[Second Dream] What if...
Dream effects: Grief and resignation
Warnings: Spoilers for Tales of the Abyss
The throne room is silent as he walks in with yet another report of the war's progress -- or rather, yet another report of a village's destruction. He kneels in front of his Emperor.
"I regret to report that Engeve has truly fallen, Your Majesty. The Kimlascan army razed it to the ground. At this point in time, the possibility of survivors is unlikely."
There is no response. Why would there be? Emperor Peony is dead, staring sightlessly at the ceiling as his blood continued to flow and stain his throne. The Kimlascans had reached the capital already, destroying everything in their path, and Jade had been powerless to stop them.
Another moment of silence passes as he struggles to accept that Peony is dead, and his own sister likely is as well. Not to mention Dist, still trapped inside his jail cell with no way to escape the Kimlascan's blades.
He is wasting time here.
Smoothing his face into an emotionless mask, Jade stands up and strides out of the palace. He ignores the corpses that bury the fortress capital, but he has no way of escaping the stench of death and disease that hangs everywhere. It seems to twine around him, forcing him to acknowledge that he would likely be dead within the week; if not from war, then from the plague.
He doesn't stop walking.
Not even when creeping tendrils of noxious purple begin to envelop his vision and he begins to cough, every breath filling his lungs with poison.
Death is slow in coming.
Thus shall Auldrant be destroyed by the miasma and turned to dust.
[The purple haze of the miasma fades Jade wakes gradually from the dream. His eyes remain dull and unfocused even after he regains consciousness. He makes a half-hearted attempt to turn off the Dreamberry, but every movement feels as if he's battling against drowning.]
[In the end, he simply rolls over and turns his back to the Dreamberry.]
Warnings: Spoilers for Tales of the Abyss
The throne room is silent as he walks in with yet another report of the war's progress -- or rather, yet another report of a village's destruction. He kneels in front of his Emperor.
"I regret to report that Engeve has truly fallen, Your Majesty. The Kimlascan army razed it to the ground. At this point in time, the possibility of survivors is unlikely."
There is no response. Why would there be? Emperor Peony is dead, staring sightlessly at the ceiling as his blood continued to flow and stain his throne. The Kimlascans had reached the capital already, destroying everything in their path, and Jade had been powerless to stop them.
Another moment of silence passes as he struggles to accept that Peony is dead, and his own sister likely is as well. Not to mention Dist, still trapped inside his jail cell with no way to escape the Kimlascan's blades.
He is wasting time here.
Smoothing his face into an emotionless mask, Jade stands up and strides out of the palace. He ignores the corpses that bury the fortress capital, but he has no way of escaping the stench of death and disease that hangs everywhere. It seems to twine around him, forcing him to acknowledge that he would likely be dead within the week; if not from war, then from the plague.
He doesn't stop walking.
Not even when creeping tendrils of noxious purple begin to envelop his vision and he begins to cough, every breath filling his lungs with poison.
Death is slow in coming.
Thus shall Auldrant be destroyed by the miasma and turned to dust.
[The purple haze of the miasma fades Jade wakes gradually from the dream. His eyes remain dull and unfocused even after he regains consciousness. He makes a half-hearted attempt to turn off the Dreamberry, but every movement feels as if he's battling against drowning.]
[In the end, he simply rolls over and turns his back to the Dreamberry.]