melodiesoflife | Event || Window of Opportunity

Event || Window of Opportunity

Characters: All Heroes of Light.
Where: Aqures Ixen - Everywhere
When: September 25th - From 12:30 to 22:30.
Summary: Heroes of Light will relive the same ten hours over and over again until they find a solution. This may be a blow to what's left of their sanity, but that's also a window of opportunity! The OOC Post is here for more information! It's not too late to sign-up, anyone can still jump right into the event! However, your vote for the total number of loops will not be taken into account any more.

Speaking of which-- Votes are in and this time displacement madness will be solved after 191 loops. Practically speaking, this means characters going through every single loop will live 2 months, 2 weeks, 3 days and 14 hours in the span of half a day. Hopefully they won't mind the food for the day, the clothes they're wearing or what they were doing when the loop started, because that's what they'll be stuck with until the end. There are some events described below, but there will be no NPC replies. Feel free to partake in these events and of course, make your own!

Warning: Too many time loops may be bad for your mental health.

The Flence Salesman
— All Day Long —
There is a salesman from Flence in the city, and he is going for every person he sees in the streets. Adults, children or elders, humans or tarutarus, it doesn't matter to him so long as he can make money! He will try to sell to the characters specialties from Flence and some crystals at absolutely awful prices, but he's open to negotiations and beyond that, he's extremely persistent. Normally, nobody would care about this, but given the salesman isn't be aware of the loop, he'll keep doing the same things over and over again... Hopefully he won't see your characters, otherwise he might just bother them for every single loop.

Moogle Demonstration for the Future of Mognet
— 12:30 => 16:00 —
For a surprise one-day long strike, the Moogles are demonstrating! There are roughly 800 Moogles together (250 according to the government, 5000 according to the striking Moogles) in the demonstration, all singing slogans and some even holding placards with "More Gil and Less Work" or "Give us Kupo Nuts" signs.

They started at 10:00 and left from the 09th District, but they will go throughout every district and explain what their protest is about. They'll finish at 16:00 and will be back to the 09th District to eat Kupo Nuts and drink Chocobo Milk together.

Biggs' Grand Return
— 14:00 => 22:30 —
After a month spent in the hospital, Biggs is finally back! He leave the Hospital at 14:00 and head straight for the Castle of Aqures Ixen. Noticeably he still has a broken and bandaged arm, but he'll pretend to be totally fine and for that matter, he will be as rude and as unfriendly as ever. He will spend most of the day in the Castle, but will go in Palitutu's Lab by 19:00 to meet with Cid. Among other things, he will side-eye everyone and will accidentally splash Cid's coffee on a Hero of Light working there (or on a Moogle, should the Hero have the good sense to avoid Biggs next loop).

Renovation of the Blitzball Stadium
— 15:30 => 20:00 —
The repairs are going steadily and today, a special dome from Trano Golsaucia is being transported and placed on the Blitzball Stadium, brand new and much more modern than what Aqures Ixen used to have! On the downside however, the airship bringing the dome and the work being done on the stadium are all very, very noisy. So noisy that everyone in a two-district radius will be bothered by it.

Under normal circumstances it would have been only for a short time and easilly bearable, but here it will happen for every single loop.

Have You Heard of the Heroes of Light?
— All Day Long —
Throughout the day, a few people are going to go and knock on every doors in the city, to talk about a most fascinating topic: the Heroes of Light! They will speak about how it is said the Heroes of Light are in Crystallis and how they managed to defeat the empire without difficulties back during the attack! Then they will go on and ask for a contribution (hear: money) to help the Heroes of Light in their cause. Of course, these people are dishonest and the money will go into their own pockets, as they don't believe in the Heroes of Light to begin with.

And of course, they'll go knock on doors during every single loop!

The Accident
— 22:29 => 22:30 —
The one minute that started it all. Who is the imbecile who committed the mistake on Palitutu's computer? Is this a Moogle or a Hero of Light, maybe Cid or Biggs? Whoever it is, after the first time, at 22:29 the program will start again on its own and will activate the loop right at 22:30, sending everything back to 12:30. The characters may try to run more programs to block the computer, cut the energy source or even bomb the building if they so wish...

But these archaic and barbaric solutions won't prevent the next loop from happening. Only hard work and scientific solutions shall prevail!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The altered demeanor of the blue haired girl in front of her, that hateful glare. It was all wrong. It might fit someone like her...but not, "Sayaka?!"

Wait.

The word never had a chance to escape her lips. At the lunge Kyoko did her best to pull her spear around in front for defense, one armed. She did not made it in time.

Blood fountains out with the sword where it exits her back. For the briefest moment granting crimson wings, before falling to stain the ground.

It wasn't until blade met flesh that the severity of her actions even started to skin in. She had let go of the sword's hilt, as it stayed there, stuck in the girl in front of her. There was a half step back, then another, as her hands began to shake. Her eyes were wide and visible now, alive with fear and realization.

What... what had she done?!

A shattered breath forced it's way past her lips, a low, guttural sound the only thing she could choke out... before she turned and ran.

It was the longest eight hours of her life. What if the clock didn't reset this time? How could she possibly live with what she had done? What... had possessed her in those moments?

Alone in her room, Sayaka had cried all of the tears she could muster, and up until the last hour ran down, she had been staring at her hands, unbelieving. Had she really let Kyoko get so under her skin that she had been able to... to kill her?!

Back home, there had been no chance of it, even in their battle to the death she knew that she was at a disadvantage, but now here, in this world... she hadn't even realized just how even the playing field had become. When the time finally came, as much as she wanted to just bury her face in her pillow, she had to face the music.

Her steps were slow, but focused. She headed to the city's square, head bowed the whole way until she stopped near the fountain, relief and guilt hitting her like a tidal wave.

"Kyo... ko."

This time the hellion hears her name. Maybe. Almost hard to believe over the sound of that water, yet she turns her head towards Sayaka.

On catching sight, that bratty smile curves at her lips. The guilt ridden, slowed pace found the ramen as it met its demise, she had just finished sipping the last drops of the broth. After tossing the bowl and spitting the chopsticks she held like oversized toothpicks near her fang out Kyoko ambles over.

"Yo, blockhead."

There had been no way to anticipate how she felt in that moment. She'd pined for hours to be able to right her wrong, and now, in this hellish time loop, she had her chance. But, bowing her head, she had no idea how to progress from here.

With her hands balled into fists at her sides, they began to shake with all the feelings that started to well up inside of her. How could she face the other girl now, when just hours ago she'd plunged a sword through her torso?

"I..." she choked, and the tears started to fall. Turning on her heel, she did her best to try and conceal her shame, but her shoulders shook as well with the effort it took to contain it. "I..." what did you even say to someone you just killed?

"I'm sorry!" she finally burst out, and ran off, wiping at her eyes, her teeth clenched together to quiet her own cries.

The obnoxious grin quickly melts away into a rare expression of concern as the normally upbeat girl suddenly seems to fall to pieces.

"Huh?...Hey."

What could possibly have the girl so upset? Had someone hurt her fellow magical girl? If they did, Kyoko would cut them down.

The apology leaves a pair of red eyes blinking after a flurry of blue in confusion, for about half a second before she's taking off in chase, ponytail whipping angrily in the wind.

It's not a quiet pursuit, either, "What the hell, Sayaka?!"

When she finally stopped, she was close to the city's outskirts. Sayaka wiped roughly at her eyes before even turning around. Why did Kyoko have to follow? Why couldn't she have just accepted her apology and left it at that?

"You don't remember..." she knew it was true, of course, but it was something that she would have a hard time ever forgetting. "You're never going to remember, so just accept it, all right? If I tell you that I'm sorry for something... just accept it!" Why did she have to question it? Why did she have to make it harder?

It was difficult enough to admit your wrongdoings to your enemy, but this... was a whole new level.

There's a huff of frustration when the pursuit finally ends. She'd wanted to end Sayaka's stubborn flee with a well aimed kick to the back of a knee, and would have - but the despair in those blue eyes had Kyoko's insatiable stomach rolling. So the redhead just resigned herself to chase after her, forever.

Tch. Really though, would kicking her to the ground have been that bad? The length of the whole damn town? "What the hell are you going on about!? You're not making any sense!" She doesn't bother to hide the irritation or annoyance from her face, ponytail swaying side to side with the shake of her head. It seems she's not content to let it go.

Brows crease into a frown. First concerned, now just confused. It really pisses her off. "You don't have anything to apologize to me for!"

If anyone did...what was going on.

Why was she always like this?! Why was it so hard to talk to her? "It's not... going to matter anyway. None of this matters..." none of it -- except for when her blade had drained the life from the girl in front of her. Looking off to the side, she just couldn't keep eye contact, not now.

"Even if I told you... you wouldn't believe me."

Goddamnit!

Teeth clench along with her fists. Why would Sayaka never give her a fucking chance! She was really trying! Even still, the blue haired girl was already so certain Kyoko would disregard her. After seeing that reaction, the lancer thought she would have believed anything.

Letting out a breath, arms fold over her stomach.

"Alright. Fine. I forgive you."

Understanding was overrated anyway, she just wanted the girl back to normal. Not looking that way. Not saying stupid shit.

The pang of guilt seemed to cut deeper at that. Sayaka had hoped that it would somehow ease her feelings, hearing the other girl just accept her apology... but it felt empty. There was no way it would be that easy anyway, right?

She was steady as ever now, tears long forgotten, staring at an upturned palm. Her right hand, the one that had dealt the fatal blow. For some reason, Madoka came to mind then... she might tell her something ridiculous like 'just try to make friends...' even when the situation was way beyond that point.

"I..." she started, but the words dropped off for awhile, before she finally picked them back up again. "We got into a fight again. You don't remember because -- because time's all messed up in this place."

At the mention of their fighting Kyoko balks. Arms fall away from her stomach as red eyes do a quick assessment of Sayaka to look for injuries - before realizing the myriad of reasons they might be gone. Never once does the cocky girl consider she might have taken a single blow herself.

Her expression settles into a frown, wanting it not to be true. It's hard to imagine anything making her fight someone she wants to protect, even if getting a wish granted and magic opened her mind to a lot of what once seemed impossible. If it came from anyone else, she'd be calling their bullshit.

What would make her fight the caped magical girl? Time got messed up? Did it go backwards?

Now it's the lancer's turn to feel guilty, although she doesn't look away.

"Well...that fucking sucks."

Looking up suddenly, it was safe to say that that wasn't the reaction she had been expecting. Maybe a Did I kick your ass? or a So when's round two? based on how their first meeting had went... how long ago was that now?

"Yeah..." was all she could manage at first, reaching to cup her opposite arm at the elbow, while she shuffled her feet. There was no need to rehash what it had been about... not now, at least.

"Wait," she looked up, "you believe me, then?"

It sounded more like a bad dream, Kyoko could not explain why she had such unwavering trust that she was being told the truth. That Sayaka wouldn't be lying. Frankly, it bothered her.

She was always one to go with her gut though, even in matters beyond food. Speaking of which, all this emotionally charged crap was making her hungry, but she didn't have anything on her.

Stupid runaway, that burned a lot of calories you know.

When Sayaka looks up, Kyoko's red eyes are meeting hers point blank.

"Yeah."

Seems like a bad idea though, to let anyone know you trust them like that. "Don't see why you'd be such a whine ball and make something crazy like that up, what would be the point."

"Who are you calling whine ball!" that was enough to fire her up again, at least for a moment, when she was once again slinking back down, the fist that had risen suddenly between them sauntering down to her side. Funny, how Kyoko could always get a rise out of her, even when it felt like she was running on empty.

"It's not... just that, anyway. The same day's been repeating over and over," as she looked off to the side, she watched a young boy chasing a dog, a scene she'd watched a few times now when she had considered leaving the city to see if the limits had anything to do with the looping. "Every day so far, I've found you at that fountain. Every day you told me you wouldn't be going back there again, but... there you were. And I..."

She faltered again, focusing on her shoes while she gathered her thoughts, remembering their first fight, and their mutual intent to kill. Funny, how things had changed without even noticing it. "You got hurt. Really bad."

Well jeez, what had she even done except state the obvious? That was much better though, and an obnoxious grin was about to form at the corner of her lips as Sayaka sprang back to life -- but it faulted when the girl wilted away once more.

Damn.

If only she was better with words, like her father.

Looking to the boy and his companion, she wracked her brain for memories of a fountain. Fighting. Anything. All she could find was today.

"Heh. You're saying you actually managed to land one on me?" She sounded...extremely amused.

That was what she had to say about it? There was a brief moment where Sayaka did her best to keep a straight face, but eventually a chuckle found its way to the surface -- although it still tasted bitter. "Don't act so surprised."

She paused again, feeling a bit of a weight life from her shoulders. Kyoko was still alive. She was fortunate enough to have lost her cool in a situation that could be reversed... she couldn't let it come down to that again. As many times as they butted heads, she didn't want to see the red-clad girl like that ever again...

Memories of an apple landing at Kyoko's feet, thrown there by her own hand bubbled upwards -- and she looked away.

"I don't know what's going on in this world, but I figured... you deserved to know that something was happening, at least." Even if she didn't remember, Sayaka supposed. She probably... also deserved to know her fate.

Elbows fold to rest hands behind her neck, irritated by this job's outfit and missing the pockets of her trusted blue hoodie. More perplexed at first by why Sayaka had seemed so upset about hurting her than the crazy phenomenon that had been explained. Which just went to show the blue haired girl made her sort of irrational. Emotions sucked, she forgot that.

Softie. Really how bad could it have been, with that rookie fighting. And there were video game level healers here...which in itself was kind of weird.

Such a big talker for someone this weighed down for hurting someone she couldn't even stand. What if they had still been rivals over a territory?

"In a fight you gotta give it your all, or you're dead. It's stupid to make such a fuss for doing what you had to." If only the lancer could remember, she'd be well aware of that fact sealing her own fate.

A red gaze went to the sky, then back to the girl. "The same day over and over, you can remember but I can't? Sounds shitty." The ring on her finger glimmered and her soul gem appeared in a chime of color.

"Well, that explains this place doesn't it. I thought it was pretty fucking weird. We better get to work."

All those things she was saying... Sayaka could hardly listen. The feeling of handling the blade that cut into her flesh, watching as the pool of blood expanded wider and wider... turning her head to the side, her bangs shadowed over her eyes, hiding their betraying emotions. Doing what she had to do... was that even right? Did she have to do it? Or... had she wanted to...

Wait. Hold on.

Looking up again, the blue-haired girl could hardly believe her ears. "Get to work?" wait, she didn't mean... for them to team up, did she? Can't you just try being friends? it seemed like Madoka's words were meant to haunt her. "What are you talking about? How... how are we even supposed to figure something like this out?"

A powerless magical girl... what could she even do?

Sayaka received an open look of annoyance, slow learners were irritating as hell. What made her think she could ever help anyone? She was hardly patient.

Alright but, she'd been new once hadn't she? Kyoko managed to count to...two. It was supposed to be ten. Before snapping irritably, "I know what you must have learned from Mami, were you just not listening?" It's not like she wanted to be mean -- she just wanted Sayaka Not to die.

Ugh! Shit, she was not good at this. "We are magical girls, we fight witches. The day is repeating itself, so it seems. Only explanation that makes sense is witches. You can remember. I can't. I'm caught in its trap, you aren't. That means its up to you. Understand? Eventually we will be back to where we started - that means it's up to you to keep it together to get us out of here if we don't find it right now, and I'm not intent on dying so keep it together rookie."

"You mean, you think it's a witch's barrier," okay, maybe she was a little thick headed, especially today, but with so many muddled up thoughts going on in there, it couldn't be helped.

She'd watched Mami do this before. Done it herself twice before now, even. Opening up her palm, the blue Soul Gem took shape in her hand, as she watched it pristine and glittering -- with no sign of foul play in the area. "If that's true, then... we should be able to track it."

She didn't wait, Sayaka was already off, walking back towards the inner city, her eyes glued to the gem. If Kyoko decided to come along, that was on her, but for now, at least this task gave her something to focus on.

Doomed. they were doomed, how could a magical girl be so dense as to not even consider a witch?!

Swallowing a sharp retort, Kyoko set off. Soon catching up and walking stride in stride, keeping her gaze down on the red glow of her soul gem. Intent to try and play nice with the hope that if the trap reset without finding their quarry, the swordstress might seek a temporary alliance.

Her stomach twisted, recalling Sayaka turning away in the ruins of her father's church - declaring her intent to work alone.

Would it be different if it meant their lives? Caught in the trap, unable to remember. Working together would be Sayaka's choice, just as it's always been.

Almost immediately the veteran picks up the pace, intent on working fast. It's not a learning endeavor - not when she'll likely get left behind. "A witch capable of something like this, it must be really strong."

"I guess... I didn't even think there could be witches here." She stopped, looking down at her soul gem, which remained unlit, nothing to beckon it. The truth was, the list of things Sayaka didn't know would go on for days. A thing she wasn't ready to admit to anyone, let alone Kyoko, she was beginning to feel some strange pull of... kinship.

"That's stupid, huh?" she laughed, though it was bitter on her lips. "If we could wind up here, I guess it only makes sense that a witch could, too."

"Yes, it is." Eating and being blunt, two things the redhead never failed at. There was something decidedly unsettling about the cloaked fighter referring to herself as stupid though. As if Sayaka shouldn't get to call herself that...it was ok if Kyoko did it.

"Listen." And for a moment, it almost seemed as though the ponytailed girl was talking to her own silent soul gem, before she turned to her companion with an irritated sigh. This whole day was strange, lord...fuck knows, baring her soul in the past had done nothing but harm before. But this girl, so down on herself...yeah they'd only known each other a short time. It just didn't seem like the person Kyoko thought she was. That stubborn, courageous , strong willed sword wielder that reminded her of why she'd first become a magical girl -- even if Kyoko couldn't be that, anymore.

"It's not like a manga you know. You don't just get your powers and wind up good at everything. Everyone messes up. I made mistakes." There's a shrug, accompanied by a grin as if to cockily imply- 'barley'. "Once I missed something so big if another magical girl hadn't shown up I'd have bit it."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event || Window of Opportunity

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LOOP 6

Re: LOOP 6

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