melodiesoflife | Event || The Enemy Within

Entry tags:

Event || The Enemy Within

Characters: All characters who signed-up for the event.
Where: In their heads.
When: January 15th.
Summary: The Heroes of Light have a vision-- They are living through a hypothetical future where the Sage share his knowledge with them, and things went horribly wrong as some Heroes of Light became the villains in this timeline. Maybe they'll revise their thoughts on getting all of that knowledge.
Warning: The apocalypse, deaths, tragedies, overall a lot of very bad things.

Mingle Threads: The Antagonists || The Protagonists || The Others || General
Free Open Threads: The Two Years || Other Events

#01 Attempts at Negotiations || Trano Golsaucia
#02 Tactical Espionage Action || Aqures Ixen
#03 Judgmental Glares || Aerilon
#04 The Fight for the Crystallized Bodies || Aqures Tosf
#05 The Dusk of the Heroes || Mysidia
#06 The Fight for the Moon || Lunar Gate
#07 Conflict Above the Stars || Moon Base
#08 The Birth of a God || Crystal Life Tree
#09 The Death of a World || Moon Base
#10 Where Everything Ends || Pandaemonium

Conclusion || The Sage in Mysidia

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A gun shot echoed and the manikin was blown back into pieces, Vaan running forward with a gunblade in hand. He approached Yuna, a grim look on his face. They both remembered there last battle at the rift with manikins. It hadn't ended well for them.

"I think it'd be better if we survived this time, Yuna," He said, his features softening to that familiar crooked smile. "Don't you think?"

He'd put his hands behind his head too, if he wasn't worried about the manikins all around them. Instead, he kept it aimed for any crystallized people coming toward them.

The shot startled her, at least up until the moment she saw where it had come from. Her battle stance relaxed, a smile overtaking her look of concern as he came into view. She nodded her agreement with an added, "Thank you."

Just like before, there were so many of them. The sounds of crystal shattering all around them as manikins rose and fall was enough to give anyone a headache, but she paid it no mind. "They're working on closing the rift now!" Yuna announced, turning to shoot a look in the direction of the heroes that had taken on that task.

"If we can hold this position for them, it might buy them some time," Time -- a luxury they weren't often awarded. The clinking footsteps of an approaching fiend grabbed her attention again, as she spun once more, seeing the unmistakable shape of Lightning coming up on them, her crystal sword drawn.

A fleeting flash.

Vaan nodded and followed her gaze. If they can close the Rift, then maybe they could avoid any casualties this time. Right? It was a good plan she had. Both them had long range abilities, it would be easier for them to pick them off and if any got too close, Vaan would dispatch them with his sword.

"You got it," Vaan saw Lightning and was quick to shoot at her, but she was just like the real one. A trained fighter who knew how to defend against gunfire and easily dodged them. "Stay back, I got her!"

Cocking the gun, he met the pink crystallized woman with a harsh clang of sword. The crystal growled at him, doing her best to cut Vaan down. If a clear of shot was given, Yuna could also take her down with a spell or too if needed.

"Ah--" it was a small, quiet noise. The truth was, she should have been prepared for this, should have realized that manikins of people she had once cared for would be showing up with their murderous intent. As Vaan began his attack, Yuna clutched her staff close, memories coming flooding back.

Light... she thought to herself, knowing what the woman would have likely told her in that moment. Don't let your guard down, not even for a second! Brow furrowing, Yuna steeled her resolve, and rose her weapon into the air.

If her friend needed back up, then back up he would get. "Bahamut!" the great dragon materialized above her as she spun her staff, "Mega Flare!"

It was similar with Vaan. He expected some sort of quip from the crystal, anything that resembled the real Lightning. But none was to be had.

The sight of the summoner's seal meant Yuna was calling a summon and Vaan kept the crystal distracted until the last possible second. With a grunt, he shoved Lightning back and dove to the ground, rolling away as the Mega Flare struck the pink crystal and destroyed her. But Vaan knew it wouldn't be over.

He was already up and shooting at the other manikins coming their way.

Her eyes squeezed shut at the sound of the crystal shattering. She had fought manikins that looked light Lighting before all of this, during the war, but this time... after she had been gone so long, felt different. She didn't want to see it. Landing on the ground, she calmed her breaths again, recovering from the sudden burst of magic she'd used.

With Vaan facing the oncoming group, Yuna backed up against him defensively facing the group that approached from behind. "They're closing in around us," she looked around, trying to think of a way out of their predicament before it was too late. "We need to find higher ground!"

Vaan continued to shoot, but he was going to run out of ammo at this right. He looked around as well. He could do find in close quarters, but it was so much easier picking them off. "Where to? I can't exactly see anything with all these manikins here!"

His gray eyes frantically tried to find an opening, anything to get them on top of something, anything. Then, he found a spot. There were crates and they led to the roof of a nearby building, only two stories high but the manikins didn't seem to be bothered over there just yet. Taking Yuna by the wrist, he pulled her towards it, shooting at anything in there path. "You're going to have to climb, I'll cover you!"

She was still looking in the opposite direction, when she felt the sudden tug of her wrist. Turning, she almost instantly saw what he was talking about, and her feet moved quickly underneath her to keep up with his pace. As they made it to the base of the crates, she looked at him with a nod -- knowing that his skills would be the more versatile for cover. But a look in her eyes warned that he had better be coming up right behind her...

When she found her grip, Yuna hoisted herself up, the long robes she always chose to wear hindering her those few more precious seconds while the manikin army drew closer. Somehow, her fingers found the top and with one last push, and the teetering of the makeshift ladder, she was at the top.

Looking over the edge of the rooftop, she panicked, hoping she hadn't pushed hard enough for the crates to falter, and looking to make sure Vaan was still all right.

Vaan only gave her a crooked smile in return, turning around to fire a few more shots while Yuna got up on the crates. Once there was enough room, he followed short. His balance was bit easier to maintain as he had the experience even back in Ivalice. Once needed to know how to get from point A to B as quick as possible when stealing, after all!

Still, he hadn't expected the crates to teeter, having expected them to be a bit more sturdy and not so precariously on edge. Still, Vaan was quick and even as one crate began to fall, it was a quick hop before he managed to grasp the ledge. Any second longer, had lingered in panic that had nearly dropped in his stomach, he would have fallen. But, he didn't and pulled his feet up to push him up, arms straining until he was finally over.

Not exactly the most graceful of landings followed after, but now wasn't exactly the time to feel embarrassed. "Any come up with me?"

"Vaan!" she cried as soon as she saw him have to jump. She was at the edge as he worked to get himself up, trying to pull him, her staff abandoned in the process. Once she was sure that he was back on solid ground again, she shook her head. Although they resembled their friends and loved ones, they lacked their intelligence.

"It looks like they haven't quite figured it out yet..." they'd earned this breather -- and she took the chance to turn and gather her weapon again. Once it was safely in hand, she looked up, her view of the rift better than ever from this vantage point.

"It's... huge."

He took the time to reload and walked over to Yuna, eventually looking up to follow her gaze and nearly dropped the gunblade. "Bigger than before..."

Would they even be able to close it? Vaan was beginning to doubt it. The six of them alone could barely do it. Did they even have enough people? The Dalmascan didn't know. He sighed and steeled his jaw. "Looks like we got our work cut out for us this time."

Her shoulders slumped forward, taking in the sight. She hadn't thought the tear was that far along, she had even hoped that it wasn't as bad as some of the reports were saying but... the reality was it was much worse. Maybe, if her imagination had run away with her a little more, been a little more pessimistic, she wouldn't have to feel the crushing reality that weighed her down now.

"If... there's no other way, I..." she didn't know how to say it. There were probably no one other than Vaan that would understand her intentions anyway, since they had gone through it together. "I'll... pretend I'm looking forward to it again, if I have to."

Vaan took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Then, I guess I'll pretending with you. But let's see if we can look forward to ending it once and for all. No casualties, right?"

Because it was so much easier to pretend that everything was going to be alright. Like before, even though it was a suicide mission, they looked at it as putting an end to the Conflict. Rather than a goodbye. And there were more of them, not just six. Maybe it wasn't as bleak as it looked.

Her eyes fell to their hands, and as she looked back up at him with a small, but brave smile, she returned the gentle squeeze. "No casualties," she echoed, "as long as we can help it."

Looking out into that terrifying sky, her free hand somehow found its way to her chest, balling into a fist. "Still, I... I can't believe we caused this," they didn't have any of Chaos' warriors to blame, not this time. "All because... we wanted to find a way home," what selfishness had wrought, she thought sadly.

"We wanted to go home and I don't think there's any harm in that," Vaan answered, resting his hand on his hip. "I just don't think anyone realized it would do this. We don't even know how the first one was caused, right?"

At least, he didn't remember. Just that manikins were coming from it and needed to be stopped. But this time, they had an idea how this one was caused. Well, he assumed they knew, right? Vaan certainly didn't know, his technically knowledge went as far as his weapons and airship.

There was a long pause on her part, and finally, a sigh. She was looking for answered where there weren't any -- and where they wouldn't be of any help anyway. "You're right, I -- "

The sound of clinking crystal and crates toppling over cut her off. Relinquishing her grip on his hand, Yuna spun around, the hand of a manikin latching onto the edge, as it pulled itself up with its garbled speech.

The summoner took a step back, looking to Vaan for confirmation, then shockingly back at the crystal. Was that... Lady Ashelia?!

Vaan turned as well, gunblade raised as he saw the crystal and he froze. He didn't share the look with Yuna, his face said it all. It was Ashe! And she had her sword on her, looking just like he remembered her back on Ivalice. His hand shook but before he knew it, he pulled the trigger and the crystal's head shattered. The rest of the body fell back off the crate and on top of its brethren.

He just shot Ashe! No, no, it wasn't her but... he closed his eyes and turned his head away. Why did it feel like it anyway?

It was horrible, to have to watch him shoot at someone that resembled a loved one. Striking manikins, shattering them -- it had never sat right with Yuna, especially when they took on the form of a friend. The odds here in Crystallis, with the multitude of people to replicate... only upped the ante.

She turned, wanting to somehow try and offer comfort to Vaan, but further noises around them made her stop short. Rushing over to the edge, the enemy had begun to get wise, stepping up on top of one another as they made a mountain of crystal bodies.

"More of them! They're coming up!" she looked over towards her comrade, worry starting to furrow her brow.

Vaan had followed her gaze, not needing to be told twice. He should have remembered, they were fast learners. He turned his gaze back to Yuna, worry also etched on his features. "I'm almost out of bullets, Yuna."

It was in a quiet voice when he said this. He could only fight melee for so long like this, with these many manikins. He didn't want a repeat of last time, fighting until he was too injured and exhausted, collapsing because he could no longer move. It had been a horrible feel then, even if unconsciousness saved him from feeling what it was truly like to die.

But he didn't want to die now.

A sound from behind had him turning and he found more had begun coming up from the other side. He pressed his back against Yuna's. "We could try and access our limit breaks, and then make a run for it?"

Still looking around for a solution, the news of his ammunition was running low came at a bad time. Memories of being surrounded by the overwhelming number of manikins tightened in Yuna's chest, her grip doing the same on her staff.

"Vaan... stay close to me," she pressed her back against his, looking just briefly over her shoulder -- then forward again as the creatures closed in. Faces of both friends and strangers starting to claw their way onto the roof.

Closing her eyes, she positioned her weapon in front of her, then spread her arms wide, looking up to the sky. Summoning in this world still wasn't the same as in Spira -- but as she exhaled, her thoughts cleared, drawing in breath, calling -- "Anima!"

From somewhere above, a small patch of clouds darkened, an anchor hurling down from from a place unseen. Phasing through and beneath the roof of the building they stood on, and began to re-ascend, dragging with it the beautifully grotesque aeon... Anima.

Her lower half still left in the unknowable abyss below her, the summon looked down, a trail of blood weeping slowly from that eye. The summoner returned her gaze, lookikg back up at the aeon that she had called, a fist pressed to her chest, Yuna nodded. "Oblivion..."

Anima twitched slightly, her claw like hands jerked, as the chains that bound her back into this world rattled, giving way for her to rise even higher out from the place she was summoned. Her lower half rose into view, raising its hands, more bone than flesh, silently outward to break free from the chains that she had bound herself with. The frightening second head, crowned and decaying, cried out with an unearthly wail as she reached out to pummel the manikins that had made their way up, a blinding energy enveloping her her claws.

All of them, from every direction, some shattered on impact, others were thrown far from the rooftop with the sheer force of the blows. And with a loud, final cry, a glyph appeared all around the area, bursting with light -- which felt more like a warm blast of air to the summoner and hopefully Vaan, too.

Once her eyes had adjusted to the light again, Anima disappeared into a cloud of pyreflies, as Yuna fell to her knees, the palms of her hands catching her just in time.

Edited 2016-02-24 21:16 (UTC)

Vaan did as he was told, even gripping the sleeve of her robes as he watched Anima be pulled from the ground, a terrifying creature that he'd never heard of. Vaan clung tighter as he watched the summon shatter the manikins, one after another. It was something he couldn't look around from until it was all over and he was hurriedly catching Yuna about the waist.

"Yuna! Are you okay?" He asked, dropping his gun to assist. Unlike her, he felt like he'd been put into an oven from all that energy, but he wasn't any worse for wear except feeling a little singed. "Yuna?"

At least the manikins were clear so that they had time to breathe for now. And maybe get some more ammo for his gun.

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Event || The Enemy Within

Rift Incident

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sorry this is so much tl;dr

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