Miles Morales

For a good, long time, even when they were back on Eos, Ignis had never been afflicted with that particular Fandom phenomena of random animal (or, in some cases, plant) transformations, as if the powers behind such whimsy knew that he'd need to still be quite himself for the sake of the others. But as soon as that was not necessary, as soon as he, too, seemed to have someone to take care of him, he had his first bout, a little bat comfortably nestled against Liliana, dreadfully on the nose with its thematic accuracy, and that was, then, what he suspected he would continue to be in those moments. After all, Prompto was always a puppy, Gladio always the flower of his namesake.

But that was, clearly, not the case. He'd taken a different form this time, at a horribly inopportune time....or was it? The 'foxicorn,' as he had been so charmingly dubbed by Chandra, was in actuality, a carbuncle, a legendary Eosian creature. A Messenger, in fact, a creature that might inspire comparisons to angels in other realms, though you certainly wouldn't catch Ignis making that connection. Of the twenty-four messengers that served the Astrals, all of them answered to the Oracle...except for one, who answered specifically to the Lucian royal house. Carbuncle, of course. Noctis' father had given him a Carbuncle totem in his youth, around the same time as his mother's death, around the same time that he'd also brought Ignis to him to be his companion and steward. Carbuncle, too, was a helper and a healer. A guide, a guardian, a protector.

So was it really much of a surprise, then, that it had been the form that Ignis had taken, in that moment? It wouldn't have been the first time, either, that Carbuncle made its presence known to him, at some moment of imminent danger.

But while he was in this new carbuncle form, it was all warmth and comfort and light. It was all a bit fuzzy, too, and it was with a feeling of clarity and the return of darkness that Ignis realized he was back to himself again. He was curled up against Liliana, and there were cool, chill fingers in his hair, right behind his ear, where her nails had gently scratched. There was the slightest moment of a hesitation before he uttered his first human sound in several days, just a deep, grateful rumble of appreciation, his head tilting and leaning into the touch. And were it not for the fact that he had arms again to hold her and lips again to kiss her, he might have stayed exactly there to revel in it. But he did have both those things, and so much more, and memories and awareness starting to flood back in, as well, so while he may have lingered a bit longer than he might have ever allowed years ago, he shifted, unraveling himself only to turn and wrap himself anew around Liliana and seek out her lips with his own, and murmuring into this as he regained his voice.

"Hello, my love," he said. "Miss me?"

He had no idea how many days had even passed, but it hardly seemed to matter.

[[ obviously for the shamelessly modded necromancer in the bed with him, and NFB for ~distance~ ]]

After their trudging journey, pouring over the entries in the journal they'd found for mere morsels of information (Ignis, naturally, frustrated that he had to rely so heavily on what was, no doubt, Jace's highly selective readings of the information), they finally made it to Nephalia, the road ending and winding along the base of its sea cliffs. Ignis kept close to Jace, knowing the path was likely narrow and treacherous, and figuring his best bet was to simply follow in the wake of Jace's own self-preservation, as he doubted the other man would take much of Ignis' own safety into consideration as he went along. The incline was steep, but, over the sound of his companion's labored breathing from the effort, he heard, too, in the distance, the creaking masts of ships and the somewhat familiar scents of the port town of Selhoff, the waves lapping against hulls, far off in the distance, but they were getting close.

He also heard someone approaching the way they were going. His companion's pace didn't flag or falter, which made him realize that he clearly hadn't seen the other person yet, and if his calculations were correct...

"Jace," he said, in warning, reaching out for the other man's shoulder to stop him, hopefully before he and this approaching individual collided.

( In which Jace Beleren demonstrates how to make friends and respect boundaries. )

***
Jace spent the rest of their walk deep in thought. The trail ended on the rocky shores just north of the reef near a small fishing outpost. Its floodwalls, as the fisherwoman had indicated, were indeed nearly a foot underwater, and a thick, shining layer of rotting marine slime coated what had once been the dock and its ships.

Boots caked in slime and sand, Jace waded into the shallows and let the waves pass over his feet. As he waited for it to recede, he realized the water was moving parallel with the shore, not away from it.

Something down the beach was indeed changing the normal motion of the waves.

South of the village, the moonlight shone down on a massive ring of jagged structures jutting up from the ocean, clawing at the waves and passing ships.

"The Drownyard," Jace breathed. "This is it! All the cryptoliths point here!"

( In which Jace Beleren demonstrates stealth and rationality )

[[ the journey of Ignis's godlike patience is continued from here and yoinked and yeeted around from "The Drownyard Temple" by Mel Li by myself and the incomparable, incalculable, incredible deathsmajesty, with all the same warnings for length and NFB, NFI, OOC love addendums! ]]