10
"Dammit, Noct. Could really use your help." Gladio muttered under his breath, keeping his gaze fixed on the incoming threat. "'Bout now would be a great time to show up."
Keeping his free arm pressed against Ignis, Gladio feared that he alone wouldn't be enough to best their foes. Especially while trying to shield Ignis. Ignis had been able to handle himself alright since Cartanica, but letting Ignis fight without the other two around to watch his back just didn't sit right with him. In fact, to him it wasn't an option at all. Ignis meant too much to him to let him put himself in harm's way without enough eyes to watch his back.
"What a pity you won't survive to reunite with your friends." Ardyn chuckled as the hoard closed in on the two men backed up against a wall, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. They were completely exposed and right in the middle of harm's way. It was certainly looking bleak. "Oh, how I had hoped to witness a tearful reunion!"
The deranged man chuckled darkly under his breath, the air of fake emotions he had more than overplayed completely gone. He felt no remorse for his actions.
Not a single one of them.
"But alas, not all fairy tales have happy endings."
"You son of a bitch!" Gladio spat out, bashing his sword into an MT as he swung it in front of himself and Ignis. There were no other words he could possibly have had to say. The pure rage he felt inside saw to that to be sure. Anything else he had to say to Ardyn could be said by the end of his blade plunging deep into that monster's chest.
Vengeance for all he had done. Everyone he had hurt.
"Gladio?"
"Don't you worry, Iggy." Gladio grunted, taking a swing at a goblin as it quickly approached the two man pressed against the wall, bashing his broadsword into the gremlin's skull it flew lifeless onto the ground beside them, disappearing into a purple smoke. "Everything's gonna be fine. I can handle this."
"Yes, I know, but not on your own. Not while you're so concerned with only my welfare!" Ignis stated, pushing against Gladio's arm pressed against his chest, attempting to break from his hold. "Please, allow me to help! You can't protect us both on your own!"
His urgency wasn't lost on Gladio, that was certain. But the fact still remained that Ignis could no longer see, and that worried Gladio too much. If something happened to Ignis on his watch and his alone... Gladio doubted he would be able to bear the burden of that guilt. That level of responsibility. Not when he already had Noct and Prompto's safety to feel guilty about.
Wasn't that what he had gone through the trial of Gilgamesh for? To grow strong enough to protect his friends?
"No!" Gladio protested, his voice raised nearly to a shout as he swung his sword almost frantically at the swarm of enemies all around them. "I won't risk you like that! Not now!"
"Couldn't agree more!"
Turning their heads swiftly in the direction of the all too familiar voice, Ignis and Gladio looked upon a slight they had only hoped they would see until now.
Noctis.
Running headlong in their direction, equipped with his father's glaive he leaped into the air, bringing down the blade as it sunk deep into the skull of a Lich that had manifested to bar his path. With a shrill, dying cry the monster disintegrated into a purple mist much like the other deamons that met their demise at the end of one of their blades in the past.
Landing safely on the ground surrounded by the fading mist, Noct looked up from the floor, locking eyes with his shield he hurried to his side. Felling every foe in his way with great precision.
"You guys alright!?" Noct fired out as soon as he reached the side of his companions, overwhelmed with worry given the state of things as he had wandered into them.
He hadn't been too far away. Merely making his way down the corridors while searching them thoroughly for any signs of the elder chocobros, when he caught wind of the sound of Ardyn's voice sounding in the large MT chamber he had been closing in on as he backtracked slowly through the halls. Not wanting to miss even a single clue to their whereabouts with Prompto in such a helpless and sorry state as he was. Hastening his pace he had managed to reach the chamber with a decent account of speed, beholding the horde of enemies at large. No doubt in his mind that Ignis and Gladio were there, and were clearly in great peril.
And the Six had smiled upon him if only this one time.
Here they were, Ignis and Gladio safe and sound. Despite being currently in the middle of an assault, they appeared to be unharmed. It was a great relief to Noctis to be sure. With Prompto great wounded, they didn't have time for anyone else to wind up injured too.
"Just peachy." Gladio muttered under his breath as he felled another MT that dared approach the towering man.
"And you, Noct? Are you alright?" Ignis questioned, more than concerned for his charge's health and safety. Especially when he was unable to see his condition with his own eyes. He would have to trust Noct's word, though he doubted he would be lied to now.
"I'm fine." Noct answered, aiding Gladio in dispatching their foes as swiftly as they could. "And better now that I've found you guys."
"And Prompto? Did you find him?" Gladio inquired, letting his arm holding Ignis back fall, feeling a little more secure with another sword arm in the fray. "Is he okay?"
But despite the urgency in Gladio's voice, Noct kept silent, seemingly avoiding his question. The silence his question met with incurred both a curiosity and a fear in Gladio. There had to be a reason why Noct wasn't answering the question, and wondering what that reason was wasn't leading to very good conclusions in Gladio's mind. In fact, he was beginning to regret asking in the first place.
"Well isn't this a most auspicious turn of events, your majesty!" Ardyn's sadistic baritone sounded overhead, a dark laugh shadowing his words as it typically did. "Reunited with your retainers at last! How very touching."
"Bastard." Noct muttered under his breath, dispatching the final MT before it could do any potential harm. "What more do you want?"
"We've had enough of this, you sick fuck!" Gladio shouted at the disembodied voice of their foe, repeating his insult from before. What more appropriate title could there be for the man? Ardyn was a sick and twisted monster of a man, and everything he had done since this entire mess started and probably even before that was a testament to just how demented he was.
"Gladio, calm down." Ignis advised, though the calm tone in is voice did poorly to conceal the strain of a burning fire of rage within his body and voice.
However, considering they were even in this place to begin with because of what Ardyn had done to Noctis and Prompto on the train to Tenebrae, nobody could blame him. It was a despicable thing to do in and of itself, but considering how long Prompto had been held captive by this point, it only made Ignis think about how much Prompto had to have suffered in his absence. Suffering that Ignis and the others were determined to repay tenfold once they got the chance, once Prompto was safe and out of harm's way.
"Oh yes, Gladio. Do calm yourself." Ardyn spoke in his usual deceptively calm and collected manner. "We wouldn't want you all to start shouting at each other now of all times, wouldn't we? Oh, I do hate seeing such close friends fight!"
"Just what kind of game do you think this is!?" Noct demanded to know, his eyes narrowed an burning with his own fiery fury and all consuming rage having to listen to the voice of the man who destroyed his home, murdered Luna, and kidnapped and tortured Prompto again. It was an inevitable confrontation, but they all would've preferred it be face to face. At least that way they could each take their turn beating the man senseless for all he had put them and the world through in recent weeks.
And knowing Ardyn, many years beforehand as well.
"Life is a game." Ardyn answered, the levity in his voice replaced by a cold and harsh seriousness more becoming of an evil psychopath. "And from the looks of things, the lot of you have been playing it quite poorly as of late. And the hands you've been dealt certainly haven't done much to aid you, have they?"
"Like you've been much help." Noct thought, an audible growl escaping from his lips as he reflected on Ardyn's assertion.
"No thanks to you!" Gladio spat out with a coincidental timing as if he had been reading Noct's mind the entire time, on the same wavelength with his thoughts as Noctis had been just then.
"Indeed." Ignis agreed, nodding to his very muscular companion. "Our present predicament is due to the misdeeds of the chancellor, not us."
Anger seeping through his calm and collected exterior, it was clear that the man was losing what little cool he had left.
"Attempting to drive us apart by manipulating Noct... kidnapping Prompto." The advisor fumed as he continued on. "And let us not forget King Regis and Lady Lunafreya."
Though Ignis's eyes were all but dead, and covered by the sunglasses he now wore over them, a bright and burning fire seemed to spark within them. Igniting with an anger none of them had seen erupt from the normally calm and mild mannered advisor.
"These are despicable and unforgivable acts, and I will not let them go unpunished any longer!" He shouted, unable to contain his feelings any longer. "I swear it now. When next we meet, you will be made to pay for all you have done! There will be no mercy for you!"
"Ignis..." Noct said, a quiet gasp escaping as he listened to the venom flow from Ignis's lips. He'd never seen Ignis so angry before. The shock had left Noctis more or less dumbfounded.
"Bold words for one at such a disadvantage." Ardyn chuckled, completely unphased by Ignis's assertions. "Well then, in that event I'd suggest you hurry along to your dear Prompto. The poor boy has been through enough torment."
The man's tone was even darker than before somehow, and the small laugh trailing his words was not at all helping the growing fear and anxiety in the group.
Least of all Noct.
"Don't you agree, Noct?"
Noct's entire body froze as a wave of fear washed over his body. Not fear of the man the were opposing, he was done being afraid of that maniac. But fear for his injured and helpless best friend he had left completely defenseless in the barrack. If anything had happened while he was away, Noct would never forgive himself. He had half a mind to punch himself in the face right there for leaving him in the first place, but he had to find Ignis and Gladio and get Prompto the best help the group could offer him stuck here without any items or powers.
"Noct?" Gladio asked, rousing Noctis from his thoughts with his confused tone as he raised an eyebrow at the younger man, waiting patiently for an answer as to what in the world was going on around here. "What's he talking about? Where's Prompto?"
"I found him." Noct answered, nodding at the eldest of the four brothers. "He was locked up in a cell, chained up and strapped into some kind of torture device."
The memory of his bubbly and overly positive best friend locked up and beaten like an animal flashed before Noct's eyes, imprinting itself into his heart. It was a memory that would plague him for the rest of his life.
"He's hurt pretty bad, guys..."
"Oh dear..." Ignis sighed, worry rising through the settling anger remaining within him. If Prompto was injured, it was going to be a difficult road going forward from here.
"Where is he now, Noct?" Gladio asked, concerned as well for their precious chocobo. "I'm right in assuming you didn't leave him there, aren't I?"
"Fuck no!" Noct fired out, offended at even the notion of leaving him like that. "I got him the hell out of there as fast as I could. He's resting in a safe room not far from here. I did everything I could for him, but without you guys, there really wasn't much I could do on my own..."
"You left him alone!?" Gladio questioned, his tone reeking of disapproval of Noct's course of action.
"You think I wanted to!?" Noct spat back, his own eyes narrowing at his shield. "Look, I don't need you getting on my case. If I had my way, I'd be sitting in that room with him right now protecting him, like we - I - failed to do on that train! But I don't know a fucking thing about medical crap, so I had to go find you guys! If I didn't, you guys could've taken hours to find us. Or, considering how I found you, you could've been fucking dead! Then what would I have done!? Prompto would probably end up dead too, and I can't let that happen!"
The anger within Noct was real, but the sadness even more so.
"Noct, that's not what I-"
"-Can you two save the bickering for another time?" Ignis interrupted, not wanting to the two shout at each other again. It was hard enough having to listen to it on the train and with Prompto in dire need of aid, there truly was no time to keep standing around like this. "Right now our number one priority must be ensuring Prompto's safety. Noct, can you take us to him?"
"Yeah, sure." Noct nodded, taking a deep breath for a moment to calm himself down from the outburst he had just had. "Follow me."
Turning on his heel Noct proceeded in the direction leading them out of the large chamber. Remembering what he had seen here before, the MT chamber that Prompto had been locked in... blood staining the inside of the door... he was more than happy to be leaving. And glad he hadn't had to explain that. At least, not yet. Once Prompto woke up, Ignis would start asking him what had happened, Gladio too. Then, he might have to divulge what he had seen, and hear about even more the three of them hadn't.
"You said he's not far, right?" Gladio asked, lingering close to Ignis, as Prompto would normally have done had he been present.
"Yeah, just a few corridors down." Noct answered, nodding as he kept his eyes front, keeping his guard up as he led them on their way, though he felt infinitely better now that the three, soon to be four of them reunited.
But still, what Ardyn had said before stuck with Noctis. Taking his confidence that their situation had turned around, and slowly turning it back into fear.
"Bold words for one at such a disadvantage." Ardyn chuckled, completely unphased by Ignis's assertions. "Well then, in that event I'd suggest you hurry along to your dear Prompto. The poor boy has been through enough torment."
The man's tone was even darker than before somehow, and the small laugh trailing his words was not at all helping the growing fear and anxiety in the group.
Least of all Noct.
"Don't you agree, Noct?"
"What does that mean?" Noct thought to himself, increasingly more worried about the blonde by the second. "Hold on, Prom. We're almost there!"
"How severe are Prompto's injuries, Noct?" Ignis inquired, worried by Noct's previous statement regarding the blonde's health. This wasn't a good place to be injured, especially without any potions or curatives to their names. And with Noct without his powers any curatives they could procure wouldn't help nearly as much as they would were Noct able to amplify their potency.
"Pretty bad..." Noct sighed, recounting the memory of the wounds his best friend had sustained while Ardyn had him locked up. "Stab wounds in both his arms and legs. His legs easily got the worst of it. Even if he wasn't unconscious when I found him, I still would've had to carry him out. He won't be walking for a while unless we can get him some potions. Maybe even some elixirs too by now..."
"Okay, yeah. That's not good..." Gladio sighed, shaking his head as his thoughts wandered to their poor baby brother.
"No, it's not." Ignis examined, thinking to himself on what to do as they continued forwards. "...What else, Noct?"
He didn't want to hear any more, but Ignis could feel that there was more to hear. And it was imperative that they all know the extent of the injuries inflicted upon their dear friend if they wanted any chance to be able to properly help him while they were stuck in this place.
"There... there are bruises and burns on his neck." Noct continued, clearly struggling emotionally with having to recall Prompto's injuries as well as talk about them, not enjoying it at all. "I don't even want to think about what Ardyn did to cause that..."
"That sick fuck." Gladio spat out under his breath, enraged listening to what Noct was relaying to them.
"His nose is broken too. Probably from... falling off the train..." Noct visibly winced at the memory of that event. "At least, that's what I thought, I could be wrong though. But he's cut up almost everywhere. When I found him, there was so much blood..."
He continued explaining the situation as they came closer and closer to their destination, the collective group emotions running as high as they could get on the side of concern by that point, and nothing at all about the current situation was helping in the slightest.
"And I doubt that's everything... I didn't, well, I didn't have the nerve to check. But he was burning up before I left, I think his stab wounds are getting infected. "
"I see..." Ignis sighed, deeply saddened by what Noct had said. The mental images being created in all of their minds were haunting. Images that would stay with them for a long, long time. "Continuing with our mission is going to be very difficult with Prompto in such a state..."
"Iggy, now's not the time to be thinking about that." Gladio said quietly, shooting a glance at Noctis.
Gladio didn't normally find himself worrying about people's feelings necessarily, he wasn't that type of guy. But when it came to Prompto, Noct wasn't exactly the most emotionally sound. If Prompto was in any harm Noct was extremely likely to lose his shit, and hearing Ignis sound like he was writing off the blonde in favor of the mission, would not be very helpful.
"I'm merely considering our course of action going forward, Gladio." Ignis explained. "I'd like to estimate how much time we will need to take to allow Prompto to heal before we go charging into another battle if I can."
"That's right." Noct agreed, his eyes narrowing as he thought about the future of their mission. "I won't put Prompto in harm's way until he's better. That's just not an option."
There was no questioning Noct's seriousness concerning his statement, there was no way he didn't mean a hundred percent of what he was saying. Protecting Prompto was Noct's number one priority now. Noct blamed himself for this entire mess as it was, and now with Prompto injured he took an even greater responsibility onto his shoulders. But fortunately for him, Ignis and Gladio weren't about to let him bare that responsibility alone.
They were more than prepared to share the burden and bear it with him.
"Don't worry, we won't let that happen." Gladio reassured, looking around before his eye caught the familiar blue glow of a barrack door just ahead. Pointing to the bulkhead they were slowly approaching, he inquired. "This it?"
"Yeah." Noct nodded, stopping in front of the closed door. "He's resting in here."
Waiting for a moment as the blue lights flickered on the bulkhead, Noct finally began to relax for a moment as the door slowly slid up, allowing them entrance into the safe room. But that moment of calm and relaxation, was quickly stripped away. Looking into the room Noct's heart seized up at what he saw.
Or rather, what he didn't see.
"Noct?" Ignis questioned, sensing the change in the king's aura and the rising tension in the atmosphere around them. "Is something wrong?"
"Prompto's not here." Gladio explained, examining what of the room he could see from his spot in the hall.
Noct on the other hand, after a moment of finding himself frozen in place, rushed not at all gracefully into the room, stopping by the side of a bed that must have been the one Prompto had been left in considering the blood splotches on the otherwise white sheets.
"I beg your pardon?" Ignis gasped, turning back in Noct's general direction, concerned about how Noct would take this new and worrying development.
"I doubt the kid just decided to get up and take a walk. Not with injuries like that." Gladio sighed, realizing what this had to mean. Prompto didn't leave of his own volition, and may not have been aware of that fact at all. Depending on how long he had been unconscious, Prompto could very well think he was still locked up in that cell Noct had found him chained up in for all they knew.
"You're right, Gladio, he didn't. He couldn't have even if he wanted to." Noct answered through gritted teeth, anger seething through his entire being as he too realized what had to have happened here while he was gone. "That bastard!"
Slamming his fists down onto the mattress of the bed, the fire burning inside of Noct's body erupting into a full on blaze. He was already determined to kill the man, but this was taking it to a completely new level.
"Noct, calm down. Now's not the time to start freaking out." Gladio advised, slowly approaching the fuming king. Extending his arm out with a consoling intent as he tried to rest his hand on Noct's shoulder.
"How do you expect me to be calm!?" Noct spat, brushing Gladio's hand away before it even made contact with his shoulder. All semblance of calm completely absent from his being as he shouted at his companion. "He took Prompto again! Because I left him alone like a complete dumbass!"
"Noct, don't do that." Gladio scolded, not wanting to hear more bitching, though he realized he understood how Noct felt. "You said yourself that you left to find us to get him help. You did what you had to do, because you had to. Not because you wanted to. And yeah, now we're in a though spot again, but that's not your fault."
Placing his hands on Noct's shoulders and giving a slight squeeze before he could be shaken off again, Gladio looked Noctis right in the eyes. Denoting how serious he was, and also how tired of Noct's melodrama shit he was getting by now.
"We're gonna get Prompto back, Noct. He's gonna be fine." Gladio asserted, keeping his gaze locked with Noct's. "Now calm your ass down, and knock it off with that 'I' shit, got it? I already told you back on the train, Ignis and I are worried about him too. We care about him just like you, and we blame ourselves for this whole mess just like you. So stop making everything about you, and help us save our goddamn brother!"
"I'm not making it about me." Noct protested, turning his face away from Gladio, eyes downcast to the floor in disdain for their situation. No matter what Ignis and Gladio had to say, he would still place full blame for all of these recent events upon himself.
Himself and Ardyn, anyway.
Noct knew it was really that maniac's fault, but he still couldn't allow himself to escape from the blame either.
"Regardless, this is no time for us to be arguing with each other." Ignis intervened, taking a step forward towards his two companions. "We must locate Prompto immediately. With the injuries Noct described, I doubt he'll be able to last through much more torture, and the chancellor will not be so kind as to accommodate that."
Not wanting to think about that possibility himself, Ignis shook his head, hoping to shake away the thoughts and images slowly creeping their way into his mind.
"Oh yes, I certainly agree, Ignis."
The three friends let out a collective growl under their breath as they listened to that bastard's voice again sounding overhead through the speaker system. It was really starting to get annoying having him inject himself into their conversations all the time by this point.
"You really don't know when to quit, do you!?" Noct snarled, not wanting to hear anything that man had to say. But if he was going to tell them where Prompto was and if he was alright, then maybe he would lend Ardyn his ear one last time.
Maybe.
"I simply see no reason to when no matter what happens, I'll still be the one who wins in the end." Ardyn chuckled in response to Noct's anger. It was too much fun for him to piss off the three friends to stop now. But luckily for the three of them, his plans were finally starting to come to their head. "No matter. I'm afraid I must apologize, I've been terribly rude!"
"You don't say?" Gladio scoffed, not at all amused with Ardyn's all too true statement. Crossing his arms, he found himself not at all wanting to listen to the man. None of them did anymore.
"You see, I forgot to mention earlier, but I've borrowed your little chocobo. How rude of me, too, it completely slipped my mind!" He laughed, amused by his own actions, as he knew full well the three friends were decidedly not. "Of course, I'd be more than happy to return him to you. We'll be waiting, you know where. After all, you just came from there, didn't you? My apologies, but you know how it is."
"You son of a bitch, if you hurt him I swear on my father's grave-"
"Oh come now, your highness, do you really think that little of me?" Ardyn inquired, his tone taking on an air of what almost sounded like he had taken offense to the implication. But it was that typical Ardyn brand of fake emotion that only served to piss Noctis off even more than he already was, which was becoming increasingly harder to manage all things considered.
It was almost impressive how the man could never cease to make them angrier and angrier every time he opened his mouth.
"You seriously have to ask?" Noct grumbled, his left eye slightly twitching as he tried to contain his anger, yet was decidedly failing miserably.
"In any case, I'm sure you three would love to have your dear Prompto back at your side, now wouldn't you?" As Ardyn spoke, an audible frown could be heard in his voice, his own malicious intent being shown through even the smallest expression change. "We'll be waiting."
Ardyn's dark and haunting laughter lingered in the air for a moment before all was silent.
Tension permeating the air surrounding the three friends, their next mission laid out clearly in front of them. Back track and reclaim Prompto, then kick Ardyn's ass for everything he had done to their precious friend.
Simple.
But then again, nothing was ever simple with Ardyn. Even if they could just walk down there and get him, there had to be some ulterior motive to all of this. Ardyn was under no circumstances to be trusted, but with Prompto on the line they had no choice but to make a move and fast.
"I don't like this..." Ignis sighed, trying to come up with some explanation for Ardyn's actions, but anything he could think of at that time was decidedly less than good.
"Neither do I, but we have no choice." Noct said, anger continuing to seethe through his entire body as he too thought on their current situation, and the many possibilities of what Ardyn could have done to Prompto. Everything he had already done was bad enough, anything he could do now would just be more fuel on the man's funeral pyre. "We have to get Prompto back. Whatever it takes."
"Don't worry Noct, we will." Gladio reassured, trying himself to contain his anger, and doing a slightly better job than Noct was to boot.
"Agreed." Ignis nodded, a slight smiling poking through his own hot burning rage of a thousand white suns. "Now that the three of us are back together, I'd say there's almost nothing that can stop us."
"Well once we save Prompto, you can drop that 'almost' part, Specs." Noct remarked, placing a hand on the blind man's shoulder for a quick moment as he passed him by, making is way out of the barrack and into the darkened corridor beyond the bulkhead.
Followed closely by Gladio, who placed his arm behind Ignis's back, leading him out alongside him.
"I'm sorry, Prom." Noct thought, his hands curling back into tight fists as they three made their way back to the large chamber they had just reunited in, anger and guilt overtaking him as they had been almost ever since they had initially lost him on the train to Tenebrae. "I keep getting you into these disasters, but I swear we're gonna get you out of this mess! We'll get you patched up, and you're gonna be okay."
A small growl of determination escaped from Noct's lips as his fists tightened, the flesh of his knuckles beginning to turn white with how tightly his fists had become.
"Ardyn's gonna pay for this. I swear it."