Chapter Text
On the way there, Nisus had found a million things to complain about.
The journey wasn't as short as he'd liked it. He was still protesting the idea that he was some long dead prince, and the uniform Aranea had given him hadn't quite fit right; being a little too baggy in some places, and tight and uncomfortable in others, it fit him, but just about.
Granted, it worked well - they'd managed to get here with little to no hassle.
'Here' was a Niflheim airbase, red and white lining the areas that weren't just a skeleton of metal. Overhead, there was an almost constant thrum of noise and the ever so slight shifting and rumbling under his boots did nothing to settle him.
If it weren't so ominous in all its grandeur, the likes of which he'd never really encountered before, he'd almost consider it somewhat spectacular.
That said, the journey there wasn't all unpleasant.
He'd gotten to talking a little more with Prompto on the way. He was eager to talk and Nisus was just as eager to listen. He talked about Aranea, to her disdain, and his life in the empire, and he mentioned little facts here and there about the Lucian royals, as if it might jog something long dormant in Nisus' cracked mind.
It didn't.
He wasn't quite sure still how he felt about that - the strange notion that he was this lost royal and that somehow, in some feat too good to be true, Prompto and Aranea had recognised him.
It'd happened so fast that he hadn't really processed it.
Even now, as they sat in the airbase, Nisus hadn't really explored it, choosing not to indulge a fantasy that couldn't be true. The idea that some semblance of family awaited him out there had long since haunted him until he’d closed the door shut on it - it wasn't worth thinking about, lest it give him some sort of headache.
So when Prompto excused himself to 'check in on the tech and see what Aranea was doing', with an extra instruction for Nisus to 'stay put and he'll be right back', Nisus immediately stood, choosing instead to wander for a little. It was going to be his last time in a place like this, and he wanted to take some mental snapshots.
It was then that, maybe in his haste, he bumped sideways into someone, steadying his balance as he was knocked back a step.
"Hey-!" He began, gathering himself enough to bring his attention to the stranger he'd nearly thrown himself into. It seemed like he was making a habit of this. "Sorry-! I was walking too fast, I didn't see where I was going,"
The stranger turned slowly on his heel, taking a long, steady look down upon the foot soldier.
"My, my, I didn't realise the Commodore took such a relaxed approach to her training," He let a slow smile grow across his face, and Nisus’ stomach twisted.
Ardyn had no reason to concern himself with the infantry that the Emperor allowed to still run about. Immortality had taught him that his energy was best served for his own gains. He had intended no more than to intimidate the young soldier enough that he may remind his comrades to be more mindful of who was around them, but that changed when he got a proper look at who stood there.
Well, maybe Ardyn could make time for foot soldiers after all, if this was who Aranea intended to keep in her ranks. It appeared someone was up to no good.
Of course he had known the young prince had survived - Ardyn wouldn't have accepted anything short of seeing the body itself.
But the boy knew nothing, not even his own name, and so was worthless.
But, now that others had cottoned on, it appeared that Aranea was making the rather foolish move to try and reunite Prince Noctis with his homeland - she could have made a very comfortable life for herself and her little MT pet if she had just handed him over.
And she clearly knew what she was doing, because she had done an almost impressive job of hiding the boy. If she had been a little smarter about it, she may even have slipped out of Niflheim unnoticed.
A shame, really, but Ardyn did enjoy a good chase.
"Tell me, young man. What could our Miss Highwind be up to that she's bringing a small entourage with her? If I recall, she usually takes her trips to Tenebrae alone.” He pressed, voice low in his throat as he looked the would-be prince up and down once more.
"Up to?" Nisus echoed, fighting back his urge to shrink back in the presence of the taller man. It was almost as if he cast a shadow around him, sucking in light like a black hole.
He immediately took a visible dislike to the way the stranger peered through him with eyes ringed with the kind of amber you'd find in a slowly going out fire. Temporarily unassuming, but still dangerous if you went near it.
Instead of backing down, however, he stood still, a kind of ingrained and unintentional stubbornness in the way he held his shoulders up. His eyes narrowed up at him.
"It's an important...mission, sir." He lied, trying to think on his feet. He knew, under no circumstances, could he trust anyone else with what Aranea and Prompto were trying to do. Not whilst they were still in the Empire. "Classified information, I was told."
Ardyn smiled.
The young prince was a terrible liar and had absolutely no poker face to speak of. Still, he was attempting to stand his ground, which was just darling.
Ardyn could kill him now if he wanted, but there was no fun in that.
No, he'd let Aranea think she outsmarted him, and let the prince think he might stand a chance to get home. Killing him when he didn't remember anything meant nothing.
Ardyn was a patient man; he could wait however long he needed to.
"Important, is that what she told you? How odd, I don't remember her being told to go to Tenebrae for anything important. It must be something very sensitive, if only the Commodore knows,"
He raised an eyebrow, staring Noctis down like he could make the young prince simply fizzle out if he stared hard enough. Yes, this was definitely going to be worth the wait.
To bring King Regis hope of his son's survival only to rip it from him once more? That would be the sweetest victory.
"Perhaps, if this is something so important, there should be more of you going, hm? We couldn't risk losing such an important asset now, could we?"
Nisus could recognise a trap when he saw one - living in the empire for this long hadn't taught him nothing, and everything about this man set the hairs on his arms up and he could barely hide the rigidness of his back.
His arms hung at his sides, but they were anything but loose in their lack of movement. His fists clenched, once again resisting the urge to step back away from his threatening presence.
He didn't, but his expression faltered for a just a second under the weight of the other's gaze.
"With all due respect, sir, I think Aranea Highwind can handle herself. We're just extra support."
Watching Prince Noctis reminded Ardyn of a cornered cat; he could practically see the raised hackles.
With no memory of who he was, the prince was hardly a fair fight, and Ardyn wasn't interested in simply winning outright.
He wanted Noctis to work for it. He wanted the Lucians to think there could be a chance that they could triumph. He had waited long enough for that day; Ardyn could manage a little longer, now it finally appeared so close at hand.
"Is that so? What a conflicting report you've been given, I wonder what you will do with yourselves in Tenebrae, if the Commodore is so able to manage this on her own,"
He wandered slowly around the prince, almost like he was inspecting the boy.
"We already have Tenebrae, and I know the Fleurets wouldn't dare risk their homeland over something as trivial as a war. It certainly is a strange path you appear to be taking, but I do assume there is a method in Miss Highwind's madness."
Something about that last part - the mention of the Fleurets, certainly - set off an uncomfortable sensation in Nisus’ gut and a pang in his chest. Whatever it was, it didn't settle in the slightest as the other circled him, as he had seen a bird once do to a weakened mouse.
It didn't end well.
When the red-head had moved back to Nisus' front, he felt his fingers tighten against his palm as he stepped forward, into his space. It was like the sliding of a chess piece across a board.
"No one said anything about a war, sir." He said, far more confidently than he felt. His blue eyes narrowed, looking up into this stranger's face with scrutiny, and a scowl to match. "Who are you?"
Ardyn raised an eyebrow, almost impressed with the sudden burst of confidence the prince seemed to have. So typical of Lucian royalty, to think themselves capable of anything.
It must have been innate to them.
"No, no one has to. Some know better," Ardyn mused, smiling almost maliciously at him. His time would come, and there was something sweet in watching the young man before him, who had no idea how short his life was due to be cut.
He should have stayed in Gralea, where Ardyn may have been tempted to continue his show of mercy.
Prompto, meanwhile, had realised that Nisus was not where he was supposed to be.
Once he had everything set up and had triple checked nothing would break - because like hell could they afford to break down on this, they had to do this journey in one go - he had waved to Aranea that he was going to get Nisus-Noctis, then they could set off.
A part of him was feeling a little confident that maybe they were going to pull this off after all.
That was until he stepped off the airship and realised Nisus-Noctis was not where Prompto had told him to stay.
He did get it - they had been a while, and it was kind of boring in the base, and the guy had probably never seen an Imperial airbase before, but it was still risky and it left a weird sensation in Prompto's gut.
That was amplified when he caught sight of Nisus, and who he was talking to. The weird feeling very quickly turned into Prompto's stomach sinking.
Fuck, the Chancellor . The one person Prompto really didn't want catching wind of this.
Aranea was going to be so pissed.
Prompto rushed over as casually as he could, grabbing the prince by the arm and flashing what he hoped was a charming smile. Maybe he could still salvage this.
"Chancellor Ardyn! What an...unexpected surprise! Uh, sorry to interrupt, sir, but I've been sent by Aranea to collect Nisus here, and, you know, I can't waste her time!" He laughed, but it came out high and shaky. No matter how hard he tried, Prompto always managed to make his unease clear around the Chancellor.
"Come on, let's get on board," He tugged on Nisus' arm, almost in a hurried whisper, before pulling him towards the airship. Prompto gave Ardyn a courteous half-bow before turning, still holding on to Nisus.
And here came the Commodore's favourite pet, the little MT she had decided to adopt in as her own. Ardyn didn't have time for him - Prompto was always uncomfortable enough to ensure Ardyn could get what he needed from him, and with the prince there, no one else really mattered at all.
Still, Ardyn did love a good chase. He would meet Prince Noctis on his own soil, when he could remember who he was. In the meantime, let them think they had won.
"Indeed, the Commodore does always work at her own schedule, doesn't she?" He said to himself, before turning to leave himself when he noticed Noctis still looking at him, looking over his shoulder one last time.
"As for your question, young man, I am simply a man of no importance." He spoke, voice a low rumble in his throat that only he was privy to. In the curvature of his lips was a promise, and one he intended to keep.
He left with that, already planning his next move. Wherever they went, he would always be one step ahead of them.
---
As Prompto pulled him urgently onto the airship, he waited until he had been sufficently dragged by the arm into the control room to speak, looking at Prompto with no small amount of confusion and disbelief.
"What-...?" He started with, glancing over his shoulder and lowering his voice. When he looked back, his brow was furrowed and a tight frown took over his mouth. "What happened?"
He recalled the sensation of the Chancellor's eyes as he paced a languid stride around him. Even now, he felt as if they were being watched.
Mentally, Nisus cursed himself for the way his guard had lowered enough to have his hackles raised by his commandeering presence, enough to forget himself.
He should have recognised him. He should have guessed. Either way, he couldn't help the foreboding sense danger that became a very apparent reality now.
His hand came up to press his palm against his forehead. "Shit, I think I just messed up."
Prompto wasn't exactly sure how to sugarcoat this - the Chancellor knowing what they were doing was the worst case scenario. There was no way he didn't know this was Prince Noctis.
The Empire would soon find out, and it wasn't losing his home that bothered Prompto - Niflheim had no loyalty from him - but rather what was to come. The Emperor had an army that grew larger by the day. He had daemons and technology that was unrivalled by the rest of the world.
Prompto had an airship, Aranea's fighting prowess, a gun and a determination to get this done.
Maybe they could do it, if what he had heard about the magic of the Lucian royals was true, but Nisus remembered nothing. There was no way he would be able to use any magic he may have.
"Yeah it's-...look, it's not ideal, but it's not all on you, okay?" He placed a hand on Nisus' shoulder, giving what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "The Chancellor's a slimy creep at the best of times, he probably would have caught on eventually. We should have just stayed near the ship,"
Still, the storm was about to come. Prompto braced himself.
"Come on, we should tell Nea about this. She'll be mad, but she should know."
As Prompto made to head onwards, Nisus caught his wrist.
There, between his fingers, he could just about see the markings of black ink against Prompto's freckled skin, just peeking above his black gloves.
"Hey," He began, blue eyes lifting to meet Prompto's purple ones. "I, uh..."
They stayed like that for just a few more seconds, Nisus fumbling to word out what he wanted to say, but caught in Prompto's vision for a second, he felt exposed trying to.
"Thanks," He said, finally, wanting it to sound as genuine as he felt it should be, releasing his grip on the blonde's wrist.
Prompto turned to look at Nisus, head tilted slightly as he waited for the other to speak. He looked down for a brief moment to where Nisus' hand was; where part of his barcode had been exposed.
That was a long story and one he didn't want to get into right now, so he was internally thankful that Nisus didn't ask.
"Don't mention it. We're a team now, yeah?" He grinned, giving Nisus a friendly clap on the back.
No one had told Prompto the future king of Lucis would be pretty. It was part of what had made Prompto do a double take in the first place.
But there was time to reflect on that later. Right now, they had to face the wrath of Aranea.
With that, they headed to Aranea's small office-like compartment, the walls feeling far more suffocating around Nisus as they did. Though it was a small mercy to hear Prompto's comforting words, when he walked behind him, watching his back, he couldn't help but wonder if they were sincere.
He hoped they were, but couldn't quite place why.
Nisus shook his head of those thoughts, having to do so quickly as Aranea came into vision.
Pissed would be an understatement for how she'd feel about this, and he braced himself mentally for the oncoming verbal onslaught.
When Prompto walked in, it was with a sheepish smile on his face, the one that told her almost immediately that something was up.
"Hey, Nea? Um...we have a little problem. Uh...the- Ardyn, he was at the base. He saw Nisus." He spat out, grimacing slightly at the end. "We may be having company."
Aranea, however, had known the moment Prompto walked in that they had done something.
She had just assumed he had messed with something on the ship that Aranea would have to go fix. That, she could handle.
But now they were about to have Ardyn riding their asses, looking for the lost prince? Fuck, she'd left them alone for, what, ten minutes?
"Tell me you're fucking with me, right now."
When Prompto said nothing and offered little more than a helpless shrug, Aranea pinched the bridge of her nose and swore under her breath. Gratuitously.
Ardyn would know Prince Noctis a mile away.
"So he's gonna come for us now? Fuck me, what did you do, make small talk with the guy?" She gave Nisus an unimpressed look before standing, heading for the cockpit where her trusted pilots waited. Aranea could count on one hand the number of people she truly trusted, and most of them were on board that airship.
"We need to step on it, now. Chances are he's gonna go for our landing port, so we have to beat him out to Tenebrae. He won't fight us up here; he knows I'm best in the skies. He'll want us when we're tired, and on the ground.
She let the silence hang heavy between them, before pressing on.
“Both of you, I want a constant watch going on. Any sign of any Imperial airships, you tell me right away. Got it?"
Nisus nodded, avoiding Aranea's piercing stare, having followed them where they led. It was the least he could do to be completely compliant - he'd essentially put them out of the frying pan and into the very apparent and dangerous fire.
All for someone they thought he was.
When he considered the eventual disappointment they'd feel, his chest clenched, and once again, he found himself looking to Prompto.
The blonde never seemed to stand still completely. In the short time Nisus had known him, and that time was short indeed, he always seemed to bounce on the balls of his feet, fidgeting restlessly at every opportunity.
He half wondered if it was nervousness borne of being in this situation in the first place, or if that was something he just...did. If that was part of what made Prompto, well, Prompto.
It occurred to him in one stark moment that these two were really willing to risk their necks for him.
Another pang shot through his chest, running his fingers through his bangs and breathing out in one short exhale through his nose. This was getting far bigger than he'd ever prepared for, and he hadn't prepared at all.
Eventually, his arms crossed over his chest and he glanced out of one of the panes of glass nearby.
From here, there was a blanket of white where the clouds rested around them, seemingly immobile and untouched. The sky spanned in front of them endlessly, but it did nothing to settle how suffocated he suddenly felt.
"I need...I need some air," He shook his head, trying hard but falling short in his endeavour to throw away that sensation as it crawled up his arms, making him feel like he was shrinking on the spot. "I'll keep a lookout."
With that, he excused himself simply by pushing past them to exit.
"Hey, wait-" Prompto started, going forward to try and grab Nisus but Aranea pulled him back, shaking her head a little.
So he gave Nisus a few minutes, while he finalised what they were actually going to do with Aranea and her team before she nodded to the door.
"Best make sure he hasn't thrown himself overboard, because I'm not stopping to get him."
That was all the cue Prompto needed.
He wandered a little before he found Nisus slunk against a nearby wall, sitting there with one knee pulled up, his arms folded over it, and slowly sat down next to him.
He looked forward as he heaved a sigh.
"Well, maybe it's not so bad, I mean we still have a head start, and the Fleurets still have some control over Tenebrae, so maybe it won't be so easy for them to get us there,"
At this point he turned, giving Nisus a small smile.
It truly sucked that some people were allowed to wander around being all pretty and shit while Prompto had to be, well, himself.
Nisus didn't look up, though he felt the weight of Prompto's presence next to him as something steady, something grounding. For all he barely knew this guy, him being here was a little comforting.
"Maybe," He echoed, worrying his lower lip between his teeth.
"It'll be okay, dude, you'll see. No one can outsmart ‘Nea, not even creepy old Ardyn," Prompto then laughed a little, putting a hand on Nisus' shoulder. "Oh, man, I can't believe you were stuck on your own with him! He's such a weirdo!"
When Prompto placed his hand on his shoulder, jolting him straight back into being present, Nisus finally glanced up. From here, he could almost count the freckles dotted across the blonde's nose, and he couldn't help the small smile that began to show in light of the other man's laugh.
"At least I don't have to deal with him regularly, like most MTs and higher ups. I almost feel sorry for Aranea," He made a show of grimacing. "He did seem weird, right?"
The entirety of the guilt of their expectations as they fell on Nisus' shoulders abruptly felt, well, lighter. Not gone, but easier as he watched Prompto grin at him.
In that moment, he made a silent promise to himself that he wouldn't allow them to get hurt for him, hurt at all - maybe, somehow, they could make it to Lucis in the end, and Nisus would make sure they never had to fall on their swords for him.
He paused, considering him from beneath long lashes, through the bangs of his hair, before looking down to his hands as his knees were pulled upwards, towards his chest.
"I've...I've never had a friend, y'know. Not one I can remember," He let out a small, dry laugh. "Not a real friend,"
Nisus hesitated, fingers fidgeting against each other. Finally, he looked up again, outwards towards the opposite wall, breathing out.
"Maybe after all of this, we could...be friends,"
Prompto laughed, glad to see Nisus lightening up a bit. Did he still call the guy Nisus, or should he get used to Noctis now? Prompto wasn't sure.
Best not to get on that while he was still down.
"Yeah, she really hates him too. ‘Nea says the only reason she and Ravus actually started talking was because they were bitching about Ardyn. I just try and avoid him as much as I can,"
For good reason - Ardyn just had an uncomfortable presence. He always made cryptic little comments about how easy it would be for Prompto to get taken back to the lab. If he didn't have to be around the Chancellor, he wouldn't.
But his face softened as Nisus talked. Prompto knew a thing or two about being lonely, it just sucked that Nisus was alone as well as not having his memories. That must have been hard for him.
"Hey, who says we have to wait until then? Here," He held out his pinky finger to Nisus, a friendly smile on his face. "Why don't we start being friends now?"
Nisus paused - really paused this time. It was a visible moment where he looked between Prompto's lilac eyes and his hand, mouth opening and closing. He was almost bewildered. Just for a second.
Even with his currently divided mind, he knew he'd remember this.
He'd remember Prompto's warm and genuine smile, and the way he offered it earnestly alongside his pinky finger. He'd remember how he smiled himself, smaller but no longer uncertain as he took Prompto's finger with his.
"Sure," He laughed; a sound that came from high in his throat. "Friends, from now on. No backsies."
And when Nisus leant back, the smile remained the same, and his chest swelled with a spider-web of warmth.
Friends. That, well, he could more than live with.