melodiesofeternity | Introduction Log || It's Happening Again (Again!)

Entry tags:

Introduction Log || It's Happening Again (Again!)

Who: All characters (New Arrivals, Previous Arrivals, and Native OCs)
When: June 5th
Where: The Dream Width (Airship), the Curti Center, and the Housing District
What: It is happening again. More outworlders have arrived in the Dream Width and must be rescued and brought back to their new homes on Vaikuntha
Warnings/Notes: Only new players can put up a toplevel. Previous arrivals and native characters can respond to new characters' toplevel posts.

MEMORY

[ You've been here before...? No, wait, why would you think that? You're here in the moment, everything is as it should be...(?) The memory you are trapped in has completely enthralled you. You stop questioning and accept, you relive and repeat. Luckily, you are not alone. Others have arrived to help you. The travelers in the airships will enter the nebula formed by your memories and attempt to wake you up and bring you back to the present. The dreamer's mind will shape how these newcomers are perceived and how the NPCs in the memory respond to them. For more details on the mechanics, please refer to this post]

ARRIVAL

[ You wake from your dreams, from your memories, on a narrow cot. There are fleeting impressions- recycled air, humming machinery, movement, strangers waking around you. The room you wake in is lined with cots, with barely enough space between them to walk to the door, though not all of them show signs of having been occupied. The makeshift infirmary seems like it was prepared to hold many more than are here.

Stepping out, there is a lobby space that bears the signs of having once held some furniture, now cleared away to make space. Your footsteps echo in the emptiness.

As the automatic door slides shut on the infirmary, a light flashes on the far side of the room.

A flickering holographic projection of a man’s face and gloved hand appears projected in the space above the arrivals’ heads. He backs up so his upper body is in frame for the recording. An arm, covered in the same orange flightsuit sleeve, hands him a tablet. The man begins to read. A written version of the message scrolls along the bottom of the projection as he speaks. ]

’Welcome travelers’… That’s way too formal. Hey everyone.

Hi!

[ The second man leans into the frame to add his greeting. ]

Don’t panic. You were floating out there, but we pulled you in and rescued you.

Yeah, we’re heroic AND handsome. And also the only ones crazy enough to come out here to get you.

[ A woman’s voice calls from out of frame. ] Can you two be serious for ONE moment and stick to your scripts?

[ The two men give each other a conspiratorial eyeroll. This does not appear to be their first take. ]

Anyways, no need to panic. Seriously, don’t do anything reckless. We got our fill of that with Skywalker.

[A huff is heard offscreen, and the men finally spare the tablet another glance.]

‘Your pilots will be navigating treacherous environs as this message plays…’ Claire, seriously? Nobody talks like this!

[ The tablet is tossed to the side and lands with a thunk offscreen. ]

We’re gonna wing it. Look, everyone, we’re workin’ hard to get you planetside safely, and it’s gonna take some tricky flying to do it. So the door to the cockpit is locked so we can focus on not getting us all killed. Don’t try to open it, unless you want to be stardust.

We promise you’ll get answers about what’s going on once we land. But for now, please trust us. Right now, we’re your only hope.

[ The second man leans forward, close to the recording device, and presses a button. The projection freezes for a moment, and then the message starts on the next recorded message. ]

CURTI CENTER

[ Finally after hours of flight, you arrive at the Curti Center. The other NPCs await you having been notified of your retrieval in the Dream Width. Cid gives a short and to the point welcome speech, explaining what the situation is: you were lost in a space called the Dream Width. You are now on a planet called Vaikuntha: for ages, the people of this world have used Airships to rescue people lost in the Dream Width, with one person being found roughly every ten years. No one knows why this happens, but this has been a mutually beneficial exchange, with the people from Vaikutha rescuing people lost in the Dream Width and the rescued ones sharing their wisdom with the people of Vaikuntha. Ten years ago, something unusual happened: two people were found at once, Biggs and Wedge. But that was nothing compared to what happened two months ago. And now, here you are. No one knows why such a large number of people has arriving lately, but the Curti Center is a place dedicated to piercing the Dream Width's secrets.

Cid also introduces the other ones: his assistant Jessie, a young woman fascinated by the new arrivals, Claire, the woman sighing and writing in her schedule book upon being pointed out as the bookkeeper, Kupoto and Mogaruru, their Mognet representatives and finally the Native OCs: those brave and kind souls who have accepted to help you all on a daily basis.

After Cid finishes (and Claire grumbles at her work never being done), the employees, including the Native OCs, provide a tour of the facility and help the newcomers navigate their future lives. Now is the time to ask questions and look over pamphlets regarding locations, Jobs, life in Vaikuntha... ]

[ If you want to contact an NPC, you can do so on the NPC Contact Page. ]

A BALL OF FLUFF NAMED MOOGLE

[ It has been a long day, perhaps now you would like to find your way to a place to sleep? Or perhaps you'd like to get some answers, but you can't be bothered to go seek people out?

And lo, just as despair begins settles in, a Moogle slams into you! Or stops by your side if their aim is decent... It's the Moogle Cid mentioned in his speech earlier! And they'll be informing you that now, they will stick to you like your shadow and help you in anyway they can!

They're also giving you your iMog Slate- Now you can get onto Mognet! Isn't it great? ]

A QUICK CHECK-UP

[ Whether it's your Moogle, Native OCs or NPCs, all will urge you to stop by the hospital wing for a basic check-up. You may disagree, but listen. You've just been thrown into a space between worlds, rescued, and brought to another world. For your own sake, that's a good idea. Should you give in and go (or should you be dragged by your Moogle or a Native OC), you will find yourself in the cold and white space very reminiscent of an hospital. For characters with specific medical conditions necessitating help, this is where they will receive it if asked.

The doctors and nurses are all White Mages or Chemists, with various levels into their Job as well as medical knowledge. Don't mind the confused looks if you look like nothing they've ever seen before... It's hard for a doctor to be unable to give a proper diagnosis to a patient! For everyone else though, they'll be let go with smiles and be given a candy as they leave.

No one likes medical check-ups, but it's a very quick and basic one: testing reflexes, taking your temperature and the likes. On the bright side, while you're grumpily sitting on a bed with a thermometer on your forehead or in your mouth, it might be a good time to socialize with your fellow new arrival who's having lights flashed into their eyes by a doctor. Misery loves company, after all. ]

PRETTY SIGHTS

[ There's plenty of rooms to wander about in, with several points of interest apart from the offices.

The Airship Hangar is where the airships are kept and the first room you entered. Workers keep guard to prevent the outworlders from getting too close to the vehicles. Airships are expensive and they don't want you messing with them, after all.

Venturing into the Research Section, you can walk through public exhibitions on astronomy, airship design, and asterisk studies. A good place to get used to the basic science of this world. The laboratories lie behind a thick locked door with a sign reading "EMPLOYEES ONLY". No going there, for now anyway. Not too far from there are the Employee Quarters - work stations, apartments, and lounge areas. The latter are available to the public, whereas the rest is locked to Native OCs. But if you get them to be friends with you, perhaps they'll let you visit?

Also open to all is a Cafeteria - a standard food court with stalls serving all types of Vaikunthan cuisine. The Chef is a very jovial and absent-minded Hypello. Beware of long lines and crowded tables. Should you prefer open spaces, then the gardens are for you! There are different sections in the gardens around the center. One boasts a wide array of blooming flowers, another more practical with herbs commonly used in Vaikunthan cooking. One had been cultivated for butterflies and hummingbirds to visit. Paths have been laid through so that visitors can safely navigate, and moogles will swoop down and shout at anyone who strays into the flower beds.

Or perhaps, you want to wait till the sunset. Dusk on a new world, but a beginning of a new life... The sea shines bright in the orange light. A good moment for quiet contemplation. ]

HOUSING

[The housing accommodations are the best the Curti staff could provide, given that they are still also sheltering most of the previous arrivals from the Dream Width. The keys have been entrusted to the moogles who will be guiding the new arrivals.

The new arrivals can stop by the Curti Center storage room to collect some essential supplies that have been donated by charity organizations from around the world (there are boxes of toothbrushes and whitening toothpaste sent from the Zora, hair brushes from the Elezen, quick-drying towels from the Hypello, among the various donations of clothes, toiletries, and blankets), before heading to their temporary homes. The people of Vaikuntha have done their best to provide for their new neighbors and help them get on their feet.

Still, things will be a little cramped until the off-worlders can find employment and move into better housing. The staff hopes they can get along with one another until alternate arrangements can be made.

You can survive living with roommates for a few months, right?]

THE JOB FOR YOU

[An important part of life on Vaikuntha is the Job (or Jobs) you choose to take. No, not the way you earn your living. Your Job Class. Most Natives only choose one or two, but you'll have an opportunity to take on more Job Asterisks after you master your first Jobs.

The Curti Center's resident Job Master, Ganeshan, is more than happy to arrange transportation to the various Guilds so that you can claim your first Asterisks. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She feels like she's deep under the ocean, held in place by the currents of her sister's pulse. It's hard for her to breathe. Her eyes sting. The pressure throbs against her head, drowns out sound. The only thing that makes sense is for her to respond in turn, to complete the hug. It's that simple, lost gesture which lifts Cornelia from her shock and returns her to the reality of the gardens, where her sister still stands with her, warm and breathing and crying for reasons which Cornelia can't comprehend.]

[It's natural, the way she pulls Euphy closes and cradles her head against her shoulder, trying to be as close and as present as possibile. Solidity is much more difficult for her to manage, and she thinks it's a little bit disgraceful how she can't restore her heart's pounding intensity to a calm beat, or temper the trembles working their way through her body like tiny little aftershocks from the quake-strong discovery that Euphy is somehow alive. But that doesn't stop her from resting her chin on Euphy's head, and closing her eyes, and drawing as much comfort as she can from the moment--enough comfort for her to say, simply,]

I missed you.

[ If this realm ripped this from her now, she would never forgive it. But knowing her, if this was false, she would relish that she was able to at least experience a brief moment of respite where everything felt normal again. Well, as close to normal as this place would allow.

A mess she was as she buried her face and couldn't find words except to cry. It had been too long since she last seen her. Weeks turned into months and despite her best interest never could stop the pain. This realm was either being kind or just unfair to bring her here, but she ignored all the questions and simply let herself be. ]

[ Did this mean she might go home? Did this mean that others were here? Thinking was so ridiculous right now so she ceased it and let herself go. ]

I'm so sorry. So sorry, sister! I missed you so much! Are you really here? You're really here, right?

Whatever are you apologising for, Euphy?

[Nothing comes to mind. It was Cornelia who chose to ignore Euphy because listening to her was too difficult. It was Cornelia who created the distance which enabled Zero--enabled Lelouch--to move in and destroy her sister in every possible way. It was Cornelia who had bred within her military the attitude which had found them participating in the massacre when they should have been protecting Euphy. It was her. All her. She won't ever let Euphy think otherwise.]

[For now, however, she knows Euphy doesn't need to hear any of that and so she focuses on her sister's question.]

I'm here.

[ What is she apologizing for? She knows. For all the chaos that apparently happened afterward. That it led to Lelouch's demise. That it led to her own possible demise. That everything she hoped for went in a direction she couldn't fathom. Even if it apparently led to peace, it was in the worst way imaginable. There was too much to say. Surely her apology sufficed enough without the need for explanation? ]

... You're here. [ And really that was all that mattered in the end. The rest could wait, she was finally doing the one thing she had longed for since her arrival. And just as she imagined, it was the safest place to be at. ]

I don't understand why you're here, but please ... don't leave?

I don't understand why I'm here either...

[And she doesn't. She knows what she's been told about dream widths and airships, about research and rescue efforts, but none of that has made it adequately clear what had happened to her. What was happening to everyone.]

...but I don't intend to leave you.

[There is no thought behind what she says. Only love. Only grief. Only a feeling she can't quite place, ecstatic, relieved, terrified of the inevitability of losing her again. Part of her knows that this might be a dream. A single fleeting moment that will be gone when she stops believing in the miracles preached by her sister's heartbeat. It compels her to pull away and brace herself against whatever cruelty might await her on the other end of their reunion. She doesn't want to though. It's foolish, she knows. It's another potential path towards ruin. It's a promise she can't make to a sister who has already been wounded by this place. But this also the happiest Cornelia's been since before everything went to hell and she lashed out against a peaceless world by drowning herself in so much enemy blood that she lost the ability to listen to the people who mattered to her most.

To her sister.

She may not be speaking logically, but she is speaking truthfully. She won't leave. Not of her own volition.]

[ She could remain in her arms forever and pretend that nothing else mattered. Or ... reality could soon hit her all at once when she realized that, yes, this was no dream. She really was here. Frantic, she lifts her head and stares at her with eyes wide. So many questions. SO many! ]

When did you get here? How? Have you been here all along? Are we... did you come to take me back home? Can we go home? Are you okay?

[When Euphy looks up at her, and as she asks her first questions, Cornelia is smiling. The word home changes that. It's another cruel word, another reminder of loss. It chills their hug into something that feels far less right and she frowns, though she doesn't pull away.]

Even I don't have the power to take you home.

[It is a very diplomatic response. For every question Euphy has Cornelia struggles to hold back a dozen more. What does Euphy remember? What does she know? Why does she ask if they can go home? There's an urge within her to try to test this girl, to prove that she is Euphy and not just a trick of the mind, but she still can't bring herself to doubt what is happening. Not openly. Not in any way that could hurt her sister.]

[ She should have known better than to ask. Yet perhaps the idea of home only felt natural when in the presence of someone that reminded her of it. It felt like home just by being with her. Yet Euphy was never one to really think carefully about her words when in a state of panic, and so the thought of going back just felt natural. Was it really impossible? She was alive and breathing. ]

[ But... ]

Yes, I suppose not.

[ Something she has to accept as her eyes cast down. Yet the jaded reaction did not last long, there was still the matter of why she was even here. ]

Did they find you? The pilots? Were you in the Dream Width?

[Within the sadness of Euphy's response, Cornelia almost finds herself regretting that she hadn't lied. Would it have harmed Euphy to believe that there's still a place for her in their world? Would it have improved her mood to know that Cornelia will rise to the cause of her homesickness and fight to return her somewhere that she'll be embraced, not reviled? Would it have given them both a greater sense of purpose? A cause to finally unite them?

[No, the lie wouldn't hurt. Yes, it might even be a source of healing. But hearing such falsehoods and then later learning the truth would be devastating, and she has already caused her sister enough pain. Cornelia shifts her focus away from what's been said, and follows Euphy's lead, centering it on what has happened.]

So they claim. I'm not certain how much of it I believe, however.

It’s true. [ Of that she is certain. Her time spent here has long shaken off the feeling this was an illusion. The friendships made and the people she encountered were all real. It was hard to even accept that Lelouch was here with her at times. And yet without him she can’t even imagine how she might have dealt with this all. ]

I... we were saved from the Dream Width, too. Apparently. [ We. ]

[Cornelia quiets the impulse to question Euphy's certainty. It's a learning process, having more faith in her sister than she does in her own beliefs, but she wants to at least make an attempt of it. She wants Euphy to be able to speak freely in front of her.]

Very well. If you're certain, then I'll defer to your understanding of the situation.

[The "we" itself wouldn't have surprised her, but the fact that Euphy offered it as a correction gives her pause.]

We?

[ Oh right. Yes. Is this a good time to bring it up? Isn't really sure. Lelouch died, so will she experience the same reaction as she did to see her? Concern. Well, might as well... ]

Myself and ... Lelouch. We both arrived here together.

[Concern, yes, but only for Euphy. Rage. Resentment. Bitterness. Grief. Uncertainty. So many other complicated emotions that it's difficult to piece her state of mind together, yet one thing remains perfectly clear: she is not happy.]

What? Lelouch is here? With you?

[ Well, that was an interesting reaction so far. However, she's not really all that surprised. It's very likely that Cornelia eventually came to learn who Zero was. That's all she can guess from her response. Or maybe it's just genuine shock? So uncertain. ]

Yes. [ Quiet. Does she even dare say how he arrived? No, let's. Let's not go down that vivid memory lane again. Wincing slightly. ] We've been here for close to two months?

Together?

[All she can think is, how dare he? He confessed to the massacre. To using her to advance his cause. And now... he's what?]

ah...

[ Really confused now. Concerned, even. How does she even answer that? It doesn't seem like this is a safe question to ask. She knows that look... ]

[No no no no no. That damned ah is all the confirmation she needs. Panic begins to creep its way through her, though her rage is still strong enough that it exists only as a bare quiver to her voice.]

Are you all right? Has he hurt you?

Hurt me? No! He would never. [ Frowns. ] He's done nothing but take care of me here. Of each other.

No. [It's a lie.] You can't believe anything he says, Euphy. [Or anything he does.] He isn't--[Safe. Trustworthy.]--what he seems. [He's not who he once was.] Please. [She's begging.] Promise me you'll keep your distance from him. I know that you care about him--[Nobody could do what Lelouch has done to Euphy and still claim to care about their victim.]--and I understand the pain of what I'm asking of you, but please believe me when I say it's for your own good.

[ What? Huh The entire time Cornelia addressed her, all she could do was stand conflicted. So she knew. This was the Cornelia who perhaps eventually learned that Zero was Lelouch all along. That's all she can assume from the direct and familiar sharpness of her sister's feelings towards those who might threaten her, like Zero. Like the Black Knights. This was a familiar reaction, but over Lelouch? Yes, it had to be. But would anything she say here change that opinion? ]

Sister...

[ This was really difficult to ask. For close to two months, she knew nothing but slight bliss. Yes, it was awkward trying to pretend like she didn't know she died. That she didn't see Lelouch also died. And that there were a lot of unanswered questions about their fates. But ignorance is bliss, as they say, and she was content to let it be that way until ... until now. ]

...

I apologise, but I must insist. You cannot associate with him any longer. Please understand.

[She can't force her to agree. She can't stop her from lying. She can only hope that Euphy will understand that she wouldn't have asked if she didn't have cause to believe that Lelouch is capable of causing her harm. That every act of his kindness could be manipulative.]

Of course, sister. I ...

[ —don't understand. Wants to say she's wrong. Wants to turn away? Just when everything felt okay now it felt weird an strange. But the last time she fought against her sister, she ended up without. She can't go back to that again. Never. She knows it will be hard to do, but at least she knows Lelouch is alive and okay. She can manage this for a short time until she can prove to her sister that Lelouch is okay. Yes. She'll do it. ]

I understand.

[Reaches to cup her face, running her thumb along her cheek.]

I wish I didn't have to ask this of you. [And she does, more than Euphy will ever realise.] Thank you for understanding.

[ It's almost natural how she leans into the touch. It doesn't erase the conflict on her face, however. ]

May I at least speak with him first?

[No, she wants to say. He doesn't deserve to be in your presence. He might react badly. Please don't put yourself in harm's way again. If she has learned anything from the events leading up to the SAZ massacre, however, it is that Euphy's free-spirited will is too strong for anyone to limit, and Cornelia has already succeeded enough by getting Euphy to agree to break her own damned heart and part ways with Lelouch.]

[There are ways to monitor the situation, she supposes. To give Euphy her support. To be present not as an obstacle, but rather as the sister who should have been a year earlier when she had left Euphy with no choice but to act behind her back.]

[She can test the waters, at the very least. Tentatively, she asks,]

For what purpose?

Introduction Log || It's Happening Again (Again!)

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