"See?" Noctis asked after he safely warped him and Makina to the base of the cliff. "Told ya I wouldn't kill us."

The snowy-haired girl tightened her arms around his neck. She slumped against him with a sigh. "I hate warping..."

"You jump and fall into rifts all the time."

"Yeah, but I'm used to that. Warping is different than traveling via a rift." She unwound her arms from around his neck and tried to step away from him, but the arm secured around her waist didn't budge. "You gonna let me go anytime soon?"

"Not sure," he replied. "I kinda like how we are."

"Yeah, well, we'll be sharing a bed tonight and can snuggle all you like then. For now, we should find the others." She patted his chest and stepped away from him the moment his arm fell from her waist.

They found the others near the caravan and received a lecture from Ignis before deciding to eat. The advisor used the stove within the caravan to make dinner. They enjoyed their meal together without Ardyn butting in. Once the food was all gone and their bellies were full, they called it a night.

Luckily, the boys and Makina were in the backroom with the bunk beds. She shared one of the small beds with Noctis. It wasn't made for two people, but they made it work. It was slightly uncomfortable due to the limited space, but they soon found a position that brought comfort to both of them.

Makina heard the gentle snoring of Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus while she too tried to fall asleep. However, it eluded her. With her back pressed against Noctis' chest, she tugged on the blanket she was sharing with him. She stiffened slightly at the sensation of him hanging his arm around her waist.

Noctis felt her muscles stiffen. "Someone's a little tense..."

Exhaling a deep sigh, the girl relaxed her body. "It's been a while since we've shared a bed."

"Guess the last time was before you left to do more training. You good now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But are you sure you're comfortable? I can sleep on the floor so you can have more space."

"I'm comfy. Even if I wasn't, there's no way I'd let you sleep on the floor."

Turning around to face him, she hummed and snuggled as close as possible to him. The arm she had tucked between them slithered around his neck. Her fingers combed at the hair along the base of his neck, which made him shudder. She grinned at his reaction to her touch. Her grin slowly shifted into a smile as she noticed her ministrations were lulling him to sleep.

"Keep doing that..." He mumbled as his eyes started to slide close. He tried to fight the urge to fall asleep, but her fingers were making it impossible. Her stroking his hair was causing him to fall asleep. Lazily, he wound one arm around her waist and held her close. He nuzzled his nose against the top of her head with a satisfied sigh.

Makina didn't say a word. She watched Noctis fight against sleep before giving in. She smiled in relief once seeing he was finally at peace. "Good night, Noct," she whispered to him. Eventually, she too found peace of mind and fell into the clutches of sleep.

༻──── ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ────༺

Before dawn broke, Makina was awake. She carefully crawled out of the bunk after kissing Noctis on the cheek. She was extra cautious and sighed gingerly once seeing the prince hadn't awoken due to her movements. Creeping through the caravan, she avoided waking anyone else and left to enjoy the fresh morning air.

She didn't wander too far from the caravan. She simply ducked behind it and performed a quick check-up on the Ionus Sphere. Although it had integrated with her body with ease, she would experience small twinges of pain every now and then since she had yet to properly control its power output. If those small waves of pain never happened, she would've easily forgotten the artifact dwelled within her chest. Seeing it was intact and there were no changes, minus the ones created by Aos, she placed the Ionus Sphere back within her body with a sigh.

Hearing the door to the caravan open and close, Makina walked around to the front. She thought Ardyn was awake but was relieved to see it was Ignis. She should've known since he was an early riser like herself. "Good morning, Iggy. You're up earlier than usual. The sun hasn't even risen yet."

"Good morning," he replied. "Though there is a slight chill in the air."

"It is a little chilly out here now that you mention it." She looked towards the horizon to see the rays of the sun beginning to cast across the land. "It'll warm up here shortly."

"Since you are up, perhaps you will accompany on an early-morning stroll," the advisor said.

She eyed him curiously. "You're not gonna lecture me again, are you?"

"As long as you refrain from using your abilities, no."

She smiled. "Then I will join you."

They walked around the outpost for an hour and watched the sun rise. The chill that lingered in the air was replaced by a steady rise in humidity. They eventually returned to the caravan where they discovered everyone was awake. The two were thoroughly surprised to see Noctis awake so early in the morning.

Makina gasped playfully. She walked over to the prince who sat in one of the chairs by the caravan. She poked his cheek repeatedly. "Are you real? There's no way the real Noctis would be awake already. Or is the world ending tomorrow?"

Noctis eyed her tiredly and grabbed her hand to stop her from poking him again. "You're the reason I'm up this early..."

She smirked and placed her hand against her hip when he released it. "And how is it my fault?"

"You know exactly why. Don't make me say it out loud..."

"I know," she giggled. "You're too embarrassed to admit you couldn't go back to sleep because I was gone."

He rolled his eyes with a huff. "I hate you..."

She poked his nose. "Love you too, darling."

"Where did you go, anyway?" He inquired.

"Iggy and I took an early morning stroll."

Noctis glanced at his advisor with a small hint of scorn in his azure eyes. "A walk, huh..."

Makina sensed the same jealousy from yesterday in his tone. "You can't seriously be jealous."

"Oh, he's definitely jealous," Gladiolus said as he joined the conversation. "I'll never forget how jealous he got when you spent all those months with Iggy to learn how to dance. I thought he was gonna snap at the gala."

Noctis tried to silence his shield, but Makina spoke up before he could. "Wait, are you talking about the gala King Regis held for Noct's 16th birthday?"

"That's the one."

She glanced between the two boys. "This is the first time I'm hearing this."

"That's because Prince Charmless threatened me to keep quiet about it. But now, I couldn't care less." Gladiolus smirked as he folded his arms across his broad, exposed chest. "Kid had it bad that night. Thought he was gonna tackle Iggy the moment you both stepped off the dance floor."

"It was only a dance."

"Yeah, one that you had to practice every day after school with Specs for an entire month," Noctis scoffed.

Makina gazed into his azure pools. "How long had you been crushing on me before you confessed?"

The prince looked away while he told her the truth. "A while. Don't really know when it started, but I only realized what the feeling was after we started high school."

She blinked in surprise. "Now it all makes sense..."

"What does?" Gladiolus pried.

"That day we had PE and I took a soccer ball to the face." She stared deeply into Noctis' eyes. "Remember what happened?"

He sighed. "Like it happened yesterday."

༻──── ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ────༺

During PE, Noctis and his male classmates were doing laps while the girls were playing soccer. Every now and then, he would find himself watching the girls as they play a scrimmage game. However, the only girl he was looking at was Makina. He watched her snowy ponytail sway back and forth while she ran up and down the field. He nearly tripped a few times due to being distracted by her.

Noctis tried to focus on running laps. He managed to do it for a short while until he and the other boys heard a girl shriek. All the boys stopped running and tried to figure out what happened. It wasn't until a few seconds later did he hear one of the girls shout Makina's name.

His head snapped in several directions as he searched for the princess. He couldn't find her, but he did see his female classmates gathered around someone. He was able to get a better look at what, or rather who, they were gathered around when three girls stepped back. In the middle of the group was Makina, who was curled up on the ground.

Without wasting a second, Noctis picked up a pebble and tossed it. He warped to where it landed, which wasn't too far from where Makina lay. He scrambled over to her side and kneeled beside her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he turned her body over so she was laying on her back. His eyes widen when he saw her knees were scraped and her nose was bleeding. "The hell happened?"

Makina managed to smile through the pain. "Took a ball to the face and fell."

He sighed. "You just attract all kinds of trouble."

"Says the one who causes trouble," she retorted.

He examined her scraped knees and bloody nose. "Okay, yeah, you're going to the nurse's office."

"I can help," a girl offered.

"I've got this," Noctis replied. He easily scooped Makina up into his arms and carried her to the nurse's office.

The princess was stunned at how easy he made it look to carry her. "Geez, Noct. When did you start working out?"

"Blame Gladio," he replied as he walked through the halls, ignoring the stares he was getting from other students.

"More like I should thank him..." She mumbled to herself. She then spoke up for him to hear. "I can walk, y'know. My knees are scraped, not broken."

"Yeah, but it would take us forever to get to the nurse's office with you hobbling along."

She childishly pursed her lip and fell silent. She nor he said anything until they got to the nurse's office. The nurse wasn't inside, meaning Noctis would have to take over. He sat her down on the bed and searched for bandages. He found some rubbing alcohol, but he remembered what Ignis taught him and decided to use water instead. With wet cotton balls, tissues, and bandages, he kneeled in front of her and tended to her scraped knees while she nursed her bloody nose. He was extra careful while cleaning the dirt from the shallow cuts.

Makina could see and feel how gentle Noctis was being. With her nose now blood-free, she glanced between him and her injured knees. She soon found herself staring into his eyes and saw a mix of emotions. She could see worry, anger, and another emotion swimming in his eyes she couldn't describe. "I'll be okay, Noct. I'm not going to die from something like this."

"I know. It's just..." He lowered the cotton ball and refused to meet her gaze. "I don't like seeing you get hurt. That's all."

The snowy-haired girl fell silent. She saw another emotion rise in his eyes, but she wasn't sure what it was. She wondered if that unfamiliar emotion was why he was treating her like glass while he tended to her minor injuries.

Once Noctis finished patching up her knees, he forced himself to look up at her. "How's your nose?"

"It's fine. There wasn't much blood," she replied and set the tissue she used to wipe her nose down. "I'm just glad it isn't broken. It'll probably be sore for a little bit, though."

He stood up and grinned as the mixed emotion from his eyes vanished. "Try not to catch a ball with your face next time."

Makina snorted. "I'll catch balls however I want."

"Fine, but don't expect me to carry you to the nurse's office again."

"That's fine. I'm sure I can get someone else to help me."

Noctis froze as he turned to leave. He slowly looked over his shoulder at her. "You mean like another...guy?"

She arched a brow, wondering why he automatically thought she would ask another guy for help. "You know other girls go to this school, right?"

Realizing what he said, he cleared his throat and corrected himself. "Or girl."

She eyed him suspiciously. "Right... Well, I'm gonna head to the locker room and change. Have fun with the rest of your laps."

"I hate running laps," he grumbled.

"I don't know anyone who does enjoy it," she giggled. "See ya back in class?"

"Yeah." He managed to cast a smile in her direction before he left.

༻──── ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ────༺

"You were worried about me asking for another guy's help because you liked me," Makina deduced.

Gladiolus' grin festered. "You'd be surprised at how often Prince Charmless gets jealous."

"Oh, I can imagine."

"I'm right here, y'know..." Noctis muttered.

"We know," the shield and princess said in unison.

After their conversation, they regrouped with Ignis and Prompto. With the five now back together, they searched for Ardyn. He was inside the convenience store. Noctis reluctantly approached the man and spoke to him.

Once everyone was ready, they depart from Cauthess Coernix Station. Noctis remained the designated driver as they followed behind Ardyn's car.

Sitting in between Ignis and Gladiolus in the backseat, Makina tuned out the boys' banter as she leaned back in her seat. Her lilac eyes wandered to the sky to watch the white clouds sail by. She caught a glimpse of the remnants of Iona and slowly turned her gaze elsewhere.

"Eos to Makina!"

The princes jolted in her seat. She blinked owlishly as she locked eyes with Prompto, who was turned around in his seat. "What?"

"Since we're heading to the Disc, we were talkin' about the Archaean and that started to make me think," the blonde said.

"Thinking for you is quite dangerous."

Her teasing remark earned a snort from Noctis, a chuckle from Gladiolus, and a faint snicker from Ignis. Prompto, on the other hand, wasn't amused. "H-Hey!"

She smiled warmly at him. "I'm just teasing you." With the little room she had for herself, she managed to cross her legs. "What were you thinking about?"

"About Valtreus. We didn't really learn much about him in school."

"I would be surprised if we did learn more about him. Valtreus, after all, is the god of Iona. He has no relation to Eos or the Six. There wouldn't be any reason to learn about him, especially since Iona is destroyed."

"Who is he, exactly?"

"Valtreus is the draconic god of liberation and creation. Ancient Ionian documents stated he was a celestial being born from the cosmos. He forged Iona with his own hands and created Aos, Wex, Fel, and Eko by extracting the elements from Eos. However, Zin and Zen were not. The twin serpents of time and space were forged from the cosmos that gave birth to Valtreus."

"Whoa..." Prompto gaped. "That sounds pretty epic!"

"That would elude to the fact Iona was a much younger planet than Eos," Ignis stated.

"By a couple of millennia," the princess replied. "And now, it's been obliterated."

"And no one knows what the real cause is?" Gladiolus pondered.

Makina sighed sorrowfully. "Sadly, no. All we know is a cataclysmic earthquake shook the entire planet, severed it into pieces, and destabilized the core. The cause of the earthquake was never discovered. It's also strange how Valtreus himself hasn't been seen."

"Hold the phone," Prompto butted in. "You've seen him?!"

"Well...yeah. Valtreus would ascend from the core to bless the royal family during the coronation of a new queen and whenever a child of the royal bloodline was born. Of course, I don't remember what he looks like since I was a newborn."

"Isn't he supposed to be super big? How would he fit through a doorway...?"

She smirked in amusement. "Who said he was in his godly form?"

"Wait, what?"

"Valtreus used a human vessel. There's no way a god would risk his life just to see a babe or witness the royal coronation. My mom told me he would take the appearance of a handsome, well-dressed young man."

"Dude, this would've totally made for a more interesting lesson than math! Man, we really did miss out."

"Noct still would've fallen asleep for sure," she snickered. "Just like with every other lesson."

"That's not true!" Noctis denied quickly.

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "If it hadn't been for me and Prompto, you wouldn't have graduated. All those late-night study sessions are what kept you from drowning in bad grades."

The prince glared unamusingly at her in the rearview window before returning his focus to the road ahead.

Soon, they arrived at the imperial barricade blocking them from getting any closer to the Disc of Cauthess. Noctis pulled the Regalia to a stop beside Ardyn's car.

The auburn-haired man glanced in their direction. "We're here."

Noctis' eyes narrowed. "Better not be a setup."

"Have I given you reason to doubt me?"

"You don't exactly inspire confidence," Prompto replied. "Especially with how grabby you are with Makina..."

Gladiolus scoffed. "Yeah, not very straightforward."

Ardyn ignores their straightforward responses and shouts over the wall. "Hello! It's me! Be so kind as to open up!"

A few seconds later, the gate opens.

Prompto blinked in surprise. "Wow, that worked?"

"I may not look like much, but I do have some influence. Aren't you glad we came together? Your audience with divinity lies ahead," he replied as he slowly began backing his car up.

"You're leaving?"

"I drop you at the Archaean's open door, and with that, bid you farewell." Those were his final words before he left.

As Noctis drove the Regalia through the barricade, Makina sighed in relief that Ardyn was gone. "Praise the Six..."