Moderator: Nighthand
The Den of Sorrow
Lighteria groans, opening is eyes slowly and awakening in the hideout. He peers down his chest to his kitten, curled up on his belly in a deep sleep. As he stares, an ache runs through his back and he groans painfully, the battle with the legendary hacker of earth, Jett, having taken a toll on his body. Repths may restore the damage but, like skiing, if you fall down hard you feel it in the morning no matter how your bruises heal. Regardless, the twin blade feels well enough to move around, even fight monsters if need be, so he carefully sets Kit down from his stomach onto her favorite pillow and heads for the door. After a quick round of travel, he finds himself back on the busy streets of Mac Anu with a less than stellar mood.
Maa-aan... what a day... I don't know how much more of this I can take... All this running around fighting crap... What's WITH all this anyway? Didn't these people think of anything better to do besides fight monsters and play cards? Even the stupid events revolve around fighting... Honesty, did they even ONCE consider MY feelings?! Of course they didn't! No one actually cares about the little man! Where's the justice for the down trodden, huh?? Where is it? I'M KINDA DOWNTRODDEN!!! Really!! Maybe not as downtrodden as a newbie that spent all his money on health potions and used them all in a level one dungeon.... but still pretty darn down trodden!!! I don't even have a home apart from that hideouty thingy... and that's not even CLOSE to being safe! Stupid people with their stupid... doings stuff... I should put my foot down! Say I'm tired of this endless fighting and just go my own way! ...And then get killed.
...Yeah, I don't even know what'll HAPPEN if I get a game over here... Will I revert back to my last save point? I mean seriously, what the crap happens? GAH!! I wanna go home! I'm sick of playing this game! I'm sick of everything about it! And I'm REALLY sick of-
"OOF!!!" He grunts out, getting tackled from the back by a green-haired long arm, both of them collapsing to the ground.
"H-e-e-e-e-y!! Best buddy!!" Rondel the long arm says, wide smiled, getting comfortable, lying on Lighteria's back. "How you been lately?" He asks, looking down at the twin blade with his face planted in the concrete.
"....super." Lighteria manages to mutter darkly.
"Great!" He says cheerily, showing no signs of letting him up from the ground. "Man! I thought I'd NEVER catch up to you again! I forgot to get your member address last time! Can you believe it? I couldn't flash-mail you or NOTHING! Wasn't that awful?" Lighteria opens his mouth to offer his thoughts on that glorious fact but is quickly stopped by Rondel's shoulder resting on the back of his head, causing his mouth to get a taste of the cobblestones. "Yeah, I hear you buddy... I missed you too." Lighteria whimpers as a small but clearly amused crowd of people stop along the road to watch the odd pair, clearly wondering why one guy is lying on top of another guy. "You know what I have planned for today?? Your favorite thing in the whole world! With me!!" Someone chuckles.
Those, my friend, are mutually exclusive.
"We're gonna search for an angel halo for you again!" Lighteria's face turns pale. He remembers the last time Rondel dragged him around the city in a choke hold, asking perfect strangers if they knew the location of a halo accessory. Most laughed at them, some stared, others just smirked... all in all one of the worst experiences Lighteria had ever had. And they didn't even find out a THING about a halo.
"Uh.. N-no really... it's o-"
"HEEEEELP!!!" A voice suddenly rings out. A female voice. The duo look up to see a girl wavemaster in a pink robe wrestling with a dark-armored twin blade, both of them trying to lay claim to the wavemaster wand in their hands. Lighteria blinks for a second, staring at the player, the face suddenly becoming recognizable.
Holy Crap! That's ShadowStreak!!
With a sudden push-up, Lighteria flips Rondel off of his back, much to the long arms surprise. ...Of course the long arm never considered the level difference between the two of them so it should be no surprise to anyone else. ...Yeah, anyway. Lighteria quickly gets between shadow and the girl and grabs the wand, using his free hand to push Shadow away. The dark twin blade blinks in surprise as he's shoved back a few feet. He glares and stomps his foot at Lighteria as the timid twin blade stands straight up, wand in hand, serious expression on his face. The girl blinks in confusion, but clearly pleased her wand is safe.
"What.... what the heck is wrong with you Shadow?!" Lighteria scolds, clearly, clearly angered, his shyness taking a quick back seat. "You don't... you don't just... steal from people!" Shadow glares at the twin blade, clearly miffed at being scolded.
"Shut the hell up, Lights." He snaps back. "I need money a lot more than this newbie does!! Now give it back!" He lunges for the wand again, this time Lighteria dodges to the side and gives the dark player a quick kick to the bottom, sending him tumbling over the guide rail and into the Mac Anu river. There are a few scattered laughs and one very grateful looking wavemaster.
Wow... guess he hasn't gotten any stronger since last time... Poor guy... and Lights?? Who the hell calls me Lights? ... ...Oh! I'd better return the wand!
With a quick turn, the twin blade smiles and walks back over to the wavemaster...
"Hold! Thief!!" A sudden, strong voice rings out. The twin blade turns around to see a heavy blade racing towards him, clad in light red, samurai-style armor and wielding a long katana. The new player's silver hair glistens in the sunlight, shimmering from the sun above the rooftops. His sandal clad feel almost seem to run in slow motion as he rushes towards the twin blade, sword clenched tightly in his hand. For a moment, Lighteria is stunned by the mere presence of the new player. The man had obviously spent a very long time detailing his character to perfection. Lighteria's eyes glance over the shining silver kimono and the blood red plate armor strapped carefully over the soft fabric, he falls into awe, secretly wishing he'd spent more time on his character design like this player did. ...Of course the speculation ends quickly as the player takes a flying leap into the air, katana held above his head preparing for a powerful downwards chop.
"Huh? ACK!" The twin blade gasps, his heart jumping in fear of his life. Without even thinking, his hand grips the long wavemaster staff and whips it above his head, his other hand gripping the opposite end of the staff for support. The two weapons collide with a shattering force, sparks flying off the sharpened blade as it slides against the solid metal pole of the staff. The heavy blade's deep blue eyes blink for a moment in surprise. Not everyone can block his swipes... To think that a lowly thief could even come close to matching his skills...
"Miserable coward!!" He shouts suddenly, causing Lighteria to blink in confusion. Before he even realizes it, the sword is back in the air and swinging from below. Lighteria gasps and leaps up, both legs out to his sides as he thrusts the staff horizontally downward, catching the warrior's strike from below while he's in mid air. Undaunted, the heavy blade twirls around for a quick assault to the left side, an attack which is met again by the staff. The two fighters eye each other for a moment, the heavy blade with righteous anger and the twin blade with pure and simple confusion. Lighteria shivers suddenly, feeling the heavy blade searching in his eyes for a sign of weakness. The silver haired warrior raises an eye brow, realizing that his entire gaze IS one of weakness. With a quick shake of his head, the swordsman pulls back for a final attack. With a long reach, the heavy blade thrusts his blade forward in a powerful thrust, the blade starting vertical but twisting as it rushes forward so it turns horizontal. With a gasp, Lighteria leaps up into the air, jumping over the thrust.
"What on-?" The heavy blade watches Lighteria in surprise as the twin blade's feet land on the tip of the sword. The warrior gasps and stumbles forward to keep the blade in his grasp, allowing Lighteria a counter attack with his foot. Attempting a drop kick on the players chin, the twin blade leaps in a back flip from the player's sword, however, his head moves just in time to dodge the blow. The heavy blade leaps backwards and glares, holding his sword at the ready, taking another long look at his opponent, trying to size him up again. Lighteria, in the mean time, swallows a giant gulp of spit down his throat to subside his nervousness, his fists tightening on the staff for protection. The moments pass by slowly as they stare at each other, the murmurs of the crowd and the babbling of the waterway glazed over their hearing, instead focusing on each others breathing. ...A quick inhale would mean it's time to attack... Who would strike first.........?
...
"Umm.... can I have my staff back yet?" Asks a confused wavemistress, now standing beside Lighteria with her head tilted. The two of them blink and look over to her, the heavy blade gaining a smirk over his face and standing up straight in a rather manly posture with his sword in front of him.
"Rest assured, young lady." He says with somewhat of a somber grimace on his face, indicating his deadly seriousness. "I will retrieve your staff for you soon. I need only wrench it from the dead hands of this vile-"
"Here ya go." Lighteria says in the midst of his speech, casually handing the staff back to the wavemistress. She smiles brightly and bows a little.
"Arigato, Light-san!" She says happily, turning and heading back to her party who had remained decidedly uncaring about the theft. I mean geez, it's a freaking level 1 staff, they find those random chests.
San? The hell's that mean?
The twin blade scratches his head as he watches her leave, wishing he could get on the internet to look this junk up. As he ponders, the heavy blade walks up to his side, the same batman-like frown on his face as he looks sideways to the brown haired player's face. After a few seconds, Lighteria's peripheral vision catches a glimpse of shimmering metal and he turns his head. A small but audible 'eep' escapes his throat and he turns fully to the heavy blade with a nervous look and a clenched gut.
After a few seconds of their eye being locked, the heavy blade cracks a warm smile. Lighteria blinks and the silver haired player extends a hand towards him.
"Seems we've had a mix up here." He says kindly but strongly. "I'm Murasmune. I'm sorry I attacked you, I thought you were the thief." Lighteria blinks, quite stunned and gasps, taking his hand and shaking it a little.
"Oh-! It's.. f-fine..." He laughs nervously, desperately trying to hide the fact that this player's grip is way too strong for him. "I'm Lighteria. Nice to meet you." The heavy blade nods slowly and releases his hand after a good shake, letting Lighteria subtly whimper and nurse it with his opposite hand.
"Lighteria..." He says calmly, seemingly musing on the name for a moment before smiling a little again. "Well then, Lighteria. Allow me to make it up to you." The twin blade looks up from nursing his hand, curious as what he has in mind. "Normally I make dungeon runs alone, but after that little display of skill you gave me, I would appreciate you doing me the honor of joining me this time." The heavy blade notes the critical expression of the twin blade, sensing apprehension. "It's a supposedly special dungeon made specifically for agile warriors like us." Lighteria ponders with undisguised contempt at the thought of another dungeon run since the last one was essentially a lesson in pain and exhaustion and it had been only a relatively short time since then (I mean, a good nights sleep only goes so far).
"Well I don't kno-"
"We'd love to!" The far too familiar voice behind Lighteria chimes in. Before the twin blade can interject a firm slap is planted on the square of Lighteria's back. He shrieks and collapses face first onto the ground, having been a little fatigued from fighting and not having been expecting any sort of strike. ...And he had been casually rocking back and forth on his feet... and Rondel kind of caught the tippy-toes point of the rock. Regardless of how it happens, Murasmune blinks and looks down incredulously as Lighteria eats a stone sandwich. A bulbous sweat drop falls down the back Murasmune's head as he looks up quizzically to the long arm.
"MAN! This guy here was JUST saying how much he wanted to spend time with me today and look what happens!" Rondel says brightly, not responding at all from Murasmune's expression. "An opportunity just falling right into our laps!"
"...Or hits us in the back" Lighteria mutters grimly.
"Exactly!" Rondel exclaims. "See that's what I like about this guy." He says, kicking Lighteria lightly in the side to indicate who he's talking about. "He KNOWS what life's about man. Knows all about it! Appreciates my poetry to!" He suddenly dons an expression that looks like he's just realized which soft drink really IS the best. "DUDE!!!" He suddenly shouts, causing Murasmune to take a step backwards and several people to turn their heads. "Have you heard my poetry?!" The heavy coughs, opening his mouth to respond.
"Well I..."
"Here! Let me recite one!!" Rondel interjects, with a creepily small amount of time passing before he dives into the recital.
"Deep in your heart a sadness is born.
You find when the light is gone.
Your visions unfold, your heart doth mourn.
And now the sky fades into dawn.
Open your eyes, accept what is yours.
Why do you grieve in the dark?
For now when you stop at fates endless shores.
The ship has already embarked.
If only you could split the sea...
Perhaps in time you must.
For now, to fate, you can only plea.
Until all hope turns to dust.
If an angel is born in darkness...
Must also a devil be born in light?"
There's an awkward pause as Murasmune stares at the impossibly huge grin on Rondel's face as he awaits the heavy blade's critique. Fearing his very existence could be shattered if there is no praise, the silver haired warrior coughs and looks to the side, trying to find an appropriate comment.
"Um... that was great." He says, refusing direct eye contact.
For a while there's nothing said. Rondel just staring at Murasmune with a semi-blank expression, apparently deciding his reaction. With a groan, Lighteria slowly rises to his feet during the silence, standing between them.
"Ugh... remind me to-WAAARGG!!" Lighteria yelps again, getting literally run over by Rondel. The long arm screeches to a halt on the twin blade's back with a HUGE grin, about a centimeter from Murasmune's face.
"YOU REALLY MEAN IT!?!?!" Rondel asks, his eyes sparkling. Lighteria growls inside, thinking of all the ways he could impale Rondel on his blade.
"Uhh.... " Murasmune starts, coughing. He rolls his eyes to the side and sighs inwardly, turning his face towards him. "...Sure."
There's another long pause while Lighteria carefully places his amateur blade to the tip of Rondel's boot, intent on cutting off a toe.
"I KNEW IT!!!" Rondel suddenly shouts, literally jumping for joy and landing with his feet on Lighteria's wrists. The twin blade lets out a painful yelp and there's an audible crack. Murasmune's eyes widen a little, looking down to the injured player as Rondel stands, proud and oblivious. "Man, that's it. You and I are definitely friends now!" With a nod, he leaps off Lighteria and heads towards the chaos gate, ignoring the grunting, mangled friend. Murasmune's eye brow raises.
"Where are you going?" He asks the long arm, somewhat confused. Rondel laughs.
"Duh! I'm joining you guys in the field! It'll be a GREAT adventure!" He blinks, finally noticing Lighteria on the ground. He lets out a laugh. "Come on Lighty! Stop lazing around and let's go!" He laughs and heads to the chaos gate. Lighteria shudders, less out of pain and more out of irritation and rage. Murasmune looks up and scratches his head.
"Um... yes. Well he has a point. I'd like to get going so..." He looks down and coughs with a piteous look on his face. "....Whenever you can...."
"...I should never have gotten out of bed...." Lighteria groans as he gets up slowly, rubbing his poor, poor arm. "....But whatever... Let's just go... At this point killing off a few monsters would be therapeutic." Murasmune lets out a smile and laughs a bit, putting a hand to his shoulder.
"Come, Lighteria. I can tell you and I will be getting along fine."
Lighteria looks up to him and manages a sincere smile, enjoying this new acceptance. With a nod the two of them make their way towards the chaos gate and warp out with Rondel.
...In the mean time, a dripping wet twin blade, wrapped in dark clothing growls, watching them.
"Sorrowful Despaired Judgment, huh?" He scowls. "Won't be so much fun when I get to the Gott first and steal the treasure..." He smirks and heads to the Item shop to buy a few fairy orbs, snickering to himself. As he walks a pale, dark haired wavemaster smirks, her back resting against the wall nearby.
"Thanks kid." She says to herself, brushing her hair back, her dark red eyes gleaming. "You just saved me a lot of trouble tracking him."
Maa-aan... what a day... I don't know how much more of this I can take... All this running around fighting crap... What's WITH all this anyway? Didn't these people think of anything better to do besides fight monsters and play cards? Even the stupid events revolve around fighting... Honesty, did they even ONCE consider MY feelings?! Of course they didn't! No one actually cares about the little man! Where's the justice for the down trodden, huh?? Where is it? I'M KINDA DOWNTRODDEN!!! Really!! Maybe not as downtrodden as a newbie that spent all his money on health potions and used them all in a level one dungeon.... but still pretty darn down trodden!!! I don't even have a home apart from that hideouty thingy... and that's not even CLOSE to being safe! Stupid people with their stupid... doings stuff... I should put my foot down! Say I'm tired of this endless fighting and just go my own way! ...And then get killed.
...Yeah, I don't even know what'll HAPPEN if I get a game over here... Will I revert back to my last save point? I mean seriously, what the crap happens? GAH!! I wanna go home! I'm sick of playing this game! I'm sick of everything about it! And I'm REALLY sick of-
"OOF!!!" He grunts out, getting tackled from the back by a green-haired long arm, both of them collapsing to the ground.
"H-e-e-e-e-y!! Best buddy!!" Rondel the long arm says, wide smiled, getting comfortable, lying on Lighteria's back. "How you been lately?" He asks, looking down at the twin blade with his face planted in the concrete.
"....super." Lighteria manages to mutter darkly.
"Great!" He says cheerily, showing no signs of letting him up from the ground. "Man! I thought I'd NEVER catch up to you again! I forgot to get your member address last time! Can you believe it? I couldn't flash-mail you or NOTHING! Wasn't that awful?" Lighteria opens his mouth to offer his thoughts on that glorious fact but is quickly stopped by Rondel's shoulder resting on the back of his head, causing his mouth to get a taste of the cobblestones. "Yeah, I hear you buddy... I missed you too." Lighteria whimpers as a small but clearly amused crowd of people stop along the road to watch the odd pair, clearly wondering why one guy is lying on top of another guy. "You know what I have planned for today?? Your favorite thing in the whole world! With me!!" Someone chuckles.
Those, my friend, are mutually exclusive.
"We're gonna search for an angel halo for you again!" Lighteria's face turns pale. He remembers the last time Rondel dragged him around the city in a choke hold, asking perfect strangers if they knew the location of a halo accessory. Most laughed at them, some stared, others just smirked... all in all one of the worst experiences Lighteria had ever had. And they didn't even find out a THING about a halo.
"Uh.. N-no really... it's o-"
"HEEEEELP!!!" A voice suddenly rings out. A female voice. The duo look up to see a girl wavemaster in a pink robe wrestling with a dark-armored twin blade, both of them trying to lay claim to the wavemaster wand in their hands. Lighteria blinks for a second, staring at the player, the face suddenly becoming recognizable.
Holy Crap! That's ShadowStreak!!
With a sudden push-up, Lighteria flips Rondel off of his back, much to the long arms surprise. ...Of course the long arm never considered the level difference between the two of them so it should be no surprise to anyone else. ...Yeah, anyway. Lighteria quickly gets between shadow and the girl and grabs the wand, using his free hand to push Shadow away. The dark twin blade blinks in surprise as he's shoved back a few feet. He glares and stomps his foot at Lighteria as the timid twin blade stands straight up, wand in hand, serious expression on his face. The girl blinks in confusion, but clearly pleased her wand is safe.
"What.... what the heck is wrong with you Shadow?!" Lighteria scolds, clearly, clearly angered, his shyness taking a quick back seat. "You don't... you don't just... steal from people!" Shadow glares at the twin blade, clearly miffed at being scolded.
"Shut the hell up, Lights." He snaps back. "I need money a lot more than this newbie does!! Now give it back!" He lunges for the wand again, this time Lighteria dodges to the side and gives the dark player a quick kick to the bottom, sending him tumbling over the guide rail and into the Mac Anu river. There are a few scattered laughs and one very grateful looking wavemaster.
Wow... guess he hasn't gotten any stronger since last time... Poor guy... and Lights?? Who the hell calls me Lights? ... ...Oh! I'd better return the wand!
With a quick turn, the twin blade smiles and walks back over to the wavemaster...
"Hold! Thief!!" A sudden, strong voice rings out. The twin blade turns around to see a heavy blade racing towards him, clad in light red, samurai-style armor and wielding a long katana. The new player's silver hair glistens in the sunlight, shimmering from the sun above the rooftops. His sandal clad feel almost seem to run in slow motion as he rushes towards the twin blade, sword clenched tightly in his hand. For a moment, Lighteria is stunned by the mere presence of the new player. The man had obviously spent a very long time detailing his character to perfection. Lighteria's eyes glance over the shining silver kimono and the blood red plate armor strapped carefully over the soft fabric, he falls into awe, secretly wishing he'd spent more time on his character design like this player did. ...Of course the speculation ends quickly as the player takes a flying leap into the air, katana held above his head preparing for a powerful downwards chop.
"Huh? ACK!" The twin blade gasps, his heart jumping in fear of his life. Without even thinking, his hand grips the long wavemaster staff and whips it above his head, his other hand gripping the opposite end of the staff for support. The two weapons collide with a shattering force, sparks flying off the sharpened blade as it slides against the solid metal pole of the staff. The heavy blade's deep blue eyes blink for a moment in surprise. Not everyone can block his swipes... To think that a lowly thief could even come close to matching his skills...
"Miserable coward!!" He shouts suddenly, causing Lighteria to blink in confusion. Before he even realizes it, the sword is back in the air and swinging from below. Lighteria gasps and leaps up, both legs out to his sides as he thrusts the staff horizontally downward, catching the warrior's strike from below while he's in mid air. Undaunted, the heavy blade twirls around for a quick assault to the left side, an attack which is met again by the staff. The two fighters eye each other for a moment, the heavy blade with righteous anger and the twin blade with pure and simple confusion. Lighteria shivers suddenly, feeling the heavy blade searching in his eyes for a sign of weakness. The silver haired warrior raises an eye brow, realizing that his entire gaze IS one of weakness. With a quick shake of his head, the swordsman pulls back for a final attack. With a long reach, the heavy blade thrusts his blade forward in a powerful thrust, the blade starting vertical but twisting as it rushes forward so it turns horizontal. With a gasp, Lighteria leaps up into the air, jumping over the thrust.
"What on-?" The heavy blade watches Lighteria in surprise as the twin blade's feet land on the tip of the sword. The warrior gasps and stumbles forward to keep the blade in his grasp, allowing Lighteria a counter attack with his foot. Attempting a drop kick on the players chin, the twin blade leaps in a back flip from the player's sword, however, his head moves just in time to dodge the blow. The heavy blade leaps backwards and glares, holding his sword at the ready, taking another long look at his opponent, trying to size him up again. Lighteria, in the mean time, swallows a giant gulp of spit down his throat to subside his nervousness, his fists tightening on the staff for protection. The moments pass by slowly as they stare at each other, the murmurs of the crowd and the babbling of the waterway glazed over their hearing, instead focusing on each others breathing. ...A quick inhale would mean it's time to attack... Who would strike first.........?
...
"Umm.... can I have my staff back yet?" Asks a confused wavemistress, now standing beside Lighteria with her head tilted. The two of them blink and look over to her, the heavy blade gaining a smirk over his face and standing up straight in a rather manly posture with his sword in front of him.
"Rest assured, young lady." He says with somewhat of a somber grimace on his face, indicating his deadly seriousness. "I will retrieve your staff for you soon. I need only wrench it from the dead hands of this vile-"
"Here ya go." Lighteria says in the midst of his speech, casually handing the staff back to the wavemistress. She smiles brightly and bows a little.
"Arigato, Light-san!" She says happily, turning and heading back to her party who had remained decidedly uncaring about the theft. I mean geez, it's a freaking level 1 staff, they find those random chests.
San? The hell's that mean?
The twin blade scratches his head as he watches her leave, wishing he could get on the internet to look this junk up. As he ponders, the heavy blade walks up to his side, the same batman-like frown on his face as he looks sideways to the brown haired player's face. After a few seconds, Lighteria's peripheral vision catches a glimpse of shimmering metal and he turns his head. A small but audible 'eep' escapes his throat and he turns fully to the heavy blade with a nervous look and a clenched gut.
After a few seconds of their eye being locked, the heavy blade cracks a warm smile. Lighteria blinks and the silver haired player extends a hand towards him.
"Seems we've had a mix up here." He says kindly but strongly. "I'm Murasmune. I'm sorry I attacked you, I thought you were the thief." Lighteria blinks, quite stunned and gasps, taking his hand and shaking it a little.
"Oh-! It's.. f-fine..." He laughs nervously, desperately trying to hide the fact that this player's grip is way too strong for him. "I'm Lighteria. Nice to meet you." The heavy blade nods slowly and releases his hand after a good shake, letting Lighteria subtly whimper and nurse it with his opposite hand.
"Lighteria..." He says calmly, seemingly musing on the name for a moment before smiling a little again. "Well then, Lighteria. Allow me to make it up to you." The twin blade looks up from nursing his hand, curious as what he has in mind. "Normally I make dungeon runs alone, but after that little display of skill you gave me, I would appreciate you doing me the honor of joining me this time." The heavy blade notes the critical expression of the twin blade, sensing apprehension. "It's a supposedly special dungeon made specifically for agile warriors like us." Lighteria ponders with undisguised contempt at the thought of another dungeon run since the last one was essentially a lesson in pain and exhaustion and it had been only a relatively short time since then (I mean, a good nights sleep only goes so far).
"Well I don't kno-"
"We'd love to!" The far too familiar voice behind Lighteria chimes in. Before the twin blade can interject a firm slap is planted on the square of Lighteria's back. He shrieks and collapses face first onto the ground, having been a little fatigued from fighting and not having been expecting any sort of strike. ...And he had been casually rocking back and forth on his feet... and Rondel kind of caught the tippy-toes point of the rock. Regardless of how it happens, Murasmune blinks and looks down incredulously as Lighteria eats a stone sandwich. A bulbous sweat drop falls down the back Murasmune's head as he looks up quizzically to the long arm.
"MAN! This guy here was JUST saying how much he wanted to spend time with me today and look what happens!" Rondel says brightly, not responding at all from Murasmune's expression. "An opportunity just falling right into our laps!"
"...Or hits us in the back" Lighteria mutters grimly.
"Exactly!" Rondel exclaims. "See that's what I like about this guy." He says, kicking Lighteria lightly in the side to indicate who he's talking about. "He KNOWS what life's about man. Knows all about it! Appreciates my poetry to!" He suddenly dons an expression that looks like he's just realized which soft drink really IS the best. "DUDE!!!" He suddenly shouts, causing Murasmune to take a step backwards and several people to turn their heads. "Have you heard my poetry?!" The heavy coughs, opening his mouth to respond.
"Well I..."
"Here! Let me recite one!!" Rondel interjects, with a creepily small amount of time passing before he dives into the recital.
"Deep in your heart a sadness is born.
You find when the light is gone.
Your visions unfold, your heart doth mourn.
And now the sky fades into dawn.
Open your eyes, accept what is yours.
Why do you grieve in the dark?
For now when you stop at fates endless shores.
The ship has already embarked.
If only you could split the sea...
Perhaps in time you must.
For now, to fate, you can only plea.
Until all hope turns to dust.
If an angel is born in darkness...
Must also a devil be born in light?"
There's an awkward pause as Murasmune stares at the impossibly huge grin on Rondel's face as he awaits the heavy blade's critique. Fearing his very existence could be shattered if there is no praise, the silver haired warrior coughs and looks to the side, trying to find an appropriate comment.
"Um... that was great." He says, refusing direct eye contact.
For a while there's nothing said. Rondel just staring at Murasmune with a semi-blank expression, apparently deciding his reaction. With a groan, Lighteria slowly rises to his feet during the silence, standing between them.
"Ugh... remind me to-WAAARGG!!" Lighteria yelps again, getting literally run over by Rondel. The long arm screeches to a halt on the twin blade's back with a HUGE grin, about a centimeter from Murasmune's face.
"YOU REALLY MEAN IT!?!?!" Rondel asks, his eyes sparkling. Lighteria growls inside, thinking of all the ways he could impale Rondel on his blade.
"Uhh.... " Murasmune starts, coughing. He rolls his eyes to the side and sighs inwardly, turning his face towards him. "...Sure."
There's another long pause while Lighteria carefully places his amateur blade to the tip of Rondel's boot, intent on cutting off a toe.
"I KNEW IT!!!" Rondel suddenly shouts, literally jumping for joy and landing with his feet on Lighteria's wrists. The twin blade lets out a painful yelp and there's an audible crack. Murasmune's eyes widen a little, looking down to the injured player as Rondel stands, proud and oblivious. "Man, that's it. You and I are definitely friends now!" With a nod, he leaps off Lighteria and heads towards the chaos gate, ignoring the grunting, mangled friend. Murasmune's eye brow raises.
"Where are you going?" He asks the long arm, somewhat confused. Rondel laughs.
"Duh! I'm joining you guys in the field! It'll be a GREAT adventure!" He blinks, finally noticing Lighteria on the ground. He lets out a laugh. "Come on Lighty! Stop lazing around and let's go!" He laughs and heads to the chaos gate. Lighteria shudders, less out of pain and more out of irritation and rage. Murasmune looks up and scratches his head.
"Um... yes. Well he has a point. I'd like to get going so..." He looks down and coughs with a piteous look on his face. "....Whenever you can...."
"...I should never have gotten out of bed...." Lighteria groans as he gets up slowly, rubbing his poor, poor arm. "....But whatever... Let's just go... At this point killing off a few monsters would be therapeutic." Murasmune lets out a smile and laughs a bit, putting a hand to his shoulder.
"Come, Lighteria. I can tell you and I will be getting along fine."
Lighteria looks up to him and manages a sincere smile, enjoying this new acceptance. With a nod the two of them make their way towards the chaos gate and warp out with Rondel.
...In the mean time, a dripping wet twin blade, wrapped in dark clothing growls, watching them.
"Sorrowful Despaired Judgment, huh?" He scowls. "Won't be so much fun when I get to the Gott first and steal the treasure..." He smirks and heads to the Item shop to buy a few fairy orbs, snickering to himself. As he walks a pale, dark haired wavemaster smirks, her back resting against the wall nearby.
"Thanks kid." She says to herself, brushing her hair back, her dark red eyes gleaming. "You just saved me a lot of trouble tracking him."
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"
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"
"Ahhh dammit... not another server lag." A man in a white business suit mumbles, tapping out a few quick keystrokes on his computer with his left hand, his right busily tipping a mug of coffee to his lips.
"It'll only last a few seconds... Calm down, people won't care." Another man with thick, coke-bottle glasses says, bring the last bite of his subway sandwich into his mouth.
...
.......Where... am I? Why haven't I reached the field?
Lighteria attempts to hold out his formless hand.
Ahh..... this is freaky.... I hate it when the loading times trap me here... It's only for a moment but...
...It feels like they left just my soul. Like I'm nothing but a formless shadow... waiting to return to my body...
...What the hell did they trap in this place anyway? Is it just my consciousness? My soul? No... I'm sure if I have a soul it's still in my body. .....But what if my body dies? If my heart stops, will I die here too? Will my consciousness fade... or will I continue to live here... as a lost, wandering soul in The World....
A lost... ....wandering...
...
...What the hell am I thinking!? This isn't the time for unanswerable questions!!!
"...Are you alright?" Murasmune asks, his eye brow raised in that quizzical way you'd get if YOU were watching someone stare into space, making weird faces. Lighteria blinks for a moment. You can almost see the moment of dawning comprehension forming in his thoughts. He jumps, shrieks in embarrassment and quickly turns to the heavy blade, bowing with the intensity of a geisha who has just poured an entire pitcher of hot tea into the lap of a high-powered dignitary.
"I'm sorry!!! I'm sorry!!" He blurts out, shooting off rapid-fire apologetic bows. "I was.. uh... just... uh... distracte- OOF!!!" Again, there's a powerful slap on Lighteria's back. The twin blade stumbles forward, arms flailing, right into the chest of Murasmune. The steeled warrior barely moves an inch except for moving his foot backwards a bit to compensate for the weight. With a perplexed lift of the eyebrow, he looks to the wide grin of Rondel, his hand still out in front of him, hovering over the spot where Lighteria's back was.
"Ah, don't mind em'!!" Rondel bellows out with a laugh, waving his hand lightly in the air for emphasis, apparently believing that would add substance to his case. "He's always got somethin' on his mind! Prolly plannin' out our battle strategy." The long arm crosses his arms and nods slowly, assuring himself that he's right. ...I mean, no one ELSE is going to assure him. "Yea, that's why I like tha' guy! He's on top a things. Like me! I ALWAYS know what others are doing and thinking about me." Again with a nod. "Oh yeah, guys like me are one in a million."
...Thank god.
Lighteria's ears tune out Rondel's never-ending stream of talk for a moment, his senses starting to focus on his predicament. The shock had made his nervous leaps get out of synch with his body for a moment and he'd remained against the heavy blade's red, tiled chest plate. For a moment, his body senses a sensation he'd never experienced, in real life or in The World. Body heat. His eyes blink slowly, letting his side take in this sensation. Being this close to someone who wasn't actively trying to hit, scare or annoy him was a rarity, and Murasmune wasn't budging an inch, not to push him away or to adjust for the weight. It was a welcome sensation from everyone keeping him at arms length. ...Or the other way around.
It's so strange... I haven't been held since I was a baby. Not even my mother hugged me past a certain age. It's... calming. Like the world suddenly stopped being cold.
A wave of unveiled sorrow passes by the young twin blade's face. He places his hands to the chest plate and gets back upright. Rondel stops his tirade for a moment and casts his gaze towards the twin blade, curious as to what all this MOVING was about. Lighteria lets a little smile pass his face after a few seconds and he looks ahead to the field.
"Alright, let's go." He says softly, smiling and walking forward. Murasmune lifts an eyebrow and smiles similarly.
"So you DO take charge sometimes." The heavy blade says, walking beside him at a relaxed pace. "That's good. I've always believed the wise and courageous should take the lead." Lighteria blinks at his statement. Those two were probably the last qualities he'd think of to describe himself. More like spacey and anxious. Before he can retort, a hand clasps to his shoulder softly. Lighteria blinks and glances to Rondel for an instant, seeing the long arm trailing a few feet behind, his arms swaying casually at his side. The twin blade's gut jumps and he turns his head towards Murasmune, catching the calm smile across his face.
"Don't be so nervous." He says, looking back into Lighteria's eyes. "Just have a little confidence."
"....confidence?" Lighteria says absent-mindedly. Even before his mouth closes, a sudden rumble on the barren, dusty field shakes the team up. A deep, hallowing noise echoes throughout the expanse and ground begins to crack and heave, great chunks of earth rising and falling.
"Earthquake!" Murasmune shouts, grasping Lighteria's shoulder before he topples over from the rumbling. The twin blade gasps a bit, glancing to Rondel as he steadies himself with his spear. The shaking grows more and more intense and soon magma bursts through the cracks with a terrible burst. Dust soars into the sky, the field visibility reaching near zero. Rondel if the first to erupt into a breathless coughing fit, having to fling his baggy sleeve over his mouth and nose to save himself, the long arm quickly collapsing into his knees to steady himself from the shaking and constant flow of dust. In the mean time, Lighteria, on his knees, quickly pulls his baggy shirt over his nose and mouth, holding his arm over his eyes as a shield from the dust; he coughs through the shirt and squints through the cloud to Murasmune. He gasps, seeing the heavy blade collapsed, futilely shielding himself from the dust, coming to the point of choking, his armor allowing none of the tight fabric and metal to shift around to protect his face. In a panic, the twin blade digs into his item pouch, extracting his old bandana. Letting his other arm leave his face for a moment, Lighteria quickly scurries to the teammate's side, tying the bandana around his nose and mouth. Murasmune squints up through the dust just in time to see Lighteria's face before a sudden eruption in the ground splits the earth under the team, sending a gigantic dust cloud in the midst of the players...
Five minutes later...
"That aughta be enough time..." ShadowStreak says to himself, leaving the magic shop, speed charms in hand. "They'll get lost in the dungeon and I'll zip ahead of em'... steal the stuff and boom, quest failed jerks."
In the meantime, Lighteria snaps back to his senses, having nearly passed out from the chaos around them. He blinks, his chest suddenly heaving as he erupts into a coughing fit, hacking up dust from his lungs, nearly retching into the dirt below him. Silently cursing his entrapment in the game, he shakily rises to his feet and wipes the dust from his eyelids, squinting into the dark, barren, torn landscape. He gasps for a moment, looking into the distance. As far as the eye can see, the ground is cracked with deep crevasses, an eerie red glow emanating from each one. The field had been shattered like glass, leaving the team standing on a cracked platform in the midst of the sundered earth. The twin blade blinks and looks over to his team, realizing he should prroooooobably check on them. As he does, he catches Murasmune slowly brushing the dust from his silver hair, removing the bandana from his face, standing next to a coughing Rondel, shaking himself off similar to a dog getting rain off his fur. The twin blade breathes a sigh of relief and dusts his hair off a little, Murasmune walking over to his side.
"Thank you." He says, handing the bandana back. "That was quick thinking." Lighteria blinks and looks up to him, not thinking it was any big deal. Before he can point that out though, Rondel lets out a gigantic whoop.
"MAAAAAAN, that was AWESOME." Lighteria's jaw drops. "I mean, DANG. That was like... BOOM man.. you know? Dust everywhere!! And check out the field! It's practically a war zone! I should write a poem about this!! How's this?? There was a team in Nantucket..." Murasmune's eye twitches a moment and he coughs loud enough to stop the chatter.
"We should continue on." He says in a confident, yet slightly perturbed tone of voice. "The stability of this region isn't likely to improve and I'd rather not be stuck fighting with the chance of falling into a crevasse." Lighteria nods in assent, peering down a nearby opening in the dirt.
"...Especially since it's... uh.... filled with lava." Rondel and Murasmune both blink and join him, glancing down the hole to see the slowly flowing magma glowing red, letting off an occasional flame as rocks and pebbles fall from the crevasse walls and into the searing liquid. Five seconds pass by before Murasmune coughs and stands up straight.
"Yes. All the more reason we should head to the dungeon." He pauses for a moment, bringing up the minimap. "Hmm... we head..." He lifts his arm slowly, his finger tracing the field as his eyes trace the map. "...THAT way." He points to the distance where a towering volcano looms in the distance. Lighteria pauses and swallows.
He's..... kidding. We're not actually going to head TOWARDS a volcano while we know it's active... right? We'd have to be either crazy, stupid or fearless.
"Woo! Let's get going man!" Rondel says, oblivious as he leaps over a crevasse on the way to the volcano. Lighteria blinks and glance to Murasmune as he follows the log arm over the crevasse.
"Yes." He says calmly. "I am confident we will prevail." He walks just behind the long arm as he takes the lead, walking over cracks and avoiding others on the way to the dungeon.
There's a long pause.
"...right." Lighteria says to himself, sighing and shrugging. "Of COURSE I'm crazy following them." He shakes his head and leaps easily over the crevasse, catching up to them quickly.
"It'll only last a few seconds... Calm down, people won't care." Another man with thick, coke-bottle glasses says, bring the last bite of his subway sandwich into his mouth.
...
.......Where... am I? Why haven't I reached the field?
Lighteria attempts to hold out his formless hand.
Ahh..... this is freaky.... I hate it when the loading times trap me here... It's only for a moment but...
...It feels like they left just my soul. Like I'm nothing but a formless shadow... waiting to return to my body...
...What the hell did they trap in this place anyway? Is it just my consciousness? My soul? No... I'm sure if I have a soul it's still in my body. .....But what if my body dies? If my heart stops, will I die here too? Will my consciousness fade... or will I continue to live here... as a lost, wandering soul in The World....
A lost... ....wandering...
...
...What the hell am I thinking!? This isn't the time for unanswerable questions!!!
"...Are you alright?" Murasmune asks, his eye brow raised in that quizzical way you'd get if YOU were watching someone stare into space, making weird faces. Lighteria blinks for a moment. You can almost see the moment of dawning comprehension forming in his thoughts. He jumps, shrieks in embarrassment and quickly turns to the heavy blade, bowing with the intensity of a geisha who has just poured an entire pitcher of hot tea into the lap of a high-powered dignitary.
"I'm sorry!!! I'm sorry!!" He blurts out, shooting off rapid-fire apologetic bows. "I was.. uh... just... uh... distracte- OOF!!!" Again, there's a powerful slap on Lighteria's back. The twin blade stumbles forward, arms flailing, right into the chest of Murasmune. The steeled warrior barely moves an inch except for moving his foot backwards a bit to compensate for the weight. With a perplexed lift of the eyebrow, he looks to the wide grin of Rondel, his hand still out in front of him, hovering over the spot where Lighteria's back was.
"Ah, don't mind em'!!" Rondel bellows out with a laugh, waving his hand lightly in the air for emphasis, apparently believing that would add substance to his case. "He's always got somethin' on his mind! Prolly plannin' out our battle strategy." The long arm crosses his arms and nods slowly, assuring himself that he's right. ...I mean, no one ELSE is going to assure him. "Yea, that's why I like tha' guy! He's on top a things. Like me! I ALWAYS know what others are doing and thinking about me." Again with a nod. "Oh yeah, guys like me are one in a million."
...Thank god.
Lighteria's ears tune out Rondel's never-ending stream of talk for a moment, his senses starting to focus on his predicament. The shock had made his nervous leaps get out of synch with his body for a moment and he'd remained against the heavy blade's red, tiled chest plate. For a moment, his body senses a sensation he'd never experienced, in real life or in The World. Body heat. His eyes blink slowly, letting his side take in this sensation. Being this close to someone who wasn't actively trying to hit, scare or annoy him was a rarity, and Murasmune wasn't budging an inch, not to push him away or to adjust for the weight. It was a welcome sensation from everyone keeping him at arms length. ...Or the other way around.
It's so strange... I haven't been held since I was a baby. Not even my mother hugged me past a certain age. It's... calming. Like the world suddenly stopped being cold.
A wave of unveiled sorrow passes by the young twin blade's face. He places his hands to the chest plate and gets back upright. Rondel stops his tirade for a moment and casts his gaze towards the twin blade, curious as to what all this MOVING was about. Lighteria lets a little smile pass his face after a few seconds and he looks ahead to the field.
"Alright, let's go." He says softly, smiling and walking forward. Murasmune lifts an eyebrow and smiles similarly.
"So you DO take charge sometimes." The heavy blade says, walking beside him at a relaxed pace. "That's good. I've always believed the wise and courageous should take the lead." Lighteria blinks at his statement. Those two were probably the last qualities he'd think of to describe himself. More like spacey and anxious. Before he can retort, a hand clasps to his shoulder softly. Lighteria blinks and glances to Rondel for an instant, seeing the long arm trailing a few feet behind, his arms swaying casually at his side. The twin blade's gut jumps and he turns his head towards Murasmune, catching the calm smile across his face.
"Don't be so nervous." He says, looking back into Lighteria's eyes. "Just have a little confidence."
"....confidence?" Lighteria says absent-mindedly. Even before his mouth closes, a sudden rumble on the barren, dusty field shakes the team up. A deep, hallowing noise echoes throughout the expanse and ground begins to crack and heave, great chunks of earth rising and falling.
"Earthquake!" Murasmune shouts, grasping Lighteria's shoulder before he topples over from the rumbling. The twin blade gasps a bit, glancing to Rondel as he steadies himself with his spear. The shaking grows more and more intense and soon magma bursts through the cracks with a terrible burst. Dust soars into the sky, the field visibility reaching near zero. Rondel if the first to erupt into a breathless coughing fit, having to fling his baggy sleeve over his mouth and nose to save himself, the long arm quickly collapsing into his knees to steady himself from the shaking and constant flow of dust. In the mean time, Lighteria, on his knees, quickly pulls his baggy shirt over his nose and mouth, holding his arm over his eyes as a shield from the dust; he coughs through the shirt and squints through the cloud to Murasmune. He gasps, seeing the heavy blade collapsed, futilely shielding himself from the dust, coming to the point of choking, his armor allowing none of the tight fabric and metal to shift around to protect his face. In a panic, the twin blade digs into his item pouch, extracting his old bandana. Letting his other arm leave his face for a moment, Lighteria quickly scurries to the teammate's side, tying the bandana around his nose and mouth. Murasmune squints up through the dust just in time to see Lighteria's face before a sudden eruption in the ground splits the earth under the team, sending a gigantic dust cloud in the midst of the players...
Five minutes later...
"That aughta be enough time..." ShadowStreak says to himself, leaving the magic shop, speed charms in hand. "They'll get lost in the dungeon and I'll zip ahead of em'... steal the stuff and boom, quest failed jerks."
In the meantime, Lighteria snaps back to his senses, having nearly passed out from the chaos around them. He blinks, his chest suddenly heaving as he erupts into a coughing fit, hacking up dust from his lungs, nearly retching into the dirt below him. Silently cursing his entrapment in the game, he shakily rises to his feet and wipes the dust from his eyelids, squinting into the dark, barren, torn landscape. He gasps for a moment, looking into the distance. As far as the eye can see, the ground is cracked with deep crevasses, an eerie red glow emanating from each one. The field had been shattered like glass, leaving the team standing on a cracked platform in the midst of the sundered earth. The twin blade blinks and looks over to his team, realizing he should prroooooobably check on them. As he does, he catches Murasmune slowly brushing the dust from his silver hair, removing the bandana from his face, standing next to a coughing Rondel, shaking himself off similar to a dog getting rain off his fur. The twin blade breathes a sigh of relief and dusts his hair off a little, Murasmune walking over to his side.
"Thank you." He says, handing the bandana back. "That was quick thinking." Lighteria blinks and looks up to him, not thinking it was any big deal. Before he can point that out though, Rondel lets out a gigantic whoop.
"MAAAAAAN, that was AWESOME." Lighteria's jaw drops. "I mean, DANG. That was like... BOOM man.. you know? Dust everywhere!! And check out the field! It's practically a war zone! I should write a poem about this!! How's this?? There was a team in Nantucket..." Murasmune's eye twitches a moment and he coughs loud enough to stop the chatter.
"We should continue on." He says in a confident, yet slightly perturbed tone of voice. "The stability of this region isn't likely to improve and I'd rather not be stuck fighting with the chance of falling into a crevasse." Lighteria nods in assent, peering down a nearby opening in the dirt.
"...Especially since it's... uh.... filled with lava." Rondel and Murasmune both blink and join him, glancing down the hole to see the slowly flowing magma glowing red, letting off an occasional flame as rocks and pebbles fall from the crevasse walls and into the searing liquid. Five seconds pass by before Murasmune coughs and stands up straight.
"Yes. All the more reason we should head to the dungeon." He pauses for a moment, bringing up the minimap. "Hmm... we head..." He lifts his arm slowly, his finger tracing the field as his eyes trace the map. "...THAT way." He points to the distance where a towering volcano looms in the distance. Lighteria pauses and swallows.
He's..... kidding. We're not actually going to head TOWARDS a volcano while we know it's active... right? We'd have to be either crazy, stupid or fearless.
"Woo! Let's get going man!" Rondel says, oblivious as he leaps over a crevasse on the way to the volcano. Lighteria blinks and glance to Murasmune as he follows the log arm over the crevasse.
"Yes." He says calmly. "I am confident we will prevail." He walks just behind the long arm as he takes the lead, walking over cracks and avoiding others on the way to the dungeon.
There's a long pause.
"...right." Lighteria says to himself, sighing and shrugging. "Of COURSE I'm crazy following them." He shakes his head and leaps easily over the crevasse, catching up to them quickly.
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"
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"
Traveling the field passes by in a haze. The group soon discovers the vast majority of the monsters are Hell Dobermans. Vicious, but really pathetic at this level. Rondel finds himself constantly dodging them in a panic of course, but Murasmune or Lighteria both easily slay the beasts before they get close enough to harm him. Only during times of ridiculously outnumbered fights do either of the players use their skills to slay them. As they fight, however, Murasmune gains a strange grimace every time he slays a beast and the level up sound effect chimes in his ear. It's not hard to figure out that the honorable heavy blade feels a pang of irritation when the annoying long arm leeches a level off of Lighteria and his hard work. The casual observer would worry the heavy blade would soon confront the weak long arm and tell him off, but the careful observer would notice the timid twin blade, smiling and softly congratulating the long arm for every leeched level. It's not hard to imagine Murasmune taking a strange sort of lesson from the player, a lesson to be less harsh with others and perhaps to simply help out even an annoying, leeching player for the sake of helping them out. This is what the careful observer would see.
The ridiculously perceptive observer, however, would see him analyzing Lighteria's every action.
Regardless...
They reach the base of the volcano in record time, only to find themselves faced with what appears to be an elevator on the side of the mountain, going up. The elevator itself is less than confidence inspiring, featuring an ash-covered, rusted metal square with no guide rails. Murasmune is, of course, the first to step on the elevator and analyze the control panel. (A truly elaborate control display featuring all of two buttons, both arrows) Rondel is next, oblivious and carefree, thinking nothing of the platform or even the prospect of falling off, oddly enough. Lighteria, of course, stands at the edge of the platform for two straight minutes, looking at each and every rust patch on the edge of the platform. Every conceivable thing that could go wrong with it, running through his head INCLUDING attacks by giant flying hippos. (Don't ask) It's not until the deep, confident voice of Murasmune rings in his ears does the twin blade come out of this haze.
"Come Lighteria. We've got ground to cover."
Lighteria gasps, his face turning back into that pale, nervous countenance that he always gets when he's pulled out of his own thoughts to the realization that people are looking at him.
"Ah..I.. I'm sorry!" He says quickly, giving a full bow of apology before hopping quickly onto the platform.
With Lighteria brooding over what his thinks is his idiocy, Murasmune presses the giant up arrow and the elevator gears grind and creak, the platform giving the team a sudden jolt, the rusted elevator having almost been rooted to the ground from disuse. It does manage to pick itself off the ground though and slowly it starts its climb up the side of the mountain. Lighteria's knees shake a little, watching flecks of rust fall off the side from the movement and flecks of scorched earth falling from the underside of the steel, having clung to the abandoned machine for ages it would seem. Half way up the mountain, as Lighteria's stomach reaches its maximum churning potential (did I mention he's afraid of heights?) a voice suddenly rings out from the up-till-now quiet group.
"MAN!!" Rondel remarks, a huge, toothy smile on his face. "Look at that VIEW!!"
Almost by instinct the other two players on the platform look out at the landscape. The view consists of dead trees and an endless expanse of dried, charred, barren earth. The sky a dark, foreboding gray without an ounce of sun peeking through the gloomy veil. The occasional Hell Doberman can be seen sniffing for scraps of meat left over by god knows what. All in all it's a really horrid picture. Lighteria's face clearly shows that he has other thoughts that he would gladly make known to Rondel but he doesn't because he's just WAITING for...
Oh dark skies that hide the sun...
Lighteria emits a barely audible groan.
Why do you take away my fun?
Will storm a hail of ash?
Or will your fluffy bodies pass?
The charred hell we see away
Makes us saddened through our days
But the light is only blocked you see.
It's always there. Will always be.
Come with me to the twilight.
As we dance in hell's summer night.
Coming off his poetry high, Rondel grins a gigantic grin between the two other players, neither of them looking at the long arm directly. After a beat, the two of them sigh inwardly and speak in a low, sarcastic unison.
"That was great Rondel."
"YEAH!!!" The long arm shouts, causing Murasmune to grimace and rub his ear. "That one's going in the SPECIAL poetry book!!" And with that, the long arm sits down in a rusted patch and starts scribbling furiously in a book.
A few minutes pass with Rondel still writing. A soft mutter comes from the twin blade.
"....Are we there yet?"
Murasmune looks up to the peak of the mountain, the thick clouds veiling the true distance of the journey.
"Not yet."
"Hey guys!! Here's ANOTHER one!!"
*groan*
The ridiculously perceptive observer, however, would see him analyzing Lighteria's every action.
Regardless...
They reach the base of the volcano in record time, only to find themselves faced with what appears to be an elevator on the side of the mountain, going up. The elevator itself is less than confidence inspiring, featuring an ash-covered, rusted metal square with no guide rails. Murasmune is, of course, the first to step on the elevator and analyze the control panel. (A truly elaborate control display featuring all of two buttons, both arrows) Rondel is next, oblivious and carefree, thinking nothing of the platform or even the prospect of falling off, oddly enough. Lighteria, of course, stands at the edge of the platform for two straight minutes, looking at each and every rust patch on the edge of the platform. Every conceivable thing that could go wrong with it, running through his head INCLUDING attacks by giant flying hippos. (Don't ask) It's not until the deep, confident voice of Murasmune rings in his ears does the twin blade come out of this haze.
"Come Lighteria. We've got ground to cover."
Lighteria gasps, his face turning back into that pale, nervous countenance that he always gets when he's pulled out of his own thoughts to the realization that people are looking at him.
"Ah..I.. I'm sorry!" He says quickly, giving a full bow of apology before hopping quickly onto the platform.
With Lighteria brooding over what his thinks is his idiocy, Murasmune presses the giant up arrow and the elevator gears grind and creak, the platform giving the team a sudden jolt, the rusted elevator having almost been rooted to the ground from disuse. It does manage to pick itself off the ground though and slowly it starts its climb up the side of the mountain. Lighteria's knees shake a little, watching flecks of rust fall off the side from the movement and flecks of scorched earth falling from the underside of the steel, having clung to the abandoned machine for ages it would seem. Half way up the mountain, as Lighteria's stomach reaches its maximum churning potential (did I mention he's afraid of heights?) a voice suddenly rings out from the up-till-now quiet group.
"MAN!!" Rondel remarks, a huge, toothy smile on his face. "Look at that VIEW!!"
Almost by instinct the other two players on the platform look out at the landscape. The view consists of dead trees and an endless expanse of dried, charred, barren earth. The sky a dark, foreboding gray without an ounce of sun peeking through the gloomy veil. The occasional Hell Doberman can be seen sniffing for scraps of meat left over by god knows what. All in all it's a really horrid picture. Lighteria's face clearly shows that he has other thoughts that he would gladly make known to Rondel but he doesn't because he's just WAITING for...
Oh dark skies that hide the sun...
Lighteria emits a barely audible groan.
Why do you take away my fun?
Will storm a hail of ash?
Or will your fluffy bodies pass?
The charred hell we see away
Makes us saddened through our days
But the light is only blocked you see.
It's always there. Will always be.
Come with me to the twilight.
As we dance in hell's summer night.
Coming off his poetry high, Rondel grins a gigantic grin between the two other players, neither of them looking at the long arm directly. After a beat, the two of them sigh inwardly and speak in a low, sarcastic unison.
"That was great Rondel."
"YEAH!!!" The long arm shouts, causing Murasmune to grimace and rub his ear. "That one's going in the SPECIAL poetry book!!" And with that, the long arm sits down in a rusted patch and starts scribbling furiously in a book.
A few minutes pass with Rondel still writing. A soft mutter comes from the twin blade.
"....Are we there yet?"
Murasmune looks up to the peak of the mountain, the thick clouds veiling the true distance of the journey.
"Not yet."
"Hey guys!! Here's ANOTHER one!!"
*groan*
Last edited by Lighteria on Sat Aug 05, 2006 9:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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"
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"
Oh yes. The ride was long. But, like the stench of a dead woodchuck under a porch, the horrible, eye-watering, nausea-inducing, string of stuff that stinks eventually fades and the group is left with the unnerving creaks and groans of the elevator as it climbs the final few feet up the side of the steep slopes. Lighteria, since he always refuses to make eye contact with other players and consequentially watched the tracks the entire time is the first to notice the metal guide railings ahead of them have warped and broken. A sudden but still meek shout is all that's needed for Murasmune to grab the non-panicking Rondel and take a flying leap towards a safe mountain ledge with the long arm in tow. Lighteria, ironically more suited to this situation with jumping, leaps forward and snags the remainder of the railing on the opposite edge of the break. There's a definitive scrambling of legs and arms before the twin blade is confident with his grip, but it doesn't last TOO long until he's safely attached to the railing, looking down the steep mountain to his friends.
"You guys alright?!" He shouts down to the ledge, which is all of ten feet away, the shout was hardly necessary but hey, adrenaline and all. Rondel is the first to answer.
"OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!! We're stuck!! We're gonna die!! We're gonna-" *SLAP* Rondel is visibly shaken and blinks, rubbing his cheek, turning to Murasmune's steady face.
"Get a hold of yourself." He says calmly, but clearly, CLEARLY having enjoyed the slapping. "Panicking won't solve our situation." He turns towards Lighteria, frowning only a little for emphasis. "Can you climb up and see if there's another way up from here?"
"Sure thing..." Lighteria whimpers, his bare hands starting to scrape painfully on the rust. Grateful to be moving, he grips the upper part of the rail and quickly flips up so his feet are on the rail as well. With that, he crawls his way up, monkey like, the remaining fifty feet or so until he reaches the docking station at the top. The station itself is rather lackluster. There's a tiny hut with ashen wooden walls that have long since decayed and broken along with the rusty hinges on the doorway. The metal roof is full of holes and part of it's caved in... it's a terrible sight... that TOTALLY escapes Lighteria's view as the first minute or so at the top is spent whimpering and brushing the rust off his hands while blowing cool breaths on them.
"owowowowowowowowowowowow" He whispers to himself, choking back tears of pain. "Damn that hacking ****wit.... trapping me in the game... This really hurts..." He whimpers one last time before rising to his feet and heading for the station hut. He looks around for a moment, specifically at the rust colored door knob before he kicks the door to the hut in, the wooden frame easily snapping off its hinges and collapsing to the ground. Inside the twin blade spies a variety of repair tools, welding equipment, all out of fuel or too rusty to be of any use. Out of the corner of his eye, however, Lighteria spies an ash-covered pile of rope. He shakes part of it out, seeing it's not TOO frayed and nods to himself, rushing out of the hut and to the track rail. With a few quick and overly-careful ties, the twin blade secures the rope to the remainder of the tracks, rushing the rope over to the edge of the mountainside.
"Murasmune!!" Lighteria's squeaky voice calls down the mountainside. The heavy blade lifts his gaze towards the sky as the call echoes throughout the rifts and expanses of the giant mountainside. He squints his eyes just a little as he attempts to make out anything he can through the tick veil of dark mist encompassing the mountain's top. He frowns with both hope and a steeled will against the possibility of an impossible rescue effort. He opens his mouth to reply...
"OHMYGOD LIGHTERIA HELP US!!!SAVEUSSAVEUSSAVEUS." *Slap*
Murasmune clears his throat, rubbing his slightly stinging hand as Rondel groans, rubbing his cheek.
"Lighteria! Have you found anything?" The heavy blade calls up, his strong voice easily piercing the clouds. Without even a reply the ashen rope whips down through the dark mist and flops in front of the two. Murasmune smiles and grips it, giving it a few strong yanks to test. "That's-"
"WE'RESAVED!!YES!!MEFIRST!!!" Rondel yells, pushing Murasmune out of the way... a feat only accomplished by MASSIVE amounts of adrenaline... and climbing up the rope light a hyperactive monkey on crack. Murasmune watches the Long arm for a moment, sitting on the ground, rolls his eyes and sighs, gripping the rope again with his strong arms and hoisting himself up.
In the meantime, Lighteria sits at the side of the tracks, his gaze switching between the misty veil of clouds below and the rope tied to the tracks as it creaks and shakes with each new hand grip. The twin blade brushes his hair back slowly and sighs to himself, unsure if this dungeon was all that good an idea. Things were already getting pretty crappy and they hadn't even made it into the dungeon. He rolls his eyes as he thinks of Rondel panicking with the 'gate out' option available the entire time. ...His mind drifts through thought after thought, starting to space out as he usually does.
With him distracted by.. ...nothing... A familiar figure peers from behind the service shed. The red eyes glean with an evil and sadistic gaze. The long black hair shimmers in the red glow of the flaming sky. She grins, lifts her staff, and a tiny spark of flame descends from the sky, landing gently onto the rope. A few seconds pass before the corner of Lighteria's eye catches a flicker and a soft crackle seeps through his ear. he turns pale, gasps and dives at the flame, patting it out with the palm of his hand.
"****!! Stupid embers!! Snuff out!!" He winces in his mind, the heat of the fire hurting his palm. As he pats though, the flame refuses to extinguish. At the shed, the wave master grins, he index finger gently glowing red as it endlessly pours life into the flame. The battle is one Lighteria simply cannot win. With the flame endlessly burning the rope soon frays and burns away, heralding its failure with a loud snap. Both time and Lighteria's heart stop. There is a nigh instantaneous reaction with his hand. Every ounce of his high agility at work, his body flings forward and his hands whip as fast as they can, gripping the rope tight as he can. He gasps, the weight of Murasmune and Rondel easily dragging him towards the cliff. The ground scrapes his stomach harshly as his mind races, trying to come up with something... ANYthing to do. His body wiggle and twitches against the ground before his feet catch the old rail fastened between the elevator tracks. With a gasp he works his feet into easily the most awkward position they can go in until they're practically coiled around the tracks.
The twin blade winces painfully, the rope burning his hands and the weight practically pulling him into two. To make matters worse, the flames slowly spread across the rope, still as endless as ever. They slowly spread along his hands, his very skin beginning to fuel the flames. The twinblade screams in pain. Murasmune gasps and glares.
"Rondel! Climb faster! NOW."
The long arm doesn't really listen considering he's already scrambling up the rope as fast as he can. Murasmune growls, watching the long arm and picks up his pace as well, catching up to him easily with his smooth, calm technique.
In the meantime. The flames still don't die. Lighteria's shirt and arms burning by themselves, leaving him in constant pain. The wavemaster Raven grins, watching the player struggle and burn, every ounce of his strength used to hold on and keep the rope from falling.
"That's a good boy... you have yet to feel true agony." She chuckles to herself, opening her palm and creating a small polyhedron in her hand. "This will be very educational... to watch you burn and suffer."
...And boy was that ever what happened. Lighteria's face becomes covered in tears, the flames seeking to consume him as he hangs on with the last bit of strength he has... his consciousness slowly drifting away as he loses health and focus. He tries to scream in agony only to find his very voice stymied by the searing pain. His voice crackles and grip weakens. his eyes flutter as his conscious starts to give. His vision blots red with flames and pain. ...His grip gives... He passes out. The rope falls.
...
"Lighteria?"
A soft, strong voice calls past his ears. The twinblade opens his eyes slowly, seeing Murasmune and Rondel's face looking down to him, concerned.
"Are you alright? We healed your wounds... but you didn't wake up."
Lighteria pauses and takes in a deep breath of air, filling his body with cool air and getting oxygen back into his head. His hand lifts to his burnt cheek and he groans, sitting up.
"....You're both ok?" The twin blade says weakly. Rondel nods with a big smile.
"Well DUH. You got up the cliff and were STILL hanging on like hell." He pats his back hard, sending Lighteria to the floor. "You TOTALLY saved us man! You're like a total hero!"
Lighteria groans weakly, getting up off the floor. "Uhh...... thanks." He dusts himself off, getting to his feet slowly, sighing inwardly.
Murasmune smiles a bit. "Well I think things are back to normal now. I say we continue." He points towards the crater of the volcano. "The dungeon apparently IS the volcano. And there seems to be a lift down the sides of it.
Not another lift... After the last one we'd have to be... ....you know what? I don't even have to finish that thought.
Rondel nods. "Sweet! We'll have an easy ride down." He beams, heading towards the stairs leading to the top of the volcano. Murasmune nods in agreement, turning and following the long arm calmly. Lighteria watches them for just a moment and groans, catching up.
"You guys alright?!" He shouts down to the ledge, which is all of ten feet away, the shout was hardly necessary but hey, adrenaline and all. Rondel is the first to answer.
"OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!! We're stuck!! We're gonna die!! We're gonna-" *SLAP* Rondel is visibly shaken and blinks, rubbing his cheek, turning to Murasmune's steady face.
"Get a hold of yourself." He says calmly, but clearly, CLEARLY having enjoyed the slapping. "Panicking won't solve our situation." He turns towards Lighteria, frowning only a little for emphasis. "Can you climb up and see if there's another way up from here?"
"Sure thing..." Lighteria whimpers, his bare hands starting to scrape painfully on the rust. Grateful to be moving, he grips the upper part of the rail and quickly flips up so his feet are on the rail as well. With that, he crawls his way up, monkey like, the remaining fifty feet or so until he reaches the docking station at the top. The station itself is rather lackluster. There's a tiny hut with ashen wooden walls that have long since decayed and broken along with the rusty hinges on the doorway. The metal roof is full of holes and part of it's caved in... it's a terrible sight... that TOTALLY escapes Lighteria's view as the first minute or so at the top is spent whimpering and brushing the rust off his hands while blowing cool breaths on them.
"owowowowowowowowowowowow" He whispers to himself, choking back tears of pain. "Damn that hacking ****wit.... trapping me in the game... This really hurts..." He whimpers one last time before rising to his feet and heading for the station hut. He looks around for a moment, specifically at the rust colored door knob before he kicks the door to the hut in, the wooden frame easily snapping off its hinges and collapsing to the ground. Inside the twin blade spies a variety of repair tools, welding equipment, all out of fuel or too rusty to be of any use. Out of the corner of his eye, however, Lighteria spies an ash-covered pile of rope. He shakes part of it out, seeing it's not TOO frayed and nods to himself, rushing out of the hut and to the track rail. With a few quick and overly-careful ties, the twin blade secures the rope to the remainder of the tracks, rushing the rope over to the edge of the mountainside.
"Murasmune!!" Lighteria's squeaky voice calls down the mountainside. The heavy blade lifts his gaze towards the sky as the call echoes throughout the rifts and expanses of the giant mountainside. He squints his eyes just a little as he attempts to make out anything he can through the tick veil of dark mist encompassing the mountain's top. He frowns with both hope and a steeled will against the possibility of an impossible rescue effort. He opens his mouth to reply...
"OHMYGOD LIGHTERIA HELP US!!!SAVEUSSAVEUSSAVEUS." *Slap*
Murasmune clears his throat, rubbing his slightly stinging hand as Rondel groans, rubbing his cheek.
"Lighteria! Have you found anything?" The heavy blade calls up, his strong voice easily piercing the clouds. Without even a reply the ashen rope whips down through the dark mist and flops in front of the two. Murasmune smiles and grips it, giving it a few strong yanks to test. "That's-"
"WE'RESAVED!!YES!!MEFIRST!!!" Rondel yells, pushing Murasmune out of the way... a feat only accomplished by MASSIVE amounts of adrenaline... and climbing up the rope light a hyperactive monkey on crack. Murasmune watches the Long arm for a moment, sitting on the ground, rolls his eyes and sighs, gripping the rope again with his strong arms and hoisting himself up.
In the meantime, Lighteria sits at the side of the tracks, his gaze switching between the misty veil of clouds below and the rope tied to the tracks as it creaks and shakes with each new hand grip. The twin blade brushes his hair back slowly and sighs to himself, unsure if this dungeon was all that good an idea. Things were already getting pretty crappy and they hadn't even made it into the dungeon. He rolls his eyes as he thinks of Rondel panicking with the 'gate out' option available the entire time. ...His mind drifts through thought after thought, starting to space out as he usually does.
With him distracted by.. ...nothing... A familiar figure peers from behind the service shed. The red eyes glean with an evil and sadistic gaze. The long black hair shimmers in the red glow of the flaming sky. She grins, lifts her staff, and a tiny spark of flame descends from the sky, landing gently onto the rope. A few seconds pass before the corner of Lighteria's eye catches a flicker and a soft crackle seeps through his ear. he turns pale, gasps and dives at the flame, patting it out with the palm of his hand.
"****!! Stupid embers!! Snuff out!!" He winces in his mind, the heat of the fire hurting his palm. As he pats though, the flame refuses to extinguish. At the shed, the wave master grins, he index finger gently glowing red as it endlessly pours life into the flame. The battle is one Lighteria simply cannot win. With the flame endlessly burning the rope soon frays and burns away, heralding its failure with a loud snap. Both time and Lighteria's heart stop. There is a nigh instantaneous reaction with his hand. Every ounce of his high agility at work, his body flings forward and his hands whip as fast as they can, gripping the rope tight as he can. He gasps, the weight of Murasmune and Rondel easily dragging him towards the cliff. The ground scrapes his stomach harshly as his mind races, trying to come up with something... ANYthing to do. His body wiggle and twitches against the ground before his feet catch the old rail fastened between the elevator tracks. With a gasp he works his feet into easily the most awkward position they can go in until they're practically coiled around the tracks.
The twin blade winces painfully, the rope burning his hands and the weight practically pulling him into two. To make matters worse, the flames slowly spread across the rope, still as endless as ever. They slowly spread along his hands, his very skin beginning to fuel the flames. The twinblade screams in pain. Murasmune gasps and glares.
"Rondel! Climb faster! NOW."
The long arm doesn't really listen considering he's already scrambling up the rope as fast as he can. Murasmune growls, watching the long arm and picks up his pace as well, catching up to him easily with his smooth, calm technique.
In the meantime. The flames still don't die. Lighteria's shirt and arms burning by themselves, leaving him in constant pain. The wavemaster Raven grins, watching the player struggle and burn, every ounce of his strength used to hold on and keep the rope from falling.
"That's a good boy... you have yet to feel true agony." She chuckles to herself, opening her palm and creating a small polyhedron in her hand. "This will be very educational... to watch you burn and suffer."
...And boy was that ever what happened. Lighteria's face becomes covered in tears, the flames seeking to consume him as he hangs on with the last bit of strength he has... his consciousness slowly drifting away as he loses health and focus. He tries to scream in agony only to find his very voice stymied by the searing pain. His voice crackles and grip weakens. his eyes flutter as his conscious starts to give. His vision blots red with flames and pain. ...His grip gives... He passes out. The rope falls.
...
"Lighteria?"
A soft, strong voice calls past his ears. The twinblade opens his eyes slowly, seeing Murasmune and Rondel's face looking down to him, concerned.
"Are you alright? We healed your wounds... but you didn't wake up."
Lighteria pauses and takes in a deep breath of air, filling his body with cool air and getting oxygen back into his head. His hand lifts to his burnt cheek and he groans, sitting up.
"....You're both ok?" The twin blade says weakly. Rondel nods with a big smile.
"Well DUH. You got up the cliff and were STILL hanging on like hell." He pats his back hard, sending Lighteria to the floor. "You TOTALLY saved us man! You're like a total hero!"
Lighteria groans weakly, getting up off the floor. "Uhh...... thanks." He dusts himself off, getting to his feet slowly, sighing inwardly.
Murasmune smiles a bit. "Well I think things are back to normal now. I say we continue." He points towards the crater of the volcano. "The dungeon apparently IS the volcano. And there seems to be a lift down the sides of it.
Not another lift... After the last one we'd have to be... ....you know what? I don't even have to finish that thought.
Rondel nods. "Sweet! We'll have an easy ride down." He beams, heading towards the stairs leading to the top of the volcano. Murasmune nods in agreement, turning and following the long arm calmly. Lighteria watches them for just a moment and groans, catching up.
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"
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"
With the trio back together again and only the rest of the dungeon in front of them, they progress to the platform elevator in the crater. Murasmune takes the first steps onto the platform, walking somewhat near the edge for a better view, his arms crossed across his chest and his chin high. Rondel takes a place on the left side of the platform, peering down into the glowing crater with a look of both fascination and, to the dismay of the other two, inspiration. Lighteria, of course, heads to the exact center of the platform and curls up into a ball, hoping reaaaallly hard for guardrails to appear at the edges of the platform.
"...Lighteria, you're shaking." Murasmune speaks out softly, his head turned to him. The twin blade blinks, unfolds his arms and grimaces in embarrassment. He lets out what's SUPPOSED to be a reassuring smile, but looks more like the smile a guy would give after he's been shot in the chest five times.
"O-ooh.. d-don't worry about it!"
For goodness sakes, didn't they notice I'm afraid of heights on the way UP here?! I was shaking the whole time when Rondel wasn't blabbing about how pretty the landscape was... ..Oddly enough, my hatred of his poetry managed to surpass my fear of high places. I wonder if I can substitute that for actual courage? Why not? I can say.. "Yeah! This monster may be tough, but at least he doesn't come up with poor rhyme schemes every five minutes! ...Know what? THAT'S my rallying cry from now on. "It can't get much worse than that!!"
"....Do you always hold your fist in the air before going down an elevator?" Murasmune again inquires of the twin blade. Lighteria blinks, glances to his fist he'd raised during his impassioned and completely internal speech... and coughs, laying his fist in his palm.
"...uh. ....no." He eeks out with shuddering embarrassment in his voice.
"ALRIGHT!!" The long arm suddenly shouts, startling Lighteria. "Let's get this party started!" The two somewhat calmer members watch as Rondel tosses a nearby lever, the elevator grinding, groaning and finally descending. A quick jolt from the gears knocks the team a little off balance, the platform taking a wide spiral down the sides of the volcano with a surprisingly fast speed. Even Lighteria rises to his feet as the trio watches the rapidly passing cliff walls. Murasmune squints lightly and slowly brushes a billowing strand of hair behind his ear, as Lighteria fights a losing battle with his bangs.
"This is... faster than I thought it'd go." Murasmune says calmly, watching the platform creak and grind as it charges downward. Rondel scoffs openly at the heavy blade and smiles.
"Ah don't worry guys..."
Oh dear god... do NOT say it.
"I'm sure nothing will go wrong!"
*CREEEAAAAAAK*
'.........crap." Lighteria groans to himself.
In unison, the trio lowers their eyes to the platform and collectively gasp, seeing the platform slowly splitting into four identical squares. Rondel gasps in shock and falls back onto his butt onto the lower left square. Murasmune's teeth grit lightly as he takes a steady step towards the center of his own square in the upper left. Lighteria goes quickly pale and drops to all fours, gripping the platform as his lower right square separates from the others. The squares rattle and separate slowly from the others until it passes jumping distance. The three stare at each other for a second until a sudden wind kicks up from above. Lighteria notices first and looks up.
"You're... KIDDING!"
Rondel and Murasmune look up just in time for the shadow of a giant figure decending onto the remaining platform. With a loud crash, an Armor Shogun lands onto the elevator. The three watch in shock as the giant, seemingly possessed suit of armor expertly swings its blades around its body... all four of them. A loud, hollow groan comes from the head piece and it rears one of its giant scimitars down towards Lighteria. With a shriek, he ducks his head and the blade sails over his back as a second blade raises into the air to cleave down onto him. Murasmune gasps out and reaches out towards the twinblade, seeing him on the ground and vulnerable to the attack.
"Lighteria!!" He calls out, eyes widening in worry. Lighteria looks up with helpless eyes as the blade comes down...
*CLANK*
The sword swing is halted suddenly as the four platforms suddenly split further, the elevator guide rails traveling in seemingly random (though downward) directions. Lighteria gasps out of his fear and looks down to the net of rails, seeing them criss-crossing dozens of times randomly as they descend. His heart skips a beat and his grip tightens. He snags his blades from his belt and bites his lip, getting quickly to his feet and glaring at the monster as it to gets its footing. Murasmune lets out a serious glare towards the beast and lets his long blade from the sheath on his back. Rondel needs a few seconds before he manages to grab his spear as well. The Shogun roars as each of its four blades is stretched out, its razor sharp steel glistening red in the volcanic glow of the crater. ....With the four of them ready to fight, the platforms each click and double their speed sending them into the flurry of rails and cliffs.
The first attack comes when Murasmune's platform approaches a cross with the Shogun. In an instant, the monster takes a vertical swipe at his head and likewise the heavy blade makes a wide arc at his feet. The blade sails over his silver hair as his giant sword nicks the ankle guards of the armor. The monster swipes its second blade angrily but the platforms have long separated. Lighteria is up next. Seeing the paths cross ahead of him he quickly drops to his knees, the monster's attack sailing over his head as Lighteria's blade rockets upward, piercing its chest armor lightly. Rondel is up next and manages a fantastic stumble backwards as the monster's sword barely catches the tip of his nose.
"This isn't going to work!" Murasmune calls out as his platform races past Lighteria's. "We're barely scratching him and we're barely getting in a hit!"
Lighteria swallows, knowing he's right. The monster showed no signs of weakness and the second swipe at Rondel nearly cut his head off. They we're going to need a good plan. Murasmune's second pass with the monster is met with a loud ringing of steel as their blades collide mid-swing. Both of them are knocked off balance and Murasmune hits the platform on his side, being of much lighter weight. The shogun tries to take the chance to finish him off but is too far away for a second attack as the platform races down. Lighteria glares at the monster as it comes towards HIM now. His mind races, knowing he'd have to do something desperate. As the two platforms reach their crossing points, Lighteria yells out in what would pass for a battle shout if it was two octaves lower. The monster looks through the rising red embers to see the twin blade diving at his chest with a frontal kick.
"Take THIS you bastard!!" He screams, his foot contacting the metal with a loud, echoing clang. A bead of sweat falls from Lighteria's forehead as the monster... does nothing actually. The Armor Shogun is 8 times Lighteria's size after all and made of metal, it's about as effective as trying to knock down a concrete wall with a meat tenderizer. The twin blade lets out a whimper as his leg buckles painfully and he tumbles down the front of the giant's armor and off the platform. He turns pale as he feels the hot, freefall wind as his back. His eyes widen in fear as an image of him burning to death passes by his eyes....
*thunk*
"Ugh!" Lighteria grunts as his lands painfully on his back on his own platform, having passed underneath him at just the right time. Murasmune breathes a sigh of relief... a short lived one though as he is forced to parry an incoming blow.
"Damn!" The heavy blade growls as he kneels down for support. "This is impossible to fight like this..."
Lighteria grimaces at him, not used to hearing him be unconfident. As the platform rattles from the speed, he glances to Rondel, cowering in a ball, trying not to fall off or get cleaved. The twin blade pants in a panic, his mind racing again.
Got to be something... think think THINK!!!
Just transform. If you go fire element you can simply float to the bottom.
...W-What?! NO! What am I THINKING?! I can't let them fight alone! There must be something-
Lighteria's ears perk as he hears the clanking of metal at Rondel's platform. He blinks and looks over, seeing his spear rattling and scraping against the rust. A few moments pass and you can almost see the light bulb go off.
"Rondel!!" Lighteria yells. "Pass me your spear!" Rondel blinks out of his feared stupor and looks up to Lighteria as his platform races nearby. The long arm gasps and holds his spear up, letting the twin blade snag the shaft as he zips by. The light-footed player stumbles lightly as he grips the spear with both hands, riding down the elevator in almost midevil-knight style. He dodges an incoming sword swipe and cuts his cheek on the passing blade before turning to Murasmune.
"Murasmune!!" He yells, suddenly holding the spear by the blade end, the shaft stretching far beyond the platform. The heavy blade blinks to him and takes a second to figure it out. He nods assuredly and reaches his arms out, both of them getting a good, strong stance on the platform. The Shogun looks at them confused as it sails downward to the next intersection. It rears back its blade to strike them both down... until it sees the three platforms running close. Time slows down as the monster lets out a surprised grunt, Murasmune gripping the other end of the spear like a vice, the spear stretched between his and Lighteria's platforms. Before it can react, the elevator sails downward, hurtling the monster directly into the oncoming bar of steel. The resonance of the collision almost shatters the cliff walls as Lighteria and Murasmune are knocked onto their backs from the force. Similarly, the Armor Shogun is struck with too much force to maintain ITS balance. Almost as though you were watching the leaning tower of Pisa fall over, the monster slowly loses its battle against gravity, careening off the edge of his elevator and into a free fall to the crater. For a moment... nothing is said.
"..... ...YES!!" Rondel screams out in celebration. "Dude that was AWESOME!!!" Lighteria glances to Rondel, panting and trying to come down from the rush. Murasmune cracks a smile at Rondel's enthusiasm... honestly he's about as excited as the long arm himself. It takes a few seconds but Lighteria joins in the smiles and starts laughing weakly.
"Can't.. *pant* believe that worked." He says, smiling to Murasmune, who nods approvingly. The three of them laugh lightly for a few moments before an earth shattering slam breaks the jubilation. They look up with ANOTHER collective gasp as the shogun slowly rises to its feet, having been afforded Lighteria's same luck of falling to his own platform. Lighteria turns pale as it rears back all four of its blades, preparing to turn whoever passes by next into player pâté. With the group too far in shock to react, all that's left is for the elevator to do its thing.
....Which unfortunately... it does. With a loud crash the shogun's elevator slams into the end of the guide rail. The sudden halt sends the platform flipping like a skipping stone on crack towards the wall. The armor shogun, however is quickly dumped into gravity's cruel grasp, careening down into the crater and splashing into the molten lava pit below. Lighteria turns pale and gasps, his head turning towards his own railing. In an instant, the twin blade is on his feet and makes a desperate leap... just as the platform crashes into its own end, the metal and steel flipping wildly until it crashes into the cliffside, scraping down the wall and into the lava. The twin blade doesn't even breathe until he lands basically in Rondel's lap, the two of them crashing into a knot from the cramped quarters.
"Wh-what's happening?!" Rondel screams out, confused and now kind of uncomfortable. Murasmune's voice sounds out in a gasp and suddenly the heavy blade makes a flying leap onto the two others, his own platform crashing into the lava itself. The landing of course, is horrible as the three of them crawl over each other to try and stand up. ...but the space is too small... and the situation too hectic. Not even Murasmune can get proper footing before the last platform hits its end, sending the three of them flying to the rocky cliffsides, the platform joining the others in the pit of magma....
"...Lighteria, you're shaking." Murasmune speaks out softly, his head turned to him. The twin blade blinks, unfolds his arms and grimaces in embarrassment. He lets out what's SUPPOSED to be a reassuring smile, but looks more like the smile a guy would give after he's been shot in the chest five times.
"O-ooh.. d-don't worry about it!"
For goodness sakes, didn't they notice I'm afraid of heights on the way UP here?! I was shaking the whole time when Rondel wasn't blabbing about how pretty the landscape was... ..Oddly enough, my hatred of his poetry managed to surpass my fear of high places. I wonder if I can substitute that for actual courage? Why not? I can say.. "Yeah! This monster may be tough, but at least he doesn't come up with poor rhyme schemes every five minutes! ...Know what? THAT'S my rallying cry from now on. "It can't get much worse than that!!"
"....Do you always hold your fist in the air before going down an elevator?" Murasmune again inquires of the twin blade. Lighteria blinks, glances to his fist he'd raised during his impassioned and completely internal speech... and coughs, laying his fist in his palm.
"...uh. ....no." He eeks out with shuddering embarrassment in his voice.
"ALRIGHT!!" The long arm suddenly shouts, startling Lighteria. "Let's get this party started!" The two somewhat calmer members watch as Rondel tosses a nearby lever, the elevator grinding, groaning and finally descending. A quick jolt from the gears knocks the team a little off balance, the platform taking a wide spiral down the sides of the volcano with a surprisingly fast speed. Even Lighteria rises to his feet as the trio watches the rapidly passing cliff walls. Murasmune squints lightly and slowly brushes a billowing strand of hair behind his ear, as Lighteria fights a losing battle with his bangs.
"This is... faster than I thought it'd go." Murasmune says calmly, watching the platform creak and grind as it charges downward. Rondel scoffs openly at the heavy blade and smiles.
"Ah don't worry guys..."
Oh dear god... do NOT say it.
"I'm sure nothing will go wrong!"
*CREEEAAAAAAK*
'.........crap." Lighteria groans to himself.
In unison, the trio lowers their eyes to the platform and collectively gasp, seeing the platform slowly splitting into four identical squares. Rondel gasps in shock and falls back onto his butt onto the lower left square. Murasmune's teeth grit lightly as he takes a steady step towards the center of his own square in the upper left. Lighteria goes quickly pale and drops to all fours, gripping the platform as his lower right square separates from the others. The squares rattle and separate slowly from the others until it passes jumping distance. The three stare at each other for a second until a sudden wind kicks up from above. Lighteria notices first and looks up.
"You're... KIDDING!"
Rondel and Murasmune look up just in time for the shadow of a giant figure decending onto the remaining platform. With a loud crash, an Armor Shogun lands onto the elevator. The three watch in shock as the giant, seemingly possessed suit of armor expertly swings its blades around its body... all four of them. A loud, hollow groan comes from the head piece and it rears one of its giant scimitars down towards Lighteria. With a shriek, he ducks his head and the blade sails over his back as a second blade raises into the air to cleave down onto him. Murasmune gasps out and reaches out towards the twinblade, seeing him on the ground and vulnerable to the attack.
"Lighteria!!" He calls out, eyes widening in worry. Lighteria looks up with helpless eyes as the blade comes down...
*CLANK*
The sword swing is halted suddenly as the four platforms suddenly split further, the elevator guide rails traveling in seemingly random (though downward) directions. Lighteria gasps out of his fear and looks down to the net of rails, seeing them criss-crossing dozens of times randomly as they descend. His heart skips a beat and his grip tightens. He snags his blades from his belt and bites his lip, getting quickly to his feet and glaring at the monster as it to gets its footing. Murasmune lets out a serious glare towards the beast and lets his long blade from the sheath on his back. Rondel needs a few seconds before he manages to grab his spear as well. The Shogun roars as each of its four blades is stretched out, its razor sharp steel glistening red in the volcanic glow of the crater. ....With the four of them ready to fight, the platforms each click and double their speed sending them into the flurry of rails and cliffs.
The first attack comes when Murasmune's platform approaches a cross with the Shogun. In an instant, the monster takes a vertical swipe at his head and likewise the heavy blade makes a wide arc at his feet. The blade sails over his silver hair as his giant sword nicks the ankle guards of the armor. The monster swipes its second blade angrily but the platforms have long separated. Lighteria is up next. Seeing the paths cross ahead of him he quickly drops to his knees, the monster's attack sailing over his head as Lighteria's blade rockets upward, piercing its chest armor lightly. Rondel is up next and manages a fantastic stumble backwards as the monster's sword barely catches the tip of his nose.
"This isn't going to work!" Murasmune calls out as his platform races past Lighteria's. "We're barely scratching him and we're barely getting in a hit!"
Lighteria swallows, knowing he's right. The monster showed no signs of weakness and the second swipe at Rondel nearly cut his head off. They we're going to need a good plan. Murasmune's second pass with the monster is met with a loud ringing of steel as their blades collide mid-swing. Both of them are knocked off balance and Murasmune hits the platform on his side, being of much lighter weight. The shogun tries to take the chance to finish him off but is too far away for a second attack as the platform races down. Lighteria glares at the monster as it comes towards HIM now. His mind races, knowing he'd have to do something desperate. As the two platforms reach their crossing points, Lighteria yells out in what would pass for a battle shout if it was two octaves lower. The monster looks through the rising red embers to see the twin blade diving at his chest with a frontal kick.
"Take THIS you bastard!!" He screams, his foot contacting the metal with a loud, echoing clang. A bead of sweat falls from Lighteria's forehead as the monster... does nothing actually. The Armor Shogun is 8 times Lighteria's size after all and made of metal, it's about as effective as trying to knock down a concrete wall with a meat tenderizer. The twin blade lets out a whimper as his leg buckles painfully and he tumbles down the front of the giant's armor and off the platform. He turns pale as he feels the hot, freefall wind as his back. His eyes widen in fear as an image of him burning to death passes by his eyes....
*thunk*
"Ugh!" Lighteria grunts as his lands painfully on his back on his own platform, having passed underneath him at just the right time. Murasmune breathes a sigh of relief... a short lived one though as he is forced to parry an incoming blow.
"Damn!" The heavy blade growls as he kneels down for support. "This is impossible to fight like this..."
Lighteria grimaces at him, not used to hearing him be unconfident. As the platform rattles from the speed, he glances to Rondel, cowering in a ball, trying not to fall off or get cleaved. The twin blade pants in a panic, his mind racing again.
Got to be something... think think THINK!!!
Just transform. If you go fire element you can simply float to the bottom.
...W-What?! NO! What am I THINKING?! I can't let them fight alone! There must be something-
Lighteria's ears perk as he hears the clanking of metal at Rondel's platform. He blinks and looks over, seeing his spear rattling and scraping against the rust. A few moments pass and you can almost see the light bulb go off.
"Rondel!!" Lighteria yells. "Pass me your spear!" Rondel blinks out of his feared stupor and looks up to Lighteria as his platform races nearby. The long arm gasps and holds his spear up, letting the twin blade snag the shaft as he zips by. The light-footed player stumbles lightly as he grips the spear with both hands, riding down the elevator in almost midevil-knight style. He dodges an incoming sword swipe and cuts his cheek on the passing blade before turning to Murasmune.
"Murasmune!!" He yells, suddenly holding the spear by the blade end, the shaft stretching far beyond the platform. The heavy blade blinks to him and takes a second to figure it out. He nods assuredly and reaches his arms out, both of them getting a good, strong stance on the platform. The Shogun looks at them confused as it sails downward to the next intersection. It rears back its blade to strike them both down... until it sees the three platforms running close. Time slows down as the monster lets out a surprised grunt, Murasmune gripping the other end of the spear like a vice, the spear stretched between his and Lighteria's platforms. Before it can react, the elevator sails downward, hurtling the monster directly into the oncoming bar of steel. The resonance of the collision almost shatters the cliff walls as Lighteria and Murasmune are knocked onto their backs from the force. Similarly, the Armor Shogun is struck with too much force to maintain ITS balance. Almost as though you were watching the leaning tower of Pisa fall over, the monster slowly loses its battle against gravity, careening off the edge of his elevator and into a free fall to the crater. For a moment... nothing is said.
"..... ...YES!!" Rondel screams out in celebration. "Dude that was AWESOME!!!" Lighteria glances to Rondel, panting and trying to come down from the rush. Murasmune cracks a smile at Rondel's enthusiasm... honestly he's about as excited as the long arm himself. It takes a few seconds but Lighteria joins in the smiles and starts laughing weakly.
"Can't.. *pant* believe that worked." He says, smiling to Murasmune, who nods approvingly. The three of them laugh lightly for a few moments before an earth shattering slam breaks the jubilation. They look up with ANOTHER collective gasp as the shogun slowly rises to its feet, having been afforded Lighteria's same luck of falling to his own platform. Lighteria turns pale as it rears back all four of its blades, preparing to turn whoever passes by next into player pâté. With the group too far in shock to react, all that's left is for the elevator to do its thing.
....Which unfortunately... it does. With a loud crash the shogun's elevator slams into the end of the guide rail. The sudden halt sends the platform flipping like a skipping stone on crack towards the wall. The armor shogun, however is quickly dumped into gravity's cruel grasp, careening down into the crater and splashing into the molten lava pit below. Lighteria turns pale and gasps, his head turning towards his own railing. In an instant, the twin blade is on his feet and makes a desperate leap... just as the platform crashes into its own end, the metal and steel flipping wildly until it crashes into the cliffside, scraping down the wall and into the lava. The twin blade doesn't even breathe until he lands basically in Rondel's lap, the two of them crashing into a knot from the cramped quarters.
"Wh-what's happening?!" Rondel screams out, confused and now kind of uncomfortable. Murasmune's voice sounds out in a gasp and suddenly the heavy blade makes a flying leap onto the two others, his own platform crashing into the lava itself. The landing of course, is horrible as the three of them crawl over each other to try and stand up. ...but the space is too small... and the situation too hectic. Not even Murasmune can get proper footing before the last platform hits its end, sending the three of them flying to the rocky cliffsides, the platform joining the others in the pit of magma....
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"
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"
You damnable IDIOT. All that talk about having the most control and you let THIS happen. If you had asserted control just a LITTLE he would have burst into a fire aura.
Hey. SHUT THE HELL UP. I didn't see YOU pulling and fu*king tricks to save us!
Will you two please stop bickering? There are more pressing issues than blame.
He's right... Whether or not this was avoidable is moot... For now, we deal with the consequences...
Interesting way of thanking me for saving you. ...Worried I may be closer to the boy's heart than the rest?
Please... no more antagonism... He wakes.
.....Ugh... My head... I can barely think straight...
Lighteria's eye slowly open into a labored squint. A haze of red clouds his vision as his body begins to restore mobility. With a painful groan, he begins to sit up, lifting his cheek out of the pool of blood that had formed on the ground. Almost immediately he trembles, his eyes and brain refusing to focus and his senses clouded with a sense of dizziness. his arm trembles under the weight of his won body, barely able to even sit up.
D-damn it... I have to focus...
Gritting his teeth through the pain, he reaches into his satchel and removes his Newt Necklace. With some effort he slips it around his neck and groans.
"La Repth." He chokes out, a mouthful of blood escaping from his lips when he speaks. After a brief round of lights, the trio is encased in healing waves. There's a collective groan among the group as wounds close up and pain subsides. Lighteria shivers, still a bit weak, and takes a look at where they landed. His vision traces up the rock wall they crashed into, three... almost comical splats of blood about thirty feet above them with trails leading to their bodies... A few pools of blood from the slightly more grievous wounds and...
'Holy crap! The Gott Statue!!" Rondel yells out basically into the twin blade's side, making Lighteria's ear ache. Murasmune lets his eyes open slowly when Rondel speaks. He lifts his sleeve and wipes a trail of blood from his eye, calmly rising to his feet and healing himself as well.
"Look closer Rondel." He speaks slowly. "The room is very large in comparison to previous ones... and the door is small as well." There's a beat where they look at each other. "...And for goodness sakes, clean up your blood."
Rondel looks at himself and blinks, getting to his feet and wiping his clothes down. Lighteria cracks just a tiny, tiny smile, knowing his one repth spell nearly healed the low-level long arm to full. That in mind, the twin blade also gets to his feet and cleans up, healing and wiping blood of his hands and the like. As the three go about recovering, Lighteria's mind, as it tends to... a lot, wanders.
Well that was kinda crazy... I thought we were goners there. ...Actually I thought we were goners when we slammed into that wall. That freaking HURT. I was totally, totally positive we'd never survive the fall down from that height. GAME OVER man... game over. ... ....Wow that's a scary thought. I didn't want to think of what would happen at that point... I just... I just wanted to save us somehow. Guess luck took care of that.
...The Gott! Dang, I nearly forgot...
Lighteria glances over to the doorway, embedded in the cliff wall.
I'm not complaining of course... I just thought there'd be more too it than two elevator rides... no matter how deadly they were. Then again, it's not exactly some epic dungeon where everything's a billion levels high... Reaching the end after all that is perfectly reasonable I think.
"Lighteria." Murasmune says, causing the twin blade to jump a little out of surprise. "Are you coming?" The twin blade blinks a few times seeing the heavy blade with Rondel, standing at the doorway to the Gott room. Lighteria blushes slightly and coughs, scurrying towards them.
"Beautiful..."
As seems to be his style, Murasmune walks slowly and in the lead towards the chest. Rondel follows behind with a giant smile, looking excitedly at the treasure chest they've claimed. Lighteria is, shall we say, slightly less focused. The twin blade spends the walk time looking around the room. But not without reason of course, the room itself definitely IS bigger than normal as Murasmune pointed out... but the timid player isn't struck by the size of the room as much as he is the design... The walls have runes on them... just like any other dungeon of course, but the runes weren't fire. Fire type fields ALWAYS had Vak runes in the dungeon... but these were Ani runes. Plus, the Gott statue was of the Ani summon spell... another inconstancy. It didn't seem cohesive to the dungeon as a whole. The more his thinks on this, the more Lighteria worries they're in some sort of trap... so much so that when Murasmune moves to open the chest he's pale as a sheet, his voice so far down his throat he can't even shout to warn them.
"D.. Don't open it!!" He suddenly shrieks out, Rondel and Murasmune glancing back at him in confusion. ...The chest is already open of course; Murasmune's arms are full of treasure.
"Uh... you ok there buddy?" Rondel says, taking a trinket from Murasmune's arms. "We got the treasure man, no need to freak." Lighteria blushes again, looking at the two of them. He glances to the treasure... then to the heavy blade's face. ...Face, treasure, face...
"Um... .... ..never mind!" He says meekly, a smile spreading across his face. There's a pause before Murasmune smiles calmly and tosses something shiny to the twin blade's chest. Lighteria panics and fumbles the bauble before catching it and slipping it into his pack with a sigh of relief.
"Well then." Murasmune says calmly, with a smile. "Lighteria, I thank you for joining me in this dungeon. I can say with all honesty that this was one of my... funnest trips yet, and there was no way I could have done it alone." Lighteria looks to his face and blushes as the heavy blade continues. "You're much braver than you give yourself credit for Lighteria, you should embrace it." He nods to himself. "In the mean time, I think we'll be doing more dungeons together in the future."
Lighteria lets out a smile through his reddened face. As embarrassing as it was to have that said to him, he couldn't help but feel a little proud and.. oddly giddy. The twin blade lets out a nervous laugh and nods.
"Thanks Murasmune." He says shakily, turning to the door. "Let's get back to town, I need a break." Murasmune laughs and starts heading for the door with the twin blade as Rondel gets a pouty lip.
"I was here too ya know..." He says quietly, following behind them.
As they near the door, Lighteria looks forward from smiling at Rondel to see a shadowed figure blocking the doorway. The three of them stop in their tracks when it appears, each of them looking confused at the sight.
"Not bad... not bad..." The figure speaks in a low, dark but girly tone. Lighteria blinks, recognizing the voice almost instantly.
"Raven!?" His face lights, smiling and walking up towards her. "How did you get here? Come to cheer me on again?" He stops a few feet from her to let her speak, but instead of words she glares and spits at his feet. Lighteria gasps and steps backwards in shock as she steps forward, her pale face and dark hair finally able to be seen from outside the shadows. ...Slightly more notably though, is the bloodied and beaten body of a twin blade being held in her left hand. The scene sinks in to Murasmune's head first.
"Lighteria," He says, furrowing his brow as he stares at the wavemistress. "You know this girl?"
"I.. Yeah!" He stutters, shock spreading across his face. "But I-"
"SHUT UP." She suddenly yells, silencing the two of them and letting her step forward again, ShadowStreak's body dragging across the floor with a scrape. "Do you people even listen to yourselves? What a pathetic sack of idiots."
"Hey!" Rondel chimes in, clearly offended. Raven ignores him.
"And this one..." She glances to the body in her hand. "Is the most pathetic of all." With a quick swing of her arm, she tosses ShadowStreak's body at Lighteria's feet. The timid twin blade gasps and kneels down, lifting the battered player's head from the ground.
"Shadow!! Are you ok!?" He gasps out.
"I-idiot... do I look.. ok?" ShadowStreak chokes out venomously, secretly blaming Lighteria for all this. "W-watch it... she's.. a .. tough *****." He growls, clearly fuming over the fact that he lost a fight. Confident that if he still can insult he'll be ok for now, Lighteria sets him carefully to the side near Rondel, who, after a few seconds of obliviousness, starts casting Repth on him.
"What's going on Raven?" Lighteria says suddenly, getting back up and facing the girl, his voice broken from the sting of betrayal. "Why are you doing this?" Raven's snarl suddenly turns into a dark grin. She grips her staff and barely represses a laugh.
"Why am I doing this? Come on Lighteria. You don't think this is called the Den of Sorrow for nothing, do you?" She steps forward again, gripping her staff tighter. Lighteria swallows, stepping backwards, his heart starting to skip out of fear.
"W-what do you mean?" He eeks out. Raven grins and waves her staff in front of them, a dark aura pulsating from the orb embedded in the head of the staff.
"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up...?" She cackles and the staff pulses black, a dark pulse suddenly bursting from her, engulfing the room on a viel of pure black, shutting out all light, natural or otherwise. The door to the room slams shut and the scraping of metal and frightens screams are all that's heard from the room...
...Elsewhere.
"..Hm? Hey check this out."
"What is it?"
"Looks like we've got some hacking activity on Mac Anu Server."
"...Well what are you waiting for? Lock the field down and catch them."
"Whoa, chill. This isn't a radar. They're covering their tracks. I need a minute to get the field."
"Well hurry up with it. We're getting enough flak from the player base as it is; we don't need another dozen letters complaining about hackers."
Hey. SHUT THE HELL UP. I didn't see YOU pulling and fu*king tricks to save us!
Will you two please stop bickering? There are more pressing issues than blame.
He's right... Whether or not this was avoidable is moot... For now, we deal with the consequences...
Interesting way of thanking me for saving you. ...Worried I may be closer to the boy's heart than the rest?
Please... no more antagonism... He wakes.
.....Ugh... My head... I can barely think straight...
Lighteria's eye slowly open into a labored squint. A haze of red clouds his vision as his body begins to restore mobility. With a painful groan, he begins to sit up, lifting his cheek out of the pool of blood that had formed on the ground. Almost immediately he trembles, his eyes and brain refusing to focus and his senses clouded with a sense of dizziness. his arm trembles under the weight of his won body, barely able to even sit up.
D-damn it... I have to focus...
Gritting his teeth through the pain, he reaches into his satchel and removes his Newt Necklace. With some effort he slips it around his neck and groans.
"La Repth." He chokes out, a mouthful of blood escaping from his lips when he speaks. After a brief round of lights, the trio is encased in healing waves. There's a collective groan among the group as wounds close up and pain subsides. Lighteria shivers, still a bit weak, and takes a look at where they landed. His vision traces up the rock wall they crashed into, three... almost comical splats of blood about thirty feet above them with trails leading to their bodies... A few pools of blood from the slightly more grievous wounds and...
'Holy crap! The Gott Statue!!" Rondel yells out basically into the twin blade's side, making Lighteria's ear ache. Murasmune lets his eyes open slowly when Rondel speaks. He lifts his sleeve and wipes a trail of blood from his eye, calmly rising to his feet and healing himself as well.
"Look closer Rondel." He speaks slowly. "The room is very large in comparison to previous ones... and the door is small as well." There's a beat where they look at each other. "...And for goodness sakes, clean up your blood."
Rondel looks at himself and blinks, getting to his feet and wiping his clothes down. Lighteria cracks just a tiny, tiny smile, knowing his one repth spell nearly healed the low-level long arm to full. That in mind, the twin blade also gets to his feet and cleans up, healing and wiping blood of his hands and the like. As the three go about recovering, Lighteria's mind, as it tends to... a lot, wanders.
Well that was kinda crazy... I thought we were goners there. ...Actually I thought we were goners when we slammed into that wall. That freaking HURT. I was totally, totally positive we'd never survive the fall down from that height. GAME OVER man... game over. ... ....Wow that's a scary thought. I didn't want to think of what would happen at that point... I just... I just wanted to save us somehow. Guess luck took care of that.
...The Gott! Dang, I nearly forgot...
Lighteria glances over to the doorway, embedded in the cliff wall.
I'm not complaining of course... I just thought there'd be more too it than two elevator rides... no matter how deadly they were. Then again, it's not exactly some epic dungeon where everything's a billion levels high... Reaching the end after all that is perfectly reasonable I think.
"Lighteria." Murasmune says, causing the twin blade to jump a little out of surprise. "Are you coming?" The twin blade blinks a few times seeing the heavy blade with Rondel, standing at the doorway to the Gott room. Lighteria blushes slightly and coughs, scurrying towards them.
"Beautiful..."
As seems to be his style, Murasmune walks slowly and in the lead towards the chest. Rondel follows behind with a giant smile, looking excitedly at the treasure chest they've claimed. Lighteria is, shall we say, slightly less focused. The twin blade spends the walk time looking around the room. But not without reason of course, the room itself definitely IS bigger than normal as Murasmune pointed out... but the timid player isn't struck by the size of the room as much as he is the design... The walls have runes on them... just like any other dungeon of course, but the runes weren't fire. Fire type fields ALWAYS had Vak runes in the dungeon... but these were Ani runes. Plus, the Gott statue was of the Ani summon spell... another inconstancy. It didn't seem cohesive to the dungeon as a whole. The more his thinks on this, the more Lighteria worries they're in some sort of trap... so much so that when Murasmune moves to open the chest he's pale as a sheet, his voice so far down his throat he can't even shout to warn them.
"D.. Don't open it!!" He suddenly shrieks out, Rondel and Murasmune glancing back at him in confusion. ...The chest is already open of course; Murasmune's arms are full of treasure.
"Uh... you ok there buddy?" Rondel says, taking a trinket from Murasmune's arms. "We got the treasure man, no need to freak." Lighteria blushes again, looking at the two of them. He glances to the treasure... then to the heavy blade's face. ...Face, treasure, face...
"Um... .... ..never mind!" He says meekly, a smile spreading across his face. There's a pause before Murasmune smiles calmly and tosses something shiny to the twin blade's chest. Lighteria panics and fumbles the bauble before catching it and slipping it into his pack with a sigh of relief.
"Well then." Murasmune says calmly, with a smile. "Lighteria, I thank you for joining me in this dungeon. I can say with all honesty that this was one of my... funnest trips yet, and there was no way I could have done it alone." Lighteria looks to his face and blushes as the heavy blade continues. "You're much braver than you give yourself credit for Lighteria, you should embrace it." He nods to himself. "In the mean time, I think we'll be doing more dungeons together in the future."
Lighteria lets out a smile through his reddened face. As embarrassing as it was to have that said to him, he couldn't help but feel a little proud and.. oddly giddy. The twin blade lets out a nervous laugh and nods.
"Thanks Murasmune." He says shakily, turning to the door. "Let's get back to town, I need a break." Murasmune laughs and starts heading for the door with the twin blade as Rondel gets a pouty lip.
"I was here too ya know..." He says quietly, following behind them.
As they near the door, Lighteria looks forward from smiling at Rondel to see a shadowed figure blocking the doorway. The three of them stop in their tracks when it appears, each of them looking confused at the sight.
"Not bad... not bad..." The figure speaks in a low, dark but girly tone. Lighteria blinks, recognizing the voice almost instantly.
"Raven!?" His face lights, smiling and walking up towards her. "How did you get here? Come to cheer me on again?" He stops a few feet from her to let her speak, but instead of words she glares and spits at his feet. Lighteria gasps and steps backwards in shock as she steps forward, her pale face and dark hair finally able to be seen from outside the shadows. ...Slightly more notably though, is the bloodied and beaten body of a twin blade being held in her left hand. The scene sinks in to Murasmune's head first.
"Lighteria," He says, furrowing his brow as he stares at the wavemistress. "You know this girl?"
"I.. Yeah!" He stutters, shock spreading across his face. "But I-"
"SHUT UP." She suddenly yells, silencing the two of them and letting her step forward again, ShadowStreak's body dragging across the floor with a scrape. "Do you people even listen to yourselves? What a pathetic sack of idiots."
"Hey!" Rondel chimes in, clearly offended. Raven ignores him.
"And this one..." She glances to the body in her hand. "Is the most pathetic of all." With a quick swing of her arm, she tosses ShadowStreak's body at Lighteria's feet. The timid twin blade gasps and kneels down, lifting the battered player's head from the ground.
"Shadow!! Are you ok!?" He gasps out.
"I-idiot... do I look.. ok?" ShadowStreak chokes out venomously, secretly blaming Lighteria for all this. "W-watch it... she's.. a .. tough *****." He growls, clearly fuming over the fact that he lost a fight. Confident that if he still can insult he'll be ok for now, Lighteria sets him carefully to the side near Rondel, who, after a few seconds of obliviousness, starts casting Repth on him.
"What's going on Raven?" Lighteria says suddenly, getting back up and facing the girl, his voice broken from the sting of betrayal. "Why are you doing this?" Raven's snarl suddenly turns into a dark grin. She grips her staff and barely represses a laugh.
"Why am I doing this? Come on Lighteria. You don't think this is called the Den of Sorrow for nothing, do you?" She steps forward again, gripping her staff tighter. Lighteria swallows, stepping backwards, his heart starting to skip out of fear.
"W-what do you mean?" He eeks out. Raven grins and waves her staff in front of them, a dark aura pulsating from the orb embedded in the head of the staff.
"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up...?" She cackles and the staff pulses black, a dark pulse suddenly bursting from her, engulfing the room on a viel of pure black, shutting out all light, natural or otherwise. The door to the room slams shut and the scraping of metal and frightens screams are all that's heard from the room...
...Elsewhere.
"..Hm? Hey check this out."
"What is it?"
"Looks like we've got some hacking activity on Mac Anu Server."
"...Well what are you waiting for? Lock the field down and catch them."
"Whoa, chill. This isn't a radar. They're covering their tracks. I need a minute to get the field."
"Well hurry up with it. We're getting enough flak from the player base as it is; we don't need another dozen letters complaining about hackers."
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"
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"
Lighteria's eyes blink lightly a few times. The sudden surge of darkness had completely knocked the group out in addition to making it freaking impossible to see. For some reason though, the stun is starting to wear off for the timid twinblade and some feeling is coming back into his virtual body. His eyes begin to refocus and he lifts his head lightly to get a better view of the room. The first thing he notices is the veil of darkness no longer being present. Sure the room is naturally dark with the door being closed, but it isn't an unnatural darkness. ...Well... as unnatural as you can get in video game terms anyway. The light is rather low though, being provided only by the faint glow of the Ani runes on the walls. The Gott statue itself, now dark and lifeless, provides no glow whatsoever anymore... just the faint sound of cracking and brittle stones falling into the pit. Amidst the glows, Lighteria can just make out the outline of a robed figure holding a staff. A momentary glimmer of purple on the long shimmering hair reveals it to be Raven (duh), standing only a few feet away from him staring up into his eyes. ...Come to think of it, everything seems... SHORTER for some reason.
"..Raven...?" Lighteria mumbles, still trying to get his voice to function properly. With their eyes still locked on each other, Lighteria instinctively starts to walk towards her. Much to his surprise, however, his movement is quickly restricted to nothing and the rattle of a chain echoes lightly through the room. The twin blade's body twitches suddenly as feeling rushes back into his veins, a deep, life giving breath gasping into his system. His eyes widen as he looks at his own body, his legs, arms, torso... every part of his body constricted by tight chains suspended from the ceiling. He gasps lightly at the sight and looks around, seeing Shadow, Murasmune and Rondel all suspended in the air as well, trapped in a veritable web of chains stretching from seemingly every part of the walls and ceiling. His chains rattle as he attempts to stretch his hand out towards one of them. "What... is this?!"
"Sorrow and Agony..." Raven says slowly, taking a few steps towards him. Her tone almost forces Lighteria's attention so their eyes become locked again. "That's why you were brought here." She smirks darkly, looking towards Murasmune. "Your team is awake you know... but my spell is keeping them far, far to drained of energy to move." Lighteria's eyes soften in concern and look to the heavy blade's eyes. Sure enough, Murasmune is staring weakly at Lighteria... though a burning strength and anger can be seen through the weakness.
"Murasmune-!" Lighteria gasps out. The heavy blade's body shudders, trying to muster the energy to speak, but all he can do is open his mouth and groan. ...a BRAVE groan though. Raven rolls her eyes and switches her staff to her left hand, freeing up her right hand to slap Lighteria on the cheek. *SMACK* like that.
"Please. No soap opera moments. They make me sick." Raven grunts, switching her staff hand again. Lighteria shakes his head back and forth to get the daze from the slap out of his mind.
"F-fine.. But I don't get it. What are you doing? ...HOW are you doing this?"
"I'm hacking, you idiot." She rolls her eyes and lets out a frustrated sigh. "Now clam up and react in that ridiculously emotional way you do so I can get this done quicker." Lighteria blinks at her, completely confused as she lifts a hand to his chest.
"My.. wh-what? What are you- GAH!!" A loud crack sounds through the room, like a circuit breaker just exploded as Raven's hand starts glowing a dark purple hue, streaks of dark energy occasionally flashing from between her fingers and the bottom of her hand. Similarly, the same streaks of energy, streak throughout Lighteria's body, the energy causing him to scream out in pain, eyes streaming tears from the raw pain the bolts inflict. Rondel groans weakly, wishing he could cover his ears as the bolt lasts a good two minutes, Lighteria's voice cracking and choking over and over. The room flashes with the energy, lighting up ShadowStreak's face as he hangs limply, not wanting to listen or hear it.
"....There." Raven says slowly, her palm sliding down from his chest and back to her side. Lighteria's body still twitches from the shocks for a few seconds after she stops, the chains rattling and echoing. After that, the twin blade's head drops like stone, his body hanging like a rag doll from the chains, dark smoke wafting lightly from his body like a human barbeque, only with less A1 sauce and more bloody pain. A few seconds of dead silence pass as everyone just... waits for a reaction. ...it comes in the form of a twitch and Lighteria's head lifting again. Raven blinks and meets the twin blade's blank-stare eyes, a little trickle of blood falling from his mouth. Raven lifts an eyebrow slowly, seeing a weak smile forming on his face.
"c-..come on..." He chokes out, looking to her face almost as though he were looking to an old friend. "y-you don't... want.. to do this..." Raven grimmaces suddenly, her head arcing back a little, like a cat smelling bad food. Her eye twitches with unbridled anger and she grasps the top of his head.
"You little bastard-! Get angry!! Beg or something!" Her hand trembles. "Don't try to make friends!!" Murasmune gasps inwardly and shuts his eyes, a loud crack echoing through the room again as dark bolts surge through the top of the twin blades head and down into his body. Lighteria's voice chokes on his own screams again and his body twitches involuntarily.
My HP should have hit 0 a while ago... Is she keeping me alive-? Or does this only cause pain? ...I can't even split into an aura like this... she's definately messing with my character...
Rondel watches with horror, the shocks coursing through his body for a good five minutes this time. Raven's expression getting more unreadable for every second she tortures the poor, abused player. Lighteria's clothing starts to rip from the energy passing through him. His shirt tears into scraps, hit boots start tearing downward and his pants rip at the ankles up to the knees. It may be prudence on Raven's part that she stops before he's completely burnt and scrapped. Again, his head falls forward when it's let go and there's silence as every watches for his reaction. ...Painful, painful silence...
"...Finally." Raven mutters, watching a few tears fall from his eyes onto the floor below. She leans in and takes his chin gently, lifting it up slowly so their eyes meet. "Despair works just as... ...well.." Her eye twitches again, Lighteria still smiling.
"Y..you.. we.r.e... kind.... I.. wa..s.. to..uched..." He mumbles, barely coherent... referencing the first time they'd met. Raven grits her teeth and growls.
"Shut up. Now." She snarls, almost stepping backwards.
"You... d-. don't.. want... to.. do this..."
Raven swallows and starts stepping backwards, almost out of fear.
"I said.. shut... UP!!" Lighteria's face softens and shys away from the smile, looking concerned for her now with her face starting to get a worried expression. She shakes her head a few times like you would if got a D on a math test you studied all week for... nothing but shock. "Not right... this is bad. There's no time for all this..." She looks up suddenly to Lighteria's face, eyes a little wide. "What is wrong with you!? ...Everything's going to be screwy if you keep this up!!" She shakes her head, looking down, suddenly backing into the wall, talking mostly to herself. "Idiot... idiot... why like this? ...Because of me?"
Murasmune, having been watching the scene in fascination, blinks suddenly, the corner of his eye catching a blink of light. His head turns towards Lighteria and he gasps, the twin blade's body beginning to break down into shimmering violet lights and starting to pass through the chains like a ghost. Lighteria's image, with an almost mindless gaze, walks towards the wavemistress with a smile, putting a hand to her cheek. She blinks in shock and backs against the wall tighter, eyes locking to the figure's... 'eyes'. Time stands still in the room once more as the figure only smiles to her, the dark haired girl's gaze softening more as she watches...
Time shifts.
The chains vanish.
The door opens.
"This is the CC admins!" A voice suddenly calls through the open door, an NPC shop keeper starting to walk in. All eyes turn to the door, Lighteria's figure suddenly dissipating with a flash, leaving his normal-corporeal body lying on the floor, dazed, blank-eyed and completely healed. Raven nearly faints as she watches the large, fat figure of the admin walk towards them.
"Player: Raven." The admin says, voice making the walls almost shudder from the strength. "You are in violation of the Terms of Service that prohibit hacking of any kind." Raven swallows, gripping her staff like a life preserver, Lighteria slowly rising to his feet, holding his head and looking as dizzy as hell. "With the extent to which you have hacked the field and griefed other players, I have been given authority to permanently ban your account." The NPC holds his hand out, pointing his palm at her. "Prepare to be deleted."
"Wait!!" A meek voice suddenly chimes out, Lighteria stepping in between her and the admin. ShadowStreak looks the most shocked out of everyone at the reaction. "Don't do it! It's not her fault! I know it!" Raven's jaw drops lightly, boggling at the situation.
"The... the hell? Of course it's my fault... what the hell are you doing?" The admin just grunts at the display.
"Get out of the way. Hacking is against the rules, no matter what. Don't protect a cheater..." His eyes glance to his name plate. "Lighteria."
"No! I won't let you!!" Lighteria shouts, holding his ground. "She's a good person!"
"DUDE!" Rondel suddenly calls out, exasperated and confused. "She was KILLING you like... two minutes ago!"
"Enough!" The admin shouts. "You can't escape the rules of The World. If you're going to sympathize like this and get in my way then I have full authority to delete your character as well." His palm glows whiter. "It's time to end this hackign streak here and now."
You're wrong though... the rules of The World were broken a long time ago. I don't know how, but I'm pretty much the definition of it. Me and the others...
"IDIOT!!" Raven suddenly shouts, side stepping the twin blade and holding out her staff. With a sudden burst of light, a data stream erupts from the admin's palm racing towards the pair. In the same instant, a green, hexagonal shield erupts from Raven's staff and covers the area in front of them. With an earth shattering clash, the two powers meet, random bytes of data streaming out of control into the air, the terrain disintegrating into base code when struck.
"Shit shit!!" ShadowStreak suddenly yells, pulling a fairy ocarina from his pouch and rushing to Murasmune and Rondel. "We gotta get outta here!"
"No!" Murasmune says firmly. "We CANNOT leave Lighteria here in this state!"
"Screw that!" ShadowStreak says, grabbing the both of them. "We'll be deleted from the f**king CROSSFIRE here! Hell no am I risking that. Let the Light boy be crazy without us!"
Before Murasmune can protest again, blue circles descend around the three players, whisking them away to the safety of Mac Anu, leaving the stand off behind in the rapidly deteriorating dungeon.
"Your powers will not be able to stand up to mine, hacker." The admin bellows out above the din. "Whatever code you're manipulating with that shield will break through and delete you. It is unavoidable."
Raven growls, her palms getting sweaty from gripping the staff. "D-damn you..." She mutters under her breath. "My code disruption won't last much longer..." Watching her shield starting to crack, the wavemistress starts to tremble out of desperation...
"...!?"
"What-?!"
Raven's eyes widen, Lighteria's hand gently resting over hers.
"Don't worry... We'll just need to improvise." He says calmly, his hands gripping the staff with her. "And even if we fail... at least we'll go together right?"
Raven looks to his face in complete shock, unable to fully comprehend what is possessing him. All she can do is look at his calm face as he stares towards the shield.
"..Th.......... Thank you." She whispers, turning back to the shield, the staff drawing on both their SP reserves to keep up. With neither force giving, the entire feild begins to rumble and shake.
DO SOMETHING!!
LIKE WHAT?!
We need to act!
[/color]
Without warning, Raven's staff suddenly begins to glow and flash red, greed, blue and purple. The two players blink in confusion as the shield starts warping violently, the deletion beam being re-directed randomly and sheer waves of data and code simply tangling like fishing wire and streaming in all directions. The admin gasps, the entire field smashing apart at the seems, errors compounding upon errors, upon errors. The upheaval ripples out and causes a shockwave, sending all three of them into a vast nothingness. The admin quickly aborts his program and logs out... But Raven and Lighteria are no where near as lucky. The violent storms of data surge through the both of them, their characters warped and seemingly engulfed. Dats overwrites itself and overlaps... pure chaos with no regard for the two of them...
...Children's laughter echoes from somewhere...
System Error
As the thousands of players in Mac Anu are forced to re-log, the digital sunlight shimmers off a familiar flamberge, buried in a roof top. At the base of the sword lies a twin blade, tattered, disoriented and exhausted. It's a few moments before the character rises to its feet.
"...I'm... in Mac Anu?" The twin blade blinks to the sword hilt a moment.
"What's this-.. !!! What the hell!?!" Panicked and confused, the Akatsuki are whipped from their sheathes and stared at, a cold sweat running down the player's forehead.
"Oh my god... I recognize these blades..." Leaping off the rooftops in a frenzy, the twin blade dashes towards the river and collapses to his hands and knees, staring at the reflection in the water.
...And screams.
...In a small house in the suburbs...
A raven haired girl is collapsed on her side on the floor of her room, her chair nearby on it side as well. She groans lightly as she wakes up, her VR visor still covering her eyes and ears. With nothing but static on the vid-screen, she instinctively lifts the helmet from her head and lays it to the side.
"Ugghh... I must have passed out..."
There's a silent pause as she lifts her hand to her throat and rubs it, a little confused. Her eyes trace back and forth a moment like she's taking in the surroundings. After a second, she gasps and sits bolt upright, eyes wide.
"This.. Oh my god! I'm.. I'm out of the game!!" She says to herself, short breathed and trembling. "But how?! And what's with my voice?!" She quickly gets to her feet and looks around the room. She trembles in confusion, not recognizing a thing... the bed, the television, it's all alien to her. She stumbles around for a few seconds until she finally spots a large mirror by a makeup table. Her knees buckle slightly as she walks over towards it, slowly leaning in to mirror to look at herself.
"You've... ...got to be kidding me."
She lifts her hand slowly to her cheek, rubbing it gently to make sure she's not dreaming.
"I'm... her?"
<To be explained in a new story... For now though, this chapter ends.>
"..Raven...?" Lighteria mumbles, still trying to get his voice to function properly. With their eyes still locked on each other, Lighteria instinctively starts to walk towards her. Much to his surprise, however, his movement is quickly restricted to nothing and the rattle of a chain echoes lightly through the room. The twin blade's body twitches suddenly as feeling rushes back into his veins, a deep, life giving breath gasping into his system. His eyes widen as he looks at his own body, his legs, arms, torso... every part of his body constricted by tight chains suspended from the ceiling. He gasps lightly at the sight and looks around, seeing Shadow, Murasmune and Rondel all suspended in the air as well, trapped in a veritable web of chains stretching from seemingly every part of the walls and ceiling. His chains rattle as he attempts to stretch his hand out towards one of them. "What... is this?!"
"Sorrow and Agony..." Raven says slowly, taking a few steps towards him. Her tone almost forces Lighteria's attention so their eyes become locked again. "That's why you were brought here." She smirks darkly, looking towards Murasmune. "Your team is awake you know... but my spell is keeping them far, far to drained of energy to move." Lighteria's eyes soften in concern and look to the heavy blade's eyes. Sure enough, Murasmune is staring weakly at Lighteria... though a burning strength and anger can be seen through the weakness.
"Murasmune-!" Lighteria gasps out. The heavy blade's body shudders, trying to muster the energy to speak, but all he can do is open his mouth and groan. ...a BRAVE groan though. Raven rolls her eyes and switches her staff to her left hand, freeing up her right hand to slap Lighteria on the cheek. *SMACK* like that.
"Please. No soap opera moments. They make me sick." Raven grunts, switching her staff hand again. Lighteria shakes his head back and forth to get the daze from the slap out of his mind.
"F-fine.. But I don't get it. What are you doing? ...HOW are you doing this?"
"I'm hacking, you idiot." She rolls her eyes and lets out a frustrated sigh. "Now clam up and react in that ridiculously emotional way you do so I can get this done quicker." Lighteria blinks at her, completely confused as she lifts a hand to his chest.
"My.. wh-what? What are you- GAH!!" A loud crack sounds through the room, like a circuit breaker just exploded as Raven's hand starts glowing a dark purple hue, streaks of dark energy occasionally flashing from between her fingers and the bottom of her hand. Similarly, the same streaks of energy, streak throughout Lighteria's body, the energy causing him to scream out in pain, eyes streaming tears from the raw pain the bolts inflict. Rondel groans weakly, wishing he could cover his ears as the bolt lasts a good two minutes, Lighteria's voice cracking and choking over and over. The room flashes with the energy, lighting up ShadowStreak's face as he hangs limply, not wanting to listen or hear it.
"....There." Raven says slowly, her palm sliding down from his chest and back to her side. Lighteria's body still twitches from the shocks for a few seconds after she stops, the chains rattling and echoing. After that, the twin blade's head drops like stone, his body hanging like a rag doll from the chains, dark smoke wafting lightly from his body like a human barbeque, only with less A1 sauce and more bloody pain. A few seconds of dead silence pass as everyone just... waits for a reaction. ...it comes in the form of a twitch and Lighteria's head lifting again. Raven blinks and meets the twin blade's blank-stare eyes, a little trickle of blood falling from his mouth. Raven lifts an eyebrow slowly, seeing a weak smile forming on his face.
"c-..come on..." He chokes out, looking to her face almost as though he were looking to an old friend. "y-you don't... want.. to do this..." Raven grimmaces suddenly, her head arcing back a little, like a cat smelling bad food. Her eye twitches with unbridled anger and she grasps the top of his head.
"You little bastard-! Get angry!! Beg or something!" Her hand trembles. "Don't try to make friends!!" Murasmune gasps inwardly and shuts his eyes, a loud crack echoing through the room again as dark bolts surge through the top of the twin blades head and down into his body. Lighteria's voice chokes on his own screams again and his body twitches involuntarily.
My HP should have hit 0 a while ago... Is she keeping me alive-? Or does this only cause pain? ...I can't even split into an aura like this... she's definately messing with my character...
Rondel watches with horror, the shocks coursing through his body for a good five minutes this time. Raven's expression getting more unreadable for every second she tortures the poor, abused player. Lighteria's clothing starts to rip from the energy passing through him. His shirt tears into scraps, hit boots start tearing downward and his pants rip at the ankles up to the knees. It may be prudence on Raven's part that she stops before he's completely burnt and scrapped. Again, his head falls forward when it's let go and there's silence as every watches for his reaction. ...Painful, painful silence...
"...Finally." Raven mutters, watching a few tears fall from his eyes onto the floor below. She leans in and takes his chin gently, lifting it up slowly so their eyes meet. "Despair works just as... ...well.." Her eye twitches again, Lighteria still smiling.
"Y..you.. we.r.e... kind.... I.. wa..s.. to..uched..." He mumbles, barely coherent... referencing the first time they'd met. Raven grits her teeth and growls.
"Shut up. Now." She snarls, almost stepping backwards.
"You... d-. don't.. want... to.. do this..."
Raven swallows and starts stepping backwards, almost out of fear.
"I said.. shut... UP!!" Lighteria's face softens and shys away from the smile, looking concerned for her now with her face starting to get a worried expression. She shakes her head a few times like you would if got a D on a math test you studied all week for... nothing but shock. "Not right... this is bad. There's no time for all this..." She looks up suddenly to Lighteria's face, eyes a little wide. "What is wrong with you!? ...Everything's going to be screwy if you keep this up!!" She shakes her head, looking down, suddenly backing into the wall, talking mostly to herself. "Idiot... idiot... why like this? ...Because of me?"
Murasmune, having been watching the scene in fascination, blinks suddenly, the corner of his eye catching a blink of light. His head turns towards Lighteria and he gasps, the twin blade's body beginning to break down into shimmering violet lights and starting to pass through the chains like a ghost. Lighteria's image, with an almost mindless gaze, walks towards the wavemistress with a smile, putting a hand to her cheek. She blinks in shock and backs against the wall tighter, eyes locking to the figure's... 'eyes'. Time stands still in the room once more as the figure only smiles to her, the dark haired girl's gaze softening more as she watches...
Time shifts.
The chains vanish.
The door opens.
"This is the CC admins!" A voice suddenly calls through the open door, an NPC shop keeper starting to walk in. All eyes turn to the door, Lighteria's figure suddenly dissipating with a flash, leaving his normal-corporeal body lying on the floor, dazed, blank-eyed and completely healed. Raven nearly faints as she watches the large, fat figure of the admin walk towards them.
"Player: Raven." The admin says, voice making the walls almost shudder from the strength. "You are in violation of the Terms of Service that prohibit hacking of any kind." Raven swallows, gripping her staff like a life preserver, Lighteria slowly rising to his feet, holding his head and looking as dizzy as hell. "With the extent to which you have hacked the field and griefed other players, I have been given authority to permanently ban your account." The NPC holds his hand out, pointing his palm at her. "Prepare to be deleted."
"Wait!!" A meek voice suddenly chimes out, Lighteria stepping in between her and the admin. ShadowStreak looks the most shocked out of everyone at the reaction. "Don't do it! It's not her fault! I know it!" Raven's jaw drops lightly, boggling at the situation.
"The... the hell? Of course it's my fault... what the hell are you doing?" The admin just grunts at the display.
"Get out of the way. Hacking is against the rules, no matter what. Don't protect a cheater..." His eyes glance to his name plate. "Lighteria."
"No! I won't let you!!" Lighteria shouts, holding his ground. "She's a good person!"
"DUDE!" Rondel suddenly calls out, exasperated and confused. "She was KILLING you like... two minutes ago!"
"Enough!" The admin shouts. "You can't escape the rules of The World. If you're going to sympathize like this and get in my way then I have full authority to delete your character as well." His palm glows whiter. "It's time to end this hackign streak here and now."
You're wrong though... the rules of The World were broken a long time ago. I don't know how, but I'm pretty much the definition of it. Me and the others...
"IDIOT!!" Raven suddenly shouts, side stepping the twin blade and holding out her staff. With a sudden burst of light, a data stream erupts from the admin's palm racing towards the pair. In the same instant, a green, hexagonal shield erupts from Raven's staff and covers the area in front of them. With an earth shattering clash, the two powers meet, random bytes of data streaming out of control into the air, the terrain disintegrating into base code when struck.
"Shit shit!!" ShadowStreak suddenly yells, pulling a fairy ocarina from his pouch and rushing to Murasmune and Rondel. "We gotta get outta here!"
"No!" Murasmune says firmly. "We CANNOT leave Lighteria here in this state!"
"Screw that!" ShadowStreak says, grabbing the both of them. "We'll be deleted from the f**king CROSSFIRE here! Hell no am I risking that. Let the Light boy be crazy without us!"
Before Murasmune can protest again, blue circles descend around the three players, whisking them away to the safety of Mac Anu, leaving the stand off behind in the rapidly deteriorating dungeon.
"Your powers will not be able to stand up to mine, hacker." The admin bellows out above the din. "Whatever code you're manipulating with that shield will break through and delete you. It is unavoidable."
Raven growls, her palms getting sweaty from gripping the staff. "D-damn you..." She mutters under her breath. "My code disruption won't last much longer..." Watching her shield starting to crack, the wavemistress starts to tremble out of desperation...
"...!?"
"What-?!"
Raven's eyes widen, Lighteria's hand gently resting over hers.
"Don't worry... We'll just need to improvise." He says calmly, his hands gripping the staff with her. "And even if we fail... at least we'll go together right?"
Raven looks to his face in complete shock, unable to fully comprehend what is possessing him. All she can do is look at his calm face as he stares towards the shield.
"..Th.......... Thank you." She whispers, turning back to the shield, the staff drawing on both their SP reserves to keep up. With neither force giving, the entire feild begins to rumble and shake.
DO SOMETHING!!
LIKE WHAT?!
We need to act!
[/color]
Without warning, Raven's staff suddenly begins to glow and flash red, greed, blue and purple. The two players blink in confusion as the shield starts warping violently, the deletion beam being re-directed randomly and sheer waves of data and code simply tangling like fishing wire and streaming in all directions. The admin gasps, the entire field smashing apart at the seems, errors compounding upon errors, upon errors. The upheaval ripples out and causes a shockwave, sending all three of them into a vast nothingness. The admin quickly aborts his program and logs out... But Raven and Lighteria are no where near as lucky. The violent storms of data surge through the both of them, their characters warped and seemingly engulfed. Dats overwrites itself and overlaps... pure chaos with no regard for the two of them...
...Children's laughter echoes from somewhere...
System Error
As the thousands of players in Mac Anu are forced to re-log, the digital sunlight shimmers off a familiar flamberge, buried in a roof top. At the base of the sword lies a twin blade, tattered, disoriented and exhausted. It's a few moments before the character rises to its feet.
"...I'm... in Mac Anu?" The twin blade blinks to the sword hilt a moment.
"What's this-.. !!! What the hell!?!" Panicked and confused, the Akatsuki are whipped from their sheathes and stared at, a cold sweat running down the player's forehead.
"Oh my god... I recognize these blades..." Leaping off the rooftops in a frenzy, the twin blade dashes towards the river and collapses to his hands and knees, staring at the reflection in the water.
...And screams.
...In a small house in the suburbs...
A raven haired girl is collapsed on her side on the floor of her room, her chair nearby on it side as well. She groans lightly as she wakes up, her VR visor still covering her eyes and ears. With nothing but static on the vid-screen, she instinctively lifts the helmet from her head and lays it to the side.
"Ugghh... I must have passed out..."
There's a silent pause as she lifts her hand to her throat and rubs it, a little confused. Her eyes trace back and forth a moment like she's taking in the surroundings. After a second, she gasps and sits bolt upright, eyes wide.
"This.. Oh my god! I'm.. I'm out of the game!!" She says to herself, short breathed and trembling. "But how?! And what's with my voice?!" She quickly gets to her feet and looks around the room. She trembles in confusion, not recognizing a thing... the bed, the television, it's all alien to her. She stumbles around for a few seconds until she finally spots a large mirror by a makeup table. Her knees buckle slightly as she walks over towards it, slowly leaning in to mirror to look at herself.
"You've... ...got to be kidding me."
She lifts her hand slowly to her cheek, rubbing it gently to make sure she's not dreaming.
"I'm... her?"
<To be explained in a new story... For now though, this chapter ends.>
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"
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"
- Nighthand
- Master of Games
- Posts: 1265
- Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
- Class: Bladesmage
- Location: ...Tracking...please wait...
Lighteria: -> +2 Levels, + [Lv.1] Charm Ex-Sphere, + 2 Resurrects
------> Lighteria's Golden Orb Glows Faintly Green
Could have been more, but... it DID take a while to complete.
------> Lighteria's Golden Orb Glows Faintly Green
Could have been more, but... it DID take a while to complete.
![Image](http://static.flickr.com/48/185807763_8ac187a5da_o.jpg)
Wishlist: Any Armor or Weapons under level 50, Any Scrolls (prefer level 2+)