Them

With Zackariah's request out of the way, Cleo finally explained why she was there - Dorian's folly, the loan - and the older man only chuckled in response. He informed her that the loan wasn't his but to try another associate of the mayor's, a blacksmith called Lyle. A pop-up appeared to announce to the player that they'd completed the first quest and that another began - <<The Second Lesson>> - Find the Blacksmith.

As her business was concluded and with no reason to stay, she bid the gentle Alchemist farewell. "It was lovely meeting you," she said, offering a hand that Zackariah shook in response.

"Likewise. Do please come again." His expression was kind, like a grandfather, and his palm warm to the touch. Cleo, pausing for a moment before beaming a smile, left the shop, waving one last time as she came out onto the busy streets of the first-floor city.

That last exchange had taken her by surprise, for it was the most human interaction she'd had in the game thus far, and the Alchemist wasn't human. He was an AI, unable to feel, yet the radiating warmth of his hand would have been natural enough to fool anybody. She couldn't decide whether it was comforting or dystopian levels of terrifying that, even if other players weren't always the nicest, some of the game's NPCs might well be good enough at conversation to keep a socialite such as her from going insane. Oddly, perhaps it was both.

Cleo started by carefully lowering the material gently into the beaker. Next, she poured a vial of strange, glittery orange liquid into it, about halfway until the material was fully submerged. Applying heat, she waited until the beaker began to bubble, taking care not to let the liquid become too energetic. In went a tiny jar of viscious red liquid, rapidly shifting the brew's color into a shade of crimson, darkening with each passing second as the bubbling began to cease. Eventually, and with steady hands, she gripped the mouth of the potion bottle with a pair of prongs, taking care not to let it slip from her grasp. Slowly, she lowered the bottle to a nearby rack, placing it next to Zackariah's, and - with the aforementioned 'poof' - Cleo finished the potion. "Nice!" she exclaimed after putting the tongs down, and she turned to the Alchemist for his approval. "Alright guy, tell me, how'd I do?"

"My, dear, you're a natural! Sure, it's a little rough around the edges, perhaps could have used a lower heat and such and such." Zackariah held the potion up to his eye, carefully inspecting its opacity. "All in all, a job very well done. Well, I can't let such talent leave empty-handed. Please, take some of my backstock as compensation for your efforts."

ID: 203787 | CD: 5 | Craft Healing Potion | Success - Uncommon Quality (1/1)

"First, the ingredients." Zackariah inspected the pile of materials on his worktable with great intent, as if searching for the very best one to conduct his demonstration. "Well, such a fine collection! You've brought me some tip-top materials! Why don't we go with this one."

Truthfully, Cleo couldn't tell any difference between them at all. To her, they looked like generic things, each identical down to the very last imperfection and presumably serving the same purpose. Still, not wanting to offend the man, or perhaps to humor herself a little bit, she played along. "A fine choice." Sticking her boot against the wall, she leaned back with her arms folded to watch the Alchemist at work.

It was a simple process, nothing similar to typical depictions of potion-making. There wasn't any flare that one might expect, not a woosh nor a bang, but instead a sort of underwhelming puff. "Aha, still got it," bragged Zackariah. He took a step back and beckoned Cleo forwards, to which she moved away from the wall and took up position in front of the table. "Your turn. Now, remember, you want to make a Health Potion. These materials won't do for anything else."

In awe of her luck, Cleo spotted yet another peculiar-looking plant; An herb reminiscent of rosemary with a crescent, purple leaf at its top. Immediately, a notification chimed out to alert her that the quest status had changed, now displaying the simple objective: Return to Zackariah's Shop. She huffed triumphantly. "Well, that wasn't half bad!" It'd been a fruitful trip outside of the city walls and proof that, perhaps, there was less to fear on the outside than initially thought, yet she felt it was quite the right time to head on back into the city.

A short time later and Cleo was safely back within the city walls. Having greeted Dorian with a friendly wave and receiving another back from the Mayor, the player was in high spirits as she approached the Alchemist's shop once more, materials at the ready for whatever was next. As soon she pushed open the door, the soft-spoken man behind the counter immediately sprang up with joy in his eyes. "Why, that was swift! Now, let me show you some tricks of the trade."

ID: 203786 | LD: 19 | Material Search | Success! (5/5)

Another gorgeous flower led to Cleo's fourth material and left just one outstanding before she could return to Zackariah's. Whether blind luck or a natural knack for foraging, the task had been a lot easier than Cleo initially anticipated - then again, as a first-floor quest, it was one of the easiest in the game and the first one that had led her outside the safety of the city. Maybe it wasn't so bad out here? A quick scan of the environment revealed no threats, none of the make-believe monsters which she'd made up in her mind, lying in wait for a taste of Cleo. The odd boar was roaming the roads ahead, grunting and groaning, but they were easy enough to avoid. Perhaps, another day, she would venture further out. "Yes," she decided, "Tomorrow."

Nevertheless, she circled and started to go back to the city entrance. There was bound to be another material on the way, figured Cleo, and as much as she was beginning to feel comfortable, she still picked at the skin of fingers. There was still nervousness about her. It was a step in the right direction. A leap, even. Tomorrow, she would try a jump.

ID: 203771 | LD: 14 | Material Search | Success! (4/5)

Further reminiscing, Cleo started to wonder what life would have been like if she hadn't put on the NerveGear, a gift from Dad. Perhaps, instead of diving into a fantasy world immediately, if she had waited until the following day and heard of the game's true purpose before entering it, she would have been given the thumbs up from her psychiatrist, and her mental state declared stable. University would have been an option again. Friends, a return to socializing, and the life she longed for, long before SAO.

Nothing good would come of hoping for the past to change, a realization that the defeated Cleo accepted with a sigh. To make a sad situation even more so, a stunning flower which might well have been a tangible material in steadier hands crumbled to nothing in her palm, and the wind picked up as if to cackle at the player's failure.

ID: 203770 | LD: 8 | Material Search | Fail! (3/5)

Cleo's thoughts began to drift, once weary now eyes floating towards the marshmallow clouds. When the game started and 10,000 people became trapped in a madman's fantasy, she wondered how her parents initially reacted. Did they want to pull the NerveGear off before anything broke on the News? Assuming that anything did come up on the News, she supposed. In local time, it was already late into the night, and her parents were out of town for a conference in the morning. Most likely, they had already left before learning anything about it. The only one that might have been inside was Sven, her little brother, but even so, he was hardly one to bother Cleo nor want anything to do with her. Deep down, there was hope that he might have felt different about this and that he'd made peace with their strained relationship, only wanting his older sibling back. Probably not, but she had to hope.

Another suspicious patch of grass lent itself to Cleo's attention, and an inspection of the area earned yet another material. "Am I good or what?" Fate was smiling upon the player that day, and along the path, she continued.

ID: 203769 | LD: 17 | Material Search | Success! (3/5)

A fork in the road lay ahead. On one side, far along, boars had taken to patrolling the path in hopes of charging an unwitting lone player. With a resolute "Nope," Cleo chose the other way and trekked merrily around the city's outside walls. She had still been fidgeting - more accurately, picking her fingers - a habit picked up when the game first started to attempt to cope with the stress. In the real world, her hands would have begun to bleed long ago, but no such wound would ever come of it in Sword Art Online. That was good and bad; It would never cause her pain, but there was nothing to ever stop her from breaking the habit, and it would be a real bummer when they were released back into the real world.

"Hm," Cleo mumbled. To go back to the real world, was it truly possible? She knew of the front lines' efforts and roughly what floor they were on, but progress was slow. Like a prolonged legal case, the battles were few and far between, and although fate had sided with the players so far, all it would take is a single devastating monster to set the players back irreparably.

Up ahead, a flower up with petals which alternated a deep blue and a rich purple bloomed just a short way from the path. A slight detour later, Cleo was one material richer and one material closer to finishing Zackariah's request.

ID: 203768 | LD: 18 | Material Search | Success! (2/5)

The focus of Cleo's search as she approached the city walls was anything that might catch one's eye or seem out of place. Flowers, herbs, rare woods, and more. Her strides shortened as the safe zone border drew closer, becoming shorter still before eventually coming to a stop. Fidgeting restlessly, Cleo felt a familiar trepidation which made her stop at that exact spot at the gate, every single time. The nagging feeling that something would go wrong, that only terrible things could be found on the outside, would plague her thoughts, causing her to second guess any journey into the unknown.

"Breathe. You're okay. You're in control." Those words echoed throughout her thoughts, a simple phrase but quite effective, taught by her therapist when presented with a challenging situation. Cleo soldiered on through the gate with a deep breath and ventured down along a path that lined the city's outer wall. Perhaps it was beginner's luck, but a patch of long grass sandwiched between two boulders caught the player's attention, and a thorough rummage of the spot earned her the first material for the quest. After stowing it away, she gave a contented sigh and continued along the path. It was a good start.

ID: 203767 | LD: 11 | Material Search | Success! (1/5)

Walking through the door to the Alchemist's store felt like passing through a wardrobe into Narnia, if Narnia was a dusty old room filled to the rim with trinkets and apparatus which towed the line between science and fiction. The bustle of the marketplace outside faded away, replaced by gentle bubbling from elixirs being brewed across the room. Behind the counter was a man that one could only assume to be Zackariah, who had taken a second from his clearly busy schedule to greet Cleo in kindness. "Morning," started Cleo as she traveled across the shop floor, examining various shelves lined with all sorts of decoctions on her way toward the counter until his flustered voice brought her to a stop.

Another request. Cleo blinked, arms folded, and sighed. It was becoming somewhat of a bother and actively detracted from the alone time that she was becoming accustomed to, standing by the fence with her eyes to the skies, loafing around. "Alright, you have a deal. I need to ask something of you from the mayor afterward." That seemed to garner a nod of understanding from the man - an NPC, as Cleo kept reminding herself - and the next objective appeared to her. Five materials. How hard could that be?

Cleo stood, the heel of a boot hooked upon the lowest panel of the fencing behind her, one hand dug into a pocket, and the other sprawled across a gate. Eyes high into the sky and away with the fairies, not a thought was passing through the player's white-haired head, and a look of aloof contentedness was sprawled across her face. That was until a flustered man, the well-fashioned NPC named Dorian, had approached in haste and with certain desperation about him. It had taken a second to earn any notice from the player. In a daze and without thinking, only wanting to help somebody in need, she took a step towards him and met his eyes with a tender look, the kind that a mother might give to a curious child. "Me? What can I do for you, sorry?"

The request was simple, if not strange, and one that Cleo wasn't entirely sold on. It was reminiscent of debt-collecting. Sure, she wouldn't have to break any knee-caps to pick up payment for a late loan - at least, she hoped not - but a Mayor should have his affairs in order, even more so if it's concerned with the town treasury. This was, however, just a game, and the player accepted the quest shortly after mulling it over. After more exposition from the man and further proof that he was unlikely to win the next election, the first quest objective appeared: Go to Zackariah's Shop.

{Them}

Username Them Real Name Clementine Belenski Age 19 Gender Uncertain (AFAB) Height 5'7"

{Past}

Originating from Bergen, Norway, Cleo is the child of two executives with heavy sway in the tech industry. A ball of boundless energy as a young girl, she was talkative to no end and impossible to control, much to the chagrin of her busy parents. As a child, Cleo struck up a keen interest in performing arts, her outgoing tendencies translating well on-stage. By her teenage years, she'd served in a dozen productions, one such show held on the grandest stage in Bergen.

Raised by her friends rather than family, Cleo flourished among a troupe of like-minded folks who shared her love for the arts, directing the love onto them that she lacked from her parents, who were always occupied by their work. To distract from her miserable home life, after her 16th birthday, she would often stay with friends and sparsely visit home, save to grab fresh clothes, scrounge food from the fridge, and charm her way into money from her Father. She kept up her nomadic lifestyle until she could move away for University, securing a spot across the country and, more importantly, far away from home.

She relished her newfound independence for a time. Despite being entirely removed from her old way of life, she managed well enough socially, forging new friendships with those she met in her classes.

However, as her responsibilities started to pile up, the faults from her previous lifestyle reared their ugly head; two years of running away from problems left her ill-prepared to deal with the hardships of independence. She became overwhelmed with studies, housework, and the day-to-day tribulations of being her own person.

Slowly, she spiraled out of control. Alcohol became her coping mechanism, leading to a stint of substance abuse, culminating in a hospital visit before the Winter break. Alerted to her troubling behaviors, Cleo's parents caught wind of her situation. They insisted that she return home, going so far as to threaten to revoke their promise of funding her studies if she declined. Left with no choice in the matter, she agreed.

She would not return to University.

Some weeks later, Cleo's Father presented her a gift—a NerveGear, shipped overseas from Japan—as consolation for being locked up in the house under her mother's watchful eyes. She thought it a misguided gift, given what little interest she had ever shown in video games. However, with the release of Sword Art Online late into the night, she waited up anyway, itching to get outside and feel the digital sun's warmth on her skin.

{Allies}

Quote

Nari-Lanreth - Nari came to Cleo's aide during a dangerous encounter on the fifth floor, and helped to realise the bond between Cleo and Éli.
Éli - Cleo's familiar, a cat with an attitude whose tail sets aflame in daylight. Though Nari helped Cleo to train the little man and curb his attitude, his rebellious tendencies sometimes peak through.
Rebekah - After Cleo bumped into Rebekah—almost literally—the two went on to tackle the First Few Lessons questline.
Krysta - Two tailors, they endured Earning a Living and received Textillion's blessing together.
Cruscius^NPC - The first person that Cleo met in the game, Cruscius introduced her to the most basic aspects of RPG games.

{Enemies}

Quote

Yrden^NPC - An enemy to Cruscius, Cleo is neutral about him but acknowledges her friend's distrust of the man, and continues to be weary of him.

{Traits}

Quote

Actor - Cleo can act the part. An actor in a past life, she puts on a convincing front when necessary.
Selfless - She places higher importance on those around her than upon herself; selflessness is a curse as much as it is a gift, however.
Nimble - With a history in the performing arts, Cleo is naturally swift and nimble, a necessary boon for a non-gamer trapped in a world of strange, unfamiliar threats.

Dramatic - Cleo plays things up, making them seem bigger than they really are.
Impulsive - She makes rash, sudden decisions, which can get her into a spot of bother.

Gender Questioning - Cleo struggles with her gender identity. Although out to her closest friends in the real world, she chooses to face this struggle alone in SAO, trust nobody to keep her secret and not use it against her.
Fear of Loneliness - A social butterfly, Cleo struggles outside the company of others. Amongst a population of people far from her usual crowd, it remains a point of contention for Cleo, wondering where - if anywhere - she can fit in.
Inexperienced - The Drama-sphere hardly prepared Cleo for Aincrad, a madhouse full of fantastical and mystic threats. Despire her inexperience, she trains regularly, and is confident enough to tackle regular mobs alone.

{Skills}

Quote

Level 18 | Total SP 80 | Unused SP 1

> Dagger Rank 5 - (30 SP)
    + Stamina - (4 SP)
    + Precision - (2 SP)
    + Ferocity - (4 SP)

> Combat Shift: AOE - (10 SP)

> Cloth Armor Rank 3 - (14 SP)
    + Athletics - (4 SP)

> Combat Mastery: Damage Rank 3 - (13 SP)

> Energist - (8 SP)

> Extra Skills
    + Meditation
    + Concentration

{Inventory}

{Roleplay Log}