Arabelle

Name: Liebestraum No. 3
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134879
Roll Result: 9
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: [x1] HP Recovery
Description: [reference] "O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst." 
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595280

Name: Lacrimosa
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134880
Roll Result: 12 (LD: 19)
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Perfect -- Masterpiece
Enhancements: [x3] HP Recovery -- Masterpiece: Instant Effect
Description: [reference] "Qua resurget ex favilla / Judicandus homo reus / Huic ergo parce, Deus." Hymn from Mozart's Requiem. The day of judgment shall inevitably come, yet mercy is all that descends for this day.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595280

Name: Fur Elise
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134881
Roll Result: 10 (LD: 17)
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Rare -- Masterpiece
Enhancements: [x2] HP Recovery -- Masterpiece: Instant Effect
Description: [reference] Lingering sentiments. Wilted flowers, and a love that never came to be.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595280

Name: Liebestraum No. 3
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134882
Roll Result: 9 (LD: 19)
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Uncommon -- Masterpiece
Enhancements: [x1] HP Recovery -- Masterpiece: Instant Effect
Description: [reference] "O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst." 
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595280

1 hour ago, Bahr said:

Name: Violet Overcoat
Your Profession: Tailor
Your Rank: 9
ID: 136517
Roll: CD: 12
Item Type: Light Armor
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: EVA | EVA | EVA
Description: A flamboyantly rich violet and gray checkered overcoat. Enemies are so dazzled by its style that they won't realize how aloof their opponent is.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/17882-f1-r9-tailor-the-crusty-bahrnacle/?do=findComment&comment=597713

Name: Fancy Vest
Your Profession: Tailor
Your Rank: 9
ID: 136518
Roll: CD: 11
Item Type: Light Armor
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: MIT | MIT | Recovery
Description: Staying protected is valuable. Doing it in style is priceless.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/17882-f1-r9-tailor-the-crusty-bahrnacle/?do=findComment&comment=597713

Approved.

Oh, one down.

"Stop! Stop! Yield, I yield!" Upon witnessing the death of their companion, they had their hands up in the air. Why weren't they getting up? Wasn't dying with dignity the better option? Oh, the girl noted blankly. Her earlier AoE had torn through their leg. They propped themself up as she drew closer and she saw their gaze flick to a small blue crystal in the snow. It was impossble. Assuming they grasped that one-in-a-hundred chance, teleport crystals always landed players straight in the middle of a safe zone, where the NPC guards were ever ready to gore them to death. "What do you want?! Money? Equipment? You won't get anything if you kill me now. I'll give you all I have!"

This was unbelievably pathetic. Was this feeling a secondhand embarrassment? Probably, this little group had never once faced players who could actually fight back. They killed, and killed, and lower levels fell at their feet -- and now they were aaaall about to die the same way their victims did. But really, she couldn't fault them for this behavior. In this situation, if one wanted so desperately to survive, the only thing one could do to survive was to throw away their dignity and appeal to the ones who appeared to have a heart.

Raise the white flag and beg. 

"Look, the guy you're after is the strongest one of us! I can lend you--"

"Ah."

Her scythe flashed from behind her and sang through air. She impaled their head against the ground. They jolted, gasping, crawling at the snow... and Arabelle crouched down to rest her hand softly on their head. "Three hits," she murmured quietly. "That was all you were worth." She gripped them tightly by a tuft of their hair and slid them down her blade, pressing them further against the snowy ground.

And they were gone, in a cloud of intangible crystals. 

[--Morbidly beautiful.]

"Hey, Dustin." 

She pulled herself up. She didn't turn. She didn't pull her scythe from the ground.

"Where's the big guy?"

"No. One guess left," Arabelle said again. She tapped a finger to her lips. "Who's Hydra?"

She would've rolled her eyes at the amount of fanfare that followed literally everything the nervous tank did, if Stryder hadn't turned right around and praised her too. So he was watching her. No wonder he was her favorite guild leader! The small purple-haired girl smiled, sweetly, and she sheathed her scythe behind her back; a quick scan of the area proved they would be left to regenerate their energy in peace, for now. "Rightly so," she declared. "It would be awful if I didn't even try to live up to the role I chose. Your performance was lovely too, Stryder~."

Of course it was just Stryder. Jinx already had more compliments than she deserved. However, the curious appearance of the bespectacled girl's new familiar piqued enough of her curiosity. Prying two small crystals off the cave wall, Arabelle approached her with her hands behind her back.

"Fou, right?" It was a weird thing. Fluffy, and very unlike any usual sort of critter. She made no move to pet it, only watching it with mild interest. "Like a rabbit blessed with fairy dust. Did you know-- it's widely believed fairies can't lie.

"But that doesn't mean they're angels either. They twist and bend words to their liking until it's only a half-truth, or hey, they could just not say anything at all."

Arabelle looked over her shoulder.

"Let's look for materials while we're regenerating. Things like these--" She held up the crystal she'd gathered earlier for both teammates to see. "--are useful for Performers like me."

2 hours ago, MISERY said:

Name: Queen Bee
ID: 136124
Roll: CD: 9+1=10
Rank: Untrained
Enhancements: TBD
Description: The power of the Queen Bee lies not in its sting, but in its command. Countless underlings follow and protect her, offering their strength to the one who has conquered Her Majesty.
Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/18939-⌈-floor-2-⋅-solo-party-⌋-may-my-enemy-become-my-friend/?do=findComment&comment=597143

 

Approved.

Name: Liebestraum No. 3
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134842
Roll Result: 7
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: [x1] HP Recovery
Description: [reference] "O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst." 
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595230

Name: Fur Elise
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134843
Roll Result: 10 (LD: 17)
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Rare -- Masterpiece 
Enhancements: [x2] HP Recovery -- Masterpiece: Instant Effect
Description: [reference] Lingering sentiments. Wilted flowers, and a love that never came to be.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595230

Name: Fur Elise
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134844
Roll Result: 10
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: [x2] HP Recovery
Description: [reference] Lingering sentiments. Wilted flowers, and a love that never came to be.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595230

Name: Liebestraum No. 3
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134846
Roll Result: 8 (LD: 18)
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Uncommon -- Masterpiece
Enhancements: [x1] HP Recovery -- Masterpiece: Instant Effect
Description: [reference] "O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst." 
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595230

Name: Fur Elise
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134847
Roll Result: 11
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: [x2] HP Recovery
Description: [reference] Lingering sentiments. Wilted flowers, and a love that never came to be.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595230

The simple town of [Delilah], and the combat areas surrounding it, more specifically the plains between the village and one lone player settlement built alongside a river, made for Arabelle's current haunt.

Underneath the sunshine of a cloudless mid-morning sky, she walked down lines of NPC-owned stalls in the town's small market district with a borrowed wicker basket in hand. Her soft whistling ran in chorus with the sound of rushing water coming from the canal that stretched along the side of the cobbled street and the stale winter breeze ruffled her ponytailed hair. There was hardly a glimpse of the unpredictable scythe wielder in the small woman wearing long sleeves and a plaid skirt over her winter stockings and heeled boots as she studied the shopping list in her hand and mentally ran through all of the places she visited today. It was a menial task-- an errand she ran without complaint whenever she was asked to, and the sort of thing she would have loathed doing in any other scenario --but it was one way to ensure she wasn't completely freeloading, as Mishiro's venomous stares appeared to imply lately. If she were to give a little more of her opinion, however...

From doing chores around the house, to asking Mishiro to teach her how to make a bento, to running up to the entrance and greeting Claude whenever he came back through the entryway... How could she put it, this fluffy feeling?

She kind of felt like someone's wife!

"Hehe~."

Arabelle pressed a gloved hand to her cheek, trying to suppress the small smile that tugged at her lips. 

It was a good, uneventful morning until a notification bell rang faintly in her head. What was it now? Unless he asked nicely, she wasn't going to go all the way back to the other end of the market district if he forgot something. Opening the notification, however, proved the PM's sender and contents weren't quite what she had been expecting.

Andromeda:
ahskdhskdjwkkdhks

Did that clumsy girl somehow fall asleep with her hand on a message window? Arabelle dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

Ahem. It was a good, uneventful morning--

Until she saw a familiar face. Seated on a table outside a cafe was a blonde girl who wore the same sunny smile she did when Arabelle met her around two years ago. It was surreal: that the airheaded coward she had long disliked and sworn not to speak to again for a quest that almost took a turn for the worse would just appear right in front of her on a normal day. Arabelle turned her ashen eyes somewhere else, focusing on a passing cart as she walked by.

She knew well how confrontations of these types could ruin a perfectly lovely day.

Name: Liebestraum No. 3
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134782
Roll Result: 7 (LD: 17)
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Uncommon -- Masterpiece
Enhancements: [x1] HP Recovery -- Masterpiece: Instant Effect
Description: [reference] "O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst." 
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595099

Name: Fur Elise
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134783
Roll Result: 10
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: [x2] HP Recovery
Description: [reference] Lingering sentiments. Wilted flowers, and a love that never came to be.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595099

Name: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Your Profession: Performer
Your Rank: 3
Roll ID: 134784
Roll Result: 11
Item Type: Support Song
Tier: 3
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: [x2] Monster's Fortune
Description: [reference] A merry little serenade to luck.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16480-f11-r3-performer-magnolia/?do=findComment&comment=595099

"zero T1 mats, zero T2 mats, and zero T3 mats. i am in a bit of trouble, aren't i?"

her greatest chances of success lay in songs she played for others. hm.

another day, another set of uncommons and salvages.

She wasn't looking, but the heavy metallic sound of armor behind her indicated Draeil had immediately brandished his greatsword. "F-ckin— what the hell was that for?!" Yes, what indeed. "If you're looking for a fight, go right ahead and—!"

"No intent. That was just a little tease."

Praise cave lighting. Glancing up and down the cave, she counted a force of eight. A little too much for even her to handle, and the ones she hadn't reached with her scythe were suited up in fairly better armor. A few levels above her loot minimum, she hazarded a guess.

"Dammit, this many?" Her... "companion" shared the same sentiments. "I'll take those four. One wrong move from you—"

"Yes, yes. But more fighting. You're falling behind, sugar."

"And you talk too damn big for someone who can't even handle the mobs on my level."

Arabelle sidestepped, giving way for Draeil to storm past with an activated Sword Art — hardly even battle instinct, his armor made the most obnoxious sound — and she swung around with her scythe readied, pivoting on her heel, sending a wave of visible black energy at her opponents.

If only he knew.

Arabelle propped her scythe on the ground, curling her gloved fingers loosely around its handle, and shifted her weight to one foot; a quick breather. As Jinx [Howled], a bushy white squirrel dropped to the ground and scampered behind the tank's defense. Cute familiar, the small reaper had to admit, and she would have thought back to her own had her attention not been seized by Stryder's first guess.

"No," she said with a smile. "Two guesses left. Try again."

Leaving him to his (probable) confusion, Arabelle found one left alive after two rounds of their volley: the second [Bat]. Of course it was. From her own experience, the rats had the troubling advantage of flight and, like it or not, none of them were particularly adept at waving their weapons at things in the air. 

Here was her own attempt: 
Bolstered by her beloved guild leader's praise, she put herself as close to the airborne mob as she possibly could before it took to flying away. Quickly taking a stance, she twisted the scythe in her hands and executed a perfect spinning slice. And barely a second passed before she followed up with another... which the bat easily evaded by flapping its wings and gliding over her -- back to the girl who had earlier [Howled].

Arabelle hated bats.

she liked classical music, but she didn't exactly grow up in a cave. it was simply a matter of preference.

salvages and an uncommon. today, her piano's lid slammed down over its delicate ivory keys.

one day break? unacceptable.

she missed the craft, apparently. when her T3 materials were exhausted, she gave little pause before setting a weaker crystal down in front of her.

yet another clutch perfect. but, considering the timing, she wasn't about to complain.

"My, my. Are you simply so used to having your voice raised? I believe that's not something a supposed 'traitor' should be hearing."

Arabelle was close. She had taken perhaps a few steps forward as she spoke, but not enough to be considered invasive. "Don't give me that crap. Even you would struggle to come up with something all from a simple comment." And dare she say, his tone seemed almost challenging? 

"Pull one loose thread, dear Draeil--" With a faint smile, she mimicked the gesture with her gloved hand. "--and the entire thing may just unravel, if you try hard enough."

"I believe that's not something I should be hearing."

"Merely a bit of advice."

"Advice or a threat?"

"That's up to you to decide. But might I remind you, your remark started it."

"Because this entire situation is bullsh-t." An aggravated step forward, and a subtle shift in his grip of his weapon. She could glean the overflowing irritation behind his glare. She wondered if he really wanted her gone, this time around. "Miss Leah told me herself to be cautious around the likes of you. For all the effect you had, and what you did. Everything. Don't think for a second any of them forgot. And now you're being allowed to explore our grounds without accompaniment? It's that exact same carelessness that left you to trick the old group in the first place!"

"Miss Leah," she began. "Already gave me an official pardon."

And Draeil looked at her like she'd told him SAO's death mechanic was simply an elaborate prank. "A pardon we both know her husband pressured her into--"

Arabelle wasn't smiling.

Shadows appeared to ooze in from the darkness of the cave -- a blackness which was found in every small corner untouched by the light of the glowstones, a blackness which was the only thing they could see in the distant tunnels. They coagulated atop her open palm, forming first the handle, and then Amaterasu's black blade. Her hands firmly gripped the weapon as it completely solidified; and it ignited in a surge of pitch black flames.

Minutes away from the only exit; no one would even hear a scream. 

Draeil raised his blade. Arabelle rocketed forward and funneled her scythe's fury into one purpose.

--She cleaved through an interested audience of oversized antmen which had slowly gathered over the course of their... interesting discussion. With one ruthless swipe, she had the herd dazed and dispersed: half of their health bars depleted. 

"Don't call him that in my presence."

"I don't hear the part where you say you have permission." Under the flickering flames, Draeil's unconvinced glare did not falter. "These are guild grounds. Even regular players can't just come in willy-nilly. Unless Miss Leah had another change of heart, I doubt she'd even think of handing out a permit to some backstabbing filth like you." 

Neither of them would move forward. Standing stoic against the raised blade, Arabelle almost rolled her eyes. He had to be goading her into a fight. It was blindingly obvious he didn't like her; and there was nothing else one could do against a person they didn't like if they wanted to keep their cursor green. 

"Fine, fiiine. I have a permit." And she loved the way his expression twisted in incredulity when she produced a slip from her inventory -- who knew a small thing would hold such sway? "Hmhm, what was Claude's rank again? He can give stuff like this too, if I ask nicely enough. Ah, but if you have a problem, you're free to take it up with 'Miss Leah!'"

From Leah's neat script to the unmistakable stamp at the bottom, there was no denying the legitimacy of the item in her hand. With much reluctance, Draeil lowered his weapon but the swordsman's larger frame kept her from advancing any further. He scowled, muttering, almost under his breath. "Of course he would."

'Oh?'

"Quit your act." Despite her calm greeting, the greatsword in front of her didn't budge. Laughable, considering the guild member she had the misfortune of running into was almost a full foot taller than her. Red hair, blue eyes -- colors so sickeningly vibrant that they were prominent even under the dim torchlight of the cave. "You know you're not allowed here. What do you have to say? Up to another one of your schemes?"

Wow, rude.

Arabelle pursed her lips into a small pout. "Perhaps. But I wouldn't consider trying to level up a bad scheme..." She let go of her scythe, the large weapon vanishing into the air before it could clatter to the ground, and casually held her hands up. "I'll list it down if it makes you feel better. Keeping your ant population under control, gathering excess materials..."

--A chunk of stalagmite, dyed a curious bright color, pried itself off the roof of the cave and landed neatly in her open palm. 

"Should I leave a torch and a glowstone, too? Guild tradition, I heard."

"...psh."

With a disappointed huff, the girl took her eyes off her drained EN bar and lazily dismissed her scythe. It seemed to melt into the air, leaving only shadowy wisps that seeped between her bent fingers. Not even two slots of [Recovery] could keep her fighting for so long, apparently. 

Silence reigned once again. It was stupidly boring, she thought. Nonchalantly prying a small glowstone off the wall, Arabelle kept her senses pricked as she strolled further into the depths of the ant-infested tunnel. Soft footfall after soft footfall, the sound of it seemed to bounce endlessly off the rocky walls. She was so immersed in searching for some disturbance -- something she could pick up and entertain herself with -- that she didn't realize another set had joined her own until the source was bounding toward her.

And was that the sound of armor? Uh oh...

Snap. By her left hand, a small menu opened. Hardly a moment after Amaterasu finished reforming before her, she had snatched it out of the air and taken a stance with the scythe poised to block. A strong gust of wind heralded the unknown player's arrival, yet they stopped before their weapons could come together in a clash of singing steel.

"Hello. Draeil, was it?"

luck just goes up and down.

Arabelle smiled, silently following the conversation. They seemed close. Without reading too much into it, they naturally turned to see each other's reaction first: a habit unlikely to occur with mere acquaintances. Though they were accommodating, it was enough for her -- mostly a stranger -- to feel the divide. It was just an observation really, a natural occurrence that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Hey..." Oscar was friendly though. She wasn't protesting but she gave an uncharacteristically embarrassed grin as the tall handsome blond suddenly slung his arm over her and Cordelia's shoulders. It was an offer she wouldn't mind agreeing with. "Why not a proper pub? Don't want people passing by and seeing us drunk on a random bench. The rumors go around faster than you think!"

She slipped out of the hold once he loosened it and tapped a finger to her lips with a small smile. 

"I know the place. Follow me."

It wasn't far from the Christmas fair. Walking with her hands tucked behind her back and the usual skip in her step, she remained a pace ahead of them as she led them down a path much frequented by other players. "Popular place. They're serving eggnog as a holiday special, of course," she informed them, pulling her parka tighter around herself to stave off the winter chill brought by the occasional passing breeze. "But I'm counting on everyone being drawn to the event. Like I said, word spreads fast and those sorts of places fill up real quick on the first days. No one wants to miss out."

They walked, shoes crunching in the thin layers of snow that covered the streets. It was approaching night time and one by one, the street lights blinked on to illuminate the dimming streets. She stopped in front of a wide, well-embellished stone building and entered after giving a friendly, inviting tilt of her head to the other two.