Chapter Text
"This is bullshit."
Noctis stood over Ardyn, a hair's breadth away from victory. The sword poised over the Accursed's chest vanished in a flash of blue magic as the King of Light turned away, face drawn in an angry frown.
"Noctis..." Ardyn sighed.
"No. No one else needs to die for this."
Bahamut's voice rumbled through the Astral plane. "You refuse to banish this star's blight?"
"No," Noctis said. "I just don't believe Eos needs to suffer because a few people thousands of years ago defied you."
Ah. So he had spent all those years in the Crystal actually learning something.
Bahamut radiated fury, but was stopped by a weak voice.
"This is true."
Ifrit manifested, hunched and holding himself, his right horn reduced to a broken stub. "I am at fault for calling this darkness down. And we all failed to contain it. What purpose do we serve with none to serve in turn."
"Betrayer. You speak out of line," Bahamut snapped, Ifrit's head jerking to the left as if struck.
Shiva floated to her lover's side, draping her arms over his right shoulder. "How could our King of Light know happiness beyond death knowing all whom he left and all whom he failed?"
"'A power greater than that of the Six'..." Noctis glared at the Draconian. "I can change it, can't I?"
"Perhaps," Ramuh came forward in a swirl of clouds, "if the both Light and Dark came together, no judgment need be met."
Bahamut paused. "Explain."
"The Lightbringer has sway throughout the time of his existence."
Titan spoke in voice that rumbled like the earth itself, "A path of life, not blood. The taint cut away until the roots wither, leaving the garden to flourish."
Leviathan chose to remain silent, coiled behind the rest, as she didn't care either way. The sooner a choice was made, the sooner she would be able to return to her slumber.
Noctis faced Bahamut. "I'd be willing to work with Ardyn, if it would prevent the 10 years of darkness."
"What say you, Adagium," Bahamut grumbled, arms crossed.
"Oh, me?" Ardyn said, "I hadn't realized I had a choice."
Noctis crouched next to him. "It needs both of us to work. Unless you'd rather it all ended here?"
The weight of millennia ached deep in Ardyn's bones. The fatigue must have been etched all over his face, because Noctis's face firmed with resolve.
"I promise to see that you get your rest in the end."
Ardyn couldn't muster the motivation to even sneer at him. "I've been promised quite a bit throughout my life, yet in the moment where one may be fulfilled at long last, you'll have me suffer until some nebulous future."
Noctis winced. "I know it's unfair of me to ask, but we've both been fucked over by the... fate. And knowing I'm the only one with the power to change things, I at least want to try." He paused. "I'm tired of all this damn suffering, even yours."
Ardyn gave the longest sigh of his life. No need to loose face just because he was on his death bed. Or perhaps beyond it. The Astral Plane was always a bit nebulous when it came to the state of one's body.
"Oh, all right. But if it all goes sideways, you owe me a final good fight."
Noctis smiled. "What? Our other one wasn't good enough?"
"Well you see, I had the misfortune of loosing," he smirked without malice.
In a huff, or as much of a huff as he'd ever seen from the stoic Astral, Bahamut agreed to lend his aid when the time came.
"But only," he added, "If you agree to return to the path of Providence should you fail."
Noctis shrugged, looking all the world like a disaffected teen despite his beard and suit. "Fair. I have to regain the Crystal's power to try again, anyway."
Before Bahamut could retort, Noctis stood, raising his hand as the ring on his finger grew bright, washing everything in an overwhelming white light.
Ardyn did hope this would be worth it.