At 7 am the next morning, Makina woke up. She felt an arm resting around her waist. She noticed she was curled into Noctis' side with his arm resting around her waist. She wasn't sure when their position changed during the night, but this current one allowed her to escape without disturbing the sleeping prince. She checked her clothes and was relieved they were dry even though she wasn't able to set them by the campfire last night. She promptly changed out of the tank top and shorts, replacing them with her normal attire. She unbraided her hair and pulled it back into its usual high ponytail. She combed her fingers through her fringe to detangle any knots.

Crawling out of the tent, the princess spotted Ignis cooking breakfast. She wasn't surprised to see him up so early. Looking around, she saw the chairs around the newly-lit fire were empty. Everyone but her and the advisor were still asleep. "Good morning, Iggy."

He didn't look away from the stove as he stirred. "Good morning, Makina. Sleep well?"

"It does make it easier to sleep when you're sleeping with a cuddler," she laughed. She walked over and stood by him. "Need any help with breakfast?"

"I am nearly done. Your offer is most appreciated, however."

"I'm always happy to help you cook," she said. "You're the one who taught me, after all. I doubt the others help you, either."

"Those three are atrocious in the kitchen," he stated. "The only aid I require from them is distance."

She laughed. "Well, if you do need me for anything else, I won't be far."

Makina ventured towards the edge of the haven. She gazed out at the desert landscape of the Leide region for a few minutes. Deciding to check on the Ionus Sphere, she held her hands near her chest. The artifact emerged from her body. She saw the only two chambers that were empty were the first and third. Eko had taken the second chamber. She then examined the sphere's condition. She was more than happy to see it didn't have a single scratch on it.

"Is everything all right?"

Ignis' voice startled her. The sphere slipped from her fingers, but she was quick enough to grab it before it hit the ground. She sighed in relief. She encased the sphere between her palms and held it close to her chest as she turned to the advisor. "Quiet as always, Iggy."

"Apologies for startling you," he said. "I was hoping you'd assist in waking the others. Noctis, to be more precise."

"I can definitely help." She integrated the sphere back into her body. Returning to the smaller tent, she ducked inside and saw the sleeping prince. She wondered what would be the easiest and quickest way to wake him. Only one idea came to mind.

Makina sat on her knees and grabbed Noctis' wrists. Using her weight, she leaned back and pulled him up. "C'mon, sweetheart. Time to get up." She earned a groan from him. Seeing he was half-awake, she leaned forward and slammed her lips against his. This was enough to wake him up entirely.

Now wide awake, Noctis kissed back. He no longer needed her to support him and moved one of his hands to the back of her neck when she released his wrists. He wanted much more and deepened the kiss.

However, it didn't last long.

Makina froze time and separates herself from the prince. It was the only way she knew how to get away without needing to persuade the needy prince. She resumed time and snorted with laughter when Noctis fell forward. He face-planted on the floor of the tent with a grunt. She couldn't stop laughing. "Sorry."

The raven-haired boy pushed himself off the floor and glared at her. "No, you're not."

"Okay, I lied. It was funny to see you make out with the tent for a few seconds." She then made her way to leave. "We've got a royal arm to find, and we really can't do that if the one who can only get it is asleep."

Noctis groaned and flopped down on his back. He folded an arm across his eyes. "Wake me up in an hour..."

"Uh-uh, no way. You're not going back to sleep." Like before, she grabbed his wrists. This time, she dragged him out of the tent. She stopped dragging him and released him. Whistling, she summoned her chocobo. The ivory-feathered bird 'kwehed' as it ran up the ramp to the top of the haven. She gestures to the prince, whose eyes were closed. The animal seemed to understand and started pecking at him.

Noctis shouted, using his hands to protect himself. "Hey! Stop pecking at me!"

The chocobo didn't listen. It continued to peck and nip at his shirt and hair.

The prince scrambled to his feet and hid behind Makina. She was eight inches shorter than him, but he used her as a wall to keep the chocobo away. He grabbed her shoulders and maneuvered her around in various directions to block the bird. "I'm up! Make it stop!" he shouted.

Makina called off her chocobo. She then spun around and nudged Noctis in the direction of the campfire. "We'll leave after we eat. Now go sit down."

"Whatever, mom..."

Noctis grumpily sat down between Prompto and Gladiolus and ate breakfast. Ignis and Makina joined them.

After breakfast, they departed from the haven.

On the way to Balouve Mine, Gladiolus chatted with the princess. "Did you forget our promise, cupcake?"

"What promise?" she asked.

"The one about our sparring lesson."

"I haven't forgotten," she remarked. "We don't know what's waiting for us in this mine and I wouldn't want to waste all my energy on a sparring match."

He found her reasoning to be plausible. "All right. But once we get this royal arm, we're sparring."

"You really are fixed on this sparring match..."

"You've got some incredible skills. Always excited to see how strong you've grown."

"We'll see how excited you are after I kick your ass."

The royal retinue soon arrived at the entrance to Balouve Mine. They followed the tracks and found an elevator. Noctis stood in front of it and opened the door. It creaked as the rusted metal was pulled to the sides.

Makina hummed in wonderment. "I'm surprised it opened so easily."

"Let's just hope it works," Noctis replied.

As they stepped into the elevator, Prompto felt a sense of unease. "This thing's ancient. You sure it's safe?"

"Only one way to find out," Gladiolus replied.

The blonde watched nervously as the doors slid close. "All aboard, huh..."

Makina pressed the button. The elevator screeched as it slowly descended into the mine.

The shield glanced over at the marksman. "What? Afraid it can't take our weight?"

"More likely to become stuck," Ignis commented.

"I can live with stuck," the sharpshooter responded.

"Even if we got stuck, we have Makina," Noctis said. "She can just make a rift and get us out of here."

"Or maybe I'll make a quick escape and leave you four here," the princess said.

Prompto gasped. "You would leave us trapped in an elevator?"

"Wanna find out?" She went to wave her hand in a mock gesture to open a rift. The marksman yelled in protest and grabbed her hand to stop her. She began to laugh. "I'm just kidding. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if it did get stuck."

"Yeah," Noctis said. "This thing's been around a while."

"I can only guess when they began mining here," Ignis chimed in.

Prompto jumped slightly when a sudden sharp screech came from the elevator. He swallowed nervously and took a couple of steps towards the princess out of fear. "So, um...know what sorta place this is?"

"The sort that's infested with bloodthirsty daemons," the shield stated.

"The only kind we ever go to, might I add," Makina said.

"Pretty much," Noctis agreed.

The elevator continued to carry them downward. The faint screeching of the rusted lift and the sound of metal scraping against rock were all they could hear. Ignis was the first to comment on the slow descent. "There's no telling how deep the shaft goes."

"All the way to hell," Gladiolus remarked.

Makina huffed out and saw her breath. "Hell seems to be pretty cold this time of year. At least my clothes were able to dry overnight or this cold would be worse."

Finally, they reached the first sublevel. They stepped off the lift and it eerily closed behind them. To the left of the tracks were two shipping containers. Seeing only one path forward, they decided to follow the tracks.

Carefully and quietly, Noctis took the lead. Ignis cautiously followed behind him and couldn't help but notice the silence. "It's quiet-too quiet."

Gladiolus looked around, using his flashlight to pierce the darkness. "Baddies could pounce anytime from anywhere. Keep your heads on a swivel."

Makina, with her new flashlight after her previous one was shattered by the naga, pierced the darkness. Strolling by a minecart, she peered inside and saw it was empty.

The princess' attention was drawn to an odd sound. She looked for the source and saw a mine cart speeding down the track. She quickly jumped off the track and shouted at the boys. "Get off the track!"

Everyone except for Noctis heard her. She was tempted to freeze time but decided against it. She watched the cart nail the prince in the back, knocking him down. The sound of chuckling could be heard coming from the cart as it continued to race down the track.

"Noct!" Prompto shouted. "You okay?!"

Noctis groaned and recovered, rubbing his back. "Damn..."

Makina made her way over to him and provided some minor healing. "You were too lost in thought to hear me, weren't you?"

He looked away. "Maybe..."

She smacked his arm. "And that's why I did nothing. Hope you learned your lesson."

"That lesson is probably gonna give me back problems in the future."

"Trust me, you'll have more to worry about than back problems."

The group pass through a narrow tunnel, walking along the wall to avoid any more minecarts that threatened to knock them over. When the tracks veered off into a dead end, they returned to the large chamber with metal beams and located a downward path near an elemental energy deposit.

Passing the deposit, Makina gazed at the flames flowing through the veins of the spikes. Suddenly, she felt her lose control of her body as a barrage of images flashed before her eyes.

Iona exploding.

A lùhng dragon with red and orange scales hurtling through the void of space between Eos and Iona.

The serpent's body pierced through the ground and lay in a heap, lifeless.

The images faded.

With a sharp gasp, Makina regained control of her body. When the darkness faded, she saw the boys were gone. She felt a familiar sensation, realizing she had traveled through a rift. Instead of being in the tunnel, she was in a large open area. There were ladders and scaffolding in place to get around the large slabs of stone. Along the back wall was a flat area with a chained-off section. Beyond the chains was what appeared to be a cave-in. The sun shone through the hole, but the area remained dark due to how deep underground she was.

However, one thing made her curious about the cave-in. It resembled the image from her vision of where the serpent crash-landed. She made her way across the chamber and stood in front of the chains. Scorch marks were present on the rubble and the walls. This was the spot where Fel was when she crash-landed on Eos. In the images she was shown earlier, the disciple of fire appeared to be lifeless. But now, she misunderstood. The serpent was gone. She wondered where she was now and why she saw the images in the first place.

Slowly, Makina reached past the chains and placed her hand on one of the scorched rocks. The moment her hand made contact with it, more images flashed through her mind.

Daemons swarmed the unconscious Fel.

The mighty serpent awoke as her scales were being clawed at.

With a mighty roar, the disciple flees from the mine using the hole above her.

Fel flew through the sky in the direction of the Cleigne region.

She made it to the Rock of Ravtogh before she collapsed again, her body delving into a pool of lava.

Makina retracted her hand. Now she knew where Fel was. All she needed to do was head to the Rock of Ravatogh. But first, she needed to find the boys and the royal tomb. She turned around and gave the area a once-over again. She wasn't sure where to start looking or if she should travel back to the entrance of the mine via a rift and wait for them there. Then again, she couldn't possibly wait around while they were in this mine. It was crawling with daemons and she knew they wouldn't leave before claiming the royal arm and finding her.

From the darkness, a screech suddenly echoed out.

The princess immediately summoned her sword when she recognized the sound. Looking up, she spotted the bat-like daemon peering down at her. It clung to the ceiling as it bore its fangs. It was a camazotz, a daemon from her homeworld.

It unlatched its sharp claws from the stone ceiling and spread its wings. It landed a few feet from her with another sinister screech. She prepared herself to battle the daemon that towered over her.

The camazotz flexed its slim, bone-like fingers. With a hiss, it stretched out its wings and flew towards her. She brought her sword up and blocked its attack. Her blade clashed with its claws. It used all of its strength to push against her, forcing her back. She gritted her teeth and pushed back, but it was much stronger than her. The only way out of her current predicament was to freeze time, and so she did.

The hands of time froze. Makina ran behind the creature and slashed at the bend of its legs before time resumed. The creature shrieked and fell to the ground. It was in pain, but that doesn't stop it from running away. Its legs were useless, but not its wings. Black blood trickled from the wounds on its legs as it soared around her.

She watched it closely and analyzed its flight pattern. Swinging her blade, she created an arc of air. It blew the daemon back but dealt no damage. Channeling more of Aos' power, she created a windblade. The magic sliced off one of the creature's ears, which angered it. In the blink of an eye, it swooped down and caught her off guard. It grabbed her by the throat and slammed her body against the wall, pinning her to it.

Makina gasped as her airways were crushed. She felt its sharp claws digging into her neck, breaking the skin and keeping her from breathing. Its grip was tightening by the second and she feared it would snap her neck before it suffocated her.

She gripped her sword tighter and jammed the blade into the camazotz's gut. It shrieked in pain and released her. She yanked her blade out of its body as she fell to the ground, coughing. She rubbed her sore neck and contemplated healing herself, but there was no time. The daemon that was bleeding from its missing ear, legs, and gut recovered. She was shocked to see it hadn't died from blood loss.

It flew at her again.

Makina created a rift in front of her just before it could reach her. The daemon reappeared halfway across the room and wound up slamming into a wall. She wanted to laugh but her throat hurt too much. She got to her feet with another cough. She held Rift Cutter by her side and wondered what her next move should be. Should she use Eko's armor? Or perhaps another rift? What about freezing time again?

All of a sudden, she heard the voices of Zin and Zen in her head. She listened closely to the twins' instructions. Focusing all her energy on the Ionus Sphere residing within her body, she unsealed the fifth and sixth chambers. She saw the daemon had recovered and was heading straight for her. She continued to focus until she felt a warm sensation.

The twin serpents of time and space emerged from her body and surged forward towards the creature. They intertwined together, roaring in unison. Bodies interwoven like ribbons of black and silver, Zin and Zen warped time and space around the camazotz. The creature's shrill cries echoed through the mine as its body was torn asunder. It was dead.

Zin and Zen unwound their bodies from one another before shattering into shards of black and silver. The shards soared towards the princess and pierced her body, but it didn't hurt. The shards were absorbed into the Ionus Sphere, meaning the twin serpents were back in their chambers. She sealed the two chambers.

Feeling an overwhelming sensation of exhaustion, Makina collapsed to her knees. She plunged Rift Cutter into the ground to support her. Her body slumped forward as her hands remained gripping the hilt of her blade. She felt the familiar warm sensation of blood seeping from her nose and eyes but didn't bother wiping it away. She was too weak from calling upon Zin and Zen to even lift a finger. All she could do was grip her sword to keep the rest of her body from collapsing. She felt her consciousness beginning to slip away, but she tried to stay awake.

She closed her eyes for a second. They slid open when she heard a noise. She couldn't look around but knew what the sound was. The feeling of a gentle and warm hand being placed on her shoulder made a wave of relief wash over her. She heard Noctis calling her name. However, she was too weak to respond and her throat still ached from being choked by the daemon.

Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto caught up to the prince after he had warped down to Makina. They arrived the moment the princess' grip on her sword slipped and her body fell. Fortunately, Noctis had caught her in his arms. He cradled her body against his.

"Wh-What was that? Is she okay?" Prompto asked worriedly.

Ignis checked on her. He saw the blood trickling from her nose and eyes. What also grabbed his attention were the shallow gashes and red mark on her neck. He moved to other parts of her body but found nothing. He saw her breathing was normal and sighed in relief. "She'll be fine."

"Whatever she did, it killed that nasty daemon and wiped her out," Gladiolus said. He then met Noctis' distraught gaze. "Prompto and I will watch over her. You and Iggy go find that royal tomb."

Noctis had forgotten why they were here in the first place when he noticed Makina was missing. He looked down at her unconscious form before reluctantly nodding. "All right." He carefully handed her to his shield. He stood up and left with Ignis but not before he glanced worriedly at the princess.

Gladiolus held the girl against him. Prompto looked around to make sure no daemons would ambush them. When the area was clear, he kneeled next to the shield with his sapphire gaze locked on Makina. "I wondered what happened to her."

"Don't know," Gladiolus said. "Guess we'll figure that out once she wakes up."

Ten minutes later, Noctis and Ignis returned. They had claimed the royal arm remaining nearby and were ready to leave. Gladiolus carefully hooked an arm under the princess' knees and around her back. He then gingerly lifted her into his arms.

"It would be wise to return to the haven as soon as possible so we may tend to Makina," Ignis stated.

"Let's get the hell outta here," Gladiolus gruffly said.