Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
at adventu, we believe that colorful story and plots far outweigh the need for a battle system. rp should be about the writing, the fun, and the creativity. you will see that the only system on our site is the encouragement to create amazing adventures with other members. welcome to adventu... how will you arrive?
year 5, quarter 3
Welcome one and all to our beautiful new skin! This marks the visual era of Adventu 4.0, our 4th and by far best design we've had. 3.0 suited our needs for a very long time, but as things are evolving around the site (and all for the better thanks to all of you), it was time for a new, sleek change. The Resource Site celebrity Pharaoh Leep was the amazing mastermind behind this with minor collaborations from your resident moogle. It's one-of-a-kind and suited specifically for Adventu. Click the image for a super easy new skin guide for a visual tour!
Final Fantasy Adventu is a roleplaying forum inspired by the Final Fantasy series. Images on the site are edited by KUPO of FF:A with all source material belonging to their respective artists (i.e. Square Enix, Pixiv Fantasia, etc). The board lyrics are from the Final Fantasy song "Otherworld" composed by Nobuo Uematsu and arranged by The Black Mages II.
The current skin was made by Pharaoh Leap of Pixel Perfect. Outside of that, individual posts and characters belong to their creators, and we claim no ownership to what which is not ours. Thank you for stopping by.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Caius seemed to recognize that he was casting a spell with the Ring of the Lucii because he did back off a little, but he also completely dodged Holy by suddenly vanishing from view. Noctis hadn’t seen him warp or phase in the light from Holy, so he cursed under his breath and whirled around, deducing that the man would probably show up somewhere behind him. He was close at least—Caius suddenly appeared from the side with an entirely new weapon that he brought down overhead. Noctis wasn’t surprised that he had something else in his arsenal, but a double-sided sword was pretty unfamiliar to him on an opponent. It wasn’t something his friends or any MTs usually had.
Noctis definitely felt like a fish out of water dodging the first few blows, but just as he was getting a bit more used to the new style of combat, the kingsglaive caught him off guard by pulling the sword apart into a set of double daggers. Thanks to Ignis, the prince was very used to sparring someone with daggers, but the sudden change meant that his grip on his sword was all wrong to block a slash when he had been expecting a strong blow. One of the daggers caught his blade at a bad angle and wrenched it out of his hand as it went whirling off to the side.
Suddenly weaponless, Noctis quickly tried to retreat backwards, but he figured that Caius would be on him almost immediately with the other dagger in an attempt to force him to surrender. A crazy bit of inspiration struck him, and he called one of his crafted spells to his hand instead of trying to get his weapon back. Spells really weren’t meant to be used at this range, but Noctis credited Prompto with his idea. The one time that he’d given his friend magic to use had ended…poorly. It had hit the monster sure, but Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis had all taken the Blizzard spell straight to the face too. That’s why the prince knew that while being in the spell’s radius sucked, it would mostly just slow them both down and be freezing for a minute. Plus, if Noctis managed to recover first then maybe he could get the upper hand back. He was feeling crazy enough to take those odds.
In a race against getting a dagger to the throat, Noctis launched the Blizzard spell straight downwards between their feet. He might have been a prince, but he liked to think that he knew how to fight dirty.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] The prince’s warp-strike clashed with Caius’ sword as Noctis reappeared in a flash of blue. The force knocked the sword straight out of the kingsglaive’s hands, which was really only a second’s advantage in a fight where both of them could summon their weapons. Noctis gave up his brief upper-hand and his forward momentum in favor of hopping back lightly though. It was less a strategic move and more because this was just a spar. If Noctis had kept moving forward through the warp-strike when Caius was weaponless then he was liable to stab the man on accident. That wasn’t exactly what he was going for here. There was a difference between giving a spar everything you had and actively trying to hurt someone.
So instead he gave them both a moment to breathe as Caius summoned his gunblade back to his hand. The blond man paid him a compliment that Noctis returned with a faint grin. “I guess that’s one point to each of us.” He didn’t have much longer to rest though before Caius rushed forward.
The blond man was faster this time, and Noctis did his best to keep up with the flurry of blows. Speed was something of Noctis’ specialty, but Caius hit hard, so the prince had to grit his teeth and really dig into every parry. His blows weren’t quite as heavy as Gladio’s with his great-sword, but the tall man was definitely proving that he was physically stronger than Noct by a wide margin.
That was bad. The longer that Noctis stayed on the defensive, the more tired he got from defending against blows that made his arm shake and the more that the sword drained his health. At this rate, he’d fall unconscious from using the Sword of the Father too much, which would be a pretty poor showing. He needed to change tactics again.
On Caius’ next swing, Noctis did his best to dodge to the side instead of trying to block it as he brought up his hand with the ring on it and cast Holy as a counterattack. He was mostly just trying to get Caius to back off so Noct could get off the ropes and go back on the offensive.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Noctis agreed with a faint grin when Cindy said that Prompto took some damn good pictures. “He really does. Just wish he wouldn’t take so many photos in the middle of battle. He has a pretty majestic one of a coeurl mauling my face.” As long as that one stayed tucked away in the photo album, then the prince wasn’t too upset about it though. It was something to laugh about now.
“I don’t blame you for not staying in Sonora longer than that. I’m sure he’d love that though if you tracked him down.” Noctis felt like that was about the most he could say without embarrassing his friend. As it was, he hoped that he found Prompto first just so he could give him some warning. A surprise visit from Cindy might have been enough to give his best friend a heart attack.
Cindy seemed like she’d be pretty happy to work on a car for them as soon as they could afford one, so Noctis nodded, his spirits lifting already just at the thought of it. “That would be great as long as we’re here. Or maybe even after we get home.” The prince rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little bit more somber as he decided to tell her the truth. “I don’t know if you ever heard, but the Regalia’s in…bad shape. I had to leave it behind in Gralea…” That hurt to admit. Logical or not, losing his dad’s car had been like losing him all over again. It was just another piece of the king that he might never see again.
Honestly, if anyone else could understand the Regalia’s loss, maybe it was Cindy with all the hard work that she’d put into that car.
Noctis had to wince at the mechanic’s description of when she’d shown up on Zephon. “Yeah, you’re from about the same time as me then. You’re saying you had to flee Hammerhead?” That was just sad. He couldn’t picture that little truck stop without anyone inhabiting it. Let alone what must have happened to places like Galdin Quay or Lestallum. It was so frustrating to think about what might have been happening to Eos at this second. What Ardyn was doing to it.
“I’m glad you’re here too then. And that you’re safe.” Noctis let out a slow breath as he glanced to the side and clenched his fists down by his sides. “I just hope we can take everything back someday.” It might take ten years according to Caius, but the prince didn’t plan on giving up even if it did take him a decade.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Even without all the additional details, Prompto seemed a bit horrified that the crystal had pulled him in. Honestly, his friend seemed a bit stuck in his own head right now, so Noctis decided to shelve the rest of the Ardyn conversation until later. He didn’t blame Prompto at all for not wanting to go there—he still wasn’t entirely sure what had happened to him after Noctis had been tricked into throwing him off the train, but his friend didn’t seem keen on talking about it, and the prince definitely wouldn’t force him.
He could tell him a little later about the backstory that Ardyn had fed him while the crystal held him captive.
“...Yeah,” he said instead when Prompto seemed confused that the crystal had just led him here. “Weird, huh? At first I thought it was just Bahamut’s trial or something. I guess I’m still not entirely convinced that it isn’t.” Of course, there were people showing up here that had nothing to do with Eos, so that was looking less likely over time. It was about the only thing that made sense to Noctis at this point though. Especially when Caius had dropped that he was supposed to be gone for ten years. He didn’t want a decade of his life to just be a random bump in the road.
Noctis had to blink a bit when Prompto outlined how he had met Alex. It sounded familiar. Real familiar. “Seriously? Yeah, he helped me back to Provo and I joined up too. Then I’ve been staying at the Rising Stones for a couple weeks hoping you’d come around. Catching fish for the cats and stuff. But then I found Caius, and he let me know that you were in Sonora. And…he let me know what was going on with Ignis and Gladio too.” That dropped a somber mood over everything, so Noctis was grateful that they found the bar. Mentioning the other two crownsguard was probably a good transition point to talk about what Prompto had been doing.
Crossing the street towards Seventh Heaven, Noctis hesitated for just a second before pushing the door open. Mostly because he hoped this wouldn’t bother Tifa too much, but as soon as the warm air hit him, he forgot about that and just walked straight in. “Heating is the best invention,” Noctis said with a groan, rubbing his fingers together to try to get some feeling back. He took a quick glance behind the bar, but unfortunately the blonde woman currently serving up drinks was decidedly not Tifa.
“Damn. She might not be working today,” Noctis said, ushering Prompto over to a corner booth. For one thing, it had more privacy. For another, he could see that it was directly under a vent. “At least it’s somewhere to kill some time until the guards disperse though.” There were some drink menus already laid out, and praise the astrals, some of them looked like they were served hot.
“Never in my life have I wanted mulled wine more,” Noctis said with a weak grin, looking across the table at his friend before he slowly felt himself get more serious. “...Have you heard anything about them?” He didn’t think it would be anything good from what Caius had told him of Sonora, but he wanted to hear it straight from Prompto’s mouth.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Noctis was a little embarrassed when Caius said that he’d already earned his respect. It was good to hear of course. He was just still learning how to handle people looking up to him when he’d always been known as the aloof prince who had his own apartment and avoided the citadel. He hadn’t been ready for his fate then. He wasn’t even sure if he was now, but he had been doing his best to take responsibility for Lucis. At least until he’d woken up here.
Best to focus on the fight though.
Caius managed to turn around in time to parry his sweep of the dagger with his own sword. Noctis stepped forward to do a follow-up attack with the engine blade in his other hand while the kingsglaive’s weapon was occupied. But that was when Caius vanished in a blue shimmer of magic. Noct knew what had happened of course, but he hesitated for just a split second purely because he wasn’t used to fighting other people who could phase. The crownsguard had similar abilities to the kingsglaive, but the two weren’t exactly the same, so witnessing the blue after-image for himself was a little strange. Thankfully his instincts kicked in, because he knew where he himself would warp to in this situation.
Behind him.
Noctis spun around with his dagger up to find Caius raising his sword level with him. It seemed like a strange attack, and the prince hopped back lightly to easily avoid it, but a soft click told him that he’d miscalculated. He really needed to ask later what kind of sword doubled as a gun.
The bullet struck the prince in the shoulder, but the gun must have been specialized in some way because it didn’t actually pierce the skin. He guessed that meant that he wasn’t strictly shot, but the force still knocked him back a couple steps and he was left blinking at Caius in surprise. Oddly enough, he didn’t think that anyone had ever shot him before. Though they’d certainly tried.
Come at me with everything you’ve got.
And then Noctis, who usually groaned when Gladio tried to drag him out of bed early to train, actually grinned. Maybe that’s what he got for starting the fight out slow. “Nice shot.”
The prince banished both his dagger and the engine blade in a flash of blue sparks. In their place, he summoned his newest royal arm, but also the one that meant the most to him—the sword of the father. Using it would definitely drain him faster, but it also packed a lot more damage than his other weapons, and Caius had shown that playing it safe wasn’t a good strategy here.
“Round 2?” Noctis asked, before he chucked the sword straight towards him and sped after it in a flash of blue as he attempted a warp strike. He planned to pull back a little if it actually struck though, since he obviously didn’t intend to stab Caius.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Cindy looked him dead in the face and said she was 100% sure about helping out, so Noctis had to laugh and wave his arms in defeat. “Alright, I’ll stop asking. Thanks Cindy. We’ll need a safe spot for you to wait with the car then. Maybe near the fighting ring door that Prompto mentioned? If they remove bodies through there, then there probably won’t be too many workers hanging around unless there’s a fight currently going on.” Death made people uncomfortable, for better or worse. They might as well use that to their advantage.
Alex seemed on board with most of the plan, but he raised objections to bringing a behemoth into things. A monster that large would be a tad unpredictable, though Noctis nearly choked on his whisky when Alex pointed out they could summon meteors. “They do what now? That’s a thing here?” They were pretty horrifying beasts, but he was pretty sure that he’d never seen one call down a ball of rock and metal from space. Honestly, Noctis had never seen a Meteor at all outside of the one that Titan held up at the Disc of Cauthess, and that massive crystal shard didn’t seem like the best point of comparison for other space rocks.
If behemoths really did have a Meteor spell under their belts, then Noctis understood Alex’s concerns. The blond mercenary also seemed to have a strange amount of knowledge about behemoths though. He just kept spouting more and more facts until the prince was openly staring at him, deciding that moments like these were why he and Alex had become friends in the first place. He was a pretty weird guy, which Noctis could usually appreciate. “Don’t tell me you hunted behemoths as a kid.” That would explain a lot, actually.
Caius seemed open to changing up his plan, but pointed out that they would need some kind of distraction in its place. He also handed out ski masks, which made it look like they were all about to go rob a bank. The prince appreciated the gift more though when the kingsglaive explained that the material would throw off any scanners that Sonora had. “Oh, that’s a good thought. Thank you,” he said appreciatively as he took one. He also had to suppress a snort as Alex said that they should hide in a box in the back of the supply truck. He had a feeling that the warrior of light had done that same thing on more than one occasion. “I’m fine with crawling in a box, but a distraction would still be good in case they scan everything that goes in.” He considered his whiskey a bit contemplatively before spitballing a few ideas. “There’s always setting a fire, but I guess it’s hard to control how that will spread. Attacking at the front door would definitely draw attention away from the supply gate, but that would be too dangerous for just one or two people. I guess is there anything we have that would work from a distance?”
It might take a lot to capture an entire prison’s attention. It was enough to make Noctis shoot a weak grin at Prompto. “If only my covenants with the gods were still good here. Where’s Ramuh when you need him?”
Usually not anywhere, to be honest. The astrals liked to show up on their terms anyway, but it was a nice thought.
Alex suggested that Noctis test out the ring in the bar, since the anti-magic technology was similar to what they would encounter in the gulag. Prompto and Caius were both quick to shoot that down though, which made Noctis rub the back of his neck as he glanced down at the deceptively innocent thing on his finger again. “...Yeah. It’s a good idea, but I should probably just try not to count on it. I don’t want to hurt anyone in here. Death and Alterna are pretty destructive, and you’d have to punch me in the face first if you want me to cast Holy.” Alternatively, he supposed that he could also try to raise a Wall like the one that was around Insomnia, but Noctis had never tried it before, and he didn’t even know if it was possible without the magic amplifiers that surrounded the city. So that test was out too.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] As they got ready to spar, Caius asked for just a moment to prepare, so Noctis took a relaxed stance as he waited to see what the blond man had in mind. He definitely hadn’t expected to see him materialize his kingsglaive armor. It gave the prince a start, and he was honestly grateful that the jacket got caught around Caius’ head. That gave him permission to laugh instead of getting emotional. “God, I haven’t seen that outfit since Lucis. It’s a good look for you.” Or at least it was once it was on properly. “Don’t worry, I’ve seen Prompto nearly kill himself trying to do that before.” Hopefully his best friend wouldn’t mind him sharing that little tidbit. He could almost picture a protesting ‘Noooct!’
Apparently Caius had been storing his kingsglaive armor in the glaive ever since he’d sensed a new presence arriving in Zephon, and Noctis was honestly touched when he said that it felt right to wear it in front of him again. “...Really, thank you. I know I’m not a king yet, but…I hope I can be worthy of your respect someday.” It felt a little odd to face Caius in his usual black jacket when the kingsglaive was being so formal, but it would have felt weirder for Noct to change. He probably had some more formal clothes in the glaive, but it didn’t feel right to wear them. Not until he was ready to face Ardyn and return to Lucis. So his usual outfit would have to do.
Caius summoned his sword to his hand, and Noctis kept a careful eye on it, remembering what he’d done to the monster fish with it. He’d have to be careful not to get on the wrong end of the blade since it seemed to double as a gun.
The blond man ran towards him, and Noctis bent his knees to get ready. Caius wasn’t as bulky as Gladio, but he was extremely tall and probably hit like a truck, so the prince wanted to do his best to not get backed into a corner. A single blow from Gladio could be enough to end a spar if his greatsword landed in the wrong spot, so Noctis usually had to warp around like an annoying fly and use his speed to his advantage. It was probably best to use a similar strategy here.
Caius raised his sword overhead, so Noctis threw up his engine blade in an attempt to guard since a strike from that high would do some damage. It turned out to be a feint though, and Caius tried to smoothly kick him in the stomach instead. Noctis might have whistled if he’d had more than a split second to react. He appreciated when people were down to fight a little dirty.
Since it caught him off guard, he only barely managed to phase through the attack, which he turned into a dodge roll forward in an attempt to get behind Caius. Popping to his feet, he summoned one of the Zwill Crossblades into his free hand and swung it forward to either parry if the man turned around in time or to attack if he didn’t. Really, Noctis was still testing the waters at this point. Caius might have known his fighting style, but he wasn’t sure of Caius’ quite yet.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Cindy didn’t pry into the situation with Ignis and Gladio, which was honestly a relief since Noctis wouldn’t have known how to answer. It wasn’t too surprising really—the mechanic had to have suspected that they were infiltrating Niflheim bases and looking for Royal Arms and doing all sorts of illegal things back in Lucis, and she had been nice enough to never ask about it. Cindy knew how to let them keep a low profile, that was for sure.
Noctis had to laugh when her only comment was that she was glad it wasn’t Prompto who was in trouble. “That makes both of us. I just hope he’s staying busy in Sonora. Maybe taking a bunch of pictures. He can get pretty stuck in his own head, you know?” He had a feeling that Cindy did know, and after a moment’s pause, Noctis decided to try to be a supportive friend. “I bet he’d really like to see you too if you ever make the trip up to Sonora. He’ll probably want to catch up.” Hopefully the prince’s attempt to be a wingman was subtle enough that Prompto wouldn’t splutter too much and Cindy wouldn’t question it. For as much as Prompto obsessed over women, he could never seem to bring himself to be direct with them. Noctis didn’t pretend to understand why.
He nodded a bit more seriously when Cindy said she might go on a trek just to see if Cid happened to be around. “Yeah, learning the area definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing. And maybe you’ll find some other people from Eos too. That makes six that I know of, so maybe there’s more.”
Cindy didn’t seem as thrilled with the idea of the four of them getting a car here as Noctis had been, but her smile gave her away even when she joked that she’d basically leave them a permanent spot at her garage. “The Regalia didn’t break down that much,” he said with a laugh. “I guess we were pretty into upgrading it though…” Understatement. They had probably single-handedly paid Cindy’s bills for a while there. She’d definitely have a lot of work on her hands if they did decide they wanted to fix up a car.
“It might take a while anyway. It’s more of an idea right now. First I have to find everyone, and we’d have to make enough money to afford one. Good thing we’re used to doing odd jobs I guess.” Noctis had never minded getting his hands dirty or doing things that were unsuitable for a prince. That had ended up coming in handy on Lucis, and it was even more useful now when his title was worthless here.
His mind drifting back to Caius, Noctis hesitated for a moment before deciding he was curious what timeframe Cindy was from. “Hey, this might be a weird question, but what’s the last thing you remember back in Lucis? Caius just got me thinking since apparently he’s from at least ten years in the future…” It would be weird to hear that this version of Cindy was from earlier or later than him, so he really hoped they lined up. Maybe Caius was just a fluke.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto agreed to help him look for the bar, though Noctis nearly choked on the cold winter air when he expressed doubt about the name. “I don’t think it’s that kind of place. Tifa just said she’s a bartender. Plus back in her world she used to host secret meetings in the basement to try to overthrow some evil corporation. So I don’t think she’s got time for anything else.” Both of those definitely sounded like enough to keep someone busy. She didn’t need a third job on top of that.
Prompto didn’t seem happy to talk about what had happened back in Gralea, but it was a better time than any as far as Noctis was concerned. Maybe it would distract them from the cold, and maybe the cold would distract them from getting too emotional. Those were both wins as far as the prince was concerned.
Rubbing his arms, Noctis walked down the sidewalk, doing his best to read the name of every business that came up while simultaneously listening to his friend’s story. He didn’t like to hear that the guys had searched for him for so long, but he was honestly just relieved that they had come from the same time period. Caius had made him worried that people could be pulled to Zephon from any point at all, so he half expected Prompto to still think they were on a road trip to his wedding or something.
“Yeah, that’s about when I showed up too,” he said quickly, not wanting to leave Prompto hanging. “I’m glad you guys were okay. I had…been wondering since I left you back with all those daemons.”
Abandoning your friends? Ah, truly the mark of a monarch.
Noctis paused for a long moment before clearing his throat. “Anyway, I made it up to the crystal. Ardyn showed up when it was pulling me in though.”
Ardyn Lucis Caelum. In all of his history classes, Noctis had never heard the name before on his family tree. Did that mean it had been scrubbed from the citadel archives? How old was he really? Was the immortal man ancient, or did his dad just have a long-lost brother he’d never told him about? It all made his head hurt, and even though Noctis had been the one to bring up the topic, he suddenly wasn’t sure that he wanted to tell Prompto that he wasn’t the last of his line after all. At least not while they were on the street.
“Er. But yeah, I thought the crystal might take me to Bahamut, but instead I woke up next to a highway in Sonora. I would have been really screwed, but this guy named Alex helped me out and took me back to Provo. You know him too, right? He talked about you.” Alex had asked for help on making friends with Prompto actually, but sharing that probably wouldn’t do the blond man any favors. Noct also kept quiet on their car chase cliff-side adventure since he’d promised Alex not to mention it to anyone in his retinue. He trusted Prompto not to flip out about it, but he didn’t trust him to not accidentally bring it up in front of Ignis someday. That was a whole lecture waiting to happen.
They were approaching a crosswalk again, and Noctis glanced at all the adjacent buildings without much hope when he suddenly stopped in his tracks at the sight of a large blocky sign over a plain brown building with some string lights strung up. Seventh Heaven.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Caius was nice enough when Noctis asked about membership in the Dragonblades, and he smiled slightly when the man added that they didn’t discriminate based on someone’s former background. “I’ll keep that in mind if I need to start applying for jobs in Torensten. If all goes well, then I guess I’m about to have three other people to support.” Somehow he didn’t think Ignis or Gladio would be in the best shape, so he honestly might need two different mercenary jobs for their medical bills alone. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it though.
Caius went on to explain the trouble the Dragonblades were currently in, and Noctis frowned at the list of everything the Original Sin had done so far. “I’d say if you’ve made enemies like that then you must be doing something right. It sounds like they don’t really care what they do as long as they can make some gil.” Far from being dissuaded, Noctis really wanted to help Caius out with that if the group was after the kingsglaive’s head. He’d wait until Ignis and Gladio were out before he volunteered the four of them though. They were stretched a bit too thin at the moment, even if the Original Sin sounded like the worst kind of people.
Noctis nodded slowly when Caius explained that the crown paid him a lot more than he had been making in the world of ruin that Ardyn left behind. “Maybe I just still can’t picture the state of the world at that point…But I guess in my timeline, things would be getting that bad right now.” That was a sobering thought, but a true one. If the sun had stopped rising after Noctis had gone into the crystal, then well. Here he was. He didn’t like to think about what could be happening on Eos right now.
Noctis nodded at the suggestion that he stock up on car parts in Sonora and just store them in the glaive. It wasn’t a bad idea assuming he had the time, money, and a mechanic to work on a car for them. Just another thing to think about once his retainers were safe. Caius also offered to take him for a flight on Vordun sometime when the dragon wasn’t half-asleep, and Noctis was entirely down for that. He wasn’t likely to take a ride on a dragon again in his lifetime, so he hoped they’d make good on that sometime. Yet another thing to add to his list for after they rescued Ignis and Gladio. The list was getting insanely long.
Talking to Caius really had given Noctis more confidence that he could be a worthy king someday. Hearing that he was looked up to, at least in another timeline, was pretty comforting. At this point, he was all too aware that he wasn’t ready to be more than a prince, but with time…maybe anything was possible.
Caius stood up when Noctis announced that he should get going, and the mercenary made one final request of him. It wasn’t an unusual ask from a kingslaive or crownsguard, and Noctis had in fact been trained by several of them ever since he was a kid. While he usually made every excuse not to spar with Gladio (or anyone else who tried to make him), he could see that this was really important to Caius as a test of his skills now. Nodding back at the blond man, Noctis decided that Sonora could wait a few more minutes. “Absolutely. I haven’t really had to fight since I came to Zephon, so it might be good for both of us. I don’t want to go into Sonora rusty.”
Caius said he was free to use every weapon at his disposal, and Noctis grimaced slightly as he glanced down at the Ring of the Lucii on his middle finger. “Well, Alterna might be a bit much, so I promise not to throw you into any voids. But I’ll make everything else game.” Come to think of it, where did all the daemons from Gralea that he’d used that spell on end up? Did that piece of magic even work on Zephon when they were so far from the crystal? The ring’s magic was certainly unique, but that was something to puzzle out another time.
Getting into a ready stance, Noctis summoned the engine blade to his side. “Let’s see what you got.”