Elora

"You're here. You're safe." A sharp inhale wavered before Elora broke into dissonant sobbing. She collapsed into him, clutching the folds of his cowl between the knuckles of her trembling fingers. Shoulders fell and rose sporadically as uneven breaths coursed through her diaphragm, and she succumbed to despair. "I - I - I -- was s-so scared", choked Elora as best she could, "T-there was -- so many people d-died -- I didn't know what to do - I t-tried to help, but then I -- I was pulled under, a-and --" Burying her head face into Freyd's shoulder, she struggled to snuff out the sounds of

Elora gulped dryly, the lines of her lips flattening as she set her jaw into place. "Yeah", she vaguely agreed in response to all of her friend's observations. "Food sounds nice", she added after a prolonged stretch of silence, "And...actually...wasn't there a place that we were gonna go together? To see at some point?" The heels of her boots scrapped across the splintered floorboards of the inn as she shuffled and searched for the answer. Finally, she snapped -- or at least, she tried to through the thick fabric of her gloved hand. "Cherry blossoms! Didn't you mention that you got Hanami some

♪ Islands Under Eyelids ♪ Elora instinctually threw her arms up and into a defensive maneuver, suddenly sensing that Freyd might unwillingly strike her out of sheer surprise. A stupefied inquiry indicated that he'd at least partially been able to process that she was standing before him, and that an attack would no longer be warranted. "El... Elora?", she heard him speak her name and began to lower her guard. "I...", they both sputtered as crimson eyes met with irises flooded by a cobalt ocean. "You're alive!", he shouted. She bit her lip and turned away. "I'm sorry --", sh

"Ye ken howfur he is, glaikit dunce. Guid luck, Eddie." "Thanks, Quip", she smiled, trailing off with a sigh as she parted ways with the woman and started to slink down the series of stone steps. They somehow seemed less slippery than before, or at least, in comparison to the sludge she had just finished trying to wade through. It was a nice change of pace, though Elora couldn't help but wish she'd met more resistance along the way -- an occurrence that could have convinced her to turn back. Despite her waning spirit, she arrived at the shores of the silent pond. Beside it rested a recog

"Now let's just. Be happy for a bit ok?" "How do you figure we'll do that? We can't even get drunk here", chuckled Elora with great effort. She still felt so exhausted, so melancholic. "How are we supposed to return to normal when we don't even know what normal is anymore?", she found herself proposing against her better judgement. It was probably best not to think about. "Eh, whatever. Honestly, any reason to distract ourselves from what just happened is good enough for me. Let's go." Slowly extending her limbs, she uneasily forced herself to depart from the ground. "I don't know t

It's -- Oh, it's one of the Australians, Freyd's friend who works at the shop, decided Elora as soon as the whirlwind of shock subsided enough for her gather her bearings. "Yergh --", she started unsuccessfully through the filter of a hushing hand. "Edwina?!", snapped Elora as soon as the woman granted reprieve. She winced upon realizing that she'd neglected to heed to the aforementioned agreement. Sighing, she continued with a stifled whisper, "Come on, at least I had the curtesy to remember your name. We can skip the introductions..." "Ye kin fill me in aboot Freyd 'n' a' his non

The sickening sound of the ground's sludgy surface suctioning to Elora's shoes made the player's stomach swirl with a nervous nausea. It had taken all morning for her to muster the courage to confront the worries that had been gnawing at her conscience for days...perhaps weeks even... It had all been a blur, from the moment that she awoke in the tavern, to now, as she trudged through the mire that would lead her to Angel's Point. What am I even doing?, she found herself reconsidering, He hasn't even tried to come see me. A sharp sting of regret pierced her chest in an instant. He tried to reac

"In the end I was fighting back to back with Setsuna from the guild, we... We went down together." "Did you see it too --?" , asked Elora as Katoka uttered another apology. She paused and shook her head, regretting the interjection. "I'm sorry", she started again, "I'm -- well -- it was almost more of, a lot of feelings, than a sight. There was a moment where I thought that I could still feel you, then I just -- everything started playing out so quickly. I felt so heavy, like all of my regrets and all of the things that I regretted never doing, were dragging me down" Elora took a moment t

Elora fumbled in Katoka's embrace, releasing the thorny trinket as the two of them fell to the floorboards. The marigold menu that had shielded Elora from the new world swiftly shattered into diamonds that danced around them in the daybreak. "I-I tried to g-get you out", began Kat as she desperately clung to her friend for comfort, "I-I'm so sorry." I called for you, I hoped that you would save me, she wanted to admit. Instead, she found herself raising her arms and slinging them around Katoka's neck, trying desperately to draw her closer, suspend them both in this fleeting moment.

Light...warmth...stinging...pain.... Elora's senses slowly began to reawaken as a patch of sunlight drifted to rest between her eyelids. The...other side... Then, an obnoxious high-pitched chiming. Her alarm clock? No...It was...a sign -- a menu? The blurs between lapsing blinks gradually sharpened to reveal more information: System Update Complete. Welcome to 3.0. Please take the time to consult the update notes before allocating your refunded skill points. I don't... thud. thud. thud. Thud. Thud. THUD, drummed the anthem of worried footsteps as someone sprinte

Current Level: 34 Current SP: 114 Link to SP Tracking: [See Spoiler Below] Item Upgrades: N/A Notes: No items are being upgraded.

"How is Alchemy? I like dealing with plants and things so I thought I'd give it a go myself." "It's not all that great, really --", insisted Elora as a flurry of insecurity rushed through her chest, "It's just about finding random shit in the wild and smashing it together until it turns into something consumable. There's not any skill to it at all, so I'd suggest looking for something different if you're expecting a challenge--!" The green-haired woman took a sharp inhale of air, then paused as she seemed to reflect on her reactive advice. With a hesitant sigh, she relinquished, "Well...I

"Steer clear? Are you kidding? I had no idea that Raidou had such a stockpile of these things -- I could totally use them for making potions!", piped up Elora as she reopened the crate, "I think I'll just take a few for good measure, in case he'd be upset if he noticed. I don't know how particular that guy is about his inventory. It'd just be good to have some on hand for when I get around to practicing...Alchemy" Elora's speech drifted off as she began to recall her first attempt, well, failure at creating a potion. Had that been when she was still at level one? Her mission with Jackpot felt

"Now only if he would get some sun, he'd look less like the ghost of a workout junkie." "That's no problem...I'm sure that I could, like, ask him to take me on some sort of swimming quest, or something. -- They have those, right?", Elora found herself rambling, her blush painted on her cheeks like a violent sun burn as she recalled their time frolicking with fisherman Pete. And no, not like that. She found herself nodding at Katoka's suggestion to relocated, since it proved a suitable distraction from her wandering thoughts. "Yeah, somewhere more private might not be a bad idea" "May

"Calm down, Jack. I'm not gonna threaten you with it or anything! I just wanted to show you how pretty of a color it came out to be!", huffed Elora as she quickly sealed the potion bottle with a triangular cork to prevent any foul fumes from further lingering in the room. After all, Jackpot had gone out of his way and sacrificed an entire day to help her reach this moment. It would be kind of her to spare him from the aftermath of learning alchemy, especially since she couldn't currently offer him any other form of repayment. With feigned appreciation for Evangeline's assistance, the two