Finally at the car garage, the boys finally were able to rest and regain their energy. My mind calculated that we are in Hammerhead that seemed to be an outpost. It looked bare with no buildings like Insomnia and the environment is dusty. A blond hair woman wearing a yellow jacket with a red top that seemed to be revealing...confusing and a red hat on her head. Around her blue shorts is a belt that held tools of mystery and for her footwear is white boots with black long leggings. She came up to us and said,

"Hey, ya'll keep a girl waiting!"

A girl waiting? What's that mean?

"Now which one is the prince?" She asked as my eyes darted to the prince who is lying down next to the car as if he didn't want to get up, my hands grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

"He's right here." I said as Noctis stood up, he pulled his arm away from me and gave me a small glare. I raised an eyebrow as a challenge and turned my attention to the strange blond girl.

"Aha! Welcome your highness, Congrats on your wedding!" She said

"Not hitched just yet." Noctis said as he looked at the young woman as well

"Lady Lunafreya's groom to be, here in Hammerhead."

"Apologies for taking so long." Ignis said

The blond young lady chuckled and said,

"You best save your apologies for paw paw."

Paw-Paw? What's that? A dog? I thought as my mind is thinking about a cooked animal

"Well, that makes you..." Gladiolus asked

"Cindy-Cid's grease monkey granddaughter." Cindy answered him as her eyes darted to me as she came to me and said,

"Well, aren't you a pretty little thing! What's your name, little lady?"

"Alice. What's a Paw Paw? Is that food?" I asked her as she started to laugh, the boys just sighed as if they expected that answer and Cindy answered,

"No, it's not food, sweetie. Are you hungry?"

"Starving. The boys made me push and Noctis didn't do shit." I said as Prompto gasped at my words, Gladiolus and Ignis chuckled in amusement.

"What's that supposed to mean, Alice?" Noctis said as he glared my way

"It means to shut up. I'm talking to the blond boots over here." I replied

"Blond boots?" Cindy asked as she looked a little confused

"Apologies again, Alice gives nicknames to everyone she talks to." Ignis answered

"Apparently, she thinks you are a blond boots now." Gladiolus added

"Aw, you're sweet, Alice. Thanks for the nickname."

"Roll her in while I'm young!" a voice shouted behind us. We all looked to see an elderly man walking to the car. His appearance is some elderly man with a red hat that matched his red jacket with a white t-shirt that has a blue stripe, navy jeans and black sneakers. My eyes were seeing his aura as calming but it changes from grey to a light red when he got near Noctis.

"Didn't your daddy tell ya? She's a custom classic, not some beat-up ol' clunker." Paw-Paw said as he is looking at the car for any damage, his eyes stared at Noctis then to me and said,

"Prince Noctis."

"Uh, yeah." Noctis replied as not knowing what to say, Cid sigh a little bit and started to walk again

"Prince. Like they took your old man and kicked the dignity out of him." Cid said

"What?" Noctis asked as he was confusion and

"You have a long way to go, son. And that slack jaw's ain't gettin' you nowhere fast."

"What's dignity, grandpa?" I asked bluntly

Cid stopped walking near the car as he gave me a look of 'are you serious' and replied,

"Now, who are you with this Prince?"

"Alice, grandpa gear." I said as no one said a word, I imagined they are shocked of giving a nickname to this elderly man and he asked,

"Grandpa gear? What are you, kid? Ten?"

"No, you took offense of that name, I see. Very well, I will call you Wise Gear."

"..Come again?" Cid said not sure what to make of me

"Wise Gear. You're a mechanic, right? It seems you built this car by hand. I admire your craftsmanship of the car even though I don't know jack shit about cars. I, thank you, Wise Gear of fixing the car that you built." I said as he just stared at me, he chuckled with a small smile and started to head back to the garage.

"She's going to take a while. Ya'll get her in and run along now."

Cindy sighed as her Grandfather left us, she gave us a smile and said,

"Ya'll heard him! Let's get movin'. Right this way."

We got the car into the garage as Ignis made the comment of the waiting game and Noctis commented on that as well as Prompto. Cindy gave us a map in case we get lost anywhere and we thanked her. We explored the Hammerhead post. It felt homey for the people that were around the area as my eyes saw a vendor that had weapons on display and I headed there. The vendor told me to look around as I saw a broadswords, shields and daggers. What I wouldn't give for more weapons but I needed to keep a low profile for awhile longer for my mission.

"The weapons look good. Makes me what to try it out." Gladiolus voice is heard through my ears as I glanced his way, he is standing next to me and we were admiring the weapons.

"Don't you have that big sword already, tattoo man?" I commented

"Heh, I do but doesn't hurt to have another weapon by your side." He replied as we started to walk to the rest of the group, Noctis lead the way and we entered a store that was next to the garage. Inside the store is small with the necessities of food and drinks. Other items looked to be home goods or hiking gear. Noctis and Prompto commented on this ebony coffee stuff. Ignis saying something of our stock being full or something. I went back outside to make a mental phone call to Medusa. I walked near a bench to make me look that I was enjoying the sight before me and I closed my eyes. My eyes reopened to see the grid world again but this time, it's color was a blue and no hint of green. In front of me is Medusa who has a scowl look on her face for Ardyn is bothering...again.

"Medusa, think of marriage as a business, my love!"

"Go to hell, Ardyn and stay there." Medusa reply as Ardyn put a hand over his heart and acted as if he had been stabbed

"My love...you stabbed your lover's heart!"

"Fuck off, Ardyn." I butted in as I walked to them, Medusa smirked at my response and nodded in agreement.

"My cruel ladies...so cold..." He said pretending feel more hurt as we both sighed in annoyance and Medusa asked,

"Where are you?"

"Some place called Hammerhead. Can I kill him now?" I asked

"Sadly, no."

"Why not?" I asked demanding

"We had our forces that are assigned to protect the emperor inside the city finally after an inspection. Now, we are waiting for the signal. Please be more patience, Number #1." Medusa explained as I swallowed my pride to hold off my mission longer, my eyes saw Ardyn who walked to me and asked,

"I see you have a question in your eyes, my dear. Would you care to share your question to us?"

"..I don't want to sound weak but..Can I use my grid world now, Medusa?" I asked as Medusa thought of her answer carefully and replied,

"Sadly, no. The virus did more damaged than I thought, Number #1."

"What is the damage report?"

"Too many to count but luckily, not to your main core or brain for that matter. Please rest assured that my team and I are working on the problem now. Do not use your grid world if you really need to use it, Number#1."

"I understand, Medusa."

"(Y/n), your father worries about you." Ardyn added as Medusa and I were disgusted. Suddenly, we heard a ping sound throughout the grid and I realized that I had to return. Medusa nodded for me to leave as Ardyn hugged me good-bye and commented that we will meet soon.

What does he mean we will meet soon?

"Hey Alice!"

My eyes reopened to the isolated Hammerhead again as my head turned to see Noctis coming to me and he looked troubled. His friends caught up to him as for they looked troubled and conflicted.

"What to you guys? You lost a great battle or did Noctis finally lose his fighting skills?" I asked

"I haven't lost my fighting skills, Alice and we didn't lose a battle." Noctis answered

"Well, technically we are forced to take care of a problem." Ignis added as I raised an eyebrow in curiousity

"What problem? Monsters?" I asked as Ignis nodded and stated that we need to take care of some creatures that have been causing trouble of late. Both Prompto and Noctis sighed heavily.

"What's wrong with them, four eyes?"

"Many things, Alice. First the car, the money issue and now, we are errand boys." Ignis answered as I shrugged my shoulders and replied,

"So? It's life; grow up you two. This isn't so bad unlike my adventures with my master."

"Oh? How bad was your master, Alice?" Gladiolus asked as he and his friends were curious.

"Bad and good. He is good teacher but a bad person when it came to not sharing food." I said as Prompto and Gladiolus laughed. I got confused of why they were laughing as Ignis sighed and Noctis asked,

"Are you for real, Alice?"

"Yes, why would lie, vegatable hater?" I said

"Again with that nickname. I prefer you call me goth than that name." Noctis retorted

"Don't worry, goth. I will tell your bride about your name."

"Don't you tell Luna about that!"

"I will tell her then you are prevert in bed."

"Alice, you-" I stopped him by placing a finger on his lips as his cheeks blushed and I went to his ear.

"When we get to Altissta, you better stay away from my bed,...vegetable hater." I whispered as he completely went red and looked away from me. Prompto begged for me to whisper in his ear when I said no and we continued to walked to the unknown desert. Our first mark was a big scorpion like monster as Noctis teleport to them quickly to do quick attacks and we joined in. Finally, getting my samurai sword back felt good as if I was drowning of not having a weapon at my side. My real weapon waits for to show itself but I must be patience for the mission will be over soon. After the third sighting of the scorpion monsters, Noctis received a phone call and answered. Suddenly, my eyes sighted something five thousand meters away from us and it was keeping it's distance. I got back a positive ID of the Giver and mental cussed that asshole is here again.

"Got it. We'll take a look." Noctis voice got me back in reality as Prompto asked what Cindy want and we are supposed to find a person named Dave, a hunter. We went to a nearby stack as we went inside, no one was in it and I went to table with some papers of a hunt.

Mutant Dullhorn Sighting

I was about to say something until Noctis shouted my name as my head to turn to see a dog-like creature leaped into the air to pinned me but Noctis grabbed me and teleport away from the impact. He asked if I was okay as I gave a nod and we fought our new foes. After the fight, we started to head to the other shack nearby as we fought sabertusks again and got to the other shack. We found Dave who was trying to finish a hunt of the Dullhorn and asked us if we could end it. Noctis agreed if he paid for doing the job and Dave just laughed in amusement. I didn't understand this..pay thing that Dave was giving us but whatever, we get to fight a monster that is stronger. We started to walk further into the wildness as Ignis suggested that we rest for a day and continue tomorrow. I wanted to complain but these guys are human and I had to pretend that I was too. We found a good area to camp as I helped Gladiolus set up the tent, Noctis and Prompto were setting up chairs. Ignis is getting ready to cook with made me smile because he is a chef with a skill. I couldn't wait for his next meal to be honest. In my scanners, I checked the area for the Giver and he is keeping his distance. It's good for now but still questioning of what is he doing here? To annoy me or...expose me? Won't know until he makes a move.

"Hey Alice, you ok?" Noctis asked me as I glanced at him and replied,

"Yep, I'm..enjoying the view of the area."

"It's something, isn't it?" Noctis said as I nodded, we were sitting on the chairs near the fire and my eyes were calculating every little detail of this beautiful area.

"Is something on your mind? Back at the shack, you didn't notice that sabetusk right away; that is not like you." Noctis commented as I mentally slapped myself for not paying attention, I sighed and lied,

"Yes and no."

"You want to talk about it? I mean, I'll listen." He said bashfully as my ears can hear his heartbeats beating faster as if he was trying to say something else than what he said

"No, beacause nothing distracts me easily. Yes, because...my master and I used to come to this area once." I answered

"I take it you guys hunt?"

"No, we seek worthy opponents such as Immortal." I added

"You will not give up on beating the Marshal, huh?"

"Hell no, he is my rival in power." I said as Noctis shook his head not understanding my words

"Also.." I paused "I really never done this."

"This, Alice?" Noctis questioned

"Field trips is what Ignis said to me. Like going with people. I have only known my master; this is...different." I tried to manage a sentence that makes sense

"Oh, now I get it, Alice." Noctis replied

"You do?" I asked

"Yeah, you barely hangout with friends or didn't have any at the time. So, this is your real first experience with friends."

"What does friends mean, goth? I don't understand."

"Umm." Noctis struggled to find the words to my question

"You know battle stuff, right Alice?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked

"So, think of a friend as a ally. Someone you can trust and has their back." Noctis answered as I thought deeply about his answer and replied,

"Alright, I understand now."

"You do?" Noctis asked

"Yes, friend is ally and has your back. I will make a mental note of this discovery."

"Discovery, Alice??" Noctis asked as I grabbed his chin, my lips kissed his cheek and he went totally red.

"Yes, the kiss on the cheek is a 'thank you' that I will an ally to you, vegetable hater." I said as we heard a click of a camera, we turned our heads to see his friends were grinning at the sight. Prompto was smiling but he kinda looked jealous at Noctis. Gladiolus is holding his mouth as if not to laugh and Ignis just stared at us in awe.

"So, you guys in the middle of something?" Gladiolus broke the ice of silence

"In the middle of what, tattoo man? I don't understand." I asked

"Your in the middle of confussing your love, right Alice?!" Prompto freaked out

"Confussing love? Bullshit. Why would I love a man who hates vegetables and has a no flirting abilities?" I asked as Gladiolus busted out laughing about my comment and Ignis smacked his forehead as if he expected this answer.

"What do you mean I have no flirting abilities, Alice?!" Noctis asked

"It's true." I said

"No it's not!" Noctis replied as we continued to agrue and I personally enjoy this...group activity.

Giver's pov

"Hmmm...well, I didn't expect (Y/n) to make the first move on him and now, he can't resist her at all." Giver said as he heard a sigh come from his phone that had an unknown caller

"You sure you gave that girl enough of the virus?"

"Of course I did! You pay what you get!" The Giver retorted "Besides, I'm curious."

"Curious?"

"Yeah, if Noctis, the Lucian prince, can love (Y/n) that has been in his life for a long time."

"They just meet, you idiot."

"Oh no, they meet...a long time ago."

Thank you for waiting for the next chapter of this story. Sorry for the wait. Please enjoy and comment. I'm back in writing after a long Thanksgiving and New Years. I hope you had a great holidays!