Endgame || Apocalypse

[melodiesmods]

Characters: Anyone
Where: Pandaemonium
When: March 05th
Summary: The first phase of endgame begins! The Heroes of Light are on their way to deal with Garland as they’ve left their unfinished businesses in the hands of their friends amongst the NPCs. How will it end? The mingle threads shall not be modded, only The Guardian will be modded. Please do not start individual threads for The Guardian, reply in a single thread. Starting from now on, the game is officially in endgame. Please do not post any new posts on Mognet or in the Log Community, unless they’re backdated to before this event. The second phase of endgame will be posted once The Killer Of World thread will have been unlocked and completed.
Warning: ̩̼͋ͬͅ.̷̳̗ͦͣ͐ͭͣͬ̈́ ̤̙ͫ̉.̨̯͖̗͓̥̭̣̂̄ͣ̏ͯͫ ̶̼̻̳ͫͧͥ̆.̭͎ͮ͂ ̳̤͓̖̫͌ͪͥ̄͗̐̌.͚͍̀ ͈̻̠̥̜ͦͦ̆ͨ͋.̼̹̹̠̟͚͎ ͙͇̲̘͖̉̌̒͂̈ͮ.͇͙͑̍̽ ̪̭̹̤͓̯̜ͦͣ̒̾͆͗ͦ͟.̝̯̲͗͊̽ ̛̙͌̈ͤ̚.̪̮̰̘͚̏ͦͤ ̲̼̺͓̣̝̐.͗ͨ͜ ̧́̑̄ͥ.ͬ͊̋ͣ ̝̠͍̭̯̽.́ ̊̽̈.̡̥̖̣͓̬̠̰͗͑͂ ͍̭̩̝̉͊̑̃̓ͤ̇.͆̔̀̈́̐̋ ͇̬̤̲͉̜͙̓̍ͦͯͤͥ̔.̯̻̺͔̰̞̙͋͡ ̻̼̣̮͖̮̋ͬ.̖̝̞ ͕̦̙̞̹̲̖̓̃.̌ͯͯ͟ ̺̘̪͊̊.̲͖ ̧̼̙̋ͦͧ̂́̑͑.̷̼̬̭͔͙̹̫ͦͧ̔̄͐̏ͫ ̱͎ͥͥ̈͝.̲̣͖̪͓̯ͩ̓̈̿ͧ̅́ ̪͈͚̺̦̝͎̒ͦ̇̚.̂̆ͯͦͩ̃̀̀ ̬͕̼̆.͎̃́͐̄͒̑ͪͅ ̠̳͎ͬ.̛̭͓͗͌ͪ ̴͉̱͉̘̯̟̔͐.̫̣̥̔͑͛́ ̝̭̤̜͖͎̙̈ͪ̿̓ͯ͂̚.̟̲̥̥͈̭̳̈̋ͥͦ ͔̩̈͋͐͗̚.͓̝̼͍̈ͧ͊ͅ ̥ͥ.̷̬͍͙ͥ̓͋ͅ ̪̯̠ͨ́̂.̱̙̘̫̰͕͈̎̓̊ ̧̻̃̎.̬̇̄ ̘̣̺̼ͯ͋̀.̯ͬ ̆͗͆̆̋͝.̴̞͖̫́ͬ͌̉̍̿ ̪̹̥͙̑ͅ.̵̻̮͓̉̃ͯ͑̊̈́̚ ͚̽̒̚͘.͇̮͇̻͍͈̠͂̓ͣ̀͡ ̩̠̖̋.̺͎͈̦̺̈́ͮͬ͌̋ͧͩ ̳̠͕͙̎ͩ͜.̛̆ͥ̒͑ ̘̠͓͚̱͗͜ͅ.̢̠̠̥͍̬̂̊͋͊̂̄̐ ̦͛.̰͚̫̱͙̩̅̓ ̲̜͌̒ͭ͑͠.̠̆̈̏͆̉ ̰̹̳̻̥̮̬ͨ̍̐̆͗ͫ͜.͕̥͔̳ͩ͞ ̣͓̥̑̍͊̽̄̀.̳̘̭ͭ̔̎̍͜ ̟̞̯̏.̙̯̦̞̱̘ͬ͐ͩ ̯̠̣͉̪̅̅ͣ́ͅ.̡͗̍̿͊͐͊ ̲̙́̽̽́.̝̟͇͈͚̿͝ ̑͜

Mingle Thread
The Guardian
The Killer Of Worlds

Comments

[damn_juicebox]

[Rukia only intended to nod in greeting as they passed one another. So his question catches her off guard. Oh? She pauses for a moment to reflect, wondering if she seems to be looking melancholy or otherwise unwell...and wonders if perhaps she is on the inside as well. Either way, it's rude to leave him hanging, so she smiles and gives his arm a friendly tap with the back of her hand before folding her arms.]

I'm fine. There's no need for concern.

[And she's pretty sure she means that. The part about not needing to be concerned is true at least, she'll fight as well as the rest of them when the time comes regardless of her sentiments.]

What about yourself? You don't seem nervous.

[shinrasfinest]

Is there not?

[A need for concern? He finds the expression concerning, on it's own, given the apparent climax to all of this that they're speeding towards. That anyone should be perfectly 'fine' with any of this should be the larger concern!

As a result, Rukia gets a not-so-convinced as-I've-seen-that-look-before look with him tilting his head to one side at her a little.]

I believe we channel those nerves similarly, most of the time. I should have been more constructive with them, before now, I think.

[damn_juicebox]

[She sure looks fine. If she's having any concerns, then they're well hidden beneath the surface serenity the shinigami projects. Rukia doesn't seem quick to give her thoughts voice in any case.]

Ah, well. I'm certain you'll have plenty of opportunities once we touch down. There will surely be obstacles in our path that may need your combat expertise.

[Because that's what he means about being constructive, right? Working out extra energy and stress with a good fight!]

You've something on your mind, then? You know you can speak freely around me.

[shinrasfinest]

[Maybe he's got her wrong, then. Rukia does indeed seem a lot less apprehensive than most. Something he -by rights- should be as well.]

Of course. You know my sword'll be there as needed as we push on towards the end.

[Was that a part of the problem? Sephiroth's more troubling nerves lead towards the 'what then' in terms of what happens after the inevitable fight they're all sppeding towards.]

You don't think that all of this still feels terribly...guided towards this end?

[He's always had that thing about being under someone else's sway, if you like, acting upon circumstances that have been put there as opposed to really seeing the truth.]

[damn_juicebox]

Perhaps.

[She folds her arms with a sigh; she understands his frustration in that regard.]

I know we must defeat Garland to stop the time loop from continuing. But I don't believe his death is necessary, given what we've seen of his origins. He is pitiable, not evil.

[Her brow furrows.]

Besides, should we fail in our endeavors to repair the Soul Divider and heal the Calamity, we may need him to reset the loop so the next Heroes fare better than we did.

[And that's her two cents on the matter, but she's sure she's made her feelings clear about this before.]

You feel we're being manipulated in some manner?

[shinrasfinest]

Agreed. However, that doesn't make his death any less necessary.

[A eternal soul tethered to life for as long as however-many cycles there have already been. Never able to rest. Never to release that accumulated energy, back to the Planet in order for the cycle to complete correctly. Garland could potentially be like a blockage in the process somewhere which might well be compounding the greater issue.

Sephiroth looks like he had some other comment to add, but then thought better of it. That paranoia has never been very far away form his conscious thoughts.]

It seems I've always felt that we're being manipulated in some way or another.

[There's a cold, honest truth. Simply put.]

Yet, because of that suspicion, there still remains much unsolved to me as to what the plan should be. Afterwards.

[damn_juicebox]

Who said it was necessary that he must die?

[As far as she knows, the only two big supporters in the RIP Garland Camp were Palitutu and Kalki. They weren't exactly reliable or trustworthy as far as Rukia was concerned. She folds her arms and exhales. She'd mention what the Sage said, but she knows Sephiroth isn't a big fan of the old man.]

Fate, destiny, manipulation... Whatever it is, we can only proceed with what we know, and maintain our conviction that we've made the best choice that we could.

[She unfolds one arm, gesturing.]

After this, our next step is to gather the rest of the black crystals, as we'll need them to communicate with the other avatars. Jade has been working on repairing the Soul Divider. I trust in his intelligence and competence to see it done, as it seems fairly similar to the Planet Storm from his world of Auldrant.

[Rukia glances over the edge of the boat, to where Pandaemonium lies ahead.]

If we are successful in defeating Garland, it may well be our last battle we have to fight.

[shinrasfinest]

I feel like it's inevitable, either way.

[That's as far as he's going to take the matter of whether-or-not-to-kill Garland. Sephiroth has always seen him as something of an enemy even before it was revealed about his role as the great guardian in all of this. That opinion hasn't softened much but he does have a little more pity towards the one who has essentially been forced to re-incarnate who-know how many times already. Surely the only was to resolve that was to free his spirit...

Perhaps it's his fight-to-kill morality. He wonders as he allows his attention to be caught by the advancing city-scape as they came closer. Glancing at Rukia only fleetingly, it's no big secret either how unsure Sephiroth is with regards to the black crystals and how they could (or should) play a role in all of this.]

Well I'm glad at least one of us appears to be on the right page-

[He's likely heard it before, perhaps even from Jade himself, yet with so much at stake Sephiroth's bound to be skeptical at best. But the hesitation, now, is something he needs to put to one side. Whatever his role in this will be, it will be.]