Kiru

I shifted my weight and crossed my arms. "Actually no, I think it's the worst idea in this situation other than coming up with an elaborate plan "to hunt her and the guild down. But what am I supposed to do right now, Oikawa?" I asked, uncrossing my arms out of frustration. I could not think of any other logical thing to do right now. After all, when was I ever logical? I sighed and continued, "Threatening Opal is not my first priority if you were even listening to anything I said. I was going to talk with her, then if things start going bad I would tell her to back off or she was going to have a problem. Of course, 

As soon as I finished, the blonde stood up. He wasn't listening to me. Oikawa made his way over to me, clamping a gloved hand on one of my shoulders, and stared directly into my eyes. I didn't really want to look at him right now, but somehow I couldn't escape his crimson pools. I kept my head straight for a moment and listened again, which made me a smidge angry, "Oikawa, if there were another way to go about this, I would do it. However, since you cannot seem to think of any and I'm too stubborn to agree, this is what I'm going to do," He proceeded to talk about Rebekah and Tristan, saying that he had lost them. Saying that he did not want to lose me. Suddenly I felt a pang in my heart; Zel told me just about those exact same words. "I don't want to lose you either, that's why I'm doing this. Why can't you just understand?" I thought and looked away for a moment, only to return my icy gaze to his. This was definitely the worst thing to do, and I knew it would hurt him, but that's why. Zelrius did the exact same thing to me, and I hated it, but I was going to do it. Pushing Oikawa away for right now was the best option. I sucked in a small breath and laughed a little.   

The show was about to begin.

"Yeah isn't it hard for people to just disappear from you? That's rich coming from the one who just shoved a sword through Zelrius' back. Everyone I've met has gone, you're just not experiencing the after effects. You just killed my best friend and now you're trying to stop me? You can't just pick and choose who you affect you know. Tristan was long gone, he never wanted to be in the Brigade. Rebekah never cared. But neither did you. Oikawa, you've never been there for me. That night at the festival was a coincidence, nothing more. I know you don't feel that way because you just killed Zel," I said, knowing that he would take at least some of this to heart, "Oikawa, I've always acted like a queen, why stop now? Tell me, why should I just stop my plans because you suddenly feel remorse for the stuff you've done? I'm sick of it," This was so out of character for me, not for how I was, but for how I am. 

After he dropped his arm I felt like complete crap. This was not what I wanted. I wanted him to come with me, but he wouldn't. So I had to go, but only if he wouldn't stop me. "And how do you plan to stop me? You said that you wouldn't try and stop me. You said you wouldn't march to death with me? So how? How could you possibly stop me, Oikawa?" 

"And you can't lose me to her? Hm, that's a familiar feeling..." I closed my eyes, I couldn't look at him, "You don't really like me." 

I am laughing way too hard at these omg. (Thanks for thinking of me for this! I feel honored and love this.)

And my card is basically golden: UR Level 1 with overpowered stats, this is so Kiru. Love the inside joke and the ice.

My hands, previously pressed together while waiting, dropped to my sides like dead weight. I stopped behind my chair and looked at Oikawa with both confusion and anger. "Does he even know what he's saying?" I thought and gripped the back of the chair. Of course, instead of losing my temper as per usual, I let him finished and actually tried to understand what he was saying. Though most of it flew totally over my head I still caught on to most of it.  "If you had more potions I would trust that you would give them to me. Oikawa, those potions are addictive so even after two times of consumption you would be going back to Opal, buying more and more until she could have something on you. She could make you do stuff for her, because that's the type of person Opal is based on your description. She's a lot like Mari, but she's also way different," I loosened my hands slightly from the chair when he informed me that there weren't any left. I almost let out a sigh of relief but figured it was not really appropriate. It was true that the potions should be destroyed but there was no way I would do that. After all, I still had one in my inventory. There was only a one percent chance of using it for myself, however. I kept it for PK hunting purposes. 

I cleared my throat and looked at Oikawa, "I didn't think you would want to come," As said before, he would not run into death to save someone because he valued his life and was too smart to do something so stupid. I guess that's was parted Oikawa and I, instinct. "Irresponsible? Hm, doesn't that sound familiar coming from the one who blindly trusted an Alchemist?" I asked, and immediately regretted it. I haven't talked to anyone like that in awhile and it was painful to think that I used to do this all the time. Even so, I continued, "I have already thought about it. Sure, talking with Opal may not do anything, but warning her or threats might. I understand that she will have no reason not to kill me but this is something that I've already decided. I came here looking for Zel's killer, and I found her so of course I'm going to follow through with this." I faced away from Oikawa for a moment and thought, "At least all the attention will drift from her new targets and the rest of Azure." 

[ OOC: Let's see what I can do after literal months of not writing. ] 

My feet returned from my tip-toed position, to a normal, defensive, stance all the while Opal taunted me. 

"She's messing with you, she's just messing with you, it's not worth it," I thought, attempting to keep my calm even after her poisonous words. It seemed like everyone was good at dealing venom these days, and they certainly were not just the alchemists. This girl was good at mind games and definitely was like Mari, except Opal didn't regret what she did, or at least it really seemed like she did not. There were certain similarities between the two of them: both dealt dangerous potions, killed people, and treated me like some toy to just bash as if there were more of me. However, there were differences to them as well. Opal had a drive for power, Mari simply wanted vengeance. Mari kept herself secluded and was ashamed of herself, Opal was loud, proud, and obviously not ashamed of murdering other players- my friend. It was her plan that took to lives. Sure, they were not innocent ones, but they were the best ones to me. Dom and Zelrius were really close to me, while Zel and I...well, more than friends. He and I had a bond, stronger than any other person before Keith. But I think that because of Keith, Zel and I were able to grow so close. It was only just a few days ago, but I finally realized that Zelrius had always watched over me, even before my blue haired best friend and (almost,) fiance. For Opal to just barge in and destroy that friendship, that love, was absolutely unforgivable. 

I gathered my thoughts for a second before looking up at the taller female. "Again, this is an issue. You may be thinking that this is merely my problem, however it is yours as well, seeing as though I'm your problem now. You gave Oikawa an addictive potion, and intentionally made him a murderer. Yes, he is at fault for not thinking. Yes, it's my fault too for reasons I will not share. But mostly, it's the root's issue: you," I stated, looking her directly in the eye. " And there are quite a few reasons as to why you've never heard of me. First: I have not been outside this Guild Hall we stand in for three months, possibly even more. Second: that blonde? You know, Zelrius? Yeah, he did not speak of me because he thought I required protection from people like you. The others in the guild did not talk simply because Zelrius distanced himself from them, and me being an extension of Zelrius, I was never talked about. At least, not among Non-Pkers at the time. And Third: You are new, not to the game of course. But to the front lines, to the killings, so you have no idea who I am. All of the Player Killers know who I am, because some time ago, my partner and I were the ones running around making them all disappear. The Front Liners know who I am because I lead boss fights, got last kills bonuses, and was part of Azure. You're pretty dense if you cannot even remember something so crucial about your enemy. I mean who knows? Maybe I've taken the Redemption quest and I'm actually cold blooded Maverick here to kill you?" At this moment, ever part of me was telling me to stop threatening, stop provoking, and making almost lies about myself, but I didn't listen. I knew there was no going back now, "Zelrius and I first met when I was at least twenty levels above him, and he even expressed later how he was surprised that I was in fact, not a Maverick. Keith, from the moment I pointed my weapon towards him, was confused as to why I remained green. I will not express what I did in the first months of the game, because to be honest you would probably laugh. But moving along, you really should not underestimate the person in front of you. Kiru." 

Everything in my fictional body felt like it was pulsing, blood was rushing to my head, and everything became more intense. This was definitely not the most intense situation I've been in, however it was pretty high up there. There was too much pressure in the situation at hard, especially with my boasting and the leader of the Laughing Coffin guild looking down upon me like I was nothing. 

Opal's words were getting to me, and I was sure that I was showing signs of desperation or despair. I swallowed hard and cracked one of knuckles out of nervousness, "That pipsqueak, just happens to have let marks all over Aincrad. And though most of them may not be positive, he has left marks all over my heart. He's engraved more than you ever will. Even if you continue to kill and kill and kill countless, the Hero of Aincrad will not be forgotten because a legend, (kiru air quotes), like yourself may die, very soon, but a hero never will. I may die here. I may not ever achieve greatness or ever gain recognition again, but at least I will leave knowing that someone who deserved it did. Zelrius was the only thing left of me in Aincrad. Unless the impossibility of Keith is still here- which I highly doubt, there is nothing left. Just you try and break this Little Girl. Please, try and do it- it would be fun to watch what you could conjure out of nothing," I said, holding back anything and everything. The desire to rip her apart, to cry, to run and hide, and to protect the few things I had left. She did not know of this one thing left, because she was way too thick in the head to even think of it. 

I laughed even harder at the presumably younger woman's statement. "I guess that would make me an angel with my looks!" I exclaimed, glancing at the stranger for a moment, then returning to the young blonde crumpled helplessly on the ground. She looked in pain, but I knew for a fact that the pain sensors were down almost to nothing in safezones. Even if you decided to jump off a building you probably wouldn't feel it all the much. Which brought back memories, painful ones, no pun intended. I had a high pain tolerance but sometimes it got to be a bit much. For example, not being able to move in a river as someone stabs your stomach repeatedly until you finally do something. I winced at the memory and lifted my shirt just slightly to check for any markings. None, as expected. You didn't retain scars from inside the game. If you did I would probably look pretty bad along with everyone else that was in Azure. In fact, a lot of people in this game probably would not look too hot if that was true. So, this girl was totally faking her act. 

Suddenly, the girl got up and sprinted away with tears in her eyes. It was just as the girl said, which amused me enough to smirk. "Yeah, I'm not too big a fan of screeching. But yes, she can sing pretty well. I don't think I could sing that well compared to her. I guess that's why she's the one with the concert and not me." I chuckled and watched as the crowd around us dissipated. The band members ran after the blonde, the angry players sneered at us, (which I returned with a glare), and the mourning players shuffled behind the band members, calling prayers and get wells after her, desperately wanting her attentions of course. She would like that, I bet. It seemed like only a few people lingered though, which was very strange for such a busy town. If anything, it was calming. I never really learned to stay in one place for too long, mostly because I was constantly being chased by angry PKers that wanted to claim vengeance but other than that I just could not keep myself occupied for so long. Even when I first met Keith I was angry when he wanted to sleep for the night, he was wasting so much time. So, this town right now was very relaxing- and I planned to take advantage of this deserted town. I closed my eyes for about ten seconds, then opened and faced the girl with an outstretched hand. 

"Hi, I'm Kiru, but you can call me whatever you want as long as I approve. I am a first class, rude, and sassy little girl that is quite impatient. A quick backstory on me without making anyone too teary eyed at my sad, sad, past: some idiot, my dead fiance, left this game in my locker at school. Fast forward a year or two, and I joined a guild called the Azure Brigade. It was the strongest until things began to falter and people were being killed for no reason. Hopefully I'm not a target, as I was one of the five commandants, but who cares. I would like to know your name and if you want to play a game, a fun one. I don't know the name, hide and seek tag? Manhunt? Anyways, I'll explain if you want." 

After I asked my last question I held one of my elbows and touched my thumb to my chin, pressing slightly as I began to pace around his shop. I decided now was not the time to be distracted by Oikawa's stock, however I let my eyes divert for just a moment. His work was great, and I was sure a lot of people would miss it if I decided to simply cut him down. I closed my eyes at the thought and paused behind the blonde. I imagined pulling my dagger from my back and sinking into his. "It would probably stain his cloak", I thought. I continued to pace around his shop. He wouldn't fight back, he said it himself. But I knew I already made my choice, Oikawa was here to stay, as far as I could help it at least. I then opened my eyes, strangely his were on mine as he spoke confidently. I raised an eyebrow at his laugh, but knew it was not meant to be taken incorrectly. 

"Of course it was a potion. Literally Oikawa there is nothing in you that could possibly cause you to actually explode with emotions," I thought, tempted to roll my eyes. Out of all the options I gave him, this was the most plausible and probably the best for the both of us. If someone gave him something then I could shift my focus to someone else and forget about Zelrius for a little while. It was a selfish request but it did not matter to me either way, as I was not the most compassionate or caring person when it came to feelings. At least not externally. 

The moment Oikawa said the word, "calm," I felt all the color drain from my face and my mouth go dry. I stiffened my gaze and avoided eye contact for the time being. I stared at the floor and remembered the calming potion in my inventory. Last time I took the potion I felt relaxed but my emotions were so sporadic that I laughed, I cried, and I broke down all at the same time. It was painfully embarrassing for me to recall but I was not in my right mind. I, personally could not remember the events, but players who were there told me I said some things that I never would have admitted even if threatened. I looked up at Oikawa and smiled just a little bit. "You don't happen to have any more of those do you? If you do I am begging you to please give them to me. If you really do want to help me in any way, then give them." I said, walking towards him. He didn't know that they were addictive. If you drank more than one then you would certainly be crawling back to the alchemist for more, wasting all your money Mari did that on purpose because she liked watching the virtual world burn- and at one point so did I. "Even though you said that Opal gave you it, I still need any extras you have." 

"Opal," I repeated the name in my head until I recognized her. The white haired leader of the KOB guild. She's the one I was going to go after, not Oikawa. I smirked and pressed my hands together, Well, it seems you're not to blame...entirely. But anyways, I will have a nice chat with this Opal," As I awaited any potions from him, my smirk died down, "I really would not like you to come with me. Especially if it's Opal, the woman who gave you those potions. I do not plan on being violent, because I know she would kill me, however, if she tries anything...that's another story."  

There wasn't anything special about the First Floor, yet it was the one I went to when I had nothing better to do. Mostly, I came here for the cafes and for a laugh at the amount of people still living in the Town of Beginnings. It was common for anyone under level ten to still be mooching off of the boars in the field for col and staying at an Inn every night. So, seeing so many people around here was not too out of the ordinary. Anyone over level ten at least were here for the cheap potion prices and possibly tricking the lower levels into buying something overpriced, but that wasn't my problem. I had to learn the hard way, and they should too. Plus, last time I intervened I physically had to scare them away before they could get my speech through their head. Now however, I was interested in the event that was taking place in the center part of town, the busiest place of course. I contemplated sitting on a roof close by and watching alone, but ultimately decided against it in order to branch out and try to see if I still didn't like the musicians of Aincrad up close. 

I found myself next to a shorter girl, whom I decided wasn't worth talking to, seeing as though I would be in and out. After all, the show was ending in a few minutes. To be honest, I was satisfied with their music, unlike others'. My mind traced back to the first time I met Tristan. He was playing guitar by himself and quite frankly it made me angry at the time. I thought the plucking of his fingers against his guitar was extremely annoying. (Which now that I thought about it, I was just being a self absorbed teenager.) The point was, I really did not appreciate his music until he stopped playing, meaning a couple of months ago. Now however, I liked the soft tunes that soared trough the air from above. The blonde singer sounded quite nice and the small ukes and guitars were a nice touch. The pedestals were a bit much, they didn't even match the outfits the group wore. That didn't retract from the music though, they were still pretty nice. So much that I clapped quietly and tipped them a few col. 

I turned to leave before everyone else decided to as well, but heard more cheering. I placed my eyes back on them and then it hit me. How would they get down? I smirked, thinking about how hilarious it must have been to watch them try and get up there. The side members got of just fine without any help, but the lead decided to linger and get more attention from her fans. I scoffed, lame. 

That was when she slipped. 

A sudden snort escaped my mouth the moment it happened. I covered my mouth but couldn't help it, I totally called that one. I laughed even harder when I noticed the girl next to me found this funny as well. She then leaned closer to me. I tried to hold my laughs and listen to her, but after she said it was all just for attention I burst out laughing again. Though probably no one else was laughing, I didn't care, they were all here for her, I was here for myself. 

"Probably. This was she'll get more col and free care. People who need attention by causing scenes are the worst," I said, knowing that I was an attention seeker myself. The only difference was that I actually get attention by doing something like killing a boss, not by falling from twenty feet.  

"But of course you aren't technically a PK, I mean, then that means neither am I. You are still a PK even if you do not hold an orange mark above your head, Opal." I proceeded to point to the green crystal that bounced over my head as my smirk faded. I had to play my cards correctly with this woman or else things would not turn out alright for me, "Even though my crystal has not been stained it doesn't mean that there was not a crime. I'm surprised you don't know who I am, who I was. Sad." I could hear myself scoffing slightly, but feeling just a little relieved. Anyone who had an issue with me somehow knew literally everything about me, Opal didn't- or at least she didn't express it. It was not like I was some hot shot with a bounty on my head or anything, but from the moment I began to hang out with Keith and Zelrius I had become a target of the sorts. That was also one of the reasons why I chose to become a Maverick Hunter, to protect myself and call people forth. Mostly everyone I've faced was dangerous and knew something that could change the outcome of the situation, by using anything against me. And with this time around there was no one that she could threaten even if she knew about me. Zelrius was dead, Dom and Daeron were too, Keith is MIA and basically everyone else has moved on to different things. The last person was Oikawa, and even then- I hated to say it but- even then, her threatening Oikawa wouldn't anger me all that much as I was still in the process of forgiving him. Of course if she was serious about doing anything I would jump in. Even though I wasn't on the best terms with the blonde I would still jump in front of a bullet for him. Which brought me to my next point.

"A threat you say? That's interesting because I can't quite recall a time when Dom was ever violent," I flipped the white half of my hair back behind my shoulder and crossed my arms over my chest, "Ssendom was never a threat, you just didn't want a power struggle over him." At this point, Opal has stalked closer to me. I could make out some of her face and of course her body. That's when it hit me, I saw her at the Knight of Blood party. "You saw Dom carry me from the pool back here. He was caring and kind. So don't tell me that's the real reason you killed him because that's not the correct response, Opal." 

The taller woman began to circle around me, as if she was studying my body, trying to find something. The only thing I could think of was my weapon, but that was concealed behind my hair. I tightened my grip around my arms and shifted my weight onto one foot. I decided to bite my tongue at her comment and continue to listen and watch. I didn't know if she was armed. "Of course you wouldn't know, because you didn't just kill someone," I stated sarcastically growing just a little impatient with this girl. She sounded like Zelrius, or at least her words did, but she meant them in a different way. It was hard to explain but there was a specific tone to Opal's voice that ticked me off.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as she stepped closer and closer. I knew it was to intimidate me. To counter, I  stood on my toes and leaned up to her ear. "It proves everything I need," Once I was on the balls of my feet I let myself lean back on my heels before returning to a normal standing position. I exhaled slowly, keeping calm even if just for a little while. "He may have had the desire, but you gave him the will to do it. You knew, didn't you?" I could hear my voice growing more tense with every syllable, "I guess we're gonna have a problem." 

My eyes snapped open and a smirked played upon my lips as I heard the doors to the Azure Brigade open. From the faint light outlining the edge of the doorway I could make out a figure. Though I could not see the exact features of the player I knew right away that it was Opal. Mostly because I told her to meet me here, but also because of the aura that came from her- it was powerful yet calm. I heard the young woman mutter words under her breath, which made my smirk even bigger at the point. Even though, like Opal, I hadn't invested in Night Vision, I had spent more than two seconds in the dark room, so I would make at least objects out without needing such a thing. Besides, the skill was pointless to me anyways. 

I allowed for a few moments of silence, mostly to make things smidge more dramatic and keep her on edge, before I pushed myself off of the wall and walked forward a few steps. "I was contemplating whether or not to use something to mask my appearance or give me a stat boost but I felt like it would be necessary. You know, I also thought that just seeing your face would give me intent to end you but surprisingly I am calm. I mean, this could be just because I haven't seen your face yet but either way. You're comforting, but in a scary way. You remind of someone I was once very close to, almost too close to. Like you, she was a PK and she did it for fun. Opal, you're scary as a thought, but in person you're nothing more than a regular player to me," I took another step forward and stood directly into the spot where moon spilled onto the floor, "at least not yet. I haven't heard your story yet."  

There was a certain smell that made it's way to my nose now. With every breath it grew stronger. At first, I thought it was a gas of some sort, to paralyze me for an easy kill, until I realized that didn't smell that bad. It smelled of oranges and was coming from Opal. I crinkled my nose at the smell and continued. "I'll get straight to the point: you gave Oikawa a potion directly before the boss fight, correct? If you did then we're going to have a slight dilemma. If not then, we'll see because I am like two-hundred percent sure you're the only one that could have done this." 

It was late, too late for me to still be awake, but did it really matter? I never really got into the routine of sleeping at a specific time at night, or even at all. Mostly I slept when I was tired or when I was simply too exhausted to continue doing anything. For example, falling asleep while keeping watch and guarding Keith from Player Killers or falling asleep at a fancy restaurant with Tristan. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't remember the last time I slept. I mean, there was no way I could with everything I had to plan. I needed to end things, but carefully and without any casualties other than myself and the person I was going after. And it just so happened that I was after was the leader of Laughing Coffin, the biggest and most well known guild in this game other than Azure. 

The woman I had asked to meet with me went by the name of Opal. There wasn't really much on her other than the fact that she was the player that had killed Ssendom, a dear friend of mine. Of course my speculations as well that she drugged Oikawa into pushing his emotions that he worked so hard to keep composed, to overflow. There was a very persistent gut feeling that it was Opal who did something to affect the deaths because out of everyone that showed up that day, she was the only name I didn't recognize. After further questioning with Oikawa and days later I settled on Opal, messaging her with the hopes that she would be so kind as to share my company.

I opened the curtain in my bedroom slightly to see outside but the sky was as dark as it was throughout the day. After all, this was the Thirteenth Floor. It was roughly ten minutes until the specified time I wrote in the message sent to Opal but I wasn't worried that she wouldn't come. If anything she would be here on the dot. I shut the curtain, closing off light to the outside and crept out into the hallway, making my way down the stairs until I stood at the end of the staircase. To the left of me there was a full length mirror, on the right there was another one as well. I wasn't wearing anything too fancy, I wasn't even wearing anything combat related. I took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, awaiting the Player Killer to walk straight through that door.

I shook my head as Oikawa spoke, I could not believe this. Oikawa was a gentle soul, always in white and never losing his temper over trivial things. He sat in front of me in a state I would have never wanted to see him in. He was an absolute mess telling me that he cut down Zelrius, explaining that it was all of his own volition. Though he said it, it couldn't sink in that someone like him would have been able to do such a thing. 

I closed my eyes and focused breathing through my nose in order to take a calm look at this situation. Something was off. I knew the part about Oikawa being infatuated with me was true, but Oikawa wouldn't be the type of person to actually go through with something as life-altering as this. He was not the type of person to get jealous and act on it like this. Sadly, he would have kept it to himself. While he was talking about Zelrius I nodded a few times but I allowed my mind to wander in the possibilities until I settled on a few. 

"Alright, so here's the deal," I picked up the shield and the cloak, along with the potions, and placed them on the seat next to me. I stood up with my arms crossed, not entirely looking satisfied, but not looking as angered as before. "I am going to do this once. Oikawa, you're my last remaining friend and although you literally just did the stupidest thing that you could have done, I am going to choose to not kill you because I believe that yes, you had intent, but you didn't do it all of your own conscience." I sighed for a moment, thinking if I should really just pardon his crime. I traced my eyes to his, and felt a pang of guilt, he looked miserable. "I think there are three possibilities to this story. Number one: you in fact did just murder my best friend simply because you didn't like the way he acted on the outside. Two: You aren't telling the entire story. Maybe he came at you first, and you just defended yourself. Though, Zelrius wouldn't kill anyone these days. Even for me. Zelrius did nothing but throw a sword to me so I could kill him. He watched me get stabbed and kicked and didn't act because he didn't want to kill anyone. I don't really care that he didn't do anything so let's move on to the next. Finally, number three: there was an outside force controlling your movements. Not your thoughts, but maybe a potion. Think, did you consume anything before arriving or shortly before the incident? This one seems the most plausible...." 

1. What form should PK take? Defend your answer.

I don't really know what kind of answer we're supposed to put here but I feel like anyone should be able to PK (green or orange.) Of course if you're a level 3 trying to hit a level 60 don't cry when then strike back and kill you.

2. Should PK be mutually agreed upon when involving two PC's?

Ok here's the thing,in the real SAO obviously you have no control over whether you get killed or not, and I think it should be like that. But I also think that (Zel) someone who's spent a substantial amount of time on a character shouldn't just be able to die. However, that is the beauty of a PK, you don't really know when or where it's going to happen, plus it affects a lot of people. Take Kiru and Zelrius for example, if you read up on any threads you'll see how much just one thing can change a story line; and by Zelrius (and Dom) dying just like that really upset Kiru, giving her a boost to start a new chapter. While at the same time it made me, the writer, not want to write anymore. Even though there are still wonderful people on this site that I would miss dearly, having someone who I've known since my first week here just die made me just stop writing. I don't think there was a reason for me to, I think I just got bored but, back to my point. It can CHANGE a character. 

I think that it should be at least discussed between the two because it IS a character that you've made, but you would not need consent to go through with your actions. Of course, if I think of PKing it's for character development. I always ask if I even can shove the player, (I asked Zelrius when he was still here.) I plan out actions with Oikawa and have back ups just in case the plot changes, because quite frankly it does a lot. 

So to conclude, no, PK is PK and we should keep it close to canon.

3. Should agreement to enter a duel, regardless of location, automatically mean that both duelling players are alright with the potential for PK?

Yes, of course if you enter a total loss duel you know what you're doing. If you would like to avoid that, press decline or change the rules for the duel. 

4. What threads should never be allowed to be PK in?

I'd like to say Boss threads and threads which stay (the ENTIRE time) inside a safezone. However, in (virtual) reality we can't make rules like that, only safezone threads and towns should keep PKers out. 

5. Any other PK relevant information you want to share?

If you PK for the first time it should dissolve after a week. PKing a PKer should still result in a green crystal. (or else I'd be orange lol) 

Do I count as a classic people? (I was Snow/Mayonaka back then) 

I allowed the items to be placed on my lap after I sat down. Even if just for a moment, I would allow him to be in a state of disbelief or denial. This wasn't the most logical thing for me to do with my life right now. I was sure that Zelrius would have wanted me to take after the guild and become the strongest. Tristan wouldn't want me to resort to violence. Keith would have made it clear that a mission was necessary, but only if I wasn't the one to do it. Either way, none of them would have wanted me to do what I was doing, and I could say the same for Oikawa. Or at least that's what I thought he meant by returning my items to me.

There was a certain tone to his voice on the very first words that slipped from his mouth. It was like whatever would part from his lips were a poison to him that he needed to expel, and with every word it became more clear as to why it wasn't the easiest thing to tell me. As the venomous words spoken by such an ethereal guy filled the air, my world paused. I felt my heart beat quicken just a little and my mouth go dry. However, with the various emotions flooding through every hole of my heart, I could not cry. There was a physically boundary that I had crossed days ago, I simply had no tears left, so I did the worst thing possible: sat in silence. Only white noise filled the room for a few moments while I stared into the eyes of a traitor. Oikawa was the last person I would ever accuse of murder, yet here he was, confessing that he was the one whom had killed Zelrius, my best friend and possibly the last person to fully understand my mind. Of course saying that, I was probably the only one who had seen him vulnerable so many times. I was there when he wasn't the owner of Azure, when he was just kid. I was there when he didn't want me to leave because I was family. And like me, he was there for me in every aspect. The sad thing was that all the time we spent trying to protect each other we were actually hurting the other, driving ourselves deeper into despair. No one else knew that about Zelrius, heck they even blamed him for the last boss fight. Everyone thought he was an arrogant jerk who had no feelings, but they were so wrong. He way more than that, like me. So here I sat, listless, in front of the killer of Zelrius as he attempted to explain himself through tears. 

"Oikawa," there was a slight pause in my response. Part of me wanted to scream, I'm sure that's what I would have done a year ago. Another part of me wanted to forgive him for it- he was close to me after all. I'm sure Oikawa had at least one reason that I could understand. But the darkest part of all wanted to kill him right then and there. I was told by Keith once that he wasn't sure which side I was on, the Mavericks or the hunters; and in this moment I wasn't quite sure myself. After all, I did just commit a crime not even a couple days ago. "You ask me for words but I'm afraid I have none." 

"There isn't much for me to say is there?" I stated, tracing my finger over the detailing etched into the shield on my lap. I looked from it, to the blonde with a frown. "You really did kill him? You aren't covering for someone right?" I asked, knowing that there was absolutely no way that Oikawa was making up a story or taking the fall for another player killer. He killed Zelrius before the boss battle, before the golden boy had the chance to meet with me once more. "Why? For me? But, why for me? Because of me?" These answers couldn't make sense, could they? 

The poison that had come from inside Oikawa had sunk into the floor and stained it. It stained me as well, creating a discoloration in my view, meaning that Oikawa wasn't the young blonde apprentice anymore no matter how much I wanted. No, now he was a vampire, reaping me of my blood. (family) And it stung, I didn't want to believe that Oikawa was really the person behind all of this. I knew that if he wasn't the young blonde Keith and I had trained I would have possibly gotten violent and this would have already been over by now. 

My eyes stung and my head hurt. My lip began to quiver. "How am I supposed to prevent those deaths when my friends are killing each other? Huh? If I'm a Maverick hunter, my job right now would be to kill you or send you to Aincrad jail. But I don't want to, Oikawa I really don't want to believe that you murdered him. Because if you did I wouldn't have a choice- I'd be obligated to do it."

"If you actually did and I did nothing about it because you're my friend then I'm no better than a Player Killer. Though, technically I am one, I'm probably worse because I don't have an orange cursor." 

(Didn't know how to start- this is such an important thread and I don't wanna screw it up lol) 

My fingers gripped the sides my my head as I sat on the edge of Zelrius' bed, elbows on knees and head hung. I took in a deep breath but it did no good, there was no calm to pass over me. I had lost track days ago how long I had spent alone in the guild hall, but I knew it had been at least a week. The information and rumors were still settling in, etching itself painfully into my heart ridden with holes. Tristan disappeared, Dom and Zelrius were both killed before the boss battle had begun. It was absolutely unbelievable to me as to how someone could not only kill the two of them, but not be mobbed after doing so. To be quite frank, it made no sense. Whoever did it knew that it would cause a ripple effect for me and possibly a few others. It was an intentional murder; and with Tristan suddenly gifting me a replica of Zelrius' cloak and leaving I formed a suspicion that whoever had the nerve to strike Zelrius down was targeting the entire Azure Brigade. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, exhaling through my nose deeply. This was on purpose, and obviously they wanted some sort of response. "So why not give them one?" I thought, feeling my mouth twinge ever so slightly at the thought. "I wonder if it's a friend of Dai, hm, that should be interesting." 

I opened my eyes to the sound of a PM. I immediately looked at the sender only to be disappointed. I was still hanging on to the very small hope that Zelrius was still alive- that he was the sender telling me to meet with him to hang out like old times. But it wasn't, it was Oikawa. I sighed as my dull eyes scanned over every letter, every word, every sentence before me. I blinked slowly and stood up involuntarily, almost as if I was on autopilot. I quietly walked to the doorway, but turned back again to get one last glance at the golden commandant's room. I opened my inventory and pulled out my starter dagger and the plushie of Zelrius that was given to me by Lowenthal. I gently set them both on the bed spread and left the room, closing the door behind me and exiting to the main entrance. Before I pressed open the doors I equipped a familiar golden cloak with the Azure logo on the back. It sadly was not Zelrius', but it was pretty darn close and would probably serve as the only living memory of him.  

It felt like just a matter of minutes until I was in front of The Grand Foji, Oikawa's shop. I opened the door and stepped inside, seeing right away where Oikawa was sitting. I made my way over to him and leaned against one of the chairs. I took off my hood and went to brush my bangs from my face but stopped in mid-motion. My face probably didn't look the best right now considering that I hadn't slept in awhile due to my constant and never ending thoughts pulling me away from daily tasks. I continued to brush my bangs from my face, knowing that it wasn't right for me to hide my face for what I was going to do. I moved them to reveal my eyes looking somehow dim, or not as vibrant as they usually were, my cheeks didn't have coloring against my porcelain skin, and under my eyes were irritated red marks and a few cuts from my encounter with Dai. I wasn't going to hide that I had crying- not to Oikawa, the one person in this game that I actually trusted. I looked up from the ground, to the blonde. Over his head hung an orange cursor.  

"I guess you have a temper too? I won't go into details unless you ask but I too have killed someone, a player killer, so I'm not orange. I don't have the cursor but I have the marks." As I finished my last word I lifted my shirt just above my stomach to reveal the point where Dai had dug his sword multiple times, over and over again. I pulled my shirt back down and went onward with my conversation.  "I really would like to know how you turned orange before I leave, but I'm afraid I have no time to spare. So please, whatever you have to say, spit it out." 

With a few swipes I pulled my black commandants cloak from the Azure Brigade and folded it nicely. I placed it on the chair beside me and smiled as I continued to place the shield he gave me for Christmas, and the last of my recovery potions on top of it. 

"He disappeared from my friend's list a couple days ago. Oikawa, take after these items for me. I'm going after the killer of Zelrius. I'm mostly likely gonna die- and you said you would certainly not march to death beside me, so I won't ask you to. You're not like Keith so I know you won't physically keep me from doing so, but if you try to persuade me it wont work. " 

Tristan, all hail the spooky burrito burds. 

Thank you for allowing Kiru to be apart of your story, and quite so, dominating the first few months of it. If you look back on our old threads I'm sure you'll see that the both of us and our characters have changed a lot. Tristan went from someone just looking around and playing guitar- practically a hobo, to now the strongest tank on the site. Unfortunately, you won't be here to protect and mitigate all the damage for us in the next boss fight or the next twenty. Tristan I will miss our forty page long conversations that include freaking out about Akame Ga Kiru! and explaining every single rule to me at least three times. (Thanks, I have to re-learn what Sword Arts are.) Tristan, you've created some awesome things for this site, but the best contribution would be you. Your time here will not be forgotten, thanks. 

<3 Kiru, "The Ice Queen"

I nominate Calrex because he is always on, literally. Also, Clarex has a good sense of knowing right from wrong based on what I've heard and read. He accepts everyone and does his best (and succeeds) to post every day. If anyone had a good understanding for the rules it's him. 

The second is Takao because personally he may not post every single day but he always has a presence. Like Calrex, he's friendly yet he gets everything done in a timely manner. Takao 100% do it. 

Zelrius would be SUCH a great addition to the Player Reps because he already has a leadership position (like the two stated above) on ALO and for a little on GGO and SAO I think? Like someone mentioned above, Zelrius does have the tendency to speak out, no matter if literally everyone disagrees. He gets his point across and for this position that is absolutely necessary. Please consider him based off of what he does OOC and IC rather than the rumors you may hear ;)))))) 

Lessa and Opal pls as well because they both owned guilds and may not be on 24/7 but they surely would make good PRs! 

Thank. 

Side note: I recommend that we have a vote for new reps at least every six months in case someone goes inactive or something comes up. 

"Ohgodohgodohgod" I thought as Zelrius continued to speak. I knew how hard he was trying to keep his pride in check so he wouldn't cry. This was probably the worse thing; seeing Zelrius so hurt and beaten down was never something I'd imagined. For the Hero to be so open, so exposed right now was dehumanizing. It made me hurt that he was hurting, cry because he was (or at least trying not to), and overall have the feeling of guilt reside inside of me. And I knew that this was entirely my fault for making him so emotional. Zelrius was never the type of person to reflect or give off an emotional mood, but the irony in our meetings totally broke down that conclusion. Almost every occurrence between the two of us lead to some type of negative feeling, ultimately driving us further apart. Yet whilst this was happening, the both of us tried extremely hard to protect one another. All of this leading up to this one moment of social agony was a complete juxtaposition to our original intentions. 

"Zelrius," I ;chuckled slightly in attempt to lighten the mood and make my fellow Commandant laugh, "am I not the strongest? I'm pretty sure I could take you." I sniffled once more and released my arms from him to look him in the eye. My countenance slowly faded from a fake smile of reassurance to a more serious look. "I am so sorry you spent all of that precious time doing this for me. I am grateful for you to ever think of me outside of being a mere battle buddy, so I thank you for whats already been done. Zelrius I'm just- I really, really, really am," my lip began to quiver again, "really sorry. And I know I'm not as strong as you and I doubt I'll ever be able to pass you again but all I ask is that you forgive me for ever wasting any of your time. I know I keep talking about your time but it really is important, Zel, it really is. In a game like this, time is everything. You need to be constantly working in order to keep status but no one ever sees that. No one." I sucked in a sharp breath and tried to old back even more tears, "But I do. All anyone ever says about you is that you've killed someone or that you're a total narcissistic kid and that you'll just die soon enough but they never acknowledge how much time you put into everything. You spent six months for one moment. That's dedication if I've ever seen any. Your time was well spent, mine was not. And I'm sorry for ever causing you to worry. I didn't want you to worry, I just wanted you to acknowledge me or talk to me, because quite frankly you were scaring me with your frequent disappearances." 

 I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, but tears continued to leak down my cheeks. "But it doesn't matter. Zelrius I never wanted you to care so much, I just wanted you to help me find Keith. Yes, you could have put just a little more trust in me but I don't blame you, Zel. As for the friend situation I think you can call us both the same. I don't know if you heard but Daeron...he uh.." I looked around, trying to avoid looking at him directly when saying this: "I watched him fall from the edge." I crossed my arms over my chest and pursed my lips. "Tristan is getting married, Keith is presumably dead, Rebekah doesn't keep in touch very well...and just a lot of players I've run into have left. They weren't interested in me anymore when I stopped attending the boss fights- when I was having fun hunting with Keith." My eyes returned to his. "Zelrius. I marked myself for everyone by joining the prestigious Azure Brigade. I painted myself in neon paint by running around with Keith, and basically just sealed the deal by actually hurting a Player Killer. I did this to myself. I have to check behind myself every three seconds because that's the life I chose. By putting myself out there I thought I could take the attention off you and Keith. But obviously not, almost got myself killed in the process too." 

The last words in Zelrius' speech saddened me. We both knew well that there was no way we weren't going to leave this game without emotional baggage. We both knew of the boss strategies and how Player Killers thought, but he still tried to keep me away from that scene. "That's impossible now, you know. Especially now knowing how much I've affected you I don't think I can leave this game saying I have no regrets. Because if I did have a top ten, letting you get so close would be pretty high up there." The words stung but in all honesty were true, but also a complete lie. Meeting Zelrius was probably one of the best things that happened to me. But Zelrius meeting me was probably the worst thing for him and I hate myself for it. "Don't. Zelrius if anything you should hate me. You've come so far from when we first met and I just...I'm really sorry for screwing everything up." 

I sat for a moment in silence, slowly growing more impatient and needing more answers. "You've managed to form this elaborate plan to help me and still struggled day after day stay on top, but why? Why did you care so much? Why did you make me care so much!?"  

[wHOOPS]

I let my knees fall forward as I sat in front of Zelrius in the most listless manner I could to avoid pain. I handed his unique back to him, diverting my eyes from his as he made a joke. "Heh.." I let out a weak laugh in attempt to show at least some human emotion towards Zelrius. After the show I had just put on there was absolutely no way he could be thinking anything positive of me. After all, I did just make my hatred and anger very convincing while stabbing someone. And it was to the point where I wasn't quite sure if it was real or fake. Was the pain in my stomach merely from the wounds or was it from the increasing guilt of ending a precious life? There was only way I could have executed that plan, and that was through an impulsive improv of aggressive manner. If I let my emotions come into play I probably would not have had the guts to actually finish it, or to even damage Dai at all. Knowing Mavericks, I knew that they didn't screw around and had lots of tricks to pull. The moment you turned your back from them you lose and in this game, die. So my only choice was to swallow any feeling in my body of resistance and complete the task. For now, I would have to live with the consequences of murdering him. Even if I didn't have a bright orange tracker above my head I knew my actions would surely have a ripple affect to anyone else this could have possibly concerned. 

After returning the sword I looked at my HUD in search of a potion, a crystal, anything that would allow my health to regenerate. With my vision becoming blurred and my arm growing weak it was extremely hard to navigate through my inventory, especially for one specific item. Much to the point where I grew increasingly angry at myself for being so incapable at a time like this. However, seeing my struggle, Zelrius guided my hand slowly from my inventory and handed me a crystal of his. His hand was surprisingly gentle, and so was his voice. For once I didn't reject him, I simply nodded and accepted the crystal, using it as well. I watched as the red turned from yellow to green. I then looked to where Dai once was standing, his spear strewn a few feet away from that spot. I bit my lip to conceal any remorse for my actions and decided to focus on the blonde. 

He instructed me to listen to him, which I had no problem with. I was too tired to be opposed to it and way too out of it to disagree or argue with him. I had no words in this moment, what would I even say? Nothing. But obviously Zelrius had something important to speak with me about because rarely he decided to share anything with me anymore. Maybe he would attempt to console with me. Though I knew that surely wasn't anything he would do- he was once a Player Killer so I highly doubted he would simply say my action would be justified, but that's just what I liked about Zelrius. Also in Oikawa and Ssendom as well were similar traits. They didn't sugarcoat things and tell me everything would be alright because I knew, and they did too, that nothing was okay. Yes, Zelrius was a secluded and silent person when it came to everything other than battles and friends, but he was also the most trusted person you could have in tense situations. He was calm and thought things through quickly. Even knowing all of this I couldn't believe it in my own mind because he broke everything and nothing we built up in the past six months. But just this once would I allow the young teenager to attain my full attention without intrusion. 

It began with Zelrius' eyes switching color. From a glowing color to a dark blue, something I never noticed. He began by saying everything had happened for a reason and proceeded to explain literally everything I was questioning and getting conflicted about. The reason he left, the reason he stated he didn't care about Keith, why he continued to come back and suddenly disappear and refuse to hold an conversation longer than two minutes. It was all because of me. 

Suddenly I felt like my entire world came crashing down on top of me. I was quiet for a moment, trying to organize my thoughts well enough to form coherent sentences. Slowly I opened my mouth with a pained look. "I know you said there were people listening but...why didn't you tell me? You, you could have dropped hints- small ones only I would recognize. Or you could have just told me and could have gotten this over with a long time ago!" This made no sense, there was no way he could have told me any of this sooner. I knew this, yet I was getting frustrated with the blonde. "I'm just really...why did you tell me! I spent all of this time worrying that you hated me and were avoiding me. Then you came back and I thought you were okay with me again, then you left again! You didn't even say you'd be back. Do you know how much it hurt? It felt like every single time you walked away from me or shifted your eyes away from me, the hole in my heart from literally everything else was getting bigger. The times you returned were patching things up, but made even more empty spaces once you left. I- aUGH!" I expressed more vexation near the end, growing more and more conflicted with his reasoning. I understood everything yet, nothing made sense to my very stubborn self that could not accept anything for an answer. "You could've put more faith in me, you know. I know it might' have been better to keep me in the dark in the aspect of safety but it was the dumbest thing you could have done for someone like me. I'm impulsive and I need people, Zel. I needed you. You were the closest person after Keith disappeared and you still are now but...Zelrius I know you were thinking of my health. I know that you knew that I would have marched right up to anyone conflicting with you and dealt with them. And I don't mean killing- I never intended to kill anyone really, I still feel bad about Dai. I may just be dragging on but I'm just expressing that things might have gone smoother, death could have been avoided, and our relationship could have gotten better if you at least just told me that everything you were doing was for a reason." I took a breath after talking for so long and looked through him for a second, then continued. 

 "So you're telling me that while I was making sure you weren't doing something reckless, made sure you were alright and everything, and kept an eye on your cursor, I was doing a whole lot of nothing to help you in any way, shape, or form?" I closed my eyes for a second, mostly to given myself a break from this mental headache I was giving myself. "Zelrius do you understand exactly how much I've missed because I was too busy worrying about you? I could have been leveling, and fighting, and helping you. Instead I am now not only a low enough level to be crushed in a fight, my gear is so outdated that you had to give me a weapon to kill him, and I am completely off course with anything and everything happening in the guild. I haven't seen people in months, Zel. Months. And I am not in any way blaming you for my stupidity and wasting my own fricking time, but I just wish you would have told me something. Contrary to popular belief, if you tell me that something will 'all work out,' and that 'I shouldn't worry,' I will question it a little but if it came from you I wouldn't have thought anything of it. You could have left the guild to me even instead of having a fight with Lowe about it." 

I then frowned, this was entirely my fault not his. "Zel I just- I don't know." I grew silent again. And in this time Zelrius hugged me, and was finding it hard to keep himself in check. "Oh gosh." I wrapped my arms around his neck and slowly moved my hand back and forth his shoulder in attempt to calm him and I. But it was no use. Once I saw his deep azure eyes fill with tears I couldn't help myself. Tears began to stain my face when he apologized. "Take it back. You can't be the one to apologize, Zelrius, you really can't. You just spent half a year trying to put my life back together because Keith went missing and I was lonely. It's true, I really did like Keith but I neglected you. Keith was always by my side no matter what but you were the one to invite me to boss raids and tell me to get up and pull myself together. And Dai, this entire conquest you busied yourself with? You didn't even get to finish it! I was the one who killed him even though every bone in my body was screaming for me to stop! Zelrius I was so afraid that if you killed him you'd revert back to your old self and run away again. It's not your fault." I sniffled squeezed the boy's chest.

 "Zelrius you just destroyed your reputation...your status and friends for what? What did you get from this entire experience?"

In that case I agree with Takao and Oikawa, I too have no clue why it was removed.

Wasn't the redistribution of SP alright when the update was first here? I mean, for the Athletics Skill that gave me +1 damage and +5 health I just refunded myself because obviously that skill is no longer obtainable through those means. Please tell me if I'm wrong, and if I'm totally off topic and have absolutely no clue what you're suggesting. 

Once submerged under shallow water I felt a strained sensation on my stomach again. Desperately I grabbed the dagger that fell from my hand and began to hack away at the spear. It didn't do much, really, all it did was scratch it a little. Knowing that certainly wasn't going to work, I ruled out the option or destroying his spear pretty quickly and decided to think for a moment. I could hear voices above me but couldn't quite manage to figure out what they were saying; I was way too focused on the weapon lodged very painfully in my stomach. I bit my lip and turned my head to see what was going on. I frowned when I saw his pendant activating and his swords at his sides glowing. "No, absolutely not." I thought, conflicted with my only four options. One was to simply add more damage to myself and die before anything else could happen. This option could lead into Dai going after Zelrius next so that one was also ruled out. Two, I could taunt Dai to the point where he'd only pay attention to me. But, seeing how low my health already was I knew I wouldn't last for more than four more minutes max. The third was to just allow Zelrius to damage Dai, and probably kill him. Upon thinking this I became terrified and extremely against this particular one. If I allowed him to do such a thing then he would be orange again, secluded from everyone again. Not only would he not be able to take the redemption quest to be green again but his entire image would be repainted, stained, with red and orange. This simply could not even happen, there was no way I was going to allow Zelrius to go through that all over again. And the last was for me to kill Dai. This seemed like the best option for Zelrius' health, seeing as though he wouldn't even have time to stop me or talk me out of it. Settled on the last option, I called to Zelrius and interrupted the two of them. "Do me a favor-," Dai pushed the weapon deeper. I glared at the Player Killer but returned my eyes to the blonde, "and try not to fall for me." I half winked with a slight smile. 

Dai instinctively raised the spear at Zelrius, threatening to stab me once more to fully end my life. I winced at the though of another stabbing from that spear. Not only would it hurt even worse going in the third time today but I wouldn't have any time to react to Dai. I would just become a floating pile of pixels, floating in the sky away from the two of them. I thought back to myself at the beginning of the game. I used to think that there was no way you could die in real life if you died in the game. Obviously I didn't think that way anymore, but still, it was hilarious to think about how much I've changed since the beginning. Zelrius had changed too. He didn't have time to go run around and steal kills from me anymore, he barely had the time of day to hold a simple conversation with me. So, why? Why did I care so much about putting him over me? I didn't even know the answer myself but I had guessed it was because we were similar in more ways than one. It hurt to see someone I loved internally dying day after day. 

Zelrius proceeded to state that he didn't care, that Dai should go for it and just end me. At first I was hurt by this statement, confused that he would try to protect my life then throw it away, and angry that he once again switched his personality on me. Most of all I was angry that he thought I would just let Dai kill me. However, everything from my mind was repealed when I suddenly received an item from Zelrius. "Despair?" I whispered to myself and read the description. I glanced at the young man and smirked- he knew what I was going to do full and well. 

Suddenly the Hero sprinted forward and kicked the pointed weapon from Dai. I drew the weapon from my inventory immediately and sprung from the water, ignoring the searing pain caused from the stomach. I held the sword in front of me and stabbed through the front of the killer. "Oh my, what a sad incident." A smirked formed on my lips as Dai began to move his hands towards the handle of the blade. I kicked his knee, causing him to fall and retracted the blade. I gripped the handle tighter and slashed diagonally across his stomach. "Unlike Keith," I slashed again, "I'm not going to send you to prison or just let you run." I pulled my arms back and stabbed directly into his abdomen where he'd poked me several times. "No, I am not one to show mercy." I then knelt down next to his ear so only Dai could hear my distressed voice. "Dai, I'm sorry." I meant those words too.

His body exploded into blue triangular pieces of data and floated towards the sky. I felt a pang of guilt forming in my almost nonexistent stomach. My hands were now stained with murder. I looked up at my crystal but nothing happened. I knit my eyebrows together for a moment. "Oh." Was all I said, you didn't turn orange if you kill a player killer. My eyes shifted from my crystal, to my health bar. For the very first time in the game it was in the red section. I turned to Zelrius, almost afraid of what he would say after such a cruel scene. If anything Zelrius had every right to be angry with me. After all, I could recall a discussion between the two of us about player killing. But, I ignored all of this and attracted attention to my stomach. My black and white clothes were completely soaked with a mix of water and pixelated blood. "Hey...you want this back...your swo...." I couldn't finish. My eyes closed slowly and I stumbled forward. I caught myself and leaned on the sword. I stuck a hand out in caution to Zelrius. "I"m fine, let me get a...a...crystal out." 

I wiped my eyes slowly and turned my head towards Tristan. "Celes...I haven't seen her in awhile. I wonder what happened to 'er. She and I were really close ya know?" I managed out and continued when he spoke of Zelrius. "You have no idea how tiring it is to keep up with him." Was all I said, trying to keep my speaking to minimal to avoid further embarrassment. There were many things I liked about Tristan, but many I did not.  I couldn't remember the last time he spoke with me as I couldn't focus on him very well. But hat I did remember was a negative one. With all the surrounding conversations of a necklace I suddenly felt a pang of guilt in my stomach. The only thing I did was stare up at the red haired male with apologetic eyes. "You better get your wife somethin' other than that Hoya you gave me. And don't go getting drunk at parties with her and disappear. Tristan, I'm sure you're a lot more mature now so I trust, I trust you'll stay with her. Oh and Congrats, man! I'd better get an invite!" I smiled slightly and whacked him in the leg for good measure so he knew that I was both serious and merely joking about some of it.

After "domestically abusing" Tristan for the last time l met Dom's eyes. "Nah son, I'm all good now." I waved off his apology and closed my eyes with a rather loud sigh. "It can't be helped, what's done is done I guess. Ssendom, you're a great woman- I mean man, as well. You're confidence and such never wavers whenever I see you." Then Ssendom proceeded to place his arm around my shoulder. I remembered the night of the Spring Festival with Oikawa, he did the exact same for me. I shifted in the springs and leaned my head against his chest. "Thank you." I whispered and closed my eyes, trying to block everything out for now and relax. To be quite honest I had a pounding headache but no energy to actually leave.

 "Kimba, it's alright..." I mumbled with closed eyes towards the sound of a growling cat. I knew for sure it was Kimba because whenever she saw me around anyone other than Celes or Ariel she got really upset. Kimba was a good familiar, and Ariel sure deserved such an obedient and fluffy companion.

I closed my eyes for a moment in order fully enjoy the hot springs before sitting forward again to speak with Ssendom. He had already poured a glass of the drink he had in his hand for me. I didn't mind that it wasn't necessarily a potion, there were always weird negotiation items in this game. Besides, Ssendom was a cook and he knew what he was doing. Even though he wasn't a potions master, he was in fact a cook, a great one at that. Without hesitation or concern I cupped the glass with two hands and brought it up to my face, drinking it. It was sour, yet not- it tasted absolutely horrible! I scrunched my face up, but continued drinking in order to gt rid of this dumb effect that caused me to glow. It wasn't the best drink I've ever had in my life; the only liquid I drank in this game was water and hot cocoa. I tapped him on the shoulder again, asking for a little more. Ssendom promptly poured more from the bottle, leading me to drink it once more. This time, when I consumed it, the taste was still gross but it wasn't as bad as the first time. After I was finished I placed the cup on the ground behind head and closed my eyes once more. I was beginning to feel the most relaxed I'd ever felt. After counting for a few moments I opened my icy blue eyes to see if my skin was still glowing.

When I opened my eyes I noticed something rather...strange. My eyesight was a bit blurry but I could tell that this drink didn't do it's job. I was about to turn to Ssendom when suddenly I caught my eye on a certain familiar. My entire face lit up as I half smiled. "Kimba~" I called sweetly across the room to the giant white lion who has eating. Before I could see if it turned my way or not my attention was diverted to a red haired male whom just walked into the party and walk over to Ssendom sitting next to me. My initial reaction was to literally drown myself so he wouldn't see me but I felt that wasn't necessarily the best option right now, I didn't have the energy for it either. So, I simply lowered myself as far as I could into the springs, while still being able to breath, and turned my body to see the both of them. The first thing I noticed was that he was wearing as little clothing as he possibly could, just like that one battle I heard about that he had with Oikawa. And just like Dom he didn't skip out on working out. I was then brought into their conversation by how obnoxiously loud Ssendom was being. I too was about to start laughing uncontrollably at his comment until he said one word: sake. I very sluggishly tapped Ssendom on shoulder again as sharply as I could.

 "Ssend," was all I could manage out, "are ya trying to pick a fight with me or something?" I asked and begun to feel my cheeks burn. "Which...reminds me. I had something I wanted to, to, talk to you about." I wavered for a moment, forgetting what I was actually attempting to say. I was so mad that I couldn't even think.I stared into Ssendom's eyes and remembered the Hydra helmet. "OH! Zelrius, yeah. You remind me of him. You know that guy, he left me in the middle of a dark alley? And, and Oikawa found me? That was embarrassing. That's not what I wanted to say, whoops." I said, having absolutely no filter on what I was saying at this point in my slurred speech. "He helped me yesterday unlike you did tonight. I hate the taste and I can't focus. You're so mean. Zelrius...he helped my but I couldn't control mysel' really.I did what I had to do to save myself and make sure Zel didn't turn orange again." I raised a half pointed finger to Ssendom's cursor and smiled. "I killed someone, Dom. He was an orange player trying to kill me." I let out a half laugh and looked up, I forgot Tristan was standing there. I knew that he would certainly care about this so I continued to tell my tale in full detail. "Tristan, he was a spear user like you. I didn't know they could hurt so much, dude. He poked that sucker straight through my stomach the moment he saw Zelrius approaching. It was cruel so very very very very cruel, Tristan." I stated, almost laughing like I was talking about some funny accident. I turned to Ssendom again. 

"I know it was my job, a Maverick hunter and all, but..." I trailed off, catching myself stare at his cursor again. "I know I have nothing to show for it but, how do you do it? Why does this not feel right? He instigated a fight and pretended to be a friend, then got morbid talking about Keith- so why does it hurt so much?" Slowly I felt a tear run down my face and my lip begin to quiver. "Hah..." A choked laugh sprung from my throat in attempt to cover the wave of emotions about to come. "I had to...I couldn't let Zelrius deal with being orange again." I whispered quietly, just enough to be heard, but with all the noise it wouldn't be certain if anyone had heard.

From far away Ssendom seemed like, well, Ssendom. However, as I heard him speak to me I couldn't help but to question what was going on with him. He seemed a lot calmer, sociable even. I knew that he was a kind person because he made Lowenthal and I breakfast, but something about exactly how open he was being made me suspicious. "Could it be a side affect to the punch?"  I thought with a horrified expression. Two words then entered my brain: calming honey. The sickly thick liquid was oddly satisfying but sent any drinker into a state of numbness. Could Mack have gotten his hands on some? Though, probably not seeing as though the young Mari hadn't appeared to be anywhere lately. The Calming Honey potion could've have been an option, but it was highly unlikely for someone to get such an addictive substance;  I was lucky that after one use I wasn't pleading for more. I could only imagine the results of someone like Ssendom taking a potion like that. His secrets, his fears, his personal life could go out the door if something like that laced the fruit punch bowl at the door. 

I gritted my teeth at the thought of drinking anything from that women again and slowly erased the whole conspiracy from my head. My eyes locked onto Ssendom's the moment he said he could fix the issue. I then looked to where Ssendom offered to let me sit: in the water. It wasn't necessarily a fear but I was reminded of the events that had passed earlier in the week. Meeting another Maverick Hunter only to realize that he was in fact just another PKer looking to further bury anyone in relation to Keith. Having Zelrius watch my health suffer; and interject; into the life threatening situation. Almost dying was the worst feeling from that day. It wasn't caused by just being stabbed or anything, it was the fact that I was practically drowning and could do nothing about it. In the end it was a terrible mess that I wanted to tell literally anyone and everyone, but could tell no one because it would put distance in any relationship. Of course there were exceptions to this, namely Lowenthal, Oikawa, Tristan, and Ssendom. Though it probably wouldn't be a great idea to mention it to either of them I was certain that at least one of them would find out eventually. 

With one last look at the water I put my cloak safe in my inventory and stepped into the warm water. Instantly my entire body felt extremely relaxed and overall it was the best feeling. I sat down next to Ssendom and leaned my head backwards, looking towards the sky. "Ssendom, I'd really appreciate it if you could give me the antidote now. To fully enjoy myself I need to not be all sparkly. As much as everyone wants to by a torch, I do not have that desire. Also if you could, don't mention this to anyone in Azure. What goes on in KoB, stays in KoB."