at. I quickly snap the picture and put my camera away before they can object. 

-~-

“Prompto?” Y/N asks as she shakes me awake 

“Y/N, you’re awake. You had me worried last night.” I say as I sit up

“I’m sorry. I don’t even remember what happened last night to be honest.” She says, rubbing her head

“That’s okay. We need to get back to Hammerhead before Noctis starts to freak out too much on Ignis asking where we are.” I say 

“I doubt he would do that, he likes Ignis too much to freak out on him.” She says

“Connection?” I ask 

“Yeah, they have always had this connection that seems unbreakable.” She says

“Isn’t that a good thing?” I ask 

“Yeah, but I just question myself about why I didn’t tell you about him sooner.” She says

“I understand why you didn’t though.. You were doing what you thought was best for our son.” I say 

She smiles and lays her head on my shoulder, I lay my own head on top of her’s and look at the skies. 

“Do you ever think of him?” She asks 

“Noctis? Of course I do. Everyday I wish he was here, that it was me that he chose so he could have brought back the light like he was supposed to, that he was still here to see his wonderful nephew and help his sister survive without her father.” I say, whispering towards the end 

-~- 

“Noct, you know you can’t pick Y/N, you need her when you try to bring the light back.” I say 

“Then who am I supposed to pick? She won’t let me pick anyone else. She feels way to guilty.” He says, looking back at me “Cause if I was to pick you, she would hate me for the rest of my time here.” 

“Why would she do that?” I ask 

“Prompto, she loves you more than anything else in this world. She doesn’t know what she would do without you. She needs you more than she needs me.” He starts 

“You are not sacrificing yourself.” I say

“It was going to happen sooner or later, so it’s better this way.” He says 

“No it’s not the right time. You need to take down Ardyn first so you can bring the light back when you do it.” I argue 

“Prompto, please don’t make this any harder for me than it already is. I love you guys more than anything, and making this decision is harder than anything.” He says, setting his hand on my shoulder 

“Noct, I am one of them! I’m meant to die at one of your hands. Let it be his hands and on my own terms.” I say 

“Enough Prompto, I am not choosing you. I can’t do that to my sister. She needs you more than she needs me at the moment.” He says, looking away 

-~- 

I watch as Gladio grabs Y/N before she can run up to her brother as he tells Ardyn his choice. 

“I’m so so sorry Y/N. I tried.” I mumble 

I hear Y/N start to scream at Gladio to let her go. I wince every time I hear a sob escape her lips. Ignis sets his hand on my shoulder and has us start to walk out. I look at the ground as I can her Y/N sobbing in Gladio’s arms as he is holding her and walking out besides us. 

“We tried our best. He’s just a stubborn one and thought he was doing the right thing.” Gladio says as Ignis and I agree 

-~- 

“Y/N I tried to convince him not to sacrifice himself. But he was convinced that you need me more than you would need him.” I say 

“Prompto, don’t blame yourself, it’s been five years since his death. He would want you to be living a happy life with your son. Who we will get back to.” She says 

I look at her as she smiles at me with that perfect smile I haven’t seen in a while. The last time I saw it was when we were reunited with Noct after those ten years of him being gone. I lean down a bit and place a soft kiss on her lips. She smiles and kisses me back. 

“I’ve been needing that desperately.” She whispers

Your P.O.V. 

The next morning at you think it’s the morning, you wake up in Prompto’s arms, feeling safe again. You sit up and look around, see only the light of the lantern and the haven. You turn around around shake Prompto softly. 

“Prom, we need to go. We need to get to Noctis and the other two. They must be freaking out.” You say

“Are you sure that it’s time to go?” He asks 

“That’s where he gets it.” You mumble “Yes, Ignis called me sometime while we were sleeping.” 

“Fine, I’m getting up.” He says 

“Good because I am going to go start bring things to the camp.” You say

You get up and start to bring the things to the truck and hurrying back and forth until Prompto’s sleeping bag and the tent are the only things left. 

“You left them in Hammerhead right?” You ask

“Yeah. Now lets get going before they show up.” He says 

You nod and grab the folded up tent and sprint towards the truck. You make it to the truck and get into the passenger seat and buckle up, waiting for Prompto to start the truck. You get into the glove box and pull out the picture that you kept in there. 

-~-

“Noct, you can’t tell the other two about me and Prompto.” You say 

“Why is that? They should know that you finally have a boyfriend.” He says 

You laugh as you two continue to walk towards training where you are meeting your boyfriend, and your best friends, also known as your brother’s sworn shield and his adviser. 

“Fine, but no making it obvious.” He says 

“We usually aren’t that obvious. You have to remember, I am the one who technically made the first move.” You say 

“True true.” He says 

You guys reach the room and summon your weapons and get ready for the big training session with you, Noctis, and Prompto against Ignis and Gladio. They all look at you then Gladio looks at the clock and shakes his head. 

“Little late?” Ignis asks 

“Sorry, we lost track of time while we were doing our part of a project.” You say 

“Yeah whatever. Lets just begin and see what this blondie has in store.” Gladio says 

You hear Noct laugh as Gladio gives Prompto his new nickname. You shake your head and go to attack Gladio’s weak point. He quickly moves out of the way and goes to attack Noctis. You pull a gun out quickly and shoot it at him, causing him to stumble away from him. You look at Prompto as he is hiding behind one of the poles, taking quick shots when he sees the chance. You don’t see Ignis come behind you as you are too focused on finding Gladio to find out who he is going to attack next, you don’t notice him until he has a dagger at your throat. You look around and see Gladio as he has Noctis pinned to the ground.

“Who is it going to be that you try to save Blondie?” Gladio asks 

You look up at him and wink as you quickly nod at Noctis to do a quick turn around and warp out of his position. As Noctis warps away, Prompto shoots at Ignis and he lets go of you and you roll away. 

“That sure was a quick one Y/N, I’m proud to say you’re starting to think things through a lot better.” Ignis says 

“Blondie isn’t as bad as he looks.” Gladio says 

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Prompto says 

“That’s because it is one.” You say, kissing his cheek quickly, not caring the others are in the room 

-~-

“Mommy! Daddy!” You hear a little voice yell 

You climb out of the truck and see your little boy come running over. You kneel down and gather him in your arms, hiding your face in his hair. You feel Prompto come up behind you and rub you back, kneeling next to you. 

You look up at the other two as they are watching you three. You stand up as Noctis goes to Prompto and hugs him. You walk over to the other two and they smile at you. 

“So are you staying?” Ignis asks 

“Looks that way.” You say

“Good. We could use your help around here. Besides I think Prompto and Noctis should get to know each other.” Gladio says

Tags: @promptoargentum-is-my-husband

[leonmckennedy]

i’ve been working on this little thing for a lil bit and im somewhat confident that i’ll actually finish it so here’s the first part. it’s heavily unedited like almost everything ive posted here: later i’ll throw it all together all neat and pretty for ao3

so here’s the tentatively titled “the one where noct gets impaled and then other shit happens”

characters: prompto + noctis centered | ignis and gladio are gonna be around somewhere

warnings: uhhhhhh there’s blood and descriptive injuries yeah? this was an excuse to write injured noct what do you want from me

parts: one (here!) | two | three 

frankly, none of them had expected their most recent dungeon to be so…. exhaustingly long. several hours and many long, daemon infested corridors later and the party is still trudging along, bodies battle-torn and sluggish. ignis had predicted they were halfway there four hours ago but they’re no closer to the end now than they were before; gladio’s patience has begun to run thin, and even prompto has gone quiet, his nervous jokes and chatter dying in the midst of a silent sort of paranoia. walk down a hall, navigate through rubble, fend off a surprise daemon attack. it’s a pattern that while familiar, still has them all on the balls of their feet.

“noct,” ignis says after a beat. they’ve all come to a stop at the end of one particularly long hallway, where a large door greets them. “i believe we need to consider turning back for now.” ignis sounds put-together as usually, but even his voice has a tired edge to it, like his even exhales are exasperated. “we are running dangerously low on supplies, and we don’t know how much longer this will take.”

“hate to admit it, but he’s probably right.” gladio is leaning against a wall, arms crossed tightly. “we’ve been up for how long? two days? we’re all starting to get sloppy.”

prompto, who had been staring rather blankly at the door in front of them, turns his head almost too quickly. “break time? we’re taking a break?”

“if the prince here agrees.”

noctis frowns. some part of him, some hidden well of pride, doesn’t want to quit. they’ve already spent so much time here that it’d almost feel like losing to turn back now. but there’s another part, the oh so tired part of him that just wants to flop down on a bed (or sleeping bag) and just pass out for ten or so hours tugs at the forefront of his mind, and the sigh tumbles out of him before he can stop it.

“yeah. maybe we should.”

the relief among the group is unanimous: prompto gives an excited “yesss!” which is the most energy noctis has heard from him since maybe five floors ago, while ignis and gladio give assenting noises dripping with relief.

noctis himself feels his own shoulders slump with just the idea of sleeping later. he isn’t sure about the rest of them, but he’s already hit his second, and third, and fourth wind while down here. there’s a deep exhaustion settled deep in his bones, and it’s been the thin hope of good treasure that’s been keeping his sword hand marginally steady. he’s tired, he’s dirty, and he’s ready for the no-dignity-required retreat to the exit.

“alright, let’s head back u—”

it really shouldn’t have been a surprise. they’ve barely turned on their heels when the garbled sound of a daemon forming assaults their ears. they all respond with varying degrees of frustration, summoning their weapons and taking admittedly weak stances before the thing has finished materializing.

but the thing that crawls its way out of the shadows isn’t a goblin or any small manner of daemon. not even an iron giant, who is threatening but big and easy to spot at any moment. instead, almost sauntering its way out from the far wall, is a threateningly human-like monster. with a sword. a very long sword. facing a newx probably very threatening enemy is usually a cause for concern, but it’s been such a long, arduous adventure that noctis can’t bring himself to care.

“ugh, every time!” noctis says, groaning as he brandishes his broadsword. He barely hears the response to his complaint — probably something from gladio telling him to pay attention — before he’s warping to the enemy, trying to get the edge on this fight.

the daemon meets him head on however, blocking his attack swiftly and pushing back enough to make him stumble. he dodges its attack, rolling just out of the way to avoid prompto’s covering fire for gladio’s eventual jump into the fray. the daemon takes the hit, stumbles, and counterattacks quickly, seemingly unfazed by gladio’s sword.

noctis goes for it again, only to be dodged and kicked into the wall, banging his shoulder. no sooner does he connect with the wall does the daemon head for him again, barely a second to spare for noct to phase through the attack. he jumps away, guard raised. “fuck, you’re fast.”

he can see bullets bouncing off the monster’s back, another attack seeming not to have any effect. noctis can’t see its eyes, but the way it turns to regard prompto seems calculating, and it takes noctis all of five seconds to realize what it’s next move is, and another half second afterwards to move himself.

it moves quickly. it avoids gladio and ignis’ joint attack effortlessly as it appears before prompto in the blink of an eye, sword raised. the gunman barely had time to scream proper, only a high-pitched squeal, almost a choke, rises above the chaos in the room. noctis doesn’t think twice about warping over, heart hammering against his chest as he thinks not prompto, no—

he almost doesn’t feel it at first, the sword through his gut. for a split second he only registers the coolness of the steel against his skin, and the way it takes his breath away. then it becomes a searing pain, the steel ripping its way through what is probably a lot of important organs, and in a literal breathless rush he cries out, desperate.

it hurts, it fucking hurts— the daemon doesn’t even make a sound, the bastard. he brings his hands up to the offending weapon, curling his fingers defensively around the sword and wound as if he could coax it to stop bleeding, to stop burning for just a moment. his fingers slip in his own blood as noctis can’t gather the breath to even scream again. slowly, ever so slowly, the daemon moves. and in a horrifying second that feels like an eternity, he feels his feet leave the ground. he’s been lifted, held up in mid air by the gut like he’s some macabre trophy to be shown off.

far away, he thinks hears his name. he hears bullet shots, yelling, the familiar chink of metal weapons. soon enough the daemon must tire of him, because it suddenly tosses him in the other direction. he slides off the sword — and it's not a perfect slide either, the metal widens the hole as it goes, catching on his skin as it exits — and lands in a heap somewhere on the side. noctis gasps, gets next to no air from the action so he gasps again, coughing.

soon, there’s a hand on his shoulder, shaky. “noct! noct, oh gods…. hold on!”

he’s turned onto his back. it doesn’t hurt because everything else already hurts too much, but he groans anyway, trying to blink the dark spots out of his vision. everything still comes out blurry.

“hey, hey— stay with me, okay? J-just… you’re gonna be okay, alright? noct...noct.” there’s a hand cradling the back of his head. noctis wouldn’t have noticed if not for it’s shaking. “noct, hey… shit—!”

what happens next is hard for noctis to discern. one moment he’s lying on a hard surface, trembling fingers raking desperately through his hair, and the next he’s falling, a muffled scream the last thing he hears before he succumbs to sleep, all numb pain and darkness.

[mechanicid-blog]

Prompto's camera swung at his neck strap when he leaned over Cid's patio chair with Cid in it. The other three were busy mingling with the others around Hammerhead, so he was hoping to get a quick question in. "Hey, Mr. Cid, how'd you and Noct's old man meet?" He paused. "You're not kingsglaive right? You can't do all that whoosh and warp stuff?" To be honest, he was wondering if there was any advice he could get. Being the only commoner in the group, he wanted to know someone in that same boat.

Curious eyes carry themselves away from the automobile magazine the mechanic was indulging himself in. There were some sales approaching for certain decal designs and shades of paints he know the boys would appreciate having an option for later down the line. Knowing very well that the Regalia was now in their “capable” hands, he thought it’d be best to stray away from the years Regis and himself changed her too and tune her up to something Noctis and his flock of friends might enjoy. Listening intently as the blemished, sun-kissed child spoke, he raises a peculiar brow as the questions unfolded over him. That’s right, this kid wasn’t of royal decent—not even remotely close to anything that could relate to the meat head and chief that followed the prince like dotting parents. How interesting. Motioning for the other to take a seat in the vacant beach chair, his thoughts captured him for a moment before he speaks, 

“ Ah met Regis at the ripe age of twenty kiddo—like what he done to Noctis here,   his dad did da same thin’ ta him and that’s how we met. Them royal family likes throwing their   kids in the real world without much thought these days —it’s a Caelum thing I recon.”

“ Ah ain’t Kingsglaive or Crowns Guard fer that mattur— I was Lucian Technical Support or some bullshit name like that—-Reggie made it up.”

Moving to sit up in a more comfortable position, he shifts in his seat to lean down and rests his arms on his aching knees. Cid was a lot of things in all his years of living. From technical support of fire arms and machinery, all the way to weapons specialization—one could dub him a weapons master at this point. Well—Regis did dub him that at some point in his life. With being the eldest of their lot and the wisest at his age, Cid was many things and guided many people. King included. Giving a gentle smile as he makes eye contact with the other male, he heart aches gently as he realizes the position the youngling was in. It was a tough feat for Cid back then, it must be just as hard for this one as well. 

    “ Ah use ta do all that “woosh and warpin’” stuff kid—Reggie has tricks up his sleeves,         but lemme tell ya, it sucked gettin’ from point one ta point two with him!         Reckless an stupid, but he fixed his messes when he needa too,         but what’s the real question that’s eatin’ ya?         You ain’t exactly up there on that royal bar, are ya? ”

@promptsilver