Enchanted [Final Fantasy XV]

❥ chapter VIII

"Very well. Now that everything is settled, I believe it is time for us to tackle Cid's task." While speaking, Ignis took a pair of silvery driving gloves from the breast pocket of his dark dress shirt and nimbly pulled them over his slender hands.

With an upward roll of his eyes, Noctis groaned. "You're right. Let's get this over with." His unwillingness rolled off him in waves as he pushed himself out of his chair.

"Cid is Cindy's grandpa and the owner of this service station," Prompto explained upon noticing the puzzled frown that creased your brow, "and he wants us to deal with some wild animals that're causing trouble around here."

You nodded. "Ah, I see."

Gladiolus stood up as well, but then paused and looked down at you, pensively. "You don't happen to know how to fight, do you?"

"The only weapons I've held in my hands so far were a lance and a shield at a Renaissance fair a few months ago, but they were both made out of wood, so no, I don't, sorry."

At this, Prompto looked up from checking his gun which he had just pulled out of thin air, his head tilted and his eyebrows drawn together in an adorable expression of confusion. "Renai-what?"

"Oh, right, you don't know what that is, huh?" Re-nais-sance," you said, emphasizing each syllable, and he quietly repeated the word to himself. "That's an epoch in my world. Though the fair itself was about medieval knights, with sword fighting and jousting contests, blacksmiths, artisans, and whatnot."

Having hung on your every word, Prompto's face now lit up with a smile. "Wow, there are knights in your world too?!" he asked, visibly thrilled to bits.

"Well, there were," you pointed out, but it didn't seem like he heard it—or maybe he just didn't care.

"That's so awesome! You gotta tell me all about your world later, deal?!" The way he looked at you, positively beaming, his ice blue eyes sparkling with unbridled enthusiasm, made it outright impossible for you to say no to him.

You smiled fondly. "Anything for you."

Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto were not the only ones surprised by your unreserved reply, stopping dead in their tracks to stare at you in varying degrees of bewilderment, with Prompto flushing scarlet again. Even you yourself were caught off guard by what you had said. You didn't have the slightest idea where these words had come from and why they had rolled off your tongue so easily, so naturally. For a moment, you just sat there, dumbstruck.

That was when you remembered something: you always said those exact same words when one of Noctis's friends asked him a favour while you were playing Final Fantasy XV. (Subsequently, you also realized that, apparently, your memories of your numerous and meticulous playthroughs of the game weren't gone completely—thank goodness—just obscured by a most likely magic-induced haze.)

Unfortunately for you, however, you were not sitting on the comfy sofa bed in your studio apartment right now, where your affectionate words reached no one's ears but your own—and most importantly not the ears of your four favourite virtual boys (who were not so virtual anymore). Quite the contrary, you were currently sitting right in front of them, and they had heard you loud and clear, as evidenced by the perplexed looks on their faces.

"That goes for all of you," you hastily added, struggling to maintain your smile while fighting back a blush. "You've basically saved me twice now. I owe you guys big time, and I'll do everything I can to make it up to you. So, uh, yeah, just let me know if there's anything I can do for you or help you with, okay?"

"Nah, don't sweat it! Your company alone is compensation enough." Gladiolus gave you a flirtatious wink and a winning smile, which made you giggle. "Anyway, we should be back in two hours or so. You gonna be fine on your own in the meantime?"

"Sure, don't let me keep you. I'll wait for you here, no problem."

"I suggest you use this time to take a rest and fully recover. Please make sure you stay out of the sun and drink a lot of water," Ignis said as he pushed the glass of water—which you had totally forgotten about—closer to you.

A lopsided grin tugged at the corner of your mouth when you saw Noctis roll his eyes in an exaggerated manner at his advisor's coddling. "Will do, don't worry." And to show him that you were serious, you took a drink of the water that had already warmed up a little.

"Before we go, let's exchange numbers! How about it?" Prompto chipped in, and his suggestion was met with nods of approval from everyone.

While you were occupied with your smartphone, saving the number of each Cho­cobro and dictating your own phone number to them afterwards, you noticed—much to your surprise, delight, and relief—that your phone got a signal, and a pretty good one at that, despite being in the middle of a desert in a whole other world.

You shot Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto a quick group message consisting of just a simple emoticon, namely a smiley face. On the one hand, you wanted to make sure that your smartphone really was functioning properly and you could call and text other people in the first place; on the other hand, you wanted to check whether you had got the guys' phone numbers right. Both was the case.

"Alright, let's get going. The sooner we're done, the better." And with that, Noctis turned to leave, casting a brief wave over his shoulder at you. "Later."

"Be careful out there," you said.

Gladiolus patted the top of your head, his calloused hand brushing against your hair in a fleeting motion before he followed the Prince. "That goes without saying. Don't worry about us."

As he jumped to his feet, Prompto made his gun dissolve into thin air again with a dexterous flick of his wrist. He waved you, and you waved back, both of you smiling at each other. "We'll be back in no time! See ya then, [Name]!" With an animated skip in his step, he ran after his two friends.

"Oh, by the way, Ignis, before I forget," you began, causing the bespectacled man, who was diligently pushing his chair back to the table, to pause and turn to you, "where should I put my other dirty clothes?"

"Ah, yes. Please bring them to Cindy. She has kindly offered to wash your clothes as well. You can find her in the garage over there." He pointed at a large building resembling a hangar at the far end of the service station, behind a building with a weird, roof-like structure protruding from it. Was that ... something from an airplane?

"Okay, got it. Thanks."

"C'mon, Ignis, get a move on!" Noctis yelled from where he was standing on the pavement in front of the service station, tapping his foot with his arms crossed over his chest in a textbook display of impatience. "I wanna make it back in time for lunch!"

Ignis's light green eyes narrowed slightly. "Just a moment!" he called back, throwing a sharp look at Noctis. There was an edge of irritation in his voice.

"Well, make it quick!"

Disregarding his Prince's obvious annoyance, Ignis turned back to you, his courteous smile back on his lips. "Do not hesitate to call one of us, should something arise during our absence."

"I will, thank you." You raised your voice so that Noctis, Gladiolus, and Prompto could hear you too when you called, "Take care, and good hunting, guys! See you!" You waved them, and they all waved back, including Ignis who was hurrying to catch up with the others.