Eatos

Eatos felt a sadness push through her chest as she listened to Dustin speak, and yet, she opted to say nothing. What was there she could say? Revenge was a dish she understood, and yet, one that was poisonous to every single person who took a bite. Was Dustin just too young to realize that, or perhaps, he did not care the cost he would end up paying? The future didn’t matter, as long as he got what he wanted now…

“It’s not my place to say, one way or the other” she says with a seeming calmness despite what had been told to her “Just always be aware that…” The girl stopped herself. He would learn, but he would not listen. There was no point telling him what would face him, he would learn it himself. And he would suffer because of it.

“If you take nothing else from me, remember this Dustin…” The girl looked straight into his eyes, and for those few seconds, he’d see a rage burning inside of her “When setting out on a quest of vengeance, dig two graves”

Seemingly randomly, the rage within her eyes vanished and her soft face simply had a smile on it “As long as you don’t seek death…when you’ll have a place with us” She said, opening her menu and sending Dustin an invitation to join the guild.

Eatos took a deep breath as she looked at everything that was before her. The guild was rallied together, and yet, she felt nothing in her chest other than a disconnect. It was common since recent time, however it still stung her deep. She took a deep breath and looked around with her amber eyes as the team struck.

The outsider went first, with Stryder striking soon after. The main dragons HP bar was butchered, dropping into the low red area. Eatos looked at the weapon in her hands, the Katana, Celestial Sword. Part of her had simply hoped her allies would deal with it, and she couldn’t have a need to use her weapon. But it seemed, she had almost no choice…She let out a sigh as she tightend the handle of her blade. She could do this…she had to do this.

The girl charged forwards with her Katana, and the blow connected into the drakes chest. Even as the blow landed, however, the girls mind was elsewhere. It was in a back-ally back in England with….

The drake exploded, and while many would consider that a success. Eatos’ mind was elsewhere, and the girl made no attempt to move as the monster died. While there were still two cultists, the girl was fighting to get a proper breath of air into her lungs.  

Ghidorah:  0/215 HP | 40 MIT |  1 ACC |  1 EVA |  70 DMG |  14 Thorns

party 1:
[1]Embers: 386/400 HP | 40/40 Energy | 9 DMG | 39 MIT | 2 ACC 
[2]Stryder: 700/700 HP | 53/70 EN | 62 MIT | 4 ACC | 3 EVA
[1]Eatos: 420/420 HP | 42/42 EN | ...

Elven Dragon Cultist 1: 50/50 HP | 25 MIT | 35 DMG | 14 Thorns
Elven Dragon Cultist 2: 50/50 HP | 25 MIT | 35 DMG | 14 Thorns

party 2:
Saphira: 240/240 HP | 24/24 Energy | 18 MIT | 1 EVA | 3 ACC | 5 DMG
Hei: 600/600 HP | 60/60 Energy | 3 EVA | 3 ACC | 12 DMG | 54 MIT

Despite the story, hearing that the boys brother and friends had all died in front of him, the girls face didn’t shift at all. It was a tale she knew all too well, to be surrounded by death. She herself had been involved in such action, back in the real world. She couldn’t judge this boys desire for revenge, it was normal considering the circumstances but…

“To surpass in strength, isn’t to acquire the power to settle the heart” she said softly to the boy. She wanted to hit him across the face, hard. Did he really think revenge was the right answer, that to kill another was an easy thing to do?

She let out a sigh, of course he did. He was in a video game, where the blood doesn’t stain your hands for days. You don’t find blood under your nails the day after. Eatos’ hand started to shake, and she quickly grabbed it with her other hand to keep herself looking composed.

“We’d welcome you to the guild Dustin. Although, just know that this quest you have of vengeance, no matter how in the right you are. You’ve killed a human being”. She could understand, in a way. But…

An eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind. Not that a child would understand.  

The girl didn’t notice Dustin talking to her at first, but once she heard it, she smiled at the boy.

“We’re part of the guild called Guardians of the New Dawn. Me and my friend Stryder made it after the leader from our other guild...vanished. Our goal was to create a safe place for players who were…too weak, or at least, that was the intention. Now, we’re focused on helping players level up..Hell, Stryder is operating in the front liners now-a-days…”

The girl shook her head softly. Her voice was soft, almost cold as she looked at the Husky at her side “What about you Dustin? What is it that drives you forwards?” She wanted to ask why he wasn’t in a guild, but perhaps, her wording needed to be….nicer. She let out a sigh internally. Who cared for nice, honestly? In a world like this, politeness was overrated. In a world like this, everything was.

The blue haired girl stood on the balcony of the first floor. She gazed upon the air as she glanced at her side, to find nothing there. Angel was free, somewhere on the 4^th floor that was the girls home. Her bank was empty, everything donated over to the guild she had cared for.

All she owned was her suit, that she was wearing now. She let out a sigh. Finally, her nightmares would end. Finally, she could get some sleep and take her long awaited goodnight. She let out a deep breath, before accessing her messenger system. It seemed, only fair, to give them warning. She had prepared for today, and recorded three messenges.

The first, for Stryder. She was worried what he might do, how would he react. But he would survive. The guild needed him to survive.

The second, for Hei. She didn’t know him well, not well enough. But he would have to guide Stryder, keep him in line should he fail. And find her replacement. There would need to be 3 of them.

And the final one, would be sent to every guild member. A goodbye from…well, what is supposed to be one of their leaders.

She sent them off, and got up onto the ledge and took a final look around. Sword Art Online. Her prison for the past two years.

“Finally…I can be free” She said softly, before smirking “I win Adam. You will haunt my dreams no longer” before taking a step forwards, off the edge. As she fell, there was a calmness within her.

For the first time in months. Katherine Williams, who had been going by Eatos, felt happy. Right as her hp dropped to zero, and she died.

  @Stryder @Hei

Thread Rewards:

Eatos: 1 SP, 400 Col

Froppy: 1 SP

Thread Rewards:

Eatos:

1 SP

400 Col

Thorsten

1 SP

Thread Rewards:

Eatos:

1 Sp

400 Col

Fae:

1 SP

Eatos simply opted to watch as the boy, Dustin ran off in eagerness of his hunt to acquire his items, the materials he was seeking. Even Hei, after a seeming glance at her, walked off to join him. Leaving the girl at the entrance alongside her Husky. She looked at the canine, who simply barked. The girl shrugged as a reply.

She walked towards the garden, but made no attempt to look for another just yet. She knew she might as well look, but she was in no rush. Those two were, but she had plenty of time. There was no urgency in the girls slow walk, staying some distance away.

Suddently, without warning, the bluenette stumbled as another wave of fatigue ran through her, but the girl pushed her way past it. She just had to stay up, stand fall, for a bit longer and it would work itself out nicely. It would all be fine…

“At least those two get along…” she muttered to herself watching Dustin and Hei.  

There was something so light about the Dustin boy. Something so carefree, it angered Eatos the more she thought about it. Why couldn’t she have a life like that, a life without heartache and worry? A life where she heard only the voices she wished to hear inside of her head? Were the sins she committed that heavy, that even now, after she thought she had been forgiven, that found her? Why was it she had to suffer, while others had it carefree?

She wanted to scream the question out, for anyone to answer. Right before she buried it within herself as she always did, as the only thing she knew how to do. She looked up as Hei declared they had arrived, and it suddenly dawned on the girl. They were here to collect materials for crafting. Suddenly, coming felt like a horrible idea. She had plenty of materials on her, she had just…stopped crafting. It was too hard to do anything, yet alone create. She even had a skill to help her acquire materials, one she hadn’t used in…months at least.

A quick access of her inventory told the truth, she had over 20 Tier 1 materials, as well as 16 Tier 2 materials just…sitting there. Maybe she could give them to the others? She wasn’t making anything in her forge anymore.

Looking at the expansive field, the girl wasn’t taken aback by the view. She loved nature, but this…this world was fake. Why did it matter what it looked like? “It looks….nice” The girl opted into saying. She wasn’t sure what she could say here, what should be said.

Eatos let out an internal breath that she had been holding. Despite having all her current issues, she could still manage to talk to others, and perhaps there was still hope for herself. But then again, Kataware had come out here with every intention in joining a guild. Perhaps it was the eagerness of the other girl, not her own skill, that had resulted in another person joining the guild?

“Welcome aboard Kataware. And I do apologise for my deception, most people act differently around me when the fact I run a guild. They act like the only thing I care for, to rally people with us. So I’ve started not mentioning I was the leader for it” She glanced down at Angel, and smiled at the Husky, before slowly returning the look to the other girl.

“I should introduce you to the other members of the guild at some point. There are three leaders, myself, Stryder and Hei. And there are a good dozen members who I’m sure you will meet in the coming times. I’m gunna stay here and play with Angel, you’re welcome to stay with us Kata…”

So she was right, Hei and the boy knew each other. The girl took a moment, before remembering Hei did own a store, a tailoring shop. Presumably where Hei and Dustin had met. The boy seemed to vanish. The word ‘selfish’ came her mind as she turned to look at Hei, yawning as she did. He seemed to want to spend time, and it could be a welcome distraction… She took his hand, using his strength to pull herself up “I might as well come, I’m not doing anything here…” She said softly, clicking her tongue as the Husky leapt to the girls side.

Following after Hei, the girl stuck to her own as she yawned once again. While not sleeping wasn’t helping, there was more to it. Dustin had innocence, a boyishness to him. And it was lightly annoying Eatos as she eyed him with her amber eyes.

At her name being said, the girl gave a brief bow, but said nothing more. After all, the less she said, the better. Not only did she not know Dustin, but the less she talked, the less likely she would say something stupid.

Eatos watched Hei and Dustin interact, and it was quickly clear that they knew one another. It seemed like a short one, but she wasn’t sure their level of familiarity. The girl felt the warmth beside that, that resonating from the Husky that had made a home on her side, as she watched Hei’s raptor. The girl was conflicted on the other familiar, partly because she knew Angel had been spooked by the raptor last time, and knew for a fact, she would be again.

The girl had intended to speak, but opted into silence. What was there to say from her end? Nothing to add to the conversation. She took a deep breath as a wave of fatigue washed through her, but thankfully, because she was already lying down, she didn’t stumble like she ordinarily did.

“What about you Hei, why are you here?” she asked. Hei wasn’t typically on the 1^st floor, at least to her knowledge. The quests on this floor wouldn’t be a challenge to him, right?

Spotting the equipment on Hei came with a sense of self-satisfaction. At something something she had done in Sword Art Online had obvious payoffs, someone was surviving as a result. She had a feeling that, much like his comment, he would need to use the shield today. From what her information brokers had told her, this dragon, while weak, could dish out a good spot of damage.

She watched each member arrive, and spotting them, created her mental notes.

She was the only healer of the group, and since they lacked a tank, allocation was important.

Hei and Stryder were the core damage dealers, and the outsider, Embers, could be assumed to be also. They would be split up among the two groups, the ‘tankier’ two would be the leaders of the parties , assuming they split up that was. She wasn’t sure on how the dragon attacked.

The last person on her list worried her the most. Saphira. She had, no idea, what level the other girl was, or even her combat style. She made a mental note to ask during her planning.

Although she had intended to lead the talk, it seemed Hei had his own sources on what was to come. His plan made a lot of sense given what he knew, splitting up to deal with two groups made sense. To fight two enemies, make two groups.

“If we place Hei to deal with the mobs…” The girl went silent, although her speaking hasn’t been that loud to begin with “Then perhaps Saphira should be with you. She’ll keep you covered, and can flex to the rest of us should the drake be an issue”

There was another reason for picking Saphira. Because the most logical one to pair up with Hei would be herself, since the mobs wouldn’t deal a lot of damage to him. But, it was clear from their short interaction, Hei and Saphira were close. And why not let them pair up?

Eatos looked at the Husky, letting out a sigh. Who was she kidding? She couldn’t outrun that damn voice…It was always with her now, depriving her of the most basic of…

“Hey, Is that a dog?”

A stray voice caught the girls attention, and her amber eyes scanned over the boy in front of her. Angel stood up, but made no aggressive moves. It seemed, even the Husky could sense this person wasn’t a threat. The Husky’s blue eyes went onto her owner. Eatos nodded, and the Husky barked and almost leaped onto Dustin in an attempt to ‘cuddle’ the boy.

“Her name is Angel, and she’s adorable” The girl said softly. She didn’t attempt to sit up, lying on the base of the fountain as Angel got off on Dustin. She heard his question, but was cut off by a voice she knew. Hei. Fellow guild member, and co-leader. She shifted her eyes at him, but made no attempt to move “I….I couldn’t sleep” she said as to why she wasn’t at home on the 4^th floor. Not entirely a lie, yet keeping the truth far from their vision.

“T-this guy? I dunno, I only just met him” She admitted to him, unaware Hei and Dustin knew one another.

Angel spotted the raptor, but this time, the large Husky reacted differently. Leaping up onto the side of the fountain and lying flat next to her owner, partly to protect, but mostly, to comfort.

Eatos opened her amber eyes and let out a sigh. She had been attempting to sleep in her home, but the voice inside her head had become too loud and, out of fear, the girl had ran away from her own home! She was sitting at the water fountain, where all of this had started. Where Sword Art Online had become hell itself.

Angel slept at her side as the girl, wearing her coat and shirt, let out a sigh. How many nights was that voice going to drive her inside? How many nights did she have to suffer until it left her alone? She wasn’t sure of the answer, and that, made it crazier than ever for the girl recently.

The Husky made a loud bark, and Eatos, despite the rabbit hole she was mentally in, stroked the familiars head “Its ok Angel. I’ll figure it out. I may be alone for this battle, but if Silver taught me anything, I can fight back..”

The word yes, for Eatos, signalled only one thing. The time for deception was over. Kataware had agreed to join a guild, her guild. She watched carefully as the other girl made an…odd move. She took her hair and started to make it into a pony tail. What interested Eatos about it was that having your hair down, like the bluenette did herself, was simply a better option against the cold. It acted as a buffer. It was something worth looking into at the very least.

Eatos took a step forwards and offered the girl her hand to shake. Once taken, she would smile softly “Well, Kataware. I am the member of that guild. In fact, I’m one of the co-founders of it” She smiled slightly. The deception wasn’t needed by any means, she was just somewhat curious about it of recent.

“And given our conversation, I’d be more than happy to accept you into the Guardians Kata”

Eatos smiled down at Angel as the Husky rubbed against its owners leg. The other girl was seemingly lost in throught and, so allowing her to explore her own mind, she opted to simply let the other girl think. After all, even if a decision like this was easily retractable, people still saw it as a hugely important thing.

While she let the other girl stew in her mind, she did ask her own question.  Why was she doing this? Pretending to not be who she was, a member of a guild she started? It was something she had been doing a lot recently, and she couldn’t understand why. Maybe she would understand soon, but even now, she didn’t bother to change herself.

“So you do want to join…?” Eatos asks, her amber eyes turning onto the other girl as a wave of cold air moves in. Despite the cold wave, Eatos felt no cold despite not wearing winter clothes “I can talk to them, but…are you sure that you wanna sign up for a guild?”

The girl opened her eyes as she heard a noise. A message. She blinked her amber eyes once, then twice. A message, from Hei? What was this about? The bluenette had spent the last three days in bed with Angel, struggling to even get out of the bed itself. She opened the message, and let out a sigh. The guild needed her? Of course it did.

Slowly climbing out of bed, she looked at herself in the mirror within her store. She let out a sigh as she adjusted her hair and her clothes, her ‘Guardian Angel’ shirt and jacket. On her back, her ‘Celestial Sword’ on her back. She looked at Angel, who looked at her with worried eyes.

“Don’t worry about it Angel…I should be able to do this….Just, stay close” she said to her pet as she walked towards her door, and headed down a single floor.

Arriving on the 3^rd floor, Hei was very easy to locate. As was his pet, the raptor who Angel didn’t trust. A slight growl emerged from her familiar, before Eatos simply shook her head and the pet seemed to calm itself. The girl wiped under her eyes, hoping to hide the dark smudges that existed there “Heya Hei. I see my equipment is being put to good use…” She said, trying to create small talk. 

Commitment? Kataware made it sound so easy. As if all it took was will power. While will power was hugely important, there was much more to it than all of that. It was the irony of people. They wanted so much, and yet, lacked the convinction to take it…Mostly. There were always exceptions to the rules…Like Adam.

The quest ask about the name of the guild was not lost on Eatos. Kataware was seemingly very interested by this knowledge, more so than she wanted to let on. But for what purpose? That was the next question.

“It’s called Guardians of the New Dawn. Slow pacing levelling guild” she said, still actively not mentioning her relationship with them “A lot of the more powerful guilds don’t accept players that aren’t proven. And to be proven, you need to be well known” Eatos let out a soft smile “I mean well when I say this. You’re clearly unproven, so starting with one of these smaller guilds will help you build a reputation”

While she heard what the other girl said under her breath, Eatos opted to simply say nothing. While she was indeed included, she didn’t want to think about it. So much, recently, she had found herself mentally distancing herself from others more and more, sometimes she found it hard to see herself as ‘one of them’.

Hearing the other girl talk, Eatos found herself amused and depressed. She could see herself in this other girl. Helping others with a store. But Kataware taking a step forwards, scouting for the front lines. It was rather interesting. Hopefully she made it there. “Well, you have a clear plan it sounds like. Hopefully you can commit to it” She didn’t finish her sentence like she had intented to do, much like her life it seemed. Ironic, in a way.

A loud bark forced the girl to throw the ball, Angel abandoning the girls and running after the ball to fetch it.

“Point taken about the guilds. They’re the best way to get to the front line” She went silent for a bit, before looking the other girl in the eyes “You still could join a guild. I know a few people who are in one…”

So she was aware of the timer on them? The reality that Eatos had come to her days into her new life. Every single person trapped in this game only had so long to live. Even with the best medical equipment being used, their bodies needed activity. Their bones and muscles would become almost mush, and that was just the ones she could list off in her head. Without much medical knowledge, she couldn’t know all the problems their bodies would have when they came back.

“A race we seem to be losing” The girl said absently as she brushed off the snow from her suit “We’re barely a quarter of the way in….” She shook her head. She needed to avoid the black holes in her mind like that. She looked at Angel, who barked once. The girl shrugged in response, as if she was having a conversation with the Husky.

“Helping people…? So you’re aiming for the front lines, and as a solo player…Don’t you feel that’s a tad…risky?” The girl asked. There was no marker signalling them as a member of a guild, meaning they were more than likely a solo player. Attach that to that she was annoyingly like Stryder, the aim to help everyone, and the best way to do that was get to the front lines…  

Surprise people? Well, she indeed surprised her. Eatos had been expecting another day of trying to pull herself out of the rabbit hole she often found herself in by playing with Angel. It didn’t work, but it was the only therapy she had to the whispering voices that ate away at her sanity on a daily basis.

Hearing about the red marks, she was mostly correct. Although, Eatos knew that just because you didn’t have a marker, didn’t mean you weren’t dangerous.  Both of them could be willing to kill, and just haven’t taken the last step. They could be scouts, ensuring their victim is alone and easy prey before sending in the killers. Theories she’d come up with, to ensure she was safe from such parties. This girl seemed innocent, although, that could be a front. But Eatos was confident she’d be able to survive any assassination attempt against her life.

“It would be telegraphed” The girl said as she pulled herself out of the snow and glared at the Husky, who only barked back happily as they were pet by Kataware. “So what are your intentions then Kata? Where do you think you’ll end up in life, or at least, in this game?”

She was, completely, lost. Kataware had no idea what she was doing. While this was standard for a lot of people, in a world like this, it could be the last mistake you make. With that knowledge, which should always be in the back of your mind, why would you do something so stupid?

The girl opted to silence to answer Kataware. If she was honest with herself, there was something so ignorant. So foolish about her, it annoyed her. And yet, she found herself in a little piece of awe at it. At that moment, Angel ran back and, instead of setting the ball down, leaped into Eatos, taking the girl down into the snow with loud barks. The girl let out a yell in shock as she is almost buried in the snow, and while the Husky leapt out, the girl remained in the snow.

“Angel…” Eatos signed. She knew it was pointless to ‘punish’ her pup, partly because she loved it too much and also because it was just a habit she hadn’t bothered to properly discipline her. She just sighed, and couldn’t be bothered getting out of the cold snow “Trust me, no one is more surprised you’re here than I am…Or Angel for that matter…”

Eatos should have been reflective enough to know that, even if the other girl had no idea, she was talking about herself. For weeks, she'd had little, to no, human contact. Just her Angel to keep her company, and while normally that was enough, recently she just felt empty, cold. Dead almost. She opened her mouth to reply 'I know all too well the damage it does', before opted away. Now wasn't the time to ruin life with a pitty party, even more so that it was her own. 

The Husky came running back, dropping the ball at the girls feet and demanding another throw. Smiling, the girl leans down and scoops up the ball as she heard Kata explain herself. 'She had no idea, and didn't even consider it. Reckless, the girl could be dead already if i was anything like him' she thought to herself as she threw the ball hard, and the Husky, as they do, threw itself after it.

"I think i recognize it, the more i look at it. It looks sorta like the flier for a guild that went up months back. They met out here to rally members" She says, keeping the reality that she herself was one of the guild leaders hidden "Why would you be looking for them anyway?"