Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Note: Travelling in three trucks total to a distant outpost from Lestallum: Hunters are in the first truck with the head captain, Glaives are in the second one which is carrying supplies, and the female OC "Alexus" the co-captain is in the third vehicle with another group of Glaives.
Based on "FF15: Comrades" - Glaives equip sigils to use elemental magic, conjuring weapons, and using warp strikes.
Hunters cannot use spells, summon weapons, or warp strike.

Start:

Without warning, the driver slammed on the brakes to a screeching halt.

"What's going on?" I asked, moving up past the other Glaives towards the back open window of the truck to ask the driver what happened.

Some of the others who had fallen asleep had jerked awake at the harsh stop. The others who were in mid-conversation amongst themselves had cut short their discussion and became alert. They started to look towards the first truck stopped ahead of us to see what was happening.

"There seems to be a handful of daemons blocking the path." Miles answered from behind the wheel. "Looks like the captain is already out there with the rest of his group to fight them off. We can't move anywhere and by the looks of it, it might take some time to clear all of them. Might have to keep an eye out, in case they need some back up. But I'm sure those Hunters can handle themselves just fine."

"Okay, thanks for letting me know." I said with a nod.

Moving back towards the part of the truck where I was sitting before, several pairs of curious eyes were looking at me for some answers.

"Seems like the captain is busy with his team engaging the enemy. We'll be on standby until further notice. Until then, keep your eyes peeled if we're needed." I announced.

"Oh man!" Gutsco spoke up, stretching his hands over his head. "Just when I was starting to get comfortable too." He said through a yawn.

"What are you talking about? The rest of us had to listen to your obnoxious snoring for the past five miles. I'd say you were already comfortable enough." Tobul said with a quick shake of his head, earning a few laughs.

"What can I say? When beauty sleep calls, I'm picking up the phone." Gutsco said with a shrug. "But now it looks like it's time for some action soon, so I'm going to hop off and stretch my limbs for a bit."

"I'm sure you'll get back to your beauty sleep soon enough, they'll finish them off and we'll be back on the road in no time." I said with a wave of my hand.

Elea stood up and jumped off the back of the truck.

"Gutsco, you made a good point. Everyone! It's about time to get up and walk around for a bit." Elea said as she began to walk off.

"I agree." I said, getting up as well. "Move your limbs around. Take some time to stretch."

The others had started to get out of the truck. I made my way over to the side window to Miles and knocked on it a few times to get his attention. He rolled down the window.

"Everything okay?" He asked me, looking back and seeing how everyone else was out of the truck.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just letting you know we're all taking a few minutes to stretch. Thought you could use some fresh air too." I said.

Opening the door of the truck to step down, Miles had stretched his legs by pulling them each up by the ankle.

"It's nice to take a break like this every now and then." Miles said before he walked over to the other side of the truck and pull out a bottle of water from one of the boxes in the back.

"Feels good to get out of the truck every now and then. Wouldn't you agree?" Tobul asked me as he walked up to me.

"Yeah I can't say I expected the Nohm Outpost to have been this far. This one is probably going to be my longest mission yet. It's definitely the most lively by far."

"What mission was that?" He asked me.

"It was an escort mission. I was taking a group of civilians to reunite them with some family they got separated from after daemons attacked the outpost they were living at."

"I remember that. The news reached me pretty late because I was too far out on the time helping to clear out the daemons who were getting too close to another outpost."

"I'm glad that you were there preventing what happened to the place I was sent to. Some of the things I've seen on missions... I will never be able to forget it. Doesn't matter how hard I try."

"It'll all be worth it when the King returns..." He paused for a moment. "Wait. What's with that look?"

Hearing that had surprised me, and it showed on my face without me realizing it.

"S- sorry. I just didn't expect to hear that." I said with a quick shake of my head.

"Aren't you the one always encouraging the others to believe in his return?" He asked me in confusion.

"Yeah but... I've heard what the others have said. How he might not ever return, and about they think he's even dead. It's been so many years anyone has seen or heard anything from him. They have no hope and I get why. But I know he'll come back, he has to."

"You have enough faith for the rest of us. I think that's enough."

"If anything, actually working with one of the royal retainers helped strength that faith." I said.

"Things have been different since he's been around. Plus, I'm not used to the amount of people working with us either but in all honesty, I am a bit relieved."

"Relieved?" I asked.

"That we have so many people to watch each other's backs. I feel better knowing we can switch out with the other teams to protect each other. I feel like we can do anything." Tobul said with a big grin. "I've only worked with the Hunters a few times on some of my past missions in all my years as a Glaive, but seeing what they can do out there these days... It makes me feel like we really have a shot to taking back Nohm and even more if we keep this up. That whole 'Hunter vs Glaive' dispute, it doesn't need to hold us back anymore like it has in the past."

"I never understood it. Hunters are every bit as powerful as we Glaives are, all in their own special ways. So I'll be sure to do my best. I can't be caught slacking in front of the Hunters now." I said with a short laugh in agreement.

"It's not a competition anymore. We finally have a better working relationship with them and I'm feeling good about it. We should've been working with them for missions like these from the get go and- Wait. Is that what I think it is?" He said suddenly, pointing up to the dark sky behind me.

There it was, the signal I didn't want to see. It meant that the Hunters have run into trouble and the daemons were overpowering them. A line of red colored smoke rose in the sky.

"Get ready." I told Tobul when I walked past them in a rush to get to the other Glaives who were gathered around, standing behind the truck.

"There's the signal! Get ready, we're going in!" I called out when I reached them in my rush, pointing to the others the red smoke from the flare gun.

Immediately, everyone began to head towards it.

"Move out! GO!" I called out to the other Glaives.

One by one, they picked up on their speed and warped away with their weapons towards the distress signal. Waiting until everyone had made their way over to the site of battle, I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm my mind.

"Please... Please be okay..." I said to myself, wanting nothing more than to make it on time before anybody got hurt.

October 11, 2021

Chapter Text

When I made it on the battlefield, the amount of daemons still standing were way more than I expected to see.

With my polearm in hand, I looked over to the nearest Hunter who was surrounded by three daemons. With another calculated throw of my weapon, I was able to reach her in an instant and take down one of them.

"You guys are here!" She said in surprise when she saw me arrive.

"We got the signal. Fall back, and help the other Hunters regroup. Watch out for each other's blind spots and cover them. Retreat for now." I told her as I dodged the daemon who attempted to strike back at me with its claws, but another quick lunge with my weapon made it fall back on the ground one last time.

She was able to take down the other daemon near her and was finally able to catch her breath. With her hands on her knees, she spoke up again.

"We should've expected something like this since we're so far out from the other outposts but to THIS extent?" She questioned.

Looking around across the battles, several Glaives were able to successfully relieve the Hunters from the daemonic advance. There were too many of them gathered in one area.

"This isn't normal." I said to myself, realizing that something was really wrong here.

"I owe you one." She said, grateful for my timing.

"Now don't you worry about that kind of thing. I'm glad you're alright." I said with a quick nod of my head. "I'm going to help the others out too. Get to safety!" I told her before we split up.

With another strong throw of my polearm, I was able to move across the battlefield more quickly to reach the other Hunters and help them out.

In time, the number of daemons finally began to slowly dwindle down. Now that we had helped the situation get under control, the other Glaives had helped the wounded Hunters get back to the trucks to get some first aid treatment from Delilah's healing spell. As I stood by the second truck, I was approached by two Glaives.

"It doesn't look like anyone was seriously injured." Nelly told me when she came up to give a report on the situation.

"We had quite a scare when we saw that signal, but it looks like everything is going to be okay." Delilah said from behind Nelly. "I'll start healing anybody who needs, but I'm happy to say it looks like they'll all be just fine with a bit of rest."

"We're setting up camp earlier than what we normally do." I decided. "There's no way I'm sending any of the Hunters out for another battle like that again so soon. No travel fas-"

"No travel faster than the slowest member of the group... That's what you were going to say, right?" Nelly said with a short shrug.

"How'd you know I was going to say that?" I asked, caught completely by surprise.

"That's an ironclad rule among the Hunters. I like the idea behind it. Nobody gets left behind... Or forgotten." Delilah said with a thumbs up to agree with it.

"I'm glad you guys understand..." I said with a small smile. "Let Miles and the other drivers know we're to set up camp at the next Haven we see by my order." I told Delilah who gave me a nod and walked away towards the van. "Speaking of seeing, Nelly, do you have any idea where the captain is? I haven't seen him or a few other of the Hunters yet. Have they regrouped with the others yet?" I asked with concern.

"Actually, no. I don't think anyone has seen them. Are they still out there somewhere?" She asked me.

That wasn't what I wanted to hear. We were split up and there was no telling how many more daemons were still in the surrounding area. In the confusion of battle, I haven't been able to keep track of where everyone was.

"Tell those from Squad 1 and Squad 3 who can still fight to help in locating the missing Hunters. Squad 2 will prioritize defending the supply truck as they have been and protecting those who were injured from any possible daemon attacks. I'm going on ahead to start the search." I ordered.

"Understood." Nelly said with a determined expression on her face before we went our separate ways.

The more time that passed, the more I began to worry about those Hunters and what their absence could mean.

'They're going to be alright. It's not like last time, I've gotten stronger. I'll get them all home safe.'

Scanning the area, I couldn't see any immediate signs to where the missing group of Hunters would be. The other Glaives who came back to help look for the missing team were not having much luck either.

"Any sign of them?" One Glaive called out to the other.

"No, not yet." Another Glaive responded.

"Keep looking. They couldn't have gotten too far." A Hunter, Zeke, who decided to not stay behind with the others at the trucks had said.

"Stay calm, we'll find them. No use in clouding your mind and judgement. They're going to be fine." I told the rest of them, in part trying to convince myself that they were okay out there.

In that moment, a single gunshot rang out. We all turned our heads to the noise. Relief washed over me, realizing there was only one person who could have fired the shot. In clear view of the Glaives and Hunters who went out to look for the missing captain and his group, we looked up to see another smoke signal. What made me tense up again was the color of the smoke, it was a yellow color, only used when someone was injured. My heart sank at the sight of it. The fight wasn't over yet and there were too many unknowns. Black smoke fired from the flare gun instead would've meant that one of our own were killed, and it wasn't something I wanted to see ever again.

"Over here! They need our help!" I called out to the rest of them, getting their attention.

Moving quickly, we all ran out towards the place where we saw the smoke in an attempt to reach them on time. On approaching the scene, I saw the group of three who were missing surrounded by daemons and began to send out orders to help out those Hunters. They were near an unmarked entrance to a cave, with no clear way out.

One of the Hunters, Talcott Hester, was carrying Annie on his back, and in front of those two stood another Hunter named Dianna who was holding off the daemons. They couldn't properly fight trying to protect somebody injured like that. It became clear who was the one the yellow smoke signal was fired for.

"Listen up, you two!" I called out to the closest two Glaives to me to get their attention. "Gutsco, head to the left, and Tobul go to the right! I'll take the one in the middle down."

"Got it!" Gutsco said.

"Understood!" Tobul said.

In an instant, the three of us had taken down the daemons simultaneously who had blocked the only way out for the three. The Glaives and Hunters that arrived met up with the three missing Hunters who emerged from the dark cave.

"Alexus! What a sight for sore eyes!" Talcott said with a wave of his hand to call us over, relief visible on his face.

"We got here as fast as we could!" Zeke said to the group when he approached his friends.

"Is everyone okay?" Yura asked the Hunters.

Walking up to the unconscious Annie carried by Talcott, I noticed the amount of blood that covered her clothes from a slash injury across her chest. On her upper torso, she was covered with bandages hastily wrapped around tightly in order to stop the bleeding.

"What happened to her?" I asked in worry.

"Annie was hurt by a daemon, it caught us all by surprise when it came out of the cave. She was being dragged away and we couldn't keep up with her." Talcott began to explain. "But you should've seen him! Prompto was amazing! He saved her. For a moment, I thought we were going to lose another one of our family out here. It was terrifying."

"You guys were the one who sent the yellow smoke signal?" Elea asked to confirm.

"Yeah. When Annie first got hurt, sending the signal was the first thing that the captain did before he chased after the daemons in the cave trying to take her away. So you guys would know where we were and reach us in time. But you have to hurry." Dianna said urgently.

"Where is he?" Zeke asked Dianna, looking back in the darkened cave for any signs of movement.

"Don't tell me he's still in there?" I asked, concerned he was fighting alone in there without anyone to cover for him.

"He told us to go on ahead after we finally reached Annie. While he held the daemons off for our escape, we got separated. Even now he still hasn't come out." Talcott informed me.

"You have to help him... Please." Annie said, beginning to wake up. "H- he can't die... Not before I can say... I want to... To thank him... Properly... In person..."

"Annie! You're going to be alright. We'll get you out of here, I promise." Talcott told her.

"Don't worry they'll take care of things from here. Just make sure you take care of yourself first." Dianna said to reassure her.

"Gutsco and Zeke, escort these Hunters back to the trucks to regroup with everyone else. Take Annie to Delilah to heal her wounds. Hunters! Anyone left who can fight, guarding the supply truck is still a priority until further orders." Turning to face the two Glaives standing closest to me, I continued. "Yura and Elea, come with me. I'll need your help in there while we go look for the still missing captain. Assume he might be injured and may need our help in there."

"Yes, ma'am!" The two said with a quick salute.

"Wait, what about me? Should I go with you guys in there?" Tobul stopped me to ask.

Taking a few steps towards Tobul, I became serious and spoke clearly when I put my hands on both of his shoulders.

"Listen. This area was full of daemons that caught us off guard. I want you to stay out here with the others for now. If we don't return to this spot within ten minutes, send another signal for the rest of the group by the vehicles. Use the red colored smoke, to request some back up for us. We don't know what's in there, but we're going on ahead to help out the captain. Can you do that for me?" I asked him.

"Y- yes." Tobul said with a nod. "What should I do until then?"

"Stand guard to make sure nothing follows us in. Make sure to keep alert when you're out here. Wait for the others to arrive. Tell them I said to not come in until the time limit has passed. It'll be difficult to fight with too many people in such a confined and dark place."

"Don't keep me waiting out here for too long or you'll make me worry, okay buddy?" Tobul said, unable to mask the worry in his voice behind his small smile.

"I won't. We'll be okay in there. He probably just got lost on his way out or something. We'll bring him back and then make it to the Haven to get some rest. Nothing to worry about. It'll be quick, okay?" I said in an attempt to reassure Tobul, but more for myself.

I had tried hard to not let it show on my face just how worried I was for Prompto's safety after seeing the injury Annie had sustained.

"Are we ready?" Yura asked us when we turned to face the intimidating entrance to the ominous cave.

"Passing up a rare chance to explore a super dark and dangerous cave? Not my style." Elea said with a big grin, equipping her weapon.

"I don't know about you, but I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I said, summoning my own weapon and gripping onto it tightly to stop the nervous shaking of my hands from the fear of what we might find in there.

'He'll be okay... He'll be okay... He's alive in there... Alive...' I repeated to reassure myself I wouldn't find Prompto was hurt or worse.

October 18th, 2021

Chapter Text

"I'm ready for whatever secrets this cave is about to reveal. How exciting!" Elea said, her lack of fear somewhat refreshing, and reminded me to take in a deep breath before we went in.

"We're going in." I told the other two who followed in right behind me.

"Don't slack off now, or I'll find the captain before you two." Yura said, holding his weapon over his shoulder at the ready.

"You wish, just try to keep up with me." Elea said, joining in on the playful banter.

"This isn't a competition you two, this is a rescue. This is no time for jokes." I said, trying to remind them why we were here.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like that. Just trying to lighten the mood." Yura said apologetically.

"She gets so serious when it has to do with the captain." Elea tried to whisper to Yura.

Turning my head over to Elea, I narrowed my eyes in slight annoyance at that comment.

"I heard that." I said.

"Would you look at that! What a nice, er, rock!" Elea tried to point out on the ground to change the topic.

"Rocks?" I said looking down, pointing the flashlight attached to my shirt towards it.

Stopping in my tracks, I bent down in order to pick up some of the crushed rocks in the palm of my hand.

"What do you see?" Yura asked, standing over me, looking at the debris on the ground.

"I didn't know you were such a petrologist." Elea said, bending down next to me to pick up some rocks in her own palm to see what had interested me.

"I'm not." I answered, taking a closer look at the handful of rocks in my hand. "This wasn't like this before, something happened. We're close. There was a battle here, but he must've moved deeper in the cave for some reason rather than follow the rest of the Hunters out."

"How did you get all that just from those rocks?" Elea asked in wonder.

"These edges right here. See how they're cut straight? It's as if something slashed it." I explained, holding up one of the bigger rocks at eye level for her to see.

"By the looks of it, doesn't seem like the captain's hurt. I don't see any blood around here." Yura said, checking around the area with his light.

Standing up after dropping all of the rocks back on the ground, he was right. It calmed me down somewhat to realize Prompto seemed to be alright so far.

"He's gonna get an earful from me when I find him, making us worry about him like this." I said with a roll of my eyes, increasingly feeling hopeful and able to make light of the situation somewhat.

"I'd say you're the most worried one of all, you can't hide it from us." Elea said with a wink.

Hearing such a comment from her again, I turned to face her with a hand on my hip.

"I'd say he's not going to be the only one getting an earful from me at this rate." I said with an eyebrow raised.

"Hey, hey. I'm just kidding." Elea said with both of her hands raised. "Half kidding at least."

Turning around to walk further into the cave without saying anything else, we followed where the damage on the walls were leading us. The light attached to my shirt began to dim.

"Geez, not now!" I groaned in frustration, taking it off to hold in my hand to shake it a few times in a futile attempt to make it last longer.

"What happened? Your light? Do you have a replacement with you?" Yura asked me.

"I'd give you my replacement light, but this one I'm using is the replacement. The other one broke when we were fighting out there earlier. Sorry, I should've brought an extra one with me just in case. I'm clumsy so I usually bring more." Elea said.

"No. It's my fault for not paying attention. Plus, we aren't planning to stay in here too long anyways, so it'll be okay as long as we move quickly and cautiously." I told the both of them.

Walking on ahead, it became quiet between the three of us in order to hear any kind of noise to warn us for any possible daemon attacks or to listen for any indication to where our captain has disappeared off to.

"Well this is a bust. We haven't even been attacked once!" Elea spoke up after a while.

"She's right. There doesn't seem to be any daemons like I expected to find in here. I imagined something... Well, a bit more if I'm being honest with you." Yura agreed.

"Do you think he took all of them on himself? That's the only explanation." Elea suggested. "Geez... All of this boring walking is getting tedious."

"You had better not be letting your guard down, you hear me?" I said. "There's nothing safe about a cave like this where a Hunter who's as strong as Annie got hurt like that. We're at a disadvantage, we can't see in the dark like the daemons can. Get yourselves focused."

"Yes, ma'am!" Elea and Yura said at the same time.

"I do have to agree with you though, this has been a lot easier than what we thought it would be. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised myself... And I know that I can come off as a bit harsh at times, but I don't want to lose anyone out here. I plan to bring everyone back home safely."

"Hearing stuff like that come from you reminds me why I'm glad I joined your squad." Yura said.

"You're the best captain a Glaive could ever ask for!" Elea said with a thumbs up.

"Stop it. It's normal to not want your teammates to die, isn't it?" I asked, embarrassed at the sudden praise.

"I'm glad to fight alongside the Glaives. I know I'm younger than the rest of them, but I want to be able to keep up and be as strong as both of the captains one day." Elea admitted out loud.

"When the sun returns, becoming strong isn't something that we'd have to worry about anymore." Yura said.

"When that happens, how would you be able to cope without your regularly scheduled near-death experiences out on the field?" I asked, jokingly.

"H- hey! It's not like I go around asking those daemons to try and kill me!" Elea said with an exaggerated sigh.

Yura and I laughed at the light hearted teasing, Elea joining in with us as we walked. Talking like this with them, it helped clear my mind and I really needed that.

The longer we walked, the more I began to consider he wasn't here at all. Did we take a wrong turn at one point? The only indication of his presence were the scattered rocks or slashed walls every now and then but were far and few in between which made it hard to follow the right path at times.

It wasn't long after the battery on my light had unfortunately run out. From then on, I was depending on the light from the other two to see where I was walking. Everything was too quiet for too long which made me wonder what happened, until I heard it... A sudden booming noise echoed clearly in the distance.

"You guys hear that? It must be him!" Elea said, pointing towards the darkness.

"He might need our help. Are you going to be okay fighting without a light?" Yura asked me before we broke into a sprint to reach the source of the noise, getting louder with each step we took.

"After all these years without the sun, I'm used to fighting in the dark. Don't worry about me, I'm going to be okay." I answered.

"We'll be your eyes if you need." Elea said with a nod.

When we followed the end of the path towards to where we heard the noise, another loud boom that shook the walls caught me off guard. The source of the noise was a giant daemon which stopped us in our tracks at the horrifying sight of it. Surrounding the daemon were the scattered bodies of the smaller daemons I had expected the three of us to have fought through our way to get here.

"But they're all already..." I said in my shock, realizing all the daemons were already taken care of.

"Can't say I expected anything different when I first heard that noise coming from it earlier. The size of it is just incredible, even for a daemon." Yura said, looking up at the intimidating height of it.

"The final boss is never supposed to be an easy one and this one looks like it definitely packs a punch." Elea said

"If we're going to defeat this thing, we need to hit it hard all at once, faster than it can regenerate." I began, trying to come up with a quick strategy as I kept my eyes on it. "Considering its size, we'll need to surround it in order to overpower it to take it down. If you feel as though you're in danger, pull back immediately. There's no shame in trying to survive a battle we might not win, to be blunt, we escape if we need to and call for back up if we can't handle Tiny by ourselves."

Getting ready for battle, I motioned my hands for Yura and Elea to surround the daemon while I would aim for it's blind spot. The two had nodded once and we split up, not making any noise and turning off their lights as we moved in closer in order to not catch it's attention and ruin the element of surprise.

When I ran closer to the daemon, there was something wrong. It suddenly growled loud enough to make me cover my ears and back up a few steps. For seemingly no reason, the daemon had fallen over, motionless.

Without warning, my arm was grabbed and I was pushed onto the ground roughly. I felt something cold on my neck and a something heavy hold me down to where I couldn't move freely. Without any light, I couldn't see anything in front of me.

"W- WAIT!" I called out all of a sudden.

When I spoke up, there was movement from whatever was holding me down.

"Are you okay?!" Elea said when she ran over to the sound of my voice, her light turned back on. "Oh!"

"Did one of you do that? The daemon is dead but the captain isn't her-" Yura said when he walked over, shocked with what he saw when he turned his light back on. "Is that...?"

With the both of them shining their lights at me, I was able to see what it was that held me down on the ground, or rather who it was.

"Prompto?" I asked.

October 25, 2021

Chapter Text

"Alexus?! W- what are you doing here?" Prompto me asked in pure shock.

He immediately removed his gun from my neck and stared at me in his bewilderment.

"I'd like to ask the same thing, but first I'd prefer to get off the floor first if you don't mind." I said.

Realizing the position we were in, he hastily backed up and looked around at the other two in his confusion as he sat across from me.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you! I just thought that- I mean, you didn't have a light and- I should've been paying more attention! T- There were so many daemons here that I thought you were one and- I'm sorry, super very sorry!" He said all at once trying to apologize, bowing his head down.

Sitting up as he rambled on, I didn't say anything right away from my shock in finding him, or rather being found by him. He quickly stood up and reached out a hand to help me up which I took.

"Guess you're not dead after all, huh?" Elea said with a big smile and a big slap on his back which surprised him and made him stumble a step forward from the force of it.

"I'm not going down that easily. Takes a lot more than a few daemons of that size to take me down." Prompto said with a shrug when he fully stood up again.

"Wait... You took that big daemon out, all by yourself?" Yura asked in pure shock.

Brushing off the dirt from my clothes, I looked back up at him. He was covered in soil and parts of his clothes were torn. He had also gotten a few scrapes from fighting, but he looked generally okay for the most part.

"So is it just the three of you guys?" He asked me, making me nod once.

"Yeah. She told the others to wait on standby while we came to look for you." Yura informed him.

"You're pretty strong to be able to take something like this daemon all by yourself. Feels good to have someone tough like you on our team!" Elea said in praise.

I took a step closer towards Prompto. There was something off that didn't fully convince me that he was alright, he hadn't moved one of his arms since we showed up.

"What were you doing all the way out here? You fought this huge daemon alone?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"I had to get it away from Annie who was being carried by Talcott after her injury. I had no choice but to get it's attention back into the cave where it came from. I didn't want to put the others in danger." He explained.

Letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding on to, I had mixed feelings about seeing him in person after everything that happened earlier today. The fact that he seemed safe and sound in front of me made me happy, but put himself in danger... He put himself at risk, and that's what made me angry. I didn't want to bury another one of the people I've been fighting alongside with. Not him of all people.

"Not gonna lie, I really thought this was it for a moment there. Like, damn. 'This isn't how I wanted to die' kinda thing. It sure was a tough one." Prompto said, trying to make a joke about it.

"Give me a few pointers when we make it back to camp, I want to learn more on how to fight better from someone strong like you." Yura said.

"Sure thing!" Prompto said with a thumbs up.

"I can't believe you..." I started off with, not able to hold back my frustration at him for not taking everything as seriously as he should.

"What about?" He asked me in confusion.

"Why'd you go after it alone like that?!" I said, raising my voice at him while closing the distance between us. "We're supposed to be in this fight together! We're on the same team, aren't we?! Why didn't you wait for someone?!" I asked, my voice louder than before.

He took a step back in surprise from my yelling, but I didn't stop there.

"Anything could've happened out here! When we fight, we protect each other. That's the strategy we've been using this whole time, so why would you go off on your own and get hurt and making me worry like thi-" I stopped myself there.

When I paused in shock at the words that slipped out of my mouth, the entire cave became quiet. I slowly took a few steps away from him. It wasn't until Elea spoke up which broke the long silence.

"I knew it! So you were worried!" She said with a big grin.

"It was obvious from the start. Her face showed it long before she said it." Yura said with a shake of his head as if he was stating the most obvious fact in the world.

"Lux?" Prompto asked, taking a step closer to me but I took a step back in reaction and looked away from him.

"Look... Forget I said anything. Let's just go back out and meet with the others since they've been waiting for us. The ten minutes I gave them are almost up." I said, trying to change the subject in my embarrassment.

When I tried to walk away, I felt Prompto put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"What?" I asked, my tone coming out harsher than I intended it to.

"We'll leave you two alone." Elea said with a wink before walking off.

"Take your time. Elea and I are going to talk to the others to let them know everything is okay." Yura said after handing Prompto his light for us to use and then following after Elea who had already walked off ahead.

"Wait! I didn't say to-"

"Lux..." Prompto said my nickname again to get my attention.

With a quick sigh to calm myself down, I turned back to face him.

"I'm sorry about earlier." He said, releasing his grip from my shoulder and looking towards the ground as he spoke. "I should've never pointed a weapon at you. I didn't expect you guys to show up like you did. I could've hurt you and-"

"No that was my fault, I should've been paying more attention. Guess that just means I have a lot more training to do. Can't let a daemon get behind me like that in the future. Just... Hey, don't even worry about it. It's fine." I said in a quiet voice, still embarrassed of how I yelled at him earlier.

Turning around to face him, I took a step back from him when I realized how close we were standing to each other.

"I didn't mean to make you worry like you did. Sorry about that too." He apologized, looking at me with a smile and a hand scratching the back of his head.

"What are you talking about? I wasn't- I mean, yeah, a little bit but... Just completely forget that part. I was way out of line." I said. "Still, I need to know. I didn't want to bring it up in front of the others, but you're actually hurt. Aren't you? Don't lie to me."

"You knew, huh?" He said, raising a hand to his other shoulder. "I guess something like that doesn't get past you. I'll be alright, promise. I was just got caught off guard. It was a bad hit, a bruise, but I'll be okay with a little bit of rest."

"I wasn't going to worry Elea and Yura but, next time if you're hurt then let me know at least. Please, so I can help you." I said, not hiding my concern. "Lean on your teammates a little more. Don't forget we're both captains on the mission. We don't let the other fall behind, and we never move faster than the slowest."

He put a hand on my head and looked right at me with a warm smile that caught me by surprise.

"You worried for me. Thank you." Prompto said before he let go and started to walk over towards the cave exit. "You coming?" He asked when he turned around and realized I wasn't following him.

"Wait, I need to apologize properly. I didn't mean to raise my voice at you like that." I started off with, needing to let him know why I was so angry at him earlier.

"It's okay. If anything, I had it coming. I broke the rules. You have every right to be mad at me, Lux." He said, walking back to me.

"But I feel like I have to explain myself first."

"Explain what?"

"Something that happened to me... The last time I was a captain. This was the main reason why I didn't want to have that kind of role again for this kind of mission, but Monica kept insisting I was the only one for the role based on my experience out on the field. Back then... I led the Glaives into a mission where some of us didn't come back. The daemons overpowered us, we had no choice but to retreat and lose the outpost we couldn't defend. It was a total defeat, a stain on our name of the Kingsglaive. Just thinking about it back then, I began to realize that I was wasn't strong enough to lead. That I wasn't strong enough to have these people trust me with their very lives again... And when you and the other Hunters went missing... I feared I had messed up again. Badly. I thought that yo-"

"You thought I had gotten myself killed out here by taking these daemons all by myself?" He asked, making me nod and look away. "Hey, I understand a little bit better now. Back then, I assumed you didn't want to take the role of co-captain because you didn't like me or something. With how fast you refused that day, I even considered it was because of me being chosen for captain instead of someone else."

"No, it wasn't that. I just... I didn't want you to die. I know it's dumb to think so, but I think I'm cursed. I feel like when I take on a big role like that, someone will get killed because of me. It's silly, so stupid, but terrifying all at the same time." I admitted.

"Like I said before, it'll take a lot more than a few daemons to take me down. I can't die. Not yet. Not until I fight alongside my old team again." He said confidently.

"Until then, don't you dare do something as reckless as you did today... You big jerk." I said, lightly punching his arm.

"Ow! Go easy on me. I'm injured." He said with a small laugh. "Okay, I promise. A pinky promise, is that good enough?" He held out his hand with a pinky out while wearing a genuine smile.

"It's only good enough if you keep your word." I said, taking his pinky into mine and shaking on it.

"C'mon. Let's not make the others worry." He said, walking away with me following closely behind.

"I've already had someone tell Miles to stop at the nearest Haven to let the Hunters get some rest. So they don't have to go through another battle like they did today."

"Sounds like a plan. Plus, I was getting a little hungry myself." Prompto said with hand to his chin. "What do you think is on the menu this time?" He asked me.

"I'm generally good with whatever. I just want the day to be over if I'm being completely honest with you. Too many things have happened today." I said with a sigh.

"You wouldn't be saying that if Ignis was the one cooking for us." He said.

"Ignis?" I questioned.

"Oh right, you haven't met him yet."

"Can you tell me a little about him? I've only ever heard stories passed down from the other Glaives but never met him in person."

"Well, if anything, he is definitely the best cook I've ever met. Something still true to this day. That's for sure."

"He's a cook? But I heard that he was bli- Oh! I'm so sorry." I said, stopping myself in the middle of my sentence by covering my mouth with my hands quickly.

"Blind. Isn't that what you wanted to say?" He asked bluntly with a short laugh.

"I shouldn't have brought it up like that."

"Don't worry about it. I know he'll never get his sight back, it's been too long since it happened." He said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "You know, I was there when..."

When he trailed off in his sentence, I saw the expression on his face change as his walking pace slowed down somewhat.

"I didn't mean to bring up any sad memories." I apologized, feeling guilty. "I probably made you remember something sad you didn't want to."

"It's not like that. I mean, I remember the day it happened as if it was just yesterday... But if I'm being completely honest with you, the fact that Iggy can keep going after something like that happened to him... Losing his eyesight wasn't a setback, if anything, it made him way stronger than before. It only made me respect him even more."

Watching his face turn from sadness into beaming with pride over his friend amazed me.

"If something like that would've happened to me... I honestly don't know what I would've done." I said. "I guess, I would've given up. Getting back up on his feet the way he did, it makes him sound like an incredible person. I can see why you look up to him the way you do."

"Don't say it like that, it's a little embarrassing." Prompto admitted with a small smile.

"Okay. Then I'll be sure to tell him all of that when I meet him in person one of these days." I said with a shrug.

"You wouldn't dare do that." He said with a long exaggerated fake gasp.

"Try me." I said while crossing my arms over my chest.

"Hey! There they are!" Tobul's voice suddenly called out to the several people who were waiting outside the entrance for our return. We made it out of the cave to where the rest of the group were patiently waiting for our return.

November 8, 2021

Chapter Text

"I thought you guys had gotten lost in there or something." Zeke admitted, speaking up first.

"Time was almost up, I was about to head in there myself to look for you two." Tobul said.

"Sorry it took so long. Looks like everyone is okay." I said as I walked up to the group.

"I told you they were going to be just fine. See?" Yura told Tobul after standing up from leaning against a nearby tree.

"I was beginning to think that a daemon had shown up and started giving you two a hard time, but it turns out you were just taking a leisurely stroll in a dark and creepy cave. Can't say that's my first option for a date but... You do you." Elea said which caught me off guard with Prompto standing next to me.

"Which part of 'this is a rescue' mission do you not understand?" I asked, walking up to Elea.

"Oh I understand. Completely. Rescuing the captain from boredom seems like tough work for sure." Elea answered with a thumbs up which didn't help my embarrassment.

"You know what? I'm just going to ignore you now." I said before walking off towards the trucks and check on everyone, not willing to show my reddened face to them.

"You mean, you two aren't... Oh..." Zeke asked Prompto, pointing between the two of us with his hand.

"We aren't what?" He asked, not understanding what the conversation was about.

"Nah, nothing at all. Forget about these two idiots, they just don't happen to have a filter on them. It's not something you should worry about." Yura answered in place of Zeke, putting a hand over his mouth before he could answer.

"Wait... You mean?... N- no! It's not like that." Prompto said while waving his hands in front of him, feeling his face become warm at the suggestion. "I mean, me and Alexus? No way. We're two different people."

"And here I thought things were finally going to get a move on. Huh... Guess I was wrong." Elea said as she walked off.

"Wrong? About what?" Prompto asked Elea, making her turn and walk backwards as she answered.

"She looks happier by your side. That's all I can say." Elea said with a wink, turning back around to follow Alexus towards the trucks, where the rest of the Glaives and Hunters were waiting for them to return.

"Look, don't worry about what Elea said too much. She's younger. Because of that fact alone, sometimes she can be out of line with the things she says to people." Yura said when he walked up to Prompto before leaving to regroup at the trucks with Tobul walking beside him.

"Was it okay for Elea to say something like that? I mean, wouldn't Alexus get mad if she heard something like that?" Tobul asked Yura.

"It's too late, looks like she's already mad." Zeke said with a short laugh, walking alongside the others.

Standing alone by himself, Prompto began to think about those words for a moment before he started making his way where everyone was.

"She's 'happier?... By my side'? What's that supposed to mean?" He asked himself out loud, trying to make sense of the comment from Elea while scratching the back of his head in his confusion.

When he reached the trucks where everyone was, he was quickly surrounded by the others who were worried about his disappearance.

"Captain! You're okay!" Dianna said.

"We heard what happened! You took on that dangerous demon horde all by yourself so you wouldn't put the rest of us in danger. I didn't know you were so strong!" Miles said.

"Are you okay? You're not seriously hurt or anything, are you?" Delilah asked, ready to use her healing spell on him.

"Thank you for saving us back there. I owe you one. I was able to bring Annie back with me. She's safe." Talcott said, walking up to him to thank him. "She's resting right now, but I'll let her know you made it back safe and sound later on when she wakes up."

"We only made it out of there alive because you did your best and protected us all." Dianna said.

"Hey, it wasn't anything that special. I'll be okay, I promise. It's not that bad." Prompto said letting Delilah heal his shoulder, not used to this kind of attention as he spoke to the excited crowd. "I was just doing my job as a Hunter."

"What happened out there?" Gutsco asked, wanting more details.

"There was a Nidus. I decided to go out with a few of the others to destroy it. It wasn't until I found it with my team and took care of it that things could finally calm down. After destroying it, the daemon horde was weakened. That's why there were so many in the first place, and it was big enough to block the road. We needed to get rid of that thing before we could move on ahead. It got tough later when the big daemon who was protecting the nearby cave appeared." Prompto answered.

As he spoke, he caught sight of Alexus behind the crowd of people who were surrounding him before continuing on.

"Still, I don't want you guys to follow in my example. We fight together as a team, so don't go running off on your own like I did. It was a risk I shouldn't have taken. I'm alright, but that doesn't mean it was okay of me to do. What I'm trying to say is, well, I'm sorry I made all of you worry so much." He finished, bowing his head slightly which made the group of people go silent.

After a short moment like that, Prompto slowly looked up and made eye contact with Alexus who didn't expect him to say something like that. She mouthed a clear "thank you" to him with a small smile in appreciation to which he nodded in her direction to let her know he understood her a little more. After telling him a little bit of her past to him earlier, he respected her even more than he did before.

June 13th, 2022