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Prompto didn’t know how long he had been passed out. Counting chocobos in his head had been working until he reached two thousand. The he had been cold, so so cold, and he figured that he had finally died. Yet a voice in the back of his head simply told him to get up, keep walking, walk faster and with more purpose, back to him, back to his prince. He struggled to get himself off the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he still lay by the train tracks. The train was gone obviously. Sitting up, Prompto groaned as his elbows creaked, his muscles stiff from lying still for so long. A thin layer of snow coated the ground around him, and he shivered. How he wished for a jacket, or the warmth of his friends close by. His gaze fell to the ground and he stared at his shoes. His friends.
Noctis, for some reason, had pushed him off the train. He had run him through the cars, yelling at him and putting an arm to his neck against a wall. His friend had been behaving so strangely, but it all didn’t make sense when Noctis had looked horrified watching Prompto fall. Like he had no idea who he had been attacking. Prompto had stopped Ardyn on the train, about to put a bullet through his sleazy head when Noctis had slashed his gun out of his hand. Clenching his hands into fists, Prompto bit his lip.
Probably more of Ardyn’s tricks, more mysteries they didn’t know.
“Are you… figuring it out, dear boy?”
Spinning around, Prompto became paralyzed with fear almost instantly. The chancellor himself stood there, tossing Prompto’s own gun around in his hands as if it was just a toy. He looked over, a smile breaking across his face. Tossing the gun to Prompto’s feet, Ardyn sighed.
“Your prince was not himself today, was he? Attacking his dearest friend… pushing him off a moving train! Oh, it breaks my heart!” His tone of voice and his smile betrayed his words. He took a step forwards, and Prompto took a step back, ignoring his pistol.
“What do you want, you son of a bitch?” Hissed Prompto, his knees trembling. He was not risking anything right now, especially since he was alone. None of them knew what this guy was capable of, and honestly, Prompto would rather flee before finding out.
“Hmm, how accusatory. I’m just… pushing him in the right direction? Our dear Noctis wants his crystal back, doesn’t he?” Ardyn played with a tassle on one of his thrift store looking clothes, flicking a piece of dirt off to the side. He turned his gaze back to Prompto, and took another step closer. Prompto took a shaky step back.
“Don’t say his name! You’re doing something to him, aren’t you!” The image of Noctis’s enraged face flashed before Prompto’s eyes, and it hurt. It had been directed at him, but also not, but he still didn’t know the full story.
Ardyn leaned down, picking up Prompto’s gun again, looking it over. “I can do some… amazing things, even by Noctis’s standards. Like… lets say I wanted to switch places with someone. Put myself in a different point… of time?” His deep voice practically dripped with glee as he watched the realization on Prompto’s face. Now it all made sense. Noctis hadn’t been yelling or chasing Prompto at all, but Ardyn. It only seemed to make it worse.
Biting his lip, Prompto looked around wildly. He needed to get out of here, he would run all the way to tenebrae if he had to. His heart was beating in his chest, practically ready to explode with all the stress he was feeling right now. Eyeing Ardyn, Prompto decided to make a mad dash for the train tracks. He jumped up onto them, his chest heaving as he sprinted away from the chancellor. Any distance between them would calm his mind down. He just wanted to see Noctis, wanted to tell him everything was okay and that everything was forgiven. Nothing had been either of their faults, they just had to talk it out. He just had to--
Something slammed into his back, sending a painful electrical surge through his body.
Instantly recognizing it as an MT anchor, Prompto spun around, grabbing at the wire to tear it off. Determination surged through him after his previous sprint, and he yanked the MT forwards, giving it a good kick in the neck. The anchor clicked off, but not before two others took its place. MTs were suddenly surrounding him, sending their anchors digging into his skin. Gods it hurt. Prompto felt at least three, and his body weakened significantly in a matter of seconds. He fell to his knees, coughing as he desperately tried to stay conscious. He saw a pair of fancy shoes enter his vision and he looked up.
Ardyn smiled down at him, and knelt on the ground in front of him. He gripped Prompto’s chin, angling it up so they saw eye to eye. Prompto glared viciously, but he couldn’t hide the pained and fearful tremble in his shoulders.
“Oh, Prompto, my boy… You are the best bait I could have ever asked for. If I have you, Noctis will come running to me in no time.” He grinned, squeezing Prompto’s cheeks together.
“He wants the crystal, oh but of course, but you… you are his heart’s desire. I see the way you two look at each other. How delicious.” Ardyn chuckled, and Prompto yanked his face away. Terror was seeping into his limbs, and he suddenly wished Noctis would just run far far away. His safety was more important than anything, but both him and Ardyn knew Noctis would never do such a thing. The prince would have turned around the second he knew of Prompto’s disappearance, or so Prompto secretly hoped.
Ardyn suddenly snapped his fingers, and a Magitek engine seemed to descend from the sky on cue. An MT scooped Prompto over its shoulder, despite his weak kicking and screaming. All of them piled into the flying contraption, most of the MTs going to their small storage seats, with shoulder braces clicking over them as they shut down. Ardyn grabbed Prompto from his MT escort, and roughly slammed him down into one of the empty seats. The braces beeped, hissed, and then held him in place. Prompto struggled, amazed at the machine’s grip.
“Ah, a perfect fit. I knew it.” Ardyn smiled, patting Prompto on the head.
“Get if off! Let me go!” Growled Prompto, though knowing no matter how angry he looked, he probably seemed like baby chocobo in front of a hungry behemoth. What Ardyn just said had sent a chill down his spine and he glanced down at his wrist. It was nothing.
“Now, now, my dear boy, we have a few hours until we reach the capital, maybe you should take a little nap. You’ve had such a hard day.” Said Ardyn, and Prompto instantly saw darkness.
======
Again he woke up cold. This time it was noisy, with the sound of steam and beeps and hissing and metal sliding against metal. Prompto opened his eyes, noticing how dark this side of the room was. He was in a cage, red lights above and next to him. As he slid his body towards the corner, hands popped through the bars behind him, grabbing at his arms and head. Crying out in alarm, Prompto spun around, inching towards the center of the cage. The hands had belonged to an MT, but it looked strange, almost feral. It hissed at him, and almost seemed to speak in a guttural voice. Breathing hard, Prompto looked around him. A lifeless MT was on the other side of him, but across the room were more cages, more red lit eyes of the rogue MTs.
“What… is this place… What’s going on?” Mumbled Prompto to noone, hoping a kind voice would call back out of the darkness. Instead he heard footsteps approaching the open door to the room, and waited in a hopeful silence. His mood fell when he saw Ardyn, who looked pleased to see him awake.
“Did you have a good nap, my boy? Lovely room isn't it? I had to give Noctis’s beloved simply the best.” He waltzed right up the the bars of Prompto’s cage, and Prompto shrunk back nervously. Ardyn pressed a button, and the doors of the cage opened, but thankfully only the one of Prompto’s.
“Let’s walk a bit, I have a lot to show you. How exciting, I do love giving tours!”
Beckoning Prompto to follow, Ardyn made his way to the main door, turning around to give Prompto time to catch up. Struggling to his feet, Prompto could feel the bruises on his back and chest from the anchors, but his entire body was sore otherwise. Seems like they just dropped him on the metal floor of the cage and left him.
Ardyn was tapping his feet impatiently by the time Prompto steadied himself enough to follow. “Come along, Prompto! Lots to do with you!” Ardyn seemed overly chipper.
“That only makes me want to stay behind… Probably safer in the cage…” Grumbled Prompto, massaging one of his shoulders. His entire body was probably black and blue.
“Tsk, tsk, can’t have that. The MTs might gobble you up! They are known to kill their own kind, mind you!” Said the chancellor with a sneer, watching Prompto’s face pale.
“What are you talking about...?”
They walked past more rooms, all full of cages and machines and beeps and hissing and red eyes glaring back at them, ready to pounce and maul and mar.
“Didn’t you ever wonder? About what you think is a silly little birthmark? Too perfect to simply be a blemish?” Ardyn’s voice was like tar oozing into Prompto’s skin.
A room with prison cells going down down down, a light was lit in the last cell. The smell of death hung faintly in the air.
“It looks like nothing… my parents said it was just something from the hospital.” Prompto got defensive, and stopped walking. No way was he going down through here, it screamed “bad”.
“Oh, your ‘parents’... I know you don’t see them too often. Do you even see them anymore? Probably not… Can’t be bothered to look at you.” Ardyn paced in front of him, eyes boring into Prompto’s own. Feeling his fingers tremble, Prompto averted his gaze. He should never have followed Ardyn, it was all a trap to begin with, there was no escape now.
“They probably couldn't bear looking at something that isn’t their son, let alone completely… human.”
There was the feeling of cold water, freezing in his heart, spreading through his veins, stopping the breath in his throat. He gulped, and felt his whole body shake.
Prompto heard metal sliding against the floor, and spun around. An MT jumped at him from one of the side rooms, toppling him to the ground. It gripped at his arms, squeezing. It was so painful, but he couldn’t do anything but fight back. Prompto attempted to summon a weapon, but nothing came to be. Panicking, he kicked the MT off, seeing its red, electrical heart crackle and suddenly die out. It slumped to the floor, lifeless. He heard Ardyn click his tongue in annoyance.
“I’m sure it's so disappointing to know that all your life you've been a lie, isn't it?” Ardyn continued to the last cell, ushering Prompto along with him. Prompto spied a contraption, used to hold someone up to torture, and instantly shied away, knowing full well the outcome of something like this situation.
“I’m not a lie… I’m me, and Noctis of all people knows that. You're not gonna change anything.” Prompto turned towards Ardyn, staring him down. He gripped at his wrist, knowing full well the barcode mark was too perfect to be anything but man-made. It irked him to think about. And with Ardyn hinting at… all of this… it was making Prompto want to throw up. All of this closed space, these dark rooms, the ominous air everywhere, the pain all over… it was nauseating.
“Did you know… MTs came to be as babes… in this very facility?” Ardyn went over to the cruel looking clamps, undoing them slowly as he talked.
“Imprinted with serial codes… and incubated until they were strong enough to fight. And to think, you and your dear friends have been killing them all this time…”
“Stop…” Prompto’s head spun wildly, and he could feel his nails dig into the skin of his wrist. He fiddled with his leather bracelets, glancing down at the mark on his skin. A barcode, perfectly etched, reading a number combination. He felt the small amount of food in his stomach start to make its way up, but coughed it down. Best to keep Ignis’s meal in him, especially if it was his last. No no no, he couldn’t think like that… Still, he could barely breathe.
“My dear, dear Prompto… I’ve practically laid it all out for you. About what you are.”
Looking up, Prompto stared at Ardyn, who simply gave him a truly sinister smile. All the clasps were open and Ardyn stood by it, as if inviting Prompto in.
“You’re lying…” Stepping away from the chancellor, Prompto said it to also reassure himself. He always knew something was wrong, but to think this was that something.
With alarming swiftness, Ardyn grabbed Prompto’s shirt collar, tugging him forwards. His eyes narrowed amusedly as Prompto struggled with a gasp, and his hand snaked around Prompto’s neck. He lifted him slightly, then spun around, slamming Prompto onto the device. Before Prompto could think, his wrists were bound and the metal cuffed itself around his chest and waist. He could barely move, and the metal dug at his wrists. Feeling tears start to well up in his eyes, he kicked his feet, desperate to be free. Being bound like this was terrible terrible terrible--
Ardyn circled around him, letting out a chuckle. “Now, all strung up, ready for the prince to see you like a trophy and come save you. A lovely picture if I say so myself.” He took Prompto’s camera from his own pocket, snapping a picture of Prompto. Flinching, Prompto stared at the camera, crestfallen. Wouldn’t want to touch that again after this.
“Alright, now to get down to business.” Ardyn set the camera on a nearby table, and now held what seemed to be a small scanner. He turned it over in his hands, then returned his cold gaze to Prompto. “You were taken quite early, if I remember. A woman absconded with you man years ago, to give just one of you a better life. We dealt with her unfortunately…”
He flipped a switch on the side of the scanner, and a green light lit up.
“And you… were never able to be processed like aaaaall the rest. A shame.”
“Glad I wasn’t… now I get to punch you in the face when Noct comes back…” Snarled Prompto though his fear, stalling for time if anything. He believed Noctis would be here. Not soon, but he would be here. Ardyn snickered, and he gripped the scanner in a hand.
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that, dear Prompto.”
“Noct’ll save me! Shut your mouth! He’s not a sleazeball like you!”
A pain erupted on his head, and Prompto realized after a minute to let his head stop spinning, that Ardyn had hit him. In his free hand was what looked like a wrench, probably something he had picked up in the room. Mixed with sweat, Prompto felt something new drip down the side of his face; blood. Hanging his head and coughing, Prompto breathed slowly and shakily.
“Hold your tongue, boy. Like you have any right to raise your voice at me, you little nothing.”
Now Ardyn was showing his true, sadistic colors, and the panic set in Prompto again. This man was not hesitant to harm him, but wouldn’t kill him. Yet. Spitting blood onto the floor, Prompto wheezed, “If I’m a nothing… why’d you single me out for a kidnapping?”
Another sneer on Ardyn’s face, and Prompto instantly regretted his question. The chancellor wouldn’t sugarcoat anything.
“The prince… loves you. Especially you. Oh, of course he cares about the others, and Luna. But you, dear Prompto… he loves you unconditionally and with everything he has. Perfect bait.”
As he said this, he reached up, snapping the bracelets off of Prompto’s wrist, so the barcode was showing. Wincing at the sight, Prompto tried to wrestle his hand away. Of course that wouldn’t work, he was bound too tightly. Ardyn took the scanner near the barcode, pressed a button, and ran its light along it. Looking at the information on the scanner’s screen, he smiled to himself and nodded.
“Oho, we can salvage you yet, it seems. What a nice surprise!”
“What do you--” Started Prompto, but felt something inside him squeeze as Ardyn pressed another button. His chest felt tight, and his lungs burned. Sweat dripped down his brow and his eyes flamed with tears and a pain behind them. His whole body seemed to quake as he let out sobs from the pain, while Ardyn leaned against the wall to watch.
Prompto could tell that something moved inside him, as if his organs had moved. Something in his chest pulsed next to his human heart, and it buzzed with an unknown energy. Clenching and unclenching his hands, Prompto tried to deal with the unexplainable pain, but his whole body was on fire. Mind was swimming with thoughts and images, of sounds he didn't know, people he didn’t know, thoughts that weren’t his own.
“Hmm, I guess that’s the most we can do with you. Once your eyes change we’ll know if you can follow orders.” Ardyn mused, arms folded as he leaned to look at Prompto’s pained face.
“Wh… what the hell are you talking about…?” Gasped Prompto, blinking his eyes rapidly.
“You’re quite the special MT… I wonder how I can make use of you?”
Ardyn gripped Prompto’s chin again, making him look up. The other man looked simply awful, a disgusting looking grin plastered across his face. He watched Prompto more, then raised his eyebrows has a particularly painful burn in his head made Prompto sob.
“There we go.” Dropping Prompto’s face, Ardyn pulled a small hand mirror from his pocket. He shoved it forwards so Prompto could see his face, and Prompto lost his breath.
He looked tired, and pain was clearly evident all over his face. His eyes were red from crying, a nasty bruise and cut on one side of his face, and he could see bruises and marks on his arms. Most alarming, were the red shine coming from his once-indigo eyes. Unable to stop the scream from coming out of his mouth, Prompto closed his eyes and averted his gaze. Ardyn seemed pleased with the result, putting the mirror back in his pocket.
“Now, Prompto… I have something to ask of you.”
“Shut up! I’ll… I’m gonna hit you so damn hard once I’m out of here!” Roared Prompto, anger and fear and shock all mixed together. His eyes reminded him on the MTs in the cages, of the rouge axemen prowling the halls and their screams and hisses and--
Another hard slap, and Prompto’s brain rattled.
“You will listen to me.”
This tone was that of an order, and Prompto felt his head tilt towards Ardyn’s voice. A sudden calm washed over him, but his heart still fluttered with horror; at his change in appearance and the way he was abruptly listening to what this man wanted of him.
“Once Noctis is here, you need to incapacitate him, and bring him to me.”
======
Noctis, with his two retainers, dashed through the keep. They checked any and all rooms they found, desperate to find their last companion. Noctis was particularly panicked, and Gladio and Ignis were doing their best to calm his rattled nerves.
“Noct, he’s gonna be ok, I’m sure of it.” Gladio would rub the prince’s shoulder, his own eyes betraying his worry.
“He’s right, best save all of this energy getting to Prompto and getting safely out of here.” Added Ignis, his voice firm and calm.
Glancing at his trusted friends, Noctis nodded. Prompto would be alright, he had to be. Or else.
They came to a long hallways of prison cells, a bright light at the far end seeming to give them an arrow pointing in that direction. Noctis ran down the hall, making sure to look around for daemons along the way. As he approached the last cell, he noticed a figure hanging from a crude looking device. Blond hair was striking against the dark wall. Prompto--
Skidding to a halt in front of him, the three fussed over the injured looking man, figuring out how to get him off out of the restraints. It was nif-made, obviously, and it seemed all the parts connected to one another, leaving only one button to detach it all. Gladio managed to find and pull a lever, leaving Prompto to tumble out of it onto his knees. His breath was heavy and his arms shook as he tried to keep his body up. He didn’t say anything.
“Are you hurt? How are you feeling?” Ignis pressed, reaching out a hand to touch the marks all over Prompto’s arms. He stopped, hearing Prompto start sobbing, and looked to Noctis.
“Prompto… Prompto we got you, you’re okay now, calm down.” Pleaded Noctis, desperate to see smile on his friend’s face, to let him know everything was okay. At the sound of Noctis’s voice, Prompto froze, and slowly looked up.
Gasping softly, Noctis saw the red glow of his eyes, and resisted the urge to back away. Something was wrong, very wrong, but what exactly he couldn’t tell. Reaching out a hand, Noctis placed it on Prompto’s shoulder, starting to speak.
“No--!” Prompto hissed through clenched teeth, and suddenly shot up, hands gripping Noctis’s throat in a vice-like grip. He sat atop the prince, pressing his into the ground with wide, bloodshot eyes as he strangled the young man under him. Prompto couldn’t tell what was going on, all he heard in his head was Ardyn’s order, all he saw what a target etched into his brain.
Prince of Lucis, incapacitate, bring to chancellor alive, orders absolute--
He sobbed, knowing who it was he was strangling but unable to do anything about it. He heard Noctis’s gasps for air, saw him struggling and not wanting to hurt, felt his pulse.
Gladio was suddenly there, dragging Prompto away from Noctis and throwing him. He advanced on Prompto, grabbing at his arms and pinning them there. Ignis went over to Noct, rubbing at his back, looking positively shocked. He couldn’t see but the sounds of a sudden struggle had probably been what he had least expected.
“What the hell’re you doin’, Prompto! That’s Noct you were suffocating!” Roared Gladio, shaking Prompto softly, who only gasped for air. So many thoughts swimming in his head; Ardyn’s face smiling at him, MTs exploding, mechanical arms laying on the floor, gathering dust.
“Gladio… Gladio stop, something’s wrong with him!” Came Noctis’s voice, and the prince stood up with a wobble. Him and Prompto locked gazes, and Prompto surged towards him, seeming hellbent on getting his hands around his neck again. Despite what his body wanted to do, Prompto was still amazed his own voice was coming from his mouth.
“You can’t come any closer, Noct! I’m… I’m not right! I can’t… think!” He clutched at his own chest as it burned again, and narrowed his eyes as Noctis still came over to him. Gladio continued to hold Prompto down, seeming to struggle with the effort.
“What’s wrong? Tell me!” Noctis asked frantically, eyes filled with worry. He reached to hold one of Prompto’s hands, squeezing it tightly. Ignis came beside Noctis, a hand on his shoulder in case he had to yank him back away from Prompto’s grip.
“Ardyn… Ardyn Ardyn Ardyn…” Gasped Prompto, mind blurring. Was Ardyn bad? Was he good? Should he listen to him or disobey? But disobeying meant nothing good, so he had to obey he had to do as he was ordered--
“Is he controlling you?” Came Gladio’s voice, rough and familiar. Prompto nodded quickly, fingers twitching towards Noctis.
“Was it a device? Is it nearby?” Ignis didn’t bother to look around, but he titled his head around the room, listening for a machine anywhere. Prompto shook his head but also nodded.
Noctis suddenly reached forwards, grabbing at the sides of Prompto’s face. He made them look at each other, and Noctis saw the tears still running down Prompto’s cheeks. His heart broke to see this, but Noctis wanted to do anything to help.
“It’s okay. I’m here. What do you need to do?”
“I’m not doing it. I won’t. Not you, not any of you.”
“It might help.”
“It won’t!”
Biting his lip, Noctis pushed Gladio away and wrapped his arms around Prompto, embracing him. The other man instantly gripped at Noctis, eyes darting around. Gladio nor Ignis moved, trusting something to happen. The scanner lay on the table, and while half of him didn’t recognize it, the more stable part of him identified it as what had started his change, Prompto also spied the wrench that Ardyn had hit him with and with the last ounce of mental willpower, he grabbed it. Gladio immediately tensed, ready with a clenched fist.
As quickly as he had grabbed it, Prompto smashed the wrench on the scanner, and as it cracked and spluttered, he felt something in his break break. Ardyn’ order was replaced with guilt, the foreign thoughts vanished, his body stopped burning.
Breathing heavily, Prompto collapsed the the floor, feeling the cool concrete on his cheek. Noctis reached out to him, calling his name worriedly. Looking at his prince, Prompto’s eyes fluttered closed in seconds.
======
This time when Prompto woke up, it was soft, and something warm clasped at his hand. Opening his eyes, his groggy brain registered what looked like a resting room, a few soft beds providing some kind of comfort. Blinking, he stared at the ceiling, then to his warm hand. Noctis slept by him, hand gripping at Prompto’s, like he would vanish in a moment. The gesture was comforting and accepted, and he squeezed the prince’s hand back.
Noctis instantly woke up, and Prompto remarked to himself about how that was the fastest he’d seen Noctis wake up.
“Prompto, are you alright?” Inquired the prince, blue eyes looking tired.
Bringing Noctis’s hand to his face, Prompto took in the familiar smell that was Noctis; of soap and sweat and a faint scent of gysahl greens. “I am now…” He whispered, wish this would last longer. Noctis smiled, cupping Prompto’s cheek with a free hand. They sat like this for another minute, until Prompto looked away.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered, still seeing marks on Noctis’s neck.
“I was the one that got you in this mess. I should be apologizing.” Noctis murmured, running a finger lightly over a bruise on Prompto’s arm.
“Ardyn ordered me to bring you to him.”
“I guessed as much.”
“Do you think i’ll try again?”
“No. If it does happen again I’ll just kill him.”
Noctis sounded so sure of himself, Prompto couldn’t help but chuckle. Hearing that lifted Noctis’s spirits considerably, and he leaned forward to give Prompto’s cheek a soft kiss. Prompto leaned in to the prince, a smile curving at his lips. He was suddenly tired again, holding Noctis’s hand close to his chest as he drifted into a nap. Sleep came easy as Noctis ran a finger through his hair, and he was free from nightmares if just for now.