NIGHT

regular tank and dps tactics. for a moment, night almost felt as though she was back a year earlier, braving the unknown with the pink paladin. the blade in her hand morphed into one of light from halloween steel once she'd summoned it, and she skittered after nari, sights on her back. how times had changed. the first wave of threats were no figures she happened to be familiar with. enemies on this floor had been modelled after the elements, and they took on strange forms as cardinal chose to generate them as art. how light reflected upon the water construct's surfaces and bounced al

she took the topic of their day one step at a time. first, the build up. between koga's wait at the teleporter and the enemies slowly targeting the players' tiny party, what differed between those two moments were the seconds leading up to the next occasion. next, the tension. the zombies rushed after them in accumulating droves, though only one at a time. had they not been higher-level players, perhaps they would've seemed more a threat. and night knew she was keeping her friend in the same state, too, because she was trying to consider how to start speaking about the subject.

(remember? ... what was there to remember?) night tucked a lock of hair back behind her ear, quiet. even as nari's gaze had left her, it still felt like she was being watched, the memory of her sights on the player fresh in night's mind. and she watched her friend spin around, almost like a hyper active child. well, at least nari was happier. and the least night could manage was a small smile, her joy infectious as the woman followed steps with a turn of her head. "already on the gear hunt yourself? it almost feels like yesterday that you were trying to clear the first few lessons ba

the promise; she had given nari her word, that night wasn't going to let her fall-- -- and in the same breath, she'd forgotten to promise the same to nari for herself. so the palm on her skin, the strength in her friend's stalwart self, that unfaltering grin. the light in those eyes. a short gasp drawn, night almost choosing to lean into nari's hand. a terrible addiction. she chided herself, internally. beyond them, the world was spinning. “I have a reason to return, every day. So my purpose now, is to do so. No matter what.” if there was hope shown through the windows

something to look forward to? the last she could remember... nari's outlook on the future was bleak. to live for others. to discard one's life away for the many. life was more complicated than a trolley problem, and hence it was a query worth posing. "... what is it, if you don't mind me asking?" when she looked to the woman, night too was distracted by the faltering in nari's demeanor. and she considered if her words had struck fear into her friend, as they fact once did for her. “Don’t worry. If you’re scared…I’ll protect you.” "---..." as though time stopped for her

a philosophical take on calming the soul. that much made sense, as much as night hated reflecting on the insecurities it'd shown her in the past. her jaw was locked even as she remembered that day's final moments, shifting her sights as a distraction from her contemplation. night thought about speaking about it, the more nari looked to her. and stowed it away, only at the compliment, pushing the woman's image out of her vision. she hummed, appreciative, and slunk into her tracksuit all the same. the skipping was different, though. (not that night didn't like it.) she glanced watching

so it was just her. part of her felt relieved to know of it; a suspicion loosened, night torn from its hold. yet she felt a tinge of offense from the tale -- night knew she wasn't the best at getting to know people, but she hadn't expected to be this bad at it, after being alive for so long. -- and no, she didn't know any of the names dropped by nari. "Oh! Did I mention I did the waterfall quest? I think that one was…well, it definitely changed me. I don’t know about others who take it, but…” "..." calming the soul. night said nothing, only nodded to that revelat

"fine, i guess." what kind of a game was this? first the out-of-place waving -- though night had passed it off as nari getting accommodated to the city she was in. it wasn't so strange for players to do so, she believed, and it wasn't as though she knew the woman enough to gauge her daily routine. but then the grins turned her way, her companion's back turned down the route they were taking -- -- the attention, the staring-- (-- she didn't like any of it. the glow of her cheeks was only offset by the warm lighting gifted by ronbaru's city lamps.) yuki peeped, and the player

she set aside all expectations, save the time they had agreed to meet up at. night kept an interface open, as the minutes went past the time she'd had expected her companion to show at. she composed a query while waiting. just as she was about to hit send, her attention was stolen by footsteps on the pavement. without missing a beat, the player dismissed the window with a wave. and-- “hey – sorry about the wait, but thank you for waiting." -- she couldn't get a word in. even when she was the one prompted for an answer. nari was almost grating, night might've admitted in the mome

daemien wouldn't have minded if she took the whole lot. so she did. payment fulfilled and everything. the food was prepared even before she got there. and the woman grinned, watching the man's sullen face. he had no need to cater to others as such, and for a man who was set on a goal without caring what happened with his products, he was still bent on delivering a good service. not that night could disagree on the same. "what's the point of you go gallivanting around like that?" he asked, once she'd approached closer to pick up the order. "when you're here, i mean." the wom

she contemplated on the message before her, a cup of coffee into the morning and a little too groggy for straightforward answers. she'd barely had wonderful experiences with dungeons -- there was no reason to want to go, particularly, with someone she was convinced wanted to be away from the world. still, night was asked, despite herself, and her fingers did most of the reckless work before she could consider the proposal thoroughly. they'd changed since she last saw them -- the dungeons, so she was informed -- but by how much, the player wasn't sure. the moment she saw something too cree

a few stragglers cleared, before she skipped into the safe zone. she was lucky cardinal thought her obedient to its whims, the way it registered loot to her inventory, though she ignored the influx of what materials were going into cache. sword still held at the ready by her side, as koga fell into position before her, night glanced to the bodies dissipating. floating fragments, an obnoxious white in monochrome, were what was left after their forms had exploded when she wasn't looking. "no reason," night decided, "except for gear and seclusion from everybody else." her gaze turned back on

first, there came the crashing waves. the hulking figure rose from the waters, throwing the shell of its confinement across the world, shattering its pieces upon the slopes of rocks around it. as though it hadn't been fragile to begin with, zero's two feet found purchase on slippery ground. it kept it steady, still, as the players chased it from the distance, swarming at his feet like ants. then, through the blizzard, the storm raging in the players ears, came a melody. of keys from ivory on black. of a world once known, a fantasy, one unlike the realm they found themselves trapped in. a

'here' was such a decisive statement. when night had sent the message, she hadn't expected him to be not-'here'. night: @ the laby? it didn't matter too much where he was. the blackwatch bastion was only a short walk away from the settlement, if that was where the man had appeared at. and though night had set out as soon as she could, even she wasn't at the labyrinth's entrance just yet. night: 1mo night: dont move night: tptr? the fallen cloaks around her were obedient enough to have fallen to her input. like a quick snap of her fingers, if abstracted enough, yet the

"didn't wanna get stung," night objected. and there was a beating where her lungs should've been, had it not been for their digital reality. though the duo had made it out safely, what mattered more was the state of their herbs; she wasn't going to risk entering the grove once more if only to gather more of it at a later time. a brief glance at her inventory, and she knew they would be fine. day appeared unhindered by the chase, but that was no surprise to the players by this point. the spear gone from her hand, she nodded to koga's suggestion. "if by next place you mean yvlon. i'm s

deep in the act enough to distract her from her thoughts. not enough to forget to keep an ear out to her surroundings, the player picking up on that shout amid the lyrical singing of frost. monster? at least she could draw herself from her own chiding, invitation torn and discarded away. from afar, night couldn't make out who the party was. neither did she care. but just as equal to how they'd given her a heads up about the frost beast about to break through the ice, so too would she lend her own strength in tandem. if the system would collaborate with the player on her own eff

"what if we never beat the game? just kept on living here? it's... better... in here. right?" the thought haunted her eves in the days to come. it wasn't so much the question. night had contemplated on the idea multiple times. it called to her endlessly, like a siren, a preacher cloaked in white garb and held her gold hair back in a pony tail. hell, night still had that scrunchie she was gifted one time. sometimes she would keep it on her wrist, as protective ward as she watched her companion prepare cooking ingredients. the forced drumming, the sharpness of the knife's edge in

laughter. "well i'm glad to know at least you're having fun," she snapped back, though her heart was still hammering in her chest. and the thought of being rescued by her other in the same way as before -- "n-no! i can do this on my own--" the condition under her status effects for negating weapon summons was apparently disregarded in night's vision. and she struggled with the vines until the slash from her friend tore her captors apart. with the amount of time koga took to wind up his stunt, day was already upon the party after a brief leap and sprint. "on it!" oh, heaven

had she been more aware, she would've felt the eyes upon her figure. instead, night paid more attention to the lake. ice thick enough to skate on freely; she searched beneath it for some lost traces of a forgotten memory. it would be nice to go ice skating, at least once, back in reality. why'd she decided to come up here all on her own? with a flick of her heel, the woman was off. simple loops, the act of trying to keep stable already taking up more of her thoughts than she'd wanted it to occupy. night thought about taking a vacation, getting away from her contacts for a bit.