Eliziana

Eliziana's eyes lit up as she saw Teion, and she headed over and practically knocked the purple haired girl over with a hug. She lingered there for a moment, before pulling away, a huge smile on her face. As Teion asked what she would need to do, Eliziana realized that she hadn't actually read the quest text before accepting the quest and heading along on her merry little way. She giggled at her own silliness before pulling up her menu to look at the quest details there. "Well, it says that I need to go ahead and create some form of performance, and then perform it in front of 5 NPCs. This can be a dance, a song, or some other form of entertainment, but must be a full performance." She closed her menu and looked at Teion a bit wide eyed. "I-I know they're NPCs... b-but I don't k-know if I can actually p-perform something in f-front of someone..." Eliziana's telltale nervous stuttering had kicked in, and she wrapped her arms around herself as she looked away a bit sheepishly.

Eliziana gave a quiet nod to Teion, trying her best to think of it the way she had mentioned and gave a smile. Eliziana just hoped she never had to leave the city, and that was that. This or any city. She gave a sigh as Teion said that it was getting late and sadly she was in agreement as she looked out the window to see that it was dark outside and that most other adventurers had gone to bed for the day. Eliziana chuckled and looked at a little list she had made, after pulling it out of her inventory, marking down this inn's name with a line through it. "W-well... stayed here... another inn off the list!" She smiled at Teion, and stood, making ready to head to her room she had rented for the night, before saying, "Thanks for the dinner company... I enjoyed it. I look forward to having at least one good friend in Aincrad." Eliziana blushed a bit at that thought, and quickly hid her face, before running off up the stairs to her room.

Thread Complete!

- Eliziana: +200 Col, +1 SP
- Teion: +200 Col, +1 SP

Eliziana nodded to Hikoru, but kept herself closed up as she began to walk off towards a nearby cafe for lunch. She gave a sigh and thought about the mess she had managed to get herself into for the day and remembered why she hated leaving the inn to begin with. She motioned to the cafe, and said, "L-let's g-go ahead and eat then..." She tried her best to smile but ended up just shivering instead. Seul had acted weird and while Hikoru seemed nice, she wasn't actually sure if he was a nice person. Seul had seemed nice as well. Then there was the other girl, who she wasn't even sure if she had followed or not, but to that Eliziana just gave a shrug. She'd give social interaction a shot, even if she was deathly afraid of it., and see where the rest of the day went.

((OOC: Hikoru, if you want to actually do a lunch thread we can. I kinda want to just get this closed up for now, and move on. Send me a PM if you want to do a continuation together!))

Thread Complete!

• Eliziana: 1 SP, 80 Col
• Seul: 1 SP, 80 Col
• Hikoru: 1 SP, 80 Col
• Sousuke: 1 SP, 80 Col
• Lilliad: 1 SP, 80 Col

Eliziana gave Emerath a nod as he tried to calm her down, his sweetness causing her to blush a bright red. She was still shaking a bit, but as the man took her hand, she couldn't help but calm down a little, and she found her feet moving forward with his, despite that she was giving a little resistance to the tugging. She wanted to go, for Emerath, but she was so scared of the idea of permanent death in SAO, even with Endilix protecting her. It was something she had always been afraid of, and the whole reason why only once before this had she left the city, and only because she missed home that badly. And that had only ended up scarring her worse, as she had been ambushed by the woman Flints and had decided to never leave the city again.

But this was different. She was with a man she felt deeply for, and his brother, whom she hoped could be trusted unconditionally because of family. Not to mention that Endilix seemed like a generally nice person anyway, albeit a bit abrasive. The abrasive part was clear, as she saw him frowning and crossing his arms at them. As she approached him holding Emerath's hand, she said to Endilix, "I'm r-really sorry! I t-think I'm okay now!"

As Endilix joked about getting hit in the face, Eliziana couldn't help but giggle. She had heard Emerath talk about Endilix a lot in their time in the real world, but she had never had the pleasure of meeting the man previously, and from what Eliziana could tell he was certainly everything Emerath said he was. He was a lot more, I suppose you could call it simple. He didn't seem to worry too much about things, as he made his way out into the field, though Eliziana supposed that being an armor clad warrior would make anyone worry less. Eliziana idly wondered about herself, and what she'd be in Aincrad. The brothers here seemed to be well set in their paths, but Eliziana was still a blank slate. She frowned a bit, wondering if she'd ever actually even be useful as a combatant.

As Endilix walked out, Eliziana started to take a step to follow him, but the realization that she was leaving a safe zone suddenly hit her, and she stood there, frozen. She began to shake a little and turned to Emerath with a frown. She couldn't move her legs forward anymore, and suddenly she was on the verge of tears, as if the idea had never occurred to her that she would have to leave the safety of the city to go kill this monster. "E-E-Emerath! I-I-I...." she stuttered badly, as her body shivered, "I-I-I'm.... s-scared... t-t-to leave the c-c-city!"

Eliziana didn't really realize how forcefully she was dragging Emerath along until he seemed to only just be able to push out a sentence as they ran. She slowed down and released his hand before saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm just excited!" She blushed a bit, as she wrapped her arms around herself and tried to keep a quick, but steady pace towards the city gates. As she approached, amongst the hustle and bustle of the gate she noticed a man standing there that looked identical to Emerath in every way, except for the earthy brown armor and actual hammer and shield equipped. "Hey, it's Dael... I mean... you said his name in game is Endilix?" she asked, turning to Emerath as they approached. "He's not going to think it's weird... uh... us, right? I mean, whatever we are." She blushed again and gave a nervous giggle, before looking back to Endilix watching them approach.

Eliziana's eyes grew a bit wide at the mention of quests, as she began to get nervous about the very idea. "A-aahh..." she managed to start, but simply leaned back in her chair and frowned, trying to calm herself rather than finishing that thought. She took a few deep breaths and then said, "N-no offense to y-you... but that really depends on the t-type of quest..." The very thought of having to leave the safe zones made Eliziana nervous, as she frowned and bit her lip. Finally, she ended up looking away, a pinkish hue creeping across her face. "N-no... I haven't really had any that interest me... I-I..." she paused again, trying to compose herself. She was beginning to see this girl as an actual friend, and she figured it wouldn't be fair if she didn't tell her her feelings. "I... really h-hate the idea of leaving the s-save zones..."

Eliziana had come this far with Teion, she supposed that, as nervous as it made her to share so much knowledge with a stranger, she couldn't really turn back now. Slowly, after much consideration, Eliziana finally gave Teion a nod and said, "Yes, I stay in each inn. I... don't really have anywhere else. Certainly not a player home or anything. I don't even have a shop or anything! I know some players use their shops as homes..." Eliziana couldn't help but drift in thought to the idea of having her own shop, as scary as dealing with the general public often was. She liked the idea of making enough Col to continue her journey to stay at all the inns, especially considering the higher floors would probably be more expensive. Eliziana blinked herself back to reality though, and looked to Teion curiously, "How about you? Planning on staying the night? I suppose you're not one of those players I mentioned that lives in their shop!" She giggled at that last bit, curious if Teion had ever even considered it or just didn't like the idea, but left that question unasked.

Eliziana had just made it to the Teleport Gate when Teion's response popped up. She gave a happy gasp at the acceptance and then quickly stood in the spot to teleport as she shouted, "Town of Beginnings!" and was enveloped in a blue sphere for teleportation. As she materialized on the First Floor she practically bounded her way over to the music shop in question. It was full of hustle and bustle, as would have been expected of a place where a quest to take a profession would be. Eliziana smiled as she partially edged her way through the crowd and partially waited in line to speak to the NPC. She felt nervous being around so many people, but she was too worried about getting the quest to think about that. As she reached the NPC, she explained her situation, and a quest window popped up in front of her. Eliziana practically beamed as she accepted it and she ran back out of the shop to search for her purple haired friend.

Eliziana's eyes lit up at the thought of her getting a new whip, as Teion looked the weapon over. "I would love to get a nice new weapon! So... does that mean you're a.... blacksmith?" Eliziana cocked her head in thought. The idea of a blacksmith making a whip was admittedly an odd one, but the more Eliziana thought about it, the less it would've made sense for it to be anything else. She gave a chuckle, and she said, "I would love to stop by, in any case. Here!" She quickly pulled up her menu and poked on Teion's name, sending off a friend request to the woman with a smile. "Now, all you need to do is send me a message to come visit you in your shop and I can use the location finder to lead me right to you!"

Eliziana smiled as she read over Teion's response. Teion certainly had more faith in Eliziana than Eliziana herself did. She shook her head and pulled up her menu, seeing the rough location of where her friend was, and noting that she was on the First Floor. She drained the remainder of her ice water from her cup and stood slowly from her chair with a stretch, before glancing back at the dancer one more time, which had gone into yet another new routine. She giggled and started to make her way to the Teleport Gate, typing as she walked to Teion, 'Sounds great! I think there's a quest on the First Floor where I can learn the trade! Meet me at the NPC and we can party?'

Eliziana smiled at Teion's question, and she couldn't help but wonder where the girl lived in real life based on what she had said. As she asked her about her weapon choice, Eliziana blushed a bit and then pulled her whip from the clasp on her belt and placed it on the table. It was a simple bull whip, common and not very special. A starter whip in every sense. She smiled at Teion, "I was originally going to be a dagger user. Even though I'm not big on combat in this game, I had figured that I would be more of the agile stabby type. But... then the system update introduced new weapons, and I couldn't help but want to use a whip." She chuckled, "I know, I know, I'm no better than all the other people who probably jumped on the bandwagon, but I really thought it fit me better than a little dagger."

Eliziana had heard about a quest on the Third Floor during her time in her inn hopping where she could get a nice coat to wear. Emerath had asked her to move onto the Fourth Floor to his shop, but she had nothing warm to wear! And so, she had decided to do this quest, but at her level it would've been difficult. Of course, Emerath and Endilix both had told her this would be no problem, Emerath gave her a winning smile, and off they went to go talk to Griswold the blacksmith. As she pushed her way into the shop, she looked at the burly man and his wife and gave them a smile as he asked her what he could do for her. She gave the man a wave and said, "I'd like a nice warm jacket to wear on the Fourth Floor! Do you think you can make that for me?" The man considered this, and gave a nod, as a quest popped up in front of her, asking for her to slay an enemy for a certain material. "A Dark Elf? Got it! Thank you sir!" she happily said as she turned and gave a wave, and exited the shop again.

Emerath was waiting outside the shop, and she took his hand and led him along towards the city gates happily, as she turned to him and said, "You know, it's not so bad talking to NPCs... I don't get nearly as nervous."

I'll be taking this quest with the Endilix brothers.

Eliziana had ended up finishing her food, what seemed like, before Teion had even touched hers. She looked at the girl across the table with a bit of a pinkish blush, a bit embarrassed that she had eaten her meal so fast. She smiled at the conversation though, as she pushed her bowl aside, which was picked up rather quickly by a passing waiter. "I actually don't mind the heat as much. I-I mean, being hot sucks, but so does being cold. I guess I just don't get nearly as uncomfortable from that type of stuff. After a day out in the heat, you can always just go take a bath, right?" She chuckled a bit, as she thought of the floor below them and how it was a complete contrast to this floor. "Really though, I think the heat is better than the cold. Not that either is really good, but I tolerate the heat better!"

Eliziana couldn't help but smile into the kiss as he put an arm around her waist and embraced her. Her heart raced, but she felt in this moment that everything was right again. She had waited two years for this moment, for this man, to return. She was happy to know that her waiting hadn't been in vain. After lingering on the kiss that she wished didn't need to end, she finally pulled away, and looked into Emerath's eyes with a deep blush on her cheeks. She still couldn't help but smile though, as she slowly pulled from his embrace and looked over his suit, seeing she had caused a few wrinkles and creases. She idly smoothed them out with her hands, not wanting to look him in the eyes again, as she said, "W-well... I-I'm obviously h-happy to see you... n-n-now that we've gotten all the d-drama out of the way..." She had started to stutter again, nervous despite how much she had enjoyed the encounter and she shook her head, wishing that the blush on her cheeks would fade away.

Finally, she looked up at him and smiled once more, before nodding to Emerath and rushing to the door, "I-I'm going to go get us d-dinner!" She quickly opened the door, and then started to rush through it before she turned and said, "T-thanks... N-new guild leader!" Before rushing out to go talk to the innkeep about room service for the two of them. I can't believe this is happening... here, of all places... Oh, Eru... I'm so glad I found you again!

Thread Complete!

Eliziana - 1 SP, 200 Col
Emerath - 1 SP, 200 Col

Eliziana closed her eyes at Emerath's words. "Well... that's a relief. Ever since getting trapped in this game... I've been alone. I haven't felt safe. I never really realized how much I relied on your courage when we were together... until it was gone." She squeezed his hand tighter, and stared into his eyes, "I... I've been... moving from inn to inn for... I don't even know... months now? Has it been that long since we became trapped here? Time blurs together in this game..." Eliziana shook her head. She wanted to wipe away her own tears, but she didn't want to let go of her hold on Emerath. She was afraid he would slip away again if she let go. So instead she pulled him closer, and smiled, "I'm going to hold you to that promise." He's the only person who has ever given me this courage. The courage to face even the scariest things. Eru, don't ever leave again... please, she thought to herself, as she pulled on his tie, and stood a bit on her tip toes so that her lips met his as she closed her eyes, Please...

Eliziana almost pulled away as Emerath took her hand, but as he spoke, she ended up allowing herself to grasp it. He's still the same Eru. For a moment... I was a bit afraid that it was Dael, or that Eru had changed... but it's still him. Her eyes welled up with tears again, and she found herself putting her free hand on his chest, and grasping his tie. "You... you idiot. There's a third option," she managed, trying to keep her voice from breaking. "I can forgive you, for the things that didn't even happen. For being scared. Goodness knows I get scared..." she wanted to look away, but she just stared at him through the blurry vision. Her eyes hurt from all the crying she had done, but the tears just kept coming. So much pent up grief, anger, everything, never having found any release after Emerath had left, all being let free in these moments. She gripped his tie, and his hand both, and used the grip on his tie to pull him closer to her, as she whispered to him, "Please promise me.... we're stuck here in this death game. Promise me that you won't run again... if you still feel anything for me that you once did..."

Eliziana listened to Emerath's explanation, and it only served to make her angrier. She clenched her fists and her knuckles grew white as she stared at Emerath, her yellow eyes piercing his emerald ones. "You just... you became a coward?! What happened to this man I fell in love with? The one who could stand up against the world and prove everyone who ever doubted him wrong, including me?" She took a few steps forward to close the gap between them and pointed a finger at his chest, still staring hard into his eyes, "You wouldn't have run away from the Devil himself if he were standing in front of you cackling and shooting fire from his fingertips, telling you that he was about to steal your soul, but you'd... you'd run away from me?! The woman you claimed to love?!"

Eliziana had initially resisted Emerath's touch and his pull for her to look at him, but she sighed and gave in, looking at the man through blurry eyes. As she listened to his explanation, she couldn't honestly decide if she was angry or more sad. Emerath said he hadn't cheated. Normally, that's not something someone just believes, but with the man gazing into her eyes as he said it, she couldn't help but feel that he was telling the truth. Eliziana shook her head once he had let go of her again, and despite herself his touch had given her goosebumps. "S-so..." she finally managed, after a long silence of staring at her feet, "...y-you almost cheated. And then... you ran away. B-but... why run? Y-you're usually s-so.... honest!" She crossed her arms, her anger flaring up a bit again at the sudden inconsistency. Eliziana trusted everything in his story except for that. Running away was just not Emerath's style.

Eliziana considered the idea that she had visited a lot of places, but oddly enough couldn't really point any out as being a whole lot better than others. She smiled a bit sheepishly at the thought and shook her head at Teion, "Honestly, I remember the floors more than the inns themselves..." She poked at her stew with her spoon, steam still rising from the untouched portion of food despite that it had been sitting for a time. "Most inns are the same, except between floors. So far floor five has been my favorite. There are a lot of performers here and I like to listen to the music. A jewel in the middle of the desert is what I think of this city..." As Teion received her food, Eliziana smiled and began to eat now that her company was no longer waiting. She had found that she was surprisingly hungry as she gulped down spoonfuls of the stew, pleasantly surprised at the quality despite it being NPC food. That was about when Eliziana realized that she hadn't been stuttering in conversation anymore. She ended up stopping mid scoop of another spoonful of stew, before giving a quick, confused glance to Teion, but then back down again and resuming her meal. Maybe it's because she isn't too nosy, loud, or pushy... There should be more friendly people like her, willing to just sit at dinner and have a nice chat.

Eliziana had been sitting under a shaded umbrella on the Fifth Floor sipping on a cool glass of ice water through a straw, watching this dancer dance around for what felt like the better part of the day. Eliziana had been mesmerized by her movements. There were a lot of dancers on the floor, really. Eliziana supposed that with the heat it made sense considering they wore less clothing they were more enticing to the male population of players. What Eliziana hadn't been able to figure out, despite ages of watching, was if this was a player or an NPC. The dancer didn't interact with anyone, or accept any tips, but also never seemed to repeat their repertoire. She sucked on the straw again, causing the ice in the glass to shift with the liquid leaving the cup. Finally, Eliziana pulled up her menu. She scrolled through her friends list, as small as it was, as she had a burning question. She had considered asking Emerath, but he never was one for this type of thing. No, Teion might be better for this.

Eliziana smiled as she popped open her messaging system and sent Teion a simple message saying, 'Teion! I have a question! Do you... think I can sing and dance?'

10 hours ago, Teion said:

Teion spotted the red-haired girl enter and perked up. With all the hustle and bustle, she hadn't had the chance to respond to Emerath when he described his friend. Eliziana approached, shy as always, and Teion gave her a warm smile. "Hey Eliziana! I didn't know you were friends with Emerath!" She was genuinely surprised, curious as to how they knew each other. But she supposed that explanation would have to wait for another time. She spotted other people entering the shop and quickly opened a trade window. She entered the whip and shield set, hoping she liked the final design. "Here you go! You'll have to take me out leveling with you--I'd love to see them in action!" She grinned.

Eliziana smiled at her friend and accepted the trade for the items, relieved that Emerath had managed to find the time in his schedule to make the payment as promised. She took the items and equipped them immediately, loving not only the stats, but the style of them. She held out the shield and admired the well adorned rose on the front of it, turning to Teion and saying, "He didn't mention he had requested you to make such a lovely design! It's amazing!" She quickly put the shield on her back and gave Teion a hug in thanks before the girl could make any attempts to deny it. Once she had let go, she was practically grinning ear to ear as she said, "Honestly, I'm surprised he knew you as well! Him and I..." Eliziana began to notice other people milling about the store towards Teion, and was starting to feel a bit crowded, as she looked around and said, "Well, you're busy! We'll catch up later! I like the idea of leveling together!" She gave Teion a wave and quickly made her way out of the store before she got anymore nervous from realizing how incredibly busy it was.

+Rose
+Rose's Echo
 

Eliziana spooned up a bit of her stew, and looked at it for a moment before deciding that it would be horribly impolite to eat in front of company who was waiting for their food. She put the spoon back into the bowl and watched as it sunk back down into the food and gave a bit of a sigh at her unnecessary politeness. She looked up at Teion's response and question, a but surprised at the actual conversation forming between the two, most of the surprise being at herself. She gave a smile to the girl across the table and said, "A-actually, I'm on a bit of a... personal quest!" She had to consider that last bit for a moment, before realizing how that might've sounded in the game and quickly continued with, "N-not one given by an NPC though! I made this one up myself!" Eliziana smiled, and looked around the crowded inn. She was still horribly put off by the social atmosphere, but thinking of her own little adventure gave her a bit of peace. "I've decided. I'm gonna stay in every inn in Aincrad! My current stop is the fifth floor!"

Eliziana leaned back against the tree she had been standing next to and tried to calm her breathing. This is why leaving inns is a bad idea, Eliziana. All that happens is people surround and trap you, and make you feel awkward... She tried to shake the thoughts from her mind, but it was no use. Certainly the girl and Hikoru seemed to be nice. But she had already been upset by the way Seul was acting and hadn't really taken into consideration much else. Finally, she managed to still her breathing enough to give a nod to the girl and then turn to Hikoru saying, "H-hi Hikoru... y-yes. The D-Dapper Rogues!" She wanted to run and hide, but she knew doing so could prompt a chase, and the last thing she wanted was to be chased around town all day. Finally, she thought about the one thing that might calm her down among so many people. "H-hey... d-do you think maybe w-we can all go grab a b-b-bite to eat...?"