Like thunder screaming out for a flash of lightning

[flawed_immortality]

[Cor's not great at this whole party thing, especially as this time it's not just a family gathering but intended for the friends they'd made here as well. The video starts with Cor sitting in a cushy white and grey striped armchair, a stone fireplace beside him glowing warmly. It's a classy set up and far above the townhouses they've been in.]

It's New Years, celebrations are in order. His Majesty, Ignis, and I have obtained a larger space and we'd like to offer our home for the festivities. Feel free to stop in, have some snacks, and await midnight with us.

[Locked from Regis]
[He looks a little paranoid at first, double, then triple checking that he's done this right.]

It's also his Majesty's birthday. He's always eager to sweep it under the New Years celebrations but he has no reason to shy away from any such celebrations here. Don't let him.

[Action - Party Start~]
[The new house is really very nice. It's nothing compared to the Citadel but it is very nice. Clean and homey with the accents of warm wood that, if Cor didn't know better, he'd have thought was reclaimed.

There's a fire in the hearth, hor d'ouerve trays laid out on the kitchen counters. The replicator is of course available to anyone who wants something specific, though you might be surprised to find she responds to voice commands and is distressingly cheerful to talk to. The house is open for examination! Go on, explore folks, mingle away.]

[Action - Midnight]
[As chill as the night is Cor makes a point of slipping through the crowd throughout the evening. There's a number of Lucis Caelums and other magic users as well. So when the time comes near he does his best to usher everyone into the backyard, or at least onto the back porch.

He's certainly not the one to lead the countdown, no someone more energetic can do that, but at the final count a series of spells get fired into the night sky. They may not be traditional fireworks but a few Flares, Thundaras, and spells he has no names for will work well enough, don't you think?]

Comments

[kingkingcxiii]

A surprising situation, is it not? And yet, I have found that many of my council are very adapt at putting other things before our people. Even worse, they expect me to be the same, or at least, to say nothing when I see through their flimsy justifications.

[Quite honestly, each time it happens, it makes him feel sick. How much of this had his father just let happen? Mors was harsh, but no fool. He had to have known it was going on.

Considering they have only just met, Regis finds himself deeply-touched by her concern.]

Thank you for your kind words. I've always known that I would have to give up things when I became king. If doing so gives me a chance to bring peace to my people, then it will be worth it.

[iustaegis]

[ Those last words of him appear to satisfy. She comments softly, bringing a hand to her chest, ] Noble, selfless, ....wonderful.

[ Making sacrifices for the greater good, for others one barely knows yet cherishes all the same... is always a great virtue to be found in others. Especially when those sacrifices are made for the entirety of bringing in a peaceful world. ]

I... have to say. All of your family seem very selfless.

[kingkingcxiii]

[Regis bows his head slightly at the compliments, embarrassed by it all.]

There are those who give more than I do every day and are never recognized for it. This is the least I can do for them, though I know once my son is born it will be harder to give as much as I do. I am going to want to spend so much time with him and I already wish I did not lose so much time that could have been spent with my wife.

[So, he is no saint. Merely a man doing what has to be done like his family has done for centuries.]

When Bahamut appointed us so long ago, we were not appointed as rulers, but protectors. This is something the whole line has lived by, even those who lived before the appointment was made.

[Ardyn and Somnus were the originators of that trait in the line, though Regis would have never known that without having come here. He had been ready to hate Somnus for what he did to Ardyn, but after speaking with the Founder King, he had come to realize how much Somnus had given in his own way. In fact, it actually had caused him to wonder a time or two, if his own father's cold distance had been his own form of sacrifice. There is no way to know, of course, as Regis has no doubt that even if given the change, Mors would not defend himself. He never thought he needed to.]

We are stewards over Lucis and the Crystal until the time the True King is born and all of Eos can once again view the dawn.

[iustaegis]

[ Sounds like he's referring to the prophecy involving Noctis, and he speaks so proudly of it. Yet there are those here that appear adamant on changing the future, or the past, of his world... ]

The dawn.... [ She says slowly, bringing a hand up to her chest. Her eyes flick away from him, before returning back to meet his gaze, sympathetic. Her smile is gentle, hopeful.

Noctis had said he finds dawn beautiful. ]

The future... The world. They are precious. They are deserving of unconditional protection. [ A beat. ] Do you, too, wish to protect it, with all of your heart?

[kingkingcxiii]

[The question catches him off guard for a moment, but once Regis' surprise passes, his answer is immediate.]

The world I would give anything to protect.

[And he will, in the end. Including his kingdom, his people, and his very life.]

I would give everything for a future for Eos and her people as well.

[Here he pauses a moment before adding to the statement.]

I am just not sure if giving so much is worth it for the future I have heard whispers of. So many will suffer and die for no reason. Our line has carried the suffering for so long. Must the whole world be made to carry it as well?

[iustaegis]

[ Whispers of the future that others will suffer, perish for-- "no reason". Within the same comment, he questions the suffering of his own. Is there no greater reason than that of preserving the world?

His words end a curious tilt of her head, her expression confused; she doesn't quite follow him, but she does her best to decipher what he means. ] You... wish to contain the burden of loss to your own line? Or you question it purpose?

[kingkingcxiii]

My dear, if I could contain the suffering and loss to myself alone, I would do it without question.

[In this, at least, he is certain.]

It has been said for as long as the line has existed that the Chosen King's role was to save Eos from its suffering. Our power has been gathered for just as long to aid him in doing so, but how can it be called 'saving' if all of Eos lies in ruin and only a handful of her people still live? What kind of future is that?

[iustaegis]

[ Even if whatever they have to do to save their world involves simply saving a handful of people in the end, she would count that as a victory. If the best with their power is the the world in ruin but still surviving, it is still their best. It is something, it is enough. But she won’t be debating him questioning the future. Not tonight, at least. Instead—

If I could contain the suffering and loss to myself alone, I would do it without question.

She smiles, fond, as her eyes meet his kindly, as if she’s found something to admire in him. ] That’s a very selfless thing of you to say... and brave. Have you passed that selflessness onto your son? [ Or maybe it he’ll teach it to him. Either way, it’s a very good trait to have when saving the world and the future is concerned. There is little that is more important than ensuring it. ]