welcome to my maiden voyage into ffxv fanfiction
It had seemed like a good idea at the time.
Prompto hadn't had work that day, and didn't go in until late the next evening, so it had seemed like the perfect opportunity to get in some night photography. His next portfolio review was fast approaching, and it was something he was sorely lacking. So he'd packed up his camera, and that fancy new lens he'd gotten for his birthday, and headed for the great outdoors. Or more like, the woods that backed up against the north end of Insomnia's Wall.
But same thing, really.
It wasn't really all that safe outside the wall anymore, with the daemons infesting the dark places of Lucis, but it was a full moon and Prompto really wanted shots of some bioluminescent mushrooms under the moonlight. Knock out night photography, as well as some nature (aside from dogs and clouds) in one go.
It had seemed all well and good, but like most things in Prompto's life, it quickly managed to fall spectacularly to pieces.
With the full moon out and so incredibly big and bright (supermoon? he'd have to check), he'd thought he'd be safe from any daemons, as they despised any form of light. But just as he'd crouched down to snap the perfect shot of a luna moth perched delicately atop a glowing mushroom, he heard a distinct gurgling sound from behind him. It made his heart drop right into his stomach, and he scrambled to adjust the settings on his camera, because even if his dumb ass died right here, at the very least the last picture on his camera roll needed to be awesome.
A purple light flashed behind him, startling the moth away, and making him flinch and fudge the shot.
"Shit," he swore, dropping the camera against his chest, and swinging around to face his lantern towards the sound and flash.
A small daemon like a goblin would be scared away by the light, and he could get his stupid self back to the wall before lockdown.
The beam of his light slid across the figure growing out of the ground, and Prompto gasped, feeling his cheeks tingle as all the blood rushed out of them. What he'd figured as a goblin, kept growing until it towered above him, its beady black eyes fixed on where he stood.
Prompto took a couple stumbling steps backwards, before crashing to the ground with a groan. The iron giant reacted to the movement, swinging it's sword down at him, just barely missing his outstretched hand. He screamed despite himself, knowing that the noise would only attract any other daemons in the area, and scrambled to his feet, sprinting further into the forest. He wasn't sure which way was back to the wall anymore, but as long as he put distance between himself and the daemon, he could worry about that later.
Terror made his chest burn and his breath shallow, as he darted through the trees, and he didn't even want to think about how he'd feel if he didn't run everyday.
He stopped short as he entered a small clearing, bending over to catch his breath, his hands on his knees. Just as he'd stopped feeling like he might die from overexertion, he heard the same gurgling, hissing noise from before.
"Give me a fuckin' break," he whined, reaching for the lantern hooked to his bag. His blood ran cold when his hand touched bare fabric; It must have fallen off during his desperate dash.
Prompto exhaled sharply, a squeaky wheezing noise escaping his throat, and glanced around frantically to find the source of the sound. It was then that he noticed that across the clearing, the ground rose up sharply into a cliff face. A faint glowing caught his attention, and he saw a small opening in the stone, framed by runes.
He gasped, he recognized them from a class on ancient magics; they would keep daemons out.
Without a second thought, he tore across the clearing and ducked down, throwing himself into the cave.
The goblins screamed from just outside, glaring at him with hateful beady eyes. If Prompto were a more confident person, he thought, he'd probably laugh at the sullen way they skittered around the opening, but as it was, he just jumped back, trying not to look at them, and praying to the Six that the magic held.
Turning away, he pulled out his phone. He flinched; it was after eleven already, and the wall shut at midnight. There was no way he could get back by then, even if there weren't daemons prowling around.
Which was bizarre on it's own. Prompto had specifically gone out when the moon was lighting up the night, so there wouldn't be any. And even so, there hadn't been a sighting of anything more dangerous than a ronin in the area in years, not since the ceasefire with Niffleheim.
A shiver ran down his spine; it felt like something was happening tonight.
And speaking of weird, he shone the weak light of his cellphone around the cave. Once inside, it was actually much taller and he was able to stand up properly and look around. It seemed fairly nondescript, and Prompto couldn't think of a good reason why someone with the ability to create runes would want to protect a random cave from daemons.
"Just another weird thing to add to the list I guess," Prompto mumbled, shining the light further down the cave.
Just a couple steps from where he stood, the tunnel turned sharply downwards. Thankfully, he hadn't managed to tumble down it when he'd flung himself into the cave. Even if he'd survived the stony descent, his camera most likely wouldn't have, and that was really just another form of death right there.
He lifted the camera as he shuffled towards the tunnel, trying to get away from the goblins who were just outside the cave, chittering to one another.
It didn't seem any worse for wear, which was nice, if he had to spend the night in a dark cavern, at least he wanted to be able to go through his old pictures.
Prompto gently dropped the camera back against his chest, and pulled his jacket tighter around himself, shivering. Now that he wasn't running for his life, it was actually pretty chilly out. While beautiful during the day, the clear skies kept any of the sun's warmth from lingering. He cast a glance down the tunnel. The idea of spending the night down here really didn't appeal to him, he didn't even like normal camping let alone unprepared without a sleeping bag or a tent camping, he couldn't leave until the daemons were gone. And further into the tunnel at least he'd be away from the goblins at the entrance, as well as the drafty air. It was supposed to be warmer underground, right?
With a deep breath and a quick "you can do it, Prompto," whispered under his breath, he took the last couple steps to the start of the descent, and shone his cellphone light down. He could just barely see where it evened out, and there didn't seem to be anything down there, waiting for him, so he deemed it safe enough and took the first few steps down.
It was slow going, having to move one step at a time to keep himself from slipping down the rest of the way. Suddenly his phone trilled, startling him and he lurched forward crashing to the ground face first, and sliding the last few feet.
He lay there for a minute, considering just giving up forever, there really was no going back after this, before pulling himself up with a quiet sob. He gently touched his face, trying to assess the damage. Nothing felt broken, thank the Six, he couldn't afford a doctor visit on top of rent and school fees, but when he touched his mouth he felt wetness. He licked his lips and grimaced at the sting and the sharp iron tang of blood.
He sat back on his feet and reached for his phone where he'd dropped it, lifting it up to see the message that had done him in. Clicking the home button he let out a quiet whine upon seeing the cracks that now spiderwebbed across the screen. Two hundred Credits, down the drain.
The message was from Cindy, a girl he'd met in the figure drawing class he'd taken the previous semester, asking if he wanted to grab lunch the next day.
He dropped the phone onto his lap without answering. Any other time he would have been ecstatic; Cindy was just. Incredible. But at the moment Prompto just kind of resented her bad timing. At least it was his phone and not his- He gasped and sat up, the movement exacerbating his split lip, and making it bleed anew.
He lifted his camera with shaking hands, and pressed the power button. The screen flickered on for a second before shutting off again. He tried again, and this time it didn't come on at all.
That was it.
Prompto curled his body around the busted camera and sobbed, not caring that it made his lip worse until there was blood dribbling down his chin.
It didn't take him long to cry himself out, already exhausted from the rest of the night. He swiped roughly at his face, trying to get rid of the blood and tears, not really caring at this point if his jacket was ruined with blood stains, just one more thing, really.
He pushed himself to his feet leaning heavily against the tunnel wall. The tunnel continued on, so Prompto figured at this point he might as well too.
Prompto felt like he'd been walking for hours, though according to his phone it had only been about thirty minutes. He chewed at his lip before quickly stopping himself. His nervous tic was keeping it from scabbing over, and he tasted fresh blood every time he licked his lips. He was going to get so many looks at work, assuming he even lived to go to work again. He briefly wondered if anyone would miss him. Maybe the no-nonsense bartender, the one who always snuck him Shirly Temples on long nights.
He decided, as he rounded a corner, that it was just about time for a break. The tunnel had opened up slightly, and it might be a good place to stop, and maybe see if there were any granola bars in his backpack.
He shone the light around, looking for a good place to sit, when he saw it. He inhaled sharply, his eyes widening in awe. At the end of the tunnel, and it really did seem to be the end, was a large doorway made of white stone, far different than the dark tunnel he'd been traveling through.
The sides were made up of several columns, each with ornate carvings, and above it was a figure of a woman in long robes, with a sword buried part way in the stone before her.
The door itself seemed to be made of a dark metal, solidly built, though one of them was open just slightly. Prompto shivered, though not from the cold. It felt like he'd stumbled across something ancient and magical. And honestly, knowing the history of Lucis he probably had. The country was littered with ancient tombs of the former kings. Was that what this was?
Curiosity getting the better of him, though really the runes kept out daemons what was the worst it could be?, he approached the doorway and pushed the doors open the rest of the way. They fell open with an ease that had him all but falling into the room.
It was silent, and nothing immediately leapt out of the shadows to devour him whole, which he took as a good sign. He pulled out his phone and shone it around, stopping short when the light fell upon an object in the center of the room.
Prompto gasped.
It was a sarcophagus, seated upon a stone platform, with the marble relief of an armored man resting upon it.
"Shit, it is a crypt," he whispered, taking a step closer. He reached briefly for his camera, before remembering it's untimely death with a pained shudder.
As he took another step, he was struck with a strange compulsion. His arms dropped
to his sides, phone falling from his fingers and clattering against the stone. He took one step forward, and then another until he found himself looming over the coffin. He reached out, his body unable to listen to the part of his brain screaming at him not to touch, and pushed at the lid. It slid easily, and crashed to the ground. The sound startled Prompto and shook him from his stupor. He looked down despite himself, expecting to make eye contact with a nasty, centuries old skeleton, but instead found himself staring into the face of a young dark haired man.
He's gorgeous, Prompto thought, fairly irrationally seeing as he was probably dead.
As if in response, the man blinked blearily, like he'd been woken from a nap. His eyes were the same deep dark shade as his hair, right until the moment when they fell upon Prompto's mouth. He sat up suddenly, his eyes glowing a bright pink-red, and Prompto flinched back, letting out a shriek of terror. But the man had caught his face in a firm grip. Prompto whimpered quietly as his face was drawn closer by icy hands, the raven haired man's eyes never leaving his mouth. When Prompto was close enough, the man leaned forward and pressed his lips to Prompto's, drawing the split lip into his mouth and sucking.
Prompto moaned in spite of himself, and reached up to grab the man's forearms, unsure whether to push him away or pull him closer. Before he could figure it out, the man pulled back, eyes fluttering, and licking his lips. He placed one hand to Prompto's waist, pulling him even closer, and dropping his face to Prompto's neck, nuzzling into the skin for a moment before biting down. Prompto gasped in pain as he felt fangs pierce his flesh, but he groaned as the feeling was rapidly overtaken with pleasure.
His last thought, as he blacked out, slumping completely against the strange man, was of course there'd been some kind of monster down here.
it's been a long ass time since i've written anything that wasn't drabbly introspection so be gentle with me lol
not currently looking for any con/crit, but if you notice any glaring errors in spelling or tense etc let me know! i usually write late at night so i might be tired.
not sure of an update schedule, i'll see how fast i'm getting stuff done and go from there.
fic title may change in the future since idk if i like it. currently it's from 'the hush sound' song of the same name. chapter title is from hayley kiyoko's 'one bad night'.
also sorry prom, i promise we'll get you a new camera.
catch me on tumblr and twitter pansyhearts !
crossposted from ao3 under the same username