Pandemonium

[tntoverlords.livejournal.com]

Characters: Mikoto, Warrior of Light, Firion, Refia, Edward, Locke, Genesis, Blank, Vivi, Rikku, Mjrn, Serah
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: The group finally confronts Garland.
Location: Pandemonium
Date: August 15, 1804
Warnings: Violence
Notes: Additional information on this week's segment can be found here. To see the entry walk into Pandemonium, you can watch here.

Out of the bleak starkness of the ruination that was Terra, there rose a dark shape. Entirely whole and ominous in mere design alone sat Garland's fortress. Large enough to compete with Lindblum Grand Castle for size, its shadowed approach led to a hulking edifice that defied destruction. The paths were disconnected circular stepping pads that would require deftness in leaping to navigate. Its owner had no visitors and no need to make for a welcoming walk. As the group approached, the heavy iron gates opened of their own accord. It was an invitation to enter. If they dared.

Comments

[knowshermachina.livejournal.com]

Well, if everyone else was intent on running head-long into the obvious and pre-stated trap, Rikku supposed she'd better tag along! She finally shrugged at them and turned back to the door.

Besides, there was a sort of infectious courage about some of these warriors all eager to rush inside. "Well, alright. We're gonna win anyway, right?" She grinned.

[recites-always.livejournal.com]

Genesis rolled his eyes, following Mikoto. And everyone said he was annoying for reciting LOVELESS all the time? He could have done with the pep talk of the same subject by more than one person. With a quiet scoff, he eventually tuned them out. He was much more interested in this new place they were walking into than anything else.

Pandemonium, eh?

Both morbid and fascinating at the same time. "Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess. We seek it thus, and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface. The wandering soul knows no rest."

[nomerevessel.livejournal.com]

Mikoto didn't jump this time. She'd been expecting this. She came to a dead halt though, looking around as if she could find the source of the voice.

"I'm ready, Garland," she said, lifting her chin defiantly. To the others, it would look as though Mikoto was speaking to thin air, but she didn't bother to explain.

She continued onwards, hopping from platform to platform. Retracing Zidane's steps...

[smallmage.livejournal.com]

Refia had brought a small pack like the rest of the group, leaving the sled outside when they came to any large structure - and this certainly counted. She'd stuffed as many bottles and items as she could into it for an emergency pack, and she didn't like letting it out of her sight. Aside from her rod, it was the only thing she carried into Pandemonium.

Vivi's offer, though, was met with surprise - and even in this chaos she had to smile. He might not be a real boy, but he really was very nice. "It's okay - I have my own." She'd... badgered the Regent. Not that he hadn't wanted them well-prepared, but she'd probably overdone it. "You use that - you'll probably need it later."

The path they had to take was winding and looked to be made out of petrified mushrooms, which wasn't the nicest thing she could think of at the moment. But when Mikoto spoke to the air... This place was strange, and nothing here was a coincidence. "Are you all right?"

[morehatthanmage.livejournal.com]

Vivi hadn't thought much of Mikoto talking to herself, he was distracted enough to reach the conclusion that she was just saying she was ready to fight him. He placed the ether back in his pocket, picking up his staff and following the group.

"We're going to win." He said to Serah, shaking his head. He wasn't entirely sure of it himself but for once, thinking about it too much was helping. Losing and not fighting had the same consequences, letting fear of losing stop them from fighting was probably a little pointless. And they'd beaten him before with less people. And Edward had said he could probably stop Garland from using his magic.

For once, even if it was mostly false bravado, Vivi was fairly confident.

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

Mjrn's nodded to Vivi, expression more determined than enthusiastic. "We must, for the sake of Gaia." There was a brief, grateful look at Warrior of Light, since his confidence bolstered her own, and a nod to Locke as well. She was ready, as ready as one could ever be prepared for something like this.

Mikoto caught her attention, apparently speaking to...nothing as she did, but rather than repeat the questions directed at her, the Viera simply followed and listened. Her senses were -false modesty aside- better than any of them. It was up to her to anticipate danger, as much as it was possible.

[for-cosmos.livejournal.com]

“Right.” The Warrior of Light said, nodding in agreement of Vivi’s determined statement. “Have faith in our strength. We have already come this far.”

The unprompted words from Mikoto, who had been quiet and surly for quite some time, raised some questions in his mind, but he did not ask about it, as some of the others had. The words seemed to him to be a resolution, a simple preparation for the battle that was to come. Instead of asking, he focused on navigating the platforms, trying to search out the most direct and easiest pathway for the group to take.

[nomerevessel.livejournal.com]

Mikoto glanced back at Serah and shook her head. "No. This is the first time since we spoke to Lufene."

Garland's prompting had given a sense of urgency, however, and she turned to press forward again with renewed vigour. Leaping from one platform to another, Mikoto was much more agile than her normally sedate movements might indicate. Of course, she had perfect balance: one advantage of having a tail.

She made another jump, looked up, and almost fell over. Her heart seemed to freeze. Garland! There he was. They had reached Garland's observatory, a large platform above which a model of the planet was suspended. The black figure of Garland stared down at them from the top of the observatory.

Mikoto came to a halt, staring up at him with wide eyes. Now that she had finally encountered her creator again, words failed her.

She managed to greet him at last, her voice flat. "Garland."

[cycleofchaos.livejournal.com]

Garland stood on the observatory platform, continuing the monitor the glow of the planet, despite the arrival of the others. No fear of a back attack entered his mind, as he had been tracking this group's movements long before they opened the portal. Not even Mikoto's flat greeting drew his attention from his vigil.

Satisfied at last with the progress, he turned, black cape fluttering as he did. "Well done, Mikoto." Step by step, with measured care, he descended the stairs. "Are you now ready to take your place, to fulfill the purpose for which you were created?"

[thisdesertrose.livejournal.com]

It was odd to see the man with the same name as the one who they had fought in the Void. He did not look the same, not at all. But the urge to run and draw his weapons were becoming more and more difficult to ignore as he descended the stairs, looking very casual as he spoke to Mikoto. "She does not work for you," He said, his voice hard. "We are here to defeat you."

[knowshermachina.livejournal.com]

Rikku didn't have much trouble with the platform jumping, though she nearly missed a step and fell off at one point, laughing nervously to herself before she continued. When they reached Garnet's observatory she couldn't help but stare at everything. Whatever was holding up the planetary model had to be impressive.

When Garland spoke though, she frowned but managed to bite back a response, instead focusing on Mikoto. She reached out to give the genome a pat on the shoulder. "We're all with you, ya know." She offered in a whisper, trying to sound reassuring, before she turned her attention back to Garland.

[smallmage.livejournal.com]

"She's not going anywhere with you." As if to punctuate her statement, Refia immediately began casting - protective spells, specifically, starting with a literal round of Protects for everyone, but also mixing in a few Mights directed at the full-force members of their party - Warrior of Light, Firion, Genesis, and Mjrn. One arm wriggled out of her pack, followed by the other, and she handed the back to Serah without even looking to see if the other girl took it. "All my items are in there - use them if you need them." She'd seen how the other girl didn't seem to have combat experience, and so probably needed protecting more than anyone else in the group, including her. Anything that could be done, would.

"You're trying to destroy the world - all the worlds. We're here to stop you, whether you want to be or not."

[xredthespianx.livejournal.com]

Refia really was a cute little bundle of tough. She really stood up for herself and the people she cared about. It somewhat reminded Blank of Ruby and Eiko. It seemed everyone was on the same page - all striving to the same goal - beating Garland. It was a funny thng how a group of strangers could bond and work as a team.

Seeing Garland first-hand was also strange. Blank had listened to all the stories of his friends' adventures, yet he never expected to be reliving it himself.

[nomerevessel.livejournal.com]

Mikoto acknowledged Rikku's encouragement with a tiny nod before focusing on Garland again.

"I'm here to fulfil my purpose," she said clearly. "But not the one you gave me. I led them here to stop you, Garland. That is my purpose now."

She drew her dagger, though she did not suppose that it would be much effective against Garland. Still, it was a gesture of defiance. Mikoto was prepared to fight.

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

While the others were speaking, Mjrn did her part. She was a Dragoon, but she was a Red Mage as well. As Refia showered them with Protect, she contributed to the buffing by adding a Haste spell. If there was time, she would add Regen, but the Viera wasn't especially hopeful that she would be able to cast it upon everyone before the battle was engaged.

[cycleofchaos.livejournal.com]

"Regrettable. What a waste." The rabble before him was of no consequence to him and nothing to be feared. He had his hands full enough reining in Kuja and Lufene to waste energy on this collection of souls. Zidane too posed his own set of problems for Garland, which left him no choice but to remove Mikoto from his list of issues, before she could truly become one. And thus, he stripped her of her soul.

The body becomes a vessel, which greets a new soul...

Without waiting to see what came of her, he turned to ascend the stairs once more. "Should you choose to persist in this foolishness, I will end your lives." To make his point known, he conjured a ball of light before his hand, then flung it out at the whole group in a devastating Wave.

[recites-always.livejournal.com]

Genesis was quick to dodge, his wing flaring and lifting him into the air. Quickly, he conjured up a Fira spell and through it at Garland. He didn't like that he couldn't use the more devastating black magic spells, but at least he could distract until the others were back on their feet.

Swiping his hand across his crimson blade, runes lit up and magic flared across. He was diving toward Garland the next moment.

[nomerevessel.livejournal.com]

The knife fell clattering from Mikoto's hand. She swayed a little, then stood still, her eyes gazing vacantly into the middle distance.

Even though she was standing in the middle of what would become a battlefield, Mikoto no longer had the presence of mind to do anything about it. She had been rendered helpless in an instant: a soulless vessel.

[thisdesertrose.livejournal.com]

Firion saw the knife clatter before witnessing the magic being thrown at them. Quickly, he grabbed Mikoto's body and pushed her out of the way. Soulless vessel or not, he didn't want her to be harmed. When the magic struck, he felt himself fly back and his the ground hard, a few of his weapons clattering to the ground around him. He groaned and called them back to himself, rising to stand though he gasped when he saw one his comrades fly towards Garland.

"Don't Genesis!" He cried in vain. Despite being told what Garland was capable of, they couldn't afford to be reckless like this.

[for-cosmos.livejournal.com]

His shield was out as soon as Garland’s hand rose, but it was not enough to block the force of the attack, and the Warrior of Light was sent skidding backwards as well, going into a crouch for a moment to avoid falling. This man wasn’t Garland, not the Garland he knew, and it had thrown him off. He had expected his enemy, the man he had faced time and time again. Instead, they were faced with a stranger.

Still, this man was an enemy, one that needed to be dealt with. The Warrior rose to his feet as he saw Genesis fly toward Garland, and heard Firion’s shout. “There is no other way but to fight! Come!” He shouted to the others, advancing upon Garland himself with his blade raised.

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

"Mikoto!" Mjrn saw the knife fall from Mikoto's hand and started forward, just in time to see Firion shove her out of the way. Good. Then there was no more time, as the Wave reached her. She cried out, bracing herself.

When it had passed, she straightened and immediately cast a Cura spell for all around her, then grabbed her spear and Jumped. Refia could continue the healing, but Mjrn was a Dragoon first and formost. She needed to be in the air and she would...to descend upon Garland.

[morehatthanmage.livejournal.com]

"Mikoto!"

When Firion pushed Mikoto away, Vivi rushed toward her. The Wave caught him and he rolled backward across the ground but then steadied himself and dashed to her side, waving a hand in front of her eyes uselessly.

It was as if she'd stopped.

And then Vivi turned to look at Garland.

The false bravado had vanished in an instant but something replaced it just as quickly. All that fear and useless anger and all the horror of seeing this world this dead and all the dread of knowing that even the best outcome of this mission was that he was going to wind down and stop again and even what happiness he'd found in being given another chance and being able to say goodbye properly and meeting the sky people he'd met and seeing that his mages had survived. All of it found itself concentrated into a pale blue light.

Vivi had entered Trance.

"...I-" His voice trembled at first as he raised a single hand toward Garland. The bright blue glow made it almost painful to look at him. "-I hate you! I want you to die!! Flare! Flare!"

Two explosions, both contained in a small area surrounded Garland at the same time. Trempling, glowing, furious Vivi remained stood between him and what remained of Mikoto, one hand still outstreched.

[smallmage.livejournal.com]

"No!" Refia's cry was loud and sharp as the light left Mikoto's eyes; fortunately Firion dove to protect her, or Refia might well have done it herself. That was it - Garland had lost all his chances. "Get back here you coward!"

And then the Wave hit her.

Being at the back of the group blunted some of the effect of it, but it still swept the small white mage off her feet and into the wall with a sharp thud. Once she could breathe properly again, the first thing she did was start lobbing Regens, one at everyone, including Mikoto. The next thing she did was run to Vivi. She didn't quite know what was going on with him but he wasn't going to go through it alone.

[knowshermachina.livejournal.com]

Being near the front of the group, Rikku barely even had time to react to watching Mikoto just...stop like that...before the wave of fire hit her and sent her tumbling to the ground with a squeal of pain. She lay there for a few seconds, waiting for her nerves to stop telling her maybe she should take a nap, before she sat up with a groan, reaching into her pouch to tug out two bottles.

She muttered something that might have been a thank you when she felt Refia's regen hit her, and then yanked the cork out of one of the bottles and downed the potion with a shiver, feeling it start to ease the pain as she hauled herself to her feet.

"That was...not fun..." She muttered, her eyes a little wide as she watched the tiny mage start to glow and hurl flares like they were candy. Wow. Well...she was going to do her part. She pressed the cork down harder into the second glass vial so that it wouldn't splash, and then hurled the flimsy container at Garland as hard as she could.