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year 5, quarter 3
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"And then he just kind of, shut down." Alex had an issue, one that only Noctis Lucis Caelum could solve. Namely, a spindly, spiky haired, camera obsessed shaped issue. "Like, I get it. It's a massive gulf, and some guy who just regenerates may be normal to me, but to Prompto he's the stuff of nightmares. I own that, it's me being a moron and I didn't realize that." And he would own it. He had made a colossal miscalculation regarding Prompto, and it hurt the poor guy. In truth, this conversation had been going on for a bit, recounting exactly what had been happening, and Prompto took up quite a bit of it. Of course, he didn't tell Noctis everything. The King of Light did not need to know that Alex thought his fiancee had hips to die for. There was just no way that kind of revelation would go over well, he was sure of it. And so, it was just one minor thing that he had left out of the cascade.
Sitting at a table in the Rising Stones, which was still a mess, he tapped a finger against his temple, while his other hand tapped a finger against a bottle. "But it's like one faux pas after another. I have absolutely no idea how to handle him. Thal's Balls, man, he gets really mad whenever I allude to the fact I know you in any way." That one didn't set well with him. He was willing to put up with a lot, but being called a liar was a step too far for him. He'd tried being nice, he'd tried pushing a bit, but neither worked. He could just kinda kick Prompto around but he had a feeling that wouldn't work either. Only one of the two sitting in this room was a Prompto expert, and it wasn't Alex. "And you're his, like, BFF, or--wait, I actually have questions about the Crownsguard. But we'll get to that later." He did say to himself that he would actually ask about Eosian culture when he had the chance. This probably just wasn't a good time.
Besides, he was sure Noctis would have lots of questions of his own that would get squeezed in the middle of all this.
But this was his chance to actually try and bridge the chasm and maybe mend some of the hurts that he'd accidentally inflicted. "It's just, when you were in my world, you took a night to go camping. You asked why I adventure. I told you it's because I just enjoy spending time with people I love, and you compared me to Prompto and called him the life of the party and that he gets along with everyone. I figured out of everyone, Prompto would be the easy one to get along with. Where am I going wrong, here?" This was something that had obviously been bothering Alex. A lot. Enough that once Noct had been settled in a bit, Alex had decided to bring it up. He needed help, and Noctis Lucis Caelum was his only hope.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Noctis had been confused when he’d first settled in around the table in the Rising Stones headquarters with Alex. Honestly, at first he just couldn’t picture why Prompto wouldn’t like the blond mercenary. Sure, Alex could be a little rough around the edges, but he was way better than Gladio in that department. Plus he was hilarious and sarcastic and a hell of a good person to have around in a crisis. He was also a bit of a disaster, but so were the four of them as a unit. It felt like he would have fit right in with their group honestly, so going into this Noctis had no idea why Prompto of all people wouldn’t like him.
By the end of Alex’s explanation, Noctis was choking on his beer.
“You told him Ardyn wasn’t shit?!” He wasn’t sure whether to laugh at the absurdity of that or be offended himself, but Alex seemed to feel bad enough as it was. It was probably better not to dive into his own deep insecurities around Ardyn and just keep focusing the discussion on Prompto. “Alright. Give me a second to unpack that one.”
He let Alex carry on, mostly trying not to facepalm at every mishap involving his best friend, though he genuinely wasn’t sure why Prompto would be mad at Alex for knowing him. “That one I’m not sure about,” he admitted, twirling the edge of his bottle of beer against the table in thought. “Unless he just doesn’t believe you? I thought it was kind of far-fetched at first, but the gods obviously threw me at this world. Why not two?” The fact that he apparently had amnesia about going to Alex’s world was way more troubling, but he’d met a few other people who didn’t remember everything either. It just made him worry about what else he was forgetting.
Now that was nightmare fuel.
Alex seemed to abruptly remember in the middle of a sentence that he also had questions about the crownsguard, and Noctis blinked a bit before shrugging. “Sure. Prompto’s my newest one. He actually joined up just so he could come with me to my wedding.” That had honestly touched Noctis more than he had ever admitted to his best friend. Joining the crownsguard wasn’t exactly an easy process or a light decision. It was basically Prompto dedicating his life to the Lucian royal family, and Noctis had never known what to say to him that could measure up to that. He was just so glad that the guy had finally worked up the courage to talk to him in high school, even if he’d pretended that they’d never met before. Typical self-conscious Prompto. He’d never had a great concept of his own worth.
Alex finished up by alluding to a conversation that he and Noctis had apparently had under the night sky while camping back on his world. It actually sounded like a pretty deep talk. It reminded him of nights with the other three, so he frowned slightly before taking another drink. “That sounds like stuff I’d say. Sorry I don’t remember it.” Setting down the bottle, he leaned back in his chair and looked over at the warrior of light across from him.
“Okay. First things first, you’re gonna have to tell me about your own experiences with immortals sometime because I could use help there. But that aside you should probably apologize to him about Ardyn if you want to make up. It’s not really that he regenerates that makes him so dangerous. It’s that he’s a complete sadist who can look like anyone at anytime. And he…kind of went after Prompto specifically.”To get to Noctis. The prince ran a hand through his hair, not really liking that he finally had to think about the chancellor. It had been so easy on Zephon to just go with the flow and push away his last moments on Eos.
I will keep your friends company until you return.
Shaking his head, Noctis tried to remind himself that they were talking about Prompto. “He switched both their appearances so that I’d throw Prompto off a train. I don’t even have the full story of what happened to him after that, but by the time we found him again, he was strung up on a torture device in a jail cell looking like he’d been through hell.” He didn’t really like remembering that honestly, but it was probably important for Alex to hear. “He still is the life of the party, but he might be different now too.”
Apologize? Just apologize? In truth, it made perfect sense. Maybe Prompto was the type to just move on after an apology. It's just, Alex coughed. He uh, well, in truth. "Oh, I apologized. Right away." He knew he had screwed up the second he said it and tried to smooth it over. "It just... didn't work." Yeah, that. That had gone disastrously terrible. Really it set the mood for their entire relationship, now that he thought about it. No matter what, he never could get Prompto to really open up like that. Though he had to wonder, if Prompto's best friend didn't have the right advice there, well, maybe Noctis had a point. Maybe Prompto was far different from how he used to be. Different enough that Noct himself didn't quite have the bead he used to. His frown deepened somewhat. What did that mean for the Scions? If they showed up, would they still be the same people that he knew? Perhaps it would be a blessing when they inevitably didn't remember him.
It was more hearing about Ardyn that got Alex's attention for the moment. He figured he was the stuff of nightmares for Prompto because Prompto was just some guy with a pistol. But no, there were issues beyond that. Powers Ardyn held. Alex crossed one leg over the other, leaning back as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But, huh. You know, Ardyn sounds like a beee-" He trailed, his eyes drifting from the wall back to Noctis in a moment of panic. B-Rate Ascian. Those were the words he was about to say, catching himself and letting out a strangled "-aaaad guy. Real bad guy." He coughed, inwardly congratulating himself on the save. He would not make the same mistake he made with Prompto. He could have his moments of stupid, even he could admit that, but he wouldn't make that same mistake twice. In an attempt to immediately deflect, "But I will definitely help you with your immortal problem. Whether you want me to teach you how to kill them, or whether you just, you know, want to point me at Ardyn or something." He offered.
So far, Ardyn was still pretty small time for him. Which was weird, he'd seen what Noctis could do. Why did Ardyn still live?
Though, was it safe to speak up about that? It was Noctis, right? "Something like that, I'd keep Ardyn's overall strength in mind. Like, if I'm having way too easy of a time, I'd be wary. Prompto's not going to fight back against you, so that might be a clue. Because from the sounds of it, he can only swap appearances, right? When he did that, how was Ardyn-slash-Prompto acting, you know? It's-it's--shit, um. Okay." He clapped his hands together, maybe something from his own experience? It wasn't identical, but maybe it could work. "So, in one of the reflections of my world, we had an Ascian named Elidibus, and he could possess people, and he wound up possessing the body of a-a-friend," Wow, yeah, in the end Ardbert had turned out to be a friend, hasn't he? He could almost feel the amusement from the Warrior rejoined. "I asked him how his companion Seto was doing. I knew Seto was fine, but Elidibus had to pause, and then remarked that he mourned Seto's passing. So, you know, he'd just tripped." Enunciating his words with hands, he paused before letting out an embarrassed cough.
"So um, I laughed at him. Told him I thought he was supposed to be good at that, and he got mad." Probably not the best way to handle it in hindsight, now that he thought about it. "So, you know, maybe like a question only you guys could answer?" Should he warn him about Elidibus? No, none of the Ascians had appeared in this world yet, and he doubted that they would any time soon. For the best, he admitted. Elidibus would proably be stronger here than back home. That was a scary thought. He'd only pulled through the first time because of a last second save by Emet-Selch that he would never thank the man for. He never understood why Cassandra always shot googly eyes at the man. It only got worse in Elpis. Wait, no, hold on. Alex shook his head before starting at Noctis. He was getting off track. No, they could not be derailed this early. They were better than that.
Lacing his fingers together, he moved back on topic. Somewhat. "I've... never told Prompto any of this, by the way. He just thinks I'm some bumblefuck adventurer. Should I tell him? I'll admit I've enjoyed being seen as just an adventurer, so, my bad. But, I've always gotten the feeling that if he knew what I actually was, that would be it. It'd be over. The guy would hiss at me like an angry cat whenever he saw me and never say another word." Noctis would know for sure though. He hoped. He was already a little off with the apology bit. With all the tension between Alex and Prompto already, he just had a gut feeling that being a constantly reincarnating warrior of light wouldn't go over any better than mentioning Ardyn had. He was already on thin ice with the guy, why make it any worse? He looked over Noct's shoulder, leaning to the right a little as he noticed Prompto's Calico sneaking about. Yeah, angry cat was a good way to put it.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Alex had apparently already apologized about his Ardyn comment, which surprised Noct since Prompto wasn’t usually one to hold a grudge. Maybe everything that had happened had affected his best friend more than he’d realized. The four of them hadn’t exactly had time to sit around and debrief after Gralea. Noctis had been sucked through the crystal and ended up here, while the three of them had-...
Well. He didn’t really know yet what had happened to them after that.
“You didn’t mess that up too, did you?” He asked with a slight twitch of his lips. He was kidding, or at least half kidding. Hopefully Alex could make it through an apology without accidentally offending Prompto again, but you never knew with the guild leader. Noctis had promised him to never mention the whole ‘driving off a cliff’ episode again, but he was afraid to ask why the entire street was demolished around the Rising Stones headquarters. Maybe he needed to finish the beer before he heard that story.
Alex turned the topic back to Ardyn, and Noctis squinted at him when he stumbled over whatever he had been going to say. It sounded more like he had been about to call the chancellor a bitch, and that made him snort into his drink. He couldn’t argue that even if the immortal was way more dangerous than Alex was giving him credit for.
He corrected course real fast at least by saying that he’d either teach Noctis how to kill an immortal or just take care of Ardyn himself. The second offer took the prince off guard, but he only had to think about it for a moment before shaking his head. “I’d definitely take your help if he showed up here, but it feels like I should finish it. A one on one fight seems to be what he wants anyway.” He owed it to Luna and his father and everyone else not to pawn off the responsibility even if a part of him wanted to.
“But yeah, I definitely want to learn how to deal with them if you’d teach me. I haven’t strictly fought him yet or anything, but I watched the Glacian shatter him into a million pieces and he was just fine like two minutes later. Not sure I have anything in my arsenal yet that could deal with that.” Sucking him into the void with the Ring of the Lucii was definitely tempting, but Noct would probably still be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life if he didn’t know for sure that he’d ended it.
Alex’s advice about Ardyn’s shapeshifting was pretty good though, and he nodded a bit glumly in response. “You uh…deal with this stuff a lot, huh? Yeah, Prompto didn’t act much like Ardyn at all when their appearances were switched. I was just too pissed off to see it at the time. Asking questions he wouldn’t know is a good idea though if they seem off.”
The blond mercenary got a little more self-conscious after that, and Noctis leaned back in his chair a little when he asked if he should tell Prompto his whole deal. “...I don’t know,” Noctis admitted. “Telling someone you’re a reincarnating warrior of light is a lot, and I’d completely get it if you just wanted to be a random adventurer for a while. I’ve wanted that too sometimes.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his gloved hand before continuing. “I don’t think he’d judge you for it though. Prompto’s always been there for me, even when he looks completely out of his depth. And…you know. Not exactly my place to tell you what, but I don’t think he’s told you everything about himself yet either.”
He wasn’t sure if Prompto ever wanted to tell anyone else about being an MT, but that was up to him. Just like it was up to Alex if he wanted to share that he was a warrior of light. Noctis would stay quiet either way until they wanted to.
Noticing Alex looking over his shoulder, Noctis glanced back and froze at the sight of an adorable little calico cat sneaking around. “Hey there, little guy…” Climbing out of his chair and kneeling on the floor, he pulled a fish that he’d caught recently out of seemingly nowhere—technically it was from nowhere since he stored his items in his glaive. “Come here, buddy. Do you like sturgeons? I can catch you something else if you’re a sea bass kind of girl.”
While trying to entice the cat over, it also occurred to him that maybe Alex and Prompto had only ever hung out in a crisis. “Hey. Have you guys ever just…gone out for the hell of it? Prompto’s pretty big on camping too, you know. Hidden photo spots, chocobos…” Maybe his idea of a camping trip would have sounded more convincing if he wasn’t currently on the floor waving a fish at a cat.
Alex watched Noctis play with the cat. He knew what was coming. Crossing one leg over the other, he slouched, resting his cheek against his fist. Sure enough, the calico reached out hesitantly. It batted at the fish a few times. It put on that cutesy act that Alex knew all too well. Then, with no warning, it snatched the fish into its mouth and darted off to enjoy what it felt was a hard won meal. Thing was acting like Alex never fed it. "Huh." He absentmindedly responded to the suggestion. "Maybe I will take him camping. That's a good idea. Might do you some good, too. Maybe once we get Ignis and Gladio out of trouble." Yeah, that sounded like fun, get everyone outside and into the wild where they all had to be a team to survive. What could go wrong, there? "But, no, I haven't. Prompto really kept to himself, and seemed like he wanted to be left to his own devices, so I left him alone a lot. Especially after things got rough between us." It was definitely an idea worth considering, though.
Without really thinking, he also added on a cheeky "You know, if it helps, you've never cut the most majestic figure to me." Then again, none of the great leaders ever had. Might've just been him more than anything. But would Prompto really not care about the Warrior of Light thing? A small voice in his head told him then there was no reason to tell him if it made no difference, let him remain a simple adventurer. The other part of him said that if he and Prompto were to ever get past the awkwardness and actually understand one another, then one of them had to break and tell the truth, and it might as well be him.
But he was grateful to know more about Ardyn, at least, and Noctis, despite the gloomy topic, seemed to actually be appreciating the advice. It was kind of nice, actually, even if the subject wasn't the best. "As for Ardyn..." He uncrossed his legs, pulling himself straight and steepling his fingers. "Either his regeneration is phenomenal, or if the body takes too much damage, he just gets a new one. Or both." It hit him then, the fact that he could just so casually work out immortality like that. He really was an expert, wasn't he? Made sense. Out of the thirteen Ascians, so far he'd killed for good; Nabriales, Lahabrea, Igeyohrm, Emet-Selch, Mitron, Elidibus, and Fandaniel. He knew Emmerololth, Altima, Duedalaphon, and Loghrif were dead as well, the last since reincarnated as a normal girl. Well, as normal as Gaia could be. That still left two unaccounted for, Halmarut and one other. He had their crystals, but naught else.
Pashtarot.
He blinked in surprise. Maybe he did have their titles, then.
Still, a new body would make Ardyn like the Ascians. Even worse if it was the best of both worlds; a nigh invulnerable body that was simply renewed upon its destruction. But he at least knew how to handle both. "The former, you burn him or overwhelm him. He can't regenerate what's still being destroyed. When the Glacian's damage was done, he might've been able to pull himself back together. He also needs energy to regenerate. If he's run ragged, his body should just give out and he won't be able to regenerate." That was, of course, only if he simply had phenomenal regeneration. The other possiblity was one he didn't care for at all, and he considered the worse of the two. "The latter, you need a Blade of Light. Which was our way of more classily terming 'a fuckload of aether,' raw magic energy. Because in such a case, he's just going to catch a new ride back to the mortal coil and you're exhausted while he's doing some stupid tap dance. You need something that can trap his soul when his body gives out, something that can hold a lot of aether. In my world, it was White Auracite. My guess is something like that will be some kind of crystal here. Natural aether traps." There were very little they couldn't do if they had enough crystals on hand, he had learned.
But even that had its issues. A sentient soul was more than just a clump of aether. Resting his chin in the cup of his hand, he continued on, his gaze narrowing in thought. "It won't hold for long though before he breaks out, so during that time, that's when you hit him with your Blade of Light and hope for the best. If he survives, you need more aether. Think of it like..." He paused for a moment. He was using terms that he realized Noctis might not fully get, different worlds and all that. But at least a good analogy came to him, snapping his fingers as his eyes widened in realization. "Shoving him in a box and smashing it with a hammer, if that helps. If it doesn't work, you get a bigger hammer." The problem would be getting a bigger hammer. Depending on Ardyn's overall strength, it'd require more aether. "I can teach you to make a Blade of Light." Alex offered. "Seeing as you want to learn how to kill an immortal, I'd advise taking up that offer, too. You can draw too much and accidentally kill yourself making one, and as much as I'm sure Ardyn needs to go, none of us would be happy if you went and died bringing him down. What do you think?" He'd lost more friends than he cared to, and he refused to lose a single more. He wouldn't even try to imagine how Noctis's friends from home would take it.
He sighed, leaning back as the chair tilted, pressing the sole of his shoe against the edge of his table, arms dangling at his side. "You know, every time he comes up, I learn something else about Ardyn. Anything else?" If he was going to give the best anti-Ardyn advice, it would be best for him to know what exactly was being dealt with.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] The cat batted at the fish delicately with one paw before it suddenly snatched the entire thing out of his hand and went bounding away to eat in peace. Noctis was not-so-secretly delighted, and he could feel that he probably had the dumbest grin even as he yelled after it. “Just don’t choke on the whole thing!”
Returning to the table, he draped himself over the chair across from Alex, a little surprised that his suggestion had gone over well. “Honestly, yeah. I think a camping trip would do us all some good after this.” He was looking forward to it already. A prison break followed by a trek through the wilderness sounded just like the old days before Altissia had changed something between the four of them.
They seemed to be wrapping up the Prompto discussion for now, but Noctis felt like he should add one more bit to his pep talk. “Honestly man, I wouldn’t take it too personally. It sounds to me like Prompto’s just got a lot to work through right now.” Not that he blamed his best friend after everything that had happened, but it didn’t sound like Alex was the only one at fault for their soured relationship.
Or at least, Alex was probably only somewhere between 60-80% to blame.
Noctis was inclined to put the number closer to 80% when the blond mercenary casually dropped that Noctis didn’t seem too majestic. Still, he just shook his head since the comment wasn’t worth getting too worked up over. Not when he was only one beer in at any rate. “Yeah, says you and the entire Lucian council.” Or at least, the council had certainly thought that before Insomnia had fallen. Truthfully, he didn’t even know if any of them were still alive. It was a weird thought—he hadn’t been super close to them, but they’d been a constant in his life, and he knew his dad had valued their insight.
Noctis would have latched onto about any topic at that point as long as it didn’t involve how fit he was to be king. Unfortunately the one that Alex took up was Ardyn, which happened to be his second least favorite topic. Still, Alex’s information was good. Really good actually, and Noctis found himself leaning forward in interest as he tried to piece together exactly how Ardyn’s immortality worked. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I always thought he just regenerated like crazy, but I guess he has to be making a new body if that’s the one that takes something special.” If Ardyn could be killed by any other means, then he couldn’t imagine why the astrals wouldn’t jump on that themselves instead of leaving it to some ancient prophecy.
Alex had a pretty good explanation of how calling on a Blade of Light would work too, so he nodded pretty emphatically when he offered to teach him. “Yeah, that would...be amazing actually. I was supposed to learn something that could deal with him in the crystal, but instead I ended up here. So unless you’re the one who’s supposed to teach me anyway…” The thought was almost enough to make him laugh because trust the gods to be that roundabout that they’d smash two people from different worlds together to get something done.
His grin faded a bit though when Alex mentioned that you could draw too much aether and accidentally kill yourself along with the immortal. Yeah, the guys definitely wouldn’t like it much if he fulfilled the prophecy but ended up dying or something. He’d definitely need to learn from Alex. Speaking of…
“How’d you learn to do it?” Noctis asked curiously. “Or is a big immortal killing move the kind of thing you remember from one life to another?” He wasn’t entirely clear on what all Alex remembered from his other lives honestly. Maybe that was something they had talked about back on his world though.
Alex asked if there was anything else he should know about Ardyn, and Noctis paused for a moment before realizing that there was a pretty big piece of info he hadn’t gotten to digest yet with his friends. Maybe it would be good practice to tell Alex first. “I think we’re related. Distantly. God, I hope distantly. Uh. But he has my last name. As it turns out.”
A camping trip sounded good. Everyone get out, into the wild, and just get away from the problems of civilized life for a little bit. Hunt for food, maybe get a behemoth or something. He hadn't had behemoth steaks in forever. Maybe they could all even find a dungeon to delve or something. Sure, it might be a bit dangerous, but with experienced people like himself, it'd be fun. "I'll try not to." Maybe Noctis was right and Prompto did have his own demons to contend with. Best to put the best construction on it and let it go. Maybe when it was all settled and everyone else was out and free, the guy would calm down some.
Was it something he learned from one life to the next? Alex shook his head a bit ruefully in response, leaning over to one side. "Man, I wish. Can you imagine what I could do if we could all put our collective heads together for even five minutes? Or I could even just talk to them? Just have my eyes start glowing or something and then whammo!" If he could access the total sum of all his incarnations, all their power, even for a couple minutes, he knew, he knew there'd be nothing that could stand up to him. It'd be an easy way to deal with any Worldbreakers. Even just being able to talk to them for a few minutes could give him invaluable wisdom. No, it was something that while he never thought about it, he'd not deny the thought intrigued him. And while he'd never really cared for power for its own sake, well... He also wouldn't deny that, with the other incarnations technically being him, that said power wasn't also his.
But he shook his head, rerailing his own brain back on topic. "But, no, while the technique has existed for a long time, Alexander Sorel only discovered it in his lifetime." There was a pause before he let out a horrified scream. Leaning back as he gripped at his blonde hair. "Gods, it sounds so weird when I refer to myself like that!" He was Alexander Sorel. And he was a bunch of other people. And it felt so strange having to actually sit down and reconcile the fact that both were true. He felt like he had been stumbling on things that he just should not have known. He was not the only one to reincarnate, after all. But no one really had any idea of who their previous incarnations were. He was starting to wonder if that wasn't for the best as he leaned back forward, smoothing out his even more disheveled locks.
But the idea of him being Noct's teacher. As nice as that would've been, the gods he had named back in Sonora shot that one down. Granted, the names were strange, considering how the Primals were summoned in his world, but... "The gods must be truly desperate to send you to me for help." Needless to say, if the Primals or the gods they were based on were willing to turn to Alex for help dealing with Ardyn, then they were truly in a rough spot. Granted, there was a logic. Considering Alex had dealt with immortals like Ardyn and had laid the smackdown on the gods in question, one would imagine that he would be their best option. Still, desperation. But it was only with Noct's latest revelation regarding Ardyn that Alex had to pause for a few moments. He blinked a couple times as a few seconds passed, very visibly thinking on what to say.
Ultimately, he settled on "That's rough, buddy."
"Ummm." He tried to move on. "If it helps, I had to kill my old best friend. Or at least the best friend of my original incarnation. He tried to turn me into a Light monster and kill all my friends. And blow up another world. So I get the awkwardness. I do." Emet-Selch was not a nice man. It baffled Alexander that Atlas--Atlas? There's that name again.--He wondered how Venat was doing. Azem. He had meant Azem. Even learning everything he had, he still hadn't really gotten over everything Emet-Selch did.. Really, he'd rather think of Eos. Maybe learn more about Eos. ... Actually, now that he thought about it. He shot to his feet, knocking the chair over as he slammed his hands on the table. "Before I forget again, I've been meaning to ask, because it's caused me mixups with Prompto." He remarked, before adding on "Plus, I think it's fair to learn Eosian customs when it comes to dealing with you guys, so..."
Besides, what was the worst that could happen? "When I told Prompto you had made me Kingsglaive, he got really, really upset. Is the Crownsguard like, some kind of battle harem or something? He took it really personally."
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] It turned out that Alex couldn’t remember his previous lives, which sounded like a major flaw in this whole reincarnation thing if you asked Noctis. You’d think that whoever had first made him a warrior of light would have wanted each life to build on each other. Unless maybe it would get too confusing to keep this life straight when you had all your past memories. Noctis could see that. Keeping them shut away might have been the best choice for Alex’s mental health.
Er. Not that his mental health seemed stellar in the first place, but Noctis wasn’t one to talk.
“At least I’ll know what’s going on if your eyes are glowing and you suddenly start acting all dignified,” Noct said with a faint grin as Alex went on and referred to himself in the third person. That apparently hadn’t been intentional, because it stressed the blond mercenary out to the point where he literally screamed, and Noct himself nearly spilled his drink until he realized that Alex was just freaking out. “Shit, I thought you were dying for a second,” he swore, trying to come back down before checking on the guy. “Er. You okay? I mean, sure, it’s a little weird you being multiple people and all, but I’m not the greatest example of normal either, right? So don’t worry about it.”
He wasn’t helping, was he?
“...You…want another beer?”
Nailed it, Noctis. Maybe this was why he’d always been a bit of a shut-in. After a minute though, Alex recovered enough to say that the gods must have been desperate to send Noct to him for training, and the prince had to laugh, shaking his head as he eyed the blond’s slightly messed-up hair. Without even missing a beat, he pulled some hair gel out of his glaive and slapped it on the table. What else were friends for?
“You’re not that bad, you know. You make some choices sometimes, but I think it’s pretty funny honestly.” He meant that too, but those words were definitely tested when Alex responded to the revelation that he was related to Ardyn with ‘that’s rough, buddy.’ He did at least follow it up with a story of how his first life’s best friend had tried to turn him into a monster and murder his other friends, and Noctis could only stare at him for a moment in response. “...How many times have you had to save the world exactly?” The answer was probably going to make him feel like a failure for struggling so much to even do it once, but he felt that he should at least ask.
Alex suddenly stood up so fast that his chair fell over, and Noctis once again almost had a heart attack. Apparently it was just to emphasize his question though, and it was the weirdest question he had ever been asked. For a moment, Noctis just stared at him with no idea what his facial expression even was right now. Was. Was Alex really asking if he was together with Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio? Like at the same time? He couldn’t have been serious, right?
If Noctis had been older and already a king, maybe he would have taken the mature route. But as it was, the prince was still barely out of his teens, and he chose violence.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he said with a shrug while doing his best to keep a straight face. “You know how it is. When you’re getting married, so your best bud decides to join your battle harem. You mean I didn’t give you that whole spiel back on your world?”
All joking aside though, he did wonder why Prompto would have gotten so offended at the idea of Alex sharing his powers.
Alex shook his head. "No, you didn't. You'd told me you had a fiancee, but what with you being a prince, I imagine there's some political context to it." Granted, Noct at the time had seemed completely head over heels, so maybe the guy got lucky there and was simply enjoying the best of both worlds. "Really, with being made Kingsglaive, that god of yours wanted to give you that trial, you wanted help, and you figured things would be easier if I were Kingsglaive." There had been no such romantic bond between him and Noctis. Oh sure, there was something Alex couldn't quite pick up on at the time, but as he continued his own adventures, he had simply come to realize that Noctis was probably the closest thing to him on Eos. So it was kind of like meeting your alternate self, you usually hit it off with that.
So, taking Noctis up on his offer of another beer, and popping off the cap, he took another drink. "But, of course, yes. Everything makes sense now. Thank you. Sincerely." It was genuine, with one of the few times he gave off a genuine smile instead of a smirk or some smug expression. Of course this was being done as he was silently pilfering the hair gel. Now, though, now he knew what it was that was bothering Prompto.. And it made sense. The outbursts, the distance, all of it. Now he could work things out with Prompto. All that needed to be done was assure Prompto that he had no interest in Noctis that way, and that he was not trying to steal the guy away. Maybe then the chasm could be bridged, and they could actually build something of a friendship. That would be rather nice.
There was no way this would backfire.
He did however, look away a bit. "But to answer your other question..." Setting the beer down on his table, he started counting on his right hand without a sound, allowing silence to reign. After all, it'd only take a second or two, until the count hit five. ... And then he started doing it again. ... And then another time. ... And then one last time before he finally answered "About twenty times, give or take a couple." There was another pause before he added on The universe, once. No, wait. Twice. Her Inflorescence was going to destroy everything if she got loose." Before adding an additional "Maybe three times? I think Omega planned universal conquest or something once it got back to Omicron, I don't know." Needless to say, that was not helping.
And then there was the Endsinger. "The Endsinger, though, was our bad." Of course, the last time he'd brought her up was when they were in the middle of a high speed pursuit, and all it'd done was make him feel sick and give him the mother of all migraines. Even the Echo hadn't caused anything like that. "One of the scientists of ancient days wondered what was the meaning of life on other worlds, because he hated his job. So he created a flock of birds that feed on emotions, sent them out into the cold, isolated vastness of the cosmos, and found that all the worlds he'd sent them to, the life there had already gone extinct or was in the process of going extinct." It sounded absurd when he said it, but then he'd figured there was always something wrong with Hermes. Considering he would eventually go on to become Fandaniel, or at least, the Fandaniel that he knew.
Bloody Endcaller.
But, at least Meteion hadn't gotten to everything. Zephon and Noct being here was proof alone of that. There was a snort. "You are what you eat, right? Take a wild guess what emotion is dominant when it's all gone to shit." And that warped the Metaia into the hivemind of the Endsinger. Fortunately, Alex had stopped the Endsinger, which most definitely meant that the universe was safe once again and would probably not be threatened again. Hermes. The universe was almost destroyed because of a disgruntled employee and his flock of depressed birds." It was just... so absurd when he thought of it like that. Emet-Selch really had a case of rose-tinted glasses when he waxed poetic about the days of the Ancients. At least he was gone now. He was sure of that.
He blinked before adding on "By the way, if you ever meet someone going by Emet-Selch, kill him. No words. Lots of light. To the face."
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Alex seemed almost relieved when Noctis “confirmed” his battle harem theory, like Prompto’s reactions all somehow made sense now. The prince wasn’t sure if he wanted to follow that train of thought too closely to its logical conclusion, so instead he buried that and focused more on what Alex was saying. Noctis had apparently told him about Luna before, and that reminder made him wince a little and rub the back of his neck. “...Yeah, the engagement was political. We were childhood friends though.”
Were. The past tense was ugly. He’d never really had the time to come to terms with Luna’s death when they’d just had to keep going. It had been so quick and so pointless on Ardyn’s end. He’d just wanted to hurt Noctis that much more, and the Oracle had suffered for it. He’d never be able to fix that.
Since Alex was grabbing another beer anyway, Noctis took the chance to bury his sorrows in a long drink. “Yeah, being able to warp has its advantages. I see why I’d give it to you.” Honestly if Alex already knew how to use Lucian magic, then he wouldn’t mind loaning the power to him again sometime. Offering that now might come off a bit too much like he was hitting on the guy though. Maybe he’d wait on that conversation until Alex realized that Noctis did not in fact have a battle harem.
Alex gave him such a genuine thank you for explaining that it honestly made Noctis feel bad. He briefly thought about correcting him on the joke, but the thought of the blond man approaching Gladio with that misunderstanding was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. The prince had never claimed to be mature yet.
The blond mercenary seemed like he had to seriously consider Noct’s question about how many times he had saved the world. He then had to count on his fingers, and Noctis felt his expression get more and more concerned as the count went up. Alex’s verbal explanations really didn’t help either.
“Dude, I mean this in the nicest way possible. What the hell is going on in your world? Like, I am genuinely concerned for your safety if we find a way home.” He had apparently been there before, but he didn’t really remember it, so all he had to go off of were Alex’s stories. And as far as Noctis was concerned, it sounded like about a quarter of the population were immortals trying to commit genocide. Sometimes via birds apparently.
Alex also apparently really hated someone named Emet-Selch, and Noctis had to laugh into his beer a little at the advice to just kill him immediately with no questions asked. “...What if I do that and it was just a random guy named Emet-Selch? You’re not gonna give me anything else?”
