melodiesoflife | Intro Log || The Deep Breath Before The Plunge

Characters: All the "Heroes of Light" (only new characters can start threads).
Where: Aqures Ixen.
When: The 5th of July. 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: N/A.

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. Well, that is if you don't die or crystallize first.

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 the Festival of Light nearing, there are a lot of folks working hard to set up the upcoming event! And besides this, there are a lot of things to do in the city for newcomers. Moogles are working hard in Mognet Office of the ninth district! Characters are also free to visit the city-- They can visit Airship Port in the twelfth district from where characters can board for free Airships from Shoopuf Airline. There is however the impression that everyone is on edge, and a lot more officers from the law enforcement in the streets. Why could it be...?

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. It seems all the computer shut down recently, but the people working in the lab are restarting everything. The screens seem to indicate the "summoning process" is over and that the Crystal of Fire's energy level are dangerously. 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 last year.

Very Close Encounters of the Thirteenth Kind
— 14:00 —
Characters venturing by the Ninth District at this time will be able to see a most peculiar and unexpected sight. They will see a strange blue creature running after a Moogle, with the later looking particularly distressed. Before anyone could have a chance to react, the two of them entered a building... And a few minutes later, the blue creature could be seen emerging from the building, running away with a Kupo Nut in hand. In a surprising reversal, this time the Moogle is the one pursuing the blue creature. Needless to say, the Moogle looks furious at this turn of event.

Trying to pursue the blue creature will result in failure and it will disappear. What could it mean...?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He wasn't the only one to realize the other, distracted by the fact that most of his friends were still crystal themselves. His name being called stopped him in his tracks however, looking over to see who it was. It was still weird to hear the name he'd chosen after all this time.

"Yeah. Though I'd probably pinch yourself just in case." To which Lin couldn't help but laugh. Ah, good times. "Been a while hasn't it, Cloud?"

Cloud got a brief look on his face, considering whether to try pinching himself as Ira suggested. He glanced over at where Zack and Tifa were though and decided if this was a dream then it wasn't doing a fantastic job on wish fulfillment.

"Yeah...a while. Feels longer than it's been probably. How are you feeling?"

Oh, come on Cloud, you know if he's around it's likely a nightmare in sheep's clothing. But then, perhaps that's just what reality is. Dreams never gave what he wanted in the first place.

"Oh, just great." He shrugged it off, following Cloud's gaze for a second before his gaze falls back to Sora. "My older sister's still missing, likely a statue somewhere, and, well." He gestured with a hand to the others in stasis around them. "Guess being awake's an improvement."

"Maybe. You don't remember anything while you're in crystal stasis right? Like, were you 'awake'?" As much as Cloud wanted Tifa and Zack to hear him when he was talking to them he had this little fear in the back of his mind that they were completely aware even as they were frozen like this.

"Considering what's coming soon, it's probably better to be awake so you can help fight back....and wait...what do you mean older sister?" This was news to Cloud.

"Remember?" He frowns deeply, glancing down as if he's straining to recall, or perhaps find the words. "...Vaguely, but nothing I could really say." Which was very frustrating as it was. Add to his own swiss-cheese of a memory in regards to whatever happened before he awoke in the Tower, he wasn't all that pleased.

"Xion. She was one of the Heroes from Mysidia several months ago." He replied, before crossing his arms. After all, her body wasn't among the others that had been... discovered. Since they were more human-like than the materials they were made from in this world, he almost hopes she is in stasis and didn't simply vanish. "I'm going to guess you mean something to do with Palitutu?"

"I see...sorry. I have a few friends who are in Crystal Stasis too and I'm worried they're...well I'm worried for them." He waved his hand, trying to swat the thought from the sky. It's something he didn't need to chase after, but it was like a bug in his mind.

"Xion...I think I ran into her in the markets or a shop when she was here. She seemed nice." He frowned, the worst case scenario coming to mind but there was no reason to chase it down right now, let alone suggest it. "If I hear anything about her I'll let you know. And yeah, Palitutu. She wants to meet us in August."

"I'd be surprised if you weren't." He always kind of got the feeling that Cloud was a good guy. Maybe a bit headstrong and susceptible to mind manipulation, but definitely not a seedy type or one to break trust if it could be helped. Maybe that's why he let that detail slip...

"Why am I not surprised?" He asked rhetorically. "'Let's meet together at a location of my choosing. It clearly isn't a trap of sorts meant to kill every last one of you, no!'"

...He may have personal experience with that.

CLoud nodded at Ira, appreciating the vote of confidence. That smile was quickly lost to a sour look as they got rolling on the topic of Palitutu. "Pretty much that exactly. In fact it was either Ib or Tsubomi who had a vision that she'd be attacking us with the Ultima WEAPON once we do meet with her. So really we're all getting ready for a fight, and the only difference here is we're now absolutely sure there will be one rather than fretting over the maybes and could be's."

"Seriously?" Man, and here he was just kidding. He slumps a little, but not long after, he's... laughing? Not exactly the hinged, this one. "Man, how cliche can she get...? That's the oldest trick in the book."

[ > You get the feeling he has personal experience with antagonists... ]

"I know, right? After all this time. All we've been through in this world. Especially with her. And she expects us to just come out and talk to her? Even if we didn't know in advance we'd still be expecting it."

"She won't expect just talk." Of that, he sounds the most certain than he has of anything else. Though he looks just about ready to head out when he adds one last thing. "Here's to hoping this puppet can pull just a little harder on the remnants of their strings, then."

With that said, he started to head toward the door...

Cloud nodded as he walked away, "The puppets are getting tired of the show. I'm all for dragging the puppeteers down onto the stage if that's what it takes."

A faint, slightly-tired smirk crossed his lips as Cloud responded to that. "Exactly. Only way it could be better is if the stage were on fire, too."

...Well, he is two years old...

"I don't know if I want to go that far. I might want to stay in this world and live here when this is all over." His tone was light though, he knew that's not what Ira meant. He hoped so anyway.

"No one said the entire stage," he retorted, the smirk growing just a bit over his shoulder as he waved it off. "Just where the spotlight shines brightest." Okay, now they're just being silly with these metaphors.

Intro Log || The Deep Breath Before The Plunge

Hospital (wow this did not appear in my inbox wtf? :C)

It's ok. Can't quite remember how long ago Ira went into stasis though.

2-3 months ago from this intro log.

Sorry, inbox hid this from me

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