pawnstorm | ( open ) mid-autumn in gisela

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( open ) mid-autumn in gisela

Who: Anyone who wants to celebrate Mid Autumn Festival!
When: Roughly 11th September to 17th September.
Where: Gisela
What: A log for those who wish to use their tickets during Mid Autumn Festival! You can still use this log for visits outside of this week too (as a catch-all) but the script is for the festivities. Basically what you can do is hang out at the Inn, at Gisela, or check out the island's hot springs!
Rating: Probably PG only for if a lantern catches fire or something.

[Welcome to Gisela, the floating sky islands above Gresser! Known for its mystic scenery, hot springs, and the fact that you nearly died the one time you had a dungeon here, Gisela could be considered a popular vacation spot. Or at least it should be, because Vietnam invested good money into this inn.

Inn, you say? Yes, after the defeating the dungeon, Vietnam bought a business here, an inn near the hot springs, Dragon's Flight and Phoenix Dance. A normally quaint inn, it has transformed to offer more festivities. Staff will welcome you with elaborate fruit displays they will put in your room for you to admire (and eat). You may also like to sign up for mooncake making sessions, where you will be able to make mooncakes together with your friends and family! Share a moment with them, and then share the mooncake. Nice.

Lanterns are strung up, leading you out towards the gardens. The inn itself doesn't have a lot of space for A GREAT FESTIVAL, but on certain nights, there will be lion dancing and a few stalls opened up to sell souvenirs, all handcrafted thanks to Vietnam's instruction. Now, lion dancing usually consist of two or more people under a lion costume, however, some generous NPCs have lent them some tame magical lion beasts that look similar to the Asian mythological kind. However, Vietnam and Kija also found a pretty wild one that seems to be stuck eating some lion snacks, because they tried to wrangle it and before they could run, they were forced to commit. Kija named it Jae-ha.

Go further, and it seems like the hot springs that Vietnam has permission to use have also a bit of decoration themselves, with something heat and water proof, that is.

Should you just want to spend your time looking at the moon, darker, quieter areas of the gardens will let you do just that. Sit down and relax, of course.

If you don't really care about any of this at all, perhaps you'd just want to go sightseeing in Gisela!

And basically do whatever you want in this place, really. RELAX, HERO.]

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Lux— [ Oh, she caught him a little by surprise, actually.

Although he did see her flitting around earlier. Much like she had at the masquerade and it does seem a thing where she's in her element. Or at least... it's something she's quite good at. Of course he wouldn't intrude when she was so focused and intent in her role.

But his eyebrow does twitch a little at her observation and his smile sketches wry. Inspector eats even more than Timcanpy did, at least when it comes to sweets. True to his namesake in that regard. ]

He already had five. [ Although look, there's Allen picking up one of his remaining mooncakes and offering it to Inspector anyway when the golem leans expectantly close and noses over his shoulder. Why do you think he brought so many with him when he already ate so much himself inside?

But, politely: ] Did you have a good time?

[ Since it is winding down now; at least it's quieter and people have begun to disperse and filter throughout the courtyard. ]

Edited 2016-09-14 06:03 (UTC)

[ Just because this was very much her element didn't make it any less tiring. But few were allowed to see that. Settling down to sit, she chokes on a giggle. ]

Five, really? Someone here is spoiled.

[ Said teasingly, with a bright smile on her face. She didn't entirely mean that, really. Still, when Allen mentioned that he liked to eat things...

Nodding gently as she knelt there, she let her hands rest in her lap. ]

I did. It was a bit tiring, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves for the most part.

[ A pause. ]

The grounds are beautiful. I haven't had the chance to visit Gisela myself, but now I wonder why I haven't. The views here are stunning.

[ She hadn't had the chance to visit Gisela...? Wait.

Actually, his expression clears at that quite suddenly, quite forgetting he was in the middle of shushing Inspector from chewing quite so noisily. ]

You haven't? [ But he was under the impression she'd be in Blanc at least as long as he had. ]

You mean you weren't on one of the teams that went into the towers?

[ Growing a bit quiet, she shook her head. ]

No, the Carnaval was my first dungeon.

I woke up shortly after everyone returned from Gisela. I don't remember falling asleep, actually.

[ And from the tone of her voice, the idea bothered her. Worried her, that something like that could happen. She glosses over it quickly. ]

I hear it was quite an adventure.

[ Falling asleep...? That—

It sounds familiar actually. Like something Sion had told him. Hadn't that been when Allen... hadn't he fallen asleep too, before he left and came back? For days and days at a time unnaturally. ]

Lux? [ His own tone is concerned. He doesn't want to pry or bring up bad memories, he can tell her mood has sobered at recalling it, but... ]

What do you mean, 'woke up'?

Edited 2016-09-14 06:34 (UTC)

[ And drawing in a deep breath, her gaze lowered, the briefest trace of a smile falling away before she nodded. ]

Sometimes... people brought here will fall into a deep sleep, for days or weeks at a time. No one is entirely sure why.

[ It was how she ended up losing two of her previous roommates, and after seeing not one but two people fall asleep only to disappear...

Please don't ask her to elaborate, Allen. ]

[ Lux...

He won't ask then. Even if that begs the question then but how did you wake up and if she fell alseep once, did that mean she was more likely to again...?

(And not wake up?)

But he's quiet for a second at that, letting Inspector finish the mooncake before he turns his eyes back up to the moons overhead, a puff of breath hanging in the air as the autumn chill has begun. ]

A lot of things in this place... it seems like they're beyond our understanding.

[ But he speaks gently. Even if to most people that might seem like such an unsettling sort of thing. ]

Gisela was my first mission. [ Even before an assignment in the war. ] Afterward we got to see this place a little, how much the air had cleared and we could see it the way it was meant to be..

...but I haven't had a chance to come back and see it since then. It's changed a lot, this place. It doesn't feel like it's such an untouchable world not meant to be seen anymore.

But it was beautiful too, that dungeon. Even if it was also such a sad thing.

[ She was thankful when he finally let that question lie, because the questions he asked himself, she had as well. And it unsettled her.

So as he moved on, she followed his gaze, looking up at the moons hanging silently overhead and simply nodding, a contemplative hum escaping her.

(It was unsettling. But, in some ways, could be quite beautiful as well.)

His first mission. Ah. The fog clearing from her own expression, she smiled a bit, listening to him speak. A dungeon, beautiful? ]

Hmm? What do you mean, sad?

[ Allen's observation piqued her curiosity. The Carnaval and its Ringmaster, there was something strangely tragic about him as well. ]

Edited 2016-09-14 07:45 (UTC)

The reason the tower existed in the first place—

[ Oh, well. Actually he does turn to her with a slightly sheepish sort of expression at that. ] At least, that's my theory...

[ Allen believes it very strongly and thinks he may be right, but it might also be him imposing beliefs from how he understands his own world to function onto this one. ]

But the reason I think the tower became a dungeon is because of the dragon who made his home there.

Did you hear the story?

[ Why it existed?

Canting her head slightly, she slowly inched closer, smoothing her skirt as she did. While he may not necessarily have intended it this way... ]

No, I didn't.

[ Lux was a sucker for a good story, and settling in, she let her hands once again rest in her lap.

She's all ears, Allen. ]

[ He settles back a little as well, though for him that means leaning back a little with shoulders straight and back, head tipped skyward. ]

Supposedly, long ago...

Gisela existed as a floating fortress in the sky. One where dragons and harpies lived together in peace, even if they were terribly different creatures. But they were able to do so because of the marriage between a dragon and a phoenix who lived there.

Because of them, two species who normally couldn't stand each other could instead live together.

But the dragon couldn't accept how different his wife the phoenix was, so he banished her. And when she was gone—I think that's when he realized he had loved her all along. But because he was too proud to admit it, he held onto his mourning and blamed her for everything.

So the because dragon, Tianya, loved and grieved her but couldn't admit it, his feelings turned to rage and he went mad with his grief—and I think when he did that corrupted the fortress and caused the rest of the dragons to invade Blanc. Because when we encountered him...

[ Allen pauses at that then, before he turns Lux. Head cocked to the side with such a small but gently wrought sort of smile. ]

...when we fought him, he was inconsolable and mad with rage against her, thinking we were part of her return. But in death, he wanted his last words to be for her and her alone.

With them, it seemed like he was finally at peace.

So I think, perhaps, because he could finally admit that and his soul finally found peace—[ even if only in death ]—that's why the fortress collapsed finally and freed the island. Because where he fell, there was also the feather of a phoenix. [ One that, presumably... he'd held onto all those years.

One that Allen had held onto then. ]

That's why it was sad, being a place that existed because of his feelings like that. Because everything that happened was because he loved her and couldn't accept that or her.

So it's appropriate I think, that this inn is named like this.

[ It honors the feelings of the dead. Something that Allen appreciates more than most people can understand. ]

Edited 2016-09-14 08:46 (UTC)

[ At first, she watched him closely, listening to his words and letting the story wash over her. It felt almost like a fairy tale, a story one might tell a child as they struggled to keep their eyes open, and before she realized it, Lux too looked up toward the sky.

The dragon and the phoenix, brought together to unite the races. And the dragon's bitterness, growing into a coldhearted hatred, corrupted the land—as Allen told it, at least.

Her gaze still turned to the sky, her face illuminated in the moonlight, her brows furrowed gently. And it was only when he paused that she looked down again, a quiet sort of melancholy settling over her features.

A sigh, as her hands gripped each other. Such a beautifully tragic story, one that was almost painful to hear. ]

...I had no idea.

[ Pausing to once again look up at the moons in the sky, searching the stars. ]

I wonder...

[ Because remembering the fallen Ringmaster, how in his dying moment he plucked a lovespur out of thin air and bowed, his smile so very sad.

(It was his best friend's favorite trick, and his very last). ]

Are all dungeons like that? So very sad?

[ It's not hard to guess what she wonders, since in that instant with the Ringmaster Allen had wondered the same. Had wondered it before the Carneval even; that had only further cemented his beliefs. ]

Maybe. There's only been three, I think. That we've been here for.

But I think... that no matter which world it is, there's no power greater than the human heart. And if it turns to grief and despair, mourning those who are lost...

[ He smiles a little at that; something distant and a little old in his expression. ]

Maybe it's presumptuous, but in my world—strange events that can trap people inside can be caused by powers reacting to people's feelings like that.

It wouldn't be so strange to imagine that kind of thing could happen here as well.

[ A simple nod as she drew her gaze downward again. No greater power than the human heart, and when it becomes filled with grief... ]

Then a dungeon appears.

[ Because, while he would only imply it, while one might feel that it need not be said, it bared mentioning. Grief and anguish manifesting itself in great and fearsome dungeons.

Her gaze lowered to her hands. This was something that he seemed to have experience with, but for her, the idea that a heart so full of emotion, alive and quivering, could create something so dangerous—it was the worst kind of suffering. And knowing that the only way that they could ease that suffering was through defeating their dungeon, cutting them down... ]

It's cruel. Knowing that the only to defeat a dungeon, the only way to bring those dungeon masters peace means to end their lives. Tianya, Ser Lyon, and all those before... It's cruel.

[ Cruel? ]

Mn..

It is. [ Because in that sense, the masters of the dungeon...

... they aren't unlike akuma. ]

But you know, I don't think it has to be unkind. Even if it means having to destroy them...

[ He smiles gently—some sad-sweet sort of soft understanding—and touches the back of her wrist lightly. Please don't wring your hands so with such an expression. Caren was right maybe...

Allen Walker, so kind it's almost to the point where it's cruel. ]

...even if it means that, it doesn't mean that's all it has to be. It can be about saving them, too. Letting them finally rest and and be at peace.

Because to let an existence so sad continue to suffer and cause everyone around them to suffer—that's something I find even harder to bear. So I think because of that.. it's a reason why I'm glad, too. To be here and be able to do that.

[ To try and be the one to reach them with mercy. To rush there, so that he might make sure their soul is saved peaceably. ]

Even if I'd rather stop it from happening in the first place.

[ To her, this was something that Lux had no experience with. The idea that one could suffer so, and that through that, something terrible could be born from that suffering. It hurt to think about, that the only way that they could bring those dungeon masters peace was through ending their lives.

To say that it was cruel was not a slight at him, not at all. It was cruel that their existence was marred by such tragedy, such grief that they would become monsters, birth fearsome and dangerous dungeons and risk the lives of others. That was the cruelty of dungeons.

And it hurt, that thought, that amount of suffering reserved for one tortured soul. That there was nothing to do to stop it. ]

You're glad?

[ And that was what surprised her the most, and as he rested his hand gently on her wrist, as if to pacify her racing thoughts, she was reminded again of how different their worlds were.

What had you been made to see, Allen Walker?

The grip on her hands easing, she took a breath, simply letting hand rest on top of hand. Saving them, letting them finally rest. It was as he said, in Tianya's last words he finally he finally found peace. Even Ser Lyon seemed to find some solace in his dying moments.

It was cruel, this beautiful and at times ugly world. To destroy in order to save, it was so very sad, and yet...

Letting her hand slowly trail, her thumb gently brushed against his hand as she nodded. ]

I think I understand.

They've lost their way, and in losing themselves to grief and loss, become monsters capable of only hate and destruction. And in their anguish, hate and confusion, dungeons are born. So in order to save the soul that still dwells deep within, we have to destroy them, to use your words.

[ It was heavy, and closing her eyes briefly, she let her chin dip subtly. ]

I did think them odd, Ser Lyon's final words, how both very sad and very happy they were. They just want to be whole again, don't they? To be reminded of who they were, before they were changed by grief. And if doing such a thing can remind them...

[ It's cruel, but...

Looking up, she didn't quite smile, but there was resolution in her eyes. Conviction burning brightly in the night. ]

Until we can find a way to prevent this from happening, I want to do everything I can to ease their suffering.

Edited (read this back and didn't like it (side effect of falling asleep while tagging whoops)) 2016-09-14 18:42 (UTC)

[ Lux...

His expression smooths for a moment at that—almost in surprise, that that was the conclusion she reached despite looking so upset. The conclusion which, yes...

He feels the same. ]

Mm, exactly. [ He blinks for a moment but smiles then, like that's such a bittersweet but amazing sort of twist, and gives a nod. A small, bright sort of one. Truly glad. The reason for that being, of course, that she understood... but also because that sentiment she echoed—it's purpose. The purpose Allen has found here that helps ground him. ]

Because of that, I can understand why we're here. [ Not to fight as pawns in a war, in bloodshed begetting bloodshed, but... to resolve that? To end those pitiable and savage places and put the soul behind them to rest?

Yes. Absolutely. ]

[ Understood why they were here? Blinking a few times at that, first in confusion, then at the realization of what he meant, it began to dawn on her as well. ]

You think that we were brought here to ease their suffering?

[ "Heroes" called from other worlds, brought together to fight. At first it seemed clear, somehow they were meant to turn the tide of battle, to win the war under the banner of Blanc. But the thought that she was wrong, that instead their purpose was far more noble—to end suffering on a much larger scale...

Perhaps that was why they were called heroes, even if Lux could no longer call herself that. It was a strange feeling, but if that truly was that case, if that was what they were brought here to do... Then maybe, in a way, they were. It would explain why so many who had never seen the horrors of the battlefield (herself included) had been brought here. Bound by some underlying desire to help, connected by an unseen thread.

She nodded gently, a small, delicate smile curling her lips. Yes, she liked that thought. ]

...I think so too. It makes much more sense than being whisked away from our homes to fight in a war that we have nothing to do with. I think I would rather believe that than the alternative.

[ And in a way, she was grateful. So very grateful.

Although there was something curious about the dungeons themselves, something that she had begun to contemplate even on the train ride back to Caissa, after her first. The items found there, they seemed to have some significance to their master, and the cores... ]

What do you suppose the significance of the dungeon cores are? I've been trying to figure that out, and despite my reading, I can't find anything. Secretary Verdoni mentioned that they help restore order, but I'm not sure how.

Edited 2016-09-14 20:30 (UTC)

[ The significance? ]

I'm not sure. The soul, perhaps? [ And the sole reason he's a little leery of just turning them over. If it would be something like that... was it really okay to relinquish it without knowing what was being done with it?

(Knowing now what he does of what even the Order would do with that sort of thing, the place and organization he'd implicitly trusted.)

However— ]

But I don't think it's that.

Perhaps all of those feelings over the years form a crystal once they've been cast aside. If mana responds to our hearts and wills—maybe the core is like a distilled form of that.

In my world... a crystal like that is what would become our weapons, once it was properly formed and chose a host. [ Innocence, as he explained to her once. ]

Although the way it came to be is different than that.

Their soul given physical form, created by the strength of will...

[ A person's soul, crystalized by overwhelming emotions and turned into something so hauntingly beautiful. Lux stilled, the thought of that making her blood run a bit cold. And they simply handed something like this over without a second thought..?

Suddenly she wasn't entirely sure that she liked that idea. Their soul should be laid to rest, not freely given to someone else to do with... whatever it was that was done with them.

And that made her wonder as well; was this simply a peculiarity of those born to this world, or could one of them, if they were left to succumb to their own inner turmoil...

She didn't want to think about that.

Hearing his explanation, it all began to make sense. Why his conviction was so strong, how he could speak with such purpose, with a tone of expertise. ]

Innocence, right?

[ Like the cloak and mask he gave her, that he tried to recreate in this world. Yet instead of using this power to fight to protect, these dungeon masters used it to destroy, to tear everything asunder, a prisoner to their emotions.

He spoke of being glad that he was here, that he could help those tortured souls find peace. Then... ]

Does something like this happen in your world as well, then? A soul becoming corrupted by its own anger and anguish?

[ A soul becoming corrupted from its own anger and anguish...

He smiles a little at that and sits back again, letting his hands fold in his lap. ]

Aa... [ It's a gentle, almost wistful tone. Bittersweet. ]

In my world, that's what an akuma is.

[ Akuma.

Suddenly it made much more sense, why he fought the way that he did at the Carnaval. All this time, he had been channeling into...

The purpose of an Exorcist. He felt it even here, didn't he? And his desire to change the dungeon masters' fates, not only was it born from a steadfast desire to prevent suffering, but because, somehow, the path he walked had followed him here as well.

It was almost hilariously ironic. There was a time when she wanted what he had, desired to walk the same path. And when he said they already were, it seemed almost detached. But now... ]

Is there any way to save them? The akuma.

[ Yet she already knew the answer. If he fought the same way in his world that he did here, then—

"But you know, I don't think it has to be unkind. Even if it means having to destroy them... "

She was finally beginning to understand just what he had to endure. And it hurt, because, seeing it there, she began to realize...

Perhaps she didn't need to want after all. ]

[ Not detached. Simply said because by now it was so obvious it didn't need a lot of fanfare or great to-do. But realizing the path he walked before has been imported to be the same kind of one he walks here...

She would be right if she were to realize that's why he reacted as strongly as he had right before he'd said that. Why it was such an incredibly big deal to him and something not taken lightly.

But to her question, is there any way to save an akuma...

(The context of the dungeons and Heroes—)

He smiles gently. So very gently for something so very painful and yet something he's so very used to that it's deeply ingrained into his own soul. Marked straight through that curse on his left eye. ]

That's why an Exorcist exists.

[ It is the only way. ]

[ Why an Exorcist exists. Fighting akuma to protect others. That was the reality that she had stitched together from their previous conversations. That akuma were truly evil things, incapable of being saved, and yet, what he said...

That light of love that shined through his signature, gentle and strong, all-encompassing. It existed for them too, didn't it? So when she asked how to protect something that she had been taught to hate—this is what he saw, wasn't it?

Humans and akuma, and everything in-between.

But if this was why an Exorcist existed, if this was their purpose... then why did he smile like that? That painfully sad, distant and tragic thing that made her heart seize and hurt? The smile that he gave her when he wasn't telling the whole story, she had come to learn.

(What wasn't he saying?)

And normally, she would become insistent, pushing him to tell her why he smiled that way. But searching his face, trying to figure out why, she shifted forward again, a few inches closer before letting her hand rest on his, her eyes lowering as she smiled warmly. ]

Then I'm glad—

[ And drawing her gaze upward again, it warmed, her smile, catching in her eyes and radiating outward. ]

I'm glad that I could meet an Exorcist like you.

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