tricolor_mina

Eventually, violet reached a part of the tree that would be suitable for her to take a break in, and began setting up a legitimate camp in the tree, setting up her heated blanket, and hanging a heated lantern from a nearby branch. she eventually began belting herself to the tree, to help prevent herself from tumbling out of it due to being startled awake, or flailing around due to a nightmare. Akame nestled her body next to her throat, protectively watching over her master. Violet yawned tiredly, her eyes darkening slightly as she began to feel more and more sleepy. Sleeping in the cold wasn't on her list of things to do (at least not in the game, it wasn't as fun if it wasn't truly dangerous), and she wanted to get this done as fast as she possibly could so that she didn't have to deal with the cold much longer, and so she could finally get back to her house, or possibly even crash at Rosa's bar, since she didn't think she would get proper sleep without being watched over by either her or Jon. It was certainly something that made her rest easier, when she knew she wasn't going to be alone if she woke up in a terrified state.

Violet packed away all of her gear, placing each item into her inventory as softly as she could, a tired smile on her face. She held out her arm for Akame to hop onto, and continued on her trek through the snowy forest, pulling her cloak a bit tighter around herself. It was rather cold, so she'd opted for one of her warmer cloaks instead of one of her thinner, summer-oriented cloaks. The fluffy interior felt absolutely heavenly, it was like being wrapped in a fleece blanket! She glanced at the clock, sighing at the hour. It wouldn't be long until she had to actually camp out in a tree, and rest for the night. It was already dark outside, and she certainly didn't want to get caught out in the wilds where a mob could come after her. even being in in the 20 level range, she would still be in serious danger if she got mobbed by a bunch of monsters, which would almost certainly spell her doom. She managed to reach a rather large tree, and started climbing up, akame flying behind her as she did so.

Violet stood up, stretching a bit. It was time for her to keep on moving, in order to prepare for fighting the <<Avalanche>>. She faintly remembered having attempted this quest with a friend of hers at a much lower level, but she couldn't even remember what happened to her... the whole situation had been well and truly screwed up. It certainly didn't help that the woman had disappeared midway through the quest, leaving her to face the avalanche alone. She closed her eyes, a sigh escaping her throat. Now that she was practically triple her old level, she'd likely have no trouble attempting it. She had proper weaponry and gear, and plenty of potions should she ever even need them. It was a boon that she hadn't had access to back then, which made her even more excited to get through to the frontlines, though that was something that she didn't think would happen very quickly... at least not until she got a more significant amount of damage. Her mind drifted to the frontliners currently there, including Jon and a few others that she remembered fondly. Hestia, Baldur (while they'd only spoken in passing, he'd been rather kind to her at the time, as it was when she had nearly died during a Halloween event.), and a few players that she'd even managed to get respect for, like Hikoru and a newer player, Cordelia. She'd either met those people in passing, or had read about them in the news. If they could hit the front lines, and fight for their lives, what would be stopping her if she finally managed to catch up with them?

Violet sat down near a tree, setting up a mini-camp for her to rest at. Being at her current level meant that the first 10 or so floors were usually just an easy place to hang out at, making the quests on them much, much easier than the ones on higher floors. she laid out a heated blanket, and set up a cooking lantern to make herself a simple meal. Akame chirped at her from her perch in a nearby tree, before swooping down to land on the blanket. She stirred the small pot a bit, watching the timer carefully. Violet pulled it off of the fire when it dinged off, sighing a bit at the appearance of the dish. It smelled good, sure, but the flavor was probably going to be off, which sucked. She materialized a spoon, and began tucking into her meal, surprise coloring her face at the flavor. Apparently she'd been doing this enough to level up her cooking skill, which had her smiling. Rosa would probably be ecstatic, and violet immediately pictured the older woman being pleased with her progress, and giving her a few ideas on how to make even better meals. She shared a bit of it with Akame, the tiny dragon chirping madly in delight. She couldn't picture a better scene if she tried, unless it involved Jon, of course.

Violet immediately shifted into running towards the second largest elemental, her rapier once again lighting up in a blaze of heat as she charged forward. She held out her weapon in front of her, before slamming it into the second elemental with a heated blaze from her rapier, igniting the creature with the blade, causing it to roar in agony as it moved backwards, the blazing limb falling off and shattering into polygons. Violet charged forward again, her eyes darkening as she cleaved into the giant creature one last time, her weapon easily carving up its skin, and wounding it heavily. She let out a whoop as she fell backwards, grinning madly at the sight of the creature crumbling away, before it shattered into thousands of polygons, leaving her with just the last golem, which actually began fleeing from her. She didn't even bother chasing it, shrugging as she walked in the opposite direction. She wasn't after the giant elementals anyhow, she was after the Avalanche. All the other ice golems were just a precursor to the main event. A laugh bubbled up in her chest, causing her to shake her head as she walked away.

Violet was still looking around, her eyes slowly growing more worried as she waited on Jon. Akame nibbled on her hair, trying to get her to calm down at least a little. Sadly, it wasn't working too well, and violet was still unnerved, leading to her moving over to a side table so that she could grab a cookie that she could nibble on to ease her nerves a bit more. She was a bit wary of the drinks, though she did thankfully spot a bottle of strawberry wine, quickly cracking the seal on the bottle in order to pour herself a drink. She took the wine glass that she'd poured and downed the drink in one go, pouring herself a brand new one almost immediately after. It at least tasted good, which was a surprise. most wines made by the NPC's tended to be rather bland or even bitter, unless they happened to grant a stat boost of some kind. She opened her inventory, and pulled out a piece of Taiyaki, passing it to akame, who immediately started to chow down on the meal, chirping happily. Violet giggled a bit at her familiar, before moving away from the refreshment table.

A few minutes later, she finally saw Jon arrive, her eyes widening slightly at how well he'd managed to clean up. He looked rather handsome in that outfit, it suited him well! Her eyes twinkled as he approached her, seemingly speechless at her appearance, eliciting a giggle from herself. "Ne, Jon~ you look like you've never seen a lady all dressed up before~!" she giggled, sipping on the wineglass in her hand. "I was starting to get a little lonely waiting on you~ What do you think of my dress?"

Violet adjusted her dress as she walked towards the entrance of the event area, an impassive look on her face. The whole thing seemed to be some kind

of social event with an auction at the end of it. Her first thoughts were to not go, since she wasn't sure if she could bully Jon into meeting her there, which would have been a completely different beast. Her gothic dress, decorated with black and red roses, didn't entirely match up with the more vibrant and lighter-colored dresses and outfits that she spotted on the NPC's milling around the area, but it was nevertheless a beautiful one. Even akame had her own accessories, a small cluster of sapphire blue and white roses pinned to the tips of each of her tail feathers, a golden circlet on her head.

She finally reached the main entrance, looking around at the various people, NPC and Player alike, as they milled around the area. She caught sight of

the Event NPC, who seemed to be rather busy talking with the occasional Player, and discussing something with several NPC's. She didn't bother to eventry and approach the quest NPC, knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to go anywhere near her anytime soon. Instead, she walked forward towards the crowd of players, taking wary note of the orange player that was with them, watching the ginger-haired woman carefully.

Violet realized with a start that she really didn't know anyone here, which elicited a faint groan from herself as she pulled open her menu, flicking through it until she found Jon's contact information, and pressing the <<message button>>, a frustrated look crossing her face. Half of her friend's list didn't even contact her anymore, and some of them were crossed off of it, which caused a pang of sadness to hit her heart, which she quickly crushed before she ended up crying, locking them behind her usual "Laugh it off" routine. She sent off the message, before walking over to the crowd of people, hoping to strike up a conversation with someone.

Quote

TO: Morgenstern

Hey, are you gonna show up at the Valentine's event? I'm kind of here by myself, and I don't... really know anyone here..;

Half of them I've only met in passing, and the rest I've only read about in the Aincrad Newspapers...

*~- -~*~-Thread Complete -~*~- -~*

2 SP, 400 col For Tricolor_Mina

2 SP, 400 Col For Morgenstern

-~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~-

Violet's eyes darkened slightly when Jon mentioned that Aincrad would still be unsafe throughout the duration of the whole deal... which was completely true. Even if Rosa had stationed as many people as she could afford to in order to keep a close eye on hidden, she would just be exhausting her resources on that. She stayed silent until Jon brought up his secondary motive. "A pretty silly one, honestly... all we needed to do was defeat the enemy and rescue Rosa, capture was a much more minor objective." a faint blush crossed her face again, eliciting a smile from her. "I'll probably show up a bit later than usual... I have to go replenish my item stores at my shop, since I basically used up everything. It'll be a while, but you're more than welcome to go with me if you want" She remembered something, prompting her to pop open her menu, and pull out a box that held a present for Jon. "You reminded me of a surprise I was going to save for valentines day, but I figured I can go ahead and hand it to you now, since I really want to see your reaction..!" since the game had sent her a notification that valentine's day was coming up soon. when he opened it up, it would reveal an intricate locket made from silver and gold. it was made in the shape of a star, and held a picture of violet on one side, and a picture of Penelo on the other side. She'd run into the younger girl several times now, and had managed to even get a few pictures of her. She figured that the two were siblings, given their uncanny resemblance, so she'd included the other girl into it. Now, violet didn't consider her a great artisan by any means, but her experience in shaping metals as a blacksmith had translated well into her hobby of metalworking, resulting in this. Now all she needed to do was wait for his reaction, which had her feeling nervous as hell.

Meanwhile

Rosa turned to Mujo and Glenn, a smirk on her face. "Now, as for you two... I'm making you work together until further notice, and I'm leaving your training to Heart, Joker~!" she said happily, a chuckle escaping her throat. "And Heart..? I don't care if it ended up saving my life, and got us a new member... Don't you ever contact an enemy like that again, or you'll be the one that needs saving, capiche?" her voice still held the earlier cheer, but it was laced with venom, and her eyes had returned to the same dark pits that they had been earlier. Glenn swallowed thickly, a bead of sweat dripping down his face, fear hitting him from the killing intent from rosa. "Y-yes ma'am..!" he whimpered, inching away slightly. Rosa stood up straighter, her eyes twinkling. "Glad to hear you listen, dear! why don't we go ahead and head back, ne?" She opened a corridor crystal, keyed to her bar, and walked through, disappearing through the portal. Glenn let out a sigh, before approaching the portal, and holding out his hand. "You coming, Mujo?"

@Morgenstern

Violet placed a hand on her forehead, a frustrated look on her face. "Kami, jon! you're being too stubborn!" She moaned, her voice laced with exasperation. "Rosa would Retaliate harshly if Hidden even Tried to eff with her guild again, and Hidden damn well knows that now! We were outnumbered 3 to one, and not a single person died because of how fluid Rosa's guild is! Hidden's group was the only one that suffered actual casualties!" Violet gestured around the room, her hand sweeping around at the members of Arbiters hand, all of whom were standing straight and tall, save for club, who was fuming at having been defeated so easily by Ain. Violet turned back to Jon, about to continue when he held out the bouquet of flowers from earlier, causing her to stop mid speech. ". . ." there was a brief pause, before she flushed with embarrassment after taking the flowers. "Wha- Oh, Kami! you came to bring me flowers then I dragged you off to here like a jerk! I'm so sorry!" she squeaked, putting her hands over her face in horror. "Now I feel really bad about dragging you into this!"

Meanwhile...

Rosa had a faint smile on her face as Mujo seemed to have a crisis about whether or not she should accept her offer to become an arbiter, which had her laughing silently. 'There's always a method to my madness, m'dear, you should know this by now!' she thought, amusement becoming more visible on her face. 'This is an agreement that neither of us lose from, we will only gain from this.' Her smile grew wider once Mujo seemed to overcome her crisis, and actually accepted her offer, changing into the Uniform. Glenn quietly stood up, dressed in his own uniform once again. The rest of the Arbiters and Enforcers gathered around Rosa and Mujo. A few moments later Rosa waved a hand in dismissal. "Go back to Riker's Edge, and await further orders for now. Heart. Joker. I want you two to remain here, I need to converse with you two in semi-private. Club, you need to go re-evaluate your strength in combat, even violet pulled her own weight and she's a full 20 levels behind you." She snapped her fingers, glancing at Diamond and Spade. "For being one of our newest members, Diamond, you did extraordinarily well. Spade, you could have done a bit better than you did, but i wont complain since you made it out of the few blunders you made expertly." now she turned to Moon, Sun, and Star. "As usual, you three excelled in combat, and in keeping everyone buffed and healed. Good work." A few moments, the rest of her group left, teleporting out of the area, leaving just herself, Jon, Violet, Mujo, and Glenn.

@Morgenstern

Violet adjusted her dress as she walked towards the entrance of the event area, an impassive look on her face. The whole thing seemed to be some kind of social event with an auction at the end of it. Her first thoughts were to not go, since she wasn't sure if she could bully Jon into meeting her there, which would have been a completely different beast. Her gothic dress, decorated with black and red roses, didn't entirely match up with the more vibrant and lighter-colored dresses and outfits that she spotted on the NPC's milling around the area, but it was nevertheless a beautiful one. Even akame had her own accessories, a small cluster of sapphire blue and white roses pinned to the tips of each of her tail feathers, a golden circlet on her head.

She finally reached the main entrance, looking around at the various people, NPC and Player alike, as they milled around the area. She caught sight of the Event NPC, who seemed to be rather busy talking with the occasional Player, and discussing something with several NPC's. She didn't bother to even try and approach the quest NPC, knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to go anywhere near her anytime soon. Instead, she walked forward towards the crowd of players, taking wary note of the orange player that was with them, watching the ginger-haired woman carefully.

Violet realized with a start that she really didn't know anyone here, which elicited a faint groan from herself as she pulled open her menu, flicking through it until she found Jon's contact information, and pressing the <<message button>>, a frustrated look crossing her face. Half of her friend's list didn't even contact her anymore, and some of them were crossed off of it, which caused a pang of sadness to hit her heart, which she quickly crushed before she ended up crying, locking them behind her usual "Laugh it off" routine. She sent off the message, before walking over to the crowd of people, hoping to strike up a conversation with someone. 

Quote

TO: @Morgenstern

Hey, are you gonna show up at the Valentine's event? I'm kind of here by myself, and I don't... really know anyone here..;

Half of them I've only met in passing, and the rest I've only read about in the Aincrad Newspapers...

Mina didn't bother even flinching as Ain charged her, the stronger player easily getting plowed down by Jon before he could even get close to her. She heaved out a sigh of relief when she saw that both fights had been concluded, though it seemed like everything was at a standstill while Rosa and Hidden spoke with each other in the center of the room. Violet noticed that Jon was starting to shake a bit with anger as he spat out a demand at hidden, something that was almost certainly guaranteed to never work. Violet walked forward, and put a hand on his shoulder, digging her nails into him, before speaking. "Hidden isn't going to let you catch her so easily... she seems... almost too content with the situation..." violet muttered, looking Jon in the eyes. "I don't think she's going to stick around too much longer, and you saw how brutal that fight between her and Rosa was... You really think it's a good idea to try and catch her right now..? Hidden has the advantage, like it or not. Once they're done, we just need to-" the crystal in hidden's hand went off, billowing thick black smoke around the whole area, causing violet's eyes to widen in shock. when it cleared, only herself, Jon, Mujo, and the rest of the Arbiters, including Rosa, were left behind. Akame fluttered into the air, before settling down on Jon's head, a content chirp escaping the diminutive dragon. Violet simply stood there, before moving forward a bit more, and putting her hand on Jon's katana, tilting it downwards. "Jon, put it away... they're gone..." She murmured, shaking her head. "No point in chasing them, either... I think... I think Rosa must have reached her agreement with hidden, if she didn't decide to just let her flee like that..."

Rosa smiled as the room was filled with smoke, and she closed her eyes, listening to the faint sounds of footsteps and rustling coming from people skittering around in the darkness. It was pleasing to the ears, and had her filled with a sense of peace. Eventually the smoke cleared, revealing that it was now just those that were a part of her guild, Morgenstern, Violet, and the outlier, Mujo... the green-haired girl was clinging desperately to Heart, who seemed to be whispering reassurances and calming things to her, a sad look in his eyes. Rosa pulled her hood up, and placed her mask back on her face, masking her emotions. She walked forward to the circle of people around Mujo, violet, and Morgenstern, Her guildmates immediately standing at attention aside from Heart, who she left alone. Her heeled boots clacked across the ground as she moved forward, echoing in the empty silence of the room, making them sound louder than they really were. She eventually stopped moving, staring Jon dead in the eyes, her eyes seeming to glow with a dark light. "Violet's right, kid... chasing them will only piss off hidden, and it'd defeat the purpose of our current agreement, causing a lot more needless deaths." she said calmly, before walking over to Heart and Mujo, flicking through her Menu window with a single hand, eyes scanning for something in particular. She eventually found them, materializing the objects in her hands. the first object was very obviously a clown mask, festively decorated with green and black coloration. The second object was a folded up costume, red, black, white, and green in color. Visible on the top was what seemed to be an emblem that had the Joker card art placed on it. She held them out to Mujo, her eyes shadowed and hidden from view as she did so. "As promised, I'll extend the offer of family to you, Mujo." Her eyes seemed to gleam once again as she continued to speak to the girl. "Would you be willing to complete my team of Arbiters..? Would you become my wild card, my Joker?" she asked, watching the girl to see how she would react to what she said. Athene fluttered over to her, the white and tawny owl hooting softly as she landed on her shoulder.

Violet was standing up in the icy hole, the sounds of fighting having ceased save for two pairs of people, one of whom she figured was Jon, while the other must have been Rosa. She squeezed her eyes shut, fear gripping her heart as she listened to the sound of clashing blades, metal on metal screeching and clashing with probably a bunch of special effects. Her weapon glowed with a blazing heat as she leaned against the wall, the ice quickly yielding against the almost burning hot weapon. She wasn't some fragile doll that needed to be protected anymore, not a weakling. She was slowly but surely catching up to her friends, and she had already prepared for becoming a much stronger player. Even if she was weak now, she wouldn't be for much longer. She closed her eyes again, this time images of her former guild-mates standing in front of her, beckoning, calling for her. 'I won't be left behind anymore!' She thought, standing at the front of the Ice. Akame crawled out of her bag, the diminutive familiar hissing out a soft, bluish breath of flame, further melting away the leftover ice. She watched over Morg with careful eyes, ready to heal him if she needed to. Akame sat attentively on her shoulder, watching Jon's familiar with an intense gaze.

Rosa was barely even bothering to actually block hiddens attacks with her weapon, instead opting for her shield, blocking a bunch of the major attacks that would almost certainly kill her if they connected, granting enough time for Moon or Club to heal her and purify any status effects that were inflicted on her. This was the first time in many, many years that she had felt the boil of her own blood, the will to fight. It was a lovely blood-lusting madness, which had her grin widening, her eyes brimming with excitement. She let out a giddy peal of laughter, almost seeming insane with her attitude towards the situation. Eventually, hidden seemed to wind down with her attacks, and ended up stopping. Rosa held up her hand to prevent anyone from healing her again, her health stuck in the yellow from the attacks of Hidden. Rosa pulled away the mask hiding her face, her eyes gleaming slightly as hidden asked her if she was satisfied. "Most definitely... that.. was the best fight I've had in quite a few years, kid... I don't think I know anyone that can give me a run for my money like that aside from people I worked with IRL." she said, her grin changing from the feral smirk, to a sardonic one as she looked at hidden. "I'm looking forward to working with you, provided you keep your men away from mine until your little plan gets put into full throttle. I can't go losing my arbiters and Enforcers, that would just be pure rudeness would it not? For now, we'll pull back, there's no need for any more fighting. After all, I learned everything I needed from clashing my blade with yours. I'm sure you learned just as much as I did, right?" Her crowd was gathered over by violet and Mujo, forming a protective circle around the pair. Rosa backed up slightly, before sheathing her weapon, and placing her shield on her back, before materializing her cloak once again. "Thank you for the fight, Demon. It was a pleasure to clash blades with you."

Mina ran forward, her speed easily outstripping the giant elementals as her rapier bit into the first one's body, lighting its limb into a wild blaze, and eliciting a roar from the creature as she fell into the snow, rolling to the side to try and avoid getting crushed by the creature. Its only working hand swiped at her with vicious precision, nearly hitting her with its swipe. She was buffeted backwards, a cry escaping her throat as she was flung into the air. she saw one of the elementals reaching for her with one of their massive hands, prompting her to use her rapier to push herself forward when she landed on one of the massive fingers of the creature. She had landed on the one that was by far the largest creature that was attacking her, which led to her unleashing several combos onto the creature, every so often earning a proc of her burn and bleed on the creature. Her rapier finally managed to bite through the armor of the large creature, causing it to ignite completely for a few moments, the Giant ice elemental glowing with a brilliant blue light before shattering into polygons, leading to her landing on the ground in the midst of the shards flying, still facing down the remainder of the elementals.

Violet raised her weapon, preparing to continue on through the field, a bored look on her face. The burning heat from her blade made the cold bearable for the time being, and made the chill that had seeped through her clothing fall away, and stop effecting her as much. She pulled her bright red cloak tighter around her body, the fabric insulating her from the cold as she trudged forward. She stopped in the middle of the field, her eyes darkening slightly as she heard something start to chime loudly. It sounded like some kind of chiming, and it was loud enough to echo around the entirety of the field, causing her to be on edge, eyes darting around the whole field... when suddenly a giant fist suddenly landed in front of her. It was a giant ice elemental, the creature letting out a massive bellow that echoed through the entirety of the field, blasting the whole area with wild winds. She clutched her cloak closer as the ice elemental was joined by several more that seemed to be ready to crush her, and bury her within the snow. Her weapon seemed to glow with dark red light, the burning becoming a violent blaze that swirled around the whole blade. Her eyes glinted with excitement as she ran forward, a vicious grin on her face. "Bring it, you hulking pricks of ice! I'll beat all of your faces in!"

Violets fingers were flying around her menu, sending mass healing, antidote, accuracy, and damage crystals over to Club and Spade, who were using them liberally. Meanwhile, Star and Sun, alongside Diamond and Spade, were capturing as many people as they could, and keeping them out of the fight. Somehow the focus had gone from murder, to capture and restrain. There was no point to eliminating a full on guild just because they attacked them, they were still by most means a green guild after all. 

Meanwhile, Rosa was getting wailed on by hidden, forced to either side step, allow herself to get hit, or block/parry with her shield or blade. It was a vicious cycle that would have chunked a sizable piece out of her health were she not being constantly healed by several of her teammates. She thanked the fact that her teammates had antidote crystals, which were making her life easier since she occasionally saw the paralysis status effect pop up, before Moon either used purify when it was up, or used an Antidote crystal on her. She stepped backwards a bit, before yanking away her robe, revealing her glimmering silver and leather armor for all to see. She only had buffs from her shield, armor, and dagger, so the cloak was merely a cosmetic. Something that simply added along to her aesthetic of being a powerful herald of light. Her eyes were glowing, and her feral smile had returned. "You done..? Good. Now its my turn, kid." she said, launching forward. She gracefully danced around hidden, slashing with her dagger, and immediately following up with shield bashes when it wasn't on cooldown. She saw paralysis effects and poison effects, but wasn't focused on hitting her now. This was mainly just a show of power, more than it was anything else.

Violet grimaced, holding a hand to her head as she stood up inside of the ice wall. Jon had apparently moved to listen straight away... and ended up having his familiar case her up in a wall of Ice. there was the sound of movement in her bag, before Akame, her familiar, poked her head out of it, letting out a quiet chirp. Mina sighed, before plopping down on the ground, an aggravated sigh escaping her throat. "I said help me, not lock me up in an ice wall barrier, you dummy..." she mumbled, stroking Akame, as a faint blush dusted her cheeks. She certainly appreciated the effort, but it was somewhat aggravating, especially since she technically counted as one of their "healers" at the current moment.

Meanwhile, outside of the barrier...

Club had managed to limp away, over to the ice wall, his eyes darkened with rage at the behavior of the player he had fought. It was like he still believed this to be a game, where it didn't matter if anyone died. His weapon was far from being suited for combat that was up close and personal, especially given the type of weapon that other person. As he sat there, whenever anyone came to close, he lashed out at them, easily cutting into them, and making them back off. Meanwhile, spade was still bashing faces in, doing his best not to kill anyone, and to keep Mujo protected. His eyes were dark with rage, furious at the actions of her former guildmates. Over with hidden and Rosa, Rosa shrugged, re-applying the incarceration debuff on hidden, along with a mis-perception debuff, which would cause her to shimmer slightly to hidden. Her shield seemed to glint slightly, the paralysis enhancement giving it a deep yellow glow. She was still stronger than hidden in terms of buffs, and given that her group actually had two dedicated healers (One of her enforcers, Moon, was actually focusing on keeping her healed in between helping her teammates.), and that was negating a lot of the damage that was being done to herself and her allies. "I see... yer a stealth user, ne?" she said, her feral smile returning. "I think someone's takin' after a certain Shadowy player that does that Shtick a whole helluva lot better, doll. Bit prettier than you, too now that I think 'bout it~ C'mon, C'MON! Beat my face in kid, I wanna see if you can do anythin' with that dagger that's better than some stupid party trick! Ya ain't gonna make it if you don't fight better than that~" Rosa was taunting hidden, her feral grin still present. While she was pissed that she had been kidnapped, and that Hidden had attacked Mujo, she did have faith in the kid's abilites. Otherwise, she doubted that she would have even bothered trying to attack the other girl, and would have just used a teleport crystal to get out of there instead.

Rosa perked up a bit when she heard the door chime, taking note of the player who had just entered, a faint smirk on her face. She noted his brief disgust at some of the habits of the players that were patrons of her bar, causing her to snicker. None of them were necessarily good people, even the green players that were in there. None of them, except for maybe violet and a few of her more polite guildmates. It was a rare day when she actually got business that was actually for good reasons, and not ulterior ones, a truly rare one indeed. She kept cleaning glasses whilst violet continued to drink more of the spicy alcohol, a look of bliss on the younger girl's face. Rosa glanced again at the newcomer, who had moved to the bar. "Hey, you!"She called out to him, smiling faintly. "You want something ta' drink or are ya just here to window shop? Welcome to Rikers edge, can I interest you in some drinks and info, kid?" She was holding up a fresh bottle of her specialty wine, her grin from earlier widening slightly.

Mina looked back, a confused look on her face as she tilted her head to the side while looking at the newcomer. 'Mou... I feel like I've met this guy before..? can't remember where, though.' she thought, shaking her head. "Mou, welcome to Rikers Edge~!" she said brightly, not recognizing the newcomer. She beckoned for him to come forward, and have a seat at the bar, before turning back to her wine, and continuing to drink.

<<At Rikers edge...>>

Violet was sitting at the bar, engaged in a drinking contest with a random player that had come to the Riker's edge bar. they were both on their ninth tankards, which had everyone cheering, including Rosa, who was standing behind the bar with a proud smile on her face. Violet let out a whoop, a smile on her face when she finally managed to beat her opponent, the teen coughing and spluttering from the spicy beverage. "YAHOO! Rosa, I did it~ Pay up kiddo, you lost fair and square, ne?" she said, a Cheshire grin on her face. Violet was wearing her usual set of armor, minus the cloak that came with it, along with a casual black turtleneck and a dark red skirt, which had managed to become her standard outfit. her hair, however, was now way shorter, and it was cherry blossom pink. Ever since she had reconciled with her now-boyfriend, Jon, she had found the change in looks to be absolutely necessary. She did still keep her eyes set as a bright red, though. that was one thing that wouldn't be changing anytime soon. Meanwhile rosa was wearing a leather jacket over a dark blue blouse, complete with a pair of high-waisted white denim pants, and knee-high black leather boots. Her dual-hued eyes were glittering with amusement at the younger players playing around. Rosa started polishing some bar glasses, a grin on her face. The day was fairly peaceful despite the current situation involving the faceless. they were down several people, which was depressing, but something that she had to live with, sadly.

@Mars

Spade was jumping in and out of stealth, cleaving into the enemy as Diamond landed the finishing blows on two of them, and forcing a third to retreat and heal themselves. Meanwhile, Club was doing his best to keep up with Ain, who was displaying strength that he hadn't expected. He was hit twice by the attacks, though his armor flared to life, inflicting a slight burn on his opponent. Glenn had flung a reddish orb over at Rosa, before throwing a bloody red crystal at her feet, a red aura eating away at her armor, but boosting her damage at the same time. Glen crushed a different, pale red damage crystal, and applied a dark purple salve onto his gauntlets, the weapons glowing with a toxic looking reddish purple color, before he sucker punched one of the soldiers with his strongest sword art, knocking them easily into the red, and inflicting bleed, paralysis, and poison on the person, leaving them defenseless on the ground. Violet was preoccupied using Mass-healing, MIT, and damage crystals on her allies, a determined look on her face. Every so often, players would nearly break through the defensive circle, only to get a pair of flying fists, and a burning blade shoved at them, occasionally causing some of them to die. Violet grimaced, thanking her lucky stars that they were mostly orange players that were killed, and that she'd only hit one of the people with lethal damage. She noticed a familiar blonde running through the crowd of enemies, occasionally whacking them with his blade. "Jon! Hurry, Please!" she shouted, a look of panic in her eyes, before a weapon smashed into her mask, causing her to go flying backwards.

Rosa pulled out another crystal, a black and silver Incarceration song, which she immediately proceeded to crush, throwing the effect at hidden when she reappeared, before immediately flowing into a guard, taking a heavy blow from the weapon. Rosa's weapon glowed with an emerald green, silver, and dark red light, the weapon biting into hidden's armor, and inflicting a powerful poison effect, and restoring some of the health that was taken away from her. a loud hooting could be heard, as Athene flew out of the portal, boosting her damage. "There's a reason that I have Ace as my moniker, kid... If you're underestimating me, that's about to be the biggest mistake of your life. You can still call it quits if you want to, but you're probably too prideful to even think of that as an option, ne?" she murmured sadly, shaking her head. "If you want to keep going, then so be it..." Rosa suddenly slammed her shield into hidden, forcing her to dodge or risk being paralyzed from the impromptu shield-bash.

Rosa moved to the center of the room, her allies forming a protective half circle around violet and Mujo. Rosa flicked her arms out, revealing a shield on her right arm, and a long, wickedly sharp dagger in her left hand. A dark blue corridor crystal clasped in her right hand, which she held up beside her face, a blank mask on her face, her eyes returning to the same dull coloration from earlier. "So you say, I'm guessing you're expecting me to be a coward and back out of this..? heh... heheheh..... AHAHAHAHA!!" she cackled, before crunching the Corridor crystal in her hand, opening a sky blue portal behind her that released a total of 3 other players, each of them cloaked in black robes, with masks on their faces that resembled comedy and tragedy masks with festive decorations, a sun, stars, and a crescent moon. Rosa flicked her menu, causing her mask to reappear on her face. "F**k your expectations, kid! Enforcers! Arbiters!" She laughed,  "Leave their leader to me, but feel free to pick off those that try and attack yourselves and end their lives! If the Demon want's to gamble with lives, then who am I to refuse?!" A sadistic smile crossed her face as her own weapon gleamed with a trio of effects, the blade practically dripping from the pre-applied salve that inflicted poison. "Well, Hidden?" she asked, tilting her head, and crouching slightly. "Are you just gonna sit there and wait for me to attack first, or are you going to be ballsy and attack me? I don't bite, promise..!" meanwhile, Glenn, spade, Club, and Diamond were all in offensive stances. Glenn seemed to be more focused on defending Rosa and Mujo, and was actively taunting Hidden, a venomous look on his face, almost daring her to come closer to himself and Mujo. meanwhile, Club had walked over to Ain, snickering at the other teen. "We're gonna enjoy cutting your guild down to size for threatening the life of our boss. But don't worry, we won't kill you or your leader... just enough of you to force you to listen to our.. Suggestion." Club hissed, his eyes glowing a lime green under his mask. Violet was silent, standing in a defensive position instead of the offensive movement from the others. instead, she opened her menu to send Jon a message, a bead of sweat dripping down her face. Things were about to go south real fast, which had her shuddering, her rapier gleaming with sparks that denoted the bleed and burn effect that was on her weapon. Her armor wouldn't be able to save her from dying if someone came after her directly, and hidden seemed to be staring her down, causing a cold chill to run down her spine. 'Jon, please hurry!' she thought, scrunching her eyes shut in fear.

Quote

To: Morg

From: Mina

Jon! Hurry the hell up, we're in the middle of an ambush! use the corridor crystal to get here faster, I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold out, so please hurry!

-Mina

@Morgenstern @Hidden

Character Arcs

Arc 1 - Aimless

Arc 2 - Hoarfrost

Arc 3 - The Guidance

Spoiler

Fragrance in Bittersweet Nostalgia - Mina And Raidou - Complete

Taiyaki For the Guy - Mina and Freyd - Complete

To melt away the Cold - Mina, Morgenstern, and Raidou - Complete

Who the Heck are You?! - Mina and Freyd (Iron Guardian Quest) - Complete

Paving the Way to Floor 27 (Gabrandr the Broken King) - Floor 26 Raid - Complete

Wanderer, Tell me a Story (Plot thread) - Mina and Raidou - Complete

Tune of Shattered Glass (Dream Thread) - Mina and Raidou - Complete

Logos, Ethos, Pathos (Plot Thread) - Mina and Freyd - Complete

Quirks of Fate (Bloodstained Land) - Mina, Freyd, Van, and Senno - Complete

Paving The Way to Floor 28 - Wushen Raid intro - Complete

Here Kitty Kitty (Ki'Raion Quest) - Mina/Kataoka/Morningstar/Nari-Lanreth - Complete

Paving the Way to Floor 28, Team Freyd - Wushen Raid - Complete

Idle Chit-Chat - Mina and Freyd (Training your Friend) - Complete

Lost in Translation (SOW Quest 1) - Mina and Freyd - Complete

Cooking With Friends - Mina, Freyd, Elora - Complete

Just here for the Pumpkin Pie! - Labyrinth Scout Thread - Mina abandoned the thread uwu

Into the Woods - F28 Labyrinth Boss - Complete

The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway (Absolute Zero) - Mina, Kataoka, Wulfrin, KnightessCiela - Complete

The Wild Hunt (Raid Prep Consumable Farming) - Mina, Oscar, Koga, Jomei - Complete

Fish are Friends, Not Food! (KoL) - Mina, Freyd, Wulfrin, KnightessCiela - Complete!

Boss Fighting Field Trip! (Cerbie Quest 1, Field boss Rush) - Mina, Freyd, Wulfrin, KnightessCiela - In Progress

Into the Depths of Memory (CTS, Storyteller) - Mina Solo Thread / Storyteller: Nisahime (Rai) - In Progress

Paving the Way to Floor 29 - Callisto Raid Meeting/intro thread - Complete!

Paving the Way to Floor 29 Team 1 - Yuki - Callisto Raid Team 1 - Complete!

Future Arcs TBA

<<The warehouse>>

Rosa's eyes were still locked onto hidden as she became increasingly angrier and angrier, stating that a measly 5 players wouldn't be enough to stop 20 from killing both herself and Mujo. "And..? I LIKE those odds, kid~ heh heh..." A deranged look crossed her face at the threat, before she ignored the last few moments of Hidden's anger, instead turning to Ain and Mujo, a wide smile on her face. "My friends will be arriving any second now, ne? Much faster than your guild, that's for certain, Hehe heh hehehe!" she suddenly steeled her emotion, before looking to Mujo, the deranged look much less prominent now. "You were right about that message not being for the reason I said it was for, but it was for OUR safety..." Rosa wiggled her foot forward just enough to tap hidden a bit with her boot before continuing. "I must have thrown her off so badly that she briefly lost it, so I asked for my guild to show up to pull off a rescue mission. You, one who is no longer of the faceless, but a normal player... how would you feel becoming a member of My guild instead? since your boss so callously threw you out?" there was the sound of rapid footsteps, Cries of "They're this way! They're this way!" echoing around the building. "We'll gladly take you in, and give you a family again if you so desired it. And to the one holding her down, I'd suggest you duck unless you want to be knocked unconscious." A green suited clown, Club, shot out of nowhere, tackling Ain off of Mujo, while Diamond and Heart focused on undoing the shackles that were on Rosa and Mujo respectively with the lockpicking skill. "Well never mind then, that was a tad bit unexpected~ Thank you kindly, Diamond!" Rosa said softly, giving the white haired girl a hug. "No problem, Boss.. It's the least I could do after being useless earlier..." rosa carefully hugged Shireen, a faint smile on the older woman's face. "Never say you're useless, I'd be lost without you guiding me, Shireen..." she said softly, before standing up. Mujo was untied by glenn, who pulled his mask to the side, and started to heal Mujo, his eyes and hands glowing a sky blue. "Hold still, Mujo... You're gonna be ok. I won't let her hurt you again." he said softly, his brows furrowed as he turned to look at hidden's unconscious form. A red cloaked player entered the room, a relieved sigh escaping her lungs. "Mou, Dia-chan! we haven't been chased, have we?" violet called out, a worried look in her eyes. "From my understanding, no. but I do think we're going to be attacked very soon, I wouldn't put it past hidden to order for reinforcements." she warned, furrowing her brow in frustration. "That doesn't matter now, we need to get the hell out of here!" said rosa, standing up and putting her mask back on.

@Hidden@Morgenstern

Glenn without his mask

<<Rikers Edge>>

Mina caught sight of Jon, a nervous look on her face. "Jon... I appreciate the flowers, really but uh... Sh!t just hit the fan." she mumbled, looking over at the increasingly agitated Heart, who was repeatedly messaging Mujo asking if she was ok, before grabbing the flowers from Jon, and punting them into her inventory. "Hidden... kind of... kidnapped Rosa..." Her voice became weak towards the end of what she was saying. She pulled up her own hood, and slid her skull mask over her face. "Look, I know you two don't exactly get along, but can you please help us..? We're all going, whether you come with us or not, anyways.." She stood up straighter, and took up a stance behind Club and Spade. Diamond turned to the group. "I've locked on to Shuryō sama. Let's get moving, everyone." she said curtly, before running out the door, followed by everyone except for mina, who stayed behind momentarily to give a pleading look to Jon. "... Please, Jon..!" she whispered, before turning and running after her friends, a determined look on her face under her mask

<<The warehouse>>

Rosa was simply sitting there in the chair next to Mujo as she chatted with her, a faint smile on the older woman's face at her antics. "Kid, you've got spunk. You remind me of a certain hotheaded kid that I made friends with a while back, y'know?" she said, chuckling as she swapped her menu for her friend map. 'they haven't started moving yet..? what's with the delay?' she thought, furrowing her brows when a chill suddenly went down her spine as a blur suddenly shot past her, and slammed into Mujo, causing her eyes to go wide with shock. "What the..!" She suddenly cursed inwardly, a horrified look on her face when she realized it was hidden. 'F**k, Hidden heard what the kid was saying..! thats no-' A snarl of rage suddenly ripped from her throat when she saw hidden slash Mujo in the face with her dagger, her multicolored eyes seeming to glow in fury. "ATTACKING YOUR GUILDMATE LIKE THAT IS A D**k MOVE YOU SON OF A-" Rosa started bucking against her restraints, a look of fury on her face as hidden strengthened them, and Ain came to restrain Mujo. Hidden said something that sounded like a taunt, prompting rosa to flick her head to the side, her mask flying off her face, revealing a look of lethal rage that would startle everyone else but her. "What do I Have to say about this..? Heh... heh heh... A word of advice, actually. I wouldn't have given a rat's ass if you'd have attacked me, hell I wouldn't have cared if you had KILLED me. But attacking someone innocent was the stupidest thing that you. Could. HAVE. DONE." She hissed, her eyes dark pits of raw fury, with none of their earlier brightness. Her guild was already on the way from what it seemed like on her map, which prompted another bout of humorless laughter. "Actually, I'll give you another word of advice. You kill the girl, I'm fairly sure that one of my own will be rather unpleasant with you, ne? I didn't think of you as someone so quick to fury, so quick to want to KILL.. I thought you'd be a tad more reasonable than that guild you're after, ne?"

Rikers Edge

Glenn saw the next message that had been sent by Mujo, and suddenly started to gear up again, causing everyone to perk up, confused. "Suit up. The situation's not good over there. The girl just sent the boss's line for when things are unstable." He said, glancing over at Olenna and Kuran. "Just the three of us should work, since i'm fairly certain-" Shireen stood up, already dressed in her outfit. "You guys aren't going anywhere without me, I don't care if the girl tracked me earlier. The boss is far more important right now." Glenn scrunched his face up in annoyance, before sighing and waving her forward as his mask flashed onto his face, obscuring it once again. "So we're going up against that guild? Sweet~ I can't wait for them to taste my blade if they try and stop us." Kuran said, a grin on his face before it was obscured by his mask. Olenna shot him a glare "Shuryō-Sama is in trouble and your first thoughts are of fighting the other guild rather than rescuing her?!" she snarled, before her mask flashed into place. "Not what I meant, but oh well~!" Glenn looked in the pair's direction, his icy blue eyes once again seeming to glow underneath his mask. "Spade. Club. I will warn you both once and ONLY once. Shut. the. Hell. Up." the bickering pair immediately fell silent, and Diamond joined him towards the entrance of the room. "We need to get moving now, we cannot waste time because you two chuckleheads decided you'd rather bicker than rescue our leader!"

The warehouse

Rosa smiled faintly when the girl sent the message to Glenn, closing her eyes. "Thanks kid, I really appreciate it, and I'm sure Glenn appreciated that too. Knowing him and good ol' spade, they were both probably worrying themselves sick." Rosa watched as the girl started to cycle through her inventory to see what was in it, her mind cycling through several plans that she could give her comrades once they showed up. "Y'know... I didn't expect anyone to act like we are all just a bunch of circus performers, but that actually sound's like a promising theme now that I think about it myself~" she said, giving the girl a cheshire grin. "As a thank you and an apology for earlier, there's a bottle of wine that you can have in my inventory. It's called <<Burning Blade Wine>>, I made it with feathers from some of the birds on floor 9, and it's one of my best selling wines~"

@Hidden