Intro Log || Just in Time for the Last Holiday Season

[melodiesmods]

Characters: All the "Heroes of Light" (only new characters can start threads).
Where: Aqures Ixen.
When: November 01st - November 30th. New characters may wake up any time.

Summary: The new Heroes of Light awaken from Crystal Stasis and might find themselves in quite the predicament. Are they in Aqures Ixen, the Desert, a Forest or a completely empty plain? The choice is yours! You can have your character wake up anywhere, so long as the location is neither crystallized nor sealed away (such as the Temple of the Heroes of Light).

Please refer to the Information Post for more information regarding the state of Crystallis. Fear not however as soon a Moogle and maybe your friends shall come to you. Indeed, Heroes of Light in Aqures Ixen have access to a map that show them whenever a new Hero of Light appears.The Moogles are using it to quickly find any newcomers, but nothing prevents other Heroes of Light from using it to go to the rescue! The exception to this are characters who were formerly in the game: they will wake up from Crystal Stasis in the Hospital of Aqures Ixen.

Furthermore, feel free to plot out with players already in-game if you want for them to come and search your character, find them and plot their escape from a particularly dangerous place and the likes!

Warning: N/A.

Where you were or what you were doing— It does not really matter. Not any more. Within an instant, the world around you collapses. Reality twists and shatters... Or maybe you are the one who is collapsing and shattering away from reality as you knew it. No matter what the answer is, it will only take a few seconds for you to find yourself sinking into a void, your world vanishing into the distance. There is nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see. Even you feel different: all the powers you might once have had, are now gone. It is silent, cold and it feels as though life itself is slipping out of you.

At this moment, when it looks as though nothing but a never-ending void awaits you, a red Crystal forms before you. In this void, its warmth compels you to grab it. But soon it faded, and everything else along with it, nothing but darkness remaining....


The Search for the Heroes
— Anytime —
To you, it's like only a second passed ever since you grabbed this crystal. But months or even years may have passed in the real world. And as you emerge, you find yourself in the world of Crystallis, a place where magic and technology coexist, filled with friendly people... And not so friendly ones. Have you awakened in Aqures Ixen, Esdham or a similar city...? Then it's perfect, you are surrounded by friendly people who will be - very confused - but helpful to an extent.

Have you woken up in the wilderness? Hopefully there aren't too many monsters around! As it is, other Heroes of Light might have woken up close to your position, it might be a good idea to work together with them.

Thankfully enough, before long a fluffy ball of fur flies toward (and most crashes into) you! This creature is a Moogle, sent from Mognet Central to assist you and take you to Aqures Ixen. It will explain you everything about the situation, the other Heroes of Light already present in Crystallis and all that is happening! This Moogle will be your guide back to Aqures Ixen-- If you decide to follow them anyway...


The Voyage Home
— Anytime —
The journey to Aqures Ixen might be an eventful one (or uneventful one if you awoke in the city already). It is a possibility for you to explore the world by taking your time, or to be lazy and board an Airship in the closest city. Don't lose your way or you risk venturing close to the Calamity-- You wouldn't want to be devoured and ripped apart my mega-powered Calamity Monsters, would you?

And thanks to the map and the efficiency of Mognet, odds are you'll encounter other Heroes of Light on your way: those who arrived in this world within the past two years. You may have imagined heroic and charismatic figures when your Moogle told you that there were other Heroes of Light in this city. You may have imagined persons with fearsome powers when they told you about how they managed to push back the Empire and defeat the fearsome Palitutu! And more importantly, you may have imagined them as people who would have all the answers to your, doubtlessly, numerous questions.

If so, you may be up for a tragic disappointment. Still, for the most part they know more than you on the situation and may be more than happy to fill you in, especially if your Moogle didn't tell you much.


The City of Aqures Ixen
— Anytime —
Finally, you might reach Aqures Ixen... And it turns out to be a very busy city. You might visit it, or the laboratory from where you can spy track where Heroes of Light are. Indeed, Palitutu's Laboratory (and its underground section) is a place where employed characters can research various topics. Most importantly, characters can see a file with their name...

Should your character decide to go there and peek at their file, there are two possibilities. Either the file is corrupted and they cannot access it: too bad for them, but at least their life will remain a mystery. Or should you decide the file isn't corrupted, they will find a summary of their lives up to their canon point, as if written by a third-person omniscient narrator. On the column left to the text, to the top there is a portrait of them, and beneath it there is a 3D model of them. Said portrait and model can be switched to any year of their life. At the bottom there is a percentage, indicating 0%. On the right column, there are various links, most of which are grayed out. The clickable links lead to their Homeworld History and their future post-canon point history (corrupted file for unfinished canons). At least, they can lock this file away if they don't want anyone to see it.

Or maybe you could visit your new house in the 11th or 14th District, and get to know your new neighbors and housemate(s). Hopefully your neighbors are people you will get along with.


It's Never Too Early
— Anytime —
No matter where you wake up in this world, from the arid climate of Esdham to the balmy jungles of Mysidia, you might notice a hint of ~**Christmas Whimsy**~ in the air. Pine-scented garlands are wound about streetlamps, delicate glass ornaments and twinkling lights have begun to adorn tree branches. The air is rich with the smell of baked pumpkin and cinnamon, and the occasional cool hint of peppermint. The bakeries are filled with seasonal treats like kupo nut pies, cranberry tarts, eggnog cakes. Though it's only the month of November, anyone complaining about the good cheer and pretty decorations will be stared at with a mixture of shock and pity, for clearly these people do not understand the true magic of the season.

Wherever you go, there's a distinct and rhythmic clanging of a small brass bell. Following the sound of the bell inevitably leads to a small adorable Moogle decked out in a fur-trimmed red suit standing next to a donations pot, with another clad in green passing out fliers inviting people to visit the Santa Village. They're requesting gil to craft toys for the refugees living there as well as the children across the world, and to expand and improve the Village as well.

Upon seeing any indication that you might be a Hero of Light, both Moogles make a happy sound and immediately press a flyer into your hand, insisting that you must visit, and not so subtly hinting that those who take up the Santa Claus job would be warmly welcomed by everyone. 'Tis the season, eh? Eh?


The Hospital
— Anytime —
Characters who have already been in Crystallis before do not wake up anywhere like everyone else. Instead, they will wake up in the Hospital of Aqures Ixen, in a room where there are over a hundred other Heroes of Light like them-- Maybe even some familiar faces... Except they're all in Crystal Stasis.

A couple Moogles and a few nurses will be waiting by the room, and they will welcome all characters waking up. Upon exiting the room, they will also meet a lot of guards, and they all have orders to shoot anyone that comes out of this room without a Moogle. Hopefully you won't try running out without waiting for your Moogle. As for why the guards are so on edge, it might be a good idea to ask the other Heroes of Light about what happened last year.

Comments

[dammit_flynn]

Repede doesn't find any threat in her so he sort of turns back to Yuri while switching the position of his pipe. Yes, the dog has a pipe in his mouth. She doesn't have to mind it too much but please don't take it from him. It will result in backlash, Yuri gives her a raised brow when she suddenly starts lashing out on him. He didn't expect that but again he was teasing her so it shouldn't have been a surprise to him. Somehow that meek girl is nowhere to be seen at the moment.

Honestly, he can't help but find the whole situation kind of silly. The girl is probably no more than five feet and she's looking at him so intensely with her loud voice. Well, definitely can't judge a book by its cover.

"Oh, you know what that means? Well, you certainly gave off that feeling. My bad."

Of course, it's not really his bad. He's only being a jerk because he can.

"Jokes aside, you're not hurt right? Don't worry, Repede's pretty well behaved. He likes kids."

He might have accidentally struck another nerve.

[unpleasanthemokinesis]

It is a strange sight, surely, but Mirai has seen animal-like creatures who turn human. Ayaka smokes a pipe in that form so why shouldn't a dog have one? Though it hardly seems important at the moment. Mirai wouldn't attempt to take it as it so clearly belongs to the dog at this point. She has more pressing matters to deal with than the dog with the pipe and that's the man the dog belongs to.

A hand comes up to aggressively push her glasses further up her nose as if that's an intimidating action. Mirai isn't afraid of him - she's faced things far scarier than a man with a weapon.

"Of course I do! If it seemed like I'm drunk it's only because I've woken up in a strange place with weird and rude people!"

Especially since she hadn't expected to wake up at all. Still riled up because he's still teasing her but then for a moment the stranger doesn't seem so bad. She actually has to take a moment to consider his question. Everything seems fine except for one thing.

"I'm not hurt but what happened to my abilities?" Mirai could not use her blood to form her sword earlier. The strange creature had said that she was here to save the world - but what world.

"Repede? Is that your dog's name?" Once again her eyes find the animal who's turned away. Mirai's cheeks puff a little about being called a kid. But she'll crouch down, knees pressing into her chest and offer her hand out in Repede's line of sight, not wanting to simply pet him when his back is turned towards her now. "Where am I?"

"You're on the world called Crystallis, kupo!" Finally her Moogle chimes in helpfully.

[dammit_flynn]

Good to be optimistic Mirai but that can only get you too far. Good thing she understands that at least. Repede just keeps looking at her as Yuri seems to be intrigued to why the dog is staring so intently at her. Well, he supposed she looked young enough to be a kid. However, size can be deceiving. When he learned Rukia was more than a few centuries old definitely threw him off.

Yuri doesn't seem to be bothered by her antics or her habits. He finds it a little bit funny. Though, he didn't express it aloud since he probably would have made her even angrier. She's really a bit short tempered and all he did was tease her.

"Sorry kid, the world isn't so sunshine and rainbows. That also means folks aren't always kind and polite."

He shrugged a bit. Normal people would be offended by it but Yuri wasn't.

"Taken away like the rest of us. Whatever powers or abilities you had before, it doesn't work here. We got job classes and we learn to control our new abilities here instead. Yep, that's Repede."

He patted teh dog on the head once. The dog looks at her for a moment and sniffs it before licking it briefly.

"This place is called Crystallis. The main city or whatever you want to call is Aqures Ixen. You're basically here to save this world, the other worlds and your world from being consumed by an entity called the Calamity."

"OR your friendly moogle can continue for me!"

[unpleasanthemokinesis]

She's not optimistic... not by a long shot. Mirai is somewhere in between - teetering on the edge and capable of going either way. Sometimes she's entirely pessimistic and other times not. Really it all depends on the situation and considering she should be dead but isn't seemed to be something to be viewing the glass as half full. And she certainly is young enough to be a kid, with Mirai what you see is often what you get.

Everything is wrong, she's allowed to be a bit short-tempered when someone teased her. Not that she'd usually let it go when someone teased her in the first place, it also sometimes didn't stop that person either.

"I already know that and I don't need you to remind me of it. I haven't forgotten."

Some part of Mirai is still ruffled but not as much as she had been, her words are more stiff than angry. Mirai is all too aware of the cruelness people can hold towards another. All her life people have hated her because they were afraid.

Nothing is said as he explained about what had happened to her powers, how she had new ones and that they're here to save the world. All their worlds. Instead her eyes are completely fixed on Repede - as if there is nothing more important than this dog that she's only just met. Maybe she's just that interested in the animal or maybe it's something more than that.

Once her hand now contains dog slobber, Mirai patted his head a couple of times before withdrawing it. She doesn't stand up though. Actually it almost looked as if she were withdrawing into herself the way she remains crouched low to the ground and her arms wrapping around her knees.

"What happens after we save this world and all the rest? Do we just go home?" Not that she has anything left to go home to (that she's aware of). Mirai accepted her fate long ago before she started on her final journey. She could leave and go back to being dead, she could even give her life to accomplish this task. It was all the time in between that would be difficult. All that time being here by herself.

"Have you ever heard the name Kanbara Akihito?" Even in that fake world she had the illusion of her senpai.

[dammit_flynn]

Yuri has a lot to learn about this strange girl then. He really can't seem to gauge her just yet. After all she keeps doing the opposite of what he expects. Who would have thought a quiet meek girl suddenly got extremely loud and defensive? Honestly, either way he didn't really make it a habit to completely judge people he hardly knew. He'll let her have her anger as she wants and he would deal with it when she's done with it-- if it was even anger to begin with.

It's just how the world is. He isn't much different from here, growing up in the slums and having no parents. He was judged for everything he was. Perhaps, that's why it was easy for him to notice people like Mirai. He didn't know her full story but a part of him was aware that there was more to her than just a meek or angry and upset girl. She's a new person in a new land with new people. She probably didn't even know what happened to her world much less see it. It was the same for Yuri.

"Right, right. Take it easy, I'm not denying that you get it."

Of course, the dog would get the most attention and he was fine with that. He didn't smell or pick up anything potentially dangerous about her so he allowed her to play with him until she stopped. The swordsman looks down at her as she seemed to curl into herself while Repede makes another attempt to slobber on her via her face. She'll probably get a few rough licks on her cheek.

"That's the end goal. Who knows if we'll actually get it or if it can be achieved. Lots of stuff have gone haywire since I came here. This place is cracking with a lot of messed up things."

He replied as seriously as he can. He bends down a bit when she lowers too much into herself. He was much taller than her, so maybe talking to her at eye level won't bother her too much.

"Sorry kid, I'm afraid I've never met anyone by that name-- a friend of yours?"

He gave her an almost empathetic look for the question. She must miss her friends and those she cared about. Yuri was the same.

[unpleasanthemokinesis]

She isn't really angry at him - well, sure he was a little bit rude but it wasn't his fault that she was here and has no idea of what's going on. The guy probably isn't responsible for anything that's happened. It had been her fault that she'd run into him too. All of this had just put her on the defensive and for Mirai, that meant being loud and aggressive when confronted.

He didn't have to tell her how cruel and unfair the world could be, she knew it. Of course Mirai is aware that she isn't the only one who might have suffered but she doesn't always see it in others right away. It didn't help that she pushed people away so they couldn't hurt her first - something that has changed but it's only a recent thing so she hasn't learned how to recognize it yet.

Dogs don't talk, they don't typically judge a person either unless that person has been mean first. Mirai understood animals better than she understood people - not that she's been around that many animals to start with. When Repede successfully licks her face, she doesn't pull back but merely uses her sleeve to wipe away the slobber.

"What if we can't go back? Could we stay here?" If she had anything to go back to, she would. But she'd died and that was okay. If she can't stay here then that was fine too.

When he lowers himself to her level, Mirai does look up at him properly. While she doesn't uncurl, her eyes do meet his gaze. Though does glance away when answering his question - blushing just a little.

"Senpai is... senpai." Because that is an accurate description, right? She pushes up her glasses with one hand. "He was the last person I saw."

Someone important to her that she can't quite bring herself to actively talk about with a person she'd just met. But maybe it's obvious just how important he is.

[dammit_flynn]

He'll learn to recognize that about her in the future. For now, they're strangers so he doesn't really know how she works. At least, she's expressive. It makes it easier for him to gauge her from time to time. He's not going to judge her on how she wants to handle her inner struggles. Yuri is the same. He's not very good at expressing himself and he deals with all of it by avoiding or changing the topic at hand rather than talking about it.

Repede will lick her face a few more times, before plopping down next to her. Somehow, it seems like he's fond of her more than she thinks. Maybe it's because she looks like a child and children seem to be what the dog is biased towards. Yuri finds the whole thing a bit cute in his opinion but doesn't comment on it. Repede being a bit more social just means that she's not that bad of a human being.

"I'm not sure if we can choose to stay here or not if we don't have a place to go back to. What do yo mean-- you can't go back?"

He gave her a worried look fro her comment. Anyone would find it strange that she asks like that. Yuri sees the blush on her face but he'll save her the teasing for once and let it slide.

"So he's your friend."

In short anyway. He can tell that the other person was probably more than that but he's not going to dive into a teenager's life. that's her problem.