[He wondered if the picture might still have been on his PIP even outside the simulation--wondered if it had ever been real. Had a pair of twins ever been so close before one fell to darkness and the other rose to be the bearer of the world's light? Had they ever...just been brothers?]
[Of all the people to think about at a time like this, he caught himself thinking of Noctis and that stupid hat. Bickering like...like siblings probably did. In another world, another reality, some timeline where Ardyn and Izunia hadn't ruined it all before it began, could the Lucis Caelum line ever have been happy?]
[He didn't really think so. But...that was okay. He'd entrusted Noctis with his salvation once, twisted as it had been. The others would help him, would look after each other where Ardyn no longer could. This wouldn't--couldn't break them, not now.]
[And he had truly meant what he said. If it came down to one life sacrificed versus however many saved...if it had to be someone, let it be him. Not Church, Heart, Junpei--not anyone else. That was the fate Ardyn alone had always been destined to bear; his life was nothing, had always been nothing next to the safety of those he loved.]
[And that was a strangely comforting last thought to have, as he fell asleep not to awaken in the next morning.]
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[He wondered if the picture might still have been on his PIP even outside the simulation--wondered if it had ever been real. Had a pair of twins ever been so close before one fell to darkness and the other rose to be the bearer of the world's light? Had they ever...just been brothers?]
[Of all the people to think about at a time like this, he caught himself thinking of Noctis and that stupid hat. Bickering like...like siblings probably did. In another world, another reality, some timeline where Ardyn and Izunia hadn't ruined it all before it began, could the Lucis Caelum line ever have been happy?]
[He didn't really think so. But...that was okay. He'd entrusted Noctis with his salvation once, twisted as it had been. The others would help him, would look after each other where Ardyn no longer could. This wouldn't--couldn't break them, not now.]
[And he had truly meant what he said. If it came down to one life sacrificed versus however many saved...if it had to be someone, let it be him. Not Church, Heart, Junpei--not anyone else. That was the fate Ardyn alone had always been destined to bear; his life was nothing, had always been nothing next to the safety of those he loved.]
[And that was a strangely comforting last thought to have, as he fell asleep not to awaken in the next morning.]