Chapter 5

Burning Dawn

"You just never know."

Noct cried out in pain as his body slammed hard into the trunk of one of the towering trees surrounding the Vesperpool, the side of his head already wet with blood where it had hit a jagged broken branch. He collapsed to the ground in a heap, the wind knocked out of him.

He lay crumpled and unmoving at the base of the tree, trying hard not to pass out, to block out the pain. It was so hard to breathe now. It hurt too much.

Noct rolled onto his back and a sharp pain lanced through him.

"Fuck!" he screamed, his vision blackening in patches as he lay panting trying to ride out the new pain in his chest.

Something was definitely cracked if not broken. Probably one of his ribs. With the kind of speed he was warping in just now it was no surprise he'd broken something when he collided with the tree.

Noct stared up at the night sky that seemed to be swirling and falling, the ringing in his ears overlapping with the sound of his own ragged breaths. He felt like shutting down. He wantedto shut down—completely—so that he would no longer have to feel any pain.

What the hell am I doing?

He didn't know. He really didn't know what he was doing when he'd warped away from camp. His mind… he couldn't understand his own mind anymore. It was failing him.

Ever since that shock he received after he'd woken up at camp, his body had started to deteriorate. He was constantly in pain; there were sharp pinpricks all over his skin, one second he was burning and another he was ice cold. At times he couldn't even feel his body, like it was just his conscience floating around and his body wasn't real. And his mind was slowly melting into a mush of incoherent thoughts and memories, of screaming voices that were telling him things he didn't know whether were real or not.

He was aware of what was happening around him, of how worried his friends were about him. But there were times he thought all that was happening wasn't real, like it was a hallucination or something else not concrete. It scared him.

That was part of the reason why he had warped away. There was a terrifying thought that kept screaming in his head telling him that his friends back at camp weren't who they really were, that they were making him suffer for no reason. There were times where he was sure all three of them were out to get him.

When Prompto had grabbed his face so hard, the thought had taken over him so completely that for a while his spiralling mind managed to convince him that Prompto was the enemy. He'd become so wary of him, and he couldn't help believing the voice in his head.

Prompto is not who you think he is. Gladio and Ignis, too. They just want to see you hurt, the voice had said.

He'd then warped away to save himself, to get away from his friends who were going to hurt him.

But now as Noct lay in the dark wilderness, fatigued and not knowing where he actually was in the forest, that thought was quiet again, buried underneath the more lucid parts of his mind. He could think somewhat clearly amidst the haze of pain. He shouldn't have warped away, he knew that now. He was just making it harder for his friends to help him.

He'd never warped so carelessly before, not knowing where he was heading, losing control of his own body mid-warp and crashing into a tree while travelling in such high velocity. It had wrung the last drop of strength out of him. He could barely move his body anymore.

But he wanted to get free. He needed to get free, and staying still like this wouldn't help him one bit to reach that goal. So he pushed through the pain and forced his bound body to move no matter what.

It took Noct a long while to get himself into sitting, leaning limp against the tree trunk, his breath shuddering. Even with him struggling so hard, the restraining bands remained tight around him, cutting into his flesh. He was sure now that they were more than just restraining devices. They were doing something to him all this while, draining away his strength, messing with his sanity, his emotions, his mind.

He needed to get out of the bands. He needed to undo the nexus. He knew which one it was. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew. The nexus was the damn fucking collar.

That's just your fucked up brain talking. You can't know which one is the nexus. Even if you're right, you can't undo the nexus yourself. You're fucking tied up. And you're not one of the players. It's Prompto's turn now. You'll just get zapped if you pressed any of the buttons.

That rational voice in his head was right, he knew that, but the irrational, agitated part of his mind was taking over him once again. He didn't want to just sit there waiting for things to happen. He wanted to get free. He needed to do something, even if that something would lead him to more harm. His desperate mind was destroying him and he was letting it do so.

Noct looked around the forest ground, trying to find anything that might be useful. It was hard to see anything in the dark, but he thought he saw a shadow of something long and thin sticking out of the ground a few paces away, just between the huge roots of the tree he was sitting under. It was an iron rod, the thin, smaller ones used to construct buildings. It was peculiar to find a single one sticking up like that in the middle of the forest, but Noct didn't want to think or care about it.

His scrambled mind started to give him ideas.

You can press the button on the collar with the iron rod. Thrust your neck on it. Go on. You'll be free in no time.

He didn't know where the button was located on the collar. Was it on the back of his neck? The sides? The front? He knew randomly thrusting his neck onto an iron rod in hopes of getting it to hit the button was absolutely reckless and dangerous. He could end up with a rod penetrating his neck.

He knew he wasn't a player in the fucking zapping game and therefore wasn't even qualified to undo any of the bands. He probably would get shocked even if he got the nexus in the correct order. He was aware of all this. But his irrational mind was telling him all of that were bullshit. It was even probable that some of those rules were actually lies.

Noct inched his way towards the rod. He lowered his head carefully and let the rod touch the band fastened around his neck. He felt the friction through the collar as he lightly maneuvered his neck so that the rod was scraping the surface of the collar. He felt somewhat encouraged. He turned his head this way and that, putting a little more pressure onto the rod as he tried to find the groove of the button.

"Shit," he spat after spending some time poking the collar with the rod. This was harder than he thought. He couldn't tell whether the rod was scratching a smooth surface or not. It all felt the same.

This isn't working.

No, he couldn't give up now. He should try harder.

Noct was at it for a long time. At one point, he was convinced that the rod had scratched against a groove somewhere on the side of his neck, which he believed was the button. He started to poke the collar with the rod harder, hammering his neck on it. More than once, his aims were off and the rod had poked right into his skin, leaving red bloody scratches all over his neck.

He was left screaming and gasping when he'd thrust his neck a little too hard and the rod was buried deep enough into the flesh underneath his jaw to rattle his whole body.

Noct sucked in a breath from the pain, falling to his side panting and biting hard into his gag, feeling the slow trickle of blood down his neck. The pain was killing him but it was also sobering him up a little. He realized this wasn't going to work. It was a dumb thing to do to begin with.

Noct lay still and breathless. He was so tired. He wondered if he would ever get out of this mess. He wondered if he would be free again. He wished he hadn't gone fishing that morning. Damn, that felt like eons ago. He wished he was in a bed, or somewhere warm and comfortable. He just wanted to rest comfortably for just a second, to get his breath back. So he closed his eyes.

He must have fallen asleep because when he opened his eyes, he was screaming again, enveloped in excruciating pain, his whole body locking up as electric shocks ran through him. He swore they lasted so much longer than before, like they wouldn't stop until he was dead. Gods, it hurt so fucking much. He didn't know how long he was screaming but his throat was sore by the time he realized the shocks had finally stopped.

Noct felt warm blood coming out of his nose. The pain this time was beyond unbearable. He wasn't sure if it was because he was already so hurt and weakened or the shocks had been amped up to the max. He lay on the ground almost lifeless, thinking he might really die in the next few minutes. He didn't think he could force himself to stay conscious any longer, it was too hard to even blink now. He closed his eyes and let himself drown in the sound of his heartbeat thumping loud in his ears.

What a stupid way to die…

Would his forebears in the afterlife laugh at him for dying like this? Would they mock him? He was sure they would. What would his father think of him? Noct could already imagine his disappointed face. His father had died sacrificing himself for his people, but Noct? He died because of his recklessness, because of some stupid shit. Hell, he still didn't know how he got himself into this fucking mess. And to think he was going to lead a kingdom?

What a fucking joke I am. An incompetent prince, and a farce of a king.

Amidst the self-deprecating thoughts and the thumping and ringing in his ears, Noct caught a sound, faint at first. It was coming from somewhere in the distance. He wasn't sure, but it was rapidly growing louder. Whatever it was, it was heading in his direction. But he had no strength left to even react to it.

It was the sound of footsteps, getting clearer by the second. Something was running through the forest towards him. He hoped it wasn't anything dangerous. He hoped they would leave him alone if they saw him lying there bleeding on the cold ground. He hoped they would just leave him alone to die peacefully.

"What the—"

Noct opened his eyes from hearing the voice but there was only white light blinding him.

"Noct! Thank gods! I've been looking all over for you. Why did you fucking warp away? Are you alright? Are you okay? I heard you screaming— H-hey… is that… blood?"

It was Prompto. It was fucking Prompto.

Noct blinked up at his pale face as Prompto shoved the flashlight away from his eyes.

Good. The right person had shown up. Prompto could help him end this shitty game now.

Noct grunted painfully as Prompto hauled him up so he was back to sitting against the tree.

"Gods, you're bleeding so much! What happened—"

Noct threw his head back to show Prompto the collar. He heard him gasp.

"Noct, why are there so many bleeding wounds—"

"Undo the collar, Prompto. Please…" Noct cut in.

Prompto stared. Noct knew he understood what he'd just said despite the gag in his mouth.

"Please, Noct. Not this again. I—"

"It's your turn now, Prompto. Believe me, the collar is the nexus. Please, just fucking press the button. I'm tired of this fucking game!"

Dammit, he was crying again. He hated that he was so exhausted and desperate and weakened that he was reduced to tears, but he couldn't help it. He wished Prompto would hurry up and press the button. He wanted him to undo the collar before Ignis and Gladio found them here. Those two would definitely be against his idea of risking undoing another band when he was already in such a horrible state.

Yes, he knew he could fall into a coma or die or whatever it was the card of rules had warned, but fuck those rules. He just wanted to get out of the restraints and this was his last chance to do so. He just had to convince Prompto to help him.

Prompto backed away a little when Noct inched closer, trying to force him to undo the collar.

"Fine," Noct said, feeling anger rising inside of him when Prompto still refused to do what he wanted. He made his way to the iron rod and started throwing his neck on it again.

"Wha— Noct! What the fuck are you doing?! Are you trying to kill yourself? Stop, dammit!"

Prompto pulled Noct away from the rod and half-threw him to the tree, looking at Noct like he had lost his mind. Maybe he had. He probably had lost his mind long ago.

"Please tell me you were not trying to kill yourself… Please, Noct…" Prompto said, his hands on Noct's shoulders trembling, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Noct shook his head, a little confused. He didn't realize it had looked that way to Prompto. Sure, he'd been thinking about death since a while ago, but the thought of taking his own life had never actually crossed his mind. Far from it. If anything, he wanted to continue living a long life.

"I was just trying to hit the button with the rod…" Noct mumbled.

Prompto was still looking at him like he was crazy. "I can't understand you, but you weren't being suicidal, right?" He shook Noct a little like he was trying to get some sense into him. "Right?"

"Right..."

Prompto let out a sigh, running his hands over his face. "Look, Noct, I can't undo the collar for you—"

Noct didn't want to hear it. He was already inching his way back towards the iron rod.

"No, please!" Prompto's hands were back on Noct's shoulders, clutching them tight. "Okay, fine! I'll do what you want, alright? I'll undo the damn collar!"

Noct stared at him, hopeful. "Really?"

Prompto looked reluctant but he nodded anyway. "Yeah. Really. So get away from that fucking rod, okay? It's dangerous."

Noct leaned back against the tree, tilting his head.

Prompto looked at him uncertainly.

"Noct… you sure about this?"

"Yeah."

"Why are you so sure the collar's the nexus?"

"I just know. And it's the next one to go." Noct shifted so that Prompto's hands that were on his shoulders were now touching his neck.

Prompto was quiet, staring into Noct's tired eyes. "You're really sure, huh?"

Noct nodded. "Just do it."

Prompto bit his lip, the frown in between his eyebrows getting deeper. Noct hated seeing him like this; so worried and guilt-ridden and unsure. He hated it even more that he was the one causing Prompto to look like that.

"Don't worry about me, Prompto. It's gonna be alright."

"Yeah… It's gonna be alright…"

For once, Prompto actually understood Noct's distorted words. He took in a very deep breath, and squeezed Noct's shoulders lightly.

"Okay. Lift your head," he said, voice barely there.

Noct's heart started hammering as Prompto's hand traced along the length of the collar a few times. It dawned on him that this could be the last moments of his short life.

"Your neck's all bloody," Prompto said in a quiet voice, leaning in closer to inspect the wounds there. "We need to patch you up."

Noct just shook his head once with a soft grunt. No time for that now.

Prompto's hand stopped somewhere at the back of his neck. "Found it, the button," he said in Noct's ear as he tried to get a better look. "It's right here."

Noct flinched when Prompto tapped on it a few times. He inhaled deeply, steeled himself and said, "Do it."

Prompto leaned back and stared at him, his eyes looking sad and were starting to water. His hand that was not cupped around Noct's neck brushed the strands of hair out of Noct's face.

"What do you wanna do after you got out of this mess?" he asked, stalling time.

"Sleep."

"Why am I not surprised?" Prompto said with a little melancholic smile. "You can sleep all you want after this, Noct. I promise." He could barely choke out the words.

And Prompto pressed the button.

For a second, nothing happened.

And then the collar started to tighten slowly. And it continued to tighten. More and more.

Noct felt tingles where the bands were wrapped around his body, and it wasn't long before they turned into sharp, painful pinpricks. It felt like he was being poked with pins at first, but then it slowly started to feel like he was being stabbed with thousands of red-hot nails, the sharp points breaking his skin again and again and again, shredding him. Before he knew it, he was crying out in agony but that only made him realize he couldn't actually breathe. He tried to gasp for air but none got into his lungs. He really couldn't breathe.

Noct struggled hard trying to get his hands free, his fingers already slick with his own blood that was trickling down from his wrists. He tried to ignore the feeling of the bands cutting into his flesh, the pain taking over his body. He wanted to pull at the tightening collar, claw at it, rip it apart. He was desperate to get it off, to get air into his lungs. But there was nothing he could do.

Prompto was calling out his name like a madman, his crying face the only thing filling Noct's tunneling vision now. Poor Prompto. Noct really wanted to say sorry to him for putting him through this, for making him feel miserable, for forcing him to do things he didn't want to do, but all that came out of him were pained, strangled noises.

He had no strength left.

Noct slid to the ground, whimpering and gasping desperately like a fish out of water, his struggles futile. The collar was tightening still around his neck, already covered in his blood as it continued to cut slowly into his flesh.

He didn't want this to be the end, not like this, but there was nothing he could do to stop this from being the end.

This is it.

Noct didn't know what 'this' was. Death? Most likely.

He closed his eyes and slowly, he let his mind go.

A feeling of tranquility fell upon him.

If this was death then it wasn't so bad. It felt good. It felt peaceful. He no longer felt pain. He no longer had to suffer. He wished everything would stay this way from now on.

Noct stayed in the darkness, his mind gone, his body breaking into shards and fragments, fading away into the nothingness.

He could probably go see his dad now, although he might be disappointed in him. But he still wanted to see him again. He missed him.

Did his dad die this peacefully, too? He hoped he did. He really hoped he did.

Noct drifted in the nothingness, floating, fading. It was so peaceful.

But the peace and tranquility didn't last.

Something warm entered his being, his lungs. There was a slight pain in his chest. An intruding pressure.

These sensations went on like a cycle. Something warm in his lungs again, and then pain in his chest.

Lungs? Chest?

Didn't his body fade away? Why was he feeling things now?

He didn't understand what was happening.

A hand in his hair.

The feeling of a hand raking through his hair was pulling him out of the peaceful darkness, slowly and gently.

Noct opened his eyes and saw the sky burning.

Or maybe it was just the dawn.

Gladio and Ignis were looking down at him. He'd never seen them with such worried faces before.

He tilted his head up and saw Prompto's face above him, wet with tears but there was a trembling smile on his lips.

He was lying in Prompto's lap again. The hand in his hair was Prompto's.

"You're free, Noct," Prompto said in a breaking voice.

Noct stared at what Gladio was holding up in his big hands; a number of coiled bloody, black bands. He looked down at his body. The restraining bands were gone.

He brought a shaking hand up to his sore but bare throat.

The damn collar really was the nexus, huh?

He was free.

He was really free.

"Fucking finally…" he whispered.

And he passed out.

.o.o.o.

The sun was just rising when Noct woke up in a soft warm bed, a blanket pulled over him up to his chest. It was strange how he felt like he was a kid again sleeping in his old, comfortable bed back in the Citadel. He felt safe and protected, and that sense of safety made him drift back to sleep.

The sound of birds chirping close by pulled him awake again before he could fall deeper into sleep, his body tensing for a moment in reflex.

Chirping birds? Am I in a forest or something?

The Vesperpool. Didn't something terrible happened to him there?

Noct opened his eyes in a little panic, wishing so hard that this was not just a nice dream his tired mind had concocted.

He was in a slightly darkened room, but there was a soft glow to his right. He turned towards the source of the glow and saw sunlight streaming in through the opened wooden shutters that led to a balcony. There were a couple of birds perched on the wrought iron railing, chirping cheerfully away.

Noct stared at the lightening morning sky. For a few long minutes, he didn't know where he was.

He blinked up at the ceiling before looking around the familiar room with its teal-coloured walls, the leather armchairs and the round coffee table.

He was at the Leville in Lestallum.

Noct pushed his blanket away and sat up, reaching for a glass of water on the nightstand next to his bed. He drank. There was a dull pain in his throat and it hurt a little to swallow.

He returned the glass to the nightstand, and his eyes widened when they caught sight of the healing ligature marks around his wrists and biceps. He kicked away the rest of the blanket still covering his legs and saw the same marks around his ankles.

He remembered now. The Vesperpool. The restraining bands. The electric shocks.

He'd thought he was going to die. But here he was, still breathing.

Noct looked around the room, wondering where his friends were.

A slight feeling of anxiety was starting to take root inside of him from how alone he felt waking up to a quiet, empty room, but he didn't want to let the feeling take over him. He was safe. He was fine now. He didn't need to feel worried or scared anymore. And he absolutely refused to believe that this was just a dream.

Noct forced himself to get out of bed and headed for the bathroom. There was a set of his clothes neatly folded on the rack and that was enough to put him a little at ease. He smiled at the thought of Ignis placing the clothes there.

But his smile vanished when he saw his reflection in the mirror. There were bruises around the corners of his mouth and on his lips, no thanks to the gag. They were healing and already fading, but still visible. There were more bruises around his neck, dark purple and ugly.

He looked… terrible.

Noct went into the shower, trying to erase the image of his bruised self from his mind. He stood under the shower for a long time, letting the hot water wash away the dirt along with the awful memories and the pain.

When he stepped out of the bathroom cleaned and refreshed, he found Ignis sitting in one of the armchairs. There was a bowl of hot broth, a plate of something green and a steaming mug on the coffee table.

"Good morning, Your Highness," Ignis said with a warm smile. "My apologies for not being here when you woke up. How are you feeling?"

"Hey." Noct sat in an empty armchair, eyeing the plate full of unidentifiable vegetables with disgust. "I'm fine."

Ignis just continued to stare at him.

"Really. I feel fine, Ignis. Is this breakfast? I'm starving."

"Yes. Please have some."

Noct reached for the bowl of broth and ignored the vegetables completely. He ate in silence, feeling a little awkward by the way Ignis was watching him eat.

"What is it?" Noct asked as he continued to spoon broth into his mouth. Ignis's staring was starting to get to him.

"I'm sorry, Noct. I was just wondering if you remember what happened at the Vesperpool."

Noct stopped eating. "Yeah, I remember."

"You do?"

"I went fishing and shit happened."

"That's one way to put it," Ignis said mildly. He leaned forward, pushing the plate of vegetables closer towards Noct. "You don't know how grateful I am to see you eating right now, Noct. You've been asleep for five whole days, not moving a single—"

"Five days?!"

Noct almost dropped his spoon. He thought the whole thing had taken place yesterday. It felt like it was just last night he was lying on the forest floor, gasping for air. But then he remembered the dawn where he thought the sky was burning. The sun was rising at the time, and the sun was still rising now. It couldn't be the same day.

"Yes, Noct. Five days. We were worried that you would never wake up, although we had you treated with whatever curatives we had at hand when you were finally out of your restraints. A doctor also checked on you and gave you follow-up treatment when we arrived here. He said you were out of the woods and just needed some rest."

"Was I hurt that badly?" Noct asked. He didn't realize it was so bad that he needed five days of sleep to recover. It was strange because he felt mostly fine now.

"You were shocked a total of four times from multiple restraining bands, Noct. And l suspect the shocks became stronger every time. You also had a head injury that was quite serious, a broken rib from a high impact collision, two fractioned ones from… forcible pressure, stab wounds around your neck and lacerations and burns where the bands were wrapped around you. And you were strangled long enough to lose consciousness. On top of all that, you were severely dehydrated, had a running fever and had lost some blood. I'd rather say you were more than badly hurt."

It sounded really bad now that Ignis had listed out his injuries like that. Maybe he shouldn't have asked.

"Looks like Sleeping Beauty is finally awake."

Noct whirled around to see Gladio striding into the room with a wide grin on his face. He ruffled Noct's hair gently, squeezing his shoulder before sitting in the remaining empty armchair.

"Good to see you vertical again, Noct. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess."

Gladio just looked at him for a long while, the same way Ignis had stared at him earlier.

"Noct, I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. I'm your Shield and yet I wasn't there when it mattered—"

"Gladio, it's okay. You don't need to apologize for anything. You too, Ignis. It's no one's fault."

"But Your Highness—"

"I don't wanna hear it, Ignis."

Gladio grunted, shaking his head.

"Okay, we get it, princess. It's just that, you really gave us a huge scare, you know. I really thought we were gonna lose you. Seeing Prompto desperately giving you chest compressions like that—"

"Wait, what? Chest compressions?"

Gladio blinked at him. He looked at Ignis and then back at Noct.

"You didn't know what happened? I thought Iggy was telling you about that just now?"

"What chest compressions?" Noct insisted, his eyes darting from Gladio to Ignis and back again.

Ignis sighed softly and pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose.

"I wasn't sure if you should know about this. Noct, when Gladio and I arrived where you were at in the forest, Prompto was breathing air into you, giving you chest compressions to get your heart beating again."

Noct stared at Ignis, wide-eyed.

"Are you telling me my heart actually stopped?"

"It did, apparently. According to Prompto, when he pressed the button on the collar, the band… it strangled you for a while. A while that was too long, it seemed. The collar was indeed the nexus, and it was the next one to be undone as all of the bands dropped away after the collar removed itself from your neck. But by the time that happened, you had already stopped breathing. Your heart had stopped beating as well. Prompto didn't have any curatives on him to revive you and he had to administer CPR to get you breathing again."

Noct's head spun for a second, absentmindedly bringing his hand up to his heart. He couldn't believe it. He died. He actually died for a moment. This was so bizarre. And Prompto, he...

"Where is he? Where's Prompto?" he asked. He had to see him. He had to see him now.

"He's downstairs in the lobby. Said he's going out later to take some pictures," Gladio said. "He's been pretty down these past days, sitting in here waiting for you to wake up. So I told him to go do something outside."

"I'm gonna go see him."

"Your Highness, perhaps you should stay in bed—" Ignis stopped when he saw the pleading look on Noct's face. He sighed. "Alright. Go see him, but please take care not to over-exert yourself."

"Don't worry, I won't. Thanks for breakfast, Ignis." Noct got out of the armchair and headed for the door. He stopped mid-stride, looking back awkwardly. "And for everything. Gladio, Ignis. Thanks… for everything. For looking after me, for worrying about me. I… I don't know what I'd do without you guys. So… thank you."

He darted out of the room before either Gladio or Ignis could say anything back to him.

Noct went down the winding staircase as quickly as his still slightly-sore body would allow, his hand brushing against the worn-out wooden banister. He found Prompto sitting alone on the white seat in the middle of the lobby. He had his camera in his hands but his eyes were staring at nothing on the Leville's spotless floor, clearly lost in his own thoughts.

"Hey," Noct said.

Prompto's eyes snapped up at him in surprise.

"Noct! Wha— You're up? What're you doing down here? How're you feeling? Are you okay? You should stay in bed, have something to eat—"

"Dude, relax. I'm fine. I've been up for a while now. And I've had breakfast. Ignis brought me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. Gladio said you're going out?"

"Just to the outlook. Thought I'd take some pictures."

"I'll go with you."

Prompto hesitated, a frown on his brow.

"Uh, is that a good idea? Shouldn't you stay in bed?"

"C'mon, I've stayed in bed for far too long. I need some fresh air."

"Should you be moving around so much, though? Isn't your body sore? What is Ignis doing letting you—"

"Prompto. I'm fine. And the outlook's not that far. I can handle a few strides."

"I don't know, man…"

But Noct was already making his way out of the hotel.

"Noct— Hey, wait up!"

It was still early in the morning and the town was mostly still asleep. Except for a young couple taking photos near the picturesque buildings, no one was in sight as Noct and Prompto made their way towards the outlook.

"Wow, no one's here yet. So rare to see this spot so empty," Prompto said when they walked up to the outlook wall. He was already putting an eye to his camera's viewfinder and snapping away.

Noct leaned onto the wall. The view from the outlook was as breathtaking as ever, and the morning breeze was cool and refreshing. It made him smile. He felt peaceful, peaceful like that time when he was drifting in the darkness, when his mind was blank, his body fading, when he thought he was going to die—

"Hey, you okay?"

Noct startled at the sound of Prompto's voice. He shouldn't let his mind wander like that.

"Yeah."

Prompto turned towards him. Watching him. And the corners of his mouth twitched into a soft smile.

"What?" Noct asked, feeling self-conscious when Prompto just kept on looking at him like that.

Instead of answering, Prompto raised his camera and snapped a picture of Noct.

"Hey, what's that for?"

"I just wanted to take a picture of you."

"You want a picture of me looking terrible with all these bruises?" Noct joked. He bit his lip when he saw the smile on Prompto's face disappearing. He realized too late that that was the wrong thing to say.

"You don't look terrible. You look so much better than when you were—" Prompto stopped, his grip on his camera tightening. "You look fine, Noct. You look alive."

"Prompto…"

Noct stared at his hands. How should he say this? He was so grateful for everything Prompto had done for him. He wanted to say thank you, and sorry for making him feel terrible and guilty and bad and all that. But he didn't know how to say those things properly.

"I— Prompto… thanks… for getting me free. And for saving my life. I heard from Gladio and Ignis, what you did in the forest. I owe you my life."

"Nah, it's no big deal. You'd do the same for me, right?" Prompto said with a forced laugh.

Noct grabbed Prompto's arm, wanting him to know, to understand how serious he was. "No, I mean it, Prompto. Really. Thank you."

Prompto punched Noct lightly on the shoulder.

"You know I wouldn't let you die that easily, Noct. Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're back with us."

He kept his gaze on the faraway hills as his hands fiddled with his camera. When he spoke again, his voice was trembling slightly.

"To be honest, I was so scared when you stopped breathing. I didn't know what to do. I was panicking so bad just at the thought of you not… existing anymore. I couldn't think straight. I just watched you gasping when I should be doing something to help… I was so stupid… so stupid for getting overwhelmed at a critical moment like that, for not having any curatives on me, for not—"

"Prompto, hey…"

Listening to Prompto blaming himself like that was breaking Noct's heart more than anything. He wished he could erase everything about the incident from Prompto's memory.

"Sorry, I'm just… I'm glad you came back, Noct. If you didn't… If you'd left us…"

Noct gently placed a reassuring hand on Prompto's back when he saw the distress taking over him.

"I'm here now, right? I couldn't just leave you guys like that, anyway," he said, giving Prompto a wry smile. "Good thing you're a trained Crownsguard. Even when you're panicking you still kept your head and got my heart beating again without the use of curatives."

"Yeah… thank all the gods for that. You don't know how desperate I was trying to bring you back. I even cracked some of your ribs… Oh gods, just thinking about it is just… I really thought you were going to—"

"Hey, it's okay now. You don't have to think about it anymore."

Prompto sniffed. "Yeah. You're right. We should… we should talk about something more cheerful, I guess." He gave Noct a forced, awkward smile.

"Um, excuse me?" came a voice from behind them.

A young man had come up to them, looking expectantly at Prompto as he held up his camera phone. Behind him was a young woman, smiling at them shyly. It was the couple they saw earlier on their way to the outlook.

"Can you take a picture for us, please? We want a picture together with the view in the background, but we don't have a tripod or anything like that. So, could you…?" The man gestured at his camera phone.

"Sure. I'd be glad to help," Prompto said, flashing the couple a big smile, already putting on his happy mask. "I suggest that spot over there for the best shot." He had gone into his photographer mode, eagerly telling the couple where to stand and how to pose.

Noct let Prompto take care of the couple and wandered to one of the viewing telescopes, making sure he stayed within Prompto's peripheral vision. He peered into the telescope, appreciating the close-up view of the hills in the distance.

"Oh my, those look painful. What happened?"

A tall, beautiful woman in a grey sundress and a wide-brimmed sunhat stood at Noct's side, her burgundy hair and amber eyes shining in the morning light.

Noct stepped back in surprise, wondering where the woman had come from. He was sure there was no one near him a second ago.

He stared at her. He was sure he'd never seen her before but somehow… she looked oddly familiar.

Noct quickly hid his hands behind his back when he realized the woman was gazing at the red ligature marks around his wrists and that she was referring to them earlier.

"I, uh, got into an accident. They don't hurt anymore," Noct lied.

The woman smiled, showing her pearly white teeth. "You need to be more careful. It's a shame to see a fine young man like you covered in bruises like that."

Noct frowned. He still couldn't shake off that odd feeling.

"Have we met before?" he asked.

"I don't think we have," the woman said, her eyes flickering away from him. "Is that your friend over there taking pictures?"

Noct merely glanced in Prompto's direction. Somehow, he didn't want to answer her.

"Golden blond hair, sky-blue eyes. He is quite a fetching young man. Although I must admit I am sick of looking at that pretty face back at the lab."

"What? What the hell are you—"

"But I wouldn't mind having to look at that face if he was strapped to a T-contraption for me to… inspect. Maybe I will get that chance soon." The woman smiled as she started to walk away. "I'll be on my way now. Till we meet again, young man. Have a nice day."

Before Noct could say anything, a sharp ringing spiked in his ears, making him wince and his vision whited out for a second. He grabbed his head, feeling like he was falling endlessly into an abyss. When his senses returned, he was alone. He stared bewildered at the spot in front of him.

"What're you looking at?"

Noct turned around to see Prompto coming up to him.

"Were you talking to someone?" Prompto asked.

Noct gestured at the spot where the—

He stopped. The… The what? Was he talking to someone? He didn't think he was talking to anyone. There wasn't anyone around, anyway. Wasn't he just looking at the scenery through the viewing telescope?

"There's no one here for me to talk to, you know," Noct said with a shrug.

But he did feel like he was talking to someone.

Strange. Maybe he needed some more rest, after all.

Noct pointed at the sky and gave Prompto an apologetic look. "Sorry, Prompto. I think I'm gonna head back to the Leville. It's gonna get hot soon and I don't think my body's up for that yet. Still feel kinda off."

"Just what I wanted to hear," Prompto said with a laugh. "Ignis's been texting me every few minutes asking how're you faring out here."

Noct snorted. He couldn't help rolling his eyes at Ignis's unnecessary concern.

"He worries too much. Like I'm gonna run into trouble out here in bright and sunny Lestallum."

"It's bright and sunny, sure, but you never know what's lurking in the shadows, Noct," Prompto said with a chuckle, draping his arm around Noct's shoulders as they headed back to the Leville. "You just never know."

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***End***

Author's Note

2 May 2021

Hi! Thank you for reading this story from the beginning to the end. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it :)

Cheers!