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Chapter Text

Cor & Ignis - M.E. 771

The rules were strict on the drive out to Duscae, and even extremely blunt. This wasn't in the general manner that they had known of him in the past.

Meet at the Coernix Station and text me when you've arrived. Do not drive onto my property. I don't want your fancy cars here.

Cor was driving with Ignis in the front passenger seat. They had made arrangements for this meeting, but while Ignis was easy going with it — and even agreed that the rules made sense — Cor was annoyed in the back of his head. It was a lot of trouble to go out for a somewhat regular meeting.

It had been five years since the return of the dawn. Parts of Lucis were still in states of heavy rebuilding and people were needed in those roles everywhere, not just with Insomnia and Lestallum. Many people who were used to the city had moved out to assist with the rebuilding efforts.

On top of everything, the weather was pleasant with overcast skies. There had been a couple of days of rain and the weather moved out on the day of the visit, as if it was meant to be. Though considering who they were visiting, perhaps it was.

Once at the station, the car was parked in the area not too far from the caravan and locked up. Ignis was already in the process of sending the text- easily done with the voice keyboard on his phone.

"How long does it take for him to meet us?"

"From when I was last here?" Ignis paused to think as he put his phone away. "About fifteen to twenty minutes." Ignis gestured as he walked to some picnic tables that were set out. The area drew a lot of tourists to begin with. They wouldn't stand out too much. "Don't tell me," the smirk could be heard in his voice. "It's been a couple of years and you're nervous about it?"

"Not at all," Cor interjected with a slight huff. "I'm just not used to meeting our Ki-"

Ignis didn't let him finish. "Former. And you better not let him hear you say that."

There was a snort from the Immortal before he just leaned on his arms on the table.

However, they didn't have to wait long. An old, somewhat battered looking jeep pulled up to the parking area. Mud was caked on the sides. This was probably due to being driven on a dirt road that was still very wet and muddy from the recent storms. 

Once parked, the door opened and the driver got out. Ignis called to him with a pleasant tone. "Noct."

He didn't seem to match the terse message that was given to them — the friendly smile from the former King showed that he was, in fact, happy to see them. He first greeted Ignis with a hug, and something spoken softly that Cor didn't quite catch.

"It's good to see you too, Cor." Noct finally turned to look at the Immortal as well. "Thanks for coming out here."

Cor reached out with a hand to shake the former King of Lucis' hand. Noct took his hand and pulled him into a hug too. "I- yeah. You seem to be doing good." The older man was, in fact, a little thrown off-guard at this.

"I'll drive us back to the house." Noct broke away to get back to the jeep. "The doors are unlocked."

When the Dawn returned five years ago, by some sort of miracle, Noctis Lucis Caelum had survived. No one, not even Noctis himself, understood why. However, when time came for plans to rebuild, it was clear that he was just tired.

The drain of the magic of Providence left him far more battered and in worse shape than they had all imagined. By all of the evidence there, he should have died. Noctis wanted to be a part of the reconstruction effort from the start, but when the initial plans between him and his retinue had begun, it was clear that he couldn't bring himself to focus on all of the minutiae of the kingdom's government. Perhaps even a side effect from the amount of power that he had been forced to hold within him.

That's when the crazy idea came up.

The public would soon learn that Noctis Lucis Caelum, the 114th King of Lucis, died to bring back the dawn. When he was asked if he was sure, Noctis absolutely was. There was no need for the 'Kingdom of Lucis' to be a kingdom any longer. The way the people came together during the Long Night was proof of that. The people could govern themselves, and should be allowed to properly elect their leaders.

Noctis, as they knew of him, would leave Insomnia, and live in Lucis on his own. He first started out to be a bit of a hermit, and there were a number of growing pains associated with it, as he learned how hard it would be to manage his own life.

However, once his closest friends saw what it had done for him as he adjusted to this new life, they knew it was the right choice. Noctis — or now just 'Noct,' as he had given up his whole name — had begun a new life as a carpenter while living in the Duscae region. After working with various other woodworkers with the rebuilding effort, Noct eventually got to build his own home on property in Rydielle Lay. He was able to get it through a trade of work and hours for others.

Even now, five years later, he no longer held the look that everyone thought of when they talked about the king of Lucis — or even the prince. His work in construction helped him put on a bit more muscle. He wasn't extremely pale anymore thanks to long hours of rebuilding homes and other structures in the sun. Noct also didn't really cut his hair. He just kept it pulled back in a braid, and kept his facial hair trimmed and neat.

And this is how it led to this moment, with Noct driving a battered jeep to take his guests, Cor and Ignis, to his home. A number of trees were growing on the property, having somehow survived the Long Night. The fact that it also wasn't too far from one of Ramuh's runestones was a detail that hadn't escaped Ignis, but he chose to never comment on the fact.

The drive hadn't been silent, outside of maybe a little bit of noise from pulling off of the main road near a parking spot and following a dirt road to the property. The three talked about current events with Insomnia and its own rebuilding efforts. Noct, meanwhile, had been traveling between some of the outposts and Lestallum to help with the various efforts needed in rebuilding. Many people had opted to never live in the cities and out in the open wilds. Many supports that were built up during the Long Night had to come down and make the land look less like a warzone and once again look more like a proper nation.

Noct knew that Cor didn't agree to it, but then again, Cor was also somewhat bound to the traditions of Lucis, having served three of its kings. There was a little part where Noct could tell that it was a begrudging acceptance of the decision, as within the first year, he had brought a puppy to the former king as an apology and to tell him that he needed someone to keep an eye on him. Even if that someone had four legs and a wet nose.

In fact, as they got closer to the house, said (no longer) puppy was running alongside the jeep, happily barking along the way. Once they had arrived, Noct parked the jeep and got out. "Be careful, it's still really muddy here."

Perhaps that's part of why the rule was in place. Or perhaps there were other, unspoken reasons that Noct never talked about.

Cor was left to fend for himself, but for good reason. Noct immediately walked around the car to reach out and make sure Ignis was alright and make sure that he could get into the house okay. The larger black dog, who seemingly never got a name, bounced around, and maybe even got a laugh from Noct before he was shoo'd away. Muddy paws and the nice clothes of his guests didn't make for great companions.

Once inside, the chairs were pulled out at the old, metal table. It looked like it was pulled out from some sort of thrift shop or vintage store. Or, knowing the way Noct had become over the past couple of years, found and repaired. It had a brightly colored, blue plastic or enamel table top, with some white and shimmery materials marbled into it.

The chairs, plain, wooden chairs, clearly didn't match the table. They were probably found, cleaned, and repaired as well. Noct made it a point to not want things to go to waste if it could be helped. It wouldn't even be that big of a surprise if most of the furniture in the house was reclaimed and repaired for regular use again.

The house even had power and running water. Noct may have ended up living a somewhat rural life, but he wasn't a luddite. He still carried a cell phone, and even had a small TV and some electronics in the living room. And though they were dated and nowhere near as high-tech as what could be found in the Crown City itself, he even had some decently modern appliances in the kitchen.

"Not bad looking." Cor finally spoke up while looking around. Especially on the knowledge that this was a pet project of Noct's for a couple of years. It wasn't large for a house — in fact, the apartment he lived in as a teen was probably about the same size.

"Thanks. Took a while, but I built it with some help." Noct sounded pleasant as he started up some coffee in the coffee maker. "I have some cookies as well, if you want any."

"Not for the moment, thank you." Ignis said while seated at the table. He pulled a laptop from his bag and set it out on the table. There was business with this meeting; it wasn't just a friendly meetup. That part was just a bonus.

"Right. Work first, then we get to hang out." Noct mumbled sheepishly. He pulled some bottled waters from the fridge and offered them to both of his guests before he took a seat at the table.

Once seated, Ignis started with the questions: "Have there been any perceptible changes?"

"Only a little." Noct answered, "I can feel things at a distance still. The elements are still as strong as ever, but my ability to call on them has become weaker. I can phase through things still," He paused, then immediately knew he had to assuage any worry from Ignis,"Don't worry. No one has seen it. And I definitely don't have the power to warp anymore."

Ignis, since he's adjusted to life with his disability, had little issues typing the information being relayed. It would then be handed off to someone down the line for entering into their records. With the source as part of the government's secrets.

"Your covenants?"

Noct opened the bottle of water as he answered. "They're still there. Sometimes, I can hear them calling to me, but I've gotten better at letting their calls and voices slide by without actually invoking them." He paused to drink some of the water. "I'm not gonna slip up again like last time."

Finally, Cor spoke up this time. "Good."

One of the agreements to Noct leaving Insomnia was to keep track of the state of the world's magic. Since the Dawn, he could feel it constantly flickering away. He had absorbed the Crystal's power when in Reflection, and he knew that if he had died, it would have died with him.

"Anything from the Ring?"

Noct stood up and disappeared into the door to another room. When he came back, he had a small wooden box. He slid a couple of the panels on it to unlock a hidden mechanism and pop open the lid. Using a puzzle box to hide the ring's remnants had been Prompto's idea. A better way to lock something up so that its contents couldn't be easily noticed and it just looked like a decoration in the bedroom.

Once the box was opened, he slid it across the table for Cor to examine. Inside was the black and gold metal of the Ring of the Lucii. The ring had been broken into three pieces, and the crystal that had once been inlaid in it was completely gone. It wasn't able to be found in the throne room after Noct brought back the dawn.

"Still broken," Noct finally confirmed for Ignis.

There was a thoughtful, "hmm" as Ignis continued typing. "Good."

There was a creak as Noct leaned back in his chair. "The Crystal's magic is going to die with me, as I explained to you before. There will still be remnants of magic in Eos, but the bloodlines capable of using it are likely to be thin enough that there will not be another magical 'renaissance' as Lucis experienced over the past two thousand years."

There was a seriousness to him and for once, the former King could be seen in the way he spoke. There were times when it was easy to forget that he had spent ten years within the Crystal and even five years after, he rarely spoke about his experiences. However, there was no getting around that he had knowledge that none of them had regarding Eos and its magic.

Noct crossed his arms. "There will be no means to forge covenants unless the Six choose to interact with mortals again. Though, I doubt that would be the case. They seem content with the new 'status quo' as it is." A pause. "It's your world now."

This regular meeting was exhausting, and Noct closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "Is this all you needed to know?"

But he seemed to bristle slightly as Ignis shook his head. "No, Noct, it is not."

Suddenly, Noct sat back up again, back rigid and almost spoke up again when he was interrupted by Ignis: "How is your health from the fading magic?"

This caused the former king to falter just slightly. "It is what it is." He slumped back into the chair. Clearly, from the expression on the Immortal's face, Ignis hadn't brought this up to Cor. "I feel my own strength fading with the magic. Like my dad and predecessors, my body has a physiology to support the kind of magic expected of me, but as it fades, I'm finding more and more side effects left behind from it. I suppose, like the magic of this star, I'm also in my 'twilight years,' if you want to call it that."

He looked away for a moment, then noticed that the coffee maker had finished and stood up. As Noct walked over to it, he said, "I don't think I'm going to live as long as you hope I do. So it's for the best that Lucis doesn't rely on the Crown anymore. Better that it ends with me."

Straight and to the point. Noct busied himself with getting mugs out and filled them each with coffee. He knew Ignis preferred his black, but pulled out the cream and sugar anyway, set them on a plate and brought them to the table. Then the mugs were retrieved and set before his guests before he took his seat again.

"Are we done?"

The reiteration of Noct's question made it clear that he didn't want to talk about this subject any longer. They got their answers.

"I think we can consider this finished. Do you have any questions, Cor?"

The older man crossed his arms and had a thoughtful look for a moment before he shook his head. "None. I see that you're happy here, and if it is as you say, then I agree. Perhaps it's for the best."

"See?" Noct added some cream and sugar to his own coffee. He still had a bit of a sweet tooth, unsurprisingly. "I can have some common sense." He paused, then looked at the two and spoke quietly this time. "I don't want to waste away in front of you guys, nor do I want the people to see it. Gods know what kind of look that was for dad. Let me be here and out of sight. This new job has me making a difference in a way I can't on the throne."

"Is the coffee okay?" Noct's question was meant to divert the topic. Again. This time, Ignis shut the laptop and set it to the side and picked up his own mug. After a sip of it, he said, "It's very good."

"Great!" Noct sounded a lot more cheerful again. "The garden is going well, Ignis. Thanks for the seeds. Still not gonna be as good of a cook as you, though."

"At least you are cooking for yourself. And eating your greens."

With the snort of a laugh, Noct said, "I mean, you can only go so far eating Kenny's fries."

"I highly doubt the teenaged you would have uttered such blasphemy, Noct." All Ignis got was a shrug in return.

With a knowing smirk — of course Ignis knew that would be the response he'd get — a small notebook was withdrawn from a pocket and handed it across the table to Noct. "I did collect some more recipes that I think you'll be able to manage. If you have questions, you can always call or text."

Cor didn't wait for Noct's response about the recipes before he asked, "Do you still do any training?"

Noct was still thumbing through pages of the notebook as he said, "Nah."  The notebook was closed and then set on the table in front of him as he continued, "I don't think there's a need for me to practice skills of war when I have too many new things to learn. I was in a crew that recently put a two story house back together not that far from Lestallum a few weeks ago. They're good people and have been teaching me a lot."

"Do they know who you are?"

"Nope." Noct laughed. "Navyth introduced me to them, so I might as well still be 'Noct Gar.'"

"That name's going to haunt you." Ignis mumbled as Cor only facepalmed.

Noct, on the other hand, was clearly beyond amused at this. "Haunt me? What are you sayin'? I love it!"

This time, it was Cor's turn to groan, "Of course you would."

Noct shook his head then said, "If you haven't seen, your pup has gotten big. I think he caught a squirrel the other day."

Ignis stopped a laugh just slightly too late and Cor looked between the two of them. "Did you actually name him?"

"Nah," Noct shrugged. "Just 'dog' has worked well enough. He knows when I'm calling for him." A pause. "I mean, I thought of naming him Cor, but-"

Noct didn't finish before Cor choked on his drink of coffee. The former king, however, did stop talking, as if he foresaw the reaction and he just shrugged before the Immortal could gripe about the statement.

"Why are you asking me about my training anyway?" Noct picked up his mug again to check how much he had left. "Shouldn't you be considering retirement by now?"

Cor was just about to answer when Ignis spoke up first, "I doubt that the Marshall ," with pointed emphasis even, "would retire that easily."

Noct stopped fiddling with his mug and looked at Ignis with an eyebrow raised. Clearly, his old friend couldn't see the expression.

The pause did draw a "What?" from Ignis.

" You're one to talk, Specs." Noct retaliated with an equal dash of snark in return.

The exchange was halted as Cor cleared his throat. "I still have time before I need to withdra-"

Noct shook his head to interrupt Cor. "Gladio is Marshall of the Crownsguard now, right? I doubt Lucis needs more than one." A pause and he looked at Ignis. "Are they still calling it the Crownsguard?"

Cor leaned his weight on his arms on the table. "With all due respect, Noctis ," which drew a raised eyebrow from the former king. His nickname may have become his full name at this point — no one ever called him by his proper name anymore. "You gave up your ability to make these calls when you stepped down from the throne."

Noct raised both hands as he leaned back in his chair. Nothing about Cor's tone riled him up — the most anyone saw in that direction was annoyance, and even then, that wasn't the case at the moment. "I'm not saying this as King of Lucis. I'm saying this as a friend. You have been working in the service of Lucis since you were thirteen years old. Shouldn't you deserve the chance to step back, as well?

"But I apologize," Noct added in a softer tone to finish his statement. "offense wasn't my intent."

Cor shook his head. "None taken." He did seem less irritated about it as well," I apologize for my reaction as well."

Ignis took this as an opportunity to interrupt. "We're not calling it Crownsguard anymore. I just don't think a new name has been decided yet, and people are generally worried that any name we gave it just wouldn't stick. Too many people stuck with 'Crownsguard' still."

"That makes sense." Though, as soon as he noticed that Ignis was finished with his coffee, Noct stood up and plucked the mug away from him and went to refill it. "Want me to top you off too, Cor?" He didn't have to ask Ignis. This was one of the perks of knowing the man for so long.

"No, I'm fine." Cor was a bit startled as a plate of cookies was just unceremoniously dropped onto the table in front of him and Ignis. He stopped and looked at Noct with a somewhat confused look on his face.

Noct took his seat again after returning the mug to Ignis. "What? Seriously. I know you're not going to ask so just take one, already. They're not going to kill you."

As promised. They didn't. Noct was certainly getting better at cooking. Thankfully, cookies aren't that difficult.

Once it was time to leave, Noct took them to the station to get back to their car. After a couple of minutes, the red taillights of the jeep disappeared down the road on the way back to the house. Once content that Noct was nowhere near, Cor finally settled in the driver's seat.

He didn't start the car yet, and only looked at his passenger, "You've done this a few times, Ignis. What was your impression?"

Ignis didn't answer immediately. He did tap his fingers against a knee- he clearly wanted to think through his answer before he said it.

"I think he's happy." He finally said. "There's no stress of the Crown or rule on his shoulders and he finally gets to live a life of anonymity." A pause. Then Ignis placed a hand to the side of his head. "I don't think I've seen him this content in a very, very long time."

Cor turned the key and once the engine turned over, he said, "Maybe it was the best decision then."

Chapter Text

M.E. 772

Chapter Text

Gladiolus - M.E. 773

The sensation shot up the back of Noct's spine. He had lost a lot of his magic, but he had learned that he could still do some things. He even found that there was still enough magic for him to learn new tricks. One of these tricks was to set enchantments that could let him know when someone arrived on his property. One of the reasons he liked to bring people to the house was to pass them through the threshold without setting it off in his head.

He didn't like people arriving unexpected or uninvited. He was a very private individual and kept to himself. He could hear the dog barking outside as well. Most of the time people would leave at the barks, but he didn't feel the departure. He grabbed a shotgun from a closet in the home and a couple of shells that went into a pocket. He didn't want to load the gun immediately, just in case.

Noct stepped outside and held the unloaded weapon threateningly. He heard the motor in the distance and waited patiently. Eventually, an older SUV pulled up. Thankfully it wasn't a 'fancy car' as the instructions stated. But the driver still ignored the rules.

"Stop the car, turn off the motor, and get out." He called suddenly from behind the weapon. Though Noct inwardly cringed a little at his own words. The longer he lived out on his own, the less Insomnian he sounded, and more of that twang started to bleed in.

Just as ordered, the SUV was shut off, the door opened, and as Gladio got out he called out, "Noct? A shotgun? Seriously?"

Noct lowered the shotgun as he tilted his head in confusion. "Why the hell didn't you call?"

"I didn't think you'd threaten to shoot me!"

Noct rested the barrel of the gun on his shoulder. "That's why I ask for people to call me. I can't tell who's coming to the house."

"Well," Gladio laughed. "I guess I don't have to ask you about your security at least."

This brought a smile on Noct's face, finally. "Of course not." He crossed the distance, set the unloaded weapon down on the hood of the SUV, and gave his (former) Shield a hug.

"Iggy said you didn't have any jobs coming up for the next week or so." Gladio draped an arm around the younger man's shoulders as they both walked to the house. "And I was able to secure some time off as well. I figured that we could take a hop out somewhere... say... Malmalam? You and me? Camping, fishing- you name it."

Once inside, Noct just said, "I'm not exactly prepped to drop everything and go camping right now. If you had just waited a day , it would have been better."

As Gladio dropped down onto the sofa, Noct stayed in the kitchen to finish the cleaning he was doing. He wasn't out of sight, though, as the rooms were basically one large room altogether.

His former shield tested the material of the seat. The sofa was definitely old, and could probably use a replacement soon... though it was still pretty comfortable. "Not gonna lie, Noct. I'm not used to seeing you do this kind of thing."

"What kind of thing?" Noct looked back as he was drying a dish off, then he turned to put it away.

" That kind of thing. You basically had Iggy cook, clean — everything — for you when you were in Insomnia, and now look at you."

Noct only grinned — though since his back to Gladio, it wasn't visible. It could, however, be heard in his words. "This place is too small and there's no one to pick up after me. I can't afford to let it become a trash heap. And I can't just order food from here."

There weren't too many dishes, so it didn't take long. Noct then hung the towel over the handle to the oven to let it dry out. "Do you want anything to drink? I keep some beers in the fridge."

"Well, if we're going to be going anywhere soon, we could probably just take them along with us."

Noct mumbled, "maybe." He crossed his arms and thought about it for a bit. "Or we can just wait here for the day before we head out. Like I said, I need to do some things before I can leave the house for a few days."

A pause. "And there's the dog. He should come with us."

"Where is he?"

Noct shrugged. "Somewhere. I'm sure he'll be back here soon."

It was one delay. Noct was out in the garden to the side of the house and he got Gladio to come along and help be an extra pair of hands. Spinach, zucchini, strawberries, peppers...

Gladio had the bucket on hand, and Noct was down on his knees trying to pull out some of the vegetables from the garden and hand them off to his friend. It's a decent yield this time around. "Maybe I should send some home with you when you leave. Iggy and Prompto would like this."

What Gladio didn't expect was to get into the process with Noct. The two talked about the plants a lot. Noct showed portions of the garden. He even gave Gladio advice on how to start plants from the waste - something he was proud of figuring out through his own experimentation. The strawberries had been a point of contention at one point, but they're definitely growing happily now. Noct even started a bush of raspberries in the garden.

Once a couple of small baskets were filled, Noct and Gladio went back inside where they could sort through everything. Gladio noticed the black dog curled up next to the sofa. He must have come in while they were in the garden. The back door was left open...

"I made some jam a couple of months ago from the strawberries. We could have some in the morning."

Gladio insisted, "We could take that with us too, then." It was clear he wanted to go. He had these plans in mind and wasn't quite used to this leisurely way of life that Noct lived. Though this was Noct, so it shouldn't have surprised him at all.

"We might want to wait until tomorrow." That statement again.

With an eyeroll, Gladio said, "We don't need to worry about travel at night, you know that as well as I do."

"No," Noct mumbled, while focused on one of the baskets, "but I don't want to travel in the rain."

"What do you mean, it's not rai-" Gladio stopped as he realized that it was, in fact, actually raining outside. He looked at the window in surprise for a moment, then back at Noct. The former king was way more focused on the small basket of harvested vegetables. Though he did grab a strawberry from the other and walked to the sink to wash it off.

Gladio sighed, "And how long is the rain going to last, Noct?" As if asking a kid who might be in trouble.

Noct had just eaten the strawberry and looked at Gladio, then out the window. "Probably 'til tomorrow." — how some things change. Sometime ago, he would have never talked with something in his mouth like that. At least he had the foresight to cover his mouth while he spoke.

"And you know this... how?"

All Gladio got in response from Noct was a shrug.

As promised, the rain was gone the next day.

Noct and Gladio piled into the SUV and started their drive to the other side of Cauthess. Gladio wanted to drive to Telghey Haven to park and then hike the rest of the way to Kellebram Haven for camping.

Not only had it stopped raining for the day, though, but it left behind a wonderful, crisp feel in the air. It wasn't too hot nor too cold. It was perfect. Gladio, of course, blamed Noct that morning. Noct, on the other hand, decided it would be easier to just not argue with him over it.

He was happy to let Gladio believe whatever .

The windows of Gladio's SUV were down. Noct in the passenger seat had an arm resting on it. The air was relaxing and sleeping in the car brought him back to quiet, more nostalgic times. Though the road trip itself was an ill-fated journey, one where hearts would be broken and the world would end up coming to a standstill... things worked out, somehow. Perhaps it was just a nice little perk that the best parts of the trip were wonderful memories that easily sat just past the edge of wakeful consciousness.

So feeling the wind in his hair, and the closeness to a good friend was a comfort he didn't realize he needed. The drive to Malmalam would take the better part of the day, but Noct didn't mind. Clearly the dog didn't either. He seemed to enjoy the drive even more with his head stuck out the window, and his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

On the way, a pitstop was made to stretch their legs and pick up other necessities, cup noodles included. Just don't tell Ignis, of course. They were then packed away with the fruits, beers, and other goods brought along for the trip.

The sun was high in the sky once they arrived at the parking space and they began to sort through their belongings and unload. One of the first things Noct grabbed, of course, was his tackle box. His rods were stored in the back, as well.

Though it wasn't mentioned when they were packing, Gladio finally brought it up as Noct was going over his gear. "Not storing things in the Armiger anymore?"

"Nah," Noct replied as he slung a bag over his shoulder. "Everything's weaker now. You'd get bored if I tried to explain it all, but," he reached up and in a glimmer of crystalline blue light that was very rarely seen these days, pulled a coin out of a sliver of space. "I can really only store small things in it these days."

Gladio grunted and took the coin from Noct's fingers to look at it. "Still hangin' onto some of these?" It was an Oracle Ascension Coin.

Noct plucked it back from his friend's grip with a shrug, "Perhaps."

"Well," Gladio's voice hitched slightly as he hefted the bag of camping gear onto his back. "Maybe you could try and explain everything to me tonight at the campfire."

"Deal." Noct gestured with a hand to help with some of the gear, since the fishing gear wasn't that heavy. Once the two were burdened enough, the vehicle was locked up and they started their hike. They were escorted — to use the term lightly, at least — by a black dog that bolted ahead of them on the path, barking at some sort of bird it probably saw.

While on the trail, Gladio asked, "Your work hasn't kept you too busy from gettin' out and fishing, has it?"

Noct glanced at the tacklebox in his hand and laughed. "No. Never. Nothing can keep me from fishing." He shrugged to adjust the gear on his shoulders before he continued. "I usually hike to the slough and fish there, and sometimes keep some of my tackle in the jeep depending on where work takes me."

"You drive around a lot for your jobs, don't you?"

"All the time," Noct said. "But while they pay better, I still have to avoid the higher profile jobs. I don't want to get recognized." A beat. " Again ."

Gladio barked a laugh. "Man, Iggy was so mad about you blowin' your cover like that. Thankfully, he put together a cover story that worked and managed to keep the people who know the truth quiet."

"Right." Noct mumbled. "Well, I can't really do that again. You guys are finally getting the new government on its feet. You can't have it start with a conspiracy, or no one would ever believe you."

"You could just come ba-"

"Out of the question." Noct's answer had an authoritative tone to it that he rarely used these days.

Gladio made a sound in his throat before he said, "Sorry."

If he didn't have his hands full, Noct probably would have waved it off. "Don't apologize." Time for a better topic: "I don't think we're too far from our destination."

He wasn't wrong. The hike between the parking area and its haven and the haven deep in the Malmalam Thicket took a little over an hour and a half if there were no interruptions. There was no real heavy climb, but the ground wasn't necessarily level. Which was fine. Both of the hikers were physically fit enough to manage.

Once within the thicket, though, much of the light of the sun was diffused into gentle blues and greens through the leaves that served as a canopy over the pathway. The path often had dangerous creatures on it, but for some reason, they didn't seem to bother the pair, and within no time, they arrived at the haven.

Once gear was unloaded, Noct actually helped Gladio with pitching the tent — something he rarely did during the road trip itself. However, when everything was set up, they could see that what little sunlight filtered through the trees was fading and that it was best to save anything else for the next day. Lanterns were put up, a fire was set, and it was time to relax and enjoy the sounds of the thicket.

Or that was Gladio's intent at first. He began to pull out the case of beer that they brought, after the chairs had been put around the fire, and looked up to see what Noct was doing.

Noct was standing near the edge of the haven and perfectly still. His head was bowed, eyes were closed and his hands at his side. His fingers were splayed out, as if he was touching something that Gladio couldn't see.

"Noct," Gladio finally spoke up and drew the former king out of his thoughts. "Everything okay?"

There was a somewhat breathless "yeah," in response as Noct shook his head. "Most of the havens I've seen have been losing their power. I'm just surprised that there's still magic at this one." He hesitated a moment, mouth slightly open, as if he tried to find the words to say. He finally settled on "it feels nice."

"Then I guess it's good we picked this place rather than anywhere else." Gladio raised a bottle in one of his hands. "Come get your beer before I drink it."

A snorted laugh was the only answer from Noct before he took the bottle and settled in the chair next to Gladio.

Chapter Text

M.E. 773

Chapter Text

Prompto - M.E. 774

Prompto had joined up on a repair job. Noct picked him up at the Coernix Station and they took off in the jeep to drive towards the Saxham Farms. It's time for the finishing touches on a new building that had been requested, as the farms were in full production again and they were yielding better numbers than they had a couple of years ago.

As they drove on the road to the job site, Noct had the windows rolled down, and Prompto brought some old classic music on a player. It was some of the music they listened to together while in high school. They both sang loudly while on the road without a care of how bad they sounded.

It was painfully wonderfully nostalgic.

Prompto never made any comments on how Noct looked when they met up. His long black hair was now streaked with white on the sides. The way it was braided, the streaks were twisted into the black and made it harder to see just how much had changed. He also looked way older than he should have with the wrinkles in the face and around the eyes.

He certainly didn't look like he was 37, at least. This reminded Prompto of how Regis looked older than he actually was, as well. He didn't like it, but he knew Noct would never let him worry over it too much. So it was better to not point it out.

The day's work wasn't the hardest. Noct got to teach Prompto a little of what he'd learned over the years in this kind of work.

He didn't do a lot of the heavy lifting he did once before. His strength had started flagging, but he'd gotten very good at smaller details in woodcrafting over the years. Teams knew they could put him on the more detailed tasks and Noct would reliably give them the quality they wanted.

"When we're done, let's stop by the station." Prompto used a stack of wooden planks banded together as a makeshift bench. He watched as his best friend was focused on tooling details in the wood of a door for the side of the building.

Eventually, once he was done with the cut and started brushing shavings of wood away, Noct cast a glance in Prompto's direction. "Why's that?"

"You've only missed out on one of the greatest movie sequels of all time. Remember Void of Space ?" Prompto even waggled his fingers as he took on a bad, spooky sound with his voice for the title.

"Yeah? Wasn't that movie pretty bad?"

"You better believe it was . And somehow, it getting a sequel was one of the first movies made after the Dawn came back."

Noct started laughing. "Are you serious ?" It was a bright laugh — one of those where you couldn't even concentrate anymore. He leaned against the door and set a gloved hand against his face. "Why would they make a sequel to that ?"

"Cash grab, I bet." Prompto leaned back on his makeshift seat. "Anyway. I want to grab some junk food before we get home and I'll grab my copy from my car. You know. It'll be just like old times."

"Without the pizza, unfortunately. No delivery around here." Noct finally returned to his task.

"I bet the station has some frozen pizzas or something."

"Maybe."

Several hours later, the door was installed to the new building, windows were installed and trimmed. Noct even got Prompto to help cut the planks for the trim. A lot was finished across the crew as a whole. The pay for the day was handed out and Noct's tools were loaded into the back of his jeep.

The drive home treated them with a beautiful sight of the sky, as the sun was starting to set. There was no longer any need to fear the night — Noct had made sure of that. Though the music still blared loudly in the jeep, Prompto had stopped singing. He only watched the sunset, relishing in the relief that came with knowing there wouldn't be any difficulties getting back to Noct's home for the night.

It was clear that Noct also paid it no mind.

Prompto stole a glance in his friend's direction. Noct even had a faint smile as he was driving them home. His finger tapped on the steering wheel along to the beat of the music. It was clear that he was content with things the way they were. That was all that Prompto needed for his earlier worries and misgivings to be wiped away. Seeing Noct happy in a way he hadn't been in a very, very long time was more than he could ask for.

The station didn't have frozen pizzas.

As a result, Prompto conceded to the idea that they have dinner at the Crow's Nest next door to the station. He wasn't sure Noct was willing to go with the idea, since they do want to keep him out of the public eye, but that didn't seem to be a problem.

And it still wasn't a problem until their food was brought to the table. After setting the plates down, the guy running the diner for the night scratched his head. "Hey...um... I don't mean to be rude, but has anyone said that you look like King Noctis?"

Prompto desperately made a (failed) attempt to hide that he choked on his drink. Thankfully, the guy, who looked to be in his late 20's, didn't notice.

Meanwhile, Noct didn't miss a beat. "No way. His Majesty was way better lookin' than I am." He smiled. "I appreciate the compliment, though. It's not every day that I get mistaken as someone younger than me." The physical effect on him caused by the dwindling nature of the world's magic served as a convenient scapegoat.

Prompto also noticed that Noct even leaned way heavier into that drawl he had picked up in his time living outside of Insomnia. It was normally a faint undertone to everything he said, but if he wanted to, like just now, he could make it stand center stage in his speech.

Now? It wasn't a problem anymore.

It was hard to not talk about it while they ate, but they somehow managed. Movies they missed and the state of Lucis since the Dawn dominated their conversations. Once they finished their meals, they paid their tabs (complete with a generous tip for "being made to feel like a young man again") and the two left to pile into Noct's jeep.

Once they were on the road, though, the repressed laughter finally bubbled up to the surface. For the whole drive back to the house, the two friends could barely get a single word out without falling into giggles again.

They still had chips and sodas from the station, though. So those would do for the rest of the night with a bad movie.

And boy was it so terrible.

"I thought Void of Space was one of the worst movies ever." Noct mumbled from his seat on the floor as credits were rolling on the small TV. "I didn't think you could surprise me with something worse ." An empty glass bottle that once had his soda in it was on the floor next to him.

"Hey! I said it was only the best sequel ever ." Prompto laughed from his seat on the sofa. "That didn't mean that it's a good movie."

"False advertising."

"Good thing you're not king anymore, you can't throw me in the dungeon over it."

Noct laughed, finally. "We didn't have a dungeon. Besides, I can still kick you out and make you walk back to your car."

Prompto let out a horrified and over-dramatic gasp. "You wouldn't do that to your best friend!"

A pause. Noct was clearly thinking about it. Then shook his head. "Nah, I wouldn't. You'd probably whine about it to Iggy, and he would call and yell at me about it later. I don't need that ."

"Of course," Prompto whined. "You're more worried about upsetting Ignis than emotionally wounding your best friend."

"You better believe it." Noctis smirked as he glanced at Prompto.

"Oh!" Prompto suddenly got up and grabbed his backpack. He dug around in it and pulled out a small box and tossed it in Noct's direction.

A glance was given to the box before Noct looked back at his friend with an eyebrow raised slightly. "What's this?"

"It's been awhile since you got your phone. I thought I'd get you the new one."

Noct furrowed his brows a little. This seemed so wasted on him, but he didn't want to say anything. "Prompto..."

"No." The decisive statement was made as Prompto returned to the sofa and dropped down to sit next to Noct. "You spoiled me in high school. I'm not 'Crown Prince of Lucis' rich, but I'm making enough money now that this isn't that big of a deal. So consider us even."

Noct quietly opened the box and picked out the phone. It was the latest model that had only come out in the past couple of months. He turned it over in silence, then picked at the accessories in the box, as well. "I don't know what to say."

"You could just say thank you ." Prompto intoned with a slight gesture in his friend's direction.

"Thank you." Noct quietly echoed.

He eventually put the box aside, found the charger and plugged the phone in so that he could let it sit on the table. "What brought this on?" He finally asked. "I don't really see a need for a fancy new phone these days. The most I use it for is actually as a phone. Or texting you guys."

"Noct," Prompto suddenly sat closer, extremely giddy about this news. "The devs are actually bringing King's Knight back."

This surprised Noct and he laughed. "What? You're kidding..."

"Nope!" Prompto said cheerfully, "I know we won't get as much time to play as we used to and we'll both be busy working, but being so far apart, maybe we can still game together in the evenings sometimes."

There's a pause and the smile faded from Noct's face for a split second. There was a small twitch of his lips before he let a slight, but genuine smile show. "That sounds amazing , Prompto."

"Great!" The clear flickers of emotion didn't seem to bother Prompto, but he was certainly perceptive enough to catch on. Best not to slow down. "Once your phone is charged, we'll get you set up with a new account. Can you believe I actually talked Ignis into getting back into it too?"

"No way ." Noct laughed, as his own mood lightened. Prompto was great at that. "Have you guys actually talked him into remembering that he has time off?"

Prompto closed his eyes and took a deep sigh. "We try. Even without managing you, he still somehow manages to be a workaholic. It looks like the idea for a legislative house for Lucis is moving forward. People want Ignis involved."

Noct made a small, thoughtful sound as he closed his eyes. "He'd be good at it, but I don't know if it's what he'd need." On that note, he pushed himself up off the floor and walked to the space for the kitchen to dig around in the fridge. A small jar was pulled out and the pint of vanilla ice cream was retrieved from the freezer.

Prompto eventually got up and joined him to watch what his friend was doing. "What? Just vanilla? That's boring. Why not something like chocolate? Or cookies and cream?"

"Trust me on this."

As much as Prompto made a show of his "Fine, I guess I will," he absolutely did.

While scooping the ice cream into a bowl, Noct continued, "Iggy will work himself to death in that kind of position. You know as well as I do." He opened the lid of the jar and spooned out some fresh sliced strawberries and topped the ice cream with it.

He was prepping a second bowl as Prompto sat down at the table and said, "Yeah, but what can we do about it?"

"Steer him away?" Noct glanced over his shoulder as he finished the second bowl. The pint was returned to the freezer, and the jar closed and put back into the fridge. "Point him in a different direction?" Spoons were put into the bowls, and then Noct brought the bowls to the table and he slid one over to Prompto.

"Woooah, okay, I see what you mean now."

With a smug tone, Noct just said, "See?" He took a seat. "As we would say on the job: 'trust the process.'"

"Anyway!" Leave it to Prompto and Noct to be able to hold two different topics of a conversation at the same time. "We can try. I'd like for Iggy to get into a position that requires less work from him, but I realize that no matter what we push him into, he's going to work all hours or something."

"Install one of those parent apps to his phone." Noct says through a mouthful of ice cream. Manners were never a thing around Prompt when he was royalty, they certainly weren't now .

Prompto quickly shook his head, "No way. He'd kill me ." A pause. "Do you have extra strawberries I can take home? These are amazing . Nothing at all like what you get at the store."

"I have another jar. I'll put some in it for you later." 

"Great!"

The conversations between the two continued. It felt like old days all over again, with a little bit of work in between it all. Since Prompto was off the next day, it was an easy decision for him to crash the night and stay for another day.

They never figured out how to solve the 'Iggy Problem,' though.

There were some problems that just can't be solved.

The weather was still nice for Prompto's drive back to Insomnia. With the player still in the car, he didn't bother singing, but he had the windows rolled down.

Tucked into a bag in the passenger seat wasn't just a jar of strawberries, but another of raspberries. There were also bags with some other vegetables from Noct's garden.

However, they weren't as exciting as the strawberries his best friend busted his ass to finally grow.

Chapter Text

M.E. 774

Chapter Text

Cindy and Cid - M.E. 775

The ringing in Noct's head wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be. He took a peek out the kitchen window to see if he could see who was coming to the house. He also thought to himself that the enchantments must have been weakening if they weren't making his life as miserable as they used to.

There was no need to go out and greet his guests armed this time. He knew it was Cindy coming from Hammerhead. His jeep wasn't starting and he wouldn't be able to go and pick up his guest.

Cindy was the one who found the jeep for him anyway. She had also taught him the basics on maintaining and taking care of it. Unfortunately, though he tried everything he could think of, he learned that this was beyond his skill level and it was time to call in an expert.

He walked out to stand on the small porch as he saw the truck pulling through the dirt. Though by this point, there was a dirt 'road' worked into the ground between the main road and his house, considering how many times it had been driven on. 

That only meant that his enchantments were that much more important these days, even if they were getting weaker. He had found himself going out onto the property and chasing off some Hunters that mistakenly crossed into it. Sure, they did important work, but they would probably bring trouble to his home and he didn't want that.

Once the truck came to a stop and Cindy climbed out from the driver's seat. "Howdy, Noct." The twang in her voice always made him smile. Somehow, no matter the situation, she was always bright and cheerful.

What he didn't expect was the passenger door to open and slowly, her grandfather started to climb out as well. "Cid? What the hell-" With a hiss, Noct suddenly bolted over to the truck to help the old man down to the ground. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to check on ya, boy." As ornery as ever. Cid jerked his arm out of Noct's grip once both feet were on the ground. Noct only shook his head and laughed as he walked ahead to go into the house and retrieve a pair of chairs to bring them to the porch.

"Aww, don't be like that, Paw Paw," she called out as she grabbed a box of tools from the truck.

Noct emerged from the house with a chair in each hand and set them together side by side, "It's unlocked." Once they were set in place, he gestured for Cid to take a seat. He knew he could have helped, but he also knew that would get him another swat from the old man. "You can get right to work if you want." Noct called out in Cindy's direction.

"Funny how the weather always seems to be nice when someone wants to visit you." Cid grumped as he settled into his chair. "You don't have somethin' to do with that, do ya?"

Noct sat down in the chair next to him with a laugh. There was a faint smirk as he cast a sidelong glance to Cid. "Couldn't tell you." The answer was plain as ever. "Would you rather it rained while Cindy was fixing my car?"

Cid only answered with a grunt as he crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. The wood creaked a little under the old man's weight.

Noct didn't say anything either. He seemed to just be content with the company on the porch. Both pairs of eyes were focused on Cindy as she got the hood of that old, battered jeep up and was already away at fixing things.

"Don't think I don't see what's happening."

Cid's gruff voice drew Noct's attention and he looked over at the old mechanic.

"A little pepper on your face and all of a sudden you figger you know better'n anyone else, huh?"

Noct looked away. He reached up and let his fingers brush against the facial hair a bit at this point. The comment made him realize that he couldn't really hide the graying in his hair and beard anymore.

As he lowered his hand, Noct snorted a laugh and tried to play it off all cool. "What makes you say that?"

"I may be old and feeble, boy, but I'm certainly not blind. This is happening faster to you than it ever did Reggie."

Noct shrugged lightly. "Dad didn't deal with the same thing I'm dealing with."

Cid shot a glare in Noct's direction. "I don't care. What I do care about is how you forgot about what I told ya in Cape Caem. You can't just wallow around here and pretend nothing is happening without telling your brothers what is happening."

Noct just looked back at Cid and met the old man's eyes. He took a deep breath to process what had just been said then shook his head and looked to the ground for a moment. He could say he was hiding, but was he?

When he looked back, there was a sharpness to his eyes that didn't show up often these days. "I didn't forget anything, Cid."

He furrowed his brows a little and looked away for a brief second. "I should have died that day in Insomnia. We all know that. And I think they're aware that I'm on borrowed time, too."

Cid didn't look convinced. He crossed his arms and glared daggers in Noct's direction. Who just laughed it off.

"Seriously. Besides, the last thing I want is people fawning over me, sad that I'm going to be gone soon. I want the last memories we have together to be good ones." Noct scrunched up his nose a little, as he thought about those words. He finally mumbled, "That's not too much to ask, is it?"

This didn't placate the old man. "-'at's what Reggie wanted, too. Fat lot of good it did back then. What'd it get 'em but Clarus high-fivin' 'em at the the pearly gates, a haunted kid with a funny nickname, and two old farts on opposite sides of the world too tired to be bothered with it."

Noct opened his mouth to speak but stopped as Cid jabbed a finger in his chest. "Sure, good memories keep ya goin', but what happens when they look at the now? They see you not there and they hear everythin' they left unsaid."

"Cid..."

This didn't stop it. "Don't ya 'Cid' me like that, boy. You'd figger that all this time would'a 'fforded you a little more common sense."

"Fine!" Thirty-eight years old, and Noct could still behave like a petulant child sometimes. He slouched into his chair and crossed his arms. He knew one thing for sure: if you looked up 'old man yells at cloud' on the internet, you could probably find a picture of Cid, angrily shaking his fist at the sky, for daring to even look at him funny.

...if a sky could actually look in the first place, anyway.

"I'll call them after you leave."

That wasn't good enough, of course. "Call 'em now."

Noct sat up again, "What? No. While I have guests? Rude ."

"I didn't get where I am today by bein' sweet, boy." Cid wouldn't let up .

The sigh from Noct had the exasperation of decades in it. "Were you this awful to dad?"

"Heh," Cid smirked. "No, I was worse. You gotta long way t' go 'fore you can catch up t' yer ol' man."

This time, there was a laugh. One that said everything. "Now that's something I agree with."

Had they been drinking? This would have been the perfect moment for a toast.

After the jeep was repaired and after they had left late in the afternoon, Noct had no interest in going back inside right away. He shifted the chairs on the porch and kicked his feet up in the seat that was previously occupied by Cid.

He remained in the chair with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Cid wasn't kidding on the weather being nice. It was so nice that he eventually drifted off to sleep.

It was good you had one more chance to see him.

You know I'm not that far behind him, though, dad.

And you also know that he's not wrong.

A rumble of thunder jolted Noct out of his sleep and he sat up suddenly. Duscae usually saw a lot of rain during this season. In fact, very little time passed between the thunder and the rain and it wasn't a gentle start.  Thankfully, the porch was covered, but Noct got the message.

"Yeah, yeah." He grumbled to a presence only he could sense while he dragged himself off of the chairs. "Fine. I'll handle it."

Noct got up, opened the door, and dragged both of the chairs back inside to the kitchen. Once the door was shut, he opted to settle onto the sofa and simply listen to the rain and thunder.

It helped him drift off into a dreamless sleep.

I'll just handle it later.

Chapter Text

M.E. 775

Chapter Text

M.E. 776

Chapter Text

Iris - M.E. 777

"I can't believe you pulled a gun on Gladdy!"

Noct cracked up laughing. Iris was seated across from him at the table and they both had an opened beer bottle and a hand of cards. "I have rules. I can't believe your brother couldn't follow them."

The tone was light and playful. Iris visiting was a surprise. Noct was aware that she knew, but he didn't have a chance to talk to her, nor did her work allow her enough time off. She had gone into working with the Hunters full-time since the Dawn returned. As a result, she was always traveling all over Lucis.

Tonight, though, she had just visited. Noct didn't feel the strength to come pick her up, so he called her to tell her to drive up to the house.The enchantments he set out for his property had finally failed, anyway. It was only once in a while when another vehicle, like her truck, was parked next to his jeep.

He didn't tell her that, of course.

Cards were spread out on the table between them. The last time he had played this game was during that ill-fated road trip with the guys. Iris usually only watched, but soon learned the game on her own and played it with others on evenings during the Long Night.

"Work is never ending." She flipped a card from her hand and tossed it on the table. Noct reached forward and grabbed it to verify that he read it right. Then groaned and tossed his hand down. She won. Again .

"You've grown into quite the card shark." He mumbled. Iris laughed. He then continued, "But I'm not surprised. While the daemons are gone, there's still work to be had, I'm sure, because of the monsters out there."

"Yeah. You don't have any issues living this far from other towns?"

Noct started gathering up the cards. "Nah. It's always quiet over here. I've always figured it a blessing of some sort." Once they were in hand, he started sorting through them and began to shuffle them.

"Strange. I think there was a hunt not too far from here a few weeks back."

The former king never looked up from the cards. "First I've heard of it."

Iris had heard Ignis mention that Noctis still had the covenants. Perhaps the Astrals were making sure he finally got the rest they felt he deserved. It made her happy to think about that.

"How's your work been?" She leaned back in her seat to watch him with the cards. Noct was 40, but with the way he was aging, the similarities with him and his dad were becoming more and more evident.

"I've stopped taking jobs on site." Noct split the deck of cards in half and bent them against to riffle them. He picked them up to cascade them. "These days, they bring materials to me. Furniture repair... general woodworking... that sort of thing. It's far more enjoyable than being out on top of a building frame and working in the sun all day." He tapped the sides of the cards on the table as if to emphasize his words.

"I thought you didn't like people showing up to your house unexpectedly. What about your rules?" Iris asked, confused.

Noct shrugged. "Truth be told, I really only had the rules set to not deal with the noise in my head." This clearly didn't answer Iris' question and from her expression, Noct could tell it didn't.

"I figured out how to set up a magical alarm, so to speak." He added. "I could tell when someone was here. I regret ever setting it up, though. It was more of a pain than it helped."

Iris drank from her beer as she asked, "What? Is it not working anymore?"

Noct lied. "I got rid of it."

Iris didn't believe him.

However, before she could ask more about it, Noct started dealing the cards. Two more hands were played. Noct lost both of them, too, which brought a lot of amusement to Iris. She had grown to be a lot more like Gladio.

Good , he thought. This world still needs the Amicitias.

Eventually, once Noct was tired of being beaten at cards, they had migrated to sit on opposite ends of the sofa. It was comfortable and allowed them to just talk the night away. Iris had a fairly un-ladylike slouch, but this was probably due to the large black dog that decided she was the sofa and it was time to sleep on her instead.

But it was clear that this didn't bother her at all. Nor did the dog mind the constant scritches and pets along his ears and neck.

The conversation they had at the table over cards had shifted to the sofa. Noct did the best he could to keep the topic away from himself — he wanted to know more about Iris, since he hadn't seen her in so long. "Do you work with anyone specifically?"

"No," Iris said quietly. "Just on my own for the most part. I team up with other hunters here and there for bigger jobs, but I don't think we've had anything really big since the long night." She laughed quietly. "Life's been easier for all of us."

Good .

Noct leaned against the arm on his side of the sofa. He was seated on it sideways, with one leg tucked under the other. Made it easier to face Iris. "Anything else? A boyfriend?" A pause. "Girlfriend? I don't know."

"Nope." Iris laughed. "Don't have time for that kind of thing." She didn't try to move.

"Good on you. Stand tall on your own feet and make your future for yourself." He said quietly. "I should have told you this long ago, but you've really grown up. I'm proud of you." A pause. "But hunting is dangerous work. Maybe you should have a partner."

"Noct, I just said I-"

He held a hand up. Sometimes, it was clear that he hadn't quite let go of his past of royalty. And sometimes, those close to him fell in with it. Iris fell quiet.

"I don't mean that you need someone with you. I just want to make sure someone's able to watch your back." He shifted on the sofa just a bit to lightly tap a bare foot against the dog that was sleeping on her. "Let him go with you." The dog snorted and Noct only changed the tap to a small bit of a belly rub, which convinced the dog to fall back asleep on Iris again.

Iris looked at the dog then back to Noct with a slight bit of panic in her eyes. "Wait, what? No, I can't take him from you."

"He's just been guarding a lone house in the woods. Most of the activity he gets is chasing wildlife." Noct laughed. "I would think that a puppy rescued by Cor the Immortal himself deserves a better life than this."

"On the other hand," Iris challenged, "A puppy rescued by Cor the Immortal must have had a rough early life and needs a peaceful one."

All she got in return was a shrug. "Maybe I'll just ask him and see what he picks."

"I do talk to Gladdy, you know." She finally spoke up with her eyes focused on Noct. "I know what you're doing."

Noct didn't move at all. He closed his eyes and just asked in return, "What am I doing, Iris?"

Iris actually felt a little angry at how calm he was being over this. "Giving away your belongings? Tying up any loose ends? Why do you have to be... to be just.... So..." She couldn't find the answer and gestured with a hand. " This. "

It was the tone in Iris' response that got Noct to open his eyes. He just stared at the ceiling for a moment. When he moved, it was to sit up straight and take a deep breath. "Iris. You know this has to happen. This was supposed to happen."

"I don't care if it was supposed to happen. Why can't you fight it?"

There wasn't an answer he could give to that. It was a good question. He could have fought it all this time, or tried to find a way to disengage himself from the Crystal's power. Or try to find a way to disperse it... or....

"Because the Lucis Caelums are a part of an old system this world doesn't need anymore." It was the answer he finally came to. This was an answer he had come to terms with years ago, when he gave up the throne. "I'm tired, Iris." The statement was emphasized by a finger twisting some of his greyed out hair around it. "And I got to enjoy some more time with everyone instead of just running headlong to my death ten years ago."

"You better be happy this damn dog is here," Iris seethed. "Otherwise, I'd come over there and hit you."

Noct laughed. "It sounds like he's already taking care of you, then."

"And I'm not keeping him!"

"Keep telling yourself that." Noct stood up and walked over to her side of the sofa and kneeled down next to her. "I'm sorry I can't give you a better answer, though."

It was hard, but Iris was able to move enough to wrap her arms around Noct and hug him.

He was more than happy to return the hug, as well.

After tears were cried, Noct had returned to his seat on the sofa and they continued talking for hours still and eventually just fell asleep on either side. Perhaps it was a combination of the beer and just the peaceful atmosphere around the house. That, and Iris couldn't resist the 'siren song' that came from the large, black dog snoring away on her.

When she woke up, she did so without moving and looked across the sofa to see that Noct had fallen asleep as well. Iris quietly slipped herself out from under the dog, who moved and took up a spot right at Noct's feet. After extricating herself, Iris quietly picked up her bag and slipped out the door.

Noct opened his eyes and looked towards the door just as it clicked shut. In the past, he was a heavy sleeper, but sometimes, he could be woken up by the smallest of things. With a tap on the dog's head, Noct got up from the sofa and walked to the door and the animal followed him.

He cracked the door open and set a hand on the dog's head. "If you get into the back of her truck, it'll take her too long to notice you." Noct gave the dog a hug and said, "I'll miss you, but I think she needs you more."

Once released, the dog took off, and scrambled into the truck bed just before Iris drove away. Now that he was alone in the house, Noct settled down on his knees and just watched as the tail lights disappeared into the trees.

He took a deep breath as he set his hands on his knees and pushed himself to stand up again. The door was closed, and lights were shut off before he wandered to his room.

Noct's mumbled words sounded as if they could have been him talking to himself, but perhaps someone else listened. "You can reassure him that his 'little girl' will be fine."

Chapter Text

M.E. 778

Chapter Text

Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto - M.E. 778

The dirt path that marked the road to the house in the woods was a rough drive. Gladio was the one who took the wheel for this drive, as he had done it once before. He had already warned Ignis and Prompto what happened the last time he drove up to the house without Noct meeting him.

But once they got there, they weren't greeted by a shotgun-armed former king as Gladio warned them. There wasn't any sound at all, in fact, outside of the sounds of the forest.

It was peaceful. When the weather was nice, like it was today, it was perfect.

No wonder Noct liked it so much.

"Noct?" Prompto jumped out of the car and called out as he entered the house. Gladio stayed behind to make sure Ignis had no problems with finding his way to the door, but he didn't. He remembered the times he visited without issue.

Except Ignis paused and set a hand on Gladio's arm. "You should probably make sure Prompto doesn't look around too much."

Gladio looked at the former advisor with a confused expression. All he got was a shrug. Without another word, the larger man took off and disappeared into the house. Ignis soon followed in, and found himself in the kitchen. He set a hand on the table and felt it out. It had been cleared off. He felt out one of the chairs and took a seat. Eventually, Gladio and Prompto joined him at the table, and Gladio confirmed what Ignis was worried about hearing, "Noct's not here." 

"But his car is here." Prompto said. "Where could he have g-"

"Gladio." Ignis suddenly interrupted Prompto. He needed to confirm something and hoped that he wouldn't alarm the other two too much with it. "In Noct's bedroom you will find a small wooden box. I believe he kept it on his nightstand by his bed."

With a nod, Gladio walked away.

"Prompto, I'm afraid we may have missed him." Is all Ignis could say. They had no real way to confirm on their own. Noctis broke the link they shared with him before he left Insomnia ten years ago.

It's too much to hang onto .

That's what he had told Ignis. Ignis now suspected that there was more to it. He wouldn't be surprised if Noct didn't want them to experience what he felt through that link.

"Got it." Gladio was back in the room and set the box on the table.

Ignis took the box in his hands and felt around it. He remembered that there were three steps to open it. He could hear them as Noct opened it whenever they visited for updates on him and his magic.

Prompto perked up at realizing what Ignis was doing. "Dude, he actually used my puzzle box idea."

"You are correct, Prompto. He loved the idea, too." Ignis spoke as he felt out the panels of the box. "He made it early on when learning to do his woodworking. I think he requested someone in his crew help him draft plans for it, and he used it as practice. It took him about a year to finally get it right."

Ignis found that the trim on the top of one of the panels could move and he shifted it. The panel on the front of the box could then slide just a tiny bit, which allowed the trim on the bottom right side of the box to slide, and this time, it was accompanied by a click.

The click was a latch that, once released, allowed the box's lid to pop open. Ignis set his fingers into the box to feel around the inside of it. Without saying anything, he tilted it in Gladio's direction for confirmation.

"I don't see anything. Looks like just some dust or something."

Ignis paused. He then made a sound in his throat as he felt the lid of the box and closed the lid again

He slid the box into the center of the table. "I believe that the Crystal's magic is now completely gone. This was where he kept the broken Ring of the Lucii."

Gladio seemed to pick up on it first. "...but if the Crystal's magic is gone..."

All Ignis could do was nod.

Prompto didn't say anything as he slowly picked the box up from the table to look it over. Eventually, he just mumbled, "I guess he's gone too, then."

Gladio sat down in the chair and joined the other two in a somber silence.

There was no telling how much time had passed before Ignis got up and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Maybe we should try and pack up his things." Prompto finally broke the silence. "Most of his stuff was reclaimed and repaired. He'd probably be happy to see it go to someone else."

"That's a very thoughtful idea." Ignis said quietly. He knew this was coming, but somehow when it finally happened, he wasn't quite sure how to process it. "He might even have something to harvest from that garden of his for us to take somewhere."

Gladio took a short drive out to the station to pick up some boxes, and when he returned, Ignis and Prompto were already at work with the small number of cookware and dining ware out on the table and sorted. With the boxes in hand, they could start putting them away.

Eventually, Prompto noticed the phone on the table by the sofa. They were so focused on everything else, they hadn't seen it yet. It was plugged into the charger and left on. He didn't get a lot of alerts or notifications, but outside of the texts Ignis sent, there was a notification for another text.

Prompto took the phone with him and settled into a chair at the kitchen table. Noct always had security for the lock screen on his phones in the past, but somehow, he opted to not do so on this one. It was another thing he wasn't required to do.

Prompto looked at the message and was confused... Once he realized what he was looking at, he thought out loud, "Oh, I think he texted this to himself."

"Texted what?" Ignis asked as he sat down next to Prompto.

"A message." Prompto read it out helpfully for Ignis.

Gladio sat down as well. "Does he have a voice recorder on here?"

Prompto was already on it and found the app. "Oh. Huh. There's a file."

The table was cleared off and then Prompto pressed play on the file, then set the phone into the middle of the table. Once it started playing, they could hear Noct's voice.

Hi, guys.

Don't be surprised, but I guess I knew it would be you guys that would find this. However if, by some chance, the three of you aren't together, I want you to stop this now and wait until you are to listen to it. If you are, then that's good.

Like I've been telling Ignis; the Crystal's magic is fading from this world and those connected with it will be gone with it. That includes me. I want you to know that this is your world now — a world where people don't have to be governed by gods, kings, or fate.

As I'm recording this, I can feel that it will be soon. The last of the Ring has broken down and my strength is mostly gone. However, I don't want you to be sad for me. I know you could say that my fate was cruel. A few years ago, I would have even agreed with you. However, I was given a gift to enjoy the end result of my fate a little bit before it was time to move on.

Each of you has given me something irreplaceable. Each of you has taught me what I needed to live these few years on my own. There's nothing I can say that can appropriately thank you for what you've done for me — both before and after the Dawn.

Ignis, you taught me the skills I needed to live. Not only in just caring for myself and the space around me, though, but in meeting what people expected of me. If you hadn't been there for me, I doubt I would have properly ascended to the throne, and I doubt I would have managed long enough in my short adventure afterwards. I hope for your mind to remain as sharp as ever and guide others to a prosperous future.

Gladio, you gave me the strength to weather the storm. Both physical and mentally, I was able to keep my footing through our struggles. Though we may have butted heads a lot, my focus and determination came from you. Even now, I know that I safely made it to my destination because of you. A shield is not meant to be broken, but instead to stand tall and protect everyone for generations.

Prompto, you gave me the heart to continue on. You kept me grounded. In many times when I could have let my head be in the clouds, you made sure I could still see what I may have missed. And sometimes, when my world felt too dark, you brought light to it again to help me smile again. Please share your joy and sunshine to others, and bring happiness where they find themselves in their own darkness.

I know that these gifts you've given me are gifts you can share with the rest of the world. All of this star's nations have a new order awaiting them with a future that no one can see. People like the three of you will be important to ensure that the failures of our pasts can never happen again. I also know that I don't need to wish you luck: you three will absolutely succeed.

Last, but not least, I hope for you to be there for each other. I'm aware that I was the piece that tied us all together originally, but that doesn't change that all of us were a family. Take care of yourselves, and take care of the world around you.

You can rest easy, knowing that this will be peaceful. I won't experience pain, and I will be reunited with those that all of us have missed so dearly. I will wait for the time that we get to come together again.

Despite his statement that his strength was fading, Noct's voice had been as strong as ever when he spoke in the recording. There had been no sound of hesitation in his words. For someone who kept to himself for years, he was still surprisingly eloquent. Some lessons just never left him, it seemed.

However, once the recording ended, none of the visitors at the table said a thing.

When Ignis finally broke the silence, his words were slow at first, "He may have officially relinquished his name and title as King of Lucis." When he reached up to wipe away the tears from his face, he had a stronger confidence in his voice, "But he was still a King in spirit."

Prompto had his face buried in his hands and only had an unintelligible response muffled into them. He was barely keeping it together and knew if he tried to say something, he'd be done. Gladio, meanwhile, walked over to stand between the two and set his hands on their shoulders.

There was a little more silence before Gladio gave both of their shoulders a squeeze. "C'mon, guys. I think we have a lot of work to do."