Ignis Scientia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chef_chocobro) wrote2022-06-11 03:33 pm
chef_chocobro) wrote2022-06-11 03:33 pm
The Altar of the Tidemother; Altissia, Accordo; Eos; Saturday Evening [06/11 FT].
Darkness had slowly crept in while they rushed along the streets and rooftops of Altissia, but Ignis and Ravus had finally made it to the Altar of the Tidemother and that glowing pillar of light, which Ignis would swear was starting to dim. Perhaps they'd arrived just in time, but as they neared and saw that, under that light, the bodies of Noctis and Lunafreya lay crumped and motionless, he couldn't help feeling a stab of ice in hi gut that they were too late.
Ignis shouted Noct's name, overlapping with Ravus' own call for Lunafreya, and they hurried forward together. But something stopped Ignis on his way, something lurching out from behind a pillar as he passed.
For a moment, he worried it might be more magitek soldiers, but the shape was much smaller, low to the ground, and most importantly, fluffy and white. A dog. But not just any dog.
"Aren't you her….?" Ignis started, turning toward the animal as it collapsed before him, panting in pain. Immediately, he knelt down and reached out to the poor creature, though once his fingers touched her, she became infused with a bright, glowing golden light, just like the light from the beacon surrounding Noctis and Lunafreya. The dog whimpered out as the light grew stronger, stronger, until it was practically blinding Ignis, who lifted an arm to shield his eyes.
But even closed, his eye could suddenly see all, as Pryna, Messenger to the Oracle, had imparted to him a Vision.
"A power greater than even that of the Six," an unknown, booming, preternatural voice called out, and Ignis saw a hand, resting on the arm of a throne, the Ring of the Lucii glittering on the finger of that hand, "purifying all by the Light of the Crystal and the glaives of rulers past."
The hand belonged, it was suddenly revealed, in a shot of hi face, to Noctis, older in thi Vision, and angrily calling out with ferocity, though Ignis could only hear the words of the mysterious voice overlapping the scenes he saw. Noctis' arm swung out, calling ot arms the weapon of his ancestors, but one in particular, a large and ornately decorated sword, came smashing down into the stone floor before him. It filled the room with a magical blue light, and Noctis pitched forward, collapsing over the elaborate hilt of that blade he wielded.
HIs hand slipped away from it, suddenly lifeless, and the voice continued.
"Only at the throne can the Chosen receive it, and only at the cost of a life: his own."
But it showed Noctis again, this time his face covered in some strange glowing scars and scabs, like a disease quickly taking him over. He cringed against it as it tore through him, all the while lifting his arms, also inflicted by the scourge, to fend off burst of light swinging in and attacking him.
"The King of Kings shall be granted the power to banish the darkness, but the blood price must be paid."
No, Ignis realized. Not just blue lights, but the magical forms of the Armiger, the weapon of Noctis' ancestors, but instead of aiding him now, they were attacking him, relentlessly slicing into him as the spectral figures of the kings long past stood around and watched. Noctis still fought, though, the Ring of the Lucii glittering on his hand as he went to throw futile punches toward these figures. And, briefly, inexplicably, Ignis undeniably saw the face of Ardyn Izunia among them, grinning his all-knowing smirk as he charged in for his own attack.
"To cast out the Usurper and usher in dawn's light will cost the life of the Chosen."
The battle disappeared, and there was Noctis' face again, followed by flashes of Gladio, of Prompto, of Ignis himself, all of them older, gathered around the soft light of a campfire, with grave expressions as they conferred and the voice continued on. Gladio with longer hair, a beard, Prompto with a little facial hair of his own. And Ignis with…
….with….
"Many sacrificed all for the King--"
The grave intonation of the voice pulled Ignis away from the shock of seeing his own face, his own scars that had not been there, and the odd patch of scarred, burned flesh there on the left side…
"--so must the King sacrifice himself for all."
And now back to Noctis, being overtaken by the Starscourge as it crept over his entire body, bursting with light, until he fell back and burst entirely into nothingness. And a ghostly figure hovered before the Throne of Lucis, sword drawn on the ready.
"Now enter into Reflection, that the light of Providence shine within."
With a gasp, Ignis was pulled out of the Vision at the same time that the ghostly figure plunged his sword into the Throne. His head pounded from the overwhelming rush of thoughts and ideas and voices it provided. Realizing, too, that his ha
"What did I just see?" he muttered, asking, even though he knew the answer. "A vision of what's to come?"
The darkness. The coming darkness that they'd known ever since Prompto had experienced a version of himself, twenty years in the future. The darkness, and Noctis' disappearance, and Ignis' own blindness…
But there was no time to dwell on it now. He had to hurry to Noctis.Grunting, Ignis pulled himself back to his feet and continued his way back toward the Altar, where Ravus already stood, standing over the two prone figures, and he could now see that the light of that beacon had been coming from Lunafreya's hand, laying still and steady on Noctis' shoulder.
As he approached, Ravus let out a shuddering sob, the weight of being too late falling as heavily as the rain that now broke free from the darkened skies, staring down at that dark, ugly bloodstain that had spread over the entire torso of Lunafreya's white dress.
And then the light faded.
"No," Ravus breathed out, hissing through clenched teeth as he stepped forward. "First, the Lucians stole from me my mother--" his hand fell to the hilt of his sword, and he drew it with purpose, "and now they make a sacrifice of my sister!"
He lifted his arm to bring the blade down on Noctis' prone figure, but Ignis was there to catch Ravus' arm in his own hand, swinging out one of his daggers to block the arc of the sword before it could even fall.
"Get out of my way!" Ravus gasped, pushing back against him.
"What are you doing?" Ignis demanded, struggling under the firm power of Ravus' undeniable strength, but determined not to falter, not to let the High Commander overcome him.
"What I should have done long ago," Ravus answered fiercely, "ridding us of this menace!"
Ignis managed to find the strength to push Ravus back, and, in the moment of release, he swooped down, wrapping his arms around the other man's waist. The weight of him was too much for him to tackle down, so he just pushed forward, driving Ravus as far from the Altar as he could. He managed to shove him back a good distance before Ravus began to shove back, giving Ignis a firm push and sending him scrambling over the slick rocks of the causeway. He fell on his back, but he picked himself up again, as quick as he could, and charged right back for Ravus, to push him, wrestle him down, anything. But exhaustion was finally starting to catch up with him, and he stumbled forward, tumbling to the ground along with Ravus.
And when Ravus made it to his feet after the tumble, that prosthetic, magitek-infused arm was glowing and crackling with its power purple electric energy.
"Stand in my way," he declared, as he went swinging wildly for Ignis, "and you, too, shall meet the same fate: death!"
Ignis rolled out of the way, forced himself back to his feet, back into yet another endless fray, but this one was different. He met each swing of Ravus' with a block of his own, steel clashing against steel, the fierceness of their intent and dedication perfectly matched. "Come to your senses, man!" Ignis implored. Switching to the offensive and making Ravus block his blades with a few relentless, desperate attacks of his own, until finally, the opportunity to send a firm kick to his abdomen presented itself perfectly.
Ignis' foot shot out, making contact with Ravus' gut, and the man cringed around it, staggering back, and the ragged breaths that came out of him were far more satisfying to Ignis in that moment than they had any right to be.
"I understand the pain you must be feeling," Ignis then said, "but Noct isn't the one who did this to her! Lady Lunafreya came to the king's aid in his time of need. She was fulfilling her calling!"
"Don't try to justify this!" Ravus argued, surging forward with another attack. Ignis met it, of course, but with an exhausted desperation for this to just be over already. "She didn't need to die!"
"Kill him," Ignis reasoned, matching blade for blade, swing for swing, occasionally getting in a good slash against Ravus, but he managed to get in a few good hits against Ignis as well; flashes of electric energy burst from Ravus's arm, countered with ice and fire from Ignis' daggers,l "and her sacrifice would have been for naught! KIll him, and kill all hopes for the future!"
"What hope is there in a future that my sister will never see?" Ravus charged and Ignis spun out of the way, sheathed his daggers and released his lance to launch himself up overhead, sending the point crashing down on top of Ravus. But he still fought on, he still kept at it, until they found themselves in another standstill, the arc of his sword blocked once more by the cross of Ignis' flaming daggers, might against might.
"Noct didn't choose to become King!" Ignis insisted as he braced himself against Ravus' power. "His ascension was ordained by the Crystal!"
Ignis managed to break free from the deadlock, sending Ravus wheeling back, opening him up perfectly for a series of slashing, burning blows. "It wasn't mere happenstance!" he declared, almost triumphantly, as the swings of his daggerssent Ravus reeling.
"It was a mistake!" Ravus insisted. "One that must be corrected!"
"You, of all people," Ignis said, the daggers now pulled back as he made an appeal for mercy, "must understand how Noct feels: bereft of both parents, and forced to carry on, despite losing those you love! You both feel that pain!"
"I feel nothing!" Ravus declared, pulling back his enhanced arm, all but bursting with that purple energy. "Death to Noctis! And his men!"
Charged now with that magitek energy infusing his whole body, Ignis now faced a barrage of lightning in addition to Ravus' newfound determination against him. Which only told Ignis one thing: if he wanted to end this battle, which had gone on for long enough already, he would have to strike Ravus at the very source of his power. He danced around the man and his crackling energy until finally, he found just the right moment, just the right angle, on that the next time his dagger came down, it would be directly through Ravus' mechanical arm.
The dagger striked true.
It pinned Ravus' arm to the stone beneath them, and Ignis, exhausted, but seeing the light go out from around the arm, lowered his head and tried to breathe. A long moment passed between them, before Ravus finally jerked his arm away, the dagger tearing into the machinery and staggered to his feet. Ignis remained there, hunched over on his knees, just hoping it was finally over.
"I always knew," Ravus said softly, and, as he started to stagger and limp his way back to Lunafreya, and Igni turned over to rest on his back, he realized that the High Commander was no longer talking to him, "that you would face your fate without fear, fulfill your duty without regret. But…part of me always hoped…." He sagged down on his knees before the still body of his sister, reaching out to gently turn her from her side, "...that I might see you happy one day.Your burdens lifted. Free to live and love as you please."
He reached out, to gently sweep the hair that had fallen over her face away.
"You would have made a beautiful bride."
Gently, Ravus' moved his hand to lift Lunafreya's head, to draw her near, to wrap her in a soft, final embrace. "Even in death," he said, as her body started to glow once more with that bright yellow light, "the Oracle does not rest. Only once the darkness is dispelled is her calling truly fulfilled."
Ravus clung to his sister, as the light grew more powerful, and Ignis, briefly, had to look away. In that split second as he did, however, something had changed. Lunafreya was no longer there in her brother's loving embrace, but, instead, she stood before them, spectral and glowing in her soft, warm light, hovering over the waves around them.
"As in life," Ravus continued, "I know she will confront that challenge….with a smile on her face."
No doubt like the soft, serene one on that glowing fisage now. But the figure of Lunafreya started to slowly move away from them, and Ravus, desperate, scrambled to his feet to reach out for her. "No! Sister! Please don't go!"
But then she faded, the darkness left in the wake of her vanished light now seeming more profound, as Ravus dropped to his knees in a desperate sob. "Please don't leave me!"
As the sobs wracked out of him, he lifted a fist, curling it in anger, ready to strike it down on the stones underneath him, but he paused, he hesitated, he stopped, and he could only drop it down again in soft resignation and despair.
All Ignis could do, for a long moment, was just stand there, and let Ravus have his goodbye with his sister, and he spared a glance over toward Noctis, and breathed out slowly, though it did absolutely nothing to relieve him of the weight that now felt suddenly heavier than ever before.
[[ part two of three of Episode Ignis! Because, yes, we still have a lot more to go after all of that! It's a big day for my boy here! ]]
Ignis shouted Noct's name, overlapping with Ravus' own call for Lunafreya, and they hurried forward together. But something stopped Ignis on his way, something lurching out from behind a pillar as he passed.
For a moment, he worried it might be more magitek soldiers, but the shape was much smaller, low to the ground, and most importantly, fluffy and white. A dog. But not just any dog.
"Aren't you her….?" Ignis started, turning toward the animal as it collapsed before him, panting in pain. Immediately, he knelt down and reached out to the poor creature, though once his fingers touched her, she became infused with a bright, glowing golden light, just like the light from the beacon surrounding Noctis and Lunafreya. The dog whimpered out as the light grew stronger, stronger, until it was practically blinding Ignis, who lifted an arm to shield his eyes.
But even closed, his eye could suddenly see all, as Pryna, Messenger to the Oracle, had imparted to him a Vision.
"A power greater than even that of the Six," an unknown, booming, preternatural voice called out, and Ignis saw a hand, resting on the arm of a throne, the Ring of the Lucii glittering on the finger of that hand, "purifying all by the Light of the Crystal and the glaives of rulers past."
The hand belonged, it was suddenly revealed, in a shot of hi face, to Noctis, older in thi Vision, and angrily calling out with ferocity, though Ignis could only hear the words of the mysterious voice overlapping the scenes he saw. Noctis' arm swung out, calling ot arms the weapon of his ancestors, but one in particular, a large and ornately decorated sword, came smashing down into the stone floor before him. It filled the room with a magical blue light, and Noctis pitched forward, collapsing over the elaborate hilt of that blade he wielded.
HIs hand slipped away from it, suddenly lifeless, and the voice continued.
"Only at the throne can the Chosen receive it, and only at the cost of a life: his own."
But it showed Noctis again, this time his face covered in some strange glowing scars and scabs, like a disease quickly taking him over. He cringed against it as it tore through him, all the while lifting his arms, also inflicted by the scourge, to fend off burst of light swinging in and attacking him.
"The King of Kings shall be granted the power to banish the darkness, but the blood price must be paid."
No, Ignis realized. Not just blue lights, but the magical forms of the Armiger, the weapon of Noctis' ancestors, but instead of aiding him now, they were attacking him, relentlessly slicing into him as the spectral figures of the kings long past stood around and watched. Noctis still fought, though, the Ring of the Lucii glittering on his hand as he went to throw futile punches toward these figures. And, briefly, inexplicably, Ignis undeniably saw the face of Ardyn Izunia among them, grinning his all-knowing smirk as he charged in for his own attack.
"To cast out the Usurper and usher in dawn's light will cost the life of the Chosen."
The battle disappeared, and there was Noctis' face again, followed by flashes of Gladio, of Prompto, of Ignis himself, all of them older, gathered around the soft light of a campfire, with grave expressions as they conferred and the voice continued on. Gladio with longer hair, a beard, Prompto with a little facial hair of his own. And Ignis with…
….with….
"Many sacrificed all for the King--"
The grave intonation of the voice pulled Ignis away from the shock of seeing his own face, his own scars that had not been there, and the odd patch of scarred, burned flesh there on the left side…
"--so must the King sacrifice himself for all."
And now back to Noctis, being overtaken by the Starscourge as it crept over his entire body, bursting with light, until he fell back and burst entirely into nothingness. And a ghostly figure hovered before the Throne of Lucis, sword drawn on the ready.
"Now enter into Reflection, that the light of Providence shine within."
With a gasp, Ignis was pulled out of the Vision at the same time that the ghostly figure plunged his sword into the Throne. His head pounded from the overwhelming rush of thoughts and ideas and voices it provided. Realizing, too, that his ha
"What did I just see?" he muttered, asking, even though he knew the answer. "A vision of what's to come?"
The darkness. The coming darkness that they'd known ever since Prompto had experienced a version of himself, twenty years in the future. The darkness, and Noctis' disappearance, and Ignis' own blindness…
But there was no time to dwell on it now. He had to hurry to Noctis.Grunting, Ignis pulled himself back to his feet and continued his way back toward the Altar, where Ravus already stood, standing over the two prone figures, and he could now see that the light of that beacon had been coming from Lunafreya's hand, laying still and steady on Noctis' shoulder.
As he approached, Ravus let out a shuddering sob, the weight of being too late falling as heavily as the rain that now broke free from the darkened skies, staring down at that dark, ugly bloodstain that had spread over the entire torso of Lunafreya's white dress.
And then the light faded.
"No," Ravus breathed out, hissing through clenched teeth as he stepped forward. "First, the Lucians stole from me my mother--" his hand fell to the hilt of his sword, and he drew it with purpose, "and now they make a sacrifice of my sister!"
He lifted his arm to bring the blade down on Noctis' prone figure, but Ignis was there to catch Ravus' arm in his own hand, swinging out one of his daggers to block the arc of the sword before it could even fall.
"Get out of my way!" Ravus gasped, pushing back against him.
"What are you doing?" Ignis demanded, struggling under the firm power of Ravus' undeniable strength, but determined not to falter, not to let the High Commander overcome him.
"What I should have done long ago," Ravus answered fiercely, "ridding us of this menace!"
Ignis managed to find the strength to push Ravus back, and, in the moment of release, he swooped down, wrapping his arms around the other man's waist. The weight of him was too much for him to tackle down, so he just pushed forward, driving Ravus as far from the Altar as he could. He managed to shove him back a good distance before Ravus began to shove back, giving Ignis a firm push and sending him scrambling over the slick rocks of the causeway. He fell on his back, but he picked himself up again, as quick as he could, and charged right back for Ravus, to push him, wrestle him down, anything. But exhaustion was finally starting to catch up with him, and he stumbled forward, tumbling to the ground along with Ravus.
And when Ravus made it to his feet after the tumble, that prosthetic, magitek-infused arm was glowing and crackling with its power purple electric energy.
"Stand in my way," he declared, as he went swinging wildly for Ignis, "and you, too, shall meet the same fate: death!"
Ignis rolled out of the way, forced himself back to his feet, back into yet another endless fray, but this one was different. He met each swing of Ravus' with a block of his own, steel clashing against steel, the fierceness of their intent and dedication perfectly matched. "Come to your senses, man!" Ignis implored. Switching to the offensive and making Ravus block his blades with a few relentless, desperate attacks of his own, until finally, the opportunity to send a firm kick to his abdomen presented itself perfectly.
Ignis' foot shot out, making contact with Ravus' gut, and the man cringed around it, staggering back, and the ragged breaths that came out of him were far more satisfying to Ignis in that moment than they had any right to be.
"I understand the pain you must be feeling," Ignis then said, "but Noct isn't the one who did this to her! Lady Lunafreya came to the king's aid in his time of need. She was fulfilling her calling!"
"Don't try to justify this!" Ravus argued, surging forward with another attack. Ignis met it, of course, but with an exhausted desperation for this to just be over already. "She didn't need to die!"
"Kill him," Ignis reasoned, matching blade for blade, swing for swing, occasionally getting in a good slash against Ravus, but he managed to get in a few good hits against Ignis as well; flashes of electric energy burst from Ravus's arm, countered with ice and fire from Ignis' daggers,l "and her sacrifice would have been for naught! KIll him, and kill all hopes for the future!"
"What hope is there in a future that my sister will never see?" Ravus charged and Ignis spun out of the way, sheathed his daggers and released his lance to launch himself up overhead, sending the point crashing down on top of Ravus. But he still fought on, he still kept at it, until they found themselves in another standstill, the arc of his sword blocked once more by the cross of Ignis' flaming daggers, might against might.
"Noct didn't choose to become King!" Ignis insisted as he braced himself against Ravus' power. "His ascension was ordained by the Crystal!"
Ignis managed to break free from the deadlock, sending Ravus wheeling back, opening him up perfectly for a series of slashing, burning blows. "It wasn't mere happenstance!" he declared, almost triumphantly, as the swings of his daggerssent Ravus reeling.
"It was a mistake!" Ravus insisted. "One that must be corrected!"
"You, of all people," Ignis said, the daggers now pulled back as he made an appeal for mercy, "must understand how Noct feels: bereft of both parents, and forced to carry on, despite losing those you love! You both feel that pain!"
"I feel nothing!" Ravus declared, pulling back his enhanced arm, all but bursting with that purple energy. "Death to Noctis! And his men!"
Charged now with that magitek energy infusing his whole body, Ignis now faced a barrage of lightning in addition to Ravus' newfound determination against him. Which only told Ignis one thing: if he wanted to end this battle, which had gone on for long enough already, he would have to strike Ravus at the very source of his power. He danced around the man and his crackling energy until finally, he found just the right moment, just the right angle, on that the next time his dagger came down, it would be directly through Ravus' mechanical arm.
The dagger striked true.
It pinned Ravus' arm to the stone beneath them, and Ignis, exhausted, but seeing the light go out from around the arm, lowered his head and tried to breathe. A long moment passed between them, before Ravus finally jerked his arm away, the dagger tearing into the machinery and staggered to his feet. Ignis remained there, hunched over on his knees, just hoping it was finally over.
"I always knew," Ravus said softly, and, as he started to stagger and limp his way back to Lunafreya, and Igni turned over to rest on his back, he realized that the High Commander was no longer talking to him, "that you would face your fate without fear, fulfill your duty without regret. But…part of me always hoped…." He sagged down on his knees before the still body of his sister, reaching out to gently turn her from her side, "...that I might see you happy one day.Your burdens lifted. Free to live and love as you please."
He reached out, to gently sweep the hair that had fallen over her face away.
"You would have made a beautiful bride."
Gently, Ravus' moved his hand to lift Lunafreya's head, to draw her near, to wrap her in a soft, final embrace. "Even in death," he said, as her body started to glow once more with that bright yellow light, "the Oracle does not rest. Only once the darkness is dispelled is her calling truly fulfilled."
Ravus clung to his sister, as the light grew more powerful, and Ignis, briefly, had to look away. In that split second as he did, however, something had changed. Lunafreya was no longer there in her brother's loving embrace, but, instead, she stood before them, spectral and glowing in her soft, warm light, hovering over the waves around them.
"As in life," Ravus continued, "I know she will confront that challenge….with a smile on her face."
No doubt like the soft, serene one on that glowing fisage now. But the figure of Lunafreya started to slowly move away from them, and Ravus, desperate, scrambled to his feet to reach out for her. "No! Sister! Please don't go!"
But then she faded, the darkness left in the wake of her vanished light now seeming more profound, as Ravus dropped to his knees in a desperate sob. "Please don't leave me!"
As the sobs wracked out of him, he lifted a fist, curling it in anger, ready to strike it down on the stones underneath him, but he paused, he hesitated, he stopped, and he could only drop it down again in soft resignation and despair.
All Ignis could do, for a long moment, was just stand there, and let Ravus have his goodbye with his sister, and he spared a glance over toward Noctis, and breathed out slowly, though it did absolutely nothing to relieve him of the weight that now felt suddenly heavier than ever before.
[[ part two of three of Episode Ignis! Because, yes, we still have a lot more to go after all of that! It's a big day for my boy here! ]]