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There were ruins in Solheim, mysterious and plenty. It fascinated everyone, but none so more than the two royal children, Ardyn and Somnus. Gilgamesh, their Shield, had his work cut out for him, and unfortunately they didn’t make it easy. Typically, they were found giggling as they hid, shrieking in delight any and every time Gilgamesh found them.
The hunt would then start all over again, something that Gilgamesh silently groaned about constantly. He was a soldier turned babysitter, and knowing that this was only temporary did nothing to soothe his frustrations in the meantime. Still, there were moments when Ardyn or Somnus achieved a great and monumental task for a youthful child. Gilgamesh would then smile, his heart swelling in pride that they were his to protect. At times, he felt more like family to them than their Shield.
Sitting on the stone steps of yet another ruin, Gilgamesh watched as Somnus and Ardyn played in the water surrounding them. They were in a small pool of clear water that reached their ankles. Somnus and Ardyn were dressed in their traditional robes, blue for Somnus and maroon for Ardyn. Their sandals were drenched, the ribbon up their calves not much better, and the bottom of their robes exceptionally wet.
“You can’t catch me!” Ardyn shrieked in delight, giggling as he ran away from his younger brother.
“I’m gonna catch up to you!” Somnus objected. Suddenly, he pulled a sword out of the armiger and tossed it, warping ahead of his brother with a flash of blue light and a giggle. It barely missed Ardyn, sticking into a tree growing between the cracks of the stone that collapsed long ago. “I beat you!”
“You cheated!” Ardyn protested with a half-hearted complaint. While Ardyn typically preferred to keep his powers and play separate, Somnus was eager to test out all of his skills.
“Careful with the warping!” Gilgamesh called for about the millionth time. “If you’re going to warp, you can’t do it so close to your brother. You can hurt him.”
“Sorry Gil!” Somnus said, the two using that nickname for as long as Gilgamesh could remember. He didn’t recall anymore if it started with Ardyn or their parents, but it stuck immediately. Gilgamesh didn’t mind; he often found himself a bit soft for these two, especially since their parents were rarely around. That was an issue as their Shield, needing to be tough and hardy at a moment’s notice.
“Yeah!” Ardyn said, laughing all the while. “No more cheating!”
“It’s not cheating!” Somnus objected. “If I can do it then it’s not cheating at all.”
“Well, I said in the beginning that there’s no warping,” Ardyn insisted. “And you warped.”
“But that’s your rule, not mine,” Somnus argued, his arms folded across his chest. “I didn’t agree to it.”
“I’m the older brother, so what I say goes,” Ardyn said, as if that was the final piece of the argument. “And I said no warping.”
“That’s lame,” Somnus sighed. “I want to warp. Hey! I know! Let’s see who can warp the furthest!”
“Make sure you two give enough space so you don’t hurt each other!” Gilgamesh commanded them, knowing that warping was just an accident waiting to happen for those two. They often got over zealous regarding their abilities, making Gilgamesh fear for their lives more often than not.
Nevertheless, he admired the boys for their youthful innocence. Their smiles often lit up his life, and he knew that he would do anything to protect them.
Little Somnus, happy and playful, loved his brother more than anything in all of Eos. He wanted to be like him, strong and smart and kind. It wasn’t easy to live up to his image of who Ardyn was, but he knew that if he worked hard, he could do it. Somnus placed Ardyn on a pedestal that he hoped to reach one day, knowing that as he climbed higher, so did his brother.
It was why he warped when he played, using it as an opportunity to practice. Ardyn often told him to slow down, but Somnus had to work hard to catch up to him. There was little opportunity for him to do so if he didn’t push himself. Besides, his brother was just naturally great at everything. Surely, Ardyn could understand why he needed to push himself. Maybe one day he would find himself in Ardyn’s shoes, triumphant and successful.
“Look how far I can warp, Ardyn!” Somnus said with an eager grin. Throwing a small blade this time, Somnus managed to warp further than he ever had before. It stuck into a pillar that was far larger than either child, nevertheless still broken at the top. Somnus held onto the blade, his feet dangling just barely off the ground. He offered a triumphant smile as his brother ran to catch up.
“Let me help,” Ardyn said. He was proud to be the older brother and therefore the helping hand. He helped Somnus down and grabbed the blade, returning it to the armiger with a petulant look from Somnus. With a soft smile and a pat on the head, Ardyn changed Somnus’ pout to a grin instantly. They were practically inseparable. “You did great, Som!”
“Thanks brother!” Somnus said happily. He noticed Ardyn’s gaze drifting away from him and wondered what he was staring at. Turning, he followed Ardyn’s gaze. Beyond the length of where they were allowed to play was the ruin of a temple, beautiful and entirely terrifying.
The doors stretched high, higher even than the doors to the palace in which they lived. There were arcane drawings on it, depicting the tale of the Six Astrals in their serene governance, Ifrit at the center of it all, his divine blessing of fire a great necessity that made him particularly revered in Solheim. Vines covered one side of the double doors while trees and other shrubs crowded around the edges of it, shrouding the rest of the building into relative obscurity.
It looked like a long forgotten vestige of a former life, a divine place that should be kept undisturbed. There was something about the doors that made Somnus hesitate, his body tense and alert. When his brother took a step forward, standing just in front of him, he withdrew his sword - far too large for his small frame - from the armiger. Somnus had to protect his older brother, particularly because Ardyn was a curious child who often ended up getting into things that he shouldn’t. Then again, Somnus did much the same and often got in trouble with Ardyn.
“Brother,” Somnus said, reaching out for his brother’s hand and missing by mere centimeters as Ardyn took another step forward. “I don’t think we should go there.”
There was something about the place that caused Somnus’ heart to ache in trepidation. It was as if, when the doors opened, they would be bracing a fate that could have been left for someone else entirely. They could just turn around, leave the doors closed, and keep everything for someone else. There was no reason to continue the path they were on.
“Don’t wander off too far!” Gilgamesh called behind them, his voice further away than Somnus preferred. He turned around, looking back at the cool pool of water. Gilgamesh was out of his line of sight, and his anxiety climbed higher and higher. They often wandered away from Gilgamesh, but never too far, and never towards something that Somnus was afraid of. Why wasn’t Ardyn afraid?
With a start, he realized that he was afraid of what lay behind the doors, and he reached out towards his brother again in an attempt to hold him back. Somnus missed entirely, his hand grazing Ardyn’s fingertips as his older brother took a step towards the ruined temple. Brother, please. You don’t ever do this. Let’s go back.
“Brother,” Somnus called softly, his voice trembling a bit, looking at the temple as if it were shrouded in death. The carvings in the doors seemed ominous, not welcoming. “Please don’t.”
“You can go back if you want,” Ardyn said, turning and looking at his younger brother with a soft smile. How was he always so brave? “I’m not afraid.”
“I’m not either!” Somnus lied, puffing up his tiny chest as he immediately caught up to Ardyn. He positioned his sword, easily three times his size. It was heavy, but Somnus had been trained at an early age to wield it. Eventually, though, his arms would get tired. “But just in case, I will protect you.”
“Okay,” Ardyn replied, tousling Somnus’ hair lovingly. Somnus loved it when he did that. It was a gesture that said I got you. I won’t ever let you get hurt. “If you get scared, you can tell me. I’ll protect you too.”
Ardyn didn’t have a weapon out, though and Somnus only admired him all the more for it. He wanted to be brave like his brother, strong, able to face anything without fear. Step by step, he followed behind his brother, wanting to protect Ardyn yet fully unable to even get ahead of him. How could he protect Ardyn from what lay ahead?
They reached the temple door, and Ardyn looked up at it with a reverence that Somnus didn’t feel. He reached up and caressed the door, tracing the lines of Shiva’s ice. “There’s something behind here. I want to know what it is.”
“Brother,” Somnus tried, his voice desperate and yearning to return to Gilgamesh. “Let’s just go back to Gil. He’ll be able to look at it for us and tell us if we should go in or not. He’s our Shield and will want to come along.”
“You can go back to Gil,” Ardyn said. He gripped the ledge that was the handle on the door. “I’m going inside.”
Ardyn pulled on the door, the heavy stone protesting in his grip. Despite his trepidation, Somnus wanted to help him. He immediately withdrew his sword to the armiger and grabbed the door with Ardyn, pulling with all his might. At first, he didn’t think anything would happen, but then it began to give way, the ancient stone grating against the rubble of stone steps beneath it.
It opened just enough for their small frames to fit through. Ardyn squeezed past the door, and Somnus followed behind after taking a big, deep, brave breath. On the other side was darkness, a void that terrified Somnus more than he could vocalize. He reached out, trying to grasp for his brother, and was met with nothing. It only heightened his terror. Where was his big brother?
With a flash of the armiger, Ardyn retrieved a torch and lit it, the flame coming to life and bringing with it a comfort that Somnus didn’t know he desperately needed. He breathed a sigh of relief, Ifrit’s flame a blessing for all humans in perpetuity. Once their vision cleared, Somnus and Ardyn looked around at the vast and empty temple. There were stone statues of the Six Astrals, larger than anything Somnus had seen before, their presence terrifying. Were the Six really this big?
“Ardyn,” Somnus called, his voice echoing as if he had screamed or shouted. Ardyn had taken a few steps forward without him, so Somnus rushed to catch up. He removed his sword from the armiger, carrying it like a protection for them both, knowing that neither of them had enough training to truly protect themselves. What if the Six Astrals appeared? There would be nothing they could do to save their lives.
“Look ahead,” Ardyn said, pointing forward. There, at the end of the temple, was a statue dedicated to Bahamut. He was holding a sword, large and intimidating. Beneath it, right at the tip of the sword, was a stone basin. It looked horrifying, like something that prepared them for a nightmare. Somnus didn’t trust it.
Nevertheless, Ardyn continued onward, as if compelled to find the secrets within the temple. Somnus took one anxious step after another, his heart beating rapidly in his tiny chest. When they reached it, the sword began to glow, the symbols on it lighting up like the blue of the armiger one at a time. It continued to do so, downward in a strange tempo until the stone basin itself was awash with the divine blue.
“Brother,” Somnus said as he reached it, just behind Ardyn. He stared at the beauty of the statue, his eyes wide in horrified wonderment. Implicitly, Somnus knew that it was dangerous, as often the Astrals were. Gilgamesh had often told them not to mess with the will of the gods. “Don’t touch it.”
“Why not?” Ardyn asked, staring into the basin as he stood tall and proud. His eyes glazed over, as if entranced by the light within. Somnus had a sense of foreboding within him that grew to panic. If Ardyn touched it then it would not end well for them.
“Brother, don’t!” Somnus called out as Ardyn reached his hand forward, enveloping it in the blue hue of Bahamut.
The blue light engulfed Ardyn, completely consuming him within it, like a shroud of pain and death. When Ardyn turned to Somnus, his eyes were completely black with the despair of a darkness that Somnus had never seen before. It was worse than the void of the temple, a universe of agony overwhelming all of who Ardyn was. Somnus took a step back, terrified of what was happening to his brother. Never before had he felt such fear; he was afraid of his brother.
“The sacrificial line has been chosen,” Ardyn said in a deep, booming voice that wasn’t his own. It echoed all throughout the ruins, as if it was everywhere all at once. Somnus stared in terror, his feet affixed to the ground, as if roots had insidiously crawled their way through the cracks of hard stone and gripped his ankles tightly.
Suddenly, there was a flash of the blue light, striking outward from Ardyn like a cut to the heart. Somnus went flying backwards, hitting the statue of Ifrit hard. When he fell to the ground, he felt his consciousness leave him. The last thing he saw was Ardyn collapsing, the darkness within his eyes receding, a soft white glow emanating from his chest.
“Brother?!” Ardyn asked, his voice desperate and pained. “Brother! Please! Wake up!”
Gilgamesh had heard the thunderous voice before he realized that the children had wandered to an area in which they didn’t belong. He panicked, roughly pulling open the door to the temple ruins that were meant to stay shut at all times, a rule that was steadfast and true for as long as he could remember. Why didn’t he warn the children when they were in this area? There was no telling what happened within; no one that was still alive had ventured henceforth within the temple.
What he saw on the other side made him panic greatly, not for his job as their protector, but for their own health and well-being. Gilgamesh first ran to Somnus, and when he couldn’t wake him, he rushed over to Ardyn, both of them collapsed in different areas of the temple to the Six Astrals. Luckily, the elder brother awakened fairly quickly. The only issue was Somnus, either fast asleep or entirely unconscious.
“What happened?” Gilgamesh asked as they approached Somnus. Ardyn knelt on the floor, putting his brother’s head in his lap, trying desperately to wake him.
“I don’t know,” Ardyn replied, his voice the same. Yet there was something different about it as well, something Gilgamesh couldn’t place. It was as if he changed in an instant, as if he grew up immediately, becoming an elder soul within a child’s body. “I saw a blue glow from Bahamut’s sword… and that’s it. That’s all I remember.”
Ardyn shook his head then focused on Somnus, desperate to wake him. As he put his hands on either side of his brother’s temples, something miraculous happened. His hands began to glow, a pure white and gold light that made Gilgamesh’s breath catch in his throat as he gasped. It shone brightly, illuminating the temple. It was gone as quickly as it had arrived.
Somnus opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as he looked up at the ceiling. There was a change within him too. Gilgamesh could see it, as if he, too, had grown up within an instant. It concerned him greatly, but Ardyn was too amazed, looking at his hands as if they were the solution to everything. It truly was a mighty gift from the Astrals. However Gilgamesh knew that gifts from the gods often came with several strings attached, a trade off that could end in pain and misery.
“Are you alright?” Gilgamesh asked Somnus, ignoring his other concerns until he could immediately assess whether the children were in any immediate danger. His body was tense, and he was prepared for anything and everything. Gilgamesh would die for these two, as their Shield and desperate protector who loved his wards.
“I’m fine, Gil,” Somnus replied, his voice somehow far too serious for a child. What happened to him? “Ardyn? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Ardyn replied. He looked down at his hands in amazement. “I think… I think I have powers now. Look.”
He held a hand up, palm flat, just over Somnus’ knee that was bleeding from a small scrape. It glowed the same white and gold light. When the light disappeared, Ardyn pulled his hand away, triumphantly revealing that he had healed Somnus’ knee entirely. The younger sibling looked at it in amazement, but then he looked up at Ardyn angrily.
“You let me get hurt because you knew what would happen!” Somnus nearly yelled. “Why did you let me get hurt?!”
“I swear I didn’t know,” Ardyn replied, his voice subdued, genuine. It was as if Somnus had been infected with anger and jealousy, while Ardyn had been blessed with grace and patience. “But I’m glad you’re okay, Somnus. You are my brother, and if I knew then I would’ve walked away.”
Somnus looked like he was about to argue further, but instead he just sighed. “I don’t want to play anymore.”
“I think it’s a wise idea to return back to the palace,” Gilgamesh declared, knowing that these two would have to undergo more assessments to determine just what changes had taken root within their souls. He noticed when Ardyn stood up that he offered his hand to Somnus, who refused to take it as he scrambled to his feet. Somnus would’ve accepted his elder brother’s hand before this. “Let’s go figure out just what happened.”
They walked out of the temple, and Gilgamesh closed the door quickly. When Somnus stumbled, he scooped him up into his arms and carried him back, acutely aware of how everything had suddenly and irrevocably changed. Ardyn grabbed Gilgamesh’s free hand as he carried Somnus in his other arm, the smaller of the children clasping his hands behind his neck and burying his face into his chest. When he looked down at Ardyn, there was a simple, wisened smile.
Five days later, there was the first incidence of the Starscourge infecting a human.