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

[warmgaze]

A willingness to explore and a commitment to excellence go hand in hand.

[But he'll pause to lean into that hand in his hair. It's nice.]

[burninglight]

You truly are entirely magnificent, aren't you?

[warmgaze]

I certainly put out my best effort.

[His turn to play with your hair now, Ardyn, running his fingers through the soft, messy locks like he's been wanting to do this for a while.]

[burninglight]

Mm... [He tilted his head into Ignis' hand, barely short of purring under the attention to his hair.]

[warmgaze]

It truly can't be kept in place short of pins, can it? I confess I've been wanting to do this for a while.

[Gentle but firm touches, almost massaging.]

[burninglight]

Hm...not in the slightest. I've learned to rather like it this way.

[warmgaze]

And yet so soft. I think I may have always wondered.

[Always including his past, Ardyn's possible future.]

[burninglight]

[Ardyn leaned his head on Ignis' shoulder, letting his hair be played with however it would.]

...like to think I take good care of it.

[warmgaze]

I would say you've done quite a fine job at that.

[Just going to keep gently fingering it if that's ok.]

...How far are you willing to go?

[burninglight]

...I've never been one to worry for boundaries of my own. I'm prepared to take this wherever you might wish to.

[warmgaze]

...I think this alright for now. Perhaps even ideal for a nap, if you need more rest.

[They can. Go slow and figure this shit out.]

[burninglight]

That doesn't sound like a bad idea. You're terribly comfortable as a pillow, I'll have you know.

[warmgaze]

Several months of practice from sharing a tent that only barely slept four. ...I find it rather reassuring at this point myself, if we're being honest.

[burninglight]

I wish you'd said so earlier. I tend to get a bit cold rather easily, so I like the contact.

...What are your friends like?

[warmgaze]

Well, I've already told you a bit about Noctis. He's... never been fully at ease with being a prince, and at times he can be something of a brat, but I've never seen him turn down the chance to help someone, even if it results in completely foolish escapades like running around catching frogs in the middle of the night.

[Can you blame him at all for making comparisons, Ardyn? Because that certainly sounds like you.]

His best friend is Prompto - they met over the course of Noctis' public schooling, and I fear it may be a case of opposites matching perfectly. Where Noctis is a bit withdrawn, Prompto is nothing but exuberant much of the time, all his emotions worn transparently. Since he's the only one of us who didn't grow up in the atmosphere of the Citadel and the nobility, he's often anxious about exactly how he fits into our group.

And last is Gladiolus, who - well, prior to meeting Gilgamesh in person instead of just as a legendary figure, I daresay I'd never met anyone larger. Most of the time, he's the personification of gentle giant; quietly friendly, a shoulder to lean on, that sort of thing. He does have a bit of a nasty temper, though, and he gets frustrated easily. Mostly with Noctis; Gladio takes his role as Shield very seriously, since it's been passed down his family for some generations, and I think that does him more harm than good at times, because his expectations are very high and difficult to reach.

[burninglight]

[Ardyn pressed against Ignis' side as he talked, listening with his complete attention.]

...It sounds as though you care for all three of them quite a great deal.

[warmgaze]

Of course. They're incredibly precious to me.

[He shifts a little, but mostly to lean back a bit against the pillows, pulling Ardyn down with him. Much better.]

[burninglight]

[Ardyn buried is face against Ignis' shoulder fingers curling tight in his shirt again; as if there were a million questions and uncertainties with the only definite thing being what was right in front of him. Reticent had to date not been a word even remotely describing Ardyn, and yet...here they were.]

[warmgaze]

[He keeps an arm around Ardyn's shoulder, pulling him close.]

Is something wrong?

[burninglight]

Hm...no, nothing. Just...thinking, I suppose.

[warmgaze]

They seem heavy thoughts.

[Not that he minds the warmth curled up against him.]

[burninglight]

However could they not be, given what you've told me?

[warmgaze]

True enough, I suppose.

...Whatever is on your mind, you can speak it. I may not have the answers, but I see no purpose in hiding anything more.

[burninglight]

I'd not know where to begin. For impossible as your words are, you've yet given me no reason to fail in trusting you. And I find them so unlikely that no one would be fool enough to craft such a lie.

It seems I've an impossible choice before me; slow or even stop my efforts and allow countless people to die as the world falls to darkness, or continue on in becoming whatever it is you think of me to whatever terrible end that leads to.

[warmgaze]

Then we find a third solution.

[He says it so simply, with such conviction - with no doubt but that that third option exists.]

The night before I awoke here... I was offered the chance to change things and I took it. I refuse to believe that that is something that was offered only to be impossible.