Chapter Eleven
...
"I-I'm so sorry for your loss...," says Prom, his trembling voice sounding agitated.
I lift my head to take a look into his wide opened eyes.
He looks absolutely stricken while apologizing again, "I'm so sorry-"
"It's all right, Prom, you didn't do or say anything wrong," I interrupt my endearing friend to stop him from starting to blame himself again, "Thank you for caring about my mother's whereabouts."
"But I-," he tries to apologize again, his face pale.
Cradling him tighter against me with my arms, I say softly to calm his mind, "I'm actually glad you asked. You know, sometimes it feels like everybody treads on eggshells around me, because I haven't heard anyone talk about my mother in a very long time. Even my father avoids mentioning her in my presence, probably because he thinks it would hurt me less... Each passing day when I think of my mom, I miss her so very much."
"Noct...," Prom whispers my name in understanding, hesitating a little before caressing my back gently in the same way as I did to comfort him yesterday.
"It's me who should feel sorry, that you won't be able to meet her. It's because of your own circumstances at home that I understand now how much you've been looking forward to that," I whisper brokenly next to his ear, clinging to Prom's frame and not letting go of him even after my tears have long since dried up.
"How did it happen...?" He whispers the question that I dreaded to hear.
That my mother isn't here anymore, is because of me... but how to say the words out loud?
How can I tell Prom, that everything has been my fault?
I don't want him to abandon me after he hears the truth. I don't want to lose him as a friend...
Prom nuzzles the side of his face against mine, squeezing me slightly. His warmth and emotional support right now feels like balm for my battered soul and I get desperate to prolong the inevitable for as long as possible.
Taking a minute to try to keep myself together, fearful to not fall apart in Prom's arms from the painful memories, I squeeze him as if holding onto his frame would lessen the anguish that I feel inside.
"I...," I begin, licking over my dry lips once to calm myself, "I still remember that day as if it were only yesterday. My mother and I went to a trip to watch the sunset together. Because Niflheim's forces began to expand their horrible wars near the borders of Lucis, therefore getting closer to Insomnia, my father prohibited all citizens to leave the city. But my naive self managed to persuade my mother to make an exception for me. It was my childish desire to experience a proper sunset with my mom by my side, which made her forget the dangers lurking beyond the protective wall built around our home. Her unconditional love for me clouded her judgment on that fateful day."
I make a pause to swallow painfully down, the back of my throat hurting from the attempt to hold back my tears while I scold myself for the umpteenth time for my own stupidity. I shouldn't have listened to my selfish wishes back then, I shouldn't have persuaded my mom to give in to those foolish, most childish desires of mine.
"As it were, it just happened that Niflheim's army patrolled around the same area on that evening, right where my mother took me to watch the beautiful sunset together..., and then, a Daemon found us."
Prom inhales a sharp breath, gasping, "Oh no..."
Before I continue, I squeeze my eyes shut in agony. The images of blood spraying in front of my eyes, her screams, how she was pleading with the Daemon to spare the life of her only child, today still as horrifying as they were in my childhood.
"My mother died on that day, protecting me...," I choke out, biting on my lip to stifle a sob.
Everything had been my fault. Everything. She would still be alive today if I hadn't been stubborn and wouldn't have insisted for us to leave the protective wall to pursue my sudden, self-indulgent whim.
Tears burn insistently behind my closed eyelids, and no matter how much I try to hold them back, they flow mercilessly down my cheeks, their trails almost scorching.
Hell, I'm tired of crying. I'm tired of mourning.
I'm worn out of investing myself emotionally into the same, never ending and excruciating memory all over again.
Eos... what is it about Prom that makes me remember, say and do things I'd usually keep all to myself? Not even Ignis, whom, alongside my father, I consider to be the closest person to me, has ever gotten a glimpse of this emotional side of me before.
I let go of Prom to rub the stinging tears out of my eyes, cleaning my damp cheeks with the back of my hand, but I let out a small yelp in surprise, because Prom pulls me back to him all of a sudden, his embrace fierce, almost crushing me in the process as he continues to hold me firmly.
"Prom...?"
I feel his cheek cuddling against my shirt, as if he tries to hide himself into the fabric of my pajama.
"...ank you for telling me," comes his muffled response, some slight sniffles audible despite him trying to keep it secret from me.
My astonished expression turns to an affectionate one, and I place the side of my face comfortably on his shoulder with a tired sigh.
The longer Prom continues to hold me tightly, showing me in his own, endearing way how much I mean to him, the more I feel my resolve grow inside of me, as I gaze far into the distance being surrounded by Prom's genuine sincerity and warmth, to protect him from any harm to the best of my abilities.
I just have this insistent feeling in my gut, that our friendship might turn into something special, into something that might even last a lifetime and beyond...
Little did I know at that time, that my adorable friend was having the same thoughts about me...
...
"I knew I would find you two here."
Somebody shakes me awake with gentle movements and I push the source of evil disturbance with an annoyed whine away.
I can hear an amused snort from somewhere above me, and then the person pulls all of a sudden the fluffy blanket completely away, letting me suffer the chill as it seeps straight through the thin fabric of my clothes without an ounce of mercy. Grumbling sleepily, I desperately seek for a source of warmth, so I turn by body to the side in a fetus position and snuggle up to the body next to me.
I feel Prom turning around, making room for me to hug him.
Aah, this is bliss... a content sigh escapes me while I throw my arm sluggishly over his belly to snuggle up even closer to his soft, warm and comfy side. But just when I'm about to drift back to sleep, the evil disturbance dares to shake my shoulder once again.
"Noct, it's high time for both of you to get back to your room, the attendants will make their rounds in a few minutes," says Ignis softly, sounding urgent.
Oh damn... I don't want to. I want to lay here and keep on sleeping like the dead. It wouldn't hurt anyone to let me sleep late for once. It's a Sunday, for Eos' sake. Honestly, I can't remember ever having slept better than I did tonight. I certainly could get used to this...
Prom sits up and my body follows his movements with half-opened eyes, but instead of becoming awake, I lean on him drowsily, my chin slowly touching my chest as my tired eyes drift shut again. In the privacy of my mind I proceed to pray silently for a miracle to happen.
Ignis' heavy sigh tells me everything that I need to know, but he still speaks out his mind, informing Prom of another weakness of mine, "As you can see, it's always the same drama with him in the morning. Usually it takes me about half an hour to get Noct to get up."
"That's not true," I deny his words instantly, adding sleepily with a hearty yawn following, "I need only twenty five minutes."
"Right, because those five minutes will make such a huge difference right now," Ignis huffs dryly.
Prom laughs softly when he sees the childish pout on my lips and then he stands up to pull me up as well.
"Will Noct get into any trouble?"
"Not when you two hurry to reach his room in time," answers Ignis. "I'll go ahead and make sure that nobody gets to see you two."
"Let's hurry," says Prom, holding the door open for me.
Yawning widely, I just shake my head, stumbling after my friends with half-opened, sleepy eyes.
…
"Noct, what is the meaning of this?"
The sudden voice behind us forces all of us to stand still.
"Your Majesty, good morning," says Ignis, greeting my father formally with a bow.
I think, I'm about to get in trouble. Oh joy.
To think that we had almost reached my room in time. Of course it had to be my father to take a walk along these halls this morning.
"Good morning Ignis, Prompto. Did something happen?"
Prom and I look at each other with dread painted on our faces. What excuse could we possibly come up with? Both of us still clothed in our pajamas and only a few meters away from the stairwell.
Ignis clears his throat, answering quickly, "Noct and Prompto were exercising, Your Majesty. I took the liberty to escort Noct and his friend to discuss the best locations for such an endeavor. They followed my suggestion to run the stairwell up and down a few times to warm themselves up."
My eyes grow large at the brilliant excuse, hiding my smile behind my hand as I fake a yawn.
"Is that so?" My father raises an eye brow.
"I still don't understand why I had to wake up that early in the morning, though. This is torture," I grumble in my usual bored sounding voice, careful not to make my father any more suspicious.
"I see," says my father suddenly with a content smile, "without Gladio here, you have been temporarily charged to supervise my son's regular exercise and training schedule. Thank you, as always, for your hard work, Ignis."
"But of course."
My father glances between Prom and myself a few times before addressing my childhood friend once more, "Before I forget, Ignis, I have one additional task for you."
"Yes, Your Majesty," bows Ignis again, awaiting further instructions.
"As of today, Prompto shall join my son's training schedule. Seeing that they have become such good friends, I want to make sure, that Prompto is able to protect not only my son, but himself as well in the future. See to it that Prompto catches up to my son's lessons as soon as possible," orders my father with a serious expression on his face.
Ignis shares a quick glance with Prom and me and then he turns his head quickly back to reply, "I understand."
"Very well."
My eyes follow my father until he disappears inside the elevator. I have to admit to be struck speechless by his decision to let Prom join my training. I mean, I should be grateful that he accepted Prom that quickly, but I'm still suspicious of my father's true motivations...
"Eos in Heaven, I thought that this would be the last day of my life," whines a pale looking Prom, leaning heavily on the wall behind him for support as he stares at Ignis in disbelief.
"Thank the Goddess that this went so well. That was a near miss," says Ignis, seeming much calmer than I thought he would be as he adjusts his glasses to stay properly on his nose. "We now have no choice but to begin with Prompto's training right away. There is a lot that he has to catch up with until he's ready to join your advanced lessons."
I blink my eyes a few times. "You mean, right now?"
"Right now," confirms Ignis, immediately turning into his instructor mode. "Get to your room, I'll send an attendant to bring Prompto a sweat suit for him to change into. We shall meet in fifteen minutes in the training hall."
My heart starts to race with excitement, the sleepiness vanishing instantly at the prospect of possibly being able to watch Prom's special gun abilities.
Prom's face looks, if possible, even paler when he watches Ignis leaving us. "Noct, I am not dreaming, am I? Did your father really say what I think he did?!" He asks as I take his hand to follow me.
"He did," I smirk at him over my shoulder.
"Noct, I think I'm about to get sick...," wails an adorable Prom all of a sudden, and I chuckle at his funny expression when he adds, "I don't think I'm mentally prepared for this. No, forget it, I'm not even physically prepared for any of this. What if I disappoint everyone?"
"What are you saying?" I stop to ruffle his soft hair. "You have Ignis and me to help you, so you have nothing to fear. Your lessons will start easy, don't worry."
Prom looks at me with a raised brow. "Easy, you say..." His eyes look me up and down.
But before I can ask him what that strange look of his is for, my personal attendant already arrived, bringing Prom's new clothes.
...
After we both changed into our sporty attire, I show Prom the way to the training hall.
"I'm nervous...," whispers Prom next to my ear as we enter the place where Ignis greets us with a drinking bottle in each one of his hands.
"Drink first. To keep your bodies from dehydrating," he clarifies, a dangerous glint in his serious eyes.
Prom is the first to drink a few gulps of water, crouching down to place the bottle in a safe corner, but as soon as he gets up again, Ignis already aims his training sword straight at him.
"What the...!" Prom gasps and rolls out of the way before the wooden hilt of the sword can touch him.
Wow, what did I just watch? Since when is Prom capable to dodge Ignis' fast sword attacks? Not even I am able to do that yet without my warping abilities.
"Hn, interesting, you seem to have some good reflexes. Definitely something that we can work with," says Ignis in a tone, that sounds intrigued.
Prom narrows his eyes suspiciously, when Ignis points with the tip of his sword towards the wall behind him.
"See all these weapons hanging on the wall? Choose one. I want to test your knowledge. The King already informed me yesterday of your previous deeds, that you know how to fight."
Prom's eyes become fearful in an instant. "I can't."
Ignis frowns, asking, "Why?"
"Because I'm prohibited to use the weapon of my choice," is Prom's simple reply, the weapon of his choice being a gun now unmissable from the serious tone of his voice.
Ignis gapes at my adorable friend, the clatter of his training sword reverberating inside the hall as it slips out of his fingers from shock.
I grin to myself like a Cheshire cat at Ignis' astonished expression. From the look on my childhood friend's face, I can already guess that my father forgot to mention to Ignis this tiny, unimportant detail.
Yeah, I can see that those are going to be some very interesting training hours, indeed.
…
To be continued.
