iustaegis | IC CONTACT FOR HUGS

[ The crystal shines brighter as soon as he makes contact with it, and within moments the world and his vision will vanish around him, as will his consciousness as it is swept up, engulfed by the glow of the crystal. It pulls him in-- not forcefully, but guiding, as if lifting him up into an embrace, enveloping him in light.

He'll next awaken upon a lush field of softs, green grass and blue, cloud-dotted skies. From the warm, gentle breeze that rustles the flowers of the prairie, it may feel as as if it is late spring in this realm, or perhaps early summer. Behind him is a forest, and before him a single tree that looms at the top of the modest hill; beyond that he might hear birdsong, echoed only by the distant toll of a bell of a humble, empty town just beyond the summit.

He lies within the shade of that tree on the hill, and should he blink he'll feel another's presence: Pyra's. Blink again, and he'll find that he's not resting upon the grass, but that his head is upon Pyra's lap, her hand upon his forehead. Her expression is that of patient concern as she gazes down at him, as if he had been waiting for him to open his eyes. When he does, she smiles. ] ...You're awake.

[ He is the first of another world to be here, and she quietly marvels at that fact. She's didn't invite him here to keep him safe, as this place could certainly do so, or to bring him back to life, or to explain exactly what this place is to him... She's here to make an introduction.

But first: ] How... do you feel? [ Not hurt, she hopes. ]

[He blinks several times in response at first, taking in the sights as he carefully sits himself upright. It's... definitely not what he'd expected in the slightest. There's no weightlessness, no oppressive presence of a god or the soul of an entire star. It both looks and sounds warm, inviting, like waking up at a haven in Duscae surrounded by nature. Rather than ethereal and lonely, the grass is beneath his skin, the landscape is etched in beauty, and Pyra's here.

How does he feel?]

I... feel normal. [He glances down at his hands, and they look the same as ever. Clenching them, they seem real. He's not about to float away.] I feel like myself.

[Gods, more than anything he feels relieved. It's just as she said- it didn't hurt at all. Letting that relief show in his expression, he turns his attention back to her.]

What is this place?

[ Relief causes her shoulders to dip with a sigh. He's not hurt. He's fine. Nevertheless, there's a delay before she responds, and she shifts to allow him to sit up, remaining seated beside him. ] We call it... Elysium.

[ She glances at him as he seems to adjust to the realm itself, clenching and clenching his hands. Pyra looks outward, as if her attention has been caught by the breeze that rustles her hair forward. ]

This realm is... recreated from a memory. [ Her brow furrows, then relaxes. ] A half-forgotten one. [ Or a sealed one. It can't be right, what she's remembering of this place-- jagged pieces of a puzzle that are just out of her and Mythra's reach, kept from her-- but it doesn't matter. Her reminiscing isn't why she's here, and the mystery of it for herself will have to wait.

She looks back to Noctis, and doing so makes her smile return, because it's Noctis with whom she sits and is here with her. Noctis, who is safe. ] But, you can call it something like a home to me.

Elysium... paradise?

[The word is familiar to him, a variant of ancient Lucian that reminds him of home. It sure looks like it could be a paradise, if it stayed this peaceful all the time. A part of him wants to flop down on her lap again and go back to sleep, let the soft ambiance of nature lull him into a nice, cozy nap.

He resists the urge, tempting as it is. He's here for a reason. He does lean a little against her though, her shoulder warm against his own.]

It's beautiful... it looks like something out of a dream.

[ She blinks at him. Paradise-- yes, that's right. Their worlds hold a common root language of sort, by coincidence. Fertile, radiant, and with an uncanny peacefulness to it that can placate and lull another into contentedness, this place is a paradise. ] I suppose... it really is like a dream.

[ Alrest, her world, is dying. But Elysium could hold everyone there, should the people find a way to it. Back to it, she should say. They were once here... Or. She thinks they maybe were here at one point. It's difficult to say. Her memories of this place feel disjointed, as if they'd been spliced in by... Well, it doesn't matter.

This place as it is, she's known for a while. It's been her home for a long time, the place she frequented most in this realm while she had been sealed.

Her hand, opposite of him, runs over the grass beside her, feeling their waxy facets comb beneath her fingers. ] I'm glad you like it. It's been our home for centuries.

That's... a long time.

[Unfathomably long. For someone who's only been alive for twenty years, it's such a wild number to even consider. It's no wonder she'd connected so well with Somnus. They were both people who'd watched the world for so long, witnessed so much change. It's almost enough to make him wonder what the hell he thinks he's doing with her.

...Almost. As usual, he's in over his head, but it hasn't stopped him yet.]

I hear it's bad manners to ask a girl her age, but... you really are ancient, huh?

[ A double-take, but she's not offended. If anything, she seems amused by something. ]

Oh-- um, do I seem old?

[ Her lived experienced upon the earth has only been one whole year. Maybe more, if her time in Havenwell is counted. That's nothing on his 20. ]

Nah. Well... ageless, maybe, is the word. But only sometimes.

[She has that unusual way of looking at the big picture far, far more than he usually hears. A bit like speaking with the last Oracle, what little he remembers of Luna's mother. A slice of normal, a slice of godly, a slice of unique and incomparable. Some people are just like that, he figures, regardless of origin.]

[ She appears to muse over his answer, only after a few seconds pass, she replies. ] If... I might be honest with you.

[ More seconds pass, and the tree rustles with a invisible breeze above them. ]

We feel as if our life has only just begun.

[There's something incredibly tragic about that in a way that it would not have been before. Knowing what he knows now, of the sort of fate they're likely to share one day for the sake of their worlds... he doesn't like it. She should be able to live for so much longer, if that's how she feels. They feel. They should live for years and years and discover everything there is to know about the world, about themselves. To hear that life feels short, to know it could be shorter if she goes back and does what she'd intended... gods. Fate sucks.

Pursing his lips, he glances sidelong at her.]

What made it start?

[What changed? Was it arriving in Havenwell? Finding a family for herself, friends? Or did life feel much shorter in a place like this? He could imagine losing a sense of time here. In that singular way, their crystals aren't so different.]

[ She knows.

She knows it sounds tragic. She realized it the moment the words left her lips, but she can't take them back, not when it's the truth. ] Oh, perhaps...

[ She leans back onto her hands, looking upward, then down at the slope of the hill, then at him.

... ] It's a little complicated. Do you want to hear?

[With her leaning back, he shifts his position at more of an angle so he can still face her, propping up his good leg to lean on it. (Though, is there such a thing as good or bad legs, here? He doesn't seem to hurt at all. What a lovely dreamworld.)]

I do, yeah.

[If she's willing to share, he'll listen.]

[ He at least deserves some context for her answer. ]

When Mythra first awakened... [ From being a crystal. ] She only walked on the earth for one year. And then... [ She gestures to where they are. This realm, this paradise. ] We were here. [ And what a miserable time it had been remaining here, especially initially, vulnerable and in mourning. So much time had passed since then. ] Being awakened imprinted some humanity onto us. [ Among other things. ]

That year on the earth, and our time here in Aellyn... [ She sits up again, bringing a hand to her chest. ] Learning to love the world and others, being able to love... [ She shakes her head, more to herself. She feels as if she's rambling, not making sense. It's difficult for her to describe, made even more so because she's recalling her past. But she pushes through it. ] I'm not sure when we started to learn how to love, in that first year.

But when we did, that's when we felt alive. [ But it had been too little for her to notice, too late. There was a war, there were other matters. There was no time for Mythra, new to emotions as she was, to truly assess anything she had felt at the time. She was struggling, drowning in that humanity. But it was still love, appreciation she had come to feel after interacting with others. ] And here, in Aellyn...

[ She glances at him, then away. She feels alive loving him. Others, too, of course. But especially him. ] It's the same.

[He listens quietly, brows furrowing. One year, and then on a different world... it's been what, eight months or so? So not even two years. It's no wonder she said that. Her life, outside of this place at least, really did just start.]

Is that why you're so... open?

[He's not sure how else to describe it. The way she reaches immediately for someone's hand, stranger or otherwise, the way she smiles and speaks her mind about how she feels, like she's full to bursting or - the more likely option - not growing up in a regular human society means she never learned to hide it, never built up walls to protect herself from the judgment of others. He doubts he could ever be like that, but it's... kind of enviable. He'd thought it so weird at first, but it won him over in a hurry.]

[ Open? She considers his meaning. Open with emotions, or physically, she wonders. The reaching for a hand is in part, at least, due to the nature of this world. But she cannot deny that she is grateful for the excuse to hold another's hand, or more, under the pretext of allegedly saving a world. Yet by now, it's simply grown second nature to her.

But as for that emotional openness... He won't like the answer.

She looks at him with a small smile. ] Remember when we first met? There was homework about telling others you love them, or hugging them... [ At the time, the context had been because of his father, and he had shared with her that his father was dead in his world already. The lesson he had known but not yet practiced was to be open because there would not be a chance to say such things, or hold another, ever again.

Pyra closes her eyes, turning her head away from him. ]

I'm "open" because we need to die.

[She's right- he doesn't like the answer, and with her eyes closed she won't see the smile drop instantly from his expression, but she'll hear his harsh inhale, feel him look away from her. "We", she says, and he knows that she means Mythra - neither had known back then that he shares a similar fate - but it's impossible to think of one without thinking of the other anymore. She'd known all along where her path would lead. And still she'd smiled, taken his hand, laughed and danced with him and encouraged him to do the same with his own loved ones, talked about fixing the world, all so they could go back...]

You... feel like that now, too?

[Is that- is that the reason? Is that the reason why, for all of it? He'd thought- he'd believed- but is all of this just so she can go back?

What about them?]

[ It's the distress she hears in his inhale that causes her to look at him again, and she takes in his expression, his reaction. He's hurt...

And he deserves answers, not that she has good ones to his question. ]

I can't... deny it's a part of it. If I don't-- say what I feel for another [ Obviously, within reason. She's not going to go up to anyone and say "I love you, you're valid" to everyone just randomly. ] ...there won't be another time to do so.

[ She'll fall asleep. She'll return to her world-- that, or be spirited to another. She could forget everyone here. She could lose them before they lose her. And in her world, she doesn't want anyone else to lose others. In this world, she doesn't want to be a risk factor to its demise. ]

Having a present here...[ Which, she's trying. She's trying to hold what she can here, the people she's met, the bonds she's made, him. Her voice wavers, weak, and she bows her head. ] I'm trying, Noct.

I don't want to waste it.

[He knew that part. She'd not been shy about telling him the same thing, to tell people how he felt before they were gone. He'd failed with Luna, failed with his father back home, probably failed with many other people he'll likely never meet again. Living so long, and living in the world so briefly, in a place this transient, must make for many regrets when it comes to missed opportunities. Any day - every day - could be the last.

Feeling is one thing. But wanting... the words she struggles with, every time...]

Are there things you're not... allowed to want for yourself?

[He doesn't know the rules, but he can understand the limitations. There are plenty of things he might want but aren't allowed to pursue, back home. Growing up, normal things like going to university, studying and finding a career, exploring outside the city, living a life away from the public eye- all of it was out of his reach since the day he was born. Her limits seem so self-imposed, but maybe they're not? This place, her existence, is otherworldly.

She'd asked if they were allowed to be together, on his part. What about hers? He trusts her- wants to trust her- she's not just pushing herself to mend the world they're on, right?]

[ Within this realm, they're merely siting beside each other. She's yet to reach of his hand. In reality, she's already brought his slumbering body to the couch, his head on her lap. She can see both of them, be aware of both that and this at once.

Her expression falls from him, conflicted. ]

I'm not supposed to have this form you see now... to be Mythra or Pyra.

To be anything other than a crystal. To want... Mm. To feel in general.

[ Observing. That had been all she was meant to do. To watch, to record, and to obliterate when the time came. But is that the truth, either? There's something missing, she feels but-- again, not important.

Yes. She isn't supposed to even feel. Despite this, she brings a hand up to her chest as if she's holding something precious, her look sentimental, albeit struggling still. ] But here we are... And I cannot deny these feelings.

[ Saying what she wants still feels like too much. ]

[That... that, finally, is a relief to him. He closes his eyes, head bowed as he mulls over her words. He doesn't need the definitive words to be spoken if she can give the implications, and while it's true that she could just be placating him, sensing his anxiety, what he wants is to chase this reassurance, to believe her and believe everything they've experienced thus far. It felt real. Just because it'd serve two purposes doesn't make it less real. It doesn't make it bad.

His reasons for doing this, for choosing her, are inherently selfish. He knows this, and it's something he's allowed himself after months of doing whatever everyone else told him to do- because he couldn't deny his feelings, either. He can't fault her for thinking of others first as long as the rest still rings true.]

You want me to meet Mythra, [is his response, finally. If she can't say it, he'll say it for her.] You want to use your fire. You want to be with people you care about. ...You... want to be with me.

[He looks meaningfully over at her, more of the tension bleeding from his shoulders, and offers his hand out.]

[ Pyra looks up-- out, towards the imagined horizon of the realm-- but not actually searching for anything beyond. What she has, she has right here, before she ever knew she could ever want for anything. Him, his care, the ability to read her so well, to understand, to accept. How easily he tells her wants when she has such difficulty speaking them, when she feels she cannot. A part of her feels foolish in the face of how effortlessness he makes it sound to speak those desires.

As it were, she wants a lot of things. She wants others to be safe, she wants this world to be saved, she wants his world to know the light, she wants her world to last-- and by the Architect, she wants him to live. She wants to live, too. She wants them to stay together, to have what they have and continue to have it for as long as either of them want it....

One want duels with the other: her existing and the world remaining. She cannot have both, and she has chosen the latter. But she can have this, can't she be stronger for him, to say it? She wants to be stronger for him. Inspiring, brave, she can call him all those things, but she needs to finally be brave, act on that inspiration.

Her vision mists, and she bows her head, drawing a breath. She tears not for sorrow for herself, but this time in gratefulness. How lucky is she, to have someone as understanding as him next to her....

Her hand reaches of his, finding it without looking, and she closes her eyes. ]

Yes.

All of that.... yes.

[He holds her hand quietly for a few moments, lingering in relaxed silence with those words settling around him like a comforting blanket. One more secret unlocked, one more method of understanding her; if he can find the answer himself, she's able to tell him if it's true or not. If she wants it. That's a place that he can start, a path that he can follow. Maybe he can help her this way.

After the moment passes he gently tugs her hand and pulls her closer, and if she doesn't resist he releases her hand so he can wrap his arms around her instead, holding her against him, that same hand lifting to stroke through her hair. This feels real, too. Not just physically, but he can feel the warmth spreading through him, joy and relief and something softer, fluttering and familiar and yet unnamed. He finds himself smiling, his head resting against hers.]

...If I hug you in a dream, can you feel it in real life?

[ She smiles quietly into the embrace, her arms not hesitating to wrap around him in kind. It carries a gratefulness with it, a thank you for being here, for being him.

He'll feel her head shaking against his shoulder, a soft laugh carried in her voice. ]

No, no... But I do have your head resting in my lap, in reality.

You're very cute when you sleep, you know.

[ Teasing aside, however... she pulls away just enough to look at him. ] Thank you, Noct. For listening.

[C-cute... one of these days he'll catch her sleeping, and then they'll see who's the cute one... nevertheless as they pull apart he's still smiling back at her, softly, and carrying its own sort of gratefulness.]

Thank you for sharing it.

[For sharing this- this place, this other side of her that he can only imagine few have been lucky enough to experience. For giving him an answer, letting him help her push through to it. Her willingness to try means a lot to him.]

[ She's smiling fondly at him when he gives his thanks in return, pulling away further so that she may take his hands in her again. Pyra looks down at their joined grasp, shoulders rising and falling. ]

...So.

[ Her fingers twitch in his. ]

Are you ready to meet Mythra?

IC CONTACT

[ Text ♢ Video ♢ Voice ♢ Action ]

[ Pyra ♢ Mythra ♢ Pneuma [ new post here.]

[ new post here.]

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[ Pyra ♢ Mythra ♢ Pneuma
[ new post here.]