Ignis Scientia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shatteredlenses) wrote2017-08-04 10:09 pm
shatteredlenses) wrote2017-08-04 10:09 pm
LifeAfter Inbox
This is Ignis. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Storyteller willing, I may actually be able to read messages left for me soon.
...
And, no, your Highness, this doesn't mean I will be too busy to make sure you eat your vegetables.
...
And, no, your Highness, this doesn't mean I will be too busy to make sure you eat your vegetables.
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[ His own reply is hesitant, cautious. ]
In that one place--the one that felt like a dream, he told me something along the lines of "someone admitting to falling for their sworn liege's immortal enemy." I assumed he was talking about you.
I wanted to talk to you about it, since I trust you way more than him. And I know you more than well enough, Ignis, to know that there's a story behind this that Ardyn would never tell me.
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His hands tighten their grip on each other as he thinks, not about if he will or won't lie, but about how to tell the truth. Honestly, despite the momentary thought, he would never lie to Noctis, never twist the truth to make himself look better. That's a line he cannot cross.
Eventually, he takes a deep breath, straightening his posture as if he is preparing himself to face a lecture, or at least, a great deal of pain.]
There is a nine month long story that Ardyn will never tell you. One that starts with a man desperate to find a way to save his childhood friend's life and ends with that same man finding the remains of a lost healer and foolishly giving part of his heart to him.
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better.
And Noctis finds himself missing the Ardyn he'd spent close to a year with. ]
I believe you. [ He does, truly, not just because he knows Ignis would not lie to him. He closes the distance and sets a hand on his friend's shoulder. He squeezes lightly, and Noctis remembers their reunion, how he'd done the same in the darkness of Eos. ] Because I saw it myself. I saw the person Ardyn used to be, before he was burned and buried under the very thing he healed from so many people.
My next question is about how you saw that part of him, though.
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I'm not the only one...
[He doesn't mean to say it out loud, but his relief sees that it happens anyway. It feels like so much weight has lifted from Ignis' shoulders. He's not the only one that knows for certain now. He's not carrying this alone anymore.
It shouldn't feel as good as it does, he knows this, but for right now, he doesn't let himself care.]
I caught a glimpse during one of the early story telling sessions. ...Scientia vincere tenebras. is what he said as if it were some kind of prayer he didn't want anyone else to hear. We clashed a lot in those early days simply because of who we are and the fact I felt someone had to keep an eye on him even with the truce in place. He claimed it merely a taunt later, of course, but then he saved my life and I knew there was more to it than that.
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He saved your life?
[ He doesn't pull away, but he sounds so surprised. ]
Even with the scourge, he saved you. That's... something else.
[ Hints of the kind and noble king, pushing to the surface. ]
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[Ignis relaxes into the embrace, his breathing easily matching Noctis' after just a few inhales and exhales. There's no breaking this time. He's done that enough in his king's presence to last a lifetime now.]
The second time is when I really saw the Healer-King for the first time. The island of Monsun was ruled over by a deity of balance. One side of the island pulled out our worst traits and the other side pulled out our best. We made a camp on that second side and he spent most of his time there preferring to die than leave and allow the Chancellor to return.
[They'd forced him eventually, and Ignis will not easily forget the day he had sat with the Healer-King and they had said goodbye not knowing if they would ever see each other again.]
Since then, he has also safeguarded me twice. Once, I'm not even sure he was conscious of. He just placed himself between me and danger without even giving me a chance to object.
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[ Noctis keeps on holding Ignis, because Ignis has always been there--he's always been steady, a rock anchoring Noctis to the world. He can do that for Ignis, now. It's the very least he could do. ]
For someone so old, he can be a real idiot sometimes. Doesn't even realize when he's doing something good, because that's who he was before he became the Accursed. It's like that part of himself keeps clawing its way to the surface, even if he refuses to acknowledge it.
[ Noctis lets out a quiet huff, equal parts exasperated and... well. Affectionate. ]
What was the second time?
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He is the oldest fool I know.
[There is both exasperation and deep fondness in that statement as Ignis slowly starts feeling more comfortable showing his true feelings for Ardyn. He takes a deep breath and then gently pulls away from Noctis, giving his friend's shoulder a squeeze in thanks as he goes.]
As I hinted at with Monsun, islands sometimes come and go here. One that appeared was called Ai'tuoh. It had a great deal of very strict and almost nonsensical laws. Those who broke those laws either on purpose or accidentally were to be 'Cleansed in the Standing Water.'
[The way he says that makes it very clear that this was not a good thing.]
Before we knew it, a very large number of our fellows were captive. We eventually organized a rescue, but it happened at the same time the cleansing did and anyone who fell into the Water became one more who had to be rescued...if there was time. There were only a few left to fight off the militia, he and I primarily, and I was fighting with my back to the water, moving quickly in an unfamiliar area. It's only because of him that I didn't end up in the Water as well.