FFXV: After the Fall

Chapter 26

After packing things they thought they might need and checking in with Roc, the six friends left the castle at roughly four-thirty and headed towards Galdin Quay.
   "So he reckons that the info we need is on one of the hard drives." Noctis told the others.
   "...lemme get this straight." Nyx then said. "We went through dozens of sheets of worthless, shitty paper about countin' bullets...for nothing? That sucks ass, man."
   "Think of how Roc feels." The Prince smiled slightly.
   "Maybe that's why he was a little grouchy with you."
   "You're sure it's not cos' you wound him up again?"
   "Nah." The brunette grinned. "He loves me, remember?"
   "So he's now looking through the computer stuff?" Helena asked.
Noctis nodded. "Yeah. Him and a few helpers. Quite a bit of that is gonna be encrypted, so may take a while. If he gets anythin' while we're out, he'll call one of us."
She sighed. "Still no easy breaks."
   "So what's the plan with Leviathan again?"
   "Well first, we need to see if this idea is enough. It might be, can't rule it out just yet. I'll get the lowest floors, and-"
   "With the tubs?" Prompto interrupted.
   "Yes, Prom, with the tubs. Then, we'll get into the room that faces furthest out towards that sea. You'll need to stand at the window with me, Noct, then I'll attempt to call in Leviathan. She'll definitely see us through that glass. Whether that's close enough, well. Soon find out."
   "How?"
   "If it is," she explained, "then she'll let me know and you'll feel her blessing at that point. If it's not...she'll also let me know and then start to swim away. I'll be lookin' to see what direction she leaves in, might give us a clue to the true place. Then...I guess I'd need to go back to shield school, so to speak."
   "Nyx and Noct have an idea about that." Gladiolus then said.
   "...oh?"
   "Yeah." Nyx nodded, eager to tell her. "See, I can also shield. I just...usually don't have time to think of it, heh. Might need a little practice, but I can still do it. Noct can't, but he used to be able to so I reckon he could still help as well."
   "Help with what, exactly?"
   "Supporting you." He smiled. "If we share the burden between us, we might be able to make a stronger shield...strong enough to take to the bottom of the sea. Will it work?"
She stared at him for a second, then blinked and a faraway look played over her face as she thought about it. "That's...y'know, that might just work. I haven't got a clue right now. Nobody's ever done it underwater, either. But if it does work...yeah. That'll put you both under risk though."
   "You already are. Ain't gonna let you do it alone."
She smiled at him. "...I guess it's worth a shot."
He smiled too, then decided to not linger and looked away again.
   "We didn't find much on it in the library," Ignis added at that point, "so it'll be a first. I imagine that a lot of scientific bodies would be very interested in that information either way."
   "They'll have to wait."
   "I completely agree, safety is far more important."
   "Does your prophecy book say anythin'?" Prompto asked.
   "I've not looked yet, but I surely will if the Quay should fail."
Although every single one of them hoped that it wouldn't, nobody could shake the feeling that the idea wasn't going to work. It wasn't exactly classed as an 'exotic' solution; it was instead one that was being tried merely for the sake of ease, an attempt to spare Helena from having to exert yet more untold amounts of energy, something that was a far-too-regular habit.

They tried to remain light and jovial, however, and decided to grab dinner in the Mother of Pearl as well as a few drinks before heading to the furthest room on the hotel's bottom-most floor, which was Nyx's. They made their way in, dropping backpacks and heading for the bedroom as it had the biggest window in the apartment, and the others sat on the bed while Helena and Noctis stood in front of the huge, transparent, six-foot wide space.
   "Won't be a second," she told him, "just need to prepare. She's a separate Divine due to not being as close to Bahamut as the others are...like Titan? Makes it a little tougher to reach her."
   "How so?" Noctis found himself wanting to know.
   "Mostly...because earth and water are more independent in nature, too." She said.
   "I'd have thought fire was one of the toughest. Or ice?"
She smiled. "Well, fire can only spread and grow if it has enough fuel; things that burn, along with oxygen. If they were to vanish, the fire suffocates and dies on the spot. As for ice, that's largely dictated by temperature as well as wind- and again, it needs things it can actually freeze. Without those? You get the idea."
He smiled. "Huh. That's rather clever."
   "So earth and water are their own masters." Nyx said.
She nodded. "Yeah. Water's ebb and flow is kept in check by the earth, plus, it's also influenced by the pull of the Moon, which is an offworldly factor. And with earth, that's always been a constant on the planet, but it never takes up all the space due to the seas which grind it down over millions of years."
   "So they balance." He smiled. "I like it."
   "S'all about the balance." She then began to look far more alert, her eyes searching far ahead into the water. "She's coming."
   "...where? I don't see her yet." Noctis strained to see further into the gloom of the distant water, but couldn't.
   "You soon will." She told him. "Or rather- you'll start to see evidence of her approach. She's rather big, after all."