A/N: Another Promptis fic, this time with an interesting FFIX concept. Oh, and Zidane's thoughts are in bold italics, while Prompto's thoughts are in italics and underlined. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story idea, in conjunction with Milaya Milen Zeal. She wrote Noctis's and Zidane's parts. She also wrote the opening!

Nothing Without A Soul

Chapter 1

There used to be a time when Bran Bal was a place full of life; full of people and full of wonder. People would flock from all around the continent to behold the perfectly crystalline lake in its very center, its water glowing from the light emanating from the shining blue trees that surrounded the village, to travel up the deep blue mushroom shaped rocks toward the old castle of a royal line long since passed, or to walk around its thriving market place where they'd sold all manner of things from all across the globe.

But that had been decades ago. The once proud castle now laid in ruin, and the people had left when it became clear that their once fertile soil had abandoned them, and when the plagues took their children from them, leaving behind only a small handful of people who believed themselves above the sickness. And while they survived, they soon realized that even they had not gone through unscathed. For it wasn't just the soil that had grown infertile… they had as well.

Unable to either bear or sire children, the few survivors sought to counter the effects that they had been struck by. This led them to the creation of the so-called "Genomes"; bio-engineered humans meant to help repopulate Bran Bal. They all resembled the original inhabitants of the village, from their blonde hair and blue eyes down to their long, slender tails. While it began as a noble goal, at first, the Genomes all suffered from one major—possibly even fatal—flaw; they were "born" without souls.

No matter what they tried, they were unable to fill the Genomes with souls.

As the Genomes' creators met their own inevitable end, others caught wind of the Genome project, and they saw a whole other use for the Genomes. Instead of forming the foundation for the resurrection of Bran Bal's population, the soulless puppets were created and then sold to the highest bidder, as slaves, servants, or even just "pleasure dolls".

It had been nearly a century, and at this day and age, Bran Bal was known only as the center of commerce for Genomes. Or, more accurately, a modern day "slave market"…

X*X*X*X*X*X*X

'…pto… Prompto, wake up!'

'Mm…huh…?'

'Don't open your eyes yet…' the familiar voice echoed through his head. 'They're still watching us…'

'O-okay… What's wrong?'

'…they took Toby out.'

'Not Toby…! Where did they take him?'

'Likely to his buyer… or to… well, you know…'

Of course, Prompto knew what he meant; they called it the "Room of no Return". Genomes would go in, and would never come out again. They knew what the room was for well enough; Genomes that weren't bought before reaching their 18th year would be… "disposed" of. After all; what use did they have for a slave that simply wouldn't be bought?

'…should be almost our time, too, huh?' the voice murmured in his head suddenly.

'What should we do, then, Zidane?'

'…we don't have much of a choice…if we can't get bought today…we're gonna have to make a run for it.'

'How, though? Our master is always watching us.'

'Not when he's counting his cash… If I can get close enough then, I can snag the keys and then we can get the hell outta this dump.'

'Good idea. Though I'm still hoping that someone buys us first…'

'Would be nice…' There was a pause then, as they caught the sound of a familiar whirring sound. 'Sounds like they're draining the tubes. Shops should be opening soon, then…'

'Yeah. Let's hope for the best, Zidane.'

As the tubes drained and the fans above them dried them down entirely, the two Genomes opened their eyes finally. 'Right…ready to never come back here again, Prompto?'

'Completely ready.'

'Then let's get out there.'

With those words, the two of them followed their master as they, along with the other Genomes of their group, headed out toward the stall, their tails snapping lightly at the air, unseen by anyone.

X*X(Noctis)X*X

The sleek black car drove through town, making its way to the "slave market", with a young man with black hair at the wheel. In the passenger seat sat his friend, a young blonde woman, who was joining the man to the market to see if they could find themselves each a companion.

"Looks like we're getting close," she commented.

"Looks like," the man murmured as he turned the wheel, following the road into what seemed to be a parking lot. He wasn't sure what it had once been before then, but no one else seemed to care. "What a waste of historical property…" he mumbled softly under his breath.

"Indeed," his friend sighed, and waited until they were parked and the ignition had been shut off before unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car.

After closing the door behind him, the man sighed as he put the keys in his pocket. "Right…let's go. And see if we can prove the rumors to be true at the same time, hmm?"

"Let's," the woman smiled slightly, and the pair made their way into the marketplace.

The area they walked into must've once been a bustling street at one point, but now it was little more than a long—almost endless—corridor of numerous stalls. Each stall had a number of human-sized glass cases, each one holding a single, blonde human with a long, similarly colored tail. The biggest difference between the various stores around them seemed to be solely based on the gender and ages of the Genomes. Certain stalls only sold female Genomes, while others only sold males, whereas a third variety would sell both, but between the ages of 10 and 15. There were also a few where the Genomes seemed to be as young as 7, but given their origin, they more than likely weren't anywhere near that age.

There were plenty of people of various regions walking around, examining the Genomes in a way that was similar in the way one would shop for a new couch or some new crockery. Every now and then, a shout could be heard over the din of the place as the shopkeepers tried to sell their "wares", making the blonde woman cringe internally as they walked down the large street.

Eventually, as they walked through, she paused when she saw something that caught her eye at one of the stalls. "Noctis, wait."

"Hm?" Pausing in his steps, the man turned to regard his friend. "What's wrong, Luna?"

"I thought I saw something…" Luna murmured, approaching the stall and lightly tugging Noctis along with her. She looked at the Genomes lined up there closely, taking her time, and when she got almost to the end of the line, she found what she'd seen. She quickly turned to Noctis, whispering to him, "He has a soul."

"What? How do you figure?" Noctis asked, though he turned to regard the Genome she'd pointed out anyway.

While Genomes were known to be created without souls, rumors had begun to circulate about there being Genomes that DID possess a soul of their own. No one had ever provided proof, but it didn't stop the rumors from flowing. And that was exactly what had drawn the two friends there in the first place.

"You can see the emotion in his eyes," she answered quietly, and then looked at the Genome with a warm smile. Noctis frowned a little, before he regarded the Genome she'd been looking at. Like most Genomes, he was well-built, with a definite hourglass shape around his hips, as subtle as it might've been. His hair was long and hung down his face and his back. And while he didn't shift his gaze away from whatever he was looking at, there was definitely something else there that the other Genomes were clearly lacking.

Humming, Noctis turned his head to the Genome beside that one, curious if it was just this one or if there was a chance of there being another one. Though really, how big was that chance? What he found was surprising, though he wasn't sure if it was in a good way or not. There was a swirl of fearful emotions in those blue eyes, a lock of his unruly blonde hair hanging to the right side of his face. Light freckles adorned his cheeks, making him that much more unique.

Noctis frowned curiously as he moved to stand in front of the Genome, looking him over in the same way he had earlier. He was a little taller than the one Luna now had her eyes on, but his build was roughly the same, and the form-fitting clothes he wore did little to hide that. One of the other things he noticed, though, was that his tail appeared to be shivering, as if it was struggling not to twitch at random.

With a small hum, Noctis raised his head and looked at the Genome's face again. This time, however, there was a flash of panic in those blue eyes, making the raven want to help the Genome, to ensure the panic and fear didn't show themselves for this one anymore.

Noctis kept his eyes on those of the Genome for a moment more, before he looked to his friend. "Have you decided yet, Luna?"

"Yes," she nodded. Gaining the attention of the shopkeeper, she went over to him, explaining that she'd like the purchase the Genome she'd been looking at.

As Noctis followed her to inform his own purchase, neither of the pair noticed how the Genome Luna had been looking at shifted his gaze to follow them, even though he didn't move, nor did his expression change.

'…I think we may just be getting out of here today, Prompto.'

'You really think so? But…what if they're not going to be good to us?'

'Well…then we'll just have to make ourselves scarce. Can't possibly be worse to escape them than it is here, after all.'

The shorter of the two blondes continued to watch their "buyers" as their Master informed them that the pair of them were available for a special price.

'…crap. They better be willing to put the money down… Sounds like they'd already prepped our one-way tickets…'

'I really hope you're right, Zidane.'

Luna nodded, pulling out her checkbook, much to the pleasant surprise of the two Genomes, as did Noctis.

'…wow. Did you see that, Prom?'

'Barely. They're buying us?'

'Looks like…oh crap…! Don't look now…but the jackass's coming over again'

'Not now! Not when we're about to get out of going to the Room of no Return…!'

'Just play it cool…and let's hope our buyers won't back out…'

The two Genomes watched with bated breath as a large, well-built man with short, silver hair stalked over to the shopkeeper.

"Oy, old man!" the man called out, just as the shopkeeper passed both Luna and Noctis a set of keys. Luna looked up, surprised, and narrowed her eyes suspiciously as the man got closer.

"Ah, Mister Loz. What can I help you with?" the shopkeeper asked, giving a falsely pleasant smile.

Noctis frowned in suspicion as well, before he shook it off and tugged Luna away. "C'mon…let's just get them and go," he murmured, getting out of the man's way and heading back toward the line of glass tubes.

As the pair checked the key-rings they'd been given, looking for the one labeled "1", the man—Loz—said (though it was more like demanded), "Brother wants those two Genomes prepared for pickup in an hour. Suggest you get on it, stat."

"I apologize, Mister Loz, but I just sold them to these lovely customers," the shopkeeper informed Loz.

"Say wha…?!" Loz started to say, before he turned around, just as Noctis and Luna slipped the corresponding keys into the slots on the sides of their respective Genomes' enclosures before turning them. This made the case outer casing slip away, which gave them space to continue on.

"First come first serve, Mister Loz," the shopkeeper smirked.

"Right… I think the second key goes over here to the side," Noctis said as he stepped a little closer to the Genome and slipped the key into the socket to the side of his throat. As Luna copied this and they turned the keys half a turn, the chain that was attached to the Genomes' collar slipped out from the wall, before it produced what looked like the end of a leash on a hook. "…okay…?" the raven murmured as he reached out and pulled the leash off of the hook. "That was a lot easier than I expected it to be…"

"Let's just hope there's no strings attached," Luna shrugged, and pulled the leash off her Genome's hook.

"Let's hope," her friend agreed, as he stepped back and lightly pulled the slightly taller Genome off of his pedestal. But just as Luna had gotten the other to do the same…

"Oy! You two!"

This quickly grabbed Luna's and Noctis's attention, and they frowned at Loz.

As the pair turned toward Loz, the two Genomes exchanged a glance with each other, unseen by their buyers.

'Moment of truth…'

'I hope they stick with the purchase…'

"Look, whatever ya paid for those gits, if you boys hand 'm over, you'll be paid double that price in turn."

Noctis blinked at the sudden offer, before the actual phrasing dawned on him and he frowned darkly. After all; it was more a demand than an actual offer.

"No thank you. We bought them first, and like the shopkeeper said, first come first serve," Luna huffed, narrowing her eyes. "And besides, if you call them 'gits', then they're clearly not going to be treated well wherever you take them."

Loz growled dangerously, but before he could say anything else, Noctis intervened. "Whatever your intent is with these two, get it elsewhere. Let's go, Luna."

"Right," she nodded, and the pair left, guiding their newly purchased Genomes along with them. As they walked off, the one Luna was leading looked over to the other, and this time his lips briefly curled up into a half-smirk. The relief in the taller Genome's eyes was now evident, but his expression sill didn't change otherwise.

Once they reached the Regalia—Noctis's car—the raven reached into his pocket for his keys and clicked the button to unlock it. After pulling his hand back out, he opened the backdoor and turned to the Genome he was still leading. "Go ahead, take a seat." His Genome complied, taking a seat without a word. He wasn't quite sure what to do just yet. Should he even show any emotion?

"You can sit with him," Luna told hers. Hers did so without a word said, settling himself next to the other. Like the taller Genome, his expression didn't change at all as he leaned back against the seat, his tail curling around him to drape down over the edge.

Once both were seated, Noctis and Luna closed the doors and moved to their own sides.

As they reached for the door handles, the shorter Genome blinked once.

'Almost out of here…'

'Let's go already!'

However, just as Noctis pulled open the door to the driver's seat, someone came up behind him and slammed it back shut again. "Just a moment…"

'…ah shit…!'

'Not now!'

Turning around to the man who had just come up, Noctis frowned darkly as he immediately recognized the silver hair. While this guy was definitely less bulky than the other guy, there was no doubt that they came from the same "branch".

"…What do you want?" he asked simply, attempting to remain somewhat polite.

The man didn't respond right away, but his sharp, green eyes were watching Noctis like a hawk.

"I believe there may have been a misunderstanding…"

"And what misunderstanding could that be?" Luna very nearly growled.

"You see, what Loz has forgotten to say, is that our brother had reserved these two well ahead of time," the man said calmly, but with a cold undertone to his voice. "However, it would seem that the person who arranged this was not present today. Hence I'd request you to reconsider your earlier purchase."

'Son of a bitch…! This jackass is lying out his ass…!'

"We already paid for them, and the shopkeeper mentioned nothing about any reservation," Luna hissed, becoming irritated.

"Like I said; a simple misunderstanding, due to a change in shifts," the man said smoothly. "So, I ask again; won't you reconsider?"

'Please, please don't do it!'

"No thanks," Noctis said firmly, right before he shoved the man away firmly. "If you'd reserved them, you should've come earlier. Good day."

With that said, Noctis opened the door and climbed in without another word.

'Oh thank god…'

'That…was TOO close…'

'WAY too close for my liking.'

Noctis said nothing else as he put the key in the ignition and started the engine, before he turned to Luna. "You ready to go?"

"Yes," the blonde woman nodded, and then looked back at the Genomes with a warm smile. "Are you both ready for your new home?"

'…let's wait until we arrive, alright?'

'We'll have to see it before we can really consider it home…'

'Right…'

The two Genomes didn't respond vocally to the question. Instead, they each gave a small nod, their expressions remaining as impassive as a rock.

Noctis frowned at this for a moment, before he shook the matter off for the time being, and soundlessly pulled out of the parking lot. And then they were on their way home with their new purchases in tow.