[His brow furrows, peeling back through his memories as if he hadn't done so a thousand times before. As if something might spark, as they are often wont to do.
Nothing rears its head, not just yet.]
I don't think so. But... that doesn't mean that I hadn't been. There are still great gaps in my memory.
[He pauses again, as if standing on the precipice of a conversation he's not quite sure he wants to entertain. But Ardyn makes the choice to do so anyway.]
Beyond the one memory that you're aware of. The throne room, couched in darkness.
[ Not a whole lot of memories from this past are whimsical by any means. Some are more upbeat than others, but most involve these strange feelings of dread and fear. Noct’s posture starts to slack a little, when the throne is brought up again. Noctis recalls the image of rubble and darkness that spilled from broken windows. A large throne seated atop an eternity of stairs.
Noctis narrows his gaze. His stomach sinks when he adds: ]
The Crystal was there.
[ Not in the strange keep he’d originally remembered it in. ]
What’s that thing’s purpose anyway? It comes up constantly, it was obviously a large part of the war.
I don't know. It was powerful, I think -- there was magic radiating from it, in that strange vision of mine. And it was seated above the throne itself. A symbol of power, if not more than that.
[He knits his brow together, just thinking on it. Noctis saw it himself, he didn't need to explain it again.]
To say that it was important, I think, is not a wrong assessment.
no subject
Did you end up in Insomnia? Like living there.
If we're related, that means we're both royalty. Do you remember being in the Citadel before war broke out?
no subject
Nothing rears its head, not just yet.]
I don't think so. But... that doesn't mean that I hadn't been. There are still great gaps in my memory.
[He pauses again, as if standing on the precipice of a conversation he's not quite sure he wants to entertain. But Ardyn makes the choice to do so anyway.]
Beyond the one memory that you're aware of. The throne room, couched in darkness.
no subject
Noctis narrows his gaze. His stomach sinks when he adds: ]
The Crystal was there.
[ Not in the strange keep he’d originally remembered it in. ]
What’s that thing’s purpose anyway? It comes up constantly, it was obviously a large part of the war.
no subject
[He knits his brow together, just thinking on it. Noctis saw it himself, he didn't need to explain it again.]
To say that it was important, I think, is not a wrong assessment.