Intro Log || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

[melodiesmods]

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.

Comments

[jiyunotaika]

At this point no one has warned him about Sephiroth being here. That's not until later. So when he heard the way too familiar voice, he spun around rather quickly.

That isn't the same Sephiroth he saw last at Nibelheim's reactor, that crazy 'talking to space alien mom' Sephiroth. The surprise is clearly evident on his face. Last he knew, Cloud had defeated the other 1st and stopped him from making off with Jenova's head. Oh gods, Zack is not going to be the one to talk about that.

"Yeah well, no one told me we were scheduled to have a mission on another world. Someone should look into that." Yes, go with that to cover the surprise from earlier. "It would be better than suddenly springing it on me like this."

[shinrasfinest]

The obvious surprise on Zack's face didn't seem to phase Sephiroth all that much, but then most things never did seem to touch the seasoned 'General' of SOLDIER. Quite the contrary though, his mind immediately began to tick over all the reasons and implications for Zack being surprised to see him. Curiosity followed like a well-worn set of boots as Sephiroth inspected the fellow 1st with his usual scrutinizing gaze, though it was significantly less gleaming green than Zack might remember - even if he did retain his natural slitted pupils. A touch of fading sunburn, mostly pink than red now, was visible on the end of his nose as well if Zack looked closely enough.

"Hmph." Really, what other noise could Zack have expected? Sephiroth personally didn't buy into the other-world theory, but it seemed to be the popular one even in the books regarding the legend of the Heroes of Light. A single light nod followed, bangs bouncing some either side of his face.

"One thing is true, we're not working for the Company here."

[jiyunotaika]

And looking closely he was. Zack would never have expected to see Sephiroth sunburned. Back when he still lived in Gongaga before all of the mako enhancements that came with being SOLDIER he had his fair share of sunburns from wandering around outside for too long. He knew what they looked like in all stages and he can't imagine the general ever peeling.

Not wanting to stare too long, he looked away and ruffled the back of his hair. Same old Sephiroth. Now Zack has to wonder what the other remembered.

"I'd like to think that they'd prepare us with more than legends if they had."

[shinrasfinest]

"One would think." Sephiroth watched Zack ruffle the back of his hair again and couldn't help by smile lightly at the gesture. It stirred a knot somewhere in the back of his mind, that familiar gesture that for the most part he had only seen on playbacks of Zack's own VR simulations. They hadn't been working together as 1sts for all that long.

But Zack himself looked more than a little different. Longer hair for one, and the scarring to his cheek was hard to miss. Sephiroth was much too polite to ask that question though even if it did prey on his mind. There was a female version of Genesis within their number, could it be that this was a different version of Zack as well?

"Though I do wonder. Certainly it wouldn't be the first time that information is conveniently not passed on."

[jiyunotaika]

They worked together as the only 1sts for a year and a half before everything changed in Nibelhiem. Before that Zack had known Sephiroth as the hero of the ShinRa army and Angeal's friend. It's funny how one single crazy and destructive moment can change everything. Sephiroth wasn't acting like anything in the small town had ever occurred and maybe it hadn't for him yet. But the potential was still there.

"It could also be that they don't have any information on the situation here." If this wasn't really a new world and just part of their own, then ShinRa really had to be falling down on the job if that was true.

And because he can't stop himself, he looked up at the other taller 1st. "What's the last thing you remember?"

[shinrasfinest]

It was perhaps not so unexpected, the way that talking about the Company started to stir bitterness in Sephiroth's subconscious. He had been spending almost every waking hour between studying what he could get his hands on in the Shinra archives and fulfilling the duties that would usually have been distributed between other 1st and 2nd class SOLDIER. The consequences of mass defection, copy-technology and terrorist attacks.

He hadn't touched on that particular knot of stress which sat heavy in the back of his mind, for a while. Then again, he had made a point to avoid Genesis completely and was only just starting to talk to Angeal once more. Out of sight, out of mind, and with not only the living arrangements but with his new housemate as well, Sephiroth had more immediate concerns day-to-day.

As such, Sephiroth didn't comment back on matters of the Company. But what an odd thing to say, he thought with his eyes inspecting the pavement as if it might help him get his mind in order. Zack's spur-of-the-moment question seemed quite a sudden deviation which had him raising his silvered head again and looking over Zack's face.

"What sort of a question is that?"

It was the first time, actually, that anyone had directly asked him that.

[jiyunotaika]

Maybe it would be better if they avoided talking about anything ShinRa related. That included the other 1sts. At least for a while. Until things could be sorted out properly. Zack really didn't want to deal with another Nibelheim incident, once was more than enough.

If he hadn't spent time with Sephiroth as a fellow 1st, if he hadn't looked up to the General maybe the fact that Zack hadn't been able to save him wouldn't be so bad. No, it probably would. It was just weird that he'd saved Genesis after such a long time but not Sephiroth in all of the time they'd worked together. Or hadn't really worked together.

Somehow he thought that his question had actually startled the other. As if he hadn't been expecting anyone to every ask it. Clearly that's exactly what Sephiroth thought considering his answer.

"I don't know. Seemed like a good one to ask."

[shinrasfinest]

It would be highly suggested that the topic remain avoided, considering how betrayal was still scalding on either side of the fence but for different reasons. Both Sephiroth and Genesis were still too much too sure of themselves to concede to an attempt to resolve their issues which in fact did stem from an issue that Zack was highlighting. Different timelines within the same universe.

Zack was sharp indeed, sharper than Sephiroth would have coined him, in identifying the slight startle to the question he presented. Perhaps he had been more than a little unfair on the newest 1st; indeed he would never replace Angeal, but Zack did have very promising qualities in his own right. The silver haired general shook his head to dismiss his own thoughts in what such a question could mean within the context of his continued dream and recomposed himself sternly.

"Before this-" He cast his mind back, to the memories which were already three months old. Indeed it did seem an awful long time ago already. "-it felt like there was an explosion. Inside the Shinra Building-"

"-what happened to Hojo?" Thoughts jumped logically forwards.

The last Sephiroth knew of Zack, he'd been headed upstairs while he was to clear the building of copies.

[jiyunotaika]

Avoiding talk of Shinra altogether would be hard as it was the one connection they had. It was how they met officially, it was their main part of their lives. But they could avoid other subjects. Especially Genesis.

Hojo's name made him grit his teeth unconsciously. His hazy memories of the man collecting him and Cloud from the Nibelheim reactor only to experiment on them for four years can do that to a person. Honestly, he almost thinks he should have let Genesis have the man to do whatever he wanted. Chances were the scientist would have ended up dead sooner or later with the crazy first, or at least given him the 1st cells like Hollander. Right now that terrible man was probably hurting someone else for his ideal of perfection.

For Zack it's been longer than three months, even if he technically doesn't remember four years of that time. Still, he remembered the day clearly.

"Hojo is fine. Wouldn't stop with his experiments so I stayed there with him."

[shinrasfinest]

What was that he saw for a moment there on the face of Zack Fair? There was a minute movement to his jaw that anyone might connect with uneasiness; what could that mean? Did they get to Hojo in time? Hollanders revenge was a petty thing for Genesis to come calling for and it spoke to the had-to-be madness in his friend that he would consider it a worthwhile venture. Hollander and Hojo had not been even a chip off the great genius that was Professor Gast and it had always irritated Sephiroth that they both constantly tried to measure themselves up against that standard.

Until very recently, he hadn't deigned to get himself personally involved but the situation had gone quite far enough.

"Experiments?" Well that made sense, Hojo was always occupied with one abomination or another. Sephiroth wouldn't be all that surprised if he wanted to get his hands on Genesis himself, for experimental purposes. Still, his brow furrowed a little in confusion towards Zack. "Did the copies get to him? What about Genesis?"

None of this explained the reality-shattering explosion that had directly preceded his arrival to Crystallis and that was concerning indeed. Yet, if his dream-theory held then it didn't have to make any sense.