Chapter 5

It's dark, so very dark…I don't know where I am…where am I? I was sleeping in the Motel bed, but now…nothing. Just the darkness. Are my eyes closed? No…they're wide open…something's wrong…I-I can't move my hands…

I struggle to move, but something that feels like cold iron has a death grip around my wrists. I can feel that familiar feeling rising from the bottom of the bottle I'm always so good at keeping closed. I try to push it back down, suffocate the anxiety that is always suffocating me.

It's okay, you're fine, maybe you can move your legs.

I try to kick out into the darkness, but I'm met with the same cold metal wrapped around my ankles. With every movement the metal scrapes against my bare skin and I wince in pain. It seems that I'm in less clothes than I was before; back at the Motel I was wearing my jeans and t-shirt, but now I seem to be in some sort of sports bra and spandex shorts…The material is snug to my body, but I'm so cold, and the metal is starting to bruise and cut my skin. My breathing becomes erratic against my will as the realization of restraint becomes prevalent. The bottle is beginning to come undone, feelings of dread and anxiety are pouring out, my eyes are tearing up, but from the pain of the shackles or the anxiety I don't know.

C'mon gotta stay focused, gotta get outta here.

"Ignis?! Samn?! Gladio?! Prompto?! Noct?! Is anyone there?! Somebody?!" I scream my friend's names out into the pitch dark, loosing my cool with every passing second. The silence around me is deafening and swallows every sound, leaving me screaming silently; the darkness holds me with its death grip, terrified in the cold.

Something inside me snaps and I shake violently against my restraints, but they remain tightly bound, and I've nothing to show but blood and bruising. With my hope dwindling I scream out in agony, the monster let loose from its bottle prison.

"Somebody help me! Is anyone there?! Anybody?!"

My heart pounds as terror circulates my entire existence, my throat begins to hurt from screaming. I can feel blood run down my arm from my wrists, my ankles raw. My tears feel like acid as they run down my face. With my body wracked with anxiety and pain and no hope of rescue I hand my head low.

There's no one here, no one can hear me…not Samn, not Ignis…not even Prompto…

Suddenly light illuminates the area in front of me and I shut my eyes to shield them from it. I hear movement from that area and open them slowly to see the silhouette of a man in the center of the light; with the shape it's making it must be a door. The shape of the man, the way his clothes fall, it all seems eerily familiar, but so far, I haven't been able to place it.

"Did you need something dear?"

NO! NO! Not that voice! Not him! Anyone but him!

I try to struggle against my bonds again, desperate to get free. The silhouette takes off it's hat and more black shadows pour into the room until I'm completely surrounded.

"I'm sorry dear, but I'm going to have to ask you to take a little nap. Can't have you waking everyone, now can I?" I continue to scream and struggle as one of the other shadows puts a rag to my face. I try to move, try to hold my breath, but…everything…is going…black…

. . .

It's dark again…the monsters seem to be gone…but where am I?

I crack open one eye, to investigate my surroundings, but my eye is puffy like I got hit in the face. My head pounds, my lungs struggle to gather air; I try to move but cry out in pain as my ribs pulse with agonizing pain. I can make out the room, although barely. Everything is blurry, and spinning, but it's a familiar sight.

I think I'm in Insomnia's throne room…

"There she is!" A familiar voice floats to me and I try to search for the source. My brain pounds but it's only now that I realize that I'm laying on hard marble. My eyes follow the voice across the room to the door and a giant blur stands there. I blink away some of the tears my eyes have wept against my will and the giant blur becomes 5 smaller blurs. I reach my left hand out to them, but my right follows, iron shackles connecting them.

I'm so tired…

Pain rips through my body with a fury I can't quite comprehend, and my arm falls to the ground. My knuckles crack against the unforgiving marble, sending fresh signals to my brain but at this point I think it's given up, I'm cold and starting to go numb. The voices I hear now are muffled, no matter how hard I try I can't make out what they're saying, all I can do is lay here and watch the blood drip off my hands.

I'm going to pass out…if someone doesn't save me…I'll probably die here on this floor…

My eyes are becoming very heavy, they start to droop against my will, my consciousness is beginning to float away. Suddenly everything comes back, and I'm yanked to my feet; I scream out as the numbness goes away and all I feel is angry pain. My hands are held above me, whoever has me is tall enough to where they can hold the chain and I'll just dangle here. I try to kick to touch the ground before my arms yank out of their sockets, but the other shackles are still there, I feel the blood run down between my toes and just try to be as still as possible. My throat burns now from screaming, each one had reverberated off the old walls. My whole-body spins slightly and I come face to face with the monster again, his breath wreaking of decay. He spins me back toward the blurs that are my friends and my tears fall against my will as I've surely gone past my breaking point. My arms, my legs, my ribs, my face, my whole body; all of it just hurts.

I'm so weak, so battered, so bruised…so tired…No! I gotta stay awake! Five figures remember…out friends are here to save us!

I try to focus on them across the room and a sliver of hope makes its way into my heart.

"They came…" My voice is nothing but a harsh whisper as the background voices continue.

So tired…

Suddenly I find myself falling forward, and with nothing below me but the marble stairs. I put my hands out to brace myself, but it doesn't help. I land hard on my right hand and start rolling down. I try to protect my head, but it hits almost every step, my legs are wrapped up in the chain that binds them and all I can do is endure until I stop in a bloody heap at the bottom, my head spinning once again.

It hurts so much…just kill me already…

Someone cries out, but at this point I'm not sure if it's me. I just lay there and cry silently as the pain continues relentlessly. I feel the air as someone rushes to my side and gently pulls me onto their lap. I cry out a little as they move me because the pain is so intense, that even with them being as careful as they are still manage to hurt me. My cries echo as a hand comes to rest softly on my head as they attempt to soothe me.

"Shhh darling it's okay. We're here now."

I know that voice…

I manage to turn my head and look up at my soothers face.

"Ignis…?" My voice is weak and raspy. "It hurts…" His emerald eyes are void of his specs and glassy. I must be in worse shape than I thought.

"Shhh my dear, don't speak, conserve your strength." He pulls something out of nowhere and the area around me explodes into green light.

His glasses are missing…

"Iggy…your specs…" I reach up and cup the side of his face noticing that his normally perfect hair is disheveled. "Are you okay?" He looks at me stunned and catches my hand in his as it falls from his face.

"I'm fine love, it's you I'm worried about…now please, rest." A smile forms on his face as he looks at me, but it disappears when he looks away.

I follow his eyes and watch as blurs race around the room occasionally leaving behind holograms of pink and blue. I look back up to Ignis and notice he's wearing an expression I've never seen before. I adjust my arms causing the shackles to rattle, bringing his attention back to me.

He looks…scared.

One of his hands come up and begin to investigate my bindings, but something out of the corner of my eye catches my attention and I turn just in time to watch Gladio hit the wall with a crack; as he falls I see the imprint the force caused.

"Gladio…" It's only a whisper but Iggy hears it and takes mis eyes away from the lock, we watch Gladdy wipe something off his mouth and struggle to get back up and into the fight. Ignis makes a frustrated noise and continues to watch with helpless eyes.

"Samn!" Suddenly he calls out and I watch as a figure runs our way. When she reaches us, I notice that she's disheveled as well. Her jacket is missing, and her leather pants are torn up. They must have run into something nasty on the way here. "I can't get her bindings undone."

"She doesn't look so good Iggy…" Samn points her Keyblade at me and the tip glows until my chains fall off. I rub at my wrists, they're bloody and bruised and ache with even the slightest touch.

"Yes I know that, but I used my last restorative on her, it'll have to do for now…" Ignis' voice is clipped, and it seems that fear I sensed before may have been him losing his cool. Samn looks down at me with sad crystal blue eyes before reaching down and setting her hand on my shoulder. Despite the look in her eyes she smiles before running back off into the battle.

Ignis turns back to me and since the restorative made me able to sit upright, adjusts his position so I can rest against his shoulder. I watch as Prompto fires off a few shots and dodges an onslaught of pink weapons. Noct warps to a pillar that's still standing away from the monster and takes a second to breathe, but as he does the monster warps to Prompto and lifts him in the air by his neck.

"Prompto!" Ignis shouts from beside me and I watch in helpless horror as my friend kicks for his life. He drops his guns and begins to scratch at the monster to try to escape his death grip, but then…he just goes still. Everyone screams his name as the monster tosses him to the side like a piece of garbage. His body hits the floor and rolls a few feet before laying there lifeless.

No…

"Prompto!" I scream and reach for him, trying to crawl my broken body over to him, but Ignis holds me back. I can hear Noct's cries of anguish and the blue blur crashes into the pink one relentlessly. Gladio runs over to check on Prom, I watch helplessly as he checks his pulse and then shakes his head. Something inside me breaks and more tears start to fall as I once again fight desperately to get to him, but Ignis continues to hold me. "Prompto! Prompto!" Gladio kneels down and covers Proms eyes before running and charging at the monster. "Ignis! Let me go! I have to get to him! Prompto!" I feel Ignis put his hands on my shoulders and then suddenly I'm facing him. His eyes are misty and he's holding back tears.

"There's nothing you can do!" He snaps at me and I stop moving, all I can do is stare back at him.

Prompto…is dead?

I'm silent for a moment, but the battle rages on around us.

No…no. That's not right! H-he just needs a Phoenix Down…we gotta have one somewhere! I always did!

"No! He's not gone! He just needs a Phoenix Down an he'll be fine!" I try to pull away again, but I'm sobbing, and I can barely see through the tears. Ignis pulls me back around again and holds me close to his chest.

"He's gone." I can't stop the tears from flowing and my cries echo throughout the room.

"NO! He can't be! We promised we'd go ride the Chocobos again! Iggy! Tell me it'll be okay! Tell me Prom will be able to see the Chocobos!" I'm not sure if he can understand me through my sobs, but he holds me tight.

"I'm sorry…"

Something flies past us in a blur and crashes into a pillar near us, I turn quickly and can't do anything but watch as the pillar cracks and fall on top of it, crushing it.

"Gladio!" I hear Nocts scream but before it even finishes it gets cut short.

Ignis gasps and his grip loosens. "Noct!" I turn and see that the monster has impaled Noctis against the wall with three weapons, his head hangs low, lifeless.

No…Gladio…Noct…

Ignis begins to shake as if it's taking all his being to stay next to me. Samn continues to fight, but at this point she's only dodging and can barely keep up. One of the weapons from Noctis retracts and flies across the battlefield, my breath catches in my throat and I try to scream for her to move.

"Samn, look out!" I reach out to warn her, but I don't even finish my words before it impales her against the opposite wall. I scream again as the monster chases after her to finish the job. Ignis turn me around and holds my head against his chest so I can't watch. I wrap my arms around him and listen as her screams cut off, and something inside me dies.

I can't breathe…I feel like someone's hand is around my heart, squeezing 'till it pops…it hurts so much…

My shock dies away as pain ripples through my body, followed by cries of agony, signifying that my creation is dead.

I can't breathe, it hurts, this is all wrong!

"It wasn't supposed to be this way! We were supposed to go home! She was supposed to get a happy ending!" I grip his shirt tight and cry into it, but I can hear the monster's footsteps on the marble floor coming our way.

There's no hope…we're all dead…Prompto…Gladio…Noct…Samn…and we're next.

I slowly stop crying and turn to the monster, his face is ghostly pale, black blood oozes from his dead eyes and purple lips as they curl into a smile, and once again his breath smells of death and decay.

"I'm sorry my dear, but no one's ending is going to be happy." As he speaks more black oozes out. Gently, Ignis moves me and stands, placing himself between me and the monster. "Oh? What's this? Are you going to protect this little harlot?"

"I made a promise to protect Noct with my life, and I failed…the best I can do now is protect her or give my life trying."

"Ignis! No!"

"Then let me rectify your failure." In a flash the monster grabs Ignis by the neck and lifts him into the air.

"NO!" I reach out, but my legs won't move. "Please!" Tears begin to flow as I watch Ignis claw and struggle against the monsters' death grip just like Prompto had. "Just stop! I'll do whatever you want…just please, don't hurt him."

Ignis looks down at me out of the corner of his eye, an with his specs gone it's even easier to see the fear his emerald eyes are soaked in.

"Don't worry my dear, unfortunately he won't feel a thing." I just hear a snap and Iggy's' body falls to the ground, neck twisted at an inhuman angle, eyes void of light.

No…Ignis…

I gently reach for him, not able to believe what I'm seeing.

"Now, where were we?" I continue to stare in disbelief but then all at once the monster is in my face, his breath making my stomach churn. "Thank you for serving your purpose my dear, but I'm afraid I no longer have a use for you." His hand shoots out and grabs me by my own neck, I kick and claw and try to scream as he lifts me off the ground. I'm so tired, so bruised, so hopeless, that nothing I'm doing is having any effect and I already have black spots in my vision. I've been screaming so much that I don't have any sound anymore. "Any last words?" He loosens his grip slightly and air shoots back into my lungs leaving me more lightheaded than before. I look around the room at the lifeless bodies of my friends and try once again to struggle free. "No? Oh well." His grip tightens, and I let out one more scream before I jolt upward.

. . .

I'm screaming and it's dark, I don't know where I am. Someone shads are around my neck, are they my hands?

Light illuminates the room, chasing away the darkness and bringing with it a familiar face.

"Hey! Hey! You're alright!"

I know that voice…and that face.

My creation, who was dead only seconds ago stares back at me, her crystal blue eyes full of both concern and fear. Terrified tat what was once dead is now alive I jump back.

"Hey! It's okay. You're okay, we're at the Motel in Longwythe, remember? You're safe here." My screams turn to sobs as the scenes replay over and over in my head. I put my face in my hands and feel her arms wrap around my shaking body. "Shh you're alright, I won't let anyone hurt you…"

But you were dead!

"Y-you died!" Through sobs I try to look at her and convey my terror.

"What?"

"H-he killed you, all of you were dead!"