Get in time traveller

[warmgaze]

[Altissia. The ring, burning into his finger, burning into his skull, and he knows the price without asking, knows before it's paid. The thing you value most, isn't that always how this works in fairytales?

Ravus. Noctis. Ardyn, and that little revelation barely enters his mind at the time, the familiar glowing signature of a warp in an unfamiliar color. The prophecy, the visions that hang in his mind, a last wish from a woman who spent her life to ensure it, Lunafreya's final message to ensure that Noctis would survive.

The last clear words he can remember clearly, You've a calling to fulfill, and then Prompto and Gladio's voices, concerned, in a blur...

And then nothing. Just the feeling of a ring's power, setting him alight from fingertips to crown -

It's still in him, that power. The ring of the Lucii binds to its wearers for life, knotting strands of light into their souls, be they kings or anyone else.

(He had expected to die. Living is harder.)

And in the depths of his unconsciousness, in the place where he knows the things that he hasn't had time to consider, Noctis and Ardyn and prophecy and all of that terrible weight -

From there, from the connection of the fire in his soul that will never go out, that can only be smothered and locked away in the dark, a voice says, what would you give to change fate?

And, of course, he answers, Anything.

----

In another world, Ignis Scientia wakes in Altissia, his face scarred, his vision burned away, and continues on.

In this one, Prompto Argentum enters the room just in time to see a flare of purple flame lick along his friend's body and leave nothing behind, not even a char mark on the wrinkled sheets.

And Ignis?

Ignis wakes, with a groan and a hand pressed to his face, in the back of a cart that trundles to a stop to pick up another passenger, a young healer with cheeks not yet sunken by pain and eyes not yet yellowed by plague. He wakes bereft, on some fundamental level, of the touch of magic that bound him to Noctis, the hum of energy that bound retainer to prince...

He wakes with the imprint of a ring on his finger, the memory of agreeing, and not the damnedest idea where he is.]

Comments

[burninglight]

Oh, I do genuinely look forward to seeing that.

[warmgaze]

Perhaps to celebrate our mutual recovery.

[A forkful of eggs, which, honestly, they're rapidly disappearing. He still hasn't gotten nearly enough to eat in the last 48 hours, and has to work to pace himself.]

[burninglight]

An excellent idea. [said ardyn in between inhaling breakfast.] My, we'll make a proper celebration of it, that might be fun.

[warmgaze]

[They're sucking up breakfast like the college-aged boys they are, it's perfectly normal.]

Some sort of small get-together, at the very least.

[Oops, there goes the last of his muffin. He sets the plate to the side for now and nurses the end of his coffee.]

[burninglight]

I can scarcely wait.

[for two skinny kids, they sure do eat like black holes]

[warmgaze]

[Well they do both suck up a lot of calories with physical acitvity. And magical activity, in Ardyn's case.]

So, that sword of yours?

[burninglight]

[Ardyn practically hopped out of his chair, smiling cheerfully.]

It's nothing terribly impressive, but it's a dear thing all the same.

[He held out his hand, and in a flurry of crystal...what was unmistakably the Blade of the Mystic appeared in his grip. One-handed, as if it weighed nothing at all.]

What do you think?

[warmgaze]

[He knew it was a possibility. To be confronted with that unmistakable sword is something else entirely. That, and a the fragments of crystal...

Ignis finds himself reaching out, pausing just short - and then strokes the blade down the middle, delicately, letting his fingers capture the details his vision is too blurry to make out.]

It's beautiful.

[This blade, practically cradled against the Archaean, which Ardyn himself would someday guide them to...

He should have known.]

You're always full of surprises, aren't you?

[burninglight]

You flatter me, truly. [He tilted his head, still smiling as bright as the crystals that heralded the sword's arrival.]

Would you like to hold it? It's a bit heavy.

[warmgaze]

I assure you, I can handle it.

[And if Ardyn allows him, he does, handling the blade with careful skill - greatswords are hardly his weapon of choice, but he knows how to move one around even if he can hardly use it. There's a certain degree of familiarity in his movements; rather than being surprised by the weight of the blade, it weighs as it should.

He keeps his expression carefully relaxed, because the other alternative is let the tears flow. Noctis is beyond his reach, and yet, he too is here, in this blade, one of the arms he had favored through it all.

Would he still have favored it, had he known?]

[burninglight]

...Now I should be remarking upon you being full of surprises. [He'd handed the sword over easily; after all, it was no great sacred artifact to him. Ardyn watched Ignis handle it with interest, tilting his head and smiling.]

Often people expect those who wield two-handed blades to be taller or built a bit heavier. Or at least that's what I usually hear when people see me with it.

[warmgaze]

Heavier, certainly. The greatsword wielder I knew was about your height, however. Perhaps an inch or so taller.

[Gladio is just built like a brick shithouse instead of a heap of twigs. It's a fond thought.

On the other hand, if Ardyn is not as remarkably tall in this time period as he is in the time Ignis was born into... Goodness, that might yet make Ignis himself short. What a thought.

He turns the blade over, one hand holding the hilt to keep it up at an angle while he runs the other hand across the detailing, the familiar single wing and crossguard.]

Pity I can't see this one properly.

[burninglight]

Gilgamesh is a foot or so taller than me, but he tends toward less heavy blades. Then again, he's hardly what I'd call picky with his weaponry.

[Ardyn at twentysomething didn't seem too much taller than Ignis himself; apparently, corruption came with a growth spurt.]

Ah--that's right, we'll need to do something about that for the pair of us. Glacian's mercy, a savior wearing glasses...what are people going to think?

[warmgaze]

Mmm - and your brother?

[Because if this is the Blade of the Mystic - the Founder - then what did invisible Izunia use? Perhaps that will slot in some other piece of the puzzle.]

And I think they shall learn to deal with it perfectly well. It might even make you look more mature - at least, that's what people always said about mine. Though I daresay I'm going to need a thicker lens, now, that may yet ruin the effect.

[burninglight]

He likes more delicate weaponry; rapiers, that manner of thing. I suppose I'm the power to his precision.

[Ardyn shrugged, and if the idea of wearing glasses bothered him at all he let it drop.]

Now, I'm sure you'll look just fine. There's no need to worry.

[warmgaze]

[Ignis nods; it makes good enough sense. He doesn't know of any Royal Arms that could be called anything like 'delicate' until some centuries in, however; the first dozen or so generations all favored power, much like Ardyn apparently does, until the reign of the queen known as the Rogue.]

My preference is small blades - paired, large daggers or small shortswords depending on where one draws the line. I'm a decent hand with a spear, as well.

[He shifts the blade again, letting Ardyn take it back by the hilt.]

[burninglight]

We'll have to procure some while we're out. After all, I suppose we've a necessity to go shopping as it is.

[Ardyn's hand wrapped around the hilt, and the blade disappeared as easily as it had manifested.]

[warmgaze]

Mmm. At some point, I'm going to need other clothes, as well.

[Something that isn't, you know, his worn purple couerlprint shirt. It's definitely seen better days, though the quality is high enough that it's not exactly falling apart.]

[burninglight]

Of course. That shouldn't be a problem at all. Shall we handle that today?

[warmgaze]

It's up to you, if you think that isn't pushing too hard.

[He'll only push as hard as you push yourself, Ardyn.]

[burninglight]

Oh, I'll be perfectly alright. I'm far tougher than I look.

[warmgaze]

Then give me a moment to finish this and we'll be off.

[Coffee is important.

Really, probably neither of them should be quite up yet and they'll probably pay for it later, but Ignis would dearly like to have a few of his own things and the ability to see clearly again. If he can even get the latter.]

[burninglight]

[it's fine]

[perfectly fine]

[of course proto-insomnia has glasses they've still got magitek for a little while]

[warmgaze]

[Thank goodness, they'll do that first.

Which of course involves a great deal of squinting through lenses followed by sitting around picking out frames, but hey. At least it... works?

Ignis has gone for some fairly slim frames as usual.]

Quite a bit heavier than my previous prescription, but I'm grateful to be able to see at all.

[burninglight]

They look good on you.

[Ardyn, meanwhile, was uncomfortably fidgeting with some black frames of his own; he wasn't used to wearing them like Ignis was, and it showed fairly easily.]