Here we go with Chapter Eight. There won't exactly be much actually going on this chapter except for explaining a bit more of back story. Some of it will be taken straight from canon or slightly adapted, and other parts of it will pretty much be completely changed. I won't give away all the story's secrets yet, but some pretty important information will be in this chapter. That being said, the next chapter will be a time skip forward to where Prompto's going to be doing some "reconditioning", and you'll see why in this chapter and then another time skip in the next chapter that will take them on their first mission. After that, the actual story starts. So look forward to the "game" portion of the story starting up.
As for characters like Nyx and stuff, he won't really be showing up all that much. He will be making an appearance, but its going to be very small. The day of the attack on the citadel will be changing as well, but that's a chapter for another time. I hope you guys continue to enjoy this story even with all the changes to canon I'm already making and will be continuing to make. And I hope you think about sticking around for the other parts of this story as well.
Chapter Eight: In the Dark
Getting the bullets taken out wasn't a pleasant experience, mostly because the doctors seemed unsure what dosage of anesthetic they could use without being detrimental to his health. He was almost a little surprised at how patient and calm they seemed from before, and the attention they were giving him. They never seemed to hold it against him when he would growl at them when they tugged at one of the wounds while trying to address the issue, only speaking to him in soothing tones until he calmed back down again and let them continue their work. After that he was told to remain in his daemon form, bedridden, for at least a week and then take it slowly.
More shockingly to the pup was the way that the staff of the castle and other people from the city itself seemed to have changed the way they looked at him. There were kids from the school sending him gifts, not that he knew what to do with them, and various members of the staff would stop by and bow to him, asking if he needed anything. People seemed much more at ease with him. But there was only so much waiting around he could take, and he was quickly growing antsy. Injured though he was, he didn't enjoy being cooped up alone and by himself. Luckily Cor seemed to decide his lessons were more important and managed to convince the doctors to let him join the others again, as long as he stayed laying down.
He walked with a pronounced limp in his left side as he made his way after Cor and down the familiar hallways. People moved out of his way, but not in fear as they had before. Many people even shot him smiles, which he felt uncomfortable with receiving and simply brushed it off, unsure how to respond to them. He continued walking after Cor instead, soon reaching the familiar courtyard where their lessons usually took place. All of the other teachers besides Cor were missing, seemingly content with leaving the children in his "care", or else were busy greeting their "guest" from a few nights prior. What bothered Prompto the most about it was that the man didn't seem very knowledgeable about who he might be encountering? Who would hire someone and not tell them what they were up against? It didn't seem right to him.
Not that he had much time to actually dwell on the fact, since Halia practically ran over to hug him. He flinched away from her sudden appearance, not that she seemed to mind this, as she gently patted his head where she wouldn't hurt him again. Iris soon followed suit, seemingly perfectly happy with welcoming him again. Prompto, while he didn't snap at them, definitely didn't relax under their touch like he would if it were Noctis or Luna petting him (and he wouldn't admit to liking being pet either). Cor seemed to find this amusing and just chuckled to himself. The other children seemed to greet him fondly, seeming to trust him a lot more, and Prompto laid down with his side pressed into Noctis's side, laying his head on his paws.
Who knew that having people treat him more kindly would make him feel so out of his element. He was used to being hated by people, and while he certainly preferred to see them looking at him kindly instead of with hate, but it felt off. He supposed he'd have to get used to it, but he didn't feel like he'd really done anything special. He was just protecting his friends like he had been promising he'd do, if only to himself. Fighting as the Empire had him do, that wasn't the kind of fighting he could stand. He hated hurting people just for the sake of hurting them. Protecting people he cared about though, that he would have no trouble fighting for. As he settled down, Cor walked around in front of the seated children, looking down at them seriously.
"What we're talking about today," he said in a no nonsense tone. "isn't something for the faint of heart. It is not a fun subject to breach, but one you'll need to learn about. Many of your parents, in fact, probably wouldn't be happy I am teaching this to you at such a young age, but in light of recent events and what you'll be facing in the future, I think its necessary."
The way he said it brought Prompto's head back up and his ears forward, sensing that the man's mood had taken a nosedive. The children could read his face, if not the man's mood, and settled down to listen to him. They seemed confused by his tone, but also understood that it was not a time to make jokes or play around. For once all of the young children were quiet and still (something that Prompto knew was no small feat). Even he, as young as he was, sometimes had the urge to just move and expel energy. Most of that had been beaten out of him because of his training as a MT, but not all of it. Cor let out a sigh.
"We're talking about daemons," he said. "And its not pleasant. But I think we'd better start off with a bit of history. Does anyone know how daemons began inhabiting our world?" Ignis raised his hand. "Yes, Ignis."
"Rumors say its a disease of some kind."
"Unfortunately," Cor growled. "It's no rumor. People who are infected by daemons become monsters themselves, and there's no cure. Death is the only mercy. No one's sure why this menace started, however it is believed to have been effecting the world for several hundred years. Daemons are not born, which is what makes Prompto's case an exceptionally interesting one. From what we've heard, he was born a daemon, which may explain his strange fondness for humans, the light he has within him, and all his other various traits. Perhaps the gods themselves created something like him. Who knows?"
Prompto's head tilted without him realizing quite he'd done it. He'd never really thought about it before, but he hadn't heard of any daemons being born, not even from his own Pack (though they hadn't spoken in words). Most spoke of "other lives" and how they were struggling to remember them and how pained they were. Perhaps his birth had either painfully reminded them of their own condition, or they had been scared of him because they still remembered their human lives, if not become far more violent because of the disease. And the fact that daemons were once humans wasn't obviously well known to many people.
All of the kids looked rather ill, including Ignis who had known the information. Noctis shifted closer to Prompto's side, careful not to injure him farther but seemingly either needing his comfort or wanting to protect him. Prompto wasn't entirely sure which it was at the moment since he was getting some rather mixed signals from the whole group. Cor seemed to watch them a moment, then nodded to himself as if confirming something about all of them. He seemed satisfied with all of their reactions to what he had said.
"That is why we kill daemons," Cor explained. "Not just because they are dangerous to us, but because they were once people too, and deserve any mercy we can give them. That is the duty of both the Royal Hunters and the Crownsguard. Do you understand?"
The children all nodded, and the man simply nodded as well. He looked again over the line of children, seemingly rather surprised by their lack of fear when talking about daemons and what they were capable of. Maybe it was the knowledge of what they really were, or that Prompto's actions before had simply given them all a bit of courage. Noctis frowned and ran his fingers through Prompto's fur without seeming to realize that he was doing it. He actually did that a lot when he was concentrating on something or unhappy. With all of this information seemingly sinking in, Cor let out a sigh before turning to look at them.
"Daemons are dangerous," he continued. "They can be crafty and ferocious. Though they'll disappear in the sunlight if it rises, they're powerful and it'll take more than just a few taps to get rid of them. If you come across a daemon you'll have to be ready to fight for your life. If you don't you likely won't be walking away from the fight. That makes MT's, or the Empire's Magitek Troopers, even more dangerous. Their skeletons are reinforced with metal. Their human forms and weapons make them even more powerful. Some, like Prompto, have the ability to change between human and daemon forms, and those are some of the worse. And do you know why?" Again, it was Ignis who raised his hand, this time with a frown on his face. Cor nodded to the boy.
"Because you won't be able to tell if you're facing a regular daemon or a MT," Ignis answered. "MT's won't be killed even if you use the same techniques to kill other beings of their kind. Even if you killed a Thunderdog Prompto's size, you wouldn't kill Prompto in the same way. It would take a lot more firepower, and a lot more strength."
"Right again," Cor said grimly. "MT's are dangerous, and not just because they can use weapons. Most aren't intelligent and will just follow orders they're given, but they're ruthless when doing this. There is a tentative peace between the Empire and Insomnia for now, but there's no telling how long it will last, if it will at all. If I'm going to be training you to face daemons, we'll also be training you to face MT's as well. Once Prompto is back on his feet again, I'm going to show you what he's truly capable of. Prompto, a question. Were they sending you out on missions?"
The question seemed to bring a heavy silence into the air. Most of the children looked confused or genuinely curious about his answer, but Noctis looked even more unhappy at the question, and Ignis had his lips drawn into a tight line as he waited. Cor's grim expression told Prompto that the man knew exactly what that kind of thing would really mean for the young MT. Even as young as he was, he had completed all of his training. That meant that he was going out on missions and fighting for the Empire. It meant he wasn't being coddled anymore, though because of his age and size he was kept away from some of the more extensive battles.
It was part of that reason that had allowed him to escape when they had let him loose in a battle. While he was having his moral debate on the battlefield, other citizens of Nifilhiem were being cut down mercilessly by their ruler and running for their lives. A mother, who had just watched her son being murdered, had attacked the MT's in ferocity, enough so she had actually managed to kill one. As she had found Prompto however she had abruptly froze and then fled the battle with horror on her face. Despite knowing what he was, she was horrified to see a child fighting them. This had finally decided for the pup, who had immediately turned and fled from the battle as swiftly as possible. And no one had tried to stop him.
"Yes," he replied. The man slowly shook his head.
"I thought so," he said softly, turning back to the other children. Ignis didn't look happy either. "I'm not sure you know what that means, so I'll explain. MT's are only sent on missions when they complete their training. However there are many hours and years worth of training crammed into them as quickly as possible. Its brutal and quick, and those that don't make the cut are killed and thrown aside like trash because they can be easily replaced. If you need any evidence of this, you just have to look at the scars he has. Since he completed his training, he was going on missions to kill people and daemons just because the Emperor said it was needed."
The kids looked horrified now, all of their wide eyes turning to Prompto's rather impassive face. He showed no indication that their attention brought him unease, or that he hated to be reminded of the torturous months, possible up to two years he had spent there learning enough fighting ability to put some of the warriors of Insomnia to shame. Noctis quietly wrapped his arms around Prompto's neck, hugging the pup and careful not to cut himself on the spines on his back. Prompto bristled immediately at the sudden touch, but then slowly relaxed. None of the children seemed to hold this against him, now knowing why.
Prompto wasn't the quiet, almost shy child they had grown to know. He was a machine made for nothing short of murder.
He was surprised to see the anger and defiance on their faces though when they heard this, and the….protectiveness? He wasn't sure what to make of it. Did that one act really change their perspective of him so quickly? He wasn't used to people who really changed their minds about him so instantly. Before, Tia's parents and even the rest of their hunter's camp had seemed to hate him until they had decided to try and save him from his fate as a MT. Then there was the Empire himself that didn't seem to care about him either way. Prompto was completely sure that he much preferred Insomnia to the Empire.
"Class is dismissed," Cor said quietly, as if he already knew that he'd given them plenty to think about.
Days passed rather uneventfully after that. Since Noctis and the others were going off to school every day he was left in Noctis's room alone and rather bored. Well, maybe not alone. People often came in to check on him or offer him various little gifts, none of which Prompto knew what to do with. They didn't seem to care when he growled at them for entering the room, or hold it against them when he didn't talk. The only time he got to leave the room was when it was time for training, and Cor mostly just talked Prompto and Noctis through things, now having two injured students.
Not that the other children seemed to mind. Iris immediately begin insisting that everyone call Prompto their friend, to which they all seemed annoyed at first, even to the point where Gladiolus asked why they needed to say it to him. When she reminded them of his background however, they all begin making sure to tell him various things that they thought she could without saying, like constantly reminding him that he was their friend. The thought honestly touched him in a way he didn't understand.
They all began hanging out with him after school, making sure just to sit in the room with him and talk, hanging out or doing homework. They didn't mind when he didn't respond or jumped if they approached too quickly. Soon, despite himself, he found himself relaxing in their presence to the point that if he heard them coming up from behind him he no longer bristled at them or growled if he was surprised by their presence (though if he did they never commented about it). Noctis was pleased about this and often commented about it to Prompto, saying he was glad he knew that he didn't have to always be ready for a battle here and that he could trust them.
Ignis and Prompto began getting along well, since their brains worked in surprisingly similar ways. Prompto was honestly impressed by Ignis's ability to learn and spit out information as quickly as the young MT could. He was of course, human, but there were things that boy knew that even Prompto had never heard of before. That being said, if he spoke those things Prompto absorbed the information like a sponge, and the boy wasn't infallible. Even so, despite his sometimes rather snobbish seeming attitude, he was an easy going soul and easy to get along with.
Gladiolus seemed to enjoy Prompto's company more than ever, going into great pains to explain that his family, the Amicitia, were called the King's shield and had, for generations, been members of their Swordsworn and had been willing to give their very lives to protect their kings. He even thanked Prompto for protecting Noctis when he hadn't been there to do it, telling him he was glad that someone else was keeping an eye on him.
The children didn't seem to think they were making much headway with Prompto and his personality, speaking to each other in undertones about the way that Noctis said he acted when he was completely at ease (not completely off guard, just at ease). He was silly and always smiling, cracking jokes and far more friendly than the child they were used to seeing. It honestly amused Prompto a little that they didn't seem to think their more friendly behavior had put him at ease at all. He could definitely tell the difference, but they kept trying.
Eventually they did make him feel at ease enough to begin seeing that transformation. Around strangers, he still wasn't at ease or willing to just display a more easy going side, at least not yet, but he was plenty comfortable around them. When Ignis began talking about a very specific weakness of Thunderdogs while the children had all gathered in Noctis's room to do their homework and make sure Prompto didn't fall behind since he couldn't write in this form, he finally made a joke. Ignis mentioned that if Prompto ever got stuck on his back and those spikes got stuck in the ground he would be vulnerable to attack (which obviously worried his new friends). Prompto quipped that he felt like a turtle when that happened.
An almost stunned silence had seemed to fall at that point, as if they couldn't believe that he had actually made a joke with all of them around. Noctis on the other hand had started laughing and called him a furry turtle. The children, all in much better humor, had decided to try and get him stuck on his back to see. Prompto hadn't tried to fight them (mostly because it took Gavin and Gladiolus both to tip him onto his back because of how much he weighed), and even Ignis had laughed a while before warning them to put him right side up without hurting him again. The housekeeping was far less amused by the holes torn into the flooring by this little joke.
Soon after, all the children started calling Prompto "Prompt" like Noctis used as his nickname, and insisted that he call all of them by their nicknames. With his return to health slowly on the way (though certainly much faster than any human), he was allowed back into his human form and sent back to school with the others. Though he was still uncomfortable around strangers, he was slowly becoming more expressionate at school and beginning to understand concepts like fun and art. It was a slow process, but even the teachers and other students could see that he was slowly becoming more like a normal child.
It wasn't until the day that he was fully returning to classes however that Prompto began to feel uneasy. There were rumors going around that some old soldier from the Empire had escaped prison where he had been locked away. It was all hushed, but it was said that even the Empire hadn't tried to ask them to negotiate his release. With a terrible crime that no one talked about under his belt, the whole thing had everyone on edge. Even Cor, who had apparently been wanting to show the kids what someone like Prompto was capable of, seemed on edge.
The children were once again gathered at his feet, murmuring quietly to one another and waiting for him to say something. Cor's eyes were hard and his body language told Prompto that he was alert, which in turn was beginning to make the boy bristle as well. He could sense danger in the air, lapping at them like it was going to explode into violence at any moment. Prompto hated moments like this, when things were tense right before a battle. Learning patience to not strike before your opponent was something that didn't come easily, and it made waiting even more stressful for the young pup. Seeing his distress, Noctis scooted a little closer.
"Why's everyone so on edge?" Gavin scoffed. "It's one soldier."
"Never underestimate your opponent," Ignis scolded quietly.
"Well," Halia said, looking unsure what else to say. "it's not like he could manage to do anything, right? I mean, he is just one guy."
"Prompto?" Noctis asked quietly. "What's wrong?"
Prompto didn't move and didn't respond either way, not that this seemed to make Prompto any happier about the situation. His eyes began scanning the area carefully though he wasn't entirely sure why. In the corner he saw an unfamiliar man wearing familiar armor carefully hidden in the corner. He was an old man, bent a little with age but with cunning and cruel eyes. A twisted smile touched his face as he saw Prompto there, sitting in the middle of the children, and the MT felt his blood run cold as he saw the man. The children noticed his expression of horror before the man stood and barked out a command into the air.
Blood. Pain. Tearing and slashing. Destruction.
Prompto wasn't aware that he had transformed into his daemon form, but when he blinked and found himself coming to, he was aware that Gavin and Gladiolus had thrown their combined weight over him, and one of their arms had his muzzle pinned shut on the ground. Confused, he blinked and looked around what little of the room he could see, wondering why they were doing that. He could see red in his vision. His eyes traveled a little to the left and saw…
The other children gathered around Noctis, who was laying on the floor. He wasn't moving, but there was plenty of blood. His blood. Noctis was hurt! Prompto could see Ignis, closer than the rest of the group. He'd lost his glasses somehow, and he looked more disheveled than normal. His eyes were wide and his hands were raised, as if to fend off some kind of attack. He was breathing heavily and looked hurt.
He became aware of the sound of far too familiar moaning, from people who had been hurt. He saw Iris glance towards him, and all recognition had left her face. She just stared at him, horrified of the monster she had just seen. Prompto found his paws and face sticky, and a far too familiar, sickly sweet taste of blood had filled his mouth. Blood filled his nose, and it was all he could smell. His eyes widened as he realized why. He'd hurt them. That man had done the one thing that could have ever made Prompto hurt Noctis.
He had said the word that instantly got Prompto to attack.
Evidently, Ignis had done enough research to actually know the word that would bring him back to his right state of mind, not that this did any good now. He could feel the pressure that Gavin and Gladiolus were putting onto the back of his skull despite the fact that he was no longer fighting them. He could see the way the others were looking at him. They all hated him now, and he couldn't blame them. How could he have been so stupid to actually think that he could ever change the monster that he had become.
"Kill him," Cor snapped somewhere to his right.
For a few brief and horrible moments Prompto thought he meant him, and he was fine with that. He wasn't going to move if they ended his miserable existence right now. He probably deserved that. No, he almost wanted it. He didn't want to think that he'd hurt Noctis. He didn't want to see how much that they all hated him now. But instead the various members of the Crown's Guard present attacked an old man, quickly executing him. Slowly, silence fell, the most horrible silence that Prompto had ever heard in his short life.
Prompto wasn't sure when he started trembling, aware that his short tail was shoved so far between his legs now that everyone could see it. The same thing went for his ears, pressed so far against his skull that he was almost surprised that they hadn't torn off. He wasn't aware when Gavin and Gladiolus shifted suddenly, as if in surprise. One of them softly called his name, but he wasn't even sure which one it was. He just wanted to go. He didn't want to be here. How could he trust himself around his own friends if he couldn't control himself when someone said a stupid word? Then a worse thought hit him. They didn't even think of themselves of his friends now, did they?
"Let him go," Cor softly commanded.
There was a moment of hesitation, as if Gavin and Gladiolus were thinking the same things. But they moved, releasing their hold on him. Prompto didn't even pause. He didn't look back and he didn't look at anyone. His eyes were already locked on the door in front of him, which had been opened at some point. He bolted, faster than he had ever run before. He ignored the pain pounding through his body from the obvious pounding he'd taken when they'd tried to get him to stop.
But because of his blind terror and his pain, he didn't judge the distance the turn through the door would take him, causing him to slip and crash into the wall opposite of him. It sent a rack of weapons clattering to the floor on top of him. He didn't care that it was ungraceful and undignified. He didn't care that he was being watched, or that in his panic to run he had sliced Gladiolus and Gavin with the spines on his back when he had taken off. Right now he just had to go. He didn't even know where, he hardly ever ventured to this part of the palace. But he had to go.
He leaped up, ignoring the new wounds he'd just given himself by trying to escape the room where he'd probably just broken every bond he'd ever managed to forge for himself. His only thought was getting as far away as possible so that he wouldn't end up hurting anyone else again. He bolted again down the hallway, dashing past startled people and just running as quickly as he could. He ignored the voices behind him calling his name. He didn't want it anymore, so he ignored the name.
The gods seemed to be playing a cruel game with him though, because he soon found himself lost in the gardens of the palace. He couldn't find an exit, or even where he'd managed to find his way into it in the first place. For the first time, he snarled, snapping at the gods for not allowing him to leave when it was obviously better for everyone. Prophecy or not, he didn't belong here where he could end up hurting his best friend again. Heck, he might have even killed him!
That thought brought despair crashing into the pup so hard that he stopped running. His fatigue and pain finally caught up to him, but he refused to stop. He continued to stumble around through the gardens, searching in vain for a place to escape from the actions he had just taken, even if they were against his will. Unable to find a place, he hid beneath a plant and curled up in a tight ball, doing something he hadn't done in years.
Prompto cried.
It was well into the night, and no one had come looking for him yet. They'd left him alone. He had no way of knowing if Noctis was okay, but he knew the rest of them hated him now. They'd seemed to like him, but now he'd hurt his best friend and them, and there was no way they could forgive him for that. And he'd already been hurt! What if he'd made the other wound worse, and now he couldn't walk? What if he did survive? Thinking of Noctis hating him was worse than thinking of him as being dead. Thinking of Noctis even just being afraid of him was even worse than that.
What seemed like hours later, Prompto managed to stop crying, but the fur on his face was stained darker from the tears that had been previously running down it. He forced himself to stop shaking, to just stop. He ignored the pain and just laid there, curled up, not moving. Maybe they'd be mad at him and find him here to try and kill him or kick him out for good. He could deal with either of those. But obviously it was a very bad idea for him to open up to people if he was just going to get hurt again. He took a deep breath, and just shut himself down behind his walls.
When Cor found him like that, hiding under a bush in the back of the garden, the pup's eyes showed no recognition. In fact, they showed no emotion at all. He didn't say a word, though it was obvious he had been crying for some time and all of the various wounds he'd gotten were covered in dirt and debris. They were probably all infected. Cor bent down and grabbed the pup's front legs, dragging him carefully out from under the bush, and looked into his face for a long moment. Pain seemed to cross through the man's face as the pup looked up at him, nothing showing in his face.
He finally looked like the machine they had wanted.
The man let out a shaking sigh and leaned over the pup, putting his forehead against the pup and holding onto his face gently. Prompto didn't move. He didn't respond. He couldn't bring himself to, despite his confusion at seeing the man look so broken. He didn't want him to be sad for him. He just wanted him to leave him alone and let him forget any of this had ever happened.
"I'm sorry," Cor finally said, and Prompto became aware of a few spare tears that splashed into the top of his head. "I should have known...I should have thought about the trigger words. None of this would have happened if I would have been more careful. But I'm going to fix this, okay? Just trust me. Can you just trust me, a little longer, Prompto?"
"Of course," came the response. It was immediate, snappy like a soldier. It was dry and lifeless, portraying no emotion. Cor's hands tightened slightly around Prompto's face.
"Poor kid," he said quietly, more to himself than the pup in front of him. "sometimes I forget you're so damaged. None of them hate you. They were scared and didn't know what was going on, and Noctis is going to be scared something happened to you when he wakes up. You know that." The man shook his head sadly, releasing Prompto and standing. "But I doubt that's going to help now. I've seen people like you too often. Broken. Abused. It's going to take a long time to take those walls down again, if you ever let them fall."
Prompto looked up at him through the bush, still not showing any emotion or recognition in his eyes. He wanted to believe him, he really did, but he couldn't let himself believe it. And even if it was true, he couldn't let himself hurt anyone else. He didn't want to let his walls fall again, no matter how much it hurt. Cor seemed to know this though, and quickly all tenderness was gone from his face, almost as if it had never existed in the first place.
"Come on," he said. "We're leaving. Follow me."
It wasn't gentle. It was an order, but somehow it made Prompto stand despite his exhaustion and pain, despite the fact that he didn't want to be anywhere near anyone again, and follow the man as he turned and made his way again through the garden. Prompto didn't hesitate to follow the man, despite not wanting to be near people again. Maybe he was going to throw him out? To kill him? What did Cor even mean by trying to fix this? He didn't particularly care at this point, just following the man wherever it was he thought he was going. On the way, they passed one of the Crown's Guard and one of the Royal Hunters, who stared sadly at the pup. He then turned to the Royal Hunter and spoke in an undertone, thought Prompto still heard him clearly.
"I've seen eyes like that before," he said. "In soldiers. In the Crown's Guard. When someone's seen too much and just shuts down because they can't take what they did. Never thought I'd see them on a kid though."
Cor kept walking, leading Prompto through quickly emptying hallways. Soon enough he paused, and Prompto looked up to see the familiar hospital here in the citadel. Despite wanting to frown, Cor's firm gaze kept him walking into the infirmary and jumping up onto the table when directed to. As various doctors starting trying to stave off infection in the dirty wounds and seal them shut (some needed stitches), he didn't wince or make a sound, just staring at the opposite wall.
"What are you going to do with him Cor?" a sad nurse asked.
"The only thing that could ever hope to make him open up again," he said. "We're going to have to recondition him."
Despite the dread that came with the word "recondition" and his frustration that no one was going to let him leave, part of him wanted the man to somehow manage that miracle. He wanted to live a normal life, to at least pretend that his friends didn't hate him now.
Prompto wanted to pretend that his heart wasn't breaking.
Ouch.
That kind of hurt my soul a little bit. I didn't have inspiration to write this chapter for a little while, so that was part of it. But the other reason I waited so long to actually finish and write this chapter is because of, well, you can see why. I ended up making this full of way more feels than I ever wanted. Help. Anyway, I'll update more when I have more time and I can recover a bit from my heart breaking in this chapter.
