Chapter Text
I felt some movement next to me and when I opened my eyes, I looked down to see a blond nestled into my chest. My face got really pink and I slowly moved his face from my chest and into the pillow. Getting up from the bed, I looked in the top bunk to see that it was empty. It was different to have Prompto and I be the last ones up.
I walked out of the camper and saw Iggy sitting outside with a cup of ebony and the newspaper. I sat next to him and smiled, “Morning specs.”
He looked up from his paper and smiled, “Goodmorning Faith, did you sleep alright?” he asked me and I nodded my head.
“Wheres Gladio and Noct?” I asked looking around and seeing no sign of them.
“They went for a morning run,” he said and I started laughing.
“Noct, running? Our precious Noctis? You’re funny Iggy!” I laughed and Ignis rolled his eyes.
I heard shuffling from the camper and Prompto walked out, yawning and stretching his arms up. I reached over and poked his side, causing him to spaz a little bit.
“H-Hey! Don’t do that!” he whined and I winked at him. He smiled at me before looking at Iggy, “Anything good in the paper?”
“So far, no, unless you count the comics,” Ignis pulled out the middle of the paper and handed it to him. Promptos eyes lit up and I laughed a bit before I looked at the comics with him.
It didn't take long before Noct and Gladio came back. Noct looked like he ran a marathon, gasping and sweating a bit, and Gladio looked completely fine. “Who needs to run now, eh prince Noctis?” Gladio joked with him, slapping him on the back in a playful way. I smiled at them before I got up and smiled.
“You boys should head to a shower before we go meet up with Cor, okay?” I said to them. Both of them nodded their heads before heading into the camper.
It was all of forty minutes before we were on the road again. I convinced Prompto to let me sit up front and I winked at him from the passenger seat, “Thanks hon,” I said smiling at him and he smiled at me, his eyes sparkling.
But his sparkling eyes were quickly covered by a large shadow. We all looked above us and our stomachs jumped to our throats.
“That's an Imperial airship! Iggy you need to drive faster!” Noct yelled and Iggy stepped on the gas, but the airship still ended up in front of us. Iggy slammed on the brakes when it dropped off eight magitek soldiers onto the road, all of them holding huge axes. We all jumped out of the regalia and summoned our weapons. Automatically Ignis threw his lance and one axman was down, sparking all over the place. I ran towards one and it swung its ax; making me slid on my knees to dodge its attack. I saw a few strands of hair fall in the air and I sighed.
“I really didn't need a trim anytime soon, but thanks for that!” I said before I landed a few slashes on the thing with my sword. I looked over at Gladio and Noct, and Gladio landed a blow on one before tossing his greatsword to Noct in the air. Noct grasped it and did a airstrike on another axmen, practically slicing it in half. Three down, five to go.
I heard a scared gasp and I looked behind me, seeing Prompto fall on his butt. An ax men put his weapon in the air and my eyes widen, “Prompto, run!” I yelled to him. He started doing a crab walk, trying to get away but his feet kept slipping on the rocks. In the blink of an eye, Noct was there just in time to block the axeman's attack. I felt a bit relieved but my own target slashed at me again. I grabbed it by its arm and I pulled it into my blade. I pulled out and it fell on the ground sparking all around.
Noct helped Prompto up as best he could before Prompto shot the axemen in the head and Noct sliced its chest open. I smiled a bit but I knew there was still one more around.
“Faith behind you!” Noct yelled before running towards me. I turned just in the nick of time to block its attack, but it caused me to fall to a knee. Noct let out an aggravated yell before he swung his sword, just missing my head by a few inches. He sliced it in half and I laughed a bit as I got up.
“Nice one Noct!” I told him as I gave him a high five. He smiled at me and shrugged his shoulders.
“That was nothing..” He said before looking at the Mts. “How did they know we were here?” He knelt by the Mt before sighing.
I bit my lip a little and shifted my weight to my right side, “I don't know, but we need to be careful, if the empire is after us now, we need to be on our toes,” I said before looking at Prompto. He looked nervous, rubbing his wrist where his barcode was. The poor boy must think it's because of him. I walked over to him and patted his back, “Nice work hon.”
He smiled at me a little before he winked at me, “You might wanna consider getting a haircut Faith, or else the mts might cut it for you…” he laughed and I smacked his arm lightly.
“Common you guys, let's go to Cor,” I said to them as I started walking back to the Regalia.
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Pulling up to the Hunter stop, we immediately saw Monica. We jumped out of the car and looked around a bit. This was one of the many Hunter HQ in EOS. I looked at the different computer boards and such, the little signs on them saying ‘DO NOT TOUCH.’ Going up to Monica, a small smile crossed her lips when she saw all of us, but you could tell her eyes were filled with sorrow.
“It's a relief to see you Prince Noctis..” she said giving him a little bow before looking at the rest of us, “And it's nice to see you guys as well.”
“Monica, where's Cor? He said he would be here,” Noct said smiling a bit at Monica.
“He's up by the royal tomb, just follow the path up that way and you should find him easily,” she said gesturing to the dirth path.
Following her directions, we ended up at one of thirteenth tombs. I learned about them from my dad when I was a little kid. It was for each of the kings, and each one held a weapon that only the king could wield. And now, considering king Regis was gone, Noct could wield them. We walked up the grand staircase and the door to the tomb was already open, Cor must be inside already.
Walking in, Cor looked up from the monument, his hard expression only getting harder. “It’s about time,your highness,” he remarked, his gaze on Noct. We all stood around the monument, the tension as thick as smog.
“Care to tell me why I’m here Cor,” Noct demanded, his voice starting to waver a bit.
Cor held his hand out to gesture to the monument; in its hands held a sword. “This here is the power of the kings, passed from the kings of old to the kings of new, through bonding souls. This here is the first soul, and to have your ancestors power is your birthright, and duty and king?”
Noctis scoffed a bit and looked up at Cor, “King of what? I'm not even really a prince anymore,” he said, his voice starting to crack a bit.
Cor didn't really looked fazed by what Noct said, bit we all were a tad shocked that Noct would even say that.
“Noct… You shouldn't thi-” I tried interjecting but Cor held his hand up to me, immediately shutting me up.
“Right now, don't question your calling as king; a king is sworn to protect his people”
“And yet he chose to protect one person, me! And it cost the lives of a lot of people, just to protect his son!”
Cor walked around the table, looking a bit frustrated at Noct. “The King entrusted the role of Protector to you, he kn-” Noct slammed his fist on the table a and gulped.
“He didn't tell me that! Why didn’t he tell me? He just stood there smiling as I left! Why?!” Nocts voice cracked a bit, a single tear going down his cheek. “Why did he lie to me, Cor?”
With his expression softening a bit, Cor went back to the other side of the table, “They day you left, he didn't want you to remember his as king. At the end of the day, he was your father, and that's how he wanted to be remembered by you…. But, he had faith, that one day you would rise up, and take a stand for your people, for your kingdom.”
Looking over at Noct, he clenched onto the table a bit before letting it go, his hand turning into a fist. At the end of the day, Regis did act like a father just a tab bit more. With letting Prompto and I come along, with making sure I was comfortable with traveling with four men, and with just how he talked to Noct before we drove away.
“He didn't leave me much of a choice now did he,” Noct reluctantly said as he placed his hand on the sword. It started glowing a bright blue before shooting off into the air. I watched it fly onto Noctis, disappearing when it went into him. I jumped a bit when it impaled him, but I guess it was just the bonding process.
“Come now, Another tomb is really close to here,” Cor said as he started walking out. We all quickly followed him and started going to the second royal tomb. Is wasn't before long at a mini army of Mts attacked us. With the help of the marshall, we took them out really quickly. He even complimented Prompto a few times. I could tell Prom was having a mini fanboy attack, but he kept his cool.
“This is the entrance to the second Tomb,” Cor said to the boys before tossing Noct a key, “This will unlock all the royal arms, be sure not to lose it.”
Gladio laughed a bit when he saw me standing next to Cor, “Not coming with us Faith?”
Shaking my head I laughed, “I don't do caves, I have Faith in you guys. Besides, the marshall and I have some things to talk over, I’ll meet you in town okay?”
The boys nodded their head before heading into the cave. Turning to the marshall, I bit my lip. “Cor..”
“Lets go Faith,” He grunted as he started walking away. I nodded my head and followed him as fast as I could. We reached town and he sat down at a table, “Sit, we have some things to discuss.”
I slowly nodded my head and sat across from him, “Cor… I know right now more then ever you would want me as your second in command, but I can't leave the guys. I started this adventure, and I want to be with them when it ends.”
“They guys would make it on there own Faith, they are all trained… well, three are trained, Prompto is just really lucky.. Good, but lucky..” he said as he crossed his legs and arms.
I clenched my fists and looked at him, “Listen here Cor, if I need to prove myself to you, then I will, but I'm making sure Noct gets to see the oracle in Altissia weather you like it or not,” I didn't like arguing with my elders, but Cor was being unreasonable.
“Understand Faith, that things might get hairy, and I want to know your prepared for the road ahead,” he stated, his expression softening.
“I took an oath when I joined the crownsguard, to protect the people of insomnia. I failed that when I left Insomnia, but the least I can do is protect the prince, my best friend,” I said before I stood up, “When everything with The empire is said and taken care of, and Noct is full on king, then I will take the offer, I just need to see this through Cor.”
He stood up with me and just nodded his head. “I know you're ready for this, and I have faith in you,” he said before sighing. “Faith, about your parents..”
“I know my dad is in lestallum, he's badly hurt…” I said looking up and clenching my fists...
“And your mother?” he asked but I shook my head. He could tell I knew she was gone so he didn’t press any further. He walked around the table and put his hands on my shoulders. “You and your father are some of the best soldiers I ever had the chance to fight with, he will get better.”
I smiled at him before I nodded my head, but I knew it was a slim chance my father would pull through. He was getting weaker in his older age. He's been in the crownsguard since he was 18, so it's take a toll on his body.
Cor and I went our separate ways for now and I rented the camper in town for the night. I knew when the guys got back they would want to plop on the bed and pass out, especially Noct. I decided that I was going to be a bit domestic and cook the guys something to eat. considering I wasn't a good of a cook as Ignis, the best I could do was sandwiches.
I saw the sky starting to get a bit dark and I sighed. The guys weren't back yet and I was getting a bit nervous. ‘Damnit maybe I should have gone with them,’ I thought to myself as I sat outside the camper, my head in my hand as I waited for them. I pulled out my phone and looking at the time, 9:30. ‘I should go find them,’ I got up and put my shoes on before I saw four figures coming up the dirt path. I squinted a bit before I realized it was the boys, covered head to toe in dirt.
“Oh thank the six you guys are okay. I was starting to get really nervous,” I ran up to them and hugged each of them. They all gave me weak hugs back, simply groaning.
“Next cave, you're coming with us Faith, were not doing another one without you,” Noct said plopping his ass onto the chair. His eyes shined a bit when he saw the sandwiches but I quickly took them away.
“Shower first, then food,” I said, causing Noct and Prompto to groan. He got up and went into the camper to shower while the others sat outside. They told me about the cave, on how it was almost like a bunker of sorts in the old days of war. I wasn't going to have the boys waist a potion on little cuts and scrapes, so I went to each of them and cleaned each of their cuts, putting some ointment on.
They all took relatively quick showers, my guess because they were hungry. We all ate outside and Cor came to join us. We talked over the next step, which was to liberate a barricade into Duscae. It’s currently under imperial control, and it's going to be out job to free it. Going over the plan in its entirety, Cor left us for the night; leaving us to prepare for tomorrow's attack. Noct was going to be going with the marshall while the rest of us took out the forces in front.
Looking at the boys, I could tell they were all tired. I felt bad for not going with them, I really did.
“You guys take the beds tonight, okay?” I said to them and they all looked up at me.
“There's enough room on the bed if you bunk with Iggy and I,” Noct told me before he stood up and stretched. “I'm turning in.”
The rest of us pretty much followed Nocts lead and went to bed. I laid between Iggy and Noct, looking up at the ceiling. Noct was out pretty instantly, while I could feel that Iggy was still awake. I heard Gladio snore a bit and Prompto let out a small quiet laugh when it happened. To say the least, we were all pretty nervous about tomorrow, going up against the empire, but I knew we could all handle it.