carbungle | IC Contact

[The severe look evaporated with as little warning as it had appeared, Ardyn relaxing with a faint and tired smile.]

I never regret helping people, Noct. No matter what kind of trouble or complication it may lead to, that intervention in and of itself is no less meaningful.

Kind of amazing you still feel that way, considering where it got you.

[It's... admirable, in a grim sort of way. Becoming what he is now, being locked away for so long, that sort of compassion could have easily died with him.]

[Ardyn shrugged with his left shoulder as he contemplated both the board and his next words carefully.]

I am not so good a person as to be free of resentment over what transpired. It takes far more than a single monarch to rewrite history when ‘history’ was as recent as ‘several weeks ago’.

[Somnus hadn’t been well-liked in their time; ‘feared’ might have been a better word, depending on who one asked. So it made sense that the kingdom’s people would fall in line with the idea that Ardyn was never to be spoken of again. It made sense, and yet it still managed to sting at the darker parts of him that wanted to scream about the injustice and ingratitude of it all. How many bloodlines persisted to this day because of years of tireless work? How much smaller would Lucis be if he’d decided it wasn’t worth it from the start?]

But everything terrible that happened was not for nothing; all of it would only be rendered utterly pointless from my perspective if not for however many lives were saved in the process. While I regret much of what came of it and just about everything to do with my brother, I can not regret the work I did itself. Doing so would feel the same as wishing each and every person I saved to be condemned to an agonizing death.

[Somewhere along that line of thought, Ardyn made his move—the white king retreated a step.]

If I were ever to second-guess saving even one person’s life or wish I had done any less than I was capable of when someone was suffering right in front of me, I would lose what little of myself I have left.

...Guess that's true.

[He wonders how he'd feel, if in the aftermath of reviving the dawn all memory of him was forgotten, erased from existence like he'd never mattered at all. He knows it's unlikely, assuming the others survive, or Cor or those still loyal to the crown, but ten years is a long time to be without a king. It's just as likely that some might consider the return of dawn to be a fluke or good timing, their patience rewarded by the gods and not a sacrificed monarch long lost. And even with the others to carry his memory, how long with it last? Would he, too, be lost to the ebb and flow of time, collecting dust in some history book as nothing more than a title like most of the old kings?

How fortunate he wouldn't be alive to see it happen. In light of those thoughts and everything he's heard, he can't begrudge Ardyn for holding on to that pain.]

I don't have to like the outcome to acknowledge the work put into it. And... you know. I do like being alive. [He moves a piece to chase the king, probably foolish, but just as much a sign that he's still himself, too.] So thanks, for doing it anyway.

...I've found I like having you around.

[A lighter remark to try and break the tension, with it a very quiet laugh.]

I assure you, I'm always happy to be of help to you or anyone else.

Suck up.

[He's smiling anyway, quietly pleased by the admission. It isn't new, but still. It's nice.]

I am never anything but sincere.

[...which coming from Ardyn was oddly ironic]

[That... is incredibly ironic. It's fortunate that Ardyn's tone is significantly different enough from his future self that it actually sounds believable.]

Doesn't that mean you're sincere all those times you've called me a horrible menace to society?

Deathly serious. You're the worst sort of troublemaker, the kind that's just fun enough to allow.

Double suck up.

[Heh. Fun troublemaker, that's a title he prefers.]

...Sometimes I wish it was Bahamut who was the dragonlord of this town, just so we could experience his reaction to seeing us like this.

[The nerve of them, getting along, genuinely caring about one another and ignoring the prophecy's grand plan. Whatever happened to all that hate and vengeance?]

Hm...it would be something of a sight, wouldn't it? Worse still knowing there's nothing he could do to stop us.

['fuck what god wants i will love and protect this dumb child until he stabs me.']

Never tried pissing a god off before.

[It's a strange concept. He's always been so... obedient. Complacent. But he's sure that this relationship is absolutely in defiance of the big plan written into the history of their entire lineage.

The mental image of an angry Bahamut is pretty funny, though. He'd been heartlessly deadpan when they met, just telling Noctis his fate and tossing him into the void. It would be refreshing to see a giant armored dragon throwing a tantrum or something.

Nevermind that the gods are terrifyingly powerful. He's just gonna conveniently ignore that fact, since... this is all for laughs. Right? Right.]

I have the distinct feeling I likely do that every day just by existing. An odd feeling, when I think of it like that.

[After all, the gods wanted the Starscourge gone so badly that they'd sacrifice generations to do it. Ardyn was willing to guess they didn't see him as much else at this point, if ever that had been different.]

...Mm... maybe.

[A fair assumption, considering how much of their line became devoted to building power for his destruction. He kind of wishes he could talk to Gentiana - Shiva - again, though. She's probably the only one who'd give him a straight answer, and she carried some sympathy for those who'd become corrupted by the Scourge. Not enough to spare them (she'd asked him to kill Ifrit, after all) but enough that their lives were not worthless. Her request was to bring back the light, not to kill Ardyn, and that feels significant to him, though he might just be biased about it.]

It's not like you owe them anything. So it's fine if one or two stay mad about it.

...Perhaps I don't. Another feeling I might call 'peculiar', but maybe not an incorrect one.

[Peculiar, to put it lightly. Ardyn's present feelings towards the divine were complex to say the least, colored in increasingly more shades of bitterness as time went on.]

...Like, okay. I'm not about to advocate for, uh, cursing out the Six, or killing them like the Niffs love to do. The latter's been screwing up the world, and they've kinda got me on a leash right now so I have to play nice.

[He captures a pawn and waggles it in the air with his left hand, where his arm - free of the brace - shows all of the covenant scars clear as day.]

But. I'm just saying, you don't have to do them any favours either. And that includes playing nice or sitting in the corner so they don't have to notice you.

Oh, I doubt I could kill a god even if I wanted to.

[Daemonify one, apparently, but definitely not kill one as far as he knew. Then again...well, maybe thoughts of hypothetical rebellion in the name of skewed timelines were best left in the theoretical category for now.]

...Given the options, the safest thing might be to stay under their notice rather than be considered more of a threat than I already am. Unless you had some middle option I'm not seeing?

[Noctis considers the question, setting the pawn aside.]

So... the other guy is a huge bastard, evil, actively starting wars between countries, building a daemon army... but I'd be all for suggesting you do what he did besides that, which is as far as I can tell dicking around living his best life in defiance of everyone and everything. Every time I saw him he had a big smirk on his face like he was doing exactly what he wanted to and nothing more.

[Which... y'know. Would be kind of enviable, if not for everything else.]

I just figure, if the Astrals didn't lift a finger to try and smite him until it was prophecy go time, they wouldn't bother you.

...I suppose that they wouldn't, when you phrase it like that. Maybe a little harmless traveling wouldn't hurt, when I've the time to spare for it. I always did want to see Tenebrae.

Probably looks real nice in your time.

[Nicer than his own, for sure, what with the invasion and everything being on fire. It's depressing to think about, so he tries not to dwell on it. The whole world's gone to shit, but at least there's some hope for a peaceful future.]

Just resign yourself to seeing a million blue sylleblossoms. Might meet a princess, though.

[If he's remembering timelines right, Queen Sylva would've been around, albeit much younger.]

I think...

[Ardyn trailed off, hand hovering over the board for a long moment with a quietly distant stare. Contemplating either the board or the concept, or perhaps both.]

[He seemed to snap out of it soon enough, calmly capturing another pawn.]

...that would be nice. Traveling, meeting people, seeing what form the world's taken now.

[Noctis waits, watching with unusually quiet patience, and once Ardyn makes his decision he nods and leans back a bit, seemingly satisfied.]

Yeah, that sounds like something you might enjoy. I know I did.

[Being locked away inside a city's walls isn't the same as being held alone in an island prison, he's certainly aware, but the cautious curiosity of an unknown world is a feeling he can empathize well with.]

IC Contact | Hugtopia

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