Hi Everyone! Not sure if you came here from Final Fantasy 15-2 Reconstruction and Illusion or stumbled on this little guy on its own. Either way, welcome! This is a sequel to Final Fantasy 15-2 Reconstruction and Illusion. However, you do not have to have read that super long story in order to make sense of this one. I will provide the relevant summary as we go to help make sense of the (otherwise) madness :) This story will be Ardyn-centric, include OC's, and probably put Ardyn in a pairing. Hope that's ok. Hope you enjoy, and feedback is always appreciated.


The library in the Domestic Wing of the Citadel was, in normal circumstances, a peaceful haven. The books it housed, both ancient and modern, stood in orderly rows from floor to ceiling on the dark wood shelves. Spiral staircases in the corners led to a wrought iron lattice catwalk that ringed the upper story, giving bibliophiles an alternative to climbing a tall ladder to reach the upper shelves.

The room was tastefully festooned with reading nooks, window seats, desks, and comfortable chairs. Anything to keep the visitors comfortable. It was almost too comfortable of a room to go to school in, Lux Highwind Lucis Caelum Scientia thought. However, his governess, Eostre Hallbera, managed to keep things entertaining, forcing him to learn almost in spite of himself.

It helped that she had once been a doctor, or something. She didn't talk about it much, but she was a fount of information healing herbs, poisons, crazy symptoms of illnesses, rare diseases. He could listen to lectures on it all day, if he were allowed to.

"Do, you think Ignis is right about Altissia," he asked his governess.

Eostre adjusted her leaf-green-framed glasses, an almost unconscious movement on her part while she mustered her thoughts. She didn't want to speak ill of the Prime Minister. Especially Ignis Scientia, the stepfather of her charge. He had served Noctis with efficiency and compassion, helping him return light to the world. He had seemed the logical choice for caring for the Kingdom in Noctis's stead while he and Luna went on their long-overdue honeymoon.

However, his recent call to block transit to and from Altissia was disturbing, and out of character. Would Noctis be cool with it? It was hard to tell since his honeymoon had lasted three months so far and counting. And he was totally incommunicado.

"Well, it's like what his Press Secretary Prompto said," Eostre began awkwardly. "Now that Camelia Claustra has stepped down from her role as High Secretary, it has left a power vacuum in Altissia that potentially unsavory elements may seek to exploit. The instability of that region in general means that more refugees may start seeking asylum, which could cause an infrastructure problem for Lucis in our present state of rebuilding."

Lux scoffed, tossing his pale blonde hair in derision, a move too similar to his real father for Eostre's comfort. "Ignis wouldn't care about that at all," he exclaimed. "The real Ignis would let anyone in he could. He knows full well what it's like to be without a country. I'm telling you, something is wrong with him! With everyone!"

Eostre looked around quickly, to make sure they weren't being overheard. His sentiments disturbingly aligned with hers, but it wasn't prudent to air them. She had thought the past was behind them. She had believed light had returned and that Noctis and Luna, alongside their Prime Minister Ignis Scientia, would rule justly and compassionately. She had thought Captain of the Guards Cor Leonis would keep the peace.

They had, at first, but they had changed. Noctis and Luna had become so preoccupied with having a royal heir that they had departed for a long overdue honeymoon three months ago and had yet to return. Ignis, ruling in their stead, had begun some disturbing isolationist policies that Cor and Prompto backed him on.

Even Gladio, serving as ambassador to Lestallum, was supporting that vision, lobbying with the officials in Lestallum to put some safeguards in place against Altissia refugees. Seeing as the main official there was Holly Teulle, soon to be Mrs. Gladio Amitica, it was evident that Lestallum would follow suit.

And his sister, Iris, was now queen of Tenebrae, alongside King Ravus Nox Fleuret. Gladio could no doubt call in favors there as well. Eostre never would have thought Gladio could be a threat due to connections—he had seemed a more straightforward warrior type. Yet, that skill was of less use in peacetime. Diplomacy packed more of a punch, and who he had influence with made him a force to be reckoned with there.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," echoed in Eostre's head. Yet, she refused to even think it of them. They had sacrificed so much—seen firsthand the drawbacks of too much power. They were the most heroic people she knew. Yet, what was wrong with them?

Her reverie was cut short when the door to the library opened and Aranea Highwind Scientia, Lux's mother, entered.

"Oh, here you are Lux," she said, voice the same as always.

Yet, Eostre saw the difference. For one thing, Aranea had totally ignored her. Aranea usually treated her with the same informality that she used for Lux. They had known each other for almost twelve years after all. If it weren't for Aranea, Eostre would never have left Gralea alive, or uncorrupted-all thanks to Ardyn Izunia…

Even thinking his name put a bad taste in her mouth. And that son of a bitch was still alive, somehow. Eostre didn't have all the particulars, but she knew he had managed to walk between the raindrops, to not have had the need to atone for his crimes.

Aranea, Ignis, and Lux said he was changed, toned down, but Eostre didn't believe it. She was a firm believer in the phrase, leopards never change their spots. If she ever saw him again, she would give him a piece of her mind. Given her present company, it was possible they would meet again, but she made every effort to ensure they never did. She wanted nothing to do with him when all was said and done. Still, she wouldn't put it past him to be involved in all of this, somehow.

"Hi, mom," Lux squeaked. "We were just, discussing political theory."

"Good, good," Aranea replied brightly. "You will need that for when you succeed Ignis as Prime Minister one day."

Lux jolted back, surprised that his mother would even say that. She knew firsthand he had no aspirations there. Why would she force it now? She was acting weird too, just like Ignis…

"I'm worried about you, Lux. With all the stuff going on Altissia, we may be dealing with darkness coming again," Aranea continued, with seemingly genuine concern.

"If I may, Aranea," Eostre broke in, "a little bit of instability in Altissia doesn't mean a rise in darkness."

Aranea turned on her sharply. "This is between me and my son," she snapped back. Eostre stepped back in shock. Aranea had never treated her this way. For all that Aranea had been the leader of Tenebrae and now the Prime Minister's wife, she had always seen herself as an equal, and encouraged everyone she knew to speak freely on any issue. Even if Eostre had spoken out of turn, it didn't warrant this type of reaction.

"We need the light now more so than ever Lux," Aranea continued. "I'd like to make sure you are protected. It is the least I can do, seeing as I failed you for ten years."

"Oh, that," Lux said with a nervous laugh. "You didn't know about me. It's totally cool."

"I should have known about you," Aranea replied sharply. "I should have known Verstael would take my DNA without my knowledge, combine it with Ardyn's, and create you. Gene splicing was his MO. I should have known. I am going to make it up to you. You and I will join Cosmos together in the light."

So saying, a white mist oozed from her fingers as she approached Lux.

"No, wait, Mom," Lux cried out in fear, not liking this one bit.

White mist—just like black mist…Eostre was propelled back twelve years ago. To Gralea. Black mist swirling from all of the corrupted. She may have been a helpless victim then—thinking about having been in Ardyn's clutches made her feel cold even now. But this was not then. She was older, had lived through ten years of darkness. She would not make the same mistakes she had then.

She spied the bouquet of bamboo poles resting in a giant black ceramic vase in the corner. Designed to be decorative with a minimalist aesthetic, were they strong enough to use as a weapon? She would find out. She grabbed one, ran up to Aranea, and slugged her behind the knees.

Aranea wasn't expecting it—her attention fanatically focused on Lux. Her knees collapsed, forcing her to fall to her knees on the floor.

"Run, Lux," Eostre ordered as Aranea gracefully rose to her feet, shaking off the pain, advancing towards Eostre with a warrior's stance.

Eostre impatiently shoved her slightly graying rose-gold hair out of her line of vision, and spied with relief Lux dashing up one of the spiral staircases to get as far away as he could. That was all she could tell though as Aranea lunged forward in attempt to grab the pole from her.

A too successful attempt as Eostre felt it slide out of her sweaty (with fear) grasp.

"You are not worthy of the light," Aranea said flatly, wielding the newly-acquired polearm with the skill of a master.

Eostre knew a polearm could kill in so many ways. And Aranea undoubtedly knew every one. Was Aranea going to bludgeon her, impale her, strike her from above? Eostre wasn't a fighter. The notion of defending herself from any of it was laughable.

The only thing she had had to fight back with was her all-too-limited medical training. She knew what parts of the human body were vulnerable though. Eostre lunged forward, meeting the pole head on. It helped that Aranea still had it sideways, protecting her torso. That didn't matter. Eostre used her whole weight to press against it to keep Aranea from moving around, and to keep the weapon out of play.

This was one advantage to being taller and stockier than the average woman, Eostre thought wryly. No matter how skilled somebody was, if you threw all your weight at them, it still gave you an edge. She reached around Aranea's guard and grabbed her behind the ear. Eostre knew light pressure on the carotid artery in the area could cause someone to quickly lose consciousness, and played that card out of desperation.

Aranea tried to twist aside, but Eostre's not insignificant weight against the pole prevented leverage. The pole was rendered useless at such close quarters with Eostre pressed against it. Eostre's precision strike worked. Aranea's consciousness receded, and she collapsed, rag-doll to the floor.

"Holy crap! How did you do that," Lux asked in a mix of horror and fascination, hurrying back down the stairs with a speed that made Eostre fear he would fall and break his neck.

She should chide her charge for his language too, she thought dazedly. But now was not the time. How the hell could someone like her have incapacitated a hardened warrior like Aranea? Why did she have to in the first place? Was Aranea seriously injured? Should Eostre administer first aid?

But Aranea had made a move first. The white mist was a threat in and of itself. And she had aimed at it her own son. Eostre had just been defending them both. But why had Aranea forced her to? What the hell was going on?

Lux crouched down next to his mother, unsure whether to revive her or run from her. Eostre was in the same boat. Her breastbone and diaphragm hurt from blocking the polearm, as though she had fallen flat on her face from a great height. Had the pole managed to crack her ribs? It didn't matter for the moment. She needed to figure out what to do next.

Eostre was Lux's governess. Presently the adult in charge. She had to make the decision. Why was she not deemed high enough caliber to have the emergency contact information for Noctis and Luna, she thought in frustration. This was worth interrupting their honeymoon for. They could have helped her.

She was terrible in a crisis, always looking to lean on others, she thought in a panic. Just as she had in Gralea. She had thought Ardyn would help, but…she slammed down that thought. She didn't have Noctis's information, and it wasn't like Aranea or Prime Minister Ignis would give it. She would be tossed in a dungeon or outright killed after what she had just done.

Or worse—if that white mist worked like the black mist had…

They had to get out of here. Before Aranea woke up. Before the guards arrived and-the door to the hallway creaked open. It was too late. The guards would see Aranea unconscious, clearly attacked, with her son's governess standing over her. It wouldn't take an investigative genius to realize who Aranea's attacker was. And attacking the Prime Minister's wife was high treason.

There was no point in running for it, or trying to explain her actions. Eostre had been absurdly lucky with subduing Aranea. She could not hope to succeed against Cor or any of the guards. She stood in front of Lux to shield him and let her dove gray gaze shift to the doorway, meeting the opposition's gaze with calm dignity.

"Oh, my," the voice from the man she had never wanted to see again drawled from the doorway. "How many of King Noctis's laws have you just broken, I wonder?"

Ardyn Izunia sauntered in, looking much the same as he always had. Eostre was all too aware of how much she had aged in twelve years. To see him largely unchanged, even having that same smug smirk and knowing glance that she had always hated, wasn't fair.

His amber gaze fixed on her. Of course, he would not recognize her, she thought bitterly. She had been nothing but a pawn of his. And now she was a slightly graying, 40-year-old pawn. Even less worthy of his notice. His gaze gave nothing away. As usual, she could not read him, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

"Instead of throwing yourself upon the tender mercies of Prime Minister Iggy, perhaps you should come with me," he continued, smoothly, but with a dark edge that said she should obey him or else.

This was just like Gralea. People acting strangely, allies turning on each other. And Ardyn was the common denominator. Lux, Aranea, and Ignis had been wrong. Ardyn was not reformed. Eostre had been right. Once a villain, always a villain. He was back to raise hell. And she couldn't let him.

Her eyes darkened to the shade of a thunderhead. Forgetting the fact that she had just considered herself lucky with defeating Aranea, she grabbed the bamboo pole from Aranea's limp hand and lunged towards Ardyn, ignoring Lux's cry of alarm. It didn't matter that she didn't know how to use it. It didn't matter how strong, or lack thereof, she was. She had been given the chance to give him a piece of her mind, and would give it.


Six months ago

"I was the embodiment of the Starscourge—King of the endless night. Do you really think you can win against me," Ardyn Izunia asked his foe mockingly, before going in for the kill.

The cockroach at Ardyn's feet crunched under the weight of his boot, the first casualty of Ardyn's war.

Ardyn smirked wryly at his victory. From defeating Gods to exterminating pests in his new home. Strangely enough, Castlemark Tower felt like home to him. He had not had to fight anyone for possession of the property, either. Nobody else wanted Castlemark—to them it was a forsaken place that had once been infested with daemons. It was as forsaken as he had been, and as old as he was. Architecturally, it reminded him of his childhood, of a time when all things had seemed possible.

However, he conceded that modern amenities had their merits, which is why he had negotiated with Holly Teulle (soon to be Mrs. Gladio Amitica) to have her company EXERNIS run electrical wires out his way. It had filled him with smug satisfaction that he had succeeded in doing so. Evidently his negotiating skills from when he had been Chancellor were still sharp as a tack. However, he supposed it had something to do with the services he had rendered in helping Noct to save the world (yet again).

He had never expected to ally with Noctis, or to even be alive. Noct had slain him in the effort of returning light to the world. They had died together, as Luna and Ravus had at Ardyn's hand. Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis had fallen in the battle for light as well.

They had all ended up in a "special" afterlife thanks to Bahamut. Noctis and his ilk had been granted a peaceful Insomnia to forever rule over. Ardyn had been granted an eternal prison to think on his sins. Not that Ardyn would ever feel guilty for what he had done. Everything he had done was to protect the world, even if nobody else saw it that way.

He never sought to justify his actions or make excuses. He did what he did for the goals that he wanted. Whether people saw him as a sinner or saint didn't matter to him. Yet if he was forced to explain, he would post Ifrit as his Exhibit A. The Infernian had always been the problem—Ardyn had seen that for 2000 years.

Ifrit wanted to destroy humanity and had settled on using the crystal as its weapon to do it. Ardyn had used every wile at his disposal to make Ifrit think their goals were identical, while keeping Ifrit's claws sheathed, and the crystal untriggered. And, yes, Ardyn had had to do some, less than savory things, in the process. Yet, he was perfectly willing to do them if it would protect humanity.

Ardyn had thought he had succeeded when Noct had returned light to the world and slain Ifrit and him (finally giving Ardyn release from his immortal coil in the bargain). Yet the Gods were not done with them. Ifrit resurrected, angrier than ever. While it galled Ardyn to hear his work had been undone, he was perfectly willing to sit back in his eternal prison and watch others deal with it. His time was done.

Until he had heard about Ifrit's new pawn, Lux. Verstael Bersithia, in his infinite insanity, had collected Ardyn's DNA without his knowledge, cloned him, then fused in some of Aranea Highwind's DNA in for good measure. The result had been a test-tube-created boy with Ardyn's powers, tempered with Aranea's strength.

The boy was in essence Ardyn's and Aranea's unknown-about son, left to molder in a tank in the basement of Gralea for ten years. Ifrit had "rescued" Lux for the purpose of grooming him to use his powers of darkness and trigger the crystal, destroying humanity as Ifrit had always wanted.

That was the only reason Ardyn had returned from the "dead", alongside Noctis, Luna, Ravus, Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis to address the evil. The others came back to protect the world, but Ardyn no longer cared about that. He wanted revenge against Ifrit, and to be able to give the boy a choice. To keep him from being a pawn of the Gods as Ardyn had been. In the end, Ardyn had sacrificed his life for that—working with Noctis and his followers to slay Ifrit, then single-handedly destroying the crystal at the expense of his own life.

Ardyn had known his was a path one did not come back from. Beings like him did not deserve a second chance. He had come back fully expecting to die in battle once more and return to his prison. However, Bahamut had had other plans. He had honored Ardyn's sacrifice by granting him a normal mortal life, without dark powers. Giving him the chance to live out the rest of his natural life as a human being.

And Ardyn had to admit being human still took getting used to. Back when he had been the embodiment of the Starscourge, he always felt cold. And sunlight would show the daemon he really was, requiring him to cover up with his series of cloaks and fedora to conceal it. Now, the Lucis summer heat roasted him. He actually needed to dress for the weather. He had had to put his cloaks away until winter. He missed them. They were his thing—his style. And he couldn't even shapeshift into something more "him" anymore.

It's not like it mattered though. The only ones around to see him were the myriad pests infesting his castle. Was this what he was supposed to do with his life? Content himself with the mundane? Removing pests from what would be his kitchen (when he finished the renovation) definitely fell into the mundane category. And he wondered why he was bothering. It's not like he was building up a home to house a family.

He didn't have a family of his own. Lux was safely settled into Insomnia with Aranea, who had graciously taken responsibility for him, alongside Ignis, who was now his stepfather. It was better for all concerned. Ardyn wasn't the best influence for his son. Plus, he had had to, er, kill Lux in a sacrifice to gain the power to destroy the crystal. Luna, as the powerful Oracle she was, had been able to resurrect him, but it didn't change anything. Ardyn was better off alone.

Although living alone in Castlemark, wandering its empty halls the rest of life might be lonely, er, boring, was what he meant to say, he thought hastily. Maybe if he fully renovated it, he could turn it into a hotel with a bar and casino. Right on Noctis's doorstep. He smirked with amusement at the thought of the jet setters or riff raff congregating in Noctis's domain. And there was nothing Noctis could do about it. It was perfectly legal to start a business. And hadn't Noctis already told him he always had a home in Lucis?

Ardyn smirked in pure mischief. He may have lost his fangs, so to speak, but he was still himself. Except, thinking about why he had been given the chance at a normal life disturbed him. Had Bahamut really given him a "normal" life because he felt bad for him? Ardyn didn't buy it. The Gods didn't think that way. Ardyn strongly suspected there were other dark forces out there. And Bahamut was keeping him alive to see how he handled them.

Was that his calling? Was he to root out dark forces and stop them? It wasn't like he could rely on Noctis and the others to do it. They were settling into their wedded bliss. Noctis, and his queen Luna; Aranea and Ignis; Prompto and Cindy. Even Ravus and Iris; and Gladio and Holly were engaged. Ardyn had no wife, no future planned out, no calling. Perhaps tracking down darkness should be it.

Let them have their young love, Ardyn thought mockingly. He barely remembered that time in his life. His time with Aera was like a fading dream. He had thought he loved her. They had both wanted to heal the world, so had seemed to him to be kindred spirits. She had been blonde, fair, beautiful, tender. Everything a young na?ve youth like himself had wanted. Everything he knew about love, both physical and emotional, he had learned from her. It was his only experience with it.

It had not been love, though. For all that she had given herself to him physically, she had never loved him. She had viewed it as an arranged marriage. As a duty. It was her destiny to marry into the Lucis Caelum clan, so she had jumped at the first brother who had offered, which had been him. He should be bitter that he had grieved for her, to the point where he had lost control of his dark powers and performed his first mass daemonification. Yet, he now found himself grateful. He had used those powers well, and had used them for good, in the most backward way possible granted, but still.

There had been no other women since then. It's not like he had anything going on during a two-thousand-year imprisonment. He had spent those years in a blur. They were just a hodgepodge of grief and desire for revenge to him. And when Verstael had released him, he had had the chance to get revenge against his traitorous brother, and had seen that Ifrit was still a threat. Those had effectively driven the thought of any dalliance from his mind.

And he had known that any potential dalliances were of dangerous interest to both Verstael and Aldercapt. Aldercapt constantly threw potential partners of all genders his way, either to spy on him or in an attempt to control him. If he had married someone, it would have allied Ardyn, or the God-like Adagium that he was, to the Gralean nobility, which would have been a major feather in Aldercapt's cap.

And Verstael was constantly in the wings, creepily watching to see if someone with Ardyn's powers could procreate, and preparing to use any offspring as a test subject. That had effectively kept Ardyn away from anyone, kept him aloof and behind his mask. In the end, it had been useless. Verstael had stolen his DNA anyway and made offspring out of it. Ardyn should have known he would try something like that and countered it. He should have killed that bastard long since.

The more Ardyn thought about it, the more he realized that there really had been nobody who attracted him since Aera. Well, Aranea had, briefly, he conceded. When he had found out they had test-tube generated offspring together, it had put ideas into his head. He had wondered if, with enough inducement, she would succumb to his lures and be willing to have a child with him the natural way. He wouldn't say he loved her though. It had been more of a game. A challenge. Especially since Aranea had hated him.

He had abandoned the game before it got very far—he had seen she only had eyes for Ignis. And Ignis was the better man, even Ardyn admitted that. Still, Ardyn had kissed her once, and had regretted it ever since. She may have a grudging tolerance for him now, and they could speak to each other about Lux without fighting. But it was clear that she loved Ignis, and Ardyn didn't love her.

Other than Aera, which had not panned out, he had never cared about anyone. Everyone he had met since were either pawns or sources of entertainment. Except—the name and face resurfaced to his mind. A shadow stepping into the light from twelve years ago. How about her, he wondered. Where did she fall in that little setup?

He refused to think about her. She was no doubt long gone—having been destroyed by the daemons long ago. He should have turned her himself—made it quick and painless for her. He stopped himself. He had never cared about that—why start with her?

He winced as he saw another cockroach shuffle out from between his new refrigerator and oven. Crushing them did no good it seemed. Darkness fighting could wait, he thought. For now, he needed more powerful pest control methods. An exterminator, perhaps. No, he was better off dealing with the problem himself, just as he had always done.