Chapter Text
“Is the kid still sleeping?” Gladio asked curiously as he and Ignis crossed the threshold into Noct’s apartment, and the shield almost instantly noticed a distinct lack of enthusiastic and bouncing blondes in the spacious living room.
“Yeah,” Noct answered as he slowly started to stretch, attempting futilely to rub the sleep away from his own bleary eyes. “We got into this huge raid event for King’s Knight late last night and Prom didn’t want to miss out on the loot, so we stayed until the very end. And that just so happened to wrap up around, you know… like five o’clock this morning or so?” The raven finished, shrugging his shoulders as though it wasn’t the first time he and Prompto had practically stayed up all night playing video games, which it definitely wasn’t.
Noct didn’t miss the audible sigh and pointed look he got from his advisor, but simply chose to brush it off for the time being. This wasn’t the first time, and certainly wouldn’t be the last that Ignis would be exasperated at his own decisions.
“Hey… it’s not my fault you two decided to wake me up before the crack of noon…” The prince moaned, still attempting to resist the very real temptation to crawl back into his nice, warm bed and join Prompto in being blissfully dead to the world for at least another couple of hours.
“You’re welcome to go back to sleep princess, but know that Iggy and I are going whether you come with us or not; even if you were the one to come up with the idea in the first place.” Gladio half joked as he slapped a firm hand on the young prince’s shoulder.
“Like hell you’re going without me.” Noctis quickly countered, swatting away the larger man’s hand and in doing so, shaking off the last remnants of sleep still attempting to envelope his consciousness. “I’m personally going to make those bastards pay for what they did to Prom.” he spat, his blood boiling at the mere thought of coming face to face with the jerks that thought they could screw around with his best friend and get away with it. “Iggy, you made the arrangements with my dad?”
“All necessary measures have been approved by his Majesty, yes. They will officially go into effect starting tomorrow.” The advisor nodded as he appropriately adjusted his glasses.
“Okay, well what are we waiting for then?” Noctis asked as he brushed past both his advisor and shield as he made his way to the door to his apartment. “Let’s do this.”
“Your Highness…?” Ignis prompted as he raised an arm to halt the motion of his suddenly incredibly impatient charge. “Are you forgetting something?”
“Uh-” Noctis murmured to himself as he quickly tried to figure what point his advisor was alluding to. “I don’t think so...?”
“Perhaps, it would be prudent to leave something of a note for young Prompto? That way he does not wake up to find the apartment deserted and attempt to seek you out while you are- ahem, otherwise occupied?” The taller male clarified, and Noctis subsequently opened his mouth in short realization, before quickly scrawling a hurried note to the blonde on whatever was readily available, stating he had been whisked away by Ignis for some official Crown business and he would be back soon.
Having watched as the prince had been writing said note, Gladio couldn’t help but give a quick snort, which was met with another casual shrug and scoff from the dark-haired youth.
“What…?” Noct shot back, “It’s pretty much the truth…”
“Just without all the juicy details.” The shield laughed. “You know, he’s going to find out pretty quickly what you did once he gets to school tomorrow and notices a significant lack of three particular students in your homeroom.”
“I’ll tell him…” Noct muttered as he turned away from the note he had just written and headed back towards the beckoning door. “I just don’t think that explaining everything on a napkin is the best way to break the news to him. You know Prompto… he would just spend the entire time we were gone freaking out, and I wouldn’t even be surprised if he tried to rush over and stop us.”
“Yeah, guess you got me there.” Gladio laughed softly. Judging by what he knew about the blonde, it didn’t seem to be that crazy of a possibility. “Just make sure you break it to him before you two head off to school tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah, big guy.” Noct murmured. “I’m not that mean to spring everything on him right as we get to school.”
“Are you certain you want to go through with this, Noct?” Ignis now chimed in, “Once we do this, there’s no going back.”
“Yeah, I’m well aware.” The prince nodded, determination and resolve written plainly on all his features; the sleep that had been holding onto him so strongly before, nothing but a distant memory now. “I owe it to Prom to follow this thing through to the end.” Noctis frowned as he finished, “Don’t forget that all this happened because of me, so it’s up to me to set things right.”
“I will follow your lead then, your Highness.” Ignis replied as the three Lucians promptly exited the apartment and headed down to the parking garage, so they could settle things once and for all. If everything went perfectly, who knows…? Maybe they would even be able to make it back before Prompto even noticed they left.
“You really think he’s still gonna be in there?” A low voice asked as a group of three boys were walking briskly through the deserted school grounds. It was early on a Sunday morning after all, and even though there were some big games scheduled for later that day, it was far too early for even the janitors to have shown up.
“Why the hell wouldn’t he be?” Another voice cut in, answering with such vehemence that the other two boys almost shrank back. “It’s not like he had his phone to be able to call anyone… and I honestly doubt that anyone’s even realized he’s missing. It’s not like his parents are ever around, and I’m pretty positive his princely pall has better things to do right now than to miss someone as useless as that obnoxious blonde.”
“So why are we here then?” The first voice asked, clearly unaware as to why he had been forced to come all the way to school so early on a Sunday morning when he could be catching up on some well-needed sleep.
“I dunno, I’m bored…?” The second boy shrugged as if that was the most valid reason in itself. “Believe it or not, it took some incredibly very careful planning and a heck of a lot of effort to make sure everything went to plan on Friday.” The boy bragged, obviously very proud of himself and what he felt he had been able to accomplish.
“My dad is usually pretty careful not to let me or my brother into his office at home… so, it sure as hell would be an understatement to say it took some effort to just get in. Then, I needed to figure out a way to swipe the official citadel stationary he keeps laying around on his desk without him noticing. Not to mention, I had to make sure that Prince Noctis wouldn’t actually be coming in or around school that day….” The boy trailed off before finishing with renewed vigor, “Is it so wrong for me to want to enjoy the fruits of my labor for just a little bit longer? I mean, is not like he isn’t eventually going to be found… what’s so wrong with wanting to take advantage of the situation while I still have the chance?”
“Yeah, guess so...” The first boy muttered back, unable to shake the uneasy feeling that had started pulling at him as they approached the place where they had left the blonde two days ago. He wasn’t sure what they would find, and although he had found the whole thing entertaining at first, something about being able to go home and think about it, made him wonder if they hadn’t crossed a line by not coming back to check on the blonde a little earlier.
“Um… guys….?” The third student, who had remained silent thus far, couldn’t help but utter as all three of them finally entered the boy’s locker room. “That was the locker we shoved him in, right?” He finished, as he realized that not only was the locker door wide open, but it looked as though some terrifyingly powerful daemon had almost completely torn the piece of metal right off its hinges.
“What the hell-” The boy who had been the instigator of the whole predicament started to curse before hearing the distinct sound of the large door connecting to the main gymnasium slamming shut behind them.
“Expecting someone?” A deep voice that none of the three boys recognized suddenly echoed around the large locker room. At first, they couldn’t tell if the voice was just a trick of the vents, but a few moments later, a seriously huge and incredibly built guy who couldn’t be more than a year or two older than them emerged from behind the line of lockers nearer to the locker room entrance. “Though I’m not sure why you would be, seeing as though it’s a Sunday morning and there isn’t any reason for anyone to be around here for at least a few good hours…” he finished, the feigned confusion in his voice practically dripping.
The two male students that had obviously just been brought along for the ride nearly fell backwards over each other as they attempted to put more and more space in between them and their newest guest. The third guy, unsurprisingly, chose to stand his ground and proceeded to instead glare in the burly man’s direction. “Why don’t you just get lost and mind your own business?” he hissed and the other man simply laughed.
“It may not be Gladio’s business, but it sure as hell is mine when you involved people that are important to me…” Another voice cut in angrily, but this time there was no mistaking who the newest voice belonged to. Mere seconds later, the boys were able to make out the unmistakable form of none other than the Crown Prince himself, Noctis Lucis Caelum, shooting past the line of lockers, his features knitted in a deep scowl.
“Y-Your Highness…?” The boy uttered, his posture changing instantly in the presence of a member of the Lucian royal family. “I-I can explain…” he stuttered nervously while under the feral glare of the dark-haired prince.
“Ignis- let go of me.” Noctis ordered brusquely, to which the advisor hesitated for a moment before relinquishing the careful hand, which had previously been bracing itself on the young prince’s shoulder.
“Please do try to exercise at least a semblance of restraint, won’t you?” Ignis noted cautiously. “We don’t need the media having a field day because you lost your temper on some of your school peers.”
“Yeah, well that’s they least of what they deserve after what they put Prompto through…” Noctis muttered quietly, before catching the advisor’s classic warning stare and finishing with a simple, “Don’t worry, Specs… just because I want to beat the absolute shit out of them until they start to feel even a fraction of the pain they put Prom through, doesn’t mean that I’m actually going to do it.”
“If I may be so bold as to interrupt, your highness…?” The boy in front who had refused to back down, now suddenly decided to cut into the discussion. “I’m not really sure I understand why you are so heated about all this…?” He paused for a moment before continuing, “I honestly would have thought you would be pleased, even thankful, with everything that I did. After all, I managed to get rid of that obnoxious little brat that is always following you around like some lost little kitten… I seriously don’t know how you manage to stay in the same room with him all the time without going crazy.”
At this newest interruption, Noctis froze; absolutely certain that he must have misheard what the guy in front of him had just said. He was utterly dumbstruck, and thus unable to do anything but gape at the complete and utter bullshit that had just left the other male’s lips. Had he…? He couldn’t possibly… what the-
“What… in the fuck… did you just say…? You want me to THANK YOU…?!? For hurting my BEST FRIEND?!?!?” Noctis shouted furiously, and couldn’t help but feel his body rush forward on pure instinct, grabbing the other male by the collar of his shirt with such force that he wouldn’t have be surprised if the fabric had simply ripped away. It was clear that this was not the reaction that the other boy had been expecting, as his calm, cool and collected mask dissolved almost instantly. For the first time that day, he genuinely looked fearful of what the young prince would or could do next.
“Why don’t I shove you in some tiny-ass locker and see how you fucking like it…!?” Noctis continued to shout, his carefully structured control from before completely thrown out the window. “Did it ever fucking occur to you that Prom might be super claustrophobic?!? Why don’t I just re-create your worst nightmare and let you experience that for every single second of the rest of your astral damned life!” he exclaimed, “You’re just lucky that I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of stooping down to your level and throwing all three of you away in some Lucian jail cell to rot away for the rest of your miserable existences… It would be as easy as snapping my fingers, and you know what? You three would just disappear with nobody any the wiser; and you want to know my favorite part? I bet no-one would even notice or care that you were gone.”
There were still so many other things that Noctis was absolutely burning to say to these morons who had made the absolute worst decision of their lives when they had foolishly decided to go after Prompto, but Noctis was so consumed in the moment that he knew all the words in the world would not be able to properly convey exactly how pissed off he was at this very moment.
Before he even realized what he was doing, Noct pulled his free hand back, and still gripping the other male’s shirt with his other hand, threw his fist forward with as much force as he could muster. He couldn’t help but smile as he heard the loud crack when his fist collided with the other boy’s nose. It was such a satisfying feeling to finally have something physical to take out all his frustrations on that Noct didn’t hesitate to pull back his arm once more to do it again before he felt another, much thicker and stronger hand, grab onto his.
“Let go, Gladio.” Noctis hissed as he attempted to futilely wriggle free of the seemingly impenetrable grip the shield had on him now. “He. Deserves. It. Especially after everything he put Prompto through… this is nothing…!”
“Comon kid,” Gladio replied calmly. “Believe me, I want to see these idiots pay for what they did to Prompto too, but this isn’t the way to do it.”
“I know Gladio… but they-” Noctis started to argue before being cut off once more, this time by Ignis, who had stepped forward so that he was right next to the conflicted prince.
“I promise you Noct, they will see the consequences of their actions.” The advisor stated, his voice neutral and yet also very confident and reassuring. “Don’t give them the chance to make you do something you might regret…” Ignis continue as he placed a firm hand on the one that was still angrily grasping the other boy’s collar, attempting to unravel the tense and almost trembling fingers until the two boys were finally separated.
“Sorry, Iggy…” The prince muttered after a few seconds, just loud enough for the advisor to hear. There was no denying that he had let his anger get the best of him for a few moments there, but Noctis sure as hell wasn’t going to lie and say that that punch wasn’t absolutely the most satisfying thing he’d done in a long time.
“Now that we’ve got that all sorted, I dare say we wrap things up.” Ignis spoke as he broke the unsteady silence that had descended after he had managed to extricate the young prince from beating the other boys into a bloody pulp. Well, the one boy that Noct had punched a few moments ago, was already bleeding considerably from what was undoubtedly a broken nose, but that was beside the point.
“I hope you three are all well aware that what you took part in on Friday is something that is simply and absolutely not to be tolerated.” Ignis continued, his face a perfect mask of impassivity, even though he had been just as alarmed about what happened with Prompto as Gladio and Noct were. “I can personally guarantee that all of your parents will be receive a call from someone at the Citadel to further inform you and your families as to how things will proceed forwards from here on out. I can assure you that all three of you will be punished to the full extent of the law. If I have to, I will personally make sure that you three will atone for your actions through the proper channels and on behalf of all those affected by the unfortunate incident that occurred on Friday.”
“W-What are you going to d-do?” One of the two boys that were now practically trembling in fear of not just the Lucian prince and his two companions, but at the thought of what would happen to them now, just because of what he had been an active party to.
“I was thinking execution-” Noctis suggested casually, only to quickly elicit a stern slap on his shoulder from Ignis when the bespectacled advisor almost witnessed the two other boys nearly pass-out right on the spot.
“Noct,” Ignis quickly chided the young prince, “If you cause them to pass out before we can settle matters, then that will simply be more time wasted before we can official settle things.” Noctis settled for responding to said sentiment by simply shrugging his shoulders dismissively.
“I have already discussed the matter with many parties, most prominently including the Principal of this school, as well as his royal majesty, King of Lucis, Regis Lucis Caelum. The incident has already been noted on your permanent record, and you will find that you no longer enrolled as students at this particular institution. Your parents will be informed of your change in schools, as well as all the specifics in regards to where it is located, how to obtain the correct uniform, and so forth.” Ignis paused just long enough to take a quick breath before finishing, “I feel it also worth mentioning that as a direct effect of this incident, you will find that all three of you have been barred from training to become Crownsguard or any other job that involves working with and/or serving the Royal Family of Lucis in any capacity for life. This decision has already been finalized and cleared personally by His Majesty, so rather than questioning it, I would suggest that you accept it and move on with your lives.”
At that final and concluding note, Ignis finally fell into silence and the three boys standing before the prince, his shield, and advisor could do nothing but gape at the enormity of the shit show they had gotten themselves into. All this…? Had all this really happened because they had picked on one of the Prince’s obnoxious friends….? It was enough to strike fear in at least two of the boys at the immense power that the Crown Prince wielded.
“You little-” The boy with blood still freely running down his nose started to curse. There was some part of him that just couldn’t understand why the Crown Prince of Lucis would waste so much time and effort in protecting some annoying and useless nobody… it made absolutely zero sense.
“I would think long and hard about how you want to end that sentence there…” Gladio cut in gruffly, making sure to meet the other boy’s angry stare and refuse to break eye contact before he did.
“Hmmph, f-fine…” The boy grunted, his mask failing to stay completely inctact under the intimidating glares of the three Lucians standing before him. “L-Let’s get out of h-here boys…” He stuttered as he attempted to wipe away the still freely flowing blood from his nose, quickly motioning for the two others practically cowering behind him. The three boys then proceeded to dart quickly around the three currently blocking their only escape route, before running off to put as much distance between them as possible.
“Yeah, that’s right… you better run…!” Noctis called as he quickly warped over to the still open door to catch the three-other boys’ still retreating figures. “Pieces of shit…” the prince quietly muttered to himself as he wandered back over to where Ignis and Gladio were still standing, now talking quietly amongst themselves.
“I believe we were able to accomplish what we came here to do quite effectively,” Noctis heard Ignis reply as he finally rejoined the other two. “I also believe that it is about time for us to get his highness back to his apartment. I am sure that Prompto has more than likely woken up and is probably wondering about where he has gone off to, even with the note that Noct left him.”
“Yeah, guess you got a point there, Iggy.” Noctis replied. “We’ve wasted more than enough time dealing with those idiots.” He grunted all three started making their way towards the door leading out to the rest of the gym. “The important thing though, is that those jerks won’t ever be able to hurt Prom ever again.”
“Not unless they wish to incur the full wrath of the Crownsguard...” The large shield laughed.
“Yeah well, that is if I don’t get to those bastards first.” Noctis added plainly. “Even Iggy here wouldn’t be enough to hold me back from tearing them to pieces if they were ever stupid enough to try anything with Prom ever again.”
“I can imagine there will be quite the line, should such an incident ever occur again.” Ignis added, a clear grin upon his steady features as all three of them couldn’t help but laugh.
Noctis wasn’t sure that he would ever completely stop feeling guilty for indirectly being part of the reason why those jerks had gone after Prom, but he was at least satisfied knowing that they would be paying for how bad they fucked up. Even if it didn’t involve beating them to within in an inch of their lives, like he had certainly wanted to when he had initially found and rescued Prompto on Friday.
“Hey, I’m back…!” Noctis called as he pushed open the front door to his apartment to find that Prompto had indeed finally managed to drag himself out of bed, and was now apparently content to lay sprawled out on the couch, playing one of their favorite Assassin’s Creed games.
“You alive?” he joked, noticing how the blonde still looked quite tired and it made the raven want to just curl up next to him and take a nice, long nap. It wasn’t like he hadn’t earned it…
“Yeah, kinda.” Prompto laughed as he attempted to stifle a convenient yawn, which in turn caused the raven to also let out quite the notable yawn. “I only just woke up like fifteen minutes or so ago, so you know…” He shrugged, “Still trying to convince my body to wake up and not just pass out for the next fifteen hours…”
“Hmm… yeah, I could definitely go for a nap right now…” Noctis muttered, the urge to collapse on the couch in front of him growing ever stronger.
“Speaking of which,” The blonde started, “You were out pretty early this morning… what kind of citadel stuff did you get roped into that you had to wake up so early on a Sunday?”
“Oh nothing,” Noct replied coolly. “Just had to run out and set some things straight.” He finished as he winked at the skinny photographer who had been nodding along with the information uncommittedly. Then, after quick pause, something finally seemed to click in his brain and he was instantly alert and sitting straight up next to the other male.
“You don’t mean…” Prompto breathed slowly, but he couldn’t miss the undeniable grin that had now plastered itself across his best friend’s face. “You- but the guys… Noctttttt, you didn’t-”
“Oh, but I did.” The prince gleamed, and then added when he realized the anxious look on the other’s features, “And before you start freaking out, I did bring Ignis and Gladio with me to make sure that I didn’t maim them that much.”
“Nocttttt,” The blonde repeated, “Seriously though... you really didn’t have to do that.” he finished much quieter than he had started, wondering if Noct had even heard him; but that question was answered just as quickly, when the prince responded a moment later.
“You dummy…” He chuckled as he brought his one hand down on Prompto’s head to tousle the blonde’s fluffy locks. “Of course, I did. Whether you know it or not, you’re really important to me and I’m sure as hell not just going to let those bastards go scot-free after hurting you like that… oh, and I can happily report that you will never have to worry about those dumbasses bothering you at school or really anywhere else ever again.”
At this particular revelation, Prom found himself staring intimately down at his hands, unable to look Noct in the eye. It wasn’t like this was exactly all that ground-breaking or earthshattering news, but the fact that Noct went through so much trouble just because of him? It just wasn’t a thing that he was all that familiar with… but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t incredibly thankful.
“Yeah… well, uh- thanks Noct...” Prompto managed to smile as finally forced himself to look up and meet the prince’s almost glowing and mesmerizing blue eyes. “Thanks a lot.”
“It was my pleasure.” Noctis grinned madly as his eyes slowly started to wander over towards the game’s pause screen on the TV. “Now, how about we put our Sunday to good use and do nothing for the rest of the day but play video games? We could make it interesting and see who is able to complete the most assassin contracts… and winner gets to pick where we eat for dinner?” The prince finished, a sly smile planted firmly on his face, knowing exactly where they would be going when he won.
“Dude, you are so on.” Prompto laughed. “I can’t wait to pick where we eat tonight…! I’m definitely in the mood for some of that seriously amazing pizza from the new place that just opened up down the street from here…”
“What makes you so sure you’re going to win?” Noct replied quickly with a slight prod to the blonde’s midsection with his elbow.
“Well it was just my birthday, so that has to count for something, right?” The blonde chuckled lightly.
“Guess I can’t argue with that logic…” The prince smiled a big genuine smile, “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you win without a fight...” He laughed.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Prompto breathed, his smile wide as he proceeded to un-pause the game and show Noct who the real king of assassins was around here.