Noctis felt the shift before any other forewarning could present itself. The world turning beneath them, phasing in and out of existence, blurring between reality and fiction as Noctis struggled to keep awake against the dizzying changes that occurred more frequently than he could blink. "Izunia," he said in warning though the other, standing with his back towards Noctis remained silent and stoic in his vigilance.
The two had been stuck in the astral plane for centuries. An endless plight of nothing and nothingness. It was Ardyn's dream to destroy the world, and thus it was Noct's duty to kill him. Yet the two could gain no advantage over the other in a world where nothing existed, and so, a silent truce had grown between them. It had been Noct's silent yet unwavering will to guard his ancestor for the sake of all he held dear, and, for a time, it had seemed even Izunia, hell bent on revenge, had found his efforts of escaping the astral plane fruitless. For he could not leave without the consent of Noct, who controlled the comings and goings of their world, just as Noct dared not leave his side, for the fear of his tactless mind left to its own devices.
Yet today was different. Noct could not see this change nor could he pinpoint the exact point at which it had twisted and turned into some unrecognizable deviation, but, either way, by the time he had noticed it, it had been too late. The world was being ripped apart thread by thread right before Noct's eyes and it had festered so long that the chosen king could no longer control it.
And Ardyn Izunia couldn't look any happier.
His hat was pulled down low against his brow with his body lax. The chancellor's lips now twisted into a frightening smile that curled wide and sinister against his face. The very same look, the very same stance, that Noct had seen on the other eons before when hope had been so close it had been tangible. The exact same face so long ago just before everything had been ripped away from Noct again and again was the same look Izunia had now. It was almost as if nothing had changed, and Noctis was forced to watch the reign of hell returning, creeping against the light.
Emotions did not come easily in a place where time did not exist and nothing mattered but your enemy standing before you. Noctis knew this. He had long let go of his hate for the other, had banished the hope for salvation, yet he could not completely disregard the regret he felt when he was alive. The raw pain of loss alone stayed with him for eternity after eternity and even Izunia seemed to take joy in watching the few rare moments when human sentiment seemed to return to Noctis. First slowly then, sometimes, suddenly in an outburst of pure emotions that Noct, no longer used to such feelings, could barely suppress and control. In such moments, the astral plane would reflect his mood, twist and turn like clay molded by his desires, yet Noct was quick to relinquish his emotions and quell it into nothing but white sound against the back of his mind. Yet now, the astral plane was shifting and it was not of Noct's doing. He could not stop the shifts, couldn't keep the world together as Izunia slowly tore it apart, and for the first time in centuries, Noct felt the rise of an emotion besides regret: fear.
He felt the air rush from his lungs as the panic began to settle and he realized Ardyn Izunia was destroying the very planes which bound him. The cage which Noct had vowed to guard was now being broken piece by piece as Noct could only watch helplessly, with pure desperation.
And Izunia did nothing but smile.
"Izunia, stop this at once!" Noctis called out again in warning as he took a dangerous step forward towards the man, but Izunia was not backing down. The world continued to warp out of shape, distorted by the folds of the universe pressed against their small plateau of existence, and Noctis came to the horrifying realization that Izunia would escape. But Izunia is a demon that could not exist anywhere beyond the confines of their empty prison that Noctis had vowed to bind himself within all for the sake of this not happening. So, with one last effort, Noctis lunged towards the other, summoning the royal arms at his side, yet as Noct felt his body swing in the momentum of his jump, followed by the brief weightlessness of being air born, he could see the chancellor's taunting smirk.
And suddenly the prison in which they had continuously fought, died, and finally coexisted with each other for the past centuries shattered in a sudden burst of light. It happened quickly as the mist faded and the world around them became colorful again. Only small wisps of the fabric of their world, slowly disintegrating in the air, remained yet even that dispersed like stardust as the slightest breeze of reality brushed it. It was no longer just Izunia and a vast expanse of nothingness. There was a sky. There were clouds, the green of the forest below, the smell of pine, and the sheer power of magic that resonated from the Earth rather than Noct's own confines. This is real.
There was only a brief second of momentary elation that bubbled inside Noctis at the thought that he was alive again. He was actually breathing in real air with the presence of living things beside the very man who had destroyed his life and forced his death. Yet Izunia was still smiling back at Noct as the two, now falling mid air, began to plummet. Noctis' body automatically flipped in the air once before he teleported himself safely to the ground. The feeling of soil comforting had his mind not been preoccupied. Instead, Noct was staring wordlessly at the sky above in fear. His eyes searching in vain.
He had failed for Ardyn Izunia now trekked the world of the living.
The world did not change. The sun didn't collapse into sulfur nor did the sky become shrouded in eternal night. No demons roamed the surface, and Eos seemed peacefully blissful to Noct's mistake. Yet the silence was just as foreboding and frighteningly more ominous. Ardyn Izunia did not crash upon the living as a meteor of destruction. Instead, he came silent and creeping like a tumor, biding its time and slowly sucking the host dry.
And it was all Noct's fault.
Noctis stared sightlessly at the sky for another second longer, absorbing as much color and life as he could, before closing his eyes. The world became silent again as his sight was consumed by shadows. Izunia and Noct were bound together through webbing of entangled fate that wound around their souls in the manifestation of string. Thus it took little effort for Noct to tug upon the thread which glowed luminous behind his closed eyelids, and Izunia's presence, tied to Noct's own, became a beacon against the light of the world. The chancellor's soul being obscured with the demons he had devoured and piteously large and prominent because of it.
He had to reach the other quickly. Neither of them should be alive, and Nocis loathed the idea of Izunia breaking free upon the innocent.
Izunia was close, and so, ignoring the almost childlike exuberance he felt at the rush of being alive, Noctis swung his ultima blade in a seamless arc before teleporting to Izunia's soul. Had Noct paused to absorb the presence of the living, hesitating to even remember how the souls of the living were significantly smaller, duller to the powerful air of Izunia and his own ancient souls, he perhaps would have realized the subtle differences in the dancing lights of the living. Instead, the king was focused on his target alone as the world around him rushed in a haze of blue. Colors flew by as his body dispersed before reforming.
Once again, had Noctis paused to question why Izunia had come here of all places, perhaps he would not have been as shocked to see the world around him reform into a city of towering glass buildings. He would not have been so surprised to find himself suddenly teleported to the regal skyline of Insomnia midday with her glorious architecture. Yet none of that could have stopped his sudden recoil in shock upon finding himself staring down upon the open expanse of the Crown City's pavilion where Ardyn Izunia stood before a crowd of crown soldiers with his arms raised in a mocking embrace. The man's sinister smile still permanently etched upon his face even as the soldiers advanced, threatening to lope off with his head.
But Noctis was no longer watching his prisoner as the said man continued to stand proudly against the deadly glint of crown guard steel poised towards his throat. Because standing before Izunia, surrounded by crown guards and almost hidden completely by their protective stances, was King Regis. Noctis felt his lungs choke in air, his heart beating, and his legs shaking against the sudden weight of his body now burdened by what he saw. His own father now standing before him as if death had never touched him.
Noctis did not feel many emotions after death. His life of eternity on the astral planes tarnished his memories of such frivolous matters, and when such occasion arose, he tried his best to smuggle down the rise of his inner psyche that refused to rot away as the rest of his body had. Yet the sight of Regis seemed to have shocked Noct's heart into a concoction of grief and jubilation. Suddenly nothing mattered to Noct. Not even his duty as the true king. Instead, he only watched his father as if the other would disperse into a haze of illusions if he blinked.
But Noctis was pushed from his stupor as the air became heavy again. The weight of magic condensing into the air forcing Noct to act as he swung his sword and watched the object sail directly into the ground just before King Regis' feet. The said king having little time to react before Noctis stood before him and the surrounding guards turned around in shock.
On the astral planes they were immortal, in fact, it was their sin. But here, where life truly existed, they were humans again. Noctis did not flinch, barely even noticed the feeling of cold metal cutting skin and wedging itself firmly into the thick of his thigh until there was a startled gasp from someone behind him, and a blundering laugh from Izunia ahead. Yet Noctis had little time to react as Izunia's armiger arsenal clashed with his own mere seconds after his sudden teleportation and Noct struggled to push back the other's magic.
Their weapons remained locked, entangled with each other as Izunia pushed back with equal force, yet Noct was able to twist his body and, using his shoulder, shoved the chancellor backwards. Izunia then slid back a few feet before he lurched forwards and struck towards Noct's head in a large swinging motion that Noct only had seconds to block. The heavy Axe of the Conqueror bearing heavily against Noct's own blade as he struggled to maintain his stance. But Noctis didn't dare dodge the attack as his eyes shifted behind him to see Regis still standing there in shock with Clarus and the other surrounding crown guards by his side. The said guards having pushed the king back away from the ensuing battle. Though brief, the distraction was enough as Izunia, dispersing the axe, called forth the lightweight Sword of the Wise before slashing at Noct with greater speed. Noctis' armiger was quick to defend him and the two leaped away from the fray to better maintain their surroundings. Izunia teleporting back a couple of meters as Noct slid to the side, away from the growing crowd of tense soldiers.
The two continued to stare at each other, though Izunia was actually smirking at Noct with a lecherous taunt before the former straightened and eased the tension from his shoulders. The glowing red armingers dispersing in sparks of frenzied magic, yet Noct continued to stare at the other wearily before reluctantly calling away his own.
"It's been such a long time since the last apocalypse. I've truly missed it," Izunia drawled out, now completely relaxed as he leaned his head to the side languidly. Noctis' tense posture did not cease as he watched the other, his hand twitching in anticipation. But Izunia seemed comfortable where he stood as he only began clapping his hands in short celebration. "How long it has been!"
"Who are you?" a voice called out though Noctis, without turning around, recognized it as Clarus. Izunia turned to the other with his piercing gaze before tilting his hat further down upon his head and slowly smiling. "Mere travelers I reassure you."
"You both bear the mark of Lucis royalty," Clarus continued with his voice taut. "I won't ask again." But Noctis ignored Clarus as he instead glared at Izunia. The man still remaining oddly content with their situation. "Stop this madness at once. We are returning," Noctis commanded as the chancellor began to whistle hollowed out tunes in whimsical boredom. "Izunia!" Noctis snarled when the other continued to ignore him. "Disperse your illusions!" This time, Izunia laughed.
The man finally turned to look at Noctis with jovial eyes as the two stared each other down. "You think I created these illusions? I can reassure you this is real. Has the astral plane destroyed your mentality that you can not recognize fact from fiction?" he taunted. Noctis felt his blade form between his fingers as he took a daunting step forward. "Enough of your tricks. We are leaving." Izunia's smile only widened. "Fine," he relented. "Perhaps I took one trick too many, but I reassure you, this is not of my doing. Why would I come to a time period of such little amusement all for the sake of illusions." He twisted the word as he spoke into a mockery of syllables as Noct's eyes roamed for some faulty visage, some detail that he could extract from the other to prove it was just another trick of the mind that the other was notorious for, yet Izunia knew Insomnia just as well as Noctis did, and so, trick or not, the metropolis was just as realistic as his dreams.
"Come now," Izunia continued. "Do you not trust me?"
No. Noctis did not, yet there were truths to his words as the world they were now in was definitely real. The lights of other living souls attested to this and no matter how powerful Izunia is, he could not reflect such powerful magic so easily. But that left only one option. Noctis turned around, though still keeping mindful of Izunia's presence, before staring deeply into the eyes of King Regis who peered back with interest and curiosity. After closer inspection Noct could see the crow feet around his father's eyes had shrunk. The sags of his throat and the folds of his forehead had all but disappeared as if time had reversed.
"You see now?" Izunia called out as the slow realization dawned upon Noctis. They had been transported to the past.
Yet Noctis felt no shock. It was as if his subconscious already knew of this fact and only now did Ardyn confirm it. He stared a moment longer at his father. No. The king. Noctis had yet to exist in this time, and the king had yet to become more than such. Yet his eyes were still kind, warm and gentle around the edges where the crinkles of his mouth seemed to permanently form into soft laughter. Noctis looked away.
"Cease your prattling and address your king!" Clarus shouted, seeming finally fed up with their nonsense, yet there was a dangerous flash of anger in Izunia's eyes before he hid it behind a sarcastic smile. Only Noctis' years with the other man allowing him to identify it. But Regis seemed to acknowledge it too as the king drew away from the protective flock of soldiers, despite their still weary stances, and walked towards Noctis and Izunia. Noctis immediately felt his fingers flash, in a muscle spasm, to draw out his weapons and slay Izunia before Regis could be within the said man's line of sight. Yet he withdrew his instincts and only watched wearily as the king continued towards them. Finally, much to Noct's relief, Regis stopped a few meters from Noctis before addressing the two.
"I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. Perhaps we can start over," the king said calmly with an air of authority though his voice remained as kind as Noct remembered it to be. Izunia laughed before taking a step forward. No sooner did the heel of his boot touch the ground did Noctis' armingers blaze to life, crackling with the force of his magic and encircling around him protectively in some ecliptic dance. The soldiers, already tense, aimed their weapons towards Noct in a matter of seconds as the air became saturated and dense with magic, yet the guards stopped as Noct did not move or even raise an arm in a threatening gesture. Izunia, however, remained perfectly still, practically lounging in amusement at their situation.
"King Regis," Noctis addressed without looking at the said man. Instead, Noct's eyes remained locked on Izunia's smiling face though he could feel the king's eyes turn towards him in surprise. "This man is not one you should associate yourself with. You do not yet know what he is capable of."
A look of further surprise flitted across the king's face before he turned once again to Izunia, seeming trying to find what unique power the other possessed. Thankfully, he appeared to trust Noct as his eyes narrowed. Izunia only laughed. "You trust him already when you have yet to discover what he has done? Truly, when you compare our sins side by side, can you believe that he is the lesser evil?" Ardyn asked.
Before Regis could respond, Izunia stepped back. The man then pulled his fedora further down before bowing his head graciously with an exaggerated sweep of his arm. "Oh. What a shame. It seems I have a full schedule. Perhaps another time your highness," he said before disappearing in a flash of glowing red. Noctis immediately leaped forward intending to warp after the other before he could go far, yet the moment Noct's left leg touched the ground in his stride, his entire side lit with unbearable pain. An agonizing burn flared from his thigh to his chest and trailed across his leg. Only then did Noctis notice the scarlet blood, dark and sticky, against the pale of his skin. The oozing sustenance clinging to his clothes and staining the ground beneath him red. It took him a moment to remember how he had sustained the injury through the tangle of events, but even that was a hazy memory as Noct found his conscious slipping and the colorful world of the living fading to black.
AN- So this is sort of an AU with the idea that Noctis is tasked with protecting the world for eternity by, essentially, being a prison guard for Izunia in the after life. Or something of that matter. Hopefully I explained it well enough in the chapter, but if there's any confusions, just ask. This story is mostly for my own enjoyment because I have lately been having troubles with writer's block. In other words, this is an exercise to get me back into the flow of writing, and to get my creative juices running again. Also, because I have many other stories I need to finish, this one will not be as long as I would prefer it to be. It will only be a few chapters with this chapter being, by far, the longest.
Thank you for reading, and reviews are always welcome.