To be honest, Jason really didn't know what to expect as far as reactions to his story. Disbelief, yes. Confusion, surely. Anger...meh, probably. That was understandable. He was rather angry himself.
A miscommunication so bad, it caused an absurd misunderstanding that could quite possibly change the fate of all Eos as they knew it and trap him in this crazy reality for all eternity?
...Yeah, that one came out of nowhere. At this point, Jason was about ready to jump off a cliff, just to see what would happen.
His story wasn't all that long. It started literally the day before (for him), so what was there to tell other than an increasingly bizarre series of events? He didn't really have any revelations or musings to share, so it only took him about ten minutes to relate the whole thing. Ignis and Gladio stayed stoic throughout the short narrative, unresponsive and surely in turns, and that was fine by Jason. He didn't think he'd know how to react either, and he'd rather save the violence and accusations till after he was done. Prompto, on the other hand, was practically vibrating at his side, mouth half open and lip bitten in turns, as if bursting to say whatever was on his mind, but holding back in his excitement to hear the rest.
"...and found myself in a ridiculous sombrero with monsters attacking me. The end." Okay, so maybe he was being a bit glib about the whole thing, but come on, he was tired. Besides, Prompto didn't seem to mind. In fact, if his grin got any bigger, it would reach his ears. Jason fell silent and waited, watching the figurative fuse disappear.
"I knew it!" Prompto crowed dramatically, jumping to his feet and doing a giddy dance. "I knew something weird was going on! The music, the random junk, time not working like it should; that's the answer! My life is a dope RPG and I'm totally the main character, woohooo!"
Choking back a laugh despite himself, Jason poked the exuberant man in the side. "Hate to burst your bubble, blondie, but Noctis is the main character. You're pretty much the comic relief."
Prompto pouted, sticking out his bottom lip like a child. "Whaaaat!? I'm totally main character material! Do I at least get a DLC?"
Um, wow. Unbelievable. He really did seem unfazed by this reality altering revelation. Maybe he just thought that this was a better explanation than whatever had been going through his mind while Jason been inadvertently messing with him for weeks. Jason knew he, himself was at least a little relieved that he wasn't haunted or crazy or something. Or maybe it just hadn't hit Prompto yet.
Or maybe he was just a huge nerd and got off on stuff like this. That...might be the most reasonable explanation, actually.
"Yeah, all three of you get a DLC, actually."
"No way! What was mine about? Do I get a girlfriend? Oh! Do I get to fight a dragon?!"
"Aaaah," Jason hedged, not sure if the truth was the wisest thing. He really didn't want to ruin the guy's day after all. "Yeah, let's go with that."
"Score! I knew it, I'm awesome!"
"Alright, Prompto, enough joking around," Ignis finally said, expression still thoughtful. "Hm. This is troubling. Unprecedented, even." Gladio still sat in stony silence, but surprisingly, he didn't seem as hostile as before.
Jason snorted. "You think?" A vast understatement if there ever was one.
"Do you have any idea what happened to your own body, Your Grace? Is there a reason you needed to commandeer our prince?"
"Well, it's not like I did it on purpose. I was literally pulled…" Jason stopped. "Did you just call me 'Your Grace'?"
Prompto laughed. "Yeah, Iggy, he might be in Noct, but he's not…" The blond trailed off at the stern expression on Ignis' face.
"It is appropriate to call a Messenger by their title. Lady Gentiana is afforded the same courtesy and I would not see another of her station slighted, regardless of the circumstances of his current body." Ignis looked back to Jason. "I do apologize for our lack of manners earlier. We did not know who you were. Your appearance is appreciated, but rather alarming, given the circumstances. Usually, Messenger's are afforded their own bodies."
Prompto and Jason shared a look of disbelief. "Um, Iggy? What do you mean by Messenger?"
The man blinked. "A Messenger of the Astrals, of course. They serve as a means to commune with the Gods. Lady Gentiana has been in service to Lady Lunafreya for quite some time for this purpose. I was not aware that one could be summoned, as you said, but clearly I was mistaken."
As I said? Jason thought. He was absolutely positive that he had never in his life said anything of the sort. WHAT was this guy SMOKING?
"Right," Jason said, just barely keeping it together. His nerves were entirely shot and it was starting to feel like he was talking to a brick wall. "Just so we're all on the same page, can you paraphrase what I told you? Just so, um, I know you understood?"
"Certainly. You–"
But Gladio beat him to it, sounding impatient. "Noctis summoned you. Something big is about to go down and the Astral sent you as a guide." Ignis sent the larger man a glare, but Gladio shrugged with a roguish smirk. "What? My way was faster. If I let you get into lecture mode we'd be here all night."
"...What he said." Ignis deadpanned after a moment.
Wearing identical expressions of abject confusion, Jason and Prompto stared at the other two in silence. Jason was at a complete loss. What the hell? That wasn't even close to anything he'd said in the past twenty minutes. Messenger of the Astrals? How did they even come up with this nonsense? Judging by the expression on Prompto's face–poor guy was going as pale as he usually did before a panic attack–the youngest of the group didn't have a clue either.
But it seemed that neither Gladio or Ignis were sensing anything amiss.
"Whelp," Gladio groaned, stretching his arms above his head and yawning wide. "Whatever's going to go down isn't going to happen tonight, right? Best get some sleep. I'm beat."
"Yes," Ignis agreed, sounding both worn and thoughtful. "You are welcome to join us in the tent, Your Grace. It might be a bit uncomfortable, but for now it will have to suffice. We can talk more in the morning."
"...Thanks, Ignis. I just need to," Jason grabbed Prompto's wrist tightly and the blond jumped, coming out of whatever thoughts he was trapped in, "um, ask Prompto some stuff. Be with you in a moment."
Without even waiting for Ignis' response, Jason stood abruptly and dragged Prompto to the edge of camp. He followed without so much as a peep about how hard the displaced man was gripping his hand. Once they had descended the ramp that lead to the ground–but didn't pass beyond the protection of the ruins, Jason wasn't an idiot–he rounded on Prompto. "What just happened? Was I speaking a different language or something?!" he hissed.
"N-no, dude!" Prompto whispered back, looking for all the world like he had reached his wit's end. Well, join the club. "What was all that about being a Messenger? That wasn't even close to what you said! Something's, like, editing your words in real time or something!" Prompto groaned and grinded the heels of his hands into his eyes roughly. "Ugh! This is just like when I tried to talk to them before. It was like–no matter what freaky stuff was going on, they just said it was normal!"
"What the hell are we supposed to do?! I'm not a freaking Messenger, or whatever! If you don't know anything, and they are getting the freaking abridged version, then–This is nuts!" Suddenly, Jason just felt so tired. Brain overloaded, he felt that if one more thing came along to burden his mind, he was going to lose it. Prompto groaned and leaned back against the rock behind him, looking just as bad as Jason felt, if not worse. He, after all, had been dealing with this for longer.
"Look, dude," Prompto said, "We're probably not going to be able to figure this out right now. Let's just get some sleep before my freaking brain melts."
"Prompto, that is probably the most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say."
"Hey!"
"C'mon," Jason threw an arm around the fuming blond. "Let's get some shut-eye while there's still stars out."
As he laid on his side as far from the other three as humanly possible, Jason's mind raced and allowed him no rest, despite his exhaustion. Someone, or something, brought him to this world and was playing him and Prompto like puppets on a string. Whatever was going on, it didn't look like either of them had any choice but to play along.
For now.
Desperately trying not to think of all of the things that could go wrong playing this arbitrarily assigned role he'd been saddled with, Jason fell into an uneasy sleep, the grating snores of three strangers at his back.
-o0o-
Jason dreamed.
He walked along darkened streets of Austin at night. Music pounded out of every opening, mixing together in a disparate blend of dissonant sound. Multicolored lights bathed the night in technicolor. Dizzy from drink, Jason laughed at something one of his friends said as she dramatically flicked her copper hair over a bare shoulder, the joke flying over his head but too wasted to care. A warm body leaned against his side. He stumbled and regained his balance just in time to avoid tumbling to the ground with Nat in tow, the blond more out of it than he somehow, though Jason was fairly certain he drank more.
Nat leaned in even closer to shout into Jason's ear over the pounding noise. "Next bar?" His voice was understandably slurred, but his friend paid it no mind. Jason grinned, opening his mouth to say 'hell yeah!'
But nothing came out. The world spun and warped, colors blurring into each other like a sickening rainbow of syrups in an oversweet drink. Jason blinked hard and Nat's face swirled beyond recognition. Suddenly, it was Prompto plastered against his side, younger somehow with unstyled hair and cheeks flushed with laughter, just as drunk as Nat had been. The buildings were taller and darker around him, built closer in than the sprawl of a Texas city. The road was unfamiliar. "You good to go, buddy?" Prompto laughed over the discordant music.
"...out…!"
Jason found himself in a massive chamber, no longer drunk but feeling calm, a quiet anxiety in his chest. The silence was deafening after the music faded, and the floor echoed loudly as he walked over decadent marble floors. In the immense room, no matter how he strained his eyes he could not see the ceiling, the vaulted columned walls going on and on forever, it seemed. He stopped in front of one wall and turned to regard it. It blurred, indistinct, but it's dark image made the anxiety grow bigger until he kneeled gasping on the floor…
The world shifted once more, and he stood in the heart of the Medici tombs in Florence Italy, a few years younger and backpacking across Europe. His fingers itched for his camera, but there were no photos allowed here. Precious stone lined every surface in an opulence unheard of in this era, and it takes his breath away, how it all seems so much larger than life. The power these men must have commanded. He turned to share his enthusiasm with the girl he had traveled with, and found her sketching away in her leather journal, paying him no mind with a small smile on her lips. He grinned, reaching over to snatch her pen, but with a slight wave of vertigo, found himself reaching for a man's hand instead. The walls darkened to black marble around him, a long hall stretching into the indistinct distance.
"Please, Highness," Ignis reprimanded, snatching his notebook back with an exasperated sigh. "Stealing my pen will not get you out of this afternoon's meetings…"
"...o are yo…?!" a muffled shouting seemed to be coming from outside, or maybe a far distance. Jason tried to concentrate on it, but it was difficult.
The scene changed again. He was standing at a large window, looking far, far down into the mob of Insomnians outside. They lifted signs and chanted their anger to the sky. 'Reject Immigrants' they said. 'Keep Insomnia Pure'.
A heavy sigh sounded from beside him, and Jason looked over. An old man stood at his side, staring out into the crowd with sadness. He was handsome, and very regal in strange formal dress. Jason though he might know him, but it was a vague recollection at best. With a pale hand, he reached out and placed a pale hand on the man's shoulder for comfort. Warmth blossomed in his chest. Affection. Worry.
"...get out." Any warm feelings he might have felt fled as a coldness gripped his heart, a quiet anger that unsettled him. Jason could not find its source, but he felt as though something was terribly wrong.
He was somewhere else now, a comforting breeze ruffling his hair. Beautifully manicured grounds surrounded him, foliage of all types in a menagerie of colors blocking out the rest of the world in a semblance of privacy. The royal gardens, he somehow knew. Jason smiled as he stroked a worn leather journal. It felt warm in his hands, and so very familiar in a way that ached. He opened it, glancing casually at page after page without really seeing them, having gone over them so many times in his short life that he knew the words by heart. He reached the end of the written pages and paused, running a slim finger over beautiful script, heart racing a little at the fresh ink inside.
Noctis, it began in elegant script, the likes of which Jason had not seen before.
My dear friend. I know it has been much too long since I last wrote. The sylleblossoms are blooming magnificently this year, and their bravery reminded me of you...How I wish you were here to share this with me…
Jason's cheeks bloomed into a heated blush, even as his lips pulled up into a pleased smile. He leaned forward and brought the book to his face, closing his eyes. He breathed in the scent of springtime and vanilla that always clung to its sepia pages…
"ENOUGH!"
Greenery dissolved into nothing in violent waves of blue light, gale force winds whipping about Jason so forcefully he couldn't even hear his own frightened shout. And then it was dead silent. With a racing heart, Jason snapped open his eyes and flinched at the ominous figure before him. Noctis stood, rigid in his shoulders and pale as death in his black fatigues. Blue eyes glared fiercely at Jason, so darkened with anger they appeared nearly black in the shifting light.
"I don't know who you are," he said, husky voice lowered into a growl. "But you have no right to see that! Get out!"
Jason opened his mouth to reply, shout, something, but not matter how he tried, he could make no sound. I want to, he though. I don't know how!
Noctis outright snarled in anger, eyes seeming to draw in the light around them until they glowed bright purple, their surroundings darkening alarmingly. Jason didn't think anyone had ever looked at him with such hostility before, and he had been in some pretty rough fights in his short life. "I said GET OUT!"
Jason screamed as he was swallowed by a suffocating blackness, the purple pinpricks of Noctis' glare the last to blink out.
-o0o-
Prompto woke abruptly as if someone had kicked him in the side. Without even opening his eyes, he sat up with a grunt. He groaned, long and whiny, scraping his hair from his sweaty forehead. That's it. If he didn't get a bath he was going to DIE.
He peeled his eyes open, looking around blurrily. Gladio, sprawled out over half the tent, check. Ignis, buried somewhere beneath the big guy's left arm, a-check. Noctis curled into a little ball, clinging to the head of some dark skinned man who happened to not be wearing any clothes. Yup, nothing out of the ord–
Prompto blinked. The image did not change.
"Uuuuugh, Ignis? You might want to see this," Prompto said tightly, voice going a higher pitch with each word, cracking spectacularly at the end.
"Whua?" came the indistinct question from the other side of the tent. A loud grunt–Gladio, it sounded like, but no way was Prompto looking away from the strange scene before him–and some shuffling later, and Ignis was beside him, looking down with equal shock. "Oh dear."
Gladiolus rolled over as well, squinting over Prompto's shoulder. "Whatthefu…?" he said sleepily.
He was tall, Ignis' size at least, and he was shades darker than Gladio. Messy, shoulder length black locks obscured his face, but the rest of him was completely exposed. He shifted, and the three moved back in slight caution. Shoulder muscles bulged as the strange man pushed himself up, Noctis' arm shifting from his body and sliding down broad shoulders and toned abs before falling to the tent floor in a thump. The man seemed to observe the prince for several seconds before he looked up at the three staring blatantly not a few feet away. Dark brown irises regarded them in shock, the chocolaty pools so dark they almost appeared black.
"...Jason?"
-o0o-
An:
...I wonder how long it will take Jason to realize he's naked. Heh, wow, my dramatic side is showing. I do love illustrating dream scenes. And lol, I can just hear Prompto calling for Iggy like "Moooom, there's a strange man in my bedroom!"
Hm, I wonder who could be manipulating Prompto and Jason like that? Who could it be…
I hope to keep this story somewhere between drama and comedy, so you can expect shenanigans and plot in equal measures in the future :) Thanks everyone for your support!