Noctis' headache suddenly returns, bringing him down to one knee. He recovers as fast as he can and tries to run away from the crumbling ledge. When the prince reached out to grab (Y/n), he realized she was no longer beside him. Then, the ground underneath him vanished and he began to fall. His body slams against a slope and he desperately tries to stop his descent.

Someone suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped his fall. "Noct!" The prince looked up and saw his shield had saved him. "I gotcha!" The two work in tandem in order for Noctis to be pulled up to safety.

Once on solid ground, the raven-haired boy searched the entire area. "Where's (Y/n)?"

Gladio scanned further down the slope and spotted the sable-haired girl clinging onto a ledge, desperately trying not to fall. "Down there!"

Noctis followed his gaze and shouted the Horseman's name. "(Y/n)!" Her head snapped upwards and her (e/c) eyes met the prince's sapphire ones. He searched for a safe way down and saw a path to their right. "Let's go, Gladio!"

The two ran down the path and it led them directly to (Y/n). Noctis leaned over the ledge and reached out for her. Death used her strength and pushed herself up the slope so she could reach the prince's outstretched hand. Once their hands connected, Noctis hoisted her up and over the ledge. She sighed in relief and fell onto her back. "Oh, how I love solid ground."

"You alright?" The prince asked.

The Horseman nodded, sitting up and rising to her feet. "Oh, yeah. Just a small heart attack from the fall."

"Why didn't you try the summoning orb?" Gladio questioned the younger boy.

"I didn't even think about using it," Noctis admits.

(Y/n) brushed a few pebbles that had latched onto her outfit off. "The summoning ability only works if we're far apart. Even if you did try, it wouldn't have worked."

"Could've mentioned that earlier."

"It didn't matter 'til now," Death rebuttals.

The ground shook again and all eyes fell upon the Meteor that slowly began rising. Underneath the fallen celestial body was the Archaean himself. "What the-?" Noctis muttered in utter shock. The Astral spoke in the language of the gods, making it indecipherable. "Goddamn... This is the Archaean?"

"Seems we woke the big guy up." Gladio glanced towards (Y/n). "You know what he's saying?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm not familiar with the tongue the gods use. Remember, I'm from the Inner Sanctum and have no connection to the Astrals in any way, shape, or form. I'm simply a mythical being from the dimension in-between."

"He's trying to tell me something ... But what?" The younger boy murmurs, eyes narrowed at the Archaean.

From high above, the three heard Prompto shout out to them. "(Y/n)! Noct! You both okay?"

"Peachy," Death responded.

"Thank heavens you're safe. Is there a way back up?" Ignis inquired.

"No, but there's another path. Gonna see where it leads," the prince responds to his advisor.

"You two try to get down," Gladio said.

Ignis nodded. "Very well. We'll look for a way. Be careful, now."

"You, too," Noctis stated.

"What? We're going where?!" The blonde wails before disappearing with Ignis.

Walking down the path, Noctis and Gladio exchanged a few words here and there. By the sound of Noctis' tone, he was on edge and not in the mood for idle chitchat. When they spotted a flock of Dynoaevis birds flying overhead, more talking ensued and (Y/n) couldn't believe the tone the prince was giving his shield. She remained out of the discussion, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

Reaching the end of the path, Noctis clicked his tongue when he saw it was a dead end. "Damn..."

"Hey, over here," Gladio beckoned the two as he found a ledge that wrapped around the cliffside. "No room for error here."

"No time to chill, either. Make it quick," the prince snappily responds. The shield goes first, slow but steadily inching his way around the cliffside on the narrow ledge. After allowing Gladio a moment to ensure the stability of the ledge, Noctis and (Y/n) follow. "Just want this to be over."

"Not a fan of heights, either," (Y/n) confesses. "Especially when crossing a narrow ledge." She stepped carefully as Noctis followed closely behind. Halfway across, more tremors shake the ground.

"Tremors... Hang on!" Gladio bellowed, stopping in his tracks.

"Ugh... My head..." Noctis winces, his teeth gritted from the sudden rush of pain. (Y/n) saw the boy was falling forward due to the discomfort and she quickly placed a hand against his chest, pushing him against the cliffside. He pressed a hand against his forehead with a sigh. "Thanks, (Y/n)."

"Let's hurry the hell across," Gladio said.

"Right behind you," Death responded as she continued to support Noctis. The prince kept pressing a hand against his aching head as (Y/n)'s hand grabbed his free one to help him across.

"Noct, you doing alright?" Gladio asked in concern. Another violent tremor ripped through the ground, but this one was more intense than before. "What now?" The shield growled.

"This isn't a normal earthquake," (Y/n) stated. The trio felt everything shake as the rock formation in front of them was plowed down by a large, stone hand. It was Titan's hand that had batted away the rocks as if they were mere flies. The stony appendage reaches out to grab Noctis, but the Astral misses.

"Hey! Titan! What's the big idea?!" Noctis shouted at the Archaean.

"Save it! Get to solid ground first!" The brute yelled.

(Y/n) released Noctis' hand and she stopped, grabbing the prince's and his shield's attention. "Why'd you stop?" The younger boy questioned.

"I've an idea. You two go ahead without me," Death proclaimed.

She tried to let go of Noctis' hand, but he refused to let her go. "What the hell do you plan on doing?"

"I plan on-" (Y/n) didn't finish her reply as Titan's hand returned. The god desperately tried to grab Noctis, but she jumped off the ledge and landed directly into the Archaean's grasp. Titan closed his fingers around the Horseman and pulled his hand away, believing he had grabbed the prince.

"(Y/n)!" Noctis shouted.

He went to summon his blade and warp to save the girl, but Gladio stopped him. "She'll be fine! Right now, we need to get around this damned cliffside!"

The prince knew his shield was right and clenched his hand into a fist, slamming it against the stone wall behind him. "Dammit!"

<------<<<<<<<

Inside Titan's grasp, (Y/n) placed her hands against his fingers. With her deadly touch, the god's fingers disintegrated and the ashes blew away in the wind. She jumped out of the Archaean's hand and onto the back of it. The Astral tried to shake her off, but she summoned her scythe and lodged the sharp blade into his forearm. Her actions caused Titan to yell out in the language of the gods and raise her up to eye level. She smiled at him as she held onto the grip of her scythe. "Hey, how's it going?"

Titan yelled even more nonsenses as his eyes seemed to narrow at her. (Y/n)'s smile fell as the Archaean tried to shake her off again. "That's not very nice. Then again, I stabbed you in the arm."

(Y/n)'s plan is to distract the Astral for a short amount of time until Noctis and Gladio would be able to regroup with Prompto and Ignis. So far, her plan was working. If she could divert the Archaean's attention just a little longer, she was positive the others would find each other.

Hearing a strange noise, Death glanced at Titan's hand to see his fingers were being restored. "Oh, fancy trick. What else did I expect from a god?" The language of the gods fell from the Archaean's mouth once again as (Y/n)'s scythe slipped from his arm. Dispelling her blade as she fell, she waited for the impact of the ground. Even though the fall would result in death, her body would mend in a few minutes and she'd be back on her feet as if nothing had happened.

Then, one arm wrapped around (Y/n)'s waist as she felt a body collide with hers. Her surroundings blurred and when everything cleared up, she realized she was safely on the ground by the Astral's feet. "You're insane, you know that?"

As the arm that was around her waist vanished, (Y/n) glanced at her savior. "Nice catch, Noctis." She glanced behind them as she heard a strange sound. Behind them, imperials were attacking Titan while Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis were trying to stop them. Niflheim airships lingered in the air as they had their sights set on the god. The Archaean lashed out again with his incoherent words, causing Noctis to hunch over in pain. Death kneeled beside the prince and placed a hand on his back.

Hearing the sound of rocks falling and the ground rumbling, (Y/n)'s head shot up and saw Titan's foot ready to stomp on them. They didn't have any time to move and the Horseman only hand one other option. She raised her hand and the moment the Archaean brought his foot down, her hand connected with the bottom of his foot and it immediately decomposed into a cloud of ash. The Astral stumbled back, creating another large tremor. The Meteor remained on the god's back as he retracted what remained of his leg.

"Forgot you could do that," Noctis said as his headache cleared. (Y/n) helped the boy back to his feet before turning to see the others had dealt with the imperial forces on the ground. As he regained his balance, Titan reconstructed his foot and part of his lower leg that Death had deteriorated with a single touch.

"You have to fight him, but you won't be alone," (Y/n) calmly stated.

"I know," Noctis said, gripping his blade tightly. "Let's go!"

"Right behind you." (Y/n) summoned her scythe just as Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis joined them.

Titan brings his arm down, swiping at everyone near his feet. (Y/n) brought her blade down at the last second and took a small chunk out of the Archaean's palm. The Astral retracts his hand before delivering a powerful blow with his fist. Everyone dodged the attack and were able to get a few swings or shots in before the appendage was out of reach. The Archaean brought his hand back down with a growl, which Noctis parried with his sword. The god tumbled forward and his entire forearm collapsed to the ground to support his enormous body. Ignis then hurls a Blizzard spell at the god's appendage that Noctis had provided him a few days ago. "The game's up!"

Gladio and Prompto follow suit and hurl more Blizzard spells at Titan's arm. "You're out!" The sharpshooter chanted.

Titan's arm freezes from the elbow down, providing Noctis the perfect opening to destroy the appendage. "It's over!" The prince swings his sword down onto the arm, shattering it into pieces. The Archaean collapsed, shaking the ground as he made impact. The raven-haired boy glanced around at his friends. "Hey, we all still here?"

"Yep, still here," Gladio replied.

Ignis adjusted his glasses slightly. "If a little battered."

"Does this mean it's over?" Prompto questioned.

"Should be. Noctis did prove himself, after all," (Y/n) answered, ridding herself of her scythe.

"Yeah, but you destroyed his foot earlier. How come that didn't count?" Noctis asked.

"That was my doing, not yours. Titan was testing you this entire time and you passed. He's blessed you with his powers and you may call upon him whenever in need of assistance in battle. Congrats, Noct."

"Thought you said you didn't know what he wanted," Gladio said.

"I didn't know what he was saying, but I kinda guessed along the way of why he wanted Noctis," the Horseman simply responded.

"Talk about a lucky guess," Prompto laughed.

Titan and the Meteor suddenly discorporate in a powerful flash that sends all the imperial ships in the vicinity crashing to the ground. Lava spews from the cracks that formed from the collapsing stone as the Disc of Cauthess crumbles around the group.

"Doesn't get much worse than this," Gladio groaned at the sight.

(Y/n) dodged a shower of lava before sighing. "If only War were here... Her horse can withstand lava. Sadly, Thanatos cannot."

The five find themselves trapped with nowhere to go. Out of the blue, an imperial drop ship descends upon them. "The empire! Now?!" Ignis shouted over the sound of bubbling lava and roaring engines.

The ship's door lowers, revealing the man who delivered them to the Disc only hours ago. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Oh, great..." (Y/n) mumbled under her breath.

The boys stare at Ardyn in stunned silence while the girl scowls at him. "It occurs to me I never formally introduced myself. Izunia. Ardyn Izunia."

Ignis' jade eyes widen in pure shock. "Imperial Chancellor Izunia?"

The man bows with a grin. "At your service. And more importantly, to your aid." No one budges an inch as they didn't fully trust Ardyn. They offer only uncertain stares in return. "I guarantee your safe passage. Though you're always welcome to take your chances down there."

Noctis and the others continue staring back, clearly frustrated at how they became stuck in such a predicament. Ardyn seemed to take their silence as their answer. "Buried among the rubble, is it?"

The tactician stared at the raven-haired boy, knowing hey had to trust the man. "Dying here is not an option. We have no choice, Noct."

Noctis met Ignis' gaze with an understanding frown. He clearly wasn't happy with the choice, but it was the only one they had. "I know."