melodiesoflife | Event || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

Event || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

Characters: Everyone!
Where: Aqures Ixen (Old Observatory, others).
When: Night from the 31st of October to the 01st of November.
Summary: Midnight is approaching, ghosts are everywhere and clouds are slowly gathering above the old observatory... What does it all mean? This post is open to all characters, there are no sign-ups for this.
Warning: The destructor has come.

Mingle || Before Midnight
Confrontation || Midnight
The Cursed Heroes
King Moggle Mog XIV

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rukia looked at the tiny bodies, unsure of what she felt. Pity? Remorse? She might not have felt such things had they been ordinary humans, or monsters, but Moogles were ordinarily so good-natured and kind and helpful. What drove them to this state? Were they really so desperate? Why?

Would that she had her zanpakutou to ensure that their souls were put to rest, but she wasn't entirely certain how this world's rules applied regarding the afterlife. Even so.

"May your sins be erased, so that you may find the peaceful world you wished for," she murmured.

Now to check on that woman in the sparkly...

...

Wait just one moment.

"...Cloud...? Cloud!" Why was he here? And why was he wearing that? Honestly, he needed to stop accepting embarrassing wagers from people. She raced to the fallen youth, sliding her arm under his neck and shoulders to prop him up. "Cloud, are you all right?" She glanced quickly at Robin and Ramza, then back at the young man. Carefully Rukia planted her palm over his heart, feeling it beat beneath her fingertips. He was still alive...good. "Cura."

Cloud groaned as he lay on the ground. His whole body was tingling from the whole affair. He wasn't waking up, he'd been awake the whole time. He knew everything he was made to do, everything he was forced to say. From within he did all he could to stop the summoning of that giant moogle but there wasn't anything he could do. At least, he hoped his resistance helped somehow.

But now he lay on the ground, covered in sticky goo and that strange...outfit. The world spun around him. It felt like gravity was pulling him in every direction at once. He felt like if he tried to move then he would slip away down into nothing.

It was unpleasantly like being drunk.

Feeling the cooling sensation of the healing spell cast over him he looked up at Rukia. He smiled at her briefly before turning away, vomiting onto the ground, away from the others as much as he could. A shame, he wanted to try to hold onto that last bit of his dignity.

"...sorry..."

Rukia's smile softened. "There is no need to apologize. We're just glad you're all right." She pulled her hand into the sleeve of her jumpsuit, using the cuff to wipe away the specks of puke from his face. Would that she had some water to give him to wash away the taste.

...At least she wasn't casting Water on his face, right?

"Rest easy for now," she advised, letting his head weigh down on her lap as she lifted her head to look around the city. Giant globs of roasted marshmallow were raining down, pounding the streets and dribbling down rooftops. She supposed there were worse things to cover the city.

"Do you require more healing?"

K'pandolu joined them, going down on her knees when she reached Cloud, proton pack shed somewhere on the ground behind her. "Cloud!" If only they could have stopped it… Stopped the moogles before they'd got far enough to summon the King. She would just have to make what reparations she could. "Is there anything I can get?" she asked, glancing between Rukia and Cloud.

"Get back." The icy response came from above, directed at the women. Albel stood with katana drawn, glaring down at Cloud.

The tip of the blade was mere inches from the boy's throat.

"Don't heal him, fool!" Albel growled, suspicious red eyes never leaving Cloud. Accusing. "He was with them. We cannot trust him."

His eyes narrowed and he offered only one warning. "You move, you die. Understand, maggot?"

"I...dunno...I think I'm okay? I just feel a bit...urk...sick." Cloud didn't look good, but he didn't seem wounded either. He just looked very tired and very drained, and considering all that had been going on he couldn't be blamed for that.

"I remember everything that they....couldn't stop them...I-" His mumbling was cut off as the blade was suddenly poking his skin. He froze shock still, his eyes trailing up the shining metal and to the hand holding it, and then further to Albel's eyes.

"I...It wasn't me. They were using me..."

"Don't be stupid!" Angrily, Rukia shoved the sword aside with an open palm. She'd seize it if he persisted in waving it in Cloud's face, as she wasn't about to sit by and allow this person to threaten an ally and a friend. Though she recognized his face from the sewer expedition, she didn't know Albel personally.

"Cloud has fought hard for us for many months, risking his life countless times. Do you really suspect he would turn on us now for an ill-conceived plot such as this?" She jabbed her finger at Cloud's spangly shoulder.

"Do you really think he would wear something this hideous by choice?! Use your head!"

"She's exactly right." K'pandolu folded her arms for a moment, eyes narrowing. "I've seen this kind of thing before- with similar crystals, at that- and Cloud here is practically covered in them. Attempting to resist someone's outside influence channelled through all that would be no easy task. He is in need of rest, not threats."

Albel growled, teeth bared, to face such resistance. "That is exactly the problem!" he insisted. "What is there to say that he is not still under their control now? How can you know this isn't some act?"

Because they might claim they knew Cloud, but he sure as hell didn't. He had no experience to compare this to, and he was not about to let it go easily.

"What proof can you provide that it is an act?" Rukia countered, furrowing her brow. "All of the evidence points to manipulation by an outside source. Given his past actions, he is deserving of a little trust. We are his allies, would you not grant him that?"

She turned her attention down to Cloud. Doubtless he would be the idiotic martyr and offer to let himself be killed to prove his worth, but she wasn't going to let that happen. There was still something about the crystal stasis that bothered her deeply.

"Would you object to having someone keep watch on him for a short time, then?" she asked, directing her gaze back to Albel. "I would volunteer for such a task. If I recognize signs of betrayal or further manipulation, you will be the first I alert."

"I should think that the control has passed with its makers." She cast a glance at the scattered bodies, ears flicking down for a moment- regardless of her experiences, it still sat ill with her. But there was nothing for it now.

"However- if you truly think it necessary- I would offer my services in this as well." She'd missed the signs before- had missed whatever had brought this upon Cloud, too- it was little enough, but all she had to offer now. For now, she moved to be able to intercept if Albel refused to accept it, shoulders tense.

K'pandolu talking about the crystals covering him made Cloud's skin crawl. He wanted a shower. Maybe twenty. Maybe just showers nonstop for the rest of his life. But as tired as he was, as much as he wanted to go home, he was still aware of what was going on. For weal or woe, he didn't black out during all of this. He had been trapped in his own body, but at least he knew what his body did.

From his position he glared up at Albel, his eyes carrying more fury than his body could muster. "Rukia's right. If you don't trust me then you're welcome to watch me, but right now I just want to get clean, get out of this ridiculous outfit and get some sleep. Killing me won't solve anything and definitely won't make you any friends."

Cloud could be a stupid martyr when it came to protecting others, but he wasn't about to throw his own life down for something like this. Besides, he'd died once in this world and he wasn't keen on doing it again. And he too had misgivings about the whole process and the crystals and their "link" to their home worlds and the Calamity.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

Re: The Night of the Thirteen Moogles || Conclusion

Re: The Night of the Thirteen Moogles || Conclusion

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