his nod is gentle, deliberate. they’d truly embraced the opportunities gifted by this life anew ; perspectives previously unseen remind the pair of their woeful ignorance, a reality thrusted upon them, wrongfully, unfairly. yet, they’d accepted much of it for the majority of their late lives. but his world does not feed upon fallacies, upon magic, upon harnessable godhood. they rely upon the rudimental laws of the universe.
as he listens on, he envisions the turmoils she’d faced and surmounted. to live with the burden of the world upon your shoulders was a test too cruel — and my, could he relate. her responsibility involved a gamble of souls, either brushed from her palm to be reborn, or sentenced to dust. she’s an angel of death. but that role has transferred to Caius, cursed upon the realm of the dead to repent for his sin. while unleashing the chaos was a choice born of pain, the role of an immortal vessel was not. and he’d unleashed that curse upon the world, mortal souls rotting through hardship and pain, timeworn and tired. that misfortune may have been granted to Lightning had she knelt down to fate, too. he wonders to this day if it’s truly penance the guardian serves, or merely an escape. he’d never bothered to ask.
❛ why did you find it necessary to hide away that part of your soul ? I’ve always wondered. ❜
he’d only witnessed a sample of Lightning’s burdens through observation and tales and remains clueless to the extent of her suffering. while she is accepting of her humanity now, he debates whether it’s appropriate to ask.
after his inquiry, the eldest Farron finds herself chuckling. it wasn’t too difficult to explain the reason why, however, words were always hard for her to find. often, she’d rely on the freedom & hope this New World granted her; her very own special creation where all its inhabitants could find not only peace but happiness too. especially the one she loved most: Serah. she had been Claire’s reason during all the time she’d fought Gods and then, in the end, became nothing more but a pawn. for a while, she’d be considered to be a Goddess. it’s a role she’d take wholeheartedly if it meant the other’s safety and well-being. however, such sacrifice wasn’t necessary, resulting in a rather clumsy and messy Claire ‘Lightning’ Farron.
— who knew that to express your feelings through words turned out to be so HARD? —
“ That’s a good question... hmmm... if I am to be completely honest with you, then you’ll have to understand that I had to grow much faster than my sister did, in order to keep her safe. ” she responds. “ It was my job to protect Serah since we were kids, and to do that properly, I had to push aside all emotions that could eventually affect my further judgment on things. I didn’t have time to play as a kid... I didn’t have half of the «girl time» Serah did when she was young. It was... hard, for us both. But I had to be the adult so I could protect both of us. ” there’s a taste of bitterness on her tongue as she speaks. it doesn’t feel well at all to remember how hard their lives had been, so many centuries ago. this was Noel, though... her sister’s best friend. there was no harm in pouring her heart out to someone like him.
even if it hurt.
“ I’m actually surprised you’re asking this...
I figured Serah would’ve told you about her childhood by now. ”
