melodiesoflife | Here's hoping for a Christmas Miracle

Entry tags:

Here's hoping for a Christmas Miracle

Who: Ramza, Jack, Ashe, Chrom, Zelda, OU Yuna, MarKus, any other volunteers
What: Ramza is proposing a Christmas time peace with the Empire to deliver presents ~~and warning Kurma that his city is going to be a crystal in a month or so~~.
Where: The Imperial Capital
When: December 24th (crazy forward dated)
Warnings: There will probably be consequences for our stupidity. This may include, but is not limited to, death, torture, capture, immolation, and/or extreme exasperation on the parts of all NPCs involved.

Ramza was not sure whether it was the ‘Santa’ job affecting him, or if it was his own ideals, but either way, as Christmas approached, he knew what he needed to do. The Heroes of Light had reached out and given gifts to the kids of every city but one. The Imperial children, the ones who were in imminent danger of crystallization in the upcoming months, had not been visited by Santa and his helpers. Even if Cid was convinced the Empire was full of monsters, Ramza could not believe that of the children. There were lives worth saving there, and he would not write them off.

If there was ever a time to reach out to the Empire, it was now. Ramza had a bag full of presents, and he was certain that if he could just explain his reasoning, he would be allowed in to distribute them. And once inside, perhaps he could find Kurma and warn him of what they’d learned from the Sage on the Continent of Ruin.

They had failed to save the people of Aqures Tosf, and Ramza was determined to never let a tragedy of that magnitude happen again, not even if it killed him.

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When Rikku showed herself, Gibbs shook his head knowingly with an implied facepalm. He then looked around, expecting to show more hidden Heroes of Light to show up, but nothing.

"... That's all? Okay. Okay..." He nodded slowly and turned to the guards. "Send a patrol to secure the surroundings. I want every inches within ten miles of the city's walls inspected. If you find anyone, kill them. Obviously they won't be Heroes of Light but bandits, and we can't afford to let anyone cause an accident today."

He turned back to Ramza and the others, with a bright ~~and somewhat trollish~~ grin. The Heroes still hiding had a chance left to reveal themselves peacefully, at least.

"Leave your bags, the guards will look after them." And with that said, Gibbs turned to the gates and walked inside, leading the way.

Well, no harm in compliance. As long as things smoothed over, they could come back for them and distribute freely.

But he couldn't leave well enough alone, and goes into his bag, knowing what his gifts were. Opening one of the presents up, he pulls out an action figure, like Santa, but slender, more heroic-looking.

At his own amusement, he grips at it's legs, like a stress ball, watching the little disc in it's belt spin colors. "Yeaaaah..."

Chrom didn't like this. He didn't know Gibbs, or anyone else for that matter. He directed a look at Ramza. At least he knew his companions. If their faith and hope was this strong, then damn his eyes, he would be the fool for trying to crush it.

He just hoped this wouldn't cause Robin any grief.

With a sigh, he gave Ramza a nod, and followed close at hand. If trouble arose, he could still swing a mean punch. For all the good it would do against guns and spears and the like.

"We acquired jobs from the Empire?" he asked in a low voice, surprised. He hadn't really bothered to study up on those things just yet.

"A few, yes," Ramza confirmed to Chrom. It was one of many reasons he normally shunned the job system altogether. It seemed safer, in the long run, to rely on his own strength, rather than drawing from a potentially malevolent source. "Ninja, Illusionist, and Magitek Knight, I believe. 'Jessie' developed many of the other new classes."

He gave MarKus a look that he hope conveyed, 'please put your toy away and behave.' He hoped the blacksmith would not provoke the guards into restraining him.

Taking in a breath, Yuna stepped up into view alongside of her cousin. There was no going back now... but then, when did things like this ever go according to plan? Steeling her resolve, she seemed to be convinced that this was the right course of action, and would stand by the decision... just as she stood by her allies.

One thing was for sure, Gibbs wasn't kidding around, at least from what she could tell. "I guess, we should join them, then," she spoke to Rikku, among the others that had stayed behind, though the choice was certainly theirs.

Coming all this way just to be hunted down seemed like a waste, to be sure. Yuna moved forward, trying her best to appear confident as she reached the others with a nod of confirmation.

When Rikku reveals herself, Jack is drifting towards the back of the group, instinctively going towards her protectively. His face keeps a steely resolve, but internally he is keeping a count of the people who reveal themselves.

He isn't sure if it's relief or disappointment that he feels as Ashelia reveals herself, as well. Arguably, she's the person they would least like to get captured. But also the person they would least like to get caught sneaking around and slain. His expression settles on one of respect for the Lady. A great leader never asks people to go into a danger they're not willing to risk, personally.

So long as it doesn't turn her into a martyr.

The risks were high, but Kidd wasn't about to back out now. She could only hope that her small airship would remain protected, either by the care she had taken to hide it or the effects of her job class. She expected that if worst came to worst though she'd be out of luck until she next saw Bonnie. If she did again.

But they were doing this together in spite of the danger, each watching out for each other and hoping for the best. She looked around the group and swore that she'd end the life of anyone who brought each individual to harm should the worst happen. She promised herself she'd live that long at least.

She focused on the back of Gibbs' neck as they followed him into the city, her eyes boring a hole into his carotid artery. She made no effort to hide her killing intent. It was a warning, a threat, and if he sensed her she trusted him to understand her. They were here with pure and peaceful intent. They truly wished to help. If their kindness was met with steel and they lost one of their own, he would be the first to find himself likewise unmanned.

Thankfully, Gibbs didn't notice the hostility, that or he didn't care. And so he took them to an office, deep in the Communication Sector-- A place Ramza and Jack in particular might be familiar with. Said office was cozy and filled with books, documents and transcripts of what appeared to be past communications between the Empire and various dignitaries. It was not very ordered though, as if the owner of the office hadn't really had time for house cleaning lately.

There were paintings on the walls, seemingly from local artists. In the back of the room there was a desk just before a window, with only two chairs for them to sit in. There was a man sitting behind the desk - Kurma - and a moogle flying next to it, both seeming very busy and writing down things. Even when Gibbs knocked on the door and opened it, they didn't look up.

"Hrm-- How should I say that...? Sir, there are Heroes of Light who want to see you?"

With that said, obviously Kurma looked up. "Heroes of Li-?" And he immediately froze when he saw them, in their Santa Claus costumes no less, staring blankly at them. "K-Kupo Kupo...." The Moogle facepalmed and flied behind Kurma, as if he was feeling second hand embarrassment. Kurma kept looking blankly at them, before looking back at Gibbs. "... Out." And needless to say, Gibbs didn't wait and immediately left the office, closing back the door behind him. Then Kurma looked back at the 'Heroes' currently in the office. "Explanations."

Ramza waved at Kurma. "Merry Christmas!"

He gestured to the other Heroes. "We thought today would be the best day to reach out in peace...and, um, warn you that your city has only a few weeks before it is crystallized."

Merry Christmas indeed, Kurma.

Jack shoves his way to the front. "Forget the rhetoric," Kurma doesn't respond to it.

"The crystallization wave is going to start moving again, in a manner of days. I suspected that you already knew this, but since we had absolutely no sign that the Empire was going to do anything about it, we chose to risk coming here."

"We have an offer to relocate as many people as possible to the new Christmas Village in the North, and to Aqures Ixen, itself." Jack's mouth forms a line, and he remembers what Ramza was advising him. This conflict is important to them. "The Christmas thing was about as good an excuse of the political overture that we could come up with for you to possibly take our aid. Since we are very limited on time."

".... Merry Christmas."

Note that there is whatsoever no cheer or happiness as he replies to Ramza. Only bewilderment and a dose of exasperation. He then turned to Jack and spoke, calmly and slowly. "Two things. First, beyond Christmas, there is realism. The people of Aqures Ixen wouldn't welcome us with open arms, and the other way around is equally as true."

A pause. "Second, I made it clear back in February that negotiations aren't likely to help you with us. Unsurprisingly, this hasn't changed. The only one who can order the city's evacuation and is the Emperor, and he hasn't done so."

" but surely there's a way to get them out of the city without ordering an evacuation. That's the official way, yes. But if thousands of people need to simply leave the city, that doesn't need to happen through official channels."

"You need a disruptive, subversive group to come in and spread scandalous lies about the Empire? Done. Because of course you don't need help. There's no crisis anywhere."

Kurma is the sort of man to be able to follow this. "But if the most ridiculous failed distraction just happened, which was a cover-up for these phony Heroes of Light making some sort of attack on the city, proving that this place isn't safe anymore? Who cares so long as the Empire's citizens are alive and safe?"

Ramza turned to Jack, betrayal and shock written on his features.

"Captain, what happened to 'peace first'?"

He turned to Kurma. "We have presents for the children of the city. Let us show them our goodwill. Let us try to undo some of the hatred and fear. Then, with this new trust built, we can invite them to visit the Christmas Village, where they will be safe."

A hand clasped down on Jack's shoulder as Sparks pulled his way forward in the group. He lowers his voice, but make sure to keep the volume at a place everyone can hear.

"Pull the reins back on that horse, pal. Some folks don't know the difference between phony 'n real Heroes, so before we go causin' other problems down the line for all of us, let's think this through more. 'Sides, something like that's gonna take time to build up, and time ain't something we got a lot of."

Sparks looks sternly at Kurma.

"Yer Emperor ain't exactly known for bein' warm-hearted and accommodating. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd never warning anyone here of what's gonna happen. You willin' to risk everyone's lives here waiting on his word? What happens if the citizens find out before they're warned, 'n they start to panic?"

With each passing seconds, Kurma seemed to contemplate more and more the possibility he was still sleeping and only having a very bad dream. Either way, he replied to Jack anyway.

"Maybe in your world, it's possible that hop into blue boxes that make it easy to always save the day no matter how poor the plan is, but that's not the case in Crystallis."

With that said, he turned to Ramza. "You can get them the presents if you want, but in case that's not obvious, Herans aren't monsters. Odds are that their parents got them something." Then exasperatedly, he turned to Sparks. "Do you seriously think I've been waiting for you to tell me evacuating would be a good idea? Matsya is already evacuating people in small quantities. On my end I've been doing everything to convince the Emperor or come up with an alternative, but--"

He shook his head. "Maybe you've missed the big news, but Kalki died a couple months ago. Or so I've been told anyway. The Triumvirat has been dissolved and Garland only consults that Tarutaru now. I cannot help you. As a matter of fact, I don't think I can even get you out of the city without risking my own life... And given the caliber of your ideas so far, I'm not sure it would be worth it."

"No..." Of all the things for Jack to look upset about, it's the news that Kalki has- died? He looks down briefly, with a deep pang of regret. "I'm very sorry."

"...The original plan was to not even deal with your leadership at all. To talk to the people ourselves, to let them make the choice to leave. Whether it's us that does it, or whether it's you, I'm telling you that you have a way to act, right now, and blame it on us. If you want these people saved, either let us go, or you're going to need your own people to start spreading the word among the citizens. You want to do it the non-violent way, instead of scaring them out? It'll still require you to spread the word. Stop waiting on your damn Emperor, if we had waited on Aqures Ixen's leadership, we wouldn't be here at all."

"We're here because none of us has a choice, at this point."

"Jessie is here?" Ramza asked. That was something they would likely need to address later. But perhaps it was a matter better left for another day. For now, he would have to place his faith in Kurma and the princess Matsya to counteract the evil she wrought.

"We take full responsibilities for our actions and do not expect your protection, Sir Kurma. Our gifts are not given with the expectation that your children will receive nothing else. It is the act of giving them that matters."

Maybe it seemed moronic to the Heran, but Ramza hoped that if the children could see Heroes of Light risking themselves for the Herans' sake, they would question the hate their leader tried to press upon them.

"Hey, maybe we can settle one matter at a time. First, how about we just go deliver these presents. I mean, as far as I know, Santa wasn't the 'only gift' I got when I was a kid. It was an add on that you wake up to the next morning. But... that aside, how about we settle the matter of us delivering gifts while you deliberate on whether or not you sit on your hands or act on your own."

This was getting well over MarKus head, and he'd been quiet far too long for him not to open his mouth and not say something between motivational and stupid. "I know this is serious, but I'm not going to pretend I I understand the full scope of things. I just wanna give these gifts because I made some of them and that's what I wanna do. No subterfuge or shenanigans. Just holiday hype."

"You don't understand... The people will think you're just a bunch of lunatics. I am two steps away from believing as much."

He sighed and waved at the Moogle. Immediately the Moogle went to pick a few books, which he handed over to Kurma as he replied to Jack. "Garland has supreme control over the armies. If you managed to turn the populace on him, what do you think would happen? Not sure you want that kind of blood on your hands."

And with that said, he stopped looking at them and started looking for something in the books while replying to Ramza and the others. "Go ahead and give the gifts if you want. But since you're so determined..." He paused. "You'll have to speak to Garland himself."

Ramza set his jaw stubbornly. "Very well."

He turned to face the other Heroes. "If anyone would prefer to stay here while I speak with His Imperial Majesty Garland, do so."

Optimistic though he generally was, Ramza had no illusions that Garland would be pleased to see them. A Beoulve did not run from danger, but he would not put the same expectations on the others.

Kurma sighed and shook his head, not looking away from his books would it be for a second. "Wait a second. For one, I didn't say you would get to see Garland right now. It would take at least two months for you to get an audience with him. But since of all days you picked Christmas Eve to come, there is an alternative..."

He then looked up at them.

"For two, you don't get to pick who's going to go and see him. I do."

Kidd didn't look all that pleased about the news of Kalki's death either. There had been the hints they had received but this was the first solid statement of someone less likely to hide the truth from them. She wasn't willing to simply forgive the woman for all that she'd done, but having seen her past she at least wanted to speak to her about it. She wanted to know what it was that precisely lead to the path that she'd chosen to walk down. She was curious how it was that she'd died. The last time they saw her was in the past but that wasn't the linear way of it. Had something happened to her after the encounter at the crystal?

As for Palitutu in the city, she knew that already, but that was all. It was precious little to go on and pretty much an obvious bit of intel so she had chosen not to share it widely. That she was working closely with Garland alone though did little to calm her nerves.

She would like to meet this Emperor herself, but as Kurma said the choice was with him. She didn't like the idea of Ramza going without protection though. Jack in particular seemed a bit too eager to jump down the lion's mouth and it reminded her a bit of how he acted in the past when he offered to sacrifice himself. "Ramza, if we are to be split up then I would have a word with you."

Jack spreads his hands out to the sides in a slightly frustrated shrug. "Why do we get branded the crazy people for saying 'hey, there's this dangerous thing coming, and we'll do whatever we can to help you get out of the way?' Not exactly revolutionary stuff here." This is how the Doc feels. All the time.

"Well, in two months, the city isn't going to be here anymore, so what is the other alternative? Not that we really have a choice, but 20 bucks says it still involves us getting arrested." In which case, Jack isn't sure what his companions' reactions will be.

"Not at all." Kurma didn't even bother replying when Jack complained about being branded crazy, still going through the pages of his books. "You're probably aware of the starlight celebration traditions in this world. On Christmas Eve, we celebrate with our family and all that. And I'm going to assume you did your homework and are aware the Emperor is my father."

He frowned upon reading something in the book, and made a sign to the Moogle. If the Heroes were to look, they could see the Moogle crossing MarKus's name from a list.

"Well, Christmas Eve hasn't been strictly about family for us in a while. Two years after the accident in Aqures Tosf, he started inviting Kalki for all the Christmases... And when the Triumvirat was created, he did the same with Matsya. Of course, sometimes we, too, get to bring guests. Matsya generally bring kids from the slums and Kalki, well she used to bring whoever she felt like."

He finally put down the books and looked back at them all.

"What I'm saying is that you are going to be my guests for Christmas Eve."

"As if family holiday parties weren't get awkward enough. Maybe bein' arrested'll be better." Sparks shook his head.

"If that's what it takes to get to talk to someone about tryin' to save thousands of innocent lives, then fine. Better than waitin' two months til when it's way too late."

Here's hoping for a Christmas Miracle

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