Game of Insomnia | ✓

Chapter 24: The Tunnel to the Empire

Prompto saw nothing but darkness all around him. He realized that upon entering a tunnel was not as easy as he expected.

    Tifa's footsteps were so soft, that Prompto could barely hear them. As far as he knew, Tifa was just in front of him taking the lead. It was definitely a shame, since Prompto was a guy and he couldn't act like a hero like everybody else did. He was not built for fighting and all; he was just a regular guy with a shotgun. Moreover, he couldn't even properly handle his own weapon.

    Prompto could feel the cold lingering over him. Pitch black was all he could see. He took a deep breath. Every step he took was too much for him; his knees being jelly made it hard for him to walk.

    "I'm afraid of the dark," he mumbled as his shoes met with the ground. "Jeez, Tifa. Can you even see where we are? This tunnel is nasty, like real nasty."

    Tifa wanted to keep on going, but she thought that if they would, they'd probably get lost in the dark. She stopped and blocked her arm on Prompto's body. "That's my arm," she said, her voice echoing through the tunnel. "We'll stop for a moment."

    Prompto nodded. "Well, yeah we should."

    Now silence was all that could be heard. The two of them stood in the dark.

    Tifa was the first to speak. "Have any idea where we are right now?"

    "We're in the tunnel."

    "No, idiot," Tifa was probably irritated. "What I mean is, where are we exactly?"

    Prompto felt uncomfortable. "I really think we should go backwards." He then turned around and expected that the blazes above the ground would be seen, but no. He saw nothing. Nothing at all. It was as if the opening was covered by darkness.

    "This is not good, Tifa," Prompto trembled. He tried not to show his fear. This was what he had been afraid of. To fail. "No. . . I. . . I can't fail!" He dropped his knees to the ground and wept.

    He could feel Tifa's hand on his shoulder. The moment when he realized that she was there, he immediately wiped his tears, but soon he hiccuped. "Damn it. I'm sorry."

    "It's okay," Tifa assured. "Don't be sorry. And we're not going to fail, I promise. We can still save them; it's not too late."

    "But. . . the way disappeared. Like some sort of magic had been used on them when someone passed through it. I should've known. Niflheim can still use a small amount of magic, given their expertise in technology."

    Tifa widened her eyes. "That's it, Prompto!" She looked around at the dark. "This tunnel could be one of their own ways of doing it!"

    Prompto certainly did not understand her, but as soon as he tried to analyze, he got it. He understood what Tifa meant. He stood up and held on her wrist. "Well, we can't get lost in here, either," he looked around. "Surely this tunnel is an illusion. It gives off extreme darkness that blinds what our sight truly sees."

    "Exactly."

    Prompto grinned. "Well then, shall we go onwards?"

    "One problem."

    "What is it?" Prompto sighed a little. I thought we've solved the problem already, he thought. He hated another problem rising. He recalled the day when he and Noctis were in high school. They had the finals on physics, and Prompto could still remember his score on it. It was goddamn eleven out of eighty. 10 points for each problem, if the answer was wrong, you get 3 points for effort. Well, he definitely didn't want to remember that day.