Divine Intervention
'Its all you bud!', Prompto said, as he and Noct flew over the ruined building.
With one nod, the blond crownsguard watched his friend finally leap off the imperial speeder he "acquired". Prompto then sped off, hoping to meet up with Ignis and Gladio as the battle became more hectic and destructive, the Leviathan was not pulling any punches when it came to its torrential rage.
Buildings were sunk below the waters, many of them that were still surfaced look more like ancient ruins of a forgotten city, and several parts of Altissia was flooded. The blond was lucky he managed to grab the speeder before he himself got swept away by the waters.
Prompto flew over the battlefield, dodging and evading any of the imperial drop ships that came too close to him, last he needed was to be chased by those massive ships. With much bigger guns against his seemingly harmless method of transport.
He picked up his phone as it vibrated in his pocket, and upon looking he saw Ignis' name and number.
'Hey! Noct's going after the Leviathan!', he shouted, hoping his voice would reach Ignis.
'Understood, where are you?', he asked.
'Just flying around- OH SHIT!'.
Quickly Prompto swerved to the right just as a drop ship was literally thrown towards him. The sudden attack caused him to drop his phone into the waters below, he himself almost falling off his vehicle in the process. His body slipped off the seat, his right arm still gripping the hand as he hung from it. Panicking as the blond saw the world pass below him in worrying speed, he looked up to see he was heading towards a tower.
'SHIT!', Prompto cursed again.
He struggled to get his hand on something to pull himself up on the machine, just hopelessly grabbing the seat. It would have been so much easier if the damn thing wasn't going so fast. Grunting, the gunner finally grabbed the seat and with all his strength (combined with adrenaline and terror of falling) he managed to pull himself up.
'TURN TURN TURN!', he said, grabbing the device.
He just barely managed to dodge the oncoming tower as the wild waters charged and demolished the tower just as Prompto managed to create a fair distance between him and his end. He allowed himself a breath of relief, heart hammering against his rib cage wildly. He turned to see Noct doing battle with the Leviathan, crystal weapons flying around him as he swerved and weaved all over the place as the Leviathan was throwing both water and buildings against the prince.
As much as Prompto would charge in and help his friend, the blond knew he'd be more of a reliability and a distraction to Noct in this state. He had a good guess his bullets wouldn't even tickle the beast, and the vehicle had no weapons to speak off, aside from ramming into the beast. He grunted and slammed his fist into the device in frustration.
Noct was then tossed aside by the beast, flying onto an island of buildings in defeat. The blond shrieked his name in terror as he grabbed the controls and was about to make a dash for his friend. Then, to the corner of his eye, he could see the pedestal where Lunafreya was standing, but now she was on the ground, wounded and exhausted.
Also, Ardyn was there.
He saw him saunter around the Oracle, no doubt mocking her attempts to aid Noct, and if Prompto was a betting man, he had no intention of letting her succeed. Looking between the Oracle and his best friend, Prompto gripped the controls as conflict begun to rise within him.
Noct had been through much worse in his sparring with Gladio, but even he's got limits. He could have broken a leg or worse thanks to the Leviathan's attack. But Luna, she was wounded and defenceless against Ardyn, and if she died…
Prompto slammed his head against the device, his breathing growing heavy and shaky as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. His best friend…or the one person who gave him a chance to be Noct's friend?
'FUCK!'.
Prompto started the speeder…and flew to Luna.
Going as fast as the machine would allow him, Prompto shifted his body until his feet stood on the seat with him crouched down. He flew straight towards Ardyn, just as he brandished a knife before the Oracle.
'HEADS UP!', shouted Prompto, just before he leapt off his speeder.
The speeder crashed right into Ardyn's stomach, piercing him through the tip of the speeder and sent them both flying off the pedestal and into the ocean. Prompto himself falling into the water, his vision blurred by foam and bubbles, he tossed and rolled in the water. He tried to control himself, trying to turn his vision to the surface and with luck he'll swim out before the Leviathan's water consume him like Ardyn.
His lungs burned with effort and exertion, he swam with all his might until he finally broke through the surface. Taking a greedy amount of air, the blond swam to the pedestal steps, thankfully a pathway leading into the still above water city. Reaching the land, the blond climbed onto his knees and hands, coughing and heaving, water vomiting from his mouth. 'Prompto!'.
He looked up to his left to see Luna watching him with both worry and awe. She used her trident to support herself, even that was a struggle in itself. Quickly, the gunner got to his feet and though shaky and a bit clumsy, he made his way to her upon the pedestal. Standing before her, he gave her a worried look, but then she smiled.
With a brave nod, she turned and while glowing in that heavenly light that left the man speechless, she summoned the remainder of her power. The golden light then shined down upon Noct's position, and as if the gods themselves blessed Prompto's luck, the Chosen King begun to float above the island. Suddenly, all of the royal arms they had collected had appeared around him as the light turned into a dark royal blue colour.
That Leviathan was done for.
The raven flew towards the Astral and instead of struggling, Prompto could see Noct was dominating the battle with grace and power he never knew he possessed.
But his luck ran dry when Luna fell on her knees, the trident collapsing beside her. He ran to her quickly, worry clear on his face when he saw just how sick she looked. Her skin was so pale and sweaty, her wounds from the Leviathan's temper looked much worse upon closer look, and he saw her shake.
'Lu- I mean, your grace', Prompto gasped.
She giggled weakly, before turning to the blond.
'Prompto, please…call me Luna', she asked.
He gave her a small smile, but then it faded when she tried to stand. She nearly collapsed upon setting her left foot down, the only thing that prevented her from falling was the gunner. 'Hang on, I'll get ya to Iggy! He'll know what to do!', he promised.
Prompto threw one arm underneath her legs and lifted her up bridal style, thanking his lucky stars he had the strength to lift a woman. It also worried but helped him that she felt incredibly light in his arms. The trident vanished in a golden light, he just assumed it was the same concept as Noct's magic, so he didn't pay much heed to it. Quickly the blond ran down the pedestal, running straight for the town.
If he was lucky, the imperials will be too busy attacking the Leviathan to go after him, though if Ravus was in charge of the battle…He shook those worries aside for now, he just hoped the paths were familiar to him. Or rather, hoped Ignis would find him first.
Prompto came to a small plaza just after he crossed the bridge, but before they could move any further, a dropship was hovering over the area. A platoon of magiteck soldiers dropped from the ship, and to add insult to injury, they were led by Caligo.
The older man sneered at Prompto and Luna, the former taking a step back from him. 'Well, look at what we have here', he said, 'The Oracle and one of the Prince's friends'. Prompto grunted as he looked desperately for an escape route, but the magiteck soldiers had blocked off any exit he could have taken, and one glance behind him showed his back door exit was gone, thanks to another attack from the Leviathan.
'You have nowhere to run, boy, hand over the Ring', he ordered.
Prompto looked at Luna, in her hands she clutched the ring, the very same ring Noct was meant to wear when he ascended to his throne. Luna gave him a pleading look, desperate to keep the ring from their hands. As desperate as the man was to keep both her and the ring out of the imperials hands, Prompto's odds were not in his favour. Sure he could take on the soldiers; he had vastly improved since the start of their journey to the point where he could hold his own.
But Caligo was another story, plus he couldn't keep both himself and Luna safe, and even then in her state putting her down was out of the question.
'You either give me the ring, or I'll take it by force', Caligo bragged.
'You'll have to kill me', Luna stated coldly.
Caligo smirked.
'Accidents happen, your grace'.
Caligo then ordered his soldiers to attack, five axe wielding magitecks dashed towards the blonds. However before they could get close to the blonds, a pair of dagger suddenly flew straight into two of the soldiers into their backs. Then from above, Ignis suddenly appeared with a spear in hand as he crushed another soldier. He pulled his spear out and with a single swing of the weapon, the advisor easily destroyed the soldiers.
Making his weapon disappear and re-summoning his daggers, Ignis stood between Prompto and the imperial forces. 'Apologies for delay', he said, not taking his eyes off the empire's forces.
Never before had the blond been so happy to be saved by the mother hen.
'Where's Gladio?', Prompto asked.
His answer came in the form of a loud battle cry, as by the steps he originally wanted to take, the soldiers were all tossed aside in pieces by the shield of the prince. Gladio tore his way through the soldiers as if they were all made of paper, cleaving and demolishing them all into scrape metal. The shield leapt over a pile of soldiers and slammed his great sword into another. In the centre, Gladio begun to destroy any imperial soldier his brown eyes could see.
'I think he's over there, but that could be my imagination', Ignis said with his dry wit. He then turned to Prompto. 'Stay here, leave the imperials to us!'.
Without another word, Ignis ran into the fray.
Prompto could just watch in awe and relief as Ignis and Gladio made short work of their enemies. Yet even as the two older men dealt with the soldiers, Prompto turned to see Caligo aiming a revolver at the two blonds. 'I WILL HAVE THAT RING!', he shouted.
Then, a sword pierced his chest.
Prompto barely had any time to react to the gun, but now as Caligo was tossed off the blade, he savoir came in the form of Ravus. The snow haired man turned to Prompto, who was split between running away as fast as he could or thanking the man. Ravus turned to see Ignis and Gladio finishing off the remaining forces in record time, they both turned to Prompto.
Upon seeing the worried look on the blond, regarding to Ravus, Ignis raised a hand. 'It's alright, he's on our side', he promised.
With the look on the spectacled man's face, the blond relaxed and let out a deep breath of relief. Once Ravus was close, Prompto helped Luna into his arms. 'She needs help, I think she's sick', he explained. Ravus gave the boy a curt nod as Ignis took out a potion for the girl. 'It won't cure her entirely, but it's the only thing we have on us', Ignis explained as he helped Luna crush the vial.
'Then we take her to a doctor…surely there's some remaining here?', Ravus suggested.
'There was one by the refuges boat', Gladio said, gesturing the direction they came from.
'What about Noct?', Prompto asked.
'I'm afraid we cannot offer help to him this time. We'll leave the Leviathan to him', Ignis said with a form of regret. 'But for now, we'll escort the Oracle to safety'.
The two crownguards nodded in agreement as Ravus adjusted his sister into a more comfortable position in his arms. Ignis led the party towards the docks, thankfully their path was devoid of imperials as Ravus, earlier, had given the command to tell them to retreat and prep for another assault on the Leviathan. 'Sure they'll follow that order? Caligo was a lower rank then you and he still went for Luna', Gladio asked.
'That idiot was after the ring, and look what became of him', Ravus reminded. 'Everyone else is just a magiteck, they'll do what I say'.
'Let's hope none of them get a desire for the ring', Ignis remarked.
*Several Days Later*
The battle had reached its end at long last, Noct defeated Leviathan with the power of the royal arms and with some aid from the Titan. The destruction caused by the two astrals had demolished the imperial army, forcing them to fall back with at least three drop ships intact. No doubt the emperor will be livid in knowing they failed to not only eliminate Noct but the ring once more slipped through their fingers.
The party, namely the prince's group, had join the search and rescue group to find their future king. Thankfully Titan had kept him safe long enough to be found by the group, and had since then been taken to Camelia's estate for rest and safety.
Luna was resting with him, under the orders of three of the four men who rescued her. Prompto was far too shy and meek to even ask her to do nothing.
In time, Noct awoke at last.
The first person to see him awake was none other than Prompto, obviously. The blond explained to the prince about what had occurred since his sleep. Yet he didn't get very far into his tale as Luna entered the room, accompanied by Ravus. The prince and his best friend went silent at her appearance, the latter shutting himself up instantly.
'Umm…I'll just uh…yeah…leave you two…', he said, awkwardly shimming out of the room.
Once they were alone, Noct got to his feet, turned to Luna and gave her a very tight hug.
*The Next Day*
Prompto leaned against the railing with a hefty sigh, watching the sun slowly rise above the horizon. He was just waiting for the others to finish their tasks before they return to the long road once again, humming a tune as he clutched his camera.
'Something on your mind?', Ignis asked, joining the younger man.
'…You'd think after what's happened, there'd be hundreds of things running around in my head', Prompto answered.
'I merely assumed you had that chocobo song on a loop between your ears'.
Prompto laughed softly at that innocent jab, turning to the adviser. Ignis gave him a small smile in response to his laughter, straightening himself up. 'I guess, I'm just glad, ya know?', he explained. 'I mean, we got the Leviathan's blessing, got the ring and heck, we even saved Luna!'.
Ignis nodded, truth be told he was just relived and grateful that for once things had turned out for the much better. He clapped Prompto's shoulder. 'I believe it was *you* who saved Luna from Ardyn', he reminded. Prompto opened his mouth to protest but Ignis raised a hand. 'Do not discredit your accomplishment Prompto, things would have turned out much differently if you hadn't intervened'.
'He's right ya know', Gladio said, joining the two. 'You should be proud, not every day you end up saving an Oracle'.
Prompto opened his mouth to retort but he found nothing to use. This feeling of warmth and genuine accomplishment, saving someone so precious to Noct. He simply smiled in response to them, showing his perfect teeth to his brothers.
Then all eyes turned to see Noct walking down the steps hand in hand with Luna with Ravus following closely behind him. None of the brothers had dare to tease the prince, both out of respect for protocol to Luna…and out of respect for Noct's happiness for a change. The raven gave them a nod in turn as Luna bowed to them respectfully.
'Everybody ready to head off again?', Noct asked.
'Yeah, boat's ready to take us back to the main land', Gladio announced, gesturing the ready boat with his thumb. 'Just waiting for you'.
Noct nodded and turned to Luna, who was smiling softly at the future king. He gave her a loving smile before she pecked his cheek lovingly, adoring his face with red. Prompto watched behind them, Ravus gave them an eye roll but he still sported a smirk on his royal features.
'Actually, we've one thing to do first', Noct announced suddenly.
He turned to Prompto. 'This looks like a good spot for a shot, right?'.
Prompto's eyes widened as all eyes fell to him and his camera, before he gave them the biggest grin he could muster.
'PHOTO TIME!'.
One shot and development later, as the party travelled by sea, Prompto sat down as everyone went for their own thing, he looked at what he considered his greatest photo yet.
With Gladio in the back giving a friendly salute, Prompto kneeling with a cheesy grin on his face, Ravus beside Ignis, both giving amused looks, Noct and Luna standing together, close and arms wrapped around each other.
One last glance to his best friend and his fiancé, who were watching the island of Altissia grow smaller and smaller, he simply smiled to himself.
"Happy to intervene, Noct".
A/N:
Just a little idea I had for a bit, and I wanted to write it up. Hope ya enjoyed!
Thanks for reading, stay awesome but most importantly, stay safe!