FFXV Drabbles/Oneshots {📥}REQUESTS OPEN{📥}

💔Trapped in This Cage

This is the prequel to "Why".

It was supposed to be simple. But that bastard, he-- he fucked everything up. For me, for them, for everyone. If I had just walked away from him the first chance I had, then none of this would've happened. None of it.

When I first met him, he seemed nice enough. Oh, how little I knew. Even back then, he had caused so much suffering and despair, and he hid it so well; the pain he felt from being betrayed by one close to him. And by the time I realized how depraved he was, it was too late for me to leave. I was trapped.

***

The first thing Ardyn said to me should have sent me running.

"So tell me little wolf, do you wish to punish those who have wronged you?" His eyes had been kind at the time, sympathetic to my cause. But I never took the time to wonder why a stranger would want to help me when my own family didn't. And all I did was nod, taking his hand as he pulled me from the sludge of a burned city.

I travelled with him for a long time afterwards, watching with jaded eyes as he wreaked havoc everywhere we went. But it was when we arrived outside Insomnia that I could see a change in him. He grew hard, ruthless, cruel. That was the first time I had seen him so enraged, and when I asked him why he snapped at me.

"This is no business of yours, loveless child," Ardyn spat. I ran away after that, desperate to get away from him. I was scared, and rightly so, as Ardyn had the Infernian as his disposal. And he used the fallen Astral to destroy the city, much like my own had been destroyed.

I ran and ran, until I was attacked by a man with a long sword. His comrades had called him Cor, and my blood ran cold. I had just ran away from the only friend I'd ever known, and now I had to deal with the Immortal. But he only took me into custody; he didn't force me to fight him, and he didn't force me to tell him anything. He kept me safe as we walked through the nearly deserted city, taking me to the Citadel. I was afraid, at first, thinking he was going to torture me, but he only took me into a small room, trying to comfort me. I think. I had never been comforted by anyone before, so I'm not sure if that's what he was doing or not. It was only after I had calmed down somewhat that he started asking me questions.

"What's your name?" Cor asked. At first, I didn't want to respond, but it was soon made apparent to me that that wasn't an option.

"(Y-Y/n)."

"Where are your parents, (Y/n)?"

"Gone."

"Do you have a guardian? Where are they?"

I refused to answer after that; I couldn't stand to think about the red-haired man at the time. I had hoped that I'd never have to think about him again. Cor caught on quick, because he didn't try to ask me about my guardian again.

***

After Cor had found me, he took me in. He fed me, kept me warm, and I was so grateful that I had run into him that day. I don't know what would have become of me if I hadn't. And I managed to keep my mind off of Ardyn for years because I had Cor. But all good things come to an end.

When I was seventeen, I started having nightmares. Of daemons, of Ardyn, of the sun never rising. Because of them, I got barely any sleep, and I had only managed to push through the sleep deprivation because of a friend I had made two years earlier.

Prompto Argentum was beautiful, inside and out. He was always kind, to me and others, and never held his friendship with the prince over people's heads. He had introduced me to the possibility that not all people are horrible, selfish beings -- that not everything Ardyn taught me was to be believed. He always made me smile, despite whatever mood I was in at the time. Those times made me happier than ever, being exposed to a child of the sun. I don't think I've ever seen him frown or sad.

When the nightmares started, Prompto was the one I would call. Sometimes I thought that I was annoying him, but he had never pushed me away after one of my episodes. So I kept going back to him. We'd talk through the night, and I always felt terrible in the morning, knowing I kept the blond up all night because of a nightmare.

"Don't worry about it, (Y/n). I'm just glad I could help." Every time he said that, I would begin crying before hanging up. I didn't need him to hear me cry, not for a second time in one call. When we'd meet up at school the next day, he never failed to ask me how I was feeling.

I loved that boy, so much that it hurt sometimes. And really, who wouldn't love him? He always put others before himself, was always kind, always had a smile on his face...

***

When I was twenty, I went with Noct on his trip to Altissia. At that point in my life, I had known and been friends with the prince for almost seven years, having met him one day when Cor brought me to the Citadel. Since Cor had trained me himself, everyone said it was only natural that I accompany the prince. But I, once again, was afraid. I knew that Arydn was still out there, and that if he ever found me I wouldn't make it out alive.

Turns out, I was right. I didn't make it out.

But then again, I never was supposed to.