14
"Slowly now, Gladio. And be gentle with him." Ignis instructed, worried that moving Prompto even the slightest from the bed would only cause him more pain and discomfort, having had no proper curatives to help ease the pain from his many, many wounds.
"I got it, Iggy." Gladio nodded, approaching Prompto and giving the blonde a slightly concerned look in his eyes. "Think you can handle it, Prompto?" He asked, gently placing his large, rough hand on their injured brother's shoulder. "Moving you is probably gonna hurt."
"It's fine. Last time I checked everything still hurt anyway." Prompto shook his head, bracing himself for what was to come. Chuckling a little bit to himself, Prompto tried to lighten the mood a little. Something he was usually quite adept at doing, but in that particular moment, the sentiment fell flat for even him. "And Noct's right, we have to do this. No matter what."
"Got a point there." Gladio chuckled, shaking his head a little at the thought that of all people it was Prompto setting him straight on something for once. In any other scenario, Gladio never would've thought that would be the case.
Offering the injured blonde a gentle smile for a moment, Gladio tried to think of the best way to carry him without making him too uncomfortable or hurting him, since without any proper healing, his wounds were still fairly nasty. Ardyn had done a number on the boy's legs, so they all knew he wouldn't be able to walk on his own, at least not very well. So Gladdy had offered to carry him while they looked for a way to restore Noct's powers and connection to the armiger. Though, it seemed Noct had a pretty good idea of where they should go, considering his apparent confidence on the matter. And of course, he'd insisted that they bring Prompto along with them this time, not wanting the four of them to be split up again for fear of another attack or accident while they were apart.
That was something they could all agree on.
"C'mon guys, let's get moving." Noct said, watching carefully as Gladio gently slid his ginormous, muscular arms under Prompto's broken form, picking the blonde up as gently as he possibly could to avoid causing him any unnecessary discomfort of possible.
Feeling a twinge in his heart hearing Prompto let out a quiet, pained grunt as Gladio secured him in his grasp, Noct felt his fist unconsciously clench, his anger towards Ardyn only sparking brighter. If it was the last thing he ever did, he was going to heal his friend and get revenge on the bastard who had harmed him. That was a plan he intended to follow through on, and it was only going to become more attainable a feat when he restored his power.
"You good?" Gladio asked, glancing down to Prompto in his arms, sincerely hoping they weren't making a mistake by moving him. Although given their situation, it was ultimately the safest option too annoyingly enough thanks to Ardyn.
"Good enough, I guess." Prompto nodded back, though he had to admit as much as he didn't necessarily feel better, he definitely felt safer pressed up against Gladio's strong form. "Thanks, big guy."
"No problem."
Leading the party through the eerie metal corridors, Noct kept wary and alert eyes on every possible aspect of their surroundings. Their destination wasn't far, that huge magitek generator in the MT holding room had to be the cause of this whole 'frozen weapons and no magic' problem, so it wasn't the distance he worried about so much as it was what could be lurking in the shadows on the way. As much as Noct wanted to think that Ardyn would leave them be for a while after their last skirmish with him, he knew he couldn't indulge the thought as not to let his guard down. Better to be hyper vigilant and be perfectly safe than to be lax and land in danger.
At the very least, Noct had a plan, but little good it would do them if they got killed before he could enact it.
If they could unseal his powers, he could call Umbra to take him back to the past. It wouldn't fix Prompto, but it would give Noct the opportunity to grab some items and hurry back so that they could fix Prompto.
That was the plan, at any rate.
"So, Noct. Wanna actually fill us in on this plan of yours or what?" Gladio questioned once he realized just where it was they were going. Glancing back down to Prompto in his arms to make sure he was okay, he kept his eyes trained on Noct with authority in his gaze.
"We're unsealing my powers." Noct answered with his gaze fixed on the path ahead.
"Yeah, we got that." Gladio frowned. "But how?"
"This has something to do with the magitek generator on this level, correct?" Ignis spoke up, searching the ground before him with his cane as they walked, also curious about the specifics of Noct's apparent plan. He'd been adamant about the restoration of his royal magic, but they hadn't discussed anything specific beyond Prompto's required presence for safety reasons. "I'd imagine it's possible it could be what's blocking your abilities."
"Exactly." Noct nodded, glancing back to Ignis for just a second. "We take that thing out, we unseal my powers. I think."
"So we're working off a hunch here?" Gladio raised an eyebrow at Noctis, carefully adjusting Prompto in his arms for a second.
"Hey, if it works, right...?" Prompto asked in turn, drawing Gladio's gaze to him instead. "I mean, what do we have to lose at this point?"
"The Crystal, the sun, life as we know it." Noct thought, eyes narrowed but laser focused on the path ahead. Clenching his fists, he frowned, cursing the chancellor all over again. "...you."
"A great deal, Prompto." Ignis spoke on Noct's behalf, glancing with dead eyes to the young king walking by his side. He didn't need to be able to see to get the full scale of Noct's anger and discomfort with the blonde's innocent question. Sighing, Ignis shook his head. "We stand to lose a great deal."
Prompto opened his mouth to speak, but immediately shut it again, pressing his lips into a line while his eyes turned downcast. There was nothing he could say to that even if he could actually think of any words. Ignis was right, after all. He always was.
Continuing on down the corridors in silence after that, Prompto found his heart beating faster in his chest the closer they got to their destination. It drove him crazy, thinking about going back to that place. But it was so stupid, he was right there in Gladio's arms. He was with his friends now, and they would protect him from anything no matter what. He knew that. But he was still scared.
They were going back to the hall with the MT holding chambers. Ardyn had shoved him into one, locked him in there for gods knew how long. A few hours maybe? Well it felt like an eternity. An eternity squished and cramped into a chamber he could do little more than stand in. The air growing thick with the suffocating iron scent of his blood while the walls closed in even tighter around him. Prompto's heart accelerated in his chest just thinking about it. The pain, the desperation, the fear. He couldn't do it again, he just couldn't.
He couldn't go back there.
"-pto?"
Ardyn was going to kill him.
"Hey-...-ou-...-okay..?"
He was going to die.
"-oct! Get-...-here!"
He was going to die.
"Prompto!"
Gasping for breath he hadn't even realized he'd been inhaling too fast to actually absorb, blue eyes stared back at him where he trembled in Gladio's arms, gripping the man's jacket with enough force to turn his knuckles white in the process. Feeling Gladio's strong arms around him, and a gentle pair of hands hovering timidly over his arm, he registered Noct's presence there. His face was calm, but Noct's eyes searched his face with urgency, softening once the four blue eyes met and locked into place. A steady, tangible gaze.
"N-Noct..." Prompto whimpered through shaky breaths, slowly easing up his death grip on Gladio's jacket.
"Prom, hey. Hey, it's okay, I'm here." Noct gently yet vehemently assured him, inching his hands to touch Prompto's arm, but immediately he pulled back again. "You're okay, Prom, we've got you. I'm here, I'm right here with you, okay?"
"What happened, kiddo?" Gladio asked, glancing over to Ignis cautiously approaching them before looking down at the trembling blonde secured in his arms. Just a minute ago everything was fine, and then suddenly Prompto just started shaking like a leaf, breathing way too fast for the shield's liking, and clinging to him like he was about to drop dead if he ever dared to let go. The abruptness of it all by itself was enough to startle him, but when Prompto didn't respond to his attempts to rouse him from his panicked state, Gladio couldn't help but feel a little afraid himself. "You okay?"
"Noct? Gladio?" Ignis inquired as he approached, sensing the drastic change in the air around the group and the commotion he had heard just moments ago. Feeling around with his cane for his friends, he stopped just shy of the trio. "What's going on? Is Prompto alright?"
"I-I'm fine..."
Staring quizzically at their youngest friend, the guys weren't sure if they should believe him or not. He had a penchant for playing off his problems so they wouldn't feel like they had to worry about him, but he'd been doing better about actually telling them the truth about such things. And in this place, he defiantly knew better than to pretend he didn't need their help. But this was different.
"Are you sure?" Noct asked, his lips pressing into a line, his jaw clenched at the thought that bringing Prompto along as a means to protect him was only causing him more hurt. "...I know what happened to you in there, Prom. I know what he did."
Tensing in Gladio's arms, Prompto shied away from Noct's gaze, shrinking into Gladio's arms like a child. Noct really could read him like a book. He always could.
Timidly hovering his hands over Prompto's arm, Noct reached for the blonde's hand. Folding his hand atop Prompto's, lacing their fingers together in a firm, secure hold, Noct kept his eyes trained on him. Not even caring that Ignis and Gladio were there, looking between themselves and him and Prompto in an inquiring confusion. He hadn't exactly told them about the MT chamber. Prompto's claustrophobia wasn't something the blonde had ever talked about with anyone other than him. Even if he did, Noct had only had an idea of what happened himself.
But regardless, he'd ensure nothing like that ever happened to him again.
"Hey, look at me." He said. Prompto hesitated, glancing at Noct's determined eyes studying him before gingerly turning his head to him. Raising his free hand, Noct placed his warm palm against Prompto's freckled cheek. "That's not gonna happen again, hear me? We won't let that happen. You're safe, Prompto. I'm here. I'll protect you, okay? I promise."
Four blue eyes staring into each other, Prompto found himself taken aback by Noct. His eyes were always stern, firm, but his gaze soft and kind. That was normal. He put out this harder shelled aura but Noct really was so soft and kind and loving on the inside. He cared. Prompto had never made any mistakes about that. At least, not without Ardyn's manipulation plaguing his every thought. But the look in Noct's eyes now, the warmth and sincerity in his voice, the determination in his eyes... the gentle touch of his hands against his skin...
Slowly nodding, Prompto took a slow, deep breath.
"Okay." He breathed out, relaxing into both Noct and Gladio's protective hands. Feeling Ignis's safe presence around them as well from where he stood just behind Noct. His friends were here. He was safe with them. "I trust you."
"Glad to hear it." Noct nodded, his hand lingering on Prompto's cheek for a moment before he released him from his hold. He meant what he said. As long as he was around, Noct would never let anything happen to Prompto ever again. Ardyn would never get his hands on him again, ever. Squeezing the blonde's hand in reassurance, he reluctantly let go.
"We look out for one another, always. No matter what." Ignis said, sensing Prompto's lingering desire for comfort. Noct's words had more power than anyone else's, but it could never hurt to receive words of love and care from all of them. "You're safe with us, Prompto. We'll do what we must to ensure that."
"Yeah, and you know me, blondie." Gladio chuckled, looking down at their friend in his arms. A determined fire in his eyes. "Anyone tries to hurt you or take you from us again, I'll tear them to pieces with my bear hands before they can even lift a finger. Hear me, Prompto?"
Glancing between his friends, staring directly into their eyes, or the shadows of what remained of Iggy's, he wasn't surprised by what they'd said. That was the last thing he was, but he couldn't help but feel a little taken aback at the same time. He knew they cared, the last could hours or, well... however long it was since he'd first woken up in that safe room and probably even before that had been more proof than he could ever need. But to not even tell them what was wrong, how scared he was to do something so simple as entering a room again. The way they dropped everything to make sure he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that they would keep him safe...
That Noct would protect him...
Prompto wasn't sure he'd ever felt so loved before.
"Sure, big guy." Prompto smiled, his face lighting up. "I hear you."
"Good." Gladio smirked, looking back to Noctis and Ignis before gesturing with his head to the corridor they were traversing. "We should keep moving. Can't help Prompto and kick that bastard's sorry ass without the armiger."
"Indeed." Ignis nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of time."
Nodding along as well, Noct spared Prompto one more glance, the corners of his mouth turning toward a smile when Prompto nodded to him. He didn't want to go back there, but Noct would protect him, he promised. And Ignis and Gladio would be there too, he would be safe. And this was the only way to restore Noct's connection to the armiger.
Taking a deep breath, Prompto braced himself to continue on.
The brothers carried on quietly once again. The closer the got to the main chamber, the quieter and tenser they grew. They were only a few corner turns away from the magitek generator, or rather, the Wallbreaker so it was a fairly short traversal once they got moving again. But the caution with witch they moved made it feel like the road was at least ten times longer.
Rounding the final bend, Noct felt a shiver down his spine at the sight of the generator looming above them in the distance. The humming was the same as the magitek generators in the mobile imperial fortresses, but it was stronger. More oppressive. He didn't remember it being so prevalent when he came through the first time, or when he'd rescued Ignis and Gladio from the daemons. But then again, Noct had had more than a few distractions in both of those instances.
As soon as they entered the chamber, Gladio pulled Prompto in closer, his eyes searching every single inch of the room around them for any possible threat. Holding the injured blonde close, Gladio hated how warm he still was. Much better than he had been, but the kid was still not exactly in the best shape. And that whole situation earlier... it didn't sit right with the shield, seeing Prompto like that. So vulnerable and scared. It was all Ardyn's stupid fault, the bastard!
But apparently, he made the right call getting Noct involved. Noct knew exactly what to do. What to say. It stuck with Gladio, and even without his eyes to look into, Gladio could see the same in Ignis. There was something about it all, what Noct had said to Prompto.
"...I know what happened to you in there, Prom. I know what he did."
He and Ignis could both sense the change in the air immediately after that. Neither of them knew what incident Noct was referring to, it could've been any number of things. But whatever it was, apparently it seemed it was something not even Noct had divulged to them. And it had something to do with this room.
Stickling close together, the group approached the center platform, not exactly surprised to find that any evidence of their previous appearances in that place had been wiped clean. Everything accept for traces of Prompto's blood now dried and rusted on the floor. Ignis didn't even need to see to know that it was there. His dead gaze drifted to it with an anger anyone rarely saw in the man. One Noct and Gladio reciprocated.
Gladio would've covered Prompto's eyes, shielded his face, anything, but the blonde stared straight at the blood on the floor. His blood, with a stern, steady gaze. He took even breaths, nervous, but not afraid.
"You're tougher than me, kid." Gladio thought, sighing softly under his breath as they walked passed on their way around to the font of the circular room in the center of the platform.
Walking up to the wall, Noct placed his hand on the surface of the metal and stone. It was cold and smooth, and he could feel the vibrations of the Wallbreaker on his hand. If they shut that thing down, he could get his powers back. He could feel the armiger calling to him. He was so close. So close and yet, the heavy door stood in his way. Examining the area, he found a control panel just to the side of the door.
"This is it." Noct said, moving quickly over to said control panel, examining it for a moment before he started fiddling with the buttons. "But the door's locked."
"The generator is within. Can you get it open, Noct?" Ignis asked, also hoping they could shut the machine down sooner rather than later. The strange aura it exuded and the vibrations all throughout the room unsettled him. They made it more difficult for him to think and visualize his surroundings in his mind. Everything was just fuzzy and distorted in his head. Thinking about it, Ignis was starting to wonder if this magitek generator had been at the very least part of why he had been acting differently back when it was just him and Gladio. Although, he also had a feeling that the chancellor was the real cause of that problem too.
"Not if I can't figure out the damn code to this thing." Noct huffed, pressing button after button, but the little screen flashed red every single time, accompanied by the annoying, screeching sound of the access denied alarm. "Shit!"
Pressing his lips into a thin line as he watched Noct fiddle with and fail to crack the code for the control panel, he squirmed nervously in Gladio's arms. He knew how to open it, he'd done it a few times with similar panels in the First Magitek Production Facility both intentionally and by accident. There was no one code to open this door. There were hundreds. Thousands, millions, even. The key was in the barcode.
He was the key.
They already knew he was an MT. They already told him that it didn't matter, that they still loved him, and they still wanted him. But they hadn't seen it in practice yet. It was that anxiety that bloomed inside of him. Inching his left hand to his wrist where the barcode was tattooed onto him, gently rubbing his wrist in his hand in a nervous gesture, he glanced between his friends before taking a deep breath.
"I can open it."
Turning their eyes to him, the other three brothers looked at Prompto, only for their gazes to be drawn to him nervously cradling his right wrist.
Nodding, Noct stepped aside. Gladio secured Prompto in his arms, reassuring him that it was alright before approaching the control panel. Grabbing Prompto's hand, Noct squeezed it firmly, offering his friend a reassuring nod of his own. Nodding back, Prompto looked over to Ignis, then up to Gladio. It was okay, they didn't hate him for being an MT. Opening a door wouldn't be the thing to change that.
He nodded, and Gladio moved forward again, stopping close enough for Prompto to reach the control panel.
"Go on, Prompto." Ignis nodded with approval, his voice gentle like a parent to their child, nudging him along.
Taking another breath, Prompto gingerly raised his right arm, ignoring the ache from his wounds, presenting his barcode to the scanner on the control panel. After only a second, the panel beeped and the screen flashed green. The metal and stone rumbling, the large metal door parted away, clearing the way for the brothers to pass through.
"So, me being an MT comes in handy after all, huh...?" Prompto joked, though the half-hearted laugh made it difficult for anyone to feel the mood lighten if that was even his intention. That always was what he knew how to do better than anybody else.
"No more handy than you simply being yourself, Prompto." Ignis asserted, feeling with his cane as they wasted no time entering the circular room, taking great care with the three short steps down onto the main floor of the room.
The room itself was sizable, three steps down onto the main floor, a red carpet running down the center of the room up another set of stairs to a platform at the back of the room, with a throne in the center. As they suspected, the magitek generator hung high above their heads, humming and glowing red just like all the others. Only this one was much larger. And on either side of the chamber, the walls were lined with machinery, panels upon panels of buttons and switches and controls. One of those panels had to be the controls for the generator. One, or all of them.
Either way, they'd shut it down and restore the armiger.
"So, what do you think, Noct?" Gladio asked, turning in a circle where he stood with Prompto, investigating every square inch of the space. "Gotta shut that thing down, right? Want to just start smashing shit?"
"Gladio, please." Ignis sighed, shaking his head. "Surely there's a less dramatic way to handle this."
"No, Specs, I think Gladio's right on the money." Noct said, looking around at the room also. They had to take this thing down to restore his powers, and even if they knew how to work this imperial machinery, they couldn't let it keep functioning and powering shit around here anyway. So Gladio was exactly right.
Smashing things it is.
Summoning his father's sword, Noct approached the panels to the left of the entrance, driving the blade into the machinery with the twisting of metal and the flashing and sparking of the electrical wires and panels without even a moment of hesitation. Driving the blade as far as he could into the twisting, crackling electric metal, Noct could almost feel something in his soul reigniting as the hum of the Wallbreaker died away. Throwing his foot against the machine to give him more leverage to pull the blade from the device, Noct nearly fell backwards once his father's glaive was freed from the metal.
"Shit!" Noct hissed quietly as he caught himself, successfully maintaining his balance.
"Heh. Not bad, Noct." Gladio chuckled, looking up to see the bright red of the magitek generator fade to maroon, to a rusting brown, and finally to black. Only the eerie silence left in the wake of the generator's own foreboding humming was an entirely different kind of unsettling.
"So... did it work?" Prompto wondered aloud, looking between his friends.
"Theoretically, with the generator down, Noct's powers should have been unblocked." Ignis surmised, turning in the general direction of where Noctis seemed to be. "Go on and give it a go, Noct."
"Yeah, sure. Moment of truth, guys." Noct nodded. He could feel it, something was different now. He didn't feel like he was being oppressed from the inside out anymore. Holding his right hand out, he took a moment to center himself and focus. merely flexing his fingers, his engine blade appeared in his hand in the flash of armiger magic, then fading back into the ether at his request. Relief washing over him, Noct smirked triumphantly. "Oh, fuck yeah!"
"We're back in business, baby!" Gladio declared, his eyes bright with excitement, but the secure hold he kept on Prompto told them that he was still wary. And for good reason. They had Noct's powers back, but they were still in the heart of enemy territory with no backup, no provisions, and a still injured Prompto. They were in much better shape now, but they couldn't relax yet.
"Come, we'd best not linger too long." Ignis said, surveying the scene with the dead eyes behind his darkened lenses. The generator had been extinguished, but the air was still the same. Different, but somehow still the same. The air remained still, and oppressive. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled like a chill had ran down his spine, only there was a staggering lack of any chills.
Something still wasn't right.
Nodding, Noct turned to make a swift exit. All of the pieces of his plan were coming together, but he couldn't act on it yet. Not here. If he was going to send himself back to the past, they needed to get back to the safe room again.
"Good idea, Specs." He said, stepping forward with purpose. "Let's make tracks."
The trip was short-lived.
Sticking close together, nearly immediately once the brothers made up the three steps back onto the main level of the platform and crossed over the threshold of the room to the outside, mist flooded the ground. Dark purple and sickly, an all too familiar danger to the brothers.
"Son of a bitch!" Gladio spat through his teeth, pulling Prompto even closer, the blonde nervously stiffening in his arms as the swarm of imps and litches rose from the mist around them. "This is really not a good time for this shit!"
"Noct! Gladio!" Ignis commanded, pulling one of his daggers from the armiger, backing up to be closer in proximity to their injured friend. "We must defend Prompto!"
Drawing his trusty engine blade from the armiger as well, Noct gripped the blade in his hand. Narrowing his eyes at the creatures, he threw his arm out in front of Gladio and Prompto.
"Don't have to tell me twice."
Without another word, Noct charged into the fray, slashing at a group of imps slinking their way closer to them. Nothing was going to lay so much as a finger on Prompto, not if he could help it. As much as they could all tell he was trying to make them worry about him less as he was prone to doing, Prompto was still in pain. And with the wounds in his legs, the last thing he should be doing was standing, they had to keep an even closer eye on him than usual in a fight like this.
"Gladio, put me down." Prompto asserted nonetheless, squirming against the shield's secure, protective embrace. Grimacing at the pain spreading from his multiple remaining wounds. "I-I can help!"
"You're still hurt, dumbass!" Gladio countered, backing up against the circular wall, narrowed eyes watching both Ignis and the daemons, calculating some way he could join the battle and keep Prompto. But much to his annoyance, apart from slinging the blonde over his shoulder, his options were limited. "And I'm not letting you out of my sight, it's too dangerous!"
"But Gladio-"
"-I said no!" Shifting Prompto to a one-arm hold as a Litch flew at them, Gladio summoned his greatsword, swinging and striking the daemon square in the center of its body with a deadly precision even with just his one arm.
Sighing heavily, Prompto appreciated his friends' insistence that they protect him. He loved that, even. It made him feel so safe and loved and happy, but he didn't want it to come at the cost of him being useless to them. He wanted their protection, but not if they were going to risk themselves on his account while he sat back and did nothing. There in Gladio's arms, he still ached like he'd been hit by the Regalia the night before, and this place put him on edge, but he wasn't useless.
Especially now that the armiger had been unsealed.
Summoning his gun back into his hands, he felt the weight of the weapon in his grip. He hadn't held it since he'd arrived in Gralea. Before that, even. Ardyn had stolen that from him. Left him defenseless against him and his MT's. If only he'd been able to wield his firearm, Prompto wondered how much he could have avoided. If he would've been able to fight back more. He always was a better shot than he was at hand to hand combat.
Shaking the thoughts away, Prompto's expression hardened. Pointing the gun at an imp attempting to blindside Ignis, he fired. The shot rang out through the chamber, echoing against the metal walls with a familiarity that made the blonde feel even safer, the bullet hitting its target with as much precision as he could muster with trembling, aching arms and hands. But the precision was more than enough to take the imp out with a single shot.
Grinning at the gunner, Gladio shook his head. The kid was simply unbelievable.
"Good to have you back, blondie." He chuckled, though he still refused to release his hold on the guy. But charging further into the battle, he dispatched any daemon that dared get close with his absurdly large sword.
Battling the daemons, the brothers all felt how they fell back into their usual rhythm and rhyme so effortlessly. If they didn't know better, it was almost like nothing had changed since Altissia. The blue of Noct's warp-striking as he zipped around the field felling any daemon that dared get into his path, Ignis's analytical approach, his precision and grace even without his eyes to see his foes. Gladio's towering presence crushing anything that dared try to hurt anyone and with Prompto's shaky but still accurate as hell sharpshooting backing up his friends, they danced around the battle with a familiar ease. The daemons dwindling in a way Noctis could only help but grin at.
But just as all seemed to be going well, the ground shook.
Stopping in their tracks, the brothers looked up to see an Iron Giant descend from above their heads, landing with an earth-rattling thud on the ground, almost cracking the stone floor beneath its feet. The force and shaking of the landing nearly knocked the brothers from their feet. Kneeling down to keep his balance, Ignis turned in the direction of the beast, frowning at the new threatening presence in the air.
"Damn!" He hissed, though the advisor was taken aback by the familiar breeze of a warp-strike whizzing by on his left. "Noct!"
"Ignis! You guys stay back, I've got this!" Noct called back, his blade sinking into the daemon's armor with a metallic clink. Hanging to the flailing creature, the giant's heavy, sluggish swings of its massive sword shook Noct around, but he held fast. Glaring at the creature, he felt the power of the ring coursing through his veins.
White light emitting from where Noct's palm was pressed against the metal armor, the holy magic spiderwebbed along the daemonic plates, searing and burning the iron with a fire heretofore unseen by the brothers before. The white magic surged through the large daemon, covering it with holy fire as the daemon roared and thrashed against the burning light. Smoking and boiling the metal, the holy magic sapped the life from the creature, turning it to naught but ash against Noct's hand.
Descending back to the ground, Noct breathed heavily, holding his hand as it trembled and ached from the sheer power of the ring, his eyes burning vibrant violet in the wake of the attack.
"Holy shit..." Gladio marveled, staring at the king as he returned his greatsword to the armiger, situating Prompto back into both of his arms rather than just the one.
It was incredible. Simply incredible. The last time Gladio had seen the power of the ring, he'd only seen the damage it had done. He saw how it scarred Ignis, stole from him his sight and began the steady decline of the group in the wake of the tragedy that was Altissia. But to see the ring now, in the hands of one it deemed to be a proper bearer of it, it was a marvel to behold.
"Well done, Noct." Ignis nodded, relaxing as the comforting stillness of a non-threatening surrounding settled in around him. "Very well done."
"Thanks, Specs." Noct said. Turning back to his friends, he hurried over to Gladio. Carefully grabbing Prompto's arm, the violet faded from his eyes as they worriedly searched him for any new or reopened injuries. "Hey, man, you okay? None of those things got you, did they?"
"Not on my watch." Gladio asserted, nodded to the king.
Nodding as well, Prompto grabbed Noct's hand, squeezing with a reassuring strength.
"I'm okay, Noct." He said, concurring with Gladio's assertion, grinning like he always did. "Big guy's really good at his job. You should give him a raise when this is all over, y'know."
Noct laughed, hearing Prompto start making jokes at a time like this. It was comforting to see that even after all of this mess, Prompto hadn't changed. Ardyn hadn't destroyed the sunshine inside of him that Noct was so enamored with. The parts of him that were so uniquely Prompto. But the chancellor had still stolen the blonde from him, and subjected him to so much pain and torment. And he would pay for that.
"Yeah, sure." Noct said, a soft smile on his face as he looked Prompto in his baby blue eyes. "I'll think about it."
"I apologize for interrupting, but we do have a pressing matter to attend to." Ignis spoke up, taking careful steps over to the three, searching with his cane for anything in his path. Thankfully, the way was clear. "Now that we've restored Noct's power, we're that much closer to healing Prompto and retrieving the Crystal. Now, I believe you said you have a plan, am I correct, Noct?"
"Yeah, that's right." Noct nodded, squeezing Prompto's hand back. They might not agree with his plan, it would take time that they didn't exactly have, but it was the best one he had.
"Wanna fill us in then, Noct?" Gladio prodded with a growing frustration with being left out of the loop. Noct had told them he had a plan, but had failed to mention just what exactly that plan was. And they didn't exactly have all the time in the world to stand around discussing these things. And standing there with Prompto held securely in his arms still injured, he was a little more impatient than usual.
Nodding again, Noct looked Gladio dead in the eyes. He was serious, focused, leaving no room for debate.
"I'm calling Umbra and I'm taking myself back to the past."
Taking a step closer, Ignis placed a hand firmly on Noctis's shoulder.
"Are you certain, Noct?" He asked.
"Yes, Ignis, I am." Noct answered back, determined. "I can go back there and smuggle some items back in the armiger so we can heal Prompto! Don't try to talk me out of this, it's our best option, we all know it!"
"I intend to do nothing of the sort." Ignis said, squeezing his hand around Noct's shoulder. "You're right. Currently, our options are extremely limited, and given the circumstances, we have no alternative plans that would prove as fruitful. Your plan is sound."
"You're... gonna go back... before all of this happened...?" Prompto wondered aloud, his eyes widening when he realized just what that would mean for his best friend. And for them. "So then that means..."
"You and Ignis will be back to normal." Gladio finished the blonde's thought, turning his eyes to the advisor beside the king as he pulled Prompto in closer. What he wouldn't give to see Ignis healed. To see his green eyes looking back at him with the strength and stability they always carried. But that wasn't possible. Ignis had invoked the powers of the ring, and his eyes were taken from him as a consequence. He'd never see again. Gladio wasn't going to say he wasn't a fool at times, but he wasn't foolish enough to think he would ever be able to look into the man's eyes again. "You think you can handle that, Noct?"
"Doesn't matter." Noct shook his head. He knew that, there was no way he didn't. He'd gone back before, he knew what happened and how it worked. He knew. "I have to do this, we don't have any more time."
Standing there quietly for a moment, they all considered Noct's intended course of action. He was right, there was no other way. They were out of time, and low on options. They had no real medical supplies, no items, no way to get any more while they were stuck here, and Prompto was still too injured to even stand on his own without reopening the multitude of stab wounds he still had stitched up under all of the bandages that positively covered his body. And if they were going to defeat Ardyn and reclaim the Crystal, if they were going to save the world, they needed him.
Noct needed him.
Sighing quietly, Ignis nodded.
"Very well. Then I suggest we return to the barracks."
"Yeah, good idea." Prompto nodded along, a little too enthusiastically, shrinking further into Gladio's arms. His eyes scanning the chamber, the blonde didn't want to spend any more time around the MT chambers than necessary, and right now it really wasn't necessary anymore. "L-Let's get out of here..."
Rubbing his thumb lightly and comfortingly over Prompto's fingers, Noct placed his free hand once again against Prompto's cheek, not exactly comforted by how warm to the touch the blonde's freckled skin still was despite their best efforts to mitigate his fever. But the way Prompto eased into his touch, Noct couldn't help but let his lips curl into the slightest smile.
"Yeah." He nodded, glancing between the others as well. "You got it, Prom."
When they returned to the barracks, Gladio carefully set Prompto back down on the bed he'd been laying in all that time. Though, the blonde protested to being put back in bed as opposed to be aloud to sit in an actual chair like the rest of them. But not knowing how long it would take for Noctis to return once he projected his consciousness back into the past, Ignis and Gladio insisted. Better for him to be as comfortable as possible while they waited.
Standing there getting himself psyched up to beam his consciousness back into his past self, Noct shook out his arms and legs like a dog. He'd done this a few times before, it wasn't anything new exactly, but there had never been legitimate stakes involved. He didn't have all the time in the world to run around and have fun in the past, he had a mission. Get back, get some healing items for Prompto, and get back as quickly as possible so they could fix him and get the Crystal back so they could restore the sun before the world lost the daylight forever.
No pressure.
Not at all.
Absolutely none.
Nope. None.
"Are you ready, Noct?"
At the sound of Ignis's question, Noct turned to his friends. Ignis looked at him expectantly with dead eyes, sat down beside Prompto, supervising Gladio as he changed the blonde's bandages.
"Yeah." Noct nodded, pushing any hesitance he could even think about feeling down deep into the crevices of his mind. Now was no time for that. "Yeah, I'm ready."
"Good. Be quick, alright?" Gladio chimed in, taking a break from changing bandages for a second to pat Prompto gently but firmly on the shoulder. "Can't have blondie here be a bump on a log forever."
"Hey, I was kidnapped and tortured!" Prompto pouted, shoving Gladio away from him with a childish levity in spite of the weight of his words. "You big asshole."
"Aw c'mon, Prompto! What, you can make jokes but I can't?" Gladio shook his head, but he couldn't say he didn't understand the blonde's sensitivity to his joke. In hindsight it was probably in poor taste. Not that he was ever the best with that anyway. "Besides, you know when we see Ardyn again I'm gonna tear his fucked up head right off his body for doing this to you, right?"
Sighing, Prompto nodded, elbowing Gladio in the chest despite the ache in his arm.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks."
Taking in the sight of his friends before him, Noct took a deep breath. This was the reality of things. This was who they were now. As many times as he told himself that, Noct knew he'd never be able to truly prepare himself for what he would see in the past.
Ignis's eyes would be healed, he'd be able to see again.
Prompto would be back to normal. No best friend betraying on the train, no kidnapping, no torture, no nothing. Just the happy-go-lucky, chocobo obsessed, insecure, vibrant, sunshine photographer that had been his best friend - his everything - since high school.
"I'll be there and back before you know it." Noct said, his fingers clenching into loose fists where he stood, burying his feelings.
"Very well." Ignis nodded. Though he certainly hadn't missed the change in Noct's air. "Then you'd best get started. We can't afford to waste time now."
"You got it, Iggy." Taking a look at his friends one more time, Noct locked his gaze onto Prompto staring back at him. Soon he was going to fix him. Prompto was going to be okay. Soon, he'd make amends for all the pain he'd caused him. "You're gonna be okay, Prom. I promise."
"I know." Prompto nodded, smiling at his friend. Even after everything, he still had complete trust in his friend. "See you soon, Noct."
"...See you soon."
Taking a deep breath, Noct laid down on the bunk beside Prompto's, situating himself before finally taking a moment to relax. Closing his eyes, his slowed his breath, deep and slow, steady breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth. He'd gone back before, it wasn't his first time. He knew what he was doing.
"Nice and easy, Noctis. You've got this." He told himself, folding his hands overtop his abdomen as he lay still, focusing on only the sounds in between the silence. The spaces between the darkness. "Okay, Umbra. I know you're out there, and I know you can hear me..."
Laying there in stillness and in silence, Noct focused all of his will to reach out for his canine companion. Umbra was still out there somewhere in Eos, so he had to still be able to reach him. This had to work.
It had to.
"Take me back."
When Noct's eyes opened, everything had changed.
The soft bed underneath him had been exchanged for a sleeping bag and the hard, solid ground of the earth. The cold, lifeless metallic barracks for the comforting and somehow lively beige polyester of the brothers' camping tent. The air wasn't stiff and heavy here either. There was a breeze, cool temperatures of the mornings of Duscae... and Noct could feel the morning dew in the dampness of the air. He could smell fool cooking outside just beyond the tent flaps... he'd made it back.
It worked.
Noct just laid there for a moment, taking in the sight of the tent, the sounds and smells of Duscae, the familiar cushiness of his sleeping bag atop the earth, everything he possibly could. After everything he and his friends had been through since Altissia, it felt so good to be back. But he knew it wouldn't last long. So he took in everything he possibly could.
"Thanks, Umbra."
His ears perking up at the sound of shuffling outside the tent, Noct went rigid. That could only be one of two things. One, his friends were all clearly awake and outside considering he was the only one in the tent. Or two, there were creatures outside. But obviously they were staying at a haven so no monsters could get to them, so it could only be the first one. Which to be honest, Noct wasn't sure if that scared him more or less than monsters at the moment.
"Noct? Are you awake in there?"
He knew that voice anywhere.
Moving to sit up immediately, Noct turned his head just in time to see a familiar gloved hand reach in and open the unzipped tent flap. Sat up on his elbows, Noct froze on the spot. He knew this would happen. He'd tried to prepare himself for it, but nothing he could have told himself could have done the job. Any preparation he had tried to give himself immediately crumbled away at the sight of stern, discerning green eyes looking back at him.
Ignis.
"Ah, good, you're awake." The gentle accent filled the tent, swimming around Noct's head like any thought that dared try to surface within him. "Breakfast has been prepared, I suggest you make a plate before Gladio and Prompto devour it."
Noctis tried to say something, anything as to not alert Ignis that something was off. But he couldn't even get his mouth to open. He just sat there propped up on his elbows, frozen, his eyes wide and locked onto Ignis's green, not mutilated, green, seeing eyes looking back at him. But Indeed noticing Noct's rigid and uncomfortable appearance, Ignis raised an eyebrow at the prince, taking a step further into the tent in his concern. Noct wasn't usually like this? What was he staring at him so wide-eyed and shocked for?
"Noct?"