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“This is so weird,” Prompto whispered, sliding around a MT now totally disinterested in his existence.
“It’s insulting,” Gladio said. He shoved a MT out of his path. It staggered, righted itself, and continued ignoring him.
“You’re insulted because they’re not fighting you?” Prompto asked.
“What kind of soldiers ignore three perfectly good targets?” Gladio demanded.
“The kind programmed to eliminate one target, and one target only,” Ignis said. He gracefully wound his way through the meandering MTs. “Focus. Noct needs us.”
“He’s alive, isn’t he?” Prompto said.
“Of course he is,” Ignis said, edging closer to the edge of the cliff where he’d last seen Noctis before he’d tumbled out of sight. “If he wasn’t, we wouldn’t be able to access the Armiger.”
Prompto checked. He could pull his gun out and put it back without a problem. He released a huge breath. “I don’t get why they’re just standing here,” he said. “If they think he’s dead, why don’t they just take off?”
“Because they’re programmed to make sure,” Gladio said. “And right now, it’s riskier for them to go and check when they can just wait.”
As if hearing him, every MT turned as one to the cliff.
“Shit!” Gladio hissed. He ripped his sword out of the Armiger.
The MTs raced to the cliff edge. Prompto aimed his gun, but before he could pull the trigger, the MTs lost focus again and wandered away.
“Move,” Ignis said. “Noct must’ve lost consciousness again.”
“Shouldn’t we take these guys out?” Prompto asked.
“I’d rather not waste the time,” Ignis said. “But if we have to, I’ll use a flask.”
“Let’s just get Noct and clear out,” Gladio said. “I swear I’m gonna smack him for being this stupid.”
“He has been overly reckless lately,” Ignis said. “We will have words.”
At any other time, Prompto might laugh at Ignis’ choice of words. But right now, with Noctis injured, things were too grim. They reached the cliff edge. Prompto looked down and saw Noctis crumpled on a ledge far below. Even at that distance, Prompto could see blood flowing down Noctis’ head. If he fell from there, Noctis would plummet to his death in the deep, deep depths of the Taelpar Crag. “How do we get down there?” he asked.
“Carefully,” Ignis said. “And one at a time.”
“We can’t just wait for him to wake up?” Gladio asked.
“I doubt he’ll be in any condition to climb,” Ignis said.
“I’ll go first,” Prompto said. He lowered himself, carefully finding handholds. He looked up at the others. “If I fall and die –”
“You won’t,” Ignis said.
“Hope not,” Prompto said with a nervous laugh.
Prompto carefully climbed down. He didn’t let himself stop to think about just how insanely huge a drop waited beneath him. Of all the places to get into a fight with MTs, they had to attack them above Taelpar Crag. And of course Noctis had launched himself into several warps, taken an electrical stun lance to the chest and gone flying over the edge. Which, as far as the MTs were concerned, was the end of their job.
Ignis was right. Someone needed to have words with Noctis about this.
At least the climb was easy, handholds just about everywhere he needed them to be. Prompto was mere feet away from Noctis when he stirred again.
Which meant the MTs came back to life.
“We’ll take them out!” Gladio shouted from above. “Get to Noct!”
The sounds of battle accompanied Prompto as he descended. He heard metal clashing and the sound of Ignis and Gladio shouting back and forth to each other. Prompto couldn’t let them distract him. They’d be okay. He had to get to Noctis.
Prompto reached the ledge just as Noctis tried to push himself upright. He didn’t get very far before he collapsed in a heap again, thick blood still oozing from the head wound. The right side of his face was caked in it. Prompto’s stomach churned at the sight of it.
Above, the sounds of battle stopped again. Prompto was torn; he knew it wasn’t good for his friend to be unconscious, but on the other hand, if he was, the MTs were harmless.
Prompto carefully stepped around Noctis. The ledge was barely big enough for one, let alone both of them. Pushing Noctis as far from the edge as possible, Prompto reached out and found his pulse. Prompto only remembered to breathe when he found it beating beneath his fingertips.
“He’s alive,” Prompto shouted back up the cliff-face.
Ignis appeared above. “Thank goodness,” he said. “Gladio’s taking out the last of the MTs. They’re not putting up much of a fight. You should try and wake him. I’m not sure how we’re going to get him back up here unless he’s conscious.”
“Yeah, I really can’t carry him,” Prompto said. He crouched down, giving Noctis a gentle shake. “Noct, you gotta wake up.”
Noctis stirred, left eye cracking open. His right was sealed shut with blood. It swivelled but failed to focus.
“Stay awake,” Prompto ordered. “We’re really not in a safe place right now.” He resisted the urge to look over his shoulder and down, down, down into Taelpar Crag.
Noctis pressed a hand to his head. “Hurts,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, I bet it does,” Prompto said. “Think it’s gonna hurt even worse once Gladio and Ignis get a hold of you for being so reckless.”
Noctis’ response was too garbled for Prompto to understand. Seconds later, he stilled, unconscious again.
“No, Noct, stay awake.” Shaking his head, Prompto looked back up and saw Gladio now standing alongside Ignis. “It’s no good,” he called up. “I don’t think he’s gonna be able to climb back up.”
“Alright, stay there, I’m coming down,” Gladio said.
Five minutes later, Gladio reached the ledge. Prompto had to climb out of the way to make room for Gladio, but between them they got Noctis onto Gladio’s back. They climbed back up without incident; Noctis remained unconscious throughout.
Ignis met them at the top. He dismissed his daggers. “I think we need to head to Old Lestallum.”
“Agreed,” Gladio said. “We might need help if he gets worse.”
“Agreed,” Ignis said. He looked to Prompto. “Is that alright with you?”
“Y-yeah!” Prompto said. He hadn’t expected to be asked for his opinion. “We’ll be safer there, right?”
“Yes,” Ignis said. He tapped his glasses up his nose. “Let’s return to the car. It will be night soon.”
Together, they began the short hike back to the Regalia.
The voice came through the darkness. “Stay awake.”
Noctis knew that voice. He did. He wanted to turn towards it, but a terrible pain lurched through his skull. He moaned. Or at least he thought he did. No one responded. He knew he needed to find out where he was. Doing that meant opening his eyes. Okay. He could do that.
Noctis cracked his eyes opening. Light stabbed into them, sending shards of agony tearing through his skull. He reached out, hands pressing to his head.
“Noct? You awake?”
He didn’t want to be. The pain flipped his stomach. He would be sick. He would definitely…
Noctis rolled over in time to vomit onto… something. He heard the familiar voice saying words but whatever he was supposed to listen to didn’t cut through the warped pounding in his head. He closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep again.
“Noct. Stay awake.”
He tried. He forced his eyes open as wide as they would go, but the mishmash of colour and blurs overwhelmed him. He threw up again, and this time the darkness swallowed him whole.
When he surfaced again, he opened his eyes and found himself on an unfamiliar bed. He tried to remember why he was there, but his recall hit a solid brick wall. He blinked, and the features of the room came into hazy focus, although they pulsed and blurred with every throb of his head. Something had happened to him, something bad, but he couldn’t remember anything. All he knew was pain and heavy, churning nausea.
He saw people gathered around a small table. His heart lurched. Danger. He had to be in danger. He needed to get away. Adrenaline thumping, Noctis pushed himself upright. His head churned, lights popping in front of his eyes.
The three people moved instantly, standing and moving towards him.
“Hey, you’re awake!”
“How do you feel?”
“Take it slow, Noct.”
Noctis pushed himself away from them. He had to get to the door. He had to get out, get back to safety before –
A large hand grabbed him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
The gruff voice was familiar, but everything was so tangled up in his head and it all hurt so much. He pulled himself away, only to stumble and fall. He hit the ground hard, crying out at the shockwave it sent through him.
“Noct!” One of the three crouched by his side. Noctis looked up at him, trying to focus on what looked freckled face. Did he know this person? “Hey, you’re okay. Just take it slow. Do you… do you know where you are?”
Blinking hard, Noctis’ vision cleared. The strange face in front of him sharpened. “Prompto?”
Prompto smiled. “Yeah, it’s me.”
Noctis’ stomach churned. He swallowed hard when the room started to turn around him again. “What happened?”
“What do you remember?”
Noctis looked up and realised the familiar voice was Gladio. Ignis was there too. These weren’t strangers, they were his friends. What was wrong with him? His heartbeat crept up a notch. What had he done to himself?
“Calm down,” Ignis said. “You’re safe and you’re on the mend. Deep breaths.”
“But I don’t… I don’t remember,” Noctis said.
“It was your own fault, if that’s any help,” Gladio said.
“We can berate him later,” Ignis said. He moved forward, crouching at Noctis’ side. “You sustained a nasty head injury. I’m sure everything’s overwhelming right now.” He kept his voice low. “Just know that you are safe.”
“I didn’t know who any of you were,” Noctis said. He still wasn’t sure if any of this was real. The world took on a strange glow, his vision doubled up and hazy.
“Let’s get you back to bed,” Ignis said. “Gladio, a hand?”
“Alright.” The others stepped back as Gladio came forwards. He slid his hands under Noctis’ arms. “You ready?”
“No?” Noctis had no idea what was going on, if he was honest.
“You’re hopeless,” Gladio said. He carefully pulled Noctis to his feet. “You okay?”
Dizziness crashed over Noctis. His friends’ voices faded behind the sound of blood pounding through his ears. His body gave in on him. He collapsed and the next thing he knew, he was back in bed with something very cold pressed to his skull.
“Oh! Are you awake again?” It was Prompto. He dropped his phone on the bedside table. “Ignis and Gladio stepped out for a while and left me in charge. Are you gonna be sick? Because I’m not good at dealing with that.”
“Where am I?” Noctis asked.
“Old Lestallum. I’m supposed to ask you if you remember what happened.”
Noctis looked around. The room was dark, the curtains pulled to keep the sun out. He looked at Prompto. “Something feels strange,” he said.
“Strange? How?”
“Like… like I’ve done this before.”
Prompto laughed softly. “Honestly, Noct, I’ve lost count. You wake up, we ask you questions, you sorta give us an answer, and then you fall asleep again. And when you wake up, it’s like you don’t remember the last time.”
Noctis frowned. “No… I do. You… I didn’t know you were you.”
“Oh, hey, that was the last time you woke up! Maybe you’re getting better!”
Noctis swallowed, wincing at the taste. “Did I throw up?”
“Yeah. Ages ago.”
“Sorry.”
“Forget it. You hit your head pretty bad.” Prompto stared at him. “That was a really dumb thing that you did back there.”
Noctis’ hand travelled up to the icepack on his head. “I did?” That explained everything.
“Still no idea how you did it?”
“No.”
“Okay, what’s the last thing you remember?” Prompto asked. “Before all this, I mean. Ignis told me I have to ask if you woke up, and you did, so I’m asking.”
“Last thing I remember…” Noctis closed his eyes to think. It was hard. His brain didn’t want to focus at all. His thought scattered, running out of reach. He gave up with a sigh. “Dunno. Can’t you just tell me?”
“Ignis said no,” Prompto said.
Noctis kept his eyes shut. He wanted to get some more sleep. Maybe that would fix whatever was broken in his brain.
“Ah!” Prompto said. “Stay awake!”
A sharp poke jolted Noctis out of his doze. He groaned as his head gave a renewed throb of pain. “Why?”
“To prove you haven’t scrambled your brain too much,” Prompto said.
“It is scrambled,” Noctis said.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” Prompto said, laughing. “So stay awake so Ignis can unscramble it when he gets back.”
Every time Noctis drifted, Prompto nudged him awake and peppered him with questions, most of which Noctis couldn’t answer because all his memories after dealing with Ramuh seemed to have gone missing. He had no idea how long ago that had been, and Prompto wasn’t answering. Or, he wasn’t answering with words. There was a distinctly anxious look on his friend’s face every time Noctis insisted his last memory was of earning Ramuh’s favour. Noctis might’ve bashed his head too hard, but he was sharp enough to realise that event must’ve been a while ago.
By the time Ignis and Gladio returned, arms laden with groceries, Noctis was barely able to keep his eyes open. He answered Ignis’ questions almost exactly the same way he’d answered Prompto’s, only this time Ignis had to keep shouting him awake.
Grumpy and hurting, Noctis longed for sleep. But before he could, Gladio dragged him out of bed and helped him into the bathroom. “Brush your teeth at least,” he said from the doorway.
“Can I have some privacy?” Noctis asked.
“You’re only brushing your teeth,” Gladio said.
Noctis stared at himself in the mirror. He was pale, haggard, and had a massive gash on one side of his head. Bruises surrounded it. He even had a black eye. He pressed a hand to it, wincing. How had he done that?
“You really don’t remember, do you?” Gladio said.
Toothbrush in hand, Noctis glanced at Gladio in the mirror. “No.”
“You were stupid. Let your anger take over against a MT troop. They kicked your ass and sent you flying over the edge of a cliff.” Gladio looked like he’d been waiting to deliver this lecture for a while. He drew himself up to his full, intimidating height. “I taught you to keep your head, not go rushing into hopeless fights.”
Noctis didn’t answer. He brushed his teeth, hoping the sharp mint might bring his memory screaming back to him.
No such luck.
Washing his mouth out, Noctis put his toothbrush away and turned to Gladio. “You were right.”
“Yeah, I know I am,” Gladio said. “So you remember?”
“No. But my head hurts like hell and the last time I woke up I had no idea who you guys were, so yeah, you were right. I was reckless and stupid and I’m paying for it.” Noctis walked across the bathroom. He grabbed the bathroom door, and only partly because his head was spinning. “Whatever I did, I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Right.” Gladio didn’t seem to know how to respond to being agreed with.
“And now I have to pee,” Noctis said, slamming the door closed.
Three days later, his memory partially restored, Noctis gladly abandoned the motel. The bruising had gone down thanks to a Potion or two, the dizziness passed, the headaches subsided, and his memory had sort of returned. He remembered everything up to the morning of what Prompto now called The MT Incident, and then nothing until he’d woke up two days later in the motel room… Although he really only remembered the time he woke up and knew who Prompto was. The time before that, when his friends said he didn’t know who they were, drifted away from him until it became as thin and intangible as a nightmare.
It felt good to be back on the road, heading off to help Sania with her frog collection. The others had only allowed him to leave after he solemnly swore to never throw himself into a stupid fight again, no matter how angry he was. He didn’t bother telling them he didn’t remember why he’d been angry that particular day. Really, he’d just been constantly angry since learning about Insomnia. Some days were better than others, but maybe that day had been particularly bad. The not knowing irritated him. And knowing he’d been a burden to his friends annoyed him too. He didn’t want to keep adding to their stress.
He had to do better. It was as simple as that. And if doing better meant starting the day hunting for yellow frogs in the pouring rain, so be it.
Ignis parked the car. Prompto complained about the weather. Noctis didn’t mind. After days of being cooped up, he’d take rain, snow, gales, anything, so long as he was outside and breathing fresh air. They ran through the forest towards the pond Sania thought would contain her frogs.
“Noct, hold up!” Gladio shouted. “Overhead!”
Looking up, Noctis saw the familiar sight of a dropship. Its ramp dropped open and five MTs leapt to the ground. Moments later, they were in a pitched battle, weapons swinging.
“Fighting these guys was definitely easier last time!” Prompto shouted over his gunfire.
“My head says otherwise,” Noctis said.
“No, see, that’s exactly it!” Prompto said. He fired another volley, taking out two MTs. “As soon as you passed out, they forgot the rest of us existed.”
“Huh?” Noctis couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Dude, it was so weird! As soon as you were out, they were just like ‘eh, whatever. Our work here is done’. And then the only way we knew you hadn’t actually died was –”
“Perhaps we can regale Noct with the story later,” Ignis said, his spear piercing a MT’s chest. Three down, two to go,
“Maybe I should just take a nap and leave you guys to it,” Noctis said, Engine Blade slicing through his attacker and leaving a broken metal heap in his wake.
“It was the only good thing that came out of the MT Incident,” Gladio said. He beheaded the final MT. “Haven’t had easy pickings like that in years.”
“I aim to please,” Noctis said.
“If you could do it without causing yourself a head injury in the future, I would be grateful,” Ignis said.
“I’ll try not to fall over during our –” Noctis came to a stop. A memory flashed before his eyes. He saw it; MTs surrounding him, the edge of the cliff way too close for comfort. They didn’t give him the space he needed to warp. He could hear Gladio’s warning to not warp himself right into trouble ringing in his ears. Shit. This was stupid. He’d been stupid. But he’d seen those MTs and thought of all the damage they were causing, the lives they were taking and –
He’d taken a blow to the base of his head. And after that, nothing.
“Noct!”
He looked up and saw his friends staring at him. All three started talking at once about him going back to the car.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Just shook a few memories loose.” He glanced up at Gladio. “You were right about warping into them.”
Gladio laughed. “You apologised once, remember?”
“Yeah, well, this time I know what I’m apologising for.”
“Amazing,” Ignis said.
“What is?” Prompto asked.
“Noct is apologising for his own foolishness,” Ignis said.
Prompto and Gladio burst into laughter.
Flushing bright red, Noctis turned around. “I’m gonna go find those frogs.”