[identity profile] theleadingman.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] timeandtides_backup
Characters: Balthier Bunansa, Setzer Gabbiani, and Rygdea.
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: Old!Memoria
Location: Memoria
Date: March 11th, 1805.
Warning: ... too many well-dressed men?


He didn't know what to expect when the sky had suddenly burst with the color of sunset. Since his arrival in Gaia, it was safe to assume that anything could happen at any time. People were taken home whenever the fates saw fit, with no warning, no impetus. When the haze cleared and he found himself standing in front of the elevator at the Draklor Laboratory, he surmised that it was simply his turn to return from whence he came.

Though given the option, he wouldn't have chosen Draklor. Too many memories there. Ones he would rather leave behind if he was going to have any semblance of a life that didn't leave him shackled to the past.

In the distance, an alarm was droning, though it was muffled, as if it were several floors below him.

Just what had he returned in the middle of?

Date: 2011-03-12 10:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
Pink skies weren't anything new to Setzer. Pink skies that lasted for more than a sunset or a sunrise, however, were. But he'd paid them little mind. Who knew what to expect from a strange new world? Besides, it did make for quite the enjoyable evenings, if only for the rarity of it all.

The flash of light, on the hand, was new. New and perhaps a little bit reminiscent of the Light of Judgment Kefka had once used, being seeing as how it didn't leave him rather unfortunately dead, he was simply going to take it as it came. What better way to find adventure, after all?

He could have done without the insistent siren from somewhere below them, though.

"Something not going as planned, I take it?"

Date: 2011-03-12 11:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
Rygdea looked around at the voice, blinking at the silver-haired stranger for a moment, an answer on his tongue before he realised that the comment hadn't been directed at him at all. He turned again, found another complete stranger, and frowned faintly in utter confusion. He'd been heading out to buy a couple of bottles of bourbon for his and Fang's little reunion, but...he wasn't where he had been five minutes ago, and for the second time in as many months. It was...preturbing.

"...Could say that," he finally replied, faintly, even though it wasn't his question to answer. "Uh, were are we?"

Date: 2011-03-13 12:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
Ha! Now there was something familiar. True, the labs of Vector had very little on what he could see of the place thus far, but still. A lab was a lab and if that bitterness he could hear was any indication it wasn't place this particular nameless stranger cared much for.

(Not, of course, that he could blame the man. He'd heard of less than savory things to come out a lab himself, but that wasn't particularly important to the task at hand.)

"Not a scratch, unless something drastic happening between here and there."

And he would have hoped that he'd have noticed something that out of place in the cards they'd been dealt for this little excursion.

Date: 2011-03-13 02:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
"Yeah, same," Rygdea replied, his frown smoothing out a little. At least someone knew where they were, and the prospect of a fight was barely enough to preturb him. Being Guardian Corps, fighting kind of went with the territory, and neither of his strange companions looked like a single punch would lay them out. "Archades? Is that in Gaia, or have we been dumped on another strange planet?"

New as he was to Gaia, and already having digested his way through the idea of a patchwork world, he found that neither answer would surprise him. The architecture was a far cry from Lindblum's rustic brickwork, but not quite the gleaming technological masterpiece that Eden boasted, and he'd never seen a sky quite that colour, before.

Date: 2011-03-15 09:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
Empires. Why did it always have to be empires. But if he had to tangle with one yet again he supposed it might as well be one that he barely knew. They wouldn't know what his ship was and wasn't capable of when it came time to take to the skies once again and he certainly couldn't imagine that this little excursion would end any other way.

But as he knew little of this place he was quite content to follow Balthier for the time being. Whatever grudges he may have had against the place, he certainly a better idea of what to expect than Setzer himself did.

Still, Setzer could hardly say that he'd expected to find them walking into a room that was as devoid of people as the one they'd just left. It was stranger yet to find Balthier addressing thin air, and moreover addressing it familiarly. A trickery of the place perhaps? Or had he unknowingly stepped into the hands of yet another madman? Of course, that path had a madman calling his unseen ... foe? ... mad and there was certainly no small amount of irony in that. Yet for all that he wanted to believe that this man was no Kefka he couldn't help one of his hands from creeping into his pockets just in case he had to fight.

Before he could get much farther than that, however, the world around them begin to fade.

"No man enjoys a game forced upon him."

Date: 2011-03-16 11:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
Rygdea remained silent, his frown returning in earnest. He'd seen crazy people before, Eden had its fair share of mentally ill, but to watch someone go from coherent to raving to empty air in a split-second was...unnerving. It wasn't until he looked over at the silver-haired man that he realised that the room they were standing in...wasn't the room they had been in. Some sort of magic, then? Perhaps he wasn't crazy at all, maybe he'd just been seeing something they couldn't.

"You an' Cid should talk," he muttered, in response to the other man's comment, then shook his head and brought his focus back to the matter at hand. "So...what the hell just happened?"

Date: 2011-03-17 02:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
"I'd be inclined to agree," Setzer answered, giving the new set of surrounding a rather critical eye. "I'd rather the hand stabilize before we set about seeking answers."

If there even were answers to be had, but that part of the hand could just as easily be discussed when they weren't interrupted be further spates of almost-madness. The sooner they were out, the better. Preferably without whatever that had been catching him in its nets as well.
Edited Date: 2011-03-17 02:19 am (UTC)

Date: 2011-03-17 09:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
"No arguments here," Rygdea agreed. Deeming now as good a moment as any for introductions, he offered, "I'm Rygdea, by the way."
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
"Setzer," he answered, even as the surroundings began to take on a form that was all to familiar to him. The walls vanished, replaced by nothing more than a viewpoint that offered miles of wasted land. It was a tower. A tower built of what seemed to be nothing more than the rubble of a thousand buildings.

Oh, the floor underneath their feet was stable enough. But all around was bits and pieces of something else. Here a piece of what could have once been a roof. There, something that looked very much like it wouldn't have been out of place in a scientist's lab. A thousand, thousand pieces of rubble and ruin, held together by nothing more than sheer magic.

And with the height of the tower itself, getting back down was not really going to be the best of options. It was the last place Setzer had ever wanted to be yet again and he couldn't help but sigh at it all.

Date: 2011-03-23 12:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
"So...what exactly happened back there?" He looked over at Balthier as he spoke. "I mean, I'm not gettin' the crazy vibe from you, so.." He trailed off, catching a strange shifting out of the corner of his eye. Again, the scenery around them had changed, becoming a panorama that made his head spin. He was used to the laws of physics being flexible, Coccoon was a planet held up by fal'Cie will, after all, but...to see all of this, with no fal'Cie in sight, it made him feel distinctly uneasy.

No problem~

Date: 2011-03-29 12:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
A madman's thirst for power? Now there was a damning statement and one that was more than a little familiar. One he could have done without really, given the current location. If they were set to revisit the various madmen in their lives this would certainly be the place for it.

"A tower erected by the local madman," he answered. "A monument to his own twisted genius."

Whoo~!

Date: 2011-03-29 12:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
"Madmen, huh? Hope that's not becomin' a trend." One eye still on his surroundings, he continued, "We saw you talkin' to yourself. Or at least, that's what I saw. But I mean, like I say, you're not lookin' a whole lot of crazy. So, what did you see?"

actual memory will come next round

Date: 2011-03-31 04:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
"Not a soul," Setzer answered. "Which rather leaves us without a way out."

He had brought his ship to the tower, that much he knew. But the way forward had been fraught with peril and he hadn't the slightest idea of which perils would have been dealt with already. Or even if anyone but them had been there, and almost unconsciously his feet began to take him forward, towards where he knew Kefka would be watching over the ruins of his world.
Edited Date: 2011-03-31 04:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
"If it's anythin' like what happened with Balthier, can't we just wait it out?" He was still unsure of what, exactly, was happening. Some sort of hallucination? Vision? Either was a possibility, really. This place had a nasty penchant for pulling the rug from under him, just when he thought he'd gotten it weighed off.

Date: 2011-04-02 04:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
Unfortunately for Balthier, his question fell on deaf ears as the memory chose that moment to engulf Setzer fully, his stance shifting as he fell into step with the rest who'd been there that day. Silence fell then, until the odd group came across the end of the line.

Kefka, of course, was waiting for them, with a painted smile on his lips. "Welcome, friends!" he began, in a tone that bore absolutely nothing of sanity or welcome. "I knew you'd come, so I've been practicing my greeting!"

Celes was the one to answer him, immediate and angry, speaking the question they all wished to hear the answer. "How much do you have to destroy before you'll have had your fill, Kefka!?" Unfortunately for them, the only answer was the high-pitched cackle that they all knew and hated, as Kefka quite simply... ignored the question at hand.

"I've acquired the ultimate power. Observe!" He made an offhand sort of gesture and Cyan rose into the air, helpless against the power that held him aloft. "Such magnificent power!" he continued, thoroughly drunk on his own power. "You're all nothing more than fleas compared to me now!" Again he gestured and this time it was Shadow who rose into the air, no more able to fight against the power than Cyan. "Embrace your destruction! It's the fate of all things!"

On the last word he gestured yet again and Shadow and Cyan can tumbling to the ground even as Terra stepped forth to speak.

"Because," she began slowly, "it's not the end that matters! It's knowing that you have something to live for right now, at this moment! Something you've worked for... something that's worth protecting! As long as you have that...that's enough!" Yet for all her words, Kefka remained unmoved, in the way that only a madmen could.

"And did you all find your 'somethings' in this broken world that just won't die?"

The answer was unanimous, as the entire group raised their voices in a single 'yes' before continuing on to explain what they manage to find in the ruins of this world.

"Love!" Terra answered.

"A person worth protecting," chimed in Locke.

"A life and child who live on within me," added Cyan, thinking of the family he'd lost to one of Kefka's earlier attacked.

"Friends... and family," offered Shadow, neglecting to comment on just who he'd meant.

"A peaceful kingdom," was the addition of Figaro's young king, Edgar.

His brother was the next to answer. "A loving brother who always looks out for me!"

"Someone willing to accept me for who I am," Celes offered, glancing over in Locke's direction.

Strago followed close on Celes' heels, chiming in with his own offering. "An adorable little granddaughter."

"An obnoxious grandpa," added in said granddaughter "...who I couldn't live without!"

And then it was Setzer's turn to speak. "Wings from a dear old friend!" he added, and oh, would that he knew where said wings actually were, but he knew better than to say such things in front of Kefka. The man would only use it against them, or worse against his ship, and he wasn't about to give him a reason to ruin his wings twice.

He needn't have worried, as Kefka simply made at face at the positively blistering array of optimism rising against him. "Bleh!" he commented, pulling a face to match. "You people make me sick! You sound like lines from a self-help book! If that's how it's going to be... I'll snuff them all out! Every last one of your sickening, happy little reasons for living!"

At those words, Setzer's hand went to the pocket where he kept his cards, drawing them out in one smooth motion... only to find that like before, the world was beginning to fade around them, beginning with Kefka himself.

Date: 2011-04-02 11:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
"See?" Rygdea nodded in the direction of the silver-haired man, largely unsurprised. "That's what happened with you. Same sort of thing." As the world started to fade, he turned his attention back to Setzer and cocked his head. "You doin' alright?"

Date: 2011-04-06 04:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
Well. He wasn't pleased, that much was certain, and he was rather glad that the hand that had reached for his cards was still buried in his pocket, so no one could see the way it was almost refusing to let go of them just yet. But he wasn't actually harmed any. Irritated with the place for even bothering to call things up, yes. But not (physically) harmed.

"I'd rather we left the madmen behind," he answered. "But I doubt the fates are done with us just yet."

Date: 2011-04-06 01:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
"Guessin' it's my turn, next," Rygdea surmised with a slight, dry grin. He wasn't looking forward to it, it wasn't going to be fun judging by the other two's experiences thus far, but on the other hand... "Well, there's no lunatics in my closet, at least, not that I know of, so I think we're done with nutbags."

Date: 2011-04-08 07:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
"I see little reason why it wouldn't be," Setzer answered. True, there wasn't any certainty to the hand but Setzer was used to seeing patterns. If two had gone through a replay of their worst memories then it stood to good reason that the third would also do so.

"Unless you have more luck than either of us can manage, of course."

Date: 2011-04-09 11:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
"No, I..." He trailed off, noticing the now-familiar shift of his surroundings, curious to see what this bizarre turn of events had in store for him. After a few moments, the scenery morphed completely, and he found himself...on the Lindblum. Anticlimatic, but he wasn't complaining.

He was sat down - hadn't he been stood a moment ago? - Fang opposite him, both of them nursing glasses of bourbon as the small hours ticked by.
"So, I've told you my life story," she drawled in that lilting Oerban accent of hers. "Turnabout's fair play. What are you doin' here?"
He turned the glass in his hands, smiling slightly. "This place...it's all messed up. The Fal'Cie, Dysley, all of 'em, they run Coccoon with an iron fist, and anyone who doesn't agree...well, let's just say that a lot of people were on that Purge train who shouldn't have been."
"No-one should have been." A frown furrowed her brow, and he nodded, conceding the point. Then he took a swig. "My point is..there's this whole scent of rot, underneath the shine and sophistication. Cid..wants to change that."
She said nothing, just gave him a look that said 'go on', and he shrugged. "He wants to give Coccoon back to the people. No more Purges, no more Fal'Cie breathin' down our necks." He knew there was pride in his voice as he talked, and he didn't bother to hide it. He was proud, proud to be working for such a great goal.
"So, you're fightin' for 'the people'?" The corner of her lip quirked up subtly. "Doesn't that sound a little trite to you?"
He snorted. "You make me sound like I'm tryin' to make myself out as some storybook hero."
"Aren't you?"
"No," he waved a hand at the thought. "I just...wanna be part of somethin' bigger than me. Somethin' that'll last after I've gone. I don't wanna be thought of a s a hero, just..thought of."
"An' the fact that Cid Raines is at the helm of this little world-changin' ship means nothing at all to you?" Her eyes glittered knowingly.
"Aw, shut up," he laughed, and she did. Then she faded, like a watercolour painting in reverse, the blue of her sari and the green of her eyes lingering for a moment. He stood up, forgetting the bourbon that he was holding, the glass fading out before it hit the ground, and raked a hand through his hair. "Shoulda figured as much," he muttered. "Well...guess that's over an' done with.."

Date: 2011-04-11 02:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wanderlusting.livejournal.com
Over and done with with surprisingly little fuss, even, not that Setzer was about to complain about that. The less bother there was in the whole mess, the sooner they could deal into what would hopefully be a better hand overall. He'd had quite enough of stepping into the past.

"Nothing for it but to fly as the winds leads then," he answered with a shrug. Anywhere was better than here, after all.

Date: 2011-04-18 04:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cowboy-aloft.livejournal.com
"This is really kinda weird," Rygdea murmured, mostly to himself. "I mean... Didn't it seem a bit...pointless?"

Not that he was exactly complaining, not all of his memories were as painless as that one, and it hadn't looked like a walk in the park for his companions, it was just...strange.

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