[He closes his eyes, wanting the same thing as much if not more. To finally hold her, to feel her warmth, her breath, her heart. For her image to erase the monstrosities he's had to face in this nightmare.
And then he feels her—her flames. That warmth is almost ticklish and he can feel its embrace. Her embrace. Despite being wrapped in this icy darkness, he can feel her warmth penetrating through it, as if its her own arms wrapped around him. Her flames drive back some of that darkness both outside on the scales and the darkness that holds him trapped within. And for a moment he loses himself in it—until he feels that stabbing pain again. He doesn't know what this is, but he can no longer let it do as it pleases. With Tifa giving him strength, he gathers his own feelings.
Anger. Grief. Fear. Hatred. These are emotions that had iced his heart before, had once dominated him that helped him on his path. Eventually he decided to repress them so that he could keep his cool, though that led to crippling him as he didn't want to express them and have it hinder his judgment. Now the opposite has happened, those emotions overwhelming him.
But he has something else now. Joy, hope, peace—love.
He can't give them up. Nor can he get rid of those negative emotions, either. Instead, he has to grab them just like he managed to grab the lindwurm and turn it to his own will.
Lightning crackles around him once more, the thunder clouds above booming loudly as bolts strike down to the earth. But they look a bit different. There's a reddish tint to them, as if on fire, and where they land the ground clears itself of the ash and blood. And inside, Eustace grits his teeth as the red lightning encircles around him, ripping away at the remaining darkness and shadows. He can feel his arms and legs become free until at last it all burns away.
For a brief moment, Tifa will see the lindwurm a beautiful white silver before it crumbles away to white, ashen snow. It blows away like a storm, leaving Eustace on his arms and knees on the ground, gasping.
However.
A grotesque skeletal creature clings onto him, trapping him like a parasite. Its ribs wrap around his torso, digging into his chest like a cage; its spine stabs along his back, as if crushed into it; and its fangs bite down on his neck, blood trickling down. Long, black, matted hair sticks out from its skull, an ominous red glow in its empty sockets as a voice repeats almost mechanically close to his ear:
no subject
And then he feels her—her flames. That warmth is almost ticklish and he can feel its embrace. Her embrace. Despite being wrapped in this icy darkness, he can feel her warmth penetrating through it, as if its her own arms wrapped around him. Her flames drive back some of that darkness both outside on the scales and the darkness that holds him trapped within. And for a moment he loses himself in it—until he feels that stabbing pain again. He doesn't know what this is, but he can no longer let it do as it pleases. With Tifa giving him strength, he gathers his own feelings.
Anger. Grief. Fear. Hatred. These are emotions that had iced his heart before, had once dominated him that helped him on his path. Eventually he decided to repress them so that he could keep his cool, though that led to crippling him as he didn't want to express them and have it hinder his judgment. Now the opposite has happened, those emotions overwhelming him.
But he has something else now. Joy, hope, peace—love.
He can't give them up. Nor can he get rid of those negative emotions, either. Instead, he has to grab them just like he managed to grab the lindwurm and turn it to his own will.
Lightning crackles around him once more, the thunder clouds above booming loudly as bolts strike down to the earth. But they look a bit different. There's a reddish tint to them, as if on fire, and where they land the ground clears itself of the ash and blood. And inside, Eustace grits his teeth as the red lightning encircles around him, ripping away at the remaining darkness and shadows. He can feel his arms and legs become free until at last it all burns away.
For a brief moment, Tifa will see the lindwurm a beautiful white silver before it crumbles away to white, ashen snow. It blows away like a storm, leaving Eustace on his arms and knees on the ground, gasping.
However.
A grotesque skeletal creature clings onto him, trapping him like a parasite. Its ribs wrap around his torso, digging into his chest like a cage; its spine stabs along his back, as if crushed into it; and its fangs bite down on his neck, blood trickling down. Long, black, matted hair sticks out from its skull, an ominous red glow in its empty sockets as a voice repeats almost mechanically close to his ear:
...You're hurting me...
...You're hurting me...
...You're hurting me...]