melodiesofeternity | Anniversary Event: Defying Fate

Minimus scrolled through his list of issues he had found around the world - not just the riots and political intrigue - but in the little details that were overlooked. Some of the stores were not closed at the times they said they would be. Every minor detail could have lead to disaster, and he will comb through every law possible until the world becomes right.

He needed a place to sit that allowed him to observe the passer-bys, and the empy spot next to Selphie would do. He wiped the seat with a cloth before sitting down.

"Have you seen anything else of note this time around?"

Selphie pawed at her eyes as Minimus sat down next to her before looking up at the robot. Wasn't he the one that had that video of him posted on Mognet? She gave him a weak smile as she wiped at the semi-dried tear trail on her cheeks before the SeeD considered his question.

She didn't have much to add besides what she'd managed to accomplish around the Curti Centre.

"Not really, but I've been doing my best to encourage the Curti Centre staff to keep doing what they can. I'm not Ganeshan but if it helps a little bit, then that's enough for right now."

She looked up toward the sky with a worried look. "What about yourself?"

Minimus nodded. He been too busy running around to tend to the staff but whatever was happening with them, such a feat as restoring their will would require an army of Ganeshans (Ganeshaa? Ganeshae?).

"I have been too busy to focus on much else." He supposed that he should explain his calm demeanor. "Otherwise, I am well. I have been through multiple near-death experiences, including one where I had supposedly died."

Selphie appeared to feel the opposite. "Has something occurred recently? Apart from Lady Ramaa's weapon, of course."

There wasn't much use in keeping her feeling bottled up as Selphie nodded slightly. The initial fight with Ramaa had gone by so quickly that the young woman had trouble recalling what all had happened in the first place. Regardless of that feeling, there were other things that were eating at Selphie.

"Well, I was one of the Heroes of Light that Ramaa spoke of from Crystallis. I asked her why our sacrifices from back then meant so little and she said that our sacrifices meant nothing. I know that she's wrong about that but..."

Selphie trailed off slightly before sighing deeply and looking directly at Minimus. "What if she ends up being right after we try to fix all of this?"

"Ah, so you were there..." Curious, indeed. He did have something of his own to act as counterpoint, something to bring up later. "I have heard of another world similar to this - but anyone I had spoken with could not elaborate. I assume that the majority of outworlders did not live on Crystallis prior to our arrival."

He set down his Slate and turned to Selphie. "Was all that she spoke of true?"

"About Narayana and the Goddess of Death?" Selphie returned with affirmation of her attendance on Crystallis. "Yeah, but she left a lot of things out.

"Like all the good things that we did on Crystallis. Some people were helping to evacuate towns while others were researching the Calamity. We were exploring ruins just like we are here. I wasn't around for all of it, mind you. We lost a lot of people along the way but the power of four people who gave up everything to heal Narayana is true."

Selphie forced a smile, even as her tone eventually gave her away. "But the Empress is wrong. I believe that more than anything. She's trying to manipulate us."

"I would wager (theoretically, of course) that she is over-confident. She has been planning her attack for over a year at the very least, and if you stopped her in the previous universe, she may believe that she has found a method to circumvent past strategies." He didn't dare mention the possibility that she may be correct - the alternative to fighting would be absolute death. The prospect didn't frighten him as much as it did before the Great War, even when living under the Functionists.

"What was her plan back then? Where Melodies just as destructive?"

"So you think that she's Kalki reborn as well?" Selphie questioned before pondering upon the melodies a bit more. "Because Kalki had purple eyes as well and tried to fool everyone back then as well by pretending to be an ally. It gave me the impression that she's really bitter about what happened and wants to put things back to the way that they were before.

"Honestly though, the story that she told was pretty much what happened. Her plan was to merge with the Calamity and restart Crystallis in her vision. She tried to use us all in the beginning but heroes being heroes, we weren't having it."

She fell silent as she considered the concept of the Melodies. The brunette didn't recall anything about Melodies existing back on Crystallis. Truth be told, the Melodies felt like a double-edged sword as she eventually shrugged her shoulders.

"There was an ability called Melodies of Life that a few people could use but there definitely weren't Melodies on Crystallis. I mean... we had something similar to them, but they weren't called Melodies. They were also pretty powerful but they could only be used when a person was near death."

Minimus hummed in response to her question. "I will assume that she is for now, but as I have not encountered Kalki's prior reincarnation as you have, I am simply believing you at your word." He had about 20 other ideas formulating as a backup. Minimus preferred to think in absolutes, but he was not the type to rush into a situation. Every situation was uncertain and nothing should be taken for absolute fact save for written laws.

"Can we not also use Melodies when we are weakened? How were these different?" Now this was something worth pursuing. "An ability called Melodies of Life must have been incredibly powerful."

Selphie couldn't argue with Minimus' logic as she nodded thoughtfully. Truthfully, any possibility was more than plausible as her fingers drummed on her thighs. Until the heroes had more definite information, everything that they'd heard from the Empress had to be taken with a grain of salt.

"Well," she continued. "The abilities that we could use on Crystallis were very similar to Melodies but they weren't called that. They had a different name but I can't remember what it was."

She gives Minimus an apologetic look as the conversation switches over to the ability she brought up. "It was really powerful but there were conditions that had to be met in order to use it."

"...Elaborate."

More details. He needed more details. There were too many unknowns.

Hopefully Selphie was someone who was good at long explanations.

"About Melodies of Life?" She asked to clarify.

She would provide what information she could, but she wanted to know exactly what Minimus was looking for before beginning.

Selphie eventually nodded slowly. "I'll tell you what I can."

"That and anything relevant. You do not need to submit a full report a this moment." This was a major compromise for someone like him.

Selphie nodded. "I'll start with Melodies of Life then."

She doesn't mention how grateful she is for the distraction. "Melodies of Life is an ability that could only be mastered using the Onion Knight job. The attack itself was very strong but the only way that you could use it was to have mastered ten jobs beforehand. It's really something that has to be seen in person."

Oh! He recognized that term from the terribly typefaced pamphlets of Ganeshan's. "That is what Ganeshan is, correct? Would he be able to use it?"

Selphie looked up at Minimus with a baffled expression on her face. Clearly, she'd missed something during her time away in the Dreamwidth's thrall.

"Hold on, Ganeshan's an Onion Knight?"

If surprised were a colour, it described Selphie to the letter.

He nodded. "It's an oft-repeated fact on his replies to my messages. The idea of mastering ten Asterisks is appealing - I have inquired to its use multiple times." And Ganeshan boomingly responded before realizing that Minimus trapped him so that he could rant about the poor graphic design of his pamphlets in person.

"I...suppose that is why he was so powerful."

Selphie looked thoughtful throughout the explanation. The concept sounded oddly familiar to the one that she was more familiar with. She placed her left hand over her right wrist at the recollection of the place where she had kept her crystal safe. The pieces of information being provided are ones that she wasn't familiar with.

"Maybe I'm still a tad out of the loop with everything that's been happening," she admitted with a soft sigh. "But is this information that Ganeshan has shared with everyone?"

"He's quite lout about it at times." Especially when he tries to express his frustrations with the pamphlets. "I have also heard the employees mention it in passing."

"Maybe after all of this is over, I'll go bother him about that," Selphie mused.

What has she been doing this entire time that she never heard that from the Zora himself? There's so many questions that need answers and maybe, just maybe she could help find some of them. She wasn't a researcher by any means, but she could help gather information.

"If he..."

Manages to survive dies on her lips. She can't bring herself to say it.

Selphie ended a sentence prematurely. That had to be remediated. "If he is protected during Ramaa's initial attack or if we rethink our strategy, he will survive long enough to discuss his Jobs with you. That is also dependent on the outcome of that battle and if we have confirmed that time will progress normally once Bahamut is defeated."

Too many unknown variables. This was not a time to rely on a hypothetical outcome.

Selphie's eyes widened as Minimus said what she didn't want to say or hear. She didn't even want to think about it, it bothered her that much. She's knew that he was right, but the words still stung.

"You're right," she murmured.

Minimus was not good at comforting. He preferred to provide the truth, as terrible as it may be. Reality was not always safe; one had to beware of all potential issues.

He could tell when someone was discouraged.

"That does not necessarily predict our own actions. What I said was simply a description of the difficulties we face." This was work, like everything else.

Discouraged didn't even begin to describe how Selphie truly felt, but she knew it was something that had to be worked through. The current circumstances that all of the heroes were involved in wasn't exactly the best method to address those anxieties.

"It doesn't make it any easier to accept," Selphie admitted. "I could think of it like any other mission, I suppose but that just means that it's gonna haunt some of us for a very long time."

"That is the nature of a lifetime of war." There were no Cybertronians who had emerged from the Great War mentally unscatched. Danger was a constant background to their lives, and having it disappear was stressful on its own.

"Have you experience with fending off large beasts?"

Anniversary Event: Defying Fate

Second Loop

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