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[PP-23] <<Escaping the Underdark>> Sins of Intent


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"No, now its just exhausting to exist." 

"Well, that's rather rudderless and depressing, isn't it?'  Or so I thought to myself.  Mari didn't need to hear it and had already moved on to her rant quiet about people being all selfish and pushing their own agendas.  She wasn't wrong, but feeding that perspective also wouldn't be helpful.

"So, what is it that you actually want for yourself?"  It seemed a simple question, but in all of our conversations, she never seemed to have come anywhere close to actually addressing that point.  Did she even know?  'To be left alone,' was the anticipated response, but I doubted that she truly wanted that either.  The solitude would leave her alone with her misery, where it would fester until she faded away until nothing remained.  That sounded more like her.  I wasn't going to put up with that kind of self-destructive wallowing.  Too many people around here get stuck in that rut and then can't get back out.  Some choose to just end themselves as a result.  Others just crack and start ending their fellows instead.  But she'd already done that, hadn't she?

I just kept my mouth shut, lips pursed as if hoping that she'd somehow surprise me, but not really expecting anything.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I wasn't expecting him to ask the question. Hell - I struggled to recall when anyone had asked me what I actually wanted. I  was always told what I had to be, what I had to do. I had to be strong. I had to set an example as a frontliner, a guild leader. I had to learn to control my emotions. I had to prove to others that I was more than just an orange cursor. I had to be that 'pillar' that others could lean on. All things that people constantly told me I had to do - things I had to be.

Fuck.

I wasn't sure what was more depressing, the sudden awareness that not once, had anyone I considered a friend asked what I wanted at least to my recollection. Or that I had pushed myself so hard, so much...for so long that I wasn't sure if I was even myself anymore. That I questioned who I was.  Was I really murderous? Angry? Vile? Have I simply lead myself to believe lie upon lie to cover a more dark truth? Or was I truly this frail, crumbling shell of a human?

"Hah." My sudden outburst was loud, and bitter. I never meant to sound that way, it just...happened. I had to watch myself for that. "Hahah..." I shook my head as another few fell from my lips, like tiny droplets of weighted venom. "Sorry. I just-" I lifted my head to gaze up at the cavernous ceiling high above us. "I don't think anyone's asked me that before. What do I want....hmm..."

What...did I want? Friends? Someone to relate to? It felt like everyone I know had run away, walking into the metaphorical light and turning away from me. It felt like even as I reached out to them. Called out to them. I found that the didn't look back, and if they did - it was with a blade in hand. So ... somewhere down the line, I had turned my back against everyone too - that was the past....yet. Slowly, but surely, I felt like that was all repeating.

I noticed it, small things. Yuki being so frustrated with me she seemed to want to have nothing to do with me anymore. Crozeph - no longer visiting. Shield and Baldur being busy, and Beat - I wasn't sure what was going on with him. Oikawa had outright dropped off the face of the tower. Even Macradon - someone I considered my best friend. He seemed stressed, and I didn't want to add to that. "Maybe...for the past to not repeat itself?" I asked. Freyd probably wouldn't like that answer. Wishful thinking at beast.

i let my index finger gently trace the surface of the wood, feeling the bumps and scratches of wear and tear. Of time, of use. "No..." I quietly whispered. That'd be inevitable at this rate. "I think...a part of me just wants to be able to rely on someone else for a change, just once - heh -  maybe even remember what it was like to feel the genuine warmth of another."  I forced my eyes shut, feeling a quiver in my voice, and an ache in the pit of my stomach. A pain that often came with the realization that such things wouldn't occur for me. That I felt so terribly and irrevocably alone. How that despite the sudden influx of people in my life, I still felt so isolated and empty. A void sat in my chest - and I knew that I was the only one to blame for that. MY blade had taken lives, MY anger had taken me. 

I was. Am a murderer. Because of me, lives were lost, and families would never be reunited. I wouldn't deserve love. And that truth held me, choked me with a cold grip tightly wound around my throat, never allowing me to express who I was nor how I felt. Its spindly fingers forced me to wear a smile so dull and empty, but so very, very reflective. I had done it on instinct. who even was I?

"To figure out who I am again."

Came my final answer. Then, quickly - before he could dissect it, I returned the question.

"What about you, Freyd?"

@Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

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Listening in silence as she spoke, I could hear her struggling to be honest with herself, and to drop the façade of expected responses.  Finally.  Progress.  My gaze stayed locked on the path before the cart, lest we run off some cliff of be ambushed again, but also because she couldn't finish this with eyes upon her.  They'd carry imaginary judgment that she couldn't bear while trying to get this out.  Let her speak.  

It was like she was sifting through her entire unspoken history, reviewing choices and finally coming to terms with choices made, regardless of their original intent.  Had no one truly ever asked her this before?  Had she never thought to ask herself?  That must have been it: the spark he saw in her so long ago that he couldn't even recall how much had passed.  There was a concerted selflessness about her - despite her past - that struck stark contrast to so many others he had encountered in Aincrad.  She was trying, despite so many fumbles and foibles.

"What about you, Freyd?"

That was just as tough a question, wasn't it?  To serve?  To fight?  To be the will to act where others couldn't shoulder the blame or the burden?  These seemed like equally false delusions, comparable to the ones she had inflicted on herself.  What is my truth?  

I felt the tug that pulled the glove from my right hand, not even realizing that I was doing it myself.  Exposed.  That's really what it took, wasn't it?  I could deflect any insult, take any risk, justify anything to myself as necessary, but it made me no different than a machine.  To answer her question, and mine, required contact with something I had closed away within myself long before Kayaba's doom befell us all.

Placing my hand on hers, I let the warmth seep in.  She felt cold.  She was cold, and in need of the simplest act of human contact.

"I need to remember that it's okay to be human, and allow myself to take a chance on my feelings again.  Thank you, for helping me answer the question I brought to your home so very long ago, and reminding me that... maybe, I can still be human after all."  A small, but humble smile perched itself upon my lips as a flutter flashed through the withered thing I'd forced my heart to become.  It was okay to feel.  My eyes turned to catch hers through the corner of their sockets, my face not daring to follow lest it spook her back under her mental covers.

"I'd like to help return the favour, if you'll let me, as a friend.  No schemes or strings attached."

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It was his turn to fall silent now. I suppose I expected that, it was an unusually tough question to ask. Not many could, nor would answer it without a moments hesitation. His answer was not too dissimilar to her own, he wanted to find himself. Remind himself he was human. Then, came his hand. Followed by a serene, timid smile - that seemed to uncover a trembling heart. The rush of a kind of undiluted compassion whose flames flickered, licking at my fingers, warming me- that trickling warmth followed up my arm and I even chanced to raise my fingers, allowing them to entwine into his as they gripped his hand in return. I was so desperate for some semblance of comfort. I wanted this. I needed this. my jaw tightened and my chest felt like it was going to explode. All the pent up pain ready to bubble over. 

But - a single, long breath inward....


                 You can't...
 

There was no helping me. No amount of goodwill, kindness, nor warmth would ever fix me. Not after what I had done. I pulled my hand away from his, and my arms erupted in the cold feeling of goosebumps. Parts of me screamed to place my hand back beneath his. Because...when...when would I ever feel that warmth again? The kind of simple and serene comfort that a simple touch, the smallest of gestures could bring. I missed it.

 But I couldn't have that. I couldn't get that back, despite how badly I wanted it - because the moment that first life was shattered, the moment that light snuffed - I had voided any right to warmth. Love...would be nothing more than a more severe form of grief for me. If I even dared to try it'd swallow me up - and I'd not be able to keep my promise.

"You're...kind to offer." i said quietly as I placed my hand in my lap. Maybe, if things were different. Had been different - I'd accept it. But how could I? After everything?
 
I couldn't let him do that, to attach himself to me was a death sentence. "And you're...welcome." My words felt hollow. Despite me trying my best to reassure him they were empty. My eyes burned, and I knew if I blinked, they'd betray me, and salty tears of frustration would fall down my cold cheeks. I was so desperate for everything he was offering, and I wanted so irrevocably so to embrace it but Baldurs words came to mind.

You're looking for people to attach to. To feel apart of again. To feel welcome again

He was right. I was. And I couldn't..

I felt my chest tremble.

I couldn't.

"You're..." What do I say? "-A good friend, Takeshi." His real name felt foreign on my lips, I had stopped using it after the ordeal with with the strange Gemini creatures, but...despite that, it also felt right to use. It felt like this was the time. And that, maybe my tone wasn't filled with warmth, or hope, or compassion -but the name. That meant something. More than I could ever probably portray.

...

I wanted to feel that hand again....

Instead, I gave him a heavy and practiced smile. I didn't outright tell him he couldn't, even though I knew that were the case. He had turned away from me already, so I finally shut my eyes, and as I suspected - those tears trickled down my face. Heh...  My own gaze shifted away, turning away from him to watch dreary rocks and scenery break away to tufts of grass. We were almost at the surface - and soon, that light would be cast upon us, and our shadows - would become greater.

I'd have to remember what that warmth was like. Because I'd probably never feel it again.

@Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

Edited by Mari
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"You are so bloody stubborn," I said, a light chuckle lilting behind my words, before my voice turned solemn again.  There was life in it now, not just the drone of pragmatism.  

"Do you know what defines the best and most important qualities in a friend?"  Reaching over, I gently grasped her hand from her lap and returned it to the seat between us, my fingers laced between hers to make more difficult a second escape.  "Not willingly letting you shy away from the hard stuff that you really need to face, and being there with you when you do.  Fair-weather friends are fleeting.  You'll only find a few in your lifetime who will stick with you when the shit hits the fan, or in the gruesome aftermath.  Good friends are there when you're at your very worst, not the other way around."

The wagon turned a winding corner and climbed the final rise to emerge from the cold and dampness of the Underdark, just in time for the rays of a perfect, orange and pink dawn to spill over us and glitter over Mari's tears.  "Cherish those tears, Mari.  Own them and accept them.  Let them weep out who you were and make room for who you want to be.  Fight for that!  Allow yourself to have this, and build on it.  Don't stay in the dark."

Memories of an old man's quirkiness flooded my mind, along with the sensation of gentle and supporting hands that felt gigantic on a small boy's shoulders.  Images of smiles followed, of a kind that carried such sincerity that it hurt to gaze upon them, because they made you realize how much one person could care for another's hardships without ever having to say so.  I gave that smile to Mari now, cursing myself for ever having lost sight of it myself.  This was what it meant to be a better person.

"Thanks gramps," I said aloud, to no one in particular.  "You were a better teacher than I gave you credit for, you kooky old bastard.  I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize it."

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"Do you know what defines the best and most important qualities in a friend?" 

I shrugged, "Dunno. All mine have literally stabbed me. Maybe good aim?" I said with a dry smile. Friends. Macradon... Yeh, That was really the only real friend I had here. I wanted to call Shield a friend, but he was so very pragmatic I wasn't sure where I stood with him, and Beat - poof, gone. Baldur - I pushed away with my childish crush... Oikawa... I lowered my eyes. Oikawa. He had gone too. Wow. I had a pretty bad track record with friends. 

Freyd continued, with a firm grip on my hand, telling me what he thinks good friends were - and that sounded all well and good. But people like that didn't really exist. 
I tried to pull away from his grasp, but he held tight. After a few attempts I sighed, feeling my shoulders rise and fall. Instead - I let him hold it. Let him have his stupid victory. I kept my gave away from him on purpose. I didn't need to see him looking at me. Not with with that dumb smile, and not after saying such corny ass words.

Cherish tears? What a rort... Almost out of defiance I reached up with my free hand and wiped them away from my face. I really really didn't need to hear a lecture on this kind of thing right now. 

Still..

It was nice. It was the dumbest, corniest shit I've ever heard, but it was the kindest words I had heard in a very, very long time. So...who was I mad at? him? Myself? The world?

...I wasn't mad at him.

"You know, if you say such things to a girl - and hold her hand so firmly, she may just get the wrong idea." 

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"Maybe," I replied snuffling a chuckle, "but I'd probably be too clueless to notice it, and you don't need that kind of pressure right now.  My hand is just there to be the friend you know you need, but are too damned stubborn to let yourself accept.  Like I said before: no strings attached."

A flicker of movement at the cave mouth caught my eye, and the grip of my grasp turned from one of support to tenser warning.  It let go a moment later as I launched myself from the wagon once more, raising my alarm with the minimum amount of warning for friends and foes alike.

"AMBUSH!"

Clashing steel confirmed my guess.  They were armed, but not with chitin, claws and barbs, like so many of the denizens of the Underdark.  These were assassins, sent to collect the Lily's prize.  There was more at play here than we were being told, and I was very much looking forward to getting some answers.

Spoiler

Calamity Disaster (12x AoE +6 for hits): 18 EN - (Rested 1/2, Finesse 3): 14 EN

ID #179894 | BD: 8+6-1=14 (hit).  Freyd deals (12*22=264-30=234) damage to Dark Elf Hunter #1.
ID #179895 | BD: 1 (miss).  Freyd misses Dark Elf Hunter #2
ID #179896 | BD: 4+6-1=9 (hit).  Freyd deals (12*22=264-30=234) damage to Dark Elf Hunter #3.
ID #179897 | BD: 2+6-1=7 (hit).  Freyd deals (12*22=264-30=234) damage to Dark Elf Hunter #4.

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadows | HP:1150/1150 | EN:98/112 | DMG:22 | MIT:124| EVA:3 | ACC:6 | KEEN:1 | HLY:6 | BLD:36 | BH:34
Mari | HP 1610/1610  | EN: 158/158 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 43 | EVA:3 | ACC: 4  | BH: 72 | BRN: 24 |BLEED: 24 | FLAME AURA: 15 

[1,0] Dark Elf Hunter #1 | HP: 341/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (575-234)
[0,0] Dark Elf Hunter #2 | HP: 575/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1
[1,0] Dark Elf Hunter #3 | HP: 341/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (575-234)
[1,0] Dark Elf Hunter #4 | HP: 341/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (575-234)

 

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I snorted, and couldn't help but smile at the admission. "So the mighty Takeshi ain't so infallible, eh?" I jested. It was at this point I was able to turn and look at him, my eyes were probably raw, red. Glistening with the tears he so wholly praised before. "So you're the type who someone would have to lean in and kiss first? Sorta a....figurative slap to the face?" Not that I had any real interest in him, at this point it was just ....nice to have the attention off of me. It made me uncomfortable to be the focus of such things. 

Although I picked a terrible subject choice to switch it too, because with those jests came the all too familiar tugs at my heart - tiny truths like poisoned needles thrust deep into my chest. I... wasn't fit nor deserving of such things.


I was thankful for the ambush, unlike Freyd I wasn't quick to leap into action. As he fought them I slowly pushed myself off the cart, landing with a small 'hup' as my feet hit the dirt.

"Mmmm..." Dark elves. They looked stronger than the last few enemies they had encountered, but still, they were no trouble for the two players. Things like this - barely registered on Mari's radar. They weren't anything more than thin strips of code that would reform somewhere else. 

Lazy. I was being lazy as I drew out my spear and activated the <<Weeping Moon>> Attack A large arc swept across the elves, most of them had ducked out of the way, except one, who seemed to be distracted.

"Ugh..." I groaned as I took a step back, allowing room for Freyd to make another attack. That...was terrible, guess my cavalier attitude got the best of me. "I really don't want to  be here."

I'm so tired. 
*Rolling

ACTION:
[x9 AoE]
 Weeping Moon (9 Energy 
+2 per target hit) - Do a single and powerful 360-degree spin
19 (+5 charge)  24 x 9 = 216 - 30=186

Dark Elf: 1  ID:180133   BD: 2+4-6-2=MISS   MOB:5-3= MISS
Dark Elf:2   ID:180134   BD: 3+4=7-2=MISS   MOB: 2-MISS
Dark Elf 3   ID:180135   BD: 4+4=8-2=6 HIT  MOB: 7+2=9-3=HIT
Dark Elf: 4  ID 180136  BD: 10 HIT +2!   MOB 1 MISS    (26 x 9= 204 DAM) + BLEED
Dark Elf: 5 ID:180137  BD: 3+4=7-2=MISS  

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadows | HP:1124/1150 | EN:98/112 | DMG:22 | MIT:124| EVA:3 | ACC:6 | KEEN:1 | HLY:6 | BLD:36 | BH:34  -26 DAM
Mari | HP 1610/1610  | EN: 147/158 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 43 | EVA:3 | ACC: 4  | BH: 72 | BRN: 24 |BLEED: 24 | FLAME AURA: 15 

[1,0] Dark Elf Hunter #1 | HP: 341/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 
[0,0] Dark Elf Hunter #2 | HP: 575/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1
[1,1] Dark Elf Hunter #3 | HP: 137/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1  -204   -24 BLEED 2/2
[1,0] Dark Elf Hunter #4 | HP: 341/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 

Edited by Mari
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"So the mighty Takeshi ain't so infallible, eh?"

Did she think that's how I thought of myself?  Is she so fragile and bitter that any sense of strength or certainty is instantly reviled?  Probably.  It fit the pattern.  

Roll left. 
Upward swing. 
Catch the next one's blade with mine. 
Sever his hamstring with a follow-up.  

The thoughts flowed like a ticker tape message through the back of my ever-processing mind, regardless of whatever else I might be focused on.  It made it impossible to relax, not that I'd ever particularly felt the need, aside from moments spent decompressing with Marv.  Those were good times.

Focus.
Parry right. 
Swivel and strike head with pommel.
Grab blade and thrust like spear.

"So you're the type who someone would have to lean in and kiss first? Sorta a....figurative slap to the face?" 

*Blink*

"What?"  She was probably joking, or just deflecting.  There was no way it could be anything else.  What the hell would she want with me after everything else she's already suffered at 'my' hands - directly or otherwise?  It was a tease.  Had to be.

"I really don't want to be here."

And yet, you are, by your own volition?  With me, of all people?!  As much as she complains, perhaps she simply craves a degree of human contact?  Heh.  Interesting choice of companions, given all your other options.  

"Let's get ourselves out into the light.  Then we can figure out how to get you some rest."

Spoiler

Freyd recovers 26 HP from BH.

Calamity Disaster (12x AoE +8 for hits): 20 EN - (Rested 2/2, Finesse 3, Turn Recovery): 15 EN

ID #180154 | BD: 8+6-1=13 (hit).  Freyd deals (12*22=264-30=234) damage to Dark Elf Hunter #1.
ID #180156 | BD: 4+6-1=9 (hit).  Freyd deals (12*22=264-30=234) damage to Dark Elf Hunter #2.
ID #180158 | BD: 7+6-1=12 (hit).  Freyd deals (12*22=264-30=234) damage to Dark Elf Hunter #3.
ID #180159 | BD: 10 (Crit +2, Holy +6).  Freyd deals (12*30=360-30=330) damage to Dark Elf Hunter #4.

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadows | HP:1150/1150 | EN:83/112 | DMG:22 | MIT:124| EVA:3 | ACC:6 | KEEN:1 | HLY:6 | BLD:36 | BH:34  -26 DAM
Mari | HP 1610/1610  | EN: 147/158 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 43 | EVA:3 | ACC: 4  | BH: 72 | BRN: 24 |BLEED: 24 | FLAME AURA: 15 

[2,0] Dark Elf Hunter #1 | HP: 107/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (341-234)
[1,0] Dark Elf Hunter #2 | HP: 341/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (575-234)
[2,1] Dark Elf Hunter #3 | HP: 0/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (137-234)
[3,0] Dark Elf Hunter #4 | HP: 11/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (341-330) 36 Bleed 2/2

 

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Freyd looked absolutely speechless at my comment. 
Ha. Got him.

It was almost endearing to see him thrown for a loop. "What?" I asked, feigning innocence. "I'm not sayin to actually slap you - just yanno - a kiss." I said with a shrug and a grin. It felt... a little bit better to be able to force out the jokes again. They always seemed to lighten the mood. Sides, it seemed like he could use the distraction. I shifted my eyes shifted to the elves. Mmm. Maybe after the battle though.

Freyd seemed focused on the battle - his words  a little terse as he mentioned that they should continue their discussion outside the dark caverns. He probably thought I meant I didn't want to be here with him, and granted - that was true in the beginning. Now I felt...I wasn't sure. Indifferent? Accepting? Tolerable. Yeh. He was tolerable to be around. Despite his quirks and qualms Freyd wasn't entirely a bad person.

Crap
"N-No I mean..." I shook my head, feeling flustered. He probably thought I hated him. "I meant i don't want to be here." I tried my best to gesture toward the fight, and the dark elves. "Fighting I mean." I turned my eyes back to them. "Honestly...I really hate it." I didn't like fighting, I didn't like the numbers, the violence, the stats - everything about it seemed so bothersome yet so necessary. Although my mark would lead others to believe otherwise. Let them. Let them think what they wanted.

Despite my distaste for it, I activated <<Weeping Moon>> And in a more concise strike - had managed to defeat all but one of the remaining elves.

"Mmmm....." I stared at the Dark Elf that had fallen over, his foot sliding on the dirt as he ducked under the swing of my blow. "One left. It's all yours, and for the record, I don't entirely dislike your company..I snorted. "When things are lees goopy that is."

@Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[x9 AoE] Weeping Moon (9 Energy +2 per target hit) - Do a single and powerful 360-degree spin

19x9=171-30=132

Dark Elf 1  ID: 180166  BD: 6 +4=10-1=9 HIT 
Dark Elf 2 ID:  180167  BD: 5 + 4=9-1=HIT  MOB: 1 MISS
Dark Elf 4 ID:  180168  BD: 6 + 4=10-1=9 HIT

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadows | HP:1150/1150 | EN:83/112 | DMG:22 | MIT:124| EVA:3 | ACC:6 | KEEN:1 | HLY:6 | BLD:36 | BH:34  -26 DAM
Mari | HP 1610/1610  | EN: 147/158 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 43 | EVA:3 | ACC: 4  | BH: 72 | BRN: 24 |BLEED: 24 | FLAME AURA: 15 

[2,0] Dark Elf Hunter #1 | HP: 0/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1  -132
[1,0] Dark Elf Hunter #2 | HP: 209/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 -132
[2,1] Dark Elf Hunter #3 | HP: 0/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (137-234)
[3,0] Dark Elf Hunter #4 | HP: 0/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (341-330)  -132

Edited by Mari
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Grabbing a fist-sized rock, I flipped it into the air, shifted the grip on my blade to turn it flat and promptly beaned it like a baseball at the lone surviving mob.

*CLANG*

*THUD*

"Oww!"

Right between the eyes!  Wow.  I couldn't hit the ball, let along drive it to an intended target, at least in real life.  A whirling slice follow-up finished him off, the shattered shard showering like digital guts all over the walls of the cave mouth behind where the man had stood.  Craning to look back beyond Mari, Tythen and Fonsa seemed no worse for wear.  I'd nearly forgotten that they were there, and the point of the whole quest, actually.

"Let's get out of here, quickly, in case any more are around."  A snap of the reigns was all that was needed, sparing a moment for Mari to return to her seat. I reached out a hand to help her up.  With only a moment's hesitation, this time, she took it and pulled herself up.    A smile and falsely wary eyes were all I offered in response to her jibe.  It was good to hear her joke again.

"You realize that I'm pretty much a walking calamity, right?  I'm that guy who falls face first on his opening move, or slips on the banana peel no one know was there, because 'haha, look at the spoopy guy embarrass himself.'"  I shook a fist at the sky, like it was somehow Cardinal, only to clear the cave mouth at exactly the same moment and have the sun beam me right in the eyes.

"Gah!  Dangit!"  I sat laughing at myself, trying to wipe sun spots from my vision and not drive the wagon off the side of a cliff in the process.  "Don't entirely dislike?" I quoted back, still chuckling.  "I'll take it as progress.  And, sorry, but you get the goopy, the spoopy, the corny and coy all as part of the package deal."  Patting my hand over hers, it was nice to see some spark of life back in her eyes as we left darkness behind.

"What does that get you?  Goo-spoo-corni-coy?!  Ugh.  Sounds worse."

"It gets me Takeshi.  Just Takeshi." She said with the slightest of squeezes in return.

Fonsa and Tythen just looked at us like we were both nuts.

Spoiler

Galaxy Destroyer (x13): 13 EN - (Finesse 3, Turn Recovery)

ID #180169 | BD: 4+6-1=9 (hit).  Freyd deals (13*22=286-30=256) damage to Dark Elf Hunter #2.

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadows | HP:1150/1150 | EN:83/112 | DMG:22 | MIT:124| EVA:3 | ACC:6 | KEEN:1 | HLY:6 | BLD:36 | BH:34  
Mari | HP 1610/1610  | EN: 147/158 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 43 | EVA:3 | ACC: 4  | BH: 72 | BRN: 24 |BLEED: 24 | FLAME AURA: 15 

[2,0] Dark Elf Hunter #2 | HP: 209/575 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 (209-256)

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Thread Summary:

Mari & Freyd each receive:

4 SP (1 page, +1 event, +2 quest)

8,200 col 

March of the Rebellion - Hypnosis Debuff Song. 

 

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