Isolated || Promptis

Chapter Nine

Woke up on the wrong side of reality
And there's a madness that's just coursing right through me
And as far as the time, far as the time
Not sure I'm there yet but I'm certain I've arrived

- Young and Menace, Fall Out Boy.

"Noctis? Where are you? Did you fall on your way here?" Gladio joked as soon as he'd picked up my call. I laughed as well, planning my words carefully.

Guessing from his reaction, he was also unaware of the Niflheim messenger being here. It was an unexpected visit, after all. This meant that in his panic, all father had done was sent a guard to make sure I wouldn't come into contact with this messenger. I guess I really was his main priority.

"No, I'm not quite that clumsy," I told Gladio. "I do need you to help me out, though."

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Remember how angry Drautos got after the council meeting?"

"Yes, I remember. Did he do something to you?" He suddenly sounded very serious.

I felt bad for lying to him, but it was the only way to get me out of here. I wanted to know what the messenger wanted from us and why father wanted so desperately to keep me away from him. I was getting sick of listening to him and his rules, and forcing me to miss out on a meeting as important as this one? Not happening.

"Not yet," I started, keeping my voice quiet so Nyx wouldn't be able to hear me. "On my way to you, a Kingsglaive soldier forcefully dragged me back to my room. I need you to get me out of here because I fear Drautos is behind this."

I heard him moving around and I smiled a little, knowing it was working. I wasn't a bad liar; half of what I said wasn't even a lie anyway.

"What do I tell him? You know I can't order the Kingsglaive around," he asked me.

"Just tell him King's order," I said, but then I suddenly remembered Cor was there as well. "Actually, just ask Cor to help. The Kingsglaive has no option but to listen to him."

"Alright. We're on our way, hold on," he said, hanging up immediately after.

I sighed and started pacing through my room, having no other option than to wait until Gladio got here and hope he and Cor could help me out. I still felt bad for lying, but I had no other option; if I were to tell him the truth, he'd just accompany Nyx to make sure I stayed in here. This was the only chance I had.

My mind quickly wandered to this secretive Niflheim messenger. Back at the council, my guess had been that they would send an unimportant envoy, but my father wanted to keep me away from him so desperately it made me doubt my assumption. Then again, sending in someone important would be extremely stupid and dangerous and Niflheim would never risk that, so maybe I was just overthinking this whole thing.

I stopped pacing when I heard voices outside and quickly went towards the door, opening it and looking out. As expected, Nyx was still standing next to my door, but now Gladio and Cor had arrived as well.

"I'm here to escort the Prince to his training session," Gladio said, giving me a quick glance.

"Training is cancelled. The Prince is under complete lockdown," Nyx responded, not moving from his position next to my door. He gave me a look from the corner of his eyes but didn't say anything to me.

"King's orders," Gladio said, taking a step towards me. Nyx quickly stepped in front of me.

"The Prince is staying here."