melodiesoflife | Event || The Festival Of Light

"...If only we knew what was really going on, we could have stopped him in the first place. But were were powerless. The only person on our side who knew the truth was captured, and I had the Egg of Light on me when I was swept away and lost my memories. There was nothing standing between the Pigmasks and our village."

Duster had tried to comfort himself that he wasn't the sole reason the Dark Dragon had to be woken. Perhaps, despite their best efforts, the Egg wouldn't be enough. Leder wouldn't be a one man army. But even so...the guilt ate at his mind sometimes. Kumatora's family was dead because of him, sacrifices for a new world.

"But we had to push on. We had to keep on fighting. We had to take down Porky, no matter what. We went to an island where we saw visions of our worst fears, of our weaknesses, and we had to take a break just to recover."

When he was teleported to the Heran area, the events of Tanetane island were brought to mind.

"...I don't know if it's important, but I'm reminded of a lot of things, now that I think about it."

Vincent listened as Duster spoke, attentive and quiet. Taking note of some things, mind turning over a few things. It was not the time though to point them out and as he listened, Vincent wondered if Duster was seeking a point of view, advice, or simply a 'sympathetic' ear.

The latter seemed most likely, given the mood.

"Hindsight is always clearer." Vincent murmured. "There's an old tale I recall hearing somewhere, about a woman cursed to unleash a plague of evil upon the world. She was married to a wise man, who gave her a locket to help seal her curse. But he never thought to tell her why she shouldn't open it, only that it was important she keep it safe. His brother later could see the folly, as he could see the holes and the threads that lead to her opening it, in hindsight."

Duster needed any kind of response. Whether he was right to believe that, whether there was another answer to their problems, he wants to know which path to take. He was used to receiving orders and knowing what was expected from him, nothing vague like "stop the Calamity". There were too many ways to deal with it.

"...Why wouldn't he tell her if he was so wise? Wasn't she his wife?" Tazmily didn't have a similar legend, but the story felt unfair towards the woman.

Vincent privately agreed, as he'd always thought the story was kind of dumb too. "There was supposedly some detail about one brother only being able to see the future, the other only able to see the past." Another shrug of his shoulder, as it was a stupid parable.

"I'm not one who can give you answers, Duster. Our own situation on Gaia has parallels to the situation here. It does not exactly mean we know what to do though."

"Ah. Sounds like the legends from my world." The brothers didn't have the ability to create of destroy a world, but they must have been a powerful force when working together.

"It would be a lot easier if we knew what choices we had." It was too opened ended for him. Duster was never good and deciding for himself, much less figuring out what to do with his life without any visible paths.

That brought a hint of a low laugh, not a kind one either--full of hints of bitterness. "You're far from alone in that sentiment."

"...I can tell." Duster couldn't tell if Vincent was upset with him or for him, but he didn't have any further comments. The crowd continued to mingle behind them as if their problems had no affect on the festivities. Life continued as normal for them.

Vincent was certainly not upset with Duster; it would've been obvious if he was. Upset for him? Maybe--nor was he upset solely for the other. Several moments spent in silence, people moving around them, before Vincent broke it softly.

"There are too many similarities, at times, on this planet to Gaia. I can not see them all, but others see those I miss. Supposedly, counting those of us in Crystal in the hospital, our planet has had the most Heroes pulled from it."

Duster's reverie while gazing at the dark skyline was replaced by a sense of alarm. He turned around to face Vincent while his hands remains grasping the railing. "Really? What do you mean?"

Vincent remained about as stoic as he ever was, crimson eyes meeting Duster's own easily. "About which? For people..."

"Sephiroth, Lucrecia, Cloud, Yuffie, Tifa, Barret, Reno, Elena--a few times, Rufus, " Starting with people he could confirm himself, then moving to those he'd been told had been here from Gaia--names unfamiliar to him at times, but crystalized in the hospital all the same. "Genesis, Another alternate version of the same, Aerith, Angeal, Shelke, Zack." A pause. "Fourteen people, not counting myself or duplicates, all from Gaia."

"That's..." Duster searched for the right words. "There has to be a reason. Maybe Gaia is really similar to Crystallis? ...I don't know." He was only tossing out his first guess.

That was Vincent's point, actually. What if Gaia was similar to Crystallis? "I can not confirm the presence of one other from Gaia, as he is neither in Crystal stasis, nor have I found him in person." Outwardly Vincent was as stoic as ever, but there was anger in his tone, and hints of hatred in his eyes as he spoke too. "But I have found his name, working alongside others including Kalki."

Which meant 16 people confirmed, not counting duplicates or alternates. All from different points in the time-line, and some not from Gaia directly before arriving in Crystallis. But all from the same world.

"We do not have crystals, nor jobs, nor a job system on Gaia. All of this has been new to us upon arriving here. Moogles are creatures of myth or children's toys. Many monsters are similar, and occasionally names." Trano Golsaucia--how fitting the entertainment district should be like the Gold Saucer.

"What? She got someone to work for her, like another Hero?" From Vincent's tone, Duster guessed that he didn't see him when the Mysidian Heroes came in February. Kalki found him sometime earlier. "How did you find out?"

Vincent understood what Duster meant, but the idea of Hojo as a 'hero' in any way, shape, or form made the darker man feel physically ill. "It is not confirmed, only that his name was present and he had an office, where we also found others including her had worked."

"...He might not be around anymore." It was only a theory, but one that might provide peace of mind to Vincent.

Vincent turned his head slightly, as they were getting off topic. "If he is, when I find him, he will shortly thereafter not exist." A very sincere promise.

"But we are moving away from your questions." Whether Hojo was or was not still around, Vincent would deal with it. Should the scientist be around, the gunslinger knew he was also not likely to be the only one who would deal with him permanently if possible.

"Gaia has similarities to Crystallis. Souls tied to the life of the planet, being used in other ways. A calamity from the skies..." Then the sheer number of them all brought there. There may BE no connection; just as easily as there could be.

"Hmm." There were too many similarities for it to be a coincidence. Combined with all the people Crystallis pulled from Gaia, there had to be something connecting the two worlds.

"Maybe the Calamity branches out into other worlds? It might pull a lot of people from yours because it's so similar..." Duster's voiced trailed off, as he was unsure if any of his theories held merit. He was certainly not qualified to speak against Palitutu in a few days.

"Sadly those are questions we're unlikely to be able to answer." Vincent let his gaze go back out over the railing. "You're not alone in wondering though, at similarities between what you know from home and here." Which is why he'd started that trail, after Duster had shared his story.

There was more, things Vincent had only been wondering about at the edges of his mind. Things he was disinclined to share for the moment with anyone else.

The worlds everyone came from...they had their own problems, some which were dangerous like Duster's and Vincent's. The Calamity didn't care if the world was a safe one or on the brink of destruction. It wanted everything.

"It might be that calamities are more common than we thought."

Vincent just nodded; there were other similarities between Crystallis and Gaia, but now wasn't the time to go into them. Besides which that Vincent would have to make sure to check what 'facts' he'd gathered first. Misinformation would be as detrimental to the production of theories as anything else might be.

Letting that thread of conversation go, silence didn't bother him. The darker man broke it after a few moments anyways. "Are you nervous, for what's to come?"

To be frank, Duster wasn't sure. He had fought rocket-equipped robots, nigh-indestructible stone statues, golem guardians, cyborg reindeer, half-mechanical men with psychic powers, a horde of ghosts...after all that, battles weren't a frightening aspect of his life. There was a sense of nervousness that came with every major task, but the thought of Ultima WEAPON showing up right on the plains wasn't as frightening an image as he has expected it to be. Maybe it was because he knew that they would pull through. Maybe Duster was still riding on the high of his date. No mater what, he had to remind himself that his was a serious matter.

"What will happen in a few days...it will change everything. I guess I'm nervous what the world will be like when it's all over, but nothing about the fight." Duster had always had difficulty getting emotionally worked up about the future; this was as nervous as he typically could be.

Vincent was used to battles too. He was even used to facing WEAPONS, albeit not as often. The Weapons of this world were also different than on Gaia--similar, but not the same. Briefly he regretted that timing hadn't worked out for him to go face the Diamond weapon here.

Still, it was in the past.

"I do not think it will change everything." The problems of this world were too big, and they were all coming whether anyone was ready or not. "I do think it will reduce options. We'll be committed to certain paths and others will be unavailable."

More quietly, and slightly philosophical. "In that sense, I suppose everything will change. Some options towards our goals will no longer be possible."

Duster was a ease once Vincent confirmed he was somewhat right. It had been four years since he left Tazmily, but the fear of being horribly wrong still kept roots in his heart. It was easily quieted, though he could tell they existed.

"There's not much we can plan for until it's over... Even if we stop her, we'll know more than we do now. Until then...all we can do is to have faith in out destiny."

The words of his bandmates resounded in the back of Duster's mind. He kept his faith in chance back then, and it turned out peachy-keen, right? Letting things pass as they are was a strategy Duster confided in.

Vincent wasn't personally a fan of destiny. Albeit he could see Fate being cruel, especially given what had happened to him and the world after, he strongly disliked the idea that he was not a master of his own path. Especially since his mistakes were his own, and no one else should bear the burden for them.

"There are several of us willing to stop her or die in the attempt." He was one of them. No illusions that this might be a suicide-mission, regardless of their status as Heroes of Light.

"...I know. I am, too." Knowing he would return in a week eased the likelihood of death. The only deterrent was knowing that Santa will throw a fit when Duster returned. He had some issues with losing the people he cared about, and while Duster didn't want to contribute to it, the fate of the world was at hand. Death...was not a problem.

Unless the Ultima WEAPON was prepared for that.

"You don't think Palitutu has a way to kill us permanently?" Duster wasn't skeptical, but he hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Event || The Festival Of Light

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