I huge thank you to Nyvien for being my beta reader for this. For fixing my missed mistakes, and suggestion much needed revisions. I cannot thank you enough. ^-^
Pain. It laced every fiber of his being. It flowed through his bloodstream at an unbearable speed. And it was the only thing that was clear and certain to him. He deserved this. All of it. He deserved every second and every moment of this punishment, and he knew it. Yet, he still wanted out. He still wanted to get out of this Hell. Only he couldn't, not by himself. Those familiar and dreadful footfalls echoed around him once again, pulling him out of his blissful stupor. His peace never lasted very long here.
Prompto lifted his gaze, struggling to fill it with fight and disobedience he still held onto with everything he had in him. He stared into those golden eyes, those eyes that spoke of nothing but corruption and hate. But, hidden underneath was the disgusting enjoyment. That sparkle that was thoroughly savoring every instant of this. He smirked and lifted Prompto's head, holding his chin between his thumb and index finger.
He snickered with that sickening voice of his, "My my, No wonder Noct left you to die." He cooed as he stroked his thumb up to his cheek. "Such a difficult puppy to train, aren't you?" He laughed again.
Disgusted, the blonde snatched his head away, "Get your hands off me." His voice drenched in biting resentment. His head then snapped in the other direction, the side of his face stung as his split lip bled more heavily. He spat the crimson liquid filling his mouth at the man's feet. "He would never do tha-" He was cut off as his airway was cut off.
Ardyn had both hands around his neck, fingers pressing into the flesh and successfully cutting off his oxygen. The only sound he could produce was his own desperate chokes as he futilely tried to suck in breaths. "Dear Prompto, when will you learn?" He purred as his grasp tightened. "You don't get to speak without permission. It's not what you were made for. And don't forget, your precious prince was the one that cast you aside. Or have you forgotten that?"
Prompto's vision was blurring dangerously as he could hear his own blood flowing and the ringing was only getting louder. It was pounding through his head until the crushing grasp was thankfully released. He gasped greedily for the much needed air, coughing against the damage that was now done to his throat. He was left heaving as a couple tears slid down his face unwillingly. Damn him and his weakness. He berated himself even more for showing such signs.
"Aw, what's wrong?" Ardyn asked, feigning care and forcing Prompto's head back up with his fingers now tangled in his messy and stained hair. "Did I hurt you?" He pulled harder on his hair, painfully tugging his head further back, gazing straight into his eyes. "You know I don't want to, don't you? But you are giving me no choice." He dropped his head and let it fall back down to his chest.
Prompto laughed to himself. Nothing about this situation was funny to him, he just felt it escape him without his say so. "N-no...choice?" He wheezed out between deep breaths. "You're si-" He was cut off again as agony erupted from the side of his head. Blackness teased the edges of his vision, promising to blanket the world in front of him. It was almost welcomed.
Ardyn stood there with the blunt pipe in his hand, relishing at the fresh blood that ran down his captive's face. Placing a thumb against the flowing substance, he smeared across Prompto's cheek and continued to clean his thumb off on his vest. "Let that be a lesson to you." He stepped back as the man before him slipped into unconsciousness. No point in doing anything if the other wasn't aware of what was going on.
His screaming body called him out of his gracious slumber once more. His head now pounded, sending waves of dull pain through his skull only for it to travel to the rest of his body. A spasm coursed through him, jarring him and sending more of his injuries into a frenzy of hurt. He had to tightly close his eyes to ride out the worst of it. With the worst of the flare over, he tried to focus on taking deep and steady breaths when his ears picked up on a voice. It sounded so far away. It was so far, but it lifted his spirits to new heights. He felt hope again. He called out to the voice, wishing to himself that they could hear him. That action rudely reminded him of the state of his throat.
His voice was answered. "Prompto!" It called back. He knew that voice, it was the voice of salvation.
"Noct." He whispered out, the tearing sensation in his larynx warning him against doing more. He let himself calm down as his savior got closer. Closer until he could see him at the end of the hall. He was aware of hot tears welling up at the sight. Tears of relief. They stung as they overflowed, streaming down and mixing with his own blood before dripping to the floor.
Noctis said nothing as he approached the bars and slid them open. He stepped inside, looking Prompto up and down, taking it all in. "Y-you came back." Prompto said, lowering his head, trying to hide his overwhelming emotions.
He heard a scoff and raised his head back to see a spiteful expression gracing his face. "You think I'd come back for you?" Prompto's heart dropped and he looked away, not knowing how to respond. "I was glad when you were finally gone."
Prompto's breath hitched, "Wh-what are you talking about? You're kidding, right?" He practically begged for the answer he desired.
"Do you know how hard it's been to tolerate you? You never shut the hell up." There was a stabbing pain in his left shoulder and he cried out. The scream ripped at his throat even more. Slowly turning his attention towards it, his eyes ran down a blade protruding from his flesh. Following it further, he found the hilt held in his best friend's hand.
He was breathing harder, trying to control the new pain that joined the old. "N-Noct. Please? Wh-what are you doing?"
Noctis smiled to himself as he twisted his sword quickly to the right, earning him another cry. "I don't answer to you." He none too gently ripped his blade from Prompto, flinging the blood off and letting it splatter on the floor. Leaning in close, lips ghosting over his ear he whispered, "I don't need worthless garbage."
Prompto felt as though he was encased in ice and his chest felt tight as his heart raced. "This isn't real. It's not real, it can't be." He whispered to himself, trying to convince himself. His mantra was halted as more pain came from the same shoulder. He cut his eyes over, wanting to believe his eyes were lying to him. His best friend was standing there, jamming his thumb into the open puncture wound, digging it in deeper. He whimpered against it, trying to suppress his nausea.
"Feels pretty real to me." He yanked his thumb out, blood squirting out with the motion and sprinkled across the prince's nose. He stepped in front of his friend, placing his red-stained thumb against Prompt's lips and continued to wipe the liquid off, coloring his mouth crimson. "Doesn't that taste real to you?"
Prompto snapped his head away, closing his eyes, "Stop it!" He yelled as loud as his throat allowed him to. He listened to the sound of his own breathing for a while, not wanting to open his eyes again. Praying that if he kept his eyes closed then it would all go away.
"What? You can't even look at me?" His eyes flew open. That wasn't Noct's voice, it was deeper.
"G-Gladdy?" He asked fearfully, turning slowly to see the big guy himself standing before him. The prince was now nowhere to be seen. "Wh-where's Noct?" He asked, eyes flickering around looking for any sign of him, but finding none.
"Noct? What are you talking about? He's not here." He said this with a straight face. "It's just me."
"No. No no no. He was here, H-he was acting strange. I th-think something's wrong with him, He wouldn't do this." He was shaking his head, knowing his best friend would never do anything like that. "We have to find him." He looked back to Gladio, and flinched at the vacant look on his face. "N-no, Gladdy?" He shook his head slowly as Gladio's hand shot out and grabbed Prompto's right wrist, holding it in a death grip.
Prompto cringed as the hold grew tighter, "Gladdy, y-you're hurting me." He didn't respond and only retained his hold. "Please, that's enough." He began flexing his hand around in an attempt to loosen it.
Gladio didn't ease his grip, but instead squeezed harder. "If you weren't so weak this wouldn't hurt." His hand was going numb from the pressure, but he was unable to pull away while in this metal device. "Look at you, you couldn't even protect yourself. You have no right to walk among us if you can't do something as simple as that. Your lack of skill puts not only you in harms way, but all of us." He gave one final crushing squeeze.
Prompto screamed again as the nauseating snap echoed off the walls. Pain pulsed up his arm and there was nothing he could do to ease that feeling. He clenched his teeth together, waiting for it to stop, but knowing it wouldn't. He tried breathing through his nose to better control it. Eventually it subsided into an intense throb that burned with each heartbeat. "I-I'm not falling for your tricks." He said stubbornly, biting back the bile that was rising with his pain levels.
"I think you're confused." Gladio bent over so he was face to face with him, "This is no trick. I just can't stand fragile people. Just look at Iggy. He would still have his sight if only you were stronger." He felt a light hand on his right shoulder. He looked towards the new touch. Ignis' scarred face was staring back at him.
"I-I couldn't do anything about that. That's not my fault." He turned back to Gladio, but was faced with emptiness.
"You know Gladio is right, Prompto. It's time you stop lying to yourself and accept the facts. Take responsibility for your mistakes." Ignis was walking around him in circles, twirling his walking stick as he did so. "You have been nothing but an inconvenience to us from the beginning. I don't even know why someone such as his majesty wanted you along." He raised his stick and slammed it hard against Prompto's side. He gasped at the impact, but kept himself from crying out again.
"S-stop it." He almost sobbed out, fighting against the tears that desperately wanted to fall. "I don't believe you." He put his head down, ridding his sight of these tricks and lies. "Just stop it already."
"Don't like the truth?" Ignis asked as he slammed the stick once more against his ribs. He was sure he felt a couple crack with that one, but refused to vocalize that pain. Instead he slightly grunted and clenched his teeth. "It doesn't mater if you like it or not. It won't change anything at the end of the day." He drew one of his daggers and stopped in front of the young man. "I'll give you a permanent reminder of your place."
He leaned in closer and placed the tip of the blade against the inside of his left arm. Slowly pressing it unto the skin until it drew blood, dragging it down and around until he formed the first letter. It felt deep, deep enough to make his body twitch involuntarily. He repeated this acting six more times, each one seemingly deeper and slower than the last. When he was done he stepped away. Prompto had sweat dripping down his face by the time he was done. So overloaded with agony that things almost felt numb.
His body shook with every intake of air, "I-I didn't mean to do anything wrong." His voice was higher as he tried to stifle his guilt and regret. "I tried. I-I promise I t-tried." He looked back up to Iggy through teary eyes. "Please. Please forgive m-me. I didn't mean t-to."
Ignis sneered at the pleading that doused his words. "You tried?" He said quietly, then leaned in closer, "You tried?!" He spoke with more anger and venom now. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but 'trying' didn't cut it. Your 'trying' wasn't good enough." I swung his walking stick one more time, striking it across his face this time. The blow broke the skin under his eye as fresh blood spilled out and down his cheek.
Prompto was out almost the moment the blunt object made contact. He had time to feel the burst of pain and the unsettling chuckle of Ardyn before darkness whisked him away, taking his suffering with it to spare him of this torment.
He was floating, or that's what it felt like. This was nice. Nothing seemed real in this place, everything was peaceful. No more pain. No more fear. And, more importantly, no more doubt and deceit. He wanted to stay here if he could, but he knew that wasn't an option. It wouldn't be long before he was dragged back into reality. He was already anticipating that moment; it wouldn't be long now.
Something warm and wet was trailing down the side of his face, contrasting starkly with the chill that encompassed him. That served as the gateway to the rest of his senses as one by one they began to return to him. He tried to will them away, to return to that paradise where nothing mattered, but it did nothing to help him. He didn't even try to open his eyes, not wanting to see the place he knew he still was at.
Something ran through his hair, gentle fingers brushing against his head. "Wakey wakey." The man urged smoothly. Prompto opened his eyes tiredly, finding that only his right one was cooperating with the command. The other felt stiff and tight as the swelling around it held it closed. "My my, you look terrible. What have those people you call friends done to you?"
He traced a finger over the mark beneath Prompto's eye, irritating the sensitive skin. "Wh-why?" He tried to ask, but the rest of the sentence was lost as it refused to come out. He took a steadying breath, though it was more of a pained gasp, "Te-tell me."
Ardyn walked around Prompto until he was behind him. "Tell you what? Tell you that your companions don't want you? Tell you that they are better off without you getting in their way? Or perhaps you want me to tell you that you don't belong with them." He laughed sadistically to himself, "You don't belong with anyone. Don't you understand what you are? You are nothing more than a tool to be used for the benefit of others, and it's time you start acting like it."
He said nothing and let himself remain quiet. He was too exhausted to reply. He settled for simply shaking his head, and as he expected, Ardyn didn't take kindly to that. He back-handed him across his already aching face and quickly pulled it back to look him in the eyes, "I hope you realize your defiance hurts you a hell of a lot more than it does me." He gave that chilling smirk of his. "You're all alone here. No one is coming, and I have all the time in the world. I guarantee you'll give up before I will, my boy."
Prompto spit out another glob of blood that gathered in his mouth. "I'd rather d-die." He put as much force as he could behind those words, which still wasn't much. Ardyn tightened his hold on his face, fingers digging into him. The blonde whimpered with the motion, scolding himself for letting it out.
"Don't tempt me." He growled out as he shoved his face to the side. "I could easily snap your neck right now if I really wanted to, but I don't." He gently released his grip, "I don't wish to hurt you Prompto. I want you to realize this. I want to help you. You see, I'll accept you for who or what you are. I'll respect you for the real you instead of the act you put on for those others. If they knew the truth about you, well there's no telling where you'd be right now. Probably alone and forgotten." He placed a gentle hand on Prompto's cheek, "Tell me I'm wrong."
He found that he couldn't. He couldn't argue with that because he found it to be true. They only welcomed him into their group because what they knew about him was nothing but lies. He realized they accepted the fake him. Everything felt cold and foreign to him. His heart rate picked up speed as he slowly became aware of this fact. If they knew, they certainly would cast him aside, and who's to say they didn't already know. They probably did, and that's why they weren't coming for him.
"You are understanding now, aren't you? You are utterly alone in this world." He ran one finger along the path of the cuts on his arm. "This should prove that to you." He tracked the letters, feeling each one and ignored the way Prompto struggled to pull away from the offending touch.
"That wasn't them." He said quietly to himself. "That wasn't..."
Ardyn hummed, "That may not have been them physically, but that was very much their mentality. The feelings and thoughts they have were there." He pressed his finger harder against the last letter, feeling how it was the deepest and most heavily bleeding of the cuts. "I had to show you what they really thought of you, otherwise you would never have known the truth. You should be thanking me."
Prompto looked down to the floor, the floor that was now littered with his own blood. There was more of it than he expected. Maybe that's why he felt so cold. "They...they aren't coming. They really wouldn't come back for me." His eyes stung as tears threatened to surface. "It's probably better if they don't."
Ardyn lifted his head back up, but with more care this time, "That's right, they wouldn't because they don't need you. But don't fret dear, I can assure you that you'll be better off without them as well. Now sleep and let it all go away." Prompto let his body give in, suddenly feeling drained of energy again. Everything started to get fuzzy and warped as that twisted laughing was the only thing that was clear to him. It was the only thing that was definite as he once again let the darkness claim him.
He heard a noise, but he couldn't be sure what it was. He couldn't be bothered to care anymore. It didn't matter what it was, it didn't matter if it meant more pain or not. At this point he felt vacant of all emotion. All the pains that covered his body mended together into one and he could no longer tell them apart. He felt himself falling forward, but he made no move to prevent it. But when he never made contact with the floor, he started to get confused. He was turned over onto his back and he was lying on something soft.
Muttered voices swam around in his head. He knew those voices, but they felt so far away and he just wanted to go back to sleep, but they wouldn't let him. Cracking his one good eye open he gazed up at three blurred forms. He couldn't focus enough to make them out. One of the voices stuck out the most, it was the closest and loudest of them.
"..ompto?" He heard the end of his name, and now he was sure he knew who the voice belonged to. He tried to focus once more, this time making out the black clothing and the dark blue hair. It hit him. He knew what was going on.
The familiarity sobered him up quickly. He opened his eye wide, staring straight up into Noctis' worried face. This wasn't happening again. He lashed out with his left hand, shoving Noctis away from him. "Get away!" He shouted hoarsely at him as he tried to shuffle away.
"What are you doing, calm down will you?" Noctis tried to hold onto him, but his sudden burst of life threw him off.
"J-just go away." He almost begged as he broke free, dragging himself backwards with his good arm, while the other was cradled against his chest. "Pl-please" His voice broke with anguish that came with seeing them after what they did. 'What Ardyn did' he told himself. He was backed up against the wall. "Please don't." His breath hitched.
Noctis went to get closer to him, but stopped when he saw the blood coating his arm. He read the word, anger and sorrow enveloping him. 'Useless' He read, not saying it out loud. His eyes went from there to the dark bruises encircling his neck. "Prompto, what the hell did he do to you?" He couldn't hide the hatred in his voice. "What did that bastard do to you?"
Prompto said nothing and kept a fearful eye on the three of them. Darting from one to the other, making sure they all stayed where they were. Gladio was the first to move. He lifted a foot to take a step forward. "Stop." He said as loudly as he could, which wasn't very loud. Gladio listened though and stayed where he was, not wanting to frighten him more than he already was. "Please, just stay back." His voice broke at the end, "I-I can't." Shaking his head slowly, he looked down into his own lap, "I can't take it anymore."
"Prompto..." Noctis begged, moving closer despite what he wanted.
"I'm sorry." The blonde whispered quietly, still looking away. "I'm so sorry." Tears were trailing down his face now, he no longer tried to hold them back. "Please, forgive me." He drew his knees in and placed his forehead against them. "Please..." He tensed up when he felt arms wrap around him, but he didn't shake them off this time.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Noctis reassured, holding onto Prompto gently while being careful of his injuries. He felt wetness through his clothes, but he didn't mind.
"If anything, we should be the ones apologizing." Ignis spoke up from the other side of the room. "If we didn't take so long..."
"They're right." Gladio added. "It's not your fault. That scum that caused all this is the one to blame."
Prompto relaxed a small amount, "Why?" He asked, raising his head, "Why would you come for me? I don't...I don't belong with you guys. I never have." He drew in a shuddering breath, fresh tears rolling down with it. Ardyn's words echoed in his mind, 'You are nothing more than a tool to be used for the benefit of others' "I'm nothing. Nothing but a puppet. A broken, failed puppet."
"No you're not." Noctis stated firmly. "Do you really think that? Do you really think we see you like that?" He released his hold, moving to crouch down in front of him and force Prompto to look at him. "We wouldn't have come if we felt that way."
Prompto gazed at his eyes, searching for any trace of dishonesty and found none. "I-I don't know." He felt himself waver as the adrenaline was wearing off. "I don't know anymore." His words were slurring together. He felt confused and lost, and he didn't know what to believe. He was tired though, and wanted to trust in them. He wanted to, yet didn't know if he could completely.
"Hey, stay awake. We're getting you out of here, alright?" He didn't respond as his body slumped to the side. Noctis caught him before he could hit the floor. Looking down he realized this was the first time he's really seen the floor. So much blood. He gazed down at his front and saw the same. So much of his friend's blood. His hatred began to resurface. "Damn that Ardyn. I'll make sure he pays for this." He whispered to the unconscious man in his arms. "Gladio, can you get him please?" He looked him over, noticing the odd appearance of his wrist. "And be careful of that wrist, I think it's broken."
"Yeah." Gladio responded, stepping over. He crouched down, and took in the state he was in. He tenderly scooped him up, tensing at all the warm wetness he felt. "We shouldn't have let this happen." He then looked at the same word Noctis had earlier and felt heat rise. Even with the help of potions he was afraid that it might scar.
Noctis saw what he was looking at. "We should do something about that before he wakes up. I'm not sure if he's seen it yet or not. Either way it doesn't need to be there." He could only think of one way to get rid of it. "Ignis, can I see one of your daggers?"
"What the hell are you gonna do with that?" Gladio asked, the same thought coming to mind. "Don't tell me you mean to mar him anymore, do you?"
Noctis grit his teeth, "Do you know of a better way? We both know it's going to stay like that forever unless we do this." Just the thought of doing this was making him feel sick.
Ignis reluctantly handed it over. He may not have been able to see, but he could piece together what they meant. "I don't like this either Gladio, but he is right. I think Prompto would prefer this as well. Just be quick with it" Noctis nodded as he grabbed hold of the blade.
"I'm just going make it illegible." He held the point against his bloodied flesh, adding a little pressure as more of the substance spilled over from the pin prick. "I'm sorry." He whispered, and in one fast motion he pierced and dragged the blade across. Mercifully, Prompto didn't react. He seemed to be too far gone to feel it. He did this a few more times until he could no longer make out the letters. He wiped the blood on his pants and gave Ignis the dagger back.
He then removed his jacket and balled it up, using it to stint the bleeding as best he could. "Let's get out of here, I don't want to be in here another second." He took one last look around the room before exiting with the others; the images forever engraving themselves into his memory, and he just hoped Prompto would be ok after this.