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year 5, quarter 3
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[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] As soon as Prompto was inside, heck, as soon as the doors were open and some of that glorious heat leaked out, Prompto was groaning as though this were his greatest pleasure in life. He quickly stepped inside right behind Noctis and let the doors click shut behind to preserve some of that wonderful, life-giving heat. It didn’t matter that it made his ears and his nose and his fingers stung worse because every part of his body was screaming to stay here and only here forever. Outside was nothing but white death. Inside though? Inside was good. Inside meant life.
Prompto didn’t even look around until Noctis started talking about the place. His eyes were closed in bliss, he realized, and he opened them to see a snow-struck Noctis in front of him, peering around before directing Prompto over to an out of the way booth with a wave of his hand. Prompto followed obediently behind him, not really taking in much of anything. His boots stuck to the floor as he walked, giving a little ’squick squick’ sound as he peeled them away from whatever film of liquid had dried there over the years. The place smelled like old whiskey so maybe it was that? Anyway, it didn’t matter much, because as he slid into the leather booth, a gust of hot air rustled through his frozen hair and he melted into it.
”Oh man…” Prompto leaned forward so he could get right in the heat’s path. ”Have I told you how much I hate the cold? Cause I really, really hate it.”
He was so cold and so relieved by the simple pleasures of a heater that he didn’t think about how ironic it was – him, a Nif, hating the cold where they all lived. He didn’t think about it at all. Not one bit.
”Sorry your friend’s not here,” he said without looking up. He kept his elbows folded on the table, head down. His hair was starting to drip with cold water. Must’ve been the frozen snow stuck in it. He wondered if his hair was frozen solid.
”You think they’ve got cocoa? I don’t even care if it’s got alcohol in it or nothing. But a cup of cocoa…that sounds heavenly.”
Especially dark chocolate cocoa. With whipped cream on top. And some sprinkles. They probably didn’t have sprinkles at a place like this though.
At first, Prompto was so caught up in his own bliss to even know what Noctis was talking about – just that his tone had changed and it was all…serious now. Prompto slowly raised his head and looked at him, frowning for a moment in confusion, before it suddenly hit him exactly what they were doing here. Not just in this bar, but in this whole city. Or the country for that matter. Prompto wouldn’t have touched it with a ten foot pole if it had been up to him.
But it wasn’t. And while he was complaining about the cold, Gladio and Ignis were being forced to live in it.
”Oh. Uh…yeah. One sec.” Prompto sat up straighter, reluctantly pulling himself out of the heater’s path. He ran a hand through his hair and shook the matted snow out of it. Then he did the same for the rest of him, brushing off whatever snow and ice he could before it melted into his clothes and left him wet and shivering.
”I don’t know how much you know. I guess Caius must’ve told you everything I told him. But I met with his contact. Cissnei.” He felt the blood rush to his cheeks at the mention of her. Just the thought of that night got his blood pumping with shame and confusion and other things he didn’t want to mention. But he didn’t think that Noctis would notice. His face was already plenty red as it was, probably. The cold wind tended to do that to somebody with a complexion like his.
He took a deep breath and tried to get his thoughts in order. Getting his thoughts in order was hard.”She said she’d been looking into it already, actually. She knows Ignis, I guess. So…she’s got leads. And she’s got somebody looking into it. She didn’t want to share much right away. She said she’d show me what she came up with when she got it.”
He hoped it was soon. Not only was he impatient to help his friends, but he was impatient to get out of this place. He’d never been good at waiting.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Noctis knew what he meant. That was a relief though it also wasn’t a relief because it meant Noctis had been through everything that Prompto had more or less. He remembered running off to get to the crystal while the others handled the daemons Ardyn kept throwing at them. Funny. They seemed to stop coming after Noctis went off on his own. Which was exactly what Ardyn must have wanted – Noctis on his own. It was enough to make his blood boil, but for the life of him, Prompto couldn’t understand why someone – or something – like Ardyn would care if the rest of them were around or not. It wasn’t like he couldn’t take them all in a fight with one hand behind his back. Cause he was a daemon. Or…something like it. Prompto still couldn’t forget those gleaming yellow eyes, dripping with black ichor that replaced the white sclera.
But now…now wasn’t the time to think about that. It was a really hard time not to think about that, but it wasn’t the time. Because Noctis was still talking. Prompto was supposed to listen when Noctis was talking.
”The crystal…pulled you in?” Prompto asked with only a slight tremble to his voice. Get it together, Prompto. He swallowed, following after Noctis mechanically without really looking around. Some part of his brain told him he was supposed to be looking for something, but the rest of his brain was running at a hundred and twenty percent trying not to think about the thing they were talking about. Plus there was the cold. His ears were starting to hurt real bad like they’d been dunked in scalding water. Except the cold version. Point was, they hurt something terrible and his nose hurt and his eyes were watering and the tips of his fingers were going numb because his gloves didn’t cover his fingers – just his hands and his barcode tattoo.
He’d tried to burn off the barcode tattoo once. Aranea had to stop him. He hated looking at it. He hated other people looking at it more.
Shit, Noctis was talking again. Time to pay attention. It was just like in school when he’d be doodling along on his notebook and then the teacher asked him a question. He had to keep at least half his brain on listening. Even if that was the best he could do right now.
”So uh. After all that, the crystal just took you…here?” That’s what Noctis was getting at, yeah. Which was really weird in its own right except Noctis kept talking and-
”Wait, you met Alex?” For the first time since they’d started talking about all this, Prompto was really and truly jarred out of his own thoughts. He felt his mouth open in surprise. ”Er…Yeah. Totally know him. He helped me out of a tight spot too. And brought me back to Provo. Wanted me to join his guild or whatever which sounds a lot cooler than it is.” That was one way to describe what happened. But how had Alex found Noctis? And right when he was in trouble too? Did he just roam around Sonora looking for that kind of thing or…?
Yeah, no. That was real suspicious alright. Alex liked to save people. Alex was also a real jackass once you got to know him. Prompto still owed him big time, especially if he helped Noctis out of a tight spot, but…
But he couldn’t get past his yellow eyes. Eyes like Ardyn’s. Like a daemon’s. And the way he could lift you up one second and then tear you down the next until you couldn’t help but cry at the worst of times…
Prompto would’ve said more about Alex, but Noctis stopped so fast that Prompto had to stumble to a stop behind him so they didn’t just crash into the snow again. He looked up at Noctis in alarm, but saw his friend was practically beaming. ”Dude! It exists!”
”Huh?” Honestly, with everything they’d been talking about, Prompto had totally forgotten what they were doing here. But then he followed Noctis’ eyes to a place that, just like Noctis had said, was a bit of a hole in the wall, but the sign at the top said “Seventh Heaven” which was exactly what they’d been looking for. ”Oh. Oh yeah! Good call, Noct!”
Moment of truth. What kind of place was “Seventh Heaven?” It didn’t look like the same kind of place where he’d found Cissnei. It was all plain and kinda small, but there were those lights up around the sign that could’ve meant anything.
For a moment, Prompto couldn’t decide between his nerves and the cold. But then the cold won out in a landslide and he rubbed his arms, shivering full force with his teeth chattering and everything. ”Well, let’s get going then! I hope they have hot cocoa. Or hot tea. Or hot…anything!”
Heat. Warmth. Even just being inside would be better than this. Prompto could already feel himself melting.
”You first. Since you know this Tifa girl and all…”
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto’s smile slipped as he kept on rubbing his neck, waiting. He couldn’t look any of them in the eye after he finished laying out his plan. He’d felt so confident in the moment, finally telling them all what he’d come up with like he was the head of a group project in high school or something. And they’d all quietly listened without interrupting or anything which was nice of them but…
But his heart was pounding and he thought his cheeks might have turned red again. He couldn’t stand waiting.
”Yeah, I like it.”
Prompto looked up in surprise. Noctis liked it? He couldn’t help but beam as Noctis went on to add his own thoughts followed by a domino effect of everyone else chipping in. They all liked his plan. It felt like a weight had melted off his shoulders. They had all the information that he knew. They had the base idea he’d come up with. Now he could let them handle the rest.
He didn’t make for a good leader. He didn’t want to be one. That was way too much pressure. But following? He could do that just fine.
Caius and Alex argued about the whole behemoth thing, but he didn’t mind. That wasn’t part of his plan originally anyway, and they could sort everything out however they wanted. Alex was…weird about it all. He wasn’t even totally sure that he liked the plan since he never said so. He just said he wished Prompto was around for…something. Then told them not to kill anybody.
”I mean, yeah. Duh.” Prompto said, rubbing his neck again uncomfortably. He didn’t like killing someone any more than the next guy. In fact, all that long way through Lucis and Altissia and Gralea, they’d just been killing monsters and MTs. Which were…not people.
Not people at all.
The conversation was still going. No time for thoughts like that. He tried to push it away the way he always did, but the mood still stuck and he knew it’d just come back when he was least expecting it. Stupid thoughts. Always breaking out when he told them to stay put.
He hoped Noctis didn’t notice.
It was Noctis that got him to perk up again, or at least the mention of him. Noctis mentioned that he could still use the ring when Ardyn had blocked the rest of his magic which was a good point, but then Alex wanted him to try it. Right here. Prompto sat straight up, giving him a look like he was crazy.
”Hey, no. We don’t need to do that. He shouldn’t use it any more than he has to! Plus, do you know what that thing can do? That’d be totally bad news, right Noctis?”
They’d all traveled across the world to get the ring. They’d had to get the ring. The ring was special. It was something Noctis needed if he was gonna be a king of Lucis and stuff, but that didn’t mean that Prompto had to like the ring. Because every time Noctis used it, it hurt him.
Plus, he didn’t think Tifa would like it if Noctis tore a fabric through a reality in her bar. Or instantly disintegrated somebody. Or if they got in a fight so he could use Holy which might just destroy half the bar with it. Yeah, that was a big no go.
”We’ll do just fine without it. With my guns and Noctis’ sword or daggers or whatever, we’ve got this! And uh…if we’re really screwed, that’ll be our Plan B. But we don’t gotta test it now. I don’t know if anything can block that thing. So…”
Just like before, he was running out of steam. All he could do was look at Noctis and hope he agreed. ”So whatever you want to do, Noct. But I not being your test dummy. You can use it on Alex if you’ve gotta.” He grinned weakly. Because they both knew exactly what that’d do to Alex. And they were both not cool with killing people. Even people who they wanted to punch in the face a lot of the time.
He just really hoped Noctis didn’t think he was for real. Then he’d feel really bad when Alex was shot into the void of outer space.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Noctis was okay. That was good. He was cold though just like Prompto – two birds of a feather! A very cold bird with a lot of cold feathers. Noctis lamented only wearing one glove, and Prompto wanted to argue back that at least it was a long glove before Noctis suddenly realized something that changed the game altogether.
He unbuttoned his sleeves and let the extra fabric fall down his arms.
Prompto gasped.
”You can do that?” he asked in shock. Yeah, okay, it made sense that he could do that. How many times had Prompto seen that leather jacket? He’d, like, half noticed the little button there and the strip of fabric keeping the sleeves suavely above the elbow, but he’d never really given any thought to undoing them before. It was almost blasphemous. That was Noctis’ look! And now he’d given it up just for a little more protection from the cold and the wind.
”M-man, I’m so jealous!” Prompto rubbed his arms feverishly again. Now Noctis’ sleeves went a little past his elbow. What Prompto wouldn’t give for sleeves past his elbows!
But that wasn’t important right now. Or was it? His head was still spinning from the fall.
Good thing he only needed to follow close behind Noctis and nod at all the right times. Noctis chose to walk away from the big crowd they’d left behind which was a good choice if you asked him, but their change in outfits drew some eyes for a completely different reason. They didn’t look like the guys the guards were after anymore, but they did look completely out of place in this weather. Most people were wearing coats, gloves, maybe some scarves drawn up to their noses. That kind of thing. Then there was Noctis and Prompto, traipsing along like they were just asking for frostbite. Best not to think about it.
”Seventh Heaven?” Prompto asked, glancing at Noctis with his head cocked to the side. ”That kinda sounds like…You know…” He didn’t want to say it outloud. He’d already had enough of women wearing corsets and fishnet stockings dragging him around by the easily dominated ear this trip to Sonora.
Thanks, Cissnei.
”Uh, sure! I’ll keep my eyes open! As long as they don’t freeze shut. Heheh.” Jokes. Jokes were good. He liked jokes.
He was so cold.
They stopped at a crosswalk. Prompto was busy peering down the street looking for a sign that looked like a strip club when Noctis dropped the question on him. The big one.
”How did you get here by the way? I mean, were you guys still in Gralea?”
The crosswalk lit up green. People were walking again.
Oh.
”I, uh. Yeah! I guess that’s important! Good to figure out that stuff. While we’re walking.” Prompto was not, in fact, walking yet. He fixed that right away, going along with the crowd and trying his best to keep his head down. ”Gralea. Yeah. That’s the last thing I remember before, well, you know…”
Everyone around here had the same kind of story if you went looking for it. First one place then poof! Somehow they ended up around here. Noctis must have been the same. His heart hurt thinking about it.
But Noctis had asked. He couldn’t not think about it if Noctis asked him to.
”We looked for you. Once we caught up at the Crystal. Me, Gladio, and Ignis. We looked and looked, but…” That was the most painful memory of all. Ardyn had done something. That bastard had done something with Noctis, and after days of searching the place up and down, it hurt to remember Ignis’ tired, defeated words.
Maybe it was time to stop looking.
”We were about to try heading back to Lucis, but then I ended up here. On the side of the road. Couldn’t even catch a bus. Man, was I in for a shock when I saw the sun! Told me right away something wasn’t right!” He could only keep the act up for so long. He tried for a laugh, but it quickly faded into a groan like a balloon that had run out of air. He glanced at Noctis, biting his tongue.
”Did that make sense? I hope that made sense. I mean, Caius is from the future so I guess there’s no way of knowing what to expect. So uh…” He rubbed his neck, swallowing hard. ”What about you?”
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Caius looked back at him. It was a kind of startled look like the one you get when the teacher calls on you in class but you were just doodling moogles in your notebook. Prompto felt a little bad, making him look like that, but Caius’ expression changed as quickly as it had come on. He was a soldier, alright -- a glaive actually. Ready for anything.
Man, they were so cool.
But Caius didn’t tell Alex to go take a hike. Instead he settled on a compromise which…wasn’t bad. Caius’ idea wasn’t a bad one at all, really, but Prompto couldn’t help it when his face dropped in disappointment. He’d been hoping that after everything that had happened that they’d all be as against working with this guy as he was. They’d seen what he was like. They’d all watched as he’d…
Well, as he’d backed Prompto into a corner and tried to scare him. That’s what.
And Prompto had been scared. Not of Alex, exactly. It wasn't like big guys getting in his face was a new thing. Gladio did it all the time, but that was different. That was really different.
But Caius had a plan. He even looked at Prompto encouragingly when he got to Alex’s part in it, and Prompto tried to return it with a smile. He couldn’t smile, really, but he hoped it was the thought that counted. Like a “hey, I don’t agree with you and I’m still really shook up but I appreciate that you’re thinking about me” kind of smile. Caius seemed to understand Alex’s personality pretty spot on too. Alex liked being loud, making noise, being the center of attention. It wasn’t a bad plan. But still…
Noctis stepped in next. Actually, he stepped in front of Prompto. Prompto looked at him in surprise and felt heat rise up to his already flushed face.
’The first thing you do is run and hide behind Noctis after you do your typical lashing out! That might work with Ignis and Gladio, but I am a hell of a lot scarier than they could ever be!’
Was…that what was happening here? Was Alex right? As soon as there was a sign of trouble, Noctis stepped in to help. He stepped right in front of him like he was saying, ‘You want to get to him, you gotta get through me!’ Normally, Prompto would’ve appreciated something like that, but this time…
This time it just made the shame rise up even faster. He couldn’t stand up for himself. He’d never been able to, really. Not when he was a kid at school and the bigger, stronger kids tripped him and he ended up with scrapes on the sidewalk. Not when he was Noctis’ bestie and no one dared laugh at him anymore, but that was just because Noctis was around. Not now either. Prompto glanced away, hoping the dejection didn’t reach his voice.
Noctis asked what he thought. He told him he trusted him. But Prompto couldn’t quite look him in the eye. ”Ignis and Gladio matter right now,” he muttered back to Noctis. ”If Caius thinks it’ll work better with Alex then…we’ll save them together.”
It wasn’t what he wanted to say. He wanted to say that Alex was deranged. He was the kind of guy who would make you hot chocolate one minute then start digging into you the next. He was the kind of guy who would get offended if he wasn’t the big star of the show. He was the kind of guy who would back a man into a corner, threaten him, storm out, then come in acting like looking sorry for himself was all he needed to make it right. But Prompto wasn’t used to being the one making decisions, and Caius was so confident and cool that it was easy to follow him. Noctis seemed to think they could work together so…
So who was Prompto to disagree?
Alex took a seat at the table. Noctis had ordered a round of whiskey. He’d also said something about Cindy that made Prompto look at her in surprise, but they were a little past that at this point. Cindy? A getaway driver? It made him want to protest that she didn’t need to get anywhere near something as dangerous as this, but he could see that look in her eye that told him she was dead set on it so all he could manage was a ”Wha-? But-!” before he thought it was better to shut up and accept what everyone else had apparently already accepted. That’s what he got for hiding away in a bathroom while everyone else was making decisions.
He really, really did worry about Cindy though. Maybe they’d talk later. Or he’d get Noctis to talk to her later. He'd never said the right things around Cindy.
Prompto didn’t have much time to linger on the question because Alex had started talking. Again. Part of Prompto had kind of expected that he’d just sit there quietly seeing as he’d managed to piss off everyone here, but that just wasn’t Alex’s way. He started off talking to Noctis, saying he was sorry and all that and that they needed to talk heart to heart after this. Prompto swallowed and made sure he wasn’t looking at him so he wouldn’t see his nerves acting up.
They needed to have a conversation with Alex? Why? So he could get passive-aggressive again? So he could try to hit them right where it hurt? So he could get aggressive-aggressive? At least if they were gonna do it, it’d be somewhere without a magic barrier where Prompto could get his guns if he needed them. He wasn’t about to be backed into a corner again.
He wasn’t some weak, cowering nobody. He wasn’t…
Tifa returned with the round of whiskeys and handed everyone their glasses. Prompto took his without thinking about it, numb to everything until he felt a little squeeze on his shoulder and looked up in surprise to see Tifa smiling at him. So…she didn’t think he was a creep after all? Prompto couldn’t help but smile back, invigorated by something he couldn’t quite put a word on. They’d all seen him get torn apart, but nobody seemed to think any worse about him. Not even Tifa who he didn’t even know that well.
He felt warmer, thinking like that. He didn’t even watch Tifa’s tiny leather skirt as she headed back to the bar counter. He gripped his glass tighter.
He could do this.
Prompto sat down at the table just as Alex turned his attention to him again, looking weirdly thoughtful. Prompto gave him a strange look, waiting for the rest. When Alex did go on, Prompto could only stare at him in utter confusion. ”Uh…?” He glanced at Noctis uncertainly. Was…was that really how he wanted to start this? Telling Prompto to grow a beard?
Prompto had been thinking of growing one every once in a while, but it had never really worked out for him. First it would start all scraggly and that wasn’t good for anyone. So he’d shave it and hope his abs and the tone on his biceps would do the rest. But that didn’t really matter because this was coming from Alex and it was coming out of absolutely nowhere.
”I, uh…No? Nobody’s said that,” he finally managed before he looked down at the straight whiskey in his hand. This was supposed to make people feel better, right? He braced himself and took a long drink of it, wincing and coughing as it hit his throat. Man, that burned! He could already see Gladio making fun of him and patting him on the back way too hard and then he’d start choking and Gladio would tell him to man up and finish his drink. But Gladio wasn’t here so it was just Prompto, coughing and making faces until the whiskey finally burned its way all the way down to his stomach.
Yup, that settled it. Whiskey was not a Prompto kind of drink. Whiskey was a Gladio kind of drink. It was a Caius kind of drink. Maybe a Noctis kind of drink on a special day. Prompto preferred the light and fruity stuff, maybe with a bit of mint, and he wasn’t ashamed of saying so!
Except right now. Right now he was pretty damn ashamed to say it. But the whiskey wasn’t the point right now. Right now, it was time for a plan.
”U-um. Okay.” He cleared his throat and it burned. When would that whiskey make him feel better again? ”I like Caius’ idea. Me and Noctis are used to sneaking. I mean, we’re used to sneaking when he can warp which he won’t be able to do, but I once took out a whole MT base by myself, no magic needed. I’ve been thinking a lot about this. And I’ve got the info from Cissnei right here!”
He opened up his winter coat and pulled the folded up, slightly wrinkled papers out of an interior pocket before he unfolded them and placed them on the table, trying his best to straighten them out a bit. They were worse for wear by now, but he hadn’t wanted them to get wet with all the snow so…
Who cared if they were kinda wrinkly?
”I’ve got a map of the place here. And over here I’ve got a schedule of their supply shipments. I was thinking me and Noctis hide in one of those supply trucks which would take us right past security into here, the shipping bay.” He pointed at a large room on the map. ”I’ll need a gun that shoots actual bullets since mine won’t work inside, and Noct will have to get his sword out before we get in. Or maybe daggers would be quieter? Noct can use a lot of weapons so I’ll leave that up to him. Anyway, once the truck starts getting unloaded, we jump out for a sneak attack. I’ll leave most of the fighting up to Noctis since gunshots’ll get attention, but if we run into any quieter tech I can use on the way, I’ll switch out for that. I can figure out just about any tech I can get my hands on.”
Prompto sat up a little straighter, feeling a burst of confidence he wasn’t used to feeling. He wasn’t the best fighter, sure, but there hadn’t been a Niflheim weapon they’d found that he hadn’t gotten a feel for in like five minutes tops. He wondered if that maybe had something to do with where he came from, but he didn’t let himself think about it too hard this time. He’d figured out Lucian weapons pretty fast too. He just liked tech. That’s all there was to it.
He hoped.
”There’ll probably be some proper guards at the docks so once we take them out, we can steal their stuff and hope their clothes fit and aren’t too covered in blood which would kind of give us away. They’ll probably have keycards and stuff too which can get us around the place. The cell blocks are over here.” He pointed again. ”But we’ve got no way of knowing which have Ignis and Gladio or if our cards would even work there, so instead, I think we want to go over here to the control room. Might need a few more keycards along the way, but that’s what surprise attacks are for. Anyway, once we’re in the control room, I should be able to do my business and figure out how to open doors and maybe take down that magic barrier. Doesn’t matter which doors I open. I can just open all of them. But I want to do it while Ignis and Gladio are in the prison yard which is right here.”
Prompto took a deep breath. He did feel somehow…warmer so maybe that was the whiskey’s doing. Mostly he just felt good talking out a plan. Being kinda sorta in charge. Showing off how much work he’d put in and how much thought he’d put into it. He wasn’t used to feeling smart, but he felt like it now and it was a nice feeling for once.
”When I was with that witch and saw them in the first place, it was around twelve-thirty in the afternoon. Which means that that’s probably where they’ll be on a Wednesday at twelve-thirty. That solves the whole ‘finding them’ problem, and if we get all the doors open in the cell blocks too then that’ll cause some chaos. Cue behemoth and Alex attack. That kinda trouble might be a bad time for Ignis and Gladio, but that’s why me and Noctis’ll have to get to them fast. Getting out of there depends on what doors I got open, but there’s the supply bay or there’s this door at the fighting ring. I think that’s where they take the bodies. The front door is probably a bad idea. But…that’s what I’ve got!”
It was a lame ending. If he really did get the anti-magic field down then that would mean that they could all fight full power like a team and probably manage to wing it from there, but “let’s just wing it” didn’t have a great sound to it so he left that part out. Instead, he looked up at Caius and Noctis and Cindy and even Alex with a look of pride that he rarely got to show. Then he realized what he was doing and rubbed his neck as a new wave of doubt came over him.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] ”Prompto…” Noctis said his name and that was all it took to get Prompto’s head back on straight and his thoughts back on track. He looked at him as Noctis clapped a hand on his shoulder. ”Trust me, no one but you would tell me about multiverse theory while we’re stuck on a roof.”
Prompto laughed then. It felt good to laugh. ”Yeah, okay. Point taken.” Noctis had a way of cutting straight through Prompto’s insecurities. Even when he didn’t mean to, even when he didn’t even know about them, he had a way of doing it one way or the other.
For not the first time, Prompto couldn’t help but marvel at just how lucky he was to have Noctis as a friend. Him, Prompto, a nobody, friends with someone like Noctis. A prince though that didn’t really matter much except that it made him more cool. He was lucky they’d found each other in this frozen hellscape of a city. Even if they were about to be shot at by the police, he was lucky.
What was unlucky was that Noctis was right about the need for a costume change. The weather was also unlucky though that seemed to just be how it was around here. No use complaining about it. Except that he couldn’t help but complain. As he wrapped his bare arms around himself and shivered, he couldn’t help but whimper, ”So cold…”
Noctis had that look like he had a plan. He was looking down over the side of the roof into the alley below. Prompto wasn’t so sure that he liked this plan.
He was way more sure when Noctis grabbed his arm and gave him a sympathetic, ”Sorry, buddy,” that he really, really did not like this plan.
”Hey, wait a sec-!” was all Prompto got out before Noctis threw a snowball down into the alley and there went the very concept of space and time again. There was so much light around them that Prompto couldn’t keep his eyes open. Or that would have been the case if he’d had eyes. Instead he was more the concept of light itself, hurtling along like the sun’s solar rays through space. It didn’t take long. A millionth of a second at most and then he’d slammed into another snow pile and his head was spinning and it took him a second to realize that he was on his back again, staring up at the swirling gray sky.
”Uggggh.” Prompto swallowed back the bile in his throat as Noctis came into view and asked if he was good. He didn’t trust himself to speak so he just gave him a shaky thumbs up. How did Noctis do that? Like all the time? And it didn’t bother him?
Gods, but he was cool.
It was the shock of the cold that snapped him out of his nausea first. His bare arms hurt like they were being stabbed by a thousand needles, and it took him a second to realize it was because he was still laying in that snow pile without any jacket or coat or hat to protect him. He sat up as quickly as his spinning head would allow and brushed off all the snow he could. Thankfully, most of it was packed in with ice so it wasn’t sticking so much as it could’ve.
He hated this city. He really, really did.
”O-okay. R-ready when you are!” Prompto stumbled to his feet, steadied himself with a hand on a wall of the alley, and took a deep, cold breath until he felt like he could stand on his own. Then he pushed off the wall and boom! Standing! Upright! And he hadn’t hurled even once! It was the little things that were really worth celebrating.
”I hope this place has hot drinks,” he said, ”Like cocoa. I could r-really go for some cocoa right now…”
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] They were looking at him. Prompto was looking directly at the wall beside Noctis’ head, but he was sure they were all looking at him. This would be easier if they weren’t all looking at him. Were they all looking at him?
Prompto glanced over at the bar counter where Caius and Cindy sat, looking at him. Big mistake. He felt himself blush even harder as he hurriedly looked back to his safe little patch of wall.
This is what he got for making a scene. It always came with a walk of shame.
Noctis practically cut him off, asking why he was sorry, and saying he was sorry instead, and Prompto felt his throat tighten up as he sputtered, ”Yeah, but-!” But Noctis wasn’t the one who’d made a mess of things. It was almost worse that Noctis didn’t blame him. Because then that meant that Prompto had to think about whether what he was thinking about himself was actually true or if Noctis was just trying to make him feel better and then it got all complicated, swirling around until he couldn’t tell up from down.
Why wasn’t he telling him he’d overreacted? That’s what he deserved. Noctis really was…the best friend ever.
Prompto felt his eyes swell up again but he fought it back this time, hurriedly wiping both eyes with the back of his gloved hands. Crying always came easier once you’d opened the gates and started in the first place. And here was Noctis, saying all kinds of nice things about him on top of the first nice thing. He liked him just the way he was, he said.
”Noct…”
Prompto didn’t know what else to say. Somehow it felt…warm hearing him talk like that. He imagined Gladio telling them to knock all that feelings talk off, but Gladio wasn’t here right now. He wished he was. That was familiar. That was safe. And while it felt warm, it also added to that swirling chaos feeling where Prompto had to question himself, and he didn’t like that.
Prompto rubbed the back of his neck, looking resolutely down at the ground as he rocked back on his heels and tried to think of something more to say. He couldn’t. Not until Cindy piped up behind him and Prompto remembered she was there. Hearing her agree, hearing her jump off her stool and come right over, it shocked him out of his head enough that he looked up, startled, and saw her standing right beside Noctis with that classic Cindy smile.
”He’s got that right. You’re a great guy, Prompto, don’tcha ever forget that.”
R-Really?
Cindy said he was a great guy. A great guy! And didn’t they have some friends to save? Where Prompto’s heart had warmed with Noctis, it was absolutely soaring at Cindy as she took his hand and started leading him back to the bar counter like nothing had ever happened.
Such a benevolent goddess!
”Y-yeah! We’ve gotta save them! And I’ve got a plan for it and everything! I’ve gotta rethink it a little now, but…”
But he had a plan. A stupid plan. A suicidal plan. A plan that he’d pieced together with the help of a forest witch and a burlesque detective, but it was still a plan nonetheless. They needed one of those, no matter how good or bad it might be.
He was feeling pretty good about himself when he reached Caius who was still seated at the bar, and Caius met his eyes and looked at him and pointed straight towards him to make sure that he heard every word of his wisdom.
”Confidence and courage comes from your own heart. Alex does not dictate when or if it comes out. You do.”
”Uh…”
Prompto stared at him, dumbstruck. Was that…supposed to be a compliment? He didn’t like the way it sounded. It sounded like way too much pressure. Was he telling him he should’ve been more confident and braver so this wouldn’t happen at all? That’s sure what it sounded like.
And there was the spiral again. It surged up with all his insecurities whispering like snakes in his ear. ’You thought you were good enough for this? Good enough for Noctis? How could you be? How could you be anything but-?’
But a coward. But some nothing kid. But a copy…
Prompto swallowed hard. No. No. He wouldn’t do this right now. He wouldn’t listen to those voices right now, not when Noctis was watching. He’d figure something out. His friends were in danger. His friends needed him.
His friends were probably doomed. But hey, at least he could say he tried.
”So um…” He was still standing there. Awkwardly. Exactly where Cindy had led him. He should probably be sitting, shouldn’t he? Caius was at a bar, but it would be hard to plan at a bar counter, wouldn’t? They needed a table or a booth so they could all look at each other, hunched over the notes that they’d definitely be taking. That’s how they did it in the movies.
”You guys want to sit down? I’ve got kind of a lot to share.” He waved lamely at one of the tables nearby. Some quiet part of him had accepted that while he didn’t want Cindy involved, she definitely knew what was happening now. She could hear what they were going to do. It’s not like she was going to be helping them with it or anything.
Before he could actually make a move to sit, the door opened and Prompto stiffened at the flurry of cold air, but it was just Tifa coming back, looking mad. He couldn’t blame her, going out there dealing with Alex while he was raging. Prompto relaxed a little as the door clanged closed behind her and he gave her an awkward little grin, feeling as deflated and embarrassed as it was possible for a man to be. Cindy might’ve not listened to what Alex had said about him, but what about Tifa? Tifa didn’t know him at all. And Alex had gotten…really specific.
Prompto didn’t have much time to worry about it though before the door opened again and this time it was him. Alex. For real. At first, Prompto was frozen in place, staring at him like a deer in front of a semi truck. Caius was behind him. Cindy was beside him. Noctis was a little farther away, but they were all united this time. Weren’t they?
Alex’s eyes drifted down to the floor in a play at shame as the door shuddered closed behind him. Then he looked up, finding his own little patch of wall the same way Prompto had when he’d come out of the bathroom. At first, Prompto didn’t know what he was about to say. What could he say after all that? Maybe that he’d forgot his keys? But what he actually said was so much worse. ”So uh…What’d I miss?”
Just like that. Like nothing had happened. Like he hadn’t called Prompto…all that. Like he hadn’t backed him into a table and shoved a finger into his chest. Prompto felt an all new heat rising up in his chest. He could feel it leak into his eyes, into his stance, into everything about him as his gloved hands curled into fists and he glared at the man with every bit of the rage he felt.
Prompto had never been good at hiding his feelings. And his feelings right now told him to start another bout of drama, round two.
Instead, he glanced back at Caius, the one who was closest to him and who had managed to keep his cool last time. Caius had a way of doing that. Always keeping his cool. Noct was the one in charge, but Caius…
Caius would handle it better than Prompto could.
”We were just about to start talking about our plan,” Prompto half-mumbled with an edge to his voice that didn’t sound much like him at all. ”Caius’ll be on support. Then me and Noct will go in for the offense. We’re good at sneaking around by ourselves.”
By ourselves. He hoped Alex caught that part. He hoped even more that the rest of them did. That they agreed. That they finally saw what Prompto had been trying to say in the first place.
’He won’t follow your lead. He’ll just do what he wants because he’s not like us! And if you make him mad he’ll just try to make you more mad until you can’t pay attention to something dangerous!’
How much time had they already wasted dealing with Alex. A lot of time. What if something like this happened while they were trying to sneak inside? What if Alex got it in his head to abandon stealth and charge in without so much as a glance at Noctis? He couldn’t work as a team – at least not without being the one in charge. That’s how Noctis had gotten as far as he had before. They’d all been working as a team.
Prompto’s eyes drifted up until he caught Caius’ gaze and looked at him imploringly. Please, please don’t let him in on this.
He hoped that this time, they’d back him up. He hoped that this time, they’d agree.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Drip. Drip. Drip.
The sink was broken. It was a steady sound, just a little off kilter that struck every few seconds. Just a steady little leak that might have come from the pipes freezing in the middle of a very long, very cold winter. The single toilet clearly wasn’t neglected, but it gave off a stale smell of water that had been sitting too long. Prompto’s forehead pressed against the rough denim of his jeans. They were wet around the knees with tears that wouldn’t stop flowing. His face was a mess of salt and tears and mucus.
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
Prompto tried to get a hold of himself. He really did. He wondered what the others would say if they saw him like this. Gladio would call him a wuss which he was. He always had been. But when whatever feeling hit him, there was no stopping it. It was like a steam train to the face and all he could do was feel it. He’d always marveled at Gladio’s resolve. He was cool and strong and manly in a way that Prompto never could be. Prompto wasn’t much of anything, really.
If he was gone, what would they all have lost? Somebody to play videogames with at camp. Somebody that always used up the most potions and phoenix downs. Gladio and Ignis had trained for this all their lives. What did they need him for?
’I’m tired of your charade, you creepy, passive aggressive gremlin!’
Is that what they all thought of him? Gladio? Ignis? Cindy? Cindy had been standing right there when Alex had said…
When he’d said…
Prompto jumped at the knock at the door. Shit. He tried to wipe his face, but it just left a trail of snot across his coat sleeve. Noctis was outside. Noctis sounded awkward. He’d made Noct worry.
Damn it damn it damn it!
”I, uh…Just a sec!” He tried to sound cheery, but his voice wavered as he jumped to his feet and found that all that crying had left him light-headed. He stumbled towards the sink and gripped it hard to keep himself steady. Noct was waiting. He couldn’t keep Noct waiting, even if that meant going outside and facing…
Oh Astrals, what would Cindy think of him now? How could he face her? The thought sent a new panic up to his throat, strangling him. He gripped the sink tighter. What was it that Ignis always told him?
One thing at a time.
One thing…at a time…
He took a shaking breath and looked up at himself in the mirror. It wasn’t a pretty sight. His hair was a mess from his hat and the hands he’d run through it. His eyes were red and puffy. His whole face glistened with tears that still wouldn’t stop coming, and then there was his nose as red as the rest of him. His face had a way of turning red every time he cried. Damn his pale complexion!
His pale, Niflheim complexion…
Prompto cursed under his breath and grabbed for the roll of paper towels. He tore off a piece and scraped it furiously across his face and then tossed that one and grabbed another piece and another until everything was dry and itchy and then he took another and blew his nose on it. Yeah, Noct would definitely hear that from outside the door. Did they all know he was in here crying? Yeah. Probably.
’Stay focused. We have a job to do, and Noctis matters most of all.’
That’s what Ignis had told him when he’d first joined the Crownsguard. Or…it had been something like that anyway. The first part he’d needed to hear. The last part, not so much.
Noctis had always mattered to him. More than anything. He couldn’t have him worrying about some nobody like him. Some creep like him. Some wimp so useless he couldn’t even stand up for himself when it mattered most.
He couldn’t make Noct worry so when he looked in the mirror, he tried his best to get his hair back in order and he made sure that he wasn’t crying anymore and his cheeks were dry, but his eyes were still red and puffy and his face was all flushed. Nothing he could do about that. He’d just have to pretend everything was okay and hope that everyone else was nice enough to pretend they didn’t notice.
He grabbed his hat off the floor, shoved it back on, bit his lip, and slowly, hesitantly unlocked the door.
He opened it.
”H-hey,” he said, leaning back on one heel casually, rubbing the back of his neck like he was embarrassed but not nearly as embarrassed as he actually felt. ”Sorry about that. Hope it hasn’t been too long. I just…needed a minute, you know? I’m better now. Just had to get some air.”
The sink continued to drip behind him. The air in the room still smelled like stale toilet water.
”A-anyway. Guess we’ve gotta figure out what to do, yeah? Now that Alex won’t want anything to do with us. Oops.” He tried for a weak laugh.
They’d needed Alex. And now he was gone. How could he have been so stupid?
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Alex wasn’t happy.
He really wasn’t happy.
Prompto knew he’d made a mistake as soon as the words were out of his mouth. They’d burst from him like a geyser, all emotion with no thought behind it. He was still looking at Noctis, practically pleading with his eyes, when Alex started talking. Prompto didn’t like the way he was talking. It sounded mad. No, furious was the better word, but with an edge as sharp as Ignis’ daggers. Prompto looked back at him and saw that his eyes were just the same – raging fire barely contained by a thin pane of glass.
His yellow eyes. Burning. Cold. Mocking.
Alex was a lot taller than he was. A lot bigger too. At first, Prompto tried to stand his ground, looking up at him as defiantly as he could when his eyes were still burning with the unshed tears of a thousand strong emotions that had been welling in him since the start, but the more Alex talked…
"You’re just passive aggressively forcing an ultimatum on him and you know it. You or me."
”I wasn’t-!”
"You’re going on about how much of a burden I am and should be removed despite just seconds before saying how useful I am and have been."
”Yeah, that’s the point!”
Then Alex changed. Alex really changed.
"And now that you both are here the first thing you do is run and hide behind Noctis after you do your typical lashing out. That might work with Ignis and Gladio, but I am a hell of a lot scarier than they could ever be. Noctis can’t protect you this time."
Prompto felt his mouth fall open. His eyes widened. He felt his heart pounding in his throat. Why was it pounding? Why…?
’Noctis can’t protect you this time.’
Prompto took an involuntary step back. He didn’t like Alex’s eyes. He didn’t like Alex’s yellow, yellow eyes trained directly on him. He didn’t like the threat they promised there. His heart might have been pounding, but he felt himself go cold as he stared back at him, trying to swallow back everything that wasn’t true. This wasn’t Niflheim even if it was cold and gray. This wasn’t Gralea. Alex wasn’t…
He wasn’t…
"So you know what? I’m going to hit back. Really hit back."
Alex was pointing at him, almost yelling now. His yellow eyes narrowed. He was defending himself now, but it didn’t matter really, not when his voice and his body and his eyes promised all the things he wanted to do to him. Prompto tried to say something back, about how he was talking bullshit and sure nothing happened to Cindy but it could have and you can’t just do that to people, but nothing came out. Prompto’s voice wasn’t working anymore. He was small under Alex’s towering height and the strength of his rage and everything in him was screaming danger. Because Alex was right. Ignis and Gladio weren’t here. No one was stepping in to help him.
’You lose your friends and murder your family. Now you’ve no one left.’
’Shut up!’
Then Alex launched into how he’d treated women, and Prompto felt something else creep in through the cold, pounding, get out of there feeling. He felt something else. Disbelief. Humiliation. It crept up his throat and into his eyes and that was enough to free his mouth again.
”I wasn’t…”
He bit his lip. ”I didn’t…”
Cindy was still there, watching all of this. Cindy and Noctis and Caius and the bartender, Tifa. Suddenly he felt like a kid again, just some quiet nobody kid who took pictures because he was too afraid to talk to anybody but he heard what they whispered about him when they weren’t shoving him, calling him names, telling him…
"Stop acting like I’m the bad guy and you’re some poor, put upon victim."
Alex snarled, pointing at Noctis before closing the gap between them until he was towering over Prompto, eyes dark with fury and Prompto’s eyes widened as he tried to stumble back but hit a table and Alex jabbed a finger into his chest hard and in a wild panic Prompto reached behind him and tried to summon his guns but they wouldn’t come. Why wouldn’t they come?
He was powerless and small and nobody and alone and all he could do was stare up at the mountain of a man leaning over him, finger pressed into his chest like a promise, and he felt sheer terror course through him until finally Alex pulled away and stormed towards the door.
Prompto was left in shock, staring at the empty space where Alex had been, still half-leaning against the table at his back. He winced as the door slammed.
”I-I…” he started but then the door opened again and Alex’s roaring voice filled the bar and the door slammed for the second time with enough force to rattle the windows and Prompto went quiet.
The whole bar was quiet. Tifa said something about going outside to check on him and the door opened and closed again. Caius was talking now from where he’d been sitting at the counter. Prompto heard him but he didn’t really hear him. His throat felt tight. His hands were shaking.
’I’m tired of your charade you creepy, passive aggressive gremlin!’
”Y-yeah,” he said back to Caius. He felt something rising up in him. Something cold and hot and wild and compressed. He bit his lip. ”I uh…I-I need a minute.”
Then he finally forced himself to move. Once he got going, it was hard to stop. He felt the urge to hide, to flee, but Alex had already gone out the front door so he hurried to the bathroom instead, taking only half a second to recognize the men’s sign with his brain on autopilot before he threw the door open and slipped inside.
It was a one room kind of bathroom for a small place like this. Prompto flicked on the lights and closed the door behind him and fumbled with the handle until he found the lock and locked it. Then he let himself breathe, hard and fast as he slid down the wall to the tiled floor, taking the time to notice that it looked clean enough that he wouldn’t get any stains down there before he pulled his knees up to his chest and threw off his winter hat so his hands could tangle in his hair.
Alex wasn’t Ardyn. He wasn’t Ardyn. This wasn’t Niflheim. He wasn’t hurt. No one had hurt him. He was okay. He was okay, he was okay, he o-
Prompto grit his teeth and let out a strangled noise too quiet to pierce the bathroom walls. Those walls felt like a prison around him, closing in fast.
And all the while, Gladio and Ignis were facing Astrals knew what because they couldn’t all get along and make a plan when it really mattered and Prompto had had to run his big stupid mouth. If he’d just stayed quiet…If he’d just let Noctis handle it…
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Prompto felt the tears well up in his eyes again and this time there was no stopping them. He felt his shoulders shake as he pressed his forehead against his knees and wrapped his arms around himself tight.
He just needed a minute. He needed a minute to get a hold of himself. And then he’d make himself useful. Maybe, this time, finally he’d be useful.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] After Cindy entered, a lot of things happened all at once.
Noctis hissed back that he hadn’t invited her. Which was…Well, if Prompto could feel surprised right now then he would have. Instead he was left standing there, head spinning, trying to put more than five words together into a single coherent thought. Cindy was here. Noctis hadn’t told her they were coming. That meant she either found out on her own or…
Or…
Or this was a really badly timed coincidence. Cindy ordered a beer. Prompto opened his mouth and closed it again, trying to think of something to say. It was really bad for her to be here. Like really bad. It wasn’t like she’d turn them in if she heard about their rescue attempt or anything. She’d known about plenty of illegal stuff they’d done in the past, and she’d just fixed up their car because that was her job and she liked them all fine. They were friends even if Prompto hoped and prayed and dreamed in the night that maybe one day they’d be more than friends.
They were friends, and even knowing about what they were about to do might put her in danger because Sonora did not screw around. Shock and confusion and frustration and fear all mixed together with that latent heat that still pounded through every part of him, and he suddenly became aware that Noctis’ jacket had fallen off of him onto the floor and…
And…
Oh, there was a reason Noctis had put that on him, wasn’t there?
Oh.
Oh. That was…bad. Mortification mixed in with all those other emotions and Prompto snatched up the jacket and hurriedly sat back down again with the jacket spread over his lap, looking down at his hands in shame.
This was the worst day. Just the worst. But it was all about to take a turn, plunging even deeper past the bottom of the barrel and tunneling somewhere towards the center of the earth, and it was all because of Alexander Sorel.
Noctis had had it under control. He'd told Cindy that they were looking for the other two which was totally the truth and hopefully wouldn’t prompt any more questions from the kindly mechanic. He’d had it under control, but Alex apparently thought he needed to do more. Prompto’s heart sank as Alex stood up, telling Noctis he’d “owe him for this.” Owe him for what, Prompto never got the chance to ask before Alex clapped a hand on his shoulder, told him to “get behind her,” whatever that meant and then…
And then…
Prompto felt his jaw drop. His face, once beat red, turned a strange ashen white. Oh. Oh no. What…what was he talking about? What was Alex doing? And why was he doing it? Prompto opened his mouth to protest but only a sad little croak came out. Saving kids from a burning chocobo stable? Nearly dying doing it? Why was he lying like that? Who even said things like that? Who even…?
Prompto was so stunned that he didn’t notice what Alex’s hands were doing. Not until he’d brought them in front of him, glowing strangely, and then blew the lights into Cindy’s face.
”Wha-?” Prompto blinked, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Everything moved too fast after that to follow. Noctis was on his feet in an instant and nearly tackled Alex, wrestling to get his arms behind his back. Alex had done something. He’d done something…to Cindy? That little spark had almost looked like…
Like magic.
Realization hit Prompto in a fiery explosion and he was back on his feet, his own dignity be damned. ”Cindy!” he cried and he scrambled to her side to try to catch her in case something happened, in case she fell, in case something worse had struck her. ”Cindy, are you okay? What did he do to you?”
It took a moment for Tifa’s words to filter through the wall of sheer panic that had overtaken him. The bar was surrounded by an anti-magic field. So that meant…that Cindy was okay? Prompto breathed a sigh of relief. ”Sorry,” he said to the mechanic. ”Sorry. I don’t know what that was…”
But that was the point, wasn’t it? He didn’t know. Alex could have been trying anything. On an unarmed woman who had just come in for a drink. On Cindy. On their friend. Prompto turned on Alex, tears welling in his eyes from the sheer overwhelming force of it all.
”What’s wrong with you?!” He felt his hands curl up into fists at his sides. Caius was saying something to him too. And Noctis was telling them all to tip Tifa which was fair and he would, but first he had something else to say.
Something he should have said a long time ago.
”You can’t just butt in whenever you feel like it! You can’t just decide you’re the hero and go around doing whatever you want! You can’t just attack women for no reason!” He felt all of it burst out of him from whatever place he’d been keeping it. Prompto didn’t get mad easy. He didn’t yell easy either, but this was the last straw.
He’d attacked Cindy.
”Noct, I know you wanted him here, and he’s good in a fight and he saved my life and he helped you too and we wouldn’t even know about Gladio and Ignis without him, but…” Prompto took a long breath, preparing for what he had to say. What he really had to say. ”But I don’t want him in on this! He’s picking fights and he can’t get along with anyone and he just does whatever he wants! Me, you, and Caius should be enough. He won’t follow your lead. He’ll just do whatever he wants because he’s not like us. And if you make him mad he’ll just try to make you more mad until you can’t pay attention to something dangerous and…”
The tears were welling harder now. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, hoping that no one had noticed. They’d all definitely noticed.
But now he was thinking back to the last time he’d talked to Alex, back when he’d gotten those visions from the witch Matoya. When Alex had claimed to be one of Noctis’ best friends and Prompto had told him he wasn’t so Alex had said…all those things about Luna…
Prompto swallowed hard. Thinking about Luna…What happened to her…That whole day in Altissia, it wasn’t something he should be doing right now. Not when they had work to do.
”He doesn’t want to work with Caius. And we don’t have time for them to sort all that out. While we’re standing here fighting, Ignis and Gladio could be…” He shook his head hard. He didn’t want to think about what could be happening to them. ”I don’t want to work with Alex. I’ll do it if you say so, but I don’t want to. What do you think Ignis would say?”
