Shorter chapters from now on, I'm afraid. But hopefully intense ones :D Enjoy!
It was time to end it. Ignis made sure everyone was fully awake, gently shaking them to signal it was morning, at least according to his phone. He was surprisingly good at finding their own beds for lacking his eyesight.
They barely had enough to eat for breakfast, consisting of some tinned food left in Ignis's backpack. Prompto's stomach growled in protest after the scanty meal, but he didn't complain. Even though he had barely been brought any food since he had been taken prisoner, he refused to let it show. It was more than enough that his friends had actually come to his rescue, and that was all that mattered to him.
Iris took extra care in making sure Prompto's injuries looked fine for him to proceed and, seemingly satisfied, she let the gunslinger stand up from his bed. The nasty cut on his eyebrow had been properly cleaned and mended, and was beginning to heal up but it was clear enough that it would leave a visible scar behind.
When everyone was ready they set off again, determined to get the Crystal and the Quicksilver back. Ardyn may have been a formidable foe, but they knew they could defeat him once and for all. He had caused enough troubles, and it was finally time for light to shine once more upon Eos.
They made their way to the upper floors without encountering anyone. Iris thought it was strange, as Ardyn loved to make their lives a hell.
It was when they arrived at the central elevator which could take them to the very last floors of the keep that they heard him again.
"Do you sense anything familiar? But of course! Your beloved weapons lie just beyond that barrier you see. Oops, sorry for being indelicate, Ignis..."
Everyone gritted their teeth at Ardyn's words, but Ignis remained impassive."But how to reach them?"
They were indeed standing in front of a large room, sealed by an electronic barrier. Noctis's security card didn't seem to work on the panel on the wall, and the party was growing impatient. Prompto, however, hadn't spoken a word and seemed to be inwardly fighting against something.
"Are you alright, Prom?" Iris asked, placing one hand on his shoulder.
"I know a way to open that door" he said suddenly, his voice sounding resigned "Stand back".
He walked toward the panel, where a scanner was placed on top of it and removed his right glove. He then proceeded to place his exposed wrist on the scanning machine and the barrier deactivated, revealing their weapons in all their splendor.
Everyone remained silent as Prompto turned around and gave them a sheepish look.
"I-I guess it's time to tell the truth" he said, his voice shaking with concern "So as it turns out, I'm one of them guys. Have always been."
He lifted his right arm and showed them the bar code printed on his wrist, a look of pure disgust on his face "I'm so sorry for being… what I am. But I can't help it, I didn't choose this…"
He trailed off and closed his eyes as if expecting them to sentence him to death.
Suddenly, everything made sense to Iris: why Prompto had always been concerned whenever he had been out cold with her taking care of his injuries, concealing his right wrist and asking so many questions on the nature of MTs and Daemons. In other circumstances, she would have felt betrayed for not telling them straight away, but not now. Prompto had always been loyal, and had risked his life multiple times to save theirs. He might have been created to become an MT, but he never fulfilled that purpose. He was a Lucian, and would always be one. She could only imagine how tough it must have been for him to hide such a terrible secret from his best friends for so long.
Noctis was the first to speak, and his words made her smile warmly.
"So what?" he said simply "Doesn't seem to me that you're turning against us".
"Right" Ignis nodded approvingly, while Gladio smiled at the young blonde "You're one of us, Prom. Always have, and always will be".
Prompto smiled back with a look of pure joy all over his freckled face. His smile quickly faded as he turned to Iris. He gave her an expectant look, waiting for her to say something.
She was almost tempted to tease him by telling him she would refuse to work with an MT, but thought against it as the boy had already been through a lot of crap the past few weeks, and definitely didn't deserve more.
She gave him the warmest smile she could muster "You are Prompto Argentum, Crownsguard of the King of Lucis and our best friend. Unless you'd rather not be".
For a moment, Iris thought the boy would burst into tears, but then he simply gifted them all with his usual grin and scratched the tip of his nose in embarrassment.
"Thank you, guys. It means a lot to me".
"So, let's go and take back what's ours" Noctis encouraged, stepping inside the room to retrieve his sword. Everyone else followed suit, grabbing their respective weapons –Prompto immediately helping Ignis locate his daggers.
They marched toward the elevator, relieved they could finally defend themselves against the hordes of Daemons Ardyn was sending after them, in his last attempt to defeat them before they could reach the final floor.
But their strong bond and their newly found hope and determination allowed them to proceed without much effort, and they eventually arrived to the top.
A platform separated them from the last room which would take them to the Crystal, and Ardyn decided it was time to play his last card. The dirtiest, sneakiest trick he had ever played so far.
They all froze when they were met with Ravus –or better, what was left of him. Ardyn had turned his corpse into a deadly Daemon, and it hurt even more to see the white-haired man try to fight against the darkness imbuing his limbs.
They didn't have any choice but fight back, as darkness took over the ex Commander and forced him to swing his devastating sword at them. The fight was not an easy one, mostly because they didn't want to hit an innocent person.
"Just… kill me… please" Ravus managed to speak in a brief moment of lucidity, and Noctis didn't have a choice but to end his misery. The man fell unceremoniously to the floor, vanishing with the darkness surrounding him, a thankful smile managing to creep up onto his face before he disappeared forever.
"Poor devil" Gladio commented, looking at the spot where Ravus had been lying mere moments ago "Never been particularly fond of the guy, but he didn't deserve this ending".
No one had the time to add anything as an army of Daemons appeared out of nowhere, blocking their path to the next platform. The elevator which would be taking them there was waiting at the other end of the room where they were standing, and Gladio shouted to Noctis to hurry up and go while they bought him some time.
Noctis gave him a stubborn look, refusing to leave his friends in danger.
"Noct, just go! We will be right behind you!" Ignis shouted while miraculously dodging a particularly powerful attack being thrown his away by an Iron Giant. He seemed to be the favorite target now that he was blind and much weaker than before, but the spectacled man refused to give in.
Prompto made sure he was never too far from Ignis, ready to intervene to protect him if necessary.
"Iris, go with Noct" Gladio ordered his sister "I'll feel better knowing you're with him".
Iris nodded, even though she'd preferred staying behind and helping them, but thought her brother was right: Noctis needed help too.
The two made their way to the elevator, swiftly dodging the enemies' attacks and arrived safe and sound downstairs and onto the last platform. The doors across the vast room were closing, and Ardyn made sure powerful Daemons were standing between them and their way to the Crystal.
"Run!" Noctis commanded, sprinting toward the doors and completely ignoring the opponents chasing after him. Iris ran as fast as she could to keep up with him and never stopped, not even when they were faced with a Red Giant at the end of the road. They simply avoided the gigantic enemy and rolled forward, making it to the next room just before the doors closed completely.
They were panting heavily, but happy to be still alive.
"I hope they're gonna be fine" Noctis said as the tried to catch his breath.
"They can take care of themselves" Iris tried to comfort him, but she was mostly trying to convince herself they would be fine.
"Be safe guys. Be safe, Prompto".
The two friends didn't encounter anyone else after their wild run, and Iris inwardly chuckled at how absurd the whole situation was at the moment. A few months before, she would have killed to be able to go on an adventure with Noctis. Now that she was on one with him, all she wanted was a normal life back in Insomnia, seeing her friends and family and –her stomach flipped- spending some quality time with Prompto.
She wondered how it would feel like to go on a proper date with him, see a movie at the cinema and eat a chili-mayo burger at the largest Crow's Nest in Lucis. That was all she wished for in that exact moment. But she knew that Insomnia was in Ardyn's hands, crawling with Daemons and its citizens hiding somewhere in hope that the King of Light would come for them soon. Or maybe they were all dead...
She forced to clear her mind from all the negative thoughts and kept marching on in silence with the prince.
"We'll make it through, Iris" Noctis said out of the blue, making her jump "I promise you, everything's going to be just the way it used to be".
"You better" she joked with a grin, and he smiled back.
Soon enough, they arrived at a bridge which connected the platform on which they were standing to the room where the Crystal was shining bright.
"There it is" Noctis whispered, his eyes fixed on the object which would save their world, the very same object that had caused the death of so many loved ones.
When Noctis came close to it, he extended one arm to touch the Crystal. He panicked, however, when the Crystal shone brighter and started pulling him in, Iris trying her best to help him break free but without success.
"Why? Why is this happening?" the prince asked in frustration, still trying to fight the force which was restraining him.
"Unharmed by the Light. The Chosen King indeed".
Noctis and Iris turned toward the source of the sound, and found themselves face to face with Ardyn himself.
"Allow me to tell you a tale, prince Noctis" he continued calmly "Long, long time ago, mankind was plagued by an incurable scourge and only one savior was to be found in Eos. His body would come to host myriads of Daemons, that countless lives be spared. But a jealous king, one not yet chosen by the Crystal, ostracized and demonized this healer of the people. I gave you my name earlier, but you should know that it was not the name given to me at birth".
Noctis had almost fully been pulled inside the Crystal, and Iris could only watch in horror as Ardyn revealed his truth.
"Ardyn Lucis Caelum is my proper name. You'll never guess whose name Izunia was." He was smiling dreamily at them. "Noct, killing you as a mortal will bring me scant satisfaction. Claim the Crystal's power, arise as its Champion. Only once the Crystal and King are no more, can I know redemption. Come back soon, I shall keep your friends company".
Noctis was finally completely pulled inside now, and Iris screamed his name while trying to jump in with him. When she failed to grab his hand before it disappeared, she turned around to face Ardyn, her eyes blazing with anger.
Ardyn simply looked at her amused, awaiting her reaction.
The girl couldn't think rationally anymore, and all she felt in that moment was pure and raw anger. She threw herself at Ardyn, trying to hit every single part of his body she could manage and barely registered that the man wasn't even trying to fight back. He simply let her hit him over and over again.
Iris sensed some movements around her, the sounds of new voices and hands forcefully grabbing her and dragging her away from the man she hated most in her life.
"It's me, sis! Gladio!"
She focused her attention on the muscular form of her older brother who was desperately trying to calm her down.
"Where's Noct?" Prompto asked angrily, pointing his gun at Ardyn, who was still lying on the floor after being hit by Iris.
"Where he's meant to be" he replied nonchalantly, pointing at the Crystal behind them "I'd make myself comfortable if I were you. Might take some time".
He laughed, sending shiver down their spines and Prompto pulled the trigger. A hole appeared on the man's forehead, while his body limply fell onto the floor motionless, the shadow of a smile still on his face. Everyone stared in silence as the gunslinger panted heavily, his gun still pointed at Ardyn.
None of them was really surprised when the purple-haired man blinked a few moments later and grabbed his hat to place it on his head as nothing had happened.
"By the way" he said, stopping in his tracks "the Quicksilver".
He stuffed one hand in one of the pockets of his long coat and extracted the crimson stone, which was now sparkling like never before.
"I believe it wants you to do something" he said, throwing the stone at Iris who caught it mid-air.
He tipped his hat in a mockery salute and left the room with a smirk, leaving the four of them in confusion.
"What happened?" Ignis asked.
"Ardyn… he- he gave Iris the Quicksilver" Prompto explained "But why?"
"It never shone like that before, right?" Gladio intervened, staring at the stone in his sister's hands.
"He said the Quicksilver wants me to do something. But what?" Iris muttered to herself while holding the stone higher in the air as if expecting it to guide her "What should I do?"
The stone sent brighter rays of crimson lights and a sudden, powerful force began dragging her towards the Crystal.
"What the…?!" she exclaimed while her legs automatically walked towards the source of light behind her.
"Iris, what're you doing?" Gladio jumped forward, grabbing his sister's arm and trying to pull her away from the Crystal.
The girl didn't have an answer, and knew she couldn't fight the force that was dragging her like a magnet, just like Noctis couldn't fight the one that had pulled him inside the Crystal. She knew what would happen next and gave the three guys an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry" she said "I have to go with Noct".
"Go where? What're you talking about?" Gladio's voice sounded so desperate that her heart ached.
"Iris, what the hell?" Prompto stepped forward, instinctively reaching out for her and her heart finally broke.
"I'm sorry" she repeated while tears ran down her face "I'll be back".
"When?" the blonde asked, fear written all over his face.
"Soon. I promise" she managed to say before the Crystal's light engulfed her. She made sure to mentally note the last thing she saw: Ignis silently waiting in the background, her brother staring in shock and Prompto's freckled face desperately trying to reach her before everything went black.
Next Chapter: ten, long years have passed and Eos has fallen into darkness and chaos. However, the Quicksilver awakens once more and it is time to return home... [!Party reunited!]