Author's Note: This has got to be one of the most whimstical fics I remember writing. I had a rough night, and tried to sketch something Ardyn-inspired to easy my mind. Ended up with an image that unwillingly turned out similar to a child. This elapsed from there. EDIT: The sketch is here hannibalcatharsis-zero DOT tumblr DOT com /tagged /the-girl
Also, shoutout to Final Fantasy Peasant video on youtube, explaining Ardyn's origin and providing some opinions and interpretations for my averting brain.
Lastly, this has obviously major spoilers regarding Ardyn's character and from the summary forward I assume anyone reading knows he's Ardyn Lucis Caelum. Anything else besides his identity/name in this fic (scenario/family/daemons/whatever) is my own thing and just the theory I prefer to lean on to, without more canon confirmations we are all up to interpretation.
Disclaimer: Obviously don't own anything related to Final Fantasy XV, except the 10 year old wait, we all do.
And fighting life and nihil. That I own.
.
.
It was always harder when it was children.
The menace had no discernment between people. The possiblity - the ability - to bring back health and light was a blessing, even though it meant that he had to witness these saddening scenarios to begin with.
The blackness poured out of her eyelids, an appalling image, as if the eyes had melted and dripped over her cheeks like tears. There was still reflection however, some apparent form of cold irises in the darkness that fixed and pierced through him. Her mouth was slightly parted, almost as if she had attempted but forgot to speak for a while; lips darkened as well, something so wrong on a lively young girl, not past the age of ten. Her hair was unkept and waving softly and unnaturally with some wind gush only she could feel. Her family had couched her with whatever pillows they could find, trying to make her comfortable. The possibility of threat didn't fully register to them, as it was apparent by the lack of any straps or bonds locking the child in place. It was a slight relief - he had seen too many people in such way, distorted too far to the point of monsters that their own families were forced to treat them like feral animals.
She layed sit, unthreatening and covered to her waist with a cozy blanket, immovable to the point of appearing not breathing. It was a wretching sight, but her condition wasn't the most common he attended; even less having the person so still, no visible pain from the human suffering or rage from the daemon transforming.
When their presence was made clear, her eyes shot up startlingly, locking on his own immediately.
This was what he saw.
Ardyn Lucis Caelum stepped inside the room, an easy smile growing on his features. He bowed his head slightly to the girl.
"Thank you so much," the mother kept whispering, time and again, voice overwhelmed by the gratitude her words already expressed. "Thank you, my lord. We were so afraid..."
"It's alright. I'm glad I can help," Ardyn tried to reassure her once more.
"She hasn't spoke or ate for days, or reacted at all, just... we were so worried she would turn... like everyone else, a mons-"
The mother didn't continue, her husband now holding her in an embrace and looking pleading to Ardyn. He bowed his head to them and turned to the child again.
"Good afternoon, little one. I'm sorry to come bothering you," Ardyn greeted, his tone joyful. With children more than anyone else, he made his best to comfort them. It was hard enough that she had to suffer the scourge tearing at her, he didn't want to provoke and trigger a response by looking challenging.
"Who are you?"
The smile increased.
"My name is Ardyn."
"Are you a healer, Ardyn? The healer? Chosen by the Gods? Are you suppose to help?"
"I can help you get better, yes."
"How?"
Ardyn smiled encouragingly. The family behind him stayed absolutely unchanged to their daughter first signs of response in days.
Daemons didn't speak. When in the process of distorting and transforming into daemons, most people could only scream or wail, to their families' anguish. This calmness, normal unchanged voice, it was for his ears alone. It had been so more often, as time passed, as more people returned from the scourge's grasp and their daemons transfered to someone else. Slowly, he started to notice it more and more. He talked openly to them, but everyone else would only hear Ardyn's voice, assuming it was a strange habit or part of his powers.
To whom he was talking to at these situations, the human or the daemon, was something he wasn't sure of himself.
The girl's parents whispered quietly as he stepped closer, lowering himself to his knee.
"You don't have to worry. It'll be gone and you'll feel better."
At this, the blackness on her cheeks quivered and Ardyn flinched however slightly. The daemon didn't move or otherwise showed any sign of attempting to attack, yet the threat was tengible.
"You want to destroy me?" The voice didn't change like he had witnessed before. He was expecting to hear the creeping, distorted sound that soon after destroyed people's ability to speak altogether, but there was a low, chilling note nevertheless.
"No. It'll be alright. Trust me."
The child's daemon eyes fixed upon him for a moment of silence. They pierced through him, and would drive anyone chilled to the bone. Eventually, she grinned, a scoffing sound unnatural on a little girl. Black fell like tears now, but quivering like a living creature.
"Ardyn, the Savior of Lucis. You save just to be destroyed in return?"
"You needn't worry about me."
"I don't, Ardyn Lucis Caelum. Maybe others do, and not for your well being. Perhaps you should start to see beyond yourself to what others see you as."
Rather than react to the words, Ardyn picked the girl's arm in his hand, feeling the darkness throbbing and pulsing like a heartbeat from her skin to his. He raised his eyes to hers, staring at the daemonical calm visage before closing his own and resting his forehead against hers. The daemon didn't so much as struggle, simply witnessed the soft, almost invisible glow formed between them, perhaps curious to what it was.
The blow was unexpected, a sudden and piercing sting to his chest that took the air out of his lungs, leaving him able to do nothing but gasp sharply. In turn, the child simply leaned slowly back, resting her head on the pillows behind her. Whilst Ardyn panted as lowly as he could given the absolute lack of air, the abrupt pain gone but a remaining sense lingering, the girls' parents own gasps were loud and uncontrolled as the child's brows frowned and she opened her eyes. Warm brown like her mother's.
"My goodness, Gratia! My love, you're alright!" she cried, throwing herself to the girl's lap.
"Thank you, thank you, my lord!" the father said, tears on the corner of his eyes as he too laid next to his wife, hands grasping a shaking hold on the girl's. She blinked, tired and apparently confused.
"Mom, dad. How... what happened?" She started whimpering and crying shortly after, fear and relief pouring down her face at her parents' tight embrace.
The family held closer, their moment of relief and peace to be remained unshattered as the emotions flowed out. Laboriously, Ardyn stood up and breathed in, doing his best to fully dispel the impact away and leave.
"My lord!" the father turned to him before he could even try to exit without bothering them. "My lord, we're so... we cannot... thank you, thank you! You-"
Ardyn smiled, the tiredness fueled by the recovery and not anything else. It took him a moment to realize the man had interrupted himself, and he looked up to see a shadow of concern on his face.
"Are... are you alright?"
"I am," he assured. He tried his best to recompose himself, the smile the best way to it.
"You're pale, do you wish to-"
"No, I'm fine, thank you. I do wish to be of no further disturbance. I'll take my leave."
The parents' gratitude wishes and pleading concerns echoed until he left, engraved with the image of their tears, the child's, not thickly black anymore, but of overflowing joy.
It was a blessing. The price to pay was small in comparision.
.
Night time had fallen when he returned. Despite the sudden consuming exhaustion, he took his time walking back. An early autumn rain started falling, sparse and soft raindrops playing through a raising wind and spraying the people outside. The people he came across grumbled occasionally, but he found the rain a welcoming change. He raised his face up to let the drops fall on his skin, eyes closed and taking in the fresh smells brought by the wind, thinking of nothing in particular rather than his surrounding landscape and the changing colors of the sky. Even the slight aches on his body that started to grow through his legs and feet weren't really registing on his mind. It brought a suspended sense of peace of his own.
The first person he encountered made an unwanted shiver on this.
"You've returned. Another wave of salvagings, Ardyn?"
"The day has taken its toll, I'm afraid, brother. What about your day?"
Izunia Lucis Caelum shrugged more than anything, a behaviour that Ardyn hadn't thought of rather childish maybe until this point. And even now, it was a small remark, more a funny one than anything. The same shrugging attitude as when he was a small boy, now transported to a grown man with grey spurring on his temples and beard brought a small smirk to Ardyn's face.
"Not as exciting as yours, perhaps. We've heard about your deeds today, I wouldn't know how you keep it up everyday."
"Heard? My, did I take so long for comments to arrive before me?"
"You're a well known man, Ardyn." A female voice joined the conversation, and Ardyn's beautiful sister-in-law approached her husband. Her face appeared slightly rounder since morning, if it was possible. Ardyn bowed his head, and she replied with a bow of her a own and a soft smile. "Welcome back."
"Thank you, my dear. I do admit I am more tired than I would have assumed."
"You look pale, brother," Izunia noted, taking his wife's arm affectively on his own. "You had quite a lot on your plate today. You had to heal a child too, wasn't it?"
Comments do travel fast. "A most frightening impact, but the child was cured."
"What a relief," Clara sighed.
"Yes, a relief. Your powers are impressive as always."
"My dear brother, although I wouldn't mind talking more, I am rather tire-"
"You don't look so good, indeed. Did you feel ill at the house or something of the sort? Or on your way back? With the amount of gratitude you get from your deeds, I'm sure everyone will do everything to help you. Then again, nothing shorter than that is expected when in presence of a King."
Ardyn's smile was frail, but he did nothing much past breathing out softly. He chose to take some of Izunia's comments with jest and lightness, but he was tired.
"Her parents must have been beyond worried." Clara said instead, hand unconsciously over her bloated belly. "Was it troublesome to get rid of the daemon?"
"They were worried, but it's alright. The child didn't attack anyone, actually spoke and acted as calmly as I hadn't seen before."
Izunia's brow frowned. "Did you visit more than one household?"
"I did not, no. Not with children. If you please..."
"Then what child are you talking about? The comments spoke of a bedsick girl, vegetable condition. She didn't speak, did she? Maybe only until after you've healed her?"
Ardyn parted his lips, but didn't reply.
"Izunia, that's silly. You make it sound like he meant the daemon talked."
"I did mean that," Izunia corrected. As if he became aware of the stern, low tone of his voice, he scoffed softly afterwards and sneered. "That wouldn't really be a power worth having, right? Not even you can talk with daemons, they don't speak. I apologize, brother. I, on the other hand, do speak and should perhaps think before doing so. With your powerful reputation, people could start believing things about you that are not real, take some of it as monstrosities rather than blessings."
The renewed smile that grew on his face was but tired reflex and empty of anything else. To process more past the words of Izunia at this point, the implications and subverted tone, was not something he was leaning towards.
"Either way, rest assured, Izunia. She did not speak. I do chat a lot, as you know. If you do hear comments on that regard, know that I did speak to the girl before curing her of the scourge. But I wouldn't know why I do it. Talking with the ones afflicted helps me concentrate, perhaps. I chat with the wind - take my word, Clara, I do," he added to her soft giggle. "Had the most interesting conversation with the rain and wind walking back here, which left me even more sourely tired. If you please, I'll be retiring myself for the night."
"Yes. You do need your rest, like I said you look pale and tired. Perhaps you should-"
start to see beyond yourself to what others see you as.
Ardyn gaped momentarily, which led to an awkward silence in which the three of them merely stood in place. His vision blurred as his eyes averted slightly, the words unexpected on his mind numbing him. It took him another moment to process Izunia had finished talking, and he didn't know which words were actually said. His gaze brought back to focus by his brother clearing his throat loudly.
"See? I'm sleeping on my feet," Ardyn managed to quickly say, bowing his head to both Izunia and Clara before leaving.
His bedroom was dark and thankfully quiet. He allowed himself to sigh longly, starting to remove layers of clothes and dragging his feet towards his bed. He rubbed the back of his head tiredly, not really relieving any pressure, only to sigh again. As he passed by the only mirror he had in his chamber - one that he had been considering removing - a quick curiosity plagued at him, but immediately thought of proceding without hesitation, lying down and find some much needed sleep.
Instead, a glimpse on the mirror. And there it was.
Black.
It was gone the second he blinked. Ardyn was left staring at his reflection, finding himself pale and slightly sickily looking indeed. Other than that, his unkept hair was sending a couple of locks over his face, his features heavier by the tiredness of the day more so than usual, dark bags threatening to soon form under his eyes. But even those were normal, human - not the same blackness pulsing and pouring out of black eyes just like a moment ago, one that puddled under his eyes like tears. The eyes... the daemon's eyes. They were the same as the ones just now. They had grown to be fully black - just three days before, they weren't, it was just the black drips - leaving those two white circles just like the child had earlier.
Slowly and not as absent minded as he would have liked, Ardyn moved his hand to his face, to the corner of his mouth. The reflection was normal, and he simply saw and felt his finger touch the light stubble on his cheek, but just in that glimpse moment... it had been stained, dirtied. If it grew, it would distort his lips.
His reflection would look like a daemon for a moment. It already did.
This was what he saw.
Maybe in time everyone would.
Savior of Lucis.
Accursed.
.
to be continued
.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated if you find anything to say, please point out typos and mistakes.
.