Part II: More Magic, More Fantasies

Chapter 21- Noctis' Nocturne

You were confused as to why Noctis had told you to not tell anyone where you were headed, but you didn't question it. After all, he probably knew more about what was going on than you did. You had spent the last two months in isolation, after all.

"There aren't any chocobos?" he said, surprised. "But everyone is back! How..?" He turned to you and said, "I think there will be a tiny change of plans here..."

You raised an eyebrow. "How tiny are we talking?"

"Stay right here," he instructed. "When I come back out of this door, I'll be running. I need you to start running as soon as you see me come out, and when I get close to you, you need to jump. Got it?"

You nodded. "Yeah, I... think I do?"

Noctis smiled. "Good. Now, don't forget!"

Next thing you knew, you heard a bunch of yelling inside the building and Noctis ran out carrying something that looked like a surfboard. Before you could even process what he'd told you to do, he was next to you, and hurriedly grabbed you. The force of it knocked the wind out of you, and you grunted softly.

"That's why I told you to run!" Noctis shouted over the rushing wind.

"Oh!" You nodded, then looked down. You weren't on the ground. "What is this thing?"

"It's a hover board! It's a prototype that a few of the guys were working on; and I don't really know how it works, but I guess we'll find that out as we go along!"

"Okay!" Somehow, having this shouting conversation was liberating. "Just promise me that I won't end up with a concussion, or amnesia or something like that!"

Noctis laughed at that, and you had no idea why.

(rim shot)

The two of you flew through the trees, Noctis holding onto you protectively so you wouldn't go flying off. "So, where are we?" you asked. "I don't really remember. I must have had a really good nap."

"According to calculations of some of the smarter people in our group, we're in a largely unincorporated area of Spira, pretty far from civilization. That's why we needed the hover board, to cover ground quickly. I guess we could've also taken a chocobo- but I wasn't prepared to deal with the smell, so..."

"Living in an unincorporated area is a very strange vacation," you noted.

"Uh... yeah," agreed Noctis, nodding. "Look, we're almost to Kilika now!"

~~~~~

(meanwhile, back at the house)

"What is all this noise about?!" complained Sazh. "We have a large number of people recovering from the crash in here!"

Riku stood in the immediate area with a few other boys. "Well, Noctis ran out of here with that hover board that I've been working on with Hope and Mumford..."

"Noctis? When did he get up?" Rasa looked relieved and amused all at once.

"I don't know, but he was."

"Well, if the kid wants to go blow off some steam by riding around on the hover board- while it's still light outside- I don't see the problem," Sazh said. "Just as long as he's back before nightfall. Is anyone else up?"

"Yeah, Paine and Rinoa were fine so they went with Mumford to help with the cave situation," replied Riku. "I hope they can get everyone out of that hole soon."

Lightning entered the room then, sitting a walkie-talkie on the table. "I was able to get in touch with Fang, on Rune's ship. They're going to stop for some repair supplies, and then come and help us repair our ships. It's a good thing we know where we are now."