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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.]
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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[He leans into the pillows, nuzzling gently into Ardyn's hair.]
Sleep well.
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[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?
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How very different it all is.]
Let's.
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[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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[His gaze keeps drifting over the books, though his hand remains in Ardyn's and he doesn't touch anything. To think that magitek could be like this, instead of the Niflheim weapons that destroyed his home...]
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[When the adviser followed, he'd find himself in a room built in the same stone and green lighting of the future Costlemark dungeon, but brighter and far more well maintained. A few more shelves lined the walls, some arranged with books and the others with varying magitek devices in varying states of repair. It felt more like an office workshop than anything resembling a laboratory, oddly comfortable even in its windowless solitude. Ardyn himself sat at a desk, balancing his chair on its two back legs with a smile.]
What do you think?
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I think you'll fall over if you lean any further.
[Teasing smile, as he comes over to look at the desk in more detail.]
Truthfully, I don't know nearly enough about such technology to make heads or tails of it.
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...I like building things. Especially when they're things with the ability to help people.
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And designing things too, clearly.
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[He tilted the chair a little further back, giving Ignis a small smirk.]
It's a sham, really...all this is rather falling out of use. I hate to see it go to waste.
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[He flips a page over, but it's all too advanced to make much sense to him.]
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[He'd rather never see another weapon of war again. At least these times are peaceful.]
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[He stood up, neatly folding some paperwork and turning to put it away on a nearby shelf.]
Who knows...if I really do quit my work as a healer, perhaps I'll go back to it. What little magitek we have left may yet serve a purpose.
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[There's no hiding that that surprises him.]
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[He kept his back to Ignis, mostly due to knowing he couldn't keep a smile on his face at the subject.]
...I can't let this world be left to wither. But neither can I do something that would hurt my brother so badly.
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[He'd offer his aid as well, but Ignis knows his knowledge of the Starscourge is only cursory. It would be possible to catch up, but he does understand the concept of leaving things to the experts.]
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[Ardyn shook his head, straightening up and turning to Ignis with a smile.]
Perhaps I'm just tired, that's all.
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[He steps forward and wraps an arm around Ardyn's shoulders.]
It isn't weakness to feel overwhelmed at the thought of that kind of task.
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[Ardyn leaned into the touch gratefully, arms coming up to pull Ignis closer without a second thought.]
It's...a little easier, now. Now that I'm not the only one who knows.
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[He folds his hands over Ardyn's.]
You can't expect the tiredness to abate without a safe place to take a rest, after all.
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And are you offering to be that safe place for me?
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