Chapter 21: Marked

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Returning to Insomnia took just two days, staying overnight at Wiz's Chocobo Post for one last ounce of fun before getting down to serious business. Prompto treated the stay, by your suggestion, like anesthesia. There was no doubt it would be like reliving the entire ordeal once the trial began. Prompto knew with the dark tunnel ahead, the light at the end was the freedom that awaited the both of you. Spending some time confirming that your feelings for one another hadn't changed gave you both courage needed to face everything head on.

The welcoming you both received was both endearing and overwhelming. Prompto's fears faded when it was shared during the trial the reasoning behind Sol's questionable easy arrest. In the time which Sol was distracted by his fury from Prompto's arrival, he had become sloppy in his movements. His own greed was what created his downfall. Instead of focusing on his supposed successful empire, he had let his ego blind him. Charlie had acquired quite some incriminating evidence thanks to the co-operation of Ignis and Gladio. The Prince of Lucis and Prompto were left out of the plan, allowing their genuine dislike towards Sol, while also masking Charlie's movements.

"You mean to say... you were in on EVERYTHING Iggy?" Prompto cried out in disbelief while Ignis served the rest of the group their coffee or tea. It was a sunny afternoon, and here they were, sitting on one of the many courtyards of the Citadel, having afternoon tea. The guilty looks on both yours and Charlie's faces only fueled Prompto's curiosity.

"Not everything per se," Ignis replied honestly. TELL ME EVERYTHING! Mannn... in the dark again! Prompto slumped in his chair in disbelief.

"Is that what that private conversation was about?" Noctis asked, causing several things in Prompto's mind to click together like magnets.

"Are you? Or shall I?" Ignis asked you, who gave an apologetic smile, pointing to yourself in response. "Very well,"

"Sorry Prom," You apologized immediately, a sad smile on your face, "Not to keep you in the dark... again. But to be honest, Charlie and I were rather close to cornering Sol," Your face scrunching up when you said Sol's name. "When we got the news that His Majesty had sent a group to assist us. We weren't expecting him to send own his son... and you," You admitted, with Charlie nodding beside her.

"So when we debriefed you, that was on the fly as we didn't anticipate such a twist in our mission," Charlie added, "It's when (Your Name) asked Ignis to stay back, I had an inkling feeling she was worried about something,"

"I was," You nodded.

"Worried about what?" Prompto asked, seeing Noctis was just as curious and determined to know as he was.

"Sol already knew who you were, since he sent you that incriminating photo and all. What he didn't know, was that you are a personal Crownsguard to Noct," You explained, "So he had to make a decision on whether to give up on me completely or giving in to his disgusting desires,"

"In other words, he chose pleasure over power," Ignis suggested.

"Correct," You confirmed.

"I'll take that as a compliment he chose you over his operation," Prompto muttered.

"Eh? How is that a compliment?" Charlie exclaimed sounding rather disgusted.

"Doesn't that make putting him behind bars that much better?" Prompto pointed out. "Not to mention, it just means (Your Name) was more valuable to him. Well, valuable enough for his focus to drop, only to lose in the end. You played that card well babe," He praised kissing the back of your hand proudly. "However... that still doesn't save you from leaving me out of practically everything. You had me feeling like I wasn't important!"

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