The royal retinue stood at the foot of the volcano, their chocobos refusing to get any closer. They dismounted the birds and continued on foot. As they drew closer to the path that would lead them up the side of the volcano, Makina came to a stop when another roar resonated from the volcano.

Gladiolus was a few feet behind her and stopped when she did. "Getting cold feet?"

"No, but..." Her eyes focused on the path ahead. "Fel is quite temperamental. From her cries, she sounds more furious than injured."

Prompto stiffened. "We're not in danger, are we?"

"I'm not, but I can't say the same for you four. When we do come face to face with her, I ask that you all keep your distance. I wouldn't want Fel to attack you guys."

"So, um..." He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "Stay away from the killer dragon. Got it. Don't need to tell me twice."

Arriving at an uphill rocky trail, the group braced themselves for the climb. The path wasn't extremely steep, but they would need to pace themselves to avoid tiring themselves out too soon. It wasn't far up the path did they start to feel the burn in their legs.

Gladiolus slowed his pace and grunted. "Just think about what's waiting at the top."

Following behind the shield was Prompto. "Let me guess: one aching back and two very sore feet."

Gladiolus scoffed as he stared at the blonde's smaller stature. "Like you couldn't use some meat on those legs of yours."

"Just ignore him, Prom," Makina joined in before deciding to make a playful jab. "I hear the more muscle you have, the less your brain functions."

The sharpshooter laughed while the brute groaned. She prided herself in being able to make a jab that Gladiolus wasn't able to make his own smart response on the spot. He was often quick to jab back, but this time he didn't. She had won this battle. Being ahead of him, she cast a victorious smirk over her shoulder at him. All she received in response was an eye roll.

Following behind Noctis, she trekked carefully over the hardened magma that covered the path. The igneous rock made the path uneven, meaning she or the others could trip if they weren't careful.

Not too far up the path, she spotted a couple of saphyrtails. The medium-sized scorpions skittered around, blocking the way forward. Before Noctis could summon his engine blade and warp, she conjured the bow of Aos and fired an arrow. The arrow split into two and impaled the creatures simultaneously. Their bodies fell to the ground on their backs, their legs curling inward.

She lowered the bow the moment the prince peered over his shoulder at her. Smiling, she dispelled the weapon. "Gotta be quicker next time, sweetheart."

Ignoring the term of endearment--which has never bothered him nor flustered him--Noctis eyed her accusingly. "Did you cheat?"

"If by "cheat" you mean freeze time, no. You were just a tad bit slow."

"I don't care who did it or how quick," Prompto chimed in. "I'm just glad those things are gone. I hate scorpions..."

"At least they weren't bugs," the princess commented.

The sharpshooter shuddered. "Ugh, bugs..."

With that, they pressed on.

Further ahead, the sound of fighting could be heard. This confused them, wondering if someone was battling monsters. At the end of the path, the area opened up. In the middle of the fork were saphyrtails and spiracorns. The creatures were in a heated battle against each other. The five were taken aback at seeing them fighting.

Noctis prepared to warp into battle, but Makina stopped him by latching onto the back of his short-sleeved jacket. "Let them fight. We'll kill the victor. It's the safest and easiest method to get rid of them."

"Wanna bet on who's gonna win?" Gladiolus proposed.

Ignis promptly intervened. "We do not have the funds for such a trivial activity."

The snowy-haired girl glanced at the shield curiously. "You have a gambling addiction and need some serious help, big guy."

The saphyrtails only managed to kill a single spiracorn before all were annihilated. Only two spiracorns remained. Seeing their chance to strike, the royal retinue attacked. Makina remained at a distance with Prompto while she fired arrow after arrow. She killed one of the spiracorns before it could impale Noctis on its twisted horn. Gladiolus finished off the final creature with a quick assist from Ignis.

Dematerializing the bow, the princess walked ahead and stood in the fork. She glanced down the left path before looking at the right one. "Looks like we need to pick a way." Her eyes traveled over to her boyfriend. "Let's try not to rely on the royal gut this time. Which way, Noct?"

Noctis crossed his arms with slightly pursed lips. He thought of what happened in Fociaugh Hollow. "If my gut's so bad, what about yours, huh? You're royalty, too. Let's see if your royal gut is better than mine."

"My royal gut is a little upset at the moment," she sighed. "But I think we should go right."

The raven-haired boy glanced down the left path to see saphyrtails skittering around. He figured the fewer enemies they fought, the more energy they conserve for the uphill trek and whatever waited at the top of the volcano. "The right path it is."

The incline of the new path was steeper than the previous.

Makina felt not only her thighs and calves burning but her lower back as well. She was distracted from the intense climb when she saw Prompto rush past her. She wondered why he was in such a rush. "What's gotten into you, Prom?"

"N-Nothing!" He hastily replied.

Gladiolus didn't allow the blonde to escape so easily. "Pipsqueak gotta good glance at some of your assets, if you know what I mean."

"Assets? What...?" Makina then realized Prompto had been walking behind her. She deduced he caught a glimpse of her hindquarters. The front of the dress she wore came down to her upper thighs while the back and sides were much longer, almost like a cape. Because of the shortness in the front, she always wore a pair of black spandex shorts underneath so she could avoid flashing others while she fought. These shorts were a little shorter than the front of her dress and weren't visible. Considering the angle of the path they were on, it wouldn't be difficult to catch a glimpse of what was underneath her dress. "Oh..."

"I-I swear, I didn't mean to!" Prompto shouted as he turned to her, revealing his flustered expression.

"Calm down," she said. "I know you're not that kind of guy. Besides, I'm wearing shorts underneath."

"B-But still..."

"Seriously, don't worry about it." Her eyes drifted over to Noctis. "It's not like you walked in on me while I was changing or anything."

The prince cleared his throat once he realized her last sentence was directed more towards him than Prompto. He just hoped she wouldn't tell them about the time he walked in on her while she was changing. "Yeah, that would've been bad..."

The girl snickered. "Oh, very."

Gladiolus grinned. "Bet he enjoyed it."

Prompto gaped in shock at the shield's remark. "I-I did not!"

"That mean you didn't like what you saw?"

Makina smacked the brute on the arm with a glare. "Stop baiting him." She then smiled reassuringly at the blonde. "Just ignore him, Prom."

Cheeks still flushed red, he nodded. "O-Okay."

She patted him on the back before continuing up the path with Noctis beside her. They didn't make it far before Prompto was reminded of his aching legs and stiff back. He looked up the path to see they still had a ways to go, but that didn't stop him from asking, "Did we hit the top? Feeling past my peak."

"I'm afraid you've still got a ways to go," Gladiolus huffed out.

"Hold on..." Makina glanced over at Prompto as he fell behind a little. "Was that a pun?"

The sharpshooter fiddled with his gloves. "Maybe..."

She groaned. "Not you too..."

Her attention was drawn away from the blonde when she smelt a gentle fragrance. Looking around, she spotted a patch of kettier ginger. She was shocked to see the plant growing here of all places. She jogged past Noctis and picked a few roots to add to their current stash of ingredients. As she did, she heard a 'snap' and Ignis proudly announce, "That's it!"

She was startled by his sudden shout. "Did I miss something?"

"I've come up with a new recipe!"

She stood up once procuring the ginger. "Mind if I helped prepare it?"

"Not in the slightest. Your assistance is always invaluable."

Noctis watched his advisor and girlfriend chat about the new dish. The green-eyed monster known as jealousy started to claw at him from the inside. Although he had been reassured by Makina before, he still couldn't help the feeling of jealousy from time to time.

"Uh-oh..." Prompto muttered after seeing Noctis' expression.

"Looks like the royal puppy is upset because his owner's not giving him attention," Gladiolus added with a chortle.

"I am not," Noctis murmured.

Prompto watched the tactician and princess as they continued to discuss the culinary arts. "Y'know, it makes me wonder sometimes."

"What about?" the prince asked.

"If Makina would've ended up with Iggy if you two hadn't hit it off."

Noctis' entire body went rigid. He thought about the princess dating Ignis and shook his head in denial. He didn't want to think about what would've happened if he hadn't confessed to her after graduation.

"Now you've done it," Gladiolus muttered, seeing the distraught look on the prince's face.

Finished with her conversation with Ignis, Makina rejoined the other three. She saw how Noctis looked and wondered what she had missed while conversing with the tactician. However, she wasn't able to question him as another roar resonated from higher up the volcano. The ground shook lightly under their feet from the shrill cry. She didn't understand why she felt fear rising inside her. Was the fear caused by the serpent or something else?

"We better keep going," she said. "I don't even want to know what she'll do to this place if we keep her waiting too much longer."

"I just hope we don't get eaten," Prompto whimpered.

Reaching the steepest incline, the five pushed themselves to the brink to reach the top. It wasn't far up the path did Prompto's muscle remind him of the burn caused by such an incline. "Killer climb, dude."

"It's killing me," Noctis huffed out, hunched over as he used one of the rocks jutting out of the ground to haul himself up the incline.

"Feeling a steep pain," Ignis grunted, having made it further than the others.

"Iggy," Makina groaned. "Really? Another pun? I'll admit it was clever, but-" Her sentence abruptly stopped when she felt her foot slip. She yelped as her heart leaped in fear. Her body was close to falling backward when someone came to her rescue.

Noctis grabbed her hand before she could fall. He sighed, gripping her petite hand tightly. "You were always the one to trip up the stairs."

She held on to his hand as he pulled her up a little to help her back on her feet. "Okay, yeah. I will confess my least graceful moments have always happened on the stairs."

"Which still confuses me since I've seen you run down stairs in high heels."

"Trust me, I'm just as confused as you."

He gingerly tugged on her hand to urge her forward. "Just don't let go."

With a nod, she accepted Noctis' help. He didn't let go of her hand as they trekked up the steep incline. Giddily, Prompto scrambled for his camera and took a few pictures of the royals. He stopped on a small precipice to see the photos and smiled in satisfaction. Seeing his two best friends were happy together made him happy.

"What a gentleman," Gladiolus commented as he watched Noctis help Makina up the incline.

"Indeed," Ignis said. "He does have his moments although they are few and far between."

"Looks like cupcake really does bring out something in him."

"We can hear you..." Noctis growled in annoyance.

The shield scoffed. "Just focus on your princess, Prince Charmless. We wouldn't want either of you toppling over the ledge. Losing two royals at the same time would put all of us out of business."

The prince chose not to amuse his shield and focused his attention on Makina. He kept a firm grip on her hand and aided her in the climb. It didn't take long for them to reach the top of the incline. He didn't let go of her hand even after reaching the top. To be more precise, he didn't notice he was still holding her hand because it felt so natural. He always enjoyed holding her hand whenever they would walk around Insomnia together during their dates. Hald-holding had become an unconscious habit of his whenever she was by his side.

On the other hand, Makina was fully aware of their conjoined hands. She lifted them and showed them to the raven-haired boy. "Noct, you can let go now. We made it up."

Noctis glanced at their hands before reluctantly releasing his grip. "Right..." He balled his hand into a fist to stop him from reaching out to grab her hand a second time.

Prompto was the third to reach the top of the incline. He hugged his camera tightly, smiling from ear to ear. "Aw, you two are so cute together! Maybe you could, y'know, ramp up the PDA?"

"Why?" The prince asked. "So you can take more pictures?"

"Exactly!" The marksman held up the camera in the couple's direction. "I want to make a special album that's dedicated to just the two of you!"

"Noct isn't really one for PDA, but..." A mischievous grin made its way onto the princess' face. "I know how to break him."

Noctis' mouth fell agape. "Break me? The hell are you talkin' about?"

"Easy. All I have to do is this." She grabbed the collar of his jacket and yanked him down to her height. She slammed her lips against his, startling him. It wasn't a deep kiss, but she did tease him by trailing her tongue across his bottom lip. She admired his wide-eyed expression before pulling away. She then grinned and met Prompto's somewhat flustered expression. "See? Broken." She released the prince's jacket and stepped back.

Prompto saw how Noctis was paralyzed, eyes wide as saucers. He didn't even blink or twitch. "O-Oh, wow. You really did break him."

"More like scrambled his brain," Gladiolus chortled as he and Ignis caught up. He glanced at the princess. "Plannin' on fixing him?"

"Nah," she replied. "Give him a few seconds." Putting some distance between her and the boys, she waited for Noctis to return to Eos. She mentally counted down from five and smirked as she sauntered across the rocky archway that connected two paths. When she reached one...

"Wait a damn minute!" Noctis shouted, chasing after her.

"Nope, can't wait. You already had your meeting with divinity. It's my turn now and I don't want to keep Fel waiting too much longer." She heard the familiar sound of warping as a sword flew past her and embedded in the ground. She didn't even bother freezing time when he appeared in front of her. She saw he wasn't angry but displeased. She crossed her arms, smirking. "What? Disappointed by the kiss? We can always try again, but I think you'd be too embarrassed to do anything too extreme in front of the others."

Noctis pouted. There was no way he would kiss her the way he wanted to in front of his friends. "I'll get you back later..."

She leaned towards him, placing a hand on his chest. "I look forward to it." She pushed him back. "Now let's get going before Fel gets angrier."