melodiesoflife | Intro Log || The Return of the Heroes

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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...

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"Nice to see you remember me." She regained her composure and hoped that he'd over look her clumsy use of the hammer. She was not clumsy, she was elegant, beautiful and talented. Ignoring the fact that she sometimes stumbled into walls.

Yuffie flashed him a smile, her legs swinging over the roof before she jumped down to the street. Her boots lightly caught her, her movements completely silent as she landed.

"Guess you just got here." She held out a hand and curled her fingers hoping that he'd give her back her hammer without any prompt.

Reno scoffed. "Hard t' forget you, Princess."

He tossed the hammer once, letting it complete a full revolution before catching it by the handle again, and handed it back to her.

"I guess so," he echoed her sentiment. "Still figuring out where 'here' is, though. 'Cause, ah, not that I expected t' see you at all -- but where I thought I was, I really didn't think you'd ever go."

Yuffie winked, snatching the hammer from the air. "Glad to see I'm so unforgettable." She has no idea where he might have been since she only has memories of Gaia.

She rocked back on her heels thinking about his choice of words and then discarding the notion that rose in the back of her mind. "I'm sure you have a moogle who won't leave you alone but in case you didn't know this is Crystallis or as I call it; not Gaia." She's oh so helpful.

Yuffie rotates the hammer between her fingers before sliding it along her right hip.

"Well yeah, I mean, he told me it was 'Crystallis,' but..."

But what? He'd wanted so badly to believe it wasn't another world, a third world, that he kept trying to justify how it must just be another part of Thanatos' realm. But it clearly wasn't.

"I sent 'im t' my housing assignment t' check it out. Needed some space." Reno waved it off casually. The truth was, he couldn't take being with that creature any longer. It hurt too much.

But he played up the friendly face for the time being. "So it really is another world."

Yuffie was just going to stare at Reno for a long moment. Her palms are on her hips inspecting him as he spoke. He's attacking strange, this isn't the Reno she knew and she's currently the furthest along when it comes to those from Gaia's timeline. She doubted that he knew something that she didn't.

She stepped up to him slowly stopping a few inches away, her eyes squinting up at him. "Yeah but..." Yuffie's head tilted to the side before her hands reached up to pitch his cheeks.

"Why are you acting so strange." She quick backed up, giggling. "You need to relax. Things will suck here soon enough." Though she has no context as to where he might have been before here.

Relax? How could he possibly relax? If he was in another world, then he might not see any of his other friends again. He might never find Kyo...

"They look like they suck already. What the hell happened? Place is half demolished," he said instead, looking at the building again while he massaged his pinched cheeks.

Yuffie knew Kyo though perhaps not the same boy that Reno knew. He was grumpy and angry all the time and followed this girl around the whole time he was there. She didn't really like him.

"There was a war. The Empire, which are kind of like ShinRa, bullies of Crystallis and out for energy and power from the planet. Familiar right?" Her tone was light as she talked about it though it was still a very sore subject. "Anyway, they brought an army here to kill a lot of people so their souls could fuel a crystal and summon more heroes of light."

Because that explained everything.

"Gee, thanks." A 'sore subject' was putting it mildly. Reno knew who he worked for and what he'd done.

The next part got him, though. He stared at Yuffie. "Wait, yer sayin' I got brought here 'cause a bunch of other people died?"

They all died, and he got brought back? Was this some kind of sick Sector 7 joke by fate or something? Reno's stomach felt like a stone.

Yuffie shook her head. "No." She didn't want Reno to put that on himself. He already had enough to feel guilty about and she wasn't stupid about that guilt. It was obvious when she looked at those who had helped ShinRa. After Sephiroth was killed, the first time, the world changed and so did those living in it.

"You would have just appeared at another crystal in Crystallis. There are four. The crystal of fire, where I woke up and where you woke up. It's been slowly loosing energy over the last few months." Yuffie's been here for just under a year. "I guess... some how because of the conflict it grew in power again. It's sort of like the life stream I think."

She really didn't know.

That was a little relief, at least. The last thing Reno wanted right now was to hear he had even more blood on his hands, directly or indirectly.

So this had been happening for awhile, apparently. People like him and Yuffie popping up, popping in, staying for... well, who knew. Same as before.

So maybe she would know.

"Hey, Yuffie -- so you've been here awhile. You see anyone come in from those crystals with red-blonde hair, like practically orange, an' maybe wearin' a beaded bracelet? Name's Kyo?"

Yuffie blinked a few times at the mention of that name. She didn't understand how in Gaia's great hell he'd know the name of a boy from a different world. She's going to stare at him for a long time, it's obvious that she knows someone matching that description and with that name.

"Kyo?"

It had been so long ago, she had been fourteen then. When she first woke up in Crystallis she had been a child growing to the age of eighteen before the year was through. The Kyo she knew had orange hair and a really bad temper. She had teased him and she remembered him yelling at her for it.

"Yeah. Look, if you've seen 'im, it's real important." Reno's heart sank, though, as Yuffie stared at him. He must sound crazy, asking about a stranger here -- after all, Kyo was from a different world himself.

"Sorry. Stupid question, of course you got no idea what I'm talkin' about, forget it." Reno waved his hand again and tried to laugh it off, but his heart ached. Kyo couldn't be here. He probably was still on Atia. Maybe the earthquakes had stopped -- hell, he might be home right now, worrying about Reno. Wasn't that a kick in the pants.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa WhoaWhoaWhoaWhoa" Yuffie held up both of her hands moving so that she could stare Reno in the face. She inspected him a moment longer, her eyes narrowing as if seeing an answer to a question.

"There was a guy named Kyo here. Bad temper, really orange hair." She watched Reno's face curiously to see if that might be right. "He turned to crystallis tho. I've been there. It's sorta like a weird dreamless sleep. He's at the hospital and is a statue. Why not see if it's your boy?"

Phrased weird? Maybe but Yuffie was picking her words carefully to see how Reno might react.

"That's him! What-what-what does that mean, 'crystallis?' A statue?" Reno's forehead creased with worry, his thoughts racing. "Where's the hospital?"

He needed to get there now, he needed to be there.

Yuffie put her arms behind her head before nodding towards the hospital. "I didn't know you liked pups like that." He had been younger than Yuffie was now and she could only assume that it was something weird since Reno was involved.

She closed one eye taking a long look at Reno. "You don't need me to show you do you?" She was torn if she really wanted to or not but since she was already being helpful she'd begrudgingly offer.

"That way?" The comment about "pups" went in one ear and out the other, Reno blocking it out. It was too inconsequential at the moment to process. Kyo was here and he was in trouble.

"Oh, Yuffie, I could kiss you." He hugged her spontaneously, the slip of the hammer already forgiven.

Yuffie shouted as his arms were thrown around her thin frame. “Whoa! Just take me out to dinner first.” Not that she’d be opposed to kissing but the best she could deal with those remarks were jokes. That and she sort of assumed that Reno would kiss anyone.

She wiggled out of his hold making sure to take a full breath before looking up at him. “Yeah, that way. Hospital, second floor I think? Crystal Stasis wing. That’s where I woke up.”

"Done -- dinner anywhere. Like I know what's around anyway. Um, once, y'know... Gil." Reno ran his fingers through his hair.

Second floor. Crystal Stasis wing. Someone there would be able to help him find it, surely.

"You woke up there?" Reno stared at Yuffie. "What do you remember? What's it like?"

Yuffie knew a lot of places where they could eat though Reno would need gil from this world for him to buy her anything. For now she’ll remember his offer and keep it away for when she needed it. His next question sort of caught her off-guard and takes her a long moment to answer.

“Well… it didn’t hurt if that’s what you are asking.” She realized that might not help. “It was weird. I was asleep when the crystal surrounded me but waking up… it was like coming up from water except you could breathe the whole time. Sort of like a place between being awake and asleep.”

It’s really hard to describe.

It did sound strange and surreal. But at least there was no pain. There was really no "describing" something like that, Reno knew, there was only experiencing. But he was still thankful to Yuffie for trying.

He nodded with a small smile. "It didn't hurt" might be the most he could hope for right now, but it was good news.

"Thanks, Yuff." He turned to go and another question hit him -- along with a pang of guilt that it was in hindsight.

"Yuffie -- is anyone else here? Y'know, from home?" He paused. "Is Rude here?"

Yuffie was watching him curiously. She wondered when he might get around to asking about others. "Turk wise? No, there was a young Elena here at one point. You'll see her..."

A quick pause while Yuffie thought.

"Good Sephiroth is here." She did air quotes when she said the word good. "Pre crazy anyway, Tifa is here... she's from a time point before fighting crazy Sephiroth, well her and Vincent. I'm from way after that. Cloud is a pup and younger than I am. I think he just joined ShinRa or whatever he did... He keeps defending Sephiroth and it's annoying."

Another pause. "I might be forgetting someone? Ah, who cares. There ya go!"

No Rude. Reno bit his lip and forced a pained smile. Kyo was here and in the hospital, and there was no Rude. He really could have used Rude's support right about now.

He could have used Rude for the last two years. But why should that change, he thought bitterly.

"Right. Well. I guess we'll see about Sephiroth..." The Silver General had once been considered a hero -- to everyone but those of Wutai, of course. Reno couldn't blame Yuffie, and the mention of Sephiroth's name still made his skin crawl, regardless of timeline.

"Thanks again. I'll, uh, find you later?"

Yuffie waved a hand. "Yeah, Vin and I live in a house. Feel free to stop by but don't eat my peanut butter." It has her name on it.

She stretched out her arms over head and then let them fall to the side with a sigh. "Anyway, I have stuff to do. I'll see you around. Try not to do anything stupid." It was really a disclaimer with anyone from Gaia. They all seemed to attract trouble in their own ways.

Peanut butter? Reno was confused but only for a moment. It was Yuffie -- he should expect some crazy weirdness.

He nodded and waved before heading off in the direction of the hospital. Her and Vincent living together, huh? Must be another random assignment, like how he was with... whoever. He'd figure it out later.

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Intro Log || The Return of the Heroes

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