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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 actually cursed when Noctis threw the blizzard spell down by their feet, and the prince nearly counted that as a victory in itself. The kingsglaive had a pretty calming presence most of the time, so it was good to know that he could get worked up too. There was a flash of blue as the blond man warped backwards away from the spell, and Noctis did his best to dodge the worst of it too as he slid backwards. Blizzard went off as it hit the ground and a wall of ice sprang up between them. Frost rocketed outwards from the point of impact, setting the prince’s teeth chattering as he got coated in it. Yeah, this was about what he remembered from the time that Prompto had accidentally gotten them all caught up in the spell.
Noctis summoned the sword of the father back to his hand, grimacing a bit as it started draining his health again. They needed to end this quick, or he might just pass out on Caius. Something told him that the kingsglaive might find that ending a bit anticlimactic when he was trying to judge how much stronger he’d gotten during his time on Zephon.
The ice sheet between them suddenly blew apart with a fire spell, and Noctis was caught off guard by the melting ice shards that shot towards him. Caius must have been slashing at them, so the prince tossed his sword to the side, warping after it to dodge the worst of the shards. Judging by a slight sting in one cheek, a piece of ice might have hit him there, but he could worry about that later.
Caius was rushing towards him with a more aggressive stance than before, and Noctis suddenly had the presence of mind to realize that he probably wasn’t at the kingsglaive’s level when it came to straight sword-fighting. It wasn’t too surprising—Gladio was older and better than him in that regard too—but Caius hadn’t asked him for a sword fight. He’d wanted every tool that Noctis had at his disposal. So ultimately, the prince didn’t hesitate as he banished his sword and conjured his armiger. He respected Caius and his abilities enough to realize that it was probably his only path to victory.
As the blue spectral forms of his royal arms sprang up around him, he immediately realized that something was off. It was the first time that he’d called upon his armiger while he’d been on Zephon and it was draining. Whether it was because they were so far away from the crystal or something else, Noctis felt the last of his magic ebb away entirely. He probably would have entered stasis if not for the power of the armiger keeping him upright. Outside of his battle with Leviathan though, he’d only ever managed to hold onto the armiger for ten seconds at a time. Which meant they had about ten seconds to end this before Noctis just passed out at Caius’ feet. That was going to be pretty embarrassing.
That realization came in a split second though as he used his hovering royal arms to block Caius’ incoming strike. The difference in their strength was thankfully easier to manage when he wasn’t holding onto the other end of the weapon, so while Caius was preoccupied with those, Noctis grabbed onto the sword of the father again. All his movements were warps during armiger, so he did his best to warp to the side and come in swinging. Tick tock, after all.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] His father had once told Noctis when they were sitting around the dinner table that a compromise left absolutely no one happy. It felt like he was seeing that in action now as Caius and Prompto reluctantly stopped their technology argument. Knowing Prompto, his best friend was super excited to paint his face and he’d probably bring it up in private again later, but Noct would cross that bridge when it happened. At the end of the day, they just didn’t want their real faces on camera. Maybe it didn’t matter so much how they individually accomplished that.
Caius also reassured him that he was used to escaping dangerous situations, so Noctis dipped his head in acceptance. “Alright. I trust you.” If the kingsglaive thought that he could shoot up the entrance and escape, then they’d just have to rely on that. It didn’t mean he loved how dangerous the plan was though. Then again, he should probably worry more about the three of them actually going inside the prison.
Hearing the news that Ardyn had been spotted in Zephon and was spreading the starscourge around a hospital was hard to swallow. It was even worse that the infection had spread to someone that Caius clearly cared a lot about. Noctis had thought that his and Prompto’s advice had been pretty sound, but it clearly wasn’t what the kingsglaive had been looking for as he suddenly rounded on the prince.
Noctis felt himself freeze in place as he took in what Caius was saying to him. He’d already wiped out the starscourge on Eos, so it was bullshit to say that he couldn’t do it here. “I didn’t-...” He started, but he wasn’t quite sure how to finish that.
I never did that.
That wasn’t me.
How am I supposed to save everyone when I can’t even save my friends?
Caius seemed to quickly realize his mistake though as he suddenly looked tired and gave a sincere apology. Your Highness. He’d had the title his entire life, but he’d never been more aware that it wasn’t what the people around him needed. They needed a Lucian king, and he just wasn’t up to the task yet.
Prompto jumped to his defense, but Noctis shook his head in an attempt to show that it was okay. “You’re just worried, I get it. And I do want to help her if I can. We should talk when this is all over.” Ignis had always spent way more time in the citadel’s archives than Noct had. Maybe he’d know more about the prophecy and how Noct might go about purging the scourge. Or maybe the prince was just grasping at straws. Hadn’t Caius said that he’d spent ten years in the crystal before he’d defeated Ardyn? Everything felt incredibly hopeless, but Caius was standing up to leave, so Noctis did his best to force a smile at the kingsglaive’s promise that he’d help free Ignis and Gladio. “Thank you. Seriously.”
Prompto grasped his arm and said that they should leave too. Noctis glanced up at him and immediately recognized the look on his face. He saw it more from the other two, but at this point his best friend wasn’t so new at being a crownsguard anymore. Noct was being extracted. He must have looked pretty bad for Prompto to initiate that, so even though he bit his tongue a little, he didn’t fight it and let himself be hauled to his feet. “Sure.” He looked at Cindy and Alex and made sure to thank them too before he left. “We’ll be in touch, guys. Really appreciate you both stepping in.” Looking towards the bar, he waved at Tifa too to show that they were leaving. Hopefully the sizable tip he was leaving covered any extra stress that she’d gone through tonight.
As he and Prompto pulled on their coats and shuffled back into the cold, Noctis should have been focused on Ignis and Gladio. Instead his mind was on Ardyn, but he didn’t dare voice his thoughts out loud to Prompto. He knew what the blond man would say, and it still wouldn’t change his mind. He knew what he had to do to help Lumina and others like her.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto offered up his autocrossbow for the distraction, and Caius immediately said he’d take it. He was probably the obvious choice since he wanted to stay at a distance and he had some experience with guns. Still, shooting up the gate felt like more of a risk than Caius had initially wanted to take on. “You sure?” Noctis asked, looking over at the kingsglaive to make absolutely sure he was cool with that. He’d offered, but it didn’t hurt to double-check. “I know you can warp, but that will get a lot of people on your trail. As long as you can give them the slip and make it back to Cindy though…” Then it could work. Noct would still worry about him though. Hell, he was worried about all of them in this plan. If it was anyone other than Ignis and Gladio, he would never have asked his friends to risk themselves like this.
In response to his brief quip about summoning one of the astrals, Prompto asked if that meant he couldn’t do that here. Noctis hesitated before shaking his head. “I don’t think so at least. Hard to tell when they always just showed up when they wanted to, but I haven’t felt them at all.” He wasn’t sure if that was because he was so far away from their power or because they didn’t have a use for him now that he was on Zephon. He couldn’t pretend that he wouldn’t be pretty resentful if it was the second, but now wasn’t the time to think about the gods.
Caius and Prompto started a debate about Sonoran tech and what would be best to fool their scanners and cameras. Noctis mostly just looked back and forth between them as they kept going. Honestly, technology had never been his strongest point. He’d had a phone and a computer and he knew how to play video games on them, and that was good enough for him. “Peripheral vision.” he at least added helpfully when his friend struggled for the right word about being able to see out of the corner of your eye during a fight. “Which is fair for us and Alex since we’re going inside. We won’t want anything obstructing our vision. Why don’t we just cut the eyeholes bigger until they don’t bother us and then paint around our eyes? Save some time.” Compromise. Plus it was so cold in Sonora that they might appreciate the partial covering once they got going.
Caius finished up his drink and left some money on the table for Tifa, so Noctis dug for his gil to follow suit. Caius’ final words stopped him short though.
“The starscourge-...You’re saying Ardyn’s here? That dropped a cold pit into his stomach that had nothing to do with the jail break they were about to attempt.
Come back soon. I will keep your friends company until you do.
Noctis bit his tongue and tried to focus on what Caius was saying. The scourge had…combined with something else and was threatening someone that the kingsglaive was close to. He hadn’t mentioned a Lumina to the prince yet, but he could tell from how quiet the blond man got that she must have been really important to him.
“...Yeah. We can definitely talk later,” Noctis said, twisting the ring of the Lucii a little anxiously around his finger. Prompto mentioning Luna didn’t really help his nerves, even though she was the obvious person to bring up at a time like this. “The scourge does usually take an Oracle to cure, but white magic didn’t really exist on Eos like it does here, you know? We might be able to find someone who can do something similar to what Luna could do…” He hesitated for a moment, remembering the story that Ardyn had fed him while he had been sucked into the crystal. He had zero trust in that monster’s word, but from the look on his face, he had a feeling that it was the most honest that the red-haired man had ever been with him. “Ardyn was no Oracle, but he could cure it. I think he had to take the scourge into himself though.” Come to think of it, that might have been news to Prompto since he'd been putting off telling him what had happened once they'd been separated in Gralea. Maybe this was a bad time to have this conversation.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto seemed in disbelief that he’d met Alex too, which made Noctis laugh a little under his breath. “Sorry, did I not mention that yet? Yeah, it’s a long story, but he helped me out of a tough spot. I mean. It was my own fault.” Warping on top of a moving taxi and asking for help probably hadn’t been the smartest plan, but he’d been desperate and cold on the side of a road. Anyway, it had all worked out. Except that they’d ended up having to steal the taxi when the driver called the cops on him. And then they’d driven it off a cliff because Alex thought all cars could fly.
Yeah, maybe it was better not to finish the story.
The mood soured after that anyway when they were both left to think about Ignis and Gladio who were suffering out in the same cold they’d just been complaining about. Meanwhile Specs was blind because Noctis hadn’t been strong enough in Altissia, and who knows what they were doing to him now. Gladio would be strong for as long as possible, sure, but even he had his limits. And when that happened-..
Shit. His vision was getting blurry, and from the way Prompto suddenly seemed to find the tabletop super interesting, his friend had probably noticed. All he said though was that of course they’d rescue the two of them, because in the reverse situation they’d do the same for them. “They’d do it a lot more efficiently too,” Noctis agreed with a short laugh. “It just feels weird to be apart from them, you know? They usually kinda hover…” Particularly Ignis. It was their literal job to look after him, so Noctis tried not to groan about it too much, but now that it was gone…he missed it. He’d even take being woken up early and hauled off to train. He just wanted them all back together.
The waitress left their drinks in front of them, and Noctis took a grateful gulp of wine. It was hotter than he’d expected though, and he ended up burning his tongue. Ow. Well at least that was a decent distraction from too many feelings.
Prompto suddenly told him that he had his back, and Noctis glanced up at him in surprise. They’d been best friends for a long time now, but they honestly didn’t say stuff like that as often as they probably should. Maybe he should change that though. Especially after everything that had happened in Gralea. He could lose anyone at any time, and he was more than aware of that now.
“I know, man,” he said a little quietly, making sure to subtly rub his eyes with his glove before he finally looked up at him. “Like Cid always said. You guys are my brothers.”
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto confirmed that he’d made it out alive from Cissnei’s place, but Noctis didn’t like something about his tone of voice when he said it. It basically confirmed that she had all of their secrets tucked away for safe-keeping now, but Noctis let it go and didn’t push his friend any further on the topic. The damage was done. Might as well not make Prompto recount it.
“You woke up here too?” Noctis asked with a frown as Prompto explained how Sonora was the place where he’d first arrived on Zephon. “I mean, I was outside of the city at least, but still. Talk about a coincidence. Especially when Ignis and Gladio are here…” He wasn’t loving the thought that there really could be some kind of connection between Sonora and Niflheim, but that was an investigation for another day. Their friends came first before they even thought about going home.
Prompto fumbled like a fish out of water when the waitress came over, which was the only reason Noctis even noticed that she was conventionally pretty. Come to think of it, maybe it was better that Tifa wasn’t here. Even he might not be able to save Prompto from that heart attack waiting to happen. Thankfully though, his friend managed to order some spiked hot chocolate. Once the waitress had left, he weakly asked if they had the money for this, and Noctis laughed a little under his breath.
“Yeah, our gil’s worthless here apparently, but I’ve been doing some jobs for the Rising Stones while I waited around to see if you’d show up. So I have a bit of money, don’t worry.” He’d met Caius during a fishing quest actually, but that was probably a story for another time. Prompto was getting more serious anyway, since he seemed ready to talk about Ignis and Gladio now. He asked what help they’d even be able to gather, and Noctis nodded slowly at his suggestion of Caius.
“He wants to keep his role minor since he’s got a group to look out for in Torensten, but he’s still down to help. So he’d be a great choice. Then what about Alex? He’s great in a crisis, and I think he’d be willing to take the risk for us.” He’d only known the blond man for a couple of weeks, but Noctis already considered them to be friends honestly. Though apparently he’d known him longer than that if Alex was to be believed.
Prompto then told him about everything that he’d…seen? It was some kind of magic apparently, but Prompto told him not to ask, so Noctis kept his mouth shut. Even when his tale got dark and the prince had to look down at the table instead of looking his friend in the eye. “No, you-...you did good, man. We wouldn't even know if not for you.” There wasn’t a lot to be optimistic about, but he did his best. “We’ve infiltrated a ton of imperial bases. We’ll have to treat it like that. I don’t like the sound of that anti-magic field though.” He’d normally stealth his way around by doing warp-strike kills, but it didn’t sound like that would be an option. “We’ll…figure something out though. We’ll never leave them.” At that point, the waitress came over to drop off their drinks, and Noctis just hoped that she didn’t notice how red both of their eyes had probably gotten.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto might have been enjoying the warmth of the bar even more than Noctis was judging from how vocal he was being about it. Then again, he wasn’t sure that there was a single thought that had ever crossed his best friend’s head that he didn’t speak out loud. At least when he was in a good mood. When Prompto had something too dark on his mind, he tended to clam right up. Noctis never liked to see it when it happened. He did his best to keep the blond man’s spirits up, but there hadn’t been much reason to be happy lately. There had been some bright spots on their road trip, but it had mostly been a lot of darkness ever since Insomnia had fallen. Hopefully their luck would turn around now that they were here together again.
Prompto said he was sorry that Tifa wasn’t here, but Noctis just shook his head. “It’s okay. Figured she might hide us if she was around, but it’s still a good place to lay low for a little bit. At least until the guards disperse.” The prince glanced down at the menu, his eyes lingering a bit longingly on the mulled wine as Prompto wondered out loud about cocoa. “Probably. Spiked hot chocolate is pretty common, so I’m sure you can just order it…unspiked.” Knowing the blond man, he’d probably ask for some whipped cream too, which seemed pretty funny in a bar like this.
After Noctis asked about Ignis and Gladio, Prompto finally got more serious as he sat up in the booth and brushed some dripping snow out of his hair. He’d apparently already met with Cissnei, and Noctis nodded slowly at the revelation. “Caius didn’t seem to trust her much. You uh…you make it out okay?” Honestly, she had sounded dangerous particularly to Prompto from what the kingsglaive had said. He was about 90% sure that Cissnei probably knew all of their secrets now, but he was just waiting for Prompto to confirm.
All the blond man could really offer was that the situation in the gulag was bad and that turned Noctis’ stomach more than anything. “...Yeah,” he said a little quietly. “Caius explained that Sonora is pretty similar to Niflheim, so I can imagine.” Right down to the weather apparently. The similarities were uncanny. Not that Noctis had ever been inside of Gralea while it was still populated. Maybe it had been a bit like this once. Before Ardyn had stepped in.
“Sounds like we just…wait for now then? Until Cissnei has more info for you. I guess we could at least start gathering some help here.” A waitress finally made her way over, so Noctis quickly cut off that train of conversation. He might not have minded around Tifa, but planning a jail break around strangers was different. Noctis ordered some mulled wine for himself and then glanced over at Prompto to see what he’d decided on.
[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.
