Not Quite Home In Darkness: Chapter 60

When Noct next opened his eyes he was greeted by metal walls and the familiar hum of engines. He blinked, feeling disoriented; a groan escaped him as the fog of unconsciousness gave way to aches and pains. The most pressing was his chest, which simultaneously felt like it was on fire and that a Garula was sitting on him.

“Noct, you with us?” A warm hand pressed against his forehead, which he would have normally shrugged off, but this time it felt kind of nice.

“Mmm,” Noct hummed, blinking several times as Ignis and the rest of his surroundings came into view.

He was lying on one of the hard, metal cots on Aranea’s airship, which he guessed was heading back to Caem. His brows pinched at the wheeze in his chest. He cleared his throat with a wince and tried to sit up. Ignis moved quickly to help him, carefully placing several pillows behind him and pulling up the many blankets that covered him, tucking them in more securely before turning back to him with a withering look.

“I know it’s your natural instinct to tell me you’re ‘fine’ , Noct, but do try to humour me a little, would you?”

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Not Quite Home In Darkness: Chapter 59

“Noct, you’ve lost your god damned mind if you think we're leaving you alone on this shithole island.”

Noct groaned. They’d been arguing for what felt like hours, but Gladio was having none of it.

“You didn't see what Leviathan did last time, it destroyed half of Altissia,” Noct ran a hand through his hair tiredly. “If she makes waves, you're all going to be washed into the sea and I can't focus on this battle if I'm worried about all of you.”

“It's my job to have your back, in case you've forgotten, and I can't do that when I'm 200 fucking miles away.”

“And this is my job. Leviathan isn't like the others we’ve faced so far, this isn’t a test. She’s not interested in joining me, which means I have to give her no other option. Me. Alone. This is one of those times I have to prove I'm strong enough without you.”

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Hey so... uh...

Soon.....and uh.... 

sorry ‘bout the wait... 😣

Not Quite Home In Darkness: Chapter 58

Ignis woke to what felt like a furnace at his back. He took a moment to muddle through the sleep fog, questions like, “Where on Eos am I?” filtering through his head, which were quickly answered with vivid, and very unwanted memories of being violently ill. Ignis opened his eyes to the darkness of their bedroom at Cape Caem and the rest came flooding back.

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Not Quite Home In Darkness: Chapter 57

Ignis’s breath hissed through clenched teeth as he painfully dragged a struggling Prompto through the mud. With every step a fight with both Prompto and the injured Malboro sprout trailing them, Ignis didn't have the time to look around for his companions.

“Let me go, monster!” Prompto yelled, trying to claw at Ignis’s arm but was foiled by his shirt sleeve.

“Calm down, Prompto!” Ignis managed to gasp out. “You’re confused. The breath of the Malboro has clouded your senses.”

Ignis flinched at the firecrack of Prompto’s gun sounding half a dozen times behind him. Chancing a quick glance over his shoulder, he saw that the Malboro sprout following them was down, writhing in pain. He could only just hear the scream over the ringing in his ears.

Prompto took that moment of distraction to twist in Ignis’s grip and turn his pistol on his friend.

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Not Quite Home In Darkness: Chapter 56

The sound of fighting nearby wasn’t too distracting, metal against metal with the occasional frustrated grunt from Gladio. Ignis could block them out easily enough if he needed to. Prompto humming by his side is a little harder to tune out but it was a pleasant sound so he didn’t mind. There was a yell followed by a sword flying and slamming into the dirt. Gladio was on the ground, and not for the first time. Ignis looked up briefly, assessing the situation briefly before shaking his head and looking away.

Gladio groaned, but quickly got up; his sword reappeared in his hand and he was ready to go again. Ravus appeared unruffled, but wasn’t looking quite as smug as he had earlier. Gladio wasn't winning, but he wasn't losing either.

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Not Quite Home In Darkness: Chapter 55

“You know the others are going to kill you right?” Noct smirked, and immediately regretted it.

He sat on a damp, moss-covered log, one hand cloudy with ice magic, which he held over his swollen eye. Ravus stood opposite him, leaning against a tree, apparently completely unconcerned about what would happen to him once they returned to the others. His eyes flickered to Noct, and he shrugged.

“Perhaps in the future they will attempt to do their jobs competently,”

Noct groaned. He had been joking, trying to get a rise out of Ravus, but he was actually concerned about the others. They were sure to be worrying about him, especially as he’d left his phone behind when he’d gone on his little sleepwalk with Eos.

“We should go back,” he said, but Ravus just raised an eyebrow.

“I’m happy to do so,  just as soon as you can stand without falling over,” he said, folding his arms. “I certainly won’t carry your Highness.”

“I’m not dizzy anymore,” Noct protested, standing and spreading his arms to prove his point. “See? Totally fine.”

“Of course you are. Put that ice back on your eye.”

Noct complied with an eye roll and another wince, and sat back down.

“Pretty sure you’re trying to keep me here cos you’re just a little bit scared,” Noct said, but Ravus wasn’t looking at him anymore. He stood to attention, looking out towards the dense forest behind them.

That was when Noct heard the rumble. The trees ahead of them shook violently, and something shot out of them, moving faster than Noct could follow with his currently addled vision. “What-” Noct started moving toward Ravus. Ravus shouted an alarm; his arm flew out, and next thing Noct knew, he was being shoved to the ground. Read it here on AO3 Art by Jaciopara