Event || The New Year

[melodiesmods]

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.

Comments

[silencesfate]

"... I've never really traveled this much before. Before Crystallis, I mean."

There might have been plans, if he had gotten older and they were still around and eager to show him the world, but no point dwelling on how circumstances drastically change. And things were very different now. Maybe he's changed too? Minato's left to wonder how much of it was forced during his plights of adaptation, and how much was more willingly. It's been a third of a year, and so much has happened that he could have never imagined.

In this world, so many countries, cities, villages, people within them. The sky above, the ground far below, other Heroes lingering about, somewhere on the gigantic airship with its flight crew and organizing staff. It was easy to feel even smaller than usual. As he strolled on more, he continued speaking.

"Everywhere, there's people who know each other, and people who don't know each other celebrating the same thing. Those with others, and... those alone."

When he says the last word, his expression falls, however it's not made obvious due to the mask he wears.

[cantante]

"That makes one thing we once shared in common then." Her journey with her companions may have granted her the ability to know the world of the surface, but she can still remember the quiet awe of exploring during the course of those months. Now there was this vast world beneath that in all honesty, they hardly knew. Such a thought would be enough to incite the loneliness he referred to in his words, but having him walking beside her helped to... soothe it, in a way. Perhaps it was the sincerity and softness with which he uttered them.

"They may not have any way of knowing it, but having someone thinking about them might help them in a way they can't see." Wasn't that part of their goal, as Heroes? Even if in her mind, it should be that as fellow living beings.

"Or would that be wishful thinking...?"

[silencesfate]

"... It probably is. But it's still a nice thought."

Blunt as always, but there seemed to be a gentleness that came along with it now. It was hard to tell which side of his was prevalent, the one that wanted to drop everything and give up half the time, or the one that wouldn't stop until the bitter end. One thing's for sure though, he's matured in his own way. He has many people to thank for that.

"I hope at least, they don't feel alone."

Because he knows how that feels like.

[cantante]

Despite being the one to voice it, Tear can't help nodding once in agreement herself. With so many people out there, it was only logical that there was still someone out there who wasn't enjoying the celebration due to that feeling of loneliness. Yet it was still her wish that it wouldn't last very long, whoever that person was.

Minato wasn't the only one who knew what it felt like to be alone. "I hope so, too."

"But..." Slowly coming to a pause, she felt there was something important that needed to be addressed while they were on the topic. "Along those lines, why are you out here by yourself? I don't think I saw you very much while I was inside."

She would have liked to believe she would be able to spot him even without his choice in attire,

[silencesfate]

"Ahh... well, you know me. I blend in anyway... sometimes on purpose."

There was a tiny joking tone to that latter sentence, and the boy's expression seemed to soften as well, if only to reassure this wasn't a big deal. He had upset enough people on a normal day with his usual personality, Minato especially didn't need to do that to anyone when they were supposed to be feeling festive. He was in pain even now, but he would keep holding up those shields to the troubled parts of his heart for as long as he could; it felt like the right thing to do.

And there was that other thing about how marvelously unused to having companions he was. He and Tear were quiet along their walk again for some time, but when he speaks again eventually, it's in a meek voice. There was a mixture of subtle sadness and happiness, which made it hard to pin what it was exactly. Overall, perhaps it could be referred to as a kind of astonishment?

"I didn't think... anyone would be looking for me."

He trailed off and continued walking on, thoughtful, "I guess that's my last surprise of the year. Or... the first of this new one?"

[cantante]

"Sometimes, and that's understandable. But when we want to find you it means we have to look harder, that's all." Tear's own voice carried a teasing lilt that could only just be heard, even though she felt such a sentiment might have warranted a gentle lecture. So would the lonely words he spoke, encouraging the corners of her mouth to curve slightly in what was perhaps exasperation.

"Idiot..." For all the negative meanings the word could have, her tone was gentle in its chiding; the traces of fondness laced within couldn't be mistaken for anything else. "Of course there would be someone looking for you. Not just me."

Folding her hands idly behind her back, the melodist mused over his view of it. What an odd way to put it. "I never thought of myself as a surprising person, but if that's what you think... I just might end up living up to it in this coming year. But you're a surprising person yourself."