@empireblade sent : Such a familiar face and still so different from what he was used to. Having settled into her new body, Xal'atath climbed into his lap, as she tended to do whenever no soul would disturb their private time. Long dark hair fell over her shoulders; hair which once had been silvery blonde. " I like this new body, you know, Clive " she said and brushed her pallid fingers against his skin. " It has been so long since I enjoyed the benefits of a vessel. How do you like it? " From the likeness of Jill, naught seemed had to remain, save for her very face.

To call his mental state 'in turmoil' would be an understatement. He had just watched Jill fall in battle, struck down while he was forced to retreat and leave her body behind. The grief that he had felt in that moment was almost enough to sunder him, barely able to function as he sunk into the chair in the Solar. It felt as if his heart was being rent in two, as if he had lost a major piece of himself. When Xal'atath appeared within the room, he didn't even lift his head, not acknowledging her presence like he normally would. It wasn't until she slid into his lap that he noticed her, and noticed she wasn't her usual self.

@empireblade sent : "Look at you." The wide smile on her face did little to conceal the cruel amusement she felt upon his reaction—his reaction to her having brought him to his feet and straddling the man now that he was practically lying on the room's floor. Her cold fingers brushed with their knuckles against his scorchingly hot cheek. "Are we shy now? You don't have to be."

Her sudden appearances had always startled him, able to will herself into existence within his presence, or so it seemed. He had yet to understand what she was, how she managed to do the things she did, but he did know she found pleasure in surprising him, as if she could live off the emotions she rattled within him. He was surprised to find himself on the floor this time though, looking up at her as she settled atop him and reached out to brush her knuckles against his cheek, goading him, taunting him. "Xal'atath...?" Her name, spoken shakily, fled his lips, looking into those pools of black that made her eyes. "W-What? Why are you here? N-Now?" His heart was hammering in his chest, that alien beauty of hers creating a strange dissonance in him.

After the empress had left with her tiny boy in her arms, Dion remained alone in the room. The silence following her departure grew heavier with every passing second; an unnatural silence as her missing presence made space for something unseen. The lights at the walls flickered briefly before freezing as though an umbral wind held them in place. Time itself seemed to have stopped. She is so afraid of what you could become. An eery voice echoed through the room -- or was it merely his skull? Not many could match the power of Bahamut. If not even Odin could defeat you, what chances would she have if she ever challenged you for her son? The bodyless voice changed position, whispering now in his left ear, opposed to before. She wants you gone.

He had spent much of the day being berated by the new Empress. It wasn't a surprise. After all, since the very beginning Anabella had made it clear she had a distaste for Dion. There had never been a point since her arrival where he'd treated him as more than a nuisance to be disposed of. He had heard she'd been boldly speaking of bearing a child that could house both Bahamut and the Phoenix's power.

That unfortunately made her intentions clear.

Dion winced ever so slightly, hearing the disembodied voice echo through his skull. He must be tired if he's hearing things. Or maybe they were simply angry and intrusive thoughts. He'd had his fair share of them before. All of it had to be squashed down for Sanbreque.

No one has ever wanted me here. Not even the man who used me to solidify his claim to the throne. I am not unused to this treatment.

That didn't mean it still didn't make him angry. It was not his fault his father decided that the blood of a common woman was fit to sire a child since his first wife was left barren.

@empireblade sent : So much destruction... An eery tune in his ear, shifting from the right to the left as though someone circled him slowly. Carefully. The chilly breeze blew through the ruins of the Hideaway and tugged at his hair. Not a single soul had remained after the Titan's attack on the mortals' safe haven. ...and so many corpses. You were not here to save them. As it spoke, the voice grew lower as it seemed to retreat, and with it the wind changed. Dancing around the ruined hall and among the dead bodies of Cid's former friends and charges, it continued. But even if you had been... would you be able to match the Titan's might, Clive?

His head lifted immediately at the whisper in his ear, having been too engrossed in surveying the wreckage of the Hideaway to notice anyone come up. Turning about, he looked around...to find no one. Confusion showed across his face, that voice too low to be from so far away. And then it drifted further into the ruined hall, littered with bodies of friend and foe alike. It taunted him, as if telling him this was his fault, that these people were dead because of him. Just like Cid.