Chapter 1
The doors to the Royal Hall opened with a loud groan, breaking the eerie silence surrounding the four men. This place had once been vibrant and full of life. But not anymore. It was empty, crumbling and silent as a forgotten tomb.
Noctis and his retinue, dressed in their finest, entered the Crystal chamber again for the first time in ten years. A feeling of nostalgia hit them hard. The last time they had been here was during the start of their journey so many years ago.
The chamber was lit, both from the broken wall on one side allowing artificial light to trickle in and from the soft azure glow emitted from the Crystal. Below the divine object, a figure sat upon the Throne of Lucis. His right arm lay across an armrest, bent with his hand in the air and his chin resting upon it. A faint cloud of miasma surrounded him, slightly obscuring his figure as it gently swirled in the cool air.
"Who's that?" Prompto was the first to speak. The man sitting was most certainly not Ardyn.
"What do you mean?" Ignis questioned, unable to see what his companions did.
"There's some random sitting on Noct's chair," Gladio responded, confusion in his voice.
"Can you recognize him? Perhaps it is someone we know?" Ignis frowned, wondering just what Ardyn was up to now.
"Not from here," Prompto answered, "Should we… Go closer?"
"Well, we aren't going to find out over here," Noctis decided, "Come on."
The four continued forwards, towards the Crystal and the unfamiliar man.
The unknown man's head was tilted, his dark hair falling over the side of his face in such a way that it obscured his features. He did not react to the sound of several sets of footsteps approaching him.
Closer now, Noctis noticed his clothing was odd, looking like nothing the people wore now. The man was dressed in blue robes with large buttons on the front. A sash or shawl of some kind was tied around his waist. His footwear too, some type of sandal, did not match any modern style.
Was he dead? Or just unconscious? Noctis wondered as he cautiously ventured nearer. He wouldn't be surprised to find Ardyn had propped up a dead man for them to find. He probably thought it was symbolic or something... But Noctis knew though there must be more to it than just that. Whoever that man was, he was important.
The Chosen frowned when he felt an aura around the still figure, both Daemonic and even familiar like Crystal magic. But Noctis could admit that the latter may have just been coming from the Crystal itself, which lay suspended in the air behind behind the Throne.
Almost reaching the first set of stairs, the King and his friends stopped when they saw the shadows beginning to stir. Two golden eyes shone from within their depths.
"Noct." Ardyn greeted, materializing from the darkness behind the Throne. He stepped forward to lean against it, briefly looking down at the unmoving figure beside him before returning his gaze upon his 'guests'. He smiled, the expression looking rather predatory on his face. "Welcome home. My apologies for the lack of ceremony but good help has been rather hard to find."
Prompto reacted quickly, raising his gun to fire at the Accursed. He instead yelped when his weapon was blasted out of his hands by some dark magic. The gun clattered to the floor, the sound echoed across the chamber. His three friends readied themselves for battle but Ardyn did nothing but lower his hand and dissipate the magic he had called upon.
"Not quite time for that, boy. Try again and it won't be the weapon I target next." Ardyn threatened. Prompto shivered at the tone and at Noctis's gesture, he allowed his weapon to dissipate from the ground. It seemed as if, for the moment, Ardyn wanted to talk.
But didn't he always? Noctis thought to himself.
"What are you doing? Who is that?" The King demanded answers. Whatever he would get in response was not going to be to his liking, he knew that. But Noctis was very curious as to who that man was. Something about him felt familiar... And a feeling of dread was forming in the pit of his stomach because of it.
"Oh dear… You don't even recognize your own family? How appalling." Ardyn feigned shock and turned towards the person on the Throne. "Do you hear that, Somnus? Your most precious family, the boy you've waited thousands of years for, does not even recognize you."
"Noct, could he mean…" Ignis trailed off. Both he and his King knew who it was. There had only been one Somnus in Noctis's lineage.
The Accursed roughly gripped the back of the seated man's hair and pulled his head up, revealing his face to the three of the four friends. The arm that had been holding Somnus's head up slumped down to lay across his lap.
"Just look at the resemblance between you two. You blood certainly ran true in him." Ardyn continued, speaking to Somnus as if he could hear him. The Founder King's eyes were closed and he did not stir at being spoken to or even manhandled in such a way by his brother. The Accursed did not seem to care about that in the slightest.
"Uh, Noct? I think he's even crazier than before," Prompto whispered from beside Noctis. The dark haired man nodded, agreeing with that statement.
But the Accursed was right. The First King of Lucis did bear a striking resemblance to what was to be the Last King of Lucis.
Ardyn let go of his brother's hair and turned back to the four, now rather uncomfortable, men.
"Chosen King and his dearest friends… Meet the first of the Caelums!" Ardyn accounced, giving a mocking bow to the sitting figure and then turning back towards Noctis and his retinue. "Somnus Lucis Caelum, Founder King of Lucis!"
"I thought it fitting my little brother be on the Throne he was so very willing to betray me over." Ardyn continued, giving no chance for anyone else to speak. He then looked to Noctis in expectation. "Now…. Show the Founder King the respect he deserves."
Noctis was rather disturbed at the gleeful expression on the Accursed's face during all of this. The man really did seem to have become even more unhinged.
"What the hell are you doing Ardyn?" Noctis finally asked, refusing to play along with whatever this was.
"I am allowing you the opportunity to meet a member of your family in the flesh," Ardyn responded, "You are not however, making a good first impression on him. Have you not yet learned the proper conduct when meeting a fellow sovereign?"
"Stop whatever this is and fight me. I'm here. I'm ready. We will end this tonight." The Chosen wanted to get on with this. Despite the cost to himself, he would see this through.
"Do you truly believe you will defeat me? Don't be so hasty for your own demise," Ardyn chuckled, "I will of course fight you. But first you must fight him."
The Accursed gave a pointed look at his brother and then smirked at Noctis. The Chosen clenched his teeth as he felt a surge of anger. The Behemoth and Ifrit had been enough for him. He stepped forward, intent on just beginning the final battle but an almost transparent red-hued barrier suddenly appeared. It was just like the Wall that had protected Insomnia for so long. Quickly glancing around, Noctis realized the barrier spanned from one end of the room to the other. He was not getting by.
"Oh Somnus!" Ardyn then called, almost fondly, "I know you like to nap but this may be a little much. You've already missed out on your own introduction. Why don't you awaken to greet the ill-mannered child of your blood?"
The figure finally stirred at Ardyn's insistence. Somnus twitched and shuddered before slowly beginning to raise his head. His blue eyes fluttered opened and they were so very similar to Noctis's own. However, they looked blankly at the people before him. His face was emotionless, devoid of comprehension.
"Come on now. Up you get!" Ardyn's seemed unbothered by such a sluggish reaction. There was even a hint of amusement in his voice. The Accursed nudged his brother with a gentle push to his shoulder. Instead of following the command given, Somnus just turned towards him instead. Ardyn sighed, sounding a little exasperated now. "You always were rather dazed after waking. Maybe a little help is needed here."
The Accursed stepped in front of his kin and raised a hand, allowing darkness to erupt and flicker around it.
Noctis instinctively moved forward at the sight. He summoned his Father's sword and swung it with all his strength at Ardyn's barrier. His weapon bounced off, not affecting it in the slightest. He grit his teeth in frustration, knowing all he could do was watch what Ardyn would do next.
Ardyn ignored the commotion, focusing on increasing the potency of the darkness he summoned. He then thrust his hand towards his brother's chest, pressing him back. Noctis flinched as Somnus cried out in agony. Afterwards, the younger brother once again slumped forward, eyes closed. The older brother then moved away from him.
"Now let's try that again." The Accursed grinned maniacally when he faced Noctis again. "Somnus!"
This time when the Founder King moved and raised his head, his eyes opened with clarity. He looked at Noctis and a slow smile crept across his face. The Chosen King shivered at the sight of such a sinister expression, feeling such a wrongness at it.
Noctis stood tall however. Though Somnus was his ancestor, he could not hesitate. There was too much at stake. This was just one more fight before the end. Whatever obstacle Ardyn threw at them, he and his friends would overcome.
The Chosen did feel a wave of pity for his ancestor. For having to choose between the world and his brother. For his fate as a Lucii. For having been afflicted with the very sickness he had spent even longer than his mortal lifespan fighting. One that his brother inflicted on him.
Noctis vowed to free him from it. Free the world from the grasp of the Starscourge. And let Somnus and every other member of their family still waiting for an end to be finally allowed their rest. Ardyn included.
The Founder King placed both his hands on the arms of the throne and swiftly pushed himself to his feet in a single, almost elegant motion. Ardyn materialized a blade, one that Noctis recognized instantly. It was the blade of the Mystic, but not the original. Noctis had that safely in his own Armiger. That was just Daemonic copy, red-hued and corrupt, just like all the other weapons Ardyn held in his own tainted Armiger.
The Accursed offered the weapon to his brother with one hand. Somnus took it without even looking, his unnerving gaze focused entirely on Noctis.
"Oh, one last thing before you begin…" Ardyn raised his hand again and the barrier dissipated just as three spheres of dark magic shot out towards the four men. They were too surprised to react and Noctis saw his friends fall to the floor with cries of pain. The Chosen quickly dropped to his knees at checked them over, panicked. He was relieved when he found them breathing.
Not dead, just unconscious.
"What is-" Noctis's angry demand was cut off before he could finish.
"They have no place in this, the battle of Kings." Ardyn said, making his way over to take the seat Somnus had just vacated. Noctis narrowed his eyes, feeling his anger intensify at the sight of Ardyn on the Throne of Lucis.
"Fine," Noctis snapped. He summoned his own weapon, choosing the Blade of the Mystic to match the Founder. During his journey, this blade had been one of his most trusted weapons. He would not fail with it now. He would accept nothing less than a victory, against both brothers before him.
Sort of ignoring the Royal Edition here so I could get this to work with what I had. I have a second chapter planned but I'm not entirely sure when I will be able to post that.
Used some dialogue from the game here.
Also tried to fix my dialogue punctuation as well but I'm sure I failed at that. I feel maybe doing it wrong all the time might be better than doing it wrong half the time. For consistency's sake. xD