melodiesoflife | Intro Log || This Keeps Happening

Intro Log || This Keeps Happening

Characters: All the "Heroes of Light" (only new characters can start threads).
Where: Aqures Ixen.
When: The 5th of January. The new Heroes of Light will awaken early in the morning.
Summary: The new Heroes of Light awaken in Aqures Ixen and are informed by their assigned Moogles of what the situation and what their destinies are. This a log for them to react to the situation, meet each other and be welcomed by the former batches of Heroes of Light.
Warning: Snow. Also some leftover decorations from Christmas.

Where you were or what you were doing— It does not really matter. Not any more. Within an instant, the world around you collapses. Reality twists and shatters... Or maybe you are the one who is collapsing and shattering away from reality as you knew it. No matter what the answer is, it will only take a few seconds for you to find yourself sinking into a void, your world vanishing into the distance. There is nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see. Even you feel different: all the powers you might once have had, are now gone. It is silent, cold and it feels as though life itself is slipping out of you.

At this moment, when it looks as though nothing but a never-ending void awaits you, a red Crystal forms before you. In this void, its warmth compels you to grab it. Upon doing so, you can hear a soft, soothing voice speaking:

"Wake up."

Soon, the void itself vanishes and is replaced by distant noises of engines. Had it all been nothing more than a dream? The soothing voice repeats its call one more time, but is soon replaced with a much less graceful "Wake up Kupo." Hand clutched on your Crystal, the call of the Moogle may finally wake you up. But you are no longer in your world, nor in the void. You are before the Crystal of Fire, in the third district of a city called Aqures Ixen. At this point, you may realize the engine noise actually originates from an Airship flying low over the city and headed to dock beneath the castle. As if it wasn't strange enough, your clothes have changed as well. They are now a reflection of the Jobs you are wielding. Last but not least, you are surrounded by Moogles, small and fluffy creatures who are more than happy to tell you about everything you want to know, about your 'destiny' as a Hero of Light, about what awaits you.

Or at least, they will tell you everything they do know, which isn't much in the end.

The only people around you are like you-- There are quite a few of them, all clothed in their Job garbs and most likely wondering what is happening. If somehow you do not realize it, the Moogle who woke you up will be more than happy to inform you there are others like you around. In fact, there are other Heroes who have arrived in the course of the past year and they will come soon! Like you, they have Jobs and a Crystal.

If asked, the Moogles will mention that the Heroes of Light - that is to say you - are fighting against time to save Crystallis from the Calamity that is about to awaken to devour the entire world. Sounds terrible? Welcome to Crystallis.

The Other Heroes
— Shortly Thereafter —
Thanks to the efficiency of Mognet, it does not take long for the other Heroes to come around: those who arrived in this world within the past year. You may have imagined heroic and charismatic figures when your Moogle told you that there were other Heroes of Light in this city. You may have imagined persons with fearsome powers when they told you about how they managed to push back the Empire and defeat gigantic beasts in the past. And more importantly, you may have imagined them as people who would have all the answers to your, doubtlessly, numerous questions.

If so, you may be up for a tragic disappointment. Still, for the most part they know more than you on the situation and may be more than happy to fill you in, especially if your Moogle didn't tell you much.

The City of Aqures Ixen
— Anytime —
With Christmas being barely over, there are still Christmas Decoration in the streets, and while the reconstruction are nearly over, there are still traces of the attack the Empire led against the city six months ago. A few buildings are being worked on.

And besides the decorations and reconstructions, there are a lot of things to do in the city for newcomers. A few groups of Triple Triad players are playing before Mognet Office in the ninth district, and a Blitzball Match is set to start at 20:00 in the stadium! Characters are also free to visit the city-- Mognet Office just behind the Triple Triad games is filled with Moogles, most of them discussing about the election for the future director of Mognet. They can also visit Airship Port in the twelfth district from where characters can board for free Airships from Shoopuf Airline.

Or maybe you could visit your new house in the 11th District, and get to know your new neighbors and housemate. Hopefully your neighbors are people you will get along with.

The Laboratory
— Anytime —
A location where a lot of Heroes of Light seem to be gathering is Palitutu's Laboratory. It is a place where employed characters can research into various topics. However, most importantly, characters can see a file with their name...

Should your character decide to go there and peek at their file, there are two possibilities. Either the file is corrupted and they cannot access it: too bad for them, but at least their life will remain a mystery. Or should you decide the file isn't corrupted, they will find a summary of their lives up to their canon point, as if written by a third-person omniscient narrator. On the column left to the text, to the top there is a portrait of them, and beneath it there is a 3D model of them. Said portrait and model can be switched to any year of their life. At the bottom there is a percentage, indicating 0%. On the right column, there are various links, most of which are grayed out. The clickable links lead to their Homeworld History and their future post-canon point history (corrupted file for unfinished canons).

At least, they can lock this file away if they don't want anyone to see it.

The Hospital
— Anytime —
Characters who have already been in Crystallis before do not wake up by the Crystal of Fire like everyone else. Instead, they will wake up in the Hospital of Aqures Ixen, in a room where there are over a hundred of other Heroes of Light like them-- Maybe even some familiar faces... Except they're all in Crystal Stasis.

A couple Moogles and a few nurses will be waiting by the room, and they will welcome all characters waking up. Upon exiting the room, they will also meet a lot of guards, and they all have for order to shoot anyone that comes out of this room without a Moogle. Hopefully you won't try running out without waiting for your Moogle. As for why the guards are so on edge, it might be a good idea to ask the other Heroes of Light about what happened a couple months ago.

Close Encounters of the Third(?) Kind
— 15:00 —
Characters venturing by between the city's outskirts and the Chocobo Farm at this specific time will be able to see a most peculiar sight: a flying saucer seemingly abducting a Chocobo before flying away and disappearing into the sky without leaving any traces of its presence. If your character do see it, hopefully there will be someone with them. Otherwise, nobody will believe their story.

Was it an UFO or just a hallucination? Previous sightings of such a thing have happened. It might be a good idea to investigate this sometimes...

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Yuna wasn't going to meet anyone at the match, instead she was playing. The other team was already in the sphere pool which meant that she only had ten minutes to get to the locker rooms.

"Excuse me!" She frantically slipped through the crowd, her outfit a collection of tight treated leather with the Aqures colors accented across it. She almost ran Rialynn over in her haste to get to the locker rooms early. "I'm so sorry."

Yuna held out a hand to steady the young woman. "I'm just running late, are you okay?" Running late wasn't really a good excuse to go knocking into people.

Rialynn was jostled, and a little startled, but she hadn't hit her head or knocked out a tooth, so it was safe to say that her face remained accident-free when she got over her surprise and turned her head to look at who'd bumped into her.

"Me? I'm fine!" she reassured her quickly, about to wave her off since Yuna had said she was in a hurry. "You're fine, go ahead, I'm--"

Then she noticed the uniform, and how it matched the garb worn by the others swimming in the sphere, save for the colors. Rialynn glanced sharply back at Yuna, her eyebrows climbing up to disappear behind the silk bandanna running across her forehead. "You're going into that floating lake orb? Wow, good luck!"

Yuna smiled a little awkwardly. "Ah yeah, the Sphere pool." Not knowing meant that this person was probably a new hero of light. Yuna didn't know many who didn't watch Blitzball in this world.

"Hey, if you stick around afterwards I can show you around."

It was the least she could do for running into her.

Rialynn's eyes lit up. A tour guide? Yeeeeeeees please. There was a lot of city to cover, and she scarcely knew where to start. Aimless wandering could only lead her to so much, after all.

"I'd love that! Good luck, now I know who to cheer for!" she laughed. Now she was definitely going up into the stands to watch the game.

Right after she was redirected to the ticket booth to pay for a seat, of course.

Yuna smiled brightly at the girl. “I’ll meet you here then!”

She dashed off and later appeared in the sphere pool as one of the offense. Yuna scored twice as did the other team putting their match at a draw. It wasn’t a tournament game which meant that it didn’t go into overtime but it was certainly exciting to watch. When Yuna was finished she had a bruise across her right shoulder from a hard tackle but it was already healing nicely thanks to the potion she drank after the match.

She’ll wait for Rialynn where she specified; smiling and waving at those who recognized her from the sphere pool.

Rialynn had managed to make her way back to her original spot, albeit a little hoarse after all of the shouting and cheering she just did. People really got into the game, and it was hard not to get swept up by all of that enthusiasm. She'll need to take it easy for a couple of days, if she still wants to be able to sing properly.

"That was fantastic. I've never seen people swim that gracefully before!" she grinned, then winced as she tapped her throat apologetically. "Sorry. I yelled a lot. I couldn't really help it."

Yuna smiled brightly before digging into one of her pockets for a hard candy. "Here take this." She dropped the little piece into Rialynn's hand.

"I would cheer like that too, when I'm not playing." And she didn't like having her voice feel sore afterwards. "If you follow me I can show you around the stadium."

It's a pretty cool tour, besides the stands Yuna can get them into the locker rooms too and where ever Rialynn might want to see.

She was supposed to eat this, right? She gave it a little taste to make sure, and upon finding that it was sweet, Rialynn popped it into her mouth. The sweetness did feel good on her throat, and she smiled. "Thanks. This helps a lot."

She was pretty eager for a tour of the stadium, all aspects of it. Naturally the sphere was what interested her the most, since she had no idea how people managed to hold their breath for that long, especially while performing such strenuous activities.

The only part that made her hesitate was the locker rooms. These weren't something that Rialynn had in her world, so as she cheerfully rounded the corner, she saw several of the players in various states of dress, or undress. She froze. And took a step back. "Er...is it really okay to be in here?" If they were just women, that wasn't so bad. But if men were in here as well? She was going to be flying right out that door in half a second.

There were both men and women in the locker rooms and Yuna wouldn't press that they stay. She'd follow Raiylnn's lead because it can be awkward. It took her some time to get used to it and it only really got better when Minako joined the team and would kick the guys out of the team locker room when it was their turn.

When she spoke out the stadium it's in a fond and loving voice. "We have potions that let us breath under water though I usually just hold my breath. We have Blitzball in my world as well and that's how we did it."

It didn't seem so strange to her.

YEP RIALYNN VANISHED IMMEDIATELY.

But she hovered outside the entrance waiting for Yuna to finish her business there, while waiting for the red to fade from her face.

"There are potions that can do that?" she gasped, her eyes widening. "That sounds useful! How long do the effects last? I imagine just about every ship would carry a supply of these potions just in case."

Yuna laughed softly. "I think they are expensive but it lasts about 10 minutes? I don't know where else you can get them besides at the Blitzball stadium and then keep them locked up." She didn't think people would want to use them or if they did use them for much else.

"There also isn't all that much sea travel with airships." At least commercially. They always have to find someone willing to take them to Aqures Tofs.

"I guess that makes sense. I know sea travel can be dangerous." Especially if this world had pirates, like her own did. An unexpected day of bad weather could cause a ship to lose its course, or even be completely destroyed. "What about airships, are they fairly safe to travel on?"

She did want to try one, but the thought of being that high up off of the ground was a little...disconcerting.

Yuna nodded her head. "Yes. There hasn't been trouble so long as I've been here and I used to travel the world on one at home." It had been a fun memorable time.

"Anything else you want to see?"

She covered most of the stadium but she wanted to ask and make sure.

"Ummmm..." Rialynn steepled her fingers together as she turned her head away, looking somewhat sheepish. Honestly, she wanted to see everything, but that might be taking advantage of her tour guide's generous offer. But where to start, when she wasn't even sure what there was to see?

"How about the most unusual feature of the city? We could start there. --Oh! And the library! I mean, if your city allows commoners or bards to use the library, that is." It was somewhat of a nobleman's privilege where she came from, but some allowed accredited bards to leaf through the books as well.

Yuna just smiled. "Yes, anyone can use the library. I don't know where the most interesting part of the city is. For me it's here." She really loved Blitzball and the stadium, while new, held a lot of fond memories for the ex sphere hunter.

"Let's head towards the library then." There was a lot to do there and it was certainly an interesting part of the city.

"Are you are bard?"

"Anyone?!" Rialynn's eyes doubled in size. "What an incredibly trusting city. I wish our world's libraries were more like this one, then. I'm looking forward to this." She grinned, keeping an easy pace at Yuna's side as she allowed her new friend to lead the way. "I can see why you'd like this place, though. It's huge! I wonder how they get the water to float like that? And the way people move so easily, it's like magic!"

...Actually it might just be magic after all. That was something she would have to get used to.

At the question, Rialynn nodded proudly. "I am! --Oh, but not the Job Bard type of bard. I record the stories of people I've met and turn them into songs and stories. It's a great way to make a living. How about you?"

Yuna nodded she was well accustom to bards and those who collected stories. In a way she was similar though on Spira that was a little harder. “I’m what they call a sphere hunter.” She smiled. “On Spira a lot of history was lost but Sphere hunters go out and find it. We got the name because it’s usually a sphere that we find. Spheres are made from the planet and can record things in them. So we’re slowly piecing together our history.”

It sounded odd that Rialynn’s world didn’t have libraries opened for all but Yuna supposed that made sense if she lived in a place where the government or ruling power controlled knowledge. Yevon had been similar and it took them breaking away from those practices to really be able to do anything at all.

Yuna called them 'spheres,' but as Rialynn couldn't imagine a history being written on a perfectly round object, her mind translated it to be another way to describe some sort of scroll. Perhaps there was a rolled up strip of parchment that was stored inside of a metal orb, which could be stretched out and read by another person.

That made sense. But how were they made by the planet?

"Wow, that sounds like an incredibly important job," she beamed, very much impressed. She had nothing but complete respect for historians, as they also did the work that bards did -- pass along the stories and histories of the people so that they weren't forgotten. "Do people still use spheres to record history, or did they find another way?"

Yuna shook her head as they stepped towards the library. "We still use them however people are find other ways now. The planet is dying and with them the magic in the spheres will die too."

She would should Rialynn what it looked like except that they didn't work in Crystallis. All of her spheres had frozen as if time had no effect on them.

"Wh...whaaaaaaat...?" Rialynn stopped dead in her tracks, staring at Yuna's back as she fell behind. "Your entire planet? But...how...why?"

She didn't know what to say to that. Should she express sympathy? Encouragement? She couldn't think of anything scarier than an entire planet being destroyed. It didn't sound like there was anything people could do about something like that.

Yuna was confused, it didn't mean that the life on the planet was dying but that soul of the planet itself. The magic and life force that kept things like sphere's growing. She blinked and looked over at Rialynn.

"People forgot..." She tried to find the right way to phrase it. "The magic of the planet wasn't being used. Slowly it retreated into itselfs and the Macalania Woods began to fade. It only affects those who live with the planet and of those people I only know three."

Which was why the world thrives anyway. "It's sad but I don't think it's the end." Yuna believed in Spira and in the people who lived there.

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Intro Log || This Keeps Happening

3. Blitzball Tournament

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