The thought that the boy has seen the Void hurts him more than he can rightly say; he’s a child, no child should see that place or be near it, or have anything to do with the nightmares it leaks. It’s a bit startling to feel that way, so suddenly and so vehemently, after so long empty, but he’s beginning to feel that the omnipresent warmth of this place, the life and light in it, had begun to…rekindle something in that hollow within, start to spark at old and dusty ashes. And he’s beginning to think something might still be there to light.
“It was,” he says, a little startled. “How…only the oldest history books recall it, so thoroughly was it wiped away. I’m…surprised you know of it.” There is more to this boy than meets the eye, he’s sure of it now, but he’s not sure what. To think that he’s heard of Lucis, when it was gone so long ago and only the books salvaged from that Calamity might still mention it…it’s uncanny. And that and the aura of something around him…
“Thank you, but…I’m a king no longer. Please just call me Ardyn,” he murmurs, bowing his head, before looking at him again curiously, surprised again at his curiosity.
“You,” he says, “are…more than mortal, yourself. I can only tell that much. Will you tell me what you are, Unukalhai?” He doesn’t have to answer, he supposes, but he’s curious. A question for a question, perhaps.
“My education has been... different than most,” Unukalhai says softly, bowing his head in thought. There’s something gentle about this former king, something kind. It’s... comforting, void taint or no. In fact, it’s nearly enough to make him think of the last good days he had before his home fell, when things were beginning to collapse but not yet there - the rare kindnesses shown among those trying to survive in a world that was dying and flooding with darkness.
He shakes his head to clear it of the thoughts clouding it, then nods. “If that is what you wish,” he says, and isn’t certain himself whether he is speaking of not using titles or explaining his nature to the Scions’ guest. Unukalhai finds himself hesitating, then sighs and with a few smooth motions removes both mask and hood, turning violet eyes upon Ardyn.
Why he’s willing to do this, he isn’t certain, but it may very well be because of the honesty in the atypical voidsent. Or, he thinks idly to himself, it might be that he is simply that lonely.
“To explain what I am would take a very long time,” he says, expression grave. “But you are correct in that I am... no longer bound as mortal beings are bound.” He closes his eyes, considering howto continue, then adds, “To simplify the explanation as much as possible - the Void used to be a world unto itself, a reflection of this one. But it was in grave peril, and those given the task of saving it too young and inexperienced to stand against the darkness. So the Thirteenth fell, the life that lived there was twisted into what you know as voidsent - and I would have been among them, save for one who rescued me before I, too, could be so twisted.”
He pauses, letting that sink in, and shakes his head. “I will not speak more of my Master, save that he brought me hence to aid in preserving this star as my own could not be.”
Unukalhai has never liked talking about what happened to him - about what happened to his home. But... there’s no easy way to explain what he is, and so he’s given what information can. (Besides, this man-turned-voidsent needs to know the origins of the type of being he has become. He deserves to know.)