Prompto woke to the sound of Ignis's alarm, and a small smile spread across his lips as he realized that he slept soundly for the first time that week. He stretched his arms, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. Ignis grabbed his glasses off of the table beside his bed and took his phone, letting it ring a little while longer in an attempt to wake the sleeping prince. After another minute he shut it off with a sigh, watching as Gladio gently shook the prince. Noctis groaned, rolling over so his back was to the shield.
"Get up," Gladio grumbled, shaking him harder.
"Fine. I'm up," the prince replied, his voice muffled by the covers. "You look well rested," he said, looking at Prompto. The other simply shrugged, avoiding Noctis's gaze.
"I'll make breakfast, then we can figure out where to go from here," Ignis said as he left the bedroom.
"I'm gonna get a quick shower," Prompto told the others. Closing the bathroom door, he turned the shower on and stepped in. He let the water run over his face, enjoying the feeling of the hot water on his tight muscles. He hissed at the burning sensation in his wrist as the water hit the cuts from last night. Scrubbing away the dried blood on his arm, he brushed his fingers over the marks. He picked at the scabs that had already started forming, watching as they began to bleed again. Why did you do that? You shouldn't have hurt yourself, he thought to himself. He grit his teeth and pounded on his arm as the guilt grew inside him. The pain helped calm his anger and soon it was completely gone. He turned the water off and grabbed a towel, drying off. He quickly dressed and walked into the kitchen where Ignis was just finishing up breakfast. He placed the plates on the table, and they sat down, digging into the eggs. Prompto pushed his eggs around, taking a small bite. He really didn't feel like eating at the moment, but he knew he had to. Looking around he noticed that everyone else had already finished eating while he had barely eaten half. He shrugged his shoulders and scraped the rest of the eggs into the trash can.
"That's odd," Ignis said, eyes darting around the kitchen. He had been in the middle of packing up his kitchen utensils when he noticed something was missing.
"What's up, Iggy?" Noctis asked.
"I had two kitchen knives with me, but now I only have one," he replied, rummaging around in his bag. "Have any of you seen it?"
The other's shook their heads, and Prompto shuddered feeling a little bit of guilt.
"Oh well. I'll just have to buy a new one. They aren't that expensive." They grabbed their bags and dropped the key off at the front desk, heading to the regalia.
"So, where are we headed," Prompto asked, playing with his wrist band as they pulled out of the hotel's parking lot.
"We should go to Old Lestallum. Dave is there trying to hunt down some tags and I figured he could use our help," Gladio suggested from the back seat.
"Sounds good to me," Noctis replied.
Prompto fiddled with his camera, flipping through pictures. A small smile spread across his lips as he stopped on a picture of Gladio holding Noctis in a headlock. He took pictures of the scenery as they drove and frowned when he realized most of them were blurry. He put his camera back, settling on just enjoying the view. The drive seemed to take much longer than he thought it should have, but eventually they reached Old Lestallum. Ignis parked the regalia, and they quickly located Dave who was standing next to a large building, his loyal dog lying at his feet.
"You guys here to help with the tags?" he asked. They nodded, and he told them the area where they could find them. He wished them luck, and they climbed back in the regalia. As they drove, Prompto suddenly noticed that his wrist itched. He scratched at the cuts, but he only succeeded in making them itch more. He tapped his fingers against his thigh in frustration as he fought the urge to scratch them. He knew it would draw attention from the others if he relentlessly scratched at his wrist. He gritted his teeth as the whispering voice returned. You're so worthless. He shook his head, trying to clear it. Even your own parents don't want anything to do with you. That one hit him hard. It had always hurt when he spent days at a time home alone. Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!
He sighed in relief as the voice disappeared. He knew it was only gone temporarily, but he would take what he could get. When they pulled over, the sun had already begun to set, leaving an orange hue in the dark sky.
"Let's grab these tags and camp here for the night," Gladio said as they passed a haven.
Prompto and Noctis groaned, but they knew they'd never get back to civilization before the daemons came out. As they reached the spot where Dave said the tags should be, they came across a group of sabertusks.
"Let's end this quickly," Gladio growled, summoning his sword. Noctis threw his sword and disappeared, landing a fatal blow to one of the creatures. Prompto summoned his gun, focusing on keeping the creatures from overwhelming the others. Four of the creatures surrounded Noctis, so Prompto steadied his hand, aiming for the one closest to Noctis. He fired three shots, each hitting their mark. The beast fell to the ground lifeless, and the prince quickly finished off the other three.
"I believe we have what we are looking for," Ignis said as he held up the dog tags.
They set up camp at the haven, and Ignis set to cooking. He decided on making rice balls since they were simple and quick to make. Prompto watched the crackling fire, enjoying the warmth it emitted.
"Dinner is ready," Ignis said, placing the rice balls on four plates. They each grabbed one and sat around the fire. Prompto stared at the food, and sighed in frustration. His appetite still hadn't returned, but he forced himself to eat at least one of them.
Ignis watched with interest as the blond took a tiny bite and swallowed, a look of disinterest on his face. His gaze remained on Prompto. He wanted to make sure the blond ate all of his food. Thinking back to the last few days, Ignis couldn't remember him finishing even half of the food the advisor gave to him. When Prompto went to throw out the rest of his food, Ignis cleared his throat, getting the other's attention.
"Please try to eat a little more," he said, taking a bite of his own food. "We wouldn't want good food to go to waste."
"I'm not hungry," Prompto mumbled as he dropped his gaze to the ground. Prompto risked a glance up at the advisor's face and winced at the clear look of disapproval.
Ignis decided to leave him alone. If Prompto didn't start eating more soon, he would have to do something, but at the moment he wasn't to worried. The last few weeks had been pretty stressful, and he knew everyone was dealing with it in their own way.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed," Noctis said, standing up and heading to the tent.
"We all should," Gladio said as he and Ignis followed the prince. "You coming?" the shield asked, looking back at Prompto who hadn't moved from his chair yet.
"I'll be there in a few minutes," the other replied.
He sat in silence, watching the flames flicker. He glanced at the tent where the others were and a small voice whispered inside him. You don't belong. You're not like them. The only reason you're even on this trip is because Noct pities you. That's the only reason he lets you follow him around. He closed his eyes and shook his head. You're wrong. He's my friend. He cares about me, he argued back. You'll never be as good as them. He took a shaky breath, and made his way to the tent. Maybe a good night sleep will clear your head, he said to himself as he crawled in to lay beside Noctis. He stared at the top of the tent as minutes slowly passed. He tossed and turned, but sleep never came. He groaned checking the time on his phone. 3:24. Not again, he thought to himself, getting up quietly and leaving the tent. The fire was still burning, so he sat down next to it. You know what helped this last time, the voice told him. I-I can't, he argued with himself. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. His bag was in the back of the tent. He would have to crawl over everybody to get to it. It doesn't have to be a knife. His eyes drifted over to the fire which was still burning bright. It'll help you sleep. I'll go away. He wanted that. He wanted relief from the pounding voice in his head. He grabbed a piece of wood from the fire and stared at the glowing embers. Biting his lip, he hesitantly lowered the piece of wood, holding it just above his left arm. I shouldn't do this, he told himself. Come on you worthless piece of shit! Just do it! He quickly placed the hot edge onto his arm, gritting his teeth at the searing pain. He held it there for a few seconds, then dropped the stick with a silent sob. He sat there for a few moments, tears streaming down his face, and soon he felt his eyes drifting closed.
