Chapter Nineteen
Prompto had his gun out, alert and listening. The Regalia was empty and Noct, Ig, and Gladio were nowhere to be found. Prompto remembered they had parked the car, all four of them had gotten out, but as they moved through the brush and woods in this area, they had somehow gotten separated.
He had tried calling Noct on his phone, but his cell had no service in the area, even when he had headed back to the Regalia. Hopefully there, they would regroup.
But when Prompto broke from the tree line about twenty meters from the Regalia, the scene before him made his stomach drop into his feet. The driver's side and back passenger's side doors were open, but no one was around.
"Noct!" Prompto called out, looking around. "Ig! Gladio! Where are you guys?"
No answer except for the heat of the blowing wind. Prompto wiped his brow. He was perspiring in the late afternoon sun, and it was apparent even the breeze was relentless in blowing the heat at him. He shielded his eyes in the bright sun as he jogged to the Regalia and climbed up into the passenger side, trying to get a better view of the area surrounding him.
There seemed to be no one. No Noct, no Ig, no Gladio. No sign of anyone.
On the horizon, Prompto spied an imperial airship. Then a dreadnaught, then another. And another until the imperial fleet filled the sky.
"What are they up to?" Prompto asked suspiciously. "I need to get to Noct. This isn't good at all."
He scanned the landscape around him with more scrutiny. Time was winding down. They needed to get out of this area. And fast.
"Oh, look how the young and dumb attempts to save his noble friend," a voice gliding from behind Prompto. He jumped and turned, aiming his gun instinctively.
Ardyn held his hands up in surrender as Prompto's aim landed square on his face.
"Uncle," he said. "Uncle. You wouldn't shoot an unarmed man now, would you?"
Prompto hesitated, then pointed his gun to the sky above him. His eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here?"
"You know, I was told you were the delightful one of the bunch," Ardyn said. "What a disappointment you are." He emphasized these last words and they struck Prompto to his core
"Well, I don't exactly trust you, Imperial Chancellor Izunia," Prompto said. Inwardly, Prompto shook, but he stood as resolute as he could.
"Brrr," Ardyn said. "So cold coming from one so lukewarm. Tell me, does it bother you being quite useless to the Prince as you are? How long before they realize you just don't belong?"
Prompto stopped. It was as though a flash of reality struck and Prompto saw again his inability at helping Noctis as he suffered a seizure, his uselessness in the corner of the bathroom as Noctis wasn't breathing.
Ardyn began laughing, and Prompto narrowed his eyes again. Then he heard it. Noct's voice, calling from somewhere to the east.
"Noct!" Prompto called out.
"Ah, your Prince calls," Ardyn said rather jovially. "Better hurry to him before he forgets all about you."
Prompto jumped down from the Regalia, leaving Ardyn behind.
"Really now, Prompto," he called after him. "Not even so much as a goodbye?"
Prompto ignored him and made for the eastern tree line. As he entered the first wave of trees, the sun's rays dropped off and a thick humidity seemed to rise around him. It was difficult to navigate the dense forest, with its thick trees and overgrown shrubs and roots. Prompto, gun still drawn, picked his way through the thick underbrush slowly.
"Noct!" Prompto called. "Where are you?"
"Over here," came Noctis' reply. He had to be just ahead.
"Keep talking," Prompto said. "It's real easy to get lost in here, man."
Noctis started to hum "I Want to Ride a Chocobo All Day" prompting Prompto to laugh in spite of the tenseness of the situation.
Prompto finally stepped through a particularly scratchy part of underbrush and into a small clearing where Noctis sat, back up against a tree.
"Are Ig and Gladio with you?" Prompto asked as he brushed the dirt, leaves, and twigs off his clothes.
Noctis shook his head. "Got separated somehow." Noctis stood up. "Better go look for them. Gladio's sense of direction is pretty awful."
Prompto guffawed, "You got that right."
Noctis stood and stretched, turning away from Prompto to find a path leading from the small glade. "By the way," he said in a sudden serious tone, "Who were you talking to back there?"
Prompto's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Wait, what? How could you hear me talking from all the way back there?"
"I asked you first," Noctis said, turning to Prompto. His eyes flashed with an anger Prompto had never seen in him before. "Who were you talking to?"
"Uh, the Chancellor showed up," Prompto said. "Out of nowhere. Just started spouting nonsense, as usual."
"Uh huh," Noctis said. Like lightning, Noctis summoned his sword and warped to Prompto, grabbing him by the throat and pinning him up against a thick tree. "What were you doing? Why would you sell me out?"
Prompto began choking under Noctis' strength. He coughed and tried to get away, but couldn't move. Noct's eyes blazed with hatred.
"It's all your fault," Noctis roared in anger. "All of it. You killed them! I'll kill you!"
"Wo," Prompto choked out. "What are you saying, Noct? Do you really – mean it?"
"Of course, I do!" Noctis yelled. "It's all your fault!"
Then, without warning, Noctis pressed the hilt of his engine blade into Prompto's throat. Darkness began to swallow him up and Prompto was falling and falling and falling as Ardyn's laughs filled his mind. As she fell through the darkness, Prompto lost all sense of where or when he was. A thick darkness and heat pressed in on him from all sides. Prompto's whole body ached with the pressure of it.
"Prompto!" came Noctis' yells from somewhere in the darkenss.
"Noct!" Prompto called out, suddenly aware of himself once again. "Sorry, I'm so sorry, noct!"
"What are you talking about?" Noctis called. "How are you here?"
"What are you talking about?" Prompto asked. "Why are you trying to kill me?"
"We don't have time, Prompto!" Noctis called to him. "You have to get Gentiana. Get Luna. Get Umbra. Any of them. All of them. It's Ardyn. He's behind this!"
"Working on it, noct!" Prompto said. "You can count on us!" And then the darkness was pressing down on Prompto so much, he felt as though he were being crushed. He cried out in pain, no longer able to bear it.
"Prompto!" Noct's cries echoed in his ears as his body woke him miles away in the hotel room.
With a yell, Prompto awoke, jumping back from Noct's bedside and knocking over the chair he had been sitting on. He looked around wildly, startled and at a complete loss as to where he was for a few seconds. It had been a nightmare.
Gladio grunted in his sleep, and turned over. The late morning sunlight streamed in from the windows and Prompto squinted again, as though still in his dream. He wiped his brow and realized he was sweating.
"What is it?" Ignis tore from the bathroom, half-dressed, expecting some new emergency from Noctis, but saw immediately that Noctis lay as before, unmoving, unresponsive even to Prompto's outburst.
"Sorry, Ig," Prompto gasped out, still trying to catch his breath. "Sorry. Noct's fine. Just – just a nightmare." He wiped his brow again, sweat still streaming down. He felt hot, as though he'd been out running and training all day in the hot sun.
"A nightmare?" Ignis said, buttoning up the front of his shirt. "About Noct?"
Prompto nodded. "Yeah. I'm alright though. No problem." He tried to shake off the odd reality of the dream. It had all seemed so real. So bright, so vibrant, so hot.
"You're sweating," Ignis noted as he looked up while tucking his shirt in. "Are you sure?"
Prompto nodded. "Just hot is all. Can I get a shower when you're finished?"
"Wait, Prompto," Ignis said. "This is something new."
Prompto looked at him, surprised. "What?"
"I had a nightmare as well," Ignis said. "Was the heat – excessive in your dream?"
Prompto nodded again.
"And did the dream feel – odd?"
"Yeah, like it was so –" Prompto stopped, feeling foolish.
"Real, but also different," Ignis finished for him. "And the Chancellor?"
"How did you -?"
"I had a similar dream," Ignis said.
Prompto stopped. "Wait, what?" He wasn't sure he had heard Ignis right.
"I'd say it's merely coincidence, but I'm not so sure," Ignis ventured. Prompto noticed for the first time that Ignis was sweating profusely, even post-shower. He looked much like Prompto felt. Then it hit him.
"Wait, you think we're getting what Noct has?" Prompto asked, stepping back.
"Let's not jump to conclusions, Prompto," Ignis said. "But it is plausible."
"He's messing with all of us now?" Prompto asked. "But what about Gladio?" He turned and watched Gladio stretched out on the other bed, fast asleep.
"He's been up all night, until recently," Ignis said. "We will have to wait and see."
Ignis went into the kitchenette and poured Prompto a cup of coffee, then brought it out to him. Prompto took it gratefully. Ignis took a seat in one of the comfy chairs around the low table.
"Has Dr. Stone been in yet?"
Ignis shook his head. "Not yet. It was quite a late night last night."
Prompto nodded and took a sip of his coffee. Ignis had brewing down to an art form. "What was your dream like?" The question slid out before Prompto realized how personal it seemed. He immediately wanted to take it back.
Ignis, noticing, waved it off. "It's alright. I don't recall as much as I wish," he said, leaning forward and placing his coffee on the low table. "Gladio woke me before it got too intense. But I do recall the Chancellor quite clearly."
"I remember all of it," Prompto said, looking down at his own mug. He then slowly relayed his dream to Ignis as they watched Noctis' chest rise and fall from his bed, his monitors following along with his vitals in the quiet of the morning.
"You're saying you spoke to Noctis after you fell into darkness?" Ignis asked with interest.
"Yeah," Prompto said. "It was weird. Unlike any other part of the dream. Like I was talking to Noct Noct, not Dream Noct, y'know?"
"Interesting," Ignis said, deep in thought. "And he told you to contact the Oracle?"
"Yeah," Prompto said.
"Like when he told me in the shower," Ignis said. "Right before he slipped into his coma."
"So we gotta tell her," Prompto said. "Can we call Cor again and speed it up somehow?"
"No need," Ignis said. "Gladio got a text from the Marshal this morning that the message was delivered."
"then that's great news," Prompto exclaimed. "Now they just need to get here, heal up Noct and –" Prompto stopped, unsure of what came next.
"Exactly," Ignis agreed. "We still don't know why and how long it will take for them to get here, however."
Prompto's face flushed a deep scarlet, and he fell back into his chair, utterly spent, breathing a little heavily. It all seemed so close, yet so far away.
Ignis leaned forward in his seat toward Prompto, extending his hand. "May I?" he asked.
"May you what?" Prompto asked, not understanding.
"You said you were hot in your dream," Ignis said. "Do you have a fever?"
Prompto thought about it. "I feel exhausted, and how, but I don't think so," he said.
Ignis checked. "You're warm, but nothing like Noct has been."
"Well, what about you?" Prompto asked. "Why don't we have Dr. Stone check us out when he comes by?"
"Not a terrible idea," Ignis said, sitting back again, contemplating Prompto's dream.
Prompto swallowed. "I can still hear his laugh," he said softly. "It was – it was the same. The same as when Noct had his seizure. Remember when I said I heard laughing?"
"Well, no mistaking the Chancellor is indeed pulling the strings, once again," Ignis said sourly.
"But now we have something to give Gentiana and the oracle when they come," Prompto said hopefully. "And we know how to get to Noct. Kinda."
"Yes, but we still have no idea what his intentions are," Ignis said bitterly.
"Other than to get Noct out of his way?" Prompto suggested.
Ignis opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. "Out of his way," he mused. "Why not just capture and imprison him then? Kill him even?"
"Come on," Prompto said. "You said so yourself the guy seems to have his own plans apart from the emperor. Gotta be something along those lines."
"Indeed," Ignis said. "I doubt I'm speaking for myself when I say I'm quite done playing his games."
"Games and creepy nursery rhymes," Prompto agreed. "Noct had it right with creepy old dude, didn't he?"
Ignis chuckled darkly. "Indeed."
Dr. Stone did thorough examinations on both Ignis and Prompto once he checked in on Noctis that morning. Both had low grade fevers and were ordered to rest. However, with Gladio in much need of sleep, they insisted on staying up and simply resting off and on, taking turns. Besides, sleeping mean nightmares, and neither were keen to revisit those.
Instead, Ignis and Prompto spent the day idly playing cards and constantly worried about Noctis and whether Gladio would wake with the same symptoms. It was quite surprising that when Gladio did wake, he woke refreshed with no memory of dreams, heat, or the Chancellor whatsoever.
"What does this mean?" Prompto asked, worrying his bottom lip. He was starting to feel really rugged. His head was beginning to pound and he felt as though his energy was just drained completely from him. Ignis seemed to be bearing it better than he, though he looked tired as well.
"No idea," Ignis admitted. "But let's hope the Oracle will know what to do when she arrives."
"I hate this whole thing," Gladio spat sourly. "The Chancellor and his games, always trying to get to Noct, wreaking chaos."
"Why's he got it out for him so bad, d'you think?" Prompto asked.
Rain began to spatter the window. The storm that seemed to be holding off all day long, exploded from the clouds above. The three watched the rain outside, nothing left to really say.
"Hang in there, Noct," Gladio said softly.
