#Episode Aranea | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

aquathewriter · 1 year ago

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Fratres Usque Ad Finem (FFXV AU)

Summary: After Prompto is confronted with the truth of his origins, he looks around a bit more until he finds a young clone floating in an unknown solution. Without thinking, he frees the boy and now has to take care of a kid that is new to the world around him. (Follows mid-end Episode Prompto, end of the base game, and then beyond.)

Chapter One

"Who...what am I?" Prompto whispered as he looked up at near-mirror images of himself. They all seemed to be sleeping peacefully with their arms crossed over their chest in their tubes. They were so still that he thought they could be dead. He didn't know what compelled him to look around more, but he soon found himself walking deeper into the room until he found himself in an area where the clones were starting to get younger and younger. "They're just...kids..." he said quietly as he stopped in front of one of the chambers. This kid inside was probably no older than ten years old. Thinking back to photos he had seen from when he was that young, he saw the resemblance, but they weren’t as identical as he thought. The boy’s hair was a darker blond than his, and his skin was paler, though that could be from him having lived in the tube his whole life. Like the older clones, he looked to be sleeping peacefully, suspended in the fluid-filled tube. Looking to the right, he saw a digital interface. There was a string of numbers, but underneath that, it read 'incubation time: seven years.' He was right about one thing; the kid was no older than ten.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the glass. His hands shook as he adjusted his aim and pointed it off to the side, intentionally missing the boy. He pulled the trigger, and the familiar sound of gunfire echoed throughout the room. The bullet shot through and lodged into the machinery behind the kid. The fluid that suspended him started to leak out, but it wasn't fast enough. Pulling out his rifle, he held it by the barrel and hit the breaking glass a few times. He didn't care if he broke the gun, he could find another, and his want to free this boy was greater.

With one last hard whack, the glass shattered, and the greenish fluid came rushing out. Prompto then dropped the damaged weapon and pushed his arms into the rush of liquid to catch the boy before he fell into the broken shards of glass. Prompto then carried him bridal style away from the mess he created, allowing for any cords or whatnot that were connected to the boy to snap off as he hurried off. As he reached a corner away from the chaos, the boy started to cough, and it finally hit Prompto what he did. “Shit…” he breathed.

He just broke one of the clones out of their tubes, not knowing if he could talk or walk or do anything! Not only that, the kid was now his responsibility, and with what was going on right now added a whole new level of challenges for him.

Shaking his head, he knelt and set the boy on the ground. He had him sit up and patted his back as the boy continued to cough up the mystery fluid he was once floating in. Eventually, the boy calmed down and slowly opened his eyes. Prompto watched as the boy looked up and around at his surroundings. Soon, his eyes landed on Prompto, and the older blond gasped quietly when he noticed that they weren’t blue like his but a pale green. The boy’s eyes scanned Prompto’s face before he opened his mouth.

“Who…who are…you?” The boy’s voice was raspy and weak. Prompto didn’t know how he should’ve felt about learning that this boy could speak, a boy who spent his whole short life in a tube. He really just felt relieved to know that the boy was aware and could function.

“My name is Prompto,” he said softly, hoping not to scare the child.

“Where…Where are…we?” the boy asked as he looked around again. Prompto bit his bottom lip as he tried to think of a way to explain it to him.

“It…it doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that you're free and safe.”

“Free?” the boy questioned as he looked back up at the young man in confusion. Before Prompto could answer, the boy started to suddenly shiver almost violently. Startled, Prompto looked around to see if he could find anything to cover him but just ended up taking his coat off and wrapping it around the kid’s body. He helped guide the boy’s arms into the sleeves, and they covered his hands completely. He still shivered but was nowhere near as violent as before.

“Do you think you can stand?” Prompto asked. The boy shrugged, and the older blond nodded. “I think you can do it.” He then held out his hands toward the boy. If he knew how to talk despite living in a tube his entire life, he must have some control over his motor functions. He seemed hesitant at first but took Prompto’s hands. Prompto slowly stood up and helped the boy stand. The boy wobbled for a bit until he finally found his balance. Still holding his hands, helped the boy take a few steps before letting and showing him he could do it. The boy turned around and gave Prompto a small smile.

“And there he is now! Oh, and with another one of the clones.” Prompto spun around and pushed the boy behind him. Looking up, he saw Ardyn with another, much older, man behind him. Prompto noted that the older man looked ill and faced away from them. They both stood on a staircase that led up to possibly more of the lab. “I told you he became a fine young man. Are you ready to meet your maker, Prompto?” the older blond bared his teeth at the horrid man while the boy gripped his sweater in fear. “Any questions for daddy dearest?” Ardyn laughed. “Father and son! Or, well, sons now. Oh, how I love bringing families together.”

“No…it’s not true…” Despite his anger, his voice barely made a sound.

“My my, you still don’t believe it? Even after seeing all of them down there and then the boy you freed?” a wicked grin appeared on Ardyn’s face. The older man…Prompto soon figured out that it was Verstael Besithia, Niflheim’s resident mad scientist. The older blond let out a shaky breath. Ardyn laughed at this as he climbed up the stairs and disappeared behind some machinery.

“What’s the matter?” Verstael’s voice pulled Prompto's attention back to him. He watched as the man climbed down the rest of the stairs and slowly made his way closer to the boys. “Have you never seen a man turn before?” Prompto’s blood ran cold when he saw that half of the man’s face was blackened like he was bruised. Or dead.

The Starscourge!

He quickly pulled out his handgun and pointed at the older man. Verstael laughed. “If those Lucians hadn’t intervened, you could have turned too.” The calm tone in his voice made Prompto’s skin crawl. He lowered his gun somewhat but kept his finger on the trigger. “The boy too. He could have turned too once he was old enough.” Prompto felt the boy’s grip tighten.

“Why me? Why us?” Prompto demanded though his voice was weak.

“Because you two were cloned from this genius’s genes, born of my own flesh and blood.” he then gestured to the other tubes that held the younger clones. “You are, but one of millions created to serve our great empire in the magitek infantry.” memories of his past then flashed through his head.

“Created…to serve you?” Prompto felt faint. His breathing was quickening. Part of him wanted to turn tail and run away and forget any of this had happened.

“Prompto?” the older blond gasped and looked down. The boy was looking at him with a mixture of worry and fear.

Stay…for the kid…

“Yes. And now you’ve finally come home to Niflheim, my son.” the man then laughed wickedly. Now fed up with what this man was spouting, Prompto held his gun straight up into the air.

“Cover your ears,” he said loud enough for only the boy to hear. Once he felt the boy let go of his sweater, he pulled the trigger. The gunshot caused the boy to yelp, and the sound echoed off of the walls and machinery. Verstael’s laughter faded as he sneered at Prompto.

“Shut up!” he shouted. He looked down at the ground as his breathing became heavy. He slowly lowered his gun to his side. “You’re wrong…I’m a Lucian!” he saw the boy from the corner of his eyes. Tears then started to sting his eyes. “And he’s going to be someone! Anyone he wants to be! We are not one of your experiments!” Prompto’s body felt heavy as he leaned forward, taking his eyes fully off Verstael, and tried to compose himself.

“Not anymore. Now you two are nothing but failures.” the man growled. “I ought to return you both whence you came. Perhaps then you might serve some useful purpose.”

“Prompto!” the boy screamed. The older blond looked up and saw that Verstael was just inches from him, and it looked like black ink was dripping down the dead side of his face.

“Never!” Prompto shouted as he made him and the boy take a few steps back before pointing his gun at the man again. Verstael just laughed at the two.

“With your help, my ascension to divinity is now all but complete.” Prompto felt his body shake with fear as he watched the infected side of his face seem to morph and contort. This fear spiked as Verstael started to close in on them again. They were already pressed against a wall behind them, so they couldn’t back up anymore. “Soon, neither the kings of Lucis nor the gods themselves,” the scourge was smoking off his right arm as he placed that hand on Prompto’s shoulder, “will be able to challenge my reign!” Prompto then saw that his other hand was reaching for the boy. Prompto let out a scream and pulled the trigger.

It was normal for his ears to ring after shooting, it was much more common when he first started. But now, the ringing drowned out anything and everything. He watched with wide eyes as Verstael struggled to breathe as he stumbled back a few steps before falling to the ground in a motionless heap.

Prompto took half a step forward before his gun slipped from his hands, and he fell to his knees. It then came crashing down at what just happened. He killed someone. It didn’t matter if he was a madman or succumbing to the scourge; he pulled the trigger and ended a life.

Though he didn’t look at him, he knew he and the boy both wore the same shocked looks on their faces. He didn't know if the boy even understood what happened. The ringing had faded, but the silence was deafening as they watched the scourge drift off the dead body.

“Look what you’ve done.” Prompto jumped slightly at the sudden voice but didn’t take his eyes off Verstael’s body. “You’ve gone homicidal-no, patricidal!” Ardyn said in mock shock. Tearing his eyes away from the body, he looked around and couldn't see the man anywhere.

“No…” he whispered before looking at the body again.

“You lose your friends and murder your family. Now you’ve no one left! Well, there's that boy, but what use is he to you?”

“Shut up!” Prompto screamed while Ardyn laughed from wherever he was hiding. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” He then leaned forward and pounded the ground a few times. Ardyn’s laughter faded as tears rolled off the tip of his nose.

“Prompto?” the boy whispered as he tugged on the older blond’s sweater.

“Vital functions decreasing. Plasmodium activity index increasing.” a feminine robotic voice spoke over a speaker system. Prompto let out a breath before looking up. “Daemonification complete.” he watched as Verstael faded, only leaving his clothing. “Initiating transfer to Unit XDA-1002: Immortalis.” the lights then went out, save for a red glow that came from beyond the stair, and then the ground started to shake. Forgetting about the boy, Prompto grabbed his gun before he rushed forward, up the stairs, and almost crashed into a long console that sat in front of a series of windows. There was a machine in the room beyond the window with six or more of the holding tubes. Prompto could only guess that they once held more of the clones. He then felt small hands grab his sweater. He gasped in fear before looking down at the boy holding on to him. It looked like he had stumbled from the shaking of the floor and caught himself on Prompto.

Just then, there was a crash from the other room. The shaking ceased soon after. Looking back, he was surprised to see a familiar face standing on top of a dead daemon.

“Aranea?” he called out. She looked up at him. Surprised crossed her face before she quickly hid it with slight annoyance.

“You always play hard to get like this?” her voice came through a speaker somewhere. He started to say her name, but she quickly held up a hand, cutting him off.

“Save it, Blondie. Get your ass in here.” when he didn’t move, she shook her head slightly and looked back to a nearby table. He soon regained control of his legs, helped the boy properly stand again, and led him into the room while resting a hand on his back. “So this is that new model they’re working on.” she then looked up when they stepped into the room. “I dunno what’s got you so shook,” she started to walk closer to them, “but you can deal with it later. Let’s move.” when the blond didn’t move, she rolled her eyes, marched forward, and grabbed him by his collar. He gasped in surprise. “I’m only gonna say this once,” she then let go with a slight push, “lost your will to live, and you lose all hope of me helping your sorry ass. Got it?” he swallowed the lump forming in his throat before giving her a little nod. Prompto then watched as her green eyes flicked down to the boy. She stepped back with a surprised gasp. “What’s a kid doing here?” the way she spoke just before told Prompto that she didn’t know about the clones. He gripped the hand that rested on the boy’s back tightly before trying to refind his voice.

“He…He’s a long story.” she looked the boy over.

“Is that your coat?” Prompto nodded. “Does he have any other clothes?” he shook his head. She then sighed and undid her coat. As it slid down her arms, revealing a dark blue sweater underneath, she noticed the confused look on Prompto’s face. She groaned in annoyance before ripping her red scarf off. “There’s more than a foot of snow outside, colder than any winter you’ve probably experienced in Lucis, and I don’t think you want him losing any toes. My coat is longer and can cover more of him.” she then threw both garments at Prompto.

“But…but what about you?” he asked as he pulled the coat off of his face. She just waved him off as she made her way to another exit on the other side of the room. He watched as she stood on the threshold with her arms crossed and stared out into whatever lay in the next room.

She’s keeping watch…

With a sigh, he got down on one knee and helped the boy change coats. While his coat reached the boy’s knees, Aranea’s dragged on the floor, but it was probably warmer than his with the fur lining, and they could tuck his feet in when they went outside and wrap the extra length around his bottom half. After he wrapped the scarf around the boy’s neck and some of his head, Prompto placed a hand on his head. His hair had mostly dried but was still a little damp. “You feeling good?” he asked while forcing a small smile for the boy. The kid nodded as Prompto pulled the hood up and over his head and then put his own coat back on. “Good. Now, let’s-”

“Target detected.” the feminine robot voice suddenly announced over a speaker. Prompto jumped to his feet before gripping his gun tightly. From the gaping hole in the wall, Prompto felt his blood run cold as he watched three MTs clamber over the debris. “Capture and retrieve immediately.”

“Shit!” he heard Aranea hiss as the MTs started to make their way toward the blonds. She then raced forward with her lance out and easily one down.

“Commence capture and retrieval of compromised units.”

“Get your ass in gear and move it!” she shouted before charging back for the exit. Prompto then scooped the boy up, carrying him half-bridal style while the kid wrapped his arms around his neck and raced after Aranea.

Once he ran out the door and reached the other side, he saw a large warehouse-type area. “There,” the Commodore said as she pointed down below, “that’s our ride out of here.” He looked to where she was pointing and saw a snowmobile. He nodded as a bullet flew over their heads and lodged into the window in front of them. The boy whimpered as they whipped around to see the two other MTs, and then several more coming up the nearby staircase closing in on them. “Dammit!” she shook her head before pulling a folded map and shoving it into Prompto’s chest. It started to fall, but the boy caught it and looked from it to Prompto in confusion. “Head there. I’ll buy you two time and catch up later." She then summoned her lance and calmly walked toward the battle. Prompto quickly processed what she had just said.

“But what about you?”

“I said I’ll catch up.” She then fell into her battle stance.

“But what if y-”

“Just go! You have a kid!” she almost screamed. Promtpo pressed his lips together in a thin line as he danced on his toes. He wanted to stay and help her fight, but…he looked down at the boy in his arms and saw the fear and confusion in his pale green eyes.

It took another bullet to whiz by his head and shatter the glass behind them to make him start running. Aranea had cleared enough of the stairs so he could run down most of them. He had to shoot at a few MTs when they reached the bottom but quickly gave up on that. He dismissed his pistol and raced for the gates that housed the snowmobile.

Once they reached the gates, he heard the boy gasp.

“What are those?” Prompto looked back to see a few daemons making their way toward them.

“Daemons!” Prompto said before turning back and sprinting for the vehicle. The blond threw his leg over one side and sat down with the kid in front of him. “Put your arms around my chest!” the boy let go of his neck and did just so while burying his face into his chest. Prompto then wrapped the kid’s feet and legs as best as he could with the extra length of the coat. He pulled out the map from in between them, looked at the location Aranea marked, and tucked it into his coat. He revved the engine before punching it. The snowmobile shot forward, and Prompto was quickly greeted with the harsh bite of the cold. He felt the boy stiffen and tighten his hold around his chest. “Just stay like that until I say so!” he shouted over the engine. He felt the boy nod and returned his focus to driving.

It was easy going for the first few miles…then they were nearly blown off their ride by a missile. Looking back, he saw a war airship with missiles lining the underside, quickly gaining on them. Adrenaline coursed through him as he pushed the snowmobile to go faster.

He narrowly avoided missile after missile, but his luck only lasted for so long. He didn’t realize he was running out of road until the snowmobile had launched off the rock. Everything then moved in slow motion. The vehicle went straight down while throwing them off. He watched as he flew out of the boy’s arms and the fear in his eyes as Prompto flew farther away from him.

Time resumed its normal speed when he hit the ground on his back and ended up rolling a few more feet before stopping on his side. He briefly lost consciousness before slowly opening his eyes. He then heard the airship come closer to them. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing in hopes of playing dead. The snow soaked into his coat and pants, but he needed this to work. He heard the engines hum for a few moments before taking off. He waited until the engines with a whisper before groaning and pushing himself onto his back. He felt the adrenaline crash getting to him as he looked up at the cloud-covered sky. His lung wheezed as he breathed heavily. With a sigh, he rested the back of his left hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.

“Catch ya later, Aranea…” he stayed like that for a few moments until he remembered the boy. Ignoring the pain in his body, he quickly pushed himself and looked for his companion. He then found him lying next to the overturned snowmobile. He scrambled to his feet and raced toward him. As he reached him, the boy started to regain consciousness as well.

“Prompto?” the boy called out before the older blond knelt down behind him.

“I’m here; it’s okay.” he panted slightly. The boy looked back, and he saw that the scarf had slipped down his face while the hood fell off his head and revealed the pink that stretched across his cheeks and nose. Prompto started to help the boy up, but as soon as he started to move him, the boy let out a cry. “What’s wrong?” Prompto asked quickly as he stopped moving the boy and put him back on the ground.

“M-My leg,” he said with a pained expression on his face with tears rolling down his cheeks. Prompto looked at the boy’s leg and saw that it was unwrapped and trapped under the snowmobile. Standing up, Prompto pushed the vehicle so it was back on its treads and off the boy’s leg.

“How is it?” Prompto asked as he looked back at him.

“It doesn’t feel good,” he said as he sniffled and looked at the blond.

“Does it hurt?”

“H…hurt?” the boy looked like he didn’t understand the word.

And he wouldn’t…he’s never felt it before…

“Hurt…um…when something happens to you, you can feel hurt, feel pain.” he never had to explain what hurt meant to anyone. “It’s pretty much what you said. It doesn’t feel good.” The boy nodded slowly and looked down at his leg.

“Yes, my leg…hurts.” Prompto nodded and dug his legs out of the snow. His bare legs were pink from the cold, but his left leg had a large and nasty-looking bruise forming on his shin and on some of his foot.

“I have to carry you anyway, but we’ll take a better look at it when we get to where Aranea wants us to go,” he said as he wrapped his legs again. The boy nodded before the older blond picked him up. With a sigh, he sat on the snowmobile. He had the boy hold on again before he turned the engine on.

“It makes a lot of noise.” he heard the boy say just before Prompto took off.

“Engines are loud most of the time.” he then smiled when he thought about the regalia. “My friend has this car, the regalia, and it’s a beautiful car. The engine is really quiet, but there’s still going to be noise from it. It’s just much quieter than this one.” he then remembered the events on the train. He didn’t know now if he could go back to them or if they would still call him their friend if he told them the truth about where he was from and how he was made and not born.

“Friend?” This snapped Prompto from his thoughts, and he sighed internally. He wasn’t mad at the kid for questioning, but he just didn’t have the energy to both drive and explain what some words were.

“I promise I’ll tell you what it means when we get to the spot.” the boy nodded, and they remained quiet for the rest of the ride.

#final fantasy xv #final fantasy XV fanfic #final fantasy xv prompto #big brother Prompto AU #prompto argentum #episode prompto #aranea highwind #fanfic stuff #I'm just posting this on Tumblr for now #I might post it on AO3 later but testing the waters here first #Its not Kingdom hearts but eh! its my speciality #giving one character a sibling!#my fic writing

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