He was here in Altissia. Ardyn was, waiting to strike and kill Luna... and Noctis. Upon arriving at Altissia and gaining entry thanks to Ignis' quick thinking, the five of them split up to do some information gathering and figure out what was going on. Luna was here, that was for sure, but it was like there was a festival here as well. Nimue had decided to look for Ardyn, scouring as much of Altissia as she could on foot. When her options ran out, she rode the gondola for a bit and arrived at Maagho. There, she found him. Sitting at the bar, sipping a cup of coffee and reading a magazine.
"Mister Izunia." Nimue walked up to him. With a slight flourish, Ardyn put the magazine he was reading away and turned to look at her.
"If it isn't the spitfire girl." Ardyn said with a smile on his face. "By the look on your face, I'm assuming you want to talk to me about something?"
"You'd be correct. May I take a seat?" Nimue gestured at one of the open seats next to him. That earned her a laugh from him, but he gestured at the seat as well. Asking her to sit without saying a word, so she took the seat and sighed. "It... concerns that stupid Prophecy that has you and Noctis facing off at the end."
"And how would you know about it?" The inquiry seemed harmeless, but there seemed to be a bit of confusion and curiosity in his face. He leaned in a bit closer, staring directly at her. "As far as I was aware, only I knew of what was to come."
"I'm more resourceful than you give me credit for!" Nimue smiled slightly, but then frowned. "What I'm about to tell you stays between you and me. I know what happens, and there's a few things that people don't know. One, Bahamut's an asshole who orchestrated this entire thing. Yes, I know this for a fact. Who else would curse you to immortality, force you to be the bad guy just so your entire family line could be wiped out?"
"And I suppose you know the circumstances of which this immortality was forced upon me?" Ardyn asked, falsities dropping. His voice was nearly a growl, but Nimue was undettered.
"I know the whole ordeal. I know how Aera was killed in front of you, how you spent millenia in Angelgard and how you were given the knowledge from Ifrit. Funnily enough, back home, that's all packed up in a video game. In which, one of the stories is about how you became who you are right now." Nimue tapped a finger on the table. "Farfetched, but true. You can already tell I'm not from Lucis or Eos proper, Ardyn. You're smarter than most give you credit for."
"I'd assumed as much." Ardyn sipped his coffee. "Why tell me this? Are you attempting to save Noct?"
"Because if we're to truly make everyone free of that prophecy that Bahamut loves so much, we need a plan. Free you, free Noct, free everyone from the Starscourge. There's a chance it'll go awry, given the fact Bahamut loves to put his nose in where it doesn't belong but..."
"Like he did when he made me the Prince's sacrificial lamb." Ardyn grumbled, animosity towards Bahamut clear. "So you have this plan of yours to deal with Bahamut. And how does that work for either of us? For all I know, you could be leading me to my death with your words."
"You believe me." Nimue leaned back, forgot the chair had no back and proceeded to fall off the chair with a shriek. Ardyn laughed while Nimue laid there on the ground, groaning. Getting back up, she put the chair back on its legs properly and sat down on it again. A sigh left her, and she rubbed at her face. "Look, at some point you're going to become too powerful for Noct to defeat. That's when Bahamut's gonna Teraflare the whole place to smithereens. Sure, no more Lucius Caelums... but no more anyone, either. And he's going to use Lunafreya and Noctis for this."
There was silence as Ardyn took another sip of his coffee. Knowing all of what was to come, what she wanted to truly prevent... Even if it meant telling their supposed enemy, Nimue knew no other alternative. All of the media she'd taken in to perfect her cosplay of Ignis had ended up giving her the information of the other ways the world could be saved. That things could go in different ways, outside of Bahamut's influence. She just had to play her cards right.
Finishing his coffee, Arden set the now-empty cup down on the table. "I'm going to assume you know every detail of what's happened and what's going to happen."
"Not every one of them but... Ardyn, if Bahamut's allowed to wipe out Eos' life entirely, then there's absolutely nothing. No revenge, no people to talk to... absolutely nothing. The good ending to this is you and Noctis killing each other. I want to prevent that. I want to prevent that and let the both of you live out your lives."
"A natural death..." Ardyn pondered the words.
"...At the altar, you kill Lunafreya in front of a weakened Noctis. He passes out, and you fight Ignis later. Ignis loses his eyesight and lies to Noct about what happened. He learned of the prophecy, and wants to change Noctis' fate. In another timeline, he comes up with a plan to take you out and return the daylight to Eos." Nimue stated.
"That's quite the detail."
"I know. But that's not all. Ignis puts on the Ring, gains the power of Kings temporarily at the cost of his eyesight. I'm going to try to get there first and pocket the Ring so it never happens. Give it to Noct after he wakes up, and set the course for the ten years of darkness. But you need to help me, Ardyn. If you do, I promise I'll bring down Bahamut. Whatever it takes, even if it means sacrificing my own life to bear the power of the Kings."
Ardyn laughed. It was several minutes of laughing before he composed himself. With a nod, he stood up and took his hat off the table, placing it on his head.
"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and play along for now. Who knows, this may turn out to be quite entertaining."