This is where the plot picks up by introducing the infamous character of Verstael Besithia :) Pretty sure this dude's gonna be the main villain in Prompto's upcoming DLC. Can't wait! :D
Iris spent most of her free Sunday lying in bed. She didn't want to face Gladio and be told that he had indeed warned her about Prompto. After all, she couldn't even afford to be mad at the blonde. They were not together, and he was free to do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted.
But she couldn't deny how angry she felt every time she thought of Regine's words. It sounded like the two had been more than just friends, and Prompto hadn't denied either. Well, she hadn't given him the chance to, having stormed away from the café and walked back home before he could explain. However, the look of horror on his face when he had encountered the dark-haired girl had given him away, and Iris was sure she'd rather spare herself the details.
Her phone buzzed and she jumped from her bed to go grab it, hating herself for hoping it was Prompto. Why was she even bothering anyway? She needed to move on, just like he had.
It was Gladio.
"Sis, you've been locked in your room for fifteen hours in a row now. The hell did that idiot do now?"
Iris rolled her eyes as she typed a message to send to her brother. They always communicated that way when one of the two was too upset to step outside their rooms, but she wished he could simply leave her alone right now.
"We had lots of fun, Gladdy. I just don't think we'd work out as a couple. Friends only :)"
She knew he wouldn't buy it. Gladio knew her too well and, if she wasn't that bothered by it, she would indeed go talk to him in person instead of locking herself up in her bedroom.
Iris went to sit in front of her laptop and opened her social media page. She quickly scanned the names of all the people online before investigating further by checking the status of her offline friends.
Prompto Argentum. Active 35 minutes ago.
So he had been on his PC but hadn't bothered to send a message to apologize, or explain. His lack of contact made her even angrier as she stared at his picture –a very toothy selfie he had taken at the Citadel with Noctis- before shutting close her laptop and going to sit on her bed again, fumbling with her phone. She immediately thought of Serena, and started dialing her number. Before she could finish, however, her phone began vibrating as someone called her.
It was Prompto.
Should she even pick up? She pondered for a few seconds before curiosity took the best of her, and she swiped the touchscreen to answer the call.
"Yeah?" she muttered coolly.
"Iris, where are you?" the blonde asked. He sounded agitated, and he was panting as if he were running while talking.
"Home. What do you want?" she asked back flatly.
"Iris, I don't have time to explain now. Get Gladio and come to the Citadel. It's an emergency" he said quickly.
"Sure. Prompto, I don't care what you have to say and I'm not going anywhere to talk to you" she retorted angrily, but he cut her off.
"Iris, it's the Empire! They're heading to Insomnia this instant!" he explained "Please, get Gladio and come here."
He hung up before she could say anything. She stared wide-eyed at the screen as she processed his words: the Empire was attacking Insomnia? Now?
"Gladio!" she shouted as she burst out of her room.
The news had spread quickly, and the Lucian citizens were being escorted by the Crownsguards to a safe haven outside the city, but Iris doubted they would manage to evacuate everyone before the Empire arrived. Their ships were extremely fast and could cover great distances in short time.
Gladio parked the car at the parking lot inside the Citadel and rushed to the elevator to reach the meeting room. Noctis and Lunafreya were already there, with a look of concern on their faces, together with Cor and Ignis, who looked as stoic as ever.
"You came" Noctis said gratefully "Have you seen Prompto?"
"Isn't he here?" Iris asked "He told me he was at the Citadel".
"I'm here" the blonde entered the room, still panting "Sorry I'm a bit late. Had to convince my parents to get out of the city without me".
"I'm glad you made it" Noctis replied "So, the Empire will be here in approximately an hour. We have been preparing for this, even though we weren't expecting an attack so soon. Should've seen it coming, though. The Empire isn't exactly known for playing fair".
"Indeed" Ignis nodded "But I can proudly say our guards have been training day and night in the event of an attack, and they are all ready to put up an equal fight".
"As High Commanders of the Kingsglaives, however" Cor continued "You will each be assigned a battalion, and you will be responsible of the single operations. I know we haven't been training about this too much, but hopefully you are mentally prepared."
Prompto stiffened up a bit when he heard he would be responsible of a whole battalion while defending a specific area of the Crown City, because he had never really been the leading type. He preferred following orders, but accepted his duty anyway.
Ignis was assigned the northeastern part of the city, Gladio the northwestern, Iris the southeastern and Prompto the southwestern, while Noctis, Luna and Cor would be left defending the central district.
"Follow our procedures and your guts. You're all fully capable of defeating the enemy today, just don't overdo it, alright?" Cor warned before letting them go.
"Hey guys" Noctis called after them "Just come back in one piece, ok?"
They all nodded before proceeding to their respective locker rooms to change into their uniforms.
Prompto was feeling a bit sick as he started feeling the weight of responsibility upon his shoulders but forced himself to remain concentrated. When he was done, he opened the door and waited for the others. He glanced at Iris, who was doing her best to ignore him, and felt incredibly sad: what if something were to happen to either himself or her, and he would never get the chance to explain the truth? He couldn't help but think the Six had made clear they would not be taking part in this war, and Iris didn't have the Quicksilver any longer. It was mortals against machines, now.
"It's time" Ignis declared and they all marched outside where their battalions were waiting for them.
Ignis, Gladio, Iris and Prompto took their positions in the front line as High Commanders before wishing each other good luck and saluting the King and his Queen, who were staring down at them from the overlook tower.
Prompto and Iris arrived at their designated areas shortly after, while Gladio and Ignis proceeded further north. At this point, they could only hope they would all make it out alive. Prompto came to a halt, followed by his soldiers, and grabbed Iris's wrist before the girl could march further on. He wouldn't let her go without wishing her good luck.
"Iris, please be careful out there, will you?"
"What makes you think I won't?" she replied coolly "You should be the one on the lookout. Y'know, in case they convince you to join their cause instead".
She automatically glanced at his right wrist as she froze in shock. Had she just insinuated that Prompto, being born an MT, could betray them? The look of hurt on his face broke her heart, but she refused to make amend.
He stared at her back bewildered, and lowered his head. She was just angry at him, and angry people could say terrible things. He was used to it anyway. He tried to erase her words that kept replaying in his head, but he had to admit they hurt more than anything else before.
To know she considered him a threat, a potential traitor…
"I'll prove you wrong, Ir" he whispered "I'm a Lucian".
They waited in silence, not moving even when they heard the rumbling sound of the Empire's engines approaching the city.
Prompto could see them now, the huge flying ships that were shielding the sun, projecting a large shadow over them.
"It begins" he said "Soldiers, take your positions!"
"Soldiers, take your positions!" Iris commended and she immediately heard the disciplined shuffling of feet behind her. Her hammering heart was the only sign that it was indeed still somewhere there in her chest, still beating, still alive. How many times had it broken before? It was incredible how much the tiny organ could take.
She kept replaying the brief conversation she'd just had with Prompto, the terrible things she had told him and his bewildered expression. But now it was no time to mull over it, for she needed to stay focused. They were at war, and the tiniest distraction could cost her life as well as her men's.
She watched as the MTs jumped off the flying ships, hundreds of emotionless soldiers and killing machines. She almost envied them for not being able to feel anything, neither fear nor love. She'd give anything to stop feeling right now.
She was scared as she stared at the approaching enemies, marching ruthlessly and fearlessly towards them. But she was a Kingsglaive now: she had never asked for it, but had fully accepted her new role and would keep the promise made to her King even if that meant her life.
When she conjured her faithful bow, her men proceeded to draw their swords as the enemies lifted theirs. Now it was all a matter of skills and some luck. She couldn't do much more for her soldiers, and she could only hope they were trained enough to defend themselves and their homeland.
They were many, but the MTs seemed to be an endless number as their ships kept on dropping them from the sky. Iris could hear the sound of clattering metal against metal, explosions in the distance and screams. She smelled smoke and felt the heat of the fire somewhere nearby. But she kept on fighting, aiming especially at the MT snipers who had found shelter behind the larger MTs which used melee weapons and stopping briefly only to glance at her soldiers, making sure they were still standing, or shouting some commands. She kept fighting even when she felt a stinging pain on multiple parts of her body as enemies tried to eliminate her.
It was pure chaos, she almost couldn't tell anymore who was on her side and who wasn't. Lying on the floor there were countless bodies, mostly mechanical ones. Her stomach twitched in disgust and sadness when she felt her feet stomping onto the bodies of her own men fallen in battle.
Her heart stopped beating momentarily when she caught a glimpse of one specific Crownsguard, lying motionless on the ground. His helmet had fallen off, revealing a very young, blond boy. He couldn't have been more than twenty, and Iris couldn't help but think he resembled Prompto.
"Dammit, Prompto" she muttered between gritted teeth "You'd better make it out alive."
He was the youngest Higher Commander of the Kingsglaive in history after Iris, and had always hated the role of leader. However, he had to admit he was doing pretty damn good. He glanced at his soldiers as they kept fighting disciplined and really thought they were winning this battle. Prompto smirked slyly when he blew up another flying ship, and all the bastards inside with it.
The roaring sound of the explosions, the shooting, the screaming ceased suddenly as he and his remaining men glanced at each other.
"Is it over?" one of them asked uncertain.
No one answered. They could still hear the sound of war from the other districts.
"Stay on guard" Prompto ordered "Might be a trap".
"Finally learned some common sense, Prompto".
An unfamiliar voice reached his ears, and Prompto turned toward a white-haired man who was walking fearlessly towards him, with what seemed like a legion of MTs behind him. Where the hell had they come from anyway?
The man came to a halt and looked at the fallen MTs scattered all around with a proud smile.
"Bravo" he applauded "Look what a strong, young man you've become".
"Who the hell are you?" Prompto asked fiercely, tightening the grip around his gun.
"Now, now Prompto. You should learn some manners! I thought your adoptive family in Insomnia had taught you some!" the man exclaimed, pretending to be shocked and hurt by his words.
Prompto gasped: how did he know?
"Do these people even know" the mysterious man was now staring pitifully at the Crownsguards "where you really are from?"
Prompto swallowed hard as fear overcame him. What would his men think of him if they came to know what he was born as? Would they still fight alongside him after learning of his true origins? Noctis and the others hadn't really cared, but he wasn't sure the rest of Insomnia would be as merciful.
"Who. Are. You?" Prompto repeated, trying to change the dangerous topic.
"What, you don't remember me?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.
When Prompto didn't answer, the man sighed heavily. "You really don't remember your father?"
Prompto froze entirely as he heard a chorus of "what?"
"No, you're not" he said in a low voice "My father is Adrastus Argentum, born and raised in the Crown City of Insomnia. Just like my mother and myself".
"Nonsense" the man chuckled, lazily waving one hand in the air "Why will you deny your true origins? Your real name is Damian Xanthus Besithia, first and only son of Verstael Besithia and you, my child, were always meant to be the Empire's secret weapon. You were created for the sole purpose of aiding the Empire in conquering this land."
"Lies" Prompto whispered in shock "I-I am a Lucian. My name is Prompto Argentum, and I was born here in Insomnia".
"Ah well, if you're so sure about it, I won't insist" Verstael retorted mockingly "But then what is it that you're hiding under that sleeve?"
The man pointed at Prompto's right arm, covered with his Kingsglaive coat and a black leather glove.
"If you have nothing to hide and were indeed born in Insomnia as you so proudly say, show your fellow citizens that you're clean" Verstael turned once more to the Crownsguards, who were staring in disbelief at the two.
"Chop-chop" he encouraged with a smile when the younger man remained still "Or maybe we do have something to hide, don't we Damian?"
"Don't call me that!" Prompto was sick and tired of being addressed with different names, first by Ardyn and now by this man who revealed to be his biological father.
He didn't know what to do or believe anymore. Was that just a lie to mess with his head and make his men lose faith in him and turn against him? But that Verstael guy did seem to know a lot about it and his life. The tale he had told sounded legit, but he couldn't be sure.
"DX-00012803-NII" the man continued calmly, and Prompto jerked. It was the barcode printed on his wrist. The digits he had stared at with disgust so many times before, when he was sure he was alone in his room and could afford to take off the green wristband he always wore.
"I refuse to take orders from an MT!" a soldier suddenly yelled "Show us that wrist."
"Have you lost your mind, Derrick?" another soldier turned to his companion "He is the High Commander!"
"Not anymore! Not if he really is one of them".
Many of the Crownsguards were nodding in agreement, others were simply staring at him with suspicion.
"I… I'm afraid it's true" Prompto muttered mortified "I wasn't born a Lucian. I can't say much about myself or where I am from, for I have been saved by a kind-hearted man and brought here when I was an infant, and then I was raised by a Lucian family. However, no matter what that man says, I am a Lucian, I am a Kingsglaive and I am King Noctis's best friend. I will give my life for him and his people".
"No, Damian. You're coming with me today, willing or not. It is your true nature after all. You've been programmed to destroy Insomnia and lead the Imperial army in their ascension to power" Verstael contradicted with a sly smirk. Prompto had to admit that smirk looked a lot like his.
"I'd rather die" Prompto retorted, and pointed his gun at the man who claimed to be his father.
"My, my Damian. You break this poor man's heart" Verstael shook his head disappointed "But you see, I am afraid you don't have any choice. If you don't join us today, my MTs here will chop your men into pieces. I won't lay a hand on you, but rest assured my anger will fall upon your beloved citizens of Lucis".
Prompto couldn't believe his ears: there had to be something he could do, but he didn't know what. He didn't want to risk the lives of the people that had so kindly welcomed him and allowed him to become who he was today. He then thought of Iris and what she had told him before going separate ways: "Y'know, in case they convince you to join their cause instead".
"Dammit!" he cursed under his breath and balled his hands into fists as he dropped his gun "Guess I'll have to prove you right, Ir".
"Now, that's my boy" Verstael said with a smile as he approached his son, put an arm around his shoulder –Prompto shivered- and snapped his fingers while he led the blonde away from the battlefield.
The MTs who had been waiting in silence suddenly moved, quicker than a lightning, drew their weapons and mercilessly attacked the Crownsguards. Prompto immediately turned around, staring in horror as his men fell one by one.
"Sorry, Damian. Simply a mere precaution" Verstael said amiably, before grabbing his gun and hitting the blonde on the back of his head, causing him to fall unconscious.
Next Chapter: Prompto wakes up in Gralea once more. Shortly after his arrival, he will be forced to endure what Verstael had in store for him all along...