Hi There! I know it's been awhile. Bad family news has popped up that made me too sad to write. Hoping I can move past it and keep writing. On that note, I have a short Ardyn-centric chapter ready to go. Hope this explains some of where I've been heading without being too heavy-handed with exposition. Hope you enjoy, and feedback always welcome.
Ardyn and his unorthodox vehicle made their way to Ramuh's cave. Also known as Fociaugh Hollow, it actually was closer to Wiz Junior's Chocobo Trading Post than Ardyn had thought. If Wiz Junior had not recognized him, he could have rented a chocobo and been here days ago. Ardyn shrugged—that was the risk he ran when he was hated. He was here now, so it didn't matter.
He had never visited the cave before. He knew in general where it was and who dwelled inside. His insatiable curiosity for how Noctis and crew would fare after his "rescue" of them from Titan's wrath all those years ago had paid off. They had led him right to Ramuh's location. If he had wanted to, he could have sold the elderly God out to the Empire—allowed them to add him to their "collection". He had not though, and Ramuh now owed him for that.
The midday sun shone brightly, causing the stones surrounding the cave to shimmer like water. The good weather here made Ardyn uneasy. It should be hot, cold, rainy, something to indicate both Ramuh and Agneya were in residence. The balmy brightness, while signifying a gorgeous day to some, filled Ardyn with an icy trickle of dread. His instincts were telling him something was wrong.
The cave was as silent as a tomb as he entered. He kept his sword firmly at his side, watching warily for what he might find. He grimaced in distaste at the trickling subterranean stream at his feet. He didn't relish mud or water in his boots, so he edged along the narrow strips of dry land against the walls of the cave.
Ardyn's hair beginning to stand on end with a static charge, while disturbing, also gave him some reassurance. Ramuh, at least, was close.
And combative, he realized suddenly as he heard a "zapping" sound. It was his only warning before a bolt of electricity raced like a deadly snake through the trickling stream at Ardyn's feet. It was only his fastidiousness that had saved him. If he had been standing in that water, he would have been electrocuted before he even knew what hit him.
He couldn't afford to be too slow now. Lightning moved fast—Ardyn would be unable to dodge it. It did like to take the path of least resistance though, and a rapidly moving target would hold a lot of resistance. Ardyn warped forward, clearing the stony corridor in record, incautious, time, ending up in the large room in the back.
Ramuh was seated, cross-legged, seemingly meditating, yet Ardyn knew differently. He could see the veins of static electricity shimmering in the God's fingers as they rested along the ground.
"Really, Ramuh? You are booby trapping now," Ardyn drawled mockingly in greeting.
"It's you," Ramuh spat back in distaste.
Ardyn had never gotten along with the Six, but Ramuh had always seemed to be the friendliest one to humans, aside from Shiva that is. His evident dislike now was, even after all Ardyn had experienced, surprising.
"Now, is that a way to greet an old friend," Ardyn chided, putting his metal sword away. If Ramuh chose to see that as a gesture of peace, Ardyn would allow it. It was really more of a practical move—metal plus electricity didn't mix. He placed a wooden pole arm close at hand in case of need. For good measure he attached a lightning resistant accessory to it. It wouldn't make the weapon shock proof, but it was all he had.
"You are no friend of mine, Usurper," Ramuh returned bitingly.
Ardyn rose an eyebrow. "I have not heard that term in awhile. Now, since we are being blunt, perhaps you can tell me about Cosmos."
Ardyn had been suspecting a fight, but hadn't thought the mere mention of Cosmos's name would trigger it. Ramuh rose to his feet with an agility that belied his years, summoned lightning that radiated around his entire body before releasing it all where Ardyn had been standing, scorching the rocks behind Ardyn.
Even Ardyn, who had warped aside to avoid it, was still knocked down to the ground by the force of it. He had not been electrocuted, yet the impact felt like it had bruised every part of his body. He rose to his feet as quickly as he could, drew his wooden pole arm and watched Ramuh warily for his next move.
"I keep forgetting you can warp," Ramuh stated coldly. "That is not a mistake I will make again!" So saying, he launched a wave of lightning balls. They swirled and radiated around the entire portion of the room, filling it with deadly, unavoidable light.
A wooden pole, even one infused with a special accessory, wouldn't help here. He had something that might work though, that is, if he could still use it. He hadn't attempted it since his "mortality". He had to try, or die.
Grunting with the effort, he summoned all of his weapons from the void, watching in satisfaction as they glowed with the familiar red aura of darkness. He had created a wall of blades that could impale from a distance. Ardyn wasn't searching for impaling Ramuh here. He wanted those lightning balls. In an almost graceful clash of energy, the glowing red weapons struck the lightning balls, breaking up some, deflecting others.
Ardyn warped back and forth in an attempt to stay one step ahead of the bouncing balls of energy, uncertain of the physics, of where they would turn up after deflection. Based on the sudden dimness of the light, it appeared that he had been successful. The balls were, for the moment, out of play.
Ardyn took one short break—scanning the room through dizzy senses. His weapon summoning move had exhausted him. He seriously doubted he could launch them again. And even now, Ramuh was beginning to load up more lightning balls.
All Ardyn had to work with now was the wooden pole arm he had prepared earlier. It would have to do. He warped high, pole arm out, then whacked Ramuh on the back of the head with a force that broke the pole arm in half. As far as Ardyn was concerned, he had two weapons now instead of one.
As Ramuh ducked his head to attempt to clear it, Ardyn took one of his pole shards, now as sharp as a stake from the broken edge, and jammed it into the back of Ramuh's neck. If it had been the half of the pole that the accessory was not attached to, it would have been like hitting the God with a twig. Except that Ardyn's luck was with him. The pole portion he had used still had the accessory attached. It broke through Ramuh's skin, finding a path between the neck bones and lodged itself into Ramuh's spinal cord.
Ramuh collapsed forward, limp. The lightning surrounding him dissipated. Even as Ardyn watched, Ramuh's paralyzed, dying body breathed its last and disappeared, leaving Ardyn alone in an empty cave.
Ardyn may be a mortal human, yet he had just slain a God.
This was getting quite annoying, Ardyn thought, looking around the empty stone cavern. Titan had given him cryptic answers, and now Ramuh had forced Ardyn to murder him. How was he supposed to find out what was going on if the Gods didn't see fit to cooperate with him? Although, he thought bitterly, it was par for the course for those divine idiots.
"Resurrection, hold on," an ethereal voice called out a second before Ardyn heard a muffled crash of thunder from the entrance of the cave. Before he could go to investigate, Ramuh, now hale and hardy, strode back into the cavern.
Ardyn tensed—his cracked pole arm suddenly looked like what it was—broken sticks.
"Thank you for returning me to my senses, Ardyn," Ramuh returned politely. "Although I must say I'm shocked you were able to defeat me, and kill me no less."
"I've always wanted to 'shock' a God of electricity," Ardyn returned with a smirk. "I know you Gods can resurrect, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon."
"You're only human now," Ramuh returned calmly. "That accessory you have and the lucky strike did me in, but not for long. If I was still, as I was, you'd have been dead a minute ago. Although, your move to deflect my lightning balls was, interesting," he added pensively.
"So, killing you made you not want to kill me anymore? How interesting," Ardyn returned snidely. "I came here for answers, Ramuh, and I do hope you will tell me. Otherwise, you might find that my 'lucky' strike can be repeated."
Ramuh held his hands up placatingly. "You freed me from my, situation. I will tell you whatever I can."
"Describe this, 'situation' to me," Ardyn replied. "Who out there, other than myself of course," he amended with smug arrogance, "can affect a God?"
"Cosmos," Ramuh said flatly.
Now they were getting somewhere, Ardyn thought. "And who is Cosmos?"
"She, was one of us," Ramuh returned. "She is the one who built this star out of nothing—back when the universe was just endless void, she fabricated light and energy out of the void creating this planet."
"And where has she been," Ardyn demanded. "Why has she been scrubbed from folklore, worship, history?"
Ramuh looked troubled. "I, last saw her a few thousand years ago. I, do not know where she's been or why she has returned now."
"A woman mysteriously returns and has mysterious motives," Ardyn commented dryly. "Can you tell me anything about her? Her abilities?"
"She is the embodiment of beauty, light, and purity. Everyone, God and human alike, find a resonance within her, and are compelled to worship her. The more purity in someone's heart, the stronger the bond. The purest of all cannot resist her."
"And what is the nature of this worship," Ardyn demanded.
"All darkness is stripped from them. They become beings of virtue, of light. They follow Cosmos's every word. They become manifestations of her will."
"So, your 'attack' of me was a form of Cosmos worship," Ardyn returned.
"Yes. She, ordered me to kill anyone who asked about her. I was a fool. I should have known she would try her persuasion on me and prevented it. She did brag about summoning an army after all. I should have known she would try to recruit me. I just hope Agneya is ok. I used a code word telling her to run away as soon as I saw Cosmos, but if she didn't listen or if Cosmos caught up to her…that poor girl," Ramuh ended in concern.
"Ordering someone to kill and summoning an army isn't the path of virtue. Hypocrisy, much," Ardyn returned scathingly, ignoring Ramuh's concern for the child goddess.
"A Goddess of light's perception of war and peace is different from humanity's," Ramuh intoned.
Ardyn rolled his eyes. He was tired of the Gods working in mysterious ways garbage. Shaking off his annoyance, he began piecing together what he had learned. Cosmos had told Ramuh that she was amassing an army. Based on everyone being on their best behavior in Tenebrae, she had probably gotten her hooks into them. They were now part of her "army". Why? Who were her next targets?
"Why does she want an army," Ardyn demanded. "You're a God. Don't give me some nonsense about you not being able to guess her motives. You must have some kind of theory."
Ramuh tensed uneasily. "She has, changed, since I last saw her. However, I do remember years ago she despaired about the strife and injustice on the planet. She talked of, returning it to the star it had once been, pure light and energy. If she still wants to return it to a star—I don't think I need to tell you what that means."
Ardyn knew full well what that meant. Reverting Eos to a molten ball of fire wouldn't do much for life on the planet. It seemed that despite Ardyn's long years of keeping a Mad God and a force of darkness and evil at bay, there was another out there. And this one was a being of light. All of Ardyn's work had been for nothing. His shoulders slumped in momentary defeat as he felt a flash of impotent frustration.
Ramuh saw it. "It, is actually a blessing that you of all people came to me to find out about her. As I said, those with strong ties to the light cannot resist her. However, those with ties to the darkness…you may be the only one left who can stand up to her."
"Nice try," Ardyn replied mockingly. "Had I been my, 'old' self, that statement may have been valid. But now, I am merely a human."
Ramuh looked pensive. "You can warp. You can summon your weapons. That red glare on them is not the markings of light. You had the strength and wit to defeat me, a possessed God at that. Those are not the powers of just a mere human. I, think there is still more to you than meets the eye. You may have more of the powers of darkness left than you think. I, fear Cosmos suspects this too. She will come for you before too long."
"A beautiful woman wants me? How flattering," Ardyn returned flippantly.
"Don't joke about this," Ramuh demanded. "If she catches up to you now, she will own you, make you her slave like she has others. Even with what you have now, you were not able to keep me down for long. How do you think you would fare against her?"
Ardyn tensed. If Cosmos was after him for his darkness, what would she do when she found out about Lux?
"Does she know about Lux," Ardyn asked Ramuh, voice hard and sharp like broken glass.
Ramuh looked troubled. "I, do not know. But, I do fear for him. Insomnia has become, unsettled lately."
"In what way," Ardyn demanded.
"Noctis and Luna have disappeared. Ignis has been left in charge but has been making some, hostile, decisions towards Altissia."
Ardyn knew Altissia was being a jerk of a nation lately, but for Ignis to respond with hostility? That was unlike him. Something was wrong, and Lux was trapped in the middle of it.
"It appears I must return to the kingdom I usurped," Ardyn commented, half to himself.
"Insomnia is likely Cosmos's next target, if she has not infiltrated it already," Ramuh cautioned. "You will potentially be going right into her web."
Ardyn shrugged. "I'm not letting her have my son," Ardyn stated coldly, with a fierce determination that made Ramuh glance with him in surprise.
"I didn't know you cared about Lux so much," Ramuh replied in surprise.
Ardyn refused to acknowledge any paternal feelings or instincts he had towards the kid. "I don't," he said instead, voice clipped. "I, just don't want her to have him."
Ramuh made a quick decision. "I, can't give you much, but I can give you this power." Ardyn felt a gentle electric shock as Ramuh made some kind of interaction with him.
"I, have given you the power to shapeshift again," Ramuh stated. "You can disguise yourself to keep Cosmos from finding you. It, might buy you time so that when you meet face to face, you stand a chance."
"You have those powers," Ardyn demanded in surprise. "I thought they were the powers of darkness."
"They are the powers of the Gods," Ramuh returned. "How do you think Ifrit could take on human form? We all can disguise ourselves when we want to."
Ardyn nodded, expending a little effort so that he looked like Wiz Junior for a moment. "Guess it works," he stated in Wiz Junior's nasal voice before changing back to himself.
"I, wish I could do more," Ramuh stated regretfully.
"We can't make it too easy, now can we," Ardyn returned flippantly.
"I would tell you to be careful, but I think that will fall on deaf ears," Ramuh replied darkly.
Ardyn merely shrugged, and began to leave the cavern. Right before he left the room, he glanced over his shoulder. "Does Bahamut know about Cosmos," Ardyn asked idly.
"Yes," Ramuh stated bluntly.
And had Bahamut known when he had given Ardyn his life back, he wondered. He was increasingly certain that his "blessed" meeting with Ramuh had not been a coincidence. Ardyn was beginning to suspect he had his reason for why Bahamut had let him live. If Bahamut wanted him to stop that woman though, he had another thing coming. Ardyn's priority was Lux. Cosmos would have to wait.
