A King's Duty

Chapter 2

The sun was high in the sky, and the local June bugs were happily singing their songs. The day was hot, with little to no wind to alleviate the heat. The land seemed almost like a desolate wasteland were it not for the sparse vegetation doting the landscape. The clouds seemed to have all but deserted the sky allowing the sun to reign supreme over the landscape.

With an annoyed sigh Noctis whipped his face with his shirt and threw it back into the backseat of the Regalia with his jacket. He wasn't nearly as muscular as Gladio, but he had a very well built physique. With another deep breath Noctis quickly closed his eyes and turned his head towards the sky hoping it would ease him of his frustration and anxiety. They had left Insomnia not long after sunrise, wanting to get an early start on their adventure, to see Luna again, but to his dismay the Regalia had broken down shortly after noon earlier that day. Since then they had been trying to push the royal car towards the nearest outpost where they could get it repaired.

Oh how he wanted to just be with her again. He had long looked forward to them being reunited; only this time without him being resigned helplessly to a wheelchair. And yet fate seemed to have had it out for him.

"Come on Noct," Gladio griped bringing the prince's attention back to their situation. With a huff the young prince went back to helping to push the car. Gladio had likewise tossed his jacket into the car, never one to not take pride in his well-built muscles. Prompto, pushing from one of the car's sides had thrown his jacket in as well however he kept his sleeveless red shirt on, perhaps feeling self-conscious about his own physique. Ignis remained in the driver's seat, steering the car while trying to get a signal on his phone. To their great fortune none of them had any phone reception out in the wastelands separating Insomnia from Leide.

"Gladio, do me a favor," Noctis grunted as they continued to push the car slowly forward.

`"What?" the shield barked back, quickly whipping the sweat off his brow before pushing more.

"Push this thing all by yourself," the prince replied in between grunts.

"All by myself?!" he roared incredulously.

"You wouldn't even notice if we just let go," Prompto added from near the driver's seat.

"Prompto don't you dare! It's your fault we're in this mess!" Gladio snapped at the blond. Noctis inwardly couldn't help but agree.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know the car was manual?" Prompto shot back.

"Save some breath for pushing," Ignis said, breaking up the argument as he slightly turned the wheel to adjust their course. "Hammerhead should be just around this ridge."

"It had better be," Noctis grumbled. A detour like this was going to eat up a lot of time. Their ferry was scheduled to depart from Galdin Quay the morning after tomorrow, and Noctis wasn't willing to risk missing it.

After close to another hour of furious struggle the car had made it passed the ridge revealing the outpost just a few hundred meters away. From the distance the gang could see a few rows of RV units set next to a large garage with a metal hammerhead shark hanging over it acting as a shelter. A restaurant and a convenience store where located next to it.

A group of men must have spotted them as they ran out to help them push the car. "You boys look like ya be a spot of trouble, mind if we help out?" one of them offered. Gladio tensed up slightly at their approach but seeing as how they didn't seem to mean any harm he relaxed, only slightly though. Prompto let of a relieved chuckle as Noctis readily and gratefully accepted their aid. The two wore dirty but well-worn leather jackets and faded denim jeans. One had the beginnings of a beard while the other seemed to be just a few years older than Noctis. The only fresh polished piece between them was the armband they both wore. Noctis recognized the insignia. They were hunters, a sort of militia group founded to help protect Lucian lands and citizens from the Nifs and daemons since the vast majority of the Lucian military was focused on the war. They acted like a freelance group, but when the Marshall, or the royals call, they answer.

"You boys are lucky you got here when you did, it'll be getting dark soon, and you don't want to be out and about when it does," the older man said. "The daemons have been getting more active lately, the only thing keeping them from overrunning the outposts are us hunters and them daemon repelling lights that the crown had had shipped out across Lucis," he said. Noctis carefully hid his relief that not all of his efforts to help the people on the other side of the wall died in the council room back in the Citadel. Prompto couldn't help but send Noctis a shit-eating grin.

With the extra help, the gang easily rolled the Regalia to the repair station. "Cindy's who you wanna see about your car, that gal can fix anything with an engine," the younger man said as the royal retinue thanked them.

"Great thanks!" Noctis said, making sure to thank each of them individually, giving them both a firm handshake and a grateful smile. He took a quick look around the station seeing more people than he expected. There was a small family exiting the diner to see what the commotion was all about, and a few other hunters sitting at a table near the RV's had taken a break from the card games they were playing to observe them. Not really wanting to draw a crowd, Noctis tried to act as casual as possible, his friends doing likewise, even Prompto had stopped fidgeting and playing with his camera.

"Well howdy boys!" a honey voice called behind them. Noctis turned to see a blond curly haired woman walking up to them. She wore a bright yellow leathered cropped jacket, which she left mostly unzipped showing off a pink bikini that she wore underneath. She also wore denim hot pants with black thigh-highs and white boots. Her mechanic's belt hung loosely from her waist. Her gaze shifted between the four of them, her gaze lingering on Noctis and Gladio's exposed torso for a few moments longer before she covered it up by clearing her throat. "Yawl having some car problems?" she asked, adjusting the red hammerhead cap she wore.

"Uh, yea," Noctis quickly replied. He could see the image of a twelve year old Luna, scowling at him with a disappointed look on her face so he forced himself to focus on the blonde's honey brown eyes, despite her rather alluring outfit. Ignis focused more on the car and the local area rather than the girl. Gladio remained at Noctis's side, giving her a quick one over, his eyes lingering here and there but then he seemingly payed her no heed. Prompto on the other hand, was a different story all together. "We were told to find someone named Cindy," Noctis started. "Would you happen to?" he left the question open on purpose.

"I sure would!" she said proudly, resting her hands at her waist. "I'm Cindy, Cindy Aurum, pleasure to meet you," she hand extending her gloved hand. Noctis took it and gave her a firm shake, the name sounded familiar but he just couldn't place where he knew it from. "Now then, let's see what's wrong with this beauty," she said as the mechanic moved over to the hood and pooped it oven.

A small amount of smoke rose from the engine even as she reached to her belt and pulled out a small flashlight to see deeper into the car's innards. The amazed and delightful look in her eyes faltered and quickly turned into a scowl. "I haven't seen a car like this since I was a little girl, but she kind of looks a lot like what paw-paw said the…" she trailed off for a second before stopping. She swiftly turned her gaze back to Noctis and nearly whispered. "Is this the Regalia?" The prince merely nodded. Her eyes went wide for a second as a wave of understanding swept through her. "Hang on, I'll be right back," she said before taking off back into the large garage.

Noctis took this moment to throw his tee-shirt back on, and thrusted Prompt's jacket into the blond man's torso. "Wanna pick your jaw up off the floor there Prompto?" Noctis teased.

"Dude, did you see her? She's gorgeous!" Prompto said. "Like an angel sent from heaven," he said in a sing along tone.

"Oh give me a break," Gladio said good naturedly. He to put his jacket back on, but left it unbuttoned.

"You have no room to talk Gladio, I saw you checking her out too!" Prompto shot back. Huffing as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Yea, but at least I wasn't staring like a drunken love struck puppy," Gladio chuckled out. Even Noct got a laugh out of that, his friends relieved that he was able to laugh. The prince hadn't said anything, but they all knew he was stressed and starting off their trip with car troubles was doing nothing to help.

Ignis tapped Noctis on the shoulder, bringing his attention back to the garage as Cindy returned with on old man following behind her.

"Now what's so important that I have to come back out of retirement?" he yelped, yet even as he said those words his eyes fell upon the very same car he thought he'd never see again. "Oh," he mumbled, "I see." His shoulders drooped from underneath his red jacket; he removed his baseball cap and ran a hand through his aged silver hair. He hobbled over closer to the royal retinue giving each one of them a once over.

"You're the spitting image of your father, after you finish kicking the dignity out of him," he quipped at Noctis who merely blinked in surprise. He then turned to Gladio "And you if your father ever had hair." He chuckled to himself shaking his head. The names Cid, Cid Aurum, me and your dads' go way back."

Suddenly as if a light switch had been flipped it, he remembered why he had recognized the Aurum name. Cid was one of Regis's sword brothers, similar to how his own friends were to him. Noctis would often hear stories about them and their adventures when he was younger. But before Noctis could say anything Cid snapped at him again. "Well, what the hell ya waitin for? Get this baby in the garage so I can see what you did to her!" he barked, already wandering into the garage, mumbling about how he "young kids" didn't understand how to treat a custom beauty like the Regalia.

"So, you must be the prince right? Prince-" Cindy was cut off as she started guiding the boys as they pushed the car into the garage.

"Just Noct, please," he grunted as he pushed. "This is Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto," he introduced each of them with a nod in their direction. "Trying to keep a low profile."

"Well, alright then Noct, this might take a little while, Paw Paw never gets this excited, so how about I give you boys a call when the repairs are done?" They finished moving car as instructed and were unceremoniously ushered out of the garage.

"Really? We didn't get any reception on the way here," Noctis pointed out. He noticed Gladio was seemingly aimlessly wandering around, but the prince knew he was getting a lay of the land. Ignis had gone off to inspect the convenience store nearby. Prompto was hanging around Noct, the prince figured mostly to be close to the blonde mechanic.

"Oh yea, phones can be a bit scratchy between here and the crown city, but once you get past the wastelands the service should be fine," Cindy explained as she got the prince's phone number.

"Oh! Here have mine too!" Prompto leaped. "In case Noct's phone is dead or something," he tried to play it off and just making things feel a bit more awkward. She took his number regardless, writing it down on a small notepad Noct didn't notice her pull out. "Well alright then, imma go help Paw Paw with your car, we'll give you a holler when she's ready!" She said. Then her eyes seemed to widen for just a fraction of a second as if remembering something. "It was great meeting you your highness, and congrats on your wedding!"

"Not married yet…" Noctis tried to reply but the grease monkey was already jogging back into the garage. He turned to his side as Prompto leaned on his shoulder with a deep sigh.

"I think I'm in love Noct," the photographer sighed dreamily. "She's like an angel from the heavens itself,"

"Oh brother," Noct said with a chuckle giving his best friend a friendly push. "You just met, save the day dreams for after you can have a proper conversation." The prince began walking towards the rows of RC campers that were bustling with activity from travelers and hunters alike. Sharing a quick glance with his shield the taller muscular man fell in step with him as the two went to go mingle.

"Hm, a conversation eh? Maybe she needs help from a big strong Crownsguard like myself," Prompto hyped himself as he made his way back to the garage.

It was a few minutes later that Ignis stepped out from the store, an ebony coffee in one hand, a bag of cold water bottles in another. He noticed Prompto and after successfully getting his attention gave the blonde one of the bottles to help rehydrate after pushing the car all afternoon. After a quick scan he finally found Noctis and Gladio, mostly because Gladio stood out like a sore thumb. Noctis just seemed to almost melt into a crowd; he was a natural at it. Although he refused to admit it out loud, Noctis did have a point in that bringing either Gladio or himself along with his bouts of community service would do nothing but garner attention. The two older adults didn't have that talent that the younger members of their group did. He reasoned that it was probably do to their noble upbringing.

After navigating his way over to the prince and his sworn shield and giving them some of the water bottles Noctis was laughing with a couple of the kids before excusing themselves. "Was seeing how things are out here," Noctis explained after a deep sip of the water the cool refreshing water reinvigorating him. "Turns out the Nifs have next to no presence out here with the exception of a couple bases and the odd patrol here and there, not that it will matter soon," he said as they put some distance between themselves and the bystanders. "The big thing right now is the wedding, I guess the information went public earlier today."

"The empire may not be overly active but there are still the daemons to worry about," Gladio rebuked. "The lights from the crown city might help out but straying too far can still be very dangerous, best to not travel at night."

"Yea," Noct agreed, wishing there was something he could do to help alleviate the problem. After the formal treaty signing and the wedding with Luna, this whole area will officially belong to the Niflhiem Empire. The thought still left a bitter taste in his mouth. He played with the bottle in his hands, trying to distract himself from the feeling of betrayal he felt for his people.

They sat at a shaded table near the small restaurant to sit and wait for the repairs to finish. "By the way, where's Prompto?" Gladio asked as they sat.

"I believe he stayed at the garage," Ignis replied. "I took the liberty to grab some essential supplies while I had the chance and saw him there."

"Nah, here he comes now," Gladio observed.

"How'd it go loverboy?" Noctis teased.

Prompto collapsed in the chair with a sigh. "Cid kicked me out," he said. "If you're just going to stand there starin' and not 'elpin then get outta here!" he mocked the older mechanic's voice.

"Tough as nails and stubborn as a mule, just like how dad described him," Noctis recollected with a chuckle. "When I was a kid my dad would tell me all sorts of stories about his adventures, in hindsight I think a part of it was to try and relive those days for himself." Gladio nodded in understanding.

A commotion caught Noctis's eye as a group of hunters were conversing amongst themselves. Without even thinking he got up from his seat and went to go investigate, the others following behind him silently.

"Im telling you, it's too dangerous, we've only got a few hours of good sunlight left!" Noctis recognized the voice of the older hunter that had helped them earlier.

"That's all the more reason for us to go now then," the younger man said.

"Would you even know where to start looking?" a woman asked. "Dave was supposed to report in an hour and a half ago, his last reported location is a shaky lead at best."

"So what? We're going to abandon him out there?" the young man asked again. The other two hunters looked as though they wanted to argue but didn't quite have a rebuttal.

"What's going on? Is there a problem?" Noctis asked as he jogged up to them. The three hunters immediately turned to face him.

"Nothin for you to concern yourself with young man," the woman said calmly, trying to reassure the prince.

"Sounds like someone is missing, anything we can do to help?" Noctis asked the rest of his group already behind him; Gladio and the hunters having a brief glance over each other, sizing each other up. The older hunter was about to protest but Noctis cut him off. "You guys really helped us out earlier, let us return the favor."

The younger hunter sighed and kicked some dirt under his boot. "One of our own, Dave, is missing, he was supposed to report in an hour ago but hasn't, we don't have enough people to go searching for 'em without leaving the outpost unprotected."

"Well, count your search party up by four," Noctis said crossing his hands, Prompto shaking his arms out ready for action, Ignis pushing his glasses back up, and Gladio rolled his head on his shoulders ready for some action.

"Really? That'd be a massive help!" the older man replied. "Alright, Jessie grab Jerry, we're going to check north of where Dave's last report said he was going, Farris take our friends here and scout out the last place we heard him from. Take care now yawl." The woman, Jessie nodded and turned back towards another man leaning against a light post staring out into the wastes, whistling to get his attention and waving him over as the three moved towards a trio of trucks parked together the edge of the outpost.

"Alright, ready?" The younger man, Farris, asked. The retinue nodded as they climbed into another of the trucks. The trucks looked like armored semi's with an open, tarp covered trailer attached to the back, from there were a small stash of guns and other weapons, some medical supplies, rations and basic supplies. "Aren't these beauties great? Specially made from the crown city for the hunters, great for helping out folks stranded on the roads and for fending off daemons!" he said enthusiastically as Noctis and Gladio limbed up to the front of the semi with their driver. Ignis and Prompto took to the back, Prompto drawing his pistol while Ignis surveyed with a pair of binoculars.

Noctis closed his eyes and drew on his magic, like running his hands through a gentle stream of water. He felt the magic flowing through him, felt it in his eyes. As he opened them his eyes shone bright with a reddish glow. The Eyes of Libra, the ability came to him one day, as if it came to him in a dream. They allowed him to see the "truth" of the world, whatever the hell that meant, all Noct knew is that they let him see living beings and animals through walls and other obstacles, and in one occasion a glaive's illusions.

They drove around, little to no conversations save radio contact with the other truck as they focused on searching. After a good few minutes, Noct wasn't particularly counting he saw the familiar glowing shapes of humanoids through a hill, as well as a handful of canine like shapes. Wasting no time the prince pointed out the direction. "Let's check over there!" he said pointing in the general direction. "Take a left!" the driver turned seeing the glowing eyes of the prince briefly before turning back to the road following the directions.

As the truck bent around the hill a small shack stood amongst the ruins of a half-built barn house, a pack of ridge-spined emaciated looking creatures were circling the shack. "Damn, sabertusks; must be held up in that there shack!" the hunter exclaimed as he stopped the truck. A gunshot immediately rang out as Prompto shot the closest one in the back of the head. By the time Noctis had thrown himself out of the truck, the blonde had felled a second, a third by the time Gladio got out.

Pulling his trusty engine blade from his magical arsenal, the prince wasted no time throwing the weapon with magically enhanced strength and precision towards one of the sabertusks as it turned its attention to them. Noctis pulled himself to the blade and in the blink of an eye traversed a couple dozen meters to embed his blade into the creature.

With most of their pack slain the remaining two sabertusks howl and start running away from the shack, but Noctis warped towards and felled one of the two before it could get far, another gunshot rang out as the last one fell, Prompto blew the non-existent smoke from his pistol as he twirled it in his hands. The hunter just stood there in bewildered shock as the pack of hounds was dealt with in almost no time at all.

Gladio made his way up to the door knocking twice on it. "Hey, coast is clear, if you're in there it's safe to come out now," he said. The sound of furniture being moved and a deadbolt being unlatched was heard before the door was opened to show an older man, seemingly in his late thirties brandishing a pistol favoring his right leg fiercely as he checked outside. He wore well-worn jeans and a padded vest over a tank top. His arms were covered in tattoos and he was well built.

"Don't recognize you, but I appreciate the help. Names Dave, can I spare you for a bit more?" the man asked as the others approached. "Found her alongside the road, unfortunately so did the tusks, was able to get her in here but the pesky varmints got my radio and took a bite from my leg," he said limping aside so that they could see the young woman laid down on a pair of jackets on the floorboards.

Noct could hear Farris radioing the other group saying that they had found their comrade. "Iggy! Noct called seeing the young unconscious woman. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a green tank top, Noct figured one of the jackets she was laying on belonged to her. Her dark brown hair half in a bun half undone spilled unto the makeshift bed she was on.

Hearing his name, Ignis came rushing inside to inspect the young woman. "She's a glaive," was the first thing the chamberlain had said, recognizing her immediately. "Badly wounded but still alive, wonder what she's doing out here," he said out loud. He handed Noctis a battle of water that he seemed to have pulled from thin air as the bright blue magic materialized it. Noct immediately took the bottle and began channeling magic into it, transforming the liquid into a potion.

"Well, I'll be damned; you're the crown prince aren't ya?" Dave asked as the prince handed the potion back to Ignis who was already gently administering the curative to the wounded glaive.

"Yea, but let's keep that to ourselves and get you guys back to Hammerhead," Noctis said handed another potion to Dave. The hunter thanked the prince as he took the drink, feeling its healing properties wash over him.

"What the hell is the crown prince doing out here, shouldn't you be somewhere safer on your way to that wedding your highness?"

"Seriously, stop with the "highness" stuff, trying not to draw attention," Noctis said again as he and Ignis prepared the help transport the glaive to Gladio who would be able to carry her back to the truck. Once she was safely secured Dave climbed into the passenger side of the truck while Noctis and Gladio rode on the trailer with Prompto and Ignis.

"That was some sharp shooting Prompto, I didn't even have to do anything," Gladio commented approvingly as they rode back. Prompto couldn't help but try and buff himself up.

"What can I say? I'm just amazing like that," the blonde responded full of pride. "Ace sniper and wooer of ladies," he boasted getting a scoff from the shield. The rest of the trip was in comfortable silence, with Ignis focusing on keeping the glaive stabilized, they could hear Farris regaling Dave about the nearly nonexistent fight with great enthusiasm.

The other truck had already beat them back to hammerhead and they could see the floodlights already coming on as the sun started to set behind the mountainous terrain. "Really appreciate your help highness," Dave said as they were getting off the truck. Noctis was about to correct him again before a slip of paper full of phone numbers was thrust in his hands. "Call us if you need anything, and don't worry about the glaive, we'll see to it that she's taken care of." They parted with some handshakes and pleasant goodbyes just as the dwindling light of the sun began to fade.

"There yall are!" they heard from behind them, turning to see Cindy walking up to them. "Been looking all over for you fellas. Your cars' all taken care of, feel free to come get her in the morning, it's not safe to be driving at night. I already went and got you guys a place to crash tonight," she explained handing them a pair of keys to a camper and told them where to find it, as well as where to return the keys in the morning.

"Yea, sure thing, by the way, how much do we owe you?" Noctis asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Paw Paw said he'll make his old friend Reggie pony up for it since you've been such a help to the hunters," Cindy answered with a wave as she was already heading back to the garage. Noctis could see Cid tip his cap to them from there. Noctis nodded back at him.

"Ready to hit the hay guys?" Noctis asked with a stretch.

"Sleep does sound good," Prompto agreed with a yawn.

"Best we get back on the road first thing in the morning if we're going to make it to Galdin Quay by tomorrow," Ignis stated.

"Which means no sleeping in till noon Noct," Gladio teased as they retired for the day.

"Yea no kidding," Noct answered.

Oof three years without an update. What originally started as an indecision on how to have Cid deal with a not spoiled aloof Noctis turned into a whopping three years of drama, yikes. To anyone who has made it this far, I appreciate it and hope you enjoy the story and continue to follow with where it leads, until next time, thank you all!