[F06-SP] NIGHT of NIGHTs -- <<The Gemini>>

[NIGHT 0]

The past few days, NIGHT found herself lazing about in the Town of Beginnings and the lower floors. Social interaction was more than welcome for her, but there was always this solid layer of uncertainty behind her days. The one fear that’s kept her shut away from stepping outside her workshop as readily as she’d wanted to.

Surrounded by her blankets, she didn’t have that to fear. She could just stay in bed, cozied up with her thoughts and her cat. Ceres told her she shouldn’t, and she had promised her somewhat, but what else was there to do when one thinks someone was hunting them down? 

It’s not like she ever did anything wrong either. She thought back to Mari, the player killer with an orange cursor, dancing above her head. It seemed so surreal to have the mark of a murderer loom over someone, announcing to all about the crimes she’d committed. Those were the types of players she’d imagined others would want to go after, for having taken out their loved ones, or something to that extent.

 

Hot cocoa. She needed hot cocoa if she was going to last the day. For the first time, she took a step out of bed, to no one’s obligation but her own. And as she was sipping her drink, the mail she’d been waiting for finally dropped in.

The red mark jumped up and down in eagerness at the corner of her vision. One slow breath. Then she opened it.

Spoiler

NIGHT 
Lv: 28 | HP: 560 | EN: 56 | SP: 85
ACC: 3 | DMG: 14 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 26 | KEEN: 1 | PARALYZE: 2 | PARAVENOM(DEF): 1

[Skills]

1. Two-Handed Straight Sword | Passive | RANK 5/5
2. Heavy Armor | Passive | RANK 1/5
3. - - -
4. - - - 
    

• Survival | Passive 

[Examine]

• Reminiscing The Lord
  -- [ Mitigation II | +18 MIT ]
  -- [ Paralytic Venom | Natural successful attacks against you of 8-10 removes the enemy’s action on their next turn. Paralyzed opponents lose any evasion properties. ]

• Tobi-Kadachi
  -- [ Paralyze II | Natural successful attack rolls of 8-10 remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Paralyzed opponents lose any evasion properties. ]
  -- [ Keen | After a successful attack, gain +1 BD until your next successful attack, at which point this bonus is removed. Another successful attack will reactivate this enhancement. ]

• Eye of Horus Enamel Pin
  -- [ Accuracy III | +3 ACC ]

- - - - - -

• Starter Healing Potions (3) --- Heals 50 HP.
• [T1] Uncommon Health Potions (3) --- Heals 40 HP.
• [T1] Over-health Potion (1) --- Provides 50 temporary HP.
• [T1E3] Izayoi (1) -- Support Song. Instant use. +2 LD and +1 CD to monster drops for one battle.

[Misc]

• -- [ Aincrad Trading Post Guild Bonus: Col Deposit | +5% more col from killed mobs, +10% col from treasure chests. ]
  -- [ Familiar Mastery: Fighter | +6 DMG ]

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

Quote

To: NIGHT

I’ve found them.

The woman exhaled, forcing herself to release a breath she’d been holding in the whole time. The ceramic clattered against the wooden surface of her counter as she set her mug down to rest. Another moment of tension as she took a seat on a once-unused chair behind the front desk, before she gathered her wits, pressing her lips together under the pressure. 

NIGHT continued reading.

Quote

There’s word that a person with a white cloak is looking for you. It’s who you’re looking for, right? They’re stationed at the 6th floor.

She couldn’t stop herself from reading further into the message. 

Quote

It’s dangerous out there, NIGHT. As much as I’d like to stop you from going, they’ve elected not to speak about anything else. None of the players I’ve gotten in contact with have gotten word of seeing the figure either, ever since we got that tip. We must’ve been lucky in getting that piece of information at all. I don’t exactly have the funds to keep up the search either, with it turning up so many dead ends.

Can I count on you to investigate?

-B.

So it evidently fell onto her to shoulder the burden again. Not that it should’ve concerned the others to begin with, of course. But there was a creeping, growing eeriness to the whole debacle. That’s what NIGHT thought, when she read the largest paragraph over and over, running through the scenarios in her mind. 

Would they even be there when she made an effort to show up? In fact, what if they did? 

What… would happen next?

 

 

Be brave, NIGHT. Be brave.

She forced herself to type out the following message, preparing herself to meet her maker.

Quote

To: Bistro

on it

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

Nyanko was with her. If she were going to meet her end, at least she’d have a friend by her side. The thought about taking someone else with her, asking for help, felt incredibly necessary, but right after she sent the confirmation mail, she got an immediate reply.

From someone she wasn’t familiar with.

Quote

To: NIGHT

Come alone.

“...”

It explained why she was by herself, looking over Krycim’s ancient walls and stone. The city was amassed in the middle of a jungle too deep and too dense for her tiny existence to recognize. Thick vines and tree bark winded and weaved across the sky, making makeshift bridges and convenient sturdy scaffolding. The populous appeared to be busy; moving resources to and fro, children playing in the streets, even a hunting party heading out for battle. 

There was so much noise and activity in a bustling location such as this. NIGHT found herself wondering how much of a challenge it could prove to even find her target, let alone be found by them.

Then a hand patted her shoulder, and she flinched, fearing the worst. Whipping her head around at light speed, her eyes met the familiar, dastardly colour of white, as the stranger from before gestures behind them with a thumb. “Hey,” they began, voice all too intimate, yet foreign. “We’re headed this way.”

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

NIGHT found herself speechless, eyes wide with fear. She fought the urge to choke. “How do you--”

“That’s none of your business.” Stern. Stoic. Nonchalant. This was definitely the figure she had Bistro chasing after the past week. They gestured again with their thumb, shoving it in their desired direction. “C’mon. This way.”

They withdrew their hand, beginning to move, the cloak dancing behind them in the midst of the crowd, leaving the woman to follow. With tentative steps, she followed in their path, watching her feet match their prints and pace. If she didn’t have to duck and weave through the crowd, she’d have continued doing so at own leisure. Half the time, she imagined herself getting lost, losing sight of the white cloak she was tailing. Then, the next moment, it would appear again, the corner edge fluttering upwards to catch her attention, and she’d find her way back to them.

Somehow, it happened reliably.

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

“You sure are making a habit out of getting lost,” they mentioned, after NIGHT failed to track them for the fourth time. She huffed, squinting. “So what of it?”

Silence, save for the noise of the crowd. The stranger turned their head back to look at her, hood shifting as the cloth was pulled in their direction. “Nothing, I suppose, if you’re so violent about it.” Their chuckle only served to send shivers down her spine, as she found herself tensing up once again, bristling with confusion moreso than annoyance. Then the stranger added from behind their shoulder. “Hey, hey, chillax.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Whatever you want to think it means,” they offered, shrugging with their hands outwards. In their right, a red-clothed sheathe could be seen in a loose grasp, the curve and size a tell tale sign that it was --

A dagger.

They were planning to kill her, weren’t they?

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

She continued walking in silence, eyes tied to their blade. It was held so gently in their hands, almost like they didn’t need to be on their guard. Why not?

Because they didn’t think she would attack them?

As much as NIGHT hated to admit it, they were right about that. But the scenery around them began to change from bustling streets to dark, empty alleys. A murder. Here in the ghetto. Her footsteps became louder, harsher, almost like a subtle cry for help. The stranger just chuckled to themselves. “Here, y’think?”

She was caught off guard by the question. “S-sorry, what?”

“Here,” they repeated, looking over to NIGHT. They stood hunched, hands stuffed in their pockets. “Do you think this would be a good place to open a shop?”

I-- what?

They took her silence as an answer, and laughed. “You should really see the look on your face sometime.” She felt a sneer staring back at her, from under the shadows of the hood. “What’s with the silence, anyway? You used to be so talkative, back when I was the one tailing you.”

“I-- sorry.” An exhale from the woman herself, and then another laugh from the stranger. “What’s there to be sorry for? Chin up, NIGHT. There’s no need to look so tense!”

They fiddled with the dagger sheathe in their hand, spinning it with the tip of their fingers. “It’s not like I’m about to kill you or anything! Right?” 

Another chuckle. NIGHT huffed, feeling toyed with. 

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

“Is there a reason we’ve stopped here? Or are you just playing with me?”

“Jeesh, huddle down. There’s no need to be so feisty all the time.” Another few spins of the dagger, the red cloth catching sunlight a few times. “I just wanted to know what was on your mind; that’s all.” 

She clenched her jaw. “You’re not privvy to that.”

“Of course, of course,” they echoed, executing more complex spins this time. They turned around, looking almost ready to begin their stroll again. “That’s why I’d ask, don’t you think?” Another laugh. Every time they did it, NIGHT sank further into her armor, miffed. “Seriously, though. If you ever need to talk, I’m right there.”

“No you’re not. And what makes you think I want your company, anyway?”

“What, we aren’t friends?” They stopped their playful skills with the blade, placing a hand on their chest, casted by a cloak, as they turned around. “You wound me, NIGHT. I thought you were supposed to protect people.”

… What…?

“... Anyway.” They shrugged, seeming to return to their deadpanned, normal self. The figure turned around, blade still at their side in their hands, as they began walking. With two fingers, they beckoned NIGHT to follow, and so she did, trying to keep pace with them again.

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

They reached somewhat of a clearing, as the floor below them turned from a mass of vines and grass to mouldy, crumbling green and grey stones. It was more of a broken, ruined building, empty inside save for flora and decrepit architecture. The floor opened up to a waterfall by them,  framed with vines of its own, creating a picture perfect gateway with the way the sunlight was falling in. If this wasn’t a game they were in, NIGHT would’ve thought the display was built into the design of the building to begin with. 

As the figure slowed to a stop in the center of the ruins, so did NIGHT; both of them beside broken pillars, marked with etchings now black, of words and history long forgotten. Something felt dangerously off in this tranquil place, and all of her cells seemed to be begging her to leave. The woman managed to force a question out, despite her arrangement. “Why did we stop here?”

The two took in the peace of the location, with the sounds of the waterfall and the singing of birds outside. Awaiting their answer, she turned to look past the pillar, watching the dancing flowers beside the pond outside. They were in full bloom.

“The last time we met,” they began, drawing NIGHT’s attention to their words, but not their form. “I told you that if you saw me again, you’d best be ready.”

“So a duel, then.”

A soft, subdued laughter. It didn’t grind on her so much. “It’s more than just a duel, NIGHT.”

The shifting of cloth. NIGHT looked over.

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

And then she saw herself in their place.

It took her much, much longer than anyone had expected for NIGHT to even register what had happened.

With a swift motion, she watched herself take off her cloak, tossing it aside in a dramatic fashion. Where there was once a figment of a red dagger, the white had unveiled it as a large sword, same as her own. In the woman’s other hand, a velvet blue crystal, with specks of starlight scattered in between. Framed at the bottom by silver lining.

A click, and she dropped it down to her side, the crystal mythically landing itself in the upright position. And suddenly, music started to play.

♫ ♬ ♪

If there was anything NIGHT would do first, it was to guess the name of the song she thought was familiar. She was frozen in time, training her ears to listen and think, still stuck in the flurry of her thoughts of trying to guess who the figure was. A scatter from cymbals -- A piano and bass, playing a familiar rhythm at light speed. Where had she heard that song before?

Before she could spit her answer out, her doppelganger lunged at her with Tobi-Kadachi in hand. The blade shimmered a particular yellow, sparks jolting out of it, before it met her body, slicing through her abdomen.

And then the saxophone kicked in.

Quote

ID: 132358 | MD: 6 (3, +3)
The Gemini attacks NIGHT!
140 - 26 = 114 DMG

ID: 132359 | BD: 8 (5, +3)
NIGHT uses <Izayoi>! (Instant-cast. Monster's Fortune: +2 LD | Monster's Favour: +1 CD to mob loot.)
> The Gemini gains Paralyze I.

<<Fight Blade>> on The Gemini.
84 - 49 = 35 DMG
The Gemini is stunned!
> Keen is activated! (+1 BD)

The Gemini | HP: 245/280 (-35) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 140 - 168 - 196 | MIT: 49 | PARALYZE: 1 | STUNNED

NIGHT | HP: 446/560 (-114) | EN: 47/56 (-9) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 14 | MIT: 26 | KEEN: 1 | PARALYZE: 2 | PARAVENOM(DEF): 1

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

Adrenaline. So much adrenaline coursed through her veins; to shout an answer, to figure out what was going on--

-- to defend herself from… herself.

The blow struck NIGHT with enough impact to send her flying backwards onto the floor. As she felt her being skid on the hard, rocky surface, her skin numbed under the cloth and plating of her armor. It was one of the first times she’d ever felt the damage she could do -- would do to others, sting her where it hurt in the blink of an eye.

And it hurt, goddammit. Like a [soab], it hurt.

Instincts taking over, she charged back at the stranger, fury showing in her eyes. Her blade drawn only partway through her sprint, she cut at their defensive stance, pushing her blade against theirs. With a hiss -- they seemed to have copied their voice and mannerisms, too -- they were locked in position, Fight Blade making quick work of their movements for her. “Good,” NIGHT spat, in a hushed breath. “Stay still--!”

Taking a step back, she heaved her sword about, smashing her blade against her foe’s in an undercut. Then, another, nicking their side with a slash, dropping their health down further. Both their teeth were gritted, in pain and in anguish, as the beat of the song carried them forward, egging their battle on.

Quote

> The Gemini is stunned!

ID: 132360 | BD: 9 (5, +3 +1)
<<Calamitous Tragedy>> on The Gemini.
14 * 12 = 168 DMG | 168 - 49 = 119 DMG
> Accuracy has returned to normal. (- Keen)

The Gemini | HP: 126/280 (-119) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 140 - 168 - 196 | MIT: 49 | PARALYZE: 1

NIGHT | HP: 446/560 | EN: 36/56 (+1, -12) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 14 | MIT: 26 | KEEN: 1 | PARALYZE: 2 | PARAVENOM(DEF): 1

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

“What makes you think I’ll do that--?!”

A sudden jolt of movement from her twin sent NIGHT teetering herself backwards into a staggered, open stance. Now back in action, the stranger scoffed, holding her sword -- their sword out in front of them, taking an offensive position. It was almost surprising, the adventurer imagined, as she took up her usual defensive stance -- blade out front, pointed downwards, hilt near her face.

Then, they grinned, mirroring her pose with ease.

The woman clicked her tongue, taking a swing at their feet. She was getting much more visibly irritated by the mimicry act. The twin jumped backwards, holding their sword in front of them, tip to the ground,  as the warrior continued to chain her attacks in an onslaught. Her sweeping strikes and stunning slashes were telling -- NIGHT truly began to take note of how she held herself in battle. 

Readied a midswing? Parried. Leaping strike pointed downwards? Blocked. Sweeping undercut? Dodged. The stranger wearing her face laughed, watching her futile attempts to strike back at them. “How’s that as training for you?” They mocked, parrying another strike from the side. “Typical. Your moves are as easy to read as your body language.” Their swords locked in position, NIGHT bearing her weight down against her opponent’s. She grunted, pressing as hard as she could,  feeling the same resistance, if not more, coming from her enemy.

A smirk.

When the moment was right, they tossed NIGHT’s blade away with absolute strength, beginning to lunge at her once more in a swift motion. The woman barely had any time to dodge, sidestepping in surprise and anger, before running over to pick it up again.

They’re really giving me a run for my money here--

Quote

ID: 132361 | MD: 4 (1, +3)
The Gemini missed!

ID: 132362 | BD: 5 (2, +3)
NIGHT missed!

The Gemini | HP: 126/280 | ACC: 3 | DMG: 140 - 168 - 196 | MIT: 49 | PARALYZE: 1

NIGHT | HP: 446/560 | EN: 35/56 (+1, -2) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 14 | MIT: 26 | KEEN: 1 | PARALYZE: 2 | PARAVENOM(DEF): 1

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

As NIGHT chased her sword, watching it spin on the floor, her doppelganger rushed in with a swing of their own, attempting to get a cheap hit in whilst the woman was distracted. One glance was all the adventurer needed to telegraph her attacks, jumping backwards, barely out of range of their blade, before gunning for her own sword once more. 

A dive forward saved her back from being targeted by a swing. Reaching out to the floor, she grasped a hand around her blade tightly, never wanting to let it go when her twin was still around. She rolled, barely managing to block a sudden blow downwards from her enemy, the edge of their sword meeting the flat surface of her’s. “Hah! Pinned down on the floor. And here I thought you’d be a challenge to conquer.”

Her eyes shifted, trying to find a way of escape.

“Well? That’s just how you like to be, don’t you?” She gritted her teeth at their mockery, feeling cold sweat form on her palms as they continued to laugh at their own joke.

There has to be a way out--

And there was. With a sweeping kick, she knocked the stranger off their balance, toppling over onto the floor face first. As their blade clankered to the floor, falling off of her’s, she scrambled upwards, towering over her opponent. Her shadow fell over the doppelganger, who was slowly rising, disoriented from the fall.

Now’s my chance--!

As her twin began to recover, the last thing they noticed was NIGHT’s sword beginning to glow a faint, red and white hue. Slung to the side, she brought it back up in one quick diagonal slash, tearing apart the remains of their health with a single blow.

Quote

ID: 132365 | MD: 5 (2, +3)
The Gemini missed!

ID: 132364 | BD: 9 (6, +3)
<<Galaxy Destroyer>> vs The Gemini.
14 * 13 = 182 DMG | 182 - 49 = 133 DMG
The Gemini has been bested!

The Gemini | HP: -7 --> 1/280 (-133) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 140 - 168 - 196 | MIT: 49 | PARALYZE: 1

NIGHT | HP: 446/560 | EN: 23/56 (+1, -13) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 14 | MIT: 26 | KEEN: 1 | PARALYZE: 2 | PARAVENOM(DEF): 1

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT
# i messed up the roll order here! ;;;

[NIGHT 0]

Piano, soon after by a saxophone solo, then a trumpet’s. Her answer came to her then, hissing it to her partner as she straddled them, pinning the stranger to the floor. Sword at their throat. “Don’t you dare [f]ing move,” she warned them. 

“Flowering Night, was it?” The woman laughed, visibly pissed off. “What the hell was that about?” 

“I’m glad someone appreciates my joke,” the doppel responded, smirking back in kind.

It… the whole setup felt incredibly unsettling. NIGHT could feel the tension raining down on her back, the hall they were in feeling even more stuffy that it originally had been. She pressed her blade down further, blunt side to their face. “Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t just--”

Kill?

Kill you right now?

“-- That’s what you were going to say, right?” They grinned in the most unsettling manner, sending chills down her spine once again. “You wound me, NIGHT. I thought you were here to protect people?”

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

“Don’t mess with me!”

Another, harsher push of force against her blade. “What the hell is your deal?! Why the [f] would you go out of you way to steal my identity like that?!”

A smile. “Why not?”

There was no response. A beat passed them by, before her opponent laughed, shrill. “You really think I’d have a reason to mimic you like this? Have you forgotten what it is that you’re in? The game that you’re currently playing right now?”

Silence, the lack of noise allowing NIGHT to process their feedback with wide, open eyes. She was shaking, still, from appealing to even the prospect of the threat to kill. Who was this impostor? Whose idea was it to orchestrate this whole debacle? And why would they do it? The nerve of it all, and being given the lack of an answer just didn’t seem to mesh right with her.

Surely, there would be a reasonable, sensible answer to all of this, right?

She wouldn’t have to kill them...

She wouldn’t have to kill herself, right?

[NIGHT 0]

“You read like an open book, NIGHT.” She was looking at herself, deadpanned in the face, a tinge of irritation in their voice. “I can see from the way you’re staring at me, you’re still coming to terms with my existence.”

“What’s it to you?!” 

With that outburst, they sneered back at her. “What, I can’t help now? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, y’know. Did you really think you were going to die there?” They laughed, pulling their lips -- her lips into a smile. “Any chance of that would’ve been an accident! Promise!”

“Y-You keep saying that.” Shaky eyes met cold, uncaring ones. They were the same, weren’t they? Why did they look so different, so foreign yet so familiar to her? Was this really the talk of someone who wanted to help? Didn’t she -- they -- push her off a cliff last time? Her doppel’s expression changed to an upset one. She hated seeing her face mould and be contorted out her jurisdiction like this. 

“And I keep meaning it. You can’t really be thinking I was going to kill you, could you?”

“Although,” they added, in a tone softer than their usual, eyes twinkling with mischief. “If you wanted, you could kill me right now. And no one would ever know.” She -- they smiled, a gentle, sinister expression. “It’ll be your little secret to keep.”

[NIGHT 0]

Silence. The birds were still singing, water still pouring from the fount. Lazy flowers blossomed and bloomed, dancing in the breeze. The crystal continued with its music, the rhythm still played at a fast beat, made even more unsettling with the peace and quiet the two had restored to the ruins.

Then a clatter. Slow, but steady, and shaky, and metal. A chilled grin shot back at her, much to the woman’s displeasure. NIGHT squeezed out the burning question from earlier, seasoned with panic, discomfort and loss, dissatisfaction shown obvious with their answer. “I'll... I'll ask you again. Why...? Why’re you doing this?”

“You really want an answer for this, don’t you?” They sighed, slowly pushing back against her blade a little, trying to raise their head for a moment. “Fine. I’ll play ball.”

“I did it… because I wanted to see you suffer.”

NIGHT slowly became a quivering, hot mess, isolated in a cold, crumbling void. 

“If you died… well. I wouldn’t have been able to do that, would I?” The stranger slumped, back onto the ground with a grin. “I’m joking. I would’ve probably gotten a lot more mileage out of it, if I’m being honest.” Wide, open eyes. “I could’ve done so many horrible things with your face out there.”

Ruined friendships. A dead cat. A hollow shadow stalking and slaying the ones she wanted to protect.

“You… You really filled out the blanks for me there, didn't you?” A short cackle. “Watch your eyes. And sure, let’s go with that. If you kill me, you can put all of this to an end for yourself. You’ll never have to deal with me again.”

[NIGHT 0]

“Can you do it, NIGHT? Can you kill yourself; watch yourself die?”

She shuddered at the sheer thought of it, pushing the notion away. What kind of question was that? Jittering, the woman focused her thoughts on the stranger’s sense of humanity. It didn’t matter if they were a player or a system-controlled sentient being; whoever they were, there had to be some good in them, right? 

“I-if,” NIGHT breathed, desperate for a hint of hope in her dead, blank eyes. “If I let you go, is that what you’ll do?”

“I don’t know,” they replied, tone dripping with malice. The answer appeared to be obvious to them. “What do you think?”

“...”

NIGHT raised her blade, holding her breath.

 

 

- - -

When she’d left the building, she was holding the singing crystal in her hands. Her head was still a mess, and with a powerful swing, she chucked the gem in her hands into a nearby rock, watching it shatter on impact.

She didn’t want to see herself in the mirror ever again if she could help it.

A set of loud footsteps was their announcement to her that they had left. When she returned to the building, what was left in the vicinity where they were threatened was a small, red dagger sheathe.

NIGHT contemplated if she should chuck it out the window.

[NIGHT 0]

NIGHT spares The Gemini.

She dropped it in the pond instead, finding that it dug deeper upon closer inspection. Watching its red, twisted form plop into the water, she found herself wishing it was the same with today’s affairs. Gone without fanfare. The way she liked it.

She finally wiped her eyes and cheeks of the tears that had trickled out, sniffling and hissing in sadness. Nyanko finally found the courage to peek his tiny head out, beeping in great concern. Just like her, he was probably scared and afraid for his life during the battle. It must’ve been the same before, when he took on what was essentially her doppelganger alone on Floor 9.

NIGHT brought the kitten up to her face from out of the bag, coddling him close. His petite look just seemed to scream, “I’m sorry for not being able to do much.”

“It’s okay,” she cooed, certain that she was just trying to soothe herself. “It’s okay. It’s over already. We can go home.”

“Meep!”

[NIGHT 0]

Barely even a day had gone by, before another message came in from her informant friend. NIGHT could barely bring herself to check her inbox had it not been for the annoying bouncing red blip at the corner of her eye. Curled up in bed still, she opened the mail, sighing.

Quote

To: NIGHT

We got an anonymous tip that they’ll never bother you again. What happened out there? Are you feeling alright?

Quote

To: Bistro

no

Quote

To: NIGHT

Come on, you can do better than that. At least tell me you don’t want to talk about it, if that’s what you mean.

Quote

To: Bistro

i saw myself
i dont want to see myself again

Quote

To: NIGHT

That’s incredibly cryptic. Very well, I’ll take that into account.

Genuinely speaking, though, I hope you’re doing okay. Please rest well if you think you need more time to yourself. I’m always there if you need of my services.

You’re not as alone as you think you are.

The... The last sentence...

It was in good faith, she reminded herself.

It wasn’t a threat.

It’s okay if she continued being herself. Nothing of harm would come to them if she spent time with her friends.

The stranger’s gone.
The stranger’s gone.
The stranger’s gone.

 

 

Quote

To: Bistro

thank you
i’ll take some time off alone

Quote

To: NIGHT

Fair enough. I’m here if you need anything.

Edited December 19, 2019 by NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

Maybe she should’ve kept her promises better.

 

As the days passed her by, she found herself further and further becoming a crumpled mess. Chatting by messages and sleep were all she knew by now, save stepping outside and walking out to get food, before returning to her hiding hole.

NIGHT genuinely hoped no one would enter her room anytime soon. Not that her track record even held up for it, but it was in such a state of disarray, the woman figured she might actually go into hiding of shame if someone caught sight of the space.

She wondered if anyone had even noticed her presence missing. By the time she’d grasped a hold of normalcy, it was already time for the holiday celebrations to begin. It’s too fast, she thought, opening up another mail, this one informing her of the festivities and their venue. It’s too much to bear. Can’t the world just slow down for once? We’ve got all the time here, right?

I don't want another reason to be upset again.

With a sigh, she rolled out of bed, letting her frame hit the floor with a muted thud. A groan, some loose shuffling, and the adventurer finally dared to tread out of bed, going someplace else other than home for the first time in what seemed like forever.