En Route to Tenebrae; Niflheim; Eos; Monday, 07/04 ET [Monday, 06/20 FT].

Fodina Caestino had been rough, sure, but they'd come out of it with much more than a new weapon for Noct's arsenal. Harmony and synergy had been restored, and Gladio was willing to make a concession for the stop in Tenebrae. So, back on the train, with some time ahead of them before they got there, Prompto settled in to focus a little more on Ignis' communicator. At this point, he was sort of running out of ideas.He knew this thing inside and out by now, but nothing was working. Still….maybe all he needed was the right spark of inspiration. Hmm. Spark…could that be it? A different energy source? But what could he use? Magic? There was an idea he could perhaps try. And if he'd just kept trying,, something new would click, and he'd finally have it. He'd….break the code, or whatever.

( It'd been so long already, though…. )

When Prompto looked back at Noctis, he wasn't moving.

A new panicked moment of indecision filled him.

This might be the only chance he had. He had to go find Gladio. He had to find Ignis! They had to figure out what was wrong with Noctis!

Before it was too late.

[[ part 1 of 2 for Final Fantasy XV Chapter 11 - "In the Dark," which is kind of a goddamn mess, because good lord this game goes off the rails (except not because train) in the latter par, but I'm trying my best! NFB, NFI, OOC welcome, of course, of course! Part 2 to come later~ ]]

En Route to Tenebrae; Niflheim; Eos; Monday, 07/04 ET [Monday, 06/20 FT].

It was hard to imagine that anything could be even more devastating and troubling than the fact that Noctis had apparently gone crazy and started attacking his friends, but Prompto soon found out that there was a lot more to be worried about here. He felt terrible, leaving Noctis where he was, but this was a desperate situation that he could not handle by himself.

Something was wrong, something had gone amiss. That had to be it. Because if it wasn't, if Noctis had really meant the things that he said…

No. No! It couldn't be! Prompto couldn't let himself think otherwise. It must have been those dark clouds, it had to be something with one of the gods, it had to be. Something. Anything but….

Ignis. Gladio. Pushing through the car door, he hurried forward, wondering where they might be. He had to find them, he had to…

( Prompto staggered a little as the train started to move again….--CW for bombings/explosive attacks/terrorism )

"Noct!" he shouted out as he felt nothing but air and gravity behind him, pulling him down from the now speeding train.

He liked to think, in that split second before everything fell away, before he hit the cold hard ground, that he could see Noct's face of surprise at what had just happened. Prompto desperately reached out for him, but he could only clutch at nothing. And all he could really be sure of seeing was Ardyn looming behind Noctis with a faintly triumphant grin. He had Prompto's gun in his hand, and he brought it smashing down on the back of Noctis' head.

Prompto closed his eyes, felt the impact of the ground as he tried to avoid seeing Noctis' crumpling body.

And then there was nothing more.

[[ end of Final Fantasy XV Chapter 11 - "In the Dark"...or at least as much of it as I could wrangle up from an alternate perspective than what we get in the game proper. It's definitely a tricky one to transcribe, but you'd better believe it's time to buckle up for Episode Prompto heading your way soon! OH BOY! Standard terms and conditions apply! ]]