♛ /

“… Ignis. I have not seen you for… quite some time. It is good to see you.” Her eyes met his own. She could still feel the brief images crash against her eyes as she stared, the god’s image mixing with a blurred man’s, waves of confusion from the experience. She hid this the best she possibly could, but her hand clenched on instinct, fingernails digging into her skin to endure the brief pain.

  It was only once he was closer to her, did he reach out to her. His hand grazed her forehead, feeling the sense of warmness radiating from her. How strange.. For a Goddess like her to be like this, to have such an effect on him and such--."Is that so..." The mortals always treated her better. They knew more of her, and it made sense. She was the one that appealed more, the one that appreciated them more anyways. "...Of course. I never believed they were terrible people. They just are... questionable and lack intelligence. For instance, what are you to do with that army of fish? Give them to the sprites?" He retorted a bit bitterly. Humans and their ridculous offerings.. Were they trying to be cursed?

“Well,” she hummed, smiling brightly at him. “At least you have that urge to protect them. That’s a start.”

She frowned at the rest of his words, tilting her head to the side. “I have never thought you ignorant. That would be foolish. I simply asked if you’ve lived among them, was all.” She smiled.

  That... wasn't what he meant. But, Ignis was not going to correct her. He was stubborn, and did not want to admit his... strange feeling of affection towards others. It wasn't like him. Instead, he offered her a grunt, and the topic move on.

  How... simplistic did his mind work... Perhaps it was the work of his robotic and aritificial mind... but were they supposed to crave attention like this? Ignis, ever so amused, yet all the same confused, tried to understand the boy's thoughts and feelings. If it were someone else, perhaps he would be his norm, more brusque and more aggressive... But for some reason he just couldn't help himself with this... boy named Life.

  He cast her a glance from where he lay, eyes were narrowed, trying to make sense of her words, as if he was almost... criticizing her... The tone of her voice was serious, meaning Ignis probably should take her with the same intensity. With another sigh, he replied to her.

  "...That I do. But it is not as often as you'd like. I also do not fancy visiting Castanet in particular, because like you said, I look at it often enough." Ignis rose from his position, to shift over and stand beside Marina, eyes roaming over the vast view. "Mortals are so troublesome. Despite all we do to protect them and their lands, they still... " He trailed, not really sure of what specific words would be best, and left at that, and moved on.

And then, the feeling changed.

Venti frowned, watching the god before her. His silence wasn’t something she was completely unused to.She hummed, continuing over her train of thought.

Mortals had short lives. They left her just as quickly as they joined her, and she had gone many years of seeing her friends become guardians, or simply die of old age. They were foolish, but entertaining, especially the two that had landed on her back all those months ago.

And then Ignis spoke again, his voice broken into short words. She tilted her head to the side, thinking.

“Give me a second,” she hummed, focusing her magic to change her shape into that of a mortals, stretching her arms. “Sorry, it was growing really tiring to look down at you. Now we’re on equal ground!”

“You don’t think much of mortals? You’re their god, is it not your job to help guide them through their decisions? Do you just stand by and watch them atop a mountain?” She gave him a thoughtful look, tilting her head to the side. “Have you tried living close to them…? Watching them up close may change your mind about them. They’re foolish things, though, but they’re inspirational…”

    He allowed her as she pleased, watching her morph from her giant and graceful dragon form into her human form. Unlike her, the difference between his own human and god form was very minimal, so he didn’t bother reverting himself and stayed where he was. She was now much shorter than he, but it was more comfortable than having to crane up towards her. Ignis nodded in acknowledgement, somewhat thanking her as well through the gesture.

   Irked, he resisted the urge to snap back at the dragon. He knew his place, and that Ventuswill was much older than he-- and he was honestly in no position to speak out. He was often scolded for his behaviour, and she was speaking nothing but the truth. Ignis frowned, turning around from Ventuswill. "...Yes. I am their god. No matter how much I contemplate their stupidity, there is still a part of me that yearns to protect them." Slowly, he turned back around to the now physically smaller deity figure, "..."

Unlike most mornings, however, she was surprised to find a large man appearing out of thin air – right before her eyes! She was so surprised, in fact, that she couldn’t help but yelp in fear – drawing out the dual blades she kept at her side at all times, in case of an emergency like this one.

   Which brings him back to the current issue—did she just call him a beast? Ignis had briefly offered the supposed princess a curt frown, disappointed that she had thought of him that way (well, what could you expect? Startling a lady like that…). “Cease your unnecessary worrying and put away your swords. I am not of any threat to you or Ventuswill.” But of course, he was going to have to explain himself more than that!

It was just not everyday that someone could discover a rare gem inside of junk ore. He was so certain there was nothing in it..! What if this man was just a customer and had brought the precious gem? It seemed out of place for that bu if he was a customer, then he couldn’t just make an ass of himself! He had to be at least a bit polite… Even if this situation was just odd in a sense.

    “...Nevermind then. Enough with pleasantries.” Ignis had stepped back and within an instant, was engulfed in flames.

And then he asked her the questionn, making her pause. “Erm, well, you see…”

How was she supposed to answer that? She was a god, really, a native dragon, and she chose to spend so much of her time placing faith in humans. She placed her faith in them that they would be able to defeat the Sechs, she placed faith in them that they would be able to bring her back from the forest (Despite her being somewhat okay not returning)… But why?

“That is a very good question, actually,” she mused, thinking for a moment longer. “Why do I place so much faith in humans…? They’re mortals, after all. Very charming. Have you ever sat down and simply watched them? How they try to do their best, how they get frustrated, how they risk their lives for foolish dreams and ideals?”

    As she paused, he took the moment to quickly scan over the area she resided. He hadn’t been to Selphia in a very long time, and like Ventuswill had said earlier-- it was evident that it had undergone many changes (questions flooded his mind. Was it really all due to the help of the mortals she appointed? Were mortals really that powerful, despite being so powerless?). Once she spoke again, he reverted his attention back.

    It was normal for Ignis to stay silent, but this time it was for different reasons. Ventuswill had been spoken words that were not only familiar to his ears (and to his own actions), but she felt something much different than he ever had. She... thought they were charming? Did she not think they were ridiculous? ...He had no words, unable to form proper thoughts in response.

“Plus, I don’t visit ya very often…” He added on, not wanting to keep anything from the king. However, he realized maybe that didn’t sound quite right and he tacked on more quick ramblings. “Oh! Not that I didn’t want to or anything like that! It’s just– Well it’s kinda embarrassing… Whenever I kinda plan on coming up here, I end up mining the whole way and I get all fatigued and I end up.. eating the offerings…”

    “...Well congratulations on making the trip successfully this time, Kasey.” He concluded, as well as finishing examining the apples-- setting them off to a side. “As much as.. it’s respectful to pay offerings. Do not overwork yourself. Plan ahead, and perhaps bring something to replenish your energy.” On second thought, Ignis took an apple from the basket and tossed it towards Kasey. “The offering is appreciated. But you look pale. I rather not have an unconscious farmer on my domain.”

How-? How did something as junk be a diamond? The ores had been left out for a reason, hadn’t they? This was strange in theory… Gray had a gut feeling there was something else to it. Maybe it was just that? A feeling? It just felt strange, like something was up, but he couldn’t put a finger to it.

    Of course. It wasn’t like the other was going to believe him anyways. He could assume that the blacksmith was born and raised in the business, a professional who knew every detail about the job like the back of their hand. Who was he to say anything? To the blacksmith, he seemed like any other passer-by. Ignis decided that words were meaningless in this situation, and simply walked over to the pile of junk ores, and held it in his hands.