Cordelia

"You can't treat her like this forever!" 

Cordelia woke up with a jolt as she heard loud screams from downstairs. What was going on?

She threw her covers to the side and hopped off her abnormally large bed for such a small child. Her tiny feet scurried out of her room and down the long hallway, towards the growing louder voice.

"You have no right to say that, she is our daughter!" Another voice pierced through the air as she got closer. 

"Can't you see that you're ruining her life?! I'm the closest thing she has to a damn parent!" The other voice she recognized as one of her favorite servants--if not the favorite-- rang out in objection.

A loud slap rang through the air just as Amara had made it to the railings that shielded her from the two story drop down below. Her steel gray eyes widened as she stared at her mother who had a hand raised in the air and her most favorite person in the world with a red hand print on her cheek.

Cordelia felt her whole world began to shift again. 

She was in her bedroom. 

"Why doesn't mother and father ever come to tuck me in at night?" A girl that looked around the age of seven asked.

The woman in front of her smiled sadly as she ruffled the girl's hair a little bit. "They're just a tad bit busy, honey. I'm sure they'll tuck you in one day. Don't worry about it," she said reassuringly as she turned to leave the bedroom.

"Pinky promise?" The young Amara asked meekly, holding her hand out with an outstretched pinky, a small frown on her face as she did so.

The woman smiled soothingly as she turned back to her and curled her own finger around hers. "Pinky promise," she murmured, giving the girl one last grin before turning to leave, shutting the lights and the door softly.

She broke that pinky promise.

She felt like she only had one friend growing up. Someone she trusted more than anyone in the world, even her own parents. She didn't know how long Rosie had been working under her parents, but she's been there ever since Amara could remember. Rosie was practically the closest thing she had to a parental figure in her life and pretty why she didn't end up like a total snob like the rest of her 'family'.

She missed her.

The closest thing she had to a friend growing up was out of her life. Forever. It's been sixteen years, but dang- she still couldn't get rid of the emptiness in her chest whenever she thought about it. Maybe... just maybe Rosie would've stopped her from making the worst decision of her life all those years ago. Maybe she wouldn't have ended up who she was right now if Rosie had never life.

What do you know, huh?

ID: 123527

CD: 9, Success

1/3 Attempts Successful 

Cordelia's slender hands trailed along the pure white walls as she walked down the never ending hallway.

Fake. All of this was fake. Just the pigment of her imagination. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Who knew her imagination could spew something like this?

But why did it feel like it was? Her house had hallways just like this. Long and twisting hallways. It scared her sometimes. 

All the things that 'decorated' seemed to be there, too. The priceless paintings and pottery, the disgusting carpet. It was all here. She sighed and leaned her back against the wall. She hated it here. This wasn't her home. It felt more like a prison decorated in luxury, but still served the same purpose nonetheless. 

She remembered.

She had spent hours upon hours running back and forth down a hallway just like this when she was a little kid.

Her parents didn't like that.

Cordelia's eyes snapped back open. That was a weird dream-

Where was she? 

The white marbling. The never ending hallway. 

She was back at home.

Home. It was such a bittersweet word for her for some reason. Why? What was even a home anymore? Did she have one? This definitely was not her home. Her inn room wasn't her home, either. Home was supposed to be the place where she felt safe, right? That didn't apply to anywhere. So... did she not have a home? Did she really ever have one? She wanted one. She wanted to feel safe again. 

Home was just a simple word to use when it came to having a place to sleep. If you slept there, it was your home, right? A lot of people made it seem like that. Maybe home was where you grew up? Or was home somewhere you're living? People made it so confusing.

Cordelia sat on the ground, she honestly preferred it this way. Rocks made her legs go numb after a while. She crossed her legs and stared intently at the flickering fire. Was that weird? She didn't know. She just liked staring at fire... sometimes? 

"I know," she said with a small smile on her face, eyes still focused on the fire. 

It wasn't like she didn't like Oscar, no, no. He was a nice fellow! But she wasn't ready to live with anyone at the moment. Things like that took time for her. Living with someone was kind of something new to her. Plus, she didn't know if he had a spacious house or not, he probably did if he had been saving up for two years. She was getting woozy just from thinking about roaming endless hallways again. She never liked that.

She hoped that Oscar didn't get the wrong idea.

"He sounds like a good man," she said with a bittersweet smile. "I'm sure you look up to a person like that, most people would, anyway."

"Lucky you," she joked, kicking a few dark gray rocks away from her as she continued talking to him. "Sounds like you scrapped up quite the amount of money to be buying a house like that," she said in awe as she clapped her hands together. "That's pretty neat!"

She wasn't really keen on ever living in a big house, again. Houses like those were too spacious to her. So much space yet never enough stuff to ever fill it. Plus, it really just creeps her out in general. The halls are too long and the ceilings are too high. Why would people ever need to walk more in your house, and it wasn't like you're going to have flippin' giants in your house, too!

Her eye twitched as he mispronounced her name, again, and she was pretty sure it wasn't an accident this time. She wasn't sure how long she could keep a dang smile on her face around this guy much longer without pummeling his face in with her fists. 

Cordelia deadpanned as she watched the two finish the dragon in two turns. "That's it?" She asked flatly, lowering her rapier with a small frown. 

"That was too fast for my own liking," she muttered, giving a heavy sigh as she sheathed her rapier. "Alright, let's go find some mobs to hunt then, I suppose."

Sure, it was free experience but dang, she really wanted to pummel something soon. She could only stay passive for so long before she literally explodes. Cordelia sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a small smile. "Maybe we could find some useful items out there. Some unique items would be pretty useful," she beamed. 

Cordelia barged into the shop with a large grin on her face. "Ah, thank you for making item!" She exclaimed, cupping the girl's hands in hers for a few seconds before tilting her head and giving her a bittersweet grin. "You sure took your time making this item!" She said, picking up the item. "It looks really great, though!" She pipped, attaching them to her head. 

"Well, I should really get going. Here's your money, and I'll be off!" She said, handing a bag of Col to Ennakai before giving a friendly wave and heading off with a small smile on her face.

-1,100 Col

+1 Aura Sensors

"Thank you and welcome to..." Amara paused, taking the smile amount of time to put up a convincing smile. "Welcome to my family's charity event!" She cheered, closing some of her hands together as she heard dozens and dozens of people clap. She shuffled closer to the mic and looked over to her parents among the vast tables, who to say, were giving her bittersweet smile. Her voice almost cracked as she looked away from the two and continued. "I hope that all of you enjoy the services and the...-"

☆ - ☆ 

Amara threw herself at her swivel chair located at her desk. "I hate those things," she mumbled angrily, her hands reaching up to take off her earrings and necklace. Why did she even have to go and give that dang speech? Her parents were completely capable of doing it themselves! 

"Don't forget that we have a banquet to attend next Thursday!" Her mother called from downstairs in her shrilly voice.

"Yes, mother!" She hollered back, throwing her earrings and necklace carelessly on to her bed.

"Yeah," she mumbled, hugging herself. "No responsibilities."

She felt like she didn't even have any responsibilities back in the real world. "I don't like being in charge for other people's safety," she muttered, her eyes narrowing slightly. Was her mindset different from the average person? If they can't defend themselves, then they shouldn't even be worth helping, right? If she built up too many alliances with weak people, then they were just going to slow her down, she couldn't risk that!

Maybe she was messed up.

Cordelia felt her mind go blank for a second. Just fine?

"Thank you," she murmured, smiling at him softly before turning her attention back to walking. 

"So, what have you been doing ever since you got to SAO?" She asked, "I mean, other than training and everything. I can't believe we're the same level!" She exclaimed, her mouth gaping. "I feel like I've done nothing for two years."

Cordelia blinked as she looked at all of the endless food lined up on the table. Somehow, it suddenly made her feel less hungry. 

She furrowed her brows as her brain processed Solei's words. "Kids?" She asked, turning her head to give Solei a questioning look. As in, more than one? He looked a tad bit too young to be having more than one kid, and even then, why in the world would they be in SAO? 

Another lady had showed up not too much later. They seemed like they knew each other. Maybe she was his significant other? Maybe that's why he was talking kids? She had seemed to ignore Cordelia, though. I mean, she was completely fine with that! She was pretty much used to it anyway-

Cordelia tilted her head as she looked past Solei's shoulders. "Hi, there!" She beamed, shuffling over to meet Hydravion head to head. "My name is Cordelia," she stuck her hand to the lady. "Are you perhaps Solei's girlfriend? You two seem to know each other."

@Hydravion

“Ah, I see,” she murmured, smiling softly to herself the more she thought about it. “It’s a very honorable job, if I might say,” she beamed, turning her head to him as she put on an ear to ear grin. 

Ah, there’s the question.

”A model?” She mumbled, more to herself. “I haven’t modeled in quite some time,” she muttered, tapping the side of her cheek the more she put thought into it. “I could say that I did do it... as a kid, but that’s it.”

”I wasn’t even an adult yet when the game started, but my life before this was... mediocre,” she bit out, finding this a lot harder to say to someone she knew— or hoped she knew— versus a total stranger. “I enjoy my life here, though. Isn’t that weird?” She asked with a far off look in her eyes. 

“Life here is... exciting and wonderful. Even if it’s a life or death situation everyday. Even if it means we’re stuck here. I still like it.”

She sniffed as she took the hotdog from him. They weren't terrible, so she could probably manage to eat it if she had some time. 

"Alright," she wobbled after him, slowly taking a bite of the hotdog with a small smile. 

"So, uh," she mumbled, her voice slightly muffled from like, y'know, eating. She used her hand to cover her mouth as she thought of some conversation starters. "How was life in the real world for you? Were you anything exciting?" She asked, her interests perking slightly. She liked learning about people, okay? 

She gulped down the food in her mouth and looked at him expectantly. "Did you run a hot dog shop in the real world, too?" She teased, giving him a joking smile as she continued to walk.

She had already expected him to ask her how her own life was back at the real world, it was basically she had practiced a million times in her head. Plus, everyone always ask the same question back at you! That always weirded her out sometimes.

"Aw, poor thing," she mumbled, bending down to give each of the dog's head a small pat. "It's okay. I'll get you justice," she whispered, holding Leeroy's--or at least she thought it was Leeroy, she was still confused on who was who-- head in her palms before letting him go. 

"Yeah, me too, but don't worry. We'll be able to take them down, I'm sure of it! Maybe we could do a bit of hunting after we finish this quest, too!" She chirped, grinning like an idiot. She didn't really need any Col or materials, but she could use some unidentifiables. Who knows what some merchant can hook up? 

"Anyway, let's get going. The sooner we leave the sooner we can get to the cave, plus with our Survival skill, we don't have to worry about the environmental damage!" She said excitedly, jumping up and down with enthusiasm, who wouldn't?

Cordelia blinked as something- or something poked her shoulder. She turned around was immediately greeted by a very familiar face. "I think it's the other way around," she joked, sticking her tongue right back at him.

She broke out into a smile as she bowed slightly in greeting. "It's nice to see you again, Oscar. Are you doing the quest with the three headed dog, too?" Her gazed spiraled down towards his own familiar. "Won't your familiar get a bit offended?" She whispered as she scrunched up her brows. Who knows, maybe this quest mob was its big brother! 

"Let's do this quest together!" She said with a bright grin. "It was going to get pretty boring, anyway." She whistled lowly as she turned to look at the sky. "Two days of long walking. That's got to suck a little bit," Cordelia mumbled, pursing her lips. "It won't be so bad now, though. I got you!"

Cordelia sniffed as she looked at the vast expanse of pure molten lava and rock. She sighed as she looked at her hands. Two days worth of walking. Walking on just pure rock. Geez, that is going to suck a lot. 

Well, she supposed that Pacco could always keep her company, but she was going to go crazy if she had only a bird to talk to for two days straight. She was basically only going to be talking to herself! 

The blonde sighed to herself. She accepted her fate. Maybe she needed some alone time or something, she didn't know. 

The girl looked through her inventory, well-- her pretty barren inventory, really. She barely had anything but some gear and unidentified things she had yet to give to a merchant. Meh, that was enough, right? She knew she could go two days without any food. Her daily coffee might be an issue, however... Well, it'll mean that she'll be more furious when she does fight!

STATS/BATTLE INVENTORY:

"Look, father! I drew you and mother!" An even younger Amara exclaimed as she held up a white piece of paper with small stickmen scribbles. 

"Amara, we're busy. Why don't you go show it to the servants?" Her father muttered without even sparing her a second glance. 

"B-but, I already showed them!" She chirped as she held up the paper even higher. "They said it was really pretty and that-"

"Amara, I have no time for your petty fun and games," her father snapped, cutting her off and giving her a deadly side glance before he went back to working. "Go bother some of the servants or something, just don't bother me again."

The girl flinched as she nodded her head stiffly. She lowered the piece of paper and mumbled a meek, "sorry," before scurrying off. Why were adults so confusing? She just wanted to show them her picture of them... Why did he get so mad?

꒰This dress is uncomfortable.꒱

꒰Why do people keep smiling like that?꒱

꒰This food tastes disgusting.꒱

꒰Why can't they stopped talking about themselves?꒱

꒰I don't care about your money.꒱

Amara shifted again in her seat as she watched her parents go up to the podium. They had left her alone at the table, again. They were going to do the same speech she had heard them rehearse so many times. It disgusted her. 

"Thank you and welcome to..." She had tuned out again. It was pointless listening to things she couldn't even comprehend yet. 

"And thank you to our lovely daughter!" Amara's eyes suddenly widened as she solely focused her attention back to her parents on the podium. "For always being with us and giving us her beloved support!" Her mother bellowed, offering the cameras a sweet smile. 

Amara clenched her hands as she watched her parents. Not once had they ever looked at her when they were talking about her. 

ID: 123461

CD: 4

[flashback cause y not]

"Mother, when are we going to going back home?" A not much younger Amara asked, tugging on the hems as she shifted uncomfortably. They were attending another charity event, and she hated it. She knew all of the smiles her parents were giving were just bull. 

"Not now, Amara," her mother chuckled, flashing her a deadly stare before smiling at passing guests again. "Can't you spend just one day without those pathetic online games of yours?" She asked with a low voice through her teeth as she gave a nod and a smile to another person Amara couldn't be too bothered to learn the name of. "So just be a good little girl for mommy, alright?" 

"Yes, mother," the girl mumbled, clasping her hands together as her gaze spiraled downwards to the ground. She wished that she wasn't rich sometimes. She wished that her parents weren't famous. She wished she just had a regular family that didn't care about money and reputation.

Cordelia sighed in relief as she dipped her feet into the lake. "I think this is really more of a relaxation day for us," she mumbled with a relaxed smile. "So let's just... chill," she muttered, laying on her back with her feet still submerged. 

"Maybe we should've gone to the beach instead of going to floor one. How cool would that be?" She asked, a small smile spreading across her face as she thought about it. "This is fine, though. I have no problem with being at a lake, either. Actually, it might even be better than a beach!" She exclaimed, closing her eyes blissfully. 

"Who knows?" She asked to both herself and Pacco, "maybe we won't have to encounter anyone at all today. It might be fun meeting new people but even I need a break sometimes," she groaned, stretching her back and arms. 

However, not all things stay good forever. 

"Cordephia?" She sputtered, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Am I really that forgetful?" Cordelia sighed, using one of her hands to cover her face in embarrassment. "To think I would've made a greater influence on people," she said jokingly. 

"It's Cordelia," she corrected, offering him a small smile. "Don't worry about it, though. Everyone makes mistakes... though, I don't know how you could make my name harder to remember..." she mumbled, scratching her chin in confusion. 

"The dragon? Oh, you two are doing the second quest to that questline?" She asked, her eyes lighting up as she clapped her hands together. "How exciting. I'd love to help out!" She nodded to Oscar's statement, patting him on the shoulder with a thankful smile. "Yeah, he helped me out with that. Who knows how many times I would've missed if he wasn't there," she deadpanned, laughing nervously a few moments later. "So uh- don't expect me to actually hit on this quest... I have some bad luck when it comes to that type of thing, but uh- I can try being the bait for it! Heck, I hit better when I'm being targeted!" She chirped, making jazz hands like a small kid. "It's the thrill that gets me pumping!"

"Who was the last guy you did it with?" She asked, her interests perking. She may not know everyone, but she liked investigating particularly shady people. It was really just a personal hobby of hers.

Cordelia tilted her head before giving an assuring nod. "Yeah, I'm down," she pipped, giving each of the people a small bow. "My name is Cordelia. Pleasure to meet you all!"

She didn't really see why they would need a party to do this quest. It was really just simple gathering, but maybe they were looking to actually fight something? She wasn't sure if the two were really fit to be fighting anything at the moment, though. Cordelia internally shrugged. People were complicated and she didn't really want to dwell on it much longer. 

"Bah, nonsense!" She chirped, patting Astralin's shoulder with a small smile. "You've survived this long, I bet you'll be fine! Plus, you can always send me a good ol' message if you're ever in a tight situation," she added. "I might not be the strongest player out there but I'm always willing to help," she mumbled sheepishly, scratching the side of her cheek. 

Cordelia mumbled a few of her silly 'curses' as she kicked a rock away. Poor thing has been being kicked for a solid five minutes. She wondered if it would ever just explode when she had kicked it enough. She was going to test her little hypothesis right here and now. Pacco squawked in his owner's foolishness, but what was he going to do? He was a weird bird with four eyes! 

Kicking harder than she expected to, the girl let out a small groan as she watched the rock bounce over a couple of hedges. "That's no fun, it's going to take me forever to find it," she mumbled hotly, jogging over to go find her rock.

Poor rock. 

When she had skidded to a halt on the other side, she had realized that there were actual people there. One seemed a tad bit familiar to her... she didn't know from where but she guessed that she had seen her face around town before. The other one, however, was a complete stranger to her.

"Oop- uh, hello there!" She chirped, sobering up and offering the two a friendly wave.

She was going to take on harder quests the higher she levels up, and she can't miss out on opportunities to strengthen herself.

"Alright, Pacco!" She sniffed, crossing her legs as she stared into his eyes again. "We're going to start training you today! So that means," she paused, holding up a finger, "no tangling your wings and feet into my hair," she paused again, bringing up her second finger, "no making a mess in my room when I'm not home." She held up her third finger and scowled at him, "and no chasing poor NPCs around!" She blew a sigh as her eyes averted in embarrassment. "Those poor kids didn't know what was coming to them."

She huffed again and looked back at Pacco with a grin. "Don't worry, bud, it'll be loads of fun! We can go around floor one and do some stuff, and when you're good, I'll give you a treat!"