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

[underwearfortomorrow]

This was mildly concerning.

Not that Eiji wasn't accustomed to strange occurrences or anything, and he could probably handle the whole world hopping thing just fine- after all, he and Artemis have talked previously about the concept of planes-hopping. So, being in another world didn't throw him like it would most people.

What bothered him was the fact that he'd been dragged away from something very important going on back home. See, there was this Earth Goddess trying to destroy everything and this faction is jerks killing people and it was really, really inconvenient to get dragged away from the front lines of a war.

Eiji didn't have time for this. He also didn't like that he was suddenly separated from his group.

At least the ...owl thing was nice. She was polite and introduced herself. She told him the story about the Heroes of Light and Eiji had tried to tell her she had to be mistaken, she was insistent. So, he let it go for now. It looked like the city had a big commotion and if he was going to find Ankh or Artemis in this place, he needed put himself in the thick of it.


Food | Fourteenth District

Eiji was having a good time walking about the festivities. He was a traveler at heart and be it new countries or even new worlds, learning about other cultures fascinated him to no end.

Eiji can be seen walking about the tables, asking the natives several questions about the foods and where they come from. He has a plate with several different things on it. His Moogle, Mogna is happily sitting on his shoulder as he passes her food to try as well.

THOSE ARE GIANT CHICKENS.

Unsurprising Eiji also found his interest drawn to the stands. He'd seen plenty of weird creatures since coming to camp, but the "chocobos" were new to him.

He somehow manages to weasel his way into one of the stables and is petting one of them.

Anywhere else

And when he's not being completely enraptured by everything around him, Eiji will be asking around town about his two missing friends.

"Ah- sorry! Pardon me, I'm looking for two friends of mine...!"

Food

[wear_tear_rust]

Angeal wasn't much for the socializing of a people he barely understood. Not that it was a language barrier issue but more like how they presented his purpose in a place he didn't know. He had traveled all over the Planet for missions or simply to just explore when he had the time.

And the one thing he always did to understand the people was to try the food. Some were memorable while others left much to be desired, or just flat out too strange to forget. Most of the foods here were actually pretty tasty even if the names seemed a bit funny.

He spotted someone else having a time of it and a small smile tugged at the corners of the warrior's mouth. At least someone was embracing the offerings with joy and that was important.

"Are you new too?" Angeal spoke with his own moogle dubbed Lester floated closely by and began to dance in the presence of his moogle fellow co-worker.

[underwearfortomorrow]

Eiji had some kind of strange pastry in his mouth when he was addressed. He blinks- pauses for a moment to put up a finger while he tries to swallow it so he could actually speak without getting food everywhere. Once he's done that, he gives Angeal a friendly smile.

"Very!" Eiji glances at his plate and then to the rest of the food stands. "But at least the food here good. This certainly is an interesting place, yeah?"

Mogna, meanwhile perked up her head curiously and then giggled in her co-worker's direction, floating off of Eiji's shoulder to go join.

[wear_tear_rust]

Now that the two moogles hand joined in on a dance, Angeal noticed it and lifted a single brow in confusion. "Er..."

Of course he couldn't be rude and leave the man hanging in his question and quickly shook his head. "Yeah, one could say that. I didn't mean to interrupt your browsing."

A series of expressions that ranged from loss of words to utter confusion to strict stoicism, putting what he had thought of this place into words was difficult. "I agree that the hospitality is far better than I had expected but I have to ask, have you noticed that not everyone has a moogle?"

To Angeal, moogles were the thing of children's stories which compared to a jackalope in some regions on Earth. He shook away those thoughts. He had grown up long ago but why now can he see them?

[underwearfortomorrow]

Eiji takes note of it as well and looks on curiously. He smiles, but otherwise doesn't seem too bothered. He turns back to his conversation partner. He blinks.

"Eh? Oh, no, you didn't interrupt me at all," He says, quickly shaking his head. He then takes Angeal's question to heart, tilting his head in thought. He did notice that.

"Mm, I wonder if it has something to do with the Heroes of Light. Did your friend talk to you about that?"

[wear_tear_rust]

"Maybe." Oh great, another destiny was placed on his shoulders. Just exactly what he wanted, only he was certain that this time it was just a strange coincidence and nothing too substantial.

"To be honest, I wasn't paying that much attention." Which was very true on Angeal's part but it didn't go over too well with the dancing moogle.

Lester stopped and glared at Angeal. "OOoooh, I didn't just say that for you to dismiss it, kupo!"

"I was tired." Angeal stated back with finality which only irritated the moogle even more as his little round face turned red.

"Ooooooh! I knew you were mean, kupo! Hmph." The little floating turned his nose up at Angeal in a snooty gesture to return to his dancing.

Angeal simply rolled his eyes with a scoff. "I never asked for this." He replied calmly. "I'm Angeal. It seems that we'll be here in this dream for a while."

[underwearfortomorrow]

"Oh! Kupo! Eiji did the same thing! He kept saying I got the wrong person!" Mogna huffs a little at him, but at least doesn't turn red like Lester did. Eiji had the good grace to look abashed and then turn away.

"...Eiji. It's nice to meet you Mr. Angeal." Eiji was anything if polite. "And it does seem that way. Do you know how many others have found ourselves here? Mogna said there were more but she didn't tell me how many."

THOSE ARE GIANT CHICKENS.

[goddessofthesky]

Zelda watched as the boy ducked around to get close to the chocobo and decided to follow. The birds reminded her of the loftwings from home and she had been itching to see one up close. Her moogle stood lookout while she followed his movements. Zelda wasn't the best at sneaking.

She greets the boy with a smile. "Hello?" Seeing the golden bird up close was amazing. She could tell that it couldn't fly but it's wings were still very powerful. Her eyes looked up at the bird in awe as her moogle joined them, deciding that being a lookout was too boring for his tastes. "These birds are amazing!"

[underwearfortomorrow]

It's okay. Eiji is notoriously terrible at stealth, too. Mogna was quietly chiding him about sneaking in. "I don't think we're supposed to be back here, kupo."

"It's just for a moment. I wanted to get a better look-"

Oh, looks like someone found him. He turns his head- the chocobo puffs it's feathers in surprise and Eiji dips into a quick bow. "Sorry for sneaking in! I-" Oh wait, she was new like he was.

He looks up, sheepish and smiles. "Mm! I've never seen anything like them, either."

The chocobo appears to be calming back down also and starts preening.

[goddessofthesky]

Zelda quickly tried to settle the bird before looking over at the boy with a sweet smile. "I'm sorry if I startled you."

She gave the boy a wink before turning her smile up at the bird. "To be honest, I wanted to get a closer look too." She traced her fingers over the smoothness of it's feathers until she found the spot that the chocobo wanted scratched. The bird made a happy noise as she gently scratched right under it's neck.

[underwearfortomorrow]

Eiji shakes his head and then moves slightly to the side so she has room to approach the chocobo. "It's okay."

He watches her with mild surprise and then grins when the chocobo makes that sound. "I think it likes you."

[goddessofthesky]

"They remind me of the birds back home." She gave him an excited smile. "OH! I'm sorry. My name is Zelda and this is Kopula." The moogle flew over and bounced at the mention of his name but otherwise tried to stay out of the way.

[underwearfortomorrow]

That made sense. The only birds he knew of like this back at camp were harpies and- well. While they cleaned things and kept camp orderly, they were also kind of mean and some of the kids said that they liked to try and eat campers sometimes.

Camp was a special place. These birds, he'd decided, are much nicer than harpies.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Zelda. My name's Eiji! And this is Mogna." Mogna perks up at her mention and waves over at them both with a smile.

"What are the birds like where you're from?"

Anywhere else

[desertbloomed]

Ashelia blinked several times in surprise, taking a step back. The young man accosting her certainly seemed to be worked up. Even with her whole situation being so up in the air, though, Ashelia figured she was there, so she may as well help if she can. Festival days could be dangerous; anything could happen during a fete.

"My apologies, I...only just arrived," Ashelia began. "What are their names? Where did you last see them?"

[underwearfortomorrow]

Eiji ducks into a short bow and then once he's up again he frowns.

"Sorry for troubling you. Their names are Ankh and Artemis. We were traveling together before I found myself in this place. They have to be around here somewhere- usually they're not too hard to miss...."

You know, cause Ankh is either setting something on fire, stealing ice cream, or stalking him in bird form. Ahahaha...

[desertbloomed]

"Found yourself in this place?" Ashelia raised an eyebrow. Strange wording. Coupled with a search for missing friends... It was worth a shot.

"By the Fire Crystal, perhaps?" She waited for the young man's answer. She'd embarrassed herself enough times that day, mistakenly alluding to the Heroes' sudden appearance that morning to at least half a dozen festival-goers who had no idea what she was talking about.

[underwearfortomorrow]

He blinks and then nods quickly. "Ah, that's right. Did you wake up there, too?"

That was another person. He's trying to keep count so he can get an idea of how many people are here. Maybe the more that show up, the more likely his friends will turn up, too.

Though, maybe it would be better they stay home. They had an important job after all. They could manage without him, he's pretty sure.

[desertbloomed]

"Yes, I did." Ashelia gives the young man a once-over, trying to assess his capabilities. Why would he have been chosen? Of course, it's obvious to her why she was chosen. (She's fabulous.)

"Unfortunately I would hazard a guess that if they were not present this morning, they haven't likely arrived since." The young queen crosses her arms, searching Eiji's face for a reaction. She's trying to let him down easily, but she hasn't exactly been in top form. "I looked in on the Crystal several times since arriving. With no festival attractions, the square has been deserted." And just as well; the arrival of the Heroes would have caused quite the stir if there was, say a maypole dance going on.

[underwearfortomorrow]

That would have gone very unfortunately for those maypole dancers.

He frowns a little at her answer, and then pauses to think about it. She did have a point, but he was still meeting new people that had arrived like him. Either way, he figured he should still probably look, just in case he missed something.

"I see. That's also possible. That might be for the best, actually."

He ...didn't like the idea of being here alone after getting accustomed to the companionship that their unlikely crew afforded him, but that didn't mean he couldn't handle it. Besides, they needed Artemis to take down Gaea more than they needed him. He may have been the strength, but Art was the brains.

Still.

"Either way, I should probably still look for them, just in case," He says looking back up at her with a short smile. He then sort of realizes that he hasn't even introduced himself.

"Ah- pardon me. My name is Hino Eiji. It's nice to meet you."

Of course he comes for the chickens.

[egyptic]

He didn't pay much mind to the Chocobos initially. Sure, they were birds, but they were large, a horrific shade of yellow, and looked like enormous baby chickens. One of them also fairly promptly tried to start chewing on his hair upon him getting close enough, and Mogishi had to talk him down from trying to set it on fire in the same way he had to the Moogle herself.

He had been almost beyond the Chocobo stalls and their races when he noticed a familiar mop of sunbleached dark hair. He would recognize that stupid hair anywhere, even if it was set atop an entirely different (though still reasonably gaudy) set of clothing. He pivoted and stamped right back around in the direction he came in, hollering entirely more loudly than was necessary for the proximity at which he chose to actually use his voice.

"Oi, Eiji!!"

If you turn around like he's expecting you to, Eiji, he's going to grab you by the jaw.

[underwearfortomorrow]

That sure happened. The bird he was working on trying to pet probably puffed up and backed away while Eiji makes an impressive noise of surprise and stares at Ankh with wide eyes.

Oh. That was Ankh grabbing his face.

What was he wearing???

BUT THAT'S ANKH.

"Ankh!"

[egyptic]

If the Chocobo didn't move away there was a very high likelihood that Ankh hissed at it to make it do so, because he was not here to deal with some overgrown chicken, he was here to deal with Eiji. He shook his wrist subtly to jostle the vagrant's head.

"Where are we, what is going on, why are we in these stupid outfits, and why in every hell are you petting a giant chicken?" Ankh, a simple hello would have sufficed.

[underwearfortomorrow]

Eiji lets him yell for a moment, trying to process his rapid fire angry questions. He grabs his wrist and pulls him away from his face.

"Stop shouting for a moment and I can answer your questions! Geez..."

Eiji rubs his chin, scowling at him.

"We're in a city called Aqures Ixen, we're not on earth anymore. We were pulled here because we're something called the Heroes of Light and I'm not really sure what these outfits are for."

He pauses to look at the Chocobo. "What's wrong with petting a giant chicken? At least she didn't attack my jaw earlier like you."

[egyptic]

Sneering as he's pushed away from his grip on Eiji's face, Ankh tsks and tosses his head to one side. Truth of it was that he'd already been told what Eiji was now reciting to him-- Mogishi had seen to it that he'd heard the story at least twelve times when he didn't acknowledge the information and still kept angrily asking questions to no one.

Speaking of the Moogle, she settled on Ankh's shoulder as they spoke.

"The outfits are for your jobs, kupo," she explains, and Ankh promptly swats her off of his shoulder. "And that's a Chocobo, not a chicken." Ankh tsked again, shaking his arms out in his sleeves.

"I don't care what it is, and I don't have a job," he grumbles, idly turning his hands over and staring at his palms. Belligerent as always or not, Ankh also appeared to be visibly shaken, and he was definitely standing closer to Eiji than he habitually had in the past.

[neverfirstclass]

Cloud was trying to find familiar faces as well. He hadn't had much luck though. It seemed like there were other people from his world, but not the ones he was specifically looking for.

He glanced up as Eiji walked over and started talking, pushing up his black mage hat so he could see better. "Huh?"