Elora

"Guess so", she said casually and with a courteous smile. These interactions never get less awkward. Thankfully, this individual seemed the capable type, despite his age. He showed impressive dexterity in maneuvering his tea, at the very least. Wonder what kind he's drinking., she couldn't help but speculate. Soon after, Elora followed the old man as he began to reminisce about his days as a skier.

"Winter Olympics, 1972.", Kingsley recited,  "I injured myself the next year and took to other endeavors,"

Why...is he telling me all of this...?

"That's the type of memory I expect to encounter in the forest.", he continued to elaborate, to her naiveté. "I don't anticipate running into much trouble, but I'd feel much safer with you around,"

Elora's posture seemed to straighten at that remark, "Glad to hear it. Can't say I'm among the best of the players, but I like to think I've gotten pretty handy with a spear." It wasn't that long ago that the admission would have been a difficult one to voice. In the days since she had entered SAO, Elora felt that she had become more humble, or more accurately, accepting of fact she needn't feign competency in every skillset. 

Kingsley seemed to chuckle before revealing, "There's said to be a rare flower in the forest that I'd very much like to find."

"OH? Really?", the elf's interest appeared to pique as much as her ears, "What's it look like? Do you know how it tastes? I tend to brew with spices and herbs, but I'd like to experiment more with flowers -- Lilac florets pair nicely with earl gray." Her voice had suddenly undertaken a more excited tone. After a brief pause, she stammered, "OH YEAH -- I'm Elora by the way."

Dawn drenched the walls of her room in bright amber light as the shrills of territorial squirrels could be heard on the distant horizon. Elora stirred momentarily before stretching her arms high above her head. For the first time in a long while, she felt rested, refreshed even. When was the last time she'd slept through the night's slew of concerts or procedural brawls? That's right., she resolved after inspecting her surroundings, At the new house. Promptly climbing out of bed, she made her way to the heart of the house. Freyd's already gone -- Off to Firm Anima I bet. She glanced briefly in the direction of the greenhouse, a portion of the estate they'd dedicated specifically to her pursuit of Alchemy.

Whatever suspicion that had crept into her mind was immediately discounted as she otherwise gathered her supplies and set to arrive at Floor 22.

The guild's hall laid nestled in a small grove, not far from the teleportation center of Coral. Although accessible, Elora could count on her fingers the number of times she'd visited the grounds in search of something to do. It's not like work is any more fun than...honestly, anything else., came the admission. Nonetheless, she felt determined. After all, she had just survived her first raid, moved out of her ramshackled apartment complex; maybe she could accomplish even more.

Steady steps soon sent her crossing by the settlement's bulletin board. Not many listings, she plainly observed, Still, Rai might appreciate me passing them along to everyone else. Eyes skimmed the headlines of several ledgers until a particular listing caught her attention. "Looking for a guide...", she began to read, Seems like they're looking for flowers. Maybe someone dyed -- or a romantic date. The elven player shook her head. Anyway -- it's easy enough. With a bite of her morning snack, she trodded off toward the provided location. 

The town's gate wasn't empty, though not exactly bustling either. A handful of NPCs and inattentive adventurers streamed through the gates to this way and that as she scoped out the supposed poster. It wasn't long before her sights settled on the shape of a stagnant man -- he was noticeably shorter than the rest. Awkwardly shuffling over to his side, she initiated the greeting. "Hey --! Are you --", an abrupt pause ushered the pamphlet closer, "-- Kingsley?", she corrected before too long.

***

Elora consumes x1 Lemon Berry Palmiers

Item Type: Dessert | Effect: Adds +3 LD

Elora | HP: 700/700 | EN: 104/104 | DMG: 26 | MIT: 98 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 8 | BH: 35 | LD: 3+3=6 | AA | BLGT: 32 | FLN: 8 | REC: 8 | STK: 40

 "Even a sweet little rabbit can be terrifying if it comes in a horde, and it suddenly has a set of sharp little teeth... and a taste for a players flesh."

The example evoked imagery of a certain white-haired rabbit devouring regiments of soldiers near the maw of a cave. So the legends are true., she considered with an especially cautious slurp of soup.

Mina and Freyd continued their deliberation on Montjoy. "...Have you ever wished you could understand how other people can feel, how they tick? I know you're aware of how Montjoy behaves... but have you put any thought into what he could represent..?", the former had questioned

Elora leaned back in her seat as thoughts whirred to entertain the idea. Seems unnecessarily complicated, analyzing it all like that. Wouldn't it be self-evident? She found her eyes drifting to those in the room. Yep, everyone's hurt in some way. Or at least -- that's probably safe to assume. Should I really be assuming more than that?

By now, she had interlocked gazes with the infamous Montjoy.

"And I would appreciate being able to hear your thoughts on the matter as well, seeing as you were around during his first appearance.", Mina appended as if on-cue.

"Oh, his first? Hadn't realized", she admitted with a nervous shift, "Uhh -- well at first, I didn't trust him -- something about how patronizing he seemed, stuck up and all too put together." The elven player spared a moment to temper herself. How would I place it?, she blinked as memories began to reconstruct that day. "I'd say he feels like the foil to Freyd, but that's quite right. He shared a lot more, but makes less sense. Well, actually -- they both make sense in different ways." Rambling again. "I don't know.", she muttered as a hand combed through the fringes of her bangs, "I only know as much as they tell me. I trust that that's enough."

Montjoy seems to be more emotional, I guess. He at least acted like he was better at saying his feelings than Freyd did. But Freyd was always better at showing his feelings. It felt like steam would escape her ears if she willed her gears to turn any faster.

"How do you both do it,", her partner soon wondered,  ''Deal with overwhelming tides of emotion, I mean.  I've always just smothered everything down... so far down."

"You cry.", Elora stated surely, before her thoughts could even catch up. "Sometimes scream, sometimes hurt others -- then yourself." Her hand had constricted around Freyd's. For a split second, her glance had met with Mina's before darting to the table-setting in front of her. "There are certain waves too large to sail over, and when you meet them, they overturn you. Dealing with emotion...is in destroying every part of yourself. Her pointed ears twitched as an analogy came to mind. "Like Roman concrete -- we're built to heal in the wake of adversity. The fractures that rack us aren't our weakness, they're a formula to make us stronger."

The two gradually made their way through the dew-covered fields and back to the Town of Beginnings. Fireflies and the low-hanging moon lit their path, making the arduous trek seem much shorter than their hike outward. The village's chatter had subsided into a dull murmur as many of the occupants retired for the night or stuffed their faces with a well-earned meal.

"There's something I want you to have.", she interrupted their quiet walk with an offer, "You should have the opportunity to stay where you want, to really begin to form your life here." Her fingers raced to initiate a protocol a, as if a moment's pause would be enough to smother her intentions. "Money's scarce when you're starting out -- and you shouldn't have to grind to be able to choose."

A shimmering chime welcomed the message on her companion's HUD.

     Elora transferred 50,000 col to SaIem     

"Get out of the Hummingbard and find someplace you can call home."

Even with Katoka's assistance, towing Freyd out of the water felt like shouldering a sack of cement. It took both the women's effort to bring the deceptively muscular boy back onto their ramshackled vessel. Seeing that he appeared unconscious, Elora spared no second in splashing his face with a fistful of water.

"Oh, wait --", she remarked disappointedly. Her go-to method of rehabilitation proved useless in this environment.

"Maybe you can wake prince charming with a kiss eh?"

"Hah ha, very funny!", she retorted sarcastically. A nudge of her spear still failed to rouse the delirious player. Huh, well I'm all out of ideas. Scanning the peeled planks of their raft provided a sudden incentive. "FREYD!", she shouted with a shake of his shoulders, "THE FLOTSAM & JETSAM'S FLEA MARKET! THEY'RE HAVING A SALE! 99% OFF. ALL. WARES."

With any luck, the promise of a steep deal on a smorgasbord of nicknacks would spur the shopaholic from his concussed slumber. Faint streaks of turquoise soon smeared across Elora's side-vision as the ocean around them began to sparkle with light. Steadily abandoning her efforts, she became mesmerized by the sight.

"Plankton!", she exclaimed, "Bioluminescent plankton! I've never seen them before!" An excited hand grasped Kat's forearm as the other pointed out to reveal the phenomenon to her friend. "There's so many of them -- oh, this'll make it so much easier to see too!!"

Moonlight swirled in a nauseating display as their vessel spun across the water's surface. Staggered steps swiftly threw Elora off-balance just as the sail's wooden beam whooshed to clock a fossil fish right in the spleen. Wrapping her spear around the base of the half-assed mast was enough to prevent her from slipping off of the raft. The injured angler swished after them, lantern bobbing above the inky expanse like some sort of drunken firefly.

"Screw this stupid fish for ruining our vacation!", barked Elora as she scrambled to her feet, "I don't care if we're on Floor 12, I'm gonna have a beach day!" Brandishing her spear with both hands, the frazzled player raised her weapon to clobber the creature just as it's gelatinous head broke through the water's surface. 

"GET OUTTA MY SWAMP!", she yelled as the blunt end of her spear connected with the thing's body in an uneventful "Bonk."

A sad stream of gurgles erupted from its mouth as The Lurker slowly rolled to perch belly-side up.

***

Elora regains +4 EN
CD 5 (no REC proc ID#218833)

Post Action | [x18] AOE-II (14 + [2 * (2)targets] EN + 2 Shift) - Stamina Add-on = 20 EN
Free Action | None

(vs The Lurker) ID:218834 | BD1 + 8 ACC + 1 EVA = BD10 | 18*26=468-50= 418 DMG

(vs Fossil Fish #4) ID:218835 | BD4 + 8 ACC - 2 EVA = BD10 | 18*26=468-25= 443 DMG

Katoka | HP: 720/720 | EN: 87/106 (+4) (-12) | DMG: 23 | MIT: 78 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 8 | BH: 31 | AA | BLGT: 32 | P.V.O | REC: 8 | STK: 40
Elora | HP: 700/700 | EN: 67/104 (+4)(-20) | DMG: 26 | MIT: 98 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 8 | BH: 35 | LD: 3 | AA | BLGT: 32 | FLN: 8 | REC: 8 | STK: 40
Freyd | HP: 1140/1140 | EN: 132/148 | DMG: 26 | MIT: 103 | EVA: 2 | ACC: 7 | BH: 62 | LD: 5 | FLN: 16 | HLY: 16 | REC: 8

(1,2,1) The Lurker | HP: 0/850 (-418) | DMG: 125 (+20 minor crit; +40 major crit) | MIT: 50 | ACC: 2 | EVA: -1 (486-364)

• Upchuck | On CD of 11-12, the Lurker submerges momentarily to fill its gullet with water. When it resurfaces, it spits a wave of water on the battlefield as a Free Action. All players receive a -1 to evasion and accuracy for one turn. This ability also heals surrounding Fossil Fish, restoring 50 HP to each still alive.

(0,1,2) Fossil Fish #4 | HP: 0/500 (-443) | DMG: 100 (+10 minor crit; +30 major crit) | MIT: 25 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 2

Worry was palpable as the still environment shifted to one of suspense. Before she'd had the opportunity to decipher the note, the sun had swiftly plunged beneath the horizon. An obsidian sea swirled around them, glassy surface broken by the rising form of something sinister. Katoka responded with the agility of a skittering gecko. Her blade's lightning resounded with its signature crackle mere moments before a successive disturbance came from Elora's side. Panicked and surprised, the woman dove forward with her spear, its shaft igniting with static electricity as it plunged into the gut of something squishy.

A horrific screech encouraged her to yeet the thing as far away from her as quickly as possible. Body bolstered by adrenaline, she committed all of her concentration to hefting its rag-dolled form up and over her in an arc. Gravity and a great deal of fish oil caused the critter to slide off the spear and slam into the injured enemy at the other side. In an unintentionally-strategic decision, the daisy chain of electricity sent a second surge of hurt to damage and fully barbecue the disobedient piece of sushi. In the valkyrique rush, Elora had paid little notice to the third fossil fish who had completely fried before its fins had even left the water.

"WHERT THE HELL WUS THAT --?", shrieked Elora, her voice cracking at the end. An angry gurgling sound came from nearby as a gargantuan and toothy angler sputtered in place. "OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" 

***

ID: 218749 | CD: 10+2 (Renault) = 12 | (2 Fossil Fish appear, Lurker appears)

Post Action | [x15] AOE-I (11 + [2 * (4)targets] EN + 2 Shift) - Stamina Add-on = 21 EN
Free Action | None

(vs Fossil Fish #1) ID:218751 | BD9, CRIT+1 | 15*27=405-25= 380 DMG. Static applied and splashes to deal 24 damage.

(vs Fossil Fish #2) ID:218750 | BD6 + 8 ACC - 2 EVA = BD12, CD: 1 | 15*34=510-25=490 DMG. 

(vs Fossil Fish #3) ID:218764 | BD8 + 8 ACC - 2 EVA = BD14 | 15*34=510-25=490 DMG. Static splashes to deal 24 damage.

(vs The Lurker) ID:218765 | BD1 + 8 ACC + 1 EVA = BD10 | 15*26=390-50=340 DMG. Static splashes to deal 24 damage.

Katoka | HP: 720/720 | EN: 95/106 (-11) | DMG: 23 | MIT: 78 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 8 | BH: 31 | AA | BLGT: 32 | P.V.O | REC: 8 | STK: 40
Elora | HP: 700/700 | EN: 83/104 (-21) | DMG: 26 | MIT: 98 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 8 | BH: 35 | LD: 3 | AA | BLGT: 32 | FLN: 8 | REC: 8 | STK: 40
Freyd | HP: 1140/1140 | EN: 148/148 | DMG: 26 | MIT: 103 | EVA: 2 | ACC: 7 | BH: 62 | LD: 5 | FLN: 16 | HLY: 16 | REC: 8

(2,0,0) Fossil Fish #1 | HP: 0/500 | DMG: 100 (+10 minor crit; +30 major crit) | MIT: 25 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 2 | [BLGT: 32/2] [Paralyzed] [STK: 40/2] (165-380)

(0,1,0) Fossil Fish #2 | HP: 0/500 | DMG: 100 (+10 minor crit; +30 major crit) | MIT: 25 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 2 (500-490-24)

(0,1,0) Fossil Fish #3 | HP: 0/500 | DMG: 100 (+10 minor crit; +30 major crit) | MIT: 25 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 2 (500-490-24)

(0,1,0) The Lurker | HP: 486/850 | DMG: 125 (+20 minor crit; +40 major crit) | MIT: 50 | ACC: 2 | EVA: -1 (850-340-24)

Before Elora could talk to Freyd about the skittering stranger, another sleuth of snow came rushing down directly beside her head. A swift side-step averted the miniature avalanche and sent it sloshing into her glass instead. With an accepting shrug, she arced the vessel around her to be topped off by the eager barmaid. The resulting beverage seemed a surprisingly appetizing combination of mulled cherries and mystery slush. Raising the rim to her lips eclipsed the arrival of another player, one far taller than most she'd seen.

"Been a while, buddy,", he casually greeted. A second sip dismissed his presence. That was, until she realized he was addressing Freyd. "Am I the only one who smells a Quest?", he continued with a smirk.

"Oh, already?", she remarked somewhat obliviously, "Didn't take long for them to spring one on us. Here I thought the festival might last a day before something significant turned up. Guess I should have known better..." Her eyes performed recognizance on a nearby platter, sending out a fork to pierce the appetizers that caught her interest. These ones were far greaser than the sweets she'd collected in her skirt. Considering her options, she resigned to consume them immediately: a skewer of caramelized vegetables, a bowl of spicy chowder, and a seared applewood sausage would suffice for the time being.

Elora accepted her delegated oar with a death grip as Katoka dished out orders. "Aye aye , captain", she answered with hawkish eyes affixed to the floorboards. None of these boards are coming loose. Not on my watch. For once in a long while, Elora found herself appointed to a more passive task. It was a nice change of pace, though admittedly a bit distressing in the wake of being surrounded by one of her greatest fears. Feeling a lack of control, she gradually inched herself closer to the center mast in search of some more stability. "So...what exactly are we planning to do once we get to these reefs? Go fishing? Dive for shells?" It was probably evident at this point that she was using small talk as a means of distraction.

The trio eventually came closer to an ocean that seemed to glow teal compared to the azure expanse that surrounded it. Elora couldn't tell if they had reached their destination or if a trick of the light gave the illusion of greater colors beneath the water's surface. Hesitantly, she crawled closer to the edge of the raft to look beneath where they were floating. 

"There's so many fish!", she immediately exclaimed. After their vessel had slowed to a crawl, the waves stilled to reveal schools of vibrant fish darting around coral-covered columns. Despite the waning light, Elora was able to distinguish a multitude of sea life. For all the golden sea sponges and plum-pronged urchins that she could spot, Elora wondered just how many oddities still laid hidden beneath the deeper portions of the reef.

Her partner promptly sifted through his inventory in search of something specific. What she'd initially assumed would only take a matter of seconds quickly spiraled into a lengthly sequence of swipes, scrolls, and filtered inquiries. Geez, he must have...a lot of stuff. I guess when you've fought as many mobs, traversed as many dungeons as he has, you're sure to collect plenty of loot., rationalized Elora. The awkward stretch of silence warranted a cough, then a thorough inspection of their surroundings. Cradled like a nest between branches, the alpine grassland rested within a long stretch of slate-colored mountains. Its center was divided by a crystalline stream that seemed to course steadily through some areas and tumble powerfully in others. The spirit of the region spoke to something that Elora couldn't give voice to. Perhaps it was the contrast between rolling hills and defensible peaks, rumbling waters and the gentle breeze.

"Actually,", forestalled Freyd, "I thought we might prefer to test the place out and make sure it suited our needs."

Elora's brows furrowed as she began to question that remark. Before she could seek clarification there came a taut billowing, then fierce rippling of a large rectangular cloth tugged by the wind. A lot less gentler than before, she realized, snatching a wayward corner to guide it carefully toward the ground. 

"I picked up a few local delicacies while we passed through Urbus." One by one, the blanket became dotted with an assortment of delicious finger-foods. Elora's mouth began to salivate as Freyd introduced each element of their soon-to-be meal. "...Something told me you would want to sample, and that the climb might stimulate your appetite." 

"Might?", she repeated with extra emphasis, "And what do you mean 'sample' ? Haven't even eaten breakfast yet -- I'm ready to dig in!" Her first instinct was to grab one of the cheeses. After all, it's pre-sliced nature made it an accessible option to quickly satiate her newfound craving. Anything can be pre-sliced if you're hungry enough., her conscious reasoned like an old Chinese proverb.

Elora happily accepted one of the glasses, holding it up Freyd for a few spare moments to imply she'd like to taste whatever he was having. He really does carry the wares for every occasion., she noted as a stream of the pike-colored liquid trickled from the bottle. 

"We can certainly grind and fetch whatever materials we want, but the game offers a fairly intuitive interface to help us out.", Freyd explained to her relief, "It might be easiest to start by picking palettes of colour, materials, preferred themes and styles, then to build out from there. I dug a lot of my last place out by hand..."

She admired his primitive construction methods, not much reading into the exhaustive drudgery one would have to undergo in order to see the process through.

"We can literally do the same with the system guiding us through every step, if that's the preference...", he offered as an alternative, "Really, it boils down to how dirty you're willing to get your hands."

"Well...", she finally proffered as a mouthful of peppered salami provided her extra time to consider her phrasing, "I don't want to discover parts of the house I didn't know existed, but I also don't wanna spend hours deliberating over which shade of greige we should use to paint the walls." Elora paused shortly before adding, "And who knows how many options are at our disposal -- what if we can narrow down to the very hex code?" A wince suggested she could already feel the decision fatigue.

"Nah -- I don't wanna get that invested in the details. I like natural colors like greens and browns, materials like stone and wood. Rainbows are a lot, but I also wouldn't enjoy living somewhere that felt like a hospital." Hopefully any of that is helpful, she silently worried. "Maybe --", she started again, her head turning to survey the stream, "We could use some of the river stones to tile a floor -- or some driftwood to accent a railing."

She explored the products of her own imagination as it fabricated scenes of different parlors, kitchens, and bedrooms. How would I want a house to look?, she considered. "What if I wanted it to have something really weird?", proposed Elora, "Like an exclusively neon interior or a sanctuary for wild turtles?" Those hardly seem the same. A turtle sanctuary is way more practical. "Would you demolish the house the second we moved in?" The rhetorical jest caused a smirk to curl from her lips. "I feel like it's one thing to have a house be everything you wanted and another to share it with someone who might have opposing taste." Maybe airing out her concerns was unwarranted, but it served a chance for each of them to discuss their wants before the actual construction began. 

"Nah.  You've got it backwards.", he responded to her comment about the zombies, "Remember those cascades we raced down while scouring the woods in search of Borris?  Now we'll get to chase each other every time we leave instead."

"That's assuming the waterfalls flow downhill both ways.", she bantered with a grin, "What'd you think we're supposed to do when we're already at the bottom of a mountain?" With any luck, their current assent wouldn't be too excruciating.

The two began their endeavor by entering through a crescent-shaped tunnel that carved its way around a plummeting torrent. Flowing sheets of water seemed to caress its walls, nourishing the clumps of moss that seeped like gooey mortar from the crevices of every boulder. Despite the slippery stones underfoot, the path offered surprising shelter from the cascades above. Elora's thoughts were swiftly muffled by the chorus of rumbles that permeated the passageway. Just as they neared the top, a misplaced step sent her fumbling forward and into Freyd. How was it he always managed to break her falls?

"So, what do you think,", he started softly. Her sights lifted to catch a glimpse of sunbeams flitting through the mist around them.

"Wow --", she gasped in awe. 

"I stumbled onto this place by accident, long ago.  It... made me think of you.  I was too clueless to realize why, at the time..."

The statement made her cock her head to the side. For a second, she tried to draw connections between the vista and herself. Because it's green like my hair? A series of blinks suggested she wasn't meant to read into the comparison quite so literally. Speculation was cut short by the gentle touch of his hand tucking something behind her ear.

"What do you say?  Could this feel like home?"

A enthusiastic nod threatened to dislodge the clover. "Yes!", she answered whole-heartedly, "How do we start? By gathering materials? Do I need to go fetch us a hundred small stones from the river? FIVE hundred logs from the forest?"

There was barely enough time to rally their familiars as the duo set off on an expedition to Floor 2. With Freyd's hand in her own, Elora felt as if she was being towed, no, guided into the next chapter of their lives.

"Most of the second floor is fairly rustic." , he began to explain, "There's plenty of timber and stone to work with, which could easily be adapted..."

"Does that mean we'll be building it ourselves?", she asked. Perhaps the question sounded naive, but Elora was completely unacquainted with how the home-ownership process in Aincrad worked. "I just thought we'd be moving into a building that already existed -- this is a lot more exciting then!" A bound in her step seemed to reinforce that sentiment.

"The place is also full of waterfalls, lakes and streams..."

"Perfect for you to go fishing!"

"It's often cool, but not cold: like a late Summer or early Fall..."

"That'll be great!"

The pragmatic conversation quickly morphed into one of elated visualization as the two of them considered each appealing aspect of their move. Elora wondered if this was how newly-weds felt when they searched for a place to settle down. 

"And it's full of pines, so no endlessly falling leaves.  The smell is also fantastic.  It reminds me of the redwood trees we used to play around when I was a kid."

Maybe Freyd couldn't see it from his leading position, but a blissful smile beamed from Elora's face at hearing that remark. It's so wonderful to see him so happy., she reflected contentedly. It was a true rarity to see him express such jubilant emotions, especially when recounting experiences outside the game. She spent a few bittersweet seconds cherishing this day, this moment. So often they seemed to vanish too soon.

The kaleidoscopic teleportation sequence appeared more vibrant than before as a multitude of colors fizzled away to reveal the entrance to Urbus. Spawned mere footsteps away from a sizable chasm, the pair continued forward to span the settlement's singular bridge.

Freyd quickly B-lined his way to a merchant stall to do whatever dark wizardry it was that merchants did. Elora never could understand the song and dance they performed between each bartering session and shadowy transaction.

"We'll want to head north to reach the plateau.", he said, returning to her, "The place I have in mind is in a sheltered valley fed from streams that cascade down the cliff faces.  It shouldn't take us long to get there."

"Let's go, then!", she encouraged with a caring smile. 

The city's terrain was certainly unique. Although set atop a mountain, Urbus remained relatively even in elevation. Where surrounding chains tapered off into distinctive peaks, its foundation appeared more like a tableland. As they walked, Elora noted other features that had previously gone unnoticed. Strewn across the lower cliff faces were dozens of watermills. Instead of being strewn along the banks of a river, each wooden wheel turned from the steady stream of Urbus's gentler cascades. "This city irrigates its water in an interesting way." The seemingly lackluster topic appeared to spur some curiosity from her. "I didn't consider before how water would flow into this city. Since it's so high up, everything has to trickle downwards. There must be springs feeding the rivers from beneath the city." A brief pause quickly elicited, "I guess this isn't natural though -- so I really shouldn't overthink it."

For as much fantasy-world as Aincrad was, she continuously caught herself fascinated by its attention to real-world processes. From a cool drop of rain to the trajectory of the wind, everything seemed to fulfill a role.

The two eventually reached a gradual incline that zigzagged up the side of another cliff. "Oh boy, here comes the climb.", assessed Elora in a foreboding tone. "If you thought fighting through zombies on Floor 13 was a good workout, just wait until we have to do this every day!" She was mostly teasing despite her heaving. They really had to go ahead and make altitude effect my stamina? It's not like we can take transit here --

A protruding slab caused her to trip and stumble forward. "Oh geez --", she exclaimed, "I should probably walk a little slower."  

  ♪  The Festivities Begin  ♪  

Large globs of melting snow slopped onto the muddy ground from evergreens above. Elora swayed with the grace of their crooked bows as she set to keep her brimmed tankard from sloshing over. Unfortunately, she had long since replaced her means for elbowing and shoving spatially-unaware celebrants from her path. While her right hand guarded her golden grog, her left pinched the hem of a gathered woolen skirt. Anyone paying mind would be able to recognize the garment's utility for toting around an assortment of delicious samples. An even more astute bystander would wonder why she wasn't simply making use of her inventory. Elora certainly wasn't the brightest bulb in the lantern, but that only seemed to add to her charm.

A clumsy exchange between two unobservant players suddenly sent a stray body smacking into her side. In an almost beautiful cascade of inertia, the majority of her drink suddenly lurched into the air, then sprayed across her chest.

"THAT'S IT!", she huffed aloud. In an instant, her head threw back, momentarily silencing a string of curses as she downed the remaining beverage. "Make a door or I'll cut one through ye'!", she snapped after the disintegrating vessel gave way to a shaking fist. The harshness of the threat caught the couple by surprise. Only a second spared to consider escalation was enough for Elora to push her way past them and into a narrow vacancy. Bunch of blubbering half-wits! With her ceremonial gown so unceremoniously soiled, Elora seemed resigned to defeat.

Guess I'll get another drink..., she sighed just as her eyes distinguished a familiar face from the shopfronts. Freyd's here? I didn't think he'd enjoy this kind of thing. She wasn't sure she did either. Regardless, it was her intention to try and get out from the Inn every once in awhile. By now the 'dressing up' part was even beginning to feel more appealing.

Elora managed to squirm her way over, about to greet him just as an overhang of snowmelt promptly dislodged itself to plummet directly onto her head. 

"I don't want it to be spring anymore", she sulked instead.

***

Elora consumes:
1 Portion - Gugnir’s Shard (Untradeable/Unique/Reusable Consumable): Crème Brûlée Tray | ACC 2 | Feast (4/6) -> (3/6)

Elora | HP: 700/700 | EN: 104/104 | DMG: 26 | MIT: 98 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 8(+2) = 10 | BH: 35 | LD: 3 | AA | BLGT: 32 | FLN: 8 | REC: 8 | STK: 40

"Freyd,", he promptly decided, "Though you say it with great tenderness, 'Takeshi' rings in my ear as if the name belongs to someone else."

"I understand", she calmly agreed. Part of her felt relieved to know the feeling was mutual. For as much as she'd heard Mina speak his given name, Elora still hadn't grown accustomed to addressing him with it. She had only ever know 'Freyd' as 'Freyd'. And I guess that makes sense.

"There is a place I know, on the Eastern edge of floor six...", he soon suggested,  "It's... serene. The woods teem with life and might be well-suited to that alchemy you keep threatening to practice."

She smiled candidly before shooting down his suggestion with a cold: "Yeah -- there's no way I could do Floor 6 --" She realized the harshness of that answer might require further explanation. "Too many giant snakes -- I've never seen one, but trust me, I've read all about them." It was an especially-convincing excuse given that Elora never seemed to research the environments of the places she traveled to. "Also, nowhere has a right to be that wet.", she added for good measure. Part of her also wondered whether or not it was worth mentioning that that was where she'd encountered her gemini. Not an issue.

"Another option might be Florenthia, on floor eight...", he offered as an alternative, "It's neutral ground between the elves and treant, where both groups manage to live in peace."

"That sounds nice", she said noncommittally.

"I never did ask you about these..", he gestured to her cosmetic ears. An ensuing blush crept to their edges. 

"Well, there's a really deep and personal reason for why I chose them...", she began dramatically before revealing, "I thought they looked cool." Raising the back of a hand to shield her forehead, she feigned turning away in dismay. "I hope you won't resent me for choosing to look so whimsic--", a crack of laughter broke the facade. "Honestly though, why don't more people have them? We're in a fantasy world! We can look however we want!", she complained before dismissing the subject with a wave. "Anyway, if we don't want our home to be swept away in another cataclysmic flood, I guess we should consider somewhere else."

"None of the other floors seem to fit the bill or strike the proper tone...", Freyd admitted as his mind seemed to consider additional possibilities. "...except floor twenty-two, I suppose?" 

I could be closer to Katoka., she tacked onto his mention of proximity to the guild. For some reason, her mind wasn't satisfied with that decision. It wasn't anything against the guild or Kat, just that the area almost felt too familiar. In a way, it had become like her second home away from home. Well, aside from Freyd's at least. So it was really more like a third home.

"Or do we go all the way down to Urbus on floor two?", she caught him mentioning.

"Urbus...", she repeated aloud as if to give the name more meaning. As Freyd continued on, Elora began to search for the mental images associated with that location. On Floor 2...is that...? Brain sifting through the files of a thousand forested mountains, it finally settled on a chain skirted around an isolated plateau. Gradually, she was transported back to a homely bar, the day she had joined Firm Anima. A dorky smile drew from her lips as she remembered their encounter with the Venomous Warg. Somehow, their little spat and the painfully-poisonous bite now served as vignettes to even brighter memories. We had no idea then that we'd be here now.

Shooting up from her seat, Elora declared, "Let's go to Urbus!", with a resolute attitude. In either an endearing or frustrating manner, it seemed she had completely missed his mentioning of the final option. 

"It's something that became a trend after the shenanigans with the shadow.", began Mina. 

Of course it was., she huffed knowingly. Elora could feel her spine slide down in her seat as the pink-haired player went on to describe reports from her intel. How was it that this game always managed to invent more fucked up and even creepier things to torment them with on a day-to-day basis? What was next? A personal manifestation of her worst fears programmed to pop into her vicinity at the start of every morning? 

"...Some of them seem to have... glitched for a lack of a better word.", Akame had reentered the conversation. "All the ones that got glitched have a strangely... melty way of revealing themselves."

"Glitch or not, that doesn't sound like the most threatening thing.", Elora stated matter-of-factly, "There's certainly greater things to worry about than oozy mobs." On second thought, that doesn't sound the most ideal.

"So it's less one person, than multiple... and we aren't fully sure they happen to be a gemini."

Disappointing.

"I...err...your information may be slightly incomplete,", Freyd prefaced a list of his accounts before asking, "...So, if Montjoy's not a gemini, then what do you suppose he is?"

Maybe Elora was dim for not recognizing the importance of uncovering the shadowy counterpart's identity. I guess knowing what he is would make it easier to stop him., she reasoned. Wait...are we trying to stop him?, came a reevaluation, Are we trying to get rid of him? Why else would it matter? Does Freyd want to know just for the sake of knowing?  By now, her face had scrunched into a state of speculation. Swirling vapors of synthetic steam rose up from her stagnant stew, reminding her of the exchange she should probably be involved with.

"...If there are any more of Shadow's minions on the loose, we'll put a stop to it.", insured Freyd, "At least the Sundered Spire seems to have finally been fully quashed.  They've given us no more trouble since Lun'Rael's second fall."

Lun'Rael? Should she have been familiar with that as well? "If it's not Shadow, it'll be something else --", Elora started with eyes faced forward, "I don't think we're ever meant to destroy everything that's here." The observation wasn't meant to be pessimistic, just practical.

As the trio began their meal, Elora attempted to mimic Mina's "itadakimasu".

"... you butchered that so badly that the auto-translator couldn't pick it up."

"Donkey... what?" 

"Eat a donkey mass? Is that not how you say it? Eek i docki MASS --", she tried again, pronouncing each syllable as if she was chewing on glass. After several seconds of making strange faces and guttural demon noises, she eventually muttered, "How do you say your vowels so softly?"

With a wave of her hand, she ushered the conversation forward. 

Elora was partial to their hostess's logic. As angsty and futile as the 'don't trust anyone' bit was, it held a fair deal of truth. On the contrary, she'd also made many more allies than enemies in this reality. Maybe SAO carried a greater sense of mutual respect, or at the very least, a different pecking order. The conversation moved to the topic of a song. She couldn't say she was familiar with it. 

"Declan was pretty fond of it...", Mina seemed to reminisce. Was. Expressions gave way to understanding, a painful indication that she had lost someone permanently, not through a dramatic breakup. Elora could only imagine her grief. For as reckless as she'd been in her fledgling days, she scarcely came close to death. Such a shitty thing to happen. Maybe she'd assumed too much. The person could have died from any manner of things: old age, a perilous fall, a potato chip down the wrong pipe. Curiosity kindled her imagination, but she knew better than to prod into such sensitive details. So instead, Elora observed her assessment of Freyd.

"At first I thought he was just a Gemini clone that Freyd had following him around,", declared, Mina, "he certainly wouldn't have been the first~" 

"Wait.  What --", Freyd had begun.

"Who was the first--?", she asked at exactly the same time. What first seemed to be a rhetorical quip was actually an earnest inquiry. Mina had a way about her that implied an aged knowledge. With how many people she seemed to know, maybe Elora could learn a thing or two about all the things she'd slept through.

"Who do you know that has a gemini clone following them around?", Freyd swiftly insisted.

"We can skip over those concerns and just assume that it's going to be just fine.  I will cover the costs.  Instead, we should probably start by thinking about where want this home to be, and what we want it to look like."  

She felt an initial relief, then a wash of uncertainty. "Oh yeah -- location...appearance...what we want to be...huh..." A gloved hand came to rest pensively beneath her chin. "Well, no offense to Mina, but I couldn't stand living on that volcano of a floor -- or Floor 5 for that matter -- that's the desert one, right?" A nod confirmed that to be correct. "And as much as I admire the beauty of the winter floor,", she added, "I don't know if I'd enjoy feeling cold all the time." By now, it occurred that she'd only listed places she didn't want to live. So, she closed her eyes and tried to envision something better. Away from the constant clatter and claustrophobic walls of her one-room apartment in the ramshackle inn. What would that be like...? For a moment, she remembered home. Not the house plagued by painful memories, but the verdant pastures of rural Ireland. "I think I'd like...to live by the mountains.", she stated wistfully, "Somewhere with valleys, forests, and streams -- places to forage and capture strange insects." The last suggestion, odd as it was, seemed to invoke a giddy smile. "What about you? Where would you wanna go?" She could only hope those wishes didn't conflict with his own.

"I built this place to suit who I was...", recalled Freyd., "But I'm still struggling to figure out who I want to become...What would you have it look like, El..."  He extended a hand to gingerly sweep the locks from her face. "Elora?  Róisín? ...What would you prefer?"

"Uhm...", she spared a moment to decide. Her brain swung between each possibility like a scale suddenly offset. "I'd prefer Róisín -- Rose if it's easier. But there's no reason to confuse everyone else." She felt guilty enough asking that much of him. "Besides,", she added truthfully, "'Elora' has grown on me. It feels more like a LARP character now more than anything" And I can dissociate enough.

"And what do you want our new home to look like?", he goaded gently.

"Hang on --!", she halted him with an open palm, "You've gotta tell me your preference too! How do I know which name you'd like to be called? -- And don't tell me it doesn't matter!", she preemptively forbade.

Elora backpedaled away from Freyd the closer he came. "AIN'T NO WAY! Get it off!!", she shrieked, her eyes adamantly avoiding contact with the emerald-colored danger noodle. She swore she'd got a glimpse both of her friends' mischievous grins before Freyd nonchalantly tugged on the serpent and tossed it back toward the jungle. With a sigh of relief, she accepted the pole and set to assembling their vessel. First a tsunami, then the snake, how else will the universe torment me today? Elora shuddered at the thought of encountering a ravenous herd of ocean-side stallions. At least those don't actually exist., she reassured herself with some success.

It was impressive to watch Katoka and Freyd chop, braid, arrange, and wrap together the disparate materials. "Damn,", she commented, "Didn't realize you both made such good survivalists." Looking around, Elora tried to find a way she could be of any use. "Oh --, what if we...?", came a quiet remark. Holding up their sandy picnic blanket caused it to billow gently in the steady breeze. Wincing as it sprayed grains of sand into her eyes, she suggested, "We could fashion this into a sail!" She wasn't even sure that rafts came with sails. Still, it seemed like a feasible purpose for the patchwork fabric.

"How did she hurt you?", he asked curiously.

"Eh", she began with downplayed attachment, "We weren't exactly friends by the time that happened. Honestly, we'd grown apart over the past couple of years, if you could even say that. We went to secondary and our relationship just sort of...dissolved. She wanted to hang out with the kids who were going places. I was just sort of...baggage at that point." And no one else liked me. It was easier that way. With a heavy sigh, she added, "She would call me names, spread rumors behind my back, nasty things to distance herself from me as much as possible." After a moment's pause, she concluded, "I felt betrayed." The sentiment served little justification for whatever retaliation she'd unleashed. For as much as she remembered Elora's hateful words, Rose could recall an equal number of times where she had acted just as venomously.

With eyes closing tight, she tried her best to will it away. I'm here, now. Nothing else matters. Not the memories. Not the mistakes. A tender kiss quickly bolstered this realignment. In the embrace of her lover, her imaginary friend, whatever complimentary entity this world could have manufactured, she found contentment. 

"It feels as much like you encourage the trellis to stand tall, and give it reason for being.", he retorted to whatever dumb poetry had escaped her lips. She couldn't help but wheeze at the ulterior implication. Yes, Katoka would be very proud. The tender moment was reciprocated with equal concern as Elora attempted to reassure Freyd.

"I know.  That revolution is far behind me now", he indicated that consolation wasn't entirely necessary, "My father's most important lesson was to be aware of what he was and why I chose to reject him." Elora's head seemed to cock at such a puzzling idea. Maybe she'd misunderstood. He wanted Freyd to hate him? No, he wanted Freyd to become like him, which is why Freyd dislikes him. One of those interpretations must have been correct. "But any child will struggle to find their identity in the absence of a role model.", he'd continued, "Where do you turn?  What do you choose?  What signals moral right from wrong?" Especially when everyone else is so fucked up., thought Elora. Truthfully, there were very few people in her life that she would consider to have sound moral judgement. It became even more difficult to name anyone off the top of her head. "We turn to other examples around us." A blend of right and wrong. "We emulate the best of them in ourselves." A song and dance between ecstacy and oblivion.

She exhaled deeply, her mind now distracted by the minutiae of such a philosophical conundrum. Somehow, it now seemed even simpler than some of her own internal struggles. A pebble hurled forward from their resting place, scattering the image of shadows cast below. "This place carries too much of who I was: Takeshi as his father wanted him to be.  It's cold and sterile.  I want life.  I want vibrant, messy chaos held in equilibrium.  I want us!" 

Her heart fluttered at the admission. 

"Huh?", was all she could mutter in a twitterpated daze.

"Let's build a home for ourselves: just you and me.  Let's make it about who we both want ourselves to be, together."

"Ah -- sure!", she responded enthusiastically, her hands shooting up to form fists in front of her chest, "Oh -- uhm, might be one problem though, I sort of just gave away a bunch of my col to a new player. I still have a lot left, but, aren't houses pretty expensive?"

"I'm glad you did it...", began Freyd. Fiery tension bled from Rose's features as her eyebrows raised in surprise. It was as if the other player had just reached out and snapped his fingers in front of her face. "...Otherwise, we would never have met.  And I am terrified to think of who or what I might have become without you." Her cheeks continued burning as her eyes now stung with...What is this feeling? Frustration? Relief? Happiness? Love? Why did she feel so many conflicting emotions at once? She tried to still her racing heart as it struggled to settle on a single response.

Freyd insisted, "It doesn't matter why you did it." It does. "Not to me.  Not now, nor ever..." Denial caught in her throat. " ...You're the best thing that has ever happened to me, ... Little Rose." How was she supposed to respond? Tell him he was wrong? 

"It was wrong --", she refuted, "No matter how much she hurt me, I shouldn't have let it get to me." Two trembling hands rushed to banish the tears as soon as they appeared. "I can say that I saved her, but that wasn't my intention. If anything,", she felt difficulty in admitting, "I'm glad it was me. And -- isn't that kind of messed up?" A sudden laugh escaped from her lips. "Everything's all twisted up." Good deeds are punished while bad deeds go rewarded., was all she could think. It became impossible not to marvel at the irony of it all. "I don't know who I'm supposed to be anymore."

"You are amazing, and far better than you ever let yourself believe...", reassured Freyd, "...Never think less of yourself because anyone else ever told you that you should, or because you somehow feel yourself unworthy. We all fuck up.  Every single one of us, every day.  And, if pinching 'Elora's' prize in a pique of envy is what it took for us to find each other, then I will be forever grateful that you did."

She couldn't help but smirk in response to that remark. For as much as she regretted that night, part of her relished to imagine the look of shock on her aggressor's face. "I guess we all can't be good all the time, or, most of the time...", remarked Elora, "Thank you, Takeshi." His name still felt somewhat foreign to her, like a pronunciation she hadn't quite gotten the hang of. Reaching out, she laced her arms around his neck and gave him a gentle kiss. "Thank you for letting me ramble --", a thought occurred to her, "You're like my little trellis, always giving direction to grow." 

A somber pause gave voice to an earlier topic. "You don't have to be like that, you know. Feeling like you'll be abandoned if you ever step out of line... He hadn't made the claim, so perhaps his father's rigidity had been mirrored in her own upbringing. "It's hard enough be yourself, let alone the version of yourself everyone else wants you to be." Both of her arms retracted until only her hands remained cusped around his shoulders. "As long as you're happy with who you are, that's all I want for you."

Elora narrowed her eyes at Freyd, before reexamining the edges of the sea. By now, the sun had leaped ahead in its setting sequence, casting a blinding glare across the surface of the water. It would be impossible to confirm what she had seen. "I guess if you insist there aren't any boats, then a raft would be the only feasible option." Elora took a moment to inspect their surroundings as Freyd focused on getting Katoka's attention. She began by sending the picnicking snacks into her own inventory. If fortune would have it, Freyd would believe that her and Katoka had finished off the delectable selection all on their own. I'll have to split the bounty with Kat later., she mused to herself.

"We building a raft or something?", said their blonde friend, her small form now faintly silhouetted before the changing sky.

"Probably more like the 'something' by the time we're through with it.", she quipped. Without a particular crafting skill, she couldn't imagine the hodgepodge endeavor giving rise to anything substantial. Scenes of their sea-faring vessel disassembling into a hundred sticks the moment they intersected with choppy water made a shiver of fear spike up her spine.

"How many do you think we need?"

"Enough to float --", croaked Elora, her mind doing its best to shake its self-inflicted doom-scenarios. "I think we're also gonna need to find or make some rope.", after a second's pause she added, "Oars also wouldn't be a bad idea."

I should have dropped it., Elora thought as she witnessed him revert to something cold, whether it was shock, apathy, or simply retreating to familiarity, she couldn't discern. Most likely, it was a combination of even more emotions and experiences she didn't understand. Reaching out, she chose to fill his cup in turn. It was an unspoken prompt and indication that she wanted to listen to whatever he had to say.

"I can hardly claim to have been the most conscientious on health care myself, though a certain degree of relentless parental badgering impressed some useful habits..."

There's the stuffy vocabulary, she noted. It wasn't condemnation, just an earnest observation.

 "My dad was a real drill sergeant about routine, including a mandatory exercise regimen.  I might as well have been in boot camp from the time I could walk...", he declared.

Elora's lips drew to a line as her mind recalled a similar upbringing. In a lot of ways, her mother had been the same way. There was rarely a time when missed lectures and failing grades had went without a screaming match. Her father on the other hand, he'd hardly even acknowledged her in the shadow of her scholarly sibling.

"If I'm honest with myself, the sense of order it carried likely drew me to it by default." 

Another remark that bolstered conflicting memories. She could see her childhood bedroom, it's warped wooden floorboards carelessly buried beneath a sea of trinkets and clothes. It was almost gratifying to test them, to embrace was she'd become. "stupid", "lazy", "a waste of potential". Her eyes drifted down to the concrete well below. Now still in the aftermath of their familiar's swimming sessions, it seemed almost unworldly, devoid of any indication that it was influenced by the lifeforces that surrounded it. Not even a single leaf dared to disrupt it's pristine surface.

"...Whatever is happening, society simply couldn't move fast enough to find, let alone care for all of the afflicted players in the short period since we became trapped..."

Elora's focus snapped back to the conversation at hand. Freyd had a point. Surely, they would have seen a percentage of players drop off from the perils of their parallel dimension. Then again, maybe would have never woken up to begin with.

"The other possibility is that we're not even us at all...", suggested Freyd. Her body had involuntarily begun to lean it as it considered the possibility. "...Think of it this way: do we even actually know that we can die in here?", he continued, "...We don't even really know if we are the 'us' each of us thinks we are from that world..." 

"Huh.", she remarked, her body eventually reclining as the realization washed over her, "I never even considered that..." It could all be a lie. Just like a dream. We could do anything we wanted... The sentiment carried a certain lightness to it, a kind of peace that permitted her to to abandon her identity of the past.

"Your friend's...Elora...Róisín... do you believe that you are here by mistake?"

The illusion dissipated.

A once callous smile was now laced with regret. "No -- not a mistake.", she corrected, "It's what I deserve." The thought of being coddled by misguided sympathy made her feel sick to her stomach. "I heard she'd won the sweepstakes, it was all that our class could talk about.", she explained through terse words, "She was such --" A bite of her lip swallowed a burst of resentment. "I wanted to take it from her, watch her cry about how she couldn't get something handed to her for once in her life." Anger seemed to swell within Róisín as her freckled cheeks deepened from gypsum to crimson. "So -- I broke into her house -- they were all out to dinner anyway, celebrating another one of their children's stupid achievements. The thing hadn't even been turned on yet", finally, a crack in her voice, "I wanted to know if it would start --" She remembered the welcome screen, the invitation to claim her identity, the opportunity to become someone better. "Elora always did have a golden horse shoe up her ass."

"Has this only been since the raid, or did you have these dreams before?"  

"Before.", she answered succinctly, her hand finally releasing its grip under his.

"I don't want to dredge up more bad memories, but that sounds a lot like what I would have imagined Shadow's flood to have felt like.  We never really talked too much in detail about that."

"Yeah...", she started slowly, allowing her mind to drift back to that dark day, "A lot of the sensations are similar. Except, instead of drowning, I don't know -- I feel more like I'm just...deteriorating." Is that the proper word?, she wondered as her mind struggled to articulate. Another noticeable pause prompted Freyd to suggest a relation to her life outside of SAO.

 "...Is there maybe some connection?"

"Hm", thought Elora. Considering the possibility, she spent some time sipping away at her tea. "Well, I didn't exactly treat my body well back then...A fair amount of smoking, more than a fair amount of drinking." She shot him a sarcastic smile. "Maybe my liver's finally just kicked the can." Her attempt to alleviate the situation was thinly-veiled and ineffective. "If that was even the case --", she continued more seriously, "Why would I be dreaming of it now?"

Reassessing Freyd's features made her wonder if she should change the subject. Unlike before, he seemed to fidget and divert his attention away from her. Was this topic especially hard for him? In actuality, it was probably his shift away from stoicism that made her second-guess what she shared. In some ways, he had become even more difficult to read than in the early days of Aincrad. "I'm sure you've thought about it", she said looking his way, "So what's your theory? Has time stayed the same? Are we sitting right where we were when we logged on?" Elora's eyes seemed to light up as she listed off each question. It was as if the proposals were more playful thought-exercise than potential morbid reality. "Or do you think the world is moving on without us? Like we're all just stuck in comas?" A faint spat of indifference followed her final guess. "Maybe they found me at my friend's, using her NerveGear." The remark caused Elora's hand to shoot up and anxiously scratch at the back of her neck.

A call of encouragement warranted another step forward as Elora pretended to be taking her sweet time with swimming out to sea. "I'm just -- adjusting to the temperature." It was a pretty flimsy excuse, given that this world had a way of moderating one's exposure to any uncomfortable element. Luckily, you could always rely on the mind to reinforce years-long aversions to anything it deemed 'uncomfortable'.

"Are you alright in the water?", Freyd seemed to be catching on, "I should have asked first."

"Best to just dive in and get over it all in one go...", he offered as a suggestion.

"AH, No -- I'm -- I'm not actually...the best at swimming", she admitted with elbows frozen above the water's surface, "But I can just start some sort of swimming sequence, right? They couldn't possibly expect every player to know how to -- what if I grew up in the desert, or the arctic circle, or something?" Even they can have swimming pools., she reminded herself.

Her sights turned upward to follow where he was looking, both in the direction where Katoka was suiciding, and vaguely toward the horizon. For a split second, Elora thought she could make out the shape of something bobbing out there. The thermal vents? A geyser of water rocketed into the sky, sending a shower of sea spray over the shore. Elora squealed and shielded her head as if the water displacement alone would be enough to send her straight to Davy Jones's locker. "Oh --", she quickly realized her overreaction as curses from her friend could be heard over the sound of the resulting waves.

As the droplets disintegrated from a veil into a fine haze, she could finally distinguish...

"Boats!" Her hand motioned toward a small fleet of fishing vessels not much further the the opposing shoreline. "A boat would do.", Elora excitedly confirmed to Freyd, "I -- we could take a boat out to the coral reefs." A smile seemed to return the understanding.

"KAT!", she proceeded to holler through cupped hands, "SEE ANYTHING OVER THERE? A DOCK OR A BOAT THAT WE COULD BORROW?!"

Elora's brows rose in curiosity, then furrowed with concern. "Well...", she began with fidgeting fingers, the mug-full of tea now planted firmly beside them, "It's been all sorts of things...A lot of times, I can't see or hear, I just feel...paralyzed." Her blue eyes grew colder for a moment as they recounted something distant. "There's always a sense of dread, some sort of wrongness that I can't shake." A steady breeze caused ashy willow branches to billow and sway overhead. "Once and a while, I hear voices, or see a shadow. It's like someone is there, but I can never make out who." 

Freyd could feel a faint stinging in his knee as Elora's fingers had inadvertently clenched around it. "The most unsettling part about it all is the feeling -- it's -- it feels more real then here. Almost as if I was back." Eyes finally turned to make contact with his as she searched for a reaction. He's going to think I'm crazy. "I don't know how to explain it -- but, there's so much pain --  Her opposing hand lifted to rest above her heart. For a moment, she could almost feel the sting of this morning's dream. "I try to get away, and that's usually when I wake up." Despite her efforts to remain calm, her voice had begun to shake with a palpable fear. "And that's when it goes away, the pain.", she tried to conclude on a more dismissive note, "I don't feel it anymore after that."

Having described the details as best she could, Elora hastily redetermined to continue consuming her drink.