FFXV: After the Fall

Chapter 19

By the time that Nyx flickered his eyes open, it was eleven.
Must have definitely needed the sleep.
He rubbed at his eyes, then decided to see if there was anything still resembling breakfast.
They were all in the dining hall, off to one side and chattering as usual, and he spied food on their table so reasoned that they might have all had a lie-in too. Suited him just fine.
   "Still alive, then?" Noctis joked as he saw the man approaching them with a yawn.
   "Course." Nyx grabbed a plate and started filling it full of things he liked. "Guess I needed to catch up on some rest."
   "Most of us did too. Iggy's the only one who's always an early bird. Rest of us usually make it for nine, but...meh."
   "Least we won't be yawnin' later on." Prompto said.
   "Won't have time, if we're doin' it right." Nyx grinned before shoving a chip into his mouth. "We're gonna get nice and busy so that all those filthy Niffs end up nice and dead, ei?"
   "Oh yeah."
He then thought of something. "Matter of fact, while we got so much free time on our hands, I was wonderin' if any of you fine people were up for a little training? Iron some kinks out?"
Noctis nodded. "Sure, I'm game."
   "We can touch up on your warp stuff." He then looked at the others. "Anyone else?"
   "Yeah, I'll do some." Gladiolus smiled.
   "I could use some target practice." Prompto agreed. "Hey Iggy, you gonna sharpen your knives a bit with us?"
   "On you, you mean?" He replied. "I'd love to."
Nyx laughed. "Hey, where's the love, fellas?"
   "Prom's been windin' him up a little." Gladiolus explained.
   "Well I ain't no Medic, so you'll have to play nice." He then looked down at Helena, who was engrossed with a book in her left hand while her right held a coffee. "And what about our good Lady, is she gonna join us? I'd recommend it."
   "I'm fine, thanks." She said without looking.
He smiled at her, then leant over and snatched the book from her hand, closing it back up and holding it away from her.
   "Actually, I kinda disagree." He said. "Unless you've done somethin' like this before very recently, there's gonna be some rust inside that pretty head."
She looked at him. "Can I have my book back, please?"
   "Not until I know that you're not in danger of gettin' yourself killed." He smiled pleasantly. "Right now? Jury's out, sweetie." He then stood up and looked at the book's front cover. "Oh, I remember this. Doin' your homework on my customs?"
   "Was. I don't wanna put my foot in it."
   "We tend to laugh at stuff like that, we're a pretty jovial bunch. There's plenty of time to study- after some warp training."
Who died and made you Captain, she thought.
He saw her look grow slightly irritated, and sat down next to her.
   Look." He said. "I'm not here to step on anyone's toes, or anythin' like that, I just wanna make sure that everythin' goes off without a hitch. You're not military, never have been, I understand. I'm not sayin' you're not capable; you faced-off a Divine, y'know? I'm just sayin', that I don't want you goin' out there unless I know you're not gonna end up takin' my place in the big blue sea. Alright?"
   "Aww, that's real nice of you dude." Prompto smiled.
Nyx looked at him. "That's me, I always look out for whoever helps me kill some Niffs." He then turned back to Helena. "Just an hour or so, yeah? You'll know you're still awesome, and I'll get off your case cos' I know you won't die. Yeah?"
That...was rather considerate, she supposed.
She looked at him and nodded. "Okay." She said.
He grinned. "Great. Thank you."
   "So...can I have the book back now?" She reached for it, but he held it further away as he ate another chip.
   "You've not trained yet, babe. Come get it from me after." He then got up to sit on a different chair further away, put his plate on top of the book, and winked at her.
   "Ass." She muttered.
   "That's not an insult, my ass is fantastic."
She sighed, and focused on drinking her coffee while he stared at her occasionally inbetween finishing his plate.

Later at roughly noon, they were all in various parts of the castle's expansive rear gardens and thoroughly engaged in various forms of training. Ignis and Prompto were dividing their time between sparring, target practice and exercises, Gladiolus had done some weights and sparring and was currently working on cardio by jogging around the ground perimeter, and the final three were doing something quite different.
Helena, Noctis and Nyx were all individuals who, for varying reasons, were able to 'warp' as it was most-commonly called. It was basically a form of teleportation, and had many tactical uses including stealth, basic attacks and logistics.
Noctis was the heir to the Lucian throne, so for him it was a given. Fully-expected, along with other gifts that the Lucian Kings all had, bar two that he was currently unable to use; the ability to temporarily slow time, and access to the Armiger full of ancient weapons that the Kings themselves used to fight.
Helena, being the current High Magister of Eos, had access to several different forms of magic due to her association and bonds with all seven Divines, including Bahamut himself. It was the Divine King who granted her the ability to shield and warp, though it worked rather differently, but it produced the same results.
Nyx was the wild card, and he fully knew it. Despite being of Galahdian descent, he was one of a handful of people who could somehow borrow the powers of the Lucian Kings- with their permission, of course. He was fully able to warp, and due to being granted a boon from the Ring of the Lucii at one time, also had the ability to shield. He could no longer slow time, though; it rather seemed as though the ancient Kings didn't want him to have complete mastery of their talents.
Which, naturally, he found rather humorous.