Ferairia

Whilst the Prince and his retinue were at Wiz’s Chocobo Post, Noctis received a phone call from Cid asking him to drop by as soon as he could. Never before he had heard the old grump being excited but this time even Prompto was surprised.

“Pops rarely gets excited for anything.” Prompto said on the way to the car. “I mean, he does but…” He drifted off thoughtfully. His adoptive father was a hard man to please.

“Being a master mechanic, I surmised it would be machine related.” Ignis said as he strapped himself into the car. “No doubt he would automatically enthused.”

“If it’s weapons, I’ll be ‘automatically enthused” too. He’s always talking about more firepower anyway.” Came Gladio thoughtful quip.

“Come on, guys. Just get there. I kinda want to see what’s up, too.” Noctis whined from the passenger’s seat.

“Very well, Highness.” Ignis responded, starting the car. “Seatbelts, everyone.” He reminded one last time as he started to move.

Hammerhead is considered a safe haven. Cid would never betray them and would probably die before he spilt the beans on them. Like Jared did in Lestallum. As matter of fact, he would probably raise hell before he died and leave a crater where Hammerhead was.

Now that there was several Magitek Armour in the vicinity of the garage area, the four were cautious. They drove by Hammerhead and parked somewhere further from it as they scout the area.

Needless to say, Prompto had paled at the thought of Cid and the rest of Hammerhead cooperating with the Niffs but he had to see this through as a Crownsguard, family or not.

The crowds of civilians haven’t change but the presence of the Magitek Armour and parts, some of them charred, didn’t allay their suspicions.

The was a MAX- Cuirass unit with an opened cockpit. Someone in a black coveralls were tinkering on the cockpit’s side. The garage next to them was busy with the noise of a tool cranking and the laser cutter turning off and on.

Grabbing everyone’s attention with a wave, Noctis gestured at the man. He was going to go for a stealth kill, signaling by materializing one of his swords.

Suddenly, there were footsteps and the sound of heels hitting the concrete floor.

“Hey Loqi!” Cindy voice came from a blindside, from somewhere in the garage.

“What is it, Cindy?” The person answered, facing their way, squinting under the sun. His eyes laid on them and he froze at the sight of them, curious.

“The Prince is coming. Paw-paw wants yer down ‘ere.” Cindy answered. When he didn’t answer back, Cindy went closer to the Magitek Armour.

“What’s got into ya?” She asked in concern before turning towards the equally frozen four. “Oh, you’re here!?” She exclaimed in surprise.

That had led into a meal and explanation at Takka’s place. Which was pretty simple. After getting the boat to function and gotten back from Altissia, Cid mentioned to Cor about getting more firepower for the customizable weapons Noct had brought in. Cor suggested salvaging material from Keycatrich.

“So, you guys found those?” Noctis asked, disbelief was apparent.

“Indeed, we did.” Loqi answered back. “I am also quite sure that some of them bear the marks of your work.”

Noctis looked as if he had swallowed something sour. “Ugh, I still can’t get use to your accent.” He said, more to himself than not.

Loqi simply rolled his eyes as Cindy giggled. “If you think this is bad, wait ‘til ya see him with a bunch of schematics.”

At this Prompto snorted his drink by mistake and was coughing, hiding under the table as he did. Loqi took a few napkins to pass to him under the table.

“Noct, you seem to be perfectly fine with myself when I speak.” Ignis commented drearily.

Noctis took a moment to contemplate on that as Gladio tried to hide his laugh with a cough.

Prompto returned. “You can blame boarding school for that.” He told them.

“I suppose.” Loqi answered back with a shrug.

“Anyways, paw-paw is still tinkering with the machine he found at Keycatrich’s Trench. Gonna need all the Sophiars if it’s gonna finish before tomorrow.” Cindy quickly intervened after seeing the time.

“Wait, wait. What’s the thing he’s all excited about? Is it that thing?” Noctis asked before they got up from their seat. The three siblings looked at each other before Cindy answered.

“Paw-paw thought he could finish her up before y’all came here.” Cindy told him. “Was gonna get Loqi here ta help but you guys appeared.”

“Ah, I see. Pardon us for holding him.” Ignis apologized as the other two nodded.

The Sophiar trio left.

“Phew, that was close.” Cindy said when they were far from hearing range.

“Ok, spill.” Prompto asked excitedly, watching the other two. He knew there was something else on the agenda. Most probably not Prince related.

Loqi cleared his throat loudly. “Dear brother of mine.” He began dramatically. “I recall a wish made a long, long time ago.”

Cindy was laughing before giving Loqi a light slap while Prompto was looking at him like he had stars in his eyes. “Stop teasing him.”

“Come on, man.” Prompto groaned pathetically.

“Oh, alright.” Loqi gave up. “There’s a few Magitek Armour ready to be piloted.” He said with a small smile.

Prompto let’s out a muffled scream of before he hugged the both of them. “This is like, the best present in my life!” He said happily.

“Oh talking about presents, paw-paw did have something for Prince. “Cindy said, as if she just remembered while struggling to handle Prompto’s weight. “Need to give ‘im a hand with it.” She added as Prompto freed them from his hug.

“Ok!” He said with thumbs up.

The weapon was cleaned up and upgraded accordingly. It was almost dark when they were finished. Cindy went to get the Regalia for a check up while Cid retired for the day with a satisfied smile on his chair outside.

“C’mon Loqi, we could still make a round of it.” Prompto tried to coax, looking at the large MAX Cuirass.

“No, that’s not ready yet. Still figuring out the system.” Loqi explained. “Follow me. The ones that ready is at the back.” Loqi said as he gestured towards the garage.

True enough, there was two smaller Magitek Armour.

“Testing, testing. One, two, three.” Loqi said through his mic.

“Whoa!” Prompto exclaimed through his loudly.

“Shhhhh!” Loqi hissed through his. “If Cindy finds out-“

“LOQI TUMMELT!” Came Cindy’s shout. “PROMPTO ARGENTUM!”

“QUIT YOUR ARMOUR SYSTEMS AND GET OUT OF ‘EM NOW!” Cindy voice cut through, shrill and definitely pissed. “WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT PLAYING IN THE DARK.”

The two brothers ended up getting an earful from their worried sister. As someone that had witness people being killed by demons alive it was a valid worry.

Afterwards Loqi decided to continue to run diagnostics on the MAX Cuirass.

“Mind if I join ya?” Prompto asked as he heads towards the Armour.

“Be my guest.” He answered as he climbed up.

“Hey, Loqi?” Prompto asked as he settled in the cockpit. There were wires everywhere with a few free monitor panels.

Loqi had settled at the side of the Armour like before. “Yes?” He answered back with a raised eyebrow. The programmes were booting up.

“You remembered the promise?” He asked again, almost hopeful.

Loqi gave a small smile at that. “I do.” He answered. “To be honest, I didn’t remember about this until I saw it.” He confessed. “Those days in the refugee slums aren’t the best but…” Loqi trailed. “There were things worth remembering.”

Prompto sniffled before he coughed. “Yeah. Man, I feel old.” He added, voice had a slight crack in it.

Loqi chuckled at that as he gave Prompto a reassuring pat. “To think that Cor is now a Marshall.” He said with a shake of his head. “Can’t believe we tried to fight him when he came for patrol.”

“He was scary as heck!” Prompto said in defense. “Plus he looked like a gangster.”

“Now, now.” Loqi placated as the codes on the screen started to form into a line.”If it wasn’t for him, we would still be in the slums. And Cid would have never known us.”

Prompto whimpered. “You won’t be saying that if you went training under him.” He whined as he tapped the screen.

He laughed at that. “He is Cor the Immortal, after all.” He said. “Let’s just focus on the Armour, alright. This one is a bit tricky compared to the smaller ones. We need to disarm the weapons.”

“Yeah, ok.” Prompto said as he tapped the screen to input a few codes.

When midnight came, the two brothers gave up and went to sleep.

The next day, Noctis had a new machinery, the Bioblaster. Apparently, it was near the entrance to the trenches.

“That was an oversight.” Ignis commented.

“The fact that it was over the arch of the entrance, I would certainly say the same as well.” Loqi quipped.

“Well, guys.” The Prince began as he kept the weapon into the Armiger. “We gotta get to the next Tomb.” He said. “Thanks for the weapon.”

“Sure. If ya find something good, let me go tinker on it.” Cid said.

“Sure do.” He answered back as they all clambered into the Regalia.

Pain is something he is familiar with.

Pain is something he is familiar with, yet never felt Death’s touch so close as it is now.

It’s getting harder to breath and getting harder to move. The numbness and coldness is making his movements jerky as his head swam.

He was left alone as the remains of a few nagas and yojimbos sizzled out of existence.

He was lucky that the yojimbos never got him anywhere vital but the fact that he was alone and with the last of his curatives given to the ‘Glaives he was saving, he knew that this was a bad move. The pain was getting sharper too as the adrenaline wear off.

Getting himself to the nearest structure he could find, he missed a step.

He caught himself before he hits the floor with his face but the searing pain from the stab wound made his hold weak and fell to the floor anyway with a shout of pain.

“Ugh.” He breathed out. He could feel tear pricking as he fought to stay conscious. He accidentally lets out a sob as he fought to get up again, panting for air as he did.

He looked up to the makeshift ramparts for the Kingsglaives. He wonders if he should move or should he just sit here and wait.

There were a few ‘Glaives earlier. The ones he managed to save as they retreated. He knows they would have gotten help for him. But for now, what can he do?

The pain was getting unbearable and his body was starting to shake. Maybe from the pain, maybe from the bleeding.

He turned over to face the dark sky, the effort making him groan in pain. His gasps for breath were louder in the empty city streets.

Reaching for his gun again, he contemplated if he should save the bullets for himself or go down with one last demon.

His hand shook violently as he tried to check the cartridge before deciding against it. He might not be able to put it back together if he did.

The waves of panic as due to the blood loss was starting to make him lose his mind, reigning in the best as he could by regulating his breath.

His vision was darkening and the cold…It’s so cold.

Suddenly it was bright. He chuckled to himself internally. How many times has he seen it. Is this the part where he won’t be able to go back? Is this it?

Then, he saw someone stopping just right over him, guns blazing. It was then he realised that his ears were ringing. He couldn’t hear it.

Then another person dropped next to him and he felt something was pressed into his chest. Instantly, there was an intense blossom of heat that was almost painful after the cold earlier.

He must have shouted as the person next to him was gently running his fingers through his hair and shielding him from the light.

Then the gunshots were suddenly clear as he flinched from the sound and his vision adjusted to the current lighting.

“-it’s ok. It’ll be bettr soon.” He heard Cor crooning in comfort despite being interspersed with the gunshot. Looking up, he finally registered the man that was shielding him was Cor. “Hang on.”

“Guys, I’m gonna use another Starshell.” Came Prompto’s familiar voice as the sound of the gun cracking open for the special shell resounded around them. There also the sound of eerie teetering.

Gasping as he realised what it was, he struggled to get back on his feet only for Cor to push him back down. “Slowly.” He advised as Prompto shot another Starshell into the air.

If it wasn’t for Cor, he would’ve been temporarily blinded. The barrage of shots started back as Prompto gave them cover fire.

Taking a slow deep breath as he regained his senses, Cor finally moved away to give the other man space.

Looking towards where Prompto was shooting, there were a few spider ladies who kept spawning mini spiders. Since the Starshell was still shining, they were taking cover in the surrounding buildings as they let their spawn do the work.

Cor was already unsheathing his sword as they waited for the Starshell to expire.

“If you can fight, fight. If you can’t, stand back.” Cor ordered over the gun fire.

Loqi answered back with unlocking his gun cartridge for a look before snapping it back in. He nodded at Cor as he took his position next to Cor, flanking him. The light was already fading.

“Ready?” He shouted before the light went out.

“Yes. Sir!” Both of them answered back.

Once the light was out, Prompto stopped his shots.

They were trying to lure the Ariadnes out. If they don’t take out the Ariadnes, they won’t have a chance to run as they would be jumping after them.

The spawn stared at them at the abrupt stop while the Ariadnes were teetering again, peeking from their hiding spots.

“Ok, back away a bit.” Cor ordered.

Following suit, they backed up, eyes not leaving the spider horde.

The daemons surged out of their hiding thinking they were retreating. The Ariadnes were starting jump with their electric spider webs.

At this, both Prompto and Loqi opened fire, getting the demons into a line as Cor concentrates on getting as many of them in one strike. The two gunners prevented the one jumping by shooting them in the face. Crude but effective.

“Now!” He roared as he jumped. The other two stopped their fire as Cor lands a hit with a shockwave powerful enough to clear the streets. Shrieks of the demons filled the air before the familiar sizzle followed.

All of them were panting hard as the whole affair was finish.

“Phew. Ok, I am out.” Prompto said betweens pants. “We should get a bulb here.”

“We should get out of here.” Loqi retorted. “One near-death experience is enough for one day.”

Prompto gave a nervous laugh at that as Cor sheathed his sword. “Loqi.” He regarded rather firmly.

Loqi stood up straight at being addressed. Something from his military training that never really left.

“I need you to debrief with me on what happened. “ He said coldly. “For now, we all should return to base.”

Cor took point as the other followed.

Loqi gestured questionably at Prompto. Prompto replied with wide eyed panic and discrete shake of his head as they moved, hopping through debris.

Back in the underground station, Loqi was more or less interrogated within an inch of his life.

Once he was done, Prompto had preemptively readied a cup of coffee.

"He was pretty worried huh?" Prompto said as Loqi tiredly took his coffee.

"If you call mentally skinning someone worried, then yes." Loqi quipped.

Prompto sighed. "Just don't go off like that again." Prompto offered carefully. "We were worried. Seriously." He added. "If anything happened to you..." Prompto had swallowed audibly as his bright demeanour considerably diminished. "Cor was so worried. The both of us, were."

Realising this, Loqi gave Prompto a reassuring pat on the back. "I may not have the Immortal as my moniker but I've gone against him more than anyone else on Eos." He said proudly. "If anything, you should worry about yourself." He added with a smirk.

Prompto rolled his eyes at the show off. "Yeah, yeah." He answered back with a playful punch.

"Now, lets go and see what they have for food." He said, gesturing for Prompto to follow him.

Loqi was sweaty and hot under all the hunter’s coverall that he managed to snag at the Prairie’s Outpost. He prayed to all the Six that the black hair dye or whatever he was wearing won’t get worn down with his sweat as he busied himself with a sword. He needed a temporary dye since he is now being posted beyond Niff territory. Had it been Gralea, all he had to do was style his hair differently and maybe some contact lenses.

Cor was supposed to meet him up at the Prairie Outpost but he hasn’t appeared yet.

He sighed to himself at the thought of the day being wasted but it’s a common enough not to cause him worry. Just annoyed.

“Sure is melting hot, out here.” A woman came. She was in full hunter’s garb as well.

Pausing in his blade sharpening, he looked up to the one who uttered it. That was the code. “With all the sun, can’t expect it to be freezing, Felicia.” He responded with a relieved smile. It wasn’t Cor but it was one of Cor’s subordinates, Monica Elshett.

Felicia nodded in response before settling beside him. She unsheathed her sword and set it before her, signaling for Loqi to continue what he was doing.

Rummaging through her pockets, she lets out a grouse. “You have an extra whetstone on ya, Al?” She asked. “I think I lost mine.”

Loqi gave her a knowing smile the whole time as he shook his head. He took a small box and gave it to her. “What’s big bro doing?” He asked as he watched Felicia fussed with the box and with a sleight of hands changed it with a proper box of a whetstone.

Felicia sighed. “Dad said told him to do some business out of town. Big bro didn’t want to budge so he’s trying to deal with dad and have someone else go for the business trip.” She explained, her hand barely moved as she explained. “It’s just that…” She began, trying word her thoughts properly. “Dad is pretty old, Al.” She said in a worried tone but the look on her face was more scrutinizing than worried.

It was Loqi’s turn to sigh. Long story short. Cor is on the verge of insubordination. Not that it’s the first time but as ‘Felicia’ said, the King is pretty old. And old people tend to not like it when their orders aren’t obeyed. Since it’s the King and not anyone else, Loqi smelt trouble.

“So, is big bro in trouble?” He asked frankly.

Felicia shook her head as she returned to whetting her blade. “Don’t know. Haven’t heard from him ever since. The Treaty is going to start this week. Just hope big bro is not going to get into too much trouble with everything’s that going on.” She said softly.

Loqi couldn’t agree with her more. If anything happens to Cor, he’s going to be in a pinch. Being a Brigadier General wasn’t easy and trying to escape is going to be a mess, if he survives it.

“Anyway.” Loqi began. “How’s the children?” He asked with a straight face. Knowing Monica, she had cats. Loqi never seen them but Monica had told enough of them to know how they were doing.

Monica or ‘Felicia’, snickered. “As rambunctious as ever. Broke a few of my plates just the other day.” She said. The two ended up talking about the cats for a while. Mission completed. Just to kill time until they could leave without suspicion. Being so near to a garrison and wary hunters had their difficulties. If the Niffs didn’t get them, the Hunters might just give them away accidentally.

Before their time was up, Felicia got a call. “Felicia.” She said curtly as she stopped fussing over her sword. “Uh, yes. Right at the old ruined house.” She informed whoever it is. “Ok. See ya.” She said as she ended her call.

“The client’s coming.” She said. The cold military discipline leaking into her voice before she cleared her throat and recomposed herself as a lighthearted Felicia. “No need to look like you’ve seen a ghost, Al.” She quipped.

Loqi shrugged. He paused in thought. “Do you think Big Bro got into trouble?”

“Don’t know, Al.” She answered as she turned to pack her stuff. “But my transport is just a short ride from here.” Code for – Cor is coming over as a Client. Act accordingly.

Al or Loqi, went about to pack his stuff, too.

They barely had gotten to their feet when a truck pulled towards their place. In it was Cor, waving at them.

“Hey, Felicia, Al.” He regarded with a nod. The two gave a nod back and Felicia got into the truck. “Melting hot here, huh?” He said as he gave Loqi a onceover.

Loqi replied with a tight smile. “If it’s freezing cold, it’ll be the end of the world.”

Cor gave a small smile at that. “Anyways, borrow Felicia here for a job. If I need more people, I might need to call you in, too.”

“Sure. Just make sure, you take care of her.” Loqi answered back amicably.

With that, they parted ways.

Almost three weeks passed since then.

Insomnia fell, the network collapsed and names were being brought up within the ranks and silently taken care off. Caligo made sure of that.

And Loqi, now without any form of communication, went after the only Lucian he knew that was on Niffleheim’s radar, other than the Prince. The very Lucian that his accolades in warfare were more or less based on. He went to confirm Cor Leonis’s status. Two birds with one stone, really. This way, he can decide whether to continue his work or get rid of everything.

He received word that the Prince was to escape via the Norduscaen Garrison. Even as he got on his ship towards the said drop site, he started to feel lost. Would he be forced to kill off the Prince? Something in him was screaming to back off and stop. But he was a soldier. He had his orders. He…could only pray he was doing the right thing.

The garrison came into view along with a slew of dissipating MTs. With them, he saw the iconic black coloured garb donned by the Crownsguard. Taking point was the Prince and Cor.

He was wildly relieved at that sight alone. Cor was alive! The Prince would be safe in his care, too. That feeling dimmed considerably.

He hovered over the opened courtyard. “Stay right where you are.” He declared imperiously from his ship. “Well, well. If it isn’t Cor the Immortal. So you’ve survived the Citadel.” He said before turning to man his Magitek Armour.

“But you won’t survive what I have in store for you. It’s past time your legend came to an end.” He declared grimly, knowing people from Niffleheim, especially, Caligo is listening through the comms.

The fight was more grueling than he thought and the ejection system was unpleasant despite saving his life.

Seeing off the prince, Cor dismissed Monica and returned to ‘watching the Niffs.’

Once he heard a truck and a car passed, he finally cracked opened the charred cockpit.

He was surprised to see Cor nearby, looking for him from the looks of things.

“Thank the Six, you’re still alive.” Cor said in relief with a smirk of satisfaction.

Loqi only managed a huff as he got himself out with Cor’s help.

Thankfully, the worse injury on him was a split lip. His armour seriously helped.

As the two recovered from the effort on the floor next to it, Cor held out a Potion for him.

He refused it. “It’ll get suspicious if I escape literally unscathed.” He explained.

Cor nodded in understanding. “How goes for you since the fall?” He asked as he made it dissipate into the ether.

“Unnerving to say the least. There was a leak in the network. Caligo has been on the hunt ever since.” Loqi explained. “Did not help that there was only static on my communicator.”

Cor’s lips pulled into a tight grimace. “At the very least, we’re confident that the leak is taken cared off with the fall.” He said cryptically.

“Well, for the time being, there won’t be much activities. If anything, I think I’ll be the only one going beyond enemy lines to meet up with you.” He said as he scratched his head. “Other than the Prince and his retinue, of course.”

Loqi raised his eyebrows at that. “Ah, the chamberlain is there too?”

“Yes, indeed.” He answered. “He was the one with the glasses.” He added, gesturing two fingers over his eyes.

“Well, then. The Prince is in good hands.” He said in an impressed tone. “A member of a network is with him after all.”

“Still, one must be cautious in times like these.” He said with a tired huff.

Loqi only chuckled in response.

“Well, then.” Cor said as he got to his feet. “It’s best we get moving.”

Loqi got to his feet as well. “As always, it was an honour to fight you.” He said as he stood straight and held out a hand, a proud look present on his face.

Cor mirrored him and shook his hand with a tight smile. “Likewise. Glad to still have you on board with us.”

At that Loqi lets out a mirthless cackle. “Careful there. You assume too quickly.” He warned. A gentle reminder that this could all end suddenly.

Cor’s smile turned into a knowing smirk. “If I was wrong, we won’t be standing here.” He said as he passed. “See you when I see you.” He said with a wave, not even looking back if it’s returned.