NIGHT

NIGHT: i have petals that are important to people?? | og thread. [>>] | -> night (1756) -> demian (100) -> bistro (100) -> iruma (100) -> asura (100) -> basuke (100) -> iris (100) -> marquis (100) -> shikari (100)

what was about those flower petals she'd somehow obtained on that floor tour earlier? bistro had said something about handing them into the attendants. night was mostly confused. the instructions towards locating them had been inaccurate, to say the least, or maybe night was just worse at following instructions with something else at the top of her mind. what was it that bothered her? they chanced upon the same game that they'd played back in lichten. night grabbed day's cloak and pointed at the stall. "i want another round at it." and this time, she found out that they were pla

thread closing. + 11,572 xp | ((668 * 15) + 500) * 1.1 + 695,907 col | 691372 + 2000 + 800 + (xp * 0.15) + 12 gleaming scales + 9 demonic shards + 1 mon + quest: strings (4/4) + event: flower petals (2556) + combat loot.

they didn’t walk to braso this time, as with their travels the last. they’d almost hitchhiked it back to ronbaru for the ride there, until day pointed out the wagons moving out of town, hidden away in their own corner near one of the other city exits. they clambered on back of one, and allowed the rider to escort them off targok premises, gearing up for the persistent winter instead as they rode through the ice and snow. the two were silent about their own desires in the interim, but huddled close for warmth, the excuse enough of a facade for night to claim plausible deniability if she was eve

mutually assured survival was something night decided she could get behind. she returned the embrace, that kiss, the lock of lips, and broke away after she felt the party atmosphere a little too stifling for their advances present. that they still had an objective to fulfill, paired with an internal timer to return to partaking in life’s activities while they still had waking time, seemed only reasonable — and it seemed equally so that day hadn’t complained or pushed her further. rather, day escorted night out with her hands around night’s arm, seeming a little hesitant or shocked afterwards.

“what am i,” day shot back, beaming, “your personal cardinal diviner?” “rig the game a little for me,” night returned, sticking her tongue out, half-hearted in her suggestion to do so. when day’s response seemed a little delayed, night laughed it off casually, pushing the board game aside. cardinal returned it to its former state, untouched. but before the player could get off her bar stool, day pulled her in for a quick kiss. electrifying. between the warmth of the hearth within, and the heat of a once-shrugged embarrassment, she couldn’t tell if the alcohol served diluted here was

“i doubt it.” night examined her curiously, but said nothing, moving on to review the details of their delivery mission once more. this one seemed to be at an tavern, and they shuffled in quick, doing their best to keep together despite the crowd and their rowdiness. a quick pass of the package to the attendant presently off the clock, and she’d somehow attracted their attention enough for an extended invitation to play a short game. day jumped at the chance to interact with the board given, and it seemed that cardinal could register her inputs just fine, despite the neglect most of the b

“was it really?” “if it was,” day responded, pained. “i wouldn’t know, i think.” a finger went to her lips as she mulled over the events thereafter. “there was the system update afterwards, too. but i doubt that shadow had anything to do with that necessarily…” “it seems a little out of his jurisdiction,” night added, even though the commentary felt just a tinge incorrect. the boss had already seemed like an all-consuming god at the time, even if they’d hardly believed it — if he could’ve taken on the entire castle, who was to say he wasn’t capable of rewriting the laws of their play

she skipped past the memory of her waking, as though from a haze, curled close to the woman she expected to be with in another life, in an ideal world. ignored the awkwardness that bloomed thereforth, as her counterpart struggled to piece together her appearance, and the player herself scrambled to piece the puzzle together. “that’s where orgoth’s legacy came into play,” night said, pulling up the sword, allowing it to cut through the air as it was summoned. a somber smile graced her face as she examined it, but she waved it off, her grin and the blade in her hand quick, her confusion ex

“you were busy in a fight,” day retorted. “you wouldn’t have had the time to read it.” still, her fingers slipped to mingle with night’s own. “and i figured you’d already been plunged into the deep all the same, boss room or otherwise.” day shrugged afterwards. “it just seemed like you were in there, i suppose. almost like a sixth sense, that i knew you were okay, wherever you were. so, at the edge of the world, with the darkness before me, i jumped in.” “next thing i knew, i was right beside you in bed, like nothing had happened just moments before.” night brooded over the story qu

“and it didn’t work for you, either?” night shook her head. “out of all the other entities,” day continued, the smile on her face wistful. “i was one of the last to remain above ground when the darkness had swept away everything else we knew.” night tried to imagine the view from day’s perspective, but failed to conjure a convincing image. she simply wasn’t aware of how the flood must’ve looked from on high, having only a personal account of being consumed by emptiness and the cold void instead. “when i realized above all else that i was still standing,” she said, closing

day’s poker face betrayed no sign of fear that emerged from her during the hour of reckoning. in fact, she cheekily brushed her shoulder against night’s, leaving the latter stunned and lost. “you’re the one we should both be worried about,” she reminded. “i’m practically immortal! there’s no reason why i wouldn’t have been able to outrun something as inconsequential as a rising tide.” night fought to glare daggers at her counterpart, as they shifted into stormy plains, breaching ordsea’s boundaries. “well, if it swallowed all of aincrad,” night figured, “eventually you wouldn’t have found

“at least, i think that’s what happened. not that i could draw direct comparisons to what was happening in the fight at the time.” she waved a finger. “but, reasonably, that was the only major event at the time a flood of darkness was slowly unleashed upon all of aincrad. it was that, and the fact that you said the boss had abilities that allowed him to control darkness to begin with.” “really?” day nodded. “it was swallowing players up one by one if they hadn’t outrun the rising tide.” night was taken aback by the reveal, if only to consider the idea that shadow had been powerf

“were you aware of what was happening outside of the boss room?” day asked. night shook her head. “hadn’t even crossed my mind. or, at least…” her fingers twitched, as though tracing out ghost motions in a desire to pull up her messages interface. a thought of hers went back to a conversation she had with bistro, about the fight night had undertaken against a wushen with the other players gathered at the frontlines. demian had been involved somehow — a meeting of sorts? — and it was a debate about something she couldn’t wrap her head around, even until now. a mystery, she thought. no

what pleasantries she expected to exchange with them, however, were quickly set aside as night adjusted to day falling back to her side. “and we were talking about orgoth,” day started after releasing a held breath. then, she hummed, correcting herself. the smirk she wore simply morphed into a frown. “no. you couldn’t remember what had happened towards the end of the fight. right?” night nodded. day thought about it again, taking the hand offered by the player into her own, her fingers folding over night’s. “i don’t remember how shadow died,” night clarified further. “i just kn

so all she could do was gather the strength for a retort. “literally, fuck you.” day shrugged, head dipped low. “well, you can’t fault me for trying now.” and she gave night a coy smile paired with an open eye. night looked away, because she knew the game, and couldn’t find herself agreeing out of shame. “there’s always time to change your mind —” “ — not interested.” they followed the trail through the other exit of town, passing by the inn they once stayed in on the way out. day waved to it like a tourist. night tried to ignore her. the last time they passed through this

day left a bundle of snacks wrapped in leaves, crafted out of empty air, and that was that. their next stop — well, day had wanted to return to the city, first. “we should pay respects to the rooms we were using!” “you mean the singular room we were using,” night corrected day quick, and then prompt vetoed against that suggestion to return to their once temporary hostel. “we’re out on tour here; i wasn’t exactly planning to stay a whole night again.” “but it was great the last time we did,” day said, her hands put together, fingers resting in between the gaps. “wasn’t it?”

“ushiame,” she said, wagging a finger, sights tossed behind her shoulder. “it wasn’t a friend to me the last time either.” “so the enthusiasm…” night had the flat of her fingers pressed up against the side of her neck. now it was day’s turn to consider, too, as they drew close to the grove entrance. “maybe you should think about it like visiting a neighbour,” was the answer she settled upon, which paradoxically left night with more questions. she quelled them, upon quiet contemplation, reflecting upon the lights that they had received prior, and the hero who was the subject of

they kept their distance venturing into the city, the post reception an obvious landmark in plain sight. night decided the drop-off process would be relatively smooth, without interference, and yet the off-handed suggestion of the attendant to the player ahead of her to visit the grove piqued day’s interest, the entity mulling around and eavesdropping whilst waiting for night to be done. “we haven’t been back since the previous floor tour,” she reminded her player, tugging on night’s arm as they walked along, pretense having fallen completely in lieu of new information. “c’mon! let’s go see hi

“yeah, he was.” night gestured as she spoke. “orgoth was this giant minotaur, towering over a lot of us, acting as an ally in our fight against the shadow. he had twin axes, dual wielding, taking the brunt of most of shadow’s attacks for us while we were taking down shadow himself.” “who was just some guy in a business suit.” “who had control over darkness,” night butted in, wary in contrast to day’s relaxed and mirthful expression. “who spawned in a bunch of tiny little guys that exploded once in a while after we took them down. and at the end, when we were about to beat him…”

so night folded, trying to keep herself from pooling into pudding, eyes flicked towards the treetops above, the shadows of the leaves lit only by the luminescence of the plants that grew in the woods, a tapestry highlighted only by the everlasting darkness above them. “it was just a man in a suit, to be honest.” at least, that was as far as night could recall. “clad in darkness, sometimes, but mostly just some guy in a business suit.” “no way,” day muttered, finding herself distracted from their destination, slowly coming into view. “all that just from some random office worker?” “no

night tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then. “what’s there to say?” and she wasn’t being coy, this time, watching her partner’s every movement. there was a time then, she remembered, where her only response had been to push day’s questioning away. between the sword, and the boss fight that seemed like a bad dream, and… well, now it simply seemed as though she owed day a proper answer more than anything. except she didn’t know where to start. day had hummed, bringing their pinkies into a lock again, and night let her, as though it had been a promise to be honest. “you coul

“but when you think about it,” night continued, “we’d always matched because of it.” “not that you used it much around me,” day commented. on her face was an expression of wryness, paired with a smile. night had feigned of cluelessness. they continued, blades held to their sides. it wasn’t as though night had intended to discover the weapon in the first place, for it being cardinal’s gift after the world was swallowed whole. for her to build on it, then, past the poem sung in its description upon examination — that had been her own personal choice. their conversation about

“but,” night began, “the fact that these heroes do exist, in some way shape or form, lends them importance. right?” she gestured, and waved her sword of light into existence. night held it out in front of them to consider. “i’d thought about orgoth’s disposition to the raid when we were on the twenty-fifth.” “before the darkness,” day mumbled, her own movements aimless. “before the darkness,” night agreed. and as her mind searched for her next opinion, she felt the shudder, a soft buzz akin to numbness on her forearm, against the outstretched blade. the gentle shift of white – anothe

“where did we stop?” “where did what now?” the view of yvlon’s landmark tree was in day’s blurred periphery as night had asked. but as it turned out, it wasn’t important. “our conversation.” day’s shifted her gaze over from the distance to the player. “which one?” “that’s a good question.” it hadn’t even occurred to night that they were having two separate conversations at one point. it was after a pause, the woman thinking, that they started back down the path they intended to take in the first place. “about the hero, maybe.” “oh, that again.” and day’s elbows p