Prelude || The Festival Of Light

[melodiesmods]

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.

Comments

[piker]

She may have looked good, might have even known it, but the armor itself seemed almost an assault to her. She dug at the straps of one gauntlet in a half-distracted attempt to tear it off as she marched out of the doorway. Light as it was, it was too heavy, and felt encasing. Not because of any deficiency and the armor, and certainly Fang could have worked with it in an actual fight. Because Fang was used to the sun on her skin and the wind at her back. More to the point, because the armor itself wasn't a decision she had made, and she had had quite enough of decisions she hadn't made.

When Snow caught up to her Moxie had given up trying to catch Fang's attention and was simply following her, worried and maybe a little bit afraid of some manner of backlash given how far back she trailed. And for good reason. She was already so lost in her own frustration that she didn't even hear Snow calling her name, she was just pulled up short by the grip on her shoulder.

Whirling on him, Fang shifted into a stance that meant business, feet space and her free arm raised, even as she pulled the shoulder he held back out of his grip. It was a wonder she didn't lash out automatically, because she paused just long enough to see who it was that had grabbed her.

"What in hell are you doing here?" Her arms fell first, hands planting on her hips. An eyebrow raised, and she fixed him with a querulous look. Fang supposed she should have expected to find her friends here if something requiring heroes was going on, but it certainly didn't lessen the impact of waking up in this strange place.

[verteidiger]

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.

[piker]

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."

[verteidiger]

Even as Snow's back hit the ground, he couldn't feel the pain from Fang's punch. It was her words that struck him the hardest, and he could do nothing but lie on the ground, dazed. From somewhere above him, he could hear Motley gasp and zip down through the air to check on his condition, but he didn't even care to look at where the moogle might be.

Hero's just another word for sacrifice.

And sacrifice was another word for death. And death was running away. That was what Lightning had taught him back in Yusnaan -- a hard lesson to learn, and one he wasn't sure he'd accepted fully just yet. Part of him still felt like he'd done the right thing, and though sometimes when he was completely still as he was now, he could still feel the Chaos eating away at his flesh, locking his joints, and fusing his fingers together beneath dark crystal.

And he still somehow felt like he wouldn't have been completely in the wrong to stay that way, even though logically his brain told him otherwise.

"Of course I give a damn, Fang," he said. He spoke slowly, steadily, emphasizing nearly every word.

As he sat up, Motley fluttered close to his lap, almost as though to comfort him. Snow half-heartedly slung an arm around him and carefully pulled himself to his feet. It was actually comforting in its own way to have the moogle there with him. Holding onto a living fluffball put something real in his hand and against his skin and beat back the phantom sensation of Chaos crystals solidifying his bones and setting his muscles rigid. As soon as he felt strong on his feet, he let Motley go, and the moogle retook its place hovering just over his shoulder.

"Maybe we can't save everyone," he went on. "But even if we can only save one person, isn't it worth it? Why not try?"

He purposefully didn't address the second half of her concerns. He actually wanted to, but the words just wouldn't come. Everything felt dishonest in his head. It would be a lie to say that they all made it out okay all the other times before, because they didn't. And he couldn't say with any real sense of certainty that sacrifice was sometimes needed, because he wasn't even sure what that meant to him anymore; it was among the many things he'd been spending the past few months searching for.

[piker]

"Save everyone?" Fang scoffed. "What should I care about saving everyone? So I can fulfill some focus that crystal has chosen for us." Maybe it was cynical, to assume that whatever had brought them there had as little regard for their will as the fal'Cie had when this whole mess had started. Frankly, it seemed common sense to Fang.

"Do you really know what these Hero's of Light are even about? And how is this any different from the brand? Last I knew, it was pretty hard to hide stealing a person's life away behind good intentions." Her fists settled on her hips, Fang showed no sign of backing down, and Moxie hovered near at hand, more than a little uncertainly.

"I don't know about you, Hero, but I've already given centuries to the cause of saving everyone. And what have I gotten for it? The minute I need to save the one person that matters, I get yanked off on another 'noble' quest." Shaking her head, Fang finally looks away from Snow.

"I'm not ready to play the good little l'Cie again." She says it in Moxie's direction, much to the beleaguered little moogle's confusion.

[verteidiger]

There were a few things that she said that struck Snow as odd, but he didn't dare try to derail the conversation now. He simply filed the information away for a later date, when Fang was less pissed off and he could actually talk to her without fear of getting hit. Again.

"But this isn't the work of a fal'Cie," he argued, "and no one branded you. There are no more fal'Cie or l'Cie."

Snow sighed and shook his head. It was like fighting with the Conseil all over again. He wondered how much like a politician he still sounded -- if it was something that just crept into his voice naturally after centuries working to perfect it.

"Listen, Fang," he went on, trying to soften his tone and sound less like Lord Snow, the Patron of Yusnaan. "I get it. I lived with that brand for five hundred years. But this is different. You might not be able to go home, but no one's forcing you to do anything in this place. If you don't want to fight, then don't, but for me the choice is easy. It's either help these people -- save their lives -- or let them die. I don't know about you, but I like those options a hell of a lot more than 'become a Cie'th' or 'become a crystal.'"

For all his efforts to the contrary, he actually ended up sounding more like his past self than he had before. At some point over the past five centuries, Snow had learned to keep a cool head and argue from a place of rationality. He never would've been able to get anything done otherwise, and it was looking like a hard habit to break. Though when he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to. Not all of the changes he went through in Yusnaan were bad.

"I want to do things right this time," he conceded.

[piker]

Arms crossing over her chest now, Fang took a moment to look at Snow, to listen to what he was saying instead of just discarding it immediately. But it was only a moment. After that, she shook her head at him.

"Last I knew, choosing champions who hadn't volunteered and forcing quests on them against their will was what fal'Cie do. Brand or no brand, we weren't asked to come here. We weren't given a choice." A part of her recognized that he'd grown a lot since last they'd had cause to argue. It even prompted Fang to ease out of the defensive bristling she'd so immediately fallen into. Oh, she was still vehement about how wrong this was, but that didn't mean she had to bite Snow's head off with every counterpoint.

"I don't give a Sahagin's scales what's right," she said, with finality, looking out at the city around them, away from Snow. "I'm not just going to abandon everything I've fought for over some destiny they've picked out for me."

[verteidiger]

"Then don't do it for them," he said. "Do it for Vanille. You want to see her again, right?"

It was said with the intention of sounding supportive, but Snow couldn't help but feel like it sounded like a hostage negotiation. It was just the best he could do on the spot like that. What he really wanted to tell her was to do it for him, so that they could fight this fight together, but he knew that he didn't have the right to ask that of her. Not after he'd locked himself up in his palace back in Yusnaan and more or less left her and Vanille to the wolves of the Order. Sure, he'd done some behind the scenes politicking as best he could, but he'd never successfully derailed the search for the Clavis or done anything to save Vanille's life, rather than just prolonging it.

"Whatever you decide," he went on, "it never really was your style to just sit around and do nothing. I know I can't force you to do anything, and I know I don't even have the right to ask this of you, but..."

He hesitated then, searching for the right words.

"I just hope that you and me end up on the same side, is all."

[piker]

Do it for Vanille. Much as it was Snow who had taken the only blow in this fight, he might as well have slugged her in the face with those four simple words. She raacted to it visibly, her shoulders pulling up straight, her teeth gritting. More than that, it was the only reason he kept talking before she interjected.

Do it for --

"For Vanille? You're asking me to do this for Vanille?" It was incredulous, her arms dropping, hands balling into fists at her ides. Really it was a wonder she didn't hit him again. "Don't you even know what's going on in the world? Or are you too busy partying the last days away to know what's happening."

[verteidiger]

It took Snow a second to process what it was that she'd actually said to him, because it was so far beyond anything he'd been expecting. In fact, he wasn't sure what to make of her words at all, even as they settled in. He reacted visibly, blinking and furrowing his brow in confusion.

"What?"

The last days, she said. Unconsciously, he dug up the still-fresh memory of her remark about needing to protect Vanille, and it started to click together. It was almost as though Fang was under the impression that they'd been taken right from Nova Chrysalia and were still counting down the end of days. The only problem with that was the little detail that the end of days had actually come months ago, and they'd all been settled comfortably (or as comfortably as they could, in Snow's personal case) in the new world since then.

"Fang, are you..." he asked, "... feeling alright?"

[piker]

It prompted a stale chuckle, and she shook her head. "How am I supposed to answer that? Wake up from the nightmare of watching the world crumble and die just long enough for Vanille to get herself in trouble, and some magic crystal scoops us up to press us into service here?"

Moxie, who had been hovering awkwardly back through much of this, at last came forward again, setting a paw gently on Fang's arm. Strangely, Fang didn't rebuke the gesture or turn any ire on her. In truth most of the anger seemed sapped out of Fang, like she'd already expended it all. Like she'd lost hope, really.

"I left her there. Alone, with those Order fanatics, because I was trying to save her. And now she's just going to think I ran out on her."

[verteidiger]

Snow didn't say anything at first. It was slightly disorienting to hear her talk like that, like Fang was stuck in a place and time that Snow would've rather forgotten. He looked to Motley for help, as though the moogle would have some kind of answer somehow, but Motts was preoccupied with his MogNet tools. It didn't actually look like he was using them in any sort of meaningful way, though, and came off more like he was trying to put up a front that he was busy so that he didn't have to get involved in the conversation.

Snow turned back towards Fang, feeling anxious and unsure as to why. He had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with the sudden shift in her tone. There was a bit of grim resignation and hopelessness that he hadn't expected from her, and it too closely mirrored his own. It was one thing for him to throw his hands up in defeat, but he couldn't bear to hear it in Fang. She was too strong for that.

"Fang, that was over six months ago," he said cautiously. "We've been living in the new world since then. All of us. Vanille and Serah, too. Don't you remember?"

[piker]

As disorienting as it was for Snow, it was just as bizarre for Fang to contemplate time disparities. And it took a moment for What Snow was saying to even penetrate her awareness, so focused was Fang on the very real implications of what was going to happen to Vanille without Fang's intervention. What might happen, she corrected herself, though the thought didn't offer her the kind of hope it probably should have.

Six months ago.

"What?" Plainly off balance, Fang took an step toward him, her features slack with disbelief. This was Snow talking, and the man didn't have a disingenuous bone in his body. But Fang wasn't about to back down because he was her friend anymore than she was going to be intimidate by the man's size, nearly a foot taller than her or otherwise.

"What are you talking about?"

[verteidiger]

Snow was slow to respond at first. It was hard to catch Fang off her guard like that and disrupt her poise, and yet somehow he'd done it without even meaning to. His brain could barely even make sense of her request to extrapolate on his statement. Sure, he'd told the story to Aoede not long before coming here, but that had been different. It was like Fang was having the opposite problem that everyone else in the new world was. Everyone else had had their memories of Nova Chrysalia wiped, but it seemed like Fang had somehow retained those and had her memories of the new world wiped instead.

"I don't know how else to explain it," he said.

He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed in thought. Of all of the hitches he'd expected in his reunion with Fang, this wasn't one of them. If anything, he would've expected her to remember sticking it to the Order above everything else. The fact that she didn't was a bit worrying, the more that he thought about it. If Fang could forget that, then was there some kind of important memory that he was missing, too?

"You really don't remember?" he asked. "The world already ended, and we took Bhunivelze's new one. We freed Vanille from the Order and destroyed the Clavis -- Well. Lightning did most of the work. But you and me helped."

[piker]

They'd destroyed the Clavis. It was a weight lifted from her shoulder, even if it was one she didn't entirely understand. The last thing she remembered, Fang had still been trying to find the bloody thing, and here Snow was saying they'd destroyed it. And Light had done her bit, like Fang knew she would, and everything was over and done with. It took her a moment to process the lot of it, granted, but when Snow had done, she nodded.

There really wasn't any point in not believing Snow, anyway. He might have a thick head and a behemoth's build, but she'd watched him put his life on the line for his friends more times than she could count, both in person and while she was dreaming.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've had amnesia, I guess. But I'll take finding out everything worked out in the end over forgetting what our focus was any day of the week." Her shoulders drooped, and Fang glanced down at the moogle still awkwardly hovering at her side, pretending to be paying attention to what Mottley was doing with his mognet tools. Forcing out a sigh, Fang ruffled the fur on Moxie's head.

"Doesn't mean I'm happy about this Heroes of Light business, but I suppose I can afford to lend a hand."