zer0pm:

Imagine living the story of Beauty and the Beast with Ardyn.

You voluneteer as a prisoner of Niflheim to save your village and are then placed under the chancellor’s mercy unaware that he is the Immortal Accursed damned to live eternity until he can find someone who will love him for all he is: darkness at its most horrifying form. A form he takes under the cover of night.

He treats you politely and courteously, of course, uninterested in spoils of war and carries on his usual days. For the most part, he leaves you alone in his domain. Eventually, curiosity got the better of you and you spy on him when the sun falls. You discover his daemonic form and he lashes out at you verbally as it was a secret well-kept, terrifying you. In your fear, you flee from him.

Ashamed of how he reacted, Ardyn tries to make amends with you, showing you that he is a not the monster painted to be. You two bond overtime and he eventually falls in love with you but cannot admit that while you are chained to him. With a heavy heart, he lets you go and you return to your home and family who have missed you dearly.

Warriors of Lucis, fighters selected by the Astrals with the task to hunt down and destroy the Immortal Accursed once and for all, wage war against Ardyn. Hearing the news, you rush back to him. The leader of the Lucians engages in epic battle with Ardyn and nearly destroys him, something that surprises the man who believed himself incapable of dying. Watching the battle, you throw yourself between the men and Ardyn by instinct protects you, taking the killing blow. Although fatally wounded, he is shocked and happy to see you, black tears pooling from his eyes. As your eyes meet, you sorrowfully confess to him that you love him. Before the light dims from his eyes, he smiles and the ashen miasmic form he once took fades. You see a mortal Ardyn now calm and content lying in your arms and with his last breath…

Ardyn: “You gave me peace… Thank you.”