We are off to see the Crystal Tree!

[greenmagick]

WHO: OPEN! Those setting out towards the Crystal Tree~
WHAT: Terra has arranged an expedition. Keep in mind that this takes place after the January Event!
WHEN: January 17th - January 27th
WHERE: Plains of Sorrow, Crystal Forest & Crystal Tree~
WARNING: None.

[ooc: Information and plotting about this adventure is posted here. If you have any questions please post them here as well. It's assumed that Terra posted up a help wanted for the heroes who don't know her to see if they want to come along. Settings will be described in top posts to keep thing organized!

Please note that the Friendly Monster and Crystal Tree sections will be one long thread.]

Comments

tear grants | ota.

[cantante]

It wasn't unusual for Tear to settle fall into position at the rear of the group as they travelled, having often done the same back in her own world. From a strategical standpoint it suited her better, allowing her to be among the first alerted to danger while also granting her the chance to cast or sing if needed.

But there was more reason why she stuck there—like several others the melodist was subdued after the exchange with the Sage only a day or so before, one that felt as if it had happened so very long ago. But she kept face, conversing lightly when someone approached her and keeping to up with her duties.

At the very least she still had Sein with her, the Moogle following her persistently and at times launching into an odd tirade of mundane facts, almost as if he were trying to cheer her up. From the small smiles she sometimes wore afterward, it seemed to be appreciated.

[wickedone]

Albel frequently traveled at the outside of the group, often with the other soldiers from Esdham. He knew Tear, but they didn't really speak. Hadn't worked too closely together since attempting to evacuate the citizens who had stubbornly stayed in the city when the empire was about to invade.

Still... there was something a little off. Albel remembered vaguely Tear's associations during the visions, but he didn't know the extent of her involvement.

He slowed his gait until he walked beside her. "Deep thoughts?" he asked quietly.

[cantante]

Though Tear had noticed Albel also walking outside the group, the thoughts running through her mind in conjunction with her unfamiliarity with the fellow soldier meant she hadn't considered trying to talk to him until he took the first step.

It was a little surprising, but there was nothing about her body language or tone that was discouraging him from continuing on as she nodded. "The same as a few others in this group have, I think."

[wickedone]

Albel nodded, knowing. Since the visions, the group's dynamic had changed drastically. Everyone was second-guessing each other, second-guessing themselves, for choices they'd both made and hadn't made -- simultaneously. It was a lot to process.

"Do you have any regrets?" Because he, for one, wasn't sure if he did or not. He'd been happy with Terra, even as the world fell apart. And yet he still felt like a horrible human being for enjoying his time with her.

[cantante]

"Regrets?" Contrary to what others might have expected, a slow smile makes its way to her lips as she considered the multi-layered question. She could try to explain it in great detail, or she could be blunt about it.

"The 'me' of the future had them, and from what I do remember, I agree with her. We were foolish to have given up so quickly." Taking a moment to breathe, she continues quietly.

"But the person of that future didn't regret taking any actions to stop the Calamity."

[wickedone]

Albel was quiet as he considered her answer. He had to respect her honesty.

"That makes sense," he said finally. "I had my second thoughts. Still do. But when it came down to it, I would do whatever I had to to stop the Calamity."

He wouldn't have done what others chose to do. He still would have fought it his own way. But he would have gone down fighting to the last for what he believed in. He got the feeling he probably would.

"You don't still think the crystallized Heroes should be sacrificed, do you?"

[cantante]

"It would seem we are in agreement, then." The melodist closed her eyes, still remembering the cold and distant attitude she had adopted in the future in order to endure doing what had to be done. She knew herself capable of taking it on now, but to have done it practically all the time was perhaps testament to her lingering regrets.

"For me, that's part of what it means to be a soldier. Doing what you must, so that others won't have to." So much of their opposition were never meant to experience what they saw... They were all too kind.

On the subject of the crystallised Heroes, however— "There are those among them who are from my world. You would think that it would be enough to stop me back then, wouldn't you?"

She sighed quietly. "I don't want them to be sacrificed that way."

[wickedone]

Albel pulled his cloak around himself a little closer against the chill, stared numbly as they walked.

"I would have done it, once," he admitted. "If I thought it was the most expedient way. Hard choices have to be made, and they aren't for the weak. But when it was my world, and someone else was telling me it was their right to destroy us all, I couldn't accept that. How could I?"

He shook his head with a deep frown. It was the first time he'd told someone about home -- well, calmly, anyway. His outburst with Johnny probably didn't count. "That changed me. I couldn't -- I can't kill those people anymore, not when they can't even fend for themselves." He glanced at Tear. "I'm relieved other people are changing their opinions."

[cantante]

Tear listened to every one of his words carefully; though she knew little about Albel, she was adept enough to know that the latter half of what he was telling her was something incredibly important, to at least him. Sometimes it took the threat of losing something, or someone, dear to put things into perspective.

"Likewise." She sighed, the movement making her shrug her shoulders a bit. "It's my hope that they stay that way. Yes, sometimes hard choices have to be made, but..."

What they had done in that future was something else entirely. "Rather than take it upon ourselves to make those choices, we might do more to avoid them in the first place."

[wickedone]

Albel managed a small smile. "That would certainly make things easier," he said with a nod. "Make better choices now -- get all the information we can with what we know."

He glanced out to the surroundings, checking one flank then the other. He could still maintain a security look-out while thinking.

"I won't believe that's the future in store for us," he told Tear. "There's no 'fate.' After seeing that, if we still came to the same decisions, fought the same fights, we'd be fools."

[cantante]

"And more importantly, take the time to talk to each other about it." Even now, Tear knew she was guilty of such a habit. For the time being it posed no threat, but the decision to keep her silence in the future had cost her personally.

But she shook her head to clear away those thoughts, determined to stay focused on what they could do in this moment, in staying in the present where they could still possibly pick a brighter path.

"I think we're in agreement, there." Looking away to scope her own surroundings in turn, her voice still held an edge to it despite the quiet tone. "There might be others who think we sound foolish for even voicing out desire to fight against it, laughing at us."

[wickedone]

"Mm." That was something Albel would have to work on himself -- talking with people. Or at least, talking with them in a way that they were more likely to listen. Albel had some very strong, and very loud, opinions that most people didn't like to receive so aggressively.

"Isn't it natural to fight for survival?" It seemed fairly clear to him. "Anyone who laughs at that might as well already be dead, if they're giving up. Pitiful."

[cantante]

"There are some people for whom survival means different things." Didn't their goal in the end come down to simply ensuring the continued existence of Crystallis, and by proxy their own worlds? That alone was proof enough of the differences in perception.

"It might seem pitiful to us, and we just might look the same way to them.”

[wickedone]

Albel crossed his arms with a scowl, trying to make sense of how that could be.

"I'm not sure personal meaning has much to do with it," he said finally. "Certainly, people may say one thing or another -- profess certain goals. But when truly facing death, men will do just about anything to live."

Just about. Albel looked at his gauntlet and his eyes narrowed, the metal fingers clenching.

"More people will likely change their tune later."

[cantante]

"That is another possibility." A very real one, but she wanted to believe the best in the Heroes gathered together—and still had in the future, in a sense. But what that meant was always unclear when facing such a diverse group, each with their own ideals.

"In the end, we can only take control of ourselves and forge our own future with our own two hands, to what we want it to be. Death might wait for us at the end of it, it might not. Then it would be a matter of how we face it, or if we defy it."

[wickedone]

Albel continued to scowl for a moment... then his features softened.

"Something else we can agree on," he conceded, almost smiling. "At the end, we only have to contend with ourselves. And I know I will continue to face death as I ever have -- defiantly."

It was a load off his mind not to have to concern himself with others. He could only control himself anyway -- so why worry so much about controlling others' behavior? It was pointless. He would take care of himself.