FFXV: After the Fall

Chapter 28

   "Would you look at that." Gladiolus grinned widely.
   "I'm lookin' at it, alright," Prompto cooed, "but I'm havin' a great deal of trouble believin' it."
   "How remarkable." Ignis smiled. "I rather see what he meant now. No more training indeed."
The shield vanished and the three friends on top of that Divine head looked down at them, waving with tired smiles, then they clung onto some of Leviathan's spikes as she slowly lowered her head to level with the edge of the boat deck.
Gladiolus stepped forward first, seeing how tired they all were, and reached out to grab Helena and guide her back onto the boat.
   "C'mon guys," he called to the others behind him, "don't just stand there, gimme a hand."
   "R-right!" Prompto rushed forward next, taking hold of Noctis who was still grumbling, and Ignis also moved to help Nyx over and into the boat's interior.
Once they were all safely there, the Divine's head rose back high into the air and she regarded them all for a couple of seconds, then sank beneath the gentle waves once more. She then departed, her body no longer visible after a very short time, and the three friends turned to see the others sat on the ground in a daze, still tired but looking happy.
   "...did we bring any food with us?" Nyx asked.
Gladiolus started grinning. "Yeah, we did. Let's get you guys into some warmer clothes first, before you catch a cold." He then moved to scoop up Helena and carry her into one of the rooms below deck, while Prompto and Ignis helped Noctis and Nyx to warm up and get changed in another.
Ignis then got out an indoor barbecue set and started cooking while they all huddled around a portable heater that was part of the boat's belongings, along with a cup of coffee.
   "I wanna get nearer to that heater." Nyx complained.
   "You should be warm now, dude." Prompto shot back.
   "I still owe you a strangling, don't forget."
Prompto sighed, then grudgingly swapped places with him so that Nyx was now closer to the softly-glowing device.
He was also now right next to Helena, on her left side, while Gladiolus was sat on her right and holding her hand.
Prompto looked at Nyx. "...you were jokin', right?"
He smiled, and nodded. "Am now, yeah. Forgot all about it."
   "Heater hog." The blonde grumbled. He smiled, though.
   "You missed one hell of a sight." Gladiolus then said. "Unless Prom got a good picture on his camera."
   "Thankfully, I did. I'll show it y'all soon."
   "Think I got as close as I'm ever willin' to get." Nyx said.
Helena smiled. "I put a light on down there and she had one of her eyes right up next to the shield. I reckon she'd have taken a bit of a shine to him if he'd stayed more quiet."
   "Nah." He grinned. "That's too much woman for me. I'm just glad we made it outta there, more than anythin'. Was close."
   "Didn't you realise how far down you were?" Ignis asked.
Nyx shook his head. "Nope. Not until we lost the daylight. We were too busy talkin' between us, tryin' to not think about the water pressure and stuff. Then, we decided to talk to you guys instead, and...we know how that turned out."
   "He started panicking." Noctis smiled, now looking more awake than he had previously. "Nobody was talkin' back, y'see. Might explain his overboard reaction a while ago."
   "I was not goin' overboard, we almost got turned into jam down there in that fuckin' water."
   "But we didn't, thanks to you. I just...I couldn't give any more, I'm real sorry about that."
   "It's not your fault." Helena told him. "It's just because you'd not used the ability in so long, that's all. You still had it in you, otherwise I'd have never been able to tap it. And, cos' you managed to stay awake, we were safe. You should be proud. I had no idea how deep we were, it was tough to tell."
   "And then she came to you." Ignis said.
   "Yeah. She must have been waiting for us, I guess, saw that we were far down enough and decided to come over. Real lucky. I don't think I'd have wanted to try again for at least a whole day."
   "I wouldn't have tried in ever." Nyx said. "That's quite possibly the weirdest thing I've ever done. Not to mention havin' a surprise starin' contest with a fuckin' Divine."
   "So you did piss yourself." Prompto grinned.
Nyx pointed at him. "Don't push your luck, pal." He then laughed and nudged the man on the shoulder.