A Very Bad Dream

[dreamtidemods]

Tonight, even if you are not asleep, you dream.

This is the first of these dreams in which you are yourself. Any thoughts and feelings are your own. The sickness takes no toll on you here as you survey your surroundings.

The world is dying before your eyes, grass dying and rotting and earth eventually becoming dusty rock. The devastation is spreading out from a single point in the distance, a colossal four-legged machine. It’s favouring one side - were it not a machine, you could swear that it almost looks injured. Even from this distance, the way its metal feet tear into the ground is clear, as is the fact that it’s slowly recovering. Whatever’s happening to the world around you, it’s repairing the great machine.

Above you, something begins to encroach on the sun. Pointed silhouettes close upon it and it’s only when its light is extinguished from the sky in a single bite and the world goes dark that you realize that those were teeth. Illuminated by the sunlight shining from its mouth, a great dragon appears. Its scales are crystalline, trapping the sunlight within them and making it glow brightly in the sunless sky. Glorious as it appears, it’s clearly as injured as the machine is. Its scales have broken away in places leaving it to bleed a glowing silver-blue substance, almost like mist, but the sunlight shines through the injuries, reforming scales and healing its wounds.

The earth groans and creaks violently, tearing itself up in places as the machine rips its feet up from the ground. It dashes closer with speed that nothing its size should possess., continuing to rip through the ground below it as it does. The dragon treats the world no more delicately, spitting the sunlight down into it in its attempts to strike the machine. In a matter of minutes, the world has gone from verdant and lush to a dead, burning landscape.

You realize that these two entities, each mighty as a god, are fighting each other. And that you are unfortunate enough to be in the way. The earth itself is as dangerous as either of them, tossing and rearranging itself as if it were a sea in a storm when the machine moves or the dragon’s tail slams against it and throwing anyone unfortunate enough to be stood on it when it does. Flame rains from the skies, meaning they’re no safer. The machine seems to care little for anything in its path, but the dragon occasionally snatches people up into its hands, absorbing something from them before tossing them aside.

It’s now that you realize you’re not alone...

[OOC! Okay, this is going to work differently from the previous dreams, in that it’s a mass log post. Characters are now having kind of a bad dream, as you might have guessed. Important points are-

1) Any injuries recieved, short of those that would cause death, will remain upon waking. Death is possible in the dream, but won’t stick when waking (though a healer will be needed pretty urgently).
2) Characters are unhampered by the illness, since they’re dreaming. They’re as well-armed as they would generally be on an average day, so those currently stuck on bed-rest will be as covered in metal as they’d be were they healthy and fightan things. Much as I’m sure we all want Kain to be forced to fight giant dragons in his favourite baby dragon-printed pajamas.
3) Shinryu can use character’s memories to heal himself. These memories won’t be gone upon waking, though they’ll be inaccessible for the rest of the dream and characters may be a little fuzzy on the details of whatever was forgotten for a few hours.
4) Dissidia folks will probably recognize the place. Shinryu may be familiar to them, but not recognizable unless they’ve survived a cycle long enough to see him. (...so Percy and team Canon Fodder).
5) People who’ve seen either Shinryu or Omega as a superboss will recognize them if they look the same (the robotic Omega, rather than the beasty one). But they’ll know immediately that the one they fought was far, far weaker.
6) If there’s anything else you need to know, tell me! And I’ll edit it in here.]

The injuries remain when you wake, the dragon’s roars and the sound of metal moving still ringing in your ears.

As before, the linkshells transmit emotions for a few hours after the dream is over.

Comments

Shinryu

[dreamtidemods]

[These threads are here in case someone decides to try to fight the things. If you're not actively fighting them, feel free to godmode them in the background.

Shinryu won't be nomming memories in this unless you mention in the comment somewhere that you're okay with that happening. So if you want him to do that, mention it in the comment title or something.]

yes please memory nomming. :3

[mostlineface]

[The warrior would be one of those who decides to try and fight it. He has few attacks that could strike the creature from the ground where he is, so he does one of the few that would get close, and stabs his sword into the ground to send a Shining Wave toward the dragon.]

HORRIBLE

[dreamtidemods]

[A few moments before the warrior attacks, one of Omega's attacks had struck the dragon's side, tearing away at its crystal scales. The warrior's attack strikes where the dragon was already injured before it gets a chance to heal itself and manages to get its attention, if nothing else.

This is not necessarily a good thing.

Shinryu turns toward him, swooping to grab at the warrior.]

Omega

[dreamtidemods]

[mistlegacy]

[Having reunited with Golbez and sticking with him ever since, Rydia narrows her eyes as she sizes up the weird machine. Whatever it is, it's causing far too much destruction and she's getting tired of losing her balance thanks to its fight with that dragon. So, now it's time to find out if it can be disabled, at least. Hanging back, she doesn't wait to see what Golbez does and starts off with Flare.]

[transcendthestars]

[Golbez pauses for a moment, allowing Rydia time to cast her spell before he sends his own at the machine. Rather than Flare, he begins this battle with Meteor- the more damage they are able to get on Omega before it can counterattack, the better.]

[dualcast]

[Porom's quick to cast float when the ground starts to toss, but the protection it offers is limited. At one or two points particularly violent thrashes of the earth catch her before she can pull high enough, throwing her farther than they normally might were she not floating. The spell at least cushions the fall, though.

When she's not being tossed around, she's looking for others, scrambling to avoid being caught up in attacks and trying to heal any injured she can find.]

[proofofthebond]

[Here, have a pink, glowing nude figure in the air. She seems to be searching for something....]

[dualcast]

[What is that? She approaches it cautiously in case it's another party in this battle - she can feel its magic power from here, and while it's not on the level of either of their attackers it's not something a human should be capable of.

Not that she has any right to make that judgement, really.]

NOW IN THE RIGHT PLACE

[dies]

[After struggling to keep his balance on the raging earth for a while, Scott finally finds his feet. He's still tripping from time to time but for the most part he's managing to take the ground's movement in stride. He's looking for Hilda specifically, but if anyone else needs help then he'll gladly offer it.]

[rosesandhorns]

[Skirts, even ones as unrestricting as Hilda's, make moving especially difficult when the earth seems determined to make you stumble at every instance it can. It isn't long before Hilda's hands have been scraped almost raw by the rocky ground. She's almost given up on trying to make it anywhere else when she catches sight of Scott's red coat, and begins doing her best to move in his direction.]

Scott!

[dies]

Hilda!

[He's been thrown a few times by the moving ground by now, and had slowed a little, but he begins sprinting toward the princess when he hears her voice.]

Have you been hurt? [Answer carefully. You probably don't want him trying to fight the giant robot, do you?]

[mistlegacy]

[Rydia stares around uneasily. The last thing she remembers was twisting and turning in bed, desperately ill...and then nothing, as a deep sleep took hold. She barely had time to enjoy the novelty of being well again, when the earth quakes and changes, thanks to the two entities. The hellish landscape left in their wake isn't familiar to her, but is no less horrifying for all that.

Immediately getting back to her feet, she summons Asura. The Eidolon Queen casts Protect, then vanishes. Once done, Rydia refrains from summoning anything else just yet, preferring to keep her distance if she can, and try to find someone -anyone- familiar.]

[proofofthebond]

[Terra stares around in horror. She never expected to see this place again, nor did she ever have any desire to do so. That it's here, now...did that mean they didn't win the after, after all? And what are those beings ahead?

It's too much trouble to keep her balance on the ever-trembling earth below her, so Terra doesn't try. Instead, she transforms, assuming her Esper appearance. She'll glide around, doing her best to stay away from both machine and dragon--who knows how well that will work, though.]

[kingleer]

[Edgar himself is nearby, remaining as calm as he can possibly manage given the situation as he quickly surveys the area for any familiar faces. He can't be the only one here.

Terra's transformation catches his eye even from a distance, that bright flash of color unmistakable, and he begins to run towards her, cape trailing behind as he attempts to remain out of the path of the dragon as well as the machine.]

Terra!

[He stumbles, fighting against the earth beneath him for balance.]

[proofofthebond]

[Hearing that voice, Terra turns around and glides over in his direction.]

Edgar! Are you alright?!?

[mostlineface]

[The warrior stares around him at the landscape- it's one that's horrifyingly familiar, and a place that he would never see again. After only a moment of hesitation and looking around him, he starts toward the throne, paying attention to both the robot and the dragon. Both creatures seem dangerous, of course, but something about the dragon is familiar in an unnerving way. The power of this creature is obvious and terrifying. But something must be done, and the creature is the obvious source of it, so he travels in that direction as best he can with the earth so unsteady. He'll welcome the presence of anyone he comes across, though.

Later on, after the warrior has faced shinryu, he is not at all in the same condition as when everything began. Facing the dragon has left him injured, that much is obvious, but there is something else that may seem... off.]

[dualcast]

[The Shining Wave was fairly easy to spot, and once she realized someone was trying to fight that thing, she tried to make her way over there. Either to stop them or to help them, she'd not quite worked that part out yet.

But navigating the twisting ground isn't easy, even with float. By the time she makes it to the warrior, whatever fight had happened is long over.]

[proofofthebond]

[Terra will run into him sometime later, her eyes wide with alarm as she notices his state.]

You tried to fight them?!?

[But conversation can wait--first she casts Cura, since he obviously needs it.]

[transcendthestars]

[Oh, this place is one he remembers far too well. Golbez almost reflexively looks for the presence of Chaos or the other warriors who were summoned by the God of Discord. Of all the places he expected to be damned to, here was not especially high on the list.]

What madness is this?

[mistlegacy]

Golbez!

[Rydia calls out as she tries to make it over to him, as best she can along the trembling ground. She's thrown off her feet more than once, thanks to proximity to that machine-thing. It had been her plan to get out of its way first, but she's not going to leave Golbez out here alone.]

[bound_skyward]

[Kain arrives, glancing around warily. Of course the scenery is familiar to him from the Gods' War. Whatever the reason he's here for, he's at first glad to have his health restored.]

[Then everything darkens, the ground begins to shake violently, and he realizes too late that he's caught in an unfortunate position between two powerful forces...]

[proofofthebond]

Kain!

[Terra soars toward him, relieved to see him around and whole...and terrified that he's caught in this mess, as well.]

[grandsummon]

( she's running.
how she wound up back in this place is a mystery, but with the looming threat of the dragon and that huge machina -- there isn't much time to think about it. her feet are carrying her faster than her legs seem to be able to keep up -- and down she comes tumbling on her hands and knees. she scrambles to get back up to her feet -- )

Sanctuary... I have to get back to Sanctuary! ( there's just no way she could take them both on alone... )

[mistlegacy]

[Hearing that voice, Rydia swirls around.]

Yuna?!?

[She certainly seems better-off than when they met over the linkshell, at least physically. However, this situation has her understandably on edge.]

Where are we?