___

The shop owner wasn't purely business like Red expected him to be. In fact, he was a little more personal than she was comfortable with. He introduced himself as Kosan and extended his hand for a proper greeting, but that wasn't what caught her off guard. It was the giggle that threw her off, which she likely took the wrong way. He's not trying to... No, nobody is that brash. After the second of hesitation, she too extended her hand, grasping his rather lightly. "I, uh, don't... you know." She pointed up, revealing her username so he could see there was nothing more than underscores, "You can call me Red, though." She was the first to pull back her hand and bring it back so that her arms were crossed, "I-I run a shop outside of town... It's called..." Her voice trailed off, Why am I nervous?

Red walked into the shop, though this was her first player shop that she had ever entered. Well... that was if you didn't include her own, but it was nothing compared to this place. There were customers coming in and out, plus there was a distinct smell that this place had. She walked up to the counter, hoping that the man behind it was the owner, "Uh, excuse me. Are you the blacksmith that owns this shop?" She unsheathed her rapier and placed it on the counter, "I was hoping to purchase a new rapier that's a bit better than the one I have now." She pointed at the handle and told him about a few little things that she would like differently (see: LINK), "I think it'd look prettier that way."

ID:

Shop: The Molten Forge

Item Name: Red Rapier

Item Type: 1H Rapier

Item Quality: Perfect

Item Effect: Adds +3 to Damage.

.

Raeyliff seemed to be pretty calm about the arrangments, welcoming her with an honest smile. She returned the smile, hoping not to offend, "I'm doing well." He picked up on the impression that she was a bit uneasy with the quest, much to her own surprise. Am I really revealing my emotions that badly? She took a deep breath in, then let it flow out, before looking back up, "I'm sure we'll be alright." Did that sound confident enough? She felt so out of place thinking about these sorts of things, though she knew not to blame herself. It had been three years since she had any form of social interaction... Three years...

That was when a third person's voice interrupted them, claiming to be Ariel. As it had turned out, Raeyliff and her had been messaging each other about the quest. She hadn't been informed so it brought about a bit of tension. Just how many people did he invite? Including Brayden, that's instantly two people she hadn't known about and-... She paused to clear her mind, she was simply overreacting and leaping to conclusions. This was a golden opportunity to meet new friends, start anew, and do all the things she wish she could have in the real world. Introducing themselves would be a great first step, "I think that would be a good idea."

The female was pretty open about herself, so much so that she even revealed her full name. She had been told that players weren't really into telling each other personal details so this was nothing short of an unusual contradiction. However, that's not what caught her full attention. It wasn't until she said she was a rapier user and tailor that Red perked up, not hesitating to take over the second spot to introduce herself, "Oh, wow. What are the odds?" She pulled her sword from her sheathe, though it was far more lacking in fancy details, "I use a rapier too, plus I'm also a tailor. I've got a shop on this floor called Pins and Needles. Perhaps we can trade some ideas and crafts later."

She was right, this was a golden opportunity.

Red closes the door to her crafting room, giving her the isolated concentration needed to create the best crafts possible. However, it didn't necessarily ensure that she'd create a perfect craft every time. With needle, thread, and a variety of other tools at her disposal, she begins on creating the item... "Let's do this!"

[6968] 1/17 - 5 - 12 (Perfect) - 21

[6869] 1/17 - 6 - 2 (Fail) - 22

ID: 6968

Shop: Pins and Needles

Item Name: Red Robe

Item Type: Light Armor

Item Quality: Perfect

Item Effect: Adds +2 Damage Mitigation and +1 Accuracy

Red closes the door to her crafting room, giving her the isolated concentration needed to create the best crafts possible. However, it didn't necessarily ensure that she'd create a perfect craft every time. With needle, thread, and a variety of other tools at her disposal, she begins on creating the item... "Let's do this!"

[6870] 1/16 - 3 - 11 (Rare) - 11

[6871] 1/16 - 4 - 8 (Common) - 13

ID: 6870

Shop: Pins and Needles

Item Name: Eye of the Tiger

Item Type: Arm Band

Item Quality: Rare

Item Description: This is a band that ties around one's arm. This one in particular has an insignia of a tiger's eye sewn into the fabric.

Item Effect: Adds +1 Evasion and +1 Accuracy

ID: 6871

Shop: Pins and Needles

Item Name: Cerulean Silence Patch

Item Type: Patch

Item Quality: Common

Item Description: A patch with the Cerulean Silence emblem, signifying members of the guild.

End

Rewards:

- Disguise Skill (roll of 19 on LD)

- 4 Skill Points

- 400 Col

Gemini's sword dropped to her side and she looked long and hard at the true Red, "Understand this, history has repeated itself throughout the ages. Wars, hunger, plague, and things far far worse. Humanity overcame those things, but they have a nasty habit of forgetting what is important. Remember all those troubles that you faced, the turmoil you suffered, the emotions that tear at your heart... Those are the things that build your strength. Both here and in the real world, don't lose yourself to all the things you've fought against." Then, without even a second for Red to respond, the Gemini disappeared leaving nothing more than a lesson and a skill she could care less about. "I won't," she whispered into the air, "I won't do it again..."

[6891] 10 - 12 - 19 - 4

[___] 1/11

[Gemini] 0/11

It was a fair game now, both Red's had their health whittled down to a lone hit point. If Red couldn't defeat herself now, she wouldn't live to see another day. She had to come to grips and understand that sometimes you can't blame yourself, but you can't blame others either. It was a terrible contradiction, but sometimes, things just were. There was no changing the course of things once they happened, it was all just water under the bridge. She took a deep breath in, ran forwards for one final attack and let all her frustration vent out as she yelled. You could hear the terror in her voice, but the relief was gradually taking over.

[6890] 6 - 3 - 13 - 9

[___] 1/11

[Gemini] 1/11

The last hit gave Red the upperhand, leaving her a single health point above the clone, "Why are you doing this?" That was the second question that she had to offer, but the laughter erupting from Gemini made it clear that there wasn't a true reason behind it, "I had no taking in this decision. You accepted the challenge, you followed me here, and most importantly, you attacked me." She turned her head to the side so that Red could have a good look at the imprint, "You did this. You're so hopeless in fighting your innerself that you'd attack someone else?" She used this distraction to lunge for another attack, equalizing the health bars between the two combatants.

[6889] 9 - 6 - 20 - 7

[___] 5/11

[Gemini] 4/11

She asked the first of two questions that she figured would answer her confusion, "Who are you?" The duplicate laughed, but it wasn't the same creepy chuckle that it gave off as a man. It was nearly a geniuine laugh, a familiar one. That's my laugh. "Let me guess, you haven't heard that one in quite some time." She bowed, bothering Red further, "My name is Gemini. I did mention earlier that the only danger in this quest was yourself, no?" She dashed forwards and the two girls collided swords with each other, both getting hit in the strikes, "If you can defeat yourself, you'll find yourself a handsome reward."

[6888] 7 - 6 - 15 - 4

[___] 8/11

[Gemini] 8/11

There was no doubt about it, this wasn't a player. It was some sort of NPC, but not your standard one. She had been told that they couldn't leave the perimeters of the town and that none of them could attack the players. If this... thing... wasn't an NPC, then what could it be? It couldn't be a monster since it wouldn't be able to enter the town. Was it a hallucination? She didn't know, all that she could guess was that an exception to the rule and that she should be wary of it in the future. She recovered from the surprise attack and clipped the duplicate as it jumped away from Red.

[6886] 5 - 3 - 13 - 8

[___] 8/11

[Gemini] 11/11

She pulled her hand back, grabbing onto it with her other hand. Did I really just do that? He grinned, she just engaged in combat, whether she wanted to or not. It didn't inflict any pain on the man, but he did react a little funny. He turned into one solid, black shadow of his previous figure. The shadow would undergo some changes to its appearance, but the new one was of the same height as Red. After the color started to come back, she realized it was actually herself. The fake Red smirked, "I warned you, you're the only danger here." The duplicate rushed forwards, lunging the rapier into Red.

She bit her bottom lip, knowing full and well that this individual didn't need to hear any details about her. She looked down and noticed that she had been clenching her fists during her rebuttal, but the man in the coat did seem to catch it, "Oh, look at little miss sunshine coming to grips with her past. I told you that you're dangerous, did I not?" She could feel her blood pressure rising, but she wasn't going to attack him. She wasn't like that, was she? All it took is one final comment, "I bet you can't even decide if the ones you hate really deserve i-." She slapped him, leaving a bright imprint on his cheek.

However, there was more than just that, "They crumble when they have nobody else to put those feelings of hatred, bitterness, and depression. They are constantly fighting with themselves in their own mind, have issues trusting others, and lack the confidence to rely on themselves. They are pitiful." She cringed, maybe he did know, but she couldn't let this get any closer to being the truth, "Why are you telling me all of this? You have no authority to judge others without knowing what they've been through. Some people have nothing in the real world. This is their one and only chance to esc-."

She wasn't so sure what he meant so she pryed into it a bit, "Why would I be a danger to myself?" This was nothing more than a game, what did it know about her? He let out a sigh, "Everyone has their own history, good or bad. The ones like you harbor your own emotions." It hurt her heart to know that it described her pretty accurately, but that was nothing more than a simple generalization. He continued, "They tend to blame themselves for what happened and they hurt those close to them. They can only survive with those close to them." She let her shoulders fall a bit, she didn't have anyone close to her... He didn't know.

It was a scary question in itself, showing that she had trouble believing this man's word. He chuckled in that same despicable manner, "No, fortunately. It's actually rather close, it's at the creek that crosses the dirt road." She knew from her most recent trip to the meadow that he wasn't lying about it, but it was far enough away from the town that she likely couldn't flee. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was quickly interrupted, "Don't worry, the only danger in this quest is yourself. If you're afraid that you can't overcome yourself, this quest will show no remorse."

She wasn't sure whether or not to trust him, but everything leading up to this point suggested that he was the key to the quest. She followed suit, hoping that they wouldn't get far enough that she couldn't run back to the town for safety. It was pretty amazing how lethal this place was, even on the first floor. She was five floors above that, where monsters could threaten her measly level 4 attributes. Not to mention, she didn't really have any armor. All she had was to rely on was her sword and even she didn't believe that would be enough to defeat another player, "Is it far off?"

He led her onwards to the boundaries of the town's safe zone, "Before we proceed, understand that we are now exiting the safe zone." She tilted her head, as far as she had known, NPCs couldn't leave the township. She nodded, more interested in seeing if the man could exit the town. He walked out without any hesitation, tripping no alarms and not inflicting any damage on him, "No way..." She muttered it beneath her breath and it seemed as if he heard, "You shouldn't judge a book by its cover Red, just a thought." Her eyes opened wide. Was this really an NPC or was this an actual player?

She wasn't sure whether she should be worried at this point or if it was the NPC's personality, but it was still a little creepy. With the trenchcoat, personality, and way of talking, it all came together to fit the stereotypical stalker type. He began walking towards the opposite end of the alleyway, leaving her behind. She realized this meant the quest must have already started and started to chase after him, "Wait a minute, hold up!" She didn't feel too comfortable walking by his side so she kept a few feet of distance between her and the man that was leading her to the unknown.

He nodded his head, "Yes, I am the guide for players looking to complete the quest. Unlike quests that most beginners complete in which they must find and harvest certain materials, this one is similar to an escort. However, instead of the player escorting me, I'll be escorting the player. Simple, no?" It was pretty simple, but she still rather be safe than sorry, "Oh, okay. Do I need to bring anything in particular or will there be anything else to do during the quest?" He chuckled menacingly as if there was something to hide, "No worries, all will come in good time, just relax. It'll be over real soon."

Bits? She tilted her head, not really understanding what he was referring to, "Please stop." The man did as requested without hesitation, which left Red a little relieved, she really wasn't digging the sudden approach. She stopped backpedalling as well, "I just wanted to know about the Gemini quest that I've been told about, I've heard this is where the quest starts." She really wasn't expecting to have to speak with anyone today other than an NPC, but if this was an NPC, it was a really weird one. Reminded her of... She shuddered No, just relax Red... It's nothing like that, just calm down.

That was a little creepy... "Well, I don't have a name, but I go by Red. Sorry about that." She scratched her head, now knowing that not having an alias as her username rather than just spaces was a bad thing, but she never intended to stay here in SAO when she first dove in. He stood up straight and shrugged his shoulders, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." He walked closer towards her causing her to slowly backpedal, it was kind of freaking her out, "It doesn't matter what your name is online. People judge you by your personality, your actions, your history, and sometimes your bits."

Eventually she would wind up at the starting location of the quest, which was a little sketchy to begin with. It was in an alleyway between a few of the shops, you know, dark and usually has a stench of danger. Fortunately, this was within the town so she had no real reason to be so worried. As such, she picked up her feet and marched on towards the man in the trench coat that was leaning against the wall. She cleared her throat, "Um, excuse me. Are you the person I need to see about the Gemini quest?" A grin formed upon his lips as he looked at her, "That depends, who is asking?"

She was taking it pretty easy today, considering that some of the locals claimed that this quest wasn't nearly as dangerous as the other ones available. That's before even factoring what floor she was on, where the average health of a monster was only a single point below hers. She wasn't looking towards a repeat of the last two, where her health was within a hit or two of depleting, that was a really scary feeling. Even though this place wasn't real, even though she wasn't absolutely sure about the 'death' rule, even though she didn't think she feared death; she was beginning to be absorbed by this alternate reality.