The Far Edge of Fate (Final Fantasy XV)

CHAPTER 16 - FORGE AHEAD

The rest of the drive to Cape Caem went by without incident. Ignis didn't stop for anything else (aside from only once more so Iris could stretch her legs) and Aaralyn welcomed the peace after the past few days of chaos.

Nyx was doing his damndest to try and keep everyone entertained on the long road by fiddling with the radio and singing terrible pop songs at the top of his lungs and encouraging the others to join it. Aaralyn did so once or twice, joining in as Nyx and Cassielle belt out the lyrics to a few of the Lucian Crusin's best hits. She hadn't gotten the chance to be so carefree in months and honestly, there was something magic about half-screaming the lyrics to a shitty love song with the windows rolled down and the sea breeze whipping their hair into a certifiable state of madness.

The last stretch to Caem was easily one of the most incredible things Aaralyn had ever seen. Thousands of miles of ocean spread out before them, catching the rays of light and making the water positively sparkle. The waves weren't idle, crashing against cliff faces and shorelines. The smell of salt was in the air, the ocean stretching on into the horizon. Aaralyn had no intention of going anywhere near the water until they were on the boat headed to Altissia, but even she could appreciate a good view when she saw one.

Ignis pulled off to the side of the road in a little oval-shaped parking area. A faded sign welcomed them to Cape Caem. There were already two cars there—one old and inconspicuous and the other bright yellow with 'Hammerhead' painted in red on the doors.

"Hammerhead?" Nyx repeated, turning down the radio. "Like the car shop in Leide?"

"Guess so," Aaralyn turned off the car and pocketed the keys.

They got out of the car, stretching their sore limbs from such a long drive. The others in the Regalia were doing the same. Noctis looked a little drowsy as he extended his arms above his head and groaned a little. Aaralyn tried (and failed) to keep her eyes off the strip of skin that his stretch exposed.

Six above.

Aaralyn instead headed over to ask him how his nap was and Noctis replied with a sleepy, albeit adorable thumbs up.

"Was good," he said and the husk in his voice sent shivers down Aaralyn's spine.

They hiked up a little bit toward the lighthouse looming at the peak of the cliff and were met halfway by a girl with short blonde hair and an outfit that showed more skin than it covered. Prompto immediately turned into a blushy, stuttering mess around her, valiantly trying to hold an awkward conversation with her. The woman—apparently named Cindy—obliged with a knowing smile, speaking in a thick, drawl that Aaralyn had only ever heard around Leide and explained their situation to them.

Apparently, everyone had gotten to Caem unscathed and one of Iris and Talcott's escorts (a Crownsguard member named Monica) had gotten in touch with Hammerhead. Cindy and her grandfather had driven out to see the state of the boat, only to find it in incredible disrepair and in need of a hell of a tune-up. They'd gotten it up to working shape, aside from one small detail.

They needed mythril to patch up the engine. The boat wouldn't turn over without it but the material was incredibly rare and hard to come by. And, with Cindy and her grandfather occupied with the rest of the repairs in the meanwhile and Monica and her coworker fixing up the house at the crest of the hill to be habitable, it fell to them to get what they needed to get the group across the ocean. It sounded like a bit of a chore, but it had to be done. At least they weren't completely in the dark—Cindy knew where mythril was most commonly mined.

After confirming their next destination to be the Vesperpool—a small pocket of swampland heavily under imperial control at the moment, oh joy—they escorted Iris to the rickety little shack along the cliff edge. They were greeted at the front door by a bright little boy with brown hair tousled by the sea breeze—Talcott.