Quick little warning for major character death.
Blood
Blood. It pooled on carpeted floor. It streaked the walls, the glass. It soaked his clothes. Covered his skin.
Noctis could smell it in the air. Feel it dripping from his skin. Taste its copper tang on his tongue.
What had he-
"Noct?" The gentle, questioning voice of his Advisor broke Noctis out of the strange dream- memory? -he had been having. The heir to Lucis opened his eyes, seeing the worried and face of his friend before him. The Prince had fallen asleep while sitting against a crate.
"Are you alright?" Ignis asked and Noctis nodded. He, Gladio and Ignis were taking a small break outside the train they had boarded in Altissia. They had reached Tenebrae only to find Fenestala manor in flames. They were all safe and whole.
But not everyone was. The prince frowned at the thought and ignored the implications.
"He up yet?" Gladio's rough voice asked, he seemed to be in a rather bad mood. "Let's get going."
"Just give us a few moments Gladio. The train will not leave without us." Ignis turned to where he believed Gladio's voice came from as he responded.
"Fine." Gladio began to walk away. Noctis noticed he didn't look at him. "I'll be waiting over there."
"Let's go, Noct." Ignis coaxed.
"Yeah." Noctis agreed, getting up. He noticed he wasn't wearing his fatigues. He frowned again. Why had he changed when that outfit had been freshly washed when he boarded the train in Altissia? He couldn't even remember changing out of them, or even getting them dirty.
"We'll find Prompto in Gralea. And Ardyn will get what's coming to him." Noctis said as they boarded the train once more. He noticed that one train compartment was boarded up, the doors and windows both so none could enter or even see what was inside. No one had been allowed back on the train until that had been done. That was why he and his friends had to take a break.
Because of all the blood. Because- Noctis quickly shook his head before he could finish the thought.
"... Of course." Ignis agreed, a little hesitantly. Gladio said nothing.
Noctis dozed as the train began to move. They were one more step closer to Prompto and the Crystal.
He won't be there. He's still here. Noctis ignored his thoughts once again.
"What do we do?" Gladio's hushed whisper was barely audible.
"Not now Gladio." Ignis responded.
"Then when?" Gladio's whisper became more insistent. "He's not okay… We weren't there and-"
"Stop…." Ignis practically begged. He didn't know what to do. He had no plan for this. "Just… Just give me some time to think of something."
As Gladio and Ignis fell into silence, Noctis dreamed.
Ardyn! That bastard thinks he can just waltz up to me like that? After everything he did? Well, he'll be regretting that soon enough. Noctis thought as he dashed after the Niflheim's Chancellor.
As the Prince chased his foe, his anger began to overtake him. It was all that man's fault. His dad was dead because of him. His home was destroyed. He and his friends were being hunted by an army. He had killed Luna! These thoughts swirled around in his head. Noctis's rage only grew.
For a moment, the young man felt a dark presence in his thoughts.
It was too easy to catch up to Ardyn. Especially when an open door slammed shut right in front of him. The larger man scrambled to open it but it was too late. It was almost like it was meant to be.
"Wait!" Ardyn began, his voice panicked and very unlike him. Noctis was too furious to wait. His sword plunged into the man's chest as he turned around to face him. The Chancellor's shocked gaze met his own. His eyes were wide and blood quickly began to leak out of his mouth. The man tried to speak but the crimson liquid garbled any words he would have said.
It is not enough! He must suffer! The dark presence from earlier screamed in his mind.
Noctis agreed. The presence overwhelmed him.
The Prince pulled out the sword and struck again. And again. And again.
After it was done, Noctis stood on shaky feet. He didn't look at what he had done. All the blood. All the pieces.
It was like something possessed him.
The heir of Lucis stumbled back to the other side of the train compartment, his mind hazy. The young man turned when he heard a sound.
Noctis stood in bewildered silence at what he saw.
Ardyn?
"Oh?" Ardyn, whole and unharmed, smirked at the stunned look on the face of the Prince. "Did you really believe you killed me?"
Noctis took a step back. He had felt his sword tear through clothing. Through flesh and gristle. Through bone. He was drenched in this man's lifeblood. He was dead.
He should be dead!
Noctis continued to back up as the Chancellor approached. He stopped a few feet away.
"You're dead." Noctis stated, his mind still unclear.
"Take another look." Ardyn waved a hand, gesturing around him. "Are you sure of what you saw?"
As if in a trance, Noctis did as he bade. The young man couldn't comprehend it at first. He stiffened in shock and then fell to his knees.
It was not Ardyn.
It was not Ardyn's blood all over the train. All over him. It was not Ardyn he plunged his sword into.
It was not Ardyn laying in pieces all over the floor.
"Oops?" The Chancellor mocked as Noctis just stared, his body beginning to tremble. He could not turn his eyes away from his friend. Prompto.
"There, there." Ardyn had moved close enough to offer a mockery of a sympathetic pat on his head. "Gralea has plenty more where he came from."
When Ignis and Gladio found their Prince later, he wasn't alone. The Chancellor sat leisurely at one of the benches in the mess of a compartment. Noctis sat on the floor, in a pool of blood not far from the man. The young man just stared at the floor, unmoving and eyes empty.
Gladio held Ignis back as he could not see what was going on.
"Ah, I see your friends are finally here. I shall leave you in their care." Ardyn grinned at the pair as he spoke. He stood up and became enveloped in a haze of black.
"I will see you again very soon, Noct." Ardyn's voiced was heard by all before the haze dissipated and the Chancellor was gone.
"That was-" Ignis began but stopped when Gladio's grip on his arm tightened to painful levels.
Out of Tenebrae and on their way to Gralea, Noctis was snapped out of his doze with a jerk. He looked around in panic before settling his eyes on his Advisor and Shield.
"Ardyn took Prompto." Noctis stated. "We have to get him back."
"... Noctis." Gladio sighed, his voice carrying an unfamiliar tremble as he spoke his charge's name. "Prompto is-"
"Ardyn took Prompto." More forceful. More panicked. "We are going to get him back."
"... Yes." Ignis lied. Gladio said nothing to refute it.
All three fell into silence.
Someone suggested I write this. So here you go.