hugtopia_logs | [closed] i was hanging with you

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[closed] i was hanging with you

♥ Who: Noctis and Pyra
♥ Where: VR cafe, King's Knight
♥ When: early may
♥ What: cute surprises
♥ Rating: PG

[ Over the past couple of weeks they had resumed some of their usual routine. At his leisure they've trained together, this time both with his magic and her own fire, and they've also found time to play King's Knight. Already they've climbed the dungeons together to the point they've almost reached the end of the game.

It's towards the early afternoon where she leaves her work at the labs, and she sends him a text to meet her at the VR cafe-- today is the day where they finally beat the game. Their last joined saved point had been just as the final dungeon leading up to Ophion. Greeting him with a warm smile, her hand finds his as soon as he arrives. They take their usual spots in the cafe and, donning their helmets, enter the game.

Her hand is still in his as she blinks them open once the virtual reality assembles. Before them is the beginning of the dungeon: a series of crystalline staircases ascending a mountain, punctuated with levels of plateaus and terraces where more treasures and enemies await heroes on their gauntlet; behind them, their last chance to stock up on healing items and equipment before proceeding. The cooler wind-effect of this level gives away that they're already somewhere high-up, and her longer hair within the game flows behind her like ribbons upon a flag.

She turns to him, her head tilting. ]

Oh... New class?

[ And a new level, she sees. It seems he's been playing this on his own time, too! While it does make her question why the sudden change for the final area, perhaps he believes being a Dragoon may help them more against the superboss. ]

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[He moves as she does, step by step, following through the prompts and remaining synchronized as her hand holds tightly to his. It's almost like a dance- back and forth, forward and away, moving against the thundering wind and the thrashing of the divine digital beast under their feet. When the last prompt is completed successfully and she calls his name one final time, at last defeating their foe, he exhales a breath he'd been holding too long, shoulders slumping, his hand squeezing hers before it is released. As the dragon flies them closer to the surface, he holds fast to the chain for balance and looks over at her with wide eyes.]

We did it... [He leans in closer, checking her expression. Is this... good? Is she happy? She doesn't look it.] Are you okay?

[ When he checks her expression, he'll see an amalgam of reflection, relief, and disbelief. Ophion lies quietly beneath them, having suffered very little from their attacks. The Fetter remain in her hands, no longer glowing with strain but quiet and loose about his neck. And the two of them, Noctis and Pyra, are standing upon one of the metal scales of his back without triggering another anguished thrash from the dragon...

She can't call this as them overcoming the impossible-- it is all programmed into the game, after all-- but with this he did give her an opportunity she'd never see in her own world. She's in shock. ]

[ --But in a way that that same shock shatters. In an instant, she throws her arms around him. It's different from her usual embraces, not in that it is any less meaningful or grateful, but that it has an added layer to it. It's celebratory. ]

--Noct!

[ C'mere for a hug, you, except it's not one that lasts too long, excited and happy as she is. She goes between hugging him to pulling away to look at him, then to hugging him once more, to dropping her arms around him to take both of his hands and hold them in hers for a series of excited squeezes, as if she can't exactly decide what to do with her arms and hands. She looks a mess from the battle, but her breathlessness comes not only from the fight but from joy. ]

[Oh! Hug! Okay, maybe she's happy after all. He returns it, draws back, hugs again- really he just lets her manhandle him as she pleases until she's satisfied, and he looks back at her a little breathless and pleased. The fight was much less of a gauntlet than it would have been without the Fetter, and while they might have survived it somehow, Ophion would not. Instead they stand together and victorious and Ophion lies peacefully beneath them. Even if it's just a digital rendition, the best they could manage in an alien world with no photo from which to copy... she looks so pleased, like this is something out of a dream for her.

Yeah, it definitely was all worth the trouble to get it.]

So? You've tamed a dragon and saved the world. How does it feel?

Edited 2020-05-10 19:18 (UTC)

[ How does she feel? She laughs giddily. ]

Like--.... like I'm someone like you. [ Someone who has already helped his world-- has gone around his kingdom and acquired the mark of an expert hunter, a champion More, too: like someone is set to save a world. Someone who's gone on an adventure and prevented catastrophe. Someone who won't cause the end of the world, instead overcoming all odds to save it.

This is a dream to her in her world, but here it's reality. ] A hero!

[ Holding her hands like this, it's as if they're both holding the chain. ]

[With her looking so happy about it, it's easy to share her grin, glancing around at their digital surroundings. This place might not be real, and it might just be randomized pixels and code, but it's still beautiful. And how they feel about is real enough.]

Feels pretty good, doesn't it.

[ And the best thing about this victory is there that is no collateral destruction, would would have very much been a thing with her actual Artifice. ]

...Yes! [ Yes, it feels great because it feels like she actually, truly did something good here... hypothetically. She didn't actually save anyone with this. However, she can imagine that she'll feel this good when everything is-- actually, no, she won't feel anything if she's gone. But she can pretend, just as she's pretending within this game that she saved a world alongside someone. ]

Yes. [ She repeats, and she pulls him in for a little, happy twirl. But she missteps forward, knocking into him with a small laugh. ] Sir Dragoon-Phoenix Knight, we... won.

[ The game is over, technically. They probably can log out, but she doesn't wish too (and besides, she has her own surprise to give). ] Where did you even find the Omega Fetter?

Hell yeah, we won.

[He catches and steadies her as she stumbles into him, tugging at her arms to keep her upright.]

I don't really remember where it was... I was grinding a bunch of higher levels looking for it- it all kind of blurred together. It's a really, really rare treasure drop, and it doesn't even say what it is in the item description, so it's meant to be a puzzle for people to figure out.

[He offers up a cheeky smile.]

I guess that means I kind of cheated, but you won't catch me apologizing for it.

[ She doesn't seem to mind at all! In fact, she shakes her head while giggling again. ]

And, ah, you designed it too, didn't you? I don't recognize these markings...

[ It's probably best to step off of Ophion now. So if he's willing to follow her, she'll lead him by the hand off of the dragon. She wishes to walk around to the Aritfice's front anyway, to see if the game has reset his design to be uninjured. ]

Yeah... I kind of had to guess at it. Like I said, I didn't want to ask, because it'd ruin the surprise.

[He follows along of course, offering up a slightly sheepish smile; still no apology, but he does wish it could have looked a bit like what it should.]

[ They walk around to Ophion's head, and he appears to be slumbering... as much as any robot might be able to appear sleeping in a state like this.

He really needn't be concerned with how it looks. That he's did this for her at all means a lot. ]

I love it. This gift, Noct. It's... wonderful. [ ...If that wasn't clear enough. Pyra looks over Ophion again, thoughtful as if debating something.

Something like should she tell him about the actual Fetter? If if she does, what will he conclude after it about how she happens to know? That she knew of its existence at all should have given away that she knows more than she should. But, ah...

After a moment in silence, she says: ]

...This chain is much, um, 'cooler' than the real Omega Fetter.

[He'd wanted to ask - more for his curiosity than anything else, since it's not as if he can or would change his own design now - but wasn't sure if it would be prying too much. Now, with her offering up the information freely, he feels a bit safer in asking.]

What's the real thing like?

It's, ah...

[ How does she even begin to describe it?

Well, first, she wants to sit down in this field, on this mountain, and with Ophion. So she'll do that, finding a spot for them to rest as the ambiance of the game turns over the colors in the sky. With Ophion's defeat, the clouds have parted and the mist has dispersed. It shouldn't be long until they might be able to see stars....

She brings up her hand as if to depict a square of something in front of her. ] It's a crystal cube of energy in its dormant state. In its active state, [ She pauses, then splays her fingers as if they could depict rays pulsating from a core. ] it's an... [ Hm. ] It's easiest to think of it as a mass of energy [ Energy, mass? The terms clash, but this is the best she can come up with. ] that's also a computer.

[ Operating it, one can control both Ophion and the Titans. She doesn't quite remember why she made it as such. Only that for some reason she did, and that's what the Fetter is. ]

[He sits down with her, settling comfortably in the grass with one leg tucked up close to his chest. Since the battle is over - technically the game as well, for this particular round - he opens the menu to switch his equipment to a less-pointy armor set, dismissing his lance as well. If they're just going to lounge before they log out, may as well be comfortable about it.]

Oh wow, I was way off, then. I thought fetter as in chain...

[Obviously, since a chain is what they'd just used.]

Guess it makes more sense your way, though. A chain that can stop a dragon is like magic, but a computer would be able to stop a robo dragon.

[ A literal chain is indeed cooler, as she’s said. Especially for a battle. ]

W-well, it’s said that one can also control the very Titans with this Fetter, too. [ A chain would have to be leagues long to encircle a continent. ] ...And the continents are ground, not robotic, so, ah.

It’s a mystery! How it works.

[ Probably has something to do with it being a divine artifact.

She knows how it works. It also seems to have slipped her mind of how much he does know at this point. Chalk it up to her being very much effected by the nostalgia of being in Ophion’s presence. She’s still in this dream. ]

[Yeah, speaking of.]

Doesn't seem like much of a mystery to you. Isn't Ophion yours?

[He leans over, lightly bumping his shoulder against hers. He hasn't forgotten that memory on the mountain. It makes a lot of sense, in retrospect, how happy she is to see Ophion safe and healthy and saved, even in just a video game. He'd been wounded in that memory, and she'd worried for him; he wonders what his fate back then must have been, but she's so pleased now that he doesn't want to ruin it by asking the wrong question.]

[ She tenses against his shoulder, looking at the dragon.

This is the flaw of having emotions and being sentimental, because she forgets herself with letting secrets slip that she wouldn’t have otherwise. Telling him about her world would have been far easier for her to bear, but thinking back on their previous conversations, she marvels at how lowered her guard has been around him. He know Ophion is divine— she told him. He knows that he is hers— she also told him. Putting these two together, what sort of conclusion might he draw?

She feels that a closely guarded secret of hers, one that she fears to give anyone here because of what she’s heard of others and how they regard gods and the like, is being torn away from her. A familiar feeling washes over her: fear. Fear makes her shirk.

Her gaze lowers. ]

....Yes.

[The tension in her body language draws his attention at once, close as they are; he glances sidelong at her, immediately concerned, though he can't catch her eye. It's telling him that he hit the nail on the head, bringing to mind the set of conversations they'd shared, the tidbits of information she's told him or unintentionally revealed of herself. She's not human. She's used a plural pronoun instead of singular, indicating more than one person. Ophion is hers. Ophion is like a Messenger.

His breath catches, then, one more piece of the puzzle sliding into place- it's like he can see enough of the picture to recognize what it might be, even if the whole is incomplete.

Messengers are the mouthpieces of gods.]

...Pyra... if you don't want me to ask, I won't. And you don't have to tell me anything you're not cool with sharing. [Gods know he's got secrets of his own, even with all he's shared with her.] Just know that whatever it is, it won't change anything. What's it matter where you come from or what you are? I like what I see now. [He squeezes her hand meaningfully.] Or... you can just say, "Mind your own business, Noctis."

[He'd made that promise to her a month ago, after Somnus vanished, to respect her walls when she puts them up and stands firm. The sentiment has not changed, nor has his opinion of her even with what he learned since then. What else could?]

[ There are more than one here who believe that conquering gods via force is a viable, desirable option.

There is another man here who would seek to change the future without a means to see the fallout of those changes.

There is someone who said the gods do not understand or care.

There is another who would consider enslaving them.

In her world, there is a mortal man who would steal from god then wish to become one.

...And isn’t it right that they would want to do this, to blame the gods, any gods, entities, or powers-that-be, for their fates, to want for better, to loathe the divine for what they’ve done (or haven't done) yet simultaneously covet their power? To curse them for their inaction, injustice against the tragic, and lack of answers? Who wouldn't blame them, all that power, all that control over the future, yet letting so many suffer? Who wouldn’t want to change their fate or that of a loved one? Who wouldn’t want to damn those that lord over them seemingly without sympathy? Who wouldn’t want to obtain all the power in the world, the past, the present, the future, to shape it as they please— for glory, for knowledge, for protecting others, for all the answers in the universe? She understands, she understands!

How can she tell anyone what she is, of what she is made, when she understands this? Yet—

Just know that whatever it is, it won't change anything. What's it matter where you come from or what you are? I like what I see now. ]

What I am....

Doesn't bother you?

[ What she has done, what she is still doing-- her actions-- surely might. But if, in principle, just what she is doesn't...

She's scared. She doesn't know what this means. ]

[He lifts his shoulders in a small shrug.]

Don't see why it should. Whether I know or not, you're still the same person. I got to know you like this, so what's hearing your origin going to change?

[Her fear is a reminder of Prompto, that painful hesitance outside the Imperial throne room, the way he'd stumbled over his words as he confessed where he'd come from. He'd hated to see it, knowing he'd been the cause of some of it thanks to Izunia's trickery, wishing he'd been able to see past it so that Prompto could have been spared some of the suffering he'd had to endure. There's no changing the past, though. All he could offer was reassurance that going forward, he would do better- that he'd see Prompto for who he is, and accept it wholeheartedly.

Noct's answer now is the same as it had been then, and he sees no reason for that to change. He has plenty of unorthodox friends or allies in his life, so why start letting it bother him now?]

[ ...She really should have known, she supposes. He sees past what someone is and looks into their hearts.

Even if he doesn't know everything she's done, or the cold decisions she's capable of, of how she uses others, how she lies. To save the world is an all well-and-good excuse, but when held up to scrutiny, it only an excuse. People have still been hurt because of her, and still will be. She can't-- shouldn't, doesn't deserve understanding, forgiveness, or sympathy, for what she's done.

Addam--

What she's doing. ]

Your prophecy... was given to you by your gods.

[ A pause. ]

Do you not resent them?

[He doesn't answer at first, giving that question the thought that it deserves, especially... all things considered. His answer might have been different months ago, a solid no- because what have the gods ever done to him except help him in the fulfilment of his quest? He hadn't enjoyed the pain of Titan's visions, or the trials, or their voices in his head, but he understood the need, and the power they'd granted him had been too incredible to not be worth the trade. He'd rather be sore and exhausted than dead, thanks.

Now, though... he's faced them all, save Ifrit, he's felt each and every one of their powers, bore their marks upon his skin. He'd faced the Draconian and been handed down his fate at last, and he knew now that all along, they'd been sparing his life in order to sacrifice him in the end. The grand plan of the gods, the prophecy passed down through the generations, would trade him for the sunlight. No dawn for him, no crown, no kingdom to inherit. His fate was an empty legacy. He has plenty reason to resent them for it, for building him up just to tear him down.

Quietly he brushes his fingers across the inside of his left arm, an idle gesture he'd been doing more and more since he awoke. It's not the same in VR, and they're covered by his armor, but he knows they're there. He felt their touch, trembled in their presence, listened to their words, reminding him of his duty.

"O King of Kings, restore the Light unto this world."
"The fate of this world falls to the King of Kings, His Providence consecrated in the divine Light of the Crystal."

Do you not resent them?]

...I think... in a way, they're just as trapped as I am. [He tears his gaze away from his arm and looks ahead, watching the empty horizon.] They're meant to safeguard Eos, but they've had to watch it slowly fall apart over hundreds, even thousands of years. They don't feel evil to me, just... so much bigger than any of us. They're looking at the past and making choices that feel right for the best future of our world. If part of that choice is me, then unless I can come up with something better, who am I to argue? If it wasn't me, it would be someone else.

[And he wouldn't wish this upon anyone, just to spare himself the trouble. Even if he doesn't always feel like the right choice, even if it sometimes feels like too much for a single person to endure. He frowns, brows furrowing, and glances over at her.]

I guess the answer is, it doesn't feel right to resent them. They're doing what they have to, to save everyone. It's the exact same goal I have.

[ And his goal is to... banish the darkness, bring the light back to his world, and save it.

Even if he has all the reason to resent them for choosing him as a vessel for this prophecy, he does not. Instead, it seems he makes an effort to understand. It doesn't make the pain he feels right, it doesn't make all the losses and suffering justified, he doesn't have to like it, but he understands.

That’s... more than she would ever thought she’d have. Another's understanding, because she must do the same— do whatever she can— to help her own world . Whether that be hiding and abandoning others to a war that continued, whether that be using others, whether that not be helping the Titans as they continued to be harmed by humans, whether that be defying the laws of life and death she and her brother had written to bring someone back for this purpose.... she needs that understanding. She needs there to be a future for those who still exist, that there might be a chance to make it better.

Something gives, then, like the frozen surface of lake finally slowly cracking in spring, allowing the tension of the water beneath to ease. She feels something like relief, only safer: that among all here, he is someone with whom she can be more at ease. Funny, she hadn’t even known how terrified of others she was until some of that fear had left her shoulders while sitting alongside him.

She lets a slow, soft breath out through her nose. Pyra looks towards Ophion with gaze that remains distant, and then something changes in her expression as she speaks, as if letting some of her exhaustion show. ] I’m so... scared, Noct.

[ Despite this, there’s a hint of a smile at her lips. Because just now, he’s one of only one other who has made her feel... safe. ]

Understanding is... more than those like us may ask.

[ Thus, they... don’t even ask for it, they don’t explain themselves, period, because it would be leading. They do not defend themselves, either. Here, Noctis simply gave it on his own, and she’s in a daze because of it. When did he grow so wise? ]

[Those like us. That's all the confirmation he needs, and it's strange how little he's surprised by it. It's almost freeing, how suddenly a great deal about her makes sense, and at the same time he feels terrible that she's had to hold on to this on her own for so long. She's scared... did no one know it? Has she been hiding behind a smile this whole time? How did any of them not see it? There were hints, looking back, how she'd occasionally faltered when questioned, the mask dropping for a few seconds. But she made it so easy to refocus on the problems of others that the distraction from herself had practically become second nature. How selfish of them, in retrospect, even if she was doing it to protect herself. He'd thought he was respecting her boundaries but what if the push had been something she needed? Even now, she says she's scared but she's smiling. He doesn't know how she does it.]

What are you scared of?

[What happened to you? is what he really wants to ask. Fear isn't always rational, but often it is merited. He's felt it plenty of times for both reasons to know this.

It's... funny, actually. Gods were among the few truly frightful things of his world that he hasn't felt that scared of. Their presence, and the burden they'd placed on him, emboldened him more than anything else. Their need to use him and keep him alive gives him a bargaining position few can claim, though not one he'd ever had to utilize. Shiva could stop Izunia - a man whose presence he'd dreaded - in his tracks with a single touch, even if temporarily, but he'd felt calm and almost peaceful in her frigid presence. He wonders what might frighten a god.]

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