[SP-F6] Finding Myself, Part 1: The Waterfall, and the Familiar Encounters

[Vigilon 0]

Vigilon somehow had fallen asleep before his trip outside the safe zone. He found himself in a dream, but like most of his dreams, he'd never know that until it ended. He was standing in a field, wearing that oh-so-familiar crappy starter gear. He had NO idea what he was doing in that field. He looked around, and realized he was surrounded by wolves. "Eh? Huh? What, where...? How?" He made a sudden dash to the left, and the wolves were already on his tail. He saw a gate on the horizon, and he eventually reached it. "See ya, mutts!" When he managed to close the gate's door, he took a minute to breathe. He realized that he was now in his current gear all of a sudden. "What the...?" He looked ahead. It was dusk, and he was in a settlement that seemed abandoned. He walked throughout it, looking for any signs of life. There was absolutely nothing, other than the Griffin Legion's emblem written in blood. "...Crap, not these guys..." He heard a sound, and he decided it was best to leave. When he walked through the next gate, he found himself in some different gear entirely. It was mostly silver in color. "Uhh......" He then saw something appear in the distance. It was red, and it looked a bit like a portal. Whether it was or not, he decided to run into it. He felt something grasp his shoulder, and he woke up with a start. "Wha-? Where....Oh, it was just a dream..." He looked up and realized an NPC was staring at him.

[Vigilon 0]

"...Why were you sleeping on that?" The NPC asked. "Huh, now that you mention it, my memory on that is kind of a blur. Then again, I didn't get much sleep the other night." The NPC shook her head. "I don't know why male adventurers sometimes can be so restless just to realize the cost of losing sleep. A tired warrior is soon a dead one, you know." Vigilon remembered the first thing the NPC said to him, and he got up immediately, thinking the NPC had something to do with the flat stone he'd somehow fallen asleep on. "Right, I'll keep that in mind. Sorry I slept on your...well, I'm assuming it's your rock, not that I know what it's for." "This isn't just any rock. I found it at a waterfall, and took it to learn about it. It's very interesting..." The Waterfall of The Sage. That had to be the case. He'd lost sleep by sleeping on benches before, and he didn't have this problem. "Hm, I guess it is interesting how a stone retrieved from a mysterious waterfall could somehow lull me to sleep. I mean, it's a rock!"

[Vigilon 0]

"If that's the case...I'm quite busy with what I have right now, so I'm sure a capable, and hopefully well rested adventurer like yourself might be willing to do a favor, and see what you can find at the waterfall. Hopefully you've got as much brains as brawn. Here, take these, I might need you to return with some samples." If it could get his little dream-inducing sleep mishap forgiven, it would be worth a shot. "Well, I'll do what I can, and I'll be leaving immediately." With that, he started towards the safe zone's edge. Veriost had watched the conversation, but she had drifted off to sleep again on his shoulder. The trip was about an hour and a half. At least he didn't run into any monsters along the way! "Ah, found it! The map works wonders when going to places I've been before!" He looked in his inventory to pull out the tools he would need to accomplish the favor.

[Vigilon 0]

He pulled out a jar, and filled it with water from the waterfall. He pulled out another jar and stuffed it with dirt(Hey, you never know!), then pulled out another for some various plants he saw around(arguably, this jar was the largest). "Right, now what other samples could I collect...? Ah, I know! It's a long shot, but I'll never know until I try!" He grabbed his last jar, then two stones, and then he began attempting to pound the stones into dust. One rock shattered, the other rock was successfully reduced to a dirt-like substance. He swept the stuff into the jar, then he took a good look at the scenery that was the waterfall. He placed all the sample jars into his inventory, then he walked over to the flat stone...aaaaaaand he fell asleep on it. It was just like last time. Surprisingly comfortable, and he would slip back into his mind...

[Vigilon 0]

Vigilon opened his eyes, and he was back in the stone keep he'd purged some time ago. "Huh. Well, I guess I'm back here again." He looked around, and realized there was a door behind him. He opened it slightly to see the waterfall as an image, with what seemed like some kind of wormhole surrounding the image. Clearly, he could return when he wanted. However, he was curious. What had changed or happened since he was gone? Or, at least, wasn't looking. This was somehow supposed to be his mind, after all. He walked through the halls, and it seemed that the keep still had no roof, but it looked more like a keep than an endless stone room. Was there anything else other than the keep was his next question. He saw someone in silver robes, and he wondered if that was the "Himself" that he ran into the last time he was here.

[Vigilon 0]

He walked over, and the hooded person turned around. Strange, this person still had many features like Vigilon, but the only differences were in his hair and eye colors, the hair being blue, and the eyes being emerald green. "Ah, I had a feeling you came here. Do you seek knowledge?" "Um, you look different." "Nonsense! If you want to see yourself that way, just let me know and I'll try calling the others!" Vigilon was confused. "...What?" "Feel free to know me as caution, wisdom, or sensibility." Things began to make more sense now. "You freed me from that door, the one that Xariz built." Vigilon remembered the moment. "Ah, so you could only take this form after recovery...kind of strange, to be honest." "I wouldn't be surprised." "Hm...Could I possibly take a look around here before you call the others?" "Hey, it's your head. Do as you please!"

[Vigilon 0]

Vigilon wandered until he saw another "Himself", except he not only had altered hair and eye color, but he was wearing heavy armor, and wielding the weapon of a powerful warrior, a battle axe. The hair was red, and the eyes were an amethyst purple. "Ah, you're here. We've kinda been expecting you, ever since Sensibility learned you were returning. Thanks for freeing me from Gravizahk's door, by the way. Call me Courage, Might, or even Guts." "So, if all of you can combine or split into me at will..." He stopped there and became absolutely confused. "Hey now, no need to get confused. By the way, if you're looking for Hunkunsahrot, he's split and entered the four of us." "...Hun-kun-what?" Veriost seemed to only get the long word. "Well, what did you get from that?" He said as he looked at the small white frost dragon. Her eyes could be read as, "Hero-Light-Might, unusual name..."

[Vigilon 0]

Vigilon looked back at Might. "So one of you has a name in dragon tongue?" "He is the dragon. Duh!" "...Ok." Vigilon remembered the metal dragon that had a hard time fending off iron foes back when he was first here. "...Rrrrrright, well, see you later, Might!" He wandered further, soon finding another "Himself", only he was still the same figure that was freed from the door. "Eh?? Oh. Um, thanks for freeing me from that door, the one Probusk ruled over." Vigilon stared for a bit before asking, "Why haven't you taken a 'me' form like the others?" This "Himself" sighed and answered with, "Each one returned to their original forms because they were fully healed and restored. Sure, Hunkunsahrot only needs to regain his strength, but I haven't been fully restored..." "...And your name is?" "Purpose, Meaning, Identity." What a strangely cryptic answer that turned out to be.

[Vigilon 0]

"So...how do I restore you?" "Depends. Do you know what you truly want to do, or what you wish to be?" "...You got me. I once had an idea, but that seems to have gone down the drain. I am sworn to protect, and hoping to start a Guild, too." Purpose sighed. "I'm afraid that isn't enough. You'll have to find yourself, whether it be in here, or out there." Find himself...now that was an unusual...and positively silly thought. "Find myself? I know who I am! I'm Alex Silver, just in another way!" Purpose chuckled and said, "If it were only that easy. You'll have to dig deep down." "Dang it. I really don't understand where you're going, then. Should I talk to you later?" "Preferably once you've found yourself." And Vigilon would be wandering again, hoping to encounter yet another "Himself"...Which he did. He had blond hair and amber eyes, and was wearing nice, regal attire like that of a lord in a middle ages fairytale.

[Vigilon 0]

The "Himself" sighed as he stared at the sky. "Ah, the sky, the sunrise, the sunset, and the full moon surrounded by starlight...always a sight to remember..." "Um...hi?" "Hunh? Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there. ...Normally I'd ask about your times together with Jewel, but being part of you, I already know them. They're more enjoyable than the sky, to be honest." "So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you're Love." "Ooh, so close, not quite. You were on the right track, though. The answers were Emotion, Feeling, and Heart." This left Vigilon slightly confused. "How long have you been enjoying staring at the sky, Heart?" "Oh, about four months. Why?" "That's when I first got a crush on Jewel..." "...And now I see why you thought my name and representation was Love." Vigilon chuckled, Heart placed a hand on his shoulder, and said, "I'm sorry I haven't told you sooner, but I thank you dearly for freeing me from Karri's hateful grasp."

Edited April 30, 2018 by Vigilon

[Vigilon 0]

Heart then looked down to Vigilon's lucky charm. "Um...did you put the monsters' remains to work?" "It's an inanimate object that sometimes whispers for reasons unknown, and-" "Did you say it whispers?! A-allow me to take a look at it..." Shock filled Heart's face. "Sensibility! Come quick! I have a concern!" A visible, silver wind blew into the room, forming into Sensibility. "A concern? Last time you had one, it was if Alex would realize he had a crush yet..." "Look at this." "..." Sensibility was silent for a minute or more, then he looked at Vigilon with a serious expression on his face, and said, "You are lucky it is only Karri who's soul is trapped within. Otherwise, they could have done some real damage. The fang doesn't need Karri in order to whisper, but the intelligible, surprising words are from Karri." Vigilon couldn't believe a word of what he was hearing. "That can't be true. If it is, however, do you know of a way to banish her from my mind and Aincrad, too?"

[Vigilon 0]

Sensibility said, "From what little we know, there should be a potion that should get her soul to come out. However, it must be done outside of your head. I have reason to believe Heart's restoration has stopped Karri's part of the whispering, though. She is weakened, and thus she is vulnerable." "So, wait, what will happen to the item if I succeed?" "Nothing other than the fact that the necklace will stop making intelligible whispering, is one way to say it." So now there was a new problem...yay. "...Do you think this might help Purpose?" Heart and Sensibility looked at each other, and both said, "Nope." Vigilon sighed. Might entered the room, and said, "Sorry, guys, but I couldn't help but overhear you guys talk about Karri and Purpose. Killing Karri might help somewhat, so you could just have that as a 'first action', so to speak." "So then...I'm basically getting myself into an unofficial quest?"

[Vigilon 0]

"You could call it that." "Not sure how that would work, but this task wasn't given to you by the game, so..." "Heck yeah! You ready to kick some butt for once?" Wow. they're all part of him, and yet here are three different responses... Vigilon didn't even see the fifth and final "Himself" arrive. "You won't earn anything extra, but surely you'll have yourself fully restored. Emotionally and mentally, of course." Vigilon turned around, and the "Himself" he saw was, judging by the robes, the one that gave Vigilon the <<Calming the Soul>> quest. He had longer hair than Vigilon, and his face was more mature. He was taller, too. He was the original avatar Vigilon had made before this death game was official. "...Did you choose to come in that form?" The "Himself" chuckled. "I'll leave that to be a mystery. Each of the others knows me by a name they had chosen for me. Sensibility calls me Inershel, or 'Inner Shell", since all the others fuse within me to make up a spitting image of yourself. Heart calls me Soul, Might calls me Vigilon, Purpose knows me as Inershel as well, and Hunkunsahrot calls me Humanity."

[Vigilon 0]

"That's quite a few names." It was interesting, too. "Inershel"? Interesting. Kunhunsahrot had a name for him, too? Interesting. "Inner Shell, Vigilon, Soul, Humanity"....Interesting, but very, very confusing. "I can grant you a hint to the end of your task, if you'd like. All that would need to happen would be... Purpose, it is time we fused!" Silver winds poured into Inershel, and a lookalike of Vigilon was standing in front of Vigilon. "Ah, back to normal...well, almost normal." Veriost jumped off of Vigilon's shoulder and purposefully fell, because she couldn't handle this and was trying to knock herself out. Vigilon picked up the small white frost dragon that had only succeeded in making herself dizzy, and placed her back on his shoulder. "So....what should I call you?" "So you believe that like the others that make you up, I should have a name, too? Well, I do, but it's yours." "I could use my middle name then. Drake." "That works."

[Vigilon 0]

Unlike last time, Drake was dressed in silver, but very kingly robes. Drake pulled out something concealed by his cape, and it was revealed to be a silver circlet, with two topazes, two amethysts, and a centerpiece ruby. Drake placed it on his head. "Well, shall we finish our discussion at the throne?" "Oh gosh, the throne..." "Worry not, the distance has changed drastically, now that there has been a change for the better around here." Vigilon had some questions for Drake once they entered the room and Drake sat on the throne. "So, what's been happening lately? Why is there still no roof? Why is there only one story in this keep? Why-" "The keep is slowly reforming. The only way you can speed it up is by finding yourself, and spending time with Jewel, from what I can guess. Your actions from now on, can affect how fast or how slow Silver Keep regenerates. Once the keep is back to it's former glory, there will be land under our stone home."

[Vigilon 0]

"...I don't get it. It doesn't make a lick of sense." Drake continued. "I have quite a story for you, then. Long ago, This keep flourished with life, thoughts, feelings, and even more. It stood tall and watched over an endless landmass, and it all prospered for years. Six or eight years ago, Karri entered not long after the quake that shattered most of the land had torn it all apart. She laid waste to whatever was good and kind and green, and thus she destroyed the land with her subordinate, Xariz, and her rivals, Probusk and Gravizahk. Three made their homes from nothing, within an endless empty void, while Xariz tried to storm the keep. She succeeded in tearing apart most of the keep's floors, but it was Karri who did the rest. She then sent her iron soldiers to distract us, and she would attempt several times to take the throne for her own...but then one day, you came along, and put a stop to it all. There is still much damage to repair today, but at least this void can be restored to the endless landmass that used to be full of life and joy."

[Vigilon 0]

What a story this all happened to be. Was he constantly falling apart on the inside all this time? And now he is finally going through mental and emotional repair, in this death game?? It all boggled him. "This all boggles me, or my head, which is confusing because this place isn't going through something somehow...It's so crazy...I somehow feel like I'm crazy, I mean, I'm basically talking to myself!" Vigilon and Drake broke into laughter at that. "Anyway, with that aside... What am I supposed to do? I mean, I'm supposed to find myself, right? Inershel told me that you can give me a hint." Drake sighed and facepalmed. "So you don't know where all this was going? Do you even remember our last meeting?" "Um....." "Fine. Here's your hint: Go find the Dragon." "...How's that supposed to be a hint?" "I'll have to leave that for you to find out." "So I guess I'll head out using the door portal?" "Actually, I have a better idea..." "What?" Drake stood up, and patted the throne. "Sit down."

[Vigilon 0]

"...You want me to sit on the throne?" "Well, it is yours. It should bring you back, with an invigorated feeling that should be able to get you though the day, at the very least." He hesitated at first, but Vigilon sat down on the gold lined silver throne. He closed his eyes, and felt his courage, his wisdom, his emotion and current identity, all as if it were an ocean. He felt waves, both ripples, small waves, and stormy ones too. Soon all he was hearing was the roar of crashing water. He opened his eyes to realize he was back at the Waterfall of The Sage. He saw a familiar face, standing guard next to another familiar face, who was asleep and sitting down. "Never thought you two would be here." "Hmph, so you're awake. You better not disturb Lady April's sleep, now." "Nice to see you again too, Renixx."

[Vigilon 0]

Vigilon yawned. "Usually, it's not every day that a soothing waterfall lulls you to sleep and causes you to enter your own mind. Oh, and if that's April's case, too, there's really no need to guard her. 'Cause as long as she's in her head at this waterfall, she's a temporary immortal object. At least, that's what I've heard." Renixx had a confused look on his face. "I'm sorry, enter one's own mind? I'm not sure that I follow..." "I've been there. Well, I've been in my own mind, you can't exactly go in anyone's mind, other than your own. You tired? Take a rest. It might be worth it." Renixx remained awake and alert. It wasn't long before someone else showed up. "Well, well, well. Alex, I never thought I'd find you here..." "Victor." Ind0minus walked closer to the players around. He didn't come alone, though. Azrea followed him. "Hello again Vigilon. Been a small while since I last beat the crap outta ya."

[Vigilon 0]

Vigilon sighed and said, "Yeah, I remember that humiliating moment...maybe one day, I won't have to worry about that kind of thing, 'cause I'll have a significantly better damage output." Renixx looked at the two players, then back to Vigilon. "You know them?" "Yup, I do. I know Victor from real life, and Azrea challenged me to a duel, and let's just say I somehow got my butt handed over to me. However," Vigilon looked at Azrea. "There was a time another player obliterated, humiliated, and handed my butt over to me at once. She's sitting down right there." Victor seemed a little surprised when he saw Auranika. "That can't be... She looks like April Darren..." "She is April Darren. By the way, in case you haven't noticed, she practically swooped in and took your place not too long after you graduated a few years ago." Vigilon stretched. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to see if there is anything around before I move on." Vigilon walked around, and saw a flat stone. He decided to move it, and there was a chest underneath.

ID# 100577 LD: 18+1=19(Found a chest!)

Edited May 1, 2018 by Vigilon