melodiesoflife | Event || The New Year

Event || The New Year

Characters: Anyone!
Where: The Enterprise.
When: The Night from December 31st to January 1st.
Summary: A Ball aboard the Enterprise, for well-dressed (mostly) Heroes of Light and their friends who want to dance and (especially) eat for free.
Warning: Nothing.

While the passing from a year to another isn't as big of an event as the Starlight Celebration, it is no reason to pass up an ocasion to celebrate and have fun. There are fireworks in all major cities and various activities to enjoy. Noticeably, there are gatherings of people in Aqures Ixen and Trano Golsaucia in particular, if only to conclude what is one of the most celebrated week in the year, and wish to each other the best possible year to come-- Though most people are worried about what's to come soon. After all, the end might be nigh with the Calamity about to take over the planet...

To celebrate this, the Heroes of Light have all been invited to stay aboard the Enterprise for a particularly prestigious and animated Ball. Indeed, the Enterprise will from Aqures Ixen and go all the way to Mysidia at midnight-- This way, New Year is going to last even longer than normal thanks to the magic of timezones.

There are tables with foods for everyone to eat and of course, music for people to dance together if they so wish. There is also a consequent number of chairs lined up, for all those who refuse to dance or are too awkward to do so.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Minato isn't the only one getting some air that night. Johnny walks out onto the deck, tie loosened and drink in his hand. He never much liked dressing up, and probably would have avoided this party all together if he managed to make other plans for the holiday. He didn't even want to go back to Mysidia and planned to not even disembark when they arrived.

He walks over to get a look at the dimly-lit cities below pass by, leaning his arms on the railings. That's when he notices he's not alone out here.

"Ain't surprised I'm the only one who needed to step away.

"I was never really into parties."

He confesses with an... attempt at a smile. But anyway, it's not like making appearances mattered too much, with your back turned against the lighting. --Which might be ironic, again, considering all the dress up he let himself go through... it was all for the purpose of blending in, anyway. Minato however notes Johnny seems to have taken a simple approach to the formal event, and respected that individuality. People who do their own thing are cool.

"... Celebrating like this when so close to the Calamity doesn't really make sense to me."

"I getcha. It ain't easy to party and let loose when everythin's in trouble. But I think that's one of the reasons we do throw so many goddamn parties. Gotta keep people's spirits up in the face of all this bullshit we go through."

Johnny shrugged lightly before taking a sip of his beer. He's doesn't consider himself wise, but he's been in a situation like this before, so he has some experience to back himself up.

"Before I got to Cystallis, I was in a place that was way worse off than this place. And we still had parties. People gotta have fun. Have somethin' to look forward to. Dance 'n get drunk 'n remember why they're fightin' the Calamity in the first place."

He lets out a long sigh as he watches the world below go by for a few moments.

"That's how I look at it anyway, y'know? Besides, this who group ain't so bad. And there's always the free food."

"It's not like I hate happiness, or something... But they made this all extravagant, and all that Starlight Celebration excitement came with a lot of effort and trouble."

He rubbed the back of his head, continuing to look out into distant fireworks. And it being so close to the Sage's premonition for when what was likely incredible danger would start again, the urgency was weighing on Minato's chest. He hadn't previously encountered it yet, and the fear of the unknown combined with his natural pessimism was making this whole unpleasant mood worse.

When Johnny brings up he was from someplace worse off, he turned to look at him, with sympathy. That didn't surprise him, and that was a sad thought.

"... Is it a 'work hard, play hard' type of thing? We don't even know if we'll all still be alive this next year."

"Never said that. 'N the people from here do this Starlight thing every year. It's their Christmas. Ya can't cancel Christmas on people, no matter what's goin' on in the world. Morale'd hit the floor."

Not that he's even a big fan of the holiday, but even Johnny could recognize that.

"And that's exactly it. We work our asses off, so there's nothin' wrong with a night off for some drinks 'n dancing. Not knowin' if we'll be here next year to do so is even more reason. Then when this is all over, we go back to workin' our asses off again."

He's quite for a moment again, now feeling like he's lecturing and not liking it.

"I'm not sayin' ya gotta agree with me or be happy about the idea, but that's how I look at it."

Minato meekly shrugged, feeling like he's troubling the poor soul who only wanted to have a small word with another Hero. He must have forgotten in which instances it was ideal to shut up again--he shouldn't drag someone else down to his level with his grim outlook. What a way to make them end their year.

When he turns to face Johnny properly, his tone is apologetic.

"It's alright. I just think... I don't have to get it as an individual, so you don't have to convince me either."

There's another attempted smile from him, after saying that. It was more to do with the timing of it all than anything else, with bad things coming possibly only a few weeks away. Could it be honestly said that Minato believed they could save this world? Though there were a small handful he personally trusted, and he knew that people tended to mature fast in these circumstances, he remained doubtful.

He wished he could be happy too if just for this night, but, oh well.

"... So, what do you fight for?"

Edited 2016-01-10 09:41 (UTC)

Johnny wasn't really expecting that question, and he looks a little surprised at first, and then turns thoughtful, looking down into his drink.

"Huh. Good question, man. Survival? All I've ever been doin' is fighting, so I guess it comes natural. Been through too much to just give up now. Besides, people are counting on us. And most Heroes wanna go home. So I guess that's why I do it. Maybe one of these days, people won't be out to kill me, and I'll actually get to relax. Lookin' forward to that day."

While he hadn't planned to go home, that doesn't mean he couldn't help others do the same. And since he planned to make Crystallis his permanent home for as long as possible, he'd like it to stay in one piece.

"... You've really had it rough." To say the least, and he knew it. Minato has a wry expression on him, but his respect for the man only grew. Though the question of being a Hero didn't really factor here, the younger boy still finds some strange amusement about it.

"I did nothing but let things go how they may, back then. Never had to fight for my life, never had to perform some great personal sacrifice." Then he shook his head. "Somehow Crystallis thinks people as different as we are can still carry the same title for whatever reason."

He didn't really mean to discuss further that line, just stating it as a small unfair fact. Most Heroes he's met don't even actively think about the term--many simply want to not die, like Johnny here. With everything said and done though, Minato did hope all their hard work would ultimately mean something.

"... I hope that day comes for you, too. You would've earned it."

"I wanna think it's not so random. Doesn't make it true, but..." Not that he had any proof of that. "Maybe it's a question of potential, not experience, for some people. I've actually been in a similar situation to this before, but the people that were brought in there really were picked at random. The idea that maybe we were brought here for a reason makes it a little less bleak, anyway."

He shrugged before taking a drink. "There's so much here goin' on with magic, 'n prophecies and shit... Some of us have had relatives 'n friends that were here in the past before the last Calamity. Seems a lot more planned, I guess."

Johnny was still having a hard time dealing with that fact, still not sure how to process it all. Mostly he tried not to think about it.

"I wonder about that, but... I guess there's no point whining about being unqualified when they give you powers." It was different for people who lost theirs, but that was another issue entirely that he couldn't speak for (not as far as he knew).

Minato wouldn't have figured he'd say this sort of thing and change lifestyle so much in less than half a year; granted, these circumstances were so absurd, there was no way any normal person--however smart and/or paranoid--could anticipate and prepare for it. Crystallis threw surprises at them with fervor, and would likely not stop for the duration of their stay there.

"It's a cycle, isn't it?" And an unexplained one, as far as its effects on the other worlds' chronologies went.

He hadn't yet read up everything in their archives yet due to other obligations, but Minato had gathered most of the basics to be brought up to speed.

"Is it too personal to ask who you knew that was here?"

"Powers are good. Experience is a whole other thing. Someone like me has dealt with this shit before, but a lotta people are unequipped. Look at someone like Ib. What business has a little kid got bein' here?" What business did a kid even Minato's age have being here? If this wasn't a random system, it was still grossly unfair in Johnny's opinion.

He considered not answering that question, since it was a difficult experience for him, but he figures it doesn't really matter.

"... It was my parents. But the weirdest part about that was, back home, I had never met my dad before. I didn't even know what he looked like. But it was definitely him."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event || The New Year

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject