melodiesoflife | Event || In Your Worst Memory

Event || In Your Worst Memory

Characters: All Heroes of Light. Only those who signed-up can start a memory.
Where: Interdimensional Rift
When: May 27th - May 30th
Summary: The Heroes of Light relive some of their worst memories, with a twist. All characters participating in this will be physically missing from Crystallis for the duration of the event.
Warning: It depends on the memory.

Where you were or what you were doing— It does not really matter. Not any more. Everything around you freezes, nearly as if time itself stopped, as if the world was frozen in time. And before you have a chance to understand what is happening, you can hear a voice right behind you.

"Kali Shashidhwaja."

Should you turn around, you may see a child who seems to be the only one aside from you unaffected by what is happening. And as she stares right at you, it makes no doubt these strange words are aimed at you. But before you can reply to her, 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 know it. No matter what the answer is, it will only take a few seconds for you to find yourself sinking into a void, Crystallis vanishing into the distance. There is nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see.

And once again you feel different: all the powers from your Jobs are fading. Not only that, but you might find that your Crystal is gone and your clothes back to what they were before you woke up in Crystallis. It is silent, cold and before long it feels as though life itself is slipping out of you... And yet, slowly the world reforms around you. The darkness fades away and a new world appears, yet at the same time this is not a world.

This is a memory. The question is, is it yours or that of someone else?

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It was strange waking up to such a scene. "Ashelia?" Zelda spoke but the young princess didn't hear her. She glanced around at those with her just as the soldier burst through the doors. Zelda didn't know what was going on but it was obvious what needed to be done. She pulled a sword from her side knowing it was there without even looking as she walked between Ashe and her attacker.

Zelda didn't know what this was but she would protect those she cared about. Without waiting for the others she jumped forward slashing down at the dark knight.

"I will protect you." She would protect everyone, Ramza, Ib. They had to be safe.

It takes Olivier a moment to get her bearings, but by the time Ashelia needs the help, she is ready to charge forward along with Zelda.

"Lady Ashelia, we must fight," she calls, watching to see if the woman reacts. She already noted the woman didn't react to Zelda, and she wanted to confirm that it wasn't just due to being caught up in the moment.

"I will help protect her, too," Olivier says as she does join Zelda. She lunges to attack the man.

This might be a memory, but that didn't mean the danger wasn't real. What exactly would happen to Ashelia should she die here, Jade wasn't sure. This wasn't the time to risk finding out.

Since his Job skills weren't working, Jade extended his arm experimentally, and sure enough -- his spear appeared in a flash. Good. He hung back as Olivier attacked, instead focusing on casting a fonic arte. Without knowing the armored figure's strength, it was best they didn't all rush in at once.

K'pandolu's immediate desire was to punch whoever the armoured figure is in their face, but the others seemed to have the offensive under control. She summoned up the power of Fists of Fire all the same, and glanced around the room, looking for signs of another way out should the matter turn sour.

The Judge, completely unaware of the Heroes' presence, crumples under their well-placed attacks. His only reaction is a grunt as he hits the floor; he's still alive, but definitely out of commission for the next several minutes.

The princess yelps, pulling the covers further over her chest as the man falls to the ground under the invisible assault. It takes a second or two for her to realize that, for the moment, she is safe. She crawls forward, her slip momentarily caught under her knees.

"What is happening..." she mutters under her breath as she tentatively walks over to the prone Judge Magister. She stands in front of his body, but then realizes he's still breathing and gasps; her body tenses as she looks around for a way out. She is still in danger.

A hand goes to her forehead as tears begin to well in her eyes again. Why is this happening? What is happening? She runs over to the door, slightly ajar and peers through the crack; the hallway is wide, but mostly dark. She can't see anything - but there! A woman's scream, cut short.

"Oh Father above, help me..." the young princess whimpers as she steps back from the door, both hands covering her mouth. Her body shakes as she begins to cry again. What has she done to deserve all of this?

She moves towards the door again, but stops, looking between the two bodies in her bedroom. She goes once more towards the Judge's prone form, crouching beside him. Moving his cape aside gingerly, she looked down at his sword belt to reveal a greatsword at least as long as Sephiroth's Masamune, but much more girthy. Ashelia recoils, drawing her hand back to her chest.

Her breathing under control now, she looks over at the other body in the room and crawls toward it. "Oh, Ser Aeryn..." She kneels properly beside him, wincing as she tries not to look at the state of his stomach, but still completing a short prayer. "...Faram," she finishes and reaches out to grab the young man's sword from his still-slack grip.

Ashe stands, flinching as the Judge begins to stir again. She quickly runs over to one of her many wardrobes and opens a drawer, pulling a small, sheathed dagger from below her underclothes. The sheath having its own strap, she reaches under her slip and fastens it around her left thigh. She the picks the sword up again and makes her way back to the door. The princess takes a deep breath as she pulls the door open slowly; its hinges are well-oiled, but there's no reason to invite disaster.

The staircase winds its way down the inside of the tower sharply, doors found at even intervals; every so often the stairs come to a proper landing, at which a door leads to a wide, high-ceilinged hallway. Everything seems bigger in Ivalice. After a whispered, "Focus," and one last look at her room, Ashe begins to make her way down, clutching her sword with both hands.

It doesn't take long for her to run into trouble again; though hidden by the tall bannister, a group of men are making their way up the stairs towards her. Ashe rushes down to the first landing and tries the door - locked, of course. "No!" she whispers, struggling with the ornate knob. The light of the soldiers' torches gets brighter and brighter as they approach...

Zelda looked that those who had awoke with her. "She can't see us but why is it that we can affect the things around her?" It was very different than the last dream she was in when she was being shot at.

Zelda followed after Ashelia letting her questions hang in the air as they walked through the unfamiliar halls. She couldn't tell what was going on but they needed to get her to safety. When Ashelia reached the door Zelda looked over at the others. She didn't want to use her sword on a door.

"At least we can help her. I don't have any lock pick skills, so it's the sword, or ramming the door. Either way, it seems it will frighten her. I'm not sure how much of an influence we have here, and it could stop being effective any moment."

She looks around.

"Anyone else good with picking locks? I will take rear guard if need be while it is being worked on."

K'pandolu waved a hand, shaking her head. "I fear I've no practice with it, unfortunately. Startling as it may be, we may have no other recourse."

"I'm afraid I don't either. We'll have to do it the hard way."

Jade had enough physical strength that he was an obvious choice for the deed. "One of you, give me a hand with this." His words were directed at Olivier and K'pandolu -- whichever of them was better suited for ramming the door with him.

No one moved to help Jade and so Zelda stepped forward stabbing the lock bolt with her sword. She heard the scrapping of metal and knew the tip of her blade won't be use able after this moment but the lock broke free and with Jade's push the door swung open.

She didn't wait for the others, she wanted to get Ashelia out of there as soon as possible.

"That works," Olivier comments, watching to make sure Ashelia makes it through the door before she follows. She already knows that soldiers will probably just be following them, door or no door.

Ashe stares for a moment as the door more or less opens itself for her. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth though, she dashes through and closes it gingerly behind her. It wouldn't lock behind her of course, but the soldiers had no inkling as to her presence at least.

Ashe leans against the door for a moment, taking stock of the hallway. It isn't as big as one might expect of the tower, but there are three doors on either side. From the small size, they're likely just storage rooms, mostly meant for servants to use. "Of course!" Ashe exclaims. She dashes towards one of the doors at the far end of the hallway - thankfully, this one is unlocked.

The room is dark and full of unused furniture and various other baubles. "Where is the door?" Ashe mumbles to herself. "Quickly now, quickly..."

K'pandolu followed after, and glanced over the room, frowning. "Which door? Or… a secret escape route?" she asked, a little doubtfully. Still, she went to investigate the closest door, scanning it for any indication of where it went.

Since there were no more knights around and thus no need to maintain the darkness, Jade concentrated on casting again, though not for attacking this time. The fonic glyph that appeared under his feet illuminated the dark room.

"Do you see anything?" he asked, careful to keep the light dim enough that it hopefully wouldn't startle Ashelia too badly.

It appears as though the young princess cannot see the light given off by Jade's glyph.

To the Heroes, the light reveals a very crowded storage room. Chairs are piled on top of each other, tables and wardrobes and various sconces and lamps precariously balanced throughout.

Ashe feels her way along slowly, trying to quiet her breathing as much as possible. She is obviously still very upset, but is managing to keep focused for now. "I think she said...in a corner, the servant stairwell..." she mumbles to herself.

Back in the hallway, there is the dim sound of the Imperial soldiers speaking with each other as they make their way through the door. Having come upon the broken lock, they chose to investigate further.

Ashe makes her way through the room, making for one of the corners - however, the light from Jade's glyph reveals that she's headed the wrong way. The door is in the opposite corner, along the outer wall of the tower. However, it is mostly blocked by a large wardrobe, on top of which is an end table with a small chandelier and a set of wine glasses placed on it.

With the light from Jade's glyph, there is no danger of the Heroes catching on something they couldn't see, but once they catch on to the door's location, there is still the wardrobe to be moved. Try not to make a noise...

"Over there." Zelda was talking softly even though there was no need for it. It was hard not to in the glow of Jade's light and then watching the young princess stubble around as if it wasn't there. She glanced back at the door a few times but for now she figured they would be safe.

She wasn't as strong as the others with her and while Jade had tremendous powers the others in the group didn't seem as skilled. There was no way to know just yet but they had a long journey a head of them.

"We need to guide her."

Olivier drops her voice to a whisper. "Well, we have two options. We can move her into the right direction, but if invisible hands were pulling on me, I would probably resist. Or, we can direct her attention to this other door, but that might attract unwanted attention. Either way is a risk. We should be ready to fight again, no matter what decision is made."

K'pandolu glanced over towards the door, then bad to the others. "Directing her attention to it sounds the better option. Besides- all that looks as though it needs to be moved. We'll need to be careful, but I'd think she'd notice that. Let's see about getting the first few items off it."

With that, she headed over to look for a way to get up to the stacked items.

Jade walked back they came from and made sure the door was closed all the way before lifting his spear to bar it. They were going to make some noise no matter what they did, so someone had to slow down the soldiers as much as possible.

"Clear out what you can. Quietly." The less time Ashelia had to spend moving the wardrobe, the better. Jade resumed his casting so that the others could see what they were doing.

It is easy enough to get up to the stacked items; the light cast from Jade's glyph reveals a healthy amount of chairs available to move over and stand upon to remove the more delicate items from atop the wardrobe.

Ashe gasps as her foot catches on a rolled up rug stuffed between two dressers. She steadies herself easily enough though, and continues on. She reaches her destination shortly, but curses under her breath when she realizes it was the wrong way. With there being only one more corner the door could be, she begins to make her way over.

Outside the storage room, the soldiers make their way down the hallway. For now, they seem to be distracted by looking into the other doors. But they will advance...

Edited 2015-06-06 04:05 (UTC)

Zelda quickly moves so that she was looking up at the top of the wardrobe. This was a moment where being very short was to her disadvantage. She carefully and quickly steps up on a chair and begins taking things from atop the wardrobe and handing it to anyone close by. She didn't stop once those items where handed off. She moved to the next things so that she'd be safely down from the chair by the time Ashe made her way towards her.

Her gaze was determined and while her moves where quick she took care to be silent. Once the pieces where off they could move the limbering piece of furniture from Ashe's path.

Olivier is quick to help with unstacking the items off the top of the wardrobe, carefully glancing back to the door every few minutes.

She realizes what Zelda moves onto right away and glances at the others.

"Keeping her path clear will help reduce drawing the guards. Once she gets to the wardrobe we can all help her move it for the same reason."

K'pandolu moved to help with stacking the items and stacking them elsewhere, listening intently. "It makes sense," she agreed. Perhaps they could move it a little more quickly, with a little less noise than Ashe would produce alone. "I'll do what I can." Which she would do regardless, of course, but all the better to have it out there.

Unfortunately casting required Jade to stand in place and as such he couldn't help them clear the way. Keeping the light up seemed more important for now -- moving in the dark in this cluttered room would inevitably cause too much noise.

Which was why he was worried about Ashelia traversing the room practically blind. All it would take was knocking down something heavy or breakable, and the guards' attention would be drawn...

Ashe makes it across the room without any more missteps. Assessing the situation is easy enough at such close range, even in the darkness, but with nothing atop the wardrobe, she braces herself to start pulling. With the help of the Heroes it moves easily enough, but the sound of it scraping across the stone floor is quite noticeable.

"Did you hear that?" a voice drifts in from the hallway. Ashe gasps quietly and abandons the wardrobe. Having pushed it just far enough to slide the secret door open and squish by, she leaves the room shortly before the door opens and the Imperial soldiers enter. They look around for a moment, but then leave to join their compatriots, no doubt to perform a more thorough search of the room later on.

The stairwell she finds herself in is narrow and steep. After taking a second or two to catch her breath, she begins her descent. She shivers slightly in the cold breeze of the desert at night and clutches the hilt of her sword with both hands, bringing the pommel close to her chest with the blade pointing down. She shakes her head . "Should have put something on..."

Ashe slows down when she hears voices through on the of many doors to various rooms she passes. The door in question is slightly open. She peers through the crack and looks down to see what is is that's blocking it from closing - and just barely manages to stop herself from screaming. A hand, palm up, is wedged between the sliding door and the jamb. Following the arm up from the wrist, Ashe stumbles backward, one hand over her mouth. She recognizes that face; one of the younger servant boys. His eyes are still open...

She closes her eyes, trying to focus more on the goings on in the room. She needs information. She holds her breath, keeping herself out of the sliver of light that made its way into the servants' staircase as much as possible, and moves in to hear what the soldiers inside are discussing.

"Heard back form upstairs yet?" one of them asks. He sits on one of the beds - the room looks to be full of single bunks - and wipes his sword with a cloth. It comes out red. There's slight movement on the bed behind him...is someone still alive?

"Nay," comes an older, more cultured voice from the doorway. "We're to stay here. There is still resistance on the ground floor."

"But the princess is up there, isn't she? She's supposed to be beautiful, I wanna - "

"You will not!" comes the stern reply. "She has suffered enough. The last thing she needs is to look upon a nasty cur like you."

The younger man shrugs. "Suffered enough? She sits atop her tower on a bed plush with feathers while we massacre her household. Suffered enough..."

The older man waves away the other soldier's words. "She's a long, hard road ahead of her, more difficult even than what she's endured so far. You know what happened in Nabradia, and at Nalbina. The prince's homeland completely destroyed in seconds, and himself following scant weeks later. And now her father, at the treaty signing that was to save them all."

Ashe fumbles with the sword in her hand, but manages not to drop it. "Father...no..." she whispers, shaking her head. The tears fall silently down her face.

The younger soldier snorts in laughter. "And at the hand of their own Captain! Protecting Dalmascan sovereignty, my arse."

"Yes, well. We've all got our own ideals when it comes to such things." The older soldier sounded completely done with the younger man. "Besides, it's all a little to convenient for me."

"Convenient?" The younger man sounds incredulous. "One of their own witnessed the whole thing, no? He's the one that pointed the finger, so I hear."

"Apparently so," comes the answer.

They continue talking, but Ashe doesn't seem to hear them. She stumbles backwards, all the way to the outer wall of the staircase, and sinks to the floor. She sets the sword across her lap and draws her knees up, encircling her head with her arms as she gives herself over to grief. It's almost impressive how silent she manages to be, even with her body shaking with sobs.

Edited 2015-06-11 20:46 (UTC)

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