The bottom dropped out of his stomach, the feeling like a yawning chasm suddenly opening up inside him with a sensation of hollowness so vast, it physically hurt. He should have seen this coming. He should have realized the moment he woke up.

But he'd never even considered it was possible.

Will they even want me back? Prompto had asked himself over and over after learning what he was. Did he ever want me in the first place? he'd asked himself before even knowing the truth.

Now, suddenly, no matter what the answer was, Prompto realized it would be a terrible one.

He was bait.

He opened his mouth, but no words rose to his tongue. The look in his eyes betrayed his shock, the way the realization worked through his mind in stages, each new moment of understanding worse than the next until he felt dizzy and sick.

He was bait. Ardyn was using him to lure Noctis and his friends, to manipulate and hurt them. They would come for him and suffer. Or they wouldn't. Or they wouldn't come at all, they wouldn't care, they would abandon him-- but they'd be safe, and that was better. If they were safe. If Ardyn wasn't using some other trick.

Prompto's breathing had gone fast and shallow. He stopped struggling in his restraints, except to shake his head, again and again. It was all he could do for a few excruciating moments.

"You're... wrong."