livestudioaudience | Viewing Party 2

It was a compliment, despite my complicated relationship with His Majesty.

[Ardyn sighed, shaking his head.]

That's hardly a fair comparison. He wasn't given nearly the same level of responsibility as me; the world was in a far different shape for Ardyn Lucis Caelum II than it was for Noctis Lucis Caelum CXIV. The person you first met was a singleminded savior, and he's...

...He was allowed to be human before he was the Chosen.

[That's enough to shut Junpei up. After a moment, he sighs and rubs the back of his neck.]

Yeah, all right.

[And maybe that's the difference, he thinks to himself. Ardyn was the Chosen before he was anything else, and because of it, he lost what it was to be human.

Fuck Ardyn's gods. If they were just playing around with people's lives until they got the 'Chosen' thing right, Junpei's going to find a way to end them, no matter how many timelines it takes.]

Looks like that's where he might be right now, anyway. 'Human before he was Chosen.' [Junpei gestures at the screen.] The way he talks, he sounds like any guy I would've hung out with at university. Maybe even more casual. Does that help place him in time any?

['I am a savior first, a king second, and there is no third option for me. There never was.']

[What an utter idiot the savior king had been, Ardyn thought briefly. Singleminded, desperate, and so very, very stupid. Believing in the Draconian's word and blindly going along with it--the very idea would have been laughable if it hadn't led to all of this.]

I'm almost sure...before the world fell to darkness. Before he spent that decade in the Crystal. [He didn't linger on the thought; that way madness lied, quite literally. Ardyn focused instead on Noctis and the question at hand, frowning in concentration.] He's carrying himself more like he did when I first met him--so he'll think he's scarcely twenty. I don't even know if he remembers that Insomnia's fallen.

[Junpei's eyes tighten a little. That far back...]

...He at least knows he was traveling. He mentioned something about asking someone to watch the road.

His advisor, that's who always drove the Regali...a...

[Ardyn trailed off as the obvious problem with that clicked.]

...Oh.

Dad?

[That's not a good 'oh.']

That actually....places things in a slightly clearer timeframe. And it is a problem. If he believes his adviser is still in charge of their car, that means he doesn't remember reaching Altissia.

...He doesn't know I killed the Oracle.

...So we're going to get to watch him relive that, is what you're saying. That happened before his ten-year crystal nap.

Just--just let me think, I--

[Ardyn pushed his hair out of his face, quickly sorting through scattered memories as best he could.]

...If he doesn't remember the incident with the Archaean, he may not even know I'm the Chancellor to begin with. From there he'll remember the death of his fiancée, the destruction of Altissia, the fact that his advisor's blinded, then a very long list of things I did to him and his friends personally for the sole purpose of railroading him to the Crystal.

[you're kind of a prick, ardyn.]

There's not a chance he's going to take any of it remotely well.

People tend not to take dead fiancées well, no.

[He runs his finger along the chain beneath his shirt, the one on which two things hang: the crown charm Yuuri got him, and that ring.

After a second, Junpei changes the subject.]

His roommate seems all right. Good head on his shoulders. Looks friendly enough, under the circumstances.

[Noctis isn't going to be all alone, dealing with this.]

No, they do not. Least of all when they're within sight of and then immediately taunted by said murderer.

[If that could sound like 'i am literally the worst', then it did.]

...Could have ended up with far worse, looking at this group. He can-...'take care of himself' is admittedly pushing it slightly, but he won't collapse. If I couldn't break him, nothing will.

[Junpei continues to play with the chain around his neck.]

...Has he had to kill before? Besides what you already told me.

I don't know if even a strict technicality can call Niflheim's army 'human', but I've seen the four of them kill plenty of those.

[Ardyn looked genuinely uncertain of the definition of 'murder' when it came to MTs and the process which created them; Prompto Argentum was one thing, but your average MT was hardly anything living or human in most interpretations of the terms.]

...Apart from that...he's only killed one person that I know of.

...Besides you?

I was trying to avoid saying 'I'm the only person that he's killed', but if we're just being straightforward then his actual body count to my knowledge is a staggering 'one'.

[Ardyn paused, thinking for a second or two before muttering to himself:]

...Ravus more than likely didn't count. I think that was more on my hands than theirs.

All right. Because... for those who haven't had to before, having to vote to execute someone, even if it's to save their own skins... that's tough.

[See: Just about every vote in R2.]

Don't know if what you did to him really speaks to the same moral quandary.

...

['You could still get to the Crystal...if you went on your own. Your friends will have to stay behind. You'd better think fast--I don't envy you your decision.']

[Forced to abandon his own would-be Kingsglaive in fight alone against tremendous odds, for the sake of a chance at living and defeating the larger threat. What was the difference between that and the executions they'd voted towards in the name of surviving? So that they could live long enough to seek vengeance against those that orchestrated this in the first place?]

Closer than you think.

[Ardyn didn't dare meet Junpei's eyes when he answered.]

[Junpei's quiet again, watching Ardyn's face rather than the screen. Eventually, he nods and looks ahead again.]

Then maybe he'll be able to help the ones who haven't had to make that choice yet.

[Like Finn. Like Queenie. Like everyone who had to have someone else step in for the vote at that first trial.]

...He's stronger than he looks.

[Because Ardyn forced him to be that way, through fire and crushing blow after blow as one forged a blade from steel--with unending bloodshed, suffering, and death after death fueling the flames.]

Even if he can't remember it yet. Noctis became a better leader than I ever would have bee; once he starts catching up with himself, he'll look after the others.

I believe that much. About him being stronger than he looks.

[If Junpei's the one who reminds Ardyn of Noctis, then Junpei has no doubt they have more in common than a thread of what Ardyn considers 'mercy.' Regardless, he nudges Ardyn gently with his elbow.]

But maybe you just weren't born into the right people for you to lead.

[They all wear it, now. The symbol of the Kingsglaive.]

...Maybe not. [He gave Junpei a shaky smile, hand raised to the black sigil at the back of his own neck.]

He'll find his footing and handle however many of the rest he can until we determine what to do. Somehow.

[He sighs and stops slouching in his seat to type some more notes into his computer.]

No exterior shots this time, so we can't try to triangulate their location like last season's crew did with us. We'll have to look for some other kind of clue... like if their Overseer's a celebrity, we might be able to follow his trail somehow.

Right. That's something I might not have considered, but it's an excellent idea. This early on, I expect our courses of potential action will be as limited as our information.

And I'll keep looking for leaks. God, I just--why are all the actual experienced detectives locked up in TV space jail right now? God damn fucking inconsiderate.

We'll manage. I may not be a detective, but I do have the occasional moments of utter genius.

Viewing Party 2 - R3: THE RE-CRY-ENING

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