[ She takes this evidence into consideration, inclining her head and smiling over the tea held up close. The state of mind she must have been in, a year ago, still easing out of Taako's grim-nicknaming phases, from a time when she once did not care so much what she was called or how she was perceived because it usually was negative anyway.
She still wasn't accustomed to positive remarks upon her looks, but for the rest of it... ]
... I do smile easier around those I am more comfortable with. Perhaps I can accept that the sort of coziness I have been surrounded by has affected me in some way.
... I hadn't known it before. Though you had always offered kindness in spite of my limitations. Perhaps that helps in... facilitating what I can give back to others.
[ Is it a tease, is it serious, she... honestly doesn't know. It's all a strange consideration. Had her own behavior significantly changed without her awareness? ]
[ Pyra is, perhaps, a little bit on the impressionable side herself. But she'll take that fault if it means being effected by others. She's changed a little bit, herself. ] Remaining static.... That would mean being left behind.
[ She's seen people grow. Honerva has grown. Prompto has grown. Lup has grown. And especiallyNoc--
Her brow furrows, but then resumes smiling. ] Change is good... moreso if it means smiling more easily. I'm glad you can.
[ She exhales softly at that. The thought of being static, of being left behind... there would be no place for her in this present, if she were not capable of changing in some way.
But to have all that commented upon? It was very strange. Still perhaps not... unexpected, for this companion. ]
... I am as well. Although... I did not ask you to sit with me so that we can only talk about myself, you know.
[ Carefully, since she knows so little; only enough to understand it was far more serious, and she knows how that can affect others. She sees that smile drop. She knows Pyra cares deeply where he is concerned, and that she does not like others to know when she is suffering. But Honerva has seen such a thing in her before, knows how that resonates. Pyra had refused the walk, to start with. ]
[ She tilts her head. That's not... quite an answer, or at least one she was anticipating, especially not the apologetic dip in tone. ]
... Yes, I have seen them. It looked as though a powerful energy was involved. Ardyn did not tell me much of what occurred, only that he had aided Noctis.
He saved Noct... at the cost of new scars. [ She looks down at her hands; the light in her eyes is helpless. Here it is again, the guilt that crushes her. Ardyn has suffered so much already. He's immortal, he's only had scars upon his hands before; now, he has more.
She draws in a breath. ]
That energy he had saved Noct from-- it was my own.
He saved Noctis because he would not suffer to do otherwise, new scars or not.
[ Because that was the sort of person that Ardyn was. Still, it was all too clear how this was effecting Pyra, that guilt almost palpable. Her own energy...? That seemed odd, given Honerva's experience with Pyra's energy. More to that, then. She sets her cup down, offering her hand to her proper. ]
I am. [ She says, bravely, cupping her hands in her lap. ] I am alright. I am well and healed.
[ Her fingers curl into loose fists as if she could stop them from trembling. ] But neither of them are-- or were. [ Both had been hurt, both newly scarred...
And Honerva-- Pyra lifts her head to look at the woman, guilted and pained-- Honerva is with Ardyn now. She could have seen him hurt if they hadn't succeeded in stopping the Fetter. Tearing her eyes from her, again she looks back to her hands. One breath, two steadying breaths.
"What happened?" Something terrible, something she's not likely to forget, something that nearly had killed Noctis, something that belonged to her, something that was a part of her, something dangerous-- ]
There was an object from my world... Mine. We call it the Omega Fetter. It came into this world corrupted, it was dangerous. Noctis took it into his armory, to keep it safe... and it nearly killed him.
[ All she can do is listen. There's a weight to what Pyra tells, and it is familiar. It is hurting her to speak of this.
Pyra has not taken Honerva's hand, so she reaches toward her arm instead, lightly, lest she flinch away again. A corrupted object... interfering energy, and nearly paying the price for what must have been an instinctual reaction, for safety, protection, and then to backfire... and Ardyn, of course, using his ability to take it on himself. ]
... All of that...
[ A lot to take in. But Pyra's information helps to fill in some of those gaps. ]
They... are recovering. That is what matters now. But that sounds... awful. And you've been carrying that feeling with you, haven't you.
[ When she feels Honerva's touch upon her arm, she can only glance at her for a moment before she turns her gaze away. That she would reach for her even now, knowing how important touch is to her-- for a duty to save this world, for a symbol of friendship-- is beyond Pyra's understanding. She cannot look at her.
They are recovering, yes, but.... ]
...I'm so sorry, Honerva. I'm so sorry that he was hurt. [ She could hardly face Regis when Noctis almost died in her arms. So focused she had been on Noctis, she hadn't realized she hadn't considered the same with Ardyn and Honerva. Now she's already seated next to her, when it's possible that Ardyn could have suffered far, far worse.
--And. Honerva, too. Architect, she almost took away what made Honerva so happy and hopeful. They're recovering, yes, but isn't what happened too close for comfort? ]
... I know you are. It was not your intent for such a thing to occur. That something so dangerous could be drawn here.
[ And that is the importance in this, of knowing others and their nature. Pyra has always been kind. If she weren't affected like this it would certainly be far stranger, but her remorse for it was there. Honerva well remembers a time when she could not conceive of such an emotion or the value of it.
And it had hurt, to know there was little she could do to ease Ardyn's pain in the matter, but it was still something he had chosen. His nature... because he gave so little care to himself. That stung too, but that was not Pyra's fault, either. ]
... What matters is that they recover. And you as well. Is this item still a danger?
[ She is healed. She is fine. She hasn't gotten a scratch on her, not a scar to show for it-- she hadn't been the one that nearly died. ] It's-- We repaired it.
[ She hesitates, and then goes on to explain: ] We repaired it by diving into his soul. It's there now, stable.
[ Noctis holds it still, but she worries what toll it might bring him, that he holds something that nearly killed him. He had said that he's used to having near-death experiences-- but is he truly alright? He had said he wanted to live... And she had nearly let him die... which is something he seemed grateful for, in terms of allowing him the choice instead of imposing life on him. Still, it's troubling.
Pyra looks down at her hands, helpless. No matter what she does, it seems that she causes him and others so much pain. ]
[ Physically, yes. Mentally, it is all too clear she is yet scarred, and it has not healed. ]
... Stable. I see.
[ Magic in regard to the soul is complicated, she well knows that. And yet, he did live, and by these accounts it had not altered who they were aside from the pain. ]
It is no wonder you have not wanted to go far. You are... still troubled by his state. As though all the care you could give him would not be enough. Those moments must have been so frightening to witness.
[ ...At this, Pyra reaches up from her lap to Honerva's hand on her shoulder, takes her hand in hers, and lowers their clasp to the porch. There, she sits in silence for a long while, unaffected by the cold and anything else, save for what passes through her mind.
"As though all the care you could give him would not be enough."
Then, nearly silent, she whispers: ] You understand.
[ Being frightened to lose or almost lose someone, seeing someone in pain and trying to help them. Honerva is unique in that she had been in both positions-- the one suffering from a great foreign energy harming her, and as one who would blame herself as well should something terrible happen to one of her loved ones.
She understands, so, Pyra thinks, this is right: it isn't enough, and it is right to take the blame. ]
[ The silence, and the way her hand drops as she considers it... Honerva doesn't know what got through to her or what conclusions she is drawing from it, but at least something has relented. ]
... It is familiar. To be so helpless, no matter what power lies at your fingertips. He has prevailed, but that feeling yet remains.
[ She can't tell her not to blame herself, when she would do the same, but she does not blame her. ]
If you wish to speak of it all, or simply... be, I will be here. As before.
[ "As before"... Yes, she had been there for Pyra before, almost a year ago, when Somnus left. Her presence had been comforting. ]
Honerva... you're so kind. Thank you.
[ For the offer, for sitting with her, for holding her hand; more, for working on countless projects with her, for still speaking with her after all the hurt Pyra has caused Honerva, too.
There are just far too many moments where she hurts others, and-- "To be helpless".
She cannot tell Honerva how guilty she feels that she would have let Noctis die out of respect for his autonomy, for it would be confessing that she could have brought him back to life. To someone who would rather tear the universe apart than see her son die, surely a power that Pyra does have at her fingertips to restore the dead to life would be insulting... especially not to use it for a loved one.
She shuts her eyes tightly, and her shoulders shake with an unsteady inhale. ] I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt someone you care for...
[ Pyra always calls her kind, and this continues to be strange, as much as it signals that they are both somewhat blind to their own merits.
And what is it that she looks for, with these apologies, these admissions? There is more she dares not say, a desperate quiet guilt, that someone might... justify with an admonishment, not absolve so readily. Does she seek forgiveness, or rejection?
Lightly, still holding her hand, she allows her thumb to gently rub the back of Pyra's hand. Actions that others have taken with her that she had come to learn. To give back. Pyra had held her close, when she was stressed. Could she not come to offer the same? ]
... The fact that... it might have been worse. That is what haunts you, is it not?
[ While she feels Honerva's fingers brush upon her hand in comfort, Pyra stills at her words. It does haunt her, yes. But there is another factor: ]
No.... No, Honerva... [ She admits, weakly, her voice trembling. ] It should have never happened to begin with.
[ The Fetter-- even her Artifices... Why, why did she keep those intact? It comes down to having a personal connection to them, feelings, emotions-- they are hers, she made them, Ophion is precious. After the war, she should have destroyed Ophion, too, and done away with the Fetter. Instead, she only bid Ophion to hide. Now the Fetter is corrupted which means her Artifice is, too. The Fetter came here, and it hurt not one but two people.
If she hadn't been so attached, this wouldn't have happened. ]
[ Well, there is no denying that she can relate to that. After all, she feels very much the same about her own life, and all that's occurred because of her weakness. As much as Pyra tells her otherwise.
Should never have happened. But it did, and there were scars and consequences. ]
... It should not have happened, but it has. You could not have known this would happen. That such an object would find itself drawn here. That Noctis would take it upon himself to draw it within. That Ardyn would then act as well. It has... already happened. And they will recover. They would not blame you even if it is what you feel you have earned.
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[ She takes this evidence into consideration, inclining her head and smiling over the tea held up close. The state of mind she must have been in, a year ago, still easing out of Taako's grim-nicknaming phases, from a time when she once did not care so much what she was called or how she was perceived because it usually was negative anyway.
She still wasn't accustomed to positive remarks upon her looks, but for the rest of it... ]
... I do smile easier around those I am more comfortable with. Perhaps I can accept that the sort of coziness I have been surrounded by has affected me in some way.
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[ Is it a tease, is it serious, she... honestly doesn't know. It's all a strange consideration. Had her own behavior significantly changed without her awareness? ]
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[ Pyra is, perhaps, a little bit on the impressionable side herself. But she'll take that fault if it means being effected by others. She's changed a little bit, herself. ] Remaining static.... That would mean being left behind.
[ She's seen people grow. Honerva has grown. Prompto has grown. Lup has grown. And especiallyNoc--
Her brow furrows, but then resumes smiling. ] Change is good... moreso if it means smiling more easily. I'm glad you can.
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But to have all that commented upon? It was very strange. Still perhaps not... unexpected, for this companion. ]
... I am as well. Although... I did not ask you to sit with me so that we can only talk about myself, you know.
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You've come to check in on Prompto... He's doing better.
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[ Carefully, since she knows so little; only enough to understand it was far more serious, and she knows how that can affect others. She sees that smile drop. She knows Pyra cares deeply where he is concerned, and that she does not like others to know when she is suffering. But Honerva has seen such a thing in her before, knows how that resonates. Pyra had refused the walk, to start with. ]
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He is scarred.
[ The way she says it, it sounds as if she's about to tack on an apology.
Ardyn is scarred, too.... which is something she realizes that Honerva might well discover one day too. ] ...As is Ardyn.
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... Yes, I have seen them. It looked as though a powerful energy was involved. Ardyn did not tell me much of what occurred, only that he had aided Noctis.
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[ She smiles, weakly, but it holds. ]
He saved Noct... at the cost of new scars. [ She looks down at her hands; the light in her eyes is helpless. Here it is again, the guilt that crushes her. Ardyn has suffered so much already. He's immortal, he's only had scars upon his hands before; now, he has more.
She draws in a breath. ]
That energy he had saved Noct from-- it was my own.
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[ Because that was the sort of person that Ardyn was. Still, it was all too clear how this was effecting Pyra, that guilt almost palpable. Her own energy...? That seemed odd, given Honerva's experience with Pyra's energy. More to that, then. She sets her cup down, offering her hand to her proper. ]
What... happened? Are you all right?
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[ Her fingers curl into loose fists as if she could stop them from trembling. ] But neither of them are-- or were. [ Both had been hurt, both newly scarred...
And Honerva-- Pyra lifts her head to look at the woman, guilted and pained-- Honerva is with Ardyn now. She could have seen him hurt if they hadn't succeeded in stopping the Fetter. Tearing her eyes from her, again she looks back to her hands. One breath, two steadying breaths.
"What happened?" Something terrible, something she's not likely to forget, something that nearly had killed Noctis, something that belonged to her, something that was a part of her, something dangerous-- ]
There was an object from my world... Mine. We call it the Omega Fetter. It came into this world corrupted, it was dangerous. Noctis took it into his armory, to keep it safe... and it nearly killed him.
Ardyn helped stabilize him.
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Pyra has not taken Honerva's hand, so she reaches toward her arm instead, lightly, lest she flinch away again. A corrupted object... interfering energy, and nearly paying the price for what must have been an instinctual reaction, for safety, protection, and then to backfire... and Ardyn, of course, using his ability to take it on himself. ]
... All of that...
[ A lot to take in. But Pyra's information helps to fill in some of those gaps. ]
They... are recovering. That is what matters now. But that sounds... awful. And you've been carrying that feeling with you, haven't you.
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They are recovering, yes, but.... ]
...I'm so sorry, Honerva. I'm so sorry that he was hurt. [ She could hardly face Regis when Noctis almost died in her arms. So focused she had been on Noctis, she hadn't realized she hadn't considered the same with Ardyn and Honerva. Now she's already seated next to her, when it's possible that Ardyn could have suffered far, far worse.
--And. Honerva, too. Architect, she almost took away what made Honerva so happy and hopeful. They're recovering, yes, but isn't what happened too close for comfort? ]
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[ And that is the importance in this, of knowing others and their nature. Pyra has always been kind. If she weren't affected like this it would certainly be far stranger, but her remorse for it was there. Honerva well remembers a time when she could not conceive of such an emotion or the value of it.
And it had hurt, to know there was little she could do to ease Ardyn's pain in the matter, but it was still something he had chosen. His nature... because he gave so little care to himself. That stung too, but that was not Pyra's fault, either. ]
... What matters is that they recover. And you as well. Is this item still a danger?
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[ She hesitates, and then goes on to explain: ] We repaired it by diving into his soul. It's there now, stable.
[ Noctis holds it still, but she worries what toll it might bring him, that he holds something that nearly killed him. He had said that he's used to having near-death experiences-- but is he truly alright? He had said he wanted to live... And she had nearly let him die... which is something he seemed grateful for, in terms of allowing him the choice instead of imposing life on him. Still, it's troubling.
Pyra looks down at her hands, helpless. No matter what she does, it seems that she causes him and others so much pain. ]
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... Stable. I see.
[ Magic in regard to the soul is complicated, she well knows that. And yet, he did live, and by these accounts it had not altered who they were aside from the pain. ]
It is no wonder you have not wanted to go far. You are... still troubled by his state. As though all the care you could give him would not be enough. Those moments must have been so frightening to witness.
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"As though all the care you could give him would not be enough."
Then, nearly silent, she whispers: ] You understand.
[ Being frightened to lose or almost lose someone, seeing someone in pain and trying to help them. Honerva is unique in that she had been in both positions-- the one suffering from a great foreign energy harming her, and as one who would blame herself as well should something terrible happen to one of her loved ones.
She understands, so, Pyra thinks, this is right: it isn't enough, and it is right to take the blame. ]
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... It is familiar. To be so helpless, no matter what power lies at your fingertips. He has prevailed, but that feeling yet remains.
[ She can't tell her not to blame herself, when she would do the same, but she does not blame her. ]
If you wish to speak of it all, or simply... be, I will be here. As before.
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Honerva... you're so kind. Thank you.
[ For the offer, for sitting with her, for holding her hand; more, for working on countless projects with her, for still speaking with her after all the hurt Pyra has caused Honerva, too.
There are just far too many moments where she hurts others, and-- "To be helpless".
She cannot tell Honerva how guilty she feels that she would have let Noctis die out of respect for his autonomy, for it would be confessing that she could have brought him back to life. To someone who would rather tear the universe apart than see her son die, surely a power that Pyra does have at her fingertips to restore the dead to life would be insulting... especially not to use it for a loved one.
She shuts her eyes tightly, and her shoulders shake with an unsteady inhale. ] I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt someone you care for...
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And what is it that she looks for, with these apologies, these admissions? There is more she dares not say, a desperate quiet guilt, that someone might... justify with an admonishment, not absolve so readily. Does she seek forgiveness, or rejection?
Lightly, still holding her hand, she allows her thumb to gently rub the back of Pyra's hand. Actions that others have taken with her that she had come to learn. To give back. Pyra had held her close, when she was stressed. Could she not come to offer the same? ]
... The fact that... it might have been worse. That is what haunts you, is it not?
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No.... No, Honerva... [ She admits, weakly, her voice trembling. ] It should have never happened to begin with.
[ The Fetter-- even her Artifices... Why, why did she keep those intact? It comes down to having a personal connection to them, feelings, emotions-- they are hers, she made them, Ophion is precious. After the war, she should have destroyed Ophion, too, and done away with the Fetter. Instead, she only bid Ophion to hide. Now the Fetter is corrupted which means her Artifice is, too. The Fetter came here, and it hurt not one but two people.
If she hadn't been so attached, this wouldn't have happened. ]
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Should never have happened. But it did, and there were scars and consequences. ]
... It should not have happened, but it has. You could not have known this would happen. That such an object would find itself drawn here. That Noctis would take it upon himself to draw it within. That Ardyn would then act as well. It has... already happened. And they will recover. They would not blame you even if it is what you feel you have earned.
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