Chapter Text
Flowers.
That’s what brushed against Nisus’ hand as he walked, fingers outstretched against them.
It’s what spanned out in front of him for what seemed like a never-ending blanket of blue, like an untouched ocean of petals. As he walked, they shifted around his presence, as if he were a ghost in this world.
When Nisus tried to put a name to them, it rested on his tongue but remained unspoken - he could never place them.
As he walked, beneath a sky that never changed, the scenery around him shifted in small flickering motions, like static on a radio, or the image on a broken tv. In his peripheral vision, he thought he saw the ghosts of people, but when his head turned sharply to see, they dispersed just as quickly.
The echo of giggles surrounded him, and in front, he saw the image of a small girl, her blonde hair waving in a breeze he couldn’t feel. Her lips moved, calling his name, but the way her mouth phrased it didn’t seem quite right.
The giggles turned into a scream, and as soon as his hand outstretched to her, he felt all the air rush out of his lungs and the floor sank beneath his feet.
---
He awoke with the kind of jolt you only felt when you plummeted downwards, practically shooting up into an upright position.
His hand pressed to his chest, resting over where his heart beat hard against his ribs.
It wasn’t always a field of flowers with a girl. Sometimes, he saw a city as beautiful as it was untouchable, far away and ringing with the echoes of voices he couldn’t remember but knew he had known once.
“Gods,” He huffed, letting his eyes remain squeezed shut as he caught his breath. Letting out a small ‘ugh’ as he swung his legs out of his bed, prying himself from the warmth of his blankets, he stretched his back out.
It twung with a small degree of pain, as per his usual morning routine, and he blinked the sleep out of his vision as he stepped out of the small box-like room to his bathroom.
When he caught sight of himself in the cracked mirror over the sink, there was familiarity in the tiredness apparent in his blue eyes and tenseness in the way he held his shoulders. He lifted a hand to try to smooth down some of the parts of his hair that stuck up from tossing and turning in the night, sighing momentarily when it remained the same, before reaching for his toothbrush.
When he’d finally gotten himself at least moderately presentable, he pushed out through his front door, pulling a small hat over his head as he did.
Another long day ahead, in a series of never ending long days.
---
Walking through the shadows cast by the overhead morning sun, he passed through the streets as quietly as he could, pushing through and against a crowd that never seemed to thin.
The aim for the day? Find some food, use the last of his money in doing so, and then find more.
It was a simple plan, but Nisus had found that keeping them simple had kept him as alive as a person with amnesia and a penchant for going from job to job weekly could in Niflheim.
It all went out of the window when he caught sight of blonde hair, a few feet ahead of him, sunlight catching off it in one clear glimmer.
It was like the gleam had caught his eye too hard - all he saw was white for a second, and the moving lips of a young girl.
“Lu-!” He began, and before he could catch himself, he’d grabbed the back of this poor person’s shirt.
The memory had gone, but had left him standing here in the middle of a street, with his fingers clutched around some guy’s shirt and his eyes wide.
Before Prompto had turned, he hadn't really had a plan for the day - the Emperor was getting more and more unhinged with every passing day and Prompto had gladly left dealing with him to Aranea.
So he had decided to take a rare opportunity to wander around the city, mostly to get an idea of how things were (or rather, how bad they were getting) and reporting it back to Aranea, who was about the only person in power who seemed to actually give a shit about the people under Imperial control.
And things were getting bad.
What had once been a bustling and growing city boosted by Niflheim's technology was now a desolate hellscape, with anything the Emperor didn't deem useful to his war being left to fall into disrepair.
Sure, he and Aranea did their best, but they were only two people and the Empire was too big for them to fix alone. The Emperor didn't really stop them, but he made no attempt to help either. All his resources went to Dr. Besithia and his beloved magitek.
Just thinking about them made Prompto shudder.
But, again, he was pulled from his thoughts when he felt someone grab his shirt.
He thought maybe it was another one of the kids on the street looking for food or money; a few of them had come to recognise Prompto, but when he turned, he turned to find a man there, looking as tired as anyone else trying to live in the city.
Prompto really did have it lucky. As Aranea's right-hand man, he could at least be comfortable.
He was, however, startled by the man's features for a moment.
Dark hair was uncommon amongst the Empire, and black was almost unseen, and when he looked up the man had striking blue eyes, and for just a second, Prompto was reminded of the stories of...of...
No way.
Prompto had heard about the Lucian royal line and their power. The Empire had swooped in with a particularly fatal sneak attack and killed them all.
Except there were whispers on the streets that Prince Noctis had survived. Only rumours, he had thought before. No one else really knew, because no one else bothered to listen to the people.
And maybe Prompto was jumping to radical conclusions, but he remembered being told about the Lucian kings, with their midnight hair and eyes like clear waters. He stood out against everyone else so much Prompto wondered how no one else had noticed before.
He...he had to get this back to Aranea. She'd know, right? She was older and wiser and privy to a lot more information. Surely she'd know if Prompto was right on this. And gods, his gut was screaming that he was right.
Nisus pulled back quickly, brow knitted together, prepared to be hauled off, or to at least be schooled in one embarrassing moment on social faux pas.
“Sorry, I’m-...I thought you were someone else,”
"Uh, no worries! But, like...could you come with me for a sec? You're not in trouble, I swear," Prompto held his hands up, trying to offer an easy smile. "I just need to, like, check something? I'll get you lunch for your time."
Yep
, Nisus concluded, wanting to trust the blonde’s seemingly genuine smile more than ever, but knowing otherwise in this godforsaken place.
I’m about to die.
He swallowed thickly, but nodded regardless, and when the guy gestured for him to follow, he did so with little resistance. As he moved forward, his stomach growled.
Either way, it looked like he had little choice on the matter.
---
Fuck, Aranea hated this shit.
The Emperor was more or less batshit at this point, his little scientist buddy had been totally deranged from the start and Aranea really, truly could not stand the Chancellor.
She should have ditched the Empire when she had the chance.
But it was done, for today at least, and her only order was to wait for orders, so at least she could have a moment to breathe. At least they never made her deal with those creepy magitek soldiers. Aranea controlled what was left of Niflheim's human army and she was fine with that.
She couldn't look at the magitek without seeing Prompto's face, and that still left a bad taste in her mouth.
All that went right out the window when Prompto appeared a few hours later, looking somewhere between alarmed and sheepish.
"What the fuck have you done?"
"What makes you think I did anything?!"
"You look guilty. Fess up, shortcake - what are we cleaning up today?"
"Well, I...uh...come meet someone!" Prompto practically bounced on his heels, anxiously.
Aranea heaved a sigh before dragging herself to meet Prompto's new friend. She walked through the hallway, into the dim lighting from a nearby window where it illuminated a man in a hat.
She cocked an eyebrow.
"Great, hi, glad this was the important thing you wanted to show me,"
"No, Aranea, just...look at him. Really look,"
So she did. She scrutinised this guy, working out what exactly Prompto was trying to show her.
At first it didn't click, and then it did, all at once.
The black hair, the blue eyes, the stubborn scowl that could only come from being born of royalty.
For. Fuck's. Sake.
"Prompto, what did you do ."
Nisus, on the other hand, had somehow agreed to come here, having being led by the growl of his empty stomach, the tense fear of what would happen if he somehow caused a scene and didn't agree, and perhaps for the sake of his own curiousity, only to come face to face with one of the last of the people he'd want to see in this place.
His guard immediately came up, lifting a hand to pull the tip of his hat down lower.
"I don't know who you guys think I am, but I'm not sticking around for long," He threw a look to his blonde companion, frown deepening and voice lowering. "You didn't say you were going to bring me to Aranea Highwind ,"
Nisus looked back to her at that moment, folding his arms protectively across his chest. He took a step back.
"What do you want?" He spoke afterwards, uneasy.
Prompto whipped around, before looking back - sometimes he forgot who Aranea really was, or the reputation she had. He waved his hands almost comically, trying to reassure this newcomer.
“Oh no! No this isn’t like, a bad thing, she just kind of...took me in! She won’t hurt you!” He tried to comfort, offering one of those smiles that got him out of magitek duty. This guy really had the wrong idea about Aranea. She really only attacked when provoked. “And it’s fine, Your—I mean, what’s your name? Like, your real name,”
Nisus pressed his lips into a frown. “I-,”
“It’s fine, we know.” Prompto nudged the stranger playfully. He even followed with a wink.
“Yeah, cut the crap,” Aranea stood with her hip cocked to one side, a hand resting on it. If this was who she thought he was, they were in a world of trouble.
They could turn him in, raise their standing with the Emperor, get some status and comfort, but Aranea’s trust in the Empire was fading with every day, and Prompto would absolutely want to do the right thing. Which would mean going to Lucis, undetected, and give up everything they had built here.
“Let’s be real, Prince Noctis. You be real with us, we’ll be real with you.”
"' Prince Noctis '?" Nisus echoed, with no small degree of confusion, before it clicked in one brash moment and he let out a bark of a laugh. "You think I'm royalty? Wow,"
Finally, he shook his head. It wasn't often he encountered this kind of mental mistake, and if he continued to let them think it, it could cost him terribly, when he'd already survived this far.
Maybe this was a set up, all along.
"Now I know you've got the wrong guy," He kept his arms protectively crossed over his chest, standing stock still but prepared for flight, should it become necessary. "Prince Noctis died years ago, everyone knows the last of the bloodline still alive is King Regis. I didn't think empire higher ups were concerned with rumours,"
He shot that last part at Aranea, meeting her steadfast gaze with an unyielding one of his own, before turning his attention back to the blonde. His expression softened, just a little, against his will, almost.
"I'm called Nisus. That's the name I've had for as long as I can remember, and I..." He hesitated, the pause palpable for a second, before continuing. "I don't remember that much. I woke up in a hospital one day, and that's the name they gave me, when I was a kid. It's the name I've had all these years,”
"Wait, you don't remember anything before that? How long ago was that?" Prompto asked, looking both confused and sympathetic for the guy.
For all Prompto had things he wished he could forget, he couldn't imagine having a whole chunk of his life he just didn't know.
Maybe then he'd know to maybe not wind up Aranea. Her words could be just as sharp as her blades.
"But...but...you've got to always have stood out, right? Like, dark hair is a super Lucian thing, and Prince Noctis was just a kid, maybe...I mean, maybe someone did help him--I mean you --escape. It'd make sense, right?" It was hard for Prompto to explain that he just had this intense gut feeling that told him this was definitely the Lucian prince, because this was probably a lot to throw at this guy who just woke up expecting this to be a normal day.
Nisus began to shake his head, but Prompto interrupted once more.
"Look, it's kind of...like I just knew, you know? And then ‘Nea knew too, and she definitely knows more about that than I do, so...yeah. That's why I asked you to come with me. Couldn't just say that out on the street," Prompto laughed slightly sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Rumours come from somewhere, big man. You think they'll take any risk that the prince didn't die?" Aranea pressed on, addressing Nisus’ stare with one of her own.
Sure, usually the big guys didn't handle rumours, but Aranea always kept her ear to the ground and it served her well. She always knew what needed to be nipped in the bud and what could be let go.
"And its pretty fucking convenient that you remember nothing about where you came from. Maybe you're right, but here's the thing, little prince," Aranea sauntered over, hands both firmly on her hips, until she was uncomfortably close in "Nisus"' space. Even if he was royalty, it was time she made it clear now who was calling the shots. Aranea hadn't gotten her reputation by letting little comments go. "I can't tell you the last time I was wrong."
Nisus tensed, looking into Aranea's eyes in one firm stare, though eventually, he faltered.
He definitely wasn't eager to die right now, which led him to his next question:
"What're you going to do to me, under some assumption that I'm someone I'm not? Take me to the Empire?" He took a step back from Aranea, dropping his arms down to his side loosely in surrender. "If they do believe you, what then, huh? They'd kill me, right? Over someone I don't remember being?"
He threw an almost pleading look in Prompto's direction - he seemed at least a little sympathetic, he seemed kinder. If anyone was going to let him plead his case to live, it was him.
"My hair isn't the strangest thing in Niflheim, and I'm telling the truth," He raised his hands up defensively. "I swear,"
Prompto really felt for the guy - he definitely had no idea who he was, and now here they were, with one of the most notorious people in the Emperor's inner circle, declaring him a national enemy.
It must be terrifying, and Prompto had an idea of what that terror felt like.
It must have felt like standing in a row of identical faces, praying Aranea could see the desperation in his eyes as she was told to pick one to be her second-in-command.
Sure, she had Biggs and Wedge, but Aranea preferred them to be out with the actual soldiers, so they could feel like they had a connection to the higher ups.
She did care, really.
"No, look - we'll get this sorted now, no one's going to the Emperor, or the Chancellor, okay? I mean, if you are who you think we are then-..." He turned to look to Aranea, once again pleading with her. "We've gotta get him back, right? We gotta get him back to Lucis before someone else finds out,"
It was the only thing they could do - if someone like the Chancellor did find out, it was game over for Nisus and, now, Prompto and Aranea for not handing him over.
This was giving Aranea a headache, and she rubbed her temples partly to avoid looking at Prompto's puppy eyes.
He was right - Aranea didn't really like the Emperor and she especially disliked the Chancellor. She wasn't exactly in a rush to go kiss their asses and give them this guy, Prince Noctis or not.
But if they did somehow get him back, and he wasn't the prince, it'd be a political nightmare. It would be seen as the Empire making a mockery of the prince's death and right now Lucis was just defending itself - things would get a hell of a lot bloodier if they made an active attack.
They needed someone in the Lucian royal circle. Someone who was close with the prince, who would know him on sight. If Aranea would be able to pick Prompto out of a line-up of MTs, surely someone alive in Lucis would know the prince when they saw him.
Except this guy didn't know shit, so it wasn't like he could tell her who to look for.
"Think about it, shortcake. We try to take what we think is Prince Noctis back to Lucis, we're basically declaring ourselves public enemy number one, no going back."
Not that either of them owed the Empire any real loyalty, but they did have a degree of freedom and security here. It was the devil they knew, and Aranea couldn't guarantee Lucis would give them refuge. Hell, she couldn't guarantee they wouldn't kill on sight.
But Prompto was right on one thing - turning Nisus in wasn't an option. Aranea had been given a gruesome insight into what Dr. Besithia got up to in those labs, and she knew how easy it would be for him to pry the so-thought Prince of Lucis away for what would become a slow, clinical death.
Really, they didn't have a choice. She just needed Prompto to know they were giving up everything for a hunch they happened to share.
"You think there's a way out of Niflheim?" Nisus, however, piped up, pulling her from her musings.
His eyes had brightened for just a moment, taking a step forward carefully.
"Out of the Empire?" He looked between Prompto and Aranea with what appeared to be a conflict between disbelief and, well, hope, before his expression fell with his gaze, glancing down to his open palm as he held it up.
In his mind's eye, he saw the petals of a blue flower sitting there, and when his eyes lifted up to the faraway window, he thought he could see a city in its glass.
He shook his head, resolute in that moment, driven by his temporary thoughts.
"Would you take me?" He pressed his lips into a thin frown. "I can't give you money, or...or any information, but I'll do anything to get out of here," Nisus straightened his back, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. His gaze shifted to meet Prompto's purple and somewhat otherworldly eyes, and once again found himself quietly pleading with him. "If you're not going to hand me in, take me with you,"
Prompto wasn't sure what to tell Nisus - he'd never even left Gralea, never mind Niflheim itself.
The long hand of the Empire stretched out almost across the world; Lucis was the one haven remaining. Prompto was sure people had done it, but they were probably just civilians getting across the border, not someone recognisable if you saw him just right.
"I mean…’Nea's right, it isn't easy. The Chancellor seems to just always know everything, I've never even left the city! I just know...I know you're Prince Noctis, even if you don't remember that. And I know we've gotta get you home." Prompto was looking at Nisus (Noctis? What did he even call this guy?) with such determination, like he was making a promise that he maybe wouldn't be able to keep, but he was damn sure ready to try.
It was a suicide mission, but Prompto couldn't just let this go. It was too important.
"And anyway! There's some hope!" Prompto perked up, looking over to Aranea excitedly. "’Nea, aren't you like...y'know, a thing with Ravus? Maybe he'll help us!"
"Okay, first things first, don't ever call me fucking Ravus 'a thing' ever again," She pointed to Prompto, and anyone else may have been afraid of that, but the blonde didn't even flinch. He just raised his hands in fake surrender, because he was a little shit and far too comfortable around her. "And second, Ravus Nox Fleuret is probably the least helpful person we could think of here. The Emperor just wanted the royals of Lucis out of the way, but Ravus has a personal vendetta. His sister could help, sure, but we can't get to her without going through Ravus,"
She sighed, trying to plan this out. Aranea was good at thinking on her feet, and better at knowing what to do in any situation. It made her formidable and powerful, but this just wasn't what she expected when she woke up this morning.
Maybe Prompto was on to something. Maybe Ravus was a lost cause, but Aranea had half-listened to him enough to know he'd do anything for Lunafreya, and she in turn was very endeared to Prince Noctis.
If they could get to Tenebrae, maybe Lunafreya would be able to help. Or maybe shed some light on this - she could do some oracle crap after all.
Aranea hadn't even realised she'd been pacing while she thought until she turned to the others.
"But you were close to something, shortcake. We don't make a direct beeline to Lucis; it's too obvious. But going to Tenebrae? I go there a lot, no one's gonna think twice about it. When we're there, we're gonna need to get to Lady Lunafreya.
She paused, surveying the two of them.
“Unless one of you two geniuses has something better, that's the plan."
Nisus had remained quiet the entire time, having caught himself looking maybe a little too long at the desperation in Prompto's eyes, the sincerity he hadn't seen here in the Empire before. He hardly knew what it looked like. But here it was.
And here he was.
He could hardly grasp the fact that he was going to do this.
Ever a survivalist, he knew an ‘out’ when it presented itself, and he gathered up all of his mental strength to look to Aranea with something akin to gratitude in his rigid gaze.
"I can't promise you that I'm who you think I am," He pulled his hat back onto his head, where he'd previously pulled it off to fidget it between his hands. "But thanks.”
After a moment of quiet, he turned his attention back to the blonde that had brought him here.
“I can hold up my own in a fight, so don't worry about me lagging behind," Nisus nodded his head at Prompto, a small smile twitching at the corners of his lips. "This is the first time anyone's ever offered to help me,"
Prompto gave Nisus what he hoped was an encouraging smile, knowing that even if they were way off, he could help this guy get somewhere else.
The Empire wasn't known for the care it gave its citizens; it had to be even harder for someone with amnesia. Even if Nisus was just a regular person, he probably stood to have a better life in Lucis than he had now.
"Well, that's good, right? See? ‘Nea's got a plan, you know how to fight, things are already looking pretty good!" He was almost excited, even though this would mean leaving his life behind just for the sake of a feeling.
It was the biggest risk Prompto would ever take, but he had heard about the Lucian capital.
Insomnia, the city that bustled with life at all hours, full of cheer and colour and life. The people actually wanted to be there, and none of them feared the king. It sounded worlds away from the grey and desolate streets Prompto had come to know.
And Aranea had told him about Tenebrae, even if he'd never been himself. Full of greenery and nature - she said that even the air felt different. Maybe this was his chance to finally shake free the final grip the Empire still had over him.
Maybe, in a way, this wasn't all for Prince Noctis. A part of this was for Prompto too.
"I think we can do this! And maybe once you get back to Lucis, you'll start remembering stuff again!"
This, however, was gonna be the stupidest thing Aranea had ever done.
She had settled into something here, even if she had, again, no loyalty to the Empire. Maybe before she would have been able to set herself up again in Lucis, but she'd built a name for herself now and unfortunately that name was associated with Niflheim, regardless of what she actually thought.
If this didn't work, she was fucked.
Prompto could maybe get away with it; he'd never be able to go back to the Empire, but he could maybe go underground, get himself some kind of job and settle down, if the Empire didn't get to him first.
But what else could they do? This was absolutely Prince Noctis - even Aranea couldn't walk away from that, and she caught herself thinking: If any rumour had to be true, why this one?
She was just unprepared, and it wasn't a situation she was used to being in. Even if she had a plan, it was a flimsy one at best.
"Well we may hold you to that. For now, you're gonna need to change. Lucky for you," Aranea started wandering from place to place, trying to piece together something that resembled a uniform. She didn't really have much reason to keep infantry clothes around, but she may just have enough to be convincing. "I don't do that magitek bullshit. We can pull you off as a regular foot soldier."
Once satisfied with what she had, she threw a bundle of clothes at Nisus, already walking out of the room as she spoke.
"Get dressed; Prompto, you're with me. Get what we'll need and what you'll be able to carry - we may need to travel light. I'll get a ship prepared."
Nisus held the uniform in his hands and swallowed what felt like a lump in his throat. As Prompto passed, he caught his gaze once more, and then saw his reflection in the window.
A long time had passed since he’d seem some semblance of hope in the pools of his eyes, in the lines around them, but there it was. In the weirdest circumstances, certainly, it had re-appeared, and a small part of him wanted to hold it and nurture it.
Only a small part.
This was going to be a longer day than he’d thought.