A Heart Of Fire (Final Fantasy XV)

Chapter 9

Hammerhead Outpost

We finally made it to Hammerhead! Thank Etro!

We stayed by the car waiting for someone to come by and have the car looked at while looking around at the gas station. It was a little bigger than your normal gas station, but nothing really made it stand out too much from the norm. There were the normal gas pumps to fill up on gas, a little convenience store, a diner, a small vendor off to the side, and a large garage where the repairs were done.

"So this is Hammerhead," I said as I leaned up against Noctis' back on the pavement.

"Finally," Noctis muttered tiredly as he leaned into my back with a content sigh. Then, we heard a woman's voice with a western accent call out to us.

"Hey there, y'all kept a girl waitin'!"

I stood up from my spot, making Noctis groan in protest, and saw a girl around our age with short, wavy blonde hair, bright green eyes, and dressed in quite the revealing outfit walking towards us with a wide smile. Her appearance made her seem like the bubbly type, much like another happy blond I know.

"Now, which one is the prince?" she wonders as she looks around at each of us. I looked down at Noctis and gently nudged him with my legs, and he stood up and turned to the girl who called for him.

"Aha! Hello Your Highness, congrats on your wedding," the girl says happily. I turned my attention elsewhere at the mention of his wedding, simply listening in silence.

"Not hitched just yet," Noctis answers with a shrug of his shoulders. Cindy smiles and puts her hands on her hips.

"Lady Lunafreya's groom-to-be, here in Hammerhead."

"Apologies for taking so long," Ignis says.

"You'd best save your apologies for Paw-Paw," Cindy says with a laugh as she inspects the Regalia.

"Paw-Paw?" I say tilting my head in confusion.

"Well, that makes you...?" Gladio asks. The girl straightened her back and puts her hand over her chest.

"Cindy-- Cid's grease-monkey granddaughter," she says with a bright smile.

"Roll 'er in while I'm still young!" an older man's voice calls out. We turned to the voice and saw an old man wearing an old red jacket, a white and blue shirt, dark pants, and a red cap sitting over his head of gray hair. His age was evident by the wrinkles on his face and by the way he walked. He looked from us to the car and began inspecting it like Cindy did before.

"Didn't your daddy tell ya? She's a custom classic, not some beat-up ol' clunker," he says gruffly. He then turns to Noctis and his face turns serious.

"Prince Noctis," he says.

"Uh, yeah," Noctis nods puzzled.

"Prince," Cid scoffs, lowering his head as he walks by. "Like they took your old man and kicked the dignity out of him."

"What?"

"You got a long way to go, son. And that slack jaw's gettin' you nowhere fast." Cid then turned his attention up to me.

"What is it?" I ask nervously as I fidgeted with my black fingerless gloves. Cid's eyes narrowed and his mouth formed a slight frown before lowering his head with a scoff.

"That Reggie is an old fool," he muttered quietly, making me tilt my head in confusion. Cid looks at the car once more and looks back at us. "She's gonna take a while. Y'all get her in and run along." Cid heads back to his garage, leaving us slightly confused by his behavior. Cindy let's out a sigh before turning to us.