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[daemonized]

@ardyn.sky | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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[daemonized]

Exactly that, and exactly as I've said before. Maybe the astrals are not as almighty as they would have us believe. Maybe they have power beyond mortal ken, but does that mean that they are omnipresent? Omnipotent? I think the Starscourge proves that they are not.

Lest you wish to leave Eos in the thrall of darkness, then no. The Lucis Caelum line is very much fated to die. Such as it is.

[mercurio]

[and there's no way that noctis would allow for that, if he's the only one who can stop it; if he's the only one who can truly save eos, its people, allow for a new dawn to come where no one need fear the dark anymore.]

[he thinks he gets it a bit better now—doesn't make it any less painful to consider.]

[happy birthday, dumbass. stop talking to the wrong people.]

is that what you want, too? even here?

[a land, a universe, where you don't have to be shackled down by who or what you were before. where androids are human, where the scourge doesn't infect every cell of ardyn's being, where a clone gets to become a real boy and maybe not pity himself for coming to be in a way that he had no control over at all.]

[daemonized]

[And yet, despite all the new opportunities that exist in this world, despite the scourge gone asleep in his veins and the feeling of mortality once more sinking deep into his bones, Ardyn remains shackled to the past. The wrongs against him keep him burdened there, having long resigned himself to adhering to the path the astrals had carved out for him -- if it meant having his revenge, if it meant fulfilling his purpose, then so be it.

Therefore-]

What, do you consider this place a respite from all of that?

[The implication being that Ardyn doesn't seem to.]

[mercurio]

?? like it isn't?
it's like being forced on a holiday! not even a single chocobo in sight and the astrals certainly don't have any kind of jurisdiction over what happens to us here or whatever occurs in this place

it's not like we can do anything eos-related right now even if we wanted to

[prompto is a 2 year old toddler in the face of the ancient life ardyn lives,,]

[daemonized]

[Just a child, speaking to an old immortal.]

Holiday?

[A dumb child.]

How nice it must be to be so... willfully ignorant. This place, a vacation from the hand of fate back on our star? More like it only forestalls the inevitable. Every friend you make, every new experience wrought by your own hands, is only transient and impermanent. This place is temporary and should be treated as a temporary pit-stop on the way back to what's waiting for the both of us.

That anyone should have sent us here, granting us false hope? Making us believe that we might find solace so departed from home, only for it to eventually be torn away? (Because it will be torn away.) Even I'd not be so cruel.

You're fooling yourself if you think it's anything else. Or are you that afraid to return home and face the reality of the situation?

[mercurio]

eventually could mean years you know

just because it's temporary doesn't mean that anything that we experience while here isn't true and holds its own value
i don't want to see it as something detrimental to my experience existing, whether back home or here

[skirting around a lot of ardyn said...why try to argue with him. the both of them as stubborn in their own convictions anyway]

[daemonized]

Why give anything meaning when it's to be wrested away from you, the moment we return to Eos? Or are you a glutton for punishment?

[Or are you instead, very subtly, easy to miss, projecting a little, Ardyn?]

Tell me, do you consider this experience one that's been good for you?

[mercurio]

[maybe he is a glutton for punishment. maybe he is, in ways, afraid of the fact that he'll return to eos only to lose everything he has--back there and here. the idea of returning in and of itself is terrifying, nevertheless, for countless of reasons.]

[so he sticks, instead, to the second question]

any experience can be good as long as you see it that way
it could be worse

but i'm learning a lot too

[daemonized]

[Ardyn has always believed that a lack of an answer is telling in its own right. It speaks volumes more than anything that could've been written. Prompto is too uncomfortable to answer, which means he's given it some thought before now. That alone is satisfying to know.

So, the second question it is.]

And what are you learning, exactly?

[mercurio]

things you're more than likely to consider a waste of time

[talking with ardyn is always weird. prompto always expects him to be mocking, and so ends up catching himself before he keeps on as if it were a most normal conversation with just any other person. it's not any other person.]

also, as long as you're here, the prophecy can't be fulfilled
guess you got no other choice but to make an effort in this place

how's your new job treating you

[daemonized]

We’ll see how much of an effort I actually need to put in. The rest of our group seems more than content to flit about, investigating this and that, arguing with each other, that sort of thing.

The new job is a bit like the old one. [He means when he was Chancellor.] Meetings after meetings. Looking at policies and how they might change. Nothing you’d care about.

[mercurio]

[ardyn keeps saying the same stuff... his disinterest is too real. prompto, on the other hand, keeps picking at the man's words for some damn reason.]

you know you're in a really useful position, right? for as much as you don't care about investigating and doing things like that, i think you're in the highest job position any of us have

without trying too which is like the comical bit

you're still gonna just be a bystander?

[daemonized]

I never said I was just going to stand by and watch. I said we will see how much effort I need to put in. I've already spoken with another Displaced in a political position, too, and we might collaborate on how our new jobs can unearth information that was otherwise unavailable to us.

[And that's the truth. But Ardyn, to avoid being too conceding, adds:]

Or maybe we won't! Who knows?

[mercurio]

you're the most reassuring person in existence, did you know that?

[ARDYN...]

[daemonized]

How kind of you to say.

[ :) ]

[mercurio]

[he knows that ardyn knows he was being sarcastic... ugh]

you're welcome?

[ugh!!] anyway, i think i'm gonna pass on aiding you in the political ambit
you seem to know what you're doing and i got other stuff i wanna be doing in any case

enjoy the halloween celebrations i guess

[daemonized]

What, lost interest so quickly? What else do you have going on that can be so important?

[mercurio]

a career

[and other stuff...]

[mercurio]

lmao that sounded funny even to me
but i've been working on things that are keeping me pretty busy, yeah

[daemonized]

I see. I suppose I shall allow it, even if it means that I'm only second fiddle in your eyes.

:'(

[mercurio]

i'm sure we'll inevitably cross paths more often than necessary anyway

[daemonized]

Maybe so.

I’ll survive, then.

[mercurio]

i don't doubt that
anyway, have some cake or something on my behalf if you feel like sharing some celebratory cheer

[STOP.]

laters

[daemonized]

Happy birthday! Toodles.

[Bye.]