(Warning: This chapter depicts self harm. Not described in too much detail but is still graphic.)
The ship bobbed up and down over the calm, breaking waves. They crashed into the side of the ship each time causing it to wobble. Ignis helped himself to a glass of water, the sound of melting ice being one of the other only sounds heard.
Prompto moves his fingers across his wrist, brushing them lightly over his branding before gripping tightly on his sprain. His face scrunched up deep in thought.
"Ardyn." He spat out quietly. One of the crew members flinched.
"Huh?" It caught the attention of the others.
"I feel it inside me. Something bad is going to happen..."
"A drink sir?" The crew member lowered his platters where a freshly poured glass of water sat.
"No. I'm fine, thanks." He swiped him away and swerved his body around to maintain the conversation.
Gladio made a light noise as he thought to himself. "No, I think Prompto is actually onto something. Nothing bad has happened for a while. We're jinxed."
"It cant be as bad as growing up as the prince of Lucis.." Noct began to speak, selfish as usual when annoyed.
"There are far worse matters at the moment Noct." Iggy disapproved.
"Luna will receive the Leviathans blessing and we will be told to wait. My royal armoury isn't growing anytime soon. I doubt I truly am the chosen king." Noctis spoke.
"You have got to be! Who else could it be?" Prompto attempted to show support.
"The only Lucian left." Iggy looked at Noct. "You can not stand down now."
"I won't."
The two crew members standing by exchanged a baffling glance before stepping in between Prompto and the others on the outdoor sofas once more.
"Can we Please talk to eachother In privacy. We do not need your-" Gladio tried to shoo them away. They did not let out a peep to the large man, instead stared at Prompto.
The long, silver haired girl inched closer to the blonde boy and she lowered her sliver platter.
"Nice tattoo." She grabbed his wrist without consent.
"Thanks?" He forced his wrist back.
"Don't touch him!" Noctis could see in the reflection on the glass what was happening.
"Be quiet, pretty boy." She replied with her sexier tone.
Unexpectedly the other crew member walked towards Prompto with a sharp silver knife in his hand and pointed it at his neck. Gladio quickly hopped to his feet.
"One more step and this pierces his throat." The man screamed.
Everyone's faces lost their colour and they sat in disbelief. Prompto swallowed hard and tried not to flinch too much. The silver haired girl also looked down at the knife before smirking. This alarmed Prompto and thought they were both going to attack him, but this was until she slapped his hands and forced the knife out. It bounced onto the wooden deck and slid near the edge. She gripped his arms and spun him around, forcing him onto his knees with his arms behind his back. The man began laughing.
"You've been working with me for too long, betrayer." He raised his head, a black liquid oozing from his eyes and mouth. He threw his body sideways, prying loose from the girls grip and lunged towards the knife. Gladio shot up and stood on his hand before he could grab it. The man looked towards the floor once more, breathed heavily and looked back up, staring at both Noctis and Prompto in the eyes. His appearance had changed. He now has red hair, stubble and a memorable voice. Ignis and Gladio instantly knew who he was.
"Ardyn Izunia." Iggy examined him from head to toe.
"My, my introductions are usually my thing." He giggled.
"I knew it was you!" Prompto shouted.
"I thought you were onto me right from the start young droid." He glared at his wrist. Prompto pulled it back and hid it behind him.
"I only came to listen and of course to be prepared for what's to come in Altissia."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Noct sassily approached the man.
"You'll see." His menace laughed was carried in the sea air before escaping the girls grasp and jumping off Board.
"No!" The girl screamed,running to the edge with her hand out.
"And we can trust you too?" Iggy looked at her.
"Aranaea. Aranaea Highwind." She spoke, standing with her hand on her hip.
"So? Your name doesn't change our feelings." Prompto checked his neck for any cuts.
"I knew he wasn't my ex-partner when I was assigned a mission. I no longer work for the empire, so naturally it was strange to be assigned a job with him. Why didn't I catch on sooner.. of course it was him." Aranaea was angered.
"So Ardyn can shape-shift?" Noct sounded confused.
"Kind Of. It's both his curse and his blessing." She replied.
"Would explain a lot.." Gladio referred to Ardyn's folder back in Insomnia.
They all stared at each other, still processing what just happened.
"I'm still technically a part of the empire.." She Softly spoke.
"Great..." Noct replied.
"But I promise I'm not a threat. I'm on your side. I can't just resign right now, the empire is planning something big."
"What do you mean. Care to enlighten?" Iggy showed trust.
Prompto and Noct just sat, still weary of the new female.
"Altissia. It's the place where the leviathan is right? They want to try to capture and use it like they did with shiva and tried with Titan. That's until you came along- luckily that is." She informed the group.
"How do we know what you're saying is the truth?" Prompto was now stood up, staring at her in the eyes.
"Because we will all die if leviathan ends up in their hands. That is not what I signed up for!" She was furious.
Finally they all nodded, agreeing that she could be useful. Prompto took his seat once more and Aranaea sat on a nearby bench seat.
It seemed the captain didn't hear anything of what happened on board moments ago, so the the cruiser continued to travel through the choppy ocean.
"It's strange." Noct looked into the water.
"What is?" Prompto looked up.
"The water. It's never this rough." He continued.
Prompto peered off into the horizon as he began to see large structures forming. He got excited like a small child in a candy store.
"Altissia!" He clapped.
The others turned their heads and also saw the landmarks.
"What the hell is that?" Gladio pointed at the gigantic black shadow lurking in the water.
"Leviathan." Iggy pointed.
"This close to the surface? She never comes out unless it's an emergency." Noct rubbed his chin.
"Then she's sensing it. Better watch your backs." Gladio was ready to pull out his weapon.
"Noct, LunaFreya is here, right?" Prompto's expression grew worried.
"Yeah... why?" Noct also showed concern.
"Will she be safe? Summoning Leviathan and dealing with the empire I mean"
"She will be fine."
The ship continued to cruise above the rapid waves before it slowly began to reach a shallower point in the ocean. The vessel reached huge floodgates with a canal system running through it. They took the vessel up the ramp and waited at the top for verification.
A young man in smart navy blue uniform approached the captain and asked to see his license. There was a long pause at the back of the boat where the group sat before the vessel continued its voyage through the large canals once more.
Grand gateways came into view, engraved with complex patterns and coated in gold. They weaved and twisted amongst each other to like waves rising from the ocean and standing on their ends. The same type of power that the protector of Altissia can produce- The Leviathan. Everyone looked up in awe as they travelled slowly underneath them.
Finally, the ship came to a halt and was parked up against the canal system. Everyone hopped out and stood on the platform on dry land. They were ready to go through the harbour customs. In a small shack, Noct walked up to the man that sat inside and everyone else closely followed in a single file. The man spoke up.
"Harbour pass?" He placed his hand out.
"Excuse me?" Noct was confused and didn't understand what he was asking.
Prompto pushed to the from of the queue and approached the same man.
"You mean this?" He handed over a piece of paper with other documents attached.
"Yes exactly. Thank you." The man smiled.
"Oh so you can be useful." Noct teased Prompto.
"Whatcha mean? Aren't I always useful?" Prompto took offence.
"Not when you nearly get yourself killed and everyone else." Noct continued to laugh.
Although Prompto knew he was playing, there was truth to his speech. Prompto was responsible for the delay in the journey and nearly causing the premature death of the worlds only hope. His emotions were masked for a while with happiness and warmth from everyone's kind words, but once again reality kicked in and sucker punched him right in the face. This was no place for a photographer to be. The freckled boy could sense he danger, he knew it was close so remained on guard and close to his peers.
Everyone got through the gate and made it onto the bottom street of Altissia. To their surprise it was busy and was filled with little market stalls designed to make as many tourists splash their cash. One older woman approached Noctis and Prompto.
"I sense bad things are coming your way." She spoke in a clearly voice.
"I seem to drag bad things around with me everywhere... including this one." Noct didn't take the woman seriously and pointed at Prompto as he spoke, joking once more.
The old woman walked closer to them with her back majorly hunched over. She pulled out her dry and veiny hands from her front pocket and grabbed both the boys hands.
"Rings To bound you both, for safety. You share powers and strength. I know you have a close bond so this will work immaculately. If one gets injured, no matter the miles between you, you will feel it too." She smiled, keeping a serious tone.
"Thank you?" Noct stared at his finger.
"How much would this cost?" Prompto reached for his pocket.
"For you two? Nothing. You are in desperate need of them." She lost her grip on their hands and hobbled back to her stall.
The two boys slowly backed off and joined the rest of the street.
"That was weird." Prompto inspected his ring again.
"Do you think these cheap rings actually work?" Noct went to pull it off.
Prompto interrupted him by grabbing his hand.
"Whether they work or not Keep it on, please? We already have bad luck, I don't want you cursing us with more." Prompto dropped his hands after he noticed Noct gave up attempting to remove the ring.
They both looked up into the crowd in search of the other three. They saw that they were each at a different stall. Aranaea stood there, reflecting the evening sun's glow as she browsed the collection of amulets. Gladio stood out from the crowd, staring at the man selling overpriced potions and Iggy who obviously was reading the menu that was on the frame on the brick wall outside a restaurant, he rubbed his chin and as he read it.
Noct and Prompto caught the attention of the group and they reunited outside the restaurant.
"Nice rings boys. I thought you were getting married to Luna, Noct?" Aranaea laughed.
"Funny." Noct said, with a straight face.
Whereas Prompto actually let out a small giggle.
"A question Aranaea." Iggy leant against the wall.
She nodded her head.
"Why are you still with us? I thought you would've departed by now." He continued.
"I seek the same thing as you do. Ardyn is both of our enemies here and the easiest way to capture him is when he also wants what he want." She answered.
"And what would that be?" Gladio crossed his arms.
"Like I said before, he wants to use Leviathan for power and it's you that needs the leviathan for power. LunaFreya is the only one that can obtain it so they won't kill her... to begin with. They will however after she gets the power."
"So she's in major danger!" Noct worried.
"We have to find her." Prompto was also frantic.
"Calm down. You won't get anywhere with this attitude!" Iggy spoke louder.
"What do you expect?" Noct spoke back
"Noctis, He's right. You must remain calm. Besides, the Empire won't attack until Luna starts the calling and when Leviathan is physically out of the water." Aranaea sided with Ignis.
"You sure do know a lot." Gladio was suspicious.
"I was a commander alongside the higher ups. I lost my position after I 'betrayed' the Empire. I only came to my senses after I realised that killing innocents and using demons was a terrible thing. Most of the empire are nobody's anyway. Empty casings houses with pointless bodies that have no feelings or emotions. They're dumb, just like their creators." She was clearly annoyed.
Prompto flinched at her words. He gripped his embroidery on his wrist and lowered his head. The rest of the group quickly looked at him after hearing Aranaea's words.
"So that's what you call them." Prompto sounded angered as he battled through his growing tears.
Noct tried to console him, but he stormed off quickly, pushing between Ignis and Aranaea and into the nearby hotel. He bought a room and rushed upstairs, holding back his tears as best as he could. The room he bought stood in front of him. He opened it quickly and slammed the door shut behind him. As soon as he entered the room, away from other people, he burst into tears.
Prompto had forgotten that the public didn't know the truth at all about the Empires MT's and he was oblivious to the fact that those inside the Empire knew the secrets, not only the one about the the surviving test subject that has emotions and feelings, and was an actual physical person with meaning.
"Everyone views me like a piece of scrap metal..." He began furiously scratching at his barcode, his nails digging deeper causing the surface of his skin to rip. Blood was pouring out more and more each time. The boy was hysterical, crying with both anger and sadness.
"Did I say something?" Aranaea looked at the rest of the group, wide eyes and confused.
"You spoke of a... touchy subject." Ignis tightened his gloves around his hands in awkwardness.
"Noct, you better go see if he's okay." Gladio stared at the prince.
"Was already on my way." Noct quickly ran into the hotel.
Prompto was still furiously scratching at his barcode with his sharp nails, causing the blood to drop onto the white bedsheets. It looked like a murder scene in his room, blood spread out all around him.
"Did a blonde boy come in here just now? Probably bought himself a room." Noct quickly spoke to the receptionist.
"Yes. He's upstairs in room 16." The receptionist replied.
"Thank you." He spoke, already running for the stairs.
The prince sprinted to the end of the corridor where room 16 was. He slammed on the door.
"Prompto?" She shouted.
The boy didn't reply, but the loud noise startled him causing him to stop clawing at himself. This was when he suddenly realised the damage he had done to himself and how deep he was cutting into his own skin. He dropped his hands slowly in disbelief before bringing them back up to his face. He gripped onto his face, smearing his own blood around. His breathing became more rapid and he was afraid. Suddenly his world began swaying and his fell forward, collapsing onto the floor.
Noctis heard the sound of his collapsing body and slammed onto the door once more.
"Prompto, open up please it's me." He tried to soften his tone.
Silence.
"Prompto?" Noct's heart rate was pounding by now.
Noct couldn't wait any longer so he took some steps back and ran towards the door, throwing it open with his shoulder. To his horror he saw Prompto on the floor laying in his own blood.
"Oh my god... oh my god... oh my god Prompto." Was all that Noctis could say.
The prince fell to his knees and turned Prompto on his side. His bloody, scratched arm flopped out. Noct was quick to act as he pulled the black and white bandana off of Prompto's upper arm and tightly tied it around his wrist to slow the blood loss.
Noct's adrenaline began to wear off and he was noticing the situation. Seeing his best friend in this situation made him feel nauseous. He gripped his mouth and ran to the toilet. He threw up into the water bowl and sat there, out of breath for a while before crawling back to Prompto.
"Guys!" Noct screamed as loud as he could.
"GUYS!" His voice broke as he screamed so loud.
Luckily the three heard from the lobby of the hotel and sprinted upstairs. They were greeted by the sight of a broken down door, a bloody room and Prompto and a nauseated Noctis covered in his breakfast that came back up.
"What the hell." Gladio rushed to both of their sides.
"Oh my god what happened." Iggy threw himself on the floor, pulling out a potion.
Aranaea covered her mouth in shock as she crouched next to Prompto.
"This was my fault... I'm so sorry." She chocked. In sympathy she grabbed Prompto's injured wrist to help heal it, but she noticed the odd tattoo that he had.
"Oh my... I see why he took offence. How stupid was I.. Jesus Christ I could've killed him." She was shaking her head, angry at herself.
Noct placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You didn't know."
Iggy's potion actually worked on Prompto as she shined green as his body absorbed it.
"He will be out for a little while longer due to the extend of his injuries." Ignis took a deep breath.
Noct was still feeling ill, laying on the floor in Prompto's blood.
Gladio helped Aranaea up who felt horrible for nearly killing Prompto.
"I... I saw that marking before. I didn't mean to offend him like that. It's a miracle that he's a live human being... I didn't think it was possible."
"Keep this quiet. Nobody else can know." Gladio explained.
"I promise... it's just I..." She was greatly affected by what happened.
Gladio put his arm Around her and supported her to the clean chair in the corner of the room.
Iggy crouched down and lifted Noct off of the floor and onto the edge of the bed next to Prompto.
"He.. he tried to kill him self." Noct was trembling.
"He's a troubled boy. You did an excellent job of dealing with his wounds." Iggy places his hand on Noct's shoulder and then sat next to him.
"He really is struggling. I've noticed it for a while now, but didn't know it was this bad. I'm sorry for not catching onto it sooner." Iggy was annoyed with himself.
"You've done far more for him than you needed to do. You couldn't have known that he was going to do this." Noct began to calm his breathing.
"I guess you're right. He's safe now and I'm a Stable condition. Maybe we should talk to him more.. about his feelings after he comes back around."
"Good idea."
The group remained shaken up, but Prompto was alive and in a stable condition. They bought a new room and notified the receptionist on what happened. Noctis changed his clothes into fresh ones and remained stuck to Prompto's side, refusing to leave him. Gladio consulted Aranaea who took the burden and Iggy kept a watchful eye on everyone.
"I know we were going to move forward and you even promised me that you would stop dying on me. But I didn't know you were this bad. I'm sorry. I'll keep my part of the bargain and continue to move forward with the journey as long as you promise to wake up and talk to me. No secrets remember? Luna is waking the leviathan up in two days, but either way I will remain ever at your side. As your best friend, Prince and King." Noct placed his hand on Prompto, speaking to him as he remained resting.