Cordelia

"Hynes, you bastard. You didn't tell me it was this far..!" she groaned, kicking another foot of sand away. Even if the desert heat couldn't affect her, it didn't change the fact that walking in sand was a huge pain in the ass. It was like walking in water except it got stuck in your shoes. "I'm going to murder him when I find him," she growled, holding up her hands in front of her as she imagined strangling the almost-useless infobroker. Seriously, what was she paying him for? 

"Sorry Pacco. I probably shouldn't have dragged you all the way out here," she mumbled, looking over to her bird familiars. She wasn't sure if Pacco could feel the heat, since she was the one with the survival skill, not him. He didn't look like he was burning from the inside out, but he looks like that twenty-four seven anyways! Cordelia sighed, debating whether if she should just stop now and go back to get more information out of him. For all she knew, the Terra Firma could be in the other direction! She was just about to spin around on her heel before something caught her eye.

She squinted, recognizing it as the figures of two very familiar people. 

"Hey NIGHT, Yuki!" Cordelia raised her hand over her head as she jogged over to the two players. "Are you guys here to take a quest..." she trailed off, her attention shifting over to the area below them, where a rolling ball of rough scales inhabited. 

"Oh thank God, I didn't have to come here for nothing," she whispered, giving a silent thanks to whatever divine being is out there.

ID: 155549
BD: 7, Hit | 20x8=160-30=130

ID: 155550
BD: 8, Hit | 20x8=160-30=130

ID: 155551
BD: 2+5=7, Hit | 20x8=160-30=130

ID: 155552
BD: 5+5=10, Hit | 20x8=160-30=130

LVL: 58 | HP: 1180/1180 | EN: 102/116 | 20 DMG | 25 MIT | 5 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM [DF] | PHSE | 12 HLY | ABS. ACC -14

Elf Soldier #1: HP: 0/65 | 30 MIT | 15 DMG -130
Elf Soldier #2: HP: 0/65 | 30 MIT | 15 DMG -130
Elf Soldier #3: HP: 0/65 | 30 MIT | 15 DMG -130
Elf Soldier #4: HP: 0/65 | 30 MIT | 15 DMG -130

"Ah... I see. Well, trust your gut. That's what I've been doing and look at me, I'm still going strong!" she cackled, giving the man a thumbs-up before turning back to the forest.

As if like a cutscene, the treants appeared before them. She always liked treants. They were just living trees after all. She couldn't say the same about the elves though, they always seemed suspicious to her. What right did they have to take a tree from the trees? Lord, now she felt like she was doing some type of Lorax business. I am Cordelia and I speak for the tree- treants. 

"Yep," she grinned, popping the 'p' as the treants relayed the exact same information she had gotten from Hynes. "Don't worry Mister Living Tree, we'll get your home back in no time!" she said enthusiastically, offering him a fleshy thumbs-up. 

Cordelia hummed in agreement, unsheathing her katana before gesturing for Kiluia to follow her. "This shouldn't be too much of a hassle. I'll have to single target the Elvish King instead of AoEing it though, but other than that- leave everything to me," she chirped, giving him a toothy and confident grin before she turned back to the forest trail. 

Cordelia stretched her hand behind her back, slightly disturbing her familiars though they made no caw-ment about it. "I typically don't drink it as much as I used to. Before a few months ago, I couldn't live a day without it - now, I just drink it every once a month or so..." she mumbled, tilting her head from side to side as she let out an exuberant laugh. "I like sweets too, but I get pretty sick of it if I eat too much," she exclaimed, grimacing as she remembered the countless times where she had inhaled an ungodly amount of sugar and regret it almost immediately after.

"A penguin, huh..." she repeated, slowing down just slightly before resuming her pace. "Floor Found sounds like a good place to start. Other than that, I have no idea where else you would be able to find a penguin. What kind of familiar type are you looking for? Damage? Mitigation? Accuracy? All of them are pretty solid choices but it really depends on your build. Try to decide on one when you first get it though. It's a huge pain to retrain them when you switch over to a different mastery."

"Kiluia, huh? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I hope we get to see each other after this encounter. You seem like pleasant company," she beamed, giving him an inncoent smile before turning back to the direction of the forest, which wasn't too far from the looks of it.

"Oh, don't worry about it too much. You won't have to lift a finger," she snickered, tapping on the hilt of her katana with a slight smirk before turning to give him a reassuring smile. 

Cordelia looked up and nodded. "My infobroker gave me a bit of information about this quest before I came here. I think we should take the Treants' side for this quest. The rewards are better and it'll probably be easier in general," she looked over to Kiluia, seeing if he had anything to add before turning back to the forest. "It won't be long until the Treants come to ask us for help. So be prepared for that," she hummed, tapping her foot against the ground as she waited for the magic to happen.

Cordelia nodded her head eagerly. "It's all good. With me around, you won't have to worry about a thing," she beamed, grinning like a child before she nodded her head again. "Yeah, that's fine. Let's get going. I think we should have this done by at least the afternoon. The journey is probably going to be the longest and hardest part about this though." Cordelia's head tilted up towards the sky. The day was still young, she would've guessed around eight-ish?

"Anyway, let's head out."

"So," she began as they started their journey to the forest, attempting to make some small talk with the stranger, "my name's Cordelia by the way. I should've said that sooner. This is also Pacco!" she chirped, pointing to the pair of ravens before smiling. "The reason why "they" have a single name is because Pacco is kind of like a hive-mind creature? I don't know how to say it other than that. So they pretty much just share a single mind... if that's hard to envision, just imagine that they're really realistic handpuppets that have an invisible host. That's how I do it anyway."

She inhaled, and then quickly let out a long sigh. "Sorry if I'm rambling - I think I had an extra cup of coffee this morning and it's really getting to my head - which again, doesn't make a whole lot of sense since I'm pretty sure the concept of sugar doesn't really work in this game. . . maybe my mind is just tricking me - I don't really know. . ."

A beam of light coupled with a few falling black feathers filled the space in the teleport gate as Cordelia and her familiars appeared on top of the pad. Recently, she'd been trying to clear through her list of quests - hoping that she would be able to get the majority of them down before the next floor boss fight was scheduled to happen. 

She looked at the piece of parchment in her hand as she hopped off of the teleportation pad, two identical ravens perched on each of her shoulder as she did so. 

"Alright..." she murmured, her eyes scanning up and down the list before it landed on a block of words. "Elvish and Treant Rivalries. I have no idea how we managed to skip those. The recommended level is less than half of mine," the girl muttered before shoving the list in her coat. "Well, it shouldn't be hard at all, right Pacco?" she asked, turning her head to look at both of her raven familiars before grimacing. Right - they couldn't talk. She wasn't sure if they could even understand her since the only way they ever reaction to anything was either with a blank stare or a loud caw. 

"... right."

The ivory-haired player sighed, turning her attention to the wide wooden board placed in the general plaza of the town, a certain piece of paper catching her attention:

"Need help clearing Elves"

"I think it's our lucky day, Pacco, look at that!" she exclaimed, gesturing with both hands to the pinned paper before deadpanning. "... right. No speaking. No understanding... and no reading. You certainly are getting smarter by the minute, Cordelia,"  she whispered under her breath, giving herself a good face-palm before making her way over to the town's gate - or rather, exit, where she assumed the person who put up the request would be. That made sense, right? Not really. They should've just put the location or meet-up place if they planned on getting help from another party. 

When she got to the town's exit, there only seemed to be a single player, who coincidentally, also had white hair. Seeing that she had no other choice but to ask, she shoot her shot.

"Hey are you that player who put up the request back on the bulletin board?"

"With all due respect, Shield and Mari, I think this is Yuki's decision to make. If she's that determined to fight on the frontlines, let her. I really do get why you're against the idea, but like Baldur said; this might be the hardest boss fight the players have ever experienced and we're going to need all the hands we can get." She sighed, deciding to end it there and respecting Baldur's wishes. 
@Shield @Mari @Zajcica

Cordelia nodded her head along to the rest of the points made but the one that spiked her interest the most was the idea of somehow releasing Orgoth from The Shadow and gaining him as an ally. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the wooden table before speaking out. "What happened to the rest of the minotaurs? We know what happened to Orgoth but after he was possessed by The Shadow, what happened to the rest of his fighting force?" she asked, tilting her head. "If we were to go into this fight with the remaining members of his army, - however many that may be - we may have a higher chance of succeeding as well as less casualties." She looked over to Baldur and anyone else who spoke up that was in the scouting team. "I don't remember hearing anything about the rest of the minotaurs in your statements, so I just wanted to get that out there before we talked more about Orgoth." 
@Baldur

She leaned back in her seat before taking a sip of her tea, listening more to what the other players had to say about the idea of releasing Orgoth from The Shadow.

"The idea of Shadow taking over a player as a host doesn't sound too far fetched," she murmured in agreement to NIGHT, scratching her chin as she thought for a few seconds. "However, I think that killing off said host would have to be a last resort. From what the scouting team has said, this thing sounds like a cunning creature. For all we know, that could be exactly what it's planning. So unless we're absolutely sure that killing off one of our own would lead to the defeat of The Shadow, I say we keep brainstorming ideas on how to free Orgoth - since that is most likely how we would free players if The Shadow were to ever possess one." Cordelia shrugged, sipping on her tea again. "However, that's only if this thing actually has the capability to possess anything else."

@NIGHT

Cordelia poked her head into the shop. "Never been here before," she muttered under her breath, stepping into the alchemist's shop. She looked around, inspecting the lined up potions, salves and crystals with interest. 

Whoever owns this place is certainly not a rookie alchemists. Gosh, where has this been all my life? Cordelia blinked, realizing that she wasn't alone in the room. "Oh, hello there! I just found this shop recently. I didn't realize that there was such a high ranked alchemists down here. Your shop is certainly a hidden gem!" she exclaimed, flashing the girl a wide grin before she went back to examining the wares. 

"I think I'd like to buy a handful of damage potions? It's been a while since I've used one of those." The player opened up her menu with a swipe of her finger and started the transaction of Col. 

"Thanks again!" she said, giving the still unnamed shop owner a wave before heading out with her brand new potions. 

+ Purchased [x5] Liquor of Light: Damage III
- 2,500 Col 

"O-oh. I knew that!" she exclaimed, her face flushing a bright red as she halted abruptly in her steps. "'Course, I knew that," she mumbled sheepishly, turning to follow after him. 

Good lord this estate his huge. It might even be bigger than Oscar's - that might just be because everything is separated so much though... 

"Alright, where does Baldur keep his tea leaves... or is he a person who uses teabags?" Cordelia sighed, shuffling through the kitchen to try to find a jar or bag of herbs. "I don't suppose you know where it is? You do live here after all," she asked, looking over her shoulder at the bluenette. She wasn't sure if Calrex struck her as a tea person or not, but if he was living with Baldur, he must've at least drank it before, right? She opened a random cabinet. "Oh nevermind, I found some," she exclaimed, pulling out a transparent jar almost filled to the brim with dried leaves. "Yeesh, he must restock this thing regularly," Cordelia commented, shaking around the jar a few times before she set it down on the counter. "Alright, where does he keep his kettle..." Crouching down, she checked the lower cabinets. Bingo! 

She heaved the kettle on to the stove with her flimsy noodle arms and flicked it on. 

"So," she sniffed, waiting for the water to start boiling. "Weather's... nice?" She let out an awkward cough before turning back to the kettle. Several silent minutes ticked by. Several awkward minutes. Soon, the kettle started to whistle, and Cordelia took that as the water being ready. Quickly, she did whatever she needed to prepare the tea (bear with me, its almost 12 am and im tired) and poured it into several ceramic cups. 

"That... that should be enough people right? I don't think there could be that much people..." Cordelia deadpanned, setting the cups on top of two serving trays. "I- here. You take this one." Cordelia pointed at the tray next to hers. "Just give one to everyone... and if there's any extra ones- uh, chug it down." 

She tilted her head as Crozeph popped into the kitchen. "Oh. hey. Yeah, we'd love some help!" Cordelia flashed him a grateful grin before placing a few cups on to a seperate tray. "That should be enough." She clapped her hands together before picking up the tray. 

@Crozeph @Calrex

By the time she had gotten to the room, it seemed the meeting had already started. Already, it felt like there was tension in the air. Seriously? It's only been like, five minutes! Yeesh, what happen while I was gone? Almost awkwardly, Cordelia placed down a ceramic cup on each of the player's little cute wooden table things before placing the final one on her tray on her own little cute wooden table thing, which happened to be situated near/or next to wherever the hell Oscar was.

Her hands wrapped around each other in front of her as Baldur went on to explain what exactly happened and what might or will happen. 

Minotaurs? Shadows? Light... beacons? It was definitely something she had never heard of being in a boss fight before. After Baldur had finished, several other players in the room chimed in with ideas and questions of their own. The one that caught her attention the most seemed to be a player completely unknown to her, shrouded in a dark hood and smoke. Perhaps a vanity effect? Seemed edgy. Very edgy. 

[cutting this off bc i dont want it to be too long. will chime in next post <3]

"Yeah..." Cordelia mumbled, agreeing to whatever Mari was saying absentmindedly. She still couldn't get over the fact that Bahr was on good terms with Pinball- er rather, good enough to not kill him right then and there. The longer she looked at the two, the more obvious it became that they still had not-too-happy feelings for each other. She would have to ask one of them - preferably Bahr - what exactly happened between now and the day he found out about that Kirbs girl's death later or she was going to lose it. 

She looked back at Mari and cracked a smile, something that seemed impossible with her current state of mind. "It is nice. It's been a while since I've seen this many people come together for something other than to boost their stats," she sighed, her eyes flickering from group to group of players before they settled back to the redhead. 

Cordelia nodded her head to Mari's comment. "Yeah, it seems so. That may just be because I'm expanding the list of people I know, but it's nice to see some form of hope in this God forsaken place," she said casually, smiling at the interaction between Crozeph and Yuki. So they are a couple!
@Mari

"Thank you." Cordelia beamed at her mentor's compliment. "It is pretty great, isn't it?" she asked, gesturing to all of the people in traditional Japanese clothing. "It feels like a festival."
@Baldur

"Oh, really?" she asked, smiling to herself as she imagined Swine Bajesus running rampid with a dagger clenched between his teeth. "There's never a dull moment when you're around Bahr and Swine Bajesus," she exclaimed under her breath, shaking her head and following up with a short chuckle. 

Cordelia looked around, wondering if anymore people were going to show up. There had to be more people, right? A very tall and familiar figure caught her eye, and she almost immediately face palmed herself. Of course Oscar would be attending. She'd almost forgotten that he was among the line of the newer frontliners, along with her and a few others. "Hey, I'll be right back," she chirped towards Mari, feeling her mood brighten up at the sight of her fiance. She squeezed her friend's shoulder softly before making her way over to both Oscar and his taco wagon - which she should've seen coming. It is Baldur's house after all. 

"No kimono or yukata?" she asked jokingly, giving him a teasing smile. "Nah, I'm joking. The day I see you in one of those is the day pigs fly... in real life," she paused, taking a second to think. "I think I've seen flyings pigs in here before... Anyway! When you're done serving tacos and stuff, head over to the meeting room, okay?" She gestured her head over to the path that leads to the meeting room. "See you there!" she exclaimed, giving him a warm smile before leaving to help the rest of the hosts and hostess. 
@Oscar

"Oh, hey soft-hands!" she would say as she walked over to the spot where Mari and Baldur were, only to see a very familiar face talking to them. "Sorry, I keep forgetting your name," she said bluntly, giving him an innocent smile. "Oh, right! You were the guy who was also staying with Baldur..!" she began suddenly, snapping her fingers together as she tried to remember who he was. "Uh - Cal... Calro..? Caldo? Waldo? Wall-e? Something like that. Anyway, you should totally help me prepare some drinks for the meeting. Maybe some tea or water?" She shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't sure what everyone's' preferences were, but some hot tea might be able to soothe the tension that was going to rise in this meeting. They didn't have to drink it if they didn't want to anyway! 
@Calrex

"Whatever, I'll just make some tea for everyone. Let's go soft-hands! I'm going to need an extra pair of soft hands to help me carry all of the cups back. I hope there's enough cups - ah whatever. We'll just make them drink out of bowls if there isn't enough," she would say half-seriously and half-jokingly, gesturing for the bluenette to follow her to the kitchen (because she totally knows where that is).

"Does it? Thank you! I didn't get to say how good you look in yours as well," she exclaimed after the initial panic had settled down. She looked down at her clothes and laughed softly. "When I bought this, I never thought I would be wearing it during a meeting as important as this. Special events, sure, but not as something major like a Floor Boss Meeting," Cordelia said, intertwining her hands together before she shrugged. It didn't matter as much as she thought it would though, right? They were here to discuss the next raid, so it would've been useless to wear armor. 
@Mari

Eventually, a duo of players arrived, one of which Cordelia was able to recognize... and a little girl... She wasn't sure what to think. Was this child actually at a level to be a frontliner? Or was she just attending alongside Ariel for God knows what? A meeting discussing their next plan of action for getting out of this hell hole didn't seem to be the place where a kid would be. She cast Ariel a suspicious look before sighing. It didn't matter. As long as she didn't stir up trouble, Cordelia remain quiet about it. 

"It has been a while. It's good to see you again, Ariel," Cordelia replied, giving a casual nod to her and her... child? Whatever. "Ah, thank you. You look beautiful too," she commented, sweatdropping under her gaze as Ariel examined her attire. Their meaningless small talk didn't seem to last long after that since she seemed to have a few - possibly urgent - words for Baldur, and the last thing she wanted was to interrupt something that was important, so she settled her attention on something elsewhere.  
@Ariel - The Crowned Lion

... Which just so happened to be the small girl who clung to Ariel's side like her life depended on it. She didn't seem like a one for socializing, but Cordelia guessed that was reasonable. She was in a room with a bunch of adults and possibly some of the most powerful people in their reality after all. If it weren't for the comfort of the people she already knew, Cordelia would be in the same state. 

Tilting her head, Cordelia bent down slightly and offered her hand to the girl. "Hey there. I haven't seen you around before!" she beamed with a soft smile. "I'm Cordelia. Nice to meet you." Whether or not if the girl shook her hand, Cordelia would stand back to her full height and give the girl a single wink and smile before turning to the arriving guests. 
@Assassin

The next one to arrive seemed to be an unfamiliar player to her as well, and even then, he seemed to be nervous. Maybe this was also his first floor boss meeting? She wondered if Baldur knew him, or did somebody else invite him? Nonetheless, she outstretched her hand to him in a friendly demeanor. "Pleasure to meet you. My name's Cordelia... and not really, everyone is just starting to arrive so you're right on time!" she said, giving him a wide grin. She nearly choked on her spit when she watched an almost familiar white dragon land on his shoulders... ah, yes. Dragons. Small... dragons. Cordelia shuddered. That night at the Valentine's Day gala will never escape her, will it? She coughed into her wrist and looked away. "Nice dragon," she muttered quickly, just catching her breath as she looked over to Mari from the corner of her eye. It seemed that neither of them were going to be forgetting that night anytime soon. 
@Morgenstern

Shield seemed to be the next to arrive after, to which she gave a small nod to him in return. She had encountered him and quested with him maybe once or twice, but she wouldn't call herself close to him. He seemed to have business with Baldur too, so it would be best if she weren't to say her greetings at the moment. 
@Shield

Another soul arrived, but this time, it didn't seem to be a guest... but a very sleep Crow. She chuckled at his sudden awareness of his surroundings. Cordelia had almost forgotten that he was staying with Baldur... and wasn't there another guy staying with him as well? She wasn't sure. Names seemed to fly right by her head and they were impossible to catch. "Hey Crow," she sniggered, patting the flustered boy on the back a few times before she went back to greeting guests. 
@Crozeph

Two more players seemed to arrive, that being Raidou and Mina, both of whom she had encountered at one point or another. Considering that she didn't exactly leave on good terms with Raidou, she settled on approaching Mina instead. The pinkette seemed to be sporting a brilliant orange kimono of her own, which really went well with her warm colored hair. Cordelia couldn't help but gush at it. "Hey Mina! Long time no see... and you look great!" It seemed that she also had business to discuss with Baldur and with... Jon? Was that his name? She seemed pretty close to him. Maybe there were some sort of couple? Cordelia did a mental shrug. She shouldn't try prying into matters that weren't hers to pry with. 
@tricolor_mina

More and more players started piling in, and it honestly became hard to keep track of who was there. Cordelia got a brief glance at Zandra, to which she gave a small wave to, and Yuki managed to be able to come as well. She seemed to know Crozeph very well. Were they dating? The platinum-haired player shook her head. "Don't pry into things," she muttered, giving the girl a small smile before she went to go speak to more arriving players. 

Amongst the crowd, she had managed to lock eyes with a familiar face; Bahr! She returned his wave with one of her own along with a bright smile. He seemed to be accompanied by another person, and for a moment, she thought it would be Lessa since the two seemed to close, but instead, it was the person at the very top of her hit-list. Her face dropped immediately. Was she seeing this right? Was that the Pinball? Why was Pinball of all people with Bahr? Cordelia looked at him in a mixture of confusion and disbelief. Did the world turn upside down when she was sleeping or something? 

Cordelia weaved her way through the crowd, desperate for answers and clarity to the seemingly unanswerable questions in her head. She had thought up many scenarios for when she would see that lying bastard again, but seeing him be buddy buddy with Bahr in a boss raid meeting of all places was not one of them. She was only about a few meters away before she decided to pause and think- something that seemed impossible to do only a few minutes ago. Cordelia pressed her hands against her temples as she let out a long sigh. As much as she wanted to wrap her hands around his stupid twig neck and strangle him, now wasn't the time for that. People were here for serious matters, and she doubted that her grudge against that stupid lying murderer would have a place in those matters. 

So instead of murdering a teenage boy in front of a child and respected friends, she'd take a deep breath and slowly make her way back to Mari and the rest, but not before giving him the glare of the century - because, y'know. She hated him. 
@Bahr @Pinball

Chaotic couldn’t even describe what... whatever this was. People were dancing, flexing... posing, and she even saw Oscar jump on to the back of one of those mutant things. She- she didn’t really know how to feel about it. On one hand, these things could probably end every one of these players’ lives with a snap of a finger, and on the other- well, it was... hilarious?

Hilarious might’ve not been the right word. Maybe so incredibly stupid that it made her want to barf up her breakfast? And the breakfast after that? 

She looked at the corner of her ‘screen’. Her HP was the lowest it’s ever been since she was like... level five. Would it go any lower than the initial twenty? That must’ve happened already with some people, right? Cordelia looked around in the crow of ‘fresher’ faces. What if their HP was halved again? Would they have half of an HP stat..? 

That wouldn’t make sense, but then again, this whole event didn’t make sense. Heck, life didn’t make sense. What could she do about it though. Single handedly fight against one of the most powerful beings she had ever seen? She thought not!

For now... she would just watch the world slowly burn around her.

[No action taken]

The Floor Twenty-five Boss Meeting. Cordelia honestly never thought she would live to see the day where she would actually attend one of these things. She always wondered what they were like. How serious it would be and all of that. It should be serious, right? Lives were on the line here, right..? But after meeting majority of the frontline players, she wouldn't be too sure. She swore most of them acted like children after their tenth can of soda or something. 

Life is strange.

Cordelia looked around. It didn't seem like Baldur was here to ferry her to his absolute frekin', Japanese mountain shrine- home... mansion place this time. She didn't need him, right? It's not her first time going there, she's sure that she can get there on her own if she really tried hard enough-

"E-excuse me, are you Miss Cordelia?"

Her thought train halted as she spun around. A young player dressed in what looked like traditional Japanese clothing approached her. "Oh, uh- hello. Yes... I am..?" she bit out, tilting her head at him with a peculiar look. 

Without saying a word, he gestured his head over to a wooden ferry boat, one that was almost identical to the boat that Baldur had used to guide her to his estate the first time, but slightly smaller. Like a two puzzle pieces, she connected the two ideas. "Oh. Oh. I see. Well uh- thank you..?" Cordelia exclaimed, giving him a sheepish smile before she stepped into the boat. The old wood creaked just slightly as she shuffled over to the front, and then it creaked again when the boy descended after her. 

With a small huff or two, the kid pushed them away from the dock, which began their long but not too long journey. Unlike the first ride she was offered here, it was much more quiet... and awkward even? She supposed that's what the air would feel like when you're alone with another stranger on a very small boat. It wasn't like she didn't have any words, either, but she felt like this boy wouldn't respond well if she bombarded him with random inquiries. Like, what was his relationship with Baldur? Did he belong in Jacob's Ladder? How the heck does he know how to ferry a boat at his age? Very compelling questions indeed. 

It wasn't long before their silent ride came to a close, though, so she guessed she'll just have to ask Baldur those things later. With a short grunt, the ivory-haired player hopped off of the wooden vessel. "Thank you. Uh, here, let me pay you. It must be hard work to ferry people back forth all day-"

"Ah, n-no ma'am it's r-really fine. I'm okay doing this for f-free-"

"No, no. I insist. Your services need to be paid. Maybe get something to eat when you get back to the other something-"

"M-miss, it's really f-fine-!"

"No, really. I insist."

"B-But-"

"Take the money or I'm going to throw you into the koi pond, kid."

The boy was about to open his mouth to protest again, but a very non-threatening glare from the young woman shut him up rather quickly. As if in defeat, his shoulders sagged and he nodded meekly. "Aha! Good lad!" she exclaimed happily, her aura doing a complete one-eighty as she opened her menu to pay the boy. "Go buy something sweet when you get back. Or not. I don't care. It's your money now." She shrugged, placing a foot on the forward before pushing the boat away. "See you later, kid!" she shouted, giving him an eccentric wave before she spun around and began making her way to the main house of the property- where she assumed everyone would be. 

It didn't take her long to find players, though. Not long at all, really. Like, ten seconds. 

"Oh, hey Baldur, and looks like you were able to come too, Mari!" Cordelia remarked enthusiastically, moving closer to the two before she grinned. "Isn't this exciting? It's been so long since the last floor boss fight..." she trailed off, realizing that Mari wasn't in her usual attire and instead in more traditional clothing.

"Hey, were we supposed to get dressed for this or something?" she whispered, leaning towards the girl as panic started to boil in her. Was there a memo she didn't get? Or was it just common sense? She didn't have common sense, so how was she supposed to know!? Was she overdressed? Was she underdressed? Was she dressed in general? 

She chewed on her nails nervously as she opened her menu. "I think I have something that would be more suitable in here if that's the case- I went out a while ago and saw this but I haven't like, used it at all so- so yeah." The girl took a big breath before exhaling. "So yeah." The girl flashed a mix of a grimace and a smile at the two other players before she scrolled through her inventory again. "Where was it again..? Was it a yukata- or was it a kimono. Gosh this was so long ago- oh here it is!" In a flash of blinding white light, Cordelia had quickly changed out of her usual armor and into a red and black kimono with a gold otaiko. 

"Is... is this too much?" 

"This has to be a joke."

Cordelia raised a skeptical brow as the bosses were yet again defeated and revived. The Rain Minion didn't seem like it could go any lower than a few points of HP too... and now there were, what, cultists? How surprising.

She looked over to a familiar face and blinked. "You want us to... pose and yeet you at the swine?" she echoed, turning her head back to the trio of Gods before she shuddered. "I think I'm going to pass- oh, there he goes." The girl watched the other ivory-haired player launch off, seemingly unphased. It seemed like his antics no longer had an affect on her like it used too, especially since this didn't at all compare to what she's seen him do. She chuckled, shaking her head. "Good ol' Macradon."

She... didn't really know what to do anymore. Attacking didn't seem to do anything other than drain her energy and make the Gods angrier, and no way in hell was she going to flex back at those things. 

So instead, Cordelia opted for the third option; do absolutely nothing. 

[No Action Taken] +1 EN

"You're a real handful, Mari," she chuckled, shaking her head at her friend's comment. Cordelia gave her a crooked smile of her own. "Of course I would... and no, I haven't seen Baldur at all around here. To be frank, I wasn't sure if he was going to come since this whole thing sounded like a scam right off the bat," she muttered, looking around the crowds of players before sighing in defeat. 

These things are really no joke, huh. She sighed, watching as the situation unfold in front of her. She wasn't sure if she should even be surprised anymore. Reviving monsters? That totally seemed fair... and a sign. She squinted as she read it... and concluded that the whole playerbase of this fight shared a single brain cell.  Maybe even less than that. 

"Alright, let's get this over with," she mumbled, rolling her head before she activated another sword art, now focused the Rain Minion. Perhaps if she were to knock out this thing, it wouldn't be able to revive the rest of the... things. 

Like a bolt of lightning, she charged towards the amphibious(reptilian?) creature. Unlike the swine, this one didn't seem to be quite as quick on its feet, and she managed slice a deep cut into it, which she honestly found surprising since these things seemed to be unkillable. Immortal, even.

ID: 153191
BD: 6, Hit | 285 DMG on Rain Minion 12

@NIGHT: HP: 600/600 300/300 | EN: 88/102 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 81 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 4 | BRN: 36 | BLIGHT: 72 | BLD: 36 | TXC VNM: 24 | PRLZ: 1 | LD: 6 | Stealth Detection: 3
@Pinball: HP: 640/640 320/320 | EN: 123/128 | DMG: 15 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | BRN: 36 | BLIGHT: 36 | BLD: 36 | TXC VNM: 27 | BH: 64
@Mari: HP: 783/783 392/392 | EN: 124/140 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 88 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 3 | BRN: 24 | BLD: 48 | THNS: 45 | BH: 72 | Burn DoT: -50%
@Oscar: HP: 683/683 342/342 | EN: 120/120 | DMG: 26 | MIT: 106 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 2 | FLN: 12 | BRN: 36 (8-10) | VAMP DEF: 68 | REC: 6 | BH: 68 | PRLZ IMMUNITY
@Macradon: HP: 993/993 497/497 | EN: 179/189 | DMG: 26 | MIT: 107 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 1 | PSN: 24 | REC: 6 | FRT: 36(21) | FRZ: 6 | VAMP OFF: 189 | BH: 99 | SAFEGUARD
@Bahr: HP: 625/625 313/313 | EN: 120/122 | DMG: 11 | MIT: 106 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2 | HM: 6 | LM: 1 | BH: 62 | DoT Resist: 25%+5% (1st proc)
@Lessa: HP: 523/523 262/262 | EN: 98/100 | DMG: 22 | MIT: 116 | ACC: 3 | THNS: 54 | HM: 3 | DoT Resist: 20% (1st proc)
@Ariel - The Crowned Lion: HP: 745/745 373/373 | EN: 135/146 | DMG: 24 | MIT: 64 | ACC: 7 | EVA: 1 | KEEN: 1 | FLN: 4 | REC: 1 | BH: 44 | HB: 48 | LD: 5
@Cordelia: HP: 570/570 285/285 | EN: 100/112 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 25 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 3 | PARA VNM [DF]: 1 | HLY: 12 | ABS. ACC | PHASE -11

"What the..." Cordelia's jaw went unhinged as she stared at the bosses. This is what they were supposed to be fighting? Unnaturally masculine... things. What even were they? Did Kayaba just take the heads of the things he found on Google when he keyboard smashed and throw them on top of WBA fighters?

"I-I... I- uh." She held up a finger, as if to say something but then she quickly lowered it. What was she supposed to say? 'Har-har, nice one Kayaba. You really pulled all of our legs, didn't cha'?'? She held up a hand to her head and blinked slowly, as if unsure she was going crazy or not, because there was no way that someone like Kayaba, a literal genius, would do this, right? Right? Right? 

Cordelia sighed.

If only. If only. Judging by the equally as shocked faces on the other players, it was safe to say that she was in fact, not going crazy- but maybe someone was... that someone being Kayaba. 

She slowly walked up to a familiar carrot-head. "I'm not sure if I should feel confused, sick, or intrigued, Mari," she whispered, turning to look at the trio again. "... maybe all three." Heck, she wasn't even sure if she should take this seriously or not. It didn't seem like something she should take seriously, but when taking what they had already done in the last minute, it might be the former. She had never ever even heard of a boss that could affect the HP gauges of so many players on such a widespread level before. It was scarily intimidating, but she couldn't really take it earnestly when the mob who did it looked like something straight out of a cheap Bollywood movie. 

She pursed her lips, unsheathing her sword from its scabbard. The girl wasn't sure if she even wanted her sword to touch those things. "Oh gosh, I'm going to have to clean you really well after this," she muttered to her katana, grimacing at the half-man, half-boar monster one last time before she pushed herself forwards. 

Cordelia propelled herself into the air, her eyes set on abnormal figure on Swine Jesus. She prepared a San Ge, ready to chop up this sucker into itty bitty pieces- however, the universe, again, had other plans for her. In the blink of an eye, the boar disappeared right before her blade was about to pierce it. "Holy crap-" she bit out, landing on the ground with a soft thud. Cordelia retreated back to the crowd of players, still not sure if she fully wrapped her head around this whole thing. "That thing is probably faster than anything I've ever seen," she mumbled, scratching the back of her head with furrowed brows. 

Just how were they supposed to beat this thing?

ID: 152727
BD: 5, Miss

@NIGHT: [2, 2, 1] NIGHT | HP: 600/600 | EN: 88/102 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 81 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 4 | BRN: 36 | BLIGHT: 72 | BLD: 36 | TXC VNM: 24 | PRLZ: 1 | LD: 6 | Stealth Detection: 3
@Pinball: HP: 1280/1280 640/640 | EN: 128/128 | DMG: 15 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | BRN: 36 | BLIGHT: 36 | BLD: 36 | TXC VNM: 27 | BH: 64
@Mari: [0, 0, 1] HP: 1565/1565 783/783 | EN: 124/140 | DMG: 24 | MIT: 88 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | BRN: 24 | BLD: 48 | THNS: 45 | BH: 72 | Burn DoT: -50%
@Oscar: HP: 1365/1365 683/683 | EN: 120/120 | DMG: 26 | MIT: 106 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 2 | FLN: 12 | BRN: 36 (8-10) | VAMP DEF: 68 | REC: 6 | BH: 68 | PRLZ IMMUNITY
@Macradon: HP: 1985/1985 993/993 | EN: 189 | DMG: 26 | MIT: 107 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 1 | PSN: 24 | REC: 6 | FRT: 36(21)???? | FRZ: 6???? | VAMP OFF: 189 | BH: 99 | SAFEGUARD
@Bahr: HP: 1250/1250 625/625 | EN: 122/122 | DMG: 20 | MIT: 106 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2 | HM: 6 | LM: 1 | BH: 62 | DoT Resist: 25%+5% (1st proc)
@Lessa: HP: 1045/1045 523/523 | EN: 50/50 | DMG: 22 | MIT: 116 | ACC: 3 | THNS: 54 | HM: 3 | DoT Resist: 20% (1st proc)
@Ariel - The Crowned Lion: HP: 1490/1490 745/745 | EN: 146/146 | DMG: 24 | MIT: 64 | ACC: 7 | EVA: 1 | KEEN: 1 | FLN: 4 | REC: 1 | BH: 44 | HB: 48 | LD: 5
@Cordelia: [0, 0, 0] HP: 1140/1140 570/570 | EN: 111/112 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 25 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 3 | PARA VNM [DF]: 1 | HLY: 12 | ABS. ACC | PHASE -1

"This has to be a ruse."

Cordelia looked around. For an event that proclaimed freedom, there sure are a lot of lower leveled players. She sighed. What was Kayaba thinking when he released this event? It couldn't be an April Fool's joke, that had been more than a month ago. Was he playing a sick joke? A death trap? Was he that kind of person? The girl rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of what to think at this point. 

She shrugged. Well, there had to be something at least. Kayaba could do anything, but she was sure that he wouldn't just gather all of these players in one place for nothing... pretty sure that was the case anyway. Maybe he was tired of all of this bull[doo-doo] and was finally ready to just... let them go? She cursed under her breath. The man was more complicated than a ten-thousand pieced puzzle, it'd be best to keep her head clean before this fight. The last thing she wanted was to be lost in thought in the middle of a fight that could potentially grant her her freedom. 

Cordelia's lips pursed, her body recoiling as the heavy metal weapon speared through her shoulder. "Dadgummit," she muttered, ready to retaliate with an attack of her own until she saw Oscar's figure move forward from the corner of her eye. She lowered her katana, grimacing at the sound of his axe grinding against the ground like nails to a chalkboard. 

Oh, my poor eardrums...

A low whistle left her lips as he swung Tesseleth's Fury at the king, effectively ripping its weapon out of her shoulder and sending it hurling backwards and into an already decaying column. She clicked her tongue and gave him a thumbs up. "Never been better," she replied, patting off the wound on her shoulder, of which had already started closing up... because game logic. 

Cordelia withdrew Onimaru in its sheath and clapped her hands together with a wide grin. "Yay! Go Baldur!" she exclaimed, bringing her hands up like a personal cheerleader would in... situations you would need personal cheerleaders for. She swayed slightly from side to side as she watched the mob meet its demise via super cool movie-level final attack. This probably could be a movie if... y'know, they weren't stuck in a video game. 

"Whoo!" she piped excitedly, bounding over to the gaijin samurai as soon as the bane of her existence had been successfully destroyed, and of course, it wouldn't be a good final attack if he didn't say something completely unrelated to the fight. No 'wow, that was a tough battle' or 'good job team'... nope. Just 'So, anyone up for more tacos?'. She sighed, laughing to herself under her breath. A true Baldur move. At least Mari seemed to be having a kick out of it. Cordelia turned her head towards the carrot-head and giggled. She was glad that something got her mind off of the fight.

"Yeah, tacos sound good."

The wind generated by the sheer force of The King sent her stumbling back a step as she brought her -14arms up to block the incoming dirt and debris. It was that fast the whole time? What exactly had it been doing for the last hour? Had this whole fight been some kind of sick ruse? Once the initial gale had subsided, she lowered her arms and immediately, a jolt of shock and terror ran down her spine. The feeling was almost nauseating, to see such a prominent figure in your life punctured like meat to a skewer.

Cordelia gripped the hilt of her katana so intensely that she swore her knuckles turned white. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to move a muscle, almost as if her feet were rooted to the very ground she stood on, and she could only watch in terror as Baldur was hoisted into the air like a damn torch. As if his very body was the conductor, a jagged bolt of lightning came down on the spear and her mentor and with it, came another strong gust and a blinding light that illuminated the entire area around them for only a split second.

She cringed away as the mob slammed him down back on the ground, only to firmly place his foot down on his chest. She was sure that the beast would've exerted more force if it weren't for Oscar swooping in and driving the thing away with an Explode Catapult. 

"Oh thank God," she muttered, letting out a relieved sigh she didn't know she had been holding in. She wasn't sure how much longer she could stand watching Baldur's body be tossed around like a lifeless ragdoll. 

She almost chuckled under her breath as she watched him spring back to life as soon as The King was driven back by Mari and Oscar. She should've known that something like that wouldn't be enough to bring down the gaijin samurai. As soon as he laid out his barrage on the undead king, she made a break for it. The tip of katana scraped against the ground just slightly before she sprung into the air. Deciding to choose a different approach this time around, she faced The King head on. She slammed her katana down on its gastly head as hard as she could before she rammed it back, creating a bigger distance between it and the group. 

Cordelia leaped back, catching herself stumbling a few times as she landed. She looked over her shoulder towards Baldur. "That was one of the nastiest attacks I've ever seen. How you are holding up?... being electrocuted and everything."

ID: 151917
BD: 6, Hit

[5] Oscar 1205/1205 HP | 45/104 EN | 22 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 151 MIT | VAMP-DEF | SAVVY | 12 FLN | 36 BRN[BD8-10] | 48 BH
[1] Baldur 1224/1395 HP | 86/132 EN | 22/25 DMG WF/MM | 5/6 WF/MM | 5 EVA | 124 MIT | ABSLT ACC | 56 BH | 0/2 STATUS IMN | 30 THRNS 
[4] Mari 1365/1365 HP  | Energy: 65/120 | DAM: 14 | EVA 5  | MIT 43+45=88 | ACC 6
[5] Cordelia 1175/1175 HP | EN: 64/120 | 21 DMG | 45 MIT | 6 ACC | 4 EVA | 1 PARA VNM [DF]| 6 HLY | 2 [36] BRN -14

Forgotten Time King 338/3750 | 300 DMG | 3 ACC | 0 EVA | 150 MIT -165

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," she replied, following after him to a small and secluded dock. Her chest rose slightly as she took in a small breath.

 Smells like water. Yeah, no dip Sherlock.

 Cordelia chuckled under her breath, taking one last glance at the expansive ocean before she stretched her hands above her head. 

She cocked her towards her Crozeph before giggling. "You sound like a vampire," she joked. "Let them look. I bet they're just jealous. However, if it's really bothering you that much, just go get some colored contacts," she suggested, lowering her arms before sighing. Frankly, she wasn't sure why a person's eye color would draw so much attention to one's self. It's just a color, right? It's not like it says a whole lot about a person. Cordelia shrugged to herself. Whatever, people were weird. She'll never know what goes on in their heads... their weird little heads.

She chuckled and reached up and ruffled his hair for good luck. "Don't let 'em get to you, okay? You're better than that," the ivory-haired player huffed bluntly, removing her hand before she spun her body and attention back towards her mentor. 

"I'm sure it'll be beautiful. You have nothing to worry about," she cooed, gently patting Baldur on the back before she took a step into the small boat. The vessel creaked and rocked as she pushed her weight on it, but stabilized after a few seconds. 

"Heed Baldur's warning. I'm not going to jump into the water if a person goes overboard," she mused, leaning her arms against her knees just as Baldur pushed the boat away from the dock. A strange sense of relief flooded over her when they reached a steady pace. Compared to the other times she had been on boats (which were really just for fishing up quest mobs), this was great! Yes, she wasn't falling off and into the water because of a giant fish, nor was she drowning! Yes-yes, that had already placed this boat ride at number one. 

Like Baldur said, it didn't take long for the small group take make it to their destination. Her jaw dropped as she was at a complete loss for words. What could she say that wasn't already completely obvious already? It was beautiful!? It was probably the most serene place she had ever, ever seen!? She was fascinated so much so that she nearly tripped over the rim of boat while trying to get off. It was that pretty. 

"Home?" she echoed in disbelief, still not taking her eyes off of the warm hued trees. "This is more like a goddamn sacred temple, and we haven't even seen the house itself yet!" she exclaimed whirling her head towards Baldur while gesturing at everything she could see frantically. 

Who even needs a house here? I'd be just happy living in one of those trees if I get to wake up to this in the morning.

Cordelia followed after him as he pushed open the absolutely majestic gates, eager to see more of Baldur's... 'property'. She squealed like a toddler when she saw the bridge that overlooked a small body of water. Like the kid she was, she rushed over to the wooden structure and leaned over the railing. "You should totally add some koi in here if you haven't already, Baldur!" she suggested, looking deep into the water before pushing herself off of the railing. 

"Ahh! I want to go see the dojo!" she declared, cackling before she went speeding over to the bridge that led to the dojo like a child to candy. Her excited screams slowly grew quieter the further and further away she got from the group but stopped abruptly, which was followed up by a loud splash of water and a loud "I'm okay!"

"Does it ever seem strange that we're killing a bunch of baby dragons for no apparent reason?" she pondered out loud as the two started to head out. It kind of felt like she was killing an innocent puppy for a wad of cash. Yeah, she gets it- it's a quest but like, they're just babies. Did this quest developer have a bone to pick with baby dragons? Did they hate babies? Truly a question without an answer. 

[Dans le palier trois- honhonhon]

"Not far at all," Cordelia confirmed, matching his grin with a one of her own. 

It was hard to ignore the 'natural' beauty of Aincrad's Third Floor sometimes. It was never something that she particularly payed attention to, at least, not until now. Until a few months ago, it felt like she was just in autopilot mode, which was maybe why her years here so far seemed like a blur. Her mind was only set on gaining more levels and experience and nothing else. Now that her three year long goal had been completed, she wanted to focus on other things like I don't know... a social life? Something kind of hard to achieve when you're basically a vegetable with a sword. 

"Hey Oscar," she exclaimed abruptly. "Let's take this questline a little slower, okay? I mean, what's the rush?" she asked, tilting her head towards him with a crooked grin. 

"Yeah, I was pretty angry at the world. I'm pretty sure we all have some sort of phase like that, especially when you're trapped in a video game," she joked, "but yeah, I'm in a much better place now. Oscar isn't the only reason for that, I've met a couple of okay people too," Cordelia mused, giving Mari a wink. 

She tilted her head over to NIGHT and shrugged. "In the end, it's just a bunch of numbers. I'm sure you'll catch up. I've been slowing down since I hit tier three. Just trying to focus more on other things, y'know?" Being tier three had honestly been her first goal and only goal for the past two to three years, and now that she's finally achieved it, she couldn't help but feel an itty bitty hole in her chest. It wasn't really a feeling that would motivate you per se, but it's given her a chance to think. Think about what she actually wanted while she was in here and what she wanted when she would get out of here. 'Course, she never really had time to think in the first place. Even with entering a whole new tier, her schedule was as busy as ever. 

A slight pink hue ran its way across her cheeks at Mari's straight forward compliment. "Oh, you don't have to say that," she chuckled, drumming her fingers against the counter before she realized that she actually had another ramen bowl to make. To Mari's reply, a small laugh escaped her. "Don't worry. We'll get to both hands one day, Mari, and there's not better way to bond than over a nice bowl of ramen," she gushed excitedly, giving her a thumbs up from over her shoulder. 

The cook went quiet after that, deciding to let the group to converse by themselves for a bit, but that didn't stop her ears from listening. It wasn't much. Just some small talk with Akaiko from Mari and NIGHT, and then it shifted its attention over to Life.

"Was someone after a bounty on your head or something?" she asked jokingly to his reply about hiding in the jungles of floor eight. 

"What inspired me?" she echoed thoughtfully, tapping her finger against her chin before she shrugged. "I honestly just wanted to help out my boyfriend with the load since he was preparing buffs for the next floor boss raid, but by the time I reached a high enough rank to make feasts, he already got most of the stuff done." She scratched the back of her neck with a sheepish laugh. "That sucked but that didn't stop me from keeping this place open. Apparently there aren't too many ramen shops around nowadays so I guess that was a big part on why I specifically chose ramen of all things."

Cordelia stuck out her tongue at the massive word vomit but brushed it off after a few seconds. "I hoped that answers your question," she said, turning around to give him his own bowl of tonkotsu. "Anyway, enjoy the ramen. I'm no expert but people seem to like it," she quipped, cracking a crooked grin.

TO @Kazookie

Ghost Treat: [If you already have a familiar, the treat can be fed to it to change its appearance to a ghostly form of itself. If you do not already have a familiar, it allows you to skip the searching portion of the <<Feeding your Enemy>> quest. If you fail to tame the creature, you will have to find it again by the searching rules in the quest.]

Gloves of Caerus: +3 LD

x1 T1 | Super Lucky Fancy Asian Cheetos: +3 LD - 600 Col
 

"That's great! I haven't really seen you since the Valentine's day event. I hope you and Bahr are doing well. I haven't heard from him a in while too now that I think about it-  if you get the chance to, tell him Cordelia says hi too," she gushed, giving her a friendly smile. "That if he still he remembers my name or not," she muttered, casting a nervous glance to the side. He was never really good at that, was he? The only part he ever really got right was the 'cor' part but everything after that was a complete mess. 

"Hey to you too. How was the spar?" She asked, her face brightening as turned to face Oscar. "I didn't get to see much of it."

The girl paused, overhearing his comment. "Level fifty? Oh wow, congratulations!" Cordelia exulted, her head swivelling towards Lessa. "That's great! It must be a huge step for you, with gear and stats and all of that fun stuff," she resounded, going off with her own experiences. 

"Oh gosh, It's been a while since the last time I've seen you too, NIGHT. I hope you're doing okay too?" Time truly flew by her in the past months. Especially with the completion of Scents of the Wild and the Easter Event. It was honestly just hard to believe. 

"A quest? Sounds fun. Which one are we planning on doing?" she replied, feeling excited. It's been a while since she had done a quest with a full party like this- and she could only hope that this time it would involve a lot less barf material. "It'd be good experience as guildmates too. You know, like a guild bonding day," Cordelia exclaimed eagerly.

"Oh hello Baldur," Cordelia exclaimed, coming up from behind the gaijin samurai before she nudged him with her elbow. "Fancy meeting you here." It wasn't like she was tracking him with her map or anything, no, no, that would be preposterous! 

She whipped her head towards to the other familiar face. "Hey, Crozeph. It's good to see you again. I'm glad I get to see you under much brighter light this time around," she joked, patting him on the back before she turned to the other face, this one not as familiar. "Oh, are you one of Baldur's friends?" she asked, eyes wide as she inspected the girl's face. Yep, this was definitely a stranger to her- as is most players in SAO. She looked kind of sad, or tired. Heck, maybe she was both!

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," she beamed happily, extending her hand for the girl to shake. "You can call me Cordelia. Or not, I don't really care."