Prompto slowly opened his eyes and instantly wished he could go back to his painless slumber. The first thing he registered was a throbbing headache, followed by a general weakness. Then he heard someone whispering, and another person sobbing. A woman.
He shifted slightly in his bed, his action causing the whispering to stop immediately.
"You're awake" Gladio's familiar voice greeted him. However, it didn't sound cheerful.
"What have I missed?" the blonde asked, trying to sit up but failing miserably.
"A lot" Gladio replied.
"Is everyone ok?" he asked urgently, Iris' face flashing before his eyes. No answer. Prompto's heart kicked hard against his chest.
"Gladio?" he tried again, and heard the large man sigh heavily.
"We're alright. Noctis is still out cold, though. And Ignis… he's got a serious injury, but he should recover soon. As for Lady Lunafreya…"
Gladio's voice broke when he mentioned the Oracle, and Prompto heard once again someone sobbing.
"Iris? Is that you?" he asked softly, trying to fight the blinding light in his hotel room.
"Y-yes" he heard her answer, her voice broken and sad.
"Why are you crying?" He had a bad feeling about this.
"Because…" she tried to compose herself "Lady Lunafreya… she didn't make it, Prom".
It felt as if Leviathan had kicked him once more in the chest, the terrible truth hitting him.
"No, it can't be…" he whispered in shock "She can't be… she's the Oracle, she…"
He didn't know what to say. His mind simply refused to believe it: it had to be a joke, a macabre joke his friends were playing on him.
"And Iggy…" she continued, failing to fight back the tears "He…"
That was enough to put Prompto back on his feet, despite the pain and the weakness.
"What're you doing? Go back to bed!" Gladio protested, trying to push him back under the covers but the gunslinger, despite being much smaller and in a weakened state, managed to break free from Gladio's grip.
He walked toward the door and opened it, heading to Ignis' room. He didn't bother to knock, but simply opened the door and found his friend sitting alone on a leather armchair by the window, his back at him.
"Prompto" he said simply, as if he had known all along the blonde was going to burst into his room.
Prompto swallowed hard and waited for Ignis to face him. When he did, Prompto felt the world fall on him.
"What… the… hell…?" he was so shocked at the sight of Ignis with his eyes closed and a terrible scar behind his glasses.
"A little incident, nothing serious" Ignis said with a bitter smile.
"An incident?" Prompto asked in disbelief. Ignis simply shrugged his shoulders "I'll be alright. I'm taking my medications. Noctis, however…"
"What about him?" Prompto asked worried.
"Well, if you know about what happened to me, you must know what the Imperial Chancellor did to Lady Lunafreya".
"It was Ardyn…?" Prompto was so angry his whole body was shaking "That son of a bitch!"
"Calling him names won't help us, Prompto. What's done is done. Lady Lunafreya's sacrifice has not been in vain, though. Noctis had received the ring of Lucis as the rightful King".
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Prompto closed his hands into balls and gritted his teeth "He'll pay for that. For all this!"
"He will indeed. But not today" Ignis said calmly "Our priority right now is to stand close to Noct, and assist him at the best of our abilities. Dark times lie ahead, I'm afraid".
The atmosphere had turned gloomy. None of them was saying a word, the sense of grief accentuated by the sight of Ignis forced to walk with a stick. Noctis distanced himself from everyone and everything, despite Prompto's attempt at distracting him. Gladio kept eying the prince disapprovingly but held his tongue to avoid an argument. Ignis was the only one entitled to complain, but he never did, which hurt even more. He had stoically accepted his fate and never spoke a word about it, nor did he blame any of them for what had happened to him. Prompto refused to leave Ignis' side, making sure the blind man wouldn't stumble upon any obstacles or bump into a wall. And Iris simply mourned in silence.
She bitterly remembered Prompto's words the night before the tragedy "Let's take another one tomorrow to celebrate our victory!"
How ironic it felt in that moment to recall how happy they had been mere hours before, taking a picture of them smiling without a care in the world. The last picture they had of Ignis with his vigilant and clever eyes wide open, for once smiling widely at the camera.
Iris fought back the tears that threatened to stream down her face again and kept marching on.
She'd give anything to go back in time, when everything wasn't fine but close enough, when they were happy despite the odds, when their smiles were genuine and full of life. Now it felt as if death accompanied them wherever they went. Something had broken among them, and she couldn't stand the silence, the distance…
It had been weeks now since that tragic day at Altissia, and they were all sitting in the train which would take them back to Insomnia.
Iris was looking outside the window, watching the dull rocky landscape.
Prompto was the only one trying to start a conversation, and Ignis was the only one answering him.
"The hell is wrong with you?" she heard Gladio ask Noctis, who was sitting alone opposite her.
"What?" the prince said defiantly.
"You need to grow up and get over it" her brother continued, raising his voice. Noctis stood up to confront him.
"I am over it. I'm here, aren't I?"
"Maybe when you're not too busy moping, you can look around and give a shit about someone who is worse than you" Gladio grabbed him by the scruff and pointed at Ignis, who lowered his head "How's that ring fit ya? You'd rather carry it around than wear it? She gave her life so you could do your duty, not so you could sit around feeling sorry for yourself".
That was enough for Noctis to finally lose it, and the two began fighting more vehemently.
"Enough, Gladio!" Ignis shouted.
Prompto stood between the two fighting men in an attempt to separate them but only managed to get pushed away by Gladio.
Noctis turned around and left, ignoring the eyes of the other passengers staring at him. Prompto tried to follow him, but Gladio stopped him once more.
"Leave him!"
Iris gritted her teeth, hating their current situation and all the fighting. But what she hated the most was not being able to do anything to fix things: if only she had been faster at using the Quicksilver, Ignis would still have his sight. Or she could have helped Noctis fight the Leviathan, so Lady Lunafreya would be still alive.
Her thoughts of guilt were interrupted by the voice of the newscaster coming from a passenger's phone, announcing that Ravus, Luna's brother, had been sentenced to death for his disastrous campaign to stop the Hydraen.
The train stopped at Cartanica where they all got off to visit the local mines, so that Noctis could obtain one more Royal weapon from the tomb buried underneath. The mines were located just past a flooded, dark cave full of lesser Daemons and other creatures. Prompto never left Ignis' side, shielding him from the incoming attacks as the blind man was the main target. It took much longer than it should have to reach the tomb, for they had to guide Ignis and wait for him to keep up with them, and because Noctis and Gladio just didn't seem to be able to cooperate anymore.
Iris wasn't sure how he managed to never complain: she would've already lost her mind without her sight.
When Noctis finally reached the tomb and obtained the power concealed inside, Ignis finally spoke up.
"I won't suffer this pointless bickering in silence any longer. Let's be frank, my vision hasn't improved and probably won't. Yet, in spite of this, I will remain with you all, until the very end".
"Sorry, but I object" Gladio interrupted him "War is a matter of life and death"
"But…" Prompto intervened "We'll be there!"
"It's not about us looking out for him!" Gladio spoke over the gunslinger, but the blonde continued determinedly "Uh-huh. Well, then he should be free to choose".
"I won't ask you to slow down!" Ignis was almost shouting in frustration now "If I can't keep up, I will bow out". He then turned to Gladio, following the direction where his voice had come from "Gladio, Noct will take his rightful place, but only once he's ready".
Gladio could only sigh heavily, accepting Ignis's wise words. Iris could feel the tension in the air loosen a little, and she smiled at all of them.
They were sitting in the next train once again, traveling toward the Imperial capital, Gralea.
Ignis and Noctis were talking just in front of Iris and Prompto. Gladio was somewhere doing a job for Ignis.
"The sun is setting already" Iris broke the silence, looking outside the window at the orange light in the sky.
"Yeah…" Prompto replied, staring intently at the horizon.
The blonde was deep in thought, and Iris couldn't remember a time when he had been that serious and so… disconsolate.
"Are you alright?" she asked worried, hating that invisible barrier that separated them. She missed old, cheerful Prompto, always up for a meal or eager to take a picture. She couldn't even remember the last time he had grabbed his camera.
"Yeah" he repeated, sighing heavily and running a hand through his unruly hair.
The more they approached Gralea, the sadder he grew and Iris couldn't understand what was going on in that head of him. She imagined he was as discouraged as she was at the sudden change of mood among his companions, but wasn't really sure that was all. Prompto was a very optimistic person, and normally found a way to laugh it off even during the most desperate of the situations.
"It's not normal" he said suddenly after a moment of silence "The days are growing shorter and nights longer. Darkness is coming, that's what Aranea told us, right?"
"Yes, I remember" Iris nodded.
"Mhm…" the blonde simply hummed to himself and stopped speaking, back to his lonely thoughts.
Just as they began approaching the next station, Prompto stood up and headed over to Noctis, who was now sitting alone as Ignis and Gladio had left to check something.
"Hey buddy, did you see that snow cloud over there? I don't like it, kinda gives me the chills" Prompto said, standing in front of his best friend. Iris watched as Noctis gave the blonde a terrible look, something flashing behind his eyes and anger deformed his face.
The prince summoned his sword and mercilessly swung it, trying his best to slash any part of Prompto he could reach.
The blonde managed to dodge his attack, a look of pure shock on his face.
"What's going on?!" he shouted, while Noctis got ready for another attack. Iris tried to stand up and help, but somehow she couldn't: it felt as if she was frozen in place, unable to move or talk.
Prompto backed away, distancing himself from Noctis and his sword, unable to understand why his best friend had suddenly turned against him.
"Easy there, buddy! You alright?" Prompto said, a shiver running down his spine.
"SHUT UP!" Noctis shouted, swinging his sword once again.
That was a clear sign for Prompto to run away from his friend. "Wait-is this for real?"
Iris could only watch in horror as Prompto ran as fast as he could from Noctis, the prince following suit.
"C'mon Noct, you're scaring me! Seriously, man, cut it out!" Prompto was trying to reason with his friend, while keeping a good distance from him. He couldn't understand why he was suddenly attacking him, and why he was looking at him as if he was the most loathsome being in the world. Could it be because he had found out…?
In that case, he couldn't really blame him but pure instincts told him to keep running to save his life.
"Dude, are you seriously trying to kill me?" Prompto asked desperately when Noctis struck once more.
"Why wouldn't I?" Noctis replied, his words pure venom "I've got you now! What're you after, following me around all this time? It's all YOUR fault-!"
Prompto's eyes widened in shock and hurt at his words "Do you really mean this, Noct?"
The prince slammed the blonde against the wall and held him by the throat "OF COURSE I DO! You can't talk your way out of this!"
"You won't even let me!" Prompto exclaimed, on the verge of crying.
The train suddenly came to a halt, making Noctis lose his balance and hit his head on the floor.
Prompto was still shacking with fear and hurt, watching his best friend –or better, former best friend- lying motionless on the floor.
"Now, now. What have you done to upset the poor prince so much, uh Prompto?"
The photographer quickly turned his head to face the person speaking. Ardyn.
"You!" the blonde exclaimed angrily, summoning his gun.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you. You should obey your master, after all, not turn against him" Ardyn mocked him, leaning against a wall.
"You're no master of mine! I'm a free man!" Prompto shouted, pointing his gun at the other.
Ardyn laughed loudly "Free man? A man? Are you even one? You should know better by now"
"Ugh!" Prompto didn't know what to say or what to believe.
"Look at that" Ardyn pointed at the limp form of Noctis on the floor "Even your best friend loathes you for what you are. He knows what you are, and will kill you for being a traitor, soldier".
"STOP IT!" Prompto fired his gun, but only managed to pierce the wall where Ardyn had been leaning against mere moments ago.
"Come and get me, soldier!" Ardyn mocked him from afar, guiding him to the next car and all the way to the roof of the train.
"End of the road. Now be a good soldier and wait here a moment, will ya?" Ardyn smirked at him before disappearing.
Iris could finally move. She quickly stood up and began running to keep up with Noctis.
"I hope Prompto's ok", she thought.
"Iris!"
The girl turned around to meet Ignis and Gladio, who looked as concerned as her.
"Guys! We have to go and help Prompto! Noctis suddenly started attacking him, he… he…" she tried to explain quickly, stumbling upon her own words.
"What?" Gladio and Ignis seemed even more alarmed now, and followed the young girl toward the direction in which Noctis and Prompto had run off to.
The passengers were all screaming and running in opposite directions, the sound of explosions could be heard resonating from afar.
"They're bombing the train! It's the Empire!" Gladio shouted, and then suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Iris, what the hell were you talking about? Noctis and Prompto are over there, fighting the Empire".
The muscular man pointed somewhere in the distance, where Iris could indeed see the familiar faces of Noctis and –to her relief- a very healthy Prompto helping each other wipe out the Imperial soldiers just outside the train.
"But… but…." She stuttered, unable to comprehend the situation. Only mere moments ago Noctis had tried to kill the blonde, and now they were there as if nothing had ever happened.
Noctis suddenly teleported up in the sky, reaching the warships that were attacking the train. When she returned her gaze back to Prompto, he was gone.
"What-?!" she exclaimed in surprise "Where's Prompto?"
"I've got a bad feeling about this" Ignis said, suspicion evident in his tone "I believe Ardyn has played a trick on Noct and on us all".
"Do you think… Ardyn may have somehow caused Noctis to hallucinate?" Iris asked in disbelief.
"Not only Noct… He tricked all of us. We need to go and help Noct, quickly!" the spectacled man ordered, rushing forward despite his lack of visibility.
They followed him just as Noctis destroyed the last warship, landing on the roof of the train. Ignis stayed behind, while Gladio and Iris quickly climbed on top of the roof.
What happened next made the blood in their veins freeze: Ardyn was aiming Prompto's gun at the gunslinger, who had his arms up in the air in surrender, and Noctis was standing before them. However, the prince was not looking at Ardyn: he was looking at Prompto, pure disgust and hatred in his deep blue eyes. He summoned his sword and charged toward Prompto, hitting his arm in the process. The gunslinger lost his balance and fell off the train with a gasp.
Noctis' expression changed entirely at the sudden realization: he hadn't hit Ardyn, he had hit his friend. He had pushed his best friend off the train!
The prince quickly turned around to try and tear apart every single part of Ardyn's body he could find, but the man had vanished.
"PROMPTO!" they all shouted, running to the edge of the roof. The train was too fast, however, and they couldn't see the photographer anywhere, but could only hope he had survived the fall.
Iris was crying silently, her eyes fixed somewhere where Prompto had fallen.
"I-I'm so sorry..." Noctis whispered, tears starting to form in his eyes "I thought…"
"We know" Gladio retorted harshly "It's not difficult to fool you".
Noctis decided to ignore his comment and turned to Ignis, asking him to stop the train immediately.
The other man could only suggest evacuating the train first before dark, and then go look for Prompto.
Ardyn was nowhere to be found, which meant he had got Prompto. The thought of the gunslinger being alone in that despicable man's clutches made her stomach twitch. She was feeling sick, not knowing what had happened to Prompto, whether he was even alive, or being taken somewhere against his will to an Imperial base.
She was so desperate to know the answer that she almost jumped off the train to go and check herself, but she knew she had no chance to find him now. Ignis was right: they needed to come up with a plan, and Ardyn would surely use the young man as a bait.
When they arrived at the next station, all passengers were evacuated immediately, while they were greeted by Aranea.
"What did you do to your eyes?" she asked as soon as she saw Ignis "A flesh wound?"
"I'm… afraid not" he replied.
"Wow, that sucks" she said, trying to hide how sorry she actually felt for the man "It's a cruel world. But hey, wasn't there one more of you guys?"
"Yeah…" Noctis and Iris replied at the same time.
"Is he dead?"
Iris shot Aranea a terrible look, but she didn't notice.
"We… we don't know" Noctis replied sadly.
"Then quit moping and keep hoping" the silver-haired woman said, giving them the thumbs up.
Lacking Prompto's support, Ignis began walking uncertainly following the sound of their steps. The sight hurt Iris so much she decided to take Prompto's place for the time being, so the girl rushed to his side and grabbed his arm for support.
"Thank you" the man said kindly. She smiled even if he couldn't see it.
"You should blame the daemons, pawns of the Imperial army" Aranea said suddenly, guiding them to a large area not far from the station.
"The army that you fight for" Gladio retorted angrily.
"Fought for. My men and I are in the search and rescue business now. I did say I didn't like the Empire that much" Aranea commented with a proud smirk.
When they arrived, she introduced them all to two of her best and most trusted men, Biggs and Wedge who offered to be the ones escorting them to wherever Ardyn was hiding with an empty train.
"I will take care of the passenger who have been grounded here" Aranea said "You go on ahead and kick that Chancellor's sorry ass!"
They worked quickly, making sure the train was completely empty before boarding it again with Biggs and Wedge. They left at three in the afternoon, but the sky was already getting dark.
They all watched as darkness fell on the world, knowing fully well they didn't have much time left before the daemons would be crawling everywhere.
Iris, however, wasn't too preoccupied for that. The only thing she could think about was Prompto. Was he still alive? And if so, where had he been taken to? Was he injured?
She would never forget the look of hurt and betrayal she saw on his face moments before falling off the train. She balled her hands into fists, trying to fight back the tears. When she could no longer do it, she stood up and left her companions to move to the next car.
She sat in a corner and let the tears stream down her cheeks as realization hit her: from the very day Prompto saved her life on their way back from the Wiz Chocobo Post, Iris had developed a stronger bond with someone she had always considered a simple acquaintance, someone of little importance in her life. However, in a very short period of time, the happy, easy-going and ever-smiling photographer had managed to carve his way through her heart, becoming one of the most important people ever, even more important than Noctis. And she had always doubted anyone could ever take the prince's special place, and definitely not Prompto Argentum. But he did: she had developed a huge crush on him, a crush that had kept evolving without her even noticing. And from the very moment she had seen him fall off the train, when she realized he was gone, she had understood it: she didn't simply have a crush on him now, however big that was. She was deeply and desperately in love with him. Every fiber of her body needed his touch, to be close to him. Her brain refused to believe he was dead, he couldn't be because she needed him in her life. She needed that ball of sunshine to light up her days, for the rest of her life. And little did it matter whether he felt the same for her or not –she had her doubts- for all that counted was knowing he was alright.
She was starting to feel cold, very cold. She thought it was the lack of his presence, which was enough to warm her up, but when she saw that the air coming out of her mouth and nose was freezing mid-air, she knew something wasn't quite right.
The train was stopping, and she could hear the guys in the adjacent car stir and call for her.
She went to join them, not wanting to worry them further.
Noctis's widening eyes were the last thing Iris saw before everything went black.
"Hey, wake up".
Someone was gently shaking her, whispering in her ear.
"W-what happened?" Iris asked, slowly opening her eyes. She was glad to see Ignis, Gladio and Noctis seemed to be alright.
"Ardyn" Noctis answered simply "At least he made himself useful and told us where he has taken Prompto".
"So he's ok?!" she asked more vehemently than intended, and the others smiled.
"I believe so. He took him to Gralea" Noctis explained "We're heading there now".
"Though Ardyn didn't really say where exactly Prompto's being held" Gladio commented angrily.
"Well, I have a pretty good idea" Ignis intervened, massaging his chin "Zegnautus Keep, and impenetrable Imperial fortress. Prompto must be there".
"Impenetrable, uh?" Gladio smirked defiantly "We'll see 'bout that".
"And I bet it's where the Crystal has been taken to" Noctis said "Just perfect".
"Do you guys really believe the Crystal will help us fight the daemons?" Iris asked.
"Well, we know that the daemons are averse to the Crystal's Light. In that case, it might help us save the entire world" Ignis explained calmly.
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the train coming to a halt, and a horde of daemons attacking it.
The four friends tried summoning their weapons but, for some reason, that wouldn't work.
"What's this?" Noctis asked in disbelief.
The daemons were now in their car, getting dangerously close. Iris grabbed her Quicksilver and activated it, sighing in relief when she saw the creature had stopped abruptly.
"Let's get outta here!" Gladio exclaimed, guiding them to the nearest exit.
They ran as fast as they could to the last car, where the Regalia was waiting. They jumped in the car, Noctis immediately turning on the engine and driving them out of the train. He was going so fast it was impossible to take in their surroundings, as Ardyn's voice echoed all around them.
The Chancellor was destroying the tunnel they were in and blocking their only access point to Gralea, so Noctis pushed the majestic car at its limits. They managed to get out of the tunnel and enter Gralea just in time, but at a terrible price: the Regalia had gotten so damaged during their runaway that it was impossible to recognize it anymore.
"C'mon, let's go" Noctis said, without looking at them.
They made their way through collapsed train coaches, lying on the highway, and the dark, deserted city crawling with daemons.
They were forced to run away from them, as Ardyn had somehow managed to deprive them of their ability to summon their weapons. But Iris knew she could always count on the Quicksilver if things got really bad.
And they soon did.
As they were crouching under a particularly large coach to reach the other side of the road, it suddenly began collapsing onto the floor. In order not to be crushed by the tons of metal, Noctis rolled to one side, Iris to another and Gladio and Ignis were left behind without a chance to be reunited with the other two as the way was now completely blocked by the train car.
"You guys alright?" she heard Gladio ask.
"Yeah!" Iris and Noctis said in unison, though unable to see each other.
"Looks like there's no way to get to you" Gladio continued "We'll have to go around".
"Be careful, guys!" Iris shouted, standing up. She could hear Noctis a few feet away from her, but large boulders were standing between them, and Iris wouldn't waste time climbing them. Prompto was somewhere in that fortress and she needed to get to him quickly.
"Noct, I'm going on ahead" she said.
"No way! I can try to climb these boulders and…" he began, but she stopped him.
"No, Noct. We don't have time to waste. I'll see you at the Keep" and she ran off before he could say anything to stop her.
The idea of the smileys is from Sherlock! It's an awesome TV series, and if you haven't watched it yet... DO SO! :D
Next Chapter: Iris continues her search for Prompto, as the gunslinger is held prisoner at the Keep. The loneliness, the insecurities and Ardyn playing tricks on their minds, however, won't make their survival an easy task.