Author's Note

FFXV Kink meme fill that ended up being about 8000 words longer than I wanted. Woops. The prompt is:
"I would like to see a fic where Ardyn intends to use [Prompto's self esteem against him] to make Prompto his puppet and turn him against the bros to taunt Noctis, except Prompto realizes what the Chancellor is trying to do and decides to seize the opportunity to collect information on Ardyn's plans. He acts like he's broken and obedient and manages to fool Ardyn but inside he's still very much himself. He's determined to help his bros even if he has to crawl at Ardyn's feet to do so.

+ The bros are also fooled by Prompto's act
++ Prompto doesn't just gather intel, he plans on stabbing Ardyn in the back himself as soon as he gets the chance
+++ Prompto has to do humiliating things but bites his tongue and sucks it up because the success of his plan is more important than his dignity. I'm thinking submissive behaviour, acting like a pet looking for approval, letting Ardyn touch him..."

I also think that Prompto is stronger than he, or the fandom gives him credit for. He would definitely know how to be manipulative because he doesn't just rush into the fray like Gladio. He's also the best actor amongst them, which is why someone like Ignis wouldn't be able to hold the deception out for too long. This sunshine child is good. Please love him.

Warnings include torture, non-sexual bad touching, and Ardyn being Ardyn. Please enjoy!

When Prompto woke, it was to the sound of steady buzzing in the background, of whirring vents and clanking pipes. The irregular rhythm in the background pounded asynchronously with his headache, making him nauseous.

"What the hell…" he groaned, touching the side of his head that hurt most. There was a flaking crust on his hair, and he didn't have to look at his hands to know that he'd picked dried blood off. Besides, in the darkness, there wasn't much to see.

That brought up the next question in his frazzled mind, that of his current location. He couldn't remember how he'd ended up here, really. Last thing he knew, he was wandering the icy plains surrounding Gralea, hoping desperately to find his way home. He had been cold, hungry and tired, but he'd kept going. So how had he ended here… wherever 'here' was?

"Hello?" he hazarded, feeling on the floor around him for some sort of clue. His fingers ran over metal tiles, cold and unwelcoming, and Prompto couldn't say that this place rang any bells.

He made a move to get up, and that's when metallic rattling clued him in a little more on his current situation.

Even through the dark, when Prompto glanced urgently at the source of the noise, he could perceive the iron cuff fastened around one of his ankles.

"Well…" he sighed, a twitch of his leg producing another rattle. "This definitely sucks."

"Why so pessimistic, dear boy?"

The voice that reached his ears was sadly the only familiar element in this picture, which was quickly getting more and more unpleasant.

"Ardyn." He breathed in sharply, snapping his head up towards the darkness. From the shadows came the man, as if he'd been hiding until Prompto noticed him, and he stepped forward until he was towering over the young man at his feet.

"It's good to see you, too, Prompto," Ardyn smiled lightly, tipping his hat in mock greeting. "I was hoping you'd wake soon. I got tired of waiting, to be perfectly honest."

Prompto defiantly kept his silence, drawing his legs towards himself. The chain rattled lightly once again. Ardyn noticed it with an amused chuckle.

"I hope you're finding the accommodations to your liking," Ardyn continued. "After all, you'll be here a while. Who knows… maybe forever."

Prompto's lips twitched, and he only just held back from protesting. He wouldn't sit here and believe that Noct wasn't coming for him. He had to be.

Even though he'd been pushed off the train… Noct had to be coming for him… right?

"You don't actually think that someone cares enough to come for you, right?" Ardyn feigned concern, almost as if reading his thoughts. "It's not healthy to live a lie. Noctis threw you away like a piece of trash. Do you really want to return to someone who hates your entire existence?"

"He doesn't think that," Prompto finally broke his silence, if only because he couldn't just sit there and let Ardyn run his mouth. "He can't. He's my best friend!"

"And you, his," Ardyn assured him in a falsely appeasing tone. "At least, you used to be. Until he found out who -or what- you actually are."

"What do you mean?" Prompto was loathe to ask, but the chill that was settling in his spine unnerved him enough to push him forward. "I… I'm me. There's nothing else to it."

"The ink under your wristband tells another story," Ardyn chided him softly, and that's when Prompto froze.

Ardyn knew. Of course he knew.

And now, Noctis did, too.

He wouldn't hate him for it, though… would he?

His shoulders sagged, and he slumped back onto his knees. His hands fell uselessly in his lap, and Prompto felt like his mind had just travelled a million miles away from his body. His heart flipped incessantly in his chest.

He didn't want to believe it, but the feeling welling up inside of him felt uncomfortably like acceptance.

"Welcome home, NH-01987." Ardyn swept his arm to the side, as if only just inviting him into the cold metal walls of his newest prison, and Prompto lowered his head in defeat.

…-…-…-…

Ardyn left him to his devices in the empty prison cell, only returning after Prompto woke from a second round of sleep. There were no doors to be seen, let alone any windows, so Prompto couldn't tell what time of day it was. It was maddening, but he refused to let it affect him. He had to stay strong for Noct. He had to hold out for him, if only to hear him call Ardyn a liar. He just wanted Noct to come for him, to miss him, to be worried for him.

He wanted Noct to rescue Prompto, not leave NH-01987 to die.

So until then, until the moment he could confirm that Noct still needed him, he had to stay alive.

It proved to be harder of a task than he anticipated. When Ardyn returned the second time, he brought with him a bowl of steaming soup and a chunk of bread, and it took every ounce of will that Prompto still had in his beaten body not to jump at it. Instead, he glared at the food as if it offended him by existing.

"Come on, the soup will get cold quickly," Ardyn prompted him, a smirk dawning on his face. "It's chilly in here… not that you could tell that, NH-01987."

"Don't call me that, damn it," Prompto grunted out, glaring at Ardyn murderously. "I'm Prompto. I'm not the MT that Niflheim tried to make out of me."

"Sadly not," Ardyn shook his head woefully. "Had it not been for your traitor of a mother, you would've been, and what a fantastic specimen you would've been, too."

Ardyn seemed surprisingly chatty when all Prompto did was cue him in on a topic. As much as he hated the man, he still found himself drawn in by his story of his forgotten childhood. All he could remember were blurry figures and being afraid.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "What did you intend to do with me?"

"Don't you think it's a bit unfair to ask me questions and not give anything in return?" Ardyn cocked his head to the side. "How about you eat some of your meal, and I'll tell you the rest."

"I won't eat it." As if contradicting him, his stomach gave an uncomfortable roil that had him tensing against a wave of nausea.

"I haven't poisoned it, if that worries you," Ardyn assured him. "It would be counter-productive after all the effort I went through to gather your beaten half-corpse off the Gralean tundra. In fact, I have much greater plans for you, my boy. But for now, you must eat."

And Prompto hated him, but he had no choice. He could go for weeks without food, but he needed to stay hydrated, and most importantly, sane. His stomach eating itself out definitely wouldn't help with the latter.

He tried not to appear too ravenous when he grabbed the bowl, and drank straight out of it, disregarding the spoon.

"My, my. If I'd known you were so hungry, I'd have brought you a bigger bowl," Ardyn teased, watching Prompto eat. It was uncomfortable to be observed, but Prompto tried to ignore him and bit off a piece of bread instead.

He finished the meal in record time, a fleeting wish for Ignis' cooking passing through his mind before he extinguished it. Nostalgia had no place in the storm of emotions in his heart right now.

"I ate," he announced, glancing up at Ardyn. "Now tell me. About… about my past."

"So demanding. You forget that I'm the one giving you orders, NH-01987."

"Prompto. I'm Prompto," he frowned.

"Not for much longer, you won't be." And if that didn't strike a modicum of fear into Prompto's heart, nothing else would. "You see… you're quite the special player in this game of ours. You're the one, actually, who will guarantee my victory."

"Like I'd ever help you," Prompto spat to the side. "I won't turn against Noct and the others!"

Ardyn didn't reply to that comment directly, instead opting to glare at Prompto. The blond shrank back a bit under the powerful aura around the Chancellor, but refused to bend again. He couldn't show weakness. Still, he was deeply shaken by the way Ardyn scoured his body with his eyes, a different kind of hunger pervading his expression.

"Do you know what Magiteks are, in reality?" Ardyn suddenly changed the topic.

"They're… humans. Genetically-engineered humans trained from the early age to be soldiers," Prompto frowned. At least, that's all he remembered from his early childhood. Training, drills, orders being barked left and right…

"Correct," Ardyn nodded, taking a step towards him. Prompto couldn't help but flinch, and the chain on his ankle let out a telltale clang. "Though you missed the part that makes MTs truly formidable. There is a reason why they've got superhuman abilities."

Prompto said nothing. As he predicted, Ardyn continued without the need for encouragement.

"They're genetically crossed with daemons, dear boy," Ardyn finally dropped on him, stealing breath right out of Prompto's lungs. "Broken in mind and body until they are pushed to the brink of death and brought back by the scourge breathing life into their veins. Too weak to fight off the scourge, their minds are taken over and their body ceased to be theirs. The daemon takes control. And they become the ultimate weapon."

The blood in Prompto's body had frozen entirely, and his eyes were wide, horrified, disbelieving. Scared.

"You'll become the ultimate weapon, NH-01987."

And suddenly, Prompto knew. He knew why he was here, why he'd been saved, why Ardyn was keeping him under close watch.

But now, he also knew that Noct was coming for him. Ardyn wouldn't have set up such an elaborate plan to turn Prompto against the rest of his family if his family didn't come for him.

Noct was on his way. He just had to be strong.

"I can see the gears grinding in your head, you know," Ardyn taunted, crouching down to be at eye level with Prompto. He tried to sustain his gaze, but something about Ardyn was deeply unnerving, and he found himself looking away. The Chancellor snapped his chin back up immediately to keep eye contact with him, still as amused as before.

"I won't be your pawn." Prompto pulled his chin away, drawing a click of Ardyn's tongue.

"You misunderstand me, NH-01987." Ardyn stood back up, turning around to make for whatever exit point there was in the small room.

"Prompto! My name is Prompto!"

"You're not a pawn," Ardyn continued, wholly ignoring him. "I'm the king, and you're my queen. Fast, ruthless, powerful, you will take down the enemy king at my order, because that is all you are good for. You're a weapon of mass destruction. And that is all you will ever be, NH-01987."

The dim lighting didn't extend past a few feet, and so, Prompto lost track of Ardyn in the darkness. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, refusing to be afraid.

"Ardyn!" he cried out into the void, though no one answered him. Ardyn seemed to have vanished again. Still, with his heart beating so loudly against his ribs, prompt couldn't help but keep going. He was afraid, after all. All he had to do was keep his fear to himself. "I won't give in to you!"

Until he did.

He had to stay alive for Noct.

Whatever it took.

…-…-…-…

The dark cell made Prompto claustrophobic. It was understandable; the walls were steel, the ceiling invisible through the darkness, from which Prompto was only partially spared by a dim light on the wall. When he stretched out to catch some sleep, the rigid chain on his ankle only let him get so comfortable before it began tugging unpleasantly. The clanking of mechanics behind the walls kept him company; that, and the sound of his own breathing. At times, the darkness seemed like it spiralled down to swallow him whole, and at those times, Prompto could do nothing but retreat into the corner and breathe through the hallucinations dancing around him.

Prompto was afraid that he'd lose it before Noct even got to him.

Days were inconsequential in there. Prompto didn't know how long he stayed confined, but it was long enough for him to start looking forward to the sliding of a door somewhere that alerted him to the arrival of an MT with a chamber pot.

Everything seemed to be out of whack in order to throw him off. He couldn't discern a strict pattern to when he received a glass of water, was allowed a bowl of oatmeal, or was given bathroom privileges. All that kept him company through the long hours of isolation were his thoughts.

And he thought. Because if Ardyn believed that sensory deprivation would soften him up, then he had another thing coming.

When Ardyn showed up 2 meals, 5 waters, and 8 bathrooms later, Prompto had his entire plan worked out.

He had to stay strong. For Noct.

"You seem pale," Ardyn remarked without even greeting him, drawing a glare from Prompto, who sat up from where he was resting. "My, have you been sleeping enough?"

"I don't think that's the problem here," Prompto challenged with a smirk that Ardyn mirrored immediately.

"I was hoping you still had some fight left in you," he hummed in satisfaction. "Dr. Verstael insisted we scrap all the models that didn't submit to the initial deconditioning, but I couldn't help but find them fascinating." The way he drawled on that last word made Prompto's skin crawl. As if he wasn't talking about human beings at all. "They always ended up being the toughest to train, but were well-worth it in the end. Loyal to a fault."

Prompto's jaw clenched on its own accord.

"Let's move on to phase two, then, if you're done stewing in your own misery." Ardyn clapped his hands together. "You'll be happy to know you're being moved."

"Where?" Despite himself, Prompto couldn't help but light up with newfound hope. Anywhere would be better than the dim cell in which he was confined.

"Don't get too worked up," Ardyn warned him, stepping back until he disappeared into the darkness again. "It might not be up to par with some of the hotels you've shared on your journey here."

"I wasn't expecting it to be." Prompto sat still for a moment, and reacted with lightning speed when something was tossed at him. He snatched it right out of thin air before taking a look, and realizing it was a key.

"I'll see you on the outside."

Prompto didn't even wait for Ardyn to finish his sentence before he was fumbling for the lock on his shackle. His hands shook as he twisted the key in, and his heart lightened a few pounds when the steel restraint fell to the floor with a loud clang.

Standing up felt a bit foreign, but undeniably good. He never thought he'd ever be so happy to stretch his legs. Prompto took a moment to pull the tension out of his muscles and stretch as far as he could go, letting out a noise of satisfaction that was almost sexual.

And then, he refocused on the task at hand. Now that he was free without further instructions, he had to tread carefully. Of course, he had no illusions. He wasn't free, and Ardyn was surely watching his every step. Still, he couldn't stay in this prison forever, and so he stepped forward.

He stepped into the darkness, and was surprised to find, after a few steps, a part of the wall that had slid open. The hallway beyond was also dark, but he could see a small flickering light at the end of it. He walked for it, lightly drawing his hand across the wall for guidance.

As he approached the light, the hallway became brighter and brighter. When he turned the corner, the hallway had brightened into a dim passageway. It was good enough for Prompto, whose steps quickened.

He wandered down a second hallway, which led into separate paths, and he went left after some hesitation. There were still no noises to be heard, so Prompto let the racing of his frantic guard keep him company. After a few more turns, he ended up in front of an elevator, and lurched forward in his haste to find out if it worked.

Of course, it didn't.

Prompto pressed on the call button a few more times before conceding defeat. He sighed heavily, and after a moment of self-indulgent woe, he turned around to keep going.

He jumped back with a squeak, however, when he came face to face with a Magitek soldier standing right behind him. His back hit the elevator doors and his heart flipped in his chest as he locked his gaze with its soulless red eyes. It seemed to be waiting, motionless, empty.

Almost reflexively, Prompto cast his hand out and tried to call his firearm to him. As expected, however, nothing materialized in his hand, so he dropped his arm, and returned to his battle of glares with the creature he could have been.

"Do not mistake me, NH-01987," Ardyn's grating voice floated in the air via the overheads, startling Prompto again. "I take great pleasure in watching you break. However, I'm not really fond of doing the grunt work, so I'll see you when you're done and ready to submit."

"My name is Prompto, and you're not gonna break me!" Prompto yelled back out into thin air, and the MT took a mechanical step forward towards him.

"Sounds like a challenge," Ardyn chuckled, loud, diffuse, ominous. Prompto suddenly felt claustrophobic again, especially when the MT stepped towards him a bit more, boxing him into the dead end. "Make it worth my while, won't you?"

Prompto could not react in time when the MT pulled out a gun, and shot him twice with lightning speed, one for each leg. He cried out loudly as pain shredded through his nerves and crumpled to the ground, shaking.

A deeper part of him realized that he understood the MT. It had shot his legs first and foremost so that he couldn't run away from what was to follow.

He didn't need to be an MT to guess what that was.

He had to stay strong for Noctis. When he looked up, tears already brimming in his eyes, the MT had a sword in its hands, and was slowly raising it up.

Stay strong for Noctis, he repeated to himself, again and again and again as loud as he could to block out his own screams of agony.

…-…-…-…

He never quite passed out, which was a mercy and a blessing at once, because through the horrific pain seizing control of his body, Prompto could still coach his mind to stay strong. He was playing a very dangerous game here, and he knew it. He especially knew it when the door to his new abode swung open loudly, drawing a flinch from him. The flinch hurt his neck. He thought that perhaps he'd broken a cervical vertebra. Already, his legs had gone numb, which meant he'd fractured his lumbar spine, probably. At least he didn't quite feel his broken tibia anymore, though the sight of the bone sticking out of his skin was enough to make him sicker than before. However, if he retched, his contused ribs could snap from the heaving. It was already hard enough to breathe with a collapsed lung, and he didn't need a rib piercing his other lung, too. His wrists were tied to some sort of surgical table, so he wouldn't be able to press his twisted, deformed digits to any new wounds to stem the bleeding. And if he lost any more blood than he'd already lost from the numerous lacerations decorating his skin, he was sure he'd die.

When Ardyn stepped into view, he wondered if that would be such a bad thing.

Stay strong for Noct, he reminded himself, though in light of the pain, it almost felt pointless.

"Wow…" Ardyn whistled in mock admiration, scouring his bleeding body with his gaze as if appraising a piece of art. Prompto was momentarily glad for his busted eardrum because he didn't have to hear his grating voice too loudly. "Looks like someone ran you over and left you on the side of the road to die. Your dearest prince Noctis would, you know. Especially since he knows what a monster you are."

Prompto would not have replied, even if his raspy, shallow heaving had allowed him to. One of his eyes had a dark spot in it (retinal detachment, he guessed) and he couldn't quite see Ardyn's expression, but he knew that from here on out, his acting was crucial. So he said nothing, simply laid limp as if life bled out of him with every drop of blood that dripped off the table.

Ardyn seemed to be satisfied with his response (or lack thereof) and stepped forward to pat his arm. The hairs on Prompto's skin stood reflexively, and he couldn't help the genuine whimper of fear that escaped his split lips.

"Delicious," Ardyn hummed in satisfaction, patting Prompto's arm in mock comfort before turning away. He opened a nearby cupboard and pulled out a rack of sample tubes that all contained something black and tarry. Prompto couldn't look away for fear of fracturing his fragile neck, but closed his eyes as not to see Ardyn messing around with some medical equipment.

The next step would be the hardest, and the most crucial. He had survived thus far out of sheer will to return to Noctis, Ignis and Gladio, and he couldn't fail now.

Be strong for Noctis, he coached himself, whimpering again when footsteps came nearer to him.

"I know it hurts," Ardyn cooed mockingly, dropping his equipment next to Prompto on the table. "But this will make the pain go away. This will make everything go away, in fact. You won't have to live this wretched life anymore. You'll finally become what you've always meant to be."

Prompto opened his eyes again, glancing up at Ardyn with what he hoped was a pleading expression. Acting wasn't his forte, never mind when he was in so much pain he couldn't focus.

"Hush, child," Ardyn smiled at him, almost like a father to a son, and tied a tourniquet around Prompto's bruised arm. For a second, Prompto amused the thought of Ardyn not finding any veins, not with the bruises marring his skin and the blood leaving his body. However, a small prick, insignificant compared to everything else he felt, announced that he had hoped for too much.

Prompto took a deep breath, momentarily grateful for the wrist restraints because he braced against them. Ardyn busied himself with inserting his IV catheter and flushing it, but seemed to notice his struggle with a satisfied expression.

"Don't resist," he recommended, using a needle to draw up the contents of the vial into a syringe. Prompto watched the viscous black liquid pool into the syringe and shuddered, swallowing heavily and provoking another round of nausea. "It'll hurt more if you resist."

Prompto only had the intention of resisting one way. The only way that mattered. He just had to play his role now, and stay strong. Stay strong for Noctis.

"P…P…Plea-ease-" was all he managed to rasp out before his windpipe shut, provoking a terrifying moment of apnea where Prompto realized that he was about to die.

He'd rather die than be turned against his best friend, though.

"Since you asked so nicely," Ardyn nodded, but hurried to screw the syringe into the IV port as if he, too, knew that Prompto had seconds left to live. "I'll see you on the other side, NH-01987."

He pushed the plunger of the syringe down, and Prompto watched in breathless desperation as the black sludge crawled into his vein.

It was painful from the moment it entered his circulation, as if his abused body realized that something foreign had come into it. Strangely enough, Prompto could feel the daemon blood travel across his body, setting first to his arm, then his shoulder, then his collarbone. When it reached his heart, Prompto stopped breathing.

He wasn't aware of anything else for that second where time stood still. His mouth opened wide to scream, but no air came from his collapsed windpipe.

So this is what it felt like to die.

And then, there was a pyre lit in his brain, and through the sheer agony of his head on fire, Prompto realized that he was screaming.

Good. That meant he was breathing.

The regeneration process felt like a lifetime. Whenever Prompto tried to move away from the pain in his head, he found himself focusing on the pain of bones realigning, muscles fusing, nerves regrowing. Everything hurt. Everything hurt, and Prompto knew he was crying, screaming, thrashing against his bonds. He felt like he might have been pleading for something, too, and figured it was a plea for mercy, until finally, finally, the pain began to die down, and he realized that he had been screaming Noctis' name.

He couldn't let himself fail now. The last rendition of his King's name left his lips in a reverent whisper, and then, he laid still.

The fire was leaving his body now, dissipating as abruptly as it came. The seizing of his limbs dropped to an occasional jerk, and for the most part, as Prompto's exhausted body healed itself, he laid motionless.

He found himself thinking of emptiness, and the hardest part of the entire process was to fight against the emptiness.

His name. Prompto Argentum. 20 years old. His best friend. His lifeline. Noctis Lucis Caelum. His friends. Ignis Scientia. Reliable. Gladiolus Amicitia. Dependable. His passion. Photos. Chocobos. Sweets. Noctis.

His ears rang lightly, giving him background noise to anchor himself on as he pulled the threads of himself back from the brink. He'd almost lost himself through the pain, and he couldn't imagine what would happen if he had.

When the pain dissipated entirely, Prompto was left limp on the table, numb and exhausted. He couldn't even muster the strength to turn and look at Ardyn, which probably helped the image he was trying to project. What he wouldn't give to sleep for thirteen days right now, though.

"NH-01987."

Prompto didn't turn his head, too tired to do so. However, when Ardyn stepped forward and gripped his chin, gazing into his eyes, Prompto didn't resist.

He had to focus on playing his role. This was the most important moment. Windows were the eyes to his bare-laid soul, and Ardyn could read anyone like a book.

Thankfully, the Chancellor seemed to believe his act, probably taken by an uncharacteristic moment of emotion, and dropped his chin. Prompto let his head fall back down without complaint.

He was vaguely aware of his wrists and ankles being unlocked. Shame. He hoped to have a quick nap here, regardless of how uncomfortable the metal table was. Ardyn seemed to have other plans, though.

"Follow me, NH-01987," he motioned to him, and it took everything that Prompto had to get off the table, to his shaky knees. Ardyn didn't seem thrown off by the display of weakness, for he waited patiently for Prompto to bear weight before walking forward.

Prompto followed, every step another knife in his creaking bones, but kept his mouth shut. Ardyn didn't say anything to him either, simply leading him down a long, well-lit hallway. Prompto wondered if he could simply see better because of the daemon blood in his system now. That would be to figure out when he wasn't in such a precarious situation.

Ardyn led him for a few minutes of silent walking before finally stopping in front of sliding doors with a symbol on them. Prompto vaguely recalled the symbol from his memory, indicating dormitories. He was right, when the door opened, giving Prompto a view on the bunk beds lined up against the walls.

"Go lie down and wait for me," Ardyn ordered, and Prompto did as he was told, picking the closest bed and lying down on top of the covers. He watched Ardyn from the corner of his eye as the man went to the lockers at the end of the room and pulled out a few IV bags.

He then headed back to Prompto, hanging the IV bags, one of them clear, the other, yellow, and the last one, white, on the hooks designed to that effect on the bunk. He quickly primed the tubing and plugged the solutions to Prompto's IV as if he'd done this a hundred times before. So much for not doing the grunt work.

"You're beautiful, you know," he suddenly whispered, sitting next to Prompto on the bed, and putting a hand on his forehead to caress his hair. Prompto suppressed a shudder and tried not to react. "One of the best MTs I've seen since the beginning of the program. And using you to destroy Noctis will be so damn sweet." His hand paused, and then slid to Prompto's cheek to rub away at a dried tear. "It's a shame that he'll have to kill you in the end to get to the Crystal. But his hatred, kindled again by your fate, will make for such an interesting fire in his eyes."

Ardyn caressed his skin a little longer before rising.

"My revenge will be flawless. I will not just kill the last King of Lucis, no. I will destroy him." The small chuckle that followed had a deranged tinge to it, and Prompto was glad that he was turned away for he couldn't help but flinch. "I will tear him limbs from limbs and taint his fondest memories so that in the end, he doesn't even beg for death, just emptiness."

Prompto couldn't help but be relieved when Ardyn began to walk away.

"Rest now, NH-01987. Tomorrow, your existence will finally come to fruition."

For once, Prompto had no objections. His eyelids were heavy, bone-deep exhaustion pulling him under as soon as Ardyn allowed him to slip away. He was out like the lights of Zegnautus Keep.

…-…-…-…

Ardyn came to get him in what he assumed was the morning. Prompto felt like he would never do this for other MTs, and wasn't sure how to feel about it. In fact, he was surprised not to see anybody else in the facility. He hadn't even seen any other Magitek yet, other than the one that beat the shit out of him before his conversion.

It rang alarm bells in his mind, which was, thankfully, still all there, and rejuvenated thanks to his long sleep.

"Come," Ardyn prompted him, leading him away. Prompto followed obediently.

Ardyn took him to what seemed to be a storage room. On his way in, he pulled a gun from the lapels of his coat and handed it to Prompto. Mostly out of reflex, Prompto pulled the clip out to inspect it and reassembled the weapon to feel its weight in his hand.

Ardyn actually seemed impressed.

"Let's try something, shall we?" Ardyn asked, already moving towards the wall. Prompto turned his head and came face to face with an MT axeman. He momentarily wondered where the hell it had come from before the axeman was charging.

Prompto immediately recognized the situation as a test of some sort. Ardyn was trying to gauge him, see where he stood on a scale of Prompto to mindless-puppet. He didn't know exactly what was expected of him, though, so he ducked under the axeman's swing and jumped away from the next blow. He had always been the more agile type, so he opted to avoid conflict for now.

He danced around the other MT for a while, wondering if he was expected to do anything in particular. Of course, as irony had it, the next second, he knew exactly what was awaited of him.

When he spun around next, he came face-to-face with Noctis.

He couldn't help it. His heart skipped a beat, and he froze.

"Prompto…?" Noctis rasped out, looking on the verge of tears. "Thanks the gods you're here…"

This had to be an illusion. Another one of Ardyn's dirty tricks. There was no way that Noct could've gotten here so fast. And yet Prompto couldn't tell. The anguish on his friend's face was real. The shaking of his hands was genuine. For a second, Prompto considered dropping the act, running to Noct, crying in relief because his suffering was over.

But… not yet. This couldn't be Noct.

"Thank the gods you're safe. Let's get you out of here," Noct stepped forward, hand outstretched to grab him.

Prompto really hoped this was an illusion, or else he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

He grabbed Noctis' hand, against all instincts screaming inside of him, and pulled him in.

He then twisted his arm and with a kick to the back, sent him sprawling on the ground.

"What the hell, Prompto!?" Noctis exclaimed, only rising to his knees before Prompto had his gun trained on his head.

Just an illusion. Just an illusion. It had to be.

"Prompto, please…" Noctis' gaze fell. "This isn't you! You have to fight it. You're stronger than this!"

And Prompto was. He was stronger than anything. And that's why he had to pray that he was making the right choice here.

"Prompto! It's me! Nocti-"

Prompto pulled the trigger.

Noctis' body fell back against the ground with a dull thud, and Prompto's heart fell the same way.

For a moment, his best friend's body laid limp on the ground, blood pooling around his head. And when nothing happened, Prompto began to believe, with growing horror, that perhaps this had all been real.

He didn't know what he'd do to himself if it was.

Thankfully, he was rescued by an unlikely saviour before he could break character.

"Bravo," Ardyn clapped as he stepped out of the shadows.

When Prompto blinked next, Noctis' body in front of him had become that of a lifeless MT, and he almost spilled tears of relief. Almost.

"I admit that for a second, I didn't think you'd go through with it," Ardyn hummed, stepping next to Prompto to admire his handiwork. "It's normal to have residual memories after the first dose of daemon serum. Probably why you hesitated. Had you not been stolen away from your birthright, you would've forgotten everything after the second dose. Alas, your existence is short-lived, and you won't be here long enough to see a second dose. Shame."

Prompto didn't respond, simply put the safety back on his gun.

"You can keep that," Ardyn offered. "You'll be needing it soon."

The promise was an ominous one. Prompto didn't care to see it fulfilled.

"Walk with me. We have somewhere to be," Ardyn motioned him towards the door, and Prompto immediately fell into step after putting his new weapon into the waistband of his tattered pants.

He wished he could change into something more comfortable, and preferably less encrusted with various bodily fluids, but he supposed he didn't have that luxury right now.

"Magitek are curious creations," Ardyn started again as they walked. Prompto liked that he could elicit information from the Chancellor without even speaking a word. "Human, but not quite. You still might get hungry or thirsty, but those feelings are obsolete. Were you a longer-standing MT, the second dose would've taken those urges entirely from you. All you need to survive are intravenous nutrition and hydration."

That was probably what Prompto had gotten before sleeping. Still, he couldn't help the hunger pangs that elicited nausea in the back of his throat at the mention of food. He really missed Ignis' cooking. Gladio's overrated sports drinks. Noct's fussy eating that never failed to entertain.

He missed them so damn much, it hurt.

"Daemon blood gives MTs more resilience, strength and speed. A much higher tolerance to pain, as well, and regenerative abilities. Though they are useless in sunlight unless they attack in packs… but with the eternal night settling in, that won't be a problem anymore."

Prompto carefully filed this new information away, mildly alarmed at his promise of the eternal night.

Noct wouldn't let that happen. He couldn't.

"For now, though, we're simply playing the waiting game. Waiting for Noctis to arrive, that is."

So Noctis was coming after all. Prompto had known it in the depths of his hurting heart. This would all pay off. He just had to stay strong just a little longer.

Ardyn made idle chatter about MTs and their maintenance until they reached another set of doors, as unremarkable as the rest.

"Come, NH-01987. Put your new abilities to the test," Ardyn prompted him as they stood in front of the lock, which was lit red to deny them entry. "Not that they're new. All MTs have a chip embedded underneath their code print to allow them access to Niflheim facilities."

That gave Prompto enough of a clue as to what to do. Trying not to hesitate, he raised his tattooed wrist up to the scanner by the door, and clenched his fist minutely in relief when it beeped green after a second.

Ardyn entered without another word, and Prompto followed into what he realized was a control room of some sort. Monitors were set up from wall to wall, each with a different scene projected from surveillance cameras across the Keep. Control panels lined the walls, flashing messages on their small screens. There were many chairs strewn about, probably for the workers, who were curiously missing, as was everybody else in the Keep, apparently.

Ardyn immediately headed for a control panel on the right and pushed a few buttons. He seemed to enter coordinates, and the screen above them changed to something that felt strangely like hope.

"There's our King," Ardyn remarked, and pulled up the mosaic of surveillance tapes from the area where Noctis was currently exploring.

He was here. Right here, in the Keep, here to find him and take him home. Prompto had been wrong to let his personal insecurities create doubt in regards to Noct's selflessness. He should've known that Noct would never leave him here. He wasn't that kind of person, nor that kind of King.

He could've cried in absolute relief, but the sight of Noctis running through the hallways of the Keep gave him another reason to stay strong.

Ardyn moved to another console and flipped a few switches on. To Prompto's surprise, the Crystal came into view on the monitors, magnificent and radiating its usual ethereal glow. Prompto felt humbled by the sight of it, convinced that by reaching the Crystal, Noct would have victory within his grasp. Soon, this would all be over.

"Right," Ardyn mumbled, pulling on a lever. On the screen, some sort of red laser barrier closed in front of the Crystal, locking access to it. Prompto memorized the shape of the lever for future reference as Ardyn returned to the monitor with Noctis on it, and sat down on the chair comfortably. "And now, we wait."

Prompto was fond of that idea. So he stood there, silent, unmoving, eager.

Of course, Ardyn always had other plans in mind.

"Although…" he began again mere minutes after settling down. "I am hungry. Unlike you, I'm still human… though that's technically a lie." He laughed to himself as if sharing a private joke. "I think I'll have myself something to eat."

Prompto didn't know how he did it, but within a minute, an MT wandered into the room, carrying a backpack that it dropped at the door. It left without wasting another second. Prompto couldn't lie to himself; he'd kill to be able to order food telepathically.

"Fetch the bag, pup," Ardyn mocked, Prompto keeping his embarrassment in check long enough to go grab the bag. He returned with it and handed it to Ardyn, who rifled through it and pulled out an apple.

With a satisfied hum, he pulled a knife out of his pocket and began to cut it into slices. Prompto's stomach burned with acid at the sight of it, and he prayed that it didn't rumble audibly. The nausea of hunger was almost unbearable, but Prompto wouldn't let his physical limitations be his undoing.

"Would you like one?" Ardyn offered, holding up a slice towards Prompto's face. The tantalizing smell of the fruit wafted into Prompto's nose and he felt his will crumbling. However, he stayed impassive. He thought of the feast Ignis would cook up if he succeeded in getting all of them alive. It sure as hell would beat an apple eaten out of Ardyn's filthy hands.

Ardyn just shrugged at his refusal and ate the slice, deliberately crunching it loudly to agitate Prompto's empty stomach further, almost as if he knew of his subterfuge. Almost.

"They're delicious," Ardyn concluded, leaning back into his seat with a smug smile. "They'd be better if they came from your hand, pet."

Prompto froze.

"Feed them to me, won't you?" Ardyn hummed, the glint in his eyes unnerving. Prompto hated the way he was being observed, like a piece of meat. Still, he didn't have much of a choice. On the screen, Noctis had rejoined with Ignis and Gladio. They were one step closer to victory.

He grabbed a slice of apple off the control panel and held it up to Ardyn's lips.

Ardyn ate it, giving Prompto's fingertips a little lick at the end to collect the residual juices. He seemed to be more entertained by all this than anything else, even though Prompto did his best to keep his disgust in check. He followed with the other slices, all of which Ardyn ate with some sort of meaningful eye contact with Prompto.

By the seventh slice, Prompto had turned his gaze away to the fruit, focusing away from Ardyn's smirking expression.

"Delicious," Ardyn commented, waiting on Prompto to deliver the last slice. With relief, Prompto held it up and watched Ardyn consume it.

But unlike the other times, the lick turned into a chaste kiss to the tip of his fingers. Ardyn's arms came up to grab his, and Prompto couldn't help the shudder than ran across his spin when Ardyn kissed his knuckles, then sucked lightly on his index.

"If only your King could see you now," Ardyn taunted, biting the side of his thumb as he moved lower. Prompto mustered everything in his willpower not to move away, each contact of Ardyn's lips sending a shiver up his arm. He already had goosebumps and wondered if Ardyn had noticed them.

Ardyn paid special attention to the code print on his wrist, which almost made Prompto nauseous all over again. His tongue was leaving cold trails on his skin and Prompto fought every instinct in his body that screamed at him to put a stop to it. So Ardyn continued. He bit and pinched the skin on the underside of his arm so badly that he left red, budding bruises before moving on.

He made it all the way to his elbow before suddenly standing, towering over his shorter prisoner, and at that moment, Prompto felt terribly small, and afraid. He almost stepped back. He considered stepping back and putting an end to his suffering when Ardyn took his shoulders, and tilted his neck to one side.

The good thing about Ardyn biting a bruise onto his neck was that Prompto could allow himself to shut his eyes and clench his teeth without being afraid of being seen. The shivers wouldn't stop dancing across his skin, to the point where his entire body ached. He hated this, he hated this enough to die, but he also swore that he'd stay strong for Noct.

He let Ardyn grab his wrists and bite a few more hickeys on the soft skin of his neck, and tried to imagine that he was anywhere else than in Ardyn's arms at that moment.

As suddenly as it had started, it was over, and Ardyn had let him go to instead slump in his chair. The movement was so sudden that Prompto reeled, regaining his composure quickly.

"You know, this would've been a lot more entertaining if you struggled," he sighed. "I should have done this when you were still fiery and loud. There would've been nothing more delectable than the shame on your face."

Prompto tried not to think of the implications of the statement, and focused on the screen instead. Noct was taking a break with the two others in a dormitory room similar to his, though his traits seemed as crisped as ever.

Ardyn leaned into a microphone on the side, and pushed a button to broadcast, presumably.

"Getting complacent, Your Majesty?" he teased, and Prompto watched Noct's head snap right up at the ceiling, eyes wide. "Your dearest Prompto is waiting for you. You should have seen how he struggled at first, how he screamed and cried and begged you to save him. He doesn't do any of that anymore, of course, but… I suppose you'll have to find out what I mean yourself."

Prompto hated that fear had dawned on Noct's tired face. He had stood up in a heartbeat, yelling his anger out into thin air, though Prompto didn't hear what he said. Ignis was at his side in a second to calm him down, but Noct pushed him away and grabbed his jacket off the bed to put it back on. Everyone seemed on edge and frustrated, perhaps a bit desperate, and Prompto felt guilty for putting them in that position.

"That should expedite things," Ardyn concluded, leaning back in his chair, satisfied. "I honestly cannot wait for the grand finale. You should look forward to it, too."

One way or another, Prompto did look forward to it.

"In the meantime, get on your hands and knees," Ardyn demanded, and Prompto's blood ran cold. "At my feet, come on, pet."

Prompto figured that if he knelt, he could bow his face away from Ardyn. So he did, letting his blood-crusted hair veil his shameful expression. Soon after, a weight landed on his back, which felt a lot like footwear. Prompto did his best not to curve his back under the weight.

"If only they could see you now…" Ardyn marvelled yet again, adjusting his feet on Prompto's back, and Prompto swore to himself that they would never find out.

…-…-…-…

When Ardyn ordered him to get up and follow him, Prompto knew that the time had come. The gun still tucked against the curve of his back was calling to him, begging to be held against someone. Preferably, Ardyn.

They walked quickly through the hallways, Ardyn seeming much too excited at the prospect of facing off against Noctis. Prompto just tried to calculate his next move, seeing as fooling both his friends and Ardyn at once would be difficult.

His thoughts short-circuited when they reached a wide, open hangar, stepping through one side of it.

And on the other side, Noctis, Ignis and Gladio were making their way forward.

Prompto's heart almost gave out when Noctis, the real Noctis in the flesh, his best friend and King of Light, turned, and their eyes met.

The subsequent yell he let out would forever be burned into Prompto's memories as the most heartbreaking and heartwarming sound in the world.

The sound of his name, being called in a high-pitched tone of mixed relief and despair.

"Prompto!"

"Our royal retinue has arrived!" Ardyn greeted them as they changed their course immediately, jogging towards them. With a wave of his hand, Prompto stopped a few steps behind him.

"Get out of the way, Ardyn!" Noctis threatened, materializing a sword into his hand. "What have you done to him!?"

"Nothing," Ardyn raised his hands in mock surrender. "I've merely coaxed out his true potential. His birthright, if you will, just as the Crystal is yours."

"What do you mean?" Ignis stepped forward with a frown. Prompto was glad he couldn't see him in this moment.

"Right. Your blind faith in one another has barred you from realizing what was in front of you all this time." Ardyn snatched Prompto's wrist, and it took Prompto a second to remember that he was still playing the part. He let himself be manhandled, as much as he hated how Ardyn put him on display.

He felt especially anxious when Ardyn exposed the code print on his wrist.

"He always hid this wrist from you, correct?" Ardyn mused mockingly. "Could it be because he has the same code print tattoo that all other MTs do?"

"It doesn't matter," Noctis seethed. "You have five seconds to give him back to us before I cut you down!"

"Control your temper, young king," Ardyn warned, letting go of Prompto's arm. Prompto refused to lock gazes with Noctis, too afraid of what he'd find there. "I don't think you understand the situation at hand."

And if Prompto had been terrified before, he was absolutely mortified now.

"Kneel, pet," Ardyn ordered with a snap of his fingers, and Prompto had no choice, before the horrified gazes of his friends -his family-, to get on his knees and hold onto one of Ardyn's legs for support. Ardyn completed the picture by setting a hand on his hair, and petting it softly.

"Prompto…" Noctis choked out, and Prompto refused to look at him. He knew that he'd find pity, horror, and perhaps some acceptance in his gaze. He didn't want to see his best friend in distress, not because of him. He was so ashamed.

"Let me chop this guy's head off, Noct!" Gladio rumbled from behind him, materializing his greatsword in his hands. "Give Prom back to us!"

"Don't you understand?" Ardyn scoffed. "He's not Prompto anymore. He never was."

"Liar!"

"NH-01987," Ardyn called, tugging at his hair lightly in a motion for him to stand up. Prompto stood, his hands trembling in apprehension for the order he knew would follow. "Take them out."

Prompto had never been more afraid in his life. But he had to trust his friends to defend themselves no matter what.

He pulled out his gun, giving it a telltale click on purpose, before firing in Noct's general direction.

Of course, he'd given Gladio more than enough time to rush and block the bullet with his weapon. That was a relief at least. When Gladio put his sword down, though, the flash of betrayal in his eyes was almost enough make Prompto's resolve crumble.

"Orders are absolute," Ardyn warned them, taking a few steps back. "He won't stop until he kills you, or you kill him. Which will it be, King of Light?"

To his credit, Noctis simply clenched his fist tightly over his sword and gritted his teeth in determination,.

"Neither. We're gonna get him back!" The conviction in his voice gave Prompto the strength to keep going. "Gladio! Keep him busy! Ignis, we need to break whatever magic is holding him captive."

"On it," his two retainers nodded in unison, and then, Prompto had better things to worry about.

Namely, the hulking giant that was Noctis' bodyguard rushing towards him, brandishing a sword as tall as him.

"Snap out of it, Prompto!" Gladio called to him, swinging his sword. With a pained heart, Prompto realized that his attacks had less conviction than they did during sparring sessions. Gladio was loathe to hurt him, even when his charge's life was genuinely in danger.

He wanted to cry.

Instead, he did something more constructive, and jumped back. Gladio advanced in a flurry of swings chained together, though Prompto had seen it done too many times not to dodge it flawlessly. He fired a couple of shots for the sake of appearances, all of which Gladio blocked effortlessly, and put some distance between them.

"Fight it, Prom!" Noct cried out from the side. "You're not what you were born to be! You're my best friend, and a crown citizen of Lucis, and I need you to fight whatever is inside of you!"

"Prompto!" Ignis added on, looking just as frustrated by his powerlessness as he was with Ardyn. "You must find it within yourself to remember how much you mean to all of us! Why we need you to escape Ardyn's control and return to your senses!"

Prompto's heart swelled in tandem with their kind words, but Prompto couldn't break character just yet. Ardyn was still too far away, not within reach if Prompto wanted to turn the tables. He had to wait, hold out just a little longer.

Noct was right in front of him now. He had to be strong for him.

Distracted by his inner conflict, Prompto failed to avoid one of Gladio's strikes entirely, and with a barely-muffled yelp, he found himself fumbling back, clutching a newly-bleeding wound on his left shoulder. Thankfully, Noct's yelling covered up his slip-up. Even when they weren't trying, their teamwork was still on point, it seemed.

Gladio seemed a bit taken aback by the thought that he'd actually drawn blood from his friend, but Prompto needed him to keep playing along. He raised his gun to incite him back into battle, and Gladio took the bait.

Fighting Gladiolus Amicitia was not on Prompto's bucket list at all, but he sure as hell would consider it an achievement for still being alive so far.

It wasn't long before Noctis joined the fray as well, warping to Prompto's side to try and box him in. Prompto only saw a sword flying towards him before his instincts told him to duck. He evaded a swing from Noctis laterally, and then rolled to avoid one of Gladio's signature moves.

They were getting serious.

Perhaps they'd realized that there was no saving him.

Noct's eyes were wet with tears but hardened with acceptance.

Prompto had to finish this quickly.

At close-range with two people, he didn't stand much of a chance. He shot a few times, mostly to put up the illusion of a struggle, but soon enough, he was covered in bruises and half-hearted cuts.

"NH-01987."

And just like that, Prompto found himself in the arms of an unlikely saviour.

"Come to me," Ardyn ordered, holding his hand out. Prompto skillfully slipped through Gladio and Noctis, sprinting for Ardyn with more excitement than he ever thought he would feel.

He stopped at Ardyn's side, biting his lip at the looks of heartbreak that flashed across the faces of those who could see him.

"Let's put an end to this, shall we?" Ardyn smirked, putting an arm around Prompto's shoulder. "Remember, dearest boy, when I told you that I did not expect you to win here today, only to die and take a piece of the King's heart with you? Now is the time."

Prompto didn't hesitate. It was definitely time.

He put the gun up to his own temple.

"Prompto!" Gladio exclaimed, rushing forward. "Put the gun down!"

"Prompto, don't do it!" Ignis called out, jogging forward in an uncharacteristically reckless manner when he realized what was going on.

"Prom, please!" Noct pleaded above everyone else, and his voice took away the last modicum of control that Prompto had left. "I need you, Prom! Don't go!"

Prompto put his finger on the trigger, shifted the barrel to the side, and pulled.

His heart stopped in the aftermath. A light ringing crept into his ears, wounded by the proximity of the gunshot. He could still see the expression of terror in Noct's eyes when he stumbled back.

Thankfully, he righted himself when he shook off Ardyn's dead weight, letting the dead man fall backwards, onto the ground. Just to be sure, he turned to glance at him, at the stillness of his chest, and only then did he turn back to his friends.

Noctis, Ignis and Gladio were frozen in place, probably unsure of what the situation was. Prompto's heart swelled with relief, and worry, because he suddenly remembered that they knew about his origins now, and they knew what he'd let Ardyn do to him.

"I'm still me," he rasped out desperately, taking a step forward. To his absolute horror, he noticed Gladio shifting to shield Noct from him. "Please… guys… it's me."

"How do we know you're not another one of Ardyn's illusions?" Gladio challenged, though Prompto discerned that he was more desperate to believe than angry.

"Cause I didn't make it this far sneaking under Ardyn's nose just to fail you here," Prompto scoffed a bit bitterly. "Come on! You know I'd never betray you!"

That didn't seem to convince Gladio entirely. Even Ignis seemed on edge.

Prompto's heart broke. He hadn't come this far, suffered so much just to be cast out now.

"You have to believe me," he begged, feeling his helplessness rise as tears in his eyes. "I… I know I'm an MT. I've always known. And I should have told you, but-" his voice broke, and he cleared his throat in embarrassment. "But I couldn't. I was afraid that you would hate me. That my origins would be my downfall."

To their credit, the three others had not moved, and were actually listening to him. That must've been a good sign.

"I may have been created in Niflheim, but my heart is with Lucis," Prompto assured them, his voice catching again. "My heart is with you, Noct. You know that. There's no other way I would've survived the conversion procedure. I wouldn't have been able to fight every single one of my pre-programmed instincts if it weren't to see you again."

They still didn't move, but thankfully, Gladio seemed to have put his weapon down. The simple motion rekindled hope in Prompto's heart. Noct's face was impassive, however, and that scared Prompto more than anything. He'd been sure of Noct's loyalty before, but in retrospect, he couldn't be sure. Noctis was a king before he was a friend. He owed Prompto nothing.

"Please." His eyes burned to contain his tears, and finally, one slipped free, sliding down his dirty cheek. He wiped it away quickly. "I don't have anything if I don't have you guys. You're everything to me. I would die before I hurt you."

He glanced straight at Noct, whose grip tightened on his sword.

"If you don't believe me, it's better you kill me."

More tears escaped his carefully-constructed self-control, but he didn't have the energy to wipe them away. The notion that his suffering had been for nothing was beginning to make itself at home in his head. The daemon's whispers were interspersing the ringing in his ears. His hands shook, and the gun rattled in response.

"And if you can't kill me, I will," he concluded, dropping his head to hide the tears now streaming unrestrained. "I can't live if it's not at your side."

"Prompto," Noct finally called, and Prompto raised his head a bit too quickly, a bit too hopefully. Noct raised his sword, and threw it at him.

To his credit, he only flinched lightly, and shut his eyes. He preferred it this way, anyway, for Noct to be the one to take his life.

But when he opened his eyes to the sound of something akin to crystalline shimmering, he found himself face to face with Noctis. The sword he'd thrown had dematerialized into thin air, and the blue glow of his warp was leaving him.

In the next second, Noctis had thrown his arms around Prompto, and Prompto practically fell into his grasp in response.

"Oh, Noct…" he whimpered, his knees shaking with all the intense emotions raging in his head. "Oh, gods… I was so scared…"

"It's over, Prom," Noctis assured him, drawing his face into his shoulder, tangling a hand in his matted hair. "We've got you."

"I'm sorry," Prompto sobbed out as Ignis and Gladio approached them to stand by their side. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want… I didn't ever want to put you in this position…"

"It's not your fault," Ignis assured him calmly. "You did wonderfully to hold out this far. I can't imagine what you went through during your captivity. You're stronger than you think."

"I'm not that strong," Prompto laughed bitterly. "I… I just thought of you guys and I knew I had to keep fighting."

"You fought well." Gladio put a hand on his back, and it grounded Prompto more than he thought a simple touch could.

"I gave in," Prompto argued. "I… I should have struggled more, fought more. I shouldn't have let him win."

"Doesn't look like a winner to me," Gladio huffed, glancing back at Ardyn's lifeless body on the ground. "Sometimes, fighting means being smarter than violence. Sometimes, the fight is subtle. It's knowing when to back down and when to keep pushing. You did well. Didn't think you had it in you."

"I missed you, too, big guy," Prompto chuckled through a sniffle, his tears slowing. He already felt better, amongst the people who meant most to him in the whole world. "Tell me… Were you worried about me?"

"Of course we were," Noctis cut in almost viciously. "What kind of question is that?"

Prompto huffed, and laid his head against Noctis' shoulder. He could feel Noct's heart hammering against him. The tightness of his hold spoke volumes about his feelings.

"I shouldn't have doubted you, ever," he scoffed mirthlessly. "I'm sorry. I knew you'd come here, one way or another, but I… I didn't know if you would come for me, or the Crystal."

"Prompto…"

"That's why… I figured I couldn't die." Prompto tightened his lazy grip on Noctis, until his arms began to shake. "I had to do everything to survive, no matter what, just long enough to hear you say that I'm not a fake. That I… I'm the real me."

"I'm sorry," Noct murmured, sounding more pained than Prompto wanted him to be. It was over now, after all. He didn't want him to suffer anymore.

"It's fine, don't be," he assured him, pulling away at long last. He felt a bit stronger now, his spirit rekindled by the immense relief of having returned home- home amongst his family. "Everything is alright now."

And he even believed it for a whole two seconds and a half, before slow clapping from behind them jolted him out of his warm reverie.

"That was beautiful."

They all spun around simultaneously, a new sense of dread blooming within Prompto's heart. His face must have paled considerably when he watched Ardyn stand up from where he'd been dead a moment ago, clapping sarcastically.

"I love a good reunion, don't you?" he drawled, clapping a few more times before dropping his arms. "I have to admit, I never saw this coming. Bravo, Prompto. I didn't think you were smart enough pull off such delicate deception as you did."

"H-How did you…?" Prompto stuttered fearfully, to which the others responded by shifting to stand in front of him. "You were… You died! I shot you in the head!"

"Did you?" Ardyn wondered. "Yet here I am."

"I… I don't understand," Noctis added, materializing his sword. "What did you do!?"

"I suppose I omitted a piece of information," Ardyn admitted, rubbing his head where Prompto clearly remembered feeling a bullet lodging. "I'm immortal."

Prompto's heart skipped a beat, and the fear inside of him morphed into terror.

Ardyn knew he'd been tricked. And he was alive. He was alive, and Prompto had failed.

"No!" In the blink of an eye, Prompto put his gun up and shot. Ardyn reeled back when the bullet hit its mark, but then stood back up straight, laughing.

"You want to try that again, perhaps?" he cocked his head, Prompto's eyes widening when black blood, tainted with scourge, began to flow out of the bullet wound in his forehead. His sclera had turned black, and his irises gold, his eyes oozing black as if Prompto's struggling had brought him to tears.

"Noct, step back," Gladio warned, materializing his sword before all of them. Noctis put an arm out to shield Prompto, and Ignis raised his hand, kindling a fire spell in his palm.

"I'm not too interested in fighting you all here," Ardyn put his hands up placatingly. "I just want to fight Noctis, and even then, it wouldn't be much of a fight."

"Try me," Noct provoked, stepping forward before Ignis stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"Not now, Highness," he warned. "We have to get prompt somewhere safe first."

Noct backed down as soon as Prompto was mentioned.

"Your adviser is right, Highness," Ardyn mocked. "Fighting you now wouldn't be satisfying at all. I need you to grow, unlock your full power, and come at me with everything the Lucis line has, so that I may crush you and your entire legacy. I won't settle for anything less."

"I'll crush you here and now for all that you've done!"

"Don't waste your breath," Ardyn rolled his eyes. "Go to the Crystal and harvest its power instead. Once you do, come and find me. And fight be with all the dirty emotions in your heart." He took a step back, and then turned to leave. With every step he took away from them, Prompto's heart lightened. "It's a shame you couldn't follow along, NH-01987. Imagine how much rage your King would've had in him if you had died here at his hand or your own."

"He doesn't need any of that to beat you," Prompto called back after him, clenching his fists. "And my name is Prompto. Prompto Argentum. Don't you forget it!"

Ardyn said nothing, simply beating his retreat. Once he disappeared behind some sliding doors, only then did Prompto allow himself to relax.

"We should find a safe place to rest," Ignis was the first to suggest. "This encounter has taken a lot out of all of us, and… I'm sure Prompto needs his rest."

"I'm fine," Prompto assured him with a shaky smile. "We can keep going."

"Won't be much help if you keel over three steps into battle," Gladio grunted, slapping his back lightly in an amicable gesture that sent Prompto stumbling lightly.

"They're right," Noctis agreed. "We could all use a break and something to eat."

In the heat of the action, Prompto had almost forgotten about food. It had definitely been a couple of days since he'd had anything to eat, really. As if celebrating its freedom, his stomach growled loudly.

"Now that, I can do," he chuckled over the wave of nausea that assailed his senses. "I could chug a gallon of water and eat an entire chocobo. Not that I would. Chocobos are too cute to eat."

To that, Noctis only smiled, and ruffled his hair.

"I don't think you'd ever make a good MT, Prom," he teased, taking the first steps to incite them all to leave. "You're too much of a happy-to-lucky guy to be a soldier. Besides, MTs thrive in the dark, and you always seem to bring the sun wherever you go."

That warmed Prompto's heart, and made him giddy. He was so glad to be back. All his struggling had been worth it in the end. He'd stayed strong for Noct throughout all the pain he'd endured, and he'd successfully returned to him because of it.

The road from now would definitely be a bumpy one, bumpier than before, even. Prompto didn't expect things to go as smoothly anymore, for any of them.

Still, when he revelled in the feeling of belonging amongst Gladiolus, Ignis and Noctis, he felt like he could take on the world, as long as he did it by their side.

Author's Note

I wanted to write so much more; about daemon blood withdrawal, Prompto's recovery, a scene in the dorms when the bros take care of Prompto and learn more of his time in captivity, a scene where Prompto tells them everything he knows from watching Ardyn... But this is a kink meme fill, not a full-on fanfic, so I abstained. Sorry.

MTs are kind of vaguely defined in the canon so I took my liberties with them. Basically, I figure that test-tube children are raised as soldiers, and at a young age, go through conversion to become MTs. The first step is to weaken their defenses through sensory deprivation and isolation. Then, their bodies must be broken beyond repair so that death or conversion are the only two options. And then, they are injected with daemon blood, which contaminates them and subjugates their already-weakened minds and bodies to the daemon's influence. That's when they become mindless destruction machines; irretrievably so. After a few rounds of daemon blood, their conversion is complete and they become the Magitek Troopers we all know and love... ish.

This is an AU in the sense that the new cutscenes added with the Episode Gladio patch happen AFTER this fic (and obvs, they're all together instead of being just Ignis and Gladio), and right afterwards, the boys make their way to Ravus-daemon battle royale- the Crystal. Anyway. Hope the OP liked this oneshot, and that all of you guys had a kick out of it, too! Thank you for reading, please leave a comment and share my love for FFXV!

-SS