[RP] FFIX: The Return of the Mist

CassinoChips

CassinoChips

Get out.
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Setzer's Tent
MEMORIES

Those dolls they were making underground... Did you think they look like me?

Dead ringers, kid. Of course, I wouldn’t have told you that either. You weren’t ready to hear it at the time. We still had a lot of traveling to do at that point, and you … well … all of us, really, had a lot of learning and growing up to do. You may have been the youngest of us, but in a lot of ways, you were the bravest of us all. I, at least, knew where I came from, where I was, and what my purpose on this planet was. You had to search for everything.

Zidane... Those black mages and I. Are we... the same?

Such a simple question, but yet such a complex answer. I don’t think anyone was anywhere near prepared to answer it. Steiner and Zidane did well to handle it the way they did, but I’m sure even they knew that their answers rang somewhat hollow. It was a bandage, but it wasn’t a cure for your curiosity, your absolute need to understand who you were.

Um...... Y-yeah... But... But I have to... I have to find out who I am... I'm scared... What if I'm not even human...?

I’m not sure you ever realized how profoundly your answer to my question affected me. There was so much bravery packed into those few words, just like there was so much bravery packed into your small body. Even to this day, when I get frustrated, fed up, or want to give up, those words will jump back into my mind unbidden. And I press on.

What am I supposed to tell them? All I can do... is just sit with them.

You have more sympathy than most humans I know. It’s too bad I won’t be able to sit with you at the top of Alexandria Castle like we’ve done for the past few years.

I’ll miss you, Vivi.

=======================

Freya listened absentmindedly to the various speakers give eulogies for Vivi. Most of them only knew him from the stories of Brahne’s War and the fight with Kuja, as well as the rebuilding of Alexandria and Lindblum that Vivi helped with. There were exceptions of course. Dagger -… no, Queen Garnet (Freya swore she’d never get used to that) spoke, as did Regent Cid. Both knew Vivi as well, if not better, than Freya herself. She had received word two weeks ago that Vivi had stopped. Somehow, she thought Vivi knew it was coming soon, and Freya had the feeling he had tried to tell her as much the last time they had spent time together at the pinnacle of Alexandria Castle, as had become their monthly custom.

“Freya,” he had said without pretext. “I’m glad I’ve gotten the opportunity to help so many people. If you would have told me six years ago that I was going to travel the world in the hopes of saving it … well, I wouldn’t have known what to say. And I definitely wouldn’t have believed you.” Here Vivi had turned to Freya, and she could see his eyes glint in a smile. “I’m happy with how things have turned out.”

So a week after she received word, Freya left Burmecia -which was also still in the process of rebuilding- for Alexandria. The ceremony itself had been relatively simple. Garnet would not have let it turn into a garish affair. Vivi wouldn’t have wanted a huge fuss made over him, despite all those who held him in high esteem. He probably would have been surprised at how many people turned out to honor him, Freya thought to herself as, after the final speaker finished, she made her way to the dockside courtyard where Vivi’s adventure had started all those years before. A small reception area had been set up for those who were more intimately acquainted with Vivi.

Freya wondered how many familiar faces she would see today.
 
Standing away from the majority of those gathered was Lani, the ex-bounty hunter. Despite giving up the trade, her much larger than necessary (or so people seemed to think) axe was strapped to her back and she stood, arms folded, mood somber as the ceremony played before her.

The general melancholy of the affair seemed to affect even the moogle that fluttered on tiny wings near her shoulder. Lani turned her head slightly to the moogle who looked at her briefly with large eyes before coming to rest on her shoulder and nestling against her face. Moguo, having retired to Madain Sari three years ago, had become Lani's almost constant companion.

Vivi... Six years ago she had been ordered to kill him. Six years ago she had been so willing to follow through with the bounty placed on his head by the demented Queen Brahne. Just six years ago Lani had been an entirely different person. As though sensing Lani's inner turmoil, Moguo patted her cheek consolingly, quietly muttering "kupo-po" as though offering her some small comfort.

Vivi... The Black Mage. How strange it felt to be standing here, watching others mourn the 'death' of one she had failed to take out on command. She had been ordered to kill him for a bounty... and had failed. Was this fate quite literally biting her in the ass for her failure? No... it was fate, surely... but it was something that happened to everyone.

A tear slid from her eye, trailing down her cheek. Oh Vivi... How different it must have been to live a life such as his. A short life... yes, but so much more difficult that Lani would ever be able to understand.

Brushing the tear away roughly, Lani looked around at the gathered citizens before making her way towards where she HOPED Zidane and Garnet would possibly be watching from. Lani was hoping she might also bump into Amarant along the way. Once she knew where they were, she would pay her last respects to Vivi...



----------------------------------------

"In the dwelling of my grandfather... you'll find the card I found there." Vivi turned to her with large, bright eyes. "Phy... If you never forget me... I'll always exist, right?"

There are many mourners today, Seraphyna thought. Yet... how many of them actually knew Vivi? How many of them knew the bravery that young mage held within him. Her teacher and her friend. Vivi had meant more to her than any she could remember. From him she had learnt her magic... about the world... and what it meant to be alive... to exist.

"If you never forget me..."

How could she ever forget him? He was etched into the very magics she wove. Vivi had given her the strength to stay in Alexandria. A reason to help with the restoration of the city. He gave her an understanding of the world her parents never could have.

"...I'll always exist, right?"

Seraphyna's eyes closed. Over and over... his final words to her played over and over. Had he known then that he was going to stop? Was he aware that his time had finally come? Her large brown eyes opened slowly. Tears rose within her eyes and fell, trailing down her cheeks like small rivers. One to rarely show emotion, Seraphyna just couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Phy..."

She turned her eyes to the front, where many had come and gone to flower words upon the audience. She found little solace in their words. There was only a handful who truly knew Vivi. The beautiful Queen and Zidane. The Burmecian and the child summoner. All those who had traveled with him and helped him to become what he was when Seraphyna had met him.

The mage did not know these people. And yet... she was eternally grateful to them for giving Vivi the peace of mind he needed. For helping him to find himself.

"Phy... If you never forget me... I'll always exist, right?"

"Always..." Seraphyna whispered to the sky overheard, a sad smile ghosting the corners of her lips. "You'll always exist, Vivi."
 
Raistlin had found this place by reading massive amounts of books in the library of Daguerro. Apparently, to the west, on the continent with all the sand and heat, there was Ipsen's Castle. He knew that place was discovered, and even vastly explored. However, the more books that he read, the more he realized that there was something... Largely strange about it all.


Sure, it wasn't Gaian, that much was evident simply by looking at it. He wanted to look under it. To find out if maybe there was something else about it. He personally wanted to look through it, he personally, wanted to see if he could see anything that someone else felt. He just had a feeling, and his feelings were often right.


So, packing up his things, and finding a 35 man crew for the exploration job, he took off on his airship, “Majere 13”. Rather egotistical to name it after himself, but Raistlin was a largely egotistical person. Besides, he had worked far to hard for this airship to not name it after himself... If you could consider conning a couple of thousand people out of their life savings working.


His ship wasn't huge, big enough to have 35 people live on it for short periods of time, small enough for one man to operate it. Big enough to handle harsh weather, small enough to fly by the bigger ships. Mounted with 4 canons on each side, and 3 canons mounted on the front, each with automatic reloaders so he could fire consistently if he needed to, he was confident in his ships abilities.


The journey was short enough, 1 and a half days to the castle, and it was all over. Raistlin was the first to start up the long flight of stairs, and the first to step foot inside the wondrous building. As his workers followed behind him, he gave a speech.


“Gentleman, most of you are... Too... Ehrm... How do I put this?... Not smart enough to realize where we're standing. This is Ipsen's Castle, founded years and years ago, and while the main areas of this place have been explored, there are many areas that haven't. Therefore, I want you all to find anything shiny, important looking, old, or even, charts, books, maps, and things of that nature. Please, do try and bring back important, or expensive looking things. I would rather not have to look at you with more disgust than I already do.”


Thinking that was inspiring enough, he was quite shocked to see that they weren't all that happy with him. All of the important elements of a great speech were there. What could he have done wrong? Bah, they were all ignorant hicks he just found anyway. Good rhetoric was lost on them. Besides, he would probably ditch them all here anyway. They had stunk up his airship long enough. Raistlin then sat cross-legged on the floor, and read more books. Thinking about all the wonderful and mysterious things they could find.
 
She remembered the boy, the little boy forever covered, yet always full to burrsting with compassion. He had emotions. He had a soul. She was sure of it. His convictions, his reasons for fighting. They were all valid, and pure.

Beatrix, general of the Alexandrian army, felt genuine despair at the fact that this man... no, this boy, was being laid to rest today. Regardless of their life span, Beatrix should not have outlived Vivi. It... wasn't fair.

Still, it reminded Beatrix of the inevitability of death. It could come so quickly, and so unexpectedly, and Beatrix would have nothing to be remembered by. Politically, as a general, she would be remembered. But personally, was there anyone who gave a damn? Anyone who would remember her as the person beneath the armour, and without her sword?

She decided not to think about it, and instead think about the battles she'd had with the Black Mage. His magic had been powerful, and he and his friends had always given her a run for her money. Sighting the others giving their tributes to the dead Vivi, she decided that she would not speak for Vivi.

She had decided that some time ago. For one thing she had barely spoken to the boy outside of their encounters, and for another, she was practically useless at these sorts of things anyway. She never knew what to say, for comfort, or to make people feel better, or to make people move on. She would freeze.

Beatrix was content to watch.
_______________________________________________________

A little girl with blond hair lingered outside the church, a little picnic basket in her hands. She placed her thin little hands on the wall and peeked into the church with big blue eyes, watching the funeral arrangements with childish curiosity.

A little boy, maybe older than her, looked directly at her, and the little girl looked back, before a smile encompassed her whole pale little face.

Without warning, the boys face creased, and he burst into tears, burying his face in his mother's waist, clutching onto the fabric of her dress, terror and sorrow clear on his childish, pale face. Keeping the smile on her face, the girl skipped through the town, before becoming lost in the crowd.
 
Blank Stood watching the service for Vivi, blank spent a short period of time with the young black Mage, helping him, Zidane and the others out more than once during the war 6 years ago. watching with his Sword on his back, a tear rolled down the Tantalus' members cheek as he stood by.

when he heard of Vivi's stopping, Blank took it harder than expected considering he hardly knew Vivi, he had spoke to the young Black Mage more than once, but he wouldn't have considered them close.

"I'd love to stick around" he muttered "but you know Ruby, she will kick my ass if i'm late again, everyone sends their love as well" Blank added, speaking as though he was talking to Vivi.
 
Alexandra was seen in a fancy purple dress. Although dressed like a noble. She was far from it. She came out to the funeral only because it was a big event and a lot of people in Alexandria would be coming to attend, the biggest funeral since the death of Brahne. Still, she cannot help but seem sad, with a single tear trailing down her cheek. Making her wonder about the futility of life.

In any case, once the funeral was over she wanted to get back into her more comfortable clothing. Just being around somber people was making her head hurt.
 
--Quina's contribution--

Quina, the weirdo s/he is, was not attending the funeral. At least, not as a guest, anyways. No, Quina was performing in a role that suited s/he well.

You guessed it. Chef. Head cook for preparing all the food.

Quina bustled around the kitchen, making sure everything was getting ready for the guests. Even though it was a mourning service, even people stuck in grief needed to eat. A table was being hauled out by the staff, and various food items, like punch, cookies, and all sorts of hand foods were going behind it, after all being taste-tested by Quina. Even the table.

S/he really had an eating problem...

However, a few helpers noticed that whenever Quina thought s/he was unwatched, a few tears slid down his/her eyes, his/her own contribution to the mourning of the child black mage prodigy.

No one is likely to ever understand the strange Qu chef.
 
ON THE JOB

Luca Dhamon had accompanied the esteemed Doctor Tot to Vivi's memorial service not only to pay his respects to the black mage he had heard of but never met, but also to do his job. There was a statue of Vivi being erected in the courtyard near the dock. It was approximately fifteen feet high, set on pedestal that was itself six feet in height. Luca's job would be to infuse Vivi's extended right hand, which was palm up, with the essence of fire magic. The magic would spark a flame that would burn for a long time, keeping Vivi in people's memory for decades to come.

Luca waited patiently throughout the ceremony, impressed at how many people had turned out to honor the memory of the black mage. At its conclusion, Luca followed Doctor Tot to the courtyard where the statue stood, completely covered in a large sheet except for the extended hand. Luca stepped out of the way as a group of little chefs bustled past, carrying tray upon tray of food. He continued on up to the statue, and made a sizable corner of the pedestal into a makeshift work area.

Withdrawing several vials of a roiling red liquid from several of the seemingly innumerable pockets of his leather work vest, he placed them in a wooden rack that had been taken out of a small leather pack Luca carried. From the pack, he also grabbed a shallow clay dish. Luca carefully poured the contents of the vials, one at a time, into the dish. With the addition of each of the vials' contents, the liquid in the dish began to churn more and more agitatedly. From another pocket, Luca took a small round object and delicately dropped it into the liquid. This object was a mote of wind magic encased in a paper-thin paraffin ball. The paraffin melted away almost immediately upon submersion into the liquid, and the contents of the dish began to coalesce upwards, defying gravity.

Quickly, Luca grabbed a match out of a pocket and struck it. Holding the lit end to the rising liquid, Luca set the concoction alight. The liquid turned into a floating blaze, like the merrily burning end of a lit torch, without the actual torch part. Carefully lifting the dish, Luca transferred the flame from the pedestal to the statue's hand by climbing a small stepladder. After sliding the dish out from under the flame, Luca stepped back down the ladder and took a look up at his handiwork. It would be a nice addition to the statue, he thought.

His job done, he looked around for Doctor Tot. Spotting the good doctor across the courtyard from Luca's current position, he wandered in the doctor's general direction completely unhurried, taking in some of the sights of Alexandria Castle.
 
Kuja
Why am I here?​

A tall man was walking slowly in the streets of Alexandria, but not features could be seen on the person due too a long cape covering his entire body and hood to cover his head and face.

"Vivi.. such a young iris has withered."

The man was there at Vivi's memorial service thou no one could recognize the man that once tried to destroy the world due to his massive ego and narcissistic nature. As he stood in his cape and watch he thought back on the days when he served Queen Brahne, who he happily would call the "Elephant-Lady".

Creating the Black Mage through the use of the mist that was a byproduct of the filtering of Gaian and Terran souls by the lifa Tree. Using them as mere weapons for not only Brahne, but his on personal pleasure. He could not help but feel some sort of regret as six years can do alot too a person.

After the service he walked into the streets and looked around a bit. He could not help but notice how everyone was living their life normally even thou the passing of Vivi must be devastating for most. However a short smile struck his face as he started too move out of Alexandria.

"I guess.. the world can live without me just fine."

Thou something struck his mind as he started to walk down the streets. Why was he even there. No one knew if he was alive or not and no one that would be here would care. He then thought back at the last moment when he saved Zidane and his friends, Vivi being one of them.

"Zidane.."
 
The shackles of repression once binding him to his tomb fell about the ground below, allowing him to fall to freedom. Painfully.

Zephon crumpled in a heap on the floor, unable to come to his senses in time before the impact. Something monumental had happened - something he had wished for the moment he was condemned to isolation from the worlds. However, something was wrong. Zephon needed to look no further than up to understand - flashes of light seemed to be levelling everything they came into contact with.

A huge tremor took him off his already shaky balance, sending him once again to the floor in a heap. The various high towers were crashing down like missiles, exploding violently on impact. He knew he had to get out of here, but given his current condition the likelihood of achieving escape was slim. Zephon was effectively lost in a familiar land.

Hope struck however, as he noticed sentient beings clambering at the behest of a couple of others - an evacuation effort was taking place. Excellent, he thought. He shrugged off his now tattered garb revealing some odd attire that seemed to be quite popular here, but he thought nothing of it. Deciding it was now or never he clambered to his feet, kept his head down and made for the central plaza where most of the others seemed to be assembling. None of them seemed in the least bit perturbed that everything was caving in around them - though he was refusing to raise his face to look at their expressions, their body movement was that of calm. Confusing given the circumstances, but at this point it wasn't something worth pondering; they were somehow being rescued from this episode, and from there he'd begin regaining his steps in the conscious life he has long been without.

A voice echoed through the emptying halls of this lingering domain ushering them all towards this machination of a brilliant hue he had not seen before. He'd have been tentative were it not for the freshly hurled debris, but headed towards the vessel's archway as orderly as the others so as to not attract attention to himself.

They were all huddled together as the rescuers made good their escape, again quite motionless given the circumstance. Too inquisitive to look no longer, he finally poised himself to gaze upon the crowd.

... they're all the same.


---Six years later---

Coming to terms with what happened was quite taxing on Zephon's mental state. Not only was his supposed purpose exhausted, but he'd lost everything he believed in. Alas, his feelings now are as strong as they were then; he would continue with his work, and reinvent the process. Terra will yet face restoration, and he shall prove he was not the madman once accused.
 
For four days Raistlin's team of explorers and adventurers had been exploring Ispin's Castle, and for four days, they hadn't gotten much done. Or at least, they hadn't gotten much to show for it. They had gotten one golden rod looking thing, a map to something, and that was it.


Sitting down looking over the map, he came to the conclusion that it led to... Ispin's Castle... Calling everyone into the main chamber of the castle, he began to rant. “I will start off on congratulating you for the golden rod... thing. However, I want to know which one of you morons saw this map,” he dangled it in front of the croud, “and moron with have a grain of sense could have noticed that this map leads here. Who was it that thought this was actually worth something? Step forward.”


A huge muscled man stepped forward and placed his arms at his side. “I did. Also, I would like to say that for the last few days, we've been degraded, humiliated, and mentally abused by you, and we'r-” The man was interrupted with a couple of thousand volts of lightning to the chest. The man flew backwards, and actually went through a wall. “Anyone else that wants to complain can feel free to come to me personally.”


Walking away, he was distracted by the conversations taking place behind him. It wasn't of anger like he was expecting, but of curiosity. Turning around, he instantly realized what they were talking about. A large, circular, gate was in a room hidden behind the wall. Then Raistlin became aware of something he wish he hadn't seen... Mist. Lots of Mist was slowly pouring out of the portal.


As the Mist reached the large man, the man slowly started to rise. Something wasn't right about his demeanor though. As he got up, he grabbed the nearest man to him and threw him into the Mist. Then another, then another. Raistlin let out a few more bursts of electricity at the man, but to no avail. The man wasn't flinching, wasn't slowing down, and working his way to Raistlin. Before running, he noticed that every man in the room was turning into what this man had become... A start raving lunatic.


There were about 20 men left out of men he brought with him. Running from the scene, he grabbed the golden rod, the map, and his book, and ran down the stairs. The men who were still sane chased after him, but Raistlin had made it to his airship, and he wasn't waiting for them. As his airship started to rise he could hear there pleas, “Please, sir, please come back, please stop!” Using his intercom system, he replied, “I do apologize, I like being sane, and I have no intention of stopping. Besides, I wasn't planning on paying you. If you like being sane and rational, I suggest that you guys get to climbing the cliffs that surround the area. Toodles.”


The last thing the men saw was Raistlin taking off in his airship before being brutally murdered by their friends that had gone insane because of the mist.
 
Eiko stood quietly with the rest of her friends, looking up at where people were speaking about Vivi, talking about someone they had all valued as a friend, a hero, a rolemodel... someone they had all valued in some way. Most of them didn't know him, not really. They knew him as the little black mage who helped out before, that's all. They hadn't sat with him while he asked if he existed and what would happen to him, hadn't fought with him against so many things. Eiko had. Zidane, Garnet, Freya, Amarant, Quina, and Steiner had. Even Beatrix had for a while.

Vivi told Eiko once that he knew he would stop eventually. All of his kind did, and he didn't think he would be any different. He lasted longer, a more... durable prototype or something than the other black mages, but still, he stopped as they all had. "Stopped"... died... it's all the same. Any of them could have died at any moment, even if they hadn't. It could've happened. Eiko would have preferred it that way, as sorry as she was to admit it. Then Vivi would be dying in battle, dying feeling that he was helping others, instead of just "stopping." That's how she saw it, at least.

Tears ran freely down her face as she slumped into Hilda, forgetting for just a minute that ladies never lose their composure and letting herself cry for a good friend.

(Post is short. X_X I'm tired and just wanted to post though. I hope I'm not horribly out of character :ffs:)
 
Blank headed back to the mini theater that Ruby opened 6 years ago, business was great though, everyone loved the place and it was a local hang out for not only the nobles of Alexandria, but also the less important people as well, the fact the place hadn't gone under made Blank happy as Ruby wouldn't be angry all the time.

As Blank entered he Saw ruby "BLANK, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!!" she almost screeched in fury "I went to Vivi's memorial" Blank informed her, slight sadness in his voice "oh, I'm sorry" Ruby replied, knowing that it was with Vivi's help partly that Blank had been able to become un-petrified. Blank looked at her, "I'm going to go and see Zidane, It's been a while" he announced before leaving and heading towards the Castle of Alexandria.
 
Brannt sat at the bar in Alexandria's tavern, a mug of ale in his hand. He had been in Alexandria for close to two years and the wanderlust was back. The Mist continent was beginning to bore him. The Outer Continent was even worse.

That left the Lost and Forgotten Continents. From what he had heard, both were desolate areas, one purely ravines and the other a snowy wasteland. From what he had heard there was an establishment on each. Esto Gaza on the Lost and Daguerro on the forgotten.

From what he had heard Daguerro was essentially a library, filled with both water and knowledge. If anywhere, it was there he could find out more about his magic and Gaia itself.

Thinking about his magic reminded him of what was going on in Alexandria. The black mage Vivi had stopped, to use the black mages' term. As always, Brannt felt nothing, probably one of the reasons he was rejected. Still, he thought, the mage deserved his recognition.

If it weren't for Vivi and his friends, Brannt may still have been on Terra as Kuja destroyed the planet. He raised his mug slightly in farewell to the young mage. With that, he dropped a few gil on the counter to pay for his drink, got up, and left.

As he walked down the street, he turned to look back at Alexandria Castle for the last time before he departed. He wouldn't be back here for several years, at least that was what he thought. For now he was going back to Lindblum to find an airship to take him to Daguerro.

OOC: As it is Brannt will ignore most events unless it directly involves him. So if someone wants to engage him it is up to you otherwise he will continue on his way.

EDIT: I will be continuing with Brannt on his own on June 7 barring other RPers interaction.
 
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Beatrix didn't know what she would do after the funeral was over. Who to report to. She wasn't thinking about the future, or even what was going on today. She was just thinking about the sheer power of the boy, and yet the compassion that always lay beneath that. The combination was rare in one so young. He had his powers, yet he didn't abuse them... unlike she, who had used them to hurt and destroy.

Touching the sword, the Save the Queen at her belt, she kept a cool face, despite the inner turmoil swirling around inside of her. She had failed once. She knew that. But it was never too late to change. She had helped, or so she liked to think. She could have quite easily turned all her now friends in. But she hadn't, and that had proved to her that it was never too late to change.

"Rest in peace," she said coolly, then turned her back and left the funeral grounds.
 
Alexandra looked at the newly made memorial for Vivi, the Black Mage who helped save Gaia. It made her think, "One boy was able to save the whole world, and I couldn't even save the people I care about, yet why do I continue to fight on....No matter."

Alexandra had had enough of mourning, she decided to head back to the inn to change clothes, then see if there was a job for a mercenary like her. All this somber time was only making her even more sad than she normally is.
 
INCOMING

Freya took a look across the courtyard and spotted the young man working on the statue. Knowing that the statue was a representation of Vivi, Freya was curious as to how the young man was going to augment the monument. She watched with rapt fascination as the gravity-defying flame bobbed merrily atop the statue's outstretched palm. It would be a beautiful touch to a brilliant tribute to the black mage.

Freya continued to watch the young man as he slowly made his way to her direction. Meeting him halfway, she engaged him in conversation, surprising him somewhat. "How in the world did you make it so the flame needs no fuel to burn? And how does it stay floating just above the statue itself?"

"What? ... Oh, that. It's distilled essences of Fire, Fira, and a small bit of Flare extracted from a dragon's scale, combined with a mote of Aero. The wind-based properties of the mote of Aero keep the flame floating, and the Flare gives it a self-perpetuating property." Here, Luca's eyes glazed over as his thoughts turned to his work. "Have to be a bit careful though. Too much Flare, and it'll explode in a heartbeat. Too much Aero, and you've basically turned it into a Fireball waiting to be sent off in any direction." Quickly snapping back to reality, Luca's face showed a hint of embarassment. "Sorry. I get caught up in my work sometimes."

Freya smiled. "In any case, it's a nice touch to the statue. I'm sure Vivi himself would have been fascinated by it."

"You knew Vivi?" Freya nodded in response, and Luca's face lit up in recognition. "Of course. You're Freya Crescent. One of the heroes of Brahne's War."

Freya winced ever so slightly. She never had considered herself a hero, and had not yet grown accustomed to the accolades she often received from those who recognized her. "I am Freya, yes. You are?"

"Oh, my name is Luca. Luca Dhamon."

"Well it has been a pleasure meeting you, Luca." Freya's eyes flicked over Luca's shoulder as she noticed a handful of Burmecians approaching the courtyard area. Odd. He said he was not sending anyone else to the memorial. "If you'll excuse me."

Freya walked toward the Burmecians. As she approached, she noticed something was wrong. Her fellow Burmecians were walking strangely, agitatedly, as if they were driven by some unseen force. Even more troubling, they were covered in blood and gore. Her heart in her throat, Freya jogged forward to the nearest Burmecian. "Ket, what has happened?"

The Burmecian gave no response. It focused its attention on Freya and leaped, hands aiming for her neck. Freya's instincts kicked in and, without conscious volition, she leaped herself. Landing a few feet behind her original position, she crouched on the ground in a familiar pose. "Ket, what is wrong with you?" Again no response but an attack, this time a sweeping right-handed blow. Freya leaped again.

This leap was a full leap of a dragon knight. Soaring several feet into the air, Freya assessed the situation. There were more Burmecians than she had thought. At least several dozen. And they were all advancing on Alexandria in much the same way: as if they were compelled forward by some unknown slave-driver. As she alit next to Luca, her mind raced as she considered what to do. The courtyard now buzzed with concern as people began to notice the strange advance of the Burmecians. An Alexandrian soldier on patrol duty approached the Burmecian Freya had addressed as Ket. The Burmecian attacked her mercilessly, nearly tearing her limb from limb. In the courtyard, panic ensued. People scattered, trying to get away from the crazed Burmecians. Sensing Luca still next to her, Freya spoke to him.

"I suggest you run."
 
As Brannt returned his gaze to the main gates of Alexandria, a throng of people began moving through the gates. 'More mourners..' he thought as he made his way down the street. Already this castle town was filled with people; more would not help. He sighed. Now was definitely the time for him to leave.

Getting closer, he saw they were actually Burmecians. This in itself was odd to him. To his knowledge, the surviors of Burmecia were still rebuilding their fallen kingdom. Such a large group of potential workers would be major dent is their schedule.

Moving even closer to them, he saw they were all covered in blood and gore. No, something far worse had happened. What it was, Brannt had no idea. Keeping an observer's distance from the approaching Burmecians he saw someone he remembered.

It was Freya Crescent, the dragon knight who came to Terra with Zidane. Brannt watched as one of the Burmecians exchanged blows with Freya. Clearly they were not friendly if they could not remember the face of one who had saved Gaia.

Still this was an opportune time for Brannt. He moved over to the side of the square and brought out his sword. Placing the blunt end on the ground beside him with his hand on the pommel, he was certain that should they come his way he would be able to cut them down effectively. As it was this incident had no bearing on him and as such he would merely observe.
 
The days were hardly getting darker, but in Burmecia things always seemed a bit bleak. Between the "eternal rain", sombre demeanour of those beneath it and the crippled empire that was the rat kingdom, nobody really seemed to carry a whole lot of enthusiasm. He'd visit, in passing, to check on its progress like any old scrupulous, anal retentive wacko. They'd spot him out of the corner of their eye, whisking away pathway-to-pathway 'til once again out of sight. That's all they'd get of Zephon.

More people were arriving in the Outer Continent in recent times, and while this used to serve as sport, it was becoming more of a distraction. Deciding to turn the situation on its head, Zephon decided to make base on the Mist Continent approximately a year prior to his intended attacks - starting to once again funnel Mist back to this continent, and bring back the fighting instinct. In the depths of the Burmecian restoration effort Zephon observed the results as he augmented the output of a mysterious device - groans, moans, shrieks and the occasional wail became more audible with the more effort he applied. "Mist-with-a-twist" he chuckled to himself.


OOC: Moan, moan, whine, whine. Short post etc. Just wanted to get something out there. (btw CC I totes used your idea)
 
Alexandra, now changed into her normal attire, heard screams coming from outside. Opening the window she saw several Burmecians attacking civilians in Alexandria. She clenched her fist, took out a single dagger and jumped out of the second story window, grabbing the edge of the ceiling of an adjacent building.

Climbing up, she started to take off running, jumping across buildings in an attempt to get to Vivi's statue before something bad happens. Indeed when she got there something bad had happened, as the Burmecians, seething with anger attacked the populace, and was attacking the Dragon Knight Freya.

Jumping down, she got the drop on one of the Burmecians, stabbing him in the temple before kneeing him to the ground. Alexandra offered a hand to Freya, "Need a hand?"
 
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