Chapter Text
“They say every world is connected by one great big sky. So maybe there's somebody up there in all those worlds who's really hurting, and they're waiting for you to help them.”
“Well gee, do you think there's something I could do?”
“Hmm... Maybe they just need you to open your heart and listen.”
– Riku to Sora, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
“Prompto, you're up!”
At the sound of his name being called, Prompto turned to his best friend. Noctis was fighting off a behemoth, and a ferocious one at that. Right away, Prompto knew what his friend wanted him to do. The blonde took aim with his gun, Quicksilver, and fired at the behemoth's weak spot. Outraged, the behemoth turned his attention to Prompto, leaving his back to Noctis. The raven haired male took the opportunity to leap up in the air and summon his blade. He then landed on the behemoth's back and stabbed it until the hilt was buried in its back. Just before the creature fell to the ground, Noctis took his sword and leaped off of its back and landed gracefully a few feet in front of his best friend.
“Nice one Prompto.”
“It's nothing.”
“Hey, you guys alright?” Prompto turned around to see a tall muscly man walking their way.
“Yup!” the blonde responded.
“Nothing we couldn't handle,” replied Noctis.
“Good. There better not be anything you can't handle,” Gladio said with a smirk. Another man came up beside Gladio. He was shorter by a few inches and wore glasses.
“I dare say, you two make quite the team,” said Ignis.
Prompto laughed. “Awww come on Ignis. I think we all make a pretty good team together.”
“You know, he's right,” Noctis mentioned.
“Hey, it's gonna get dark soon. We better figure out where we're going to crash for the night,” Gladio said.
Prompto sighed. “I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe we should set up camp at a nearby haven. I don't think I saw any motels on the way here.”
“Ughhh, camping, really?” complained the prince.
Prompto put his hands up in the air. “Hey man, I'm just saying that it might be hours before we find a motel out here.”
“He does have a point,” piped in Ignis.
“Fine, but I'm sitting shotgun.”
“What?! Why?! I always sit shotgun!”
“Think of it as a punishment for your betrayal against the Prince of Lucis,” Noctis said with an evil smirk.
“Not cool dude,” Prompto glared at Noctis and then made his way toward the Regalia. As he made his way to the car, he noticed something black moving inside the ground. Prompto stopped where he was and watched the black creature move inside the ground toward him and then pop out of the ground right in front of him. The creature was small and black with big yellow circular eyes and two long antennas on the top of its head.
“What the heck is that?” Prompto wondered.
The creature looked up at the blonde and suddenly jumped on top of him.
“Ahhhhhhh! Get off me! Get off!” Prompto yelled.
“Prompto!”
Prompto could hear his best friend's voice but he couldn't see him, for the creature was blocking his view and all he could see was black. He managed to pry the creature off of him and throw it on the ground. He then summoned his gun and shot it. The creature then disintegrated into black smoke.
Prompto put his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. He heard footsteps and felt a hand on his shoulder.
“You okay?” Noctis asked, concern lacing his tone.
“Yeah, I'm good,” Prompto replied.
“What was that?”
“I don't know. Maybe a new type of daemon?”
“Couldn't have been a daemon. It's still daylight outside,” Gladio interjected.
“We should start-” Ignis stopped as he noticed more of the creatures popping out of the ground around them. There was at least ten of them now and they were running towards the group.
“I don't care what these things are. They attack one of you guys, that makes them enemies to me,” Noctis said with rage in his eyes as he summoned his engine blade.
“Good enough reason for me,” Gladio said as he summoned his sword.
“Couldn't have said it better myself,” Ignis agreed as he summoned his daggers.
“Awww, you guys know how to make a girl blush,” Prompto teased.
“Shut up Blondie,” Noctis said in a playful tone.
As soon as Noctis said that, he warp striked one of the creatures down and headed for another. Gladio sliced through them with his sword. Ignis threw daggers at creatures that were approaching from a distance and slashed the ones that came too close. Prompto shot the creatures in the face with Quicksilver and watched as black smoke appeared whenever one was taken down.
As the friends fought, more kept appearing until there were dozens of black creatures heading their way.
“We must retreat Noct! There are too many and more keep coming as we speak!” Ignis exclaimed.
“Right, gotcha! Let's go!” Noctis yelled out and started making his way to the Regalia.
At the prince's words, everyone ran to the car.
Ignis got into the driver's seat and started the car. Gladio took his place in his respective seat. Noctis jumped in the back and Prompto, not wanting to waste more time in going around the car to get to the passenger's seat, jumped in the back seat and landed, sprawled out on Gladio and Noctis.
“Go, go, go!” the blonde yelled and Ignis did just that. He slammed on the gas and drove away from the horde of creatures that was trying to reach them. Prompto got off of his friends and awkwardly tried to sit in the middle seat. It was quite a squeeze but he didn't care at the moment. He turned around and saw the creatures as little black dots in the distance.
With a sigh of relief, Prompto sank down in his seat. “We lost them.”
“Yeah, but what were those things?” asked Noctis.
“Beats me, but they sure are creepy.”
“I suggest that we look into the matter. We may not know what they are, but we can figure out their weakness and perhaps what attracts them,” mentioned Ignis.
“I agree with Iggy. The more we figure out about them, the easier it'll be for us to get rid of them,” said Gladio.
“Alright, but can we like, talk about this tomorrow? I'm way too tired, confused, and uncomfortable to continue this conversation.” Noctis tried to move around in his seat.
“Uncomfortable?” asked his freckled friend.
“Yeah, you're pressing me up against the door. Not to mention, you're in my personal space.”
“Awww, come on. It's not my fault and plus, I thought the whole personal space thing didn't apply to your best buddy.”
“I'll be sure to tell them that when I find a best buddy.” Noctis smirked.
Prompto gasped and put a hand to his heart. “I am hurt!”
From the driver's seat, Ignis chuckled. “Children, please, I am trying to drive.”
“We're not children,” grumbled Noctis.
“Says the one who complains about personal space and vegetables,” Gladio said.
“Hey!”
“Awww, it's alright Noct. I know how to make it all better,” cooed Prompto. He turned to Noctis and hugged him, squeezing him until the raven haired male was grunting.
“Prompto!” complained Noctis.
“Hahaha! You still uncomfortable there buddy?” laughed Prompto.
“Very.”
Noctis eventually managed to get out of Prompto's hold. The prince crossed his arms and pouted.
“Awwwww. Is wittle Noctis gwumpy?” teased Prompto.
“Who are you calling little? Last I checked, I was taller than you,” retorted Noctis.
“Dude, you're taller by like, an inch.”
“It's still an inch of height I've got on you.”
Now it was Prompto's turn to cross his arms and pout. “Shut up.”
Noctis laughed at his friend's behavior.
Ignis shook his head. “Like I said, children.”
They had arrived safely at a haven that was only a few miles away from their previous destination. Ignis had cooked up a meal that, luckily for Noctis, did not contain any sort of vegetables. They ate and talked around the campfire and even had a cup of ebony at the end.
As it got late, Ignis, Gladio, and Noctis began making their way into the tent to go to sleep.
“You coming Prom?” Noctis asked, for his blonde friend was still standing at the edge of the haven with his camera.
“In a little bit. I wanna get a few shots. It's a beautiful night and I'm not gonna let it go to waste,” responded said blonde.
Noctis chuckled. “Alright, just don't get into any trouble.”
“I'm offended Noct.”
Noctis just laughed and proceeded to make his way to the tent. Once everyone was inside, Prompto held up his camera and took pictures of the night sky. Taking pictures helped Prompto relax and forget about his worries and insecurities. It reminded him that even though he may not have been an amazing fighter or a good strategist, or even the perfect friend, he was at least a decent photographer.
Eventually, Prompto just sat down and stared at the night sky. There were so many stars twinkling. The blonde was amazed that that many stars could even exist.
Out of the corner of his eye, Prompto noticed an unusually bright star. It was bigger and brighter than all the others lighting the night sky.
“Whoah.” Prompto held up his camera and snapped a few shots of the star. “Never seen one shine that much before.”
After a couple of minutes of staring at the star, Prompto noticed that it started to move down toward the earth.
“A shooting star?”
The star was falling through the sky and appeared to be heading toward a spot in the forest near the haven. Intrigued and never one to miss an opportunity at a perfect shot, Prompto ran in the direction that the shooting star was heading in.
After three minutes of running, Prompto stopped at a lake. The shooting star was much closer now. In fact, it was close enough for Prompto to snap a good picture of it.
“Wow. Noct's gonna flip when he sees this.”
As he looked through his camera lens, Prompto saw that the shooting star was extremely close now.
“Huh? I don't remember zooming into it.”
Prompto looked down at his camera and saw that all the settings were just as he had left them. Then, he looked back up at the shooting star and realized that it was actually getting closer to him.
“Oh shit!”
Prompto began to run away from the lake. However, he was only able to run a few feet when he heard a loud splash. Prompto stopped in his tracks and turned around. He didn't see the shooting star falling anymore. He slowly crept towards the lake.
“Could it really have-”
The blonde stopped and looked at the surface of the lake. He shined his light at the water and saw an outline of something, no, someone, sinking to the bottom.
“Oh my gods!”
Prompto took off his vest and boots and dived into the water. Luckily, his light was waterproof so he was able to see underwater better. He swam toward the sinking body. Once he reached the body, he wrapped his arm around the person and pushed with all his might to the surface. With a gasp, Prompto breathed in the cold night air and made sure to keep the person's head above the water. With a few strokes, Prompto reached land and pulled himself and the person onto the soft grass. He lied on the grass for a few seconds before remembering that there was someone else that needed tending to.
The blonde got up and knelt next to the person. It was a boy, a few years younger than he was. He had brown spiky hair and wore a black shirt, black jacket with short sleeves, black finger less gloves, black cargo pants, and black shoes with a hint of yellow. The boy also wore a chain on his neck that had a crown hanging from the bottom.
“Maybe he's some sort of prince?”
Prompto put his hand beneath the boy's nose to check if he was breathing. After a few seconds of not feeling any sort of indication that the boy was breathing, Prompto went into panic mode.
“Okay, okay! Relax. You got this. Gladio taught you all about CPR. You got this.”
Prompto leaned in toward the boy, covered his nose with one hand, and put his lips to his, blowing air into his mouth. After a few breaths, he did a few chest compressions. After no sign of life from the boy, Prompto proceeded to repeat the process of giving air and pushing on his chest. It was after the fifth time of doing this that the boy coughed and spluttered as the water from his lungs came out of his mouth. However, the boy did not open his eyes.
“Gods, I hoped that didn't count as child molestation.”
Prompto put his hand below the boy's nose again and felt that he was, indeed breathing this time.
The blonde sighed in relief. “At least he's breathing.”
Prompto put on his boots and draped his vest over the boy's body. Then, he carried the boy bridal style back to the haven.
“Guys! A little help here!” Prompto yelled out as he reached the haven.
Ignis was the first to run out of the tent. Gladio followed closely behind him and as usual, Noctis was the last one to make his way out of the tent.
“There better be a good reason as to why-” Noctis stopped his complaint as he saw the unconscious boy in Prompto's arms.
“Lay him near the fire Prompto! I'll retrieve blankets from inside!” commanded Ignis.
Prompto carefully lied the boy down near the fire. He didn't take his vest though. He thought that maybe if he left it on him, it might somehow help him wake up faster. It was a silly thought but right now, Prompto would believe anything to make sure this boy would be okay.
“What happened?” asked Gladio. At this point, Ignis was returning with many blankets in his arms and began to cover the boy in them. Noctis just stood next to Prompto, who was kneeling beside the boy, staring at the unconscious teen.
“I – I don't know. I was just taking pictures when I spotted this shooting star. I followed it to a lake until it crashed in the water. I looked in the lake only to realize that he was the shooting star. I jumped in and was able to resuscitate him and bring him back here,” responded Prompto.
“You did good kid,” Gladio said and patted him on the back. Ignis handed Prompto a blanket. The blonde accepted it with thanks and covered himself with it.
“Will he be alright?” Prompto asked.
“He should be. As long as we keep him warm and make sure he's breathing, he should be awake by tomorrow,” answered Ignis.
Prompto nodded at Ignis' answer.
It was Noctis' turn to speak. “Who is he?”
Prompto looked at the unconscious boy's face. After a minute of silence, he answered Noctis' question.
“Sora. This is Sora.”