melodiesoflife | Player Plot: The Crystal Caves

[ At first, Sheena really doesn't take too much notice of the indentations, but after a while, she can't help but look. Stopping, she looks around, her eyes widening from the sheer number. Anyone standing near her may see something akin to a memory flash through her eyes before she approaches one and touches it. ]

Failed Chosens...

[ The words are soft, barely audible under normal circumstances, but in a cave? They may echo slightly. Her eyes narrow as she takes in the one she's touching, wondering if this was where the alternate Zelos had been--entombed in an eerie similarity to those who had come before him on their world.

After a moment, she steps away, and shaking her head, pulls the particle thrower from its holster but doesn't activate it. The place is creepy, yes, but no need to get ahead of herself here. ]

[Cloud shivers as he looks around. There's no need for him to add to the others commenting on how unsettling all of this is, and there's a few particular holes and shapes he hopes he doesn't see. Dylas' comment certainly doesn't help. He gives the other Hero a bit of a shocked look, especially since he doesn't recognize the man.]

I don't know why I was expecting anything better than this. Anything to do with our fate as Heroes has only ever been disturbing.

[He pauses, running his fingers along the rim of one hole.]

I don't think we have to deal with the Manikins....the crystalized Heroes. [Bartz told him the term on their brief monthlong stop in World B.] I think they have more to do with the rift than this place...but that means something else.

[He pauses in his steps briefly and looks to the group.]

This place is connected to the Cult's stronghold, right? What if they were mining Heroes for some reason? Or anyone else for that matter. Some of us...had plans for the Heroes in that vision...what if someone has a similar idea?

(ooc: But Dylas, thumbsup on the Junji Ito reference, even if by way of Ryslig. :P I was thinking the same thing.

Wow, so this is creepy. Wait, did you say mining Heroes? That's... gross. [Sparks can't think of any other word for it as he looks over the holes, but he manages to hear Sheena's comment.]

Huh? "Failed Chosens"?

It almost makes one want to take a pickaxe to the entire formation.

[probably not a good idea, admittedly, but she doesn't have any mining equipment with her so it's just a thought. She rolls her shoulders back anyhow, peering a little more closely at the structures around them, one ear out for oncoming trouble.

She glances at Cloud, frowning.]

… Like using them as a power source, you mean?

[Jade has been walking ahead in silence, listening to the conversation. Cloud does raise a good point.]

Not just the Cult. There is an entrance to the caves in the Heran Research Center, too. Kalki had hundreds of crystallized Heroes there.

[Whether she could have made it this far down... Well, he wouldn't put it past her.

Their theory that the cavities were left by Heroes in stasis is pretty much confirmed if they look closely into the crystal walls. They're fairly scarce, but there are people encased in the crystal. The empty cavities are far more numerous, though...

Jade looks down to Ales when he asks about their progress.] Oh, I doubt we're anywhere near the center of the planet... but the Ancients must have had a way to get down there when they were building the Soul Divider. If I'm right, we want to reach the end of the planet's upper mantle. That's probably as far as they could have gone before having to set up faster transportation.

[A little ways onward, the path splits into two. The path on the right slopes down, which would take them deeper. However, the path on the left seems to open up. It's a bit hard to tell with the way the tunnel curves, but it looks like there might be a large cavern there...]

[Selphie couldn't suppress the shudder that radiated from her spine at the mention of Kalki and the research centre. She'd been forced to awaken there alongside Yuri and Flynn as she wandered closer to the crystal walls and squinted. Sure enough, she could make out the vague outline of a person encased in the wall.]

So the heroes that were forced to awaken at Kalki's hand were removed from this place? Doesn't that hurt the tree and the planet?

[The questions Selphie was asking may not be entirely relevant to what they were doing in the caves but it was really the only way she would learn anything about their situation.]

I wonder about that as well.

[Rukia frowns, trying to peer past the thick crystal to see if she can recognize any features in the faces of the people buried deeper inside. No such luck.]

Are they all Heroes of Light, or is this where souls are held while waiting to be reborn anew?

[Would that she could sense their reiatsu, she might have some answers. But she does have the PKE meter at her disposal. Unhooking it from the carabiner at her waist, she activates it, slowly scanning the area as they walk.]

[...Two paths? Rukia looks thoughtful.]

Should we split up and try both? I can take a small group, if Sparks is willing to be in the other. We can use our Walkie Talkies to remain in contact with one another and see if either discovers anything of interest.

[And as Twilight heard all of this, she does get a thoughtful idea]

Then, that would explain why the heroes who were resurrected here disappeared. They weren't summoned "normally", they were forced awake. And it's most likely the Crystal Tree didn't like that and pulled them back. At least, that's what I think.

[At the path, Twilight muses a bit]

I do have a teleporation spell. If one of us goes down the wrong path, I can bring them back over here and go down the right path.

Hm.

[Rukia's question is along the same line of thought that he's been thinking. Especially considering the mission that's still freshly at the front of the minds of those whom went to Downopolis as a part of Ales' group.]

For all we know, this could be the physical origin of all Heroes of Light. Past, present and future...but at the same time that doesn't explain how those of us summoned to the cardinal Crystals on the surface came about. Unless we shed the stasis here and then were somehow teleported...

[Sephiroth near enough grimaces at that thought. That never-forgotten feeling of reality shattering around them. The void-like cold darkness sucking them in...could it really be that way? It's not going to do any good stalling here to consider all the possibilities...]

It doesn't explain much else, though...

[The break in the paths a little further along surely breaks those silent musings though as Sephiroth strides forward to try and get a better idea of where exactly that left-hand path might come out into; he knows well enough from reading Lucrecia's journal, that there are several underground connections to these caves.]

Using Heroes as a power source... it wouldn't be entirely inconsistent with what we've learned from Palitutu's reports.

[Levy frowns deeply as she absentmindedly runs her fingers along the wall, drawing them back and clasping her hand over her heart for a moment.]

It's also happened once in my world. Another universe cannibalizing locations and people from my own and turning them into magical crystals to act as a power source. It didn't turn out well.

"Yeah, exactly." K'pandolu had the right of Cloud's train of thought and Jade's reminder didn't do much at all to help his nerves either. He had a feeling that he was on the right track and he wasn't particularly happy about that. He still felt guilty that circumstance kept him from helping out the others during the rescue mission as he would have liked. He wished he could have found out a bit more of the Empire at the time, but all he could do was chalk it up to bad luck and keep doing his best.

Sephiroth's theory lined up with where his thoughts were drifting and he nodded in agreement with the First Class. His mind kept going on that track. He knew that Palitutu had a hand in why the Crystal of Fire was summoning them, but it struck him as odd that it was just a single crystal per cycle doing it, or at least that's the impression he got. What would happen if all the crystals were summoning Heroes at once. Would this place be empty? Or would it be filling faster?

The finding of the split passages pulls him back to reality and he glances down both paths. "It looks a little like there's a chamber down the left way. I know we need to keep going deeper but if we peek in there maybe we can get a better idea of all of this." He'll definitely go left if the party decides to split.

Cue Jack's confusion. "I thought Heroes were supposed to get summoned to all the Crystals. Thus why some appeared at the Crystal of Earth, which I thought was where Kalki was getting her test subjects. And then after we disabled the Crystal of Earth," that's one way of putting it, Jack, "we had a group appear at the Crystal of Wind?"

"Not saying that Kalki didn't know where this was. Because clearly she did. But there's more going on here."

Jack eyes Sparks for his decision, he'll stick close to the Marshal. His current Job combo works better with something that Jack has equipped right now.

[Dylas nonchalantly lifts a hand, looking in Levy's direction before speaking up from, again, the back of the group. He doesn't have a lot to add, he's just here because he didn't have anything better to do. At least no one's complaining about his presence yet.]

If we're talking about our own world experiences, I'm from somewhere that drew people from other worlds and...found a powerful way to use them. It's pretty different, though.

[Sounds like most worlds are a pain in the ass.

But that's it. He's not going to compare the monsters from his world to heroes. It just seems a little relevant, if they're going to talk about how common these kinds of situations are. So he pipes back down after sharing his peace. He doesn't know which way he'll go.]

What if this were where we are brought into this world, via the soul divider? The cardinal crystals draw us from the planet core, where we then awaken from crystal stasis--

[His eyes widen at his next thought.]

That time two years ago. We had a large number of crystallized Heroes show up around the Crystal of Fire, and as suddenly as they showed up, they disappeared. Could they be in here?

It might be too late to search now, but Ales walks up to the nearest occupied hole to inspect the resident. It's no Betilla. Not the friend with whom he toyed her trust he shouldn't be surprised. The cavern is gigantic with hundreds, no, thousands of holes, and he can't possibly find one person.

That doesn't mean he won't try. Progress is on the path that veers right, while the left might hold more holes. Maybe he can recognize someone there. They won't acknowledge him nor be friendly, but curiously gets the better of him.]

[Rukia's PKE meter shows nothing unusual about the crystallized Heroes. They seem to be just like the ones in Aqures Ixen hospital.

The cavern to the left is a dead-end, but not quite an empty one. More than that, it'll be a familiar sight to certain Heroes in the party.

Upon entering the chamber, the first person in is at a risk of tripping over the handle of a knife, dropped there by Vlad two millennia ago. The weapon is so old, it easily breaks from impact. Croach's broken bow, or what's left of it, is lying a little further in. The parts of the wood that haven't crystallized have long since rotten away. Misshapen metal bits, coated in crystal, have melded in with the floor. On a closer look, they may have once been gauntlets. Ishtar's sword is almost completely buried in the crystal floor as well.

Near the middle of the chamber, the severed blade of the Buster Sword is sticking out of the ground, rusted and coated in crystalline matter. The blades of the First Tsurugi lie scattered further ahead. And at the very end, likewise rusted and crystallized, the Masamune protrudes from the wall.

The small dagger lying next to the sword is easy to miss.]

What in the...? WHULF!

[And everyone gets to watch as Twilight trips over the knife, faceplanting onto the ground.

This is where you laugh, Ales.]

Jack blanches at Ales' suggestion, and he looks at the Teensie seriously. "I can hope that they ended up here. The other option, the one that Kalki wanted us to believe, is that they were drawn to her. That those were the ones she was experimenting on."

His thoughts on the Researcher, the Avatar, the threat that they (he?) created are still so complicated. Guilt tinges his words.

Jack hesitates at the threshold of the room. While it isn't a grisly sight, there is a sanctity to the room, something left behind. Whatever happened here was bad, hints of a fight? It's the Buster Sword that catches Jack's eye, and he cannot stop himself from cautiously looking at Cloud.

Are you alright?

[ Mikleo speaks up from behind Rukia and Selphie when he saw the poor talking creature trip over a knife. In short, it reminded him of someone but he dismissed that thought for collecting the information that has been stated.

He offers to help the fallen creature up as he notices the dagger at the corner of his eyes. ]

That's...strange.

[ Mikleo's not much of a talker right now but he's been intently jotting down notes and looking at his surroundings as everyone talks about the incidents and other things that had happened in Crystallis before he came here. The mention of Kalki always made him tense.

He still had to find her. ]

[Ales holds back at the sight of what seems to have been a battle from long ago. His doppelganger dream took him to a crystallized cave containing a Black Crystal, so he doesn't immediately link the remains to the events of the previous cycle. Someone was here earlier. Heroes, judging from the crystals, but who? No one here had a bow like that. Cloud's sword exists in two places at once: one for the real Cloud and that doppelganger sword in the ground--

Doppelganger. His hands tense into balled fists.

His eyes drift to the sword lodged into the farthest wall. How could that have gotten there? It's too far to tell what it looks like. He takes a stiff step into the cave when the sound of a pony dropping onto the floor grabs his attention back to Earth. He shoots a surprised look at Twilight, then at where her hoof is, and grins to hold back a snorting laugh. It ends up as a loud breath from his snout.

Well, that made him feel a bit better.

There's no need to be concerned with her. Ales relaxes and lets the others worry about such matters. There's investigative work to be done. He steps into the room, all apprehension and thoughts about finding Betilla's statue gone. Though he does take care to avoid tripping over knives.

As he approaches the sword, its shape becomes more distinct, but the rust and crystals make it difficult to identify. Yet the length of that thing...it's reminiscent of something...]

[The gravity of the scene is well not lost on Cloud. He stops in his tracks, looking around. His eyes flit around as his memory replays the fight. He wasn't actually here but he saw it through his counterpart's eyes. He felt everything both inside and out. This was a dark scene indeed.]

This...this is what happened at the end of that other Cycle. The one we saw last year...

[After a second longer he shakes his head and looks over his shoulder to see if Sephiroth is following. He'd like the other Hero to avoid seeing this if at all possible.]

We should probably go the other way.

[This doesn't mean the room is devoid of interest for the others, but his priorities in this moment have shifted..]

Edited 2016-10-14 22:13 (UTC)

[Maybe it's a tiny mercy that Twilight's stacking it into the ground ahead of him provides enough of a distraction that keeps Sephiroth's attention from the rest of this chamber as he follows the others into it. His hand forever only inches away from the handle of his sword where it protrudes down and sideways on his left, latched safely in the reverse/slanted harness he's always had since coming to Crystallis; but can be drawn at less than a seconds notice.

He takes a wider berth around the pony and Mikleo before finally turning his attention to-

The rusted and crystallized Buster Sword in the near-enough middle of the room meets him like a wall to the face. Like Cloud, Sephiroth near enough jump-stops in his tracks; only managing to catch the startle just on the cusp of when it might have become obvious even to a casual onlooker. It's been over a year but, perhaps testament to the monument it is, all too quickly he recalls that moment he'd been nothing but a piggy-back to...along with that uncomfortable twist to his nerves. For an instant there, he forgets how to breathe and sought out Cloud's eye contact immediately afterwards-

Silently trying to communicate, but exactly for what escapes him. Cloud knew. Others have seen the stained glass window representing this scene as well. Sephiroth doesn't recall ever clearing it with anyone, the fact he'd been nothing but a ride-along-pest of a voice in the back of his doppelgangers mind.]

...

[Just as suddenly as he looks for Cloud, Sephiroth finally takes a breath and pulls on a more casual-seeming facade but inside priorities are quickly changing-]

Cloud is right. This is nothing but a dying memory.

[Ales seems to have found another weapon protruding out of the wall though; it couldn't be, right? It seems the silver haired warrior is rooted to the spot, torn between a growing knot of dread and that all too curious need-to-know. He's trying not to stare at that weapon though...]

[Levy's never heard the story of what happened here, but she did see that stained glass depiction of the fight, and she's more than familiar with what Cloud's sword looks like by now. She's also capable of reading the atmosphere. Her head is full of questions, but she resolves to leave them unvoiced for the moment. Some things are better left buried.]

Y-yeah. There's clearly nothing to see here. Let's check out the other passage.

Ow... yeah, I'm fine. One time I decide not to fly...

[Twilight takes Mikleo's offer of help to get back on her hooves, only to notice the growing uncomfortableness within the gathered group. Whatever this place is, it's not settling right with everyone.]

...I can teleport everyone back to the fork.

[Like Levy, Selphie wasn't familiar with the events that had transpired in this room in the past. There's something about the place though that has Selphie feeling more than a touch uncomfortable. She swallows the lump in her throat but she ultimately refuses to enter the room, preferring to remain outside at the fork in the road. She heard the conversation of the party from the fork in the road and that was enough for her.]

Should someone scout ahead on the other path?

[Someone was clearly looking for a diversion.]

[Sparks was mostly following along, not sure of what to make of the scene, and didn't have much to say about it... until he almost steps on part of a very familiar-looking bow. A laser-powered one, much like his own pistols from Mars. He kneels down to take a closer look at it, looking incredibly confused.]

Wait, what?

[Oh no. We're not going anywhere. Sparks isn't the best at reading the room, but it's obvious someone knows something here, and it's not good from all these reactions. He looks between all of the people around him.]

I know that bow. I know whose it is. So how 'bout before we go anywhere else, someone tell me why its here?

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[Sorry wall o' text]

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