Somnus Lucis Caelum - Tumblr Posts
“You should’ve stayed Somnus Parthenos!”
“I would have had you not gallivanted across Eos instead of ruling the people!”
“I was healing the sick! I was fulfilling my Astral-given duty!”
“No, you were meant to be king, but that title came with the burden of having to make choices, and you chose to use your gift to run away while I dealt with the consequences.”
“As if you were extending your hand across the table!”
“Numerous times I beseeched you to coordinate with me and devise a more effective method of containing the Starscourge, but Elder Brother always knew better, didn’t he?”
— Ardyn vs. Somnus, the confrontation in modern Insomnia
In an omegaverse where omegas who took up arms divorced themselves from their families and swore an oath of celibacy—think of it as “taking the black” in Game of Thrones—they were styled with the epithet Parthenos. Somnus was a prominent example.
Envious of his alpha brother’s popularity but acknowledging of his scant chance of ever ascending as the Chosen King, he became Somnus Parthenos and fought on the frontlines against the mounting daemons. However, Ardyn made himself scarce when it came to leading Eos and left Somnus to do it on his behalf. It was frustrating, and while Somnus admitted that Ardyn’s cleansing method was ideal, it barely dent the number of daemons plaguing the land.
At some point, he couldn’t give Ardyn anymore time. Resources were drying up, and the restlessness amongst the people was mounting; so, he dirtied his hands with the burnt flesh of the suspicious and afflicted. Their deaths haunted him, but it was proving more effective than his brother’s slow one-by-one process; thus, he steeled his resolve. That was what it meant to be a king.
When Aera disclosed to him that Ardyn was chosen by the Astrals, his resentment reached a boiling point, and as per canonical events, he challenged his brother for the throne, donning the Lucis Caelum name once again. He harbored no intent to kill Ardyn, but he became so enveloped in his fury that he hadn’t realized he was about to land a fatal blow until Aera threw herself between them. Horrified, Somnus dropped his weapons but had to re-summon them all too soon as Ardyn transformed into a daemon unlike any other. With an apology stuck in his throat, he defeated his brother and locked him away on Angelgard.
Following his ascension as king and founder of Lucis, Somnus chose black as the royal color to perpetually mourn Ardyn’s fate, and Ardyn Lucis Caelum was written into Lucian history. However, textbooks are missing his transformation into a daemon and subsequent imprisonment, and instead, they say the founder king’s brother fell to the Starscourge. Ardyn supposes it’s a partial truth, but partial is still only partial.
Somnus: "Ah, how shall I do it? Oh, I know. I'll turn Ardyn into a flea, a harmless little flea, and then I'll put that flea in a box, and then I'll put that box inside of another box, and then I'll mail that box to myself, and when it arrives...I'll smash it with a hammer! It's brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, I tell you! Genius, I say!" Spills the potion onto a plant and the plant dies. "Or, to save on postage"—grabs another bottle—"I'll just poison him with this!" Offers it to Gilgamesh. "Take it, Gil. Feel the power."
Gilgamesh: "Oh, I can feel it."
Honestly, if alpha!Gilgamesh became king consort of omega!Somnus, he wouldn’t want his true name to be written in the family registry. He’d want to keep his identities as the king’s shield and the king’s spouse separate to maintain some form of professional dignity; so, he might go by an alias—Erebus Lucis Caelum?—when needed as the king consort. A potential consequence is history forgetting that it was the first Shield of the King who fathered the line of Lucis. Gilgamesh would be perfectly happy with this.
Y’know, I refer to Somnus as a king in the two or three posts I talk about him, but when I really think about it, an omega Somnus might be called a queen ‘til modern times. The ancient world was rife with rigid gendered traditions, after all, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they slapped a feminine title on him. Several editions of Cosmogony and textbooks probably have “Founder Queen” written on their pages, and so do the plaques accompanying his monuments. I’d say this changed in the last two centuries of Lucian history.
S O M N U S L U C I S C A E L U M
A noble king, chosen defender of the sacred Stone and Ring, and founder of the nation known to us now as the Kingdom of Lucis. Dubbed ‘the Mystic’ for his mesmerizing feats on the field of battle, he joined hands with the Oracle to travel the world and dispel the darkness that plagued our star.