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Silence.
A chill swept down Ignis’ neck as the sounds and smells of the daemonic activity around him ceased completely. There was nothing to sense for a heartbeat or two as he stood uneasily in the ruins. Then finally, he heard it.
Casual, unhurried footfalls echoed in the abruptly still and empty dungeon, announcing the arrival of an unwelcome companion.
“What are you doing here?” Ignis demanded without turning around.
“Such ferocity,” Ardyn drawled as his footsteps drew nearer. “I merely wished to see how you were doing. You appear to be looking well.”
“Take another step…” Ignis said as he turned around to face the monster who was the cause of all this misery. “...and you’ll find my aim hasn’t suffered for my lack of sight.”
Ardyn chuckled, “An attack which would be meaningless. You already know how death has forsaken me.”
“It wouldn’t be senseless,” Ignis said in a calm tone that barely masked his rising fury. “You can still feel pain.”
A rustle of fabric indicated Ardyn was tipping his hat in that infuriating way of his in response. “True, but you needn’t worry. Consider this to be a social call.”
Another footstep fell and Ignis very deliberately threw both of his daggers, knowing with absolute certainty that they would pass by on either side of Ardyn’s face with the barest of margins. The forward motion immediately ceased, and Ignis recalled his daggers to his hands.
“You’ve made your point,” Ardyn sighed with a disappointed air. “But really, there’s no need for such violence.”
“What are you doing here?” Ignis repeated coldly.
“Consider it a curiosity of sorts,” Ardyn replied. “You know as well as I, how this is going to end. Why do you persist, scouring the feeble ruins of long dead men for a solution that does not exist?”
“Why on Eos would you believe I’d ever accept such a statement from you?” Ignis asked incredulously. “I will never stop trying to find another way.”
“Ah,” Ardyn mocked. “Hope. It’s such a fragile thing. And oh so easily shattered.”
“Not for me,” Ignis growled furiously.
“So it seems.” Ardyn’s words were drippingly condescending as once again a rustle of fabric indicated a mocking bow in Ignis’ direction. “For what it's worth, futile though your efforts shall be, I admire your tenacity. Your King doesn’t deserve you.”
“That’s because loyalty is something you’ll never understand,” Ignis snarled.
“Perhaps,” Ardyn conceded as he turned on his heel, the sound of his coat swaying with the motion echoing in the still space. “Until we meet again. Do be careful now, would you?”
Ardyn’s footsteps left the way they had come, but the uneasy feeling he left behind lingered. Ignis stood still, waiting for the sounds and smells of the daemons to return—prepared for an attack that never came.
He was left with nothing… but silence.