2
"NOCT!"
Noctis jolted from his thoughts, quickly glancing around the train car before letting out a deep sigh. It was bad enough that Prompto had been kidnapped, but the circumstances of the incident didn't make it any better for either of them. Noctis had been thinking about it the whole time. Where his best friend could be, and what he could be going through at that very moment...
"How much farther is it?" Noct asked, turning to Ignis and Gladio as he attempted to distract himself, as well as hoping they may be able to strike up a conversation of some kind to keep his thoughts occupied with something other than missing his best friend. The rumbling and clanking of the train simply wasn't doing the job.
"Still a ways." Ignis answered, a light sigh escaping his lips as he placed his index finger against the nose piece of his sunglasses, re-positioning them as they had slipped slightly too far down his nose for his liking. Not that they were particularly of much use anymore anyway. "We'd best use the time to prepare ourselves for the coming battles."
"Yeah, no way this is gonna be easy." Gladio said. His gaze turned towards one of the many windows in the train car, watching the landscape as they passed through.
The cold, unforgiving country of Nifilheim where the crystal had been taken too. And Prompto as well, no doubt. They all thought about it, fearing for the safety and well-being of their youngest member and dear friend.
"No way in hell." Noctis remarked, opening his hand to take another look at the ring he now carried with him.
Soon the time would come where he would have to finally wear it, and he worried that time would be soon. He still didn't know if he was ready to bear the burden of the Chosen King, and of Luna's sacrifice.
"But no matter what goes down when we get there, I hope we all agree that finding Prompto comes first." Noct closed his fist around the ring once again, looking back up at his two remaining friends. "I won't do this without him. I can't. Besides, it's my fault he's in trouble in the first place..."
"Sure, we'll find him." Gladio said, turning back to him as well. "He's our friend, isn't he? But you can't forget what your duty is. No matter what happens, whether we find him alive or not, you need to be prepared to fulfill your duty as king."
Gladio sighed to himself, seeing the worry in his king's face from the thought that his best friend could very well be dead.
"Still, I'd much rather the kid be safe when we see him again. I'm not heartless, you know."
"No one has ever said anything to the contrary, Gladio." Ignis commented, turning his attention to the shield. His smooth, strong accent cutting through the cold air like knives slicing through their hearts whenever he spoke.
"Yeah, well as long as Noct's got his head on straight we'll be fine. No matter what that bastard of a chancellor tries to pull on us." Gladio retorted, turning back to the window once again.
"I'm not the only one who needs to have their head on straight." Noct mumbled, looking out his own window, taking note of everything he saw outside of the train.
It was dark, and snow was falling all around them. In the day, this was probably a beautiful place to see... but at night, and to Noctis, it looked evil. Dark, cold and unforgiving. It felt like everything around them was a part of Ardyn. He'd taken so much from them already, it was only a matter of time before he came back to take even more.
"No, of course not." Ignis said, his face ever serious against it all. "We must all be prepared for whatever may be in store for us once we reach the capital. We'll reclaim the crystal, and no doubt Prompto will be there as well. It certainly won't be an easy venture, though we've known that for some time."
"Yeah, but what that bastard doesn't realize, is that he's made the biggest mistake of his miserable life, taking Prompto like that." Gladio said, his expression a mixture of both anger, and a slight bit of worry which he was obviously trying to hide.
Though it wasn't working out too well.
"And on top of what he did to Iggy..." He growled quietly under his breath, beginning to fail at controlling his anger. "He's really gonna pay!"
"Oh, hell yeah." Noctis nodded in agreement, turning to look at the remaining members of the team.
"But are we sure Prompto's even going to be there when we show up?" Gladio asked, offering an inquisitive glance to the others. "I mean, knowing that no good bastard, he's got him stashed somewhere we wouldn't think to look. It would be just like him to play us like that."
Of course, he wasn't wrong. If they knew anything about Ardyn, it's that he was a cruel, heartless, twisted son of a bitch. Using Prompto like that would be hardly a surprise.
"Gladio, please." Noct said, a little quieter than before. "Can we just... not talk about that right now...? All of this is my fault anyway. Prompto would still be here if I wasn't such an idiot..."
"Noct, you know full well that what happened on the train before was Ardyn's doing, not yours." Ignis countered, not at all trying to be of comfort, but merely stating the facts. "You can't continue to blame yourself like this."
"How can you expect me not to, dammit!?" Noct asked, raising his voice slightly, failing to maintain his cool any longer. "I was there, Ignis. I was right there! I was the one who attacked him! I was the one who pushed him off the train!"
Noct's eyes slowly lined themselves with tears, his thoughts plagued with the image of Prompto's terrified expression as he fell from the train, betrayed by his closest friend. The guilt was eating away at him... it was almost more than he could bare.
"I was the one who hurt him... who betrayed him!" Shaking his head, Noct looked back at Ignis. "How can you expect me not to blame myself when he was kidnapped because of me!?"
"Noct, you need to calm down." Ignis said, softening his tone to try and ease his king's emotional state. "We expect you to be calm, because nobody blames you for Prompto's situation but you."
"Iggy's right, Noct." Gladio remarked, reentering the conversation. "Besides, I'm sure that's exactly how Ardyn wants you to feel." Gladio walked over to Noctis, taking a seat in front of him. "You've gotta pull yourself together. For Prompto's sake."
"Dammit, Gladio… you don't know how I feel..." Noctis sighed, lowering his head so he was just staring at the table in between himself and Gladio.
"You feel guilty." Ignis said, looking over to the young king and his shield. "We know that much. You feel responsible for Prompto's capture because you were there when it happened. And you are his closest friend. But you can't shoulder that responsibility on your own."
"That's right." Gladio nodded in agreement. "If you're to blame, than Ignis and I are just as guilty."
Noct looked up at his shield, his eyes filled with sorrow and disbelief.
"We're a team. We're supposed to look out for one another -to protect each other-. True, as king you're our charge, but this team is more than that. Prompto was taken because we all failed. We all failed to protect him. We fucked up. And because of that, Ardyn got the upper-hand." Gladio gave Noctis a hard, stern glance. Placing his hand on Noct's shoulder, he gave it a slight squeeze. "And now it's our job to go rescue him. But you've gotta snap out of this slump you've gotten yourself into. Sitting around moping isn't going to do anything for him. Got it?"
Noctis looked solemnly from his shield to his adviser, of course taking note of the absence of his most cherished friend. But Gladio did have a point, if he just sat around feeling sorry for himself again, nothing would actually be done. And maybe he and Gladio would end up fighting again like they had after Luna died... the last thing he wanted was to make his friends suffer like that again.
Especially when all they wanted was to help.
But with Prompto gone...
"Of course we're gonna rescue him." Noct said, an air of confidence and anger overtaking his crippling depression. "You can count on that. We'll rescue Prompto, get back the crystal, and save the world."
A slight smirk came across Noct's face as he looked at his two friends.
"That is still the plan, right?"
"Of course." Ignis said, offering a nod of confirmation. "That has always been our intention."
"You sure you'll be up for it, Iggy?" Gladio asked, shooting a concerned look to the adviser. "The capital's ought to be crawling with deamons. It's gonna be really dangerous..."
"You know full well that I intend to accompany you all until the very end. I thought I made that fact quite clear." Ignis countered, determined to remain with his dear friends. Besides, he knew they wouldn't survive without their mom-friend. Despite Gladio's papa bear tenancies. "As such, you'll need all the help you can get in the capital. And depending on Prompto's condition when we locate him... you really will need my help. Blinded I may be, but I believe I can still be of aid to you all."
"Thanks, Ignis." Noct said, offering his adviser a gentle smile. Even though he couldn't see it, Noct knew he could feel the sentiment sent his way.
"It is my duty, to stand beside you, Noct." Ignis answered back, offering a small smile of his own to the young king. "But you are also my friend. And as such, it is also my desire to join you in this quest. I will certainly do what I can."
"I couldn't ask for anything else." Noct said as he turned away from the adviser, his voice dropping slightly in volume as he returned to watching the cold country pass by them.
"Attention passengers"
The party of three turned their attention to the loudspeaker as the voices of their drivers came through to give them news, no doubt about their progress towards the capital.
"We'll be arriving at the gorge soon, it's gonna get real cold in there, so brace yourselves."
"And no doubt, with the body of the Glacien lying in wait in the gorge, the temperature certainly will not be preferable." Ignis sighed, adjusting his glasses once more, pushing them up gently with the assistance of his left index finger. "We had best prepare, I'm certain we will find a battle or two waiting for us upon our arrival."
"Yeah, no kidding..." Gladio scoffed in agreement, annoyed by all the impending delays to their plan.
They didn't exactly have all the time in the world anymore. In fact, it seemed that any time they did have was quickly disappearing along with the ever few remaining minutes of daylight. And with Prompto smack dab in the middle of harm's way, they had even less time for delay than they already didn't have.
"Though whatever's waiting for us, I'll bet it's nothing we can't handle." He continued, crossing his arms before he spoke again. "We'll have Prompto back before you know it."
"We'll just have to see I guess." Noctis sighed, getting up from his seat at one of the tables in the train car, making his way to the door to the next car. He just needed to be alone for a few minutes, maybe he'd be able to sort out his thoughts finally... with everything they had talked about in the past fifteen or twenty minutes at least only seemed to make things even worse.
As the door closed behind him, Noctis leaned ever so gently against the wall of the space between cars, staring at the wall in front of him, not really paying much mind to his surroundings right now. All he could think about was Prompto.
Where he could be?
What he could be going through?
What he might be feeling right now?
And just overall... was he okay...?
"We're on our way, Prom..." He thought, looking down at his hand. The hand that had removed Prompto from the safety of the train, and caused him to lose his nearest and dearest friend... "Just hang in there."
The train rumbled along, the young king mourning the capture of his dear friend as it roamed along through the snow to deliver the tree men to their destination. Which they hoped would be where everything they were looking for could swiftly be found. Noctis gently closed his eyes, bringing his palm to his forehead as he leaned his head back, resting it softly against the cold metal wall of the train.
"And... please be alive..."