Disclaimer: I don't own FFXV

Chapter 1?

Prompto stood in his Kingsglaive uniform with the others, relieved to see Noctis walking towards them, mostly unharmed. But what did it matter? His hands balled into fists, Noct was going back in there to die, all to save a world that didn't care about him or what he, they, had already sacrificed. He didn't care about the dawn, he just wanted Noctis to live, maybe that was selfish, but he knew the others wanted him to live as well. They'd managed ten years without him, but it hadn't been the same, they had separated, gone their own ways to train and protect people. In some ways, he had appreciated it, it made it easier to hide the truth. He hadn't told them everything when he revealed his barcode in Zegnautus Keep, he hadn't told them what Ardyn had done to him. He had been shocked when none of them noticed, especially Noctis, his best friend. Iggy and Gladio looked different, older, all he had was a bit of fuzz on his chin in an effort to change his appearance and yet no one commented.

"So this is farewell," Ignis offered, hearing Noctis' familiar steps approaching.

"Yeah. Here we are," Noctis agreed and he sounded so worn out.

"It's all you," Gladio stood with his arms crossed over his chest, forcing himself to stay strong. He could not shield his King, his friend, from this.

Noctis nodded, staring at them for a moment before turning and beginning up the stairs.

"No turning back now," Prompto forced the words from his throat, his heart breaking. Then again, he no longer had a heart to break. When Noctis won, would it kill him too? Destroy the Scourge Ardyn had introduced to his body, just like any MT.

"Prompto," the sound of his name forced his head up to meet dark blue eyes briefly. "Gladio. Ignis. I leave it to you. Walk tall…my friends," Noctis' voice wavered but they all ignored it, silent, unable to look away from Noctis. Standing above them, he truly looked like the King he had been since Insomnia had fallen.

"Godspeed…and take care," Ignis finally spoke and then all three put their hand over their chest and bowed. "Majesty."

Behind them, two iron giants began manifesting up out of the ground; even as Noct put his own hand over his chest. "The time has come," he whispered before forcing himself to turn away and ascend the stairs.

Prompto turned with the others to face the iron giants as even more began to rise from the ground, tightening his grip on his gun. Even for them, the odds were not looking good. They could retreat to the lit Citadel but…he glanced at Ignis, seeing the stern expression on his face, to Gladio drawing his sword, yeah…they were Noctis' guards, they would not retreat. If they died then they died protecting their King. He smirked and opened fire.

He didn't know how long the fight lasted, daemon after daemon attacking them without pause. Shockingly, Gladio had been the first to fall under the attack of three iron giants. Ignis had come a long way in his fighting, he was better now than when he'd had his sight. It didn't save him but Prompto could hear his gasping and so reached out and began pulling himself along the broken ground, unwilling to let him die alone. His body left a trail of thick black fluid, not red blood. "Ig..gy…" he forced out, seeing him lying nearby. Slowly, Ignis' head turned his way.

"Prom….." a weak hand reached out and Prompto finally was close enough to grasp it in his own, feeling the coldness of Ignis' skin. "We….did….it?"

"Yeah," he let go and pulled himself up to look down at his friend using only one arm. He couldn't feel his legs at all, and his left arm was barely attached. He shifted to lean against rubble, freeing his arm to reach out and touch Ignis' cheek, feeling the older man lean into his touch.

"We…walk," Ignis sighed and Prompto shut his eyes.

"Yeah Iggy, we….walked tall," he choked out, feeling a tear fall. He turned away, looking up the stairs and he began the laborious job of pulling himself up the stairs and into the Citadel.

Hours later he lay beside the throne, gasping, feeling his body shutting down around him. He couldn't die just yet, no matter how much it hurt, burning inside him. He pulled himself up and wrapped his hand around the blade impaling his King. He fought with the blade, pulling it free inch by inch, freeing Noctis' body. As it came free, Noct feel forward and Prompto caught him, lying on the ground with him. He curled around him as best he could, able to feel the sun warming his back. He saw the ring on Noct's hand, cold and dull and then he looked up to where the Crystal had been, but it too was dark. He pressed his head to Noctis' chest, feeling a little blood soak into his uniform, listening, praying…but his heart was still, his body cool.

He sobbed, unable to hold back, uncaring for the pain it caused as he clutched Noct as close as he could, willing his life into the cold body. He turned his head as he coughed, seeing the blackish blood as he spat it out, not wanting it to touch Noctis' body. He closed his eyes, waiting for the end, because what else could he do?

"M'sorry," he mumbled. He had failed him; he couldn't save his friend. He had failed all his friends, he had been the weak link for so long, too weak to protect them. Then he'd been captured, and they had risked so much to save him when they could have been going for the Crystal. When he finally had the strength to protect them it was too late, and it had all fallen apart. Would they have accepted him if they had known how inhuman he was now? It didn't matter anymore; they were all dead and he was almost there. He closed his eyes, relaxing, hoping it would be soon. Maybe he would see them again? That would be nice….

Prompto opened his eyes, feeling another presence, clutching Noctis weakly, unwilling to let anyone touch his body. He blinked blearily, realising that it wasn't sunlight he was seeing. The room was now lit by a strange golden light and he managed to turn his head to see a woman standing beneath the throne, a woman unlike any he had ever seen and then she was smiling at him and he couldn't help smiling back before going into a coughing fit, spitting out more Scourge tainted gunk, something had ruptured inside him, he could feel it burning when he wasn't trying to expel it. Then she was right in front of him, bending to cup his cheek.

"Peace child," she whispered, and the pain faded away.

He blinked, dazed, but he still held Noct close and she smiled sadly at him. "Who?" without the pain he could feel sleep calling but he knew if he gave in he would die, and he couldn't not yet, not when she might hurt Noct.

She brushed her flowing skirt aside to sit on the ledge beside him, running her fingers through his hair. "You and your King are safe, I will not harm you," she promised. "I am Eos."

Prompto blinked, she was the planet? She laughed softly and he wanted to laugh too even though he didn't know why.

"Yes, I am the…I suppose you could call me the spirit of the planet. I have watched since the beginning, since before even those you call Astrals."

His eyes widened as he listened to her. He hadn't known anything was older than the Astrals. "Why…he…re?" his words slurred, and she looked sad.

"While the Astrals held sway I could not act but now they have cut their ties to humanity by ending the line of Kings and Oracles while destroying the Starscourge," she explained, reaching over to gently brush Noctis' hair back from his face and Prompto whined softly. "What would you give to bring him back?" she asked, and he stared at her, sure he had misheard and yet she waited for his answer.

"An..yth….ing."

She smiled beautifully at him. "Thank you child," she leant in and kissed his lips even as his vision began to fade to black. "You will change the fate of the world, my Champion. Know that I am always with you."

He was falling though the blackness, unable to see, hear or feel. He wasn't scared, he felt utterly at peace, safe. Half lidded blue eyes stared vacantly ahead as the sensation of falling faded until he was floating, cradled by something…Eos. He felt himself changing though he couldn't say how, thoughts slipping from his grasp. Blue eyes glowed with the same golden light from the throne room before sliding shut.

"Good luck my Champion, my Child."

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Prompto gasped and shot up, wide eyes staring around in incomprehension. He was…he was alive? He scrambled up, looking around in confusion, he was in a bedroom? He reached out and touched the quilt…he knew it…it was his. He left the room and found himself in a small living room. This was his apartment….in Insomnia. He grabbed his phone and swallowed as he saw the date, one week before they set out for Altissia for the wedding that never happened. He moved to the window and opened the blinds, staring out at the city of his childhood, it was real…he was back. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, stretching out purely human muscles even as his stomach gurgled and he laughed. He was human! Well, as human as a clone got. He hadn't felt hungry in a decade and it felt strange, but he went to the kitchenette to grab some food, savouring the flavours as he forced himself to eat slowly. He wanted to call Noct, but he knew that his friend would still be asleep. He looked down at his wrist, seeing the leather in place and he undid it to see he still had his barcode, but he wasn't upset about that since it could come in handy should they end up in Niflheim again.

Eos had sent him back to change things. He understood that the Astrals were not what they wanted people to believe. They used humans for their own purposes, were callus and cruel. Why else would they have done what they did during the time Ardyn was mortal? They could have ended the Scourge, even healed the King after he took it into himself and yet all they had done was reject him and ensure he could not die. Then they tied the two families to themselves and used them right up until they got what they wanted…Noctis. Well not this time, he would not let Noctis die for them.

How much could he afford to change this early? Too much and his future knowledge would be useless. He knew there were traitors within the Glaive, but he didn't know who, Libertus had never bothered to name them since they were dead. That treachery had helped Insomnia fall but what could he do about it? He was Crownsguard at this point….or was he meant to be sworn in this week? He quickly scrolled through his phone and sighed in relief, his swearing in had been yesterday. He held his hand out and smiled as his gun appeared before dropping it to return it to the Armiger, shocked to find he could feel the magic, feel the link between him and Noctis. He hadn't been aware of it last time, not unless he was next to Noctis while he was using the Armiger.

He was human again, but what else had Eos done to him? Not that he minded, he would have given up his humanity fully if it would save Noctis, would have offered his soul in his place, whatever it took. It made sense that something in him was different, he would be defying the Astrals themselves after all. Could he tell the others? Should he? Was it right to burden them with the knowledge of a future that would never come to pass here? The King already knew the treaty was a trap, but he couldn't possibly know that the Empire planned to utterly destroy the city rather than simply conquering it. Warning the King would be great, except he'd only ever met him twice, once about six months after becoming friends with Noct, and then at his swearing in as one of Noctis' Crownsguard. And even if he did see him, what could he say that wouldn't see him locked up as a possible spy?

He'd had trouble as a kid, even after becoming friends with Noct, thanks to people assuming he was a Nif due to his looks and he knew the King had to know he had come from a lab. He'd always assumed that had been why it had taken so long to get clearance to go to Noct's apartment and vice versa. Not to mention being allowed into the Citadel. It really limited his options in what he could do. He could…could he go to Cor? The Marshall had helped with his training and he had been the one to keep everything together after Noctis vanished. Plus…he had the feeling Cor may have been involved in his 'kidnapping' from the lab, just from a handful of things he'd said over the years. But with all of the craziness over the peace treaty how could he get a hold of him? Even if he did, how could he convince him? Prompto sighed, this was not going to be easy.

Looking around his apartment he knew he needed to be better prepared when they left this time. He'd need to find a way to exchange what money he had for Gil, just to start. He'd need better camping equipment as well, his sleeping bag hadn't been up to some of the areas they'd gone too, non-perishables to help Iggy… he had a lot to do and only a few days to do it in.

TBC?

So yes, Ardyn was very mean to Prompto while he had him, cut him open and messed around, replacing internal organs and stuff with things better left unsaid. So basically, made him closer to an MT. he was having 'fun' while waiting for Noctis and the gang to show up. Prompto dealt with it during the decade of darkness. Now he has to remember he's fully human again so he will be dealing with that and all the other mental issues seeing everyone he loves die, and then being sent back to change it.

Worth continuing?