Between the Dreamworlds: Savers of the Apocalypse - Chapter 1

[Enaluxeme]

You find yourself in nothing.

As you open your eyes, you find all around you a deep, dark purple. It appears like you are standing on a perfectly flat surface, yet you can see no difference from everything else, leading you to question whether the ground you are stanting on is of the same exact color as this "sky" or merely transparent.

Your memories are fuzzy. You start to remember some things, but you can't say for sure the last thing you recall doing before waking up here.

Since you really can't seem to remember, checking your conditions seems like the best thing to do.

Hello and welcome to the game!

This is all your characters have with them:

Shepard: the weapons listed in Weapon Change, the N7 Armor, two medi-gel and a cartridge.

Name: Medi-gel
Type: Healing
Uses: 2
Base healing: 60-80
Special effect: heals a single ally.

Name: Cartridge
Type: Healing
Uses: 1
Special effect: fully recovers one ally's Ammo Points.

Thyme: a basic staff (even by looking at the wikia page on FFXIV's staves, I can't decide on a good staff for Thyme. She's level 60, since she learned Fire IV, but I can't give her one of the strongest staves), 3 potions and 2 ethers.

Name: Potion
Type: Healing
Uses: 3
Base healing: 50
Special effect: heals a single ally.

Name: Ether
Type: Healing
Uses: 2
Special Effect: restores 50 Mana Points to a single ally.

Ricardo: his Gundam mk II suit, a handgun, a knife, a repair kit and a propellant tank.

Name: Repair Kit
Type: Healing
Uses: 1
Base healing: 80
Special effect: heals a single ally. Can only be used on characters with Energy Points.

Name: Propellant Tank
Type: Healing
Uses: 1
Special Effect: restores 60 Energy Points to a single ally.

Noel: all her guns and her standard outfit.

Fennel: her gauntlets, whatever chemicals she needs to make them work, two Amritas, one Hamao, a Nectar and a satchel to contain all of those.

Name: Amrita
Type: Healing
Uses: 2
Special Effect: restores 50 Mana Points to a single ally.

Name: Hamao
Type: Healing
Uses: 1
Base healing: 40
Special Effect: heals and restores 40 Mana Points to a single ally.

Name: Nectar
Type: Healing
Uses: 1
Special Effect: brings an ally to 30 Health Points. Can only be used on an ally with less than 0 Health Points.

You are free to add any combat-useless item, such as tools or emotionally meaningful jewelry.

[Snowy_One]

"Unnngggg.... My head." moaned Thyme as her hand went up to her forehead, slowly rubbing up and down along the sides and trying to relieve the pain she felt. Was it even pain? Her memories were too fuzzy and not in the way where she had downed one too many drinks, not that she had ever done that. The receiving end of a potent spell? Could any even cause something like this? She couldn't recall. It didn't matter as she slowly felt around, trying to make sure that the ground she was on was actually 'ground'.

"Okay, purple stuff everywhere and new people. Not the weirdest I've seen, but close." she muttered to herself as she did her best to steady herself as her sense of balance no longer assisted by having a truly defined 'up' started to shift. Not that it mattered. She had survived worse.

"What about you guys? You okay?" she asked as she quickly turned to look at both Shepard, then Noel, Fennel, and Ricardo before quickly patting herself down to take stock of all she had.

"Okay, Soul Crystals are still on me, not surprising. Potions, staff... No gysahl greens so I can call on Reginald... could he even come here? Ummmm... Other stuff. Why do I even have THAT? Ummm... Okay. Seems like some of my gear is missing but, if someone stole from me, they did a sucky job. I still have some of my valuables. So..."

"Anyone have any idea where the hell we are?"

[eclipse]

Fennel shook herself awake, patted herself down, then smiled. Either that Mantis lopped my head off and I died, or I somehow escaped. I've got all my limbs, and my blood isn't all over the place. She slowly looked up at the redhead who'd just spoken.

"If I'm alive, I'm fine," Fennel said curtly. "If I'm dead, this is the ugliest waiting room I've ever seen." She reached for the bag that held various monster materials, as well as the majority of her money. Her shoulders slumped once she confirmed that all of her hard work was missing. "Out of money again," she mumbled to herself, fiddling with her glasses out of habit. Though her vision wasn't THAT bad, it made her look more like a scholar, and less like a mad scientist. My formula bag is intact, along with my gauntlets and curatives. Wonder what kind of thief would leave THOSE alone?

[Acacia Sgt]

Ricardo slowly opened his eyes.

What just... he slowly stood up, a hand on his forehead. ... happened...?

He looked around him, taking note of the... peculiar, atmosphere.

Doesn't look like I'm in the cave anymore. Just what sort of trap they set up...

It didn't escaped to him that wasn't alone. However, it seemed they were as disoriented of the situation as him, so they probably weren't the ones he was hunting down. And one of them asked if the rest were okay.

"Yeah, I guess," he simply said, as he now was checking just that.

Hmm, the core deactivated, but it's otherwise fine, he noticed. The rest of my stuff as well... though I had forgotten how many I had left. Some might've been left behind when I ended up here... whatever here is.

[PeaceRibbon]

Noel blinked herself awake to a strange sight. She lay on some invisible surface, as though floating. She gasped at the menacing purple surrounding the group, for it was the most unnerving of all.

When Thyme asked if Noel and the others were ok, she responded, "Umm... I don't think I'm hurt..."

After inspecting her belongings, Noel gazed at Shepard, the one who would wake last, and worried if he'd be alright.

Edited July 5, 2016 by PeaceRibbon

[Moblin Major General]

This isn't the first time Shepard had died, but he hoped it would the last, although deep down he knew that no omnipotent being would allow him rest as long as impossible odds existed alongside nonexistent room for error. He couldn't exactly remember how he died, but he did know he had guns, and that he knew how to use them. He opened his omni-tool and found 2 medigel, and a spare thermal clip. "Now, let's see what kind of impossible odds the universe throws at me this time.

[Snowy_One]

"Well, good. We all seem to be not dead." said Thyme as she first approached Noel, then Fennel, Ricardo, and lastly Shepard, giving them each a quick look-over. "And none of us seem to be hurt. None of us look anywhere near similar though. That girl with the giant guns doesn't look anything like this machinist." said Thyme as she pointed to Noel then Shepard in turn. "So, obviously... I dunno. Something weird is going on and there is some good reason a bunch of weird people are in a purple abyss with no clue on how they got here. Can't be random chance that we all look at least capable in a fight."

[Moblin Major General]

"I'd say we're all well beyond capable. The last time someone was 'capable' under my command, a drone shredded through his body like paper. And unfortunately, that was the first of many that died." Shepard recalled the vague visions, nightmares, and disembodied voices and faces that plagued his unconsciousness.

[Snowy_One]

"Ummm... Okay. That's a little grim. How about 'we're all capable so let's buck up and try our best to rise to the task at hand, once we have a freaking clue what that task is!' If you want, you can get mad and tell me how I'm being a fool and all that, but can it wait till we've at least learned each others names and why the heck everything is purple?"

[Moblin Major General]

"Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy. As for where we are, answering that is... problematic." Shepard recognized that the girl's garb was not unlike a video game that was around 150 years old by the time he first encountered it. How he remembered that was beyond him.

[eclipse]

"Isn't it rude to ask other people's names without introducing yourself?" Fennel butted in, before turning to Shepard. "And what exactly is this 'drone' you speak of? Are we in any danger now?" Fennel fiddled with her glasses again, and took a better look at everyone else. What strange clothes they wear. They don't seem like adventurers, and the guy named Shepard speaks of something that I've never heard of. I've read about other words, but they were all works of fiction. I've heard rumors about ancient machines, but no one at home was able to give me a straight answer about them.

[Snowy_One]

"Thyme. Black Mage, servant of Hydaelyn, Warrior of Light, Scion, and... Uggg... I'm not gonna list them all. I don't want to touch on some like 'aider of the backside of the kobolds'. Thyme is just fine. Sorry about the name thing though, just not what I'm used to doing at all. Course, purple voids aren't what I'm used to working with at all either."

[eclipse]

"Very well, Thyme," Fennel said, uneasy about the load of titles the other woman dropped. "Name's Fennel. This sure as hell ain't my world, I don't feel like I'm dead, and no one here seems intent on killing anyone else. I think. Last I remember, I was being chased, then I ran into a tree. How'd you end up here?"

[Acacia Sgt]

Once he had verified he was alright, Ricardo now took notice of the small conversation that was going on.

Systems Alliance? Hydaelyn? Far as he knew, it was the first time he heard of such things. Just what in the world did I got myself... the world...?

Then it hit him. Considering the circumstances, and the details of his mission, it all began to fall in place. Though it still doesn't explain everything... but what if...

"Aha! A pocket dimension," he suddenly spoke out.

[Moblin Major General]

Shepard turned his head to the mech pilot. "That's sounds reasonable, although how we were pulled into it is beyond me. Or any of us, for that matter."

[PeaceRibbon]

"Oh! I'm Noel Vermilion. First Lieutenant for the Librarium. Well... formerly anyways..." Noel's memory was still a bit clouded, but she could remember deserting her post after... something.

"I'm not so sure where we are either. Any ideas I've got fall short of this place's description." Noel looked to Ricardo "So... a pocket dimension?"

[Snowy_One]

"I'm not so certain it's a pocket dimension, but it certainly sounds the most straight-forwards. It could be related to Aetherial studies or the like. Though that wouldn't explain why such a varied group was here as opposed to just me and a bunch of Miqo'te. An alternate plane would also work but I'm not sure how well 'purple' functions as one." she said scratching her head as she tried to remember through her own adventures and studies to figure out just what could be going on. This didn't seem quite like the void, but maybe a primal's area? But why purple if it was a primal? They usually were more defined. What of that girl from another world; Vana'diel? She barely remembered her. That wouldn't explain the purple once again though since other worlds usually had things like ground.

"As for what I was doing, I was scratching off lotto tickets in the golden saucer and was gonna go home to rest for a bit before delivering some letters."

[Enaluxeme]

"This is interesting."

You suddently hear a voice. Rather, it's like hearing thousands of voices of men and women of all ages, all saying the same exact words, all talking at the same time, all coming from different directions.

"These were prepared to a homogeneous lot, but these were not expecting it to be this peculiar."

Despite the various voices, it's clear that there aren't just a bunch of hidden people speaking together, for the words are all perfectly synchronized. It's astonishing, even slightly unsettling.

[Moblin Major General]

Shepard remembered a time when he heard almost as many voices talking. Shepard looked around in vain for where the voices came from. "Whatever you are, I hope you have the decency to- you know what? I'm down for anything at this point. I've come to the realization that I'm apparently too important for my own good." Shepard knew that his pessimism could be misconstrued as self-importance, but didn't care in that moment.

[Snowy_One]

"Homowhat? Hey! I'm not like that at all! I like guys not girls!" exclaimed Thyme, clearly a bit annoyed at the remark, as she looked around. It was certainly annoying to have so many voices speaking at once and she had no clue at all where it was coming from to say the slightest, not that it mattered. "Weird voices, bizarre people, alternate dimensions, it's Tuesday alright. So who are you? And please don't call me homo-whatever again."

[Acacia Sgt]

Ricardo would've go on to explain, but then the legion of voices was heard.

Well, so much for being the work of the Neo Axis remmants...

He opted to wait and see what would unfold from this.

[PeaceRibbon]

Upon hearing the legion of voices, Noel's head darted around restlessly. She sought a source but it came from all sides, so she simply asked "Wh-Where are you?!".

Noel was starting to think the purple was just some veil and that there were people on the other side, playing along to some cruel joke. She wanted answers even more than before.

[Enaluxeme]

"These are nowhere, for these are not a being."

The voices responded to Noel, giving half a reply to the others as well.

"Nevertheless, these understand that simulating a body would help put your minds at ease."

A radiant light engulfed the space. It became dimmer and dimmer, until it left only a person in its place. Said person had an androgynous figure, no hairs and a completely white skin, uncovered by any kind of cloth. They were smiling slightly and slowly moving their head to gaze on everyone of the presents.

"You are here, because you answered the call. Or indeed, what you would call soul, heart or subconscious did."

[eclipse]

Fennel did her best to take everything in - everything except for whatever Shepard had to say. He seems like a real team player - the type that's best used as bait. She sighed at Thyme's outburst, and nodded at whatever the voice said. The girl named Noel seemed jumpy (not a good thing, with those guns she has), and. . .who WAS that guy that said something about pockets? Ah, that would have to wait.

"Answered a call? It's better than being turned into ribbons by an angry monster, I suppose. So why us, of all people, and why do I get the feeling that we're all from different worlds?" No one's clothes really looked alike, and the interactions she'd seen so far indicated no common culture.

[Moblin Major General]

Shepard came to the same conclusion Fennel did. "If we are, we must be dealing with a being of immeasurable power." Shepard looked at Fennel and had a hunch that she didn't like him. He ignored that for the moment, wanting to know more from the manifestation in front of him.