Hm...you aren't incredibly far off. Even as a child, Izunia was a bit too serious. I can remember trying to get him to relax somewhat, but it never quite worked. We'd always gotten along despite that--I taught him how to use all the powers available to the Lucis Caelum bloodline, and he was always eager to learn as much as he possibly could. Wherever I went, he was never farther away than my own shadow.
...We were inseparable, once.
[That carried a slightly forlorn note, Ardyn's hands faltering before picking back up in the same repetitive motion.]
We drifted apart as we grew older. After my coronation he became ever more the serious royal, concerned with Lucis above all else. Each time I came back to Insomnia, the brother I thought I'd known felt just a little colder. I think he found me irresponsible, too impulsive for the King of Light--the cost of my magic was something I never dared let him know, so I imagine that...he simply couldn't comprehend how difficult it was. Later I convinced myself that he was no more than a jealous would-be king, that he'd lived in my shadow for so long that he had been stained with darkness himself.
[A cold note of his own had crept into Ardyn's voice like a sudden frost, but he paused to collect his thoughts and sighed to himself.]
Things are somewhat hazy in places after that, for obvious reasons. What Izunia did to me...it went well beyond 'wanting to protect Lucis', even if I suspect that I was already a threat to the world regardless of the reasons why. Izunia Lucis Caelum III was a good person once, but that froze over and died off long before his elder brother did.
no subject
...We were inseparable, once.
[That carried a slightly forlorn note, Ardyn's hands faltering before picking back up in the same repetitive motion.]
We drifted apart as we grew older. After my coronation he became ever more the serious royal, concerned with Lucis above all else. Each time I came back to Insomnia, the brother I thought I'd known felt just a little colder. I think he found me irresponsible, too impulsive for the King of Light--the cost of my magic was something I never dared let him know, so I imagine that...he simply couldn't comprehend how difficult it was. Later I convinced myself that he was no more than a jealous would-be king, that he'd lived in my shadow for so long that he had been stained with darkness himself.
[A cold note of his own had crept into Ardyn's voice like a sudden frost, but he paused to collect his thoughts and sighed to himself.]
Things are somewhat hazy in places after that, for obvious reasons. What Izunia did to me...it went well beyond 'wanting to protect Lucis', even if I suspect that I was already a threat to the world regardless of the reasons why. Izunia Lucis Caelum III was a good person once, but that froze over and died off long before his elder brother did.