Disclaimer: I own nothing of importance.

Chapter 4

"I'm gonna get me a shirt," Prompto decided, holding his left arm close to his body as he shined his light up on the ladder Noctis was currently climbing. The blond was standing in ankle-deep water, the raised cement floor having ended one tunnel back and they had both decided that now would be a good time to head back up to ground level. As Prompto really had only one usable arm, the prince had decided to go up first. "Or maybe a jacket. No, a shirt would definitely be better- then I could wear it year round."

Noctis raised an eyebrow at the random statement, but didn't comment as he reached the top of the ladder. "What's it gonna say?" he asked instead as he braced his shoulder against the manhole cover. He held tightly to the top rung with his cuffed hands as he slowly pushed up on the metal plate, wanting to check if any of the Crownsguard recruits were nearby before giving away their position.

"Well, I haven't quite decided on that, yet," Prompto said, glancing down at his shoulder. The painful throbbing had lessoned to a dull ache over the last half hour or however long they'd been walking around down here. The good news was that it was relatively easy to ignore as long as he could find something to distract himself with...and didn't try to move his arm. "Maybe 'injured in the line of someone else's duty,' or 'took a bullet for the prince,' something along those lines." He paused pensively. "Do you think I'd get in trouble for wearing something like that?"

Noctis didn't reply, bright lights practically blinding him as the metal cover was lifted high enough for him to see the outside. He quickly ducked back into the safety of the sewer, dropping the plate as he scrambled down the ladder in double-time.

Prompto jumped slightly at the unexpected thud as the heavy plate fell back into place, watching with wide eyes as the prince hurriedly rejoined him at the ladder's base. "What? What is it? What did you see?" he asked, imagining several burly recruits sporting automatics heading their way.

"Headlights," Noctis answered, still a bit breathless from the scare. "This one comes up in the middle of the street."

Prompto winced. "Yeah, I don't think I want to try climbing out while dodging cars," he agreed, glancing back at the manhole cover. "But I thought there'd be a lot more of these, you know? The manholes seem like they're all over the place, but this is only the second ladder we've come across. How long will it take to find another one?"

"Depends on how many more locked doors and dead ends we come to," Noctis replied, turning and continuing on down the tunnel.

"This place is seriously like a maze," Prompto complained, quickening his steps to draw even with the prince. "Would've been nice to get out of the water, though," he said, grimacing at the feeling of the cold liquid sloshing around in his shoes with each step. "Even putting aside the grossness factor of what we're standing in, my feet are starting to go numb."

"You're welcome to take your chances back there," Noctis offered, jerking his head toward the ladder disappearing into the darkness behind them. Although he agreed with the blond, their shoes and socks were already soaked anyway- no reason to risk becoming road kill at this point.

"Nope, I'm good," Prompto declined, shaking his head emphatically. "I mean, having feeling in your toes is waaay overrated anyway."

It wasn't long before the tunnel came to a cross-section, forcing them to choose whether they would continue to the left or right. "Which way?" Noctis asked, looking between their two choices. Both seemed to continue on straight ahead; no ladders, doors or other landmarks visible in the limited light of the phone.

Prompto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh, you didn't happen to see the street signs, did you? Or any signs on the buildings? Store names, anything like that?" he asked.

"Don't tell me we're lost?" Noctis groaned. "You said you knew which direction the Citadel was in!"

"Yeah- when we first came down here," Prompto pointed out, shrugging helplessly. "Between the winding tunnels and all the dead ends, we've gotten turned around so many times I'm not even sure I could find my way back there."

Noctis closed his eyes briefly, drawing in a deep breath before releasing it sharply in an irritated huff. "Alright, if we don't know where we are, it doesn't really matter which way we go. I think we turned right into the last tunnel, so how about we turn left in this one?" he suggested, looking up to meet his friend's gaze. "Then at the next intersection we'll take a right and so on, more less moving in one direction."

"Sounds good."

As they walked, they gradually became aware of a faint hissing echoing from down the tunnel and becoming louder the further they went. "Do you hear that?" Prompto asked quietly, slowing his steps.

"Yeah." Noct's voice was just as quiet.

"You think it's a daemon?" The blond came to a complete stop, wide eyes staring into the darkness beyond the light.

"Daemons can't get past the Wall," Noctis replied, also trying to see what might be causing the noise without getting any closer to the source.

"What about a seadevil?" Prompto's voice was barely above a whisper. "Didn't some rich lady bring a baby one into the city but then flushed it down the toilet? And it grew to a monstrous size down in the sewers..." He didn't know if the large reptiles could hiss but now that he was listening for it, he could almost make out the sound of scales scraping across the cement...

"That's just an urban legend," Noctis whispered, though he didn't sound to sure of that himself.

The hissing cut off abruptly, the eerie silence sending goose bumps down Prompto's arms. "Uh, now that I think about it," he began hesitantly, turning to the prince. "I'm pretty sure we took a left into that last tunnel, so we should have definitely turned right in this one, yeah?"

"You know, I think you're right," Noctis agreed, still staring into the nothingness beyond the light. Did something move over there? "Let's head back before-"

The prince was cut off by a loud creaking noise from the darkness above them. Prompto couldn't help the shriek that escaped him as a stream of cold water hit his ear, sliding down his neck and soaking into his collar. Without a second thought he turned bolted back the way they'd come, light from his phone dancing crazily around the tunnel walls as he ran.

Noctis jumped at the sudden scream, jerking toward his friend only to find him already beating a hasty retreat in the opposite direction. Not wanting to be left alone with whatever creature was probably lurking nearby- especially since the only light they had was rapidly disappearing back down the tunnel -Noctis quickly turned and ran after him.

Prompto's heart pounded loudly in his ears are he sprinted away, the shallow water doing little to hinder his speed. His 'flight' instincts were on overdrive as he turned almost every time he came to a junction in an effort to lose the monster should it decide to give chase... And assuming it wasn't already closing in on him, claws out-stretched and teeth-filled jaws ready to snap closed around his neck... The blond jumped as he thought he felt something brush his arm through the jacket, almost losing his footing for a second before pushing himself to run faster.

Prompto finally came to stop when he ran into a dead end, thick metal bars allowing the water past but stopping any debris- or fleeing teenagers -from progressing farther. He hadn't realized how tired he was until the loss of places to run jolted him out of his blind panic, realizing both his lungs and muscles were burning from the exertion. He greedily gulped down the air as he bent almost in half, leaning heavily on his knees with slightly trembling arms and simply focused on breathing.

"Do you think...we lost it?" Prompto wheezed after a minute or two, turning his head toward his companion. He jerked upright in surprise, a new thrill of terror running through him as he realized Noctis was nowhere to be seen.

"...Noct?" he whispered loudly, shining his light around the tunnel for any sign of the raven-haired teen. "Noct?" Hadn't the prince been right behind him? Did he take a different turn somewhere for some reason? Or was he caught by whatever creature had been hiding in the darkness? Prompto's blood ran cold, desperately hoping it wasn't the latter option. Had he really left his only friend- not mention the heir to the throne -to be devoured by a sewer monster?

Prompto shook his head sharply, trying to rid his mind of the image. Although he was prone to assume the worst in just about every situation, it was entirely possible Noctis had simply fallen behind. After all, the blond had been running every morning for years- depending on how fast the prince was, Prompto could have out paced him without realizing it.

The thought almost made him feel worse, picturing Noctis gasping for breath and unable to call out as Prompto- and the only light they had -disappeared around the bend. The blond's eyes widened as he abruptly realized that Noctis was lost in the dark- unable to do more than feel his way along the wall and hope he found Prompto before the creature found him.

It was clear what he had to do. Eyes hardening the resolve, Prompto straightened his back as he turned around and stared into the darkness. He was going to find the prince.

Phone held tightly in hand, the blond crept quietly back down the tunnel. "Noct?" he called in a loud whisper, straining his ears for an answer. The sound of dripping water was his only reply.

Prompto walked for several minutes, quietly calling for the prince periodically as he did his best to retrace his steps. The constant dripping turned to a faint but continuous splash- perhaps there was a steady stream of water pouring out of pipe somewhere? -that was gradually growing closer. With all the water down here the noise wasn't really cause for concern, but it still had Prompto's shoulder's tensing involuntarily as he unconsciously lowered his voice a bit more.

The source of the noise became apparent at the next intersection in the tunnel, the water flowing down the sloped path to his left and falling to a lower level. Prompto hadn't noticed it in his panicked run, but he was fairly certain he had come from the tunnel on the right. If Noctis had come through here in the dark and missed the turn...

Prompto held his phone out in front of him, trying to see what was down that path. The light didn't illuminate it very well, but the tunnel slopped downward for ten or so feet before dropping off into what looked like a larger room. He couldn't quite tell how far the drop off was, though.

Had Noctis fallen down there? Was he hurt? Prompto couldn't tell from where here. Was there a way to get down there and look around?

"Well, look who decided to come back."

Prompto whipped around at the familiar- and surprisingly close -voice, relieved to see the prince sauntering out of the tunnel behind him no worse for the wear. The relief was quickly replaced with terror as his heel slipped- why had he thought standing so close the edge was a good idea? -and he fell backward, sliding down the slope and disappearing over the edge.

Noctis rushed forwards when Prompto fell, though he was too far away to help. He stopped when the light from the phone disappeared, not quite sure how far he was from the slope. "Prompto!" he called, carefully feeling his way forward. "Are you alright?!"

There were a few faint coughs before the blond answered. "Yeah!" he called back, suddenly becoming visible again as he picked his phone up from where he had dropped it. He shook it vigorously as he stood, wiping off the excessive water with his gloves, though the soaked material just replaced it with more. "We, uh, might have a slight problem, though." His voice hitched as the light flickered ominously.

Noctis let out a sigh of relief, though he knew things were about to get worse. "All right, I'm gonna make my way down to you," he said, trying for a more controlled descent as he carefully stepped onto the slope. His plan went out the window as he slipped, much the same way the blond had, and tumbled down into the water below.

The water- while not deep -was cold, making Noctis gasp reflexively as his momentum sent him rolling several feet. He quickly pushed himself to a sitting position, coughing and spitting out what he'd inhaled. He flung us much water as he could from his hands before wiping the excess from his eyes and off his cheeks, pushing the wet hair back and out of his face. Shivering, he pushed himself to his feet, his waterlogged clothes sticking to his body as he looked around.

It was a large room, worn green and grey pipes running along the upper portions of the walls. The water seemed to be flowing toward another tunnel leading down at the far end, although what caught Noctis' attention was the short staircase not too far from where they were standing. It was set into the wall on the right side of the room- only five or so high, clearly not enough to take them to upper level -but they were dry. "Let's head over there," he said, eager to finally get out of the water, even though it was too late to make much of a difference at this point.

They didn't go far into the cement corridor at the top of the stairs, Noctis squeezing what excess water from his clothes he could as he seriously debated just waiting here until Cor came to pick him up. Technically, as long as none of the recruits found him, that would still count as his win, even if he didn't make it all the way back to the Citadel. He turned to ask Prompto's opinion of this plan, the words dying in his throat as the blond met his gaze.

Prompto was cradling the phone in his cupped hands as the light continued to flicker and dim, wide blue eyes desperate. He looked honestly terrified as he whispered, "Noct, what're we gonna do?"

Noctis couldn't help the guilt that washed over him as he looked at his friend, shivering from cold and holding his phone like a lifeline that was about to be cut. The prince wasn't sure if he was afraid of the dark or if his over-active imagination was running wild with speculations of what might be hiding in the dark. Regardless, he didn't deserve to be caught up in this mess. The blond was looking to him for reassurance and Noctis sent a quick prayer to the Six that he could find the right words as he opened his mouth to do just that.

The light sputtered one final time and went out, leaving them both in total darkness.

. . .

Cor sighed in irritation, watching as the pulsing dot slowly moved across the map. Monica had been carefully tracking the prince's progress and relaying that information to the unit sent down in the subway after him, but as of yet no one had been able to get eyes back on the young royal. The prince's movements were almost erratic, taking sharp turns and backtracking frequently to throw off pursuit. Cor could applaud the initiative and surprisingly level of skill Noctis had displayed- even if it was making his job more difficult. Honestly, these men and women were all veteran Crownsguard, yet not one of them had managed to catch even a glimpse of the relatively green sixteen year old they were tasked with finding.

"Gavin, the prince is currently about twenty feet north of your position," Monica said into the radio. "Do you see him?"

"All I see is a wall, Monica," older man replied. "Lawrence, you see any doors or anything over there?" he asked his partner.

"No, just a bathroom and stairs leading back up to the street. Didn't see any ducts or anything to climb through in the bathroom. Did anyone see him go topside?"

The teams watching the entrances all replied with a negative before Gavin spoke up again. "I...don't even know how to get there from here, Monica," he admitted.

Cor briefly closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was getting ridiculous. "Ian, contact the clerk's office and have them send the schematics for the rails to Monica," he ordered into the radio. He probably should have done that half an hour earlier, but he hadn't expected Noctis to stay in the general area for so long...or to be so good at avoiding his men.

"Yes sir."

Monica continued watching as the prince turned around and quickly headed back in the opposite direction, passing right by Gavin's dot on the map. Either Noctis had learned to make himself invisible, or they were missing something big.

An alert popped up on the bottom of the screen several minutes later and she clicked on it, pulling up the schematics of the railway system in the tracking program. It took several seconds for the images to merge, a completely different layout replacing the city map that had been previously displayed. Her eyes were drawn to the white dot moving quickly to the left before it vanished altogether. Reception underground wasn't the best, so she turned her attention to Lawrence and Gavin's locations in relation to Noctis while the connection was reestablished. However it was not the familiar white dot that popped up several seconds later but a red dialogue box that read: SIGNAL LOST.

"Sir, we've lost the signal," she reported, quickly typing to try and boost the reception on their end. "There may simply be too much interference underground, but..."

That wasn't a chance they could afford to take. Cor looked at the screen, a small red arrow from the dialogue box pointing to the prince's last recorded position. He was still well within range of their equipment, meaning if the signal wasn't being disrupted by the underground, then the tracker had been destroyed.

He grabbed the radio, clicking the button on the side. "Attention all units, we have lost contact with the prince. Send the cadets to the rendezvous and prepare to mobilize with your units. Dustin, contact the railway and stop all trains until further notice. Monica will organize and direct the search from here," he ordered, exiting the car as various 'yes sirs' and 'understoods' filtered over the line.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, he opened it and clicked a few buttons before putting it to his ear. He closed his eyes as he heard the call connect, taking a deep breath. "I apologize for the late hour, Your Majesty, but we have a situation."

To Be Continued

New chapters are posted on Monday.