Disclaimer: Only my SI/OC and my changes and ideas regarding this fanfic belong to me, everything else belong to its creators.

Final Fantasy XV: Twilight

Chapter Four

For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth.

~Bo Bonnett

May 13th, M.E. 756

Hm, we're definitely getting closer.

Kieran mused lazily as he gazed off into the distance of the sparsely decorated wasteland, sensing the presence of the nest and mentally calculating the distance to be about a mile or so off. Provided, of course, that something doesn't happen that causes everything to go into the shitter. And with the way his luck has been going lately, it's practically guaranteed.

… Please let me not have just jinxed myself.

Visibly wincing, Kieran shook off those fate-tempting thoughts and glanced over to where Ignis, Gladio, and Noctis were gathering food ingredients. Ignis having persuaded Noctis into helping him and Gladio having followed along. Leaving himself and Prompto waiting in the shade of a nearby boulder.

Kieran and the boys had just finished off the second nest of reapertails only a little while ago and had been taking a small break, as the heat had been starting to get to them. Ignis had spotted the several resource points under a tree and had dragged Noctis and Gladio with him to check it out, citing the need for their help to extract the stuff.

The Advisor made an immediate beeline for it after confirming with Kieran about the edibility of the produce and how useful they'd be in cooking. While not having an sort of expertise in cooking, he was able to confirm that they could be used in various dishes.

Begging off going with them, Kieran had stayed behind to rest and stretch out his sense for the last nest while waiting.

Gladio, he observed, seemed to making the most of his time while scavenging for useful items, while helping out Ignis and appeared particularly triumphant about it. The King's Shield had already found some valuable materials that he was just itching to play with, as they were unusual items that were somewhat difficult for an alchemist to find and Gladio just happened to run across them. He was inclined to believe that Gladio had the devil's luck in scavenging.

Not that Kieran was complaining, but he had to wonder how Gladio kept finding these items. He sighed and lamented that such a valuable skill was wasted on a warrior. Having such a skill is worth its weight in gold for any alchemist.

Hm… maybe he could be convinced to help me out in finding rare materials? Hopefully, he amenable to being hired for such a task.

Kieran blearily blinked as he listened to the intermittent clicking of a camera behind him and smiled slightly. At first, Prompto's habit of taking pictures of anything that caught his eye had been a bit annoying. The continual noise grating on his nerves since they left Hammerhead, making him twitch in irritation each and every time he heard it, but as time went on, he got used to it after the first couple hours and accepted it as background noise. Plus, it had the added benefit of letting him know where Prompto was behind him.

I still have no idea how the hell he's managed to take pictures during combat though.

Kieran thought in exasperation, having already needed to come to the gunner's rescue a few times already. Thankfully, the blond was a natural at evading and keeping foes at a distance. The group had a few… encounters with a couple dualhorns that lead to him having to literally drag Prompto away before he got run over by the charging beasts.

That kid has the survival instinct has a dead lemming, I swear.

Kieran deliberately ignored all memories of Dave and other hunters having to do the exact same thing for him whenever he got too into his research on the field and telling him what they thought about his own sense of self-preservation. He was sure they were exaggerating, Kieran doubted he was that bad.

Kieran was still somewhat surprised though, he had initially expected that Prompto would have followed along with the rest of the group, but had begged off as he admitted to wanting to take some shots of the scenery. His curiosity soothed, Kieran had since then blanked out the noise behind him and focused on finding the last nest.

Honestly, he was baffled that Ignis had accepted that excuse, as he didn't seem too thrilled when Noctis tried getting out of it. Kieran's own excuse of saying that he was intending on tracking their next target had gotten him out of it. Adding to that, he cited his own ignorance in judging cooking ingredients.

The ash-blond man seemed strangely appalled when Kieran explained that he never developed his cooking skill beyond making cup noodles and easy-make dinners back in Insomnia. And how after leaving the capital city, he just found it more useful to to a restaurant to get food and information.

Killing two birds with two stones, as it were.

And he had no desire to further develop his cooking skill, even if he loved baking when he had the time. Kieran mentally cursed his sweet tooth and grumbled, thinking of all the time he lost baking sweet treats when he could have been furthering his research.

Thankfully, due to his frequent patronage, most shop owners and tipsters gave him a minor discount, so it didn't murder his wallet too badly. Although, they tended to give him lectures on the importance of eating more than sweets and having multiple meals a day. But, it cut into what little time he had each day to research, so he generally ignored the advice.

Lack of gil wasn't really much of a concern, seeing as Kieran had finally achieved the high Hunter rank of Hand of Mercy. As such, he was authorised to go on hunts that were of the highest difficulty that paid well in both protective amulets and gill. Plus, he didn't use for much else.

Aside from buying necessities, such as hygienic items, new clothes, and other needed necessities, he didn't need to bother buying much of anything. His clothes generally got ruined either due to various bodily fluids or getting ripped up by tusks, horns, or claws whenever he inevitably got in over his head.

As an alchemist, he always created his homemade elixirs, he didn't need to shell out money for potions. He found no shortage of potion ingredients in the field, so he didn't need to buy those either. As a result, Kieran had saved up a monstrous amount of gil, so it made eating out all the time pretty easy.

Especially, with all the dangerous hunts he found himself going on all the time. Kieran still felt proud over having finally earned that high hunter ranking after a good chunk of nearly five years. Once you consider the benefits, it was easily well-worth the effort.

He finally gained the respect of a majority of the hunters, even if there were still those that were disdainful due to his age. Even still, compared to being treated like some ignorant rookie when he first started out and now being regarded as an equal, there was a major difference.

It also had the bonus of him being alerted to the more unusual hunts that were beyond capabilities for regular hunters. Having spent five years making a name for himself among the hunters, he had amassed a great deal of contacts and informants, so he didn't think of it as a waste of five years.

Said tip-offs through his contacts ended up being extremely useful for the advancement of his research. Hunting rare and unusual monsters and daemons, studying the different variations and recording his results had ended up furthering his research beyond his original expectations. Those hunts also had the added benefit of improving his combat ability.

No matter what Cindy says, the risk of gaining injuries and scars from the hunts is far outweighed by the benefits.

Much to his internal amusement, he discovered early on that his initial projections of his progress were being far outpaced by his successes. And it really made him question why no other daemon scientist ever thought that field research would prove to be more fruitful than just waiting in a lab. Needless to say, despite objections, he refused to return to Insomnia after discovering that particular fact.

Upon arriving at Hammerhead at fifteen, Kieran had been immediately been taken under the wing of Dave and taught the ropes of hunting and surviving out in Leide, Duscae, and Cleigne, as a condition regarding his emancipation. He had accepted easily, seeing it the quickest way to actually get the research material that he needed.

This, being the start of the confusion regarding his actual job. Most people tended to assume that he was a hunter, with a side job as a daemon research, when it was actually the other way around. Kieran even had to go through the paperwork and was instated officially within the Meldacio HQ database as an official, which further added to the confusion.

But, his tutelage under Dave ended up being a good thing, despite Kieran's previous experience and education in combat and weapon training, it hadn't prepared him for the reality of the monster and daemon-infested lands outside Insomnia. He had been woefully unprepared for living outside Insomnia and its Wall.

Kieran still found it amazing how much the Wall protected Insomnia from and privately thought that most Insomnians tended to take it for granted. It had taken some getting used to not having the safety of the Wall, camping out, and learning all the survival skills necessary. He had managed to get it all down within the first six months under Dave's attentive mentorship.

Although, there were a few mishaps here and there…

Kieran blinked as he slowly dragged himself out of his rambling musings on the past, glancing over at the threesome in the distance again. He noted that Noctis seemed to be still grumbling about the heat again, and yet, the Prince was still dutifully listening to Ignis and Gladio. He smiled slightly at the pouting expression on Noctis' face.

While he wouldn't ever admit it out loud, he found Noctis' whining kind of cute. Rather similar to a five year old tugging at his mother's skirts, wanting to go to home and sleep. Which, he thought, described Ignis and Noctis' relationship rather well. Given what he remembered from the Brotherhood anime and how the Advisor always seemed to be acting like a put-upon exasperated nursemaid during banter from the game.

His initial impression of Ignis was that of a mom-friend, which he still found true held to this day, and he respected how tolerant Ignis was of the Prince's spoiled antics. He knew if he had been in Ignis' place, his temper would have snapped long before now. To be honest, when he had watched that episode and discovered the state of the apartment when Ignis came over to clean, he found himself appalled at the mess.

Kieran knew he wasn't exactly the most well-organized of individuals, but kept his own version of organized chaos. Yet, his own version of chaotic order was one thing, but the state of that apartment was quite another. Hence, to this day, Kieran held great respect for Ignis' saint-like patience.

I highly suspect Noctis would attempt to murder me if I told him he reminded me of a whiny five-year old. A person's pride can be so… delicate. Though, I don't really have room to complain, I'm a hypocrite seeing as I lost my temper and threw a fit when Noctis criticized me earlier.

In spite of their horrible first impression earlier, Kieran was slowly discovering that Noctis wasn't that bad of a guy. Sure, they had a bit of a rough start and Kieran's own pride and feelings were still smarting from that insult, no matter how unintentional. Adding in his own embarrassment from how he reacted by completely losing it in front of them.

But, he was seeing that Noctis was just as socially awkward as he was from listening to the quartet's conversations. Noctis just tended to hide it behind a quiet, broody Prince exterior. Admittedly, Kieran already knew about the social awkward thing from the game, but it's different actually seeing it for himself and he hadn't thought Noctis was that bad. It certainly put things in perspective.

And it certainly reminds me of that saying 'assumptions make an ass out of you and me.' I really need to stop assuming things about people.

Of course, that didn't mean Kieran was going to be buddy-buddy and everything with the Prince, but he was beginning to grasp the Prince's true personality. And he really needed to apologize to him soon. The brief apology he had given him earlier didn't feel right as they didn't know why he had been so abrasive. Kieran resolved to explain things properly to Noctis when he had the time. No matter how anxious he felt about the very thought of opening up, admitting his mistakes, and apologizing.

Prompto was proving to be just as an much of an contradictory and complicated soul as the Prince was. Which Kieran knew firsthand from his own foreknowledge, but it was entirely different seeing Prompto as an actual person, as opposed to a video game character.

Kieran had thought that he had snapped himself out of his previous mentality of regarding people in Eos as just video game characters and thinking of them, instead, as people, but was rapidly discovering he still held fragments of his old way of thinking.

Bad habits die hard and all that.

When he had first seen and watched Prompto in his past life, he had seemed like your typical kind of joker character who seems to be only there for comedic value. But, it was just a well-crafted mask that could easily fool anyone unless they were looking for the hints.

Back then, Kieran had fallen into that exact trap and failed to notice all the hints of Prompto being more than that persona. Up until he witnessed Prompto's conversation with Noctis in Old Lestallum anyway. Watching Prompto open up to Noctis about his insecurities, that achingly familiar lack of self-esteem and feeling of worthlessness…, it was like looking into a mirror. It had completely changed his initial perception of the blond gunner and Kieran started seeing characteristics of himself in the blond and that made him personally relatable.

Learning that Prompto was just hiding his insecurities and fears behind a mask just spoke to him. A mask that was created due to fear of rejection and persecution. Having done something similar in his past and now second life, Kieran could understand where Prompto was coming from.

Initially, Kieran had created his stoic and calm persona in order to guard himself from those who would make fun of his more vulnerable characteristics. He knows how stand-offish and cold he acts tends to put people off, which enabled him to keep his worries and insecurities hidden behind a mask of surety.

Only his past family and friends both old and new have ever bothered to look past it and work at getting to know him. Most people just made snap judgements based on his outward persona and left it at that. And yet… there were the rare few who worked hard at getting under his skin. Cindy, Cid, Dave, Kimya, and Ezma being among his short list of people he knew he could trust with his life, even if he couldn't trust them with the his circumstances. Thi small group being the only ones who ever invoked true displays of emotion from him.

Although, I suppose these four kids will soon be added to the list...

At first, it may have just been Cindy whom had been the first to get behind his walls in her own sweet, slightly manipulative way, but Dave, Kimya, and Ezma had also cut through his bullshit in their own unique ways. They forced him to face the reality of his circumstance as an reincarnation and how Eos was his home now. He couldn't just pretend and keep himself distanced from human contact for the rest of his life.

The truth had been… difficult to face. He had truly thought he had been doing fine on his own. But, he realized it had been merely a lie that he used to comfort himself in his loneliness. Although, it was… nice to experience the warmth of companionship again, even if he knew he could never explain his situation.

His reincarnation had always been a source of immense confusion. Initially, Kieran had searched high and low for any information regarding rebirth and had come up with nothing. It had been… discouraging, to say the a while, he just gave up and stopped looking, focusing entirely on his research. But, that niggling feeling of wanting to know why he, of all people, had been reborn never left.

If there was any information to be found about reincarnation, he suspected that either the Nox Fleuret and Lucis Caelum families had it. Another possibility was that only the Astrals could answer his question.

When he had realized that particular fact, he had spent quite a few hours cursing the air blue out of frustration of all that wasted effort and time. After all, he doubted he could ever meet with the Oracle and ask her if she knew. And he had no desire to tempt fate by trying to ask one of the Astrals about if he ignored the fact that they would only reply in the Old Tongue.

Essentially, I'm shit outta luck and I'm likely never going to find out why I was reborn here, of all places. Well, I suppose it could be worse. I could have ended up as a plaything of the Astrals like Oracle Lunafreya and Noctis are.

Kieran's eyes darkened, his lips pressed into a thin line as he considered that particular possibility. Back in the beginning of his reincarnation, he had considered it a likely scenario, but he discarded it after many years of contemplation. Still. The very thought of being a toy of those immortal beings was galling to even consider. And potentially hazardous, given how they screwed up before with their first Chosen King and how both Nox Fleuret and Lucis Caelum lines were killed off due to said mistake.

Then again, given the theories he heard back in his first life, that the sacrifice may have been purposeful. Which was chilling to think about, as it just showed that the Astrals considered humans little more than tools to move around as they desired. Leviathan and Ifrit just showed their apathy more than the others. Shiva was just plain frightening because she clearly showed fondness for humanity, particularly Luna, but was willing to ignore that fondness to see the two thousand year-old prophecy come to fruition.

I swear, they remind me a lot of the gods from Greek Mythology with their casual cruelty.

The soft click of a camera shutter going off behind him drew his attention from his negative thoughts. Kieran spun around and hummed curiously, wondering as to what the gunner was taking pictures of this time. He stared blankly at Prompto, whom was holding his camera near his face, gazing sheepishly back at him and laughs nervously, almost as if he thought he was in trouble.

Why would he be in trouble? He's just taking picture of… Oh. I admit, I didn't really expect that.

Kieran blinks slowly back at the gunner, immediately realizing what the blond had been taking pictures of, but found himself unable to understand it. The gunner had been his camera right at his own back. So, he had been obviously taking pictures of him.

But… why?

Kieran paused in thought, it was possible that Prompto had been using himself as a model for the scenery picture he had been taking. Kieran didn't pretend to be all that knowledgeable about photography, surely there was some reason he had been taking the picture with him in it.

Kieran hesitated a moment, wondering if he was overreacting and seeing connections where there were none. Gathering his courage, he gave into his curiosity and decided he really did want to know. "Am I that fascinating to you? Or am I in the way? I can move if you'd prefer?"

Kieran internally sighed in relief, his tone hadn't given away his nervousness at all. To his surprise, Prompto started flushing, stuttering and stopping for a few moments, before pulling himself together and replying, smiling nervously all the while. "Uh, well, not… exactly…I mean..."

Kieran tried smiling reassuringly, feeling the tension loosen and felt calmed by seeing the blond's own nervousness. "Relax. I'm not about to take your head off for taking pictures of me. Well, if you start selling them... then I may change my mind about that."

He gave a teasing smirk at that, taking care to adjust both his expression and tone to show that he was just joking. Cindy always told him that his default blank expression tended to be at odds with his voice whenever he tried joking around.

Prompto deflated in what Kieran assumed to be relief, still fidgeting with his camera nervously, before walking closer and babbling anxiously. "That wasn't what I was trying to do… I've been taking pictures for Noct's journey and well, you're a pretty important part of it. I mean, you're going to trouble of teaching us all this stuff about hunting and making sure we know enough to survive out here, even if Cindy had to kinda push you into it, so I thought… I could… you know, take a few pictures to remember you by. If it bothers you then I can stop!"

Kieran jerked back slightly, somewhat startled by the sudden exclamation at the end of the blond's mini-rant. He gazed back at Prompto, keeping eye contact as he looked into his eyes, trying to gauge the gunner's sincerity before nodding after a few moments, satisfied with the honesty he found there. While he wasn't the best at judging people and guessing their intentions, he could tell the gunner was being genuine.

He knew for a fact that Prompto wasn't exactly the best liar. For all that he managed to keep his true origins hidden, until a certain Chancellor blew that secret out of the water, the gunner was very much a heart on his sleeve kind of guy. Which, was pretty strange in his experience. Rarely, did he meet someone who is that honest, yet able to keep secrets so well.

Even your average citizen has some ulterior motive, no matter how small.

Having a vital secret of his own, Kieran could hardly begrudge Prompto's desire to keep it hidden. Especially given how cruel most Insomnians could be about refugees in general and that's without taking in account that Prompto was born in Niflheim.

Kieran internally winced in sympathy at the thought, he had to wonder how that had affected Prompto growing up and hearing how Niffs were so despised and loathed in Insomnia. Having to hide such an important part of his identity must have been a trial for him.

… Shit. I stayed quiet for too long.

Kieran snapped himself out of his thoughts, feeling immensely guilty upon realizing that the blond was looking more and more anxious, the longer Kieran kept quiet. "Ah! I'm sorry, I just got lost in my thoughts for a few moments there."

He shifted nervously, seeing a bit of the anxiety drift away from the gunner's stance before approaching slowly. His slow and careful movements gave Prompto more than enough time to move away if he so chose and showing he wasn't going to make any sudden movements.

He hadn't meant to scare the blond with his long pause.

Much to Kieran's surprise, the gunner willingly let him move closer into his personal space, albeit still appearing wary and worried, while visibly clinging to the remnants of his falsely confident persona. Kieran took a breath, feeling strangely nervous, before replying, but kept eye contact, despite wanting to look away out of nervousness, knowing him averting his eyes could send the wrong message.

Kieran sent Prompto a nervous smile. "It doesn't bother me. You taking pictures, I mean. Could I… see them? If you don't mind, that is. I admit, I'm curious about what you've been taking pictures of. If you don't want to, that's fine."

Prompto stared wide-eyed at Kieran, clearly not expecting that response from him. Before visibly shaking himself out of his surprise, before reciprocating with a broad grin, visibly happy. "Oh yeah! Sure, just lemme just get to them. And you can't see them from that far away, come closer."

Feeling relieved at the lack of offense, Kieran obliged him and stepped closer into the blond's space, nearly leaning his head on his shoulder, staring down at the screen as the blond scrolled slowly through the pictures and explaining where he taken them and when.

Kieran noticed some of their earlier fights with the two reapertail nests, a great many of just the scenery, before Prompto finally got to a different folder. Kieran just stared unwaveringly, feeling awed by the sheer talent in those pictures.

This is amazing… I knew he was talented, but this… This is so beyond any talent I assumed he had.

Beautiful.

Kieran had always known that Prompto was skilled at photography, but knowing that and seeing it were two different things. It had been a secret pleasure of his, back in his former life while playing the game, to scroll through all the different pictures that Prompto had taken and pick out his favorites and save them. Kieran loved seeing the quality of pictures improve whenever Prompto's photography skill leveled up.

Ironically, the Photography skill had been the first to max out in-game. Followed by Survival, Cooking, and Fishing in that exact order. Fishing, he remembered, had been hell to max out. Kieran could easily see how practice certainly made perfect. And no wonder, Prompto had photography as his hobby since middle school, as shown in the anime, and it possibly went back even further than that. And if this was how good Prompto's photography was now, he couldn't wait to see it as it improved.

While he had absolutely zero talent in photography himself, Kieran was a passable artist due to constantly sketching diagrams for various monsters and daemons, so he could easily see the disparity between their skills. There was just no comparing the two. Prompto's attention to detail was nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Kieran grinned amused at Prompto, upon seeing the next few pictures, who immediately blushed and tried scrolling past as quickly as possible. Prompto had actually put in a few selfies in there, along with a few nice shots of Cindy. Obviously the blond hadn't intended on showing them to him given his embarrassment.

Honestly, Kieran never quite understood the whole selfie craze back when he was alive in his first life, but he found the idea of Prompto taking selfies adorable for some reason. And Kieran had always found the gunner's crush on Cindy cute, even if he didn't exactly have high hopes for Cindy agreeing to go out with the poor blond.

Kieran dragged himself out of his meandering thoughts again and his gaze went back to the pictures. He stared analytically at the various shots of himself, a few even mid-combat, trying to see what Prompto had seen when he had taken them. Kieran really didn't see anything special about the most recent picture of himself. He looked about as normal as ever.

The picture showed a full-body view of Kieran staring out at the Leide wasteland near some trees and rocks with Hammerhead in the distance, the sun shining bright down on him. This must have been taken a little after they had left Hammerhead.

It showed Kieran dressed in his typical all-black outfit with his zipped-up long-sleeved hooded coat that hit his knees, the long-sleeved, high-neck shirt with a Black Choker hidden around his neck, close-fitting slacks, and calf-high combat boots. His messenger bag slipped over his right shoulder to rest against his left side. His bag held his research notes compiled on his laptop, an extra spare of clothing, various potions, and emergency medical supplies.

His outfit was typical of any Insomnian and made specifically to combat the heat. Ordinarily, black clothing just flat-out absorbs heat and causes a person to easily overheat, but Insomnian clothing is specially made to disperse the heat absorbed and keep the wearer cool. As the kingdom of Lucis is mostly land with extreme high temperatures it makes sense that Lucis would have eventually developed a type of clothing that combated the heat.

Plus, his Black Choker's healing abilities actually helped prevent sunburn advance beyond a burning ache that he could easily ignore. Kieran doubted Prompto realized it, but he also had two other protective accessories under his clothing that he tended to switch out depending on the situation.

Moving on, Kieran's eyes traced his familiar spiky, messy black hair, that tumbled slightly past his shoulders, with the entire left side of his face completely covered by his hair, completely obscuring his unseen left green eye, yet not hindering his vision in the slightest. On the right side of his face, his visible blue eye stared out in thought, surrounded by his naturally pale skin that tended to burn easily in direct sunlight.

It was a little-known fact that Kieran actually had been born with heterochromic eyes. He had started to grow out his hair over the left side of his face for this exact reason during middle school. Kieran wasn't scared of revealing his eyes per say, but the attention had been annoying as a child and he had even got bullied for it, until he had gotten the children to back off.

Humans tend to ostracize anything they feel is different. When he was younger, the children thought his different colored eyes were 'cool' up until they started hearing the adults talk about his 'mutation' and some teachers even demanded that he put in a contact lense to seem 'normal' and how it was a 'distraction'. It's what originally started up the harassment and bullying.

Well, that, and the children reacting to the adult's condemnation of his interest into researching daemons. While disappointing that people could be so critical of his choices, it wasn't that surprising. Maybe it was cynical of him, but the few people that found his interest in daemons being useful, were actually quite surprising.

Hm… What does he see when he takes these pictures, I wonder? All I see is my normal self.

Kieran stared for a few more moments before sighing resignedly, giving up on understanding it, taking a step back as he spoke, tone laced with obvious admiration. "You definitely have talent, Prompto. I could easily see you making a living out of this if the whole Crownsguard gig doesn't go well. Granted, I really don't see why you bother taking pictures of me. I would be concerned you were deluded if I didn't see the beauty of these pictures."

At his last word, he gestured towards the camera, obviously directing that statement towards the pictures he just saw. And then Kieran internally winced, realizing the backhanded insult he had just made and he had likely just screwed up. He had spoken too soon without considering the effects of his words.

Why do I always bite myself in the ass like this? Just… why?

Surprisingly, Prompto flushed at the backhanded compliment, a smile slipping unbidden on his lips, before retorting. "Yeah, well, haven't you ever heard 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder'? Not everyone sees things the same way, you know?"

Kieran stared at the gunner in a mixture of surprise and relief, realizing Prompto either hadn't noticed his unintentional insult or ignored it, before grinning and shooting back. "I take it back, you must definitely be deluded to be that blind. Everyone has their flaws. So don't feel so bad about it, Prompto."

"So good to see you two getting along so well." Ignis' smoothly accented voice interrupted their friendly banter. Kieran had always thought his accent sounded sounded rather British, which he thought was fascinating, considering most people in Insomnia appeared to have differing accents. Maybe it's due to the area of the city he was raised in? Or maybe his family background?

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he and Prompto turned to face the returning trio and both smiled in greeting. Kieran was amused to note that Ignis seemed subtly triumphant over his haul, while Noctis seemed irritated, confirming Kieran's guess as he was grumbling about the heat, and Gladio seemed equally amused by it.

Kieran straightened from his slumped posture over Prompto's shoulder and dipped his head in greeting. "I take it that your harvest was successful?" Judging by the visible bulging from the bag, he presumed that Ignis found a lot of ingredients to use. Which explained the length of time it took for them to get back.

Ignis nodded, appearing pleased at the question, while Noctis groaned irritably in the background. "Indeed. It may have taken a bit of time, but I came up with a few new ideas for recipes that I'm eager to try out. I apologize for the wait."

Kieran waved him off, unconcerned about the wait as it hadn't taken them that long. Less than twenty minutes really. Plus, it was hitting two birds with one stone, as Kieran was able to discern the location of the last nest. "It wasn't any trouble. Depending on how things go in the future, you just may need those ingredients for cooking on the road after this. Still, I appreciate the apology."

Gladio interjected suddenly moving nearer, in the same movement grabbing Noctis around the neck in a brotherly hug, dragging the protesting Prince closer. "So, where to next? Any idea rolling around in that brain of yours, Professor?"

...I really wish he'd stop that. It's annoying.

Kieran threw the broader man an irritated look, to which Gladio shot back with a wide teasing grin. Earlier, Gladio had noticed each time that Kieran tended to twitch whenever he was referred to by his title in any fashion. While Kieran was proud of his academic achievements, he didn't appreciate the ridiculous reputation and high expectations that came with it. The Shield had picked up on that fact and Gladio had been mercilessly using it to heckle him.

Why, Kieran had no idea, but it seemed to amuse him every time he reacted irritably to the teasing.

Kieran narrowed his eyes further in a darker look, to which Gladio merely smiled at, much to Kieran's dissatisfaction, before gesturing in the location where he had detected reapertail life signs, replying. "I already have an good idea of where we need to go. If all goes well, your errand will finally be done and over with. Then we can go back to town."

Prompto interjected gleefully, having tucked away his camera into his camera bag on himself during the conversation. "Here's to hoping that Cid will be done with fixing up the Regalia by the time we get back. Plus, we'll no longer be in the red!"

Well… they're certain to be in for a surprise when they get back.

Kieran snickered under his breath, amused that the blond was underestimating Cid's ability. He had seen Cid, first-hand, repair a car in worse condition than the Regalia had been and the man still fixed it in a few hours. Especially with Cindy's help. Cid was most likely already relaxing on his lawn chair and waiting for them to come back.

Kieran shook his head in amusement before directing his attention to the sun, shading his eye. Judging by what he could tell by it's position, they still have more than enough time before darkness falls to finish their task and find Dave, even if the quartet didn't know they were going to need to find him yet.

Kieran frowned nervously, hoping events would follow canon and Dave wouldn't get severely hurt. He hoped that Dave would be able to hide and keep himself safe long enough for them to find him. Kieran was well-aware that Dave was a top-tier hunter, but the man was still human and could make a mistake.

That possible mistake was what he worried about the most. Dave had easily taken a spot in his heart due to his compassionate and caring nature, as well as the time they spent together when Dave had been mentoring him. He just had to keep telling himself that Dave would be alright.

Dave is a top-tier hunter, so he should be alright. He has to be.

"So, uh, where are we headed after this anyway?" Prompto's curious question broke through Kieran's anxious, circling thoughts as they all walked to the location of the last nest, Kieran turned his attention toward the conversation while keeping an eye out for trouble.

"Nowhere until repairs are done. Then we head for Galdin Quay." Ignis answered patiently, his tone implying that this was actually the first time Prompto had asked this question.

Gladio easily picked up where Ignis left off, voice faintly teasing. "And after that, we hop a boat, and before you know it, loverboy's hitched."

Kieran grinned to himself in amusement, he knew any self-respecting seaman would have happily murdered Gladio for calling their ship a boat. It's like calling a Welsh an Englishman. Guaranteed to end in tragedy and pain on Gladio's part and utter hilarity to anyone watching.

Prompto smiled and nodded in understanding, crossing his arms, a faint sing-song in his tone. "Wait for car repairs, then wedding bells in the air~ Got it!"

Kieran chuckled under his breath, noticing how annoyed Noctis looked at their teasing, but saying nothing but mild grumbles in response. In all honesty, Kieran was curious as to how the Prince was taking the whole thing. He would never have wanted to have gotten married this young, even if he found the right kind of guy he wanted to get married to.

Not that I want to get married anytime soon. I'm still very young in this body after all. Besides, it's… difficult to find someone to start a relationship with when ninety-nine percent of people I meet tend to find my research creepy. Not that I had any luck in my past life either. It's really pathetic for a forty-six year old to have never experienced a relationship, or, at the very least, a kiss. Ughhh… I need to stop thinking about this, it's just making me even more depressed about my lack of a love life.

Needless to say, he had been shocked upon discovering that same-sex marriage had been legalized all over Eos centuries ago and held firm to this day. He had found out that particular fact when he had been researching Eos' history early on. While each nation generally held different traditions and what they considered age of majority, Lucis' age of adulthood was eighteen.

Kieran had been stunned to discover that there was a serious lack of prejudice regarding sexuality. Men loving men and women loving women was as common as men loving women and vice versa. It was really all up to your personal preference.

Although, royalty and other old noble families are somewhat restricted in that respect, given the importance placed upon siring or given birth to heirs to continue their vaulted bloodlines. Interestingly enough, royalty can marry a person of the same-sex, but they need to have a surrogate to extend their line through artificial insemination, which has been a recent advancement in technology and has only been available for a short period of time. However, while surrogates were an option, they weren't exactly popular, as some felt it lessened the noble lines somehow.

While eighteen is the age when someone could marry, it's considered more sensible to wait and find out what you want to do with your life before making such an life-changing decision. It's actually more common to marry at your late twenties to early thirties. Ironically, parents trying to push their children into arranged pairings was generally seen in a negative light by most of had actually explained his confusion regarding Lunafreya's unmarried state, given how most royal and noble lines back in ancient history on Earth generally married young.

Plus, given she was the Oracle, he doubted it would be easy for her to find a match given her adoring public. If the public hadn't known about Noctis and Oracle Lunafreya's love for one another, Kieran knew there definitely would have been more of a public outcry. Given how well-loved the Oracle was by the people, even without taking in account the stigma of forcing a marriage.

Even if the Lucis Caelum line was seen in a rather negative light by the refugees of Lucis. Nowadays, one normally only sees arranged marriages between royalty or nobles. It's extremely uncommon otherwise.

Kieran wondered how Noctis was handling it, after all, this would be the first time the two would had seen each other in twelve years. Even if they were in contact through messages, it's completely different compared to meeting in person. While well-aware of Niflheim's future treachery, he couldn't help but wonder. Was Noctis happy about his marriage to Lunafreya? Was he getting cold feet? Does he feel overwhelmed? Scared?

Kieran paused as he considered how unusually worried he was, before groaning internally in exasperation. He hadn't expected that the young Prince would have gotten under his skin this fast. Here he was, getting worried about how some kid was taking his engagement to his childhood friend, when he had been sure he had been keeping himself distant.

At least Cindy will be happy about it. I can hear it now.

"Oh Kieran, I'm so glad you're finally gettin' out there and makin' friends! See? I knew you could do it if they tried!"Kieran didn't appreciate those words then, and he certainly don't appreciate them now. Despite what Cindy and Dave may believe, he was perfectly fine by himself thank you so very much.

…

Yeah, I wouldn't believe me either. Ugh, I wish I wasn't so damned soft. I shot myself in the foot the very moment I became concerned about their survival. I'm already getting attached to them.

Damnit.

This is gonna hurt like a bitch ten years from now.

Kieran skidded to a stop and spun around after his mind registered the dull thud the last reapertail hitting the ground, panting slightly. He felt the sweat trickling down his back and grumbled in irritation as he concentrated on evening out his breathing. He always hated the gross feeling of drying sweat, but there was no helping it. One would think he'd be used to it after living a desert wasteland for six years. But, sadly, that wasn't the case. Some days he really misses the luxuries of Insomnia, this being one of them.

I'd seriously kill for a bath right about now...

"Nice. Mission complete." Gladio's satisfied voice broke through the slightly fatigued haze enveloping his mind. With all the stamina and combat training he took over the years, he found that it helped his low endurance as long as he closely looked after his health. He even made sure to minimize his movements during fights in order to not overtax himself.

Kieran loathed the fact that his low level of energy had always been a major problem in both of his lives. As a child, he had been made aware that his health was balanced on a scale and the slightest weight could tip the balance. Back on Earth, His parents and teachers ensured he took numerous breaks to ensure he didn't accidently overexert himself. By his second childhood, he already knew what to look out for and was more cautious in looking after himself.

While his health stabilized somewhat as he grew older, his doctors, both times, informed him that he would never have the health or energy of an average person. As an adult, he could go for longer without breaks or rest and he didn't get as sick so easily, but that didn't mean he was healthy. Thankfully, the energy drain wasn't too bad, he generally knew when he was starting to run out of energy for the day. Thank the Six, he never ran out of energy whenever he was fight, but then again, adrenaline was the likely cause of that.

Kieran crouched down to slid his daggers back in their sheaths and he grazed the back of his hand against his forehead in a subtle motion that made him seem like he was thinking as was he crouched down.

Hm, not too warm, but I really need to stop wearing myself out so much.

Kieran sighed in relief as he placed his hands on his knees and looked down at the nearest reapertail corpse by him. Luckily, they were intact enough for him to collect even more samples. It's funny, any person would think he's nuts to collect samples on the weakest monster out there. But, it was important to keep an eye out for any mutations in the breed and Sania had asked for some samples whenever he ran into them, which made this a prime opportunity. Sania was primarily a biological researcher after all, anything to do with anything living interested her.

Kieran moved to extract the samples he needed, moving on autopilot while he thought. In the past, they had even collaborated on a few projects and shared information. She looked to him as someone she could mess with. Kieran had even been tricked a few times into running errands for her, up until he wised up and stood firm in the face of her crazier schemes, though he still helped her out once in awhile.

While Kieran may research heavily into monsters, it was more of a side thing. Daemons, no matter the other distractions he may indulge in, is his primary focus. Kieran may proclaim himself to be an researcher in monsters, daemons, and magic, he knew he only had gotten interested in the other two due to their connection to daemons.

The cheerful notes of a ringtone broke through his thoughts and Kieran glanced down at his bag blearily in mild surprise, the cellphone inside it being the source of the noise. He had been expecting the call, but surprised she had called him, instead of Noctis. He immediately unlatched the flap of his bag and removed his cellphone from it and answered it, putting it on speaker to let them all hear. " Hello, Cindy."

"Hey, Ky. How goes the huntin'?" Cindy's soft voice came through the connection, sounding as concerned as ever.

Kieran smirked slightly, feeling smug, as their combined efforts had finished the task quicker than he ever would have on his own. Admittedly, that fact stung his pride a bit, but it's better that it was finished and done with before some poor smuck ran into one of the nests and got cornered and eaten. "We just finished actually. I take it that there's something else?"

Kieran watched the quartet coming closer, out of the corner of his eye, the group having easily heard Cindy's voice from his phone and were listening closely. His attention snapped back as Cindy spoke again. "Yeah, we got a bit of a problem. It's another hunt for y'all, but this time, it's for a person."

Kieran shifted his weight slightly, already knowing exactly who the person was, but played along, knowing for another's point-of-view he couldn't possibly know what was going on. But, seeing as there were few hunters in the area, it could only be one person. "It's Dave, isn't it? I heard from Takka that he had been on a hunt himself?"

Cindy made an affirming noise in response, sounding worried. "Yeah, Dave went off for those hunts and we ain't heard from him since. I figure he went and staked out a spot in an old shack nearby."

Kieran hummed in reply, already having an idea of where he look. Giving the quartet a questioning look, nonverbally asking their opinion. Ignis, Gladio, Noctis, and Prompto exchanged looks for a few moments before nodding in acceptance. Kieran grinned in relief at them in unspoken thanks before replying. "Gotcha. We'll find him, don't worry."

Cindy sighed, obviously relieved, clearly Dave's disappearance, no how short he had been missing for, was weighing on her. "Thanks, Ky. I know we can count on you."

After saying his goodbyes, Kieran clicked the end call button and put it back in his bag. Cracking his knuckles, he raised an eyebrow at the foursome questioningly. "As I said to Cindy, I already have a good idea of where he could be hiding, but we'd best check every one of them just in case. Any objections?"

Ignis shook his head, and the others made similar disagreements. "Not at all. It's a sound plan."

Kieran jerked his head over in the distance at the large abandoned building, before walking in that direction. "Let's check there first then. We don't have any time to waste." He heard their footsteps following shortly behind.

"So, you know this guy?" Prompto piped up from next to him, causing Kieran to stare at him questioningly before blinking as he finally registered the question, still feeling dazed and out of sorts. He belatedly noticed that the other three were listening in.

Kieran cleared his throat uncomfortably, wondering what he should say, before speaking. "Yeah, I know him. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone out here who doesn't know him. Dave is a important person in the hunter community and is well-known to the citizens. He's one of our top hunters and as been around for longer than I've been a hunter, which should tell you a lot. Regardless, he has a bit of a...guilt complex. Which causes him a bit of trouble"

Noctis looked quizzically at him, asking. "'Guilt complex'? What's so bad about that?"

Kieran laughed mirthlessly. "You'll understand once you really get to know him. Well, if you intend on sticking around long enough." He ignored the concerned glances being exchanged over his head. While he cared dearly about Dave, he wasn't blind to his faults. He just wished Dave would just let go of his guilt and didn't let it control him. But, he doubted anything he said would have any effect. Nothing he said has worked over the last few years. Hopefully, things will stay true to canon and Noctis and his friends will be able to help.

Kieran carefully scanned the building before going inside, the others following shortly after. From his memories of this time, he knew there was going to be a sabertusk ambush soon, but it never hurt to be too careful. He glanced around and observed the structure.

The building was old, rundown, and predictably decrypt with little furniture. Although, the wooden structure seemed somewhat stable and didn't seem like it was going to start crashing down anytime soon. Still, best to be cautious.

Looks can be deceiving, best not linger here too long.

There was little in the building of actual note, apart from the table near the corner with some papers, which he automatically recognized as being bounty papers as they had a familiar print that any hunter worth their salt would recognize on them.

Kieran headed straight over to it and picked the papers up, scanning the bounty information before looking at the notes under them. Noctis nudged Kieran's arm and asked, leaning over curiously. "What's that?"

Kieran glanced over to him and replied. "More than likely these are the papers that Dave was carrying around. See?" He showed Noctis the papers as he shifted through them, speaking the words out loud. "'Mutant Dualhorn Sighting. Codename: Bloodhorn. Characteristics: Red tusks, extremely violent.' Hm, there's a note regarding the outstanding bounty on the sabertusks in the area…but that's fairly usual given their breeding habits and tendency to pop up everywhere."

Noctis nodded in understanding just Kieran internally jerked at the scream of warning that suddenly raked up his spine. "Noct!" Ignis suddenly shouting caused them to spin around defensively, their eyes growing wide. Kieran took the split second to curse colorfully in his head at the sight of a sabertusk leaping at them, clearly intent on dealing some damage.

In that single instant, Kieran dropped the papers to the ground as he whipped out his daggers as the sabertusk tried tackling Noctis intent on ripping his throat out, the Prince falling to the ground out of surprise at the sudden ambush, but Kieran swiftly threw one of his knife and lodged it deeply into the creature's neck as Prompto shot it in the head at the same time, diverting its path away from the Prince and its corpse fell to the side heavily.

Intuition still yowling incessantly at him and demanding his immediate attention, Kieran crouched down quickly and dragged Noctis to his feet, before placing his body in a defensive position. Despite the Prince's annoyed protests, he kept Noctis behind him as he performed a quick psychic scan of their surroundings and his eyes narrowed analytically.

He spent the next few seconds absorbing the information, while Prompto also shot the one that was trying to go for Gladio's throat, who was keeping it away using his two-handed broadsword. Ignis being busy with his own opponent, but quickly decimated the beast with his own daggers.

Kieran could sense no fewer than six sabertusks prowling outside the building, waiting for their chance judging by their intent. It was fair-sized pack, but nothing too troublesome. Nonetheless, they needed to be careful. Kieran vaguely heard Prompto move towards them and asking in concern. "Are you okay?"

Noctis nodded with an affirming noise while Kieran quickly moved forward to remove his knife and back away again. He could sense that the pack fully intended on attacking soon and he knew he would be needing it for the fight ahead. Still maintaining his alert position and keeping the Prince behind him, he raised his voice sharply. "Don't let your guard down! There are more coming!"

As if on cue, the sabertusks charged into the building and a few attacked Gladio and Ignis, who were closest to the door. Kieran threw himself at the one closest, ripping open its throat easily and used its momentum to throw it into another causing it to stumble, much to Prompto's advantage, who immediately headshotted them both.

Kieran belatedly felt the rush of blue light and wind that went past him and hissed in annoyance at the headstrong Prince. "Be careful! Sabertusks can easily kill you if you aren't careful!"

After yelling his warning, he focused on keeping the any sabertusks away from the gunner. Thankfully, Gladio, Ignis, and Noctis were close-combat specialists, so he they could take care of themselves, but Prompto was vulnerable as a long-range combatant. That didn't mean he wasn't annoyed about Noctis jumping into things.

Little brat.

It ended up being a good split second decision, as one tried leaping at Prompto, only to immediately not live to regret its actions due to Kieran's poisoned knives. Noctis disabled the last one after warping behind it to sever its spine thus stopping movements and left Gladio to decapitate it. Kieran carefully scanned the area once again, this time broadening his range, and sighed in relief, only feeling that sabertusks still a distance away from them and the creatures focused on something else entirely.

Kieran leaned down again to sheath his blades, speaking as he did so. "Excellent work. Especially considering it clearly was an ambush. They had likely scented Dave had been here and were waiting for him. Or anyone coming to look for him. Which means, we're probably close. They wouldn't have been prowling around if the scent had been days old."

Ignis nodded his head in understanding, Noctis and Prompto looked worried, while Gladio was looking outside the building through the cracks in the wood and gestured. "What about the shack over there? If he's close by, then that's where he'd would be, right?"

Kieran nodded sharply, pushing out of his crouch and walked towards the door. "More than likely. But, if he's hurt then that means there are likely sabertusks over there as well. Probably waiting for him to come out or find a way to break in. We need to move."

Kieran stopped momentarily to smack Noctis upside the head, glaring at him irritably before continuing on. "While I can appreciate the initiative, Noctis. Next time, do be more careful. If not for yourself, then for your friends' sake."

Not caring to look behind him for an answer, Kieran vaguely heard them following after him, but he remained focused on the shack in the distance. He was crept forward nearly silent as he circled around, while keeping to cover and out of sight. While the quartet were trying their best, he could still clearly hear them.

They really need to work on their stealth.

Kieran's eyes narrowed as he pressed his lips into a thin line, watching the sabertusks stalking around the shack, the beasts clearly looking for a way inside. That, was a obvious sign that Dave was inside. Sabertusks wouldn't bother doing that for anything less than cornered prey. That's without taking in account of the signs of recent human tracks.

Ignis suddenly gripped his arm, causing Kieran to look back at the Advisor, raising an eyebrow in question while his eyes sparked irritably. Ignis stared back at him calmly and murmured. "I've got a plan. Noctis can act as bait by warping to the windmill while we attack using the distraction to our advantage. We can easily take out most of them that way."

Kieran gazed hard at Ignis before looking away as he took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm himself from acting irrationally. Kieran nodded in answer, biting back any response lest he start snarling. His logic always seemed to go out the window whenever someone he cared for was in trouble.

Kieran knew he couldn't let his emotions get in the way, but the moment he saw those sabertusks surrounding the shack that Dave was keeping safe in, it was like he lost what little calm he had. Neither Ignis or the others deserved any of his vitriol. He was well-aware that Dave had gotten himself into this situation, but, knowing didn't prepare him for the reality of it.

I only have myself to blame for this. I shouldn't have gotten so Astrals-damned cocky with my foreknowledge.

The thud of metal striking deep into wood caused him to snap his head upwards, watching Noctis hanging from his sword on the windmill as the beast started gathering below him, waiting for him to drop. Kieran took the cue and launched himself at the nearest sabertusk, the others easily following his lead. They made quick work of the group as Kieran's heartbeat thudded in his ears. Once the last one thumped to the ground, Kieran immediately shot his attention to the shack's door, hearing Dave call out, door opening just as he did so. "Hey, who's out there?"

Kieran ran past the quartet to meet Dave and sighed in relief, his body relaxing upon laying his eyes on Dave. Even knowing in canon that Dave hadn't suffered more than a broken ankle, he couldn't help but fear something else had happened. Seeing the man safe and sound was a immense relief. "Just us. I'm so glad you're alright."

Kieran quickly moved to help a surprised Dave limp out of the shack, moving him to settle on the stone floor as he cautiously checked him over for any other injuries. Dave's left leg was obviously causing him difficulties, but he didn't injured anywhere else, apart from some scratches and bruises.

Thankfully, as he pressed down, he discovered the only injuries he had were just bruises and he found no sign of any broken bones. Dualhorns and sabertusks could easily snap human bones given the chance. It wasn't that he thought Dave was incompetent, but he still could have been taken off-guard.

Dave stared back at Kieran in surprise, before smiling at Kieran's typical fussing, waiting patiently for him to finish before looking over his shoulder at the foursome behind him in askance.

Gladio took charge and greeted Dave warmly, appearing as friendly as ever. "The man of the hour. Dave, right? We've been looking for you."

Dave winced, looking guilty and clearly pained by his injury, causing Kieran to immediately shift his attention to the obvious injury. "Didn't mean to cause y'all any trouble. Been stuck here on account of my sprained ankle."

His words caused Kieran to flick him in the head and gave him a look, staring him down and nonverbally demanding that he stop right there. To which Dave replied with an apologetic look and settled back down patiently for him to finish. Kieran moved to shift his left pant leg and sock out of the way and assess the injury, feeling it to make sure it really was just a sprained ankle.

While clearly swollen by the effort it took to drag himself into the shack and away from wherever his hunts had taken him, it wasn't that bad. Kieran sighed in relief, seeing it was exactly that, reaching into his bag to grab a potion. Dave immediately protests at his action. "Hey now. No need to be wastin' a potion on a sprained ankle. I'll be right as rain in a few hours."

Kieran just glared at him, eyes fierce as he kept eye contact and forced himself to speak evenly, furious that Dave was even saying that. "I'm not wasting anything. Potions are meant to be used and I'm using it to help a good friend who is clearly in pain. So, do us all a favor, and tell your guilt complex to shut the hell up."

His words were in a forced calm, the emphasis was telling in how pissed off he was. Underneath the fierceness was a subtle undertone of worry and residual fear and it was evident to Dave. The older hunter winced, sending Kieran another apologetic look, which he ignored as he focused on wrapping the injury with bandages he had removed from his bag.

Kieran belatedly heard amused snickering from behind him and puzzled over that reaction before ignoring it. They probably just found it funny to see him bossing around Dave and seeing the man listen to him. He supposed it would be funny to see a full-grown man get bossed around by a young boy barely in his twenties.

Dave accepted the potion given to him and knocked it back. Kieran smiled in satisfaction at the immediate effect, already seeing the difference as the tense lines in Dave's shoulders loosened and Kieran pushed off the ground and got back up after smoothing the clothing back into place. Dave spoke after a few moments of silence, expression visibly concerned about something. "Kieran, there was something funny about them varmints. I gave 'em hell, but couldn't finish the job. Still one mean mutt about."

Kieran crossed his arms, eyebrow ticking up displaying his curiosity. "I admit, surprised to hear you say that. You don't normally get taken by surprise like that. What happened?"

Dave gave a dryly pointed look to his leg in answer. "Like I said, sprained my ankle. But, you should know, it was different from other Bloodhorns that we've seen. I've been huntin' for years, but I ain't never seen Bloodhorns with tusks that red. I reckon it's the alpha of its herd. Whaddaya say? Put that puppy to rest for me?"

Kieran nodded sharply, letting his arms fall to his sides. "Don't worry about it, Dave. I can handle it. Besides, before I left Hammerhead, I heard you were taking on the hunt, so I was already intending on asking if I could take some samples from it. This just simplifies things. Where'd you last see it?"

Dave gave the coordinates as Kieran re-checked his mental map of the area and marked it before nodded in understanding. "Got it. Rest up here for a bit before getting back to Hammerhead. The potion won't take long in fixing the damage. So, you'll be up and about in no time."

Kieran turned to the quartet, hesitating before speaking. "I'd hate to trouble you all, but do you mind escorting Dave back? I don't want him out on his own. Besides, you guys already finished your task, anything beyond this isn't your concern."

Kieran internally winced after he said that, realizing how that could be taken, but refused to back down. Even knowing he sounded like a complete asshat, they really didn't need to stay here any longer, besides, as long they knew someone was taking care of it, they could go on their merry way. Behind him, he could hear Dave protesting at requiring an escort, Kieran could practically hear his pride stinging, having to be escorted back by a bunch of rookies.

Well, Dave could just suck it up. He wasn't about to allow Dave to endanger himself in such a fashion when he was already hurt. Oddly enough, the boys didn't seem offended at all, in fact, they seemed strangely amused by his words. Kieran frowned in confusion as he watched the exchange amused looks with each other, but kept his silence as Noctis spoke up.

Noctis grinned at him. "Nope. Sorry, but we still need to hold up our end of the deal."

What? What deal?

Kieran blinked in confusion, feeling out of sorts. "What on Eos are you talking about-" Kieran stopped at Noctis holding his hand up, the gesture causing him to go silent.

Prompto piped up cheerily, looking just as amused by Kieran's bafflement. "Cindy asked us to watch out for you. Remember?"

Ignis nodded, picking up where the gunner left off. "We can't very well keep our promise if we abandoned you now."

Gladio smirked at him. "I wonder how strong this Bloodhorn Alpha is. Should be a good challenge for us."

Kieran gazed wide-eyed back at them, bewildered by the sudden show of solidarity against him. His gaze darted between the four boys, feeling increasingly off-balance and it was starting to frighten him. Why were they so invested in wanting to help?

Kieran jerked sharply at feeling Dave's hand graze his elbow behind him and causing him to look back. He flushed brightly, feeling embarrassed that his flustered state had him acting like some paranoid fool. He was usually more composed than this...

Dave smiled reassuringly at him. "I'll be fine, Ky. I'd feel better if I knew you'd have back up against that beast."

What. No, seriously, what the heck just happened here?

"..." Kieran's shoulders slumped in confusion as he stared unsurely back at the quartet for a few long moments, before nodding dazedly, his words coming out quiet. "...A-Alright. I guess… it'll be fine?"

He wondered what on Eos could have caused the change in the group. He would have thought they'd be glad to get back to Hammerhead as soon as possible. Did they think he couldn't handle one Bloodhorn by himself? Admittedly, it was a common assumption due to his body type, as he was lean enough that most people tended to underestimate him. But, surely, as they saw during the previous fights that he could handle himself, right?

Kieran forcefully shook himself out of his dazed confusion, remembering why he had volunteered to take the beast on in the first place. Still unwilling to leave the man, but knowing he needed to. He turned back again to Dave, demanding firmly. "But, you'd better get right back to Hammerhead, alright? That's my condition."

Dave laughed softly, nodding in agreement at his term, waving Kieran off. "Alright, alright. I promise. Now, get going."

Kieran huffed in amusement before obeying, stalking off in the direction he knew was correct, the others following after. He still felt shaken by the sudden turn of events. Even being emotionally blackmailed by Cindy hadn't had this effect. He wondered if it was because she wasn't there as a buffer?

Kieran looked at the sky worriedly as it was drawing close to night time and that Bloodhorn was still a good distance away still. He could easily make his way through the night by himself, but it wouldn't be smart, seeing as the quartet would get ripped to shreds by the daemons. Adding to the fact, it was just plain dangerous in near darkness when you couldn't see where you were going.

Ignis tapping his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts and when he glanced over questioningly, Ignis suggested firmly. "It would be wise to rest up before we set out."

"I agree." Kieran hummed in affirmation, trying to keep up his mask of false confidence. "It's getting far too late. We need to find a Haven before we all get caught out by daemons. C'mon. I know one close by."

"Over there. Thankfully, we were already close by a Haven." Kieran sharply switched directions, gesturing towards the enclosed area in the distance that was painted with oddly white, to them, markings that appeared to almost glow in the ending daylight. The area was completely flat and surrounded by high cliffs with a short winding path up to the Haven.

Ignis and Gladio appeared to quietly confer for a few moments as they followed, Kieran was close enough to hear them debating the viability to defending such a location, which was smart, even though daemons would get repelled by the sigils of the Haven, the same can't be said for monsters or… opportunistic people.

Although, according to Kimya, there was minor suggestion magic intertwined with the markings that urged monsters to ignore the location. It wasn't a sure thing though so watches would need to be a said, Ignis and Gladio didn't seem to care he could clearly hear what they were saying.

Noctis and Prompto, Kieran noticed, seemed to be taking the time to discuss...King's Knight? The seemed be be discussing something about a boss fight. He had heard of the game often enough and tried it out a few times, but hadn't really cared to get into it. His research tended to take up most of his attention.

Kieran yawned tiredly, eyelids slipping to half-mast as he listened to the younger two debate different ways that they should tackle the boss. Having that late night and using up his limited energy during the fights today really tired him out. He grumbled in annoyance at his weakness.

"Excellent. Let's move on then, shall we? I'm sure we're all eager to settle in for the day." His drifting attention snapped back as Ignis began speaking, he momentarily felt embarrassed by his lapse in attention, but blamed his exhaustion. Biting his lip to wake himself up, Kieran hummed in reply and took that as his cue to get moving, hearing the others start their trek to the Haven as well.

Kieran wasn't too surprised when Gladio spoke up as they walked, as the group was proven to be particularly chatty, the large man sounded impressed. "The hunters are really out in full force around here, huh?"

Kieran smiled tiredly at him, feeling oddly proud about his appreciation over the hunters and liking that Gladio noticed their hard work. "Yeah, recruitment efforts have gone through the roof lately. Sadly, that means there's no shortage of idiots that believe once they become a hunter that they can take on high-risk hunts with no problem. Hopefully, that mindset will get knocked fast by their mentors."

Prompto interjected curiously, glancing to the side at Kieran, to which he blinked at the gunner curiously. "So, they're like a new Crownsguard or something?"

Kieran shook his head negatively before elaborating. "Hunters operate primarily as a civilian outfit, but they are similar."

As Crownsguard occasionally came around to help train with hunters, it lead to the hunters having a more stable combat style, which leads to a higher survival rate. Despite what most Insomnians may say, the Hunter HQ and Crownsguard got along just fine. Sure, there is the occasional hotshot that shoots off his or her mouth, but they tend to get taken down a few notches pretty quickly.

Gladio nodded, tilting his head thoughtfully. "They've definitely seen a lot more action than we have."

Kieran blinked at that, haven't been expecting the man to be so humble about it and immediately chastised himself. He really needed to stop letting assumptions control his judgement and stop being so uncharitable about it.

Prompto floundered, visibly searching for a new topic, before asking quizzically. "Uh… is it cool that we rock Crownsguard outfits?"

Kieran tilted his head as he considered the question. While he may find the whole skull theme a smidge… morbid, he had seen worse designs. Personally, he thought having a skull as an insignia was either a taunt at death or an awareness towards their own mortality and acceptance of it. Kieran shrugged. "I don't really have an opinion on it, per say. Wear what you like."

Noctis spoke up, sounding tired as well but clearly alert given his immediate response, reassuring his friend. "Be worse not to. They made 'em especially for us."

Gladio adding onto that statement, warming to the conversation. "They even got a sweet insignia on 'em."

Kieran cast the muscled man a doubtful look before looking away. To each their own, he supposed. No accounting for taste either. Not that he can actually say anything, as he tended to wear all black which tended to make him seem grim and somber. Cindy even complained about his taste in colors several times. Or lack thereof as she called it.

Ignis affirmed the other's opinions. "In the Crownsguard, your attire identifies you. So wear it with pride."

Kieran laughed under his breath, adding his own two cents. "Agreed. Being apart of the Crownsguard is something you can be proud of, as I hear it's quite the honor. Whether you're apart of the Hunters or Crownsguard, it's something you can take pride in. Besides, the Crownsguard have worked with Hunters in the past and we've gotten along just fine."

Kieran sighed in relief after they finished climbing up the path to the wide open semi-flat space of the Haven, privately glad that they had gotten to the place with time to spare and with no other monster ambushes. Still, he couldn't quite relax yet, as they still needed to set up camp and an rotation for watch shifts.

Ignis glanced around the area taking it in analytically before humming in approval and turned towards Noctis. "Noct, if you would?"

Kieran tilted his head curiously, watching the Prince in fascination as he summoned a familiar flash of blue light. Seeing as he had only seen it before in combat, he took the time to study it and he blinked in surprise, as it faded away to reveal camping supplies appeared on the ground in front of him. Said supplies including packaged food and ingredients still in paper bags, a tent, cooking supplies, chairs, and various other useful camping items.

Kieran made an impressed sound, feeling childishly excited by the show of magic, turning to Noctis. "I thought the Lucis Caelum's magic can only be used to summon weapons?"

Noctis smirked, looking smug. "Nah, I can stick all kinds of stuff in it. Whatever I need. I just need to think about what I need to pull from it."

Kieran nodded in understanding, his fatigue slipping away as his brain buzzed in excitement at this new information. "I don't know much about the magic specific to your family, but that makes sense that it would respond to the will of it's user. You must have put all this equipment away when you arrived at Hammerhead, correct?"

Gladio grinned, crouching down and sorting through their equipment to grab the tent. "Good guess. Now, let's get started."

Kieran sighed upon dropping onto the ground to sit cross-legged in front of the fire and let himself rest after finishing up with helping Ignis set up the cooking equipment. Setting up camp had been easy enough, but the day had been a long one and he was feeling rightfully exhausted.

Gladio, Noctis, and Prompto having finished their own tasks and were resting as well. Prompto and Noctis seemed to be playfully arguing over their phones about something while Gladio was reading a book he had appeared to have gotten out of nowhere.

The enticing smell of the Veggie Medley Stew that Ignis was making made Kieran groan lowly as it was causing his stomach to growl and ache in hunger. Breakfast at Takka's had been so long ago and he was really feeling the hunger pangs. Judging by the scent and the noises that Ignis was making, it was just about done.

Kieran blinked dazedly, hearing Ignis call out the completion of their meal, almost unwilling to move, but dragged himself up, knowing he needed to eat or risk having low energy tomorrow. To his tired amusement, he heard Noctis grumble out the vegetables and Ignis chastising him about it. In contrast, Gladio and Prompto ate without complaint. Taking a sip of the broth, Kieran froze in complete stillness, feeling his tastebuds practically scream with joy.

This… is without a doubt, the best meal I have ever tasted in my entire existence.

"...Mm~" Kieran closed his eyes in pure enjoyment of the flavours and groaned lowly in appreciation. Completely blocking everything out, he focused entirely on consuming his delicious meal. Even if it was a veggie stew, it tasted amazing. How long was that he tasted a meal this good?

Mentally grumbling when he realized he finished it far too quickly, he looked back up to see the stunned faces of his companions and stared back in confusion. "...What?" Prompto and Noctis starting breaking out laughing and Gladio looked back visibly amused and started snickering. Kieran glared irritably, wondering why they were laughing and starting to feel embarrassed without knowing why.

Ignis smoothly intervened before he could take more drastic measures and distracted him. The ash-blond man was smiling slightly as he spoke. "I had no idea you liked vegetables that much, Kieran."

Kieran huffed, annoyed at the teasing, but replied bluntly. "It isn't that, I like vegetables just fine. I just wasn't expecting your cooking to taste that amazing."

Kieran blinked at seeing Ignis look even more pleased than he already was, his smile growing. "Thank you for the compliment."

Visibly confused, Kieran turned back and glared at the still laughing trio in renewed annoyance. He didn't know what was so funny. He was just enjoying a good meal. Kieran looked back at Ignis hopefully, glancing at his bowl in askance. Ignis smiled again and gestured towards the pot. The unspoken help yourself causing Kieran to beam happily and do just that.

"Sooo… what's so special about this Bloodhorn anyway. Dave called it an alpha? And why did you want to find it that badly?" Prompto's voice broke through his happy haze.

Kieran froze mid-action in scooping up some of the stew, wondering how he should answer. It wasn't like his interest in the Bloodhorn Alpha was a secret and he had no problems talking about his job, but he knew this would be his best chance to truly explain his reasoning and say sorry, he found himself feeling unusually anxious about it, even more so than when he usually had to apologize. Kieran turned around to face them and sat back down, carefully balancing the bowl in his hands as to not spill its contents.

"...That, is going to take some explaining. Would you rather hear the short or long version? Fair warning: the long version is going to take a lot of explaining." Kieran asked faux casually, taking comfort in the familiar topic he mustered up his courage in preparation for his apology.

"Long version, if you please." Ignis spoke up, nodding encouragingly at Kieran.

Kieran hummed thoughtfully, carefully considering what he should say. "You'll need some background information first...to speak plainly, my research goes directly to the Crownsguard and Kingsglaives to better fight against Niflheim, as well as to better equip the Hunters. I'm sure you're all well-aware of Niflheim's tendency to use daemons as their attack dogs, or rather they let the daemons loose against the Kingsglaive and don't give a damn if their soldiers die in the process. Regardless, I usually send the information to a hunter courier, who then gives it to a Crownsguard or Glaive, and then it gets handed over to their leaders."

Seeing their surprised understanding, Kieran continued nervously, tapping his fingers against the smooth, warm surface of his bowl. "That information gives the Glaives an edge to utilize the daemons' weaknesses against them and it's been essential in pushing back Niflheim time and time again. As daemons remain the Niffs primary form of attack, as we increase our knowledge about daemons, we keep that edge."

Kieran noticed them straightening and twitched nervously, but focused on keeping his words steady. "Knowing that importance, I do my best to search out any possible rumors regarding strange or powerful daemons and hunt them down. I try and do anything in my ability to ensure Lucis doesn't lose our edge against the Empire."

Gladio interjected, looking serious. "But, what does that have to do with the Bloodhorn?"

Kieran answered steadily, focusing on the subject to distract himself. "We have been given reason to believe that daemons are infecting monsters and animals in new and strange ways, causing mutations that an everyday citizen wouldn't normally see. I have been carefully tracking down each mutation I can find and studying them. They are often characterized by emitting a strange red aura and are more aggressive than an average member of its species."

Ignis breathed sharply. "You believe that these… mutations are daemon-influenced?"

Kieran nodded. "Yes. It's why it's so important to track down each one and eliminate them even if my motivations weren't urged by my research."

Kieran bit his lip as he hesitated, feeling his back stiffen nervously as tried getting the words past choked up feeling in his throat, feeling scared as he lifted his head up to look them all in the eye, particularly Noctis. "...That was why I appeared so… aggravated earlier. I wanted to find it as quickly as possible and why I had no desire to play guide for you all. I am sorry for my harsh words, I thought acting as nasty as I did would cause you all to decline Cindy's offer and leave me to carry out my business. Still, that's no excuse for my rude behavior…"

Prompto and Noctis blinked at him in surprise as they absorbed his explanation while Ignis and Gladio nodded in understanding. Kieran's back started slowly untensing from the stress. Talking about it feeling like pus draining from a wound he didn't know was there. Even if he felt terribly vulnerable about letting himself be so open about it.

Kieran clenched his fists on his thighs and stared at the ground, feeling the familiar burn of tears welling up and tried to futily hold them back. "...It's why I reacted so badly to Noctis' question on why I was risking my life for my research. I have a responsibility to not only the civilians and hunters of Lucis, but towards the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive as well. They rely on the information I pass them. Even so… No matter how fast I research and spread the information, there are always at least a few people who die due to the lack of information. Or they get surprised by a newfound mutation."

Kieran looked back up and kept eye contact with a surprised Noctis, embarrassed when he felt the tears start to fall and leave wet tracks despite his efforts to remain calm. "I constantly feel worry and guilt about those I fail to help… so, saying I should… give up and pass it on to someone else when this is my responsibility… it made me furious. ...I took my anger over my... weakness out on you and I shouldn't have. I am sorry."

Kieran snapped his gaze towards the ground again, bowing his head as the wet droplets coming from his eyes at an increased pace and waited fearfully for Noctis' answer to his apology. He hated feeling so vulnerable with people he barely knew, but… Noctis deserved his honesty for his earlier actions.

A thump on the ground next to him caused him to twitch, but he refused to look at the source of the noise, preferring to stare stubbornly at his trembling, clenched fists. He winced inwardly, he hadn't even realized he had been shaking, he must look so pathetic. Crying and trembling awaiting the Prince's condemnation. Especially when he admitted his pitiful reasons for his over emotional words.

A light touch against his shoulder caused him to flinch and glanced upwards warily through his hair. He barely restrained himself from jerking backwards when he realized that Noctis was sitting barely an inch from him and… he was smiling?

The light grip firmed as Noctis, still smiling, clasped his shoulder and spoke. "Hey… it's alright. I already forgave you when you apologized the first time. This isn't necessary."

Kieran shook his head stubbornly, nearly knocking Noctis' hand from his shoulder, unable to believe he was actually forgiving him. "It is! I acted like a complete asshole simply because I was afraid of being… inconvenienced."

He flinched inwardly at the blatant lie, knowing he could never apologize that he had been afraid because of his foreknowledge and not wanting to get involved because he knew what was going to happen in the future and wanted to spare himself the pain of getting attached. Even if said plan failed utterly and completely. But this… this he could say he was sorry for.

Kieran stilled in surprise, shocked at Noctis suddenly wrapping his arm around his shoulders in a one-armed hug. The warmth of the close contact made him subconsciously relax despite himself. His shocked gaze snapped to Noctis, who smirked teasingly. "Wow. Who would have guessed that such a scary guy like you, could be so adorably stubborn~?"

Kieran froze before sending the Prince a glare, feeling a blush burn across his face at the blatant invasion of his personal space, indignant over Noctis' words. "I'm not!"

Noctis grinned mockingly, egging the researcher on. "Ohh really?"

Kieran growled irritably, getting right up in the Prince's amused face, feeling his blush increase in his strange embarrassment and anger. "I'm twenty-one years old! I'm not adorable."

Kieran spared a moment to ponder why he was feeling so mortified over Noctis calling him adorable. He never reacted like this when Cindy or Dave called him cute. For some strange reason they always said that whenever he blabbered on about his research and never seemed inclined to stop him when he really got going.

"There you are." Noctis' smile suddenly turned less teasing and more real. " I was wondering if we lost the real you under all that guilt. Seriously Kieran, you have issues."

Huh?

Kieran stared eyes wide as he stilled on his knees, having not remembering when he got up, before quickly leaning back. He flushed again and hide his face, this time in shame over losing his cool at the slightest provocation. The light laughter from the boy beside him caused him to groan lowly.

"Group hug!" Prompto shouted out of nowhere and slammed into both of them, knocking them to the hard ground. Kieran winced painfully from his face-down position, as Prompto and Noctis started messing around above him, and struggled to squeeze out from under them, groaning softly. "Ow."

Kieran flushed brightly as a snickering Gladio sauntered over to help him while Ignis shook his head in exasperation, belatedly realizing that the other three had witnessed his entire emotional fit. Subtly wincing as Gladio dragged him out, feeling the stinging ache from where Prompto and Noctis' bony elbows had landed when they fell. Kieran turned to glare at the bickering duo and wrenched himself from Gladio's loose grip to tackle Noctis and Prompto, enacting his revenge. Much to his satisfaction, he felt dual yelps, only to immediately regret it, as they dragged him into their horseplay.

Owww. I think I have some bruises now.

Ow.

Stupid frigging little shits.

I really did get bruises from that fall. And I shouldn't have taken revenge so… immaturely.

Still. I can appreciate the intent behind Prompto's actions, he was obviously trying to lighten things up… even if the aftermath wasn't so great. I admit… I didn't expect Noctis to pull something like that or that I would react so readily to his taunting.

Ugh.

In hindsight, it was stupidly obvious what he was trying to do and he had been trying to cheer me up in his own way by pissing me off. It was kinda… sweet actually. I still feel guilty about my earlier actions, but… it feels lessened now. I feel a lot better now that I've properly apologized, even if I wish I hadn't cried in front of them. Again. Seriously, crying in front of them the first time was bad enough.

I reiterate, I hate it when my emotions overwhelm me to the point I get so upset I start bawling. It happens every time too! I cry when I'm sad, angry, embarrassed, or even when I'm happy! It's stupid! I mean, I'm not ashamed that I cry, but my emotions take over to me to the point where I'm so damn vulnerable that I cry in front of strangers… although, I suppose the boys aren't really strangers given how I know them?

… I'm… surprised that they all didn't treat me differently afterwards… well, I mean, they did, but it's not in a negative way. They seem… more open with me now? Especially Ignis and Gladio, they kept drawing me into conversations as we continued eating and they kept asking questions about me and my research, where I've traveled, my experiences and all that.

I don't get it… I sobbed like a child in front of them when I was trying to apologize and they aren't bothered by how emotionally unstable I am? Aren't they worried that I'm mentally unstable? I damn well know I am a bit screwed up in the head, because you can't die and have to adjust to your second chance at living without having at least a few screws loose. But, they don't seem particularly bothered by it?

What gives? Seriously.

I mean, it's put off people before with how emotional I can be and growing up for the second time hasn't changed that part about me at all. Even in my past life at twenty-five, I could get so upset I'd start feeling choked up and start crying, no matter how hard I tried to control myself. And that hasn't changed at all, even though I'm mentally forty-six. You'd think I would have more control over my emotions by now, if anything, I think it's gotten worse.

What makes these boys so damn different? Why are they so accepting after seeing me like that. I mean, I at least expected some comments from Gladio, at the very least, about how I shouldn't cry like that because I'm a boy. It wouldn't be the first time someone has told chastised me for weeping so easily. Although, I never understood that, even if I'm a boy, I'm still human.

Isn't it human to cry? I know I tend to go overboard, but… it isn't that unusual, right? Besides, crying is actually good for your body, or so I hear. Something about it being a stress response to getting overwhelmed… by… stress. … Is that why I cry so damn often? Because I'm stressed? I mean, I know I tend to go a bit overboard. And get injured a lot and everyone yells at me for it. And I tend to give myself self-imposed deadlines with my research.

...Nope, not gonna think about it. Even if that is true, I can't do anything about it. My mental health pales in comparison to the lives I can save. Even if I ruin myself in the process.

Regardless, I'm glad that they aren't pitying me or anything. Even Cindy used to treat me like fragile china for a while until I got fed up and told her to stop. Now, she just finds it cute whenever I get overwhelmed and start crying. Especially, when she drags me in for a movie night and she makes me watch emotional movies. I love you, Cindy, like a older sister I never had, but could you stop it with all the romance movies...

Anyway, today has been chock full of surprises. First, the weird picture taking thing with Prompto, then Gladio doing his damnedest to tease me with stupid nicknames, then saving Dave before suffering a mutiny from those idiots, and now this. I know it's stupid and I'm overthinking things, … I can't help but hope that we may become friends? I mean, given their actions… wouldn't that mean that they're warming up to me and my shitty personality?

Logically, I know I'm probably overestimating what I've noticed, but I can hope, right? Then again, if wishes were poppy, then we'd all be dreaming right now. I honestly thought this moronically hopeful side of myself had died in my first life. It look like I just buried it so deep down I forgot it was there.

But...

I'm glad I didn't manage to get rid of it. Or else I never would have created the bonds I have with Cindy, Dave, Kimya, and the others. I may have interacted with some rather… jerkish people over the course of my life that made me doubt my worth and whether I can really be a good judge of character, but I know that not everyone is so cruel and willing to jerk me around like that.

At least, I can be assured that Noctis, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto wouldn't do that. They are far too openly honest and I can appreciate that. I don't have constantly worry about their motives. Still, I learned a valuable life lesson over the years, you can't just trust people unreservedly. They have to earn it. And this group is well on their way to gaining it… despite my best efforts to the contrary in driving them off in the beginning. Ah, well, I suppose that's one more regret to add to the list. I've done so many stupid things over the years, so, one more won't matter.

But, I need to be more serious about this entry. I can't keep moaning about my mistakes and my insecurity about the boys. To start off since I wrote my last entry, Cindy easily managed to emotionally blackmail me into playing tour guide and hunting mentor for this royal entourage and it's been a interesting experience.

We exterminated the monsters that both Cid and Takka needed taken down. Despite the boys' inexperience in fighting monsters, they held up well. Cindy called us to rescue Dave after we finished off the last nest of reapertails. I'm not surprised, she has always had good timing. I'm a bit annoyed with myself and Dave though. I'm likely expecting too much from him, but he really should have been more careful. And I really should have kept a tighter hold on my emotions. It's embarrassing that I needed a guy younger than me to stop from charging in recklessly. Still, I appreciate the intervention. But, I definitely didn't enjoy that… mutiny afterwards.

Currently, we have set up camp for the night and we'll be going after that Bloodhorn Alpha tomorrow morning. I'm honestly tempted to just stay up all night and leave before dawn. But, I can't. I have a responsibility to these kids. So long as we are traveling together I need to watch out for them and make sure they don't get themselves killed.

… So much has already happened and can hardly believe it's real. I know I've already said it, but I think it needs to be repeated. I really didn't expect this when I woke up this morning.

…I… honestly didn't expect them to warm up to me so quickly. I didn't expect Prompto to be so sweet and honest with me. I didn't expect for Noctis to be so adorable in his fishing obsession or that I would start to care about him. I definitely didn't expect for Gladio to treat me so much like an comrade, even if the teasing is something I could have lived without. Even Ignis treating me like an equal is surprising.

What did I do to deserve such regard?

Is it bad that I have such low expectations?

...Probably.

Even seeing as I wasn't entirely… truthful with them earlier. It's true that I suspect that the mutations are possibly caused by daemons. But, it's equally possibly it's from residual taint from the Starscourge. Even if they don't know it's the Scourge. From what I've hearing about these 'mysterious' outbreaks of some sort of plague, it's obviously the Scourge.

Regardless, ordinary people have no idea about it and assume that daemons are all that's left of it. Everyone knows not to let yourself get injured or touched by a daemon or else you'll die. Well, that's the common assumption anyway. Most don't know about the very real reality of slowly turning into a daemon if you get tainted.

Which... I suppose is for the best. No need to cause mass hysteria after all. Thankfully, the Oracle is able to help heal them or the Scourge would have probably overrun us already. Honestly, the Oracle's Light is why this world hasn't gotten completely overrun by darkness already.

Eh…

Here I am, rambling on whatever topic my mind catches. I am serious though. I'm surprised Ignis and Gladio haven't gotten more suspicious about me given how easily I've been able to find those nests. Or how I know I'm going in the right direction. Maybe they assume I'm tracking them through visual disturbances in the area? They are partially right, I did go to the trouble of physically tracking them. I did go to the trouble of making it seem that I'm just being overly paranoid. Don't go borrowing trouble where there is none, right?Besides, as long as I keep it hidden I won't need to admit to anything.

It's not like I can reveal the actual reason why. Worst case scenario, I'll be called insane and shuffled off to some asylum. Best case, I'll just be called delusional and they go on their merry way. Who knows whether they believe in reincarnation or not. And that's without going into the obvious conundrum of my Intuition. I mean, really? Who would be stupid enough to believe I have a psychic ability? Once that allows me to sense malicious intent, at that. I'll be lucky if they just assume I'm a con artist or something.

Yeah, Intuition, I know, total knock-off from Katekyo Hitman Reborn, right?

I believe I've had this ability from birth. Even after I recovered my past memories, my Intuition has always felt like another one of the five senses. It feels… natural to me. No matter how painful it feel at times. I could always sense danger no matter how small or large. It wasn't until a couple years later when I started teaching myself how to control it through trial and error. I eventually figured out how to dampen it when it gets too painful or annoying. Or direct it in specific ways. Like I did with those reapertails and sabertusks earlier.

At a young age, without fail, it always rose to the surface whenever I risked getting hurt. Whether in a construction accident, some bully getting a bit too physical, or some asshole not obeying driving laws, I would get this… warning that says I should move this way or that. You know the feeling you get when you feel like something bad is going happen? That you should leave an area because something bad is going to happen?

It's kinda like that, just more… intense. And descriptive. My Intuition was rather weak at first, but it slowly grew in strength as I grew older. Like… exercising a muscle, I suppose? The more I used it, the more powerful it got. At that point, learning how to lessen the effects of each warning became necessary. It wasn't so bad at first, just some tingle at the base of my skull and a… murmuring that told me things that were about to be an imminent threat to myself.

It grew to the point that whenever I meet someone I can automatically analyse how much a danger someone or something is to me and the feelings I would get became more of a spark than a tingle or rarely a shock. The greater the danger, the more severe the warning. The most severe warnings I've gotten were the most painful.

Needless to say, meeting King Regis for the first time was extremely nerve wracking. Even though he didn't mean me any harm, his aura of power coming from him was… startling to say the least. It was like an intense pressure. An encompassing force that felt like it would strike down at the slightest hint of threat. But, calm and relaxed at the same time. It felt warm, like a thick cloak on your shoulders that you would wear during a storm and would trust to keep away the cold bite. Protective, like a lion guarding his pride from any and all attacks and saying it would annihilate the enemy with extreme prejudice. And throughout it all, the feeling of electricity coursing in his aura, making it feel like my hair was standing on an end.

That was… the beginning of my respect for our King. I thought, someone who felt like that, surely they are worth respecting? Well, that, and I sort of respected him for his self-sacrificial actions in the movie and game. Lord Amicitia and the King's other advisors had a similar yet individual feel to them.

Haha… that feeling nearly drove me to my knees… It was just so intense. Thankfully, I didn't embarrass myself then. I even felt a similar sensation of power from Noctis and his friends when they arrived in Hammerhead. but it had been severely lessened and I didn't notice until later.

Noctis feels… smaller somehow. The encompassing and protective feel is there, but it feels different. He feels akin to a strong blizzard, powerful enough to slowly kill you if unprepared and its wind strong enough to to bite at and strip the skin from your muscle and bones. And yet, gentle enough to tousle your hair in a cold, wintery day. Warm, like sitting inside your house by the fire and drinking hot cocoa amidst a storm.

Ugh. I sound so damned flowery, but that's the best way I can describe how they feel to me.

… This is embarrassing to admit, but I… would have sensed them coming and gotten out the hell out of dodge if I hadn't deliberately blocked off most of my Intuition. You see, uh, I had been intending on leaving much earlier and so I dampened my ability in preparation for when I left. Going into a dangerous area pretty much sets off my Intuition like a fireworks show and is incredibly distracting when you're trying to concentrate on research.

Admittedly, it's really stupid seeing as I rely on my Intuition to keep me out of trouble, but it's a needed risk. But, it also had a dual purpose in blocking out the agonizing warning I have been feeling since the night of May 4th. It woke up that night, caught off-guard with the most painful migraine I had ever experienced.

When I analyzed it and used my Intuition to investigate exactly what it was warning me about… I discovered it was cautioning me about Insomnia's Invasion during the peace treaty signing. I try to ignore it most of the time, but… my Intuition is somewhat clairvoyant in a very specific sense. It can warn me of disasters days ahead of time. But, it was always small-scale warnings before that night.

Like, an caravan getting attacked, the lights in a town giving out in the middle of the night, and other random disasters. I could always warn whoever I needed to or pretend to just 'happen' upon it happening and telling the appropriate people about my 'suspicions'. As an unintended side effect, it really makes people believe in my 'hunches'.

Eh, could be worse.

Anyway, the warnings usually give me a extremely specific flash of images if I ignored the warnings of those disasters, but… my vision on that night was nightmarish. As I had been asleep when it happened and yet couldn't escape from my dream until it finished, it would have resembled more of a night terror than anything if I didn't have my foreknowledge. It… showed me horrific scenes straight from the film of the Invasion right down to the last detail and even some new ones of thousands of people dying from fallen debris or getting murdered by daemons and Magitek Soldiers.

… It was pure hell.

Seeing all those people being murdered and being some unmoving spector, unable to look away or do anything to help… I don't know if it was my own guilty conscience deciding to torment myself with it or not, but knowing what I know and not doing a damn thing to stop it, makes me just as bad as Niflheim. I never wanted to get involved in this mess… I'm such a coward, you know? I act like keeping my hands over my ears and looking away will make this okay. Isn't that hilarious? I keep telling myself 'one person can't make a difference' and 'no one will believe me' but the truth is that I'm a fucking coward.

I can say as many pretty words as I like, but it doesn't change the fact that thousands of people are going to die because I wasn't brave enough.I didn't want to get involved so I kept my trap shut about it when I sent my last report to King Regis.

It's sickening.

… I, at least, hope the most recent research will be of use to the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive, at least.

I doubt it.

As dramatic as it sounds, as long as I live, this will be my sin to bear. I could have warned them, but I didn't. The only thing that stopped me was my own cowardice. It's times like these that I really hate myself. I could have easily slipped it into my report. But I was too scared of the consequences if they didn't believe me.

...This isn't helping anything. I made my bed, now I must lie in it. Rehashing my mistakes doesn't help anything. And when someone eventually finds out and I end up hated for it, well… that's my just desserts, isn't it?

Regardless, now you know about my big secret. I have a psychic ability that's more trouble than it's worth some days. Anyone that tells you that a psychic ability or even being reincarnated into a fandom that you love is a good thing... Do yourself a favor and punch their fucking teeth out.

Because it isn't. Ever.

-Kieran

T.T Okay, so, first I'm so, so sorry for the late update! I actually got most of this written mid-March, but got somewhat distracted by Mass Effect Andromeda coming out and then Persona 5. But, a large part of it was me just being extremely frustrated by this chapter. I kept writing and re-writing scenes and even removing stuff, but it keeps driving me up the fucking wall.

...

Honestly, this is as good as it's gonna get. For those who preferred by shorter chapters… I'M SO SORRY. Tbh, it was originally over 20,000 words. That was when I realized I was adding in way too many details. T.T So. Many. Details.

Anyway, I hope the length makes up for time between updates. Though I'm currently determined to beat P5 before I advance in my story. Tbh, the very idea of the Ardyn Meeting is making me anxious for all sorts of reasons. Hopefully, I don't disappoint…

18,100 words was the total length of this chapter and I'm still so confused. I mean, sure, I was intending on doing maybe 8,000 or 9,000 words for this, but the chapter got away from me. Anyway, events will start picking up after this chapter and we'll be getting around to the good stuff. Hopefully.

I probably placed too many scenes on Ky's interactions with the main four, but it's needed to develop his relationship with them. Plus, anyone who knows me knows that I adore interactions like that. I'm hoping it gives some insight into Ky's personality as well.

Now that I said all of that, thank you all for your dedicated support. On both and AO3, you've all been so kind to read my story and I truly appreciate that. I'm honestly surprised that people are still reading it considering I haven't updated in so long. Nonetheless, I thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read this fic of mine.

Until next time,

-Riva