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[SP-F11] Moonlight Sonata <<Feeding your Enemy>>


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"Thank you for coming by to talk. I wish you luck--"

"Yes, that's lovely. Now please step out of the doorway."

For a second, the NPC gypsy looked baffled. As baffled as a line of code could be. Earlier, the small purple-haired girl had been nothing but polite and courteous when she stopped by the old woman's house for advice on finding familiars -- Arabelle shoved right past the unmoving NPC with an impatient huff. She didn't look back to witness the old lady return to her coded routine as soon as she left the vicinity of her house, and she flicked open her menu.

Quote

Claude: Arabelle, there's literally hundreds of crows in this floor and they all look the same

Arabelle: So don't look.

Claude: ??? But you were just asking me to?

Arabelle: Get up here.

Claude: I'm busy 

Arabelle: Whatever.

Claude: Does yours have any distinguishing features?

[/seen]

Claude: Arabelle?

Her menus disappeared with a swish and she walked briskly towards the town exit.

Arabelle was in a rotten mood. She still kept her usual smile on her face as she walked towards the town exit, but inside, it felt like every minor nuisance supremely ticked her off. How could she not? Moondust vanished a week ago while it was out on one of its flights -- and she was confident, confident, that it always came back to her shop at sunset because she had ordered it to -- but up until now... it was missing. No, not missing. She had confirmed it for herself earlier when the game allowed her to accept the familiar quest.

Somehow, Moondust had just up and died.

And now she had to find a new one. Ugh. Thankfully, she hadn't sold off that Halloween familiar item yet so as soon as she reached the beginnings of Floor 11's forested area, Arabelle took it out of her inventory. It rested in her hand - white and round, giving off an odd flame-like aura - and it was as light as a feather.

She waited.

Spoiler

ACTIONS

  • Used Ghost Treat

ID: 130772 | CD: 1

[1/4] taming attempt

~~~

LEVEL 26 - 79 SP
520/520 HP | 52/52 EN | 11 DMG | 9 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA

~EQUIPPED

~BATTLE-READY INVENTORY

  • 1 Starter Healing Potion (heals 50 HP)
  • T1 Damage Potion (+1 DMG)
  • Teleportation Crystal - Use a post action to activate a teleport crystal. Teleports the player to the town or designated teleportation area they specify.

~SKILLS
Rank 5 - Two-Handed Battle Axe (+7 DMG, access to rank 5 sword arts)

E - 

~SWORD ARTS
Two-Handed Battle Axe

Rank 1
» [x2] Whirlwind (2 Energy) - A single sweeping attack so powerful that it sends forth a shock wave to hit again.
» [x2 AoE] Smash (2 Energy + 2 per target hit) - An uppercut aimed at opponents head to send them reeling.
Rank 2
» [x3 AoE] Lumberjack (3 Energy + 2 per target hit) - Three wide sweeping strokes aimed at multiple targets.
» [x3] Ultimate Breaker (3 Energy) - A pair of uppercuts that finish with a vertical slam to the target's head.
Rank 3
» [x5] Torque Wave (5 Energy) - A sweeping strike that tears into the opponent.
» [x6] Crimson Blood (6 Energy) - Three sweeping spinning slices keeping the same momentum.
» [x6 AoE] Trample Act (6 Energy +2 per target hit) - An attack that starts with a shoulder barge, then does two large sweeping attacks.
Rank 4
» [x7] Crescent Avalanche (7 Energy) - An advanced mixture of slices, hilt stabs and thrusts at an opponent.
» [x8 AoE] Ordinal Cleave (8 Energy +2 per target hit) - A flurry of eight vicious slashes that hits and targets multiple enemies.
Rank 5
» [x9] Dynamic Violence (8 Energy) - An attack of three slices, which is finished by a shock wave created by the power of an empty swing.
» [x14 AoE] Explode Catapult (14 Energy +2 per target hit) - Two powerful sweeping strokes in alternating directions that concludes with slamming the ax into the ground.
» [x13] Screw Dimension (12 Energy) - Does one slice with the ax, which then releases in a burst of energy, doing the damage again.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Dustin wakes up, pulling the covers off of himself and looking over to see a woman next to him. He barely remembered last night after going to the hill on floor 1. Her brown hair strewn across the pillow hides her identity, but he remembers her being sweet and yet promiscuous. She was a paradox to the boy and he had to know what it was like.

Surprisingly vanilla.

He gets out of bed and throws on a plain black shirt before walking out of the inn altogether. She was on his friends list now so he’d probably shoot her a message later apologizing about it, but he had to get home and check on his slimes. I hope mr. fluffy is okay. It’s been a few days. He frowns as he steps onto the main streets of the town. Wait... what floor is this?

He had just followed her up to here, and she led him to her room. Now he had to find the teleport plaza, just so he could get home and eat some cheerios.

”This calls for a...” His inventory was devoid of snacks... he had put them in his storage place at home because he didn’t plan on going out for a while. Looking for the nearest snack shop he spots a familiar head of purple hair. Sh*t... His leg pushes into the ground as he launches himself up onto the inn he had just left.

Did she see me?

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The forest was eerily q u i e t.

No birds singing, no insects humming, no leaves rustling as forest mobs crept through bushes in search of their prey. She looked behind her and found the town empty -- aside from a blur of brown and blue sneaking about which she failed to notice. She looked in front of her and saw no movement. Her heart didn't beat in fear;  it never did, but she wasn't dumb. 

Arabelle turned right around and headed back into town.

Deserted. Misty. The gate with its paved roads and cart tracks, the establishments with their old medieval architecture and moss creeping up against their stone walls, the plaza with its stone pillar, the old cathedral with its constant stream of mindless NPCs. 

All. Empty.

Her steps quickened. The glowing orb remained weightless on her hand. Arriving at the gypsy NPC's settlement, she walked in without knocking. A rather warm place. Fading varnish on its interior walls, potions on the shelves, a carpet of ethnic design just by the door -- and oh, there was the sack containing the treats it often gave away for quests. But no NPC.

Arabelle slammed the door closed behind her and held up the glowing orb.

Spoiler

ID: 132523 | CD: 11 [success]

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

She waited. Nothing changed. She was alone.

God, it was empty. It was s i c k e n i n g.

But she stayed inside the house. This was the only thing she did differently. Had that NPC been some sort of witch? Arabelle could have sworn that was the exact same one she had approached many months ago. Perhaps it was how her first familiar died, neglected. Perhaps it was her rude exit earlier. Witches were said to be petty. So the game that literally murdered hundreds was trying to teach her a lesson on courtesy? How f-cking cute.

There had to be a clue in here. She strode towards the most suspicious fixture: a center table with a huge mess of parchment, and bits and bobbles, and uncorked potions that were just about to spill. Arabelle knelt down on the carpeted floor and reached for the top of the pile.

There was only a cold sensation as her hand completely passed through.

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But the door.

Arabelle walked back and tried the door. It opened. She closed it. Pacing around the room, she took a sudden turn and swung her hand at the books balanced on a shelf. Her hand harmlessly passed through. Figures. But she felt something against her foot and she nudged it again. Solid. Ashen eyes dropped down to the sack of familiar feed.

Why that of all things? She drew out her scythe to slash through it but as soon as Shikama Douji's blade struck it, the tremor -- the vibrations from hitting something as hard as steel at full force reverberated from her arms up to her teeth. Arabelle dropped her weapon and ran a hand along the length of her numbing arm.

That answered absolutely nothing.

Trying to glean a pattern, she walked around the room in a circle with her hand held out. All she felt was a slight chill as her hand phased through all of the objects. No actual solid item that was hard as rock either. Then she walked straight into the wall dividing the main area from the back room and stopped herself just before she could fall forward.

But now she was peering out at something familiar.

That neverending expanse of white.

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Alice in her empty wonderland. 

Gone, gone was her sight. Eyes wide open but what could she do if there was nothing to see? No color, no depth, no shadow. Gone, gone were her ears. She stomped hard on the ground but only heard what was the equivalent of a light step. Since when had she started talking to herself? But she knew this place all too well. She remembers everything too easily. She remembers the rough texture of its white walls.

How about we play again and take all of that away?

--Arabelle wrenched herself back and stumbled backwards until she hit the door and crumpled to the floor with a thud. It was hard to breathe. No. No, God, no, not again. She thought that place was behind her. She cleared that quest ages ago.

She didn't want to do it again. She didn't want to do it again.

butwasitsomethingshedid?shehadn'tgonetochurchsincethegamestarted,but it'snotlikethatwasanythingnew.shelied.shecursed.shewasshorttempered.shewasagossip.shetookthelord'snameinvain.sheloathedherparents.ah,shewouldneverbeforgivenforkillinghalfofhisguild.sheneverevenaskedforforgiveness.shehatedthatonegirl.sheneverlovedthatonepersonenough.shemisleadtoomany.shenevereventolddustinaboutthatperson.butno,god,no,sheregrettedonlyafewofitbutifallsheneededtoneverseethatplaceagainwastoaskforforgivenessthenmaybe-̢̤̘̪̬̟̿̄̈́͒̀͑-̲͕̜̲͍̦͈͚̱̊̉̑̃͛͒̂͟͞-̢̢̛̤͇̫̓̑̅̃͛͂͝-̴̨̛̤̟̬͓̲̄͗̽͐͋̅̇̚͠-̵͖̠̩͓̗͉̪̈́̔̎͒̾͌̋̅̒̕-̵̞̝͙͓͎̥̣̲̠͌̎͐̀̉̑̓͟-̲̮͍̬̯̤̠͖̈́͒̽̽̀-̨̱̜̲̀̑͊̔̈͆͢͝-̧̛͈̫̘̳̯͗̋̏̆͊̕ͅ-̣͔͙̥͉͓̜͚͕̾͊́͆̇͊̆͜͠-̸͎̳͔̟̠͉̤̼̔͒͑͂͠-̫̩̩̩͓̳̱̥̐́͋͋͜͝-̢̤̘̪̬̟̿̄̈́͒̀͑-̲͕̜̲͍̦͈͚̱̊̉̑̃͛͒̂͟͞-̢̢̛̤͇̫̓̑̅̃͛͂͝-̴̨̛̤̟̬͓̲̄͗̽͐͋̅̇̚͠-̵͖̠̩͓̗͉̪̈́̔̎͒̾͌̋̅̒̕-̵̞̝͙͓͎̥̣̲̠͌̎͐̀̉̑̓͟-̲̮͍̬̯̤̠͖̈́͒̽̽̀-̨̱̜̲̀̑͊̔̈͆͢͝-̧̛͈̫̘̳̯͗̋̏̆͊̕ͅ-̣͔͙̥͉͓̜͚͕̾͊́͆̇͊̆͜͠-̸͎̳͔̟̠͉̤̼̔͒͑͂͠-̫̩̩̩͓̳̱̥̐́͋͋͜͝-̢̤̘̪̬̟̿̄̈́͒̀͑-̲͕̜̲͍̦͈͚̱̊̉̑̃͛͒̂͟͞-̢̢̛̤͇̫̓̑̅̃͛͂͝-̴̨̛̤̟̬͓̲̄͗̽͐͋̅̇̚͠-̵͖̠̩͓̗͉̪̈́̔̎͒̾͌̋̅̒̕-̵̞̝͙͓͎̥̣̲̠͌̎͐̀̉̑̓͟-̲̮͍̬̯̤̠͖̈́͒̽̽̀-̨̱̜̲̀̑͊̔̈͆͢͝-̧̛͈̫̘̳̯͗̋̏̆͊̕ͅ-̣͔͙̥͉͓̜͚͕̾͊́͆̇͊̆͜͠-̸͎̳͔̟̠͉̤̼̔͒͑͂͠-̫̩̩̩͓̳̱̥̐́͋͋͜͝

"[][][][][][]..."

Arabelle couldn't steady her trembling hands. She hadn't done anything, but she was shivering and covered in a cold sweat. One swipe down a list. 

'That. White. Place. Please. Help.' Send.

Player out of bounds.

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"You can't use teleport crystals. You can't contact anyone. This area seems to be a complete deadzone." She laced her fingers together and smiled. "No wonder the first two jumped off the cliff."

Not again. Not again not again not again. She raked her hands through her hair, pulling hard enough that she thought she almost felt that numb electric sensation that was made to replace pain. She pulled her legs close to her chest. Curled into herself. Tried to regulate her breathing. She must have looked rather mad, she suddenly thought to herself, alone in yet another empty world and practically on the verge of a breakdown. But she didn't get through the first one alone. What was the possibility of her lasting another two weeks? The possibility of him following her in once again -- in the same fashion that he did on that day? Close to zero. But she had made a promise at the very end and she rarely did and she thought that was enough, she promised promised promised--

This was really happening to her again, wasn't it? She didn't want any of this. She never did. She didn't deserve this, she didn't, she definitely didn't... or did she--? She just wanted it all to stop stop sTop SToP. I hATe tHIs. mAkE IT Stop AlrEaDY--

Arabelle looked up.

That didn't sound like her voice.

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Whoever it was, they stopped.

--And she hadn't noticed earlier, but it was starting to creep in. The back wall had been swallowed up, so that when she lifted her head, she was staring into that unending nothingness once again -- framed by the slightly comforting sight of the interior walls and bookshelves. Even now, she thought she could see it if she looked closely enough. Inching closer and closer and closer...

Not again.

She still had this room, right? The things she could touch and the things she couldn't. And that voice. Somewhat shakily, Arabelle stood up. It would be dumb, she thought, if she just sat in fear as she was consumed by it. Not something she would want anyone to hear about. And more than anything, she wouldn't forgive herself for allowing such a thing to happen. Now where was her scythe? Bloodshot eyes scoured the room before she spotted the large weapon on the floor near the bag of feed. 

Right. She dipped down to pick it up. Then, wincing, she reached into the bag. She dipped a gloved hand in, scooped up some, and quickly retracted her hand. Arabelle didn't mind how it spilled onto the floor -- considering how this was probably separate from the main floor anyway, it wouldn't have any effect -- but eventually, it came to a point where the feed was around four-fifths of its original quantity. And the rest was rock hard. 

It looked like feed, but she couldn't scrape past it. Probably, it was the part she hit when she swung her scythe.

So this wasn't in the mystery house genre.

Arabelle felt like banging her head against the wall.

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