melodiesoflife | 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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm not so sure about that." Fayt had also grappled with the guilt of his own father's death and the knowledge that his father had died protecting him. He hadn't been able to reconcile the feeling that it was his fault, that he should have been the one dead, not his father.

But he'd realized it was a selfish way of thinking.

"How old were you when your dad died?"

Edited 2015-06-09 02:07 (UTC)

"Fifteen." Albel's lip curled in disgust. Clearly he didn't quite understand Fayt's point, that it was too young to truly be held responsible. For Albel, fifteen was plenty old enough. It was old enough to be trained for war, it was old enough to make the commitment to a dragon. It was manhood. And Albel had failed. Childhood was no excuse when he shouldn't have been a child.

"Disgraceful," he muttered.

"You were just a kid, Albel. Fifteen years old.... I know it might not seem like it to you, but kids make mistakes. Heck, they make more of them because they're still growing." It was basic brain chemistry. But he knew Albel probably didn't understand that. Elicoor was different when it came to ages of majority from Earth.

"Besides all of that..... from what I hear, not a lot of people survive the trial you take regardless, right?" The way he'd heard it, only a small percentage of people were considered 'worthy' by the dragons.

"Then it should have been me!" Albel roared, turning on Fayt. "A mistake like that gets people killed -- but it should be the one who made the mistake!"

He grit his teeth, rage and despair in every feature. "It was my mistake, Fayt. My problem. And if I..." He had to stop, choking back a wave of guilty nausea.

"And do you think your father wanted that? To watch you die?!" Fayt wasn't a parent. He couldn't conceptualize how terribly it hurt to lose a child, to be unable to save them. But if it was anything like what it felt to lose a father like Albel had.... if it hurt anything like it had hurt to lose his own father.

He reaches out, grabbing Albel by the shoulder with a tense look, grasping his top in a too tight grip.

".....Your dad made a choice to save you. He loved you." That was something Fayt believed.... had to believe.

"He wanted you to live." His breathing is a little heavy, his voice tight.

"That is the fate of those who fail their Ascension." The pain ran deep. Albel didn't want to think about it -- it's what he deserved for his hubris.

"We knew the risks going in." Of course Albel had assumed he'd succeed with flying colors, but... There were deaths every year. It was expected. It was tradition. It was as it needed to be.

His father was the only one who'd ever interfered. And that intensity of love, to buck tradition for the life of his son... It made Albel feel worse. He wasn't special -- he shouldn't have been. But Fayt was hanging on him, much too close, much too tight. Uncomfortable. Albel tried to push him off, but it was a half-hearted attempt.

"That doesn't mean anything, and you know it." Knowing the risks is one thing, being willing to stand by and watch at the very moment a loved one was about to die.... that was another entirely.

Fayt's grip on Albel loosens a little, but he doesn't let go. "Albel..... when my dad died, I couldn't stop blaming myself for a long time. If I'd been faster, smarter, more aware...... I still blame myself. But I realized after awhile that my dad made the choice he did for a reason." He takes a breath, letting it out after a moment to calm himself.

"Yours did, too. He wanted you to live, more than anything else. It didn't matter to him that you failed, it only matter that you lived." Maybe he hadn't believe Albel would fail, or maybe he'd only thought he was prepared for the potential consequences. Either way, his father had made a choice based on what he had wanted in that moment.

"Because you were his son, and he loved you."

Albel's chest felt tight. He'd nearly forgotten Fayt's father. Now that he was reminded, it came back in a rush. The alarm blaring, the red emergency lights, the Vendeeni.

"I'm... sorry," he managed, feeling guilty.

And maybe there was something to what Fayt was saying. It was uncomfortable, and it wouldn't be easy to change his whole way of thinking but... But maybe Fayt was right. Albel just suddenly missed his father.

"Maybe you're..."

"... Disappointed..."
"We're so..."
"...So disappointed..."

Albel shuddered and glanced behind them to the street where the crowd had turned. They were all staring -- at him and Fayt.

"We're so disappointed in you."

"Don't apologize." He had nothing to apologize for. Albel's pain was his own, and Fayt had only reminded him of his own experience in hopes of helping him see another side of it all. As the voices full of disappointment start up, the crowd staring, Fayt returns their judgmental stares with a glare of his own. Seriously?

"--And don't listen to these ghosts." His voice has a bit of heat in it for the crowd around it, but it quickly fades into something firm, certain. "You've gone above and beyond what would have been expected of you for your country.... and your world. Your universe. You help save it, you know? We, you included, stopped the creator." He turns to Albel now, giving him small smile. "I'm pretty sure your dad would be pretty proud of you, for that."

Albel clenched his fists, looking down, his hair falling over his eyes. He couldn't breathe... he couldn't see... Damn, he refused to cry.

And then it hit him -- Fayt was right. Who else had left the planet? Who else had left their dimension? Who else would have the guts? His father would have gone; and his father would be proud he'd gone.

Perhaps he'd redeemed himself after all.

He looked up with renewed purpose. "Perhaps you are right... For a worm." He smirked weakly. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

Event || In Your Worst Memory

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