A/N: Okay, so this fic is based heavily in the beginning off of Kamisama Kiss, and if you haven't read/watched it, look into it! It's actually pretty good! It's a manga and anime, and after I watched the anime, I got heavily inspired to make a fic based off it using Prompto and Noctis! Anyhoo, I hope you guys like it, so…ENJOY~!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but this version of Promptis. Co-written with Milaya Milen Zeal.
A Yokai's Kiss
Chapter 1
Prompto sighed heavily from where he sat on the park bench, both worried and irritated. He was irritated because his adoptive father had run off from his gambling debts, leaving Prompto to try and deal with it, only to be evicted due to said debts. Now he was worried because he had no place to call home, and nowhere to stay, even for the night.
"Stupid bastard… Can't believe he left me to deal with his problems…" he grumbled, lowering his gaze to his feet.
"Ahh! Help! Someone get this dog away, please!" a woman's voice pleaded, and Prompto blinked, surprised, before looking over to see a blonde woman in a white shirt and skirt stuck in a tree as a large dog barked at her from the ground.
"Hey, leave her alone, man! Shoo!" Prompto scolded the dog as he approached, and it left, barking happily as it ran off. "You okay?" he asked the woman as she climbed back down.
"Yes, I'm fine now. I'm just not the biggest fan of dogs," she admitted, smiling slightly. "What's your name?"
"Prompto Argentum," Prompto smiled slightly as they headed to the bench. "How come you're out so late?"
"I was actually about to head home. I've been away for quite some time, after all… Noctis will probably call me a fool…among other things…" she sighed.
'Noctis? Probably her husband…' Prompto thought to himself.
"What are you doing out so late yourself?" the woman asked suddenly, tilting her head curiously as she spoke. "Shouldn't you be at home?"
"Ah, I uh…I got evicted because of my runaway adoptive father's gambling debts," Prompto confessed, laughing awkwardly before looking down again. "So, as of right now…I have no home…" The woman seemed to consider this for a few moments, watching Prompto with interest in her crystalline blue eyes. Finally, she spoke.
"You can stay at my home," she told him, before giggling. "And I won't take no for an answer."
"Wait, what?" Prompto uttered, blinking in surprise as he looked at her.
"Here, just follow this map, and you'll be taken care of there," she smiled kindly, handing him a piece of paper with a simply drawn map on it. The smaller male took the paper, and right as he looked up from the drawing to thank the woman, she pressed her lips to his forehead briefly, stunning Prompto entirely as she left.
"I'm sure everyone will welcome you as the new master," she murmured. By the time Prompto had recovered enough to react, the mysterious woman had left without a trace.
"Well, guess I should at least check it out…" the blonde mumbled to himself. Left with the map and nowhere else to go, Prompto began the trip to the woman's home. When he arrived, however…
"Oh, come ON, man! It's a run-down shrine? Seriously?!" Prompto groaned. He contemplated his options, wondering if it was even worth it to take shelter there for the night. Upon hearing a rustle from the bushes, however, Prompto stiffened, before making up his mind. "On second thought, it's better than nothing!" And with his mind made up, the blonde scurried into the shrine.
"Hello…?" he called out into the dark depths of the apparently abandoned shrine.
"Welcome home, Lady Lunafreya," a pair of voices called out.
"Huh? Who's there?" Prompto frowned, becoming a bit nervous. Suddenly, flames lit up in the torches around the room, drawing a startled yelp from the blonde. "Wah!" In his panic, he tripped over a step in the shrine, falling flat on his face.
"So, it IS you, Lunafreya," another voice uttered. Prompto looked up to see a mysterious figure in what appeared to be some kind of dark mist, their back to him. "Where have you been, all this time? Making me hold down the fort for twenty whole years…" At this, the figure turned their head towards Prompto, and this time, the blonde was terrified when he realized the person, a man, had black-furred fox ears and a matching tail to match his raven hair. "You are SO dead!" the fox yokai snarled furiously as Prompto very nearly screamed. However, as soon as the raven realized Prompto wasn't who he thought he was, he paused. "Hey, this isn't Lunafreya."
"What? That can't be right," a voice said as two of the torches' flames glided over, hovering before revealing themselves to be a pair of blonde twins, a boy and a girl, except they each had matching blonde tails.
"Noctis, as you can see, the mark of the land god is here on the forehead, exactly where it should be," the girl said, pointing to Prompto's forehead, which had a small, glowing yellow spot on it now.
"Yeah, on top of that, I can definitely feel her spiritual energy," the boy said, also pointing.
"But this isn't her," the fox yokai replied with a snort. Looking at Prompto, he asked, "Tell me, boy. Just who are you?" Prompto panicked, shaking violently out of fear. He'd had NO idea this was a yokai shrine. Trembling, the map the woman had given him fell from his hand, and the fox picked it up.
"Noctis…" the boy said curiously.
"Yeah, this delicate drawing is definitely Luna's," the raven commented.
"She said that if I had nowhere else to go, that I should live here," Prompto explained in a shaky voice as he watched the yokai, who appeared probably 10 years older than him physically. 'But wait…this is Noctis? He's handsome…'
"The woman that you met was the land goddess of this region. And this shrine is the home of the land goddess," Noctis told Prompto. "The fact that she left you to be its lord and master means that she has left you to be the land god."
Silence followed Noctis' words for a moment. But that didn't take long.
"SWEET!" the shorter blonde boy suddenly cheered, throwing up his arms and almost bouncing on his feet. "So let's hurry up and prepare a banquet!"
"Either way you look at it," the girl said with a small sigh, "the land goddess has returned to the shrine."
"Here!" the blonde boy said suddenly with a big grin on his face, as both he and the girl held up two (very) tasty looking dishes to Prompto.
"Hold on just a minute!" Prompto yelped, freaking out. "I'm a land god? A god?!" Pointing at himself, he babbled, "But I'm Prompto Argentum, a photographer! A human being. Why? When in the world did I become a god?"
"That happened," the girl said as she pointed up to Prompto's forehead, "when you received that mark on your forehead."
"Mark…on my forehead?" Prompto repeated, frowning and furrowing his brows in confusion. Suddenly, he remembered when the woman, Lunafreya it seemed, had kissed his forehead. "That? Since then? That was the mark?"
"You call this a god?" Noctis suddenly snarled dangerously. Before Prompto could blink, he was right in Prompto's face and grabbing him by his chin. "What could a pathetic-looking boy like him even do? At best, I'd say counting the money offerings or weeding the yard is the most he could do!" With an angry snarl, he shoved Prompto away from him. "You couldn't pay me to accept this brat!"
"H-hey, Noct, c'mon, dude," the boy got out, as he and the girl shrank back from the fox's angry shout. "This guy was referred to us by Luna. I mean we can't just—"
"We don't need him! Throw him out!"
"Hey!" Prompto protested with a huff as he stood. "You've been pretty high and mighty and rude to me! I bet a rundown shrine like this doesn't even get people making money offerings! You couldn't pay me to do it!"
At those words, Noctis's eyes narrowed dangerously and his lips twitched into a snarl. And the twins, catching on to the shift, gulped and hurried to Prompto's side.
"Please, Lord, don't say that!" the girl said swiftly.
"Yeah, c'mon! We're super grateful to have you here!" And the entire time they pleaded with him, a litany of no's spilled from Prompto's mouth, as he stubbornly shook his head.
"If you think for one moment," Noctis hissed out dangerously, silencing the twins immediately, "that I will stay here with this brat, you're sorely mistaken!"
"Oy, Noct, you can't just—" the boy started, before the girl took over.
"Noctis, we need you here!"
"See if I care!"
And then with a whirl of cloth an energy, the fox was gone.
"Aw man…" the boy whined.
"Um…" Prompto uttered after Noctis vanished, before looking at the twins. "Would you guys mind setting me up for the night?" he asked quietly, almost feeling guilty to be the reason Noctis had left.
"Eh…? …oh! Yeah, sure, dude! No problem!"
"Zidane, you honestly need to learn your manners."
"Oh, come on, Miko! He doesn't mind. Right?" the boy asked, looking up at Prompto.
"Nah, I don't mind," Prompto chuckled.
"See? We're cool!" the boy said to the girl, who sighed heavily in response.
"You're impossible…" she murmured, before she turned to Prompto. "This way," she offered, beginning to walk ahead. Prompto followed after her, and was soon set up for the night. When he woke up the next morning, he blinked before sitting up.
"What a weird dream…" he mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "My dad ran off and the house had been seized…"
As he looked up, though, he came face-to-face with a pair of bright blue eyes. "Morning!" the boy crowed out with a grin.
"Wah!" Prompto yelped, startled by the sudden presence of the twins. "Uh… Good morning…"
"Good morning," the girl said as well as she pulled her brother back by his tail. "It's time to get to work."
"Work?" Prompto repeated, confused.
"Yep!" the boy quipped cheekily as he grabbed Prompto by his wrist and pulled him up. "C'mon, let's get going!"
"What work are you talking about?!" Prompto wailed as he was tugged up.
"Duh! Your work as the land god!" the boy said with a grin.
"Oh boy…" the blonde land god mumbled, becoming nervous. So, Prompto was stuck with sweeping the yard, scrubbing the walls in the shrine, raking the leaves outside, scrubbing the floors of the shrine, and weeding the yard. When he finished scrubbing the floors and was informed he would have to weed the yard, however…
"These are the duties of a god?!" he groaned, falling back onto the floor, before sitting up and looking at the twins. "But, um… I haven't said a word about agreeing to become the land god…"
When he said that, both twins became very alarmed. "D-dude! What are you saying?! With Noct gone, it's just you who can protect this place!" the boy said.
"We are here to support you when needed, so please don't hesitate to ask us anything," the girl added.
"Well, first off, I never got your names…" Prompto pointed out. This made the twins blink in surprise, before they looked at each other. But only briefly before turning back to Prompto.
"I'm Zidane," the boy said as he thumbed his own chest with a cheery grin.
"Mikoto," the girl offered with a polite curtsy.
"It's nice to meet you two," Prompto smiled slightly, before he frowned curiously. "But uh… Just who exactly is Noctis?"
"Noct?" Zidane repeated with his head tilted. "Noct is Luna's familiar."
"Familiar?" Prompto repeated, puzzled.
"Correct," Mikoto confirmed with a nod. "He's served under Lady Lunafreya for years."
"Yeah…though he used to be just a regular wild fox," Zidane quipped, putting his hands behind his head, "but Lu decided to bring him in the same way as guardian lion-dogs."
"Yes…" Mikoto sighed. "Because Lady Lunafreya did not like dogs."
"Oh, I knew that," Prompto nodded, remembering how Lunafreya was stuck in the tree from the dog the night before. Later, in the yard while weeding by himself, Prompto sighed. "I'll think of this as the price for them letting me stay here." Suddenly, he nicked his finger while pulling a weed. "Ah, dammit!" he hissed, looking at his finger.
"Pff… So you don't even know how to properly weed the yard?" chuckled a taunting voice from behind him. "How pathetic…"
"What do you want? I thought you'd left," the blonde huffed, recognizing the voice as he looked to see Noctis had appeared behind him.
The black fox chuckled coldly, obviously amused by the trouble Prompto was having. "There's no way you'd be able to fulfill the duties of a land god," he said with a cold smirk on his face. "You should just head home before you're forced to admit defeat."
"I don't have any home to go back to," Prompto retorted, looking away as he resumed pulling the weeds out. "Thanks to my adoptive father's debts, even the house has been seized already."
Noctis didn't say anything in response, even though his amused expression had faded. For a long moment, he just watched Prompto work silently. But then…
"How was I supposed to know that?!" Noctis said as he abruptly kicked Prompto to his ass before disappearing. The blonde growled as he got back up, before looking at the wisps of energy showing Noctis had left.
"What did he come here for?" he wondered aloud. Finally, he finished the work around the shrine, and then trudged inside, collapsing on the floor out of exhaustion. "Man, I'm beat! They call me a god or whatever, but I feel like I'm just being taken advantage of…"
'Dear god…' a voice suddenly echoed in his mind. 'Please allow my daughter to give birth to a healthy child…'
'I…heard her voice…' Prompto realized, watching as an older woman prayed in front of the shrine before leaving. "Just now…that was her voice."
"You bet it was!" Zidane quipped from behind Prompto. "That was the prayer in the heart of the worshipper."
Mikoto nodded in agreement to her brother's words. "Part of a land god's duties is to be seated in the shrine and hear the wishes of those of the land."
"Anyway!" Zidane called out, as he and Mikoto hurried off momentarily. Prompto watched in shock as they with a few tall stacks of several books, and he paled.
"What are these?!" he yelped.
"They are a record of all the worshippers' prayers from the last 20 years," Mikoto said politely as she set her stack down, with Zidane putting his own on top of hers.
"20 years?!" the new land god gaped.
"Yep!" Zidane chirped with a grin as Prompto took the book from the top of the stack and began leafing through it. "Noct wrote 'em all down so Luna could look through them when she came back."
"Although…we have seen a decline in visitors to the shrine since her absence..." Mikoto murmured.
"Yeah, but cuz Noct's been able to keep the shrine in good shape we still get some visitors every now and again."
As Prompto looked up at them, Mikoto said, "All the work that we asked you to do today was work that Noctis has taken care of on his own all this time."
Prompto then began to look through the books further, and upon noticing the neat handwriting and details, he imagined Noctis sitting at a desk while writing down the prayer of a young man at the shrine. Then he remembered how he'd yelled at the raven about the shrine not receiving any visitors.
"I had no idea…" he murmured.
Zidane allowed a small grin at those words, and Mikoto nodded. "Do you understand now, Lord?"
"Yeah, I do," the taller male sighed. "There's no way I can be a god." And with that said, he stood up to leave.
"Eh?!" both Zidane and Mikoto cried out.
"I'm just a regular guy, nothing special about me," Prompto said, a bitter note to his voice. Neither Zidane or Mikoto seemed to be able to say anything in response. But then their tails drooped and their expressions fell.
"No way…" Zidane breathed out as Mikoto bit her lip.
"I want to apologize to Noctis for what I said before," Prompto told them. "Can you take me to him?" At those words, the twins tensed.
"O-oh uh...well...uh…"
"What he means is…" Mikoto cut in when her brother couldn't get the words out, "Noctis is probably...in the world over yonder."
"What?" the taller blonde frowned, confused.
"The world over yonder," Mikoto repeated. "In the shadows of grassy fields...in wells…"
"Basically, all dark placed in this world serve as entrances to it," Zidane added. "It lies between our world and the netherworld."
"The best way to describe it is as the world of the supernatural," his sister finished.
"Then, can you take me there? I want to talk to him," Prompto insisted.
"I'm...not sure that's a good idea…" Zidane murmured, which made Mikoto snort.
"This coming from the one who thinks everything is a good idea…"
"Hey come on, Mikoooo!" Zidane whined.
"Mikoto merely hummed in response, before she gave a small sigh. "But I suppose there's no use in trying to talk you out of this…" she said softly, before she turned to her brother. "Shall we?"
"...Yeah, sure," Zidane mumbled, as he got up. "I'll get the lantern, then."
"Thanks," Prompto murmured, and went to grab his bag, hoping everything would turn out okay.
"As he pulled on his jacket, Mikoto just watched from the doorway for a moment. "...you really intend to leave?" she asked softly.
Prompto sighed heavily. "...I'm no one special, Mikoto… So there's no reason to stay…"
"But…" Mikoto started, but whatever she wanted to say, she didn't seem to be able to get the words out.
"Oy…" Zidane called, stepping into the room with a lantern hanging from his tail. "I got it. Shall we go?"
"Yeah," the taller blonde nodded, and the trio left to seek out Noctis. It was a fairly hefty trek, especially with Prompto having to carry his bag with him, but they managed, with Zidane walking up front with the lantern and Mikoto taking the rear. The twins were silent throughout the trip, which seemed very unusual (at least for Zidane, who'd been the most vocal and active of the two).
They ended up trekking through a dense forest until they reached a gateway.
"Well...here we are," Zidane said as they stopped right under the gate. "This is the yokai world."
Prompto blinked, looking for any sign of Noctis. "Wonder where he is…?" he murmured curiously.
Zidane sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I might have an idea...but…"
"Let's hope not," Mikoto sighed, clearly sharing her brother's suspicion as they hurried on ahead, toward one of the buildings to the side.
"H-hey, wait up!" Prompto yelped, hurrying after them.
"Oy! Noct!" Zidane shouted as they moved along. "Where're you at, dude?!"
"Noctis!" Mikoto called out, a little quieter than Zidane, but still in a louder than normal tone.
"You're making a racket, Zidane, Mikoto," a familiar voice called out from a room they had almost run past. Zidane groaned as he saw where the voice had come from, hitting himself in the forehead while Mikoto sighed and rubbed her temples. Prompto hid in the shadows, out of sight from and the others he could hear with the fox. He wondered what had drawn that reaction from the twins, but wait to come out.
"Dude, SERIOUSLY?!" Zidane demanded as he and Mikoto went inside. "THIS is what you've been doing the whole time?!"
"Noctis…" Mikoto said, a certain fierceness in her voice despite how calmly she spoke. "Do you not consider this to be extremely deplorable for a familiar serving a god to be wasting their time drinking and hanging out in a red light district in the middle of the day?"
"You're shitting me, right?!" Prompto demanded, storming out of hiding as he glared darkly at Noctis. "What the hell, man? You left just to drink and hang out?!"
The moment Prompto stormed in, Noctis almost choked on the sake he'd been drinking, and stared at the blonde in shock, while the two women that had been crowding him watched in confusion and surprise.
The taller blonde narrowed his eyes at Noctis angrily. "I was gonna apologize for what I said last night, but you're being completely selfish right now!" he snapped.
"O-oy…!" Zidane managed to get out, and Mikoto winced slightly from the shout. Furious, Prompto stomped off, not bothering to make sure Zidane and Mikoto were following him.
"A-ah, wait…!" Mikoto called out, making to follow, only for Noctis to grab her and Zidane by their collars.
"Why the hell did you bring him here?!" the fox demanded furiously. "What kind of moron brings a HUMAN to this place?!"
Zidane flinched at the volume before he said, "Well, he was pretty insistent on—"
"Plus he's not just a human," Mikoto pointed out. "He's the land god."
"That makes it even worse!" Noctis roared as he leapt up and stomped off after fixing his kimono.
Prompto, meanwhile, was still fuming about the fox. "Fucking jerk…! He's such an ASS for just abandoning his own home!" he snarled under his breath.
"Hey…" a voice suddenly called out from off to his left.
"Wha—ah!" the blonde gasped when he saw a bony arm hanging through a window.
"Hey…" the same voice called out as it reached out and grabbed Prompto's wrist. "Drop by here…"
"H-hey, lemme go!" Prompto screamed, trying to backpedal and break free of the grip on his wrist as the voice continued to repeat itself more desperately. Before the hand could pull him in, though, there was a loud smack as something slammed into the bony hand, knocking it back and making Prompto stumble back onto his ass.
"Foolish…" a familiar voice suddenly grumbled. As Prompto looked up, Noctis stood there, solemnly removing some imaginary dust from his kimono. "Someone like you is a free feast to those fools," he said coldly. "You should go back to where humans should be." As he finished that, he held out a hand. "Stand up. I'll take you ba—"
SLAP
"You should be the one going home, seeing as it's precious to you!" Prompto shouted as he stood, withdrawing his hand after slapping the yokai. For a long moment, Noctis only stared at Prompto in shock (probably because the blonde had just slapped him) with one hand nursing his cheek. However, it didn't take long for his annoyance to catch up again.
"Wh…what did you say?!" he snarled out, before he was right in Prompto's face. "Someone like you who can't even protect himself dares to be this cheeky—"
"You're the cheeky one!" the blonde spat back, refusing to back down.
"Idiot!" Noctis roared. "You can talk all you want with that huge mouth of yours as much as you want while you can! If I leave you alone, you'll get eaten before you can even THINK of apologizing for that!"
"Why the hell would I get eaten?" Prompto frowned, furrowing his brows in confusion.
"Ch… Isn't that obvious?" the fox snorted. "You're a powerless boy with the power of a land god. You're like a duck waiting with onions inside a pot…" At this point, Noctis smirked evilly. "Not that that has anything to do with me!"
"If I'm not with you, then I won't run into anything like that," the smaller male huffed defiantly.
"Hoo boy…" Zidane murmured softly from where he and Mikoto had been hanging back, watching the argument escalate. "This ain't good..."
Mikoto sighed as she approached the pair. "If I may…" she said solemnly, "can we go back soon?"
In response to those words, Noctis snorted and turned away. "Hurry and take him back. I could care less if he cries and clings to me."
"Just take me back so I can catch my damn bus," Prompto grumbled, throwing one last dirty look at the fox. Zidane sighed as he held a hand to his head, while Mikoto just frowned sadly.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X
"Hey prom, c'mon, can't you think this over one more time?" Zidane asked as he scampered after Prompto, who was heading over to the bus stop. "You don't have to go!"
"It would be better if you stayed," Mikoto added.
"No, because I'm gonna miss the bus!" Prompto argued. He then checked the schedule before groaning loudly in exasperation. "Dammit, the next one won't be here for three more hours… Guess I'll have to wait…" And with that said, he plopped down on the bus stop bench.
"But if you make Noct your familiar you can just stick around and he'll do what you say," Zidane suddenly said, making Prompto look up.
"He's right," Mikoto added. "If you seal the contract of familiars with Noctis, then he'll have no choice but the listen and obey your commands."
"And how to I make Noctis my familiar?" the taller blonde inquired, his interest suddenly highly piqued. On the inside, he was eager at the thought of making Noctis obey him, and his inner self was doing an excited dance.
"Oh, that's the easiest part," Zidane said with a grin. "You just gotta kiss him!"
"...Wait, what?" Prompto uttered, his inner self freezing in place.
"If you do that he'll become your faithful servant," Zidane said sagely with a cheerful smile, while Mikoto nodded her affirmation.
"Yes. There would be nothing you cannot order him to do."
Immediately, Prompto darted into the bushes, his cheeks tinted pinkish-red at the thought of having to kiss Noctis.
"Huh? O-oy, Prom!" Zidane called out.
"Lord? Where did you go?" Mikoto echoed her concern.
Ignoring their calls, Prompto snuck off before breaking into a run to get away. As he ran, however, he noticed an old lady sitting on the ground, seemingly in pain. He headed over to her, calling out, "Hey, are you all right?"
"Ah, sorry…" the old lady apologized. "I sprained my ankles trying to get home. Would...you be so kind as to carry me home, young man?"
"Of course," Prompto nodded with a smile, before he bent down and carefully picked her up. "Where to?"
"Ah, what a kind young man you are," the lady praised, before she pointed up the hill. "My house is up there."
"Okay," Prompto nodded, a faint blush forming and making his freckles stand out from her words before he began the trek up the hill to the lady's house.
X*X(Meanwhile...)X*X
"crap crap crap CRAP!" Zidane nearly cried out, tugging on his bangs. "What do we do, Miko?! If something happens to him-"
"Then we need to make sure it doesn't," Mikoto said firmly. "You stay here and keep looking. I'll try to convince Noctis to help us."
The boy sighed as he nodded, "Yeah, you're probably the best one suited for that job… Good luck."
"You as well."
And with that said, the pair split up.
X*X(With Prompto...)X*X
Finally, Prompto reached the elderly woman's house, and he tried the door to see if it was locked. Surprisingly, it wasn't, and swung open with ease. "Here we are," he told her, setting her in an armchair.
"Thank you, dearie," the lady said with a wrinkly smile. "I'm sorry if I was any trouble…"
"Not at all," the blonde assured her, smiling slightly. "I should probably be going, though…"
"Ah, wait," the woman said, grabbing his hand before he could leave. "It's getting late...you should stay the night lest you run into trouble, dearie."
"Are you sure? That would be nice, but not if it means imposing," Prompto mumbled, fiddling with his bangs.
"Don't be silly," the woman said, waving his concerns off. "It's dangerous out there...there's no telling what could happen to such a sweet boy out there in the dark."
"Well, as long as you're sure...thank you," he smiled.
"You're welcome, dearie. Please, this way," the lady said as she led Prompto further into the house toward what he assumed was a guest room. The blonde followed her, and made himself comfortable in the bed inside the guest room. "Thank again," he called softly.
"Oh don't worry about it, dearie," the lady said kindly. "Just make yourself at home. ...Oh, by the way," she said suddenly, reaching out and touching his forehead with a finger. "That's quite an interesting mark you have on your forehead there…"
Prompto blinked, surprised, before a laughed a bit awkwardly. "It's nothing, really," he lied.
"Oh? Is that so?" she asked, not seeming to mind the awkward response. "Well...goodnight, dearie." Prompto murmured goodnight back to her, before lying down to sleep.
However, before he could doze off, there was a heavy weight falling on top of him, followed by a cry of, "Prompto!"
"Ah! What the-Zidane?!" Prompto gasped, sitting up only slightly due to Zidane's weight on top of him.
"Boy am I glad I found you…!" Zidane gasped out, having flopped down over the taller blonde's legs. "You...you have ANY idea how...how much I ran just now…?"
"A lot, by the look of you," Prompto chuckled.
"This isn't a joking matter!" Zidane nearly cried out as he sat up straight. "We need to get out of here quick!"
"Why?" Prompto asked, honestly confused.
"This is the den of a witch! THAT'S why!" the shorter male cried out urgently.
"What? But she looks like an old lady!" Prompto frowned, becoming nervous from Zidane's panicking.
"C'mon, man! Surely you noticed SOMETHING being off about her! There's no way she'd be perfectly 'normal'!"
Prompto then remembered her unusually long nails and how she could see his mark. "Dammit, now what, then?!" he hissed.
"We gotta get out of here before she comes back…" Zidane said as he reached into his pocket. After a bit of fumbling, he pulled out three long pieces of paper and a calligraphy brush and handed them to Prompto. "Here. These aren't much and I only brought three of them, but they should help us out!"
"What do I do with these?" the taller blonde questioned, puzzled.
"These are charms," Zidane explained. "One of the land god's specialties is that you can write letters on these charms and put 'm on objects to give them the power you wrote down on the charm."
"Uh, okay," Prompto mumbled, before writing something he had high hopes for on one of the charms, before sticking it on Zidane.
"Bwah?!" Zidane yelped.
"Giant god warrior," Prompto said quietly, his face red with embarrassment as he spoke.
"…oy, dude," Zidane said dryly as he lifted the charm to look out from under it. "You can't make something that surpasses your own power."
"How was I supposed to know?!" Prompto snapped, his face burning crimson.
"…ah, dearie, I heard some noise just now…"
"Ah, crap…!" Zidane hissed.
"Now what?!" Prompto demanded in a low voice.
"…ah! I got it!" Zidane said softly, before he moved over and whispered in the other's ear. The taller blonde nodded in understanding, before he wrote his own name on the second charm, and stuck it to the wall. "Great! Let's move!" Zidane whispered, as he opened the nearby window and gestured for Prompto to follow. Eager to escape, Prompto did as suggested, and silently hurried to the window.
Just as Prompto slipped himself out of the window, he heard the "old lady" call out, "Is there…something wrong?" but her voice seemed to distort at the end.
Before he could start to worry, though, the charm on the wall resounded with Prompto's own voice, calling out, "No. It's nothing, old lady."
"Move!" Zidane hissed softly, urging the taller man to start running. Prompto nodded once before he took off at a swift run, counting his lucky stars that he took up running every day since freshman year of high school.
"That's not keep her busy forever, though!" Zidane snarled as he ran along with the taller male, somehow managing to keep up despite his shorter stature. "Dammit, Miko…! If you could hurry up, that'd be real great right now…!"
"What do you mean by that?" Prompto asked, not even out of breath just yet.
"Miko went to—huh?" Zidane paused his own sentence as he turned his head, frowning. "…! Oh shit…! That was NOT enough time…!"
"She's after us already?!" Prompto gasped, picking up speed on instinct.
"Prom! Hide!" Zidane suddenly called out, grabbing Prompto by his arm and pulling him sideways into the undergrowth.
As they huddled there, the two males waited with baited breath as the witch ran past their hiding spot. Still, they spent several moments more, just lying there, breathing quietly before they even dared to utter a word.
"Shit… I forgot how fast witches are… There's no way we're gonna outrun her if it comes down to it…"
Prompto shuddered at the thought of being captured, before he remembered his question from before. "Zidane, what were you telling me earlier before you saw the witch?"
Zidane blinked, before he gave a quiet "Ah" in realization. "Miko went to get Noct to help us…but he might not be willing to listen to her…" he admitted, before a thought suddenly came to him. "…oh wait! You can summon him here with the charm!" Prompto stared at Zidane for several long moments, almost in disbelief, as he thought about it. He then narrowed his eyes.
"I'm NOT summoning him!" he yelled.
"O-oy, dude—!"
"/Found you~/"
"Oh…crap!"
"Damn it all to hell!" Prompto cursed, before he took off at a swift run, away from the direction the witch's voice had come from. As he ran, however, Prompto quickly wrote on the last charm before tossing it over his shoulder.
X*X(Meanwhile…)X*X
"How long do you intend to waste away here, Noctis?" Mikoto asked in exasperation with a slight tick along her temple as she watched the black fox lazing in the luxurious room. "Do you seriously plan to abandon the shrine like this?"
"I don't see the point," Noctis murmured as he stretched along the extravagant pillows and hummed happily. "It's pretty nice like this… Not having to fuss over everything by serving as a familiar."
"Noctis," Mikoto said slowly, and she tried so very hard to keep herself in check. She didn't get angry often, and at this point, getting angry probably wasn't going to help any of them. "If you're quite done with all this loafing around, we need to get back to searching for Lord Prompto."
"Why?" Noctis quipped cheekily as he snagged up a small bean bun. "I'm a free fox now, after all…why would I need to worry about him?"
"Noctis!" Mikoto ground out, before she blinked as a peculiar sound echoed through the room.
"/Noctis…/" Upon the call, the fox actually looked up, just as a white paper charm fluttered over, flames licking at the paper as it descended. As Noctis held out his hand, as if to catch it, a final echo of "/Save me.../" resounded from it, before it sizzled out of existence.
"…That was one of Lunafreya's trademark charms, wasn't it?" Mikoto murmured.
Noctis merely hummed as he rose to his feet. "Yes…and apparently, that boy is being attacked by a yokai…"
"Noct—"
"Perfect timing~" Noctis chuckled before Mikoto could finish the chide. "Might as well go see his crying face…"
X*X(With Prompto & Zidane…)X*X
Prompto practically scurried up the tree, seriously wondering if he was part squirrel or something. As he started to slow, however, he chanced a look down and saw…the witch was catching up.
"Son of a bitch!" he shrieked.
"Prom! C'mon! Get up here!" Zidane called out from a few branches higher up.
"Trying to…!" Prompto grunted as he pushed himself up a bit further. Just as he said that, though, the witch grabbed his ankle. "Gah!" he gasped, trying to shake her off. "Lemme go, hag!"
"Well…you seem to be in big trouble, hm?" a familiar voice suddenly called out from the side.
"N-Noctis…!" Prompto gasped in surprise when he saw the fox.
The fox was standing on the branch just off to the side, almost casually. "I flew over after hearing that you were in a bind…"
"Noctis…"
However, before Prompto could get too excited, the fox quipped cheekily, "After all; who would pass up on this level of entertainment, ne?"
"What the—hey!" the blonde protested, but when he felt the pull on his ankle, he kicked at the witch's hand, snarling, "Let…GO!" Her grip loosened, and she fell, but managed to snag onto one of the branches further down. Prompto panted, terrified, as he hauled himself up towards the branch above him so he could prop his elbows onto it.
"What the hell, Noct?!" Zidane shouted down at the fox.
However, Noctis ignored the blonde's shout as he hopped up to Prompto's level. "So…" he quipped with a cold smirk on his face. "Do you want me to save you, boy?" he chuckled out. "You do want to be saved, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do, but not if you're gonna be a fucking pompous ass about it!" Prompto snarled.
The fox merely chuckled as he poked Prompto's forehead with a long nail. "I wouldn't mind…that is, if you were to cry 'please forgive this foolish little boy, O great Noctis'… then I wouldn't be so against helping you."
"L-like hell I'd ever ask you…" Prompto spat, right before he suddenly slipped, dropping several feet before snatching onto a branch. Noctis actually gasped as he dropped down another branch.
"Prompto, this is no time to be stubborn!" Zidane cried out from above. "Just say it and we can go home!"
"You will save him if he says it, right Noctis?" Mikoto called to the fox, making him look up to her.
"A-ah. Yes, of course, I would…as long as he says it, I will."
"Never!" the taller blonde growled stubbornly. "Like hell am I gonna say it!"
"Prom, just swallow your pride for one moment and just say it, you idiot!" Zidane screamed.
"Please, Lord! Before you fall!"
"If I'm gonna have to bow and scrape to this bastard, I'd rather…" And with that said, he lashed out and snatched Noctis's ankle…right before yanking him down as he let go of the tree, sending them falling to the ground below.
Of course, Noctis yowled out as he was dragged along, and Zidane and Mikoto screamed out in horror as they watched them fall.
"You IDIOT!" Noctis screamed as they fell. "If you'd just said the damn words you would've been FINE! Do you plan for this stubbornness to kill you?!"
Prompto was silent as they fell, before he fixed a sharp blue gaze on Noctis, his hand shooting out to snatch him by his shoulder, before yanking him into a kiss.
'Seal the contract…' the blonde thought determinedly. 'Do so and…' His thought trailed off as he released Noctis, and then said firmly, "Noctis…help me!"
Gasping in alarm at the words, Noctis could only stare as rings of energy surrounded both his wrists. And as the whole situation dawned on him, the fox cried out a furious, "SHIT!"
"Did he just…?" Zidane choked out in awe, but a small smile was appearing on his face.
"He did…" Mikoto breathed out in obvious relief. "Thank goodness…"
As Prompto shut his eyes, instinctively preparing himself for the inevitable drop, his speed slowed down. And just as he opened his eyes again, he landed lightly in Noctis's arms, who had touched down on the ground soundlessly. The blonde looked up at the raven in surprise, relaxing when he realized that Noctis was now his familiar.
"What the hell, you bastard?!" came a shrieking voice from the tree as Noctis set Prompto back down on the ground again. "That's my prey!"
Noctis glared up at the witch with a fiery glint in his eyes, before he lifted his hand, at which point fire sprang up around the limb. "Well…get DOWN here, you stinking hag!" he roared as he threw the burst of flames at her, knocking her off her perch with a screech of pain.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X
"Because of you, I'm stuck being a familiar AGAIN!" the fox roared at the tied-up witch as he proceeded to stomp on her back, ignoring her whines and complaints about him hitting a 'feeble old woman'.
"That guy's never gonna change, is he?" Zidane sighed out as he rubbed his temples.
"Unfortunately not…" Mikoto murmured softly.
"Noctis…" Prompto said from where he stood, watching as he cursed out the witch, gaining the yokai's attention. "You came for me." He paused, smiling softly. "Thank you." After a moment, he added, "Let's…go back to the shrine, Noctis."
"…Ch…fine…" Noctis snarled out, turning away from the blonde angrily. Ignoring the grumpiness practically emanating from the fox, Prompto headed back to the shrine in the company of what he considered to be his new friends…even with one particularly snappy fox.