4

The three men sat in the train car in silence as they thought about everything that had taken place and everything they had learned. But first and foremost, they were thinking about how they could possibly rescue their missing friend. Of course, having the knowledge of his location was helpful, but it also made things much more difficult.

There were just too many variables to consider...

"Well we can't just waltz in and demand that Ardyn hand him over." Gladio stated firmly, throwing his hand up in exasperation with the young king while they continued to discuss a plan of action. "It's just not gonna work that way."

"You don't think I know that?" Noct asked, partly mumbling through his own annoyance. "You think I don't know how dangerous it's going to be in Gralea?"

"That's not what I'm saying." Gladio answered calmly, trying not to get any more frustrated than he already was, though that was through no fault of Noct's. This whole situation was just aggravating. "What I'm saying is we need to come up with some sort of strategy for getting him out of there in one piece. Can't imagine how he's gonna be when we get there, we've gotta be prepared for the worst. And I'm not saying that because I think he's gonna die. No way would I let that happen, and neither would either of you."

Ignis nodded in agreement. Even blinded and handicapped as he was, he too refused to allow any permanent harm to come to the young photographer.

"Gladio is right, Noct." Ignis agreed, turning to his young friend, offering his voice if reason. "Without the proper planning, any attempt of liberating Prompto could very easily fail, and may even serve to endanger him further. The best thing we can do now is be patient and cautious. We must not act in haste."

"How can you suggest we just sit around and wait!?" Noct questioned through his own slowly growing frustration. "We don't have time for that! Prompto, doesn't have time for that!"

"Noct, you're not listening." Gladio asserted, taking a step closer to where the young king was seated opposite Ignis. "We're not saying we should wait around. What we're saying is that we should come up with an actual plan to rescue Prompto instead of just running in blindly."

Gladio stopped, wincing internally as he shot an apologetic glance at Ignis, realizing his poor choice of words merely moments too late. Ignis shook his head at his dear friend, dismissing his statement while taking no offense, for he was not as sensitive to the matter of his loss of sight as his friends were.

"I know that..." Noct mumbled, slumping back into his seat as he lowered his head, staring at the empty table between Ignis and himself. He knew they were right, there was nothing better for them to do at that point. And to that end, nothing better they could do for Prompto. But it was just so frustrating. "Doesn't mean I have to like it though..."

"Don't fret, Noct." Ignis said, an air of gentleness conveyed about his words. "Prompto will be back among us soon. And I promise you, if he has been brought to harm we will return it to the chancellor tenfold."

Ignis's gentle vibe had completely vanished within his last remark, replaced by a cold anger towards the man who stole their treasured companion. Not unlike Noct and Gladio, even Ignis was angry and on edge, despite his calm and collected façade.

"Damn right we will." Gladio agreed, crossing his arms as he glanced out the window, hoping to see something other than endless, snowy plains and mountains. Hoping to see Gralea on the horizon. But to his dismay, they were still quite a ways off.

Even though they had passed through the gorge and Noct had received the blessing of the Glacien, it would still be a while before they reached the capital. All they could really do now was be patient. But without Prompto, being patient was only becoming more and more difficult as they thought about their precious friend in the hands of an insane, extremely dangerous man.

"Oddly enough, still not feeling any better about this." Noct sighed, placing his head in his hands as his elbows rested on the cold metal table, his mood only getting lower and lower without his best friend around to cheer him up with all his pictures, or rants about the various things he loved about chocobos.

"I'm sorry, Prom... it's my fault you're in this mess..."

"So, what are we gonna do once we get there? Can't exactly storm the place without a plan. But at the same time, can't exactly plan anything when it comes to Ardyn. The guy's too unpredictable." Gladio sighed, taking a seat across from Ignis and Noctis, placing his middle and index fingers against his temple as he rested his elbow on the counter behind him. Rubbing little circles with his fingers, trying to sooth any part of the rage boiling within him, but unfortunately to no avail. At this point the only thing that could quell his anger was rescuing Prompto and tearing Ardyn to shreds for harming their friend.

Their brother.

"We'll first have to maneuver our way through the city. Doubtless there are myriad deamons roaming it by now. We must exercise great caution once we arrive." Ignis stated, looking back and forth between the directions he knew his friends were in relative to his own position in the train car. "Prompto is being held by the chancellor, so I can only assume he's being kept in the most secure stronghold. No matter what we do, plan or not, we'll certainly be faced with a great deal of difficulty even locating him. Rescuing him, on the other hand... well, I'm afraid given the chancellor's involvement, that could be a far more difficult task than we'd prefer..."

"You've got a point there, Iggy." Gladio remarked, shaking his head slightly as his anger continued to boil.

"Indeed. Now, the question of finding the Crystal also remains to be answered." Ignis inquired, placing his hand up against his chin while he leaned back in his seat as he thought about the very question he had posed. "It's bound to be guarded more heavily than Prompto, and likely being held in the most high security chamber they have. Now, if we were to come across the Crystal before we locate Prompto we must-"

"-Enough!" Noctis shouted, cutting Ignis off before he could say anything else. He slammed his fist down on the table, the impact of his fist on the metal clanging loudly throughout the car, stopping everything in one moment. "I'm sick of this shit! We're getting nowhere just sitting here, and it seems like you guys care more about the damn Crystal than Prompto!"

"Well of course we care about the Crystal." Gladio asserted, narrowing his eyes at the young king. "It only has the power to save this world! Or have you forgotten all about that sitting around moping?"

"Gladio…" Ignis whispered quietly but sternly, a small sigh escaping from his lips as he listened to his companions bicker yet again.

"I haven't forgotten anything!" Noct countered, turning swiftly and sharply towards Gladio, his anger too, boiling inside of him. "But all that matters to me right now is finding Prompto, and making sure he's safe! It's my job to get him back and Ardyn practically handed his location to us on a silver platter! So excuse me for not giving a shit about the Crystal at the moment!"

"You're stepping way out of line, Noct!" Gladio growled through gritted teeth as Noct's words reached his ears. "This is about more than just you and what you want! You have a duty to save the world, a duty to protect that Crystal. And you're not the only one who wants to save Prompto. Not that you've been listening to a word we've said since you're just sitting around bitching about your own problems! All this time it's just been "it's my fault", "it's my job to save him", "he's my friend". Well you know what? Not everything revolves around you! Even if you are the king!"

"You think I don't know that." Noct retorted, quickly rising to his feet as he kept his eyes on his shield, anger burning inside them both.

"Could've fooled me." Gladio snarled, taking a step towards Noctis, his eyes burning with his own fire. "You sure as hell aren't acting like it."

"That's enough, both of you." Ignis declared, rejoining the situation no less irritated than the other men in the cold, metal car. "This argument is pointless. Noct, I understand your frustration and impatience on this matter, but you mustn't take your anger out on us. We're doing all we can, but unfortunately at the moment there isn't much we can do. And Gladio, you're well on your way to crossing lines as well. Now both of you, be civil with each other, and wait."

"Fine." Gladio mumbled, letting out an exasperated sigh, taking heed of Ignis's words. "But only if his highness finally gets his shit together."

"I am together." Noct grumbled, slumping back into his seat, the upholstery feeling soft and cool against his anger-heated skin.

"Then try acting like an adult for once." Gladio countered, trying to calm down himself. But Noct seriously wasn't helping at all, as childish as he was being at the moment.

"Both of you. Calm down. It shouldn't be much farther to Gralea by now." Ignis said, taking a much gentler tone than he had before. Scolding them so often seemed to be a normal event for poor Ignis, ever the adult of the four.

Taking his hand from his side, Ignis reached across the table, feeling around for Noct's own had that had been rested on the table opposite him. Finding his mark, Ignis rested his hand on top of the young king's, intending to try and bring comfort to his friend with a show of care.

"Noct, Prompto will be back with us soon. I give you my word. We will ensure his safety before perusing the chancellor and the Crystal."

Noct's hardened expression softened at Ignis's gentle words, indeed given at least some comfort in his friend's care for him and Prompto. Ignis offered a soft look to his friends, waiting for the day he would feel the light return to their eyes.

"Thanks, Ignis..." Noct sighed, looking over his friends, slowly shaking his head as he thought about everything that was happening. "And I'm sorry. I just need Prompto back safe, I... I can't lose anyone else..."

"You won't, Noct." Gladio said, his voice still gruff and strong even with his own more gentle tone. "Prompto's gonna be fine."

Prompto awoke in the same dank room, his arms and shoulders throbbing from holding his limp body for what felt like days, though he had only been unconscious for a few hours. The taste of iron still tainted his mouth as a small amount of blood still remained from his broken nose and other facial wounds given to him by Ardyn. His body ached and his nose filled with the stench of his previously scorched flesh, his back stung where Ardyn had jammed the shock device hard into him, yet another thing to add to his list of current pains.

His eyes were heavy, and only partially opened as he slowly regained his sense of reality, remembering where he was and what had happened to him. A soft, tired groan escaped his lips as the pain in his shoulders registered in his brain, slowly straightening his legs back into a standing position, giving his arms much needed relief from having to support his limp body.

"Damn... how long was I out...?" Prompto thought, looking around the room to find that nothing had changed.

Even the MT's that were in the room before had not left their locations, staring at him with their cold, metallic eyes -no, their human eyes-

His eyes.

The memories came flooding into his head again, every single MT was a clone of that Besithia guy... and so was he.

Every MT had the same face... Prompto's face...

He lowered his head again, his eyes now fixed on the dark stain on the ground in front of him, where the blood from his wounds had dripped and spilled before. Though he wasn't really focusing on that now.

"All this time..."

"Ah, I must say... you have looked better."

Prompto looked up at the chuckling man before him, Ardyn inspected his face for a moment before elegantly crossing over to him and placing a hand on Prompto's right shoulder, causing a sting of pain to shoot up and down his arm. Prompto winced and instinctively drew back, only to be stopped by the restraints, hurting him more.

"Well, it seems you're not so fond of my hospitality. No matter." Ardyn's face darkened and a devious grin crawled slowly across his face, kneeling down slightly and cupping his hand under Prompto's chin. Digging his fingers into the soft flesh, he pulled Prompto's head up sharply to look him in the eyes. "I have other plans for you, dear boy."

He frowned, gripping Prompto tighter in such a way that a small whimper came through the blonde's lips.

"Many, many plans."

"Y-You'll never... get away with this...!" Prompto countered, his words hindered by Ardyn's grip pushing his cheeks closer together, interfering with his speech, but not enough to stop him. Though he was still tired and hurting from before, he put every ounce of strength he could into his words.

He wasn't about to give up now, not so soon, he had faith in his friends. Faith that they would come to rescue him, that they would free him from Ardyn's demented grip.

"Oh, my dear Prompto." Ardyn chuckled under his breath, releasing his grip on Prompto's face as a small smirk appeared on his face again.

Prompto looked to see a small blade in Ardyn's other hand, his eyes widening as the sharp steel pierced his shoulder. A loud, painful scream escaping from the photographer's lips without even the slightest bit of hesitance, Ardyn gripped the blade tightly, slowly easing it down Prompto's shoulder, creating a much larger wound. Relishing in Prompto's agonized screams before returning to his feet.

"I believe I already have." He spoke again.

Suddenly the MT's stationed on the sides of the room began to stir, taking heavy steps over towards the young blonde, the heavy metal armor clanging on the ground. The sound of metal meeting metal reverberating in Prompto's ears, irritating his brain as the MT's scraped against the iron floor.

Stopping in front of the blonde, the MT's wrapped their hands around Prompto's forearms, the blood now gushing from his newly sliced shoulder pouring onto the ground next to the feet of the MT to his right.

The restraints holding the blonde released, and the MT's dragged him closer to Ardyn, forcing him up to his feet after stopping before him. Jerking Prompto's arms in front of his body, forcing his wrists together, holding fast against the blonde's struggles as Ardyn grabbed a pair of iron cuffs off of the table to his left, snapping them into pace around Prompto's wrists.

"W-What do you want from me...?" Prompto asked, his voice wavering from the pain his fragile body was continually forced to endure.

Ardyn had given him an idea of what he had been planning before, but the question left him once again nonetheless. He stopped struggling, he hurt too much to justify keeping it up to himself, along with the new wound in his shoulder weakening him from the pain and new amount of blood loss.

"What do I want?" Ardyn inquired, raising an eyebrow at the young blonde, frowning as his face became harder, darker even, repeating the answer he had given once before. "I want to see you beaten and broken at my feet. I want to see his majesty's pain and anguish as I drain the life out of the eyes of his companions before him. I want to show him how powerless he is to stop me from obtaining my rightful place in the world. First I took his Crystal, his father, his home, even his dearly beloved Lady Lunafreya."

Picking up another metal device off of the table, Ardyn wrenched it open, the MT to the left of Prompto grabbing his head, forcing it up as Ardyn clamped the stranger-looking device around Prompto's neck. Frowning deeper than before, Ardyn pressed a small button on the device he had carried before. A hot burning pain shot through Prompto's body, burning his flesh as the device around his neck sent powerful shocks throughout him, he could smell his neck burning from the shocks. The intensity of that combined with the iron smell of his blood already beginning to overwhelm him.

Prompto cried out in pain before it finally stopped, panting heavily as he looked back up at Ardyn, who looked down at him with dark unfeeling eyes, completely devoid of remorse.

"I've already stolen you from Noctis. If I were to take you too, is up to him."

The MT's dragged Prompto out of the room and deeper into the fortress, following Ardyn as he led them deeper and deeper, periodically activating the mechanism clamped tightly around his neck, sending painful shocks through Prompto's already breaking body. His screams echoed through the hauntingly empty halls as they dragged him along.

Coming upon a large open corridor, Prompto looked around the large chamber to see what appeared to be thousands of what he assumed where holding chambers. His entire body tensed and his heart rate accelerated as he realized what was going on. The chambers were so small just on the outside, he didn't even want to think about how small they were on the inside, his heart pounding hard and fast in his chest as they dragged him closer to a section of the holding chambers.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'll have to ask you to wait here while I prepare a... special room for you." Ardyn said, stopping in front of one of the chambers, opening it thusly. Revealing the beyond small interior, just large enough for a person about his size to stand, but hardly any space for anything else.

Prompto's breathing hastened and his heart pounded harder than it ever had before in his entire life as the MT's dragged him to the chamber, despite his struggles trying to keep them from putting him inside, but with his arms restrained it was to no avail.

"Don't worry." Ardyn chuckled, smiling calmly at the fearful blonde. "I'm sure you'll be quite at home here. Do be so kind as to behave yourself until I return."

Prompto's heart beat faster and harder as the MT's turned him around and placed him into the chamber. Closing the door before he could even attempt to escape, the blonde's heart sank as he heard the sound of the door locking, trapping him inside the extremely small space. Something that he had always feared, and something that he only truly ever told Noct about, though the information had made its way to Ignis regardless. And after all, he had mentioned his claustrophobia at least once before on their journey back home in Lucis. But he'd never really come face to face with it before now.

Not in such a capacity as this at any rate.

The photographer's heart pounded in his chest and his breathing accelerated to an extreme speed as fear filled tears fell from his widened eyes, banging his hands against the door in a panic, the restraints holding his wrists together making it more difficult for him to maneuver. Crying out and sobbing in fear, Prompto banged on the door for a few more minutes before finally stopping as the pain from his newly stabbed shoulder was too much to bear exerting himself any more.

"Let me out!" Prompto cried out, resting his head on the back wall of the space, continuing to sob from both the fear filling his very soul, and the pain encompassing his body, knowing there was even more to come. "Noct! Help me!"

As if Ardyn had heard his cries, the mechanism around his neck activated, shocking him again as he screamed from the pain, pressing his back against the back wall to try to help support himself, his vision blurring as the shocks continued, without a single moment of reprieve as his screams turned into choking coughs as blood rose trough his throat. Spurting against the door of the chamber as he coughed wildly.

The shocks finally ending as the metallic taste and smell of his blood finally began to overcome him, making the air to him thick and hard to breathe in. Prompto began to feel lightheaded, falling against the side wall, fighting to stay awake. No way was he going to let Ardyn beat him.

Noct was coming, he believed it. Noct and the others were coming to save him, he knew they were.

"P-Please..." Prompto coughed again, expelling even more lingering blood in his throat. "Noct… h-help... please..."