[Her persistence is very convincing, and her words have merit, of course. He swallows hard, lifting his eyes to focus on her as she focuses on him. That pain still lingers, of course - hard to brush aside so easily - but it is... settled, somewhat. Fading in light of her efforts to push it back down again and urge him to stand up for himself.]

It's, um. It's easier. Out here. In my own head, it's just my voice, you know? I can tell myself, hey, that's not healthy. That's not fair. And fairness actually matters in this world. No one's counting on me to save everything by myself. [His lips quirk, wrestling against that heavy misery for a moment to finally crack a small smile.] And I can hear you, too. The crystal's just- it's so loud, Pyra. I don't even know how to describe it. It's just. Loud.

[Like the worst migraine, an entire cloud's worth of buzzing insects. Too many voices vying for their chance to remind him of what they sacrificed and what he was born to do. It didn't matter here, so he didn't have to listen. But it's impossible to drown it out in that place if he lingers long enough to hear them all speak.]