[PP - F11] Hallowed Halls

[Lessa 1]

Closed to Jomei ✞ Continuation of The Bells

 

Something was not right.

Lessa sucked in a breath, filling her lungs, and attempting to clear her mind with a rush of cool air. What was the matter with her? Had she not spent multiple years trapped inside the confines of Aincrad? Yet she still behaved as if she did not understand the rules of the game. It was all so simple - monsters and players were the only things to fear. Each would surface with an obnoxious floating crystal to announce their arrival, thus removing the mystery. All guesswork. Anything paranormal, or unexplained.

Still, her palms were damp within her gauntlets as she slowed to a halt beside a Celtic cross. The stone fixture loomed overhead, making her feel exceptionally small and vulnerable. Careful not to bump it, or disturb it in any way, the blonde summoned her HUD with a twinkle of bells. A tense moment passed before she moved again, the bells echoing between the walls that surrounded her on three sides. They crumbled, heavy with age and overgrowth, but still whispered of a once impressive and expansive fortress. Even the cemetery, where she found herself now, seemed to hold its breath as it waited for her to act. She felt unwelcome, unwanted. A quick message was sent to Jomei, letting her know she had found it, and where to meet her. So much time had passed since the pair had first sought the bells, and followed the lights cast by the Cathedral's stained glass. It felt like a lifetime, though it was only a year. Lessa had made a habit of abandoning those she knew best, slipping away into near oblivion when she felt she could face them no longer. But what of the red-haired boy she had chased down the narrow alleys of Taft? Did a year's silence mean he no longer cared to see her? Did he remember her at all?

A bird's cried from within the castle walls, the sound akin to a human scream. All thought of past missteps were forgotten as Lessa eased Hell Rose from its sheath, taking slight comfort in the feel of the familiar blade. What good will a sword do against a spirit? a voice in the back of her mind mused. What was she really doing here? Was it worth the risk? And was there any place in Aincrad where the ghosts could not find her?

Edited October 4, 2017 by Lessa

[Jomei 0]

The notes coming from the large hole in his lute were interrupted by the soft chiming of bells. His fingers stopped dancing on the neck of the instrument, and olive orbs were drawn to his front. There, he saw a small letter icon, meaning someone had sent him a private message. His mind wandered on the thought of who it could be for the second it took him to open it, however, the name he saw he was not expecting. "..Lessa.." he said softly under his breath, as he quickly placed his lute on the couch next to him and sat upright. 

From her message, it seemed as though she had gone on to investigate the lights of the cathedral. Jomei remembered exploring the large church in the center of Taft with her almost a year ago. However, this time, she said she found where they had led... well, vaguely. She did not go into details, but left him directions of her location. He could tell the message was typed up for him in haste, meaning she was in danger. The man shot up off of his couch, grabbing his green cloak from the back of a wooden chair and throwing it around his neck, all on the way out the door. As the man ran down the streets of Urbus, he let out a sharp whistle, calling Adere, his owl companion, to his side. The brown owl flew alongside Jomei as they rushed to the town square and into the teleporter. "Warp, Taft!" Jomei yelled, while still stepping onto the platform. In a blue flash, he had vanished

In the same instant, his avatar appeared in the square of Taft on Floor Eleven. The cathedral was already in front of him, the lights from its stained glass windows shining in all directions on the floor. However, her directions said to follow the lights on the inside, so rushing forward, Jomei pushed open the doors and saw where the lights were headed. He saw that, some of the reflections intersected on the floor, creating a path that lead to a door just to the left of the alter. He made his way through the wooden door and into, what he believed, was a tabernacle of the church. He looked around the room for anything that looked like Lessa had moved it, however, everything looked untouched. Walking around the room, he did not see where she could have gone, until he felt uneven ground under his boot. Looking down at the ornate rug he stood on, he pulled the fabric to the side to reveal a trap door. The man pulled at the handle and descended down into the darkness. 

He felt as though he had been climbing down for at least ten minutes. "[censored].. what if she really is in trouble..." Jomei thought to himself as his feet finally touched the ground. Now he was in the catacombs of the cathedral, though he noticed something.. off about it. All of the coffins were, to some degree, open. Some, their lids completely pushed off, others cracked, some slightly ajar. The man felt a chill down his spine, but he quickly continued on through the torch lit hallway. He took off running down the stone hallway as fast as he could, which thanks to his new Grandmaster rank in <<Charge>>, that speed was much faster than normal. Jomei kept finding himself turning corners, everything looked the same. That was, until, he did not feel the ground below him. The man had fallen into some sort of trap, as he hit a ramp and began to slide into darkness. As he slid farther and farther down, he saw a light at the end of the ramp. His body hit the flat ground once again and rolled to a stop, until he was lying on his back. He stared up at the large cliff above him, where the city of Taft sat. Behind him, however, he found himself in a graveyard, staring at some old, decrepit castle. "She must be in there.. Dammit Lessa, why'd you go on your own?" he said, gritting his teeth. The man brushed the dirt off of his armor and rushed into the castle. Once inside the dark, abandoned foyer, he called out for the woman. "Lessa! Are you here?!"

[Lessa 1]

She hadn't moved since she sent the message. There was nothing keeping her rooted in place, or, at least, nothing tangible. It was the unknown that demobilized her, the heavy dread that settled into the pit of her stomach as she warily watched her surroundings. It was only a breeze that rustled the thick foliage, and the leaves the size of dinner plates hid no lurking threats. Her logical side knew that. Her imagination ran, unbridled, with all the fiery zest of her grandpa's Standardbred yearlings.

Jomei's voice sliced through her self-imposed trance with enough force to drive her backward. Lessa nearly stumbled as her boot met the jagged edge of a protruding tombstone, but she managed to right herself without dropping her rose-red sword. "Jomei," she called back, fighting to keep the waver from her voice. "I'm here."

No more silliness, that logical voice scolded. Jomei was here, and after everything that she did to him over the year, she owed him a level head. Besides, he would not appreciate being called out here only to have her cowardice drive him away. But his voice sounded distant, and it echoed in a way that made it seem as if it were coming from multiple directions. He was here, but where was here, exactly?

The swordswoman schooled her face into an expression of grim determination, as if it might make her feel better about the situation. She had no reason to be moody, considering she had brought it upon herself. Lessa only wished that her surroundings were not reminiscent of some horror movies she had indulged in before Sword Art Online. Part of her thrilled at the change in pace; it was not just another day of harvesting boars for mats. But she was mostly consumed by a sudden nausea.

"Jomei!" she called again, gritting her teeth against the negativity that seemed to roll off the ruins in waves. She moved at a jog toward the gaping hallway, ignoring the eerie sensation of the darkness as it consumed her. Though thankful for the bits of light that did trickle through the cracks in the arched tunnel, Lessa had to squint to make out the steps at the end of the pathway. The enormous double doors stood open, a large foyer sprawling out from where she stood. There, in the center, stood Jomei.

[Jomei 0]

The ginger swordsman stood in the large open foyer, waiting for Lessa's reply to see if she was in the castle with him. He stood still and remained silent, his eyes scanning the room around him. The dark interior of the stone castle was light by light pouring in from the shattered red-stained windows and places where the ceiling had caved in. The long red rug, which looked as though it may have been quite elegant at one point, was mostly torn up, leaving only bits and pieces scattered on the stone floor. "What the hell..?" he mouthed to himself as he continued to look around.

On the far wall to his right, a door once stood, however now inaccessible because of the debris from the fallen ceiling. A similar door stood on the opposite side, not blocked. In front of him, a set of wide stairs went up about eight feet, from which it then leveled out to a large landing, before splitting into two taller sets of stairs leading to walkways along the upper part of the wall. Everything in the entire castle looked as though it had been there for years, destroyed by age, and hopefully nothing else. The only thing that seemed untouched by the erosion of time was a large Celtic cross just up the first set of stairs. 

The unblocked door to his left swung open, and Jomei spun around, ripping his rapier from its scabbard as he did so. He pointed the blade towards the door and whatever caused it to blast open so quickly. However, his eyes went wide and he lowered his blade when he saw the familiar blonde haired woman looking at him. Jomei's surprised, agape mouth curved at the corners, forming a smile, "Lessa." Jomei said before returning his rapier to its home on his hip and walking up to the girl. "I'm happy you're okay.. I ran as quickly as I could when I got your message.. I got worried and thought you were in trouble." 

[Lessa 1]

He looks good, was her first thought as the man approached. His face was largely obscured by shadow, but the his smile broke through, and those mossy green eyes flashed in the dim light. Thanks to the Monument of Life, the woman would know if Jomei was killed, so she was never forced to worry about that. Regardless, being alive in Aincrad could mean so many things. She herself had walked the razor edge between sanity and madness, and so she recognized that mental state was just as important. What had happened over the past year? What horrors had he played witness to? But he strode closer with the comfortable ease of a man largely unburdened. Or, at least, as unburdened as a player of Aincrad could claim to be. And she was thankful for that.

The swordswoman shook her head, blonde braid slipping over her should and dangling across her breastplate. "Nothing urgent," she reassured him. "And I'm not in trouble." The shiver that climbed her spine, and the sensation of being watched, suggested otherwise. Still, Lessa shelved the unease and leveled her blue gaze on the boy, refusing to hint at her thoughts. "I'm sorry that I gave you that impression. Mostly, I was just excited. I stumbled across this place, and figured you would be the only one who understood." Another apology lingered, unspoken, on her tongue. This one was for the abandonment, and the year she had spent in self-induced exile. In a snap decision, she let the words die. What good would it do? Nothing she could say would carry much weight, and besides, she had given the "sorry I left you" speech dozens of times before. Instead, she squared her shoulders, and blazed ahead.

"I'm assuming you found your way here the same way I did," she began. Then, without giving him time to answer, she said, "We must be somewhere below the Cathedral then? A couple miles away, I'm guessing. I feel like I walked quite a ways." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, noticing that room had grown even darker in the minutes that they had been talking. Was it merely her eyes playing tricks on her, or was even the limited sunlight dying?

[Jomei 0]

Jomei approached the woman, just happy to see that she was okay, not only from whatever was lurking in the ruins of this castle, but just in general. He had not seen her since they had last investigated the lights of the Cathedral above them. The temptation to ask her about her whereabouts and what she had been doing in that time crossed him, for he had truly missed her during that time. However, he kept those thoughts back, for something in the way she carried herself said that she did not want to talk about it. That was something he respected, were it the case, being he had his own demons he would rather not share a the time being. 

The woman told Jomei that she was not in any immediate danger, but rather excited that she had found what she was looking for. The bashful ginger rubbed the back of his neck as his cheeks flushed pink. He chuckled nervously, "O-oh.. I honestly thought you were in trouble." He was thankful that she was fine, but if he had known that earlier, he would not have almost killed himself trying to get here in record time. She was right, though, that Jomei would understand and get just as excited about what the secrets of the cathedral were. Apparently, this was it, some sort of ruined castle. He smiled at Lessa once again, "No need to apologize.. I am just happy that you are okay. And I appreciate you letting me know you found this place, I had been thinking about it off and on for the past year. Heh, I probably would not have forgiven you if you decided to come explore this place without me." he said winking at the blonde haired woman.

Jomei nodded his head as Lessa shared her assumption of how Jomei arrived at her position. "Yeah.. even though I was running, it still took me a bit to get here.. So a few miles sounds about right." He looked up through one of the broken stained glass windows, where he got a glimpse of just how far down the cliff they were from the city above them. "I didn't even realize there was anything down here.. I thought everything was ground level on this floor." The concerned frown on his face twitched at the corners before turning into a grin. His orange hair ruffled as he turned his head to look at Lessa, "So. You ready to find out just why we were led here?"

[Lessa 1]

Despite the roiling in her stomach, mixed part unease and guilt, his expression cut through the negativity, and even drew a smile from Lessa. "I am," she answered him, nodding. Then, with a flourish of her gauntleted hand, she motioned to the nearest doorway. At nearly fifteen feet high, the opening dwarfed her - and this was one of the smaller passageways leading from the foyer. Who was this castle made for? Giants? Lessa mused as she walked, letting her gaze wander over the doorway. Though the stone was cracked and crumbling like towers of a toppled sand castle, she could make out the ornate carvings from a time long-past. Did someone ever live here, or was this merely another construct of Akihiko Kayaba's twisted imagination? The history student in her imagined parties held during the castle's prime, women in beautiful gowns and men in suits, both with masks shielding their faces. But the SAO player knew this place was made not of memories, but of data. While she occasionally forgot this fact as the years passed, the realization was still painful when it did return to her.

"Alright," she began again. "After you." When he did not move immediately,  she winked at him. "You have to lead, I'm scared of ghosts." Though the smile she flashed him suggested she was joking, the death-grip on her blade's hilt said otherwise. What was it that nagged at her? Why was she so on-edge?

In the end, when Jomei strode toward the doorway, she fell into step beside him. Fortunately, they were able to pass, side by side, through the massive passage. "Big door," she commented. "I wonder what it leads to." Were she to guess, she would suspect a grand ballroom, or perhaps a sprawling library. Whatever it was, it had to be deserving of such an impressive entrance.

What she found, instead, was a hallway.

"Kind of anti-climactic," came Lessa's assessment when their eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. There were no windows here, but some light trickled through the cracks, and spilled in through the opening behind them. What there was, however, was a series of doors. There looked to be three on each side, and between each, a suit of armor stood. The pieces were over six foot, proudly guarding each new room, and appearing to stare down at Lessa in a way that made her skin crawl. "And predictable too," she managed, opting for humor before she gave in to fear. "Suits of armor in an old castle? Of course."

Edited October 5, 2017 by Lessa

[Jomei 0]

The orange haired swordsman could not help but chuckle lightly to himself when Lessa jested about being afraid of ghosts. "Oh, of course then, Lady Lessa." Jomei said, teasing her back with a soft smile. As she had suggested, the man took the lead towards one of the large nearby doors, Lessa soon taking up stride next to him. The two passed through the door with ease as Jomei opened it slowly. The anticipation of what lurked on the opposite side radiated from both of them, either from excitement or terror. Once the decayed oak doors were pushed open to their fullest, it was revealed to be a simple hallway. The corridor matched the rest of the castle, dimly lit and unsettling. No windows lined the walls, but instead were slightly rusted suits of armor. 

"Kind of anti-climactic," Lessa spoke out , seeming almost disappointed. "Anti-climactic?" Jomei questioned her, "Oh come on, a creepy hallway like this always screams trouble." Jomei slowly led Lessa through the hallway, looked at each suit of armor as he passed by. In between the steel men, was a door. There were about six in total, the empty armor standing tall in between each. "Suits of armor in an old castle? Of course." Lessa's voice went from humor, to slight bit of concern. Turning on his heels he looked at the woman, "No worries Lady Lessa" he began to tease her again, "I will protect yo-" before Jomei could finish his sentence, he noticed, over Lessa's shoulder, the large heavy door that he had pushed open was closing quickly. The two large slabs of oak met in the middle with an echoing slam. 

As the door shut, Jomei let out the breath he was holding in. "A-Alright.. Lets just move on." As he turned, he noticed something that made his body freeze up for a moment, blood running cold. The remaining four suits of armor in front of him now had their heads turned, staring at the two. Wide olive eyes turned to look over at Lessa, noticing the two behind him not only had their heads facing towards them, but were a could of steps from their post, arms out towards the two, but still frozen like statues. Jomei turned once again, the remaining four had moved as well, now frozen in place mid step, arms extended for the two players. Jomei quickly reached down and grabbed Lessa's hand, pulling her into the door closest to him on his right. They ran into the room and Jomei slammed the door behind him, taking in deep breaths. His back was against the door to avoid them opening the door, his hand still clutching onto Lessa's. "I .. I didn't see any health bars above them.. That was weird." Jomei said, regaining his composure. His eyes looked down at his hand, still holding Lessa's. His face getting hot, he released his grip from the woman's hand and brought it back to himself. "Hm.. What room is this now..." 

The room that two had quickly ducked into was darker than the last. The only source giving the room any sort of illumination was some sort of light coming from the room above, shining down through a large crack in the ceiling. The debris from the fallen ceiling piled into the corner. Jomei looked around the rest of the room, brooms and extra supplies scattered along the wall. Extra chairs were stacked in one corner, mops and buckets in another. There were shelves in front of them with dusty and cracked plates bowls and ornate chalices. There was not much to explore in this room, but Jomei was not sure if he wanted to take his chances with the large suits of armor back out in the hallway just yet. Just to be sure, Jomei reached down to the doorknob behind them, in case this really was a dead end. The door had been locked.

[Lessa 1]

She wanted desperately to tease him about calling her "Lady Lessa," and to make a bad joke about Iron Man (being a big man in a suit of armor). But her heart pistoned in her chest with such force that she feared it might burst, shattering through even her sturdy breastplate. And as his hand left hers, it was if she was losing the only shred of comfort that she had left to cling to. She drew in sharp, shallow breaths, willing her body to calm down even as she began to pace the length of the tiny room. Much like a large closet, the room provided little space to move, but she made the best of what she had. "Jomei," she pleaded softly, though she did not appear to address the boy specifically. Instead, it was the muttering of someone who simply wanted to fill a charged silence.

As she turned to face the door, striding back toward it, she stated, "We have to get out of here." Then, turning on her boot heel and striding away, she answered, "But not that way." They needed a second option, but as she madly scanned their surroundings, she found her spirits plummeting. What is this? she thought bitterly. Some sort of messed up Aincrad escape room? She had scuffed up the layer of dust on the floor, and if she paced further, she may have worn a trench into the stone.

"What do we have to work with?" she asked, turning back to him as if suddenly remembering he was there in the first place. "Since those things don't have health bars, I don't think it's safe to go back. But there are no windows, and I don't think the fine china will come in handy." With the hand not clutching her sword's hilt, she motioned to the few items that shared the room with them. Then, her blue eyes widened as an idea struck her. "Do you have a transport crystal? We could get out, and then come back when we're better prepared."

Edited October 7, 2017 by Lessa

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's olive eyes watched Lessa as she seemed not loose her composure about the situation. She paced in the small area she stood in, the look on her face trying to decipher one hundred ideas of how to escape at once. The man looked at the door, the only visible means of escape. Not only was the door locked behind them somehow, but the suits of armor were probably waiting for them on the other side. From a first glance, there was nothing in the room that they could use to get out. No doors, windows, or holes in the wall. Holes.. Jomei thought to himself as he caught glimpse of the light in the corner of the room. He saw a pile of rubble, stacked against the wall. His eyes followed the corner where the walls met upward, until he reached where the ceiling should be. The rubble on the ground was from where part of the ceiling collapsed; a possible exit point. 

Jomei placed his hand on Lessa's shoulder and pointed, "Look. Maybe theres a door on the second floor that we can get to." Jomei ran over to the corner and tried to balance himself on the debris so he could grab the ceiling above him. It was a bit too high for himself to reach. He looked at Lessa, "Here, I'll help you get up there.. Let me know if theres a door or anything to get out." The ginger squared up his legs to support himself more, bending his knees and placing his palms on top of each other, creating a platform for Lessa to place her foot. 

Once Lessa propped her foot into Jomei's hands, he lifted her upwards, just high enough so she could grab the broken ledge above them. Once she had situated herself to get a glimpse of the second floor room, she would notice that the room was pitch black, aside from a single torch that was lit on the side of the wall just next to the crack in the floor. There were seemingly no doors, no windows... no furniture. Nothing of interest appeared to be in this room, except for one entity. Whatever it was, it stood in the far corner of the room. It was a tall, slender humanoid figure with long appendages and a strangely shaped head. It seemed to be slowly pacing back and forth with a limp, its head shaking violently with each movement. Out of the corner or its unseen eyes, it caught glimpse of the blonde. The unknown monster immediately stopped in its tracks and slowly turned to face Lessa. It stood silent and still for a moment, before its face split open into five separate pieces, and running straight at Lessa, letting out a strange screech.

Spoiler

Name: <<Error:// File_Name=(Not_Found)]>>
HP: [Error:// Value=(Not_Found)]

 

[Lessa 1]

"Jomei!"

This time, his name came on a strangled scream. The slick metal of her Rose Gauntlets made finding purchase on the ledge difficult, and she began to slip backward as soon as the surprise wracked her body. Though the upper room was illuminated only by massive cracks in the ceiling, the beast looked as if he were lit by a spotlight. Every curve of the lithe body, every wrinkle of the ashen skin, was in blindingly clear focus. And as the face split, like the most horrific of flowers, a piercing cry mingled with her own.

"Down!" she shrieked, unable to craft a more coherent sentence. Like a toddler throwing a fit, she kept repeating, "Down, down down!" When her balance finally gave out, and she toppled backward, strong arms were waiting to collect her. She flailed, an ungraceful tangle of limbs, struggling to break free of the man's hold. Perhaps he understood what she was trying to do, or merely too confused to protest, but he released her only a heartbeat later. Scrambling to the other side of the room, Lessa tore her sword from its sheath. "Open the door," she commanded, voice cracking on a panicked high note. "I can handle the knights. I can't - I can't handle - that."

Her red-headed companion gaped, taking a split second too long to react, which forced Lessa to act on her own. The door was locked, was that not what he had discovered a moment ago? Well, there was no time for rationale thought or action. Instead, the woman shouldered her pink blade, then swung it up and over her head, burying it in the door jamb. The door gave with a resounding crack, and she lunged through, bursting into the hallway.

Only, it wasn't the hallway.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Lessa

[Jomei 0]

Jomei was able to lift the woman up, her heavy armor did nothing to help him with that. Once Lessa had stabilized herself and grabbed hold of the stone floor of the next building, Jomei was able to slightly relax. "Do you see a way out up there?" Jomei called up to his blonde companion, to which he received no reply at first. Lessa then called out his name, her voice sounding shaky and uneasy. "W..Whats wrong?" Jomei asked her, the tension slowly engulfing Jomei as well, worried for just what it was that was frightening Lessa. His ears caught the sound of something shuffling across the ground above them, in their direction, followed by Lessa shouting at at Jomei to let her down. Before the ginger had a chance to lower the woman back to the ground, she began to to panic. Lessa began to fall backwards from where she held herself to get away from whatever was up there quickly. Jomei stumbled back, almost tripping over the rubble under his feet and caught the heavily armored woman in his arms.

As she landed safely, she started to swing her arms as if she had walked into a spider web, frantically flailing about and punching Jomei in the face a couple of times. The man quickly let go of Lessa as she stood up and stumbled to the other side of the room, quickly grabbing her large sword and preparing it. "L-Lessa just hold on a minute!" Jomei called out to her, trying to calm her down. Before he even had a chance to offer any suggestions or ideas, the used the blade in her hands to bash open the door that separated them and the empty suits of armor. "Dammit!" he grunted, grabbing his own rapier from its sheath on his hip and rushing for the door. 

Jomei charged passed Lessa and out of the door, hoping to take out as many ghostly knights as he could before they could switch their attacks to Lessa. However, as the man looked around, he saw that there were no knights. In fact, they were not even in the same hallway as before. Instead, they had returned to the foyer where they first met, the door they had opened being on on the second level, overlooking the main entrance. "W..What?" Jomei sputtered, confused about just where they were. "But.."

That was when his eyes caught glimpse of something just across from them. It looked like a human woman, though her skin was white as snow, the tattered, dirtied nightgown she wore once a similar color. It stared at the two players from the walkway across from them, though its eyes looked black, as if there were no eyeballs in her skull to even watch them with. "L..Lessa... any ideas?" 

[Lessa 1]

The silence that followed Jomei's question was pregnant with tension and anxiety. The last thing that the redhead wanted to do was tear his eyes from the entity, even for a moment, for fear of it flying toward them. When he finally swung to face Lessa, lips drawn in a tight line, he found her doubled over. Hell Rose was propped on the dirty floor, held loosely in her hands, which were propped on her knees. Her cheeks, normally flushed a pleasant pink, were bone white. In fact, she appeared a bit like the woman who hovered above the opposite walkway.

When she felt his eyes on her, she lifted her own, drawing a gasping breath before speaking. "I said-" she managed, gritting her teeth, -"no ghosts."

A sound filled the hall, a soft murmuring that seemed to rise and fall on some mysterious melody. Or, was it in her head? "Do you hear that?" she asked, then furiously shook her blonde head - she did not really want to know the answer to that. The swordswoman straightened, deliberately turning her back to the specter, as if to remove it from existence. "I'm no expert on-this kind of thing." Was there such thing as a ghost expert? Probably, though it was not something she cared to think about. "But I used to watch a lot of Supernatural before Aincrad. If the Winchesters are to be believed, we need salt." 

He stared back, and really, what had she expected? "Salt," she repeated. "Like, for cooking." He continued to gape, and she frowned back at her friend. Her mind was too fuzzy for logical thought, and she could not quite articulate her thoughts as she hoped. Instead, she blazed on like a drunkard trying to tell a story. "But we're not cooking. Ghosts can't cross salt lines, so if we get somewhere where we can put salt down, we'll be safe." Lessa paused, then added, "From the ghost, at least. Theoretically."

[Jomei 0]

No reply from Lessa when he fished for ideas. Turning his head to look over his shoulder at the woman, she had escaped from his immediate sight. Turning around, he saw that she was crouched over into a fetal position, the rosy color from her cheeks sucked out. He frowned, seeing the girl terrified on the ground like that. He turned to look at the ghostly figure again; no motion. It had not moved and was only staring with its black abyss-like eyes. Jomei was beginning to feel a knot in his stomach himself. "Alright.. Let's just try for the door.. We can come back another time." Jomei whispered to Lessa as he watched the ghost, waiting for any sort of movement. His gaze shifted for a moment from the ghost to the door.. only to find that the door was now being guarded by two oh-so familiar suits of empty armor. "[censored]" Jomei cursed to himself. He frantically thought for a plan.

Lessa then seemed to summon a bit of courage with her apparent knowledge on ghosts. He turned, waiting to hear her idea. The now excited girl was basing her knowledge off of a television show she had frequented, Supernatural he called it. The man nodded in understanding, trying to recall such a show. He thought of seeing those ghost hunter shows.. but thats when his mind snapped to one show in particular. The one with the two pretty boys and the Impala. Jomei's expression went blank as he stared at Lessa. He was at a loss for words. However, it was the only lead they had.. even if it was from a fictional show. "A..Alright." Jomei said, "Let's.. try to find a kitchen then."

The man took a quick look around, the closest door they could make a run to was just down a few stairs at the end of the walkway. Jomei looked once more to Lessa to make sure she was okay. Once he saw that she had regained her composure, they quickly made their way into the nearby door. It was another hallway, this one did not have any suits of armor guarding the doors, but the hallway turned, hiding whatever lurked in that direction. "Alright.. lets see where these doors lead." Jomei tried to open the first door, it was locked. He turned to see if Lessa was having any luck. When he saw she had not found a kitchen either, he went for the second door, which opened to a bedroom. The room looked mostly untouched for years, dust everywhere. However, the large human-shaped bulge laying under the blanket on the bed said otherwise. The suddenly scared Jomei shut the door quickly. Now that he was close enough to the corner, he peeked around to see what was there. As he did so, he saw the ghost of the woman standing at the end of the hallway, staring at them. "[censored]!" Jomei cursed to himself, his skin paler than usual. Without much thought, he grabbed the knob for the next door and pulled it open, revealing a rather large kitchen, in which nothing seemed hostile at the moment. "Here, here!" Jomei called to Lessa

The kitchen, unlike most of the rest of the manor, was decently lit. There were butchers knives on the counter, some sticking into a cutting board. Spices and jars of various sizes stretched along the other end of the counter, most sitting upright, others fallen over. Before the two made their search for salt, Jomei leaned against a large pantry door and sighed heavily. "I've never seen anything like this.."

[Lessa 1]

"Here, here!"

Lessa wondered if she had ever been so relieved to hear Jomei's invitation in all her life. She tore her hand from the doorknob of yet another door, one she had quite honestly dreaded opening. It was easy enough to understand why, considering the previous room had been littered with the remains of porcelain dolls. Their faces had been cracked and shattered, black, lifeless eyes peering out at her from piles of torn and faded dresses. Then, there had been the dark stains, and splotches across the stone walls. Of course, Lessa assumed it was blood without considering the alternatives. Why the hell wouldn't it be blood? It made sense given everything else in that house of horrors. Lessa scrambled down the hallway, stumbling a bit as she dove into the potential safety of the kitchen. Blood and dolls, in the same room. As if she had not already been convinced that Akihiko Kayaba was one sick fu-

"I've never seen anything like this.."

"No," she answered honestly, "neither have I." She reached to rub at the back of her neck, already working to locate the much sought-after salt. The jars along the counter contained items of all colors, though most had gone dark with age and decay. Nothing even remotely resembled salt. "Maybe we should look in the pantry, and-"

A tremendous screech filled the kitchen, echoing off the rough, stone walls. With no fanfare at all, Lessa charged at Jomei, a bull that caught sight of red cloth. Jomei stumbled out of the way just as she grabbed at the pantry door's latch. It yawned open, squealing on its hinges, as if to alert whatever monstrosity was now on their tail. Lessa roughly grabbed for Jomei's arm, flung him inside, and barreled after.

Even with the door shut behind them, Lessa did not stop to rest. On the contrary, her actions grew more frantic as she searched the bags littering the small room. The word "room" was generous, considering there was hardly enough space for both players and the abandoned foodstuffs. She bumped him a couple of times, searching by only the light that seeped through a hairline crack near the ceiling. Only when her hands plunged into something that felt somewhat like salt did she slow, willing herself to do a thorough job of lining the room's only entrance. Then, she tumbled backward onto a bag of something that may have been corn.

"This is ridiculous," she informed him, as if he did not already know. "Do you think it's some sort of a glitch?"

Edited October 10, 2017 by Lessa

[Jomei 0]

With closed eyes, the Irishman took a moment to rest and regain his composure from everything the two were running into. For once in this castle, they were in a room that was seemingly normal. That was, of course, what he had assumed. The silence in the air was pierced with the screeching of some sort of unknown beast. His eyes shot open, scanning the kitchen for whatever the hell it was. Before he could catch a glimpse of the source of the noise, however, he spotted the heavy armored blonde charging at him, eyes as wide as his. She grabbed his arm and moved him away from the pantry door that his back was leaned against, throwing the door open, and pulling him inside with her. 

Jomei's body crashed into the shelves on the back wall of the pantry, knocking a few various jars, cans, and bags onto the floor. After Lessa shut the door behind them, the tiny closet was encased in darkness, save for any light trickling in from the small crack between the two doors. Jomei tried to turn his body around to face Lessa, her elbows and shoulders bumping Jomei as she frantically tried to search the shelves, looking for salt he presumed. He shook his head at Lessa's question about her concerns of this castle, not in disagreement, but more so in a lack of understanding. "I.. I don't know." He took in a deep breath, his chest heaving as he did so as well as bringing up one of his hands to push his hair back out of his face, the long orange bangs simply falling back down into place. He adjusted himself and leaned against one of the walls, giving Lessa room to dump the salt she had found onto the floor along the line of the door. "Do you really think that's going to work?" Jomei asked in a low voice, hoping that whatever was outside in the kitchen could not hear them.

[Lessa 1]

"I have no idea," she answered truthfully, shifting her weight uncomfortably atop the awkward bag. She was close to him, given the tight quarters, so she preferred not to investigate what it was she was sitting on. Besides, in the dark, she would be forced to continue searching by touch, and Lessa was unsure that was a road she wanted to travel back down. "I don't really know what's going on here. This is totally unlike anything I've ever seen before." Her frown was lost to the darkness of the room, as was the motion of twirling her blonde hair around her finger. It usually helped her think, but at present, it just felt like a nervous twitch.

Silence fell between them as the two players listened, their breathing light and shallow, so not to interfere. A moment passed. "So," she began, sounding impossibly loud even despite her whisper. "I'm kinda afraid to go back out there." Her confession was meant to be light-hearted, but when the words finally passed her lips, they lacked any real humor. She inhaled, listened for a moment longer, then exhaled, deflating like a balloon. The air was thick, and smelled of dirt and age.

"Bet you wouldn't have believe it if someone had told you yesterday you'd be trapped in a medieval pantry with me, huh?"

[Jomei 0]

It was silent for the most part as they stood there, waiting to see if the source of the noise had left them, giving them a chance to escape. Lessa mentioned that she was afraid to go back out into the kitchen. Without words, Jomei leaned his head forward towards Lessa, his face turned towards the small crack in the door. He tried to get some sort of glimpse of what exactly they were dealing with. However, the thin line of light was not enough for him to be able to see anything. He let out a heavy sigh and let his body move back to where it once was. 

"Bet you wouldn't have believe it if someone had told you yesterday you'd be trapped in a medieval pantry with me, huh?"

Jomei couldn't help but chuckle at Lessa's comment. "No, probably not... Probably would not have believed seeing you again in general." He looked across at the blonde woman for a moment before he continued, "Where have you been Lessa? Its.. really been awhile." he shook his head, looking towards the ground, "So..so much has happened.." Jomei's mind went to everything that had happened during their time apart. More things had happened to him during that time than to some in their entire time stuck in SAO. He smiled sincerely, the little bit of light catching his face so she could see that he was making the impression. "I'm happy you came back though." 

[Lessa 1]

The ex-Guardian dragged her bottom lip between her teeth, moving on the lumpy bag so that she could rest her back on the stone wall. Where have I been? Floor one, to help newcomers, and blend in with the crowd to avoid old friends. Floor seven, in the mountains, to train... and avoid old friends. Not to mention floor four, where she went when she was at her lowest. It was those nights in the starglades, watching meteors leave white streaks across the midnight blue sky, that she would not mind being found by old friends. Or anyone, for that matter. But those moments had been as fleeting as the shooting stars far above.

Still, "hiding" was probably an inappropriate answer, though not entirely incorrect. "I've been... around." Weak-ass answer. She tried again. "I've been trying to work some things out. I don't really feel like I subscribe to the 'clear the floors and save the world' mentality anymore." Lessa paused, letting the words hang in the space between them, trying to work out if they captured her sentiment correctly. Finding them lacking, she continued. "I respect those who do, don't get me wrong. They're brave as hell. I just can't do that right now, and I guess it's left me wondering what I can do. If that makes any sense."

Despite the warmth of the cramped space, and her companion's close proximity, she wrapped her arms about herself. "I need a new purpose. I'm trying to figure out what that is." But he's happy I'm back, she reminded herself. And that's something.

[Jomei 0]

Lessa went on telling Jomei that she had just ‘been around.’ The single visible brow on Jomei’s forehead rose is a curious manner at her answer. He did not bother going into details about why she had simply ‘been around’ rather than keeping in contact, but he knew all too well of how she felt. Jomei chucked and nodded his head, “You don’t need to worry.. I know how you feel. And I can’t blame you.” The Irishman tried to situate himself, trying to find comfort in shelves, jars, and bags jutting into his spine. “I only just starting becoming active again myself. I was.. uh.. I was not able to participate in boss fights for awhile.” Jomei felt it not the time to explain Jomei’s kidnapping from the PK cult for those long months. “...And I just needed to take a break for awhile for everything, for my own mental health.” 

Jomei looked back up at Lessa and smirked, “I’m sure you’ll find your purpose if you’re not planning on returning to the front lines.” He smiled, trying not to let out a small laugh, “You have a nack for getting us into these situations, maybe you should become some adventurer or something.”