Mayuri

Opening the trade Mai smiled. “Reaver huh… I like it already. I know I’m cutting things short and all, but I think that’s everything.” She accepted the trade. “Life is waiting for me so I’m going to go. Please take care of yourself Persephone, and good luck to you. I hope you make it back home. Now if you excuse me, I must run. Bye and thank you again. For everything.”

Getting up from the table, Mai eagerly bounced away. Things were going to be different now, but in a good way.

Mayuri exits stage right.

“We have been having fun. Life is very well.” Mai replied with a smile. She didn’t want to explain what was going on, she only wanted to focus on the positive, and that was she and Life were happy. That was all anyone needed to know.

“I think this is everything,” Mai said as she hit the trade button.

Shay giggled. She had never thought of herself as a champion of others. She merely just did what she thought was right.

“I’m just glad I could be of service.” Mai said as she began to click on random things in her inventory. Although she was given these items years ago, the girl remembered everything the older’s woman’s trade entailed.

“I was surprised actually, when you chose me. I’m sure Life talked me up plenty. If he were the type to be prone to exaggeration I’d have told you as much myself, but he is as honest as they come, so I must be alright.” Shay said with a laugh. “And you owe me no explanation as to what your plans are. But I am glad you will continue on with what you had decided to when we first met. I’ll be rooting for you… just from the safety of my home.” Mai grinned.

“You were wondering about the Blood right?” Mai interrupted the Goddess.

“I figured,” Mai said and smiled. “But of course. I still have all your things you know. I figured one day you when you felt better you would message me and ask if you could get your things back. I told myself if you ever did, I’d of course meet you and return everything.”

Shay opened her inventory and began to scroll through everything as she continued to speak.

“I’ll be honest with you though. I didn’t use it as you intended. I never did make it to the boss raids. BUT I did help people with it. I would scour the lower floors for new players and use the blood to boost them through easier missions so they might level faster. I’ve done my best to keep it hidden. I didn’t want to die by poachers and lose your valuable possession. In fact, thank you. If you hadn’t loaned it to me, I wouldn’t have been to keep Life safe. “

It was no surprise to Mai when she got a message from Persephone. Even though the woman had been rather sure of her desire to avoid the fray, Mai deep down knew that no one could give up on the fight entirely. Not while they were alive and there was still so much to live for.  Even from day one, Mai had promised herself that if this day were to ever come, she would not hesitate to return what rightfully belonged to Persephone. Mai was grateful to the woman. It was her gifts that had kept she and Life alive all this time. The pretty brunette talked things over with her partner and made her intentions known to her love how things were going to go and Life agreed. He knew the decision was entirely hers anyhow so he didn’t put in much of a fight. With a gentle kiss, all was resolved and Mai made plans to once more meet a goddess.

Mai knew the café they were to meet quite well. She lived in Urbis after all so it was a place she often came to for a bite to eat when she and Life felt like going out. They had much free time now that they were living a quiet life, and they much enjoyed their leisure time together. She made her way into the café and spotted Persephone immediately. Giving the woman a wave, she came over and sat down across from the curly haired brunette.

“I knew we would meet again… “Mai said and smiled, “ How are you? You look…well… much better than last I saw you. “She admitted timidly.

 “HERE!” Said as she found the NPC and handed over the package.

The NPC gave her a thank you and said a few words on the quest and before long, a little message popped up saying that her quest had been completed! “YES!” Shay cheered and gave a fist pump as she hit <<OKAY>> and closed out the little window. Shay was tired, hungry, and dirty, but despite all this she didn’t feel as worn as she expected to be. Either way she was goad it was over and now she was going to head back to her floor and go to the public bath and enjoy a nice long soak.

She’d earned it!

QUEST  COMPLETE

MAYURI EARNS THE FOLLOWING:

•         Survival Skill

•          2 SP

•         200 Col

•       2 Material

She was back in the town. The air hung thick with the smellof the market stalls opening up. There was the scent of fruit in the air, aromatic spices, and the wafting scent of meat being roasted over an open flame. Shay’s stomach rumbled and she placed a hand over it to quite the beastly sounds that came from within.

“Not yet…” she told herself. “We need to finish this quest, then we can eat.”

Civilization!

She saw the village she’d started from in clear site. The pink clad kimono girl jumped for joy and began racing toward the buildings in the distance as fast as she could pump her little legs. Mai couldn’t wait to get back to Life and show him what she’d done on her own again. She was sure he’d be terribly proud of what she’d done. She was terribly proud of what she'd done!

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CD: 3     SAFE

The sun was well over the horizon and she still had at least another hour to go ahead of her before she would reach civilization. This was more than enough time to finish the quest as her countdown showed that she had well over two hours to finish her task. “Imagine if I had been caught up in fights….” She said to herself aloud wondering how it was that she managed to skate through the desert without running into any living thing.  She supposed the system was in her favor today and she would just accept her good fortune.

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CD: 5     SAFE

Shay yawned along with Cygnus. “It is very late.” She agreed. Her glass of water was gone, and from the looks of it his coffee was as well. Perhaps it was time for them to call it an evening. The last thing she wanted was to keep him longer than she meant to. “That’s very kind. But I think we ought to call it an evening. We should exchange player information though. I’d like to catch up again. See how your training goes… maybe go hunting sometime? My skills need much work, and I can’t really build them on my own.”

Cygnus’s face went as red as hers and soon the pair were in a rolling fit of laughter. He jokingly gave himself a horrible stage causing Shay to bury her face her hands and shake her head as she laughed as hard as she could. “Noo…noooo….” She gasped between her boisterous giggles. Their mirth died down and Shay sipped at her water and sputtered a few more breathy giggles as she finally relaxed. Cy told her he had needed a good laugh and she nodded in agreement. “Me too,” she said. She hadn’t realized it, but she had been quite sad with Life leaving her alone all the time. She had done so well to bury her feeling she kept them even from herself.

Cygnus told her more about his family and she listened. “I’m sure they weren’t bad people.” She agreed and offered him a warm smile. “I’ve brothers too… two of them… younger ones. My parents are professors so I take care of them. We’re very close.” She shared. “I do hope you get to see your sister again, and can make amends with your parents.”

She finished her glass of water.

Mai sat up straight and beamed as she was told her choice of profession is admirable. It only made her feel like it would be a good choice for her. “Then I should look into it when we leave.” She nodded.  She sipped at her water and watched her companion as he drifted away for a moment. It was easy t get lost in one’s thoughts at this time of night. She sat back in heat and quietly drank her water allowing him to be absorbed in his own world. After some time, he looked back at her and began to share more with her. It seemed he’d been going to a good school and that he’d become estranged from his parents who were paying for school.

“I’m sorry,” Shay spoke up quickly. She couldn’t ever imagine not being close to her parents or siblings. Her family was so important to the girl. He cracked a joke about taking up a job in fast food to pay for Harvard and Shay grinned.

“Maybe stripping?” She giggled furiously as her little cheeks went hot pink at her suggestion. “I hear you get excellent tips…” Her face only glowed brighter as she laughed even louder. Lewdness rarely came from the girl, but she couldn’t resist the punchline. Anything to break the tension.  

“I think in a few years, the public will forget, and then they’ll reuse the technology. They’ll probably make it safe somehow or claim is safe, and we will all get swept under the rug like it never happened.”

The small raven haired girl propped her elbows upon the table and rested her chin upon her cupped hands as she let out a deep sigh. As much as she had found while she was here, she knew she was losing so much in reality: her family, her friends, herself. She wondered what sort of shape her body would  be in when she woke. How thin she’d be, how long her hair would be, if she’d even have any muscle tone to be able to lift her head. Would she be able to speak? Would her mind be in one piece? Or was she already in a comatose state, one she’d never wake up from.

Cy cleared his throat and her eyes darted back to his face as he captured her attention. He had been going to law school, and admitted to not living a good life. Mai frowned; she never liked hearing that from anyone believing that everyone ought to have been happy. He asked her the same and the girl grinned weakly. “I’d just have graduated from high school. I didn’t have a plan yet though. My parents convinced me to go to community rather than straight to university. They told me to find myself and that I had time. Here, I’m working on becoming a combat medic, maybe I’ll go into medicine when we get out of here. I want to help as many people as I can.”

Shay had always had always been the altruistic sort.

“No, this is fine,” Shay replied, “Great  really.”

She listened to him talk about “before” and she smiled. Mai had not been thinking too much about before these days, not when there was too much now going on around her. Her thoughts turned to Life and wondered if he was still up also, or if he was resting. She hoped he was getting some sleep.

“I was never much for coffee before either. I like tea though…still do. I’ve a very pretty tea set in my shop that I use to make tea daily.” Their orders were brought and the pink kimono clad girl sipped at her water. “Isn’t it interesting though? That we can taste and smell and feel here?  I mean I know the nervegear taps all into that, but it’s rather remarkable.” The water in her glass was cold, and mineral in taste. Below all that was the faint hint of the citrus fruit that floated atop her beverage.

“What did you do… out there I mean.” She asked curiously. It wasn’t often that another would talk about their real life and whenever someone did, she longed to talk about it.

The raven-haired girl let the young man take the lead and soon found herself in a the Starlight Café. She had not gone to the establishment before, so she was unfamiliar with it. In her earlier days, she spent most of her time in other places with her cousin until his fall, after that she found herself entirely in the fields, only coming in to sleep until she’d earned her own profession which came with a shop.

The café was brightly lit, and there were still a number of patrons, but it was relatively quiet otherwise. She entered the café and chose seating by the window so she could continue to admire the night sky. The light of the town affected her view of the stars, but it was still a pretty view nonetheless. A pretty waitress came round and asked for their order, “Just ice water with lemon, please,” Shay asked politely of the girl. The weather was too warm for tea, and she did not drink coffee.  The waitress then took Cygnus’s and walked away.

“So…” Mai said after a few moments of silence. Despite being a friendly girl, Shay was often a quite one and wasn’t very good with making small talk.

Shay was glad she wasn’t pressed any further for information. The last thing she wanted was to spread her relationship drama about. She wasn’t the sort to sit there and cry to others about personal problems, boy troubles included. They reached town after a short and Mayuri felt glad to be back within a safe zone. She was offered choice of activity and Shay just shrugged, “Either sounds lovely about now.” She paused and smiled, “I suppose that’s not entirely helpful is it?” She looked about trying to assess what was around them, “I have been walking for quite some time… perhaps now would be a good time for something to drink.” She said decidedly.

Cygnus chuckled causing Shay to ease up even more; laughter was always the best medicine for tense situations. Her suggestion was met with agreement and he began to walk ahead and the pink kimono clad girl scampered along to catch up. She walked along beside him quietly as she studied the stars above her far more than she’d actually paid attention to the path ahead of her. Shay was always the kind of girl to have her head in the clouds far more than she had them on what she was supposed to focus on.

The silence between them was broken when she was asked about why she needed a walk. He apologized if it was a personal subject, and the girl just nodded her dark locked head. “There is…” she replied, “But it’s not anything that can be helped, so I just have to wait and see how things work out, you know?” She knew her words were vague, but she hoped he could kinf of understand what she meant. Sometimes all one could do was watch and wait to see where the pieces fell before one could react to anything. “Thank you though… for asking about it. It was nice ,” She wasn’t sure if he was showing her genuine concern or if he was trying to make conversation, but him checking on her was nice either way.

Despite the distance, Mai hardly fancied this quest as anything more than a very long walk through a hot desert. Now that she’d been traveling though it for so long she hardly noticed that the floor’s temperature was much high than some of the other ones. The young woman smiled and wondered if it was because she was building up the skills ability enough to level up in it. Her target wasn’t too far off now and once she turned in her quest she would have her survival skill.

63071

CD: 7     SAFE

Shay let out another chuckle as she was again apologized to. This man was rather silly, but she found it nice that he really hadn’t meant anything by what he’d said, nor would he have attacked her as she was unarmed. “Good to know.” She added and began to walk off once more. She heard him call out to her after a few steps and she paused.  He asked her to stay and Shay thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t like she needed to be anywhere at the moment. “Okay…” she agreed. “But what if we were head to town so that we’re not so vulnerable out in the open?  I’d hate for us to be ambushed by other nefarious characters who might actually harm either of us.”

Cygnus quickly picked up on her distress which was likely a reaction to the fact that Shay didn’t hide her emotions well. She felt silly. It was stupid of her to be so easily readable; she knew it’d get her into trouble as she could hide nothing from no one.

“You’re okay…” she said and smiled weakly, “Really, no apologies needed. I understand that the situation is a bit unusual. If you’d like to continue your training I shall leave you in peace.” She turned and took a step before turning back about. “Thanks for not attacking me with any of those spin things you were doing. I’m sure that would’ve stung quite a bit.” She laughed.

The winds during this part of her journey seemed to be a lot less intense than they were before. Her steps also seemed to be lighter than yesterday as she moved with a much quicker cadence than her previous day. The sun began to show over the horizon painting the floor in a soft orange sherbet glow and Mai turned her face toward the light much like a sunflower would, and let the warmth radiate over her fair skin. She was slowly closing in on her destination and her package was safely tucked away in her inventory. Only a little more until she reached the end and achieved her new skill.

63062

CD: 9     SAFE

“Me?”  Shay squeaked in surprise.

Someone thought she looked like a capable player, more so one of committing murder?  Her heart plummeted straight into her stomach. The girl wanted nothing more than to help people, even keep them safe from death, so the fact she was under the suspicion of being capable of causing harm to another hurt the girl to her very core. If there’d been lighter out, perhaps Cygnus might have seen the forlorn expression she wore upon her sweet face. She thought to admit she was not high in level, nor did she have any skill in her weapon, but saying stuff like that was dangerous, especially to a complete stranger.

“I…”  She started and then paused thinking how best to continue, “I suppose it does seem suspicious that I’m out here. I needed a walk, and I ran out of floor on the second, so I came down here hoping I could clear my head. I promise I mean you know harm. As you can see, I don’t have my weapon in hand.” She said holding out both her tiny delicate hands.

Shay’s inquiry was met with swift response as the man produced his weapon for her to view. Being in closer range, she found that his sword was gigantic; her hwando was a mere toothpink, and her falchion a kitchen knife in comparison. She giggled as he explained that he gravitated toward heavier weaponry. “Obviously,” she grinned. Cygnus also told her that he had been working on his own techniques so that his movements would not be readable during a fight, and Shay pursed her lips together. She wasn’t sure if the game mechanics worked in such a way that he could do so, but she didn’t understand a lot about video games as SAO was the first she’d ever played.

“Do you often train at such an odd hour? Don’t you feel exposed out here in the dark?” she continued her questioning.

Mayuri was glad to find such company up on a higher floor. She was under the impression that many players were there to harm her; instead she found that wasn’t quite the case. The girl who introduced herself as Luna seemed soothed after Mai produced a teleport crystal, and for this Shay was glad. It didn’t sit well with her that anyone should be worried in her company. The young man introduced himself as Victor caused her to giggle by calling her lovely. The raven-haired girl’s went pink at the compliment; even though Eric called her things of the same nature quite often, it still caused the girl to get bashful.  “Come on then…” She called to the other two as she began down the path, “We’d better get going!”

Shay awoke.

The winds had died down once more causing things to get all too quiet for Shay’s liking. It was still dark out and Shay opened her HUD to see how long she’d rested. Only a few hours had gone by, not even quite twenty four hours had passed since she’d begun her quest. “Time to get up!” she told herself. The sun would be up in a few hours, but she could not wait. Shay figured if she took her time and didn’t put a real hurry on until sunrise, she’d finish this quest ahead of schedule, not problem.

62648

CD: 9     SAFE