Noctis scrambled through the halls of Zegnautus Keep, Ignis and Gladio close on his heels. /Gods, let him be okay, don't let him be dead when we get there-/ /If he’s dead all of this was for nothing-/ /If he's dead it’s all my fault-/ Ardyn’s voice, lilting and gleeful and /so daemon-accursed annoying/, crackled over the speakers. “Will he still be himself? Will there still be a Prompto left for you to save?” “SHUT UP!” Noctis grabbed a chair and hurled it straight at the nearest speaker with an infuriated shout, breaking both it and the chair. The other speakers decided not to take the memo (except maybe one that seemed to be slightly broken already, there was a bullet hole in it and it was noticeably more staticky than the rest) and kept projecting Ardyn’s voice. “He has a secret of his own, you know~ a deep, dark secret he’s hidden from you, all this time...” Ardyn laughed. The Six-forsaken man actually had the balls to /laugh/. Noctis swore mentally that if he ever got his hands (or greatswords, he had 27) on that man, Ardyn wouldn't ever have the balls to do anything ever again. Mainly because his balls would be gone. “Majesty!” Noctis snapped his attention back to the present (and, regrettably, away from plans of exactly how the chancellor would lose his manhood and how agonizing it would be for the man) as Ignis pointed an elegant finger down the hall. There was a set of thick iron bars set into a doorway. And beyond those bars, strapped to some kind of x-shaped apparatus, was Prompto. /That had better be the real Prompto, if he isn't I swear that man is losing more than just his manhood when I catch him-/ /Huh, seems kinda strange they let Prompto keep his gun, why wouldn't they take it from him- that's not important right now./ Gladio, Six bless his soul, decided to completely ignore any possible fetch quests associated with the locked iron door and simply grabbed hold of it, muscles straining. Then, defying all known and unknown laws of physics and limits on normal human strength, wrenched the door off its hinges with an ear splitting screech of metal and tossed it aside. Noctis blinked in surprise - /Huh, didn't realize he was THAT strong/ - but for now he ignored the almost impossible feat of sheer strength and ran over to Prompto, helping Ignis work at the restraints. “Thank the Six, Prom, we've been looking for you all over-” Noctis managed to get one of Prompto’s wrists free, the metal opening with a quiet click. He barely had enough time to notice the blankness in his friend’s eyes, the lack of recognition. Prompto’s head snapped up, and he instantly yanked his gun - Quicksilver was spelled out in intricate silver lettering on its side, it seemed to be of Niflheim make - out of its holster at his side. Then he promptly shot Ignis. ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
/What in the Six/ /What in the actual name of Ifrit/ Noctis stared, frozen, as Ignis staggered back, an elegant hand moving to hover over the rapidly reddening bullet hole in his shirt, in his chest, right where his heart was. “...ah.” That was all he managed to get out. Time seemed to slow as the man’s green eyes went blank, glazing over. He fell backwards. Noctis moved on instinct, a Phoenix Down (one of about 37, plus there were maybe 10 Mega Phoenixes in the Armiger somewhere so he wasn't too worried about cost effectiveness (and couldn't exactly be when his friend was literally dead on the ground in front of him)) coming out of his pocket and disintegrating into glowing reddish-orange particles that swirled around his friend. Ignis jerked, taking in a ragged gasp of air as his heart started pumping again. Of course, his heart pumping meant his blood flowing, which meant more blood pouring out of the gaping bullet hole in his chest and soaking the front of his shirt. /The wound, you chocobo-brained idiot, he'll bleed out-/ Noctis quickly broke a Hi-Elixir over Ignis, the shimmering liquid instantly making the bullet hole close up and washing away some of the blood. The elegant man sat up, adjusting his glasses, his gaze focused on something behind Noctis. “Astrals above, you had better not have given him a concussion, Gladio.” Noctis turned to see Gladio undoing the rest of Prompto’s restraints. Prompto himself was out cold, a large bruise purpling the side of his head. Gladio grunted. “He should be fine. Besides, even if I did, Remedies cure concussions since they technically count as confusion.” “It is still not ideal for him to wake up disoriented.” “Then use a Potion or whatever, we've got like 50.” Ignis fixed the beefy man with a flat stare. “That may be true, but we cannot have you going around knocking out our party members.” “Hey, I wasn't planning on knocking either of you out!” “And Prompto?” Gladio threw up his hands in exasperation. “Are you serious- Ramuh’s thunder, he just /shot and killed/ you, Specs!” “And yet, now we cannot question him about it until he awakes.” Noctis turned back towards the gaping doorway and froze. “Guys, we've got enemies incoming-” Several broken down MTs were making their way down the hall towards them. Gladio swore loudly and got Prompto down, easily picking him up and slinging him over a broad shoulder. “Noct.” Ignis adjusted his glasses. “Seeing as we currently have no access to the Armiger, I think it best that we flee.” Again, Noctis mentally swore Ardyn would pay for what he did. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be paying at this exact moment, because now it was time to run. Rahhhh second Part! First: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1369907866/ Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1369907866/ Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1374197826/
