Chapter 3: Putting escape tactics to the test.
[Noctis]
Tossing and turning over and over in his bed for hours had pushed his already distressed mind to the edge. He could not concentrate, he could not calm down and he definitely could not sleep despite his three hours long effort. He was incomprehensibly tired, his head throbbed, his throat burnt and his nose was stuffed, though it was neither of those things that kept him awake, it was the worry for Ignis. The frustration was built up to a maximum and he had set his mind on putting one of Gladiolus all escape tactics to the test; it was the very reason to why he had learned them, was it not? In order to escape captivity, 'well, probably not from him…' Noctis thought and left his bed as quietly as possible. Prompto was sleeping on the sofa in the same room, far too stubborn to return to his own after prince's latest attempt to sneak out unnoticed, he had to be extra careful. 'Well… jumpy Chocobo is my slightest problem; I have to figure out a way to prevent Gladiolus to check on me again. I will need a good lead and a silly amount of luck to pull this off. Good thing that I packed my bag beforehand.' He thought quietly and carefully opened the door to the balcony. He needed a way to distract Gladiolus; the question was how. One could say many things about the Amicitia family, but stupid was not one of them.
'Maybe a sleeping spell would work? Ehm… no… I do not know any spells… maybe I can slip a sleeping pill in his tea. That could work… I could knock on his door and see if he is awake, ask him to drink some tea with me because tea is good when one is sick... good idea! Now, where do Iggy store my sleeping pills?' He thought and carefully went past the sofa where Prompto slept; the blond teen mumbled something in his sleep which made Noctis freeze for a short while.
"Where ya' goin'?" He mumbled tiredly and looked at the prince through sleepy half closed eyes. Prompto had been trying to keep himself awake in case his friend needed anything.
"Bathroom, need to pee." He whispered back and laid a comforter on top of him.
"Go back to sleep." Prompto nodded and closed his eyes again, much to Noctis relief as he took his jar of pills from Ignis' bag and carefully tiptoed towards the door when he suddenly stopped. 'But how shall I do this? Is he even awake? If not, this will only be spilled time…' He shook his head and swallowed a coughing fit, took his bag and started climbing down the balcony. Well on the ground, he turned his phone off and took a deep breath of the nightly chilled air. Praised himself that he actually put on his jacket for once, it was freezing outside. Now, all he had to do was to sneak and that fast, it would probably be a good idea to investigate where the nearest airport was too but that was something he had not thought of yet. The stroll towards the road was a pain walking with a sore body, the chilled winds hit his face and the nightly ferries out of Altissia were hard to spot. His passport would surely be a trouble for him too; it was not exactly easy to travel incognito when you were the prince of one of Eos most famous countries. Surprisingly, the escape from Altissia went smooth without any disturbances.
He succeeded to find his way down to the train station with his face well hidden by the large hood on his sweater, under the jacket.
'It is almost too easy… like the Astrals wants me to do this…' He mumbled to himself and absentminded handed the ticket to the conductress when she walked by.
Deep down he knew that this was a very bad idea and that he would get into a massive amount of trouble with each and every one of his friends, but he refused to let the knowledge hold him back. If he got to see Ignis with his own eyes and see that he was okay, then it was worth every harsh scolding he would get, and three times over too.
Ignis' parental character was the only steady guidance in his life as well as one of his closest friends. He simply could not ignore the feeling that he would lose him forever if he did not seek him out himself, and to lose Ignis was one of his biggest fears.
The train finally started moving and Noctis let out a deep breath he was not even aware of that he held; thereafter he was surprised by a sudden coughing fit, 'Cursed be these colds… maybe I should start to listen better at was Ignis has to say. Funny that sayings are so accurate, you do not know what you have until it is gone.
Well… Ignis is not gone, yet, he is not allowed to… ever…' The thought might have been selfish, but he could not suppress the feelings of that Ignis kept away due to selfish reason as well, he would have to corner him about it, talk some sense into him; so much sense a senseless prince could muster that is.
The train went on for a good while, the sunrise played on the horizon painted its colors of cerise and orange over the faraway fields and the ocean.
It was a spectacular view indeed, sadly enough, Noctis could not tell as he had fallen asleep just moments earlier. Yet another hour passed and the train had reached its final station. Noctis exited the train and started up his phone in a try to figure out where he was and how to get to Gran Pulse, the phone buzzed like crazy for good five minutes and he scrolls down the list of missed calls and text messages, all from Prompto.
'Good... that means that Gladiolus has not yet noticed that I am gone.' He opened the latest text message from his friend and read it.
¨Where the flaming Ifrit are you?! For real?! ANSWER ME!¨ Noctis swallowed nervously, he could tell that Prompto was extremely angry with him and that would take some time and smooth talk to settle straight.
¨I am alright, do not worry, out on a stroll, will be back, calling later. Sleep.¨ He sent it and opened up his map app to see if he could find his way.
'Wow... more luck? What is this?' He mumbled surprised as he found out that he only was a couple of kilometers away from the closest airport.
He got an answer from Prompto that he opened with a sigh.
¨You are dead meat. Iggy will tan your arse to the end of Eos and back when he hears about this! Twice! I will call him right now!¨ His eyes widened and he took a screen print of the map before he turned the GPS, network and roaming data off.
Despite wanting to see Ignis very badly, he was not keen on getting a public scolding; especially not while having a migraine. He caught a taxi to the airport, paid him with the right amount of Gil and searched for the earliest flight towards Gran Pulse. 'Great... two hours to wait... might as well freshen up and make a plan' He thought somber and went to the washroom; splashed some water on his face and put a hand on his forehead with a grimace. 'He will kill me if this cold does not… I guess I only have myself to blame for this mess.' He muttered and placed both hands at the rim of the sink.
Noctis was tired but he did not dare to fall asleep, what if he missed the flight? That would be horrible and then he would be stuck in absolutely nowhere.
'Maybe if I can take a short nap if I put on an alarm? No, that would be stupid, I would draw attention to myself and that is certainly one thing that I shall avoid to every cost.
I wonder if Prompto really called Ignis… there is only one way to find out.' He started the roaming on the phone and waited for it to stop buzzing before he looked at it.
Prompto had spammed him, but he was also the only one sending text messages, did he cover for him? After some nervous scrolling, he started to read the latest first.
¨Noctis… please? At least call so I know that you are okay. I have not called Iggy; Gladio was called away by Cor… I am alone here now, worried about you as well as scared. You know that I hate to be alone…¨ The young prince bit his lower lip hard and tried to suppress his bad conscious as he called his friend.
"Prompto?" He asked as soon as the phone picked up at the other end; followed by sobbing and cries.
"Hey… are you okay buddy?" Noctis asked worriedly and seated at the toilet's seat, he was too tired to stand up and wait for the airship to arrive.
Another hard sob came through before he got an answer.
"No… where are you? Why did you do this to me? What have I done wrong? Tell me so I can fix it." Noctis huffed; stroked his left hand over his cheek in a tired manner.
"You have not done anything wrong Prompto, I promise. I did a mistake, I am on my way to see Ignis but you are so worried about me when I get sick so I thought that if I asked you to come with me, you would have prevented me from going. I have to see Iggy." He said quietly and blinked a few times to get rid of some tears that threatened to fall.
"Damn right I would, you should be in bed and rest, not on the run… are you okay?" Prompto asked; sobbing even harder. One could tell that he fought against both panic and anxiety.
"I know Prom, I know…" He started to fiddle with a thread on his jacket and continued.
"I am okay, not very good but I am okay and I am safe. You do not need to worry. Though I want you to wait in Altissia on Gladio's return, I know you are strong and can fend for yourself, even better than I can, but he would be even more worried to find an empty room and your social anxiety would not serve you well where I am. It is far too many people here and I do not want you to panic and get lost." Prompto hiccupped and sniveled, he was angry with his friend for being abandoned like that but also very worried about what made him do it, was his current mental state so bad that he could not think reasonable? Was the loss of his betrothed so hard to handle that he had lost his mind? Or was it simply because he cared more about Ignis than he cared about himself? The blond teen could not tell and it made him even more frustrated.
"You should have made me come with you… or am I too weak? Have you abandoned me? Maybe Ignis is more important than I am instead of equal as… or are you just a sadist?" He muttered angrily when the sobs had subdued.
Noctis froze mid-movement and frowned deeply, scolding himself for not paid Prompto's feelings any attention.
"Yes and no… I should have asked you, you are not too weak. You will always be my best friend Prompto, you will always be my brother and I love you for who you are; do not you ever forget that, okay? The thing is that I cannot think straight right now; I cannot… everything is too much to comprehend, I am very sorry that I hurt you, Prompto I mean it, I am very sorry. I know that I can talk with you about everything and I appreciate that very much, more than I can express, but this time I do need a parent and Ignis is the closest person to a parent that I have ever had. I was so afraid that I had lost him too and… I have to meet him to understand that it will not happen. To do as I have done today is wrong and dangerous, I get that but I did not think about that when I left. I was too distressed, to frighten and too much of a coward to face reality. I had absolutely no intentions of scaring you, or make you feel bad, I promise. When I get to my destination and have seen Ignis I will return to you with him if I can; otherwise, I will call Gladio myself and confess what I have done and ask him to come and get me.
How does that sound? I will take whatever punishment you give me, even eat broccoli." The last statement made Prompto laugh a little and he nodded for himself.
"Okay. But Iggy needs to call me when you get there so I know that you have arrived safely, I cannot trust you anymore. I do love you brother but you are not trustworthy for half a Gil…" Noctis huffed but nodded for himself in defeat.
"Deal, now… dry your tears, go and eat some breakfast and rest for a while. You need that, I will let my phone be on, call me when you wake up.
That is a royal order." Prompto sneezed at the other end of the line and dried his nose before he answered.
"Mm… and stop making me sick every time you catch a cold. I will call when I wake up." He mumbled and canceled the call.
The prince sighed heavily, put his face in both his hands and stared at his phone for a while before he wrote a text message to Gladiolus.
When done, he left the bathroom to wait for the airship.
¨Take care of Prompto, he got sick. I will be back later this week.¨ He sent it and carefully made his way to the seats to wait the rest of the time, ignoring the calls that Gladiolus made. He knew that no one would talk to Ignis about it as he already had too much on his plate.
Noctis put his phone in his pocket and sighed. The time went by, slow but forward, and after about an hour he boarded the airship.
He had found an express line without any stops in between, it had cost twice as much but it was worth it if it meant that he would see Ignis even sooner.
'So… all I have to do know is to keep awake for six more hours or so… what time is it even? About seven in the morning or something, I guess he will be surprised to find me in New Bodhum or terrified… livid… probably all three.' He shook his head as if he could shake the thoughts away and took a seat nearby a window.
Next thing was to charge his phone; he put the charger in contact and placed his now silenced phone on his lap while he waited for the airship to lift.
Though, two female voices coming his way caught his attention as they started to speak about Snow:
"Why cannot you accept Snow, Lightning? He is a nice guy and we are getting married despite what you think about it." The first voice asked a bit agitated, the second voice, apparently Lightning, answered her with a hint of irritation.
"Because he is childish, pompous, dull and bold, he is not good for you. You should not even meet him, and WHO in his right mind takes a stranger to his home in times of war? He could be dangerous! He could be a spy! He could have killed him and that would break your heart and force me to kill him again!"
Noctis could not help but snicker a little at it and glance at the two of them, he had to admit that the older one looked quite dangerous, but what made them stand out so much was their pink hair.
"Now you are being totally unfair, I am sure Mr. Scientia is a very nice guy too, Snow said so. They are having a good time together." The first voice said.
Lightning snorted and looked around for a couple of seats but the only ones not occupied were at the opposite side of the table where Noctis sat.
She pulled the other girl down beside her and took a seat. "Maybe they should get married then and leave you alone Serah, I told you that he is good for nothing."
The name Scientia made Noctis eyes dart to them and he jumped in at the first air pocket to ask:
"Excuse me ladies, are you on your way to this Snow? Mr. Scientia is my guardian and he is currently staying at Snow's manor. May I come with you?"
Lightning shot him a glare that could kill and made the prince flinch as he lowered his hood.
Serah panted in surprise and slightly jumped in her seat.
"Look Lightning! It is him! It is him! He is N…" The older woman put her hand over her mouth and hushed harshly.
"Are you trying to get him killed?" She whispered and made a sign to Noctis to put his hood up again.
"And are you out of your mind boy? Where is your escort?" She mouthed at him; the prince flushed and turned his face away as he mumbled an answer.
"Altissia. May I come with you or not? I have to see my guardian." Serah nodded and removed the older woman's hand from her mouth, she still could not believe her eyes; the Prince of Lucis sat just in front of her.
"Thank you, Miss," Noctis answered, ignoring the glare that Lightning shot him again.
Silence fell between them and it held steady during the long six hours ride, except a few short conversations about food and weather.