melodiesoflife | The Ones Left Behind [Open]

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The Ones Left Behind [Open]

Where: Hospital, Crystallized Heroes Wing.
When: June 30th.
Who: Anyone, but Jack is particularly looking for any Heroes that work there.

War. Despite Jack's best efforts, despite anything that anyone had tried to do about it, it was coming anyway. Last time Jack had to fight a war on behalf of a country that had a lot of control over his life, he already knew how it was supposed to end. Had to focus on the little parts: saving lives, winning minor victories, do what you can without accidentally changing the course of history (while stopping the surprisingly massive number of time travelers that were trying to change the outcome of one war). This time? Not a clue.

Jack looks somber as he sits by the bedside of Paddra Nsu-Yeul. He's visited her before, but usually he tries to sneak in when no one else is around. Talks to her, in case she can hear. She has a surprising wisdom about her. Has. Because Jack refuses to believe that she is completely gone. When they figure out how to get Yeul and all the others out of this. Then everybody has to look out. Jack pats her crystallized hand as he stands up, having finished updating her on what's happening. "With any luck, you're all going on a trip soon. But I'll see you again when you get back."

Which is actually exactly what Jack is doing here. He is looking for anyone who works at the Hospital, really, any Hero that works here, because they're the ones who already know what's about to happen. He wants to ask if the Crystallized Heroes are getting evacuated along with everyone else.

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At first he'd been outraged, angry, terrified, disbelieving. Surely it must've been a mistake! That Sophie had entered crystal stasis when she'd been perfectly fine just hours before... But the days continued to pass by with no change, and in that time, those conflicting emotions have settled into a miserable ball in Asbel's chest, an ever-present ache like an old battle wound acting up in bad weather. And now, it's always raining.

With weary movements he sits up, looking about in muddled confusion. He'd been visiting Sophie again - determined never to let her feel alone, hopeful that she might still awaken - and must've dozed off. The print from his sleeves is pressed into his right cheek and a half-wilted flower bows towards him on a nearby stand.

Asbel rubs his neck, blinking back sleep as he peers around the bedside. "Um, hello? Did...you say something?" He has no idea who the 'you' is, but he's pretty sure he heard someone talking. Right?

Oops. Jack turns back when he hears the slightly sleepy voice. He puts a soft smile on his face and holds up a hand in a wave at the unfamiliar face. "Sorry to disturb you. Hey, there."

He almost looks like he'll walk on, but he looks between Asbel and the figure he's next to with an understanding, somber nod. It hurts to see someone else doing exactly what Jack is doing. "I don't know if it actually helps to talk to them, but, you just- do it anyway."

"I'm Jack," he nods at the figure. Another girl so young, as young as Yeul (in a way), maybe younger? "Who is she?" Is. Jack doesn't use the past tense when he talks about the Heroes, even the ones in Stasis.

"No, it's all right." Asbel assures him, offering a smile that's as friendly as it is sad-looking. "I wasn't really planning on falling asleep; it just sort of happened..."

Asbel blinks as the stranger's words sink in, then glances back in Sophie's direction. "Yeah... I'm not too sure either, but I just feel like they can somehow. Even if that isn't the case, I don't want them to think we've given up on them." And he isn't giving up - not yet, not ever. He doesn't have the heart to, and in its way, it keeps him moving forward.

"It's good to meet you. I'm Asbel." He nods his head, resting a hand lightly on the girl's shoulder. "And this...is Sophie. She's a friend of mine from home. You could say she's family."

His attention finally strays back to Jack and the young woman he must've been talking with. "Are you visiting a friend, too?"

Edited 2015-07-03 19:36 (UTC)

Zelda had a similar thought process to Jack. She knew that the heroes were most likely the target and most likely blamed for the calamities growth. It made sense to her though it wasn't a theory that she openly shared. If that was the case then the heroes in stasis were just as much in danger as they were but with no way of fighting back.

She knew that the Empire had a way to kill the heroes and she didn't doubt that they would plan to come here as well.

"Jack?" She was surprised to see him but as her gaze shifted to the crystal he had been talking to she understood. She wished that she knew what happened to the heroes in stasis. "Were you thinking the same thing too?" They had to be moved.

Jack is startled but grateful to see Zelda. She's enough of a figure around town that she can definitely help with what he has in mind. He nods by way of greeting, and he follows Zelda's gaze to the form of Yeul. "I'm assuming we're both thinking they need to be protected. Evacuated, if they can. I didn't want to scare anybody ahead of schedule, but I still wanted to make sure they were going to get taken care of."

"Kalki lost all her test subjects, she had other heroes crystallized. The others who had come here and then vanished? She had them. And now, they were at the center of the Calamity wave." The Doctor- but he can't think about that right now. He looks at Zelda somberly. "That's all she'd see them as. They're vulnerable. How can we help them?" There's a sudden bright spot of gratitude to have someone like Zelda on his side.

Zelda's gaze softened. "Of course we wouldn't forget them." She knew every one of the heroes that lay in stasis. She knew some more than others but she would never forget their faces or who they were before the crystal took them.

"I fear that the heroes of light are the targets of this attack." Otherwise why skip over Esdham? "If that's the case then those in stasis are in more danger than we are."

She slowly shook her head. "We might not be able to move them far. If Jessie's plan is to be enacted. They are still crystal holders." She paused. "I was thinking of asking for use of one of an airship or Luffy's boat to keep them in a moveable position." It felt safer that way but she didn't know if they could get the resources for figures that others saw as statues.

That was clearly not what Jack wanted to hear, and his expression deepens into a scowl at the idea that these Heroes might be unwitting parts of Jessie's plan. "Use them as bait? No. Not a chance. You need somebody to talk to Luffy, I'll be glad to. We cant just leave them where-" Where Kalki might get to them.

"If we've got to do this ourselves, then let's do it. We're not leaving our own behind." Jack looks down a little. "Not again."

Jack's attempt at peace had aided in the rescue of the mobile prisoners of the Empire. But so so many had been left behind in stasis. "There'll be no way to get them back, will there? The ones at the center of all this crystal?"

"No." Zelda shook her head slowly as she answered Jack's question. She feared that their souls might already be gone but she wasn't about to share such a sad theory with Jack. He was already taking this to heart.

"We will see what we can do. I don't think those in crystals will be a priority as far as the military are concerned. Which means it falls to us." She wasn't about to leave anyone behind either.

"If you wish to talk to Luffy. I think all other ships will be used for the evacuation. I know it isn't much but you are welcome to offer him anything it takes to hold the crystals. The guild... I have been saving money and supplies. If he wants to sail we can outfit him. I'd do anything to make sure everyone was safe." It was the only idea she had and if he refused then she'd have to think of another.

"At the very least we can try and move them to a defensible location." Somewhere that the Empire didn't know about.

As Jack goes to leave the room, someone else turns the corner and stops short of running into him. The mind of the morose-looking marshal, hat wrung in his hands, was obviously elsewhere. But when confronted with someone else, he makes his best attempt of straightening up and looking fine.

"Oh, uh. Sorry. Everyone's always so dang quiet in a hospital so I didn't hear ya."

Jack does stop up short, and nods respectfully to the Marshall. Something is clearly wrong, but Jack isn't going to jump on it. "It's okay. Not too bad here if you dont mind the quiet."

He turns to look at the beds, to try to see where Sparks' thoughts are. He's been here even longer than Jack; he probably knows a lot of these people, so Jack is cautious to be respectful. "Here visiting, too? Or, you also got business?" If he's not a mind to it, Jack wont bother him with the details of planning how to evacuate the Heroes, but he'd be a good ally if it is part of what he's here for.

Sparks's eyes go past Jack to one of the newest residents of the crystal gallery. Her hat has been placed with her as a sign that this isn't the first time she's had a visitor. But since she was still in the room, Sparks has seen all he's needed to see today.

"Little 'a both, I guess." Sparks has had a similar idea to Jack's, but it comes with the territory of being a policeman.

"Lookin' to get some more officers in this place, considerin' all the news. 'Round this room especially."

Fai had been worried about what might happen to those that were in crystal since he had heard about what was going to happen. He knew himself that he had to stay and do something about it, but he found himself back at the hospital. Not just because he did so every day early in the morning, but because his was so worried, he had to se his friend again. His crystallized friend.

As he stood by the crystal, he gave a small smile seeing his face. He hoped that they would be moved because that would put a lot of weight off his chest, that way he could fully focus on protecting those that were here and now. But deep down he knew there could be a slim possibility that they might not be able to and as those thoughts passed through his mind, his hands started to grip into themselves. If that turned out to be the case. He would do his best to protect him. After all if it had been the other way around he knew deep down Kurogane would protect him and call him an idiot for not being here to help.

A small chuckle passed by his lips before looking over and spotting someone else. "Ah, have you come here to see someone as well?"

Jack wasn't the only one worried about the crystal heroes, nor the only one wishing they were around to supply guidance. Cloud entered the room as Jack was busy talking to the one statue, a young woman he too had met briefly. His own visit was to see two mentors and a girl who was an ever so brief mystery to him. One that he was only now coming to understand.

He stopped in his tracks, trying to decide if he should leave Jack be and come back later. "Oh...uh....sorry..."

Jack hesitates, but he puts on a smile for the younger soldier. It's perhaps odd to be seeing him again, if that was really him in Jack's memory. "No, you're not disturbing anything." He turns to look back at Yeul.

"Ah- thanks. By the way. For what you did. I guess nobody was going to do anything different, stuck where we were. It was good to see people helping each other out, though."

"I was a bit lucky I think. I wasn't stuck in my own memory but I wound up in a bunch of others. Also this strange garden." He felt a little guilty that he hadn't been chased down by something in his past while everyone else had. Then again he had seen a lot of his future recently as well. Perhaps it was a zero sum in the end.

"What about you? Did you see it too? The one with that girl."

The days following the alerts on mognet had been chaotic at the hospital. Yuna had a tendency to take on more than she could handle, and the overload was starting to show. She made her rounds today as quickly as she could, but didn't shirk any of her duties. She poked her head into every room, taking the count of the heroes that called this their resting grounds.

When she reached the room where Yeul was kept, she was surprised to find someone sitting there. "Oh," it was Jack, the captain she had met following the dreams they'd shared. "Jack. Hello."

"Yuna." Now that he knows them better, he can start to see the difference between the two Yunas, the healer versus the blitzball player. It makes him wonder how their timelines have differed, but it's not a question he can ask out loud.

"How have you been doing?" He looks her over carefully. "Do- the other hospital staff know, or is it just us?" He pitches his voice lower, unsure of who else knows what they do. Why he wanted to specifically find a Hero that worked here.

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The Ones Left Behind [Open]

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healer yuna, ready!

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