Intro Log || The Return of the Heroes

[melodiesmods]

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...

Comments

[unetoned]

Billy raised an eyebrow at her. Well, if she was going to be rude, there was no reason for him to be courteous.

"I just got here. I can't help until I find out where I'm needed. Do you actually do anything, or do you just go around listening to other people's conversations?"

[nomorecowbell]

"I'm helping out at a daycare," Nanami said. "There are a lot of kids in this town."

Actually, at the moment she was going to find lunch, and then deal with a bad mood. But she had been doing a lot, really!

[unetoned]

He nodded at that. "Good. The kids need someone to watch out for them."

He didn't get the sense that this girl was the nurturing type, but at least she was a set of eyes to make sure nobody was starving or being hurt.

[nomorecowbell]

Nanami nodded. "They're just kids. They shouldn't have to deal with any of this yet." Well, or ever. But at least they should wait until they were adults, or even teenagers. For that matter, Nanami didn't feel old enough to deal with the things she's had to deal with.

[unetoned]

Nanami won some approval points for that. Billy relaxed a little.

"A lot of people don't feel that way. They don't think about what happens to kids after a crisis. You're doing a good job, looking after them."

[nomorecowbell]

Thankfully, he said 'good job', not that she was a good person. Nanami could take good job without the angst. "It's part of being a responsible older student," she said. Not that most of these kids were old enough to be in the same school as she was. That was not the point.

[unetoned]

Billy didn't really understand being a responsible student. He hadn't gone to school, or not in the way they had schools here. His parents had taught him and his sister, and when he'd lost them, he'd taught himself and those he'd taken into his care.

"I'll take your word for it. How about when the daycare is over? Do all the kids have a place to go?"

[nomorecowbell]

"Most of them have relatives," Nanami said. "Or some adults to look after them. It's easier when they just need a place to sleep at night. And right now, a lot of their parents or families are just working."

Nanami had been packed off to boarding school at a young age, so the idea that one adult might be herding crowds of children to bed seemed normal to her.

[unetoned]

Billy nodded. "Good. It's too easy for kids to fall through the cracks. I'm glad everyone is being taken care of here."

Billy also was used to operating in a skewed idea of 'normal'. In his case, being the one to shepherd the kids off to bed. "And if you find anyone who doesn't have a place, let me know. If there's not already an orphanage established here, I'll set one up."

Because being a Hero was well and good, but it meant nothing if the 'Heroes' left the kids of this world to suffer.

[nomorecowbell]

"I'll let you know," Nanami said. "Well, as long as you're not a creep." She sized Billy up, as if to assess his creep status.

[unetoned]

Billy gave her a flat look at that. He was not a creep. He was a veteran orphanage-founder and a big brother besides. But responding to her accusation would make him sound like a creep.

"Look, if you need to find me, it's house C-01. Just...ignore my housemates, if you come by."

[nomorecowbell]

'Big brother' is not an endorsement to a former student of Ohtori Academy, sadly.

"You got stuck with some weirdos too?" Nanami asked. She still sort of missed Henry, not that she'd admit it. He'd been their weirdo sorcerer.

[unetoned]

"Yes." Maybe he responded a little too quickly. "...they're not all that bad...if you were born with the patience of a saint."

[nomorecowbell]

"People like that really exist?" Well, maybe Zelda. But Zelda said she lived a sheltered life, so maybe she just didn't know what weird people were like.