lazybox | Get in time traveller

Get in time traveller

[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.]

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...

[Ardyn knew it was selfish of him to think, but...this was easier. Having someone else to care for and look after felt so much more natural than allowing the reverse, and so he raised an arm to brush light and gentle through Ignis' hair.]

I wish there was something I could do for you. We yet have pieces of magiteknology to move one between locations, but...across time is another matter entirely.

[how the fuck did omega happen]

I confess, I'm not entirely sure how it happened, myself. It's not something we have on our end of things, either.

[Except for a certain inexplicable dog.]

If you'd like, I-...we can at least look into it. Most of the power to our larger-scale tech's been lost, but there are still some teleporters in the laboratories at Costlemark that still work last I knew.

[the what at where, ardyn]

We-...I don't know. I don't want you to leave, but I wouldn't wish you trapped here either.

[Hey no hey did Costlemark in his timeline, heck Costlemark.]

I said I would help you see this changed road through to the end. I don't plan to go back on that, even if I had such a choice.

...Though I might like to see the tower in its heyday, anyway. In our era, it's something of a daemon-infected deathtrap.

Oh...what a terrible shame. [And he did sound genuinely disappointed, snuggling a little closer to Ignis.] It's turned a bit more sparsely populated than it used to be, but there were once grand magitek development facilities there. Still should be, a bit lower down.

I imagine that's the case for most of the locations our time periods have in common, honestly.

[He pulls Ardyn closer.]

There's a few I wouldn't mind seeing in their proper glory, actually, but most of my memories of Costlemark involve unexpectedly moving walls and sudden elevator drops.

Mm...I'll show you anywhere you like. No idea what the hell that's about, though. Security measures, maybe.

[what kind of functional building even has that idk]

That would be my guess as well, given how focused they were on keeping us out. I suppose the one good thing about this time period is that it's unlikely that you're going to go on any quests for ancestral weapons, since they don't yet exist.

Can't imagine we would; I don't have all that many to begin with.

Yes, well, it's quite a different matter at my end of the timeline. And a handful of them were quite troublesome to get a hold of.

Hm...will you tell me?

[cuddling all up next to him, of course, because late night storytime]

[Cuddles are good and Ignis appreciates them.]

If you'd like to hear. Though I think in retrospect my least favorite was recovering that very sword you carry now from practically up the Archaean's nose.

I'll listen to anything you want to tell me. Although I might like to hear that one.

You also might not, considering the story involves our dear Chancellor.

[You'll need the Blade of the Mystic to cut through that sarcasm if nothing else.]

Most of the others were tucked away at the end ends of various underground ruins, but there was also one perched up on the side of Ravatogh of all places. I suppose someone liked the view.

Hm...s'not a bad place for somethin' like that, really.

[His voice had that vague sort of half-asleep tone to it, head comfortably tucked against Ignis' shoulder.]

I take it you haven't climbed the mountain yourself.

[At least the lava probably wouldn't be in the same place in this era, right?

Haven't needed to--don't really have mountain climbing as a hobby.

All I can say is that, as ridiculous as it seems, I am exceedingly grateful for whoever decided it was appropriate to put a haven up there.

...could always use a few more of those.

[Ardyn's clinging hold on Ignis seemed to start relaxing as harsh lines of tension left him; hazel eyes slid closed in favor of that almost surreal peaceful look he wore when asleep.]

[Kind of like he'd found a haven of his own.]

[Good. If he's settled enough to finally get some rest, Ignis certainly won't object.]

Perhaps someday I can show you that view myself. It's worth seeing at least once.

Mm...it'd be nice, to go with you.

Then perhaps we'll find the time to make a trip.

[He leans into the pillows, nuzzling gently into Ardyn's hair.]

Sleep well.

[The next morning...well, 'morning' saw them taking chocobos about half a day's journey to a nearby town built in stone structures not yet dilapidated, and a massive tower not yet reduced to a skeletal structure.]

[It wasn't remotely resembling the Fallgrove or its scattered plantlife, but they stood before what was unmistakably Costlemark Tower.]

[Ardyn, meanwhile, held out his hand for Ignis to take once they arrived, smiling.]

Shall we?

[It's amazing how much two thousand years can change an area. Ignis had occupied his usual place just a bit to the front, until the tower came into sight, at which point his ride slowed to take in the details.

How very different it all is.]

Let's.

[The inhabitants of the town had the usual awestruck-in-hushed-whispers reaction to Ardyn passing by, more because of the healer himself rather than the fact that he was holding hands with his new shadow.]

[Instead of descending, there were above-ground floors perfectly intact; Ardyn led Ignis through a library with walls lined by countless tomes and records. It was, as Ardyn had said, largely deserted--while a few official-looking people milled about here and there, the libraries and the labs further in seemed largely empty.]

There's a laboratory downstairs they let me take up space in when no one else is using it. Have you ever used a teleporter before?

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