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Raquar
Ikkitousen
Posts: 108
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:28 pm
Location: Hiding in the shadows

Post by Raquar » Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:36 pm

He had walked into the common room, but had no time to actually take in the sights as he was immediately distracted by the sound of an arriving flashmail. It was another one from this Marionette fellow. What was it Zan said, they had fought the Marionette Devil? Where the two related? He shrugged as he opened the message and read its contents.
To: Raquar
From: Marionette
RE: (none)
youR patH seemS cleareR thaN eveR beforE, buT youR poweR comeS witH A pricE. wilL thosE nearesT tO yoU shY away
His breath withdrew inward with a sharp hiss. How could this thing know? What the hell was going on? An inexplicable feeling of insecurity had taken over him, he felt threatened almost. It shouldn’t have known about that. He hadn’t told anyone, hadn’t let it sneak out somewhere. He had tried to keep it under wraps but . . . How? What was going on? The harder he tried to wrap his head around the subject the harder it became to understand. He wasn’t even familiar with the extent of what he could do yet, how could this thing know? They came, unbidden, swirling around him executing their mission to protect him. The threatening feeling and confusion must have called them to his side, swirling around his body.

They, were wisps. Small little clouds almost, except these were definitely not white or fluffy. His allegiance had been pledged, and these that protected him were made of congealed darkness. They coursed around him, born probably of the shadows in the corners of the room. He could feel them, there was a connection; it was like a humming in his brain. He knew where each one was rotating, its exact path or orbit around his body. He shook for a moment, taking a moment to let the feel of the darkness comfort him and calm him down before he terminated his feeling of it. The wisps died away at his command, fading away into the very air. He looked around suddenly, realizing exactly where he was, and that there were people around. Hopefully nobody would have seen that. He didn’t want to show something off that he couldn’t fully comprehend himself. Hopefully everybody else was busy with something else, or paying attention. He didn’t want any stares or unwanted attention. His eyes scanned the room, noting that not many people seemed to take his entrance into the room into account, something that probably meant he was still unnoticed. That was, until his eyes fell onto a small person situated in a chair in a position fairly out of the way. Shit.

Her eyes had widened in terror, only just woken from her uneasy, nightmare strewn sleep by the more than disturbing flashmail sent by their enemy... or whoever this Marionette was, at the sight of the black... something around Raquar's body. Face white and eyes big as dinner plates, she tried to speak and only managed a choked sound as she shut her eyes tightly, the delicate white wings opening and closing to hide her, as if that alone could save her from her fears and render her invisible from whatever it was she saw there.

Damn it all. It wasn’t that he had done anything intentional this time, just happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. He watched the wings come out, sheltering her, cutting her off from the world. And he swore. This was not the easiest way to do things. He approached her slowly, hesitantly, taking a seat across from her.

”Sekai. There’s nothing there anymore. Nothing’s going to hurt you, I promise.”

She was shuddering, arms wrapped around her knees and her head buried between them as she barely managed to hear the words spoken. What had happened? Why had things gotten badly? Hadn't he defeated that influence... or had it come back when she hadn't been looking? What would it take to make him leave those around her alone?!

“W-why did he come back?”

He sighed. Of course that’s what the first sight of it brought up. Curse it all, if that damn thing could just be deleted, it would make all their lives a lot easier. Anyway, the boy realized now that this is what Marionette meant. This is the price he would have to pay.

”It’s not him. He’s gone; I swear on my life that that bastard is gone. This. . . This is different. This is me.” The last few words were spoken with sadness, it was as if he already knew what sacrifice was going to have to be made. And he was not looking forward to it.

“H-he's in Ani th-though, I-I s-saw and th-then h-he was g-gone.”

The wings moved a bit, the sight of teary tawny eyes faintly visible through the feathers and the fringe of her long white bangs. Her voice still trembled and shook, the lingering bit of fear in her tone still showing her shaken state as she ever so slightly let her hunched shoulders start to roll back into a more relaxed position. After a few more moments, the wings flattened back and away, lying limply against her back and on the chair's arms as she stared at the floor between them with a crestfallen look on her face and rested her chin on her knees. It happened again; she'd freaked out and let the fear overtake her... but... but why did it look like he was there whenever she saw something in that element used.

“....I'm sorry... I did it again, didn't I?"

He was quite surprised at this. She seemed to be regaining her composure. That, was definitely a new turn of events. He nodded.

”You did, but its okay. Listen, Sekai, Trent is gone from me. The lightning Tak used managed to purge the rest of it out of me. It’s just me and good ole Torv in there now. And this . . . This Ani is not going to harm anybody. It’s me, under my control. Watch.” He was taking a risk here and he could only hope it paid off. He moved his hand in front of her, hoping that she was watching and wouldn’t be alarmed. He concentrated, seeking out the shadows with his mind. The corners, any spare aspect of darkness he could find. He pulled it all toward him. There was something swirling in the cup of his hand, it stirred sluggishly at first, gradually rotating around. It was the shadows, they swirled around, slowly, carefully, compacting into a small ball of Ani energy. ”This is mine. No hostility. No evil. Just a friend, one stuck in the same predicament as you. It will not hurt you. Ever.”

"I just-"

She froze again, entire body tensing up and eyes locked on to the thing swirling within his hand, slowly, the color in her face began to drain and she subconsciously started moving herself back away from the growing shadows in his palm. Her breathing became quicker before turning shallow and almost as if she were trying to stop herself from making any sort of movement or noise at all. The tension and posture was like that of a rabbit sensing danger from somewhere close, tensed and ready to run if she needed to. Something in her eyes changed, pupils rapidly shrinking to pinpoints from terror and her entire body as still as she could make herself be. There! Her eyes widened, demeanor changing as the instinct to fight or fly started to set in, back firmly pressed as far as it would go against the chair's back as she tried her hardest to keep her eyes from leaving the shadows swirling around and glowing within her friend's palm. Wait- her... friend? Terror suddenly became mixed with confusion and confusion mixed with something approaching frustration as she managed to tear her eyes away from the sphere to the face of the one holding it. Something close to desperation rose in her eyes as she tried to speak and choked instead, still trembling as she shook her head twice to each side, as if trying to send some sort of message she couldn't verbally give.

He watched as she huddled away, trying to put as much distance between her and the sphere in his hand. She seemed absolutely terrified and trembled constantly frozen in that chair. He hated it, hated himself for it. Pain, all he seemed to be good for was causing her pain. The sphere in his hand dissipated, the darkness retreating back into the shadows from whence they came. He looked at her and hung his head, ashamed at what he had done.

”I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

"She recognized you."

Sekai's eyes closed, her face hidden in her hands as she tried to hide her shame at what had happened for the second time in less than six minutes, and her form flickered, Kira emerging to stand behind the chair, somewhat hanging on it casually as the taller AI regarded the boy somewhat solemnly, speaking to him quietly, matter of factly even as she watched.

"Seeing your face started to throw her out of it. Interesting. "

”That’s a start I guess. But you see my point? It’s me. Trent has nothing to do with it, between you and the lightning, he’s gone. This is just something I can do. Courtesy of Ciar I suppose.”

"Trent caused that fear and it's the part of her he has a hold of that causes her to react that way... though I hate to say it but, it's not all that asshole's fault that she hates the dark. "

The AI moved, walking closer and keeping an eye on her little one, as was to be expected of someone who was so... well, attached was the only way to put it for the time being, until she knelt beside the boy.

"Unspeakable things happen when you're the most vulnerable at night; do you know what I mean?"

His hands clenched suddenly the urge to drown out everything suddenly overwhelming. The darkness started to crawl toward him again but he forced it away, he forced himself into a state of clam. Calm. Calm. He dropped his head into his hands quietly wondering exactly what it was that had brought about this twisted chain of events.

”Please tell me that that’s not insinuating what I think it is.”

Her eyes turned cold, distant even a little angry as she looked at her little one, there was a heavy sense of irritation... and of failure and frustration in the AI's stance and body language now. Kira's voice was sharp but somehow quiet, as she directed her question towards Raquar.

"Depends on what you believe I'm insinuating." She turned her head slightly, expression blank and waiting.

He gave her a pointed look before dropping it abashedly.

”No-nothing. I’m sure everything’s fine.”

"Please don't tell me you're an idiot and actually believe that." Kira replied softly, eyes on the girl trying to compose herself in the chair before shaking her head, frustrated sigh escaping as one hand landed on her hip and the other massaged the back of her neck.

"...should have killed him when I had the chance. " She sighed again and headed for the chair, reaching out and touching the girl on the shoulder before whispering something in the girl's ear and vanishing once more, presumably into the girl's body and taking her place once more, repeating something she'd said before.

"She recognized you; remember that for this quest."

He grunted. Of course he didn’t believe it, he’d have to be a total fucking moron to do so, and yet it was still what he said. He wasn’t sure why exactly he was avoiding confrontation, but nonetheless, he was doing it anyway. The boy stood up feeling rather disgusted with himself. He spoke softly, any eavesdropper would have to strain quite intently to catch the words being spoken.

”Of course I don’t believe it. But I don’t know exactly what I can do at this point. I suppose it’s a good first step but . . . Bah. I just don’t know anymore.”

Whatever Kira had said seemed to have made some kind of sense to the rather upset young woman, because she removed her hands from her face, though flushed and still teary eyed, had a rather puzzled but thoughtful look on her face.

“...what does... what is that supposed to mean?” She frowned a little, shaking her head to clear her mind and looked up, biting her lip and feeling an awkward blush stain her cheeks as a few... more than recent memories came rushing back unbidden, or rather, forced back by a wickedly grinning Kira within her mind. Hands folded in her lap and sitting properly in the chair, as she'd been taught by her... well, as she'd been taught growing up, she tried to clear her throat and start what she hoped wasn't too awkward of a conversation.

“I... apologize for making you feel badly.... y...you were only trying to help."

He turned around back to face her. She was at least looking at him at this point, which was an improvement. He waved his hand at her comment, attempting to dismiss her concerns.

”Don’t worry about it. I should’ve realized what would happen, especially after his little escapade.” Although the Long Arm had attempted to ignore the color rising in her face it seemed the Blademaster had other ideas. Whether he and Kira were on the same page about that he did not know, but he did know that the man forced him back through both of situations, very slowly, as if it were some sort of film to be dissected. His own cheeks began to flush.

”Umm . . . About that . . . I’m . . . I’m sorry . . . I just . . . I just thought it unfair for you . . . to not know.”

“B-better to know now than t-to find out in a precarious s-situation, right?” She fell silent in order to restrain the sudden urge to start giggling nervously; bad enough that she had a wicked and a half stutter when she was nervous or embarrassed... she didn't need to start giggling like some stupid, randomly dim witted little... little....

School girl?

There was a rather wicked grin in addition to the 'helpful' word supplication that had Sekai turning a brighter red than she believed was appropriate for the current situation. Hastily scrambling for a subject, any subject... except that one... and that one... and most definitely that one... for heavens' sake most certainly not that subject either, to distract herself and hopefully Kira.

“S-So um... h-how did your training go? Y-you were gone for q-quite some time. I-I assume that's w-where you learned how to... to..." Ignoring Kira's comment of how she could quite easily turn that comment into something horrible to make her turn the color of a carp, Sekai finished her sentence with the same kind of motion he'd used to start gathering the shadows into the palm of his hand.

She had a point. He didn’t acknowledge the fact but she did have a point.

”It went alright. Met a lot of her,” implicating Kira, ”Friends. Got accustomed to dealing with the pain that went with fighting in this situation. Being able to feel your ribs shatter and lungs punctured is not a pleasant experience. And yes, its where I learned to play in the shadows.” He had held something back, something he really didn’t feel it was necessary to talk about.

Go on, tell her you missed her.

Raq choked, spluttering at the man’s probing.

Kira was alert at the mentioning of 'friends' with the nod in her general vicinity, slightly worried and amusing Sekai at the notion of Raquar having run into someone who knew her in her... ahh, less than notable time as she was now. Though, Sekai did wince in sympathy at the punctured lungs and shattered ribs mentioning. The choking had her concerned too, immediate thoughts of him still suffering some sort of injury from the training or possibly the other two... events that had gone on and-ack! She'd thought of it again! Face darkening a bit in color, she hastily threw the memory aside in favor of trying to figure out if he was still injured or not.

“A-Are you still injured from before?" Genuinely concerned, she reached into her inventory and prepared to remove a Health Drink or two from where she stored her HP recovery items and looked like she was about ready to use them.

He shook his head at the girl softly. ”I’m fine. Might have a small scar or two but that’s to be expected I suppose comes with the price.” Much to his chagrin Torvald was still muttering incessantly.

You still didn’t do it. Don’t tell me I’m going to have to do it for you.

You wouldn’t . . .

His response was simply to materialize next to the boy and open his, in this case, abnormally large mouth.

”What he’s not telling you is that he missed you terribly whilst he was away. What?” The latter was in response to the I’m going to kill you glare that he was now receiving from the younger one.

The reaction was likely an expected one from those who knew the girl rather well; her face went about as red as one could get without exploding a few blood vessels and major arteries in the brain and became suddenly quite interested in something on the back of her glove. Kira, on the other hand was quite entertained at that aspect and emerged herself to cause some more trouble.

"'Whilst' Torvald? My, my, have we been spending time with Cassiel and picking up some fancy new words? Do recite us a ditty... or perhaps a sonnet?" She grinned at Raquar, giving the clearly flustered and irritated boy a wink and gestured to the girl currently a particularly fascinating shade of red in the face.

"She worried the living hell out of thinking about your well being and if you were alright. Couldn't sit still either until you showed back up."

Torv chuckled at the entirety of it as the Long Arm wilted under the slightly overbearing one’s attention.

”Rea . . . Really?” It was spoken softly, attempting to be directed at Kira and Kira alone, but as in most cases, that doesn’t mean that the intention would match the end result. And of course, the Blademaster took this opportunity to further embarrass the boy farther.

”Speaking of Cass, she reve-“ he was cut off by a strangled yelp from the boy and the frantic shaking of his head. ”Oh come on they deserve to know. She revealed that certain . . . feelings dare I say have harbored themselves in this one’s being.”

His mouth was gaping. Why did he have to go and say that now? He sunk into a chair, head buried in his hands once again.

Kira's grin widened, tone overly teasing and probably somewhat overly cheerful at that as she poked the girl beside her in the ribs, causing the girl to jerk with a muffled protest and squeal of what was likely laughter caused by being poked in a particularly ticklish place and responded for the protesting girl.

"...Ooh well look at that! Our little Long Arm is becomin' a man and lookin' for his woman! Never thought I'd see this day come to light. Well- hey lookitthat! They have matching faces!"

Sekai let out a small moan of embarrassment, face buried in her hands as well as she tried to think of something other than how much of a deal... and how horribly awful both Torvald and Kira were being about the entire thing. Silently, she wished for some kind of sign that would completely take this subject to the side and replace it with something a little more... well... pressing and urgent and something that needed to be done right now. Kira snickered, still highly amused by it and sent a rather wide grin over in Torvald's direction before speaking up, starting to float back towards Sekai, as if she were slowly edging back and ready to vanish at any point.

"Let's leave the lovebirds here-

“Kira!"

Kira continued regardless of the sharp protest made.

"Let's leave the lovebirds here and give 'em the privacy eh? After all, gotta plan for the next hacker beating we're gonna be doing; better not be a bitch like the last one dammit!"

With a small pop, the oddly behaving Long Arm female vanished from sight and it didn't look like she'd gone back to where she usually was either due to the somewhat humiliated but puzzled look on Sekai's face.

Torvald complied wordlessly, mimicking his counterpart’s actions. And he was alone. Well, not alone but this was the first time that Torvald had actually left him in quite some time. Although at the moment, that feeling was being shoved aside by awkwardness and complete and total embarrassment. The boy looked up from his hands once only to immediately bury them right back in.

"I-I-I'm so sorry; s-she's never acted like this before."

Sekai managed to get the words to stumble out of her lips, some sort of desperate apology with a hidden plea not to get into the subject right then and there of... well, what the two AI had instigated and double teamed on the two of them about and looked down at the floor, still humiliated by the absolutely outrageous behavior.

God came in many forms it seemed, even the small ding of a flashmail. He opened it quickly, noting the beckons to the Chaos Gate. He stood up, much faster than he should have sending the chair clattering to the floor.

”Go . . . Chaos Gate . . . Mission . . .” Fragments of sentences were all he could manage at this point, and he turned out of the common room, striding as fast as he could with his head down. Getting to the Chaos Gate was suddenly a very important task.

...if there were ever a time where Sekai needed to be thankful that she was never sure if God or the Gods existed, it was right then and there. Thanking the heavens for the explanation, as short and direct as it was, she nodded quickly and almost stumbled in her haste to get to her feet.

"L-Left s-something in my r-room. W-Will be there in a few, g-go on a-ahead. I-I'll c-catch up. "

She turned on her heel and dashed off towards the room, clearly grateful for whatever Gods were watching out for her... and apparently had gotten their fill of the awkward situation and granted the both of them a reprieve... for now anyways.

It was either looking up, or keeping his head down, but today was the day that he ran into people. He had turned the corner from the common room and had run into another member running around the Hideout. This one wasn’t short by any means, still shorter than him granted, but there was a semblance of height above the slightly chiseled golden tunic. A purple bandana rested above midnight blue eyes framing dark hair that hung down to his back.

”Erm, sorry bout that. Excuse me.’

The Twin Blade smiled, looking slightly upwards at this apparent new arrival. ”It's no problem. Hey, I don't think I've seen you around. What's your name?”

The statement was mentally concurred with; he didn’t think he had seen this fellow anywhere. ”Name’s Raquar. You?”

Always delighted to meet new people, the boy's smile broadened into a wide grin. "Full name's Zhao Xun, but feel free to call me Zhao. How'd you become so unfortunate as to fall in with our bunch?" The question was asked jokingly as he tried to keep the mood light, but it was indeed a serious thing to speak of.

The boy grunted. Twice. He wasn’t sure exactly why he was talking about what had happened, but this guy seemed to literally exude trustworthiness. He found it a lot easier to talk about now then it had been before. “A couple others and myself had been recruited by a group called the Eventide Crescendo. I had assumed they were doing freelance work against hackers but apparently they were a fairly known group. Anyway, the first time we met up with them we were taken to a Rue field. There were a bunch of us to start off, but in the end, it was only a Blademaster named Raven and myself, along with the two leaders that finished the thing off and escaped the collapsing field. In our second little adventure, we were joined by a couple new people, one of whom was Sekai. Well, towards the end things went wrong. Long story short, we lost the Incarnation Crystal from the first, and the second field, trapped one of the leaders in the visage of a gigantic flaming behemoth, and the field itself sorta exploded. We got hit by something called the Dread Code, mean, orange, just an overall pain in the ass. Next thing I knew, I woke up here in the barracks, a flashmail telling me I was stuck here. Found out I couldn’t log and out and well, just kinda goin along since.” He had spoken quickly, and was now rather out of breath.

The weaker player was no longer smiling. "At least you weren't conned into it.... His eyes darkened for a second, going purely black, and wrath seemed to pour out of him in nearly tangible quantities. That feeling, however, quickly evaporated as his eyes returned to their normal navy blue and he smiled again. "Always nice to have another ally in here. So, you know Sekai, right? Anyone else?"

The kid’s eyes went black, jet black, reminding him of the time he had had a run-in with Trent. He shook his head, clearing the thought, and by that time, the eyes had reverted back to normal. He nodded at the first part of the question and struck up a dialogue with the second. ”Know her, know Dien, very recently acquainted with Zan, seen him around the mansion a bit. Other than that, I don’t think I know anybody else. But then, I haven’t seen everybody else so I’m not entirely sure.”

Zhao smiled at the mention of Dien, but it was a sad smile, suggesting that the Twin Blade was worried about his friend. "Well, aside from those three, we have Reinier, Rayo, Senna, Hacorie, Phoenix, Nighthand, Canti, and Silk. You'll get to know them all in time, I'm sure, and don't worry; everyone's got everyone's back." Zhao wasn't completely sure that statement still held, but he said it anyway, if only out of wishful thinking.

”That’s good to know. Nice to meet ya, but we should probably start heading out soon, don’t want to be late” He was smiling as he walked toward the gate room, he had just made a new friend, and that was always nice.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Don't want to keep everyone waiting on our account."

The group had been all gathered at the Gate, and they were whisked away with briskness by the ever familiar triad of golden rings. The rings deposited them in a clearing. It was one of those small forest clearings, where you stand in a small open area completely surrounded by forest. Around them were three anciently collapsed trees essentially barring any progress in those directions. The only way they could proceed was to crest a small hill and see what lay on the other side. And so, since that was the only thing the group could do, it’s what they did. At the top of the hill, stood what some would call a mansion. If it was a mansion, it was the most lavish and extravagant mansion that he had ever seen. He could tell form a glance that it was already more of a mansion than the AoD headquarters. They had stopped at a gate, momentarily, and he sat their staring at it. Wondering who it was could have amassed such a wealth as to create something like this. He gave a start as the other began to walk forward, apparently the gate had been opened. He hastened forward, not to be left behind, until they stood outside the front door of the place, something that unlocked and slid open rather easily. They journeyed forth into the foray of the mansion, and emerged in what would almost appear to be a holding room.

The room entered was covered in ancient livery, paintings, ancient works of art; he wouldn’t have been surprised if he had found a tapestry or two either. The room was also bright, the immense chandelier hanging from the ceiling casting a bright glow over the room, one that contrasted severely with the dark colors. The blacks and the reds were definitely the dominant theme in the room, and it was all expensive, from the marble of the floor to the very upholstery of the couches; from the rugs to the oaken table sitting in the corner. It almost all screamed “Lookit me I’m filthily rich!” The table was what drew his eye, it was polished extremely well, almost seeming to give off a dull glow of its own. Situated at the head, or the foot of the table depending on how you looked at it, was presumably the owner of the mansion.

She was female, dressed in blacks and whites, garments looking to be expensive. The colors were in each part of her outfit, her boots, her gloves, her dress, her scarf, hell, even her hat was black. The only thing that didn’t fit the stereotype were the sunglasses she had perched on her face. Teal-colored eyes peeked at the group over the yellow lenses, almost as if she was studying them. It wasn’t long before she began to speak. And she spoke some more. And then Zan opened up his mouth and began to speak. And so the banter went, back and forth, back and forth. Until finally, it seemed that the questions had been answered and Zan left to do his own exploring. He listened idly to the ping after ping of flashmail as the lycanthrope alerted them all to his progress.

His fingers itched. He wanted to do something, but the question was what? And did he really want to do it alone?
Level 28 Long Arm
Archspear, Newt Necklace, Smith's Gloves, Wyrm Scale, Kuja's Thong Dress
EXP: [700/1000]

WISHLIST
Levels
Weapons: - All
Armor: Head - Scarab Earring
Body - Nothing until Mid 30's. Ninja Garb Hand - Nothing until Mid 30's. Leg - Nothing until Mid 30's.
Items: Cooked Biles, Darkness Scrolls (Any and All)

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:09 pm

The room the bowman entered had a black obsidian floor, white walls, and more cabinet space than the hideout. A whole set of ovens lay side by side, and door leading to a freezer was there as well. Food was on the countertops and in the boiling pots on top of the stoves, much more than would be necessary for even their group.

A kitchen. Unlike some of the others, the archer had yet to find too much use for one. He had tried tasting some food at the hideout, but his body didn't ask for him to consume more, so he stopped rather quickly. However, there were at least two individuals who seemed to cherish this sort of environment more than any other. The first was Zan, who the caster had spotted in the kitchen on more than one occasion. Yet, the werewolf was busy exploring elsewhere and probably didn't want to feast on food that wasn't even complete. Blowing a few notes into a flute, the other most hungry individual was summoned directly to the spot. The terror of the root towns, Bell the Silver Grunty of Thunder, was being given full reign around a kitchen. The grunty quickly went to work devouring all of the food on the countertops but ignored the dishes still only in the pots. Meanwhile, her master continued the actual investigation, busy checking the contents of the refrigerators before anything else. Even if nothing of interest was found, there might be some pieces of food to entertain his pet with. Given how poorly Bell had seemed to have been fed at the farm, the chance for a meal at Marionette’s expense seemed fitting.

The grunty quickly went to work, going through all of the food on the countertops in a matter of minutes. The warm pots deterred any fooding there, but everything else within sight was gone. Yet, the mess Angel had warned against had begun to form. China plates let out silent screams as Bell ignored them as she worked at her meal, sending them down to a shatter upon the spotless floor.

The fridges were more amazing than one would have judged from the outside. Any frozen food one could have wanted was there. A quartet of Mage’s Souls lay on one shelf, a different refrigerator held dozens of types of alcohol. Oddly enough, the former wave master withdrew one bottle of liquor but left the SP recovery items alone. He wasn’t sure yet, but somehow the bottle seemed like it could come in handy later. The caster was still hesitant to steal too much from Angel, still aware of her words of payment.

Visiting the freezer was next on the archer’s list, propping open the door and wandering inside. Unfortunately what lay in wait was rather unfriendly, his worries being heightened by the door slamming shut behind him regardless. Zombies rose to their feet, and mimics scuttled across the ground; the intention of the five seemed to be to feast upon the archer in the same way his grunty had tore through the meal moments earlier before laying on the floor utterly full. That was right… Bell was on the other side of the divider, how helpful.

The mimics were only level eight, but they did possess the ability to confuse their opponents. If Rayo fell under such a status alone with no one to heal him, he’d lose his life right then and there. Two arrows, one after another, were aimed and released. Both of the boxed monsters split open and ghosted away harmlessly before being given a chance to act. The undead wouldn’t be put down quite as easily, one of the two lesser corpses slammed an open palm into the former wizard’s head and sent him reeling backwards. His physical evasion was poor with his equipment, that couldn’t be ignored. With it’s other arm, it wielded frozen meat and went to smash it down where the bowman squatted. It’s intention did not end up joining with reality however, as two successive sparks of electricity riddled the body with holes, both MeRai Kruz spells landing perfectly. The other pair began to circle him within the tight confines of the freezer. There was a bit of room to maneuver, but definitely none to run too far or even really attempt jumping. A speed charm was activated and the archer suddenly ducked a meat hook attached via a chain from what was probably the leader of this batch of monsters. Pointing up at the chain while it still was strung out above his head, a crimson arrow was released in the same movement as the dodge.


“Butterfly Arrow!”

The chain shattered, leaving at least one of the two monsters remaining weaponless. The other swung wildly, missing as the bowman backed himself up against a wall almost painfully. The speed enhancement was doing a good job for avoiding blows, but it was tough to stop before bumping into things in such an area.

“Shocking Arrow of Voltage! Shocking Arrow of Voltage! Shocking Arrow of Voltage! Shocki--”

The first pair of lightning streaks sent the head off of the club holding corpse, but the following arrow whizzed right off the mark as the other body charged forward. Damage was still dealt as it’s shoulder was rather torn up, but it hadn’t been enough to prevent it from almost kicking his head into the conveniently placed wall. The last skill was interrupted as the archer rolled to the side to avoid a disastrous headache. Popping out with a Gale Breath, several logs pumped into the creature’s chest and lodged it against the ceiling. Firing up once more, a quartet of arrow skewered the monster under the cry of ‘Mole Arrow’ as the battle ended.

The door opened itself back up and the player raced out of the closed up room as soon as he saw that. His wounds were healed with a simple Ola Repth, but more so the player wished to avoid getting trapped into another battle alone. If the next time it was something rougher, he wouldn’t make it out with just one blow to the head.

Turning back to the exploration of the room at hand, Auth took a peek in the cabinets. Cereal, boxes of wheat, packages of rice, silverware, a random pair of Ronin Blades for absolutely no reason. Rayo gave up on his search there before returned to the freezer, this time with his fierce grunty in tow. The pair did their best to drag the headless corpse, as it was the easiest to access in one piece, and eventually made it to an oven. None of the corpses had vanished, but had simply ceased moving. This last one was the only zombie that looked like it could rise back up, so Rayo wished nothing more than to chuck it in and cremate it. Upon opening up the oven however, his attention was drawn away from the desire to burn and the fact a set of bed sheets lay in the mouth of the stove. A sheet, pillow cases, and a rather warm silk blanket; the archer tried to simply take the last article with him, but the set resisted and some invisible bond prevented them from being split up. Giving in, the player simply took the entire set and continued his hunt.


“Bell, go sniff around and tell me if you find anything unique.”

Unfortunately, a grunty wasn’t the same as a hound. The silver animal picked up nothing, but simply wandered from remaining food dish to food dish. As smell was ruled out, the pair journeyed back inside the freezer for a third time. There didn’t seem to be anything worthy of commenting on, but there might be a secret beneath the layer of formed ice.

“GiVak Kruz!”

Meat burned, a box not unlike the earlier mimics caught on fire, and some ice melted and floated over into the kitchen. His idea had turned out to simply be stupid, and now the place was becoming a wreak. Or was that the trick of it? Would the Angel only reveal herself truly if they bugged her enough? Would she step in herself to prevent her poor innocent kitchen from being so flagrantly violated?

The archer raced back into the other room; the sinks held only dirty dishes and the pots contained even more food. There was nothing even slightly useful there. The archer retrieved the Mage’s Souls he had spotted earlier, as the twin blade weapons that had been stored away. Following this, all of the ovens were set to the magic temperatures and his plan was set into action. The room became rather warm, much to Rayo’s discomfort, but he needn’t stay much longer. The burning food reminded him of the rush he was in as he hunted through the refrigerator from whence the Mage’s Souls had come, only to find a pair of Artisan Souls as well further in the back. Smoke was already rising, but a series of hand towels and wash clothes were dumped into the pots, while even more were sent inside of the ovens. Bottles of alcohol were smashed upon the stoves, and then a final sweep of the room was attempted. It didn’t last very long, the fire had spread and half of the cabinets were no longer even accessible. Once Auth saw his own grunty disappear, returning back to the Grunty Farm by choice, he knew it was time to go. Bottles of alcohol were emptied around the room as the archer made his way out the door and down the hall, only halting his run once he had rejoined the group. Thankfully the door to his room had been shut, so no one should end up stumbling into the fire.


“I highly advise against entering room three.”

ooc:

Acquired Ronin Blades, Mage’s Souls-x4, Artisan Souls-x2, Bottle of Alcohol, Bed Sheets

Blue Magic: Ola Repth, Ap Do
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

User avatar
Zhao Xun
Elevated Player
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 3:09 am
Location: Wherever I'm needed.

Post by Zhao Xun » Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:51 pm

Having had a pleasant chat with Raquar and a slightly more important one with Canti, I finally felt ready to move out. As we arrived in the field, however, I was taken aback by the simple... strangeness of it. Sheena had told us that she'd just found a mansion in the field on her most recent trip, but that still didn't prepare me for striding into a field that seemed, well, more like a home than a dungeon. And the home's owner, well... everything here was odd, why shouldn't she be? And she was inviting us to explore? May as well take her up on her offer... but I should probably take someone with me, just in case. The new guy, maybe? I turned towards Raquar, whom I was still standing fairly close to after our earlier meeting. "Oi, Raquar. I'm thinking we should team up to investigate a room. Speaking for myself, I know I'm pretty weak in comparison to others, and I'd like some backup. Sound good?"

The boy nodded. "Why not, can't hurt anything at the very least."

I smiled. It was good ot have backup, no matter what. And having it from a friend was even better. "Alright, let's check out the southwest room, then."

"Sounds good,” he said, “After you.”

I headed towards the room, composing a quick flashmail to Marionette on the way.
Flashmail!

To: Marionette
From: Zhao Xun
RE: The Other

No, I will never get rid of him. And I've come to terms with that. Your days of playing head games with me are over. I am him, and he is me. And while I may succumb to his nature on rare occasions, I will never, ever, be the murderer he was.

Sorry to ruin your fun.

End Flashmail!
Reaching the room, I noted a small golden plaque with the number 5 inscribed on it. Numerical references eh? I guess it might make it easier to keep track of.... I reached out, turned the handle, and stepped forward into a room that was clearly made for entertaining guests. Plush couches, fancy artwork... everything a rich person needed to make themselves feel superior. I grinned a little, thinking about how much Angel wouldn't be able to live without all these comforts. Had the piece of data been forced to grow up as I'm sure most of us Freedom Fighters had, she would have deleted herself. Heh. "Hmm. Shall we poke around some? We should definitely make sure this room is as simple as it looks, if nothing else."

"Makes sense. You grab the dressers I'll take the couches," he replied. He began with the closest couch, gently lifting up the cushions to see if anything was hidden beneath; some spare coins, a sock or two. I began to poke around the dressers, opening each drawer and feeling around inside, looking for a secret compartment or something. I also checked underneath them, and felt the bottoms, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Never hurts to be thorough. Throughout most of the drawers, everything I found was useless, but there were two things that were different. The first was obvious, a magic scroll for a weak fire spell. I didn't bother checking which one, it was unimportant in the end. The other item, after all, was of far more interest, though I couldn't piece together why. A set of silverware, seemingly normal, but... so oddly out of place that I felt compelled to take it with me.

I turned to Raquar and held up my discoveries. “I found these... how about you? Any luck?"

He held up a palmful of coins. "Spare change really, little less than 60 gold. Hey," he nodded over toward the paintings and therefore, the lack of one. "I don't mean to blatantly point out the obvious, but something should be hanging there. Maybe if we find something to put up there something else'll show up. You think it'd support my weight?"

I looked at it doubtfully. "Probably not, but pulling it couldn't hurt. If that doesn't work, though, maybe there's something to hang there hidden in another room. Try it out."

The Long Arm walked over to the hook, studying it for a moment trying to figure out just exactly how sturdy it was. When he couldn't he simply shrugged his shoulders, grasped the thing, and yanked with as much force as he could muster. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be the best of plans, as all he managed to do was pull out some of the drywall and fling himself backwards into a couch, lost one of its legs in the ordeal. He was left with the hook hanging loosely in his hands, and the only other effect seemed to be that he managed to knock a few other paintings down, revealing their hooks as well. All in all, his efforts served more to amuse me than to get anything real done. I stifled a laugh, then spoke. "Well, that was a wash. Can you get it back on the wall?"

I could barely hear him at first, tangled up in the partially busted couch after his accident, but he soon freed himself from the rubble and replied. "Not sure, I'll give it a shot though. While I'm doing that why don't you take down the rest of the paintings to see if they're hiding something." He had managed to get himself back over to the damaged portion of the wall, and then idly amused himself by seeing if he could leverage the hook back into place.

While Raquar busied himself with the hook, I took his advice and began to take down any remaining paintings, checking behind them. It proved to be good advice: hidden on the backs of separate paintings were four scrolls, three Light Cross and one Divine Cross. An excellent find. "Whoa, Raq,” I said. “Check this out. Some nice scrolls here." I held onto one Light Cross and the Divine Cross, and tossed the other two Light Cross scrolls to my partner.
He caught them with ease and seemed to ascertain that they were indeed useful, then looked back to the hook he had just replaced.

"Hey Zhao, what do you think'd happen if we pulled out all the hooks?"

I was getting a little worried at this proposition, but gave it as much consideration as I had the ones before. "Uhm, considering our lack of success with that one, I'm not sure that's the BEST of plans... unless your plan is to break this whole room and piss off the Angel beyond belief."

He seemed undeterred by my lukewarm reception of his idea. "Hmm. Well, it seems that we can jam them back into place. If we're gentle with these next ones, we might be able to find something else. Just an idea to consider."

I tossed him a skeptical look, but it was up to him in the end. "Well, go for it if you want to I suppose. I'm gonna try moving these dressers and checking behind them, since the Angel seems to like to hide us little prizes behind things."

My ally simply shrugged. "Fair enough." He went around to each successive hook, being as careful as he could to pry it out as gently as possible it seemed. Maybe he didn't want to bring down the Angel's wrath after all. It seemed that he managed to remove all the hooks fairly easily, but his minimal efforts gave him even lesser gains. He had nothing but a pile of hooks to show for it.

I tried moving the dressers, but they turned out heavier than I had first expected. Some I couldn't even move. It didn't matter, though, since I found nothing in my search anyways.

"Any luck?"

I shook my head. "No, I can't even move some of them, and those I managed to search revealed nothing."

"Well . . . If we can't move it, we could always try to go through it."

"More wanton destruction?" I was becoming more and more amused by Raquar's antics. He's certainly a fun one to be around.

The other player shrugged. "If you're gonna destroy a place you might as well do it thoroughly. If we're gonna get boned for the hooks, we might as well take it all the way and get rid of the dressers too."

I had to laugh at that. "Ah well. It'll at least be fun. Let's do it."

He turned toward the piece of furniture in question, attempting to slam his spear down into it. He seemed to be trying to split it down the middle, and while his strike wasn't quite powerful enough, is did make a crack that he pried open, dropping part of it on his toes. He looked to me, eyes watering as he spoke. "You see any others that need forceful opening? Or do we just rifle through the contents of this one and be done with it?"

I had to hold back my laughter. "You look through that one, I'm gonna check under the carpet here. Might be a trapdoor or something... or more scrolls."

"Sounds good," he replied. He knelt down, rubbing at his toes with one hand while pushing aside the various contents of the trunk looking for something that would seem . . . well, important. He didn't seem to find anything, and I didn't either. This room is only getting more frustrating.... My ideas were only becoming more rash, as well. "Hmmm. As long as we're destroying everything... I'm gonna check inside these couch cushions. For fun." I began methodically slicing open each cushion and rifling through the insides, looking for something besides whatever fluffy substance they all contained. Raquar said something while I was busy, but I paid him no mind. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a single thing, and we had now wasted even more time.

I looked up from my area, now covered in cotton from the inside of the cushions, and saw that Raq had been replacing the paintings on the wall. However, he turned to me, and it seemed he had another idea.
"Zhao, I need your help here. Let's try rearranging the paintings, see if we get something."

I slapped my forehead, thinking about precisely how stupid I would feel if that was the answer. "Alright, let's give it a shot."

While Raquar focused more on just moving the paintings around, I began to examine each one more closely, looking for any distinct marking on any of them, anything that made one of them stand out. Nothing at all, and all his shuffling of the paintings also seemed fruitless. One of them slipped from the wall and landed on his toes once again, causing him to swear loudly and hop around in pain. This time, though, I wasn't laughing. I was just pissed.

"Find anything interesting?” he asked.

I let out a growl of frustration. "No. So far, this room has just been irritating me... but all we've got are those scrolls and this silverware. Could that be all?"

"There still might be something more." He glanced around noticing some destroyed furniture and . . . tables. He managed to get himself over to the closest table where he knelt down, checking the underside of it. "Maybe there are things on the undersides of the tables, or under the legs. Or something."

I sighed and moved to help him search. "Better to be thorough now then to miss something and have to come back. And look like idiots, no less."

We checked every table, and... nothing. I was fuming. Out of ideas. And just about ready to leave the room when Raquar had another suggestion.

"Zhao . . . You think something could be hiding in the paintings?

He confused me, and I was in no mood for games. "I have no idea what you mean, so please tell me before I kill something."

"Simple. Rip all the paintings off the canvas. Maybe we'll find something then."

I simply stared, not knowing if the Long Arm was joking. Finally, I decided that I just didn't care. "Just do it." I made no moves to help him. I couldn't bring myself to stand up off the floor where I sat, covered in cotton and foam. It wasn't like I could have helped him much, though, since it appeared all he could do was add “paint” to the list of things covering me. I didn't even care anymore. He set to work venting his obvious frustration by ripping the drywall out, and I couldn't tell whether he was actually searching for something or if he was just furious. I began knocking on the floor, looking for hollow spots, hoping against hope that I could find something... ANYTHING. And yet... nothing. All I had managed to do was make my knuckles sore.

Raquar turned to me, obviously frustrated beyond belief. "C'mon Zhao. Let's get out of this hole. Before we do something else stupid." And at those words, I had to beat down a scream of frustration. I looked around the room at everything that had caused us this grief, and then an idea flashed through my head. A stupid idea, but... I wasn't really thinking clearly.

I pulled out one of the scrolls I had found earlier and read it off, setting off a Vak Rom around one of the dressers I'd been unable to move. It caught fire quickly, and I looked at Raq. "Too late. NOW let's run."

He erupted in laughter, then wrenched open the door, beckoning to me. I double checked to make sure I had the silverware, then bolted for the door. On the way out, I ran straight into Zan, who cast a MeRue Rom into the room to douse the flames, then shot me a glare, in response to which I simply looked sheepish. We began to make our way back to the lobby, and Raq seemed to... well, try to slink back in shame. I quickly grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him out in front of Angel, shoving him against a wall, then leaning beside him with a defiant look on my face.

It didn't take long for Angel to speak. "Despite everything I said, you do the opposite. Well, so be it. You will pay with all the rest, soon enough."

It was then that the Long Arm reached into his pocket, withdrawing the change he had found in the couch. "Oh, I found this in your couches. You really should be more careful with those." He placed the small heap of coins at the end of the table.

I laughed out loud, right in the Angel's face. "Nice one, Raq."

But he wasn't done. "Ya never know when you'll need a couple extra cents. A toll booth maybe. Or maybe just a late night fling with a cheap get-up from the seedier parts of town."

Angel's expression was unreadable as she looked from the small pile of coins to the pair and back. "You insult me." And with that, her image disappeared.

The smirk Raq had been wearing was wiped from his face. "Umm... Come back? Please? I'm sorry?"

I looked to him in bewilderment, before a huge grin filled my face. "Well, we're dead. But we're dead together. Neh?"

"True. At least our rotting carcasses will have company."
Zhao's Profile

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Levels
Slayers
Other level 16+ Twin Blade Weapons
Cougar Bandanna
Snow Panther
Level 16+ Twin Blade Armor

Miakita hazu no tasogare ga
Konna ni kirei dato naita

Zan
Exalted Player
Posts: 206
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:28 pm
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Post by Zan » Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:15 pm

Zan stared at his masterpiece for what must have been an hour (but, in truth, came down to only a handful of minutes) with a satisfied smile spread wide over his lips. If he was going to get flogged for 'accidentally' destroying a section of her trophy cases, he was damn well going to make it worth it. With the three thousand gold added to his inventory to boot, the Lycan was going to soak up what he could for all he could. After all, if a certain doom was unavoidable, it was best to go out with a bang, so to speak. The previously-erstwhile Shade had shed that thoughtful skin and grown as intrigued and amused as his partner at the carving in the missing section of wood and metal and along the wall that had laid beneath. Some probably wouldn't even get the reference, such a fad having started ages ago, but Zan and Nulus did. That's all that mattered. Though Zan recognized his probably violent fate at the hands of Angel, he didn't fear it. The lycanthrope found himself fearing very little as of late. The one thing that, in fact, he wasn't looking forward to was the looks he'd get from his fellow Freedom Fighters when they found out what he had done. The judgment...the cries of 'hypocrite' that would undoubtedly find him...none of it he looked forward to.

What he did look forward to? Leaving the room and joining up with the rest. Despite their unavoidable upset, Zan's discovery of what he assumed was a very important item had come with luck. Though he was far from stupid and had done his share of puzzle solving in the passed, he wasn't, by any means, the best at it. Surely Rayo or the brazen Senna would have better luck with the other rooms than he. After all, crazed and wanton destruction couldn't be the end solution for everyone. The Freedom Fighters were made of sturdier stuff than that, after all. Giving his etched words one last look, stifling a chuckle (something Nulus didn't do), Zan left with the Shade at his side and entered into the hall once again. A glance at the locked door to the north closest to him made Zan pull the mortar and pestle from his inventory. Would this item, on its lonesome, prove to be the solution to some intricate puzzle that would open it? No. Probably not. If the lycanthrope's hunch was correct, and he usually had fairly reliable hunches, they would need all of the special items in each room to press on. Sure, that came with the question of how to open magic room number six, but Zan would worry about that once the group had reunited again. First thing was first...finding them.

The first of Zan's wandering inquiries put him at an open door and the room inside. Zan couldn't really tell, but the decor hinted at being some kind of kitchen. He would have been able to get a better look if the thing wasn't on fucking fire. What wise-ass did that?! As much as the Lycan wanted to reference his own destructive misdeeds, he had only taken out a portion of the trophy room. He hadn't decided, 'Hey, I know what sounds like a good idea, setting the place ablaze!' Geniuses. It wasn't that Zan necessarily cared about the room's destruction, it made sure he wouldn't be lonely in the torturous hands of Angel, but more that he wondered if they even thought about the state of the mansion itself. The last field had held a forest reduced to ashes because of a similar out-of-hand inferno. It wouldn't surprise him if this ended up trapping them in a fire they couldn't escape. Sure, it might succeed in killing the Guardian and possibly even the Hub itself, but at the cost of the death of the group and an eternity as game ghosts until the Elites stomped through and made them slaves in Yamiyo. The fire actually seemed pretty contained at the moment, almost surprisingly so, but Zan decided it was best not to chance it. The plan formulating in his brain would mean even more damage, but really...who cared at that point? Maybe Angel would thank him for potentially saving her mansion.

Probably not.

Momentarily swapping some of his newly purchased thunder-based armor for the rare Shiva's Rings, Zan took a few steps back. There was no telling what casting the spell in the enclosed space could do. If the ceiling started collapsing, Zan wanted time to book. Giving one last over-the-shoulder look/shrug to Nulus, the werewolf fired off the MeRue Rom and watched as fire and ice mixed in a cocktail of steam and hissing pops. In the end, when the tornado of jagged crags and swirling, ice-cold water had ceased, the fire had been extinguished and the room set in an entirely new state of disarray. It had only served to make things look worse visually, but Zan was okay with that. If it prevented the probably overdramatic fire he had imagined, it was worth whatever further wrath he would incur in the process. Nulus had piped up to object killing the fire and, truly, that was almost as shocking as his attempt to talk Zan out of his carved graffiti back in the trophy room. It seemed the Shade really was trying to better himself. Hooray...or something like that. Zan didn't particularly care at that moment. No, what held his attention was the fact that he still fucking smelled smoke. Oh what now?!

Snarling at the thought of one of their group members finding such glee in rampant arson in what was probably a locked mansion, he continued his search for the culprit(s). Well, she had said they were free to go if they wanted, so maybe the firestarter had done so with some idea of an escape in mind. Still, somebody could be caught away from the exit and die in the fire just the same. Sure, their ghosts would wander around and find someone who could bring them back, but everyone in the Freedom Fights had the curse of sensation. They'd still feel the fire that would eat their flesh piece by piece until all that was left was agony and evaporating tears mingled with the ash. No one deserved to die that way because of some smart ass who thought it would be brilliant to start lighting rooms on fire left and right. Again, it wasn't the damage that angered him (he had, after all, done some himself), but the way they were going about doing it without any apparent regard for the consequences that could befall the whole because of real world physics that might or might not apply to the Hub fields. Zan had seen physics come into play plenty of times in The World to disregard anything about it as 'just a game.'

After a rather easy hunt that entailed little more than following billowing smoke and the scent of the inferno, Zan's feet brought him to an escaping Zhao and Raquar from the room. How they had managed to set this one on fire and whether or not they were at fault for the last wasn't his concern. No, his priority was putting the damn thing out. Attempting to shove both of them aside, not really worried about whether or not his hands actually made contact or they wormed away, the werewolf stepped up to the threshold and once again lofted his hands towards a potentially lethal blaze. The second MeRue Rom proved as effective as the first in not only putting out the flames, but causing even more damage in the process. As he had comforted himself before, at least the worry of a spread was no longer on his mind and, with a quick sniff in the air, no more rooms seemed to be in trouble. If he had to play firefighter for one more place he was going to disembowel the asshole that started it. Or at least daydream about it. A lot. With his work done and the problem settled, Zan turned to face the two responsible with his hood down and his face - scars and flickering left eye and all - bunched up in anger. They didn't deserve the verbal beat down that Senna and Hacorie had endured, but they were still getting a piece of his God damn mind. He waited to give this to them, however, until they had reunited in the lounge with a disappearing Angel. That he expected.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Setting rooms on fire in a house that we not only plan on staying in for a while, but that we have to go deeper into? Did you ever think that, hey, maybe it might all go up because of your stupid-shit antics? I don't care if a quick Rip Maen or Resurrect would have solved any accidental deaths. Being consumed by fire and dying from it is still fucking traumatic. If you want to destroy things, be my guest, but do it with a different element." Walking away from them, hoping to regroup with people who weren't painfully lacking in foresight, he left them with a parting sentence. "Use your heads next time, jackasses."

Turning away from them with a quiet Nulus, Zan took a seat at the head of the table Angel had vacated, the Shade floating with an aura of still confidence behind him. If this was how the beginning was playing out...

God help them.
Lv. 50 Heavy Blade
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Special: Levels, GR Sendai, PL Sakai, Darklore.
W: Tonosama Sword, Mineuchi, Jundachi.
A: Samurai Helm, Able Hands, Rare Greaves.
I: Holy Sap, Treebane, Cooked Bile, Nightbane.
EX: Elemental Summon (Lv. 2), Overdrive (Lv.1), Elemental Attacks (Lv. 2), Enhance Dark, Elemental Breath (Lv. 2).

User avatar
Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Post by Nighthand » Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:03 am

(ooc: Quick post: Zan successfully puts out the flames... though that doesn't stop there from being water damage on top of fire damage.

Also Phoe has staked a claim to room #1 and Sekai has similarly gone for room #2, for scripting soon.)

Phoenix512
Exalted Player
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Post by Phoenix512 » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:21 am

Phoenix just awakened from his slumber as the group was ready to go to the third hub. He felt so refreshed that he almost forgot this feeling since he has not experienced it for such a long time. Suzaku, we are about to head out. Let’s test this new orb out along with Ap Corv orb.

The blademaster equipped the stronger version of the elemental breath orb along with the Ap Corv into Suzaku who was still trying to figure out who was Yui or that voice for that matter. Even if Kazuma-sama had some clue about Yui, I doubt that he could remember it so easily. He could barely remember his own name along with Shinto that Yui is nigh impossible at this point. Those memory blocks need to come down but even the maker of them cannot remove them so easily.

From what Sheena said earlier, the third hub consists of a mansion. Why I got a feeling that this mansion is going to be haunted? Angel is probably a bitter old woman with a glass of wine in her hand. Anyway it’s time to go, Suzaku?

Phoenix joined up with the others and headed off to the final hub. He got images of horror movies with the isolated mansion on top of a hill with a spooky forest nearby. There was one thing bothering him though as the Freedom Fighters made their way to the mansion. It was the lack of monsters. They usually encountered some sort of resistance by now. The reason for this was about to be explain once they entered the mansion.

The first thing that Phoenix noticed that the mansion does not appeared to be haunted but rather nice. The second thing was that Marionette Angel was not a bitter old woman but a rather pleasant looking woman. It seems that Angel is probably the most intelligent of the three. We have been facing the guardians in rising intelligence. I doubt that she will be easy compared to the Devil…

At that moment, Phoenix gets a flashmail from his favorite neighborhood friendly stalker, Marionette. The blademaster figures that he was talking about how he dealt with Hacorie and Senna. His thoughts turned to Zan who was questioning the Marionette Angel. Phoenix himself figures that he could ask all the questions as the blademaster would rather question the puppetmaster himself. His feeling was rather correct since Angel does not know much and only reveal that she had four forms like her guardian processors. After that conversion, Zan decided to head off on his own to one of the six rooms.

Phoenix was observing the sights of the room for a bit in hope of gaining more understanding of Angel until Zan came back from his exploring. He managed to piss her off by wrecking the trophy room. Soon afterwards, the werewolf flashmailed the group about the mortar and pestle he found in the room. Rayo went off to a room by himself which he soon returned afterwards saying not to come back to room #3.

At this point, Phoenix was quite bored and decided to head off to the rooms by himself. He noticed the gold plaques and was thinking that he should explore room #1. It makes sense to start at the beginning after all. The blademaster entered room number one and found a typical mad scientist laboratory. There were all sorts of glass lab items like beakers, cylinders, test tubes, and coil tubing for steam condensers. The air was sterile due to use of chemical disinfectants and like. The room had enough space to walk around in with a massive table in the center of the room and display cases around the edges of the room. The table had various chemicals in beakers at various states of activeness and colors along with ornate alchemical tools. It also contained several sinks and heat sources for various experiments along with dozens of drawers beneath the table. The display cases contained various jars, beakers, and various types of containers filled with all sort of substances, some dangerous, some not so much.

Why does this seem so familiar to me? It’s like a second home to me. Damn memory blocks! Why Shinto did make them so effective? Anyway, let’s search this place, Suzaku.

Phoenix walked to the table and examines the ornate alchemical tools more closely. He found that there was nothing special about them as they were found in any bad sci-fi movie. He thought about mixing the chemicals for a second but realized that he did not want to destroy this room like Zan and Rayo did to the previous rooms. It was better not to mess with chemicals when you do not know what they were along with the purpose of the experiment. The blademaster began to examine the drawers beneath the table and found your typical lab stuff like stirring rods, cups, beakers and etc. except for a pair of Knight’s Bloods. He took the pair of Knight’s Bloods and was about to leave when Suzaku spoke to him.

Kazuma-sama, search the display cases as well. I doubt those Knight’s Bloods was the only thing to be found in this room.

Agreeing with the bird’s suggestion, Phoenix began to search the display cases. At first, he did not find anything special until he noticed an odd glint from the back of one of them. Examining the source of glint, he found the most unusual thing that can exist in the lab. It was a gold-plated heavy wooden trophy which was awarded to Angel for a ballet competition. Upon finding the item, Phoenix realized the nature of the puzzle but how to solve it was another question. With trophy hidden from sight, the blademaster returned to the lounge and proceed to ask Angel a question.

“What are those chemicals in the first room?”

"Oh, those? Nothing to worry about. Blood of monster, eye of newt, a pinch of sulfur... I was working on creating new potions before you lot arrived."

“I see… thanks.”

Before Phoenix could flashmail the others about his discovery, Raquar and Xhao had come back from their room only to experience a similar lashing that Angel gave to Zan. After the Angel disappeared from the room because of Raquar and Xhao’s hijinxs, Zan gave another of infamous rants towards the two. Phoenix almost felt sad for them but they should not have try to burn the room along with the fact that they were guests even though it was the enemy’s home.

Flashmail

To: Freedom Fighters
From: Phoenix

If you didn’t figure out what kind of room I was in from my conversation with Angel, I was in a laboratory. It had the usual stuff found in a mad scientist’s secret lab but with one unusual thing. It had a trophy and not any kind of trophy but one that Angel got from a ballet competition.

When I remembered Angel’s outrage towards Zan about destroying the trophy room along with him finding a mortar and pestle. I think we need to place these misplaced items back into their respective rooms but I don’t know if they need to be placed in a certain area of the room. I was thinking of going to head to the trophy room to put the trophy I found there.

Zan, can you go to room #1 and place the mortar and pestle there?

I think these items might be the key in unlocking that final room.

PS. Zan, don’t mix the chemicals. We don’t need more explosions.

End Flashmail


After sending the flashmail, Phoenix went into room #4 which was the trophy room and noticed the destruction that Zan did to the room earlier along with his poor repairs. As he stepped on the pieces of glass, he reached to the only empty trophy case in the room. The blademaster placed the ballet trophy in the case which causes a treasure chest to materialize in the room.

Phoenix opens the chest to reveal 4000 GP and a 6 Side Sword. He takes the items and nothing happens to him. He thought a trap would spring up or something but it did not. For some weird reason, maybe the items were a thank you from Angel in returning her misplaced item. The blademaster was kinda of disappointed since the reward does not appear to have any clues in unlocking the final room. He returned back to the lounge and leaned back at one of the walls as the others were having more luck in solving this mansion than he did.

((OOC: Equipped LV.2 Elemental Breath and LV.1 Strengthen on Suzaku

Acquired: 2 Knight’s Bloods, 4000 GP, 6 Side Sword))
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

Reinier
Awakened Player
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 4:49 am
Location: UNKNOWN ERROR, please try again later
Contact:

Post by Reinier » Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:01 am

((OOC: Abbers: Speed Enhancement lvl 1, Elemental Breath lvl 1))

“Do you at least feel safe around these people? When you were Whole, you really seemed to enjoy Zan's company. He doesn't seem like that bad of a fellow,” Abraxas, in his human form, leaned back in his chair while scratching his head. His body and mind had been pushed to the limit and he needed his rest, but every time Reinier went to sleep he was dragged out to speak with the boy.

“Well, they are cool, but he seemed a little... um... perturbed? Yeah! That's a cool word for it. They probably are really nice people, but with this whole... uh... trapped in a game thing, I can see why they're upset. That Nights person seemed really neat, so that's good. I'll hang around them for awhile and see what happens, I suppose...” Reinier swung his feet back and forth in his chair.

It wasn't his room they were in, but instead a vast infinite space of white. The two chairs seemed to appear just out of necessity. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he wasn't Whole anymore, so the room wasn't completely his to use. He was soon about to ask Abbers an important question, but a loud “ping” awoke the boy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

To: The Freedom Fighters
From: Nighthand
RE: The Final Hub

Alright guys, now that everyone is rested, we might as well head out. Nall won’t be joining us, as he’s off investigating some things for Raine, so no need to worry about him. Gather by the chaos gate, we’ll leave as soon as everyone is there.


Reinier held the paper in his hand, and stuffed it in his pockets. He smiled, feeling accepted as a “Freedom Fighter,” and wondered what this would entail as far as responsibility. He shrugged, and stood and followed the group as they migrated to that weird gate.

The peculiar golden rings fell over his body, and he found himself in a clearing in a forest. The boy's eyes opened wide, a smile readily apparent on his face, as he wandered off on his own to take in the sights. The smell of nature was amazing, and a rare commodity he could rarely enjoy. He closed his eyes, and just stood there. Waiting. Absorbing. The air was purely amazing.

He turned around, eyes and mouth open, but everyone had already begun to make their way up the hill. Reinier scurried along, attempting to catch up with his new friends. Through the endless brush of tees they traveled, until they found themselves at a mansion. He followed along with the group, straight in to the mansion. His jaw dropped.

He gazed upon the massive welcoming room, wondering just how many guests this house could entertain at once. The extravagant parties, the friends, the endless flaunting of money... Reinier felt carried away, back to his own home... His family never had that much money, but they were well off. The managed to live semi-comfortably, and well enough for the boy to get what he wanted. The beauty in this was the fact that he had never wanted anything, and when he did, he was so strung up about spending too much to truly want to get the items of his choice.

The group had gone off to do their own thing, explore, loot, or admire. Reinier decided to stay behind and get to know their hostess a little better. He wandered over to the woman who was known as “Angel,” and gave a polite wave. He sat across from the woman, and began to introduce himself. “Hi! I'm Reinier. Why do you put so much value in to money? There's a lot more to life... like penguins! If I had this much money, I'd have so many penguins... Do you have any pets?”

"Money, you see, can buy anything. Whatever you see valuable in life, I can purchase," was her curt reply.

Reinier pondered on this for a second, then asked, “What about love? Money can't buy that. Are you lonely here? I know I would be, cus if there were other people they would be here with you... or animals... like penguins... or a baby dragon! That'd be fun to own, wouldn't it?”

"So naive you are... What do you know of love from maturity? I have all I need, here around me." Such cold words from a dead heart. What horrors had this person faced?

Reinier gave a coy smile. “It is odd, isn't it? How young I look... it's fun, but I kind of miss having all my memories... but I still retained all I've learned. I may not remember how I learned it, but I can still apply it... What's great is how lightly and kind heartedly everyone's going to take me. They won't expect much from me... it's kind of a bummer, but at least I can be lazy if I want! But I'm slipping away from what I was going to say...” A pause. He scratched his head. “I can't remember what I was talking about... umm... Oh! If everything you have you buy, then what of friends? True friendship isn't bought... it's earned...”

"You may be right... However, as I said, I have all I need here. If you don't see friends, then they are not something I need."

Reinier gave a frown. “You would be surprised in the power of friendship... It can tople mountains, over take armies... it's amazing... but it's always nice meeting people with different views on stuff... Do you ever play Hide and Seek in here? This seems like the most amazing place ever to play Hide and Seek!”

At this, and for the first time since the group had entered, she smiled. "Hiding things is one of my favorite games. Though your teammates are swiftly discovering that... and not being gentle about it." Her smile faded for the last line, her expression darkening.

“Yeah... I wouldn't like people messing with my things... Do you have people over often? This would be the best place ever to have parties...” He folded his legs Indian-style, and peered upwards at the hanging chandlier.

"I have entertained guests before, yes." Short and simple.

Reinier scratched his chin, wondering why it was such a short answer. “You don't sound too happy about that... Is that the reason why you put so much stock in to something you won't take with you to the next world? What happened to those people? Or animals, hopefully penguins or baby dragons.”

"Most often, they were my siblings. Two of whom your party has met and destroyed."

Reinier could sense sadness in her tone. “Were they your siblings in real life as well? I learned this is a game... still adjusting to that... I'm sorry my friends had to do that to your kin... Is that Mary... uh... Mary-man your brother or sister or something as well?”

"No... my Master is unrelated in blood, though we are united in spirit."

Reinier gave a curt nod. “I see... well, what about the first question? If they're your siblings in real life, they'd be fine right?... or are you like us? Trapped in here... Are you as wealthy in the real world as well?”

"These questions, my dear, have no answers for you. I know no other life than this; it is all I need."

Reinier frowned. “That's really sad... when we all get out of here, I'll go out and find you. We can be friends in real life! The trees out side of your house are really nice, but they're so much nicer outside in the real world.. Oh! Right! I got... mail... of sorts from your friend. He said he knew me or something. I didn't really read it, cus I get bored easily. How did he know me?”

"My Master knows all he cares to know; you are a member of this group, so, he knows you. It would see, he knows far more about you than even you do."

Reinier hadn't thought of it like that. He blinked a few times, and smiled. “I need to talk with him... But I'm tired now... I think I'm going to go find Nighty or something... It's been fun! I hope we can play a game later on!” And with that said, Reinier went to wander about the mansion in search of friends.
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Reinier's Wishlist: Sakabatou|Sharktooth
Abraxas' Wishlist: Complementry|Summon
The Hack's Wishlist: Wall lvl 2

User avatar
Lighteria
Well-Oiled Machine
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:59 am
Location: :noitacoL

Post by Lighteria » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:10 am

Everyone keeps busy lately... All I ever see are people walking in and out of the training room...

The twin blade gently runs his fingers through his hair, letting the tufts in front of his face fall over his eyes.

From what Kit mentioned, I should probably be practicing more with my powers. They're really hard to control and Raven really made life harder for everyone because of it.

For a moment, the twin blade stares at his hand, his back settling into the couch.

...I can't right now though. Too much has happened. I'm just... too... tired... right now.

In the next instant, Lighteria's hand flops to his side and his head lightly falls forward. Taking a page from Kit's book, the twin blade takes a well deserved nap.


...*New FLASHMAIL*!

Lighteria opens only one eye when he hears the familiar ping of the flashmail. He groans, unsure of how much time passed while he was asleep... however much it was though, it wasn't enough. Groggy and listless, the twin blade lifts only one finger to open the mail. ...From Nighthand. The subject title catching his half-open eye, the boy blinks twice to coax himself awake, reading the letter somewhat slowly. He has to re-read the line: "We'll leave as soon as everyone's here." to get it to fully sink in. When it does though, the twin blade pops out of his ennui and leaps off the couch, frantically pushing his hair aside.

"GAH! We're going right now?! C-come on Kit! We have to go!" He says, lightly kicking the pillow when Kit is sleeping as he rushes towards the chaos gate. Unfortunately, while Kit is lightly jostled by the impact it doesn't really wake her up. While Lighteria gates out with the group, she continues to nap...

Maybe she'll join them later.


Lambda: Muted Illusionary Code


As is par for the course with Lighteria, his first step onto the field stuns him. A moonlit forest path is a scene right out of one of his first stories, where walked a young man down a stony path, moonlight shining amidst the subtle light of his deep, blue eyes. That was a good line, in his opinion. True, the story was kind of sucky from that point on, but for one of his first he still looks back on it with fondness... Not that he can really write much in game. There's always SOMETHING they're doing.

Maybe it's best this way.

As he falls out of his thought process, he notices the group starting to move without him, again, par for the course with him. With a reddened face, he quickly rushes to catch up to the group. He follows in nervous silence until they reach the fence of the mansion. Even though the self-opening doors scream out "TRAP" in his mind, the group is, as always, fearless in their endeavors and push right into the mansion. Lighteria follows close by, admiring the design of the gates and the surrounding forest, trying to ignore the obvious implications of doors opening by themselves while they're supposed to be walking towards a boss.

Kind of reminds me of that old anime I watched... I think it was like a vampire's castle the guy was walking into. The doors opened by themselves and let the hero just walk into the giant antechamber where the vampire sat on a giant throne, grinning, the damsel in distress chained to a cross or something. The hero always wins in the end though... ...Man, if I was the vampire I'd just keep my damn door shut.
...
...I really need to focus more on the task at hand.


The twin blade snaps out of it just in time to see the rest of the group head into the giant mansion itself. He follows behind and finally catches a glimpse of who will apparently be the group's hostess for a while. In a creepy coincidence, she's sitting at a chair at the opposite end of the room, just as Lighteria's imagination had envisioned... what he HADN'T envisioned, at the time, are all the fancy baubles and trinkets literally lining the walls. As he admires the surroundings though, the doors slam shut behind them. The twin blade shrieks and holds his heart when the noise pops up... the Angel speaks regardless.

"I am Angel, your hostess for this evening. You may put your weapons away..." Lighteria blinks and looks down at his belt, his Akatsuki still safely tucked away into his sheaths. Even through the creepiness of the forest, he'd never actually felt the need to get them out. Fortunately it looked as though he wouldn't need them for now. Clearly this particular entity is much more reasonable then other bosses they'd met. As the angel finishes up her speech the twin blade smiles brightly, ready to converse with it now that a peaceful opportunity has presented itself... before he can though a familiar ping pops up...

FLASHMAIL
To: Lighteria
From: Marionette
RE: (none)
youR minD iS bacK tO itS placE. whaT wilL yoU dO witH iT?
END FLASHMAIL

The twin blade's eye twitches. Kit had mentioned Marionette sending flashmails to everyone last time... clearly he wanted to toy with them. Though it would be cathartic to write a scathing reply, the twin blade decides against it. Perhaps maintaining a radio silence with this crazy person is the best thing. After all, the answer is obvious... He'll just use it. Satisfied with that course of action, Lighteria looks away from the flashmail screen to see Zan already conversing with the hostess. ...Somewhat arrogantly as well. No matter though, Zan has every right to be angry after all... A few words shouldn't have too much of an impact, right? Regardless, as he waits his turn, the twin blade admires a few of the paintings hanging on the walls.

Wow... this is beautiful!

Wide-eyed and holding his hands over his chest, Lighteria admires an eight foot tall painting. The painting itself is of what appears to be a forest at first glance, however, the trees have diamonds and gold as leaves and berries. The river flowing through the forest appears to made of glass as well. It's obviously made to cater to fancy designs of rich people wishing that even their natural world is full of riches and fancy.. but what fascinates Lighteria isn't merely the strange concept, but rather the reminder of an old childhood story. A heroic knight was forced to travel into another realm where a castle stood, three princesses being held captive by an evil wizard... pretty standard, but what was interesting about that story was that any knight that had stolen from the trees were turned into gold themselves... or silver, or diamonds... whichever tree the touched. The lesson was, of course, greed is the end of even heroes... or something like that.

*New Flashmail*

Hm? This one's from Zan... Looks like he's all done talking with the hostess... and he's gonna explore? Fair enough I guess... Good Luck Zan. I think I'll try something different.

With the option of civil discourse actually open to them, Lighteria makes the mental decision then and there to try talking with this boss. Perhaps she can be reasoned with? Deep down, the twin blade believes that most fights can be avoided by talking... whether this is true remains to be seen, since they rarely get the chance to talk. Shrugging lightly, the twin blade turns away from the picture, brushing his hair away from his eyes and heading towards the hostess. With a bright, nervous smile, the twin blade walks up to the opposite end of the table, waving lightly at the woman. "H-Hello! It's... nice to meet you! I.. I like the painting! ...Oh, and I'm Lighteria."

"I know who you are... but thanks." Angel says, her tone still mostly aloof. Lighteria gets a surprised expression when she says she knows him. "Almost all of the paintings in this place are favorites of mine, from either in or out of game."

Outside?

"Really? How do you know about stuff outside the game?"

"Not everyone needs to be isolated in this world..." Lighteria nods thoughtfully.

"I guess you're pretty lucky that way..." He looks distant for a second, thinking of personal isolation... he shrugs it off quickly though, his face forcibly brightening. "Well.. It's nice you're being so rational about all this! you don't often get to talk this way with the people we meet."

"Of course not. This is not to say, however, that I'll simply stand aside and let you pass through my mansion. I am here for a purpose, after all." Lighteria fidgets with his fingers lightly. He needs to find common ground at some point, yet still accomplish what everyone came for.

"Well... of course. We're all here for a reason as well. but do they have to oppose each other?"

"In this case, they do. I am here to test you, per my Master's will. So, that is what I will do." The twin blade lightly fidgets with his fingers, the obstinant tone of voice sending a bad vibe his way.

There has to be a way to work around that.

"That's awfully simple for someone so... obviously refined." Lighteria forces out, quickly switching back to being cheerful. "It's in your power to ignore it, right? You're rational... we could totally get along!"

"We could, perhaps, get along... but no. I cannot ignore it. As rational, intelligent, and free willed as I am, my Master is still my Master." Lighteria half-pouts, shoulders slumped. Again with the unbendable link to presumably Marionette. He glances to the side, trying to find a way to worm around the iron will issue.

"I guess that's... unavoidable. Still! You know why we're here, right? Is it like.. total defiance for us to just do that?"

"I will have to fight you, and to accomplish your goal, you will have to defeat me. However, even if I remain alive... I honestly care nothing about these hubs you seem to adamant to destroy. Had I truly wished, I could have rendered that bomb your leader carries inert within moments of him entering my mansion. It isn't a dud." Lighteria blinks with one eye; having the boss know about the entire plan for the hub they're guarding is... unsettling to say the least.

"Well.. you didn't... and thanks for that, by the way." He fidgets again. Clearly losing the logic battle, he turns his face somewhat cute, trying to get some sympathy instead. "It seems so barbaric for us to just simply fight. Is the 'master's will' really that much of an absolute? You seem so nice! I don't want to fight!"

"It, perhaps, isn't absolute for me; while I am the most free of my siblings, I am free because my willing choice is service to my Master. His will is my will." There's a long pause. The twin blade tries desperately to figure out how you can be free to be not free... clearly there must be a flaw in that.

"...So what if it wasn't that case? If you were opposed he'd simply take away your will? That seems like an awfully cruel master."

"Such is the way it is, with one with so strong a will. He desires more than he is given, and to him, we are his tools." Lighteria bites his lip, getting an idea.

"...I bet you don't have to be a tool." Lighteria says slyly... ...you know... sly for Lighteria. "Maybe you have the power to be independent?"

"....perhaps, perhaps. However... I do not have the desire for this independence." The twin blade blinks a few times, surprised.

"Why on earth not? That's like... the most important quality of life. Being free is why we fight so hard."

"But are you really free? Just think of your life, and how many chances have passed you by, or that you have let slip. If you were truly free, why would those fade away?" Lighteria tilts his head, thinking about that, still with the cute eyes.

"Well... I suppose that's part of being free? Being able to make choices about opportunities and doing the best you can. But you have the choice of letting the slip or grasping them. You live with that choice and that's a good thing..."

"Well then... I have made my choice."

Lighteria nearly falls over.

"But.. that choice sucks! You choose to be not free??"

"So you would impose your will, your choice, over me?"

"I'm not trying to force you!" Lighteria stutters, a bit taken back. "I'm trying to convince you that there's a better choice."

"Is there a difference? I know the choices you try to show me; I choose against them."

"Well... I think it would be better for you to do things differently." He dons a bright smile again. "We wouldn't have to fight that way! And aren't we nicer?"

"Only some of you. Parts of my mansion are being destroyed as we speak. Some don't heed my commands. Besides... I enjoy fighting, to a degree."

Lighteria's ear perks, hearing the faint sounds of smashing in his ear. He glances to the side for a second and swallows.

"Ah-.. well... they're just.... ....excitable?" Nervous smile. "We're not that bad!"

"We shall see." Her tone defeating him, the twin blade steps backwards.

"...yeah... just keep it in mind, I guess?"

No response. The hostess only looks at the twin blade. Before he can get too nervous though a flashmail from Zan pops up.

A mortar and pedestal?

Blinking his eyes, Lighteria looks to Zan, seeing him scrawling on the wall. He groans and sighs, head dropping. "We're so screwed."

Regardless of the trouble he's quite sure they're in now, Lighteria decides to check out room #1, if not the most interesting room he's heard about, at least it's the least destroyed.
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

User avatar
Sekai
Ikkitousen
Posts: 123
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:04 pm
Class: Archer
Location: Liminality

Post by Sekai » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:20 pm

Awkward was the only word she could really come up with for the absurdity of the situation that Kira, and to an extent, Torvald as well had gotten Raquar and herself into. Hurriedly racing down the halls at a speed she didn't think she'd run at since her transition over to an Archer, the girl near swung herself into the door of the room where they were supposed to sleep but, where she generally only kept her spare items and the like tucked under the bed she'd been brought to upon her arrival there at the hideout. Swiftly sorting through what she had available and with a frustrated half-strangled noise made in the back of her throat, stuffed the items in their respective sections in her inventory and swiftly told herself that now wasn't the time to be flustered and that a calm, rational mind would do better than her current state of mind. Nothing she had seemed to be of any use and that alone had her frustrated enough to want to do something utterly reckless and destructive.

Well, that and the single fact that Kira had gone missing had her worried and agitated.

Her eyes searched frantically for the AI, trying to find the woman physically while her brain searched frantically for the place that linked the both of them to try that way. A sinking in her chest and the distinct emptiness in the area of her mind where she was so used to finding Kira gave her what she was afraid had happened; Kira was no longer within her mind or at least, not in a part that she could reach or was aware of. Hesitation stopped her at the door, tawny eyes closing in an attempt to restrain her tears as she called like Kira had taught her how to do if there were ever an emergency and she was needed.

If you need to get a hold of me and I ain't there for whatever reason? You reach this place in your mind and call for me, you know my name, my full one; use it and I'll always come back.

She waited five minutes, six minutes, seven minutes... eight... minutes ...no more, she couldn't wait any longer and not risk either being left behind or being spotted by someone and risk a scolding for not being with the group. With a heavy heart and a dejected expression, she quickly sped off towards the meeting place, deciding on her own to answer that odd flashmail from that Marionette-san person.... despite Kira's vehement belief and declaration that she shouldn't get anymore involved than she already was.... maybe she'd get an answer for once... instead of the magnitude of questions that kept rising in her mind unanswered.
To: Marionette
From: Sekai
Subject: RE: RE: (none)

What did you intend for me to do with that tablet you let me find? I do not know what you wish of the group I am in but... is there any way to keep them from harm's way when it comes to those you presumably work with?
Catching up wasn't too terribly difficult, though it certainly was a bit of exercise for the young woman. She was astounded by the level of detail in the mansion and in the surrounding area around it. Something in the back of her mind resisted, as if it felt completely familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time as she entered in alongside everyone else... and kept in mind the answers to the questions the woman had answered from those who asked. Despite the dozen questions or so she had in her mind that she dearly wanted to ask... Sekai failed to muster enough bravado and courage to actually try and ask the question she wanted to know, instead quietly moving off to the doorway and walking through into the hallway... right up until she saw a currently unopened door. Biting her lip and making up her mind, Sekai tested the doorknob and found that she needed to go through in order to further her investigation... while waiting for any flashmail from Marionette-san that might or might not respond to her question. Hesitantly entering the room and being overly careful not to bump or crash into anything, the young woman began to carefully examine one of the nightstands and looked for anything out of the ordinary. Blinking in surprise at the assortment of religious paraphernalia and texts around the tables, she examined a few that caught her eye right off of the bat after the initial search of the typical holy bible.

'Is Angel-san religious? Or... is she searching for her own religion and answer to the afterlife?

"Huh... Not what I expected."

Her inspection of the texts were interrupted by a somewhat familiar male voice commenting on the state of the room, startling her into setting everything down and stumbling to make herself look as particularly innocent and guilt free as she could... which was hard considering the embarrassed blush on her face and the way there was a distinctly guilty and embarrassed look on her face from being caught snooping around.

”I-I was just, um, looking for something out of the ordinary and that might help the group.”

"Don't stop on my account. I'm just waiting out Hurricane Zan. If you're onto something, though, I'm all ears."

She shook her head and examined the six elemental texts again, frowning at them before reaching into her inventory and placing 200 GP for each text she took, a total of 1200 GP left behind in payment. These might not be missed or they might, either way though, something about these needed to be examined when she had more time and... well, the situation was less intimidating and dire.

"I just... I'm not sure, maybe we should look around a little more. I would like to hold on to these for now though. Um... if it's possible... can... can we not destroy this room? I would hate to make Angel-san angrier than she already is with the destruction of the other rooms."

"I wasn't planning to blow anything up. If anything, my fighting mood's a bit off right now. Anything special written in those things?"

Again she shook her head, frowning as she tilted her head a little at the cover of a delicately crafted book done with the picture of an odd crystal like palace-tower combination done in all sorts of shades of blue with a familiar symbol on it and a mentioning of someone named Merrows. Well that was interesting, the pattern on it reminded her of... well... of Kira for some reason or another. Might have been the color association, the color blue was one that Kira liked to wear and liked to put on her in... well, in her own world whenever they'd had the chance to talk about colors and the like. Another was one done in shades of green, one in shades of earthy browns and oranges, one in shades of gold, still another in shades of violet and black, and finally one in shades of brilliant red.

"Nothing that I can see at the moment but... it... it's better to be safe than sorry. I'm going to look at the dresser, what are you going to examine?"

"Me? Closet."

She headed over to the dresser, frowning as she tucked the texts into her inventory for later examination and research before opening the dresser up and carefully going through the drawers. Nothing in there either; Angel-san must have kept her wardrobe somewhere else in the mansion... a little too bad because, thanks to Kira and M-ahh... Sana, she was curious to see what else the woman might have worn when she had guests or when there were others... if there were others. The thought struck her as she remembered the cool, stern posture of the woman and the way she held herself.

'She.. kind of reminds me of my mother. I wonder... is Angel-san lonely? Or does she ever become so? I wonder what kind of feelings she experiences sitting where she is right now...'

She looked up from the dresser, leaving the 1000GP where it lie and closed the drawer. Angel-san may have liked her fancy belongings and kept them all around her for whatever purpose she may have had; she enjoyed the finery or she thought it made her more intimidating, but... she had no use for them within this place and wouldn't outside of it either. Riches and the 'better things in life' that she'd lived with all her life compared to the simplicity that Sana's family lived with... there was really no reason to ask her which she preferred.

After all; all the riches in the world wouldn't make her happy.

“There was nothing on this end that would give us any assistance. What about you?"

"Me?"

The black winged youth jerked a thumb into the opened closet door, revealing a menacing looking skeleton wielding a rather large club behind him... looking like it was about ready to bash the Twin Blade over the head with said weapon.

"I've got him."

Oh shoot! Apparently he hadn't meant to do that, judging by the way his palm connected with his forehead in the typical “oh crap, wrong move” gesture she recognized. Sekai's eyes widened and the startled yelp that escaped came more from her knees hitting the back of the bed and losing her balance on to the mattress rather than the sight of the skeleton. Though... yes, she had backed away partially because she'd been startled but, partially because she'd wanted to get a little distance in case she needed to shoot the ever living heck out of that skeleton and knock that weapon from its hands.

"Oof- what, a skeleton in... who keeps... what?"

Obviously she'd been more than a little confused about the entire pun about the skeletons in the closet and it showed by the odd look on her face.

"Old expression. Skeletons in the closet. It's a really bad pun here."

"The expression means that you've got secrets that ya don't anybody to know about."

She frowned a little, contemplating the expression and if it could apply to herself or anyone else she knew as the rustling in the closet brought her abruptly out of her thoughts as a picture was placed out. Angel-san was fighting a three headed dragon, why she didn't know but, apparently it was supposed to be flattering of the woman inside of it. Perhaps some sort of symbolic representation of a particular conquest or challenge overcome? Now that she thought about it? Sekai believed she really should have payed more attention to the art symbolism in that one class in her first year of senior high school; maybe then it would have helped her in the long run in this case.

"The key's probably important. What about the pic?"

"Um... bring out the picture if it isn't bolted to the wall so we can look at it closer?"

Sekai tried to push herself off the bed, muttering to herself in her native language about the odd habits of foreigners and having such a soft mattress to hurt their backs. Brushing herself off, she had an odd feeling that she should probably see if there was anything under this... bed or if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe there'd be a mononoke under bed! After all, there were the old folktales about naughty children being spirited away by mononoke who waited for the children to discover their hiding places beneath a foreigner's bed... though that had been an old woman's warning from the feudal period when the foreigners had first started really making themselves known to the rest of the country.

"The funny thing is, the first Hub had a three-headed dragon."

Apparently satisfied with the key and the painting, Sekai set a small satchel containing 900 GP in the middle of the bed as payment for any damages and for the key and painting being borrowed. After all, the woman had been very business-like... though one who would likely keep a secret or be pleasantly distracted and 'forget' the transgression if paid well enough, the Gods alone knew her mother had been the similar personality type when it had come to monetary matters and the finery in life that she wanted and demanded from everyone around her.

"We should go before the group leaves."

In the middle of counting out the woman's payment out, she feels curious eyes on her and waits for him to speak, finishing up and tying the bag neatly closed and making sure she didn't damage the bed or anything around it. Her face turned a light shade of pink at the mentioning of her ability to hand out what was probably a considerable sum, somewhere amounting two thousand one hundred gold pieces or so, to someone they'd just be fighting later on.

"Where do you get all that?"

"I... don't shop very often and I often forget I have the money until I actually think about it and look for it to pay for something. Um... are you in need of any?"

"Me? Nah. Recently bought a bunch of stuff, so I don't have much to pay for. I was just curious."

She nodded and finished tidying the rest of the digital religious texts and the gold she'd left for the ones she'd taken as well on the table. Good, things were relatively back in order and now she wouldn't feel too terribly guilty about leaving the room without having paid their hostess, despite her current status as an enemy, properly for their taking of a piece of art and of a small key that they'd found with that skeleton.... though skeleton-san had to stay in the closet since, for some odd reason or another, he seemed to prefer it there to anything else. ...and she was thinking of the realistic looking skeleton as if it were sentient again; she needed to stop doing that, really, it was going to make her look like a complete and utter idiot one of these days.

"Um... I think we're done here, it isn't destroyed and I hope Angel-san will take the payment for that which we did take without being too furious."

"She took one of my weapons as payment quickly enough. You're probably fine. Well...better off than whoever set the place on fire. Wasn't me, believe it or not."

She blinked, tilting her head to one side a bit in confusion before looking around the room and back at him. Not that she had been very pleased, quite the contrary, about the fact that three people had burned down and destroyed at least the same number of rooms, but, what had he done to warrant any suspicion or, well, to have to reassure her that he hadn't done anything to the rooms himself.

"Why wouldn't I believe you?"

"Because...it's kind of second-nature to me. I dunno."

Now that was odd... and rather sad actually now that she thought about it, brow furrowing as she looked over at him, tilting her head a bit again to try and see if he was pulling her leg before replying.

"Second nature to believe people will not believe you? Isn't that kind of... sad?"

"No, I meant about fires and burning stuff and things like that. It's the way I play the character."

Frowning a little at the playing aspect of it, she shook her head and started for the door.

"Um... I'm not sure what you mean by 'playing' your character but, um, you seem nice enough that I don't see you burning things like you say you do."

A shrug in response.

"I'm not in the mood. Trust me. On a bad day, there's nothing I want to do more than lots of collateral damage. Right now...I dunno what to think. Part of me thinks it doesn't matter what I do here and now, but another part keeps saying not to push my luck. There's a lot of wrong about this place."

Her eyes darkened a bit as she opened the door and waited out in the hallway before responding, thoughts racing as she tried to find just the right words to say.... or at least say something to try and bring his spirits up a little bit.

"You shouldn't... underestimate your contribution to the group or your own worth. If you doubt yourself, what are those who count on you to help them in battle supposed to do?"

"To that, the only answer I've got is 'The best they can'. It's all I can do and it's all I expect. But hey...as long as I don't go it alone, right?"

All she could do was give a bit of a helpless shrug in response.

"The best... is all we can do in the end, ne? Let's go back to the group... I have an unsettling feeling."

Her eyes examined the carpet beneath their feet as she continued towards the lobby door. Maybe he could answer this particular question, or at the very least, have some sort of theory that would make some sort of sense.

"I... why do you think people became so corrupt in this game? Is... is it because they've been here for too long?"

"Maybe. They might've discovered their powers and just kinda' went mad with it. Suraisu called all of this the dark side of The World... Maybe it's just...some of this place is just evil."

Dark side of The World? Suraisu-san? Who was that? Why would someone say there was a bad side to what was supposed to be something to entertain yourself with? A thoughtful expression flickered across Sekai's face, as if the statement had gotten her interest or caught on to a thought in her mind.

"...is there such thing as good and evil though? When we're all born, aren't we all the same... and in this situation, we're all in the same, um, how do they say it again... boat, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, but..."

Sekai felt the weight of a heavy gaze on her shoulders, the area beneath one particular shoulder blade feeling odd as she recognized the same feeling as she had before and waited for the comment she expected would come.

"...we still have to kill Angel."

Her heart sank; was... was she the only one who thought that they could possibly work together; not just the Freedom Fighters but the Elites and those trapped within the game too, to release themselves and each other from their virtual prison and solve the mystery of what was throwing them into the comas... and how to get themselves out of them as well.
"If... If this time is the same as the last time... with the Devil-san? I..."

She looked up, hand on the doorknob and swallowed hard, expression set in an unease form of determination as she began to turn and open it. This was one step and she tried calling for Kira again, heart sinking further and her expression beginning to turn back to worry and anxiety as she finished her sentence.

"I will not let them kill her. Too many people... if all those 'Bosses' you have fought in the past are human? Too many have been killed... there has to be another way."

His hand prevented the door from being opened, the young Archer giving a sharp, silent intake of breath and held it as she counted several times to ten and then some to try and calm herself time. Too close for comfort and far too close for her to feel safe; he needed to back away quickly... she hoped he would release the door before anything happened to... well, make a bad impression.

"If we're lucky, only the Hub-Guardians are, and no one else. I won't stop you, Sekai, but there may not be a choice. For all we know, these people might not have lives to get back to, no convenient coma-bodies to fill in. Just keep that in mind."

His hand removed itself and she opened the door, not needing to hear the next two words because she'd already somewhat made her mind up about what she needed to do next... all she needed to was find a few others who would help her on the diplomatic side of the interactions between the opposing forces.

'I just know we don't have to fight each other like this; we all want the same thing eventually; we want to get out of here... don't we?'

"Let's go."

Without Kira for advice... though she had a feeling she knew what the AI would have said to her in this kind of situation, Sekai was at a loss for what to do and for what the next step should be in this case. Stepping aside so that Canti-san could go through first and following after, the small girl shut the door quietly behind her and looked around from where she stood at the people present in the room and began to make a few observations about them and how they might feel about the situation and the plan of trying to be diplomatic rather than more militaristic about things.

The first person her eyes fell on was Zan; she'd met him... not even a handful of days before she'd been put into a coma by the Dread Code. He had been one of the most upset at the destruction of the property and definitely upset at the two who had destroyed the pleading Devil back in the hub they'd been in before. Maybe... maybe he would be open to the suggestion of trying to be more diplomatic? After all, a person's class didn't determine their preferred course of dealing with an issue... right?

Next was... that big guy, what was his name, the one who controlled the Ani like it was nothing at all... and the one that apparently had someone like Kira housed within him as well... oh, there it was, Nighthand-san and Silverblade-san. Both of them seemed fairly reasonable... maybe they'd see the positives in seeking to establish some sort of truce or contract with those they generally fought against to work together?

Canti-san, Hacorie-san and Senna-san... regretfully had made it clear that they had no interest, or hadn't shown any true interest in attempting anything resembling diplomacy so, she guessed that she should probably count them out of things until their actions proved otherwise. What had made them decide their path as they had already? The Suraisu-san that Canti had spoken bitterly of... perhaps that person had done something to all three of them and that was why they decided to continue to fight against them rather than try and make an alliance or even for a truce?

Phoenix-san and the...third? fourth? Heavy blade that she'd seen yet in the fighting group were there as well... though she knew next to nothing, save that the former had a particular habit of exploding at people and that he had a phoenix as some sort of guardian spirit or so that he could manifest at will... or something like tat, she wasn't sure. The latter of the two she'd never even seen before, was he also new or was he someone that just came back from sort of soul searching or training quest of some kind? Either way, she didn't know enough about either of them to pass any kind of judgment or assumption about what they might or might not choose.

Zhao-san... she didn't know too much about, though the new wardrobe change had her blinking, gold was an interesting change from black, though she didn't know why he'd done it but, perhaps it looked suitable in his eyes and in the end, that was what counted. She... didn't know if he would be willing to do any such thing as try and reason with those they fought against and therefore stuck him by default into the 'not sure' category in her mind.

The guy with the kitten... his username said Lighteria... she didn't know much about Lighteria-san either.. though his kitty was sure adorable and she certainly envied that he had a companion that would provide him with some sort of company late at night when he probably had his fits of doubt and felt lost and needed comfort- okay now that was just getting ridiculous and she needed to stop right then and there. No use crying over what wasn't lost when one didn't have it in the first place. Again with the 'not sure' category and in he went.

Rayo-san, she wondered if the Wavemast-wait a moment. She blinked to herself and tilted her head slightly to one side in confusion. Where... where were his staff and wand collection? And was- her eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight of a bow on his back. Well... apparently he was tired of being a spell caster and wished to use something physical in combat when the situation became a bit sticky... though she'd never actually seen another Archer before... that meant she'd have to earn her place amongst the Freedom Fighters and make sure that she could be of use... that way she wasn't discarded. In any case, he too went into the 'possibility' section along with Zan-san, Nighthand-san and Silverblade-san... he had expressed an interest in possibly allowing the Devil to live in exchange for information.... that might just mean he would be able to perform well diplomatically! ...though he had apparently destroyed a room inside the mansion like Zan-san and Zhao-san and Raquar had managed to do.

Raquar... she shook her head and slumped against the door itself, staring at the floor as if it could give her the answer she needed. Ignoring the flashmail sent due to the fact that it had near nothing to do with her or anything she was capable of dealing with. Tiral was the sole reason that she knew in her heart that, no matter how she asked or begged it of him, he would not join her in her goal to try and call a truce and eventually, an alliance on both sides to get them working together. There was nothing she could say or do to change his mind, of this she was very, very sure that she couldn't even ask him to consider the option. With such a strong vow to get Tiral back... she couldn't bring herself to ask him to change that, not for her, not for the group, not for anyone or anything.

It... looked like she was going to have to start this on her own. Four were in the 'not sure' category, four for the 'definitely not' and ...well wait, did she count Nighthand-san and Silverblade-san as one or as two seperate people? Well, for now, she'd count them separately due to her own understanding of being in a similar situation. Shoot, make that six for the 'definitely not' category; she'd forgotten to add in Kira and Torvald-san.... though she didn't know Torvald-san that well but assumed he'd be agreeing with Kira. So that meant... five for the 'pretty sure' category. With a disheartened sigh, the young woman removed herself from the wall and trudged dejectedly over to where Zan had taken his place where Angel-san had once sat... and made sure she made a wide birth around Nulus-san too... he still gave her a bit of the jitters when she was around him... okay fine, he scared the living daylights out of her and she was afraid he was going to bite or claw her if she got too close, to lean against the wall next to him and try and figure out what she could do to bring up the subject of a possible attempt at making an alliance or a truce with people that most, if not all of the group, distrusted immensely and had every reason to fight against.

Two hours of 'sleep' was wearing on her and was going to kill her; she just knew it.

'I can't sleep though... not when I close my eyes and ever...everything happens all over again.'
Image

Name: Sekai
Level: 54
EXP: 0000/1000
Class: Archer
Clan: Army of Darkness
HP: 835
SP: 347

Currently Equipped:

Einherjar: Kira, December, Zorya

Head: Bat Earrings (Ola Repth 40, Rip Maen 40)
Body: Saint Cross (Rue Zot 10, RaJuk Zot 30)
Arm: Protect Ring (Ap Vorma 15, MeJuk Kruz 20)
Leg: Ninja Anklet (BiVak Rom 20, GiGan Zot 30)
Add-Ons: Forestlore, Wood Magic (permanently raised Wood Offense/Defense by +3 total)

Wishlist: Levels, Summon: Wood, Archer Weapons, Light Armor

Lord Canti
Exalted Player
Posts: 300
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: In da' plains of hell, natch.

Post by Lord Canti » Tue Aug 07, 2007 4:24 pm

(The night went quickly, assuming that it was, in fact, nighttime when he went to sleep that time. Overall, it didn't matter. With Canti not going anywhere that time, he remained in good shape and ready to head out when the call was given. Apparently, Nall would not be with them this time. But considering that they had something close to an army as of late, it didn't appear to bother the dark Twin Blade that much. Hence, they were off to Muted Illusionary Code...)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

(According to information provided by Sheena, this place wasn't the way it was suppose to be anymore. While the second Hub field had changed because of actions rendered to it, this one had apparently changed of its own accord. Perhaps as a reaction to the other two Hubs being destroyed? Maybe. Canti practiced a bit with his new weapon, Magatsu. Nice blades, easy to handle. They seemed made for him, in a way. In any case, this area was now a thriving wilderness not unlike Lia Fail. Canti had never been there, himself, but he heard it was a tranquil spot. Their traveling deposited them in proximatey to a wall perimeter, ones whose gates opened wide upon approaching it. So then...they were expected. Inside the walls, there lay a mansion of some decent decor. Canti was reminded of The Island of Dr. Moreau at this point. He who breaketh the law shall be taken to the House of Pain! That was a freakish sort of tale. Fortunately, the master of the house was not Marlen Brando. Like Nighthand, Canti had been wary and expecting a fight. It did not come. Instead, they had a rather interesting hostess waiting for them. As they entered, the doors shut behind them and owner of the house spoke...)

"You must be the ones Master told me about. Welcome to my mansion. I am Angel, your hostess for this evening. You may put your weapons away; while you are no doubt here to kill me, I am not here in this room with you. This is simply an image of me, here to greet you.

I am a woman of business, commerce, and sophistication. I do not wish to see my mansion trashed in your efforts to find me, though I will not tell you where I am. I will be watching you, and any damage you do to my belongings will be paid for, if I have to extract the payment from you myself. Keep this in mind.

You are free to converse with me in this image, non-violently. Some questions, however, may require payment for their answers. As I said, I am a woman of business. If you don’t desire talk, you are free to explore my mansion; at least, the first floor of it. You will find the doors to the stairs locked. Also, you are free to leave at any time.

I suggest you follow my guidelines. My prices are quite high."


(The last line lingered in Canti's mind the most. It, amongst other things, seemed to hint that something was very wrong with this picture, with the whole setup straight from the first Hub. Like his suspicions of Zan, it was something he just couldn't quite place. There was a problem, something they just weren't all seeing in all of this. The Twin Blade waited, dwelling on this thought, while others spoke ahead of him. Zan's talk with Angel produced a chuckle or two, especially when she mentioned the rug-burns and stubbing your toes. The wolf was asking all the right questions about this place, but Angel was sort of brushing them off with nothing to hide and little to tell. Not wanting to wait long after Zan, Canti strode up to the image of Angel and spoke up.)

Canti: Answer any question at all? Or at least...anything you can answer?

"Or anything I feel like answering, anyways."

Canti: Cheeky. Alright, uhhh...why bother telling us to be nice with your stuff when you'd have to battle us pretty much to the death anyway?

"As I told Zan, though perhaps I need to rephrase it; I would readily accept a bribe, of sufficient amount."

(For some reason, when Canti heard that before...and now again...it bothered him. It didn't seem normal, or even plausible. Courteous as their hostess could be, she was still the enemy, and still stood in the way of their Hub-smashing mission. They would have to fight. It was inevitable. But the way this Hub-Guardian acted, Canti could swear that they weren't talking to a simple dungeon monster. At the very least, this had to be a genius-level creation to be able to act this way, but...bribery? Angel's words about business and wealth came back to him...)

Canti: Not a very angelic move, is it? Nah, don't answer that. Ummm...you know what happened in the second Hub, right? Maybe you can tell me...why do you guys act so human?

"Why? Well...finally a question worth setting a price for. What do you have to offer for your answer, hmm?"

(Aha... The shiniest nuggets are always the ones you have to bargain for... Canti smirked at this.)

Canti: This is the part where I'm glad I don't throw anything away, but what kind of offering are you looking for?

"Well obviously straight GP is more fluid, a liquid asset that I can pour into what I desire. However, items would suffice, perhaps, so long as I find a buyer for them eventually."

Canti: Money, I'm low on. So, let's see about items.

(Knowing how the trade game works in The World normally, this sounded like something similar. If the buyer believes that such-and-so is worth enough, they will accept it. And thus, he gets his information.)

Canti: The armor's kinda' so-so. Level-7 things. The weapons are better. Even got a rare one.

"The question is, what are you willing to part with? What is this information worth to you?"

(Now she is the one asking questions... The irony not being lost on him, Canti pulls out Dante's Blades.)

Canti: Enough to part with one of the good ones. Something's not right about all this, the way Devil was begging for his life. Acceptable?

"Hmm. I suppose I can accept that weapon."

(She waves a hand, and a bowl large enough to hold the weapon appears on the table.)

"Place it in, say goodbye if you must, and payment will be complete."

Canti: I'm not that sentimental. I just know the value of good blades.

(He places them in. The bowl, with the blades inside, simply vanishes, and Angel gives her answer.)

"Good. Now...why do we seem so human? I suppose the easiest answer is...we are."

(At first, this sounded like a flip answer that Canti would want to shout at her for, immediately getting the impression of having been cheated out of a good weapon for something completely and utterly useless. But then...he pauses...thinking about it. And the more he thinks about it, the more horrified he becomes at the prospect of what he's just been handed. Too human to be mere creation...)

Canti: Oh...fucking hell... You're all in the puppet-man's game too. No offense, but I think that's sick. You don't even have a choice and we'll have to fight you to get to the Hub. No wonder...

(He seemed to be sort of getting himself pissed off right now. Then...)

Canti: Is he figuring on us being too moral to go through with it? Last I checked, that didn't exactly work.

"Oh no... the Master doesn't expect anything of you. We stand in your way, and if you cannot proceed; so be it. You will have failed him, and in the process, yourselves."

(This seems to calm Canti down, oddly enough.)

Canti: So...I already figure that, in some way, he wants us to succeed. He wouldn't play these games otherwise. There IS something that Marionette desires. Even if it isn't from us, it's something. Last big question... What is all of this for? There's a plan here. I can almost taste it. What's the goal?

"You. My Master feels that you can accomplish something for him, and is testing you to see if that is true. That... is all he will say."

Canti: Not much of an answer there, unless he literally wants us to be more of ones like you. So, I guess that means he'll keep the things I really wanna know to himself.

(He looked quite dissappointed, but...it couldn't be helped.)

Canti: Well, ta' for now. We'll be along to fight the good fight eventually.

(The Twin Blade walked past Angel's projection and further into the lobby, where he heard the sounds of people doing things that he thought were more in the manner of HIS character to perform. Also, while he was talking with Angel, several Flash Mails came by. Two were from Zan who, given their circumstances, had already managed to get them into trouble while looking around for things. This, somehow, hadn't surprised Canti at all. Zan wasn't the subtle one of the group. Neither was the winged Twin Blade, but we all gotta draw the line somewhere, especially when carefully and meticulously warned. So, Canti deleted Zan's messages and worked on the last one, Marionette's. Oh, that guy... He was really beginning to piss him off, now more than ever. It wasn't bad enough that he had the illusion of control over their actions while being omniscient as well. He had to pit them against more victims like them, like a kid with living action figures. It was sick...)

To: Canti
From: Marionette
RE: (none)

yoU worrY abouT yourselF, buT arE therE biggeR thingS tO thinK abouT?

(And in reply, Canti sent...)

TO: Marionette
FROM: Canti
SUBJECT: Big Things.

There always are. And the more I hear about 'em, the less I like the way things are going. I'm not even old enough to drink and you've made me a murderer without even realizing it.


(He shook his head, thinking about it for a second. Fact is, there was alot that Canti didn't mind doing in life. He didn't mind causing a ruckus, breaking laws, doing bad things - but he CHOSE to do those things. Of his own free will, he acted reckless and wild in life, reaping little in retribution. Now, along comes a guy who forces him into these confrontations because he wants out of this game...and he's helped kill two people without even knowing that they were human! That didn't sit right with him, and neither did finding out. Choosing was more acceptable than doing it without care. At least you made the choice and stuck with the consequences. Now...he was in a fictional hallway...and people were destroying everything around him! What the hell?! He looked down the hall just outside Room #2.)

Canti: Oh great... Place is already on fire and I haven't even done anything yet!

(A couple of the guys had decidedly blown up Room Five in traditional V For Vendetta style. Don't know that one? Read some of Alan Moore's work. You'll get the picture. Anyway, it looked like Zan was putting out the fire, looking awfully pissed about what was going on. Yeah... It was like putting gasoline over everything else. They were in sooo much trouble because of this... He could tell. Deciding to avoid Zan for now, Canti snuck into Room #2 for the time being. The room was fairly large and like a hotel room. It had a bed, desk, dresser, and what looked like the door to a closet.)

Canti: Huh... Not what I expected.

(It also contained Sekai, who was looking over some things when he came in. Now, she looked somewhat embarassed for reasons Canti couldn't even begin to think of and began to explain herself to him.)

"I...um...thought there might have been a hint of where to go next in here."

(Canti notices the books that are lying about now, steps over, and picks one up.)

Canti: Digital Buddhism? Makes me think I'm trying to hard...

(He flashed a grin. He was joking, of course. The poor Archer spent so much time worrying about things that she was jumpy even around her teammates. The Buddhism gag was something of a double-reference, hinting that she worried too much and that, like the actual Buddha, inner-peace could not be found in a constant struggle. Sometimes, you can't even tell if Canti ever paid attention in class. Other times, you wonder how he could've ever dropped out. In any case, Canti explained himself.)

Canti: Don't stop on my account. I'm just waiting out Hurricane Zan. If you're onto something, though, I'm all ears.

(Sekai merely shook her head, getting back to the business at hand. The books all had elemental symbols on 'em, at least the ones that weren't on existing religions. Canti wondered, idly, if there was a book on the God of Black Flames...but he didn't see any. Instead, he noticed Sekai doing a curious thing. She was leaving payment for the books. That was, if nothing else, a clever move. He wondered if it would help...)

"I just... I'm not sure, maybe we should look around a little more. I would like to hold on to these for now though. Um...if it's possible...can...can we not destroy this room? I would hate to make Angel-san angrier than she already is with the destruction of the other rooms."

(Canti puts down the book he was holding, letting off a smirk.)

Canti: I wasn't planning to blow anything up. If anything, my fighting mood's a bit off right now. Anything special written in those things?

(They might be keys or they might have useful info. You never know.)

"Nothing that I can see at the moment but...it...it's better to be safe than sorry. I'm going to look at the dresser, what are you going to examine?"

Canti: Me? Closet.

(Turning away from the elven Archer for the moment, Canti headed over to the closed door that he assumed was a closet, though his mind was wandering a bit, thinking about his first conversation with Sekai. This stuff was really testing her, and it was no surprise that still effected her mood. You'd have to be crazy not to be afraid. He himself was crazy and even HE got afraid sometimes. So, that aside, Canti opened up the closet and found - Hah-Hah! - a skeleton in it. Large, hovering, club-wielding - the Twin Blade immediately shut the door, his back against it for the moment, looking a little shocked.)

Canti: Not funny!

(Canti tries to rake his brain while noting Sekai's otherwise fruitless search. Okay... Was there anything in there besides the evil Skeletor? Was it even 'alive'? Did he just panic over nothing? Well unfortunately, as he had been surprised all too suddenly, no answer came to mind at this point. There was, however, a curious lack of pursuit or reaction...)

"There was nothing on this end that would give us any assistance. What about you?"

Canti: Me?

(He opened the closet door again and pointed to Mr. Skull-Head.)

Canti: I've got him.

(And then, he facepalmed. Stupid, Canti... That was really fucking stupid... Of course, what he didn't realize at first was that the skeleton was a fake. It was a VERY CONVINCING fake, but a fake nonetheless. Sekai's reaction was pretty close to his own initial one, falling back on the bed in surprise and confusion.)

"Oof- what, a skeleton in...who keeps...what?"

Canti: Old expression. Skeletons in the closet. It's a really bad pun here.

(He began to look in the closet to see if the skeleton had anything special or if there was something else here.)

Canti: The expression means that you've got secrets that ya don't anybody to know about.

(If he kept this up, he'd have to believe what Senna told him about being full of wisdom. He was a dime-a-dozen crackpot with clever thoughts and ideas just zooming through his head. And, because of this, his search produces results. In the back, there was a covered painting of some sort. A closer inspection revealed it to be a picture of Angel - as in their hostess - fighting a three-headed dragon. Also, the skeleton was holding a small key. Remembering Angel's possessive nature, Canti realized that either one of these might be important to the Guardian, and thus removing them might be a bad idea. For the time being, he propped the painting against the doorway and left the key as it was.)

Canti: The key's probably important. What about the pic?

"Um...bring out the picture if it isn't bolted to the wall so we can look at it closer?"

(This was followed by a series of mutterings that Canti didn't understand, as he was not versed in the language of the mutters. He wasn't even looking to see what Sekai was up to, so this remained totally a mystery to him. Canti brought out the pic to be seen better and remarked...)

Canti: The funny thing is, the first Hub had a three-headed dragon.

(This didn't seem to give rise to any comment from Sekai at the moment. Key and painting were taken, though, and a sack of money was left in its place, presumably as payment like he saw before.)

"We should go before the group leaves."

Canti: Where do you get all that?

(He was on his way out, same as her. Sekai's reaction was almost similar to when he'd first walked in. Well, kinda'.)

"I...don't shop very often and I often forget I have the money until I actually think about it and look for it to pay for something. Um...are you in need of any?"

Canti: Me? Nah. Recently bought a bunch of stuff, so I don't have much to pay for. I was just curious.

"Um...I think we're done here, it isn't destroyed and I hope Angel-san will take the payment for that which we did take without being too furious."

Canti: She took one of my weapons as payment quickly enough. You're probably fine. Well...better off than whoever set the place on fire. Wasn't me, believe it or not.

(This gave off a look of confusion from Sekai.)

"Why wouldn't I believe you?"

Canti: Because...it's kind of second-nature to me. I dunno.

"Second nature to believe people will not believe you? Isn't that kind of...sad?"

(Ah, no. Wrong meaning! Misinterpretation! Ix'nay!)

Canti: No, I meant about fires and burning stuff and things like that. It's the way I play the character.

"Um... I'm not sure what you mean by 'playing' your character but, um, you seem nice enough that I don't see you burning things like you say you do."

(He just shrugs.)

I'm not in the mood. Trust me. On a bad day, there's nothing I want to do more than lots of collateral damage. Right now...I dunno what to think. Part of me thinks it doesn't matter what I do here and now, but another part keeps saying not to push my luck. There's alot of wrong about this place.

(They were heading out into the hallway now, Sekai waiting until outside the room before continuing.)

"You shouldn't...underestimate your contribution to the group or your own worth. If you doubt yourself, what are those who count on you to help them in battle supposed to do?"

Canti: To that, the only answer I've got is 'The best they can'. It's all I can do and it's all I expect. But hey...as long as I don't go it alone, right?

"The best...is all we can do in the end, ne? Let's go back to the group... I have an unsettling feeling."

Canti: So do I, and it starts with an 'A'...

"An 'A'? ...oh, you mean Angel-san... Well, yes, she is upset with having her home destroyed, I cannot really blame her for being upset...though it isn't her I am concerned with."

Canti: It's not that...errr... Okay, what's bothering you?

(It sort of came out of left field, that. Sekai probably had a full plate of concerns as is, but didn't speak of them. So, when she voices one out-loud, you've got to wonder just what it is... Heading towards the lobby at a quickened pace, she shrugged in reply and said...)

"I... I'm not sure. I just have this unsettling feeling that something is wrong...or is going to go wrong."

Canti: I've been getting that too. Getting it more now, in fact. I found out...the Hub-Guardians are human.

"...they are? But then... why are they doing this?"

Canti: Because they're puppets. They can't do much beyond what Marionette tells them to.

(And that was the ungodly truth of it all. Marionette had grabbed people, practically delving into human souls, and yanked them away to become his play-things. It wasn't pleasant, and it certainly wasn't right. But then again...The World was neither right nor proper in the whole grand scheme of things. Sekai seemed downcast upon hearing this. And why not? It certainly made sense to. Poor bastards...)

"I... Why do you think people became so corrupt in this game? Is...is it because they've been here for too long?"

Canti: Maybe. They might've discovered their powers and just kinda' went mad with it. Suraisu called all of this the dark side of The World... Maybe it's just...some of this place is just evil.

"...is there such thing as good and evil though? When we're all born, aren't we all the same...and in this situation, we're all in the same, um, how do they say it again...boat, aren't we?"

Canti: Yeah, I know what you mean, but...

(His black eyes glanced at her.)

Canti: ...we still have to kill Angel.

(It was unavoidable. I mean, they didn't even have a choice! To succeed, they had to defeat her, because there was no way that they had that large a bribe on them, and furthermore...Canti doubted that Marionette would allow the game to be played out so easily. He'd probably force Angel to battle them no matter what.)

"If...if this time is the same as the last time...with the Devil-san? I..."

(She looked up, hand on the doorknob and swallowed hard, expression set in an unease form of determination as she began to turn and open it.)

"I will not let them kill her. Too many people... If all those 'Bosses' you have fought in the past are human? Too many have been killed... There has to be another way."

(It was clear that Sekai didn't want to face that, and Canti didn't blame her. However, he couldn't simply let the truth escape her notice. She had a right to know as much as everyone else. He put his hand on the door, preventing it from being opened a sec.)

Canti: If we're lucky, only the Hub-Guardians are, and no one else. I won't stop you, Sekai, but there may not be a choice. For all we know, these people might not have lives to get back to, no convenient coma-bodies to fill in. Just keep that in mind.

(It was a chilling thought, but it could be true as well. Canti removed his hand and allowed the door to be opened.)

Canti: Let's go.

(Back to the lobby area, where the troops were gathering still. It was a sure thing that some of them had made a real cock-up of things here, while maybe only a smattering few had done what's right. Canti didn't even want to know what happened in some of these places. He only knew that, for once, he was the innocent party. Okay, that being done, the Twin Blade headed over to the entrance and leaned nearby it, facing the door that led further in. In case of ambush, it was fight or flight and he had the opportunity to do both. Settling down, now, he decided to compose a message.)

TO: The Whole Party
FROM: Canti
SUBJECT: Report and stuff.

I dunno if anyone was paying attention when Angel made it clear not to trash her stuff, but do any of you think maybe that blowing the place up won't help any? Room Five gets ten points for style, but minus a million for cleverness. I think we're actually making things worse for ourselves by pulling that crap.

And at this point, I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Oh, it doesn't matter. She's just a boss-character, can't do any better or worse to us no matter what.", but you're wrong. These things serving Marionette and calling him master? They're not hopped-up monsters gone AI, they're HUMAN. Primal, Devil, and Angel are people like us, only they don't have much of a choice in what they do.

Think about what that bastard probably had to do to make them his slaves. We've been set up. I can already tell how he wants it to play out...and I don't like it. In any case, I was in Room Two with Sekai and we found a couple of things: A key and a painting. The key will come in handy. The painting...? It's one of Angel, fighting a three-headed dragon. Anyone else remember a dragon at the first Hub?


(That being done, Canti waited for the next move.)
I'll have a doozy of a sig later, I swear. It'll reflect ".hack//CODE" an' everything.

Hey look! A profile! It's got items and stats and things! Cool! If it isn't fully up to date, it will be, so don't worry 'bout it.

User avatar
Senna
Awakened Player
Posts: 150
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:28 pm

Post by Senna » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:36 pm

Her talk with Hac had left Senna worried, but not worried enough that finally, FINALLY the stress of the past few days caught up with her. Uncomfortable with the dormitory-like mass room set aside for resting, she did as she had previously, slumping against the wall in a corner of the common room mostly hidden by furniture and falling asleep. It left her with a crick in her back, as it had the first time, but as they got up and going, she found her body adapting and loosening up.

She felt a little surprised that her sleep had been almost immediate when she’d gone for it. There was a lot floating around in her head. Hac, she was worried about. She knew he was a more than capable fighter and he had a good set of armor and equipment on him, but Zan… there was something other about Zan, something alien. The terrible way he threw himself at enemies. There was something wrong with it. No human should be able to take so much power from and glory in tearing something else apart. The more she thought about that, the two of them in a fight, the more she worried. Not because Hac would necessarily be outclassed in battle, but that he would carry in a… well, the only word she could find was compassion, a compassion that an animal on instinct wouldn’t display and thus be hindered by.

And thoughts of Zan led naturally to thoughts of Phoenix and what they’d talked about on the rooftops of the city. As she took a walk around the Hideout, waiting for it to be time to go, she tried to puzzle through his assertions about a possible spy in their midst. It still felt wrong, impossible even, but then you applied the thought to the last hub. The way he had managed to keep them from being caught by the falling door. His ease in breaking out of the prison the devil had used. His anger at the death of the final form of that enemy.

It was a chilling thought.

Pushing that one away gave rise to another thought, that of Canti. He felt so independent, she found herself keeping her distance because she didn’t want to bother him with her concern. If it bothers him, you doubt he’ll let you know? she thought angrily at herself. But the thought was there all the same. She didn’t want to be a bother to him.

And Rayo… she still wasn’t sure what to make of their encounter. She felt a little better for it once it was over – perhaps there was something of the vicious coming out in her? – but it was an odd encounter, at the least.

Though could she really blame him if he suspected her of something? She appeared without explanation and with questionable timing, for the first hub, had done little to help but had pushed through Marionette’s word problems with relative ease, then in the last hub had slaughtered the one who offered to give them information. She was a little shocked no one even questioned it, given what had happened on that last field. Ah well. Water under the bridge she guessed. That or they were proving her point. Silk, it seemed, was one of the few who seemed not to just plow ahead, but maybe that was his status as a newer member? It was aggravating to think about, and was giving her a headache.

So she was pretty pleased when Nighthand decided it was time to get going. She needed something to stop her from thinking so much.

The field was, unfortunately, not what the doctor ordered. The field first and then the grounds of the house were pretty and wild but remarkable only for their uneventfulness and the amount of security that seemed to have been put into place.

She was contemplating what a blasé field could mean when approaching footsteps – as opposed to the ones which simply kept pace all around – alerted her to someone’s approach. It was Rayo, to her surprise. As he fell in step alongside her, he tossed something which she, in her lack of coordination, juggled briefly but managed to clutch between her hands before it fell. The item jangled softly from between her palms, and a glance confirmed it was a bell of some sort.

"Listen, I do trust you. If you shake that and speak the word ‘poof’, then it’ll act as a deterrent to my grunty if she gets out of line again."

He explained all this, then was gone again, moving toward the front of the group. She kept her current pace, looking at the bell and repeating the word in her head a moment lest she forget it. Not that she expected another grunty attack, if it really were an accident, as he remained confident it had been. Still, it was thoughtful, and another few seconds were spent composing a Flashmail to Rayo with two words: Thank you. For the bell. Maybe for the fight. As she returned her attention to their surroundings, she found she wasn’t sure herself.

The mansion they were approaching stood proud and remarkably kept behind an impressive barrier. It did not quite dominate the landscape, what with all the trees, but it tried.

If we need to bid a hasty retreat, we’re going to have a heck of a time getting out, she thought as she stared at the top of the wall while they passed through the gates.

Inside was more oddness. A projection of Angel, Marionette’s third (but doubtless not final) hench-thing. And it offered information, an offer Zan took up with amusing result – at least from Angel’s side. If it was toting a cost based on questions, Zan was wasting a lot of his credit. Senna tried and mostly succeeded in not chuckling as the projection as it patiently explained the obvious. True to her word to Phoenix, however, she watching him closely in the conversation. Were she a more suspicious person (the sort she expected the others to be, perhaps?) a few of his comments and reactions might have seemed suspect, but from her place of incredulity, they were only marked and remembered for later.

She assumed the right question would yield a useful answer, but few they were getting early on sounded very useful. In fact, to Senna’s ears, the only part that really stood out was when it said its weakness was all around. That coupled with what she sad later, about a pass for payment… she wondered if there was the possibility of trading this thing something.

No, she decided. She didn’t trust it. Canti apparently thought otherwise though, as his conversation – she couldn’t hear it but she could see well enough – led to him turning over a weapon. Not knowing Twin Blade weapons, she had no idea what sort of transaction it was, how much he was paying for his information.

She was, however, intrigued by the thing’s words. Her weakness was all around. They were not to mess with her stuff. So maybe messing with her stuff was exactly what they wanted to do. Get her mad enough, she’d come out. Wasn’t it a wise combatant who’d once said, if your opponent is of choleric temper…

She swatted the thought away. No reason to be thinking of anime at a time like this.

As Zan headed into the building proper, Senna was alerted to the receipt of a Flashmail. She opened the menu to see who it was from and found, surprise surprise, another note from Marionette.

She ignored it.

Rayo was suggesting, rather reasonably in Senna’s thoughts, that they stay in groups to explore – one person being the obvious exception to the rule, she thought wryly. Senna herself, in true form shown already in the last hub, had no interest in going into any of the rooms, alone or with someone else, unless it became needed.

Instead, she took her time looking over the room they’d appeared in, taking in the incredible art, the construction, the richness of everything that had been programmed. When you got down to it, all that they had here was code and perception, but the illusion was realistic. Listening to the ongoing conversations with half an ear, she made her way eventually to the door through which they had entered. She paused there a moment, just looking at it, then reached out and experimentally tried to open it.

No such luck. The door gave a little rattle as its only nod to her attempt to open it. There was no going back.

Or was there? Kicking the end of her spear to adjust her grip on it, Senna headed back through the other door and into the halls beyond where the other members of this ragtag group moved in and out of the rooms. She was looking for something specific, while most of them were just searching.

She was looking for another way out. There being only one, this place felt like a trap.

The hallways were interesting, a collection of opulent surroundings and the movement of teammates, combined with a strange but familiar smell (smoke? But not the sort she associated with Vak spells now.). Her search however, proved fruitless – there were no windows leading out that she could see. The building also, unsurprisingly, did not seem to match on the inside her impression of it from the outside. The miracles of code, she guessed.

It seemed that the rooms were all being thoroughly searched (Destroyed, her conscience chimed in helpfully) so she headed back out just in time to witness two members of the team getting another upbraiding. While she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the pair, she also had to admit if Zan’s last such rant had been this on-point she might not have come out of it just sullenly angry at him. She might actually have listened.

She offered a slight nod to Zhao in solidarity, then returned to near the front door and leaned on her spear again, assuming her normal pose. Then, having little enough else to do, it was time to wait.

Not for long, as Phoenix’s Flashmail was soon part of the collection in her inbox. She opened it and checked it out, again passing over Marionette’s – she had no interest whatsoever in reading it just to see more of his rambling demagoguery. Well, that could be interesting, she thought as she read his somewhat lengthy but useful missive. She considered its words, then looked up. Time for her captain obvious comment of the day.

"In light of Phoenix’s message, maybe you who explored the rooms should share what you found? Perhaps they all belong somewhere else?" she suggested from by the door. That said, she really had nothing else useful to do but wait. That was, unless someone wanted her thoughts on structural impossibility within The World. They would have found or not-found things in the rooms. She hoped there wasn’t anything not-found in the burning rooms, but again, it wasn’t her place to say anything against what any of them had chosen to do, as she herself had chosen to do nothing. One might try to cover it up, say she was hanging back in case backup were needed, but the truth was she just didn’t like stepping into those sorts of situations. It felt uncomfortable, however benign the area.

It was in this emptiness that another Flashmail came, in keeping with the earlier prescription to stay in close Flashmail contact. She hesitated, not wanting to again scan past that unopened message, then relented and checked it out. The newest was from Canti, who sat nearby and who had been among those checking out the rooms.
TO: The Whole Party
FROM: Canti
SUBJECT: Report and stuff.

I dunno if anyone was paying attention when Angel made it clear not to trash her stuff, but do any of you think maybe that blowing the place up won't help any? Room Five gets ten points for style, but minus a million for cleverness. I think we're actually making things worse for ourselves by pulling that crap.

And at this point, I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Oh, it doesn't matter. She's just a boss-character, can't do any better or worse to us no matter what.", but you're wrong. These things serving Marionette and calling him master? They're not hopped-up monsters gone AI, they're HUMAN. Primal, Devil, and Angel are people like us, only they don't have much of a choice in what they do.

Think about what that bastard probably had to do to make them his slaves. We've been set up. I can already tell how he wants it to play out...and I don't like it. In any case, I was in Room Two with Sekai and we found a couple of things: A key and a painting. The key will come in handy. The painting...? It's one of Angel, fighting a three-headed dragon. Anyone else remember a dragon at the first Hub?
She read it twice. There was no particular facial reaction out of it, though her fingers tightened on the spear in front of her until the digits stood out in red and yellow-white. It was enough to make a person want to cry.

But, that couldn’t happen. Decisions made could not be undone, and wishing for it would be useless. Useless! And she would not limit her already small contribution to the group with self-doubt and regret. This hub’s leader would have to die too. She said as much herself.

It was strange, she thought as she waited for some indication of what to do, how quickly one could come to such a stark decision. The pitfall, she thought a little wildly, of living within a game.
Senna, level 33 Long Arm (710 HP/180 SP)
Most common kit: Ichigou, Racoon Earcaps, Air Bracer, Snow Panther, Winter Coat, Graceful Book
Spells/Skills: (Critical Hit/Death) Repulse Cage, Ap Corv, Ap Vorv, Rai Rom, Rue Zot, La Repth
Click for full equipment and items
14300 (1/23)

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:57 am

Whenever one affair was settled, a new one was bound to rise up. There was a certain truth to it, and each stupid action he took seemed to be followed be another recently. His fight with Senna seemed finally behind him as they exchanged pleasant words, but now there was that whole burning fiasco. Zan was angry again, but it seemed the wolf would be getting like that a lot. The fire had been to lure out Marionette’s Angel, but so far it had failed. Simple Rue spells had put out the fire however, so was there really any danger of the group dying because of it? Water and ice magic could have been used later if the flames had spread, but the heavy blade hadn’t bothered to note that fact. The bad part was that the arguing could further split the group up again, depending how personally Zan took it. From what he was hearing however, the archer was under the impression that Zan wasn’t innocent of some mayhem either. Obviously it wasn’t wrong to do damage, simply wrong to do more damage than he deemed acceptable. Hypocritical.

Phoenix’s flash mail interested the bowman more than the ranting of a meat shield, so he walked right back into the hall and started checking rooms. The sheets had been the only items truly out of place in the kitchen, so where was the bedroom? Obviously his own explored territory was out, and the lab and trophy room didn’t fit the bill either. The blue mage poked his head through the other torched area, and even though it had furniture there weren’t any appropriate places to put the sheets. Wandering around outside in the hall once more, Rayo wandered into the last possible room, which in the end was the one he wanted to go in from the start of his second trip around the mansion. The room fit the bill, possessing a bed indeed lacking sheets. Auth unfolded the sheets, and fixed the bed properly. Making a bed in a place he’d never slept or planned to return to felt odd, almost like a maid, but it was just the key. Upon completing the menial task, a treasure chest appeared beside the bed. Popping it open revealed a Winter Coat, a Noble Wine, one Emperor’s Soul, two Artisan’s Souls, and four more Mage’s Souls. So far Angel’s mansion had been filled with treasures, was this supposed to be a measuring stick for how tough the soon to come battle would be? Would the group be overpowered if they didn’t have the extra stock in their inventory? The Noble Wine especially… such an immensely powerful item had never even graced his storage before. The boy definitely couldn’t dare to waste that one.

On his return to the lobby Canti’s flash mail reached him. Angel was human? It could be a lie, another trick to make the fight more difficult. Yet… it seemed like it could be true. Angel, Devil, Primal…all had been too complex for simple monsters. They could have just been advanced AI, but there was more to them than that. Would the others be willing to fight and kill Angel now? The Elites were just as human but two of them also lay dead due to the efforts of the group. Nighthand wouldn’t be stopped, and neither would Nall if he were with them. Who knew how many of the others wouldn’t have it in them to kill off a fellow human though.

The girl would given one chance, but if she didn’t step aside, then she needed to be beaten. If it came down to just him, the archer would finish the matter himself. It’d be at a complete disadvantage, but he had more than enough items to keep going if the mage could keep alive. Between Bell and his own talents… they’d try their best. Hopefully it would be enough.
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

Phoenix512
Exalted Player
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Post by Phoenix512 » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:06 am

Phoenix received Canti’s flashmail which he summed up to be part rant, part useful info, and part moral dilemma. He agreed with him about destroying up the house. It was bad etiquette for one thing but the reasons for destroying rooms were only known to the ones who destroy the rooms in the first place. The moral dilemma was something that the blademaster first encountered when the group was facing against Primal. At one point, he felt that Primal possess compassion when he could have killed Senna instead of paralyzing her. Marionette’s guardians seemed to possess emotion which was weird for enemy AIs to have. It does not make sense for enemies to create AIs with emotions since it would be hard for them to control. On the other hand, with the power of emotion it made them even more dangerous.

The blademaster paid attention to the final part of the flashmail which he mentions that he found a key and a painting. The key is probably opens the final room while the painting was the misplaced item that they found in room #2. He decided to leave the lounge again and looked into room #3 which was a burned-up kitchen. Do I even want to know why Rayo destroyed the kitchen? Maybe he ate some bad meat and decided to trash the kitchen for fun? I doubt the painting goes there.

Phoenix did not need to go to room #2 since the painting does not go there in the first place. So by the powers of deduction, the painting must belong to room #5. He directed himself to the room anyway to see what Xhao and Raquar did to this room. He viewed the damage of the room and somehow piece together what the room was even though it was mostly burned. Bingo. I think I found where the painting goes.

Flashmail

To: Canti
From: Phoenix

The painting you found in room #2 should be in room #5. The room is some sort of entertainment room which there are what appears to be paintings or what used to paintings anyway. Placing the painting should give you some sort of reward. Perhaps you can get your weapons back.

The key I’m guessing unlocks the final room on this floor. If I’m right, it will only work once we placed the other items back into their respective rooms.

One more thing even though Marionette’s guardians might be human, we don’t know if they chose this way in the first place. I’m surprised though. Since you embraced fire and brimstone so much, you didn’t really care about moral ambiguity. I have felt this humanity from Primal and prefer not to kill them when they decide to quit battling us. I don’t have any ill feelings about killing Angel during battle but I don’t kill defenseless enemies.

Decide on what you want to do about Angel quickly.

End Flashmail


After sending the flashmail, Phoenix walked out room #5 and leaned on the wall across from the door to room #6. He began to think once more.

Will we ever be a true team with all these people doubting the mission? I know what I must do. I’ll protect the Freedom Fighters until the day we are free from the World.
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

Raquar
Ikkitousen
Posts: 108
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:28 pm
Location: Hiding in the shadows

Post by Raquar » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:30 am

Zan’s tirade had left him quiet, and a little humbled, but what had been done had been done. ”I get the feeling they didn’t like our redecorating.”

Zhao wasn't exactly in the best of moods, but that was more from a feeling of stupidity then any sort of anger with Zan. "Yeah, I somehow think that had we been less frustrated, a whole lot of that stuff never would have happened. Despite this revelation, he looked to Raquar and grinned. "But hey, it was fun, right?"

”Course it was. Though you’re probably right, we probably just should’ve left it at the scrolls and the silver ware.” It was at this time, that Phoenix’s flashmail came through. He scanned it briefly, suddenly feeling the urge to smack something large and heavy against the lump he called a head. ”Guess ripping out the walls wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

Having read the same flashmail, Zhao hung his head. "So... I guess our silverware should go in that kitchen Rayo found, right? And that empty hook... something should have hung there..." It was then that Canti's flashmail came through. After reading it, Zhao began to bang his head against the wall. "Yeah. Like that painting."

He sighed heavily as Canti, and then his flashmail came into view. ”Yeah. Like that painting. And what a shock, he wasn’t overly fond of our décor pattern either. No taste, no taste. Anyway, hand me the silverware if you would be so kind, and then why don’t you show those two around the erm . . . Sitting Room. I’m sure you remember which piece of wall goes where right?”

Zhao dug the silverware out of his inventory and handed it over, groaning a bit at the prospect of being chewed out by Canti. After all, this would let him know that he'd been the one to set the room aflame. Was this little mistake going to cause everyone he'd been establishing a rapport with to look down on him? Well, no, Raq and Senna didn't seem to want to bitch at him about it, but everyone else did. "Yeah, I can help him out. Not looking forward to being yelled at, though. Again. The Twin Blade didn't speak these words with any sort of resentment towards Zan, but rather with the depressed knowledge that he would have to satisfy everyone's urge to yell at him before he could finally put this to rest.

He accepted the silverware and patted his compadre on the shoulder in a friendly sort of way. ”You could always blame it on spontaneous combustion. Or you could tell him that we got attacked and the closest thing was that scroll. Either way, don’t let it get to you, everybody makes a mistake once in a while. Besides, we were in this together. They try to bitch at you tell ‘em they have to bitch at me first.”

Zhao grinned again and gave his new friend a light punch in the shoulder. "Cmon man, I'm the one trying to become the great protector around here. If anyone's gonna be protecting anyone from bitching... well, I'll take the fall. I did set the fire after all. I'll put 'em all off your trail."

He grinned a grin to rival his friend’s. ”Fair enough. Anyway, I’m gonna go explore the only other room that just happened to be set on fire. What luck. I’ll see you back in here.” For the second time he headed out into the hall, the faint residue of smoke still lingering in the room. He turned the opposite direction this time, heading towards the western of the two north eastern room. He opened the door slowly, sticking his head inside to see just how badly the room was torn up, or on the offchance that luck was with him, how perfectly arranged and pretty it looked. But he counted highly on the former.

Water had pooled onto the floor, becoming almost stagnant in some places. A hesitant step inwards yielded nothing incredible or astounding, simply wet feet. He stepped carefully attempting to scout out the shallowest looking puddles before he stepped. Oftentimes, it was those that looked shallowest that were the deepest, and as of such it wasn’t long before the boy found himself with soaked shins. Getting actually a few paces inside the room, he looked around, looking for a place to put silverware, and to see how bad the damage was. It wasn’t completely terrible by any means, but you could definitely tell the place had been on fire. Smoke or fire damage was evident in parts of the room, and steam and water damage the other. It appeared as though the fire had originated in a little compartment, one that with all honesty, the boy felt no urge to explore. He resumed his search around the room for places to put silverware.

His eyes settled first on the oven. Probably not. The refrigerator. Probably not. The freezer. Probably not. And then his sights set upon a drawer. Bingo! He half-hopped half-walked over to the drawer and popped it open, not bothering to pay attention to what else was inside it, simply placing the silverware in the drawer before pushing it closed. And if by magic, a chest popped into view on the counter just above where he had returned the missing items. He flicked it open, taking out the contents to reveal a pair of Healing Elixers, a pair of Recovery Drinks, a quartet of Healing Potions, and a quartet of Health Drinks. Not a bad haul all in all. He retreated, splashing water everywhere as he emerged back into the hallway. Pacing back to the lobby, he made a mental note to remember to divide up the vials between Zhao and himself when the Twin Blade was done showing the others around. He had been kind enough to share the Light Cross scrolls after all.
Level 28 Long Arm
Archspear, Newt Necklace, Smith's Gloves, Wyrm Scale, Kuja's Thong Dress
EXP: [700/1000]

WISHLIST
Levels
Weapons: - All
Armor: Head - Scarab Earring
Body - Nothing until Mid 30's. Ninja Garb Hand - Nothing until Mid 30's. Leg - Nothing until Mid 30's.
Items: Cooked Biles, Darkness Scrolls (Any and All)

User avatar
Zhao Xun
Elevated Player
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 3:09 am
Location: Wherever I'm needed.

Post by Zhao Xun » Wed Aug 08, 2007 5:57 am

I headed over to Canti after my discussion with Raquar, fearing what I was about to go through when he found out it had been me who torched the room. "Canti... you said you found a painting, right?

He looked up at my words. “Yeah, a real good one. You come to bid for it?"

I grimaced in response. "No, I'm here to lead you to the room I searched, the one where the painting should hang." I then led the other Twin Blade to room 5, the fire damage still evident from the dresser I had torched earlier. Drywall and fuzz still covered the floor, along with paint chips, and I braced myself for the inevitable tongue-lashing.

"Porque?" he said, and I said nothing in response. He simply followed me to the room, and upon our arrival, graced me with his next few words. "You do this?"

"Yep. My fault. Most of it, at least. Including the fire part." I held my breath, waiting for Canti's reaction. He shook his head, groaning with annoyance.

"You KNOW she's gonna take this out of our hides. I think the flashmail said all, really." He turned to face me sharply before continuing. "Now, I did alright, me and Sekai. I don't care about me. I look after me quite well. But you'd better look after her and anyone else that didn't butcher this place, Zhao, because otherwise they'll be paying for a mistake you and Zan and whoever else made."

A single tear formed in the corner of my eye, and I turned from Canti, trying to avoid letting him see me in this state. I choked a little as I spoke my next words. "I... I wasn't thinking, and I'm sorry, I really am, alright? We were frustrated, stupid, and impulsive. I... I don't want anyone hurt. You know that. I'll protect whoever I have to... sorry...."

"Dammit..." he said, and I could tell from his tone that he didn't want to be saying this, meaning he had probably caught the slight choke that would give away my current emotions. "Alright, chill out. I don't want you to take a fucking bullet in the eye. Ya just gotta think this through more. God, I can't believe I'm the one saying it! It's just...I heard the warning, saw the writing on the walls, and knew that we could be in deep shit. I thought everyone else'd be more careful. It's our lives on the line, Zhao."

I had no response to that. More tears added to the one already formed, and a few moments later they were streaming down my face silently. I tried to control my breathing, to hide it from Canti, but a single muffled sob escaped me nonetheless. I hadn't thought about anything I had done, which wasn't like me... and that worried me. And the fact that I might have caused the future deaths of anyone... I could barely stand to think about it.

"Look, Zhao... Pull it together, okay? Ya make mistakes, shit happens, and sometimes you get rough seas. You know what the score is now, how's about you keep your head so the storm doesn't beat us down later, huh? You know better now, right?"

I nodded, wiping my face with my sleeve, and I began to search the room for the piece of drywall that had originally contained the empty hook. It took some effort and time, but I finally found it and placed it carefully back into the wall, then turned towards Canti and motioned towards his painting. I still couldn't seem to form any words, so that would have to do. "Hope it stays up..." he said as he moved towards the hook. As he hung the painting, he said “Angel vs. Tryclyde, and... FIGHT!” I didn't get it, but it didn't really matter in the end anyways. A chest materialized at his feet, and he opened it to find a collection of scrolls. He paused whilst examining it, and then spoke again, but I had never expected the words he uttered.

"I dunno why, but I feel guilty all of a sudden."

I sniffled a bit, then found my voice again. "Why? Everything you...." I paused to choke back a sob, then continued. "Everything you said to me was true. And... I'll feel ridiulously guilty if I get anyone killed. You, Sekai, Senna, and the others who weren't idiots like me and Raq were...."

Canti picked up the scrolls without really going through them, putting them away to inspect later. "For the record, Zan fucked up too, so I should be riding his ass too. But...guilt? I dunno. I get that way sometimes. Always have.

For the first time since we had left the lobby, I smiled a little. "That's... what makes you human, right? That's what seperates us from those we fight." My mind wandered back to Canti's flashmail earlier, and my smile vanished, but my expression gained a measure of resolve. "Even these guardians... I'm all for saving anyone who's trapped like us, and if there's a way to avoid killing Angel, I'm all for it. But... if they don't feel guilty about obstructing our escape from this... this torment that most of us feel because we're trapped here? Then they're not human. Not like us."

"News flash, Zhao. I think they're just like us, but got a certain someone's hand crammed up their asses."

"There's a difference between 'human' and 'like us.' Let's look at it logically, assuming you're willing to trust that I can still think logically. If they're like us, they ARE in control of themselves. They may be being threatened into doing something they don't like, like fighting us, but they have to know that it's likely that they'll die in the attempt to stop us. Therefore their best chance for survival and escape is to aid us, not obstruct us. Especially since Angel seems to KNOW that Marionette expects us to make it all the way to him."

"All perfectly logical, but I hate to dehumanize 'em after what I heard. That's why I sent the flash, man. It's not up to me. Everyone knows the score, period. We decide what to do after that.”

"I agree that everyone needs to be informed and that we need to make a decision as a group. But... one thing still isn't clear to me. How did you decide you feel they're human?"

"I didn't." He glanced at the painting, looking at Angel's image. "I just asked."

That threw me. He had asked Angel something, and she had responded by saying that she and her fellow guardians were human? "And... you don't think she might have lied? To try and throw us off like this? I'm not trying to be callous... I think you know, I try to help whomever I can. But... isn't it possible that Angel would have deceived you?"

He turned back towards me. "Think about all of Marionette's servants for a sec. Technology's pretty fucking advanced, isn't it? They seem awfully life-like, don't they? Maybe a little too real? Does Marionette sound to you like a guy who makes pet AIs? Or does he sound twisted enough to brain-snatch and enslave?"

I shuddered. The name, Marionette... it usually referred to a puppet of sorts. One guided by many strings. But... what if the name in this case referred to the strings, and the puppets were the hub guardians? "I think... I think either one is possible, and I'd really, really prefer the former. You know, better than most, how little desire I have to harm anything living. It would be a lot less damaging to my psyche, and I have to imagine to most people's here, if we found out it was all a lie."

"Well, that's why I'm not leaving it to me. I'm not your leader, Zhao. Nor anyone else. Phoenix sent me a Flash Mail saying to decide what I'm gonna do. Well, I don't do that. I act more than I think about this shit. What you guys decide... That's what I'm gonna do."

I thought about that for a moment, and then an idea began to form in my head. It was wrong, and it was manipulative, but... should I suggest it anyways? "Canti...." I paused, still wavering, but decided to press on. "Tell me if you think this is... if this is the fact that I've got pieces of him in me that's making me think of this, but... what if we lied to everyone? Said you were wrong, that you were sure Angel was an AI? What if we... tried to make sure everyone gets through this without any more mental scarring than what most of us already carry?"

Canti merely snickered at my suggestion. "Can't do that, Zhao. You said yourself that we gotta go above and beyond to make this team work. Sneaky underhanded isn't what ya called for."

"I know...." I looked down at my feet, ashamed. "I... I can't get rid of him, can I? Even now, when he's not anywhere near, when I've reducded him to a base for myself to stand on... he still poisons my mind." He looked up again, directly at Canti. "Canti... if you see anything going wrong, slap me back to my senses, ok? I don't think it will, but if I say anything stupid... well, let me know? He can't assume control, and he can't speak, not even to me... but the cost of removing him from power completely was to assimilate bits and pieces of him. I couldn't just remove him, like I told you." I was being more serious now than I had ever been, and that was saying something. "Promise me. Dien's not here. You're the only one I can count on when dealing with him."

Canti nodded. "Sure, man. Just, uhhh...I prefer to clock people over the head. It's more effective."

I laughed. How he had managed to get a laugh out of me at this point, I didn't know, but it was something probably only he and perhaps Reinier could manage. "Whatever it takes. Keep him out of the group's dealings. It's a pact then." I extended my hand towards the other Twin Blade. He shook it.

"Now, let's get out of here before I get blamed for something too."

I laughed again before nodding and heading back to the lobby, the tear stains still painfully evident on my face. But I made no move to try and clear them away. They were evidence of the fact that I knew I had been wrong, and if anyone wanted to speak to me about them, I would be glad to talk.
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