Artemis

"Yeesh, what the with the face?" Kuroko raised an eyebrow but beckoned her to come closer, "c'mere, we already got Cocoa here cleaned up." Her brother grinned and pointed over to the dog who was getting dried with a towel by Kai. "Check her out, isn't she cute?"

Amai looks at both of her brothers and started tearing up, "you... you guys picked a name for her without me?" She choked out, feeling absolutely devasted, Of course, they named her without me. They never took me seriously anyway, even with the tiniest things. I'll just forever be the little sister who no one takes seriously. Her hands gripped the bottom of her shirt. "Okay... I saw her-- Cocoa or whatever, see you guys," she mumbled, stepping out of the bathroom. And at that moment, she would ever forget the faces her brother held that day. Regret? Pity? Empathy? The young girl didn't even know anymore.

"They probably don't take me seriously because I'm younger, shorter, and a girl!" She buried her head in her sheets and sighed. "Why can't I be treated the same as them? I can do everything they can but I'm still so different!" She shut her eyes and sighed, "I just want to show everyone that I can do everything they can.." She spun around and faced the ceiling. "I'll show everyone one day, I'll make them see that I'm independent!"

"Mai!" The girl jumped up, realizing that Kai was calling her name. "Can you come here for a sec?"

Amai sighed and marched over to the bathroom with a gloomy face, "what do you want?" She spat, glaring at her brothers. She looked down at the dog and immediately thought 'cute' but shook it off.

A few moments later, her brothers came in with towels and a small bucket. "Mai, you can step outside. we can take it from here," Kai said, looking as if he's about to go off into war. Amai, of course, started to protest but her brother cut her off. "Amai. Now." She huffed in defeat, grumbling about how having brothers suck. Kuro gave her a reassuring smile before returning his gaze back on to the dog.

Using a few profanities on her way out of the bathroom, she went to her room and collapsed on her bed. "Jerks," she mumbled, grabbing a nearby book, and flipping to her bookmark. "Why can't I be treated like an equal to them? I'm just as capable of doing things like them," she huffed, groaning into her pillow. "Heck, I'd probably take a better care of that puppy then them!" She muttered hotly, crossing her arms ignorantly.

Kuroko finally stopped wheezing and held up a bottle of white shampoo. "Y-yes!" He exclaimed, throwing it over to Kai. Kai caught and shushed Kuroko with a glare.

"Yeah, we should bathe him, mom and dad will think the dirt will be us rolling around in the mud or something," he chuckled, shaking his head. "C'mon you little pupper," she scooped up the chocolate fur covered dog and brought them to one of the two bathrooms in the apartment. "Mai, you get the water ready. Kuro, you get a bucket and I'll get some towels." Kai instructed, setting the dog down on a mat and rushing off to get the towels.

Amai sighed happily and rushed to turn on the water to a good enough temperature. Once she got the water right, she scooted closer to the dog and patted it's head lovingly with a small smile. "What should we call you, huh?"

The sister huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Mom and dad said because I'll be a young woman soon and that they don't want their 'sweet little strawberry' to be tainted by 'Satan's sons'," she snickered, earning pointed looks from her brothers.

Kai shrugged with a grin, "got to hand it to them, they aren't far off from there." He said, earning a snicker from his brother. "But 'sweet little strawberry'? Seriously?" This made Kuroko laugh even harder, clutching his stomach all while wheezing. 

"S-stop! I can't... I can't.. take it anymore!" Amai giggled at his behavior but turned her attention to the dog, who looked scarred for life just looking at Kuroko laughing his pants off.

"Should we give it a bath? It looks kind of yucky," she crouched near the dog and examined it's multiple dust and dirt stains. "You guys bought dog shampoo too right?"

Kai and Kuroko gave identical grins to her reaction. Amai looked up at them and raised an eyebrow. "Do you guys have dog food? What if it has to go to the bathroom? Or what if he has to walk around-" Kai cut her off with a nod.

"Yes, yes. We went to the pet store and buy some food, and training pads for him." He motioned to Kuroko who was holding up his bag, which held a bag of dog food, a small dog bed, and a bag of training pads. "See? We're all prepared. Now we just have to see if this little guy is a barker." Kai said nervously, picking the dog up along with his bag. "C'mon, let's bring him to our room."

Amai nodded and followed after them into their shared room. Kuroko sighed, falling back onto his twin bed that sat in the right corner of the room. "I still don't know why you have your own room," he grumbled, rolling over so that his face was in the pillow.

Kai gave her one last look that meant, 'are you sure about this?' to she happily replied with a frantic nod. Sighing once more, her brother carefully opened the bag and pulled out something small and brown. Amai practically started to scream in delight but got cut off when Kuroko slapped a hand over her mouth and shushed her. Nodding one last time, she pried his hand off of her mouth and scooted closer to the puppy, who was sitting firmly and staring up at the siblings. 

She clapped her hands softly and grinned at her brothers, who gave a small smile back at her. "You're going to have to be quiet okay? We're going to have to keep him in our room until he's healthy and everything." Kuroko explained, rubbing the puppy's head warmly. He gestured for his sister to touch the dog, where she hesitantly shook her head. Chuckling to himself, she gently to her hand and placed it on the dogs head.

"He's so soft..."

Kuroko, the second to eldest brother grinned at her and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry alright? It'll just be a few days, then we'll give him to the nearest shelter okay?" Once Amai gave a solemn nod, she peered behind her brother and looked at the bag. Wanting to see the dog, she looked up at her elder brothers. They gave each other looks that said 'oh crud'.

"Can I see it?" She begged, "pretty please! You guys know that I love animals, and you know keeping one from me is a crime!" She pouted, looking up at them with her best puppy dog eyes. Kai looked at her skeptically but gave in to a sigh of defeat when Kuroko elbowed him with a shrug. Motioning for her to come quickly and quietly, she happily obliged and bounced over to the bag with a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

Flashback, lel

"Kai, Kuroko!" A young strawberry blonde girl stood wide-eyed at the sight in front of her. "What are you all doing?! You know mom and dad said we can't have pets here!" She warned her elder brothers, watching something in Kai's schoolbag shift around. "What is even in there?" She asked, curiosity overwhelming her.  "If mom and dad find out, you guys are going to be so dead. You know that right?!"

Her oldest brother, Kai, snorted and shook his head, "chill out Mai, it's a stray. It's pretty wounded too, we're just going to take care of it for a few days alright?" He gave her a pointed look and set his bag down and gave a sigh of relief when a small snout poked out of it. "It's a small dog anyways, look at it! Mom and dad won't figure out anything. They're not home that much anyway."

Artemis blinked, unsure how to feel about the situation. I think I’ve been emotionally scarred for life. She shuddered, trying to be positive. I guess I’ll learn from this sooner or later. “Eheh.. I-I’m so happy too..” She smiled at him and returned the side hug. “You should rest for a bit, it’s not like that Phoenix nest is going anywhere anyways,” she giggled.

Trying not to snicker at him, she coughed a few times before shaking her head. “No, no, no! You should rest a bit. You don’t want to overwork yourself especially here.” Artemis glanced around, deeming it as a literal ‘living hell’. “Please, a little bit of lava couldn’t hit me,” she chuckled.

”Just take a breath okay?” She gave him a tight smile and sat down. It’s still as hot as an oven here though. She yawned and wiped a few drops of sweat away from her forehead. I need a frekin’ hair tie!

@Prometheus

"H-huh? w-wait! No, no. That's a terrible idea!" She cried, holding his shoulders even tighter. "There can be another way around here!" She reasoned, her eyes wide. "Wait, stop!" she blinked, once? Twice? Maybe not at all, because the only thing she could make out was her screaming mid-air and thinking that she should've made a will sooner. she opened her eyes again to see she was perfectly safe on the other side. Looking back at Prometheus, she yelped as soon as she saw the lava. Backing away slowly, she looked up again to see her friend's leg in the water.  Holy mother of living cupcakes, what do I do? half of my friend's leg is in the lava. What do I do?! She simply sat there, frozen. Realizing that his foot was still in the lava, she started to scream. Holy.. oh my gosh, what do I do?!

Her screams got cut off when he landed on her. She gave an unsatisfied 'oumph' before opening her eyes again, this time, only one of her cherry red eyes were open. She glanced at his face before looking back at his leg. "Oh my [beep!]-ing god! Your leg is [beep!]-ing eas just in the [beep!]-ing lava!" I feel like I'm going to pass out.

@Prometheus

Her face fell for a bit, but she still kept her smile. "Oh, gosh darn it. I really wanted to learn something useful like that," she sighed. Snickering at the way Dustin woke up, she shook her head. "Must be nice having natural instincts like that, huh?" She elbowed Pick's arm with a grin. 

"It's a very, very, very big secret!" She exclaimed, whispering to Dustin, "and it's called... magic!" Her eyes lit up and she gave jazz hands. "Oh, there is? Well, I hope I'm in luck today then!" She rubbed her hands together as if channeling some unknown force. (magic!) Let's just hope that this quest can be finished easily. I don't want to stay out too long. Who knows what lives around here? She shuddered at the thought, glancing around warily. "So, hows life in Aincrad for you guys? Good? Bad? A simple 'meh' can work too."

ID : 104896

LD : 3, Fail

@Pick @Dustin

"Oh really? Why?" she mumbled, finally relieved to be touching the solid ground once again. "Mhm! I'll just look for a shady tall guy in Kyoto!" She grinned innocently and gave him a thumbs up "if I set a fire, will you notice? It's like my little way of summoning you!" she tapped her fingers and cackled 'evilly'. Her eyes brightening, she nodded eagerly, "yes please, we are definitely going for ice cream! I don't care if I have to get to the hundredth floor to get it, we are getting ice cream!" She told him with determination. She glanced at the lava river and gulped, "eheh.. yeah, I bet it is."

"A phoenix nest? As in.... the flaming bird, that Phoenix?!" She squealed with excitement. "Oh my god, I've seen pictures of them on the internet and they look so cool!" Artemis sighed dreamily before coming back to reality. "W-wait, crossing it? Uhm, how exactly are we going to do that?"

@Prometheus

"Of course I am! The almighty Artemis is ready for anything! Now forward my noble steed!" she pointed forward once again and giggled. She yelped softly as he sped forward, "I don't want to die young, chill out!" She said with a loud laugh, hard to chill in this type of weather I suppose. Clutching her hands tighter around his shoulder, she nodded her head. "O-okay.." She looked up at the rock with a sigh, "you sure? I mean, we don't know whats out there or how strong they are."

"Oh dear," she peered over his shoulder with wide eyes, "maybe we should-" she let out a screech as he leaped forward. Squeezing her eyes shut, she breathed in and out.  think good things! Good things... life if I survive this, I'll go out for cake. That's'if' I survive you dimwit! I do not want to die in the fiery pits of Hell! She opened one eye and peered around, giving a sigh of relief once she realized there were safe. "O-oh?" She stuttered out, gaining back her confidence especially after it almost went down the drain. "Why can't you leave?" She asked him, her brows furrowing. "Well.. a lot of rehabs," she joked. "But... I think I could try to find you in the real world! Do some traveling! See the real world!"

@Prometheus

Artemis gave a small chuckle as she watched Dustin snore, "well, he's out cold." Turning to Pick, she nodded her head with a smile. "That sounds really cool, I'm pretty low-leveled myself but it's nice to do quests with other people y'know? It spices up things and it's a lot less boring," she explained, looking up at the blonde with a grin. She pushed his arm jokingly, shaking her head with a sigh, "don't call your friends that!" She giggled softly, "enjoy them while they're still around you. You don't know when they're going to.. disappear," she mumbled the last part, not wanting to think about it. "But!" Artemis piped up, "be thankful!"

She looked at him in awe, her eyes twinkling with admiration, "wow, you must have fast reflexes huh? Where'd you learn that from? Some sort of sport?" She pressed, wanting to know every bit of information he had to offer.

ID : 104882

LD : 6, Fail

@Pick @Dustin

Wanting to get something before she did any more quests, Artemis entered the shop with a grin. Wow.. everything here looks so good! She examined the the food before finally picking on something. “I’ll have this..” she pointed to the Loot Die Expresso. I could really use this at one point. She handed Kaiser a bundle of materials and grinned. “Thanks!” She gave he shop owner a final goodbye and walked off with her hand waving. I’m sure this will be come in very handy soon. She placed the coffee in her inventory and walked off with a bright smile on her face.

- 6 Materials

+ 1 Loot Die Expresso

@Kasier

Sighing to herself, Artemis pressed the side of her head against the table. I think it's time for me to go to sleep soon. The player yawed, rubbing her heavy eyelids.  I'll have better luck tomorrow or something.. she sighed, standing up and putting her cloak on with a mumbled 'I'm too tired to walk'. After thanking the waiter, she made her way into the bitter cold once again. Where's the inn again? I swear I saw one around here before I went inside the cafe... 

She looked around, smiling softly as she saw the inn she was looking for. Entering the building with a shudder, she went to the receptionist and asked for a room, who gave her one son after. I'm glad I don't have to do for the rest of the day. She sighed happily, collapsing on her bed once she got to the room. It'll be tomorrow soon.

ID : 104876

LD : 12 + 3 + 3 = 18, Fail

Finding herself relatively thirsty again, she opened her inventory and scrolled through its contents. I guess a coffee should be enough to keep me awake right? She pushed her empty iced tea cup away and gulped down the coffee, feeling abnormally energetic and hyper.  That hit the spot... I should get more of that later. Definitely. She sighed, fidgetting with her old straw. What should I do.. should I message someone?  She opened her menu again and looked through her friend's list.  They're all online.. wait, duh! Of course, they are! She facepalmed herself and sighed.

I'm so dumb, I thought some of them could be offline.. wait, that can happen, right? If we... die, we can go offline right? God, I don't even know anymore, this is all so confusing. I don't know what I'm doing or what I'm supposed to do! What do I do? They don't teach you this in school, do they?!

- Consumed 1 Loot Die Latte

That’s right Kayaba! I’m going to get home whether you like it or not! Nothing can stop me from getting home! Hah! She placed her cup down and clutches her stomach. I can’t breath.. too much laughing. She was sort of laughing and wheezing at the same time, her giggle fits being heard throughout the cafe. I bet they all thing I’m crazy.. hehe.. well I am, good sir and women! Crazier than you all think!

It was several minutes until her laughter died down, a few people even left because they were simply too uncomfortable. Screw them, if they don’t like laughs, they don’t deserve to be in this cafe. She stifled another laughing fit, trying to act more calm and collected. Don’t worry, this will all be over soon. And talking about soon, I need to find an inn soon. I don’t want to sleep on a bench in his weather!

I’m never this emotional. Heh.. it must be the game getting to me. But no! I refuse to cry about something that can be fixed! I will get out of here. And when I do.. I’ll give my family the biggest and baddest hug ever! Wait.. how can a hug be bad? She formed an ‘o’ with her mouth, realization coming in. Unless it was those crushing bear hugs dad, Kai, and Kuroko would give me! Oh, no. Those sucked! I could barely breath half of the time when they did it!

They.. they would just grab me and I swear I can feel my spine breaking! She was laughing at this moment, feeling tears prick in her eyes. The would just grab me and left me like that for a decent ten minutes.. Several pairs of eyes were on her, but at that point, she didn’t care anymore. I’ll give them a bear hug myself when I get home!

As her hand gripping around the cup, she blinked. Positivity! There were so many strays on the streets.. she sighed in defeat. How could I not touch them?! I remembering giving one food once. I swear that cat was so happy, I could practically see it in his or her eyes! She smiled at the bittersweet moment. I wonder how everyone is doing back home. Are Kai and Kuroko sad? How’s my little plushie doing? She laughed to herself, if only they could see me now.

Relaxing at a cafe, drinking virtual iced tea. Isn’t that something? She giggled at the thought, wanting to just.. just reach out to them and tell them that she was okay. I am okay.. right? I’m not sad, but I’m not happy either. Gah, that sounds like something out of a book or a movie. When did I get so cliche? She grinned to herself.

A few minutes of fidgetting with just about everything, her tea finally came in. Giving the waiter a quick smile and ‘thank you’, she resumed to being lost in thought. If I wanted a good Familiar, I think a cat would be the best for me. She felt giddy at the thought. Cats are just so cute.. and fluffy.. she sighed dreamily, I remembering going to Ayano’s house once and she had a cute little black cat! Ugh! When I asked mom and dad if we could get on and they said no, I was so pissed! But I guess I didn’t understand why our landlords didn’t allow the best things on earth in our apartment. She sighed, taking a sip out of her tea.

But I guess I understand now though. I used to pass so many strays on the streets too thought. Mom and dad said they were dangerous to touch but I did it anyways. She chuckled sweetly at memory. I miss everyone so much.

Artemis made her way into the town's cafe, a warm feeling spreading into her as she stepped inside. That feels so much better. She sighed in relief as she slid down her cloak.  The darn thing barely kept me warm at all.  She huffed, signaling for the waiter to come to her table. Ordering a small iced tea, she leaned back in her chair and found herself lost in thought. So far, this quest hasn’t been what I expected. Artemis frowned at the thought but shook it off. No worries, there’ll always be better chances later. I just need to relax before I set off again, I’m tired and that’s all!

Eventually she got bored and started braiding a few strands of her hair together. What familiar would be nice to have? Or especially what type of familiar specifically? Maybe a healing one? Those are handy and I don’t want to die in battle too soon. She bit her lip and sighed. Why is this so tough?!

Artemis entered the shop, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Hey, thanks again for making it.” She turned to Hei and have a small bow. “I’ll definitely try to come back her again some time.” Placing the cape in her inventory, she smiled at him one more and say her goodbyes. Waving to her him as she left the shop, she rubbed her hands together and sighed happily. It’s good he got it done quickly, now! Time to put this into good use. She opened her inventory and pulled it out, it looks great! 

Placing it back in her inventory, she gave in to a grin and skipped off.

+ Hopes Cape

A low rustling made Artemis's ears perk. "Eek!" she jumped up, pulling out her rapier out of instinct. Holy mother of fudge nuggets, what was that? She glanced around, trying to find where the rustling was from.  Okay, no. It's getting dark and I'll definitely finish this quest tomorrow! I'm not giving up, no! Just taking a small break, that's it. Nothing else! Without a second thought, she sped back, avoiding anything she deemed dangerous. 

Finally making her way back to tow, she breathed in and out, trying to capture the breath she lost while running.  I'll rent an inn tonight and I'll go back tomorrow. I just hope it'll be better in the morning. Did I give up? No! This technically isn't giving up, I'm just aking a small break... yeah! I'm not giving up, I need to be out at a better time and to have full energy because I'm am abnormally tired right now and I can't go on any longer.