melodiesoflife | Wanderer of Time - Arrival at New Mysidia

"'Almost there', she says." Sonic grumbled, his Magitek Armor limping along the way. He was making mental notes after mental notes - never get rid of his Custom Job ever again. All of this was getting ridiculous - he'd have been there and back easily!

"Just where the heck are we anyway?! I don't recognize anything here! Then again, I barely recognized where we woke up at!"

"There, there. Save your energy." Despite making a good effort at looking unruffled, even Jade was feeling the exhaustion. The trek itself would have been tiring enough, but when it was constantly slowed down by ghosts and T-Rexes blocking their path... They had ended up taking countless detours and losing their sense of direction more than once.

And then there was the issue of food. Between the four of them, he was pretty certain they had eaten enough raptors to fill an entire theme park with.

The object in the distance grew taller and taller as they approached, but not much wider. That could only mean one thing.

"It looks like... the Mysidian Tower." So they hadn't gotten completely lost. That was something. "If the protection is active, the Calamity monsters shouldn't be able to enter this area."

Selphie kept moving toward the Tower but Sonic's grumbling had her frowning. They all needed to get out of the elements, eat a decent meal and get a decent night's sleep. It was more important however to get information about what had happened while they'd all been out of it. The exhaustion throughout the group was understandable and she'd done her best to keep a positive outlook but it was tiring.

"Then, there might be people in there," Selphie continued hopefully. "We can find out what's going on."

Anise followed behind the rest of the group, notably energetic. She was happy to be alive, but she was also swearing off lizard meat for the rest of her life. Possibly, also swearing off all meat for the rest of her life.

"I hope so," she said in a voice that was more complaining than hopeful. "It'd be nice to see something that wasn't trying to kill us." Of course, with their luck, the people would try to kill them, too.

"I agree with her." Sonic said, pointing to Anise. If anything, he's just drained. He's not used to being slow at all and being under attack all the time has really sapped his mood.

Closing the distance between them and the Tower still took a while, but at least there was nothing in the way forcing them to slow down or backtrack. Once they got closer, they might even find the old patrol routes made by Sephiroth's troops all those years ago. Small mercies and all that.

"Now we just have to hope the elevators are still operational," Jade said as they reached the foot of the Tower. "Unless someone would prefer the exercise? It's only 101 floors."

"Go for it, Jade," Selphie responded. "You should show us young folks how it's done!"

Sarcasm aside, they all would be someplace safer soon. There were other smaller objects jutting out of the ground every now and again. They could be directional markers leading them toward their destination or into a trap of some kind. Something inside of the perky brunette hoped that they were the latter but she was wary of the outcroppings nonetheless. Regardless, it was their only clue that they were still heading the right way.

"Did anyone want to scout ahead to make sure we don't run into anymore T-Rexes?"

"And you'd carry us all up, right?"

Anise knew Jade well enough to know when he was going to pull the 'Old Man' card. If it looked like he might do that, she was gonna make his life as miserable as possible first.

Humor aside, she does have to agree with Selphie. They hadn't had an easy time getting here, and getting surprised would get them all killed.

"That's a good idea. Any volunteers?"

"Eh, I got a little bit of gas still left in me, I'll make the push and call ya'll in. Besides, I'm sure you can see my machine waving if it's all clear!" Sonic said, shrugging.

"Humph, I see how it is." Ganging up on the elderly. What terrible children.

Jade nodded at Sonic's suggestion. "All right, we're counting on you, Sonic. Just don't leave me alone with these two for too long or they'll start bullying me."

Selphie sent a knowing, mischievous smirk in Anise's direction before shrugging her shoulders. If this was the card that Jade was going to pull, then Selphie and Anise could respond in kind. Horrible children, indeed.

"We'll be right along behind you while we decide the piggyback riding order up the stairs. I'd say... we switch every ten floors. Us poor girls could sure go for a nap.

"Or... I suppose we could dish the dirt to a certain girlfriend about all the terrible things he made us do."

She winked at the Colonel. "It's your call, Jade."

"We'll be waiting for you!" Anise was grateful that she wasn't the one going out first this time; last time got a little bit too scary for her to be comfortable.

And then she winked back at Selphie. Having a partner in crime was nice. "Yeah, I'm sure that she'd love to hear how you made us climb the tower all by ourselves. Us poor, defenseless girls."

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle as it seemed that the other girls were going to torture Jade while he was gone before charging off to find out what's out there.

Jade sighed. Knowing Rukia would relish the chance to torment him made the threats actually carry some weight. He had set himself up for an easily exploitable weakness by dating her, hadn't he?

Not that he regretted it. He would have given a lot right now just to know if she was alright. But still, it was embarrassing not to have a comeback immediately ready -- a mistake on his part that the girls would no doubt notice and take delight in.

Sometimes being in love could be such a bother.

"You wound me. When have I ever been so cruel to you?" Don't answer that. "As much as I'd love to carry you, my old spine simply isn't strong enough for that sort of burden. Why don't you two take turns carrying each other?"

Edited 2017-04-14 13:59 (UTC)

"You're not that old, Jade," Selphie countered. "I'm sure you could carry both of us at the same time with no problem.

"Regardless," she pressed on. As much fun as she was having teasing Jade about his romantic endeavours, there were far more pressing matters on hand. "We really are almost there."

Anise smirked. But as tempting as digging in farther was (and it was very tempting), they did have bigger things to worry about.

She turned towards Selphie, before looking up in the direction Sonic had gone.

"We are!" Which made it even stranger that Sonic wasn't back yet. "How long before we need to worry?"

Putting aside the unfortunate clash with the security, things had turned out much better than expected. Not only was the Tower practically a city on its own now -- which meant food, shelter and information -- but they'd also learned their first bit of good news; Cid was still alive. Mograma too, but unless they happened to run into the Moogle on their way to the elevator, meeting with the Regent came first.

Jade led the others to the closest elevator and set the course for the 80th floor. That area of the Tower was dedicated to crystal research, if he remembered right.

"Alright, turn it on now."

As the elevator reached its destination, a familiar voice came from behind a closed door just right of them, and words that could only belong to a Moogle replied to it.

"Roger, Kupo."

"Hey I said turn it on, not turn it to the max! L--"

A minor explosion could be heard and immediately the Moogle spoke again.

"K-Kupo! We'll be right b-back, Kupo!"

Emerging from the room as the closed doors slammed open were a Primal Moogle and a Tarutaru, both of whom ran for the closest flight of stairs.

And inside was Cid, looking much the same as they remembered. ... Maybe with some more white hair and wrinkles than before. Facepalming in front of what looked like a Magitek Generator-- Broken of course, judging by the fumes and sparkles. That was probably why the Primal Moogle and Tarutaru had been running so quickly. If they paid attention, they could see his right arm was being held by an arm sling and a shoulder immobiliser beneath his jacket... But he certainly didn't notice them yet.

"Wasn't convincing everybody down below that we weren't zombies or monsters or calamity whatchamawhosits enough for one day?" Selphie complained as she peered inside of the office.

There had been no less than four attacks and perhaps a fisticuff or two or three on the way toward the elevator that at least one part of their merry band of misfits was done. Through the foul smelling air and the sparkles, there stood one familiar old man with his arm in a sling staring down a generator. Just a typical day in Crystallis clearly. People go missing for years at a time, the world isn't what it used to be and there stood Cid, tinkering with tech.

Furiously scampering critters in the opposite direction aside, Selphie gave the Regent a tired look. "Need a hand in there, sir?"

"Oomph! Sssidf!"

Okay, Sonic, swallow the sandwich you swiped, then greet Cid.

"Oi, Cid!" Sonic called out properly. "About time we found another familiar face!"

"Assuming you don't have two left hands, that'd be--"

Cid looked up at whoever had offered to help and blinked in quick succession for a moment. He might as well have been looking at dead people given the way he looked at them. After a silence, he finally concluded.

"Okay, three possibilities here. Either you're not dead and somehow you made your way here, either ghosts are now reaching up higher than ever in the tower or - far more likely - the madness finally got to me and I'm ripe for the asylum."

Edited 2017-04-19 11:10 (UTC)

"I wouldn't discount that second one. All those raptor steaks were a bad idea."

Despite being all smiles as usual, Jade took careful note of Cid's appearance. It was probably safe to guess the new wrinkles and white hair weren't caused by passage of time alone.

The way he was looking at them wasn't a very good sign, either.

"I'm glad to see you made it out of the Enterprise alive, Cid. Care to fill us in? We know nothing of what happened after we crashed."

Anise wasn't close with Cid, but she could recognize something bad when she saw it. The look on Cid's face? Something awful.

"Yeah, all we know is that we woke up and it was years later. There were also the ghosts. And the dinosaurs. And the people trying to kill us."

She really hoped Cid wasn't going to attack them, too. With the way their luck was going, that was the most likely outcome.

"Yeah, you uh..." Selphie continued while scratching the side of her face. "Might wanna send a medic down to those guys on the first floors. We might've been a little rough with 'em..."

Just had been happening while they'd been gone? From the way Cid was reacting, it was almost as if he wasn't expecting to see them again. Perhaps showing their crystals would be helpful in proving that they weren't mere apparitions worthy of another round of fire from a small group of ballsy Ghostbusters.

"Seriously though," she continued. "What's happening and how can we help?"

"...or is this going to end up going into another fight. I really hope not, because one fight is enough for today." Sonic said, grimacing a bit.

"Though, I'm guessing that machine is supposed to be a barrier or somethin'?"

"Ah yes, fighting you. Sure it would end well for me." He shook his head at Sonic "Bright as ever... Anyway that machine is a magitek generator and what lets the Enterprise go up in the air." "Which won't happen anytime soon as these goddamn idiots broke it and we're out of spare pieces."

He sighed when Selphie mentioned sending medics down there, but he ended up replying to Jade's and Anise's questions.

"It was a particularly lonely time after the crash. I was surrounded by a bunch of heroes and next thing you know, they were all gone. Poof, magic, disappeared to god knows where. The rescue team searched for you but nothing. After that... The world went to shit but you saw the results already. We had to abandon Aqures Ixen when your crystallized buddies snapped out of their stasis, like they did during the Night of the Thirteen Moogles. Might be why everyone is trying to kill you, y'know, so you don't kill them first. We moved to Esdham but we had to abandon it too when the continent broke down. So we then moved to the Village of Santa. Is it still standing? God knows, it's been two years since the last airship was shot down and I've been stuck here since then."

A pause.

"Good old Mysidia was attacked by the douchelord of fire, I mean archfiend of fire, and it was abandoned too. Hence the Mysidians took residence in this tower. Not too bad of a place besides the occasional ghost here and there. Still debating if I'm speaking to four of them right now."

After hearing all of that, there were questions brewing in her mind that she had an inkling on the answer to. If the heroes who were in stasis awoke from their stasis and hadn't faced their shadows, there was no knowing what had happened to them. Whatever had happened must have been bad enough if Aqures Ixen was abandoned . For all they knew, the rest of the world could be as desolate and deserted as the place the four of them had ventured from to get to Mysidia. Selphie swallowed the lump in her throat before shaking her head.

"Cid," Selphie began as she looked at him with a concerned look. "If we were ghosts, why would we use the elevator? If we were ghosts, why do we all look older than when you probably last saw us all together? As far as I know, ghosts don't age."

Selphie let her head drop as she thought about all of her friends that had been in crystal stasis. They would have woken up and been alone with no-one to help them. Could they even be helped without facing their other sides? The perky brunette folded her arms across her chest and gripped her forearms tightly. There was panic starting to bubble up inside her that she was desperately trying to fight off.

"What happened to our friends at the hospital that forced everyone to leave Aqures Ixen?" She asked after a few moments of silence.

That part made Jade's smile vanish quickly, replaced by a grim frown. Luke, Ion, Guy, the other Tear... Not to mention those not from Auldrant, like Ashelia, Yuna and Terra... This was a bitter pill to swallow.

"If it was the same as the Night of the Thirteen Moogles, that would mean they were reanimated and attacked the civilian population." He pushed his glasses back, partly to conceal his own reaction to the news. "Unless stopping Kalki reverses the effect, I fear there's nothing we can do to help them."

Now wasn't the time for grief, however. Jade had his own share of questions that needed answering.

"Speaking of which, any news on Kalki? I couldn't help noticing Crystallis is still here, despite its rather sorry state. What's the status of the Calamity?"

"If she hasn't wiped out everything yet, that either means she's messed up somewhere or she's preparing for it." Sonic said, crossing his arms at the news. "And I'm sure it's the latter than the former. Which means we still have time to put an end to her."

And that causes Sonic to stop. "Which makes me wonder why she's taken this long to do anything. I mean, I doubt she waited... however long it's been... for us to show back up to pull this stunt."

The implications of what Cid said weren't missed on Anise, and she couldn't help but kick a nearby wall in frustration. Why did it turn out like this? Why did it always turn out like this?

As angry as she was, the only thing she could do was move forward. And that meant stopping Kalki, preferably after a good punch to the face.

"She probably needs us. The whole 'Heroes of Light' thing means that we're special, right? Maybe we have a special power she needs for the calamity."

"Yeah, that's just as Jade said for Aqures Ixen... Our forces were no match. It was running away or dying."

He paused and let everyone else ask their questions-- They didn't seem to be ghosts so far.

"Well about Kalki... About I show you, huh? Follow me."

With that said, Cid would lead the Heroes of Light toward the elevator.

Jade followed without a word, though he paused to give Anise's shoulder a quick squeeze. He didn't need to ask what had made her kick a wall.

Was it the Calamity simulator Cid was taking them to? That seemed likely.

Selphie followed at a sluggish pace as her blood ran cold. She could deal with the notion of her friends becoming monsters against their wills later.

For now, they all needed to focus on the facts in front of them.

They do indeed reach the floor with the Calamity Simulation, but none of the machine appear to be working. The map of Crystallis is red and a prototype of the Mog Network is on one of the control panels. Oh, and Kupo Nuts. Lots of them are around as many moogles seem to have made residence there.

"Thing hasn't worked since the apocalypse."

Cid opened the door to the roof and pointed at a telescope pointed north-east. Peeking through it would reveal a live picture of Kalki's Castle, or the rubble put together to look like a castle anyway.

"There, take a look. The "castle" appeared a few weeks after the Enterprise crashed and. Airships and sea ships that tried approaching all got blown up by an invisible energy field. Of course we got no proof that's where Kalki is, but that looks like her style to me. Can't be a coincidence it's standing right above the ruins of Aqures Tosf and the Temple of Fire either."

Sonic crossed his arms at that. "Aqures Tosf. Where everything began." He said. He chuckled as he realized something. "Pretty ironic that her quest to end all cycles has a cycle of its own."

Jade looked through the telescope before nodding. "I can't imagine anyone else being behind it. Kalki would find that island a fitting stage for her ending, I'm sure."

He turned back to Cid.

"Any idea what is powering the energy field?"

Cid nodded.

"The readings are similar to those of the Crystal of Fire... So probably the four crystals and by extension, the four "Archfiends." They're..." A pause. "Douchebags that appeared at the same time as the castle and took over all the temples and Mysidia. No one managed to get close enough to them and survive at once, so we don't know who or what they really are. I've got my suspicions on the ones who took over Trano and the Temple of Earth, but I'd rather hope to be wrong."

"One for each crystal," Selphie supplied thoughtfully as she looked at the Calamity Simulator. "Fire, Water, Earth and Air. We take them out and then we deal with Kalki. It sounds easy enough but I know it won't be that easy. Who are we dealing with then?"

As Selphie looks around the room curiously, she notices the Mog Network device and picks it up. She turns it over in her hands a few times before looking for a manual or a Moogle to explain what the device is.

"Hey Cid," Selphie held up the device. "What is this?"

Edited 2017-04-25 10:46 (UTC)

"Before we deal with the Archfiends, I think we should try to find the others first. They might be stranded out there just like we were."

Even if they managed to beat the Archfiends, it would be pointless to try fighting Kalki afterwards with just the four of them. And the longer they waited, the higher the odds that some of the other Heroes would get killed by the Calamity monsters or just starve to death out in the wilderness.

But how to regroup without an airship? Jade's train of thought was interrupted as Selphie asked about the device. He glanced questioningly at Cid.

"Would be easy if the Enterprise still worked. But the Magitek Engine is out of commission and there's no repairing it for months after what happened today."

He then turned to Selphie.

"That's a device created by the Herans... They called it a Mog Network. Supposedly allows people to communicate with each other over long distances... Never worked for me." A pause. "They said it'd work best by parasiting a pre-existing network. Point in case, the connection between your crystals. But I wouldn't bet on it working, Heran junk is all it is."

With that said, he shrugged at Selphie. They're free to try if they want.

"Wait, but if this thing does work, we'll be able to talk to all the other heroes, right?" Images immediately sprang into Anise's head of Rukia and Chiaki; she could find out if they were okay!

"Let's give it a try, then."

He walked over to Selphie and pulled his crystal out of his pocket. If the device was indeed built to use crystals, perhaps close proximity would do the trick.

Sure enough, pressing his crystal against the device yielded results. Not only did it activate, it quickly found another device to synchronize with.

"Well, what do you know? It seems to be working."

"Well color me surprised, guess they did something that works."

Cid looked over at the device, he clearly hadn't expected anything coming from the Herans to work.

"If they're by the old Downapolis, tell them to fetch the Palitutu's Report that's over there. It might be of some use to you."

Selphie flipped the device open as Jade synchronised the device with the one in Aerilon II. She studied the buttons briefly before hitting the power switch and felt the device come to life in her hands. There was a well of hope bubbling up again as she nodded.

"Is there anyone down there that could help you with repairs to the Enterprise, Cid? I know we're not moogles but --"

"-- But what?" a familiar voice called as Selphie's eyes widened in surprise. "You're not thinking of going into that den by yourself are you?"

The perky brunette looked over toward the doorway and saw an old friend hovering in the doorway.

"Jaelyn!" Selphie exclaimed. "You're okay! But no, I wasn't thinking of going there. Not by myself anyway."

Selphie focused back on the device in her hands before tapping random buttons. If it could synchronize with other devices, there had to be a map too, right?

"So one of the remaining reports is there... Good to know."

While Selphie was fiddling with the device, Jade turned back to Cid. There were a few more things on his mind.

"By the way, Cid... Whatever became of the attempt to modify the Soul Divider? Was there any progress before communications were cut?"

Cid just. Silently shook his head as Selphie played with the device before turning to Jade.

"Ah yes, there were attempts made to modify it, a team of former researchers went there, but..." He sighed. "Given the circumstances, I doubt they would have survived on their own."

Wanderer of Time - Arrival at New Mysidia

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how did this turn into the thread of teasing Jade?

all threads end with teasing jade

Meeting with Cid

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