Cordelia

Day 25:

+78 EXP

"I suppose I am," Cordelia mumbled thoughtfully. "I didn't realize how much time and levels had passed by since I last saw you," she exclaimed in bewilderment. It had been quite a while since Christmas, and she had only used her voucher recently. Time was an odd concept indeed.

"Oh, the Valentine's Day Gala?" She asked, a small and nervous laugh escaping her as she nodded her head slowly. "Yes, I was there. It was a very. . . eventful night," she muttered, a small deadpan making its way to her face. "I'm never going to forget that day, haha. . ." It was still unbelievable how she had met once of the highest leveled players in such an odd circumstance--

She casually accepted the friend invitation. "No, I don't mind. Plus, I'd feel incredibly stupid if I said no to. . . gathering eggs with someone." The girl blinked slowly before shrugging her shoulders.

A knick of orange hair in the distance caught her eye as she looked over Arabelle. "Is that Mari?" She asked to no one but herself as she squinted. "Oh, who else could it be," the girl muttered, waving her hand in the air.

"Hey Mari, over here!"

ID: 139233
LD: 13+7=20, +2 Materials
CD: 1, +2 Eggs

Total Eggs: 10
Total Materials: 5

6 hours ago, Oscar said:

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Meditation
Mod(s) Being Dropped: None
SP Refunded: 8
Cost: 8000

Day 24:

+65 EXP

She sighed, tilting her head from side to side with a bored expression. Seriously, how could kids do this all day? She could barely last five minutes, even if she was getting an extraordinary amount of eggs. There was nothing fun out of this. Maybe it was because of candy or something. Would she like candy instead of those godly items? Possibly, possibly, but these items were more of a literal need instead of a want. She could seriously blaze her way through the frontlines if she were to get incredibly lucky with that Easter Bunny's favor. Imagine another holy slot! Or perhaps even absolute accuracy! Jesus, she was going to be so happy to never ever, ever miss again.

Though, she'd honestly prefer another holy slot. She had no use for burn at this point. It was a good enhancement and all but she wasn't striving to be a DoT dealer. Just. . . straight burst damage. Kill em' all in one shot, she supposed.

ID: 139101
LD: 4+7=11, +1 Materials
CD: 6, +3 Eggs

Total Eggs: 42
Total Materials: 16

Cordelia sat herself at the base of a tree and sighed. She needed a break. Somehow, collecting eggs tired her out more than actual combat-- which was. . . odd, to say the least. She never thought she would be more tired from collecting eggs than. . . let's say, fighting a giant mountain. 

She leaned her head back on a tree and bit her lip. How exhausting. . . How could picking up chocolate eggs be so physically draining? It was honestly a little bit embarrassing! Cordelia yawned, leaning her chin on her palms which were propped up on her knees. Maybe she should've asked someone to join her. It was getting a little bit lonely. You can only gather so many chocolate eggs before you start to go super crazy. She wasn't sure if she could ever look at a brightly colored ovoid without crying-- that was a joke of course. . . a very, serious joke.

ID: 139091
LD: 9+7=16, +2 Materials
CD: 6, +3 Eggs

Total Eggs: 39
Total Materials: 15

A short sigh escaped her. She shouldn't be thinking about this now, it was going to hinder her progress. She shook her head, resuming back to her very serious egg hunting. 

Cordelia leaned down again, examining a couple of eggs hidden away in a loose pile of leaves. Suddenly she didn't feel as motivated to do this. Hot air blew out from her nose as she shook her head. It was way too late to be going back now. She was just going to have to cheer herself up or deal with it whether she liked it or not.

She gulped, scooping the eggs back into her basket again. How many was that now? It definitely had to be more than thirty by now, right? Cordelia sighed, holding out the basket in front of her. Maybe she should've asked Oscar to come with her. . . it would be nice to talk with him while gathering.

ID: 139079
LD: 16, +2 Materials
CD: 5, +3 Eggs

Total Eggs: 36
Total Materials: 13

Cordelia smile softly, a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. If it were up to her, she would much rather die instead of Oscar-- something that she would never tell him herself. She felt like a lost soul before she had met him, and he seemed to brighten up her life to the point where she actually wanted to get out of her for him. So she wouldn't have to only be with him confined in a virtual world, so she could physically be with him.

But if he were to die, what would even be the point of going on? She sighed, feeling her knees get weak. It was a dark thought, yes, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking it.

"So you gotta promise me that even if something we to happen, you'll keep going."

She wasn't sure how she could promise something like that, especially to Oscar.

ID: 139078 
LD: 6+7=13, +1 Materials
CD: 6, +3 Eggs

Total Eggs: 33
Total Materials: 11

She wasn't sure why she was having such luck with finding eggs. . . it was honestly so weird to her, especially after having so much unlucky things happen to her lately-- well, combat wise. She felt super lucky outside of that, though. She. . . she was engaged.

She let out a lacey exhale. Never in a million years would she ever imagine anyone loving her so much that they'd want to spend their whole lives with her. She was a train-wreck, seriously, and that was coming from her herself! It was certainly a happy thought, but damn it was still a surprise.

Cordelia smiled almost giddily to herself. There was no other person she would rather spend her life with than Oscar, and she knew that for a fact. Nothing could cloud her decision on this. . . though she was. . . afraid. She and Oscar were both capable fighters-- but how was she sure that both of them were going to survive the floor raid boss?

She wasn't.

ID: 139077
LD: 17, +2 Materials
CD: 9, +5 Eggs

Total Eggs: 30
Total Materials: 10

Perhaps a sack would be the better choice-- but she honestly figured that she was going to have back pains later that day if she was going to carry a bloody sack around. . . maybe she should just collect them with one basket and dump them in a sack when it gets full or something. . .

That sounded like a very dumb yet solid plan, and it was the best that she had, so she was going to roll with it. . . like a champ.

Cordelia exhaled, finding another bundle of eggs huddled together behind some brightly colored cosmos. Perhaps looking in a garden wasn't the best idea given how everything here was brightly colored. That certainly does seem like a pickle. She shrugged. Nah, she consumed a whole bowl of lucky ramen before this, she'll be absolutely fine. She's got somewhat of a keen eye. Even without. . . Pacco number one being her eyes.

ID: 139075
LD: 6+7=13, +1 Materials
CD: 9, +5 Eggs

Total Eggs: 25
Total Materials: 8

She supposed it was just good coding? Whatever, she didn't know anything about that kind of stuff. She just supposed he was good game designer. He was too good of a game designer. In fact, he was a bloody genius! 

Cordelia chuckled. She never thought she would be the type of person to praise a person who trapped her in a video with swords and creatures that absolutely made no sense, but she was weird-- so she guessed that explained it. . . somewhat, anyway.

It appeared that these things came in clumps, as well. She had yet to ever find one all by itself. Six eggs? That was honestly a lot to find in just one finding. Cordelia plopped them into her woven basket and pursed her lips.

She was going to need a bigger basket. Or maybe a sack. Or maybe just several baskets? She wasn't sure how many baskets she could carry. . .

ID: 139073
LD: 9+7=16, +2 Materials
CD: 10, +6 Eggs

Total Eggs: 20
Total Materials: 7

Another handful of eggs went into her basket as she spotted some behind the crook of a tree. . . these are chocolate, right? Why not just have some regular plastic eggs? It's not like she was going to eat them. Were the Egg Boys going to eat them? All hundred and fifty of the eggs she was going to collect and possibly even more? That was outrageous, but then again, they were NPCs, and then again, your body weight doesn't really get affected by anything you eat in her, anyway. Perks of being stuck in a video game, she supposed?

Cordelia stared at her basket and sighed. She wondered how exactly Kayaba had managed to get all of the spots for the eggs, too. They were cleverly hidden but not to the point where it was near impossible to find them, and they weren't hidden right on the grass where everyone could see it.

ID: 139072
LD: 7+7=14, +1 Materials
CD: 4, +3 Eggs

Total Eggs: 14
Total Materials: 5

Cordelia scooped up the eggs and placed them in her basket. Only. . . eleven. She groaned. That-- wasn't bad. Coupled with the other eggs she had gotten with Yuki and Arabelle and Mari, that wasn't bad at all. She only needed a hundred and fifty for the Bunny Stamp, right? This will be easy, peasy! She was already about a fifteenth of the way there and it hasn't even been five minutes yet!

Maybe she could even afford some of the other things like the reroll tickets, or maybe some of the materials-- she honestly needed those. It was free materials, right?

Cordelia placed down her basket and stretched her arms behind her back. Heck, maybe she could get all hundred and fifty eggs in one go! If she was lucky enough-- though she was pretty sure was not-- she could get it in a few minutes if she really wanted to!

ID: 139070
LD: 4+7=11, +1 Material
CD: 6, +3 Eggs

Total Eggs: 11
Total Materials: 4

Cordelia twirled the weaved basket around in her hands. She had honestly never done an egg hunt before, and she could see why. Of course, she was sure that little kids would love to play this-- or something, well, maybe not for uh-- weapons or armor. She could've found herself enjoying this when she was young. It was a nice change of pace. She had just finished a whole questline and it was nice to do something other than fighting for once. Of course, she loved stabbing her katana into things but she could only do it so much before she started to grow tired of the same old setting. 

Cordelia crouched down, tilting her head when she spotted a few beautifully decorated eggs between two shrubs, Kayaba certainly did put some work into this, didn't he? Cordelia let out a drawn out sigh. How such a psychopathic man could create such a masterpiece is beyond her.

ID: 139067
LD: 6+7=13, +1 Material
CD: 1, +2 Eggs

Total Eggs: 8
Total Materials: 3

Cordelia found herself at the Garden again. Even if she had just finished gathering with Arabelle and Mari and Yuki, she figured it would be nice to have some alone time. . .  yeah, nice.

Gathering eggs with one's self couldn't be that bad, right? Right? She shook her head silently. No, it was going to be bad, but she knew that she needed time to think, just for a bit. With everything going on, she wasn't sure she could keep up. This new event-- Oscar's proposal, the upcoming boss raid. . .. she was afraid that the stress was just going to snap her in half.

Cordelia buried her face in her hands as she let out a long sigh. She shouldn't let herself get too caught up with it. Who thinks about boss raids and marriage while egg hunting? Well, her apparently. No, she refused to get stressed now! She had some eggs to collect!

ID: 139065
LD: 17, +2 Materials
CD: 10, +6 Eggs

Total Eggs: 6
Total Materials: 2

Consumed Super Lucky Fancy Asian Cheetos: +3 LD
Equipped Gloves of Caerus: +3 LD
Yamata no Orochi Statue: +1 LD

"Yeah, I bulldoze through my materials in just a few days," she said sheepishly, laughing it off. "Oh, I'd love to. I really didn't want to go egg hunting by myself. That sounds much more lonely now that I think about it. . ." she murmured thoughtfully.

Cordelia looked up, recognizing a familiar purple-haired player she hand't seen in awhile. "Oh, hello. It's been a while since I've last seen you, Arabelle," she chirped happily, giving the girl a small wave. "Oh, yes. I'm going to grind my way through this event for the Bunny Stamp!" She said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "If I get that down, I'll totally be ready for the next floor boss." She looked over to Arabelle again and grinned. "So, how have you been? I haven't seen you since the Christmas event. Is there anything new going on with you?" She asked curiously, tilting her head.

ID: 139048
LD: 4+7=11, +! Material
CD: 7, +5 Eggs

Total Eggs: 8
Total Materials: 3

Cordelia's eyes narrowed. This was the event she was looking for. The one she needed. She needed that Bunny Stamp, and she was going to get whether those Egg Boys like it or not. 

She didn't realize April had come so soon, either. Her face reddened. Oscar had proposed to her right before April first-- no wonder why she thought of it as a joke. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered, face-palming herself as she walked towards the garden. 

Cordelia looked up, tilting her head when she saw a familiar pinkette in the distance. Did she even know anyone else with pink hair?

"Er-- hey, Yuki!" Cordelia called, waving her hands at the girl. Did they last see each other in this exact spot or something? They gathered here last time they had seen each other, which really wasn't too long ago at all. "Are you here to do the Easter hunt as well?"

ID: 139036
LD: 13+7=20, +2 Materials 
CD: 4, +3 Eggs

Total Eggs: 3
Total Materials: 2

Consumed Super Lucky Fancy Asian Cheetos: +3 LD
Replaced Empress' Kanzashi w/ Gloves of Caerus: +3 LD
Yamata no Orochi Statue: +1 LD

"I see," Cordelia murmured, giving her a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "do whatever makes you happy." Something about Yuki made her think of herself. Or what she used to be at least.

"I don't plan on staying alive before we get out."

A small shiver went up her spine. It might've been the exact opposite of what she was saying but it still reminded Cordelia of her much. . . darker times. A place she never wanted to go back to.

"Anyway," Cordelia quipped, eager to change the subject, "have you been doing well in Aincrad so far? It has been some time since the game has started, and I've only just started meeting new people around a year ago. It's interesting to meet new people nowadays, I only hang out with the people I usually know." It was honestly more depressing when she had said it out loud. Most of the people she met were usually just one-time encounters. They would probably never see each other again after that.

ID: 139035
LD: 9+6=15, +2 Materials
Total Materials: 8

"Hey Cordelia? Marry me."

Cordelia's eyes shot open. She was sure that she had heard him wrong-- that something was certainly in her ear, but when she turned to look at him, she realized that he was serious. The gears in her head started to slowly grind together. 

She opened her mouth, then quickly shut it. How was she going to answer that? It was so abrupt and sudden that it completely dried out her vocabulary. And marriage? Of course, she's had thoughts about it before but she never thought it would come so soon. Was this something she should've prepared for? Should she be prepared for this? 

Her pale eyes scanned his face. This was the man who wanted to spend his entire life with her. Her heart bubbled with emotion she longer she held that in her mind. There was no other person she wanted to be with than the person in front of her. 

She reached out for his hand, entangling it in her own. She shouldn't have to be prepared for it, the answer had been in the back of her head for a while. She squeezed his palm, a smile blossoming on her features as she gave him a single nod. 

"Of course."

"Or that too," Cordelia chuffed, shuffling over to the log before sitting beside him. 

She took everything in. It all seemed too surreal to her, like something straight out of a movie or picture. The pale moonlight reflecting off of the water made it seem like something straight out of an impressionist painting. The big city never really offered this, did it? She could look at thousands of professionally taken pictures and it would never compare to this. 

The corners of her mouth twitched up quietly. It were times like this that she wouldn't mind staying here forever. Just her, the moon, the water, and Oscar. 

Cordelia leaned against his shoulder before letting out a small laugh. "This reminds me of a movie I watched a long time ago," she murmured, breaking the somewhat silence. "It feels like a movie," she mumbled, closing her eyes as she let out another laugh. "Feels too good to be true, you know?"

Day 23:

+61 EXP

"Well, it's a fact." Cordelia flashed him a small grin. She wasn't mad at him, if anything she was mad at herself, or the universe. Nevermind, she was mad at the universe. It seriously didn't make any sense-- she had buffs, she had the accuracy enhancements-- yet she missed. Three times. In a row. That was definitely the work of something above. Or maybe the game just hated her! Maybe Kayaba just wanted to spite her! You never know. She was in a world where someone could just pull the plug any day and kill everyone here.

"You and me both," she sighed tiredly, her shoulders drooping. "I just want to go home and take a nap, maybe cry my eyes out, eat a whole tub of ice cream, really anything. I just feel like a million pounds had just been lifted off of my shoulders," Cordelia mumbled, letting out a small yawn as she stretched her arms above her head. 

Cordelia blinked. It was over. Oh God, it was over. Six quests. It took six quests to finish this whole chain. She wasn't sure if she had ever felt so relieved before in her life. 

Her fingers twitched, the effects of the paralysis slowly wearing off as the tension of the battle faded away. She looked over to Oscar. He seemed to have been paralyzed just before the stallion had been killed off as well. A small sigh left her. She probably would've been good as dead if he weren't here to have her back. She probably would've been dead around five other times throughout this questline if it weren't him, really. 

She gently placed her katana back into its sheath, shaking off the last remaining bits of paralysis before she walked over to Oscar. "You really carried me throughout this whole line, didn't you?" She asked, laughing dryly as she rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment.