carbungle | IC Contact

[Each step of this process is a journey unto itself, like following instructions on a GPS machine where the only true direction is breathe. And he does, quietly, calmly, one for every handful of heartbeats on a cycle that becomes so practiced he no longer counts them off before long, merely lets it happen. The pulse of his magic follows suit, an automatic glow that quickens and prolongs itself the longer this goes on, until the fade is nearly imperceptible- instead a gentle gradient of blue, pulsing softly across the length of his body, never winking out fully- at least one part of him is in transit through time and space at any given second, never giving way back to reality as long as he holds on to this power.

He can see her glow from a distance, feel the thrum of it against his palms, and he has to fight the urge to look. Instead, he fixates on a point beyond it, at the goal they're working towards. Where once he was a well of power, strong and full but drained if he drank too deeply until the rains fell again- now he is a river, flowing slow but steady and guided by the banks of her touch. He follows it where it leads him, going deeper, deeper, deeper still. He's seen the bottom of the well, felt its parched surface scraping his palms as he scrabbled for more power, tried to dig deeper as Statis took hold and his body refused to cooperate. He's never seen where the water runs to, the depth of the lake that is the Crystal's power. So he follows.

He breathes.

Guided further, he chases those particles of light, no longer thinking of the why but focusing on how, what. There's something strange and somehow familiar about this place, this nothing-space that exists and yet somehow does not. It feels like the Armiger, where he reaches and pulls his power out of, where he goes when he bends reality to warp his body to other places. It feels like passing through the barrier of Insomnia, feeling the weight and the thrum of his home, of their magic, a blanket of security and strength draped over him like his father's old coat. It felt completely alien and yet it made him think of coming home.

The moment he falters, the only such moment, is when he is drawn to the scar. He knows what it is as soon as he touches it- and he does touch it, drawn by the otherness of it, curious and uncertain of its purpose here. It burns and he remembers: fire, blood, men screaming as they died. The wretched howl of a daemon as it reached out towards him, six blades shining in the moonlight. The dull throb of pain as his blood is exchanged for poison. His father screaming his name as the darkness dragged him under the surface to drown.

He is pulled away from the fragments, released from it, and as the caution wraps itself around his heart he remembers instead: soft fur under his fingers, the plush interior of the Regalia as he lay his head to rest, his father's warm hands around his own, a relieved, tremulous voice: I will always protect you.

He breathes. He follows the path.

For a long time, he stubbornly clings to as many particles that can exist in this space; reaching, reaching, snatching them back as even more spill from his fingertips. His friends. His family. Hammerhead, Wiz's ranch, the chocobos, the Crownsguard, Iris and Talcott and all his silly cactaurs, everyone in Lestallum, the Quay, Insomnia, Luna, Luna, Luna--

All of them fall away from him; he can't hold them all. His hands trembling, he watches them float free, and he feels a tremor in his heart. You can't.

You're not there yet.

The lights scatter, and he can no longer discern one from another. Gradually, and with some difficulty, he looks inward and waits, he lets it happen. Without looking he follows her guidance and reaches one more time, accepting into his closed palms a single light. He's not there yet, it's true. He can't hold them all.

Start with one.

As he's holding it, as he focuses on it, a curious thing happens: that blue light that pulses through his body is slowly, gently drawn to Pyra's as well. It starts at her fingertips and weaves its way up her arms, a soft yet all-consuming mist that peppers along her skin, feeding its heartbeat into her. It halts at her crystal, circling around it as if a timid animal, before it, too, is touched by the light. Not quite claiming her. Accepting her. And it must accept all of her or not at all.

When morning begins to creep up on them, he can feel it, though he doesn't know how. More than that, though, he can feel that pulse, and it encompasses the both of them, wholly and completely, the blue of his and the green hers became as gold and aqua intermingled. He can feel it, and he can hold it.

He breathes - an exhale, trembling and weary and exhilirated - and comes back to himself again, and he holds on to that pulse lest he lose it and never find it again.]

[ How often has she likened his power to a star in of itself? Yet it's so much more, too. Alone it feels divine, almost ominous, powerful and steely with an intention to be overwhelming. In his hands, it feels beautiful, and he's lending that beauty to wash over her, through her, and into her--

She takes it, of course, for herself, for the crystal she contains is quite similar in that power. This part of his light he lends to her....selfishly, she will not make it a part of herself, but rather keep it as unique by which to remember him, even if it does truly come from another source.

Perhaps-- perhaps in the hands of a human like him, a divine power isn't so dangerous...

[ ...They hope so. They both do. They hope that if there is any power like that in other worlds, that there are those who are like him, capable of wielding it-- even with practice, even with scars-- those who do not fear it, those who are able to use it for the future.

And she also hopes that there are those in the world that, if they are not capable of wielding it, or if they know such divinity has no right to be upon the earth with mankind...

They know exactly what they must do to rid their world of it. ]

[ The light around them disperses; hers does, anyway. ] Noctis.

[ She calls him, and he'll feel her two hands still squeezing his. Should he open his eyes, he'll see that the false sky above has no stars or moon, but instead has lightened to a pastel lavender to signal that morning approaches. She repeats his name, this time with more enthusiasm, and perhaps a bit breathless. It's as if she's expended a good amount of energy, is excited, or both. ] Noctis!

[ Her hands squeeze his again, her voice, her gaze, her everything-- proud. She knows-- he has it. Or, well, the beginnings of it, a part of it, because she was there when he obtained it. ]

Well?

[His eyes snap open at her call, and for a moment, just a moment, they glimmer with a new shade, brighter than his normal ocean blue but not quite the glow of his magic either. It shines in hues of pink and purple, the setting sun. It's gone just as quickly, but the sensation of it shows in his expression, wide-eyed and knowing.

He's felt this before. It means something different, now, and he can't give it a name, but he can recognize that feeling: the feeling of a connection being made, of powers intertwining, pieces snapping into place.

Suddenly he pushes off the bench and stands, holding fast to her hands and pulling her up with him. Not trusting his voice, not yet, lest he lose this feeling, he looks down at her with a question in his gaze, softly pleading. Asking permission.]

[ She catches the shift in his eye color, that that flash of bright magenta and rosy indigo captivating her attention with awe as the connection holds her still. Bright, so very bright, so refined it feels royal, above all the other myriad energies in the universe, dominating, overflowing. How does the world appear to him when he looks through those eyes? Insignificant, perhaps, like it can be torn apart from the seams. Or so she would say, for he only appears almost possessed. Almost, because through this display-- and what she feels through the connection-- he remains himself. It just a flash, and all of that power, all of it he contains within.

"As long as I've got a choice..." He had said. "I'm still me."

He is in control.

The radiant fuchsia quickly back to its bright blue, and she's reminded of the fall of particles in their orbitals, of the color they release as they descend from a charged state to normalcy. Only with this she can witness with her own eyes, the power that burns within him just at his fingertips, excitable and prepared to jump back to an ascended state at a moment's notice. It's still his, and he's ready.

Wrenched from her thoughts as he pulls her to stand, she fumbles into her step, dazed and led upward, before locking eyes with him. He seems determined, knowing, and certain. Unable to tear her eyes from his... radiance, she nods her assent. ]

[As soon as she gives her permission he releases her hands, breaking contact only long enough to shift his position, standing at her side and wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her in against his body. It might seem abrupt and forward - and in any other circumstance, he would never have dared - if not for his expression, determined and focused, singularly fixated on their purpose here. He can't wait. It feels as if the longer he hesitates, the less likely it is that this will work.

While they're connected this way he reaches out his free hand and calls his sword into existence once more, drawing back and flinging it up, up- to strike the side of a small tower on the second floor of one of the plaza buildings, on the side facing the sunrise. As it sinks into the stone, he focuses, and he warps.

And he pulls her with him.

Immediately there is a sense of adrenaline, a vibration that passes through them from head to toe. Her body becomes energy, his energy, a singular being with no breath or beating hearts but instead a joined pulse of intense, breathtaking power, torn through time and space at an unbelievable speed. They are a lightning bolt in the wind, striking through the air, weaving around every obstacle, passing between every minuscule particle, crackling electricity in their ears- except they have no ears, the sound is just there, around them, inside them, it is them-

-and then his fingers connect with the hilt of his sword and they exist as themselves again, whole and separate, flesh and blood and physical as they were before.

...The shift might also come with a sudden wave of nausea, but if she can endure it, Pyra will find herself suddenly dangling off the side of the tower, a few feet above the surface of the roof, with Noctis still holding her up as the sparkling light of the sun begins to peek over the distant buildings near the edge of town. It's quite the view.

From above her, Noctis exhales. It is a soft, disbelieving noise as he stares wordlessly at the horizon, his arm trembling as it holds her.]

[ First, she is there, held close to him, by him, to him. She feels his warmth, the arm about her waist, and the intensity of the pulse of power that comes with this light. Her palm barely finds purchase on his chest for stability (and it is there, peculiarly, a strange point of extra power tucked just beneath the collar of his shirt).

Second, she is not there, instead collapsed into the energy that is him, consciousness and memory preserved only by the will he extends over this power. In a way it's similar to her other's power to blitz at light-speed, in that it cuts from one space to the other; yet this is wholly more graceful. He executes the warp like weaving through the stream that is time. They are light, the world is but a matrix of other, a blur, an amalgam of inconsequential matter, and in the pseudo still-moment of the warp, her attention remains on him.

It occurs to her, connected like this, that he's not even thinking. He's simply doing, as if this power is merely instinct. It's breathtaking, but she has no breath from which to draw. That he can do this is also... ]

Incredible...

[ Ah, air exists again. As does her words. And the weight of gravity, her legs and feet loose below her. With his arm trembling, Pyra's fingers curl upon his shirt as she feels herself slip further down. Her other arm hold onto him tightly. Had she an actual heart, it would be beating rapidly with exhilaration and relief and a lightness like birds taking flight. She is-- so happy for him that he's achieved this, she cannot even express it.

Dangling here upon the tower while still watching him as the last of the blue-light fades, she sees how the shadows of his face shift with the colors of morning. She blinks, suddenly realizing she's been staring, that time is moving again, and that... it is morning. Finally, she turns to face the light of the sun as well.

Seeing the dawn had been the third and final reason for choosing night to begin this session, and now it appears justly as ever. This, too, is incredible. How lucky is she, to witness two amazing things in one day? ]

[It takes a moment for reality to sink back in for Noctis, but at last he can shake away his shock and glance down at her and realize that she's really and truly there, that his senses weren't lying to him. Carefully he loosens his grasp to lower her down until her feet can touch the ground, then releases the blade and drops down next to her, brushing a hand through his hair and just. Exhales. He looks from her, to the sunrise, to her again, and-]

We did it. [His eyes flare wide, lips curving cautiously upwards.] We did it! You're here, you came with me!

[He feels- giddy, all wild-eyed and tousled hair, goosebumps prickling his skin. It's like the first time he warped solo, the first time he called upon that power and it answered in kind, did what he wished of it, after months and months of throwing blades into the wall with no reward for his efforts. It feels like a door that for so long has been slammed shut in his face has finally cracked, just a little.

It's- it's enough just to know that it's possible, that the potential was even there to begin with, that his abilities weren't irrevocably scarred or broken. But to have actually done it... he doesn't know what to say. It's mind-blowing. It is, as she said, incredible.]

[ His smile is infectious, and soon she can't help but return the grin all on her own. It starts out small, only to end up rivaling his, laughter bubbling past her lips with excitement, all for him as he flits about and runs a hand through his hair. It's as if he does not know what to do with the joy of having achieved his goal. He seems so youthful, his happiness palpable like he's been waiting for this for ages. And just how long has he been waiting to accomplish it, even? Not to mention with such flair! They're more than two stories up! Is that normal for him?!

Pyra's laugh rings again. Overcome with that happiness for him-- she can't help it, she flings herself at him for a BIG STRONG BEAR HUG. Tight and brimming happiness and warm, as if she could envelop all of the good will and joy and the world, and wrap it around him just as she brings her arms about his back. ]

You did bring me with you! [ His inclusion of "we" rings odd to her ears; hence the shift back to him. That power had all been within him from the start. If not her, she's certain it could have been someone else to teach him how, if only they had the patience... Yes, that's correct. She's not of his world; by all rights, this moment shouldn't be hers to share with him. But there is someone she knows that is of his world; and, she believes, someone who far more deserves to revel in the dawn of this accomplishment. ]

Aah, [ Another laugh, a giggle, and then a sigh. She'll withdraw from the embrace as soon as he's ready, hands sliding down to take his and rock them side to side in an excited little wave. ] I can't believe you had doubts!

[ The sunrise is indeed glorious this morning. ]

[Shyly he returns the embrace, still far too excited to let himself feel embarrassed about it; he doesn't even tense up as her hands touch upon his back. She'd told him to try doing that more, so... here he is! Trying it! She's much stronger than she looks, and he can't help his breathlessness as she draws back, still too overwhelmed by all of this to wrestle internally with his own reservations. He allows his hands to be swung, leaning back and forth on his heels and feeling a bit like a kid again.]

You'd have doubts too if you watched me train back home. I haven't even come close to managing this for years. What did you... [He hesitates, a sliver of his excitement shifting instead to confusion and curiosity as his brows furrow.] What did you do? I could feel it- it was doing something with my magic. It was... different.

[Not bad, obviously. He certainly can't argue with the results. But he's never experienced different kinds of magic weaving together like that. In his world there is no other magic- not good kinds, anyway.]

[ The way he seems to rock, the brightness of his smile... Yes, this is a good morning. And what's even more surprising, he doesn't seem tired at all! In fact, he appears invigorated. She supposes anyone might be, if they had learned something like that after trying for so long. At his questions, however: ] Ah-- wait, wait!

[ She draws away from him, releasing one hand to tug his other towards the edge of the roof, and almost with a newfound urgency, she squeezes it again. ] The sun-- it's almost done rising! [ Almost. Not quite. So they still have time, the sky melting into the lovely pastels of pinks and lavenders in the east. It's not the same hue of his eyes just before, but it's close. ] There's someone else who has to see this with you...

[ Finally releasing his hand completely, she takes out her ~~cell phone~~ communicator and quickly inputs a message, her fingers tapping away at the clear screen excitedly:

Good morning!! :) You're up, aren't you? Please come to [ Insert exact location here. ] It's a surprise. ;)

[ The message and the subject itself to whom it is sent remains obscured from Noctis. With that, she replaces her communicator and looks to him once more and... ]

[ Smiles sweetly and patiently, pressing a finger to her lips, as if waiting and calling for quietness from him as they wait. If Noctis knows how to warp, and Noctis has mentioned before that his is a noble lineage, the Crystal a power that his family has been protecting, their magic all derived from it...

That must mean he must know how to warp, too. Thus, she waits. Shouldn't be long now. (She hopes!) ]

[Somnus, being himself, doesn't send a reply but does go out the door within a minute of the message's receipt. Whether or not he warps along the way, he's there before long, spotting them on higher ground from a distance. He summons his blade, hurls it with great force, and appears mid air in a shower of sparks once it soars over the rooftop, where he lands on one hand and knee. Dismissing the blade, he closes the gap between them with long strides.

It's rather early for one of them to be up at this hour. Somnus doesn't wonder: He'll find out soon enough.]

Hail, Pyra. [He turns, making no comment nor even glancing down at their joined hands.] Noctis.

Edited (warping is for losers with no arm strength for climbing) 2019-11-28 20:04 (UTC)

[Noctis notices how she ignores his question, but he's growing used to that, so he merely sighs and gives the sunrise his attention. It's beautiful, at least, so even if he knows that it's artificial, the distraction is plenty satisfying, especially after a hard night's training. The longer he watches the more tired he feels, considering they've been out all night and he's been using his magic; his curiosity and the fact that she'd kept his energy fed with whatever she'd done is the only thing keeping him on his feet now.

That curiosity is burning a little, and he has to resist the urge to pester her, since she'd made it clear that she's keeping mum. Who had she contacted, though? Did she meet his father, or Luna maybe? He's unsure, but a little excited at the same time, that thrill from their success still lingering. Anyone who knows him would know how much this means to him, so it can't be a bad thing, surely.

A bit of that energy fizzles out as he feels the warp at his back and turns to find… oh. Somnus.

..wait, Somnus?]

Uh, hey. [He shoots a quizzical glance between the two of them.] You guys know each other?

[ In the brief moment she catches sight of the sword that flies through the air before its wielder dismisses it, her eyes widen with amazement. What a superb weapon he wields, and how finely he warps with it; it's not precision with which he moves, it's execution. There is a finality to the movement, and a fatality to the light that disperses, the powerful buzz of divine power silencing in an instant, like a maestro capping a cymbal. He uses only exactly what is necessary, and nothing more. She watches him rise from the warp in awe...

And then she beams. The answer to his question is obvious: they sure do know each other. Somehow. ] Somnus! Somnus, you have to see this, oh you'll be so proud--

[ Then, her hand leaves Noctis' to wrap up to his arm. She's! Ready! For another warp! Pyra lowers her voice in an excited, yet nonetheless encouraging, whisper, stealing a glance at the other before looking back to Noctis. ] Go on, show him. You can do it!

[Evidently, she knows the both of them. Somnus looks from Noctis to Pyra to the small space between them. A suspicion has already begun to form, but he settles for a nod in Noctis' direction to do as bidden, neglecting to mention that he's already been proud for some time.

No sense in spoiling the moment. He stands before them, watching and waiting.]

[Noct's eyes widen, realizing just what she's done here. She called Somnus over just for that? Of all the people he'd thought to show off to, the man who's been familiar with these powers longer than any of them was not at the top of his list. It seems like such a basic technique to be demonstrating for an ancient pro. Still, he can't very well refuse with her encouraging him to try, so... okay. Enjoy the show, Somnus. Maybe.]

R-right... okay, hang on.

[He calls out his blade again, winding his arm around her so they have a more firm connection, and flings his blade down to the surface level of the plaza, warping away!

...And leaving her on the roof, holding on to his phantom image.

A few seconds later his sword stabs into the pole above them, and he drops back down, wide-eyed and flustered.]

Sorry, sorry! One more time-

[And this time he remembers to focus properly beforehand, and the both of them vanish into the warp, reappearing with his blade on the ground below. He glances expectantly back up towards the roof, and to Somnus, lifting a fist into the air. Second try is pretty good, right!?]

[ With his arm wrapped around her, she also (mentally) prepares herself that is the trip of warping, and--

Oh.

Oh that's embarrassing. She's just being held by his after-image. Idly, she waves a hand through the lingering blue-light, distorting the silhouette. It simultaneously feels like power has imprinted into space itself, while also imparting a vacuum behind. It's enchanting, in a way, and it prickles her fingertips before it fades. ]

[ Within an instant, he's back beside her and doing the same as before.

Just before he tries again, pulling to prepare, she encourages yet again: ] You got this.

[ And then it's a flash of blue as they tear through space, appearing upon the ground below. ]

[ Pyra, too, cheers for Noctis, giving his arm another squeeze. ] You did it! [ She laughs. ]

You did it again!

[ Then tilting her head up, she waves at Somnus from below, and that same hand motions for him to come join them. ]

[Throughout all of this, Somnus keeps his gaze trained on the same space between Noctis and‌ Pyra. By the time Noctis reappears to take Pyra with him, Somnus’ suspicions are confirmed. Only once he’s alone on the rooftop does he look down to see the raised fist and wave.

His blade appears in his hand and Somnus strikes the ground a meter away from the pair to join them. Just as quickly as before, the weapon is dismissed with the flick of his wrist.

Until now, Noctis had struggled with even this much. It raises questions about how he overcame that hurdle in such a short span of time, and Somnus suspects that the answers lie in Pyra, whose abilities include those that play a supportive role. But that knowledge is not his to possess, and so he turns to Noctis, for whom this is still a considerable milestone at this age; Somnus won’t take that away from him.]

You have done well.

[??? praise? from Somnus? Apparently he underestimated how this might go. Surprised again, he glances back over at Pyra, expression shifting to a grateful smile.]

Uh... thanks. Still couldn't have managed it without you. [However mysterious that help ended up being.] At least it wasn't just a one-off?

[He still has a lot of practice to do, though, it seems.]

[ It's been an eventful night. In this form, her energy is not limitless; it's imperfect, wasteful, yet she's willingly spent a good deal of it on the young man in front of her for this achievement. To see his smile as he basks in the praise, and to even hear the other who shares his face give it-- sharing his opinion at last--... it's worth it. What is more, she's sure that this is just the beginning. It wasn't just a one-off, he says, she privately agrees. He will learn new things, new things from others to refine those techniques, master them, and use them all to help this world, to give a portion of his light to it.

They both can give that light.

Pyra brings herself away from Noctis, but keeps her hand upon his. Then she takes a step towards Somnus, leaning forward to reach for his hand as well.

To the both of them, she gives a gentle tug to come together, linking their hands before her. Her fingers stay clasped over theirs for a moment as she looks from the new king to the old patriarch, then down to where their hands are joined. They both feel warm. They both feel alive to her. They both have calloused hands, a history of fighting and battles. They are both mortal, however, and somehow they still carry such a great power just beneath their fingertips. United, she is sure they can achieve anything.

Finally she takes a step back, releasing her contact and leaving their hands joined as one.

This moment is theirs; it should have been theirs from the start, being from the same world, being family. ] You two... are your own stars.

[ How fortunate is she, to have met them both? In the morning light, together they stand brighter than the dawn. ]

Edited 2019-11-29 06:07 (UTC)

[Pyra had helped, after all. This holds promise for Noctis, who now knows what’s involved in the process of warping with an additional body. Whether or not he’ll continue to need the help (and there is no shame in this), he’s made a breakthrough.

Somnus allows his hand to be guided and closes his fingers around Noctis' hand, only lifting his head inquisitively when Pyra says something peculiar. They’ve discussed the nature of stars and the life that follows before, but this and that can’t be directly related. Somnus looks at Noctis. Well?]

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