The Far Edge of Fate (Final Fantasy XV)

CHAPTER 36 - FIND THE FLAME

chapter title comes from "Find the Flame" from the Final Fantasy XVI OST. it is another track i highly recommend.

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"I wonder if we might ask your aid."

The silence in the throne room was palpable. Lunafreya's voice had long since stopped echoing, and yet Ardyn had yet to speak. He kept his expression perfectly impassive, elbow on his armrest head resting against his closed fist. Lunafreya continued her stony silence, awaiting Ardyn's answer.

For a long moment, he didn't give it to them, staring down at them from on high. Then, his lips twitched with the facsimile of a smile and he readjusted, planting both boots on the ground and bracing his elbows against his knees.

"My aid," he repeated, raising an eyebrow in mock surprise. He let out a little laugh, shrugging his shoulders. "Are you frequently in the habit of asking for aid from the people you're sworn to kill?"

Aaralyn paused, glancing at Lunafreya. She'd omitted that in their drive to the Crown City. She chalked it up quickly to more of Bahamut's bullshit—she was so disillusioned with a god she was supposed to worship that the thought of him straight-up making up Callings so his ends could be realized was absolutely something she could see him doing. Probably another ploy to get her to absorb the Scourge and use the combined darkness to use Teraflare.

For a split second, Lunafreya met Aaralyn's gaze. Then, she was turning her full attention back to Ardyn. "Yes," she agreed. "The Draconian has bade me kill you, that much is true. But I do not want to kill you."

That piqued Ardyn's interest. "Oh? The gods' favorite plaything has finally given will of her own?" He dragged his amber eyes up to look at Aaralyn. "And what of you, lamb? Are you similarly acting out, as is the wont of our kind?"

"There's something much bigger going on here—bigger than the two of us and whatever feud you have with your family," Aaralyn spoke. "Bahamut wants to destroy the world. Man, daemon, animal, it doesn't matter, he wants to kill us all."

Ardyn lifted an eyebrow. For some reason, he seemed oddly pleased by the very idea. "Destroy everything, you say? How wonderful! For a while, I was convinced I'd have to do the deed myself, but it turns out the very god I despise most will be doing most of the legwork!"

Aaralyn took a step forward, her foot landing on the first step leading to the throne. "Did you not hear me? Everything includes you."

"Point being?" Ardyn raised an eyebrow.

Aaralyn gritted her teeth. She'd known that forcing Ardyn to listen to them would be hard—if not damn near impossible—but surely he wouldn't doom the entire world to get his revenge, right?

Aaralyn looked at him and immediately realized her mistake.

Of course, he would. He willingly plunged the world into darkness by furthering experiments into daemons and cultivating them to grow enough power to the point that the plasmodium now covered the sky. Him dying along with everything else was just an added bonus.

Beside her, Lunafreya was curling her hands in his fists.

"Besides," Ardyn continued. He leaned back on the throne. His eyes were on Aaralyn as he spoke. "You're a fool if you think he will sacrifice us all—one of us is far too useful a pawn to not take with him into the grand new world he desires."

Aaralyn had no idea what he was implying, but it infuriated her to no end. Once again, Ardyn had adopted a 'mightier-than-thou' persona, fueled by the knowledge that Bahamut was set to destroy the entire world. She worried nothing they could say could shake his resolve, that he was dead-set on sitting on the throne until the end of the world was upon them.