⚔ // once upon a dream

[discutio]

[You all know the drill by now. Ignis and Camilla have taken over the nearest kitchen, and there's going to be food in the Pokemon Center soon enough; a warm and comforting vegetable curry. Highwind's even out now, welcoming any and all who might need a large cloud bird to hug after everything that was.]

[It's been a long night. Everyone needs a good meal and a long rest, and luckily one of those things is being seen to immediately.]

Comments

[discutio]

I suppose it's worrying that I can say I've seen worse. And it sounds like the rest of you had a bit of a worse time. So honestly I can say I'm alright. All in all, it wasn't so terrible.

[Ignis answered with a small, crooked smile, following with:]

You know, you look just about how I'd pictured you. That serious look matches your voice so well I scarcely even needed to guess which one you were.

[takestheblame]

[Oh, that's seriously worrying. And also puzzles him for a moment because you're blind, Ignis, how can you have seen worse? And then Ignis adds that other thing.

For a moment all Kiryu can reply with is...]

Sorry, what?

[He's pretty sure what you're insinuating, Ignis, but he didn't expect that]

[discutio]

[Ignis tapped a finger lightly on his silver visor.]

I wasn't born without sight, and I can see perfectly well in dreams, Kiryu. That was no exception, real as it technically was.

So I've no intention of forgetting anything I saw at all. Not when the first and likely last thing I'll have seen in ten years is Noctis and the companions we have here. How could I ever linger on the worst of that encounter when I have that to commit to memory as carefully as I can?

[takestheblame]

[That was more or less what he expected. After all, it'd be moot for Ignis if he couldn't see in dreams]

I...see. You sure have a way to find something positive in even that situation, I guess.

[Even if this is the only time Kiryu has seen Ignis being anything close to optimistic, this leaves quite the impression]

[discutio]

Well, the way I see it--if you'll pardon the unintentional pun--is fairly simple.

We can be left unsettled over what Darkrai showed us, certainly--it wasn't a pleasant experience for anyone, and I'd not blame any of us were the thoughts to linger. But we can also take such visions as a reminder of what's at stake and what we fight for. In the end, we gained both Darkrai and Cresselia's favor. That is something worth a level of optimism, even if things haven't changed quite yet. And for my part, I was given an impossible chance to see all of you just once.

Having spirit means feeling emotion both positive and negative, and making sure the latter reminds us how worthwhile the former is in comparison. If one fears to lose what matters most to them, then that is all the more reason to fight with all you have to protect it. And one who refuses to keep pressing onward even in the face of loss and pain is doomed to remain stagnant for all time.

[Ignis smiled in a way that was an actual smile rather than the more common confident smirk or solid iron resolve.]

...I think things will be alright, Kiryu. No matter how difficult they become from here out, every nightmare must end with the dawn.

[takestheblame]

[Quite the speech, Ignis! Kiryu stays silent for a moment, taking all that in. He's right about everything -- especially about the need to continue ahead. That's the same thing he has been told before, especially because of something he needs to remember at all times:]

...after all, there's always someone to fight for.

[At least one person]

You must be right. I'll remember that.