Apex of the World

Firm Integrity

In a strange way, the quietest of the children was one that held them together.

He was younger than the rest by over a year, and he was shy as could be. He hadn't ever been the best at talking to people or making friends, but even so, his quiet kindness helped to keep their merry band glued together. He didn't know for sure when he had become such an important figure in the party, but he slowly began to notice it as time went on.

He was the voice of reason. Without him, the louder, bolder personalities would take hold and perhaps lead them down the path of calamity. He was the rational thinker who paused before every decision to think over the potential outcomes and consequences. He held everyone back from making a foolish move, ever careful in the face of danger. He was stubborn enough to prevent any catastrophes.

Even if he was quiet, he was the string looped around eleven similar hearts to prevent chaos from taking them all in its firm grasp.

He was said to be a combination of two other traits: Knowledge and Reliability. The latter always stuck out to him, and he wondered if it was perhaps the more accurate out of the two. Whether he chose to accept it or not, he was an anchor among the flames of war, the sole source of water that could calm the inferno. He played the vital role of wrapping everything together.

Integrity was how his predecessor of gray would describe it.

Iori thought of the word often when the silence pulled him into its clutches. Once upon a time, he had claimed that he was not reliable when he and his companions were trapped beneath the ocean as danger swirled outside the fragile glass windows. However, fate had chosen to prove him wrong, and it got him thinking that perhaps he was more than he gave himself credit for.

The concept of Integrity continued to echo through his head when he stood in front of an imposing stone to try and save it from annihilation. His mission failed, but in the end, he was proven to be honest to himself with strong morals keeping him standing against hardship. Was that not Integrity? Did he not fit that description?

Another moment that stuck out to him looking back was the shadowed face of his teammate as anger took him by the throat. He watched in shock and confusion at the sudden shift, though he would later learn the reasoning for it and completely understand. He was frightened at the time since he did not yet comprehend the choice, but he let his companion walk away to accomplish whatever goal lingered in his mind.

Later reflection told him that this was another example of Integrity, though this time, it led to division and separation, even if it was only for a while. His teammate remained loyal to his own ideas and morals, and it led him elsewhere, perhaps deeper into the darkness his dandelion radiance was meant to combat. Meanwhile, Iori remained behind to fulfill his truth, to save innocent creatures who needed his help. Integrity involved remaining honest and true to one's morals, and even if it led them in different directions, it remained consistent in both cases.

The one moral that he refused to bend on was involved heavily with death. He had lost family before, and he had managed to put together another one using his thread of white Integrity. He would not let this one meet the same fate, torn apart by darkness and death. He would never resort to killing another living creature because he didn't believe that anyone deserved to die. Even if they did, his grief held him back, and he could not let life fade from another because it was a sour reminder that he had lost what he cared for once upon a time.

When he was forced into a corner and had no other options, it haunted him. Could he really remain true to his trait of shining white if he could not follow his most basic law? His faith in himself began to waver. How had he sat by and inflicted the irreversible condition of death onto another living creature after enduring such grief when he lost someone he cared about? It pained him to think about, and the mere thought made his stomach churn until he lost the will to take another step forward.

Somehow, he managed to come out of this doubt on the other side, and while he was unable to stand tall and proud for a while, he was somehow able to move on. He let his white thread begin to stitch his fragile heart back together so he could press on as he once had. Nothing would ever be the same again, but it was important to try and go back to some semblance of normality. Others were relying on him to do so.

It was a while before he could stand to look at himself in the mirror, and when he did, he questioned if he was still deserving of the word Integrity. He had been backed into a corner, but was that any reason to betray everything he was?

Through silent encouragement of the self, he managed to tell himself once again that he was worthy of the idea. He had gone against it once because he didn't have a choice, but that wasn't going to stop him from upholding his ideals in the future. He would not lose anyone ever again, nor would he see the face of death staring back at him in eerie silence. He was going to remain firm when forced to go heel to heel with opposition, because Integrity meant staying true to himself when the world told him it was easier to fall apart.

Morality was the white thread that kept their group together, and it was the small voice of shy Integrity that ensured the string was held tight always. 

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There's Iori and his chapter about Integrity! I didn't know how I was going to tackle this one, so it was probably the hardest, but I like how it turned out overall. 

Tomorrow will be our last entry: Ken!

-Digital