Zodiac (Final Fantasy XV)

|•XLIV•|

~3rd Person POV (with Prompto)~

Hours passed without Prompto even knowing. All he could think about was his friends and what they were doing. With his eyes closed, he could only see the image of the daemon. Ever since seeing the creature, he couldn't get the horrid image out of his head. Though it was a frightening picture, he kept thinking of a way to kill it without hurting Zodia when he was able to free himself.

More time flew by and Prompto didn't even flinch when he heard the sound of his cell being unlocked. Once he felt himself free of the metal device, he heard familiar voices.

"Hey, you alright?" Gladio asked as Prompto fell to the floor.

"Are you hurt? Do you need help?" Ignis worriedly questioned.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Noct," he finally manages to speak. He slowly sits up, the pain from the cuts and bruises radiating across his body. "Tell me. Were you worried about me?"

Noctis stares into Prompto's azure irises. "Of course I was. What kind of question is that?"

"Of course. That's why you came, like I believed you would."

"Prompto..."

"That's why I told myself I couldn't die. Not until I could see you and hear you tell me I'm not a fake-that I'm the real me. Even Zodia gave me a tongue lashing."

"You've seen Zodia?" Ignis inquired.

The younger boy nods, tears threatening to fall as he remembered her being swallowed by the Talmoruth. "Y-Yeah. But... I don't know where she is now. She's... she's trapped inside a daemon. Ardyn brought the thing by and she just fell from its body. We didn't talk long, but she scolded me for... a few things."

"We'll need weapons to defeat that damn thing and get her back," Gladio said. In agreement, the companions exit the cell and head to the central area of the prison level.

Ignis suddenly comes to a halt. "Noct, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" The prince questioned.

"I've heard this sound before-on the train, just before your weapons failed you. It's nearby, and it may hold the key to restoring your power." They follow the tactician as he guides them across a catwalk and to two large metal doors. "It's here."

Noctis stops in front of the doors and examines them. "This thing?" The boy places his hand against the cold metal. "Door's locked."

"It's coming from within. Is there no way through?" Ignis asked as he searched around the door.

"There's a way," Prompto chimes in with a melancholic tone. The others watch him as he hesitantly steps up to the door's scanner and raises the back of his right wrist to it. The metal doors slide open as Prompto resumes speaking, staring off into the room, unable to make eye contact with the others. "So, MTs... They've got those codeprints... just like I do."

Noctis gazed at his best friend. "Do they? Never looked."

"Yeah... So, as it turns out...I'm one of them. Not exactly something I could tell people growing up in Lucis." Prompto fights back tears and continues. "Still... You guys and Zodia are like... the only friends I've ever known. I just hope that things can stay the way they were."