diatu | June Event and Intro Log

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June Event and Intro Log

June Event and Intro Log

Diatu and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Sundering Midterm Results

"Come! It is in my power to grant a wish to those who ask! Speak your desire and I shall grant it!"

Potent Potables

Physical Challenge (aka the Prompt Least Likely To Cause Suffering)

Healthy body, healthy mind, the saying goes. Professors Trammel and Kith, adherents to this philosophy, have begun holding extracurricular exercise groups during the off hours. Students can learn proper weightlifting techniques for endurance as well as strength, jog around the campus in groups, play impromptu games that get the body moving, or even just practice slow stretches and what other worlds might call 'yoga'. Captain Lominia aggressively prowls the area, looking for people to scoop into bala-inlota exercises -- far more grueling and dangerous to succeed at if you don't want to be badgered onto the student team, but amazing workouts either way. And Headmaster Birony has set up a fairly extreme obstacle course straight out of a ninja challenge, overseen by Professor Porfsin from behind a cannon which magically flings beanbags at the participants. Those who make it through receive a pie from the Headmaster, who it turns out apparently can make a really darn tasty pie.

Research On the Sundered

Wonders Await

Diatu Magicademy is open to you in all its glory. Except for the fountain. You can't swim in the fountain till they figure out how to banish the demon.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There was no invitation, no unspoken anything in Noct's look. It really had just been more just of a mental note of where the former Warrior of Spiritus had been standing. Those Gods weren't here, and they weren't here fighting under opposite deities, so in the king's eyes, they had no problem.

The problem was if the other had a problem. And if that was the case, then there would be a problem. Until then, there was no problem.

Briefly, the other man's tail had been noted, but that reminded him of..what was her name? Oh yeah right, Y'shtola. But Kuja didn't have her ears. He'd noticed the gaze too, but it was fine, Noctis was headed out to the field to see what he could see.

And Kuja could stare as long as he wanted or not.

Edited 2019-06-07 23:19 (UTC)

Maybe he was following the man for no good reason, maybe not. Whatever it might be, he stopped suddenly, some distance behind Noctis, and waited, neutral. They had no qualm between them, nothing of interest at least, and to create one now by following the man would serve him no good purpose.

"So you intend to fight, do you?" He wasn't sure how well that would serve any of them, given their establishment that the Sundered had come from worlds that were, in one way or another, falling apart.

The king felt that he was being followed, and to be honest, that wasn't the worst reaction that he could've had. Kuja's words made him stop and Noctis turned around to face his tag along. Eyes locked and for a moment there was unease at the question. Did he want to fight? No. But if this was the same merry go round that Materia had put him through, then he had no choice.

Someone was waiting for him and Cindy had already told him not to keep a girl waiting.

Placing his father's sword tip on the ground, Noctis shrugged. "If you've got a better idea, I'm listening."

He looked Noctis over and shook his head, stepping to one side to cross arms over his chest, set in the notion that he didn't want to fight here or now. He was simply interested in seeing what Noctis could do, now that he could focus on more than the man in front of him at the time and not just what was going on around them.

Being targeted by so many others, being under attack simply for being aligned with whichever god had chosen them to fight, not for who they were or what they were, though he was sure the truth behind that would have won him no favor. Kuja lifted a hand and waved it aside. "I have a few ideas better than this, but if you're set on them, be anyone's guest. The people running this facade seem to think that a fight would do us some good, somehow. I think they're wrong."

He felt like he was being scrutinized for some reason, and he almost mirrored Kuja by folding his arms across his chest but he didn't. If he recalled right though, the man in front of him could wield magic. And if memory served, that little mage always seemed to have the answers when he was on Materia's side. Even the mages among his father's glaives were sought after for insights too, so Noctis had nothing to lose by hearing the other out.

"I said I was listening."

This was stated softly. There was no malice or sassiness in his tone at all. It was the exact same tone he used when asking his small retinue something that he wanted to know.

"And just so we're clear, I'm not raising my sword against you." Maybe stating this was unnecessary as they'd established some sort of truce before, but to him, it was worth reiterating.

Edited 2019-06-08 01:43 (UTC)

Maybe Kuja was paying the man a bit more attention than he normally would have. It shouldn't have mattered one way or the other, but it was the first time that he had been in a world without a familiar face to take notice of, even if that familiar face had nothing to do with him in the least in his world.

He didn't know what the man knew so far as his own past went, but he hadn't imagined the warriors under Materia had any more time to trade stories about their worlds than those of Spiritus had to do the same with their own. The warriors of Spiritus hadn't had any love for each other, but he could see camaraderie in the other side, even as brief a time as he had had with them. It made him wonder.

It made him wonder quite a lot, far more than he should have. Kuja's tail flicked quietly. He shrugged at last. "Neither do I have any intent to raise my magic against you. I wouldn't mind a game on the boards over there, but I wonder if they're your type. You seemed less than interested in them."

Well, there was that at least, the mutual truce going up again. That was a relief.
But was Kuja implying that games weren't his thing? True Noctis didn't have his phone here or anything, but he would seriously challenge him to a game of King's Knight if phones were, in fact, a thing here. Video games would be another challenge too, but again they weren't in existence here.

"Then I'd have to say that you don't know who you're dealing with."

He would cross his arms over his chest and all that, but that would mean dropping his father's sword and that Noctis absolutely wouldn't do.

He's not sure he knows who he's dealing with at all, and that's the truth of it. He barely knows Noctis as a fighter, having had so little experience against him on the battlefield personally, but knows that Noctis is good at that end of things. Before their meeting here, he hadn't even known the man's name.

"A fair assessment. Would you care to enlighten me, then? If nothing else, it should prove entertaining."

Edited 2019-06-08 04:03 (UTC)

The mage is also lucky this isn't pinball or any other such game that Noctis happens to be good at and he's definitely good at fighting too. Too bad his arsenal of weapons isn't at his disposal and his warp strike ability is sorely missed.

The time he didn't have his friends with him and had to wield the ring of the Lucii without his other abilities was bad enough. But this place took the cake.

"Let's go."

Noctis decided to simply walk back towards the other area, wondering what playing games had to do with anything.

Edited 2019-06-08 08:15 (UTC)

If it were any of those games, Kuja might find himself learning under Noctis's expertise. As it was, they would both be learning, he thought, and he was okay with that. He isn't concerned about the blade the man carries around, and by Califleur's lazy ear flicking, neither is she.

He can't help but notice her interest in it though. Normally shiny things caught her attention, and that blade certainly was. She was smart enough to know not to pounce random strangers' belongings, but he still wondered at it as he headed back, following the former warrior of Materia to the boards.

"Which do you prefer? I've only read the rules to them, but I've never played any. The advantage will be neither of ours."

Noctis shook his head as they got back to the boards. He hadn't figured on playing games or anything to get back home. But at least the man beside him (or who had been following him) wasn't someone he was going to have a problem with.

"Doesn't seem to be anything I know so whatever works really."

Blue eyes are still scanning the place. This was even weirder than being dead, except the king is sure that he's not dead anymore. And he's not sure how that happened.

Turning to Kuja now, he had to ask. "So whoever wins goes home?" It can't be that simple.

Looking at the games now, Kuja still had no preference as to which he would play, so he settled himself at any random game that took his fancy, tail curling to accommodate the seat he was in. He wasn't committed, but he had been walking all day, and really, he was a little tired of it.

"Not quite. Whoever wins, somehow that provides these researchers the insight the might need to figure out why we were chosen to be pulled here instead of others." He shrugs and chuckles without any real humor.

Once Kuja decided wherever he was going to sit down, Noctis took a seat opposite the silver-haired man.

"Researchers." This is said with a slight scoff and his hand goes back into his hair. Right, he remembered who they were, wanting to hear some story about home and get a hair sample or something or other. Noctis had walked right past them, not even answering anything that they were asking about.

Yup, it was as he'd figured, winning wouldn't make him automatically go home.

"Well, that's just great." This somewhat echoes Kuja's humorless chuckle.

Edited 2019-06-10 06:41 (UTC)

He reaches out and takes ahold of one of the game pieces on the board, examining it closer.

"That's about as much enthusiasm as I hold for the idea. Personally? I don't feel they're researching the right aspects of this mystery, but what do I know? I'm just one of the poor, lost souls dragged into this world by their magic. Alas." He shrugs and sets the piece down, sighing loftily as he looks over the rules again.

"In any case, let them watch us learn this game. I have no intention of putting much effort into this."

"Seems like that's the story with everyone." Noctis said with an exasperated sigh. He then read the rules but wasn't really paying attention. Playing games wasn't on his agenda for the day, going home was.

What could this world possibly want with a dead king? What was he going to do here while he waited to go home? If fighting wasn't an option, he had no idea.

Apparently playing games with a former warrior of Spiritus was on the agenda.

The game piece is set down and nudged around the board with his fingernail, though he isn't truly playing the game, not how it was intended. His interests are in the man sitting across from him, and solely because his is the only face he recognizes from his past.

Part of him wonders if the gods who summoned them are here too, somewhere, but it's a thought easily dismissed. If they were, surely he and this man would be doing more fighting than talking. "Hear it enough and you might well be able to recite it in your sleep."

A few more minutes, staring, in thought, and he looks down to the board as a diversion. He doesn't want to make the man wary of him. "Twice, I was brought into a world to fight for a god whether or not it was what I wanted. The fate wasn't mine alone, but of everyone else who shared it, I knew only one. He who came from my own world."

He looks back at the man again, nudges the piece to a side. "Now here I am again, pulled away to another world with another request of me, another set of chains held over my head, and yours is the only face I know, but barely. When we last met, I never even knew your name." Califleur looks up at him, unsure of this conversation and the sudden interest, but she stays silent, and he ignores her. "There are many questions I have about all of this, and I'm sure you share that sentiment."

Blue eyes looked at the other man as he pushed around the game piece, and he was pretty sure that wasn't how this was supposed to go according to the rules he'd read. But he said nothing about it.

So while he had nothing to do and was listening, that's when the king noticed a few things as he sat there.

They had things in common was one. Like the other former warrior, Noctis himself had been brought to fight for Materia though he knew no one from home. The other time was when he met Sarah and the Hiso aliens. She'd had to translate their words for him because he didn't understand them.

Another thing was that this guy liked to talk certainly and the king kept his gaze averted most of the time.

Also noted was that while he himself had dark hair and clothing, Kuja wore some white and had silver hair. And idly it was wondered how it was kept like that.

But when the thing about the name came up, the dark head lifted.

"I never got your name either."

He picked up the game piece again, watching the other rather than what he was doing with it. The others with Materia hadn't all been so quiet, so reserved, but he didn't know them personally and hadn't wanted to. Maybe this man was just one of those types, one with walls built up so high around him very little could be seen past them.

It made him a mystery, and Kuja didn't like that, but couldn't explain to himself why. After another minute of staring at the man, he decided it was only because this was the only person he could even somewhat recognize, and he had been in the middle of unfamiliar and hostile worlds for so long, the relative peace of this place was getting to him.

He looked away again, to the game piece, and set it aside, tail tip twitching. "Not much time for proper introductions in a place like that, at each other's throats to power a strange world."

The other hadn't revealed his name either and the king sighed softly, looking back down at the game piece in his hand that he was now flipping over and over.

Noctis could feel himself being stared at and he wasn't sure why such a thing was being done. But he figured it was probably just because he looked older or something like that. His own hair wasn't spiked anymore nor did he obviously have his youth so maybe it was just the other taking notes of things like that.

There was the reminder again of how they knew each other, but maybe that would just always be a thing. They had agreed they didn't have a problem with each other so one of them would have to show trust and good faith first. And the king already had experience regarding something like this with Camelia in Altissia.

So he raised his gaze again to look at the silver-haired man.

"Noctis."

It was clear to anyone that they weren't interested in the game or in the fighting. Kuja couldn't help a light, amused smile at the other game piece getting tumbled over the other man's fingers. They had invented a game of their own that was far better than the rules of how this was meant to be played, and he had no qualm with it.

This time, he left his own pawn on the board and let it stay as it was. He had lost all interest. "A name to go with the face. I am Kuja." Instead of a bow, he simply inclined his head. "So then, with that aside, why do you think you were brought here, Noctis?"

He wasn't sure what that smile was for though it didn't seem to have any malice behind it. It almost seemed genuine for some reason though the king couldn't fathom as to why.

Noctis nodded to acknowledge the other stating his name but his expression darkened at the question. However, it was in no way directed at the man himself that sat near him.

He sighed and thought of Ardyn though that man had been defeated. Setting down the white king piece in front of the pawn, he looked back up briefly and shrugged.

"Maybe someone is getting a kick out of playing games with people's lives."

Edited 2019-06-14 08:32 (UTC)

Since the research party a month ago, Kuja had given the hypothesis more serious consideration. Here he was in a world where he wasn't needed, hadn't been called away by some god seeking to use his power. It wasn't his first time, and it wasn't a first for at least two others on the campus grounds that he was aware of.

He didn't know about the rest of them, but he had a suspicion that not all of them were here because they could fight. Having done what he had in his past, Kuja refused to believe they were here because they all deserved a second chance. So then he was left with the idea that maybe they were here because their worlds had once been in peril.

"That is the going theory. I am not aware of the full results of all of this research they say the locals are doing, but it appears that some or most, if not all, of us are here because our people or even our very worlds were threatened."

Well, that pretty much sealed it. No one really knew why they were here and at this point, it was anyone's guess. So the king looked back down at the board, mulling over Kuja's words.

His own world had been threatened, but he'd fought and fought and had defeated Ardyn. Had that all been for nothing? No, he fulfilled the crystal's prophecy, he'd done what was required in order to bring back the light. Or had somehow coming here prevent that future?

The dark head shook as he picked the white king back up and looked at it as if it would give him the answers that he sought.

"If our worlds were in danger, it would stand to reason more people would be here, not just a chosen few." This was the king worried about his people and the people who were dear to him.

He tilted his head, nodding agreement, then watched the man continue to play with his own piece. The white king. He had no idea how fitting that choice was, but it was all just a board game to him, just pieces carved of wood to entertain them, though they had no interest in it.

"Yet another mystery for the ages. Why should we be so special when entire civilizations are at risk? Or were, as the case may be." And as the case was, in his own world, now that the biggest threat to it had been removed. But why put him here, where he could cause harm, even though he had no intention of doing so anymore? And why bring one of the heroes of another world to this one? He had been surprised not to see Zidane.

He looked down at the board and moved a pawn, not caring which, in a way he thought was within the rules of the game. In truth, he didn't know and didn't care if it was. It gave him something to do other than mull on the where and the why. "But here we are, whether or not it makes sense, trying to make as much sense of what we're doing here."

The king's jaw clenched. "And no one knows anything of a way to get back." He's frustrated certainly but is keeping a calm veneer over the worry. A hand goes over his stomach, which was a gesture he did back home.

His death was supposed to bring back the light and save the people. Now he finds out he's possibly being saved? He died and this made no sense whatsoever. If this was true though, then his death accomplished nothing, it served no purpose. That just couldn't be right.

Needing something else to focus on, Noct picked up the Black Queen and set it next to the White King, just to distract his mind. He almost wished that he was back on Materia's side. At least there he'd know what to expect.

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