victory_road | BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST!

[It wasn't totally clear if the hat was in peril or not; it stopped at the sound of Noctis' voice before starting to run in circles around his feet, chittering happily.]

[Gotta catch it first.]

[A little scamp, is it. He smiles, because he can appreciate the hustle. Rather than flailing wildly and risking a bite (or hurting the poor thing by pulling its tail) he makes a grab for the rim of the hat the next time it passes his right hand, lifting it up.]

Who's under there?

[You found...a criminally small Eevee!]

[...No, really, it's like guinea pig sized at most. Teacup rabbit. It's also wagging its tail and tippytapping its feet excitedly like a little kid that just won a game of hide and seek.]

[Oh no. Oh no, that's adorable. He doesn't know what it is but he loves it immediately.]

Oh man, look at you. This hat could be your whole house.

[Ah, what the hell. He sets it lopsided on his own head so he can get both hands free to pet the bejeesus out of the little thing, if it lets him. He will absolutely offer.]

[It will absolutely accept, running around Noctis' hands not unlike a hyperactive ferret before rolling over on its back for a good tummy rub.]

[While all this was transpiring, the owner of the cursed hat finally tracked it down--flanked by a Zorua and Misdreavus, Ardyn lifted it off Noctis' head and replaced it on his own.]

You two seem to be having fun.

[And just like that, it's a bucket of icewater all over his joy. The smile drops, and he quickly pulls his hand away from the Eevee before he can clench it, jerking back from them both. Being in this place was surprise enough, finding the hat was what he thought to be an odd coincidence. This, however-]

...Ardyn.

[Despite all their history, his tone is more... alarmed than angry, confused to find them both here. They were supposed to be gone, not... pulled to some strange animal-training afterlife.]

Noctis.

[The mockery was at least gone, but the bitterness was as present as ever. Even after all that had happened, some things would never change.]

What an unpleasant surprise to encounter you of all people here. [The teacup-sized Eevee skipped over to him, Ardyn leaning down to let it climb up on his shoulder.]

Edited 2021-05-22 21:59 (UTC)

[Noct's brows furrow at the little creature crawling up his arm; how did such a sweet little thing get attached to the walking embodiment of old vinegar? This world is suddenly more confusing than ever.]

I could say the same to you. I'm guessing you didn't choose this, either.

[his entire team has the personality of horrible geese except the ponyta that keeps kicking his ass]

Given the option between death and waking in some oppressively cheerful and colorful world, I'm shocked you think I didn't choose the latter. Absolutely stunned.

[The condescending sarcasm hadn't gone anywhere, at least.]

But no, I did not come here of my own will.

[Noctis pauses, his eyes shifting briefly away, looking for the moment almost lost. This is the first time in literal years that he's had to make a big decision that wasn't somehow ordained by prophecy or ordered by the gods. The freedom of it is surreal and kind of terrifying, especially considering the original target of his prophecy is standing before him, seemingly alive and well, despite all his efforts to the contrary. This isn't Eos, but... it's hard not to feel defeated by this unexpected failure. It doesn't feel like this is what Bahamut had in mind. What went wrong?

He takes a careful step back, though he stops himself from going any further, reluctant to show more weakness.]

So... what's your aim now?

What, pray tell, do you expect me to say? 'I'm going to travel the stars, burning everything as I go along until I determine what's enough'? Tempting as the idea is, the fact that this realm has up to now condemned me to a painfully mortal form rather limits my options.

You really can't blame me for anything I think about you.

[The lack of powers surprises him, a little. Noctis himself had tried to draw from his own magic, but had found nothing responding to his call. He'd assumed it was because the Crystal's magic had all been burned up when he, Ardyn, and the ring had all been destroyed together. Seems that limitation spread beyond him, which... was a comfort, small as it may be. If they were both mortal and powerless than there'd be little gratification to be found in trying to kill each other.

...Though a part of him would love to give Ardyn one solid punch for the road.]

Perhaps I can't. But I can point out you would be foolish to assume my indiscriminate destruction extends nearly so far. Do I really look as though I've the capacity to care that much anymore?

[Noctis shoots him a dry look.]

Have you given me a reason to trust anything you say or show to me?

[Ardyn's always lying. He could call the sky blue and it would be worth checking. He'd be an idiot to blindly believe that Ardyn intends to cause no harm just because he says so or looks disinterested by the idea.]

What do you want me to say, exactly? 'Why yes, I'm going to end this world and any other I come across just because I feel like it'? I don't care, Noctis. I played my part as I had to, and now it's over.

[The Zorua at his feet bristled, apparently reacting to the perception that Noctis was irritating his partner rather than Ardyn's frustration itself.]

If I have to be consigned to this obnoxiously cheerful hell as some sick punishment for doing what I was meant to, then fine. I'll live and die a blasted mortal, gods forbid I just let it be done and over with already.

[Noctis feels a flair of his own irritation, annoyed by the anger he's getting in return. It's not as if this is his fault, unless he'd somehow done his duty incorrectly, though he'd received no indication that was the case. But what is he supposed to think? Should he be buying this claim of no more ill intentions? That Ardyn's just going to settle in and behave himself now that he's alive again, just because he...

...did what?]

What do you mean, 'as I had to'?

[He's used to having a role to play in a grander story, but he had never imagined Ardyn being the type to follow along with anything.]

['Behave' was a strong word--Ardyn himself wasn't even really sure what to do other than go along with things for now. He certainly wasn't above a little trouble should the opportunity present itself...if nothing else, he was more than used to waiting.]

...Oh, he really did never tell you, did he? Of course not--heavens forbid the truth should lead that bleeding heart of yours to waver.

[Ardyn shrugged with the shoulder not currently hosting a tiny Eevee, raising a hand to pet the cheerful little creature.]

I knew everything. The instant I met you and long before that, before you were even born, I knew the truth of what was to come. I knew your role in bringing back the dawn, and I knew mine in opposing you. And what else was I to do? The best I could hope for was to leave the world a smoldering husk of what it once was and know you and I would take the last of the line of kings down with us.

After all, surely you of all people--surely Bahamut's favored champion must understand that defying the Draconian is beyond even me.

[The slow-building distress of that revelation is likely predictable, but there's no fighting it as it twists his expression. Noctis wants to protest - he's no one's champion, he doesn't have a bleeding heart, he wouldn't waver! - but he can't find the words to object against something so trivial considering all else that was said. It's... strange, that anything Ardyn says might make him hesitate. He always lies. It's a rule, at this point, not an exception. He lies and he deceives and he hides and he mocks. This could be all of that at once like usual. He has no reason to take responsibility for his decisions, and Bahamut is a convenient target for more blame-shifting.

Strange, though. That Noctis can't find it in him to wholeheartedly defend the god who'd given him all the power in the world to save it, who'd chosen him in two thousand years, who'd written a whole history on bringing back the light with him in the center. He can't deny this claim.

He takes another step back.]

He... couldn't have wanted that. Everything you did- why would he...?

[Why does it feel so much like this is something Bahamut would do?]

Oh, certainly, I could be lying. But I prefer to twist half-truths to get what I need from people, not just make things up. I'm not nearly so creative.

Besides, we're dead. Why would I care enough to lie to you now? It's true--the accursed Bladekeeper came to me some years ago and told me my entire fate was to spread darkness through the world that the advent of the soon to be born King of Light would cleanse the world of the impurity of my mere presence upon it. Never mind all that 'healer of the people' thing, apparently that calling wasn't good enough for him.

I...

[...can't argue with that. Gods, he wants to. But he has no argument against it because he doesn't know anything. He's only ever known what he's been told, and there are no voices in his head now to guide him on the right path, no ring on his finger or crown on his head to carry him to the future.]

If you couldn't defy him, why didn't he just deal with you himself? Why did he need any of us?

[If the Draconian is so powerful - all the magic did originate from him and the Crystal, yet he'd said that the power of the light surpassed the power of the Six? - why wait 2000 years and sacrifice so many people... it just sounds so senseless. He can't fathom the gods who claim to care so much doing this.]

What makes you think I know that? I can relay only his words, not the intent. But were I to venture a guess, I would do little more than point you in the direction of a chessboard.

That’s surely all we ever were to him. Just one long and elaborate game where the venerated gods are far above intervening directly. Our only choice was to move within our limitations to the desired ending.

[Why can't anything ever be simple? Just once, just once, it would be lovely. Go marry your childhood friend, end a war. Take back the Crystal, defeat the daemons. Good versus evil, and the world is saved when good triumphs. Nice, simple, bittersweet. This is what he died for? How is he supposed to believe any of this?]

What... did you want, then? Was destroying my family your real goal, or was that just a way out of all this?

[Ardyn opened his mouth as if about to snap a reply, and then closed it. His Zorua circled around as if sensing distress, jumping up into her partner's arms. Scowling as much as one could with a tiny fox on his shoulder and a slightly larger one curled up in his arms, Ardyn didn't say much in explanation.]

Why should I bother answering? It changes nothing, and I don't care to hear you further patronize me by pretending to care.

[That makes him frown, hands loosely clenched at his sides.]

I've never pretended.

[He's well-known for his impassivity, concealing what he feels for the sake of looking 'cool'. In the end, there'd been little sense in hiding the sympathy - perhaps a little pity - he'd experienced, witnessing Ardyn at the end. A part of him will always hate the man who tore his life apart and destroyed most of the world in his quest for revenge, and there's no hiding that. But his thoughts and feelings are far more complicated after the Crystal than they'd been after Altissia. After the truth of their shared history and the horrors Ardyn had experienced came to light.]

...I'm sorry. I mean that. It was supposed to be over, for the both of us. We were supposed to be free.

[Maybe this is his own failing. Maybe it's a cruel twist of fate. Maybe the gods have been mocking them the whole time. Whatever the reason, he can still be sorry for the hand they've been dealt yet again.]

BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST!

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