melodiesoflife | Event || Beginning Of The End

"Hard to say that if you're one of the dead," Sheena muttered quietly to herself in response to Deadpool's rant. She didn't doubt that he would have attacked any of them on the spot if they had continued pressing for answers to their questions.

She just hoped he hadn't ruined their chances for the Sage to tell them anything because he thought Deadpool was a lost cause.

Because as far as she could see, mastering the Shadow part of themselves involved using their negative emotions to their advantage--instead of letting the emotions use you.

And well...she might have to have some help with that.

Selphie rolled her eyes at Deadpool's antics and respected the way that Jack dealt with the idiot mercenary. She remembered him from when they'd tried to reason with Palitutu and knew that he was one of the people who would use their words before their fists. The girl made a mental note to send a quick thank you card to Jack for saying what needed to be said to shut Deadpool down before focusing back on the matter at hand.

Selphie was puzzled by what the Sage was saying about conquering the Calamity inside of them and made another note to ask someone more knowledgeable on the subject another time. Even though she had questions to ask, she knew that now wasn't the time to ask them. If subduing the Calamity inside of themselves helped Crystallis, then she was willing to give it a chance.

It doesn't stop the perky brunette however from pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil she'd tucked into one of the pouches around her waist to jot down her questions for later. She settles herself on the floor, crossing her legs like a young child in grade school, alert and ready to listen.

“Crystal Stasis happens as a result of your Calamity Self threatening to take over. It is not Narayana that crystallizes you, but Crystallis. The same is true for the planet. It is not Narayana crystallizing the world, but Crystallis as it defends itself against the spreading Calamity.”

The pause answered questions—But only those related to the Calamity Self. Therefore he ignored Rialynn’s inquiries.

“When you shall face Narayana, there will be nothing preventing your Calamity Self from taking over. You will lose before even trying-- Unless you have conquered it first.” A pause. “Conquering your Calamity Self will allow you to step on crystallized lands and face Narayana. It will also put a definitive end to Crystal Stasis.”

With that said, he turned and looked at Ira.

“However, Ira is right—” A nod. “Doing so will have another effect. Anyone conquering their Calamity Self will be a potential subject for the completion of Kalki’s schemes.”

"Which would mean the crystals we use to rescue lands aren't actually 'rescuing' them, but instead leaving them vulnerable to the Calamity itself." Twilight mused. "Which probably means we've been doing things completely wrong here for the longest time."

Unsurprising, really.

"And being able to travel across crystallized lands would mean we would also be able to confront Garland... or this 'Chaos' Palitutu mentioned. But, the Calamity Self? Is it like our evil self or something? I know that's sort of simplistic of a definition, but it's probably the best I can come up with with everyone else around."

"Not necessarily. The crystallization may be protecting the planet, but it also makes the land uninhabitable for normal citizens. We have no choice but to keep rescuing them."

Jade thought back to their trip to the Mysidian Tower. "Besides... As I recall, the Calamity Simulation was built to manipulate the Calamity itself, not just the crystallization process. We should be fine... Assuming the Ancients were right about their own creation."

Wouldn't be the first time they'd made a mess of things, but the Heroes couldn't really afford to worry about that. The Simulation was the only way they could protect the people of Crystallis.

"Is there a way to return the fragments of the Calamity that reside within us to the Calamity's whole?"

Since reading Jade's report, Ramza had been wondering about the Calamity. If it was truly formed of fragments of lost souls, perhaps they were wrong to try to destroy it. They should be trying to help guide those souls to find peace. And the first step, he thought, was to gather the fragments together. If such a thing was even possible.

"Owen called the crystalization an immune response, like inflammation or a fever on getting sick. It's the planet's way to fight back."

He looks to the Sage specifically, because he hasn't been able to confirm this. "It comes from the First Crystal, from the life cycle on this world. We fall into Stasis to keep from joining the cycle. And contaminating it."

"But the going theory is what gives it strength is the people already living on Crystallis. The native life here helps it fight back against the invaders. Again, just like an immune response. The more people we can keep alive, the more we can slow the Calamity, if this is right."

"But some of us can already walk on crystalized lands," Aang said. "Does that mean the group... groups that Kalki summoned don't have a piece of the Calamity in them? Or that we have them under control?"

He held out his own clear crystal as a demonstration.

Aang would be good with not having another journey into his own mind to fix things. He's done that a lot for someone who hasn't finished growing up yet. And he could focus his energy on helping others.

"We don't have to follow Kalki's plan and become gobs," Duster said firmly. With the way the Sage spoke, he felt they were only given a limited set of options. But they were Heroes of Light. Chosen people with the power to bring light to a dying world. If Lucas could do that for the Nowhere Islands, Duster could follow his footsteps and do that for Crystallis.

In both cases, the fate of the world was at risk no matter what action they took, but it was better than letting the cycle continue.

"We have a choice, don't we? Once we control the Calamity inside us, we can get closer safely, right? There's no reason not to try anything else, right guys?" He directed the last question towards the other Heroes in the hopes that their affirmation would prove that he wasn't saying nonsense.

Sparks replied to Duster with a shrug and a grumble. "I mean, sounds reasonable enough. I guess. As much as anythin' here makes sense."

Sparks scratched his chin, thinking. "I mean, we're gonna have a shakedown with Narayana eventually, we need to be ready for it. So exactly how do we accomplish overcomin' yer inner Calamity?"

"Why now?" Kaji finally speaks up, snappish. "Why-" He shakes his head. "We failed your test last time. I get it. Give us the power to walk across the crystal fields months ago, and we would have charged straight at Garland and lost."

"But-" Kaji's look is hurt, more so than angry. "My daughter was lost to Crystal Stasis only a week ago. I don't even need to know why you waited, forget it. But I want you to know what your inaction has cost us. Because I know no matter what test you put in front of her she would have overcome it."

Hearing Kalki's name made him stiffen. The woman that had brought him and many of the people he watched die here-- was also the type to use anything to get what she wants. At least from the stories and rumors about her he's heard. Of course, there's no telling how different he and his friends were when they arrived the way they did. The true fact is getting the Calamity to stop, and part of that was facing a version of themselves.

It's a concept he's not familiar with but it's almost like a doppelganger. He read in a book that doppelgangers are a bad omen and that they would attempt to try to take over the life of someone that looks exactly like them. It makes Mikleo a bit uneasy to think about it but they're looking at something maybe similar to that. He's starting to grasp things little by little.

"How will we go about ensuring that no more lives are lost? There are many people out there. We'll need to devise a plan to protect those people."

"Somehow I doubt that, Aang. Remember how, not long after we united with the others, many of us either died or crystallized?" She asked, having been quiet as she tried to piece the puzzle together. Hopefully they didn't mind the intrusion. "This world sees us as a threat as well."

Rukia frowned. Kalki's plan to become a god... That plan had transferred to Rukia and Selen in the Sage's vision. It still bothered her, to think that she'd been that desperate to try. Part of her still wondered if it would have worked, or if her will would have been crushed and swallowed by the Calamity after all.

She'd asked the Sage about that, and received no answer. In the end she'd decided to place her trust in Yuri and the others to find the solution in the sparse time they'd had left, but whether or not they succeeded, she didn't know.

It made her wonder if she would ever know. She glanced toward Yuri, then let her gaze drop to the floor. Her eyes closed as her head tipped forward, and she cleared her mind. It didn't matter now. Their fates had changed. All that they needed now was the knowledge of how to overcome their chaotic selves, but she wasn't about to speak up until everyone's questions had been answered (or until the Sage got tired of answering questions).

"I had wondered about that as well. I had thought that the sudden deaths and crystallization might have been an attack from the cultists or Kalki herself. But the fact that it didn't happen until everyone was able to reach Aqures Ixen does raise the possibility that it was the planet itself rejecting those who Kalki summoned." If so, that left her with a tightness in her gut she couldn't easily ignore. Suppose they really were a threat...?

K'pandolu frowned, hand coming to her chin as she thought. "I think- in the Research Facility, Kalki said something about gathering all the scattered fragments of the Calamity. If we do this- we're not just playing into her hands here, are we?" She hated the thought of being manipulated into something she didn't want. Particularly should it involve becoming some sort of deity- nothing good could come of that, in her mind. "Perhaps controlling it will offer an opportunity, though."

She nodded to Lucrecia and Rukia, expression dropping. "But- why was it those who had been travelling?"

Sheena looked up from where she'd been studying her feet, taking everything in. "We weren't given the ability months ago," she said to no one in particular, "because we had to face that part within us first and acknowledge it." She glanced around.

"I'm probably wrong, but if the Calamity inside us is that which we don't admit to, then wouldn't the feelings we've felt--fear, distrust of our comrades, hatred--since the beginning of the year fall into that category? And the Calamity around us came straight for us."

She wondered what would happen this year around that Christmas holiday.

Cloud friend as he listened to everyone, to everything being discussed. There was no clear path to a happy ending here. Everything they were doing that they did for the sake of doing the right thing seemed to make other things go worse on other sides. All that they'd ever been able to do was their best and they were trying. Gods were they trying.

It was probably for the best they weren't granted the power to attack their enemy straight away, but to hold the knowledge from them for so long did nothing to help them either. Or this world for that matter.

"If we do all of this. If we conquer our Shadows, if we stop Narayana...all of this is stuff we've heard in different ways, different ideas of how to stop the Calamity. How we have to be ready to do things that we will not like...even if I don't think all of us believe that but...what about afterwards?"

He took a step forward, looking the Sage in the eye, "We'll go around in circles about whether or not you were right to withhold this knowledge, and I think a good many of us have been ready to take on our Shadows from the moment we learned about them." He certainly had. "But what happens after we stop the Calamity? Will this world return to normal? What about the people who weren't able to escape the Crystalization? And what about us? What happens to us?"

Could Crystallis really be saved? Could its Heroes? This was the question, the answer that tore them apart in the vision, wasn't it?

Rialynn waited patiently.

Her waiting was in vain, and her questions went unanswered.

She sighed, sulking down at her book. "Guess not," she muttered to herself. It was probably just as well, to focus on one thing at a time. She couldn't say she liked the idea of this inner Shadow or whatever it was, and she subconsciously rubbed at her arm as if that might help rid herself of this supernatural taint.

And hearing all of those comments, especially Cloud's comment, Ruby spoke up, almost hitting a eureka moment there. Eyes wide, she spoke up. "That'a it! We couldn't go home!" She said. "That's all we've wanted to do is to finish the job and go home. But, when the Sage would show us those visions and the truth, everything fell apart."

With a deep breath, she explained so that the others wouldn't tear into the Sage. "Back then, we didn't know the truth. I think the vision started out with everything being told to us. But, we were angry and confused and decided to escape through the rift. When we killed those monsters, we essentially succumbed to the Calamity - we became the Calamity but on two different ends; we were either too heroic or too far gone to care of our worlds. We never master our Shadows because we became our Shadows."

Yuri had a few bones to pick with Kalki and he isn’t going to voice them in the room full of tension already. Yuri didn’t want to have anything in the vision repeated. Perhaps, they could find a better way to approach everything but right now they had more questions than answers. They were all worried about something and even for Yuri the vision definitely bothered him. He wasn’t any different from anyone here. It’s just the matter of how they were going to logically and correctly handle what the Calamity was bringing to them. Having other versions of themselves inside definitely didn’t make things better. It was like opening a pandora box. Yuri aims for success but that means gathering as much intellect as possible on that regard.

Overcoming their chaotic selves means opening a window to other possibilities but at the same time what would it entail then? What sort of powers would they possess and how would they manage it? He can’t imagine everyone suddenly knowing what to do with such abilities. He gave Rukia a look before turning back to the conversation, arms crossed.

“As far as I know that Kalki woman was already doing something that was against the will of the world. It’s not surprising that it wants to reject the foreign anomalies that invaded their world.”

It’s like the Adephagos trying to take over his world. Instead, they were the foreign invaders this time but not by choice.

“It’s a gamble and it will remain that way while we have no knowledge of what happens after we gain this power.”

He turns to Ruby.

“Don’t forever that there were those who were on the fine line between both trying to mediate the situation or chose not to involve themselves with either parties. They chose to do their own thing.”

He can sort of recall how he behaved during that vision and how desperate he was to save his friends.

Edited 2016-10-04 19:52 (UTC)

"Not to mention how many of us have absolutely no desire to return home," Lust added, cupping her elbows lightly where she stood. She smirked, lowering her lashes as she looked down at Ruby. "Please don't shout wild theories as if they were facts."

Lust's attention drifted to Yuri, and she quieted at the mention of Kalki. The faint narrowing of her eyes was indication enough of just how much she disliked the woman. She'd manipulated the lot of them, and many of the group in which Lust had been summoned had died horrifically thanks to Kalki. No, she did not trust her in the slightest, no matter how much that woman made her little smiles as if she were sad, or claimed to be on their side. Her actions very clearly stated otherwise.

"Let's not stray too far from the topic at hand. How do you propose that we face these Shadows of ours?"

"You weren't even here when we had those visions!" Sonic pointed out. "But, both she and Yuri has a point - I was on the neutral side as well, wanting both sides to stop acting like idiots and I was going at it, fighting like there was no tomorrow."

He crosses his arms at that. "I hate to admit it, but I think if we have any chance of finishing this fight, there's going to be some major concessions we need to make here."

Sheena glanced at Yuri. She remembered how he acted during the vision, and how she had acted. After that, however...

She had no clue. Her theory was merely based on what she had seen.

With a loud sigh, she once again leaned against the wall.

"Oh, look, we're doing it again. Fighting amongst ourselves." She threw a glance in Deadpool's direction. With the tension in the room, the ninja wouldn't be too surprised if these "disagreements" became full-fledged fights. "Do we really need something like that Christmas holiday to get along?" She shook our head. "Our goal is to fight something within ourselvs and Garland, not each other. I don't know about anyone else, but I've kinda had enough of that.

Besides, I want to hear what the sage has to say."

Even though she feared every possible word he might utter.

Edited 2016-10-05 22:41 (UTC)

“Crystallis is a living organism. It strives to survive. It is not so different from the Calamity in that it operates on a scale we cannot comprehend. If it sees you as a threat, it will work to see you eliminated.”

He then turned to Aang.

“Kalki did something to you. What, I do not know.”

With that said, he moved back onto the topic of Shadows. All the other questions will stay unanswered, for the time being at the very least.

“Now, to confront your Calamity Self will require the use of a Black Crystal. I will have details sent to you through Moglin. But there is something you need to understand.” He turned back to his shelves. “You may die trying to confront your Calamity Self. Upon starting the process, you will temporarily lose access to one of your two Jobs. In return, your It will have access to a specific Job of its own. Many of you probably want to punch or even kill me, but You know better than to give in to this desire. It knows no such restraint. It is everything you are but that your reject or keep under control. All what you would like to do but think is wrong, all you know to be true but reject, all you would be if you knew no restraints.”

He marked a brief pause.

“Your Calamity Self will try to overwhelm you. If you full accept and acknowledge It as part of you, it will be over. If not, It will take over and become the new you. Should you remember what happened last year during the Night of the Thirteen Moogles, this is what will happen if you fail—Only this time It will not be a mindless puppet and have a mind of its own. Should the worse happen, your friends might still save you at great risks… But it won’t mean a thing if you do not accept It in the end.”

He shook his head.

“It might sound easy, but it won’t be. Many of you probably think you won’t have any difficulties accepting your Calamity Self. What It will say and do is likely to disgust, horrify and anger you.”

"So whenever we've been mind-controlled with a Black Crystal, it was actually our Shadows that were being controlled?" That made sense. If the crystals were a pathway to the Calamity, they should be able to connect with the Heroes' Calamity Selves as well.

Jade frowned. If he understood the concept correctly, it presented some unpleasant implications about their vision back in January.

"...In that other future... Some of us used the Black Crystals. The transformation that followed..." He was careful to keep his tone neutral. "Was that related to the Shadow taking over?"

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