[He blinks, not so much taken aback by her bluntness, but...appreciative. So many others have tried to convince him Ultima was solely to blame, that he was used, discarded, and perhaps that was true, but he'd allowed it. He'd ignored the changes in his father until it was past the point of no return, disregarded his simpering little brother as a bore and a puppet to his mother, ignored Anabella's callousness as mere arrogance rather than seeing the poison rotting at his house's core. He'd allowed himself to be too blinded by duty, by divine calling, by constantly striving to be enough.

He clenched a fist before taking a deep breath, releasing some of the tension in his shoulders.

And then he chuckled.]

When last I saw Joshua and Clive, we were well on our way to doing just that. If Greagor is kind, they were successful. I have no way of knowing. I used the last of my Aether to protect Phoenix, that he may find Ifrit after he'd fallen. My next memory is of this place.