Zodiac (Final Fantasy XV)

|•XLIV•|

"Whatever. Who cares where you were born?" Noctis shrugs.

"I don't see you turning against us. Not now, or ever," Ignis states.

"Zodia was right. Thanks, guys. Still... I can't change where I came from. What I am."

Noctis raised an eyebrow. "Since when does where you come from matter to you? You never once treated me as a prince," he said, playfully punching Prompto's shoulder.

"He's got you there," Gladio grins.

"Never so much as a "Highness"," Ignis adds.

"Is that what Zodia scolded you for?" Noctis asked.

"Yeah, she got really mad when I called myself a monster. I told her and she accepted me without hesitating. She even... she even told me that you guys thought the same way."

"Definitely sounds like her. C'mon, crown citizen."

Gladio gives Prompto's shoulder a friendly smack as they walk past and enter the room. "You're one of us, right?"

Ignis stops, turns back toward Prompto, and gazed at him over his shoulder. "Unless you'd rather not be." Prompto smiles, nods, and follows his friends into the room.

Inside the room, they find the emperor's abandoned clothing laying upon the throne. They also find a large bank of computers. With his father's blade in hand, Noctis rams the sword through the machines.
Prompto glances around. "So... did it work?"

"With the device down and out, Noct's power should be up and running," Ignis explains.

"Go on, try it," Gladio said.

Noctis nods. "Alright. Moment of truth." He holds out his hand and summons a sword. The bubbly blonde claps in celebration.

"We're back, baby," Gladio cheers.

"Let's roll. We've gotta save my sister."

Suddenly, the loudspeakers came on as they exited the room. Ardyn's voice rang out across the building. "Your lovely sister is much closer than you know. The question is: how will you save her without hurting the poor girl?"

With their weapons in hand, the royal retinue listened as they heard hissing. Prompto swallowed hard as he remembered the familiar sound. "I-It's here!"

Falling from the ceiling, the Talmoruth lands in front of them. With a screeching roar, it stands on its hind legs. Noctis jumped in and raised his blade, ready to slash its chest. "Noct, stop!" Prompto yells. Hearing the sharpshooter's voice, the prince stops his assault on the monster and jumps back.

"What's wrong, Prom?" He asked.

"The chest-that's where Zodia is."

"This is gonna be harder than I thought," Gladio states.

Ignis didn't say a word as he was brewing up a plan. As the Talmoruth lunges at them, they all dodged and kept up their defensive measures to keep from hurting Zodia. The daemon noticed their hesitation and did the unexpected. When the boys thought it was going to slash at them with its bird-like talons, the daemon targeted itself and dug its claws into its own flesh.