Everyone is probably enjoying Episode Prompto right about now but since I can't play until the weekend, here's a chapter update.

-l-l-l-

Ignis was the first to hear it. A low hum in an otherwise near silent city. Near silent since there were still daemons about. For the most part they had managed to avoid them, but a few had required Gladio to drop Prompto's unresponsive body and deal with them. The hum though was familiar after so long on the run from the empire.

"A magitek engine. It's close," he said.

Gladio stopped and looked around. All he could see at the moment was the dim glow of engine lights, and then he heard the hum as well. He growled a little to himself. "Not good. Especially not with sleeping beauty here," he said, tapping the held armoured thighs over his shoulder.

"Can we hide?" Ignis asked.

Gladio looked around. They were standing on a large suspended highway, a scene that looked like one of Noct's dystopian video games laid out before them with parked, crashed, and burned out vehicles scattered all over the place, all of which were abandoned. He would say it looked like a war zone except there were no bodies.

"Not really," Gladio replied. He led the way over to an overturned car near the side of the road and put Prompto down, propping him against the car's underside so he had some cover and knelt down next to him. Ignis followed suit, a hand quickly brushing the car and then Prompto so he had his bearings. Gladio needn't have bothered hiding though; the dropship had seen them. He stepped forward out of cover, sword at the ready. "Keep any that get past me away from Prompto," he said.

"Of course," Ignis replied, and Gladio turned his attention back to the drop ship; he trusted Ignis to have his back, to both keep an ear on Prompto and to be able to tell the difference in the sounds he heard and how close they were.

The dropship was red, Gladio noticed, and he frowned. Dropships weren't usually painted bright red, that was almost like a flag saying 'here I am'. It descended and he watched as the doors opened. Seeing who was inside, Gladio lowered his sword, eyes widening in surprise. "Aranea," he said in disbelief as the woman strode forward instead of the expected MTs.

"Truly?" he heard Ignis say softly behind him, and Gladio smiled.

"Thought you boys might need a hand," Aranea said as she jumped lightly down from the ship.

"Definitely won't say no," Gladio said, the relief evident in his voice.

"Hey, Ignis," she said by way of greetings.

Ignis inclined his head, a small smile on his lips. "It's a relief to see you again," Ignis said. Silence. "Well you know what I mean," he quickly amended. Aranea just laughed. "But what are you doing here?"

"And in a ship painted bright red so that anyone can see it?" Gladio added.

"Not that we're not grateful, of course," Ignis said.

"Of course," Aranea replied. "I came to get my boys. My ship's always been red, it was just tucked away at Tenebrae. And I happened to see the two of you lugging something and attempting to leave on foot. Figured you wouldn't get very far without my help." She nodded to where Prompto was slumped. "This your missing friend? He looks like shit."

"That's him," Ignis said. He knelt down next to Prompto and felt his forehead, his pulse. "Ardyn did… things to him. Before we could get to him."

"He looks like an MT. Kinda."

"He's not," Gladio said sharply.

"He's trustworthy," Ignis said in a more reasonable tone. "But he does need help. I don't suppose that, along with being competent soldiers and, of all things, train engineers, Biggs or Wedge are surgeons?"

"'Fraid not," Aranea answered. "Field first aid, but that's about it. And I have a feeling he's a little beyond that."

"It couldn't be that easy," Gladio said wryly.

"Of course not. Anyway, why is it whenever I run into you, you're always down a member? Specs here seems to be the most reliable one of the lot of you."

"Noct is… otherwise occupied. With the Crystal," Ignis said slowly. "Indefinitely."

"That so? There's a story there somewhere. Maybe I should ask it in payment for saving your arses. Now, though, you boys going to get on board, or would you rather walk? Before you make your decision though, let me tell you this is no basic MT transport. It has beds, hot water so long as you don't run the tank dry, and a basic kitchen. Tempting?"

"Extremely," Ignis said. "Though…" he turned back towards Zegnautus Keep. "There are people still inside. We saw them on security footage. Well, Gladio saw them. And the Crystal…"

"Well, I'll tell you what. You three get on board, I'll take you back across to more friendly territory, get little sunshine there the help he needs and me a chance to gather a team. We can then come in and scour the keep. Won't be easy but if there's people there they should at least have a chance. They've survived this long, they can survive a few more days, or those that won't wouldn't have made it anyway," Aranea said.

Gladio, carrying Prompto on his shoulder once more, gave a nod and the woman continued to talk as they started to climb on board. "As for the Crystal, however. That thing is heavy and its magic messes with our systems. No way I'm risking my baby over it. Can probably get some Hunter volunteers to set up a watch around it, protect the Crystal from… well whatever. I ain't gonna be trying to order anyone into that hell hole though."

"Of course," Ignis said. "Thank you for your help, Aranea."

"Anytime, cutie."

Gladio scoffed at that, and had to bite down on his lip seeing the flush colour Ignis's cheeks. "So, these beds, the bathroom. Where are they? A hot shower and a good long sleep is definitely needed after that hell hole."

"I can imagine," Aranea said. "This way." She led the way through the dropship. It wasn't particularly large; the hanger had enough free space to store a small vehicle and otherwise had subway-style seats. There was a door off to the side and Aranea waved a hand to it, saying, "Bathroom's through there. Don't use all the water."

She didn't pause though and led the way through another door at the end. "Cockpit's through there, bedrooms through there. There's two bunk beds so we'll have to sleep in shifts, but I'm feeling generous today so you guys can sleep first."

"My thanks," Ignis said, then "We should get Prompto settled and check on him. I am concerned that he hasn't woken yet."

"What happened to him?" Aranea asked as she tapped the button on the door to the bedroom.

"Ardyn deactivated the MTs as he left. It had an effect on Prompto," Gladio explained as he leaned his sword against the wall and maneuvered Prompto to lay on the nearest bottom bunk. He still looked okay, was breathing normal and, if he didn't know better, he would have thought he was just sleeping.

"What did he do? Specifically," Aranea said, leaning against the doorframe.

"He had a controller of some sorts. Pressed a button and zap, Prompto's out cold. And the other MTs we came across were all deactivated," Gladio explained. Aranea was nodding. "You know about that?"

She shrugged. "A little. I know there are control mechanisms, used to shut the MTs down within a given radius. Mostly used in the science wards where they were created and experimented on I believe. Incase something went wrong. With any luck he'll come round as we get further from the keep."

"We sure could do with a little luck right now," Gladio said, staring down at Prompto's unresponsive face.

"Indeed," Ignis echoed.

"Well, I'll leave you to rest. I'll be in up front if you need me," Aranea said, and she turned to leave.

"Aranea," Gladio called, turning to her. When she looked back, he said, "Thanks. For everything."

"Uh, sure, no problem," Aranea said, clearly thrown off guard by the sincerity. She turned back and, if Gladio didn't know better, he would have said she fled them.

-l-l-l-

Prompto was laying on something soft. That immediately didn't feel right and served to wake him completely. His eyes remained closed though; while the bed was unfamiliar, the sound was and he had to work out what was going on before he gave any indication he was conscious. He was in a drop ship. Usually drop ship transportation meant storage containers but he knew he wasn't in one of them. It felt as though he were on a bed, soft mattress under him, pillow behind his head.

He heard Gladio's snore, a distinctive rumble he was well acquainted with after living in such close proximity to him for so long. His eyes flew open. Had they all been captured? Quickly his eyes flicked around, taking in everything with a skill borne from necessity. Drop ship yes, the hum was unmistakeable. But a dorm room of some kind, bed above him, bunk beds next to him. Gladio's hunched form was sleeping in the top bunk next to him, blanket pulled up over his shoulders against the chill. Ignis was sitting in a chair next to the beds, cane clasped lightly in his hands before him, face straight forward. No restraints, no sign of injury beyond the general battery he had obtained in the daemon fight while Noct went to get the Crystal.

No Noct.

"Where's Noctis?" Prompto demanded, sitting up quickly. He stood to check the top bunk, but it was empty, unused.

"Prompto?" Ignis asked. He turned his head towards him. "How are you feeling? You were unconscious for some time."

"Body aches, head hurts, I'm fine," Prompto listed off absently, answering without really thinking about it. "Where's Noctis?" he asked again.

Ignis hesitated and Prompto turned back to him, to stare. "Sit down. Rest," he bade him. Prompto sat, though one of his legs bounced up and down, twitchy, full of nervous energy. What was going on? Where were they and where was Noct? "What is the last thing you remember?" Ignis eventually asked.

Was he supposed to know where Noct was? Prompto cast his mind back, thinking. "We were in Hanger B, fighting daemons. Noct had to go on ahead to reach the Crystal and we covered his back. The daemons stopped coming and we went after him." He frowned. It hurt to remember. Why did it hurt to remember? He rose a hand to rub absently at his forehead; it was safe to show such weaknesses here, there was only Ignis and Gladio and Gladio was asleep and Ignis couldn't see. "We reached the Crystal and… Ardyn was there? But Noct wasn't, I don't think." He shook his head. "I don't remember anything else. Ignis where is he? And where are we? I know it's a drop ship but I've never been in one with a dorm room."

Ignis nodded and said, "Your memory loss is probably from Ardyn… deactivating you. After that Gladio carried you out and we ran into Aranea, who is giving us a lift to more friendly territory. We are all safe and relatively unharmed. As for Noct, well he is… elsewhere was how you described it."

"Yes," Prompto said, remembering that now. "That's what Luna said. Something about the Crystal?"

"Absorbing the Crystal's power, yes. At least according to Ardyn. I admit I do not know too much about it. We'll have to do some research when we can, learn about the Crystal and the prophecy surrounding the King of Light. And gather a team to move the Crystal out of Zegnautus so that it can be watched, so someone can greet Noct when he returns. But for now, we can rest. Can you shower in that?" Ignis asked.

Prompto shook his head. "Not easily," he said. "Water can run down inside it and in Zegnautus, there were air dryers I stood under, but it wasn't perfect and some parts chafed. Waste was removed through ports, pulled out, but there wasn't a lot. The daemon blood is very good at sustaining the body. But… I still want it off. All of it."

"Of course. When we arrive we can send for a surgeon. Don't worry," Ignis added, hearing Prompto's intake of breath, near silent though it was, "both Gladio and I can stay with you the entire time. I simply do not have the skill required to remove your implants and armour, even before I lost my sight. For now though, rest. That is what we all need most right now."

"Alright," Prompto said, and he lay back on the bed once more and closed his eyes. He wouldn't sleep, he didn't need much with the daemon blood still supplementing his own, but he could at least pretend.

-l-l-l-

Prompto rubbed his arms absently as he tried to convince himself to follow Ignis and Gladio into Lestallum. They felt strange now, light, though he hadn't realised the armour was heavy. He flexed his fists again, opening and closing them, watching the flesh move. Part of him was surprised; he had half expected it to be nothing but wires and circuits under the armour. Always being told he was nothing but a machine made it easy to believe that sometimes.

He was wearing a long grey jacket, a spare of Biggs's, over his armour. It was stifling hot in it but it hid the armour from view. The catch was they had to remove his arm blades before he could put it on.

Gladio clapped his hands on Prompto's shoulders. Holding him still, steady. Aranea was in front of him, her fingers slipped under the vambrace at his right elbow.

"You sure about this, blondie?" she asked.

"Don't have a choice," Prompto pointed out, again. "Even if I could put the jacket on without shredding it, one look at the blades and people will know. And… I don't want to risk it."

"Risk what?" she asked.

"Hurting someone," he said simply. He didn't want to explain any further, didn't want to explain the bloodthirsty urges he still had, the need to kill anyone who got too close unexpectedly, to feel the flesh part, taste the spurting hot blood. He had already given his gun to Ignis to hold onto for now, but with the blades he was never truly disarmed and it was ridiculously easy to injure someone with them.

"Okay, so how do you want me to do this?" she asked.

"Just pull. Fast and hard," Prompto said.

"Don't get stabbed," Gladio added helpfully.

She nodded and moved slightly so the blade would angle away from her as she pulled. It made for a slightly awkward position but still manageable. "Ready?"

Prompto gave a short nod and Gladio tightened his grip. She pulled. Prompto grit his teeth as he felt the wires pull and then snap with the same sharp pain that he felt when his helmet was removed. He gave a short cry of pain when the last of it snapped free. His left arm twitched as though to stab at the one causing pain but was held still by Gladio. And then he slumped back, breathing heavily through his nose. He could hear talking, the tone shocked and sympathetic, but it was as though from a distance.

A thumb rubbed at the base of his skull, lightly kneading the tight neck muscles there. Gladio's thumb.

Prompto opened eyes he hadn't realised he had closed to see Aranea kneeling in front of him, her face creased with concern. "All good? Ready for the next one?"

Prompto took a breath and exhaled slowly. He nodded. "Ready."

With the blades removed and the jacket covering the rest of the armour, a bandage around his head covering the implant, he almost looked normal. Still odd - anyone wearing a thick winter jacket in this weather was odd regardless of the cooler night air - but a quick look and he was dismissed. Children stared and pointed, but were scolded by their parents for being so obvious.

They reached the hotel and were able to book a room for the three of them; Aranea had declined staying in the city, preferring her ship. She planned to stay only long enough to refuel and resupply anyway before returning to Gralea to find what survivors she could.

In the privacy of their room, Prompto was able to shed the too-hot overcoat and relax a little. There were times when he was with Ignis and Gladio that he could forget his training and relax both himself and his ever watchful guard. They were familiar and comforting and with them C1094 seemed to be less and less real. But around the crowds of Lestallum, C1094 had the forefront. He didn't attack, he had no orders to do so. But he remembered too clearly how it felt to kill, the sense of power it gave. He wanted that, wanted to feel that rush, that euphoria. He also had to watch every single one, to ensure none came too close, none attacked, none threatened them. It gave him a headache trying to keep up with everything. Retreating into the hotel room was a blessing; he only had to watch the door then since the windows were too high up to give access.

"I'll go find Holly. She'll probably be able to recommend a good surgeon," Gladio said before leaving the room.

"How are your arms feeling, Prompto?" Ignis asked him.

"Light," he answered honestly. "Naked."

The two talked for a little while about this and that. At some point Gladio returned saying that a top notch surgeon was going to arrive in the morning. Holly had organized everything as thanks for what they had done for her and her girls at the power plant.

Prompto didn't sleep much that night, nervous about what was to come. The thought of being forced to go under the knife again, albeit from someone who likely showed more compassion than Ardyn had, was, quite frankly, terrifying. But he had to get out of his armour, and soon. He was already having painful stomach cramps and breathing deeply was becoming difficult, not to mention the need to throw up anything he ate or drank. In Zegnautus, twice a day, he would stand in his cell and daemon blood would be added to his metabolism, into his stomach, his veins, his very muscles. Sometimes Ardyn was there and would service his armour, tinker with it, make modifications, and sometimes he was alone. He preferred it when he was alone. Daemon blood always burned as it spread through his body, but he didn't have to deal with cutting, with slicing and breaking.

And he was about to be at another's complete mercy. A stranger's.

Prompto held onto his phone case, running his fingers over the chocobo, focusing on the feeling of the embossed bird, the actual feel of it, through his fingers instead of the muted dull sensation he felt through the armour. It was soothing. Noct wasn't here, and he hadn't seen Luna since leaving Zegnautus, but Ignis and Gladio were. He trusted them. He had to.

-l-l-l-

Gladio looked up from his breakfast (buttered toast, it was the only thing he could think of that Iggy wouldn't be able to criticize his cooking skills for) at the knock on the door. Getting up, he opened it to a stream of people. At the head was the surgeon he had met briefly yesterday and following behind were several hotel staff carrying arm loads of supplies.

"Mara," the surgeon said, holding out her hand to Gladio, who shook it with a small smile. "And you must be Prompto," she said briskly, walking up to him.

"Easy, Prom," Gladio said, his voice soft. Prompto looked like a rabbit caught in headlights, eyes darting around the room, trying to watch everyone and everything.

"I hope you realise what you're risking by insisting that the surgery take place here, young man," Mara said imperiously and, though the top of her head only came up to Prompto's nose, she had a way of looking taller, of making even the hardened Niflheim soldier shrink a little.

"I… what?" Prompto stuttered, thrown off guard by her manner.

She sighed the sigh of the long suffering. "Infection is the very least of the risks by performing surgery here, and that is by no means a small risk. Without easy access to the best equipment if any number of things go wrong I may be unable to fix it. You must understand those risks."

Gladio saw Prompto's adam's apple bob as he swallowed, but when he answered his voice was calm. "I understand. It's just the best of a bunch of bad options."

That seemed to satisfy her, however, as she gave a sharp nod. "Now, before we get started and while things are being set up, I need you to undo all the latches on your armour. I will remove what we can with you conscious so you can guide me, none of this ripping and tearing that you've been doing so far. Being that you've already removed some of it yourself, albeit crudely, it shouldn't be too much of a problem to remove the rest of it." Prompto began to unlatch what he could of the armour as she spoke. It allowed small gaps to form, enough for fingers to slip in and water to run through, but little else. "As for the implants they will be somewhat more delicate and you will need to be asleep for it. As such, if I deem it unsafe to remove everything all at once I will not proceed. Better to take this slowly than to rush it and kill you. With that in mind, do you have a preference as to what should be removed first, or last?"

"My head implant," Prompto replied immediately. "I want… I need it gone first. The others… whatever you think is best."

"Very well. Let us begin."

Gladio lent a hand where strength was required but for the most part he just stood back and watched. Both he and Ignis remained within Prompto's line of sight which seemed to calm him somewhat, make him look less like he were ready to jump on anyone who looked at him wrong. And then, once all the hotel staff had cleared out, he was more forthcoming with information, describing how he thought things were connected. It took perhaps an hour for the armour to be taken off, sometimes needing a small portable saw to cut through the metal and wires. It was a significantly less painful process than simply pulling the armour pieces off had been.

And then they were all removed. Gladio stared at what he saw. Beneath the armour, Prompto was wearing the rags of what he had worn on the train. They were rank, torn wherever an implant was, filthy with ground in dirt and blood and other unnameable substances,, barely even recognisable as clothes anymore. Mara pursed her lips and ordered Prompto to wash himself thoroughly before proceeding any further.

"Gladio," Ignis called softly so his voice wouldn't travel to where the shower was running. Approaching, Ignis continued, "I smelled something… particularly malodorous. Was it…"

"Yeah, it was," Gladio answered, knowing what Iggy was too polite to ask outright. "I figured he would have been wearing those long grey clothes under his armour. Like when we first met him. But he still had on the same clothes from before. The stuff Noct bought him. They were filthy, barely hanging together."

Ignis frowned but only nodded in understanding; clearly Ardyn had less care for his little experiment's well being than even Prompto's original commanders.

Prompto came out with a towel around his hips, the remnants of his clothes abandoned on the bathroom floor. Wearing just that it was easy to see the state he was in. Skin pallid from being out of the sun for so long, nasty looking burns and general cuts and bruises from abuse, angry black and red lines along his veins where the daemon blood had been injected, implants on each limb and several running the length of his spine. He really was a mess and it wasn't going to be pretty getting any of those out.

"Sit in the chair there and hold this over your nose and mouth," Mara said gently as she handed over a mask attached to a cylinder, her eyes noticeably softer seeing what she was working with, what Prompto had obviously been through.

Prompto sat but hesitated in breathing in the gas. He opened his mouth, but then closed it again and looked away.

"Spit it out, kid," Gladio said and, though his words were harsh his tone remained soft.

"W- What will I feel? It's easier to handle if I know to expect it," Prompto said.

Gladio looked away; had that sick fuck actually done this to Prompto while he was awake? Was that why he was so terrified of the surgery? He clenched his fists, struggling to bite down on his anger, bile threatening to come up, as Mara answered him.

"Nothing. The gas is a sedative, it will feel just like falling into a deep sleep. As you start to fall asleep, I'll help you hold the mask to your face until you're well and truly unconscious. Then I'll do a few tests to make sure you can't feel anything. If you show any indication that you can, I'll just let you breathe more gas and try again until you can't feel anything. Then I'll start with the implant on your head. I'll cut around it first, see how it's connected to your skull and remove it as best I can. I'm not going to lie, anything regarding the skull and brain is extremely tricky. This first time I would prefer to only remove that one implant just to see how you recover from it."

"What about when I wake up?" Prompto asked.

"You'll have a killer headache and probably concussion symptoms. Much more than that I can't guarantee. But we'll have elixirs on hand to give you as soon as you wake. Do you still want to go ahead with it?" Mara asked.

Prompto looked first to Gladio, then to Ignis. Ignis rose a hand and lightly touched the scarring around his left eye, and gave Prompto a nod, which he returned even if Ignis wouldn't be able to see it. He didn't answer Mara, but held the mask to his face, and breathed deeply.

-l-l-l-

So… the trailer for Episode Ignis just dropped. Which gave a lot of inspiration. We're now up to 34 or 35 chapters (I haven't decided on whether to include an Ardyn POV one or not) including an Epilogue (which may spawn a short future series, unsure at this point). Hopefully this is good news to you my lovely readers, and not bad news. I don't want the story to feel like I'm dragging it out, but nor do I want it to feel rushed. I think I've narrowed down exactly what I want to write now though :)