Chapter Text
Prompto had approached the Crystal, just in time to see Noctis being sucked into it. A million thoughts ran through Prompto's brain as he ran up to the giant, glowing, blue Crystal, all of them running at a panicked speed. He didn't even pay any attention to Ardyn who was standing rather close by, all his thoughts were directed to what was in front of him.
The Crystal is supoose to give Noctis the power he needed to stop the Starscourge, so why did it absorb him? Is that really the only way to get the power?
Prompto placed his hands on the Crystal, feeling the pulsing power beneath his palms. "Noct?! Can you hear me?"
There wasn't an answer.
"Noct! Come on! This isn't fair! You can't just take him like this!"
Prompto began pushing against the Crystal. "Give him back! Please!"
Much to his surprise, the feeling of the Crystal vanished beneath his hands and he felt himself being pulled head first into a blinding white light.
When the light faded he found himself to be in a blue void-like place, with Noctis floating right in front of him.
Noctis was staring at him with possibly the most shocked expression ever. "Prompto?!"
"Noct? What the heck happened?"
"A case of particular circumstances."
Prompto turned to the side to see a massive man in shiny dragon-like armor floating before them.
"Is… Is that Bahamut?" Prompto asked softly.
"Yes. The Draconian stands before you," the deep voice replied.
"But how is he here?" Noctis asked. "I thought that only I could get here because I'm the Chosen King."
"The blood of the Lucis Caelum have the ability to communicate with the Crystal. The Chosen King is permitted to enter into this space. That much is known. But, it appears one, not of royal blood, but of a pure soul is granted access to this realm. The Crystal has decided it shall be."
"A pure soul?" Prompto asked. He absentmindedly placed a hand over his chest, as if that was going to give him any real answers.
"Correct. Thy soul is pure despite origins from a man mad for power greater than the Astrals."
Don't need to remind me of that part…
"So, is there anything else then? Am I just here to watch you watch you talk with Noct? 'Cause I didn't mean to interrupt anything!"
"While the Crystal brought you here, you cannot be allowed to stay. This meeting is only for the Chosen King to hear. But, before you leave, a gift shall be bestowed upon you."
Prompto raised an eyebrow curiously. "A gift?"
"For staying at the Chosen King's side, never betraying loyalty. A gift is granted to this one of a pure soul."
Bahamut didn't even move, but suddenly Prompto felt magic flow over his body. It almost felt a little tingly as it spread over every inch of him. As he waited for something to happen, he felt his back start to grow warm, all the magic seemed to be channeling its way into that area.
He felt something back there, something that hadn't been there before. But, before he could ask what was happening he felt something burst from his back. It felt as if it was a part of his own body, stretching out as if it was an extension of himself.
"Whoa…" Noctis gawked, his eyes widening in awe.
"Whoa what? What is it?"
Prompto turned his head to the side, and then he realized why Noctis had been staring with such wonder.
Golden-yellow wings were behind Prompto, and not just behind him, but actually a part of him. He actually had wings that sprouted out of his back!
He could feel the movement of the wings, with them moving back and forth in a slow motion.
"Thy gift has been granted."
"W-wow, uh, I guess thank you? That… This is weird, but thanks," Prompto murmured, still fascinated by the wings he stared at.
"They look amazing, Prompto," Noctis commented.
"Now, you must return to the mortal realm. The Chosen King will return once he is ready."
"Oh, right. Uh…" he glanced back to Noctis. "Guess I'll see you soon?"
"See you soon, and tell Iggy and Gladio I'm okay."
Before Prompto could reply, the world flashed around in white once more. In the very next second, Prompto felt himself hitting the cold metal of the catwalk.
"Prompto!"
"He returned?"
Prompto blinked rapidly, trying to regain his senses. Now that he was out of the Crystal, he could really feel the weight of the wings on his back. They were far heavier than he would have expected.
Guess getting wings in zero-gravity isn't a good way to judge how heavy they'd be…
"Prompto, what the hell happened?" Gladio asked. "One moment I see you getting sucked into that damn rock, minutes later you're spit out and have wings on your back."
Gladio helped him up to his feet and right away he grabbed onto the catwalk railing. Even when standing his weight felt different, the wings not quite willing to help keep him supported.
"I, uh, well I yelled at the Crystal. Then I got taken into some magical void, found Noct and Bahamut, and Bahamut gave me these wings as a gift."
"A gift? Whatever for?" Ignis asked.
"He said… Well, Bahamut said that the only reason I got to enter the Crystal was cause it deemed me as a pure soul."
Gladio began to laugh. "Pure soul? So, you mean a virgin?"
Prompto glared, his cheeks beginning to burn. "No! Just means I'm a really good and loyal person to Noct!"
"Are you able to walk, Prompto?" Ignis asked. "I can imagine your balance must be off due to the new appendages from your back."
"I'm a little wobbly, but nothing I can't get used to. Also, wasn't Ardyn here when I got to the Crystal?"
"He was, but after I gave him a good blade to his side, he got up as if it were fuckin' nothing," Gladio cursed. "He walked away all while we were wondering where you and Noct went."
"So he got away and can brush off injuries like that… Guess we're dealing with something more than the average crazy man."
"Seems like it, but for now we need to focus on other things. Prompto, is Noct still within the Crystal?" Ignis asked.
Prompto nodded. "Yeah, but I don't know when he'll be done there."
"Then for now we should head back and recover."
"Sounds like a good plan," Prompto said before taking a few steps forward. He nearly stumbled and would've fallen back to the floor if not for Gladio catching him.
He looked to his side again, seeing the golden wings draped over his shoulders. He let out a bittersweet laugh. "Funny, isn't it? An Astral gives you a super cool pair of wings, but of course, I have to learn how to use them."
Gladio snorted. "You expected to just magically know how to use them off the bat?"
"Well duh! They were magically given to me! So you'd think that would come with the ability to use them immediately."
"I can understand your frustration, Prompto, but for now let's worry about getting somewhere safe."
With Gladio to help guide him, Prompto walked out of the area that had the Crystal. Originally the trio had thought to somehow secure it and bring it back with them, but without any proper tools they could do nothing more but to leave it.
Hope you can come back out of there soon, Noct,' Prompto thought as they left. 'And I hope you can come and find us when you do.
After getting a lift from Aranea to help them out of the Zegnautus Keep, she brought them all the way out to Hammerhead. Out there they met up with Cor, who actually showed a little surprise upon seeing Prompto.
"I see that some strange things must have happened," he stated.
"Heh, guess I'm going to get that reaction a lot," Prompto laughed.
Aranea had been the first to give him a strange look, but she never commented on it, more focused on trying to fly them out of Niflheim at the time.
"Are you okay?" Cor then asked.
"Oh, um, yeah I'm fine. Still a little weird with feeling the wings and stuff, but I think I'll be fine. Maybe I'll go find Cindy! She'll probably think these are super sweet!"
Walking as carefully as he could, Prompto managed to keep his balance as he got to the garage.
"Cindy?" he called out as he stood outside the garage. He saw her working on a car, with her back turned to him.
"That you, Prompto? Thought Cor said you boys would be back," she said as she wiped the grease off her hands. "So, how did things go-"
She froze mid-sentence when she turned around, eyes fixated on the wings.
Prompto gave a little chuckle. "Would you believe me if I said I somehow got blessed by an Astral?"
"Oh, Prompto, I'd believe it, but it's a purdy strange thing to see! Can ya move them?"
"I've tried a little, I can get them to stretch a bit, but they're pretty heavy. Sadly, these babies didn't really come with instructions, so I'm just winging it."
Cindy laughed. "Alright, puns aside, I think we gotta figure out how you're gonna move around like that. Let's see if you can spread them."
It had only been a couple of days, and Prompto already felt exhausted. Sure, he was grateful Cindy agreed to help train him to use his wings, but it didn't make it any easier.
His back ached in new ways he never thought it could. It especially got hard when sleeping. He couldn't stretch out on his back if he needed, not with the wings blocking him from properly doing so.
Thankfully, he was glad that he was mainly a side sleeper. It still didn't help his sore back issues.
He sighed, leaning carefully back in a chair. "Geez, who would've thought wings could make me feel like this. I bet chocobos don't get back pain!"
"Well, chocobos don't have giant wings drappin' of their backs," Cindy replied.
"Whatever!" Prompto groaned.
"Now come on, show me your wings again, we're doin' another set."
Prompto pushed himself up from the chair, giving a little bit of grumble before he was on his feet.
He took a few seconds before he concentrated on his wings. It was still a little weird getting used to, knowing he could feel the muscles back there to move them, but he wanted to be able to use these wings. He had been given them as a gift for his dedication and pure soul, (Gladio still wasn't letting down on the jokes sadly), so he knew he had to try and make this work.
Slowly, he was able to raise his wings off his back, getting them to begin to stretch.
"There ya go!" Cindy cheered. "If we keep this up, you'll be showing your full wingspan in no time!"
"And then just gotta figure out flying," Prompto replied.
"Flappin' before flyin'. Don't want ya to try and go jumping off a building before you know how to flap, ya got that?"
Prompto nodded. "Yeah yeah, I won't do anything stupid like that, I promise. Just… thinking what it's going to be like to fly."
For a moment, he felt a bubbling feeling of curiosity and wonder, only for it to come crashing down seconds later.
"I just realized… I still don't really like heights. Not only did Bahamut make me learn how to use these wings, but also he decided to give the one guy with a fear of heights the ability to fly!"
"Maybe it'll be different once you're up in the sky," Cindy suggested.
"Or I get up there and puke my guts out."
"Never know 'till ya try."
Prompto agreed with that. He knew he couldn't just chicken out because of his fears. He was going to face them eventually, whether he was ready or not.
But, until then, he still had a long way to go with getting his wings in shape.