Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 8

Cramming five of them into the caravan for the night made things rather tight but it was too late to head for the nearest Haven. Harry and Noct took one of the beds while Prompto and Ignis took the other, leaving Gladio with the too small couch. They would have let him use the bed but that would have meant someone had to sleep on the floor.

When Harry woke with the sun, he found Noctis wrapped tightly around him and Ignis slowly disentangling himself from Prompto. Ignis nodded at him and moved towards the bathroom so Harry went to work getting free from Noct who actually woke, startled, clinging tighter. "Hey, it's okay," he murmured, running his fingers through messy black hair.

Noctis blinked sleepily at him before slumping back but also relaxing his grip. "Time?" he asked in a mumbled and Harry smiled.

"Early. Go back to sleep."

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Noctis shook his head and shoved himself up, stretching. He noticed Ignis was already up, but the others were still asleep. He could hear the shower running so it really was rather early. They'd been on the move since Harry had joined them, exhausted from fighting, and they hadn't really talked about much. He grabbed his clothes and threw them on before looked at Harry. "Can we talk?" he asked, and Harry nodded, getting dressed and following him out of the caravan and down the stairs to sit on the grass below the road level, looking out at the lakes. They sat side by side, pressed against each other and he felt the flash of warm magic from Harry settling over them, keeping the morning chill away from them. "I thought you were dead," he whispered, not looking at Harry. "I felt something snap they day you said you would be facing Riddle."

"I did die," Harry admitted softly and Noctis stiffened. "I faced him and let him hit me with the Killing Curse…and I woke up at Kings Cross. I was given a choice, to move on or come back and finish it. I chose to finish the fight. The Curse simply severed the soul shards link to the living instead. Plus Riddle used my blood in his resurrection, giving me a tie back to the living. I killed him in the middle of the Great Hall, in front of everyone. I lasted a month after the battle, everyone was just….they all wanted something out of me, for me to do as they said and… I just felt so tired. So I packed up and left Britain behind, ended up in Japan. Got a teacher for swords, he's who gave me the blades, they belonged to his family and he had no children. Luna showed up; said we were going to find a way to get me to you. She said you needed me," he paused and Noctis took his hand.

"Did she ever confirm or deny being a seer?" he asked, mind reeling. Harry had died!

"No, she would never say yes or no," he smiled sadly and Noctis frowned.

"Harry?"

"She's dead," he answered, taking a deep breath. "She didn't tell me she was dying; she had been since towards the end of the war. She spent time as a prisoner, she never said what they did to her, but nothing could stop her death. So she chose to die in order to send me away, her blood and magic powered the runes." He closed his eyes, he had seen her again, called her soul to him in the Nexus and she had explained, it didn't take away the pain of her death.

"I'm so sorry," Noctis wrapped his arms around Harry. He felt like he'd known Luna from Harry talking about her over the years, knowing she was dead…even if she had died to send Harry to him…he owed her so much. He felt Harry relax into his hold and they sat quietly for a few minutes before he began to talk again, telling the tale of the Three Brothers, the Hallows, the legend of the Master of Death and how he had held all three. Then he spoke of recalling them and ending up in the Nexus and Noctis listened in shock. Harry was the Master of Death? He'd met Death itself! Not just a god of Death but the thing beyond them….

"I'm sorry Noct…I was too late to help your Dad. He'd been dead only minutes, but his soul was gone."

"The Ring," Noctis spat, it must have claimed his Dad before Harry arrived.

"What?" Harry looked at him.

"The Ring takes the King's soul, they join the Lucii."

"That sounds worse than a Horcrux and not something that should ever be happening. Guess I know why Death was so eager for me to come here," he sighed. "I sent it with your Luna, hope she'll be okay."

"She knows better than to try and use it, only a Lucis Caelum can without it killing them very painfully."

"She nearly put it on back in Insomnia, then Nyx tried in her place, here's hoping they have better sense on the road."

"What…what did you mean by making sure no one could…harm Dad's….body?" it was hard to say it, it made it all the more real. His Dad was gone.

"I incinerated it," Harry answered gently.

"How did he die?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"No…but I need to," Noctis answered. Had it been drawn out? Quick?

"He was missing his ring finger, looked like someone cut it off to get to the Ring. The killing blow was straight through his chest, with a very large sword, Glauca's I'm assuming. It would have been very quick, he wouldn't have felt much," Harry explained, gripping his hands.

Noctis nodded slowly. That was…that was good, that his Dad hadn't suffered. He'd been dreading the idea that Glauca had tortured him, drawn it out. Then again, Harry had said he arrived within minutes of his death, so he likely hadn't had time for more than a quick, killing blow. Lunafreya and Nyx must have been there, how else could she have the Ring? Had they seen? He took a deep breath, leaning against Harry. He wished he could go back to those last weeks, to try and spend more time with his Dad, to help more, maybe they could have found a way to save his dad. He wasn't ready to be King.

Harry glanced up at the sun. "What time do you guys usually get up? And I should sync my watch to local time."

Noctis pulled his phone out, glad for the diversion from his thoughts. "8am on the dot," he read and watched Harry adjust his rather old fashioned watch. "We need to get you a phone."

"Will it work? All my electronics need to be shielded or they tend to break down pretty fast. The more complicated the faster they break."

"We'll get you one in Lestallum, they'll have the best quality available…anymore."

"Are you okay? With the whole Master of Death thing?" Harry asked quietly.

"Do you still love me?" Noctis asked and Harry's eyes widened.

"Of course! I will always love you," he swore and Noctis smiled.

"Then why would it bother me?" Noct asked and Harry smiled back at him before getting up.

"Come on, let's see how breakfasts coming and if Ignis needs any help." He offered a hand and Noctis took it, letting Harry pull him up. They headed back up to the street and then over to the caravan to see Prompto sitting on the steps, grinning at them when he spotted them.

"Everything okay?" he asked and Noctis nodded.

"Yeah, we're good," he promised. He was still considering everything Harry had told him and knew he'd be thinking about it for a while, but it didn't change what was important.

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Nyx ducked into the tent he had scrounged to find her waiting for him. "News is reporting your death, as well as the Princes' but we know he wasn't in the city," he told her even as he passed over the food he'd bought. He'd hating parting from Libertus, but his oldest friend had been correct, travelling in a group of three made them stand out more, especially two men and a woman, especially two Galahdians with a woman who definitely wasn't. It looked a lot less suspicious for just the two of them. He was almost fully healed now, and he was the better fighter so they had split up, Libertus going to try and make contact with any other loyal Glaive who may have survived. The hope was that the Prince could grant them magic again, giving him a fighting force ready and willing to take the Empire on.

"Thank you. No, if Noctis were dead I would know."

"Oh?" Nyx glanced at her and she smiled sadly.

"I am the Oracle and his is the Chosen King. I believe all of Eos may know if he died," she explained even as she got him to lie down so she could check his wounds. He felt half naked even before she pushed his shirt up to check the healing bullet wounds, wearing civilian clothes was strange and offered little protection but in a way it was their protection. With Insomnia fallen and his magic gone, wearing the uniform of a Kingsglaive was suicide. He had even managed to get her into worn jeans, a shirt and jacket, her hair pulled back in a simple braid and hidden by the hood of her jacket when needed. His braids would draw little comment, refugees from Galahd had settled all over Lucis, even if the majority had gone to Insomnia.

"Will you two still marry when we get to Altissia?" he asked, wondering if the two would go ahead despite the peace treaty never being signed.

"No," she shook her head. "And I am not going to Altissia, not yet."

"You mean we. The King left you under my protection, so did the Crownsguard. Where you go, I go, until we meet up with the Prince."

"Very well then, it will not be an easy journey," she warned, and he raised an eyebrow, getting a soft laugh from her.

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Prompto smiled as he watched the way Harry and Noctis moved around each other, you'd never suspect they hadn't seen each other in three years, had never technically met in the real world. They just fit together so easily and part of him was scared by that, that he wouldn't be needed or wanted anymore but he tried to bury that. They'd done nothing to indicate such a thing, Harry had given him the second room in the tent, talked to him, even hugged him!

He also felt guilty, he hadn't told the others until after Harry was presumed dead, he didn't know the truth. He had to know something was up after Cor had pulled him aside and he'd been upset, Harry had helped comfort him. He glanced down at his phone and hit send, normally he'd be excited over sending something to Cor Leonis….but not this. The file contained everything he could remember from his childhood, not that it'd really been a childhood. His memories of that time were just as clear now as they had been back then, he'd heard other talking and he shouldn't remember as well as he did. Then again, there was very little that once he learnt he ever forgot. He'd looked it up, photographic memory seemed the closest except it wasn't just info but experiences, training. It was why he'd taken to photography, gave him an outlet for the trigger finger outside of arcade games.

He hadn't gone into much detail when he told the guys, they shouldn't have to know how depraved Niflheim truly was. And after having written out the file, he recognised the so-called man of no consequence, he didn't know his name, but he had come to the lab sometimes, inspecting them. After hesitating for a few more minutes he sent Iggy the file as well, making sure it was clearly labelled. Ignis could read it or not, it would be up to him.

He watched as Noctis headed into the station store and took a deep breath before approaching Harry hesitantly.

"Hey, everything okay?" Harry asked, obviously seeing something in his expression.

"Can I, uh, talk to you?"

"Sure," Harry agreed, shifting over on the picnic table so that Prompto could join him.

Prompto sat, fiddling with his wrist band, one Noct had gotten him as a present just before they'd left the city. It beat the horrid thing he'd worn as a kid and it covered more than the bracelets he'd worn without getting in his way. He took a deep breath and slipped the band off, laying his hand on the table to ensure it could be seen.

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Harry's eyes were drawn by the movement and his eyes widened as he saw the thick, clear, black lines and the numbers. He'd studied WWII a bit at school…and there'd been a neighbour for a few years whose yard he'd helped with, he'd had faded numbers tattooed on his arm. He slowly reached out, running his fingers over the lines, feeling the raised edges, that wasn't a tattoo. He looked up, seeing the wariness in Prompto's eyes. "It isn't a tattoo."

Prompto shook his head. "The others know, Cor knows. It's why he pulled me aside, he didn't know I remembered. How much did Noct tell you….about my family?"

"Just that you're adopted, and he thought your adoptive parents were away too much," Harry had a bad feeling about where this was going.

"I was about six when Cor brought me to Insomnia and the Argentum's adopted me. They all thought I didn't remember anything before then and I wish I didn't," he paused, obviously struggling and Harry grasped his hands.

"It's okay," he whispered. "Pretty obvious that wherever you were, it was not a good place."

"Niflheim, I'm from Niflheim," Prompto whispered, staring at their joined hands, seeing the nasty scar on the back of one of Harry's…were those words? Harry glanced down and shrugged.

"Sadistic toad of a Professor in fifth year. She wanted to make sure the lesson sank in," Harry admitted and Prompto gaped at him.

"Does Noct know?"

"That she did it? Yeah. Not sure if he's realised the scar was permanent."

"I'm sorry."

"She got what she deserved in the end," Harry smirked slightly and then sobered. "Has whoever did that to you gotten what they deserve yet?"

"Don't know, doubt it….since the MT program seems to be running well."

"Pardon?" Harry looked a bit confused.

"I wasn't born, I was made," Prompto whispered. "I should be one of them by now, a daemon used to power armour." He couldn't look at Harry, didn't want to see the disgust from his new friend. Then again, Harry only knew what Noct had told him of their world, he was missing a lot of information so…maybe he could accept him?

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"Want to know what several smart people back home used to tell me?" Harry asked, freeing a hand to tip Prompto's head up, meeting his eyes. "It's our choices that define us, not our blood or where we come from," he smiled at the shocked blonde. "You choose to be Prompto Argentum and not what you were born to be and so that is who you are." Harry sat quietly as Prompto blinked and stared at him before suddenly the blonde was hugging him and Harry hugged back. Thanks to Noct, Hermione and Luna, he had gotten over his aversion to touch at school or else it would be very awkward.

"Thanks," Prompto mumbled and Harry reached up a hand to playfully ruffle styled hair.

"There's nothing to thank me for."

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Noctis grinned as he watched Prompto throw himself at Harry, hugging the wizard tight. He had been able to tell Prompto was torturing himself over telling Harry about his past, it was why he had volunteered to handle restocking their potions. He had known Harry would accept Prompto after coming from a world where humans weren't the only intelligent species, compared to that, Prompto being a lab baby was nothing. He was glad they were getting along so well; he didn't know what he'd do if they didn't. He headed over once Prompto sat back, grinning at them even as he put the flyers down. "Up for a hunt?" he asked and Prompto grinned even as Harry looked them over curiously.

"Sure," Harry agreed and Prompto went to find Gladio and Ignis.

"Thank you," Noctis whispered, leaning against him and Harry kissed him.

"Why do people keep thanking me over nothing?" Harry mock grumbled. "Where he's from doesn't change who he is. I like him, I think we'll be good friends."

"Good." Noctis grinned and then the others were back, and they had a hunt to prepare for.

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Cor opened the file Prompto had sent and his eyes widened at the size and detail of the information. Why had they never asked him before? he could understand why the kid had remained silent, he'd been scared. But with friends who accepted him he was finally overcoming his past it seemed. He still wasn't sure what he thought of Potter, he'd love more information on the boy, especially with how close he was to his new King. But Regis had confirmed him as one of Noctis' guards, so surely he had known him. He would have to trust the boys to look after themselves and each other. He hesitated, looking at the photo and file before sending it. Prompto deserved to know and it would help them be careful as more and more Imperial officers moved through Lucis.

TBC…