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https://ift.tt/2JaQMxicharlottedabookworm:
hamelin-born:
charlottedabookworm:
Okay, so. Fair warning, but this is sad. This is part of an AU where Fractured Lightning!Nyx did not escape with Prompto because they moved him before Nyx could escape, and then Nyx spent the next decade and a bit thinking that his son was dead - or worse. There are mentions of dehumanisation, human experimentation, branding, medical procedures, and family being separated from each other.
Anyway, tell me what you think?
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Fractured Lightning medical imagery mention dehumanisation human experimentation Nyx is not in a good place and he did not hear Prom say dad but the chocobros did and tehy are totally gonna chase this shit up like - blood tests Nyx’s blood is probably on file and Noct is the crown prince so they do blood tests which is prob how they find out tht Nyx is not only Prom’s dad but also Regis’ son meanwhile - Nyx has gone home to cry Ramuh probably appears
@charlottedabookworm
This is bittersweet and sad and beautiful and tragic in all the best/worst ways imaginable. I want to cuddle it close and sob over it for a few hours - oh Nyx. Nyx hates himself, and mourns and grieves and cannot let go. Nyx, who punishes himself far more harshly and ruthlessly then anyone else would - it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his fault; there was nothing he could have done, but Nyx - Nyx refuses, utterly, to believe that. And I rather seriously doubt that he would ever, ever have told anyone else about Prompto, about exactly what took place in the labs - not Libertus, not Crowe, not Pelna. So they can’t cuff him around the ear and scream at him that it wasn’t his fault.
Perhaps only Ramuh knows. Yet he is wise enough to know that telling Nyx it was not his fault would only break the man.
And - wait. Does this mean that Nyx is responsible for Prompto’s infatuation with chocobos?
Thank goodness for your tags. They give me some hope that things get better - would blood tests reveal a genetic connection between Prompto and Nyx? I mean - there are obviously some physical similarities, due to what you once described as an ‘accidental magical adoption’; would that be reflected in their genetics?
And oh, oh. Wouldn’t that set the cat among the pigeons - with the rest of the chocobros hearing Prompto calling Nyx ‘dad’, with Prompto tremulously sharing his only memories of his real - a father who loved him, who tried to keep him safe even in the middle of so much pain, his dad who he was stolen from. And - can this be his dad? Really his dad? Noctis et al are probably really to fight to the death to help Prompto find out the truth - if nothing else, their friend needs closure.
Of course, when they start running DNA comparisons between Nyx and anyone else - well. I’d like to think that the equipment is set up such that if a particular set of genetics - namely, the Royal Family’s - shows up? It triggers automatic alerts. Nyx’s info was in the system, it just hadn’t been analyzed by the system - not until now.
…there’s probably going to be a squad of Crownsguard led to the apartment Nyx has on file to escort the man back to the Citadel for more thorough testing - then again, when they batter the door down? They might just find the man in question weeping into the arms of the fucking Fulgarian. Which. What?
@hamelin-born
Nobody hates Nyx more than he hates himself in this au. Nyx cannot bring himself to believe that it wasn’t his fault, that there was nothing that he could do, that he couldn’t have saved Prompto. None of that matters, in his mind, all that matters is that he had failed and his son had paid the price and he will never, ever forgive himself for it.
But you’re right, he doesn’t speak of the labs except in vague terms – most of what Lib and Crowe and Pelna and Selena peace together is based on Nyx’s scars, but they don’t actually ask him because Nyx won’t tell them. The only one of them to have any real idea of Nyx’s time in the labs is Ramuh - Ramuh who was the one to catch Nyx in his arms as he fell onto Galahd’s shores, who held him as he screamed for his lost son, as he raged for what had been done to them, who pieced him back together as he broke. Ramuh and Nyx were alone for two weeks before Lib et al arrived, and Ramuh is the only one who knows.
And yet, telling Nyx that it wasn’t his fault would break him. Back in the beginning, Nyx was too raw for Ramuh to bring it up, too unwilling to listen, and unready to hear otherwise, and then later – as Nyx healed – he built his entire identity around the fact that it was his fault.
For Ramuh to tell him otherwise would shatter him, completely.
He can’t do that to his chosen.
(And yes, the chocobo obsession can be lain solely on Nyx’s shoulders, the same with the love of photography. Nyx spent hour after hour telling Prom (and I can’t decide if that would have been his name already, or if Nyx had named him something else originally only for Prom to forget because no one called him it after Nyx left) about the outside world, story after story, and he tried to make it sound as beautiful as he could – because his son deserved some happiness that couldn’t be found in the labs.
So, baby!Prom spends two years listening to tale after tale of the beauty of the world in a single moment and the adorableness that is chocobos, and he doesn’t remember any of it – not really, nothing but impressions – but they make him feel safe and happy.
Even if he doesn’t remember why)
(Somedays, Prom will look up at the sky and his heart will ache, even as he glories in the beauty of it)
But yeah, the bros would totally try to figure out if Prom’s sudden memories – because those few memories of his father were intrinsically tied to his magic and he didn’t really remember anything until Nyx called him little bird, which means that Prom’s magic is about to make a pretty serious reappearance after being pushed down for over a decade, which prob won’t end well honestly – are real via blood tests, because prom deserves that much. He deserves a family that loves him, and Noct et al know Nyx and he’s a good guy (they also noticed the way that Nyx looked at Prom like he was everything, and the tears at the end, so they’re pretty sure that Nyx is actually Prom’s dad and that is not the look of a man who had abandoned his child by choice) and Prom needs a good family who cared for him.
(Imagine how guilty Nyx will feel, once he learns that his son had grown up in what is, at the very least, a neglectful household. Imagine how much he’ll blame himself)
As for a genetic connection, I’m thinking yes.
See, Prom was a part of an experiment – not long after they caught Nyx – to see if they could have MT’s with magic, you know, standard stuff. Anyway, experiments with older clones didn’t work, so they picked up batch of younger clones instead of just growing a new batch from Nyx (no, bad brain, ignore au idea, let’s not torture Nyx with them doing that, Prom doesn’t need a half-dozen younger brothers – the only ones who survived the experiments – and I don’t the need the mental image of Nyx standing over the graves of his children who he wasn’t fast enough to save, no) and, essentially, through much handwavy science, tried to graft the part of Nyx’s DNA that his magic was connected to onto these clones. It didn’t work. Or, well, it did.
Because Prom was the only survivor.
Anyway, Prom got magic, yay. But he only survived through regular transfusions of Nyx’s blood in the beginning, and, as his magic settled into his soul, it recognised Nyx’s blood in Prom’s veins and the connection between them and the magical adoption triggered a, I dunno, metamorphosis? Basically, Prom’s body tried to adapt to Nyx’s blood – because MT’s are made to adapt to the scourge – which is how Prom physically actually looks a fair bit like an Ulric – like Nyx.
I don’t know whether, blood wise, Prom could be considered Nyx’s son, but he would definitely come up as a relation.
But then Nyx’s blood being analysed triggers all sorts of alarms because, er fuck, that is a rather alarming amount of Lucis Caelum DNA there, and they need a fresh sample to run more tests on because oops, possible royal bastard.
So, some Crownsguard are dispatched to collect Nyx. He’s not in the dorms, or in any of the ‘Glaives training areas, and eventually, they track his phone to his flat. Nobody answers the door when they knock, so they batter the door down, because hey, possible Lucis Caelum and this is important, only to freeze when irritated red eyes lock onto them.
Because Ramuh hadn’t bothered with a human form, not in the safety of his Chosen’s flat, and instead had just shrunk to human size. So, you’ve got Ramuh with his long white hair, red eyes, and the small hornlike protrusions on his forehead, dressed in his usual flowing robes – which Nyx is currently sobbing into.
Multiple brains just, stall. Because, what the fuck?
Meanwhile, Nyx can’t stop saying “He alive, but he doesn’t remember” over and over again between sobs into his grandfather’s chest, taking comfort in the only father figure he’s ever known and the only one who knows of his son.
And Ramuh just has his arms wrapped around his Chosen as he sobs, glaring at the mainlanders who would dare interrupt his grandson’s mourning.
Eventually, one of the ‘guard will muster up enough courage to clear his throat and say that Ulric was requested by medical immediately, (and this poor guard deserves a promotion or a commendation or something, angry Astral’s, even human-sized ones, are terrifying), because it’s important, while Ramuh glares at them.
Ramuh will probably just huff, but – since he knows how much Nyx needs to heal and he can just barely sense Nyx’s son in the Citadel, also Nyx is breaking to fucking pieces right not and probably won’t be stopping any time soon – teleports them both to medical.
Which is how Nyx ends up weeping in the arms of the Fulgarian in front of everyone in medical – which may or may not end up including the Crown Prince of Insomnia, Prompto, and possible the King himself.
It is also probably about the point that Nyx passes out from exhaustion, because why not
@charlottedabookworm
sudden mental image of Prom’s magic eventually just - bursting out of him and Nyx is the only one who can get close because Prom’s magic remembers Nyx’s - remembers that feeling of /safety/ and /family/ and /love/ Nyx is Prom’s safe space - the one who protected him from the monsters just realised - how do you think Lib et al feel when they find out that Nyx has been dealing with the loss of his son on his /own/ for a decade? they’re gonna punch him. They are going to punch him and then go destroy Niflheim fuck the empire anyway
I’d like to imagine that Nyx remains awake just long enough for the assembled individuals in medical - which definitely include Prompto, Noctis, and Regis (the latter because this is a possible Lucis Caelum and they’re going to need a fresh sample to run a comparison against - plus, Regis is also sort of the head of the family. It’s a - nebulous area, and Regis finds himself - oddly anticipatory about meeting this relative he never knew he had.) He remains awake just long enough for all of them to hear the latest rendition of the refrain he’s been sobbing into his Grandfather’s robes - “He’s safe he’s alive he doesn’t remember me he doesn’t remember me but he’s alive and that should be enough right he’s alive he’s happy he doesn’t know me he’s alive he’s alive my son is alive he doesn’t know me he’s alive - “
Which. Well. Both provides some much-needed answers while raising even more questions. Because that - is probably pretty conclusive evidence that Nyx is Prompto’s father, but that raises the question what the ever loving fuck happened. It sounds like Nyx thought Prompto was dead, and this - what. Just what.
And, um, why is the Fulgarian here?
Ramuh probably remains just long enough to gently place Nyx on a nearby medical bed, fold his arms, and glower at one and all before discorporating. He does not want to answers questions - besides. It’s Nyx’s story to tell.
And meanwhile Prompto is getting more and more stressed and they’re running the tests and here is proof positive that Nyx is Prompto’s dad. Here is also evidence that Regis is Nyx’s dad. Oh holy Astrals the King is my grandfather, and my best friend is my Uncle? What the hell, what the hell, what the hell dude?!
…at which point in time the combination of stress and being in close proximity to not only his dad but a whole host of other potent magic users reignites Promto’s own inherent magic, and it basically explodes out of him in a maelstorm of color and light and force that he has not idea how to control.
Prompto is panicking, and no one can reach him, and -
And then Nyx.
Nyx, who is still deeply disoriented both from being shocked out of unconciousness, emotional shock, and sobbing himself to sleep. Nyx, who doesn’t quite know where or when he is. Nyx, who only registers that his son - oh, his son - is in distress - because Prompto would do this before, when he was a very small child. Throw a temper tantrum or just plain lose control and Nyx had to talk him down, had to soothe him and sing him to sleep and -
Nyx is acting on automatic when he walks into the heart of Prompto’s magical tornado.
It doesn’t touch him. There’s not a hair out of place; Nyx shambles forward, looking very much like a man with a dire need for ten cups of coffee and a good breakfast and ten hours more sleep, and Prompto’s magic does not touch him. He’s completely unaffected.
And then Nyx is there. Nyx is there, standing in front of his son, and he takes Prompto in his arms, shushing him and crooning a soft, wordless melody to him. “It’s okay, little bird. I’m here. I’m here. You’re safe; no one will hurt you now…”
The maelstrom dies, and all that is left is a sobbing Prompto curling into a barely-coherent Nyx’s arms.
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