[ What if they are? That every time he attempts to think that he might have better, there is a force greater than him blocking him from moving forward, that despite what he's already reached, he cannot cross a certain threshold to act on his own wants. If that is with what they must settle, then-- it's cruel. She doesn't want to believe it, that this wall is something he must repeatedly hit when he gets too close to wanting something better for himself. Even through all of what he's endured, he's still being denied...?

She looks to Carbuncle as if it might give her the answers she seeks, but when she finds none, her head dips to the side as she thinks. What grief it is, to finally meet Noctis' closest Messenger under such tragic circumstances. It should have been a joyous occasion, but it seems that's rarely the case with him. Luck and fate never seem to be in his favor. It shouldn't be that way, not for him, but to say it aloud would only voice something that's obvious. So, then, what now, what's the bigger picture at which she might look, where do they go from here, now that they know this?

...

Her gaze lifts to Noctis', seeing the swirl of questions and anxieties in his expression. What he's positing is a grim scenario, one in which he might never win against. She wants to halt those thoughts right in their track. ]

Mm... Hey. Focus.

[ Focus, she says, with a hand running through his hair, and it's a word she's often used with him before whenever she's shared her power with him. ] If Bahamut has this hold on you...

Then we focus on what we can do, here and now.

[ That focus being him, himself. ] Because... you're not in your world.