melodiesoflife | Final Fantasy || Melodies of Life

Sparks wakes up and is on his feet in a fighting stance immediately, robot fist clad arms held up ready for punching. Even though his eyes dart around in confusion while Shakyamuni spoke to them, he didn't make a move yet.

"Uh. What. What happened."

Once Jade mentions the Calamity, Sparks grimaced.

"That's not good news. ...Or maybe it is. We can fight this stupidity from the inside out."

Hoping Kalki could hear, Sparks spoke loudly to the air around them as he got ready to unleash his limit break, Right the Outlaw Wrongs.

"You think a little vaporization is gonna stop me? I'm from Earth!"

Whatever Chiaki's Void Vision showed them, Sparks was ready to leap forward and pummel it with a flurry of superpowered punches.

Sheena could barely move when her eyes opened. Her health had been low, and her Limit Break hadn't managed to do anything. And now, she was someplace with a spongy floor and-- Seriously?

"Well, looks like option two," Sheena muttered as Shakyamuni spoke--the voice coming from out of nowhere. Katana in hand, she started to rise as she felt healing magic fill her and once on her feet, turned to Chiaki.

"Thanks."

Weapon still down, Sheena glanced at their surroundings before settling her gaze on Jade. "Kalki made a mistake, didn't she? She didn't have all the information she should have, did she?"

That there might be a chance of another party being involved in all of this.

K'pandolu was on her feet again as soon as she could be (hadn't once been enough?) and listened, ears twitching. She was trying not to think about the floor too much, but the noise wasn't much better- and trying to make it out was simply giving her a headache. She made a face, but nodded- a two-pronged attack made sense. And- there was no sense in losing whatever opportunity they had. Though there was the minor detail of not being able to tell where the entity was.

She glanced at Sheena, ears flicking. "I wonder if she could have," she said. "Whatever she saw- I wonder if it was the whole picture." They'd likely never know, and she prepared to cast Cura on Sparks once his limit break was done, the better to try to keep him safe. Though-

"If it… they? need our melodies- should we be singing?" she wondered.

"Perhaps a mistake... But likely not a coincidence."

As void vision was used, slowly the area around them was revealed. The ground appeared to be made of flesh as far as the eye could see, yet not pulsing, as if it were all dead. Pillars of the very flesh making up this entity were scattered around and soon a gigantic creature's shape was revealed. Likely not the Calamity itself, but a makeshift avatar made so the Heroes would be able to face it.

Shakyamuni's voice could be heard echoing around once more.

"Hope for eternity is the very sentiment that brought about the creation of the Calamity. Hope is what led to the senseless sacrifices of all who came before you. Hope for a better world is the core idea that drives Kalki's every actions. When unrestrained, hope leads to denial of reality and rejection of all. Ere long it becomes a pretense to ignore pain and stall growth. It is thus become as negative of a notion as despair is."

Eventually the use of void vision revealed the creature, an entity taller and more terrifying than Kalki now standing in front of the Heroes of Light. The head bore a semblance to Shakyamuni's face, would she have been made of flesh. There were no eyes to be seen or mouth, only a gaping void where they should have been. Veins were running over the left eye's void and its hair looked as though it was made of veins as well, falling besides its form and merging into the ground.

The trunk of the entity seemed to be made of dead corpses: ones whose faces might have been vaguely familiar to the Heroes. Namely those of Narasimha, Mograma, Varaha, Kalki, Prajapati, Kurma and an unidentified one that looked like a familiar-looking old man... The left arm was made of the Sage's corpse whereas the right one was made of the Leader of Narayana's Cult corpse. Their eyes were all closed, save for those of Narasimha and the Cult's Leader that were gaping void. The trunk seemed to grow from the ground itself and ere long an attack befell the Heroes of Light.

>Mega Death
Kill all targets.

The use of Mega Death is automatic and not a deliberate action. It will kill any Hero of Light not protected from death. The protection from Carbuncle and Savior of World will immunize the Heroes to this move (if used in Carbuncle's case). Reraise works after this move as well.

Round Summary:
Limit Break: 5%

Calamity from the Skies's health: 95%

"No. Not again. You won't take a friend from me again."

Chiaki is done crying. Now is the time for action. She casts Life on K'pandolu, waiting for her to regain her senses and affording her the chance for a Limit Break before using Curaga to heal her up.

"This world will live on, without your twisted hope."

At this point, she's just getting sour and tired about getting up- though she appreciates being able to, of course. She managed a disgusted face for what the trunk of the entity is made of- that's twisted, before shaking as much of the lethargy as she can, before reaching out- for a few moments where the world feels right and in focus, below she strikes out with her own limit break, Perfect Balance. "Dawn will come," she promises.

This was it, then. Jade followed suit, casting Life and Curaga on Jaune.

"It's true. Hope can lead to suffering just as despair does." He remembered a young boy, a young man, treading on the remains of the dead to create a science that would nearly destroy his world -- all in the vain hope of bringing his beloved teacher back to life. The blood on his hands... Much of it had been spilled out of hope, twisted though it was. A refusal to accept the cruel truth.

Van, all of them... had acted out of hope for a better world, even if it meant murdering millions. Or was it despair -- the belief that their future was doomed -- that had driven them to rebellion? Perhaps there was little difference.

"Our worlds -- our universe is imperfect. People are blinded by hope and despair. We fail to learn from our mistakes time and time again. That is reality." He smiled. "But that's fine, isn't it? Cleaning up the messes we make is a good enough reason to keep living."

"Personally? I just don't like people tellin' me what to do. Bullies on the cosmic scale 'r the worst kind."

Sparks was feeling reinvigorated. His limit break seemed to make a dent, he'd gotten some health back, and he was ready to fight again. They can win this fight. They've got this. He's got this.

Sparks knocked his metal robot fists together with a loud clang clang, cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, and got ready to bring out the big guns this round with Melodies of Life.

Hearing Shakyamuni's words, Sheena could only nod sadly in agreement. "That's true," she said quietly, thinking of Mithos and his Age of Lifeless Beings. Everyone the same, no individual thoughts or emotions--or discrimination.

Almost like what Kalki wanted.

Nodding towards Jade she continued, "And while its true we tend to not learn from our mistakes, there are times when do. When we face them head on and work to correct them." She paused. "Pain is a part of life. It's how we learn and grow. A baby taking its first steps falls down a lot, but they keep trying, and eventually, they're walking. And then running--scraped knees and all. Kalki wants to take that away from everyone, and I'm not going to let her. I will not be someone else's Lifeless Being."

And downing an ether, she once again used High Summoner to call forth Ifrit and Odin.

Dying the second time was no less pleasant than the first time. "This is getting old fast." He pulled himself back to his feet, flexing as he fell back into a battle stance.

"It's true that hope can lead to despair... the thought that you might fail." His mind flashed to what he had read about Pyrrha's future. "But that doesn't stop us from trying. And I will not let anyone stop me from trying to protect the people I love."

He rushes towards the creature, noting just how grotesque it was before unleashing Assault on it, determined to do whatever he can to save his friends while he went Berserk under the protection of Shell and Protect.

"If that is thy answers..."

Shakyamuni, or rather the Calamity, went silent after this. But soon, another Mega-Death went off.

>Mega Death
Kill all targets.

The use of Mega Death is automatic and not a deliberate action on the Calamity's end. It kills any Hero of Light not protected from death. It will go off every round till it is defeated or till the Heroes of Light are defeated.

Round Summary:
Perfect Balance: 4.5%
Melodies of Life: 31.5%
Ifrit: 4%
Odin: 2.8%
Assault: 2.1%
Total: 44.9%

Calamity from the Skies's health: 50.1%

It wasn't fighting back. Understanding dawned as Jade watched the abomination towering before them. The Calamity's presence might be causing instant death to Jaune and K'pandolu, but it was making no move to intentionally harm any of them.

So in the end... it had accepted their answer.

"Forget about healing." The words were meant for Chiaki while he cast Life to bring back Jaune once more. "I think it's about time we bring this to an end. Shall we?"

Jade reached for his staff. Blood Pain pulsated quietly with the strength of every enemy he had slain up until now. With his free hand, he removed his glasses. It was a little dramatic for him, but sometimes such a thing felt like the right thing to do.

Hanging around all these heroic types for so long... truly had been a terrible influence on him.

Raising his staff high, Jade commenced their final assault and called upon the power of the Onion Knight -- with Melodies of Life.

"Farewell."

No healing? What the hell...? Then it dawned on her. It wasn't truly attacking them. It hadn't when they couldn't see it, nor when the battle truly started. And there was no sense of it gearing up for a big attack like from their other foes.

So what's been happening must be some sort of reflex, unable to be controlled. So no sense in healing when "alive" was all that was needed. And within a blink of an eye, she knew what she had to do.

"Yes, it is," Sheena said to Jade, lifting her katana. She had no dramatic or heroic gesture to make, but hopefully using Melodies of Life twice would make up for that.

"Oh, we are way past due endin' this."

They got this. No problem. Drawing his gunsword, Sparks had two more Melodies of Life for this abomination.

Jaune groans as he gets up again, giving a nod of thanks to Jade. He really hopes they beat this thing soon. Revive or not, dying ~~sucked~~. Melodies of Life seems to be the only thing that's working, but Jaune isn't able use that, so he's pretty much useless in the actual fight. He can take over reviving K'pandolu, though, so that Chiaki can focus on a Melodies of her own.

He takes a few steps back from the creature and uses Choreography of Life to bring K'pandolu back to life and braces himself to go down again.

It's rough. K'pandolu gives Jaune a nod in turn, but doesn't spare the energy to curse at the entity- it won't do much good, and she's feeling too rough. She focuses all the energy she can muster on a Judgement, instead.

Chiaki nods gratefully to Jaune, then to K'pandolu as she stands, followed by the others each in turn. Her inner gamer sense is tingling, telling her that the battle's end is nigh. All that's left is to show Shakyamuni their resolve and bring this cycle to an end. Focusing her energy, she bows her head and folds her hands as if in prayer before letting loose with Melodies of Life. That isn't all she's got, but first it's time for what may be her last hope speech in front of her allies.

"Shakyamuni... Kalki... everyone," she starts, addressing both the myriad tortured souls melded into the Calamity's form and the shattered remains of past Heroes and their worlds that have nourished its corrupted spirit all these years. "This cycle has gone on long enough. No more will this world be given life through the deaths of countless others. No more will the hope of its people be built on the despair of others. All of that ends today, here and now. May the departed spirits of Heroes past finally find rest as Crystallis is born anew - not from the will of the Ancients, but by the hands of the Heroes called here to save it."

Pausing, she slings her guitar down from her back, lifting a hand in the air and striking a dramatic pose.

"Let the light of true hope bring renewal! Melodies of Eternity!"

And she brings her hand down, pouring every bit of herself into the gesture as the chord rings out loudly through the vast expanse of nothingness. With any luck, it will resonate with the Calamity as well and finally bring this world's suffering to an end.

With the use of Melody of Eternity, time appeared to stop for a second. Then the entirety of their surrounding shook as if a violent earthquake happened as the creature twisted in pain, a scream resounding all around them as the Calamity melted and soon faded. The screams in the distance faded as well and everything faded to black...

[ The final battle is over and won. The conclusion will be posted and played out in the coming days in the final thread. ]

Final Fantasy || Melodies of Life

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