melodiesoflife | toundose! ( MEDUSA )

Entry tags:

toundose! ( MEDUSA )

Characters Meredy & the Medusa Gang
Where Balicea.
When BACKDATED... June 8th? somewhere thereabouts!
Summary After learning about the Dancer job, Meredy is all over trying to help unlock it... by capturing monsters! First up, a medusa!
Warning Fighting?

It was a little cloudy in Balicea that morning, but that didn't deter the summer warmth and brightness that still peeked out into the sky above. With a hand over her brow she looked off into the distance, a small map in her hands. Thanks to some of the locals she had an idea as to where they could find a Medusa, and she was also armed with the appropriate equipment to capture it. She had done a little research on the monster before her departure from the city, but was sure that the real thing would be much more educational, anyway!

"Hmm. Is that everyone?" she turned back to the party, counting out those that had arrived.

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Albel hadn't intended on really staying for the beach and parties and socializing. And yet... here he was. But he was tired, and the fire was warm, and there was food. He supposed he could spend some time with these... worms. Although they had proven quite competent (surprisingly). Perhaps they deserved the title Hero of Light after all.

He stared into the fire quietly, thinking back over the battle.

Ven had done a fair bit of deep thinking himself lately, so when Meredy's group made it to the beach, he made it his focus to avoid being alone for a while. He didn't mind it, certainly, but he always preferred being around people -- and in the aftermath of recent events, being alone tended to bring a whole bunch of thoughts along with it, and for now he wanted to avoid that. He could always make time to reflect on his musings later.

When he spotted Albel by the fire, Ven didn't hesitate in approaching and taking the spot beside him -- close enough to say he was friendly and comfortable, but far enough to be respectful. At arm's length, in short.

"Hey," he greeted brightly. Like the others, he was worn out, but he didn't let that hinder his cheer. "That was some pretty good teamwork back there, huh?" Considering many of them had started off as strangers, to boot.

Albel glanced up with some surprise. He hadn't really expected a friendly face (despite being surrounded by them). Something about not really projecting a particularly friendly attitude...

And yet, there he was. Albel tried to remember -- right, the one called "Ven."

"Mm." Albel nodded, though he didn't return the smile. "It was... informative."

He wouldn't admit to being impressed, and after all, they weren't exactly the greatest things he'd ever seen. But it did shed some light on the other Heroes. He was quite a bit more amenable to their presence here. Now, if only he were in command of a brigade again, he could really whip them into shape -- be a true force of power.

All in all, though, it wasn't awful.

"Better than I'd expected," he murmured in concession.

That made Ven's smile widen a bit. Approval and recognition were always good things to have between allies, after all -- that lack of a return smile notwithstanding.

"Mm," he agreed, glancing over at some of the others. "It was a little tough, but it was kind of nice. I hadn't fought in a group before -- not without my real powers, anyway." It was encouraging to know they could all come together like this and get something done despite the circumstances; it made their situation seem all the more hopeful, even if Ven had already been pretty optimistic about everything to begin with.

"It's Albel, right?" he asked as he turned back. "Did you do a lot of fighting where you come from?" It seemed likely that he had battle experience, but it never hurt to ask.

"Mm." Albel couldn't help a smirk. Did he do a lot of fighting? It was his life. Whether it was personal training or war, it seemed like every moment of his memory was fighting.

Well... almost. Up until recently.

"I was captain of the Black Brigade -- heavily armored foot soldiers of Airyglyph," he added in explanation, if it explained anything. "Though I often fought on my own as well. It was faster that way."

Why send a whole army when he could easily take out a problem on his own? At least, until he'd met Fayt. And had been forced out of his position. In the end, though, travelling with Fayt and fighting the Vendeeni, fighting Luther... In the end, he supposed it was worth it.

It certainly sounded impressive. Even though some of those terms meant little to him, Ven was in the habit of taking people at their word; he could only imagine it was something pretty important.

"Wow! So, like an army, right? Are you with the military in Aqures, then?"

"It was a great army," Albel assented, nostalgic. He was glad that Airyglyph and Aquaria's combined forces had helped to defend Elicoor against the Vendeeni, but he couldn't help missing war. So much of his life had been as a soldier, he wasn't sure how to be anything else.

Maybe he didn't have to be.

"No?" Albel looked over, significantly more interested. "If they accept Heroes, perhaps I should enlist."

Ven nodded, looking ahead at the campfire again. "That's what I heard! It's what some of the other Heroes do for work, too." Other was the key term there; he would always help out where needed, but he wasn't going to commit to an organization like that. "And there's a police force," he recalled, "although... I'm not sure what the real difference is between them."

He knew they operated differently, sure, but he wasn't sure why the city had both forces.

Albel snorted, as if the difference should be obvious. "Between highly trained military and local security officers? I'd imagine the simple... police would be sufficient for petty crimes."

Not that he'd imagine real "Heroes" to cause trouble. But who knew, since the crystals apparently pulled people in willy-nilly.

"And it seems unlikely that people would appreciate living under martial law otherwise." Even if it were sometimes easier, despite stripping everyone of their freedoms.

"Oh." Ven considered that a moment before nodding again. "That makes sense. I guess the military would focus on the heavier stuff."

That latter statement earned a puzzled look, however. "Martial law?" Was that different from the normal law? Having been raised in a home with virtually no governmental jurisdiction in effect, his view of government workings was limited, to say the least. If he hadn't seen it in a book, it was new to him.

Albel's stare was surprised. "Are you serious?" he asked. Ven really had no idea?

How to explain to someone with no concept of it at all...? Well, Albel had to try.

"Martial Law is when the military runs a place -- not just any simple security, not government. Everything is on lock-down, strict curfews, no unnecessary freedoms." He gestured idly with his good hand, speaking without any negativity. It was a purely objective description, without any disagreement toward martial law at all.

Ven nodded in confirmation that he was indeed clueless, and then listened attentively to that explanation. He made a thoughtful sound at the end, frowning slightly. "Huh. That does sound pretty strict." Even coming from a background of never being allowed outside his home, he could recognize that. He tried to picture Aqures Ixen in that sort of state and found it difficult, even a little depressing compared to how easygoing the city actually was.

"This is actually my first time living in a real city like this," he admitted, leaning back on his hands to look skyward. Well, it was his first time doing so that he could actually remember, at least. "I've read about 'em, but I guess I still have a lot to learn." He couldn't really be blamed for much of that ignorance, since society differed from world to world -- sometimes in major ways -- but there was some common ground between a number of them that he was still utterly unfamiliar with.

Even a small town must be subject to the possibility of martial law, if there were some kind of militia present -- right? Even in Kirlsa there was always some military presence of Airyglyph's, just as there should be everywhere within the kingdom. It was protection. And they'd been at war. An increased presence of guards everywhere only made sense. He could sort of understand a sheltered child never seeing a large city; there were people who'd never left the small towns and villages, worked the mines because their fathers worked the mines and so on. But Albel couldn't imagine a place that had no distinct military.

"Where are you from?" he asked, bewildered.

Ven glanced over, but that smile quickly started to fade when he realized what he'd been asked. "Oh. Uhh..." Rather belatedly, he was reminded that he hadn't figured out a good answer to that question since the last time it came up. He didn't want to lie, but the truth was a complicated answer; he imagined that, generally, where are you from was asking for a city or country, something within a world. Not a world itself.

Still, everyone here was aware of the existence of other worlds, so he wouldn't be breaking that particular rule by being honest. It was only problematic if he was questioned about having known about multiple worlds before now.

Then again, he didn't have to use the term world, necessarily.

"I'm from... a place," said Ven finally, although his gaze had wandered to remain fixed on his shoes, "called the Land of Departure. It's kind of isolated, and there weren't many of us there. I don't think it was really run like a normal city would be," he added, remembering the context of the conversation at hand. Hence his ignorance about governments.

"Strange name," Albel murmured. "It sounds like it would be isolated and small."

It didn't really sound especially welcoming. And it definitely didn't sound like a normal city if it didn't have the same kind of governing bodies. But different worlds were strange, after all. Maybe it was too small? What did Albel know, really? The fact was, they were both here in Crystallis now, and Ventus was surely learning about cities here.

"So what do you think of Aqures Ixen, then?" he asked.

Ven's smile instantly grew at the easier question. "It's great! I mean -- I don't like being stuck here, but... it's a nice place to be stuck at, y'know? I've been to a few towns before, but only a couple of 'em were actual cities -- but Aqures is definitely the biggest. I like seeing a lot of people in one place." Going by his background -- a small world, only three other people that he had regular contact with -- one might expect Ven's exposure to such a bustling city to be overwhelming, but he was genuinely thrilled by it. It was new, different, and he wasn't a shy kid. The prospect of meeting new people was always exciting.

He glanced curiously at Albel again. "So what's your hometown like?" he inquired. "If it has an army, it must be pretty big, right?"

"My hometown... hm?" Albel thought about it.

"I spent my youth split between a small mining town called Kirlsa, and the royal capital of Airyglyph," he started. "Kirlsa was mainly the mine; homes and basic services were built around it. Airyglyph doesn't have much in the way of agriculture, but we had good ore deposits."

"The capital..." Albel shrugged. How else should a capital be but the hub of a kingdom? But Ventus didn't know that, had no experience like that, so Albel continued. "Winters were harsh, and long. But the city was sturdy, built primarily of stone. There were plenty of shops, a large workshop, and all protected by a strong stone wall. And the castle was there, of course."

Silently, Ven strove to imagine all that based on what he'd seen of other worlds as well as the pictures and descriptions in the castle library. It wasn't difficult, and he quickly found himself thinking back to Albel's first remark, about being split between the two places. Given recent events, he'd been doing a lot of thinking on his past -- what he remembered of it, anyway.

He hummed thoughtfully. "I guess... I must've come from a town once. Somewhere. But I don't remember that far back." It was the first time Ven had acknowledged as much out loud -- the first time he'd really, directly considered that he had once had a life prior to the Land of Departure. For one, he didn't think much on it because it didn't really matter; whatever his homeworld, wherever his origins, whomever the people at the source of his existence... they were gone now, a life beyond a life long since removed. For another, trying to think back that far was still stressful enough to cause headaches, and he never remembered anything before Xehanort's training, anyway. Considering how many painful memories and uncertainties he already had, attempting to add to them over simple curiosity seemed like a moot point.

After that short pause, he added with a little more cheer, "But I remember the Land of Departure just fine. I'll never forget it." Even if it was destroyed, seemingly. "Our castle's in the mountains, so it doesn't have a town around it. I know what you mean by harsh winters, though." Except... not really, since things like food, supplies, and defense were never a concern.

"A castle for only three people?" Albel was bewildered. "But... what was its purpose?"

How could such a thing be managed? No servants, no soldiers... How could three people manage the upkeep of a castle? Unless it was all that remained of a proper castle... That was an unpleasant thought.

"Purpose?" That made Ven pause and think again. 'To live in' was the obvious (and probably unnecessary) answer, but that aside-- "Well... it was made a long time ago -- we were told centuries. I guess it was still used for masters and students. But there were more of them then, so I guess that's why we had so many extra rooms."

As for its upkeep, they had their chores, but most of the maintenance was done via magic -- enough that Ven hadn't ever really thought that much about it, and still didn't. Maintaining a house here in Crystallis along with his roommates was no big deal in comparison.

Judging by Albel's surprise, though-- "So I guess... there are usually a lot more people in a castle?" he asked curiously. What, like a dozen or so?

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toundose! ( MEDUSA )

sitting somewhat off on his own

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