middleofsomewhere | Adventure On: Finale and Conclusion

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Adventure On: Finale and Conclusion

Blue

The Mountain

Once they get close enough everything is storm, ice swirls around them, stabbing them like knives. Winds seem to be actively pushing them away, no matter what direction they approach from. Still the crystal wolves walk on, heads down, paws silent, climbing upwards.

The higher they climb the colder it becomes. So cold that ice forms on eyelashes, that air seems to freeze as it leaves their mouths. So cold their chests hurt. They would not be wrong to assume that the only reason they can withstand this at all is because of the SCA around their wrist.

Ice tumbles down around them often, shaking the ground. The crystal wolves know the way and they keep going, steady on the path. They have spaced themselves out, to be in sight of all those who follow.

The Summit

As they finally reach the top of the mountain they reach a calm space, outside of the swirling storm. Domed across the summit is a fire cage, larger by far than any they have seen before. In the middle of the giant fire cage sits a dragon. White and blue, scales that look as if they were made of ice themselves. Their head was bowed, eyes closed but they are breathing, breath escaping in clouds of freezing mist that evaporated in the heat of the cage.

Around the cage itself are ice elementals, outside the storm these can be seen by the snow they whirl around inside them, each is about three feet tall but fly in a whirlwind as they attack. Like those in the storm they try and push people around and attack with shards of ice. These corrupted spirits seem to have no reason to their attacks, they are just as likely to push a combatant closer to the cage then they are towards the raging storm.

They can be fought, fire works well against them just as ice and cold magic works well against the fire cage itself.

A Sovereign Freed

Eventually the cage stops fighting, fading away into the snow before them. The crystal wolves spring forth, nuzzling at the dragon until they raise their head. Piercing blue eyes look over the group and the dragon bows their head once. They take a deep breath and breathe out over those assembled, cold fire washes over them, healing any hurts that they have, easing their fatigue som

The crystal wolves bow their heads too, a thank you. Aerlie flaps their wings, rising high into the air. Another breath of cold fire flies out around the area, clashing with the storm for a moment before overtaking it. Around the mountain the storm calms, the ice elementals stop and seem to sink into the snow or fade into the air. The mountain descends into a calmness.

The crystal wolves will approach all those who helped free them, nuzzling into their hands, a personal thank you before a shimmering gate opens for the adventurers to step through.

Red

Final Siege

It’s been a tiring three days of protecting the crystals from the creatures that sought their power. But now, as their power is fully recharged it is time to return them to the border. That is going to be a tougher job than getting them to the volcano’s heart in the first place!

They thrum with power and that power is a siren call to the creatures of the area, fire dogs, lizards, fire sprites. Just as the mountain attacked inside the heart, here the spirtes join with the rivers of lava to flood pathways, block routes, making it harder to cross already treacherous territory, or even driving them into traps of waiting fire dogs.

The heat is oppressive, heat from around them, heat from the crystals seems to sap the energy from those carrying them and so the duty is best shared.

Eventually though they arrive at the border, a mess of melted ice and frozen lava. Each of the crystals need to be replaced.

Restoring the Border

Replacing the crystals is a little more complicated than taking them was. Each one needs to fuse with the holder it sits in. It doesn’t take any skill, just someone to hold it in place for a moment whilst the two fuse together and the magic is channelled into the ground.

Holding a crystal in place is a little more difficult when being attacked by the creatures. The fire creatures keep up the attack until all of the crystals have been replaced.

The Land Repaired

When the last crystal is in place there is a ripple across the land. An invisible line, an ancient magic, connects the crystals, seperating the two lands. Ice recedes from lava and the melted snow refreezes. The borderlands of slush undergo transformation as the two elements separate from each other once more. A land of fire and a land of ice, with a pulsing magic separating the two.

The firedogs and lizards retreat, fire elementals calm and join with the lava streams once more. A shimmering gate opens.

Orange

An Important Message

The Huma birds have been carrying crystals and helping the harvesters, protecting them from the blighted birds and encouraging them to work hard.

But those returning to the floating islands on the afternoon of the eleventh day of Horseshoe come bearing black cloth bags in their talons, each has a scroll attached. The Huma birds will make it very clear they are to read the scroll first.

DO NOT OPEN THE BAG UNTIL NIGHT FALLS

Inside this bag are rare crystals. When they are exposed to the light of the sun they will cause the islands to sink back to the ground. After the sun has set tonight please distribute these evenly around the islands and then depart back down to the land below before sunrise. The lands natural magic will do the rest but we do not recommend being on the islands when they fall.

Thank you for your hard work.

The Adventurers Guild

With a long night ahead they may wish to rest for the remainder of the day.

Distributing the Crystals

If they do as they are asked then it will be a long night, there are many chunks of islands and a lot of crystals to distribute. The darkness makes it harder and the blighted birds seem even grumpier in the cover of darkness.

The wind sprites also are not resting and indeed seem delighted that playtime has been extended into the hours of night. Placing crystals is difficult when the Voidtreckers find themselves swept up into the air to dance around the trees.

Getting down by sunrise may be a little trickier than placing the crystals, especially if they have used up their flight potions, but hopefully there are enough people to help everyone get to safety.

Islands Fall

The sun rises, as the first rays of light hit the island they begin to vibrate, shudder. Then one by one they begin to fall, rapidly and chaotically. It is perhaps wise to not be anywhere near the crater as they do so.

They land in a crash of dust, which obscures the area. When the dust clears however they will see a perfect undamaged land. The pieces have fit back together, exactly where they should be, despite the chaos. The land is repaired and whole once more. Huma birds call excitedly as they dart through the air, their land restored.

A gate opens, for them to step through if they wish.

Purple

A Cure

It is day ten of Horseshoe when the first Huma birds fly into the village, they carry crystals either in bags in their talons or in their beaks.

The villagers clearly know what is going on for they welcome the birds and take the crystals thankfully. Anyone not currently fighting or purifying crystals is brought in to help distribute cures.

Actually curing someone is easy, it just requires the crystal to be touch an affected person or creature. The crystals are only good for one cure so those curing the blighted will be required to carry a few and run them to the villages.

Others can take crystals out into the woodland, looking for blighted animals to help.

A Final Fight

All but one of the golems have been found, defeated and restored. The final one has been elusive, not approaching the village or even the nearby woodlands.

The restored golems are back to standing vigil in each village, ready to deal with any attack that may occur.

But when an attack comes, it is not on a village, but on the shrine in the centre. A golem, three trolls and a host of animals, some blighted, some just angry. They attack in the early morning, the villages awoken by shouts and sounds of battle.

Luckily the blighted creatures can be healed, angry animals can perhaps be soothed. The trolls cannot be soothed though and will indeed try to rile up the animals again, to cause as much chaos as they can.

Peace Once More

Once the final golem is taken down, the crystal restored and the trolls defeated there is a quiet comes across the villages. Those who were blighted are cured, the golems are back in their place as guardians of the village and thanks to the adventurers the villages have gotten through this time with minimal damage.

The villagers thank the adventurers, tell them to come and visit whenever they are in the area. A gate opens, for any voidtreckers who wish to return to Royal Lake Hill.

Royal Lake Hill: All Teams!

They return to the tavern, each to the inn that they set off from. The town is a little busier now, more areas have recovered from the blight and it has brought more trade into the town. Everyone is still relatively elderly or young, non fighters. But the market is bustling, there is even a puppet show going on in the square.

Around midday a beeping of their SCA will show a dot on their map where the Voidtrecker Express has landed, not far out of town, and a message. You may remain here until sunset.

It is up to them whether they wish to return to the train or spend the rest of the day in the town. For those staying in town they will find word of their deeds have preceded them and they will find no end of young, wide eyed, budding adventurers ready to buy them a drink or two in exchange for stories.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Inigo can't tell everything here. He doesn't know the extra pain in Tidus's heart, even though he can see the way the other acts. Inigo mostly thinks Tidus is still trying to cover up his pain from a moment ago, back when he seemed to stop for a moment. That he's doing what Inigo usually does - cover everything up with a smile as you sweep it under the rug.

So of course he's not going to call the other out on it. They're both trying to do the same thing here, right? No matter what scars they may bear on their souls right about now, they're just trying to do their best. Trying to keep going.

Even as Tidus just casually knocks back the rest of that wine. Inigo doesn't judge.

Nor does he let go of the hand. Instead he stares at his finished skewer, his mostly-finished wine, and stands up.

"Sounds like we're going to need all the time we have left here, so let's go." With Tidus's whole list of things to do. "Make sure to leave some gold for the food though, so we don't end up on some list of wanted criminals here."

"H-hey!"

Tidus doesn't startle immediately as Inigo stands, though he does look confused. That comes when he speaks of now going, and Tidus, knowing how much that wine cost that Inigo is about to leave, picks it up, holds it out.

"You're not gonna finish it?! --Then I will!"

No, he's not giving Inigo a chance to answer (actually, he gave him a good second or two!!) before he takes that to his mouth and proceeds to finish it off, unless Inigo takes it from him.

Downnnnn it goes...!

Is a good second or two really enough to answer though? Before Tidus takes to drinking that wine like a horse that's been travelling the desert for two weeks? Granted, it's not like Inigo minds - Tidus seems suddenly so into drinking all these drinks that he isn't about to stop him.

Though he can't help but gently tease, "Hey, let's make sure you can still walk on both of your feet properly while we go around town."

Surely two or three drinks won't do that much to Tidus just yet, but.. you never know. If Tidus really is trying to drown his thoughts out with alcohol, then Inigo isn't so sure if that's really a healthy coping mechanism.

(And he can know, he is king of unhealthy coping mechanisms.)

"Are you good now?"

Better question is, are they still holding hands this entire time? Either way, Tidus stands once the mug is emptied and back on the table, a weightless sensation already in his system as he rises to his feet. "Alright," he says, like he's ready to go now. And he is.

--except.

Except.

He turns around back to the table, picks up the mug of mead and makes it disappear in a glitter of sparkly gold. Waits a second or so before facing Inigo okay.

"Alright, now I'm ready."

Yes. Of course they're holding hands.

You think Inigo is going to let go of that hand now he's seized it unless it's absolutely necessary? There's no way. Now he's gotten Tidus's company again for the first time in what feels like so long, he doesn't just want to let go of it. He wants to keep the other close.

Even as he watches Tidus shove something into his Arms Band. He's seen it often enough that it's normal to Inigo right now, but there's still a bit of A Look when he notices what Tidus is taking along in particular.

"Really wanted to savour that one, huh?" Okay, now he may be teasing. But just slightly.

"I bought it," Tidus says, not sulkily, but proudly. Or somewhere along that vein of emotion.

Regardless, he'll be the one tugging on Inigo's hand if he doesn't come up to him to the counter to put down the coins, the wine and mead already paid for, so the meal getting a nice gold coin before they go out the door.

"Okay. Flower island first?"

He looks ready! He sounds determined! Here comes the best time of their lives!

Inigo gladly lets himself be tugged over, waiting patiently as Tidus attempts to put down the payment with one hand - no, he still isn't going to let go of it, this hand is his now - and then heading out with him.

He sucks in a deep breath of the fresh air. It feels different now, this place. Like everything somehow got a bit lighter now Inigo isn't wandering around with only constant doom and gloom on his shoulders.

"Sure." He smiles at Tidus. "How are we going to get there though?" MAYBE THE MAJOR PROBLEM WITH THIS PLAN.

"Well," he starts confidently,

"--we look at a map!" he finally figures out, and gives Inigo's hand another tug as he starts walking. "I know where one is. Let's get going and hurry up there!"

Because they didn't have all day, and that was about all Tidus knew for time. So he takes them both to the Adventurer's Guild with its large map, and to map out a plan of their own to get to the lilies waiting for them.

And the result:

"Okay, so we can't there in a day."

Unfortunately. For whatever reason.

Tidus stands back outside the guild doors, him and his hand glued to Inigo's, apparently for forever more.

Which wasn't the problem here. "Can you believe it? We do all this work and we don't even get a free ride to some flowers? This is a joke!"

This is complain hour and Tidus doesn't like this unjust treatment!

It's funny. This is definitely the kind of situation where Inigo may just get upset under slightly different circumstances. Get all pouty, all puppy-eyed, the whole thing. And sure, he does feel kind of sad that they can't go see the lilies, since he would have loved to take back some for the train.

But standing outside the guild here, with Tidus's hand still in his, with the other complaining in that usual way.. He finds himself minding it so much less. He's just staring up at the sky, feeling the sun on his skin, and it all suddenly doesn't seem as bad, like a cloud has temporarily lifted in his mind.

It'll come back to hide the sun sooner or later and he knows it, but he might as well enjoy this while it lasts.

"What are you going to do, fight all those guys in there until they give you a magical piggyback over to the flowers?" It's said with some teasing, yes, but there mostly just seems to be a lot of fondness. In his tone, in Inigo's eyes as he glances towards the side, at Tidus.

He squeezes the hand.

"It's fine. There will be other flowers in the future. I don't mind."

Inigo is teasing him, but the way he says it, it sounds like a challenge. Like a possibility. Why doesn't he challenge a bunch of them to a fight until they can fight them a teleporting wizard? Huh?

But then Inigo squeezes his hand, assures him it's fine, and -- it would be too much now, to just turn back around. Except the want isn't entirely dissipated, and his frown won't sit still on his face; looking over at Inigo, expression sulky.

"I could go back in and challenge them to a fight."

If you really wanted him to, pal.

"You'd do that for me?" The tone he uses to say it is half joking, but also half genuinely touched. He can't be sure if Tidus is just saying it since he's sulking right now, but the idea of Tidus being ready to fight a bunch of random guys just to get Inigo some flowers is.. sweet. It warms his heart a bit after all this misery.

He smiles at Tidus, and a moment later shakes his head.

"Don't do it though. Those guys have no idea the Amazing Tidus would be coming for them. They wouldn't stand a chance." Though the truth of that joke is a little up in the air. Inigo does believe Tidus is competent, okay, but there's a lot of guild members in there! "Let's be fair to them and spare them today, okay?"

Absolutely would he do that for Inigo, but he's not giving the chance to express it, since Inigo wants to be the sensible one of them both. Pah. He could take them. Even if Inigo's teasing him, he bet he could. Did any of them climb up a freezing cold mountain and save a dragon? NooOOoOoOOOooOOo.

Tidus grumbles, but he leans into Inigo, against their arms and his head coming to tip against the side of his. "Only 'cause you're the prince." And so, because he said so.

He nudges his head once against Inigo's, and then withdraws, taking a step forward and looking over his shoulder, cocking his head in direction. "C'mon, we can find flowers elsewhere! More flowers! We don't need any crummy crystal flowers. Let's check out the market for some!"

He laughs. "Okay, okay!" But there's no real exasperation in those words. Inigo just seems happy. Because he is! Crystal flowers or no crystal flowers. Even if they only find regular flowers he already recognizes at the market, that's fine. The true treasure of the day is ~~Tidus's smile~~ the memory of a fond day spent with a friend.

So Inigo starts walking back in the direction of the market, still hand in hand with Tidus. Apparently he's not planning on letting go of that hand anytime today. Inigo may even be swinging it just the tiniest bit as they walk.

"You know, if you were about to fight for this prince, does that make you my loyal knight?" His eyes practically twinkle with amusement as he looks at the other. "You know, I always did dream of having a retainer my own age!"

Edited 2020-10-07 18:47 (UTC)

Tidus doesn't seem to mind the contact. He may even be swinging their arms a little some as well, and that's definitely not because he's got a buzz going on. This cheery attitude is all natural for a guy like him!

"Oh yeah, you guys have those, don't you?" Knights. There's quite a few stalls for them to mingle into first. Wares of watches and belts and leather, that of fresh fish and meat. "What would I have to do? Stand outside your door all day?"

Is that what knights - or retainers? - do? Tidus doesn't know, but he is starting to remember now how Gladio and all them were knights for Noctis. Kinda different from some of the movies he watched.

Okay, three mugs of alcohol downed Tidus.

Inigo lets out a huff though. "No way." But despite that answer being natural to him, he can still see where Tidus got the idea. "I guess it's what stiffer people make their retainers do.. But I always imagined it'd be much more fun than that, you know?"

He's being very genuine about that - it's something he never really talked about before with anyone, but he's thought it often enough.

"I thought it'd be a bit like having best friends. Always being together, fighting together.. Having a special bond.." He momentarily glances up at the sky before his gaze turns at the stall around them, trying to keep an eye out for any flowers being sold. "That just sounded so nice to me."

TWO. The mead is in his mini-fridge arms, fool!!!

"That doesn't sound so bad to me," Tidus decides, after a second or two of thought about it. "Makes me think of Noct and his gang. You know him? He's a prince too. One of them was like his personal caretaker since they were little kids too. How about that?"

Would that be fun for Inigo? A bunch of guys instead of just one, and even one of them growing up alongside him - if taking care of him too. Which had been weird to Tidus at first, but was it weird to Inigo? Would he like that?

They turn from the aisle, down to another side; except Tidus comes to a halt, and tugs Inigo hand to nod him to where a flower stall sits on the outer ring of the rows of tables.

The tug on his hand is all that's needed. Inigo's attention immediately turns into the direction of Tidus's gaze, and so he easily spots the flower stall as well. His feet start moving in its direction a moment later, gently tugging Tidus along through their joined hands as he speaks.

"I don't know the guy, but I know some of his friends. Mostly Prompto, but Gladio a bit too." Granted, he hasn't spoken much to either in a while now, he thinks, even before this mission where everything spiralled out of control.. "They seem nice. I would've loved to have that kind of arrangement.. though maybe not the part about having a personal caretaker? That seems kind of.. odd, especially if they're the same age as me."

How is someone his own age going to take care of him? He'd rather just have friends. Comrades in arms. Together until the end. That's the part of it that appeals to him.

They arrive at the flower stall, and Inigo immediately squats down to view the ones on display on the floor from up close. A hand moves out to gently frame the petals for a moment.

"It's just that it's an easy way to have some friends. It's not easy to make those when you're royalty otherwise." He glances up at Tidus. "Wouldn't it be the same for celebrities?" Mister sports star!

Tidus gives the entire set-up a sweeping look, before deciding to join Inigo, just not to be left out. Eyeing the flowers right in front of them, all variations of ohhhhh pretttty for a guy like him.

Nevertheless- "Most my younger days was me being sulky at all the other kids 'cause they'd always bring up my old man. Jecht this, Jecht that - it drove me crazy! It's a surprise I didn't end up a loner. I nearly did. But," he says after a pause, "it's just too lonely, y'know?"

He knows he's repeating himself there, but the point is the point! Doing that all-on-his-own thing just wasn't that fun, and there were some people who didn't always nag him about his pops, eventually. ...Few, but then he got more used to it as he grew older; grew more confident, had skills of his own that were developing. When he proved himself to be more than just his dad's kid to the other kids. And-

geez. He is glad he doesn't have to deal with school again.

"I can't imagine you as a loner."

Despite the circumstances. Tidus is just.. he's too friendly for it. So bright, so energetic. Call it cliche, but Inigo really thinks that when Tidus smiles, it's like the sun starts shining on you. Sure, Tidus sulking isn't that hard to imagine, he still does that at this age too-- but him being all by himself every day? That's much harder to think of.

Despite that he's still looking over the flowers here, seeing if there's anything particularly worth taking back to the train, Inigo can't help but let his mind linger a bit more on what Tidus is telling him. He's curious, so he can't help but ask.

"What happened though? Did you end up finding other kids who liked you just for you?" Surely there would have been some, right? Tidus is fun enough, how would people not notice that about him very quickly? ".. Or did you just have to put up with it?"

"Blitzball goes on. My old man disappeared when I was seven. People still knew who he was, but they...moved on. What's there to get out of a kid?"

A kid who never had anything he wanted to say about his dad, not to other people. And in turn, no one cares about the words of a seven year old, a ten year old, or so forth. His shadow never entirely left him, but-

"It all came up in blitz club and everyone having something to say, but they were my team too. You just learn to deal with stuff." A shrug, indifferent. "What else can you do?"

About the comments, the remarks, that twist your gut in a way that only you can know and understand - that bug you, but make you look immature for getting bothered by. Sensitive, too soft in the moment.

"Plus," he starts airily, rising onto his feet proper, "if everyone forgot about him completely, I wouldn't be able to show the rest of the world me beating him, you know?"

He says it with a quick flash of a grin, then moves over to the main table where the flower seller keeps an eye on their stall. Asking them about the crystal flowers, and oh, yes, those are the same family as this--

And the man walks to where mauve-hued caca lilies sit, and quite a few clustered close. Speaking about them, and how they even glow softly in the presence of people.

'And, when it's not a beautiful day,' the seller adds with a chuckle, nodding up to the cloudless sky above.

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