melodiesoflife | Event || Melodies Of Life

Palitutu's reply caught Sephiroth somewhat unawares. So it really was all as simple as having enough people all together in one location so as to cause enough of a threat that could be used as leverage in order to get them to respond to her call-out. The manipulation continued, indeed.

If it hadn't been for the others, and in particular Jade's suggestion, alongside his own rekindled desire to fix things, Sephiroth might well have turned away from it for the last time. The biggest manipulation being the raw truth of life and death, after all.

"The Soul Divider-" He'd attempt to field Twilight's query, in particular, but occasionally glanced to Palitutu just to keep her in sights; he's not convinced of her logic with regard to it. "-is a huge machine, developed by the Ancients to filter the life energy from other worlds and feed it back into the Crystal as if it were part of the indigenous cycle already in place.

"It takes the form of a gigantic crystal tree which reaches down into the core of the Planet itself-" A pointed look then at Reno, the correlation to mechanisms available on Gaia quickly firing off.

"Quite kind of like a planet-sized, reverse Mako reactor..." But something about what he knew, still didn't sit and the frown deepened as he sought out Palitutu's attention once more.

"But what of our assimilation? Assuming it were possible, surely our own energy would be as risk?"

Whew. Saved by some quick thinking by Jade. Levy lets out a sigh of relief, shooting him a quick smile before turning back to Palititu.

"So... if this plan is good enough, you'll make good on your promise to deactivate the WEAPON, right? What will you do after this? Are you going to stay here and help us with this, or go back into hiding? Because I can't be the only one here thinking that we need to know where you are, especially if you're taking the WEAPON with you when you leave."

"And before you go bringing up the Diamond WEAPON, we went after it to keep it out of your hands. A few of us were all for destroying it outright. The only reason we held onto it was in the case we had to use it against your own toy." Mary crossed her arms and leaned back on her heel.

"But I'm sure Artemicion has filled you in on this already." She glanced at the moogle, "Being called fools there when we were acting in the interests of our survival didn't go a long way to encourage us to follow your suggestion. Apologies."

Rialynn exhaled audibly, her shoulders sagging with relief. She'd done all she could to prepare for this fight, but she was still hoping for a peaceful agreement, one that didn't involve a huge and horrible fight to the death.

She remained quiet, listening carefully and committing as much of the conversation as she could to her memory. Old habits died hard, and the historian part of her bardy self knew this was an incredibly important event that needed to be remembered by future generations.

So that giant Crystal Tree they'd visited in the quartz-like forest was the Soul Divider. She looked at Jade before returning her gaze to Palitutu. She'd gladly volunteer to go back and check it out again, since she was a little more familiar with that area, but she didn't want to interrupt the negotiations that were already in progress.

Palitutu and the two surrounding her looked at the Heroes as they discussed their possibilities, and she turned to Sparks to answer his question. One of them at least.

“You have been living with your repressed emotions and thoughts since childhood, Sparks Nevada. What fragment of the Calamity dwells within you has fed on what you reject. I do not believe I need to reiterate for everyone to hear what your difficulties in the emotional domain are.”

She then looked at Sephiroth, Ira, Reno and Twilight in succession. Her expression softened slightly, but she didn’t look convinced for as much.

“I said Jade’s idea has merit. But it is only this: an idea, raw and unrefined. For every positive aspect of his idea, there is a flaw. It would not bear any fruits in its current state and the risks are beyond the fate of your own worlds. Should Garland die and should your attempts fail, it is the existence of every world that is at risk.”

When Levy spoke though, Palitutu froze and looked at her with surprise upon hearing her suggestions—Or veiled demands.

“Deactivate the WEAPON? Allow you to track me? … Surrender myself to your whims?”

She stared at Levy in disbelief for a moment before laughing—It wasn’t a mocking laugh, but more akin to a genuine and happy laugh; as if she hadn’t laughed in a very long time. And the laugh lasted for over a dozen seconds before she finally shook her head and smiled at Levy and Kidd both. Most likely a weird sight as she had never even smiled before.

“Thank you, Levy. Your collective optimism and hope is quite contagious. I had nearly forgotten why I had forbidden myself to show my true feelings for all these years. An emotion weaves another and so on. And the second you display any signs of weaknesses or vulnerabilities, the wolves shall seize the occasion to attack—” Her smile faded at this very moment and she returned to the expression the Heroes were more familiar with. “And you have proven to be quite quick to press your chance.”

With that said, she looked back at the Heroes before her.

“Garland will show you no clemencies. Therefore, neither shall I.”

At this point, the ground trembled ever so slightly. There was nothing in sight, but surely that couldn’t be good.

“Let it be clear: If you cannot overcome me you stand not the shadow of a chance against Garland, not to speak of your odds against the Calamity. For all your deeds so far, none come close to what awaits you should you walk the path you offered. And if you lack the power to make your words come true—I shall forbid you to interfere any more than you have and threaten the stability of the cycle.”

No, damn it, they were so close to finding a peaceful solution! Ramza could not allow this to descend into chaos without making an effort to reclaim their tentative understanding with Palitutu.

"But must Garland truly die to see our plan through to the end? In a few months' time, I shall have the power of the Freelancer class, and others have the power of the Onion Knight. If we send a force to face him while others go through the Rift to face the Avatars, we can do it without killing him and destroying the failsafe. We need only delay him until the deed is done, and we have the power for that."

Ramza refused to believe they needed to kill Garland. It was pointless to do so.

"I know you will not consent to surrendering your power or freedom, but do not make us fight you. Bloodshed will not aid anyone, whereas cooperation may well win the day."

Chrom's head bowed slightly. He was resistant to the idea of killing Garland to satisfy their goals, but he still remembered the look on the old knight's face during that oddly peaceful Christmas dinner shared together. He was tired, and probably wanted nothing more than a release from the fate that bound him.

He was loathe to cut down someone they depended upon to reset the cycle if they failed; in that, he was their ally. But if that was what Garland truly wanted, who were they to deny him?

At least he knew now that the Calamity hadn't swallowed him up as he'd initially feared. Where was he, then? Did he dwell in that new place, that Pandaemonium?

Chrom's introspection was cut short as he felt the first tremor that reverberated through his boots and up through the crystal shards of his armor with a light high-pitched song. He really couldn't ditch this suit of armor fast enough.

He smiled at Palitutu's brave challenge, and nodded once. "Then I hope we do not disappoint you." Chrom had never known Palitutu before, nor tasted the bitterness of her betrayal. After meeting with her here, he felt as if they could unite once the battle was over. She was intelligent, and determined. He had no desire to take the life of one who had so much left to offer this world.

He cast Protect on himself before drawing Falchion. The best quality of the Crystal Knight job wasn't the fact that it could not be unequipped, but in its ability to defend others from harm. He was fully prepared to play the role of ~~meat~~ shield.

"It's fighting tiiiiiime~!" With that Deadpool drew a set of katana and went into a fighting post. "A lot of people here are still going to sit here and try not to fight you, but, ya know what? I've been itching for a fight! We're both alike - we got a lot of blood on our hands, but you know what's the difference between you an' me? You killed innocents for your stupid little schemes!"

"I made a promise to Cap back home I'd try to be good and not kill people and be a real hero. But, that's back home and Captain Geriatric isn't here! And as the only person from my team here, it gives me the great honor of saying the one phrase that means you're going to get your butt whupped!"

There's a big deep breath as he throws his arms into the air.

"AVENGERS ASSEMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!"

As he'd thought, Palitutu wasn't going to back down just because they had offered her one alternative. It would have been shocking if she did. No one who went this far for their convictions would give up that easily.

So be it. While Ramza was trying to appeal to reason and Deadpool was making his own version of an inspiring speech, Jade quietly backed away and cast Stats Lore. The mastered Onion Knight Job had allowed him to pick the exact abilities he wanted.

What made the earth tremble was almost certainly the Ultima WEAPON. Would she teleport back to it or force them to split their forces?

Either way -- while they were all still together, Jade could give everyone a buff with Enlightenment. Normally, the skill would double their attack; with Stats Lore active, each Hero's attack power would be quadrupled.

Rukia drew her sword from its sheath. She didn't have access to her shikai just yet, but she could still wield the soul slayer in its sealed form with few difficulties. For now, she summoned Yuki. The green feathered chocobo shimmered into place at Rukia's side.

"Cast Haste," she commanded, and pointed at Jade. As long as he'd been here, his skills would be invaluable in this fight. He'd need as many buffs as possible. What was more, Rukia was unwilling to strike Palitutu until the Tarutaru hit first. Something about that conversation seemed oddly sad, and she wished to avoid taking her life unless there were no other way around it.

Yuki chirruped, ruffling her wings as she spun and elegantly bowed her head, the Haste spell accelerating Jade's movement and abilities.

Aang sighed. He was hoping Jade's preparation could persuade Palitutu. Now it looked like they would have to fight her. "We just have to defeat her. We don't have to kill her to prove this point."

Some of that involved making sure that Palitutu actually surrendered. Aang didn't have any ability to take away someone's Jobs the way he could take away bending back home. And he better hope that they could shut down the Ultima WEAPON.

His Dancer job had limited ability to help his allies, and he was only a novice airbender here, so he sat and waited, ready to act.

At around about the same time that Jade had decided to back away Sephiroth did also, taking a significant few feet back-pedaling as Palitutu gave her finishing words in response to Levy. A familiar, intuitive feeling already knowing whats coming before the tarutaru even needs to say it.

The Enlightenment spell settles over Sephiroth as he takes the first two steps with his back turned, paused only as the rumble to the ground was registered as he fixed his gaze on the view of their arrangement of forces before him. He breathed in slowly-

SOLDIER's combat-mode was initiated, and before that initial charged feeling of mako-like energy recedes he'd broken into a full sprint back to the front lines of his own platoon. Using the momentum as he went along to roughly pull his own sword from it's harnessed sheathe.

"PREPARE TO ENGAGE-!"

If nothing else, the way that those troops nearest him would react in taking battle stances and locking weapons in ready positions would give a clear enough signal to those others around, and in the air.

Pyrrha has remained relatively quiet in the crowd of Heroes spectating while the negotiations with Palitutu were still going on. She hasn't been in this world half as long as a lot of the people standing here, and understands far less about the Heroes' current situation than many of the people who have been talking, so she's been content to leave the talking up to the others.

But the moment the ground starts to rumble, she suddenly springs into action - vaulting into the air, drawing her spear, and landing atop her red chocobo as it appears under her. It would seem the time for talking is over. Now it's time for her to show the results of her training, both here and at home.

"Xanthus, get ready!"

Pyrrha's form glows with a soft reddish light as she activates her Aura, hardening her defenses against whatever Palitutu is about to throw at them. It's not a defense that will last forever, but for a time it should keep her relatively safe from even the strongest of attacks. Energized by the power flowing through her, she watches and waits for someone to make the first move.

Kaji would really like to be a lot farther away than he is. But he needed to listen, to hold his tongue when his daughter went charging in there, and to keep watch. Trust that Ib is better equipped to get herself out of there than you are. Is this a fight now?

It's not the insanely far shot from cover that Kaji would like it to be. He's close enough to definitely get a return range attack blasted down on him, or a preemptive strike if somebody decides he looks too threatening. But he can't risk being any further away with this wind and rain. Even this is a chance, but one he's wiling to take. But he nocks an arrow, draws, mutters the beginning of a spell, and holds. Holds. He won't fire, but will keep cover on his target, until the instant it looks like they are about to do something.

Selphie was prepared for the worst and even while she'd been silently hoping that it wouldn't come down to a fight, it's exactly what happened. Her nunchaku was at the ready, the old trusted weapon feeling like an extension of her arms. A practised battle stance is taken as she decided that the time for talk was over.

The perky brunette was still hoping that Ramza's call for reason would be heeded but it didn't seem likely as she settled a dark look at the Tarutaru. Selphie would defend the city with her life if she had to.

Vincent had kept himself near the back of the group and by the fringes. Much as he had during the mingle too for most of his time there. It wasn't easy keeping his profile low enough, but he was managing well enough with the Gunner/Ninja combination maxed. Especially since he now had the invisibility crystal to unlock true stealth for the ninja-job.

The rain and mud weren't going to give him much of an advantage, even unseen, but he'd take what he could get. Crouched and ready, feeling the Enligtenment settle over him, Vincent prepared a Charged shot, but held his action for now.

Sheena had stood by and listened to the "negotiations", her heart sinking as something Palitutu said made her think of home, and what it would mean for all of the Heroes here and in stasis. Unless Sheena was wrong--which was highly likely--what the planet needed was either a huge ExSphere or hundreds of them to enhance the planet's natural abilities for survival.

And there was only one way to make one. By sacrificing someone and turning them into one.

Which meant the Sage's vision...

No. She refused to believe that. There had to be another way, and Jade's way seemed the best, but of course, Palitutu did have to test their hearts and their worth, didn't she? because seriously? Her challenge had that all too familiar ring to it.

So, sighing deeply, Sheena took up her battle stance, but didn't cast any spells or ready any weapons. Not yet, anyway. She was accustomed to her Ninja job by now, and her Custom Job was one she had been using since she was a child--even if it wasn't completely maxed. So, all she had to do was wait.

It was something he knew of well. Using the souls of many as a battery in order to prolong a cycle of millions being sacrificed while one was "saved" from the very force that continued the cycle. He almost kicked himself once for agreeing to blindly be a battery for such a stupid thing. Saw fragments of potential other timelines before losing grip and returning to the wastes of his own world.

There was no way he would sit back now when someone would rather reset a similar madness. Not while Sora's soul still acted as his conscience despite its absence.

Lowering the visor of his helm was all he could do in order to hide his scowl. Perhaps if he lived through this, he'd punch Reno in the face for that remark on soul energy. Until then, he unsheathed Soul Eater and stood at the ready, preparing a Break spell. At least darkness was a familiar comfort in comparison.

The shaking grew more intense, and Palitutu shook her head at Ramza’s plea to find a peaceful solution to all of this. At this point, the Heroes of Light might notice the sky behind Palitutu and her two acolytes grew darker.

“You will not defeat Garland with words, nor will you befriend the Calamity. If you refuse to fight today, the cycle might as well be repeated and I shall ensure it is.”

And after a second, the shadow behind them landed and revealed to be Ultima WEAPON. It looked as deadly and dangerous as it had been last year, but it didn’t attack just yet.

“Come now, Heroes of Light.”

Palitutu rose a hand toward the sky, and she and the two others seemingly disappeared and teleported away. After a few moments though, her voice arose once more but this time from the WEAPON itself, as if she was speaking through speakers.

“Prove you can end this cycle or die trying!”

[ To be continued here. ]

Event || Melodies Of Life

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