hardbargain | (no subject)

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	"It's Ulric. Make it good." UN: CuriousCoeurl

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Noctis watches as Nyx absorbs the news and his eyes fill with a heavy understanding that Nyx may not expect.

Nyx holds the door open and calls him *majesty*, and in the moment, it feels natural to Noctis. Before he steps through the door, though, he grips Nyx's arm both to stop him from running ahead and to get his attention.

"Agreed. But first, listen to me." He looks Nyx in the eye, and maybe Nyx sees a bit of Regis there in the way Noctis becomes very serious.

"You should know the full extent of his crimes. I know he was behind the fall of Insomnia. But he was behind a lot more than that, too. The emperor was just his puppet. Ardyn...tricked me into hurting one of my friends, and then kidnapped him. He led us by the nose all the way to the Crystal. Turned Ravus into a monster. And he..."

Noctis swallows, takes a slightly shaky breath, expression filled with pain - but he won't break eye contact. "Ardyn killed Lunafreya."

He's right to catch Nyx's arm, only just barely stopping him from taking off with a warp. More than just the Fall, more than just encouraging Drautos' madness. The emperor himself a puppet? What kind of man was this bastard?

As Noctis speaks Nyx is cataloging the words and it's awful but it's nothing that really shakes him. It's good to see those hints of Regis in Noctis, in the set of his jaw, the weight of his brow. His features are finer, more delicate than his father's but convey a similar sort of somberness when he needs to. A nod, firm and understanding as Noctis continues. At least he thinks he does. A puppet himself of this grand destiny Lunafreya spoke of perhaps, then. Or the orchestrator of it.

Turned Ravus into a monster.

He is bound by the past and lost in his lust for power.

Perhaps not so hard to turn a man like that into a monster. Especially after the price the ring exacted from him. Then Noctis speaks that final crime and Nyx reacts as though he were struck a physical blow. Silver eyes widen and he gasps hard enough to choke on his next breath, staggering back from the door.

Lunafreya. After everything he'd done to protect her, everything he'd learned, how much she meant to the world, the future she was meant to bring about. Her solemn determination. Everything about her, everything she stood for. She had reframed his entire way of thinking in one night, given him purpose again after years without it, given him hope even as he bartered away his life.

There's a sheen in his eyes that has nothing to do with the hot, violet light of Lucian magic that flares in them as he steadies himself. Somewhere he's distantly aware of Latro reaching out to Squall, jumbled words of pain and panic making it through to Griever. He killed her. Lunafreya- After everything- She's gone. Geddah, he killed her. Help.

He collects himself just enough to shoot a glance at Noctis, eyes falling not on his king but the ring on his hand. The ring that Lunafreya had given everything to protect, that had ruined Ravus, that had been the thing that had brought Regis' death as soon as it passed out of his hands.

"Stewards of the future..." Murmured under his breath, lip curling in disdain for those old kings as much as for the man that had carried out their godsforsaken destiny. Finally, he meets Noctis' gaze, lips trembling ever so slightly with an agonized rage. "She was that future." Noctis won't understand, not fully, of course but the sentiment, the pain and anguish in his voice conveys all he needs it to.

One hand clasps around the hilt of the kukri at his back, teeth bared in a snarl that becomes a shout, something between a battle cry and a scream of rage. Then that blade vanishes into the distance and so does he.

Noctis does Nyx the courtesy of finally glancing away when he sees how badly the Glaive is reacting. He may not know exactly what Nyx's feelings for Luna are, but he knows her, and he knows how profoundly she can affect the heart. Seeing Nyx's grief and rage, he feels echoes of his own bubbling up again from behind the walls of time and duty that were all that allowed him to continue when they finally departed Altissia. The gleam of magic in Nyx's eyes when their gazes meet again doesn't surprise him, knowing what he now knows about what happened in Insomnia, but he's unaware of the answering gleam in his own as he and Carbuncle both sense the shifting energy in the room.

She was that future, Nyx says, and something even heavier than grief seems to fall on Noctis' shoulders, make him look older than he is for a moment.

"Yeah," he says softly, gaze growing a bit distant. Thinking about the dress proudly displayed in the window of a shop in Altissia. The little girl in Tenebrae who gushed about Luna's true feelings. The entries in her journal, clearly expressing her anticipation for their reunion. The people all across the countryside who praised her name for healing them or their loved ones of the scourge. The way she stood tall and unshaken in the face of Leviathan's fury, giving everything she had just to give Noctis a fighting chance. When he replies to Nyx just before the Glaive draws his weapon, his voice is rough around the edges.

"She was mine, too."

And then Nyx is shouting, a sound that feels to Noctis as though it contains the anguish and wrath of all of Lucis in it; and when he calls a dagger to hand and whips it through the air to catch up, it's as much out of a sense that he needs to be there for Nyx as his king as it is his own need to make Ardyn pay for everything he's done.

Squall had been minding his own business on his way home from the bakery with some goodies for himself and all the others, even the new guy Noctis that Nyx had been talking to a lot. Of course he had no idea what he liked or anything but he figured everyone liked baked treats, right?

As he was walking home he got an alert from Griever blinking wildly around his neck. Before he could even take him off the necklace came off on its own, Greiver appearing in full form and picking up Squall without a word, causing him to drop what he was carrying.

"Greiver what the fuck!?!" He shouted as he was carried off to some unknown location. His dear lion friend didn't say anything, flying as fast as he could to the location Latro was feeding him frantically. He at least displayed the message for Squall to see after a moment and those grey eyes widened before Squall looked back up at Griever with a knowing looking of thanks in them. Nyx was in trouble, he couldn't really understand the message but someone hurt Lunafreya and that meant they hurt Nyx.

As Griever started ot make his descent, Nyx started to come into view and Squall called for him. "Nyx! Hey!" Before he could reach the ground, Squall jumped and padded his landing with some ice that he slid down to land right in front of Nyx. Of course that means Squall almost gets warped into and he has to put his hands up quickly to try and stop it. "Hey! Hey slow down! I got Latro's message. Who hurt her? Who hurt Luna-" It's only then he notices someone else reaches for the blade at his side for a moment before recognizing the face from the portrait he'd been texting not too long ago. This must be Noctis, at least he's sure it must be and not the one who hurt Lunafreya or he's sure Nyx would already have both Kukris in the mans back.

Squall doesn't waste too much time before his focus is back on Nyx and he grabs his face to focus on him, trying to calm him down to get some sense into him but those silvery purple tinted eyes are wild and he can understand why. "Nyx...Nys it's me, it's Squall. I'm here. It's okay, tell me what happened. Breathe."

Nyx is all wild-eyed fury and for the briefest of moments he very nearly puts a blade in Squall for trying to stop him before he's really registered who is even there. Squall's hands on him may stop him from warping again immediately but even Squall is not enough to stop his feet. He snatches one of Squall's hands, squeezing just a little too tight even as he brushes his lips across the brunet's knuckles while pulling it away. Sidestepping to walk past him but holding onto him enough to make it clear that he wants Squall to follow on his other side.

His King and his love, both touched so intimately by her. Her power, her compassion, her faith in the Future.

"The Imperial scum that proposed the treaty. That planned the whole fucking thing." He's nearly shouting again by the end of it, shaking with rage and pain. "After everything we did to protect the future, that slimy fucking COWARD is here. With her blood on his hands. The blood of all of Insomnia."

Finally, his steps falter for the briefest of moments, gaze flicking to Squall, actually seeing him for perhaps the first time. There's tears on those dark lashes, pain and grief beneath the roiling fury. But he is prepared to bring the full wrath of Lucis, of Eos, of all the Peoples that have suffered at the Empire's hands to bear on this one man, consequences be damned.

Edited (tmw you're fussing with html and forget to finish a thing) 2023-04-10 23:14 (UTC)

The reminder of the loss, the fury of their flight, and the mounting anticipation for the confrontation has gotten Noctis' blood up too. By the time Squall stops Nyx in his tracks, Noctis has already warped ahead. He lets himself drop to the ground and turns, stalking back with a ferocity in his step that Nyx has likely rarely, if ever, seen from him. Squall will probably recognize the light in his eyes, too - and while Nyx's are tinted, Noctis' are entirely changed, irises completely overtaken with the bright, purple glow; no sign of his usual ocean blue at all.

Seeing Nyx's behavior with the newcomer tells him this must be Squall, but what the hell is he doing here?

"...and so many other atrocities on top of it." In contrast to Nyx's shouting, his voice is low and dangerous in that moment, but then it takes on more of a tired edge. "But Nyx, you did protect the future. ...so did she. I..."

He looks down at the dagger in his hand, and then shakes his head, his tone hard again. "Forget it. We'll talk after we take Ardyn down." Only then does he glance to Squall. "You here to help, or get in our way?"

"Nyx..."Lunafreya's murderer is here. A strange sickening feeling rises in his chest as he sees the most hurt look he's ever seen on Nyx's face before. It's enough to put a crack in his heart and without saying a word Squall reaches out and holds him tightly, rubbing his back and whispering sweet words to him. For a moment he forgets about Noctis until the man is speaking and he looks up to wildly glowing purple eyes.

"I'll help, I won't let Nyx go after him in this state. He's going to make mistakes this angry and upset and I take it you might as well." He let's go of his tight hold on Nyx before looking at him once more and kissing him sweetly on the lips. "Let's all take a breather and go together. I understand the need to hurt this man but no amount of anger is going to solve anything right now." He takes a step back and Griever comes out of his necklace once more, standing behind him imposingly. "At lease let me help bring you two there. Save some energy?"

Squall is right to hesitate, to remind him of what is at stake by rushing off into this the way they are. The combination of Noctis' words and Squall's soothing presence at his side quiet the rage, not lessening it but focusing it. Nyx's arm comes around Squall, tight around his waist and holding him near. He answers that sweet kiss almost absently, in no place to be soft with his lover but unable to deny him.

"We can't take him down." Low and resigned, his free hand coming up to rest on Noctis' shoulder. "Death means nothing here. We can hurt him but if we just kill him outright the Peacekeeper will revive him in the infirmary before the day is done."

He glances to Squall, confused by the offer for a split second before his gaze moves to Griever. "The benefits of a giant fuckin dtf." A snort, amused, something more him than any of the fury over the last few moments. Nyx slips away from Squall to nod at Griever, blade getting sheathed and reaching out to offer himself however the lion man thinks it would be best to carry him. "But just because we can't kill him doesn't mean we can't make sure he knows damn well that if he tries any of his shit here we will find a way to ruin his life."

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