melodiesoflife | Player Plot: The Crystal Caves

[ When the “elevator” finally reaches its destination, the crystal platform they are brought onto seems to be a dead end. There are no other paths to follow and looking down; they’ll see the platform appears to be floating high above a green swirling pool. The pool is so bright however, it’s impossible to see exactly what’s down there. There is a trunk-like crystallized structure at the middle of the platform, onto which the elevator is connected—It is doubtlessly what connects this place to the Crystal Caves and the rest of the Crystal Life Tree.

In the distance all around them, there are crystallized walls, looking green-ish due to the reflection from the green pool below. It nearly looks as though the walls are moving and are alive—But that shouldn’t be possible as they are made of Crystals.

Besides this, directly north of them, there is a splendid and gigantic harp-like structure which seemingly extends into the pool below. The size of the harp is beyond that of even the WEAPONs and they're only seeing a fraction of it. Even though the harp seems to be inactive, once in a while a blue light can be seen coursing through one of the strings from bottom to top; even more rarely a red light can be seen coursing from top to bottom. A faint tune is heard whenever this happens, but it’s too weak to really be called a melody.

Approaching the Harp, the characters will see half-erased writings on the ground beneath their feet. It might be possible for those who speak Ancient to decipher some of the writing if they manage to make out the words through the mist and light that surround the place. ]

S.O.U.L. D.I.V.I.D.E.R.

[ Should a Ghostbuster try using a P.K.E. Meter it’ll overload and implode, leaving it little more than a smoking and broken device. None of the characters really need a Meter or any particular skills to sense there is something alive in this place, however. ]

Twilight took notice of what was around them. This was way beyond anything she ever expected, staring at everything in awe.

"This... this is amazing!" Twilight said. "This place, these designs...!"

They are rather intriguing.

[ Mikleo muses as he steps out of the elevator and looks around with a hand under his chin. The whole design and layout is foreign and eye opening. He can't help but walk up to the jarred writing and look at it. While he is still on guard, he is mesmerized by the scene in front of him.

There's something odd in the general area but he can't place his finger on it at the moment.

Eventually, he stares at the words S.O.U.L.D.I.V.I.D.E.R.. There's a raise of his brow at the words. ]

It seems like this place is rather old, judging from the state of it and the things that were left behind.

[Cloud looks around in awe at the sight before him. Forgetting his caution he steps out to look around. The harp is interesting to be sure, as are the lights moving through it, but his eye is drawn to the green glow and he approaches the edge with soft steps.]

It's like the core of a Mako Reactor. This has to be the Lifestream. [Or at least a breach point. He squints as he tries to look and see if the crystals are actually in contact with the source of the green glow or not, but he can't make it out.]

Sorry if I'm asking something we already know but...what happens if the crystalization reaches the Lifestream?

[The flickering emerald shadows playing over Rukia's face make the blood streaming from the cut on her brow appear nearly black. She's slightly out of breath after the harrowing fight, but all things considered, she's not too bad off. Thumbing aside some of the blood before it leaks into her brow, she decides to check the PKE meter and make sure none of those creatures are around--]

[BOOM!!!]

[Rukia jerks her hand back as the thing detonates, startled into dropping the ruined remains. So much for that... She heaves a sigh then looks out at the submerged harp. She really needs to begin focusing on maximizing her customized shinigami job so she can read spiritual energy for herself. Perhaps it's good that she can't, however. If there's that much power surging through this place, it might paralyze her or knock her out completely.]

Strange. It doesn't appear to be damaged.

[She watches the lights for a moment and frowns quietly to herself. It seems obvious enough that they're witnessing the cycle of souls in action. It's beautiful...but haunting and eerie at the same time.]

I had thought only Heroes of Light would be red, as they're alien to this world. Unless something is attacking our allies while we're distracted here, don't you think it's strange that every descending light is red? Some of them should be blue.

[Rukia turns her head to look at Cloud, but as she doesn't know the answer, she looks instead to Jade.]

[Jade, explain.]

[Jade stares at the gigantic harp, fascinated. He'd known it would have to be big, but seeing it in person... Even though he hasn't noticed the writing on the floor yet, there's no doubt in his mind that they've found the Soul Divider.]

If I had to guess, I'd say the red lights are signs of spirit energy being absorbed from our worlds to power the First Crystal. In that case, the blue would be the energy that's been successfully assimilated...

[He's not 100 percent sure, but that would be a logical conclusion to draw. The fact it's in a shape of an instrument... Could the technology be based on sound? Suddenly Jade is feeling much more hopeful about using the knowledge he brought with him from Auldrant.

Cloud's question draws his attention away from the machine to the green pool.]

These crystals? Well, I wouldn't think it's the same type of crystallization as the one protecting Crystallis from the Calamity. If it were, most of us shouldn't have been able to enter this cave in the first place.

[That said... There's something unsettling about the walls here...]

[Selphie takes a second to press a potion into Rukia's hand before pointing to her own forehead with a small smile. The girl's attention turns to the room that they've found themselves in as she takes in the strange beauty of the room. She's listening to what the others are saying but this whole Lifestream thing has her looking at Jade and Cloud in turn.]

Lifestream...?

[She eventually ends up next to Mikleo and ends up squinting at the writing for the Soul Divider and notices the periods between the letters.]

Hey, doesn't that look like an acronym to you? S-dot-O-dot-U-dot-L-dot-so on and so forth?

[She looks over at Jade and points at the writing.]

What do you think?

Cloud's question is an interesting one. "I think. I think the Crystalzation comes from here. The idea, that we fall into Crystal, that those zombies above were in Crystal? Is to keep them from contaminating all this," he gestures to the strings of the harp, runs a hand up and down. "The Cycle of Souls, Lifestream, whatever you want to call it. We don't belong here, so we can't enter it. But that's what brings us back. Same thing with the Calamity, itself. The crystal keeps it from reaching here."

"It's a safety measure. But if this crystalizes? Then I think this is dead for good. If it has to protect itself from its own flow of souls?" Jack shakes his head.

It's one fixed point in time looking at another. Time, life, all the energy is the same. The same sort of thing that kept Jack going is what keeps Crystallis going.

Twilight's awe is stopped by hearing what Selphie said. "Wait... S-dot-O-dot...?"

And Twilight takes a gander at the word and blinks. "Guys, this...! I think this changes everything! Look at how it's written - it's either a fancy way to space things out or 'Soul Divider' is actually an acronym!"

[ Despite the hints of the green glow as they descended, this hadn't exactly been what Sheena expected when they stopped. A giant harp in the middle of a pool of souls?

Stepping off the elevator, she's fascinated by the scene and is reaching for her own PKE meter when Rukia's goes off in her hand. ]

You okay?

[ Once again, however, her eyes are drawn to the exchange of souls before her. The rates are different. Struck by an idea, she also turns to Jade. ]

There are more blue than red. Our crystals go from red to blue the longer we're here, signifying our detachment from our own worlds. Could the blue ones be going into our crystals, and pushing the red out?

Replacing one soul with another?

[ She has no other way of saying it. But that may be the true power of this thing. ]

That's a pretty long acronym... what would it even stand for?

[They don't really have any clues so far, and just blindly guessing at it isn't likely to turn much up.]

Is there any other writing around here?

[Albel held out his gauntlet to stop Sheena, but she already had the same idea after watching Rukia's scanner explode. His other hand wiped the sweat from his brow. Ghosts... he hated ghosts.]

[Albel didn't know what a "Mako Reactor" was; that would have to be something he asked Cloud about later. But souls he understood. He turned to Jack with a frown.]

Our crystallization would have kept us from corrupting this place. Except now we don't crystallize anymore.

[He held out his crystal, still purple.]

And we haven't all fully assimilated here.

[As soon as they stepped from the elevator Sephiroth became transfixed by the eerie way that the green pool however many-miles beneath them threw strange movements all around the surrounding crystal walls. They looked alive, even though he knew they couldn't be, in fact the feeling of 'life' pressing in and around him played strongly on the enhanced senses he had from the custom job.

That Cloud should mention Mako reactors, it felt almost as if he were swimming in one, or is this how being consumed by the Lifestream would feel? But that green pool which was so bright the bottom couldn't be seen. That had to be the core of this Planet, right? What else could it be? It stirs a curiosity that he generally keeps a tighter-lid on.

It takes Sephiroth a very long time to tear his gaze away and approach the giant harp-shape which has been identified as the Soul Divider. Albel has given him an idea, though and within a few seconds later the soldier pulls out his own crystal to see if it somehow has a reaction to this place. The meteo-shape with one of the tails chipped a little, no more deep in blue than the rich sapphire it has been for a long time, rests in his palm as he looks up and down. Spying those blue, and sometimes red blips racing up or down the 'strings' of this instrument.]

Does anyone think it looks like-

[For a second there he nearly lost his voice as thoughts immediately pinged back to Zelda and the instrument she'd used to play so often at social gatherings.]

-a harp?

[It's always musical instruments, recently? Like the flute in the hands of that cultist...]

It does appear to be a harp. It's a strange shape for it to take. I'm curious how they utilized it in the past. Of course, the acronym has to stand for something and I have a feeling it isn't a pleasant one.

[ He pauses a moment before touching anything. If there's anything he knows best, it's not to touch things that they have little or no clues on. ]

We should be careful with everything here. We do not know what any of it is dangerous. We should try to gather more information in this room before we decide to do anything.

[ There are no other writings around, or at the very least what was once written is now impossible to read. As the Heroes ponder on the meaning of the place, it might become noticeable the walls are moving faster and faster—Until the ground itself is lightly shaking. For a moment it’s all there is until something speaks… ]

Garland? [The unnatural voice isn’t spoken and resounds directly into the characters’s minds—Not unlike telepathy. The only way they can answer though is through direct vocal speech.] No.

[ The shaking grows stronger. ]

What are you doing here?

[The energy in this place is incredible… She can't help wondering what it might be like to train here, as much as that's not what they've come for. One ear remains trained on the conversation.]

Maybe that made it easier to attune those pulled here to Crystallis.

[But it's curious, and definitely not what she'd been imagining.

She startles when the ground starts to shake, taking a step back, tail out.]

Looking for answers. [she tilts her head, looking for some sort of source.] What are you?

Twilight is startled by the sudden voice before she starts waving a hoof to keep everyone quiet. She still has Sparks' response from the void in her mind.

"We mean you no harm. As was said, we are looking for answers to help protect this world." She said. "You're the Soul Divider, aren't you?"

[Cloud glances at Selphie first.]

It's like what Jack just said. Cycle of Souls works too. In my world it's basically the life force of the planet, or maybe better to say the force of life. Things come from it when they're born and return to it when they die. Most people just consider it a story. The Other Me knew a bit more about it. He thought about it a lot. [And the people who were in it.]

But yeah...I think the red is souls or energy from our worlds and maybe they're being changed. Converted?

[Does that mean the pull is permanent? The question of whether or not he could remain in this world if he so chose has been on his mind and discussed quite a bit lately, but this is the first visual proof of it all. Still, this all makes it feel somewhat nefarious too. Like he's been stolen rather than borrowed.

But as those words are both heard and felt by all the Heroes, Cloud whirls about, drawing his sword and shield as he looks for both the source of the voice as well as the named. If Garland is here then they're all in serious trouble. Even when the voice implies otherwise he remains on edge but quiet, letting the others handle this. No need to complicate the situation with noise.]

Annnnd this was the one thing Jack hadn't expected. If there's a conscious entity in charge of all of this? Jack starts slowly backing towards the elevator again. This has got to be something on the level of Abbadon or Cyriath, but we don't have a convenient hole in space-time to shove them in.

But that damn question is right on the tip of Jack's tongue. No. Nooo. Don't provoke it...

"...Why the hell would Garland be here? He's trapped where he is."

"Jack, language," Ales whispered. Being the device that gave Crystallis life, he expected that they would treat it with respect if they want anything positive out of it.

He stepped forward, still reeling from the discovery of the crystallized caverns. Was this where Dycedarg betrayed the Heroes in the last cycle as he stole the Black Crystal? Could that room be somewhere nearby? If the SOUL DIVIDER hadn't spoken, he would have continued investigating the area for traces of that long-gone battle.

"When did you last see Garland?"

You are partially correct. I am a byproduct of the Soul Divider, Garland’s Modifications and Crystallis’ Will.

[ The shaking doesn’t stop, if anything it seems to amplify. To makes things worst—The Elevator doesn’t seem to work whilst the voice is speaking into their mind. ]

Garland is free of his movements. It has been twenty-nine of your years since I last saw him.

"Twenty-nine...?" Twilight uttered before she started thinking it over and getting an understanding of what she meant. "Aqures Tosf!"

Twilight turned to face the others. "Garland was in that town before it was destroyed, right? He must have been brought here afterwards..."

And thinking again. "...which means Palitutu has known of this place for decades!"

[Selphie frowned thoughtfully but didn't have much to offer to the current conversation. She knew little about Garland other than they needed to take him out but would otherwise wander closer to the harp. She pulled her white crystal from her pocket and held it out in front of her and looked at the blue and red dots that traversed it from time to time.]

Hey... What about those of us with white crystals? My crystal hasn't changed at all since I arrived.

He was. I remember seeing him.

[Sephiroth answers Twilight but just nods when it comes to mention of Palitutu. That name never fails to make him feel all kinds of sour, even more so knowing that she's still alive, if comatose.

Sephiroth closes his grip around his crystal, returning it to his inside pocket as the ground starts to shake more, spreading his stance firmly so it's not going to knock him about. At the same time though, he does wonder if the elevator was even rigged to go back up or not.]

Could you explain...'Garland's Modifications'?

3) ???

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totally here lolz

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