melodiesoflife | Late to the Funeral

Late to the Funeral

Who: Cloud and OPEN
Where: The Enterprise
When: Backdated to as the Heroes are being gathered back together, perhaps after the Fiends but before the Final Dungeon. Either way, the beard has been shaved off, thank the gods.
Summary: Cloud tells the other Heroes what his group found in Esdham. Perhaps there's still time to go back there if people want to.

Cloud looked around at the gathered group. He wasn't waiting for everyone to gather, and while he was sure everyone would want to hear this their time was short and he figured a few more than others might have something to offer to help in the explanation. After taking a moment to collect his thoughts he took a long breath and began.

"As you all know, me, Johnny, Reno, and Dylas found ourselves close to Esdham when we woke up. The city was a ruin, abandoned and taken over by ghosts. We two things there. One of them was a new Advanced Job, Savior of Worlds. It looks like it's a combination of Onion Knight and World Knight." He waved his hand, trying to signal for everyone to wait before pressing that topic. He didn't mean to hold out on it but everyone was running around and busy and there were still so many unknowns that he didn't want to give false hope.

"The other thing that we found, behind the Presidential Palace, was a grave marker. Queen Sarah's grave. I think she was there all along. We also found these there." He held up a ribbon, one of four.

(ooc: Being busy rl side delayed this post, and then there's also the slow speed of threads, I didn't want to drop savior of worlds info before we even knew what we had oocly. As for the Ribbon, accessories, Johnny and Cloud are presently both using one each of the four in the final battle. I'm not sure about Reno and Dylas. Please confer with their players if you want one.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Even given the ruined state of the world, it's out of loyalty to the military of Esdham that he'd worked within for such a long time before, that Sephiroth attended Cloud's small meeting aboard the Enterprise. He had come back to this World completely on the other side of it, some strange sense of justice there, perhaps? Much like everything else going on, there wasn't the time anymore to adequately investigate it all.

As Cloud described the state of Esdham, under every word a sickening weight grew inside of him. Yet Sephiroth knew well there wasn't anything he could have done, staying behind from Pandemonium wouldn't have changed anything -the World fell to Ruin while they'd all been somehow whisked away into a protective torpor somewhere else. Or so that's how he understood it.

His eyes remained on the floor, directed somewhere near Cloud's boots as he stood somewhere near the back of the group as usual. The air circulation disturbed the finer hairs to his shorter silver bangs -freshly cut back in now- but as the subject turned to Sarah, his eyes closed firmly; unwilling to let his emotions now flare up and overflow what would be appropriate.

He knew what she'd been sick with...well sort-of. Sephiroth hadn't done anything...hadn't had the means. Didn't even try? There wasn't anyone to blame really, either.

"...she had been there...all along." He muttered, just to clarify it once and for all. There was really no need to keep it a secret anymore.

Cloud frowned as he nodded. He didn't know the Queen's circumstances or why she was doing what she was doing, but the thought had occurred to him once the shock of her death had time to settle. She was right under their nose, or next door to be more precise. And yet she'd kept herself separate from them.

"So...you knew?" He kept his tone level, eyeing Sephiroth curiously. He wasn't blaming him for this, and he had been wondering how much those with contact with Esdham knew. "Why was she keeping herself secret from us? Did she tell you?" He asked that just as he realized he was assuming that she'd even spoken to him.

"It was for her own safety... and ours."

Jade's usual cheer had quickly faded at the news. He had been about to ask about the new Jobs, but that didn't feel appropriate now.

"She was the one ensuring we woke up from Crystal Stasis whenever a new batch of Heroes arrived in Crystallis. Without her interference, we would have been easy pickings for Kalki." He glanced at Sephiroth, recalling the meeting between the Queen and a small group of Heroes. Not everyone had been happy with the secrecy, but it seemed they had all kept quiet about it nevertheless. Out of loyalty, perhaps, or simply because they had understood the necessity.

"Kalki was after her from the beginning. You may remember the attack on Esdham all those years ago -- it was all to stop Queen Sarah from protecting us."

Out of loyalty, necessity and that stalwart sense of duty that came so automatic to the silver haired warrior that he'd not even pinned it as such. Not only down to his role that had been ongoing at the military of Esdham, but perhaps for the protection of a great many more Heroes. Yes, it had been for the best.

Sephiroth nodded mutely to Jade, hoping somehow that the other mans answer would will Cloud to understand. There was something else as well, but again, he wasn't sure how much it should be shared. Within that small group that had met with the Queen there had been, at least by his reckoning, only three of them that had know that she had been sick with some mysterious illness.

Geostigma...or at least something similar to how Sephiroth imagined it might have looked.

"...yes. Yet it seems we eventually failed in reciprocating that protection..."

Jade's explanation makes sense, and Cloud isn't so naive as to be shocked or surprised by it all. Rather he's glad to have the pieces to put together for his own sake. "Ensuring we woke up, do you mean those of us who woke up rather than appeared at the crystal?" He chewed the inside of his cheek in thought. "That time when Kalki was able to make the newcomers appear in her lab, did something happen to the Queen at that time?"

But Sephiroth got a sad nod from the blonde for his musings, "You're right. We were working hard for this world and for her sake, but maybe not hard enough." He let himself carry that sadness for a moment, but then his expression shifted to resoluteness. "We have to make sure all she's done for us isn't in vain."

"Do you recall a time when a number of crystallized statues appeared at the Crystal of Fire, only to disappear within hours? That is what would have happened to us." It had seemed so baffling at the time, but in the end... everything had turned out to happen for a reason. "Kalki was able to meddle with the awakening process that time. The next wave of Heroes appeared in Imperial territory, at the Crystal of Earth."

Jade averted his eyes when the discussion returned to the Queen's death.

"She was very ill. Perhaps... there was nothing to be done." Though, he couldn't deny feeling a nagging doubt about that. Had he found out earlier, would it have made a difference?

"In hindsight, I suppose that was when it could have started, given her Highness' intrinsic connection to the awakening process..."

They might well be able to theorize forever on exactly what and when might have occurred for which they had lacked the larger context or knowledge at the time. It wasn't as if they could just go back now, with all that they knew now being applicable back then. Finally Sephiroth fidgeted a little in his stance and straightened up, dropping folded arms to his sides as he made the next point.

The sadness was only being intensified by that heavy responsibility that they had utterly failed to save her. Rising emotions were swallowed sternly before he spoke.

"But in reality, it makes no difference now ... whether she contracted that illness here or then. The Calamity has claimed so much from this World."

Cloud did recall the event that Jade was talking about, and it was that particular set of instances he was curious about. It never truly got laid out for him until now but it made as much sense as anything else. Since he'd gotten caught up in the military parade he was only ever able to go by the stories told by the others about that incident.

He still regretted not being able to do more that day.

"Yeah...For all we know it was something not meant for her to do alone. In a perfect world maybe the four crystals would have split the burden evenly." It was a nice theory but it was beyond moot at this point. Nothing about Crystallis had ever really been in Balance the whole time they were there.

"It may have been because of us, but no, I don't think it's our fault."

"Blaming ourselves wouldn't accomplish anything in any case. As you said, we can only make sure her faith in us wasn't misplaced."

Jade paused, considering how to proceed. His hand rose to absentmindedly play with his hair, fumbling briefly when it didn't find any below shoulder-level. He still wasn't used to having such short hair.

"I don't wish to sound callous about her death, but... unless anyone wants to go visit her grave, we should move on. Cloud, you said you found Savior of Worlds in Esdham? It was completed?"

Cloud nodded, "I think so. At least, that's what it looked like. And there were some research notes saying that they built on it with Palitutu's research but they weren't able to test it successfully due to the number of Jobs normal people can carry. It's supposed to work if you combine World Knight and Onion Knight."

He frowned for a moment and then shrugged, "There was another researcher mentioned, but their name was just listed as H.S. Not sure who that is though. Anyway, we fought a monster and just barely recovered the crystal on our way out."

(ooc: and I just now realized the meta for H.S. is probably Hironobu Sakaguchi)

As Cloud and Jade continued their conversation in a direction that he himself had already discussed previously with Cloud, Sephiroth took those few moments in which he couldn't really contribute to internally chew over the comment made by Jade with regards to Queen Sarah.

Of course, they needed forward-thinking with the ultimate battle for all Worlds ahead of them and he appreciated that. But when all was said or done, success or failure in their task, it didn't stick right for him that they should let her pass without much more than a foot note.

"If you would arrange such a trip back to Esdham, I would accompany you regardless to pay my own respects provided that we still have the time."

If not, then Sephiroth might well take a moment more privately to at least afford her some remembrance even if it felt somewhat short; that one so significant in their story so far could be properly respected by his memories alone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Late to the Funeral

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject