[it's true; there's little getting around the fact that ten years has given him time. even if he was asleep to the world, he still had a sense of awareness and plenty of time to work out a lot of his problems.
so many of them had come from not being ready for the responsibilities that he faced. learning that they were even greater than he'd once realized forced him to step up to the plate quite a bit.]
Yeah. Guess I am, but if that means that they all have a chance to live, then... it's a good thing.
[hasn't he always just wanted to protect people's lives? to help other people, it was like that even ten years ago.]
I knew I had something to look forward to after that. Ending my life there wasn't the end.
[she's so glad that part of him never changed. she drops her hand from his cheek so she can thread her fingers with his. even the smallest bit of contact with him is electrifying, honestly]
May I say "welcome home" now?
[it isn't completely accurate, considering this was never his home before. but she said she'd reserve those words for when he finally returned to the Crown City, and she never got to say them. so. . . now is as good of a time as any, right?]
[he nods his head, giving milla's hand a gentle squeeze. he's definitely not about to let go, either.]
...I'm home. For real, now.
[and he ays it with a smile, because he's looking at it differently than milla. his life on eos is over; he's done all he needed to in the crown city. now... this is his home.
it's where he'll be for his afterlife. his new life? whatever it may be, having been reincarnated into a spirit.]
Yeah. Gonna need to know a lot if this my new life. I'm... counting on you.
[to show him and tell him all about it. he's obviously willing to follow wherever it is she wants to go. milla has the lead on this one, considering he really knows next to nothing about rieze maxia or elympios.
and he wants to know what all that with the four was, too. considering... everything they were saying was super confusing?]
[. . . normally she'd just fly from place to place with Sylph's power, but since she dismissed the Four earlier, she doesn't have the ability to do that right now. which is okay! Nia Khera (the spirit realm version) isn't far. and it'll be nice to walk along the beach hand-in-hand with him until they get there, anyway]
Let me start with the cycle of reincarnation.
When a human dies, their soul is gathered up by Origin, the Great Spirit of the Void. It's his task to purify the soul of its impurities so it can be reborn into the spirit world as a lesser spirit. The process of purifying the soul essentially wipes it clean of its memories and sense of self, and it becomes a blank slate.
The fact that you've retained your sense of self defies this cycle. That's why the Four were confused by your presence.
[it's definitely at least, good scenery, even if entirely unfamiliar. it gives him a chance to look at it all as they walk—between stolen glances at milla as she explains it.]
I broke the natural order of things by being here. Makes plenty of sense why they'd be confused by it.
[though it raises a bit of a question, one noct is sure must be important.]
Is... that gonna mess anything up? For you, or for this world?
[the beautiful Kijara Seafalls!! which is inhabited by quite a few monsters, but now that Milla is around they seem to be keeping their distance. perhaps they know better than to pick a fight with the Lord of Spirits]
Not at all. You may be an anomaly, but your mere existence won't keep the cycle from continuing.
[pppppause]
You're also not the first one in this world to be reincarnated outside of that cycle.
[definitely a nifty trick, though noct isn't going to complain if they don't have to fight right now. he's tired, he's had enough of that for now.]
...Gonna guess that you were like that too. [she died once, after all—in this world. so the fact she still has those memories would make her an anomaly too, wouldn't it?]
[she's silent for a moment as she lifts her free hand and places it over her heart. there's something distracted about her expression as she recounts these memories.]
. . . I did, yes.
Perhaps my memories and my sense of self were gone, but my heart. . . that remained. I remembered things as I traveled across the spirit realm and saw familiar landmarks of places I had visited in the realm of man. When I slept, I dreamed of Jude. I remembered meeting him. I remembered traveling with him. I remembered. . . how much I wanted to be the Maxwell he adored.
[her hand clenches into a fist]
With the help of the Four, I received an ancient arte from one of my predecessor's specters-- concentrated forms of his consciousness that he could send out to various parts of the world in order to carry out the cycle of purification and reincarnation. Origin purifies the souls of the departed now, but back then, before the Schism was destroyed, my predecessor used those shadows to monitor the process himself.
With this arte in hand, I climbed to the top of the Nia Khera Hallowmont, which was the only entrance to the Temporal Crossroads-- the door between the realms of spirit and man-- from the spirit world. From there, I saw my comrades. . . I saw Jude. . . engaged in battle with my predecessor.
Seeing his determination, his unwavering will, and his desire to keep fighting. . .
[a deep breath]
That, in tandem with the ancient arte, brought back to me my memories and everything that made me. . . Milla.
[notably she is just using "Milla," not "Milla Maxwell." because back then, she wasn't Maxwell, was she? not officially, anyway. she was Milla, the woman who made herself Maxwell through sheer determination and heart]
[he's quiet as she speaks, listening thoughtfully to her words and her story.
some of it goes over his head a bit—locations and artes, and other things that he can only recall from the stories she told him a decade earlier. but he still follows the general idea of what she's saying.
and hough there's something strange and melancholic about it, noctis finds a faint smile on his lips.]
...Sounds like you. Even losing everything about yourself, you kept going forward until you found a way to get it back.
[it's something she credits jude for, and noctis won't deny that he was probably part of it; he knows well enough already that jude is someone important to her, someone who has motivated her to be better and stronger, and hearing this story...
well, he definitely understands it a little more than when she'd first explained it to him.]
Bet even without that, you probably would've found a way to keep going until you were you again.
[but. noct is glad for it, because... he's glad the milla he met is someone strong enough to face that and conquer it. it's what made him like her to begin with and help motivate him so much to live up to the title that had been decided for him.]
[she's sorry she can't tell this story without confusing him with location and arte names oops]
I would have tried.
[and she tilts her head towards him now]
But I suppose that memory stands out to me as an example of the profound effect people can have on each other, even in such short periods of time. Of course. . . it's only one of many.
[well, at least it wasn't all that tough to tell which one of those spirits was muzét, for whatever that may be worth.
and definitely the one he was most unsure of, because for all that noctis has grown... he's still noctis. that's enough to fluster him at least a little when she gets like that.]
She... seemed like it. But I think that's just what sisters do. Or siblings in general. [coming from his... experience of dealing with people who have sisters.]
I'm sure... you'll fill them all in just fine, anyway. [please make sure muzét doesn't flirt with him too much, he is not ready for this life.]
[she can't help but chuckle, as though she's sensing his embarrassment. SHE REALLY DOES LIKE HIS EMBARRASSED FACES I'm sorry Noctis, she finds them endearing. . .]
I suppose it is. The only experience I have with sisters are with Muzét and Yuna, and they're both very different from each other.
[one was tiny and spunky and cute and determined, and the other was A MENACE]
[it's a good thing she'll be seeing those faces for a long time, then!]
Never had siblings of my own. But I've been around 'em. Seems like you got a little of both type with those two.
[he can see similarities in her relationships with yuna and the way muzét teases and compare it easily enough to everything he remembers from gladio and iris and how they behaved with each other. it's similar, so he figures it's just gotta be a Thing.]
[the beach is starting to give way to grass. Nia Khera's round huts can be seen in the nearby distance]
Then that makes me extremely lucky, to have a little of both types.
[that is the way she's interpreting it and nothing will change her mind]
We're coming up on Nia Khera-- ah. Well, the spirit realm version. [a pause] You're likely to run into several lesser spirits here. Don't be alarmed if you perceive them as human. Most new spirits reborn from humans do, although sometimes that impression of them fades over time.
[he'll let her have that interpretation—theoretically, there's nothing wrong with it anyway. it's not like he knows much about her relationship with muzét to judge it, regardless. she definitely has a way with making him feel a bit awkward from their brief meeting.
but he'll get used to it, probably.]
Got it. I think I can handle that... makes enough sense, anyway. [though, there is one important question.]
What's the difference, anyway. Just a power thing, or whatever? With... lesser spirits and great spirits.
[he knows the four are great spirits, and milla obviously as well. but he did catch gnome saying that noct himelf wasn't exactly a lesser spirit—so...?]
[ah. . . that's right. she never explained to him the difference, did she? her nose wrinkles as she searches for the words]
Yes, the difference is mostly based on power. Lesser spirits are very common, while very few achieve Great Spirit status. Artes cast by channeling Great Spirits are far more powerful than those cast by channeling lesser spirits.
[he catches on pretty quick, because it's a simple enough explanation; he's not stupid, after all. even if noct doesn't yet know the finer points, it's a pretty easy concept to grasp.]
They were saying I wasn't a "lesser spirit," so, uh. What... does that make me, exactly? [is there some middle-ground between lesser and great spirits? he's curious to know.]
[and at that question, she stops walking an inclines her head to look at him curiously. unlike the Four, she hadn't super paid attention to anything else but the fact that he was here (and the fact that she was glad to see him after ten years). so she hadn't really thought about it until now]
[there's a pause. she's scrutinizing him carefully, before she lifts one hand to pat his cheek a few times]
Hmmm. . .
. . . I suppose that makes you the spirit realm's newest Great Spirit.
[talk about a response he wasn't at all expecting—and it shows.]
Wait, seriously? [not that he disbelieves milla, of course. but there's no way noct was actually expecting that she'd deem him to be a great spirit.
but hey, she's the lord of spirits so... if anyone gets to make that call, it's milla, right? he knows he has to trust it, but he's still undoubtedly pretty shocked by the revelation.]
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so many of them had come from not being ready for the responsibilities that he faced. learning that they were even greater than he'd once realized forced him to step up to the plate quite a bit.]
Yeah. Guess I am, but if that means that they all have a chance to live, then... it's a good thing.
[hasn't he always just wanted to protect people's lives? to help other people, it was like that even ten years ago.]
I knew I had something to look forward to after that. Ending my life there wasn't the end.
[after all, he's here now.]
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[she's so glad that part of him never changed. she drops her hand from his cheek so she can thread her fingers with his. even the smallest bit of contact with him is electrifying, honestly]
May I say "welcome home" now?
[it isn't completely accurate, considering this was never his home before. but she said she'd reserve those words for when he finally returned to the Crown City, and she never got to say them. so. . . now is as good of a time as any, right?]
no subject
...I'm home. For real, now.
[and he ays it with a smile, because he's looking at it differently than milla. his life on eos is over; he's done all he needed to in the crown city. now... this is his home.
it's where he'll be for his afterlife. his new life? whatever it may be, having been reincarnated into a spirit.]
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You have much to learn about Rieze Maxia and Elympios, as well as your new life as a spirit. Allow me to give you a tour!
Ah, and then I'll explain to you why your presence here confused the Four so much.
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[to show him and tell him all about it. he's obviously willing to follow wherever it is she wants to go. milla has the lead on this one, considering he really knows next to nothing about rieze maxia or elympios.
and he wants to know what all that with the four was, too. considering... everything they were saying was super confusing?]
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Let me start with the cycle of reincarnation.
When a human dies, their soul is gathered up by Origin, the Great Spirit of the Void. It's his task to purify the soul of its impurities so it can be reborn into the spirit world as a lesser spirit. The process of purifying the soul essentially wipes it clean of its memories and sense of self, and it becomes a blank slate.
The fact that you've retained your sense of self defies this cycle. That's why the Four were confused by your presence.
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I broke the natural order of things by being here. Makes plenty of sense why they'd be confused by it.
[though it raises a bit of a question, one noct is sure must be important.]
Is... that gonna mess anything up? For you, or for this world?
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Not at all. You may be an anomaly, but your mere existence won't keep the cycle from continuing.
[pppppause]
You're also not the first one in this world to be reincarnated outside of that cycle.
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...Gonna guess that you were like that too. [she died once, after all—in this world. so the fact she still has those memories would make her an anomaly too, wouldn't it?]
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[she says that evenly, like the fact that she. you know. died doesn't bother her]
When I first passed, the Four managed to retrieve my soul from the River of Souls before it could be purified. But. . .
[she shakes her head]
They were unable to retrieve me as I was. I lost. . . my memories. My name. My sense of self.
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[well, he knows she did. That's obvious enough, because milla is milla—but she also very obviously is herself and has all of those memories.
there's obviously a story here that she hasn't yet told him—and of course, noct wants to know it all.]
no subject
. . . I did, yes.
Perhaps my memories and my sense of self were gone, but my heart. . . that remained. I remembered things as I traveled across the spirit realm and saw familiar landmarks of places I had visited in the realm of man. When I slept, I dreamed of Jude. I remembered meeting him. I remembered traveling with him. I remembered. . . how much I wanted to be the Maxwell he adored.
[her hand clenches into a fist]
With the help of the Four, I received an ancient arte from one of my predecessor's specters-- concentrated forms of his consciousness that he could send out to various parts of the world in order to carry out the cycle of purification and reincarnation. Origin purifies the souls of the departed now, but back then, before the Schism was destroyed, my predecessor used those shadows to monitor the process himself.
With this arte in hand, I climbed to the top of the Nia Khera Hallowmont, which was the only entrance to the Temporal Crossroads-- the door between the realms of spirit and man-- from the spirit world. From there, I saw my comrades. . . I saw Jude. . . engaged in battle with my predecessor.
Seeing his determination, his unwavering will, and his desire to keep fighting. . .
[a deep breath]
That, in tandem with the ancient arte, brought back to me my memories and everything that made me. . . Milla.
[notably she is just using "Milla," not "Milla Maxwell." because back then, she wasn't Maxwell, was she? not officially, anyway. she was Milla, the woman who made herself Maxwell through sheer determination and heart]
no subject
some of it goes over his head a bit—locations and artes, and other things that he can only recall from the stories she told him a decade earlier. but he still follows the general idea of what she's saying.
and hough there's something strange and melancholic about it, noctis finds a faint smile on his lips.]
...Sounds like you. Even losing everything about yourself, you kept going forward until you found a way to get it back.
[it's something she credits jude for, and noctis won't deny that he was probably part of it; he knows well enough already that jude is someone important to her, someone who has motivated her to be better and stronger, and hearing this story...
well, he definitely understands it a little more than when she'd first explained it to him.]
Bet even without that, you probably would've found a way to keep going until you were you again.
[but. noct is glad for it, because... he's glad the milla he met is someone strong enough to face that and conquer it. it's what made him like her to begin with and help motivate him so much to live up to the title that had been decided for him.]
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I would have tried.
[and she tilts her head towards him now]
But I suppose that memory stands out to me as an example of the profound effect people can have on each other, even in such short periods of time. Of course. . . it's only one of many.
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Yeah. I guess... that's how people are a lot.
[he looks to her with a small smile. sounds familiar?]
...Probably wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for that, you know.
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I'll explain to the Four and Muzét why your circumstances are special. I think they'll take a liking to you rather quickly.
Please excuse my sister, though. She has a very unique personality.
[Milla is fond of Muzét but BOY is Muzét a trip and a half. also there's that history of Muzét trying to kill her a couple of times so you know]
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and definitely the one he was most unsure of, because for all that noctis has grown... he's still noctis. that's enough to fluster him at least a little when she gets like that.]
She... seemed like it. But I think that's just what sisters do. Or siblings in general. [coming from his... experience of dealing with people who have sisters.]
I'm sure... you'll fill them all in just fine, anyway. [please make sure muzét doesn't flirt with him too much, he is not ready for this life.]
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I suppose it is. The only experience I have with sisters are with Muzét and Yuna, and they're both very different from each other.
[one was tiny and spunky and cute and determined, and the other was A MENACE]
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Never had siblings of my own. But I've been around 'em. Seems like you got a little of both type with those two.
[he can see similarities in her relationships with yuna and the way muzét teases and compare it easily enough to everything he remembers from gladio and iris and how they behaved with each other. it's similar, so he figures it's just gotta be a Thing.]
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Then that makes me extremely lucky, to have a little of both types.
[that is the way she's interpreting it and nothing will change her mind]
We're coming up on Nia Khera-- ah. Well, the spirit realm version. [a pause] You're likely to run into several lesser spirits here. Don't be alarmed if you perceive them as human. Most new spirits reborn from humans do, although sometimes that impression of them fades over time.
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but he'll get used to it, probably.]
Got it. I think I can handle that... makes enough sense, anyway. [though, there is one important question.]
What's the difference, anyway. Just a power thing, or whatever? With... lesser spirits and great spirits.
[he knows the four are great spirits, and milla obviously as well. but he did catch gnome saying that noct himelf wasn't exactly a lesser spirit—so...?]
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Yes, the difference is mostly based on power. Lesser spirits are very common, while very few achieve Great Spirit status. Artes cast by channeling Great Spirits are far more powerful than those cast by channeling lesser spirits.
Does that make sense?
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[he catches on pretty quick, because it's a simple enough explanation; he's not stupid, after all. even if noct doesn't yet know the finer points, it's a pretty easy concept to grasp.]
They were saying I wasn't a "lesser spirit," so, uh. What... does that make me, exactly? [is there some middle-ground between lesser and great spirits? he's curious to know.]
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[there's a pause. she's scrutinizing him carefully, before she lifts one hand to pat his cheek a few times]
Hmmm. . .
. . . I suppose that makes you the spirit realm's newest Great Spirit.
no subject
Wait, seriously? [not that he disbelieves milla, of course. but there's no way noct was actually expecting that she'd deem him to be a great spirit.
but hey, she's the lord of spirits so... if anyone gets to make that call, it's milla, right? he knows he has to trust it, but he's still undoubtedly pretty shocked by the revelation.]
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