Foulques listened, expression grim. Things that had to do with playing with expectations of how such games tended to work, he had to take Ian's word for. But the rest... the rest made more sense. A disturbing amount of sense. "So that is the grim future we caught glimpses of in the visions," he said. "Except perhaps the one of Flowey, as it doesn't seem to fit with such a sequence of events, but that is beside the point."
He was silent for a long moment, considering. "I come from a world at war, the threat of the Garlean Empire ever looming over Eorzea, the only one of the three great continents not entirely brought under its heel. The Garleans view anyone not of their race to be 'savages', to be subjugated at best, exterminated at worst. Yet Eorzea itself is no better, its peoples generally showing similar distain for the various tribes of beastmen, likely the closest equivalent to the monsters of Chara's world. Even some members of the so-called 'civilzed' races of mankind are not immune to such, including my own people, the Duskwights. Add to this that even five years hence Eorzea has yet to fully recover from the events of the Seventh Umbral Calamity- a disaster so terrible and all encompassing that it left no individual or group entirely unscathed and reshaped the continent forever-, and you begin to picture the would that shaped me."
"Hydaelyn is not a safe world, nor a kind one. It is harsh, with violence, fear, and death seldom far away. And before my arrival here, this harshness was all that I could see. I was a man driven only by rage and vengeance. The 'courage' I thought that I had found was only an expression of how little I valued my own life. In the end I expect I was more than a little mad. I can't say that my face melted, but... I expect that I was little better than that version of Chara, save for the fact that my power was not so great, nor my ambitions so lofty."
"And then I arrived here. I was falling from a cliff to my assured death, and was plucked out of the air by this place's magic. And here I encountered Professor Yen Sid and later Chell, who treated me with kindness I did not deserve. ...That I still feel I do not deserve. I met the young King and his entourage who showed me the much kinder nature of this world, and how it has shaped him. I find I envy the boy, and how he can offer the hand of friendship without fear that the hand he gets in return will be holding a dagger."
"Then Sun and Chara arrived. Two very different individuals, yet both have reacted to my offering the most basic care and consideration as something remarkable. They have each called me a hero, a title that I know I do not deserve. If anything, it is they who have given me new purpose, something beyond mere survival to rise for each day. Some hope that I may one day be able to look into the mirror and not hate the man I see."
"Chara Dreemur will not walk the same dark path that I did. I will not allow it. I swear on what little remains of my honor that the dark tale you've just told me will remain no more than that; a tale. A dark dream that can be set aside in the light of day."
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chiming
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Date: 2025-05-18 10:13 am (UTC)From:He was silent for a long moment, considering. "I come from a world at war, the threat of the Garlean Empire ever looming over Eorzea, the only one of the three great continents not entirely brought under its heel. The Garleans view anyone not of their race to be 'savages', to be subjugated at best, exterminated at worst. Yet Eorzea itself is no better, its peoples generally showing similar distain for the various tribes of beastmen, likely the closest equivalent to the monsters of Chara's world. Even some members of the so-called 'civilzed' races of mankind are not immune to such, including my own people, the Duskwights. Add to this that even five years hence Eorzea has yet to fully recover from the events of the Seventh Umbral Calamity- a disaster so terrible and all encompassing that it left no individual or group entirely unscathed and reshaped the continent forever-, and you begin to picture the would that shaped me."
"Hydaelyn is not a safe world, nor a kind one. It is harsh, with violence, fear, and death seldom far away. And before my arrival here, this harshness was all that I could see. I was a man driven only by rage and vengeance. The 'courage' I thought that I had found was only an expression of how little I valued my own life. In the end I expect I was more than a little mad. I can't say that my face melted, but... I expect that I was little better than that version of Chara, save for the fact that my power was not so great, nor my ambitions so lofty."
"And then I arrived here. I was falling from a cliff to my assured death, and was plucked out of the air by this place's magic. And here I encountered Professor Yen Sid and later Chell, who treated me with kindness I did not deserve. ...That I still feel I do not deserve. I met the young King and his entourage who showed me the much kinder nature of this world, and how it has shaped him. I find I envy the boy, and how he can offer the hand of friendship without fear that the hand he gets in return will be holding a dagger."
"Then Sun and Chara arrived. Two very different individuals, yet both have reacted to my offering the most basic care and consideration as something remarkable. They have each called me a hero, a title that I know I do not deserve. If anything, it is they who have given me new purpose, something beyond mere survival to rise for each day. Some hope that I may one day be able to look into the mirror and not hate the man I see."
"Chara Dreemur will not walk the same dark path that I did. I will not allow it. I swear on what little remains of my honor that the dark tale you've just told me will remain no more than that; a tale. A dark dream that can be set aside in the light of day."