Luke took one look at it and his expression quickly morphed into that of surprise.
"This is... How did you know?" He reached out and took it from Ardyn’s hand, his eyes glazing over.
"Well... rember when we first t?" Ardyn unconsciously rubbed the back of his head. "I an last night, in town. When we crossed paths by chance. I noticed your cloak then. The clasp especially caught my eye."
Luke smiled as he put the object into his pocket. Since it had fallen off his cloak, it was better not to attach it again for now lest it fall off again. "It’s a gift from my sister, so it ans a lot to that you kept it," he said softly. "You could have just left it behind, but you didn’t. So... thank you."
"It made realize that you were no longer in the church," Ardyn said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head again. It was a nervous habit of his whenever he felt a bit shy. He had never been good with complints and responding to people who thanked him, especially when done in person.
Luke sent him an indecipherable glance. "You looked for frantically, it seems."
Ardyn nodded. "I did. It was unlike anything I ever felt before, to be honest."
"How so?" Luke asked curiously.
"I just felt that you were in danger sohow," Ardyn confessed honestly. "And I didn’t want to get away from the city. It felt really wrong sohow. So when that priest ntioned sothing about trapping soone—"
"Hold on. I’m sorry to interrupt, but..." Luke’s eyes were wide. "You an the priest admitted in front of many people that he made fall down that trapdoor?"
"So many things happened at once," Ardyn explained. "The soldiers suddenly got ambushed by beasts, I think they were called. Then the clouds began to turn dark gray and ford a dense area over the city. It looked like a storm was brewing, but at the sa ti, it felt like sothing more sinister was coming. Everyone could feel it."
Ardyn shuddered a little as he thought back to that scene.
"So they started getting scared, and the priest started mumbling things, and I overheard it in the chaos..."
"That was when you turned around and ran back to the city?"
Ardyn nodded. "I couldn’t help myself. On the way, I even saw all these... these Lingers — I think that’s what Evan called them — flying away from the scene. Everything just felt so strange and so wrong. But I beca even more determined to find you."
The two of them fell silent at that. Ardyn clenched his hands into fists as he recalled that exact mont, feeling as though there were still lingering traces of that amazing adrenaline in his system.
Luke, on the other hand, didn’t know what to say. So he decided to quietly change the subject to sothing they could have an honest conversation about, one that would address the nagging question in his head.
"So... you were friends with His Highness?" Luke asked gently. "You called his na so familiarly. I even spotted the two of you last night in town."
"His Highness... ah, you an Evan." A dark cloud seed to fall upon Ardyn the next mont. "Yeah... even though technically we only t each other for one day."
"Although the ti is short, the mories last forever," Luke said, his voice becoming more tender by the second. "So he was kind to you?"
Ardyn nodded solemnly. "At first, when I ca to this world... I thought I was lost or sothing. Or maybe it was just a dream. I was so confused and wanted answers right away. I’m usually a little impatient." He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "I kept pestering him with questions, but he patiently answered them one by one. I think at that mont he realized that... I was different."
"I see. That’s surprising. I never expected soone from the royal family to be so easily accepting of Otherworlders." A wry smile curved Luke’s lips. "They’re usually the ones that hunt them down."
Ardyn turned to him, eyes wide. "You serious?"
Luke nodded. "Unfortunately. The kingdoms want their people to feel safe and secure. The people will be restless and feel unsafe if there’s an Otherworlder on the loose. Such was the situation in the past when your kind was still prevalent."
Ardyn tilted his head backward until it rested against the carriage walls, closing his eyes. "My existence here is a curse," he muttered. "Why am I even here?"
Luke looked at him, but could not say a word.
Because he had the sa thoughts.
The only difference was that he had had them for years.
He felt a twinge of sympathy for Ardyn, but he couldn’t comfort him because...
Well, it was true, after all. Most of the world hated them. There was no point in sugarcoating it.
If it weren’t a cri, they — Luke and Zach — probably wouldn’t even exist right now.
"If I may ask..." Luke began carefully. "How did you die?"
Ardyn’s eyes opened slowly. "So you know that Otherworlders co to this world after they died in their original world, huh?"
Luke nodded. "Sotis I think about it a lot," he admitted. "About death, I an. It might sound insensitive of considering your situation, but... I think it would be good for us to confide in each other, even just a little. After all..." He smiled gently. "From now on, all that we’ll have is each other. We can’t trust anybody else."
Ardyn swallowed.
It was true, and it sounded horrible without proper context, but...
He also felt a bit relieved.
He hadn’t had this kind of problem back in his world. There, people wanted to talk to him and be with him. There had been little hostility in his friendships and relationships. He also spoke freely and did what he wanted without any restrictions. He was naturally free-spirited and didn’t take kindly to being bound by the rules.
Living here was going to be difficult.
But maybe, just maybe...
They could make it work?
To be honest, Ardyn still didn’t know what to make of this new world. His feelings were still simring with uncertainty. His despair, curiosity, grief, and anger all mixed together, and he was still terribly confused.
Did he really want to beco a Guardian and walk down this path without looking back?
He didn’t have the answer yet.
But maybe he would soon. He just had to figure things out slowly, at his own pace.
And hopefully, by the ti he found his answer, the Calamity wouldn’t be back to kill him for real this ti.
"...It was an unexpected death," Ardyn confessed. "I died in an accident. The last thing I rember is the vehicle exploding in flas, and then I just blacked out. When I opened my eyes the next mont, I was lying on the shore."
The words flowed out of his mouth without stopping as he started explaining what had happened. Before he knew it, he was recounting the horrific events that he had tried to block from his mind the mont he arrived. The accident, the confusion, the fear...
The mory was horrible, mostly because of the anguish that he felt and the painful fact that he had actually died and could no longer return to his world.
"And that poor taxi driver," he added hastily, his eyes wide with realization. "He had a daughter, I think. He had a daughter near my age and yet he... because of ... I—I don’t know, I still have no idea what really happened or how. I just... looked out the window and there was this car coming from the other end of the—"
His rant was suddenly interrupted by a sudden heat on his skin, a comforting sensation that stopped him from going frantic. When Ardyn looked down at his lap, he saw that his hands were shaking and that Luke’s hand was on top of them, like a reassuring warmth, a hearth in a small ho during a blizzard.
"You don’t have to say anything more," Luke said quietly. "I’m sorry I asked. I thought talking about it would make you feel better, but I think I just made you sadder."
Ardyn shook his head. "I’ll be fine," he assured, forcing a smile. "It’s better this way. Bottling up your feelings is never a good idea anyway."
Luke was silent for a mont. "You think so?"
"Of course. Just let it all out, you know?" Ardyn sighed as a thought crossed his mind at that mont. "I’m worried about everything. My parents... I’m — I an, I was — their only son. They still have my sister with them, but... I feel like I let them down."
Luke fell silent, but he gave a small nod, a hint to encourage Ardyn to continue.
"I wanted to give them a good life, but I can’t do that now, can I?" A wry smile curved Ardyn’s lips. He looked somber, like he was trapped with nowhere else to go. "Instead, I gave them grief in return and also probably caused them to spend money on my funeral. I even rember arguing with my mom in the cab before I died. What an idiot. Why did I even do that? I regret it so much."
He sucked in a breath and shook his head.
"What a good son I am, huh?"
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