—
There were all the same.
Keycatrich.
Only at the throne…
Southern Duscae.
Only at the cost of a life…
All of them told the same tale.
The Balouve Mines.
Only at the throne…
That same dreaded fact.
Myrlwood.
Only at the cost of a life…
Ignis hunched over his translations, his gloved fingers digging onto the groves of the broken stone he was using as a makeshift table.
Greyshire Glacial Grotto.
Only at the throne…
The Rock of Ravatogh.
They were all. The bloody. Same.
Only at the cost of a life…
There was no alternative….
Malmalam Thicket.
Only at the throne…
There was no way to prevent what was to come…
The Disc of Cauthess.
Only at the cost of a life…
The Citadel.
Only at the throne. Only at the cost of a life: his own.
A scream of frustration tore from Ignis' throat as he struck out in blind fury, swiping his neatly laid books and papers into a scattered mess on the ground.
Useless. Everything he'd researched – everything he's spent the last nineteen months finding, copying down, and translating – had been all for naught. He was not one step closer to finding a way to save Noct. All he could find were more reasons Noct had to die.
"There has to be a bloody way!" he bellowed to no one.
The release of sound did nothing to ease the pressure in his chest, but he was so tired of being quiet. Of being unseen. Of playing dead.
Here, in the light pouring from the floating water ceiling above him, Ignis had never felt so alone. He had never felt so emotionally depleted.
"Such purity of motive… And yet… such a foolish amount of stubbornness. You poor soul."
Ignis snapped it his head up, his heartrate rocketing as his body went on full alert.
Who was here? He'd been alone, he was certain of it.
He raked his eyes around his surrounding, searching for the woman that was the source of the voice.
He knew that voice. He'd heard it before, but where…
He drew his lance from its sheath, rounding the rubble he'd been using as a workplace and stepping over the various scraps of his research that remained on the ground. "Who goes there?"
He squinted. It was brighter than it had been a few moments ago.
There.
Ignis' breath caught in his throat for a moment before he realized it wasn't Lunafreya standing ahead of him in the waterlight.
The woman had her back to him, but he knew her all the same.
"…Aera Mirus Fleuret?" he breathed, retuning his lance to its sheath.
Seeing her in Ardyn's memories was one thing, but this was different. It appeared as though she were actually here. He drew closer.
Yes, she was here, but not… in a normal way.
Their surroundings fell away as Aera swiveled to face him.
They were no longer in a dungeon, that was for certain. It was like… a void. A void of stars and what looked like some variation of the Aurora Borealis. Ignis felt himself grow dizzy with the lack of depth perception. He stood on something solid, yet nothing was beneath his feet. He felt as though he might plummet at any moment.
So distracted was he by his surroundings that he almost missed the look of utter pity on Aera's face.
He focused on her, using her solid and still form as a grounding point.
He hesitated, wondering what question was more appropriate to ask.
Why am I here? Why are you here?
In the end, he didn't have to ask anything. She spoke first.
"I was like you once." Her voice was calm, but laden with sorrow. "So desperate to fight the fate of one I cared for… So convinced that I could change matters for the better."
Ignis swallowed. There were gaps in the details of the historical texts. Vaguenesses. He'd gotten the gist of what had happened with the Founder King, but Aera's death had been the prime focus in her role in the tale.
He couldn't find it within himself to speak. He couldn't look away from the haunted look in Aera's eyes.
"My beloved was destined for a different fate once. I thought I could help him." Tears glistened, on the verge of overflow. "I defied the will of the Astrals with the intent of saving him. But my intent mattered not. Instead of saving him, I damned him to a fate far worse."
Ignis wanted to protest. He wanted to ask questions. He wanted every detail he could get on the matter. But Aera was already shaking her head, as though she knew every thought that was passing through his mind.
"The blame for the world in which you now live lies with me – on my choice to defy." She took a few steps closer to him. "And the path you now tread is so very similar. You know not what repercussions your devotion to your King might have."
"But I–"
"Listen to me." She snagged both of his wrists, holding them tightly as she pleaded with every inch of her expression. "How much sorrow has your quest already caused?"
Sorrow? All of his friends might think him dead, but that was due to more than this quest. Ardyn had–
"How much death?"
...Gilgamesh. Kyle.
"I've saved lives as well," he refuted weakly. "All those I've ferried to the cities now have shelter and stability."
"For how long?" she asked. "Even darker days lie ahead for humanity, and they will need those like you. How long will you spend seeking a different answer than the one you have already been given time and time again?"
Ignis yanked his hands free of hers, his very bones feeling fragile. "I cannot sit by and prepare the way for Noct to walk to his death–"
"Then you may very well see him walk into something worse," Aera said gently. "The man I loved was a healer. He gave everything he had to those in need – his time, his health, his life. And yet now he stands in the shell of what the world once was and laughs at the ruin he's caused. Can you so surely say nothing you do will not have a similar effect on the Chosen?"
"Noct would never…" Ignis trailed off before even finishing that sentence, gaze drifting from her.
He couldn't say that. Not to her. By all accounts, Ardyn had once been like Lunafreya.
"I understand your pain," she said gently. "But the kindest thing you can do is help along the way. The Chosen has already made peace with what must come to pass."
Ignis snapped his attention back to her face. "Made peace?"
Of course it made sense he'd be able to think within the Crystal, but…
By the Six, he was only twenty-five, and five of those years he'd spent with the Crystal. A whole fifth of his life.
Had he ever even truly lived?
The guilt that rose within Ignis threatened to choke him. Every time he'd lectured Noct for just doing things that normal teenagers did… Every time he'd chastised him for putting his responsibilities as a secondary priority… And for what? Noct never had a kingdom to run. He never would.
The amount of slack Regis had offered Noctis made so much more sense now. His own apartment… the public education…
Perhaps Regis' rapid decline in health had less to do with the Ring and more to do with his knowledge of what was to come.
"If you truly care for him… you will let him go…" Aera ducked her head, fading as she stepped away from Ignis.
"No, wait!" Ignis moved forwards after her, but she was already gone.
He staggered back to a stop, releasing a shaky breath.
"Doth thou now understand?"
Ignis twisted around as another figure appeared in a flash of light. A much larger figure.
Bloody hell.
"Bladekeeper…" Ignis gave a small respectful bow.
"Doth thou understand?" Bahamut repeated.
"I…" Ignis paused, attempting to collect his thoughts. "I understand, but my acceptance is another matter."
…Perhaps that was not the wisest thing to say considering who he was speaking to. Something about Bahamut was so much more… terrifying compared to Shiva.
But Ignis didn't want to lie down and accept the words of those so willing to sacrifice Noct's life.
"Man heralded for thy wisdom, let not thy sorrow sway thou from the path known to be true. There is but only one who desires the death of the Chosen, and he is not among the Six. The protection of this star as a whole, no matter the cost, is all that we seek."
Ignis slumped slightly, his chest feeling as though a physical crack had just split apart the bones from clavicle to his lowest ribs.
"There has to be another way," he rasped weakly.
"There was but one – a path that closed long ago. Had the Accursed fulfilled the first calling set for him, thy world now would be one of prosperity, and thy king would be but one of many destined for a life of normalcy."
But Ardyn hadn't fulfilled that calling… Because of his brother… Because of Aera's attempt to save the man she loved.
Ignis' vision blurred. "So no matter how hard I try, the only difference I can make is for the worse?" His voice wavered and he hated it. He hated everything about this conversation.
"Thy question has already been answered."
Ignis let his eyes fall shut, the motion finally driving the first of his tears free.
"Help the Chosen in the ways in which thou can succeed. Thine own calling is far from complete."
If his calling wasn't to serve at Noct's side as he ruled for many years to come then Ignis didn't want it.
But Bahamut did not stay for Ignis rebuttal. There was a flash of light against Ignis' eyelids, and he knew the Bladekeeper was gone.
"Ignis."
Ignis snapped his eyes open once more. He would know that voice anywhere. Anywhere. Anytime. It didn't matter how many years it had been.
"Noct," Ignis breathed.
It was him. He was standing just where Bahamut had been.
Ignis fought the urge to paw angrily at the tears on his cheeks. He didn't want Noct to see him this way. He didn't want Noct to be looking at him with the same pity as Aera had only a few minutes ago.
"Noct," Ignis repeated, taking a step closer to him.
"It's okay, Ignis," Noct said simply. He was older than before, and Ignis wasn't sure if it hurt or helped that he didn't look the same as he had when he'd entered the Crystal.
"Noct, I–"
"It's okay," Noct stressed, a small and sad smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I'm okay."
No, no, no! He couldn't mean…
"You can't expect me to just stand by–"
"You were never going to be able to protect me forever."
Ignis' throat tightened, preventing him from speaking again.
"Don't keep doing this to yourself." Noct gestured to him, the Ring of the Lucii glowing faintly on his center finger. "I don't want this." And then he took a breath and uttered the worst sentence Ignis had ever heard in his life. "Let me go."
"Noct," Ignis choked out, reaching out for him.
But, like Aera and Bahamut before him, Noct disappeared. The void disappeared, leaving Ignis reaching for nothing back in the waterlight of Steyliff Grove.
Ignis' knees gave, leaving him to catch himself on the dungeon's floor as his body began to tremble with sobs.
His research lay around him, disorganized and useless. But it had always been useless.
"Please… take care of my son."
"F-Forgive me…" Ignis wept, bowing his head to press his forehead into the cold stone beneath him. "I've done all I can…"
—
