A/n: When you see three asterisks(***), this indicates a memory. Love you all!!!
~✨Celestial✨~
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~3rd Person POV~

Another day passes before the prince finally awakens. As the grogginess clears from his vision, Noctis sits up with a small groan. He placed a hand against his head, a slight headache from his battle with the Tidemother. He wiped the last bit of sleepiness from his eyes as he spotted a figure sitting in the chair not far from the bed. Though they were facing the window, Noctis recognized the hairdo from anywhere. "Ignis."

The royal advisor stood up at the sound of his name and faced the prince with a stoic expression. "Ah, you're awake."

"Where are we?"

"A hotel in Altissia. You've been unconscious for some time now." Ignis looks over the bed, giving Noctis a melancholic gaze.

The prince picked up on his sorrow and began to worry. His thoughts rushed to Lunafreya, hoping she was alright. "Luna... what happened?"

"She is in the care of the zodiacs as we speak, thanks to Zodia. Her wounds will be mended soon enough."

A sigh of relief left the raven haired boy. "What a relief. What about the ring? Has anyone found it?"

"The ring is in Zodia's care."

Noctis noticed Ignis had tensed up when he said his sister's name. "Where is Zodia? I thought she'd be here with you."

Ignis fell silent, his gaze falling to the floor. Noctis crawled out of the bed and stood on his feet. "Ignis?" The royal advisor balled his hands into fists, clenching them tightly. He knew Noctis wouldn't be able to handle the news, but he also couldn't keep it from him. "Ignis!" Noctis' raised voice made his emerald gaze snap to the prince. "Where is Zodia?" He asked more sternly and slowly.

Ignis inhaled slowly, exhaling as he answered. "Missing."

Noctis' eyes widened at the reply. In disbelief, he pushes past the tactician and runs through the hotel just as he did only four days ago. Noctis yelled out for his sister, desperation growing with each shout. His running footsteps echoed all around as he checked each floor. With no luck, the prince dashed out to the city, shouting at the top of his lungs. Unlike Ignis, it took both Prompto and Gladio to restrain the prince. They dragged the struggling prince back up to his room where Ignis still remained.

Gladio tossed Noctis on the bed just as Prompto locked the door. They all knew he would do something crazy but not on this scale. He reacted worse than Ignis. Noctis flew off the bed and headed for the door. Gladio blocked him, grabbed his collar, and shoved him back onto the bed. Noctis' sapphire irises flashed red as he was ready to pounce. "Get out of my way!"

"Noct, calm down! She'll be back soon," Prompto reassures.

"Where'd she go?" Noctis asked, his eyes still ignited red.

"Don't know. She didn't even tell Iggy," Gladio said, his harsh glare directed towards him. "Sit your ass down so I don't have to kick it."

Noctis clicked his tongue, doing as Gladio demanded. Prompto sat next to his best friend and laid a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be back."

"Yeah... Yeah... she has to come back. We'll wait for her," Noctis said, finally having calmed down.

"We're not waiting. The last train to Gralea leaves tomorrow morning. We don't have time to sit around and wait for Zodia to return," Gladio growls. Prompto glared daggers at him for such poor choice of words.

"I... must agree with Gladio," Ignis said. Noctis and Prompto looked at him in bewilderment. Both boys knew they were right, but they didn't want to leave in fear that Zodia would come back and find them gone.

Gladio sighs and crosses his arms. "We need to focus on the task ahead. Knowing Zodia, she'll find us even if we're on the move."

"That's true. She does have the zodiacs on her side," Prompto said, his mood back to its normal cheerfulness. All eyes fell on Noctis as he was the only one that hadn't spoken on the matter. A sigh left the prince's lips as he met their gazes. "Alright, we leave in the morning."

With all in agreement, they decided to spend the rest of the day together. Since the city was still in ruins, they were stuck with staying in the hotel. The four played cards to past the time until it was time for dinner. During their delicious meal, Noctis received a text on his phone from Cid. The Regalia had been loaded onto the train without any problems. "Glad we still have the car," he comments.

"Yeah, me too. So many fond memories," Prompto beams brightly. Gladio and Ignis nodded in agreement as they finished their meals. The four clean up and decide to have one more round of cards before heading to bed. Surprisingly, Ignis beat the famous Gladio at poker. The brute slammed his cards against the table, sending a playful glare to the royal advisor. "You learn to cheat from Zodia?"

Ignis grins in amusement. "As I remember clearly, she won without using such dirty tactics. I have simply adopted her playing style and came out victorious."

"Zodia never cheats. We tried to convince her to do it once, but she refused," Prompto chortles at the memory.

"Oh, that's right. She's too pure to even think about it," Noctis admits.

"Leave it to you two to ruin an innocent soul," Gladio shook his head.

"She's too innocent," Noctis states. "The only reason she hasn't been tainted is because of Specs. He's like... her bodyguard against all that's evil, even small things like cheating in a game of cards."

Ignis couldn't deny the prince's words because all he said was true. He had scolded Noctis and Prompto for trying to convince the princess to cheat in a round of cards against her own father. The end result was both boys being punished by Gladio's morning training sessions for a week. Ignis felt his grin widening at the hilarious memory of both boys crying in protest against the punishment. Even Zodia began laughing at her own brother because of his constant whining as he ran laps around the Citadel.

"Glad she didn't hang out around Gladio too much. He would've ruined her innocence years ago," Prompto exclaims.

"Not on my watch..." Ignis murmurs.

"See? Now you've summoned 'Overprotective Ignis'," Noctis snorts. Prompto slaps his knee with laughter along with the prince's unattractive snort.

Gladio let a few chuckles slip before he stretched. "I'm callin' it a night. See ya in the morning."

"As am I. You both, as well," Ignis commands. Noctis and Prompto groan as they got to their feet and retreated to their rooms. Ignis shook his head at their childish whines as they vanished from his line of sight. With a deep yawn, Gladio heads into his room while Ignis cleans up the mess of cards. He smiled as he reminisced in joyous memories before he disappeared into his own room.

-Next Morning-

On the train, the companions sat across from each other. They were currently in the dining car enjoying a small breakfast. The boys discussed their next stop would be Cartanica, which is where another royal tomb is located.

"How long until we reach Cartanica?" Prompto asked.

"A couple of days. For now, make yourselves comfortable," Ignis responds.

"Kinda hard when the seats aren't cushy," Gladio complains.

"Make do with what you have," the strategist retorts.

"Aye-aye, Captain Specs," Noctis playfully salutes.

Ignis ignored the nickname and stood from his seat. He made his way to the cargo car. With permission from one of the train's operators, he was allowed in to check on the Regalia. Spotting the car, Ignis searches the automobile for a certain book Zodia had left behind. When he found it under the passenger seat, he pulled it out and carried the book back to the passenger car.

Ignis sat in an open seat and flipped through the pages of the grimoire. He was still fascinated with the Xylian written in the book and wished to at least make a little sense of what's written on the pages. The drawings of ancient creatures and magic runes grabbed his full attention along with the foreign language.

Hours had passed and Ignis didn't realize until Gladio sat next to him. "You've been flipping through that book for three hours, Iggy. Get up and stretch your legs."

"A few more minutes will suffice. Then, I shall walk about." Gladio gave Ignis a pat on the shoulder before vanishing to another car.

Satisfied with his search through the pages of the grimoire, Ignis got to his feet, resting the book against his side. A sigh escaped the man as he made his way back to the dinning car to grab a small cup of ebony. As he sipped the warm beverage, he fell into the grasp of a memory.

***

"Iggy! Iggy! What're you drinking?" An eleven-year-old Zodia asked, bouncing on her heels. At a young age, the royal advisor had become slightly addicted to the taste of ebony. Ignis sat the beverage down for a few seconds to answer her question only for the princess to swipe the cup within the blink of an eye. She brought the cup to her lips, taking a sip of the drink. Once the flavor hit her tongue, she pouted and placed the cup back down before letting out a loud "ew!"

Ignis couldn't help but laugh as she tried to get rid of the taste of the coffee out of her mouth. "It seems you're no fan of ebony."

"Ugh, I can't get rid of the taste!" Zodia whines.

Ignis smiled and took her smaller hand in his larger one, guiding the young princess to the kitchen. "I'll retrieve a glass of juice to wash down the taste."

Zodia smiles brightly and freed her hand to latch herself onto his arm. "Yay!"

***

Ignis took another sip of his coffee before setting it down and pulling out the broken chain and zodiac pendant in his pocket. Examining the silver chain, he saw where it had snapped. He sighed, hoping to fix it only to find out its unfixable without the right tools.

"Ya lookin' for a new chain?" Someone asked. He looked up to see it was the man who ran the dinning car.

"Indeed, I am. Sadly, there seems to not be one in sight."

"Here, I'll give ya mine." The older man pulled out a necklace that was in his breast pocket. Adorning the silver chain was a beautiful gem that glistened in the fading sunlight.

"I couldn't possibly-"

"Now, now, young man. I know love when I see it. Must be one lucky lady to have you daydreamin' about her," he chuckles, handing over the silver chain.

"Quite the opposite. I am the lucky one," Ignis smiled softly. The older man handed over his silver chain and took the broken one away from him. He filled the coffee cup as Ignis slid the zodiac pendant on the new chain. The tactician was about to pull out some gil to pay for his cups of coffee, but the old man refused to accept the payment. "On the house, my boy. Just promise me to hand over that pendant when you see your lovely wife."

Ignis was slightly taken aback at the old man calling Zodia his wife. The thought of calling her his wife one day sounded like a beautiful and soothing bell ringing in the distance. "It will be back in her caring hands soon enough."

"That's what I like to hear!" The old man chuckles. "Come by anytime, young man, and fill this old geezer's world with colors. I could use the distraction." Ignis nods as the man walks away to tend to another visitor. He would thank the man properly once he returns for dinner.

Now the pendant was snug on the new chain, Ignis slid it back into his pocket and awaited to return it to his fiancée.