melodiesoflife | Intro Log || The Return of the Heroes

Entry tags:

Intro Log || The Return of the Heroes

Characters: All the "Heroes of Light" (only new characters can start threads).
Where: Aqures Ixen.
When: The 5th of September. 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. It marks the first time since January that Heroes of Light have appeared in Aqures Ixen.
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." Hand clutched on your Crystal, the call of the Moogle may finally wake 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 dock beneath 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 have arrived in the course of the past year and they will come soon! Like you, they have Jobs and a Crystal.

If asked, the Moogles will mention that the city was recently attacked by the Heran Empire and nearly destroyed by Ultima Weapon. What's the Heran Empire? What's Ultima Weapon? Better to ask to the heroes who saw it 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 within the past year. 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 when they told you about how they fiercely battled each other past month. 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 tragic 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 City of Aqures Ixen
— Anytime —
With the recent attack, Aqures Ixen is under reconstruction. The city was saved for the most part, but there are ruined buildings, the Sixth District is nothing but wasteland now and the Thirteenth District has become a graveyard. Even so, there are a lot of things left to do in the city for newcomers. A few groups of Triple Triad players are playing before Mognet Office in the ninth district, mostly Moogles as many of them are not working after what happened. And of course, 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-- Mognet Office just behind the Triple Triad games is filled with Moogles, most of them panicked, tired, busy or slacking now that their director has disappeared. They can also visit Airship Port in the twelfth district from where characters can board for free Airships from Shoopuf Airline-- Though they have to make a request 48 hours in before to do so.

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.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
— 19:00 —
Characters venturing by the city's outskirts at this specific time will be able to see a most peculiar sight: a flying saucer seemingly abducting a cow before flying away and disappearing into the sky without leaving any traces of its presence. If your character do see it, hopefully there will be someone with them. Otherwise, nobody will believe their story.

Was it an UFO or just a hallucination? Only the future will tell...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Ah, yes, I am, or was actually, looking for the one next to this one," said the Adventurer, looking at the house number and confirming it with the memory of coming here earlier.

"I live next door apparently. I was trying to find my way back."

He bowed, hand over his chest. "I am known as the Adventurer, but you may call me Sea."

An eyebrow went up at that name. The title one was a bit odd, and so was Sea, but Cloud supposed he couldn't really judge. He must have been from a backwater too or something.

"I'm Cloud. Cloud Strife. I'm one of the Heroes who's been around since this all started, so if you have a question I can try to answer...Well I've been here a year anyway." The whole thing went back further than that, but that just made explaining things even more complicated. "I guess it's interesting going from Adventurer to Hero, huh?"

"Pray, a pleasure to meet you, Cloud." Sea bowed a little as he listened to his question.

At the last bit, he chuckled. "Truly, it is not uncommon. The other title I am known as, is the Warrior of Light. Truly however, it is nice to be one of the crowd as it were."

"Warrior of Light...so not that far from Hero of Light then..." Cloud frowned a bit, furrowing his brow. He swore he'd heard that title before somewhere.

"How similar is this world to the one you came from? Do you have chocobos where you come from?" It was a question he'd taken to asking newcomers. It seemed to be the one thing that the worlds most similar to his own had in common. He couldn't say why, but it was just something he was noticing.

"When the world is in danger, the Warriors of Light appear," quoted the Adventurer. "It is what has been passed down in Eorzea for ages."

"Very similar. Our world, Eorzea, has been recovering from a Cataclysm which ruined the world five years ago, and since then we've been rebuilding. We do have chocobos, and some breeds and well trained ones can fly." At the thought, he also laughed. "We also have very fat chocobos, which can be urged into the air with a slice of cake on a stick."

Meteor was in a fine position to watch Cloud's expression jump around, first in surprise at the quote, then a bit more serious at the talk of the Cataclysm and then shock all over again at the talk of the fat chocobos taking wing.

"Wow that's...There are different breeds here, but I don't know if any can fly. There's rumors of colored ones back home but on Gaia chocobos aren't seen that often anymore." The march of technology pushed them to the outskirts. Why take a bird when you could use a truck?

"Colored chocobos do exist at least back home. While various gourds and fruits can change their hues, those born black have an innate sense of flight," explained Meteor.

"It's still quite a bit of a mode of transportation across Eorzea."

Cloud nodded but then chuckled. "My bird has black feathers, but only because he knocked a pot of dye all over himself while I was trying to brush him. He looked good that way so I've kept it up. But still...flying chocobos. That sounds pretty neat."

"Perhaps we will find a way to urge them into the air some day," said the Adventurer with a laugh. "Till then, I suppose dying or painting feathers would suffice."

"Hah! Maybe." Cloud couldn't help but smile. This guy seemed like a good person to have among the Heroes. "Is there anything else I can help you with about this city or this world? Anything else you want to know?"

"Ah well..." He looked embarrassed at this. "There aren't any linkpearls here?"

He pulled his out of his ear and held it out. "They are long distance communication devices."

"What are...oh...So this thing basically functions the same as a phone? That's pretty cool." You can take the puppy out of the military but you can't take the military out of the puppy. Cloud's first though was how useful these things could be in communication between units. They could be useful here too.

"No. Our moogles can deliver a letter within minutes though, no matter how far away it needs to go. Mako won't tell me how they do it though."

Mako just smirked and adjusted his glasses, "Of course not, kupo. It's a Moogle secret, kupo."

"A Moogle Post, yes we have that at Eorzea too." Replacing his linkpearl, the Adventurer chuckled.

"Actually, my human is a First Class Mognet Postal Carrier," boasted Moggle Mog. "He's rank 25 right now."

"Back in...Eorzea you mean? Do they have you dress up in a costume if you want to help out there as well?" Cloud still remembered that girl Selphie running around in a moogle costume while delivering letters.

Sea laughed a little, shaking his head. "No, not at all. But they gave me a neat hat later on when I got to the highest current rank of Postmoogle. I also had to mentor a few new recruits too."

He wished he had the hat. It would be proof of the things he did.

Cloud just stood there, surprised at all of this. It was just on the edge of hard to believe but at the same time...

"Hey Mako, if I delivered letters could I-"

"No!" Mako huffed, frowning at his Hero for even asking such a thing.

He laughed, both at the fact that Cloud was considering it and the fact his moogle was being stubborn. "It was an unconventional moment in time, that forced the letter to be returned to the postmoogle, but in the end it worked out for the best."

Cloud and Mako started bickering with each other but stopped as they heard the laughter. It wasn't really a serious argument so the mood cleared rather quickly.

"That's good I guess. Still, your world sounds pretty interesting." And then it clicked, "Oh! I think there's another Hero from your world too...K'pandolu. She's a catgirl or something. I think I remember her mentioning 'Eorzea' once too."

"I haven't met her, but I am rooming with her," admitted the Adventurer as he rubbed his head. "Miqo'te then I assume, since they are the cat-eared tribes of our world."

"Ah right...She's nice. I'm sorry, we just don't really have nonhuman races that can talk back where I come from...well there's the one...But he's not really the same." Cloud didn't want to be rude. It just took some getting used to and over the surprise.

"I'm noticing that, that Hyur men and women are the norm across a lot of worlds. In my world there are several major races of man, and several more races of the beast tribes." explained the Adventurer.

"Your world must be a really interesting place then." For not the first time Cloud wondered if Gaia was ever more like these other worlds in its own past. No city he'd seen here except perhaps for the Imperial Capital even compared to Midgar.

"My world...it's more industrial I guess you could say? There are some that even say the planet is dying. And we have a lot more technology than I've seen here."

"It's got an interesting history," admitted the Adventurer as he tilted his head in thought.

"The industrialization sounds like the Garlean Empire. They've done a lot to rediscover and build new technologies, some of which aren't very good but others, well, they were brought to Eorzea by Cid, our benefactor back home and leader of the Garlond Works. They specialize in mechanics, machinery and magitek devices too, fueled by ceruleum which is a kind of fuel created by processing crystals found everywhere."

Cloud couldn't help but frown. Empires. Magitek. Cid. "Your Garlean Empire sounds a lot like the Heran Empire here." It wasn't the first time the strange coincidences between certain worlds struck Cloud. He didn't really know what they meant, but he made a note of them when they came up. He didn't have any proof that it was important, but maybe their worlds were 'closer' to this one somehow.

"And Ceruleum sounds a bit like Mako. What was the Garlean Empire doing in your world before you wound up here?"

"Well I won't lie, they're the source of about 90% of our problems back home. They were rapidly industrializing, making advances in weapons and machinery, and then one of their Legatuses called Dalamud the Red Moon atop everyone calling it Project Meteor."

He grimaced. Even his name was a reminder of this.

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