hugtopia_logs | those rebellious teenage years come a-calling

Entry tags:

!: noctis lucis caelum

those rebellious teenage years come a-calling

♥ Who: Noctis and Ardyn
♥ Where: Regis & Ardyn's place, woo
♥ When: /NONCOMMITTAL HAND WOBBLE, some time in September
♥ What: Some talking! About important things! AKA: "would you like to try a little blasphemy, as a treat"
♥ Rating: idk PG at least, probably

[It's well after his birthday - and post-afterglow of what a damn good day he'd had, because he'd wanted to ride that wave as long as he could without ruining it - that Noctis finally resolves himself to have a talk he'd been rather anxious about for... well, probably a few months now. It had started out as just a theorized thing between he and Pyra, something to work on in the background. But the truth is, if they really want to go for it - really, really make a solid effort - they'll need extra help. They'll need Ardyn on board. And he doesn't know what that means, he doesn't have a plan or a method or anything, but.

But.

He really wants to try, turns out.

And so, one particular afternoon when he knows Regis will be manning the potion shop, Noctis ventures over to the house and knocks on the door (rather than letting himself in, which might indicate things are more serious today). Should Ardyn open the door to invite him in, he'll be greeted by an awkward shuffle and an offered bottle of some of this really nice fruit wine from Shoremere, almost like an apology.]

Hey. You free for one of those talks?

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He's right--everything always is, my dear.

[Ardyn shrugged in Pyra's direction, holding out a hand to-...to...]

[To look at his empty hand in muted horror, apparently. He tried a second and then third time, but despite all efforts there wasn't so much as a spark of light or trace of an outline.]

What happened to my sword, Noctis.

[ When the two test for summoning their weapons, she does the same.

...Nothing. Worriedly, she gives Noctis the same look Ardyn does, not needing to say more. ]

I didn't do anything!

[Impossible not to be immediately defensive at that, which is only made worse by Noct's own fluster at failing to warp. Still, the fact that neither of them can do it either just cements his fears. He grimaces, making another attempt, but with no such luck. His sword fails to appear and he goes nowhere for the trouble. He can still feel his magic, but similar to when his powers were sealed by Izunia, he can reach for it but nothing connects. It's... bizarre.

Rather than warp directly, he focuses on calling the weapon to his hand alone, and this time it manifests. He's caught off guard by it, staring for a few seconds at the blade before it vanishes from his fingers again.]

Whoa, okay- okay, hang on. We've still got them, just... no warping? Maybe there's a rule against certain powers here?

A rule against--how does that even--

[Having not been on that very cursed train, Ardyn could barely conceptualize not having said powers. His hand twitched restlessly before he made yet another attempt, the hilt of the Rakshasa Blade settling into his grip with tangible relief. Okay. Dismissing it again, he took a breath and ran a hand through his hair.]

...I don't think this is very promising for our immediate chances.

[ Who is making these rules, she wants to ask, or better yet: how are they (whoever "they" are) enacting them via memory?

More questions to add to the mystery of this place, she supposes. ]

...But we can still move forward. And first up is this. [ She steps towards Noctis, then looks towards their first trial, the set of moving stones with hot spikes. A sprint could clear this, or maybe a roll, if necessary.

She waits for blocks' timing, then ducks and darts across. Cake, baby. ]

[The answer is probably "an asshole" which could include any number of guilty parties, but since no one's here to provide the truth, Noctis can only shrug and follow her lead. The set of spike blocks leads to a smaller passage, which opens up into a much larger room. Noctis can already feel that dread creeping back- he can see plenty of other platforms that would require jumping (and would be so much easier with a warp!) and a handful of the same bronzed circlets embedded in walls or floors, waiting to be activated by something, like the one above. There's more moving blocks, a huge statue of a man he doesn't recognize from any legends he's read about, a... daemon? In a cage? And then...

He leans over the edge, looking down, only to be greeted by an endless nothing. He's looked down from plenty of great heights before, but he's never felt the sort of vertigo he feels in that moment, and it makes him stumble back a few steps, eyes wide.]

Whoa, whoa! How deep are these ruins!?

[Mumbling something about the inherent unfairness in how much taller he was, Ardyn followed with little trouble; he was luckily capable enough without warping, though as he followed it was dawning on him that 'capable' was not remotely going to cut it.]

[Unlike Noctis he stepped forward slightly, yellow eyes sharper than most in the darkness. Nothing about this place looked like the ruins he was familiar with, flawed memory or not. Somehow he doubted even Aera would meet a sight like this with her usual eagerness. Something about it felt...wrong, and he couldn't tell if that was his own unease or the darkness itself making a very unpleasant part of himself feel completely at home.]

[Ardyn leaned over the edge, peering over the edge into darkness even he couldn't see through--then a thought occurred to him.]

...I could find out, I think.

[ She’s about to suggest that maybe in order to reach each of those circular switches, they should split up, but then Ardyn says that and— ]

You can’t be serious!

[ Does he mean to jump??? ]

[He gets a similar look from Noctis.]

We don't have our powers, are you crazy?

We don't have our powers. [He said that pointedly, with an uncomfortable look.] In a place like this, it feels like I could...

[Ardyn trailed off and glanced away nervously, looking over the edge again.]

...no, I'm quite sure that I could, actually. Besides that, it's not possible for something like this to kill me. [Beat.] ...That seems like it would have been too easy.

[ She brings a hand to her mouth, stifling a sound that’s equally parts shock and grief. He’s really going to not!martyr himself over this—? ]

There’s— There’s probably another way down.

[ Why must the Lucis Caelums go to extreme methods first? ]

[Noctis glances between the two for a long moment, recognizing Ardyn's implications, then exhales heavily and turns away, scratching a hand through his hair.]

He'll probably just do it anyway, while we're not looking. To be "helpful". [Their whole family are idiots after all.] Do whatever you want, but if you live I'm still gonna say I told you so.

I would do no such thing. [Which was honest; if Noctis genuinely tried to stop him, that would have been the end of it. Until he tripped, probably.]

It's alright, Pyra--just trust me for a moment. Wait here, I promise that I'll be right back.

[So long as Noctis wasn't looking, there was no reason to ask him to turn away. Which was probably better for both of them. Ardyn vanished into a streak of shadow, disappearing over the edge with alarming speed.]

[...After which followed silence, for a full minute or so.]

[The same rush of shadow came back over the edge of the stone landing, reforming into Ardyn who now looked like he had seen a ghost. other than himself.]

I, ah...well.

I don't think there's a floor.

...Ever.

[ It’s alright, he says, right before he goes, and she gasps, bringing a hand to her chest. The other shakily reaches for Noctis’ as the second tick by.

Was this a mistake? She knows they were trying to find a solution, but at this cost? No, no—

This is a very grueling minute. ]

[ OH GOOD HES BACK—

Yeah yeah this family if full of self sacrificing people and maybe she should expect it, but god damn that doesn’t mean she can’t be sad about it!

She’s going to drop Noctis’ hand to give Ardyn a hug. ]

[Her hand is welcomed during the duration Ardyn is gone for, and when he returns, Noctis is watching for it instead of looking away, made further anxious by not only the atmosphere of this place but also the time dragging on with nothing else to do but wait. It wouldn't feel right to try and explore without him, even if there was nothing they could do to help him if something went wrong (except maybe jump in after him and share his fate, whatever that may be) so instead he can only hyperfocus on everything else. Why was it built like this? Why is their magic sealed, but not Ardyn's power? (Though that is technically a good sign, considering they're here to learn about the scourge.) Why is there… black slime oozing from the ceiling into the abyss below? What the hell is this place?

He can't blame Pyra for needing to hug him when he gets back- Noctis halfway wants to do it himself, and only doesn't because he's too busy being both annoyed (of course his powers work, so unfair) and horrified by the declaration.]

…So… don't fall off, in other words.

[If you die in the crystal world do you die in real life??]

[Pyra's hug was reciprocated along with a gentle pat to the head, gods knew he needed it with how today was already proceeding.]

It's alright--see, I told you I would be right back. [He shook his head and looked back to Noctis, clearly hating just about every second of this.]

Are...we really quite sure about this? What happens to us back in reality, if something goes wrong?

[ Okay…! Okay! See, she’s calm. A little teary-eyes but she’s wiping them away. Ardyn’s fine, she’s fine, Noctis is fine. They’re all okay.

Stepping away from him, she puts on a meager smile again. ] This is a memory, right ..? No matter how dangerous, I should be able to bring the both of you back.

[ She thinks? Her own power is fuzzy here. ]

It's a memory, yeah…

[He sounds less sure than he'd like himself to be, though. It is functionally the same as what they've experienced before, but it still feels a little different than it usually is. More visceral… does that mean more dangerous, or is it just a matter of perception? They know so little about this place that it's still impossible to tell. Makes it all much more frustrating… also more worrisome.]

Maybe just- expect the worst, hope for the best? Let's not take any more risks than we have to. It does look like we can't play it totally safe, but we can do our best. [He glances at Ardyn.] That means you too. Even if it's safer for you to do it, let's not go down there again. See that? [He points off to the side, where another streak of black goo drops off into the abyss below.] I feel like that's a good indication of what could be down there.

You don't need to admonish me, last I knew you weren't my mother. We'll continue with a little extra caution, just to be sure.

[There wasn't any real frustration to that, Ardyn swiftly distracted by looking to the walls with a quietly thoughtful stare.]

...It's hard to tell. One would think I'd be able to sense something like that, but it's impossible to say what I'm feeling right now. I certainly don't like it, but something is far more comfortable than I want to admit to.

[ She is rather curious about the goo… Probably best not to touch it. As for what Ardyn says, she bows her head, thinking. ]

It’s a memory, but… [ And one that does not belong to either of them, yet it holds some sort of special connection to them. ] …Do either of you feel a sense of deja-vu?

That's not- ugh, whatever.

[See if he ever tries to play it safe again!! He shrugs and focuses back on the actual problem- namely, the ruins and its general vibe.]

I don't feel it any more than I would in any other Solheim ruin. A lot of them kind of look the same- they've got similar symbols, glyphs, mechanics, all that. So a lot of this is familiar to me in that sense. I don't feel like I've been to this place before, though. Which is kind of weird because I should, since I've been carrying this memory for months now.

[He pauses, as that particular realization brings a very different thought to mind.]

It's more like... no one's been here. Ever. Someone had to have built it ages ago, but no one remembers it. Any memory of it exists outside of time. [A beat, and then,] Oh.

[A ruin of time and space, that exists... outside of time and space. Huh.]

That...really doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I presume both of you know much better than I would.

[i am 2000 years old and what is this]

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lmao i had this open like 2 hours and didnt post

oop

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1/2

2/3 i lied

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1/2

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