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year 5, quarter 3
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[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Caius expressed concern for his retinue and said that he would keep checking up on Ignis. He trailed off rather than finish a certain thought about him though, and Noctis furrowed his brow a bit at the implication. He had a feeling that he knew how the blond man was going to finish that sentence, but it didn’t really make sense. If Caius was from the future, then of course he should have known that Ignis had lost his sight. Unless that implied that something had cured his eyes in the future? Maybe once they had actually been able to stop and get him long-term medical care? The prince didn’t dare to get his hopes up though, so he chose not to pester Caius on that front. Part of him wasn’t sure if he wanted the answer right now.
Caius also clarified that he had gotten days off in Lucis before, but that he’d usually used the time to study. “You definitely need something like a road trip then,” Noct commented as he leaned back a little on the couch-bed. “Think we could all use something like that once this is over.”
Apparently Alex was trying to kill a girl who worked with Caius because she could summon her version of astrals, and if that wasn’t a lot to unpack. “Dude,” he complained a little but relented when the man said he wasn’t in the headspace to cover that fully. “Once this is all done, I need to go pay him a visit. I swear he wasn’t like this when I first showed up. Not sure if something’s wrong or what…” Prompto wouldn’t be happy at all if he knew that Noctis wanted to talk to Alex, and it was probably kinder not to tell him honestly. He’d just worry and get upset when he already had his hands full with Ignis. This would definitely be a solo trip.
Once they got down to business, Caius confirmed that he had met the woman who could be Luna, and Noctis let out a slow breath when he revealed that she had full amnesia. Oracle or not, she definitely wouldn’t be able to help with Lumina then. “...When this is over, will you take me to see her?” He asked a bit apprehensively. He didn’t want to get his hopes up when it might not even be her. Caius must have been a kid when she died after all, so he’d only know her from pictures. Even if it was her, it sounded like she wouldn’t remember him. Still, Noctis would be happy just knowing that she was alive and okay somewhere…
Their planning boiled down a lot more to the ring of the Lucii than Noctis would have liked. It made sense—it was a powerful heirloom that could give them the upper hand in this fight—but he’d never quite gotten over his distaste for it yet. Maybe that was understandable though, given that it had prematurely aged his father, stolen Ignis’ sight, and was slowly draining his lifeforce.
For Caius’ part, he ruled out Noctis trying to form a wall, which made the prince sigh even if he agreed the more he thought about it. “Fair enough. I’ve never done it before, and I don’t want to make you fight alone if keeping it up drains me.” The kingsglaive also reassured him that he had no intention of putting on the ring, and that Noctis was its rightful wielder. He had apparently only wondered if some of its power could be extended to him through their connection, and the prince hesitated as he stared down at the black piece of jewelry. “...Maybe. I don’t think my dad ever used it like that, but…” But all of his energy went into maintaining the wall. That went without saying, so Noctis continued on without finishing that thought. “Your magic was how I found you fishing on the beach that day. So I think we do have some kind of connection even if your kingsglaive oaths weren’t technically to me…”
It might be worth a try. Caius pointed out again that he was the true king and that his ancestors' power was his to command. He wasn’t entirely sure that would make a difference since they had still blinded Ignis, but it was nice to have someone be that confident in him at least. Maybe that was why the prince closed his fingers around the ring and proposed something rash.
“Then let’s ask them directly.” Ignis must have heard their whispers and garbled speech before when he’d put it on and asked for their favor, but this was a first for Noctis inviting someone to come speak with them. He wasn’t sure if Caius would even agree or not, but he offered him his hand anyway. It would probably be safe as long as he was the one still wearing it, right?
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] As Tifa explained what the city that she’d lived in was like, the details just kept getting worse. “Seriously? They built a city like that on purpose, where some people wouldn’t have sunlight?” That really put everything that Caius had told him about Ardyn’s ten years of darkness into perspective. At least that hadn’t been an entire group of people who decided it was fine for the lower-classes to live like that. “No wonder you overthrew them. What’s Midgar like now?” Lucis didn’t exactly have the cleanest history either—he’d never been comfortable with the idea that his grandfather had pulled the wall back to Insomnia and left the rest of Lucis to the mercy of the empire. Plus there was everything that Caius had told him about Ardyn and the founder king. History was messy, but he was glad Tifa and her friends had managed to shape a better future. Now if only he could do that too.
As Noctis pulled the cups out of his glaive for their wine, Tifa joked that he was a man to call for just about anything. “I did offer you a hammer whenever you’re ready to build that basement,” he said with a slight grin before shaking his head. “For real though, it does come in handy. I still have all our camping equipment from Eos in there, which was really nice when I first got here and didn’t have any money.” Come to think of it, the only reason he had any money now was from doing some jobs for the Rising Stones, and Alex and Prompto were probably not going to be inclined to work together going forward. That…could be a problem, but he’d worry about finding an income source once Iggy was out.
Tifa confirmed that she did miss Gaia sometimes, mostly because of the people, and Noctis frowned a little when she said that she’d lost a few of them along the way. “Sorry to hear that…If you ever want to talk about them, I’ve got plenty more where this bottle is concerned.” He understood if that wasn’t where she wanted to take the conversation tonight, but that was a long-standing offer for the future too.
She asked in return if he missed Eos, which made Noctis hesitate for longer than he probably should have. “Like you said, I miss the people. But things were pretty bad there when I left.” That was an understatement, considering that about every major civilization had fallen and Ardyn had played his final hand. “The others still call me a prince, but a title isn't much use when your kingdom’s fallen.” That was still hard to admit, but talking to Tifa was always easier than he expected. It felt like he’d known her for longer than he actually had. “I’m still hoping to take it back someday, but there’s not much I can do about it from here…”
Honestly, it was a relief when Tifa raised her glass and made a toast to new beginnings. That really was perfect when he thought about everything that he’d left in the rearview mirror, and maybe it was for her too. “And a new world,” he added, clinking his glass to her offered one before he finally took a sip of wine. It was sweeter than he’d expected—maybe the grapes in Accordo did a little better than Lucian grapes. “How’s it stack up, bartender?”
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Caius reassured him that he had gotten away from the prison fine before asking how his friends were doing. Noctis hesitated for a moment and rocked back on his heels as he debated how to answer that. “Not…great. Physically they’re healing up, but they were in bad shape. I haven’t really gotten to talk to them much yet…” Once they were ready, Noctis planned to have a heart to heart with them though. The four of them hadn’t even seriously talked about Gralea yet, let alone what had happened on Zephon so far. They were long overdue to catch up.
Caius talked a little about what he’d been up to since the jail break, and Noctis shook his head when he said that Lumina had forced him to take his first ever day off. “I didn’t give you time off in the future? Sorry for being a hard ass then.” Sometimes it was hard to reconcile himself with the king that Caius knew, but he supposed that he did have a decade to grow into it at least.
As the kingsglaive continued with his tale, Noctis was definitely concerned about someone attacking the crystal in Torensten, but he had a lot more questions about the first part. “Wait, what was that about Alex and murder?” Astrals above, he was going to go back to the Rising Stones and launch an intervention when he had time. He’d really liked the guy when they’d first met and…stolen a taxi together. Okay, that part was best forgotten. Point being though, Alex’s temperament seemed to be going downhill, which led Noctis to wonder if something else was going on with him. Maybe all of his past lives were getting to him.
Caius finally admitted to the real reason he’d come to visit, and Noctis nodded slowly at the revelation. “I expected something like that. I didn’t get the impression in Sonora that there was a lot of time left.” The couch was currently made up into a makeshift bed for the prince since Cindy didn’t have enough beds for all of them, so Noctis gestured at a chair instead for the kingsglaive to sit down if he wanted to. On his end, he shoved the couch blankets to the side and sat down across from Caius. He was ready to help however he could, though part of him was glad that Prompto was still outside for this discussion. His friend had gotten pretty worked up last time.
The blond man outlined his plan and what he’d been doing so far, and Noctis frowned as he considered it. “I’ve never used my magic like that, on someone with the scourge,” he admitted. “That might have just killed them honestly. But I know this situation is different from back home since it merged with some other parasite. So if you can show me what you’ve been doing, I can try it with you.” He hesitated before adding one caveat though. “It…does make me a little nervous doing this without an oracle. Forcing it out sounds like it could hurt her depending on how far along she is…” He had a feeling that he wasn’t saying anything that Caius hadn’t already agonized over, but he still felt like he needed to offer the warning. “It might be our only option though if you haven’t heard anything else about-...about Luna.” The prince hadn’t really let himself focus on the possibility that she’d been sighted in Zephon. He didn’t want to get his hopes up over someone who might not even be her. Not after he’d watched her die.
The kingsglaive also broached another idea he’d had. He was clearly worried about the strength of the parasite that they’d be fighting once it had been freed from Lumina’s body, and he asked about the Ring of the Lucii in terms of adding to their chances. Noctis nodded thoughtfully as he mulled over how to best use the extra boost of power that his ancestors could give them. “I guess I could either take it offensively or defensively. In theory I can use a more powerful version of the full armiger with it, so we could hope that goes better than when I tried it without the ring against you.” The royal arms had drained him a lot faster on Zephon than they ever had on Eos. Maybe channeling the ring would help with that though. “Or…I never had to hold up the wall around Insomnia,” he added a bit hesitantly. “And I doubt I could do something the size of a city so far from the crystal and without any augmenters. But maybe I could do a small version of the wall around wherever we’re doing this? It would at least stop the parasite from escaping and hurting anyone else until we deal with it.” Or until it killed Noctis, but that went without saying. “I hear it’s pretty draining though. That might land the bulk of the fighting onto you…”
Which led to Caius’ second proposal, but that made the prince seriously hesitate. “I know you’re worried about her, but I don’t want you to get hurt. And asking the other kings for power…historically hasn’t gone too well.” The fact that they’d blinded Ignis of all people was enough to have him scowling down at the innocuous piece of jewelry on his finger. All Specs had tried to do was protect him, and his ancestors couldn’t even forgive that much. “I really wouldn’t put it on unless it’s a last resort.”
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Cindy pointed out that no one knew him here, so he’d be free to live his life like he wanted to. “That’s a weird feeling,” he admitted while rubbing the back of his neck with his gloved hand. “Guess I’ll worry about that once the others are safe.” He honestly had no idea what he was supposed to do away from Lucis and prophecies and Ardyn. He had a feeling that he had a whole quarter-life crisis coming though once everything had calmed down.
Cindy also suggested that he just plug in his phone here, which made Noctis laugh to himself. “Right, I forgot you’d definitely need electricity out here for the garage. I just know Provo’s kind of split between that and whatever crystals they import from Torensten, so I wasn’t too sure what you had around here.” Did he still have his phone charger? That was a good question, but he couldn’t see why it wouldn’t still be in his glaive somewhere. “I’ll look for it, and then maybe we can try it out when I come back? No real rush since I can’t get calls on it. Playing King’s Knight again sounds great though.” There was no real point in charging it for any other reason. Still, a game night with Cindy and the boys sounded great.
The mechanic laughed about her grandpa some more before saying that it hadn’t been too tough to set up shop here when cars were the only thing she really knew. “Well you’re damn good at it,” he said, and he really meant it. He hadn’t said that to Cindy enough back on Eos when she’d been helping them out, and he hoped to fix that now. “I never wanted anyone else to work on the Regalia.” And when they’d saved enough to buy a car here, he’d bring that one straight to Cindy too in a heartbeat.
When Noctis asked if he could come back sometime, Cindy looked almost offended that he had to ask. Her answer was so heartfelt that the prince wasn’t sure where to look. She was still the first person he knew that he’d run into here on Zephon, so he felt a slight lump in his throat at how welcome she made him feel. He quickly tried to bury that with a cough though. Poor Cindy didn’t need him to dump anything else on her today.
“I won’t be a stranger then. I’ll come back as soon as I find the others, I promise.” That meant that he really did need to keep on traveling since it was still a long way to Sonora. Especially when he’d need to get a taxi or something. Hopefully he wasn’t blacklisted since he and Alex had stolen a Sonoran taxi and driven it off a cliff, but that was something to worry about once he got there.
“I should keep on going to Sonora if I want a chance of tracking them down. Don’t work too hard, okay?” He said with a slight grin as he raised one hand in a slight wave. “And let me know if you ever need anything. I kind of miss those quests for car parts you’d send us on.” He might not have said that at the time when he was tired and hot and running across Lucis, but he looked back on everything before Accordo with some amount of nostalgia now.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Tifa explained a little more about what Shinra had been up to back on her world, and Noctis grimaced at the description. “I wouldn’t mind hearing more,” he refuted when she got a little self-conscious about rambling. “That’s crazy though. I mean, they lived on the planet too. It’s not like they were just hurting another country.” Humans were bizarre when you got down to it. They could do so much damage to everything around them. Even Niflheim hadn’t been as irresponsible as Shinra though.
Tifa also said that it wasn’t the worst idea to set up a secret basement in her bar, but that she’d probably need help. “I don’t know much about architecture, but I can swing a hammer around if you need it,” he offered with a faint grin before nodding when she asked about his friends. “Yeah, Prompto and Cindy both come from Eos like me. Prompto and I go way back—we went to school together and everything. Cindy was the mechanic who worked on our car for us. And yeah, Prompto’s always had a crush on her. Just uh. Don’t tell him I told you that,” he said a bit conspiratorially as he inspected the roof.
Tifa didn’t seem to mind the warping nearly as much as some people. Honestly, she did damn good for her first time, but that wasn’t too surprising with how much she’d apparently dealt with. Noctis got the impression she was real tough. “Yeah, as long as it’s somewhere in throwing distance, then I can warp there. Doing that helps to give an anchor,” he explained as he banished the dagger back into the glaive and settled in on the roof. The shingles weren’t the most comfortable seat in the world, but the view below them made it worth it. With all the street lights on, the whole city almost seemed to glow. Sonora didn’t seem so bad from up here.
“I guess cups would be nice. I’m sure I have some in here somewhere,” Noctis said a bit sheepishly as he mentally rifled through their camping gear before pulling two glasses and a bottle opener out of his glaive. Uncorking the wine, he poured a little for Tifa first. “Not nearly as fancy as something you could make, but I did promise you a drink,” he said as he held it out for her. Afterward, he poured some for himself and set the bottle down between them for whenever they needed more. He held off on drinking it himself though, as he glanced down at the Accordan wine. He’d picked it up on a whim while they were exploring the city, figuring the four of them would drink it together soon. A lot had gone wrong immediately after that though.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] To put it lightly, Noctis felt like he was recovering from being hit by a train. After weeks of stressing out over what shape his friends would be in, it was surreal to suddenly have them back. They were both in such bad shape that they hadn’t really been able to talk on the journey from Sonora to Provo though. Even now, Noctis had been keeping a respectful distance while they healed and sorted out whatever hell they had gone through. It was taking a lot of restraint to not just kick in the door and see if they needed anything, but he didn’t want to overwhelm them when they’d been locked up for years. Noctis would be there to talk whenever they were ready. Even if he was completely losing it in the meantime.
The prince had been spending most of his time either sleeping or doing odd jobs for Cindy. He more than owed it to her after she’d driven the getaway car for all of them, and he found that it was kind of peaceful to do some mindless fetch quests for the mechanic again. It felt a little like being back at Hammerhead when they were searching for new parts for the Regalia. It was stupid to call that a simpler time when it was right after Insomnia had fallen, but…it really was, in a way. They’d all had to grow up a lot since then.
Noctis had slept in late one morning though, and by the time he sat up yawning on the couch it looked like he had the place to himself. Prompto must have been helping Cindy with something outside, and the prince was in no hurry to interrupt the two of them from having quality time. It sounded like one of them was on their way back inside though as the front door was pushed open, so Noctis was surprised when the voice that called out his name didn’t belong to either of them.
“Caius?” He stood up from the couch, suddenly aware that he probably had a bad case of bed hair, and it was almost noon. He was at least dressed decently since he’d passed out in his black capris and skull t-shirt, so thank the gods for small mercies. He was also still wearing the Ring of the Lucii, which might have contributed to him sleeping in. Taking it off always gave him such a sense of relief, like he’d been carrying around a mountain and had forgotten about it. Part of him never liked to place it aside for too long though. Whether or not he was on Eos right now, he still had a duty to finish eventually. That meant that he needed to train and get strong enough to be the king that everyone expected him to be when he was finally able to ascend the throne. And part of that was getting used to bearing the ring.
“Hey, I’m glad you made it out safe! No worse for wear or anything?” He hadn’t really had a chance to catch up with Caius after the jailbreak since the blond man had made his own way out, so he was really glad that he’d taken the time to stop by. Honestly he owed the kingsglaive quite a bit for risking his life like that. He owed Alex too, but that was more difficult to repay given the burned bridges between him and Prompto now.
“Honestly, you look…way better than the last time I saw you.” Maybe that was a low bar since Caius had been exhausted and desperate for a chance to save Lumina. He probably still was, but he at least looked like he’d slept this time. “Everything going okay on that end? I know things weren’t looking so good then…” With his friends safe, maybe it was finally time to focus on the scourge though.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Tifa talked about how she liked her job because it gave her time to do things during the day, even if she had to sleep in a bit. That made sense, though at this point Noctis wasn’t even sure what a normal schedule was supposed to look like. He and his friends had mostly done odd jobs around Lucis, which could have been at any time of day or night. Well. At least once Ignis had trusted him enough to handle the daemons that were out and about at night at least. Before that his retainer had absolutely refused to drive the Regalia once the sun had gone down. It was both responsible and infuriating, which summed up Ignis pretty nicely now that he thought about it.
Tifa said pretty bluntly that her friends used to blow things up, so overhearing a jail break being planned in her bar wasn’t too weird. Noctis had to laugh at that, since he wasn’t expecting something like that to come out of her mouth. “I hear you.” Literally, since they’d wrecked havoc on more than one imperial base set up around Lucis. “It sounds like Shinra deserved whatever you gave them.” She also said that her old bar used to have a secret basement where they’d conduct their meetings, which made the prince grin. “Maybe you could add one to your new bar. Sonora’s government doesn’t seem so great either honestly. I’d say your services are needed again.” He was joking but also…not. With how horribly Ignis and Gladio had been treated, Noctis definitely wouldn’t mind if someone took on the council here. Or blew something up.
The bartender also teased him that she’d love to meet Ignis and Gladio in a different way than she’d met his other friends. “You’ll get some warning next time, I promise.” He was still a bit mortified by how that had all gone down, even if Tifa wasn’t upset about it. Everytime he thought about Alex blowing up or Cindy showing up out of nowhere, he just wanted to shrivel up into a tiny ball. Maybe this was one of those things that would be funny someday though. Maybe.
Tifa seemed excited that the wine was from Eos, and Noctis nodded as he showed her the bottle. “I picked this one up in an island nation back home called Accordo. That’s the nice thing about my glaive. I still had everything in it when I woke up here.” He’d get through all the perishables eventually of course, but it was just so comforting to have a piece of home in the meantime.
She told him to lead the way outside, and he groaned a little when she called him a prince. “Too much to ask for you to forget that part, huh?” It wasn’t that he was embarrassed or anything. It was just kind of nice to live his life and not have anyone know who he was for a change. He’d had the same feeling when he’d first left Insomnia, and that had only doubled since coming to Zephon.
Zipping up his coat, Noctis headed out the front door of the inn, deciding that Tifa had been right about the weather. “Yeah, it’s not too bad.” It was definitely chilly, but by Sonora’s standards that was pretty good. Nothing a light coat couldn’t fix. Looking up at the roof though, Noctis rubbed the back of his neck as he realized a slight problem. He hadn’t really thought this through before inviting someone else to join him up there.
“I can warp us up there, but you might want to hold onto me,” Noctis said a bit sheepishly as he offered Tifa his arm a bit too properly. That was not going to help with all the prince jokes, but he didn’t know of a better way to carry her without coming off like a creep. Since he needed a catalyst, he also quickly summoned a dagger to his other hand. “This might feel a little weird,” he warned her before tossing it up at the shingles and warping himself after it, with Tifa along for the ride.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Cindy said that he didn’t have to take on everything the world threw at him just because he was a prince, and Noctis cracked a small smile when she pointed out that he was still human. “Wish more people saw it that way, but thanks Cindy. I’ll try to remember that.” It was good advice, really. It was so easy to be hard on himself with everything that had gone wrong on Eos though. He’d probably always wonder what he could have done differently if he had been more mature and ready for the throne.
Talk of King’s Knight was a welcome respite from that downward spiral train of thought though. “Yeah, I bet I just need somewhere with electricity to charge it. Cell service will be toast, but as long as I still have the game downloaded I think it should play.” Was Sonora advanced enough to have cell phones? Maybe he could even get the phone working again if they did. It probably wasn’t worth it though if it would only make calls when he was near Sonora. He had a feeling they’d want to avoid the place after Ignis and Gladio were out.
Cindy also reassured him that Ignis had known what he was risking when he’d put on the ring, and Noctis bit his lip as he glanced down at the seemingly innocuous bit of jewelry on his finger. Even now he could feel its power thrumming through him, and it was honestly exhausting. Like a bit of his life was flowing out of him with every heartbeat. Sometimes he just wanted to chuck the thing into the ocean, but a small part of him always whispered that he’d need it if they ever found a way home. Or if Ardyn happened to turn up here. “I’ll tell him. Thanks Cindy.” That was about all he could manage to get out, but hopefully she understood.
The blonde woman also said that she wasn’t sure if she wanted Cid to show up here or not, and Noct thought that he understood. “You’re right, he’s tough. Think he could get by anywhere.” Speaking of which, Noctis took another look around Cindy’s garage, including the car that she’d been painting before he interrupted. “You’re not so different, you know. It looks like you’ve found a pretty good place for yourself. Glad you’re settling in so well.”
He didn’t want to bother her from working for too much longer, but he also didn’t want to just leave without making plans to see her again. She was the first person that he’d seen from Eos after all. Well. Not including Caius since they’d never met before. At least not in Noct’s estimation.
“When we leave Sonora, can I come back by here?” Hopefully he’d have the others by then. If everything went well.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Cindy lectured him for lingering on everything he’d done wrong in Gralea by saying that no one could fix everything. “Sometimes it feels everyone outside of you guys expects me to,” Noctis admitted. “I know you’re right though. Just got to believe it myself now.” Knowing something was true and actually feeling it were two different beasts sometimes. He could reflect more on Gralea once Ignis and Gladio were safe and sound though.
“Don’t worry, only one of us can cook,” Noctis reassured Cindy, grateful when the subject changed to a future dinner they’d have to plan with all five of them. “I can break out the cup noodles that are left in my glaive.” He also lit up when she mentioned the game that they’d used to play once they made camp for the night. “I almost forgot about King’s Knight! I wonder if we can still pull that up on our old phones here. If I can find somewhere to charge my phone, then heck yeah I’ll show you. Prompto’s really into it too.” Hopefully he wasn’t laying it on too thick about his best friend. If there was anywhere with electricity where he could charge a phone though, it would probably be Sonora. Noctis would have to make sure it was good to go so he could show Cindy once they were all gathered in Provo again.
The tone got pretty dour again after that when the subject of Ignis’ injury came up. “He’s stubborn. He still tries to fight and do everything he did before, but…” Noctis let the sentence hang before sighing. “He hasn’t quite figured it all out yet. I hope it gets easier for him with practice…” He winced a bit when Cindy asked if he was there when it happened. “Yeah, but I was unconscious. He tried to save me by putting on my family’s ring for more power. My ancestors never take too kindly to that.” Feeling a little self-conscious, he scowled down at the Ring of the Lucii on his finger, wondering what the other kings’ problem was. Lucis Caelum blood or not, he couldn’t imagine someone more worthy of anything than Ignis was, and he was still rejected enough that using it burned his eyes. Noctis also couldn’t see himself in the future turning down anybody who asked for his power if they had a good reason. What family they belonged to shouldn’t matter. It was a lot of exclusionary bullshit if you asked him.
“I really do hope you can find Cid if he’s around here though. More and more of us seem to be turning up.” It was a weak attempt to change the subject, but he really did mean that.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Tifa explained that bars were in fact open pretty late, but they did at least close eventually. “No six AM cocktails I guess,” Noctis joked while rubbing the back of his neck. “And I’m glad you don’t have to work all night. You’d never see the sun.” He commented that without really thinking, and then immediately felt weird about it considering that Eos actually had lost its sun. Noctis had only experienced one long night in Gralea, but if Caius was to be believed, then there’d been no light for a decade after that. It was crazy to think that anything could survive that long.
Tifa said that he didn’t have to apologize for the meeting that had gone sour in her bar because she’d seen things like that happen before. “Yeah, you said you used to host those in your bar back home, right? When you were taking on that evil corporation.” He was blanking on the name of the company, but it was hard to forget a story like that. It was partly why Noctis had gotten the idea to meet at Tifa’s bar in the first place. He had a feeling that she’d be sympathetic, or at least look the other way. It was hard to find somewhere else like that in Sonora.
She said that she hoped everything would go well in the upcoming jail break, and that he could reach out if he ever needed anything. “Thanks Tifa. I think we’ll probably just have to lay low for a while after this…” Hopefully between Caius and Prompto, they’d be able to keep their faces from showing up on camera at least. “Then I’ll have two more guys for you to meet. I think you’d like them. Ignis and Gladio are definitely the responsible half of our crew.” They were also the older pair. That just made it all the harder for Noctis and Prompto to do this alone, but the prince liked to think that Ignis would be proud of how they’d banded together and come up with a plan. He could absolutely never hear about what had gone down in the bar though.
Tifa agreed to have a drink with him, and Noctis grinned weakly as he glanced down at the bottle of wine in his hand. “I can guarantee you’ve never had this brand too. I was feeling like a taste of home tonight. Still have a couple of these tucked away in the glaive.” Along with some cup noodles actually, but he really needed to save those for Gladio. “Think it would be too cold up on the roof right now?” He thought Tifa might have an actual answer to that question since she’d been walking home outside just now.