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]

How did you kn-...

[Ardyn trailed off, swallowing hard.]

I don't...I don't understand, Ignis. What are you trying to say here?

[warmgaze]

That even if I don't know all the steps of getting there, I know how this path ends. And I...

I don't want to see that happen to you.

[burninglight]

...Solheim is dying. Already it is but a shadow of its greatest self, and the flame that fuels it grows weaker day by day. Its people are lost and uncertain of the future, with only a singular source of hope in the approaching darkness.

I can't just stop, no matter what it costs me. One life, in exchange for so many more...how can I simply look at these people and refuse to pay that price?

[warmgaze]

...I know. The same way I can't sit back and let you continue in ignorance, knowing who you are now, before everything.

I can't not try to change things. And not just for Noct's sake, anymore.

[burninglight]

I-...what am I supposed to do, I thought—

[His voice cracked, Ardyn hiding his face in his hands.]

...I only wanted to help.

[warmgaze]

I know.

[And he climbs onto the bed, so that he can pull Ardyn into his arms. Just another kid hurt by the plans of the gods.]

I know.

[burninglight]

[Hurt, lost, and shaking under Ignis’ touch. Ardyn took a slow, unsteady breath but said nothing else, instead dropping his hands from his face to attach himself to the retainer as the only sane thing left even as everything he said was sheer insanity at best.]

[warmgaze]

I don't want to see you become that yellow-eyed monster that only knows hatred. But I don't know what to change to prevent that from happening. I'm sorry.

[burninglight]

I can’t stop so long as this world needs my help. I can’t, no matter what it does to me. But...but I-...

[Trailing off, Ardyn hid his face against Ignis’ shoulder.]

...I’m afraid.

[warmgaze]

No one can blame you for that.

[He pulls Ardyn a bit closer, wrapping them up together as though his arms can shield away the truth he bears.

And then, finally, he presses a small kiss to Ardyn's temple, above the scars that were once his own to bear.]

I've spent most of these last few weeks afraid. That you were that, under the healer, and then of what it felt like you might become any day.

[burninglight]

I...doubt I truly understand what it is you seem to know me as. Not entirely. But I-...I don't want to hurt you. I'd not wish to hurt anyone, I'm not...

[He curled up against Ignis, suddenly feeling very small in spite of all his power.]

...I'm just Ardyn.

[warmgaze]

[He could say, could tell this boy all about Insomnia and Altissia - but right now, it just seems cruel.

So he gathers Ardyn into his arms instead, tucking his feet under the blankets with him, practically pulling the thin body into his lap.]

I believe you. I won't lie and say that I did at first, but...

[burninglight]

[Ardyn let himself be pulled closer, curling up in Ignis' lap with slender arms wrapped securely around the adviser as if he had exactly no intention of letting go anytime soon.]

There has to be something we can do. I can't simply stop, but I-...

...is it selfish if I say I don't want to keep going like this?

[warmgaze]

I think it's human.

[There's nothing wrong with being human, saviour or no.]

[burninglight]

The people of this world don't need me to be human. I can't protect anyone as a human.

[warmgaze]

Isn't human sympathy one of the most important traits of a healer?

Even if not, you need to care for yourself as well. Whether other people need you to be human or not, you are.

[burninglight]

...

[Ardyn didn't say anything, choosing instead to continue clinging to Ignis and let the desperate need for contact speak for him.]

[warmgaze]

[And Ignis sighs and rests his forehead against Ardyn's.]

...If you had been anyone else, I think I might have been very reckless already.

[burninglight]

Wh-...what? What are you talking about?

[warmgaze]

[The response isn't verbal. It's a deep breath, followed by a small, chaste kiss.]

[burninglight]

[Whatever myriad of fears and conflicts were in Ardyn's head very swiftly left it.]

O...oh. I thought...well, truthfully I thought you just didn't like me quite like that.

[His fingers curled in Ignis' shirt, Ardyn hesitating before speaking up again.]

Could I-?

[warmgaze]

I... No. Removed from my personal hang-ups on the matter, you're very lovely.

[A hesitant squeeze around Ardyn's shoulders.]

Go ahead.

[burninglight]

...my, I should be flattered. Here I was thinking that should be my line, as it were.

[Ardyn managed an awkward, tired smile; more sincere than the charisma of whatever persona he was putting forth to set a fearful populace at ease, worn down by a harsh and impossible reality.]

[But he closed the narrow distance between them, pressing a kiss to the adviser's lips in return--one that had every possibility of being just a bit less chaste, if allowed.]

[warmgaze]

Mm. You're far more than a pretty face.

[It's definitely allowed, Ignis shifting his head slightly so that they're not going to bop noses. Beyond chaste, though, it will become clear that in this regard, his knowledge is mostly theory.]

[burninglight]

[That did seem perfectly alright with Ardyn, who was perhaps a bit more experienced in this particular field than he looked. (Or exactly as experienced as his brother's teasing made it sound.) Experienced enough to take things slowly and with a startling amount of patience given Ardyn's personality. He trailed his hands along Ignis' shoulders, gently tracing up his neck to cup his jawline in both hands like he was a priceless treasure.]