LifeAfter Inbox

[shatteredlenses]

 

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. 

Comments

~2/8ish

[scourgingstars]

[The island wouldn't last much longer; all of them had heard as much in dreams from the Storyteller and just about every source which knew enough to warn them. The camp was being transported to the islets, and perhaps it was only a matter of time before a hand chilled by death found its way lightly to tap on Ignis' shoulder.]

It's only me. Do you have a moment?

[shatteredlenses]

Of course.

[Ignis can't say he's surprised that Ardyn's sought him out. With the island soon to vanish and everyone moving back to the islets, it was only a matter of time before the resident immovable object would once more attempt to find a way to be left behind.

He motions for Ardyn to take a seat next to him and then waits patiently for the man to begin.]

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn took the offered seat without an argument, raking a hand through his hair and taking a slow breath as he carefully pieced his words together.]

I only wished to...say farewell. Whether I stay here or Asch shoves me into the mana pool, this is sure to be the last time 'I' will be able to speak with you.

[shatteredlenses]

[Ignis blinks his right eye slowly, surprised to find this is not the line of discussion that he was expecting. Once the surprise fades, he tsks under his breath, eye narrowing at Ardyn for a moment before he looks away.]

I'm afraid it's a farewell I cannot accept. We will speak again. I won't allow you to be lost no matter how much he fights it.

[scourgingstars]

Every last one of you are too damned stubborn for your own good. Would that but one of you sentimental fools would listen to me for even a moment.

I was lost long ago. A single instance of returning to the surface after endless ages will be as only a brief instant, forgotten and discarded just as quickly.

[shatteredlenses]

[With a shake of his head, Ignis turns back to Ardyn, one thin eyebrow raised nearly to his hairline.]

As if you could be that easily forgotten. Either of you. Besides, you have found your way home once, you can do so again. It will be even easier now that there is a flame waiting to guide you there.

[scourgingstars]

Ignis, please-

[His voice edged with a desperate insistence, Ardyn raised a hand to Ignis' face either forgetting about the chill to his hand or not bothering to worry about it.]

I don't want to hurt you anymore. I'm not worth all of this. One faint and impossible chance at a forgotten fallen king is not worth any of you risking your life.

[shatteredlenses]

[Ignis turns his head into the touch, unconcerned by the chill. It's nothing compared to that cold that lives in his bones constantly now. As gentle as his gesture is, though, his voice is stern.]

Don't beg, Ardyn. It's below you. Of all people, you should know just what I will risk for those I deem worthy of it. Think of yourself what you will, but you cannot make me think the same. I'm not letting this part of you die when it hasn't had a proper chance to live.

[It's darkly amusing, Ignis can't help but think, that he wants the same thing for both the beginning and the end of the line--a thing that shouldn't be possible. The first and the last both deserve the chance to live as they want to and to find peace once they have learned the true value of it.]

[scourgingstars]

Don't tell me what to do, I'm not Noctis. [He tried so hard to make that sound like a joke, but it only came out in the same insistent but not yet frantic tone.]

I'm telling you, I'm not worth that. I've long since had and lost my chance, and I would sooner wish to be alone again than cause pain for the only friends I've had in two thousand years.

[Ardyn leaned his forehead lightly against the adviser's, words unsteady and trailing off.]

Why can none of you just...let me accept that fate for myself...?

[shatteredlenses]

[Ignis sighs softly, hands coming up to weave gently into Ardyn's hair.]

Ardyn, Medicus-mine, listen to me. You can't expect me to believe that if you were in my shoes and I in yours, you would allow me to go to the same fate you wish for yourself. It may be that some fates can't be changed. It may be some stories cannot be rewritten, but until all hope is gone--until every chance has been taken--I won't give up on what may be.

[scourgingstars]

[He tilted his head just slightly into the touch, quiet at first before finding the words to answer.]

Hope has been gone for me for a very long time, little flame. I'm well beyond any salvation except only in death.

[shatteredlenses]

I know... I know you feel that way. It's why I made the promise I did, but you have to forgive me if I try to find other solutions.

[His hands lower slightly so that his thumbs can gently rub over Ardyn's cheeks.]

Forgive me. Please. I have to try.

[scourgingstars]

No--I'm the one that needs to apologize. I'll not be able to protect you any longer, so please stay out of trouble. I-...people need you around here.

[His voice dropped to something shaky and quiet, a light hand brushing Ignis' hair from his face.]

And if you'll not accept farewell, then at least allow me to say goodbye, whether temporary or permanent.

[Ardyn closed the short distance between them for no more than a half-second, brushing the briefest and feather-light kiss against Ignis' lips before pulling back.]

...I'm sorry. I don't ask your forgiveness--I don't deserve it after all I've done. But please--no matter what happens, no matter how insistent you are upon this point...don't let me hurt you again.

[shatteredlenses]

Ardyn...

[His name comes out like a whisper, the rest of the words Ignis want to follow it getting lost somewhere on the path to his mouth. All he can think of for a long few seconds is that kiss, so soft and light, a breeze here and then gone and lost to the ages.]

It's all right for you to need something. Just as it's all right for me to need something.

[The kiss that follows is more solid that the one that Ardyn brushed across his lips. Something meant to be remembered wherever he goes once Monsun is gone.]

You don't need to ask me for forgiveness. You've done nothing wrong. When the time comes, I will settle things with him. And then I will find you again.

[scourgingstars]

[The touch set a faint shudder through his body--just the physical contact with a real living, warm human was enough to send a shock like the current of a Thunder spell through an undead, unliving form. Ardyn leaned into it, gloved hand resting against Ignis' jawline in silent encouragement. When they broke apart, a hesitant and tired laugh echoed quiet in the back of his throat.]

I've done everything wrong, my magnificent little flame. There's no separating the two of us now. My spite is the fuel for his vengeance, and his fury is my own. Don't forgive me. Don't fail to hold me accountable for the people I've hurt and the world I've left in ruin.

And don't let me do anything else to you. This heart couldn't take that, even if I'll not care once this is over.

[shatteredlenses]

I...

[Ignis almost promises. Right now, it would be too easy to promise anything if it would bring peace to Ardyn's troubled heart, but despite all the training he's had in twisting words to suit his needs, there are some promises he can't make and some lies he can't tell.]

Ask me for anything. Anything but that. You know how I am. I can't--I won't--make a promise I can't keep.

[scourgingstars]

I know. But I can't let you chase after a memory when you only risk hurting yourself in the process. That's the last thing I would ever wish after you've been so kind to me.

[shatteredlenses]

[Ignis lowers his gaze, shaking his head.]

Chasing memories. Sometimes that's all we have. If we let those go, then what is there left? If I forget the sight of the dawn, then I will never see it again. If I forget Prompto's smile, then I will never again remember how it brightens his face. If I forget Noct's eyes then...

[He pauses a moment, biting at his lower lip.]

All I have are memories. I can't let them run from me.

[scourgingstars]

This is a memory best left forgotten. For your sake and for the king you've sworn to, rather than the one history left behind. You can scarcely serve the Chosen King at all if you're risking your life for my sake instead--especially knowing I'm to be his worst enemy.

[shatteredlenses]

No!

[The answer is sudden and determined. He shakes his head once more as if to clear away that burst of emotion so that he can continue more calmly.]

No. You speak as if fate doesn't tie the two of you as closely as it ties me to him. I haven't given up on changing things. Merely switched my focus. If I cannot change things through Noctis, then who is to say the path to change does not lay through his 'enemy' instead.

[scourgingstars]

I can't help you. No matter how I wish to, there is nothing in my power that will aid you in this. I don't-...understand why you-...why you can't just-...

[Ardyn's voice cracked and broke off, lowering his head to rest against Ignis's shoulder.]

...you can't save me. I can't change that which fate has written for me, but Noctis might yet see some kind of chance somehow.

[shatteredlenses]

[All Ignis' words fail him in the face of such raw emotion, such sadness. How often have they argued this circle? Different words, same destinations. One has given up; the other will not. They have so little time left, he doesn't want to waste more of it with useless arguing.

Ignis leans his head against Ardyn's even as his arms tighten around the broken healer.]

If I can't save him--if I can't save you--then I will spend the rest of my life making sure the Astrals rue the moment they turned their back on you and set us all upon this path.

[scourgingstars]

...oh, that must be the kindest thing anyone's said to me in a long time.

[Ardyn tried to laugh, but it sounded shaky and pained. The way he was clinging to Ignis like his single last lifeline didn't exactly help any attempts to brush things off, either.]

You're truly a magnificent spectacle, my darling. The gods themselves would shudder just to hear your approach.

[shatteredlenses]

[Ignis smiles sadly into Ardyn's hair, feeling tears gather at the corners of his useless eyes.]

You think too highly of me.

[There is a pause as Ignis tries to still his shaking voice. Oh, how quickly certainty has fled from him.]

I've...just never known when to let go.

[scourgingstars]

Stubbornness is no terrible trait in and of itself. You need only apply it to a cause that will gain results, and not an impossible one.