Aera and Somnus looked anywhere but at each other as she finished relating her vision in full. Even though he had lived his life promising to always forge ahead, he wished that he had never asked this of her.
He started to leave, both of them needing space to contemplate their next steps. A plan was already forming in his mind, horrible and cruel, but the only thing he could think of that would tie up as many loose ends as the vision revealed while, hopefully, avoiding the worst of it.
They could not go on like this for years, not if Ardyn had to suffer through it ("He spends years alone," she had whispered, "and then once he has been freed you slay him. I do not know how long it was, your hair is longer, greying. He is...he has been overcome by Darkness. The battle rages, your weapons clashing."). Which meant moving up the time table, because there had been one beneficial part of the vision, one worthwhile reason behind it all ("With your death, a sword through your chest, the Darkness recedes from the land.").
"Somnus," she calls to him, so softly he can ignore it as he continues to the door, where he would undoubtedly be faced with more yelling by the priests and guards he'd forced his way through.
But then, she speaks again, just a little louder, "Brother," and he finds himself frozen in place, not turning back to her, but not continuing.
How rarely, anymore, they brought up their connection. It existed solely through Ardyn, of course, and as Somnus' relationship with his brother deteriorated, so too did his relationship with his future sister-in-law.
"What will you do?"
She had said she would not ask this, though not in such blatant terms. He should have known that was untrue.
Somnus took a deep breath, felt his lungs expand, then slowly let it out, counting in his head. He repeated, focusing on the numbers, pushing through the turmoil of his emotions.
"Somnus?" Her hand was cool against his arm, or perhaps he was simply overheating.
"Only one part must pass, surely, the rest could be avoided," he murmured, staring down at where her skin contrasted against his own. Her hand tightened. "We fight, he kills me, and somehow the Scourge is conquered."
"He would never-"
He shook his head. "You think of us as you knew us, sister. Not as the men we are. My violence may be on display, but Ardyn has left many to die. If I make him angry enough at me, if we are fighting and my guard slips..."
Aera pulled him away from the entrance, shoving him towards a smaller door to the side of the room. It led, he vaguely remembered, to her personal quarters, though he had only visited once when she had first taken up residence in the temple.
"What would it do to him, to lose you that way?" she hissed. "No matter what arguments you have, no matter how you resent him or he fears you, he still loves you."
Somnus scoffed, not knowing if the idea of Ardyn fearing him or loving him was more ridiculous. "You will be there to comfort him, Oracle, you, and your gods, and his crown."
She pulled open the door and herded him down a hallway towards another. There was no way she could overpower him, if he didn't allow it, and yet he went along with her. Maybe he was less set upon his new course than he'd thought.
When they were in a sitting room of sorts, she let him go and went for a kettle. He stood near the door, studying the room as he waited on her response.
Ardyn's touch was here and there. A set of books Somnus knew as his, a throw that he'd been given by their mother, a pair of slippers, worn down with time, the perfect size for his feet.
"His avoidance of me means you suffer, as well," Somnus muttered, fingers running over a scarf hanging by the wall that he'd seen his brother wear during cold spells.
She handed him a mug, eventually, light shaded earthenware that had a good weight in his hand, and pushed him towards a seat. "I've seen him since last he left. He is...not well, but there is no reason to despair, yet."
Somnus frowned, trying to identify the scent of the tea. It was vaguely familiar, making him feel more relaxed with just the fumes, but when he took a few sips the exact blend escaped him.
"If he has had the Starscourge for so long without the obvious symptoms...and without spreading it...I can only imagine what a strain that must be." Somnus sighed, sinking deeper into the seat. "I thought he was curing it."
"As did I, at first. Had I realized the truth sooner...Yet, I am as much to blame for his current path as you are, for I always told him to trust in the gods, that only good things could come from his sacrifice."
She sounded odd and he realized it was bitterness. He'd never heard her sound like that, wasn't sure he knew she could feel such things. Bitterness, he'd always assumed, was his emotion to carry.
"What do we do?" He took another sip, feeling more relaxed still, and though it was hard to get his thoughts in order there was something very important he knew he should be noticing.
"I don't know. But whatever it is, it can't be a rash decision. We must gain more knowledge, first. And, more than that, we must work together. If our solutions are at odds we will only invite disaster."
The mug felt so heavy, he barely had time to set it down before it would have slipped from his fingers. He frowned, working hard to keep his eyes open and focused.
"Poison?" he whispered, unable to panic as he should be.
"Simply a sleeping draught," she corrected, stepping into view and shifting him so he wouldn't fall to the floor as the last of his strength left him. "I will inform your servants that you have been exhausted by a divine visit and I will be taking care of you until you recover."
"What will...?"
"Don't worry, brother, I will bring Ardyn home, inform him of what is happening, and then you may offer up your plan."
No, he thought, Ardyn would never agree if he knew. Somnus had already thought of ways to make his brother angry, ways to play the villain and stoke him to violence. But it had to seem real or it would never work.
He couldn't protest, though, already sleep pulled at him and he'd always had such a hard time resisting that.
When he woke up, it was in an unfamiliar bed, but in his own sleep clothes. He slipped out, as silent as possible, and peeked through to the next room. It was Aera's sitting room and while she was missing, Ardyn was present, head in his hands.
"Dyn," he muttered, still drowsy from the unnatural sleep.
Of all the people he couldn't trust, he'd never thought Aera would be one of them.
Ardyn jolted upright, wild eyes roving over Somnus like he hadn't seen him in years (half a year, Somnus remembered, longer even, and it wasn't as bad as when he was younger, body still changing so that every time his brother reappeared, he looked at Somnus like he had lost something).
"You shouldn't be walking around, yet, it will take hours for such a potion to wear off." Ardyn's voice held the calm, impersonal tone of a healer.
"I'm fine," Somnus insisted, though the weakness in his limbs worried him greatly. He felt like he had as a child, after recovering from one of those illnesses children were always supposed to get but that had hit him harder for some reason, making him stay in bed for days on end.
Ardyn got up and was back with a tray of food and drink before Somnus had made it to a seat. "You are not. You should have called out instead of leaving the bed."
"So your witch could drug me again?"
The tell tale signs of Ardyn's anger were subtle and less than Somnus expected. He set the tray down and insisted on helping Somnus sit, then held a bowl steady before him so he did not need to lean over to reach the food.
"She did what she thought was best."
Somnus scoffed. "She ruined the easiest way to get through this."
There was silence as he ate, carefully, slowly, paying close attention to how his body reacted. They'd most likely gotten him to drink other potions, ones that kept him hydrated and sustained, so he had no good indication of how long he'd been kept prisoner.
"Easiest for you?" He looked up at the question, met Ardyn's eyes and found them cold enough to startle him. "You treat everything as though it's a battle to be won. As though there's always acceptable losses that we can never dwell on."
"What else is there? I must die. I have been on the knife's edge of death for so long now, is it really such a difficult concept? Any time I face the daemons, I could die. It has been so for over a decade."
It was, he realized as he watched a look like agony cross Ardyn's face, something that Ardyn had perhaps never fully let himself realize, despite how overprotective he'd been when Somnus had first gone out with the army. He watched the emotions on display, frowning as Ardyn stiffened further, then gripped his chin, studying his face.
"You are not as guilt free as you pretend to be, are you, little brother?"
Somnus tried to get the strength to bat him away, but found he still couldn't. "When have I pretended to be free of guilt? I know my way is the only one that can lead to success, that does not mean I am unaware of its costs."
Ardyn's touch lingered, hand sliding from his chin to cup his cheek. "And yet now you think that was for nothing and its your death that will resolve this situation."
He shifted under the touch, his magic twitching in response after so long without a familiar presence. When they were younger, they rarely bothered to shield from each other, it was only in the last few years that they'd both taken to locking themselves away from their familial bond. Now he could feel Ardyn testing their connection, trying to reach him on a level deeper than what most humans could ever manage.
There was only reasons to resist, yet Somnus found it surprisingly difficult.
"Why not? Do you think the gods would only have regard for you? That only you are part of their plans?"
"Regard? Somnus, they mean for you to die!"
He shrugged. "And they mean for you to suffer. Why is one so much worse than the other?"
Ardyn seemed at a loss and his helpless expression unsettled Somnus more. Words had always been Ardyn's domain.
"We will delay as long as we can," he finally stated, sure enough that Somnus knew these were plans the other two had made as he slept. "And each out to the Messengers we can find. Aera plans to approach the Astrals individually and I will be seeking more answers from the Solheim ruins that have remained unexplored."
Somnus frowned. "There are few enough of those. You don't truly mean to traverse what's left of Pitioss and the other temples, do you?"
"If I must, I shall. Our clan needs you to continue leading it and protecting our people, and there's no one else I could trust to travel with me who wouldn't slow me down."
He almost offered Gil, but knew what his brother meant was not the fights against daemons or ancient guardians, but instead the warping and phasing that might be necessary. Many of Solheim's temples had been designed to only be accessible by those with magic, the upper and priestly castes of the society.
"I suppose you're already decided." Somnus sighed, knowing Ardyn would be too stubborn to dissuade. "I'll look through the family library again, while I've already read everything about the Starscourge, perhaps there's something about this prophecy or sacrificial magic that was overlooked."
Ardyn smiled, a real one, tired and shaky. "Thank you. I..." he trailed off before pulling Somnus into a fierce hug. "I would have never forgiven myself, if I'd killed you."
At least, Somnus supposed, Ardyn was admitting that his plan would have worked, even if it had been ruined. Even if he refused to admit that, for his own cause, be was every bit as ruthless as Somnus could be.
"Then find us a better solution, brother, but know it's a sacrifice I will gladly make if it saves Eos." He'd have time now, as Ardyn traveled, to get his affairs in order, so he supposed the delay wasn't a complete waste.
"You may be willing to make it, little brother, but that doesn't mean I'll allow you to. The gods won't have you, not like this."
A/N:
My typical take of the Crystal's vision of the True King being Noctis all along and everyone back then misinterpreting it lol And Somnus' overblown and ridiculous villain moment coming from an attempt to actually be the villain.
Is it Somnus apologism? Maybe. But also the only way all the different versions of That Scene At The Crystal and Somnus actually being semi-competent enough to create Insomnia (and being called "the Mystic" because of his skill at waging war but then fumbling that fight so badly) makes sense is if Ardyn is a hugely unreliable narrator who doesn't have enough information and...he is. We know he's hallucinating and stuff in his episode and that he thinks Somnus is having him hunted down to kill him even though canon says not.
Also some ~irony~ over Ardyn insisting he'd never be comfortable killing Somnus lol