Beta read by: SinikkavonWolperting, istoleyourcheesecake and Bagpipes5k2

And, the next chapter is now here. :D Hope you all enjoyyyyyyy.


websky: XD Why thank you, it's not even at the worst of it yet though. OwO


"Ar-Ardyn," he breathed between heavy and heated pants as twitches ran down his arms and legs; the sides of his head burned and tingled and colors flashed at the edges of his vision. "Pl...Please," he begged, his dignity long gone. "Please," he repeated, the single word cracking as it raked against his sore throat, raw from his cries. Everything burned, his mind buzzed, if he kept this up...was he really alright with taking this as far as he needed to? He drew in a shuddery breath, only to push it right back out. "S-Sto-"

"What...is...your...name?" the immortal asked, cutting the other off, each part emphasized with a tap of his finger on the side of the switch; his thumb hovered at the ready, embered gaze resting on the blond, void of remorse. The digit twitched with impatience. "Say it!" he snapped, the force and volume catching the gunner off guard, causing him to instinctively close his eyes. The chancellor stepped closer and placed one hand on the table to lean over the other. "Tell me your name," he said again, softer and more demanding than the first. Prompto could feel the brush of his exhales glance over his face.

Prompto's breath caught, his answer on the tip of his tongue...but, he hesitated, Ardyn's earlier information filtering through his mind. 'Did you know, your name wasn't always what it is now. Before, when you were here, you name was none other than Unit: 6093. But, that was a long time ago.' Those same sentences, ever since he heard them, he'd been unable to shake them from his mind. He forced his eyes back open to glare at the other man, conviction burning within. "Prom..pto...Argen...tum," he seethed, breathing heavily through his nose as his jaw clenched in anticipation, his teeth pressed painfully together in preparation for the next assault.

But, nothing came, that intense stare just continued to weigh on him, that heavy and malicious glare. Then, to his surprise, the man actually chuckled lightly. The blond parted his lips in shock and confusion, a small croak escaped as Ardyn muttered a subtle, "Wrong answer." And there it was, that blinding agony that coursed through his body and wiped all other thoughts from his mind other than the one persistent voice that screamed at him not to pass out.

He didn't know how long this one went on for, but it was longer than the others, and it was obvious the chancellor was starting to grow impatient, which was so odd for him. He was always one for biding his time, not behaving rashly like this. White hot flashes continuously maimed his vision, and he was sure he caught the scent of burning flesh, but he was unable to piece together that it was his. There wasn't much more he could take, but it still didn't stop, the currents just hit one after another, everything else slipped away. Until-

"What do you think you're doing!?" came the infuriated question, the door swinging open and striking the wall behind it with unexpected force. The gunner's head slowly turned to the side once the remnants of the shocks ebbed away, but nothing would focus, his ears were ringing and preventing all sounds from getting through to him. There was another person there though...Verstael, he could only assume. Their voices were distorted, mixing together and not making any damn sense. But, the tones, there were clear as day, and none too pleased.

Ardyn spun around and his gaze landed on the elder, and for some reason, his expression of pure rage brought a grin to his face. "Exactly what it looks like," the immortal replied, raising his hands in innocence. "I'm doing exactly what you wanted, tearing him down, piece by piece. It's a grueling and slow process, as I'm sure you're quite aware of." He narrowed his eyes as the chief's gaze drifted to the young man behind him.

"You daft idiot!" he barked, spittle flying out between his teeth as he lost all sense of composure. Rounding the chancellor to head to the table, two of his fingers instantly pressed to Prompto's neck and a sigh of relief eased its way out. "Are you trying to kill him!? He's still mortal, he's not like the others yet...he can't take but so much of your 'methods'," he hissed, taking an intimidating step towards the other.

Ardyn was unfazed though, waiting until the older man was finished with his ranting before speaking. "Ah, before you get all worked up and overexert yourself, I'm sure your heart can't handle all the excitement, how about you try taking a look for yourself first," he suggested, his calm and calculated voice back to what it once was. It was almost as if he had never lost it for a few minutes there, putting up this cool front when in the presence of the other man. He stepped to the side, hand instantly reaching out to grab hold of Prompto's hand and he turned it over for the other to have a look.

Verstael sauntered over, his shoulders tensed in annoyance as he followed the other's gaze. His paled blues scanned over the boy's wrist, taking in the bars of his code, and he couldn't stop the pleased grin from sliding onto his features. Just as quickly, he wiped it away, as the deep scowl returned. "That doesn't change my previous statements," he said. "I allowed you here for the purpose of wearing down his mind, not his body!" he snapped, making sure that was heard if nothing else. "I understand the need to dwindle his strength, but keep in mind the limits of a mortal," he spoke lowly, threat under his tone. "If you hinder his potential…"

"Yes, yes, I'm well aware of your sincerity with your promises," Ardyn scoffed, shrugging the other off. "And, before you blow a gasket, I'll leave your son alone for now. Besides, I doubt he's capable of forming coherent responses right now." He cast a feigned disappointed glance at the gunner, his eyes half lidded as his breaths finally started to even out.

The older man muttered in annoyance under his breath while the chancellor strolled towards the door, his hands now clasped behind his back. "I take it you have other things to attend to?" he spat, slightly insinuating the want for him to leave. "Go, if you wish, I have things covered here, possibly better, in fact," he added, quieter.

Without a single uttering, Ardyn removed his hat and gave the other a quick bow before placing it back on his head and strolling out. Verstael narrowed his eyes as he left, curiosity prodding at him and suspicion nagging him. Shaking his head, he turned back to Prompto, again checking his pulse and making sure it was still going strong. He sighed in relief as his free hand rubbed the back of his neck and his eyes drifted back to the code. "It's only a matter of time," he muttered, hand drifting from his neck to the blond's wrist. Fingers brushed over the bars, nearly three fourths of the way to completion.

"...Noct…" The chief glanced towards the other's face at the half-delusional plea. His brow furrowed and his lips parted as things slowly began to come back to him. A pained whine slipped out, and Verstael was quick to lean closer, shushing the other as he came to.

He cupped the side of the younger man's face and slowly turned it to face him, his gaze darting around the kid's features while they twisted in discomfort. "Everything's fine now," he assured in a rough whisper. "Now rest, get your strength back," he went on, gesturing for a couple of the MTs, stationary against the far wall, to step forth. All the while, he undid the bindings, freeing the young man's limbs from their holdings. "Take him back to his confinement, and see to it that there is no risk of him escaping again," he instructed, keeping the authority heavy in his tone.

They compiled without question, perfectly obedient as they each grabbed hold of the blond's arms and draped them over their shoulders. As he was hefted up, Verstael caught a glimpse of the crimson still dripping to the floor. And, as much as he lacked real compassion for this one, he couldn't very well allow it to carry on like this. "Wait," he called out, stopping the subordinates on the spot. "I need to take care of this first," he muttered, glaring at the open wound on the other's arm.


It was unnaturally silent, the tension near tangible between the three of them, and that's how it had been for the last two days. Noctis leaned heavily against his car door, eyes staring blankly at the whizzing landscape. Somehow, an eternity had been squeezed into the span of a couple short days, and still… He sighed, his fingers curled into the fabric of his pants.

"We'll be there in a few minutes," Ignis announced from the front, trying to break the silence in the car, but it was pointless; no one replied, no one reacted. His own hands were stiff around the steering wheel, the occasional glance to his right reminding him that it was all really true. "As soon as we arrive, I suggest the two of you stock up on necessities, I'll take it upon myself to ask around for some information."

The adviser looked to the rear view mirror, finding the prince still staring off into the distance. There was no helping it, he'd tried countless times to get some of that determination back into him, but every attempt resulted in failure and more moping. He understood, he really did, they all did, but there came a point where you had to set things aside for a while and focus on more important things. The brunet bit his lip at that wording: 'more important,' was it really right to admit that? But it was true, and in the grander scale of things, moving forward was in more need of their time and effort.

He blinked away these thoughts as the city came into view, the familiar structures of Lestallum appearing. And, even now, he couldn't rid himself of the memory of when they first came here, how light the time had been and how high the excitement was. Then now, like a shadow of that time, everyone down, no one really wanting to be here at all. Taking a deep breath, he pulled to the side and parked the Regalia to lean back in his seat. It took a bit of internal convincing, but eventually he willed himself to step out.

"I'm going on ahead," he informed, taking one last glance at Gladio, who was now getting out as well, then to the prince, he didn't seem interested in budging from the spot. "I don't want us to stay here long, so whatever it is you two want to get done, try to make it quick." With that, he was strolling off, leaving the rest to them. He just hoped that this wouldn't last for too much longer, the people desperately needed a level-headed leader, not this shell of one.

The raven gave a small nod of acknowledgement, but never raised his attention to the older man. Even when his shield, muttered for him to come along, he didn't move, just stared off, mind racing, wondering what could have gone different, where things had gone so wrong. No matter how many times he ran through it, it all ended the same. "Noct," Gladio said a little louder, finally eliciting a small glance.

"Hmm?" he asked, breathing heavily through his nose in irritation.

"Ya comin' or what?" he asked, folding his arms in impatience. "Or you wanna wait here for about an hour?" He raised an eyebrow, but he was sure he already knew the answer to this one.

Shrugging, Noctis lowered his gaze back down. "Doesn't matter to me," he mumbled, but from the lack of movement, he made his answer pretty damn clear.

"Suit yourself, just...don't get yourself lost if you change your mind," the brute replied, his tone surprisingly soft considering. He offered the younger man a small smile and turned to go about his business as well, leaving the prince alone to continue his sulking in peace. And, as time went on, he kept up his task of staring and thinking before he finally had to lean back and blow out a heavy puff of air.

"Where the hell are you?" he mumbled, hand reaching to ruffle his hair in accumulated frustration. He draped his other arm over his eyes to shield the sun and the outside world. He remained like this for a few minutes, trying to calm himself down a bit and clear his head. He'd been thinking about it almost non-stop, losing sleep over it, and it was really starting to get to him now.

Inhaling deeply, he went to remove his arm, but something, something faint, caught his ear...it was a voice. His arm fell from his face and he instantly sat up, quicker than he thought was possible. "P-Prompto?" he muttered, completely positive that was his voice he heard. He turned in all directions, desperate to find the source. He found nothing, his heart was racing and his eyes were wide in confusion. He knew he heard it…

He blinked heavily, he was losing it; the lack of sleep, the constant worrying, it was catching up to him. He chuckled bitterly to himself, 'Get a hold of yourself...he's not here.' His hands clenched as his pulse slowly de-escalated back to a normal rate. "He's not-"

"Noct." The prince jolted again, this time instantly swiveling his focus to the left. It was only for a split second, but he saw something out of the corner of his eye, someone that ran just out of sight.

"Prompto?" he mouthed, unconsciously stepping out of the car without thinking. His feet were moving almost on their own as he followed the source, slowly picking up speed as he went. "Hey!" he called out again, ignoring the curious glances he received from passersby. Before he could control himself, he was jogging towards an alley, but when he reached it, again, something slinked around the next corner, and he still went after it, despite everything in him screaming at him that it wasn't real.

Turn after turn, empty alley after empty alley, he went on, panting as he ran faster. What the hell was this all about? Was his mind really playing tricks on him, maybe he was seeing what he craved to see. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to stop his pursuit. Then, after about thirty minutes of this game of cat and mouse, he stopped in his tracks, faced with a dead end. His chest heaved as he caught his breath, and he glanced around...this is the way he went though. He was positive about that much.

Swallowing thickly, he called out. "Prompto? Y-You here?" he stuttered nervously, looking back to the far brick wall. A glint pulled in his attention, and all it took was a step towards it for him to recognize what it was. Carefully, cautiously, he inched closer to it, not a single breath made its way out as his chest tightened as the object became clearer. Eventually, he crouched down before it and gingerly placed his hand over the weapon, the cold steel tingled against his skin. His fingers wrapped around the pistol and he lifted it up, the weight told of the realness of it. It wasn't until he had it in his grasp that he noticed the folded paper underneath it.

His other hand hovered over it for a second before he scooped it up, his arm shaking with apprehension as he took in the pristine appearance of it...it hadn't been there long. A drop of anxious sweat trickled down the back of his neck, and placing the gun to the side, he unfolded the paper and scanned his eyes over it. The further he read, the more his hands trembled from his growing fear and rage.

"Son of a bitch," he ground out between teeth, practically balling the letter up before stuffing it in his back pocket and snatching the pistol back up. He was going to kill him, he was going to find him and personally take his life with nothing but his bare hands, that was a promise. Noctis tossed the weapon into a shatter of blue before storming off back in the direction of the vehicle; his steps were heavy and his fists were balled.

Ardyn just never knew when to let things be, he didn't know how to be subtle about things. The words on that sheet of paper though, they teased him as he went, mocked and antagonized him. Just reading it, he could hear the chancellor's voice ringing in his skull in that drippingly coy way that it did. Within a few seconds, he was running, making it back to the Regalia in only a few minutes, running faster than he realized. The knowledge that Ardyn was here, watching them, playing with them, only made him more enraged; he was so close, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it when he didn't know where he was, where he was hiding.

"Damn coward," he bit out, hating how close he was, how he was drawn out and played like a fool. The fact that he had the nerve to take on the appearance just to get to him and lead him away. He was going to regret that, he was going to regret all of this hell he was putting them all through. Even now, his fingers itched with the craving they had to wield his blades and pursue after the man, but it pained him knowing that would have to wait. In the meantime, he had to let the others know, know that they had another lead.