It hurt, everything hurt and burned, and it was unbelievably unbearable. He wanted to return to the comfort of the enveloping darkness, anything to escape this feeling of utter and overbearing chaos. Everything felt so damn crushing and he could not for the life of him determine what the hell was going on; but, whatever it was, it undoubtedly terrified him. It was like being lost in nothingness with no idea how to begin to climb your way out. Paralyzed with a unrelenting threat hot on your heels. And, the longer he remained in this mentally fabricated limbo, the more everything ached and the more repulsed he felt. Panic was quickly growing to be his best friend, becoming the only thing he knew and the only thing that hindered him. He wanted out of this suspended hell, but he was trapped here, and that's all there was to it.
It felt like ages that he was bound in this void, and still nothing changed; there was still that crippling sensation of impending calamity. And, for some reason, his thwarted mind went to thoughts of Noctis and the others; where were they? They weren't here and that set his anxiety plunging deeper into the abyssal darkness. But, deep down, he knew they wouldn't just abandon him like that, especially not Noct, not after all they've been through. That's right, he wouldn't leave him. Struggling, he found the motivation to attempt and get his bearings, not that there was much to go off of here. He had to get back to the others; he had to know they were there for him to lend him their hand.
'Noct,' he aimed to call out, though he knew there was no point in it, there was no one near to hear him. But, as he thought about them, imagined them there waiting for him to get back, he swore he could almost hear them. Though, he couldn't discern whether it were really them, or if he were simply hearing what he wished to hear. But, whatever it was, he appreciated it and used that to hook him and reel him back in.
Everything started to feel heavy and sluggish, but he felt alive at the very least; if you could call it that. Pain was continuing to plague him, but now it was a constant submersion instead of the previous pulses. "-ompto?" he could hear it, and staggering elation wanted to burst out of him, but it was still just out of reach. Trying to say something, he felt something tear out of his throat with searing agony, but he doubted he actually produced any words. "Prompto," that was definitely Noct, no doubt about it. Following soon after, he could feel a shift next to him, could feel the sheets beneath him and the hand that gripped his own.
"-oct," he uttered, his throat rough and scratchy, protesting heavily against the use. He didn't care and tried again. "Noct," he slurred out this time, trying to off a small smile, but unsure whether he were succeeding with that or not.
"Ignis!" he yelled off somewhere to Prompto's right, "He's awake!" the sheer volume of it send stabs through his head and he groaned against it. "Sorry," the raven muttered, realizing the discomfort he caused in his excitement.
He could here the soft and calculated footsteps rounding the corner, but he still found difficulty in forcing his eyes open. "Prom?" the adviser asked, crouching next to him. The blond could feel the shift as he leaned closer in order to whisper, "Can you hear me?" Painfully and slowly, he nodded once; that simple action taking far more effort than he would have cared for. There was a small exhale, sounding like relief to him, "Good, that's good."
"Wha-" he started, wanting to ask what was going on, but he choked on the word, his throat finally having enough of his efforts to speak. Wincing, he turned his head to the side to try and alleviate some of the soreness; as he did so, he felt something damp and cool slide off his face before it was swiftly replaced.
"Shh," that was Noctis again, "Don't try to talk yet, just nod or shake your head, understand?" He nodded reluctantly. "Alright, do you think you can handle drinking some water?" Again, he complied, his mouth and tongue begging for the refreshment of it. "Ok, just...sit tight," he said, regardless of the fact that they both knew he wasn't going anywhere.
Now somewhat alone, he took the opportunity to try and lift his lids, neither of which wanted to cooperate. But, with enough determination and stubbornness, he managed to open them a sliver. The light that smacked his vision, momentarily blinding him, and he was forced to close them back for a few seconds and give it another go. He repeated this for a few seconds, the actions very quickly transitioning into rapid blinks. "I hope you know, you scared the shit outta us," if he had the strength to jump, he would have been on the floor, so instead only his eyes reacted to the sudden voice.
"Gladdy," he croaked, cutting his eyes over, not feeling up to actually turning his head. His focus was questionable at best, but it was enough to make out his large form sitting on the opposite bed, slumped slightly as his elbows rested on knees.
"The one and only," he smiled back, standing to move closer and sat on the bed containing Prompto, on the other side that Noctis had been on. "Been out for nearly twenty-four hours there, Ignis was about a second from takin' ya to a hospital," he laughed, despite the fact that he hadn't objected to the proposition. "But, Noct said you would've hated it and to just give you a bit more time."
Prompto took a deep breath, thankful that it hadn't come to that, "Good...choice," he nodded marginally.
"Offer's still up if ya feel like you need to go though," he raised an eyebrow, but Prompto swiftly shook his head, dizziness swarming him with the energy he wasted with it. "Alright, but if that fever spikes again, you're going regardless if you want to or not," he folded his arms over his chest and set the blond with a smug grin. "Seriously though, it's, uh, good to have ya back."
The blond merely smiled back and gave a very small hum. "Alright, you're gonna have to sit up for this," Noctis sat the glass on the side table for the time being until they could get him up. "Just, nod when you're ready."
He waited a moment, trying to move any other limb first, finding that he could only move each one about an inch before it became too much and throbbed too much, forcing him to relax them again with a pitiful whimper. Taking a deep breath, he gave the go ahead. "Gladio," Noctis gestured for him to help and both of them took a side, wanting to do this as quickly as possible for Prompto's sake. "On the count of three. One, two, and three." they both eased him up to lean against the back, the process earning them a couple of gasps and whines.
His eyes clamped shut against the waves the washed through him, taking in quick and shallow breaths to try and get the pain under control. "Take your time," Gladio spoke softly. "No one is in a hurry."
Why did everything ache so damn bad? It seemed to be the worst in his chest, and glancing down he could kinda see why. He didn't seem to be wearing a shirt, but covering his chest there were white bandages, slightly speckled with red, "Wha-" he started to ask, but ended up coughing, cutting him off. Trying to move his right hand to grip at his pounding chest, he was swiftly reminded of just how drained he really was; and glanced down at it, he found it in the same state as his torso; bandaged thickly with dots of red at the finger tips.
Ignis stepped in, taking Noctis' spot by his side, "Here," he grabbed the water and placed himself next to Prompto, "Small sips and drink slowly," he instructed, not even offering him to hold the glass as he lifted it to his lips and eased a very small amount in. He took it away in order to give him time to swallow that little bit before letting him have more. And, though the going was slow, eventually he had about half the glass down before shaking his head against any more and the glass was placed back on the table.
He took a minute to calm himself down enough to speak, and went straight to the question that was burning the back of his throat, "What the hell happened?" he wheezed out, glancing down to his chest and hands.
"You don't remember?" Noctis asked, unsure if he should be relieved or concerned. Obviously it was worrying if he had forgotten things, but at the same time, he didn't want him to remember anything from that night. Prompto thought on it for a few seconds and shook his head, staring down at his fingers as he tested out bending them. "It's fine, there's no need to worry about that," he assured, sharing a quick glance with the other two, silently telling them not to say a word about any of the stuff he did or said.
Ignis took a deep breath and got back to his feet, "Well, you must be exhausted, you should probably try and get some more sleep, and when you wake up we'll see about getting you to try and eat something," he gestured for Noctis to have his seat back and waved for Gladio to follow him. "Oh, I almost forgot," he pulled the bottle of pain medication from his pocket and tossed it over to Noctis, "Only two."
As the two of them made their way out the door, Noctis glanced down at the bottle, "You should probably take some," he suggested, seeing the blond flinch with another try a lifting his arm. He hummed his agreement, and as embarrassing as it was, allowed Noctis to pop both capsules in for him and hold the glass for him.
"Thanks," he muttered unenthusiastically, pausing when he caught sight of the bandage on his friend's arm. "You are, what happened?"
He hesitated, almost forgetting about it himself, "It's nothing," he brushed off, "Let's just get you lying back down.
Prompto tried to jerk away when he felt the arm wrap around his shoulders, "No, tell me what happened," he set him with a hard look, refusing to let the matter go. "I did that, didn't I?" he slowly realized, subtly remembering the coppery taste. "I-I bit you." Well, at least he didn't seem to recall the attempted murder part.
"Yeah, kinda," Noctis shrugged, "But it wasn't you, so it doesn't count." He pulled his arm away and out of the other's sight, "You did a lot of things that wasn't you, alright? But, you can't blame yourself for them."
The blond bit his lip and leaned his head back, "Alright." Gods he was tired, but he didn't want to sleep yet, so many things he was still confused about, and so many things he needed to get off his chest about this whole thing. "Where's Luna?" he suddenly asked, catching the other by surprise, "I thought she was here."
"She is," the raven met his eyes, "She has a few things of her own to take care of, she said she'll be coming back by once all that's done though to make sure, you know, that it really is all done." He caught the unease on the gunner's face, "Not that, they're gone, for good. No more evil spirits making you their personal vacation home."
Prompto laughed humorlessly at the poor joke, "I hope you're right," he lowered his gaze, "That was literally the worst," he cleared his through, trying to hold himself together. "You know," he leaned his head back again and sniffle slightly as he gazed up, "For a while there, I actually thought, 'what's the point?'" He paused, blinking against the stinging in his eyes, "It just got so hard to keep it together, and I thought, 'just give up, just give in, it'll be less painful.' And, at some point, I was actually praying that my body would just...give up," he shrugged and took a shuddering breath. "Pathetic, I know," he chuckled again and let his eyes drop back down to his chest.
To his surprise, Noctis laughed at that, like real laughter, "H-how is that funny?" he asked, too shocked to really be angry about, but still confused.
"Well, you're still here, so obviously you didn't give up," he summarized, "If you ask me, I think it's pretty damn impressive that you were able to hold out like you did." He reached out to lie a hand over Prompto's wrist, trying to avoid the fingers, "What, you wanna sit and feel sorry for yourself when instead you could be proud about withstanding not one, but two possessions? And you know what, I bet you anything that Cindy would by quite amazed by that as well."
The blond blushed visibly at the praise, as well as the mention of the goddess herself, "You...you really think so?"
"Yeah, dude, it's pretty freaking awesome, honestly not sure how ya managed it, but you did," he sighed. "So, you uh, you ready to lie back down now?"
"I think so," he yawned, the pain meds finally kicking in, doing no favors for his exhausted state. Slowly, Noctis worked on easing him back down, again get a few whimpers from him whenever he was jostled too quickly or unexpectedly. He was showered with multiple apologies up until the moment he was settled in. "Really ready for this part to be over," he mumbled. "You're staying here, right?"
Noctis took a seat next to him, "Well, wedding's kinda canceled, so I don't have anywhere else to be," he deadpanned. Yawning, he stretched out next to the blond, subtly remembering what happened the last time he decided to do that. Right, Prompto had almost forgotten about all that mess while he was dealing with his own.
"Hey, Noct?"
"Hmm?"
He chewed on the inside of his cheek, glancing between his friend and his right hand, "I, um, I saw what happened to them," He huffed a breath out, "Both of them, I saw how they died, and I understand why there were so regretful now." He closed his eyes, only opening them when he felt something cool touch his forehead.
"Still have a bit of a fever," Noctis commented, taking the rag next to him, "I'll be right back, gonna go re-soak this. He worked quickly and returned in less than a minute, "You can tell us about that later, for now, I think it's best if you go on back to sleep. There's plenty of time for discussing things," he pulled the cover back over him. "Besides, the others will wanna hear it, so may as well, wait for them to get back."
"Yeah," he slowly closed his eyes, the effort of keeping them open was even now getting tiring. It didn't take long for him to be out again, consciousness fleeing him almost as soon as he accepted it. And, despite him being asleep, Noctis still remained next to him, not wanting to move himself, still somewhat afraid to leave him alone deep down.
"What's up?" Gladio asked as Ignis ushered him along, strolling rather quickly down the alley to the left of their room. The adviser didn't speak as he swiftly lead the way, walking with a purpose and with fire in his steps. "Hello? Speak to me Iggy," he skipped forward to walk next to him, "I kinda need to know what we're doing.
"We're moving the painting, simple as that," Ignis replied, but the look on his face told that he had something planned. "It's rather heavy, and I would prefer not carrying it by myself." They rounded another corner as he guided them closer to the canvas. And, soon enough, he lead them to a dead end. "Alright, this is it," he clapped his hands together and stepped near a dumpster where he reached behind it, revealing the picture. Without assistance he hauled it over and leaned it against one of the brick buildings. "Oh, I didn't really need you, by the way, but I assumed those two would have liked some time to themselves for a bit."
Gladio grunted, "Right, so what are you doi-," his eyes widened as the man reached into his pocket and retrieved a bundle of matches, "Iggy, what are doing?"
"Wrapping things up," he answered simply, striking one of the matches and stared at the dancing flame for a moment. "It may be over, but we can't risk anything else happening because of the cursed object." What he said and what he felt were completely different though. If he were being honest, he plainly despised this painting for everything it now represented, resented it for all the hardship and suffering it had caused.
"Ignis, are you insane, if anyone finds out..."
"They won't," he lied the match at the bottom right corner and watched as it caught flame, the reddened edges eating away at it and destroying the memory of it. "No one will have to deal with it anymore," he muttered.
Gladio stood with his mouth hung slightly open, "I can't believe it, I can't believe you're actually burning it."
"Burning what?" Ignis asked, with a feigned confused expression.'
"What do you mean what? The damn painting," he gestured a hand towards it.
The adviser crossed his arms and glanced around, "What painting, I have no idea what you are on about, but I find it quite disturbing." The shield rolled his eyes at what he was doing. "I think we should get you back to the hotel to get some sleep, because I believe you are in need of some; all this ridiculous chatter of paintings and burning."
"Alright, alright, I get it; I didn't see a thing," he played along. "I won't say a word about this." It didn't take long before the entire thing was being consumed; what was once gorgeous and skillfully crafted was now slowly falling apart, paint melting from the form and canvas pealing from its wooden frame. Gladio focused on the small scratch upon her cheek until it was no longer recognizable, nothing more than a remembrance.
Together they watched until it was nothing but ashes and metal frame, all remnants now fluttering away due to the limited draft. Sighing in relief now that it was finally over for good, Ignis sauntered over and stomped out the remainder of the embers and lifted the frame up, "Mind opening that for me?" he nodded to the dumpster.
"Sure," he stood by and stared intently as the frame was thrust in and he immediately dropped it shut. "So, that's it huh?" he asked as Ignis brushed off his hands, "We're finally through with this shit show?"
"Not quite," the strategist sighed sadly, "Remember, it will still take some time to get over it, and even longer for Prompto to come to terms with it all." He glanced back down the alley towards their place, "But yes, the worst of it is over, and it can only go uphill from here," he offered the other man a light smile, "We just have to make sure it stays that way." Waving Gladio along, he head back towards the others, "We should get going, I still need to clean their wounds; I haven't had the chance to get that done yet." Gladio followed suit, glancing over his shoulder at the charred wall and ground, the last of the smoke now clearing away, leaving nothing behind but a tainted smudge in their lives.