Mognet post to all Heroes of Light, dated April 20th. Also an action prompt on the 17th.

[line_piece]

[Action; Aqures Ixen - 13th District - April 17th]

[Chiaki stands in front of the statue of the Heroes of Light, staring up at it with a curiously blank expression on her face.  She's clearly deep in thought about something, as she eventually bows her head and lifts a clenched fist to place it over her heart.  Anyone passing by may hear her whisper something.]

Father... it took two thousand years, but someone got your message.  You didn't fail.  You didn't fail at all.

[Mognet Post - April 20th]

[A few days later, following Chiaki's trip to Trano Golsaucia to meet a certain doppelganger, she sends out a letter addressed to all of the Heroes of Light.  Each one is hand-copied and delivered personally by her moogle, Mogomi.  And while this means the letters are mostly written in pink crayon and adorned with little cutesy touches like the i's being dotted with tiny hearts, the letter is still intelligibly written.]

Everyone,

By now, some of you may have heard about the dream that some of us had on the night of the 16th.  I had one of those dreams, and the next morning, there was a letter waiting for me from Kalki.  I've filed a detailed report on exactly what I saw in my dream at the guild hall in the observatory, along with the contents of the letter, so anyone who's curious about that can read it there, since that's not what I want to talk about here.  This might be long, but please bear with me.

I'm assuming that Kalki sent the same letter to everyone who had the dream, and if that's true, she either had one herself - or more likely, she was the one responsible for sending us the dream somehow.  She was probably behind the last one too.  And if that's the case, then I know exactly what kind of villain she is.  Kalki knows a lot about this world, its magic, and its history - probably more than anyone else here.  Maybe even more than Jessie.  And because she knows so much, she's convinced that what she's doing is the best thing that can be done for Crystallis.  She's completely sure that her way is the best way to put a stop to the cycle of sorrow and death that this world is trapped in, and that the only way to bring about that outcome and ensure that everything goes according to plan is to stop us.  And if she can't stop us, she'll convince us too.  Make us see things her way.  That's why she keeps revealing information like this.  She's so self-assured that she thinks eventually, we'll come around to her way of thinking.

And I can't speak for anyone else but myself, but I don't agree with her way of thinking at all.  I feel like it's fundamentally flawed.  It's worse than simply killing all the Heroes of Light, or manipulating the crystals to control everything, or working together with Emperor Garland.  Kalki has hope for this world, but that hope has been twisted, and it's caused her to go about things in a way that might make everything even worse.  That's the kind of villain Kalki is.  It's not simply a matter of good and evil, black and white - she's holding onto her own hope, and she's doing what she feels to be right.  If we're going to fight her, we need to fight her on the field of ideals as well as on the field of battle.  The people of this world have hope too, after all, and as Heroes of Light, so should we.  It's important, now more than ever, that we work together for the future of this world - for the future of all of our worlds - and refuse to give into despair.  The truth is sometimes painful, and I imagine there will be even more uncomfortable revelations to come.  But no matter what information we discover, we need to face it head-on, with our eyes wide open, and look to the future.

I know you can do it.  I know we can do it.  Let's believe in this world, and in our power to change it.

-Chiaki Nanami

Comments

written.

[divinewrath]

( Chiaki will receive a letter directly from Aria, Nel's moogle. )

To Chiaki Nanami,

Yes, you are right. I don't agree with her line of thinking as well. It is flawed, plain and simple. You may be right in the fact Kalki may believe this is our best hope; and given the span of years this has seemingly gone on, perhaps she may believe herself justified in her actions.

But whether or not she intends us to see her side of things - that matters little at this point. No matter what: the fact remains that we are still here, and we now have a better idea of what we could be dealing with. It won't be easy, but we can surely bring an end to this. Without having to resort to her methods.

We must keep moving forward.

-- Nel Zelpher

[line_piece]

Nel,

I think so too. Whatever she's planning - because I don't think we've seen all of it - needs to be stopped. I don't know if we'll be able to convince her without a fight, but if it comes to that, we need to make sure we're ready and that we can all do our best.

-Chiaki

Mognet

[umslay]

Chiaki:

When what point is she trying to prove? Those fellows in that dream failed their quest and the Calamity took over. If we're supposed to just sit back and wait, no good will come of that.

And that dream makes no sense. The guy I recognized from my home world was right there when I was transported to Crystallis. And he definitely didn't have the most recent memories of me.

Something just doesn't add up.

-Ales

[line_piece]

Ales,

I'm not completely sure yet. But I think she sent us that dream as a means of discouraging us from fighting, to make things easier on herself. She's been pretty antagonistic toward the Heroes of Light in the past, so I think she's trying to get us to just give up, and to give into despair.

We already know the Heroes of Light can be summoned to this world from different points in their own timelines, so maybe that's what's going on here. This world doesn't obey the laws of space-time that a lot of us are used to. We can probably chalk most of that up to magic.

It's a good point, though. Even though we learned a lot from the dream, we need to consider the source. If Kalki was the one feeding us that information, she could easily selectively edit the content and show us only what she wants us to know. The truth can be misleading if you don't have all of it.

And I don't think we should sit back and wait either, but we need to figure out what would be the best plan of action. The crystallization is happening slower this time. There has to be a reason for that, but whatever it is, it's giving us much more time than the last set of Heroes had. We'd be fools to waste it.

-Chiaki

[umslay]

Chiaki:

It's things like this that make me wonder how real that dream actually was. I don't deny that the Calamity happens eons ago, but she took someone from an earlier point in time than mine who, as far as I can tell, was still living in my world up until I came in. Either he's a copy of the real one, or it's something else.

If that dream is completely true, I'm worried that we--the current Heroes, that is--have been in stasis for hundreds of years and forgot all about it. That dream when we first came here might have something to do with it.

-Ales

[line_piece]

Ales,

I couldn't say for sure. The person I saw in my dream was already dead before I was born. It's possible we're dealing with alternate universes as well as alternate timelines, but I don't have enough information to make a call on that one way or the other. You could be right, though - we've definitely seen enough people in stasis already, even right here in the city.

-Chiaki

[goddessofthesky]

Dear Chiaki,

I was told who had sent us the first dream and it wasn't by Kalki. It had been a warning for us not to come to the Empire, that is was unsafe. However it does mean that such a thing is possible and it is likely that those who hold seats in the Empire are the one's able to make such a thing happen.

I to, saw someone that I admire. I saw them fight and their battles. After receiving that letter from Kalki I found her and she was happy. It isn't the end she thought but it isn't a bad one either. I know that the world she was from prospered because it is my own world. She is from my past and part of me. I believe now more than ever we have to move forward.

Thank you for your letter and for sharing your thoughts.

~Zelda

[line_piece]

Zelda,

That's good to know. Each piece of information we uncover gets us closer to the truth of this world.

I saw my father in the dream, and I went to see his doppelganger afterward. It was comforting to be able to talk with him, even if he's no longer the same person he was before. We never knew each other in my world to begin with, so I'm thankful for even this kind of opportunity to relate to him.

It will be better for him here. Our world... it's not a happy place to live. There was nothing left for him there. This is his world now, and because of that, I want to protect it. I think we can do it.

-Chiaki

[goddessofthesky]

Dear Chiaki,

I think so too. I hope that the other heroes had such a happy experience as you. It would be good for our moral to rise instead of fall. The ending of this dream has me alarmed and it is to much like our current situation to make me not take heed of it's warnings.

We must be careful from here on out and chose our path wisely.

~Zelda

[line_piece]

Zelda,

I hope so too, but I doubt it. I'm sure there are a lot of people who are feeling confused and depressed right now about what they saw.

It's a good thing we have that meeting coming up soon. I'm sure a lot of people will want to talk about this.

By the way, I have a copy of my report about the dream and Kalki's letter for the guild hall to keep on file. I sent one to Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie too. They asked for transparency, and I'm going to give it to them.

-Chiaki

[thehandhungers]

Fear not. Though the fates may align against us and those of weaker wills will falter, we will prevail. You have allies in this Chiaki Nanami, and though we do not know the future, our power is that with which we will decide how this ends.

My sword hand trembles and will not be denied. When the battle is met, just call.

~Owain, The Scion of Legend and his trusty assistant Monsoon, The Great Destroy Who Will Blot Out the Sun!

[line_piece]

Owain,

Thanks. It's good to know there are other people who feel the same.

Is Monsoon the name of your moogle? He sounds really powerful.

-Chiaki

[thehandhungers]

Chiaki,

Monsoon, The Great Destroyer, is one of the moogles and is frightening to behold. Her power gives even a man as dangerous as myself pause.

~Owain, The Scion of Legend


Dear Chiaki,

Owain is embarassing. Please disregard what he says.

-Monsoon

[dragonflame]

[Bloom had been wondering about, thoughts going through her mind over and over again. What she had seen in that dream nerved her a little, but it was something she could get use to. But her sister was another matter. She had been here the whole time... She just didn't recall her at all. With these thoughts racing through her head she continued to walk. However it wasn't long until she saw someone else, who was as deep in thought than she was.]

Um, hey there. I guess you're thinking about things to, huh?

[line_piece]

Hi.

[Chiaki's a girl of relatively few words before she really gets to know someone.]

...Yeah. Did you have a dream too?

[dragonflame]

[He gives a small nod, her right arm rubbing her left arm lightly.]

I did. It was certainly strange, but t brings us a lot more questions than answers. Though that could be me.

[deadlyvu]

[This gets delivered via Betel-Po, as he at least knows who these things go to.]

Dear Ms. Nanami

(I hope that's your last name. If it's not, I'm sorry.)

The dream...did and didn't make sense. There was so much going on, and there's still so much to catch up on. I was one of the heroes who arrived trapped in the Empire. I'm still trying to catch up on a lot of things.

The portion I saw, where I was watching through someone else's eyes... This has been going on for...countless thousands of years. He was translating, and couldn't seem to find exactly how MANY times this has gone on.

Did we know anything about this kind of thing happening before, or is that new information? Are there records we can access, beyond just what we've found currently? There so MUCH to try and catch up on.

Sincerely,

Lydia Deetz

[line_piece]

Lydia,

Yeah, I use English name order here. It's less confusing for most people. But you can just call me Chiaki. Ms. Nanami makes me sound like a teacher or something.

I'm sorry to hear you had to arrive here like that, but there wasn't much we could do about that. The Empire caught us off guard with that one.

It sounds like you saw the same dream as I did, then. I was watching it through the eyes of the person sitting at the computer.

As far as this all being an endless cycle, as far as I'm aware, that's new information. There's a meeting in a few weeks, and I'm going to present that piece of information there. I haven't looked for records like the ones you describe yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if they only go back as far as the current 2000 year cycle. It seems more like everything gets a hard reset than one continuous loop that everyone remembers. I'm just glad we have the information now and that my father's sacrifice wasn't wasted.

-Chiaki

[deadlyvu]

Chiaki,

If you say so. I've met a variety of beings and people, so I try to be polite and use what they prefer to be called. You never know when being respectful pays off, besides that it just... I've always found it more useful to be nice first.

I don't blame anyone here, as really this all sounds like a complicated situation. I've never been in the middle of an adventure like THIS before, on such a large scale. I made friends though, and allies. I'm not exactly one to sit and wait for rescue, when I can be doing stuff.

You were watching through, I wanna say "Chihiro"'s eyes? I was watching through my friend Jacques, although he doesn't usually look 'human'. It seemed like the two were close though, so I'm sorry that end turned out as it did. I know Jacques regretted he couldn't do more.

I'll keep an eye out for the meeting. I've got a kind of heavy schedule, but I'm used to juggling things. Feel free to stay in touch, and if I find something useful I'll write to you too.

Sincerely,
Lydia

[unyieldingspirit]

[her response is somewhat delayed, as she considers what to write in response.

Eventually, she settles on a minor question. The rest she will continue to turn over, and perhaps respond to later.]

Chiaki,

Are these shared dreams common?

- K'pandolu

[line_piece]

K'pandolu,

This is the second dream we've been sent since I've been here. The first one was a little different, though, as we couldn't interact with it at all.

-Chiaki

[unyieldingspirit]

Chiaki,

Not at all? […written like someone viewing it with the experience of seeing the past without really being able to affect it.] What was that one about?

- K'pandolu

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

[What's that? Another round of moogles transporting letters between people who live in the same house? Mogwen is rolling his eyes.]

You're absolutely right. On the sentiment, that is. So many of the heroes, you saw them, too, right? They. We were falling into that exact despair. It sounds so strange to say that we can't do that again, but, we can't.

Um, one mistake, though. Funny thing about the last dream, the one before this, that is, of when we saw what Kalki was up to. But if I tell you, you can't make a copy of this to the Observatory or the Castle, okay?

-Jack

[line_piece]

Jack,

Despair is our number one enemy. It was true at home, and it's true here too.

And if you tell me in person, I won't be able to. I don't like keeping secrets from our allies, though.

-Chiaki

Action

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

See, that means Jack has to get up. But he will knock on Chiaki's door, once she's home. "Hey. So, I did want to talk to you, but it's kind of a really important secret." He even pitches his voice down a little, even though they're alone in the house.

"There is a person in the Empire feeding us information. When he can. And he was the one who sent us the dream. He's not really formally a spy. Which means he could get killed, if anyone found him out." He can only hope Chiaki understands why he wanted her to keep thins secret, then.