8

"Prompto!" Noctis cried, scrambling desperately in the grasp of the group of decaying MT's that had caught up to him, keeping him stuck on the ground. "I'm here! I'm coming!"

Noct found himself overwhelmed by his fear and concern as his friend's screams and cries sounding overhead began to fade and weaken. He was hurt and hurt bad, there was no doubt about that. And that was what Noctis feared over anything else. There was nothing he was more afraid of now than losing someone else he cared for.

Especially his best friend... the friend he loved and cherished more than any he'd ever had before.

"Dammit!" Noctis thought, trying to compose himself enough to come up with a way to escape the grasp of the MT's surrounding him. "Prompto's running out of time, I have to get to him now!"

Gasping quietly to himself as he remembered the ring on his finger, Noct took a breath, concentrating hard on it's power. If he could concentrate long enough, he could invoke it's power and get these annoying ass MT's off of him. Gathering enough mana, he extended his hand which brandished the ring, closing his fist as his eyes screwed shut. His anger rising even further as the sound of Prompto's pitiful, pained choking cries faded as he must have been losing consciousness by now.

"...N-No... ct..."

"PROMPTO!"

The anger overflowing from Noctis in that moment reverberated through his body, surging through his veins into the ring itself. As he cried out for his closest friend the world around him seemed to vanish and slow down all at once, silence and darkness coming together in a moment of pure carnage as the MT's were violently thrown from the young king's vicinity and smashed to pieces on the floor and walls around them. The sounds of crunching and scratching metal cut through the silence around him, piercing his ears just as Prompto's tormented screams had ripped apart his heart and soul.

His senses regained after the massive blast of magic distorting them for a brief moment in the aftermath, Noct steeled himself to continue on. Nothing else mattered to him now.

Nothing else could matter now.

Not until Prompto was safe and out of harm's way.

Scrambling back to his feet, Noct scampered away from the mass of broken and mangled MT's littering the surrounding chamber betwixt a four way intersection point of a multitude of crossing pathways. Looking around in all directions, there were seemingly an infinite amount of directions he could go. And only one of them would hopefully lead him to Prompto.

"Dammit!" Noctis murmured under his breath, shaking his head in irritation. There were too many obstacles in this place for his liking. Not that he was expecting rescuing Prompto was going to be easy. The exact opposite, actually, which was turning out to be true on all accounts so far.

But as he had said from the beginning, Noct would stop at nothing to rescue Prompto. He wasn't about to let a simple fork in the road stop him from saving his closest friend.

"Just pick a direction and go." He told himself, barreling down the closest corridor, doing his best not to waste any more time than he'd already been forced to. After all, time wasn't exactly something Prompto had too much of. In fact, he was running increasingly short on that...

"I'm coming, Prompto! No matter what, I'll save you!"

Sprinting down the dark, empty corridor, Noctis felt his heart pound and race simultaneously in his chest. The power of the pounding organ was so great it felt like it would burst from his chest. Prompto could be anywhere in this godforsaken place, and wherever he was, there was no room to even pretend to doubt that he wasn't okay.

Prompto was hurt. And not even that, he was hurt bad. That much was clear from the sickening sounds of his best friend's pain and agony being broadcasted over the intercom system by that sick fuck of a chancellor.

Racing down the corridors as quickly as he could, Noctis found himself sprinting into a more than large chamber, the walls lined with what looked like holding chambers, chambers he could only guess what was held in them. A guess he assumed was 100% right considering where they were.

"MT storage chambers." Noct whispered as he slowed to a stop, examining the very large room surrounding him as he took quick but cautious steps forward, keeping his eyes out for anything at all out of the ordinary. Of course, not that anything at all about the place could be considered ordinary in the slightest.

Walking cautiously forward towards the chamber, he came upon a slightly cracked open unit. Holding his breath, Noct approached the opened chamber, slowly reaching out his hand and easing open the door, revealing a harrowing sight.

A thick layer of blood splattered on the inside of the door, all dried on the metal barrier.

"Prompto…"

Poking inside, the rest of the chamber was clean, aside from a small bit of blood on the floor where the door would meet after being shut in its frame. Prompto must have been stuffed inside the chamber not that long ago. It ate Noctis up inside to think about it.

He was fully aware that his best friend was claustrophobic, he must have been completely terrified stuck in a little chamber like this, barely big enough for one person to stand in for who knows how long, and obviously injured to boot. As if the blood wasn't already a dead giveaway to that fact.

"I'll kill that bastard." Noct muttered angrily under his breath thinking about the horrible pain Ardyn had no doubt put Prompto through.

He'd already seen and heard enough, and he hadn't even found Prompto yet.

But he couldn't be too much farther away could he? From the looks of things, he had only been removed from the holding chamber recently, so the blonde boy couldn't have been taken too far.

"Don't you worry, Prom. I'm on my way."

"Dammit, Ardyn you bastard!" Noct thought as he angrily trudged onward, leaving the bloody scene behind him. Thinking about how scared Prompto must have been in locked in that chamber.

He knew full well that Prompto was claustrophobic, they'd even spoken about it a few years ago back in school. It was a terrible fear for Prompto, being stuck in a tiny space. Noct didn't know how Ardyn possibly figured that out, but he was going to pay for it regardless. The man was a truly horrible and sadistic person, it wouldn't surprise Noct in the least if Ardyn had stuck Prompto in there just to prey upon that fear. And knowing that was only making Noctis even angrier than he already was.

"I swear, next time I see you, I'll kill you. I'll fucking kill you!" Noct fumed, honestly unable to stand any of this any longer.

"Oh dear, what an awkward situation."

Stopping in his tracks, Noctis growled quietly under his breath as the chancellor's insufferable baritone sounded overhead once more, a slight chuckling trailing on the end of his sentence. That man's voice was the last thing he needed or wanted to hear right now. Anger boiled in Noct's blood as his thoughts of Prompto broken and bloody by Ardyn's hands resurfaced. The image of his best friend's normally cheerful and smiling face turned pained and bloodstained - not to mention terrified - flashed before his deep blue eyes only serving to anger Noct further.

"It seems I forgot to get that little mess cleaned up. So sorry you had to see that." Ardyn laughed quietly to himself as he continued to mock the young king with his deceptively calm and melodious tones. "Poor Prompto doesn't seem do so well in small spaces, does he?"

"What have you done with him, you bastard!?" Noct demanded, forcing the end of his sentence out through gritted teeth as anger and rage seethed through his entire body. In that moment he wanted nothing more than to inflict every once of pain the man had no doubt inflicted on Prompto back onto Ardyn tenfold, rescue his best friend, and then wring the chancellor's sorry little neck for everything he had put them all through. Hell, he'd be even more satisfied with driving his father's glaive through the man's chest.

Double revenge at that point.

But for now, Noct figured he could settle for just getting his friend back safe and sound.

Pressing onward, Noct refused to allow Ardyn the satisfaction of slowing him down any. After all, the slower he continued on the more time Ardyn had to inflict even more pain on his most loved and cherished friend. Hell, Prompto was more than that. And that wasn't a chance Noct was willing to take, especially since he already had his fears realized, what with Prompto's tormented screams being broadcasted over the loudspeakers for any and all living beings to hear.

Hurrying on his way out of the large chamber, Noct took notice of a clearly locked inner sanctum at the center, with a large red glowing mechanism on top. And that didn't look good at all.

"That looks like a magitek generator on fucking steroids." Noct wondered.

"I'm afraid your dear boy isn't doing so well.." Ardyn spoke, his voice filled to the brim with the fakest concern Noctis had ever heard in his life, pushing forward despite the chancellor's infuriating words. "If I were you, I would hurry it up. You're so close, and yet so far! And I doubt the poor boy can take much more."

Chuckling to himself the menacing sound echoed through the dark, metal halls as Noctis ran ahead, trying his best to block the man out but the fear he felt inside thinking about his best friend being hurt only intensified the man's twisted laughter.

"Damn!" Noct cursed under his breath as he passed by another safe room, taking note of that for the foreseeable future. His heart racing as images of Prompto flashed over his vision.

The blonde's face was always cheerful and happy, so innocent and pure. But the face he saw in his mind was decidedly not. Tears fell from his now dead and defeated looking eyes. It physically pained Noctis to even be imagining his best friend in such a state, but his mind was generating the image on it's own. The panic began quickly setting in as Noct realized the what he was envisioning was most likely not far off from the truth. There was no time to lose, he had to find Prompto, and he had to find him now.

Hurrying onward, Noct all but ignored everything around him, despite how unintelligent of a thing to do that was. But he didn't care. Nothing mattered until Prompto was back with him and the others.

Safe.

"I'm coming, Prom, hang in there!" Noct thought as he careened through the halls, completely recklessly in all honesty. But Noct's mind was spinning and reeling too much with thoughts of Prompto in such a state to really be thinking completely straight. And as a result, his own self control was diminishing as well.

Turning the perhaps millionth corner he'd encountered within the fortress, Noct found himself in an actual proper room, with doors to adjoining rooms and or corridors on either side and the way forward. Taking a moment once again to catch his breath, Noctis looked around, hoping for any sign that could help lead him to his stolen friend. As he looked around the room, he noticed panels and screens displaying security footage for the entire fortress on the wall before him. But despite all of that, which could prove useful for sure, the door to Noct's right caught his eye.

"Locked." He mumbled under his breath, keeping the door in his peripheral as he made his way to the control panel before him, taking a moment to study it before fiddling with the numerous buttons and switches. "Meaning, there's someone inside..?"

"Please be in there!" Noct begged to the universe as he watched the green lights on the door flicker on after he managed to get it unlocked. His entire being tensed with the anticipation building inside of his body as he approached, the door slowly sliding open as he stood before it. "Prompto needs us! He needs me!"

Taking a deep breath, Noctis entered the corridor, the empty hall had a room on the left side between the entrance and the door on the end. Approaching, Noct turned into the small room, not about to miss a possible lead to his best friend

"Ah, I knew you'd go that way." Ardyn's voice sounded overhead, reigniting the flames of fury burning inside of Noctis. "Oh, you're such a tease."

"Shut up!" Noct shouted angrily at the man, turning on his heel before heading in the other direction.

Clearly that was the way to go.

Approaching the door at the end of the hall, Noct could hardly stand to wait for it to open for him, sliding in under the only slightly opened bulkhead. Looking around, he could see cells lining every inch of the walls on either side of him. The imagery was haunting enough on it's own without imagining the place filled with prisoners. But in that moment there was only one captive on Noct's mind.

"Prompto?" He called into the cell block, cupping his hands over his mouth to amplify his sound as he slowly moved forwards, examining each cell as not to miss his best friend. After all, what kind of friend would he be if he passed him by on accident and just left him there, alone and clearly in great pain? That thought alone shook Noctis to his core as he searched. "You in here, man? Where are you?"

Looking back from one of the side sections, Noct caught a glimpse of a normally uplifting sight in his peripherals as he went to look down the other side to his right.

At the end of the dark, dimly lit chamber, he caught a small glimpse of unmistakable golden hair through the bars of the cell farthest back. But knowing the state of the person to whom the beautiful golden locks belonged made Noct's heart stop rather than relax in relief.

"Prompto!" Noct called again, his own ocean blue eyes widening for a moment before taking swift and not at all graceful strides towards the boy, more or less sprinting down the short distance of the corridor that was between him and the photographer's cell. Using his heels as a break, Noctis skidded to a stop before smacking his face on the cell bars, clasping his hands on the cold iron he looked on, frantic emotions tearing away at his heart as he looked upon his injured best friend. "I'm here, Prompto! I'll get you out, hang on!"

Tearing open the bared door, Noct hurried in, realizing that there were two sets of bars separating Prompto from the rest of the corridor.

Did they really need two sets of them? Wasn't locking him behind one bad enough?

Ripping open the second cell door with just as much if not double the force, Noct practically tripped into the cell he was going so fast. Catching himself before stopping in front of the imprisoned blonde, his eyes widened and anger boiled inside of him as he looked upon his friend.

Prompto had been strung up on a makeshift crucifix, his arms extended outwards with metal bonds locked in place around his ankles and wrists, which to Noct appeared to be rubbed raw and had the skin slightly broken from struggling. Iron coils wrapped themselves around Prompto's chest, further fixating him the torture device. Noct could hear the soft hum of the machine through the silence he found himself in. Prompto wasn't responding to him at all, the only sounds Noct heard were the sounds of the machine and his own slightly panicked breath.

His heart beginning to pound in his chest, Noct's mind registered the state of his companion.

There was blood everywhere.

Prompto had deep stab wounds in both of his legs, with a pretty nasty gash in one too, as well as his two shoulders. Which from being stretched out like they were, his shoulders were bleeding more so than they would have on their own. Prompto's head hung low, his chin nearly resting clear on his chest, listing to the side. Noct could see the burns decorating the boy's pale neck, and the cuts on his beautiful face which sent both dried and newer blood flowing down his pale skin. And his nose had clearly been broken.

"Prom!" Noct shouted in fear and worry. Speeding up to the blonde, Noct took his face gently in his hands, turning his head slowly from one side to the other.

Prompto's eyes were peacefully closed but Noct could tell the boy was far from at bliss. Unconscious as he was, even so he must have been able to feel the deep pain he was clearly in.

Extremely worried, Noct pressed his ear against his friend's chest, relaxing and breathing a deep sigh of relief as he heard the beat of his friend's heart in his chest. But the beating was quick and irregular, only worrying Noct even more. Looking back up at Prompto, Noct placed his fingers on the blonde's neck to check his pulse, while he positioned his head so the his ear was right next to Prompto's mouth, listening intently to his breathing. Prompto's breath was low and weak, and it hitched slightly in his throat. In conjunction, his pulse was slow despite the quick and irregular beating of his heart.

Not exactly a good sign.

"Fuck!" Noct hissed under his breath, taking a step back from the injured boy he looked around frantically for a way to release the blonde from the device. "This is bad, this is really bad..."

Frantically pulling at his friend's bonds, Noct prayed to every god he could think of to help him get the boy loose. The hum of the machine was enough to drive them both crazy and Prompto wasn't even conscious to hear it. Frustrated with his lack of progress, he stopped pulling at the restraints, looking around again his eyes widened, thanking the six collectively at once for what he hoped was a power switch on the left side of the machine.

Flipping the switch in all haste, the soft and steady hum died down into silence as the metal tendrils binding the precious blonde released. Holding his arms out, Noct caught Prompto as he fell, holding him gently Prompto moaned quietly and uncomfortably in Noctis's arms.

Sinking down to his knees, Noct shifted Prompto, positioning the blonde and laying him on his back in his arms.

"Prompto..." Noct whispered, his tone one of melancholy and disdain for himself for getting his best friend in such a mess. Weak and covered in blood and wounds, Prompto had never looked so small and vulnerable before... it was almost scary.

Running his fingers gently through Prompto's dirtied hair, Noct felt the blood and sweat that had made their way into the normally vibrant and flawless golden locks. But now Prompto's hair was dirty and stringy, and the little swoop that made his head look like a chocobo's ass had flattened out, and his bangs clung to his face without Noct's fingers running gently through them.

"I've gotta get you out of here."

Looking around thusly to make sure there was no danger lurking in the shadows, Noct laid Prompto fully down onto the floor. Taking a moment to think about what would be the best course of action before gently lifting the blonde again and shifting him so that Prompto was resting limply on Noct's back, his stabbed and wounded arms hanging over the king's shoulders while Noct hooked his arms under Prompto's legs. Doing his best to keep the blonde secured in his grasp.

"Don't you worry, Prom. You're gonna be okay, I promise." Noct whispered, taking slow and careful strides out of the godforsaken cell.

Noct leaned his head slightly to the left, resting it gently against Prompto's which was resting on his shoulder. The blonde's weak breathing was quiet in Noct's ear, but in the silence surrounding them as the king carried his friend away to the nearest safe room made it seem ten times louder than it really was. Prompto's heart pounded in his chest, Noct could feel the powerful and swift pulses on his back while he did his best to support the wounded blonde lying limply against his own slim frame. Unfortunately, Prompto's weak and limp state made him that much heavier to the chosen king, but fortunately their destination wasn't too far away.

Rounding another corner, Noct prayed to each individual astral that the way forward would be clear. It already wasn't safe to fight here on his own and with no powers other than the ring and his father's glaive, but with Prompto unable to defend himself in such a state, an encounter could prove to be downright deadly. But as if the astrals for once in his life had favored the young man, the way remained clear. The only sounds coming from the clang of Noct's footsteps on the metal ground, and Prompto's own slow and haggard breath in his ear as they slowly trudged along the way. Guilt and concern eating away at Noctis as he was forced to listen to his extremely disheveled best friend as he moaned in discomfort being shifted in Noct's arms while they moved forward.

"I'm sorry, Prompto..." Noct thought as he approached the safe room, the soft blue light on the door blinking slightly before the bulkhead slid upwards allowing them passage into the barracks. "This is all my fault..."

Walking slowly towards the center bed, Noct turned his back to it, descending slightly so that Prompto's unconscious body made contact with the soft blankets over top the mattress. Unloading the boy from his back, Noctis gently laid Prompto down on the bed, slowly swinging his legs up onto the mattress his heart seized up again as a quiet discomforted moan escaped from the wounded blonde's lips, his peaceful face contorting in pain even in his sleep.

It was killing Noctis to see his best friend in such a state, broken and bloody, cuts and bruises decorating his now unhealthily pale skin.

Taking a seat on the right side of the bed, Noct gently took Prompto's mangled wrist in his hands, turning it over so his palm was facing upwards. Sighing quietly to himself, he laced his fingers in between Prompto's limp and almost lifeless feeling fingers, tightening his hold to a firm and gentle grip as he held his best friend's hand.

"I'm sorry, Prompto." Noct whispered quietly, keeping his gaze locked on their intertwined hands, unable to bring himself to look at the boy's bloody face again. "If I hadn't done what I did... If I hadn't pushed you off that goddamn train..."

He sighed frustratedly, tightening his grip on Prompto's hand.

"I'll kill him. I'll kill that son of a bitch for what he did to you, Prompto, I swear it!"

The king's anger boiled inside of him, but his declaration was met only with silence, and the uncomfortable breathing expelled from the blonde beside him. He couldn't keep going like that, he needed help and he needed it now. But without Ignis, Noct found himself at a loss about what to do. Sure, he knew some basic first aid but he hadn't the faintest clue how to properly care for wounds of this severity and scale.

Looking over him quickly, Noctis found multiple stab wounds on his body, at least one in every limb, which was bad enough by itself. He also had a few nasty cuts on his face, and a broken nose to boot. Burn marks and other bruises encircled his neck, making Noct gag slightly at the realization of where those had to have come from, cursing Ardyn again under his breath as he further assessed his friend's health. Prompto's wrists had been mangled, no doubt from trying to escape from that contraption he was locked into and his ankles probably weren't in much better shape, but he was unable to tell with Prompto's boots still on. And no doubt under his clothes were hidden even more wounds currently invisible to Noct's eyes, the thought of which angering the king more.

Ardyn was going to pay, he swore to it a million and a half times in just that moment alone. And not even that, he'd kill the man if he could. But the first thing he needed to do was patch up his friend. If not, Prompto would only end up in even worse shape.

"I need to get you some help..." Noct said. Placing the back on his hand against Prompto's forehead, the concern levels in his soul shot to a hundred as his hand made contact with Prompto's burning skin.

Infection, it had to be.

Swiftly glancing around the room Noct located a first aid kit lying on a table in the corner of the room. Scrambling over to it he didn't even bother to look inside at its contents before returning to his friend's side. Tearing the thing open, he scrounged through the insides to see what all it had.

"Not that it does him any good, I don't know what the fuck to do!"

It was official. He was starting to panic.

"Gotta find Ignis and Gladio." He thought aloud, putting the kit down beside Prompto, biting down on his right thumb nail as he realized what venturing out on the search would mean. "But I can't leave Prompto here alone, it's not safe."

"Not that I really have much choice..."

Leaving Prompto was the last thing Noct wanted to do. But he really didn't see another choice being handed to him on a silver platter.

Biting down harder on his thumbnail pressed between his teeth, Noctis ran through the scenario in his mind. Searching for Ignis and Gladio was the smartest thing he could do right now, he knew that. But Prompto was badly hurt, and starting to get sick. He couldn't leave him alone in this place, not like this. And with Ardyn out there, there was no telling what could happen while the blonde would be helpless and alone. But if Prompto was to get the proper aid he needed, or at least the best that the three of them could offer him, then Noct had to go. He knew that, but it didn't make the decision any easier for him to make. And definitely didn't help to ease his conscience in any way.

"I'm sorry, Prom." Noct sighed, turning his gaze back down to the unconscious young man beside him. Running his fingers gently through the dirtied and bloodied golden locks again as he prepared himself to leave his side. "But I gotta go find Iggy and Gladio... they'll know what to do. We'll fix you up good as new, I promise."

Sighing again quietly under his breath, Noct lowered his head slightly as a feeling of intense loathing washed over him. Noct hated himself for doing this, but it had to be done. If he didn't go out to look for them it could take Ignis and Gladio forever to find them in this place, and besides, they had all been separated for far too long.

Glancing back over to the first aid kit, Noct reached inside and grabbed out a few bandages and a small bottle of water that was inside.

"Might as well do what I can first." He thought, grabbing out a small cleaning cloth before wetting it slightly as he began to wipe the blood off of the blonde's slowly paling face, the nasty cut on his forehead looked to be the cause of the caking layer of sticky red liquid covering the right side of Prompto's face. Gently dabbing the wet cloth over the gash, Noct made sure it was as clean as he could get it to be before securely wrapping a bandage over the wound, keeping it from leaking more blood onto his friend's innocent, pretty face.

"That'll have to do for now. Not much I can do for him without Iggy's help..."

Noct sighed quietly to himself before standing up from the bed. Walking over to the door, he looked back at the blonde unconscious on the bed behind him. It tore him up inside to leave him like this, but it really was for his own good. At least now he was resting in a safe room and not locked up in a cell strapped into a torture device.

"I'll be back soon, man. Hang in there..." Turning away from the blonde, Noct took another step forwards towards the opened door to the barrack, taking a deep breath before offering the Six a silent prayer in his hour of desperation to protect his injured friend from further harm.

Turning his gaze to the ring he wore for a moment, Noct closed his eyes as he walked forward out of the room, determined to return with the remaining two members of the royal retinue.

"Luna." He thought, his eyes remained closed as he walked forward with all the purpose and determination in all of Eos.

Nothing was going to stop him now. Not from finding his friends, nor from protecting Prompto from further harm.

"Watch over Prompto. Please..."