FFXV: After the Fall

Chapter 15

After having an extended rest and re-checking all of their supplies again, they carried on and pushed further into the extensive cavern system that they were barely halfway through. It seemed to almost wrap over and over on itself as they headed around and downwards on a seemingly-nonsensical path and despite how linear it was, they had absolutely no idea where they were in relation to anything above ground. It was very disorienting with spatial awareness as well as the passage of time.
A couple of them briefly wondered if that was its purpose, as well as being the only real place that could hold a Divine being of that size and weight in relative safety.
There were more Daemons waiting for them too, every so often; more clusters of Hecteyes, Goblins, Skeletons and Ghouls, but thankfully nobody from the Lich family. They'd had their fill of those for that lifetime and the next, thank you very much.
They all fell one after another, Helena still helping as much as she could by herding and pushing the Daemons either away from an advantageous position, or forwards onto a very painful one.
More than one creature was thrown through the air to land on a blade that slipped between their ribs...if they had any, that is. In the case of the Hecteyes, it made contact with one of their namesake and she chose to not think about that too closely.
They still noticed that she was slightly more hesitant, however, and as they gradually got closer to their goal, the others started to wonder about her.
Was she really okay?
They weren't sure if there was time to ask.

The possible issue temporarily got put to one side as they took one last break in the cavern just before Titan's Throne.
Prompto suggested coffee for this particular stop- and insisted that it was to make sure everyone was alert and not related to there being a shortage of chocolate powder in any way- and they all huddled at the underground campsite to discuss the plan.
Or, the complete and total lack of anything resembling one.
   "I believe we've made good time." Ignis reported as he braced a glance at his watch. "It's only quarter-past eight."
   "Huh. New personal best." Noctis smiled.
   "We shall still need to camp here before heading back out, though, despite our swiftness."
   "Reckon that chest's still waitin' for us?"
   "Could be." Prompto nodded. "We gonna take a look?"
Helena looked up from her thoughts. "...chest?"
   "Yeah. Found it in a little side cave last time. Didn't get round to opening it- once we clapped eyes on Titan, just plain forgot."
   "Oh, right." She looked back at the fire. "Might have nice stuff."
   "We reckoned so too. Who's comin' with me?"
   "I'll go." Noctis offered. "If one of us crawls through that space first, we can drag it back into here."
   "I like that idea. It's cramped in there." He looked at Helena and explained. "In that cave, there's this little tunnel? Not all of us could fit in, but when I decided to go take a look-"
   "He means, got pushed through kicking and screaming."
   "...we found this chest. Couldn't see clearly, there was nothin' we could light up in there and then we got distracted from it by the giant next door." He then looked at Noctis. "Which means that you're goin' this time."
   "No I'm not."
   "Yes you are."
   "No, I'm not."
   "Yes, you fucking well are."
   "I shall settle this." Ignis rummaged in his pack and pulled out a pencil that had lost its point, then turned away from both men and snapped it in half. He fumbled for a few seconds, then held out one half in each hand. "Shortest goes through." He said.
Gladiolus smiled. "Drawin' straws, huh?"
   "It'll save a lot of arguing, which I'd much prefer."
Prompto shrugged. "Okay." He tapped Ignis' left hand. "I reckon I'll take that one."
Ignis opened that hand first, the right, then opened his left after a pause. The left-hand straw was shorter by about an inch.
Prompto punched the air in front of him. "Yeah, baby!"
Noctis rolled his eyes. "Come on, then," he sighed, "before I lose interest in it again." The two men then left to go and bring the chest back to the campfire.

After they'd gone, Ignis looked at Helena for a moment; she was staring into the fire, sipping at her coffee occasionally while Gladiolus also looked at her once in a while, also wondering.
He looked at it too, then, and decided that this was as good a time as any. "Gil for your thoughts?" He ventured.
Helena looked at Ignis briefly. "...not much to say."
   "Or, maybe...not enough?"
She smiled. "It's true what they say about your eyes."
   "They don't miss much. I apologise, but I am just concerned that you may be putting too much weight onto things."
   "The weight itself isn't the problem. I just feel it more now."
   "I wish we could ask Bahamut." Gladiolus said then. "Not cos' I don't believe in you, you know I do. I'd ask...so that you believed in it. Doesn't seem like you're so sure anymore."
She nodded. "There might be time later."
   "That doesn't help right now." He put an arm around her shoulders. "I'm not sure if we can say any more."
   "You don't have to." Helena replied. "It's not you that needs reassuring. It's me. I can't get that, so...I guess I'm trying to work it out for myself more than anything."
   "The thing is," Ignis said, "that this is Hades you're talking about here. Have you stopped to consider...that this might be exactly what he wants? For you to doubt yourself? He was very quick to judge based on what his follower had told him. You're almost doing the same thing- relying on information that isn't accurate."
   "He's right." Gladiolus agreed. "You've only got his say-so on it, and as you told us, his opinion's bound to be different. That's also down to how he is as a person, too...or Daemon or whatever. He's a lot simpler. For him, it's join or die. He never thought that one of his own would dare to lie to him about it, so how can you believe that what he said has so much truth?"
   "I fear that the problem here, is that we've only got his side to go on. I personally reckon that we do need Bahamut. That's not up to us, of course. Hades is your opposite so he's bound to side against you on a lot of things. Bahamut would no doubt provide a more balanced version that wouldn't cause this confusion."
Helena smiled. "I know what you're trying to say. Really, I do. Part of me thinks that stuff too, but...maybe I'm just saying that to justify myself, rather than it being true. Same thing he does, his take on it merely gives it a darker edge."
   "I suppose it's also reasonable to assume that part of you may think that because we're on your side, we're bound to be in your corner regardless. I don't mean that to undermine anyone. But we say these things because we ourselves believe they are true. None of us doubt you. Not even now."
Gladiolus nodded. "Listen to what we're tryin' to say, babe. I know it's hard, but...you cannot tear yourself to bits over this. Like Iggy said, that's probly what he wants. He can't go for you directly, cos' he knows you're right and he's got no grounds to, so instead? He's tryin' to get to you, pickin' at your weak spots, puttin' that confusion into you so that he doesn't even have to lift a half-rotten finger. You're beating yourself, babe. Think about it- in the light, everything's clear. You know exactly what you're lookin' at, for good or for worse, and nothin's obscured. With darkness?
Nothin's easily visible. It's confusing. You can lose your way. It's half the battle before it's even begun. Don't let him win."
   "I couldn't have put it better myself." Ignis agreed.
She thought about it, then gradually, a smile began to slowly spread across her face. "...yeah." She said. "That makes sense. What would you suggest, then? What's best?"
   "I reckon that you need to push back. Don't let him sway you over to his side of thinking. Although we can't get hold of Bahamut to swing you to the other side, you can just choose to hold things in stasis. You knew you were right, and we know you're right. Use it like a wall, and wait out the siege while carryin' on as you were before all that happened."
She nodded. "Yeah. Okay. Thanks."