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Week 5.
WEEK 5 As of morning the next day, it seems the rain has stopped; with Azelf awakened and your newly-hatched companions by your side, it's possible that you're feeling a new sense of resolve regarding what needs to be done - and, perhaps more importantly, your ability to accomplish it. The device Maylene gave you certainly does seem to work; activating it will reveal a dark portal crackling with energy, shades of pink and purple swirling brightly around the outer edges, and those of you that walk through it will find yourselves quite suddenly standing somewhere else - there's grass beneath your feet and an unfamiliar city to the west, and the place you're standing seems raised up in some way; turning around once the portal has closed behind the last of you will reveal a massive bronze statue depicting a Pokémon of some sort, though what it is seems to be a little difficult to tell... The trip to Eterna City may leave you feeling a little dizzy and disoriented, and for a few uncomfortable moments you're likely very, very aware of your organs, but the effects will pass after a few moments and you'll soon feel right as rain. Of course, it'll likely become obvious very quickly that you aren't alone near that statue... Either way, it's a long journey up to Snowpoint City; you might want to take some time to make sure that you're prepared before you set off. It really does seem as though finding Azelf at Lake Valor has done the world some good, though, along with your combined effects on the world already; hopefully the Guardian at Lake Acuity in the north will be just as helpful... POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week five of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget that a write-up is due this weekend!] |
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Huh. She's wearing a collar, but there's also something else around her neck. Something like a bracelet--braided cord, so it's sturdy, and small skull beds weaved in throughout. ]
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And who might you belong to, exactly?
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[ And Noctis, of course, hasn't been very far off. There's a smile in his voice as he comes over and takes the bracelet gently, then fastens it on Ignis's wrist. ]
I told you I'd make it up to you. So... it's not much, but it reminded me of you.
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[...this time, it was more than Ignis could take.]
[He didn't deserve this. Not after he'd lied to Noctis and the others for so long, kept so much to himself and ultimately failed to do the one task he was entrusted with.]
[Ignis opened his mouth, closed it, and failed to come up with a response.]
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He's worried. ]
Ignis? What's wrong?
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[His words caught in his throat, expression gradually turning stricken behind mirrored lenses.]
...I'm sorry, Noctis. I-...I haven't been...
[He'd followed every single order Noctis had given by the latter. Done everything exactly as his king had wished it. And in fulfilling his explicit purpose, he'd also failed in it completely and utterly.]
I haven't...been entirely honest with you.
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[ Ignis has been... keeping something from him? He can't imagine what it could possibly be. Noctis runs through his memories, ten years and some months of them, and something sticks out in his mind. Something that came, after the worst day of Noctis's life.
He smothers that thought down. He won't jump to conclusions. ]
... Let's find somewhere to sit, okay? I'll listen to anything you want to tell me.
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[Nothing else to be done about it now. And as he'd already clearly outlined to Zelda and Maylene--Ignis simply wasn't capable of turning back even if he could.]
Anywhere you wish to go.
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[ Noctis doesn't entirely pull away. He keeps an arm at Ignis's back, and when they find a place to sit, he does so. ]
What's on your mind?
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The three of us were separated when the empire was moving to take down Leviathan. Gladio and Prompto continued with the evacuation, and I...there was only one thing I could do. I started making my way to the altar, eventually with Ravus' assistance. When we finally did arrive-
[His voice caught in his throat, just for an instant.]
Lady Lunafreya's dog; the one to match Umbra. It collapsed in front of me, and-
[No turning back. Moving forward, always. He'd said too much now, and none of it could be forgotten now.]
'...Many sacrificed all for the King, so must the King sacrifice himself for all.' [Gloved hands curled into fists at the mere recitation, bitterness creeping into his voice as he spoke words he didn't fully realize were Bahamut's own.] I saw everything, Noctis. You as you no doubt look now so many years later--on the throne with your father's sword. With the spirits of the Lucii behind you, eradicating Ardyn. You, Prompto, Gladio, and even myself at the campsite outside Insomnia.
I...I knew. These ten years I've known what was to come, and I couldn't-...I should have-...I--
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It hurts.
Noctis focuses on breathing, once the ringing in his ears stops. Ignis is hurting, and Noctis feels it like his own. A knife in his heart, more poignant and painful than the royal arms of his ancestors. And Noctis isn't sure, for once, how to heal it.
But he brings Ignis close, into his arms. He holds him, secure and more than a touch protective. ]
That's why you tried to stop me. That day in Altissia, when I woke up. That's why you...
[ The words get all choked up in his throat, and his head pounds. ]
Ignis, don't blame yourself. Please. [ He's still holding him, and he has no intention of letting go. ] It's not your fault. It was no one's fault.
[ But that's not true, is it? Noctis thinks, bitterly. ]
... The vision, is that-- Is that what blinded you?
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[...Truly, perhaps that had been why he never told Noctis why he was asking. Because he would never have allowed it. His life, or the entire world; for someone like Noctis Lucis Caelum, it was never even a choice.]
...no.
[The answer came at length, Ignis pulling off his visor to rest his head against Noctis' shoulder. Not returning the embrace, not yet--not until everything was out in the open and the king would decide if his retainer's deception was too much to forgive.]
When we got to the altar...we were followed. Ardyn and a small battalion of MTs. Ravus and I were both cornered, he was threatening to kill you, and--
[Ignis' voice cracked and broke off against Noctis' shoulder, composure cracking but not yet shattered. He took a slow breath and pulled back, taking off black leather gloves with faintly unsteady hands.]
...I did something...terribly careless.
[Around the middle finger of his left hand was a single scar; a burn matching the ones left on his face, forming the unmistakable band of a ring.]
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Followed.
Ardyn.
His breath catches fast in his chest. He nearly interrupts Ignis, then--did he hurt you, did he blind you--but he decides to wait for the rest of it. Noctis isn't twenty years old and impulsive and reckless and unable to keep a handle on his emotions. And interrupting Ignis now, when he sounds like he's being torn apart from the inside... That could do so much more damage.
It's the last thing he wants.
Noctis watches Ignis's motions, and it's-- it's heartbreaking, seeing him less than steady. Noctis remembers to breathe, again, and he isn't sure what to expect.
But there it is. Not for the first--or last, maybe--time, Noctis's breath stills. Terribly careless doesn't begin to describe it. ]
You put on the Ring, [ Noctis whispers, and his own voice sounds so brittle. ] Ignis, you-- you could have died.
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[A small sacrifice. That much had been true, as far as Ignis was concerned. In sharp contrast to Noctis, his own voice was steadier now--perhaps on some level he knew he had to be calm if Noctis couldn't be. That was how it always had been.]
I realized he wasn't human--and once I had put on the ring I knew he was of the Lucian bloodline. I...didn't even know how to tell any of you that, and even had I tried it only would have led to the rest coming out alongside it.
[He pulled his gloves back on, neatly pocketing his sunglasses and folding his hands.]
...If I have even one single regret in my life, it is only that I didn't tell you every last detail once you awoke.
[Not that he'd carried the knowledge for ten years. Not that he'd sacrificed his eyes and nearly his life. What did any of that matter? No, the only thing that mattered to him was Noctis--and whether or not he would have known what he was truly getting into all along.]
[No excuses. No qualifiers. Just 'this is what was done, this was why, and now you know.'
I can not ask your forgiveness, knowing that. But I-...you have my sincerest apologies for lying to you and the others. There's nothing else I can offer.
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Noctis's breath hitches, and he holds Ignis that much closer. Tighter. ]
Ignis, do you-- Do you think I'm angry at you? That I-- don't care for you any more than I always have?
[ It's painful to think about, that Ignis could possibly think Noctis couldn't forgive him. He doesn't fault Ignis for not knowing how to tell them. He would've done the same. How, exactly, do you put into words that you've seen everything that will happen to your oldest friend?
One that you've devoted your life to serving and protecting? To keeping on the path he's meant to walk, even if it means... ]
You tried to save me. You-- How can I be angry at you when you risked everything to protect me, Ignis?
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[Of course he should have been. He'd been lied to by his oldest friend, by the person that swore to guard and protect him before either of them were even ten years old. Noctis had been allowed to walk to his death without having the slightest idea until it was too late.]
...I lied to you. About everything. You--...aren't you--?
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But he's not angry. It only hurts. ]
You didn't lie to hurt me. You... knew that I'd keep going, even if I knew the truth. Right?
... I don't know if I'd have figured out how to tell you, if our positions were reversed.
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[A king pushes onward, never turning back.]
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[ He takes in a deep breath and lifts his hand to Ignis's hair, gently brushing his fingers along it. ]
But I wanted to stay. [ His voice is quiet. ] There were so many things I didn't get to do. And I wanted to stay with Gladio. With Prompto.
With you.
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[Finally, his arms came up to settle around Noctis as securely as he could, unable to accept he was the only one being comforted here. That wasn't going to stand.]
You're here no matter the impossibility of it, and no matter what it takes I'll not allow you to be left behind once this is over and done.
I won't...fail again. I can't.
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His head rests against Ignis's. ]
Ignis, I-- If I go back with you... What if that undoes everything? It was a sacrifice for a reason.
[ Perhaps it's irrational. But it's a thought that has Noctis almost frightened. Because as much as he desperately wants to go back to Eos with Ignis, he can't risk what might happen. ]
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[But he stayed silent instead, collecting his thoughts and gathering his composure. For just a second he thought of Maylene, a young girl asking the honest question of do you really think you can win and the immediate answer he had given.]
Then we find another way.
[I will see this done no matter how hard the fight or how many setbacks I suffer.]
There must be some other course of action, else I don't know why I would have been shown such a thing in the first place. So regardless of how difficult a fight it may be or how long it takes...I won't allow this ending to stand.
I will not lose you again. Even if I have to fight the very Astrals to keep you here.
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What, are you gonna shove a knife into Bahamut's face?
[ He means it to be a joke, but it falls so flat. Noctis shifts a little, to hold onto Ignis more securely. It feels like when they were kids, when their shoulders weren't bowed from the weight of so many burdens. ]
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[There was the faintest, smallest edge of a smirk as Ignis said that...but his voice was entirely serious. He pulled Noctis a little closer, as if fully intent upon protecting him from any force whether divine or mortal.]
...I don't care what it takes. I can't...allow this.
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[ He doesn't want to let Ignis go. He doesn't want to let him out of his sight. Noctis wants to stay here forever, safe in Ignis's arms, and draw in his warmth and strength. Hell, if he fell asleep like this, he'd be fine with that. ]
... I don't want you to hurt yourself again. Not for my sake.
[ If he can't protect the people he loves... what good is he, truly? ]
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