—
Ardyn stared in shock.
Scientia stared in fear.
Ravus was almost afraid to breathe in case it set off a chain reaction that led to the city blowing up.
"…Well, now, this is certainly unexpected…" Ardyn said lowly. Dangerously.
Something within Scientia's terrified eyes eased, shifting away to resignation.
"…I'm sorry…" he whispered.
And then he moved – a dagger flashing into his hands an instant before he plunged it towards his own heart–
"Ignis!"
"No!"
But Scientia's hands froze, his blade just short of piercing into his skin.
"Now, let's not be hasty!" Ardyn's arm was outstretched towards him, fingers flexed.
Scientia choked. His hands were wavering.
"Iggy, what are you doing?" Prompto shrieked.
Scientia was fighting Ardyn's control, Ravus realized. Ravus could see his very veins pulsing with effort, and sweat was already forming on is temple.
Ravus slowly gripped his sword hilt. This was bad. This was very bad indeed. If it truly came down to it, he knew he wouldn't make a difference, but he'd be damned if he let himself and those around him die without a fight.
Despite Scientia's efforts, he could not drive the blade any further along it's intended path. With a gasp, he threw it aside nearly striking Prompto's foot.
"That's better," Ardyn said with a scowl.
"How the hell…" Gladio whispered.
The glare Scientia turned on Ardyn was one of pure loathing. "Damn you." His entire body was trembling still.
Ravus didn't miss the way the others were silently and somewhat frantically observing the two of them. They were seeking answers, of course.
Ardyn's scowl was still present as he lowered his hand. "Your friends might disagree with that sentiment given that I just stopped them from losing you a second time. I rather underestimated you, Advisor! I'd been rather under the impression that you plummeted to a watery death–"
Ardyn stopped suddenly.
Oh, dear Astrals. He knew. He'd figured it out.
"You…" Ardyn spluttered. "You cunning little menace – you faked your death just to escape my influence?"
"Influence?" Lunafreya questioned with a scowl.
"You gave me little choice when you had me murder Dino!" Scientia spat back savagely.
Dear Astrals… He truly wasn't fully in his right mind at the moment. Scientia never would have provoked Ardyn with such a brazen accusation if he'd been thinking clearly. He was too tactical for that.
Except…
As Scientia's words fell, so did the silence from everyone in the room.
Initially lost the others might have been, but there were far more than enough clues being tossed about here for them to piece matters together.
"…What?" Lunafreya finally uttered, hurt and betrayal unguarded on her face.
Of course… She'd been so keen on helping Ardyn be less of a mass murdering psychopath as of late… Ravus had to wonder if this reveal would go beyond even her level of forgiveness.
Scientia's hands were still trembling as he gripped the sheets.
"His Scourge…" Aranea said, words hot with anger as she shot out of her chair and clenched her fists at her side. "You used him like you used Evan? To off a friend on his wedding day?"
Ardyn had the audacity to roll his eyes. "Honestly, Commodore, do my methods and levels of destruction really surprise you after all this… time." Ardyn's confidence faltered on his last word as he noticed the way Lunafreya was staring at him.
Something was different this time. There was no understanding. No pity. Just cold anger.
"I suppose congratulations are in order," she said calmly. "The prophecy remains unbroken. You'll have your way after all."
Ardyn didn't seem relieved. Or any type of positive emotion, for that matter.
He hesitated before speaking again. "…Lunafreya–"
"I think it's best you take your leave now, Chancellor." Lunafreya turned her back on him, heading over to Scientia's side. "Some of us have healing to do."
Chancellor. How long had it been since Lunafreya had addressed Ardyn by any type of rank? That was a direct and very intentional slight.
Ardyn flinched just slightly at her words before trying to reach for her. "Lunafreya–"
"Get out, Ardyn! Now!"
That got a flinch out of all of them, including Ravus himself.
Ardyn stepped back smoothly with a pacifying gesture, his head bowed to the floor. "…As you wish." He kept backing up until he was out the door, and Ravus spotted a faint trace of his hazy magic as he vanished entirely.
Scientia visibly sagged in relief, a fully body shudder passing over him.
"He… he listened to you?" Scientia asked.
His confusion was so… displayed. All of his emotions were displayed.
Ravus didn't like seeing him this vulnerable, and Scientia had to be hating it. He really needed to be recovering, not talking.
Lunafreya seated herself a respectable distance from Scientia on the hospital bed. "Much has changed since your… departure."
Death. The word was death.
And of course Scientia would be surprised at how Ardyn was… behaving. Ravus hadn't been able to go into much detail on that when last they'd met, but the Ardyn that had been pestering Luna as of late was almost saintly compared to the one Scientia had faked his own death to get away from.
Scientia stared at the floor, still twitching every few moments. Despite Ardyn leaving without murdering anyone, Scientia still looked positively miserable.
"I am sorry… I am so sorry to all of y–" His voice cracked again on the last word, and he coughed hard into his fist.
"Ignis." Gladio sounded oddly normal. "Did you really intentionally fake your death?"
Ignis swallowed, his head bobbing in the shallowest of nods. "It was the only way I knew of to protect you all."
"Protect us?" Aranea said sharply, words laced with barely restrained anger. "We aren't kids or civilians – we can protect ourselves!"
Oh dear…
"Not against Ardyn!" Scientia rasped. "I… don't expect all of you to accept–"
He was cut off by another cough, and he took a moment to press a hand to his throat.
"I don't expect all of you to accept my apology after what I've put you through. But I would ask that you hear the full extent of my circumstances before casting judgment."
"Then you better start talking pretty fast," Gladio growled. "There had to be better way than this."
"Enough."
Dear Astrals, how did Cor do that? For one with so imposing of a presence, he certainly had no trouble blending into the wall of a room and making others forget he was there.
"It is physically paining him to speak at the moment, and the nurse was quite clear on his need for rest," Cor pointed out. "I believe some time for all of us to clear our heads is in order."
Prompto opened his mouth to protest, but Cor cut him off with a stern glare.
Ah, yes… Cor was phrasing this like a suggestion, but it was definitely more of an order.
"I concur," Ravus backed him up.
"You don't get a vote, you asshole," Aranea snapped.
Ah. So she'd picked up on his lack of surprise about all of this. He hadn't even realized she'd been watching him.
Ravus wanted to roll his eyes, but he wanted to not be impaled more.
Instead, he placed a steady hand on Scientia's shoulder. Scientia flinched at first, but he did allow himself to be guided back towards his pillow. "We can all throw insults later, Highwind."
"How about now and later?" she groused.
"Enough," Cor repeated. "Let him rest. Before I get the nurse to sedate everyone in here, including myself."
Ravus wasn't sure he'd mind being sedated at the moment… That sounded far more ideal than all of this stress.
"Lunafreya!"
Luna balled her fists at her sides, keeping her stride exactly the same as she headed down the hallway to her room. She'd known he was going to seek her out.
A terrible decision on his part at the moment.
Luna didn't think she'd ever been this mad in the entirety of her life. If Ardyn's face got within her range she wasn't certain she'd be able to stop herself from hitting it.
"I have nothing to say to you at the moment, Ardyn," she snapped, not looking back at him.
"Come now, Lunafreya!"
"The damned prophecy is intact, just as you wanted. Congratulations and kindly leave me be."
She was so glad to see Ignis alive. She truly, truly was. But to see that he had suffered to such an extent… and suffered so directly due to Ardyn's actions – actions that Ardyn had rather conveniently not mentioned in all this time – was distressing.
"I fail to see why I am being given the cold shoulder to this extent now, my dear." Ardyn sounded as though he'd stopped following her, but he was still talking. "You know full well that I have done far worse than even this, and yet you've been so forgiving. Is your leniency only granted when those you personally care for aren't affected by the fallout?"
Luna whipped around, stabbing a finger in his direction. "Do not. You are the last person on this planet that gets to make assumptions and judge others' actions."
Ardyn held up his hands. "I merely–"
"I don't want to hear it! Not now!" she yelled. "I want you to leave."
Ardyn's eyebrows lifted. "Leave… or leave?"
She knew the implication there. Was she asking him to leave for now and give her space… or was she asking him not to return?
"Go," she hissed.
She wasn't entirely sure herself at the moment which she meant. And she wasn't certain which way he took her final command either.
—
