Chapter Six: Somnus Ultima

Just getting himself through one day after another seemed to be its own special kind of hell now. Prompto found that the less food he had in him the more his vision would blur at the edges, the less concentration and focus he had. He'd even started slipping into little dozes here and there, his body trying to preserve what little energy it had. He found the naps just left him feeling even more sluggish and disorientated when he woke up.

Ignis was worried about him. Prompto hadn't realised himself -he was too far out of it most of the time to even attempt reading anyone's social cues or body language. Gladiolus had made sure he knew though, doling several punches to Prompto's ribs and stomach to make sure he understood that Ignis' concern was a problem. Prompto thought that that made sense. Ignis had better things to be worried about than the fact that Prompto was throwing up most of what he ate these days.

Gladiolus had been pulling him aside most nights now. At first Prompto had tried to say he was sorry, had tried to reason with the Shield, but that had just made the man angrier, more violent. So eventually Prompto had just stopped talking. He'd follow Gladio a little ways away from the camp -sometimes they'd even go out into the forest if Gladio thought Prompto would be screaming- and the man would punish him for his failures. That, also, was something that Prompto understood. Failures were punished, and he wasn't doing anything right these days.

Despite the punishments, Prompto was struggling to set things right. It seemed that the more he tried to fade into the background the more attention Ignis and Noctis -and in turn, Gladiolus- payed to him. It was frustrating. His very existence was a nuisance.

Loqi would have been ashamed.

"Hey blondie, mind helping me grab some wood for the fire real quick?"

Prompto looked up in surprise at that, eyes darting to Noctis for a moment before back to the Shield. He stood up from his seat by the dwindling fire and forced himself to nod, the movement jerky, a weak smile tugging at his lips. "Sure thing."

There were no more words needed. Prompto followed Gladio towards the forest, staring down at the floor littered with leaves and pine needles. It wasn't night yet, Noctis and Ignis were still awake. This was.. unusual. Gladiolus usually waited until everyone else was asleep before punishing him, so as not to disturb them. Perhaps he'd done something to warrant some kind of immediate punishment? Probably. They were heading to the forest after all, so clearly Gladiolus expected him to be loud.

Prompto found himself colliding with Gladio's back as the man stopped abruptly, Prompto looking up at him in surprise. They usually went so much deeper into the forest than this. Gladio looked around for a moment, assessing, before nodding to himself, gaze turning to Prompto. "This is far enough."

It was pathetic how the very first punch managed to catch him off guard even though Gladio was standing right in front of him. Prompto let out a cry as he heard more than felt his nose crack, blood immediately gushing down his chin and onto his clothes. The initial break had been bad but the second punch to the same spot was agony. Prompto let loose a scream as he dropped to his knees, hands hovering over his crushed nose. He was already crying. Without giving him any time to recover a hand twisted into his hair, forcing his head down into the dirt.

The world was swimming. After a few moments Gladio released his grip on his head but Prompto didn't move, just trying to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. In. His nose screamed in protest even as he breathed through his mouth, forcing himself not to gasp for the air his body so desperately wanted more of. He couldn't, it'd hurt so much more if he did. He might black out. Gladio wouldn't like that.

The grip under his chin was rough, forcing him to look up. Gladio had crouched down in front of him, was giving him the same critical gaze he'd assessed their surroundings with earlier. The man's face pulled into a frown and he reached up, roughly wiping at the tears tracking down Prompto's cheek. He hadn't even realised he'd been crying, tears mixing with blood. Gladio's hand came away smeared with red and he made a noise of disgust, wiping it away on Prompto's shirt.

"Dear me, it seems you're in much worse a state than I expected. Stand. Come on now, you can do that for me, cant you?"

Prompto tried. He pushed himself up with his hands, ignoring how badly he was shaking. He stumbled as soon as he started to rise to his feet. He fell sideways hard into a tree, then used it to try and claw himself up. Prompto got halfway upright before he lost his grip on the bark and fell to the ground again, moaning in pain as the impact jostled his mess of a nose. He forced himself to his knees, swaying unsteadily even then. Prompto looked up at Gladiolus. The man stood with his arms crossed, towering above him, his eyes the coldest Prompto had ever seen them.

"I'm disappointed."

Those words hit with an impact Prompto hadn't expected. Just two words, but they seemed to hold more weight than anything else Gladio had said over the past few weeks. He felt them like a stab wound, sharp and painful and with the promise of so much worse to come.

But then Gladio was smiling again and the clearing grew darker and cold, so cold. His face, Gladio's face was twisting into something Prompto still saw in his nightmares and he reeled back because it couldn't be. It couldn't be, not here, not now and the shadows were moving, they were moving and-

"I must say S6, I expected so much more. Ah well. I'd say you've been fun, but 'failed potential' would be far more fitting, yes?"

Then the shadows weren't shadows anymore but a dark black matter somewhere between liquid and dust that Prompto recognised all too well. They tumbled from Ardyn's body and slithered along the forest floor towards him and Prompto couldn't get away, he couldn't run, he could barely stand.

They were everywhere. In his mouth, forcing their way through his ruined nose, in through his ears and eyes and the pores of his skin. He tried to throw them up, retching around the squirming string of black sliding down his throat but it only persisted. It was everywhere, it was inside him and all of a sudden Prompto knew where the scent of decay that constantly hung to Ardyn came from.

He couldn't see. He could feel the shadows inside of him, outside of him and it was just like when the daemon had tried to possess him but also so much more. So, so much more because Ardyn was everything, Ardyn had all that rot and decay and sickness stored inside him and now it was in Prompto too. Oh Astrals it was inside him-

"Goodbye, darling. You won't be missed." And it was Ardyn, it had always been Ardyn. Ardyn was going to kill him, he'd never really been safe and-

"Get the fuck away from him!"

Noctis.

The shadows made one final push, tugging and twisting and swarming inside him. All was black.

He awoke and nothing had changed.

He was certain his eyes were open but just to double check he tried blinking. Still nothing except the inky darkness. Heart hammering he reached out around him with trembling fingers, trying to get a feel for his surroundings, where he could possibly be. There was some kind of material underneath him, something soft. He didnt feel like he was outside; there was no wind, nothing that felt like sunlight either.

His throat hurt. He felt like he'd screamed until he'd destroyed his throat entirely- a feeling he was painfully familiar with. He was exhausted, body desperately wanting to slip back into sleep even as he knew he needed to be alert. He had to know where he was, who else was here. But how? His muscles felt like lead, as though that blackness that had filled him was some impossibly heavy weight, filling his veins until he couldn't move.

Was it? He felt himself start to panic at the thought, muscles tensing. Maybe he couldn't move. Maybe he was stuck like this, immobile until Ardyn wanted to release him. His fear grew as his mind spawned more unpleasant possibilities, but panicking was using up energy he didn't have. He felt it as his body started to shut down again, forcing him back towards sleep. A.. something brushed against his forehead. It was soft, warm.. skin, maybe? A voice by his ear, unfamiliar yet soothing.

"Hush now, its not time for you yet. Sleep. All will be well when you next wake."

Who was he to argue? A soft groan left him as a wave of warmth rippled through his body, reaching every nook and cranny Ardyn's darkness had touched. If he wasn't so tired perhaps this would concern him but for now he allowed the light to carry him into a dreamless sleep.

The next time Prompto woke it was to blue.

He stared absently up at it, thinking what a pretty colour those two floating circles were. Then they blinked and Prompto's brain started to process, put together that the pretty blue things were eyes, and the eyes were attached to a face. Not any face, but Noctis' face. Noctis' face, above him.

Noctis.

Arms wrapped around his torso, pulling him up. It took Prompto several seconds to realise that he was being hugged and he raised his arms, rubbing at the back of Noctis' shirt absently in return. Noct was warm. It was nice. Prompto's brain still felt fuzzy, his muscles dully aching as if they'd been overused. Which was ridiculous because Prompto was quite sure he hadn't moved since... Well, since Ardyn.

Ardyn...

Noctis didn't pull back from the hug for a little while and Prompto didn't mind, instead taking the chance to look around. They were in a room. A nice one. It was well furnished, far bigger than the little hotel rooms they usually rented. He wondered how much this one had cost, how long they'd been staying here. Was it... was this even a hotel? A glance down revealed to him that he was on a bed and the softness he'd felt the first time he'd woken up had likely been bedsheets.

Only then did Prompto realise that there was a woman sitting on a chair a few feet away. He stared at her dumbly for a few seconds before registering that this was an actual person and it was rude to stare. He looked away, Noctis finally pulling back from the hug to instead hold Prompto at arms length, looking him over. The Prince was smiling. He liked it when Noct smiled.

"Prom.. I'm so happy to see you awake. It's been.. you've been out for almost three weeks man."

Prompto frowned at that. Three... three weeks? He shook his head, looking up at the woman again. She was blonde, hair paler than his, looked a little older than Noctis. Pretty. Smiling. "Noct, I.." He swallowed around the ache in his throat, meeting Noctis' eyes "Where are we? What... what happened?"

The woman stood up then, walking over to his bedside and perching herself on the edge of the bed. Noctis shuffled closer to the wall to make more room for her, looking back to Prompto "Prom, this is Luna. She's.. uh, I don't suppose you've ever heard of The Oracle?" Prompto shook his head and Luna smiled, taking one of his hands in her own. He was surprised at the action but didn't flinch away, finding he didn't have the energy. Being scared.. it was a lot of work.

"I am Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, the current Oracle and former Princess of Tenebrae. It's a pleasure to meet you, Prompto. Noctis has told me a great deal about you."

Prompto nodded, offering a small but genuine smile. "Yeah its ah, its nice to meet you. Sorry.. sorry about Tenebrae." He'd heard about the destruction of Tenebrae. Loqi had mentioned it once or twice, although he'd never gone into much detail. Luna's smile tightened but she nodded, keeping her hold on his hand "The past is but a tool to shape our future. More importantly Prompto, as to why you are here... Noctis told me what happened with Chancellor Izunia. You.. he left you with a rather severe case of the Starscourge."

"The.. what?" Lunafreya seemed nice, but Prompto was really struggling to grasp most of what she was saying. Her speech was so much more formal than Noctis' and -especially having just woken up from what was apparently a three week nap- he was struggling to understand what she was trying to convey.

Noctis cleared his throat then and Prompto turned his gaze to the Prince, that same kindly smile in place on Noctis' face. It made Prompto happy. That smile was so warm and genuine, it was a joy to see it on Noctis. "Prom, the Starscourge is basically... think of it as daemon disease? Little bits of it travel through the air and infect people, but Ardyn... that prick put a whole load of the stuff right inside you. So you got the Starscourge bad. Really bad."

That... didn't sound good. Prompto swallowed nervously, eyebrows drawing together as he frowned. "Is uh.. is there a cure?"

"Wha- oh Prompto, no. You've already been cured. As the Oracle it is my sacred duty to cure those afflicted with the Starscourge. I came here as soon as Noctis called me. The, ah, the Scourge entered mostly through your eyes and caused quite a bit of damage there, but we managed to heal that eventually. That's why.. you remember, when you first woke up?"

A moment of realisation and Prompto stared at Lunafreya with newfound awe, remembering when he'd first woken up. "That was you? You were there? The uh... the warm thing?"

The Oracle laughed at that, nodding. Prompto thought the sound was quite a lot like bells that chimed in the wind. Fleeting but pure. "Yes. You may not remember but you still had the bandages over your eyes then, so you would not have been able to see. And the ah, 'warm thing' as you call it, that was me healing you. A little of the Scourge was still remaining, you see."

Prompto nodded his understanding, things finally starting to fall into place. A light, pleasant breeze blew through the room and Prompto looked over to the open balcony doors, out at the sky. "Hey Noct, where are we exactly? None of our hotels have been this fancy."

Prompto could only watch as Noctis grinned, looking more alive than Prompto had ever seen him. Noctis looked so happy, so at home here. Home...

"Prompto." Hands were cupping his cheeks so all he could see was the brilliant electric blue of Noctis' eyes, the elated grin on his face. "Welcome to Insomnia. My home, Prompto. Your home."

And Prompto smiled.

The sun had set, a pleasantly warm summer breeze ruffling Prompto's hair as he walked the palace halls. His feet were bare, making no sound on the cool marble hallways he explored. He was supposed to be in bed. It was past midnight, the servants had all retired hours ago. They seemed to be a constant presence in the palace and the halls seemed particularly empty without them.

Prompto was opening doors. He'd look into rooms, so many of them bare and unused. Guest rooms mostly, kept pristine despite the lack of current visitors. He knew it was probably rude to be poking around like this, even though Noctis had assured him that he was free to go wherever he wanted. He could even leave the palace, explore the citadel.

Noctis had warned him that Insomnia was busy and Prompto had seen as much from some of the higher windows of the palace. Sometimes he just sat up there all day, watching people going about their lives below him. He'd never seen such a big city before and he wanted so badly to go out and explore it, but at the same time he knew he wasn't quite ready for that yet.

Loqi had been right, though. The skyscrapers really were like nothing he'd ever seen before.

Prompto smiled contently to himself, opening another door. He poked his head in, seeing a bed with the covers thrown back, an open book left on the bedsheets. Ah, someone was staying in here, then. Not wanting to intrude he quickly closed the door, moving onto the next room.

Their eyes met and for several seconds neither of them spoke. Gladiolus looked as shocked as Prompto felt, a half eaten sandwich held in one hand and a book resting on his knees. He was sat on his bead, was in sweats and a loose shirt, so clearly he'd just been trying to relax. Prompto immediately felt bad for intruding.

"I, uh, I'll go, s-sorry for interrupting." Prompto was already closing the door when Gladio snapped out of his shock, placing his book to the side. "Prom, wait! You can stay, I don't mind. I mean, ah, if you want to."

Prompto seriously considered just leaving anyway. In all honesty he'd been avoiding Gladio since he'd woken up, and he was sure the Shield would have noticed that by now. Despite that, during their limited interactions Gladiolus had been nothing but nice so far. A little awkward sure, but considering their history Prompto supposed that was to be expected.

So, taking a deep breath, he took a step into Gladiolus room. Then another step. And when Gladio didn't say anything he walked right over to the man's bed and sat himself on the edge of it, not taking his eyes off of the Shield for a second.

Another silence, spanning for three seconds this time - Prompto was counting. Then Gladio offered a small smile and Prompto tried his best to return in, even as just seeing Gladiolus was dragging painful memories of the past few weeks to the forefront of his mind. So, hoping to distract himself, he spoke.

"Hi."

It was just one word, but with it some of the tension buzzing between them seemed to dissipate. Gladio's smile widened and the man shifted, placing his sandwich on a plate on his bedside drawer and resting his hands in his lap.

"Hey. So I uh, I wanted to apologise for.. well everything really. But specifically about everything I said before you left. It's... I really thought you were trying to kill Noct, y'know? Sure he can be a brat sometimes, but that kid- he's my life, Prom. My whole world."

Prompto could only watch in shock as Gladiolus started to cry. The tears were silent and he didn't even try to wipe them away, letting them fall onto the sheets as he hung his head, staring down at his hands. "I know.. I know I don't deserve to be forgiven, for what I did. And no matter what my reasons are, that doesn't make it better. But I.. I miss you, Prom. I miss how we were before. I - I still do. I care about you a lot, yeah? I hate that you're so scared of me. I hate it."

The drip of wet and salty sliding down his cheeks, and Prompto realised he was crying too. He looked away, then back at Gladio, trying to think of something to say. He never had the right words, not for things like this. But Gladio looked so miserable, so defeated. It wasn't a good look on him. Prompto realised the man must have been carrying all this guilt, this grief, for days. Weeks, even.

And then Prompto did something he'd never expected of himself. He moved forwards and wrapped his arms tight around Gladio's chest, pulling the Shield into a hug. "I miss you too, big guy. And.. for what its worth, I forgive you."

Silence for a moment and then Gladio was really crying, burying his face in Prompto's hair. Gladio was hugging him too, arms wrapping around Prompto's back and he tensed up at first but then forced himself to relax. Because this was Gladiolus, and Gladiolus wasn't going to hurt him.

They stayed like that for what felt like an hour, which in reality was ten minutes. Ten minutes of hugging and tears, quite mumbles of "Thank you, Prom. Thank you so much." and "Sorry, I'm getting your shirt wet." Eventually Gladio lay down properly on the bed and Prompto found himself half lying on the Shield, finding that it wasn't nearly as scary as he'd thought such a thing would be.

He thought that maybe a little part of his brain had know all along that it hadn't really been Gladiolus hurting him. Just Ardyn, always Ardyn. It'd always be Ardyn.

"Ardyn.. he took your form. He was hurting me at night, when.. well, I guess you were asleep. For about a week, I think? He said stuff, like I'm a distraction. I'm getting in Ignis' way, and Noct's way. Your's too, I guess. Is that.. is that true? Should I leave you guys alone? Forever?"

Gladio's arms had been loosely draped around Prompto but they tightened as he spoke. He didn't look up at Gladiolus, worried what expression he'd see there.

"Ardyn deserves to fucking rot."

Well, that wasn't quite what he'd been expecting. Prompto shifted so he could meet Gladio's eyes, surprised at the intensity in the man's gaze. He seemed angry. "Seriously Prom. Don't believe anything that dick manipulated you into believing, alright? You're perfect, kid. The perfect addition to our messed up little trio. If you want to leave that's fine, but as long as you want to stay? It's a pleasure to have you around."

Prompto was crying again but this time they were happy tears. He reached up a hand to wipe at his eyes but Gladio beat him too it, using the edge of his shirt to wipe the tears away. Prompto sniffled before smiling, eyes still wet "Well. If you put it like that I guess I'll have to stick around then, won't I?" A wet laugh and Gladio chuckled in response, nodding his agreement and running an affectionate hand through Prompto's hair.

"Yeah, kid. Guess you will."

"Gladio, have you seen my - oh." Noctis stared. He hadn't expected to walk into his Shield's room to find this, but it was a pleasant sight to see nonetheless. He moved out of the doorway so Ignis could step into Gladio's room as well, to see what could only be described as progress.

"Oh my." Ignis was just as surprised as Noctis, taking a few steps closer to the bed to get a better look. Gladio was sprawled out flat on his back, pillows left forgotten on the floor. Prompto lay on the bed half beside half on top of him, his head resting on Gladio's chest. Gladiolus had one hand settled in Prompto's hair and the other slung over his back. The two were sound asleep, Gladiolus looking the most peaceful Ignis had seen him in days. The Shield hadn't talked to him about it yet, but it had been clear that Gladio held himself personally responsible for every trauma Prompto had been through at the hands of Ardyn.

It was a lovely surprise to see that Gladiolus and Prompto had -assumedly- talked. He was sure there'd be some leftover difficulties but they could work through those. Ignis had spoken to the palace therapist allowed to deal with classified material, and she'd agreed to start seeing Prompto regularly starting in a weeks time. Ignis had no doubt that proper therapy would do Prompto a world of good. He could start to integrate into society, lead a normal life.

Or... or he could stay with them, if that's what he wanted. Noctis would need to start his journey around the outskirts of Lucis all over again soon enough and, well.. he certainly wouldn't be complaining if Prompto wanted to come along.

That could wait, though. For now there were more important matters to deal with, for example Noctis, who was heading straight for Gladiolus' bed with no intentions of stopping.

"Noctis no." Noctis firmly ignored Ignis' protest, instead climbing up onto he bed. He was quick to claim the other side of Gladio's chest because the Shield really did make an excellent pillow, even nudging Prompto to the side a little so he could get a better spot. Prompto groaned in response, the none too gentle prods from Noctis rousing him from sleep. Noct only smiled mischievously as he met Prompto's eyes, settling himself into a comfy position. "Hey sunshine. Go back to sleep, I'm just joining the cuddle pile. Ignis too."

Whatever Prompto said in response was muffled into Gladio's shirt, Ignis walking to the edge of the bed to stare down at Noctis. "I will do no such thing, Noct. I shall not join this- this cuddle pile, as you call it."

Noctis had the audacity to laugh at that, rolling his eyes and directing a wicked smile up at Ignis. "Nah specs, you're joining and you know it. Come on. No point arguing when you know you're gonna give in eventually."

Ignis opened his mouth to argue only to close it, then open it again. Then with a sigh instead of a retort he lay down on the bed, turning so he was facing the so called 'cuddle pile'. Satisfied, Noctis buried his face into Gladio's shirt, and soft snoring was heard only a few minutes later. Ignis wasn't surprised; Noct was even more tired than usual as of late. They all were. It had been a long week.

That thought in mind, he allowed himself to shuffle a little closer to the other three, removing his glasses and placing them on the bedside table. Then -once he was certain that they were all asleep- Ignis moved so that he was resting against Gladiolus' side. He'd started to drift off to sleep himself when an arm moved to rest on his back, holding him close.

"G'Night Igs." Ignis sighed as he heard Gladio's sleepy mumble but didnt make an attempt to move away from the man's hand. He supposed he'd allow it, just this once.

"Goodnight, Gladio. Sleep well."

A grunt was the only response he got, and with that Ignis drifted off to sleep.

A/N: I loved this chapter so much! It was a struggle to actually sit down and start writing it, but once I had a load of fun! This is the last full length chapter, next chapter is a shorter epilogue.

Also hey if you want then check out my tumblr 'epidepi' where I cry over good bois (Prompto) and scream about my upcoming fics/plans etc. Or even my art Instagram 'ashuuki', I'm equally a mess on both