The walls fell

It was still far too soon for Noctis to try and get over the death of his father, and his retinue had not made it easier. At least he could rely on Prompto to understand his situation.

It wasn't like they weren't sympathetic but they had a mission that took over their feelings which should also include his own feelings, maybe in their dreams.

There was no one who would understand the deception he felt when it came to how different his dad had acted while he knew the consequences. Why hadn’t he been allowed to help him when the Nif’s attacked?

Dad wasn't very kingly in his last words with his own son, it miffed him to no end. Perhaps what he needed was someone to help him understand dad's point of view. Good luck finding that with a bunch of young adults.

Yet before that he had to come for the first royal arms that was in this tomb that acted as a meeting point before him and the man known as the immortal. Meanwhile Prompto was being his usual hyperactive self.

"And I saw the two of them fight!" Maybe this would be something to take his mind off it.

"Who would be crazy enough to challenge the Immortal?" Gladio wasn't believing it, nor was Noctis.

"Prompto, how exactly did you receive this information?" Leave it to specs to ask the questions they all wanted the answers to.

"Well…," he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I think the Marshal likes me." Well, as if that wasn't something that threw them for a loop.

"And he showed me the recording of the two of them sparring." His hero worship was certainly showing.

But, alright they were also interested. "Well, Cor won, right?" He gave a so-so motion with his hand.

"The camera broke from being frozen." Well, that was certainly important information which put them all on edge.

"You're telling me this unknown individual has magic?" He huffed, of course his dad would do something without telling him. Not like he hadn’t known since the first moment Cor had introduced him.

This was somewhat more important than the whole 'Oh, Noctis, I'm dying soon, but enjoy your bachelor party!'. Honestly he needed better outlets than anger. Decisions made out of anger were never good.

"So, Cor should be waiting inside?" At least they knew what exactly this meant, not a trap unless the universe itself conspired against them. Running to the right side they had him waiting just beyond this door.

Cor and an unfamiliar voice spoke with one another. “And how does it feel to be young once again?” They had an aura of being in command, a fine enough fit for someone like Cor. “Well, it certainly beats that world.” They both laughed as the door opened. To be face to face with the young ones from memory.

"What a sight for sore eyes." They certainly acted like the old men they were, why did it seem like they were old war buddies?

"Marshal. Who is this?" The loyal advisor said as they all had a glimpse of the mystery man easily chatting with the marshal which was a shock to the system of theirs. Wasn't he supposed to be some sort of unapproachable ass?

What a pair the two of them made, a regular man and someone who looked to be out of some kind of fantasy, and the aura of an instructor as well.

“This is Kurasame Susaya, an old friend of mine, we met years ago.” He was clearly amused by the wording, while not incorrect it was definitely a bit of misdirection on the truth. I guess age makes you a better liar.

“Wow, so who won?” Prompto asked as he really wanted a picture with the mystery man and all of his gear. He wanted a close up of that sword of his, it was even able to be enchanted with ice!

‘Now this was sure to be an interesting question’ The both of them seemed to be amused by the question while the real reason they were here hung in the air. Cor cleared his throat, “Who won doesn’t matter, what we are here for is this.” And they were back to the grief of what his dad had done.

He wasn’t one to say how to deal with loss as the crystal would take the memories away, something which only worked on their own world. They had never tasted freedom, why expect anything else?

Noctis was clearly a somewhat broken man because of the events of the capital in which he had gotten a front row seat, even if he and Cor had worked to make it a somewhat better ending.

It made him nostalgic for the way he had talked to his students before that last mission of his, they would have made good adults if given the chance to find some hobbies, he was sure of this development.

“Your father tried to spend his last moments as your father, not as king.” Hmm? It seemed they had even more in common than he had expected. He would’ve liked to see what the previous king was like.

Tears were never a pretty sight to see, Trey could attest to that at the end, it was a wonder how well he had recovered in the future. But he was still young so he was supposed to react this way.

It would be wrong if he didn’t grieve. Like the rest of them.

Although this was all in service of making him the king they both knew him to be, though he spoke with much more compassion as if understanding his flaws. His old pal did end up understanding compassion.

“And what about him?” The both of them had agreed to have him shadow the soon to be king. “He will follow you in the tunnels to the next tomb. But what about the marshal in this context? “I will work some of the hunters to comb the land.” And with that he took his leave.

‘Certainly a team in the making’ Kurasame noted as he watched the four of them engage in combat with some of the monsters roaming Eos.

So this the prince fought? He watched as Noctis with reckless abandon warped to the coeurl right in front of his sight, almost all of them were out of his range to help. ‘Ah to have someone like that in class’ He watched the stray bullet follow after his swings and also hit the target.

At least the two of them understood timing, their friendship gave an insight into their working together. ‘Most people wouldn’t allow someone to shoot so close near them’ Yet, Prompto just had that sunny infectious aura. Almost like some of his students. They had certainly infected his heart

The shield swung next, taking the position in the front just for the moment as Noctis warped once again to get a strike in and some distance. ‘When they got along the shield will be all the stronger for it’ He had done a lot of protecting in the other world.

Gladio was certainly as strong as they both saw him in the past, not much had changed physically but he had learned to be a better teammate. He would just have to grow on his own time. ‘And at least he isn’t as hot headed as Nine’

The shield fit the same type of archetype but that was about where the similarities ended. Although Nine was the type to stand out in any archetype you tried to put him in, just another thing that made him the most predictable.

As the support oriented member Ignis was the one most interesting to him, it was not everyday you got to see someone so close to royalty to do things, it seemed royals could fight with their own skills. Commanding dragons aside.

His skills with daggers were unquestioned, at least by anyone in this world, if only he could’ve seen combat between the dagger users of that world. So many styles, it did something to the analytical part of his mind.

It was not his role to offer any such advice to these growing adventurers, as some might put it, just follow along before he would be reunited with Cor and they could continue passing time as two old men.

He could just imagine what an extra 10 years would do to him, respite had done them all wonder it was as if he had been returned to the spunk of a young man just starting out on his own service.

‘To be young once again’ And of course this applied to all the kids who were already young, what a waste.

The magitek was larger than any combat troops he had seen, but he had been given life again he could take it down with ease. Now if only he could figure out a way to not accidentally stop them.

"This is so cool!" They were finally able to see a bit of what made this man someone Cor could respect.

"What's he doing?" He slammed down his sword into the ground causing ice to form in waves in front of him. "That sword is impressive, when have you seen a sword glow?" It must've been what gave it power.

The giant ice block shut them up. “I never thought you could freeze something that big.” Ok, so he was impressed, it still didn’t make him like him for being a stranger. “Look, it just exploded!” Tons of bits and pieces of robot and ice laid all over the ground.

Kurasame looked at the faces of the four of them, ‘hmm, almost as if they haven’t seen anything like this yet’ without a word he continued walking to the next tomb as they began to catch up. They wouldn’t stop with the discussion of what he did.

‘Just like class zero’ He smirked and thought back to that discussion the two of them had been having.

Deja vu indeed.

Cor was going to be the one to visit him next time. As long as nothing with the gods happened, but they had people who fought god. It really wasn’t as scary as it could be. Although why was Bahamut always the most important?

Something to ponder on as they made their way into the caves.

OPTIONS FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER

For the cultured spear ladies.