[PT-PP-F04] Cause and Effect

[Mari 1]

Floor 10

 

Mari was kneeling over the bioluminescent lake on the 10th floor. Staring into its deathly still surface. It looked so inviting in a way - mystical almost. The shimmers reflecting on the surface reminded her of all manner of fairy tales one was told as a child. But, that was a lie. Most often - the pretty things in the world - were the most dangerous. This was no different. Mari would sit against the wall sometimes, and watch creatures wander in, never to return. She had a feeling she knew what was in it. At least in theory. The water was stagnant. There was no telling what matter of fungi and bacteria were in it - the first thought and the most dangerous that came to Mari’s mind was flesh eating bacteria. Atan was already researching this. But..her curiosity.

Imagine a potent poison made of that
      It's for defence - if anyone came after you - you could throw it in their face…the effects wouldn’t be evident for days. You’d be fine. You’d be free

Mari shook her head. The thoughts were becoming more invasive…more frequent lately.
Not once did she entertain them, nor let them win. They were nothing more than lingering notions, and yet… it felt like the more she ignored them the more persistent they became.

Reaching into her pocket Mari pulled out a large  syringe - the kind that you’d use to feed medicine to a kid. Except in place of plastic was glass - Mari carefully dipped it into the lake and pulled a sample of the water. Just to test. Nothing more. She just wanted to know what was inside it.

Mari stood and turned to leave the small cave. She paused at its entrance, a hand leaning on the side as she coughed violently. SO much so that she had to spit to the side. “Eurgh..” Maybe she had been drinking too much, maybe it was the spores. “One more place.”

She didn’t want to be on this floor, not after Freyd had found her here last time. She could only imagine his reaction if he knew she was back here. But her shop was here. There were so…so so many untold secrets here. The acrid stench of the solution she wore on her dark clothes kept the monsters at bay as she made her way to the large hole - the void. Surrounded by echo flowers. The place her and Beat shared a moment, the place she fell.

This pit..had no bottom, to her knowledge Mari and Beat were the only players to ever fall in. Well jump in - willingly at least. Every so often Mari would still feel the effects of that day. Whispers that weren’t quite there, illusions in the corner of her eye. As Mari neared, she stepped through the decayed corpse of a large snake. Pausing, Mari rested a hand on one of its skeletal bones. She ran a hand up and down it, what did this creature used to be?

Tired…

Mari felt tired. Unbelievably so. She leaned her body against it and allowed her eyes to close as her body slumped to knees. Just…a small rest…
 

—

Mari woke. Her body felt cold and sore. Mari lifted her hands, staring at them. They were shaking, and covered in a black filth. Dirty from the floor. She tried wiping it off on her clothing. Then slowly stood. One foot forward then another, then another till she was at the edge of the pit. Her stomach churned. Dread filled her, but it was normal for this place. Crystalline flowers surrounded the area, swaying gently in an unfelt breeze.

‘Leeeroooy Jeennki-’

Mari’s foot came crushing down on that particular flower. Slowly, Mari began to circle the pit, pausing to listen to the echo flowers, every so often she’d stamp out an obnoxious one. Where is it? Blue eyes, tired, darted from side to side trying to find one unique flower out of a field of many. It was impossible to visually tell the difference but…

Sobbing

Mari stilled. Hearing the familiar sound. It was an echo flower that had caught her crying. A sound Mari didn’t know would be recorded. Disgusting. Mari knelt down beside it. It continued to cry, soft whimpers. Mari allowed it another moment before a gloved hand reached out and crushed it.

That wasn’t enough, her fingers dug their way into the dirt, pulling its roots from the ground, then, holding the mangled plant in her hand Mari held it over the pit. She knew it would regurgitate back up, but she didn’t care. It was symbolic. “You’re not wanted here anymore.” She whispered as he released it - and watched the shimmering light grow smaller and smaller as it fell.

‘You’re not wanted either’

 

Mari was used to the whispers on this floor, but this one felt different. Closer - as though she could almost feel the breath tickling the skin of her ear. A spear materialized in her hand as she turned on her heel expecting to see someone. Something.

…..Nothing…

“I need to get out of here…” Mari groaned as she trudged away from the pit. She didn’t need to accidentally fall in.

—

Fourth Floor

Mari was at the frozen lake her house was nestled by - slowly rounding its edges. Her footsteps leaving heavy imprints in the freshly falling snow. Rest. Gods she needed rest…

Her steps paused - swayed as her vision blurred. Crap…she was so close to home- all she had to do was go forward a few more metres then she could safely pass out on the floor. Just a few more feet just a -

 

The world span and Mari fell into the snow with a heavy thud. A smear of black and gold amongst pure white. Her body remained unmoving, unconscious.

Then - a sudden and sickening jolt as the woman regurgitated more black bile, it trickled from her lips into the snow - melting it. The unconscious woman was completely unaware. Her world covered in darkness.
 

Spoiler

 

 

Name: Mari True Tier: 10 Level: 34 Paragon Level: 61 HP: 960/960 EN: 130/130 Stats: Damage: 21 Mitigation: 44 Accuracy: 5 Evasion: 4 Battle Healing: 53 Loot Die: 1 Stealth Rating: 5 AA BLI: 32/-20 ENV-O: 32 PARA-V Equipped Gear: Weapon/Armor/Trinket: - Paralytic Contagion | T4 | Absolute ACC I | Paralytic Venom I | Envenom OFF I | Blight I Armor/Trinket: - Infernal Shadow-Redemption | T4 | EVA III | MIT I Shield/Armor/Trinket: - Glasses | T1 | ACC III Combat Mastery: - Combat Mastery: Damage R3 Combat Shift: - AOE Shift Familiar Skill: - Rending Familiar Custom Skill: - Skills: - Battle Healing R5 - Charge - Cloth Armor R5 - Energist - Polearm R5 Extra Skills: - Survival - Hiding R5 - First Aid R3 Inactive Extra Skills: Addons: - Focus - Nimble - Precision - Resolve - Stamina Mods: - Athletics - Surpise Attack: Trickster - Untraceable - Vanish Inactive Mods: Battle Ready Inventory: Housing Buffs: - Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. Guild Hall Buffs: Scents of the Wild Totem: Wedding Ring: Crafting Profession: - Alchemist[exp] R10 Gathering Profession:

 

 

 

Edited 22 hours ago by Mari

[Freyd 0]

Midnight in Ilridge. Less a town than a fortified camp, its hollow ruins remained little more than the frontlines' vanguard outpost and toe hold on a floor seemingly designed to devour their sanity.  Worse yet were the irreplaceable losses, compounded by constant grievous injuries. Too many players were rushing in overconfident and unprepared, returning mauled to within a sliver of total deletion.  They had scouts enough.  What they lacked were healers. Confronted with a need, Freyd did what he always did: he adapted.  Skulking about in heavy armor was a waste of effort anyway, even if the skill package had kept his creaky armor's naturally occurring racket to a more manageable clatter.  

So it was that he found himself kneeling over a wounded blonde woman, a tank by her gear, fear bleeding from her eyes in the form of tears.  Some of her team had not made it, and she'd nearly joined them.  Freyd knew the sensations well, having lived and died by the same prospects during the last raid. Maybe his own maulting at Callisto's hands played some subtle part in it.  How would he know for sure?

"Rest easy.  I can't do this properly if you keep squirming around."  Fierce protest and dismissal failed when she recognized his features.  News of a fallen frontliner tended to spread fast - even more so when the death proved to be exaggerated.  

"Yeah.  I got better," Freyd verbally handwaved, his own digits busy trying to recall the unfamiliar skill activation sequences.  The last thing he needed was to instinctually trigger a sword art and accidentally kill the poor woman. It took a timely false cough to cover up his relief when her health started ticking upward.  "Do us both a favour and work on your battle healing, okay?  It's rather essential for any tank."

As scolding went, his was so tame as to be considered passable bedside manner. Another thing he never expected to find himself doing.  Leaving the healer's shelter, a repurposed inn on the edge of the central square chosen for its virtue of still having an intact roof, Freyd summoned himself a steaming cup of coffee as reward for having done more harm than good, for a change.

Its vanilla-scented vapours barely reached his nostrils before saucer and cup alike clattered and shattered on cobblestones. Something wrenched from within.  Like the sensation of your stomach lurching left when your body moved right, this version would put the g-forces of multi-mach fighter jet maneuvers to shame.  Up became down as Freyd felt his vision pulled toward Montjoy's still standing form while his body stumbled to find the ground.

His shade's silhouette looked equally distraught, gaze set to the distant horizon as if called upon by something darkly disturbing and familiar.  Something they both knew and understood better than perhaps any players in Aincrad was struggling to re-emerge into this world - to break its bonds and run rampant as its had been lured into doing once before.  They had dealt with his own dark manifested impulses, but hers had remained within, suppressed but still seething and eager.

"Mari."

A puff of white powder marked his unceremonious appearance, a full quarter castle floors away from where he'd been a moment earlier.  Distance meant nothing in the void, there being nothing between all the points its connected.  He saw the black bile spew forth, its bearer's tangerine form slumping sideways into the snow.

"No, no, NO!  Mari!"  Clad like a blackened icebreaker, the Whisper rushed towards her as fast as frozen terrain would allow, hoping there was still time.

***

Note: CS (Shades of the Gemini) and CSA (Beckon the Void) are in use.  If any other player objects to these, please state in first post and it will be considered inactive.

GUILD RANK 5 (+5% col, +5% EXP)

Freyd | HP: 1360/1360 | EN: 168/168 | DMG: 21 | MIT:152 | ACC:4 | AA  | F-SPIRIT | EVA:2 | BH:75 | VAMP-D: 75 | HLY: 16 | FRZ: 64 | LD:5

Spoiler

Name: Freyd, Bara no kuro kishi
True Tier: 20
Level: 34
Paragon Level: 158
HP: 1360/1360
EN: 168/168

Stats:
Damage: 21
Mitigation: 152
Accuracy: 4
Evasion: 2
Battle Healing: 75
Loot Die: 5
Stealth Rating: -3
VAMP-D: 75
HLY: 16
FRZ: 64

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Memento Mori | T4 | AA | FREEZE | HOLY II
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Negare Omnia | T4 HA | MIT III | VD I
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Night Shades | T3 Trinket | ACC III | EVA I

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - AOE Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - Grappling Familiar

Custom Skill:
  - Shades of the Gemini (CS)
  - Beckon the Void (CSA)

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R5
  - Charge
  - Energist
  - Extended Mod Limit
  - Extended Weight Limit
  - Fighting Spirit
  - Heavy Armor R5
  - Howl
  - Katana R5
  - Quick Change
  - Searching R4

Extra Skills:
  - Disguise
  - Hiding R2
  - First Aid R5

Inactive Extra Skills:
  - Meditation
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Lady Luck
  - Photosynthesize
  - Brawler
  - Assault Mode
  - Frozen Hide
  - Survival

Addons:
  - Field Medic
  - Focus
  - Focused Howl
  - Hyperactive
  - Iron Skin
  - Precision
  - Reveal
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Barrier
  - Untraceable
  - Emergency Recovery
  - Impetus
  - Night Vision
  - Purify
  - Tracking

Inactive Mods:
  - Detect

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Bear Trap (Reusable 1/combat) x1
  - Bear Trap (Reusable 1/combat) x1
  - Crystal of Divine Light (Reusable 1/thread) x1
  - Mass HP Rec [Inst] (+10% HP) x7
  - Meathook (Reusable 1/combat) x1
  - Ordsea Crystal-B (Reusable 1/combat) x1
  - Ordsea Crystal-B (Reusable 1/combat) x1
  - Teleport Crystals x7
  - Tue Light Lantern (+1 ACC, +1 LD to party) x1
  - Veritas | T4 Katana) | AA, PVO I, VO I, Taunt x1

Housing Buffs:

  - Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
  - Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
  - Attic (Bedroom): +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cannot boost a skill without ranks, or increase a skill past its maximum rank. Cannot boost a skill the user has not learned yet. Ranks obtained using this buff will make the mods of that rank available for purchase. Mods obtained this way are unusable if this buff is removed until the skill is returned to the appropriate rank by way of SP purchase.
  - Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
  - Guest Room: Players can have one «Amenity» in a «Guest Room» and the «Amenity» cannot be recovered. Players are allowed to change which «Amenity» is in the «Guest Room». Multiple instances of the same «Amenity» do not stack. This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.
  - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
  - Ornate Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts.
  - Dining Hall: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
  - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs: [Firm Anima] 

  - Guild Hall II: Allows a Guild the ability to create up to two Guild Quests. Narratively, it also allows players to teleport back to the Guild Territory when using Teleport Crystals.  
  - Storage Vault: Allows a guild to create a Storage Vault in their Guild Page. Members can use this thread to store and withdraw items. Any items that have trading restrictions cannot be moved to a Storage Vault.
  - Trading Hall III: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (9+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters and Rank 4 merchants/performers receive +1 crafting/identification attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters and Rank 5 merchants/performers receive +5 crafting/identification attempts per day. Appraisers gain an initial additional reroll per identified item at no cost.
  - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.
  - Laboratory I: Once per charge, when receiving single-use consumables from Quest Rewards, if a Guild Treasurer were to receive additional tokens, one guild member may claim 1 x (Additional Token / 2) copies of the consumable.
  - Bureau II: Once per charge, if two or more Guild members are present in a thread, allow two dungeons to be spawned/explored in that thread, regardless of Dungeon-searching cooldowns. This buff may only apply once per thread.
  - Library I: Once per charge, if a Storyteller is eligible to claim a Guild Token, their character gains +10% bonus EXP at the end of the thread. This buff may only apply once per thread.
- Armory II: Once per charge, players may submit a Skill Refund evaluation regardless of the 30 day cooldown window. In addition to Armory buffs, when submitting a Skill Refund evaluation, guild members have the option to pay an additional Token to refund up to 30 additional SP.
- Menagerie III: Guild members undertaking <<Feeding Your Enemy>> gain +1 LD to familiar searching rolls and +1 to familiar taming rolls. In addition to Menagerie II buffs, the maximum number of familiars guild members can tame narratively is five (5). Guild officials may also appoint a familiar mascot, shared between their guild members to accompany them narratively in their threads.

Scents of the Wild Totem:
  - Tanos
Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:
 - Appraising[3478exp] R5
Gathering Profession:
 - Fishing[576exp] R5
 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Freyd

[Mari 1]

A small giggle bubbled forth from Mari’s lips as the salt and peppered man approached, skidding down next to her in the snow. The womans form was partially hidden, covered by the powered ice.

“You can’t stop this.” The voice was cold, low and almost melodious. It would have almost been enchanting with the way it practically sang the words, if they weren’t laced with an underlining vitterol.

More black bile bubbled up over Mari’s lips.

The voices rose in Mari’s unconscious mind, drowning out the sound of Freyd’s frantic shouting.

You’re free, you’re so free right now - you can do whatever you like, whomever you like.
      Isn’t this better?
Isn’t this fun?
            Look what you’ve created.  Look what you can achieve if you just let

                                                It…
                                                              All….
                                                                                 Go….

Mari groaned outwardly, her eyes fluttering beneath her closed lids. A long exhale of steamed blume as she let out a shivered breath. Her fingers twitched. She was having fun. She enjoyed experiments. She enjoyed creating things. Her time with Oscar was so sorely needed - but there were lines - expectations - Things she couldn’t do again. Wouldn’t do again. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair. And yet…

Yet you keep wondering what if…

Mari couldn’t focus on what is. Or what could have been. No…she wanted to live in the moment, for the moment. She wanted to protect those she cared about.

And yet no one cares.

Her eyes fluttered open. That thought hurt. A deep pain in her chest.

Mari! Talk to me Mari…

The sound of worry. If no one cared, then why did that voice sound so panicked. “T-Takeshi?” Mari croaked weakly. She felt like she had been hit by a truck. She could taste bile. Did she throw up? Mari struggled to push herself up. She had almost headbutted Freyd. His blue eyes wide, filled with concern as he reached out to wipe something from her face.

“W-What are you-”

Her question disappeared as she looked down at his gauntlet clad hand. Black?

“I…don’t feel too good.” Mari admitted, swaying. Woozy.    

[Freyd 0]

Eyes widening at the implausible sight playing out before him, he'd long since hoped to have put this behind him.  And maybe he had, but clearly not Mari.  Her baggage never seemed to leave, endlessly cycling back around like it was on some sort of infernal airport carousal that simply defied any effort to reclaim or remove it. Everyone was just along for the ride.

“You can’t stop this.”

"Like Hell, I can't."  Freyd's voice sounded more certain than he felt, especially knowing the toll and time it had taken him to overcome what had followed. That catharsis had nearly killed him, more than once, even to the point where his form had literally shattered and been frozen in time on the precipice of existence. It had taken the precious efforts of a rose to pull him back, for which he would be ever grateful.  Whatever he and Mari were to each other - a tangles skein of yarn thrown into a bag of feral cats came to mind - he couldn't leave her like this.  They were too much alike for him to ever give up on her without accepting that he'd be giving up on himself.

"Montjoy.  Please!" Detaching its tethers from his form, Freyd's shadow took on a look less familiar, as if belonging to a different person whose outline was better suited to a world they'd all been slowly forgetting.  Like two magnets of the same pole one shadow pressed against the manifestation of the other of managed to corral it, if only for the time being.  There's too much here for it to stay bottled up forever.  It's amazing she's held it in for this long.

Gathering Mari's crumpled body in his arms, he hefted her free of the landscape's grip and trudged through the remaining distance to her home.  A hefty boot and future apology would serve as key, silently thankful that the system allowed it.  Maybe Mari's presence alone was enough.  Whatever.  He didn't care, save to get her inside and warmed.  Only then did he realize her garb had changed, and not in a good way.

"Amari... what have you done?"  More pleading and concern than anger, Freyd pulled what cushions and blankets were available together and set the hearth ablaze with a not-so-subtle sword art.  Comfort was his priority.  Rest, for poor tired Mari, not that he felt like any amount could ever truly suffice.  That thing inside her wasn't going anywhere.  Cradling her against him, her head lay buried in the crook of his shoulder as he rubbed the quilt wrapped around her hoping to stir her back to consciousness.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

A question for you both.

Edited 15 hours ago by Freyd

[Mari 1]

Mari tried to protest as she felt herself being lifted up off the ground. She wanted to fight and squirm but her body wouldn’t allow it. It was cold. She was cold, and her limbs felt heavy as though they were carrying the weight of the world. “F-Freyd…” Mari managed, her voice a groaned whisper. “I’ll be okay in a minute.” She believed those words.

The door to her home slammed open with a fierce kick. The place smelled musty, and dust motes floated in the air. It was clear she wasn’t here often. Or hadn’t been here for a long…long time. She was placed on the floor in front of her fireplace and in a matter of minutes every pillow and blanket that had littered the first floor was wrapped around her. A fire was blazing. Warmth began to return to her extremities. Mari rubbed her gloved hands together as she reached out toward the fire. “That happens sometimes.” Mari admitted, feeling a little ashamed of herself.

“I get…” she paused. How to describe this to him without him judging her? “I get so focused.” Mari continued. Her nose wrinkled, as she realized she was still wearing the treated clothing to keep the wandering mobs on the 10th floor at bay. Mari shrugged off the blanket then pulled off the thick leather coat, gloves, then her boots. She tossed both unceremoniously to the corner. Deciding it’d be easier to deal with that later. Mari wriggled and flexed her fingers as she picked up the blanket and wrapped it back around her form. Now, all she wore was a simple black t-shirt that looked like it was one size too big, and a pair of tracksuit pants. “Do you ever…play a game so long that you lose track of time and suddenly its morning?” Mari wasn’t an avid gamer, but she had spent some nights like that, and it was akin to her research. “It’s kinda like that. I…”

Her shoulders rose and fell in a heavy sigh. Mari was completely unaware of the significance of the black smear on Freyds gauntlet. The one mirror she kept was still covered, so she had no way of knowing what had dried and currently stuck to her chin and lips.

"Amari... what have you done?"  

 

The woman shot Freyd a confused look. What was he talking about? “What are you-” Her eyes shifted back to the corner. Ah.

He doesn’t like you learning
                  Exploring.
                              He’s always done this, hasn’t he?


Mari shook her head, removing the negative thoughts that bubbled up. The man had used her real name, something he rarely did. He was upset, worried. “Ahh…you want to know what I was working on?” Mari asked. Missing the mark entirely.

She lifted a hand and started to through her inventory, slowly, one by one, three items dropped into her lap.  A glass sphere filled with a noxious yellow gas, a glass sphere that buzzed with wasps - and a small metallic case.

“I….feel tired…” She muttered.

Don’t show him.
                DON’t ShArE wiTh HiM

“Do…you want to see?” Mari asked again.

Fighting back those damn thoughts was getting so hard lately.

[Freyd 0]

“That happens sometimes.”

"Sometimes?  This has been happening more often?"  Part of him wanted to scold her for being so dense to the threat she was incubating in her own self-inflicted blind spots.  That was how it always started with her.  She did because it was neat, fun or enticing, thought being relegated to later consideration.  References to the absent-minded professor trope plagued his mind, with considerably enhanced lethality.

"And what is that smell?!" Waving his hands before him while she removed her overgarments, he was too distracted by the stench to appreciate the woman's natural beauty laid plainly bare.  Thankfully, the various antidotes he'd been taking while fussing with all those Spectral Knights seemed to protect him from the worse of the noxious fumes' effects long enough for Mari to toss them into the corner.  He made a mental note to burn them whenever she fell asleep.

“I get... I get so focused.”

Bullshit. You get obsessed, and you know it. Thankfully, his mouth and nose were still clenching enough to keep the smell out that nothing slipped out.  taking his frustrations out on the logs in the fire with a poker instead, he chose not to call out her delusions.  It never worked anyway.

“Do you ever…play a game so long that you lose track of time and suddenly its morning?”

"Yeah.  I guess.  But I can't say I've ever done it with potential weapons of mass destruction."  He recognized it as a lie the moment the words were said, which only made everything worse.  Freyd knew where her actions were leading, and the aftermath was inevitably a cluster fuck - one with consequences beyond just the two of them.  Closing his eyes, wiping away the watering from whatever bug spray she'd doused herself with, he only half-saw the three objects she'd laid bare before him.

"Yeah.  Sure," he offered, half-heartedly, trying to buy time to refocus himself.  "You seem eager.  Why don't you walk me through it while I get us some food?"

He already expected the cupboards were bare.

[Mari 1]

"Sometimes?  This has been happening more often?"  

Mari nodded as she picked up the small sphere of wasps. Turning it to and fro in her hands. “Yeh..twice today,  once yesterday on the first floor, and once after leaving your place that day I met Elora. I get these dizzy spells, like the world is spinning. Sometimes I can feel myself passing out, so I do my best to get to a semi safe location. She was being truthful with him. There was no reason to lie. Not to Freyd.

"And what is that smell?!" 

“A repellant. It helps keep monsters at bay. Stinks to high hell though. Sorry about that. I didn’t want to deal with fighting today.” She glanced at the corner, if only there was a way to not make it, and her stink so fucking badly…but that was why it worked. “You know I’m not a big fan of fighting.”

Something bubbled and gurgled in her chest, tugging at the recesses of what she could only describe as the darkness in her mind, several images and scenes had played across her memory of times where she had enjoyed fighting. Each time it had been a challenge.

You don’t enjoy fighting those weaker than you.
                  You enjoy the thrill of chase
                                              You enjoy the discovery, of learning.

Mari ignored the thoughts. Instead turning to the array of items she had in her lap. She had his blessing to talk through them. She had promised she’d keep him updated. Mari held the tiny glass sphere toward Freyd. “So these, if they sting you - it’d hurt, but the damage would be negligible, if anything at all. It's a deterrent for people. A safe deterrent. If I’m being chased by a bunch of Player Killer hunters…I can throw this as a distraction. Most people would freak the fuck out, gives me time to get away. The most they’ll have is a welt or two for a day.”

Her original plan for the wasps was something else - but she hadn’t fully worked that out yet, and she didn’t want to bombard him with too much information. Mari tossed it in the air, and before she could catch it again - it fizzled away - into her inventory.

"Yeah.  I guess.  But I can't say I've ever done it with potential weapons of mass destruction."  

Mari picked up the second orb. “Yeh…guilty…” She admitted. “I don’t plan on sharing this one, if that puts you at ease.” Mari paused, staring at the cloud, if she were to shake the glass it’d shift and move, like inky waves in a clear ocean. “But I doubt that would…” She recalled how well it worked against the wave of NPCs that had tried to attack her. He was right. It was probably too dangerous. Mari had the knowledge to make more - but she probably shouldn’t make more.

“Freyd…” Mari said quietly as she placed the sphere on the ground. “If you want to take it, you can. And all you have to do is say - and I won’t make more. Honestly…” She turned to the fire, watching its flames lick at smouldering brick. “It unnerves even me that something like this is possible.”

He had moved now, to try to prepare them food. “You won’t find anything.” She called out over her shoulder, eyes never moving from the fire. “I’m banned from towns. I can’t exactly go grocery shopping. I’d do anything for some good hollandaise again though.”

[Freyd 0]

Watching and listening as Mari played show and tell like they were in arms dealer kindergarten, Freyd measured his responses by opening and closing cupboards he knew would be empty.  Returning to the fire’s edge with a smattering of mismatched second hand dishes, he laid them out between them.  

The wasp thing just sounded unnecessarily complex.  Wouldn’t a smoke bomb or modest irritant do the same trick?  Why bother with the insects?  Maybe it played against some subtle coding technicality that enabled it to avoid categorization as an environmental effect, and bypassed the over-relied upon protection of the Survival skill?

"Fortunately, I carry several grocery stores stuffed into my inventory.  Be prepared, taken to extremes.  I should get all the boy scout badges after all the shit I've done in here, except knot tying.  That's stuff's just impossible."

Pocketing the mustard gas sphere as he laid out simple cheese and sandwiches, the grimace on his face spoke volumes about leaving biological weapons on the table with food.  It soon vanished to his inventory while more edible wonders appeared, including a small jar of Hollandaise sauce.

“Yeah.  There was a bit left after you visited, and I actually paid attention while you made it.  I’m not much of a cook, but appraising can work wonders at reverse engineering how stuff is made.  You’d be amazed at some of the tricks I’ve been able to pull off with it.”

Handing Mari one of the precut slices, a dull knife and the jar, he hoped the small gesture would mean something in light of the ambient heaviness of their present circumstances.

“I can’t deny that these things could be quite useful, Mari.  What concerns me is who uses them and how.  I’d trust you to be prudent, but others?  We both know there are some who would turn these things on their fellow players.  And what of the 'friend' who knocked you out?  What if he had them, or shared them with other even less discerning folk?”  A dozen names immediately sprung to mind, none of whom should be trusted with such power.  Three dozen more who were just too stupid not to expose themselves or others through raw ineptitude.  He wasn’t sure which was worse.

“We both know that whether you choose to make more of these things or others like them isn’t up to me.  Right now, what matters most to me is the darkness literally gnawing at you from within.”

Taking the nearest blanket, he wiped the dregs of bile from her lips before she could press food to it, then showed her the stain.

“Remember this?  I do.  It’s the same stuff we both spewed up when our Gemini went AWOL. Because that was such a good time. Small comfort that I wasn’t stupid enough to tease it out from you this time, but these blackouts?  Mary… Amari… it’s trying to break out.  And what I saw in its face the last time was sheer, murderous, uninhibited glee.  We need to deal with it, before it gets any stronger.”

[Mari 1]

“-except knot tying.  That's stuff's just impossible."

Mari laughed softly at his remark as she picked up the metal case and put it to the side, she could explain that one later. Somehow, Freyd had always managed to do this, say something innocuous that made her feel better. “Don’t have daughters.” Mari said with a faint smile. “They’ll want all manner of braids. No amount of YouTube videos could ever prepare me for that.” It was bittersweet. Mari rarely got to mention her daughter, and it pained her to…but the memory was sweet. Trying to match a video at 6 am in the morning, only to fail miserably and have a crying child sent off to school because you couldn’t do some fancy double dutch braid.

Mari’s eyes shifted to the food he began plating. She accepted it, realizing she hadn’t eaten for a solid day. “Ahh…I probably fainted because I didn’t eat.” She admitted sheepishly as she grabbed the jar and slathered the bread with thick spread, then bit into it chewing. Food always made her feel better. “You’re gonna have to start sending me reminders to do that.” Mari snorted, talking with a full mouth. “I’m like a child sometimes, I suppose.” A light hearted joke at her expense, despite the heaviness that seemed to sit in the air.

Come to think of it….Why was Freyd here? He rarely came to this floor. He seemed so very worried when he approached her. Had he been watching her? She wanted to ask, but she had too much food in her mouth. So she simply chewed and listened to the inevitable barrage of questions.

“I’d trust you to be prudent, but others?  We both know there are some who would turn these things on their fellow players.  And what of the 'friend' who knocked you out?  What if he had them, or shared them with other even less discerning folk?” 

Mari swallowed. “Freyd. That man already has something like that. I was simply replicating it. If I could get it to work - I could reverse engineer it.” She picked up a piece of bread. “I could make an antidote. I am an alchemist after all. You’re right though.” She admitted. She didn’t like admitting he was right when it came to things like this, because it meant she was too close to that line, that she was in danger of stepping over it. “I wouldn’t trust others with that knowledge…I don’t know many, if any people who are capable of such things except that man. But…that’s still concerning. And…”

Mari paused to finish off her slice, and once she had - she began to make herself another. Still hungry. “It isn’t really up to you - but I highly value your opinion. Even if I don’t act like it sometimes.”

Tak Mari went to take a bite from the food, but paused mid air, mouth still open.

“Right now, what matters most to me is the darkness literally gnawing at you from within.”

He reached out to her and again, wiped something from her chin, then to the blanket. Black? Mari’s eyes shifted to the blanket then to Freyd. Then, she dropped the food as a hand went to her head. She hissed with pain. A sharp stabbing pain in her head threatened to knock her unconscious there and then.

 

“W-What the hell are you talking about?”

She shook her head, thoughts screamed at her, telling her to not listen to him, to shut him up. She fell forward and had to brace herself with one hand. The other fell to her mouth as she coughed up more of the bile. Her body visibly shook.

“-Cough- S…Sorry..I…” She coughed again and pulled her hand away. Droplets of black. “W-whats happening?” Mari asked, panicked. She thought they dealt with this. She looked up at him, worried. “I…I thought we fixed this? How do we….what do I do? Why?”

[Freyd 0]

“Don’t have daughters.” 

Spoken lightly, the comment slapped him harder than expected, as if the possibility of children had never even occurred to him.  When?  How?!  Thrust aside just as quickly, Freyd felt he’d make a terrible father in any case.

“Ahh…I probably fainted because I didn’t eat.”

Right.  Sure.  It couldn’t possibly be the evil goop goblin you have guzzling up your darker impulses like a glutton at an all-you-can eat buffet? Freyd kept quiet, slathering up a wafer with some leftover Hollandaise and ramming it down his gob to keep his trap shut.

“I’m like a child sometimes, I suppose.” 

Freyd suddenly realizes he’d somehow picked up Mari as an adopted child along the way, much as she had picked up others. The irony slapped him, it was so thick.

“It isn’t really up to you - but I highly value your opinion. Even if I don’t act like it sometimes.”

“And I appreciate that, truly.  But maybe make only make what you need when you critically need it? This sort of thing is too dangerous to leave just laying around for the nabbing.”

He failed to mention all the trouble it had taken to receiver the small ebola phial she’d casually tossed in the Stygian.  The gear consumed in that recover cost him an entire week’s grinding to replace.  Mari was too distracted by the sight of her own blackened vomit to read anything into his toast-stuffed features.

“-Cough- S…Sorry..I…” She coughed again and pulled her hand away. Droplets of black. “W-whats happening?” Mari asked, panick bleeding through her voice while she glanced up at him with dawning realization. “I…I thought we fixed this? How do we….what do I do? Why?”

“Because you’ve been feeding it, Mari.  Didn’t you ever see Gremlins? Never delve into chemical warfare after midnight.”  Spoken half-jokingly, he didn’t truly feel the humour and was spewing it more out of habit than anything else.  Every encounter he’d ever had with these things ended in tragedy and a wake of collateral damage a mile wide.  His own had infested half the Forest of Memories with spawnlings Freyd had been forced to confront and put down, each donning the face of a friend.  That had taken quite the toll.

“I can... try something else, but… don’t stab me.”

Cradling her in his lap and gently patting her head, Freyd focused his newly adopted healer’s arts, trusting on a lifetime of wrestling dark impulse and misery to glean some insightful guidance. Much as his blade, Samael’s Pride, relied on holy seals to keep the hungering void at bay, he channeled his feelings into a caul to contain and reinforce Mari’s own floundering soul.  It was a far more spiritual thing than he’d ever attempted and felt clumsy in its implementation, but it held the virtue of being sincere.

***

Freyd uses Purify on Mari.

Edited 4 hours ago by Freyd

[Mari 1]

The coughing subsided and allowed Mari a moment of reprieve. She had moments like this every so often in prison, but it had never been this bad. Mari tried to find rhyme or reason behind her fits - the now very clear attempts of whatever decrepit form of gemini lie within her to escape. But there was no logic behind it. They came during peace, during happy moments, they came when she was tired and stressed, when she was focused… as though there were no meticulous plan, and that it would just periodically knock on that proverbial door to burst free.

It just so happens to be happening more lately now.

But why?

There had to be a reason, right? Mari hastily wiped her hands on her blanket. This wasn’t good.

“Because you’ve been feeding it, Mari.  Didn’t you ever see Gremlins? Never delve "into chemical warfare after midnight.”  

“F..Feeding it?!?” Mari said with an inhale. Just what did he mean by that? Wasn’t she doing better now? Mari felt better…most of the time. She didn’t hate herself, she wasn’t just going through the motions. “Y…Yer telling me…me doing what I want for a change is…” Another cough, this time free of bile. She shook her head. No…that wasn’t the answer. That didn’t make sense, right? If anything that would weaken it, no? Because it had no negativity to feed off of. Her tone wasn’t accusatory, it was filled with concern, worry. She was living for herself…for once and it was literally causing some kind of sentient shadow to eat away at her from the inside? That just couldn’t be right.

“I can... try something else, but… don’t stab me.”

Mari’s body relaxed as he ran fingers through her hair. She wanted to protest, to fight the action - she wasn’t Elora and whilst there were no romantic feelings or intentions behind the action it still felt…like they should be saved for the pretty grass haired woman. “I wouldn’t want to.” Mari said quietly. Unsure. She didn’t want to, but what about what was inside her? Surely even that didn’t want to hurt him. Right?

Right.

Mari’s eyes watered and burned as a bright light began to flicker into existence from his hands. A hot heat ignited where they pressed on her back, and it sprawled out through her. A system message popped up in front of her blurred vision.

Freyd uses Purify on Mari

 

It hurt. It Hurt
It HURts it hurts it HURts IT HURTS IT HURTS
It HR UTRS

-PAIN-

She slumped forward, body violently shaking, skin pickling with heat. Whimpered breaths came in quickened succession before stopping completely. Her entire form becoming deathly still. Then, when she had stopped breathing for one too many seconds for comfort - her body jolted with a sickening twist - and if Freyd hadn’t been holding fast to her, she would have thrown herself into the fire. She screamed, an ear piercing sound - her voice layered as though multiple people were vying for control of her vocal chords. Her head thrown back - eyes rolled back. Veins pressed against her skin as she continued to scream.

It hurts….
      Takeshi this hurts…

 

“THIS FUCKING HURTS…” The woman screamed as black bubbled forward from her mouth. The sludge trickled down her chin, down her arms - and looped around her fingers  staining her skin. The more black that dripped down - the more she writhed, manicured nails dug deep into Freyds flesh as she tried to claw her way free.

She grew more violent, body thrashing. “LET ME GO! LET ME THE FUCK GO”
 

Its dark.
      Its cold
            I don’t know where I am.

As the burning sensation continued to run wild through the womans body the screaming turned into maddening melodic laughter, a warbling sound that choked as the liquid continued to trickle from her lips.

Tears rolled down her face.

Edited 4 hours ago by Mari

[Freyd 0]

Holding her, as gently as he could while she convulsed atop his folded legs, Freyd ceased the skill’s flow as soon as he was able.

“Did I do it wrong?” he wondered aloud, puzzled by the reaction.  Was it working and the thing inside her was writhing as it withered, or was he making things worse?

Does it feed on her pain too?  No wonder it’s gotten so strong.

It hurts….
      Takeshi this hurts…

“I’m trying Amari, but I don’t know what to do or how to make this better.  This is different than before."  Probably because they were different - both of them.  So much had happened since their first collision.  So many intersecting paths crossed, and thresholds busted wide. Unwilling to press her as he once had, Freyd simply held Mari as tightly as he dared.  He'd not cause the same harm twice.  Not if he could help it.

THIS FUCKING HURTS…LET ME GO! LET ME THE FUCK GO”

Its dark.
      Its cold
            I don’t know where I am.

More tainted bile disgorged, pooling before the hearth and reflecting its fiery glow with a sinister darkness. Freyd felt a chill run down his spine when the laughter started.  He'd heard it before.

"EVELYN!"  A desperate gambit, played in an hour of need and drawing on confidence given long ago beneath the shadow of another frozen wasteland - The Night King's blighted domain, if he recalled correctly.  Praying that Amari's daughter might do what he could not, his lips evoked it again.

"Evelyn!  Remember your love for your daughter, Amari.  She wouldn't want this for you, or for anyone."

Reaching out with what little will and resolve he could spare, Freyd banished all shadow from the room.  Even Montjoy was cast out. Only light and warmth were permitted, Freyd effectively blinding himself to his own power by closing every door to the void in hopes it might protect his friend.  

"You can do this, Amari.  For her..."

[Mari 1]

Stare too long at the void and the void stares back…

 

Mari wasn’t sure where she was. She felt like she was floating in a thick sludge, almost like mud. But she was ice cold. She could feel a weight press heavily on her chest. Every time she breathed in it felt like fire and every time she exhaled it felt like ice. She couldn’t feel her fingers, but she knew they twitched. She couldn’t move her body. Where am I? 

Mari tried shifting her head, it was hard…but possible, nothing. She was surrounded by nothing but inky blackness. The last thing she could recall was a sharp pain as Freyd told her not to stab him. Then a flash of light - then screaming…

Then sinking into this miserable dark void.
 

"EVELYN!"

That name…that hurt…her daughter. Mari would never see her again. And it was all by her own doing. How was it that she was making light hearted jokes earlier about braiding hair? When she never could do such a thing again.

A whimper came from Mari’s physical form.

Voices rose in her head - maniacal whispers, laughing at her. Chittering around her in excitement. She could almost feel tiny clawed hands scratching at her exposed skin.

Then, as loud and as clear as though they were right next to her - she heard her own voice. Except… it wasn’t her. It spoke with a cavalier cadence, one laced with malicious vitterol. 

“Evelyn…you say the name as though it’s not the reason I exist.” The voice spat. “The signal of a downfall, one that can never, ever be climbed out of.”

Mari struggled. No…NO…

“Thats not me, I’m not saying that…”

Her words were lost, barely above a whisper. Laughter erupted around her. Then, the weight on her chest grew - and she could feel it. The gemini’s hands gripping around her throat - as the inky visage somehow seemed visible amongst the ice cold shadows.

“This is my time. You’d be better off where you are. Silent. Alone. Oh how justified this is. You’re exactly where I have been. Enjoy it, little flame. This is your prison.”

As the gemini spoke to Mari, in its own mindscape - Mari…the body of Mari sat silently. Eyes half lidded. Movements ceasing. 

"Evelyn!  Remember your love for your daughter, Amari.  She wouldn't want this for you, or for anyone."

A hiccup, and the woman had used the distraction to regain control. Warmth, warmth flooded into her from everywhere. The soft hues of light felt blinding, Mari lifted herself up and away from Freyd. Mari attempted to push him back as she crawled forward a few feet before throwing up more of the black bile. Coughing. That was scary. Was that the void? It felt like it…but worse. It wasn’t like she was traipsing across the top of it like she did with Freyd, it felt worse. So much worse.

“V…Void…” Mari said in a shaky breath. “F-F-Fucking cold…” Her teeth chattered, she felt like complete shit, but she was back. The seething darkness that permeated from within her seemingly settling for now - unable to continue to manifest thanks to whatever Freyd had done. Mari turned her gaze to him, reaching out a shaky hand.

She wanted to tell him not to talk about her daughter - because it hurt too much. But that hurt is a part of why she was still here. “T-t-Takeshi…” Mari said, voice still shaking. “H-how do I stop this from…f-f-from…Manifesting?” her head hung, and the corners of her eyes stung with a new salty heat.

“Why…I thought I was doing better…”