Chapter Text
Noctis
You knew the moment the prince accepted that hunt, everything would fall into ruin. He just had to pick the one that was located in the glaciers behind the waterfall. Not only was the dungeon crawling with nasty Flans and Imps, but the target was a daemon spider princess, the Ariadne. The kind of daemons that made you curse whenever you saw them on the road or stopped the Regalia. They were a disgusting and repulsive bunch to see with their arachnid bodies and human torsos. On your journey with the prince, you felt your phobias beginning to arise after killing many monsters.
Oh how you hated the cold without your jacket to keep you warm. You shivered as you rubbed your arms and jogged in place. Without the jacket, you could move freely and deliver more devastating blows to your enemies. Your hands felt powerful without it, but you wondered why you decided to keep your jacket in the Regalia in moments like these. One exhale and you could see the white fog of your breath. Your spine trembled at the frigid air once more, then a group of mushy Flans emerged from the ground.
Noctis chucks a vile of the Fira magic flask at the horde, causing an explosion. The Flans melted into puddles of goo and dissipated into the frozen ground. As you tread past the area, you felt the comforting warmth on your skin. You wanted to stay, but the prince had already slid on his butt down the frosty slides. The others followed in pursuit, landing perfectly onto the ice flooring. Heaving a sigh, you braced yourself and slid down the ice with them.
By the time you reached them, the prince had already finished off the small horde of Imps. His hologram stood one meter from the air near your landing. You wondered why he would leave them whenever he warp-strikes an enemy, since they never pursued his hologram. At the next moment, Noctis zips towards the next icy slide and glides down the frozen bearing. He blazed through the dungeon without you or the guys.
It made sense since your strength has overpowered the weaker enemies, but improvements are still in order.
Once again, the prince has defeated all of the Imps in the surrounding area with his warping. The downside of joining him is the fact that you have to follow along even if he doesn't need help. You pranced along the icy walls to pursue the prince, who kept watch on the target ahead. The arachnid had its back turn against you, striking a perfect opportunity to blindside it. In a mere second, Noctis thrusts his blade against the daemons back, initiating combat.
You and the guys darted into the room and pierced the daemon with your weapons as well. However, the spider leapt onto the ceiling and emitted electricity from its body. It fluctuated itself below to the ground, knocking the prince off his feet. You dodged the attack and threw your daggers at the creature. She flinches, screams a daemonic and distorted cry, and pats her human torso with her hands. At that moment, the arachnid charged herself as she held her body, granting the last opportunity to destroy her before your doom. No matter how hard you struck her, your weapons didn't faze her. Your spear impaled her spider legs, strange dark liquid gushing to the floor, but she didn't budge the slightest.
Time ran out.
Her tiny minions appeared in thin air, chucking their bodies at Ignis. Gladiolus kept them at bay, swinging his heavy sword to protect the spectacle-wearing brunet. Prompto was completely surrounded by the little critters. You swept the spiders away from the blond with your spear, thrusting it into one of the bodies. When you reached him, you switched to your daggers and jabbed one blade into a baby spider. Its bodily fluid splashed onto your hand as you crushed it with all of your strength. The prince on the other hand, he kept warp-striking into the tiny critters with his blade. Sometimes he would swing his weapon around you, forcing you to dodge from his carelessness. As much as you loved him, he was an idiot sometimes in battle.
The spider princess clutched onto her human-like body, scintillating purple lights engulfing her being again. You knew that she was preparing herself to roll across the room with lightning bolts storming from her body. Not on your watch.
While the others preoccupied themselves with the smaller daemons, you dug your dual blades into the arachnid. Using your spear, you thrusted yourself into the air to hop onto the back of the daemon. You slit the human-like torso, then plunged your blades into her shoulders, foul black liquid spurting from her in the process. Her daemonic screeches bounces against the glacial walls. The moment you raised your dagger to her throat, the neon purple light bursts from her body.
‘Oh shit.‘
Your eyes widened at the sudden explosion, and you immediately leapt off of her form. Rolling on your back, you watched her sway her arachnid body through the air. Noctis wasn't paying much attention and fell on his butt after the harsh collision. He flew back, gulping painful gasps of air to his crushed lungs. You thought he would be able to recover quickly, but he remained on the ground, heaving raspy breaths, trembling as he tried to stand on his feet.
‘Fuck. Not again.‘
You scanned the environment. The others were too far away and distracted to care for the prince. Some of the critters swarmed Noctis, and you gripped your broadsword in your hand. Swinging your blade around, you threw the smaller spiders away from Noctis and patted his hunched back.
”You know, you don't look like Prince Charming when you're down,” you joked, applying the Hi-Elixir on his body.
A weak smile forms on his lips as he gradually stands straight, ”And you don't look like an angel when you're stabbing monsters.”
”Thanks!” you returned a smile.
Turning around, you found the Ariadne observing you and Noctis from afar. She hunches her human-like body, cackling in that annoying distorted voice, mocking your boyfriend. That piece of shit messed up your man. She made him almost die. That bitch!
”How dare you, mess with MY MAN?!” you materialized your spear into your hand and growled at the monster.
Uncontrollable rage fueled your strength. Adrenaline pumping through your veins, you sought out the head of the arachnid princess. You felt overwhelming power surging through your body as you tightly gripped your polearm. Leaping into the air, you delivered a heavy blow to the daemon, impaling it through its human-like back. Its dark bodily fluids gushed like a miniature fountainhead at your harsh impact. Still breathing, the daemon shrieked again, drawing every being's attention in the room. It flailed around, trying to shake you off from its back. Tiny specs of neon light emits from her body, but you weren't going to let that happen.
Snarling, you manage to keep your hold of her, ”Don't ever fucking touch my man again!”
Switching to your daggers, you pierced them into the nape of the daemon and took one to its neck. With one swift motion, you cut through the creature's throat, ending the agonizing outcries. The daemon ceased all movements and dissipated into a puff of dark violet and black smoke. You fell onto your feet and watched the darkness fume around you. The smaller critters soon fell onto the frosty ground and vanished into purple smogs.
The guys found themselves slicing the thin air when they finally realized it. You watched the daemons turn to dust, heaving sighs of relief. Then a calliopean sound of a powerful drill reaches your ears from behind. You sensed the Drillbreaker machinery nearly at the last second and rolled across the ground to dodge the friendly fire.
”Hey, watch it Prompto!!” you yelled.
”Gahh, sorry about that!” he nervously replies as he finally de-materializes his heavy weapon.
Since incidents like these happen every time, you decided to not beat some sense into the blond. You already unleashed your fury at the Ariadne daemon, thus completing the hunt. The satisfaction of defeating a daemon filled you. With your sweating body against the icy ground, you wanted to stay a while longer to cool off.
The daemon was no more.
Finally.
The sweet, leathery seats of the Regalia.
You could take your well-deserved nap in the back with Ignis driving and Noctis beside you, being your pillow. Resting your head on his broad shoulder, you happily sigh and close your eyes, gradually falling into a pleasant slumber.
”Wow. Did you guys see how _________ slayed that daemon all by herself?” Prompto comments from the passenger seat. He turns around to find your passive figure in the backseat and takes out his camera for a quick shot. He wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to snap a picture of the two lovebirds in a more tranquil environment. Shuffling in his seat, he adds, ”Talk about scary.”
”Yeah. She might've been scarier than the daemon we fought,” Noctis replies, peering at your sleeping face.
Gladio smirks as he pulls out his green book and crosses his left leg over, ”Better watch out Noct. Wouldn't wanna make your girlfriend mad.”
From behind the wheel, Ignis pushes his frames onto his face and rotates the steering wheel to change directions. The wild turn nearly made you scoot farther away from your boyfriend, but you've adjusted to his speeding. Once inside a tunnel, he adds his own remark, ”Surely, we should all be terrified of her. Nothing is more terrifying than a girl protecting her beloved one.”
You heard their impressed comments through your light slumber.
A corner of your lip lifts as you snuggle closer to Noctis, intertwining your hand with his. He felt warm and soft despite the experience of the rugged and difficult battle. Although everyone in the car was covered in some amounts of dirt, it brought comfort to you.
After that hunt, Noctis took extra caution to not overstep any boundaries with you, or make you angry.