Freyd

Freyd stood on the outskirts of the Red Cloak's encampment, the stalwart figure of their Knight Captain Harkens standing stoically at his side. The older NPC watched on as the vampiress decimated his men in the valley below, as if he was somehow silently hoping that one of them might pull off a miracle and hold his ground or rally the rest. It wasn't happening. Freyd had completed this quest enough times to know that those men were doomed, which was why he had one leg propped up on a soot-covered boulder and a ham sandwich firmly held in his left hand. "You might want to get in there s

Arms crossed in front of him, Freyd listened in silence and without reaction, letting Lium tell it as he saw it. When he was done, Freyd just gazed at the crystal, recalling what it had done to the likes of Mari. At least she had earned it in the worst possible fashion. Lium had just stolen a ship? And now Celeste and some other players were along for the ride? Who was he kidding? Celeste would have led the charge, damning the consequences as she went. "Reckless." He shook his head, disappointment clear on his face. "But you've made your own bed. I just hope it doesn't get y

"Dustin? Dustin. Dustin? Nope. Nothing." Freyd shrugged, unable to place the name. "Knew a kid named Dustin back in elementary school. He was one of the glue-sniffers, and always had wisps of the gunk trailing out of his left nostril. But I'm guessing that's not you. He was shorter and a lot rounder, and black. So, definitely not." Leaning forward from his seated lotus, Freyd unfolded his legs beneath him to rise like some sort of humanoid scissor lift, all lanky and wiry beneath endless folds of dark cloth. The man's face was pale and unremarkable, a pair of stormy blue eyes

"We both suffer from the same problem, my friend. It's in our nature to avoid being known. Add to that a degree of professional obligation and it is easy to forget that there are situations where we actually need to be able to let down our guard, at least a little." He tossed the two miniature carrot bits randomly behind him, one snagging a drape and falling into some large, ornately decorated vase with a solid 'thong' sound. The other caught the rim of someone's neglected, half-empty tea cup and skipped into a nearby pond, teasing some poor unassuming koi with its wibbly-wobbly dance.

Wondrous, deliberately crafted chaos erupted as the Ifrit's guns turned and started firing upon their own. Razwell's order suddenly shone as betrayal to those who would come to their emperor's aid. Some would surely fall back on faith and point out that only the starboard batteries had turned against them, until the same happened to port. Blazing arcs of energy-infused metal filled the air all around the flagship, ripping through the frigates and destroyer escorts all around. Some took evasive action out of self-preservation. Others took the hits out of confusion. Freyd just watched all

Having put his waiting to good use, Freyd was chatting up one of the local academic pseudo monk dudes when Lium arrived through the portal. "Thank you kindly for the information," he said, bowing slightly to the woman, who returned the gesture, then turned to walk away. Her deep blue robe verged on the edge of violet in colour and seemed unusually vibrant for such dark cloth, and she seemed to be getting carried away by a soft breeze rather than actually walking. "Long time man, how goes it?" Freyd's demeanor soured at the sight of the man's icon paired with a carefree, jovial

"Yeah. I know a few places," he replied, already meandering his way back towards town. Freyd tipped his cowl at a certain guard as they passed through the out gates, thankful that he hadn't required a rescue this time around. That would have been embarrassing in the extreme. Even beneath the clear blue sky and beaming sun of the first floor, Freyd felt like a certain gloom remained between himself and his old friend. Her winds changed direction too swiftly and suddenly for him to offer her the blind trust that she seemed to want, but he was still willing to give things a chance to work out

A nod of understanding and a door left open to future possibilities. They'd managed it. This time had been different. Not perfect. Never perfect. But different, and they had both lived. Progress. It took every ounce of will not to rip her in half when she wrapped her arms around him. The machine wanted blood before information. Betrayal! 'No,' he replied, arguing against himself. No harm done. No harm given. Give her a chance, or she could be lost forever. A gentle pat on the back instead, offering encouragement and hope. Freyd was keeping his promise and taking a cha

Freyd sipped silently at his tea, watching Kodo out of the corner of his eyes and trying to puzzle his way through the problem. Scenarios played out behind his mind: logical arguments and philosophical reasonings. Glancing over at Lium, he took a deep breath and simply tossed them all aside. "It's okay not to know." Porcelain clinked against porcelain as his cup returned to base. "As much I regret having to point is out, your sister is gone. You know this, and it sounds like it has been more than a while. You need a new rock to cling to, or else to become a rock yourself. F

Freyd laughed. Not in a mocking manner, but because he had been in Xena's shoes. "Yeah. Cardinal can be really weird. Don't overthink it." Walking over to her side, he hoofed the original target like a football, punting the digital pig skin high into the air. It came crashing down to the ground several dozen yards away and exploded into a messy pile of pixels. Snorting at the comparison between their original venture, he looked around the scene for drops. "Oh. They must have gotten rid of the part where you had to gather the boar tusks. Well isn't that nice. You have no idea

Freyd frowned one of those 'are you kidding me now' kinda frowns. "Seriously?" He couldn't quite keep all the frustration out of his deadpan voice. If Xena had meant to be playful, her reaction was having the opposite effect. Freyd wasn't the type of man who appreciated having his time and efforts wasted, and that was what this was starting to feel like. Nor did he have enough emotional wherewithal to let this slide off his back. He'd invested too much in the effort and was struggling with the notion of just cutting his losses and walking away. But Xena deserved better. She'd helpe

Glancing through the shadows just over Koga's shoulders, the Whisper reassured his companion. "She's not far, and perfectly capable. I'm sure she'd find her way, given enough time. You and I can improve the odds for others to do the same if we take the nearby cannon emplacements and shoot Ladonians out of the sky using their own ship." Turning to his left, Freyd then gave instructions over his own shoulder. There was no one else present. "I'll need you to do the same, on the port side. We'll regroup on the bridge afterwards. Save as many as you can." A slight, lilting

Freyd returned to the seating area where Raidou had remained, several platters full of food and drink carefully balanced in his arms. Eyes blinked as the logistics of setting down all of these items suddenly dawns. "Hrm." With a wiggle, all the items in his left arm are suddenly dispatched to inventory, freeing up one hand to assist the other. The process repeated itself in the reverse with items recalled and soon the low table between them was bedecked with all manner of snackage and goodies. "Where did the girls go," he asked aloud, wondering how they could have already bond

"My experiences with Mari were... complex. I can honestly say, given her reputation, that I'm surprised that I never got stabbed." Freyd looked disappointed. "She had such great potential to be a leader among players, but I wonder if too many burnt bridges and too much baggage had simply worn her down. Wherever she is, now, I wish her well and hope that she's found some manner of peace, and sleep to match." Mari had certainly been unique, in her attitude and stubbornness as much as her capacity for caring. It was the latter that had kept her going, but the toll would seem to have proven t

"Actually, you'd be surprised." How could he explain in a way that didn't reveal too much? He stopped advancing, lest she feel the need to bolt. That wouldn't help anyone here. "I spent a long time jumping at my own shadow, worried that it was gonna shiv me when I wasn't watching. It was terrifying when I finally pulled together enough nerve to step beyond the starting city and take my chances in the wilds - Cardinal be damned. I never felt safe then, and still don't now. Being a frontliner just paints a different kind of target on your back." He also wanted to reveal how the p

"It wasn't a thread. Not even close." " Freyd spoke softly, steadily, his arms resting at his sides without threat. Few moments could be more sensitive than those where truths were exposed. Sometimes, just ripping off the bandage was the only option, even at the risk of tearing open old wounds. "I know Laughing Coffin, and how they operate. I know that no one pisses them off and is simply left to walk away without paying some sort of a price. I know that there are ways for orange players reach into the safe zones and cause harm without ever wielding a knife. They never forget,

"That's quitter talk. We're already dead. Better to assume that and move on." A coffee carafe spawned into existence with a quartet of cups. Freyd poured himself a cup, its acrid scent offset by wafting hints of vanilla. Offering some to his table mates, he listened as Kodo pressed through the metaphor to get at the heart of his struggle. "We don't even know what time means in here, compared to the outside. Everything we cling to is an assumption. The clock itself does not even exist. It's all an illusion, and might as well be treated as one." A sip, then dose of sympathy

Could you even call it sleep? Back pressed against the trunk of a twisted old cherry tree lost on a tiny island barely twenty feet across, cold vapours swirled around him descending into the bowl and writhing over the surrounding pond in a manner both ominous and sublime. Miasmic fog covered every inch of floor thirteen, breathing back and forth across the landscape like the ragged gasps of some ailing deity whose whims no longer held any sway. Something had tugged at him. Blue eyes flickered, barely slivers beneath defiantly closed lids then further couched beneath that ever-present wool

"Oh, I never said that I didn't want to tell you anything. But I've also told you that I tend to view things in transactional terms. If you want information, sometimes you have to earn it. Quid pro quo. Isn't that how this works?" She might have expected some sort of smarmy grin on his face, only to be tempted to slap it off. Except that there was none. Freyd was dead serious. "I need you to choose, Xena. What is the nature of this relationship going to be? Are we friends, or business partners? They carry very different meanings and expectations. Either way, I must tell you

Freyd seemed to tune out as Lium spoke. Maybe it was him? Or, maybe it was the glaring orange irony bulb spinning over the man's head. Time slowed as he processed all of the available data, then sped up again as he reverted back to Kodo's original question, having blended in Lium's thoughts with his own. "Because not everyone's clockwork is tuned to the same settings, or even time zones. And don't even get me started on that daylight savings bullshit." An equally angry grab and vicious chomp fatally wounded the offending deli delight. It would never recover. Freyd, meanwhile, had c

"You're a fool, Montjoy. A damned, gullible fool, and you're dragging your friends along for the ride. She's using you, along with the rest, and you're leading them right into her hands! This is nothing less than self-inflicted checkmate. You've bound and made yourself a pet, just like that surrogate of yours." In the world that never was shadows didn't need to whisper, and could be heard by all. Montjoy debated Freyd openly, with Takeshi's soul held in the balance. How odd and confusing it must be for his friends to see his inner selves so clearly, and yet neither of them truly him

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"You're a broker." A bluntly honest answer. "You should be accustomed to this response: How do I know that my answers will not be sold?" That could hurt, but she needed to hear the truth, and she had asked. "Out of courtesy for our old friendship, I'm being forthright. But that doesn't mean I'll make it easy." A neutral guise maintained, he gave her nothing by his expression to gauge the measure of those words. Friendship required trust. And, while he wholeheartedly wanted to offer that, years had passed between them. "Sometimes, people change for the worse." "Don't play t

Freyd happened to enter the guild hall kitchen at precisely the moment that Lium sent his message. Who knew that one little black book could contain so much information? It was like someone had hacked the code and fit an extra ten thousand pages behind the original fifty, each filled to overflowing with notes six-point font. The margins had margins. And how on Earth had he written so far into the central fold that Freyd's eyes couldn't even reach the words? Fingers already pinching the bridge of his nose, something pinged and made him look up, only to see Kodo and Lium already stand

"What happened with Cardinal? Pretty sure that our digital overlord is still around and kicking. He certainly likes to kick me around every chance he gets, or that I give him. But we've come to a semblance of compromise, at least for now." Was it wrong that he liked to tease the brokers with absence of details? Xena could be both naively innocent and churlishly grumpy at times, but she was always wholesomely human. He respected that. So far as his actual difficulties with the administrative program, they had fallen by the wayside out of necessity, save a certain metaphysical battlefield