melodiesmods: (Default)
Melodies of Life Moderators ([personal profile] melodiesmods) wrote in [community profile] melodiesoflife2014-08-03 11:23 pm

Prelude || The Festival Of Light

Characters: All the "Heroes of Light."
Where: Aqures Ixen.
When: The 3rd of August, final day of the Festival of Light. The Heroes of Light will awaken early in the morning.
Summary: The Heroes of Light awaken in Aqures Ixen and are informed by their assigned Moogles of what the situation and what their destinies are. This a log for them to react to the situation, meet each other and optionally participate in activities provided by the Festival of Light.
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. Upon doing so, you can hear a soft, soothing voice speaking:


"Wake up."


Soon, the void itself vanishes and is replaced by distant noises of engines. Had it all been nothing more than a dream? The soothing voice repeats its call one more time, but is soon replaced with a much less graceful "Wake up, Kupo!" Hand clutched on your Crystal, the call of the Moogle may finally wake you up. But you are no longer in your world, nor in the void. You are before the Crystal of Fire, in the third district of a city called Aqures Ixen. At this point, you may realize the engine noise actually originates from an Airship flying low over the city and headed to dock beneath the castle. As if it wasn't strange enough, your clothes have changed as well. They are now a reflection of the Jobs you are wielding. Last but not least, you are surrounded by Moogles, small and fluffy creatures who are more than happy to tell you about everything you want to know, about your 'destiny' as a Hero of Light, about what awaits you.

Or at least, they will tell you everything they do know, which isn't much in the end.

Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be any citizens aside from Moogles in the vicinity. Indeed, the population of Aqures Ixen seems to be busy elsewhere in the city-- The Moogle will tell you there currently an event named the Festival of Light, which most people are attending. But you are not alone! It probably will not be long before you realize there are plenty of people like you all around, and if somehow you do not realize it, the Moogle who woke you up will be more than happy to inform you there are others like you around. Maybe with their help, you will be able to find out what is happening to you.






— Final Day —

The Festival of Light is a yearly event held at Aqures Ixen to celebrate the victory of the "Heroes of Light" over the "Calamity from the Skies" two thousands years ago, or so do the legends say. Whether people believe in the legends or not, this is an occasion for them to have fun and spend time with family and friends. The Festival is held from the 28th of July to the 3rd of August.

Unfortunately, most attractions and events are over by the third of August. Yet, there is enough to do, should the newly arrived Heroes of Light favor spending time looking at the attractions rather than panicking about their situation. The festival ends at midnight.


Theater Play
— Ninth District || 14:00 —

There is a large theater stage installed in the 9th district-- It is probably only temporary by the look of it. There is quite a crowd seated to watch the play about to unfold, as well as numerous people standing beneath the seats or sitting on the ceilings because they couldn't get a seat. After the audience grows quiet, a woman with long silver hair and green-ish skin steps onto the stage to address the audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Tonight's performance is a story that takes place long, long ago! At the time when the Ancients reigned over the planet, when the Calamities from the Skies landed on this world and waged war against all forms of life. When our story begins, the Ancients are on the brink of extinction and gathering the last of their forces to fight. And now people of Aqures Ixen and visitors from distant lands, we proudly present 'The 4 Heroes of Light'!"

After this, the play starts and will last for roughly one hour and a half. The main characters appear to be four Heroes of Light, respectively dressed as a Warrior, Monk, Black Mage and White Mage. Other characters include the Calamity from the Skies played by the silver-haired woman, an Ancient scientist and the Princess of Crystallis. The story appears to be a highly romanticized version of the tale the Moogles told the characters earlier. As the play unfolds, there is a love story between one of the Heroes of Light, the Warrior, and the Princess of Crystallis. At the end of the play, the Heroes of Light successfully defeat the Calamity from the Skies, but the Warrior has to sacrifice himself and die in order to protect the Princess of Crystallis.


Culinary Attractions
— Fourteenth District || Anytime —

What would a festival be without free food and banquets? Not really a festival. In the fourteenth district, there is a banquet and many stands held by people from all over the world-- People from Balicea, Aerilon, Esdham, Flence, etc. There is even a stand held by former inhabitants of the Empire. All kind of food from all over the world can be found here-- Refined food, pastries, cakes, cooked meals, etc. It's virtually impossible not to find something to like in all of this, and it's all free until midnight!


Competitions
— Tenth & Eight District || 18:00 —

At 18:00, there will be a Blitzball match opposing the teams of Aqures Ixen and Balicea in the Blitzball Stadium. It is more of an exposition match, with nothing to be won aside from glory. Anyone is free to enter the stadium to watch the match. Following this, people - playable characters included - will be allowed to play some Blitzball Match on their own, if they want to try.

At the same time, a Triple Triad competition will be taking place in the eight district, in the campus of the university. Characters are free to enter the Triple Triad tournament, and if they do so they will be given very basic cards and explained the rules. With low level cards and whatsoever no experience, odds are that they may lose to much more experienced and competitive players, but what matters is trying, right? Whilst no characters may recognize him yet, it is notable that one of the NPCs, Wedge, is taking part in the competition. It's just a shame knowing he will lose in the semi-finals.


Trano Golsaucia's Stands
— Eleventh District || Anytime —

Specially for the occasions, stallholders from Trano Golsaucia traveled to Aqures Ixen and brought a few attractions to display what they can do. Noticeably, they brought Chocobos and will organize numerous races throughout the day, on an improvised tracks running around the houses. The Heroes of Light are more than welcome to try and bet, should they want to lose (or multiply) what few Gils they have. If they feel adventurous, they may even try to enter one of the races and ride a Chocobo-- At their own risks.

Aside from this, there are some more attractions worthy of attention. There is a shooting stand-- Coincidentally, all the targets are vaguely similar to the main antagonists of numbered Final Fantasy games. There is a treasure chest game, where characters are presented with ten chests and can open only one-- Prizes range from one Gils to gigantic plushie. There is also a fortune teller Moogle, it is notable that his predictions will always include either the character suffering hell or dying soon, in one form or another. Hopefully this moogle is just a scam.


Fireworks
— First District || 23:00 —

What better way to conclude a festival than fireworks? Fireworks will be launched from the Castle of Aqures Ixen starting 23:00, and will end at midnight, at the same time than the festival. No matter where you are in the city, anyone should be able to watch them easilly if they so wish. Unfortunately, it means falling asleep before midnight may be a bit hard with all the noise.
red_planet_blues: (deadpan)

[personal profile] red_planet_blues 2014-08-19 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Pushing that hand off with a finger] Yeah, tha-- wait, you said your name was Henry. What's weird about that?
goddessofthesky: (talking)

[personal profile] goddessofthesky 2014-08-19 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
I'm from Skyloft. I'm afraid we don't have robots or anything like that.

[At least nothing like what he is describing.]

What other things do you have in your world?

[Zelda's head tilts to the side curiously.]
holycrows: (erm)

[personal profile] holycrows 2014-08-19 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
"Really? You don't think it's weird? Everyone I know has a name like Mustafa or Chalard. My names smooth, like blood, not crunchy like bones."
goddessofthesky: (talking)

[personal profile] goddessofthesky 2014-08-19 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Zelda hadn't ever heard of that place and she felt her expression fall a little before perking back up into a friendly smile. It would take some time for her to figure things out but she had been given a clue, even if it was a small one, it was something. "Its nice to meet you." Her head tilts to the side as she smiled.

"What is your Kingdom like?"
neverfirstclass: (derp)

It's okay, I've been buried too...and then sick

[personal profile] neverfirstclass 2014-08-19 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
Cloud hadn't noticed Yuna's approach at all, but as she was pushed out onto the stage he turned to face her. That was the cue to begin the mid-figh posturing, right? And the female warrior was the one he was supposed to grab during the melee. Seemed simple enough.

He tried to carefully adjust the mask, making sure he actually had a good line of sight. The last thing he wanted to do was trip and make an even bigger fool of himself. With a "mighty" roar he pushes the other actors back, standing to face Yuna.

"You foolish weaklings. You fancy yourselves heroes, but my lord has revived me and you will not find me as easy to beat as last time. I am an agent of Chaos now!" This was so laaaaaaaaaaame!
verteidiger: (pic#8103751)

[personal profile] verteidiger 2014-08-19 11:16 am (UTC)(link)
To say that he was surprised by her reaction might have been a little bit of a lie. He was startled by it, sure, but Snow couldn't say with any real sense of honesty that he'd expected anything other than hostility from Fang in a situation like this.

"Nice to see you too," he said.

That was a little unfair. Snow sighed and placed his hands on his own hips then, looking past her to her moogle, wishing he had any real answer for her. He really just wasn't sure what to say or how to act; his relationship with Fang wasn't on any kind of steady ground, or at least it wasn't the last time he checked. Pretty much everything that happened in Nova Chrysalia put him in a questionable state about the people and things in his life, and while he and Fang had come together to face off against Bhunivelze, he still had absolutely no way of knowing if she forgave him for being such an insufferable ass before that. There was nothing he could do to make that right again -- to make up for abandoning her and Vanille to the whims of the Order, because he was too far up his own ass with despair to help them.

"I wish I knew," he said, continuing the conversation a bit more honestly. "There was a call for a hero. I guess I had no choice but to respond."

The words felt hollow as they left his mouth. They were a lie from the shadow of the person he used to be, but he would've given anything to believe them again.
verteidiger: (pic#8101741)

[personal profile] verteidiger 2014-08-19 11:35 am (UTC)(link)
He smiled at her then, though Snow couldn't quite bring himself to laugh. He was eager to settle in and get a good night's sleep. After the craziness of today and the daunting task now ahead of him, he couldn't think of anything he'd rather do.

"Yeah," he said with a nod. He laced his fingers together and placed his hands behind his head, taking a brief survey of the road behind him. It was a damn good thing he had Motley here with him, because from what he could gather, the city was huge. The last thing he needed was to get lost and wander the streets for hours before actually finding his way. "Fourteenth district, right? Shouldn't be too hard to find."

He dropped his arms and let them swing uselessly at his sides for a few seconds. Truthfully, he was slightly remiss to part from Yuna so soon. Snow could only hope that more of the other heroes were like her -- with her kind of strength, they might actually have a chance.

"I can take you there," he said as though he knew the way. "If you don't mind company, I mean."
neverfirstclass: hikaritoyami.dreamwidth.org (Default)

[personal profile] neverfirstclass 2014-08-19 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
"Maybe. That doesn't sound like a bad place to start, but it looks like everyone is busy with this festival." He looked around at the crowds and stands. How many other people here were from other worlds as well, he wondered. Do they even know about the newcomers that are filing out into the streets?

"You seem remarkably calm about all of this. You're from another world too, right?"
neverfirstclass: hikaritoyami.dreamwidth.org (Default)

[personal profile] neverfirstclass 2014-08-19 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Cloud wasn't entirely sure about the moogles himself. He and Mako hadn't been getting along at all. He reread the fortune one last time before crumpling it up.

"No. It had to be a joke. A bad joke." But part of him wasn't so sure. He still had that lingering bad feeling like someone was standing on his shadow. His friends? He didn't have many at home. Most of them were other soldiers he knew through Zack. Did it mean Tifa? Was she okay?

"You're from another world too right?"
neverfirstclass: hikaritoyami.dreamwidth.org (Default)

[personal profile] neverfirstclass 2014-08-19 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, just got promoted out of Private a few weeks ago. I still have a long way to go if I want to get into SOLDIER though.

[The word is innocuous enough but the tone he uses makes it sound like some form of special ops unit.]

Sorry though, I don't know anything about it. My world is similar to this one but... [He glances at his staff.] ...different in other ways.
neverfirstclass: hikaritoyami.dreamwidth.org (Default)

[personal profile] neverfirstclass 2014-08-19 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Cloud thought about it for a moment, but then he nodded in agreement, "You have a point. If he was here he probably would have climbed on top of something and have been shouting our names by now."

Cloud looked around at the ongoing festival. The play was a draw, but not the only one that had pulled in a big crowd. "This place is strange. It's like Gaia, but not quite. The little things are different." And the big things too, but there was also a more subtle difference at work here. "And then there's the other people who say they're from other worlds. Most of them don't even know what a Moogle or a Chocobo is..."
neverfirstclass: hikaritoyami.dreamwidth.org (Default)

[personal profile] neverfirstclass 2014-08-19 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"Huh? Angeal? You've met him?" He doesn't bother with the hope she's from Gaia too. She wouldn't be asking about Materia if she was. "Not really a friend. He's the mentor to my best friend back home. I never met him before I wound up here though."
neverfirstclass: (YEAH!)

[personal profile] neverfirstclass 2014-08-19 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Cloud shrugged and stepped up to the stand anyway. Even if she turned down his offer, he didn't see any reason to NOT try his luck. Paying the entry fee for the game, he walked over to the collection of treasure chests. He mulled it over for a good minute and then opened up a chest seemingly at random.

A medium value prize! Not a grand winner, but certainly not a loss either. He turned back to Hilda, waggling the stuffed toy (a pink bunny in a green tunic) at her with a blank expression. It was still hers if she wanted it.
sunny_soda_breeze: (oh I see)

[personal profile] sunny_soda_breeze 2014-08-20 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
Wait wait wait! Go back. When you were a martian? You were a martian?

[Omg Sparks-chan is seriously the coolest person he's ever met.]
her_rose_is_red: (Roses are red)

[personal profile] her_rose_is_red 2014-08-20 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
That's a cute name.


......He could talk?
goddessofthesky: (that can't be right)

[personal profile] goddessofthesky 2014-08-20 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm from a place called Skyloft." She didn't think that she was calm, it took all her strength not to go looking for the one person she was searching for. However, one thing she knew about Heroes and Legends was that even if you run, it will catch up to you and she wasn't one to run away.

"I don't think panicking will get us home any faster."
red_planet_blues: (suspicious/thinking)

[personal profile] red_planet_blues 2014-08-20 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
Uh. Well. [He never thought of over before.] Mars's got... humans, robots, aliens, giant spiders, occasional time travelers, my friend who's the current channel of something called "the Force Galactic"... And Martians. Can't forget them.
red_planet_blues: (suspicious/thinking)

[personal profile] red_planet_blues 2014-08-20 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, yeah, those are pretty weird. But like. Tons of guys are named Henry where I'm from.
red_planet_blues: (annoyed)

[personal profile] red_planet_blues 2014-08-20 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh, Nagisa, the things this guy has been through. You have no idea.]

Yeah, for like... half an hour. Got body-swapped thanks to some alien technology. And it was the single most gross thing that has ever happened to me. And I've been once turned inside out.

...

Okay, that... that might have been a little grosser.
sunny_soda_breeze: (watching curiously)

[personal profile] sunny_soda_breeze 2014-08-20 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
........

[Hang on, he's trying very hard to picture this. Wow, it is pretty gross.]

If you got turned inside out.... how did you...turn outside in again?
red_planet_blues: (deadpan)

[personal profile] red_planet_blues 2014-08-20 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. For awhile. This mad scientist caused this radiation cloud that made all animals talk. Turns out they got a lot to say. Not much that's useful, anyway.
her_rose_is_red: (hesitant smile)

[personal profile] her_rose_is_red 2014-08-20 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
Oh...


Was it fun? Talking to all the animals?

[It sounds fun to her.]
goddessofthesky: (what)

[personal profile] goddessofthesky 2014-08-20 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
[Zelda takes a moment to absorb everything that he says and it's clear she is amazed.]

Sounds dangerous and complicated.
iknowtheconsequences: (KajiSmoke)

[personal profile] iknowtheconsequences 2014-08-20 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
"Hmm. They might not let us go everywhere in the castle, but we should at least see if it's possible to get in."

But that brings up another point. "Hmm. If there's a Queen, is there a Prince or Princess, some kind of heir? Without her, who's next in line for the throne?" He shrugs. "Probably things to ask the people at the castle."
piker: (well excuuuuuse me princess)

[personal profile] piker 2014-08-20 07:43 am (UTC)(link)
The look turned into a scowl, because how dare he be so goddamn blase about all of this. As if she was supposed to just be happy for a chance to play hero. As if she hadn't given more than enough. As if they all hadn't. Already on her last nerve, Fang opened her mouth to say something biting and pointed, and then clicked it shut when he continued.

Whatever hollow note rang through those words, it hit a little too squarely on the naive jerk he'd been when she first stumbled across him. Mouth pressing into a thin line. It reminded her too much of his speech in the Ark. It wasn't fair, to take all her anger at their current situation out on him, but Fang felt just as stretched thin as she had back then, with Vanille in danger and running out of time to get her out of it. And when coupled with the way she'd been so unceremoniously snatched away from the only life that mattered to her, Fang was feeling particularly helpless. And helpless was not a feeling she could stomach.

She moved without thinking, closing what little distance she herself had put between them. Taking a page from Lightning's book, Fang hauled her first back and slugged Snow in the face.It wasn't the hardest she'd ever struck him, but she didn't pull that strike at all.

Moxie's paws flew up to cover her mouth in horror at this violent display.

"Hero? I never asked to play hero to some land I've never heard of," she shot back, the sting of her knuckles mostly ignored. "Don't expect me to believe you give a damn about this place. We've been here before, so you know how this ends. Hero's just another word for sacrifice."

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