He isn't sure when exactly it occurs, but in the back of his head he starts to hear a small voice. Different than what he recalls, but something in him keeps trying to tell him it's the exact opposite. He knows this voice. Tries to focus on it but it's so faint and he can only make out a few words here and there.
'Noct— Listen... that voice... ...not betray—'
Noctis shakes his head, trying to clear a developing headache as the elevator doors open to reveal a long white corridor with a certain insignia emblazoning the metal walls sporadically. He only takes a few steps before the words from the start of the memory are given context.
"How far's this go?" Noctis' voice echoed not in a void, but the long hallway with each step. "The Crystal had better be here. Everyone's counting on it...counting on me."
Yet the headache doesn't fade as his eyes begin to catch glimpse of a familiar light in the distance. Yet when his footsteps begin to pick up, trying to reach it, more words begin to break through the illusion of memory.
'—trust the people... ...what a leader... ...wake—'
"Your journey is over, Noct."
It's right there— on the other end of the long catwalk, chained and bound to walls which keep the light trapped within it. Not even siphoning it like the chamber back home, but dampening it.
Yet his steps pause, hand twitching at his side as though he wants to rush out and reach for it, but at the same time something is rooting him to the spot.
'No— don't do it! If you do, there can be no turning back!' 'But if I don't, we'll all...' 'You're giving that bastard exactly what he wants!' 'I don't have a choice.' 'There's always a choice.' 'Then what should I do?! Let the world succumb to the darkness of eternal night?!'
"How hard it is to trust yourself when you cannot trust what you see or hear..." The voice from earlier speaks, only this time, it is not overhead—but directly behind Shiro. He tips his fedora to the "guest", a smug look upon his face as Noctis remains blissfully unaware of the presence as he marches akin to both proud king and a prisoner to his death sentence. Golden eyes gleaming beneath as he asks, "Wouldn't you say?"
And, as if to punctuate it, the man disappears from sight as quickly as he arrived, the scene replaying itself from the point Noctis began to hesitate. A menacing chuckle only Shiro can hear echoing through the chamber as, this time, Noctis doesn't hesitate. Stepping forth until his hand can touch the warm surface of the Crystal.
"Please," he requests, "Help me stop the daemons." And as the words leave his mouth, the light latches around his right hand and wrist, tugging him forcibly closer. "Why?!"
"Unharmed by the light. The Chosen King, indeed." The bastard practically purrs, measured steps lightly echoing in the chamber as, slowly, Noctis is drawn up by the light emanating from the Crystal. Despite how the young King struggles to break free, grunting as he tries to pull back against it and gasping at the strain. "Allow me to regale you with a tale."
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'Noct— Listen... that voice... ...not betray—'
Noctis shakes his head, trying to clear a developing headache as the elevator doors open to reveal a long white corridor with a certain insignia emblazoning the metal walls sporadically. He only takes a few steps before the words from the start of the memory are given context.
"How far's this go?" Noctis' voice echoed not in a void, but the long hallway with each step. "The Crystal had better be here. Everyone's counting on it...counting on me."
Yet the headache doesn't fade as his eyes begin to catch glimpse of a familiar light in the distance. Yet when his footsteps begin to pick up, trying to reach it, more words begin to break through the illusion of memory.
'—trust the people... ...what a leader... ...wake—'
It's right there— on the other end of the long catwalk, chained and bound to walls which keep the light trapped within it. Not even siphoning it like the chamber back home, but dampening it.
Yet his steps pause, hand twitching at his side as though he wants to rush out and reach for it, but at the same time something is rooting him to the spot.
'No— don't do it! If you do, there can be no turning back!'
'But if I don't, we'll all...'
'You're giving that bastard exactly what he wants!'
'I don't have a choice.'
'There's always a choice.'
'Then what should I do?! Let the world succumb to the darkness of eternal night?!'
"How hard it is to trust yourself when you cannot trust what you see or hear..." The voice from earlier speaks, only this time, it is not overhead—but directly behind Shiro. He tips his fedora to the "guest", a smug look upon his face as Noctis remains blissfully unaware of the presence as he marches akin to both proud king and a prisoner to his death sentence. Golden eyes gleaming beneath as he asks, "Wouldn't you say?"
And, as if to punctuate it, the man disappears from sight as quickly as he arrived, the scene replaying itself from the point Noctis began to hesitate. A menacing chuckle only Shiro can hear echoing through the chamber as, this time, Noctis doesn't hesitate. Stepping forth until his hand can touch the warm surface of the Crystal.
"Please," he requests, "Help me stop the daemons." And as the words leave his mouth, the light latches around his right hand and wrist, tugging him forcibly closer. "Why?!"
"Unharmed by the light. The Chosen King, indeed." The bastard practically purrs, measured steps lightly echoing in the chamber as, slowly, Noctis is drawn up by the light emanating from the Crystal. Despite how the young King struggles to break free, grunting as he tries to pull back against it and gasping at the strain. "Allow me to regale you with a tale."