Zodiac (Final Fantasy XV)

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~Zodia's POV~

The fall wasn't long, but we ended up in the middle of a horde of goblins. Annoyance bloomed within me as they scurried around, dodging our attacks with cackles. I felt my eye twitch and I finally snapped. Casting a lightning spell, a chain reaction of lightning strikes fried the daemons into piles of ashes. I calmed my annoyance with a deep sigh while dispelling my staff. When I felt eyes on me, I look over my shoulder to see the four boys staring at me in awe.

"What?" I ask, dumbfounded at their expressions.

"Don't 'what' us! The hell kinda spell was that?" Gladio asked.

"A chain lightning one. Once it hits a target, it seeks out another one immediately," I reply.

"That's some scary magic you've got, Zo," Prompto comments.

"It's not that scary."

"Uh, yeah, it is. Glad we're on your good side." Noctis said.

"We'll see how long that last..." I mumble. My brother turns to me with a questioning gaze. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," I snappily reply with an innocent smile.

"Kitten's got some hidden claws under all that cuteness," Gladio snickers. The man must've heard my mumbling.

"And this kitten isn't afraid to lash out, either," I swiftly reply. I pointed a finger at the shield with a small glare. The hand I was using to point at Gladio was suddenly grabbed by a gloved one. "May the kitten restrain herself until we are done?" Ignis asked, smiling from holding in a bit of laughter.

"... Maybe," I mutter under my breath. The tactician lets out his laughter with a deep chuckle when he heard my response. Ignis pats me on the head before we trekked through another narrow shaft. And, as usual, a few carts come flying our way. Noctis, being the one in front, accidentally got hit by one when he was turning the corner. I speedily place a hand over my mouth to hide my laughter. Prompto bit his bottom lip to prevent his laughter from slipping out as he helped Noctis back to his feet. My brother must've heard me laughing because he sent a glare my way.

"You try being hit by one of those things," he grumbles.

"I wasn't laughing because you got hit. I was laughing because of how your face looked," I snicker. 

"Dude, it was hilarious! Too bad Iggy and Gladio didn't see it." Prompto bursts into laughter. Noctis shrugs off his best friend as we exited the shaft and walked across a metal catwalk. We climbed down a ladder to reach a lower level.

"Guess we did need to go further," I comment.

I heard Gladio scoff, but I decided to ignore it. I knew he was going to gloat if I admitted to him he was right and we needed to head down a level in the elevator.

When the air around us suddenly became colder, we peered into the darkness and spotted a faint amount of light. The room at the end of the shaft was much more open than any other room we had entered in the mines. Moisture filled the air, creating the cold temperature we were experiencing. Examining the room, I noticed a few ladders and metal staircases to our right.

"So... where's the royal tomb?" Prompto asked the question we were all thinking.

"Let's look around. There's also bound to be zodiac ruins nearby, too," Noctis said.

As usual, Ignis and I were side by side while searching the place. We all made sure to check every nook and cranny to make sure we didn't miss a detail. With no luck on the lower level, our next destination was the upper levels. Before we reached the ladder, I felt a strong presence and grabbed Ignis. I pulled him away from the ladder just as the Aramusha slashes its blade down directly where we were previously standing.