[OPEN] what kingly dreams

[fessus]

WHO? Noctis and you (and some other losers maybe)
WHAT? Dreams
WHEN? Whenever both our characters are asleep during this event
ANYTHING ELSE? Possible violence and trauma

[ Dream A ]

[ The decorations on the Citadel almost seem like physical impossibilities, great waterfalls of fabric draped over towering architecture and what feels like a never-ending amount of petals or confetti catching the light as they fall. It's not really all that consistent. It is a dream, after all.

Maybe that's why the crowd that chokes the plaza feels so indistinct, fuzzy background faces cheering for the wedding they're about to witness. Noctis takes a deep breath as he gathers his composure, unable to adjust his collar because fidgeting is inappropriate but it's so itchy. Nevertheless he turns his head from where he's standing at the height of the stairs, looking to what should be his bride climbing the last few. Except... ]

Wait, this isn't right. [ You are not Luna. ]


[ Dream B ]

[ The indignant cheeping of the chocobos in response to their beautiful plumage getting wet is louder at least than the steady rainfall against the rooftop of the Wiz Chocobo Post. Louder still might be Noctis's scoffing at his own hair getting wet, trying his best to smooth it down even as he ducks under the railing of one of the bird pens. ]

Easy, easy... You think I want to be out here either? [ Why is he here? He doesn't know beyond that it's definitely his job to feed these animals; that's a certainty. Did he take up a part-time job or something? One gloved hand smoothes feathers as he calls out to the other presumed worker on duty. ]

Hey, can you pass me that bag of greens?


[ Dream C ]

[ Students are whispering behind him, he can feel it. They always do. He looks younger, feels younger, and the school uniform he's wearing is as uncomfortable as it ever was.

He stares at the board, a complex math equation he's never seen carefully scrawled onto its face as his teacher tuts disapprovingly. "How can we have a prince that can't even solve something so rudimentary? You're so unlike your father," she says, and his discomfort only grows.

This is like a nightmare... How could anyone know the answer? ]


[ closed to Achilles ]

Come... on! Stay down already!

[ The bark of a frustrated yell comes from a visibly irritated Noctis, sword vanishing in an array of crystalline light before being replaced in his hands by a vicious-looking spear. He's facing down a monstrous beast that seems all too intent on slashing him open with swipes of its claws, narrowly dodging each hit. ]

Gladio! Where's-- Prompto, Ignis! Where are you?! [ That spear is hurtled at the behemoth's head as he warps in for an attack of his own, getting in a few solid strikes before he tumbles back down onto grass. Help's always appreciated. ]


[ closed to Midnighter ]

[ Noctis is unused to spending much time in the throne room of the Citadel these days, and it's even harder to remember a time when he's been in here alone. Fingers drag over the smooth surface of one of the throne's armrests before abruptly jerking back, as if he's suddenly remembered it should only be his father's right to place his hand there.

Where is he? He should be here. It's too quiet and Noctis has always loathed coming in here as an adult; there's no reason for him to linger when he expects an advisor or guard to show up and chide him at any moment.

The sudden sound of footsteps has him turning his head, however, the only warning he's given before the doors at the far end of the room burst open and another young male who looks to be close to his age -- but in much, much worse condition -- runs through them. Has he ever seen this person before? No, his mind says, but he doesn't belong in here. ]

Hey! Hey, are you okay? [ Noctis is taking those steps two at a time to move to his side. ]


[ closed to Hei ]

[ It's night.

The starscape in Lucis is stunning, too, a totally unique beauty that he could never appreciate in the metropolis of Insomnia. Out here, away from civilization... everything seems to slow down a little. Everything feels more real.

And it isn't what he wants to see; it's not his friends, or Luna, or the place that he'd most call "home". But it's what he needs to see, his world and the lands he's destined to rule over. Noctis exhales as he drags his fingers through cool grass, head turning to see the shadow of another figure only illuminated by starlight. ]

... ah. Hey. [ Again his gaze turns skyward, even if he feels a greater sense of unease now. ] It'd be good if this lasted, huh?

Comments

[dipolar]

The scourge will blot out the stars? (it sounds familiar, so it's addressed familiarly.

maybe that's why it's so easy to sink into this dream like it's one of his own, his adaptability reaching the depths of this complex world. he doesn't know what this scourge is or what it's doing, but if it'll ruin these perfect nights with a fake sky and change humans into unfeeling monsters, then they have to do something. he can't lose these stars again. not when they're the only thing he loves anymore.

finally turns to look down on noctis. it's with recognition that he does, the face striking a chord in him — he's spoken at length with this boy, words exchanged in a quiet room together, both of them addressing problems together. he can't remember when or why, not now in this dream's confusion, but the impression he has of him is a good one and that's more than enough for him to go on.)

What can I do?

(sinking to a knee in the grass to get on his level, trench coat spread behind his heels.)

[fessus]

[ It's hard for him to turn his head away from the absolute vision of the night sky above them but the words spoken to him and the proximity of this man manage to snare his attention. His head turns and there's a shimmer in a blurry, glassy gaze, unshed tears trapped like the growing lump in his throat. He makes out the Kingsglaive uniform, one unexplained to him until recently. A leftover legacy of his father's.

Slowly Noctis finds his feet, smoothly straightening up to full height as one arm extends to a man he views as a partner, a devoted subject. A dagger fills his open palm a second later, glittering light signaling its arrival in a display that rivals that of the stars above. ]

Take it and I'll show you. If you use my power the way that I tell you to, you'll be using it well. Do you understand? We have a long battle ahead of us.

[dipolar]

(wants to stand, take a step back from the watery stare he's given— why? what's happened?

for some reason, he wants to make it stop in whatever way he can. hei has never liked tears or their connotations, someone close to him is hurting and it makes him bristle, the solemn weight of the dream's mood settling into him like he'd be capable of empathizing with this boy. and he is. if destroying what's bothering noctis will make it stop, then accepting the dagger he's presented with is a choice he's more than willing to make.

a wide gaze at the glittering appearance it makes in noctis' hand, stunned by the gravity of the moment, before his eyelids sink, jaw setting with new responsibility. it gives him a purpose. a purpose means a reason to live, if only for now, until all of this is over.)

Yeah. I understand.

(hei reaches up for the dagger and grasps it, pulling it towards him. the power surge is unexpected; he'd drop the blade if his fingers didn't squeeze vicelike around the handle, head bowing for a sharp exhale. he's felt similar spikes in skill, meteor shard breaking all restrictions, but this is a different kind of rush that settles into every fibre, hair raising, skin prickling.

a transfer? is this just some throwaway fraction of what noctis can do?)

Noctis, is this—?

[fessus]

[ It's been years now since he last took an active role in imbuing another person with the blessings given to the Lucian kings but the sensation is one he remembers well, not a drain of energy but the addition of one more path through which it can flow. A connection.

One more precious than ever when he feels a powerful ache blooming in his chest, a profound sense of emptiness that tells him his other links have been severed. At least here, at least now.

He doesn't need Hei to fill that void. He needs Hei to help him find them or avenge them, as the case may be. And a glaive's purpose is to do whatever his king requires, isn't it? Noctis hears his name and steels himself through a familiarity that makes him feel weak, far too tempted to give into it and to allow the first of many tears to fall. ]

... "your highness". You address me as "your highness". [ Instead there comes a quiet reminder that nevertheless carries with it a stern force. ]

[dipolar]

(weighing a too accessible magic in the palm balancing this gifted dagger, he almost misses the first correction. on the second, his eyes dart up .

can't remember hearing a commanding tone like that since his days in the war, all the rest too intimidated by or too used to a contractor's quick, cold acceptance of anything and everything they're instructed to do. it flips something in him, in a dream where his personality is laid so bare and stripped down to its simplest version. a boy lost without direction, floating dead in the water, willing to sink but looking for anything to keep him from drowning. and the order is easy to follow, this — prince? king? — luminary easy to grab hold of.

noctis wants to protect what hei wants to protect and he's been given the strength to do that again by someone he knows he should be doing the same for. with memories of his sister sharing her ability, a delusional mind no long sees the boy as a stranger or acquaintance—)

Your Highness.

(sweeps into a stand only to duck his head in apologetic deference, dark eyes narrowing past the ornate blade at the grass beneath him. they have a lot of work to do, or he might have more questions to ask of him if noctis was willing to waste that kind of time on him. as it stands, their first objective is to leave this place and find the source of it all, not an easy task but one he's been prepared for since he joined— what?

since he joined this. him.

hei lifts his head, glancing out at his highness' land. a land he recognizes, if only through the familiarity of the dreamer, layout seeming fresh in his head despite the place a logical mind tells him is foreign.)

We're far from where we should be. I'd suggest we move on, but we need a bearing.

[fessus]

[ The title carries the same gravity it did when it was previously given to his father.

A somberness in the tone adds rigidity to a lax body and stiffness to regularly slumped shoulders, both supporting and burdening him simultaneously. This is his subject, and as such he is someone to be commanded and led, someone here to offer his liege what he requires. This is his subject, and as such he is someone Noctis is tasked with protecting and inspiring, in battle or outside of it.

He blinks wetness from his eyes with a newfound determination, gaze fixed solely on Hei. ]

I know exactly where we need to strike. You and I are what's left of the resistance against Niflheim... so we stand alone and that's how we should think of ourselves. But I don't need more.

I'm gonna' crush 'em all. [ A strong gust of wind chases the end of those words as it whips at the grass and stirs up a thick black dust that has settled beneath them. It's thrown upward by the force, dancing through the sky and blotting out the stars illuminating their surroundings one by one... and it feels like so much more than mere darkness. It's a complete absence of light, an overbearing pressure that weighs heavier and heavier upon his head until it seems to crack the very ground beneath him.

For one second, he's weightless.

But the scourge is chasing them both as they slip into the bowels of the earth, dropping slowly like ash into the cavern through which they're falling, and it chokes him with his first inhale until they sink deeper. ]

Hei! [ The name comes to him in a moment of clarity just like the blade he suddenly summons into one hand, thrusting it into the seemingly shapeless wall that scrapes at his arm and tears his sleeve. With his other hand he grabs for Hei's collar, barely grasping it within his fist before they slam down against stone and he's being forced to register pain over everything else.

Almost everything else. The newfound light that washes over this scene, pale and artificial unlike what the heavens granted them, illuminates the barrels of guns. ] Get up. [ And he almost doesn't recognize the roughness of his own voice as he scrambles to his own feet, blue eyes cutting from one enemy to another... before he whips his body backward, arm extended for a lightning fast throw of the sword that newly embeds itself into an enemy soldier's helmet.

He can hear the metal screech as it's dented inward into whatever remains of that stranger's face, but why should he be satisfied to only hear instead of see? Feel? And his body vanishes in a wash of light, chasing after his blade to retrieve it and give himself to the feeling that the blood of an enemy inspires. He thinks of his home, he thinks of his father, he thinks of his friends, and he thinks even of Hei as that sword is exchanged for the vicious sweep of a spear, and he's never felt so justified in anything. ]

.......,

[dipolar]

("you and i", "we stand alone", they're the resistance, they're the last line of defence, and noctis wants him to fight at his side. to act as an extension of his arsenal, his pride in his nation, his desperation to bring these events to a close. hei can't ease up on the dagger his fingers choke with his grip, he's needed again and, while his highness' eyes clear, his own burn with the gravity of his realization. the bodies of the people they've killed to get here are about to measure up with the bodies of the people they're going to kill. to protect the sky his sister loved, the sky his king loves.

a breath shakes out of him in relief. finally, finally, he's found something else. hei's never felt more prepared to face the coming of the niflheim tide, chin sinking with a sharp nod. they're my enemies. they're the ones i'm meant to kill. this is why i'm alive. this is my purpose.

black dust is blown up from the ground whose maw opens to swallow them whole and he thinks, for one crazed second, that it's gate phenomena leading them to where they need to go. their weightlessness, then, is accepted too quickly — their feet will hit solid earth and they'll be somewhere entirely different, that's how these great betrayers of physics work for the humans and contractors who enter. betraying the senses, it'll take you anywhere; hei falls with confidence. one only dashed by the shout from above that makes his heels kick down in order to force himself upright before his head jerks with the rest of his body as noctis suspends him by the collar.

stopped his free fall, but they've hit their destination a mite too soon, shoulder striking the ground hard and stealing the wind from him. a dim awareness of danger is enough to take him to his feet at noctis' order, a whirl of dagger and the shucking of another from the sheath beneath his coat bringing him into battle as immediately as bullets crack from their barrels.

no pain can rid him of his only abilities — to dodge, to fight, to kill. a swing of his torso left, niflheim aim not nearly good enough, stepping into a rush at his aggressors. it's what he's been bred to do and the violet gasp of a metal soldier targeted at the weakest point in its armour screams out of a helmet that should be hollow, an impression he can't trace back to its source and hurriedly declared something he's always understood. no interruptions, no deep thinking. a whip of his ornate blade in a savage arc of blood cuts clean through steel plate, ducking the stuck niff's bayonet imbedding itself into the ground as it falls. move, drop a foot against the gun to trap scrabbling fingers beneath trigger and stock, cut into its upper back, sharply twist. )

Noctis, where— (heaves a shuddering sigh and grits his teeth on the split second of panic.

hei searches for his king in the din and it doesn't take long to pinpoint a location when it's blanketed in crystal blue. each shard refracting its own light from a warping throw that pulls noctis out of thin air with only an image of him left behind. stunning, skill his throat aches with the desire to covet, something he could've used to save countless who've fallen through his fingers, a latent strength he realizes is tied into the gift he'd been left to take care of.

he's catching up with noctis at a sprint, too scared to leave him open without someone there at his side. high boots slap metal floor and slide, there to protect him despite the devastating style of fighting that has the young king swapping weapon for weapon with each kill and adjustment to terrain and battle. he let too many people go it alone and rely on their own physical prowess and he's always been broken by it again and again when they only return to him to die — he no longer has patience for that. he can't limit himself anymore, he has to stop trusting in what others tell him they're capable of. at the end of the day what he knows is what's inside of him and it's the only thing he can control, the electricity that shakes his entire arm and crackles off of the flat sides of his blades.

plugging those guns is only a start, soldiers squeezing at their triggers in confusion as the army's weapons glow with radiation in frightening supply. a distraction as well as something debilitating for noctis to take full advantage of, gunpowder as useful as sand in the metal bodies of their assault rifles.)

[fessus]

[ His focus on the skirmish eclipses his focus on anything else but still Noctis can feel him.

They share a connection now which flows resolutely one way, feeling the negligible drain on his own magic that nevertheless provides crucial awareness of his subject's presence, of the fluxes in his energy if he simply concentrates. He never felt it so strongly before with the members of his retinue -- is this a symptom of the extra power he gave him? A deepened construct of what he has yet to realize is a dream, anchored by the emotions that are all too real?

Electricity charges the air and a new source of coveted light washes the scene in blue, and Noctis feels his heart jump. Yes, he made the right choice, they can do this, together.

Fire heats his palm as he summons a flask of pure magic, lobbing it in an underhanded throw behind him as he uses one of the crumbling magitek soldiers -- mixed in with their living, breathing brethren -- as a springboard to get more distance. And just in time. The flames explode out in a vicious billow of heat that consumes those trying to flank them from behind, whipping back around with a twist of his heel to face those now confused, helpless, and all but unarmed in the front.

Hei may want to protect him, may remember past betrayals that came in the form of physical weaknesses which had stolen precious people from him before, but an image of frailty and hesitation is not one that Noctis can afford to project as a king. The viciously sharp head of a spear slices through a vulnerable neck and sends a helmet and bolts clattering to the floor, soon joined by the steady rain of bodies that fall victim to the even less merciful blows of a greatsword. ]

We're moving forward; get ready!

[dipolar]

(the bomb goes off and hei barely blinks in the wake that burns tens of disarmed soldiers. follows through to take advantage of their wild dancing, arms akimbo, searching for any way to relieve the sticky fire. death comes swiftly to help them with it, electrified blades cutting through flesh and bone like they're made of the charcoal that falls off of their bodies like the miasma they fell into to get here.)

Understood. (voice carrying easily over the din, keeping noctis at his back as he swaps weapons again and jumping a swinging spear a flag-bearer thrusts forward.

snaps the pole with the heel of his foot, kicking one half from a gloved hand. the other is forgotten as his body lurches forward into a downward jab of a dagger's tip, forcing it through the narrow slat in the niff's helmet. it earns him a gurgle, blood flecking his face in grotesque drops that sink down his cheeks and make him blink hard, performing a distancing jump back and away—

but when he sets back down and slides feet to a smart shoulder's width, the solid ground beneath the red soles of tall boots throws them both into a jarring angle. doesn't feel the loss of gravity hit him, despite swinging his arms up to prepare himself for another jump down a pit that seems bottomless — instead, the world upends itself around his king and literally turns the tables, showing them a new and horrifying sight hulking close with drips of spit globules and foul breath that'd make any lesser man's knees shake. the behemoth roars and it's ear-splitting, setting ever hair on its end. he's never seen anything so monstrous and it's exactly the word he'd use to define it.

the monster approaches with a wide, haymaker of a swipe, massive claws soiled in its last kill.)

Your Highness!

[fessus]

[ He breathes in miasma and his lungs filter it back out in angered exhales, every impassioned strike nevertheless critically efficient. Moving across a battlefield with Hei? To any outside observer it'd be called art, a beautiful display of violence that cuts through the lines of their enemies as if they were standing still.

It's when his next breath in is choked with the heat of another beast's outward growl that he even realizes his next instinctive attack is against flesh instead of steel. The blood arcs the same but it's far hotter, seeming to raise the temperature itself in the brilliantly illuminated hall as it sprays over stone walls. The cut to the underside of the hulking creature's throat drives it back but it's only the barest of moments before it's recovering with a re-engerized assault and Noctis's dodge is too late.

Hei's cry echoes in his ears as gravity escapes him, flying weightless through the air after yellowed talons slash across his chest with the force of a freight train. His breath is forced from his lungs twice over as he collides with an instantly fragmented column that crumbles plaster and rock over his prone form. ]

F... Focus, don't look away from it! [ His own voice comes out ragged and wet, spear used as a crutch to help him back up onto his feet. ]

[dipolar]

(no, no, no, he can't lose someone else. not so soon after he's made a pledge to them. the fear spikes and he runs from his spot to engage the enemy head on, never intimidated enough to turn tail from something even this massive. heeding the order is all well and good, though, and gives him direction enough to keep himself calm — he has to on the king's orders and would even if noctis wasn't wobbling into a stand.

flings the dagger at the distracted beast's back, tip sinking into the tough muscle of its shoulder. it barely notices such a splinter, but that's what he needed.

the first ever warp hits his system aggressively, nothing like zipping down a wire or leaping from a building. the vertigo strikes him square in the chest in a wave of nausea he has to swallow as he clutches to the thick hide of the behemoth. balance, however, and moving with something's flow, are his specialities. riding its back like he's at a macabre rodeo and the bull's storeys high, yanking the blade out with a ruby rain — before plunging it back into its neck with a hoarse bark of a yell, electricity crackling from the blade to savagely target nerve-endings.

it howls and it makes his ears ring, but making a distraction for noctis to get a good hit in on it is crucial.)

[fessus]

[ Blood wets a tattered shirt and further stains a marred floor as he spits a glob of it carelessly to the side, eyes dangerously narrowed in on a broad target with far narrower weak points.

Even through that, though, and even through the pain, he feels a deep sense of satisfaction. Hei's initiated the first drain on the veritable wellspring of magic he has to offer him and all he wants to do is encourage him to drink of it more fully -- his attack is a thing of grace and fluidity and he wants to see just how much more this man is capable of. He'll provide him with every opportunity. ]

Perfect, Hei! [ A shout of praise as that spear fades, two viciously long daggers replacing it but they don't stay in his hands for long, not when he needs to get in close and fast. They're thrown with perfect accuracy for that abused, weak, and fully exposed throat, both slammed in on either side and sinking past fur and muscle and tendon to nestle against the beast's trachea from behind.

Only then does he plant feet against its chest, ripping forward with enough force to slice right through a massive windpipe and send him crashing back down against the floor, barely rolling out of the way of the body that collapses after him. ]

[dipolar]

("perfect", he hears him and savours it. when was the last time someone used that word on him? he can't remember if anyone's ever had and it sits awkwardly with him. he needs to get off of this creature before noctis takes care of it, then he can properly thank him. would that be the appropriate thing to do? does he even need to acknowledge it?

hei drops to the bloody ground in a roll, no clean patch that looks dry enough for him to reorient himself when the beast's throat's been cleaved open and the veins in its neck bubble pools of red up across marbled floor. tossing the fabric of a trench coat rendered useless by superficial cuts, he shakes wetness away from his arms and rushes forward to hastily grab at what's left of noctis' clothes.

in trying to help him upright with wide, worried eyes, he speaks quietly, harsh breaths shaking out of him.)

Are you alright? Careful—

[fessus]

[ The fall dazes him but only for a moment, adrenaline still running high and he can practically feel his own magic coursing through him like electricity, just waiting to swallow up another victim. Red flecks white teeth that are shown in a flash of a grin, a laugh taking hold of him before he can manage to stop it. ]

Are you doubting me? Me... After we fought that well together? [ His hand settles on Hei's shoulder with a tight squeeze, steadying himself after a gaze at that Kingsglaive uniform, before he's fully straightening up as new energy sinks into him and soothes the deepest parts of his wounds. ]

We should-- [ The rest of his words are lost beneath the croaked bellow of the fallen beast they'd slain as the fibrous tissues of its gaping throat begin to knit before their very eyes, a dreamscape struggling to return itself to what its owner's subconscious dictates it should be. The behemoth lurches in its original scramble for purchase on a floor slick with its blood and Noctis instinctively forces Hei back, protective in his own right... but quickly his eyes dart for an escape, finding hope in the eerie, wave-like shimmer of a tall mirror on the far wall. ]

There, we're going this way! [ No sense in fighting something that won't stay dead. He claps a hand against Hei's upper arm again before sprinting for that mirror, throwing himself into a dive through its surface that has him cutting through... water? Saltwater, from the half second taste he gets, feeling it stinging lingering wounds as he immediately kicks upward to search for air. ]

[dipolar]

(startled by the laugh, the squeeze, the stand. they share a height and his eyes search noctis' face for signs of disappointment through the praise. he sees none and why? he couldn't protect him from that claw, does he have the capabilities to protect him from whatever trial comes next? that's what meaning this life holds, isn't it? exist, fight, and die for the king. how could he be failing so miserably at it?

he wishes he had more power.

with a grim nod, hei glances to the beast rousing in a pool of its own blood. they're in agreement, then, that a battle with the undead should be fought on far different terms and they bolt from their positions with clasps of reassurance. the direction feels wrong, despite the fact that noctis plunges into the mirror with no difficulty, drifting away before a reaching hand and a clipped "wait!" he shouldn't suffer any hesitation and he's ashamed to admit he does. far from long-lived, only lingering seconds, hei's slinging himself into the ocean after his king, hands flattening in a breaststroke higher.

water burns at his throat and nose and eyes, thankful to sweep out into the new-old territory of—

no.

dragging himself out of the water fountain at the heart of one of the most terrifying places he's known. hei gasps for air and hits the asphalt with a throw of his legs over the ledge and a look over his shoulder, trying to gauge location through the thick fog that claws at his spine. for any contractor, it'd drive them insane and he's seen it happen, the effects of what gates like these have and he feels it. an unrest in his soul. especially when eyes cast up to weathered power lines where dead bodies drape like deflated party balloons, a macabre celebration with glowing flowers that boast poisons and a confetti of abandoned shoes.

it's a distortion of space, one of many they'll come across, ones that need dolls to navigate. they're on their own and it horrifies him. he has to turn back to noctis who's beat him here, close the gap between them with a cinch of fingers tight around his wrist, keeping the boy behind him with a steadying breath.)

Stay close. Don't touch anything.

[fessus]

[ He bursts into the unknown with an immediate scan of his grim, deplorable surroundings for encroaching threats before he's tending to himself, feeling out still-healing wounds beneath the gaping neck of his torn shirt. No longer a concern, not when Hei's bursting through a murky surface and his attention's stolen yet again by him. His mouth opens to issue a command but Hei overrides his, a bold maneuver that normally wouldn't stick in the back of his mind the way it does now.

He knows this place... Why does he know it? Why does he have access to information that Noctis doesn't? ]

Where the hell are we? [ The engine blade is readied in his hand in an instant, the plants offered a wary glance before they're ill-advisedly written off -- the corpses dotting the sickly sky are far more theatrical and distracting. They wrinkle his nose, ready to force out a scoff but it'd only be mired in a much realer sense of discomfort. Wherever they are... they shouldn't be here. ]

Has the scourge progressed this quickly?

[dipolar]

This is— (south america's, heaven's gate, the scene of a great genocide,) a place we shouldn't be in.

(releases noctis' wrist when the blade is summoned. he'll have to give a weapon like that attention in the future, after they figure out how to leave the area. doesn't want to address the fact that it's impossible to without the presence of a doll to guide them through the unlikely physics of it all, but...)

They say you can take back things you've lost in the gates. Heaven and Hell, on opposite ends of the world. It's a place of twisted wishes.

[fessus]

[ "Twisted wishes"? More than the desires here are twisted, that's for damn sure.

His hand is released and Noctis takes it as encouragement to move, footsteps crunching too loudly against fractured dustings of rubble in an eerily silent place. His eyes scan buildings for any sign of life but he finds nothing, no hint that they're not alone and yet something in his gut tells him that he's being watched. ]

You and I... have lost plenty. So it sounds like this is exactly where we should be, Hei.

[dipolar]

I want nothing I once had. (a chilled response, but it stems from the unease he feels.

whatever power's inside of him doesn't like to linger here. far more tolerable for him, a human or a hybrid, than any true contractor, but it's still nauseating.)

What, exactly, would you wish for?

[fessus]

[ Fire blossoms in the palm of his hand as he stills a few feet from Hei, back to him, waiting for an enemy that doesn't come. Yet. ]

Don't you know?

[dipolar]

(eyes track to the fire, raise, and watch noctis' expression steel and flicker with the dancing light. it's the brightest thing in the gate.)

No, I... I don't. (honest, the way he's always been,) but I'll help you. If you want it, I want it too.

[fessus]

[ The fire wavers as Noctis inclines his upper body, foot sliding back to half-turn to face him. Hei's a good soldier. He'll need to reward him properly after this, as a subject and as a brother. One more to fight at his side. ]

The Ring of the Lucii. The one thing that could end this war for good.

[dipolar]

(it sounds familiar, because noctis knows it. that feeling permeates the dream and settles like a grave blanket over him, helping him determine how he's supposed to react hearing that name. it's not good. that's what he lifts from noctis' expression, the set of his shoulders.

it's holy and dangerous and it makes him apprehensive.)

Your Highness— (but the words of warning don't come, because it's not his place to say.

hei simply sinks to a knee, touches uneven asphalt with gloved fingertips, and hangs his head low.)

Whatever you want done, it'll be done. I'll bring about the end of it, with you.

[fessus]

[ Hei's deference does not go unnoticed, an act not of supplication but of giving that has his king finishing the turn to fully face him. A few steps bring him back to him, hand outstretched to find Hei's shoulder in a light grip. ]

You're a good man for this, Hei. What we're doing is the right thing, which means you're a key instrument in improving this world. Even if we had to come here for it...

I need your understanding of this place. [ As he lets go, another step back taken to give him space. ]

So get up. Show me and tell me what I need to know.

[dipolar]

(rises when noctis steps back, wondering how exactly to perform this impossible task. because they may have entered heaven's gate, gotten inside and made it to the centre, but showing someone a gate constant is — challenging. nothing is real and yet everything is. everything you dream, yet nothing you experience.)

No one knows anything about these places. They're— (shakes his head, before stooping to pick up a flat rock from the ground,) just watch.

(leans into the throw, pitching the rock away at a building that looks like no architecture familiar to noctis.

the rock drops between them, hits the ground at their feet and skitters to a stop against hei's toe.)

I can't show you what you need to know. There's nothing about this place that makes any kind of sense. We're in a hell of paradoxes. It could be there now, (a point at noctis' pocket, eyes raising from it,) if you want it so desperately and you've dreamt about it and you'll die if you don't get it— then it's there, just look.

But our biggest concern is leaving. Something that's impossible without a Doll.