The Far Edge of Fate (Final Fantasy XV)

CHAPTER 29 - FATEWALKER

hi, im back

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Dead grass crunched beneath Aaralyn's combat boots.

Unsteadily, she hobbled over a fallen tree branch and used one hand to hoist herself up over a small boulder. Her phone's flashlight shone into the darkness and a few imps scurried away from the light, hissing at her. Silently, she scanned the coast of Galdin Quay. The dim lights from the former resort glittered behind her.

"See anything?" Libertus called from above.

"No," she answered, squinting into the darkness. She aimed the flashlight a little higher, sweeping the beam along the dead flora and dry dirt below her. "Nothing yet. I'm gonna jump down to get a closer look."

"Be careful!"

"I will!"

Aaralyn gingerly braced her free hand on the rock and hopped down into the little alcove. Dirt and rocks crunched beneath her boots. Ducking beneath a tree branch that was missing its leaves, she straightened up and scanned the area for anything even remotely resembling what she was looking for. There didn't seem to be much of anything as she made short work of a few imps that were hiding from the light of her flashlight and turned around.

Then, an odd lump caught her eye, hidden to her right, half hanging in the ocean. It was swallowed in dead leaves and yellowed vines that looked brittle to the touch. Reaching out, she brushed them away. Beneath, she could see a coat of black and white paint, chipped and tarnished with time. She couldn't help but grin, looking up at the rest of the dead reeds covering her prize.

"We owe you big time, Talcott," she muttered before raising her voice. "Libertus! Over here!"

"So the boat was really there?!"

Talcott's excited voice cracked as he spoke, tottering eagerly behind Aaralyn, Cor, Nyx, and Libertus.

"Sure was," Aaralyn smiled over her shoulder at him. "I'm willing to bet she'll still run after a little tuning. I couldn't see much, but it didn't look like the damage was too bad. At least on the surface level, all there was were a bunch of scratches on the coat."

Cor hummed, looking pleased. "Good to hear. I'll get a team out there to bring it around and dock it. Nicely done, you two. You're all dismissed."

Aaralyn and Libertus both nodded and gave Cor salutes, watching as he strode around what used to be the car towards the docks. Talcott was still hot on Cor's heels, discussing potential ways to get the boat back to shore. Libertus smiled fondly after him.

"Kid's turning out to be pretty useful," he remarked.

"No kidding," Aaralyn agreed. "How many connections does he have to be hearing about a rumor like that?"

"Apparently one of them's Dino Ghiranze—y'know, the sleazebag reporter who just wrote a bunch of gossip pieces back in the day," Nyx said. "Dunno if we should be worried about him being a bad influence on the kid but...if he's giving him info like that, I can forgive it."

"Yeah," Libertus nodded. "Especially since it got us one huge step closer to Angelgard." As he spoke, he turned his head out towards the ocean. Aaralyn followed his lead, her gaze falling on the elusive Isle of the Gods.

Angelgard looked ominous. Now that daylight had all but gone from the world (nowadays, it was an hour at most before it was back to the darkness), it looked like nothing more than an oddly-shaped shadow on the horizon. Aaralyn could barely pick it out amongst the dark seawaters, though she didn't need to. The island was embedded in her head regardless—the headaches and the visions made sure of that.