melodiesoflife | Event || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

What was that?!

Rukia's head snapped around in the direction of the fifth district. Even from hear, those screams...! She glanced toward the observatory as her expression darkened. Something had gone wrong. Clenching her fists, she took several steps forward, prepared to run.

"We should--!"

Just as she was starting to doubt her initial suspicions about the Crystal being attacked, the ground beneath her boots shook violently. Rukia froze. A cold feeling dribbled down her spine as she looked down at her feet. The ground shook again. And there, rising up above the castle spires, was the biggest Moogle she'd ever seen. It was terrifying.

And so cute, damn!

It seemed like it intended to head their way, and she was suddenly very glad this little group had remained to defend the Crystal of Fire. Shaking off her trepidation, Rukia pointed her PKE meter at the distant giant Moogle, and it practically vibrated in her hand. "Our proton packs should affect it!" she declared to the others. Ordinarily they wouldn't be able to hit it from this far away, but there was a clear path, given the Moogle's massive height. "If you're a Ghostbuster, blast it!"

She unholstered her particle thrower, flipped the switch, and quintupled the power stream.

Robin ran up, rushing after Rukia. She still had no Ghostbuster Job; she felt a little glad for that. Time Magic had come in much too handy so far. She didn't know, exactly, when she fell in behind Rukia... but they worked well together anyways. She caught up, and raised a hand, as she stared at the woman.

Then she cast a spell: Haste. Her movements sped up, as the time magic did its work. She nodded, then, before she looked up at the gigantic thing -- and then off towards the Crystal of Fire. She took a deep breath, then readied her sword.

"I'll support you!" she said. "And cast what spells I can -- and move us away, if need be!"

"Robin!" Rukia was glad to see her. So far, it was just her and Graham left to defend the Crystal of Fire. The giant Moogle hadn't specifically validated her belief that this was what it was after, but Rukia was sure of it. The more help they had, the better.

She felt the familiar rush of a quickened mind and reflexes, washing away her weariness. Rukia smiled.

"That is better. You have my thanks!"

Graham stared at the giant moogle, not even sure what to make of it. But not being a Ghostbuster, he wasn't sure what to do. Should he run after it to attack it, or should he stay back here to protect this crystal that Rukia said was important?

He almost takes off, but he only goes a few feet before he stops. The streams seem to have a to have a weird affect against it, as if the moogle was rippling when hit. Graham cocks his head, confused.

"Is it... What in the world is it made of?"

"I'm not sure," Rukia frowned. "It's definitely reading as some sort of spirit."

And she could swear that, even from here, the air smelled thick and sweet. But this was a holiday of candy, so that wasn't so unusual. Surely such a formidable foe wouldn't be made of sugar as well.

She looked at Graham, then back at the Moogle. She could see how conflicted he was; his expressions were as plain as day.

"Go," she advised with a nod, then smiled. "Just be careful. I have no desire to see my ally become a pancake."

Robin flashed a grin at Rukia. Then she looked over her shoulder, at Graham, and she nodded for a moment. He raised a fine point.

"He appears to be made of some confectionary," Robin said. "I heard of it, in a couple of texts..." She meant cookbooks. But texts sounded more important. Then, though, her eyes widened. "...that's it! Rukia, Graham! We need to cook it!"

It made sense to her.

"Cook it? If it's sugar, just get it wet!" The thought of it melting away made him laugh. This was ridiculous!

"Don't people here have magic? Fire spells, water spells? Why not both! It needs to stop moving first, and I know what to do!"

With Rukia's encouragement, he grinned wildly ear to ear, an idea on his mind. But instead of running off towards the moogle king, he darted off in the direction of the Twelfth District, taking to the rooftops and bounding away.

"I do have both spells--" Rukia began, but Graham was already gone. She was left to hold her particle thrower, still shooting at the enemy, and she glanced at Robin questioningly.

Had she...made a mistake...?

"...He's very energetic," she remarked instead. If shooting the Moogle with the proton pack's energy failed, she could resort to her Red Mage's arsenal of spells, she supposed.

Ramza came running toward the Fire Crystal from the Observatory, ready to serve in the last line of defense against the confectionery monster.

"Hale!" he called to Rukia and Robin. "We cannot allow the monster to reach the Crystal. What aid can I render?"

He did not have spells to use against the giant moogle, but he had to do something. If nothing else, he'd find ropes to string across the creature's path to trip it up. ~~Hopefully the others had better ideas~~.

Should the stream reach the King, they would be able to see that while it did affect him, it was probably not in the way expected. The energy stream reddened his skin for a moment, but it neither slowed him down nor seemed to effectively damage it-- Or at least, any damages to his health wouldn't be visible just yet.

Instead the Moogle was on the verge of exiting the Twelfth District, walking toward the line separating the 01st and 02nd Districts. They still had some time until he would reach the crystal, but not forever.

"Seems like it's not enough," Rukia grimaced. She didn't let up her assault, since she could see the bloom of other spells and streams being unleashed on the giant Moogle. She glowered at the clouds.

"As thick as these clouds are, one would think it would rain. If it truly is made of sugar, a break in the weather would be all we truly needed."

She looked at Robin and Ramza. "I am not certain there is much we can do until it's closer, but I feel it's imperative we remain guarding the Crystal for as long as we can." But, of course, she was open to suggestions.

Robin glanced sideways at Ramza, then she nodded her head to him. "We could use all the help we can get!"

Case in point, the stream from the proton pack didn't do nearly enough damage. Robin wrinkled her nose as she thought, looking between the two, and then forward. "We have some time. I think a trap is wise. I think... we could use fire wood stores, on the path ahead. If we released them as it gets closer and set them alight, it might burn the thing. It'd be best to release the firewood once it's near, so the logs hit."

Ramza considered Rukia and Robin's ideas.

"We cannot control the weather to our advantage, but we can create flames. An incendiary attack may be our best course, if your weapons have no effect."

He looked around to see which building was most likely to have a woodpile to borrow. "A catapult would be most welcome," he murmured as he looked around. Otherwise, the furthest they could reach would likely be the creature's feet.

"As long as there's no risk of setting the entire town ablaze," Rukia conceded, and eased up on her attack. She'd already shot at it plenty, and it wasn't slowing. She knew they didn't have time to construct a catapult. She wasn't even sure how much would they could gather before it reached their position. They might be able to block one road, but which one?

"I have the mid-level fire and water spells at our disposal," she offered. "I could also attempt to poison it."

But she was loathe to do that in case some hero decided to try eating the thing.

"Do you know if the Crystal of Fire has the ability to amplify magic flames? That might be of use," she suggested.

"If we can either acquire or make a catapult, that might help," Robin ventured. "But... mm."

She trailed off, hesitating. Catapults aren't in large supply. Then, however, she had an idea. She turned and looked. "Wait! The reconstruction, it's left a number of cranes," she said. "We could use one to swing a burning log into it!"

Then, she turned and looked at Rukia. "I don't know, but it may be worth trying, right?" she asked. "You could try a spell."

Ramza robbed the wood piles from several nearby buidings and brought back as many logs as he could carry in his arms. He let them drop back in front of the Crystal.

"Either a crane, or a length of rope with some give. We can make a slingshot to launch the firewood."

Rukia thought long and hard. A giant slingshot... How could they make one? She couldn't think of any ropes that had much elasticity to them--

--Oh!

"I have an idea!" she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. Her ideas weren't always the grandest of designs, but this one, she was sure, would be a winner.

So why was she running into the women's boutique...?

The answer became clear when she returned with a pair of overalls and a pile of women's nylon stockings, looking very pleased with herself. "Will this suffice? I'm going to try casting a fire spell." She placed the items on the ground before rushing to the Fire Crystal. It had been a few weeks since last she'd touched it, and the moment her fingertips brushed the smooth, warm surface, all of the memories came flooding back in a pleasant rush.

Keeping her hand planted on the Crystal, Rukia turned to level a stern gaze on the enormous invader. She lifted her other hand, palm extended and fingers stiff and straight, as she summoned the magic in her blood. "FIRA!!!"

It seemed the other groups had momentarily stalled the advance of the giant king, allowing this attack to hit. Thankfully, they were all far enough that the Moogle couldn't and didn't bother retaliate.

Unfortunately for them however, the Moogle soon took the the sky and started flying, meaning his advance wouldn't be stalled any further.

"It can fly!? Both of you, get ready!" Robin yelled.

She started casting: Haste spells for all three of them, to have them buffed and ready. It was the most that she could do, for the moment.

Well, it was ridiculous, but since there were so few options available to them, ~~and since Ramza did not know what the nylons were to feel embarrassed about using them~~ he was willing to try.

They only got a few logs, some flaming, and some not, launched before the creature took to the skies. With Robin's spells, Ramza was able to get another shot in before the monster was out of range.

"What now?" he asked his companions.

"Tch... That should not be physically possible...!" Rukia narrowed her eyes, her jaw clenching. She had hoped it wouldn't come down to a final confrontation so close to the crystal, but she'd had a strong feeling that it would come this way eventually.

With the Haste spell in effect, she could try both attacks: Fira, and the particle stream thrown from her proton pack. Now that it was getting closer, she might have a better idea of which one was more effective. She was tempted to use Bio, but if they managed to fell it, the idea of a giant poisoned creature just lying around didn't sit well with her. What was more, she didn't want to target the wings, as it would surely cause significant damage to the city and its people if it were to fall from that height.

She boosted the energy of her proton pack to quintuple the damage it caused, refusing to budge. Whatever else happened, they couldn't allow it to reach the Crystal.

"Thank you, Robin. Ramza, you had best be prepared to fight. I don't think it will be much longer before it arrives."

And just as it looked like the creature was going to enter the third District-- He was hit by crossing streams. With a bit of luck, he would be defeated before he could reach the crystal of attack them.

But any help would probably be helpful.

Event || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

By the Fire Crystal...

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