That set a warm ache in his chest. He vaguely remembered a similar sentiment said to him years ago. He didn't remember which doctor or Kingsglaive or minder it had been, but he remembered the words.
Before he could dwell too long on that memory though, the light around them changed once again.
Ardyn
It was bright in the way an overcast day sometimes tended to be, sunlight bouncing through the light cloud layer and the whole sky casting a bright clear light over everything. It made shadows stark, colours pallid, and the scene that materialized over the library unsettlingly clear.
Gladio, grim faced but fierce, even as he was shoved back into the side of the Regalia. The man doing the shoving was a new face. He looked angry, and he didn’t flinch as Noctis stepped forward with a growl, summoning the king’s arms around him, blue crystal light refracting across both their faces at their distance. The man’s white hair and long white coat fluttered in the wind caused by Noct’s magic. He had a metal arm and a gleaming metal wing, his one remaining feathered wing a dusty tan.
“Wanna go? Let’s do it.” Noct narrowed his eyes.
The man’s grip on his sword flexed. “Should the chosen king fall, that too is fate.” His eyes narrowed, a fight seemingly imminent. But then-
“I’d say that’s far enough.” Ardyn, the same flamboyantly dressed man who’d arrived via dropship in the earlier vision at the volcano, stepped into the scene. “A hand, highness?” Though his gaze slid over Noct even as he asked the question, settling on where Prompto stood supporting some of Gladio’s weight. It was unnerving, his smirk seemed to reach through the vision to where Prompto and Aqua sat in the library.
“Not from you.” Came Noct’s immediate reply. He dismissed the arms, but he still stood tense, eyeing Ardyn closely.
Ardyn’s smile twisted, lips pulling up in an expression that should have been reassuring, but somehow missed the mark. “Oh, but I’m here to help. An old friend of mine…” He reached out, for a second it almost felt like his hand would pass into the library with them.
Where the Prompto in the vision had frozen, in the library with Aqua, Prompto flinched. Violently. The vision shattered apart, and Prompto was left reeling. Pulse racing. Breath jagged in his lungs. So it had been the man from the training facility all those years ago. And worse, he had definitely recognized Prompto.
He didn’t know what that meant if these really were some sort of snapshot of the future. He was desperate to know what happened next, but the vision was gone, and he was left with only what-ifs. Would Ardyn reveal something to the guys they couldn’t forgive? Would he not, but just plant a seed that would turn Noct against him slowly?
As if his racing fears weren’t enough, he could feel the phantom hands from that day. The instructor pinning him by his wings until he saw red. The scientist’s instruction- the weight of his pistol against too-steady hands. The resistance of the trigger under his finger-
He’d curled into himself again. Eyes on the floor at his feet, unseeing. Arms wrapped around his knees and wings tight to his back.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Prompto ~ OTA ~ FFXV spoilers??? vague and AUed ~ CW: panic attacks, violence and death, flashba
Date: 2025-05-17 04:22 am (UTC)Before he could dwell too long on that memory though, the light around them changed once again.
Ardyn
It was bright in the way an overcast day sometimes tended to be, sunlight bouncing through the light cloud layer and the whole sky casting a bright clear light over everything. It made shadows stark, colours pallid, and the scene that materialized over the library unsettlingly clear.
Gladio, grim faced but fierce, even as he was shoved back into the side of the Regalia. The man doing the shoving was a new face. He looked angry, and he didn’t flinch as Noctis stepped forward with a growl, summoning the king’s arms around him, blue crystal light refracting across both their faces at their distance. The man’s white hair and long white coat fluttered in the wind caused by Noct’s magic. He had a metal arm and a gleaming metal wing, his one remaining feathered wing a dusty tan.
“Wanna go? Let’s do it.” Noct narrowed his eyes.
The man’s grip on his sword flexed. “Should the chosen king fall, that too is fate.” His eyes narrowed, a fight seemingly imminent. But then-
“I’d say that’s far enough.” Ardyn, the same flamboyantly dressed man who’d arrived via dropship in the earlier vision at the volcano, stepped into the scene. “A hand, highness?” Though his gaze slid over Noct even as he asked the question, settling on where Prompto stood supporting some of Gladio’s weight. It was unnerving, his smirk seemed to reach through the vision to where Prompto and Aqua sat in the library.
“Not from you.” Came Noct’s immediate reply. He dismissed the arms, but he still stood tense, eyeing Ardyn closely.
Ardyn’s smile twisted, lips pulling up in an expression that should have been reassuring, but somehow missed the mark. “Oh, but I’m here to help. An old friend of mine…” He reached out, for a second it almost felt like his hand would pass into the library with them.
Where the Prompto in the vision had frozen, in the library with Aqua, Prompto flinched. Violently. The vision shattered apart, and Prompto was left reeling. Pulse racing. Breath jagged in his lungs. So it had been the man from the training facility all those years ago. And worse, he had definitely recognized Prompto.
He didn’t know what that meant if these really were some sort of snapshot of the future. He was desperate to know what happened next, but the vision was gone, and he was left with only what-ifs. Would Ardyn reveal something to the guys they couldn’t forgive? Would he not, but just plant a seed that would turn Noct against him slowly?
As if his racing fears weren’t enough, he could feel the phantom hands from that day. The instructor pinning him by his wings until he saw red. The scientist’s instruction- the weight of his pistol against too-steady hands. The resistance of the trigger under his finger-
He’d curled into himself again. Eyes on the floor at his feet, unseeing. Arms wrapped around his knees and wings tight to his back.