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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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?"

She considered Ramza's opinion, then relented. They'd probably run into less trouble right off the bat, but long-term, it was risky.

Rialynn nodded to K'pandolu. "I think so. If there were anything unusual around here, my father would have told us. If we head to the city, we might overhear some rumors, and it's about half a day's walk to the east. It's our best chance. When I left this world, I was miles and miles to the south. There's a lot going on down there, but if we're supposed to find the portal in that area, I'm guessing we would have appeared a lot closer to my last location."

It sparked a thought in her head, and she jogged her knee anxiously. She lowered her voice, knitting her brow as she reached for another piece of toast. "Does anyone else think it's strange that we were pulled into Crystallis, but no one on our worlds seems to have noticed we ever went missing?" She looked down at her plate, then sighed. "What if we're the doppelgangers, and our real selves never truly left?"

Duster was going to miss breakfast if he didn't rouse himself soon, it was almost gone.

Ultimately, Rialynn knows her world better than Ramza does, so he will trust her judgement on what they should do.

He ponders her question, though. "I used to think as you do...but we went to Ivalice. Time had not passed, and there was no other 'me' there. Now I know not what to believe."

And it is a worrying thought. Before, he did not truly believe that the worlds were connected as the Crystallians claimed, and that their actions on Crystallis could lead to the destruction of home worlds. But now...

He pushed his plate away, not feeling as hungry as he had moments before.

Rialynn looked at Ramza's plate, then at Ramza himself, as she was caught in mid-chew. She stared guiltily down at the table as she finished her toast, then spoke again.

"Sorry. I was just trying to figure out how all of this works. I didn't mean to upset you guys." It wasn't exactly good breakfast conversation, was it? And it was a negative way to start the day.

Brushing the crumbs from her fingers, Rialynn rose to her feet. "I'm going to help my father with the dishes, then I'll be ready to go. We might as well get an early start and hope the soldiers are too groggy to be paying much attention to the roads."

An early start was not to be had if Duster was left alone. He had missed the conversation and nearly all of breakfast. Despite the noises coming from the kitchen, this bum chose to remain in the same position, still covering his face with the blankets. He hated waking up this early in the mornings.

K'pandolu rose to her feet as well, and reached out to touch Rialynn's shoulder for a moment. "It's all right," she said. "It's not the most positive thought, but- this isn't the best position we've been put in. And- it's perhaps for the better if we confide in each other." Admittedly, she wasn't always the best at doing so herself, but she could try. "Besides- perhaps if there are two of us in the end, we might be able to cope with matters at home better," she added, trying for some levity. Certainly she imagined it would help in Eorzea.

She glanced back towards the room, and nodded. "I'll try and rouse Duster, then."

"There is no cause for apology. The truth will never be uncovered if we do not speak of it." No matter how worrying it was.

Ramza unfolded a plain white napkin and began to tuck the left-overs from breakfast into a little bundle. Duster would need to eat on the road if they wanted to make good time.

Rialynn nodded slowly, thoughtful. There was no denying the fact that Crystallis had changed all of them in some fashion. She'd grown in ways she never could have had she stayed here all of this time. She'd learned that Johnny, a half-demon, behaved just as humanly as anyone else she knew despite his infernal heritage. She'd been exposed to different cultures, music, and art that she'd likely never forget in her days to come.

If they did return to their worlds, would it be the same? Could they truly be satisfied once they resumed their old lives, or would they yearn for those connections and friendships they'd made on the strange, small world?

Deep thoughts, while scrubbing bits of egg and jam off of plates.

As she reached for the next dish, there was a heavy thumping at the door. Rialynn froze and spun around, glancing at each person in the room. Her father's heavy brow had beetled, and he waved at the small party as if to usher them back toward Rialynn's room. Picking up the hint, she crept as quietly across the floorboards as she could, touching a finger to her lips. At least they didn't have to worry about Duster being stealthy.

K'pandolu paused as well, glancing between each of the other people in the wall and the door, and nodded to Rialynn. She stepped back into Rialynn's rooms, steps soft, and waited to hear what came next.

Rialynn's fathered frowned as he crossed the floor with his big, heavy, floor-creaking steps. He glanced back to make sure the rest of his guests were nowhere to be seen before opening the door.

"Bit early for a house visit," he thundered gruffly.

"Checking to see if you were all right. Heard you had some visitors," spoke another voice, more difficult to hear from where they were huddled out of sight. "Not like you to be so welcoming, Gert, wanted to make sure no one forced their way in and made free with your home."

"Throat's not cut yet."

There was a long silence as the two men measured one another.

"Who are your guests?"

"Who said I had guests?"

"Don't play, Gert. When a hermit buys a horse and big piles of food, I think it's clear what's going on, don't you?"

"..."

"Stand aside. On orders of his lordship, we are commanded to search the premises."

Rialynn stiffened sharply, and immediately pushed open the window in her room, waving her friends over. "Go go go!"

K'pandolu hissed a curse, and grabbed Duster's shirt, pulling him up and shaking him awake. "No time to think, come on!" An unpleasant wake up, certainly, but better than being caught. Not to mention her distinct lack of grace in trying to get out the window, but she'd take what she could get. They might need that second horse after all.

Duster was not the sort to moan and groan when woken up rudely. It had happened enough times at home and on the road for it to remain unpleasant, but not worth complaining about. Shaking him did the trick, seeing that he cracked his eyes open.

However, the apparent panic sobered him up enough to grab hold of his armor and shoes as K'pandolu worked on sliding out the window. The socks muffled his steps while he hurried beside her, and after slipping on his boots, helped out the miqo'te with a push. He followed suit by grabbing hold of the top of the window frame and swinging his legs out while grabbing hold of his armor in his free arm.

Ramza would not run if it meant leaving others in danger.

"Your father...will he be alright?" he whispered to Rialynn. The man has shown them kindness the past evening, and he did not deserve to suffer for it.

He did not make to follow K'pandolu and Duster out of the window just yet. "You should go. They may recognize you."

"Not if it's discovered he's been harboring guests when he just implied that he wasn't!" Rialynn whispered back, craning her neck as she stared anxiously back at the bedroom door. Heavy footsteps, and many of them, were starting to fill the small home "Come on, you go out too! It's not a good idea for any of us to be here!"

Outside the window, however, was a small squadron of guards with spear points levied toward K'pandolu and Duster, having laid in wait. A glance down the side of the house showed a few more waiting outside the father's bedroom window as well. They didn't say a word, but the one with a few extra stripes on his tabard gave a silent gesture with his weapon: hands up. Brief, but universal.

K'pandolu froze, eyes going first to the stripes- a higher-ranked officer, no doubt- and then down the house, spotting the others. Maybe they could have taken them, but with Rialynn and Ramza still inside, she didn't like the numbers.

"Navigator's tits," she muttered, raising her hands, casting a glance at Duster.

Duster tensed, prepared for a fight. There were four Heroes against several soldiers without magic powers. They could take them.

A glance at K'pandolu doused his fighting spirit. There had to be more guards nearby, hidden around the house, now that he realized. Four against an unknown number, with Rialynn's father in danger. Poor odds.

Duster dropped his spear and followed suit, raising his gloved hands to shoulder level. Yet his eyes darted from soldier to soldier, already preparing a plan of attack in case they had no choice but to fight.

Damn, Ramza could hear soldiers approaching the room they were in. If he could hold the door, they might have a chance...but Rialynn's sire would still be in danger. Better to take the fight outside, where they would have room to move and could hopefully make an escape.

"Quickly, we must away!" No point in whispering any more. Ramza dove for the window. Their best chance was to go quickly, rather than wait to be trapped. He jumped, one hand on his sword hilt, ready to draw.

She was doing it again, wasn't she? Abandoning her father for her own sake. Rialynn glanced at Ramza, torn, and looked at the door again. It felt horrible. Nothing was supposed to be more important than family, but if they didn't return to Crystallis, there would be fewer people to fight the Calamity, and the whole world would be doomed.

Then again, who was she to assume that the absence of just one person would make all the difference? She wasn't that important.

Maybe she was thinking about this too fatalistically. If they did jail her father, they'd storm the bastille and break him out, maybe even bring him back to Crystallis with them. He'd apparently been a Hero before if he had a doppelganger there!

Her mind made up, she nodded briefly at Ramza and followed him. "Let's come back for him," she spoke quickly, seizing her bag by the strap.

Ramza, like the others, was greeted by the sullen spearpoints of the guards. Rialynn had one leg out the window before she realized the situation at hand. Guards outside. Guards inside.

Horse apples. If she'd gone first, then the others would have at least remained hidden.

"Drop your weapons, and you will not be harmed," the lead guard instructed once Rialynn was in sight. "We don't want to cause a civil disturbance."

Ah, hells. She'd hoped that maybe the other two could have found some way to avoid this, but fortune clearly wasn't favouring them.

She raised her hands a little further, keeping her gaze on the lead guard. It made sense, of course, but she didn't want to have to drop her blades. "We don't particularly want any disturbances, either," she said. "But- if I may- what exactly are we supposed to have done to have earned so many of you coming today?" She wanted to see if he's stay talking for a while; give them a little time to think.

Duster nodded with K'Pandolu's questions. She talked, he figured out a plan of attack. His spear had already dropped, but if they forced him to take off his armor, there would be problems.

But if Rialynn's father was taken to one cell while the four of them taken to another, then fighting these guards then and there would remove any chance of freeing him and themselves.

Surrender his weapon, when they had committed no crime? Ramza kept a firm grip on his blade. If these were the type of men that would arrest travelers who have done no wrong, then how could their promise not to harm them be trusted? He nodded at K'pandolu

"Yes, and by what authority do you seek to detain us?"

Event || Revelations

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