nysalogs | CLOSED ♦ don't get caught by a temple guard

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CLOSED ♦ don't get caught by a temple guard

Who: X’rhun Tia (

verflair) & Ardyn Izunia (

daemonized)
What: LEGENDS OF THE HIDDEN TEMPLE… I mean poking around in a crypt for the mission “Disturbing the Dead”.
When: Mid-January sometime.
Where: The aforementioned crypt.
Warning(s): Someone is probably getting impaled at some point. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[ X’rhun usually isn’t one for poking around in tombs unless it’s for a good reason, but the poster that had somehow appeared on the back wall of one of the more dingy bars he frequented in the city had caught his attention nonetheless. Reclaiming stolen heirlooms seems like a worthy goal to be sure, and considering he’s trying not to live as a drifter, a little extra silver in his pockets wouldn’t go amiss.

But he does know better than to go delving into the unknown by himself. A few people had crossed his mind, but ultimately, he made a phone call to his good friend and favorite fashion disaster. They had worked well together on their last foray into the wilderness, after all. That, and X’rhun just enjoys Ardyn’s company, though if certain parties knew they would probably ask him why. Loudly.

“How do you feel about abandoned crypts?” was probably an unorthodox way to start a conversation, but here they are nonetheless. The trek out hadn’t been noteworthy, at least. ]

Considering this place used to be teeming with bandits, what are the odds that the front door is rigged?

[ Probably high. ]

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Bossy, aren't we? Very well.

[After he's untangled himself from X'rhun, and has light to see by, Ardyn hefts himself up to his full height, easy as you please.

The grin on his features, wry and lopsided, has not yet left.]

What else is there, then? More wandering about in the dark?

[From where they're standing, at least it seems like a single, long corridor. Wide and supposedly empty, and no mazes to confuse them.]

Bossy? Me? Heavens, no. Just ask any one of my students, and they will tell you that I’m perfectly reasonable.

[ They might not actually say that, but he can dream.

As it is, he peers down the hallway as far as he can with their limited light. It looks relatively plain. Almost deceptively plain. If this is where they dump their intruders, then… ]

We’ve already come across one trap, and I’m willing to bet what lies ahead will not be as kind as an overlong slide. We would do well to proceed cautiously.

Ah, that goes double for me. I shall do my best to avoid any torches from here on in.

[He laughs, and it echoes in the dark and down the corridor itself.]

It doesn't appear as if there are torches to light our path for a while yet. Thank goodness for your crystal.

[It's the only glow they have to go by for now.

The corridor remains lacking in anything of interest, though they are but a few feet away from a part of the floor that appears... more uneven than the rest. As if there is a pressure plate there, a panel hidden to trick those into stepping upon it. It would take a very keen eye to notice it.]

It has its uses.

[ It's not much light, but it's certainly better than stumbling around in the darkness.

He glances back up the way they came, but quickly decides that's out of the question. The trap door seems to have closed behind them, since he can no longer spot the light of the torch, and the chute is too steep and too smooth for climbing anyway.

The hallway it is!

X'rhun is already on alert, thanks to his misstep with the torch (and he's glad it hadn't ended up worse than it did), so he's being very careful about how he proceeds. He catches the slight rise in the floor, thanks to the way the shadows fall, but it's a near thing indeed. ]

Watch your step.

[ However, if there are any other triggers about, he may have missed them. ]

[Such as the pressure plate that sinks under both of their feet, as they step onto a certain part of the floor?

Ardyn isn't sure why he bothers to do such a thing, other than some ancient instinct tells him to -- but at the sound, which he knows immediately isn't promising, he tenses. Reaches out with an arm to shove X'rhun out of the way rather unceremoniously. And there's a moment, fleeting, where he thinks he can activate his magic -- that he can use it as a safety net towards whatever trap they've undoubtedly set off, and that he will not have to deal with the consequences of such.

Even Ardyn isn't fast enough for some things. Metal spikes shoot out from the wall next to them, long rusted and covered in dust, but still very, very sharp. Sharp enough to pierce right through his clothing, through his side, right between ribs, between the soft flesh of lungs.

That's enough to feel a tendril of pain coil around him, of course, and he frowns -- but it's still laughably incongruent to how much pain a man should be in after having spikes practically shoved into his side. He grips them with one hand, and uses the leverage to push himself away from the blasted things; his wound ekes black, something dark as the corridor itself, as he does so.

Well, that's inconvenient.]

[ The second the floor gives way that small bit beneath their feet, X'rhun whips around to shout a warning, but then Ardyn's hand plants itself in the middle of his chest and he finds himself shoved away just as a set of spikes appear to skewer his friend. ]

Ardyn!

[ To say he sounds distressed would be an understatement, but it seems he's the only one. As Ardyn oh-so calmly leverages himself off the wall, X'rhun has already snapped his crystal onto the hilt of his blade, the white glow of a healing spell beginning to gather around the gem.

However, he stops short of actually casting when his eyes land on the spikes and he finds them not covered in blood but... something else. Something black as night. X'rhun turns to his friend with a newfound sort of concern. ]

What-?

[When this happens, Ardyn can feel the change. Something particularly troublesome like this from requires the Starscourge to work quickly to heal rent flesh, injured organs. Fractured or snapped bones. The darkness that ekes out of the wound, wisps of it curling up in the air, is not the whole of it -- his eyes will change, he knows that. Scalera going dark, irises practically glowing gold. That same darkness oozing down from his eyes, from the corner of his mouth.

So as soon as he pulls himself from the spike, the damnable thing now practically coated in something dark, he turns away from X'rhun and the stunted glow of his healing spell. A hand goes to his side, and he forces a laugh.]

Don't be concerned, X'rhun. I'll be fine.

[DON'T BE CONCERNED HE WAS JUST IMPALED BY A GIANT SPIKE.]

I'm more resilient than you think.

Don’t be concerned?

[ What a thing to say, because X’rhun is quite concerned. He’s seen more people get impaled than he ever cares to, and it’s always nasty business. It’s certainly not something one just walks away from, but Ardyn seems unbothered even as that strange black ichor seeps from his wound, slides from his eyes and his mouth.

After his incredulous outburst, all he can do is stare for a handful of heartbeats as he tries to make sense of what he’s seeing. He knows precious little about Ardyn, now that he really thinks about it. He knows he’s much more powerful than he lets on. He knows he would be much more powerful if not for the intervention of the Natha. He knows he’s been around for centuries.

He doesn’t even know if his friend is truly human. Indeed, what he sees isn’t pretty at all, and that may yet be the reason why Ardyn has kept it to himself.

X’rhun’s expression evens out somewhat, though the worry is still there as his eyes sweep over Ardyn’s face. ]

Ardyn… what’s going on?

[He supposes he should not be surprised that X'rhun will not just shrug this off like it is nothing. He would not be so blessed, that his companion would simply accept his words for what they were. That he was fine, and there was no explanation necessary.

But he knows better, knows that this would garner questions from most -- no, all, for this is a side of himself that no one is aware of here. Not even those from Eos, with the exception of Aranea for a blighted few moments, for they did not even come from a timeline where they would understand this ailment of his.

Ardyn doesn't respond immediately, he only waits for the Starscourge to knit his flesh back together, until he feels that his skin is unmarred, that his bones and muscles have returned to what they should be. His face, slowly fading back to normal, as he turns to look at his friend. Concern, written all over X'rhun's features. He wishes he would not waste that sort of emotion on him, he truly does.]

Why, nothing out of the ordinary. [He presses a hand to his chest in a dramatic gesture, for if he must show this to someone, he will cover up all vulnerabilities with facetiousness and flippancy; as is the norm.] It is as I said: I'm very resilient. You've just seen why.

I see it, but I hardly understand it.

[ Most often, X’rhun takes Ardyn’s flippancy in stride, offering a joke back or a simple roll of his eyes, but right now? It makes him angry for a flash of a moment, and he wishes to the gods that Ardyn would give him a straight answer just this once.

Whatever it is that flows through Ardyn’s veins, whatever it is that contorted his appearance so, knits him back together and vanishes, leaving its only traces on the spikes protruding from the wall, and X’rhun just finds himself even more confused. ]

Is this why you’re so long-lived?

[The flash of irritation is more familiar to him. He saw it all the time back home, those growing frustrated with how aloof he could be, how very dismissive of everything he was. Serious matters, spoken about with a smile. How easily he could deflect everything that way, and how he knew it could get under other people's skin.

It seemed X'rhun was no different, if the situation was just right.]

That is exactly it. [His grin only widens, though, as if it is his instinct to be particularly frustrating in moments he was not quite mentally prepared to face.] It isn't something you need to understand, X'rhun. What I possess in my veins means little to anyone here, except for-

[Ah, he catches himself. What a shame it would be, how very out of character for him, to be careless with his words.]

Well, no one, really. It is a disease; a long-lingering curse, one that makes me rather difficult to permanently harm.

[ In contrast to Ardyn’s grinning, X’rhun’s expression remains uncharacteristically stony. The incident with the trap left him rattled, and it’s going to take him a moment to sort himself out. ]

I can see now why you didn’t wish to speak about it, ugly business that it is, but I do wish you would have trusted me with this from the start.

[ Now that the danger has passed, and the adrenaline is winding down, he’s able to take a mental step backwards. It’s true that he’s a bit annoyed at how flippantly Ardyn dealt with being impaled on a godsdamed spike, but two thousand years of carrying this… disease around must not have been pleasant. Plenty of people would shy away from such a scene, and so he realizes he may be being a bit too harsh.

He heaves a sigh, the hard lines of his posture softening. ] But in the end, that isn’t my choice to make, is it?

[ Even having said that, he still takes a sudden swing at Ardyn’s shoulder. A punch meant more to annoy than to hurt him, as if he could hurt Ardyn anyway. The last bit of his anger comes out, then. ]

You still scared the hell out of me, you arse!

[The punch hits him squarely in the shoulder, forceful enough to make him angle hisbody. Certainly not forceful enough to hurt -- not much does that, these days.]

Hardly my meaning to!

[He laughs, still, but there is something hollow ringing in it. Or that's the fault of the corridor, long and dark and empty.]

It isn't an issue of trust. It simply doesn't matter here. That I am not human, not completely, held weight back on Eos, but in this place... there is no reason for anyone to care. For anyone to think differently of me because of it.

[He shrugs, but that is a lie. Ardyn cares. His severance from Eos still stings and burns brightly in him, for it meant that he was to carry the Starscourge for even longer. That thousands of years of planning had been so quickly unraveled still makes him feel bitter, still too invested in his home. Prompto, Aranea... even they had adjusted better than himself, though he did everything to hide it.]

If you have questions, you may ask them. I have nothing to hide.

[Which is also a lie, but he will be truthful about what he is, if X'rhun cares to know.]

[ X’rhun finds that explanation to be a little contradictory, given that Ardyn went well out of his way not to bring it up at the gala. The lack of humor in that laugh had not escaped his notice either, though it was an admirable attempt. He might have missed it had the subject of their conversation been something else, something less personal. Less serious. ]

I have questions aplenty, my friend.

[ There are many places he could start, but best to start at the beginning. ]

Chiefly, I wish to know how you came to be afflicted by this disease, and if there are any others like you.

[There is a but a moment's pause, and it is Ardyn merely deciding if it would be easier to have this chat while standing facing each other, or if they should continue walking. Easier to make the tone casual if they are journeying forward, easier to potentially be interrupted with something else in the interim.

He waves for him to walk with him, albeit slowly. They'll need light again.]

There's no one like me, X'rhun. [It's said with (ailing) humor, but it's true enough.] At least, not quite. Though to tend to your first question, long ago, I used to be a healer. And what you saw is the consequence of healing many, afflicted with a disease that turned others into daemons. Taking it into my own body, so that they may be free of it themselves.

[ X’rhun would much rather have this conversation now, face to face, but it seems Ardyn has other ideas. The other man gets a couple of paces ahead of him before X’rhun just gives in and follows, holding his crystal aloft to light their way once more.

Of course, they don’t get far before Ardyn’s words have X’rhun stopping again, and he watches his friend as if he’s seeing him for the first time. Ardyn answers so matter-of-factly, but X’rhun knows a thing or two about lonely existences. Here he thought two decades of traveling, of never staying in one place overlong or forging more permanent relationships was lonesome, but to live as long as Ardyn has lived, to be the only one…

He doesn’t know if he could bear that sort of solitude. ]

How does it feel— [ he finds himself asking it suddenly, an echo of the words he once posed to Lambard. ] –to give up that which makes you human?

[ The situations are quite different, and yet X’rhun can’t help but find a note of the familiar there. Maybe this is a test of some sort? Even he doesn’t fully know himself, but it’s a question he’d like an answer to nonetheless. ]

[He hears X'rhun stop behind him, and Ardyn halts as well. In this light, a faint, flickering thing, he is just a tall shadow in the corridor. As if he belongs in this darkness, the ease of which the lines of his silhouette fade in and out within the inky black.

That question cuts like a knife, shearing through all of Ardyn's flippant mannerisms, his armor used to coat and protect his ugly insides. But how easily the other slipped right past, to plant that question in his head, and to instigate the sting that always rises in him when the matter of humanity is brought forth.

His reply, at first, is low. He doesn't even turn around.]

Why do you care?

[But then there's a noise; a long exhale sliding through his teeth, and he turns around to face X'rhun once more. He supposes they'll not walk, then.]

How does one quantify losing their humanity? You do not wake up one day and it is merely gone. It is a slow process, but time is cruel. Time does not care for the fragility of humanity, how it decays as the years crawl by. It stretches it thin, it turns it inside out, then leaves it to rot.

And then one day, you realize -- being in possession of a body unaffected by time -- that you simply cannot feel it any longer. That you've left the corpse of it behind, in some year that you do not remember. And it's too late to mourn it.

[All of this, to say it feels like nothing. All of this, said with such bitterness to the astute and observant, to reveal that it feels like too much.]

And you move on.

[ Lambard had called the loss of his humanity a boon, had relished in the power it granted him. Mayhap if those decades had been centuries— had been millennia, he’d have thought differently, after years of watching the world turn while he stayed the same.

Eorzea was no stranger to the long-lived, yet the padjal had each other, they had their guild and the voices of the elementals to guide them. The dragons had each other, they had love and family just as any mortal does. To be so alone, to have immortality thrust on you as a disease that causes your humanity to just wither away… he can’t fathom what that must be like, yet it makes his heart ache all the same. He wished for the truth, and this is a harsh, heavy, and yet strangely delicate thing that’s been laid at his feet. ]

I care… because I care. Because you are my friend, and I only wish to know you. Is that truly so strange?

[ It must be, or else Ardyn would not have asked. ]

I know my words probably mean very little, given what you’ve been through, but for whatever paltry sum it may be worth… I am sorry.

[Every word that X'rhun speaks is something that makes Ardyn inwardly recoil. They are like little hooks, wanting to connect, wanting to pierce his skin and sting, to draw him in closer. He wishes to sever them cleanly so that he needn't deal with the trouble.

He says that he is sorry, but sorry does little good for him these days. Ardyn had resigned himself to the loss of humanity (for surely it is all but gone now, that spark of desperation in him only a desire to rest and nothing more?), and X'rhun's empathy has nowhere to settle in his mind. Ardyn is all jagged edges, torn and uneven, and his companion offers him a piece of something that does not fit neatly anywhere within himself.

Even so, there is a long silence, cold and deafening, that falls between them before he answers.]

We are long past the point of condolences, X'rhun. I am...

[He trails off, and whatever he had deigned to say sticks and dies in his throat.]

Well. Much appreciated, this empathy of yours, but it changes nothing. I'll not have you feeling sorry for me, like I'm some fragile thing about to shatter under the weight.

[ That may be easier said than done, that severance, because when X'rhun gets his claws into something, it may prove quite a feat to get him to let go.

He waits patiently for Ardyn to speak again, not wanting to force anything. Ardyn may insist that he is not fragile, himself, but X'rhun gets the feeling this is not a topic oft brought into the metaphorical light. There is a certain amount of care needed here. ]

I hardly think you delicate. My opinion of you remains unchanged, I simply... understand you a bit better.

[He'll have to keep those claws sharp, then, because Ardyn already tries to slip away, much like oil, in the way his demeanor once again shifts into something casual and meaningless.]

More pieces of the proverbial puzzle to slot into place. I'm glad to have provided some means of diversion for you.

[If there are no more questions, then, all the better. And if there are no more questions, then they can move on.]

Shall we continue? I do hate standing around in the dark, and you appear mostly unscathed.

"Diversion"? I'm not sure you and I share the same definition of the word.

[ He's trying to be patient, knowing that Ardyn likely doesn't talk about this often, or at all. Anyone else would probably drop the subject and move on, but X'rhun is stubborn sometimes.

Okay, all the time.

They do resume their trek, but it's not long before X'rhun ventures, ]

My last apprentice carried the blood of voidsent in her veins. I can only assume the creatures of the Void are the same as your daemons. Things inhuman, things not of this world.

[What a stubborn cat. Ardyn's mouth threatens to twist into a frown as they walk in the dark, but he schools it into something more neutral.]

Well, that depends on where these 'voidsent' of yours come from.

[Idly, he notes the feeling of a breeze at his side -- ah, his clothes. Seems as if this outfit is a lost cause, thanks to that spike from earlier granting it a gaping hole.]

They come from the Void. Hence the name.

[ Like, duh. However, he’s not going to just leave it there. ]

The Void is… well, to put is succinctly, it’s the world between worlds. A great many voidsent are demonic in nature, so make of that what you will. Lilith— a voidsent queen, and Arya’s progenitor —was certainly in that camp.

CLOSED ♦ don't get caught by a temple guard

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