songerein | [open] thanks for the memories

Who: kratos and you!
Which: interactive dream, open
What: in turn with the festive spirit, kratos' dreams are filled with memories of a warm and cozy place, but also of a place that feels frozen despite it lacking in snow.
Warnings: will add as needed!

a. past memories.

[as your vision comes into focus, you find yourself seated at a table overlooking the beach. a distance away sits a small, if cozy wooden shack. a warm breeze blows while there's not a cloud in the sky. the sound of the waves crashing against the shore ends up making it feel like a very serene scene.

then, suddenly, you feel something, or rather, someone settle into your lap. upon looking down, a small child with brown hair and matching eyes stares up at you with the most curious expression on his face. he looks no older than 2 or maybe 3 years old. suddenly, the child reaches out and grabs at either your shirt or, if you have longer hair within reach, tugs on that instead. cue the boy laughing excitedly.

another, softer laugh comes from the opposite end of the table.]

He doesn't bite, you know.

[when you glance over, you see that the one seated at the other end is one kratos aurion. his attire consists of a very casual turtleneck and slacks. he's staring at you with the softest hint of amusement playing both in his eyes and on his lips.]

In fact, Lloyd seems rather fond of you, Yuan.

[as if to emphasize that, lloyd laughs again and tugs at you harder! he does seem to like you, or rather, like this yuan that kratos seems to believe you to be.]

b1. an empty city.

[the place you find yourself in is unsettling. there's a stillness --a quietness-- in the air that makes it feel uncomfortable. everywhere you look, various technology buzzes down futuristic looking corridors. windows allow you to glance a glimpse of the outside. all that greets you is endless starry heavens, an good indication that you're out in space.

perhaps you find yourself in one of these corridors. perhaps you find yourself in a room without gravity and end up floating around for a bit. perhaps you find yourself in a room lined with books, documents and the like that clearly belongs to someone who just so happened to leave their door open. whatever the case, wherever you go, you find yourself surrounded by angels floating around. if you try to speak to them, they reply to you in an almost robotic fashion. no emotion can be seen on their faces or heard in their voice.

'ah, it has been a while since a non-angelic form was seen in the holy city of welgaia. aside from our leaders, the last instance was 800 years ago when the previous vessel of martel arrived.'

'lord kratos has ordered all unauthorized personnel to leave this area immediately in order to prepare for the chosen's ritual.'

'do you have authorization to be here? provide that documentation or return back to your sector.'

regardless of what you say or do, you can't get more conversation out of them. they seem lifeless.

eventually, either your wandering will lead you to a path that winds through an empty void or the dream itself transports you there. upon reaching the end of this path, you find a warp that leads to a room surrounded by that more of that empty space. in the middle of this room sits a throne.

whether you approach it or not, you'll soon hear the sounds of footsteps approaching from behind.]

You don't belong here.

[upon turning around, you find kratos coolly staring at you with arms folded across his chest. there's an unspoken question of 'why are you here?' behind that comment.]

b2. a past failure.

[perhaps you manage to stumble across one of the many teleportation devices scattered around welgaia. they transport you to and fo, from place to place. everything looks identical. it's truly a confusing maze.

by chance, you finally step on a warp that leads you to a room you've never seen before. what immediately catches stands out most about this room is what sits in the middle of it: a giant, translucent flower inside of which sits a woman. the woman lays there unmoving. perhaps you recognize this person as martel. is she sleeping or dead? either is plausible.

one other person seems to be there in the room with you. kratos stands a distance away from this flower and stares up at it with an unreadable expression. he spares a brief glance at you before looing back up at martel once more. after a moment, he speaks.]

I hadn't expected anyone to enter my dream like this, but I supposed that happening is only to be expected in this world.

[his voice has a hint of irritation to it. why did someone have to enter a dream of his when he's here, of all places?]

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[it's a sadness he can full well sympathize with. people doing things only for themselves seems to be another commonality between their situations.]

Due to technology having drained the planet of nearly all its energy.

[he pauses, his frown deepening.]

And then human greed stopping what could've saved the world a long time ago without making the Journey of World Regeneration necessary.

[there's a hint of bitterness to his voice when saying that. the planet had ALMOST been saved. if not for the betrayal at the very end, oh how different things could've been.]

[That makes her throat tighten, any lightness that she had left in her all but falling away completely. That was definitely not the sort of camaraderie that she was expecting. It's one thing having something in common with someone else, but when that something is the death of their world...]

Greed really does a number on things, huh...

[She rolls on the balls of her feet, her gaze dropping to stare at them.]

[the heaviness of the present atmosphere isn’t lost on him. then again, it takes a certain sort to be unaffected when speaking of a topic this unpleasant.]

It truly does.

[greed started everything. greed ruined the world not once but twice and ended with an innocent child becoming something even worse than what had started everything. kratos’ eyes stray toward the throne. then again, even had greed started it, that cannot excuse what mithos has done. ...what kratos himself has done, as well.

his eyes linger on that throne a moment longer before he turns his gaze back toward tifa.]

Has your world taken any steps to overcome their situation?

Mm. There are people who are trying.

[The people being them, but... admitting to being an eco-terrorist is not exactly something she ever wants to drop on anyone. So, she leaves it at that.]

But it takes a lot more than asking nicely and setting off explosives to send a message to the people up top. Especially when they retaliate back tenfold.

[that only brings back memories of mithos and his acts of retaliation. even with ozette, all to stop that supply of sacred wood, the whole city was destroyed...]

And they have the means to retaliate as much as needed.

[it's always an uphill struggle.]

But that becomes all the more reason to keep going. Even if your efforts haven't stopped those at the top yet, so long as you continue, the chance they will yield results is always there.

[Tifa's eyes widen a bit at his encouragement. It feels so strange to be talking about this again, it's almost as if she's speaking of a whole other life, a different version of her entirely. She's spent so long in this world now that she wonders if she even remembers what it felt like sometimes, until it comes up again, that is...]

Yeah.

[It's offered quietly, but there's something of a smile beneath her hardened features.]

And you? Is yours...?

[The rest of her question hangs in the air between them. Is it gone? Is someone there to restore it?]

[there's a small pause before he responds. it's an oddly loaded question and, similarly to how tifa doesn't want to share some of her activities in her world, kratos also doesn't want to share that he's part of what messed up his world.]

The wrongs are in the process of being righted.

[slowly, but surely. kratos will do what he can to help with that effort. it's the least he can do.]

Those who are doing it still have a long road ahead of them, but the progress they've made is promising.

[they're getting close. all that remains is honestly fighting himself and yggdrasil. ...and, being honest, he has no intent of winning when they come to him.]

[Honestly, she can't say she blames him. If anything, she understands better that he wouldn't want to share much. This is his dream, after all, and she already feels like an intruder when he had no say in who managed to waltz right in here with a hundred questions.]

Well. I hope that they manage.

[It's as genuine as her smile is. She means that with all her heart. It can be a long road to get there, but if someone is doing it and is willing to keep fighting, then... maybe eventually, those wrongs will be righted.]

By the way... you don't happen to remember another world, do you?

[a smile so sincere coupled with those words is enough to cause kratos' expression to soften. as much as he claims not to need words of hope and encouragement like this, they are very pleasant to hear.]

I hope so, as well.

[truly he does.]

If by other world you mean Songerein then yes, I recalled it a few minutes ago.

So then...

[She paces a little towards him, and then past him to look around.]

... You've probably already figured out where we are?

My own dream, yes.

[a surprisingly tamer one than his normal dreams. he'd honestly call it lucky. welgaia might not be the best thing for people to see, but it certainly beats anything more personal or something that raises too many questions he'd rather avoid.

he watches tifa as she looks around. be his guest and explore. it's not as though he minds it.]

I'm only sorry you happened to be dragged into it. I know this place isn't especially pleasant.

I wasn't dragged into anything.

[She flashes him another one of her award-winning, reassuring smiles.]

It's actually been kinda nice, compared to a lot of the other dreams that can pull us in. I learned a lot. And... that's just exactly what it is, yeah? A dream.

[the smile does end up getting some of the tension to ease away from his shoulders. her words help, too. it could've been so much worse had his dream involved a meeting between himself and mithos or other situations where mithos would be present. he'd simply prefer avoiding dreams of his former pupil when possible.]

That is true.

[it's just a simple, not terrible dream.]

Well, you're welcome to wander in this dream as you'd like. [he pauses and adds] I can answer any other questions you may have, as well.

I think you answered them all pretty good.

[Though, there is one lingering question. One that she always asks whenever she winds up in a dream like this. Especially ones of home.]

Why this one? [A pause, as she folds her hands behind her back.] Having some thoughts?

[the question gets a soft hum from him. thoughts are something he always has, unfortunately.]

A few. [his gaze lands on the throne and his lips purse briefly.] Mostly about what I need to upon returning home and how best to go about ensuring things go as planned.

[the most important being getting that ring to lloyd and then releasing origin. once everything is done then, well, he can finally rest.]

Ahh.

[She nods in understanding.

As someone who has spent a long, long time here, Tifa has certainly had her fair share of those thoughts, too. It's become a little less now, but it comes and goes.]

I guess that's part of the beauty of a place like this. Gives us a little bit more time to think about those things...

[open] thanks for the memories

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