[PP-F8] Vile's Serenade

[Miaki 0]

In a small building high up in the trees of the eighth floor in <>, Miaki Murakami was finishing a meeting with Keith Yudai, Saix, Shark, Nikki Styx, Zero, and Zelrius. They had just finished discussing their plans of defeating the boss of the floor called <>. Everyone had left except for Miaki, Nikki, and Keith. The battle was set for a couple days from now so all hat was really left was waiting. Miaki looked around the room seeing everyone gone except for two players that he knew well. Keith looked like he had something further to say and with a smaller group. Miaki sat down next to Nikki and across from the Blue Blader. Miaki and Keith hadn't met up too much since Miaki assumed his role as leader of the <> and this was the first time he could remember getting some causal time to talk with the blue haired katana fighter.

"You look like a man with something on his mind Keith. Care to explain what's up?" The <> said in a much more causal tone than he had used during the whole meeting they just had.

[Guest]

Keith didn't look as happy as he usually did. He looked at the ground as he drummed his finger on the table and then looked back to Miaki, yet had a hard time looking him in the eye. "There's some bad news I need to explain," He started, taking a breath. "After we cleared floor seven, we drew attention to ourselves. Attention, that we will wish we had never gotten." He said, folding his hands and biting his lip. "I assume you two have heard about Vile? The Scourge of Aincrad, the Monarch of Mavericks? He hates my guts, and now that he knows you guys helped clear the last floor, he's out for you too."

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki looked up shocked at what she was hearing. She shook her head now frowning as she tried to think of something to say. The obvious response was that she was ready to assist in any way she could. After all Keith was a new member of the Vanguard, and the guild protected its own. Not only that though, from the sound of Keith's voice, this particular player killer "Vile" was something special that needed to be addressed immediately. She turned her gaze to Miaki to see how he was responding to this, and then returned it to Keith. She wasn't sure what she could say, if she tried to reassure him that it would be ok it might sound forced, if she were too cocky he wouldn't believe her."Keith... If this is bad we can deal with it together."

She took a second to pull up her menu's. Several minutes went by as she flipped through page after page of menus until finally she stopped and closed everything down. "I don't have any info on this Vile character..." She was not about to dismiss this as not a serious threat just because she had no info. It simply meant she would be filling out some paperwork later.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki sat there with his mouth open a little. He knew he heard that name somewhere before... Miaki interlocked his fingers and rested his mouth on it closing his eyes trying to recall where he heard that name before. "Keith... Is this that same Vile I heard about back with that mansion incident? What kind of person is it we're dealing with and why have we become a target?" Miaki glanced at Nikki in the corner of his eye. The two of them had been hanging out alot as of late and if their being targeted had anything to do with him then he would feel personally responsible for it.

He looked over at the menu Nikki had open. "I don't have any info on this Vile character..." Miaki looked at her in surprise.

"What? You're kidding!?" He said with some surprise.

[Guest]

"Vile is one of the biggest mavericks in the game. He was the one who killed my dragon, and used it's own drops against me. He's killed two-hundred and fifty players and still climbing. This guy is a lunatic, and he's coming after all of us now." Keith said, standing up. "So what we have to do is find some way to avoid Vile until further notice. But one thing is for sure, this guy is about as Maverick as they come. So we all need to be on our toes."

[Nikki Styx 0]

Keith was easily one of the largest players in the game, If he was worried about another player that meant that there was a serious problem. As he explained more on Vile Nikki couldn't help but feel flabbergasted that such a Maverick had escaped her notice for so long. Clearly this person was demented and delusional. Still she knew that with the assistance of her guild and friends there was no obstacle that couldn't be beaten. "Well we can be careful... But so long as we stand firm together we will be fine." She said trying to reassure Keith as she put a hand on his shoulder.

She looked over at Miaki now. "You've met this player too?" she asked as she tried to imagine what a psycho of this caliber would look like.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki stared ahead, his vision zoning out as he tried to recall the one time he heard the name Vile. "No I haven't. But I have heard the name once before. It was back on the third floor before I became Brigadier General for the <>. Keith and Ruri were after a player killer that held up in an abandoned mansion. I got a message from Keith about it and went to help him. It was there where I heard the name Vile and saw Keith's reaction at hearing it." He focused his vision on Keith sitting across from him and Nikki. He remembered how Keith, the strongest player Miaki knew, froze up at the sound of Vile's name.

"The one we were tracking that day managed to slip by us." After that day, Miaki checked around the <> for anything on the player but learned nothing at all. Either no information was available or the info brokers were too scared to share what they knew. "Haven't heard anything about the player since."

[Guest]

Keith nodded and stood up, readjusting his vest/jacket thing and then looking out the window. "Yeah... Vile is the only Maverick to evade me for so long. But if he's coming after us, then he's saved me the trouble of looking for him." Keith said, opening the door and looking around. But he remembered that they were in a safe-zone, so they didn't have anything to worry about.

Keith stepped out cautiously and looked around, then looking back inside and nodding to Nikki and Miaki. "I think we should get back to an inn or something. Nothing good happens here at night. Especially after the news of Vile's plans are out in the air."

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki was not about to let anything bad happen to anyone she cared about, or anyone in her guild. Yes Keith was new, and he may have been a PKer but Saix had trusted him, and cleared him, so in her books he was green, and she would protect him. She already had a strong urge to protect Miaki though as of the moment she couldn't fully understand why. She gave a nod now as Keith mentioned that they should be inside the inn now after dark. This was a good idea as it had been determined that no one could be killed with in an inn.

She took the lead now, turning to lead the pair inside. "So how did you guys first come into contact with Vile?" This was her first step to figuring this character out, figure out the patterns, how people know him and use that.

[Miaki 0]

Nikki lead them in with Miaki walking in after Keith. As they walked into the warmly lit inn Miaki looked around the room taking in a scanning manner he had formed a habit of doing. He noticed that the main room was a buzz with players as parties where gathered around random tables eating, drinking, and laughing about the adventures of the day. Taverns and inns had a way of gathering players in one place to talk about the latest things going on in Aincrad. Whether it be a dungeon raid, rare item drop, new quest, or the latest gossip going around taverns were the place to be.

"So how did you guys first come into contact with Vile?" Nikki asked, no doubt trying to figure out everything she could.

"Honestly that's something only Keith can answer. Everything I've heard is just hearsay. But I am interested in how he first surfaced."