Chapter Text
The sky was an insolent blue.
Right in the middle of the port of Insomnia, the brand new Hydrean seemed to rivalize in height with the rampart. Noctis let his eyes follow the lines of her massive hull, the four stories of portholes, the three decks with their delicately decorated railings. He glazed over the silver light of the huge solar panels set ablaze by the daylight. The cruise ship had been built specifically for him, for his trip, in record time compared to the work it had demanded. Every centimeter of external decoration has been carefully chosen to reflect on the arts and culture of Lucis. The motors were an example of cutting-edge technology, reducing the swelling sensation to almost nothing. Noctis had heard every person around him repeat the same speech to him over and over, as if they’d read it on an information leaflet. Which, come to think of it, was probably the case.
For a second he imagined the ship be smashed against the thick door that was to open onto the sea. He put his hands in his pants pockets.
“Yeah, well, I don’t see why everyone makes a big deal out of it. It’s just a big boat.”
“Is he always so difficut to impress, or is he pretending to be so perpetually blasé?”
The honeyed voice of Ravus coming from behind him made his hair stand on end in his neck. Singe the announcement of the treaty, Ravus had occupied a room inside the citadel instead of being housed in one of the distant wings like the rest of the Nif delegation, or sent back like the chancellor, the soldiers and the emperor. He had supervised the construction work and the organisation himself, as if he had the slightest talent in any of those fields. His habit of sneaking behind Noctis to emit some sarcastic comment was the only reason why Noctis was impatient to board on the Hydrean. Once she’d be far away from the coast, nothing could stop him from fantasizing about throwing his future brother-in-law into the ocean without any chance for anyone to find his body.
Brother-in-law… the mere thought had Noctis shivering.
He had kept a friendly and even conniving relationship with Lunafreya, but the perspective of the wedding, and of being at the mercy of Ravus and half of the Nif government, was the opposite of a delight. All of his close entourage could try and praise the merits and innovations of the Hydrean, reminding him that she had been built specifically to bring him to Altissia, as his personal ambassador; for the young prince of Lucis, she was nothing else than a beautiful cage transporting him directly into the arena.
He has checked: there were animal fights happening in the Altissian Coliseum.
“Loqi, would you take care of our luggage please?”
Oh, yes, because on top of that, Ravus had brought his little pet with him. Loqi shook his blonde head frantically and hurried a few guards to help him load the astronomical amount of bags they were carrying with them. No one had told Noctis this was a one-way ticket, but he could easily deduce that.
And as if things were not shitty enough yet, the security on board was assured by the Nifs.
So none of the aspects of this trip excited him and yet everyone expected him to show enthusiasm. Ravus most of all managed a subtle balance between hating Noctis because he had to marry his sister, and hating Noctis because he didn’t seem happy enough at the prospect of marrying his sister.
Maybe Noctis was going to throw himself overboard before the end of the trip.
“Very well,” Ignis said, swiftly putting himself between Noctis and Ravus as he had learned to, to defuse the tension between them. “Now that the cars and the luggage are in good hands, maybe we could move and have a look at our rooms?”
And so they walked across carpeted hallways where the noise of their steps were softened, and stairs with golden handrails, and the decoration on the inside gave Noctis a vague whim to put two fingers down his own throat. It had nothing of the dark and sharp style of Lucis, this was a debauchery of light and beige that could only come from Tenebrae. Only the last floor was a little less kitsch, but at this point the damage was done.
Ignis pushed the door of the suite and immediately put the magnetic card in his vest’s pocket. Noctis followed his gesture from the corner of his eye. There were only two cards and Ravus had the second one, meaning he couldn’t go anywhere alone without asking for permission. No one would admit it, but this was exactly what they had planned. He was imprisoned on his boat, in this cute high-tech cage, in the middle of the seas, unable to escape this wedding. He wondered what had given them the idea that he would try.
He walked amongst the sofas with the embroidered cushions, and the lacquered coffee tables, trying to look nonchalant and distracted. Behind him, domestics started invading the space to put down suitcases and boxes.
“There are two separate rooms in this suite,” Ignis explained. “These will be for you and me. Ravus and Cor will take the suite on the other side of the hallway, won’t they?”
Noctis turned his head to see Ravus, arms crossed against the threshold, briefly nod at Ignis. Cor was observing the room. He must be already counting the exits and memorizing the place in case some tried to jump through the gigantic window and attack the prince. Ignis probably could have told Noctis if the window in question was reinforced, but he was almost certain the answer was yes.
“Wouldn’t it be better that I stayed with the prince?” Cor finally asked, a question so predictable Noctis had to fight hard against the urge of rolling his eyes. “I am in charge of his security…”
“Oh,” Ignis pushed his glasses up his nose, “Noctis will be perfectly safe with me too, thank you Cor.”
“Yes, Cor,” Ravus cut off. “You know these two are practically attached at the hip, you would be cruel to deprive Ignis of his only goal in existence.”
Noctis finally turned around entirely. Ravus had spent his time pouting or sending Noctis small cutting remarks that he had taken pleasure in royally ignoring - keeping a neutral and vaguely bored expression was, after all, a speciality of his - but attacking Ignis was off limits. Ignis probably was happier about this wedding than all of the other people in this room.
It was amazing, really, that Ravus was so unpleasant, when it was his sister getting married, and his kingdom that had the most problems with Niflheim since the beginning of the war. Did he really hate Noctis so much he preferred years of fightings to having him around?
“Why don’t you come sleep with me, Ravus?” Noctis suggested, his voice taking a fake seductive tone. “So that you can watch me all night and make sure I don’t throw myself in the water, and Ignis and Cor can have time taking care of the grown-up things…”
He sort of perceived Ignis shaking his head on his left, but he was too busy raising a suggestive eyebrow at Ravus to bother with it. Ravus’ smile became stilted, and he took a step back.
“Do whatever you want, I don’t care.”
*
Prompto could not believe this.
Time had stopped around him. Galdin Quay, with its luxury hotel and its large wooden deck, didn’t exist anymore. The enthusiastic conversations melted with the rustle of the waves and turned into a slight buzzing in his ears. The sun on his back, the incredible crowd around him, he was forgetting everything. Nothing mattered except for the box working as a makeshift table, around which the players were gathered. He stared at the cards with such intensity he felt like they were moving in slow-motion.
Gladio was the one who knew how to play poker. He had taught him the basis and how to calculate his chances, appreciate the risks, keeping a neutral expression. But of course, Prompto, his all-relative caution and his multiple bad habits, were not the ideal cocktail to make a good player. Most of the time, he just followed what Gladio did and prayed for luck. He only joined the game when the stakes were reasonably low. The only reason why he was there right now, between his friend and a guy who kept wiping his forehead with a tissue, was because their new acquaintance had insisted in having a pair numer of players. He had played cautiously for the five last rounds, conscious that he could not lose all of his savings into this.
But now… oh, now. Gladio kept glancing at his shaky leg and Prompto had to make extra effort to not smile at him immediately. He was going to love this.
It was his chance.
“Alright, guys,” he let the smile spread on his face oh-so-slowly. “Now is the moment of truth. Whose life is going to change forever? Please, do the honors.”
Gladio gave him a mean look as the practically threw his cards on the table. Nothing. All of his money was on the table - he had lent Prompto some of it before they started playing. Prompto offered him his smile, hoping he’d understand. Of course Gladio had no trust in his abilities. Prompto couldn’t blame him.
The guy on his left, who was named Sven and talked with a strong Accordo accent, threw his cards as well. Nothing either. Prompto tried to hid his triumphal expression behind his own cards, although everyone probably had noticed it by now. He looked at his last adversary since the beginning of the round. A drop of sweat had slowly formed on his temple, right under his hair, and had rolled along his jaw as the stakes were raised up. But he had been the most adamant to follow. He must have a good hand - or he really wanted to impress them.
He showed his cards.
“Oh, two pairs,” Prompto commented with a frown. He could hear Gladio take a deep breath between his teeth. That was too good; he tried to look sorry as he turned his head to his friend, but he was on the verge of laughing and Gladio had to see it.
“I’m sorry Gladio,” he said with the smallest voice he could manage.
“I swear to the Astrals,” Gladio growled, “if you tell me now that you’re…”
“I’m afraid you won’t see Iris before a while.”
Gladio shook his head very slowly, a gesture that could mean Prompto was about to get his ass kicked or his lips kissed very soon. With a ceremonial gesture, he threw his cards on the table and stoop up in the same breath.
“Flush! We’re going to Altissia!”
And while Gladio let the information come up to his brain, he started gathering the money and the two shiny tickets on top of the pile… and was cut in his tracks by a hand grasping his collar from the other side of the table.
“Hey!” Gladio finally stood up as well. His large shoulders seemed to block the sun. “He won fair and square, you shouldn’t have gambled your tickets if you didn’t want to lose them.”
The guy considered the information for two seconds, which was strangely long. Prompto raised a blond eyebrow. No one with two ounces of good sense ever thought of contradicting Gladio.
Finally, the guy’s eyes lowered towards his open jacket, the clearly-defined muscles, the huge scar across his torso, and he let Prompto go with a slight push that made him stagger for a second before he managed to plant his heels in the sand. The other guy turned towards his friend with a glare.
“I told you not to bet on them!”
And using their argument as a distraction, Gladio grabbed Prompto by his jacket and dragged him around towards the restaurant and the overcrowded dock.
It seemed like half of the kingdom had made the trip to Galdin Quay to get a look at the Hydrean. The huge liner had been built on the dockyard in Insomnia for months, and everyone had been invited multiple times to come and see it construction in real time; then there had been the inauguration on the military port of the capital, where the population of Insomnia had seen the Prince get on board and the ship sail for the first time. But the tourists were embarked on the lower decks from Gladin Quay, which was more easily accessible for all of Lucis, and that meant everyone was there.
“I can’t believe we’re actually going to Altissia!” Prompto screamed, raising his arms towards the sky. “This is the best day of my life!”
“I really thought we couldn’t even go back to Lestallum!” Gladio shot back, hitting his shoulders with the tickets. “Astrals, don’t you ever do this again!”
“Oh, come on Gladio! We’re going on a cruise ship! I can become a real artist now!”
“Start by becoming an artist that actually gets paid…”
“Do you think we could see the princess? Do you think I could take pictures of the princess?”
“Surely not like the ones in your portfolio!”
“Hey! All the pictures I take are perfectly acceptable!”
Gladio laughed with a knowing look, but Prompto didn’t try to defend himself further. Gladio knew exactly what kind of pictures Prompto took, since he was accompanying him everywhere. And there were so many new opportunities opening up for him - he couldn’t focus on what he had done before. It was the future that mattered now.
Finding the room wasn’t difficult - although the hallways were small at this floor. The beds would probably not be that comfortable on the long run, but Prompto couldn’t manage to feel bothered by these things. The sun was starting to set when the ship sailed away. And it was going straight to a new life for him.