"Noct!" Prompto was calling to him from the train, the train which had started to move one again. "Meet us in the engine room."
Noctis took out the last two Magitek Troopers and warped onto the roof of the train, he began to run to the front where his friends were, but unsurprisingly more Armoured Axemen had to be dispatched en route. Finally, Noctis made it to the front end of the train and entered the engine room via the large whole the empire had blown in the wall. He gently lowered himself in, and looked at the people in the cabin, and saw one face he was less than happy to behold.
Ardyn, what was he doing here Noctis wanted to know but didn't give himself the time to ask, instead he just summoned a weapon, this time a Bioblaster which he aimed at the chancellor and opened fire. A second later Prompto was stumbling towards the gaping hole in the wall and Ardyn was stood beside the Prince. Noctis was taken back, what was happening, he'd shot Prompto, Ardyn must have tricked him. Ardyn who was inexplicably reaching out to Prompto and pulling him back from the edge he had very nearly fallen from.
Noctis didn't think about this, all he could think about was his friend, his friend who he had just shot. The prince's blood boiled with rage, an intense heat rising through him until it reached his hand where he one again pulled the trigger and shot Ardyn once again, this time sending him out of the train, sending Gladio out of the train.
"Gladio!" Noctis ran to where his friend had fallen and looked behind him, his shield was nowhere to be seen, he stumbled backwards almost as if he'd been shot himself.
"Noct! What's going on?" Ignis asked trying to discern what had happened, unfortunately the two gunshots he'd heard had not provided him with enough information to clearly gauge the situation.
"I…I shot them. I shot both of them." Noctis said on the verge of tears as he dropped besides Prompto who was clutching at the wound on his shoulder. Noctis moved the gunman's hand and hit stomach turned at the sight of his friends punctured flesh, the experience worsened greatly by the knowledge that he had done this. "Iggy where's the first aid kit?"
"I believe it is still in my seat." Ignis replied with a sombre tone, he had more questions for Noctis but he could tell from the prince's tone that there were more pressing matters at this instant. Noctis threw one of Prompto's arms around his shoulder and helped his friend to his feet and the three began their return to their seats. Once they had left the engine room Noctis turned to one of the passengers and told him to keep the train moving.
They returned to the table they had been sat at previously and Noctis seated the injured Prompto, Ignis took hold of the first aid kit and passed a potion in their direction. Noctis took hold of the bottle and opened it before handing it to Prompto to drink.
"We're gonna need an antidote to Iggy." Noctis added, and his advisor immediately obliged handing over a second bottle.
"Why the antidote Noct?" Noctis opened the elixir for Prompto but struggled to get out the words he wanted.
"I shot him with the Bioblaster." Prompto's eyes shot open almost twice as wide as usually and he quickly whipped his neck to look at Noctis.
"Bioblaster?" At the sight of the look of shock in his friend's eyes guilt rippled through Noctis and his head fell into his hands.
"I'm so sorry Prom. It was Ardyn, he tricked me. I know that's no excuse but…" Noctis was interrupted by Prompto moving his hands out of the way and lifting up his chin so the two men were eye to eye.
"I forgave you the moment you pulled the trigger, I know you'd never hurt me on purpose, but it's just, if you shot me with the Bioblaster, then…" Prompto couldn't bring himself to finish that thought.
"Gladio." Ignis said tightening his grip on his cane. The gunshot wound was one thing, they could all hope that Noctis had hit him in a less vital spot and Gladio had stopped the bleeding. What they couldn't ignore was the poison that Noctis' chosen weapon administered to its victims.
"We have to get him, we've got to stop the train." Noctis said as he started to run off in the direction of the engine room. Ignis' voice reached him before he left the carriage, he stopped dead and painfully tore himself from the door and returned to their table.
"Noct. We can't stop now, not here, we'd be putting all these people in danger, the risk of a daemon attack is too high. Regardless of that, if the chancellor is involved it's doubtful Gladio is still there." Noctis remembered he hadn't seen Gladio seconds after he'd fallen from the train so the chances of him still being there were slim to none.
"We're almost at Tenebrae, we should let the passengers alight there where they shall be safe then we can formulate a plan." Ignis' calm tone rang through the carriage as Noctis sullenly looked out of the window as Prompto got some well needed rest.
**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**
Gladio pulled what felt like the hundredth lever hoping that Ignis' plan was going to work, he thanked the gods when he heard the familiar rumblings of the train engine restarting. In his relief, he gave Ignis a hearty slap on the back. "Good job Iggy, sharp as ever"
"Thank you Gladio. Where are the others?" Gladiolus walked over to hole the empire had blown in the wall and looked behind him, just as he looked he could see Noctis warping towards the train. Prompto wasn't there so Gladio could only assume he'd already made it aboard safely. A minute later he was proven right by the young blond entering the engine room.
"Noct's on his way." Not long after Prompto had said that Noctis lowered himself through the hole in the wall and turned to face the trio, but the way he looked at Prompto was no way any of them had seen him before, his eyes practically glowed with rage. Without saying a word Noctis summoned a weapon and shot Prompto point blank who began stumbling and almost fell off the moving train.
Gladio rushed forward to catch his friend, but the second he took hold of him and brought him back into the room Noctis' furious glare was turned to the older man and he once again pulled the trigger striking Gladio between the ribs and forcing him off the train. Gladio felt himself fall as the train ran away from him, then he felt himself hit the ground and everything went black.
When Gladio woke up he could barely move, at first, he thought this must be due to the fall but then he opened his eyes and looked around, he wasn't on the ground besides the train tracks. He was in a small steel room and the reason he could not move was because he was in some sort of metal contraption that had him stood up but the only part of him that was free to move was his neck, then he noticed a figure in the corner.
Ardyn stepped forward into the light and brought a potion up to Gladio's lips, Gladio turned from the elixir confused as to why Ardyn would bother to heal him.
"Come now. That bullet wound looks highly uncomfortable. Drink up and it shall be fixed." Ardyn tried to persuade his prisoner to accept his help, Gladio stood fast for a moment before relenting and accepting the liquid.
"So, you're not gonna kill me?" Gladio snarled as he felt the potion begin its work healing up the hole in his ribs.
"Oh, no my dear boy I need his highness to come here to rescue you. He won't do that if I tell him you're dead."
"You could lie to him. You already tricked him once right, that's why he shot me and Prom. What's stopping you from fooling him again."
"There's a fine line between trickery and deceit my good man, and that is a line I try not to cross." Ardyn replied with a sly grin, and with that he left. As the door shut Gladio was left to think about his friends, about how Prompto was fairing, about how badly his head hurt right now.
**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**
"Tenebrae." Ignis commented as the train came to a stop, Prompto awoke to help Noctis sweep the carriages clearing them of all civilians before re-joining Ignis to formulate a plan. Noctis looked to Ignis as Prompto saw him struggling to talk. "Ignis?"
"What is it Noct?" Ignis asked in reply, turning to face Noct, this was more out of respect than anything.
"It's Gladio, how long has he got?"
"I can't say for certain Noct." Ignis tried to sound calm but Noctis felt like his advisor was being less than honest with him.
"Ignis, please, just tell me."
"As I said, I can't know for certain, however, without an antidote it's likely he has less than a day." Upon hearing this Noctis sank into a seat and ran a hand through his hair.
"So, what's the plan?" Prompto asked, but instead of Noctis responding he merely stood up and walked past his friends.
"I'll be back in a minute we can figure something out then, I just need some air." Prompto went to follow him, concerned for his friend but was stopped by Ignis placing a hand on the young man's shoulder and steering him towards a seat.
"Leave him be Prom, he just needs to clear his mind, guilt does not sit well with our prince."
"He shouldn't feel guilty, it's not his fault, I told him as much."
"It's not just you he needs to hear that from I'm afraid." Ignis said, the words almost catching in his throat thinking about his friend.
"He's gonna be ok right, Iggy?"
"I surely hope so." Just then Ignis' head snapped to face the door where Noctis was running in frantically. Prompto leapt out of his seat and grabbed Noctis by the shoulders making sure he wasn't hurt.
"Noct, are you Ok man?"
"Ardyn…Gladio…Gralea…" Noctis tried to tell the salient points in between breaths. After he had regained his composure he sat the two down and told the complete story of how Ardyn had appeared to him and explained that their friend was in Niflheim's capital.
"Then we go to Gralea." Ignis said firmly as he stood up and headed in the direction of the engine room, Prompto rose to follow, Noctis sat for a moment before speaking. "Wait we're taking the train ourselves."
Ignis spoke without turning. "Yes, it would be unwise to endanger anyone else as we travel through the snow, besides we cannot afford to waste any time." The others knew he was right and they all set about heading for the capital. Noctis took their things into the engine room after which, Prompto disconnected the other carriages the thought being, the lighter the train the sooner they may be able to get there. Ignis gave the younger two men instructions on how to start the train and let them take control of the journey to the capital.
**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**
Gladio awoke to the empty steel room still restrained and he tried to think how long he'd been asleep, he hadn't even remembered feeling tired to fall asleep in the first place. The headache he had had earlier was dwarfed by the immense pressure he now felt below his temples, unfortunately the headache wasn't his only complaint, he also felt sick to his stomach and it felt as though all his organs were on fire. He instinctively went to hold his trunk in some attempt to ease the pain before he remembered his arms were being held, when he looked at his hand he realised that despite feeling like he was on fire he was shivering. He didn't have much time to think of anything else before feverishly passing out once again.
**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**
"Try that one again Noct, I think I heard something last time." Ignis was trying to guide the younger two on how to restart the train, they had run into a few issues where the train had frozen to a halt and been boarded by enemies. Luckily Prompto and Noctis had easily dispatched of the creatures but their attempts at firing up the train had been less fortunate, Noctis had even resorted to using a few fire spells to kick-start the engine.
Noctis quickly pulled the lever as Ignis had instructed and they all breathed a collective sigh of relief when they heard the sound of the wheels beginning to turn and Prompto retook his spot at the controls, neither of the men wanted to mention how much time they had wasted nor how long it would take to reach their destination. Noctis went to the back of the carriage and sat down to rest, the physical demands of his fight and his emotional distress over the situation meant that not long after he sat down he was asleep. Ignis had remained by the controls with Prompto, in part to offer any advice but also because he didn't like to sit their feeling like an invalid.
"How do you think he is?" Prompto asked without turning from the controls.
"I should think he'll be fine, once he's rested and we're at the capital."
"No, Gladio, how do you think he is?"
"I don't know Prom."
"I mean you can't know exactly how he is I get that, but you understand this poison stuff, so how do think he's doing."
"Prompto, I…I don't…" Ignis struggled to speak, and was taken back when Prompto just slammed a fist against the control board of the train.
"I'm not a kid Iggy, I can handle it. Whatever you're going to tell me has got be better than everything I'm imagining in my head. I know you and Noct have known Gladio longer but he's my friend too, I can't not know what's going on." Ignis couldn't tell if Prompto was crying or not, it sounded like it but he wasn't about to ask, instead he just placed a hand on his friends back.
"Well, at first it'll feel like a very bad flu, headaches, chills and that sort of thing. Once the poison starts to me metabolised by his liver then he'll go in to organ failure, that's when it will really start to hurt." Ignis' ears pricked up as he heard Prompto take ragged breaths, he decided to stay silent and just gently patted his friend on the back and let him drive in peace. As Ignis moved away to give Prompto, the younger man's wavering voice called to him. "Iggy, thank you…for being honest." Ignis merely nodded in return and went to sit with the still sleeping Noctis.
Over an hour had gone by in silence when Prompto brought the train to a halt and came over to join Noctis and Ignis. "We're here guys, we're at Gralea."
"Our best bet is to head to Zegnautus Keep. That is most likely to be where the Chancellor is holding Gladio." Noctis stayed silent as he collected their things and headed to the hole in the wall where he jumped to the ground below.
"Noct, wait up." Prompto called as he gestured to Ignis, feeling guilty as he did so, ever since Ignis had been injured Prompto had been the one defending Ignis' ability to soldier on but here he was contradicting himself.
"There's no time to wait." Noctis added before running ahead leaving Prompto to guide Ignis off the train and to inform him of the direction they were headed, luckily Ignis had become quite adept at following his companions, and more fortunately by his estimations they were less than half an hour from Zegnautus Keep, even less at the speed with which Noctis was advancing.
**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**
Gladio barely woke, he stirred enough to hear sirens ringing through the compound, he stirred enough to know that he felt as if he were freezing whilst also feeling that every fibre of his being was on fire, he stirred enough to realise he was going to die. Then he lost consciousness once again, had he held out for five more minutes he would have been awake to see his friends burst through the door.
"Find the release button for this thing." Noctis snapped as he and Prompto scoured the restraints for the switch to free their friend, Noctis' fingers found it quickly and he immediately pressed it. As the grips of the machine opened, Gladio dropped to the ground, it was too sudden for someone to catch him and the sound of the collision reverberated all around the steel room.
Noctis turned the older man onto his back as Ignis knelt beside them and checked for a pulse, after thirty seconds of no answer Noctis couldn't wait any longer. "Iggy, is he…?" Ignis would not allow him to finish that question.
"He has a pulse, however, it's very weak I feel his organs have been failing for a few hours." Ignis bit his lip and scrambled to find the first aid kit, he immediately administered a potion and antidote to Gladio before addressing the others.
"We cannot stay here, it's too dangerous." As he said this the younger too looked to their friend on the floor, you could barely see his chest rise and fall and he was worryingly pale.
"How do we get him out of here?" Noctis asked knowing full well if anyone of them were dying Gladio could easily carry them out of here as easily as carrying a bag but they weren't capable of returning the favour as easily.
"I think there's another exit at the end of the that corridor." Prompto said gesturing with a nod of the head. "You take that arm I'll take this one and we'll go as slow as we have to."
"How do you propose we get him to the train once we escape here?" Ignis asked in a tone that assured Prompto he was on board with this plan.
"It's Niflheim, there has to be a car we can steal, there just has to be"
"So, you're saying we steal a car?"
"Yes Noct, that's exactly what I'm saying." Noctis couldn't recall a time Prompto had ever been so sharp with him, but he understood why and he respected that. "We can't carry him there we both know that but we have to get him away from here."
Noctis didn't even need to say anything he immediately sat Gladio up and put one of the man's arms over his shoulder, Prompto did the same then without a word the both lifted the larger man to his feet, it was difficult but neither of them were about to complain. Ignis went ahead of them as he could walk faster and he relied on his friends to warn of any dangers ahead.
They made it out of the Keep without any problems and Prompto left the others in a secluded spot as he ran to quickly find a car. In under five minutes he'd returned with a car and helped Noctis place Gladio in the back seat, neither Noctis or Ignis decided to ask how Prompto had managed to hotwire the car they were just grateful he had done so as they made it back to the train in five minutes.
Ignis waited as the younger two moved Gladio into the engine room and laid him on the ground, as Noctis placed a pillow under his friends head he noted that his breathing seemed stronger, still painfully slow but Noctis could at least see Gladio's chest rise and fall with each breath. The next think Noctis knew he was being handed another potion and a further antidote.
"Give him these." Ignis said kneeling on the floor checking his friends pulse and temperature, trying to assess his condition, as both prince and advisor tended to their fallen friend Prompto started up the engine and sent it in the reverse direction to the one they had taken to get here.
"Prompto is taking us out of Niflheim that way we can get him some proper medical attention, I am not sure we have enough supplies to suffice." Noctis nodded not thinking that Ignis could not take that as a reply, Ignis however did not comment on Noctis' silence. For a while they both just sat there Noctis took one of Gladio's hands and would not let go.
After twenty minutes Gladio began to shake, no not shake, shiver, Ignis calmed Noctis by saying this was a good thing it meant his body is reacting to the poison meaning his organs are registering signals. In short, he was responding to the curatives he'd been given. A further thirty minutes passed and the bodyguard feverishly stirred.
"Iris…Ir?" Noctis snapped out of his daydream and was quickly responding.
"No, it's me, Noct."
"No. Iris, tell her that…" Noctis stopped Gladio talking any further, he thought that best given how pained his friend seemed.
"Tell her yourself big guy."
"But if I…" Noctis gripped his hand so tightly at the thought of what Gladio was going to say then.
"No, you're not allowed to finish that sentence. You can't die, I can't have killed you." As the words escaped his lips Noctis began to cry and fell into Gladio's shoulder the older of the two men ruffled the prince's hair before once again falling asleep.
**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**
Gladio woke up feeling barely better than he had when he fell asleep although the surface he was lying on was much more comfortable, he looked around the room and saw a sleeping Noctis and Prompto on the other bed with Ignis sat by his bedside drinking what he assumed was coffee, it was then that Gladio realised he recognised the room they were in.
"Iggy, where are we?" His voice sounded rough and deeper than usual. Ignis couldn't help but smile as he turned to respond.
"We're in Lestallum Gladio. How are you feeling?"
"Lestallum? But we were in Niflheim. How long was I out?" With that question Gladio went to sit but realised that was an ill-advised idea, it felt as if every square inch of his body had been crushed.
"Four days I'm afraid. Now, once again, how are you feeling?"
"Like I haven't moved for four days." Gladio chuckled as he moved to a position where at least his head was slightly more vertical and no sooner had he stopped moving was Ignis' hand on his forehead. Before Ignis could say anything, their conversation had woken Prompto who was instantly by Gladio's side beaming from ear to ear.
"Gladio, you're awake." He exclaimed as he through his arms around the man who had been worrying him for days. Ignis tutted when he heard Gladio let out a pained grunt.
"I know you're excited Prom but do try to be gentle. Gladio your fever's still there. Do you feel warm at all?"
"If anything, I'm pretty cold." No sooner had Gladio said this Prompto had ripped his bed's blanket off of the sleeping Noctis and placed it on Gladio. He then jumped onto the bed and sat next to him revelling on his friend's company. Noctis quickly stirred after being deprived of his warmth.
"Hey, what gives." He said with an annoyed tone, which soon disappeared when he realised the reason for his blanket being stolen. "Gladio. How are you, big guy?"
"I'm good thanks Noct."
"No, he's not, he's better, he's not good." Ignis just had to clarify the situation he couldn't help himself.
"How's about some breakfast." Noctis asked turning to his friend.
"It's like you read my mind." Gladio responded with a laugh.
"Ok, I'll go get us all something. Ignis?" Noctis held out a palm awaiting money from his advisor. When the Gil was handed over Noctis headed off to town to buy some breakfast for the group.
When Noctis returned Prompto and Ignis were having a conversation with a sleeping Gladio leaning against the young gunman. Noctis handed breakfasts to the two awake men and gently placed Gladio's sandwich on the dresser next to him ready for when he awoke.
"I spoke to Iris. She should be here tomorrow." Noctis said as he sat down with his own breakfast and he swore he saw Gladio respond to the mention of his sister's name.