Star Fall [QUEST]

[Rocket!]

[The following is an epic battle quest with a difficulty rating of 8! To sign up, or get more details, click here.]

NIGHT. ETERNAL NIGHT.

NIGHT, FOLLOWING NIGHT, FOLLOWING NIGHT.

NEVER ENDING NIGHT.

This is how Traverse Town's laws (see: science) require the world operate. With no daytime, the inhabitants of this night ensnared townworld have lived on for as long as many of them can remember naught but stars inhabiting the heavens.

With no fear of making sure light is able to reach every desolate nook and cranny, the builders of this brown, yellow, and black tinted landscape went, um, to town. Buildings on top of buildings... on top of buildings...

There are plenty of inhabitants to inhabit this realm.

But tonight... something is different about the air.

Few people outside tonight...

and the wind is silent.

Not unlike the calm before the storm.

[nascent]

"The Black Wind howls..."

The shadowmage wasn't sure what had drawn him to this night-clad hamlet, but as he felt the icy dark ethers swirl invisibly around him there was no question what was making him stay. The Black Wind... disaster's herald-gale, death's trumpet call... he could feel it swirling, raging across every house and down every alleyway. It's whispers, imperceptible to those not attuned to the grim zephyr, were now more like a vast chorus chanting a chaotic eulogy. Not since the Ocean Palace incident had he felt it so strongly...

... which meant that cataclysm couldn't be far behind.

Lesser men, having such foreshadowing, would have run for their lives, yet the shadowmancer stayed. Why? As a Nobody he felt no true fear -- there was the wish to survive, yes, to continue what amounted to his existence, but fear to him was now only a memory. Even so, what held him there? If curiosity, a distant vantage would have been far preferable. No... there was only one thing on his mind.

The mage's blood-ruby eyes turned skyward. Would another red star fall tonight?

If so... he would be ready.

[Zero [Axel]]

It had been at least a year since Zero last set foot in Traverse Town. Nothing but himself had seemed to change much. The eternal night sky still loomed overhead. It always had caused a sort of uneasy feeling within him, even as gentle as the scene was. The last time he was here, the streets were writhing with heartless but now it was eerily calm.

He paced down the road beside the accessory shop, toward the 2nd District. Ifrit had been sending him from world to world looking for some rune stone. What the rune stone was for, exactly, wasn't revealed to him. So Zero has been wondering around worlds looking for said rune but with no luck.

He buried his hands in his pockets as he strode through the streets aimlessly. Boredom was weighing him down since there wasn't really anyone here to converse with . Not even heartless were lurking in the shadows. What a dull place this has become. Pressing his back against the large door, he pushed it open so he wouldn't have to remove his hands from his pockets. A strange feeling washed over him that caught a small portion of his attention. He was too apathetic to give it any thought but it lingered in the back of his mind. Boredom was turning to aggravation.

A fireball formed above his palm, only achieving the size of a large marble. he bumped it up and started juggling it casually on his fingertips as he began walking down 2nd District.

[Akito]

Alexis coughed, the tea was hotter than he thought and it had lightly burnt his tongue. It was his fault really, he was impatient to try this new brew of tea the cafe was selling. Royal decadence, it was called. An ironic and curious name that the sorcerer simply had to sample. However, the tea was not the sole reason for his presence; he had a different agenda. Observation and perhaps something more of the looming magic he felt inherent in this humble abode. Something was stirring, something fearsome and terrible. He wanted to ogle that something.

Some might call it a dangerous disregard for one's own safety and the safety of others to know that an event of unmeasured terror was approaching and yet doing nothing to prevent it; fact was, Alexis knew enough that it could not prevented with his power. Even if he tried, he would not be able to convince these simple folk to abandon their homes just because he had a bad feeling. People had never been that trusting of strangers. Of course, he had posted on the bulletin board a warning, scribbled on a piece of scrap paper perhaps, yet he did not expect many to believe him.

Alas, all he could do now was wait and watch. Perhaps he would act, perhaps he would flee; it all really depended on his mood and whether or not he wanted to play hero. Unlikely. He had played the role of a hero for far too long.

[kempff]

This world was not ready. Its hollow buildings, desolate streets, and persistent populace were a sad dichotomy that defeated itself. It was not whole. It only made since that everyone and anything would be attracted to this place.

Why then had it taken so long for him to come? An ever constant shadow of darkness and stream of visitors destined to come and go, but act later as if nothing had truly happened but that the period in their lives was a cold and unforgiving transition? Not so anymore, in this period of unending night, the scales were undeniably tipped so that Traverse Town would never see its stars, much less twilight again. Then a bright white circle appeared in the sky, runes filled it and moved about. A beam shot from its middle and the entire world shook when it hit the ground.

Just as Sephiroth had met Sora the first time, he would meet this world. There was a crater in the street he landed in, a memento of his presence for Traverse Town to keep. His wing was at his right side, Masamune at his left. The quiet of this world did not live up to Sephiroth's expectations and so he began to summon his will in the area around him, consequently shaking the entire place to its very foundation. "Amuse me shadows, show me why I've come."

[Rein]

Wind raged forth and about. Whatever you might call it... it was there.

This wind had a different feel to it... a malevolent, harmful one. Though it had little appearance, it's cold, harsh blow sent a chill down any innocent bystanders... eager cheering them into leaving the outside world for the comfort of their indoor haven.

Not to mention indoor plumbing. That wind was weird.

The wind came about to Magus in it's roundabout path. It seemed to find him interesting... it took a moment to swirl about him, examining him.... before abruptly falling still.

The hard edged wind remained frozen for a minute, still enraptured about Magus.

And then it flew. It flew past the people, past the buildings, past the streets, in a fevered rush--

--towards 3rd District.

• Chase after the Malevolent Wind!
  

[Necro]

Before the light, there was darkness...

The neon lights cast shadows upon the world, remnants of the once powerful darkness. Those people, monsters, had driven all of it to a small corner at the end of time... The realm of darkness, a place so barren, so desolate, that not a single being lived within it's boundaries. Not even the stars shined for that place...

But Traverse Town... It was near the realm, so near in fact, that day had ceased to come for this unfortunate world. Light was gone, all except for that small, withering amount the humans had made out of their own mortal selfishness...

However, the lamps and candles now shone upon two newcomers in first district. Their names were rather odd as well; Sephiroth, Alexis. Their shadows were powerful, but still only remnants of their true selves...

But together, the two shadows could destroy one of them... And that was exactly what they thought to do as they lifted from their cold, almost comatose-like slumber.

The shadows of Sephiroth and Alexis formed into small little spheres, globs of darkness. Each glob was about an inch in diameter, and the two masses of shadows came together in front of the door to second district. The spheres seemed to pause for a moment as two large, gas-textured yellow orbs formed in the middle of the mass.

They stared at the fools they had harvested their power from. They were in the realm of light because of their stupidity...

The mysterious globs pushed open the door of second district, flying towards third. And as it went, each neon light exploded, the light disappearing ever so quickly...

• Follow the mysterious shadow-spheres!

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[Helio]

Light takes many forms. The foremost of which is a flame, scattering light and heat across many things...

The flame that Zero juggled flickered, almost going out, but bits of golden sparks gathered into it, building it up once more. Now the size of a person's head, the golden flame hovered in place before Zero, no longer responding to his will. The flame scattered into many sparks, which swirled around Zero, surrounding him.

Reforming into a flame, the golden fire shot away, streaking around buildings and disappearing through the large door which led into the 3rd District. A slight glowing trail of golden sparks was all that was left of the flame.

• Catch the golden flame!

[kempff]

Boring silence was pretty much all Sephiroth got in return to his question. This was not pleasing. The inhabitants of the world seemed to all be in some comatose state, not a single one reacted to his arrival. Really was this is it? How often did he misinterpret the changes between darkness and light around him? Not a moment later was Sephiroth's attention seized.

With a spin and hop back he found his shadow being manipulated by a force he hadn't even noticed. "That was a bit literal....lead on then darkness." The odd blob shape created from Sephiroth's shadow led him to gates, of the second district if he was correct.

He was about fifty feet back when suddenly the blob exploded, a lesson he'd learned long ago in being too close to shiny unexpected things. Slowly Sephiroth walked forward, Masamune in hand, ready at a moment's notice as he walked into the darkness of the second district.

[Akito]

How quaint. Alexis' shadow got right up and seemed to zoom off in escape. Of course, normally a person would commence immediate pursuit. But alas, Alexis was busy. He hadn't finished his tea and damned if he was going to rush through his leisurely relaxation for some insolent magic. In doing this, it was a good ten minutes before Alexis would pick himself up, leave the amount he owed and a little extra on the table and casually made his way to follow the orb of shadows that was once his. He had no fear of losing it; afterall, he could feel the presence of magic almost all across town. Tracking the shadow orb and it's specific magical presence would be child's play.

Alexis looked past the crater that the man with white hair had made some time ago. Frightfully strong that one and clearly a bit showy; Alexis wasn't surprised however that nobody tried to charge him with damaging public property. The sorcerer could have alternatively have followed this man's all too obvious presence towards the orbs. So it was with casual ease that Alexis sought the shadow orb into second district and all the way to third, lagging behind as he was.

[nascent]

This new arrival wasn't the Black Wind... but it was unquestionably an omen of ill tidings nonetheless. As the chill zephyr departed him Magus gave chase, strongly suspecting that this whirling cyclone was merely a herald of something far greater, far stronger.

Whatever power was behind this, he'd get to the bottom of it. Taking flight, the warlock pursued the swift-moving gale as it tore a reckless path towards Traverse Town's third district.

[Zero [Axel]]

Zero raised his brow at the flame that belittled his manipulation. He gave it a little more juice when it began to dim but it didn’t work. It continued to do as it wanted and Zero was growing profoundly more interested in why it was acting this way. Instead, it controlled what it wanted to do by drawing in golden sparks, which greatly increased its size. The Pyromancer dropped his hand but the flame didn’t move from the spot in front of him.

“The hell?” he queried; maybe it would give him an answer if he asked. It had just broke free of his control, so who knows.

The flame then shattered into pieces of golden sparks that danced around him in a short but awe-inspiring light show. It wasn’t every day that he saw this, but what could be the cause of it?

It merged back into one and shot away as Zero began to think. The only thing that remained was a trail of the enigmatic sparks that followed the fireball’s wake. And Zero followed, curious as to what the hell just happened.

[Rein]

The harsh wind dashed across the plaza, making it's way up and over various roofs and imposing heights in but mere moments. As it made it's way towards the 3rd District, it made no effort to slow down... if anything, it might've sped up!

Upon reaching the 3rd District, the zephyr continued it's mad escapade, going for a roof far above the main plaza.

This was right about wind all wind froze, and little to no movement could be discerned in the district. Save for the oncoming intrusions, of course...

The malevolent breeze halted as well, dimly recognizable in the corners of any passerby's mind... a force that no usual force would dare tangle with.

It's brethren were not far behind.

It fell to the ground, etching the macadam in the process. Rapidly moving now, the small bits of dust that accompany alleyways such as that soon found themselves trapped in the whirlwind. The whirlwind in question was increasing in size and speed, whooshing around and about in circles. A grey hue soon fell upon the wind, giving away the intention of the fast growing wind: it was not just wind.

Well, any more.

As the force of wind progressed upwards, it left in it's wake two large legs, grey in color and of no particular shape. Dust and the odd bits of trash from a wider area soon found themselves stuck in the vortex, helping to create the thing.

The thing turned out to be a monster. Towering at a height that, at least, must number three stories, with large limbs that easily surpassed the dimensions of most any pillar you've set sights on, and a body that followed in a similar pattern, this creature was most definitely not there for a pot of tea.

The lower parts of the creature's legs expanded, becoming slightly enlongated and thick, though not changing in any particularly noticible way as far as body shape is concerned, so as to provide support. These made the feet.

In a similar fashion, the arms grew wide and maybe a little fat, with little pricks coming out of the end of the resulting mass. These pricks drained the mass, growing in size and dimension, fulfilling their roles as fingers very nicely-- they were basically rectangles, these fingers. Admittedly, their width varied here and there, but still.

The mass of grey, clay-like material that breifly made up the chest vastly increased, making itself out to a more humanoid form. The thing, though it obviously had no armor to speak of, seemed to be made of a strange clay at first glance. The texture and feel of the thing would certainly make you think that.

However, upon touching it you'd feel something entirely different. The thing was rock solid, despite the amorpheous appearance.

As the wind died out, with the last of it's work being the monolithic beast's head, (a strange, sideways diamond like shape that had wide faces and came up to the point in the back,) the creature looked about in a feverish manner. Then, without warning, it took a step back... and threw it's head into the sky.

What followed was not, by ordinary definition, a roar. More like the echo, or ghost, of a roar. The ground shook in no small way, and many a shingle fell from rooftops, in response to the silent bellow that was loosed from the thing.

Or rather, the titan.

• Take down Rein, Titan of Nothingness.
  

[Helio]

The flame entered the 3rd District, floating nearby as Rein appeared, keeping its flame from going out in the wind. As Rein finished appearing, the flame paused as it heard the roar. It was time.

The flame floated to one side of Rein, quickly increasing in size. It began forming into a shape, a humanoid one, as it increased. Golden flames split apart from the main fire to form arms and legs, a tall head emerging from the flames as well. The fire burned out, before dying down into what looked like pure golden light, almost blinding.

The titan, same size as Rein, looked much like a statue of a human, made out of blindingly bright light, with no distinguishing features. Its face and body were as smooth as if they were made of water. It looked at Rein, and then looked away, waiting for something, or someone.

• Defeat Helio, Titan of Light.

[Necro]

Light and Nothingness must be accompanied by one more, or else the world will be unbalanced...

The cloud of dark blobs stood beside Rein, opposite of Helio. The blobs, floating in mid air, suddenly came together to make one large ball of darkness. The swirls of omnious purple and blue became less and less solid and more and more gaseous, losing definite form and shape. The ball expanded, evolving into some sort of unrefined humanoid shape.

The shape was about the size of Rein, if not a little bit taller with it's atmospheric properties. It's supposed head was a little bit thicker than the other two of the other titans. A bloated torso, fat really, was below the head. Beside the massive figure were two very thick and attached arm which came down to its knees.

The legs, somewhat covered by a "skirt" manifestation, were just as thick as the arms. The feet however, were very much out of proportion, extending in defined toes far beyond the large stomach.

...

Two bright yellow eyes in the bald head suddenly appeared, showing that the fat head had a vague mouth. A dark chuckle was produced, being heard all across third district.

•Destroy Necro, Titan of Darkness