I know this chapter is short, but it felt like an appropriate stopping place and I hope this lives up to the cliffhanger ending of the previous chapter.
Aranea grabbed the soldier who made a poor attempt to step away from her by the front of his shirt, Noctis stepping back out of her way colliding with Gladiolus's chest. The soldier flinched, bringing his arm up to break her grip but her elbow impacted his nose, the man bellowing in pain and doubling over with both hands covering his face. She gripped the back of his uniform, dragging him to the doorway and throwing him inside. Once she took a step in after him the smell to match the sight within stung her eyes, and she nearly stepped back, a hand covering her nose and mouth. Noctis brushed his way past his friends to see what had jarred Nifleheim's former Commodore, mirroring her action as his hand slapped over his own face once at the threshold.
One side of the room was lined with hospital beds, each occupied by a body. Across from it was a metal desk with a computer and multiple binders, notebook pads, writing utensils, and a filing cabinet at the end one drawer misaligned and not fully closed, a few stray papers poking out from the over-stuffed files. The northern wall had two metal doors with a keypad, and Noctis wasn't sure he wanted to know what lay behind them. On one hospital bed a man, clearly overheated, lay with his blankets tossed to the floor, writhing in the bed with soundless moans on his lips. Both his legs had been amputated, one above the knee and the other below. His skin was a sickly yellow-grey with tendrils of black creeping up messily closed incisions from his amputations. The man was nude, his hospital johnny having been cast to the floor with his linens. A second man was lying in a bed, leather straps holding him down dressed in nothing more than a set of underwear, ice packs at his groins and armpits. One arm had been amputated near the shoulder, the bandage soaked in blood, staining his sheets in a crimson that looked too dark to be human blood. He was shivering, rattling the metal of the restraints clattering against the bedframe.
The third figure appeared to be where most of the odor was coming from. Covered in blankets it was impossible to tell if they were missing any limbs like their fellow patients, but the blankets were soaked in an unknown liquid, saturated with it enough that a pale yellow puddle was forming beneath the bed. Threads of black were visible on the figure's neck, reaching up to wrap around one ear which was partially soughed off revealing moist pink tissue beneath thick grey peeling scales, the side of their face and neck wet. Their nose was also black, the skin around their eyes thick and peeling, the fluid on their face indistinguishable as either tears or fluids oozing from the damaged tissues. Large tufts of hair had been sloughed away from a peeling scalp, leaving the figure unrecognizable in conjunction with the other horrors wracking their body.
A fourth bed was empty, neatly made but the linens bore stains, sending a shiver down Noctis's back. All three of the people in the occupied beds had a series of wires connecting them to an array of machines displaying various lines and numbers, quiet beeps filling the room between the moans of the people, and Noctis's own rapid breathing. The figure with fluids seemingly seeping from everywhere was connected to something intravenous, the label on the bag unreadable from the doorway.
Noctis blinked, his feet rooted to the floor despite every instinct in him screaming to run. Everything was wrong. These people looked wrong, their moans were wrong, they smelled wrong. Bile rose to the back of his throat, his nose burning with a sudden sharp odor, the sounds of the room drowned out by his racing heart throbbing in his ears. He staggered back, nearly bumping into Lunafreya in his haste to dash outside, heaving green bile onto the pavement. He hadn't thought of grabbing her to keep her from entering that room. When she rushed to see what startled him so, her horrified yelp punctuated every fiber of him screaming the word wrong over and over. He wanted to stand, to grab her, shield her from this sight, the smells. But he couldn't blink away the image from behind his eyelids, or convince his stomach to stop evacuating. His ears throbbed, his throat burned. His fingers were numb, and his legs were threatening to cease holding him up. His breathing came in desperate gulps for air, only realizing how fast he was breathing when he felt a hand on his back,
"Breathe… c'mon man breathe in and out." It was Gladiolus, his hand firmly patting his back. The roughness was helping to ground him as being outside of that room, and tried to focus his thoughts on his friend's voice. He could hear the others reacting similarly to him, Prompto gagging several feet away got Noctis vomiting up even more foamy bile, groaning from the cramps settling into his stomach from the strength of his retching.
"What the hell man, is this what the Empire does?" He pointed at the doorway, and judging by Gladiolus's grunt the man was just barely faring better than the rest of the retinue.
"I have to help them!" Lunafreya's voice carried through the various exclamations, gagging, and gasps coming from the group. Noctis stood up, far too quickly and felt his vision tunnel for a moment, shaking his head before stepping after her, halting several steps into the doorway to stand beside Crowe who stood a few paces into the room, and watched Lunafreya kneel beside the bed of the individual most desperately ill. After a few moments of hesitation Crowe left the Prince's side and walked slowly so she stood just behind Lunafreya, too tense to stand idly by the doorway, despite the revulsion at standing so close to the retched sight. Gladiolus stepped into the room to stand beside the Prince, fingers drumming against his thigh as his eyes fixed on the two doors across from them. Aranea was in the center of the room with the soldier they had previously abducted kneeling in front of her with his back to her, his gun in her hands pointed to the back of his head.
"Care to explain?" Aranea asked, pushing against the man's head, causing him to bob forward. Lunafreya was whispering her prayers to the person with the soaked sheets, hands aglow, and eyes closed as she tried to pour her light into them. Noctis has gone with her on one outing to heal the people of Tenebrae, and he had seen her all but work miracles. Bu the had never seen her even attempt to rescue a person in so desperate a state.
"We are working to find a cure for the blight." The man ground out, grunting as Aranea pushed the back of his head again.
"Bullshit." She snapped back. Noctis turned his attention back to her when Gladiolus spoke,
"Who let her have a gun?" Gladiolus asked.
"If she wanted to kill everyone she'd a' done it by now." Crowe supplied. Ignis was still outside trying to calm Prompto down, and Noctis felt a pang of guilt that he wasn't also outside with his friend, or beside Lunafreya. But he couldn't convince his legs to move. I'm useless. Another useless Lucian. No wonder everyone outside of Insomnia hated my father. I'm sitting just as idle. He worried his bottom lip, eyes scanning the room for any sign there was something he could do. Lunafreya was still feverently praying over the same man. He was moaning less than before, and the beeping of his machines were less rapid, but there was no other sign she was making significant progress.
"I'm not gonna shoot you." Aranea rolled her eyes. "Maybe him, but not you. I ask again, what the hell is this?!"
"I told you-"
"What is all this commotion? General I-" A man in a white uniform stepped out from one of the rooms behind the keypad locked doors. He had a blue surgical mask on to match protective gloves, hat, and paper boots. "Who the hell are all of you?!" he exclaimed, backing into a room and slamming the door. A new klaxon began to sound, echoing throughout the base, causing the group to collectively flinch. Noctis cursed under his breath, debating summoning his blade but decided against it with the limited space.
"What's the code?!" Aranea snapped, pushing the back of the soldier's neck with the gun. Hearing the conviction in her voice Noctis had to suppress the impulse to tell her to just pull the trigger already and give them one less Nif in this base to worry about. Aranea repeated her question, a bit louder and with a lot more cursing. The solider let out an irritated hiss, scrunching his nose before turning to look up at her,
"Just shoot me." He insisted. "I'm not telling you anything." Aranea groaned at the reply, rolling her eyes. Noctis turned to face them, bouncing on one leg, wondering of this turncoat was going to succeed at getting them into this room with the uniformed man; but he was concerned the new alarm would have MTs or possibly other humans charging into the building before they could get that far. His eyes flickered between the argument over the code, the door across from him, stepping back several paces to rest against the wall behind him, Gladiolus stepping instead further into the room to stand point by the door that had just opened.
"Hey, you," Aranea gestured at Ignis. "the one with the sexy glasses. Weren't you the one who was gonna get some info for us anyways? See if there's anything interesting lying around. With how stupid MTs can be, and unrealiable humans can be, pretty sure something laying around would have a passcode on it." She suggested. Noctis opened his mouth to ask her what gave her the impression she could order his advisor around, but he didn't want to give this Nif the impression of discord in his retinue. Ignis had only entered the room moments before being addressed, with a very pale-faced Prompto hovering in the doorway, eyes fixated on anything in the room that wasn't the bedridden people. Looking at the threads of black wrapped around their skin left him scratching at himself, neck growing pink. Noctis looked up to Gladiolus who gave him a nod in Prompto's direction, Noctis nodding and lifting himself from where he felt as if he were melting into the wall, glad for the excuse to step back outside and away from this.
"I shall try, and my name is Ignis." He had answered her, ignoring her smirk to approach the disorganized desk, wrinkling his nose at it wondering how that scientist could possibly work in these conditions. He wasn't sure where to start with the plethora of paperwork before him, doubting that he would find the code. Noctis listened to the conversation while he approached Prompto, a palm against his back as his friend groaned and doubled over, swallowing hard to keep himself from returning to retching.
"You really think we would leave the keypad code just lying around?" the soldier quipped. Ignis absentmindedly opened the notebooks and flipped open a binder or two, eyes glancing over the pages without taking in a word. He recalled codes to lock certain doors at the citadel, and a bad habit some of the newer security staff had at one point until they were on the receiving end of one hell of a scolding from Drautus.
"I do feel that regardless of your intentions, we will get the keypad code." He stated in a quiet monotone, getting concerned looks from the others. Prompto was still too busy trying to re-capture his breath to notice, Noctis with a palm on his back. "I'll give you a chance to give me the code, before I take it from you." He suggested carefully. Lunafreya's eyes were the only ones not trained on the advisor at that point, Prompto managing to tear his gaze away from the gray floor Noctis also looking up in confused alarm. Ignis was pacing slowly towards the soldier on the ground, who bumped his own head against the gun muzzle trying to turn to face the man.
"Do your worst." He ground out. His eyes were wide, his pupils dilated. There was a slight shaking in his limbs, bottom lip quivering to match the tremor in his tone. Ignis finished his steady walk up to the man and got down onto one knee,
"I see." He answered and reached out quickly, causing the man to flinch. His fingers wrapped around the soldier's name badge, pulling it free and flipped to look on the back, smirking when he saw the numbers 83732 written in permeant marker. "You know, this is why this is a bad habit."
"Hah! Hell yeah, open that door up!" Aranea cheered, "Knew those glasses weren't just for show!"
"What's the code man?" Gladiolus asked, typing it into the keypad as Ignis recited it, everyone ignoring the empty protests from the soldier.
"Can I shoot him yet?" Aranea complained, pushing at the back of his head again. "He's really annoying."
"I second that." Crowe answered in little more than a whisper, giving a glance at Lunafreya who was still desperately pouring her light into the figure on the bed. She opened her mouth to suggest she move on to one of the others but the sharp crash of the door being opened jarred both her and the Oracle, the latter flinching with a gasp, staring up at the doorway.
"Holy shit." Gladuolus murmured, "This… this is messed up." His fingers curled into fists, and the figures in the next room cursed at the intrusion.
"What?" Noctis asked, rushing across the room trying to look but Gladiolus's broad frame made it difficult. His Shield stepped aside and the Prince pushed past him, feeling his prior nausea return almost instantly. Three men were in the room, and all had quickly backed to the far wall. They were dressed as the scientist they saw earlier, white uniforms and surgical gear. The room was cold, a metal table in the center of the room atop which rested what appeared to be a human leg, the foot black veins standing out against grey flesh in curving lines of black. On another table was a metallic bowl, the contents obscured. On another table lay what appeared to be blood unit bags, one of the bags was swirling with black. A bag hung from a pole with a line going down to the leg, and a large basin. Notebooks, laid out far more meticulously than the ones on the desk, covered a table making an L-shape with the one continuing the surgical instruments. The cowering men had red and black stains on their hands, and the front of the surgical gowns.
"Oh Gods… I'm never eating again…" Noctis backed away, turning towards Lunafreya, glad to see she was still trying to focus her attention on healing.
"What the hell is this place?" Prompto asked, voice quivering. "We should get out of here." He didn't need to peer past his friends to get a look into the room, their voices telling him enough, fighting every urge to run far away.
"After we burn it to the ground." Noctis added, voice quiet and level. His fists were balled by his sides, backing away from the opened room. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to throw a fire grenade into the room then slam the door, command Aranea to open fire, or give Gladiolus the catharsis of strangling these men with his bare hands. He swallowed back these dark impulses, hearing Lunafreya's voice in his mind reminding him we can't sink to their level.
"Take all these papers first. This place is disgusting but they aren't doing it for funsies." Aranea remarked.
"What is it that you are hoping to discover?" Ignis asked, looking down at the soldier. "Don't play ignorant." He suggested. The man remained stubbornly silent and he rolled his eyes, "I plan to take your paperwork and thumb through it at length. You are not withholding information by remaining silent. Merely delaying."
"You damn Lucians, sitting here in your lovely continent an ocean away. You have no idea what the Blight is really like. You don't know what it does, acting like you're better than us. We need to cure it, especially now that you took our Oracle!" He finally snapped, grinding his teeth together. Noctis threw a cursory glance at Lunafreya, her tension evident in her posture, but she retained her focus on the people before her, having moved on to the man missing an arm shivering madly in his bed. Crowe pulled the blanket off the floor to cover him, throwing aside the ice. Hearing the soldier's voice she stood back up and took a step to put herself between Lunafreya and the soldier, despite Aranea continuing to press the gun against the man's head.
"So you're researching the blight?" Ignis asked, quirking a brow to feign ignorance. The fact was evident enough, but he needed to hear the man say it aloud. He wanted to hear him speak it, to know he wasn't a monster for the impulses he was struggling to hold back in his heart.
"The men in there are unarmed." The soldier insisted, swallowing hard.
"Oh well, guess I won't shoot them now for doing… that." Aranea replied, pointing with the gun. "Just trying to be helpful, huh?" she inquired. "I've been inside a Gralean hospital, typical B;ight patients sure as hell don't look like this." She ground out. "Before I blow every single one of these monster's brains out, what are we actually gonna do with them?" she asked, enjoying the agitation in the soldier every time she shoved the back of his head with the gun.
"Luna could probably focus on healing these guys without these assholes around too," Crowe added. "The faster we get them out of here the faster we can help these poor dudes."
"Umm… yeah." Noctis agreed with them, shaking his head to jar himself out of his stupor. "I should call Regis, he should know about this." He hesitated a moment before speaking his father's name, suppressing the first reaction to call him my dad, instead hoping to put these Nifs further ill at ease by dropping the name of the King they failed to assassinate even with every resource they had thrown at Insomnia.
"Running to daddy?" the soldier began to laugh, but cut off with a loud ow when the gun was slammed into his head hard enough to knock him over.
"Your voice pisses me off, so stop talking." She insisted. She looked up, each of the men in surgical gear being beckoned out of the room by Gladiolus's loud voice. They tried to insist that stopping what they were doing now would interrupt weeks of work, set them back. But the words had the opposite effect they were hoping for. Each was dragged from the room and thrown to the floor, all four men held at gunpoint as Gladiolus was happy to borrow Prompto's guns and hold these Nifs at bay while Noctis stepped outside, hoping that exiting the stone building would provide better cell service.
So for the brevity of this: I was concerned that the entire mood of this chapter would be ruined by including quite literally anything else. I started writing more and realized that it was greatly shifting the mood I (hope I) established, and decided to end it here instead. I hope this lived up to "what the fuck" and you enjoyed!
