melodiesoflife | Event || Revelations

Entry tags:

Event || Revelations

Characters: All the Heroes of Light and their Moogles.
Where: Order's Sanctuary, The Interdimensional Rift and their Homeworlds.
When: August 03rd - August 30th

Summary: Following the battle against Palitutu, all the Heroes of Light were transported into the Interdimensional Rift. They were told by Palitutu they would have to find her to prove they can break the cycle-- But before they could reach their destination, a malevolent entity from the Rift stripped them from their immortality...

And now, they woke up in a decaying and dying world, most specifically in a place called Order's Sanctuary. From there they are ready to jump... Into their homeworlds! Feel free to use this post for the Mingle at Order's Sanctuary and should your homeworld be the stage for the Heroes of Lights' next adventures, feel free to make a thread for it and as many sub-thread as necessary! Please refer to the OOC Post for questions and plotting.

Warning: Whatever you come up with.

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K'pandolu glanced up, and nodded, humming. "It's a different world, but- is there anything you see in them?"

Duster hummed to stall for time as he craned his neck upward. The constellations from the Nowhere Islands and Crystallis were gone, but it left a blank slate for them to project onto.

"Those stars, over there." He pointed to a group hanging above the distant forest, his other arm planted to the ground. "It sort of looks like a bird's head...viewed from the front."

If he squinted, the brighter stars in the middle formed an upside-down triangle. Therefore, a bird's beak.

It was probably somewhere around half an hour before Rialynn's familiar form came back around the corner. Her shoulders were hunched forward, her gait slightly shuffling and awkward, as if she were carrying a great embarrassment on her back.

"So um..." She cleared her throat, which was a little tight with emotions. "We don't have many beds. But we have two wood chairs, some extra blankets, um...well, it's nothing great. I can put my mattress on the floor if we want to lie across it the wrong way and have our legs stick out..."

Apparently the meeting had gone positively.

(OOC: But feel free to keep bonding over stars if you like, I don't mind!)

Ramza hurried to his feet when Rialynn returned, leaving off where he had been imagining constellations forming all manners of weaponry.

"Wonderful. We can make do. I will happily take a floor in a warm house over the chill night air." He will not say anything that will malign the hospitality offered at Rialynn's household.

K'pandolu was slower to rise- she'd been enjoying the tales of the constellations, and trying to see the forms the others saw while sketching out her own.

"That will be enough," she said, offering a smile, eyes on Rialynn. "I'm sure we weren't expected, after all. But I'm glad he's willing to take us in."

"Ah." He rolled his neck, having gotten slightly sore from looking upwards. "If you're worried about making it up to him, I can help around the house."

Better to assume that her father is strict than relaxed. Duster pushed himself onto his knees and stood up, one foot at a time.

"Thanks, you guys," she smiled sheepishly. As embarrassed as she was, she was also incredibly happy and vastly relieved. Despite being a bard, she couldn't even begin to put her feelings into words. So she didn't.

Some of her joy spilled out in a nervous little laugh at Duster's offer. "Actually, he might like that. It's grown pretty dusty in the last couple of years since I left. There's a lot of cleaning to do."

She ushered everyone quietly around the edge of the house. Rather than using the front door, she led everyone to an open window on the side, where they would be less visible if there were any guards on patrol.

Once inside, they'd find a big brute of a man, and one that Ramza would clearly recognize from the play they'd held when Narasimha had teleported everyone to the southern continent. He looked far less kingly here, just tired.

And exasperated at the sight of his daughter and her friends tumbling through his window.

"Do you know how many times I've had to clean your fingerprints off of that glass?" he grumbled, folding his arms and shaking his head. "Some things just never change. Come on in." He offered a big hand to help the others clamber through. "There's some bread and cheese in the kitchen. It's not hot, but it's filling enough, I suppose."

At least the man looks slightly less disapproving in this world and time.

"Thank you, sir. If you have a cloth, I would happily take care of the window. We will do all we can to repay your hospitality."

Dusty. Duster smiled at the wording choice, unintentional or not. As long as he wasn't a replaced for an actual duster or rag, he'd be up for that specific task.

He didn't question the window entrance; he often returned home by sneaking through the window nearest the stairs that lead to the basement to avoid detection by his father, and when there was no angry old man waiting for him on the other side of the walls, this was pretty fun. Rather than tumble, he dived into the house, did a sloppy front roll - really? Crystallis took away this much of his agility - and stood up with a bit of help from leaning on his spear.

His joy was cut short when he came face-to-face with the disappointed father. Duster's eyes widened in surprise, seeing his own dad in front of stout man who, while not completely upset at his daughter, had enough of a hint to bring a shock to Duster.

...Duster blinked a few times before realizing that his was just another man with home they'd be staying the night.

"Sorry for coming here so suddenly. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Those were the first two polite phrases that came to his mind. They flowed perfectly well, right?

K'pandolu raised an eyebrow at the choice of entrance, but did her best to climb in as gracefully as she could. She ducked her head for a moment, but watched the man with more curiosity after.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay," she said, hand over her heart. "We'll help out in return where we can, of course."

The man grunted, drawing himself up just a little taller as he looked down the length of his broad and fleshy nose at Ramza. Something about this boy...

"I don't know how you do things where you come from, but we don't put guests to work. Now you boys will be sleeping out here. I don't want to see either of you sneaking into my daughter's room."

"Vater," Rialynn sighed, giving him an exasperated look. "I told you, we travel together, it's not a big deal."

"This is still my house, and my rules still stand," he turned on her, bringing up all of his fatherly intimidation to bear. Then he peered at Ramza, and Duster, and RAMZA AGAIN. "Are we understood?"

Rialynn scratched the back of her head, shrugging to K'pandolu. Looked like she was the only one who wasn't going to bear any harsh scrutiny on account of being a girl and unrelated to the Kollmanns.

"Breakfast is when the cock crows. If you sleep in, you don't get fed. That goes for everybody," he squinted at Rialynn. "You be careful about who you talk to in town. We're on your side far as I know, but a little coin can change a desperate man."

Her face grew serious and she nodded. "I'll be careful. Thanks."

He scowled, grunting as he nodded. But there was a faint crinkling in the corner of his eyes where his smile remained hidden behind the thick patch of a dark beard.

Ramza bows to the patriarch of the house. "I meant no offense to your hospitality. And we are glad to respect the rules of your house. You need not worry."

He tries to catch Rialynn's eye when her father mentions 'sides'. What does he mean by that? Is there some war going on that Rialynn has not mentioned?

Rialynn's father peered at Ramza for a long, long moment, scrutinizing every word for some hint of rakishness. But, finding none, he grunted in satisfaction. "Good lad," he said, and lumbered to the large black stove to fill it with more wood and keep the front room warm.

As for Rialynn herself, she carried out an armful of blankets and pillows from the linen closet to start making beds for Ramza and Duster. "Sorry. I know it's not the most comfortable arrangement, but it's warm at least. Tomorrow, we need to get you a sword," she nodded at Ramza, "and at least two horses. We can probably double up unless anyone's uncomfortable with that. If so, let me know. We'll just have to knock out more guards."

That experience was less terrifying than Duster imagined. Rialynn's father seemed nice, but he was thankful that the Heroes were left alone. Still, he walked away from the man by the stove, hoping to remain beneath notice.

"It's fine, I slept outside often back home. Duster reached out to help Rialynn with the bedhsheets. "What's with the soldiers? Are they...putting you in danger?

Tazmily was no safer with the Pigmasks patrolling the streets, no matter how helpful to the locals they were. They had to be bad news.

"Not...really." Her face grew red fairly fast. She could feel it, and she cursed her fair skin and red highlights in her hair that made her so prone to overheating. Her gaze flicked briefly and guiltily to Ramza. If he hadn't read her file, she might not have mentioned anything at all. But he knew all about it, so the others should probably know what they were dealing with too. At least she could look at the sheets instead of anyone else's face.

"So, quick summary. I met a guy when I was sixteen, he asked my father if he could marry me, I ran away from home. The guy is kind of a lord. I made some friends on the road, we got into trouble more than a few times and word got back to him, so now he probably thinks getting married is doing me and my father a big favor." She shook her head with a self-deprecating smile.

"It's a really, really stupid story."

K'pandolu nodded, putting her hands out to help carry or arrange whatever she could help with. "I don't mind doubling up," she said.

She listened intently to Rialynn's story, and hummed at the end of it. "It doesn't sound so silly to me," she said. "I'd say… an adventure, with some mistakes made." She tilted her head to the side, ears flicking. "So… that means you don't wish to marry him, am I right?"

Rialynn kept smiling, though her gaze was firmly fixed on the floor. She could explain it, she supposed, but there was still so much of it she was ashamed to admit. Running away just because it didn't 'feel' right, neglecting the small fortune her father could have had if she did agree, the influence and power the wife of a lord could wield for good...

It would just sound crazy, and overly defensive, if she told all of her reasons. So she just quietly shook her head. K'pandolu was very right. There was almost nothing she wanted less than that.

But she did reach over to lightly tug K'pandolu's hat back into place to hide those twitching ears before they gave her away.

"The arrangements are fine. We will be very comfortable about here." He takes an armful of blankets from Rialynn and sets them down to deal with later.

"You need not worry. If the young lord tries to harass you, he will find out how much trouble we can cause." Ramza does not have a sword, but if he did, he would have a hand placed on the hilt.

Duster nodded and held out a closed hand in solidarity. "If anyone tries to make a grab for you, do your best to fight them off. We'll take care of the rest."

He knew that self-defense class would be useful. Lord or not (he had no real admiration for the rich, anyway), Rialynn shouldn't be married against her will. It wouldn't be fair if her friends had a say on who'd they'd be with an she wasn't.

She was honestly touched by their understanding, and offers of valor. She'd...made some pretty good friends along the way, in spite of all the troubles she'd run into and caused. Rialynn was grateful, and she put her fist out over Duster's.

"Thanks," she exhaled in relief. "No need to fight on my behalf. We just need to find the portal. If it so happens that I do run into Lord Jaxon, I can probably just go along with it and sneak out the window or something. No one in this world has any sort of crazy ability, so as long as we're here? You guys are powerhouses. I'm not worried at all."

...Well, maybe a little worried, but she figured that was just her lingering anxiety and guilt over facing the decisions of her past and the consequences that came with them.

K'pandolu made a little 'mrrp' sound as the hat was put back in place, one hand up to adjust it. That… would probably have to stay on, wouldn't it? Just in case. Ah, well.

She nodded to support the others. "Well- I hope we won't need to do anything too drastic. But you can definitely count on us!"

"Thanks," Rialynn grinned, relieved. with the last of the beds set up, she pushed herself up to her feet and made her way to the kitchen. She felt a strange sense of surrealism from the sheer nostalgia of the way the house still smelled after her years of absence. It was so familiar, the pots hanging on the same pegs, the same old dish towel set next to the larder. She gathered up the food her father had laid out and carried it to the front room so they could eat and talk until they were too tired to do much more than laugh at one another's lame jokes.

Morning seemed to come too soon. It filtered through the cracks in the curtains and stabbed at the eyes of the sleepers to urge them awake. The smell of hot coffee was rich in the air, the elder Kollmann having brewed some on the little potbelly stove. Boiled eggs and fresh bread slathered with butter and berry jam awaited them for breakfast, and Rialynn ate as if she were starved. She'd missed all of these familiar things, and once they found the portal, there was no telling how long it would be until she had a chance to come home and enjoy them again.

She wondered if she would have ever come home at all, if not for her conversation with Ramza that night in the hospital. Most likely, she would have continued wandering the countryside seeking new stories to tell and helping Sabien and the others find their destinies. She wondered if her other self was doing that even now.

Rialynn's father emerged from his room, a cloth-wrapped bundle held in his arms. The floorboards creaked under his weight as he approached Ramza and extended the bundle. "Sword," he grunted.

Rialynn's eyebrows went up. "The blacksmith was okay with the gil?"

He nodded. "Said he could melt it down and use it for some of his projects. We could only get one horse, though."

She wiped the crumbs from her fingers, frowning thoughtfully. One wasn't enough for the four of them. Looking to the others, she decided to just ask straight out. "You guys are fine with knocking out a soldier or two and riding off with their horses, right?"

Duster never was good at waking up early. He used to train until the late night as a child, went onto becoming a nightclub musician, and saving two worlds did little to fix that. He groaned the light from the window shone directly on his eyes, then again as Ramza moved around the room.

Five more minutes.

He pulled the blankets over the eyes and hoped that the others would leave him alone.

Ramza, unlike his new roommate, was accustomed to rising with the sun, so he left Duster to his devices and went to break bread with the Kollmanns.

He accepted the sword from Rialynn's father with a bow of his head. "Thank you for procuring this. We will be safer from bandits and wild animals with proper steel by our sides."

He raised an eyebrow at Rialynn's suggestion, though. "We are not in such haste as to justify thievery, I think. We can use the horse to carry our supplies, and make better time on foot because of it."

A horse could be someone's livelihood, and besides, the power of the rift would let them cross when its purpose had been fulfilled. He wondered if there was any use in rushing.

K'pandolu was also used to waking at dawn, and companions who were less fond of it, leaving Duster to be the only one sleeping longer as she went to investigate breakfast.

She settled back, frowning slightly. Her tail was still under wraps, but it was inconvenient. "There is still something of a time limit," she said. "I do think it would be good to be able to move quickly… We might look less suspicious on foot, but it might be a problem if we needed to run." Twelve willing, they wouldn't need to, but still. She looked towards Rialynn, tilting her head slightly. "Should we be heading for the city?"

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