hugtopia | Video: There's an old voice in my head

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Video: There's an old voice in my head

So it seems the coeurl is out of the bag.

[For those of you that haven't seen Cor since he escaped the Temple Priests care he's looking... well... quite a bit less haggard. As a matter of fact he looks better than he has in months. No less worried or stern but the harsh weathering has faded from his skin making the light smattering of freckles clearer, his hair is a little darker, the lines in his face a little lighter.

As a matter of fact he looks more like a man in his early 40s, not one teetering ever closer to 50.]

There's likely a whole mess of time paradox concerns but as we have more and more people from Eos arriving it is becoming harder and harder to keep track of who knows what. Anyone that has any input on how to handle these potential paradoxes I'd appreciate it.

[He sighs, lifting a mug of coffee to his lips, and offering the tablet a resigned shrug.]

Of those here... I believe I have the most complete picture of the future. It was August ME 758 last I knew. If you'd like to know what your future holds rather than tripping into it. Come see me.

[He reaches out to kill the feed, hesitating for just a moment.]

Mmm, Ardyn, I've a favor to ask when you have a moment, as well.

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Fair enough.

[Cor takes a steadying breath and then scoots back so he's sitting with his back to the wall and his legs stretched out across the foot of the bed.]

If you need to pause, need a break so you can process things, there's no need to push yourself.

[That said... He scrubs a hand over his face and gets started.]

Regis comes from the tail end of a battle between the two of you. You slipped into the city during the Founders Festival and... well basically ransacked things. Directing Ifrit around, demolishing everything you could get your hands on. There were crystals being used to amplify the power needed to sustain the wall. With those taken down the wall was breached by airships that kept most of the guard busy, the ones you hadn't already killed at least.

You and Regis battled and I can't say what exactly happened at the end but you spared him. The Old Wall was awoken, or perhaps your brother just felt you deserved an answer after all those years. Either way the damage to the city took years to repair and the Lucian forces were decimated. It's a large part of why Regis decided to establish the Kingsglaive and share his power with an entire army. There was no standing against the power of the gods themselves, not for normal citizens.

[Ardyn listened in silence, focusing on the simple, repetitive motion of his hands to stay focused. It sounded...impossible. Too utterly insane and beyond him to be true. Directing the power of a god, causing untold devastation and death.]

[The mere thought made him feel distinctly unwell, which in itself he supposed was a good sign he wasn't so far gone yet.]

I think...Regis made mention of such an event. I wasn't in any fit state to question overmuch. And I can never speak towards what my brother might be thinking, I'm afraid.

His Majesty was unconscious. If you want to know the full details of that particular exchange I'm afraid you'd need to ask your brother for that information.

[He pauses there for a moment, gives Ardyn time to consider, makes a point of adjusting his position and stretching his neck where the healing wound still aches.]

After that you returned to Niflheim, defeated. Besithia's research took on a horrific turn. First torturing and experimenting on daemonified civilians, then his own researchers, then cloned infants that had no sense of self to lose. Perfecting the process cost thousands of lives but eventually he was able to churn out mindless soldiers, human shells powered by the scourge and enhanced with mechanical... pieces.

You were named Chancellor, Ardyn Izunia, though I've no idea where that surname came from. Iedolas gradually went mad as well, obsessed with the power of the crystal. It's hard to say if it was really you that orchestrated any of the goings on or if it was in some way Ifrit exacting his will through you.

...I've heard the name before. I've no more idea than you where it came from.

[Better to start with that than...everything else he'd just heard.]

I...do not think it a matter of the Infernian's will, strictly speaking. More likely that an encounter with a vengeful god's memories pushed me further than I care to admit myself capable. I would sooner call it my own will, but twisted and corrupted beyond recognition.

[Cor nods, gaze softening, shifting his position enough to drape his legs over Ardyn's. A grounding weight in the here and now, where none of that corruption has any bearing on the man beside him.]

It's all so twisted up in the prophecy it's impossible to know.

During that time I was doing reconnaissance in Niflheim. One of the first... batches of clones, when Besithia realized they needed to be daemonified before they were old enough to have self awareness, he ordered them destroyed. And I was a fool and put my entire mission at risk to rescue at least one of those poor children. Which is how Prompto ended up growing up in Insomnia.

I have no idea if it was your idea or not but... when Noctis was 8 there was an attack on a royal caravan. He was gravely injured and might have been killed if Regis hadn't made it there in time. You may have noticed that he limps sometimes and his stances are a little off center. There was significant damage done to his back and he spent some months in Tenebrae with the Oracle trying to repair more than what we were able to do in Lucis.

While in Tenebrae the Empire attacked, slayed the oracle, Lunafreya's mother, Sylva Via Fleuret. Regis managed to escape with Noctis but it was a close thing and his Majesty suffered a serious injury. Tenebrae was taken under the control of the Empire, Lunafreya and her brother became prisoners in their own home.

That was in 744

[Ardyn cursed under his breath, either because of what Cor said or because he'd nearly stabbed himself with a needle listening to it. Did the Empire do nothing but the worst thing imaginable at any given time.]

...Go on. I'm still listening.

The Niflheim army was huge by that point, MTs mass produced by the millions. The first were weaker though. In '45 they lost much of their army... slaying Shiva.

Instead of being horrific it just prompted Iedolas to grant Besithia more funding to create even more powerful MTs. Rebuild their army with even more monstrous things. Besithia was also obsessed with Solheim technology, moreso than previously. There were rumors of some sort of ultimate weapon at the time but we never had enough evidence to fully investigate it.

With Shiva's death the entire region was subjected to an endless blizzard. It made it much more difficult for us to get any scouts inside and we were under a constant barrage from the greater number of soldiers.

Lunafreya became Oracle, she started travelling trying to heal the Scourge. Time passed, the boys grew up... 755 is when everything was really set in motion.

[What was it with him and gods? Ardyn really couldn't understand why Verstael couldn't leave well enough alone, but he'd come to expect it by now.]

I dare not ask how much worse things could get. What happened in 755?

Edited (damn enter key) 2019-12-01 20:57 (UTC)

Besithia started intentionally daemonifying his research team, if you listen to the rumors. Given what I know of the man he absolutely did. The things he did to develop the Diamond Weapon must have been... well, insanity.

And Ravus, Lunafreya's older brother, he was a high ranking commander in the Niflheim army. As I understand it he blamed Regis for being unable to save his mother from her death, nor the children from their imprisonment... so he sought power within the Empire instead. Between you -at least... that version of Ardyn-, Besithia, and now Commander Fleuret telling the Emperor how absolute the power of the Crystal and the Ring were... plans for the final assault on Insomnia began.

[He pauses briefly, considering the implications of what he's about to begin telling. It may be easier for Ardyn if he continues on with that distinction between them. Make it clear he does not lay any blame upon the man beside him for what his future held. It was not the actions of Ardyn Lucis Caelum, after all, but Ardyn Izunia.]

The Empire had learned all those years ago when y-Izunia and Ifrit had attacked the city, to get inside the Wall they must infiltrate the city. We were worried about the entourage Izunia was leading. An offer of "peace". The city alone would remain under Lucian control if all outlands were surrendered. Not that our attempted defenses stood any chance against the Empire. Noctis and Lunafreya were to be married, a gesture of good will, and all lands beyond the city walls were to be given full control to the Empire.

It was all lies, of course. We were worried about the Emperor and those travelling with him... But there was no need for such an invasion of our defenses. Apparently they already had been, for years. Over a decade... a young man that Regis had brought in and treated as family. He-

Titus Drautos was driven from his home by the Empire and yet he too blamed the very King he swore his allegiance to, the King whose special forces he commanded, for not being able to save him or his kin. This is the level of expectations that have been placed upon the royal line after all these many years. That all tragedies were to be laid at the feet of those that could not defend, rather than upon the shoulders of those driving the attack.

And those Regis offered shelter to resented him those failings so deeply that they would surrender the entirety of Insomnia to the very Empire they'd run from if it meant seeing the King.... get what's coming to him.

[Speaking of Drautos is clearly painful for him, a man of his own age with similar responsibilities. They'd worked together, been closer than Cor had been with anyone else beyond Regis and Clarus. To know that such poison had been so close to them for so long...]

He was the one who wounded Regis when he fled Tenebrae with Noctis... It took 12 years but- he finished what he began that day.

...

[Ardyn was silent in the face of all this, gold eyes distant and tired. His hands stilled for a moment as he contemplated something; the larger implications of the entire matter concerned him less than what was before him right now. It was worrying, to be sure...but he'd have to think on the whole picture later, once it was all laid out clearly.]

[For now Ardyn simply changed position, sitting beside Cor and leaning on his shoulder as he picked up repairing his uniform.]

[As Ardyn shifts Cor takes a moment to steady himself a little, slow measured breaths. He's not here to mourn or rage at any of it, merely convey a series of events. Still he's grateful for the press of Ardyn's weight against his shoulder, leaning into the other man slightly as well. It's a familiar position he shares with Regis quite regularly, shoulder to shoulder or back to back, each supporting the other.]

Before the Imperial retinue arrived Regis made plans to relocate the wedding to Altissia. A Glaive had been sent to intercept the Princess. The idea had been to keep both of them safe outside the city walls while the treaty was signed.

He moved the Crownsguard to defend the People, defending the Wall while the Kingsglaive was positioned closest to him... It's the only reason I was able to get so many out of the city before the Empire fully occupied what was left of Insomnia. One of the few Glaives that were loyal to the crown managed to get the Princess out.

The Empire told the media that Regis, Noctis, and Luna were all felled in that attack. It actually helped a little, gave Noctis time to start collecting the royal arms before the Empire earnestly started hunting him. As I understand it that's where you came in on a more personal level.

The boys crossed paths with Izunia a few times in their travels before they realized he was the Imperial Chancellor. I was doing my best to keep up with the Empire's movements, new bases being established, more targets to attack. The Lucian forces were scattered at best and I will admit I relied on the boys perhaps too heavily early on. They were a force to be reckoned with, they needed practice, and the Glaives' power had been cut when his Majesty died. Many of them did not want to face the Empire with as little strength as we had left.

Lunafreya got ahead of Noctis... began communing with the Astrals, waking them so they could test the King of Light and grant him their power. Titan was the first and Izunia guided them straight to him. In the meanwhile the Empire, Zegnautus Keep, Gralea it only took a month and a half after Insomnia fell for the Scourge to engulf the Empire. Laregely because Besithia's experiments had gotten out of control, he was intentionally infecting... pretty much everyone he could, including his own researchers.

Everything was falling apart.

I presume that...I did not exactly hinder such efforts in Verstael’s case. Worse yet, no doubt the idea came from me directly.

[Ardyn’s hands shook faintly at the thought, and he took a slow breath to steady them.]

And such a secluded region surrounded by nothing but uninhabitable cold—of course any ailment would catch like wildfire there.

It began to spread from there.

In the time between Insomnia's fall and the world being entirely swallowed by darkness -10 weeks perhaps?- a great deal happened.

Noctis successfully completed the covenant with all but Ifrit. During the covenant with Leviathan the Empire invaded Altissia in an attempt to slay her before she could grant her power to the King. Waking the Tidemother took what was left of Lunafreya's life. Noctis nearly died, Ignis was blinded... and by then the boys were well out of my reach.

Ravus offered Ignis some aid in Altissia in reaching his Highness. The Empire branded him a traitor for it and later burned Fenstala Manor to the ground. Even though Tenebrae was the closest area for their own citizens to flee to when the darkness never lifted. Not that it mattered, the Commander was felled in Zegnautus Keep.

Prompto was separated from the boys... Izunia... tortured him a great deal, mentally and physically. He and an Imperial mercenary that had turned from Niflheim managed to slay the most grotesque of Besithia's monstrosities. Including a massive magitek creation that he installed his own consciousness into after Prompto killed his body. After that he was held in Zegnautus, a key left for them to reach the Emperor and the Crystal alike.

The Emperor was more Daemon than man when they found him and put him down. Then they found Izunia and the crystal and he explained who he was and-

And Noctis disappeared within the Crystal. For me, it's been two years. We have seen neither sun nor stars for nearly that entire time. Much of the population has been infected and for everyone that does we have one more daemon to protect the civilians from. What is left of all armies and hunters are working together to maintain Lestallum. The power plant offers enough energy to run lights that will keep the Daemons at bay but...

Everything is dying. Plants, animals, food. Our resources are not infinite.

...

[Ardyn's hands had gone still somewhere in the explanation, staring blankly at needle and thread without seeing either. Was he really-...actually capable of any of that? Of causing so much pain and catastrophe both directly and indirectly? Never mind that--what about the rest of the world? A fate like that was precisely what he'd destroyed himself trying to avoid, and yet it happened all the same. Was this truly what the gods had wanted? And if so, then...where had it left Ardyn all this time?]

[Cor will let him turn the words over in his head for a long while, content to sit beside him, leaning gently against the other man. He considers laying a hand over Ardyn's, offering a reassuring squeeze... but in the end he doesn't, not wanting to push for too much or make the redhead uncomfortable. What he needs is time and support and Cor will happily offer both.]

Is this-

['-my fault', he wanted to ask. Had it all gone so wrong because he'd been careless, because he'd been so certain his way of banishing the daemons was the right one. So convinced that destroying himself was the necessary price of the world's salvation. Was it his fault for refusing to back down in his certainty that Somnus was wrong, right up until their differences destroyed the pair of them?]

[But he couldn't bring himself to say it, coward that he cursed himself as. Ardyn couldn't bear to ask after what surely must have been the truth--that from start to finish, all of this was because of him.]

...truly alright? To simply allow things to happen and to have happened like this?

I don't know for certain what can be done... but I hope that knowing what the future holds might help us, all of us, better understand what changes need to occur to ensure Eos does not continue down the road Bahamut laid before us.

[A soft sigh and lifts his shoulder, a gentle nudge.]

Everything that has played out has been his doing. We must find a way to veer off his path.

I-I don't know, that's-...

[He'd barely begun to accept that perhaps the gods had chosen him the same way one chose which piece to move on a chessboard. Rebellion and blasphemy altogether were a few steps to miss before falling down a flight or two.]

Something that needs a great deal more consideration. And perhaps more information than one man's viewpoint on it.

[He's not asking for a full scale rebellion.

Yet.]

... [Ardyn tried to steady himself, leaning on Cor's shoulder a bit more as he resumed working on his uniform.]

I just...don't know what to do anymore.

Whatever brings you some measure of peace, you deserve at least that much.

[He would not ask anything of Ardyn that he could not give. He would never ask Ardyn to fight, whatever else may happen. Here he can rest and try to find something that will bring him happiness. Nothing will compare to the misery of the past but... that is not what his future will hold and Cor will do everything he can to ensure that it never will again.]

I've no idea what would. Though...I admit I would want to know if there was any reason behind any of this, if naught else.

That is the trouble I've found as well. It took a discussion with a friend to pinpoint it but...

[He shrugs slightly, unfortunately unable to offer Ardyn much help in that regard.]

I can tell you to find happiness and the others can tell me to relax... but it's been so long since either of us experienced such a thing how can we know what would cause it?

That particular answer may be beyond us but whatever insights we may have I will share with you.

I fear I'm quite useless in that and indeed most other respects. I can scarce even make Aera happy as we once were, to say little of myself.

It's trial and error, I think. There must be something... you'll find it eventually.

Video: There's an old voice in my head

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