Halfway' ended up, apparently, meaning the Throne Room. It definitely hadn't been Prompto's intention, in fact she'd meant to travel down to meet them. But some instinct, some feeling in her gut had led her up instead.

And now, here she stood, alone and staring up in horror at the sight before her.

Finding Ardyn sat on the throne wasn't a surprise, as much as it made fury flare hot within her. No, that she had expected.

What Prompto hadn't expected were the four bodies hanging from the ceiling like twisted marionettes, scourge-riddled and decayed. The King and Lady Lunafreya and Lord Amicitia. Even Nyx Ulric, the Galahdian Glaive that she remembered being the talk of the Citadel and everyone's 'work crush'. Even though all she wanted to do was look away, she couldn't move beyond bringing a shaking hand to cover her mouth.

Ardyn was vindictive and twisted, she knew, and this was well within his ability to do but it was... maybe the most cruel thing he'd done yet, taking these visages of Noct's loved ones, people he'd already lost and mourned because of this monster, just to throw it in his face like this.

It made her feel sick.

"Ah, you're quite early to the show," Ardyn's voice drawled down towards her, completely unbothered, like she hadn't sliced his throat open the last time she'd seen him. "Don't tell me you're that excited to watch your beloved prince parish at my hands."

"Not gonna happen!" She snapped, finally tearing her eyes away from the strung up corpses to glare at him as viciously as she was able. "Noctis is going to kill you!"

Ardyn hummed in response, settling back into the throne comfortably, and she wanted to snap at him to get up because that wasn't meant for him, but was just barely able to bite her tongue. It wasn't like she could make him move at the moment. Much as she hated to admit it.

"That was the plan," he admitted finally, easily, and she blinked. What? "The Chosen King, Part Two. Destined to kill the Accursed and rid our Star of the Scourge. I wasn't going to go down easy, oh no. The Gods made their choice and I wanted them to reap it."

His face darkened into an ugly snarl, scourge dripping from his mouth in black globs, and Prompto shuddered at the sight. Between one blink and the next, though, he looked normal again, human, like they were discussing nothing more important than the weather.

"Without the power of the crystal or the ring, without the blessing of Bahamut," he spit the name, "young Noctis doesn't stand a chance, I'm afraid. I'm going to kill him and I'm going to laugh in the God's faces while I do it. I'll carve out his heart and leave it here, as an offering to them. The last they'll ever receive. And then I'll burn down the entire world and them along with it."

"You're crazy," Prompto realized, seeing the true madness in his eyes, and released a shaky breath. It shouldn't be a surprise, not after all she knew he'd done. But... he had always seemed so collected. Every step that had been taken since they'd left Insomnia for Altissia, hell, since the treaty was first proposed, Ardyn had seemed to have all of it planned out. No matter what they did, it felt like he was constantly ten steps ahead and mocking them as he waited for them to catch up.

And maybe he had been. Maybe he really had planned out all of it, everything from the start of the road trip to Noct getting sucked into the crystal at the Keep, but he hadn't planned for Prompto, not really. He hadn't planned for the baby and how that would change everything.

Hadn't Eos said it? It was pure luck, pure chance. Not even the Gods could've planned for it.

And it had broken whatever was left of Ardyn's mind, it seemed. She'd seen him slip up in his fury more in the last few hours than she had that entire time in the keep.

"Oh, darling, you don't know the half of it," the man chuckled as he heaved himself up onto his feet and began making his way down the stairs slowly. And that... that wasn't good. As much as Prompto hated seeing him on the throne she'd much rather he stay as far away from her as possible, thanks. "And, well, you're here already. Maybe I can string you up for our dear Noct, too. Really drive it home just how much of a mistake he's made."

"I don't fucking think so."

Prompto sagged as Noct's voice growled out from behind her, the relief so strong that her legs nearly gave out. She barely had time to blink before she was surrounded, Noctis standing in front as if to block Ardyn's view of her and Gladio and Cor at her sides. Iggy came up behind, taking a gentle hold of her arm to keep her steady, and she wanted to sob, to break down right there. Because she was scared and she was tired and she could feel a contraction coming, only eight minutes after the last one, and she wanted to go home.

But she wasn't alone anymore, and that meant more to her than anything right now.

Noctis tilted his head, just a bit, just enough to glance back at her while still keeping Ardyn in his peripheral. "Did he hurt you?"

And Prompto shook her head, because he hadn't. He'd taken her and he'd terrified her and maybe he would've hurt her soon, if only to cause Noct more pain, but he hadn't actually laid a finger on her this entire time.

And wasn't that... odd, now that she thought of it? He certainly hadn't hesitated to physically torture her the last time he'd had her captive.

"I'm not hurt but... I think," she hesitated, eyes darting up to the madman that was patiently waiting them out, like he hadn't a care in the world. If anything, he only looked amused. "I think it's almost time. The contractions are... getting closer."

Prompto really didn't want to admit that out loud, not right now, but it was definitely better that they knew. Right on time, too, as her stomach cramped and she gasped, legs becoming jelly as Ignis carefully helped her lower herself to her knees. She focused on breathing through it, hands clutching at her swollen tummy, and within seconds it had passed.

When she was able to tune back in again, Iggy was whispering gentle encouragements in her ear, words she could only barely hear over Ardyn's uproarious laughter.

"This really is too good! All these years, all that time waiting and waiting! And this is how it ends! A dumb child who's thrown away every possibility of saving this dying star, all for a failed science experiment. Bahamut must be frothing at the mouth! It almost makes your complete stupidity worth it!"

"Shut the hell up!" Noctis barked out, fists clenched at his side, looking like he'd love nothing more than to comfort her but not being willing to turn his back on Ardyn. The smartest choice, in Prompto's opinion. "What are you even playing at? Taking Prompto, putting up these... illusions. What's the point? If you want a fight, you've more than got one!"

"Oh, Noct, Noct, Noct..." Ardyn tsked, like he was scolding a child. "Don't you get it yet? You've already lost! The power of the crystal never fully absorbed into the ring. By freeing yourself early, you've lost Bahamut's favor. And isn't it just so poetic? We were both Their Chosen, and now I will end the world, and it will be all your fault."

"I'll stop you, prophecy or not," Noctis promised, voice and hands both steady as he summoned his Engine Blade from the Armiger, and Prompto felt her throat close up in fear. She wanted to grab Noct's hand and run. So what if the sky stayed dark? She didn't need the sun, she needed him. She couldn't lose him again. She didn't think she'd survive it this time.

"Noct," she finally forced out, feeling tears track down her cheeks as she reached for him, hand barely able to grab onto the hem of his jacket. "Noct, please."

"Ah, ah, ah. This is a fight between kings, don't you think?"

"What - ?"

Purple smoke shot out of Ardyn's hands and towards them and suddenly Prompto couldn't breathe.

"What did you do?!"

She had just enough time to be thankful that she was already on the ground before she passed out.

.

.

"Noct is going to die, isn't he?"

She was asking the question before she'd even opened her eyes, already knowing where she was. After all, there was only one place she could feel the warmth of the sun on her face anymore.

Eos hummed, a melancholy sound. "He was always meant to die. 'Many sacrificed all for the King; so must the King sacrifice himself for all'."

"That doesn't make sense!" Prompto yelled, not even caring that it was a god she was yelling at. "They didn't sacrifice themselves so that Noct would pay them back! They did it because they wanted him to live!"

"As I have said before, αγαπητέ μου, Bahamut does not understand love. Not the love Noctis holds for you and not the love others hold for him. All he sees is his perfect plan, all of his loose ends neatly tied up. Once Noctis makes his sacrifice, his spirit and the spirits of his family will go to the Astral Plane. And with him gone, the magic of the Six will cease to exist on this star."

"So... So, all this time, everything we've done, and the Six are just gonna... let Noct die. That's it."

"That is it. Or, it was. Until you."

"Me?" Prompto didn't want to hope, because if losing Noctis didn't kill her then thinking she could save him and losing him anyway definitely would. But Eos was smiling down at her gently and Prompto felt like she could breath easy for the first time in hours.

"So far as Bahamut is concerned, I am still tightly locked away near Ifrit's Resting Ground. He has not taken my magic into account. I am not called the Mother of the Dawn for nothing, ηλιαχτίδα μου. I may be close to powerless now but, with your permission, our connection will be more than enough to spare the King of Light from making such a choice."

"And... Ardyn?"

Here, the Goddess sighed, and that ageless sorrow lined her face once more. "He was a good man, once. The best man. He cared little for himself, only used the gift that Bahamut had bestowed upon him to heal as many as he could. He knew the scourge was affecting him and yet he persisted. He knew his magic was destroying him and yet still he gave his thanks for it, anything to help others. He was gentle and kind. An evil man does not live to help others. He did."

Prompto couldn't really even imagine it. All she'd ever seen of Ardyn was a hateful, spiteful, cruel man. He had acted the part of ally in the beginning and she could admit that she'd almost fallen for it, had wanted nothing more than to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, she was from Niflheim and she wasn't evil. But something about his eyes had always made her uneasy. They weren't cold. They were empty.

What could have happened to twist the man Eos spoke of so fondly into the monster that had just threatened to kill her and suspend her body from the ceiling for Noctis to find?

"He was betrayed," Eos answered her simply, not waiting for Prompto to voice the question. "By his own blood, his own brother. The one you call the Mystic. He attacked Ardyn and cut the Oracle down instead. Watching the love of his life die... it broke something in his mind. And the scourge that he had absorbed and contained until that point surged free. And the Six, seeing what had become of their Chosen, turned their backs on him. Unable to die, the Mystic imprisoned his brother away where he stayed for two thousand years."

Prompto felt the blood drain from her face. He wasn't what they wanted so they just... left him? Hadn't helped him at all? And because the magic they'd given him hadn't worked the way they wanted they'd just made him the villain? While the Mystic had been allowed to live freely and peacefully? To have his memory live on to this day, spoken of in reverence?

No wonder Ardyn wanted the Lucis Caelum line to die out so badly. It wasn't Noctis' fault, and it was wrong for Ardyn to act like Noct was no better than his ancestors, but he was the only one left for Ardyn to get any form of revenge on, wasn't he?

"After he was taken from his prison, Ardyn was informed of the new prophecy. That he had been replaced as the Chosen One and was now the Accursed and the source of the scourge. That it was his role to one day die at the hands of the new King of Light. And he was angry. But mostly he was tired. He is so weary, αγαπητέ μου. He only wants to rest."

"Can we do that?" Maybe she should be holding more of a grudge. After all, Ardyn was the reason for so many things that had gone wrong. The fall of Insomnia, the death of Noct and Gladio's dads and Ignis' uncle and Lady Lunafreya and so, so many others. He'd hurt so many people, her included. It was because of him that Noctis had been sucked into the crystal and it was because of him that endless night had fallen and so many had died terrified in the dark.

But it wasn't because of him, was it? Not really. He'd been forced into his role just as much as Noctis had. He'd been hurt and had died, too.

"Can we help him? If I say yes, if I let you free, can we save Noctis and Ardyn?"

Watching the smile stretch across Eos' face, it was like she was already seeing the sun rise again. "Oh, φως της καρδιάς μου, we will save them all. But we must hurry."

.

.

Hurrying was a lot easier when you weren't eight months pregnant and already in labor.

Still, Prompto was just glad there was enough electricity for the elevators to run smoothly because she knew herself enough to know that she'd never make it down all those stairs. She did feel pretty guilty about leaving Ignis, Gladio and Cor laid out on the ground, though it wasn't like there was much she could really do about it. They hadn't even twitched when she'd tried to wake them up. But they were breathing, at least, just in a very deep, spell-induced sleep.

She could hear the clash of metal before the elevator doors had even begun to open and sped up her waddling as much as she was able. Something in her gut was telling her that they really were running out of time.

Laying eyes on the battle outside just proved it.

Ardyn was smiling and laughing, though there was definitely a manic edge to it. He looked completely unharmed, though if that was because of his healing or because he really hadn't been hit, yet, Prompto didn't know.

Noctis, by contrast, looked bloody and beaten, covered in cuts and bruises. But still he continued to get up and fight, doing his best to not give a single inch.

Noct had always been the strongest person she'd ever known. Even Gladio had trouble facing him when he really gave it his all. She'd seen Noct take on beasts and daemons and entire armies and gods. And yet here, he was losing. Trying as hard as he could but, without all that power Bahamut had promised, still losing.

And then Noctis was on the ground, struggling to get back up, and Ardyn was grinning and aiming his blade and -

"Now, ηλιαχτίδα μου. Will you let me free?"

Yes!

Prompto could see the way Noctis' eyes went wide with horror when he saw her, as she placed herself solidly between him and the oncoming attack. Could see the way Ardyn hesitated, just for a moment, at the sight of her, heavily pregnant and protecting the one that she loved. Because he was made of bitterness and spite and the thirst for revenge, all fed by the scourge that ravaged his body and mind, but he'd been a healer once. And evil men don't live to help others but he had.

And that single moment of hesitation was more than enough.

"EOS!" She yelled out, called out, and it almost felt like the world shattered around her in response. Prompto thrust her hands out and up as power like nothing she'd ever felt before surged through her, almost too much but never crossing the line into uncomfortable. Just warm. So, so warm and so gentle with her that it had tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. If she wasn't currently acting as a conduit for the raw power of the Goddess of their Star she probably would've been sobbing uncontrollably at the sheer motherly love and affection she could feel being directed her way.

And then, between one heartbeat and the next, there was light.

Light, pure white light pouring from her hands and spreading out and touching everything. She could hear Noct cry out in surprise but not pain from behind her followed by a warbled, desperate plea of her name, and she wanted to call back to him, to reassure him that she was fine, that she'd never felt more safe and protected in her entire life, but it would have to wait.

Because Ardyn was in front of her, on his knees and screaming as the light pouring from her burned away at him, and that wasn't what she had wanted. She hadn't wanted him to be in pain.

"Peace, η καρδιά μου. It is almost finished."

Like that was the signal, Ardyn's desperate keening stopped as he fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. And that was basically what he was, wasn't it? He'd been a puppet all this time, maybe from the moment he'd been born, but he was free now. There was no prophecy to fulfill, not anymore.

Ardyn no longer had to be the villain of the story.

Prompto took careful steps towards his downed figure, prepared for any move he might make. Though she doubted that he would make any. Whatever the light had done, he was human now. She didn't know how she knew, but she could sense that the scourge in him was gone, just like she could sense it slowly disappearing from nearby. The distant howls of daemons being purified seemed to fill the air around them.

"Aera?" Ardyn's choked voice reached her and, as she looked down upon him, she could see that his face had crumbled in misery. "Oh, my Aera. I'm sorry, so sorry, my love."

This was the man that the Six had forsaken. The man that they had condemned and vilified. The man they'd wanted Noctis to murder in cold blood before dying himself. And here that man sat and the first thing he did once cured of the scourge was apologize to the love of his life.

"Ardyn?" Prompto kept her voice as steady as she could make it but the man still flinched away from her. "It's okay. I'm going to help you."

"Help me?" He was looking up at her now, expression one of disbelief, and his voice cracked on a sob. "After all that I've done?"

"Yes," she assured him gently, kneeling slowly before him. She wobbled, balance precarious, and he steadied her without even seeming to think about it, though he tore his hand away the moment she was steady, and she smiled at him. Eos had been right. This man, for all the evil the scourge had made him wrought, had been kind. "I know you're tired. You can rest now."

"Rest?" Prompto reached up to cup his face and, as the light still pouring from her hands touched his skin, his eyes became hazy, his face falling slack into a peaceful and wonderous expression. "I can? I'm so... so tired."

"It's okay. Just let go. We won't let you fall."

And she didn't. Even as his eyes dimmed and his body went limp, Prompto made sure to lower him down to the ground slowly, gently, even as the weight made her grunt in exertion.

For a moment afterwards, all was silent but for the screams of dying daemons and Prompto... didn't really know what to do now. Ardyn had been such a threat for so long and now he was just gone, just like that. Eos' power was coming from her, wave after wave, spreading out into the air and already the sky looked just a little bit brighter, more like true night than the endless black it had been for almost a year.

It was almost ridiculous, how easy it had been. And yeah, maybe it was only the set circumstances that had let it happen at all but still. If the Six had chosen to, could they have done this? If they had freed Eos instead of keeping her locked away, could she have gotten rid of the scourge before Ardyn ever even had to make the decision to destroy himself to save others from it?

What had all of this been for, really, in the end?

"Prom?"

She jolted, shaking off her depressing thoughts, and turned to face Noctis. Noctis, who was still half-splayed out on the ground where he'd been thrown earlier, looking at her with fear-tinged awe. Not that she could necessarily blame him for it. After all, she'd just stepped in the middle a death match to protect him and was now practically glowing like the sun.

"It's me," she assured him, giving him a wobbly smile, and that was all it took to have him diving towards her and gathering her up into his arms.

"Six, don't do that ever again!" He breathed into the side of her head, placing kiss after kiss upon her temple. "When I saw you I almost had a heart attack! You could've been hurt!"

"I wouldn't have. Eos promised."

"Eos?" He pulled away just far enough to look at her face. "Like, as in actual Eos? Mother of the Dawn, Goddess of our Star Eos?"

"That was my reaction!" Prompto giggled, feeling so happy that she was almost surprised she wasn't floating, especially when the sound of her laughter brought a smile to Noct's face. "But, yeah, actual Eos. Something about your magic and my being pregnant letting her make a connection with me? I don't know. She's been in my head for awhile. And she's a lot nicer than any of the other gods we've met. She hasn't attacked or threatened me once!"

"She better not have," Noctis grumbled, pulling her against him once more. And what did it say about their lives that that was about the extent of his reaction to hearing she'd been talking to Eos in her head for months? "And Ardyn's just... gone? Just like that?"

"Just like that," she affirmed, humming contentedly, though even she was having a little trouble wrapping her brain around the fact that it was over.

It was all over, Ardyn was gone and Eos was working on the whole "endless night" situation and Noctis was here and alive and he was going to stay that way. No sacrifice needed.

It was all over.

And then she felt a slight pop! in her lower abdomen and a sudden gush a fluid was flowing out of her and, with all that had been going on, she'd actually kind of forgotten about that? Oops.

"Uh, hey Noct?"

"Yeah?" He pulled back again, eyeing her warily, clearly able to tell something was wrong just from her tone.

"My, uh... water may have just broken?"

She probably shouldn't have laughed at how drastically he paled from her words but, hey, she was about to push something the size of a watermelon out of her body. And she'd just helped save the world.

Prompto was allowed to make fun of him if she wanted to.

.

.

A/N: One more chapter to go! And then maybe an epilogue idk I haven't decided yet. But either way see ya next week!