It's been over four months and I can't believe it took me this long. My year started with a lot of work-related stress, than the whole situation you all know about and it took me a while to manage my stress. Still on a work in progress on that front. I hope you're all safe and doing well, or as well as possible. I'm still very much a fan of FFXV, you might have seen the chapters of Stranded coming up. Finished FFVII:remake already and I dearly dearly need to write on that because my last FFVII fics date back to 2006. But Unexpected will see completion first. Today's chapter is the last kick toward the final events of this story. We still have 20 chapters to go as it is. Writing all of this chapter was process, but it's definitely not because I'm tired of this story. I'm mostly tired, period. ^^' Today we have a tad of crowdio, ignoct bromance, lunoct that goes nowhere near smut territory I guess lol but still, and new about both Ravus and Prompto's situations. Those last two are so not doing well. I hope you enjoy!

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Unexpected

Chapter 94 – To war

"Iris, slow down, please." Luna asked her, her voice trembling.

There could only be one reason why Iris would barge in the royal couple's room in the dead of night with tears in her eyes. The brunette was apologizing and clutching her phone, her words falling on top of one another.

"How bad was his blight?" Luna asked Iris.

"I don't know. All I know is that something broke his phone, I've been trying to convince myself he's fine, but…"

"It's my brother. He's never fine."

"You can say that again," Noctis grumbled as he got off from bed.

He wanted to offer Luna some comfort, but instead, Luna suggested to Iris that she sit down and asked Noctis to gather whoever would be coming with them. They needed to start packing.

…

Gladiolus was tempted to punch Ravus right upon the moment they would find him. No matter the state the guy would be in. The man never had good timing, but this was certainly the icing on the cake. Crowe could barely find sleep at night. She needed to hold her round stomach as she shifted around in bed, her long messy hair covering her exposed breast as Noctis walked into the room and quickly rose his hands to shield his eyes. His Shield had five hours to get ready.

"We haven't even talked with Iggy about…"

"We need to move now, Gladio. I'm sorry for waking you up, Crowe…" Noctis added.

"Apologize for taking away my human blanket," she grumbled, leaning against her husband before he could slip out of bed.

Noctis repeated his apology, closing the door behind him to gather the rest of them.

Gladiolus's shoulders lowered a notch as he listened to his hurried footsteps in the hallway.

"Aranea is not ready to get back in the field and while Ignis wants to help, I can't…" he started.

"Gladio, why don't you worry about your sister? She must be terrified."

He heaved a deep sigh , grabbing his phone from the nightstand and discovering a couple messages from Iris.

"She's apologizing for it, dammit. I need to find a way to kill and unkill that guy."

"Gladio," Crowe yawned on the last syllable of his name, earning herself a bear hug and to be pulled back into bed. "What are you doing?"

"I don't wanna leave. You're about ready to pop. I want to see our little guy."

"Oh babe, I want you to stay more than anything. But Iris is my sister, Luna is my friend. And it's not just about Ravus. Prompto is out there too."

Gladio squeezed her as close as he could despite her belly, which equalled to him wrapping himself to her side.

"You should have cloned me already."

"Two of you in my bed would be overwhelming," she teased him.

His chuckle was genuine and next thing she knew, he was kissing her cheek and the crook of her neck tenderly.

"You smell so good, that might be the second thing I'll miss the more."

"Tell me the first one is not sex."

"That's the third one. First one is you, Crowe."

"Fuck, tone it down, I'm trying to not be emotional," she pleaded with him.

She pulled on his hair to meet his eyes, sighing as he rested his forehead against hers.

"You're giving me permission to go?"

"Only if you come back home to me."

"Will do, lady Amicitia."

He aimed to kiss the tip of her nose, but she retorted by leaning her head to catch his lips with her mouth. They lingered in the soft touches, Gladio pulling away disheartedly after an nth kiss.

"I should start packing."

Crowe nodded, ruffling his hair as he stayed where he was, holding her still.

"Don't dress until you're done packing?" she suggested.

"Damn, I know what you're going to miss the most about me," he laughed.

…

Noctis had warned Cindy through a text about his decision to leave with the first train, and then focused on making the appropriate calls. Luna was helping Iris pack her stuff, and would then pack their own necessities. The young King had only two persons to check in with, Ignis and Cor. Not that he should hope to convince either one to follow him. Cor still had difficulty walking and Ignis could only avoid bumping into things if he used his cane and a GPS in new areas. From what Noctis had seen, his oldest friend was treated well by the people of Altissia, but then again, there was the fact he was known to be one of the King's men… and the reason why anyone who had been turned into a daemon during the royal wedding had turned back to human.

Ignis had pleaded with Noctis to keep that to himself, but the King wouldn't let his immense sacrifice go unknown. He figured that since Ardyn had hurt him so deeply, Noctis needed to make sure he would be looked after.

It might have been another reason why Ignis had felt the need to change his hairstyle so drastically. Noctis didn't like the impression the new hair was the first step towards a very different version of his advisor and friend. But he couldn't pretend any of them were the same as when they were when they'd first set out.

Ignis, I know it's very early, but we need to talk, he typed on his phone again.

He knew Ignis was still figuring out this reading app on his phone and that it didn't work so well, but he was too anxious to count on that. And since the man wasn't in his own room, the King was left with only option, to check on Aranea's room.

He knew the pair were slowly mending things, but Ignis had been quiet on their progress. Noctis felt bad for knocking at Aranea's door, most certainly waking up the two of them, even more when he heard Ignis roughly asking who was there.

"It's Noctis."

Whispers and then.

"Just a minute."

The door was locked, of course and from the thumping sound and light curses he heard, Noctis understood that Ignis might have fallen into something on his way out of bed and to the door. It opened with a creak, Aranea still lying in her bed, Ignis's unscarred eye blinking wildly even though he couldn't see the light from the hallway. He was still waking up.

"I'm so sorry for…"

"What's happening? Is anyone hurt?" Ignis cut him off.

"No, at least not that we know off. Iris had a call from Ravus just a while ago, it cut off abruptly, but we were able to trace the signal to Tenebrae. Where Prompto is…"

Ignis's mouth hung open for the briefest time, Noctis finding himself nodding to him without thinking.

"Luna doesn't want to stay still and I can't let Prompto stay a captive of Otto-2 any longer if I can help it," Noctis quickly said, his eyes going from Ignis to Aranea who was shifting around to raise herself on her bed.

"What are you planning?" she asked, her voice hoarse. "When are you leaving?"

To him, she sounded annoyed, but Ignis caught the hint of fear in her tone and swallowed, a weight growing in his stomach as he realized why Noctis was showing up in the middle of the night.

"You can't be serious… I can't…!"

Noctis raised his hands in an appeasing gesture, immediately interrupting him.

"I'm not asking! I'm not ordering you to follow, just offering… Ig, it's… If we get Prompto back and you're not around…"

Ignis leaned against the doorframe, running one hand through his unruly hair and actually pulling on it as he gathered up his countenance, Noctis blinking as he realized what his advisor was doing.

"I'm blind, Noct, I can't go."

"I'm sorry, I just… We're leaving first thing in the morning, Luna's a mess, so is Iris, we got Gladio onboard, but…"

That was it. That was everything that was left right now and Noctis was trying to process it, but that was a pill he couldn't swallow. He had always, always had Ignis around to back him up. To make sure he did his homework, eat enough food, actual proper food too, that every need of the kingdom was fulfilled while its King could catch a wink of sleep. Now for the past few weeks, Noctis had barely managed to cover all of the work Ignis used to do for him, finding himself overwhelmed and lost almost as often as he did right after escaping Ardyn's clutches.

"If I'm concerned by this talk, do you gentlemen mind relocating inside this room?" Aranea intervened.

"You're not…" Noctis started, quickly catching himself. "I'm very sorry Aranea, but…"

"We know I'm still useless at the moment, it's fine, just take this outside then." She retorted, pushing her head back against her pillow as she dropped herself on the mattress.

The metal clicking at the motion made both men wince, but they stepped out of the room, Ignis careful of unlocking the door before closing it behind him.

"That didn't come out like I intended," Noctis sighed.

"Which part?" Ignis couldn't help himself. "The part where you dismissed my handicap or my partner?"

"I…"

"I can't follow you this time Noctis," the advisor went on. "I don't want any of you guys distracted with looking after me, and please don't patronize me by saying I can handle myself. I'm better than I was, but I'm nowhere near ready for a battlefield."

"Ignis…"

"I want to help, don't go thinking I don't want Prompto back. But even when we get him back, there's no going back to how things were. Gladio will soon be a dad, I'm always going to be blind and…"

"Stop, Ignis, I get it okay? I'm a selfish brat for asking, I didn't mean to pressure you or dismiss… Maybe I should have gotten a move on faster, but I don't want to leave you behind."

"You think I want to…?" Ignis's voice broke and Noctis felt what fragile mental balance he'd found threatening to snap. "You're not supposed to leave and die just because I'm not watching over you, you realize?"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

"Careful, we'll gather people out," Ignis sighed.

"Ig… Ig, I just need to know this is the right thing. You always keep me on the right course."

"Gladio can do that. I can still… You can call me, we can talk. But I'm not going anywhere. I'm not losing Aranea again."

Noctis found himself nodding again, struggling with the knot building in his throat to voice a weak "yes".

"Noct, for fuck's sake, we don't have to be this dramatic, you should be trying to catch some sleep if you want to leave tomorrow."

"I can sleep on the train," the King defended himself.

"I doubt you will. For someone who used to sleep anywhere at any time, you've gotten quite difficult."

"I'm not that bad," Noctis chuckled weakly. "But I get it. I'll give you a call when we leave?"

"I'd rather not be kept in the dark," Ignis said. "And while I'm here, I can make sure Cindy doesn't overdo it and…"

"That's be great. I don't know what Prom would do to me if anything happened to her or their kid."

It took them a minute to process that sentence, to weight everything it meant.

"Everything is turning so weird. Glad I'm not the one breaking that news to him," Ignis teased him.

"Oh shut up. Like I'll tell him."

He needed to consult Cindy first and he had no idea how to talk to her anymore. Should he even visit her in the middle of the night, or postpone it to a talk with texts on the phone?

"I don't need my eyes to know you're thinking up a storm right now, Noct. Slow down. You don't need to solve everything all by yourself."

"I can't believe it's you telling me that."

They stood across each other in silence for the next half minute, both trying to muster words that would correctly carry everything they were still holding back.

"Should we say goodbye now?" Noctis offered.

"Might be better that way…"

Ignis had a fair idea of where the man was compared to him, and yet he couldn't move first, even though it was usually him who did whenever Noctis felt this lost. Thankfully, the man he considered like a brother had grown. Noctis gave him a gruff hug, Ignis shakily reciprocating.

"Can you promise me to not let Gladio make his awful cuppa noodles every single night?"

"I'm sure Iris won't let him. But yeah. I promise."

Ignis gave him a squeeze, unsure how he would handle the fact his only access to Noctis would be from phonecalls, calls he couldn't even try for fear he would signal his position to some enemies he couldn't fight. For the first time in over 14 years, he wouldn't be His Hand, his advisor, or his driver, or his cook, or one of his shields.

"For the next time, I'll have both you and Aranea with us, okay?"

"Okay."

They patted each other's backs. Tried to just smile, to show confidence, because it was what they both needed. Then fell into an even tighter hug, pulling away only when the worst of the shaking was gone.

"Be safe. And warn me so I can say the same stupid thing to Gladio, Iris and Luna before you leave."

"You're such a mom."

"Some things just can't change."

They parted on those words, Ignis giving himself a minute before stepping back into Aranea's room.

Everything was quiet in there, forcing him to wait until he'd walked up to the bed to catch the uneven rhythm of her breathing.

"Ari…"

"I'm trying to sleep," she instantly protested.

"I'm not going," he told her, sitting by the edge of the mattress, fighting against his urge to wrap himself around her.

She shuffled in the bed, curling up on herself a little more, Ignis leaning down on one elbow to wrap one arm around her.

"I hope you're not expecting me to thank you."

"No. No, but I would like to hold you."

Aranea whimpered at his words, rolling on her back so suddenly, he nearly jumped off the bed, but her hands found his crumbled shirt, pulling him close, her hard shell gone.

"Gods, I… I'm so sick of crying but as soon as that door closed behind you, I… I was back down that cliff."

"Love, no," he whispered, holding her even closer to him.

"You're really not going? I get to keep you with me?"

His heart ached at the thought she'd feared him leaving that badly. Behind all her bravado, she was so insecure, he was starting to run out of ideas to comfort her.

"I'm really staying. I am still blind, and there was just no way I could leave without you. I mean, if I stop hearing your voice, I might start believing I dreamed up the fact you…"

His voice faltered once more. It had been only a few days since she'd agreed to sleep in the same bed as him once more and yet he still had to convince himself she was real. That she was alive.

"Iggy…"

"Let me touch your face," he pleaded.

"It's all red and puffy, you don't need to trace it to…"

"Please."

He rose up to balance himself on one elbow, holding her in that awkward and heavy way he had now. She grabbed his wrists to guide his hands to her face, gasping as he leaned his forehead against hers. Their noses brushed, breath mingling.

"So… how do you like my face?"

He leaned in to kiss her cheek, whining as she ran her hands through his hair.

"You didn't even give me time to really look," he told her, his thumbs moving along either side of her face, his fingers tracing the shells of her ears.

"I'm not going anywhere, you don't have to rush."

"I didn't mean to make you feel rushed. Although I am a needy thing right now," he admitted softly.

"You don't know how good it is to know you need me…"

…

Noctis was feeling even more frantic as he got back to the room he shared with Luna. He had called everyone he could, apologizing a hundred times for waking people up. He expected Iris to still be sitting on their bed with Luna comforting her, but the brunette was gone, apparently to prepare things and to allow the princess some space. His wife was sitting alone, not on the bed, but on the floor by his desk, her back against the wall, struggling with the phone he'd recently given her. Pryna wasn't with her either, neither was Umbra. Noctis inched into the room, the click of the door having her looking up, her eyes still red from crying.

His throat was too tight, yet he managed a rough "Hey".

"Hi," she mustered,

"Oh Luna…"

"I should have asked to go after him earlier," she sighed.

Noctis walked up to her, shaking his head at her, jumping as she hurried to her feet and started shaking her own head even harder than his.

"I'm so confused right now, Noct. I need a hug."

"I got you, I got you," was all he could say as he pulled her into his arms.

"I don't want to hurt like this anymore. I want everyone safe and well and the world already…" Her shuddered breath nearly sent him into a panic but he held it down, stroking her back in gentle circling motions.

"I know, Luna. We're almost there."

"I'm sorry."

"You need to stop apologizing for being human. You can be scared and tired and worried."

"But I don't want to be, and that's why I…"

"Luna…"

She squeezed him even closer, his back aching in protest while his heart swelled.

"I think I finished packing for both of us but…"

"You know I can have anything but a building in my pockets," he tried teasing her.

She giggled and sniffled, hiding her face against his chest until she felt solid enough to look at him.

"Are we fully prepared then?"

He nodded, stroking her hair tenderly.

"We'll get both of them back. Just need to wait five hours before we can jump on the first train."

He wouldn't mention the boat to her, he knew how nervous she was about going back on the water after everything that had happened.

"Okay."

"You should get some actual sleep in the meantime," Noctis added, leaning enough to lift her into his arms, relishing her surprised gasp as he carried her to their bed. She held on to his neck as he laid her down, an adorable whine stuck in her throat.

"I don't want to sleep. Kill time with me?" she pleaded.

Noctis smiled at her, pushing her further to the middle of the mattress to hover over her. He kissed the tip of her nose, still quite conscious of the heavy wound she'd taken.

"What do you want?" he offered.

Luna swallowed, running one hand through her messy blond hair. Noctis held her closer, cupping the back of her head, in that way that always made her feel precious to him.

"Make love to me?"

His sharp intake of breath had her nearly apologizing again.

"I know it's selfish, but we haven't had sex since before… You know. And this might be our last night in an actual bed. Is it wrong if I want my husband to…?"

"Luna, stop, it's not wrong. I just… I didn't want to make things worse…"

"It doesn't take that long to heal, you know? I'm not going to break."

"I know. You need to keep telling me, I'm sorry."

Luna shook her head at him.

"I don't want words. I don't want to be denied."

"Damn, Luna, where do you find the strength to…"

"I'm not strong, I'm terrified Noct. What if you don't want me anymore?"

"What?! Luna, the last thing I mean is to have you feel like… Luna, I love you. I married you. You're everything…" his godsdamn voice broke and she seemed ready to falter herself.

"Don't cry, please don't cry, I can't…"

He kissed her silent, letting out the panic and anxiety he felt at first, which allowed her to let out her own.

"Touch me," she insisted.

"You too, Luna," he asked back, his breaths sharp and short in between more kisses.

Her hands left his hair to work on his waistband, Noctis realizing how wanting she had to be to even act in such a rush.

"I'm not… I'm going to need a little time. I'm so nervous about everything right now," he told her.

"Focus on me. For right now, it's just us."

He dove back for her lips, his kiss rough and demanding as he looked for that "us" he'd been avoiding somehow. He'd hold her and cuddle as close as he'd dare. He kissed her for a yes and a no, and for pretty much every excuse he could find. He wasn't sure calling his patience about all this "holding back" was the right way to define it. His magic had betrayed him back on that boat. Ardyn had used his father's sword against her and it wasn't something he could easily forget. So until he was under control, something that never seemed to happen, how could he take the risk?

I should always take it, he thought bitterly.

As he kicked off the clothes she wanted off him, he tried to always keep one hand on her, playing with the fabric of her own clothes, finding skin and giving birth to shivers and the low, quiet moans he'd come to know so well.

"I want to see you, Luna."

She hesitated then, giving him enough pause to pull back so their eyes could meet.

"I don't want you looking at the scar…"

His throat was so tight, and his mouth parched suddenly, Noctis consciously warning himself to not take his hands off her.

"Why, cause this one's my fault?"

"Because it is not!" she objected.

He gave her a weak nod, trying to smile and achieving it as she caressed his cheek.

"I… I need to get over it one day, love. Let me start somewhere."

She asked for more kisses first, finding the strength to shed the layers of clothing keeping them apart and thanking Noctis for not parting from her right away to eat her up with his eyes. Instead he lit a path of fire down her jaw and neck, his hands squeezing and grasping her, his next words making her blush. She'd lose weight but her curves were still perfect to him, even if he'd welcome fewer edges here and there. Only when she covered her mouth to hold in a scream, her hips buckling against his touch, only then did he look for the scar.

The heat between them died down for solemnity, Noctis looking into her eyes as he held her waist, his thumbs brushing against her skin. The unmarred side and the scarred one. He kissed both spots. Twice, thrice, stopping when Luna let out a whimper. He leaned his head against her stomach and just held her, whispering words against her shivering flesh.

"I need you, I need you so much, Luna, you don't know how much, how bad…"

"Show me," she said. "Show me and I'll do my best to show you just how very much I also need you."

He looked ready to melt and she wasn't sure she could hold together, not when his eyes held her this close. But reality came back with the buzz of his phone, Noctis cursing against the thing, Luna shaking her head at him with incomprehension.

"I should set an alarm, otherwise we'll kill too much time before you know it," he sighed, having the decency to look sheepish.

"Promises?" she teased him.

"Vows," he shot back, kissing her lips one last time before rolling to the side to set said alarm.

They took their time despite knowing they had a limit, spoiling each other, love and comfort melding together. Whenever they stopped moving, they would be lying close, skin to skin, talking about anything and everything that wouldn't make either of them cry.

Like kids.

"So this is just a repetition…" Noctis mused playfully.

"Noct!" she chided him. "Although, with two couples in our group having kids on the way… I feel like we're… late somehow?"

"When did having babies become a competition?!"

"I didn't say that! But if they're too far apart, our kids won't be able to play together until a while and…"

He kissed her, refusing to hear more, knowing any more might convince him to do something stupid considering everything they still had to do. He could tell she was half speaking out of fear. Neither of them wanted to lose each other and he could understand what this trip with a reduced team meant for them. He was terrified of anything happening to her out there. And sometimes, that made him forget that she was just as scared of losing him.

"We'll have them when we're ready."

When our world will be safe.

…

The goodbyes at the edge of dawn were rough. Cindy had sent over a dozen texts to Noctis to convince him to let her follow with one of her airships and reinforcements as soon as the construction would be independent for her. Noctis was still arguing with her about it. The fact she'd survived every one of her encounters with Nifelheim soldiers was mostly an act of providence, and he wouldn't forgive himself if he got her killed. Especially right now. Her baby bump was starting to show in her skin-tight clothes and she wasn't ready to give up on those just yet.

"Reinforcements will be welcome, Noct," Luna reminded him.

"And can we really even pretend there's one country that is safer than another right now?" Iris added, her eyes dark and her face even gloomier.

Gladiolus and Crowe had tried cheering her up, her brother carrying a load of sleeping pills with him in case Iris ended up too cranky to find sleep during the first few days of their travel. It would be useful for all of them to be fair, although Luna wasn't quite keen on the idea.

The ferry that would take them to the train station was the most heavily guarded boat either of them had ever seen. Ignis, Cor and Cindy had shown to see them off, Aranea back in her hospital room, Crowe keeping her company after being carried down to her level by Gladio. They could have shown up in wheelchairs, but the way back would have been miserable. The ferry had been delayed so Luna could spend some time with both women, Noctis using that time to run a last check on the security all over Altissia and mostly where their friends were staying. He had also called Libertus, confirming that Lucis would need its King back soon, which only added to the pressure he was under. Cor was scheduled to head back to Lucis with a few soldiers and support Libertus in keeping the country under control. Free Crown needed Libertus most of the time and Lestallum was nowhere near back to its feet yet.

I need to widen the resources looking after everyone, we need to reinstate some system.

He nearly asked Ignis for his advice about it, knowing his advisor had to already have a dozen plans half cooked-up in mind, but bit his tongue. Their plates were already full and it was clear from how shaky on his feet Ignis was that he needed sleep and less things to worry about.

"Don't be strangers," he reminded them, mostly speaking to Noctis and Gladio.

They all knew the signal would get weaker the deeper they'd be in Tenebrae and while Noctis hoped he could go back and pick everyone back up to form their original team, he knew deep down what he needed to do. If he had a chance to put an end to the empire, be it by himself, just between him, Luna, Gladio and Iris or with the help of Prompto -counting Ravus felt ludicrous at the moment- well, he was going to do it.

The crystal…

The voices weren't ready to forget yet and while worried of what facing the complete crystal would do to him, Noctis knew he had postponed it long enough. It was the last big source of power the empire held.

When everything was said and repeated at least once, they waved one last time, Noctis wrapping one arm around Luna, his Queen holding him with both arms as they walked up the portable staircase leading into the ferryboat. Gladiolus led the way, holding Iris's hand, the brunette starting to tremble despite wanting nothing more than to leave.

They all had mixed feelings about having to take the sea, but if they were to even take one of Cindy's ships, there would be no way to keep her from tracking them down. Noctis knew using the same transports and retracing Prompto and Otto's steps wouldn't be as efficient as taking to the skies and rushing ahead. But they couldn't exactly rush. Tenebrae's magic might counteract an airship's system. There was a reason why the Oracle had barely been introduced to technology even under the empire's rules.

In a matter of minutes, they were installed in a spacious cabin that gave them the illusion of sitting in a living room, not a boat, Iris immediately plugging in her phone to recharge it, Gladio chatting away with her to keep her mind off Ravus. Noctis and Luna stayed on their side of the room, Noctis refusing to leave her side and Luna remaining clingy as she feared any bad surprise.

"It feels so strange to just leave half of us behind," she whispered to him.

"Yeah. With everything that has happened…"

They were leaving more than friends at that dock, but their entire family. Umbra and Pryna hadn't showed up in the morning, Luna declaring that be it across water or land, both dogs could find them if they needed to. Deep down, she feared the pair of animals were too shell shocked by the recent events to move, much like Noctis and herself had been. They were trying to get back on their feet, but she struggled with guilt and shame at the idea she might have remained idle if Iris hadn't barged into their room. She'd been so busy mending all the people around her, physically closer to her, to fix the tiny things that weren't as threatening as the world…

"Luna," Noctis called her back to the present. "Are you sleepy?"

"No, I… I'll sleep on the train, I'm just… a little all over the place in my mind."

"There's a tv in here," Gladio observed, "what do you guys think about watching a movie or something?"

"That's a great idea to kill time," Iris said.

Noctis felt himself blushing as he thought back on the previous night, or well, very recent morning, Luna noticing with a blush of her own. Thankfully, Gladiolus was too focused on Iris and on giving everyone a distraction to notice. Because they knew him when nervous. If they gave him any room for teasing, he would tease the hell out of everyone.

…

The gunshot came without a warning, clipping through his phone, the shards digging into his darkened hands. Ravus growled, whipping around to see a pale man dressed in a winter camo suit.

"Tranq him, now," the man called.

Branches cracking had Ravus's feral instincts kicking into gear. He had very little control on the beast he was turning into. He had even less control on the permanent panic of being in enemy territory with a strand of the blight growing so quickly, his homemade serums had simply kept his mind together. He hurled the broken phone at the shooter, hitting him square in the face and rolling on himself to avoid the man's accomplice.

He could smell something familiar in the air, something his human brain had encountered before.

Eliminate the threat first.

The reptile part of his brain was pressing and anxious and he allowed it full control, rolling until he was back on all fours, not even pushing himself to his feet. Lately he was faster like this. His horn ached and the eye beneath it bubbled and hissed with contained heat he released. Exhaling from his eyes was new and distressing, but the changes allowed him to bury himself into the snow and find air despite how deep he went. Right now, his hands clawed at hard ground, the snow too thin to act as a cover. His fur was too blond anyway.

"Get that fucker!"

The voice was hoarse and filled with pain, yet Ravus remembered it slurring. Laughing. Teasing and backtracking.

It's either Prompto or…!

He jumped forward, convinced moving was the only solution to get away from his hunters. But they wouldn't let him get far. There was a stinging sensation in his hind leg, Ravus wondering if it was the right or left. Had both of his legs shifted yet, or was one of his knees still…?

A shifting of gears rang in his ears, followed by the spray of gas. And sparks. A fire lit across the snow, his ears cowering in fright, teeth showing. The heat was on his right, so he jumped back, his prosthetic protesting with a whine as the blight grew dark talons out of his metallic fingers.

It was killed or be killed and the fact the blight used metal as another material would have been fascinating if it wasn't him, if it wasn't a living being, but the fire was following him and another gunshot made him howl in pain.

This time the bullet had found his flesh. A glare in the darkness and he recognized Prompto, holding up a heavy flamethrower with one arm, a tranquilizing gun on his hip. It was a brief sight, replaced by darkness once more as the gunman cut off the fire.

Why?

How had this even…?

…

Two weeks prior, Prompto had been pulled down in the middle of his walk by Otto face-planting in front of him. There was no warning. No signal. No enemy fire. They were crossing a snowy plain, wrapped up as best as they could in coats they'd stolen in the nearest town. Prompto doubted he would ever be able to show his face again around Tenebrae if he was to survive this expedition. He was one half of the "pair of twins" wreaking havoc, stealing food and running around the whole country. They'd taken ammunition, guns, killing any imperial soldiers or MTs they found. In fact, Prompto had convinced Otto that taking out every single soldier was the best way to gather their father's attention. And it was also serving to help Noctis and the others in liberating Tenebrae. Hopefully at least.

The endeavor meant leaving bloodied clothes in their wake as they took everything they needed, Prompto trying to not pinpoint their stealing on a single family or establishment if they couldn't just salvage stuff from the army camps they were dismantling. For two people, they were handling the whole thing pretty well. Sneaking into places, relying on their old training, scrambling the army's signal and taking them out with as few bullets as possible. Prompto had officially reclaimed his ability to crack necks and wasn't excited to tell Noctis about it. To be honest, meeting his friends once more was getting scarier by the day.

"What's wrong, Otto?" he asked, kneeling by the side of his brother, rolling him on his back carefully.

Otto was spasming and convulsing, nerves showing in his neck as his scarves fell off.

"Hey, hey, Otto!"

He wasn't tied up to him anymore, so there was no need to stick by him, this would have been the best occasion to run, but Prompto knew he was in too deep. He also couldn't bare the idea of giving up on the only one left outside of him from their generation.

By the gods, if he was to find out Verstael had made more of them, he wasn't sure what he would do.

"I can't… breathe… he's…" Otto sputtered out, his saliva bubbling at the corner of his mouth.

"Fuck, fuck, dude, I can't…"

Then the seizing was in his brain and Prompto fell forward, trashing about as the voice of the man he hated above all else spoke to him.

-Seems like even my prototype Zero's failsafe works after all. It's daddy-oh talking.-

He's mad. He's finally gone mad.

That felt wrong, the man always was mad.

-I'm currently frying your brain with so many stimuli at once, neither of you can move much outside of convulsing like mad mannequins. You've been enjoying breaking my toys, haven't you? All my hard work and now I need to risk my last two prototypes just so I can get them back in line. Two, Zero, you've run amok enough.-

They both froze, Prompto awkwardly lying across Otto, neither of them capable of moving, not even blinking as Verstael kept talking.

-I don't like resolving to the use of your implants, boys, I could make permanent damage, but it seems your brains are emptier than the sky. Yet you survived until now, unlike the others.-

Otto gritted his teeth and Prompto found the ability to turn one of his hands into a shaking fist. It was always a matter of finding what was the more useful to Verstael, always a matter of preserving what could be a precious tool.

-You boys not working for Ardyn or that stupid King is fine by me, but we need to set some rules now. I hold the reigns. And if I want to pop one or twelve blood vessels within your brains, I can.-

Prompto blinked, his mouth hanging open.

-Are you wondering why I didn't do it before? Well, before you weren't within range. Which indeed means that you could try to get away, but how to know where my range starts and when it ends? You're in now, which mean I will not release the hold I have on you, no matter what could ensue.-

"Fuck!" Otto cursed.

-So here's how things are going to work. I've disbanded every camp in Tenebrae, had them leave their weapons behind for you two. Ravus Nox Fleuret has been coming after me and he's not quite good at finding his way. He's blighted and quite a beautiful specimen. I want him, alive for my tests. Then we can have a little family reunion.-

The pull holding them down let go enough they could shuffle about, both sore and beyond anger.

"If he can control us at the push of a button…"

-Oh! I forgot one little thing. I can't see what you see or hear what you hear, thus I don't know if you're agreed or not. It doesn't matter to me. If I don't see the blighted prince on my doorstep in three weeks, I'm killing you both and awaking your little brothers.-

Prompto had thought his heart had shattered far enough as it was, but the very knowledge more clones were sleeping, either in tubes or training chambers, waiting to be used just like the rest of them…

He held his head with both hands, the trembling all his own now.

-I bet you wonder how long I've been working on them, huh? I made four of them. Quality over quantity. They're about 12 now, trained right inside the tube, never having taken a single step into the world yet. So unless you want their first mission to be against a blighted monster four times their size, you boys are going to be good little soldiers.-

The words stopped, Otto and Prompto realizing they were fully free to move now, rolling away from one another only to exchange a bewildered look as they tried to process everything that had just been forced into their minds.

"He's lying about other kids like us. He has to be lying. Mom…"

"Don't talk about her!" Otto cut him off. "He kept everything he could from her, he's got bits of her floating in formaldehyde like some sick trophies!"

"Godsdammit. We need to kill him, man, we can't…"

"We will, Prom, I don't care what it takes. We'll catch the former commander. We'll do whatever he asks until we can get close enough."

A few days later, they found the promised weapons in the deserted camps, along with fresh pictures of their other siblings. Who were indeed too young to be turned into killers. And yet, the very idea of their trapped, unnatural existence was sending shivers up Prompto's spine.

"What about them? When he's dead, I mean? What will we do with them?" Prompto asked.

"They're going to be even more messed up then we are. It's like they've not even been born yet."

"We need a plan for them."

"We need a plan for us. Take the googles, the tranq gun."

Otto wanted all the sniping tools and the shotgun, which didn't surprise Prompto. What shocked him was the fact he picked the flamethrower from the other guns and helped him wear the backpack filled with fuel.

"There's no way we…"

"Fleuret is going to resist and I'm not aiming to play nice, Prom. You gave up on that long ago too, didn't you? It's time you stop denying what you are. You do what needs to be done. I'm sure you know what should happen to those kids."

Mimicking a gun with his hand, Otto pressed his index finger to his temple, catching Prompto's eyes and daring him to protest. Then he clicked his tongue. Four times.

"And when we're done, we'll find generation three. Generation four if he went that far. We'll deal with all of his shit."

Prompto shook his head at him, his stomach flipping in protest. If he'd known of Cindy's state, he might have turned on the flamethrower right here and now. But Otto was right about one thing. Until they had dealt with Verstael, they would lack the luxury and freedom to care about anything else.

To be continued…

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So here it is. DLC Prompto is not done yet apparently. And I'm really impatient to write what I have planned next, hopefully I can update in good time, like two months instead of four. I want to thank everyone for reviewing, adding this to their faves, just for reading it. Also, feedback makes me happy 😉