Well, that's horrifying. It's a lot easier to distance oneself from the concept of what had happened with just a vague description of "locked away". The nature of said imprisonment is a lot more terrifying in detail, especially when accompanied by so many scars, so many old wounds that didn't heal the way they should have. That probably weren't allowed to heal, if the tools of those wounds were left in place for so long.
It's... hard to parse that mental image with the idea of Somnus doing it, too. The man had been serious and sad, steadfast in his belief that he'd done the necessary thing, but he'd never struck Noctis as cruel. Gladio's description of Gilgamesh hadn't given that impression, either. Izunia, he could imagine being hated enough to seal away in such a violent manner. Maybe the daemon they saw that day was frightening enough to warrant it. Even then, to his own brother...
It's... a lot. He purses his lips into a tight frown, then, taking a deep breath, shifts a little closer to Ardyn in the water. He doesn't touch, but his hand is close, half-offered.]
...I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. We should've found you and brought you home.
[Not the Niffs, not for experimentation or subjugation or anything like that. How different could their lives have been, if that's how it had gone instead? If the man in front of him, who his family had come to know and love as one of their own, was able to return home and experience a kinder life... maybe there could have been reconcilation. Maybe they could have faced their fate together, rather than clash as mortal foes and die opposed.
There's too much dreaming in "what ifs", but gods if he doesn't ache at the idea. He gets why thinking about changing the future is so dangerous more than ever, now.]
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Well, that's horrifying. It's a lot easier to distance oneself from the concept of what had happened with just a vague description of "locked away". The nature of said imprisonment is a lot more terrifying in detail, especially when accompanied by so many scars, so many old wounds that didn't heal the way they should have. That probably weren't allowed to heal, if the tools of those wounds were left in place for so long.
It's... hard to parse that mental image with the idea of Somnus doing it, too. The man had been serious and sad, steadfast in his belief that he'd done the necessary thing, but he'd never struck Noctis as cruel. Gladio's description of Gilgamesh hadn't given that impression, either. Izunia, he could imagine being hated enough to seal away in such a violent manner. Maybe the daemon they saw that day was frightening enough to warrant it. Even then, to his own brother...
It's... a lot. He purses his lips into a tight frown, then, taking a deep breath, shifts a little closer to Ardyn in the water. He doesn't touch, but his hand is close, half-offered.]
...I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. We should've found you and brought you home.
[Not the Niffs, not for experimentation or subjugation or anything like that. How different could their lives have been, if that's how it had gone instead? If the man in front of him, who his family had come to know and love as one of their own, was able to return home and experience a kinder life... maybe there could have been reconcilation. Maybe they could have faced their fate together, rather than clash as mortal foes and die opposed.
There's too much dreaming in "what ifs", but gods if he doesn't ache at the idea. He gets why thinking about changing the future is so dangerous more than ever, now.]