[After breakfast in the dining room as had become routine, Ardyn went to the garden ostensibly looking for Luscinia. And with the bird following him, he briefly retreated to a more secluded corner in the shadow of a tree.]
[...The guy on your ring. Oh my god, what an actual bastard!]
[He'd worn it all this time as a reminder of what he was. Which became a reminder of what he'd thought he was, and then what he'd wanted to be. There was no power to call from it now, no magic it could act as a conduit for. It was as useless as a prophesied hero who the prophecy had lied to from the start.]
[He reached for his right hand with his left and pulled the ornate ring from his finger, with its damned Crystal and image of Bahamut. Curled his hand around it, pulled his arm back like he was about to throw it into the wide array of plants-]
[-and then he stopped. He had personally seen it burn away those who wore it carelessly; if its power ever did return, Ardyn would burn out just like Ravus Nox Fleuret and Nyx Ulric all because he was unworthy in the eyes of the kings of Lucis. In the eyes of that miserable, worthless Draconian. Just a pawn that was sacrificed and cast aside once its job was done.]
[I don't think Bahamut ever meant for me to save anything.]
[What better rebellion, then? Not only to live for reasons other than being forced to, but to openly wear the symbol of the power he'd dismantled out of spite? Challenging them come and take it, daring gods and kings from a world away to tell him he couldn't wear what had once been his by right.]
[...He lowered his arm, returning the ring to his right hand. No flash of fire, no burst of magic...just a symbol now, and nothing more.]
no subject
[...The guy on your ring. Oh my god, what an actual bastard!]
[He'd worn it all this time as a reminder of what he was. Which became a reminder of what he'd thought he was, and then what he'd wanted to be. There was no power to call from it now, no magic it could act as a conduit for. It was as useless as a prophesied hero who the prophecy had lied to from the start.]
[He reached for his right hand with his left and pulled the ornate ring from his finger, with its damned Crystal and image of Bahamut. Curled his hand around it, pulled his arm back like he was about to throw it into the wide array of plants-]
[-and then he stopped. He had personally seen it burn away those who wore it carelessly; if its power ever did return, Ardyn would burn out just like Ravus Nox Fleuret and Nyx Ulric all because he was unworthy in the eyes of the kings of Lucis. In the eyes of that miserable, worthless Draconian. Just a pawn that was sacrificed and cast aside once its job was done.]
[I don't think Bahamut ever meant for me to save anything.]
[What better rebellion, then? Not only to live for reasons other than being forced to, but to openly wear the symbol of the power he'd dismantled out of spite? Challenging them come and take it, daring gods and kings from a world away to tell him he couldn't wear what had once been his by right.]
[...He lowered his arm, returning the ring to his right hand. No flash of fire, no burst of magic...just a symbol now, and nothing more.]