azume | Fourth.

ENCOUNTER.

Perhaps it's a good thing that the people of Floaroma Town seem to be exhibiting curiosity, because that's how you end up getting the tip.

It isn't much, in the end - a question of where you're going from one of the ladies in the flower shop, followed by a brief look exchanged between them and a soft shrug. There's a mention of the Valley Windworks just across the way, a short walk from here, and something inside that will shave a week's time off of the journey south. Something that should put you right in the heart of Jubilife City, should you be able to gain access to it.

It's likely clear that whatever would be blocking your access to such a thing likely isn't going to be pleasant; it doesn't take them long to tell you that Team Galactic has owned the Windworks for a while now, but at the same time it's only ever staffed with low-tier employees on the chain of command - the Commanders themselves haven't cared about it since they took over, and the grunts...

Well, for one reason or another, they haven't been changing with the rest of the world.

It likely seems obvious, when put that way - the people of the town haven't lied to you in the entire time you've been here (they aren't many things, but at the very least they are honest), and if they're correct about this, that's a week's less travel that will need to be done. Over a distance this large, every day counts; as such, you might as well check out the Windworks for whatever it will bring you.

As it turns out, the townspeople were right about several things - the Valley Windworks is only a short walk away, surrounded by tall electricity-generating windmills that are turning away at a good clip in the windstreams traveling through the valley; upon entering it, it seems fair to say that it really is generally only staffed by grunts. In light of the changes the world has undergone, their appearance may be a bit jarring, a reminder of what the entire place used to look like - they're completely dead-eyed and listless, lacking any sort of individual initiative, and while they look up as you enter and their eyes track you as you move, they don't seem inclined to do much about you as a whole.

Unfortunately, the ladies in the flower shop seem to have been mistaken about something - it seems that one of the Commanders, at least, seems to care very much about this place, given that she's waiting for you in the lobby.

As with the others before her, she looks distinctive from the others in both her style of dress and the fact that she's still emotionally intact; she's small in stature, the heels on her boots doing nothing to help that fact, and she's incredibly slight in comparison to Jupiter. She also seems displeased about being here; the smile she offers in greeting is sharp, and it's not a pleasant look.

More along the lines of baring teeth.

"It's pretty rude of you guys to barge in here like you own the place. Not like I was expecting much from you people, anyway. I'm Commander Mars, and it's about time we met."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You're under the impression that people will be kind to others. You're assuming that they will help those around them, that they won't turn a blind eye or lash out. You're ignoring that sometimes people are just awful. Sometimes things don't get any better.

Master Cyrus has removed all of that. The positive, yes, but also all of that negativity. And when you look at it, there was a lot of negativity in the world. It's not like the people are dead. They just don't have to deal with anything like that anymore.

You're wrong.

[It took a fair bit of restraint, but that wasn't snapped or cold. Ignis remained calm as ever, taking a slow breath--his left hand curled into a loose fist and uncurled restlessly before he continued.]

...Our world has seen nothing but strife for the past ten years, in which not even the sun would rise. Bloodthirsty daemons ran rampant throughout the land, and humanity itself seemed as though it would crumble as we were relegated to scattered havens across what was once a beautiful and prosperous kingdom. I have no need of sight to know what despair looks like, and yet even as our numbers dwindled at what must have felt like the end of everything, still there were people who fought to protect what remained. Who supported one another, maintaining those last bastions of safety and fighting for those who could not. Humanity fought tooth and nail to remain standing, and in the end it mattered. It was selflessness which kept our world alive, and sacrifice which saved it.

There are always those who will be kind to others, no matter their own pain or suffering. I will not have you tell me otherwise when you know nothing of what humanity is truly capable of.

Yeah, I hate to do this, Ignis, but I've heard you make this fucking argument for two and a half months and I'm gonna have to be jerk of the week and say that maybe your world is the exception when it comes to recovering after it's been put on the brink of hell.

My world's been ending itself since I was four. It's not getting better. Yeah, we save it. We've saved it more than once. Humanity's stubborn like that. And I'm not saying what Cyrus and Mars and all of them are doing is right. But you can't just keep yelling at them about how they're just not trying hard enough because your world fixed itself.

...Maybe so. But the fact remains that it's possible, and I don't know how else to get through to any of them.

Yeah, no, I get it. Don't get me wrong, I really fuckin' do, because I've had to hear them doing this shit for two and a half months, too.

This would be a lot easier if we had Cyrus' perspective on this. Not his guys, not his Commanders', but his own. As it is now, though, I'm pretty sure they're legitimately trying?

[...]

Most of 'em are legitimately trying.

[Jupiter was...yeah, but given that Mars keeps yelling about how Jupiter's faith in Cyrus wouldn't falter, he doesn't really want to throw her under the bus either.]

[Deep breath.]

My apologies, if I'm taking the wrong angle. You're right--we don't know much of anything about Cyrus' real ideas of this whole thing, past what we've been told secondhand.

Yeah. I mean, I do think you're right in the end? Like I said, my world's been going to shit for over fifteen years, just continuously hanging out on the brink of annihilation while a bunch of people who just kinda suck keep trying to tip it over. It usually comes down to...I don't know, twenty to thirty people at a time managing to drag it back, and we keep trying to save it even though that's pretty goddamn stupid at this point.

So I get where you're coming from, just maybe save the "holy shit, did you even try" for the right person.

[THE IMPLICATION HERE IS THAT NO HE DOES NOT THINK CYRUS TRIED

AND THAT EVERYONE HERE ONLY THINKS THEY'RE TRYING

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT HE'S. ATTEMPTING TO NOT SAY THAT IN FRONT OF MARS]

...I get it.

[He answered with a small smile, implying he definitely did receive the message of 'youtried.jpg' in not so many words.]

I'll try to keep that in mind.

Okay, fine, let's look at your world.

What if there was a way to make sure the daemons never fought again? What if there was a way to make sure no more humans would die to their attacks? You'd want that, right? What if the cost was high? Is there a ceiling you'd hit where you'd decide "no, I'd rather let people die than pay that price"?

...You have no idea how high the price was or how much no one wished to pay it. But it wasn't this. It wasn't remaining alive at the cost of all else.

So what would you prefer, then? A handful of people with the ability to feel or a world populated by people who can't feel? That's what it comes down to.

[No hesitation:]

A handful. Even that much alone holds hope for the future going forward, while an entire world of empty shells is doomed to remain stagnant.

Then we're never going to agree on what's best for this world. If you can so casually throw so many lives away, I have nothing more to say to you.

...I'm not the one throwing lives away, Commander. I'm sorry that you simply can't see that.

You do know they're not dead, right? Because the way you guys are acting it's like we've personally gone out and murdered every person in the world and kicked all their Pokémon while we were at it.

Forgive me if I should see a tremendous difference between 'alive' and 'living'.

It seems like you're pretty determined to be wrong, so have fun with that.

[we will not argue with kids who can curbstomp us, ignis]

[.......even if it's very tempting]

Fourth.

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