Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ardyn wasn’t sure what woke him, the screams from his past or the turmoil of the beasts living beneath his skin.

It wasn’t a question he dwelled on for long as he shoved the sheets off; wrinkling his nose at the slick feeling of sweat that still clung to him. He remedied the feeling with a quick shower before donning his clothes and leaving the apartment that he’d claimed for himself under one of his aliases.

It wouldn’t do to have the Empire know his every move after all especially not know when his plans were just on the brink of fruition. Iedolas would either have his magitek army or an arsenal of daemon based weaponry. Either outcome would put the Emperor in Ardyn’s debt and put him a single step closer to his ultimate goal.

The thought had Ardyn’s fingers clenching into a fist as rage clawed at his mind but he forced it back, relaxing his fingers until his hand hung loose at his side.

With one last glance around the apartment, he stepped outside, slipping his hat on his head before moving into the bustling crowd of people.

Ardyn had little trust for Verstael, he could almost taste the man’s madness every time he was close but he did need Verstael’s mind so he held his tongue in the scientist’s presence. 

That didn’t mean that he didn’t keep tabs on the Verstael’s work and perhaps the sight of the scientist’s progress would be enough to draw Ardyn’s mind from the dark path it seemed so determined to venture down.

With the thought in mind, Ardyn quickened his steps. It was early still, perhaps he’d be able to see the project for himself and leave before Verstael arrived…that was if the man ever left his lab.

*O*

Ardyn had never been what could be called a fan of science. He’d indulged when there was little else left to entertain him over the centuries but it had never been a love of his.

Even now as he walked through the sterile halls of Verstael’s lab, nodding whenever the man’s technician glanced at him, he couldn’t help but shake the feeling of coldness that seemed to permeate his skin.

The feeling wasn’t real of course; he hadn’t felt the cold since…

Ardyn blinked away the thought and the name that rose up from his memories like a spectre, instead focusing on the nervous rambling of the man leading him.

“We’re certain it’s just a temporary setback,” the man muttered and Ardyn’s brows furrowed as his brain replayed all of what he’d missed.

He was extremely grateful that it wasn’t Verstael standing before him because if he had to hear the word failure and see it coloured by Verstael’s knowing smirk he would have been hard-pressed to not just strangle the rat of a man.

“How many of them are viable?”  Ardyn inquired cutting off the man’s excuses.

The scientist’s eyes darted around the corridor, “The test subjects…” he paused here to clear his throat and Ardyn’s fingers itched. “The creation process was stable, the subjects remained fully operational to the age of fourteen months at which point the protozoa was introduced. Ninety-six percent of the subjects died during the night only four survived and of those only one remains fully operational. However we have been told to decommission the subject as its development appears stunted and there is little trace of the protozoa.”

Ardyn nodded slowly, his mind flickering through the information. “You haven’t decommissioned it yet, have you?”

The scientist shook his head and Ardyn nodded, “I want to see it.”

The other man’s eyes widened but whatever was written across Ardyn’s face had him quickly moving down the corridor, leaving Ardyn to follow.

*O*

Children and animals were terrified of Ardyn, their natural instincts telling them that he was dangerous and without the socially taught mannerisms to hide behind they either lashed out or retreated from his presence.

The lack of reaction from the first three toddlers told Ardyn all he needed to know about the success rate of the experiment.

He didn’t need the information written at the end of each cot or the dead eyes that watched him blankly to tell him that there was nothing but daemons inhabiting the small bodies.

What did catch Ardyn’s attention was the very last cot.

This one he didn’t need to look into because its inhabitant was hanging on to the edges of its prison, babbling loudly to itself as they approached.

“How much protozoa was used?” Ardyn inquired as he stepped closer expecting the child to retreat but instead what he got was one chubby hand grasping at his coat as the baby stared up at him, bright blue eyes locked on Ardyn’s face.

“Three times the recommended dosage,” the man responded but his voice seemed to be coming from somewhere a distance away as Ardyn met the child’s eyes.

Ardyn could feel the child, could almost hear him.

There was nothing concrete there, just a tumble of images, of cold hands and even colder voices and the feeling of such crushing loneliness that Ardyn found himself swaying closer without thought, his fingers trailing through the tufts of blond hair on the child’s head.

“One day you will have a child of your own, my son, and on that day you will know how it feels to see your future reflected in another person’s eyes.”

The whispered word’s echoed through Ardyn’s head and when the child tugged at his coat, babbling softly as if not to frighten him, Ardyn reached into the cot and lifted it into his arms.

He had thought that he’d long forgotten the sound of his mother’s voice and to hear it now…Ardyn refused to think it a coincidence.

“Male or female?” he asked, turning to the scientist who was watching the child warily.

This time Ardyn got an image of fingers prodding inside the child’s mouth and a sense of accomplishment when the fingers vanished just as the child got a grip on someone’s hair…he didn’t have to guess who that someone was.

“It’s male,” the scientist responded and Ardyn found his smile widening…yes, this would do.

“Tell Verstael that I’ll decommission this one myself,” he grinned, taking in the look of disbelief on the other man’s face.

Thankfully the scientist wasn’t foolish and he didn’t question Ardyn as he trailed him out of the facility.

He wasn’t foolish but he wasn’t smart enough to see the moment that Ardyn scanned his card across the door that held several of their weaker daemons.

They could easily be taken down after the fact but Ardyn knew just how quickly they could eat and he doubted the man would survive it.

A tug at his hair had Ardyn glancing at the little boy in his arms as he stepped out of the lab but the child’s eyes were fixed on the skies, flickering from blue to silver as he cooed.

Like quicksilver…Ardyn smiled at the thought. He would have to find a name that suited his little daemon-child.

*O*

The child didn’t do much; he required feeding and a place to sleep. He also needed regular cleaning but mostly he babbled to himself, content to remain in the cot playing with toys that Ardyn had bought for him.

If it hadn’t been for the ebbing and flowing of foreign images in Ardyn’s mind he would have almost have thought that the boy was nothing more than another human child.

To be honest, his presence did little to alter Ardyn’s usual routines and he was thankful for that, he was too close now to make a misstep even for something with so much potential.

*O*

“Has there been any progress on your project?” Ardyn inquired, resting his chin on his folded hands as he observed Verstael.

The man cocked a brow at him, “I didn’t think you would be interested in something as solid as science,” he taunted but Ardyn just smirked and held his tongue. Verstael liked to think himself a master puppeteer but Ardyn had seen the rise and fall of many much more proficient than Verstael and he’d learned that patience was indeed a virtue.

Verstael frowned at the lack of response, before shuffling his papers. “We’ve restarted trials after a temporary setback,” he admitted finally and Ardyn could guess just what that setback had been. “It’s only a matter of time,” Verstael continued.

Ardyn nodded, sweeping his hat from his head as he stood, “Well I shall leave you to your solid science then,” he whispered, giving Verstael a mocking bow. “However if I were you I’d be careful of the amount of time you use. It wouldn’t do for the Emperor to be kept waiting.”

Verstael’s eyes narrowed at that but Ardyn was already leaving before the man could retort.

*O*

Ardyn’s apartment was soundproof…at least to humans. It was a precaution he’d put in place after his first set of night terrors had brought his neighbours running. But even with the barrier he could hear the child wailing and he quickened his step, shoving the door open and slamming it shut to keep the sound trapped.

The boy was lying in his cot, his face red and little fingers clenched to his chest as he sobbed.

Ardyn frowned down at him, lifting him from the crib to place him on the floor as he hurried to refill the empty bottle.

The child kept up his cries the entire time and shoved the bottle away when Ardyn tried to get him to drink.

A quick change of his diapers did nothing to relieve the crying and Ardyn settled in to just wait it out.

He’d never had any issue with the child over the month that he’d been keeping him and hopefully this was just a temporary ailment.

*O*

Ardyn hadn’t left the apartment in four days. Every time he tried to watery blue eyes would lock on him and the wailing would start anew.

He could have ignored it and left the child alone as usual, if not for his own lack of sleep. His reactions felt slower, like he was trying to drag himself through quicksand and he didn’t know if that was because of the demons clamouring in his mind or because of the look of betrayal on the boy’s face every second that Ardyn couldn’t fix what was wrong.

He was at his wit’s end and it had been decades since he’d felt the urge to shed a tear but he was close so very, very close.

Flopping onto the rug Ardyn closed his eyes; maybe he could sleep through it. Just for a minute…he just needed some sleep.

The feel of tiny fingers on his chest made him flinch, his eyes flying open.

He touched the boy, of course but it was few and far between, usually only when he was bathing the child or moving him from place to place.

The thought didn’t stop the fingers and Ardyn watched as the child pulled itself closer, climbing up onto his chest.

He was still crying, shaking sobs wracking his tiny body as he thumped his head against Ardyn’s collarbone and then the cries softened into a continuous whimper before they stopped.

Ardyn’s eyes widened at that and he glanced down only to find the child asleep, his fingers curled tightly in Ardyn’s shirt and in the back of his mind a steady grumble of possessiveness and need wove its way through Ardyn’s thoughts.

“Oh,” he whispered, raising his hand to stroke the dishevelled blond hair.

The child blinked his eyes open at that, regarding Ardyn balefully before he shut them again and this time the wave of possessiveness and need was so strong that it made Ardyn’s head swim…or maybe that was just his own tiredness.

“My little quicksilver, you don’t know what you’re trying to claim,” Ardyn whispered but he didn’t stop stroking the boy’s hair and with his free hand he reached for his phone.

By the time the child was awake Ardyn had ordered a contraption known as a baby sling.

*O*

The sling made things easier and Ardyn found that steady babbling and pats that he got weren’t half as distracting as he thought they’d be.

“Quicksilver is a bit too long for you,” Ardyn told the little boy one day as they sat on the sofa. Blue eyes regarded him solemnly over the boy’s bottle and Ardyn furrowed his brows in thought. “You’re very quick though…very prompt,” he mused, watching as the boy’s mouth widened into a gummy smile around the nipple of his bottle. “You like that? Prompt?” he inquired and the smile was back again this time with a chortle to match. “Well Prompto it is then,” he decided and the little gurgle he got in response was answer enough.

He wondered if Prompto would still smile at him like that after he accomplished his goals…after he turned the child into the weapon he’d been bred to be.

The demons were silent in his head and it felt a lot like condemnation for the very thought.

*O*

Prompto was a strange child and Ardyn wasn’t sure if that was because of the scourge that he could feel shifting beneath the boy’s skin or if it was just a natural part of the boy’s personality. For one, Prompto didn’t cry as much as was expected. After Ardyn had learned that Prompto took being separated from him as a great affront, they hadn’t even had a hiccup even though the books said that crying was a natural part of a child’s development.

Instead Prompto had taken to watching everything Ardyn did and trying to copy some of his words.

His personal favourite seemed to be ‘bastard,’ which he’d yell at the top of his voice only to dissolve into giggles whenever Ardyn tried to frown at him.

According to his research Ardyn wasn’t doing a very good job at setting rules for Prompto but it was hard to say ‘no,’ to someone who looked at him like he thought that Ardyn had hung the stars in the sky.

It had been a long time since Ardyn had been revered and he wasn’t ashamed to admit that it made him weak to the little boy’s wants.

It was the reason why he’d taken Prompto for a walk after the scene of blue skies kept replaying in his head.

Prompto gripped Ardyn’s clothes tight as they walked, his wide eyes darting around as if to take in everything around them but every so often he would glance back up at Ardyn’s face as if to reassure himself that Ardyn was still there.

Ardyn had meant for the walk to be a few minutes at first because even with his impromptu vacation, he still needed to keep his eye on Iedolas. It wouldn’t do for the man to forget who he owed his growing powers to after all.

It had been a good idea in theory but when Prompto started squealing as he caught sight of the ducks, Ardyn knew that his plans were for naught.

Instead he settled on a bench. Letting the little boy coo over his newest discovery as he checked his emails on his phone, scrolling through the reports, Ardyn accepted the fact that he wouldn’t be moving until Prompto either lost interest or fell asleep.

*O*

In the end sleep won out and Ardyn kept his steps measured as he made his way back to the apartment, smoothing a hand over Prompto’s hair whenever he stirred.

He was just opening his door when the door next to his opened and one of his neighbours emerged.

She was an elderly woman who he’d seen around the complex and she smiled at him when she caught him looking.

“Oh, well isn’t this little one gorgeous?” she cooed. “I never took you for the children type.”

Ardyn shrugged as best he could, “He was a recent acquisition,” he admitted ruefully, pulling a sharp bark of laughter from the tiny woman.

“Aren’t they all?” she snorted, “But it looks like you’ve got things in hand. He doesn’t seem willing to let you go,” she teased, pointing to where Prompto had managed to tangle his hand in some of the longer strands of Ardyn’s hair.

Ardyn found himself smiling down at the sight, barely noticing the woman bidding him a farewell.

A part of him was screaming to distance himself from the boy and weakness he inspired but a much bigger part of Ardyn remembered what it was like to be forgotten, to be no one. He couldn’t sentence a child to the same fate even if Prompto came to hate him for what he was, for what he wanted the child to become.

The scourge rose up at thought, pressing and clawing at his skin but a soft whine from Prompto had it quietening as like reached for like.

Who better to raise a monster-child than the man who had taken countless into himself?

The thought stayed with him as Ardyn eased Prompto from his sling and laid him across his lap so he could get more of his work done without the sling.

Who better to raise a monster than a monster, indeed?

Chapter Text

“Prompto,” Ardyn warned as a tiny foot slipped free of the clothes that he was trying to get the boy to wear.

Prompto just laughed at his expression, kicking his now free foot in celebration of his newfound victory.

Ardyn had been trying to get Prompto dressed for the better part of thirty minutes but apparently he was raising a nudist.

“Quicksilver, I have things to do today that don’t include catering to your need for nakedness,” Ardyn groaned, trying to get Prompto’s foot back into his trousers.

“No, bastard, no,” Prompto squealed.

“I’m going to hope that that sentence construction was merely coincidence,” Ardyn laughed, capturing the other leg and quickly pulling it through the trousers.

Prompto frowned down at his clothes before patting at where his diapers were hidden beneath the fabric. “No?” he queried and Ardyn grinned.

“No diapers. I wonder where they’ve gone? Well, out of sight, out of mind, I say and hopefully with them out of sight you won’t feel the need to remove them and urinate on my rug.”

“Pee-pee,” Prompto responded with way too much delight to be a coincidence.

“Keep it inside the diapers,” Ardyn warned, lifting Prompto from the changing station. “And the word is urinate, you tiny savage.”

“Pee-pee,” Prompto repeated gleefully, patting at Ardyn’s face when he sighed.

“I blame Delia’s grand-spawn for your vocabulary.”

“Del-Del,” Prompto squealed, kicking his feet until Ardyn got the message to put him down. The second his feet touched the ground he made a break for their front door and Ardyn followed him leisurely, watching the chubby little legs work overtime to stay ahead of him.

It was strange how grateful he was to Delia for her offer to watch Prompto, though in all honesty it had been less of an offer and more of a demand when she’d left her apartment to find Prompto and Ardyn sprawled fast asleep on the bench of the park. They hadn’t been in any danger but Delia didn’t know that. All she’d seen was an exhausted parent in need.

What had been even stranger was Ardyn’s reluctance to leave Prompto, the scourge rising up like a tide within his chest only to simmer back down when the small traces of it in Prompto reached out every so often, tinged with laughter and images of other children.

That didn’t mean that Ardyn didn’t do his research and investigate the old woman but apparently there was nothing to find. Delia was just an elderly grandmother, whose sole purpose seemed to be to take care of the children around her.

It helped that Prompto adored her…though not as much as he adored Ardyn.

“Door,” Prompto demanded, his hands pressed to the wooden surface as he stared back at Ardyn. “Open,” he ordered and where Ardyn could blame Prompto’s language on Delia’s grandchildren, Prompto’s attitude was something that he had to take blame for.

“As your highness wishes,” he muttered with a mock bow, flicking the latches both physical and magical and the squeal of laughter his actions got him stayed with him the entire day.

*O*

Lacing his fingers through each other Ardyn watched as Iedolas read through Verstael’s documents, greedy little eyes darting over the papers and Ardyn could see the man’s glee written all over his face.

“Progress at last,” Iedolas smiled and Ardyn copied the gesture. “Of course, I expected nothing less from the two of you.”

“It would have been done much quicker if not for that minor setback,” Verstael offered up and this time Ardyn’s smile was much more genuine, if no less mean-spirited.

“You never did say just what that setback was,” he pointed out, cocking his head to the side and keeping his expression completely innocent when Verstael glowered at him.

“It was just a minor inconvenience…a misplacement of resources, if you will,” Verstael explained.

Ardyn had to commend the man on his ability to say nothing at all with so many words.

“Speaking of a misplacement of resources,” Verstael started, recapturing Ardyn’s wavering attention. “I’ve been told that your office had been empty for some time a few months ago.”

Ardyn flashed the man a smile at that, making sure to bare his teeth and Verstael jerked back in his seat, instinct prevailing over his ego for once.

“I thought it time to use some of my holidays however a life of idleness isn’t one for me, two weeks was more than long enough to make me crave the battlefield of politics and betrayal I can find so easily at your doorstep,” Ardyn responded, smoothing his smile into something gentler…less bloodthirsty. It was a difficult feat with the hordes in his mind clawing at the surface, drawn into the light by his sudden surge of rage.

“Perhaps you aren’t suited for idleness but what of parenthood?” Verstael mocked and the blood froze in Ardyn’s veins but he kept his face blank as Iedolas glanced at him.

The scourge shifted beneath his skin like molasses, spreading across his body at the thought of Prompto…at the thought of Verstael being aware of Prompto’s existence.

Straightening to his full height where he sat Ardyn stared Verstael down. Whatever the man thought he knew Ardyn could disprove. He had records of Prompto’s birth, forged of course but solid.

There was no barcode on Prompto’s skin, nothing to tie him to the facility other than the scourge and even that could be suppressed. Whatever Verstael thought he knew could be ground into dust.

“I presume you’re speaking of my son?” he inquired, watching the way that Verstael’s eyes widened at his lack of an emotional response. “I never realized that you were so worried about my personal life.”

“A son?” Iedolas inquired and Ardyn inclined his head.

“Prompto, he was the result of one of my…dalliances. However the boy’s mother was right to turn him over to me. He is quite bright and I expect great things of him in the future,” Ardyn replied, keeping his eyes on Verstael the entire time.

“It was quite peculiar that you’ve never mentioned the boy before,” Verstael offered up and Ardyn snorted.

“Did you wish to see baby pictures while we discussed weaponry?” he demanded, waving away Verstael’s spluttering. “Be it as it may, Prompto is my son. I am not ashamed of his existence nor am I embarrassed of my position as a single father. I simply have the common sense to keep my personal life and my work life separated.”

“A commendable approach,” Iedolas muttered as he rose from his seat, leaving them behind with so much as by your leave.

The disrespect had Ardyn gritting his teeth before he refocused on Verstael.

“I’m not sure what you hoped to accomplish with that scene, however just a piece of advice for the future,” Ardyn whispered as he rose, towering over the man. “The next time you attempt to use my son as a pawn, I’ll rip your tongue from your head. Am I understood?”

Verstael just stared at him but Ardyn could see the fear lurking behind the hardened mask…he could smell it and it made the daemons howl in his head.

It wasn’t until he’d left the office that he realized that he’d called Prompto his son…he was surprised at how right that had felt.

*O*

Delia answered her door at the first knock, barely managing a greeting before Prompto came racing towards Ardyn, colliding with his legs.

Ardyn quickly hoisted him up, holding still when Prompto gripped his hair and stared at him.

He could feel Delia watching them but he kept looking at Prompto until the little boy lost the solemn expression and giggled.

“He saw you on the screen today,” Delia explained. “Tried to get you to come out and play with him and he wasn’t best pleased when you wouldn’t.”

“Bye-bye,” Prompto frowned and Ardyn couldn’t help but drop a kiss on the boy’s forehead, accepting the wet slobbering he got in response as Prompto tried to copy the action.

“I hope he wasn’t much trouble,” he turned to Delia but the old woman just waved him off.

“That little boy’s an angel,” she responded with a bright grin, directed at Prompto, who gave her a gummy grin in return. “His mouth’s been bothering him a bit though, so don’t be surprised if he tries to gnaw on things. The poor baby’s probably teething. I wouldn’t want to be you in a few days when they really start giving him hell.”

Ardyn’s expression most have been horrified because Delia laughed.

Ardyn couldn’t even bring himself to be annoyed by the fact that she was laughing at him…Delia hadn’t been there for the four days of hell that Prompto had put him through.

“Stop looking like that boy’s going to murder you in your sleep. Just give him something cool to keep in his mouth and he’ll be grumpy but settled,” she advised. A loud crash from within her apartment had her turning away and Ardyn made his escape, eying Prompto the entire way.

*O*

“I feel like we should be able to talk this out like mature people,” Ardyn sighed as Prompto once again emptied the laundry basket and tried to climb into it. “If this is your way of saying you want your own space, it’s a little melodramatic.”

Prompto responded to that line of reasoning with a series of babbles that Ardyn was sure meant something quite offensive given his expression.

“I’m suddenly thankful that I can’t understand a single word you’re saying,” Ardyn muttered, going back to the work on his screen while keeping an eye on Prompto. The boy had proved exceptionally hardy but it made Ardyn’s gut twinge uncomfortably whenever he got hurt.

Prompto shoved the empty basket until it was by Ardyn’s feet, then little fingers appeared beside him, quickly grabbing the papers Ardyn had scattered across the sofa and tossing them into the basket. That was soon followed by Ardyn’s phone and wallet.

Propping his chin in his hand Ardyn watched the little boy until Prompto seemed satisfied that he’d removed all of Ardyn’s distractions, only then did he climb onto the sofa and scramble straight onto Ardyn’s lap with a self-satisfied grin.

“Have I ever told you that you’re very spoiled, Quicksilver?” Ardyn mused, soothing a hand over Prompto’s tummy when directed.

Prompto cooed at him and Ardyn wondered just where along the line he’d stopped seeing the child as a weapon and instead started seeing an extension of himself.

His thought was cut short by a hard pressure around his finger and he glanced down only to find Prompto chewing on his hand. The sensation was dulled as most things were but Ardyn could feel a harder mass at some points beneath Prompto’s gum.

It looked like Delia had been right after all.

Letting his eyes wander back to his work, Ardyn allowed himself to fall back into the battlefield of words.

By the time he was done, Prompto was fast asleep and it wasn’t until he was settling the boy in bed that Ardyn noticed the flecks of blood staining his lips.

Glancing down at his hand Ardyn frowned at the smears that were spread across his fingers.

In the back of his mind the horde was silent but not asleep, simply watching.

*O*

Prompto accepted his greeting kiss from Delia before he wandered off into the apartment and Ardyn smiled at Prompto’s squeals of delight when several voices started yelling his name.

“Does Prompto…that is to say,” Ardyn restarted, carefully structuring the question. “Does Prompto bite?”

Delia shook her head, “Not that I’ve seen. He’s had the occasional temper tantrum and a sulk but those are few and far in between. Why do you ask?”

Ardyn shrugged, “He bit me last night.”

Delia snorted at that, “Oh, now that’s nothing to worry about. Outsiders get the angel but parents get the devil. He probably didn’t mean anything by it, just trying to sooth his gums and you were his best option.”

“I thought as much, I just worried,” Ardyn admitted but Delia grinned.

“Nothing to worry about, you’re raising a fine one and he knows it. He spends hours trying to get the other little ones to stare at you whenever you’re on the screen but he always lets them know you’re his Papa.”

Ardyn stared at her, the ground hadn’t moved but it felt like it was roiling beneath his feet. “He called me that?”

Delia nodded, “You probably won’t hear it for a while ‘til he’s more confident or wants something but Prompto knows who you are to him and there ain’t a doubt in my mind that he adores you just like you adore him. Now, off with you. You’ve got work and I have to make sure they don’t feed him cookies while my back’s turned,” Delia laughed.

*O*

“Ardyn, a word.”

Iedolas’ voice made Ardyn pause. He’d finished for the day and for the first time in a while he felt as if he’d truly accomplished something.

His approach had always been based heavily on subtlety and that meant that he had to have patience…had to wait long enough for the bumbling idiots of a council to decipher his words and pretend that his plans were their own.

“Your grace,” Ardyn greeted with a bow, his smile twisting into a smirk at Iedolas’ entitled look.

The worm didn’t have a drop of royal blood flowing through his veins, didn’t deserve a throne bigger than a footstool but for now Ardyn could hold his tongue and let Iedolas wax poetic about his plans for Tenebrae.

He held the image of Prompto firmly in his mind as he listened to Iedolas, it was the only thing that stayed his hand when the man made a joke about bastard offspring, a dig at Ardyn that he thought Ardyn couldn’t or wouldn’t see through.

Ardyn was going to enjoy crushing Iedolas beneath his boot when the man was no longer necessary.

*O*

Ardyn’s vision was fine, had always been ever since he was a child but that didn’t keep him from rubbing his eyes to clear them as he stared at the darker strands of hair threading through the blond on Prompto’s head.

“What have you been getting into?” Ardyn sighed as he used the hand that Prompto wasn’t currently chewing on to part through the boy’s hair.

Even more of the dark strands were hidden closer to the root and when Ardyn squinted at them they almost looked red.

“No, no, no,” Prompto grumbled, shaking his head to dislodge Ardyn’s hand though he was apparently not willing to give up Ardyn’s finger to get away because he just bit down harder, humming to himself.

“I’m fairly certain that that isn’t sanitary,” Ardyn sighed; grateful that he’d taken the initiative to cover his finger in the gel that Delia claimed would soothe Prompto’s gums.

His only response to that was a loud hum that said just how much Prompto was willing to listen to him.

*O*

“Prompto,” Ardyn coaxed, bouncing the boy on his hip.

“Pompto,” Prompto responded mulishly and honestly that was close enough, Ardyn wasn’t going to get into an argument with the boy over how to say his own name.

“Ardyn,” he tried, pointing to himself.

Prompto stared between him and the finger for a second before sighing like Ardyn had placed the weight of the world on his tiny shoulders.

“How about Delia?” Ardyn sing-songed and this time Prompto jerked in his arms.

“Del-del,” he squealed. “Pompto, Del-del, Pa!”

Ardyn blinked slowly, pointing at Prompto, “Who’s this?” he asked.

“Pompto!” Prompto squealed.

Ardyn pointed back to himself, “And who am I?”

“Papa, papa, papa,” Prompto muttered, pressing his face against Ardyn’s chest and rubbing it there in a move that usually meant it was bed time but Ardyn found himself glued to the floor.

To hear Delia say it was one thing. To hear it from Prompto’s mouth…it made the cold pieces of Ardyn’s heart thrum with something he hadn’t felt in too long.

“I guess I’m ‘Papa,’ then,” he whispered.

Prompto’s only response to that was a hum and a flicker of darkness skittering across Ardyn’s mind.

Chapter Text

Ardyn was well aware of the fact that despite Prompto’s development the boy still lagged behind what was expected for a child of his age. All the books claimed that every child developed in unique ways but not every child had spent the formative months of their life in a laboratory being prodded and tested.

The thought rested heavy on Ardyn, anchored by the guilt of his own involvement no matter how many times he tried to convince himself that if he hadn’t done what he had Prompto wouldn’t have been born in the first place.

The fact that Prompto seemed to adore Ardyn with every fibre of his little body just made the guilt weigh even heavier on Ardyn’s conscience but in Prompto’s presence Ardyn barely had the time to think much less feel guilty.

Prompto might have been behind on what was expected of him but he was doing his outmost best to catch up.

“Prompto!” Ardyn yelped, racing for the bookcase that the little boy had managed to half-climb even though Ardyn had only left him alone for ten minutes.

“Prompto gone, Papa,” Prompto lamented when Ardyn managed to detach him from the shelves.

“Prompto’s most certainly not gone nor is he going anywhere anytime soon,” Ardyn grumbled, eying the dark smears on the wood.

The scourge simmered just beneath the surface of Prompto’s thoughts, beating against Prompto’s connection with Ardyn like waves throwing themselves at a cliff.

Countless days of practice meant it was easier now to force the scourge back, muffling the less than human urges it brought with it until Prompto’s mind was clear of anything but his own happy thoughts. The scourge didn’t stay dormant for long but Ardyn found that once a day was enough to at least give him some piece of mind when he left Prompto with Delia.

The last thing either of them needed was for the little boy to decide that his playmates were something to be snacked on.

Prompto frowned, tugging at his own hair in distress as the scourge shifted into the backdrop of his mind and Ardyn was well enough versed in all things Prompto to know that the expression currently marring Prompto’s face meant that he was working himself up to a tantrum.

“How about a piece of cake?” Ardyn offered up and Prompto’s frown vanished in a second, his eyes focusing on Ardyn’s face like he wasn’t quite sure if he was being tricked.

“Cake?” he inquired.

Ardyn nodded, hitching Prompto higher on his hip as he made his way to the kitchen.

The cake had been a gift from Delia and Ardyn had meant to save it for after dinner but he was willing to sacrifice the cake if it meant he’d bypass a tantrum.

“Prompto’s cake?” Prompto asked as he watched the knife hover in the air before it cut a slice.

The fact that he was using his gifts to cut cake made Ardyn smirk. If only the younger version of him could see him now.

“Well it’s not just Prompto’s cake,” Ardyn explained, shifting the large piece of chocolate cake onto a plate.

He wasn’t surprised when Prompto willingly let himself be settled into his high seat because Prompto’s love for all things sweet was actually a little terrifying.

“I share with Papa,” Prompto muttered to himself and as soon as Ardyn placed the cake in front of him he broke off a handful, offering it to Ardyn in all its crushed glory. “Papa cake.”

Ardyn accepted the gift with a tiny smile, making a production of eating it.

Prompto waited until he was done before he started to eat, humming happily to himself as he smeared chocolate all over his face.

Pulling out a seat Ardyn sat and watched Prompto eat; smiling at him each time the little boy glanced over at him.

He could be happy in this moment, he could forget everything. He could forget what was to come and what he’d lost.

He could even ignore the scourge in his own soul that seemed to grow each time he used it.

*O*

“Reports from Tenebrae have confirmed that Queen Sylva and Princess Lunafreya are being treated for smoke inhalation after the fire that ravaged their manor.”

Ardyn’s eyes flickered from his paperwork to the screen at the words.

“Prince Ravus was injured in the blaze when he attempted to save his sister and is still in intensive care. Eyewitness claim that the prince was engulfed in flames before workers were able to aid him. Further updates to follow.”

Ardyn frowned at that, his frown deepening into a scowl when he recalled Iedolas’ words earlier that week.

He wasn’t sure if the idiot had truly been trying to test Ardyn’s loyalty by offering him misleading information but there was little doubt in Ardyn’s mind that Iedolas or Verstael were behind the fire. It was too much a coincidence and the fact that only Ravus had been injured wasn’t shocking.

After all the important ones were the oracle and the oracle-to-be. As far as Iedolas was concerned Ravus would just be an obstacle and Ardyn knew all about being an obstacle standing in the path of powerful people.

It wasn’t exactly a secret that Ardyn had lived in Tenebrae before he moved to Niflheim. What people didn’t know was that Ardyn had had little reason or want to contact the royal family.

It hadn’t stopped Sylva from tracking him down and Ardyn had left after the first time the woman called him by his birth name.

Steepling his fingers Ardyn stared at the screen as they showed pictures of the royal family, little Lunafreya standing at her mother’s side while Ravus towered over both of them.

A flicker of a finger froze the screen on a picture of Ravus.

“Prompto,” Ardyn called, waiting until the pitter-patter of little feet approached him before glancing up.

Prompto’s look said just how much he’d appreciated being pulled away from the train set that Ardyn had brought home for him that afternoon.

“My apologies for interrupting your playtime,” Ardyn offered up, holding his hand out for Prompto and when the little boy took it he pulled him up onto his lap, turning him towards the television. “However I need a little bit of advice from my right hand man,” Ardyn carried on but Prompto wasn’t paying any attention to him.

Just as Ardyn expected Prompto was staring at Ravus’ face on the screen.

“Pretty hair,” Prompto hummed.

“Not half as pretty as mine,” Ardyn rebutted.

“I no have hair,” Prompto shot back, swivelling around so that he could eye Ardyn in warning and Ardyn held out both his hands.

“I have no desire to fight you over your hair, once a day is quite enough,” he muttered.

Prompto kept eyeing him for a few more seconds before he turned around again.

“Pretty like Papa,” he commented and Ardyn gasped, clutching at his chest.

“I've been usurped, thrown over for a mere stranger,” he bemoaned, throwing himself on the sofa, though he eased the motion into something that wouldn’t send Prompto falling.

Prompto squealed with laughter, burying his face in Ardyn’s chest for a second before he scrambled upwards, pressing his hands against Ardyn’s face.

“Papa pretty like Prompto,” he laughed and Ardyn rolled his eyes before tickling the little boy, allowing Prompto to get away when he made a break for it before lumbering after the giggling child.

He’d learned two things at the very least.

First, Prompto was extremely biased when it came to long hair but bias or not the little boy hadn’t said anything bad about Ravus so that meant that if Ardyn stuck to his guns he’d be contacting Queen Sylva fairly soon.

The second thing he’d learned was that his child had self-esteem to spare.

He was so proud.

*O*

“If I had a grudge…”

“You have a grudge? Perish the thought,” Delia snorted interrupting Ardyn’s spiel and Ardyn glowered at her over his coffee. The woman had no respect for him whatsoever and he liked it. She reminded him of his mother.

“You’re about as high-strung as your son under all that mystery you try to hide behind,” Delia continued and Ardyn snorted. Prompto was much more high-strung than he was and he didn’t try to be mysterious, he just was…it was a burden.

“If I had a grudge,” Ardyn started again, eyeing Delia’s smug grin. “And if I was one to be vindictive meaning the other person would have little reason to trust any olive branch I offered. How would you suggest I approach a situation where I was in the position to offer my help?”

“Tell them the truth and by the truth I don’t mean the syrupy drivel that you sell those politicians,” Delia suggested. “From the look on your face, you still don’t like this person. Tell them that; let them know that you’re just helping them because you can, not because you’re being nice.”

“You’d trust someone who hated you to help you?” Ardyn asked.

Delia shrugged, taking another sip of her tea, “I’d trust anyone if I didn’t have any other option.”

*O*

The faint strand of music from their radio was the only sound in the apartment as Ardyn rocked Prompto from side to side, lulling the little boy to sleep.

Delia’s words had left him with a lot to think about and not even Verstael’s smug face had managed to pierce the haze of his concentration though the way that Iedolas had watched him had.

Ardyn truly wondered how someone so obvious in his intent had managed to climb so high.

But that was neither here nor there. His eyes and ears in Tenebrae had reported that while Ravus lived, the fire had badly damaged his left arm to the point where the doctors had amputated it.

Prompto whimpered in his sleep, interrupting Ardyn’s thoughts and he rubbed a light hand across the boy’s back until he quieted again, his fingers clutching at Ardyn’s shirt.

He couldn’t imagine Prompto being in pain while he stood by helplessly and he wasn’t sure if that was because of his own feelings or because of the scourge lurking beneath both their skins.

Still he didn’t doubt for a moment that he would rather raze the world to the ground than allow Prompto to suffer.

He imagined Queen Sylva might feel the same.

Sighing Ardyn glanced down at Prompto, taking in the streaks of red colouring his blond hair.

“You’re making me soft, Quicksilver,” he whispered.

Prompto cooed in his sleep, the sound curling in Ardyn’s chest like a satisfied cat, and honestly that was answer enough.

*O*

“Unfortunate business that fire in Tenebrae,” Iedolas noted as they lingered in the man’s meeting room after another long meeting to discuss just how controllable the magitek army would be. The fact that the creatures inside the armour were daemons unsettled several of the council but none of them had spoken up after Verstael had listed the loss of life that came from their initial tests using humans.

“It was a…surprise,” Ardyn commented idly twisting his pen as he watched Verstael out of the corner of his eye.

The man had been quiet and that was enough to pique Ardyn’s interest.

“I heard that Prince Ravus was badly injured,” Iedolas continued and Ardyn let his attention switch back to the man.  

“Such a thing could shake the moral of their people. After all, the oracle and her family must be seen as untouchable to maintain the idea of their worth,” Ardyn mused, watching as Iedolas’ eye twitched.

He wondered if the man even knew about that particular tell.

“He’s still alive, they can worship him as the hero who saved the life of the oracle-to-be,” Verstael muttered and Ardyn smirked.

Verstael had never been very good at keeping his plans to himself and Ardyn knew just how to get even more out of him.

“True and it places the Queen in a precarious situation, with Ravus injured there’s no one to protect her…at least no one of her bloodline,” Ardyn offered up, watching as Iedolas smirked.

“Yes, it would have been a good strategic move if the fire had been intentional…” Verstael chuckled.

Ardyn clenched his fingers into a fist beneath the table at that. To Verstael and Iedolas people were simply puppets to be used and discarded in the blink of an eye. Ardyn had thought like them once, still did to an extent but the fact that Prompto had once been one of the puppets that Verstael would have used made Ardyn want to rip both men apart.

Instead he inhaled slowly, smiling at the man without calling him out…not yet.

He had something much better planned for Verstael.

*O*

“Prompto, we both know it’s your bedtime,” Ardyn sighed, watching as Prompto squirmed on the rug.

“Not yet,” Prompto responded barely sparing Ardyn a glance before he went back to scribbling on his papers. Just a few months over two and the boy was already sassing him to no end.

“Sometimes I think you forget that I’m the parent here,” Ardyn grumbled, stretching before swooping down to grab the boy.

Prompto froze for a second, his eyes wide as Ardyn tossed him into the air then he shrieked with laughter, his little body jerking as Ardyn caught him effortlessly.

Thankfully all thoughts of getting out of bedtime seemed to have escaped him as Ardyn carted him off to their room, changing him into his pyjamas while Prompto sang to himself.

“What to do with drunken whaler,” Prompto crooned and Ardyn grimaced.

“One of these days I’m going to find out how to keep your grubby little fingers out of my head,” he muttered as Prompto continued to sing the song at the top of his lungs. “That’s not child friendly, Quicksilver.”

“Goodnight,” Prompto responded, scrambling onto Ardyn’s pillow and ending the conversation.

“You think you’re smart,” Ardyn groused, switching Prompto’s night light on before he switched the main light off.

A few minutes passed before Prompto abandoned the pillow to sprawl on Ardyn’s chest.

They both fell asleep to the song of lullaby in a long dead language whispering up from Ardyn’s mind.

*O*

Ardyn stretched on the rug, it was his day off and honestly he wanted to nothing more than just laze about and listen to Prompto. The little boy had become the star that Ardyn’s whole world orbited in just a few months. He’d have been suspicious if the decision to visit Verstael’s lab hadn’t been his own.

“And Del-Del said Prompto smart,” Prompto explained with a flourish. “I smart,” he added just in case Ardyn hadn’t gotten the point.

“You’re very smart,” Ardyn agreed and Prompto beamed at him. “You’re also very sneaky,” Ardyn added, picking up Prompto’s teddy bear that was smeared with black residue.

Prompto stared guiltily at the thing, his eyes darting away from it when Ardyn cocked a brow at him.

“Wasn’t eating it,” he muttered.

“Oh?” Ardyn snorted, “And what exactly were you doing?”

Prompto shrugged, biting his lower lip as he stared at thing, “Don’t know,” he replied and Prompto was being honest, Ardyn could feel it.

He could also feel the scourge in Prompto’s mind, testing the thing that it had tasted. The thing seemed to be growing as Prompto did and it was just as curious as Prompto was.

Ardyn had toyed with the idea of trying to remove the taint but at this point he couldn’t tell where Prompto ended and the scourge started.

“Do you do this a lot?” Ardyn asked, rolling over so that he could fully face Prompto.

Prompto nodded then shook his head. “Teddy soft…don’t know why,” he whispered, shuffling closer to Ardyn so that he could bury his face in Ardyn’s chest. “Want know why teddy soft,” he explained, his words muffled.

“Oh,” Ardyn murmured, stroking Prompto’s hair.

He’d been thinking of Prompto’s taint, the same way he thought of his own but it wasn’t the same. He’d absorbed countless fully grown daemons but Prompto had been born with the scourge incorporated into his genetic code.

The thing was as much a part of Prompto as the crystal’s powers that Ardyn had been born with.

Prompto was using the scourge as another limb of sorts, something to use to explore the world around him.

“Do you want to see something fun?” Ardyn queried, waiting until Prompto glanced up at him before he held a single hand above the teddy bear.

The scourge resisted at first as Ardyn forced it into something miniscule but he’d spent centuries fighting against it and he knew how to control it.

A single drop of black liquid collected on the tip of his finger before dripping down onto the teddy bear.

The thing didn’t move for a second but when Ardyn twitched his hand the bear jerked upwards onto its feet.

“Teddy,” Prompto breathed clinging to Ardyn as he watched the teddy bear stumble around, held under Ardyn’s influence for a second before it tumbled to the floor as the exposed scourge died without a host to latch onto.

“Papa,” Prompto demanded, scrambling onto Ardyn’s lap so that he could clutch at Ardyn’s hair. “How teddy move?”

“Magic,” Ardyn whispered, rubbing his nose against the little boy’s and Prompto spluttered as expected, patting at Ardyn’s face in rebuke…apparently two years old was much too old for such behaviour.

Prompto slid from Ardyn’s lap only to stare suspiciously at the teddy bear before glancing at Ardyn. “I do it?” he inquired.

“Maybe when you’re a bit older,” Ardyn responded, gently pushing against the scourge rising up in Prompto’s mind until it subsided again. “For now, let’s go find something to actually eat,” he groaned as he rose to his feet.

“Yum yum for tum-tum,” Prompto sang as he toddled ahead of Ardyn, heading for the kitchen.

Chapter Text

“You should visit the lab when you have a moment to spare…see what I have accomplished,” Verstael invited and Ardyn had to fight hard not to roll his eyes at the egotistical little toad.

“I will, when I have a moment to spare,” he promised blandly as Verstael followed him down the corridor, hurrying to match Ardyn’s longer strides. “However, you and I both know that science isn’t my forte.”

Verstael waved that away, “Of course, but you don’t have to be a scientist to appreciate the might of our new army. In just five months we’ve tripled our production output.”

“Though I suppose it is difficult splitting yourself between your work and your son,” Verstael commented lightly.

Ardyn’s stride didn’t falter but that was only because of years of practice.

“The boy’s mother must be proud to have bred with someone of your standing,” Verstael mused and Ardyn eyed him.

“I find your interest in my love life a little unsettling,” he commented dryly.

Verstael didn’t respond to the rebuke.

“Children are not something that I would wish on anyone,” he continued as if Ardyn hadn’t spoken. “They’re much too fragile and vulnerable.”

The words were pointed, nothing short of a threat and Ardyn whirled away from Verstael, ignoring the man’s scoff as he hurried in the other direction.

Dignity was a small price to pay for Prompto’s safety.

*O*

Ardyn hammered on Delia’s door, barely allowing for a second between one knock and the next.

Delia barely had the chance to open it when Ardyn was sweeping by her, his eyes roaming the living room until he caught sight of Prompto asleep on Delia’s sofa. It was only then that he allowed himself to truly breathe.

“Do I want to know what that was about?” Delia inquired, completely unshaken as she closed the door behind him and moved to her coffee table.

Ardyn didn’t respond to the question, his eyes glued to the rise and fall of Prompto’s chest as the boy slept on, unaware of the mental turmoil Ardyn was in.

The scourge lashed at him, digging into the holes in his psyche left behind by his anger and for a second Ardyn felt stretched too thin to house the beings beneath his skin.

A familiar scent cut through the haze and Ardyn blinked only to have Delia shove a cup of tea into his hands.

“Drink that and sit down. You’re giving me a crick in my neck,” she huffed as she moved to sit by Prompto’s feet, positioning herself so that she’s block the little boy if he decided to roll over.

Ardyn followed her instructions on auto-pilot, his fingers tightening around the cup until the warmth penetrated his skin just enough for him to feel something.

The scent of chamomile wafted into his nose as he took a sip.

“Now do you want to tell me what’s got you looking like you’ve seen a ghost?” Delia tried again.

“Work issues,” Ardyn evaded and Delia stared at him for a long moment before she snorted.

“Do you think you’re the first person running from something that I’ve let through my doors?” she queried, her voice coloured by the laugh curling her lips. “You’re not, just to make that clear. I was the first one but I sure as hell wasn’t the last.”

Ardyn opened his mouth but there was nothing he could tell Delia and the woman seemed to realize that because she sat forward and patted him on the knee.

“You were afraid when you came in here but you weren’t worried about yourself, you were worried about that little boy,” she guessed. “But let me tell you this much, I grew up at the edges of this society. I’ve seen the cruelty and the wickedness of man and I learned how to defend myself and my family. As long as Prompto is under my roof, he’ll be safe or I’ll be dead.”

Ardyn nodded at that, his fingers curling tighter around the cup until the ceramic creaked in protest.

“He’s the only thing keeping me like this,” he whispered, his gaze flickering to Prompto. “I’m not a good person…”

“But you’re a damn good parent and honestly in this life that’s about all you can ask for,” Delia cut in, leaning back. “This place can take a good man and break him into pieces until there’s no clear cut line between good and evil. But I’ve seen the way you are with Prompto and that’s good enough for me.”

Ardyn nodded again, exhaling slowly as Delia’s words settled between them.

“I’m not sure if I ever was a good man,” he admitted.

Delia hummed beneath her breath, “Well, you’re not dead that means you’ve got time to change all of that,” she shot back and Ardyn snorted because she didn’t know the half of it.

*O*

Verstael’s lab was as sterile as it had been the last time Ardyn had been there. The white walls and endless corridors gave the impression of immaculateness and that was impressive given the damage that Ardyn was sure he’d caused the last time.

What was even more impressive was the number of cameras that dotted the corridor he was lead down.

Ardyn listened with half an ear as Verstael’s new technician, a woman this time, explained what was behind each door…nothing interesting, from what Ardyn could understand, despite that the locking mechanisms on each door were high-tech and probably extremely expensive.

It was a pity that even something as prestigious as Verstael’s doors couldn’t keep the scourge contained and Ardyn let his hands trail over the doors, leaving behind little pieces of his taint that slithered away from his body, searching for new hosts.

Some of them died and Ardyn could feel the loss even if it barely registered over the singing joy of the pieces of himself that found something new to latch onto.

The familiar taste of daemon flesh coated the back of his throat as the scourge worked its way into the dormant hosts, growing with each of the daemons’ breaths.

“We are currently in possession of almost one thousand fully grown magitek soldiers,” the woman finished with a flourish before her gaze darted away from Ardyn’s. “However I’m not allowed in the containment areas without supervision…none of us are,” she apologized.

Ardyn waved the words away, “That’s fine,” he told her, “As I told Verstael, science is not my forte. I just thought to stop by especially after my abrupt departure yesterday. You will give him my apologies, yes?”

The woman nodded, “Of course, Mr Izunia. I’ll just lead you back out,” she muttered and Ardyn followed her back down the corridor, smirking up at the cameras that panned to watch him go.

Verstael had no idea of the war that he’d started but Ardyn would gladly teach him.

After all he’d learned all about war at his mother’s knee and there had been few queens as bloodthirsty as the woman who’d raised him.

*O*

Prompto’s sharp teeth bit into Ardyn’s hand and he frowned down at the boy but he didn’t pull away, partially because he knew how difficult it would be to detach Prompto from his finger but mostly because Prompto hadn’t actually broken the skin this time. The boy had stopped doing that a few months ago but Ardyn could still hear the discordant thrum in his head that almost sounded like the song of the crystal whenever Prompto bit him.

It was strange but then again there were few things that were normal about either of them.

Rocking Prompto, Ardyn glanced out the window watching as a flock of birds flew by.

He’d woken in a melancholy mood and it had followed him throughout the day, leaking from his mind into Prompto’s.

Everywhere he looked something reminded him of the life he’d had before, of the things he’d found and lost and the scourge writhed inside him, turning in on itself in a demented reflection of Ardyn’s thoughts.

“I don’t know what’s happening anymore, Quicksilver,” Ardyn whispered, sending the chair rocking again with a push of his foot. “Before you came along, I had these grand plans and now all I can think about is keeping you safe.”

Prompto huffed against Ardyn’s finger, sending a plume of hot breath dancing across the back of his hand.

“I’d give it all up if I could, all of this…the secrecy and the hate but it’s as much a part of me as you’re growing to be even if you don’t know it,” he swallowed at the words, his mind flashing to the moment that his people had turned their back on him, beliefs based solely on the words of one man.

Prompto whined then, in response to the thought and the despair bleeding through the bond and Ardyn’s lips twitched into a tiny smile as Prompto’s love coated his mind, flowing over the pain like a band aid stretched over a wound.

“I’m fighting against myself because this world isn’t one that I’d want you to have to live in but I don’t want to be in a world that means I’d have to bury you while my curse keeps me going.”

Ardyn didn’t realize he was crying until Prompto let go of his hand and turned, his face scrunched into a frown as he stood on Ardyn’s legs and wiped at the tears staining his face.

“You’re the only thing keeping me sane,” he laughed wetly, cuddling Prompto close.

“And one day this curse means you’re going to go somewhere that I can’t follow and that’s the day that I’ll let the scourge devour this world,” Ardyn murmured against Prompto’s hair.

He hoped the Astrals could hear him because that wasn’t a threat, it was a promise.

*O*

Ardyn woke to a world on fire.

Flames licked at his feet where he stood and nothing but red and orange coated the ground for as far as his eye could see.

“You stray from your path.”

The voice rumbled across the plane like mountains crumbling.

Ardyn didn’t have to turn to know who was speaking but he did so anyway because he’d never been one to give his back to an enemy and no matter what else Ifrit did he was still the one who’d originally cursed humanity with the starscourge.

Ifrit eyed him impassively, red eyes flickering from Ardyn’s bare feet to the top of his head.

“I wasn’t aware that I had a set path,” Ardyn replied, keeping his tone steady. Ifrit couldn’t hurt him, not here and not in the waking world but there were others around him that the Astral could target even weakened as he was and for that Ardyn had no one but himself to blame.

“You promised me my vengeance if I aided you but I see little chance of vengeance in your whelp,” Ifrit growled.

“His name is Prompto and I promised you nothing, Infernian,” Ardyn spat.

“That is what you believe, light-bringer but anyone who dances with Ifrit has already promised much more than they could ever give.”

The new voice ghosted across Ardyn’s skin and when the flames at his feet froze solid Ardyn closed his eyes and scoffed.

“If I knew that a little threat would get all of you so riled up, I’d have done it a long time ago,” he muttered.

 Shiva laughed at that, her voice ringing like bells and Ifrit bared his teeth at the sound.

“It was not your promise that caught our attention,” Shiva whispered and Ardyn whirled on her, one hand outstretched, fingers curling around thin air because the Astral was already gone.

She smiled sadly at him from her new position several feet away. “I remembered a time when the sight of us brought you such joy,” she murmured.

Ardyn’s lips twitched into a sneer, “Was that before or after you decided I was too tainted for your precious realm or maybe it was when you stood aside and let me take the scourge into myself only to watch me be cast aside…”

The flames leapt upwards and Ardyn flinched back despite the knowledge that they couldn’t hurt him.

“Do not presume to question the will of your Gods,” Ifrit hissed and Ardyn laughed.

“My Gods?” he hissed rounding on the Infernian. “Do not presume to question my will. I dragged you from your eternal torment but don’t think I won’t toss you right back down there…” he paused here, his expression smoothing into something less volatile. “…but you’re not to blame for this, are you? You’re much too weak to enter my dreams…to do anything at all, really,” he mused, glancing at Shiva. “Which means I should be asking you, what do you want?”

Shiva’s smile was a small fragile thing and if Ardyn didn’t know that her heart was as frozen as her abilities he might have felt sorry for her.

“You have a chance to turn from the path that you’ve set for yourself,” Shiva whispered, her head cocked to the side and Ardyn held his tongue as she spoke. “The child…”

“No!” Ardyn snarled, “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to write his destiny, he’s a child.”

“A child, who could become someone so important,” Shiva retorted.

“He’s already important. He doesn’t need a prophecy or a destiny and I swear on all that I am that if you meddle…if you try to change that I will ruin you. After all, what is a God with no one to worship them?”

Shiva cocked a brow but Ardyn just stared at her, letting her see the truth behind his words.

“Very well but remember this, light-bringer. You were once a child with a destiny as well…”

“And look where that’s gotten me,” Ardyn snapped as the dream unravelled around him.

*O*

Gasping awake, Ardyn’s eyes darted to the left of his bed where Prompto was sprawled on his stomach, sound asleep.

A hysterical bark of laughter forced itself from Ardyn’s throat and he buried his face in his hands.

He could still feel the flames and the cold of Shiva’s breath on his skin but most of all he remembered the thing that bubbled in his chest when she talked about Prompto. Ardyn knew what a prophecy could do to a person and he hadn’t lied for a second with what he’d told Shiva. He could feel it in his bones, every piece of him, his human soul and the scourge that tainted it was willing to go to war for what they saw as theirs and Prompto was theirs, he was the only thing that Ardyn could truly lay claim to.

Turning, Ardyn curled himself around Prompto, tucking the little boy close to his body and Prompto muttered in his sleep but he still tangled a hand in Ardyn’s shirt and pressed himself against Ardyn’s chest like he recognized the man even while he slumbered.

“The things I would do for you,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to Prompto’s hair.

Not even sleep could prevent the displeased huff his actions got him and Ardyn smiled as he closed his eyes, letting Prompto’s dreams pull him under.

Chapter Text

“What is your vision for my empire?”

The question made Ardyn frown as he glanced at Iedolas only to find the man staring straight at him.

“I’m not sure what you mean?” Ardyn offered up, watching as Iedolas’ lips quirked into what could be called a smile.

“You’ve given me so much. Your knowledge, your dedication…but I can’t quite understand why. You’re not Niflheim born, why would you want us to excel?” Iedolas queried.

Ardyn shuffled the papers in front of him. “You’re right, I wasn’t born here but there’s a reason why I left my birth home behind and it wasn’t because of choice,” Ardyn explained keeping his words honest because after all the best lies were founded in truth. “There’s little I dislike more than betrayal and if I’m crossed once, I won’t give someone the chance to do so again.”

“You want to use the Empire to seek vengeance?” Iedolas guessed but Ardyn just grinned, shaking his head.

“I want the Empire to be great, to be everything that my birth home will never be and then I want the Empire to crush them beneath its feet…it’s not about vengeance.”

“It sounds a lot like it,” Iedolas mused.

“I like to think of it as more of a lesson…never bite the hand that feeds you,” Ardyn responded and though he could see the curiosity on Iedolas’ face, the man said nothing.

*O*

“No have hair!” Prompto protested as Ardyn braided the strands together despite the boy’s squirming.

“For someone who’s apparently bald you’ve been trying to keep a lot of your non-existent hair out of your face,” Ardyn muttered as he secured the ends of the plait; curling it on itself so that it wasn’t resting against Prompto’s nape.

“There, all done,” Ardyn announced, snickering when Prompto all but flung himself from his lap.

Little hands came up to pat at his head as he eyed Ardyn suspiciously.

“Where hair?” he demanded and Ardyn made a show of thinking the question over.

“You know, I have no idea where all your hair has gone,” he commented, laughing when Prompto’s fingers touched the braid and his face scrunched into a frown.

“It here,” Prompto huffed. “No lie.”

“My apologies,” Ardyn replied, watching as Prompto toddled over to his toy pen.

His dreams had been quiet, filled with nothing but dancing teddy bears and the occasional walking milkshake…honestly he needed to talk to Delia about the things that she let Prompto watch. These modern children programmes were nothing but drivel.

But not even Prompto’s thoughts could distract him from the heavy sense of anticipation that had settled low in his stomach since the moment he saw Ifrit sitting on his throne of bones.

Something was coming and with the Astrals involved it promised to be something big.

Ardyn wanted absolutely no part of it. He’d let the Astrals influence his life once and they’d stood aside as the taint fed on his soul and changed him into something that no one could love…that no one could want…well almost no one.

The thought had his eyes flickering to where Prompto was sat, surrounded by his teddy bears.

Whatever was coming, Ardyn would keep Prompto out of it or he’d burn the world trying.

*O*

Delia didn’t answer on the first knock…nor the second or third.

There was no time for a fourth; Ardyn was already through the door.

Delia’s apartment was a mirror image of his, at least in structure but that was where the similarities ended. Every surface was covered in soft toys, pictures of her family and figurines that had taken a beating over time.

The air inside the space was still like it was frozen solid and it made the hair on the back of Ardyn’s neck stand on end.  The sight of Delia’s body, broken and twisted where it lay on the floor had Ardyn’s steps faltering as something that felt like grief and loss rose up in his chest. Across from Delia lay the body of a man and Ardyn’s brows furrowed as he recognized the face of the technician, who he’d left for dead.  The knife embedded in the man’s eye said just how he’d died and Ardyn knew who he had to thank for that.

A flicker of his magic had the heavy spell shattering into a thousand pieces that clung to the air along with the smell of metal.

The bond between Ardyn and Prompto snapped in place as the spell dissipated, writhing with distress and pain. 

All it took was the blink of an eye and the only thing left of Ardyn in Delia’s apartment was a smear of darkened residue marring the blood-stained carpets.

*O*

Ardyn’s skin bulged as he moved, his feet barely touching the ground before his knife was in his hand.

The lab was different, though similar in design, it wasn’t the one that Ardyn had taken Prompto from, this one actually had security…human soldiers prowling the perimeter.

It would have been enough to stop someone else, someone human.

The knife twirled around Ardyn’s fingers for a second as he stepped onto the path that led to the building. He didn’t know what part of Niflheim he was in but the bond didn’t need direction, it rose like a siren’s song that called Ardyn to Prompto and he didn’t think of hesitating.

One of the soldiers turned in Ardyn’s direction and he flashed the man a tight smile a second before he twirled, launching the knife across the distance.

The soldier froze; his body tilting as the knife embedded itself in his left eye in a macabre mockery of the technician who Ardyn would never have the pleasure of killing himself.

A sword was in Ardyn’s hand before the man’s body hit the floor and blood arched like a fountain when the blade bit through flesh and bone, cleaving the other soldier’s body in two.

Pausing Ardyn bent and trailed a hand over the corpses, baring his teeth as the scourge crawled from his body, eager for new hosts and when Ardyn stood and stepped away, a single set of footsteps followed, almost drowning out the sound of something dragging itself along the ground.

Ardyn caught a glimpse of himself in the glass doors of the building, his skin roiling like the beasts trapped inside his body were trying to rip their way out of him.

Tearing his eyes from the sight Ardyn tilted his head to the side observing the horrified workers, who were watching him behind the small army of soldiers.

This time his smile was more genuine as he pressed his hands to the doors, allowing the scourge to flow from his body until the glass was completely covered.

He’d warned Verstael, now it was time to pay the reaper.

*O*

Stepping over another body Ardyn watched as the reanimated corpses turned on another of the workers.

A soldier rushed at him and Ardyn didn’t dodge the bullets the woman pumped into his body. He was aware of them but he was more aware of Prompto’s presence and it made it easy to ignore everything else. 

Reaching out he grabbed the woman’s neck, lifting her from the floor before tossing her aside as he headed for the room that she’d been guarding.

Screams burst to life in his wake but Ardyn didn’t look back as he shoved the doors open.

“D-don’t come any closer.”

The man choked the words out but Ardyn was only focused on the little boy that the man was clutching against his chest as he waved his gun at Ardyn.

Prompto was covered in blood and his clothes were ripped and dirty but he was alive, he was alive and that was all that mattered.

Ardyn took a step forward and the man pulled the trigger.

The bullet made him stagger, scourge tainted blood dripping from the wound and splattering against the floor and Ardyn hissed as the metal burned his skin. It looked like Verstael had been smart enough to hide some of his accomplishments because that was no ordinary bullet…the same magic that had hidden Prompto from him coated the metal and Ardyn bared his teeth as his body forced the foreign object out of him.  

“Did Verstael make that for you?” Ardyn queried, his voice almost pleasant as he focused on the man properly for the first time.

“I said stay back!” the man shouted, this time the bullet lodged in Ardyn’s eye and Prompto wailed as Ardyn jerked backwards, his voice filled with terror.

Ardyn whirled on the man, his eye remaking itself as the scourge twisted like a serpent beneath his skin.

The man aimed at him again at the same time that Prompto jerked forward in his hands, teeth latching onto the man’s exposed forearm.

The scientist screamed, thrashing his arm violently enough to send Prompto tumbling but Ardyn was there before Prompto could hit the ground, ducking beneath the man’s body as he curled around his son.

The little boy clung to him, pressing his blood soaked face against Ardyn’s shirt as he sobbed, Delia’s name a mangled cry and Ardyn forced himself to stand.

Holding Prompto tight, Ardyn towered over the scientist but the man wasn’t looking at him, he was staring horrified at the black mark spreading along his arm.

Prompto clutched at Ardyn while the man writhed, his body thrashing on the floor as blood foamed at his lips.

Turning Prompto away Ardyn watched the scourge ravage the man’s body.

“Papa,” Prompto whimpered, clinging to Ardyn like he thought he’d vanish in a second and the bond pulled taut with distress. “Where Del-del go?”

Pressing a grateful kiss to Prompto’s hair, Ardyn ignored the question as took a stock of his own wounds. The scourge was simmering quietly beneath his skin, depleted of most of its energy but still there and Ardyn curled around Prompto as he warped them back to their apartment.

He staggered as they landed, he’d never warped over such long distances and to do it twice in one day had taken it out of him but he wasn’t willing to expose Prompto to any more traumas.

“Where Del-del?” Prompto sobbed and that more than anything made Ardyn move, sparing a quick prayer for Delia’s soul.

 “It’ll be fine, Quicksilver. Del-del’s just sleeping,” Ardyn whispered as he entered their apartment, quickly stripping Prompto down before heading for the shower.

“Del-del sleep?” Prompto asked and Ardyn forced a smile while he nodded. Soothing his hand down Prompto’s back as he started the shower.

He was going to fucking kill Verstael, he was going to eviscerate him, make him beg for mercy that would never come…

“She just needed a quick nap and you could use a nap too,” he whispered, letting the scourge rise in him as Prompto’s memories flashed before his eyes. The spell had blocked him, had left his son vulnerable and Prompto…his sweet, innocent baby boy had been alone when he’d needed Ardyn the most.

“Del-del told Prompto play hide,” Prompto mumbled, his speech regressing as he shivered in Ardyn’s arms.

The memories twisted with Prompto’s words, showing Delia scrambling to keep the boy safe, urging him to hide, but it hadn’t been enough. She’d fought to her last breath to protect Prompto just like she’d promised she would and for that Ardyn would be eternally grateful.

*O*

It had been a long time since Ardyn had used the sling but the idea of letting Prompto out of his sight even for a few minutes while he packed was beyond him.

Part of him was screaming about his plans but every time Prompto whimpered in his sleep, Ardyn crushed that part beneath his boot.

Packing was easy, until Prompto Ardyn had barely used the space other than somewhere to rest. It took him an hour to clear the apartment of both their things.

The skies were just darkening when Ardyn shut the car door behind him.

The engines purred to life under his direction and Ardyn only looked back once as sirens erupted around him. In his mirror, flames danced, painting the skies in hues of red and gold that reminded him of Ifrit. Ardyn didn’t let his mind stray to the Astrals…this wasn’t their doing. This was humanity at its finest, cruelty honed and wielded like a blade.

Shaking the thought away Ardyn glanced at Prompto’s sleeping form, his hair illuminated in the passing lights before he pressed harder on the gas and their car became a blur.

He hated that he wouldn’t get to see the expression on Verstael’s face when the changes that he’d left in the man’s labs took effect but he could imagine it.

Beneath his skin the scourge shifted at the thought, the gaping maw of its hunger pulsing as it focused on the parts that Ardyn had left behind, the soldiers waking and infecting each other as they carried out one simple instruction…destroy.

Ardyn’s lips curled into a bitter smile. He’d given them the information they needed to tame the scourge without telling them the one piece of information that they needed to stop it.  It had been a failsafe against betrayal and Ardyn was glad that he’d been paranoid enough to put it in place.

For now he’d let them think he was dead…him and Prompto both but there were other kingdoms and while Lucis wasn’t even worth thinking about there was still Tenebrae.

He’d rebuild an empire beneath Niflheim’s nose, then he’d use it to crush them.

*O*

Prompto was crooning along with the radio loudly and off-tune but the sheer joy on the boy’s face had Ardyn laughing.

Children were such resilient creatures, able to bounce back from the darkest horrors with only a little encouragement.

“Oh, sweet child of mine,” Ardyn sang and Prompto laughed.

“Child mine, child mine!” he copied, his arms and feet working like he was trying to dance even though he was strapped in.

Ardyn was thankful that Prompto didn’t seem bothered by the child-seat or the amount of time he’d been confined there. They’d have to pull over soon but Ardyn had wanted to put as much distance between them and Niflheim’s borders as he could.

The fact that much of Tenebrae was under Niflheim’s control wasn’t something that Ardyn was ignoring. He was more than aware of Iedolas’ long reach but he also knew that the spell that he’d left in place would have Niflheim scrambling to treat its own wounds.

Resources had been stretched thin as it was and a scourge outbreak would push them to almost the breaking point.

Ardyn was certain that he could get to the Fenestala Manor before Iedolas had a chance to recuperate.

The Queen was another matter, one that Ardyn had hoped to avoid. He knew just how much the Oracle saw and there would be no hiding in her presence. The thought didn’t make him hesitate. His own life was forfeit…unmoveable and unshakeable as time itself. If the Queen wanted to turn him away she could try but he knew that she wouldn’t turn away Prompto.

That assurance was all he needed. It was beneath him but Ardyn was willing to grovel if it would keep Prompto safe.

He would even put his plans for Lucis on hold. He had more time than he could use, he could have his revenge at any time but Iedolas was old, his lifespan fleeting and Ardyn wasn’t willing to let the man slip through his fingers.

He would have his vengeance, for Delia…and for Prompto.

*O*

Ardyn didn’t stop driving until they crossed Niflheim’s border.

He’d expected retaliation but maybe he’d expected too much of Iedolas. If it had been Ardyn he would’ve ignored the chaos and gone after the cause or at least the man he’d been would have.

Glancing at Prompto’s sleeping form; Ardyn gripped the steering wheel tight.

All he’d wanted was to give Prompto the life he deserved…to be the man that Prompto needed him to be but he’d failed at that and there was no way that he could wipe the slate clean again.

Delia had died because of him.

That wasn’t something that he could fix nor could he change the fact that Prompto had watched it happen…had killed a man to protect Ardyn even if the little boy didn’t know it.

Ardyn would do everything in his power to keep that little nugget of truth hidden but considering their bond he didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep that secret for.

Forcing his eyes away from Prompto, Ardyn refocused on the road.

He needed to find somewhere for them to rest and recuperate while he decided what step to take next. Thankfully Tenebrae was well known for its hospitality if not its resilience.

*O*

Prompto pressed his face against Ardyn’s neck, as he signed for the room he’d booked, making soft noises of displeasure when Ardyn shifted him to ensure that the little boy wouldn’t go sliding over his shoulder.

The receptionist smiled at the gesture and Ardyn smiled back because people were less likely to remember a pleasant unassuming guest.

Accepting the key from the man, Ardyn readjusted Prompto as he headed for the stairs, ignoring the little fingers clutching at his hair as he climbed them.

“Papa,” Prompto grumbled and Ardyn rocked him, the move almost automatic at this point even though he could feel the sleep leaking from Prompto’s mind as Prompto’s head rose just enough to look around.

“Just a minute, Quicksilver,” Ardyn soothed, copying the sing-song quality that Delia had often used with Prompto, in hopes that the little boy would cooperate.

The fact that it worked felt like a stab in the heart and having had personal experience of such a wound Ardyn could attest that it hurt just as much even when it wasn’t physical.

Their room was almost at the top of the hotel but the silence as they climbed made up for the exertion.

Opening the door, Ardyn hummed as he stepped into the room.

It was worth every coin and Prompto wriggled as soon as Ardyn stopped.

Letting him down, Ardyn watched as Prompto toddled over to the white sofa, pulling himself up onto it.

He didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed but even more of Prompto’s hair had changed to the point that the boy was now mostly a strawberry blond.

The scourge shifted at the thought, ebbing and flowing as it curled at the edges of Ardyn’s mind. There was something there, something hidden beneath the twisted darkness of the stain tainting his soul but Ardyn was too tired to dig for it.

Instead he dropped their bag on one of the chairs that adorned the living room and let himself collapse in front of Prompto on the sofa.

Ardyn didn’t stir as Prompto flopped on his back, limbs spreading out until he was comfortable before he started humming.

Ardyn wasn’t sure who Prompto was trying to comfort, himself or Ardyn.

*O*

A tundra burst to life beneath Ardyn’s feet, ice spiralling outwards until the earth was covered with white. The wind buffeted his clothes, snatching at his cloak as it whipped by him and knew that if this hadn’t been a dream and if he’d been human, he’d never have survived these conditions.

As it was Ardyn barely managed to keep his hands loose at his sides, his fingers curling upwards in a mockery of the fists that he wanted to make.

“I'm sorry for your loss.”

Shiva’s voice was gentle; a striking contrast to the howling wind but Ardyn didn’t focus on that…he didn’t focus on anything other than the ice because that was the only thing real in the world that he’d been drawn into.

The Astral was as cold as the ice that she controlled and Ardyn had let himself forget that once but he would not be fooled a second time.

“Your hatred of us…it makes you irrational,” Shiva chided.

The frustration in her voice made Ardyn’s lips tick up into a reluctant smile because he’d frustrated Delia as well. His mother used to joke that one had to have the patience of a saint to deal with him.

“Light-bringer,” Shiva sighed and this time Ardyn let his gaze shift towards her voice.

She was seated on a throne that seemed to be made of snowflakes. As Ardyn watched several of them melted only to be replaced almost instantly, changing the appearance of the throne until it became something of a slideshow of unique beauty.

“We would have aided you…”

“At what cost?” Ardyn hissed, breaking his vow because try as he might, Shiva had always been good at getting under his skin. “Would you have me beg and grovel? No, I did that already. Maybe you’d want my blood, my vow to never turn against you as I suffered through eternity?”

“That is not our way,” Shiva whispered, her eyes solemn but Ardyn was already turning away.

None of Shiva’s false words would bring Delia back and if the Astrals had wanted to help him…had wanted to save her, they could have.

Ardyn would rather have silence than fake sympathy…would rather have solitude than the companionship of a creature that saw him as little more than a pawn to be fawned over when he was useful only to be discarded a moment later.

An icy touch ghosted across Ardyn’s forehead and he didn’t have to look to know that he was alone.

Beneath his feet the ice started to melt, leaving a puddle of water that grew as he stood there and it wasn’t until he was knee deep in the liquid that Ardyn finally let himself cry.

The breath shook from his lungs as he sobbed, palms pressed to his eyes to stop the flow of his tears.

He didn’t know why he was crying, Delia had been little more than a blip in the unending certainty that was his life but the thought didn’t make him stop…if anything it made him cry harder.

Chapter Text

Hoisting Prompto onto his shoulders, Ardyn walked through the car lot, eyes roaming over the cars spread out before him.

He’d bartered a deal with the salesman that meant that he could get a new car and a fraction of the difference in cash, if there was any, without providing any proof of identification or ownership. He wasn’t stupid enough to push his luck by travelling in the same car even if they weren’t in Niflheim anymore.

Prompto clutched at Ardyn’s hair, humming along with the song that was weaving its way through Ardyn’s thoughts as a glimpse of silver caught Ardyn’s eye and he didn’t have to think twice, he just waved the man over.

It barely took an hour before they were back on the road, their luggage strapped down on the backseat.

The sun beat down on them as they drove with the top down. Ardyn had whipped his hair into a ponytail and he was glad that he’d remembered to braid Prompto’s or the little boy probably wouldn’t have been as happy as he was.

As it was Prompto was doing his best impression of an eel, wiggling in his seat as the breeze tugged at the few loose strands of his hair.

The last time Prompto had seemed so happy, Delia had still been alive.

The thought made Ardyn’s lips twist as his mind flickered to what they’d left behind.

His contacts in Niflheim reported nothing but chaos and finger pointing.

Apparently Verstael hadn’t been seen for days and the fire that had consumed Ardyn’s building had led to the conclusion that he was dead.

That piece of information more than anything had given Ardyn pause because while he’d been aware that Verstael had been keeping tabs on him after the man’s first mention of Prompto, he hadn’t considered that perhaps Iedolas had had a hand in that as well.

Tapping a finger, against the steering wheel, to the rhythm of the song playing on the radio, Ardyn considered his options.

He could keep running and hope for the best or he could go where he knew he needed to go and swallow his pride for Prompto’s sake because a life on the run wasn’t what he wanted for his son.

Sighing, Ardyn glanced at Prompto…he knew what he’d decide even if he didn’t like it.

*O*

Prompto was clinging to Ardyn like a limpet when he was granted audience with the queen.

One of the woman’s servants had offered to watch him and Ardyn didn’t know what he’d done with his face but the girl had paled and stepped back like she thought he was rabid, her eyes darting from his expression to Prompto who watched the entire thing solemnly while he chewed on Ardyn’s finger.

Settling himself in the seat he’d been lead to, Ardyn waited.

Prompto hadn’t slept much during the night despite the luxurious room Ardyn had acquired for them. Instead the boy had starfished on Ardyn’s chest, one hand tangled tightly in Ardyn’s hair as he slept fitfully.

Ardyn hadn’t needed to use their bond to know why when Prompto whimpered Delia’s name in his sleep.

All he could do was hum the lullaby his mother had often used when he was ill while he stroked Prompto’s back, hoping to sooth his sleep.

He’d rarely felt so powerless and it had the scourge stirring restlessly beneath his skin.

The sound of the door behind him opening made Ardyn tense and he felt Prompto copy him, his small teeth digging into Ardyn’s skin as he made a soft distressed sound.

Ardyn ignored whoever had entered the room as he hummed to Prompto until the grip on his finger relaxed and Prompto slumped back in his hold like overcooked pasta.

By the time he glanced up one of the two seats across from him was already filled but it was not the Queen who sat there.

Ravus Nox Fleuret cut an impressive figure. He was not a small man by any means and the prosthetic arm was almost as eye-catching as the broadsword that he’d leaned against his seat. A few months had apparently been long enough for him to completely heal and Ardyn wondered if Ravus knew why.

To be honest, Ardyn had almost forgotten about the prince after the incident that had cost him his left arm. His mind had been more focused on Prompto and ensuring that Verstael and Iedolas were under control. He’d had little time to think of one injured prince.

He hoped the arm worked like he’d thought it would.

“Mr Izunia,” Ravus greeted and Ardyn inclined his head in greeting. “When my mother told me that a rat of the Empire had come scurrying to our front door, I must confess I had not expected it to be you.”

“A rat, your highness?” Ardyn mocked. “Perhaps I am a rat but without this rat you wouldn’t be half the man you are. How is that arm treating you?”

Ravus gritted his teeth at that; his jaw tensing like he wanted to say something else and Ardyn just smirked.

“Ravus, please don’t aggravate our guests.”

Queen Sylva was just as radiant as she’d always been and it made Ardyn bristle at the thought of having to ask for help especially from an oracle but then again this oracle owed him.

“Mr Izunia, first I would like to extend my thanks for what you did for my son,” the Queen smiled, taking her seat. “However while I wished to speak more about how you came across such an idea, I am still aware that you would not have left the Empire behind with no reason.”

There was a lie on the tip of Ardyn’s tongue but the knowing look on Sylva’s face had him swallowing it back down.

Glancing from the woman to Prompto, who’d apparently dozed off at some point, Ardyn sighed. “What do you know of Niflheim’s army?”

*O*

“They’re using the scourge?”

The Queen sounded horrified and Ardyn barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. They’d already been over this twice.

“They were already using daemons, the scourge was the next logical step,” he explained.

“How did they intend to keep the human hosts alive?” Ravus demanded.

“It’s been known to happen in nature, even if it’s now a moot point,” Ardyn replied, smirking when the Queen seemed unable to meet his eyes. So apparently she hadn’t shared the truth of his identity with her son…how foolish.

“And how would you have us combat such a force?” Sylva inquired.

Ardyn glanced down at Prompto, stroking the child’s cheek and even in his sleep Prompto turned into the action as if he knew who was touching.

“I won’t lie and say that I think you capable of fighting back the full strength of Niflheim because you aren’t and that’s partially my own fault,” Ardyn admitted, shouldering his own blame without regret because if he hadn’t given Iedolas the information he had then Prompto would never have been born and that wasn’t a possibility that Ardyn was even willing to consider. “However there is a reason why despite its might Niflheim has only encroached so far on Tenebrae and that is your family’s bloodline. The oracles are a symbol and Iedolas knows that if he pushes too far too fast your people will rise up against him.”

“My people aren’t soldiers,” Queen Sylva pointed out and Ardyn inclined his head at that.

“That is true but a soldier is only a civilian armed with a weapon and the knowledge of how to use it,” he pointed out. “You stand at a crossroad, your grace. You can wait until the Empire has worn away all of your people’s courage, until they come for you and your family and please don’t doubt that they will…”

Ravus bristled at that but a quick gesture from his mother made him hold his tongue.

“Or you can take the opportunity you have been presented with,” Ardyn continued. “Iedolas’ eyes will not turn to you for some time while he deals with the repercussions of his betrayal. In that time I’d advise you to teach your people how to be the soldiers that you need.”

“This betrayal…what did Iedolas do to finally earn your wrath?” Ravus inquired.

Ardyn cocked a brow at the question but there was nothing but curiosity in the prince’s voice. “He tried to take something precious from me and in the process he cost me the one person I would call a friend. For that, I would watch the empire burn.”

“The love of a parent can be a terrible thing,” Queen Sylva mused and Ardyn didn’t deny it. “How much time have you bought us?” she asked.

Ardyn’s smile felt sharp and he wondered how it looked from the outside, “How much time would it take to stop a daemon army?”

Ravus’ eyes widened at that and the look of horror on the Queen’s face made Ardyn chuckle. She seemed to have seen his need to protect Prompto as some attempt at redemption but Ardyn didn’t want or need redemption, he could live happily on revenge alone.

*O*

“My mother seems willing to trust you but don’t presume that I’m foolish enough to do the same.”

Ardyn glanced up from the book he’d been reading while he waited for Sylva to finish her meeting with her council.

At his feet, Prompto was playing quietly with his blocks, carefully stacking them on each other even though Ardyn knew that the boy intended to wreck the building as soon as he’d used up all of his pieces.

Prompto was growing to be more like him with each passing day. Ardyn just hoped he skipped the vengeful stage at least until after puberty.

Wrinkling his nose at Ravus’ appearance, Ardyn closed his book.

“And what exactly do you think I intend to do to you and yours?” Ardyn inquired, lacing his fingers together as he stared at the prince.

Ravus’ eyes narrowed but he didn’t say a word and Ardyn rolled his eyes at that, at least when he accused people of things he had a concrete idea of the betrayal he expected.

“Pretty hair,” Prompto piped up and when Ardyn glanced down at him Prompto was staring at Ravus.

Ravus’ brows furrowed as he stared at Prompto as if he had no clue what to do with such a tiny human complimenting him.

“You should say thank you,” Ardyn pointed out and though Ravus shot him a filthy look, he managed a smile when he glanced down at Prompto.

“Thank you, your hair is…pretty too,” Ravus muttered and Ardyn snorted at the way that Ravus had all but choked out those last two words.

“No have hair,” Prompto frowned at Ravus and Ardyn didn’t even try to disguise his laughter at Ravus’ shocked expression when confronted by Prompto’s declaration of baldness.

Deciding to step in before he had an incident on his hands, Ardyn handed Prompto another block.

“We’re still aware that you have no hair. Prince Ravus meant nothing by it,” he soothed.

Prompto stared at him for a moment, “No hair,” he clarified and Ardyn nodded.

“Not even a single strand,” he confirmed, waiting patiently until Prompto seemed secure that no one was going to attempt to touch his hair before he turned back to his block tower.

“Your child is…” Ravus started and Ardyn’s gaze snapped to him.

“I’d be careful of what you say about my son, you majesty,” he warned but Ravus continued, speaking over him.

“…very adamant about his lack of hair,” he finished eyeing Prompto, whose head had snapped up at the mention of hair, like he was something foreign and terrifying.

Ardyn, who had had a lot of experience with Prompto being foreign and terrifying, smirked because Ravus didn’t know the half of it.

Thankfully before either of them could restart their previous argument Queen Sylva swept into the room.

*O*

“You could leave your son with Luna and her minder,” Sylva offered, glancing at Prompto who’d clambered onto Ardyn’s lap and sprawled there like a lazy cat.

Despite his stillness Prompto wasn’t asleep and Ardyn was fairly certain that the only thing keeping the little terror from his blocks was the fact that Ardyn had been massaging his scalp for the last half hour.

The cat comparison was starting to feel like it had been tailored for Prompto.

“He doesn’t do well away from me,” Ardyn responded, his lips quirking up into a bitter smile when Sylva cocked a brow. “Or perhaps I’m the one who doesn’t do well when I can’t see him,” he amended, less for Sylva’s sake than his own.

“You won’t be able to watch him forever,” Sylva pointed out but Ardyn just scoffed because he most certainly could and would.

“Back to the matter of your people,” he started, ignoring the frown that marred the Queen’s face. “As long as your revolt isn’t blatant, it should go undetected for some time. Niflheim sees you as an easy target, somewhere easily subdued and for that you should be grateful. If this was Lucis, Iedolas would have set your lands on fire by now but it gives you an advantage. You’ve always been seen as a benevolent ruler so no one would question you meeting with the leaders of your people. Build a network made of your most trusted and train your soldiers through it.”

“And if Iedolas retaliates?”

“Ask the Astrals for help,” Ardyn scoffed as he unravelled the braid in Prompto’s hair, watching as the strands flopped across the boy’s cheek.

Prompto made a tiny sound at that but the soft cover of sleep had started to spill over his mind so he didn’t try to move away.

“You and I both know that that’s not how the Astrals work,” Sylva sighed and when Ardyn met her eyes he could see nothing but weariness in the blue depths.

“I know a lot about Astrals. I know that they take and give as they please. I know that betrayal to them is something to be scoffed at…I know many thing but how they work isn’t one of them,” Ardyn offered up.

Sylva was silent as Ardyn redid Prompto’s braid.

“If we’re being honest, I have no clue how they work either but sometimes pretending that I do is the only thing that helps me sleep at night,” Sylva whispered and Ardyn had no clue how to respond to that so he kept his mouth shut and watched Prompto sleep.

The silence stretched between them as Ardyn stroked Prompto’s back, jiggling his knees gently whenever the little boy started to fuss.

Prompto hadn’t been sleeping well and honestly every second of rest that he got put Ardyn’s mind at ease just a little bit more.

“The question of what motivates you is something that I think on as well,” Sylva added after a long moment and Ardyn glanced at her, his lips tugs into a bitter smile.

“You don’t have to worry about me, your highness…” he started before stopping because Delia had asked him to be honest, it was the least he could do to honour her memory. “You don’t have to worry about me now,” he amended, his gaze flickering down to Prompto. “This isn’t a partnership and don’t forget that for one second. I’m only helping you because it helps me…”

“….because you need us?” Sylva guessed, her brow quirking.

Ardyn scoffed again, “I don’t need you, Oracle and I never have. I could take Prompto and vanish. We’re both extremely hardy and all I’d need to do is wait until he’s old enough to fend for himself before I sought my own vengeance.”

“And you think he’d survive out there with the scourge running rampant?” Sylva demanded.

Ardyn cocked his head to the side, “Prompto is my son,” he pointed out, watching as the Queen’s eyes widened, her gaze darting to Prompto for a quick second…it was a second too long as far as Ardyn was concerned. “Prompto is as much my child as Lunafreya is yours. Don’t doubt that if you let anything that’s been said here today pass these walls and Prompto gets hurt because of it, there will be no Oracle for you to pass your gifts to.”

“I would never,” Sylva denied but Ardyn just inclined his head because he’d seen better people than her crumble at the chance of power.

The Queen inhaled, clasping her hands together. “You might not think of this as a partnership but I do and as long as you help me to protect my people, I’ll extend the same courtesy to you and your son.”

Ardyn’s eyes flickered over the woman’s face but there was no deception hidden there…at least none that he could detect.

“Well here’s to a hopefully long-lasting partnership,” he muttered and the way that Sylva narrowed her eyes said she’d heard the sarcasm behind his words but she said nothing, instead pasting on a smile as she stared Ardyn down.

Chapter Text

“I wish you would reconsider, we might not be a fortress but I could ensure your safety here,” Sylva sighed as she led Ardyn from the training room.

“You could also ensure that I was watched and while it might not be your aim, the fact that I’m not trusted leaves me and my son at the tender mercies of your people...” Ardyn pointed out, juggling Prompto when the little boy twisted in his arms as he tried to take in everything around him. “...I’ve long ago learned my lessons about depending on those around me.”

“Perhaps that is something that you can learn to forgive.”

The voice was soft and airy, like a breath of cool air and Ardyn didn’t have to look to know who it belonged to but he looked anyway.

Gentiana’s visage was just as young as it had been centuries ago, her eyes bright and the smile on her face gentler than that of her astral counterpart.

It did nothing to sooth the shard of ice that settled in Ardyn’s chest.

Prompto’s fingers tightened in Ardyn’s hair and he forced himself to look away from Gentiana, from the woman who’d all but raised him only to abandon and betray him in one fell swoop.

Prompto wiggled in his grip and Ardyn automatically lowered him, though he kept his fingers on the boy’s shoulder.

Prompto frowned up at Gentiana, his expression darkening into a scowl when the woman smiled at him.

“Don’t like you,” Prompto stated, his voice firm as he clutched at the leg of Ardyn’s trousers and Ardyn wanted to laugh…wanted to cry because here he was frozen like an idiot in front of a relic of his past while his two year old tried to protect him.

Kneeling Ardyn smiled at Prompto when the little boy frowned at him, “No like,” he repeated as if to make sure that his point got a cross as the bond thrummed with anger.

“We heard you loud and clear, Quicksilver,” Ardyn whispered, brushing a loose strand of hair from Prompto’s face, one hand moving to Prompto’s back as the little boy wrapped his arms around Ardyn’s neck, his body twisted so that he could still glower at Gentiana as Ardyn stood.

 Turning to Sylva, Ardyn took in the sad look on her face with a small sigh. He was beyond tired of people trying to meddle in his life.

“Forgiveness is a bit of a sore spot for me but countless betrayals will do that to a person,” Ardyn mused. “I’m not quite as proficient with it as you are,” he noted, nodding in Sylva’s direction. “After all a remembered fire still burns even if it’s only in the minds of those who remember it.”

Sylva shook her head, taking a tiny step closer to him, “I’m just as human as the other person, I hold grudges too,” she whispered and Ardyn could feel his smile sharpening into something that was more of a snarl.

“Oh?” he inquired, “You seem to be extremely forgiving, your majesty. I would never be able to stand the sight of someone who stood aside and allowed my child to be hurt,” he simpered, stroking a hand across Prompto’s back as Sylva’s expression twisted into one of confusion. 

“I…I’m not sure I follow?” Sylva frowned.

“I don’t mean to dredge up unpleasant memories,” Ardyn sighed, turning to Gentiana and this time his smile felt much less fake when he caught the flicker of discontent that marred the avatar’s frozen expression for a quick second. “But I couldn’t look at Prince Ravus every day without hating those who could have prevented his injuries.”

Sylva’s sudden intake of breath was enough for Ardyn to know that his gamble had paid off.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve been so far removed from the concept of royalty for so long, such sacrifices are no longer demanded of me, you see. So to stand by and let such an event play out, knowing that my child was in danger is one that’s completely unthinkable…”

“The fire was an accident,” Sylva cut in, her eyes darting from Ardyn to Gentiana, who had folded her hands in front of her, a gesture Ardyn remembered well from his youth. “It was an electrical fault,” Sylva explained.

“Oh, your majesty,” Ardyn sighed, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news…perhaps it isn’t my place to tell you,” he paused here, shooting a look at Gentiana.

“The fire was deliberate,” Gentiana offered up, her expression still blank but Ardyn had spent years learning to read her and what he could see made glee bubble in his chest.

“What?!” Sylva demanded, “But…I…” she stuttered and Ardyn hid a smile in Prompto’s hair, huffing when the little boy shoved at his face.

“I should take my leave,” he commented lightly and neither woman stopped him as he left.

*O*

Ardyn’s good mood stayed with him as he met with reactor after realtor, turning down offers of houses as Prompto took everything in, wide-eyed and with his fingers hovering close to his lips. Ardyn was keeping an eye on that particular habit, it was one thing for Prompto to be using him as a chew toy, the last thing he needed was for the little boy to start turning on himself.

Each property had their selling points but they weren’t quite what Ardyn was looking for. He needed something defensible, something not too removed from the other houses so that any suspicious activity would be picked up by the neighbours but not close enough that all of his and Prompto’s going and comings could be observed.

He found all of that in a tiny villa; the property’s windows faced a small slither of beach that would prove difficult to access with a boat because of the rocks Ardyn could see from the bedroom window.

The price was higher than the others he’d seen but when Ardyn offered to purchase it on the spot, the woman had quickly dropped it to something that seemed much more suitable…though that might have been due to Ardyn’s fake phone call to his lawyers.

In the end Ardyn had almost decided to not purchase the property just to spite the woman but Prompto’s awe every time he glanced at the beach had Ardyn swallowing the urge to be petty.

The paperwork was signed and the woman handed over the keys after some quick calls of her own.

It wasn’t until they were alone that Ardyn let his senses roll over the property as he moved from room to room, leaving small fragments of the scourge embedded in the building, slumbering until they were needed.

He’d been lax once before and it had almost cost him Prompto, he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

Pausing in front of the smaller bedroom, Ardyn opened the door, glancing down at Prompto as the little boy peered into the room.

“This is Prompto’s room,” he explained, smiling when Prompto glanced up at him. “You can sleep here, if you want,” he coaxed and when Prompto squirmed he put the little boy down.

Sylva’s words had prodded at something in his mind and while he had no qualms keeping Prompto with him forever, he figured he’d give the little boy a chance at independence.

It didn’t stop the snort of laughter when Prompto scowled at the room as if its very existence offended his delicate sensibilities.

“No want,” Prompto grumbled, “Where Papa sleep?” he demanded and Ardyn took the hand held out expectantly to him, leading Prompto a few steps to the master bedroom.

Prompto let go of his hand and made a mad dash for the bed…the bed that was almost taller than he was.

“Papa sleep here?” he asked and Ardyn nodded, only to snicker when Prompto tried to pull himself up on the bed.

“Would you like some assistance?” Ardyn inquired, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

Prompto glowered at him, “No, Papa sleep here, Prompto sleep here,” he spat and Ardyn held up both hands in surrender as he stood back and watched the epic battle occurring before him.

Prompto kept up his resistance for a few minutes before he all but tossed himself on the ground with a huff, “Prompto sleep here,” he pouted.

“And have everyone think you’re being mistreated because of your melodrama? I think not,” Ardyn muttered to himself, taking a few steps closer. “Do you want me to help you up?” he asked again and this time Prompto turned sorrowful eyes his way.

“Please, Papa,” he groaned, flopping in Ardyn’s arms as he picked him up. The second his feet touched the bed all hints of humility flew out the window.

“Prompto sleep here!” he proclaimed and Ardyn rolled his eyes at the tiny impossible human he was raising.

*O*

Ardyn wasn’t surprised when Sylva requested another meeting with him.

He was late to the meeting but he wasn’t surprised at that either, given Prompto’s new surge of independence.

Sylva cocked a brow when Prompto led the way into the room but she didn’t comment on it.

Prompto waited until Ardyn was seated before he claimed a space just by Ardyn’s feet, dropping his little bag on the floor and getting to work with his blocks.

“He’s very self-sufficient,” Sylva noted and Ardyn turned to face her but Sylva was staring at Prompto and she didn’t notice the look.

Prompto was firmly ignoring them both as he set out his blocks in piles. Ardyn had noticed Prompto’s attention to detail when it came to colours and shapes…he wasn’t sure if that had something to do with the Prompto’s overall intelligence or if it was a precursor to a flare for art.

“How old is he?” Sylva inquired and this time she actually met Ardyn’s eyes.

“Almost three,” Ardyn responded, unsure of what the Queen was getting at.

“Almost three,” Sylva repeated, lacing he fingers together, “Just that and he’s already defending you.”

“I’m sure Ravus would have done the same for you,” Ardyn offered up but instead of breaking Sylva’s melancholy mood, his words just seemed to worsen it.

“He did…from the moment he could, he was always trying to make me happy and I…” Sylva’s words broke off as she clenched her teeth, a muscle in her jaw twitching for a moment. “I would never use my child as a pawn. Never,” she spat and Ardyn inclined his head but held his tongue. He honestly had little care for Sylva’s emotional stability, it was just another factor to keep his eye on in their negotiations but on the other hand providing a listening ear could gain him some level of trust.

“Children are very hardy and very forgiving, I’ve found,” he offered up.

Sylva nodded, “He told me he didn’t blame me when I told him. He knew…or he’d suspected that I’d known and he didn’t blame me. What does that say about me? I’m his mother, I’m supposed to protect him and he thought I’d stand aside and let him get hurt.”

Ardyn’s gaze flickered down to Prompto at that, if he’d followed his original plans he wondered if Prompto would have had the same attitude as Ravus.

“You’re his mother but you’re also his Queen,” Ardyn responded. “And Ravus knows the pressures that come with the crown. Perhaps it wasn’t that he thought you knew and did nothing. Maybe he thought that there was nothing you could do.”

“And if it was you?” Sylva demanded, “If you had to choose between yourself and your people, your child and your people?”

Ardyn didn’t flinch but it was a close thing and the way that the woman’s face blanched said that she’d realized her mistake.

“I think I’ve already given enough of myself,” Ardyn whispered, keeping his expression blank. “But if you’re asking if I would choose Prompto over my people then the answer is ‘yes’ and you can do with that information what you will but please keep in mind that Niflheim tried to push that angle and it brought them to their knees.”

Sylva raised her chin as she met Ardyn’s gaze, “I understand.”

“For your sake, I truly hope you do,” Ardyn replied and it wasn’t a threat, it was a promise.

At his feet Prompto obliterated his tower of blocks with a little squeal of glee but despite the sound Sylva kept her eyes off him.

The silence stretched on as Ardyn watched Prompto frown at his blocks, probably contemplating if rebuilding his tower was worth it.

“What made you offer Ravus your help?” Sylva whispered and Ardyn’s lips ticked up into a tiny smile.

“That answer is sitting right in front of your eyes,” Ardyn responded and this time when Sylva glanced at Prompto her eyes were filled with something that looked a lot like awe.

The expression made the scourge grumble possessively in the backdrop of Ardyn’s mind but he paid it little attention. Prompto was theirs as much as they were his and no one would ever change that.

*O*

Time was a difficult concept for Ardyn. Before, when he’d still been naïve enough to hope, to think that the Astrals would quickly discover the plot against him, he’d measured time in days. Days that he spent waiting to be accepted back by his people and the Gods they worshipped.

Ardyn had not been that naïve in a millennia.

Now Ardyn’s concept of time revolved around Prompto. Prompto’s first words, his first true smile…the moments when Prompto’s very existence terrified him.

They were so alike that Ardyn couldn’t help but fear for Prompto’s future. The only thing that kept him from taking the little boy and vanishing into the unclaimed lands was the knowledge that his enemies would never stop hounding him unless he got them first.

There was also the fact that Prompto seemed uniquely equipped to mass create mayhem all by himself…which was why Ardyn was standing frozen as Prompto plucked a knife out of thin air.

The look of wonder on Prompto’s face almost masked the absolute terror that had Ardyn’s heart pounding in his chest. It didn’t mask the now familiar twinge that danced along the bond, the one he’d ignored so many times before. 

He was moving before he knew it, warping the few steps that separated them as the knife solidified between them, the light of the crystal’s power still dancing around Prompto’s fingers as he reached for it but Ardyn was faster.

He ignored the wetness coating his palm as he grabbed the knife, blade first and threw it, sending it back to the place where it came from in a blast of red lights.

Prompto froze for a second, his eyes wide with disbelief before he burst into tears, anger thrumming through the bond as he screamed.

“It mine!” he wailed, pressing his face against Ardyn’s neck when he picked him up. “My pretty thing gone,” Prompto sobbed and a part of Ardyn was screaming with him, demanding to know how Prompto had done what he’d done, how he’d accessed the crystal’s powers without a hint of royal blood flowing through his veins. But the much larger part of Ardyn’s mind was still frozen on the image of Prompto reaching for the knife.

Even as the thoughts scrambled to get a foothold in his head, Ardyn found himself rocking Prompto until the boy’s sobs softened into tiny whimpers.

“That’s not a toy, Quicksilver. It’ll hurt you,” Ardyn cautioned.

Prompto pulled back just enough to glower at him, “It mine, it say it mine. No hurt me,” he refuted.

Ardyn’s brows furrowed as the scourge twisted restlessly tugging at the bond that existed between him and Prompto.

“Who said it was yours? The knife?” he demanded because a talking knife wouldn’t exactly be out of the ordinary given their lives but Prompto shook his head.

“Pretty thing say it mine, pretty lights,” he whispered and the image that bloomed in the bond had Ardyn’s blood running cold.

Chapter Text

Sleep wasn’t a necessity for Ardyn. It was something that his body remembered and craved but he could go years without it…he had gone years without it before in a state of hibernation that had allowed for the passing of time and nothing else. Lack of sleep wasn’t something he’d ever worried about until Prompto came into his life but sleep evaded him that night, flitting away like the last wisps of smoke on the air as he sat and watched Prompto.

The little boy had finally succumbed to his tiredness but not happily, a fact shown by the tear marks still staining his cheeks and the teeth digging into Ardyn’s finger.

Prompto hadn’t summoned another knife but he hadn’t had to because Ardyn had already seen enough…he’d seen the bright lights that sang softly in Prompto’s head, the thing that called to him as it had once called to Ardyn and it made his stomach churn.

Even disregarding Prompto’s parentage, they were both tainted, these was no reason for the crystal to be calling to Prompto but apparently it was…or at least the shadow of it that existed in Ardyn’s memory was.

Ardyn sighed and rubbed at his eyes, this was the one night he wanted to sleep, wanted to be summoned by the Astrals so that he could confront them and there was nothing.

One would have thought that by now he’d be used to the feeling of abandonment.

But the absence of the Astrals didn’t erase his problem because he knew what the crystal could do to a person.

Ardyn remembered the first time he’d seen it, sparkling like the diamonds that adorned his mother’s crown.

He remembered the warmth that seemed to emanate from it, soaking into his skin until he felt like he was surrounded by it, but most of all he remembered the crystal’s voice.

His mother had never heard it speak, Ardyn had known that then even without asking her. It wouldn’t speak to his mother despite her blood just like it hadn’t spoken to her father before her.

It only spoke to Ardyn, it whispered promises of the things he could do, the king he would become and Ardyn had believed it.

That was his first mistake; it was a mistake he was going to make sure that Prompto never repeated.

There was only one last thing he could do now.

Smoothing his fingers through Prompto’s hair, Ardyn forced the bond between them open.

Prompto’s thoughts poured into his mind like a waterfall, washing over his own psyche until it was difficult to tell where one of them ended and the other began.

The scourge that tainted Prompto’s mind responded to Ardyn’s presence by withdrawing, retreating in the face of a larger predator and Ardyn let it because the crystal would never have latched onto a part of Prompto that could be easily removed.

Instead he dug deeper, beyond the place where Delia’s smiling face floated in Prompto’s dreams, beyond Prompto’s faded memories of cold sterile rooms and the silence that never went away no matter how much he called for the others, the ones he could see over the edge of his cot.

Ardyn let himself fall until there was nothing but darkness that shifted uncertain at his presence and that was where he found it.

The scourge in his own mind reached out to the pieces here but they shied away, too changed to be accepted back into their host body and unwilling to leave their new home.

But Ardyn was patient and the scourge, much like every other intelligent creature, was curious.

It reached out; prodding at the larger mass of itself that Ardyn kept contained and its memories came with it.

Ardyn forced himself to break the connection as he exhaled slowly through his nose, pulling away the finger that Prompto was gnawing on even in his sleep.

“I knew that was a nasty habit,” Ardyn muttered to himself as his mind flickered over what he’d learned.

He couldn’t undo what had been done but at least he know understood why Prompto could do what he could.

He was so preoccupied by the thought that he didn’t notice the small tug as a part of the bond enfolded on itself, bolstered by the direct contact of his scourge taint.

It slithered back into Prompto’s mind, settling in the darkness and the scourge curled around the warmth that seemed to pule through it.

*O*

Ardyn watched as Prompto chewed on his crackers, every so often glancing in Ardyn’s direction before selecting another from his plate.

It was an odd scene to be fair but Ardyn was a bit stumped on how to approach the situation.

Delia had told him once that he was meant to give Prompto firm instructions and stick to it so as not to confuse the child and here Ardyn was, contemplating how best to break that rule without causing too much damage.

“Quicksilver, could I see your pretty thing?” Ardyn inquired, forcing himself to not grimace at the name Prompto had given to the knife.

Prompto sighed but kept chewing on his crackers.

“Please?” Ardyn prodded.

Prompto paused in mid-bite, eying Ardyn like he was a particularly annoying insect.

“Papa say no touch pretty thing, Prompto no touch,” Prompto retorted before taking an unnecessarily angry bite out of his cracker.

“Papa knows…” Ardyn paused here, shaking his head at himself. “I know I said that but maybe I was wrong? After all it’s your pretty thing.”

“Pretty thing hurt?” Prompto demanded and Ardyn pasted on his best smile.

“Sometimes it does but I won’t let it hurt you,” Ardyn coaxed, clamping down on the part of him that still held a residual connection to the crystal. If his hypothesis was right Prompto wouldn’t be able to do anything as long as Ardyn was consciously…

Blue lights sparkled around Prompto’s high chair and a minute later a knife fell onto the table.

Both Ardyn and Prompto stared at the thing with matching frowns.

“It no pretty no more,” Prompto scowled, his attention quickly flickering back to his crackers while Ardyn wearily reached out and sent the knife back into the ether.

He hadn’t felt a single twinge this time and yet the proof of Prompto’s connection had sat there between them as plain as day.

At least the little boy only seemed to be interested in the lights and not the actual arsenal that came with it.

Ardyn was grateful for small mercies.

*O*

Ardyn wasn’t surprised when he woke to an icy wasteland. After all the Astrals had made a habit of turning up just when they were no longer wanted or needed.

“Children are such wonders,” Shiva mused and Ardyn gritted his teeth against the words he wanted to say. If he hadn’t found out what he had he’d probably have blamed the Astrals for Prompto’s little problem but as it was, all he could really feel was pride buried beneath the terror.

“He was a wonder before he was tainted by the crystal,” Ardyn replied and Shiva frowned as she turned to face him.

“The crystal’s gift is never a taint.”

“I know of a few people who would say otherwise but given that most of them are dead because of your precious crystal, it’s a bit of a moot point…and speaking of moot points how is Gentiana?”

Shiva’s expression hardened for a split second and Ardyn allowed his lips to curve up into a smile.

“She is repairing the bonds that you tried so hard to destroy,” she responded after a long moment of silence.

Ardyn pressed a hand to his chest dramatically, “Me? Why would I ever do such a thing? I’m a changed man, if you haven’t heard. Parenthood will do that to you...there’s a lot less time for plotting and a lot more call for honesty,” Ardyn paused here shooting the Astral a sly smile. “Who’d believe that the truth could hurt just as well as a lie?”

“You were always good with your words,” Shiva sighed, climbing the seat to her throne and it was a power play but Ardyn let her have the high ground for the moment.

“I learned from the best,” Ardyn shot back, his eyes narrowing as they met Shiva’s and the fact that the Astral had to glance away instead of mentioning his mother…it was another nail in the coffin as far as Ardyn was concerned.

He’d long thought the Astrals to be cowards but being proven right only left a nasty taste in his mouth.

“Not to seem impolite but what was it you wanted?” he inquired when Shiva didn’t seem inclined to do anything but lounge on her throne, though lounging probably wasn’t the word for the prim display that she made.

“Sylva trusts you…”

“A foolish move, if ever I’ve seen one,” Ardyn cut in but Shiva just spoke over him.

“…with her children if not her kingdom and we both know which she places the most importance on.”

“It must stick in your craw to know that she’d probably ruin all your little plans if it meant keeping her children safe,” Ardyn mused aloud, watching dispassionately as the snow swirled angrily around Shiva’s throne, a reflection of the emotion she refused to show on her face.

This was why Ardyn liked Ifrit; the Infernian couldn’t hide a damn thing if he tried.

 “Whatever you think of us, we will not stand aside and let those who worship us be hurt.”

Ardyn cocked his head to the side and stared at her for that, keeping his eyes on her face until she was forced to glance away.

Finally he sighed, “Consider your obscure warning received…it wasn’t needed but it’s been received and I’ll pass it on seeing as the Queen probably won’t want to see much less listen to Gentiana.”

Another surge of snow spiralled behind Shiva’s throne in answer to Ardyn’s guess.

“You should be careful, Light-bringer. Not all of the Astrals would suffer your insolence,” Shiva whispered and this time Ardyn didn’t even try to hide his laughter.

“Do you know the best thing about immortality?” he inquired, glancing at his nails. “It means you have the time to wonder about the real questions. Things like what would happen at the end of the world and how much would it take to kill a God?”

Shiva’s sharp inhalation of breath was response enough for Ardyn and when he met her eyes they were like chips of ice blazing with anger but Ardyn was well aware that most anger came from fear. He’d struck a nerve and as the wasteland melted around him Ardyn smiled.

*O*

Ardyn rested his chin on his hands as he stared at Prompto and in true Prompto-fashion; the little boy mimicked his pose, staring at Ardyn just as intently.

“It would seem we’re at a bit of an impasse,” Ardyn noted.

“Pass,” Prompto responded with a nod, brows drawn into a frown and it was all Ardyn could do to keep his expression serious. Sometimes Prompto was too precious for words.

“I could trust that you won’t go pulling weaponry out of mid-air whenever you feel like it but we both know your impulse control isn’t the best,” Ardyn sighed and Prompto’s echo of a sigh sounded much more weary than his own.

“So this is an official negotiation. I’ll give you a new teddy for every time you don’t touch the pretty lights,” Ardyn offered up.

“Teddy go bye bye,” Prompto lamented.

Ardyn snorted because he knew exactly what had happened to Prompto’s teddy bears. The thrum of satisfaction roiling through the bond just confirmed it.

“No pretty lights and you get a new teddy bear,” Ardyn offered again.

Prompto’s eyes narrowed, “Two,” he counteroffered and this time Ardyn wasn’t quick enough to stop his eye roll. He couldn’t believe that he was actually negotiating with a two year old.

“A teddy and cake,” he responded.

Prompto paused, apparently mulling over this new offer. “No pretty lights?”

“Not even a little,” Ardyn confirmed pausing as a thought popped into his head. “None unless I tell you to.”

“Teddy, cake, pretty lights?” Prompto inquired excitedly.

“Only when I’m there and only if I tell you to,” Ardyn nodded and Prompto nodded in response. “I’m glad we’ve reached an agreement…now about that bath.”

The squeal of terror was his only answer as Prompto scrambled from his seat as quickly as he could and took off across the room.

Pressing a hand against his face Ardyn had to laugh at himself. Being a parent was really changing him.

“No bath!” Prompto shouted from somewhere in the living room.

To be quite honest, Ardyn doubted Prompto would last a day but this was just the foundation for his plan.

As much as he hated it, the presence of the crystal’s power gave Prompto an edge over whatever Niflheim expected of him because Ardyn wasn’t stupid enough to think that Iedolas didn’t know about Prompto.

There was another thought lurking in the back of Ardyn’s mind but he quickly pushed it away because blood or no blood neither of them had any need for a throne.

*O*

Prompto was flopped over Ardyn’s shoulder, only held in place by the free hand Ardyn had spared from his writing and his own grip on Ardyn’s hair as he babbled away, the sound washing over Ardyn while he worked through the paperwork that Sylva had given him.

He’d already divided the towns into sections headed by two leaders and now he was trying to find somewhere for them to train that wouldn’t be suspicious.

He’d just narrowed down his search to two main spots when the air around him thrummed and a knife fell onto his map. 

“Oh no,” Prompto lamented meeting Ardyn’s eyes solemnly when he glanced up from the thing.

Ardyn pinched the bridge of his nose, sending the knife away with a thought.

“Mini-me, I think it’s time we had a talk about negotiations and keeping your end of our bargains,” Ardyn sighed.

*O*

Princess Lunafreya wasn’t what Ardyn had expected or at least she wasn’t what he’d expected if he’d given any thought to her as something other than an oracle-to-be.

Ardyn wasn’t naïve enough to believe that Sylva hadn’t engineered this “accident”, summoning Ardyn only to forget that her daughter would be spending the day with her.

He was well aware of what she was doing but Sylva underestimated how much Prompto was like him and neither of them trusted easily.

Even now the curiosity thrumming through the bond was dulled and muted as Prompto replaced Lunafreya’s face with those of the other children he’d played with at Delia’s.

The princess stooped in front of Prompto, glancing at Ardyn only once but the tension in her small frame said that she was well aware of his presence even as she focused on Prompto.

“Hello, my name is Luna. What’s yours?” she asked.

Prompto clung to the leg of Ardyn’s trousers, blinking up at him and it wasn’t until Ardyn nodded that he refocused on the girl in front of him.

“Prompto,” he whispered eyeing Luna. “Pretty hair,” he commented and the little girl grinned.

“Thank you, I like your hair too,” she beamed and Ardyn waited for Prompto’s usual explosion but instead the little boy pressed even closer to him.

“Prompto hair pretty like Papa hair,” he told her and there was something in the statement, something territorial that was only reinforced by Prompto’s next words.

“This my Papa, mine.”

“Oh,” Luna noted, glancing at Ardyn again and her eyes were much too old for a child of her age.

Standing she held out a hand to Ardyn, “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

Ardyn accepted the handshake, keeping his grip gentle, “Likewise, Princess.”

Prompto stared at Luna as she took a step back, glancing between her and Ardyn before he took a step forward.

“Play with blocks,” he informed her as he sat down on the carpet and started to empty his bag, leaving the adults behind as he showed Luna how to put the blocks into groups.

“He’s so very protective of you,” Sylva whispered and Ardyn couldn’t help but smirk, the expression widening into a smile when Prompto glanced back at him.

Chapter Text

Ifrit was anything but subtle and at the first sight of smoke in his dreams Ardyn prepared himself for the Infernian’s presence, watching passively as his palace caught fire around him, burning away the visage of his childhood home.

Ifrit emerged from the smoke like a spectre, flames licking at his body as he moved.

“How easily you have forgotten the pretty words you used to secure my cooperation,” the Astral greeted.

Ardyn’s lips quirked into a smile, “I’ve forgotten nothing,” he responded, “I’m not the one getting impatient.”

“You promised me their lives,” Ifrit snarled and the flames danced to the tune of his rage. “Instead I’m forced to linger in this place while you pretend to be tamed all for the sake of a child not even of your blood.”

“Prompto is important to me,” Ardyn replied, seeing no reason to hide anything from Ifrit not when the Astral was trapped here, his only link to the living world being Ardyn’s mind and whatever amount of Shiva’s power that she was willing to allow him.

“And you will watch him die either by the hands of your enemies or as a victim of time,” Ifrit laughed. “Do not forget who you are dealing with, little king.”

“You would do well to not forget who you’re talking to either,” Ardyn whispered, ending the conversation as he forced himself awake.

The last thing he saw was the anger on Ifrit’s face as the dream dissolved. 

Ardyn’s eyes flickered open and he frowned at the ceiling as something tickled at the edge of his mind.

There hadn’t been a single glimmer of Shiva’s presence.

The thought floated upwards like a warning sign but Prompto whimpered in his sleep and Ardyn’s mind snapped to the little boy, watching as his son rolled onto his stomach before settling down.

All memories of the Astrals fading as Prompto’s breath evened out.

*O*

Prompto didn’t have a birthday per se, or at least nothing on paper, but that didn’t mean Ardyn was going to let the little boy turn three without something to mark the occasion.

The day that Ardyn chose was the day of his exile because if anything deserved to replace the memories of that day it was the look on Prompto’s face when he lifted his head from Ardyn’s shoulder and saw the spread of food and gifts.

Prompto blinked, frowning sleepily at the display before he turned to Ardyn.

“What that?”

“It’s your birthday party,” Ardyn replied, jostling Prompto a little so that he was better seated on Ardyn’s hip before he made his way to the table. “That’s your cake and those are your presents.”

“Pressie?” Prompto inquired and Ardyn nodded, taking a seat and settling Prompto in his lap.

The scourge in Prompto’s mind flickered over what it had learned, drawing a blank from their memories before it reached out to Ardyn through the bond and Ardyn allowed it to see his own memories of past birthdays.

That was all Prompto had needed because a second later he was making a mad grab for a present with one hand and the cake with the other.

He smashed the chocolate against his face as he tried to get most of it into his mouth before he remembered Ardyn and the man was presented with a saliva wet handful of chocolate that he grimaced at before pretending to accept Prompto’s gift.

Thankfully the presents distracted the little boy and Ardyn wiped the chocolate on one of the napkins as Prompto squealed when he managed to rip through the gift wrap.

“Papa, look,” he breathed, holding up the large collection of blocks and figures Ardyn had bought for him.

Ardyn grinned at him and Prompto frowned. “Mine?”

“Everything is yours,” Ardyn assured him, nuzzling the boy’s hair when Prompto turned away grabbing another present as he gently laid his new blocks to the side.

His words hadn’t been meant in jest, everything that he could give Prompto would be his, no matter who Ardyn had to go through to make sure of it.

*O*

Prompto’s fourth birthday party was held at the manor despite Ardyn’s misgivings but the look on Prompto’s face when Ravus presented him with a toy sword made up for it, If only for the fact that Prompto had immediately tried to attack Ravus with the thing.

*O*

The day that Prompto turned five, Ardyn was the one who woke to the surprise of Prompto’s braid being handed to him like a gift. It was only the knowledge that the boy’s hair would grow back that kept him from tearing his own hair out…well that and vanity.

It didn’t keep the smile from his face when Prompto turned and presented him with the only long strands still attached to his scalp and instructed Ardyn to plait that.

Squinting at the mess that was his son’s hair, Ardyn couldn’t help the niggling feeling that he’d seen a very similar disaster somewhere else before.

Luna’s grin when she caught sight of Prompto at his party didn’t help dissuade the idea in the least.

*O*

By Prompto’s seventh birthday, Ardyn was forced to admit that Sylva and her family had become something like friends to him. He wouldn’t ever say it out loud but he didn’t think he needed to.

*O*

“Prompto Izunia, stop right there!”

The sound of Prompto’s nanny’s strident voice made Ardyn wince, a motion he repeated when a sudden crash echoed throughout the house.

“It wasn’t me!” Prompto shouted and Ardyn braced himself as the sound of feet approached his study.

Prompto flung himself into the room, lips stretched into a wide smile as he scrambled into Ardyn’s lap with little care for the papers the man had been working on.

“Hide me, Papa!” he demanded as he clung to Ardyn just as the young woman who had replaced his last nanny came racing into the room.

Her hair was almost standing on end and she was red in the face. Ardyn couldn’t see this one lasting any longer than the previous thirteen.

“Apologies, Mr Izunia,” she panted, trying her best to regain her composure.

“What did he break this time?” Ardyn inquired, side-eying his son when Prompto beamed.

“I got that ugly vase that Uncle Ravus keeps bringing,” Prompto informed him and Ardyn had to fight the urge to laugh because he truly did hate the hideous things…it was probably why Ravus kept buying them.

He’d tried to hide the fact from Prompto but the strength of their connection had grown over the last five years and Prompto was now able to pick certain information from Ardyn’s head almost as easily as he could put his own thoughts there.

Even now Ardyn could feel Prompto’s pride curling through the scourge like a satisfied cat.

Waving the nanny away Ardyn eyed his son. “You do know that Ravus will just buy another,” he pointed out.

Prompto shrugged, “Don’t care,” he muttered and while Ardyn was used to his son’s mercurial moods there was something here that he wasn’t quite seeing.

He wouldn’t pry though; he had to let the boy have his secrets.

“How was your day with Luna?” he inquired instead, adjusting Prompto as the boy reached for a few blank papers and began to scribble on them.

“Okay, she keeps talking about Prince Chocobo-head though,” Prompto grunted and this time Ardyn wasn’t fast enough to disguise his snort of laughter.

The look Prompto shot him was knowing and full of pride. Ardyn had managed to hide the most of his animosity towards the Lucis’ royals from Prompto but the boy had somehow still managed to pick up on enough to start his own feud. 

“You can’t fault Luna after all they are connected in a way,” Ardyn explained. "And I don't quite understand this habit of using chocobos as an insult when you adore the things."

Prompto huffed at the familiar rebuff before collecting some loose papers and moving to lie on the carpet. His actions said just how pleased he was with Ardyn’s opinion.

“Did you at least have fun with Ravus?” he asked and the spike of excitement that followed the question was answer enough.

“Uncle Ravus said that you should let him start training me. Prince Chocobo-head…”

“Noctis,” Ardyn corrected but Prompto just kept talking like hadn’t said a word.

“…has been training for years now even though I could take him in a fight but still it’s not fair that he gets training and all I get is…”

“The ability to heal from wounds that would kill a lesser man and access to the crystal?” Ardyn cut in.

“The scourge that I can’t tell anyone about,” Prompto rebutted, glowering up at Ardyn like he was daring him to say otherwise.

“You know why you can’t tell anyone about it,” he pointed out, his voice gentle because he knew what it was like to be set apart from those around him and while he’d had a hand in it, he’d never wished for such a life for any child of his.

“I know but I still want to learn,” Prompto pleaded, “I mean you could teach me and that way we wouldn’t have to worry.”

Ardyn narrowed his eyes suspiciously at that line of thought. Prompto was many things but considerate of secrets was not one of them.

“Ravus told you to ask me,” he guessed and the wide smile Ardyn received was answer enough.

*O*

Ardyn watched as Ravus selected his weapon, not surprised that the man bypassed his usual rapier for a broadsword. He often wondered just how many training dummies Ravus had destroyed because other humans wouldn’t be able to match his newfound strength.

“I would appreciate it if you stopped trying to use my son to manipulate me,” Ardyn stated as Ravus rotated his wrist, swinging the broadsword like it weighed nothing.

“Maybe if you would listen, I wouldn’t have to go through Prompto,” Ravus pointed out, gesturing for them to begin.

Ardyn barely had the time to brace himself, bringing his own sword up when Ravus clashed with him. The force of the swing almost sent him skidding across the floor but he deflected it, twisting his body so that Ravus was sent dancing around him when the pressure suddenly vanished from beneath his sword.

“I didn’t say I wanted you to stop, I said I’d appreciate it if you did. Prompto’s gotten quite talented at his manipulations under your tutelage,” Ardyn grinned at Ravus when the man cast a gimlet eye in his direction.

“I think you’ll find that the reason for that particular talent lies firmly at your own feet, Councillor,” Ravus retorted but unlike before the title only held a slight tinge of mockery. “Now if we’re done gossiping, please concentrate.”

This time Ardyn didn’t wait for Ravus’ attack and the hint of satisfaction in the man’s eyes only felt a little like defeat.

*O*

Ardyn perched on the weapon’s rack, watching as Ravus collected two bottles of water and handed him one. He accepted it with a small nod.

“Niflheim is up to something,” Ravus noted after a long sip.

“Niflheim is always up to something,” Ardyn retorted, smirking when Ravus glanced his way before his eyes dropped to the bottle in his hand. “But if you’re talking about the soldiers they’ve moved then yes they’re definitely up so something big.”

“Mother is worried.”

That made Ardyn blink because Ravus was not one to often pander to Sylva’s worries, choosing instead to bulldoze over the issue until his mother calmed.

“She believes Iedolas has turned his eyes to Lucis,” Ravus sighed, “She worries about the prince.”

Ardyn relaxed his grip on his bottle when the plastic creaked. “She should worry more about the soldiers setting up post in her own towns.”

Ravus glanced up at Ardyn at that, “It’s a bit hypocritical to constantly correct Prompto about his feud with Noctis when you’d turn a blind eye to the boy being hurt.”

Ardyn’s jaw clenched but he said nothing. Talking to Ravus was often like this, the man had a gift for words and while he never directly condemned Ardyn’s actions, he often set the stage for Ardyn to condemn them himself.

“What does the Queen want to do?” he sighed after a moment.

“She wishes to warn Regis…”

“And what happens if her pity brings Niflheim to her own doorstep?” Ardyn demanded.

“Then we fight…just as you said we should.”

*O*

Ardyn took great pleasure in ruffling Prompto’s hair as the boy fell, wooden sword clattering to the floor as he squawked and scrambled out of Ardyn’s reach so that he could fix his hairstyle.

“Cut it out,” he grumbled, tugging at the blond and red strands until they were once again sticking up in the air.

“Honestly, anything I do to that mop you call hair is a gift,” Ardyn retorted, collecting Prompto’s sword just as the boy tugged his single plait of long hair behind his ear.

“You should concentrate on keeping a hold of your sword,” Ardyn commented.

“I’m trying,” Prompto whined, accepting the sword from Ardyn. “But you keep messing with my hair.”

“And in battle people will be messing with your innards if you don’t keep a hold of your sword,” Ardyn retorted, watching as Prompto’s eyes widened.

“Yes, Papa,” he whispered and Ardyn bent so he could press their foreheads together, keeping Prompto there until the tension in the little boy’s frame melted away before stepping back.

“I don’t want to scare you,” Ardyn whispered.

“I’m not scared,” Prompto grumbled. “I’ve seen wars, I know what happens.”

“Knowing what happened in a past war and fighting a battle are two very different things, Quicksilver,” Ardyn admonished, rotating his wrist before he retook his stance. “Now, attack me again.”

This time when Prompto hit the ground he managed to keep a hold of his sword but the sound his body made had Ardyn struggling to hide a wince even as Prompto forced himself back to his feet.

Gesturing for the boy to attack him again, Ardyn shifted to the side slapping Prompto on the leg with the broadside of his training sword and the filthy look he got for that had his lips tugging into a smile.

“This is your first attempt, don’t expect to be an expert,” Ardyn warned him.

Prompto huffed out a breath, “But I know how to do it.”

“No, you know how I would do it. Just because you have the information in your head, doesn’t mean your body understands it. This is a skill you must learn; it’s not instinctive like your use of the scourge.”

“But I can use the scourge to fight,” Prompto pointed out, petulantly and Ardyn narrowed his eyes.

“And what happens when you lose control? When you infect your friends? Luna, Ravus, Queen Sylva? They’re not like us and the scourge would devour them in a heartbeat. What would you do then when your greatest strength takes everything you care about from you?” Ardyn demanded.

Prompto’s lower lip trembled as he stared up at Ardyn, “I don’t know,” he muttered and the sheen of tears in his eyes made Ardyn spread his arms wide.

Prompto didn’t hesitate as he buried his face in Ardyn’s stomach.

“Don’t think me cruel,” he whispered, stroking Prompto’s hair. “I don’t want you to suffer through what I have.”

“I just don’t get it, you wanted me to be a weapon but I can’t do anything.”

The words were muffled but the emotion in them came across loud and clear.

“You were never a weapon, not even when I tried to fool myself into thinking that. No child is a weapon and that’s all I want for you…I want you to be a child.”

Prompto pulled back at that, rubbing at his eyes, “I still want to learn ‘cause I’ve got to protect you from that old guy.”

“The word is ‘because’ not ‘cause’ and you don’t need to protect me from anyone,” Ardyn chided but Prompto just glowered up at him, expression so determined that it made Ardyn laugh. He was sorry that his mother wasn’t around to see him, she’d have loved Prompto.

“Fine,” Ardyn conceded. “I’ll teach you but only because I think it’ll benefit you in the future…not because I want a pint-sized bodyguard.”

The glower morphed into a scowl at that, “Uncle Ravus said I’m still growing and as soon as I’ve lost all my baby fat, I’ll be as tall as you.”

“You’re Uncle Ravus is not a seer,” Ardyn pointed out, eying Prompto’s limbs critically. “Although in this case his prediction might prove true.”

Prompto punched the air in glee, “I’m gonna be big and strong and I’m gonna protect you.”

“Going to,” Ardyn corrected but his words fell on deaf ears as Prompto retook his stance.

*O*

“I see Rosaline didn’t last as long as any of the others,” Sylva commented as she swept into the office Ardyn had claimed for himself whenever he was at the manor.

“And who exactly is Rosaline?” Ardyn queried, barely sparing a glance for Sylva, instead he narrowed his eyes when Prompto tried to hide one of the worksheets his tutor had given him.

A single prod in the bond had Prompto’s shoulders coming up to his ears as he shot Ardyn a guilty look, pulling the sheet of paper from beneath his chair.

“If you aren’t even trying to learn their names I can see why they’re not staying,” Sylva sighed, perching in the free chair across from Ardyn. “She was your new nanny emphasis on ‘was’.”

“Ahh,” Ardyn muttered, finally glancing away from Prompto when it looked like the little boy wouldn’t be trying anything, at least not for the moment.  “I already told you that I didn’t need a nanny. I’m uniquely equipped to keep an eye on Prompto at all times. Isn’t that right, Quicksilver?”

Prompto shot Sylva a mournful look at that, “Help me,” he mouthed and Ardyn had to struggle to not smile at his son’s antics.

“I understand but do you not wish for a break…both of you?” Sylva frowned.

Ardyn kept his expression blank at that because Sylva was just trying to help. She didn’t know how it felt to reach out through the bond and not find Prompto there. She didn’t understand how hard it had been to keep himself whole as the scourge cried out for the one being that it called kin. She didn’t know…

“I like staying here,” Prompto piped up. “Papa teaches me all sorts of cool things when he’s busy.”

“Oh?” Sylva inquired and this time Prompto’s grin was as sharp as any of the ones Ardyn had ever used.

“Not that you should have time to learn anything from me but if you’re bored with what little work your tutor is giving you…” he taunted and Prompto squawked, flapping his free hand at him.

“No, no it’s fine, Papa. I’m very very busy,” he muttered as he scribbled on his papers.

Sylva snorted, “I believe that what you meant before was that the two of you are uniquely equipped to deal with each other,” she laughed.

Ardyn just rolled his eyes at that, not surprised when he caught Prompto in the midst of mimicking the expression.

Sylva didn’t know just how right she was.

Chapter Text

“I’m dying.”

Ardyn snorted at the proclamation and got a strand of hair tugged for his troubles. He didn’t have to look at Prompto to know that he was being glared at but he did enjoy making eye contact so he could gloat properly.

“Did I or did I not tell you to start slow, to build up to this?” he inquired and this time it was Prompto who snorted, thunking his head against Ardyn’s shoulder and Ardyn had to readjust his grip on the boy’s legs so that he didn’t go tumbling backwards.

In the mood that Prompto was in he’d probably be content to just hang there and while Ardyn wouldn’t care, Sylva would be sure to have words.

“But Luna’s a girl and I’m as tall as her,” Prompto grumbled.

“Luna’s also been running with Ravus for years and she’s older than you,” Ardyn pointed out, not bothering to highlight the fact that most girls were terrifying in their own right, Prompto could learn that lesson all on his own.

“It’s because I’m fat, isn’t it?” Prompto demanded.

“You’re not fat, you’re a growing boy with a large appetite,” Ardyn replied and the sound that Prompto made then had his ears ringing.

“I’m fat and old Chocobo-head will probably hold it over my head for the rest of my life,” he wailed.

Ardyn rolled his eyes at his son’s antics, ducking down as he entered their house. “First, the likelihood of you even meeting Noctis is slim to none and if you’re so worried you could just eat him.”

Prompto was silent for a long moment and when Ardyn turned his head to look at him he was met with a look that would serve Shiva well.

“You’re a really bad role model,” Prompto informed him and instead of responding Ardyn dumped the boy on their sofa ignoring the squawking.

“Plus he probably tastes disgusting!” Prompto shouted after him.

“Whatever you have to tell yourself, Quicksilver,” Ardyn responded.

“And eating people is illegal!” Prompto yelled.

Ardyn rolled his eyes so hard it hurt, “What’s the law’s view on eating poor defenceless teddy bears?”

There was a sound of a scramble behind him and when Ardyn turned Prompto was clutching his chest in horror, “You swore you’d never mention what happened to Mr Snuggums.”

“That name should be illegal and would this be the first Mr Snuggums or the fiftieth? It did sound like you were having a midnight snack so I’m a bit confused. Is number forty nine still with us?”

Prompto puffed up his cheeks at that and Ardyn had to fight hard to suppress the urge to laugh when the boy slowly moved out of his line of sight, scuttling sideways like a crab, before the sound of feet thundering up the stairs reached his ear.

Chuckling at the impossible creature he was raising Ardyn headed for the kitchen. If Prompto was truly serious about losing weight, the least Ardyn could do was remove some of the temptations that lurked in their cupboards.

If nothing else gorging himself would probably keep the scourge quiet for a little while.

*O*

“Is there a reason why Prompto’s holding a teddy bear?” Ravus inquired as he fell in step with Ardyn.

Ardyn glanced back at his son only to be met with a look that promised horrible things if he mentioned said teddy bear.

“He’s trying to recapture his youth,” he responded dryly.

Ravus just cocked a brow at that but didn’t question him further. Ardyn wasn’t sure if that was because the other man had grown accustomed to the little oddities that Ardyn and Prompto shared or if he just didn’t care.

“Did he just say fifty one?” Ravus asked with a frown and this time Ardyn wasn’t quick enough to cover his snort of laughter.

*O*

Prompto screamed as he ran along the beach, feet sending sand flying in his panic but Ardyn kept his eyes firmly on the report he was reading, only pausing to brush a few stray grains from the paper.

“I’m gonna die!” Prompto yelled and Ardyn nodded.

“Good for you, Quicksilver,” he responded, “Though if you could die a little bit quieter that would be helpful.”

The bond sparked with Prompto’s amusement but the boy did lower his voice as he continued his attempts to taunt the water.

Ardyn wasn’t sure what that was about but it kept Prompto occupied and happy so he was more than willing to let it be especially after his informant had actually sent him something worthwhile.

Iedolas had apparently captured a large daemon and was holding it in a facility at the edges of Niflheim’s territory.

The capture in and of itself wasn’t strange it was the fact that Iedolas was doing nothing but starving the thing that caught Ardyn’s attention.

Everyone knew that daemons were dangerous but a hungry one was even more so, that tied with the sudden movement of the soldiers and it looked like Sylva had been right after all, Iedolas was planning something big.

The thought had Ardyn’s gaze shifting from the paper in his hand to the little boy now sprawled on the beach.

The trouble with Iedolas was that the man had no honour, where Ardyn would never stoop low enough to attack a child Iedolas would have no such qualms nor would he face Regis himself, instead willing to use the beasts to do his will while he was hidden away.

It almost made Ardyn want to help Regis…to give him some sort of warning.

Almost.

In the back of Ardyn’s mind the scourge all but purred at the thought.

*O*

“Light-bringer.”

The familiar voice made Ardyn grimace but he didn’t try to ignore it. He was a tiny bit surprised that Gentiana had taken this long to approach him but he wasn’t shocked…the avatar had been his mother’s advisor for a reason, after all.

She wasn’t stupid, she knew that if there was one thing they both had it was time.

Prompto made a grumpy sound in his sleep and Ardyn let his gaze flicker to where the boy was perched precariously on the edge of the sofa before he glanced at Gentiana, only to find her watching him solemnly.

“And to what do I owe the honour of your presence?” Ardyn greeted, making sure that his tone conveyed just how pleased he was to interact with the woman.

Gentiana didn’t let the tone shake her, instead she closed her eyes, slipping her hands into her sleeves before clasping them in front of her and despite Ardyn’s best efforts he couldn’t help the tension leaking into his frame.

He was well acquainted with that pose and it never promised anything good.

“Iedolas has attacked Prince Noctis,” Gentiana informed him and Ardyn kept his expression blank because he knew that even with her eyes closed Gentiana could still see him.

“How every unfortunate,” he simpered. “I do hope the child survived.”

“Even now the king makes his way here in hopes that the oracle can heal his child. I will not let you interfere,” Gentiana whispered.

The metal of the table creaked as Ardyn’s fingers curled into a fist, nails snapping and reforming leaving a bloody mess smeared across the cool grey.

The scourge reared up, snapping and snarling as Ardyn’s eyes narrowed.

He didn’t even realize that he’d stood up until his vantage point shifted so that he was looking down at Gentiana.

“What did you just say?”

Gentiana opened her eyes meeting Ardyn’s gaze calmly, if it weren’t for the otherworldly glow in the usual placid orbs Ardyn might have been fooled.

“I will not let you harm them,” she responded.

“You…” Ardyn laughed, a grotesque sound that twisted in on itself as the scourge shoved outwards eager to devour this thing that would seek to defy them, to stand in the way of their vengeance. “You won’t let me?” Ardyn whispered.

“The prophecy…”

“Yes, tell me again of your prophecy,” Ardyn snarled, shoving the table out of the way when he made to step forward only to run into it.

The thing screeched before settling with a crash, embedding itself in the wall on the other side of Ardyn’s office.

“Tell me about the way that you told me that the only way to save my mother and our people was to face the daemons alone, to take them into myself. Remind me of the way that she died anyway while you stood by and did nothing. Tell me about the way that you made me into a monster only to let them cast me out. Or better yet tell me of the fact that in the same breath you named another king as your saviour…a king not even of my blood but of the blood of the traitor that helped you exile me…tell me!” Ardyn roared.

Gentiana raised her head, “He does not deserve to die.”

“My mother didn’t deserve to die. I didn’t deserve to be this…abomination,” Ardyn snarled, not sparing a moment to glance at the black ichor dripping from his eyes in a macabre parody of tears, not even when the strands rose and lashed out towards Gentiana, only to slam against an invisible barrier.

“Papa.”

Prompto’s voice was so soft that Ardyn almost didn’t hear it above the cacophony in his head but he was so attuned to the little boy that even a whisper was enough to pull him back from the ledge he’d been standing on.

His bones crackled as they reformed and he hastily wiped the smears of scourge from his face as he turned to face his son.

Prompto was staring at him as if he was something strange and foreign and it made something in his chest crack open, the chasm widening when Prompto frowned.

The bond twisted between them, warped with confusion and fear so dense it made Ardyn bow his head even as the scourge retreated.

He couldn’t bring himself to look at the boy so the feeling of Prompto’s arms around his middle startled him.

“I don’t want you to hurt,” Prompto whispered against Ardyn’s shirt. “We can go away if you want to. I can write Luna and Uncle Ravus letters so it won’t feel like we’re gone and you won’t have to see…” Prompto’s voice cracked. “You’re not a monster, you’re my papa.”

Ardyn exhaled slowly, carding his fingers through Prompto’s hair as he soaked in the love flowing through the bond, tempered by Prompto’s own anger and need to protect.

Pulling away, he knelt in front of the little boy, watching as Prompto knuckled at his eyes.

“We don’t have to leave,” he offered up but Prompto frowned.

“But you hate them,” Prompto pointed out and Ardyn couldn’t even lie because it was true.

“That doesn’t mean we have to leave.”

An image of Gentiana was shoved down the bond at him and Ardyn met Prompto’s eyes with a tiny smile.

“She doesn’t mean we have to leave either.”

Prompto didn’t say a word but Ardyn wasn’t stupid enough to think he was mollified.

“Can we go home now?” Prompto asked and Ardyn nodded as he stood, grimacing as he glanced at the table. He had more control than that.

Prompto gripped Ardyn’s hand tight as he all but dragged him from the office, shooting Gentiana a dirty look as he went.

Ardyn didn’t even acknowledge the Astral despite the heavy gaze he could feel on his back as they headed down the corridor.

The King and Prince of Lucis just a few miles away from him and oh so vulnerable with Regis distracted by his child’s injuries, the thought made the scourge writhe within him.

*O*

Prompto didn’t say a word on the walk home but he didn’t let go of Ardyn’s hand either, instead he clutched it so tight that had Ardyn been a human he would have been sporting some interesting bruises.

Ardyn didn’t know what to make of the behaviour but he knew that as long as Prompto looked at him without that familiar disgust or pity in his eyes then he could cope with a tight grip.

When Prompto finally let him go, he didn’t let Ardyn out of his sight, trailing him from room to room in a way that reminded Ardyn of those first few days years ago.

“You said I’m not weird.”

The words had Ardyn’s gaze shifting from the bubbling pot to the boy standing a few feet away.

“You said I’m not weird, I’m like you and I’m special. Does that make me a monster too?”

“You’re not a monster,” Ardyn spat, turning to face Prompto fully, crouching so that he wasn’t towering over the boy, as he met Prompto’s eyes. “You’re special…you’re better than anything I deserve for the things that I’ve done.”

“But you said she made you into a monster,” Prompto pointed out, fingers tugging at the bottom of his shirt.

Ardyn’s lips quirked into a slow sad smile at that, “Do you remember me telling you about before I met you, of how I wasn’t a good man?” he asked, waiting until Prompto nodded before continuing.  “I was angry and hurt and I did some bad things. Bad things that I would never have done if…” Ardyn trailed off with a tiny shrug because he didn’t need to rehash that. “The scourge makes us different…a little more dangerous than others but would you say that Sylva was a monster because of her powers?”

Prompto shook his head and Ardyn smiled, “Well then I guess we can’t be monsters either,” he offered up, tamping down the small voice that screamed that that was exactly what he was, what he’d always be. The bond was blown so wide open by his worry that Prompto would probably sense the thought no matter how hard he tried to hide it. If he could look at Prompto and see something precious, something more than the weapon he’d been meant to be then maybe it was time he looked in the mirror and saw something worth saving there too.

He didn’t expect the hug and Prompto’s weight rocked him backwards onto his ass as the little boy clung to him.

“I’m sorry you don’t have a mother anymore but I don’t have one either, I’ve only got you like Luna only has Aunt Sylva but that’s okay ‘cause I love you lots and lots.”

“Prompto,” Ardyn whispered, hugging Prompto tight as he pressed kisses against the boy’s hair, ignorant of the tears streaming down his face while they held each other. “My little quicksilver, I love you to the moon and back.”

“That’s a lot of love,” Prompto muttered, scrubbing at his face as he pulled away and stared up at Ardyn “But I still love you more than that ‘cause you’re my papa.”

If ever there had been a moment when Ardyn wished to be a better man, a more deserving one it was in that moment and the feeling of absolute love and adoration rolling over him almost made him feel like he could be a good man…just like Delia had once believed he could be.

*O*

The crackle of fire and the scent of smoke was the first thing that greeted him when Ardyn managed to fall asleep.

“Your prey is at your door and you run scared, cowering before your whelp.”

Ardyn rolled his shoulders but said nothing as Ifrit stepped through the wall of the fire that seemed to be the only thing present in the dream.

“You’ve allowed yourself to be domesticated,” Ifrit noted prowling around Ardyn but he refused to move to track the Astral. “I was promised a wolf not a dog. You’re of little use to me as you are.”

“Then leave,” Ardyn offered up with a sneer, “Oh, I forgot, you can’t because you’re as bound to me as the scourge.”

Ifrit snorted, “Of course I am.”

Ardyn opened his mouth to respond to that but before he could the dream unravelled sending him plummeting into the abyss.

*O*

Ardyn gasped awake, his eyes narrowing at the licks of flame that followed him into the waking world.

Something was wrong, something bigger than Regis and his son’s presence but Ardyn couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

Chapter Text

Avoiding the manor wasn’t an option Ardyn had considered, He’d been forced from the place he’d called home by Lucis’ false kings before and he wouldn’t be repeating that particular course of action anytime soon.

There was also the fact that despite Prompto’s words the bond was screaming with Prompto’s misery after being separated from Luna.

They weren’t the best reasons but honestly Ardyn didn’t really need a reason to take up residence in his office while he let Prompto roam, his grip on the bond verging on obsessive but that little detail didn’t bother him. After all the apple didn’t usually fall far from the tree and Ardyn would burn the world down before he let Prompto feel even a fraction of the betrayal he’d faced.

This close Ardyn could almost hear the crystal’s call…feel it’s warmth as it surrounded the ones it’d chosen and the thought had Ardyn’s fingers curling into fists as the scourge picked at the old wound, seeping into it until it was tainted, like an infected wound.

His maudlin mood wasn’t enough to keep away the familiar footsteps approaching his door and Ardyn pasted on a smile as Sylva swept into the room.

She frowned at him, her eyes flickering around his office and if anything the move had Ardyn’s smile widening because Gentiana had never been good at keeping any secrets other than her own and he could only imagine what wonderful knowledge she’d shared with the Queen.

“He’s with Luna,” Ardyn offered up, propping his chin in his hand as he watched her. “After all, I’m not so much of a monster that I’d keep my own child from something that makes him happy.”

“You’re not a monster at all,” Sylva retorted.

“Gentiana would disagree,” Ardyn pointed out.

“Then it’s a good thing that with free will comes a freedom of opinion,” Sylva sighed, closing the door behind her and taking a seat. “And freedom of opinion means I can tell you that I think being here is stupid.”

“Ah but isn’t it better that I’m here, where I can be monitored instead of at home, where I could be thinking up any number of dastardly plans for your precious king and king-to be.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that location has never affected your ability to think and my only king-to-be thinks himself your best friend so I doubt you’d think up anything that could faze him.”

Ardyn snorted at that, she was right but it wouldn’t do to let her know that. He couldn’t reward her for bad behaviour after all.

He didn’t touch on the topic of Ravus either because as far as Ardyn was aware they barely tolerated each other.

“Irrespective of whomever you wish to house…”

“….heal,” Sylva interrupted but Ardyn just spoke over her.

“…without consulting me, I still promised to help you and with those two here then there is no doubt that Iedolas’ forces will soon follow.”

Sylva raised a brow at that, her chin tilted at an angle that said just what she thought of Iedolas and his forces.

“I’ll never turn away someone in need…no matter the cost,” she replied and Ardyn had to laugh at that.

“And that’s why you’re the Oracle and the rest of us are the ones trying to protect you and your people.”

Sylva didn’t deny his words, “Noctis will heal and soon they will be gone.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’ve tracked me down,” Ardyn pointed out and Sylva laced her fingers together as she stared at him.

“Regis knows you are…who you were,” She whispered, eyeing Ardyn like she thought he’d erupt into a rage but Ardyn wasn’t stupid, he’d expected this of Gentiana. After all it wouldn’t do to let her chosen ones wonder around like lambs while he was lurking in the shadows with bared teeth.

“And what does the Great King think of that little bit of information?” he inquired.

“He wishes to meet you, he wants to talk.”

“Of course,” Ardyn grinned, watching as Sylva shifted in her seat. He wondered what the expression looked like from her end, with her knowledge of what he was capable of.

“I don’t want you to meet. I don’t want you in the same building because I’ve come to like the man that I’ve known you to be and I know what the thirst for revenge can do to a person.”

Ardyn’s lips ticked up into a smirk, “You have no need to worry about King Regis…he’s not the one I want,” he replied but Sylva just glowered at him as she stood, pausing to straighten her skirt.

“I’m not worried about Regis, I’m worried about you and that’s why I’ll give him your answer but I won’t arrange a meeting between the two of you,” she retorted and Ardyn stared after her as she left the room.

It was strange but for a moment he almost found himself believing that she cared.

*O*

True to her word Sylva didn’t arrange a meeting and instead Ardyn found himself inundated with papers and documents she wanted his opinion on.

By the time Prompto had tired himself out and returned to his office Ardyn had had enough of reading and he hadn’t missed Sylva’s little tactic but instead of the usual anger at her manipulation Ardyn couldn’t help the smile that he greeted his son with as Prompto came stumbling into his office.

“I think old Chocobo-head’s gonna die,” Prompto informed him, heading for his backpack and his snacks.

“Hello, Prompto, I’m well, thank you for asking and of course your lessons went exceptionally well as expected. I’m sure you wouldn’t let yourself be distracted from your very important…”

“…why are you like this?” Prompto interrupted with a huff as he flopped across Ardyn’s lap with his juice box clutched firmly in his left hand and something that looked suspiciously like the chocolate bar that Ardyn had hidden earlier that week in his left. “My lessons were boring, as usual. You’re going to say you’re fine, as usual and I wasn’t distracted, Luna was distracted she even got in trouble for it.”

Smoothing Prompto’s hair back, Ardyn cocked a brow. “And what’s distracting young Lunafreya these days?”

“The fact that Prince Chocobo-head’s dying,” Prompto repeated, turning to cast a dirty look Ardyn’s way. “…like I was trying to tell you.”

“My apologies,” Ardyn replied though he didn’t feel the least bit apologetic and the tug in their bond said Prompto was full aware of that.

Prompto ignored his insincerity, focusing on the fact that he now had a captive audience, seeing as Ardyn was unlikely to upend him while he was eating.

“She said he hasn’t woken up since her mom tried to heal him so I told her that sometimes things don’t wake up and she should probably just end his suffering with a pillow over his face.”

“Prompto,” Ardyn hissed, trying hard to disguise his laughter because despite the callous words Prompto would never intentionally hurt a living thing and Ardyn hoped he’d never have to.

“She said that I was awful for saying that so I told that if she was squeamish I could do it for her and she started yelling at me that Noctis deserved to live and I might have said that Noctis can kiss somewhere that I won’t repeat because you keep threatening to wash my mouth out with ichor, which is disgusting because I know where ichor comes from…” Prompto paused for a breath. “Then she said I was being nasty and teacher heard us and now she’s in trouble because you’re supposed to be nice to people below your status.”

“You’re an evil little creature,” Ardyn noted and Prompto beamed up at him.

“It made you smile,” Prompto pointed out and something warm curled just below Ardyn’s breastbone.

“Thank you, Quicksilver,” he whispered.

In the back of Ardyn’s mind the scourge curled around the bond and the way that Prompto smiled as he turned away said that he felt what Ardyn was trying to say.

*O*

Ardyn’s dreams were clouded in smoke but he could see no flames…the lack worried him but he forgot it before he woke.

*O*

Regis was not what Ardyn had expected, the man was smaller than he’d appeared on the screen and his presence didn’t fill a room as his ancestor’s once had but there was no missing the power that he wore like a cloak or the hint of suspicion lurking in his gaze as he entered Ardyn’s office.

Steepling his fingers together, Ardyn stared at the man with a small smile. The scourge writhed beneath his skin but Ardyn soothed it with a thought until it retreated just enough for him to keep a hold of his usual visage.

“I would ask why you’re here but that would be childish of me as we both know the answer to that question,” Ardyn greeted, waving a hand towards the empty chair without standing. “Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you,” Regis said as he accepted the offer and sat, the crystal’s song ebbing and flowing around him.

Ardyn waited patiently as Regis glanced around his office before the man’s gaze finally settled on him.

“I’ve been told that you’re a dangerous man,” he offered up.

Ardyn smirked, leaning back in his chair, “Flattery will get you nowhere with me. I’m too wary of the fangs hidden behind silver tongues to care about pretty words and I’m rather short on patience so if you would…” he prompted and Regis’ lips curled into a cold smile.

“Someone told me that you were my enemy, they said that you’d stop at nothing to see that my line ends,” Regis replied.

“Whoever you spoke to was quite honest in that respect though I wouldn’t trust her if she starts sprouting great tales about your destiny.”

Regis didn’t flinch at the implication that Ardyn was well aware of who he’d gotten his information from.

“Someone else told me that before I judged that I needed to hear your side of the story. She said that I didn’t know what you’d suffered through because of my ancestor.”

“And what do you think?” Ardyn inquired, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Regis paused; his expression hardening and the crystal’s song grew louder like the pounding of war drums.

Ardyn wondered how easy it would be to just devour the man, crystal song and all…but that wasn’t what he was here for. Regis wasn’t who he wanted. He would take the true king of Lucis not an aging man clinging to his youth in hopes of saving his son.

In the back of his mind something whispered Prompto’s name but Ardyn ignored it. Prompto knew better than anyone why Ardyn’s revenge was important. The bond meant that Prompto felt like he’d lived it with Ardyn in his memories despite Ardyn’s attempt to shield him from the worst of it all.

“I think that anyone who would willingly support Iedolas, without being forced into service, is a monster,” Regis responded and Ardyn’s smirk stretched into a grin.

“I believe that anyone responsible for the monstrosities that are stationed at my nation’s borders is someone who doesn’t deserve my acknowledgement.”

Ardyn laughed, the sound rising into a cackle as he stood from his seat, sending his chair tumbling to the ground with the suddenness of his motion.

He laughed even while the crystal’s lights danced around him as Regis summoned a weapon.

“That is it…” he choked out between gales of almost hysterical laughter. “That’s perfect…you judging me. It’s everything I expected. First you offer me pretty words but now we’re at the crux of it all. You think I’m something to be put down.”

“Any creature that turns rabid should be put down,” Regis spat as he stood too but Ardyn just snorted.

“Oh yes, yes you’re right,” Ardyn agreed with a nod that almost sent his hat tumbling from his head, only for him to shove it back on absentmindedly. “A rabid creature will only bite the hand that feeds it…much like the man that first bore your name once did to me,” he ended on a snarl, spinning on his heels as he stretched his hands wide. “I gave my people everything, every single piece of me. I gave up my soul for them, my family, my sanity and in return my hand was bitten by the very person I tried to save but I suppose that would make me rabid, after all that’s how it spreads so go ahead, your highness put me down.”

Regis fingers tightened around his sword, “I won’t hurt an unarmed man.”

The words had barely left his lips when the scourge lashed out sending him leaping away from Ardyn as the tendrils surged towards him.

Ardyn barely notice the tingle when Regis’ sword cleaved through the appendages, his mind was caught up in his plan…in his vindication.

Regis shifted to the side then doubled back as the tendrils tore apart the chairs and desk, Ardyn made no move to dodge the man’s attack until the door flew open and Prompto’s horrified eyes met his as Regis’ sword pierced his gut.

Prompto’s scream of horror almost blocked out the sound of blood splattering to the floor.

Wrapping his fingers around the sword’s blade, Ardyn pulled it from his body, keeping his eyes on Prompto and a smile on his face while the scourge rushed repair the damage to his body.

“Papa?” Prompto whispered but Ardyn just grinned at him.

“It’s okay, Quicksilver, just a little argument. I wanted King Reis here to have his pound of flesh and now that he has whatever comes next is fair…isn’t that right, your majesty?” Ardyn taunted, looking at Regis pale face as the man stared horrified at Prompto.

“I…” Regis started but Prompto glowered at him, holding his ground even as the bond shivered with his terror and rage.

“Papa says if you hurt someone you’re supposed to say you’re sorry,” he spat and Regis flushed even as the sword vanished in a sparkle of blue lights.

“My apologies,” Regis offered up as Prompto skated around him to tug at Ardyn’s clothes as the bond twisted with fear and concern.

“I thought Noctis was a stupid head ‘cause people were always saying nice things about him even though they didn’t know him but I talked to him and he’s sort of cool. It sucks that his dad’s a jerk,” Prompto growled and Ardyn had to laugh at the look of absolute confusion on the king’s face.

“Prompto,” he warned but Prompto just shook his head, burying his face in Ardyn’s stomach.

“I’m not saying sorry,” he muttered.

“As you shouldn’t have to…I knew better than to let myself be provoked and you’re correct, little one. Hurting someone is never something to be proud of and I’m truly sorry,” Regis offered up and Ardyn wasn’t sure which of them the man was directing those last three words towards.

He didn’t get a chance to ask as Regis quietly left the room and he refocused on Prompto, kneeling so that he could meet Prompto’s eyes and the sight of the tears on the boy’s face had guilt curdling in the pit of his stomach.

“I don’t care that you heal, I don’t like it when you get hurt,” Prompto gritted out before Ardyn could start sprouting placations.

“I’m sorry,” Ardyn whispered and Prompto nodded.

“Good, ‘cause you ruined my big announcement about Prince Choco…Noctis,” he corrected himself and Ardyn raised a brow but he didn’t taunt the boy instead he opened his arms, exhaling slowly when Prompto clung to him.

They’d both learned something new and Ardyn had no clue what he was supposed to do with the information but he did know that Prompto deserved a quiet afternoon at the very least.

Chapter Text

Prompto was in a sulk. Ardyn wasn’t particularly surprised given the bitterness he could still feel lingering in the bond…what did surprise him was the stubbornness with which Prompto clung to the mood.

“Don’t you want to give me a hug?” he coaxed and the look that Prompto shot his way said that if the boy had been a cat, his fur would probably be standing on end.

“Prompto Argentum Izunia…”

“…that’s not even my name!” Prompto squawked as Ardyn wiped a fake tear from his eye.

“You were named after the best people I know….”

“You hate the Argentums,” Prompto hissed and Ardyn had to concede the point…he did hate their nosy neighbours.

“Are you going to leave me here, all alone?” Ardyn tried with a pout.

Prompto just narrowed his eyes at him, “Who made you an adult?”

“Don’t make me come over there just to hug you,” Ardyn warned.

“You’ll never take me alive,” Prompto squealed, fleeing from the room only to reappear a few seconds later. “I see what you tried to do there. I’m not leaving you alone ever again.”

“That’ll probably be hell on your social life,” Ardyn sighed but the scowl he got in response said just how little chance of success he had. “You do realize that, contrary to popular belief, I’m the parent here?”

Prompto planted his fists on his hips, “I’m not leaving you alone. You get hurt when I leave you alone and it’s not fair.”

The words were delivered with a quiver that made Ardyn feel like the lowest of the low.

“Quicksilver,” he sighed, opening his arms and Prompto stumbled into them like he’d been pulled along by an invisible thread.

“You’re always the one getting hurt and I hate it,” Prompto muttered, the scent of fresh tears curling in Ardyn’s nose and it made the scourge writhe with discontent.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, stroking Prompto’s hair. “I wish I could say more…” he added but he couldn’t…he couldn’t give Prompto a promise he knew he was incapable of keeping.

“I know,” Prompto huffed, “It’s why I’m never leaving you alone,” he added and Ardyn had to laugh at the determination in his voice.

Even without the scourge flowing through his veins Prompto was surely his son.

*O*

Ardyn didn’t know who’d told him that being a parent meant that he was the one in charge but whoever had come up with that particular piece of information was an idiot.

Case in point was the fact that he wasn’t in his office doing work, instead he’d been assigned to the balcony overlooking where Luna and Prompto were going to have a play date and by assigned Ardyn meant guilt-tripped into it.

He’d put up a good protest but Prompto’s eyes had filled with tears and by the time his lower lip started to quiver the scourge was all but ready to turn on itself to stop the ache in Ardyn’s chest.

Hence he was sat out in the sunlight squinting at his documents while he pretended to ignore Prompto’s ever watchful gaze.

Ardyn didn’t regret the confrontation despite its consequences. He’d felt too tight, trapped in his own skin, before his clash with Regis. He hadn’t been lying when he told Delia that Prompto was the only thing that made him want to be a good man but what he hadn’t said was that Prompto was also one of his last links to sanity.

The sound of laughter drew Ardyn’s attention and he watched as one of the servants pushed a child in a wheelchair out into the garden.

The prince of Lucis was easily recognizable but the sight of the boy so frail in the metal construct made Ardyn frown even as Luna rushed forward to grasp Noctis’ hands.

Prompto hung back, head cocked in a familiar fashion and Ardyn nudged at their bond until Prompto glanced up at him.

The usual sense of curiosity that constantly coated most of Prompto’s thoughts was there but beneath that there was something dark and heavy lingering like a snake hidden in the grass.

Ardyn didn’t need his enhanced senses to catch the low snarl that the scourge sent his way when he forced the feeling down because this wasn’t Prompto, it was the part of Prompto that he’d caused and he’d be damned before he let it force his child to do something that wasn’t of his own will.

Prompto rocked back onto his heels and Ardyn wondered if Noctis had even noticed his focus.

Turning away from the scene Ardyn forced his attention back onto his documents and Iedolas.

The distraction meant that he didn’t see the moment Prompto sniffed the air, eyes narrowing on the woman lingering at the edge of the garden.

Gentiana’s eyes met Prompto across the space before her gaze flickered up towards the balcony where Ardyn sat.

When she dropped her gaze Prompto was closer than he had been and she stepped back, giving heed to the warning in the child’s eyes as she slipped back into the shadows.

*O*

Prompto didn’t dislike Noctis, he just hated the way that everybody talked about him and his dad like they were something better just because they kept a stupid wall standing.

As far as Prompto was concerned Regis was an idiot because if you put a wall up to keep things out then what happened to the people trapped outside with the things.

He’d asked Luna as much and she’d tried to distract him but that had been answer enough for Prompto.

The fact that Regis looked like the man in their dreams, the one who’d hurt his Papa, didn’t help either and Prompto had expected to hate Noctis just as much as he hated his dad but Noctis was actually really strange.

He didn’t talk or laugh much and sometimes Prompto caught him looking at Luna like she was odd which was fair because Luna was odd even Uncle Ravus had admitted that much.

“You can tell her to stop, you know?” Prompto offered up from his bench. He’d chosen the place because he could keep an eye on his Papa and watch Noctis get more frustrated with Luna’s attempts to draw him out of his shell.

So far she’d offered Noctis a place in their games, a trip around the manor and then she’d left to find food.

Noctis glanced in his direction and Prompto smiled, watching the way that Noctis’ eyes dropped away from his back to his lap.

Luna always said that Prompto’s fake smile was scary because it looked like the one his Papa used when he had to deal with the council.

Prompto wasn’t sure why she thought telling him that would make him do it less.

Prompto didn’t always like scaring people but his Papa said that a smile could be a warning, after all animals showed their teeth when they wanted you to stop or go away.

“She’s just being nice,” Noctis murmured and Prompto snorted, stretching out on his bench.

“I’m being nice but it’s not making your face look like a thundercloud,” he pointed out, watching as Noctis’ frown deepened.

“What does that even mean?”

“It means you look like your stomach hurts. If you want her to stop touching you all the time just tell her. She’s trying to be nice but she doesn’t always notice stuff like that,” Prompto explained.

Noctis’ eyes narrowed at that, “Are you sure you’re being nice because it feels like you’re trying to get me in trouble.”

Squirming down his perch Prompto stretched until his head was hanging over the side of the bench, his braid dangling in the air and Prompto batted at it, ignoring the prince for a moment.

Upside-down Noctis was unfortunately frowning just as much as the other Noctis was.

“I’d pinky-promise that I’m not trying to get you in trouble but you’re too far away,” Prompto beamed, eyes widening momentarily when Noctis shoved at the wheels of his wheelchair until the thing moved.

It was slow going but soon he was close enough to touch and when he held out a hand Prompto stared at it for a moment.

“Pinky-promise,” Noctis reminded and Prompto couldn’t do anything but hold out his own pinky in response, letting Noctis hook the two together.

“This doesn’t mean we’re friends,” Prompto informed him as soon as Noctis pulled back.

Noctis nodded but there was something about the smile on his face that said he didn’t believe Prompto in the slightest and that was okay because Noctis wasn’t his dad.

Plus it’d be nice to have a friend who wasn’t Luna for once…even if being around Noctis did make him hungry.

*O*

“Noctis makes me hungry.”

Ardyn glanced over at where Prompto was flopped on the new sofa in his office. Sylva was probably going to get tired of replacing the things in his office soon but seeing as she hadn’t complained yet, Ardyn wasn’t going to bring it up.

“Cannibalism is actually illegal,” Ardyn reminded Prompto, throwing the boy’s words back at him and the dirty look that Prompto sent his way said that he was very much aware of the mockery.

“I didn’t say I was going to eat him, I just said that he makes me hungry,” Prompto shot back, huffing as he flopped onto his back. “Luna doesn’t make me hungry.”

Flipping another page, Ardyn frowned at the report.

Iedolas still hadn’t made a move and that was starting to annoy Ardyn because he knew the man wasn’t smart enough to not react instantly. He was either being advised or the attack on Noctis had been part of a larger plan.

“Luna isn’t bathed in the scent of the crystal,” Ardyn finally offered up. “And while it might seem like a good idea now, I don’t think you’d like the guilt you’d carry around just because you decided to eat a friend.”

“We’re not friends!” Prompto spluttered. “Who’d want to be friends with old Chocobo-head anyway? Plus I think Luna like-likes him which is gross. How can you like-like someone who doesn’t like-like you anyway?”

That caught Ardyn’s attention and he rested his chin on the back of his hands as he stared at his son, his lips curling up into a smirk as Prompto muttered to himself.

“I don’t even know which one of you I should tease,” Ardyn snickered. “Are you going to fight Luna for Noctis’ hand in friendship?” he teased and Prompto bristled as he rolled over again before shoving himself to his feet.

“I said I don’t like Chocobo-head even if he’s cooler than his dad,” Prompto muttered, his eyes narrowing at the thought. “That doesn’t mean I like him. He’s still one of them and they hurt you.”

“I do believe that the lady doth protest too much,” Ardyn grinned. “As I’ve said before my quarrel with the kings of Lucis isn’t yours to bear.”

“Don’t care, you’re still my Papa and they hurt you.”

“Their ancestors hurt me,” Ardyn pointed out even though the words left a bitter taste on his tongue.

“He called you a monster!” Prompto shouted, flinching when Ardyn frowned at him. “I…I’m sorry for shouting,” he muttered, folding his arms across his chest as he raised his chin. “I’m sorry I shouted because shouting isn’t polite but they still hurt you and I don’t care if it wasn’t him, I don’t care ‘cause he called you a monster and he didn’t care that he was being mean.”

“Then my quarrel is with Regis not his son. If I blamed Noctis for his father’s words and actions I leave you open to being blamed for mine and I would never want that for you.”

Prompto glared at the far wall but Ardyn could still feel his anger leaking through their bond and he reached out through it, soothing the feeling until Prompto’s shoulders dropped from where they’d hunched about his ears.

“I know that this might not be what you want to hear, Quicksilver and it’s not something I ever thought I’d say to anyone but I’ve been given a gift…I have you and if I have to swallow my own pride to make sure that you’re happy, to make sure that you never get caught up in my war then that’s what I’ll do.”

“But you’re just pretending,” Prompto pointed out and Ardyn shook his head.

“Maybe I am” he responded, waiting until Prompto met his eyes before he smiled softly at the boy. “But at long as it means you’re happy, I’m more than willing to pretend.”

“I still don’t like Chocobo-head,” Prompto groused and Ardyn snorted because his son was as stubborn as he was.

“Whatever you say,” he taunted, smirking when Prompto glowered at him.

“I don’t!” Prompto spat.

Ardyn hummed under his breath, “You do realize that you’re blushing.”

“I’m not!” Prompto squawked and Ardyn couldn’t help the sharp bark of laughter that escaped him.

Prompto’s blush darkened as he whined, “Papa, stop…Papa!” he groaned before flinging himself at Ardyn and Ardyn let him bury his burning face in his neck.

Smoothing his hand over Prompto’s hair Ardyn smiled. He’d meant every word, he’d told Prompto. He could pretend for the sake of Prompto’s happiness.

After all Prompto’s last breath would be the last breath of everyone else…himself included.

*O*

“Regis sends his apologies,” Sylva informed Ardyn as she matched step with him down the corridor. “He’d hoped to tell you himself but I told him that was a bad idea.”

Ardyn pressed a hand to his chest, “Do you not trust my self-control?” he gasped.

“I don’t trust my own and if I have to redecorate your office one more time I’ll start to take offence…you don’t want me to start taking offence,” she retorted deadpan.

“He also hoped to apologize to Prompto and Ravus told him that that was even a worse idea than the first as while he might have the hopes of you controlling yourself, Prompto would most likely kick him in the shins.”

Ardyn snorted but didn’t disrepute the fact because it was the truth especially given the foul mood Prompto seemed to be in as of late.

“Well then, please let me him know that you’ve delivered his apology in his stead and I’ll try to keep my tiny bodyguard away from him.”

“Please do, he’s taken to lurking in the corridors and Regis isn’t sure if he should expect an assassination attempt sooner rather than later.”

“It’ll blow over; he’s just in a mood.”

“Ravus caught him drawing up a map of exactly where he’d try to drop a vase on Regis’ head to make it look like an accident.”

Ardyn snorted, “Merely child’s play,” he offered up but the excuse sounded weak to his own ears.

“The vases are apparently to be filled with concrete beforehand,” Sylva added and Ardyn paused before turning around.

“On second thought I should probably go have another talk with him.”

“Your help is greatly appreciated,” Sylva called after him and not even the distance could mask the amusement in her voice or the burst of laughter when Ardyn caught sight of Prompto skittering down the corridor with a vase…a vase that Prompto dropped as he made a break for it.

Ardyn adored his son but sometimes he wished they weren’t so alike.

He’d at least hoped for the boy to hit puberty before he had to deal with any homicidal tendencies.

Chapter Text

Luna had told Prompto where Noctis’ rooms were, probably in the hopes that he’d stay far away from them.

That just proved that Luna didn’t know him as well as she thought she did because Prompto had never run from a problem ever…the fact that Noctis and his father was one of the first problems Prompto had ever had that Ardyn hadn’t instantly fixed was neither here nor there.

Prompto’s ears were still ringing from the scolding he’d gotten from his Papa but he stood firmly by his belief that if someone was killed by a falling vase then obviously it was the vase’s fault. It wasn’t like Prompto was going to actually push the thing.

All he’d planned to do was position is strategically so that it might just fall as Regis walked under it.

Though to be honest, if Regis got killed by a falling vase that was just another reason why he shouldn’t be king, as far as Prompto was concerned.

A king was supposed to be smart enough to evade death by random falling objects.

The thought stayed with Prompto as he crept along the corridor, acting nonchalant whenever one of the passing workers glanced at him.

No one really paid him much attention anyway. He’d taken to wandering around behind the workers as soon as Ardyn had allowed him out of his sight. It was one of the reasons he’d always been eating something…people seemed to just love to feed him.

Pausing in front of the door that led to Noctis’ rooms Prompto considered knocking then thought better of it.

As supposed king-to-be Noctis was supposed to be aware at all times.

Prompto was doing him a favour by barging into his rooms.

The glee building in his chest at the thought of catching Luna’s perfect prince unaware fizzled out when he found Noctis sitting on the floor beside his wheelchair.

Frowning down at the other boy Prompto stepped into the room.

“What are you doing?” he inquired, watching as Noctis poked at the bandages covering his chest.

“Checking if I’m healing,” Noctis replied, eyes flickering up to meet Prompto’s before he glanced back at his work. “My dad needs to go home so he can power the wall and he can’t do that with me here.”

“Aunt Sylva’s been healing you every day,” Prompto pointed out with a scowl. “If she hadn’t you’d be stuck here for months.”

Noctis bit his lip at that, wincing as he shifted around on the floor.

“Stop moving around like that, Chocobo-head. You’re only making things worse,” Prompto grumbled as he stooped down to help the prince.  

He didn’t expect Noctis to take his hand or accept his help but between the two of them they got Noctis back in his wheelchair.

Noctis’ face was washed with sweat and Prompto’s eyes darted to the door as he wondered if he needed to get Sylva.

“I’m okay,” Noctis breathed, like he’d read Prompto’s mind.  “Sorry, I don’t like being a burden on anyone…especially my dad.”

Prompto crossed his arms, “Yeah well, who else are you supposed to burden? My Papa gets twitchy if I don’t make some sort of a mess that he needs to clean up. Plus it’s not like you did that to yourself,” he finished, gesturing to Noctis’ wounds.

Noctis was silent for a long moment and Prompto scowled at him when he caught the boy staring at his face.

“What?” he demanded.

Noctis just shook his head, a tiny smile curling the corner of his lips.

“You’re nicer than I thought you’d be,” he offered up and Prompto frowned.

“Why didn’t you expect me to be nice?”

“Because people are afraid of your dad, I thought you’d be scary too,” Noctis explained.

Prompto snorted, “He can be pretty scary sometimes but don’t let him hear you say that I’m trying to keep him humble.”

Noctis brow hiked at the statement, “You’re not really humble either,” he pointed out.

“That’s because I don’t need to be. People are always looking at my Papa all the time so I can be whatever I want…that’s what he says anyway.”

“People are always looking at me,” Noctis whispered, his gaze dropping to his lap and Prompto bit his lip.

“They’re not looking at you here,” he pointed out. “You can be whoever you want to be when you’re here.”

“Even if I want to be your friend?” Noctis shot back.

Prompto’s eyes widened for a second, shock reverberating through the bond between him and Ardyn. He felt his papa prod at it curiously and he sent a wave of calm at him until Ardyn’s presence withdrew into the background.

“I guess, if you want to,” he responded finally, taking in Noctis’ smile.

Noctis was really strange.

*O*

Ardyn crushed the papers in his hand as a familiar feeling shivered up his spine.

It was something he hadn’t felt in centuries, a call that was almost as familiar as that of the crystal and a part of him wanted to answer it but the scourge rose up in his chest, shattering the connection to the Astrals before Ardyn could give in.

It was like a breath of fresh air, cool against his skin and he exhaled slowly as the scourge twisted, ebbing and flowing until Ardyn felt like he could breathe again.

The bond was still there though, flailing like a dying thing in Ardyn’s mind despite the precision and suddenness of the scourge’s reaction. In its dying throes a single message floated up in Ardyn’s mind.

Words that had him on his feet seconds before the manor’s alarms blared through his office.

They’re coming.

*O*

Prompto started at the sound of the alarms, reaching out to Ardyn instinctively and the scourge writhed with Ardyn’s discontent.

That more than anything had Prompto scrambling to his feet, Ardyn never let Prompto feel anything he didn’t want him to…not when he was awake at least.

Locking the door as Noctis stared at him Prompto focused on Ardyn. He couldn’t be distracted, not while his Papa showed him what to do.

He needed something sharp, something that could cut his skin. The thought had him biting his lip hard while he glanced around but Noctis’ room was as child proof as his own.

It wasn’t until the familiar taste of iron registered on his tongue that Prompto realized that he had everything he needed right there.

“What’s happening?” Noctis demanded, wheeling closer.

Prompto shook his head at the other boy before prodding at his split lip with shaking fingers as Ardyn urged him on.

Blood smeared the digits and Prompto pressed them to Noctis’ door, stepping back as the blood bubbled, red darkening to black as it ran along the door.

Noctis gasped behind him but Prompto didn’t look at him, he kept his eyes on the door until it was covered, the scourge multiplying again and again as it coated the new surface, feeding from the door’s surface and the deposits that Ardyn had left all around the manor.

Finally Prompto turned to Noctis and staggered as the song that Ardyn had identified as the crystal flowed through his mind.

Hunger nipped at the heels of his disorientation but Ardyn forced it back before Prompto could.

The last word from his Papa floated up into his head and Prompto blinked once before focusing on Noctis’ shocked face.

“What…” Noctis started, fingers clenching on the arms of his wheelchair. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know,” Prompto admitted, “Papa showed me how…he said we need to hide.”

Noctis opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but the sound was lost under the thunderous crash as something collided with the door.

Grabbing Noctis’ chair, Prompto pushed it into the other room.

It was a small kitchenette and there were knives. They weren’t as good as the sword Prompto had trained with but Uncle Ravus had said that anything could be dangerous with the right intent behind it.

“Can you fight?” Prompto asked and Noctis nodded before glancing down at his legs. “Don’t worry about that, it just makes you faster,” Prompto cut in handing Noctis two knives before grabbing three. He shoved two into his pockets then tugged the wheelchair into a corner, so that there was something at their back.

The scourge shifted in Prompto’s thoughts and suddenly he was seeing outside of Noctis’ door, watching as several people dressed in dark garbs slammed a battering ram against the surface.

The scourge grabbed onto the metal, slithering up it and onto the hands of the first person it touched.

Prompto didn’t realise he was holding Noctis’ hand until the Prince squeezed his fingers as the screaming started.

Prompto closed his eyes, pressing his free hand to his ears as the scourge devoured its prey, leaving nothing but the metal of the man’s armour as it moved on.

Prompto clenched his fingers reflexively as it surged onto another person and for a second the scourge paused before finishing its meal.

Bile clawed at Prompto’s throat when the scourge tore through skin and muscle, ravenous in its pursuit and he gagged but then Ardyn was there, his presence a comforting balm as he shattered Prompto’s connection to the thing that his blood had become.

There were fingers on his face and when Prompto opened his eyes he was curled up next to Noctis’ chair with Noctis watching him in concern.

“Are you okay?” Noctis whispered and Prompto started to nod, the move catching like gears running in the wrong direction before he sobbed and shook his head instead. He could still see it; see the thing that he’d made…the thing that was part of him.

The thing that had protected him, a little voice whispered.

“It’s okay to be scared, I was scared before too,” Noctis murmured and Prompto glanced up at him.

“Aren’t you scared now?”

Noctis shrugged, “Yeah, but we’ll protect each other,” he responded and Prompto’s fingers tightened around his in answer.

They had each other and Ardyn would come for them, all they had to do was hide until then.

*O*

Ardyn opened his eyes as the scourge he’d deposited throughout the manor shook off its slumber, twisting towards the life sources that hadn’t been marked as safe by Ardyn.

A ravenous surge had Ardyn’s attention flicker back to Prompto a second before his son’s horror flooded his system and he was mid-way to warping there when the images registering in front of his eyes stopped him.

Prompto’s scourge rose like a tidal wave, shattering into smaller pieces as it slithered over and under the pieces of armour of its attackers.

The screams were music to Ardyn’s ears but Prompto’s terror had him looking closer, muttering a curse as he snapped the connection between Prompto and that specific piece of the scourge, soothing his son’s terror as he warped away.

The scourge wouldn’t leave either Prompto or Noctis alone and that left Ardyn free to help the others because this was an ambush and Ardyn knew exactly who the targets were.

The world slowed as the warp settled leaving Ardyn in the throne room, a sword solidifying in his hand as his feet hit the ground.

The soldier didn’t even notice him until Ardyn cleaved his arm from his body and by then it was too late and Ardyn was moving again, warping to where Luna was holding her own against another soldier, her staff sparking as she swung it like an extension of her own body.

Ardyn could see Ravus in her stance and Sylva in the determination on her face as she took the man down, barely sparing Ardyn a glance when he grabbed the other soldier twisting his head until his neck snapped under the pressure.

The lifeless body hit the floor while Ardyn moved again, focusing his attention on the soldiers grappling up the walls.

He hung suspended for a second while the scourge surged from his skin latching onto the ropes and racing down it to meet their prey.

The soldiers writhed like worms on hooks and Ardyn twisted mid-air, sending himself back into the throne room.

Time slowed as he watched Ravus curl himself around Luna, protecting her from a barrage of bullets that were absorbed by his armour, only to miss the sword aimed at his back…something that Sylva didn’t miss. She looked their attacker in the eye as she stepped between her son’s body and the sword, willing to die to protect her children.

Ardyn would have rolled his eyes if he’d had the time, something as simple as a sword couldn’t kill Ravus…not after his little upgrade but he could forgive Sylva for forgetting that in the heat of the moment.

He let go of the warp as he settled between the four and the feeling of the sword slicing through gut and bone made him wince. It was coated with the same material that the Niflheim scientist had used on him and the scourge snarled as Ardyn’s blood splattered on the ground, hissing as the component bubbled within its depths.

The blade stopped just inches from Sylva’s body and Ardyn gritted his teeth as the man yanked it free.

Sparing Sylva a smirk he turned on his heels facing Glauca as the scourge healed his wounds. Glauca’s eyes widened but he quickly wiped the expression from his face.

“Sorry to cut in but may I have this dance?” Ardyn taunted, watching dispassionately as the General leapt backwards increasing the distance between them. 

“Of course, Councillor,” the man responded, spreading his arms wide in invitation as several soldiers assembled at his back.

Ardyn’s smirk morphed into a grin as several of the soldiers started to twitch, unseen by the General.

He was going to enjoy carving the man into small pieces before sending every bit back to Iedolas.

*O*

“It’s quiet,” Noctis pointed out after a long moment and Prompto nodded, standing as he took hold of Noctis’ wheelchair again.

Pushing it slowly, he paused at the door.

“Look under it, if they’re still there you’ll see their feet,” Noctis advised and Prompto followed the instructions pressing himself to the ground.

He could see shoes but they didn’t seem filled so he stood up again and tried to door.

It resisted at first but finally gave way and Prompto pushed it open.

The hallway was empty except for the articles of clothing and armour strewn about.

Pushing it fully open he kicked the things out of the way, making sure to not actually look at anything for too long.

Noctis’ gasp caught his attention and Prompto twisted just in time to watch a large blob of the scourge fall from the ceiling right in front of Noctis, who was reaching out for the thing.

“Don’t…” Prompto warned but it was too late.

The scourge surged forward, grasping Noctis’ hand but there was no scream of pain.

Instead the scourge just brushed Noctis skin before slithering down onto his wheelchair and as they watched it started moving him forward, the wheels making no sound, cushioned as they were by the scourge’s bulk.

Safe, safe, safe

The words beat through Prompto’s head as he followed the wheelchair in awe.

The scourge hadn’t even tried to hurt Noctis, like it knew that it shouldn’t.

Just like it had known that it could attack the people trying to get them.

“Is this alright?” Noctis asked, gesturing to the trail of the scourge following them overhead.

Prompto nodded with a tiny, relieved smile, “I think so,” he responded and that was apparently enough for Noctis to relax as the scourge moved them forward.

Chapter Text

Ardyn spun on his heels, blocking another attack as Glauca danced out of his reach. If nothing else the man was just as good as his reputation had built him up to be and the fight made Ardyn’s blood sing as their swords clashed together.

Glauca smirked as Ardyn stepped back, the expression vanishing like smoke when Ardyn slid out from beneath the attack sending Glauca stumbling forward and it was only the man’s quick reflexes that saved his neck.

Ardyn’s lips twisted into a smirk when Glauca glowered at the hole in the tiles beneath Ardyn’s blade.

“My apologies, General, did I almost cut you?” he taunted, spreading his arms wide as Glauca straightened.

“I would hold my tongue if I were you,” Glauca spat and Ardyn almost missed the minute shift of his eyes…almost.

Neither of them missed the slick sound of a body being carved in half as Ravus dispatched the soldier that had been trying to sneak up on them.

The prince’s familiar signature vanished as the soldier’s body hit the ground and Ardyn didn’t have to look to know that Ravus was probably joining the animated bodies trying to hold back the rest of Iedolas’ forces.

“Next time, try something subtler, General,” Ardyn advised, lips shifting into a grin when he caught sight of Regis out of the corner of his eye. “Or should I say, Titus Drautos?”

“What?” Regis snarled, his own battle momentarily forgotten, and Ardyn grinned as Glauca charged him with a snarl.

*O*

Prompto clutched Noctis’ hand as they followed the scourge down the corridors. He didn’t look at the blood smeared across the walls or the familiar bodies lying strewn on the floor. His fingers tightened around Noctis’ and Noctis glanced at him.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Noctis whispered.

Prompto nodded, swallowing to shift the lump in his throat. They’d be fine, they’d find his Papa and they’d be fine.

Up ahead the scourge-blob froze in the air for a quick second, vibrating as it compressed and Prompto frowned as something cold clouded his mind, making him stagger a second before the scourge exploded outwards, leaving webs of membrane blocking their way.

Noctis’ grip on his hand had him stumbling backwards when the scourge urged his wheelchair in the opposite direction.

“What’s going on?” Noctis asked, his gaze darting back to the scourge wall between them and the rest of the corridor.

Prompto shook his head in confusion, reaching out to the thing that was part of him even if it wasn’t anymore.

The scourge was silent but not dead…at least it didn’t feel dead. It felt like it was hiding in plain sight…watching.

He opened his mouth to tell Noctis as much when the ground beneath their feet shook.

Once and then again and again…like footsteps.

Prompto didn’t need Noctis’ grip to urge him to run as the wheelchair sped away from the scourge-wall.

Up ahead another blob of scourge dropped from the ceiling, reforming as it hit the ground into something that almost looked like a Chocobo, if a poorly imagined one.

The membrane around its head lashed out as it leapt over them placing itself between them and whatever was coming.

This time Prompto didn’t need to reach out because the scourge was all but screaming at him to run and hide and he did just that, pacing himself like he had when he ran with Ravus and Luna.

They skated around a short corner, flying through the kitchen at top speed when the floors started to vibrate and the air itself shook with a loud roar.

The sound was followed by a screech and then there was nothing but heat licking at their heels.

The doors of the kitchen bent and seemed to shimmer as Prompto glanced back; it was until they were through the other set that led out into the gardens that Prompto realized that the metal had been melting.

The scourge yanked the wheelchair forward, wedging them into the hideaway that Ravus had shown Prompto numerous times.

It was blocked by the large trees and plants that made up the garden while allowing them to see the kitchen doors.

Behind them Prompto could feel the scourge twisting and curling on itself trying to block whatever was after them as it created barrier after barrier over the doors.

“I can smell your fear, little abomination.”

The voice twisted in Prompto’s head and shivered up his spine. He took a step back, sucking in a harsh breath when the kitchen doors flew off their hinges.

One embedded itself in the wall to their right dripping bits of scourge while the other skidded across the grass until it collided into the statue of Luna’s father.

“Did he think he could hide you from me forever?”

Flames licked at the empty doorway and then clawed fingers gripped the wall on either side, blackening the brick as the thing pulled itself out.

Ifrit

Prompto knew this thing…this Astral. The one who’d made the scourge, the one who haunted his Papa’s dreams.

But knowing and seeing were two different things, just like his Papa had told him before.

Ifrit stood so tall that he could touch the balcony above with barely a stretch and fire dripped from his body as his eyes roamed the garden.

“He hid you so well but he did not hide the stench of the crystal on your little friend,” Ifrit whispered and Prompto’s heart stuttered in his chest when Ifrit’s eyes met his across the distance that separated them.

Every lesson and every plan vanished from his head in that second because he knew that the Astral was going to kill him and Noctis and there was nothing they could do about it.

His terror tore the bond between him and Ardyn wide open and he could feel his Papa’s horror pour into him like it was his own.

“Will you run, little abomination? Or will you stand and face your death with honour?” Ifrit taunted, taking a thunderous step closer.

“Fuck you!”

The words shattered the trance around him and Prompto blinked, glancing down at Noctis but the other boy was staring at Ifrit, his fear written all over his face but he wasn’t flinching.

Ifrit snorted, “Ah the chosen one. Will you defend your friend? Give your life for his?” he hissed, “Or maybe you think yourself untouchable?”

Noctis’ fingers tightened around Prompto’s and beneath his fear, beneath his Papa’s emotions Prompto could feel something else, something that seemed to beat with each of Noctis’ breaths.

The feeling ebbed and flowed around him as pieces of the scourge slithered out of the dark doorway, dousing the flames as they went and Prompto knew Noctis could see them just like he knew that thing in his head was Noctis but it also wasn’t.

“I don’t think we’re untouchable but I think you’ll have to catch us first,” Noctis retorted, glancing up at Prompto and something burst to life between them, glittering like diamonds in the sunlight.

The scourge lashed out, wrapping itself around Ifrit’s head and the Astral roared, charging forward even as he tore at the tendrils.

“You’ve got to help me,” Noctis pleaded and Prompto shook his head because he didn’t understand, how he could do anything more than he was doing.

Ifrit roared again and Prompto clenched his eyes shut, the ground shifted beneath his feet and when he opened them, he was falling.

He didn’t even have the time to scream.

*O*

Ardyn didn’t think, he warped himself away from the fight leaving Regis to handle Glauca. The warp unravelled around him leaving him frozen in the air just in time to catch both bodies that were plummeting towards the floor. He kept his focus on them even as Glauca collapsed, embedded by Regis’ sword. Ardyn had learned long ago that no revenge outweighed Prompto’s safety and he’d gladly let Regis accept all the credit for dispatching Glauca.

Prompto whimpered in his arms and Ardyn ground his teeth together as he clutched both boys to his chest.

Prompto probably didn’t know…probably hadn’t understood but Ardyn had. He’d felt Noctis reach out for the connection to the crystal that Ardyn had been so sure that he’d suppressed and he’d felt the crystal’s song bolstered by the scourge’s strength. He’d felt it singing through Prompto’s veins, rising and falling in the same melody that it sung to Ardyn.

The crystal had chosen Prompto, despite the taint, it had chosen and it had protected him and Noctis, warping them away from Ifrit and to the only place that Prompto knew as truly safe…by Ardyn’s side.

Ardyn’s feet barely touched the ground when the manor shook around them but Ardyn didn’t focus on that, he kept his eyes on his son, prodding at the bond until Prompto opened his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I was scared, I’m sorry,” Prompto babbled.

Ardyn just shook his head, reaching it to reassure Prompto through the bond before he spoke. “Quicksilver, you just stood up to an Astral and survived. I couldn’t be more proud,” he offered up, his gaze flickering to Noctis who was watching them silently.

Swallowing his pride and the roar of rage in his mind, Ardyn offered the boy a small smile, “I thank you, Prince of Lucis, you kept him safe and for that I owe you a boon.”

Noctis ducked his head, small finger still tangled with Prompto’s and the sight had Ardyn clenching his eyes closed for a second.

“Dad said that we’re not really related but you’re still a king…”

Ardyn’s breath stuttered from his chest at the words and his gaze snapped to the child’s.

“…I don’t want anything for helping Prompto because he helped me too but I don’t want you to fight my Dad anymore. He’s…” Noctis’ eyes darted to Regis who was approaching them and well within hearing range. “It’s killing him to keep the walls and he’s all I have. I just want you to not fight him, please.”

Prompto’s free hand gripped at Ardyn’s hair as Regis took his son from him, pulling the boy close.

Ardyn met the man’s eyes over Noctis’ shoulder and he offered Regis a small inclination of his head.

It wasn’t a promise, it could never be a promise not while the scourge tainted his body but he could try for a child who’d risked his life to save the only person Ardyn would die for.

*O*

The manor shook again and Ardyn knelt, pressing his forehead to Prompto as he stroked his son’s face.

“I need you to do something for me, can you do that?” he asked and Prompto nodded, biting his shaking lip. “I want you to go with Regis. I need you to keep Noctis safe just like you did before, do you understand?”

Prompto stared up at him and Ardyn could see his son’s doubt but he could smell Ifrit’s flames on the air and he be damned if he let the Astral touch a single hair on Prompto’s head.

“I do believe you are overestimating yourself.”

The familiar voice had Ardyn on his feet as he tucked Prompto behind him.

Iedolas entered the room with arms spread wide. “Ardyn, Ardyn, you’d leave all the power I gave you for a mere child. Something built in a lab? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

Ardyn cocked a brow at the sight of Verstael over Iedolas’ shoulder.

“It was nothing personal…I needed a change of scenery,” Ardyn retorted.

Iedolas laughed, “I do hope you enjoy this change of scenery,” he laughed and the walls behind him exploded outwards, leaving Ifrit looming over the two.

“You see one of your former employers were just as…”

Ardyn didn’t even blink when Ifrit stepped on the two, leaving nothing but smears of blood and bone beneath his feet. This form was new, something almost monstrous and Ardyn could see Verstael's handiwork all over the Astral. 

“Light-bringer,” Ifrit greeted as he took a step forward only to freeze when several swords embedded into the floor before him, the glow of the crystal crackling from them.

“The correct address is ‘your majesty’,” Regis growled, meeting Ardyn’s eyes and Ardyn nodded a second before the sparkle of the crystal enveloped Noctis and Prompto warping them away and Ardyn had to blink away the image of Prompto stretching a hand out towards him even as the boy’s voice rang out as the warp vanished.

Wiping it from his mind, Ardyn inhaled and the scourge rose up like a tidal wave within his chest. He didn’t need to look to know what his image showed. He’d seen it before and once had been enough for him.

It seemed to be enough for Ifrit too and Ardyn’s barrier of scourge writhed beneath the blast of fire as he propelled himself forward blocking Ifrit’s focus as Regis danced within range of the Astral.

Ifrit’s roar of pain made Ardyn bare his teeth, ichor dripping from his lips into the fire, consuming the new source of feed as the tendrils raced towards Ifrit.

The Astral dodged the first wave of scourge but wasn’t quick enough to keep the taint from slithering up his sword and latching onto his arm.

Ardyn shivered at the scourge’s pleasure as it ate away at the skin beneath its touch.

To the scourge, Ifrit's body was a meal that kept on giving and Ardyn was going to see that they were well fed.

*O*

Ardyn didn’t know how much time had passed but the he knew that the fight had been going on for longer than he’d noticed when Regis began to falter.

“How long can you keep this form?” Ardyn spat, yanking Regis out of the way of a direct attack only to get backhanded for his troubles.

The force of the hit set him flying and Ifrit was there as the wall broke his momentum, slamming one gigantic fist into the crater that Ardyn’s body had created.

Ardyn felt every bone snap and the shock forced a scream from his throat.

He’d forgotten what true pain felt like…he’d forgotten just how it felt to be truly afraid and alive. He closed his eyes and savoured the sensation.

Ifrit refocused on Regis, allowing Ardyn’s body to plummet to the ground where he barely caught himself on hands and knees as his wounds healed.

The scourge pulsed in his head and he gave up some of his control allowing it to yank him to his feet as it knitted his body back together.

He twisted as he was forced back into the fray, warping so that he was behind Ifrit before raining down almost every weapon in his arsenal on the Astral.

Ifrit snarled, grabbing him out of the air like a fly, “I can hold it long enough to end your pitiful existence,” he snarled in Ardyn’s face, smoke curling as the air between them caught fire.

A direct blast of flames tore the skin from Ardyn’s face and he would have choked on the scent of burning flesh if he wasn’t too busy screaming, the blackened remains of his body slumping in Ifrit’s grip but the Astral wasn’t foolish enough to let go of him.

“And when you are gone I will end the abomination and allow the scourge to take this place.”

Ardyn could barely understand the words but the scourge did. It couldn’t think beyond the capabilities of its host but Ardyn’s very being was geared towards protecting Prompto and the scourge’s actions reflected that.

It forced itself through Ardyn’s veins, healing him over and over as the flames tried to consume everything he was…distantly he knew that Regis was trying to get to him but his consciousness was fading in and out.

The only thing he could think of was Prompto and blocking the bond between them. He’d never let Prompto feel a single second of his pain…he’d promised, he’d promised to keep Prompto safe and even if it meant…

The scourge pulsed as its host lowered the last barrier between them and it flooded outwards sending Ardyn’s body spasming as it flowed over Ifrit’s fingers dousing the fires and devouring as it went.

The Astral roared as it ate through the body that Verstael had summoned and as a last resort he focused all of his power outwards.

The resulting explosion rocked the manor sending Regis’ body flying and then it was quiet and in the silence Ardyn exhaled slowly once, then twice…then there was nothing at all.

*O*

“Light-bringer.”

The voice was familiar but Ardyn couldn’t move, couldn’t open his eyes even when a cool hand pressed against his forehead.

“I have failed you and your mother countless times but I will not fail in this.”

Ardyn eyes moved behind his lids as the hand moved from his forehead to his mouth.  Cool liquid poured into him and Ardyn’s body tried to expel it but the hand over his mouth stopped him and as the liquid flowed down his throat, it burned like Ifrit’s fire.

He flailed, his body jerking under the deluge but the hand didn’t move as more of the liquid poured into him, gurgling in his throat as he tried to scream.

“This is my gift to you and our penance. Be the king that your mother wanted you to be and prove to us all that you no longer have any need for old gods.”

The fluid flowed pass Ardyn’s lips and out of his nose, soaking his face…it was almost enough to hide the cold of tears hitting his forehead and when Ardyn forced his eyes open it was just in time to watch Shiva vanish.

Then there was nothing but darkness once again and Ardyn let himself fall back into it.

*O*

When Ardyn opened his eyes he was standing somewhere that he’d never forget no matter how much he tried. He staggered forward on shaky legs and the woman on the throne shifted, her dark skin glowing in the light that danced around the crown on her head.

A single long plait rest over her shoulder and if not for the crown she could have been any of her subjects…she’d always wanted that. She’d never wanted to be seen as above any of those that made up her kingdom.

“My little light-bringer,” she whispered, opening her arms and Ardyn scrambled up the steps, falling into her embrace.  

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed against her clothes, barely feeling the kisses she pressed to his hair.

“Sorry for what? For doing what I told you?” she countered, coaxing his face from his hiding spot so that she could wipe away his tears.  

“I’m…”

“You’re my son,” his mother cut in, her smile as genuine as it had even been as she stroked his cheeks, forcing him to meet her steady gaze. “You’re my son and you gave everything for your people…your father and I are so proud of you.”

Her words had Ardyn’s gaze darting to the back of the throne. Ardyn’s father stood there just like he had while Ardyn was a child, his lips curled up into a smirk that Ardyn had often seen on his own face.

“I see you finally gave us a grandchild,” he commented and Ardyn started, reaching out frantically for Prompto through the bond and it wasn’t until the crystal’s song rose in his head that Ardyn noticed that something was missing.

Prompto appeared before the throne, wide-eyed for a split second before he threw himself at Ardyn, gripping his face in small hands when he scrambled onto his lap. Ardyn barely had the time to wonder how Prompto was here, or where they were before he was being berated by a pint-sized menace.

“I told you not to get hurt anymore,” he pointed out and Ardyn had to laugh even as Prompto shrank back when he caught sight of the two people watching them. “Is that your mama?” he whispered and Ardyn beamed when Nerissa leaned forward.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” she greeted, her eyes flickering back to Ardyn’s and something in her gaze felt like goodbye. “I’ll be watching over you both…we all will.”

Ardyn opened his mouth to say something when the world started to unravel and he clung to Prompto as the crystal glinted around them.

The last thing he saw was Delia and the smile on her face made Ardyn feel like he could finally breathe.

Chapter Text

*O*

Ardyn woke to a heavy weight across his chest and a song in his head, something faint and distorted…something he felt like he should know but his brain shied away from it. Instead he focused on the weight keeping his left hand pinned and when he forced his eyes open his gaze landed on a familiar mop of blond and red hair.

Prompto’s face was pressed against Ardyn’s shoulder and his fingers were tangled in a few of the longer strands of Ardyn’s hair.

He was wearing the blue pyjamas that Tenebrae utilized on the wards of their medical centres and when Ardyn reached out through the bond, Prompto’s mind was quiet…no sense of injury or fear bubbling to the top, only a constant stream of the events that had passed.

The events that they’d lived through.

He'd never been so grateful for the resilience of children.

The thought had Ardyn’s right hand rising to settle against Prompto’s hair, stroking it back from his son’s face.

He’d almost lost Prompto and it had felt like dying…or maybe that had been dying.

The scourge was quiet at the thought and Ardyn frowned as he reached for it because despite its taint it had saved him…it had saved Prompto.

The fragments that he found were muted if still plentiful speckled through with something so familiar it had Ardyn’s breath catching in his throat.

“It was all she could do.”

Ardyn’s gaze snapped towards the voice only to find Sylva watching him from across the room. She looked tired, garbed in the same blue that said that Prompto hadn’t been the only one the medics had seen.

“Still alive and kicking I see,” Ardyn croaked, swallowing to clear his throat and Sylva grinned at him and the reprimand in his tone.

“I have you to thank for that…for someone who’s not my friend you seem to save me and my family a lot.”

“Force of habit,” Ardyn offered up, watching as Sylva took a seat.

“Gentiana is gone…” Sylva whispered after a long moment, her fingers clasped together.

“She’ll be back when she’s needed,” Ardyn snorted but Sylva shook her head.

“It’s not just her, they’re all gone,” she explained. “The crystal’s gone but the wall remains.”

Ardyn’s heart stuttered in his chest as the song in his head suddenly made sense. “We no longer have a need for Old Gods.”

Sylva held his eyes and this time her smile was a small sad thing. “She told Luna the same thing before she left.”

Closing his eyes Ardyn inhaled then exhaled just as slowly.

“Niflheim is in turmoil and Regis has left for Lucis. He wanted to stay but Iedolas’ forces were spread far and wide. We’re still trying to repair the damage even here.”

“Now’s as good a time as any to reclaim your territory then,” Ardyn pointed out but Sylva just shook her head.

“The people of Niflheim…” she paused, brows furrowing, “They survived under Iedolas and prospered despite him. To erase that after all they’ve gone through would be an insult. They deserve the chance to rebuild, the chance to become something more.”

“A fresh start,” Ardyn guessed as he sat up, glancing down at Prompto when he twitched in his sleep.

“A second chance with a new king.”

Ardyn froze, his eyes finding Sylva’s as shock bubbled in his chest.

“Regis wanted to let you know that he looks forward to the treaty talks.”

“No,” Ardyn chocked out but Sylva just beamed.

“Unfortunately the security footage of what happened here was leaked and the people saw you fighting and assumed you were fighting for them…obviously we ran with it. Niflheim needed a hero, someone they could rely on and honestly at this point I’m expecting some of Lucis’ citizens and mine to go flocking to Niflheim once you take the throne,” she teased but Ardyn could barely hear her above the ringing in his ears.

“I’m not a king,” Ardyn snarled, quieting his voice when Prompto stirred.

Sylva didn’t flinch; instead she met his eyes steadily. “You’re more than a king. You’re a good man, a good man who’s suffered and done things that he’s ashamed of but a man who would give everything to protect his child.”

The laughter that bubbled from Ardyn’s chest was hysterical. “And he’s the only reason I did any of this, do you not understand that? If it wasn’t for Prompto I’d have sat by and watched you all burn.”

“You still could have done that but you didn’t,” Sylva pointed out, watching him closely and Ardyn frowned but remained silent as she spoke. “You didn’t have to save me or my children, you could’ve taken Prompto and ran but you didn’t because despite all that you’ve suffered and all that you’ve done you will always be the true King of Light and that’s what Niflheim needs,” she explained, spreading her hands wide as she rose from her seat. “The choice is yours, Ardyn. It has always been yours but I think you should do this. Show us all what a true King you were meant to be…what a true King you already are.”

The words echoed in Ardyn’s head as Sylva stepped closer and when he glanced up at her, she pulled something from the pocket of her gown and held it out to him.

“Gentiana told me to give you this,” she told him as Ardyn accepted the small hand mirror. “She said she hoped you appreciated the irony of it.”

Ardyn said nothing, watching while she slipped out the door and closed it behind her.

It was only when he could no longer hear her footsteps that he raised the mirror.

*O*

Prompto jerked awake at the sound of something shattering, eyes darting around the room until the settled on Ardyn.

“Papa, why’s your hair dusty?” he demanded, scrambling upwards to touch the white streaks at Ardyn’s temple.

He squawked when Ardyn wrapped both arms around him and tugged him close in a tight hug.

“Papa!” he yelped, rubbing at the streaks but they didn’t shift. He allowed the hug because he’d been so scared that he’d never see his Papa again… 

“I’ll have you know that I’m aging gracefully like fine wine,” Ardyn muttered.

Prompto couldn’t see his Papa’s face but he was pretty sure that he was laughing. It was either that or he was crying and his Papa didn't cry a lot though he had looked like he wanted to cry whenever Prompto cut his own hair because his Mama had loved his hair and he loved Prompto's.

The thought made something clicked in Prompto’s head.

“Was that your Mama back in that place?” he demanded, eyes wide when Ardyn pulled away and grinned at him.

“She was,” he confirmed, stroking Prompto’s face. “I knew she’d love you.”

“That’s cause I’m loveable,” Prompto muttered. “She was really pretty,” he offered up after a long moment. “But who was that other lady, the one who was waving at me?”

Ardyn froze and the bond writhed with what felt like happiness and tears all rolled in one. It made Prompto wrap his arms around his Papa until the feeling passed.

“Her name was Delia,” Ardyn whispered, “She was a good woman and a good friend.”

The name tickled at something in the back of Prompto’s head. “Did I know her?” he inquired with a frown, pulling away so he could meet Ardyn’s eyes.

“You did and she loved you very much,” Ardyn replied without missing a beat.

“Oh,” Prompto whispered, tugging at Ardyn’s hair.

His Papa was quiet for a long time and Prompto didn’t say anything either as the memories from before flooded through his mind, instead he curled himself around Ardyn, letting the feeling of Ardyn’s fingers in his hair lull him into a half-sleep.

“Quicksilver,” Ardyn whispered and Prompto hummed to show that he was listening. “What would you think of being a prince?”

Prompto snorted, “I’m already a prince…Uncle Ravus said so.”

“Your Uncle Ravus is a menace,” Ardyn groused, “But I meant all the time…a prince like Noctis.”

“I’m not talking proper or eating proper or wearing those stupid outfits or…”

“I knew you’d agree with me,” Ardyn interrupted and Prompto yanked his hair just on principle because sometimes his Papa was just so strange.

*O*

“I’m not wearing that!” Prompto squawked.

“I have grey hair,” Ardyn shot back and Prompto glowered at him as the seamstress took his measurement. That wasn’t even a proper argument, Prompto didn’t tell Ardyn to get grey hair and he didn’t know why he was so touchy about it, he’d always been old.

“What colour would you like to use, your majesty?” the seamstress asked and Ardyn’s head snapped around but he wasn’t quick enough to stop Prompto.

“Grey like Papa’s hair,” he offered up with a serene smile.

Ardyn’s expression remained polite when the seamstress glanced at him but the bond writhed between them and it made Prompto beam. He wasn’t going to be the only one suffering.

*O*

“Prompto, Noctis sent you a letter!”

Ardyn studiously pretended that he didn’t feel the sharp spike of happiness that echoed through Prompto at Luna’s words just as much as he was pretending he couldn’t see Ravus’ smirking face as Prompto all but warped from the room.

“One would think that you had nothing better to do than to sit around and watch me suffer,” Ardyn groused, signing another document. He’d always hated this part of his job when he’d been part of Iedolas’ council. Unfortunately the man had had no head for true politics which had left Ardyn to clean up any messes he left behind in his attempts at manipulation.

“I’m fostering good relations with a foreign ruling party,” Ravus sniped, “Also I’m enjoying the fact that I can literally see this giving you grey hairs.”

Ardyn didn’t even dignify that with his words.

“I think this will be good for you…for both of you,” Ravus offered up and Ardyn snorted.

“I hope you feel the same way when I go to war with Lucis,” he muttered half-heartedly.

Niflheim’s remaining population had taken the idea of him as their head and ran with it. It had come as a shock to Ardyn but apparently people had seen more of what he’d been doing behind the scenes than he’d noticed.

The general consensus was that Iedolas had merely been a figurehead, it was a theory supported by Niflheim’s steady decline after Ardyn’s disappearance and Sylva’s advisors had built on that until Niflheim was all but begging for Ardyn to return.

If Ardyn was honest, he’d have admitted how good it felt to be wanted by someone other than Prompto but then again Ardyn wasn’t really one for blind honesty.

The doors flew open and Ardyn arched his brow at Prompto when the boy stormed back into the room.

“I’m gonna fight Noctis,” Prompto seethed and Ardyn rolled his eyes.

“Please don’t…” Ravus sighed but Prompto was having none of it.

“I’m gonna punch him in his stupid face,” he muttered, glowering at them as if he was daring them to tell him otherwise.

“And why exactly are we going to war with Lucis?” Ardyn inquired, curbing the urge to dig through their bond.

 “He makes my chest hurt,” Prompto hissed, sounding so offended that Ardyn had to bite back a bark of laughter. “He said that I’m his best friend ever.”

“Ah,” Ravus hummed in understanding though there wasn’t a damn thing to understand about Prompto’s sudden urge of violence.

“You can’t fight everyone you like,” Ardyn sighed but Prompto just narrowed his eyes at him.

“I’ve got to fight him,” he whispered ominously.

“Are you still looking forward to fostering those good relations?” Ardyn demanded, gesturing at Prompto as he turned to Ravus only to find the other man’s head buried in his hands.

They were off to such a good start.

*O*

Ardyn didn’t know what he expected of Niflheim but this wasn’t it. The towns he passed were broken and shattered, fragments of the grandeur they’d once been.

Prompto clung to his arm as they drove, his misery at leaving Sylva, Ravus and Luna behind melting away as he stared out the window of their car.

Prompto had seen war before but only through their shared memories. Even the horror that he’d experienced at Ifrit’s hands had dulled in a few days, fading into mere nightmares in the weeks it had taken them to get to this point but this was something new…something horrifying and  just as real as the images of the bodies Ardyn had carefully blurred in Prompto’s memories.

Claw marks littered the fallen structures and Ardyn knew that the brown splatters many of the structures weren’t just mud.

He kept his gaze straight ahead as they approached the capital, reaching out to sooth Prompto’s growing unease as the crowd of people came into view.

He’d prepared a speech, something glib and showy but as he stopped the car and slid from it the words crumbled to ashes.

Prompto’s fingers curled in his hand and he let that ground him as the crowd surrounding them, the people moving slowly like they didn’t even have the energy to spare for movement.

There was fear in the eyes turned towards him, fear and desperation and suddenly he was back there, standing before his people with the choice of him or them.

Prompto’s fingers tightened around his hand and it snapped him back and into the present.

He wasn’t the man he’d been then, not the new king so desperate to prove himself that he never saw the blade aimed at his back.

He was a father now and the reason why he was here was standing right by his side.

“People of Niflheim,” he greeted, "There are things that I could tell you…words that would make me seem like the saviour that will deliver you from this plight but I learned long ago that if you depend on any one person then you set yourself and that person up for failure.”

The crowd murmured amongst themselves and Ardyn smirked because there would be no sugar coating of the truth…not this time.

“I watched this nation grow, I watched you flourish and become something not because of your leadership but because of your heart. At the time I didn’t understand and I didn’t care, I only cared about myself and my goal and I’m not ashamed of that. Then I had my son and suddenly there was this small person who was totally dependent on me and I failed him. I failed him countless times,” Ardyn’s voice dropped into barely a whisper as he stared down at Prompto who was staring up at him with a frown. “He’ll tell you otherwise because despite my failures he loved me and when I had to choose between my own pride and my happiness he didn’t judge me for hesitating.”

“I’ve never hesitated since and the video that you’ve seen was only proof of that. I wasn’t fighting for a nation not here or Tenebrae, not even for myself. I fought because he didn’t deserve to be hurt, he deserves to be happy, to grow free and unshackled like any child and that is the only promise I can give. I will fight for the future of your children but you must fight for your own future. If we rebuild it has to be because every single one of you wants it…wants something better because I refuse to be a martyr,” he chuckled bitterly. “I’ve gone down that path before and it leads to nowhere you want to see.”

“In the end it is your choice,” Ardyn concluded echoing Sylva's words as he gestured with his free hand. “We can stand together or you can find another leader willing to promise you something else. The choice is yours.”

The crowd’s silence stretched for what seemed like an eternity before someone moved and the crowd parted allowing a young woman to its front.

She stared up at Ardyn, defiant despite her state.

“We need somewhere to keep the children. The orphanage is falling down around my ears and it’s not safe for them there anymore.”

Ardyn nodded, pulling Prompto closer to him in an unconscious gesture of protection.

“Is the citadel still habitable?”

“Yes but…no one dares enter it.”

Glancing at the structure Ardyn reached out, watching as what was left of the scourge rose from his skin, glinting in the air as it strengthened, tugging itself from the small cuts on his skin that he barely noticed. Then in a surge it arched up before him, glinting with the remnants of the crystal that was now so much a part of it that Ardyn didn’t know where either started or ended.

It hesitated for a moment as it solidified in front of him and Ardyn barely noticed the whispers from the crowd as they shuffled back and away from the tentacle like structure.

Prompto had no such qualms, reaching out a hand to stroke the scourge which seemed to shiver with glee before plummeting into the earth, searching for any remnants of itself.

Ardyn’s brows creased when it grew silent and then the ground shook beneath their feet, a crack appearing in the pavement, then another and another.

Ardyn pulled Prompto back as someone in the crowd screamed...then the ground erupted, sending debris flying towards them.

Dust plumes billowed upwards for a few seconds and Ardyn didn’t even realize that he’d summoned a sword until he felt its hilt biting into his palm.

The dust settled slowly and Ardyn blinked as something moved within the haze…something big.

The first thing that came into view was the sword that towered above them all and the hand grasping it.

Ardyn shoved Prompto behind him as the Astral moved, shifting from where it had been braced on its knees, the ground shaking as it pushed to its feet.

Then almost as if it could sense his eyes it turned and Ardyn froze because he knew that smile, he knew that face.

The Astral smiled at him before opening her mouth to speak and the crowd shouted, people running as they covered their ears but Ardyn could hear her in his head…in his chest.

Her voice ebbed and flowed like it had before when he’d thought it was the crystal singing to him, the connection lighting up and writhing between them, echoing the bond Ardyn shared with Prompto.

“I did say I’d be watching over you.”

Ardyn didn’t get the chance to respond before light erupted from her sword, cascading over them all as it streamed towards the skies, slowing when it was almost higher than the eye could follow before arching back on itself, creating a dome over the town, that spread encompassing everything Ardyn could see.

“Niflheim is protected by the blood of kings. Let the new era begin with light!”

Her voice echoed across the town and Ardyn couldn’t help but laugh when she winked at him and then she was gone in a sparkle of light, leaving her sword standing before them all.

“That was your Mama!” Prompto exclaimed, still gripping Ardyn’s cloak as he stared at the sword.

“She’s always had a flare for dramatics,” Ardyn snorted to cover the butterflies in his chest, taking Prompto’s hand again as he allowed his own sword to vanish.

He could feel the pulses echoing from his mother’s weapon, it wrapped around the scourge and sunk deep into the earth, cleansing everything it touched and when it brushed against his skin Ardyn shivered because he could feel her like she was standing at his side as he turned to the crowd.

The woman from the orphanage was the first one that approached again, her eyes on the sword even as she sank to her knees in a move that had Ardyn swallowing to ease the ache in his throat.

One by one the rest of the crowd followed her until they were all kneeling and Ardyn swore he could hear his mother’s laughter on the wind.

Chapter Text

Ardyn straightened with a groan and a wince, he was getting too old for this sort of work and while the thought should have caused him some sort of displeasure it only made the grin that was already on his face widen.

Wiping his hands on the cloth that he’d learned very quickly to always carry he looped it through his belt as he looked up at his work.

The house was almost completed, all it needed was the slates for its roof and then the family it had been allocated to could move in.

It had taken them eight months but Niflheim was almost completely rebuilt within the dome of light that his mother had blessed them with… no thanks to the scientists who kept accidentally blowing up their buildings.

The barrier reacted to intent and the citizens had willingly moved from the outskirts the second that they realized that.

At first they’d protested Ardyn helping physically but after watching the scourge lift entire sections of concrete and rubble away in seconds they’d begrudgingly allowed him to aid them. There was still some shamed mumbles about allowing their king to work like a commoner but Ardyn had done his best to quash those and Prompto had helped to…lending a hand wherever he could.

The thought had barely solidified in Ardyn’s head when one of Prompto’s scourge constructs came prancing by with a slate held in what looked like its beak.

Ardyn wasn’t completely sure why Prompto’s version of the scourge usually manifested itself in the shape of a demented Chocobo but Prompto and the rest of the children had taken to it so he wasn’t about to complain, especially not when it meant that Prompto didn’t feel the need to hide his gift away like he’d once had to.

“Slow down!” Prompto shouted from somewhere behind the house a second before another of his scourge-chocobos rounded the corner all but tumbling over its legs and hanging tentacles as it raced after the other, a much smaller slate dragging behind it like an afterthought.

Rolling his eyes Ardyn reached out and lifted the slate off the ground but the little construct didn’t even pause instead it ran straight into the larger one, sending them both tumbling to the ground. By the time they’d stopped rolling only one Chocobo was left.

Prompto panted as he followed them, completely ignoring Ardyn as he patted at the construct.

“I told you not to split in two,” he admonished gently while the thing butted at his chest in what felt and looked like an apology. “I know we want to help but it’s okay to be small, we can’t do as much as Papa until we’re bigger.”

The words had a soft smile etching its way across Ardyn’s face as pride rose like a bubble in his chest. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve Prompto but he’d gladly keep paying any due until he drew his last breath.

“That was an ingenious approach to moving the slates,” he offered up and Prompto turned to face him like he’d completely forgotten that Ardyn was there.

“I just wanted to help,” He explained with a shrug, stepping forward when Ardyn held out a hand to tug him into a hug.

“And you’ve helped more than you know,” Ardyn assured him as he hugged Prompto close. He meant what he said in so many different ways.

His own scourge lifted the slate that Prompto had dropped, raising it along with the other to the men working on the roof.

Niflheim was rebuilding itself by itself and Ardyn had never been so proud to call a place home.

The people were all helping with little thought given to wealth or status. The driving urge was safety and friendship…like the stories that his mother used to tell him about Lucis.

If Ardyn had anything to say about it Niflheim would surpass even the great Lucis of old.

*O*

“I’m going to die!” Prompto wailed from where he was slung over Ardyn’s left shoulder like a particularly stubborn sack.

“Please do it quietly. The last thing we need is you disturbing my coronation,” Ardyn responded, turning the corner.

This was the second escape attempt Prompto had managed but Ardyn would have him in the ceremonial outfit that Sylva’s seamstress had created if it was the last thing he did.

“It’s your coronation, why do I have to dress up for it?” Prompto groused, tugging at the end of Ardyn’s braid.

Tossing his head, Ardyn caught the end of the plait and flung it over his right shoulder out of the reach of Prompto’s hands.

“You have to dress up because you’re the prince of Niflheim.”

“Noctis never had to dress up,” was the near instant rebuttal and Ardyn rolled his eyes so hard it actually hurt.

“Noctis could walk down the street in a tutu with striped tights and a chicken on his head. I can’t control Regis’ lack of fashion sense and the fact that it’s apparently hereditary. What I can control is the fact that you will be dressed appropriately for this function if only for one day…”

“Half a day,” Prompto countered.

“Until four at the very least,” Ardyn shot back and the silence felt heavy as he waited for Prompto’s final offer.

“I’m not wearing the hat,” Prompto hissed and Ardyn grinned…he’d never intended for Prompto to wear the hat it had merely been a bargaining tool and it had worked like a charm.

“Agreed,” he smirked, allowing Prompto to scramble down off his shoulder.

He kept his expression innocent when he met Prompto’s gaze.

“I know you just tricked me but I’m not sure how,” Prompto informed him as Ardyn pressed a hand to his shoulder, propelling him along the corridor.

“More’s the pity. You can think on it while you get dressed,” Ardyn responded and the faint grumbling sensation rolling through the bond said just how much Prompto appreciated that.

Ardyn ignored it, instead spreading out Prompto’s outfit on his bed. “Can I trust you to get dressed properly this time?”

Prompto wrinkled his nose at him and honestly that was agreement enough for Ardyn’s soul. It had taken them two hours to get to this point. He wasn’t about to rock the boat.

Plucking his own outfit from the closet he walked into the bathroom, the hint of the scourge he’d left on the front door would tell him if Prompto made another run for it so instead he focused on dressing himself.

With each layer of clothing Ardyn’s heart seemed to pound faster and faster until he was done. Raising his head he stared at the image in the mirror, teeth clenching together at the visage before him.

He’d grown his hair out on a whim but with it braided back and out of his face he realized just how much he looked like his mother.

The clothing didn’t help though the fault for that rested on his own shoulders, he’d told the seamstress what he’d wanted and the woman had created a near replica of the royal garbs that his father had once donned.

Seeing it now, seeing himself now, it had Ardyn’s throat clogging as he swallowed tears.

“Papa, are you okay?”

Prompto’s voice was faint through the door but the concern roiling through the bond wasn’t and Ardyn pressed the base of his palms to his eyes in an attempt to regain his composure.

“I’m fine, Quicksilver. I’ll be out in a moment,” he called back, making sure to keep his voice steady as he straightened.

Exhaling he met his own eyes, noting the slight redness there but he didn’t let himself linger on that, instead he took in the full picture of the person before him, the king before him.

He wasn’t perfect but he’d never pretended to be, he was just a man, a man who had done terrible and amazing things in his own name and in the name of his son.

He would never put himself on the pedestal he had before, would never tie himself so tightly to the urge to be something more than he was in this moment. He would never lose himself again because Prompto needed him more than Niflheim ever would.

Smiling at his reflection Ardyn turned away from it and opened the door.

*O*

Standing before the people of Niflheim, Ardyn curled his fingers around Prompto’s, smiling down at the little boy as he switched the microphone on, his expression smoothing into one more suited for the occasion.

“People of Niflheim,” he greeted, staring out at the faces watching him, watching them. “I’m starting to believe that speech giving is not my forte. This is the second time I’ve stood before you with no written word to express what I wish to say but I hope you’ll bear with me,” he laughed and somewhere out in the crown someone whistled, the sound followed by laughter that had Ardyn’s lips curling into a true smile.

“The first time I addressed you, there was little more than rubble left of your homes but look around you now. We’ve rebuilt and I’ve watched everyone help even if we were justifiably wary of accepting the scientists’ offer after the disaster they made of the labs…” Ardyn paused here eyeing the two who’d caused the explosion that had set the rebuilding of the laboratories back by at least two weeks, one of the women waved at him with absolutely no shame whatsoever and Ardyn had to fight the urge to laugh as he shook his head. “But they did help, we all did and Niflheim has emerged from the ashes, stronger than before and we will only grow stronger still because somewhere between that first day and today, I’ve learned your names, your dreams and your fears. You are not just citizens of a nation; you are friends and families that I’m proud to lead, people that I’m proud to know. I asked you on that day, that seems so long ago, to fight for yourselves and you have. Now I ask am I still your choice for a king?”

A ripple moved through the crowd at the question and Ardyn held himself still, waiting for their response.

“Like we’d let you leave!” Someone shouted.

“You made my home.”

“You helped the children.”

“Prince Prompto is too cute to live without.”

Prompto pressed himself to the podium, stepping on Ardyn's shoes so he could scowl down at all of them at that.

“Ardyn, Ardyn, Ardyn!”

It was one voice, then two, his name turning into a chant on the lips of people he’d never thought he’d ever care about and Ardyn laughed as he bowed.

Niflheim had spoken and he would do his best to make them proud.

*O*

“Ravus, hold my crown,” Ardyn muttered as he glowered at the representative from Tenebrae. He was going to send the man back in pieces.

“Number one, you’re not wearing your crown, Prompto is,” Ravus sighed.

“I’ve been king for ten minutes,” Prompto informed them and Ardyn frowned at him, only to remember that he’d handed the crown over as a bribe to keep Prompto seated. He had expected mere formality and for the meeting to be over in an hour…they’d been seated for at least three so far with no end in sight to the foolishness that were being discussed.

“Number two, if anyone should be offended, it’s me. It’s my sister he just offered up as a trade gift,” the words were followed by a cold smile that had the man blanching as he tried to make himself smaller despite being too far away to hear Ravus’ words.

“As king I refuse your offer,” Prompto interrupted and all eyes shifted to him. “I’m going to marry Noctis when I’m big, we pinky swore.”

Ardyn blinked once then again but no he was still at the longest trade agreement he’d ever attended and his child had just offered to marry the prince of Lucis, his supposed archenemy.

“Plus Luna’s already gonna rule the world, she doesn’t have time to get married.”

“By the Gods,” Ravus muttered, pressing a hand to his face.

“And Noctis had to say yes cause apparently you can’t kill in-laws and that would make King Regis my in-law so I couldn’t…wait,” he paused with a scowl. “I’ve been tricked.”

“And on that note, I’ll be taking my crown back and later we’ll talk about accepting marriage proposals before the age of eleven,” Ardyn sighed.

“But I want to be king,” Prompto frowned; turning wide eyes on Ardyn…it was like staring into the abyss.

Ardyn turned away, pretending not to notice the little jig that Prompto did at his supposed victory. 

“I remember thinking that these trade agreements would be amusing,” Ravus sighed and Ardyn smirked.

“Look at it this way, it could be worse, Noctis could have had to marry Luna after all.”

“Prompto would kill them both,” Ravus snorted and they both glanced at Prompto who was now standing in his seat and apparently declaring war on Lucis for lack of Chocobo nurseries. All thoughts of marrying Noctis apparently replaced with his need to protect his one true love.

“It could be worse,” Ardyn muttered and he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince, Ravus or himself but he was certain that he wouldn’t change a single moment of his reality for anything in the world.

“One day you will have a child of your own, my son, and on that day you will know how it feels to love someone unequivocally.”

The words echoed in his head again and Ardyn smiled as Ravus pulled Prompto down off the table and back into his seat.

His mother had been right after all and he was pretty sure that she was up on her throne laughing at him.

He hoped she could feel his gratitude if she was watching.

Chapter Text

Ardyn steepled his fingers, watching as Prompto walked into the simulation-training room.

His advisors had been against the idea of Prompto learning to fight, claiming that twelve was too young for a prince to be seen as a warrior and Ardyn hadn’t bothered to tell them that this training was simply a continuation of what Prompto had already learned while under both his and Ravus’ tutelage because he knew the real reason behind their reasoning. Prompto used his scourge like it was an extension of his body, without thought or pause and it terrified them because one day Prompto would rule Niflheim and a king that couldn’t be touched was a king who couldn’t be influenced.

They’d failed at swaying Ardyn and had quickly turned their sights on Prompto. It had almost been amusing watching their attempts even as Ardyn’s scourge shook off its slumber, watching the men and women through his eyes. It would be so easy to just reach out and crush them, consume them all but they hadn’t made a move towards Prompto and that was all that had stayed his hand.

He didn’t know how people had so quickly forgotten the man he’d been before he accepted the throne.

It was almost insulting that they thought he’d just sit by and let them lead Prompto as the Astrals had once led him.

Shaking off the thought, Ardyn refocused on Prompto, who’d stopped in the middle of the room.

The council hadn’t felt Prompto’s terror, hadn’t lived through the nightmares where Ardyn hadn’t been quick enough, where the crystal hadn’t responded to Noctis’ last ditch attempt to escape Ifrit…but Ardyn had. He’d held Prompto as his son shook and he’d burn the world to the ground before he let Prompto feel helpless again.

The room flashed beneath him, the alarms flaring and Prompto’s fingers twitched, a minute movement that had trails of the scourge leaking from his fingertips, taking shape as they hit the ground.

Three small Chocobo-like creatures constructed themselves from the scourge while the first of the simulations flared to life and several smaller demons raced towards Prompto.

Prompto fell back as his creatures met the demons head on, ripping through them with beaks, tentacles and claws.

One demon managed to break through the onslaught but it didn’t get far.

The glitter of what was left of the crystal swirled in the air in front of Prompto for a second and Ardyn leaned forward as Prompto grabbed something out of the light, his lips ticking up into a smile when he watched Prompto’s fingers curl around what looked like the trigger of a gun.

The simulator demon exploded as the lights faded and Ardyn’s smile widened into a grin when he realized that Prompto wasn’t holding one but two guns, whirling as he wielded each almost simultaneously.

He’d been almost certain that Prompto would settle on projectiles but Ravus had pointed out that the boy had been just as proficient with a sword.

Ravus had been right but he hadn’t seen the way that Prompto’s tension eased when he could take down multiple targets with little more than the twitch of a finger…Ardyn had and now he could see why.

Prompto wasn’t just defending himself; he was protecting his creations as well, forcing the simulations back until they were easy pickings for his chocobo-creatures.

The simulation ended as the last demon vanished and Prompto did a little dance before turning to wave up at Ardyn and Ardyn didn’t know what he’d done to deserve the ray of sunshine that was his son but he was grateful never the less.

*O*

“Death before dishonour,” Prompto hissed from where he was trapped on the ground at Ardyn’s feet.

Ardyn rolled his eyes as he grabbed another strand of hair, carefully weaving it into the plait he was creating.

“We’ve had this conversation before,” Ardyn pointed out, batting away the hand creeping up towards his fingers, “I refuse to let you look like a ruffian at your own birthday party.”

“I could cut it off again,” Prompto warned and Ardyn didn’t need to look to know he was pouting.

“You could but then I’d have to send those unfortunate pictures of you as a baby to Luna,” Ardyn shot back, finishing the plait just in time as Prompto turned to gape up at him.

“You wouldn’t,” he hissed but Ardyn just grinned at him. “You’re evil,” Prompto groused and Ardyn flicked him on the forehead.

“I’m a parent,” he corrected, ignoring the way that Prompto glowered at him as he urged the boy to his feet. “Now look at you, no one would guess that thirty minutes ago you were a mess of a human being.”

“I take offence to that,” Prompto replied even as he turned himself this way and that, eyes never leaving the mirror. “I worked very hard at being a mess of a human being and now you’ve ruined it all.”

Ardyn scoffed, standing to straighten his own clothes. Prompto had all but demanded that his suit be an almost replica of Ardyn’s and to be fair Ardyn couldn’t fault him. The boy looked regal and every bit a prince.

He pushed the thought down their bond and watched the way the tip of Prompto’s ears turned red.

“Evil,” Prompto hissed in lieu of a thanks and Ardyn laughed as he herded the boy out of his room.

*O*

The staff had gone over and beyond with their decorations, determined to not only honour Prompto but to show the other kingdoms that Niflheim had not only found its feet but flourished too.

The hall sparkled like a diamond, and the music that wove its way through the air had Ardyn fighting the urge to move.

From his seat he could make out Ravus and Luna speaking with a representative from Lucis. Ravus glanced at him as if he could sense his scrutiny and Ardyn inclined his head in greeting when Ravus shot him a small smile.

Twirling his wine in its glass, Ardyn slung one leg over the side of his throne, relaxing into the seat as the scourge picked up little pieces of conservation when people drifted by the pockets that Ardyn had embedded in the walls.

A shadow descended on him and Ardyn glanced up at Prompto’s scowling face.

“Noctis said chocobos aren’t practical as weapons,” Prompto grumbled as he fitted himself into the space that Ardyn had left. “That’s rude, right? Can I go to war with Lucis for that?”

“You do realize that you’re the reason why Ravus has grey hair,” Ardyn responded, moving his wineglass a second before Prompt tried to reach for it.

“It’s not like you can see it,” Prompto groused and Ardyn considered pointing out that Noctis’ words weren’t necessarily the insult that Prompto seemed to take them for as no one in their right mind would call what Prompto could create actual chocobos but that would require being nice and Ardyn was allergic to being nice to anyone from Lucis…himself included.

“Did he at least give you a good gift?” Ardyn inquired and Prompto hummed, reaching inside his shirt for something and a familiar hum filled Ardyn’s head as Prompto showed him his gift…a necklace with one of the last shards of the crystal glistening at its centre.

Glancing to where Noctis was standing with his guards Ardyn raised his glass in thanks when the boy glanced his way, dark eyes as solemn as ever.

“He said his dad didn’t want to give it away because it was his mom’s but she gave it to him so he could give it to whoever he wanted to,” Prompto explained, recapturing Ardyn’s attention.

“It’s a good gift,” Ardyn agreed, wrapping an arm around Prompto when the boy squirmed closer.

“It’s cool but I like your gift the most,” Prompto grinned.

“I thought you’d like the chocobo nursery,” Ardyn laughed but Prompto shook his head.

“Not that…I meant you being happy. It’s nice,” Prompto whispered and Ardyn ha to close his eyes for a moment to compose himself.

“You’re the best gift I ever received, Quicksilver,” he muttered, gaze shifting back to their people, their kingdom, the things he’d accomplished only because of the child at his side.

Glancing down he found Prompto watching everyone else too and then something sparked to life in the back of his head.

Straightening a little Ardyn gestured to the musicians, grinning when the song they were playing turned into something familiar, one that he’d originally requested then thought better of it.

“Right, up you go,” he ordered, prodding Prompto both physically and through the bond.

Prompto frowned at him but he followed until he realized where they were going then he baulked, digging in his heels as he turned red.

“Papa, no,” he whined but Ardyn just laughed as he grabbed his hands.

“I think I made the exact same face when my father did this to me,” he chuckled and that made Prompto pause, wide eyes flickering up to Ardyn’s face as he searched for any hint of a lie.

In response Ardyn opened the bond, showing him the moment of fear that had stopped the breath in his lungs as he stepped on his father’s feet, letting the man sway him in a rhythm that he quickly caught onto and matched so well that he could copy it on his own two feet.

“You don’t have to…” he started but Prompto was already stepping on his feet, a stubborn expression on his face.

“If you could do it, so can I,” he muttered, his eyes glued to both their feet as Ardyn moved them.

The music swelled as Ardyn counted out the steps in both their heads…one, two, three, one, two, three…until Prompto was counting them for him and Ardyn didn’t react as Prompto stepped down and back, instead he swung them around.

Prompto's sharp bark of laughter rang out around them and Ardyn didn’t have to ask if Prompto could see them, flitting and out of the corner of his eye just as they were doing to Ardyn.

The kings and queens who had gone before them, bound by the crystal that sung in their veins, danced with them like mere spectres of the past and Ardyn’s laughter joined Prompto’s when he caught sight of his mother and father in the group.

If he’d ever needed a sign that they’d be alright, this was it and Ardyn was grateful for it, just as he was grateful for the little boy who’d looked at him, that day so long ago, and seen someone worth caring for.