ChaseR

"Looks like we'll be getting a lot more time together now buddy. I'm about finished with every single quest.", he tried to tell his friend but to no avail. He continued to look at him with (probably) the same confusion, and Chase laughed. There was little he could do to communicate with the walking, croaking pinecone after all. He signalled him to follow and that he did, all the way to the attic where they rested. He didn't seem willing to sleep, and if anything, with croaks and shakes of his head he tried to protest against it.

"No, that's not why I told you to get here. Here, look.", Chase tried to explain to the familiar and opened his inventory, starting to sift through the pile all the way to the bottom where he found the framed image. Once it appeared in his hands, he held it before the frostscale pangolin and grinned. "This is my best friend, Lily. I think you'd like her. She's the reason why I've made it this far, in the game. She's why I'm here in the first place. Without her, I'd have never tried to meet you even if I was here already."

Not that he'd be having much of that anymore. With two more quests to go, he'd effectively finished every single one of them and now had nothing to do to get stronger- unless he wanted to truly stress his limits and try going for sub-dungeons as often and hard as he could. That would surely come with its own chaviats though, some which he wasn't too sure if he was up for dealing with. "... I should sort out my leveling situation later, I can't stay level 82 forever. By the time I wrap up the entire quest list, I'll have reached 83 at most, that still leaves five levels..."

As anything else that crossed his mind however, he simply shrugged it off and continued his stroll, now outside of the courtyard to his rather large abode. "I'll figure something out, I'm sure.", he nodded to himself and yawned once more, shaking his head and entering the premise, headed straight for the front door. Opening it, he found a familiar face before him. The pangolin, on the ground, croaking and tilting its head. Even if it couldn't smile, he knew that Blizz was happy to see him. 

Showing his virtual pangolin what he had just found in a quest wasn't going to be of much use, the little fellow probably didn't care half as much as he himself did in all honesty. But this had calmed him down. If that chamber would let him relive his memories, that meant he could come here whenever he felt troubled. Chase couldn't think of a single bad thing about that idea. All he had to keep in mind though was that he shouldn't be stuck up on memories. Then again, he'd completely abandoned them for the time being. It was a very pleasant change.

Now entering the settlement, he yawned and stretched slightly before snuggly putting both of his hands in his jacket, hopping on the teleporter and shouting out the name of the twenty first's settlement before he appeared right at the center of the underground town. He headed straight for the exit and turned right to go for the hot springs, where his house resided. At least near the edge of that safezone, it let him stay much closer to a place where he could relax his sore body after a hard day of questing.

And now that the image was stashed away, the chamber's doors began to open as light shone from up above. Chase began to climb the stairs and before even a minute had passed, he was back out in the open among the many trees of the forest, with both of his hands in his pockets as he let out a deep sigh. "I guess that means it's time to go home. I should find somewhere to keep this picture.", he thought as he felt a heartwarming feeling flush over his chest, unable to hold himself back from smiling.

This was... definitely a nice way to come to terms with Aincrad. He was kept away from his own people, but at least they weren't kept away from him. Maybe the line they were treading between Aincrad and the real world was much thinner on purpose, after all. "... Maybe the bedroom in the attic, near where Blizz sleeps. He'll get to see what Lily looks like too now.", he nodded to himself and hastened his pace, headed right for the settlement with the same stupid grin.

Whatever Kayaba was up to with this quest, this must have been the reward. To first see your most precious memory in the mirror, to accept its call and relive it, and then have it forever memorized in a picture. Was that how the quest was supposed to go for everybody? Because from the looks of it, Chase could stash the framed image away in his inventory too, and so he did. "... Kayaba, why did you let us access these memories if you wanted us to die in here? I'll never get through to you... But... thanks."

As much as he hated Kayaba for what he had done and wanted answers, he knew that this was way too much of a compromise that he himself wasn't obligated to have made. And yet, he still didn't lock the players' precious memories away, instead embracing them through quests such as this. Almost like a small apology for all the torment he was putting them through. 

And to that huge revelation, the both of them looked at one another skeptically before Lily chuckled. Chase did the same so rather hesitantly, and that only made her laughs grow louder and louder before they were both cackling. Be it because things got too awkward or because they were just that happy, they were laughing together one more. "The meteor shower was so pretty though... We need to look out for these more often, after all, it's beautiful, isn't it?". While the boy nodded, his eyesight began to fade out as he blinked and in almost an instant, he was back in Aincrad's twenty second floor.

In the very same chamber filled with mirrors. "... Lily... Why would the game show me this though?", he asked himself and looked down at his hands, to see himself holding... a framed picture? It was turned with its back towards him, so he flipped it. Now able to see its front side, he was surprised and even in complete disbelief initially, when he only saw the night sky and Lily in the picture. He wasn't there, but... He finally had a picture of Lily. In the game, of all places, to keep him company. 

The spectacle kept on going, and the two were quiet throughout. One after the other, the stars kept falling and letting the duo marvel freely, relieved of all their cares in the beauty of the scene. Even Chase who was reluctant about the whole walk to there felt happy to have rushed now, since that meant they could make it in time. He was smiling back then, but now looking back at it... he felt like his eyes would tear up and he'd start crying out of nostalgia. "... At least you weren't the one that got trapped in here, Lily."

By the time it was over, Lily turned to Chase and started to clap her hands. "I can't believe we actually made it. Did you see how many there were?!". With the same childish glee that Lily laughed and cherished the moment, the young man replied. "Are they always like this?". That was definitely awkward, and if anything, it was to be expected. He was even less adept at talking with others and expressing himself didn't come off as natural. "... H-How am I supposed to know, isn't this my first time too?"

The girl remained quiet, and the boy took a page out of her book and did the same. They both devoted their full attention to the stars, although nothing changed. They stayed there, and nothing new came to brighten up the night sky. That was of course, until another one of the falling stars made its appearance, getting the not-so-blue boy to laugh excitedly as he sat up. "There it is!", he said and looked at Lily who nodded in return, returning the smile. "Yeah, I see it! There's gotta be more!"

And more there was, as was expected. More stars began to fall down from the sky, creating a beautiful spectacle for the both of them to marvel in silence. They were very excited for their first meteor shower, and it was definitely the most unique experience they'd had together. Chase knew that, and now more than anything, he agreed with the sentiment and felt the same as he did back in that day. "... Lily..."

"Hmm... I don't know. College is probably going to be more important so I'll have to study harder and get through it. Same as some other lass I know.", he looked to the side at Lily, to receive a sheepish smile in response. "I never really did make up my mind about college, did I? Not that it matters now. I wonder what Lily actually picked. She was interested in-.", his train of thought was interrupted by Lily who scratched the back of her neck sheepishly and offered a shrug. "Law sounds interesting, but I think I'm more of a financials person. It's probably less of a headache too."

"I remembered right. I'll just have to find out about her when I'm out. I'm sure she'd be waiting for me.". Silence took over the hill as they quietly continued to watch, letting the gentle breeze blow over them. At one point, Lily began to hum on her own, a tune that Chase was all too familiar with. Before he could comment it though, something grabbed his attention at the sky- was that it? "Hey hey, did you see that? Was that it even?"

"... Think the binoculars will help you any?", he asked somewhat dissuaded, only to get a shrug and chuckle in response. "You never really know, so it won't hurt to bring something this light with me along.". Whatever, she wasn't wrong. "... I remember this meteor shower... It's about to start, in a few minutes. How long has it been since I was actually back out in the real world?". Silence took over, only to be broken by the whistling of a gust that shook the grass and threw a strand of hair in front of Lily's face. The boy had no choice but to look to the side, and almost sneer at her.

"Don't look at me like that you gremlin.", she proceeded to say and that just got him laughing as he sat up and cocked an eyebrow. And so he retorted "I only know one person that's short enough to be one.", getting the both of them to start laughing before dropping back on the grass once more. "What do you think now that we're over with school? Living a free life's what's it about or are you going to get back to your usual hardcore studying?". It wasn't necessary for either of them to call her out on the tease, given how little Chase really bothered with schoolwork past what was the bare necessary, but...

With a low hiss, Chase turned back to the sky and patted right next to him for her to approach. And that she did. They were barely any younger than they are now- at least when Chase entered Aincrad. It was his dearest memory, but one that hadn't been made too far back. A very recent meteor shower that was visible only in some parts of the world; and it just so happened to be when the two's families were taking an excursion to one of said parts. No better coincidence could have taken place after finishing high school, honestly.

"Sit down or you'll have rushed me for nothing and I'll owe you nothing too.", the brunette poked at her, only for Lily to chuckle and sit beside him, eventually laying down next to him and stargazing along with him. She did hold a pair of binoculars on one of her hands, but it was more so just in case she saw anything rustling in the grass or thought she'd get a better look at anything in the distance. "You really like being grumpy, don't you?", she asked, and to that she got the only reasonable response. "... Quiet you."

"Cut me some slack... For crying out loud...", he groaned and finally pushed himself off his feet, looking at her with an almost sheepish smile. "Slower..? Please.". And with that, it finally appeared as though Lily caved in. "Fiiine, but you owe me a sprint around the park someday. You'll join me since you didn't want to run here, 'kay?". That was a compromise he could make, sure. He just nodded at her and they continued to walk, reaching closer and closer to the top of the hill they were trying to run across this whole time.

Minute after minute, they got closer and closer until eventually, they reached its highest point. All that after getting down a whole other hill, sheesh. And with that victory now down, Chase plopped onto the grass and huffed, throwing both his hands behind his head. "I think this will be the best spot for the meteor shower.". Lily didn't seem to be agreeing with him so much as she did enjoy picking apart his thoughts. "Oh gee, I wonder why we'd come here otherwise, captain obvious.".

Just when Chase was about to crack a smile, he heard those two damned words again. 'Firm Anima'. His face instantly hardened and for a moment, a sharp, hateful glare appeared in his eyes before he masked it as just disinterest. He nodded quietly, putting one of his hands in his pocket and just smiling a bit at the cloak. "... I see. It sounds like a lot has happened."

He didn't say much after that. The mention of that godforsaken guild was enough to get his mind back on the whole mess of a confrontation with Freyd and his mind started to run through all the bullshit he was probably spreading about himself. "... It better be over soon cause if this bullshit keeps up, I swear to god.", his train of thought kept on going, as he awkwardly coughed and looked ahead of them, starting to move forward again. "The monster should be around here.". His voice was completely different and if anything, he didn't feel the same either. He was never one to speak that much but now if anything, he was being abrupt on purpose almost. "... Sorry.", the blueberry blurted out without saying much of anything else, awkwardly shifting his grip on his sword's hilt.

Although no verbal signal was given, Chase's duty was obvious- kill this, wipe the floor with it maybe, and then move on to the next one. He knew that with how low level Grimm really was though, they'd have to do something for all the energy he was expending. Otherwise, he'd be out of it for a fair while if he kept giving it his all while the bluehead killed everything rather effortlessly.

"If you're beginning to get tired, try cutting down on the damage. Use weaker attacks and since I bring them so close to death, just swoop in for the kill. I'll do the heavy lifting since my energy is way too much for my own good. You can give it your all when we reach something harder, alright? You should be able to tell from my damage on hit when my sword doesn't act up.". He meant that his sword would act up in a good way, but it was clear by now that they both knew. And with this floor taken care of after a swift slash from the blue boy, they moved up the stairs and the same nightmare inducing scene repeated. "... I didn't mind at first but it's starting to bother me a bit now."

As soon as the roar sounded, Chase quietly gave a look back to the bunch. They were low levels but still holding up their own much too well against this menace. Hell, Aquan completely stopped it dead in its tracks, while Grimm managed to hit it for a fair amount of damage. They were doing everything perfectly so far, and Valentine used a spell of all things to help Chase's energy regenerate even faster?

There was something that bothered the bluehead though. That was Aquan's behavior. "Hey, water man? What's wrong? You paralyzed the thing, cheer up. It's going to be dead in a-", he was interrupted by stomping headed right his way as he hissed and dropped his sword down, throwing his body right at Piasuhon with his eyes squinted as he held it still. "G-Get a few more hits in, I guess...", he told them in a disgruntled voice, bothered by the fact he couldn't end it right then and there. The paralysis was meant to last much longer than this, damn it. Maybe it's because he was still a low level, but Chase never remembered the buff working that way. Regardless, he had to hold it still for the rest now- and that he'd do.

If anything, the more Ariel talked, the more apologetic she seemed to become. She scanned the area before proceeding to reply to him, which was rather odd. Like she'd just woken up, or so he figured. "Oh, I see. I had a dog once. I was ten.", he said with a small grin and crouched to pet Simba, only to stop as soon as he saw the slightest hint of annoyance from the little fellow.

"N-Nothing like that then.", he quietly muttered to himself before hearing the remark about his relationship. He wasn't going to get into it or anything, but it wasn't something he felt 'glad' about being given condolences. "No, it's... it was a bad relationship, I probably shouldn't have said yes. It was my first but I don't think it's my thing. I work better alone now, especially with this thing.", he grunted and looked down at his sword, giving it a somewhat troubled look before sighing and looking ahead of them. "My shop is still in the first and my ho- Oh right, I got a house. It's up in the twenty first, but it's a whole estate. Pretty great, right? Just... too much space for one person. Feels kinda lonely at times.". Even when he ended up sharing more about himself, it somehow took a more lonely twist. That kind of described Chase as a whole though right now. He thought he'd be a high enough level to protect people, but there's barely any people that want to go out into the field, let alone be protected. As of now, he was just killing everything on his own and nothing more than that really.

He began to walk forwards into the distance, throwing a hand behind him to start scratching his neck nervously again. "The lake should be around here. I'll see if I can wake it up, come.". And on the way there, things began to get a bit too quiet for his taste. Not that too quiet existed for Chase, but given this was his reunion with someone he felt admittedly much too familiar, he wanted to get a few words in. This was his first taste of 'meeting an old friend', after all. "How come you left your guild? I don't like them so I never joined one."

The smile, the kind reply, he could tell those weren't fully natural for her, but... He wouldn't say a thing. On one hand, he didn't want to be treated like a child. On the other, he was reaching for this form of warmth anywhere he could at this point- it was very much accepted and just got a brighter, toothy smile out of him before she mentioned the avalanche monster.

"Oh, you're doing Absolute Zero? It's in some lake- at least when I fought...", his words faded while his mind trekked a while back, remembering how he'd done this quest. He was just standing near the lake while NIGHT was giving it her all, ice skating around the monster and shredding it to pieces bit by bit. "Well, I've done the quest, but... I didn't really fight at all. Would you mind if I stuck along? I can show you how much better I've become too.", he said with an awkward grin as he pulled his blade from its sheathe, revealing a heavy, stone sword. Or at least it would be heavy, but its blade was completely dull and broken just a bit above the hilt. It got a bit sharper towards the break-point but... "I can help you wrap up your quest list too. I'm bound to get some levels from killing the bosses one more time, plus... Any combat experience protecting others will help.". Somewhere towards the end of his ramblings he noticed the expression on the blonde's face though. He sympathized with it, maybe too much, able to understand exactly what she felt as he dropped the smile and looked at her with the same blank face as when they first met. "... What's making you like this floor so much? I like the cold and my ex lives here. Uh... We started out after you dropped me off but she kind of... gave up."

As soon as her face softened up, with almost a childish glee, Chase smiled back and nodded. He seemed much less surprised and more at ease now- honestly, the first image that he'd associated with a friendly face when he first entered Aincrad was Ariel's overall figure. It was only natural after the schooling on some terms and help with his profession.

The small familiar that she seemed to have brought along had fallen to the ground, and she was now trying to pick it- her? The tiny lion up, either way. "Oh, I'm just looking around. I've little to do after I finished all the quests, and everybody else is too busy to run sub-dungeons with me.", he said almost proudly and puffed his chest out a bit, before laughing and starting to rub the back of his neck. "I think I overdid it on questing... I've reached level 82 and by this point, there's three people I've met a higher level than me... N-No, four? And uh... I've met much more than that.", he clarified a bit awkwardly, probably relieving Ariel with how inept he (still) was when it came to words. "Are you up to something? The monsters are too weak for you to loot them here, right?"

After a few weeks of questing with new friends he made, Chase was just resting in the fourth. Needless to say, he'd made plenty of memories and as of now when all quests were done and over with, he was just coming here every now and then for a stroll. He loved the snow, after all. That's when, while looking around one of the NPCs stalls, he saw something in the corner of his eye.

He thought to ignore it at first but it wasn't long before he gave in and turned out of curiosity. That back, the hair, everything... That whole attire he was very fond of solely because that's how he started his adventure, right? "... Ariel?", he asked in the back of his head before exiting the shop and running right behind. With louder and louder steps through the white blanket, Chase eventually stopped behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, huffing. "Ariel! It's me, Chase.", he said with a small grin, shifting all his weight to his knees as he looked down at the ground. "The snow is too heavy and makes me feel all bloated... Nngh.". Not that he didn't know running in the snow was hard in the first place of course. He seemed different though. Instead of his jacket and shorts, he was sporting a deep blue overcoat, a much too short sword hanging by his left hip in its scabbard and chains wrapped all around his left arm. "I-It's been a while, right?"

ChaseR: HP: 1670/1670 | EN: 164/164 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 43 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | HOLY: 12 | PARA: 9-10 | BH: 83 | V.(DEF): 83 | HBS: 16 | LD: 5

"Fine, but as soon as you're ready we're going full speed. It's the only time we're together during a meteor shower, come on! Rest faster!". She kept running her mouth as Chase lowered his head and put all of his weight on his knees, raising it just to look at the female. Long black hair, a tracksuit with her sleeves pulled up and her arms on her waist. "I won't rest faster just... cause you told me to...", he tried to talk with her despite all of his huffing and panting, only to get a groan from Lily. "Are you just trying to take longer?", she asked somewhat annoyed only to get a worried glance from Chase.

"N-No, I mean even if you tell me I won't recover energy faster... Just cut me some slack, I'm nowhere near... as athletic, whewf...". The bluehead wasn't wrong any, but he knew his hair wasn't blue back in the real world. It was brown. Blue was just the color he stuck with back when he joined Aincrad, to stick out much less- a stupid plan, that probably didn't work out too well. Then again, everybody looked like a rainbow so it mattered little. Moments passed, and the two kept standing. "C'mon, are you still resting or what?"

"Come on, pick up your pace!", she shouted with her hand holding Chase's tightly. It wasn't as much romantic as it was in order to not let him keep lagging on behind and taking his merry time. The sky was clear as ever and it was nighttime- there were a few clouds of course, but that's how it always was wherever they had gone off for their little excursion. "I'm right behind you, cut me some slack!", he tried to retort to his friend with a somewhat annoyed attitude, struggling to keep up with her.

Despite his abilities in the game, back in the real world and especially a while back, he was nowhere near that good with keeping up a good speed for a fairly long distance, let alone as long as they were running back then. Down a hill too, no way. "The moon isn't going anywhere, slow down!", he continued trying to retort but to no avail. If anything, that motivated Lily to keep going faster and faster.

Nothing. No monsters spawned, and no noise sounded from anywhere. If anything, there was but one surprise. The room lit up, and it appeared to be full of mirrors. Somewhat hesitantly, Chase began to sheathe his sword once more and looked around, seeing something faint in the mirror. "..?", he wondered and approached it silently. That's when he noticed a pair of familiar, blue eyes staring at him through it.

At that moment, any sense of excitement inside of him died down momentarily as he gave the same confused look to the woman back. This was supposed to be a reflection, but... "... Lily?", he hesitantly asked out, walking towards the mirror and holding a hand out as he reached out toward it, but nothing. She didn't move any and continued to look blankly, blinking at the same time that he did. She seemed to be muttering something though. "It's beautiful, isn't it?". Behind her, he could see it starting to get ever so slightly more apparent. A shooting star. Followed by many, many more trying to keep up with it. "... that night...", he mumbled lowly to himself and before he knew it, he was lost in memories and all too vividly reliving this same scene.

And so, he kept on looking in order to find whatever it was he had to. There was nothing discouraging him or holding him back. Alkor's memories were bad and he didn't want him to feel that way, but they barely knew one another. He felt bad enough about resurfacing these scenes in his mind to leave on his own after all. Chase wanted to be there for as many as he could, but... he wouldn't bite the bullet for someone else. Otherwise, he'd move back with them.

"Right. I just gotta keep on moving forward all the time.", he nodded to himself and continued his search, unsure of what to find and where, let alone when. He got his answer much sooner than expected though. A set of stairs, descending into the ground. He quietly moved on further inside, with his sword pulled out of its sheathe before the door shut right behind him. That meant he was trapped in there, and now some monster would show up, right?

[The Memory Chamber has been found.]

Maybe he just wasn't in the right state of mind in order to go around farming monsters 'unofficially', more so unprepared than anything else. He walked through the forest, taking corners and looking left and right for whatever it was he had to. There wasn't anywhere clear to go to, only an area ahead of him to scan and little else. Well, scan around at least.

 Nothing. It was hiding from him. No matter where he looked, he found nothing noteworthy. Whenever he thought he did, he would notice some other ent nearby like those he killed during his previous trips down here to find a literal godsend and failed to. He decided it'd be best to just take it easy and keep looking, he wasn't in any rush. After all, right now he was just excited to have it around; another quest with a mystery reward instead of anything else.

Chase was all too aware of how excited he was. Be it because this felt like his first real 'dungeon' that he had discovered on his own or because he had set high expectations for the monsters, he was pumped to continue cleaving right through every single one of them. The prospect of an all too powerful weapon at the very end wasn't any less good, too.

Surprisingly enough, he used a different technique this time as he put all his balance on the back of his heels and spun, slamming the flat side of his broken sword right into the dragon knight's cheek, sending them flying to the side and shattering before they got the chance to hit the ground. "Off to the third.", he said with a low chuckle and began to ran right for the stairs that appeared before them, seeming unable to get enough. "Sorry if I'm rushing. But it's my first dungeon too, despite my level. Er... With people I trust at least. Or person. You.", he tried to explain and by the time he had, they were at the next floor with another large egg that a dragon knight broke out of. He scratched the back of his head, mumbling lowly to himself. "They're so fragile though... Maybe they'd be a challenge for Ozwald but..."