Verstael let Prompto go home shortly after their talk, and Prompto ended up giving in to his little bits of curiosity and gave Verstael his email. It wasn't his main email however, just one he used usually for promotional deals from stores or various other places that always asked you to sign up for their mailing list to get coupons and deals.
Either way, he had contact with his father, a supposedly 'former' supervillain.
As if he didn't have enough weight on his shoulders.
"How the heck can I keep this from Noctis?" Prompto asked himself as walked down the street to his house.
It had been such a relief to let Noctis know his Spider-Man secret, especially knowing Noctis had been holding on to the same type of secret. But, this was one secret that he knew there would never be a chance to reveal, not unless he wanted to put his father in danger and make Noctis possibly hate him.
"This is so unfair…"
"What's so unfair?"
Prompto jumped to the side, nearly toppling over to the ground. "A-Aranea?!"
"Hey kid, aren't you supposed to have better reflexes than that?" Aranea laughed.
"Well sorry! I've been distracted so my senses aren't super focused!"
Aranea laughed. "Guess with what's happened lately you have a reason to be distracted."
Prompto blushed, knowing exactly what she was alluding to. "Y-yeah that…"
"Come on, let's get to your house, it's been a while since we talked."
The two of them walked the rest of the walk towards Prompto's house. It was empty just as he expected it to be, not that it would change over night.
"Anything in mind for food tonight? I'm feeling pretty hungry myself," Aranea said as she took off her shoes and coat.
"You're always hungry when you visit," Prompto snickered.
"And I pay for it just about every single time."
"Yeah, and I guess I do gotta thank you for that."
Aranea hummed with a nod before she headed over to the kitchen, pouring herself a drink of water. "Alright, tell me, how's things been with you and the Prince? I've seen the papers, but I want to hear it from the source."
"It's been great, honestly. We talked and realized our feelings and decided to go with it," Prompto said. That was the simple way of putting it, but in all honesty it was the truth of it without revealing the actual story.
"Guess that means your crush on Nightwing is over then?"
Prompto forced a smile, pretending that he was saddened by the aspect. "Yeah, guess he just wasn't for me in the end. But, we're still friends and stuff."
"Good to hear cause it looks like the two of you have been busy. Insomnia's been having some strange activity lately, hasn't it?"
"You know anything about it? You haven't been around as far as I've seen."
Aranea shrugged. "I'm investigating things. Still looking into stuff."
Prompto raised an eyebrow in curiosity. With Aranea being a skilled mercenary, he knew she had resources all over the place. If there was anything suspicious, she would know long before Prompto could ever figure it out.
"Let me know if you find anything weird? Like any bad supervillains getting up to stuff?"
"Can do, kid. But, there is something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What's that?"
Aranea sighed, placing her cup down on the table. "Have you been reading much news lately?"
Prompto shrugged. "Kind of? Depends what news you're talking about."
"There was news of a supervillain's release recently… His name is Verstael Besithia."
Prompto tried not to show much reaction, pretending he knew nothing. He really couldn't catch a break, could he?
"Yeah? What about him?"
"I don't want to sugarcoat this, Shortcake, but that man he's…"
Forget trying to act naive, Prompto didn't want this to go in an awkward direction. He wasn't too sure he could succeed in having to act surprised at the truth.
"He's… my dad?"
Aranea gasped. "You know?"
Prompto nodded. "Just found out today…"
Aranea leaned across the table, placing a hand on Prompto's arm gently. "He didn't do anything to get to you, did he?"
"Not quite… but he contacted me, told me the truth. But wait…" Prompto stared at Aranea, his eyes widening. "How did you know?"
"I was only 16 at the time, but I was on the mission to raid his base after his capture," Aranea answered honestly.
Prompto bolted from his chair, backing slowly away from the table. His mind raced and refused to stay calm as the realization set in. "You mean you've known this entire time!? My entire life!?"
"You were just a toddler back then, too young to remember. And to be clear, I only helped raid the base. Wasn't part of the people who got you into the adoption services."
"But, you came and found me here. You've looked after me for years and you never told me!"
He first met Aranea when he was 10 years old. His parents said they were going to get him a babysitter and it turned out it was Aranea. She was kind and friendly, and he was happy to have a friend to talk to while his parents were always away.
Looking back on it, Prompto should have realized something was strange much sooner. She had watched over him since that young age, and when he became Spider-Man, she was the one he talked to. Not just because she was a mercenary and knew about fighting villains, but also because he trusted her.
"Calm down, Shortcake. It's not that big of a deal."
"Yeah I think it is! Were you instructed to watch over me? Keeping an eye on me in case I turned out crazy like my dad?!"
Prompto wasn't trying to overreact, but he couldn't help himself. Seeing his father had already put enough stress on him, and it hadn't even been a full day yet. How much could happen to him in one day? How many big reveals did he have to go through before he could find some peace again?
"It wasn't that. When I did some odd jobs around Insomnia, I passed your path a few times. Felt bad that you were given a bad hand with your adoptive parents, so I thought I could step in."
"And when I became Spider-Man?"
"All the more reason you should have a good mentor, and that has nothing to do with who your father is. Just wanted to help a kid out."
Prompto sighed, feeling a bit of ease reach his mind and heart. "Not a kid."
Aranea smiled as she stood up and walked over to Prompto, ruffling up his hair. "Still a kid to me."
"And I'm a kid who can kick ass," Prompto chuckled, trying to push Aranea's hand away.
"All good then? Nothing held against me?"
"Well… no, not held against you. Sorry if I blew up a bit. After meeting him today, I feel a little shaken. But, uh, what do you think about my… Verstael Besithia?"
"Honestly, the man is a mystery. He was all ready to take over everything, once he was arrested he played the most perfect polite prisoner. He claimed he wanted to give it all up, but I don't know if I believe it."
"He told me that he did it because he wanted to see me again… just as a good dad."
Aranea frowned. "Don't know if I'd believe it."
"Me neither, but he seemed genuine about reconnecting."
"Does he know you're Spider-Man?"
Prompto shook his head. "Don't think so."
"Probably better to try and keep it that way. Who knows what that man could do if he learns about your powers."
He didn't even want to consider the idea of his dad learning his little secret.
Secrets… so many of them were piling up on all sides. He even had secrets he kept from Aranea, mainly with the secret about Noctis being Nightwing.
"Wanna take some time to do a little training?" Aranea asked. "Could help get all that stress out of you."
Prompto nodded. "That sounds pretty good."
Together they headed down to the basement to begin a series of training exercises. It felt like it had been ages since their last session, and since then Prompto had learned plenty of new tricks thanks to Noctis.
There was still plenty he couldn't do to win against Aranea's advanced attacks, but he did find himself able to dodge more than the last time. He jumped around the room with far more grace than he ever did before, all thanks to studying how Noctis moved around as Nightwing.
"Hey, Shortcake, looks like you really have discovered some new moves," Aranea complimented.
"Heh, pays with work alongside a hero like Nightwing," Prompto chuckled confidently.
"Sure, it can pay, but doesn't mean you can let yourself be careless."
In the blink of an eye, Aranea jumped at Prompto, swiping underneath his feet. He barely had a chance to react before he found himself on the ground.
"Oof! Come on! I wasn't ready!"
"Exactly the point. You can't always 'be ready' for what's to come next."
Aranea stood over Prompto before extending a hand to him. He sighed before taking it, letting her help him back to his feet.
"Yeah, but still…"
"You'll just have to keep working on getting better to combat anything that's thrown at you. Then you can prepare yourself for anything, even if you aren't ready for it."
"That sounds almost contradictory, but also it's the life of a superhero, right?"
Aranea smiled. "You got it."
Taking in a deep breath, Prompto stepped back and held his fists up. "Okay! Let's go again! Give me all you got! I wanna impress Nightwing next time I see him!"
"Oh? Is that so? Thought you were just going to be friends?"
As Prompto dodged Aranea's attacks, he tried wrapping his mind around what she meant. "We are just friends. What do you mean?"
She hummed almost playfully. "If you are just friends, why would you want to impress him so badly?"
Prompto held his breath, crouching as he just barely missed one of her swings. She had no idea the truth behind the situation, which only meant treading the waters all the more dangerous.
"Nightwing is a really cool hero, still leagues above me. So, what's wrong with wanting to impress him a little? Not cause I wanna 'impress' him… just your regular case of trying to impress a cool hero."
"If you say so, Shortcake."
"Ugh! It's true though! You know I'm already dating Noctis! I wouldn't cheat on him like that."
'Not that it would even be cheating… just prince persona vs hero persona.'
"If you say so, just don't let your heart go astray, alright? I'd hate to see the poor little prince cry."
Another attack dodged.
"I won't! I promise you, I love Noctis and only Noctis."
This time, Prompto slid underneath Aranea's next punch, swiping his own feet under hers. It was enough to cause her to lose her balance, but not enough to completely topple her.
She chuckled before stepping back, out of range of anything Prompto could do up close. "Nice job, kid. That one was pretty good."
Prompto quickly jumped to his feet, pumping a fist into the air. "Alright! Almost took you down!"
"Keyword here is 'almost', but you haven't succeeded yet."
"Yeah, but I'm getting closer! And then one of these days, I will seriously have the upperhand against you!"
"Whatever you say, but you'll need years of experience before you reach that point."
"Well, I'm never going to stop trying! Can't get lazy now, especially when my kingdom needs its Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!"
"Cute little name, you should get that trademarked."
Prompto laughed. "Maybe I will!"
Finally able to laugh and feel that joy burst through his chest, he could forget what had happened earlier. Eventually, he knew he would have to think about it again, whether it was in emailing his dad or just stressing about the situation as a whole.
He knew in time he could figure it all out, and alleviate some of the stress, but for now he had to keep going as he was… full of secrets.