[ Estinien is silent for a long while after Ardbert pauses. Wandering as a shade for a century. A veritable hell; Estinien wonders how Ardbert is so even-keeled about things now. The Gods certainly know that if it were Estinien he would have lost it quite spectacularly only a handful of years in.
So Ardbert came to the Source to raise some hell and was soundly defeated and sent back to the First along with the Scions' former leader in order to avert a calamity that he himself was the—presumably unwilling—architect of.
[ Estinien doesn't reveal much about what he thinks of all this, not that he's an easy man to read in the first place. Perhaps for now he's simply processing it all and is withholding an opinion until he's heard the whole story. ]
... Well, it's not as if she knew what was happening either. But after a century, during which my awareness of my surroundings had begun to fray, I was suddenly wide awake again and drawn to her in a way I hadn't ever been in that time. More than that, she could hear me. Speak to me.
[ Even now, his voice is awed at the memory of it, as he slowly shakes his head to himself. ]
She let me know that she planned to save my home from the brink. At that point, I didn't believe her, all hope spent long ago...
[ But he's becoming distracted, reminiscing like this. ]
Ultimately, it was the shade of an Ancient who revealed to us why we had this connection. Aria and I are sundered shards broken off from the same Ancient soul.
[ How much that will mean to Estinien, he doesn't know, but he pauses there. ]
[ Sundered shards of the same soul. Estinien breathes a laugh, suddenly. ]
I suppose then that I wasn't all that far off when I called you an adventurer friend of Aria's.
[ So it was Aria who pulled him back from the edge. Even he can tell from the way he speaks of it that much of Ardbert's... rehabilitation, for lack of a better word, is linked to Aria. It seems she has a knack for that, saving lost causes, though in his case Estinien would lay most of that at Alphinaud’s feet. ]
Does that also make you a Warrior of Light? For your shard?
[ If so then it must ache, doubly so, to know that it was his own efforts to save his star that doomed it. He supposes falling to an Ascian scheme makes sense then. Certainly, Estinien is in no position to cast stones; Nidhogg possessed him for a reason, after all.
'Tis, perhaps, not so strange then that he got caught up in all this. A shard from the same soul as Aria, perhaps he was merely caught in the crossfire, so to speak, when she was summoned here. Didn’t they arrive at the same time?
...Except, he remembers, he recognized Estinien immediately. ]
[ Not all that far off? Estinien's right about that. At the most basic version of all that Ardbert has explained, him being an "adventurer friend" is truly all it is, and Estinien does strike him as someone who prefers to be straightforward with such things.
So he echoes that laugh with a brief chuckle of his own, and nods. ]
Aye, it does. Along with my companions, who were much to me as the Scions are to Aria. We were given Hydaelyn's blessing as well.
[ There are many comparisons to be drawn, but many ways in which their stories differed. Even if they're shards of the same original soul, that doesn't mean they're not their own people, but he doesn't think he needs to explain any of that to Estinien.
But yes, now to go back to the original question that brought about this whole explanation. He clears his throat and continues on. ]
In order to have the strength to defeat Emet-Selch, I managed to merge my soul with hers. From that point on, ever since she returned from the First, I have been partially present within her, catching bits and pieces of her experiences. That included you joining the Scions officially, meeting Vrtra, and so on.
[ And then came Diadem, splitting them back apart and giving him a body. Somehow. ]
[ So he is here because of Aria but through more direct causes. As ever he is right; all problems lead back to her.
Partially present within her.
Hmm, now that's a familiar story. ]
Then how is it you are here now? What mechanism separated you?
[ Would it then be possible for Nidhogg’s shade inside to live again once more as Ardbert does? And if so, would that be a boon or a curse? As long lived as Great Wyrms are, civilisations could rise and fall a thousand times over before their grief begins to wane. Estinien would not subject the people here to something like that. And… he would not want to fight Nidhogg again. No, there is no satisfaction to be found in that. ]
[ Ardbert sighs and shakes his head, his hands tightening around the steering wheel just slightly. They're well into the Fringes now, so it's simply a matter of deciding where to stop for their bout. ]
We woke up in the same medical tent in the scrapyard, but in different bodies. It's not as if there's anyone we can ask about where this body came from or how my soul was put into it, either.
[ Much like many things in Diadem, they simply have to accept it as some odd cosmic occurrence. Which doesn't sit well with him, but there hasn't been much that they can do about it either.
A pause, and then he shoots Estinien a wry smile. ]
So, if I happen to disappear at random one day, now you'll at least know why.
[ So much uncertainty. He might have wondered if the same thing that befell him in the diffusion zones could have happened to Ardbert, but Ardbert mentioned that his body appeared on arrival. He might disappear only once they have found a way back to their star, but equally the magic that holds his form might just cease to be. No doubt Aria is already looking into it, but Estinien might also ask among his acquaintances to see if they might have some familiarity with something like this. ]
Anywhere around here is fine as long as we fight far enough away from the roads.
[ Anticipation is starting to build now. The last fight he had—real fight and not just the scuffles he gets into with these brigands and so-called raiders—was with Aria. And Ardbert claims to also be a Warrior of Light, with all that it entails. It promises to be a good bout. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
So Ardbert came to the Source to raise some hell and was soundly defeated and sent back to the First along with the Scions' former leader in order to avert a calamity that he himself was the—presumably unwilling—architect of.
Remarkably even-keeled. ]
And what did Aria reveal to you?
no subject
... Well, it's not as if she knew what was happening either. But after a century, during which my awareness of my surroundings had begun to fray, I was suddenly wide awake again and drawn to her in a way I hadn't ever been in that time. More than that, she could hear me. Speak to me.
[ Even now, his voice is awed at the memory of it, as he slowly shakes his head to himself. ]
She let me know that she planned to save my home from the brink. At that point, I didn't believe her, all hope spent long ago...
[ But he's becoming distracted, reminiscing like this. ]
Ultimately, it was the shade of an Ancient who revealed to us why we had this connection. Aria and I are sundered shards broken off from the same Ancient soul.
[ How much that will mean to Estinien, he doesn't know, but he pauses there. ]
no subject
I suppose then that I wasn't all that far off when I called you an adventurer friend of Aria's.
[ So it was Aria who pulled him back from the edge. Even he can tell from the way he speaks of it that much of Ardbert's... rehabilitation, for lack of a better word, is linked to Aria. It seems she has a knack for that, saving lost causes, though in his case Estinien would lay most of that at Alphinaud’s feet. ]
Does that also make you a Warrior of Light? For your shard?
[ If so then it must ache, doubly so, to know that it was his own efforts to save his star that doomed it. He supposes falling to an Ascian scheme makes sense then. Certainly, Estinien is in no position to cast stones; Nidhogg possessed him for a reason, after all.
'Tis, perhaps, not so strange then that he got caught up in all this. A shard from the same soul as Aria, perhaps he was merely caught in the crossfire, so to speak, when she was summoned here. Didn’t they arrive at the same time?
...Except, he remembers, he recognized Estinien immediately. ]
How, exactly, do you know me then?
no subject
So he echoes that laugh with a brief chuckle of his own, and nods. ]
Aye, it does. Along with my companions, who were much to me as the Scions are to Aria. We were given Hydaelyn's blessing as well.
[ There are many comparisons to be drawn, but many ways in which their stories differed. Even if they're shards of the same original soul, that doesn't mean they're not their own people, but he doesn't think he needs to explain any of that to Estinien.
But yes, now to go back to the original question that brought about this whole explanation. He clears his throat and continues on. ]
In order to have the strength to defeat Emet-Selch, I managed to merge my soul with hers. From that point on, ever since she returned from the First, I have been partially present within her, catching bits and pieces of her experiences. That included you joining the Scions officially, meeting Vrtra, and so on.
[ And then came Diadem, splitting them back apart and giving him a body. Somehow. ]
no subject
Partially present within her.
Hmm, now that's a familiar story. ]
Then how is it you are here now? What mechanism separated you?
[ Would it then be possible for Nidhogg’s shade inside to live again once more as Ardbert does? And if so, would that be a boon or a curse? As long lived as Great Wyrms are, civilisations could rise and fall a thousand times over before their grief begins to wane. Estinien would not subject the people here to something like that. And… he would not want to fight Nidhogg again. No, there is no satisfaction to be found in that. ]
no subject
[ Ardbert sighs and shakes his head, his hands tightening around the steering wheel just slightly. They're well into the Fringes now, so it's simply a matter of deciding where to stop for their bout. ]
We woke up in the same medical tent in the scrapyard, but in different bodies. It's not as if there's anyone we can ask about where this body came from or how my soul was put into it, either.
[ Much like many things in Diadem, they simply have to accept it as some odd cosmic occurrence. Which doesn't sit well with him, but there hasn't been much that they can do about it either.
A pause, and then he shoots Estinien a wry smile. ]
So, if I happen to disappear at random one day, now you'll at least know why.
no subject
In that case, I'll be sure to go easy on you.
[ So much uncertainty. He might have wondered if the same thing that befell him in the diffusion zones could have happened to Ardbert, but Ardbert mentioned that his body appeared on arrival. He might disappear only once they have found a way back to their star, but equally the magic that holds his form might just cease to be. No doubt Aria is already looking into it, but Estinien might also ask among his acquaintances to see if they might have some familiarity with something like this. ]
Anywhere around here is fine as long as we fight far enough away from the roads.
[ Anticipation is starting to build now. The last fight he had—real fight and not just the scuffles he gets into with these brigands and so-called raiders—was with Aria. And Ardbert claims to also be a Warrior of Light, with all that it entails. It promises to be a good bout. ]