Open Post // Overflow

[undyingflames]

 

Feel free to hit me up with anything!!  I'm honestly always down for anything ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡
I've finished the game so spoilers are totally fine, though be careful looking in here if you haven't beaten it yet!

Comments

Joshua pls come rescue your prince

[eikonoflight]

[It is a testament to Dion's stubborn determination that he makes it as far as he does in his rented boat. He's used to pushing himself through exhaustion- more than once, he's had to use his halberd as a support to keep himself upright after priming, so that he wouldn't collapse in view of his Dragoons.

He'd pulled the same trick when he'd hobbled away from the Hideaway's angry healer, Lady Tarja, though he doubted she'd been fooled, given the curses she's lobbed after him.

Dion really had thought... well, maybe the problem was that he hadn't thought... but he'd assumed he could paddle himself to shore and find his way back to Twinside, that the hard part would be what came after that.

More fool, him. His shaking hands can scarcely grip the oar of Obolus' boat, much less keep paddling. Everything hurts, except for his right arm, which is concerningly numb. He's too far out to call out to anyone on the Hideaway's docks, even if his pride allowed it, but the shore is still so far away. All around is blighted water, dark and poisonous.

He sits in the boat and bows his head, trying to keep his breathing steady. He's stuck. He needs to get home, needs to see what is left in the wake of his rampage, but he can't. It is beyond his reach.

So he sits, boat floating in the dark water of the lake, and cradles his head in his hands, trying not to break down.]

don't worry Dion, firebird boyfriend is finally on the way

[undyingflames]

[ It's only but a few short minutes after Joshua returns from Kanver with everyone that Tarja comes walking up to Clive, telling him how Dion had woken up and gotten straight out of bed, insisting he could walk, that he was fine, though she knew better. And now he's gone missing.

And it's then that Joshua feels it, the faintest sense of something--of aether coming from far off, but still close enough to feel it at all. It's Dion.

Joshua at least has the good sense not to fully prime and fly out to look for him, lest someone see the Phoenix suddenly flying out in the middle of the lake and give away the Hideaway (and also for the sake of his own health, that too). But that doesn't mean he has the good sense to wait for word to reach the cursebreakers for someone to try and spot him on the lake and then go after him. Worry grips him like a vice.

Dion's still gravely injured from their battle in the Dominion, no matter how much he might've tried to convince himself that he was well enough after resting for so long. And having to wake up, remembering, reliving the tragedies that unfolded there... between what happened to his people and his father most of all. Joshua knows, he knows that terrible feeling, that terrible weight of guilt and sorrow and he won't let Dion try and run off with it by himself.

So Joshua grabs Clive and--with some minor back and forth arguing about how Clive or the cursebreakers can handle it and Joshua can wait here at the Hideaway and rest, that Joshua can't wait while he's still injured and ultimately Clive agreeing only if Joshua let's him go with him, unable to deny his little brother anything--they take off down onto the docks to take one of the smaller rowboats out onto the water.

The lake is big and their only way of finding him being that faint trace of Bahamut's aether in the air, clouded and masked by Clive's presence as he now carries him with him, but still there, still a trail in this land bereft of aether all together. And thankfully, it leads them to him and they spot their ferryman's boat sitting still in the water with a figure hunched over inside ]

Your Highness! [ Joshua calls out, leaning forward with a hand grabbing the side of the boat, standing up just the tiniest bit before Clive chides him to sit back down and be careful ]

[eikonoflight]

[Dion startles as he hears the call. He drags a trembling hand over his eyes before looking up to see the Rosfield brothers paddling towards him.

...it would seem he is going to be even further in their debt.

He straightens his back and makes another attempt at gripping the paddle. At least if he can move to meet them partway, he might save a little face. But no, he can't get the oar to move properly, and he is forced to sit it aside again.]

I am... afraid I need... to rely on your aid once more.

[It is not an easy admission, but Dion must own it. He owes his saviors honesty, at least.]

[undyingflames]

[ Watching Dion try to move to grab the oar, but ultimately setting it aside again only reaffirms Joshua's worries about his injuries and Clive sees it plain as day on his brother's face.

It takes only a moment before Clive brings the boat up beside the other, and immediately moves to grab onto the side of it because he knows Joshua's not about to waste time getting over there to join him. Which he does promptly as soon as Clive's grabbed hold to steady them, standing up a bit, mindful and careful this time as he does, but still with a notable sense of urgency and climbs into Dion's boat.

He immediately moves to sit himself down on the wooden bench in front of the prince's, gingerly touching the side of his shoulder with his hand as he settles there, a comforting touch and his voice soft. ] You needn't worry, my friend.

[ The obvious questions of why Dion tried to leave don't come first. Instead he looks him over, taking note of the obvious bandages still on his right arm and the ones peeking out from under his shirt. He doesn't really know the extent of the injuries he sustained from Twinside, only the few he saw for himself and the fatigue from priming like that, and the pain of the crystal's curse that accompanies it. ]

How do your injuries fare? [ Maybe it's a dumb question, all things considered, but he needs to know in case he needs to use the Phoenix's flames right now. ]

[eikonoflight]

[He lets out a deep sigh. Joshua has turned up once again in his time of need, with his gentle voice and his quiet understanding. Dion's heart gives a painful lurch, knowing he doesn't deserve all the warmth and kindness Joshua directs at him. He's a kinslayer, the destroyer of his people.

He does need worry, but he will try, at least, to not add to Joshua's worries in turn. That is a poor thanks for all Joshua has done for him, but it's all he can offer at the moment.]

I find myself drained. It is not an injury, per se, just... weakness.

[The remedy is rest, but in the wake of Twinside's destruction, how can Dion allow himself to stand idly aside?]

[reasonandrime]

[Between the fall of Rosalith, Sanbreque's fate, and Joshua's revelations, Jill's mind should be in a state of action, analysing and integrating new information and old. There's a need, she knows, to figure out where to begin making sense of the many implications now rising to the fore, and what role she and the others will play in encouraging the good and thwarting the bad.

Yet she struggles to grasp a single productive thought, never mind following it down however many tangents it may sprout.

Even as she and Clive leave the infirmary, even as they part to set the next stage of their journey into motion, Jill just can't summon together enough focus to try. Something else pulls at her. It's the tickle of Joshua's Eikon, the near impersonality that's defined their interactions thus far as tragedy keeps asserting itself over the miracle at its centre. It's the warmth and worry and love and light that guide her heart in a singular direction.

At first, she ignores it, prioritising the mission as she so often does. But as departure looms ever closer, and focus remains ever evasive, she does something rare for her: she asks Clive to go on ahead with Torgal, assuring him that she'll join him in Tabor, but that she has something to attend to that simply can't wait.

He understands, easily, even if she doesn't offer any specifics.

So, as Clive sets sail, Jill returns to the infirmary, carrying within herself a nervous sort of energy borne on the same excitement she'd felt when she'd learnt that Clive had survived all those years ago. And so it goes that as she had waited on one side of the infirmary door for him then, so too does she await Joshua on the other side, now.]

[undyingflames]

[ Joshua's coughing fits come at the worst of times. As if proof to Clive and Jill both that he struggles to contain Ultima, that his strength is waning, he of course started coughing up a worrying amount of blood. And even better still, Tarja came in to see it for herself too. So she quickly shooed everyone out of the room, insisting Joshua needed to rest and take his medicine while the others talked about what to do next.

Typically Joshua would've fought against it, gotten up, insisted he was all right, willed enough strength to do so and join in planning, not wanting to stop moving, needing to keep going (not able to stop, not now), and though at first he tried... his body felt weighed down by a rock on the bed, his legs heavy and his head spinning from a sudden wave exhaustion and so, though a bit begrudgingly, he yielded to Tarja's demands to rest.

But, as always, not even that can keep Joshua in bed for long. So after lying down for a few hours, as Clive and Jill prepare to make their journey, Joshua finally gets up, feeling better now, puts on his boots and makes his way out towards the door while Tarja isn't in the room to see it.

But He opens the door to the infirmary only to blink as he sees Jill. ]

Ah--Jill. I apologize. Did you need to speak with Lady Tarja?

[reasonandrime]

Not exactly.

[Not at all, of course, but her mood is like a sparkler, bright and fizzy, and it makes her a bit playful herself. Like a child waving it in the air, knowing it will fade before long and enjoying it all the more because of that.

Still, though, the gravity of their circumstances doesn't linger in the shadows of that light, instead demanding an equal portion of Jill's focus, and so she holds it in esteem as well. In consequence, her smile is almost reserved and her posture just the slightest bit closed off.

But her words – and the tone with which she delivers them – are as open as they've ever been.]

We've yet to find the time to say a proper hello, and I fear that were we to wait any longer, then the opportunity would pass us by.

[And they would fall more firmly into the somewhat awkward steps they've been walking so far, reduced to two allies on the battlefield with a shared purpose and similar burdens, absent the familial bonds they'd once shared.]

So, hello, you. I'm so glad you're here.

[undyingflames]

[ At first, Joshua has to blink as she starts, but almost immediately melts into a smile, so warm and bright, so truly genuine.

With everything that'd been happening, from their fight in the Dominion, returning to the Hideaway to practically collapse as they arrived, waking up and having to listen about what had truly happened to Dion, telling them of Ultima, and then thinking of nothing but what they're to do next while he rested, he hadn't thought... to say hello.

It almost makes him feel silly, and perhaps a little sheepish, that he'd forget such a thing ( and probably wouldn't have stopped to think of it until they didn't have chance to talk like this ), especially with Jill.

His childhood friend, someone he'd been separated from for eighteen years and cares for so deeply and had only barely spoken but a word to her when they reunited before having to flee the Dominion, and without a simple 'hello' or anything since he's woken back up. Maybe it's understandable why he hadn't thought of it, with everything that's on his mind, but he sees it as no excuse.

But the happiness of being granted this moment, happiness that Jill had stopped to find him and do this for them outweighs everything else. ]

As am I, Jill. I'm glad to be here--to be with you and Clive again. [ His voice soft as it always is, but there's no hiding his joy. There's the faintest whisper of sadness behind the smile. Sadness over a reunion nearly 20 years in the making, a reunion almost bittersweet, considering... everything.

But it fades within the next second as Joshua steps forward without a moments hesitation to reach out and pull Jill into a hug right there, one that's long overdue. There is no shyness as he does it, no reservations, Joshua has never shied away from these things, especially with friends and family, openly hugging Clive (and soon many others), kissing Jote's forehead, and Jill is family. No matter how long they've been apart ]

Hello. And, thank you.

Brothers on a balcony.

[shieldoffire]

The sun is slinking down the horizon, by the time Clive manages to extract himself from a conversation with Mid. He didn't entirely follow the details of it, but he gathers she's got a new plan fermenting. He expects she'll ambush him soon enough to ask for favors to go about creating whatever it is. They're lucky to have Mid amongst them at the Hideaway, lending her talent to their cause. But her sheer energy sometimes makes Clive feel older than his years.

Though that's not much of a feat of late. Most nights by the time he finds his bed - assuming he does - he's tired right down to his aching bones.

Clive stops on the way to his room, greeting this or that person, and ending a squabble between a pair of new Cursebreaker trainees, sending them off sheepishly to get a drink together and work it out. But he does finally find his way inside, checking through his messages, and then following his instinct outside.

His instinct proves right. But then, it usually does when it comes to Joshua. Since they joined as Ifrit and Phoenix in battle, Clives feels as if he always knows where Joshua is. As if some vestigial sense of his brother came into full fruition and left him hyper aware of everything about Joshua.

That comes with its downsides as well, but for the moment, Clive just feels a sense of relief in Joshua's presence. He watches him, knowing it's a second too long and too intent, but after a moment crosses to stand beside him on the balcony. He follows Joshua's gaze to the new, malignant crystal floating above the waters in the distance. "It doesn't seem right that they're beautiful, does it? When their purpose is so ugly."

[undyingflames]

Joshua isn't used to waiting. He'd spent thirteen years searching for answers, trying to find out all he could on Ultima, to find out what had happened all those years ago at Phoenix Gate, to protect his brother, not being able to stop for a moment, not allowing himself to as his own days were numbered. But now, as the end of their journey lies before them, as they wait to go face Ultima in one final battle... Joshua must wait. Because this fight will ask for all that Joshua has left to give, all of his strength, all of his power.

But that doesn't mean his time has been spent simply waiting, however. Though he can do little to help those in the Hideaway prepare for whatever future lay in wait for them, he spends most of his days in the Shelves with Harpocrates, pouring over what books and reports they have together, that they might find some minute detail to aid them in their fight again Ultima.

It's after he's spent the day with Harpocrates, the evening settling in over the Hideaway, that Joshua makes his way to his brother's room across the Ale Hall. That he might spend some little time with his brother before they both retire for the night. Little moments to make up for eighteen years of lost time together. But it's enough... to be with his brother in this time is enough, in the quite and calm of his room, where the business and noise of the Hideaway is securely kept on the other side of the door, and it's just the two of them.

And while he waits for him to return, he waits on the balcony, leaning on his arms on the wooden railing, his hands gently clasped together as he stares off across the lake, towards Origin. His mind swirling with thoughts of Ultima, of what awaits them, of what awaits Joshua himself, though he doesn't fear it.

So when Clive first walks into his room, Joshua doesn't hear as the heavy doors open and close off somewhere behind him. But when Clive steps out into the doorway of the balcony, Joshua hears the faint creak of wooden floorboards shifting under his weight, and he blinks as his thoughts disperse and he's brought back to reality. And even with his back to him, Joshua doesn't need to turn around to know who it is.

Even having been apart for eighteen years, he still knows his brother's presence better than anything, knows him by sound, by breath, by feel, his presence ever familiar and comforting, as it has been since they were children... and maybe even more so now. After they'd become Ifrit Risen in the skies above Twinside, nearly became one soul, Clive's presence has become even clearer, so unmistakable and so easily felt, even when they're apart, as if it were so natural for him to.

Joshua can't help the small smile that spreads across his lips, but he doesn't say anything. Instead staying where he is, cobalt eyes watching him, until Clive comes to stand beside him, his own light blue eyes on the new Mothercrystal that hangs dark in the sky.

"Indeed. Perhaps that is why Ultima created them to appear as they are, that we might be captivated by them, worship them as we should him." Though the longer Joshua considers it, he isn't sure Ultima holds a concept of beauty, or at least not in the same way they as humans do. Maybe the Mothercrystals were merely something he had in his own world before he'd come here and used their likeness as his conduit. But, that's neither here nor there.

He pushes himself up to stand up properly, his hands still resting on the wooden railing, and turns to look at his brother, his smile still soft, filled with a gentle hope. "But, the world that awaits us will be far more beautiful still."

[shieldoffire]

It had taken Joshua so long to respond that for a moment, Clive thought he'd gone unnoticed. "You were faraway in your thoughts," he said. "Where were you whiling away the time in your head?"

He nudges his shoulder against Joshua's, light and playful, even if their conversation is heavier than that. It seems their conversations are always that. They never simply have time to talk about what they missed in one another's lives. Not the hardships and harrowing moments, but the quieter ones in between. Clive has a million questions he wants to know about his brother being forced to grow up too young - what he lived through, if he had even a little bit of a chance to be idle and do the things most young men were able to do.

But he doesn't push. Sometimes, Clive is afraid the answers will hold too many similiarities to his own live in servitutde, just of a different sort.

"Maybe he did," Clive agrees. "Or maybe it's just the nature of them that they shine. I don't see him being particularly interested in decorating the world, whatever the reason."

Clive shifts to face Joshua when he moves, smile still on his face. "Maybe it will. Or maybe it will be a seething mass of shifting power and people scrambling to find their place in it. But at least it won't be a world we lost."

"Have you eaten?" Clive asks. "Or have you spent all day in the stacks again and forgotten?"

[undyingflames]

Joshua's smile only brightens as Clive bumps his shoulder against his. It reminds him of all the times Clive would do something similar when they were children, to reassure and to comfort his little brother in small, gentle, sometimes playful gestures like this. That even as light as they were, would feel as though they'd lift the weight of all of his worries and insecurities of his responsibilities as the Phoenix, as heir to the ducal throne all off his shoulders when he was only but ten years old. Just as it does now, lifting the weight of his thoughts from his mind to share in their burden. As Clive is always wont to do.

And not realizing he's doing it, he leans ever so slightly against his brother's shoulder to keep their contact, to keep that source of comfort, his voice quieting as he speaks, but still smiling, if not a bit distantly. "I was but thinking of Ultima, of Origin... there are still yet answers that plague me, that I cannot help but wonder."

But then they stand and Clive turns to him and Joshua can't help but let out a small, quiet chuckle, continuing off of his brother's words.

"And it will be a world of our choosing, a world that we might live on our own terms." And perhaps that is what will make it the most beautiful, even through all the hardships they'll have to face to get there.

He shakes his head a little. "No, I had but just arrived from speaking with Harpocrates. I... thought perhaps I might come visit you first, ere I made my way to the Ale Hall." He'd eaten earlier, if it's at least some consolation. But he doesn't mind putting off supper a little bit longer in lieu of spending time with Clive.

There's a small pause, then he continues with a grin, "Assuming, of course, that I am not interrupting anything."

There's little Joshua can do for the Hideaway now, as they have to ready themselves for whatever future lies ahead of them, but Clive is still an integral part, having led these people for five years. He has to tie off loose ends and make sure everyone is ready to lead this world into a future they're striving to save without him, even if only for a time, should he return after all is said and done.

trip down memory lane

[hellfury]

[ The skies are dark and grey ever since Ultima cast his spell, but that doesn't mean the gloom stops them from working. If anything, the Cursebreakers have been working harder than ever before, likewise everyone in the Hideaway. Everyone plays a part, all help is worth something. Instead of the blight spreading across their lands, it's the akashic that know no sleep. They loiter and drift within the concentrated aether, sometimes in spots they shouldn't be, only ever stirring to action when others approach or at beck and call to their god.

Today, it isn't quite all work. They're on a pilgrimage of sorts... After a visit at their father's makeshift memorial, Clive proposed they visit what once was the Duchy to pay proper tribute to his memory—perhaps it's a trip for themselves, too. They can see what is left of their home and picture the future where the Twins, no, their whole star knows true freedom. Change is coming. They're carving their way there.

... It is a farewell in many facets, for better or worse. A farewell to what Valisthea once was and perhaps farewell to home, but Clive holds out to hope. They go to Origin, they return, and live the rest of their lives as they so wish without foreboding skies hanging over them.

Those thoughts are pushed behind while they're traveling. On chocobo, they pass by the fields that welcome them Eastpool. They are not much to write about, but there are crops sprouting and a number of people tending the land. The same can be said to the structures in the distance... They don't tower in the glory they once had, but they're cared for. They're trying, everyone is.

And with people trying, Clive peeks over his shoulder at Joshua, who must be trying his very best. ]

How are you faring, Joshua?

[ Just to check on his baby brother to make sure the traveling hasn't burdened him overmuch. Clive is already thinking about some safe rest spots if to say they plan to trek to Phoenix gate after, but already has the mind to stay the night at the settlement. ]

[undyingflames]

[ On Joshua's travels to discover the truth behind Ultima, he'd traveled across the entire breadth of Storm, there are few places he hadn't visited in his pursuit, even all the way up to the Northern Territories. Rosaria perhaps most especially, having been the beginning of... everything for him and Clive, his home. Coming back to even Phoenix Gate multiple times in search for answers of all that had happened that night.

But, for as much as he journeyed back to the Duchy... he never was able to really to enjoy it as though he were coming home to visit. There was ever too much at stake, too many questions that remained unanswered, unseen forces pulling the strings of everything around him and Joshua's mind swam with thoughts of it all. And what memories he held dear, often times hurt to think about back then, especially when he believed he'd killed his brother during his battle against Ifrit that night.

So now, as they're able to slow down, just for a moment, when Clive suggests they visit the Duchy one last time, in their father's memory and, though unspoken, knowing it's for themselves too, before they return to the Hideaway to prepare to leave for Origin, Joshua is all too happy to.

And as Clive tries to hold to the hope, to the belief that they'll make it back, that this isn't their final farewell... to Joshua, it is. Because he has long since accepted the fact that death is all that awaits him ever since he took Ultima unto himself five years ago, and especially now as they stand before the end and he see's what's to become of him. But he does this with a fondness in his heart, to travel again on familiar paths alongside his brother as they used to, this time to say goodbye to his home, to his father, knowing the future they strive now to save, Cid's future, their father's future, will all be worth it. Because it will be their own.

But he doesn't think about it as they approach Eastpool on their chocobos. Instead, he takes notice of the people working the fields, growing crops and taming the overgrowth, and ahead, men and woman repairing the buildings that had been left to ruin and at the hands of the bandits who had but recently been evicted. Then he looks to his brother ahead of him with a small smile. ]

I'm all right, Brother. You needn't worry. [ He is most certainly doing his very best. He won't say it out loud, but he's grateful Clive decided to call on their chocobos to travel around Rosaria instead of walking. As Ultima drains him of his strength, it makes traveling such distances more and more demanding, exhaustion and the pain from his chest easily taking him these days. But he doesn't let it show, or at least as best he can, as to not worry his brother.

So he's much better than he would've fared otherwise, even if he is still a touch tired. ]

Are we to continue through Eastpool? There is naught but the Dim between here and Phoenix Gate. Unless we are to make camp at the Sagespire... [ There's a quirked smile in his voice. He doesn't necessarily mean it, there might still be creatures in the Sagespire after all so it's not exactly. safe. But he most certainly won't object if Clive doesn't mind it-- ]

[hellfury]

[ Joshua is lucky that in general he is weak and fragile, so Clive doesn't worry more than the usual... Though he does have questions. There are gaps between their history—eighteen years worth and then some. It needles him during this short reprieve in their journey to prevent the unmaking of mankind and free will. There are so many questions... Lost moments, and the blazing phoenix feather he keeps pocketed sparks it all.

In the quiet, Clive observes Joshua a little longer with protective concern before he sighs. His nerves calm and he settles, stifling the gloom and dread that threaten to twist into a pit in his stomach. What's left... Is simply warmth. He's with his brother on a trip to pay tribute to their beloved father. ]

Do tell me if you find yourself weary, Joshua. We have time.

[ Not said with any annoyance. Clive has never seen Joshua as a burden and, while the skies grow ever darker and time is of the essence, he indignantly asserts they can stretch time as they wish.

Despite that, Clive turns forward with something of a dour expression. Oh, he does not miss that Fallen temple tower research facility whatever it was meant to be. Hearing about it again only makes his body echo the aches of their first trek. His chocobo slows again at first before he makes a decision. ]

I'll think about it after we have a short stay in Eastpool. [ The keywords are "think about it." It isn't a sure yes, but also not a sure no. ] ... There would have been people here who wished to see you. We can pay them respects, then see how well the new residents have assimilated to their new home.

[ How does that sound? ]

[undyingflames]

Thank you, Brother. I will. [ There's a small lilt of amusement in his voice. He knows their time is far more precious than Clive insists, as the skies loom dark overhead and Ultima waits for them at Origin, but... he too wants to believe they have some time, more than he's telling himself. And wants to take their time on this trip, even if he may or may not tell Clive he's tired until he's on the verge of collapsing.

Then Joshua smiles eagerly, almost like a little kid at first, absolutely catching the I'll think about it, since it most certainly isn't a no, but then his smile softens as he continues. ]

Of course. I should like nothing more. [ His voice soft but earnest as he humbles himself, very much wanting to pay this town a proper visit, despite his excitement for the Sagespire. Especially a place so important to them and their father. Their father having brought them here often in the summers for short visits when they were children, as he'd done in his youth with Lord Murdoch.

Though admittedly... Joshua's memories of those times are much hazier than Clive's probably are. Joshua was far too young, and he wasn't always able to go, the illnesses that plagued him had kept him bound to the castle, alongside his mother's overprotectiveness, and whatever dislike she had for the Murdochs. But... he can still remember the faces of some few of the villagers he'd met, like Lady Hanna, and how peaceful it was, and how happy he'd been spending time with his brother and father outside the castle, outside the politics and formalities.

But... even as his travels took him back to Phoenix Gate, through Eastpool, he wasn't able to speak with any of the townspeople, wasn't able to visit anyone, lest anyone recognize him. He'd needed to keep his identity, the fact that he was alive a secret, so Joshua was always fully cloaked wherever he went, his head kept low, staying back and quiet.

But none of it makes this place, it's people, any less important to him. And though he wishes he could've before, he owes it to them now to let them know he yet lives, and that they'll save all of Valisthea, and see that the tragedy that befell here never happens again.

His light blue eyes flicker downward as he pauses for a moment in quiet thought, then back up ahead of them to the town as they approach the bridge ] Five years ago, before...

[ His voice trails off as he stops himself, deciding to not speak of the tragedy, of what their mother had done outright. ]

Had you been able to speak to Lady Hanna and those who still resided here? [ He knows Clive came here of course, but the smaller details of Clive's life before they reunited are still a mystery to him, since they haven't truly had a moment to just... talk. ]

for @reasonandrime as we add to the angst pile

[undyingflames]

[ The Hideaway has ever been a busy place, but now it's even moreso as the skies have grown dark and aetherfloods have begun sprouting up in more and more places across Storm. The Cursebreakers are run thin between them and needing to rescue bearers, and their allies from bandits and the akashic. As is Clive, as he tries to be everywhere at once. So Joshua and Jill offered to take up some few of these missions in order to ease Clive's burden while he was needed elsewhere.

And it's here now that they find themselves at Martha's Rest, having spent days walking along the familiar roads of Rosaria to the next newly reported aetherflood. It was far into the evening when they finally arrived, deciding to travel the extra few miles to make it and rest in a bed rather than camping by the roadside again. And as soon as they make it to their room, after making sure Jill has settled, he lays down on his own bed, a dull pain thrumming in his chest, making his whole body feel heavy, a prickling pain and soreness in his muscles in using his aether to fight as they've traveled.

Fatigue takes Joshua more quickly now, travelling long distances and fighting slowly getting more difficult as his strength wanes even more with each passing day because of Ultima. But he doesn't complain, and does his best not to let it show, lest he worry Jill and Clive more than he already does, and because there is no choice but to keep moving.

And he falls asleep quickly, but tonight his rest is anything but the peaceful nights sleep he needs.

Hours pass, and he dreams of fire.

But not the comforting, healing fires of the Phoenix, but the destructive ones of a terrified child who'd seen his own father die right in front of him, his head cut off and land in the dirt but a few feet away. His own flames setting Phoenix Gate ablaze. It's a dream, but a fear, a panic rises up in his chest as if it were real to grip at his heart as he watches helplessly, unable to stop it, even as he tries, as he begs, as his flames kill the men, Sir Tyler, Sir Wade, Lord Murdoch, his own countrymen trying to escape, raining balls of fire, of death down on them.

Sparing no one.

And then he sees a young Clive in the middle of the those same flames, looking up at him as the world falls to death and ruin around him. The fire not yet consuming him, but surrounding him, flames licking at his cheek until eventually they burn him, leaving behind a mark, the brand of a bearer. Though his brother does not flinch as Joshua watches in horror. Instead his cobalt blue eyes reflect the yellow of the fires around him, looking a color of that of a Dominant who's lost control, gazing up at him with an expression so blank, and yet at the same time so deeply inlaid with sorrow, with hurt.

He yells for his brother to run, cries, begs for forgiveness as the castle comes crashing down around them in a blaze, for failing to keep his promise to his brother, to protect the duchy, his people, to protect their father. Failing to protect Clive. But all he hears is the Phoenix screech in his ears.

A tear rolls down his cheek as he sleeps, and a swell of heat and aether emanates from him as he lay curled up on his side as if he were a furnace, stoked with the hottest flames. A surge of fiery aether starts to course through his entire body, filling his chest, his lungs with the flames of the Phoenix as he gasps a soft cry into his pillow, his breath as hot as if he were a dragon about to spit fire. Cracks of molten fire start to spread across his skin, into his hair.

He's starting to prime.

But he doesn't know it, his usual sharp awareness completely swallowed up by the fear that's gripping his heart. And he won't be waking up on his own. ]

[reasonandrime]

[Of everything emanating from Joshua, it's the surge of aether that wakes Jill up. Like steam it rises from him, filling the room and filtering into her lungs and throughout her body with the full force of adrenaline. Shiva stirs, too, just a tickle of a chill at the edge of Jill's nerves – a warning against what still feels like a threat whilst her sleep-clouded mind clings to the instinct and impulse to survive.

Then, she feels the heat; she sees the light of flames and hears those small, gasping cries, all coming from a single source, and she's filled with a different kind of dread.

Adrenaline still guides her as her mind roils with a chaotic melding of confusion with concern. She damned near flings herself out of bed, tripping over her sheets and hitting the ground with a thud, with a curse. The shock sets her mind right, though, and as she pushes herself to her feet she's better positioned to take in the whole scene before her.

No danger. No threat. Just a man whose heart set itself so ablaze while he slept that the resulting smoke of a nightmare choked out everything but whatever terror had gripped him as he slept unawares.

Jill moves with the same speed but greater urgency. The heat is intense but not oppressive – she's experienced worse in Beinn Leodladh – so she pushes right through it to sit on the edge of Joshua's bed. With one hand kept at the ready just in case she startles him into lashing out, Jill places her other hand on his shoulder and gives it a gentle shake.]

You're all right, Joshua. We're still at Martha's Rest. But I need you to wake up, do you understand?

[She speaks softly, her voice barely rising above that of a whisper so as to hide the fear within. The balance she's trying to strike is precarious in ways that mingle with the heat to make her feel queasy. All she can do is maintain an absolute focus on him, searching for any signs of his mind guiding him towards respite or further into ruin. All the while, she mentally prepares herself to shift, too, should the Phoenix prove to be more in control than his Dominant.]

[undyingflames]

[ Jill places a hand on his shoulder, speaks to him, carefully, gently, but Joshua gives no reaction or sign that he'd heard her, only flinching slightly. A guilt that’s far too heavy and that he’s carried far too long suffocates him, blinds him, deafens him, trapping him in his own nightmare.

For whatever mercy that it is, he isn't priming instantly, unlike when they usually call on their powers. His body far too exhausted, not having the strength to properly channel the flux and surge of aether. Instead, it spreads like a wildfire through his body, slowly catching and consuming every piece him until he's naught to be but fire itself.

So he continues to fall further into ruin.

His fear is palpable, taking the form in the aether and heat that emanates from him, hanging in the air like embers from a hearth. Low flames start to rise along his body, rolling across the cracks in his skin, his clothes, but not burning him, rather as a part of him. They lick at Jill’s hand where she touches him, singeing the bedsheets under him.

His breathing turns uneven, labored, petrified, soft whimpers with fear as in his mind's eye, the fire warps Clive's image, twisting and pulling at it like a mirage in the Velkroy until Joshua sees his brother, dressed in a Sanbreque uniform, his brand illuminated by the fires around him. The life in his eyes is gone, filled with the pain and anger of a man who was forced into a life of servitude by their mother, left to rot in the Sanbreque army, forced to kill, with no desire to live, but only doing it that he might avenge his brother. ]

Clive, I-- [ His voice meek, wavering with his tears and echoing slightly, the Phoenix buried just underneath. Falling further. He turns his cheek harder into the pillow, away from Jill, curling in on himself. ]

[reasonandrime]

[There's nothing to do besides risk it all.

Such has been the nature of her journey since she began it five years earlier, but Jill's never felt it to these depths before. If Joshua won't wake to a gentle touch and soft-spoken words, then that leaves her with a choice between two extremes: jolting him awake with a raised voice and a more intense shaking, or easing him cold with her own aether.

When the flames rise – when they kiss he fingers and grow so hot that she has to pull away – she realises that believing she had a choice was a fool's notion. There was only ever going to be one solution to the matter at hand.

Still, she hesitates; still, fear grips her in ways she can't immediately push through. Worst case scenarios blaze through her mind like the flames of an unconquerable wildfire, and nothing she does is enough to hold them at bay.

So, she might as well just march through them and put all her faith in her ability to endure should they threaten to engulf her in full. Summoning forth every ounce of will she has, she calls upon her magic to try and chill the Phoenix's flames into submission.]

@anoseknows Homecoming

[undyingflames]

[ Joshua's been to the North only but a handful of times in his search for answers, the truth about Ultima, but in the few times he traveled there, there was naught but silence and black, lifeless lands. Even when he was a child he knew that much of the North had already been lost to the Blight. It's people waged a war against Rosaria during his grandfather's reign, the previous Phoenix, in a desperate bid for their Mothercrystal and lands that hadn't yet been darkened as the Blight consumed ever more of their own.

So when they'd learned of Mysidia, when they passed beneath the glamour and Joshua saw for himself the mountains of the North still somehow, impossibly, teeming with life, he was stunned beyond belief. That only but a boatride away from Oriflamme, the holy capital of Sanbreque, across the bay, was this. Hidden and kept secret from the rest of the world. And with it, Leviathan, the only Eikon long since lost to the annals of history, and his Dominant, the secret of Drake's Eye and how another of Shiva's Dominants was forced to create a spell to freeze time itself, and the people of the Motes of Water, a people long since believed gone, exterminated by the Gregorian faith.

And now, thanks to Clive, after almost a century, the Eikon has finally been calmed, as well as his Dominant, and finally returned to his people. The threat of the tsunami that once loomed over Mysidia, frozen at it's bay as a constant reminder in the same magicks that held Waljas, no more.

But no sooner had Waljas been reunited with the Motes of Water, had a heaviness settled back over them. A reminder of what it is they need to save, a future for all of those in Valisthea, a future now for the people of the Motes of Water, and a future for Waljas, that he might finally live a life, free and of his own choosing. The reality that lay on the other side of the glamour, somehow more easily forgotten under the blue skies.

So, in asking what she means to do next, Clive offers the support of the Hideaway. That in the coming days, as they step into a future that none have dared tread before, without magic and bearers and Dominants, without he comforts of the crystals they all once knew and their glamour falls, they'll help them rejoin the world and provide them with whatever they need.

Shula agrees, on the condition Clive helps in a ceremony to help welcome Waljas into the community as family. Something he'd been denied when he was first born, being seen as nothing more than a means to an end. To which he agrees.

So, they send for Gav to meet with Shula by stolace and make arrangements for him to be brought from Northreach to Mysidia by one of Shula's people. An idea believed might be best, as Gav's to be the next Cid in Clive's absence when they leave for Origin, and to help give the people some peace of mind, wary as they are around outsiders.

While Clive helps to prepare for the rite, being one of the witnesses, Joshua goes to meet with Gav when he's set to arrive. He stands at the top of the mountain, above the docks where they'd come in before, and stares out at the ocean and clear, blue, glamoured skies in quiet thought as he waits. ]

[anoseknows]

[ It's been a long time since Gav travelled to the North. There was little to find in the Blight-ridden lands he once called home. His scouting rarely took him that way. The few times he had been north, it had broken his heart to see what had become of the once lush lands. Even when he'd been a bairn, the blight had claimed a lot of the land, but now it was all gone.

Or so they hand thought. To think. A whole region survived and thrived beyond the safety of a glamour!

Gav certainly doesn't feel worthy of the title of Cid. He's no idea how he's going to fill those shoes when the time comes. He only hopes that when the time comes Clive does not take his sweet time kicking Ultima's arse and hurries back to claim his rightful place.

He can't die. He won't. Gav's just going to keep the name warm while he's gone. That's all. He's a scout, not a leader!

Still, Clive and the others have requested his company in Mysidia and who is he to deny Clive anything? He meets his contact in Northreach and makes for the shore to board the boat. He lets out a low whistle as they pass through the glamour and the dark, dreary skies give way to beautiful blues. ]

... Bugger me.

[ Once they reach the shore, he makes his way up the steps to meet Joshua. ] En't this something? Can you believe these views?

[undyingflames]

[ Joshua blinks when the familiar voice rises up behind him, letting his thoughts disperse into the air, and turns to see Gav coming up over the path. He smiles and lets out a small, breathless chuckle as he nods. ]

Indeed. Though I still find myself struggling to believe it. It feels as though we've stepped into another world, one where Ultima's influence has yet to reach... that they could manage such a feat, and keep themselves hidden for nigh on a century. [ Even after the time he's spent here, to think about it, of the history that's laid in secret behind the glamour, to have to remind himself what lay on the otherside, of the true reality, it still amazes him.

But it didn't come without it's price. The glamour is magic, and in order to maintain it, the people of the Motes of Water have sacrificed themselves to, without a Mothercrystal, and in failing to create their own as the Fallen once did, that they might remain hidden from Sanbreque, the very people who nearly saw them all exterminated, and would again had they known of their survival, and of the land, and power, they found.

And what crystals they use now so that they don't have to sacrifice their own, are dwindling, and will soon run out as all the Mothercrystal's have fallen. But, that's why they're here now.

He smiles a little more sheepishly after a moment, caught in his thoughts again. ] Ah -- but it's good to see you, Gav. I trust your passage through the glamour was uneventful? [ He smirks a little ] Clive nearly fell ill.

[anoseknows]

[ Gav laughs softly as he approaches Joshua, reaching out to clasp the other's forearm with his hand, giving a light squeeze in greeting. ] Good to see you too, Josh.

Fuck me, I still can't believe a place like this has existed all the time right under our noses! Ha, seems not even my old nose is any match for a glamour!

I made it in one piece. Bit of a mind-fuck, like, but I managed to keep my lunch in my gut.

[ He pats Joshua's shoulder. ] Lead the way? So, what are the folks like? You reckon they'll like me? Course, I'm only filling in while you guys are gone. Soon as you're back, Clive can take the bloody name back. I'm not cut out to be a Cid.