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

[shinrasfinest]

From behind Sho both eyebrows raised as the bullet tore a gouge into the doll that shouldn't-but-did resemble Sephiroth. This was stupid and he scolded himself for feeling so attached to the gesture, his subconscious was clearly attaching more weight of relevance to it than it should.

"Nice shot." He grumbled lowly and then stepped to the side to stand alongside Sho and at the same time take in the details of the other targets poised a respectable distance backwards into the stand.

[urnotafraid]

"It was a bad shot and woulda just grazed a normal person," Sho said back, just a little annoyed at wasting a bullet. He wasn't sure that he liked this kind of game, not because of the fact that he was shooting at very human-looking targets, but because it seemed like a waste of time. Oh well. He started firing so he should finish and he should also try not to be a bad sport about it at the same time.

He fired off his last shots, this time achieving perfect bull's eyes - a head shot in that creepy winged and horned woman, and a chest shot in a dancing clown - and put the gun down. He eyed the pile of prizes, picked out a cheap string of stones to pocket while the rest he just started handing off to kids. The biggest prize was given to a little girl before he looked over at Sephiroth.

Sho blinked. He frowned and looked at the targets. His lips quirked in amusement and he pointed with his chin at the targets as they were being reset. "Didja piss off the owner of that booth?"

[shinrasfinest]

To the side of Sho, Sephiroth only lilted his head slightly to one side in not so much of a shrug. Sho was right about the shot, in terms of accuracy, so much for an attempt at conversation. Not that Sephiroth was generally any good at initiating such, but it wasn't polite to just lurk around another person without at least announcing his presence there.

He leveled a half frown in the direction of the character with the long white-ish hair and black jacket as if staring into it's face would grant him an answer. It didn't, and soon the excited children surrounding Sho as he gave out prizes drew Sephiroth's attention back to the marksman who had been playing.

It seemed then that the man made the connection that had drawn him over in the first place. Only a twitch to the corner of Sephiroth's nose betrayed his instant annoyance at Sho's obvious amusement and gesture.

"Who knows. It's only a game."

[urnotafraid]

"Yah, it's only a game until someone starts bleeding."

He was still grinning a little, making a joke over something that might not really be a joke to some people. The kids were hurrying away with their haul, some finding parents or older siblings and Sho watched them go with a almost wistful air. He was indeed older than Genesis, with a thinner build and long braids spilling over the back of his coat, but the face was almost the same. There were scars, most of them barely visible, marring his skin.

"Mebbe it's some other person with long silver hair, right?"

[shinrasfinest]

"Quite."

Sephiroth, for all his expert capability in violent application, never did make a joke about it - he was much too grounded and professional in his occupation to do such. Especially since Sho's comment struck a relevant chord in Sephiroth's conscious thoughts; it had been only a game, a bit of fun, in the company training room. Yet here he was represented as a character in a fairground game, for others to shoot at their pleasure as if he somehow deserved the treatment. Oh how his dream continued to haunt him with significant details; however he refused to pay attention to the guilt that it stirred.

He kept his expression flat, for the most part, yet upon closer inspection of Sho's face he would have had to be blind not to have picked out on the similar features in the grinning marksman compared to his once best-friend. Faint scarring was for the most part ignored, it would be typical for his dream to attach undue relevance to that as well. Stranger and stranger indeed.

Eventually, though not until after a handful of heavy seconds, Sephiroth flashed half of a grin in return. He couldn't let himself be bogged down too much by all this coincidence- it was only his own wild imagination playing tricks.

"Right. It's just a coincidence, for sure." Yet, he might well have to ask Spencer in a few moments if it was intended as some sort of joke towards him specifically or something. Clearly the resemblance was much too close, and he disliked being made fun of so blatantly.

[urnotafraid]

Different attitudes, different lives. Sho was a street punk that spent a lot of his life between one gun fight to the next. It wasn't at all weird to joke about dying and blood even though he often got called an idiot by his friend when the jokes got too morbid. He also didn't have any target that looked like him although he had to wonder for a moment about that guy in red, but only for a moment. He looked younger, with a heavier bone structure and not at all like him except in the nose shape and even that could be wrong.

"Dwelling on something stupid as a game would only cause stomach cramps anyways," Sho said, his fingers gliding lightly over the cheap guns on the counter. They were cheap but at least they feel familiar. He had a feeling that the feeling will be sorely missed.

[shinrasfinest]

All the dolls in the shooting gallery were nothing more than crude representations anyway. Who knew what bearing they had in truth at all. From a side on view of Sho's profile the similarity in nose shapes was one of the things already noted. Sho himself though, had a vastly different air around him when compared to his once friend. Cruder, more marred by the injustices of a life that Sephiroth had little comprehension about.

"You're right. Though the devil is in the details." He followed with a nod and glanced over how Sho slid his fingers over the guns laid out. Whatever he sensed in the others' comfort to do the same Sephiroth kept well to himself.