Gladio had disappeared off to go and reassure the doctor he was alright, meanwhile Noctis, Ignis and Prompto were all sitting aboard a gondola headed for the Maagho. Noctis wasn't sure whether or not the place would actually be intact—he didn't want to go reaching for more memories in his already tenuous state, and besides, there were some things he needed to see to believe.
He hoped Cid was alright though. For all the crotchety old man had never exactly been fond of him, Noctis liked Cid. Too often he found himself relating more to the older people in his life, as the years had worn on behind him, and Cid had always been fairly sensible about all that was going on, even when Noctis himself was being unreasonable. He tried not to linger on how many years now separated him from his friends. The idea he'd already lived out several lifetimes was bound to send him spiralling again, but it was hard not to focus on it with the silence in the boat.
Neither Ignis nor Prompto seemed much for talking. The unpleasant yet familiar feeling that he didn't know whether or not the silence was amiable or awkward had settled over him. He had elected not to speak though. Though he was at the mercy of his mind and his memories, while silent he wouldn't be drawing attention to himself. If he had another attack in the middle of a conversation, well... He didn't want too many questions right now.
They arrived at the Maagho at about eleven o'clock. To his surprise, it wasn't as bad as he'd worried it would be. Sure, the place had a slightly waterlogged look to it, and it was obvious at least some of it had been submerged, but it appeared mostly intact. It appeared the restaurant had temporarily closed for business though, because there was no one there—no one except a rather familiar man sitting up to the bar, talking with Weskham over it.
The moment Noctis stepped off the boat, the man waved him over.
It was as he'd suspected. Cid was alright.
A weight lifted from his shoulders. He wasn't sure why, but thoughts of death had been clinging to his mind... He shook himself. There was no need to dive into that just now. He had more important things to focus on.
"Well, if ain't Prince Noctis," said Cid, once Noctis got within hearing range. "You look a damn sight better than when I last saw you."
"Well I'm not dying anymore," said Noctis, hopping up onto the stool next to Cid. "That always helps."
"I see you're as chipper as ever," said Cid, tutting and shaking his head. "And how have you boys been faring?" he asked, turning towards Ignis and Prompto. "Not been putting you through too much trouble, has he?"
"Not at all, Cid," said Ignis, with a tight smile.
"How've you been?" asked Prompto, moving over to Noctis's side. "We didn't see you anywhere during the clean-up."
"I've been keeping my head down," chuckled Cid. "Don't you boys worry about me. Old Cid knows how to stay out of trouble."
Ignis glanced over at Noctis. It was time.
"About that," said Noctis, clearing his throat. "We've got news. Weskham, you'll probably want to hear it too."
Weskham nodded. No discernible expression crossed his face, but Noctis imagined he already knew what was coming.
"A daemon army's coming for Altissia. For everywhere, really, but Altissia will be hit first. Things are gonna get pretty bad pretty quickly. I just wanted you to know so you had the option to get ready for it, however you chose to deal with it. I imagine it can't be more than a week away."
Cid sighed, but didn't look surprised.
"I knew something was up with the Empire, but I admit I didn't think it'd be quite that bad. You sure?"
"Positive."
Cid sighed again and looked at Weskham, who nodded.
"Well, I'll be able to find my way back to the mainland, don't worry about that. I've gotta make sure Cindy'll be ready when the daemons come a-knocking."
"I thank you for the warning, Prince Noctis," said Weskham, looking at him intently over the bar. "I'll warn as many people as I know, but I'll be staying here. Altissia is my home. I have to fight for her."
"I understand," said Noctis. "I just wanted to make sure you knew of the danger."
"What are you boys planning to do now, then?" asked Cid, raising an eyebrow at him.
"You know, the usual. Fight monsters. Bring down Niflheim. Get my home back. No big deal."
Cid snorted at that and Weskham gave a small smile.
"Ah, you sound just like your old man," said Cid, wiping his eyes. "Keep hold of that spirit, you're gonna need it if you're heading into Nif territory. And y'all better come back in one piece, you hear me?"
"We quite understand, Cid," said Ignis, with a smile.
"Good," he said, "now get going, all of you. You have better things to be doing than talking to me."
"See you around, Cid," said Noctis, waving as he walked away.
"Don't take too long getting rid of them daemons!" Cid called after him.
"I won't!"
Noctis couldn't help but smile as he sat back down in the boat. "Cid never changes."
"At least we know Weskham will take care of informing the citizens of Altissia of the threat," said Ignis, sitting down opposite him. "He'll save many lives that might otherwise have been lost."
"Hmm," said Noctis, nodding soberly.
"I just hope Altissia can hold out against the daemons," said Prompto, with a quiet sigh. "They say they've been getting much worse lately."
"I have every confidence they will, Prompto," said Ignis, smiling at him reassuringly. Prompto smiled back, but he clearly didn't have all his heart in it.
Noctis was rapidly beginning to feel like he was going to start crying if all this kept up. "We still need to find Gladio again," he said, desperately trying to change the subject, "anyone have any idea where he might be?"
"Well he ought to have gotten to the doctors' by now," said Ignis. "So I imagine he'll wait for us near the Palazzo Salieri."
"Excuse me, the what?" He'd never heard of such a place before.
Ignis looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "It's a rather large tourist attraction around these parts. An abandoned residence of the former Accordan aristocracy. Now it is often used by tour guides."
"Right," said Noctis. Though he'd often been to Altissia by now, he rarely visited as a tourist. His mind tended to focus more on Leviathan, who was unquestionably the most lethal of the Gods in all his memories.
It didn't take long for them to reach the shore and step off into the city once more. White paved streets extended out before them.
"Do you know the way, Ignis?" Noctis asked. "Sorry, I'm not too familiar with Altissia as far as most of the city goes."
"I see," said Ignis. "Yes, I could probably guide us there without too much effort. Follow closely, it's easy to get lost here."
And didn't he know it. He followed carefully behind Ignis as he guided them through the ruined streets of this part of the city. Noctis tried to focus on the winding road, not letting himself get lost in his thoughts, or blacking out again.
"So, you not get the chance to see much of the city last time?" asked Prompto. Noctis jumped slightly at the sudden sound.
"Not really," he said. Although Altissia was a tourist city, he didn't like it very much. Too many bad memories. Memories he didn't really feel like exploring right now. "Didn't get much time to look around before Leviathan showed up."
"Right," said Prompto, his expression growing serious. "Guess that put kind of a downer on things."
"Yep."
More than a 'downer', as Noctis recalled, but there was no need to trouble them with that.
"It's a pretty nice place," said Prompto, in a desperate effort to keep the conversation going. "When it's not...like this, I guess."
"Hmm," said Noctis. Personally he was hard-pressed to find anything nice about Altissia. It wasn't really the city's fault, Leviathan just had that sort of effect on him.
The awkward silence persisted for quite some time after that. Ignis didn't seem particularly eager to break it, and neither was Noctis. Prompto, however, was looking more and more uncomfortable by the second. Fortunately they soon stumbled upon a plaza with a very familiar person standing by the street-corner.
"Hey, Gladio!" called out Prompto, obviously relieved to have a reason to speak again.
Gladio's head snapped up, and he grinned when he saw them approaching. "Glad to see you're all alright," he said, once they got within earshot, "Cid didn't bite your heads off then."
"Noctis handled telling him rather well," said Ignis, giving him a rare smile. Now that was unusual.
"Eh, it's no big thing," he said, shrugging it off instinctively. "Weskham knows too, so he might be able to warn more people to leave."
The mood immediately became more sober once he mentioned the evacuation effort.
"Yeah," said Gladio, "I told the doc as much too. He didn't seem too convinced, but it wasn't like I didn't try."
"I imagine a lot of people will be reluctant to take the threat seriously until it directly threatens them, I'm afraid," said Ignis. "Such is human nature."
Noctis stared blankly at the half-ruined buildings all around him. He knew Ignis spoke the truth, but that didn't exactly make it any easier. For a moment he was tempted to curse the fickleness of humanity, forfeiting their lives like this, but he knew he couldn't. Then he'd sound far too much like the beings he despised up above. A sense of grim foreboding crept over him.
"What do you think, Noct?"
Prompto's voice brought him back to reality.
"Huh?"
"We were just saying we could go sight-seeing until three o'clock to take our minds off things," said Gladio.
"Right," said Noctis, feeling somehow even more tired than before. "Sure. Where d'you wanna go?"
"I mentioned the Palazzo Salieri is nearby, didn't I?" asked Ignis. "Usually there's a fee to get in, but with the city in the state it's in I doubt anyone will be manning the door."
Noctis was about to protest, suspecting he was in enough trouble as it was without adding breaking and entering to his potential list of crimes, but his words were cut off as Prompto cried, "Great idea! It's just over there right?"
He pointed over to the left, where the street narrowed into a long alleyway. Noctis would have said that he didn't think that looked like it led anywhere, but they were already moving on without him. Either his brain was being far too slow, or they were suddenly moving way too fast. He suspected the former.
Sighing, he dragged himself after them, trying to ignore the headache beginning to build in his temples.
Eventually, they reached the building in question.
The Palazzo Salieri was not what Noctis had expected. He'd gotten very used to the modern, high-rise architecture of Insomnia, and the old-fashioned ruins of Lucis. Everywhere having once been the great Empire of Solheim, many architects drew inspiration from the spiralling towers and elaborate brickwork, which was why the design of the palace struck him so forcefully. The most definite thing about it he could say was that it was incredibly square. Perhaps even alarmingly square.
It was built of white stone, and the top of it was a sheer white mass with the occasional large window breaking up the intimidating bulk. The lower half of the building seemed to consist entirely of elaborate pillars. There was presumably some sort of structure behind the pillars, but it wasn't obvious at first glance. Noctis wasn't quite sure how define the emotion he felt upon seeing the place. Shock? No, that wasn't quite it. Awe—that was the one. He'd never seen anything quite like it. It struck him as odd such a strange building hadn't registered in his memory either the first time or any of the other times afterwards. Perhaps he'd simply never seen it. It was oddly out of the way, for a palace.
It looked somewhat the worse for wear too. Leviathan hadn't done much damage to the structure itself, but the water was still high, and it was obvious enough that large sections of the place were still flooded. All in all it had a slightly haunted look to it. Noctis suspected that had he visited it a few short days ago it would have been bustling with tourists, but now the street they were standing on was almost empty, save a few careless passers-by.
"Well, I count myself as having seen a sight," he said tiredly, and began moving away again, but Gladio grabbed him by the shirt.
"Woah there! Not so fast, smart-ass."
"What?" Noctis protested. "We can't get in, it's obviously flooded."
"I'm sure we can think of some way in, right Iggy?" asked Prompto, turning to Ignis eagerly.
Ignis looked about as pleased at that prospect as Noctis did, but it was obvious he didn't want to let Prompto down too hard. Noctis sighed under his breath. This was probably only going to take more endless debate, and before they knew it it would be three o'clock and time to go already. Well, that was what he was hoping for, anyway.
Keeping one eye on them as a rather heated discussion began behind him, he sat down on the steps that led down to the submerged walkway that would usually get them into the palace. The air was rather chill for mid-summer. He hoped that that was just because of the recent disturbance Leviathan had caused rather than anything more serious.
The water rushed fast over the pavement just in front of him. How long would it take the city to return to normal, he wondered? He didn't usually stick around to find out.
His brain began to skitter, and run itself in circles again. No, he couldn't have this happening every time... And what was wrong with that knowledge, really? He never stuck around Altissia. He didn't really like Altissia as it was. Those two pieces of information didn't clash. And as he realised that, he found he was beginning to calm down of his own accord.
Okay, that was good. If he could keep going like that, then it would mean far fewer incidents.
He stretched his legs out in front of him in unconscious relief, only to realise that if he stretched too far he'd end up hitting the water. He quickly pulled himself back, but he knocked himself off balance, quickly flinging his arms out to catch himself as he fell. One hand was falling towards the water. Only, instead of being submerged, something very different occurred.
Ice exploded out from his touch, cracking across the water, freezing it where it stood. Waves became frozen ridges, and the ripples tiny dents in a vast field of ice.
Noctis quickly realised that this was going to cost him dearly. His magic was draining out of him with alarming ferocity—like the dam holding back his power had just been blown up, and the water was crashing out faster than he could realise what was happening.
He quickly pulled his hand away, terrified of what else might happen if he stayed in contact with the water.
The drain stopped.
He gasped for breath like a drowning man reaching the surface of the water. His limbs were trembling wildly, his skin a strange, greyish colour that made him sick to look at. Looking down, he could see that the entire canal had been frozen, all the way down. His heart hammered in his chest like the relentless beating of a drum. He could feel his pulse in his mouth.
Warm hands closed over his shoulders. "Noct?" Ignis's voice sounded distant, and somehow very far away. "Can you hear me?"
"I can," he whispered, feeling suddenly extremely cold. "I can."
"What was that?"
He clambered shakily to his feet, despite distantly hearing protests from all around him. "I don't know," he said. His heart was beginning to calm, and as it did he became aware of sweat slick on his arms.
He took a tentative step towards the ice. It held his weight. He stared over at the palace, rising high into the blue sky above him. It was very quiet. Or perhaps that was just him.
He closed his eyes, trying to claw back a sense of time and space. He was here. This was real.
Voices began getting louder behind him. He'd suspected they would.
"It's fine," he said aloud, though his voice sounded incongruous with the rest of him. "It was just an accident. It'll be fine."
But with his eyes closed like this, even as he was trying to wake himself up to the real world, he was aware of a force pushing on his senses from without, of his magic stirring within him with a strange, yet painfully familiar ferocity. He cracked his eyes open again, trying to restore his balance, but before he could fully collect himself, he found he was in two places at once.
Though he could see the intimidating bulk of the Palazzo Salieri looming before him, he could also, through some sight he knew not, see a campsite, deep in the woods. In the present, the others were moving into his line of vision in slow motion, their words slurred and slow. In the other place they moved at normal speed, and his attention was quickly distracted by them.
"You okay, Noct?" said Prompto, his camera hanging limply from his hand. "You seem kinda zoned out."
"It's nothing," Noctis found himself saying, as the forest became clearer, and the palace further away. "Just distracted."
"Thinking about our next move?" asked Gladio.
"Something like that."
In truth, he really had drifted off for a moment. He knew full well what they were going to do next—he'd already planned the sequence of events for this cycle, but something else was concerning him. His magic had been feeling strange lately. He didn't know whether it was down to the odd reaction he'd been getting from the Royal Arms (it still made him shudder to remember the last time one had felt like it was piercing his flesh) but it was troubling all the same.
"Noct," said Ignis, drawing his attention. He was standing by their makeshift table, preparing their dinner. "Would you mind passing me three peppers?"
"Sure." Anything to distract himself.
He reached over to grasp them, and had been about to complain about Ignis sneaking more vegetables into their food, when there was an odd stirring in his chest. As his fingers closed around the peppers, a sharp tingling sensation shot through them, and Noctis gasped—only to be cut off as something like a shot of electricity flared from deep within his chest out through his fingers.
All at once, the surface of the peppers grew white as tiny ice crystals began to form on them, and then great chunks of ice, freezing them in place.
Did he do that? He pulled his hand away, and as he did an odd fatigue settled over him, and the place he pulled his magic from felt drained somehow. So it was...
Ignis glanced over at him, presumably because he was taking too long, then hissed through his teeth as he saw the damage. "Noct!"
"I didn't do that on purpose!" he said quickly, and as he did, the campsite began to flicker and grow dim, as the palace rose in its place once again.
So. He was in more danger than he'd thought. That memory he recalled as a turning point as far as his magic was concerned. From then on it grew steadily more volatile—not all at once, not even consistently—but it was the beginning of the end. The sands of time had begun moving once more.
"Noct!" Ignis's voice again, in reality, this time.
He was now standing in front of him, hands on his shoulders. For how long? The others were looking at him with concern. Not too long, he thought.
"Hi," he said, blinking a bit, trying to wake himself up. "Sorry about that. Not sure what happened."
"Are you alright?" He seemed panicked. That was no good.
"Fine," he said quietly, gently removing Ignis's hands from his shoulders. "A bit...overwhelmed, for a moment, but I'm alright now, aren't I?"
Ignis stared at him doubtfully.
"You looked passed out where you stood for a moment there, Noct," said Gladio, brows furrowed.
Noctis brushed it aside. "Bound to happen as I get used to things. And the magic didn't help."
"Should we go inside?" asked Prompto, looking nervously at the ice beneath his feet as though afraid it might vanish at any moment.
"If you want," said Noctis. He couldn't force himself to sound too excited, sad or otherwise emotional about it. He was still a bit dazed... 'Off with the fairies,' he'd once heard Ignis refer to it as.
He didn't wait for the others to reply as he trudged over to the house himself. Once they were all safely on the other side, he stared at the ice and reached out to it, trying to get a feel for it. It was strong magic, he could tell that much. He didn't really want to lift it until he had to.
"I'll leave that there until we need to go back," he said.
"You sure you're alright?" asked Gladio, still staring at him. "That was a lot of magic, even if it was accidental."
"It's fine," he said, stepping into the building. "I'm fine."
"If you say so."
It quickly turned out that the inside of the Palazzo Salieri was just as impressive as the outside. The entrance hall was huge, the walls all gilded in golden flowers that stretched all the way up to the ceiling high above them. On the ceiling was painted a vision of a blue, clouded sky, streaked with pink and orange as the sun hid behind the clouds. It reminded him of the Citadel, with its vast rooms that seemed to stretch on into forever.
How long had it been since he last stood in those halls, when they still stood tall, unblemished by the ravages of the war outside? It seemed a lifetime ago. Longer.
"Wow, this place is amazing," breathed Prompto, as he spun around in the middle of the room. Noctis couldn't tell whether he was genuinely excited or just putting it on for their benefit. "I've never seen so much gold all in one place!"
"It's likely not real gold, Prompto," said Ignis, still was watching Noctis closely.
"Reminds me of the Citadel, in places," pondered Gladio. Noctis was relieved he wasn't alone in that thought.
"I don't think the Citadel has a room quite so floral as this one," said Ignis.
Noctis closed his eyes and breathed in slowly. The place smelled of the sea, and dust, and old books. It wasn't the Citadel, but it was close. Close enough.
But…what was that?
He frowned with his eyes still closed. It was almost overpowered by the vivid smell of the palace, but something was off. He couldn't tell what it was… A chill cloaked the room all of a sudden. He opened his eyes again.
"Hey, Noct. You good?" Prompto was standing close to him, watching him carefully.
Honestly. "Yeah. Just taking in the air. It's very peaceful in here." The scent had gone. Had he been imagining it?
Prompto grinned. "Sure is. Should we go on to the next room?"
"There appears to be more to see upstairs," said Ignis, standing the huge doors that led into the next room, and nodding at the staircase that lay beyond.
Noctis could feel his heart beating in his chest. Its rhythmic pounding sounded incredibly loud to him in the still emptiness of the room. He couldn't see anything. There was nothing any of his senses could point to to actually identify something wrong. And yet…it was.
"You go on ahead," he said, smiling gently, trying to pretend he was fine. "I want to look a little closer at some of those portraits."
"Noct," Ignis's voice had a warning tone to it.
"You can see me just fine if something goes wrong," he said, straightening up. "I'm only a room away."
Ignis looked rather taken aback. Had he been too assertive? "If you say so," he said, looking at Noctis doubtfully.
"I promise, I just want to look around a little," he insisted.
"Just call us if you feel unsteady again," said Gladio, taking Ignis by the shoulder and pushing him into the next room. "Don't want you fainting in here."
"Sure thing."
With that they all bundled through to the next room, though Prompto cast one last doubtful look at him before he left, which made Noctis wish the earth would swallow him up. He knew he was still a bit unsteady, but he was sure he could handle it. The more pressing issue right now was that presence—whatever it was.
He stepped into the middle of the room, trying to sense whatever it was that was making him so jumpy. He watched the door, wondering if it was someone watching him.
He hadn't noticed before the way the dust seemed to hang in the air, as though suspended by a million invisible threads, hanging from the ceiling. Light poured in through the open doorway, and the windows high above, but the rest of the room remained in shadow.
It was so...still. It'd been a long time since he last had a moment to just stand and be still. He felt as though most of his life he'd been living on adrenaline just to get through—a sense of urgency with every breath. It was nice. To be still, for once.
But there was still that something. Now he was more focused he could sense it more clearly. A kind of darkness in the air. He took another deep breath. Like the faintest trace of rot on the tip of his tongue. Decay... He knew who he associated that with...
"See anything interesting yet?"
Noctis whirled around, heart pounding in his chest, only to see Prompto standing behind him.
"You almost gave me a heart attack there," he muttered, trying to get his heart back under control. "Knock next time or something, okay?"
"Sure thing, dude," said Prompto, smiling and leaning back. "Everything good?"
"Fine," said Noctis, feeling a bit dazed. "I said I wanted to look around for a bit, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but I figured I should at least keep you company. And besides," he said, leaning in, "Ignis and Gladio were getting really antsy back there. Kinda don't wanna be alone with them, you feel me?"
"Sure," said Noctis, stepping away. He could still feel that wrongness in the air—more intense now, somehow. "What did you want to do exactly? Anywhere you wanted to go?"
"How about…" Prompto paused and span on the spot, holding out an arm. "That way!" he said, coming to a stop.
Noctis looked to where he was pointing. A small door, the opposite side of the room to where Ignis and Gladio had left. They'd probably be annoyed that Noctis had left their view, but he could handle himself. And besides, he wasn't sure they'd notice right now anyway.
"Sure," he said, resolving himself, "lead the way."
Prompto went jogging ahead of him, as usual. It seemed his leg was giving him trouble though, because every now and then he'd come down hard on his right leg, like he was compensating for the left.
"Are Ignis and Gladio having a good time?" he asked, as they proceeded through the corridor on the other side of the door.
It was rather darker and less grand than the room they'd just been in, and Noctis suspected they'd stumbled into another servant's passageway. The corridor seemed to be leading them deep into the centre of the building. Prompto was apparently taken off guard by the question, because he jumped a little when Noctis asked.
"Oh, um, yeah," he said, laughing nervously. "Gladio was getting really intense about history and Ignis along with him so I decided to go back to you."
"Well, no one cares less about history than me," said Noctis, only a little sarcastically. "We can just wander around until we inevitably set off a burglar alarm or something."
"This place seems a little too ancient for burglar alarms," said Prompto, jogging ahead almost as if to prove it. "See, nothing so far."
"Just because we can't see 'em doesn't mean they aren't there," he said, not breaking eye contact with Prompto for a moment. He just laughed a little nervously and waited for Noctis to catch up.
"You don't seriously think we'll get in trouble for this though, right?" asked Prompto, just as they finally came to another door.
It opened into a large, rather empty room, with windows high up on the walls and grim stones all around. It looked almost like a prison.
"Of course not," said Noctis, glancing back towards the door. "There's no one left around to arrest us or anything."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Prompto, who seemed more hesitant now. His eyes went back to the door too. "Hey, you don't think this place is haunted or anything, do you?"
"What, by the ghosts of the people who lived here? What are they gonna do, phase right through me?" asked Noctis, walking pointedly into the middle of the room without flinching. "There's nothing to be scared of."
"I think we should still be ready, just in case," said Prompto, now looking back at the door and not at Noctis at all.
"You know, one of the interesting things about having Astral powers is that I can sense daemons just like you can."
Prompto now span around, panic obvious in his eyes.
"What do you mean? I can't—"
"You did a pretty good job, but there's one thing you should know for next time." Prompto's face still looked nervous, but there was a menace to it now. "Prompto doesn't have a limp like you and I do."
Prompto's nervous stare turned into a smirk as the glamour melted away to reveal the man who'd been lying in wait beneath.
"Artfully done, Your Majesty," said Ardyn, with a deep and sarcastic bow.
"What exactly was the plan here? Try and spook me and then make Ignis, Gladio and Prompto look like daemons so I attacked them? Surely even you know how weak that would be."
"You've proved remarkably resilient to all my illusions thus far, I admit," said Ardyn, pacing and looking quite annoyed about it. "It must have something to do with all that power searing through your veins. You poor thing. It seems awfully painful."
"Oh, agony," said Noctis in a dead monotone. "Such a shame. Woe is me. Truly the Gods have abandoned me. Etcetera."
"Ah, the indifference of youth," sighed Ardyn. "How I miss it. And yet, your sarcasm covers up a deeper resentment, am I right?"
Noctis glared at him. Could he have guessed? No...to his recollection, Ardyn was usually far too conceited to cotton onto Noctis's odd behaviour. The room became oddly disjointed and fuzzy as he thought about it, his mind having trouble focusing on both the past and the present at once. Then Ardyn stepped a bit closer to him and Noctis abruptly snapped back to reality. This was no time to be getting lost in daydreams!
He collected himself, and forced his numb mouth into speech. "What's it to you?"
Ardyn was watching him in an unsettling, almost predatory way, his eyes glinting like a coeurl watching a baby garula. "Don't you think it might be time to rethink that loathsome prophecy? What's say you throw your lot in with me? It has to be better than those conceited fools, don't you think?"
Noctis couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled up in his chest. Him? Join Ardyn? What an idea! Didn't he know how crazy he sounded?
Ardyn narrowed his eyes at him in return, apparently not amused.
Noctis stilled his laughter and managed to speak. "What? What would that achieve? I might not be the Astrals' greatest fan, but I've still got to kill you. Or did you forget the fact you infected me with the Starscourge? I'm not just gonna forgive and forget because we both happen to not like the Astrals."
Ardyn gave a heavy sigh. "No, you're quite right, of course. Perhaps it was too much to hope for."
"What are you even aiming for here?" For all the time he'd known Ardyn, whether he acknowledged that time or not, he still wasn't clear on his motives. "Don't you want to die?"
Ardyn stared at him. Noctis was slightly concerned he'd showed his cards, and got even more concerned when Ardyn began to chuckle.
"Something funny?" he asked.
Ardyn shook his head, sobering himself again. "No, not at all. I just find your choice of words curious. Why would anyone want to die? Surely that's a contradiction in itself?"
Ah. So he knew he knew. But he must have known that for some time now, so why the pomp and ceremony?
"I dunno," he said, as casually as he could. "I hear being immortal's actually quite a drag. I mean, I'm only twenty and I've about had enough of all this. And you're...what, a hundred times that? Aren't you tired?"
Ardyn continued to stare at him, but now with a more curious than predatory gaze. "When you've been around as long as I have, you find exhaustion tends to fade into the background of existence. Or perhaps that's just the daemons. No one can say for sure."
Noctis could have told him without thinking that it was definitely the daemons—if Ardyn was actually telling the truth about it, that was. Noctis got tired just trying to think about how long he'd been alive. But that was a side issue.
"So what's the point then?" he asked. "Why would I join your side? What good would it do you? Don't you think it would be harder for me to kill you that way?"
Ardyn actually laughed at that. "Oh Noct, you really have made your mind up about me, haven't you? But I should tell you—I'm not choosy. Certainly, dying permanently would be a satisfactory way to end this, I quite agree. But equally, I can't deny that the idea of burning this world to the ground with the sacred son of Lucis doesn't sound so bad either. I win either way, you see. Either we both die, and your infernal line is extinguished, or I plunge this world into darkness and deprive the Astrals of their precious pet."
"I see," said Noctis, dryly. "You're just so spiteful you'd do anything to get back at the Astrals regardless of the long term, huh?"
"Long term?"
Noctis was beginning to get a dreadful headache, and he wasn't sure if it was down to one of his many magical maladies, or just that being around someone so insufferable for so long was giving him a migraine. Either way, he was far too tired to continue this conversation much longer.
"Doesn't matter," he sighed. "I'm not joining you. I'm going to the Crystal, getting the power I need to kill you, and then I'm killing you. End of story."
Ardyn sighed in a mildly disappointed manner. "Alas, I suppose it can't be helped. In that case I'll see you in Gralea, Your Majesty."
And with that, he vanished.
The room fell oddly quiet. He'd been half-expecting the others to burst in, to ask him about what had happened—but there was nothing. Just...silence.
He figured Ardyn had probably un-paused time by now, so the others would soon be looking for him, but he didn't quicken his pace as he trudged along the corridor. No need to wear himself out more than necessary.
When he emerged once more into the main room, the others had just walked back in through the door.
"Noct," said Ignis, raising a disapproving eyebrow, "have you taken a detour? You said you would remain nearby."
"I just had a look what was behind the door," he said, moving over to them.
"Anything interesting?" asked Prompto—the real Prompto.
"Nothing much," said Noctis. Nothing worth mentioning.
"It's almost time to meet with Lady Lunafreya," said Ignis, glancing at his watch.
Now that was surprising. Perhaps Ardyn had sped time up rather than slowing it down.
"We'd best get moving then."
Hey, Ardyn's finally made a reappearance! Was it easy to guess that he'd done a switch? Please do let me know, I'm curious as to how many people guessed it. Exploring Altissia a little was also pretty interesting to write—especially since I always get lost in it while playing the game, so I figure Noct must do too. As ever, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thank you to everyone still reading!
