#promvus

“This thing just won’t go down, will it?!”

It seemed to have little effect as the boys clashedagainst the daemons. A relentless assault that proved to be a challenge foreven the most skilled of veterans. There were many of them, but the Iron Giantin amidst it all proved to be the worst of it all. As if it weren’t a challengeenough as it was. The prince grit his teeth, evading the attacks of thenecromancers around them as he summoned the engine blade to his hand and dashedforward. “Specs! We need a plan here!”

“At the moment, the plan is to not die.” The strategistgritted his teeth, casting out his daggers to mark their foes for Noctis tostrike to. A swift strike to one of the necromancers’ necks, Noctis warped tothem, taking one down. At the expense of leaving himself open, however. Gladioluswas quick to rush in, blocking the necromancer’s magic with the impact beingstrong enough to knock the king’s shield and the prince aside. A convenientgesture as well, for just as they were knocked aside, the iron giant broughtdown its blade, shattering the earth beneath it and leaving its mark as itraked the blade across the ground. “We cannot take them all on at once! Notwith the Giant making things worse.”

It was the high commander, assisting the party in theendeavors, who responded, striking at the tendrils of one of the necromancersbefore he looked to the Iron Giant. Slow to strike, but a creature that couldinstantly bring forth ruins to the prince and the others. His eyes narrowed,hand gripping his blade tighter. The commander could be fast enough to evadeits attacks, but also being strong enough to deal a considerable amount ofdamage to the daemon… It was a risk he would be willing to take. He nodded,turning to the strategist quickly before he began to dash towards the monstrousdaemon. “I will clash with the Giant. Protect Caelum and deal with thosenuisances!”

“Ray! Be careful!”

To his surprise, the sound of the gunner was the one thatfollowed after him, quickly rushing after him for support. An unlikely face tooffer aid, but so long as he could manage himself, the aid was needed. Ravusnodded in response before focusing his attention on the daemon before him. Thedaemon noticed the white-clad figure and the blond approaching it. Readying itsblade, it brought it up for a sweep over the area. As the blade brought itselfdown for the sweep, the commander slid just beneath it, forcing himself back upto his feet with an even faster sprinting momentum as he slashed his bladeagainst the thick skin around the daemon’s legs. A mere tickle as the daemonhad pulled its stature away from its position before. It brought its fistupwards, attempting to slam it down against the high commander, but failing asRavus rolled beneath the monster. The high commander staggered a bit from therumbling ground, disoriented for the moment from his movement. A perfect timefor the giant to strike.

“Over here, big guy!” The sound of the booming gunshot,followed by the shattering of armor came into the air. The giant staggering atthe bullet shot to the face that shattered part of its iron armor. The blondspun his gun, whistling a bit in amusement, giving some thumbs up to Ravus asthe high commander recollected himself. “All in bullet time, baby~”

“Do not lose focus…!” The high commander rushed forwardagain, clashing his blade against the daemon’s legs once again. A gracefulspin, movements so fast and so strong that it could leave a flurry of deep cutsinto the daemon’s weakening flesh. And the small signs of the starscourgereturning to the night sky – it is almost fallen. “Keep unleashing yourattacks on it and keep its attention!”

“Roger that, commander!” Prompto fired his gun onceagain, twirling from the daemon’s next swing as he summoned his secondary gun,firing rapidly at the creature to draw its attention from Ravus. “Come on, bigguy. Let’s play ‘Follow the blondie!’”

The high commander scoffed. An awful time to be joking,but perhaps it was good to lighten the tense mood – for any mistake couldprove to be fatal. He took a deep breath, standing before the daemon andfocusing his attack. Slowly, he brought his arm upwards, over his head as he channeledhis strength and attack. A dark air surrounded him, prosthesis beginning toburn with pain, but one he forced himself to bear with. He closed his eyes,regaining more focus before eyes snapped open once more. The high commanderleapt forward, a roar surging from Ravus before he brought his blade downwardagainst the Giant. The sheer force from the commander’s attack knocked thegiant back a fair distance, the air breaking from the whistle of the blade anda wind rushing by. Ravus was stronger than he looked. Strong enough to bringdown the giant to its knees and cause more of the scourge to surge around it,forcing it to slowly return to whence it came.

Ravus stood there, recollecting his breath as he stoodslouched and shoulders rising and falling in sync with the air that rushedthrough his lungs. A fallen foe… And the dying noise from the necromancersshowed that the others had taken care of their duty. Good… He looked over tothe blond, who rushed over to his side and laughed, playfully patting Ravus’sback and getting him to stand upright. Despite nearly getting killed bydaemons, he was awfully rambunctious still… He shook his head, a final heavysigh coming from him as he reached up and pat the boy’s head. “Well done,Argentum… Your distraction was a great advantage.”

“Eh, it’s no biggie.” Prompto grinned back in response.Like a small puppy happy to be praised by its master. No wonder why the otherswere so worried about the blond so often. A smile like that should not fade. Justlike how the sun should always remain bright and shining. Ravus thought that itshouldn’t, at least. But he would never confess that aloud. But the smile didfade to a look of urgency as he looked behind the high commander. “Look out!”

The high commander’s eyes widened, position quicklyreversing as he saw the Iron Giant beginning to bring its blade upwards.Still?! A resilient creature. And the two wouldn’t be able to evade at the sametime without being injured. Ravus quickly reacted, bringing his blade upwardswith his gauntlet catching onto the back of his blade to support it just as thecreature brought its blade downwards and clashed against the rapier. The forcefrom the attack knocked Prompto to his feet, cracks breaking and formingbeneath Ravus but his blade not faltering and catching the giant’s sword toblock it. Ravus clenched his teeth, sweat beading down his forehead and legsshaking. He shouldn’t have let his guard down. Letting the gunner get hurt wassomething that the others wouldn’t forgive Ravus for. Something the highcommander would not be able to forgive himself for either.

Ravus let out a growl, a noise the grew louder as heworked up the strength and determination to step forward, throwing the giant’sblade aside and disorienting it. He staggered, nearly toppling over where itnot for the arm that snaked itself around his waist and pulled him from harm’sway. “Gotcha, Ray!” The gunner held onto Ravus tighter, bringing his gunupwards and forcing with an eye closed. “You’re done for…!” And with a loudshot, the bullet flew through the air, landing its blow against the daemon’sface and knocking it down and dead. Finally… The two panted from the adrenalineand exhaustion that clashed with each other. Ravus’s limbs still shook, but thesupport from the gunner kept him from falling, at least.

…Support from the gunner. Ravus’s eyebrows furrowed for amoment before he glanced down at the arm that secured itself around thecommander’s hips, soon moving his gaze towards Prompto. Just as the blue eyeswandered up to return the gaze. Prompto held Ravus close. Rather close in termsof their bodies. Not their faces, fortunately, with how much Ravus towered overthe blond. But their gazes alone caused Prompto’s face to flush with a reddencolor. Red against pale… Like the colors of the sun once again.

“Ah! Sorry! I’ll let you-“

“No. Please do not.” Ravus frowned a bit, adjustinghimself a bit and moving his arm around the back of Prompto’s neck. There. Abit more proper and more ‘supportive-looking.’ The high commander’s eyesnarrowed, glancing aside as the slightest tint of pink splashed over hischeeks. “I do not believe I can stand without… Some aid.”

Prompto took a moment to register what Ravus was saying.He did take a beating, after all. Covered in dirt, mud, and blood, shakinglimbs still… Prompto gave a small nod as he smiled a toothy expression to thehigh commander. “It’s alright, Ray. I’ve got ya!”

He hesitated for a moment, eyebrows furrowing. Hesupposed since the others gave the Argentum boy a nickname, he could as well…After saving his life, it was the least he could do. Perhaps it would be easierto call in combat over ‘Argentum’ as well. Hopefully, it would provoke a fasterreaction time than what had just happened. Give the boy more incentive to hurryand prevent such a weakness from Ravus… He gave a small nod, glancing over his shoulderbefore turning back towards Prompto and leaning his head forward. A small kissof thanks to the boy’s temple before he glanced away again, patting Prompto’sarm to get him moving. “Thank you, Sunshine.”

The boy’s face flared up with a bright red color, smilefalling, but soon regenerating into a full-fledged grin as he gave a nod andbegan to guide Ravus back towards the others. “Any time, Ray. Any time~”

“Let us not make this a habit though… There is only somuch of a beating I can take.”

“Don’t worry though, buddy. Your Sunshine will shine bright and save the day!”