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

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[unyieldingspirit]

K'pandolu made a disgruntled sound in response to Tazendra's question. "No one we'd like to meet, I suspect," she muttered, and shook her head.

"We should- move on," she said, but she hesitated when she saw the girl. A Highlander child, here? Born here, or… Eorzean? She stopped, tail waving, eyes narrowed. "Minfilia…?" She cared about children, but still- was this wise?

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[answernpcs]

[The image of the small girl only becomes more distorted as the Heroes get closer. Distorted as if it might be a old projection of an aging film, the surface edges of her frame flicker dramatically as she makes wide-eye contact with Minfilia. A hologram; but hadn't seemed that way until they'd gotten much closer. Like the hologram had substance, of a sort.

There is no mistaking the definitive mark that stains the side of the childs neck. Hardly a tattoo though, it seemed to be a dull birthmark in color rather than the proud purple that those of the Circle of Knowing would wear.

Though as soon as that particular mark is recognized, the hologram of the girl stutters and only comes back into being again a few paces away, as she's running in a direction not quite off the main street, but certainly not the path that the main route in the 15th District would have taken them.]

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[fearlessherosheart]

"An illusion..." Tazendra knew this was something her companions were familiar with, not her, but she couldn't help to look back to make sure it was them that had apparently startled the girl, not something behind them.

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Jack was starting to take a knee, to get on the girl's level, until the image flickers. A projection, a hologram? He stands back up, startled.

Odds that this is a trap versus odds that there's a real little girl somewhere who sent an image of herself to try to bring people for help? "I just said that we don't need to follow where we're being led, but can I take that comment back? Rule number one of traveling with the Doctor is that you're not allowed to ignore a crying child." And the Doctor's rules are the ones that have been serving Jack better here than Torchwood.

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[unyieldingspirit]

Her fingers touched the solid mass of a key, and K'pandolu breathed, trying to tamp down on her feelings. That mark- Thancred's double didn't have it, but- that meant she ought to know this girl.

She glanced sharply at Jack, frowning. She didn't disagree, exactly, but she didn't like the situation one whit. She tapped her hand against her chin, thinking, and nodded to herself after a few moments. "I doubt someone like her is here because of any good reason," she said. "But- we should still be cautious." Her gaze flicked to Minfilia for a moment, and then back to Jack. "The Doctor?"

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[answernpcs]

[Should the Heroes follow the hologram of the small doppelganger-of-an-unnamed-Scion, with it flickering intermittently, they'll find themselves led to an area of the district that seems almost like it's similar in design to a market plaza. There are several stalls set up, all as empty and barren as everything else they've seen so far-

Regrettably the image of the girl seems to have vanished while passing through the stalls, being as they're just under her head height.

It might help to split up to check within the various parts of the plaza-]

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Jack tries to follow fast enough, but he loses sight of the little girl. Darn it. He scans the area for where she could have gone but now there are too many things in the way.

"Split up," it comes out like a Captain's order. "Buddy system," he taps K'Pandolu on the shoulder and starts to lead the way to the right. He hopes she'll follow without his logic getting questioned. He and Tazendra are armed, so they should split up, and they should each stick with one of the two people who seem to know what's going on here.

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[unyieldingspirit]

At a glance, the stalls seemed to offer plenty of places to hide. K'pandolu frowned as she looked around- if everything was set up, where were the rest of the people?

She glanced over at Jack, alerted by that tone of voice, and blinked for a moment before nodding. She tilted her head back towards the other two for a moment, and flicked an ear. "If you find anything, I'll be listening. Just call," she said, and left out that she'd be looking for trouble as well.

She headed for the nearest stall, crouching down to start examining it from bottom to top for anything useful.

EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[answernpcs]

[Further into the plaza Jack and K'Pandolu would happen onto an older male figure, though only familiar in appearance to one of the two. His disposition was tense, and even uncomfortable. He froze momentarily, but loosened several moments later. Happening upon Jack was something he expected, but at the same time, wasn't prepared for.]

I see.

[He muttered calmly, hinting his displeasure in this turn of events.]

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Jack stops short and gasps a breath in, as if he got hit with a bolt of lightning, a sudden shock to his entire system. He's spent enough years around the man, Jack recognizes him even before his face is fully visible. Tense, uncomfortable, displeased, and probably finding something to complain about. Rather than putting Jack on guard, his disposition confirms that maybe this is actually the man he thinks he's looking at.

"Owen?" Tentative, before he snaps out of his shock, and starts walking towards the (former?) field medic. The man who died on his watch twice, now standing in front of him again.

Jack stops only a few feet away, a hand starts to raise as if he wants to reach out and confirm that this one isn't a hologram, but he falters, and it drops back to his side, then his arms fold uncomfortably around himself.

"It really you, or is this place fucking with us again?"

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[unyieldingspirit]

K'pandolu glanced between the two men, her tail twitching slowly. "You two know each other?" she asked, ostensibly to both of them. Jack's actions had already confirmed that he recognised the other man, though, so she wanted to see how this Owen responded. Slightly more to the point- "What do you see, exactly?"

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[answernpcs]

[There wasn't a method in which Owen could console the other. Consoling had never been something he was particularly good at, and with that he came off cynical, as he tended to. Giving the girl a brief glance to acknowledge her before turning his attention to Jack.]

Can't tell the real from fake?

[He might have been offended.] I'm really here.

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

It's him. It's really really him. Jack breaks into a familiar smile, and shifts his weight. "When even the people saying that they're here to help us have been throwing illusions and jerking us around from day one, yeah, sorry, but I had to ask. They could teach Parliament a thing or two, it's that bad..."

"K'Pandolu, I'd like to introduce Dr. Owen Harper, field medic and alien biology specialist from Torchwood." Nods towards K'Pandolu, "K'Pandolu Tohka, a warrior who is way more used to this sort of world than I am."

The joking tone leaves Jack's voice. "It's damn good to see you, Owen. First person I've really seen from our world." Better to see him than even Jack can verbalize without giving anything away.

Which...leads Jack to another point. "What's- the last thing you remember? Before you showed up here?" Tries to keep his voice even, act like the question is casual. "We might not be synced-up, timeline-wise." They aren't. "What can and can't I say, you know?"

Re: EVENT: DOOMED AQURES

[unyieldingspirit]

Judging by Jack's reaction, he at least accepted that this was the same person he knew. With a moment's hesitation, K'pandolu decided to accept that, trying to keep a positive- or at least neutral expression as Jack introduced them.

"A pleasure to meet you," she said, and leaned forward in interest. "An… alien biology specialist?" That sounded curious- would it apply to all of those who were from different worlds, or just those who weren't hyur?

Still, Jack seemed to have the more relevant questions, and she turned her attention to their surroundings again, listening for any clues.

[answernpcs]

[At least doctor wasn't forgotten, and if it was, he would have corrected it.] Pleasure.

[He paused at the question, in spite of being aware of the gaps in one's timeline, he wasn't as new as they thought him to be. Then again, Crystallis wasn't common, even by his universe's logic.]

Let's take this somewhere more private. Follow me.

[A chance to gain some composure. Even though the city was barred, and there wasn't much to advocate for, anything regarding sensitive information was best exchanged behind walls. He lead the two deeper into the district until they stumbled onto a relatively normal looking building. Upon entering, Jack will notice the layout and technology was eerily similar in make and build as Torchwood Three.]

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Jack pauses in the doorway, and his whole face lights up like a kid in a candy store. There's a feeling of familiarity, and almost expectedness, like of course what he would come across would look just the way he expects it to. Jack cranes his neck, looking up at the ceiling, staring at the computer screens. He's almost expecting a pterodactyl to fly overhead any second now.

"Home sweet home... Now we're talking."

He looks back at K'Pandolu, spreads his hands out as if he's showing off the place. "You wanted to know what my world looked like, take a long look around. All this stuff's from home."

But the building brings up a thousand more questions. "Obviously you've settled in for a while." He points vaguely upwards. "This place like this when you got here, or did you build it a piece at a time?"

If a Torchwood Hub was already here, then one, Jack knows the only other person who has been here in a previous cycle who would have built it. Two, he is going to kick himself for literally following in his own footsteps.

And three, there's one piece of tech from Torchwood that they could really use right now. He is looking around very specifically for the Rift Manipulator.

The Other Search Party

[linkpearls]

With Jack giving them the order, Minfilia decided to follow the other woman in their group, holding onto her staff just in case. Question now was what exactly did these stalls have that could help them out?

Heading left, Minfilia had to wonder where the little girl ran off to and why did she have the mark of the Archons at such a young age?

Re: The Other Search Party

[fearlessherosheart]

"This is a strange place,' Tazendra said conversationally. "I wonder what created that illusion." She rifled through whatever was left out in the stands carelessly, trying to find something that looked clue-like.

The Other Search Party

[answernpcs]

It looked, very much as if one day this marketplace might have been the bustling center of the district, though it didn't look really as if food might have been the commodity. It seemed a little too clean for that.

Not before long, as the two women continue to pick through the aisles in the hope that they might find something useful-

"You made it. That's a good sign-."

A certain, overly tall Lyorn noble stepped into the aisle which both heroes were still lingering. Dressed in the traditional red shirt of the warriors of his House, yet overall the style was altered somewhat altered by Aqurean culture. Still with metal vambraces at his forearms.

"-perhaps."

Temma's measured gaze took the presence of both Heroes before him in before carefully meeting with Tazendra's gaze as he drew closer. He knew well of the ferocity of the Dzur and so softened his features.

"Please, do not be alarmed."

Re: The Other Search Party

[fearlessherosheart]

Tazendra's own face broke into a grin. At this point, anyone from her world (even the people she wouldn't mind seeing dead) would be a welcome sight. But a dear friend, and one furthermore that she had last seen in this hospital under Crystal Stasis, was always a welcome sight.

"Bah, I could never be alarmed by a friend, merely pleasantly surprised. It is very good to see you well, Aerich."

At the moment, she was forgetting Minfilia's presence. Or the circumstances that brought them here. Having an old, trusted friend meant everything would be all right.

Re: The Other Search Party

[linkpearls]

Seeing the two interact did make Minfilia glad but she was also unsure if she should speak up because this seems to be someone important to the other woman. Should she give her some time alone with them and go search on her own? More than likely no. Instead, she bows to the man in greeting.

"Well met, good ser."

She'd ask what is going on but mayhap it wasn't her question to ask...

The Other Search Party

[answernpcs]

"Would that our reunion be indeed a cause for celebration-" Aerich's eyes softened a little around the edges as his usual stern countenance threatened to sag for all it was worth in the face of Tazendra's endearing friendship. The very corners of his mouth turned up in could well be a smile if not for the grim circumstances.

"-yet, as you can see around you, things are far from well."

Sadness passed behind Aerich's eyes and he disconnected the contact with Tazrendra's before looking over Minfilia briefly and then around the marketplace. There was the distinct impression, that he had known this place when it had been so much more bustling and full of life, and Aqures' state of being now left behind only a chilling sense of despair.

Re: The Other Search Party

[fearlessherosheart]

"Yes, what has happened here?" Tazendra said. "By my recollection, I -- and my companions," she gestured to Milfinia, "Have only been gone a few days."

Re: The Other Search Party

[linkpearls]

And things cannot change so drastically within a day or two. Minfilia simply nods in agreement and waits to hear an explanation before jumping the staff. She wants to know everything and why it happened.

The Other Search Party

[answernpcs]

"I'm afraid there is a lot more to it than that, though I yearn for it to be that simple."

Aerich didn't look back to the two ladies before him and seemed for all good intentions and purposes to be lost in near enough glaring down the main street which the Heroes had come. Towards the rest of the remainder of the City; ghost town now, as it was. In the silence that followed, a breeze howled it's way close to the ground and through the stalls, the carpet of mist didn't ever seem to stir, though.

Eventually, the nobleman took a long breath in and cleared his throat as he looked back, resting his long sweep of a gaze on Tazendra again.

"You're much too late to do anything, about this reality. You see, we're much further into the future that just a couple of days."