Melodies History
Apr. 14th, 2016 08:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
umslayAles woke up in a void, immediately after his Flying Fortress exploded and he was thrown to the ground. A red crystal floats before him, and as he reaches out and grabs it, a voice (which eventually is revealed to be the missing Queen Sarah of Aqures Ixen) gives him one command: "Wake up." He finds himself dressed in a Blacksmith's overalls and a Scholar's Robes in the Temple of Fire of Aqures Ixen. And he has no clue what is going on.
The Moogle that was assigned to him, the timid Mimi, and the others are late, so he chats with the new arrivals. In particular, he shares his theory that he's in some sort of afterlife with Kobato (Kobato), making her cry, and forms a sort of rivalry with Yuffie Kisaragi (FFVII) but not before working together to steal some normal clothes and Gil from a nearby house. Eventually, Mimi arrives by barreling straight into Ales and knocking him over, then explains what's happening. A legend fortold that the Heroes of Light would arrive to Crystallis and stop the Calamity that will destroy the world. What is the Calamity? Why them? How are they to stop it? No one knows.
However, there was one strange thing everyone soon noticed about the world - they ran into natives of Crystallis that looked exactly like people from their canons (and if they weren't human, they were the Final Fantasy race that resembled them most). Ales found a tavern waitress that looked just like the Great Fairy Betilla, his only friend in the Glade of Dreams.
Ales eventually settles into the government-provided housing and meets the NPCs in their charge: Biggs and Wedge, who head military and government operations respectively in the absence of the Queen, and Jessie, a Tarutaru who worked in research. Ales was interested in the latter (and the Dr. Cid she mentions, who was currently imprisoned by the Heran Empire), so he quickly got his airship license and became a pilot, hoping to start his life over without everyone knowing he was a villain. Among the characters he liked were Sephiroth (FFVII) for his serious attitude about his work and Ashe (FFXII) as the unofficial leader of the Heroes. In addition, Bloom (Winx Club) reminded him of Betilla, and that made him immediately fond of her.
In September 2014, he and the other Heroes are sent to investigate the abandoned Magitek facility, and he and a small group were teleported into the bathroom. Ales fell into the sink, and the team decided to split up. However, they found that agents from the Heran Empire had infiltrated, and while they tried to fight them off, one of Ales' group was killed and the enemies escaped with the four Black Crystals. They mentioned off-hand that they worked for someone in the Heran Empire named Lady Kalki.
It was then revealed that the dead soon reappear as crystal statues near the Crystal of Fire and return to the living after two weeks. However, some Heroes suddenly turned into statues for no reason. Snow Villiers (FFXIII) wrote a mass letter that theorized that they were all cursed by the Fire Crystal, and they would all turn into crystal eventually. There was general unrest among the group, and even Ales was concerned about the feasibility of living on Crystallis.
Come October, several Heroes started regaining their canon abilities, but as time went on they grew sick, and those with all their canon abilities died, Bloom included. Moogles were being attacked, shutting down the postal system, and some Heroes had their crystals stolen, and on the 31st, the Fire Crystal was in danger of exploding. The living Heroes were lured into the forest, where the dead Heroes were trying to enact a ritual. Ales fought Snow, sending him to crystal stasis, and by the end they found that those working on the ritual were brainwashed and manipulated by a Moogle in a Black Mage hat.
Jessie spoke of a time when the Crystal of Fire did explode, killing everyone in the now-ruined city of Aqures Tosf. She feared the same could have occurred here.
The next month, Ales helped in the efforts of locating this Moogle. He bribed a well-known merchant, O'Aka XII for information, and ultimately they captured the culprit, named Mograma. They had him imprisoned and learned he was under the orders from Kalki to steal crystals and enact the ritual in order to test something with the Black Crystals.
In January, Heroes appeared in the Temple of Fire as usual, but a few days later characters from their worlds appeared as crystal statues. Ales found Betilla among them, and a few hours later, they all disappeared. With little time to mourn, the Heroes were called to aid Esdham, which was under attack from the Heran Empire. Ales fought against the armies' reinforcements and disabled teleporters, and they successfully defended the city.
In February, the Heroes learned that this month's batch of newcomers appeared in the Heran Research Facility by the Crystal of Earth - along with the Heroes captured in last month's battle. All of the Heroes had a dream/vision that a force "stole" the Heroes and another of testing on the Heroes' crystals, turning them black. Ales was not among the group that stormed the building and rescue them, but he was among the group that searched the imperial city for clues. He went on a tour of the science facility and learned about using crystals as an energy source. Here, he got to know Chiaki Nanami (Dangan Ronpa) as a fellow tech nerd, who he talked to about research and how computers worked. She was the one to introduce him to video games, though he thought of them as trite.
When they all convened after the March mission, the rescue group told them they found Dr. Cid among the prisoners and escaped on his airship Enterprise. Oh, and they ran into Kalki who told them the Heroes and Calamity were one, then kick-started a crystallization that spread through the lab. Everyone who appeared in the lab or who met Kalki had their crystals turn white. From then, the crystallization, which the Heroes referred to as The Calamity, slowly spread around the world for nearly the rest of the game and became the main target for the Heroes.
Among the prisoners was Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice the animated series). He had a favorable opinion towards her solely due to their similar tastes in dark clothing, but Lydia was so polite and - rare for a human - did not gawk at his appearance upon meeting him. She told him of the Neitherworld and her home, and Ales found himself enjoying her company. While he did not talk of his own general mistrust and dislike of heroic figures, Lydia became the one person he actively sought to care of. If he had to do something immoral, he wanted Lydia to be alright.
He also got to meet Johnny D'Amico (Original Character, Exsilium CRAU), who showed him his solar powered electric guitar. Ales dreamed of creating a system of "electricity" and wanted to learn about this fascinating technology, specifically in how to convert crystal energy into electricity. He sometimes spoke with Midna (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and shared "tiny snarky people" solidarity. He met Mary Read (Assassin's Creed) who created an Assassin's Guild on Crystallis, to which Ales was invited to. He respected her position that there are difficult decisions and tasks that only some people are prepared to take, and he looked up to her as someone to trust, as she wasn't "blind" with idealism and a lax attitude. He would join meetings to discuss various going-ons and eventually take on a few missions together.
Soon after, the Heroes fell asleep and found themselves living the lives of other Heroes of Light. Ales dreamt he was Rayman, working with other Heroes (played by characters in the same canon) to retrieve a Black Crystal. However, Dycedarg/Ramza betrayed them and took it for himself, turning into a horrible monster and killing everyone, Rayman/Ales included. When he woke, he found a letter from Kalki explaining that this was a memory of a previous Hero of Light cycle. Their spirits became part of Crystallis and they were reborn and natives that resembled them - Doppelgangers.
In May 2015, the NPCs called a meeting to explain what they learned. There was political talk Ales didn't care for, but he was interested in the science of the crystals. They are dug from the earth and made from the planet's energy. When reverse engineered, they produce a highly toxic blue liquid that turns into mist, which is also what monsters are made from. This is how he learned why the Alchemist Advanced Job could turn monsters into crystals.
Late that month, he and nearly all the other Heroes were transported to an alternate dimension where they relived their worst memories. Ales did not have one of his own, but he traveled to others' include Henry (Fire Emblem Awakening) and Chiaki's. At one point, he found himself in a mysterious garden that was attended by an equally mysterious girl. She said she was the one who brought them here, and she showed Ales a giant crystal floating above. When he woke up in the real world once more, he found himself in real life with several days having passed.
In the earlier meeting, they learned that Hera was planning to attack Aqures Ixen in July. Heroes prepared for war, evacuating civilians, and seeking intel. Ales prepared an airship fleet, and on the day of attack he fought against the Imperial Airship Fleet. However, early in the fight, he was caught in a dilemma - either have a downed enemy airship crash into the castle or shoot it away and have it crash into the airport district. Ales would not let either important area be destroyed and flew his ship into that, killing the onboard non-Hero crew and having the debris spread out. Some landed on residential housing, killing the few that remained in the city.
He was not involved in the rest of the battle, but when he was revived, he was nowhere in Aqures Ixen. Rather, he and the others were transported 28 years into the past. From what he heard, the army was pushed back and Kalki appeared in front of the Crystal of Fire to give the Heroes a cryptic speech that she would show them something important.
They were found by a young Princess Sarah, who had escaped her room in the ruined city of Aqures Tosf (ruined in the future, that it), and explained that today was the Festival of Light and everyone around the world was coming to visit. In a few days, the last day of the festival, the Crystal of Fire would explode. The Heroes investigated this past area, and Ales worked a costume to disguise himself as a native Tarutaru - it consisted of a cloak, a mask, and black gloves.
He ran into a young Dr. Cid, who was arguing about the feasibility of airships with another researcher. He was looking for a young girl that he often took care of - Princess Sarah. Later, he visited a technology display which held a model of the Ultima Weapon. Sephiroth explained that the Heran empire invaded the city with it on the last day, and a group of Heroes disabled it before Kalki appeared, and gently acknowledged him on making the difficult decision to kill the airship crew to save the city's important districts. On the last day of the festival, monsters invaded the city, and it stumbled into chaos. Ales went to the library/research area with a group that wanted to save any documents. They ran into Deweg the Heran commander, who had two eyes, and in the fight, Cloud Strife (FFVII) took out his eye. Suddenly, there was a flash of light. The Crystal of fire had exploded, turning the Heroes of Light into crystal statues and killing the natives that could not escape.
They remained like this for 28 years, until the Moogles got a note from Kalki that their missing Heroes were here, and Dr. Cid rescued them on his airship. The Heroes that were at the Crystal explained that "Jessie" was actually the Professor Palitutu that was researching something forbidden who was mentioned in Kalki's journal that was found months ago. She stole the name from another of her students and was the cause of the crystal of fire exploding. Kalki tried to stop it, but she was frightened by the Heroes and were convinced they were harmful. She fell into the hole beneath the Crystal and disappeared. Palitutu (and her lackey, Artemecion the head of the Moogle post system) engineering events to restart the cycle and bring out Garland's (king of Hera) role as the Guardian of the Cycle. In Aqures Ixen, an injured Biggs and Wedges said that Palitutu stole Ultima Weapon, injured soldiers, and escaped.
Ales wasn't sure how to feel. He was angry at himself for falling for the same tricks he played in his canon - put on the mask of a friendly NPC while using them to further his plans via sidequests and feeling that he knew what was best. He didn't know Palitutu's motivations, but he wished he could have spoken with her more. While many Heroes were angry, he just wanted to get to know her better.
Shortly after, a new batch of Heroes arrived, included a psychologist Parasraya Purana (Original Character). She was an reincarnation of Kalki, who everyone else presumed dead, though Ales did not know this at the time. He expressed an interest in visiting her in the future. Around this time, hidden documents were found on Palitutu's computers - reports, new Jobs, new technologies - and Ales joined as a part-time researcher to decode them.
The autumn went by...interestingly. He and many other Heroes experienced a 10-hour timeloop on September 25th 191 times due to an accident with Palitutu's computers, and Ales' loop began with Dr. Cid's coffee about to spill on him. He spent that cursed time angry and upset with Moogle strikes until he joined Mary Read on hijacking an airship and flying it to Hero to investigate the terrain. The Thirteen Moogles once again tried to revive King Moggle Mog in October, and Ales piloted an airship as the Heroes fought a giant marshmallow Moogle. The city was saved, though now coated in sticky sugar.
Now came what could be called Ales' closest friend - Ellie/Elsa von Spielberg (Quest for Glory). A leader of a band of brigands, she hoped to take over the local barony of her homeworld, and while Ales grew close to her initially out of respect, they began to share their stories and sympathized with one another. They both believed that they could lead their homes better than the current rulers, they both didn't feel sorry for criminal acts they believed were necessary, and Ellie understood his grief with being born with no magic ability. The two became trusting partners, and she became the person Ales grew the most attached to. Lydia was a girl he enjoyed spending time with; Ellie was a woman that he opened up to.
And he worked with her schemes. She came up with a curse that would strike particular residents and PCs that they deemed "unreliable" - those they believed weren't doing any "useful" work to saving the world. The potion kind of backfired and targeted too many people, but Ales was given immunity. He also was the one to meet with black market alchemists to create the potion. Ellie formed a brigand group comprise of similarly amoral characters, and on New Year's Eve, they forwent the giant party to storm the Imperial Prison and release political prisoners in the hopes one of them was an Avatar, a manifestation of the Calamity. They found Narasimha, who ended being the Evil One of the bunch (which they didn't know at the time).
Earlier that month, some of the Heroes spoke with the Sage, who didn't want to reveal all of the secrets of the universe. After they pleaded with him insistently, he decided to show them the Bad Future where he told some of their group the truth of the Calamity. In two years, the crystallization took over the world, and Ales was among those on the dark side. His group was attacking Mysidia - Ales would lead his evil airship fleet against the good guys that included Ellie and Mary Read (aided by her girlfriend Saori Nakagaw (OC), another member of the Assassin's Guild and one of the first people Ales met). Before his trip, he had a heart-to-heart with Lydia Deetz, and she gave him a hug. Her group planned to use a giant laser on the moon to blow up the world. He was primarily aided by Graham Specter (Baccano!!!) piloting the Diamond WEAPON. In the regular timeline, Ales partnered up with Graham on work-related things, though he was exasperated by his antics. Here, he saw how hard-working Graham was. Despite the good guys destroying them, he didn't give up. Ales managed to escape the mothership to use a Black Crystal on himself and transform into a monster. The last thing he remembered was confronting Ellie in battle.
When he woke up from the vision, many Heroes sent out apologies and promises that they wouldn't do that in this timeline. The Sage must have done it to trick them. Ales didn't trust them. He knew that he would try to conquer the planet if he felt if it was for the greater good because he had done that in canon. He refused to talk about his feelings because he felt everyone would judge him.
February was a mixed bag. He didn't participate in Valentoine's day this year or last year, so he spent the month testing out his personal crystal-powered flying contraption that he rebuilt from a regained blueprint. During his flights, he ran into various people. Mary Read asked why he did that in the Bad Future, he gave vague answers and was surprised that she trusted him. He wanted to continue working with the Assassin's Guild, but he wouldn't confide in Mary. Graham Specter cheered him up, and surprisingly Ales like his stupid head. Ellie had no memory of the event due to her canon curse, but after a long talk, she and Ales promised to remain loyal to each other and to never abandon their goals. Lydia thanked Ales for being kind to her in the Bad Future where she just wanted to end it all. Ales grew to feel protective of her, Lydia saw him as a constant companion. In addition, he sought the services of Parasraya Purana. He spoke to her about his fears that the other Heroes would cast him out if they learned his actions in the Bad Future were in character, and she validated his feelings and frustrations. There was also good news - a group of Heroes found an Ancient simulation to mitigate the Calamity's effects, and due to some diplomacy efforts, Hera was brought to their side to combat it.
Through the next months, he and the rest of the Assassin's guild searched for Palitutu's whereabouts. Another group of Heroes found a hidden laboratory of hers earlier that contained maps, reports, and containments for four other WEAPONS. At one point, he, Mary, Saori, and a few others captured Artemicion, but Palitutu threatened to destroy an entire city if they didn't let him go. However, they managed to steal a note regarding the location of the Diamond WEAPON. They all staked out at where they believed it was hidden - and there it was. Palitutu approached and told them never to touch it. It was too dangerous for her or for them. The Guild's response was "nah" and set up a high-security lockup in Esdham with the help of the military PCs and NPCs.
A group of Heroes managed to get a VCR, as Kalki had left them a VHS with a message. She spoke in English, which was untranslated to those that didn't speak it, Ales included. Lydia transcribed it for him, and she explained some of her findings on the Calamity. The Avatars of the Calamity, each unaware that they represent an aspect of it, were made as a result of the previous cycle's Kalki and three other Heroes attempting to communicate directly with the Calamity. Through them, the Heroes can influence the Calamity. Lady Kalki had her own plan for combating the Calamity: someone had to become god and destroy it to rewrite the fabric of the universe. To do that, Heroes had to conquer their Shadows. Ales felt conflicted. He could see the appeal of the plan, straightforward and brute force-y as it was, but he had his own misgivings about gods from his world. Who was to say that the Hero that became "god" would become lazy and work in their self-interests? There was a lot he didn't know, and he wished he could talk to Kalki about it.
In April 2017, Narasimha played his first game with the Heroes. He transported them to the southern part of the continent, near the former Heran Emprie before the cyrstallization overtook it. Ales's group was made up of Ellie, Sheena Fujibayashi (Tales of Symphonia), and Malik Al-Sayf (Assassin's Creed). They were transported to a monster-infested regions, and thankfully Ales was a Mecha Pilot at the time. One night, after fighting off a horde of Etin Snakes with Ellie, they chatted about their skills while camping. In their conversation, they admitted that they had their own goals for their world. Ellie said that she planned to take over the barony with her brigands, believing that she would make a good ruler and not knowing that she was the long-lost heir. Ales admitted to attempting to overthrow the creator of his world and his frustrations and the residents of the Dream of Glades. He explained that he hated magic because of his mistreatment by Teensies his age when he failed at it despite Teensies being an extremely magical race who guarded the Heart of the World. She was the only person he admitted this to, and she promised that after they saved Crystallis or found a way home, whichever came first, she would take him. There was also an illusionary copy of Sheena's village on fire, but Ales didn't care much after attempting to douse the flames.
Palitutu sent a letter to all Heroes in May. She proposed an ultimatum - she would come in August to confront them and they had to propose their solution to stopping the Calamity that was better than her idea of killing everyone. If they didn't come, she would blow up Aqures Ixen. If they didn't please her, she would kill them all anyway. The Heroes met to discuss what to do. Ales liked Jade Curtis' idea of fixing the Soul Divider, which was an Ancient technology that helped the mana flow of the dying planet. If they could fix that and the First Crystal in the center of the planet, then Crystallis could support itself without having to steal the life force of other worlds. As for the crystallization, they considered fighting it head on and exploring new territory for weapons.
In June, Narasimha tortured the Heroes once more - by using a Black Crystal, he mind controlled some of them to murder their friends. Naturally, the dead came back to life, and Ales met with others to figure out what was going on. At the end of June, he possessed Rialynn (OC) and used her to wreck havoc and eventually permanently kill Zelda (Skyward Sword). Ales heard how the group of Heroes tried to kill Rialynn before the damage was to great (and he thought she was an okay person) until he was told how Twilight Sparkles and Shining Armor (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) used their telekinesis to prevent the more aggressive heroes from attacking her, effectively allowing Rialynn to kill more people.
He ended up joining a group that finally capture Narasimha, but his trust in the others broke after that. Twilight Sparkles was magic royalty, and while he was wary of her before, he did at least appreciate her scholarly pursuits. After this, he could find find himself to thing of anything positive about her. This event proved that people that extol friendship were not to be listened to, and royalty can never be trusted to make necessary sacrifices. Clinging to one's morals meant leaving the rest of the world to burn.
Worse still was the confrontation with Palitutu. Jade Curtiss told Palitutu of his plan to revive the First Crystal...and she was satisfied. However, she wanted to test their skills and see if they had the conviction to kill Garland, who was the keeper of the cycle. His death meant the end of all cycles and they would have one chance to stop the Calamity for good. During the battle against Ultima Weapon, Ales ran over to its base and hacked into it, reducing its healing capabilities. However, when it exploded upon defeat and killed him.
Afterwards, he woke up in a Sanctuary in the Interdimensional Rift. While he was busy being dead, the Cloud of Darkness removed everyone's ability to return to life. All death would become permadeath unless treated with a Life spell immediately. Needless to say, Ales was frightened and frustrated. Palitutu lead them on a chase throughout all of their homeworlds, where they picked up items and caught up with loved ones, but Ales tried to keep a low profile in his world. Levy McGarden (Fairy Tail), his housemate that he sometimes spoke to about research, and Lydia Deetz were a bit confused as to why he acted like this. When they finally caught up to Palitutu in Crystallis, she begged them to kill her or else she would be disappointed in their conviction, then fell unconscious. Ales was among the group that advocated death, but in the end, Team Mercy prevailed, though they left her in a coma and kept her under watchful eyes. Ales was incredibly disappointed.
Even worse, Ellie turned into a crystal statue. There was nothing good left for him here. He had to cut off emotional ties and get things done instead of waiting around and making friends.
He lead an expedition to the homebase of the Cult of Narayana, which proclaimed that the Heroes of Light were evil. They found the city surprisingly empty, and deep in the catacombs they found their answer. The cult's lead was dead and lying in an ornate tomb, his right-hand woman claimed that he has finally attained happiness in death, and the townspeople in eternity. They defeated her and found the townspeople trapped in crystals in the caverns that connected to the cult base. While the rest of the team was properly mourning them, Ales did some grave robbing and stole all the treasures in the tomb.
There was also a case of certain Heroes getting possessed by haunted armor and starting a zombie army. Ales was killed by a Necromancer Sonic the Hedgehog and lured into a warehouse where he died by explosion. Again. Fortunately, all Heroes that turned into zombies were brought back to life when the sinister Moogles were finally defeated.
In November 2016, he finally faced his own Shadow. Ales thought to try it himself alone since he believed that his Shadow would talk solely about his immoral actions, and he certainly couldn't let anyone know about it. However, his Moogle corralled a few Heroes including Lydia and Sephiroth. His Shadow also spoke of his twisted desires to reach out to more people and that he wants a healthy outlet to express his stress. The other Heroes learned that he was selfish and put his friends in danger, yet Lydia stood by him, reminding that he was her friend and she would be there for him. He eventually accepted his Shadow and his desire to be a friend that protects others.
The upcoming months were spent in preparation for the final battle against Garland. The plant was for the Heroes to fight him using all the weapons and summons they had and then face the issue of crystallization. During the fight, they summoned Knights of the Round, severely weakening Garland to the point that they defeated him with ease. However, before the kinder of the Heroes were able to step forth and offer a chance at redemption, "Parasraya" killed him and revealed herself to be Kalki. She allowed herself to be killed by the Heroes, which freed her spirit to possess Ramza. With the combined power of the Calamity Knight and Hero of Light, she kickstarted the apocalypse.
All the Heroes ran out of the ruins of Hera to the airship, where Cid was waiting for them. As Ales was the only pilot among them (and Cid was busy yelling orders and hanging off the edge of the ship), Saori Nakagawa picked up Ales like a football and threw him across the ship with the Ninja skill so he could land on the steering wheel. It worked, though rock formations sprouting out of the Earth made piloting difficult. He finally crashed in the middle of the desert and everything went black.
But then he heard Kalki's voice. The other Heroes were dead (presumably) apart from himself, Deadpool, Hisui Hearts (Tales of Hearts) and Ardyn (FFXV). She asked for their help to stop the Calamity her way. As she was one of the people he had grown closest to and the others were dead, Ales accepted. He would be part of her crew as she prepared the world to be destroyed as she became a god.
His belief was that Kalki was truly a friend and that by destroying Crystallis, they would be performing a necessary sacrifice to save the rest of the universe. They'd just hang around and rule the world while she was preparing in her castle. For five years, Ales was known as the Archfiend of Wind, ruling over Trano Golsaucia until the original inhabitants were forced to flee, and he replaced them with a robot factory. He moved the Temple of Wind to a flying fortress, and he was the magitek expert of the four Archfiends. They generally got along while Kalki gave them supplies from their home worlds and their own Black Crystal. Ardyn gave them cellphones, Hisui helped them build weapons from Soma, and Deadpool created Earth Golems for them. They even met sometimes for dinner.
Then it turned out that the Heroes weren't dead. With her dying breath, Queen Sarah put them into stasis to save them from Kalki, and they were back for vengeance. They went after the Archfiends to destroy the barrier surrounding Kalki's castle. A group that included Lydia, Mary, Saori, and Midna fought a giant robot that guarded the snowy lands before and confronted him in his office. Lydia cried that she trusted him (and he said that he was doing it to protect people he cared about like her), Mary was angry, Midna was disappointed. Ales fought them with a robot dragon, but eventually they destroyed it and the lab, which came crashing down. As a last resort, he used his Black Crystal to turn into Tiamat, but they defeated him, too.
To his surprise, they spared him but not without lots of disagreement. He didn't know how to react. He was supposed to be killed, he deserved it. Other Archfiends were killed or joined the final battle against Kalki, but Ales stayed behind. He knew what he did. He saw the effects of the other Heroes defeating the Calamity. They saved the world and let him live.
He didn't go to the final celebration. He stayed outside Aqures Ixen, daring to enter only when wearing his disguise. Ardyn returned to his home world, but left him a memento of a coin. Mary asked him if he was happy with what he did (he didn't know how to answer). Lydia...kept her promise and offered him to come home with her. He would live in the Neitherworld and she would make sure he didn't get into too much trouble like she does with Beetlejuice.
The Moogle that was assigned to him, the timid Mimi, and the others are late, so he chats with the new arrivals. In particular, he shares his theory that he's in some sort of afterlife with Kobato (Kobato), making her cry, and forms a sort of rivalry with Yuffie Kisaragi (FFVII) but not before working together to steal some normal clothes and Gil from a nearby house. Eventually, Mimi arrives by barreling straight into Ales and knocking him over, then explains what's happening. A legend fortold that the Heroes of Light would arrive to Crystallis and stop the Calamity that will destroy the world. What is the Calamity? Why them? How are they to stop it? No one knows.
However, there was one strange thing everyone soon noticed about the world - they ran into natives of Crystallis that looked exactly like people from their canons (and if they weren't human, they were the Final Fantasy race that resembled them most). Ales found a tavern waitress that looked just like the Great Fairy Betilla, his only friend in the Glade of Dreams.
Ales eventually settles into the government-provided housing and meets the NPCs in their charge: Biggs and Wedge, who head military and government operations respectively in the absence of the Queen, and Jessie, a Tarutaru who worked in research. Ales was interested in the latter (and the Dr. Cid she mentions, who was currently imprisoned by the Heran Empire), so he quickly got his airship license and became a pilot, hoping to start his life over without everyone knowing he was a villain. Among the characters he liked were Sephiroth (FFVII) for his serious attitude about his work and Ashe (FFXII) as the unofficial leader of the Heroes. In addition, Bloom (Winx Club) reminded him of Betilla, and that made him immediately fond of her.
In September 2014, he and the other Heroes are sent to investigate the abandoned Magitek facility, and he and a small group were teleported into the bathroom. Ales fell into the sink, and the team decided to split up. However, they found that agents from the Heran Empire had infiltrated, and while they tried to fight them off, one of Ales' group was killed and the enemies escaped with the four Black Crystals. They mentioned off-hand that they worked for someone in the Heran Empire named Lady Kalki.
It was then revealed that the dead soon reappear as crystal statues near the Crystal of Fire and return to the living after two weeks. However, some Heroes suddenly turned into statues for no reason. Snow Villiers (FFXIII) wrote a mass letter that theorized that they were all cursed by the Fire Crystal, and they would all turn into crystal eventually. There was general unrest among the group, and even Ales was concerned about the feasibility of living on Crystallis.
Come October, several Heroes started regaining their canon abilities, but as time went on they grew sick, and those with all their canon abilities died, Bloom included. Moogles were being attacked, shutting down the postal system, and some Heroes had their crystals stolen, and on the 31st, the Fire Crystal was in danger of exploding. The living Heroes were lured into the forest, where the dead Heroes were trying to enact a ritual. Ales fought Snow, sending him to crystal stasis, and by the end they found that those working on the ritual were brainwashed and manipulated by a Moogle in a Black Mage hat.
Jessie spoke of a time when the Crystal of Fire did explode, killing everyone in the now-ruined city of Aqures Tosf. She feared the same could have occurred here.
The next month, Ales helped in the efforts of locating this Moogle. He bribed a well-known merchant, O'Aka XII for information, and ultimately they captured the culprit, named Mograma. They had him imprisoned and learned he was under the orders from Kalki to steal crystals and enact the ritual in order to test something with the Black Crystals.
In January, Heroes appeared in the Temple of Fire as usual, but a few days later characters from their worlds appeared as crystal statues. Ales found Betilla among them, and a few hours later, they all disappeared. With little time to mourn, the Heroes were called to aid Esdham, which was under attack from the Heran Empire. Ales fought against the armies' reinforcements and disabled teleporters, and they successfully defended the city.
In February, the Heroes learned that this month's batch of newcomers appeared in the Heran Research Facility by the Crystal of Earth - along with the Heroes captured in last month's battle. All of the Heroes had a dream/vision that a force "stole" the Heroes and another of testing on the Heroes' crystals, turning them black. Ales was not among the group that stormed the building and rescue them, but he was among the group that searched the imperial city for clues. He went on a tour of the science facility and learned about using crystals as an energy source. Here, he got to know Chiaki Nanami (Dangan Ronpa) as a fellow tech nerd, who he talked to about research and how computers worked. She was the one to introduce him to video games, though he thought of them as trite.
When they all convened after the March mission, the rescue group told them they found Dr. Cid among the prisoners and escaped on his airship Enterprise. Oh, and they ran into Kalki who told them the Heroes and Calamity were one, then kick-started a crystallization that spread through the lab. Everyone who appeared in the lab or who met Kalki had their crystals turn white. From then, the crystallization, which the Heroes referred to as The Calamity, slowly spread around the world for nearly the rest of the game and became the main target for the Heroes.
Among the prisoners was Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice the animated series). He had a favorable opinion towards her solely due to their similar tastes in dark clothing, but Lydia was so polite and - rare for a human - did not gawk at his appearance upon meeting him. She told him of the Neitherworld and her home, and Ales found himself enjoying her company. While he did not talk of his own general mistrust and dislike of heroic figures, Lydia became the one person he actively sought to care of. If he had to do something immoral, he wanted Lydia to be alright.
He also got to meet Johnny D'Amico (Original Character, Exsilium CRAU), who showed him his solar powered electric guitar. Ales dreamed of creating a system of "electricity" and wanted to learn about this fascinating technology, specifically in how to convert crystal energy into electricity. He sometimes spoke with Midna (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and shared "tiny snarky people" solidarity. He met Mary Read (Assassin's Creed) who created an Assassin's Guild on Crystallis, to which Ales was invited to. He respected her position that there are difficult decisions and tasks that only some people are prepared to take, and he looked up to her as someone to trust, as she wasn't "blind" with idealism and a lax attitude. He would join meetings to discuss various going-ons and eventually take on a few missions together.
Soon after, the Heroes fell asleep and found themselves living the lives of other Heroes of Light. Ales dreamt he was Rayman, working with other Heroes (played by characters in the same canon) to retrieve a Black Crystal. However, Dycedarg/Ramza betrayed them and took it for himself, turning into a horrible monster and killing everyone, Rayman/Ales included. When he woke, he found a letter from Kalki explaining that this was a memory of a previous Hero of Light cycle. Their spirits became part of Crystallis and they were reborn and natives that resembled them - Doppelgangers.
In May 2015, the NPCs called a meeting to explain what they learned. There was political talk Ales didn't care for, but he was interested in the science of the crystals. They are dug from the earth and made from the planet's energy. When reverse engineered, they produce a highly toxic blue liquid that turns into mist, which is also what monsters are made from. This is how he learned why the Alchemist Advanced Job could turn monsters into crystals.
Late that month, he and nearly all the other Heroes were transported to an alternate dimension where they relived their worst memories. Ales did not have one of his own, but he traveled to others' include Henry (Fire Emblem Awakening) and Chiaki's. At one point, he found himself in a mysterious garden that was attended by an equally mysterious girl. She said she was the one who brought them here, and she showed Ales a giant crystal floating above. When he woke up in the real world once more, he found himself in real life with several days having passed.
In the earlier meeting, they learned that Hera was planning to attack Aqures Ixen in July. Heroes prepared for war, evacuating civilians, and seeking intel. Ales prepared an airship fleet, and on the day of attack he fought against the Imperial Airship Fleet. However, early in the fight, he was caught in a dilemma - either have a downed enemy airship crash into the castle or shoot it away and have it crash into the airport district. Ales would not let either important area be destroyed and flew his ship into that, killing the onboard non-Hero crew and having the debris spread out. Some landed on residential housing, killing the few that remained in the city.
He was not involved in the rest of the battle, but when he was revived, he was nowhere in Aqures Ixen. Rather, he and the others were transported 28 years into the past. From what he heard, the army was pushed back and Kalki appeared in front of the Crystal of Fire to give the Heroes a cryptic speech that she would show them something important.
They were found by a young Princess Sarah, who had escaped her room in the ruined city of Aqures Tosf (ruined in the future, that it), and explained that today was the Festival of Light and everyone around the world was coming to visit. In a few days, the last day of the festival, the Crystal of Fire would explode. The Heroes investigated this past area, and Ales worked a costume to disguise himself as a native Tarutaru - it consisted of a cloak, a mask, and black gloves.
He ran into a young Dr. Cid, who was arguing about the feasibility of airships with another researcher. He was looking for a young girl that he often took care of - Princess Sarah. Later, he visited a technology display which held a model of the Ultima Weapon. Sephiroth explained that the Heran empire invaded the city with it on the last day, and a group of Heroes disabled it before Kalki appeared, and gently acknowledged him on making the difficult decision to kill the airship crew to save the city's important districts. On the last day of the festival, monsters invaded the city, and it stumbled into chaos. Ales went to the library/research area with a group that wanted to save any documents. They ran into Deweg the Heran commander, who had two eyes, and in the fight, Cloud Strife (FFVII) took out his eye. Suddenly, there was a flash of light. The Crystal of fire had exploded, turning the Heroes of Light into crystal statues and killing the natives that could not escape.
They remained like this for 28 years, until the Moogles got a note from Kalki that their missing Heroes were here, and Dr. Cid rescued them on his airship. The Heroes that were at the Crystal explained that "Jessie" was actually the Professor Palitutu that was researching something forbidden who was mentioned in Kalki's journal that was found months ago. She stole the name from another of her students and was the cause of the crystal of fire exploding. Kalki tried to stop it, but she was frightened by the Heroes and were convinced they were harmful. She fell into the hole beneath the Crystal and disappeared. Palitutu (and her lackey, Artemecion the head of the Moogle post system) engineering events to restart the cycle and bring out Garland's (king of Hera) role as the Guardian of the Cycle. In Aqures Ixen, an injured Biggs and Wedges said that Palitutu stole Ultima Weapon, injured soldiers, and escaped.
Ales wasn't sure how to feel. He was angry at himself for falling for the same tricks he played in his canon - put on the mask of a friendly NPC while using them to further his plans via sidequests and feeling that he knew what was best. He didn't know Palitutu's motivations, but he wished he could have spoken with her more. While many Heroes were angry, he just wanted to get to know her better.
Shortly after, a new batch of Heroes arrived, included a psychologist Parasraya Purana (Original Character). She was an reincarnation of Kalki, who everyone else presumed dead, though Ales did not know this at the time. He expressed an interest in visiting her in the future. Around this time, hidden documents were found on Palitutu's computers - reports, new Jobs, new technologies - and Ales joined as a part-time researcher to decode them.
The autumn went by...interestingly. He and many other Heroes experienced a 10-hour timeloop on September 25th 191 times due to an accident with Palitutu's computers, and Ales' loop began with Dr. Cid's coffee about to spill on him. He spent that cursed time angry and upset with Moogle strikes until he joined Mary Read on hijacking an airship and flying it to Hero to investigate the terrain. The Thirteen Moogles once again tried to revive King Moggle Mog in October, and Ales piloted an airship as the Heroes fought a giant marshmallow Moogle. The city was saved, though now coated in sticky sugar.
Now came what could be called Ales' closest friend - Ellie/Elsa von Spielberg (Quest for Glory). A leader of a band of brigands, she hoped to take over the local barony of her homeworld, and while Ales grew close to her initially out of respect, they began to share their stories and sympathized with one another. They both believed that they could lead their homes better than the current rulers, they both didn't feel sorry for criminal acts they believed were necessary, and Ellie understood his grief with being born with no magic ability. The two became trusting partners, and she became the person Ales grew the most attached to. Lydia was a girl he enjoyed spending time with; Ellie was a woman that he opened up to.
And he worked with her schemes. She came up with a curse that would strike particular residents and PCs that they deemed "unreliable" - those they believed weren't doing any "useful" work to saving the world. The potion kind of backfired and targeted too many people, but Ales was given immunity. He also was the one to meet with black market alchemists to create the potion. Ellie formed a brigand group comprise of similarly amoral characters, and on New Year's Eve, they forwent the giant party to storm the Imperial Prison and release political prisoners in the hopes one of them was an Avatar, a manifestation of the Calamity. They found Narasimha, who ended being the Evil One of the bunch (which they didn't know at the time).
Earlier that month, some of the Heroes spoke with the Sage, who didn't want to reveal all of the secrets of the universe. After they pleaded with him insistently, he decided to show them the Bad Future where he told some of their group the truth of the Calamity. In two years, the crystallization took over the world, and Ales was among those on the dark side. His group was attacking Mysidia - Ales would lead his evil airship fleet against the good guys that included Ellie and Mary Read (aided by her girlfriend Saori Nakagaw (OC), another member of the Assassin's Guild and one of the first people Ales met). Before his trip, he had a heart-to-heart with Lydia Deetz, and she gave him a hug. Her group planned to use a giant laser on the moon to blow up the world. He was primarily aided by Graham Specter (Baccano!!!) piloting the Diamond WEAPON. In the regular timeline, Ales partnered up with Graham on work-related things, though he was exasperated by his antics. Here, he saw how hard-working Graham was. Despite the good guys destroying them, he didn't give up. Ales managed to escape the mothership to use a Black Crystal on himself and transform into a monster. The last thing he remembered was confronting Ellie in battle.
When he woke up from the vision, many Heroes sent out apologies and promises that they wouldn't do that in this timeline. The Sage must have done it to trick them. Ales didn't trust them. He knew that he would try to conquer the planet if he felt if it was for the greater good because he had done that in canon. He refused to talk about his feelings because he felt everyone would judge him.
February was a mixed bag. He didn't participate in Valentoine's day this year or last year, so he spent the month testing out his personal crystal-powered flying contraption that he rebuilt from a regained blueprint. During his flights, he ran into various people. Mary Read asked why he did that in the Bad Future, he gave vague answers and was surprised that she trusted him. He wanted to continue working with the Assassin's Guild, but he wouldn't confide in Mary. Graham Specter cheered him up, and surprisingly Ales like his stupid head. Ellie had no memory of the event due to her canon curse, but after a long talk, she and Ales promised to remain loyal to each other and to never abandon their goals. Lydia thanked Ales for being kind to her in the Bad Future where she just wanted to end it all. Ales grew to feel protective of her, Lydia saw him as a constant companion. In addition, he sought the services of Parasraya Purana. He spoke to her about his fears that the other Heroes would cast him out if they learned his actions in the Bad Future were in character, and she validated his feelings and frustrations. There was also good news - a group of Heroes found an Ancient simulation to mitigate the Calamity's effects, and due to some diplomacy efforts, Hera was brought to their side to combat it.
Through the next months, he and the rest of the Assassin's guild searched for Palitutu's whereabouts. Another group of Heroes found a hidden laboratory of hers earlier that contained maps, reports, and containments for four other WEAPONS. At one point, he, Mary, Saori, and a few others captured Artemicion, but Palitutu threatened to destroy an entire city if they didn't let him go. However, they managed to steal a note regarding the location of the Diamond WEAPON. They all staked out at where they believed it was hidden - and there it was. Palitutu approached and told them never to touch it. It was too dangerous for her or for them. The Guild's response was "nah" and set up a high-security lockup in Esdham with the help of the military PCs and NPCs.
A group of Heroes managed to get a VCR, as Kalki had left them a VHS with a message. She spoke in English, which was untranslated to those that didn't speak it, Ales included. Lydia transcribed it for him, and she explained some of her findings on the Calamity. The Avatars of the Calamity, each unaware that they represent an aspect of it, were made as a result of the previous cycle's Kalki and three other Heroes attempting to communicate directly with the Calamity. Through them, the Heroes can influence the Calamity. Lady Kalki had her own plan for combating the Calamity: someone had to become god and destroy it to rewrite the fabric of the universe. To do that, Heroes had to conquer their Shadows. Ales felt conflicted. He could see the appeal of the plan, straightforward and brute force-y as it was, but he had his own misgivings about gods from his world. Who was to say that the Hero that became "god" would become lazy and work in their self-interests? There was a lot he didn't know, and he wished he could talk to Kalki about it.
In April 2017, Narasimha played his first game with the Heroes. He transported them to the southern part of the continent, near the former Heran Emprie before the cyrstallization overtook it. Ales's group was made up of Ellie, Sheena Fujibayashi (Tales of Symphonia), and Malik Al-Sayf (Assassin's Creed). They were transported to a monster-infested regions, and thankfully Ales was a Mecha Pilot at the time. One night, after fighting off a horde of Etin Snakes with Ellie, they chatted about their skills while camping. In their conversation, they admitted that they had their own goals for their world. Ellie said that she planned to take over the barony with her brigands, believing that she would make a good ruler and not knowing that she was the long-lost heir. Ales admitted to attempting to overthrow the creator of his world and his frustrations and the residents of the Dream of Glades. He explained that he hated magic because of his mistreatment by Teensies his age when he failed at it despite Teensies being an extremely magical race who guarded the Heart of the World. She was the only person he admitted this to, and she promised that after they saved Crystallis or found a way home, whichever came first, she would take him. There was also an illusionary copy of Sheena's village on fire, but Ales didn't care much after attempting to douse the flames.
Palitutu sent a letter to all Heroes in May. She proposed an ultimatum - she would come in August to confront them and they had to propose their solution to stopping the Calamity that was better than her idea of killing everyone. If they didn't come, she would blow up Aqures Ixen. If they didn't please her, she would kill them all anyway. The Heroes met to discuss what to do. Ales liked Jade Curtis' idea of fixing the Soul Divider, which was an Ancient technology that helped the mana flow of the dying planet. If they could fix that and the First Crystal in the center of the planet, then Crystallis could support itself without having to steal the life force of other worlds. As for the crystallization, they considered fighting it head on and exploring new territory for weapons.
In June, Narasimha tortured the Heroes once more - by using a Black Crystal, he mind controlled some of them to murder their friends. Naturally, the dead came back to life, and Ales met with others to figure out what was going on. At the end of June, he possessed Rialynn (OC) and used her to wreck havoc and eventually permanently kill Zelda (Skyward Sword). Ales heard how the group of Heroes tried to kill Rialynn before the damage was to great (and he thought she was an okay person) until he was told how Twilight Sparkles and Shining Armor (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) used their telekinesis to prevent the more aggressive heroes from attacking her, effectively allowing Rialynn to kill more people.
He ended up joining a group that finally capture Narasimha, but his trust in the others broke after that. Twilight Sparkles was magic royalty, and while he was wary of her before, he did at least appreciate her scholarly pursuits. After this, he could find find himself to thing of anything positive about her. This event proved that people that extol friendship were not to be listened to, and royalty can never be trusted to make necessary sacrifices. Clinging to one's morals meant leaving the rest of the world to burn.
Worse still was the confrontation with Palitutu. Jade Curtiss told Palitutu of his plan to revive the First Crystal...and she was satisfied. However, she wanted to test their skills and see if they had the conviction to kill Garland, who was the keeper of the cycle. His death meant the end of all cycles and they would have one chance to stop the Calamity for good. During the battle against Ultima Weapon, Ales ran over to its base and hacked into it, reducing its healing capabilities. However, when it exploded upon defeat and killed him.
Afterwards, he woke up in a Sanctuary in the Interdimensional Rift. While he was busy being dead, the Cloud of Darkness removed everyone's ability to return to life. All death would become permadeath unless treated with a Life spell immediately. Needless to say, Ales was frightened and frustrated. Palitutu lead them on a chase throughout all of their homeworlds, where they picked up items and caught up with loved ones, but Ales tried to keep a low profile in his world. Levy McGarden (Fairy Tail), his housemate that he sometimes spoke to about research, and Lydia Deetz were a bit confused as to why he acted like this. When they finally caught up to Palitutu in Crystallis, she begged them to kill her or else she would be disappointed in their conviction, then fell unconscious. Ales was among the group that advocated death, but in the end, Team Mercy prevailed, though they left her in a coma and kept her under watchful eyes. Ales was incredibly disappointed.
Even worse, Ellie turned into a crystal statue. There was nothing good left for him here. He had to cut off emotional ties and get things done instead of waiting around and making friends.
He lead an expedition to the homebase of the Cult of Narayana, which proclaimed that the Heroes of Light were evil. They found the city surprisingly empty, and deep in the catacombs they found their answer. The cult's lead was dead and lying in an ornate tomb, his right-hand woman claimed that he has finally attained happiness in death, and the townspeople in eternity. They defeated her and found the townspeople trapped in crystals in the caverns that connected to the cult base. While the rest of the team was properly mourning them, Ales did some grave robbing and stole all the treasures in the tomb.
There was also a case of certain Heroes getting possessed by haunted armor and starting a zombie army. Ales was killed by a Necromancer Sonic the Hedgehog and lured into a warehouse where he died by explosion. Again. Fortunately, all Heroes that turned into zombies were brought back to life when the sinister Moogles were finally defeated.
In November 2016, he finally faced his own Shadow. Ales thought to try it himself alone since he believed that his Shadow would talk solely about his immoral actions, and he certainly couldn't let anyone know about it. However, his Moogle corralled a few Heroes including Lydia and Sephiroth. His Shadow also spoke of his twisted desires to reach out to more people and that he wants a healthy outlet to express his stress. The other Heroes learned that he was selfish and put his friends in danger, yet Lydia stood by him, reminding that he was her friend and she would be there for him. He eventually accepted his Shadow and his desire to be a friend that protects others.
The upcoming months were spent in preparation for the final battle against Garland. The plant was for the Heroes to fight him using all the weapons and summons they had and then face the issue of crystallization. During the fight, they summoned Knights of the Round, severely weakening Garland to the point that they defeated him with ease. However, before the kinder of the Heroes were able to step forth and offer a chance at redemption, "Parasraya" killed him and revealed herself to be Kalki. She allowed herself to be killed by the Heroes, which freed her spirit to possess Ramza. With the combined power of the Calamity Knight and Hero of Light, she kickstarted the apocalypse.
All the Heroes ran out of the ruins of Hera to the airship, where Cid was waiting for them. As Ales was the only pilot among them (and Cid was busy yelling orders and hanging off the edge of the ship), Saori Nakagawa picked up Ales like a football and threw him across the ship with the Ninja skill so he could land on the steering wheel. It worked, though rock formations sprouting out of the Earth made piloting difficult. He finally crashed in the middle of the desert and everything went black.
But then he heard Kalki's voice. The other Heroes were dead (presumably) apart from himself, Deadpool, Hisui Hearts (Tales of Hearts) and Ardyn (FFXV). She asked for their help to stop the Calamity her way. As she was one of the people he had grown closest to and the others were dead, Ales accepted. He would be part of her crew as she prepared the world to be destroyed as she became a god.
His belief was that Kalki was truly a friend and that by destroying Crystallis, they would be performing a necessary sacrifice to save the rest of the universe. They'd just hang around and rule the world while she was preparing in her castle. For five years, Ales was known as the Archfiend of Wind, ruling over Trano Golsaucia until the original inhabitants were forced to flee, and he replaced them with a robot factory. He moved the Temple of Wind to a flying fortress, and he was the magitek expert of the four Archfiends. They generally got along while Kalki gave them supplies from their home worlds and their own Black Crystal. Ardyn gave them cellphones, Hisui helped them build weapons from Soma, and Deadpool created Earth Golems for them. They even met sometimes for dinner.
Then it turned out that the Heroes weren't dead. With her dying breath, Queen Sarah put them into stasis to save them from Kalki, and they were back for vengeance. They went after the Archfiends to destroy the barrier surrounding Kalki's castle. A group that included Lydia, Mary, Saori, and Midna fought a giant robot that guarded the snowy lands before and confronted him in his office. Lydia cried that she trusted him (and he said that he was doing it to protect people he cared about like her), Mary was angry, Midna was disappointed. Ales fought them with a robot dragon, but eventually they destroyed it and the lab, which came crashing down. As a last resort, he used his Black Crystal to turn into Tiamat, but they defeated him, too.
To his surprise, they spared him but not without lots of disagreement. He didn't know how to react. He was supposed to be killed, he deserved it. Other Archfiends were killed or joined the final battle against Kalki, but Ales stayed behind. He knew what he did. He saw the effects of the other Heroes defeating the Calamity. They saved the world and let him live.
He didn't go to the final celebration. He stayed outside Aqures Ixen, daring to enter only when wearing his disguise. Ardyn returned to his home world, but left him a memento of a coin. Mary asked him if he was happy with what he did (he didn't know how to answer). Lydia...kept her promise and offered him to come home with her. He would live in the Neitherworld and she would make sure he didn't get into too much trouble like she does with Beetlejuice.
