Night Light {FFXV/OT4}

05953234

Chapter Sixteen: 05953234

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Nobody was really all that surprised when they awoke to find Prompto gone.

Noctis was worried, naturally. The wilderness was incredibly dangerous, and Prompto was completely defenceless out there on his own. He had no weapons to defend himself with: Gladio still held the blonde's gun, which he'd confiscated the night before.

When morning came and they realised the blonde was missing, Noctis pointedly ignored Gladio's half serious musing of whether or not they'd find Prompto dead. He didn't want to think about that. If the next he saw of the blonde was a corpse... he knew he'd never be able to forgive himself.

By breakfast, Noctis was in quite the state. His hair was a mess from how many times he'd pulled his hands through it, tugging at the silken black strands. Worry was painted all over his face, eyes troubled. It was Ignis who tried to calm the panicked Prince, who was by now pacing back and forth across the haven. Ignis places a gentle hand on his charge's shoulder and handed him a bowl of hot porridge.

"Highness... you need to calm down. I'm sure Prompto will return, he simply needs his own space"

Noctis took a deep yet shaky breath at that, before forcing himself to nod. He took a mouthful of porridge and the familiar taste helped calm him some, as he nodded once again.

"Right.. you're right Iggy. He'll come back, he's not stupid. He knows how dangerous it is out there"

Things calmed down for about an hour after that. The three finished up their breakfast and sat around for a bit, not knowing what else to do. Noctis played on his phone, Gladiolus read a book, Ignis sorted through his cooking supplies. It was eerily silent without Prompto around to fill the void with happy, overly enthusiastic chatter.

Eventually Gladio recommend they go out on a hunt, but Noct refused. He insisted that none of them were to leave this camp until Prompto returned, or they all went out to look for him together.

-

Around midday Noctis once again emerged from the tent. He'd hung around outside for hours, waiting to see that mess of yellow hair and a smattering of freckles mount the crest of the haven. After four hours of this he'd hidden away in the tent for a while, moping. Now he was up and around again, picking at his lunch but not really eating it.

"Why hasn't he shown up yet? What if.. what if he never comes back?"

Ignis didn't say anything to that, not knowing quite how to respond. He'd been certain their little ball of sunshine would return eventually, come bounding into the campsite all smiles and positivity. Yet it was already midday and they had yet to see hide nor hair of the blonde. Gladio snorted from where he was sat, turning the page of his book and taking another bite out of his bacon sandwich "Hmph. Good riddance"

That was about when Noctis snapped.

The Prince's chair was upturned in an instant, Gladio's book laying cover down on the floor. Noctis had grabbed a fist full of his Shield's shirt, blue eyes meeting amber in a heated glare. Noctis was furious and looked about ready to punch Gladiolus' face in. Despite the Prince's anger Gladio was firm in his belief that Prompto should be nowhere near the Prince. He matched Noct's glare, his own eyes just as intense.

"What the fuck is up with you, Gladio!?"

The Shield didn't miss a beat, yelling straight back in his Prince's face, shoving Noct away from him. "That kid tried to kill you! He was going to shoot you in the face, if I hadn't jumped him you'd be dead! Don't you get that!?"

"Of course I get it, but why don't you use your tiny brain and think for a second! This is Prompto we're talking about, he'd never try to kill me. It must have been that Magitek Generator messing with him, I'm sure of it!"

Gladiolus paused for a moment as the topic of the Magitek Generator was finally raised. He hadn't considered the possibility that Prompto really hadn't intended to attack Noctis, that he hadn't been in control of himself at the time he'd shot the gun. He'd been too blinded by his rage to think about the possibilities, to even consider that perhaps Prompto was just as harmless as he'd always seemed.

As the memory of Prompto's words came flooding back to him, Gladiolus realised just how stupid he'd been. He recalled how Prompto had described the effect Magitek Generators had on him: 'I just feel like I'm not myself anymore. There's a voice in my head telling me to.. to kill the enemies of the Empire."

Astrals, how had he overlooked this? Had he really been so consumed by his rage that he'd forget words like that? The words of his friend, no less?

Gladiolus collapsed into his chair, head dropping into his hands as he groaned. Realising his Shield had finally seen reason Noctis backed down, taking a seat in his own camping chair, which Ignis had taken the time to righten after the Prince had sent it flying. Noctis sat, staring at the muted greys and whites of the empty fire pit. Nobody spoke for a while and Gladio didn't remove his face from his hands once, wishing for a moment that he could just sink into the ground and hide from the world forever. Of course it didn't work like that: it wasn't so easy to run from mistakes.

-

Two hours later and the group started packing up the camp, pulling down the tent and clearing out the ash pit. They always made sure that the haven was ready for the next group of travellers who decide to camp there, and this time was no exception.

The plan was to wait around for the rest of the day for Prompto's return, and if the blonde didn't show up by midnight then they'd set out to find him themselves.

Noctis was busy rummaging through their gear, trying to pack everything away. He noticed with a slight frown that one of their spare pairs of clothes were missing, before realising Prompto must have changed before he left. His old clothes had been covered in the blood of Brigadier General Loqi... his stomach turned as he realised that he hadn't offered the blonde a change of clothes before. Prompto had been forced to walk for a week drenched in the blood of someone he cared for. That was so wrong... Noctis tried his best to ignore the guilt wrenching at his gut, picking up the gun that Gladio had left in the tent.

He ran a hand over the barrel, worry tugging relentlessly at his mind. He was terrified that Prompto wouldn't come back, that he'd never see the blonde again. With a quiet sigh he let the gun disappear back into the ether so Prompto would be able to summon it if needed. Maybe it'd give him a better chance of surviving if he ran into monsters.

Or maybe it was too late and he was already dead.

Pushing the thought from his mind Noctis continued to pack away the supplies that couldn't be stored magically, only to pause yet again as he found a note. It was too neatly to be some scrap paper so he curiously unfolded it, eyes scanning over the hastily scrawled words.

Noctis felt his blood run cold at what he read, heart twisting as he saw the remnants of salty teardrops crusted into the page.

'To Noct,

I'm leaving. I know you can't trust me anymore. I tried to shoot you. I can't even trust me anymore. I'm scared that something like that will happen again and Gladio won't be able to stop me. I don't want anyone to die because of me, especially not you.

I'm going to go back to Niflheim where I belong. There's a base nearby, they'll take me back to master. You might recognise his name, Ardyn. The Chancellor. I don't think he'll be happy to see me, he might just kill me actually. But that's better than sticking around and hurting you again. You guys don't need me anyway, I'm just a defect. I don't deserve you. I'm sorry.

If it's any help, I don't think I would have lasted much longer. I've been throwing up blood since the surgery, the black gooey stuff too. It won't stop. I'm sorry for not telling you, I didn't want to worry you guys anymore. Thanks for looking after me this long. I love you Noct. I hope you can forgive me.

Goodbye,
Unit 05953234'

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Notes: Sorry this chapter is a little short. My art teacher sprung a surprise exam on us, so it was hard to write a long chapter. （＾ω＾）