The last morning spent at this camp was a somber one. The sky was stuffed with white and grey clouds and the air smelt damp, a storm was on its way and it was about time the four left. As usual Noct was the last to wake up.
"Morning all." He brushed his bed hair out of his face and yawned whilst stepping out the tent.
Ignis was packing up his cooking equipment and Gladio was folding the camping gear.
"No breakfast?" Noct was disappointed.
"Sadly not cooked by me. We have to get a move on the road, we are very far behind schedule." Iggy adjusted his glasses.
Noct's stomach growled.
"Where's Prompto?" Noct looked around for the blonde boy.
"Not sure, he said he was going for a walk." Gladio joined in the conversation.
"Not like him..." Noct curled his lip.
Still very sleepy, Noct slowly walked down the concrete ramp and onto the grass. He weaved in and out of trees and headed towards the path than ran next to the vesperpool in hopes of finding Prompto.
After reaching the path he noticed a figure in the distance sitting on one of the large boulders. Noct continued to walk to join them.
"Hey." Noct approached Prompto who sat quietly alone.
"Hey." He also replied in a quiet and soft tone.
"Whatcha' doing out here alone?" The prince sat next to Prompto on the edge of the boulder.
"Thinking."
"About?"
"What we going to do now? Your wedding is called off and we can't head home."
"We continue our road trip I guess. Might as well spent time with each other. If I really am the 'chosen King',I may just be gone in a few years."
"Right. And what of the Empire?"
"We take them out as we go along."
"We can't do that forever. They'll keep on coming."
"I'm sure there's more that meets the eye. Besides, there's a few imperial leaders we can take care of."
"If we can get anywhere near them."
"Why so negative all of a sudden?"
A distant shout from Gladio was heard from the distance, "Hey you two, we've got to go!" .
Noct tutted and stood up, placing his hand out for Prompto to use it, but he dismissed it and got up himself. Noct muttered, "alright then..." to himself. Prompto heard and stormed ahead.
"Hey, Prompto!" Noct threw his arms in the air and they swung back into his sides.
The blonde boy continued to speed ahead, leaving Noct behind.
"What's got into him?", Noct wondered.
Prompto was afraid about his future. This whole time his greatest goal was to tell everyone close to him his secrets and his truth, but now that goal has been met he feels empty. There's no clear path ahead of him anymore and now he fears that he will stumble from the path he once walked. He believes that telling Gladio and Iggy just made himself a bigger burden, and a target to be picked on. It wasn't Noct's fault that he wasn't in the mood, but he feels like it'll be best to distant himself until he clears his mind. Just as a precaution.
Noctis slowly caught up to Prompto, but he didn't speak to him this time, only walked alongside him slowly as they ascended up the green grass hill. Just as they reached the peak, a shout from Ignis was heard,
" A magitek engine... it's close!"
Everyone fled the open area and sprinted towards the nearest cover. Luckily there was plenty of shrubbery and rocks to hide behind as the Empire flew over. The gradual rumbling of the engines grew louder and made the mood more tense. It was about to fly over the vesperpool, until it stopped right above the haven.
"Did they stop?" Noct whispered to Ignis as he was facing away from the haven and dared not to look.
Iggy slowly stepped forward in a crouching position and peeked around the corner, he saw three huge ships in the air, stationary.
"It must be the Regalia. They know we are here." Iggy slid back down the rock.
"Damn it." Gladio clenched his fist.
Prompto remained silent, he had a certain look on his face.
"Now what?" Noct whispered to the other two who crouched behind another rock.
"We will wait it out for a while and if they don't move then we will—" Iggy began to say a plan until he noticed Prompto walking out of cover and towards the haven.
"Prompto!" The three whispered as loud as they could, like a silent shout.
He ignored them and gripped tighter to his handgun. Slowly tip toeing towards the Regalia in his black leather boots. He opened the drivers door and snuck in.
"What's he doing?!" Noct began to crawl forward but Gladio lunged forward and grabbed the cloth on his jacket.
"Don't! You're gonna get yourself killed."
"And So is Prompto!" He screamed back.
"How did he get the keys?" Iggy felt his jacket pockets.
"I had them on me earlier... he must've pickpocketed me..." Noct also felt his jacket pockets.
They watched Prompto in anticipation to see what he was going to do until finally he started to move. He slammed his foot into the accelerator and zoomed the Regalia up the hill and down the dirt paths. This caught the attention of the Imperials and they all began to follow. Prompto carefully, but quickly drove the Regalia up the final stretch than ran alongside the Vesperpool and connected onto the main road. He turned left on the concrete and slipped away into the tunnel that lead to the Hunter HQ. Not only did he create a diversion, he led the Imperials into a trap.
"Smart, but suicidal move..." Iggy stood up, brushing the dirt off of him.
"He could've at least said something!" Gladio was still angry.
"Something is not right with him this morning..." Noct ran over to the camp to grab his phone . He searched through his contacts until he found Prompto. The phone dialled and then rang for a while.
Prompto pulled the Regalia over in the centre of the tunnel and saw his phone screen light up and vibrate, it read 'Noct is Calling.' For a moment he wondered how he said he wanted to distant himself. This was the perfect opportunity to run, he had the Regalia and there was some supplies in the car. It would've been easy to escape while he could to take some time away from the others and led them continue their mission. But then his conflicting mind took over. This wasn't his car, it was the late King's and Prompto would never take something that belonged to his best friend. It was cowardly of him to run and hide from the others and without the car and supplies, it would be difficult for the three to stay alive. Prompto's head hit the steering wheel, he was angry with himself.
The ringing phone stopped. Noct pulled the phone away from his ear. "Cmon Prompto! Talk to me!".
He looked down to his phone once more and dialled Prompto's number again.
This time Prompto answered, but he didn't speak. Noct did the talking.
"Hey, you okay?"
...
"Is the empire gone?"
...
Suddenly the phone was thrown onto the seat and Noct heard the muffling. Prompto began to heavily breath and the sounds of clicks was heard as he pulled out his gun to reload it and pull it off its safety. At the end of the tunnel a swarm of MT's was heard, their eerie creaks and electrical sounds echoed to the centre where Prompto was sat, their red glow was growing as they walked closer. Prompto remained sitting in the Regalia, aiming his weapon forwards, he tried to feel strong but his arms and body began trembling in fear. The trap that he hoped for where the Imperials would be led into the Hunter's base to be taken out failed and they were after Prompto now.
"Help me..." He slowly let out a cry, teeth chattering and his eyes watering.
"What was that? Prompto? Hello?" Noct barely heard Prompto, but knew something was wrong.
"He's in danger!" Noct told the rest of the group and began running to the space where the Regalia was parked.
"We will never get there in time!" Iggy ran with him.
"We can't... But the birds will." Noct placed 50 Gil into the machine and pulled out his whistle to call for his Chocobo.
The majestic yellow bird came running in and stopped right in front of the prince, he mounted it and watched two other Chocobo's run into the area for Gladio and Iggy. They jumped on and began racing towards the main road while on the back of the fast birds.
Meanwhile, the MT's were nearly at the front of the Regalia, they slowly marched towards Prompto by waddling side by side in their heavy metal armour. He had the guts to unclip his seat belt and open the Regalia door. Without turning his back or lowering his shaking gun, he creeped backward to the trunk of the Regalia and rested his arms on the edge. One of the MT's sprinted forward and leaped onto the hood of the Regalia like a tiger attack if its prey, the movement of the heavy car causes Prompto to shriek and it echoed deeper into the tunnel. He fell backward onto his wrists which ached and burned in pain. He thought he was safer at the back of the Regalia until he heard the same unsettling noise from behind him. He was surrounded and there was no escape. The terror took over him to the point he dropped his gun so hard it automatically shot a bullet and fired at the wall of the tunnels. This only riled up the MT's more and a handful of them sprinted towards the tiny boy. He curled up into a ball, Protecting his head and neck and shaking like an earthquake in fear. His eyes filled with tears and his mouth trembling.
Noct was startled by the sound of the gunshot and began sprinting as fast as he could on the Chocobo, until finally Noct saw the swarm entering the tunnel. The prince leaped off of his Chocobo and stood at the entrance.
"Prompto!" He shouted as loud as he could, attracting the Empire away from the cowering boy.
Prompto raised his head at the sound of Noct's voice and watched the MT's turn around and begin sprinting towards Noct. He gained the courage to leap for his handgun and held it up strongly, pointing it at any MT's that came close to him. A stray bot came staggering over to the boy that laid on the concrete floor, Prompto clenched his teeth as he pulled the trigger and watched the bullet travel through the air before penetrating the empty head of the MT.
Noct raised his hand and looked towards the sky. He screamed in anger in hopes of saving his friend. Thunder and lighting came out of the grey clouds and shot down towards the ground with mighty force. Noct's eyes glowed a radiant purple and his veins in his arms glowed bright yellow with power. Ramuh appeared in the sky wielding his spear, he raised it high above his head before throwing it down towards the Earth. A judgment bolt that fried all the MT's cores, causing them to collapse, Noct too since he used so much energy.
"Check On Prompto." He muttered before collapsing into Gladio's arms.
Iggy sprinted inside the tunnel before he finally reached Prompto. He was still laying there pointing his gun and shaking terribly. He wouldn't lower his weapon or remove the terror on his face. Iggy tried to force his arms down but it didn't work.
"Prompto, you're safe now. They've gone." He continued to try to convince Prompto to calm down.
Iggy gripped Prompto and pulled him towards him and lifted him from the ground.
"I promise you. You're safe now!"
The boy let out a cough, before his arms collapsed and he fell to his knees, tears streaming once more as it is a usual occurrence now.
"I will die without you guys at my side. I'm so weak..." he looked off into the distance.
"That's why you have us." Iggy picked up his arm and draped it over his shoulder, helping him into the Regalia. He started the engine and drove back to the entrance.
Noct was laying on the floor, slowly standing back up.
"Easy Noct. Don't over do it." Gladio spoke out.
"I'm... fine." He stumbled a little.
Iggy opened the door and let Prompto out.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Noct hugged his best friend in anger, but couldn't help show how afraid he was.
Prompto finally showed signs of remorse as he hugged back.
"Sorry." He whispered into Noct's ear.
Noct decided to sit in the back with Prompto to make sure he was okay. Gladio took the passenger seat while Iggy drove. This was another obstacle, but they had to continue and Iggy ensured that they arrived at Galdin Quay for the ferry's that left for Altissia. By now the four were starving after not eating at all, so Iggy took a small stop in a random town to pick up food for the road. Gladio joined him to look around the stores, whereas Noct looked after the sleeping Prompto.
Noct too was drowsy after using all his energy on summoning Ramuh, but he had to make sure that Prompto was not in any danger. This did not last long however as he too began to drift to sleep. After snoozing for only a mere 5 minutes, Noct was awoken by a flustered Prompto. Both they're hearts thumping, Noct placed his hand on the sweating Prompto.
"What happened?!"
"It was a nightmare..." Sweat dripped off of his forehead.
"Another one?" Noct was concerned.
"You've noticed that they're frequent?" Prompto was short of breath.
"Of course I have. Heavy breathing and quick movements in the middle of the night is quite startling, especially when I was only a few inches away from you in that tent." Noct grabbed a piece of cloth and began wiping Prompto's sweat.
"Sorry.."
"Stop apologising. It's all you do. I have nightmares too and the best way to overcome them is to tell someone. I told Luna mine." Noct smiled.
"I don't know...."
"Please?"
"Fine, But you cant tell anyone!"
"I won't, trust me."
"They're consistent. The same nightmare over and over again, except adding another Terror each time another one happens. It starts off with child me, staring at my overweight body in the mirror and then getting mocked by my peers, by you. Then I disappear after getting punched and I'm endlessly falling until I land in that disgusting pool of water that we found. I drown and find myself frozen and unable to move while bleeding to death on the sandy outskirts of the City of Lucis' walls when we were attacked and then I watch you get mauled and shredded, over and over again. Until finally that hell ends, but another is opened and I feel the pain of the behemoth's claws once more and watch you and the others struggle to keep me alive. This is where it normally would end, but now I see the looping terror of the magitek jumping onto the hood of the car with its neon green eyes and unmissable weight and size. It's horrible." He spoke with his heart, before heavily tearing up at the end.
"That sounds truly horrifying." Noct showed sympathy for boy.
Ignis approached the car and knocked on the window, spooking Prompto and causing him to jump.
"I'm sorry... you're very skittish." He apologised before getting in the Regalia and waiting for Gladio to hop in.
After he did the car pulled away and drove off into the distance, following the signs that read 'Galdin Quay'.
Prompto aided himself by pushing his body upright to sit up and look out the window, he flinched at the pain coming from his wrists.
"Everything alright?" Noct acknowledged his pain.
"I'm fine, just aching is all." He rubbed his wrists.
The storm clouds began forming and heavy rain battered on the metal roof of the Regalia.
"You've charged up Ramuh again. We will have a storm for a few days now." Iggy looked at Noct through the mirror.
"I had to summon him. I had no choice." Noct stared off into the distance.
"I'm not blaming you." Iggy replied, taking offence to Noct's comment.
As the lightening bolts grew brighter and stuck closer to the Regalia, Prompto gripped his head as it thumped in pain. He tried to conceal his grunts, but was in so much agony that he had to let them out. The whole car turned to look at him and witnessed him struggling to keep still.
"Not This again! This happened before, while it was stormy!" Gladio screamed.
"Pull Over Iggy!" Noct shouted.
The Regalia quickly swerved into a nearby lay-by that was beginning to fill up with rainwater.
Noct tried to hold Prompto's head to stop him from hitting it against the car door. As he pulled his head up to support it, he noticed the river of red blood oozing out of Prompto's nose.
"What could be affecting him?" Iggy pulled a potion out ready, but Gladio grabbed his arm.
"Remember, potions don't work on him." Gladio reminded specks.
"Damn it. What could it be?" Noct was flustered and disturbed at the sight of his best friend struggling.
At this point it looked like Prompto was having a seizure, his whole body was shaking as he was gripping onto the fibres of his hair in attempt to stop the pain coming from inside his skull. His eyes rolled back so they had a white appearance and his nose was coloured in a contrasting red as it leaked his inside fluids. Suddenly Noct has a suggestion,
"This happened when there was a storm last time, right?"
"Correct." Iggy replied.
"Yeah, what about it?" Gladio was confused at how this related.
"Prompto is different, as we know and embrace. But what if that's the very reason that's making him do this. He's not full MT, but he's not full human either. When I used Ramuh to fry all those MT's back there... they were pure bots made of scrap metal and electricity. Ramuh's lighting would've been conducted into their metal bodies to the point it over cooked their gear and cog heads. What if Prompto's the same, kinda? The lighting is affecting him in a similar way, but since he's not completely metal it's not affecting him as quickly." Noct still gripped onto Prompto's head, protecting it.
"So how does this help us cure him?" Gladio worried.
"I... it's a good reason for his pain, but Gladio's right. How do we help him?" Iggy added.
"Well first off, I will try not to use Ramuh, unless I really have to and secondly, maybe we can protect him from the electricity? We can build a shield, here right now, but we gotta be fast. Layers of non-conducting material to protect his brain should help." Noct Quickly unbuckled his seatbelt along with Prompto's as he was aware that they were sitting inside a metal car.
Noct quickly jumped out and threw open the trunk of the car and threw all the camping gear onto the floor.
He picked up all the cloth materials, while Gladio cleaned everything else up and placed them back into the trunk.
"The car is the safest place to be, but I will have to shut all the power off because it can attract the lighting." Ignis told Noct.
"But the car is metal?!"
"It's a strong structure. The lighting won't be attracting to the material the car is made of." Ignis elaborated.
"Fine." Noct went along with it.
He quickly grabbed all the cloth and began wrapping it in layers around Prompto's head until it was a very thick layer. Noct pulled his jacket off swiftly and wrapped it around Prompto's exposed arms. He searched the pockets on his and Prompto's jackets for their phones and switched them off. It was a waiting game, an exhausting one and Noct stayed awake, making sure Prompto was not harming himself anymore as his screams sent shivers through the three's bones. Somehow Iggy and Gladio fell asleep as the sky darkened even more for night time. Even though the prince was exhausted, he forced himself to stay away to watch over Prompto. Finally, as the night was approaching its end, so was the storm and Prompto's fading grunts. His face was stained with blood, sweat and tears and so was Noct as he stayed alongside him the whole time. Ramuh evaded the open sky and disappeared once more for a while. It was calm and silent again, which felt strange and sent ringing through everyone's ears.
Iggy awoke at the wheel and noticed that the prince and Prompto were fatigued, but silent. Without saying a word, he started the engine and continued on to Galdin Quay which was only a few miles away. Gladio soon awoke as the rising sun peeked over the hills and shone into his eyes. Until finally they made it to the seaside resort. Gladio exited the car and grabbed Prompto, he carried him down to the hotel room at the end of the pier with no hassle. Iggy too grabbed the tired and low Noct. To begin with Noct walked, with the full support of Iggy as his arms draped over his shoulders, but as they got up the steps onto the pier only a few metres away from the Regalia, Noct collapsed and couldn't walk any further. Ignis heaved Noct up and into his arms and struggled to carry him to the end. Finally he reached the room and placed the prince onto the bed next to Prompto, both desperately needing rest.