His blood ran cold, was that real? This was just an event right, surely this was just part of the show. But...it sounded so real, the sound still rang in his ears. He couldn't risk staying there, he was separated, and he couldn't be caught alone. Once Prompto built up the courage, he took off towards the main hall, taking so many turns, so many he didn't remember taking. Did he really go that far from the others. And, now that he was listening, where were the sounds of them, there was no more bustling around; it was eerie.
What seemed like an eternity, he jogged through the arch leading to the main room, and everyone was looking around in shock. As he stood there and watched, he saw a few others join the crowd, others that had also been alone at the time. Ignis and some blonde woman, Gladio's sister, and another he didn't recognize. He had maroonish hair pulled back in a ponytail, his attire appearing to be a lot more showy than the rest.
From where he stood, he could make out a chorus of questions: 'What was that?' 'What's happening?' 'Was that a gunshot?' and other similar ones.
"Prompto!" he heard Noctis call out to him, and he tore himself from his momentary trance to rush over, his heart still thrumming against his ribs.
"Noct," he breathed out, "i-is everything alright? What the hell was that?" As he asked his own questions, the raven was gripping his upper arms, trying to get him to calm down. Eventually, the blond trailed off and looked into the other's concerned features. "Is everyone else ok?"
The other looked around, spotting Ignis returning with a woman, and soon after he found Gladio guiding his sister back after going after her. "Y-Yeah," he said in relief, "it looks like it. And you? Did anything happen to you?"
"I'm fine," he uttered, still shaken. "Please tell me that was part of this."
"It didn't sound like it," Ignis replied, walking up to stand next to them. "It sounded far too loud, and things shouldn't have started yet." He looked to the clock, the time showing that it wasn't six yet. "We should still have another ten minutes."
Prompto swallowed thickly, trying to get his composure back. "Then, w-we have to get out of here," he looked from one to the other. "We need to get out and call the cop-" he was cut off, the shrill sound of a scream echoing down the halls and into their current room. "What was that?" his bright eyes slowly trailed to gaze in the general direction, and others were already headed that way. That sounded real, that was for sure.
Without warning, the others began heading that way as well. "What are you guys doing? You never go towards the danger," he hissed between his teeth, deciding to follow after them out of fear of being left alone in this place again. "Guess I don't have a choice," he mumbled, quickly catching up to them.
Before their group could reach the source, they heard multiple people freaking out, talking amongst themselves, and even a few were pushing their way back through with hands over their mouths and faces pale as sheets. Eventually, the three of them made it forward, pushing through the front to let out a unified gasp.
"W-What?" Noctis stuttered, his stomach doing flips at the sight. It was a woman, a bullet wound in her chest as fresh blood continued to drain from her form.
Next to them, another woman dropped to her knees, her mouth agape in a silent cry. "L-Luna…" she stammered, inching forward with her hands hovering over the limp form. "Who…" she trailed off, her hands starting to shake and her features twisting. "Who's the bastard that did this?" she growled, back on her feet on and instant. Most people backed up at the rashness of her movement.
Slowly, someone else stepped forward, it was the extravagant man Prompto had seen earlier, and he was pretty calm considering. But, he was the only one trying to do anything in this situation as he draped an arm around her shoulders and lead her back into the crowd for someone else to take care of her. He went back to gaze over the body again.
"It appears whoever did this took the gun as well," he observed out loud.
"So, if we find that, then we find who did this?" someone from the back asked, looking from one person to another as he backed away, clearly not trusting a single soul here.
Slowly, everyone was starting to panic, some were doing the smart thing and rushing towards the entrance, not wanting to get involved in things more than they already were. Prompto was about to urge the others to do the same when they heard something else that spelled out dread to him.
"It's not opening!" a man called out, followed by a series of curses and bangs. "I-It won't budge! It's locked!" The blond's breaths were coming out quick and shallow, and he was sure he was on the verge of passing out or something, but a familiar face filled his view.
Noctis was staring straight at him, blocking the sight of the corpse only a few feet away. "Calm down, as long as everyone sticks together, things will be fine," he assured, getting a few quick nods from the other. Glancing to Ignis, he took the clue and together they worked their way towards the lounge. There, they saw Gladio and Iris already situated.
"What happened?" Gladio asked, only hearing bits and pieces from panicked partygoers. Ignis only shook his head, not wanting to go into detail about it. Luckily, the brute could figure it out from the chunks he heard. "Gotcha." he breathed out, tightening his arm around his younger sibling.
There moment of silence and peace was interrupted as more people began to fill in, the man from earlier seemingly leading them. "Search every bag!" he ordered. "We're not gonna let this son of a bitch get away with this!" It hadn't even been five minutes, and already people were falling into such disarray. Was it the body? Was it the fact that they were locked in? Probably the combination of both.
The five of them scooted over as a few people obeyed the command, wanting to stay out of their way to avoid any more problems than they already had. "This is really happening, isn't it?" Iris asked, staring down at the floor, where they had barely left since coming in here. Her hands were shaking, but she kept them clasped together in her lap to help keep them under control.
Gladio tightened his arm around her and pulled her closer, trying to give what little comfort he could. He opened his mouth to provide a few words of encouragement, but that same voice spoke up. "We found it!" he shouted, grabbing the whole bag and hauling it over.
Prompto stared at the luggage wide-eyed. "T-That's...That's impossible…" he stuttered, looking to the others as if they knew what the hell was going on.
"Who's bag is this?" he demanded, holding it high in the air and shaking it intensely. "WHO'S IS IT?" he shouted again, his composure deteriorating by the second. Glancing around, he settled on the blond, noticing the way those bright orbs were glued to it in fear. "Is it yours?" he asked, closing the gap. His gaze cut over to Noctis when he twitched, itching to stand up.
His friend sat there, still staring and unable to speak. Licking his lips, he looked from the bag to the guy, his mouth opening and closing in silent explanation. "T...The bag is, but….that," he pointed to the gun in his other hand. "That...I don't know how that got in there," he blurted out, voice trembling as he slowly got to his feet to step forward.
"Stay the hell back!" he bit, causing him to freeze on the spot with a slight jolt. "Then why is it in your bag?" he asked, but it was obvious he was beyond the point of listening.
Prompto looked to Noctis as if looking for the answer, and he stepped in now. "Look, the four of us came here together, I promise you, that's not his. I've never even seen it before. The others can tell you to-"
"He wasn't with us when it happened," someone in the back uttered, quickly earning the support of others as they nodded and agreed. "He wasn't there, I remember seeing him come back afterwards," they said louder now that they were more confident in their memory.
The suspect took a step back, his body barely wanting to cooperate as he couldn't believe what was happening, didn't want to believe. Why was there a gun in his bag? He didn't even own one of those. "S-Someone must've put it in there," he whispered, unable to get his voice any louder. "I don't know who, but…" They didn't take his eyes off him, they had already decided, and there was no chance of them changing their mind on this. Their hysteria was doing all the thinking for them.
Before he could turn to the others for more support, he felt hands grab him, multiple at that and they were trying to pull him away from them. It happened so fast, his friends didn't get the chance to stop them. Letting out a gasp, Prompto had to go along with it, there were too many of them and he couldn't fight it.
"Wait!" he cried, tone pitched, but no one was listening; he may as well have not been talking at all. His arms and shoulders were covered in grips, tight ones at that that had no intentions of releasing him. He struggled and kicked, but it was of no use, they weren't going to release him. By now, he could feel himself being dragged, no longer able to keep his feet underneath him as they went.
Behind all the noise of the group, Prompto could subtle make out the voices from the others as they called after them, trying to convince them that they were making a mistake. No one was phased by this though, no one cared enough to hear any of them out. He was hauled down a hall, one that felt like an eternity and he thought it would never end.
"Where are you taking me?" he questioned silently, knowing he wasn't going to get a reply; he'd be surprised if they had even heard him. Eventually, the hands left him, but he didn't have time to react before he heard the slamming of a door and what sounded to be a solid 'click'.
The blond was up in an instant, fists beating on the door. "No!" he screamed, ignoring how hard he was hitting the wood. If he damaged it, then so be it, he didn't care. "Let me out! I didn't do it! You have to believe me!" he shot his pleads off in rapid succession, each one followed by more pounds against the door. Of course, no one said a word, he could just hear their footsteps slowly fade away, leaving him to himself.
Breaths coming out in shallow pants, he continued to beat on the surface, the knocks growing quieter and weaker by the second until they ceased altogether. He was left staring blankly at it and dropped his head to lean against it. Turning slowly, he placed his back against it instead and gradually slid down until he was sitting on the floor.
"This isn't happening," he repeated to himself.
He wasn't sure how long he stayed there for, but it had to have been at least ten minutes, even though it felt like hours to him. All this time, he didn't move, what was the point, they locked him up, convinced that he was a murderer. He tapped the back of his skull against the door a few times, hoping the light blows would wake him from this hellish nightmare. He had to get out of here, he had to. If he stayed here, he'd be screwed. That's it, he'd get out and get help, get professionals here, people that could prove he didn't do it. That was the only way.
Shakily, he used the door as support to get back to his feet and wandered forward, looking around. Obviously the door was out of the question, there was no escaping that way. Then he spotted it. Of course, the window, he could have slapped himself for not instantly jumping to that. Prompto jogged over and gave it a couple of solid tugs, but it wouldn't budge. No surprise. He hummed to himself, looking for something to pry it open with.
He scanned the room in complete silence, quiet enough to hear breathing...breathing that wasn't his own. That familiar fear was gripping his chest again. "Hello?" he called out, pulse thrumming through his veins.
For a moment, he heard nothing, then the breathing picked up again, more stained than the first time. His heart clenched, but he couldn't ignore it, he had to know who it was, even though he saw no one. Then came the light thud and he finally noticed the wardrobe out of the corner of his eye. Swallowing thickly, he grabbed the first object his hand brushed over. Gripping the candlestick tightly in his right hand, he reached out with his left and stepped closer to the dresser.
Biting his lips, and hand shaking violently, he locked his eyes on the crack between its doors. He blinked a few times to clear his wavering vision and finally built up the courage to grab hold of one of the handles and squeezed it. Prompto took one last deep breath to mentally prepare himself, and swung the door open.
A few of the guests were distraught, for obvious reasons, crying, nearly sobbing, by the time they returned to the main room. Hell, some of them were still trying to convince themselves that all this was still just part of the show. But deep down, no one believed that to be fact. Someone, they weren't sure who, were at least respectful enough to shut and lock the doors around where Luna was, effectively cutting her off from the others. No one needed to see that again.
Everyone was shaken, hardly anyone could produce coherent sentences. And, there were some who just fell silent altogether. Noctis and the others hadn't bothered to move from where they were. They tried to stop them, to go after them, but every attempt was stopped in its tracks as they were held back, kept from going after their friend. And, it wasn't until the main group returned that they were free to move.
Noctis was staring though, straight at those who had first laid their hands on Prompto, and he was strolling towards them within seconds of them coming back. "Noct," Ignis warned, grabbing onto his wrist.
"Let me go, these bastards are wrong," he growled, yanking his wrist away.
The brunet allowed him to pull away, but that didn't stop him from trying to talk some sense into him. "And what's fighting them gonna do?" he asked. "It won't help anything, and it will only make this worse. If you resort to violence, do you really think that will improve their opinion on Prompto. They already think he did it, and to see that his friends are violent as well?" he let that hang in the air for a second, and he watched as the raven slowly stopped, his fists shaking at his side.
"What do you suppose we do then?" he asked. It wasn't from curiosity though, it was from spite. "If you can come up with something better, then I want to hear it."
Gladio stepped to stand in front of Ignis, his arm still around his sister as he refused to let her out of his immediate reach. "I know this looks bad, but he's right. And, as much as I'd like to knock their teeth out as well, it won't help, and it will only escalate the situation even more. Once things are sorted out, you can do whatever the hell you want. But, for now, try to control yourself."
The other took a deep breath and released it in a sort of growl, but he complied and forced himself to turn back around to face them. "Fine, but if they touch him in any way again, I'm ripping their fingers off one by one," he promised, folding his arms in determination.
Ignis gave the kid a small smile, satisfied that he was willing to wait for a little bit longer. His face swiftly faltered though, and his jade gaze drifted by Noctis who was also looking back now. Soon, all eyes were resting on the man who climbed up on the table, his hands outstretched in a manner that said he required everyone's attention.
"Who the hell are you?" one of the spectator's asked, already sounding fed up with the man's antics.
The mauve-haired man simply grinned at him and gave a small bow. "Not the greeting I was looking for, but I suppose it's a start." The way he spoke, it was like silk as the words weaved their way out of his mouth. "But, if you must know, my name is Ardyn. Now, I can't help but notice the...disarray we have here."
There were a few murmurs, but no one stepped forward, everyone was confused and desperately wanting someone to take the lead.
"Hmm, we do have quite the ordeal on our hands," he continued, piercing eyes drifting towards the door that contained the body. "And, in times such as these, we need to stick together, and people need to remain calm and keep a level head. Am I wrong?" he asked rhetorically. Ignis narrowed his eyes, something in him already not liking this guy. "I recommend we take a quick role-call, to you know, make sure no one else is missing," he suggested, his grin widening as the group began to frantically look over one another and calling out each other's names.