FFXV: After the Fall

Chapter 6

As the group drove closer to the tomb's entrance and parked just outside the gate that marked the start of the Keycatrich Trench, Noctis grew more and more withdrawn. He was even quieter as they walked through the old battleground and past the rusted corpses of old army tanks again, and when they moved slowly through the caves, he was almost totally silent. The others talked regardless, mostly to try and keep things as normal between them all as possible, but also to try and hide their concern at the noticeable change in their friend.
He was preparing for something, and they all knew it.
Goblins still frequented the place of course, it seemed to be a magnet for them. The vile, purple-skinned creatures homed in on dark, damp caves like a bee did to flowers, pretty much. There weren't as many as the last time, however, so the sudden shocks were kept to a minimum.
Helena didn't even bother to talk to them, and it was Ignis that decided to ask her why.
   "It's not that they're not intelligent," she replied, "they most definitely are- it's their temperament. Everything's a game to them. They don't take anything seriously, you can't reason with them cos' they find that even funnier, and they're cruel. I mean really cruel, they delight in causing confusion and suffering."
   "So that's why you've not bothered." He said.
   "It's wasted on them. They'd laugh at me, and when they'd finished laughing at me, they'd attack. Pointless."
   "Who's unlucky enough to oversee them, then?"
   "Nobody. Used to be Hades, but even he has his limits. He cast them out, and long ago, local people called them the Godless Ones because of it. Drove them mad...which made them even more twisted, ironically. So yeah, they laughed at that too."
   "You're a real gold mine." Prompto said with a grin. "Still hate the bastards, though. Are we there yet?"
   "Almost." Gladiolus told him. "Couple more bends, I think."

They soon spied the large, carved stone door that covered the entrance to the tomb proper, and were glad to get inside it. The Goblins never seemed to follow them inside, and that proved to be true on this occasion as well.
Sat near the stone effigy, waiting for them, was Carbuncle.
He uncurled himself from the bundle he'd made himself into, stretching and yawning with feline grace, then he hopped onto a stone plinth and looked at them all. "Good." He said. "Nice and punctual. Always been fond of that." He then looked at Noctis.
"Ready to get this show on the road, moody?" He asked.
Noctis looked at him, but didn't take the bait. "...I spose."
   "Well, you may have already guessed this, but you won't have very long at it. Even for someone like Sis here, bringing anything across the divide is extremely tiring. Regis will be on a strict timer so when he says he's gotta go, he's gotta go. If you two haven't buried the hatchet by then, it's too bad. Any longer than that and Bahamut will be minus a kid."
They all registered shock, then they looked at Helena.
She nodded. "This is a bit different from Noctis' case." She explained. "To support Regis here, I have to trade part of myself with his presence Beyond. If I stay too long..." She then stopped, and didn't need to finish the sentence.
Instead, she looked at Noctis. "Please don't waste the chance." She said to him. "I won't be able to do another."
Carbuncle nodded. "Hades would love the chance to get hold of you, that's for sure."
   "He can fuck right off." She said with annoyance.
   "That's the spirit...times two." The God nodded. "Don't rush now, just take it steady and go a little at a time. You don't want to get too attached to the place, okay? When you're ready."
Gladiolus started to feel very worried, and moved forwards slightly in order to get as close to her as he dared. He had no idea what he would do, exactly, but he wanted to be prepared.
Carbuncle looked at him. "Don't touch her while she's all glowy and transparent. She'd make it back- you, wouldn't."
He stopped, and then nodded silently.

Helena then took a long, deep breath, and felt that it was the right time to begin. She started by searching for the form of Regis, out in the boundless mists, then began to approach him.
As she drew closer, he turned around and started to walk towards her, an expectant look on his face. "...it's time?" He asked.
   "Yes." Her thought was echoing and indistinct, but audible, and at the same time her actual body became surrounded with a pale blue glow as it started to fade.
   "Then I hope that we are quick." Regis took her hands. "Whatever is said, I am beyond grateful to you."
The others in the tomb, however, only saw her hands raise. Nothing else was seen, and nothing heard.
   "I will start now." Helena told him. "And...forgive him."
   "I already have." Regis assured her.
He then saw the mist vanish, and he was in the tomb looking at his own stone coffin; an unusual experience to say the least. He'd wanted to talk to all of them, but...he may not have enough time for that. Instead, he focused on his son. And smiled.
   "You're looking well, son." He said.
Meanwhile, the others were profoundly awed to see the semi-transparent form of the former King Regis suddenly appear to the left side of the coffin, staring directly at Noctis and recognising him within seconds. They backed away respectfully, and even Carbuncle took a couple of small steps backwards.
Noctis...didn't say anything at first. He'd been thinking about this, had spent time trying to think of what to say in preparation for this moment and now...it had all deserted him.
One thing was still foremost in his mind, however.
   "...why." He said quietly.
Regis regarded him for a second, then nodded. "Of course. Straight to business, ei? The simplest answer is...why not?"
   "You mean...that's it?"
   "You are my son. That always came first, and you know it did. Always. Did you ever expect anything less from the Emperor? I'm sure you had your suspicions too."
   "You could have said something! Warned us, or you could have come with us, I...we'd have worked something out."
Regis shook his head. "No. One of us had to go. And, I've lived a long life. It was a good one. But you...you were of no age to get cut off so suddenly. You were the King that this country needed, not an old fossil like myself."
He then began to walk towards Noctis, hands behind his back.
   "I knew you were destined for greater things." He told the slightly-shaking young man. "You were a prodigy; five years old, and you were chosen. I knew then, that my time was up. I wanted to spend what I had left being the one thing you needed most. Roc disagreed, of course, but it's not his way and I told him that right to his face. He may still resent me now, but I'll never regret any of my choices."
   "Did you...fight back?" To Noctis, that was very important.
Regis nodded. "I gave everything I had; we all did. They're all here with me too. We talked about it, after the event, and we're all agreed that there was nothing more we could have done. I also suspected we'd never win. Not with two crystals and the might of Ifrit against us. But, we still succeeded in our main mission. To give you, all of you, the chance to do yours. You gave us the victory that we couldn't claim ourselves, but I had no idea that it would still cost the one thing I didn't want to lose."
   "Neither did we." Ignis said.
Regis nodded. "Apologies will never be enough...but you all have the most sincerest one I could give. I know what you've all been through because I felt it too, for my son. I was then surprised again, by the Magisterium, and now I am here- more than grateful to be able to say all this. I never thought I would."
Carbuncle looked at Helena, then looked at Regis. "I hate to say this, but time is growing short. I must ask- do you still recognise Noctis to be the true King of the Lucii?"
Regis smiled at Noctis, and nodded. "He always was."
   "Do you still betroth your power to him?"
   "I always will."
   "Then it shall be done."
A movement caught Gladiolus' eye, and he pulled his own from the glowing form of Regis; Helena was starting to sway slightly where she stood, and her body flickered and flashed randomly.
Without thinking, he took another step forward.
   "Stop!" Carbuncle barked at him. "Don't touch her yet."
Ignis and Prompto moved to stand behind Gladiolus, and took one arm each to try and hold him in place.
Regis then nodded. "...yes. I have to go. We cannot lose her as well." He began to back away from Noctis, who took his own step forward as he didn't want to lose his father again.
But, he knew that he had to let him go.
   "I'll do it right this time." He promised. "I swear it. Don't worry about me, okay? I'll...I'll be fine. I'm sorry."
Regis smiled at him. "Stand together, as you always have. You'll see this through. I'm proud of you." He then looked at Helena. "You cannot stay." He told her. "Thank you- for everything. You've given us more than enough. It's alright now."
He started to walk away and the growing distance helped the link to become tenuous and fragile. She then broke it easily, and snapped back into the land of the living with a sharp jolt.
   "Let go of me." Gladiolus warned in a low voice.
His two friends did instantly, and they watched him start to edge towards the still-swaying woman.
Ignis then felt alarmed. "She's going to go."
As he said it, Helena started to veer to one side and didn't seem to have the ability to stop herself from falling. Gladiolus caught her, and lowered her gently to the floor with an anxious face.
Carbuncle padded over to take a look. "It's okay," he said, "nobody panic, she's just a bit zoned. The link broke very quickly. Guess it was a bit of a shock for her."
   "Is she gonna be alright?" Gladiolus asked. "Are you sure?"
   "I cannot lie. I'll forgive you for thinking I do, though, just this once. I swear on my furry hide, that she'll be okay. A little rest and some TLC- whatever that is- and she'll soon perk up."
Helena then stirred, wondering why she was sat on a cold stone floor, and tried to get to her feet. "Wha..."
   "Stay still babe, it's okay." Gladiolus put his arm around her. "Don't get up just yet. Stay put."
She looked at the others, and saw that they were smiling.
Even Noctis wore one- that was a good sign, right? Had to be.
She then felt one of Carbuncle's ears tickle her chin and nose, and she instantly sneezed at it.
   "Bless you." Prompto said.
Gladiolus looked at the God. "Hey!"
   "Sorry." he blinked. "Thought it might help to wake her up."
   "Because...nothin' wakes a person up like having a giant furry ear shoved up their nose, right?"
That remark had come from Helena. They all smiled at it.
Yeah, she was definitely going to be just fine.
Carbuncle purred. "Hey, be thankful that I tried, and not Diabolos or someone like that. Would really sting."
She giggled, and scratched her chin...then sneezed again.
   "Bless you." Prompto got in there first again. "Uh...are you allergic or somethin'?"
Carbuncle looked at him. "Allergic? To me? Impossible. There's probably still a hair up there or something."
Helena rubbed her nose and sniffed a few times. "Okay, I er... I think I'm good now. Did it go well? I couldn't hear."
   "It went very well. You're all set. You need some rest first, though, so I think it's time you guys left."
   "I'll take care of that." Gladiolus stated. He then put his arms under her knees and got up, lifting her from the floor easily.
   "Woah!" Her arms clung around his neck. "It's okay, I'm sure I can walk out and stuff."
   "You've done enough risk-taking for one day, I think."
   "He just wants to do the shining knight thing." Prompto said.
Gladiolus turned around. "Shut up." He grinned.
   "Let's get back to camp." Ignis suggested. "We've still got some food that we can demolish while we take it easy."
   "Yeah." Noctis agreed. "I actually have a bit of a gap now."
   "Take care." Carbuncle said by way of goodbye. "When you're ready, you'll need to head out for Shiva. She's moved now, though, so ask Sis here once she's got her brains back."
   "...I heard that." She said quietly. "Bro."
   "Ugh, I hate that word."
   "That's why I said it."
   "Just...scram. Go on, shoo."
   "What about your blessing?"
   "Didn't Prompto bless you enough? Oh- that blessing. Eh, he had it anyway. Once I'd talked some sense into him."
   "Suits me." Prompto held the door open, and the others followed after Gladiolus had carefully sidestepped through.
   "Oh, now you're being careful. I'm so glad."
   "Shut up." Gladiolus said on reflex.
Carbuncle bristled his tail. "...hey! Sis, are you going to let him talk to me like that? Sis?"
   "Take care, Brother." Her distant voice called back.
He bristled for a few more seconds, then relaxed and smiled.
They're going to work out just fine, he thought.
He then decided to get his report out of the way, and vanished to try and locate the very elusive Bahamut.