ardyn caelum was born into the beginning of it all. where towns and kingdoms were to be established , where the blessing of the mothercrystals were almighty. his story begins with three: an oracle , a leader , and a healer. he was a man led by faith , blessed by the crystal to heal the blight which had began to creep among the edge of their new yet unnamed kingdom. the more he healed , the more blight he would absorb into his once empty vessel. maintenance of the lands was day around , traveling long distances over weeks and months to restore farms to their former glory & comfort the towns which had suffered for way too long in his eyes. the blight would take his strength , stone beginning to form starting from his chest and spreading out.
it would not take long for ardyn and his brother to start to have differing opinions , ardyn pledging to his people that he would heal the lands from the blight while somnus saw his healing as only preventing the inevitable. for ardyn can only heal so much , & his blessing was a curse itself by offering the false hope that one man could protect them all from it. for the mothercrystal would protect them , & it would only be a matter of time before they must protect their land from those far past their own. somnus was envious of his brother for he was able to use magic without the use of crystals entirely , he was convinced that it was unfair that only he would have access to this power while the rest of population could not have it at their beck & call. the eve of the proclamation of their kingdom slowly had gotten closer , each brother backed by their own groups of supporters , as they stood in front of the mothercrystal.
the oracle had been in contact with the mothercrystal , that one was to be proclaimed rightful king , & would have the right to name their land & lead them to prosperity. yet , what led was betrayal. somnus proclaimed himself as the chosen king , as the mothercrystal had told the oracle. for it would not be long until ardyn would encompass the blight , that he would become their downfall. it was his mission to slay this would-be monster ⸺ but the blade did not strike ardyn , & instead struck his beloved oracle , aera. it did not take long for her to pass , & struck by grief , it is only then that the blight he had held for so long began to seep from his features. his brother's blade struck true & deep into his heart. it was then , he had turned to stone. unmoving & presumed dead, he was buried underneath an unmarked grave far , far from the newly named kingdom , sidus.
but one day , thousands of years past his time , the stone had cracked away. he is alive , & there is a voice which entices him. there is rage , there is betrayal , & it is only then he knows the truth. he was meant to be king , & somnus' kingdom will fall.
this is heavily influenced by @lucisking's ffxvi verse!
some more notes:
just for funsies i'm marking ardyn down as the first bearer. as the years go by , more and more are born. yet he would be the first recorded one in history , at least , before he was erased by it. knowing how bearers are treated in the current age , it brings him another motivating factor to simply destroy it all. bearer's are cursed to die , so why did he not ? how dare these kingdoms treat their own people as such ? is it all even worth it ? (correct answer 4 ardyn: absolutely not, burn it all to the ground.)
ardyn is able to now release the blight he had absorbed from the land. since blight is a side effect of aether , it is unknown if this was meant to happen since ardyn was only meant to be kind of the clean up crew & he was the beta version of it. it didn't work , so ultima did not have more humans have this power. it works out in the end , however , as ultima may find ardyn alive & need him to wipe out noctis since he is activity attempting to purify the land. ultima is just waiting for the game over screen , so it would be easier to just spread blight , have everything disappear , & start over , than to have noctis continue expelling the aether he had been collecting via mothercrystals.
he might have or might have not been an influence behind the downfall of sidus , for it was the first thing off his checklist. it is only after a few years that he notices that the blight has given him a sort of immunity to dying , just as the blight cannot just be erased. he cannot use epic shadow teleportation , however , he is able to disguise himself as those who had been killed & decayed by blight or by his own hand. a few years after that , somehow ardyn gets whereabouts of a living royal from sidus. he begins to search the lands for this royal , creeping ever closer with a few encounters. it seems he is always able to slip away.
" nothing like a little bit of a break from the great outdoors , hm ? " a definite downgrade from what could be considered a break , yet , if it is a roof over one's head it could be taken as such. the eve of night trickles in , cricket's chirping with an unspoken air of concern for what is to come. he sits upon a plastic chair , somewhat brittle from the aching sun , as it creeks from his leaning figure. small talk , only something to distract from the rising pinpricks only the setting sun is capable of doing , & a smile that hides its venomous fangs till their guards down. get closer to the enemy ? check. but how boring it is to merely witness their acension from afar. his face would become one emboldened by what is yet to come. " tomorrow will be a long day. "
" lost in thought already ? " it was a miracle one could think when aboard a surprisingly aerodynamic hunk of metal. the clanging & rumbling of an engine never fails to rise a phantomatic headache. his steps could only be heard due to the steel that sits at the soles of his boots , a methodical saunter that never fails to bring him to where he is needed.
" i'm pleased you came to pick me up , my destination was a little too far of a drive for my taste. " a simple white lie , for underlying intentions linger upon his new stop. he stops , lingering beside ravus as he stares at the now greying clouds. an amused smirk remains , refusing to disappear despite the scorn on the other's face. " why so mad ? did something happen ? "
for what she wanted from him, she had no idea. an aimless spirit who's spectral tethers persisted to wane ... this world would be rid of her soon. a welcome rest. she is tired. she is weary. nothing to quite to the extent of her counterpart, however ....
as time went on, lunafreya grew a basis of an understanding for ardyn. even if only a little. there was an apathy growing within her. a deep seated darkness she could not shake. perhaps, it was inside her all along ... only brought to light in the everlasting quiet of the world.
" and end, it shall .... " her words are simply an affirmation, a mild comfort. why ... did it have to end this way ? for noctis to throw himself to the sword over ... the ring of the lucii. the very same object she had risked life and limb to be in his possession. cruel, indeed.
it didn't make sense. it wasn't an oversight ... this was key information she had been withheld from, with a reasoning that she could only imagine. it didn't matter now. she'd lost. they all .... lost.
despite this, there was a creeping curiosity, a lurking doubt inside her. that everything was wrong, that all she had known ... wasn't her reality, after all.
temptation was poised next to her. ardyn. a man who was just as mysterious as he was forbidden. their paths were never meant to cross, not until their end. but ... what if that was for this very reason ... ? ( the end was nearing, anyhow. )
questions that were always quick to quiet now bubbled to the surface. lingering queries about his origin, his story, her purpose ... he had every answer, though she would forsake her creed just to ask.
she turns to him. " ardyn lucis caelum ... " at the very least, he deserved the respect that his entire name commanded. " i had read and scoured many books in search of your story, though i have yet to find more than names. seeing that we've little time remaining --- will you oblige me ? "
her words are tinged with curiosity , with that keen interest she had never been meant to indulge in. one which now burns to know the full story. for him , her sight & ears had been taken by the astrals long before she truly knew her role. shrouded with the gentle whispers of savior & protector. the mere taste of death is what truly opens one's eyes in this cruel tale the swordbearer wishes to finish.
she was never meant to see the big picture of it all. once again , placed as the sole pawn for the cursed ring. perhaps , if he had merely derailed it all , would her purpose be rewritten ? would she be tossed aside to abide a destiny that none would willingly follow ? if so , there would be no need for the fury & spite which clings & claws his words.
his tale would have been a pitiful one , if so.
it had taken a few beats of silence before his mouth opened , weight hanging atop of words he had not spoken in these long quiet years. his head rests atop a closed fist , leaned against it as if slumber threatens to finish his tale. " in an age long past , an incurable scourge ravaged mankind. "
his words were recited , each syllable accounted for. it had been a story retold aplenty , & if not aloud , it was recited for his own remembrance. " in lucis lived a savior that could cure the afflicted , one whose body would come to host a myriad of demons. but a jealous king ⸺ " his words were now trickling with resentment. " one not yet chosen by the crystal , demonized this healer of the people. "
" ... making a true monster of him. "
he sighs. for this was the story he had not aspired to have , for this was his fate begrudgingly handed to him. the sacrifice of one was enough for humanity , yet he had done enough already. it was never enough in the eyes of the almighty.
" this kingdom was built with a false king , & will die with a falsified bloodline. we've made it to the finale , & as preordained this fate may be , i will make sure it is rewritten. "
A KING FALLEN TO SCOURGE'S DEMISE SPEAKS & WORLD'S CHOSEN SACRIFICE HARBORS HATRED KNOWN ONLY TO ONE . ardyn's voice tears into his ears & the fact that he sits here , now , before himself & luna . . . his silence is not one of choice , but one of self - restraint . if he spoke , his words would rip through situation's pressures & they'd never make sense of their current predicament . so , luna speaks . & noctis can barely stand to listen to the two converse . after everything he's done . . . he dares to speak to her so casually ? his jaw clenches at the thought .
somehow , though , when luna speaks , there's some relief that breathes life into his lungs . some sort of peace to combat the rage that boils in his veins . & part of that rage , somewhere deeper , is the fact that they're all still alive . he'd broken his own heart to make peace for his final end , to sacrifice himself as savior , & to know it was for naught . . . well , the feelings are complicated , to say the least .
❛ that so . . . ? ❜ his words are a response of genuine nature & acknowledgement , but they still spit with underlying venom . the fact that luna can hear the six no longer , & ardyn's apathetic demeanor are both things that are new to him , & he's not sure how to deal with any of this or process anything . he feels like if he says anything else , he's going to explode , but the silence after luna's statement might first be his ruin .
❛ it doesn't . . . make any sense . ❜ he wants to curse this situation , but knows that stewing in frustration will bring them nowhere . he'll don the mantle of king for another day . ❛ this some sort of second chance ? ❜
“ … second chance ? ” ah, there it was. the long lasting anger which threatens to boil over , the one which steadily guided his hands to encompass ruination past their mere thought of intentions. for if these glorious astrals truly were so gracious in their frivolous blessings , it would have spared him the sight of all his once clouded eyes had caused. it would have left him dead , & gone.
yet now it was harder to contain such fiery feelings, snaking & gripping ‘pon now living & breathing flesh. fingers tightened to white-knuckled fists ( a fragile attempt to keep himself muzzled ) as his once relaxed sit was now at a proper one. he would have stood , yet he cannot , for his strength has not recovered. so he dares to stare , white-hot , at the once boyish eyes of what now is a king.
if this was mercy , he once again had been handed the shortest straw. two thousands years was not enough to heavens most mighty. if he must live yet another lifetime in this falsified kingdom, if this is what THEY consider repentance, he will not take it. have their willing pawns take it , he does not wish to live in such a fairytale ending.
a bitter chuckle shakes his shoulders , & he breaks his stare. his head hangs , faced towards the window which leaks undisturbed sunlight. " what am i ⸺ why must i be here for this ? i am not the answer to all this madness , nor why we stand now. " for his plan had been pre-ordained , no matter if he denied it or played the part. this was not apart of it. " you'll actually do me a favor if you chopped me up now , your majesty. then feel free discuss this all you'd like with your revived bride-to-be. "
ardyn vc: 2 my favorite duo stuck as pawns in this elaborate scheme where we’re stuck in a preordained fate & we all die nonetheless ! happy birthday !
if the tension could be cut, it wouldn't be with a knife. it would take the might of the very astrals to even make a dent.
ruined. it was a simple word to describe the storm he had casted 'pon their cherished kingdom. it should have been over. this would have been his final legacy , the final mark to spit in the face of a world he wants no part of. foreign , all of it. for the blood pumping through his veins are his own , the heartbeat he hears every so loudly in his ears , & the numbing cold of the evening.
it was silent in the room which the three revived sat. his room , to be specific. he had not left it in days , but such are the pawns of the gods to take matters in their own hands. nuisances , all of them. yet he could not stir the anger which had festered for so long ⸺ he was just so tired.
no words could escape from the confinements of his racing mind. why were they still alive ? a final ditch effort to grant true happiness ? he slouches a little more in his chair , head hanging backwards to lay on top of it. it was a little worse for wear , but it worked nonetheless. a sigh slips out , for working thoughts weighed the options. he just wanted to be left alone.
" back to the chopping block . nay ? " a lackluster effort hangs in between his words. " what wonderous plan have you two thought of next ? "
