melodiesoflife | Intro Log || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

Intro Log || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

Characters: All the "Heroes of Light" (only new characters can start threads).
Where: Aqures Ixen.
When: The 5th of October. The new Heroes of Light will awaken early in the morning.
Summary: The new 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 be welcomed by the former batches of Heroes of Light. New Heroes of Light will not have their Crystal.
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," the call of the Moogle finally waking 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 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.

The only people around you are like you-- There are quite a few of them, all clothed in their Job garbs and most likely wondering what is happening. 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. In fact, there are other Heroes who arrived these past months too and they will come soon! Like you, they had Jobs and a Crystal-- Wait, you don't have a Crystal...? That's weird.

Your Moogle will be puzzled by this fact, as all Heroes of Light are supposed to have a crystal with them. Well, maybe you are not a Hero of Light after all?

The Other Heroes
— Shortly Thereafter —
Thanks to the efficiency of Mognet, it does not take long for the other Heroes to come around: those who arrived in this world one or two months ago. You may have imagined heroic and charismatic figures when your Moogle told you that there were other Heroes of Light in this city. You may have imagined persons with fearsome powers worthy of being revered as heroes. And more importantly, you may have imagined them as people who would have all the answers to your, doubtlessly, numerous questions.

If so, you may be up for a minor disappointment. Still, for the most part they know more than you on the situation and may be more than happy to fill you in, especially if your Moogle didn't tell you much.

The Night of the Thirteen Moogles
— Anytime —
Something that may be obvious, is that the city has a spooky feel to it. There are various decorations, it clearly looks like a work in progress but it seems the idea is to make the city looks as scary as possible. Characters familiar with Halloween may recognize the decoration as being strikingly similar. The Moogles will be more than pleased to explain these are all preparations for the upcoming Night of the Thirteen Moogles on the 31st, and they will explain the legends to characters if they ask.

Hopefully all this talk of curse and King Moggle Mog is nothing more than legend.

The City of Aqures Ixen
— Anytime —
There are a lot of things left to do in the city, especially with everyone excited for the upcoming celebration. Starting from 18:00, a series of BLitzball games will take place at the stadium located in the tenth district, opposing amateur teams in a friendly competition. At the same time, a small group of Triple Triad players are playing before Mognet Office in the ninth district, and they are more than happy to teach the rule to anyone passing by. Characters are free to enter and play games of Triple Triad, and if they do so they will be given very basic cards and explained the rules. This may be the start of a promising career!

Characters are also free to visit the city-- Be it Mognet Office just behind the Triple Triad games is filled with very busy Moogles, or the Airship Port in the twelfth district from where characters can board for free Airships from Shoopuf Airline, knowing the next airship departing from Aqures Ixen will do so on the 9th. Still, characters can board an exposition Airship should they like and visit it.

Or maybe you could visit your new house in the 11th District, and get to know your new neighbors and housemate. Hopefully your neighbors are people you will get along with.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He hadn't gone out to meet the new arrivals today. He hadn't had the heart for it, now that Fang and Vanille were in crystal stasis. That might have been selfish or petty of him, but Snow wasn't sure that he was ready to face the reality of people cycling through like that. At least he still had Serah. That was the most important thing.

When the front door opened and Lightning called out, Snow wasn't even sure that he'd heard her. With everything else that'd been happening in this place lately, he really wouldn't have put it past himself to start imagining things now. After a few seconds, though -- when the sounds of someone roaming through the house didn't stop -- he decided to investigate.

He peeked his head out into the hall from the bedroom he shared with Serah, and his jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Lightning?" he breathed out incredulously. He was honestly too surprised to even remember to call her 'Sis.'

Considering she is actively trying to not look at anything it's Snow's voice that caught her attention first. Somewhere inside of her is the impulse to fight back, to get angry but these days it isn't as bad as it used to be. After actually spending some time with him that urge to hit him every time he opened his mouth wasn't as strong. He wasn't too bad, not as bad as she initially thought. And maybe Lightning had maybe even been a bit disappointed when she hadn't seen his face looming over the others in the crowd when she first woke up here.

Which is why Light stopped on her way towards what she assumed was an empty bedroom. Thoughts of moving out of a house filled with strangers dissipated. If he was here then at least she had one person to watch her back.

She turned toward the voice and there he was; his hulking size filling the hallway and making it seem small.

"Yeah, it's me," she state calmly. It might be difficult for someone to tell but Light is relieved to see him. Coiled tension left her body and left her a little more relaxed but unless someone knew her very well, they wouldn't be able to see the small change in her.

His kneejerk reaction was to hug her, though for once in his life, the rational thinking side of his brain kicked in and held him back. Hugging Lightning was probably always going to be a bad idea, unless she did it first. It was just such a huge damn relief to see her here; whenever she was around, it always felt like things were more in control.

"I knew you'd find your way here one way or another," he said.

She looked younger than he remembered her being. No, maybe "younger" wasn't the right word, but it was something. Less weary, maybe; less stressed. Maybe he was just tired. After all, in comparison to himself, everyone seemed like they were less stressed out.

"So, they really shacked you up with us, huh?" he asked. "I can't wait to see the look on Serah's face when she finds out."

There was a slight grin on his face as he spoke. He didn't want to come out and say just how excited he was to have something resembling a full family unit in this world, in this house, but the sentiment was probably clear in his expression.

While she is definitely not in the hugging sort of mood (at least not with Snow), Light will move closer and try not to immediately just because she's never felt so small in comparison to him. Reminder to self: never stand in front of Snow in a hallway. Even though she doesn't hug him, she will give him a faint smile. Okay, it's more like a playful smirk.

"I couldn't leave it to you, now could I?" She teased.

He would be right that she's less weary; less stressed. Though there is some. Right now all she wanted to do was go home to fight Orphan and get rid of him for good. Lightning doesn't have time to worry about another world's problems when she's got her own to deal with.

"Unfortunately. It means I have to look at your ugly mu-" the words die because he just said the one thing that's more important than bantering with him. "Serah?"

That wasn't possible - her sister was crystal and back home. It's too much to hope that Serah might be here and like she was meant to be: all flesh and warmth and moving. Snow had been tricked before but the way he spoke wasn't out shock, he was certain that it was really Serah.

"Yeah," he said casually, like it's the most normal thing in the world. For him, it kind of is. "She's been here since the last group showed up. We both thought you'd be the first one in, but..."

He didn't really have a follow-up for that. Snow had been here longer than anyone, which was both frustrating and unsurprising at the same time. There was a lot that he needed to fill Lightning in on, but he wasn't entirely sure where to start. At the very least, though, he would assuage her concern for Serah.

"Don't worry, Sis," he went on. "I've been--"

And that's where he stopped himself. No, that wasn't the right line anymore. I've been taking care of her. He had to snap himself out of that line of thinking. He wasn't her handler, or her provider, or her guardian; he was her boyfriend. They were partners. It bothered him that he had to actively remind himself of that.

"We've been looking out for each other." Yeah. That sounded better.

Right now all she wanted to do was push around him and find her sister. To be able to see her with her own eyes, to hug Serah close and never let go. Okay, maybe not that exactly but hugging would definitely happen. "I'm here now."

That was the important part, right? It didn't matter what order they came in because they were here together now. And since he had been here longer, Light had a lot questions for him but those could wait for later. She'd trust his word more than of a bunch of strangers.

Light waited as he corrected himself. A good correction that she approved of. Relationships work both ways and her sister could take care of people when she wanted to. She nodded a few times to acknowledge that she heard.

"Where is she?" There, that was better than shoving herself around him.

"Out right now," he said, "but she should be back soon."

As soon as he said it, he realized that it wasn't exactly the best answer. There was more to this whole story than just that. Sure, Serah was out of the house, and sure she'd be back soon, but she might not be the same age that Lightning remembered her, and her memories might be different entirely. So far, none of them had matched up. Snow, Serah, Fang, Vanille... all of them had different stories to tell, and Snow's was always the furthest along in the timeline. Was that why Light looked different to him now?

Snow crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly growing serious as he studied her. It probably would've been best to wait until Serah was home to bring this up, but, well, they had a minute now.

"Hey, Light," he said. "What's the last thing you remember? I mean, before coming here."

If Light didn't know how big the city was, she'd go out and search for her sister. Tactically it would better to stay here and wait because Serah would come back here.

It doesn't the fact that she wanted to go though. And it takes everything she has to stay there in the hallway with Snow instead of rushing out. They both knew that she would find Serah if she put herself to it.

His question is disturbing. As disturbing as the man from before that set her on edge and she doesn't quite know why. Something told her that she wouldn't like the answer. Defensively, Light's arms come up to mirror his.

"We were fighting Orphan."

He nearly balked at her answer, shocked at just how far behind things she really was. It'd been bad enough when Serah and Fang hadn't remembered the new world or what exactly had happened in the old one, but this was on a new level entirely. Cocoon hadn't even fallen yet, in Lightning's timeline. Hell, Serah was still in crystal stasis for her.

Snow's head was spinning. Lightning didn't know the worst of it. Didn't know what happened next. Nothing about Etro, nothing about Caius. She didn't know about Serah's death, and Snow was the last person on earth equipped to tell her that tale. Just thinking about talking about it -- especially to a Lightning who didn't already know -- made his chest feel tight.

"I was afraid you'd say something like that," he said. "Things are, uh... Different. Here."

To say the very least. Snow sort of trailed off after that, unsure of how to proceed. There were a thousand things he needed to tell her, but every single one felt like an undertaking too massive to even attempt.

"Maybe we should sit down."

Now he gets why she was so surprised to hear that Serah was here. Why she's desperate to see her sister again - okay that probably didn't change in the future. Light knew that she wasn't going to like the answer. It wasn't exactly an answer but the fact that he's suggesting for her to sit down meant that whatever he had to say was big.

Without questioning, she moved back towards the living area to sit down there. One leg crossed the other, resting comfortably on the knee but Light was straight as a rod in the chair. There was bad news coming; she could sense that. Things she didn't want to hear but would anyway because she'd hate not knowing.

She'll wait for him to sit down before saying anything. "Start talking."

The sooner they get started, the sooner they'll be done.

Snow took the seat across from Lightning, resting his forearms on his knees. This was going to suck.

"Alright," he sighed. "Here goes. You're not gonna like this."

He licked his lips and shook his head, wracking his brain for some kind of explanation that didn't sound completely unbelievable, and one that wasn't too shocking. It was harder than he even thought it would be, and he struggled visibly for a few seconds before forcing the words out.

"It wasn't always just me and Serah here," he said. "Fang and Vanille... they were here too. They're still here, I guess. But the thing is... our memories are all mixed up. We weren't pulled in from the same place. And you? You're about a thousand years behind me. I know that sounds crazy, but... I don't know how else to say it."

There was a lot there for her to unpack already, and it didn't even begin to scratch the surface, but it was a start. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Snow was actually kind of grateful that he'd come from the place that he did. His old self probably wouldn't have been able to ease Lightning into this -- if what he said could even be considered "easing." He probably would've just blurted out the worst parts first and left her to sort through it all at once. Even now, though, he still didn't exactly feel great about his approach.

They were both on the same page about her not going to like this. Something she already suspected so Light let it go.

She waited patiently for him to think about what to say considering a few seconds ago she was telling him to get on with it. When he does, she listened quietly - not interrupting him until he got through it. The only indication that Light heard him is an eyebrow raising curiously. Obviously she has questions.

If Snow was expecting her to freak out being a thousand years behind him time-wise, he'll be sorely disappointed. Vanille and Fang kind of ruined the whole 'we're actually more like 500 years old' a while ago.

As for her questions, she'll start where he did. "What do you mean, they still are?" And moving on, "Were you crystallized?"

It took him a second to realize what it was that she was really asking him. Of course he'd been crystallized, but only for that brief moment along with the others -- but she couldn't have known about that yet, and that wasn't the cause of his longevity.

"No," he said, trying to make this as simple as possible. "But you were."

Snow settled back in his seat, taking a deep breath before he continued. There was too much to go through; he couldn't get to it all at once. He'd just have to come back to the issue of Fang and Vanille, hopefully sooner rather than later.

"It didn't end there, you know," he explained. "With Dysley and Orphan. The worst part is, he actually got his way in the end. Everything he wanted, from the fall of Cocoon to the return of the Maker. He got it. Serah will be able to tell you more about this than I can, but to make a long story short, the goddess Etro was killed, and time stopped. The world ended.

"--But, Light, that isn't what I need to tell you."

That isn't what I need to tell you. He just told her that they didn't prevent everything and the world ended and that isn't what he needed to tell her. Why can't anything ever be simple? Why couldn't it have just ended there after Orphan's destruction and let people get on with their lives?

There was no doubt that Lightning would be asking Serah to fill in all those things that Snow barely skimmed over but seem terribly important. Snow couldn't just drop all of that on her and not tell her about it, even if her sister did know more. And she wanted to ask about it but clearly there's something even more important than the world ending.

She doesn't want to think about it because really, there are only a few things that could be worse than that and all of them involve Serah.

"What is it?" A frown had settled on her face.

Pangs of sympathy wrenched at Snow's heart at the look on Lightning's face. He hated having to dump all of this on her -- the abbreviated footnoted version of it, no less -- but the sooner he got her up to speed, the better. If anyone could make heads or tails of this and figure a way out of this shitty situation they'd all been dragged into, it was Lightning. It didn't matter where on the timeline she was from.

"You saw it, didn't you?" he asked. "In the square? The Crystal of Fire."

Not for the first time, he wished Serah was with him for this.

Edited (HTML fail) 2014-10-06 12:36 (UTC)

No matter what he told her about the future, no matter how bad it was - Lightning would take it all. Even if it hurt because honestly, she hated not knowing. It was somehow worse than knowing because as long as she had that information then she could so something with it. She might not know what to do with it all the time but Light could start thinking about it. And Light was already thinking about the situation they were in.

A nod of her head. "I saw it."

Not that she was this Hero of Light they were talking about since apparently she didn't get a crystal upon arrival.

Snow nodded along with her, feeling slightly embittered about having to tell her this at all. Of all of the crazy bullshit scenarios they could have ended up in...

"I don't know for sure yet," he said, "and the rules here are a little different, but... Light, I'm pretty sure that thing is a fal'Cie. Which means that you and me and Serah and all the other Heroes of Light are..."

He trailed off, unwilling to finish the thought. We're its army of l'Cie. It was strange to even think about. From the timeline that Lightning was pulled, she already was a l'Cie. Was that even possible? Could fal'Cie rebrand people? Steal l'Cie from each other? Maybe, across worlds, it didn't matter. It still worried him, all the same.

She frowned. Honestly, she had the same thoughts on arrival. It all seemed too familiar - a focus, a crystal. If it wasn't for the fact that no one else had gotten a crystal like they were supposed to, Light would have thought that it was because she already was a l'Cie. All that would mean that this fal-Cie brought her here, gave her a new focus.

Before she responded to that, Light got up. She moved over to the window to stand there and stare out for a minute. Then proceeded to check on her brand. Still white. Light was safe...for now. Serah and Snow weren't though. She turned back towards him.

"None of the new arrivals received crystals. What has been happening here that might have changed that?"

Because she doubted that it was caused by her arrival with her brand and crystal given to her by another fal'Cie. If it was then all the better for those who showed up at the same time as her. None of them would become a l'Cie slave, they would just be stuck here until they found a way home.

The date hadn't really slipped past her but with the recent events (Fang and Vanille both falling into crystal sleep, more than anything) her thoughts were preoccupied. The new arrivals of more Heroes of Light hadn't even crossed her mind.

She and Trix had gone to get groceries and supplies for the house instead, delayed mostly because Serah was still taking in a lot of the city and Trix was happy to play tour guide. Amidst the supplies were a few books, even. They might hold answers or at least some kind of clues in them, and if not, honestly? Serah wouldn't consider it a loss as long as there was something to be learned. Maybe she'd ask Snow to help her out. Two sets of eyes and two minds were better than one.

The front door swung open with Trix's help, and Serah stepped inside after her, already feeling more optimistic than when she'd left as she headed for the kitchen. It would take her past the living room but Serah was already calling out as she walked. "Snow? We're home! Sorry it took a while, I stopped by to check in on..."

She trailed off, mostly because... Oh, well, what do you know? There was a Lightning sitting in their living room. How about that? The surprise registered immediately, followed by excitement and relief, shadowed after the fact by worry. It had been ages since she'd had more than just a few minutes to speak with her sister, so a part of her was immediately thrilled and even grateful to see her there... Yet another part of her was already worrying about everything else that it meant, too. It looked as if she'd interrupted a conversation between the two, and there was another moment when she realized just how lucky she was to have two of the most important people in her life here in the city now, not just Snow.

"Lightning!?"

Whatever conversation Snow and Lightning had been having went out the door the moment it opened. As far as she knew it was just the three of them (and the moogles) living here so it could only be Serah on the other side of it. Sure enough that thought was followed by the sound of her sister's voice.

It was Serah. Really truly Serah and she didn't have to turn to know that but she does anyway because she needed to see her sister. So many emotions flicker across Serah's face and Light knew them all so well.

Nothing seemed more important than that right now. The last time she had seen her sister's face it had been frozen in crystal so to be able to see those expressions again was a gift she wasn't sure she would live to see.

"Serah," a sigh of relief. Of course she trusted Snow to tell her the truth about Serah's well-being but it's different to see it with her own eyes. She moved toward her sister, hugging her despite the bags of groceries.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Intro Log || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

House!!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject