Huge thanks to SinikkavonWolperting for beta reading this for me, was well as collaborating with me for this one. Hoping to make this one a longer story. So hopefully you guys enjoy it. OwO

His foot sunk down once more into the marshy ground they traversed through, this time sinking as far as to the middle of his lower leg. "Aw, come on!" Prompto groaned as he tugged at his leg to free it from the swamp's grasp. "This is so gross, I got water all in my shoe now." he whined to himself as he freed his limb.

"Well, maybe if you would be more careful where you stepped, it wouldn't be an issue." Gladio advised as he threw an arm over his shoulders.

"And how am I supposed to do that when it all looks the same?" Prompto replied, gesturing to the ground around them. He wrinkled his nose as a waft of the murky waters wretched scent reached his nose. "Ohh, it's gonna take weeks to get rid of this smell. Cindy wouldn't come within ten feet of me like this."

"Yeah, because she was all over you before." Noctis teased sarcastically from ahead.

Ignis was in front of Noctis leading the way. He listened to the friendly banter, but decided not to join in and instead to devote his full attention to navigating the four of them through this treacherous terrain. Although it seemed as though the main threat was getting lost with all the fog that clouded the area.

"Hey, she may not have come close to me physically, but mentally, mentally and emotionally, we have real connections." The love-struck blonde took a deep breath, "You just wouldn't understand."

"Can't argue with that." Noctis laughed to himself, "I don't think anyone would quite understand."

Noctis turned his attention back in front of him, not soon after he heard another squashing sound followed by a distinct and annoyed, "Son of a bitch!"

"So, where exactly is this tomb supposed to be?" Noctis asked Ignis, picking up his pace to walk next to him, all the while hearing Prompto's mumbling complaints in the background.

"I'm not entirely certain of its exact location." He answered coolly, "But it should be a couple days perhaps once we get through this marsh. The information I gathered was a bit on the vague sides of things."

The prince huffed out a puff of frustrated air, "So, in other words, you don't really know."

The older man glared out of the corner of his eye, "'Not knowing' is completely different than having a basic idea of where something is. If I didn't know then I would not even know which direction it was in." He pushed his glasses further up his nose, "With that being said, I know about where it is."

"Right." Noctis turned his head to the side. Nothing he could do about it. This lead was the best they had gotten in days, they would be fools not to at least try it out. "And all he gave you is the general area? No directions or anything? Seems like he would have had at least a little bit more information than 'Hey, I think it might be over there somewhere.'" Despite him knowing it was the best they had, that still didn't stop him from being slightly annoyed.

Ignis was about to reply, but Gladio's shout pulled his focus away, "Watch where you're going!" He looked back to see Prompto clutching onto Gladio's jacket, the only thing that saved him from a dip in the muddy water.

"Sorry." He quickly blurted out, retracting his hands, "Something's under the water though, I felt it brush past my leg."

"Relax, it was probably just a fish or something." The larger man responded, straightening his jacket back out. "You're overreacting."

"No-I...it." Prompto fumbled around his words, unsure of how to explain it, "I wasn't overreacting. I know what a fish feels like, and that was no fish." He spoke quickly, voice high in very apparent fear. He shuffled his feet around, feeling around cautiously.

"Prom, you get startled way too easily, I'm sure it was just your imagi-"

"It wasn't my imagination!" Prompto snapped, cutting Noctis off. "Sorry." He quickly apologizing, realizing his tone. "I didn't mean to yell, but you have to believe me. Something was there. And it wasn't a fish." He added, cutting his eyes over to Gladio.

Ignis gave him the benefit of the doubt on this one. "If you really did indeed feel something sinister, then I'll assure you that I will be more vigilant should anything be lurking nearby. And I would expect you all to do the same." He effectively closed the discussion, giving his final word on the incident. He spun back around and continued forward without waiting for a response from the others.

Noctis followed closely behind him, and next was Gladio. Prompto waited behind for a few seconds, eyes locked onto the water, expecting something to pop out at any moment. But nothing ever did, and he was beginning to wonder if it really was just his mind playing tricks on him.

"Prompto, are you coming?" He heard Ignis call. He looked up, noticing they were quite a few feet away.

"Oh, yeah, coming!" He replied, giving one last glance into the water before trudging along into somewhat of a jog to catch up with the others.

This particular marsh seemed to stretch on for much further than they had originally thought, for they had been wading through it for nearly an hour. They all were now thoroughly soaked up to their waists by this point. No matter how careful they were, there was no avoiding drop-offs altogether. All were worn out by this point, the constant resistance of the environment was doing everything it could to work against them.

The only think making this worse was the thickness of the fog as it had only gotten more concentrated as the day wore on. They could barely see a few feet in front of them anymore and had to resort to walking directly behind one another just to keep from losing anyone.

"I can't see a damn thing. Are you sure we're still heading in the right direction?" Noctis asked, starting to feel a tad on the uneasy side now.

"We've only been going in the same direction this whole time." Ignis answered, confidence embracing his words. "As long as we keep to it, we'll find the edge of it. You just have to be patient."

"I don't think patience is what we need right now." Prompto joked from the back, trying his absolute bet to wring most of the water out of the bottom of his shirt. . "Dry clothes would be nice. Maybe a fire. You know, I might even settle for a cave right now." He slapped at a mosquito that was having a lovely little snack upon his neck, "At least caves don't have bugs like this." He wiped the mushed insect remains on the side of his pants.

"That sounds splendid and all, but we won't have any of that until we find an applicable place to set camp." Ignis promptly reminded him.

"Yeah yeah, I know." Prompto sighed, leaning his head slightly back as he walked. He still couldn't get that occurrence out of his head. He's had that anxious sensation ever since. Something just seemed off and he wanted out of this stupid swamp as soon as possible.

"Don't worry, it has to end at some point." Gladio tried to comfort. He could tell something had been bothering the younger, and he couldn't blame him considering the lack of visibility. It was enough to set them all on edge a bit, and him being one of the youngest and inexperienced of the group, it was no wonder he wasn't very well composed.

"Gladio's right, it can't possibly go on forever." Ignis agreed. "Sooner or later it's going to have to come to an end." He stopped abruptly, stumbling slightly when Noctis ran into his back, but managed to stay on his feet.

"Hey, waddya stop for?" The prince asked, sounding a little irritated at the lack of warning.

"It looks as though we'll get our opportunity to rest sooner rather than later after all." Ignis answered. Noctis peaked around the older man and felt relief over the sight of those familiar glowing markings that pierced through the grey veil.

Prompto could feel all the tension flood out of him at the sound of that. Exhaustion soon settled in the emptiness that stress had left behind, and he now found himself wanting to take a nap more than anything. He finally felt safe enough to let his guard down. He still stayed close behind Gladio though as they walked, still not trusting anything as long as his feet were still in that water.

They all readily climbed onto the haven, relaxing at the knowledge that they would at least be safe for the night. The four of them wasted no time in setting everything up. Gladio worked on the fire, while Noctis and Prompto got to setting up the tent. And of course, Ignis was left with the cooking like always.

Soon, all but Ignis were seated around the fire, absorbing the warmth and comfort they all desperately craved. Their clothes still felt stiff and uncomfortable from all the dirt and grime that still clung to it, and the heat didn't help with the smell any either. It was almost enough to chase away their appetite as the scent was nothing less than repulsive.

Ignis was aware of this so he settled on making something light and simple, cooking just a plain broth with a few vegetables in it. He distributed the bowls out to the others, who accepted them gratefully. Even though none of them really felt like eating, they couldn't deny that even something this elementary was turned into something delicious thanks to Ignis' skilled touch.

Their meal was finished in relative silence, all of them were ready to go to sleep and let the aches drain from their bodies. This time, they all assisted in cleaning up, wanting to get it over with as soon as they could. After all, it wouldn't have been fair to leave it all to Ignis, even if he did insist in his usual manner. He gave them his thanks, truly appreciating the offered help. Without much conversing they crawled into the tent and got comfortable for the night, falling asleep faster than they had expected.

Prompto wasn't sure what it was that woke him. Didn't know if it was a sound. Or if it was a sensation. For all he knew it could have just been his paranoia kicking in. But whatever it was, it didn't feel right. Something was out there, he knew it. And it was close, terribly close. He gazed around the tent, seeing the others were still out, which was punctuated by their light snores and breathing. No reason to wake them on a hunch he figured.

He gently crawled over them, mindful not to touch any of them as he did so. Upon exiting the tent he flipped on his light, giving the area a quick scan and coming up empty. He glanced back over his shoulder to confirm the others were still asleep before taking a few steps away. With this he did a more thorough search of the edges of the haven, still finding nothing. He came to the agreement that it was only him being overly suspicious of nothing and turned to go back to sleep, switching his light off as he did so.

With one step, something caught his attention. It was a strange sound. Listening closer he heard it again, it was like a grotesque gurgling or groaning noise. He warily rotated his head around, looking towards where he thought the sound had come from. He knew he really shouldn't, but curiosity got the better of him. He had to know what the hell that thing was. It had followed them all the way out here after all. Going against his better judgement, he pursued the unwarranted guest, creeping ever closer to the edge of the haven.

Prompto dropped to his hands and knees as he heard the sound again, and crawled over to look over the ledge. Bubbles rose and popped along the surface. He leaned in closer, turning his light back on, hoping to get a glimpse at whatever was down there. There was movement, he was sure of it. If only he could actually see.

Before he could process what was happening, a putrid smell filled his nostrils and stung his eyes. His first instinct was to cover his face with his hand, to protect it what little he could. It was almost enough to make him want to puke. This was not the natural scent of the swamp, this was far more foul. He quickly shuffled back, jumping and crying out as something firmly wrapped around his leg and began tugging. He wasn't strong enough to protest against it and he was effectively dragged over the edge, instantly being pulled under the surface.

Reflex kicked in as he tried desperately to fight off whatever had a hold on him. But he couldn't get out of its death grip, and he could feel it digging into his leg to the point where it was painful. His eyes were opened wide in horror and panic. Everything seemed to freeze, all around him were tentacles as he looked directly at a teeth riddled mouth. This wasn't happening. In a desperate last attempt at freedom he called his pistol and aimed it at the tentacle that was wrapped around his leg. He fired without a second though, successfully causing it to release him.

It seemed like a lifetime before he finally emerged, he hadn't even noticed he had been pulled under so deep. He took in a greedy gasp of air the moment he broke through. He didn't get much time to recover before something else grabbed at his upper arms and pulled him upward. He was getting ready to fend this off as well when they came into view. It was Ignis and Gladio. What were they doing here? They were each holding on to one arm as they lifted him out of the water.

Prompto just lied there for a moment as things went in and out of focus, trying to catch his breath. The others were talking to him, and the looked concerned, but for some reason he couldn't figure out why they would be worried. Soon the ringing in his ears began to ebb away and he could make out their words. He carefully sat up with the help of Noctis. "What's going on?" He asked hoarsely, lungs still burning from lack of oxygen.

"What do you mean, 'What's going on?'. We just had to pull you out of the water. What the hell were you doing in there anyway?" Gladio pressed, not sounding the least bit happy.

"I...I...I don't remember." Prompto stuttered out. "I thought I heard something and went to check it out." He looked back out towards the water. "I guess I must have slipped and fell in. But I don't remember that happening." He suddenly felt unbearably exhausted and found that just keeping his eyes open was a task in of itself.

"Let's get that soaked vest off, shall we?" Ignis suggested, letting his more gentle side shine through, seeing that being tough on Prompto right now would do no one any good. He stepped behind him and slid the material off, placing it on the ground next to the fire to try and dry it out some. "Shoes and socks as well." He added, repeating the process. "Prompto, if you thought something was out here, why didn't you wake anyone else?"

Prompto seemed to think about it for a moment. "I don't know." He answered quietly. "I'm sorry though, I should have. I don't know why I didn't."

"Please, just don't do that again, scared the shit outta us." Noctis spoke up. "Waking up to one of your friends yelling out isn't exactly the most pleasant you know."

That's odd, he didn't recall ever screaming. "My bad." He said instead. It was bad enough he didn't remember falling in, but forgetting other things as well would not have gone over well with the others.

"Maybe you should just got back to sleep." Ignis held a hand out for him, which he thankfully accepted. The older man walked him over back to the tent with a hand placed on his back and helped to guide him back inside, making sure there were no more incidents. He went in after him. Gladio soon went to join them, leaving Noctis standing alone outside. Looking out towards the swamp, he saw nothing, nothing but the usual murky water and suffocating fog. It was understandable that one would feel like they were being watched out here. He left it as the mind playing tricks and followed the others' example.