"Calm down, boys, I won't tell anyone." Aranea laughed as she walked further into the cave. "But congrats on finally getting yourselves out of the closet."

Noctis still couldn't believe that Aranea had been watching them, but it was clearly long enough. His face was full of embarrassment , burning with the heat that came along with it.

"You two can stop looking so shocked. Instead you could look happy to see me," Aranea said as she sat down next to the boys.

"Uh, we're happy to see you?" Prompto asked.

"Hmph, good enough. Anyways, I ran into your two buddies in Tenebrae."

Noctis's eyes quickly widened. "You did?!"

She nodded. "You've both got'em worried sick. Don't you want to go back and see them?"

"We want to, but we can't even call them. Our phones are broken," Noctis answered. "We pretty much are stuck here until we find a way to get back to them."

"Then what's stopping you?"

"Even if they're worried, they probably are pretty pissed at me still," Noctis mumbled. "Kind of went jumping off a train without telling them."

Prompto leaned against Noctis. "I'm sure they aren't pissed."

Even though Noctis knew Prompto was trying to help, it didn't alleviate any of the mixed feelings stirring in his mind. "Remember the time I snuck out to go to that midnight arcade event with you? Ignis was furious."

"I'd say this is different than that," Aranea interrupted. "Besides, you know I was never on the best terms with all of you. But even knowing that, they were the ones who asked me to come out here to look for you two. Even if they are mad, they're still worried and just want to make sure that you're safe."

Knowing that, the feelings of disappointing or worrying Ignis and Gladio lessened a little. Noctis was able to breathe in deeply, clearing his mind for other thoughts.

"So, they're really okay?"

"As good as they can be functioning as a duo," Aranea replied.

"Uh, did they say anything about me?" Prompto asked quietly.

Aranea hummed. "Not that I can recall."

Prompto's shoulders slumped. "Ah… right."

"Hey," Noctis said, wrapping his arm around Prompto. "Just 'cause they didn't say anything doesn't mean they aren't thinking about you, too. Aranea even said we have them both worried, so they are thinking of you. If you can tell me they aren't pissed at me, I can tell you that they are thinking of you."

"Okay, you got me there," Prompto sighed.

"So, if you two have that sorted out, why don't you go looking for them already. They're heading to Gralea, so why not go and find them in the capital?"

It didn't seem too difficult to do. Noctis knew that he had already gotten this far with Prompto, so traveling out to the capital to look for Ignis and Gladio couldn't be any harder. As long as they stuck together, Noctis felt like they could handle just about anything.

"I guess we can try," Noctis finally answered.

"Well, while you two sort that out, I'm going after that new model in the morning. Can't let that thing get loose into the world. You're on your own now, kids."

She walked away before the boys could even say goodbye, leaving Prompto and Noctis a little confused. They glanced at each other before they both ended up shrugging.

"Guess she has somewhere to stay," Noctis said.

"Yeah… but hey! If she does, why is she leaving us out here in the cold?! She could have let us stay the night wherever she was going!" Prompto complained.

Noctis chuckled before resting his head against Prompto's shoulder. "Oh well, she probably wouldn't want to deal with us, anyway."

"We'd be too tooth-rotting cute for her?"

"You know it!"

But that still left them with the question of how they were going to sleep. While the fire did make things a lot warmer, they were still in a cave with a cold tundra just outside.

"So, uh, how are we going to sleep?"

Prompto beat him to the punch, and now he had to come up with the answer.

"I guess just try and get comfy, and keep close for body heat stuff?"

Noctis could see that Prompto's cheeks were already turning red. "You mean basically cuddling to stay warm? I think that can work."

"Then we can decide where we're going in the morning? I think after today we just need to sleep."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Prompto replied, nodding.

It took a bit of shifting around until both found themselves comfortable. Rather than laying down on the hard stone floor, they opted to instead rest against the wall, leaning into each other's body heat.

Even with the fact Noctis and Prompto had come out in the open about their feelings, it still made Noctis's heart race to be so close and intimate. His heart kept pounding loudly against his chest, refusing to calm down for a few moments.

But he was proud of himself, having made it this far. He had finally taken that new step, even if it was uncertain, but now the result was well worth it.

And with that happy thought trailing in his mind, Noctis was able to drift off into sleep.

Prompto woke up first. It wasn't much of a surprise‒Noctis rarely ever woke up early, even if the sleeping circumstances were poor. He turned his head, seeing Noctis's peaceful face resting on his shoulder. With no strong emotions etched into his face, onlu peaceful bliss, Noctis's face looked rather angelic.

He started to brush a few loose strands of hair out of Noctis's face when he heard barking. He didn't see anything in the cave or at the entrance, but it sounded close, whatever it was.

"Noct," he said, starting to shake him slightly. "There's… I hear a dog."

"Hnnn, five more minutes…"

Prompto sighed, slowly maneuvering himself up to his feet while keeping Noct from falling to the ground.

"Stay here, I'll be right back, okay? I'll go investigate."

"Okay… see ya…" Noctis muttered.

Prompto headed out of the cave, trying to find the source of the barking. He shielded his eyes as he exited out into the blinding, white snow. Still, he didn't see anything, but he felt compelled to find the source.

Without even thinking, he mounted the snowmobile and headed in the direction the barking echoed from. It only took a minute or so before he came into a more forested area with a small clearing ahead of him.

As he slowed down and dismounted the vehicle, he saw an MT laying in the snow. As he approached it, hand hovering over his weapon, the machine didn't move. It lied as still as if it were dead, but Prompto could see the glow in its eyes, staring at him as he looked back.

With a heavy sigh, he sat himself down a couple feet away from it. There was still so much from the previous day that he hadn't had time to properly process. He wasn't even sure if he could ever process it.

This MT before him, it was what he could have ended up as had he never been rescued. It was either that or he could've ended up like the ones who had been terminated, burned in their test tubes, with not even a single chance at life.

He shuddered as the thoughts started to creep in. He closed his eyes, wanting to be okay with it… wishing he could be okay with it.

How in all of Eos could he ever accept who he was if what he was supposed to be was a mechanical machine meant to kill?! How could he even comprehend such a thing and still move on with his life as if it were nothing?

Worst of all, he still doubted that Noctis could accept him.

Even after that whole talk, and the remainder of the chocobo promise, Prompto couldn't shake away the doubt that sprouted in his mind. He wasn't human, or at least, he wasn't designed to be human for long. If he had been rescued any later than he had been, no doubt he would have been converted into an MT, trained to attack and kill on command.

Suddenly, he heard snow being crushed behind him.

His eyes shot open, noticing first that the MT in front of him was gone. No sign of it anywhere, not even footprints left behind.

As he stood up, he turned around and it felt like all warmth drained from his body. His heart decided to reace, beating rapidly against his ribcage. He saw Noctis stand in front of him, moving at a slow pace that was enough to make Prompto feel on edge.

"N-Noct?" he asked.

Though, when he did, his voice sounded weird. It sounded distorted. Something wasn't right.

Noctis brandished his blade, still approaching Prompto at a slow pace. He wasn't even sure how Noctis was able to summon his weapon again, but it terrified him to have the weapon pointed at him.

Prompto raised his hand up out of instinct, and then he saw what the issue was… and it only made his heart rate speed up. His hand was now metal, the same metal and shape as the MTs hand had been.

With a quick glance down at himself, his worst fears were realized‒he was just an MT.

He was one of many MTs and now Noctis was coming to finish him off.

"Noctis please! It's me! It's Prompto!" he tried screaming, only for it to come out as distorted, mechanical screeches.

With his worst fears realized, there was nothing left for him to do but run. If Noctis couldn't understand him, and was set on destroying him, then he had to get away.

He started running as fast as he could go, not even caring which way he headed. As long as he could outrun Noctis, or find a place to hide, that was all that mattered in that moment.

It scared him. Hearing Noctis shouting and grunting as he warped to catch up. Prompto could even catch glimpses of Noctis's magic in his eyes as he came closer and closer.

He knew that it was too good to be true. Noctis never trusted him in the first place. All of it was a lie so he could find the perfect opportunity.

"Stupid! So stupid!" Prompto thought as he made it to another clearing.

Briefly he stopped to catch his breath, finally running out of stamina. As he took in deep breaths, he no longer heard Noctis, or anything for that matter. So, he carefully looked behind him again and saw nothing.

All he saw were his own footprints, no one else's. That gave him enough courage to look down at his own hands, and he was relieved to see that they were normal, not metal MT hands.

"S-Shit…" he breathed out shakily. "What the f-fuck was that!? Don't tell me I'm going crazy now!"

He thought he was talking to no one, but much to his surprise he heard a bark again. Quickly turning around, he saw the source of the barking, and his eyes widened.

"P-Pryna?"

The dog barked again and started moving through the snow.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Prompto shouted as he began to chase after the dog.

Wherever Pryna was going, she had no intention of stopping to make sure Prompto was keeping pace with her. Seeing her in front of him, running and seemingly alive, only brought questions into his mind. He was certain Ignis had said that Pryna passed away back in Altissia.

Then again, Pryna was a Messenger. Prompto wasn't entirely sure how it worked, but maybe they never really died. Either way, he knew he could trust her… just as long as she wasn't another illusion.

She led him around the snowy tundra, out into a much more open area than before. As he walked around, he noticed right away that there were several MTs laying on the ground. He couldn't understand why she had taken him here, but she probably had a good reason.

"Messengers always have good reason for helping someone, right?"

He walked around, looking at each of the MTs. These ones were entirely lifeless. No light in their eyes at all. Just an empty husk of metal now… all except for one. There was one MT that was struggling to move.

Prompto pulled out his gun, gripping it firmly as he watched. The MT slowly and raised its right arm, reaching out towards Prompto. Its arm and entire body were trembling, probably meaning this MT was at the end of its functionality. And yet, despite it being on its last legs, it was still trying to reach for Prompto.

It didn't make any sense.

Was the MT trying to reach for him to attack and grab him? Or… was it calling out for help? If the MTs really were all clones of that mad scientist, then was there a chance that they had some sentience left in them?

Prompto gasped, seeing the MT reaching out for help as himself. The fear and the struggle in the eyes, they were his own.

He shook his head, looking away. He wouldn't deal with any more tricks. No more delusions or mind tricks. When he looked back, the MT was back to normal, still holding its hand out.

"What's to say that they really do have some humanity left?" Prompto pondered. "All the MTs we've destroyed… if any of them had any humanity left, we killed them. We killed them without hesitation."

With his own shaky arm, he raised his gun, pointing it at the MT.

"But they were changed… made into these things. Whatever is left probably isn't anything, right?"

For a moment he let his arm drop, not knowing if he could even do this anymore. There was so much weighing him down at this rate, he didn't want to add even more trauma to his mind. The past couple of days had already been hard enough, and right now he didn't have Noctis by his side to tell him it was alright.

But thinking of Noctis, he could imagine what he would say, and what he would do. A small fire burned in his chest, filling him with a new sense of strength.

He pulled his arm back up, stabbing the shaking with his other arm.

"They aren't human, not anymore. Anything that's left is just an echo… An echo of what they could've been."

A single tear dripped down Prompto's face.

"I can do this. End it now. Get it over with."

With one last sharp exhale, he finally pulled the trigger, shooting the MT deadcenter in its forehead. It collapsed back to the ground and the glow in its eyes faded, leaving it to be just another lifeless one like all the rest.

With nothing else to do, he flopped down in the snow and started to think. Seeing Pryna by his side made him think back to a time so long ago, when he had first encountered the dog as a small pup. It was because of that moment he was where he was today.

He smiled slightly, still remembering the day that he received that letter from Lunafreya. He could recall every word she delicately wrote, but there was always one sentence that stood out more than the rest.

'All I ask is that you continue to support Noctis, and that you remain ever at his side.'

It always made him wonder, even at his current point in life, why did she assume something like that? "How could she expect me to support him? With all my hang-ups, am I really good enough?"

He could think back to every moment he spent around Noctis since the start of this journey. From the moment they walked up the stairs to get their farewell from King Regis, to when they first pushed the car all the way into Hammerhead.

"He says he doesn't care about my origins, but does that mean he still wants me around? He kept making me feel like it, but…"

He pulled out his camera from his coat pocket, starting to actually flick through the photos he had taken so far on the trip. So many of them were of him and Noctis, taking a stupid selfie together. He couldn't help but manage a smile at them, knowing how important they were to him.

"I know what Noctis has said… so does that really mean he wants me to still be with him? Forever and always?"

He let out a sigh as he got through the next bunch of pictures, stopping at the one that they had taken at Cape Caem. That was all before everything went to hell, a time when things didn't seem as grim.

He then had a new thought come to his mind. "But wait… but what about me? What do I want? Do I really want…"

He looked down at his camera once more before shutting it off. "I think I get it now. Guess it took me this long, but I finally found my answer."

He stood up and looked around, Pryna was gone again. There weren't even traces of her paw prints, begging the question of if she really had been there in the first place. Maybe she had been, or maybe she hadn't. Messengers worked in mysterious ways after all, and Prompto wasn't going to bother questioning it anymore.

"Time to get back to Noct. Hopefully he hasn't woken up to find me gone."

He ran all the way back to the snowmobile and drove back towards the cave. He parked it just outside of the entrance and ran back to find Noctis slowly opening his eyes.

"Prom?" he yawned. "Are you-"

Promtpo ran forward and latched onto him, burying his face against his neck.

"P-Prom? What? I thought… Did you say you were going outside for a bit?" Noctis asked, baffled.

"Yeah, I did, I just… I need to remind myself that you're here for me. That you trust me, and promised to never hurt me."

"Hurt you?" Noctis questioned. "I'd never! Prompto, you know that!"

Prompto nodded. "I know. Just needed to remind myself of it."

Noctis finally hugged him back, having recovered from the initial shock and confusion. "Is everything okay? What happened out there?"

"Nothing," Prompto whispered.

"Sure doesn't feel like nothing. Can't you tell me?"

"Okay, I'll tell you later, how's that sound?"

He wasn't opposed to telling Noctis, but after the entire ordeal, he wanted to just get away from it. He wanted to focus on something else, to keep on going, and to possibly help stop a large threat.

"Guess so. Just let me know if you need something, okay?"

Prompto let go of Noctis and nodded. "You know it. Now come on! We gotta go and find Aranea!"

"What? What for?"

"Cause we're going to help her take down whatever Verstael was planning!"

"Alright, guess we're doing that next. Then I suppose we go looking for Ignis and Gladio?"

"Right! Come on! Let's go and find her!"

After helping Noctis to his feet, the two ran out towards the snowmobile. Prompto started to drive around, heading back towards the sign of buildings. It didn't take long before he spotted Aranea, walking a few feet ahead of them, and away from her own snowmobile.

"Aranea!" he shouted as he slowed the vehicle down next to her.

"Hm, what's up, Shortcake?"

"I'm ready. Uh, we're ready. You know, to help."

"What made you want to join the fight?" Aranea asked.

"Thought we could help. Plus…" Prompto said as he leaned forward on the console. "I had a lot of thinking I had to do. About myself and where I came from, and what lies ahead. I've decided I need to face my fears once and for all. I need to remind myself that I can't choose where I came from."

He glanced back to Noctis who grinned at him. The warmth in his smile was enough to help keep the fire burning in Prompto's heart. "And while I can't choose that, I can choose where I'm going. That's why I need to do this."

"And I'm here for Prompto 100% of the way. I won't turn my back on him," Noctis added.

Aranea hummed. "Alright, but slow me down and you two are going to get left behind."

"Understood!" Prompto said as he did a small salute.

"Whatever you say," Noctis said.

"Then follow me, and keep your guard up. We're heading right into the Annex research facility."

The boys nodded, dismounted the snowmobile, and started to follow behind her. Prompto made sure to take in several deep breaths as they moved. Whatever they were going to face up ahead, it wasn't going to be easy. None of it had been easy so far, but they still made it through, so he knew they could keep going.