Chapter 21: Recalling of the Past: The Founder King and The Ring of Lucii
"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes."-Kingdom Hearts
Somnus leaned in and bowed his head and clutched his hands together remembering the last fun days they had before their lives changed, a smile appeared in his face. Reno saw this and could not decide if it was a genuine smile or a sad one. After all, Somnus is quite good at hiding his emotion. After living together all those years he only saw Somnus laugh heartily and let his guard down a couple of times. He still remembered the last time the siblings shared a heartfelt laugh together. The guardian was so busy looking at the founder King, that he did not notice that the sphere started to show his memory.
…
Reno was seated at the stone railing of the gazebo while Carbuncle was sleeping on his shoulder. It was a high afternoon and the siblings were enjoying a quiet game of chess on the table which was at the center of the gazebo. It was Ardyn versus Astraea while Somnus was busy polishing his sword while leaning on one of the pillars. He gazed at the lotus flowers around them. The flowers kept swaying with the wind and It gave a serene feeling. Suddenly Astraea let out a sigh of defeat and he turned his gaze.
Astarea leaned in and laid her head on her hands and looked at Ardyn, "I can't really win against you, Addy!"
Ardyn just chuckled, "You still need to practice more, Astra, maybe you should defeat Somnus before you can defeat me," he glanced at his brother. The founder king just shrugged his shoulder and unsummoned his sword and went towards them and took a seat next to them.
…
Somnus finally noticed it and looked up, "Is that?" he asked.
"Yes… sorry I will skip it," Reno is about to stop his memory but Somnus stopped him.
"No please… I want to see it,"
The guardian just nodded and his memory continued to play.
…
"Our brother is right...Come, Astra, let us play," Somnus said while arranging the board for the new game.
His sister smiled and arranged her side of the board. Ardyn leaned back and watched his siblings play. In the middle of the game. Aera and Rosa arrived with snacks and drinks with Gilgamesh behind them.
"So who is winning?" Aera asked and went behind Ardyn and hugged him.
"Me…" Astraea answered.
"Are you sure? Somnus said while smiling, "Checkmate, I win again,"
The fire maiden let out another sighed and slammed her forehead on the table, "Not fair… maybe you can let me win," she looked up towards her siblings.
"Not a chance," Somnus said while looking at his brother, "How about you... brother would you let her win?"
Ardyn chuckled, "Nope… she was to defeat us fair and square,"
She sat up straight "You two are truly horrible brothers, for not letting your little sister win," she pouted, "Please just let me win one time, Elder brother Addy… big brother Sommy," she looked at them with puppy dog eyes.
Everyone inside the gazebo laughed seeing the expression of the princess. After hearing their laughter she pouted and crossed her arm in annoyance.
Rosa stopped laughing and cleared her throat, "May I ask a question, Astraea?"
She turned to her and nodded, "Sure, what is it,"
"Well…" Rose glanced at Ardyn, "Why is Lord Ardyn nickname Addy? That is a girl's name right?"
Ardyn almost spat his drink after hearing the question but he was able to compose himself.
Seeing this Somnus snorted, "That's a very good question, Lady Rosa," he said while grinning, "Do tell her… Astra why you call our dear elder brother... ADDY…"
Their elder brother just frowned his eyebrows at them, Astraea saw this and she laughed, "Well back then in Solheim when I was little maybe 3 or 4 I thought Ardyn was a girl,"
"Really? Lord Ardyn?" Reno bellowed as he walked towards them. Carbuncle is now awake and her tail is swaying back and front.
"Do tell us, Astraea," Carbuncle requested.
She turned to her, "Yes, Ardyn...no… Addy here inherited our mother beautiful long brown hair and he even has longer hair than me back then," she turned to her brother to find Ardyn was glaring at her, she just chuckled and continued, "He does really look like a girl back then, and I have a problem pronouncing R back then so instead of Ardyn I ended up calling him Addy... Even as I got older the name stuck. My big brother Addy," she giggled.
"Really that's the reason why... it's cute should we start calling you Lord Addy now or Lady Addy?" Reno said while smirking.
"What no!" he bellowed, "Don't ever do that, in fact, I forbade all of you to call me Addy! That goes for you Astraea no more Addy!"
All of them were surprised by his sudden reaction. Both of his siblings can't help but laugh out loud, soon, Aera, Carbuncle, Reno, and Rosa even Gilgamesh followed.
The healer's cheeks started to blush. Aera saw this and she laughed, "Ardyn… or Addy… you still handsome my love," she leaned in and kissed him on the cheeks.
Ardyn smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead, "Thank you, Aera,"
"Aww…" How sweet," Astraea said.
Ardyn turned to her with a serious face, "I mean it Astraea no more Addy, alright?"
She sat up straight, "Fine… no more Addy… I promise," she said while crossing an x in the heart.
"You two Somnus no more Addy,"
Somnus just smiled, "As you wish Lady Addy,"
Ardyn sighed in defeat, with that, all of them burst out laughing again a minute later they stopped. "You want to play a game, Somnus?" he asked.
"Sure,"
As the brother started to arrange the board, Astraea stood up, "Wait here... I going to get something,"
"Do need me to accompany you Astraea," Reno asked.
"No… just stayed here," she replied and walked away.
"So… big brother…" Somnus gazed at his brother, Aera is still at his side.
"Yes,"
"When will you and Aera, going to get married?"
Ardyn raised his gaze at him and turned to his fiance, "Maybe after we defeated the starscourge, right my love," he grabbed her right hand and kissed the top of it.
Aera just giggled, "I will wait for that fateful day, my Love," they both smiled at each other.
"Why not now?" Astraea called out while walking back to them.
Ardyn turned to him, "Now, is not the right time, Astraea. After we are free of this darkness then that when we will get married,"
"Okay if you say so…" she smiled at them.
Carbuncle noticed the giant scroll at her hand, "What is that?" as she jumped down towards the table. Both brothers stopped playing and looked at her.
"Oh, this… Well, the kingdom of Lucis does not have a crest yet so I created one," she unraveled the scroll, "What do you think?" she asked while showing them her black and gold artwork. (Kingdom of Lucis Crest)
"What is that?" Somnus asked while studying the drawing.
"Looks like a flower?" Aera said.
"Yup, it's a lotus flower from above. After all, you said we can't use the Izunia or Kingdom of Solheim's chest for the kingdom of Lucis. So I decided to create this … So even if Solheim is now gone, we still have a part of it. Our tribe's flower… the lotus… so what do you think?" she asked.
Both brothers gazed at each other and gazed back at their sister and gave her a warm smile, "It's perfect… Astraea…" they both said in unison.
"Really?"
They both nodded, "Our people will be happy to know that our kingdom has Crest now…" Ardyn said and went to grab the scroll, "Gilgamesh, tell our tailors to create flags with this symbol,"
Gilgamesh nodded and grabbed the scroll, "Right away, Lord Ardyn," then blademaster bowed and left.
"So Astraea do you have any vision of the future who will be king?" Reno asked.
Astraea just frowned at her guardian, "No… I liked it to be that way… after all, whichever the Crystal of Bahamut's choice. Either it is Ardyn and Somnus. I know this Kingdom will prosper under him," she smiled at her brothers.
"Astraea is right," Ardyn said, "Either I or Somnus will be chosen, nothing will change between us, we will still be together," Somnus and Astraea nodded, "For now we still need to save Eos and continued to fight this darkness," he looked up to see the dark clouds. "But rest assured we will win and we will see the sun and stars again," the healer announced and they all nodded.
"Speaking of fighting, our two-months rest is now over soo…" Astraea started to walk backward, "I can finally go back hunting!" she shouted and started to run away.
"Wait NO! Wait for us!" Ardyn and Somnus shouted and chased her, Aera and Rosa followed soon. Reno just sighed and looked down at Carbuncle.
"Let's go, Cally," Carbuncle nodded and jumped up to his shoulder. He started walking with that his memory faded.
…
Somnus laughed sadly, "That is last we were happy as a family," he took a deep breath, "Before the darkness inside my heart came out envy took over and destroyed our family forever…"
Regis saw how serious the founder king was, so he thought hard about what question to ask him. Then he remembered Astarea's ability to see the future and after seeing their memory. He decided to ask.
"So Astraea has the ability to see the future even back then?"
Carbuncle saw that either her former Master and Reno would not answer so she decided to answer it.
"Yes, the princess had the ability to see the future…" she walked towards the king and sat in front of him, "It was a gift from the Goddess of Death…"
"Etro?" Cor asked.
She nodded, "Yes, Marshal, the Eyes of Etro… it gave the princess the ability to see the future. Because she was full control of the chaos inside of her,"
"Chaos? So Astraea can't be corrupted. Why is that?" Aerith asked.
Carbuncle turned to her, "The God of Fire make sure that Astraea is safe, as long the fire inside on her never dies...no darkness or whisper could corrupt her or take over,"
"That is a relief, So if Astraea can see the future why did you not use it to save your family?" Aerith asked again.
"Because just like the blue flames it is a curse," Somnus entered the conversation, "Every time she had a vision her life-force fades with it and not only that there is a limit of her ability. She said to us that Etro talked to her in a dream, that she can't change the future, for the future is absolute. But it did not stop her doing so,"
"Wait, she keeps having those visions, will she be okay?" Regis asked in a worried tone.
"Yeah… I am trying to know the reason for that…" Reno stretched the back of his head, "Back then… Astraea had only one of two visions of the future every year but now she was multiple visions. But the looks of it is not affecting her at all, maybe Etro changed it so that she can fulfill her duty,"
"We cannot assume that... Reno," Somnus turned towards him, "Go find more about it," The guardian nodded.
"Does she have control over it?" Clarus gazed at them.
"No, she does not… it comes and goes, let us just be grateful that her vision is not affecting her and helping Lucis win the war," Somnus answered, "So please do not take advantage of it and be careful of using it. For she said the changing the future will affect the future in the long run, either the outcome will be good or bad."
"You have our world, Founder king," Regis nodded, "We will take care of her…"
Somnus nodded back, "Thank you," another long silence ensued again. Somnus saw their expression, their eyes were waiting eagerly. So He took a deep breath, "So you all might be wondering what happened? Why did we end up like this…" they all nodded, "Well then let me tell you…"
Somnus leaned back on his chair and sat up straight and gazed at the sphere, "After our two-months rest, we went back to our old routine, but we were surprised to find that the Miasma and Starcourge are not as powerful as before and the daemons at appearing each night were reduced."
"So you're winning?" Dave asked.
"We thought so too," Reno frowned, " But Diabolos was just playing with us, making us feel safe and left our guard down. So he can act his revenge,"
"His revenge?" they all whispered.
"Yes, his revenge towards the champion of Astrals, he knew that he cannot defeat the warriors of light together so he started a plan to attack the source of the LIGHT back then,"
Which is?" Regis gazed at him.
"Astraea... my sister and her flames kept Diabolos power in a bay so that he targeted her and used us to his evil plans."
They all took a deep breath to ready themselves.
"After months of the sky started to clear up, the people started to feel safe and started to look toward the future. That time Aera could not talk to Bahamut still but we know that the time of choosing is near. Ardyn and I are now in our last trial which will determine who will be the first king of Lucis. Back then my brother continued to heal the people but not as many as we are still worried about our sister," the sphere started to glow and his memory started to play.
…
They were at the end of the desert plain(Prairie Outpost). Ardyn was inside a wooden open barn with five people suffering from the scourge. Aera was beside him while Astraea was playing with the children in the haven. He and Gilgamesh stood not far from Ardyn so that they could hear the conversation inside.
"Thank you Lord Ardyn…" a man bowed at the healer after Ardyn finished healing him, "I pray that you will be the choosing king, for your healing hand and kind heart you will guide us in the future,"
Ardyn just smiled, "Thank you, kind Sir… but it is not up to me… it's up to the crystal who will be king,"
The man shook his head, "But we want you Lord Ardyn… you want you to be king!" the man said and the people around them agree with the man. They started praising him and calling him King while bowing.
"Please don't do that…" Ardyn stood up and held his right hand pleading them to stop. But they did not, they even kneel down on the ground and kept calling him king.
"Praise king Ardyn!" they kept shouting
Somnus' eyes frowned at the sight of it, then Astraea and walked beside them.
"What is happening?" she asked.
"The people wanted Lord Ardyn to be king, so they started doing that," Gilgamesh explained.
"Really? can't help it, our brother has always been there for them, but they have to know that Somnus can be king too, Right brother?" she turned to him. Somnus just nodded in silence.
"Yeah, we cannot blame them, after all, Lord Somnus tried to kill them," Reno said without thinking.
With that Somnus face fall, Astraea saw this and elbowed Reno in the stomach. "I told you never to bring that up Reno!"
"Sorry I forgot… Please forgive me, Lord Somnus," he bowed.
He just shrugged his shoulders, "Your forgiven Reno…" he said in a stern voice and started to walk away with that his memory faded.
…
Somnus sighed, "After that day I keep hearing from our people that they wanted Ardyn to be king. I keep saying to myself that it does not bother me who is picked as King as long as we save Eos…" he paused and took a deep breath, "But I was wrong I'm just pretending not to be affected by deep inside me, my envy of Ardyn started to rise again."
…
They were riding their Chocobos. The siblings were accompanied by a few soldiers and captain Gilgamesh. When they arrived at the entrance of the town of Alexandria(Old Lestallum). The soldier stayed behind as the four went inside. Somnus, Astraea, Gilgamesh were behind Ardyn still riding their Chocobos. Ardyn reached the center of the town first. They were surprised to be met by the town people waiting for them.
"It's him!" shouted one of the townspeople.
"Lord ARDYN!"
"The healer of the people!"
"Welcome Lord ARDYN!"
"Praise the Astral"
"Please heal us oh Great Healer…"
Somnus and Astraea could hear of the praise from the townspeople as they threw flower petals from above their home. They stayed a few yards from their brother.
"WOW… Ardyn is really popular," Reno said.
The people started to gather around the healer, touching his robe and holding his hands.
"The news must have arrived here, that my brother was able to heal and get rid of the Starscourge of the neighboring lands," Astraea said while patting Reno on the head.
Somnus' eyes focused on his brother, Ardyn had already disembarked his Chocobo and started healing people. Suddenly he heard a voice, 'He will be chosen, King!' He looked around to see where the voice was coming from, 'Your nothing compared to him!' his eyes clenched shut as his head started to ache.
"Brother...? Somnus…?" He could hear Astraea voice calling to him, he opened his eyes to see that Astraea was now holding his hand, "Are you okay?"
He looked at her for a long time, the voices inside his head kept on whispering. He knows that is the whispers inside of him. But he decided not to say anything about it so he gave her a fake smile, "I'm okay, I'm just tired, don't worry."
Before Astraea could say a word some of the town people saw them.
"It's the princess!"
"Lady Astraea!"
"Your highness!"
The people started to give her the attention just like Ardyn. Some of them gave her flowers. Somnus was forced to back away as the people started to gather around his sister.
His head kept throbbing as the whispers kept on whispering.
'You're not worthy of the throne!'
'You can't defeat him…'
Then all of a sudden it disappeared and he was able to compose himself. That when he heard some of the townspeople mention his name.
"Its that Somnus Lucis Caelum?
"Yea, I heard he burned down an entire village,"
"He is very different from his siblings right?"
"Yeah...even though he is a warrior of light, I don't want him to be king… I'm scared of what he might do to us…"
Somnus felt saddened after hearing those words, so he decided to get out of town and wait for siblings to finish.
"Let's go, Gilgamesh let us patrol the surrounding," he said as he kicked the side of his Chocobo to head back at the entrance.
"Are you not going to help them?" the captain asked.
Somnus stopped and looked back at his siblings. Ardyn was now sitting at the fountain which is located at the center. He started to heal people while Astraea is bust giving her potions. Both siblings were laughing and having a fun time.
He noticed the men of the town were glaring at him. He can feel their anger towards him. He just shrugged his shoulders, "No…they don't need my help anyway," he continued to go back to the entrance. He saw that Gilgamesh was about to speak but he intercepted it, "I'm okay…. Gilgamesh," he turned to him. He saw the worried face of the captain, he gave him a warm smile, "Let's go… we have hunts to undergo," he did not wait for the captain to respond and he continued to go to the entrance. His memory faded.
…
"Back then I kept questioning myself, what do I suppose to do? Ardyn and Astraea have tasks given to them by the Astrals," The Mystic leaned back, put his both hands on the armchair, "Unlike them...Bahamut never gave me a special ability. So I just stayed put and watched as my siblings did their jobs." he paused and looked at his hand then he chuckled sadly, "Now I known what Astraea felt before she got her power, The feeling of helpless and powerless,"
"They never saw you like that you know, you're a great help to them. You're the one who kept them in line, Remember when they got caught in an Arachne web because they did not listen to you and we have to help them before they get eaten." Reno said as he stood up and patted him on the back.
"Yeah… I remember…" he smiled, "My brother always got us into trouble because of his recklessness. Even his our elder brother he never acted like one, he more childish than Astraea,"
Reno chuckled, "Right… the three of you are always there for each other. You three are the representation of Courage… Hope...and Love…,"
"Hope?" Somnus face turned into a frowned, "But I the one who destroyed their hope to have a future,"
Reno withdrew his hand and stepped back, "No… Diabolos did that do ever think you're the reason why your family broke apart,"
He turned towards the guardian, "Have you forgotten what I did Reno?"
Reno did not reply and gazed around to see the King and his people were looking at them in silence.
"My dear sister was right, The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes and I learned it the hard way…" before Reno could speak the sphere started to glow again.
…
"So how is your journey, my love?" Aera asked while pouring a glass of wine for the healer.
"Exhausting…" Ardyn said as he took a sip.
They were back at the palace enjoying a relaxing break in the gazebo.
"Hey Somnus, where did you go? We were looking for you?" Ardyn asked.
Somnus who was in front of him. He raised his head, "You are? you seem to be occupied, you can't stop smiling as the people could not stop praising you," he said with a stern voice and a frown in his face.
"Ohhh… what is this?" Ardyn raised an eyebrow, "Is my little brother jealous?" he said jokingly.
"No! I'm not! I just worried that you're exerting yourself again. The more you heal, the more whispers you absorb in your body. I just worried about Astraea. She needs to use her purification again."
"So you worried about us?" Ardyn asked.
"No… just Astraea…"
Ardyn clutched his heart jokingly, "Ouch that hurt you do not care if something happened to me?"
"Yeah… after all, we are in the race of the throne… if something happened to you then I would be king," he said in a serious tone.
Ardyn's smile faded, "You don't mean that right Somnus?"
'No I mean it!' he thought, 'I want you gone!' he could hear the whispers inside his head, for that he can't stop thinking his negative thoughts about his brother, 'Astraea and I are better without you…'
"Sommy?" he felt someone touch his left hand and he turned towards his sister, "Are you okay?"
"Yes… sorry, I'm okay," he laughed, "Sorry about that… I just joking… sorry if I hurt your feeling, brother,"
The older brother just smiled, "It's okay, you are just exhausted as we are,"
Somnus just nodded and continued eating at peace. This video stopped and went to black.
…
"As you see Ardyn is not the only one harboring whispers. Instead of seeking help from Astraea, I kept it secret. I thought I could fight them alone. But I was wrong…"
"Why did you not let Astraea purify you?"
The founder king turned towards the shield, "Because at that time, Astraea is at her limit and can't use the flames of Purification without being heavily affected by it,"
…
Astraea has just finished purifying Ardyn. Fifteen whispers came out from the healer body. The mystic took care of them easily. Suddenly Astraea went down coughing blood.
"Astraea!" both brothers shouted as they kneeled down beside her.
"I'm okay…" she tried to smile at them, "This is nothing… Please don't worry about me, it's your turned Somnus I know you have whispers inside of you too,"
"No, I'm okay, you don't have to purify me," Somnus replied in a worried tone.
She shook her head, "No… I need to, the whisper migh-" she started coughing again the second later she lost consciousness.
"ASTRAEA!"
…
"As you see Astraea can't take it anymore and she could die anytime if she continued to purify. So we decided to make her stopped it all together until we found a way to stopped the effect,"
"Did she?" Regis asked.
"Yes," Reno answered, "But it took us a lot of convincing, but she did follow us she stopped purifying and focus in creating new potions,"
"After a month of fighting again we forgot about Bahamut's trial for we are too focused on eliminating the scourge. But it changed in the middle that year the Oracle brought good news. Bahamut finally appeared and talked to her.
…
They were at the annual meeting at the assembly hall. Together with them are the brand new members of the council of Lucis but Astraea was missing. They were waiting for the good news from the Oracle.
"Are you sure Lady Aera? Bahamut will choose his king and help us in eliminating the scourge all together?" Ardyn asked.
"Yes, the Great Draconian told me that the Crystal will choice his king, with the king's power he can destroy the scourge for good,"
The people started to murmur at each other.
'Finally, our fighting will come to an end…' Somnus thought, 'We can finally rest well,'
"Is Lord Ardyn the chosen King?" one of the council asked.
"No…it's still undecided," Aera answered.
"Why not Lord Ardyn would be a great king! He can unite us all," praised by one of the council.
Somnus snapped out his train of thought after hearing that he then looked at his brother who was beside him. Ardyn just smiled at him and then looked at the council, "Don't say anything like that Lord Barron, I'm no king yet, Somnus here has a chance to be king as I do, so please whatever the result give the future king your support," he said while smiling.
'He is lying' the whisper inside Somnus's head, started again, 'He does care about you, he will take the throne. Beat him to it, prove to yourself you're better than him! The throne should be yours and yours alone!' he shook his head in discomfort, Ardyn noticed it and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay Somnus?"
Before he could reply and the door opened and Astraea and Reno entered. Both look exhausted.
"Oh… good you all here…" Astraea said as she continued to walk towards the table, "I have great news from the Draconian,"
The Mystic was able to regain his composure and asked, "Bahamut..? he talked to you again?"
"Well…not exactly… he ordered me to do something… no to create something" Astraea slumped down on her chair. "It took me three days to create that, I have not had a night of sleep because of that…"
Before anyone could speak, Reno went towards the siblings and put a small wooden velvet box between them. Then Reno went to return to his master's side.
"What do you mean, create?" Ardyn said while glancing down at the box.
"Just opened it to find out…it is important, it will help the future King of Lucis,"
Both brothers just looked at each other, then at the box before them, Ardyn was the one to open it. The box contained a black and gold metal ring, an image of Bahamut's is engraved around it at the center was bluish crystal.
"A ring?" Somnus asked as he leaned in to get a better look.
"Not just a ring, the Ring of the Lucii!" Astraea stood up and started to walk towards them, "It will help the future king to harness all the power of Bahamut's crystal. With that ring, the chosen king will be able to vanish the darkness and Diabolos once and for all,"
"What!" Both brothers bellowed and looked at her.
"Yup," she smiled at them, "It is made of Mythril and it is forged with Infernian's flames, and the middle piece is a shard from Crystal of Light…It's kinda cool right?" both brothers nodded, she laughed and continued "After I finished creating that Bahamut gave his light and blessing and went away again. He did not even say thank you… " she pouted and crossed her arms, but moments later her face started to brighten up, she smiled at them. "But happy that he gave me the opportunity to create that ring and I that can help the future king of Lucis," Astraea stepped closer towards them, "Our fight will soon come to an end and will see the light again," she held both her brother hands, "You have my undying support, Lord Ardyn… Lord Somnus… as the champion of Ifrit, I will be there for the two of you, whoever is chosen. I will be there," she smiled.
Ardyn put the box down and turned towards her, "Thank you Astraea… I mean Fire Maiden," Ardyn said and patted her on the head.
"You have our support too, Princess, just tell us what to do and will be there for you," Somnus said and put a hand on her shoulder.
She just nodded, "Thank you… Addy... Sommy…."
Both brothers just nodded back, Ardyn then picked up the ring again and studied it. "So it took you three days to create this little thing?" he asked.
"YES!" Three whole days! So take care of it! Don't let it fall into the wrong hands!" she gazed at the ring, "Wait… second thought… give me that…" she grabbed the ring before Ardyn could react. She wore it and suddenly the ring started to glow. Before anyone could say a word, she recited a chant.
"I call upon the flames of the infernian grant me the power to bless this ring. The wearer should be of the royal blood and have to prove himself or herself worthy to wear the Ring of Lucii. If the heart of the bearer is filled with darkness and seeks only to destroy life..." she stopped her crimson eyes glowed bright red and focused on the ring on her finger, "BURN them with the internal flames!" her fingers burst into blue and red flames then the flames went into the ring. It glowed bright red and died down, she smiled and removed the ring and put the ring on the box, "Here is safe now… nobody will be able to use it for harm," she yawned and stretched her arms, "Is the meeting done? Can I skip it?" she did not wait for an answer, "For I'm very tired… going to sleep for a while… bye …" she bowed towards the council and happily waved her hands and started to walk away.
All the people inside the chamber were speechless. They did not even stop the Fire Maiden and her guardian in leaving the room. The council looked at the brothers and looked at the ring.
"So…." Ardyn trailed off, "Somnus, wait to try it?" he asked, turning towards him.
The younger brother just shook his head, "Nope… not chance…. I will wait if I am chosen King, in fact, if Bahamut chooses me, I will not wear that… Astraea curse scares me,"
Ardyn chuckled jokingly, "Second to that…We need to make sure will are worthy to wear it,"
Somnus nodded and slowly closed the lid of the box with, that his memory faded.
…
When the sphere turned off Regis raised his hand and gazed at the ring on his finger.
"Can you feel it?" Regis turned towards the founder king, "Is Astraea flame still inside of it?"
Regis's eyes glanced back at the ring, he took a deep breather and concrete, then suddenly into blue and red flames brust from it, engulfing the king's hand.
"Your Majesty!" Clarus shouted as he stood up.
"Be at ease Clarus in not burning me…"
They all looked at the flames in astonishment, their eyes wide and their mouths agape. The flames started to take shape, both flames turned into the shape of a phoenix and flew around at room leaving trails embers in the air.
"Woah…." Dave said as his gaze followed the two fire phoenixes around the room.
"They are beautiful," Aerith held a hand up, the red fire phoenix perched on her fingers, while the blue hand went towards Somnus and Reno. It hovered in front of them.
"This is nothing… Astraea could summon a fire phoenix as big as Reno's true size," Somnus turned towards the guardian.
"Yeah… but they are not as awesome as me..." Reno snickered as his hair glowed bright red.
"Are you jealous…" Carbuncle jested and jumped towards the guardian's shoulder.
"What! Me? jealous!" he bellowed and glared at the fox guardian, "I'm more marvelous than them, I'm real and these two are not…" he crossed his arms.
Carbuncle giggled, "I'm joking Reno, I know they are nothing compared to you," she said while trying to swipe the blue phoenix circling them, "I can't wait to see your true form again,"
"Well, it has to wait… I don't want to drain Astraea energy,"
"Wait!? what do you mean?" the red phoenix is now at Regis's side, he is petting while he gazed at the guardian.
"Astraea and I share the same power, we are connected so If I use my ability she will be affected too, it's been like that ever since, after all, we don't have Ifrit's crystal supporting us," he said while shooing the blue phoenix as it hovered near his face.
Regis just nodded and then his gaze landed on the founder King. Somnus's face is a mix of happiness and sadness.
Somnus slowly raised his right hand up and about to touch the blue fire phoenix that was hovering in front of him. But before he could reach it both fire phoenixes suddenly burst in flames and disappeared leaving nothing but embers floating in the air. Somnus's face fell as his eyes followed the embers as it disappeared before it reached the floor.
"You're okay there? Sommy?" Reno called out.
The former warrior snapped out from his state and turned to him, "Yes…" he trailed off, while looking at his right hand, "I'm okay… I just miss her,"
"So why not go to her now, she is waiting for you,"
"I cannot… after all I was the one of took her life," Somnus slowly turned around and took a seat, "I can't face her… not now…"
Reno just sighed, "She will forgive you, Somnus. Astraea will never hold a grudge after all this is all Diabolos's fault. The whispers made you do it so don't blame yourself,"
"I knew the whispers were responsible...but I let them take over me, my envy towards my brother…" he held his hands together and it started to tremble, "Towards Ardyn… it powered them and made me do those bad things. I can't atone for my sins, I can't see her… so please take care of her," Somnus said softly as his spirit started to fade.
"NO! You don't!" Carbuncle jumped to him, stopping him from fading, "You're not going anywhere SOMNUS LUCIS CAELUM!" her ears and tail raised up and she glared at him, "You're going to stay here and finish what you started. If you really want to be forgiven, show them first what you have done and don't avoid it any longer!" Carbuncle then turned towards the King and his people, "After that, they can decide if you can be forgiven or not" she turned to him again, "I'm I, clear FOUNDER KING!" Somnus' eyes went wide as he gazed at his former guardian's eyes, "Are we clear! Founder King?" she asked again.
Somnus blinked several times, then burst out laughing. Reno and Carbuncle were caught off guard. After all, for the past two thousand years, Somnus never laughed like that, yes he did smile a little but not like this. His joyous laughter is like the one he had back then. When the siblings were still happy together. He laughed for almost a minute.
The people around him just gazed in silence. Then he composed himself and looked warmly at his guardian.
"You sound and act like her Cally…" he patted her in the head.
"But of course, after all, Astraea's energy is quite contagious," she smiled.
Somnus smiled at her, "Thank you, Cally… thank you for everything," he turned to Reno, "Let's finish this Reno… for I want to go to her," the guardian just nodded and smiled at him, he returned the smile and turned his head towards the King and his people.
"Sorry Regis, I kept stalling, I'm just scared that all of you will lose your faith and respect for me, that you will never see me as The Mystic or The Founder King anymore if you saw what I did…"
"We will never do that Somnus," Regis stood up and walked towards the founder king, "You have our undying support. We are here for you, we are family after all," he patted him on the shoulder,"
"Thank you," Somnus bowed at the King, Regis bowed back and returned to his seat.
"So shall we start again?" Somnus asked. All of them nodded.
"Well then… I will now show you what truly happened, How I became the Founder King, how Ardyn lost his fight and fell into darkness and became the Accursed and how our dear sister lost her life while saving and returning the light in Eos."
A/N: I know that Somnus was his own theme in the game but for this fanfic, I will give him a new theme. Its form Kingdom Hearts Riku's theme(Kingdom Hearts - "Riku's Theme" | ORIGINAL LYRICS | Lizz Robinet) for it really describes him as he fights his inner daemon. So the next character will divert from Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn - Prologue canon. But it will show how the brothers acted like that in the anime. I will just change a few scenes.
I just watched Kingsglaive again and noticed when Ravus wore the Ring of Lucii, it rejected him and his arm burst into blue and red flames and burned him the same goes for Ignis. So I decided to create a backstory explaining the curse of the ring.
THANK YOU! hope you enjoy this and have a wonderful day and keep safe!✩