Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts

Part 47

Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.

* Niflheim outlands, several days later…*

Blustery winds with intense cold, combined with the darkness and the deep snow that made walking a trial. The harsh winds were like slashing the cold onto the faces of those who would traverse the harsh storm, the sound overbearing and muffled any other sounds as the two travelers struggled to press onwards.

Prompto's teeth chatter as he takes short sharp breaths from the cold, shuddering while Kairi behind him struggled to maintain her balance in the snow while following her companion. The gunner's feet crunched the thick snow as he nearly stumbled and fell to the ground, shivering with the cold flakes of snow plastering on his cheeks.

'It's …freezing out here…', he says with a light chuckle, trying to remain peppy as he straightened himself. 'Y-Y-You're telling me…', Kairi replies, her teeth chattering as she helped him reposition his footing, 'I think…I think fifty percent of my blood froze…'. Prompto looked at the islander quickly after she said that, worried about how bad the cold was affecting her compared to himself. By no means an expert, Prompto knew well enough that a drastic change in temperature compared to where a person lived is often devastating and Kairi is no exception to that rule.

After she reunited with him when he was pushed off the train, they had immediately tried to find a place to hide from the daemons and recuperate before making any plans to reunite with the others. Within the day they found themselves on the outlands of the imperials, finding an abandoned faculty just before the daemons managed to catch up to them. Abandoned the place was luckily it wasn't depleted of resources like a winter gear for their journeys.

For Prompto he is wearing a black knitted hat, a black winter coat, and trousers lined with white fur. He wears winter boots and gear that supposedly helped attach other weapons to himself if he had any on him, to begin with. Ardyn had managed to somehow snag his pistol and no matter what he did he couldn't recall his firearm anymore, leaving him defenseless.

Kairi had donned the similar gear to her companion, wearing a dark cream winter coat that wrapped her up entirely with a pair of jeans with white fur lining towards her ankles. A knitted winter hat that was crimson red with what looked like a silver patch resembling Sora's crown, a pair of grey gloves with hiking boots. Unlike Prompto's, these were her adventure clothes that may have recognized the weather the princess must face and changed into this set of clothing.

Once they had gotten an idea of where they were and sometimes reading the map, the two less experienced members of the party had no other choice than to make their ways to Gralea and hopefully reunite with the others in time. Their journey was met by all sorts of troubles, be they daemons, heartless and just the weather, and that was just the easy stuff first.

Without his weapons, Prompto was forced to the side-lines while Kairi did the fighting for them, only able to rush in and distract the enemies with wild yelling and waving his hands like a bloody lunatic or quickly give Kairi a potion to help her out. Days of doing this were taking their toll on the two, however, along with not being able to sleep much thanks to the daemons, their food supplies dwindled until they only had one cup of noodles to eat.

To say they were stretched thin, in strength and supplies, is an understatement.

Kairi had tried to keep them warm as best as she could with her magic, but by the fourth day of doing this, she had to stop to conserve more magic and power for herself. Their walking became more difficult as fatigue weighed down their bodies, their movements steadily reduced to mere shuffles in the deep snow until Prompto fell to his knees, utterly exhausted. Kairi soon fell to her side, panting and shivering, spent.

'What…a way, to go…huh?', Prompto sighed tiredly, falling to the snow as Kairi's consciousness faded. Prompto looked to the skies to see two airships beaming their searchlights down on the two, three imperials jumping down and approached the two.

Too tired and cold to fight, Prompto could only watch helplessly as the soldiers dragged Kairi before he fell to a cold slumber…

* Magitek research facility*

Stirred awake with a groan and mumbles of confusion, Prompto's first thought was he was no longer bearing the full brunt of the winter's chill and a more bearable cold brushed against his exposed cheeks. He no longer felt the softness of the cold snow beneath him and instead the harsh cold steel of a floor with still sounds. Slowly the gunner raised his head to take in the new location he had found himself in.

The harsh yet lifeless cold blue colored room looked akin to a facility of sorts but with no emblem to tell him who owned it. It is empty, devoid of life and sounds other than the young man's steps and breathing when he got to his feet. Looking around he sees he was seemingly trapped inside with one path blocked by prison gates and another a normal security door. The blond then felt a worrisome chill breeze on his right wrist and when he looked down, he sees his usual wrist band had disappeared. He gasped in horror, looking at that strange barcode tattoo that he possessed.

While he didn't know what it was entirely, all he knew was, from what his parents had told him, if any would see that bar…Well, to put it nicely he would lose any chances of staying friends with anybody from Insomnia.

He shook his head, ignoring that reminder on his skin as he looked around this place to find a way out or something to give him a clue to where he was. That is until he looked around and much to his horror, only now had he realized he had awakened alone. Kairi was nowhere to be seen, startling the young man and making him look around frantically, calling her name. Upon one of the tables near him was an old tattered newspaper with an article that had caught his attention and upon picking it up and reading it, he discovered it was focused on Verstael Besithia, the empire's researcher and leader of the weapons division.

All the paper says is he had relinquished from his field duties to fulfill his task as the leader of the "Magitek Production Facility". 'So…is this the facility the papers talking about?', he asked himself, looking around. Prompto drops the paper back onto the table and peering over it, he sees a desk with a small black recording device on it. Approaching it, he picked it up and pressed the playback button.

The recording detailed that the empire's methods of empowering their magitek soldiers were supplemented by using magitek cores. There have been reports of sublimating daemons as fuel that renders them unfit and unstable for battle, but the calculations from someone who had been assisting Verstael, if correct, could possibly solve their problems. He called it the "Deathless Project" using the magitek soldiers as opposed to human soldiers.

The rest is Verstael just gloating about how the empire will raise, and the world would bow to their superior might, much to Prompto's disgust before the recording ended. He placed the device back on the desk and headed for the security door. The door had a small device near it with a touch screen of sorts that is foreign to the gunner. He placed a hand on it but then green light scanned his right hand, tattoo glowing green, making his retract his hand quickly with a gasp.

"Scanning production code", the computer announced overhead, "Unit 05953234 confirmed". His tattoo stopped glowing bright and back to the ink colored as he stared at it in confusion. "Warning: this unit is compromised. Initiating retrieval of compromised unit", the computer revealed. Prompto's heart raced as he staggered backward, looking at the door before him and the device that scanned his barcode, questions running in his mind.

'She still remembers you, after all these years'.

Prompto turned around to see Ardyn standing before him, making him gasp in shock and step back from him. He grits his teeth as the man sauntered closer to him, showing him his weapon in the hands of the slippery silver-tongued man as he smirks. 'Now don't look so shocked, boy', he said, waving his gun, 'We can't have you spilling blood here, now can we?'. Prompto glared at him as Ardyn turned his back on him like he was absorbed in his own world.

'Although to most this compound is known only as the first Magitek Production Facility', he says wistfully, turning to Prompto, 'birthplace of the myriad magitek troopers and daemons the empire holds dear'. Prompto looked around him, trying to understand what the man was implying. If this was the first facility to create the soldiers why was he brought here? Then the man behind him smiled sinisterly sweetly. 'But to *you*, I believed this place should hold some sentimental value. After all, it *is* your birthplace. Your home even'.

Lies... lies, Prompto stressed to himself, he was just trying to get underneath his skin. It is how he did it to Ravus and so many others likely, but not him. With determination in his eyes, he growled "shut up" to the man. Ardyn, however, looked merely surprised by his aggressive demand, teasingly holding the weapon belonging to the man in front of him. 'I'm not sure why you're mad at me. *I'm* not the one who nearly killed you'.

'Shove-

Prompto barked but then the gun was suddenly shoved back into his chest, his hands instinctively reached up to clutch it while Ardyn titters. 'Now, you've had quite the long week, have you not? Why not take a rest? The two of you'. At that, Prompto raised his head to the man and aimed his revolver at him. 'Where is Kairi? What did you do to her!?', he demands. No matter how outmatched he was against Ardyn one-on-one, even alone, he is more than ready to fill this man with every bullet on Eos.

Ardyn smugly smiled and turned away. 'If you want to find her, why not go seek Chief Besithia? I heard he is very curious about the princesses of light…', he taunts. 'And who knows? Perhaps a reunion shall jolt your memories'. Prompto looked down in confusion, a reunion with that man? Why? He had no memory of, ever, meeting this man. But when he turned to aim at Ardyn for answers, the man had vanished into thin air like a ghost. Prompto looked around the room with a grunt, holstering his gun in his holster strap around his chest.

Turning down the corridor, the blond gunner clenches his fist. He would be alone for the first time, in a facility where it could be filled to the very brim with magitek soldiers and daemons, possibly the enemies of the keyblade too. Still, his friend was here as well, and in the clutches of a mad scientist if he was anything to go by. Taking a deep breath, Prompto steeled his resolve. 'I'm no prince charming, but don't worry Kairi', he said.

He ran down the corridor to begin his rescue, promising to himself: 'I'm on my way'.

*Another part of the facility*

Drowsy and weakened, Kairi's eyes slowly cracked opened with a weak breath escaping her. The harsh lights beaming down on her nearly blinded her as if she was staring into the sun point-blank. With a weak groan, she raised her hand to push the light from her, feeling the metallic cool surface against her gloveless hand. Out of her way, Kairi blinked and sat upon the incredibly stiff and wooden plank of a bed, shaking her head and rubbing her forehead.

'Where…am I?', she rasped, her throat dry and body feeling drained, woozy even. When she dropped her hand, she looked around to find herself in what could have been somebody's office or a medical room. There were several X-rays plastered on the monitors, several note pads and papers scattered on desks with many shelves as tall as a gate towering over her full of books. Nearby was one of those basic sets of medical lights and a tray full of tools.

Kairi looked at her arms and found plasters around her elbow's veins, the sting sensation when she folded her arms raced on her nerves. She went pale with fear, worried that during her forced slumber they were taking some of her blood, or worse implant something inside her bloodstream. A wave of nausea coiled in her stomach as it lurched, a sudden sense of gratitude that she hadn't eaten much before getting captured.

Swallowing back some bile that nearly entered her mouth, Kairi threw her legs off the plank of a bed and rested her booted feet on the ground, hopping off the bed. Using a small bit of her magic to heal her marks to effectively use her elbows without that bugging sting, Kairi looked around the place to seek out her missing companion. If they were separated then she needed to make her way to Prompto as soon as possible if he is still unarmed.

With Destiny's Embrace in hand, Kairi approached the doors of her "room" and it opened upon stepping in front of it. She peers out of the door to see the hallways were empty, silent like all the other abandoned facilities. Leaving the room and jogging on, she kept her weapon out and ready for whatever comes her way, running down the sterilized and clean yet stifled corridor. Likely she was in some medical ward of the facility if the smells of sterilizers and the room she was in was any indication.

Strangely as she leaves the corridor and entered another part of the facility, no guards were patrolling the place. The facility didn't look abandoned for years or even months on end given how clean everything looked, which begs the question as to why there was not a living soul nearby? Or worse, why was she left unguarded?

The keyblade wielder found herself in what appeared to be a display room, or likely a war room of sorts, a giant model of the map outstretched on a table with the world of Eos on it. She climbed down a set of stairs and approached the map, pressing a button that opened what were documentaries on the history of the world. Taking some time to quickly skim through them to find some idea on the empire, maybe an idea of where they got the idea for their soldiers. Unfortunately, she only found the documents based on the now-deceased astrals and their knowledge of the Lucis line.

Then…she came to Angelgard.

Kairi listened to the documentary, keenly listening to it and when it came to the supposed monster legend, "Adagium", something that rang out to her. The documentary had little more info on the subject, so Kairi left it and continued her search for her missing friend. Everything about the room felt empty and scarce, nothing suggested people had been visiting or even worked here for such a long time. It feels like she was walking through a less explored section of a museum with all the information about their world.

On her left in the back, she sees a massive portrait of the "Cosmogony", the book of the gods and such Lunafreya had told her about. A device that followed the same role as the map was on a pedestal for her, and she pressed it again, seeing a list of options for her. Kairi choose the "King and his men" documentary, believing it might have some relation to the Lucis line.

It did…but not what she had expected.

Kairi watches the documentary, narrated by a different voice this time discussing the first king of Lucis, also known to the world as the "Founder King", Somnus Lucis Caelum. While she wasn't a hundred percent well-knowledgeable for this subject she did learn most of it from Ignis whenever he could and learned about the founder king as well. However, the narrator pointed out a very concerning fact.

Somnus…was second in line to the throne.

'Second…wait, that means someone else was supposed to be the king…', Kairi whispered. The rest of the narrative was just the imperial (she deduced it via the arrogance and talks of their methods of warfare) boasting and talking trash about the Lucis line. Kairi choose to listen in to the Oracle documentary, seeing the same explanation although more detailed she had received from Lunafreya before and even sees a painted portrait of the very first Oracle.

It astounded the girl on how eerily similar the first Oracle looked to Lunafreya.

More searches had shown the girl the empire developed a fascination with the daemons that according to their studies, had been around for two centuries. Most of it were details they had discovered from fighting them, hate for the sunlight, grow stronger as the night went on and varieties of them. What she didn't know, was the blight that spawns from them is lethally poisonous and…it could also warp someone into a daemon. Nearly akin to a heartless swallowing hearts and turning their victims into heartless.

She found a testing room with a cage that was torn apart, likely this is where they discovered the daemons disdain for being in the sunlight likely. It was strange for her to see all this, wondering that if the empire had such vast knowledge on these monsters certainly Niflhiem would be possibly the safest place from daemons. Or worse, did they have other uses for daemons?

Kairi comes to another portrait, this time with only two documentaries. The first one was based on the "Undying Prisoner", which immediately caught her attention. Adagium was the name the Lucians referred the monster too, and it had been imprisoned in Angelgard for two thousand years. A mortal that surpassed any mortal, practically invincible to all harm to his body. It is suggested that this was why he was sealed away by the Founder King.

Kairi watched the final documentary, and her eyes widened with shock. This was a still shot capture, showing a young scientist, two imperial soldiers dragging a man to him…and that man…was Ardyn. She shook her head, unbelieving. If Ardyn was that old, and if she was right the line of Lucis is over two thousand years old, which means he could have been around when it was all happening when they were first founded.

And if Somnus was not the first in line…could that mean…

'Fascinating isn't it?'.

Kairi turned around and sees Ardyn sitting on a couch nearby, placing down a cup of tea on the coffee table. 'For two millennia, I was locked away in that prison, left to rot but to never be free of my mortal form', he mused, his tone was vastly different compared to how he usually spoke to her and the others. That playful smugness, the flamboyant movement, and the wistful speech, all gone and in their place was bitterness and pain. 'This world prays to the astrals, holds them high regard too, saying we should be thankful for their blessings'.

'…if only they knew'.

He stood up as Kairi watched him, eyes fixed as her grip on the keyblade tightened. 'I am sure you know about the Chosen King's fate? The Oracle likely has told you this…that when the darkness doomed the world, the king of light shall ascend his throne and banish the darkness? At the cost of his life?', Ardyn asked. He turned to her, seeing the look of horror on her face. 'Ahh, of course, she neglected to mention that part to her beloved didn't she?', he taunts.

'Well…do you ever wonder why that must be? Or better yet, did you know it could have been avoided?'. Ardyn looked to the documentary of the Founder King, his eyes glowed with hatred as he dropped the piece to the puzzle Kairi had dreaded to put together.

'If my brother hadn't betrayed me…'.

'Y-You're…you were the one first in line…', Kairi gasped. 'Indeed…my throne that I was denied. Oh ho, but not just that', he says, stretching his arms out. 'My name was struck from history, my deeds of making the sacrifice that none had dared too, my body forever a home to the blight…and even…even…'. He grunts and turned to her with a wicked smile, 'And did you know? It was all pre-ordained by the very gods themselves?'.

Kairi shook her head, wrapping this information around her head as the man's smile disappeared into a grin of malice. 'The Draconian, he would have me be a sacrificial lamb to Noctis' ascension, all to purge the world of the Starscourge so that the gods can keep this world safe'. 'A scapegoat…', Kairi said, shocked. 'Precisely, princess'. 'I have a lot to be grateful for, towards Xigbar. Because of him, not only did I get the revenge I rightfully earned, but now this world can pay for what it had done to me'.

Kairi stared at him with narrowed eyes, 'You're going to let this world fall to the daemons, because of what Bahamut did to you? But why!?', she demanded, 'You have your revenge, you destroyed the Lucis line's power! Isn't that enough!?'.

Her questions were met with a dark red armiger of swords, that rocketed towards her. Kairi rolled away from the attacks as they flew and struck the documentary pedestal, destroying it. She faced him as he was surrounded by what looked to be an arsenal that was near identical to Noctis' armiger, except with them being dark red and infested with the darkness. 'Why keep it going? This world is doomed, princess, without the crystal or power of providence, there is no way to restore the light here'.

'Besides, the crystal rejected me. I did what I could to help those infected by the blight, taking it into my own body to save hundreds of lives, yet I may as well have just been turned into a daemon. When I needed the crystal the most, it rejected me and turned my murderous brother into the king'. He throws two of the red arms at Kairi, forcing her to deflect them. The strength behind them catches her off guard and knocked her on her back with a light thud.

He chuckled cruelly as Kairi got to her feet, the man shaking his head. 'Certainly, your friends can fight all they want, but even the strongest of light will flicker and die when it's surrounded by shadows'. Kairi stared him down as he dismissed his weapons with a flick of his wrist. 'You know, you don't stand a chance against me, child of light', he warned playfully, gesturing to her stomach. 'I seem to recall one of us is capable of harming the other while the other is…still working on it'. Kairi feels a ghostly touch on her scar, nearly making her shudder in fear but she willed it from showing.

Ardyn smugly lifts his hand. 'I had offered to the king's advisor, but I'm hoping you will show more wisdom than he did', he says, lowering his hand, offering to her. 'Why not come with me?'. Kairi stepped back from him, her grip on the keyblade tightening while she tries to find an opening to escape him. The documentary had informed her that any attacks on this man are no more lethal than a bug bite on his fingers, and she already knew he is more powerful than anything she had fought up to here.

Maybe even stronger than Sephiroth…

Ardyn raised a brow at the girl, slowly seeing the doubt and fear grow within her heart as memories of the day where he nearly destroyed a precious light ran in both their minds. 'If you do, I can give you the one thing you want the most', he offers.

Kairi looked at him, he nods. 'I'll take you to see Sora…unlike the gods above, I would never deprive someone of their loved ones…at least, not young love anyways', he taunts. Kairi looked down as her will is tested, could he be telling her the truth? He didn't need to fight her, nor did he need her for anything but to submit and just go along with him. Not like he had any fears of assassination from her or anything that could put his life at risk if he was truly invincible to everything.

This could be her chance to save Sora, maybe even if she could reunite with him and together they could fight their way out together. Her heart cried for her to take this, a chance to be with him again. There is nothing she could do to stop him anyway…

'I know that feeling, my dear', he says, 'Noctis and I share more than just royal blood. We both have a peculiar thing for Oracles'. For the first time, Kairi could see a look of remorse and even sadness in that man's golden eyes, he placed a hand on his own heart. 'Aera…my sweet Aera, innocent in all that occurred between me and the crystal…struck down by my very own kin because of his jealousy…', he whispered. 'Would I have the power; I would give anything to have her back…why not take this chance to avoid my agony and be with him again?'.

Kairi felt that anguish, and for a moment she genuinely feels for this man. Had Bahamut not play favorites, had the crystal not misguided him for his pilgrimage, maybe things would have worked out so differently. Maybe Ardyn wouldn't have gone down this path, he wouldn't have allied with Xigbar, and maybe the empire wouldn't have gotten so far in their mindless destruction of their world. An offer like this, to finally reunite with Sora again…

Then as she gently clasped the chain around her neck, the warmth she gained from it remaindered her of the reasons she fell in love with Sora. His heart. So big and warm, always able to make connections with strangers with that smile, the smile that could lift spirits, restore hope and more. The friends they made here, the people they met and knowing Prompto was still here, in this cold place because of Ardyn.

'No'.

Ardyn raised a brow at the girl, now staring him down with fire in her eyes. 'I want to be with Sora again, more than anything else in the world', she revealed, clutching the necklace, 'But not if it means we lose any more of our friends'. Unaware, Kairi's body glows with a golden light that if Ardyn was certain, outshined even Lunafreya's. A surge of light this world had never see glowed from her, her keyblade bathing in it as she aims it at him.

'What happened to you was unfair and unjust by the gods, but your actions after were by *your* volition! The lives you've ruined, the destruction you brought, the corruption you spread, all done by your hand by your will!'. Kairi lifted her keyblade up over her head, the tip glowing bright as the sun as Ardyn raised his hand to protect his eyes. 'I will see Sora again, but not alone!'. The light shined brighter until the entire cold darkroom was now blessed by the light that caused even Ardyn to cover his eyes in pain.

This pure divine strength was unlike anything he had felt before, not even Aera could produce such a powerful light as this. He was blown off his feet and flew straight through the table, smashing it and colliding into the wall with a thud. He falls onto his knees with his lungs depleted of oxygen and uses his knees and hands to keep him up. When he raised his head, Kairi was gone and up on the second floor a door closes, likely she ran away. A smart girl he thought, regardless of her light.

Then…he coughs. He feels something, something that his mind could not process as he stares at the floor in shock. Splattered on the cold steel floor was splotches of blood mixed with the bile blight, his body didn't feel fine and he swore something had broken within him. Ardyn, for the first time in two thousand years, has felt pain.

Kairi has harmed him…

*Other Side*

Prompto truly had been taking Sora and the others for granted, it was only when he was forced to fight his ways out of battles did he truly realize that he had become so dependent on them that it was a glowing reminder of how far he still had to go. By the point, if not sooner, Kairi could have held her own without the aid of the others despite her being the least experienced amongst all ten, or eleven, of them.

As he thought the only security this facility had been nothing but magitek soldiers and a few of those weird security eyeball drones, not a single living being in sight nor were there any scientists working on projects or such. It felt so unnatural for him, to be in a place where only non-living beings roamed the place as if they were the ones who owned this factory. Along his journeys, he found out more about how these machines were being produced, yet the more he learned the more revolted he felt.

Verstael's projects on these things had hit so many dead ends with most results being mental breakdowns of MTs, but then he came up with a new process. First, he harvested miasma from the daemonized humans, then infect infants with plasmodia. The fact he was willing to use new-born children to create those MTs made Prompto so grateful he wasn't given any food because he knew he'd throw up everything within him.

One more recording log informs Prompto that years ago, a thief, Verstael believes to be Lucian, made off with one of his experiments. While the mad doctor himself admits one loss wouldn't damping the empire's conquest. This piece of information began to set off alarm bells within Prompto as he fought his way through this hellish place, if what Ardyn had been saying is true, and if it was indeed a Lucian who made off with an infant, then could that possibly mean…

He forced himself not to think about it, using the MTs as an excuse to focus on escaping and reuniting with Kairi.

Prompto eventually found himself in a laboratory after using his bar code to access the lab via tunnel. Inside this lab, the gunner found several huge testing tubes that homed humanoids, infected by the blight while half of them had pure skin. It was like the blight was eating away at their humanities slowly, but when he approached one, his skin went white. Despite having no hair or freckles, their facial structures were identical to him.

He was in a room where clones of himself were being made left and right. Those horrible questions that he wanted no answers to were growing heavier on his mind, just what was he?

Prompto swallows back the bile, shaking his head and climbed a flight of stairs that leads up into the lab. Quick though he ducked behind one of the desks, fore inside a large room where he sees those lookalikes were being infected with more blight, he sees Ardyn and Verstael inside. No Kairi though, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. Least she wasn't being experimented on, thanks be the gods. Still, now was a chance for him, if he could take down the doctor may be the production of these things would cease.

Quietly Prompto moves closer to hear the two of the empire prattle, listening closely as he carefully peered over to watch. In Ardyn's hand was a small test tube full of blood, he shook it curiously before turning to the balding scientist. 'Are you certain you have enough there?', he asked, intrigued. 'We've more than enough of the girl's blood to proceed with our projects', Verstael assures distractedly, fixed on corrupting the replicas. 'I've already shipped them to the other lab'.

Prompto gripped his revolver tightly, eyes narrowed angrily. Is that Kairi's blood he wondered; did they experiment on her? As if he didn't have enough of a reason to shoot Ardyn, now the good doctor would get acquainted with his gun as well. What could they possibly need Kairi's blood for, they had Lunafreya for years for all the blood of a princess of light, or maybe it was known to them Kairi was one thanks to Xigbar?

'By the way, do you recall that child, the one who was stolen from this place?', Ardyn asked, stuffing the tube into his jacket. Verstael scoffs, 'The one those Lucians absconded with? Vaguely but yes'. Ardyn clapped his hands with glee, 'Well I have wonderful news, I thought you might want to see what a fine young man he has become in these twenty odd years!', Ardyn sings with sarcastic joy. Ardyn saunters off, going on about paying back the man for bringing his pets to the Crown City, he brought home his lost son.

Ardyn turned to Prompto, almost ducking back down before realizing it would be fruitless. 'Come now, the time has arrived for you to meet your literal maker! I'm sure you've plenty of questions for daddy dearest!', Ardyn sung, outstretching his hands like a performer to a play, 'Father and son, reunited after two decades! Oh, how I love bringing families together!'.

Prompto staggers to his feet, shaking his head looking at the despicable excuse for a human, this vile and heartless monster couldn't be…

'No…no! It's not true damn it!', he cursed. Prompto runs to the door of the lab, his mind running wild with questions, fears of the truth looming over him as he drew his gun. The door for the lab opened as Verstael stands before him with his back turned, so fixed on the machine before him. Slowly and shaking, Prompto trained his gun on him. It didn't matter if this was an old man before him, it didn't matter who he was to the empire, this man…this thing…

He couldn't be…

'What's wrong? Have you never seen a man turn before?', Verstael asked, turning to face Prompto. The blonde swallows dryly at the sight, the blight adorned his right face with a purple sickness that had turned his right eye into a void of nothing. He felt the similar darkness to a heartless being summoned, likely this man, if he ever had one, lost his heart just right there before him. Verstael laughs, gesturing Prompto.

'If those filthy Lucians hadn't intervened, you could have turned out like this as well', Verstael says, lamenting as if Prompto had missed out on the next stage of human evolution. 'Why me…?', Prompto asked quietly, like he just didn't want to hear the truth because a part of him knew that cruelty that was the truth would crush him. 'Simple, you were cloned from this genius's genes, born from my flesh and blood!', Verstael revealed.

The way he spoke of himself and his connection to Prompto, how joyous and superior he sounded made the gunner sick. 'You are but one of millions created to serve the glory of our empire within the magitek infantry!', he states.

'C-Created…to serve you…?', Prompto gasped weakly, his stance weakened as his armed hand fell in dismay. This whole time, the bar code was a permanent reminder of what he is, the reason his adopted parents constantly insisted he never show his bar, maybe why they weren't around so often if at all. The whole time he, the very enemy of his home, lived amongst those he would have fought in the war. A lie, it had to be a lie…this is all a part of Ardyn's game, to beguile him into believing this was reality…but then, why did Noctis attack him? Why would he not listen to him? Why would he say all those horrible accusations without even giving Prompto a chance to defend himself?

'Yes, and now you've returned home to Niflhiem, my son', Verstael says.

BANG!

One bullet shot to the ceiling, to clear the noises spewing from this man, Prompto with head downcast as despair washes over him while the truth crushed his heart. 'SHUT UP! You're wrong…I am a Lucian!', he cries, facing him with tears running down his cheeks. 'I AM NOT ONE OF YOUR EXPERIMENTS!'.

'Oh not anymore. Now, you're nothing but a failure', Verstael states, slowly the blight begins to spread like dark violet veins on his infected side, his hollow eye now glowing yellow. 'But, perhaps if I return you to where you came from, then you could be of some use'. Slowly he raised his darkened hand to grab Prompto's shoulder, the darkness slithering off and clinging to Prompto as the young man gasps and panics. 'Soon, my ascension to power will be complete, and not even the kings of Lucis will stop my reign!'.

More and more the blight corrupts, the less human Verstael sounded to Prompto as he was grabbed by both hands like the man was trying to turn him into a heartless, a daemon or worse. The mad scientist went on and on about his supposed plans of grandeur, the darkness harming Prompto until with a cry of anguish, fear and anger, Prompto forces his arms up and the moment his gun was in direct line of Verstael's face, he pulls the trigger.

With the only glimmer of light being the spark from the gunshot, Verstael's lifeless mortal coil is torn and he falls onto his back. The corruption stopping, no life meant there was nothing left to turn and twist into the dark's image. Yet this was nothing, none of it mattered to the gunner as he drops his gun and falls onto his hands and knees, completely in despair. The truth had been delivered, his origins now laid bare before him as he looked at Verstael's form, his…father's corpse.

'*GASP* What have you done?', Ardyn's voice boomed over the intercom. 'You've gone homicidal- no, patricidal!'. Prompto could barely utter a whimpered "no", unable to find the strength to push onward. Still, Ardyn is far from finished, as he just continues to twist the knife deeper and deeper into Prompto's heart. 'You've lost your friends, and now your family! You've nobody left!'. He laughs with mirth as Prompto screams in despair, shouting to the voice to be silent as he punched the ground.

'Prompto!'.

The older man feels a pair of hands resting on him, helping him sit on his knees and then when he looked, he saw Kairi before him. She was breathing heavily with her face glistened with sweat but otherwise was unharmed. 'Are you ok? I heard a gunshot and came running!', she says, checking him for his wounds. He should've been happy to see her safe and sound, by his side again, relived he had somebody he could fall onto for help.

But now, he was more terrified than ever.

What would she do if she learned he was just like them? An experiment of the empire gone wrong? Something that for all she knew she had been fighting from the very moment she came to this world. 'Prompto? What's wrong?', Kairi asked when she realized he hadn't said a word at all since she got to him. Kairi looked to Verstael with a gasp, whether it was because this is the first she's seen a dead body or because of how much the blight's corruption could do he didn't know.

'Vital functions decreasing. Plasmodium activity index increasing'.

Both looked to the machine before them as Verstael's body turning into liquid before them and his daemon miasma was being sucked up by the machine before them, announcing: 'Daemonification complete. Initiating transfer to project Unit XDA-1002: Immortalis'.

The room went red with alarms going off the moment the miasma was absorbed and transferred to the unit, leaving the two younger heroes looking around in confusion before Kairi gets to her feet. 'Prompto, the darkness! It's getting worse!', she announced, keyblade drawn, 'We gotta go!'. "Go where?", he thought, unable to get to his feet. What was he supposed to do, he was one of these monsters…maybe…maybe he should just wait here and let the daemons finish him off…?

Then suddenly, one of the ceilings broke and falling was a large humanoid beast that fell. On top of the monster was none other than the dragoon mercenary, Aranea. She yanks her spear out of the daemon before glancing at the two. 'Oh, you two always play hard to get?', she asked with tease and slight annoyance.

'Aranea? What are you doing here?', Kairi asked, looking at the daemon. The woman hops off the daemon and approached a table, hands-on it and looks at what looked to be a sketched-out model. She huffs. 'Hunting for some of the empire's secrets, just so happen to run into you two', she explained. 'But no time for explanation, we gotta go!'. Kairi nods, agreeing with their time constraint and turns to Prompto. 'Prompto…', Kairi says, at a loss of words.

Not Aranea.

The dragoon stomps over to the blond and grabs him by the collar of his winter coat and hauled him upwards. 'I'm gonna say this once so you damn well better listen up: That kid is trying to save your ass instead saving hers. So how about you grow a pair and get your ass moving?', she orders. Prompto doesn't reply, just as defeated as they found him. 'Look, you lose the will to live, you lose any chances of me helping you two'.

Kairi takes Prompto's hand, looking at him. 'Prompto…', she pleads. Wordlessly, and somehow spurred by their words, he weakly nods. Releasing her grip on him, Aranea pushes Kairi forward and yells for the blond to follow. No sooner did they escape the room; the entire facility was starting to be swarmed with daemons and active MT units.

They fight their way past them all, Kairi and Aranea hacking and slashing through the daemons while Prompto shoots them, but for he refused to fight the MTs, allowing Kairi to strike them down. Alarms going off above their heads, the dragoon warning them this place was trying to shut down and contain the daemons before they run amok, which means if sealed in the trio would have to get comfortable with their daemonic roommates.

The entire warehouse of the facility was crawling with daemons and MTs, it made the fighting more intense and with so little to work with given the space of the area, Kairi couldn't unleash all her magic without risking a chance of harming her party. The last thing she needed was to give Aranea a reason to leave them, especially with Prompto in his condition.

They make their way to snowmobiles thankfully, but before they got on, Kairi was given a map of the area from Aranea. 'Head to this location, I'll catch up', she ordered. Kairi nods, trusting the woman as she and Prompto hopped onto the vehicle, Kairi riding back. Prompto kicked the vehicle into gear and they speed off out of the bay and into the wildlands where daemons and other beasts prowled the area. The MTs, however, were not giving up on their mission to retrieve the defect without a fight, many of them hopped onto snowmobiles and gave chase.

Through the cold winds and snow, Kairi turned and used her magic to strike back at the MTs tracking them while Prompto drives on using the lights from the vehicle to guide their way. Given how bright they were it's likely these lights were outfitted with more powerful lights to ward off daemons. Down a slope canyon, Prompto drives the two as Kairi used thunder to strike down one persisting soldier and reduced them to scrap metal.

Kairi finally used a large portion of her reserved mana and fired off a dense ray of ice on the ground that created a line from one wall of the canyon to the other. With a raise of her keyblade, a large five stories high wall of blue ice rose up from the ground, cutting off the MTs and making some crash into it. 'Hold on!', Prompto yells over the fights. Kairi turned to see a cliff was their end of the road and before Prompto could hit the breaks and slow down they flew off the cliff. Both cried as they flew temporarily in the air before they crashed their vehicle into the snow.

They were thrown off the device, bouncing on the snow before plummeting into it. Groaning from the sudden force of their throw and landing on the snow, the two rolled onto their backs, finally allowing themselves to breathe.

Kairi pants softly, turning to Prompto. 'Well…we escaped…', she says with a small cheer in her tone, 'Least we got away from Ardyn'. Prompto weakly hums in agreement, slowly getting back to his feet with Kairi. Brushing the snow off herself, Kairi takes the map out from her jacket and opened it to see where the rendezvous point Arana marked was. She shows Prompto this before they hopped back onto the snowmobile. 'We better head there first and foremost', Kairi says, 'Hopefully it's a cave, we can make camp there'.

'Yeah…', Prompto agreed half-heartedly, speeding off with his friend. The princess frowned at his tone yet says nothing. Lowering her eyes to his back, she couldn't help but fear whatever it was he found in that lab must have truly shook him to his core.

If Aranea hadn't been there to get his ass in gear, she knew deep down she would have stayed and fought all the daemons until her dying breath. A vain sacrifice was all she could do. The drive was still silent and awkward, something Kairi was surprised to have with Prompto of all people. They didn't stop at all since they were in the open, whether they would be ambushed by daemons or MT search parties.

For now, all she believed they could do was find that spot, rest up and then discuss what their next plan would be…

As luck would have it, the spot was indeed a cave with perfect cover for them to hide out from the imperials and using some of the foliage nearby to cover up the snowmobile. Kairi used a spell Aqua had taught her to create a veil that was like a cover-up that keeps the users invisible while warding off the daemons. For now, they had shelter and a place to take a breather without having any more surprises.

Kairi got the fire started after Prompto gathered some wood, using the basic lessons from Gladiolus as opposed to magic. Food-wise it was just a bunch of rations she snagged from the facility, tin food that is a far cry from Ignis' cooking but food is food after all. Together they sit in awkward silence, eating away while awaiting for Aranea to show up. Kairi was mostly picking at her meal, not entirely hungry and more so pondering on what she had discovered about Ardyn.

Her thoughts stopped when Prompto made an "mmm" sound and says: 'Almost as good as Iggy used to make'. She could tell he was trying to lighten the mood, which she would have appreciated given the situation they were in, but his tone and speech was heavy with restraint. It sounded like he wanted to cry but couldn't. Subtly she looked at him as he puts his meal down, his face showed his smile was as fragile as a Christmas ornament and cracked everywhere. 'Least it's quiet for a change', he adds.

She looked at her food, mulling his words in her mind. She would have preferred the noise her friends would make as opposed to this suffocating silence. Donald's quacks about being teased by Riku's playful jabs, the brotherly banter between Noctis and Gladiolus with a touch of competition, Aqua sharing recipe's with Ignis while sharing a good coffee, Goofy joking with Prompto and telling them some of his old jobs.

Having herself near Sora so she could rest her head on his shoulders, reveling in the warmth and comfort of having him nearby. Gods above she misses them all so much it nearly brought a tear to her eye, and now further away from them all just made her feel even worse. However she forced those feelings aside, her friend was trying to make their situation as bearable as he could and here she is making herself feel bad.

'…least sleeping won't be so bad…no Gladio snoring like a bear', she laughs weakly. 'Totally…', Prompto agreed. She sighed; unlikely they wouldn't rather tolerate his snores then be alone. Kairi takes a breath before she got to her feet and walks around the fire, walking past Prompto. 'I'm just gonna check the vehicle, be back soon, ok?', she says. He nods and stares at the fire as she walked away.

When he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, the blond shudders and simpers on his spot, looking down at his right arm to see that brand. A brand to forever remind him of where he truly came from, a cursed mark to forever haunt him. Without his band to keep it hidden, it would be merely a matter of time and chance for Kairi to finally see what he truly was. He didn't want to be alone again, not here without Noctis and the others.

In a spur of the moment, the man grabbed the unburnt half of one of the sticks in the fire, holding it up to look at the golden red-hot part of the stick, slowly casting his eyes to the brand. Maybe, just maybe, he could burn it enough to hide it from her, to free himself of this damn spot on his life. It could be his last chance to escape from Verstael…

With an intake of breath, he made his choice.

Prompto pressed the searing heat into his barcode, flinching and whimpering at the initial intense heat burning his skin before he couldn't bear it anymore. He lets out a cry of pain but still held it against his mark, throwing his head around in agony. Prompto was so absorbed in his determination and pain to be free of this mark he didn't hear his name being called out nor the sound of multiple footsteps being taken.

The stick was grabbed and thrown out of his hand as his wrist was clutched by another hand. He opened his eye to see a worried Kairi facing him. 'Prompto! What are you doing!?', she shouts, her voice was coated with horror and worry for him. Prompto looked at her hand on his arm as she releases and holds him there.

No…it didn't work.

Around the barcode his skin was red, and the smells of burns assaulted their noses as Kairi gasped in shock. 'Oh my god, why did you do this to yourself!?', she demanded, looking at him. Shaking her head when he could just open and close his mouth as a response, Kairi immediately drew a potion from their shared pocket dimension. She held it over his burns, crushing it and quickly his skin heals faster than she hoped.

She checked his arm for more injuries, finally breathing in relief when she found none and released his arm. Kairi then glared at him as he looked away, shame graced his face before she grunts and pushes him onto his back. He lets out a startled yelp of surprise, looking at her. 'Tell me! Why did you do that!?', she shouts, done with being patient. She got to her feet and yelled: 'After everything we've been through, after coming this far, NOW you decide burning yourself is a good idea!?'.

Prompto had never seen Kairi so angry, but what hurt him most were the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. There is a look of genuine sympathy in the sea of anger within her eyes absolutely, which made him feel even worse for putting her through his struggles with the daemons inside his heart. Kairi throws her hands in the air, shaking her head. 'What was it, Prompto? What happened in that place that's making you think this way!?'.

The man looked at his arm, his frustrations and anger boiling to a critical point. He knew he wasn't like the Lucians he knew, he always felt like an outcast before he become a social hermit. To have everything he knew to be a lie, that he was not even a human but a defect MT that was chosen by chance to be kidnapped by a Lucian. Knowing that the moment Noctis and the others see this, he'll lose them.

'Prompto!', Kairi shouts.

'I AM ONE OF THEM!', he shouts.

As the wind howls over them, both finally hitting their breaking point, Prompto couldn't hold his pain back no longer. He faced Kairi as his own eyes unashamedly ran with tears. 'I'm an MT! I was created by Verstael to be part of the MT infantry!', he cries, showing her the barcode. 'This is a code that they give to all of us! THIS! This damn thing has me marked as a freaking MT for all my life! The very enemy of Noct!'.

Prompto got to his knees, his eyes losing the fire in them as Kairi looked at him. 'I…I'm one of them…those bucket heads…those things we've been fighting since Insomnia fell…I'm just like them…'. He whimpers as he looked at his band, shaking and looking miserable. Suddenly he was wrapped into a tight hug, Kairi holding him close to her.

'You aren't…anything, like them…', she assures, softly and lovingly. 'You are Prompto, nobody else. Don't you dare let a stupid mark define you'. Prompto's breath hitches, before ultimately he breaks down into Kairi and cries, while she lets her tears fall too…

A/N: Sorry for the delay, it was supposed to be done for yesterday but I've been decorating home with family for the past three days…and we're STILL not done…kill me…

So we're part one into this episode, we've learned some things, our heroes are struggling against the world alone and now there's this new project of the empire going on. Can these two surmount this new challenge and grow from it? We'll see next time!

Just in case some are wondering, for those who have played Episode Prompto, I think we can all agree that the final boss of that DLC…sucked. A turret section? Really? So as you can imagine, we're NOT going with that boss.

Questions:

Q1: What did you think of this chapter?

Q2: How was Kairi and Prompto in this one?

Q3: Do you think Aranea should have a slightly bigger role in the next chapter?

Q4: Can you guess what the final boss will be?

Q5: Think you know why Kairi had some blood taken?

Q6: How was Prompto and Kairi's relationship in this?

Q7: Can you figure out why Ardyn feels pain now?

As always, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!