Prompto woke up with an undeniable urge to pee. This was a normal experience, one she couldn't go a single night without now that her baby had dropped and was pressing more steadily on her bladder, so all she really did was grumble a bit as she prepared to lever herself up onto her feet.

What wasn't normal was the warm weight of someone's arms wrapped around her.

She paused, blinking the sleep from her eyes, and with the help of the bright lights outside her window she was able to just make out Noctis' sleeping face.

Memories of the day before rushed back to her and she almost broke down crying right there and then. Because it had been real. It hadn't been a dream that her desperate mind had cooked up. All the begging and pleading she'd done with the universe these last few months had finally come through. Noctis was here, with her, no longer trapped within that stupid crystal. And maybe he'd missed out on almost her entire pregnancy but he'd be here to welcome their child into the world with her and that was more than enough.

Maybe the world was still going to shit, maybe it was still dark all the time and daemons roamed freely and their food supply was slowly but steadily depleting, but.

But.

Noctis was here.

Prompto wanted to just lay there and bask in his presence but her bladder really was becoming pretty insistent. And Eliana had warned her that her bladder would be weaker, now, and no way was she going to take any chances with that.

She'd go to the bathroom, maybe go down to the kitchen to grab a quick snack and see if Cor was up, and then she'd come right back up and spend awhile getting her fill of gazing at Noct's face.

With that plan in mind, Prompto heaved herself up slowly to her feet, absolutely unsurprised when Noctis just mumbled in his sleep and rolled over into her warm spot, and began to make the slow and careful trek downstairs. She really would have to bring up switching rooms with someone soon, because this long journey to a bathroom was more than a little ridiculous.

After taking care of that she continued on to the kitchen, ready to give Cor shit for being such an insomniac, like she was any better, only to blink in shock when she came upon an empty room. She honestly couldn't even remember the last time she'd come down here at night and Cor wasn't already situated at the table.

Shrugging, Prompto decided to grab that snack to make the side trip worth it before going back to bed. Just as she opened the cabinet she heard footsteps enter the room and turned, snarky greeting already on the tip of her tongue, and froze, horror rushing through her.

Because it wasn't Cor that stood before her.

It was Ardyn.

"Well, well, the rumors are true. You are just about bursting at the seams!"

"What -" She choked, barely able to get a sound out as he ambled cheerfully forward, like he'd just popped by for a Sunday visit. Like the last time she'd seen him hadn't been after he'd taken her and tortured her and strung her up. "What are you - "

"Oh, my dear, you really must take care," his voice held nothing but concern even as his smile twisted his face into something malicious and inhuman. He was standing almost right in front of her now, boxing her in, and she had no where to go, the counter already digging too harshly into her lower back. "Stress like that can't be good for the baby."

His hand began to reach out, like he was planning to lay it against her stomach, and she flinched.

"Don't touch me," she snarled out, finally finding her voice. "You think you can get away with taking me again? We know what you can do now. Noct won't fall for it!"

"Won't he?" Ardyn asked, full of amusement and not the least bit concerned. "Maybe you're right. Go ahead and call for your guard dogs, then, I don't mind waiting. If, that is, you're completely sure they won't be tricked. Wouldn't want them to accidently attack you, now would we? Not when you're in such a state."

And Prompto... she couldn't.

Because there was still that doubt in the back of her mind. It would be so easy for Ardyn to trick them, especially since they'd already be panicking. And Noctis never thought straight when it came to Ardyn, not since Altissia, and Gladio and Ignis probably wouldn't be much better after what had happened at the Keep.

If it was just her, that would be one thing. She could avoid or take the hits until they caught on, now that she'd know they weren't really attacking her, but it wasn't just her this time. She was eight months pregnant, ready to pop any day now, and she couldn't risk that. She couldn't.

And so she stayed silent and prayed she wasn't making the biggest mistake of her life.

"There's a good girl," Ardyn cooed at her and she shuddered in disgust. She hated this, hated him. How had this all gone so wrong so quickly? She'd just gotten Noctis back! Things had been good again! Why did this have to happen, now of all times?

The last thing she saw was Ardyn's hand reaching for her before her world went dark.

.

.

"Oh, my αγαπητέ μου, I am so sorry."

Prompto blinked. She was in the flower field, the one she'd been in so many times before in her dreams, but now it felt so much more... real. She wasn't laying in the grass while humming and soft fingers lulled her into a peaceful sleep. Instead she was sitting up, completely coherent, and for the first time came face to face with the being that had been calling her here for months.

Prompto could immediately tell that, whatever they were, they weren't human. For one, they were far too large, towering over Prompto even though the both of them were sitting. For another, their dark skin was actually glowing faintly gold, even in the bright sunlight. They had to be a god of some sort, they were far too ethereal to be anything else.

"Sorry for what?" Prompto asked, only a little surprised when she was actually able to speak the words. She'd never been able to speak out loud in this place before but that had been when she'd been dreaming. This, here and now, felt much more solid than a dream.

"I am a mother to all things. And you, you are also a mother, now. As such, we share a connection, you and I. I have been reaching out to you all of this time, strengthening that connection, using it to gain freedom. For both myself and for my King of Light."

"Noctis? You're the one who got him out of the crystal?"

"He freed himself," the being told her, seeming to almost beam with pride. "I merely gave him the motivation. Namely, your voice."

"My... voice?"

For some reason, the uncertainty in Prompto's tone caused a sadness to overcome the being's face. Just seeing it, Prompto felt like bursting into tears herself. "He loves you, αγαπητέ μου. More than all the stars in the sky. He gave up the power of the crystal, of the ring, a power greater than that of the Six, all without a moment of hesitation. All because you asked him to come back."

And, yep, there were the tears. "For me? He did all of that just for me?"

"All for you."

"But... But he needed that power, didn't he? To stop Ardyn, to bring back the sun. Right?" How many people were going to die because of her? Was she really going to be the reason that the world ended, once and for all? "I know there's some kind of prophecy. I screwed it up, didn't I?"

"You did," and Prompto couldn't understand, because instead of looking upset the being before her was smiling and it was like the dawn breaking. "You, Prompto Argentum, are an anomaly that not even Bahamut could have accounted for. He does not know people, he does not understand love. He thought the young king could be controlled, that his sense of duty and his loyalty to the Oracle would ensure he would follow the predetermined path laid before him. But He did not account for you."

It wasn't like hearing this was news to Prompto. She'd always known that she was different, even back when she was a kid. And even as a clone she was an outlier, a part of a batch that had been a mistake. She'd never been meant to be a girl, but one tweak of genetics had resulted in it anyway. And it had only been pure chance that she'd been the one taken from that lab and brought back to Insomnia instead of being turned into a daemon or disposed of with all the rest.

"It wasn't fate or destiny that brought you here," the being told her, as if reading her thoughts. And who knew, maybe they could. They had been in all of her dreams before now, hadn't they? "It was pure luck, pure chance. All of it was, down to that night where you created new life together. It could've happened at any other time, or not at all. And instead it happened now, here, where I could connect to you like this. I have been trapped away for so long, forced to look upon this dying star from a distance, unable to do anything. But now, because of you, there is a chance. Now, because of you and the life growing within you, the magic that runs through their veins as their birthright, I can be free. But you have to make a choice. And once that choice is made, it cannot be undone."

Prompto felt like her head was spinning. "A choice? I don't... I don't understand."

"A choice, yes. I can form a covenant with you. And through that bond, I can be freed. Unlike the Six, I will not sit on the sidelines and watch as this world, as my children, die. But once forged it cannot be broken. I will be with you, a part of you, until you pass on. My magic will be yours. And it shall pass forever more unto your bloodline, much as the Draconian's did so many eons ago. It will change you. It will change your child. You are my children, as all are, but you would be mine."

"Would it hurt them?" Prompto shuddered, suddenly feeling cold even with the sun shining upon her. "My baby? Would that hurt them?"

The being's eyes softened. "They would be different. They might feel apart from those around them, separate, as the young King once did. But it would not hurt them. I would not hurt you."

"Who are you? Just... just who are you?" This whole thing was crazy. Was she just dreaming after all? That seemed a lot more believable than this. Some kind of god was trying to form a covenant with her like she was Noctis but she wasn't. She wasn't special. She was just Prompto. MT clone or not, all she'd ever been was just Prompto. Just because she was a girl and had fallen in love with Noct and, by some kind of miracle, he'd loved her back. Just because she'd become pregnant with his child, a child that had the magic of the gods running through their veins, magic that made a spark capable of forming some kind of connection. It was crazy. All of this was crazy.

"You may call me Eos, αγαπητέ μου." The words were spoken softly, gently, and yet they hit Prompto with the force of a sledgehammer. She wasn't surprised, somehow, like some part of her had known this all along. But the fact that Eos, Mother of the Dawn, Goddess of their Star, was sitting there and talking to Prompto like it was normal had her feeling like her head was going to explode. Maybe she really had gone crazy after all. "And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but you have to make a choice. Because it's coming."

"What is?" Prompto barely managed to ask, feeling breathless. This was all way too much to take in.

The being - Eos, that was Eos - smiled sadly at her, face full of a grief that Prompto couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"The end."

.

.

Prompto knew before even opening her eyes that she was no longer in Hammerhead. It was far too cold, first of all. Even without the sun, Leide tended to run warm, though not nearly as scorching as it had back before the endless night began. Secondly, she could feel that she was laying on something flat and hard, probably the floor, and there was no way in hell anyone would've allowed that.

Third, she remembered Ardyn in the kitchen and she knew that hadn't been a bad dream - which meant her talk with Eos of all beings probably hadn't been a dream either but one problem at a time - so she knew she had to be somewhere else.

It was silent all around her and stayed that way, even as the minutes ticked by as she tried to gain her bearings. Finally, she peaked her eyes open slowly, wanting to be ready for anything. There wasn't much she could do, not in the state she was in, but still, she wanted to be ready.

Somehow, she was both surprised and not when she found herself staring at the inside of an abandoned office. The marble floor, intricately detailed walls and large, ornate desk told her she was likely somewhere in the citadel. She hadn't visited often, at least not outside of training, but she could still recognize it well enough. As she used a nearby chair to struggle to her feet, the nameplate on the desk informed her that she was in the office of Cor Leonis and she immediately had to fight back a wave of tears.

Did Cor know that she was gone? He hadn't been in the kitchen and he almost always was in the middle of the night. Was he okay? Had Ardyn done something to him? And the others, did they know yet? How long had she been gone? Had Noctis woken up to a cold bed and no sign of where she'd been taken or who had taken her?

Stop, she commanded herself before she could spiral further. There was no way she could find out the answer to any of those questions right now. She needed to instead focus on what she could do now.

Which, admittedly, wasn't much. If she was in the citadel that meant that she was in Insomnia. No one had dared venture into the city during the long night. It was far too much of a risk for barely any gain. The city was infested with daemons, more than practically anywhere else on the planet besides maybe Gralea. If that were the case, she was stuck here until someone came for her because there was no way she could make it out on her own. It wasn't worth the risk.

On the flipside, though, Ardyn had been the one to bring her here which meant he also had to be around here somewhere. Knowing him, he was probably setting up clues for Noctis to follow. If she even left this room she could walk into a trap not meant for her.

So, what? Did she just have to sit here and wait and hope that someone found her before it was too late?

Was she really that useless?

"Here we are again," Ardyn's voice sang out from the doorway behind her and she flinched before spinning to face him, heart pounding away. Her stomach roiled, her anxiety making the baby within her restless, but there wasn't much she could think to do to stay calm in this situation. "You, captured and within my grasp, the bait at the end of my hook, just waiting for your prince to rescue you. The perfect damsel in distress."

"Why are you doing this?" Prompto demanded, voice coming out far shakier than she would've liked. She took a step back for every step forward Ardyn made, desperate to keep some distance between them. But there was only so far she could go before her back hit the wall. "Why this, again? Are you really that uncreative?"

"Why?" Ardyn laughed like she'd just told the greatest joke, but she swallowed nervously at the unhinged, viscous tone of it. "Why? Because you've ruined everything!"

He was suddenly right in front of her, the red of his warp barely a flicker of light. His face had transformed, twisted, the black of the scourge dripping from his eyes and mouth. She wanted nothing more than to get away from him but there was nowhere for her to go. Once again, she was trapped.

"There was a plan! A prophesy! I was finally going to be able to rest and you've ruined it all!" And then, as suddenly as it had come, the rage drained from him and he was once more the calm, crooning Chancellor Ardyn Izunia. "But that's what you do, isn't it? You ruin things. And now, because of the thing growing inside of you, you've doomed this whole world to never ending darkness. All for a stupid mistake. How does that feel?"

And if it was just Prompto, she probably would've faltered, would've taken his words to heart because they were things she'd always thought about herself anyway. The poison he spat at her was no different from what she thought every day. And to have someone else say it just made it seem more true. And she'd already asked herself if she would be the cause of the end of the world, hadn't she? Eos had said Noctis had turned away from the power he needed to fulfill the prophecy and save the world, all because of her.

But even if that were true, even if she was the cause of the end of the world, that didn't matter. He could say whatever he wanted about her, she'd probably thought it all before anyway.

But he had no right to speak about her child. Not in any way but especially not like that.

"They're not a thing," she spat, anger overtaking her fear. She reached for her connection to the crystal instinctively and was immediately answered, like even just Noctis' magic was jumping at whatever chance it had to help keep her safe. But she couldn't go for one of her normal weapons, they were far too dangerous and loud and she couldn't chance injuring her baby. "And they will never be a mistake."

She swung as soon as she felt the weight of a dagger in her hand. She wasn't as good as Ignis or even Noctis with a blade, never would be, but she'd still gotten enough training to know how to use one. She took great pleasure in the flicker of surprise that passed through Ardyn's eyes before plunging the knife directly into his neck. It was sharp enough, thanks to Ignis' upkeep, that it nearly cut his head clean off.

She knew from last time that his healing was quick and something like that wouldn't keep him down for long, probably barely a minute or two. So she took the chance she had and ran with it, moving as fast as she could to swerve around him and out of the room. She'd only made it about halfway down the hall when she heard that unhinged laughter ring out behind her.

"Run, run, as fast as you can!" Ardyn's voice sang out, making her shiver from the pure delight in his tone. "But you've got nowhere to run! And your dearly beloved is a bit busy at the moment, what with the daemons tearing Hammerhead apart. I wonder, who's going to save you?"

Don't listen, Prompto commanded herself, even as her heartrate skyrocketed. Daemons in Hammerhead? Had the lights gone out? Were the others okay? What had Ardyn done? Just keep moving, you have to hide, don't listen!

If Ardyn was telling the truth and the others really weren't coming it was all the more important that Prompto hide. She couldn't fight, couldn't risk it, and she wouldn't get the chance to surprise him like that again. This was her one and only chance to gain some distance. And he knew as well as she did that she couldn't leave. He was arrogant enough to let her continue on unhindered.

And she'd take as much advantage of that arrogance as she could. Because maybe she hadn't visited the citadel all that often as a teenager but that didn't mean Noctis hadn't told her stories about growing up here. And many of those stories had involved sneaking around the old servant passageways, halls that had been long out of use and therefore almost completely forgotten and overlooked.

The citadel as it was had been fully built long after the Mystic's time. Would Ardyn know about the secret passageways? Would he think she would know about them? Either way, it was the best option she had for getting out of sight and away from him as quickly as she could.

And the cramps suddenly tightening her abdomen told her she needed to get out of sight now.

.

.

Prompto grit her teeth and huddled further into herself.

She hadn't stayed in the passageways for long. They were dark and cramped and, after a few minutes of walking, she'd heard chittering and the sounds of scurrying feet up ahead. It could have just been animals seeking refuge but with the pain in her stomach and lower back and the panic still thrumming through her she hadn't been about to take that chance. She'd been walking for long enough to put a good amount of distance between herself and Ardyn and hopefully he wouldn't know which direction she'd gone in. As long as she holed herself up and stayed as quiet as she could she should be able to wait until help arrived.

At least, that had been her plan. But as the cramping in her stomach continued on and seemingly began to get worse she had a feeling that things were about to take a very drastic nosedive for her.

Because this wasn't Braxton Hicks. As the weeks went by and the due date rushed forward Eliana had made sure Prompto - and every one around her - knew the signs to look out for and she'd been steadily ticking them off her list. She'd felt the baby drop weeks ago and had panicked before being assured that it was normal for the first pregnancy. She'd gone through all the gross stages, with the mucus discharge and the leaky boobs. She'd been getting semi-regular exams with Cindy's help to check her dialation - and those were forever mortifying and she and Cindy had a pact to never talk about them again, even if Cindy had been laughing as she agreed.

And now, sitting here curled up under a desk in some out-of-the-way office that belonged to someone she didn't know, she could feel the way her joints seemed to be becoming jelly. The cramps were becoming worse, slowly but steadily, still ignorable but she knew they wouldn't be for long. She still had time, they only lasted for a few seconds at a time and she had over ten minutes between each bout, though she didn't really have a way to time them exactly.

She had time, still. She just had to keep telling herself that. She could hold off until the others came to get her. She had to.

Prompto didn't know how long she sat there, in the dark and timing her contractions as best she could, but she knew they'd gotten slightly closer by the time her attention was stolen by a bright flash of orange light from outside the window.

She debated with herself for a long moment. Did she want to risk getting up to check what that had been? It was most likely just some kind of daemon. But... But it might have been something else. She had to have been gone for hours at this point.

The surge of fragile hope in her chest was enough to urge her to her feet, even if it took her longer than it ever had before to do and left her out of breath. She waddled towards the window as best she could, hands gripping her belly tightly even though she knew she still had a good five minutes at least left before the next contraction was due to hit. But she couldn't afford a fall right now, not when there was nothing but a hard marble floor to catch her, and she'd rather be safe than sorry.

She inched closer to the window, hesitantly peeking down into the courtyard below, and the first thing she saw was fire. It was practically everywhere, but mostly surrounding the large being that stood carelessly burning. Part of her wanted to say that it was a daemon, and she could already feel her heart sinking in disappointment, but that didn't seem quite right. Whatever it was was certainly corrupted, if the scourge covering most of it's left side meant anything, but there was a presence there that she'd never felt around other daemons before.

But she had felt it around the Six.

Before she could fully comprehend what that had to mean a figure flitted into sight, heading straight for what had to be Ifrit. The two collided even as others swarmed forward from the ground and Prompto simultaneously wanted to cry from relief and rip her hair out in anxiety. Because that was Noctis, lunging at a God over and over again, while Gladio and Ignis and Cor gave support from below.

They'd come for her. They were all alive and here and they'd come for her, even after what had happened the last time they had.

But that wasn't how this was going to end. They were all walking out of this place together, no matter what it took.

And the first step to that was to meet them halfway.

.

.