A Heart Of Fire (Final Fantasy XV)

Chapter 22

We found our way back to the exit soon enough, and quickly made our way outside into the warm air. Prompto hops forward and stretches his limbs, probably stiff from the frigid temperatures inside the cave.

"Haaah! Makes you feel alive!" he says with a bright smile.

"Thought we'd never get outta there," I said taking a deep breath of fresh air. "Right Noct--Noct?!"

We turned around only to see him gritting his teeth and eyes closed shut, as if he were in pain. He hissed and moaned and clutched the side of his head, and I immediately rushed over to him as he doubled over.

"Noct? Noct! What's wrong?" I asked worriedly. The others rushed to his side as he gasped, sweat rolling down the side of his face as he breathed heavily.

"Noct, you okay!?" Prompto asks in concern. Noct lifts his head, his eyes staring at the ground beneath him.

"What did I...What was that?" he muttered.

"What is it?" Gladio asks.

"A hole in the ground...something burning," he says. "The Meteor?"

"You saw the Disc of Cauthess?" Ignis says surprised. Everyone grows silent.

"The Disc of...what?" I question. "What are you talking about, Iggy?" He remains silent for a few seconds before Gladio speaks up.

"Let's head back to Lestallum first, get some rest at the Leville," he suggests. "We can search into this tomorrow."

"Yeah..." Noct mutters, "..Yeah, sounds good."

We make our way back to the Regalia and drive back to Lestallum. Sitting in the passenger seat of the car, I found myself glancing back the sleeping prince the whole drive. If what he's seeing is really the Disc of Cauthess, then why? Why is he getting these visions?

"He'll be alright, Raya," Ignis says to me.

"I know," I sigh, "still can't help but worry though." I feel a small tap on my shoulder and I turn my head to see Prompto giving me a cheeky grin.

"What?" I ask.

"Soooo, how long are you planning on wearing Noct's coat?" Looking down at myself, I realize that I was indeed still wearing his coat, despite all that's happened back at the waterfall.

"O-Oh, I, um, was going to give it back to him when we got back to Lestallum," I said. "I guess I kind of forgot...about it."

"Uh-huh," Prompto nods. "Sure was nice of him to give it to you in the first place."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I-I'm sure he would have done the same for any of you guys." I look at each of them, all wearing grins on their faces. "Right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Gladio chuckles. "That's usually not how that works."

"How what works? What are you guys getting at?" I ask, frowning and getting a bit flustered.

"Oh, nothing," Prompto says cheekily, casually looking out the car window.

"Nothing at all," Gladio adds with a matching smirk. I frowned at the two of them before facing forward with my arms crossed and a pouting face, feeling my cheeks heat up ever so slightly at the teasing.

"I take it you were quite comfortable with the added layer?"

"Ignis!"

*****

The next morning we awoke from our slumber and met in the lobby with Iris and Jared after getting ready. Noct just had himself another headache, which meant he had another vision to see. Iris, of course, expressed her own concerns, but Gladio reassured her it's nothing to worry about. We began discussing our plan to get Noct to the Disc of Cauthess