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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For most of his life, Jade hadn't completely understood meaning of life and death. Sometimes he wondered if he still didn't. When Professor Nebilim had died, he had refused to accept it. The idea that she was truly gone, that she would never come back... He hadn't been able to grasp it. Somehow, he had simply taken it for granted that they -- the few people he had attachments to -- would always be there, unchanged. And when that didn't happen, he had kept denying it like a petulant child...

And on the other hand, when it wasn't someone he particularly cared about... Death was so easy to brush off. Enemies he had killed, fellow soldiers lost on the battlefield, civilian casualties... Their deaths were unfortunate, but ultimately he thought little of them. Watching Luke be haunted by every kill during their journey had been eye-opening, in a way. A reminder that Jade himself had not come as far from his past self as he would have liked to believe.

"Age makes no difference. The fact remains that I took her life. There is no running away from that."

"It was a mistake." Yuna paused. She could be gentle and comforting but Jade knew the truth. There was no point of trying to hide from it. "You did it but you need to accept the fact that she had rather spent her life than your own."

Her lips formed a wistful smile. She thought of her parents, her friends, the warriors and fighters who had died and given their lives for others. She thought about her own resolve.

"It's the greatest thing we can give those we care about. She was brave. I also know she doesn't regret it." Yuna had always felt a connection with the dead and her skill allowed her to feel emotions of those who pasted on. There was fear and confusion but when someone gave their life for another there was always peace.

Jade knew her words were meant to be comforting, but they honestly made him cringe. Of course the Professor would gladly give her life for him. That had never been in question. He just wished she hadn't.

And as for whether she would have regretted it... He had no way of knowing that for sure now. That was yet another reality he had accepted long ago.

"I appreciate the sympathy, but it's not necessary. I've learned to live with my crimes. You have to, after a while." Even though it had taken him far too long... And speaking of which, he realized with a jolt, his past self was taking the Professor behind the house, where the worst was yet to occur.

He would have to watch that, too. In front of Yuna, no less. Jade sighed heavily, straightened his glasses, and readied himself the same way he always did -- by setting his feelings aside for later and focusing his mind into impassive observation.

Yuna looked up at him curiously. "Why do you think we're seeing this then?" She didn't know for sure because she hadn't experienced a memory here but this felt like Crystallis, or someone was trying to tell them something.

Like they were incomplete somehow.

She watched the scene as it continued her eyes more on the young Jade than the limp body in his grasp. She wondered what he much have felt then. It wasn't so hard to tell that the Jade she knew was one who didn't let his emotions touch him. He tried to distance himself but she wondered if that was better or worse in the end.

Why indeed? Jade stared after his younger self. What was this supposed to accomplish? If it was supposed to break him emotionally, the attempt was a poor one. He remembered this moment all too well as it was. At most it was putting him in a bad mood.

Watching the next part would be worse, but still... He had already played it over in his head, again and again. What was the point?

"I suppose there is only one way to find out." With that, Jade followed his past self through the burning house. If Yuna wanted to follow, that was up to her.

Yuna waited a half second before following Jade. If he hadn't wanted her to follow then he would have said something right? She padded a long behind him, her footsteps whispers on the floor.

She could only assume it wasn't over yet. It was strange walking through a burning house. It was like the fire couldn't touch them though Yuna still stayed away from it. She watched Jade curiously except he still didn't show any emotions to indicate if he was okay.

The walk outside wasn't long, though the children were slowed down by their burden and by the fire raging around them. Finally they made their way to the back door, opening up to the chilled winter air. The snow was red from the light of the flames, and turned redder still from Nebilim's blood as she was lowered down.

Jade didn't react outwardly, keeping the growing nausea in check as he watched the boys speak.

"Jade! The Professor is going to die!"

"Yes. It's my fault. It's too late to save her now. But with fomicry..."

"Oh! You're going to make a replica of the Professor?"

Idiot boy. Jade felt a spark of anger at the expression of complete confidence on his young self's face. All that ingenuity, yet he had understood so little...

Yuna's hands covered her mouth that the sight. She was a healer first and she knew what that amount of blood meant.

"Replica?" She tore her sight from the scene before her and turned to look at Jade. "You don't mean?" Making a copy of someone? Could he do that? Why would you want to do that? It felt so wrong like a disruption to the flow of life.

"Yes." Jade gave a grim smile. "Fomicry, the science of creating copies of anything... including living beings. I invented it when I was nine, to fix my sister's broken doll."

His younger self knelt by the Professor and proceeded to cast a fonic arte. She became surrounded by light as her replica data was extracted, new fonons gathered to imitate her shape; and within minutes, a body was created on the spot.

The replica Nebilim lay on the snow next to her original, unhurt and breathing evenly.

Edited 2015-06-05 14:51 (UTC)

That seemed like a noble reason except Yuna couldn't believe what she saw. Nebilim rested next to her broken body and she was fine. Yuna looked between the old and the young jade.

"Is it the same person?" Making a body she could understand but could he transfer her soul?

Yuna was very close to the flow and feelings of death. She had trained as a summoner which were in all practical purposes the art of manipulating the souls of the dead.

There had been nothing noble in Jade's favor to his sister. He had done it because he could. That was all there was to it.

"No. Replicas may look and sound the same, but the memories and personality don't transfer. A successful replica is essentially a newborn. This one..." He closed his eyes wearily, knowing what was coming. "This one was not successful."

The children hadn't realized it yet. They were eagerly helping the replica up, not noticing the empty look in her eyes. She barely seemed aware that they were there.

They were interrupted by a shout.

"What's going on!?" A Malkuth soldier had found them, rushing over towards them. He had scarcely taken two steps when his chest erupted with blood.

The replica Nebilim stood over the fallen soldier's body, staring at the blood splattered on her as though fascinated. Then she grinned, eyes wide.

Both of Yuna's hands covered her mouth at the sight of the woman's motions. It clearly wasn't the same person but how could two children fight someone who wore the face of their teacher? She was almost hypnotized by the scene watching as the soldier fell to the ground.

It was possible to move the soul. Yuna knew how to do it but this wasn't anything like that. She couldn't bring herself to look at the grown man standing next to her.

"Why..." Her voice was shaky as she watched. She hadn't know that Jade had something like this buried within him and she didn't know what to say.

Saphir wailed in horror. The younger Jade had lost all his prior confidence, staring at the violence in dumbfounded shock.

"My technique was imperfect. I had never tried to replicate a living person before." Jade spoke without feeling, as though he was merely reciting the words. "When the replica is missing certain fonons, it's born both mentally and physically unstable. And sometimes..."

The replica reached out towards the children, murmuring something indistinct. An explosion of light blasted Saphir into the ground; the boy fell down with a terrified scream and stopped moving, unconscious.

"Sometime they are little more than monsters."

Yuna watched for a moment longer before lowering her hands and looking over at Jade. "In my world. Peoples souls can become monsters like this. We have to fight them just to live."

Her two toned gaze studied him.

"You fought her. Didn't you?"

"Twice. Here, and 20 years later."

The younger Jade was trying to fight. He cast Thunder Blade, again and again, calling down spears of lightning on the replica, one after another. She barely even blinked, staring at him impassively until he stopped, worn out and gasping for breath.

"Go away." The words came out in in a hoarse whisper. Then the boy started yelling, his voice cracking. "Go away! You're not Professor Nebilim! You're just a failure! You're nothing like Professor Nebilim! Go away!"

The replica gasped sharply. For a moment it seemed as though it was the words that had hit her -- yet the real reason became quickly apparent. Parts of her body were coming apart before their eyes. As she stared at her body in shock, Jade took his chance and cast Thunder Blade once more.

The replica screamed. Then, suddenly, she was right there in front of him, her body whole again, and seized him by the throat.

"How did you..." She had to resist the urge to look away. This was Jade's memory and he wasn't showing her by choice. She felt like she was intruding on a very private matter. How had it really effected the silent hero standing next to her.

"How did you survive."

The young boy looked so weak compared to the woman. He was small and scared. He had failed and lost something dear to him. These where feelings that Yuna could understand, if only a little.

Jade didn't reply. The answer would become clear soon enough. For some reason, the replica had let go and him coughing on the snow. Then she had walked away, disappearing into the dark night. He would only learn much, much later how many people she would slaughter before she was finally caught--

She wasn't letting go.

The realization dawned slowly, followed by cold dread. His child self was gagging, struggling helplessly against the grip around his throat, while the replica watched him without blinking. Then, without a warning, she turned to look straight at adult Jade.

Jade's spear appeared in his hand in a flash of light. "Yuna. I'm sorry, but I must ask you to leave."

"Leave?" As far as she knew they were only watchers to his past. She hadn't thought that the woman would attack them. Her gaze looked over at the replica and she saw in her eyes that she could see Jade.

"I can't just leave?!"

Except before she could say more she was jettisoned from the memory, into the blackness.

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Event || In Your Worst Memory

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