Event || The Answer

[melodiesmods]

Characters: All characters who signed-up for the event.
Where: South Continent of Balance (Imperial Territories)
When: April 20th to April 30th.
Summary: The Heroes of Light have lost consciousness and now find themselves in the middle of nowhere, without their Moogles and away from everything they know. They will have to get back home, but what awaits them on the path? For more information, please check the First OOC Post and Second OOC Post.
Warning: Bad things.

Group 01: Team Hijinks House
Group 02: Team Brigands
Group 03: Team Discovery Channel
Group 04: Sephiroth's (In)Sanity Squad
Group 05: Team (Bad) Shipping Advice
Group 06: Team Blue-Haired Lords on Fire
Group 07: Team Mom and Late Sleepers
Group 08: Nothing Bad Will Happen
Group 09: The Hellhounds
Group 10: Loftwings, A Working Title
Group 11: Team Oni
Group 12: Team F.N.T.I²
Group 13: Team Name-In-Progress
Group 14: Team The-Mods-Couldn’t-Brain-A-Name
Group 15: Seraphim Shenanigans

Comments

[ranoutofbugs]

I'm sure there's at least one good quality about this place.

[she pauses for a moment.]

The air isn't entirely rancid!

[nervous laughter]

[water_meebo]

[ Mikleo continued to look around at the general area as they continued down the direction. Of course, he didn't know what to say to Edna, thus keeping to himself and letting Lailah handle the matter. She seemed more attuned with Edna's emotions than he was.

They always argued somehow, but right now he didn't really want to get into a fight. They needed to get back safely somehow. ]

I suppose if you want to be optimistic about it, Lailah.

[ A small smile on his face as he said those words. ]

It's not as bad as what we had to deal with when it came to the Malevolence.

[answernpcs]

[They happened upon a small village of sorts, clearly holding no allegiance to one side or another. However, unlike most human civilizations, this one lacked any real community.

A young child could be found, crouched over by a stiff body crying. The resemblance of the stilled figure to the child indicated that the two were likely related. The boy wept historically over the womanly figure.]

[ranoutofbugs]

[Lailah steadied her chocobo, not knowing exactly how to react to the child.]

I don't think we should stay here.

[She looked at her companions, speaking softly.]

Resupplying here wouldn't be doing this village any favors.

[water_meebo]

It probably wouldn't make them feel comfortable for strangers to enter their village right now either.

[ He watches the child for a moment before moving his chocobo over to them. Eventually, he gets off but he keeps his distance so that if anything happens he will react accordingly. ]

Where do you suppose we go from here Lailah?

[ He doesn't advert his eyes from the child, though he knows it might be potentially dangerous to approach him anymore than he is. ]

[answernpcs]

[The scene, as dark as it is, continues on regardless of the involvement. The young child doesn't acknowledge their presence and continues to mourn over his lost mother. Other nearby villagers appear weak or suffering from the effects of famine. It was obvious that the village was suffering from poverty, with no hopes of coming back from their hopeless state.

What will the heroes do?]

[ranoutofbugs]

It doesn't feel right just passing by without doing anything...

[she turns to her companions.]

How would you feel if I rode with one of you, and we leave my chocobo here for them to eat or use as they see fit?

I know it's but a brief respite, but it doesn't feel like there's anything we can realistically do to help this land recover.

[water_meebo]

I don't either, but we're not sure what they need more right now.

[ Mikleo replies as the child doesn't seem to acknowledge him at all. He doesn't counter Lailah's concerns. He agrees with her if anything. The Water Seraph gave a long thought before nodding his head. ]

It's fine if you want to do that. It does seem better to give them something if anything at all. I can also leave what rations we still have from my bag.

[ Since he was traveling with Lust, he packed other things that could be edible. Mikleo procures them from his bag. ]

It would require a lot of assistance in many different ways. We'd have to ask for assistance from the other "Heroes of Light."

[ While he does say that he wonders what Edna is thinking through all of this. ]

[terrorfirma]

( it was one of those times where edna seemed to just disappear, only to reappear a short while later on foot. she didn't say anything to anyone at first, approaching the mourning child with a flower in her hand. one she'd collected in her journeys in crystallis.

without a word, she approached, laying it close to the deceased. quiet still, she stayed there for a moment, not exactly outright comforting the child, but obviously trying to offer some sort of consolation with her silence.

when she was finally done, she turned to the child, nodding just once, then went back to the other two seraphim, and approached her well-disciplined chocobo again. )

Either way is fine with me. ( it wasn't as though their measly offerings would mean much in this level of suffrage, but... it was something, wasn't it? )

Do we even know what this village is? Or where exactly? ( a glance at the child — perhaps he had even just a bit of information that would be helpful? )

[answernpcs]

[The child acknowledge the blonde girl with a brief glance, eyes blurred, before returning to his morning.

A young teen girl unknowlngly stumbled upon the group, plagued with famine like all the rest. Those were just the ones that were still alive. Deeper within the village the stench of death would waft heavily against them, should they choose to continue through it instead of turn around.]

It's gone! It's all gone!

[She shrieked before clutching tightly onto Mikleo's shoulders. Her weakened state fell onto the male, using him as a crutch, as she was unable to sustain herself properly. The teen was even too deprived to cry, sobbing dryly against him.]

[ranoutofbugs]

[Lailah bit her lower lip before tentatively responding.]

Yes, being out of breath mints is a very serious concern.

[It was a terrible joke, but Lailah had absolutely no idea how to react in this situation.]

I'm sorry, miss, but we're just passing by. We're trying to get to the northern territories, and happened by this village on the way.

[water_meebo]

[ Mikleo watches Edna silently. Even Edna felt how awful the whole entire scenario was. For her to do this made him feel even more concerned about the pending situation. There's not much he can do in this situation with just him and the other two Seraphim. If they had their original abilities and their own capabilities again, this wouldn't be too hard.

He was taken by surprise when the screeching girl went straight for him and gripping his shoulder. He was momentarily knocked into a state of surprise. That feeling of death and the feelings he was getting form the village aren't helping their condition. ]

Please calm down...what-- is-- What is gone?

[ He tries to get his composure back, while giving Lailah a confused look. The joke was uncalled for, but it was clearly a situation where Lailah would make just a joke. ]

Lailah....

[ His brows slowly knit together in pain, knowing what Lailah is intending to do. He holds onto the girl for a moment longer, to keep her grounded. She was such a sobbing mess that he can't help but feel really bad about what they're going to do. However, how the situation deems it, there isn't much they can do at this point. They didn't know a single thing about the village, much less its inhabitants. Their original goal was to regroup in the main City and gaining assistance from other Heroes of Light. ]

[answernpcs]

Everything... Everyone... It's all gone.

[She wept silently, only focusing on the person she managed to make a connection with. Not that the girl could blame the older woman, it was a lost cause, after all. Her dirt caked retracted, garnering some space between her and the boy.]

The Calamity.

[Before she could divulge anything more, her body fell limp, and collapsed before Mikleo. Likely the cause of shock. There was no telling if and when she would wake up, or if her last breaths were drawing near as she remained still.]

[terrorfirma]

( she'd watched the scene staying silent this time, then finally as the girl collapsed, approached closer to mikleo. she leaned down closing her eyes and reaching out a hand, casting various white magic in the process. life, cura, esuna... if anything could help the girl, hopefully one of those spells could.

finally, when she had finished her casting, she stood tall again, glancing back at mikleo and lailah. ) There's something to be said about dramatics here, you know. But... ( she glanced around, reminded of how some places looked even in the continent of glennwood... when they had been overrun by malevolence and hellions alike. )

The situation here does seem pretty awful. Which probably means you guys want to do something about it even more knowing that. It'd be stupid to think we could help all of them, or any of them for that matter now, though. We still haven't even figured out where we are exactly.

( she regarded the boy in his mourning again, frowning deeper than usual. ) Hey, you. Why don't you tell us where this place is so we can let those other hero guys know about it?

( and hey, if it gave them a clearer view of their own position on the map, all the better, right? )

[ranoutofbugs]

[Count of Edna to stay as emotionally uninvolved as she could out of all of them. Lailah had to continually remind herself that it was her own job to keep the group from falling apart, and that nobody else should have had to shoulder that burden. Getting off of her steed, Lailah also approached the young man and knelt down to see him at eye level.]

So, the Calamity... instead of being a single event, it's already progressing. It just hasn't hit Aqures Ixen yet?

[Perhaps this was what the ghastly little girl was trying to warn them about?]

[water_meebo]

[ Of course, it was Edna who broke the tension with off handed comments, but clearly he could tell that she was concerned as much as he was. Lailah might have been cold but it was a typical response. She was the Prime Lord, and in situations like this were when she was needed the most. He was well aware that there was no way they could do anything on their own but leaving these people behind seemed also painful, but at the memory of Lailah's words in the past, he knew that they had no other choice but to move on and return with reinforcement.

He wondered if they were even able to save these people by that time, or lose completely. Only time will tell honestly. He softly speaks to the girl, containing his emotions the best he can but it's obvious even that thought was hard to do. He slowly lowered the girl to the ground after she passed out from the shock and unsure of what to say. He was truly grateful for Edna's help healing, and whatever she may have done for the girl. ]

I-I see.

[ He keeps himself steady as he continues to keep his grip on the exhausted girl. It felt that if he let her go, she'd simply just drop. The whole ordeal was a heavy reminder of the burden of those who traveled with the Shepherd and made pacts with the Prime Lord in order to quell Malevolence. Even now, the Calamity was ghastly familiar to him-- almost like the Malevolence, only there was a huge difference. At least then they knew how to fix the issues of the Malevolence. For this matter, it was a completely different story. The Calamity continued no matter how hard they tried and it didn't seem to stop. ]

They're right. If you can give us a little information we can bring help a lot faster. I know it's a lot to ask of you both but please.

[ He ushered in a worried voice. ]