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]

[Strangely, Ardyn didn't show himself on the train again. A fleet of imperial airships passed overhead but left the journey without assault or interruption, and it was with a party of four rather than three did Noctis gain the blessing of the Glacian and the Oracle's trident. Whatever the reasoning he had claimed brought him there...Ardyn did nothing at all as they left Tenebrae to draw closer to Gralea.]

[And not long before a suspiciously easy journey began to draw to a close, Ignis would fall asleep in a train cabin and awake to the sound of someone collapsing to the floor.]

[Instead of a train was another simple hotel room, in another plague-beset town of the declining Solheim. A search for the source of the noise would find a still young, still redheaded healer passed out on the floor, burning up with a fever and drawing ragged breaths.]

[warmgaze]

[In that regard, Ignis has no complaints about the others being kept safe. The self-sacrificing part of him considers a tryst with Ardyn a small price to pay in any case, but the way he wound up in the man's arms had nothing to do with protecting Noctis and everything to do with his own desire to be touched.

It happened, and it was real, however brief it was. And as they bundle up against the chill of the Glacian's former domain, he can't help thinking of another chilly touch.

Especially when Gentiana pauses to shake her head at him, just slightly, almost as though she knows.

And then he wakes and -

He's back. That is the only explanation for the warmth of the bed beneath him, and the familiar ragged breathing.

Ignis doesn't take the time to question it. He lurches into motion, dropping to Ardyn's side and gathering the healer into his arms once more.]

You absolute fool...

[burninglight]

[A quiet pained murmur left him, as if the motion was aggravating injuries kept hidden beneath long sleeves and a high collar. Barely stirring past that, a few strands of violet amidst wine-red fell in Ardyn's face as he was shifted into Ignis' arms.]

[...He also felt just a little bit lighter than the time before, as if he'd simply forgotten to eat properly for a while.]

[warmgaze]

Idiot.

[He'll give you hell for that little bit lighter, later. Right now, it's an almost familiar gentle lift to the bed, laying him out so that Ignis can get a better look.

Checking his wrists for black, ruffling that mess of hair...Ignis just sighs before climbing in beside him.]

[burninglight]

Nnh...Gil...? Told you to...look after 'zunia...

[Ardyn murmured that in a half-asleep daze; his wrists and arms were haphazardly bandaged to cover wounds that weren't his, faint bloodstains on white cloth thankfully red instead of black.]

[warmgaze]

[Good enough for now. Ignis just keeps running his hand gently through Ardyn's hair.]

Rest, Ardyn. We'll speak when you're more coherent.

[burninglight]

[That voice...ah, this must have been a dream. But at least it was a nice one, Ardyn falling silent and drifting off with his hand curled in Ignis' shirt.]

[warmgaze]

[Good, good. Once Ardyn has more securely drifted off, Ignis doesn't hesitate to join him, letting the warmth and security claim his consciousness.]

[burninglight]

[It was a while before Ardyn started to stir again; fever lessened but not yet broken, he buried his face against Ignis' neck with the softly complaining whine of someone who was awakening in a fair amount of discomfort.]

[warmgaze]

Shh, shh.

[Even only half roused in response, Ignis makes several reassuring sounds as he pulls Ardyn closer.]

It's okay, I've got you.

[burninglight]

Mm...wh-...

[Ardyn trailed off dazedly, eyes that were thankfully still hazel fluttering open and blinking a few times as he tried to make sense of the current situation.]

...you came back.

[warmgaze]

Mmm, so I did.

[He squeezes Ardyn's shoulders, just to prove them both solid and real.]

I'm sorry. It was no wish of mine to leave in the first place.

[burninglight]

...not angry.

[Still worn down from however much work he'd thrown himself into, Ardyn brought unsteady bandaged arms around Ignis' waist.]

Missed you.

[warmgaze]

I'm here. And you, I see, have been pushing yourself quite foolishly hard.

[burninglight]

...didn't know what else to do. I...I know I said I'd stop, but...I was afraid.

[warmgaze]

Only a little angry. Mostly worried.

[He nuzzles gently into Ardyn's hair.]

Rest, now. I'm yours no matter what form you take, but you're still feverish and I'm not going to let you push yourself until you've recovered.

[burninglight]

...I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't-...I don't want to keep doing this, but I couldn't just...stand back and let people suffer because I'm a coward.

[warmgaze]

Ardyn.You're not a coward. Rest.

[burninglight]

...

[Ardyn didn't have the energy to make an argument past that, instead curling up against Ignis and gradually falling back to sleep.]

[warmgaze]

[And when he rouses again, Ignis is still there, slight changes in their tangle and a mug of coffee on the table evidence that he's gotten up and returned at some point.

But he's arm and secure and perfectly glad to take the chance to just breathe a little while before Gralea, however long it lasts.]

[burninglight]

[It would take a while, lingering disorientation and presumable blood loss mingling with the exhaustion that ran deep in the Lucis Caelum blood. But eventually he did wake up less overheated by fever but pale, pressing a hand to his eyes and murmuring a vague protest against being awake.]

[warmgaze]

Good morning once more.

[And Ignis is still here, leaning down to kiss his forehead, gently and familiarly. Not a dream.]

[burninglight]

[For a moment or two, Ardyn looked confused again; as though he expected Ignis to have been a fever-based delusion.]

You're...?

[warmgaze]

Here, in the flesh, and very much alive. I missed you.

[burninglight]

[Ardyn threw his arms around Ignis' shoulders despite the wince of pain the motion was followed by, hugging him tightly.]

I thought-...Astrals, I thought I'd never see you again-