Alkor

You are not the root cause of my problems. He wasn't. He knew that. And if she'd said he was, he would've called her a liar. You’re just a drop. A single ripple. Insignificant though he may have been, he was a problem. And that was enough for him. He was always a burden to someone, intentionally or otherwise. Mari knew Alkor, had respect and cared for Alkor, but she couldn't have known the man behind the mask. And because of that, she couldn't possibly have known why that was so important to him. That was why he felt no anger or animosity toward her. It wasn't intentionally mal

He watched her pull out a cigarette at some point, and his brain fixated on that. Comfort, however small, however seemingly pointless- that didn't seem like the worst idea. He could hear what she was saying, but the words tunneled around him. He felt like he was underwater for a long moment, drowning not only in sentiment, but in things far too heavy for him to hold alone. He resigned himself to follow suit, fumbling for several seconds around his inventory to produce his pipe. Striking the match, he inhaled bittersweet poison and the burning sensation trumped his anxiety. Holding the br

That’s not fair. To say he froze at those words would be inaccurate. Rather, the sigh that left his lips felt like the exhaustion of ten thousand sleepless nights as one. What in life was fair, would have been a more than fair question to posit in response; but she didn't want quirky, useless sentiments. Mari had dispensed with pleasantness and demanded satisfaction. You can’t step back into my life like that. Assume inconvenience - then saunter away again. She'd been quick to take that stance, ready for it even. The defensive switch inside him had flipped, fight or flight triggered.

The weight was immense, even without anything tangible to hold him down. Invisible hands gripped his throat, stifling him, choking him, threatening to pull him under as he drowned from every thought and emotion that roiled up inside him. His hands were clammy, too cold and paralyzed by indecision and anxiety to tremble. His hollowed gaze couldn't move toward her, the raw shame and boundless failure he felt had taken ownership of his wits. Passionate kisses that he'd fumbled through, without any idea whether or not he seemed to know what he was doing, played back in his mind. The guilt lik

He watched implacable as the two men licked their wounds and collected their compatriot ,all too eager to retreat. It did not strike him as at all unexpected that Mari did not trust him. She had learned distrust from circumstance, learned to be hated, and to hate in turn. That she was not bombarding him with a scathing review told Alkor all he needed to know. Their time apart, the distance he had all but forced on her, had been good. Though the whole truth of that matter was open-ended, and he couldn't know how much she had suffered in order to climb out of the pit she had fallen into. On

The glade where He'd been felled had all but mended. Toxic ichor bleeding through from above had dried up, but the gnarled and withered corpses of trees stood silent testament to the poison's more lasting effects. Slaying the infected beast had been one of the few kindnesses that the Players had truly done for the world. There was no hidden circumstance that ruined lives, nothing more than a fleeting memory of something abhorrent, something that if they had failed to put an end to, would have ran rampant. The silence that permeated this space was an unfillable void, a mirror of the stifli

Thematic Music I've spent all this time destroying things Could I have saved anything? The streets were acrid, riddled with plumes of sulfuric smog and rubble from myriad blasts. Careful steps over large repositories of debris eventually gave way to the Ladonian's best efforts at restoration. Wherever one stepped, the future was bright, but shadows of the past loomed. Fear had ruled in the Empire for so long, the very thought of peace was fragile and beggared belief. An offered hand more often earned a distrusting look, as though Razwell had put the bearer up to the perceived kindne

He'd zoned out. But that happens, sometimes when you spend the majority of your time alone. People came to the NPCs to do quests and interacted right next to one another all the time, and sometimes never interacted at all. Closest in that they were all trapped in the world together, and yet farthest away because some people were always looking back over their shoulders. Trust was forged in battle, but many people had not gone out into the world immediately to become stronger and risk their lives. Some people had only just started their journeys, and unfortunately, they found difficulty in

It was not a very colorful conversation, granted. The last time that Alkor and Baldur spoke, it was with weapons more than words. They were fundamentally different people. Baldur was the type of man who could see the struggles of others and held out a hand to help guide them through. Warmth, of personality and of passion, he was a flame in his own right. Alkor was cold by contrast, the way he interacted was aloof and distant, filled with intrinsic value and seeking meaning within himself. Both men wanted to help others, and in their own ways, shined a beacon- it was that Baldur was a lantern,

Twilight came on like Winter's breath. White smoke billowed from his lips as Alkor watched the horizon for the pair he had agreed to meet, periodically glancing toward the eastern sky where pastel oranges and yellows were consumed by deeper reds, violets, and the expansive darkness beyond. Stars began to flicker into existence, several more each time that he did. He was able to count several before Kiru and Baldur came into view, silently welcoming the night as well as the newcomers. The High Fields of Crossing were uniquely lit in several areas, and this one was no exception. It was one of th

Little more than a whisper, Alkor stepped from the shadows of the teleporter and onto the second floor. It marked the beginning of many adventures, a place beyond the first real challenge that Aincrad placed before its prisoners. Dauntless, in a word. To say that he was unshaken by the memories of his first few steps off of the first floor was an understatement. Alkor had become increasingly numb to his earliest memories of this accursed world and the system that controlled it. Every battle, every victory, every conquest hollowed him out a bit more, leaving only the husk. In order to become pa

The notification flashed before his eyes as he hefted the blade from the still free-flowing stream of red pixels. Fragments of data coded to look like flesh, blood, bone, and sinew had decomposed rapidly in the final moments after he carved the behemoth creature in twain; but Alkor did not seem to sweat from the effort. There was a slight frown on his lips. Guess that's the limit of how far I can get with these enemies... Frustration was coming to the apex only to find that the summit was, in reality, higher than he had originally thought. The difference was that instead of facing hi

The bear had thrown him aside, hard enough to slam into a nearby tree and splinter it. Aching in the muck, Alkor had spent the last minute from his spinning head. Koga had seized the moment, jumping in heroically to take Callisto's attention for himself- for better or for worse. That wasn't ideal, even if he had come prepared to do just that. Koga was equipped to hold on to the hate, but not to keep it for long. This was the contingency. Give Alkor enough time to collect himself so that he could do the job he was supposed to be doing. Now, it was his turn to return the favor. Keep Koga alive,

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Undaunted as the creature pounced with a savage grace that seemed unreal given its form, Alkor stood fast. The creature assailed him with putrid breath, roaring in his face as it bared ichorous fangs, flesh sloughing off bone and sinew. He had just enough time to make notice of a chip in its half-gone face, a place where the ursine skull faltered. When it practically unhinged its jaw and brought its wicked fangs to bear, one hand plunged fingers into the hole, securing an iron grip. It was going to get hold of him, but that worked in everyone's favor. Alkor, after all, had always intended