Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 2

Harry grit his teeth as he felt his magic drain, supporting the heavy statue as lines of magic writhed over the throne and then over the ice before sinking in. He closed his eyes and hunched against it as a shockwave blasted outward and through the walls.

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Prompto gasped in air as his head hit the stair, coughing and trying not to choke even as bone deep shivers set in. He shut his eyes in pain, it was too bright! He heard groans and thumps nearby and knew it was Ignis and Gladio. Why was he so cold? "G..Gu..ys?" he forced past chattering teeth. He nearly jumped as a hand touched his arm but then he blindly reached up to grip the gloved hand. Then he was being hauled upright and he winced in pain as his head throbbed.

"What the hell?"

"Gladio?" Ignis asked and Prompto could feel him shivering even as he tried to open his eyes a little, to get them reused to daylight.

"The sun was just starting to rise, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Prompto agreed, glad the shivers were abating.

"So why is it so high in the sky now? Got to be closer to late afternoon."

"That's not possible," Ignis argued but even he could feel the way the light fell on them.

"We…we need to…Noct.." he couldn't say it; couldn't bear to think what they'd find but they had to go and find him. He was their King and they had to look after him, even if it was just caring for his body one last time.

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Cindy went to the door of the garage, staring out in awe even as she shaded her eyes. She glanced towards Insomnia, worried for the four boys. They had really grown up since they had pushed the Regalia into Hammerhead so long ago. She prayed they had all made it through even as she moved to support her Paw-paw so that he could see the light as well.

"He did it, the boy did it," Cid murmured, and she nodded.

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Cor stumbled, falling to a knee even as his body shook with shivers. He looked around in confusion, seeing everyone else also disorientated and freezing cold. It was bright…too bright. He looked outside and saw daylight. They'd done it…Noctis had done it.

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Harry opened his eyes and then lowered the ice body to the ground carefully, finding that it straightened out like flesh and blood would. Ron moved in with healing potions at the ready, all three of them watching the body carefully. "There!" Harry indicated where the sword had impaled him and sure enough, the skin was beginning to revert to flesh, bright red blood beginning to stain the skin. Ron went to work immediately, better to ensure the patient would be on the way to healing and out of pain before he woke up. Harry shifted so that the ice cold head was resting on his thighs as he knelt on the dais, so that he would know he wasn't alone when he began waking up. Plus the ground was hard and if he jerked or anything they didn't want him bashing his head on the stone floor. They would move him to the makeshift hospital once Ron deemed it safe to move him.

Ron and Hermione worked together with the ease of long time practice, her handing Ron what he needed before he even asked.

Harry focused on watching as blue tinted ice shifted into golden skin and a fancy black suit. As the transformation moved down it revealed an ornate golden brace on one leg and Harry made a mental note to get Ron to see if he could do anything about that once the guy was stable. As his hands changed, Harry took them in his, gripping lightly in case he was in away aware, letting him know he wasn't alone. He could feel callouses from weapons handling, likely swords which was interesting. It moved up his throat and Harry watched it move as if he was trying to swallow. "It's okay, you're going to be alright," he whispered in an ice ear. He kept up the soft encouragement, fingers gently stroking warm hands, feeling fingers twitch in his own. He watched as a scraggly beard thawed, lips, then the nose….deep blue eyes widened, lips parting as he gasped for air. "Shh…" he leant over to let the King see him better. "It's okay, you're safe. It's almost over," Harry promised and then he felt the weight of ice replaced by the lesser, warmer, weight of a human head. "Ron?"

"Wounds stabilised. We can move him," Ron answered, grinning when dazed blue eyes moved to focus on him. "Hey. You're lucky, the blade missed most of your major internal organs. You'll be back on your feet before you know it," he promised.

"I'm going to lift you up now," Harry warned, sliding out from under him to carefully lift him into his arms. With all the magic used on his wounds, plus to melt him, it was safer to carry him physically than use a spell. He had just turned to head down the stairs when the doors slammed open to reveal three men…the three from the outside stairs.

"Noct!" the blonde yelled, lifting a gun.

In response the man in Harry's arms stirred slightly, trying to turn his head and Harry shifted his grip, helping him.

The blondes eyes went wide, the gun dropping down. "Noct?" he whispered, only the security spells they'd set up during their stay allowing them to hear him.

Harry moved down the stairs with the older man in his arms, settling him on the bed Ron had set up and the redhead went to work as Harry put himself between the two groups, empty hands up. The last thing they needed right now was a fight.

"What is happening?" one of the men asked and Harry focused on him, seeing the opaque visor over his eyes and the scarring. Was he blind? It seemed likely.

"Three strangers, two male, one female. They have Noct but...I swear Ignis, I saw him move when Prompto called his name."

"My name is Harry, the redhead is Ron, and the girl is Hermione," he offered calmly, not wanting things to escalate. "And yes, he is alive. Are you his friends?"

"Of course we are! I'm his Shield," the biggest growled and Harry stared at him in confusion.

"Shield? You called him Noct, is that his name?"

"Are you serious?" the blonde demanded with wide eyes. "How can you not know who he is?"

"We're…not exactly from around here," Harry shrugged.

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Ignis listened closely to the young man who was speaking. He did not recognise his accent which was strange. Was it possible? Could Noctis truly be alive? He stepped forward; hand slightly outstretched. "Where is he?" he had to feel it for himself.

"This way," the young man called, and he followed his voice, he had adapted to a world of darkness before anyone else, because for him it was permanent. His foot nudged some debris and he shifted his course a little. "Do you need any help?" There was no pity or scorn in his voice which was nice, just a genuine sounding concern. "We've had to set some things up in here to make it liveable over the last few months."

Ignis hesitated, but then nodded. "Very well, thank you." He held his hand out and then an arm linked with his and he was lead around several objects before they stopped and the stranger, Harry, guided his hand out and down. He felt the rich fabric of Kingly raiment under his fingers, before he pulled his glove up and moved up the material until he felt warm flesh, running his hand up until he found the column of his throat, pressing lightly to feel a slow but steady pulse. "Noctis…" he whispered in shock and relief. His King lived. He ran his fingers up, through the sparse facial hair to trace his features, something he hadn't had the chance to do before. then the brow under his fingers furrows slightly and he hears a harsh swallow. "Are…is he conscious?" he asked, turning his head to where he could feel someone.

"Mostly," was the answer in a similar accent to Harry's, male, so that meant it was Ron. "I gave him a pretty potent painkiller though so he's pretty out of it. Repairing a hole literally through his upper abdomen takes time and he definitely doesn't need to feel it. And the whole thawing part seems to have knocked him about as well."

"Thawing?" he demanded, what did they mean?

"You don't know?' a gentle, feminine voice asked in concern.

"Know what?" Prompto asked, sounding closer so they must have followed him over.

"We found him, pinned to the throne by a sword…and he was frozen solid. He liked like the world's best made ice statue. So did you three on the stairs," she answered.

"I went exploring, all I ever found was ice statues instead of people. When I touched the sword the first time a woman appeared, she was white and pretty much naked. She said that he gave his life to bring back the light but that the world wouldn't have been able to handle a human population for long. She asked us to free the King and free everyone," Harry explained.

"That's…" Gladio trailed off.

"Crazy?" Ron offered. "Okay, I've done what I can for now. The wound is healing but he'll be sore for a while."

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At those words Prompto moved in to gently take his best friends hand. He looked down at him to see partially open eyes, though they looked rather unfocused. "Hey Noct, can you hear me?" he called nervously and Noctis slowly shifted his gaze to look at him. "Hey," he whispered, managing a shaky smile and then he felt the hand in his shift a bit, so he squeezed. "We're here buddy. You were hurt pretty badly, so get some sleep." He stroked his other hand through messy black hair and grinned as Noctis' eyes slid shut.

"Should we give him an elixir?" Ignis offered.

"What's that?" the redhead, Ron, asked. He was obviously the medic in the group.

"A curative which heals and restores magic."

"Better not to mix an unknown in with what I've already given him," Ron answered. He ran a final scan and moved away to clean the blood from his hands. "Harry clean or change your shirt will ya?" he called and the dark haired one looked down even as they looked over, everyone seeing the blood on it.

"Ah, right." He ran a hand down his shirt and Prompto gaped as the blood vanished. Magic couldn't do that…could it?

Who was he anyway? Only the Royal family could use magic…though….he did kind of look like Noct. King Regis had green eyes too and had black hair when he was young…was this Harry a Lucis Caelum? That was a concern, since they'd gotten into this mess thanks to an unknown relation. If Ardyn had been two thousand years old, could he have had kids? But surely his kids or descendants would want revenge for his death, so why heal Noctis? "Who are you? How can you do that? Magic doesn't do that…does it?" He shifted more protectively in front of his sleeping King even as Gladio moved up, reaching out to touch his arm, checking for himself that Noctis really was alive. Prompto gasped as he felt a flash, almost like an electric shock and then he fell to his knees, hearing the others do the same. Had it been a trap? He tried to move but his world went black. He didn't see the three strangers staring in shock before moving in to check on them.

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"What the bloody hell?" Ron snarled, immediately beginning scans on them.

Harry gently rolled the blind young man over, staring down at changed features, seeing how the well-fitting uniform was now a bit looser in places….because he had lost muscle mass. "It looks like they took a de-aging potion." He gently removed the visor to see the scarring better, noticing one eye was kept shut by it. He went to Ron's kit and pulled out a vial of clear liquid.

"Harry?"

"It's worth a shot, the wounds look pretty new now," he answered, removing the stopper and gently dripping the liquid over the scars and his eyes, gently opening the one he could to place a drop right on the eyeball before closing it and gently rubbing the closed lid to spread it. He watched, grinning as the scarring began to lessen, allowing him to open the other eye and repeat the procedure. Even if it didn't restore his sight, at least the scarring was massively reduced. What could have caused it that Phoenix tears had trouble healing?

"It happened when they all touched the King," Ron muttered as he scanned them.

"And it happened to the King as well," Harry offered, leaning over the treatment table. All trace of facial hair was gone, his features softer. "I'd guess they're our age now, or close to it."

"Scans say the blind one is twenty two, the blond is twenty and the big guy is twenty three."

"You know, we never did get their names," Hermione commented as she levitated the three and slipped some bedding beneath them.

"Looks like that lady gave them another gift huh?" Harry put the vial back in the kit. "Hungry?"

"For your cooking mate? Always?" Ron grinned and they all laughed but Harry went about making lunch, leaving aside enough for the four currently sleeping.

TBC…

I still haven't decided on the pairings.