Altissia

Chapter 3: Putting escape tactics to the test.

    [Noctis]

Tossing and turning over and over in his bed for hours had put his already distressed mind to the edge, he couldn't concentrate, he couldn't calm down and he definitely couldn't sleep despite his three hours long effort.
He was incomprehensibly tired, his head throbbed, his throat burnt and his nose was stuffed, though it was neither of these things that kept him awake, it was the worry for Ignis.
The frustration was built up to a maximum and he had set his mind on putting one of Gladiolus all escape tactics to the test; it was why he had learnt them, wasn't it?
In order to escape captivity; 'Well, probably not from him...' Noctis thought and leaved his bed as quiet as possible.
Prompto was sleeping on the sofa in the room as he was far to stubborn to return to his own to sleep after his friend's latest attempt to sneak out unnoticed; he had to be extra careful.
'Well... Jumpy chocobo is my slightest problem... I have to figure out a way to prevent Gladiolus to check on me again, I will need a good lead and a silly amount of luck to pull this off. Good thing that I packed my bag beforehand.' He thought quietly and carefully opened the door to the balcony, he needed a way to distract Gladiolus; the question was how...
One could say many things about the Amicitia family, but stupid wasn't one of them.
'Maybe a sleeping spell would work? Ehm... No... I don't know any spells... Maybe sleeping pills in tea? That could work... I could knock on his door and see if he is awake, ask him to drink some tea with me because tea is good once one is sick... Good idea! Now where do Iggy store my sleeping pills?' He thought and carefully went past the sofa where Prompto slept, the blond teen mumbled something in his sleep which made Noctis freeze for a short while.
"Where ya' goin'?" He mumbled tiredly and looked at the prince through sleepy half closed eyes; he had been trying to keep himself awake in case his friend needed anything.
"Bathroom, need to pee." He whispered back and laid a comforter on top of him.
"Go back to sleep."
Prompto nodded and closed his eyes again, much to Noctis relief as he took his jar of pills from Ignis' bag and carefully tip toed towards the door when he suddenly stopped.
'But how? Is he even awake? If not this will only be spilled time...' He shook his head and swallowed a coughing fit, took his bag and started to climb down the balcony.
Well on the ground, he turned off his phone and took a deep breath of the nightly chilled air, praising himself that he actually put on his jacket for once, it was freezing outside.
Now, all he had to do was to sneak and that fast, well it would probably be a good idea to investigate where the nearest airport was too but that was something he hadn't thought of yet.
The stroll towards the road was a pain walking with a sore body, the chilled winds hit his face and the nightly ferries out of Altissia were hard to spot.
His passport would surely be a trouble for him too; it wasn't exactly easy to travel incognito when you were the crown prince of one of Eos most famous countries.
Surprisingly, the escape from Altissia went smooth without any disturbances, he succeeded to find his way down to the train station; his face well hidden by the large hood on his sweater under the jacket.
'It is almost to easy... Like the Astrals wants me to do this...' He mumbled to himself and absentminded handed the ticket to the conductress when she walked by.
Deep down he knew that this was a very bad idea and he would get into a massive amount of trouble from each and every one of his friends but he refused to let the knowledge hold him back.
If he got to see Ignis with his own eyes and see that he was okay, then it was worth every harsh scolding he would get and three times over too; the parental character was the only guidance in his life as well as one of his closest friends, he simple couldn't ignore the feeling of that he would lose him forever if he didn't seek him out himself.
The train finally started moving and he let out a deep breath he wasn't even aware of that he was holding and started to cough, 'Cursed be these colds... Maybe I should start to listen better at was Ignis has to say... Funny that sayings are so accurate, you don't know what you have until it's gone... Well... Ignis isn't gone, yet, he's not allowed to. Never...'
The thought might have been selfish but he couldn't suppress the feelings of that Ignis kept away due to selfish reason as well, he would have to corner him about it, talk some sense into him; so much sense that a senseless prince could muster that is.