Elora

"I love what you've done with your...", began Freyd after he'd bid her greeting. "My what?", Elora probed bluntly before Katoka called out from around a corner. "You two done flirting or do you need more alone time?" "Actually, I hadn't --", she started with a turn. "Wow Elora, Interesting wardrobe choice. Really accentuates the assets.", the small samurai added as she finished approaching the two of them. A potent blush quickly crept from chin to forehead as her flustered eyes flitted and looked away. "O-oh -- I --", she coughed awkwardly in an attempt to stifle the r

"It doesn't seem right.", she remarked to the tainted mirror's distorted reflection of her likeness, "What's the point of having gigantic sleeves if it doesn't even cover my chest?!" Her eyes glanced downwards and over to Borris, her familiar, as the tiny rock golem teetered and spun in confused circles between her feet. "I swear, people wear the weirdest sh*t in this game...I really should see if there's a way to get something more, well, 'me' made for me.", she paused for a moment before suggesting, "Maybe I should go back to that haunted cabin with all of the creepy mannequins?" The dull ru

"They don't actually have to cook the food since, you know, game. It just kind of spawns in after a time. They still make you wait though." Elora always found this and similarly superficial spectacles to be strange. It's like Kayaba wanted us to have some sense of normalcy during all of this, she mused, How kind of him to consider how comfortable we should be while we're trapped here... "I think that regardless of updates things will get harder, especially the higher we advance through the floors. It seems like this may have been more of a level equalizing thing, at least from what l

"I know what I'm getting, the buffalo chicken sandwich." "A buffalo -- what...?", stammered Elora as she tried to search the menu for the dish, "So it's got like, buffalo AND chicken in it? What does buffalo even taste like? -- And you'd better not say "chicken"!", she added with a narrowed stare before lowering her gaze to peruse the menu. "Let's see if they've got anything that isn't just a meat sandwich -- Oooh!", she let out a suppressed gasp, "How about boxty? That's not just meat or just boiled potatoes!" Elora eagerly scanned the sheets of pixels for her favorite Irish dish. To her

"Guess I should call you older sister eh?" "Please don't --", asserted Elora, "Anime has already ruined that trope --" Her resolve was quickly shattered by an unsuccessfully-suppressed laugh. "After getting bullied in middle school I just kind of, stopped interacting with people at school.", Kat continued the conversation of her aforementioned adolescence, "I had friends online that I played games with. That was my socializing, but she didn't see it that way." "Mm, yeah", acknowledged Elora, "My parents had a difficult time with understanding that about me as well, though they d

She couldn't suppress the smile that spread across her face as Freyd's hand reached up to cusp her chin. She did, however, resist the urge to kiss him so that he would have the opportunity to finish his sentences. But damn is he making this difficult, she huffed as he pulled her closer and rested his forehead against her own. S-stop thinking about it, just pay attention!, she tried to command herself. "I want to be the person you see in me. The one you said you want to be yourself. If we can each see it in the other, maybe, together, we can help each other see it in ourselves?" "I --

"It's fine, sometimes it's good to think about what you've left behind. I was in my final year of high school, I guess now I'm way past that point." She's younger than I thought, Elora considered, but not much younger than me. "I miss my family. My mom, my dad, my little sister. You remind me a lot of her actually." For a moment, Elora could feel her muscles tensing as her mind became defensive, LITTLE sister? Does she think I'm immature or something? Elora paused for a moment, reflecting on how her own reaction could only suggest that she was just that. An intentional sigh indi

“I answered honestly: he calls me Montjoy, though I am as much Freyd as we are both Takeshi.” It was as if, at that moment, Elora could feel all of her scattered thoughts sliding into place, like pieces of an intricate puzzle interlocking to construct a completed picture. She didn't know how to respond. Instead, she returned to the self-designated task of repairing Frey...Takashi... The name resonated with her in inexplicable sanctity. It feels like I've learned some sort of secret that I was never meant to know..., she began to assess the feelings of shame that followed the flushing of h

"This place has really good food, and despite the lack of effects, good alcohol as well." Elora laughed half-heartedly before muttering beneath her breath, "If only it were like the real world..." Shoving both hands into the pockets of her worn shorts, she began to speculate aloud, "What were things like for you, Kat? Before all of this happened? Did you finish high school or go to university?" An inexplicable sensation of of rising tension made her regret asking the question. "I'm sorry -- I didn't mean to just bring it up like that -- our lives on the outside, I mean...", Elora sighed,

"Oh dear, you've broken Humpty Dumpty, have you? I hope you brought some glue." Elora's aghast expression was curtailed by one of concern. Briefly, her eyes darted over to her weapon; it was too far away to conjure to her hand in only a moment's notice. Thousands of thoughts tremored through her mind in an instant. Who is that? Another player -- maybe one of the diseased that live on this floor -- or it could be -- A stranger, she decided as spinning heels firmly planted her to face the mysterious individual. “He calls me Montjoy,", he began to introduce himself as he scrutinized

Cobalt eyes followed the flick of Freyd's wrist, then the smooth stone that escaped it. She studied the ripples that spawned from its wake, barely able to prevent herself from becoming entranced and distracted by their mesmerizing movements. Her sights snapped back, followed by the occasional nod and stifled sighs that indicated she was still making an effort to listen intently; she was relived to hear that the other members of the guild had likely survived. "I'm... conflicted.", he pivoted somewhat abruptly. "About what?" "I have been for some time, which isn't like me at all,

"Shadow's...? Was that the name of...whatever caused all of this?", she managed to mutter as her weary conscience struggled to string the information together. "There was nothing I could do...We were barely holding on, ourselves...", he continued. She listened, absorbing his accounts as he carefully wiped the tear-streaks from her cheeks. He saw me...did he see them all? Everyone who was swallowed before them? He said that where they were was the last place to be submerged, does that mean...?" "I'm... so glad... that you're still here." She nearly brushed the sentiment off as wo

"You're here. You're safe." A sharp inhale wavered before Elora broke into dissonant sobbing. She collapsed into him, clutching the folds of his cowl between the knuckles of her trembling fingers. Shoulders fell and rose sporadically as uneven breaths coursed through her diaphragm, and she succumbed to despair. "I - I - I -- was s-so scared", choked Elora as best she could, "T-there was -- so many people d-died -- I didn't know what to do - I t-tried to help, but then I -- I was pulled under, a-and --" Burying her head face into Freyd's shoulder, she struggled to snuff out the sounds of

Elora gulped dryly, the lines of her lips flattening as she set her jaw into place. "Yeah", she vaguely agreed in response to all of her friend's observations. "Food sounds nice", she added after a prolonged stretch of silence, "And...actually...wasn't there a place that we were gonna go together? To see at some point?" The heels of her boots scrapped across the splintered floorboards of the inn as she shuffled and searched for the answer. Finally, she snapped -- or at least, she tried to through the thick fabric of her gloved hand. "Cherry blossoms! Didn't you mention that you got Hanami some

♪ Islands Under Eyelids ♪ Elora instinctually threw her arms up and into a defensive maneuver, suddenly sensing that Freyd might unwillingly strike her out of sheer surprise. A stupefied inquiry indicated that he'd at least partially been able to process that she was standing before him, and that an attack would no longer be warranted. "El... Elora?", she heard him speak her name and began to lower her guard. "I...", they both sputtered as crimson eyes met with irises flooded by a cobalt ocean. "You're alive!", he shouted. She bit her lip and turned away. "I'm sorry --", sh

"Ye ken howfur he is, glaikit dunce. Guid luck, Eddie." "Thanks, Quip", she smiled, trailing off with a sigh as she parted ways with the woman and started to slink down the series of stone steps. They somehow seemed less slippery than before, or at least, in comparison to the sludge she had just finished trying to wade through. It was a nice change of pace, though Elora couldn't help but wish she'd met more resistance along the way -- an occurrence that could have convinced her to turn back. Despite her waning spirit, she arrived at the shores of the silent pond. Beside it rested a recog

"Now let's just. Be happy for a bit ok?" "How do you figure we'll do that? We can't even get drunk here", chuckled Elora with great effort. She still felt so exhausted, so melancholic. "How are we supposed to return to normal when we don't even know what normal is anymore?", she found herself proposing against her better judgement. It was probably best not to think about. "Eh, whatever. Honestly, any reason to distract ourselves from what just happened is good enough for me. Let's go." Slowly extending her limbs, she uneasily forced herself to depart from the ground. "I don't know t

It's -- Oh, it's one of the Australians, Freyd's friend who works at the shop, decided Elora as soon as the whirlwind of shock subsided enough for her gather her bearings. "Yergh --", she started unsuccessfully through the filter of a hushing hand. "Edwina?!", snapped Elora as soon as the woman granted reprieve. She winced upon realizing that she'd neglected to heed to the aforementioned agreement. Sighing, she continued with a stifled whisper, "Come on, at least I had the curtesy to remember your name. We can skip the introductions..." "Ye kin fill me in aboot Freyd 'n' a' his non

The sickening sound of the ground's sludgy surface suctioning to Elora's shoes made the player's stomach swirl with a nervous nausea. It had taken all morning for her to muster the courage to confront the worries that had been gnawing at her conscience for days...perhaps weeks even... It had all been a blur, from the moment that she awoke in the tavern, to now, as she trudged through the mire that would lead her to Angel's Point. What am I even doing?, she found herself reconsidering, He hasn't even tried to come see me. A sharp sting of regret pierced her chest in an instant. He tried to reac

"In the end I was fighting back to back with Setsuna from the guild, we... We went down together." "Did you see it too --?" , asked Elora as Katoka uttered another apology. She paused and shook her head, regretting the interjection. "I'm sorry", she started again, "I'm -- well -- it was almost more of, a lot of feelings, than a sight. There was a moment where I thought that I could still feel you, then I just -- everything started playing out so quickly. I felt so heavy, like all of my regrets and all of the things that I regretted never doing, were dragging me down" Elora took a moment t

Elora fumbled in Katoka's embrace, releasing the thorny trinket as the two of them fell to the floorboards. The marigold menu that had shielded Elora from the new world swiftly shattered into diamonds that danced around them in the daybreak. "I-I tried to g-get you out", began Kat as she desperately clung to her friend for comfort, "I-I'm so sorry." I called for you, I hoped that you would save me, she wanted to admit. Instead, she found herself raising her arms and slinging them around Katoka's neck, trying desperately to draw her closer, suspend them both in this fleeting moment.

Light...warmth...stinging...pain.... Elora's senses slowly began to reawaken as a patch of sunlight drifted to rest between her eyelids. The...other side... Then, an obnoxious high-pitched chiming. Her alarm clock? No...It was...a sign -- a menu? The blurs between lapsing blinks gradually sharpened to reveal more information: System Update Complete. Welcome to 3.0. Please take the time to consult the update notes before allocating your refunded skill points. I don't... thud. thud. thud. Thud. Thud. THUD, drummed the anthem of worried footsteps as someone sprinte

Current Level: 34 Current SP: 114 Link to SP Tracking: [See Spoiler Below] Item Upgrades: N/A Notes: No items are being upgraded.

♪ Lost Souls ♪ "ELORA WHERE ARE YOU?!", she heard Katoka cry out as her body plunged into wintry darkness. "I'm here!", she tried to scream without respite. "Katoka - please - PLEASE HELP ME!", her mind raced as her lungs began to sting from the impending asphyxiation. Waves of panic rushed through every fiber of her being, sending clear visions through the static of her blurring sight. They were of...they were of her future -- a life that she would never experience, and a potential she would never be able to fulfill. She imagined it all: finally having the courage to become

"Hold onto me! I don't want you falling off!" Elora had the best of intentions to follow her comrade's commands. Her legs, however, found it difficult to find traction against the slippery surface of the stallion's rear, which was saturated with the liquid that resembled the appearance of sullied oil. "Wait--!", she had just barely managed to call out to Katoka before a blue bolt of lighting crashed beside them, sending the horse rearing in fright. Elora flew from the steed's back, one of it's back hooves planting itself firmly into her torso as it brayed and sprinted up the mountain