Chapter 4

Junk

"I wonder what kind of dream he was having."

The sound of footsteps echoed in the cold, dimly lit evidence room as Cor and Gladio made their way through the aisles. Everything in the room from the dark shelves to the lined up brown boxes was neat and tidy, not a single thing was out of place. Cor couldn't really remember the last time he'd stepped into the room but he had expected it to be covered in a layer or two of fine dust and maybe a little out of sorts, at the very least. It was pristine. Whoever was in charge of maintaining the evidence room could use a pay raise.

He stopped at a desk tucked in a little corner in between the shelves with a low hanging pendant light above it and let Gladio walk all the way to the back of the room to search for the box they were there for. He flicked the light on and was bathed in a pool of bright yellow glow.

"You have any idea what that was all about?" Cor asked, his voice carried in the stale air, loud in the silence and the gloom, his mind replaying the scene that had taken place in the Crownsguard medical wing earlier that morning.

"That nonsense Prompto was spouting about Altissia and stuff? No, not a single idea," Gladio replied from the back of the room as he pulled out a box from a shelf. He checked the label and walked back to where Cor was sitting with the box under his arm. Cor pushed aside some of the stacks of yellowing papers on the desk without much care before Gladio dropped the box in the cleared space.

"The kid was raving back there. Looked afraid. He was obviously anxious about something," Cor said, pulling off the lid of the box and started taking out items packed in clear plastic zipper bags. He frowned at the packets of potato chips in his hands.

"Well, he should be afraid. I could've punched him when he said those things about King Regis."

At that, Cor stopped what he was doing for a moment to give Gladio a warning glare. "I'd appreciate it if you could be less hands-on with him in the future, Gladio."

Gladio tried not to look too guilty. "Sorry about that, sir. It's just that, the things he was saying… I couldn't stop myself from reacting like that."

"He did say some bizarre things, I have to admit. Insomnia and Regis…" Cor couldn't finish his words, the thought of Insomnia was no more and Regis dead was something he didn't want to think about for too long. "He said something about negotiations and calling forth… Leviathan? That's just…" Cor stared at another packed potato chips in his hand, a quiet sigh escaping him. "I wonder what kind of dream he was having."

"A weird one, for sure. I mean, Claudia Claustra? Really? Of all people to dream of," Gladio said with a shake of his head and a chuckle.

"Or it could be a vision." Cor's words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Gladio turned to look at him through narrowed eyes.

"What? A vision where Insomnia has fallen and King Regis is—" Gladio shook his head vehemently, frowning. "No way, that will never happen. Like hell I'd believe Prompto's some kind of prophet or something. He didn't see any vision. That was just a stupid dream he shouldn't have dreamed about in the first place."

"I understand why you'd think it's absurd for things like that to happen to Insomnia, but I just couldn't help wanting to believe what Prompto was saying." Cor ignored Gladio's dissatisfied look and kept going. "I'm not saying I believe Insomnia will fall or whatever the hell Prompto was saying, but I feel like his memories might have been tempered with, tweaked or something along those lines. For him now, fallen Insomnia is reality. Yesterday, being a twelve-year-old was his reality."

Gladio was quiet, thinking. "I guess that's possible… but if his memories were really tempered with, the question is how, and why? And who?" He made a disgruntled noise as he placed his hands on the edges of the cool steel desk. He contemplated silently, listening to the sound of plastic crinkling underneath Cor's hands before he looked up at him. "You think he's for real, sir? Like he's not putting on an act? I mean, he did try to hurt Noct."

"You think he's faking it?" Cor asked as he took out the last item from the box; a can of soda called Down Me!. He put it aside together with the packets of chips.

"To be honest, I can't really tell," Gladio said.

"You've spent time with him, right? Enough to know what he's really like. You think he really wanted to hurt Noctis?"

"If you'd asked me this three days ago, I would've answered no without a doubt."

"And now?"

Gladio shrugged. "I don't know. I know what I saw that night. Prompto really was going to hurt Noct. There was no mistaking it. But I wanted to be wrong. He and Noct, they're like meant to be in each other's lives. I can't deny how much livelier Noct's become ever since they became friends. He's happy when Prompto's around."

Gladio was not the only one who'd noticed that. Cor was glad to see the prince slowly leaving behind his solemn demeanor when Prompto started hanging out with him. That was also one of the reasons why he had signed Prompto's papers to be let into Noctis's inner circle.

He sifted through the packed items on the desk quietly. Except for the two packets of potato chips and the can of soda he had set aside, he placed the other items back into the box. He put the lid back on and gathered the items left out on the desk. He couldn't help frowning at the inane names.

"These the junk you kids eat these days?" Cor asked incredulously, holding up the bagged To-me-too so that Gladio could see the name clearly printed across the wrinkly packet. "Really?"

Gladio shrugged, grabbing the chips from Cor and turning it around a couple of times in his hand.

"Dunno. I don't really eat junk food. Only healthy food for me."

Cor almost rolled his eyes, wanting to mention Gladio's open secret which was the dozens of Cup Noodles stacked in his Crownsguard locker, but he stilled his eyes and held his tongue.

"I never had any of these, though." Gladio continued to inspect another bag with the Peas Toll chips sealed in it. "They think they're clever, huh, with these funky names. Wonder where Prompto got them. He's usually the one bringing over weird stuff on gaming night."

"That's what I want to know."

Gladio arched an eyebrow, glancing at Cor. "What do you mean, sir?"

"You see any info about the manufacturer or distributor printed on them?"

Gladio scanned the packets and the can, his frown getting deeper by the second. He shook his head. "That's weird. None of that on any of these. They're supposed to have things like that displayed, right? But at least they have the ingredients list printed. Pretty much the normal stuff."

Cor huffed at that with a skeptical look. "I wouldn't take the list at face value. Take them to R&D. Get one of the teams to run a test for these junk."

"I thought they already did that? Didn't the forensics team collect samples of the food they found that night?"

"Only for the pizzas, which didn't have anything suspicious in them. They didn't run tests for any of the packaged food."

"Really? Why?" Gladio asked, a little surprised.

"Because the ones they found were not opened. They were still perfectly sealed, like those you're holding."

Gladio looked at the packets in his hands, still frowning. "Wait, is that right? There's no way those two didn't eat any of these that night, especially with Iggy not around. Noct'd gobble these up in seconds. I'm sure I saw a couple of these packets ripped open on the sofa and some empty cans rolling around."

"Even if you did, the forensics team's report says otherwise. They only found packets and cans of unopened ones. They swept the apartment and that included the thrash bins. They didn't find any opened or thrown away packets of these junk food lying around in Noctis's place."

"That's strange. But they can't be wrong, right? Maybe…" Gladio shook his head slightly as if his memories were failing him. He was starting to doubt himself. "Maybe I wasn't really paying as much attention as I initially thought? But why do you want them to run tests for these?"

"I'm not saying the report from the forensics team is false but like you said, I don't believe neither Noctis nor Prompto didn't consume at least some of these stuff."

Gladio blinked at him, realizing what Cor was implying. "You think there's something in them that's causing Prompto's memories to go haywire and for Noct to fall into a prolonged sleep?"

"I'm not sure and there's really no evidence for it, but yeah."

.o.o.o.

The next morning, Cor was back to walking along the hallways of the Crownsguard medical wing, his heavy feet bringing him closer towards Prompto's room. He had lost count how many times he'd walked through the same hallways these past two days.

He slowed his steps when he saw Gladio hovering outside of Prompto's room, looking a little uncertain as he quietly peeked into the room through the window. Cor cleared his throat mildly as he approached him and Gladio immediately stood at attention.

"Good morning, sir," he greeted.

"Mornin'," Cor mumbled, glancing into the room. Prompto was pacing around the small space, looking somewhat restless and agitated. He was staring around the room with wide, bewildered eyes as if expecting someone to jump him out of nowhere.

"He's awake," Cor observed. He turned to look at Gladio. "Why are you hovering out here?"

"Considering what's been happening these past few days, I don't know what kind of Prompto I'd be facing today, so I was waiting for a nurse to come by. Thought it'd be better for someone else to be in the room with me 'cause if Prompto says something like yesterday again, I'm not sure I could stop myself from punching him."

Cor harrumphed. Gladio really needed to learn to relax a little. "How long has he been awake?"

"A while, I guess. He was already up when I got here ten minutes ago."

"You've been watching him."

"Sorta. Looks like he's confused, but he's not full-out panicking. He's been pacing the room for a while now."

Cor watched for a few more seconds before knocking on the door and stepping into the room without waiting for Prompto's reply.

The boy stared at him, mouth opened. "Aren't you… Cor Leonis?"

When he saw Gladio entering the room, Prompto instinctively took a step back, his eyes travelled over Gladio's form from top to bottom, looking intimidated. "Uh… who's the big guy, uh, Mr Leonis, sir?"

Cor and Gladio exchanged a look.

Looked like today they'd be dealing with a version of Prompto who didn't know who the hell Gladiolus Amicitia was. Cor startled when Prompto abruptly came up to him.

"Please sir, tomorrow's my first day of high school. It's important. I have to be there if I want to try and be friends with Prince Noctis." His words cut off immediately, like he was only realizing with whom he was talking to. "Um, Mr Leonis, it's okay for me to try being friends with the prince… right? It's not against the law, I'm… sure?"

Cor closed his tired eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

Another day of dealing with an out-of-timeline Prompto.

.o.o.o.

It was late, about half an hour before midnight and Cor was having an annoying headache, the throbbing kept shifting from behind his eyes to the back of his head and to somewhere in the middle part of his brain. He made a mental note to take a couple of painkillers later as he dragged his feet towards Noctis's rooms. He hadn't planned to go see the prince as Noctis was still lost in a deep sleep, the same he had been since three nights ago, but without him realizing it, his feet had taken him to Noctis's rooms instead of his office. Maybe he just wanted to assure himself that the prince was alright.

When he soundlessly pushed open Noctis's bedroom door that had stood slightly ajar, he wasn't surprise to see Ignis sitting quietly by the prince's bedside.

"Hello, Ignis," Cor said softly as not to startle him.

Ignis turned around in his chair, the lens of his spectacles catching the dim glow of the night lamp. He smiled at the sight of Cor.

"Hello, Marshal. What can I do for you?"

Cor smiled despite himself at how polite Ignis always sounded. He made his way towards the bed, watching the sleeping prince. "How's he doing?"

"He's doing fine, sleeping peacefully as ever."

"You sure there isn't something else going on in his sleep?"

Ignis breathed in deeply, leaning back in his chair as his gaze returned to Noctis. "The doctors said not to worry. He's merely sleeping, albeit a deep and long one."

"You look worried, though," Cor said. He didn't miss the dark rings under Ignis's eyes and the way he was watching Noctis with concern.

Ignis was quiet for some time.

"I guess I'm worrying out of habit. It feels strange not see or hear His Highness complaining about something every now and then," he explained, a bittersweet smile on his lips. "And it pains me a little to see him like this. It stirs old and unpleasant memories."

Cor had no doubt Ignis was thinking of the time when Noctis had lain limp in his bed as he went through that long, painful period of recovering from his back injury.

Ignis turned to look at him again, the worry on his face was gone, replaced by a neutral mask. "How's Prompto doing? According to Gladio, he hasn't been himself for the last couple of days."

Cor shrugged. He wished he didn't have to think about the cause of his headache anymore. "Yeah, that's about right. Apparently he's on a mission to befriend the prince on his first day of high school tomorrow."

A little crease appeared in between Ignis's eyebrows, and then there was an amused smile on his face. "I see. I hope his mind will return to its correct timeline soon."

"I hope so, too."

.o.o.o.

Prompto bashed the call button several times, his teeth gnashing his lower lip with worry. He knew he was panicking, maybe being unnecessarily frantic, but he needed to find Noct.

When he'd woken up ten minutes ago, all he could think of was Noct and that night he had him cuffed and tried to hurt him. That was last night, right? But he wasn't sure. How many days have passed since then? He couldn't remember anything else happening between that night and waking up just now, so that must have been last night. But… something felt off.

The first thing he did when he realized he was probably being held in custody in this ward was jumped out of bed and tried turning the doorknob. It was locked. Of course it was. He was a criminal suspect as far as anyone in the Citadel and this building he was held in was concerned.

He banged on the call button again, his breathing becoming more erratic from thinking what might have happened to Noct that night before there was a crackle coming from the intercom above his headboard.

"Good morning, Mr Argentum. Is everything—"

"I need to know about Noct! Please, is he alright? I need—"

"Mr Argentum, please take a deep—"

"Please, just tell me whether Noct— whether Prince Noctis is alright or not! Who's in charge of this— this thing— this case? Who brought me in? Was it Gladio? Can you let me see Gladio—"

"Prompto, calm down."

Prompto whirled around in surprise at the calm, even voice coming from behind him. He was panicking so much he didn't even hear the door opening.

"M-Marshal!" Prompto half-shouted in fear and relief when he saw Cor Leonis standing in his doorway. He ignored the nurse calling out to him over the intercom and went straight for Cor. "Where is Noct? Is he alright? I need to know, sir, please. He was acting strange last night. He passed out suddenly when—"

"Last night?" Cor's frown deepened in confusion. "What are you talking about? Was he awake? Did he come to see you?"

"What? What're you talking— No, that's not it! We were in his apartment and he passed out when Gladio came barging in and then—"

Prompto stopped talking when Cor gripped his shoulders a little too tightly, shaking him.

"Prompto, calm down and listen to me. That was four nights ago."

He blinked. "Wha—"

"Do you remember anything that happened here for the past three days?"

"Three days? But—"

"Hey! Get back here! You're not allowed to be near him!"

Both Prompto and Cor turned towards the opened door when they heard Gladio's voice booming from somewhere down the hallway outside. Seconds later, Noct appeared in the doorway, his disheveled hair in his wide eyes, looking slightly pale and weakened but otherwise fine. He stood there in his sleeping clothes staring hard at Prompto before his gaze shifted to Cor.

"Prompto's innocent. I can explain," he said in between heavy breaths, his eyes still wide and worried.

"Noct, you're alright!"

"Your Highness, you're awake."

Prompto and Cor's words mingled and jumbled into a little chorus of relief.

Noct stepped into the room as Gladio finally appeared behind him in the doorway, out of breath and looking furious.

Now a lot calmer, Noct said, "Cor, Prompto's innocent. He didn't do anything wrong. It might've looked like he was going to hurt me that night but there's an explanation for that. I'll tell you everything from the start."

"Noct, let me—"

Noct put up a hand and the rest of Prompto's words died in his mouth. Noct stared at him, holding Prompto's gaze with those dark blue eyes of his before they shifted to Cor.

"It all started about a week ago…"

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Next chapter:

Pain

"I guess it is kinda awesome."