WELCOME TO MY BRAND NEW FIC!
Which will be DARK! SCARY! AND FLUFFY! FILLED WITH ANGST COMFORT/HURT and a lot of our favorite SUNSHINE PROMPTO! OF course Noctis and the whole gang to! Can't forget those lovelies!

Enjoy this fic guys, planned to be a bit longer than Hiding the Courage to Speak, but will see how things go.
Well with that said (typed?) enjoy my new FIC!

(also warning for violence and stuff, shouldn't be to gory and there might be a little Noct/Prompto if you squint hard enough, but for now keeping it low - BUT WHO KNOWS WHAT MY BRAIN WILL COME UP WITH!?)

Chapter 1—a Prologue Start

Sunshine wasn't something Prompto would often see, his eyes never having the chance to adjust to something so far-fetched and foreign. On the few occasions Prompto had been outside—very few—there had been no sunshine, just a grey cloud of pollution coating the sky.

That hadn't bother Prompto though, as he'd never truly needed to see the sun; it just wasn't something he'd been thought to be able to see. After all he was just a useless MT that even the scientist didn't see much worth in.

He'd been kept though—why was anyone's guess. Probably for further experiments—or maybe it lay with his genes? He was related to the head scientist after all.

Prompto laid his head back against the cage, his pale skin even paler in the lime light of the room he'd been forced to stay day after day. Sometimes his eyes would even play tricks on him, green and orange spots appearing.

Of course when someone came to visit him—most of the time scientists—a light turned on that made his eyes stagger shut, taking seconds or minutes to adjust to a new light.

"This the one?" Prompto heard from a new voice entering the lab. It was up-beat, but creepy sounding.

"Yes," said a voice Prompto did recognize. His father Verstael Besithia.

The blonde shrunk back to the furthest corner of the cage.

His father barely acknowledged him, so him being here now wasn't a good sign. In fact it was a terrible omen.

Prompto felt the cage jerk, his twelve year old body forced to the furthest edge. "Get out!" he heard from his father on the other side. It was an order; if he disobeyed there'd be pain.

Prompto resisted, he didn't want to leave the safety of the cage. Despite being his prison it did keep from prying hands. Of course even the cage couldn't protect him now.

A hand grabbed him from inside, pulling him out into the open, his eyes still adjusting to the new light.

He was forced onto the floor, his small body skidding on the ground. He was already bruised by the action, his body not used to quick movement.

"He's so tiny, how old did you say he was?" the new voiced asked his father.

"His birth record is on the file," Verstael said to the newcomer.

As Prompto's eyes adjusted he could see the colour to the new person's face, the way he wore his hat and the crimson to his hair. Prompto bit his lip, knowing that he hadn't actually met this man but he knew who he was. He was the chancellor the scientist's always talked about.

Prompto's wrist was rudely grabbed by Ardyn, who pulled him upward to eye his brand. "This, mark will be a problem, should it be removed?"

Verstael shook his head. "No, if this doesn't play out he's a very useful case study; I'll need his records intact." Verstael walked to the other side of the room, going through one of the medical cupboards where the drugs used on Prompto were stored.

The chancellor dropped Prompto's wrist. Prompto scurried back, crashing into his cage behind him. He actually missed it in a way. There he was left alone. If he was brought out, he knew it would only mean trouble.

"Is he even capable of speech?" Ardyn bent down on the ground, grabbing hold of Prompto's cheeks. He turned his head, pushing his nails into his jawbone.

Prompto glared, the idea of this man touching him giving him all sorts of bad feelings. "Well if he isn't feisty." Ardyn let go violently, Prompto having to rub his cheeks after to get the feeling back.

"You!" Prompto heard from his father, the change in his voice alarming to Prompto. "Stand up."

The blonde frowned and let go of his cheeks, needing his hands to push himself off the floor. It took a second, his body wobbly after the last few days in the cage.

"Does he even have a name?" Ardyn asked, a quiet coo to his voice.

Prompto bit into his lip, the silence only erring him. If he spoke he knew he'd be reprimanded with physical punishment— but if he stayed quiet the chancellor just might end up calling him by his number like all the other scientists. Prompto gripped his fist, keeping silent. It felt like his only option at this point in time.

He hoped the chancellor would leave soon, he couldn't handle another experiment in front of a political figure like his father and the chancellor of Niflheim—last time his father had come the experiment had left him unable to move for days.

"Will have to give him one when we introduce him to the emperor," his father chipped in as he closed the medical cabinet, an array of pills shoved into his pocket.

Ardyn gave off a menacing smile. "No, that doesn't sound right, choosing a name this late, what kind of act is that." Ardyn bent his head down so he was at Prompto's height again. "Come now, you must have some sort of name. Right?"

Prompto knew his name; he'd been given it by his peers before he was decommissioned as a possible candidate to be an MT. They gave him his name for his ability to run through the practice drills faster than anyone, to hit his target at the perfect moment. A nickname that became his only name after his father had failed to give him one.

"Well?" Ardyn pressed, inches from his face.

The blonde breathed out through his nose, the strange feeling of the air from the room drifting onto him. "Prompto," he said, though a bit quietly.

"Mmm, Quick indeed." Ardyn petted the boys head. "Well Prompto, today is your lucky day." Ardyn held out his arms like he were some actor preforming a show. It was a strange array of emotion Prompto hadn't seen before.

"Don't coddle him," Verstael said rounding the corner. He had the dead look in his eye, just like every time he visited Prompto.

"Coddle? I'm just delivering the good news." Ardyn tipped his hat, the never ending smile only giving Prompto an even worse feeling than his father's blank stare.

"After all, in a few hours he will be introduced to the world, as the very first prince of Niflheim."

Prompto's stomach sank. His eyes returned forward. "Prince?" he repeated quietly. His father only intensified his glare at him. It didn't look like his father approved of this decision, or maybe he just wasn't thrilled with the idea. Still Prompto couldn't believe what the chancellor was saying. A prince? What did they have in mind?

"That's right little Prompto, as the emperor has no son, and I have no offspring of my own, well Niflheim needs an heir."

This had to be a joke, Prompto a prince? He'd been kept a lab animal all his life—who would want that as a prince.

"As your father Verstael Besithia holds the title of chief scientist and advisor to the king, as well as being of noble birth and an aid to the nation. Well it only makes sense for his child to be the one to inherit the kingdom." Ardyn dropped his arms, his strange smirk growing wider as he spoke. "That would be you, my dear boy."

Verstael scoffed, his eyes turning away from his son. "He's not going to inherit anything; only to the public will it appear that way." Verstael turned back, landing on Prompto's face as he stood motionless. "As if a failed MT could ever be a true prince."

Prompto eyes fell to the ground. He knew that his father showed no love for him, but still this joke was cruel.

Real MT's appeared at the door by Prompto's father, their masks hiding their true faces. "Grab the boy," his father instructed to them.

Ardyn stepped back letting the troopers through. They picked Prompto up carelessly, his feet dangling from the ground. "Hey!" he shouted, using his voice normally for the first time. The MT's didn't' care to listen or look at him properly though, after all they were successful MT's, unlike himself.

"Don't worry dear Prompto, before long you'll be the one in charge of them," Ardyn said, his voice lulling despite the creepiness.

Prompto glared, realizing that maybe the Chancellor wasn't here to hurt him after all. Maybe if he asked a question he wouldn't be punished for it.

"Why?" he asked as he was hung in the air like a rag doll by the MT's.

"Hmm," Ardyn said, wanting more from the blonde.

Prompto eyed the ground, refusing to look Ardyn in the eye longer then he had to. "Why," he mumbled again. He brought his face up. "Why do you need a prince for the Empire?"

Ardyn leaned back. The worse smile of them all coating the edge of his cheeks. "Well my dear boy, let's just say you're needed for a larger purpose, to help Niflheim reign supreme on a large scale."

Prompto frowned, his arms hanging limp under the magitek troopers. The bar code felt ripe against his skin. He knew the brand meant he wasn't human. He knew that no matter what kind of title was given to him he wouldn't be seen as a human by his father, or even the chancellor here.

What was about to happen, was just one giant game of pretend.

The sickest game of all.

Slower updates for this story (sorry guys), but I plan on putting more effort into this than any of my other fics! So look forward to longer chapters!

Reviews are appreciated :D Hope you enjoyed the first chapter :D