tricolor_mina

<<Riker's Edge, Floor 19>>

Mina's POV

Violet was currently resting at Rosa's bar, enjoying a few drinks with her friends. there was loud, boisterous music playing around the area, making it much more lively than usual. Both Fengor and Kuran were doing a rather ridiculous dance off to the side, eliciting laughter from everyone around them. There were a group of people in a circle around a pair of players dueling each other, the occasional cheering echoing through the room. Meanwhile, Shireen and a pair of her fellow guild-mates were singing an old fashioned ballad alongside a few people who were there to gather some extra information about things that they were researching. meanwhile, Rosa was sitting on the actual bar itself, next to Mina, and drinking straight from one of her wine bottles that she kept around. Violet looked up at the older woman, a grin on her face. "It's a hell of a lot more lively than usual, any reason for that?" she asked, a curious glint in her eyes. Rosa shrugged, looking over at Shireen. "Shireen dealt the final blow to the pricks that attacked Mi Familia, that's why. She's officially become a member of our Enforcer crew." she said cooly, her expression somewhat guarded as she drank from the bottle. Mina shuddered at the idea that her friend was condoning murder, wincing at the idea that her friend would actually be WILLING to kill someone made her nervous to say anything that she might take as an insult. "So, Shiri-chan is an enforcer now? That's kinda scary.." she said quietly, looking down at her mug. "She's still practically a kid compared to the others, Even Kuran for crying out loud!" Violet would have continued speaking, but she heard the door open with the signature chime, causing her to look up to see who the newcomers were.

Rosa's POV

Rosa was still deep in thought from what she had done the past few days. She'd arranged for her "Arbiters" and "Enforcers" to try and get ahold of the three players that had targeted her own guildmates, her Family, and make them suffer for the sins that they had committed in that regard. Now, however, she was focused on celebrating, even though they had lost two members of her guild due to an ambush. the thought had her looking up at her cursor, her eyes narrowing at the still-green color of it, despite the fact that she was responsible for 2 of the 5 deaths that had happened to that group. She responded to Mina's question about the celebration, lying through her teeth about her being happy that Shireen had gotten her first few kills, which was far from the truth. She was actually disgusted with herself for letting it happen in the first place. No kid should have to kill to protect themselves, let alone just to avenge someone. She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard the door open, and she narrowed her eyes at the group of orange players. She put down her bottle, and equipped her armor, her posture tensed up and making it look like she was ready to fight. Her guild-mates took similar stances once they realized that she had done so. She scowled in their direction, her eyes narrowing further. Her voice when she spoke was frosty cold. "What the hell do you lot want from me and my guild. she said icily, her brow furrowed.

@Hidden

(OOC: x-x so many materials)

Mina entered Dagger's shop with a hefty amount of col, and quickly started piling up quite a few items in her arms, mainly materials that she was going to grab, and get ahold of a Dimensional Backpack so that she had extra room in her inventory for the stuff she needed. she shoved the sheer amount of items into the dimensional backpack, before walking over to the counter, smiling happily. "I'll be buying all of this today, I don't have any identifications that I need to get done at the moment, sadly." she passed the col over to dagger, most of it vanishing as payment to the system for ordering the items and placing them inside of the stock of the shop. She walked out of the store, yawning and placing the backpack on her back, a tired look on her face.

-49250 Col, +40 T1 Mats, +40 T2 Mats, +1 Dimensional Backpack

@Dagger

Thread Complete!

Rewards:

3 SP and 200 col each! (2 base SP + 1 from December event)

Violet smiled at Jon when he mentioned that he had quite a few fond memories of this floor, and that he mainly stayed here because of how cheap the bills were to stay, and that it was in a part of the floor convenient to live in. 'Nostalgia certainly is something else, that's for sure...' she thought, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. she noticed that he seemed to be fairly eager for her to come and visit again, which made her smile widen a bit... until he became flustered at her asking to stay the night, then she snickered at him. "Oh hush! It's not like I'm Sleeping with you right now, We're just sharing a bed for the night!" she snickered, gently punching him in the shoulder. "Anyways, I'm exhausted to begin with, so I'm going to sleep. Night Jon~!" Violet changed her outfit into a pair of short shorts and a plain black tank top, before climbing into the bed next to Jon, wrapping her arms around him before dozing off, finally getting the rest she desperately needed.

House Name: Leblanc Chateau

House Location: Floor 9, a mile away from Yogan Village

Estate (donor house)

Buying: room upgrade (Master Workshop and Mega Slime Farm)

Room Slot 1: Basic workshop - Pharmacy (Mina) -> Master Workshop - Pharmacy (Mina) (15,000 col)

Room Slot 2: Basic Kitchen (Mina)

Room Slot 3: Fishing Pond (Mina)

Room Slot 4: Slime Farm (Mina) -> Mega Slime Farm (15,000 col)

Room Slot 5: Attic - Bedroom (Mina)

Room Slot 6: Storage Closet (Mina)

Total cost: 30,000

Violet smiled faintly at Jon when he said it was fine that she could walk back to the hotel with him. At least there wasn't any hard feelings still, which was definitely nice. When they arrived at the inn, she looked around the area as they walked over to his room. It was decently sized, and well equipped for an inn in a video game, that was for sure. there was a very cluttered desk, with quite a few newspapers scattered about on top of it, which she found a bit odd. 'Why would he need to be reading the Aincrad times..?' she thought to herself, her eyes focusing on the bolded titles of the papers. she smiled faintly, a twinkle in her eyes. "For an inn, its actually pretty great, Jon." she folded her hands behind her head,  looking around the room. "It's better than the dinky little place I found to move my shop into once I send the col to the cardinal." the place was pretty great, if a little tiny. She figured that having an actual shop where she could stay would work out great for her in the long run (Plus it made it easier for her to stay overnight and craft a whole bunch of stuff!), so she'd bought it on a whim when she saw that there was a mild discount on it, though it still was going to cost a good 35,000 col, which was a fair chunk of change. She smiled faintly at Jon when he asked when he'd see her again. "Whenever you'd like to to be honest. I don't really mind either way." she said softly, before hugging him from behind, mushing her face into his back. "If you want to see me again soon, just shoot me a message okay? I'll be more than willing to pay you a visit... or maybe I could stay her with you tonight, only if you want me to, of course.."

Mina let out a weak chuckle, an embarrassed look crossing her face. "Hey, at least the food is better than that crap the NPCs serve at the different NPC restaurants and diners!" She said, a faint pink blush dusting her cheeks "Besides that, Rosa usually... checks up on me, and wakes me up out of my nightmares when they're obvious..." she trailed off into silence when he reiterated that Rosa was being very reckless with her behavior, and apparently "picking fights" with other people, which had her shaking her head. "Rosa doesnt go out of her way to attack people just because they piss her off, she only does crap like this when she's been provoked..." she said quietly, her expression changing to worry within seconds. "She tends to act in the better interests of the people she cares for... I've never seen her do anything that would endanger someone innocent... not that you can consider the people that attacked her guild mates 'innocent', though." When jon commented that she had a good head on her shoulders, and that shed probably pull through in the end, mina found herself staring at the floor, a frown on her face. "She might have a better head on her shoulders than you, but that's pretty much from experience alone,  Jon. She's not the smartest or the most powerful, but she's lived long enough to experience alot of stuff. It's why people always look to older folk when they want to learn something that they cant figure out sometimes..." eventually jon mentioned that he was heading back to the hotel he was staying at, she offered a hand out to him. "If you dont mind, I'd like to walk back with you... if you're ok with that, that is." she said softly, a lopsided smile on her face.

Rosa continued to drink from her glass as Jon processed what she said, before saying his own comments about what she had to say. She gently set her mug down, her eyes darkening slightly with sadness. "... I can't help but feel that part of that was the pot and the kettle, eh?" she mused, a sad smile on her face. "You've been down the beaten path for a short time, not long enough to understand what people who were born into it have gone through. I understand how you feel though, it's rough when you have to dirty your hands for any reason. Just... do yourself a solid and don't beat yourself up over it like you've been doing. It just leads you down a dark path." she noticed a notification in her menu, with the name of the person, and that they were hunting them down as she was getting and reading the message. When jon said he'd keep her advice on learning how to keep a poker face, and flashed a smile at her, she returned one of her own. "If you ever need anything, let me know, got it?" she said, giving him a mock salute. once he was over by mina, she muttered something under her breath, before letting her lighthearted smile drop, and walking off into another room to keep up the correspondence with her guildmates. 'The person who attacked my guild will learn not to mess with the Arbiter's Hand...' she thought venomously, before walking off into a back room, and shutting the door behind her.

Mina was nervously drinking her wine, waiting for Jon to come back as he had a very tense conversation with Rosa, after Fengor, Kuran, and Shireen left to go do god knows what. she shuddered inwardly, before taking a long swig of her drink, finishing it off as jon finally came back, after responding to what Rosa had said, and asked if he could escort her home. Mina looked down at her feet, a sigh escaping her throat. "I've been paying Rosa to let me stay in that room we were in earlier, so that kinda won't work out too well.." she said quietly, rubbing her head. "I was kinda worried she was gonna stab you earlier, though... I'm kinda surprised she actually let you say that to her,, normally she kicks people out when they butt into guild business... " she stared at the ground, a worried look on her face. "Though I do think she's kind of reckless for trying to go after people for killing someone, even if it was her own guildmate..."

Rosa took in a deep breath to calm herself, before turning back to Fengor. "Like I said before, go grab shireen and Kuran, and get me those names from the monument" she said sharply, rubbing her head in frustration. "If you three think you can take care of it on your own, feel free to do so, just make sure that SOB Is listed on the monument after you complete the task." Fengor nodded at Rosa, before walking past Jon to go collect the Green haired teen next to violet, and a girl with snowy white hair, before all three of them walked out the door, letting it slam shut behind them. Rosa then turned back to Jon, sheathing her dagger inside of the scabbard pressed against the side of her ribcage. She pulled out a mug, before filling it with the contents of a crystalline bottle, filling it to the brim with a crimson red liquid. She took a large gulp of it, before she turned back to jon and fixed him with a blank look. "... you're younger than the age of 21, but older than 18. I didn't even need to ask around for that one due to the fact that, as you stated on numerous occasions, you aren't able to drink IRL, something violet mentioned offhandedly when I asked her about you. Your accent portrays you as an american, though I suppose it's possible that you might be an immigrant from a different country. You tend to introduce yourself as Jonathan or Jon, despite you having named your avatar 'Morgenstern', and you've displayed what seems to be a mild dislike of it, indicating a prior issue with it." She calmly stated, her eyes watching Jon carefully. "You have a younger sister that goes by the name of Penelo that followed you here, that was taken by the player Chaos. You were slain then brought back after the event on floor 13, alongside 2 of your peers at the T3 level, beat and shield, and two Tier 1 players, Violet, and a young girl by the name of sunova. I can actually keep going with the crap I know about you, but I dont think I need to. My point is, is that while I might not know your life story out of this hellhole, You know practically Nothing about me, aside from what little myself and Violet have mentioned to you. It's my job as an Info broker to get information about people. And just so you know, you don't strike me as Anything in particular, Jonathan, and I'm bein honest on that one. I base my opinions on someone off of how they act and treat their close friends, and to be honest, ya seem like a good person. And as an FYI, if you don't learn how to put up a proper poker face, someone's gonna use that against you real easily."

Mina was too busy indulging in her drink to even notice that Jon had walked off at first. She was lost in thoughts, pleasant ones at that. One of Rosa's guildmates approached her, and sat down next to her. "I think that's the first time I've seen that look on your face, sunshine." the man snickered, grinning at Violet. "Mou, so what? I can smile if I want to ya jerk!" she said, gently punching the man's arm. "Anyways, what's got Rosa all worked up, Kuran? She looks pretty damn mad.." the newly named Kuran let out a huff, a scowl replacing his grin fairly quickly. "Someone attacked and killed one of our guild mates, and she's currently baying for blood over it." mina paled at the news, looking over at Rosa, Fengor, and... "What the- JON?!" mina spluttered, nearly choking on her drink as her eyes went wide. Kuran winced at the volume. "Easy kid, you're gonna blow my ears out!" he groaned, rubbing his head. "Why Is this dude going up to the boss like that? She might not be the most willing to attack, but he oughta know better than to piss off someone with tattoos, And visibly armed."

Meanwhile, Rosa was getting increasingly angry over what Fengor had described. One of the younger, newer recruits that were a part of her guild had been killed, and another had almost died, and apparently it was either a warning of some kind, or a declaration of war. "Damn the cursor system, I'll kill this Jackass myself If I get my hands on him!" she snarled, startling several people as she slammed her dagger into the bar, and causing it to warble and vibrate as the immortal object warning appeared along with a flurry of electric purple sparks. "I want you to take Shireen and Kuran, and go get the names from the monument of life Fengor. No one, and I mean NO ONE hurts my guild, my FAMILY like this!" she heard Jon approach her, and ask her who she was hunting. "A bunch of player killers that had the nerve to attack my guild, nothing more. If we catch this group though, they're dying by my hand for killing one of my own." she said curtly, her face darkening slightly. "Why the hell are you askin' me, actually? You don't strike me as the type of person that wants to get involved with stuff like this. Not to mention, we can't be thrown in jail for defending ourselves. its not like we're attacking innocent people, kid."

Mina blushed a bright red at Rosa's loud interruption, not expecting the older woman to actually embarrass the both of them like that. she put her face in her hands as she meekly followed Jon, before looking surprised at a gruff looking player sitting on the other end of the bar, talking in a hushed, worried voice to Rosa, who looked rather... infuriated, at whatever news the man was giving her. Mina heard Jon talk about how bars like this were the best places to get information of any kind, which had her looking to the ground as she nibbled on the half of a bread roll he'd handed her, a nervous feeling entering her mind for the first time ever since she'd gotten used to being in a bar like this. "It's good for information, sure... but the players that come here tend to be of the less reputable type that you wouldn't normally go to for that.." she said quietly, looking over at Rosa and the Gruff player. "Looks like Rosa might be about to go hunt someone down with her guild, that's the only reason I could think that she'd have that look on her face for any reason." mina shuddered at the thought of it. Rosa might not have personally killed anyone, but the same can't be said of her fellow guildmates, though they exclusively went after orange players that had murdered in cold blood, and those that might have hurt her "Family". It made her wonder how the older woman lived in the real world, if she was that willing to take down other human beings in such a manner. Mina grabbed one of the wine bottles, the label denoting it as Dragon's tooth wine, one of her favorites made by Rosa. She reached over the counter, and grabbed a large mug, before pouring nearly half of the bottle in it, and downing half of the glass in one go, her face turning slightly red due to the spice of the wine. At least it had gotten rid of the chill she'd been feeling. "Christ that stuff burns!" she muttered, setting it on the counter. "It tastes so damn good though, no wonder she sells out really fast!"

Violet let out a quiet sound of frustration when he said it might just be guilt over what happened, which was incorrect aside from the fact that she deeply regretted not being able to save her friend and her boss. That was the only thing about it she regretted. She certainly didn't regret killing the people that had taken the lives of at least 15 others prior to their arrival, though. She was startled out of her thoughts when she realized Jon was looking at her, a smile on his face. His other statement was more or less a rehashing of what he'd said before, though he did at least say he'd help her work through them instead of just focusing on hiding it away like she always did. It made a warmth blossom in her chest, slowly killing the chill that had been radiating throughout her. 'That was the first time that anyone has ever said they'd help me with this, aside from Rosa..!' she thought,  her shock changing to a warm smile that lit up her face. "... Thank you..!" she said softly, taking his hand as he extended it out to help her up. Once they'd both stood up, she placed her hand on the side of his face, a loving look on her face. "I... I think I still owe you something from last time, ne..?" she moved forward slightly, her mouth meeting his, and staying there for several seconds.

Meanwhile, Rosa had snuck out of the room to grab several bottles of wine, and finish preparing a freshly baked chocolate cheesecake, adding a drizzle of white chocolate (Something that she'd had a difficult time making, as the required ingredients were pretty rare, though not unattainable), and producing a few plates of food, since she figured that after all of that, they hadn't even gotten the chance to enjoy everything. She'd even produced an entire pot of Ragout Rabbit stew just for them, though she did serve some from other pots of it to the other patrons of the bar. There were also several dinner rolls, and a few other dessert items that she had laid out, though they were placed slightly back, as she did want them to eat actual food first. She set the cheesecake within an opaque dessert holder, and placed the other dessert items within their respective holders, before heading back into the other room to get them. "Hey, lovebirds!" she said, a grin on her face. "I got something ready for you two while you two were working out your issues, and I don't want it all to go to waste, so head back out here in a minute ok?" she headed back out of the room, to continue to speak with her Orange-cursor'd patrons, and strike a few deals with them.

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Howl
Mod(s) Being Dropped: N/A
SP Refunded: 10
Cost:  10,000 col

~-* Thread Summary *-~

400 Col

3 SP (2 from quest, +1 from 1 full page of RP)

2 Materials

A few hours later, mina stepped off of the teleport gate of the main settlement of floor 19, and made her way down the street, steeling her emotions behind the same cheerful mask that Rosa seemed to hate so much. She gently pushed the door to the tavern open, smiling at the boisterous crowd that was inside. People were having dance competitions, exchanging items in a designated area of the room, and getting deals that they were hyped up over. She spotted people enjoying pies and alcohol off to the side, the entire group just a bunch of orange players in that direction. Meanwhile, Rosa was tending to the bar while discussing a deal with one of her frequent customers. "I won't accept it unless you got at least 5,000 col to hand off. I have to make money somehow Fengor." the gruff looking man let out a laugh, before sending out the requested col to the woman, before she passed off a bottle of spicewood wine, and an entire apple pie. Mina sat at the bar, earning a snort from Rosa. "Someone sure took their sweet damn time, I've been wondering where you were at kid!" she said, putting another pie on the bar, and pouring violet a glass of wine. "I'd have to be stupid to not be here when you bake this kind of stuff!" she laughed, before downing the glass in one go, earning cheers from some of the other patrons. This place, was somewhere where she genuinely felt at peace. A place where she had people to actually back her up when she needed it.

Violet shuddered when Jon mentioned that she needed to be honest, and fully open up to him. she pulled back a bit from him, curling up sightly into a ball, though she was still looking up at him. "I will... just.. please don't treat me any differently..." she said sadly, resting her chin on her knees.

"It started 7 years ago, when I was 20 years old, and I first came to the states. I was fresh out of a police academy, and enjoying life just like any reasonable young adult would be at that time. I lived in Los Angeles, working for one of the local police stations as a Negotiator, doing my best to work with everyone to prevent as many deaths as possible. I met one of my closest friends there, someone whom I felt that was the brother that I wish I had. His name was Declan Cian. We became fast friends when we were working together, and we'd chill out with each other at our houses, playing video games, watching movies, or going to the park with his wife and kids. It was... oddly idyllic now that I think of it. It hardly even really matters now though." she took a deep breath, her body starting to shake slightly again. "Then, not even a year later, I was driving home on a motorcycle that I bought a while back, just enjoying the afternoon air, and how the wind felt on my face. A truck came flying out of nowhere, hitting the tail end of my bike, and sending both myself and it flying." Her hand traced the scar on the left side of her face. "I lost the ability to see out of this eye, and some heavy scarring to boot. I was in the hospital for a little over two months due to other injuries that they were uncomfortable about me wandering about with. When I was discharged, Declan and his wife both helped me out tremendously. They kept me fed, they helped me with laundry and kept me company while I was recovering."

"They mostly kept me off of the field after that, due to the nature of my injuries I would have been an extreme liability, and I could have gotten killed had I ever been put in a violent situation. Regardless of this, I kept my head held high, and continued to work just as hard as I did before. Then, that fateful day when it happened came... The day that Declan was murdered by a group of gang members. We were forced to do an all call due to a massive shootout between three separate gangs, and also due to the fact that they had hostages." she paused, before holding up eight fingers. "Eight of us... that's how many died. My boss was shot in the head, killing him instantly... Declan didn't get as lucky as he did. He was shot in the chest, and I held him in my arms as his own lifeblood choked the life out of him. I... I, for lack of a better term, went berserk on the gangs, firing a pistol till it was empty, before snatching up another and I just... kept going. My mind was just on autopilot at the time, and the only thing that crossed it was Make them Suffer for what they did." she glanced down at her hands, a blank look on her face. "When I got home, I found myself waking up screaming and in a cold sweat from my first nightmare. I was able to function for a while, and I did great for the most part, up until about two years before SAO launched. I was still functioning for the most part, aside from the ever-increasing nightmares, and I was still showing up in public. Until I had a breakdown, and just stopped leaving my house, curled up in a ball and sobbing. The only things I did to take care of myself then, was shower, eat, use the bathroom, and sleep if I felt able to do so. Even now, Its just been getting worse. I barely sleep or eat, and now instead of strangers, I just see people I care about getting hurt..."

She lapsed into silence after that, staring at the floor. She didn't want to see how Jon reacted to her story. 

Mina just sat there, trembling in his arms, her eyes shut tightly as the tremors wracking her body along with her sobs slowly began to die down as her panic seemed to fade away. She felt even more guilty than she did earlier after essentially lying to him about it. ".. I di-didn't say anything about them b-because I can't get rid of them..!" she said weakly, still clinging to Jon. "What reason would I have to bring u-up something that couldn't be fixed..? It's just my mind endlessly torturing itself with the things that it remembers, and there's not a thing I can do to fix it aside from putting up a mask to hide it away. It's the only thing that's been keeping me together for these past few years." she looked up with guilty eyes. "I'd rather help others fix their own pain and problems where it is fixable, than just try to fix something broken that hasn't been reparable for almost a Decade." she said, her face filled with grief. "And I'm so, so sorry for what I did earlier, I had absolutely no right to do that to you. You must hate me over that, don't you..?" her grip loosened, as she seemed to slowly relax, though her facial expression still remained the same despite the pangs of emotion rushing through her mind.

Mina was still slightly dazed from her tumble, though she still managed to pull herself up from her position on the floor. She looked up again, the room was somewhat blurry, just like it always was when she woke up like that, which was almost every night. Every time they just seemed to get worse, no matter what she did. It was part of why she refused to even sleep nowadays. She didn't have anyone that could pull her out of them with any kind of ease, or even make them go away entirely. She supposed that was just the side effect of what had happened to her. It didn't matter too much, as she spotted Jon coming closer, causing her to instinctively recoil away into the corner, her face suddenly becoming fearful. "Please no! G-ge-get away from me!" she whimpered, cowering backwards, her mind unable to comprehend that she wasn't still in the nightmare. "P-please don't hurt me..!" she flinched, and shut her eyes when he extended his hand out to her... until she heard him asking whether or not she was ok. 'If I was still in that nightmare, he wouldn't be asking about my safety..!' her eyes shot open, before she let out a sob and launching herself forward, and letting out a broken wail as she buried her head in his chest. "I'm not ok! I haven't been ok for almost 6 years!" she sobbed, clinging pathetically to Jon.

Rosa scowled at Jon, her brow furrowed in frustration. "Kid, the only thing I got now is that girl sitting on that bed, and she won't be around much longer unless someone sets her straight." she said darkly, "I'm not gonna pretend that you ain't right in that regard, cause you really are, but I'll be damned if you act like you know who I am. From what she's said to me, You hardly know anything about Violet compared to some other people, which is something we're about to correct... When she wakes up, that is. and judging by the look on her face right now it'll be pretty soon, you need to ask her about it, and I'll fill in what she can't really remember." Rosa turned her head in Violet's direction, where she was tossing and turning, gripping at the sheets around her tightly with a pained look on her previously peaceful face. 'Is it gonna be Declan this time, or someone else?' she thought, closing her eyes as she braced herself for the shouting that was about to come.

Mina struggled to free herself from the nightmare, her dream self covered in red pixeled wounds as she grappled with her friends. Hestia, Itzal, Domarus... even Jon. She felt a burgeoning scream suddenly rip from her throat as she was suddenly skewered through the chest by an unseen figure, the person cleaving through her almost paper-thin armor with ease. Her movements became so frantic that she ended up throwing herself off of the bed, hitting the side table even as an Immortal object message appeared, shooting off a small amount of purple sparks. She sat hunched near the corner of the room, holding her hands up in a defensive position as she stared up at Jon and Rosa, her eyes almost completely dulled from how their usual life was. She was just a shell-shocked person that had come out of a vicious nightmare, and not the calm, fake persona she put up for everyone to avoid the stares. Rosa looked over to Jon, and then back over to Mina. "One hell of a way to wake up, that's for sure." she muttered, a slight wince on her face.

Rosa slammed her fist into the table, a scowl on her face. "Well would ya look at that, I'm already callin' BS." she said coldly, her eyes dark with a mostly calm fury. "She was over the moon when you said you'd go out with her on a date, and that's something I haven't seen from her in a pretty damn long time." She materialized a menu, before showing Jon a slew of messages between herself and Mina, detailing her excitement over the development. "And on the matter of her seeming like that was the only reason she called you over... She just has a pretty F***in bad habit of shutting people out when she shouldn't, and finds herself doubting who she is, and whether or not she's actually a good person." She raised an eyebrow when he said he wasn't answering any more questions from her if she didn't explain who she was, and how she knew Violet's real name. "Oh please, she used to work with my husband as someone who'd talk down people from doin stupid s**t." she said sarcastically. "Even then, I'm an Info broker. Info is the name of my game, Morgenstern. or would you prefer the name Jonathan? And as an FYI, If you haven't guessed it yet, we know each other IRL, though I'm pretty sure she don't know it yet. I'm Rosa Cian, the widow of her good friend Declan Cian. Just goes to show even the most perceptive people can't see the smaller tells, though you'd think my tattoo's would be a dead giveaway." Rosa's scowl changed to a Cheshire grin when Jon shot her a vicious looking glare. "Hey, what 'chu actin like I'm scared of you for?" she asked, tilting her head at him in a questioning gesture. "That attitude of yours doesn't scare people like me, I ain't got anything to lose to be honest."

Rosa looked at Jon, studying his features as he laid Mina down on the bed. Needless to say, she fully understood why Violet seemed so insistent on clinging to this guy. 'If I didn't know that he was dead and buried, I'd say he's a dead ringer for Declan...' she thought, looking over at one of the photo frames showing a man with blonde hair and amber eyes, posing for a group photograph that held a grinning Rosa with her natural hair color, and a much happier looking violet without the scarring around the left side of her face. It was probably her most treasured photograph that she had, having been able to bring it here from a quest on one of the floors a bit higher than this one. She turned slightly to look at violet, the younger girl's face scrunched up somewhat as she seemed to be drifting into the darker part of her mind. Rosa closed her eyes in defeat at this, folding her arms under her chest, a pensieve look on her face. "Let me set something straight first, I Ain't blamin' you for her being out cold. Poor girl's been having nightmares so often it ain't even funny." she said quietly, pouring some tea out for both herself and Jon. "Doesn't help she probably didn't sleep over what she planned on asking of you. I don't think I've seen her cry that much since we were at my husbands funeral." her multicolored eyes met Jon's amber ones. "Somethin' in that face of yours tells me you probably took it like she was doin' it to be rude, am I right?" she asked, a pointed look on her face. "An' don't you try lyin', I'm pretty damn good at tellin' truth from lie, it's a skill I got from working as a Mafia interrogator for a few decades, and having an interrogator for a husband. I ain't gonna be mad about yer answer, 'cause I told the idiot that It'd probably piss you off more than anything."

Rosa's attire:

Rosa was idly chatting with one of her customers, a bored look on her face. He had given her info in exchange for a few of her specialty drinks, and a Golden Apple pie, her favorite dish to make. She was just about to send him off with his goods, and tend to the rest of her customers, and her other items cooking and brewing in a separate section of her building, when a blonde haired player came in carrying a woman with dark hair, one that she instantly recognized. 'The hell is going on..? Did she forget to sleep again..?!' she thought, her eyes narrowing at Mina. she snapped her fingers, and pointed at Jon with a scowl on her face. "Bring her over this way kid, I'll be with you in a minute." she said cooly, fixing her jacket and ruffling her two-toned hair. "Stupid girl probably forgot to sleep again, she needs to cut that crap out!" the last part was muttered to herself, though it was audible to others, as she walked over to the side, grabbing a few things from underneath her bar, before moving over to one of the back rooms.

She left the door cracked open as she set up the bed for Jon to lay Mina on, setting a teapot and a trio of teacups on a small table off to the side of the room. she placed a plate of cookies and teacakes nearby, her amber and green eyes focused on the set up items, before she sat down in one of the nearby chairs, leaning it against the wall. when Jon entered after her, before she would gesture at the bed. "Just place Violet over on that, and come over here. I need to have a word with you real quick kid." she said sternly, pointing at one of the seats in front of her.

Mina flinched as his angry words scared her out of her tears, though his words did remind her of what her thoughts had been before. She had made him hate her, she was almost certain of it now. He immediately proceeded to tell her what place she would have had helping them back then, helping them push their foes back, and potentially preventing people from dying. She locked her gaze with his, a cold, dead look in her eyes. "Because dying to me, sounded like a rather nice alternative, especially if I were able to die saving the lives of others." she said hoarsely. "I didn't show up in the first place because I wasn't even moving or sleeping for several days, unable to even get a spark of a happy thought to show itself. I was too wrapped up with my past. You're entirely right, I should have moved forward with my life, and make due with what I had now rather than what lied in the past." She suddenly moved forward, her hands on his shirt almost instantly, her dead eyes suddenly flaring with fury. "But none of you aside from a player that I used to utterly DESPISE showed me how to move past what had happened. How to cope, how to get past it!" She snarled, tears suddenly starting to stream down her face again. "I understand why you are angry over it, and It's like being stabbed in the chest over and over, because I wished nothing more than to help others, and Neglected to care for myself. I set aside my own feelings, my own life so much for others that I tore myself apart to the point that I could hardly function! I spent over two hours agonizing over whether or not it was the right thing to ask this of you, because I knew you would most likely hate me in the end!" She had done research while she was still in the real world, and found that she had suffered deep mental scars from what had happened. She would have panic attacks when someone made to scream in her face, or when she was in an enclosed space with little mobility. She would stay awake for days on end, not being able to sleep due to vicious nightmares where she was greeted by herself with a weapon of some sort, and the cracking, splintering forms of their virtual bodies as their lives flickered out. This problem had forced her to call upon her willpower and every last dreg of her strength to hold herself together.

"But I felt like I could have tried to help you work through any other emotions left behind by what happened to you..." she said, her rage dropping quickly into despair. "My whole life, I've dedicated my whole being to trying to help others, It's all I could do! Even after I had to watch my best friend die, I still wanted to help, but life just... wasn't so kind to me." she let go of Jon, sitting down suddenly as her arms limply fell to her side. Her eyes widened in realization as her vision slightly blurred, which wasn't a good sign in the slightest. 'S- s**t.. I guess not sleeping for 3 days finally took its toll on me..!' she deftly moved her hand, moving numbly to produce a pen and a piece of paper, and writing the location of her friend's bar, before her head hit the blanket, and everything went completely dark.

Mina felt her heart sink when she saw Jon's face go stony. 'He'll hate me for a while over this, won't he..?' she thought sadly, her facade barely keeping itself up. She had the feeling that what he was about to talk about was going to shatter what was left of her mask, the one she meticulously put up every day. It was a fight to even get up in the morning for her, though as of late, it had become slightly easier with hope in her chest and mind that they were going to get out, that they were going to be free someday. She would fight until her last breath to free them, to save them. If Jon paid any attention at all, he'd see her mask cracking and breaking in obvious places. She was shaking like a leaf, even under her warm, soft clothing. Her Jaw was clenched tightly enough to show the muscles in her face flexing. Her eyes, they were by far her biggest tell. They were completely glossy, unshed tears welling up in her eyes. She listened to his story, fighting with herself every second of it. She felt a strong pang of guilt hit her Hard. Hard enough to make her hunch over. 'I was right, they probably do hold that against me, for not being there..' she thought, fighting herself to keep her emotions in check. the news about Chaos and Fearx weren't exactly the bit that she hadn't heard, though she let out a soft whimper when he said that he'd been one of those that had been killed during the fallen event, fully confirming what shield had said to her.

Her entire body felt like it had been frozen solid, stony cold from the sheer amount of Guilt that she felt. God, she could have been there had she just stopped weeping for those that were fallen long before now, for weeping over past mistakes, and actually gotten off of her ass and leveled herself up high enough to fight with her friends! She might have been able to save them then! Underneath her tears, her eyes dulled as she raised her hands as the area briefly warped from the way it really was. Blood stains on her clothes and hands, and the face of her friend stained with blood that was both his and her own. She shuddered almost convulsively, before willing herself to keep listening. She refused to bow, not like this, NOT LIKE THIS! She needed to listen. Violet listened to him describe what happened between Jon and Chaos. The SOB had forced him into submission, and enticed him with tidbits about his little sister, which lit a fire of rage inside of her. She had met Jon's sister on two occasions, once during the Star crossed lovers event, and once during the more recent event, the one where people had fought the pumpking, a vampire, and a giant scarecrow. The girl was so sweet to others, and was doing what so many neglected to do. She used her time to heal others, something that used to be one of her priorities when she had first joined up. 'Am I truly that pathetic that someone both younger and weaker than I is doing more for others than I have been..?' she thought morosely, her mask completely falling away as silent tears started streaming down her face. 'I could have done something, anything to prevent this... I could have..!'

She felt her heart almost break in two once she heard him finally say why he'd killed that girl. He had done so out of greed..? She refused to believe it, but even looking at his face, she could see nothing but honesty present on it. A guilty honesty, but nevertheless it was still honesty all the same. Her body just wouldn't stop shaking anymore, she couldn't stem the flow of her tears, and worse yet, she felt like she was being smothered by an unseen force, likely her own guilt. It was almost crushing her just to be able to sit next to Jon, to smile and laugh like she was just the bright light out of their little group like she'd done before.. '... Maybe I should have actually thrown myself off that cliff when I decided to the first time, and spared them from worrying about...!' Her tears seemed to slow down, a resigned look on her face, and a defeated look in her eyes.'No... I'm going need to set something straight for him, he's beating himself up over something that was, by all intents and purposes, his best option at finding his little sister... ' "... I... I'm S-s... So... So...S-s-sor... Sorry..!" she whispered, her voice weak and frail sounding from her conflicting emotions. "I-I sh-sh-should've b-been there f-f-for all of you..! I-I should have been strong enough to fight with you. I have no right to call myself a friend, much less be s-someone worth you caring for. If you want to leave, just go. I have no right to ask you to stay, but I ask that you listen to what I am about to say. You might have killed one person, but that still makes you a better person than me..! What you did was not out of greed, but out of fear and worry for your sister, and your desperate actions to get to her again. She was a hostage being held by him!" She locked gazes with him, tears streaming down her face. "I'm not saying you did the r-right thing b- b.. by doing that! But that psycho could h-ha-have killed her! He could have killed your sister, but instead he chose to play mind games with you! H-he just wanted to S-sc-screw with you head after he w-wa-wa- was gone!"

Violet let out a snort of her own when Jon started laughing at her choices. "Jon, I know you're probably not legally able to drink IRL, which is probably why you're laughing like thats. It shouldn't stop you from enjoying it while you're here." she said, still laughing herself. "Personally I don't really drink too much, but it's better than the crap that they call the normal drinks here. It's player made, and it's based off of spiced whiskey, which my friend suggested for such a cold night." She took yet another drink of it, her eyes closed as she savored the flavor of the drink. She might not drink herself into a stupor in the real world, but she was still a bit of a functioning alcoholic unless she was needed to work long hours or come in for negotiations at the request of her friends.

That thought was pushed to the sidelines when he quickly apologized for hugging her. "Don't apologize, I probably needed a hug anyhow." she said, shrugging. "I didn't mind it anyhow, I get the feeling that you probably need some comfort after you... did what you did.." She listened as he rambled about over what she had brought, asking if she had cooked it herself. "Oh god no! I'm garbage at cooking anything for the most part, unless you don't mind things like simple soups or dessert items." she choked out, her eyes wide. "My friend Rosario cooked these for me to take here, Especially after I told her how bad my cooking skills were. Now if you want music, I can play both the violin or guitar." She wished she actually had one on hand, but she didn't think to ask for one. people weren't very willing to hand them out as items, which was mildly annoying. Didn't matter too much, though, all she needed to do was go to visit an artisan to get one made for her, which was stupidly easy. She rolled her eyes as Jon took a drink from his glass, nearly choking on the spicy liquid. "Like I said, it burns like hell when you aren't prepared for it, Ne?" She took another, drawn out dreg from her glass, draining the rest of the liquid from it. She then leveled a stare at Jon, her red eyes locking into his amber ones. "Now, I'm going to be a bit blunt with you, and I'm sorry in advance if it hurts your feelings..." she said calmly, her face changing to a mask of calm, while she was internally an utter mess. She needed to tough through this, or she wouldn't be able to sleep later that night. "But I want you to tell me everything that led to what happened to you between the short period between the fall of the CA, and the actual event of it happening, to cause such a change in you, Jon. I want you to be as honest as possible. I know you probably don't want to talk about it like this, and certainly not here of all places, but this is for me to reassure myself that nothing else like that will happen, and that you're mentally okay. I've seen too many people go mad because they killed someone and didn't ask for any help... It's all I'm asking of you, Please...!"