[PT-PP-JL-F24] Long Overdue

[Mari 1]

It had been almost a month since she was released from prison. In that time she had told herself she’d meet up with Baldur and have a long discussion numerous times. And yet each and every time she had been distracted. Getting drunk with Arcanthus and Katoka…that dark shinsengumi from the laughing coffin…

Mari snorted in amusement. Somehow…both he an Baldur were similar. Two sides of the same coin. It was  a shame really…they’d never meet, and if they did it would likely not end well. The dark shinsengumi’s words echoed in Mari’s mind.

 

Tell those you love to stop seeking salvation with wings of wax, they are flying too close to the sun. Their lives are in your hands, time to be a monster.

 

In other words… The Coffin wanted the frontliners to stop working through the floors to find an escape. She didn’t think things were that rushed…she was gone for 2 years, and in that time barely three floors had been cleared. Things weren’t exactly progressing quickly. Mari had her own thoughts on the frontlines. It’s partially why she wanted to take the time to talk to Baldur.

 

Where did she fit in it, did she have a place in the guild?

Mari wasn’t so sure anymore.

Despite those uncertainties the month since she had been gone had clearly been good to Mari. She held herself with a straightened back, a level of confidence she didn’t have before. A drive. She had people she loved. She had a family, well…She had a Freyd. Which one could argue was kinda like a family. She could have hot showers and eat warm meals regularly. Things she never thought she’d have again. Hell, she was even able to walk through some of the larger settlements now - with them not caring about the orange cursors.

So bright eyed and with an air of inner peace Mari had broached the threshold of Baldurs doorstep. She wore her Yukata; blue material adorned with koi across it in striking patterns.

“Hello?” She called out. “Anyone home?”

She hoped he was around - it took two days to get here from her own home. Next time..she was inviting the greenie to her house. The one who could teleport any which way he wanted.

Mari could hear the discordant sounds of a flute. Ah...Mari rounded the building to the back; where Baldur sat, a pot of tea always by his side. He seemed to be playing the flute. Or attempting to at least. Mari grinned. "Good to see you taking a breather. When you get better, care for a duet?"

 

 

Mari | HP: 960/960 | EN: 134/134 | DMG: 21 | MIT:44 | ACC:4 | AA | EVA:4 | BH:53 | BLI: 32/-20 | ENV-O: 32 | PARA-V | LD:1

Spoiler

Name: Mari
True Tier: 11
Level: 34
Paragon Level: 71
HP: 960/960
EN: 134/134

Stats:
Damage: 21
Mitigation: 44
Accuracy: 4
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
- Stamina

Mods:
- Athletics
- Night Vision
- Surpise Attack: Trickster
- Untraceable
- Vanish

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:
- Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
- Dining Room: Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
- Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
- Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
- Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
- Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
- Ornate Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts.
- 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:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:
- Alchemist[exp] R
Gathering Profession:
- Fishing[120exp] R2

 

@Baldur

Edited 5 hours ago by Mari

[Baldur 0]

Baldur was sitting on the engawa behind the opened shoji panel walls that made up the living room of his main house. During the day when he was home, the panels were always moved open, allowing a nice breeze to permeate the home. It also opened up to beautiful landscapes on either side. The front of the house opened up to the massive pond that his home was built around, and he would often sit there and dangle his toes into the water. Hirru often fished in that lack, and he could see Cal and the others practicing in the dojo from there.

But for music, he sought solitude. Not to be alone, but he was still slightly embarrassed about it. He was not good at it, but his refusal to let the system assist him in this was a matter of pride as well. If he was going to play an instrument, he wanted to actually be able to play it. Not just have the system move his fingers and make the songs he wanted emanate from it. It would be easier, but to him that would make it cheaper. It would lose value. It was part of why basic swordsmanship was still a part of his curriculum, even though people would always fight with sword arts instead. There was value to the attempt, to the ennobling of the soul. He would leave this game, and be able to pick up a flute in the real world, and play it. It would be something that was his, and it could never be taken away.

Quote

"Good to see you taking a breather. When you get better, care for a duet?"

A discordant note suddenly shot from the flute as Baldur was startled by his new audience member.

"Oh! Good to see you Mari." Baldur stood up from where he sat and gave her a friendly bow of welcome. His blue haori was hung up near by, and he wore only his summer yukata, autumn colors matching the picture garden behind him. It was not a view people often got to see. This was the inner garden, and it was meant to be viewed from the bedrooms or from the living room. Behind him, a wonderful tapestry of color. Golden trees, mossy rocks, water running down in tiny waterfalls.

"I'm afraid you may be waiting a long time for that. I tried learning when I was a kid, and my music teacher told me I was so bad I should give up." He laughed at this obviously traumatic core memory, but shook the flute in his hand and put it away. "But the music is for me, not her, so who cares if it's bad?"

---

Spoiler

Non-combat thread
Baldur: Tier 11

 

[Mari 1]

'FWEEET' A very loud discordant A-Flat pierced her ears, sharp and unapologetic as Baldur faltered. Mari couldn't help but laugh at the harsh sound. His surprise.

"Oh! Good to see you Mari." Baldur stood up from where he sat and gave her a friendly bow of welcome.

He was always so earnest and formal that way. The woman tilted her head ever so slightly to the side, a small soft and warm smile upon her lips. This. This was why things were hard. When she began to doubt, when she was questioning her position in the guild. Where she stood with him...with the front-lines, in a simple gesture that was nothing more than a greeting he was able to ease some of that tension away. Nothing more than an elegant bow.

"I'm afraid you may be waiting a long time for that. I tried learning when I was a kid, and my music teacher told me I was so bad I should give up.But the music is for me, not her, so who cares if it's bad?"

"Well then...." Mari said as she approached and sat on the edge of the engawa just two paces away from him. "Neither one of us are going anywhere, so we got all the time that the world would offer to give us. And honestly?" A snort. "Fuck your music teacher." Mari leaned back on her hands, the polished wood warmed by the sun - cerulean eyes watching as water trickled down a series of rocks into a small pond. The rustle of leaves, the trickling water...it was so calming here. So alive. "Listening to anyone telling you to give up is a very un-Baldur like thing to do. I thought it was nice. You looked relaxed."

A comfortable silence settled between them. Usually Mari would feel a little awkward, but right now she had no reason to be. Despite all the things she needed to address. "I've been meaning to visit sooner -" Her voice quiet.  "With so much I wanted to talk about but it seemed life kept throwing things at me. I got distracted by a drunken adventure with Arcanthus and Katoka...met someone who reminds me of you..." Mari shut her eyes. Thoughts drifting to all the things she wanted to tell him, but never could. There was no way she could tell him about the Laughing Coffin. About what happened with Raidou - and finding out his secret. Hell, even Lancaster. For his own safety their relationship had to be kept quiet. Mari's smile was a little sad at that. She didn't care who knew. Who judged. But his safety was far more important.

"I'm here now." Mari said as she opened her eyes and glanced at him over her shoulder. "you look good in that colour, by the way. So..." Mari was never really one to waste time. "Where should I begin?"

 

[Baldur 0]

As they sat back down, Baldur let Mari's thoughts wander as they wanted. He could see that coming here and talking to him was an undertaking, no doubt she felt guilt and would try to punish herself as she often had before. But she also seemed at ease here, like she could finally let her hair down and breath for a moment.

"It sounds like you have had some fun adventures, I'm glad to hear that. You have always been so hard on yourself, it's good to hear that you've made some connections that are truly yours rather than just your pasts'"

He fiddled with the flute, not nervously, but more idly as they took a minute to appreciate the garden. He never grew tired of it. It was a slice of peace. Were he to be stuck here, he would still never regret time spent in his gardens.

"Where you should begin?" Thoughts and questions whirled through his head, but this conversation was not about sating his curiosity. "How about your drunken adventure with Acanthus and Katoka? I've briefly met Acanthus, but I haven't had the opportunity to spend time with Katoka. I'm very curious about her given our shared fashion." His blue eyes twinkled. The other katana user ran around for a long time in a haori that almost matched his own. But they had never managed to cross paths.

"It sounds like it will be a funny story."

Hopefully talking about something fun would help her be able to ease into what she really wanted to talk about.

[Mari 1]

"You have always been so hard on yourself, it's good to hear that you've made some connections that are truly yours rather than just your pasts'"

Hoo boy, that hit the nail on the head more than he knew. Mari offered Baldur a cheeky grin. "Yeh. You could say something like that." She wouldn't go into further detail. Not now. "I was though...I think it drove me a little mad. Did...Shield ever tell you that conversation he and I had?" Mari paused, then continued - not waiting for her friend to respond. "How I didn't want to be here anymore." Words that were heavy, but spoken in a light tone, as though those feelings were in the past. "I've had a lot of time to reflect, and honestly. I'm done being so hard on myself." She lifted a hand in a dismissive wave. "I got enough people after my head without adding myself to that list." Mari said with a laugh, as though she didn't care. Because...she didn't. Let them come.

How about your drunken adventure with Acanthus and Katoka? I've briefly met Acanthus, but I haven't had the opportunity to spend time with Katoka. I'm very curious about her given our shared fashion.

Mari turned to him, a little surprised at the question. He wanted to know how their escapades went? Right. Thats where the two differed. Mari usually got straight to the point, and at times it made  conversations awkward. Baldur seemed more content with taking things a little easier. That's why he was the people person.

 

"I was on my way to see you!" Mari said with a fond smile. "But my god... Baldur - your place is ridiculously impossible for a Pker to get to, you know that? It takes me like almost two days worth of walking to get here from my home. Anyway....I was resting to have a cup of tea, collect my thoughts. Then I ran into Arcanthus who was on her way to see you about a floor boss quest? She didn't seem too sure though. So we sat down and had a drink together. Then Katoka joined us. Hahh.." Mari pointed toward him, specifically- his clavicles. Currently hidden away beneath naught but a thin strip of silk.  "Dunno what it is about you, but man do you have some lookers coming to visit you lately. They're both stunning." Mari would pause at this moment, her hand lazily lifting to go through her menu. Scrolling through her inventory.

"Katoka said she wanted to do the quest so we thought, hey...girls day out. We headed up the stairs to the 29th floor. Sat in a cramped carriage..."  

Two sake cups fell into Mari's lap, followed by a bottle thin clear bottle of Umeshu, filled with floating plums. Mari poured Baldur a cup and slid it over to him then to herself before placing the bottle between them. Mari nursed the cup. Smelling from it rather than drinking. "I threw an octopus at a building...despite the terrible landscape that floor was...it was a really nice adventure and Katoka..." Mari shifted to put down the sake cup. "Katoka is...." What could she say about the woman. If it weren't for the insane rush that was Lancaster Mari could very easily see herself enjoying more and more time with the woman.

Supple lips, kind beguiling eyes. Long lashes, the softest of faces with the sweetest of skin. "She's had pain in her past - but she's moving past it. I think she's a very strong woman." Mari finally said. 

"I could see them both flourishing under you in the Ladder."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur picked up the small cup of shochu and gave Mari a pleased smile, holding it up.

"Kampai." He said, then took a sip, savoring the flavors and forming his opinion on the matter, but he finish the small glass quickly. "It's Ume-zing" His eyes sparkled with a little bit of mirth, before he set the cup back down. Supposedly it was bad luck to pour your own sake, but Baldur was never one to buy into superstition, especially in a video game. But he would pace himself.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, and made time for some girls day out. Connection is important to us in here." There here he referred to was not the guild, but to everyone trapped in here. His time on his funeral march with Snow had really cemented that back into him, and lessened, slightly, the burden that he carried.

"I appreciate the evaluation, but Katoka is one of Raidou's and I won't poach, but perhaps she would still enjoy joining the dojo." He would consider asking her if they became friends or if she sought him out, but he didn't want to treat Mari's budding friendships like business or a networking opportunity. She was making friends, and that was good.

"Oh, speaking of how long it takes you to get here. I got with Hirru, and we started fixing up the guild hall. He told me that we got it set up as a guild teleport plaza. Now anyone in the guild can use a teleport crystal and portal straight here. Doesn't work for anyone not in the guild, but it should make it easier for you."

He opened up part of his menu, pulled out a single teleport crystal. He knew she probably had them herself, but he slid it half way between them symbolically. It was hers to take if she wanted it.

"You three going to get together? Again? If you want, I can make the private onsen available if you wanted to have a girls spa day. It's not as large as the main one, but it is more private for a 'get away' if you will. Closest we can get to a spa day I imagine"

[Mari 1]

."It's Ume-zing"

Mari snorted at his pun. "Yer still a dork. It's nice to see that hasn't changed." Mari picked up her own small glass as he offered a warm hearted cheers before she emptied it, then in a fashion that was similar to Baldur - she refilled her own glass again.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, and made time for some girls day out. Connection is important to us in here."

"Yeh..." Mari said softly. "Sometimes. I suppose it is." Mari had lost so many of her connections. Lost faith in so many people. Why was it that all those closest to her just up and left? It was hard to relate fully with his words. But they were kind, serene, and held a kind of somber hope that those who remained here, remained human. Despite Baldur having gone through similar experiences. He held strong. Mari took a sip. Just how much weight and burden could that man carry before its too late?

"I appreciate the evaluation, but Katoka is one of Raidou's and I won't poach, but perhaps she would still enjoy joining the dojo." 

He wouldn't... But Mari would. The woman kept that fact to herself for now. A small mischievous smile as she took another sip. Yeh, she totally would. Sorry Raidou.

"You three going to get together? Again? If you want, I can make the private onsen available if you wanted to have a girls spa day. It's not as large as the main one, but it is more private for a 'get away' if you will. Closest we can get to a spa day I imagine"

"Oh! That's quite kind of you. I'll have to relay that to the others. It's not....the Strawberry Yolo Onsen though, right? I'm not sure how any of us would feel about havin' to sit on a rocky indent of Macradons face." She laughed at the thought. Macradon always wanted to leave his mark on the world. Guess he had now. A peep filled strawberry scented mark. 

"Oh, speaking of how long it takes you to get here. I got with Hirru, and we started fixing up the guild hall. He told me that we got it set up as a guild teleport plaza. Now anyone in the guild can use a teleport crystal and portal straight here. Doesn't work for anyone not in the guild, but it should make it easier for you."

"How long?" Mari pursed her lips. "Hmmm coming straight from the 4th floor I think maybe about 15 hours? I had to rest a bunch in between. Have you ever tried to climb that many flights of winding steep staircases? Oof." Baldur told her how the guild had set up a teleport plaza. A fact she wished she had known before coming here. It was sweet. Kind..thoughtful. And it made it all the more harder for Mari to try and bring up the things that were bothering her. She shifted her gaze to the crystal that sat between them. An offer. Symbolic mostly. 'You're always welcome here. You're home' 

But...

Mari took a deep breath. "Baldur..." She began. Her tone shifting to a quiet sense of serious. "This is nice. But I came here to discuss important matters with you. My incarceration...my thoughts about the front-lines...do you...mind?"

 

[Baldur 0]

It seemed she was ready to speak her feelings now. He shifted a quarter turn, to show her that she had his full attention without her having to sit there under the full weight of his gaze. They could both still look out at the garden, but his body language was inviting towards what she wanted to share with him. He filled up his little cup, and then raised to his lips, this time sipping it slowly.

"Of course."

He tried to keep his tone and mannerisms open and welcoming. He wanted her to feel free to speak as much or as little as she wanted.

"You don't owe me anything, but I would like to know what you feel you want to share with me. I heard a little of what you told Mac, but not a lot."

He moved the shochu bottle to be a little more in the middle between them. Having a cup and drink might help to fidget if either of them felt nervous having this conversation. He had so many questions about her imprisonment. The only thing that stayed his hand was that she said it was voluntary. How was Raidou even involved in this? If she had wanted to be locked up, they could have placed her  into house arrest. He had thought that was what she had really done, but she hadn't received or sent messages in the entire time. So many unspoken, and unasked, questions. Isolation that long could be really damaging, but she seemed more at peace. Who knows what really went on.

[Mari 1]

"Of course."

As Baldur shifted to face toward her Mari sighed. A soft exhale as she slung herself back against the polished wood. Using her arms folded beneath her head as a makeshift pillow. He probably had so many questions... Maybe he'd even ask them in due time, but right now - he was giving her the floor...allowing herself to collect her thoughts. Mari didn't know where to start...maybe the beginning? That seemed about right.

"Shield. Beat. Oikawa." Mari started. "They went missing." Mari paused. "You know what Oikawa did?" Mari would shift her gaze to the sunlight, filtered through a rustling tree above. It danced across her face. Every time Mari felt the sun she realized just how much she missed it. "He dragged me to the top of a hill. Confessed to me, then told me he was disappearing. Every week I'd check his house. Empty. I tried looking for Shield. I tried looking for Beat. I didn't want the Pillars all to fall. But...I left too. So..."

Mari turned to meet Baldurs gaze. Always so warm and inviting, Steady, Calm. Gods It was no wander she fell for him way back when. This man had no idea the power he held in his gaze. "Just like I told you back at the Onsen...I'm sorry. None of us should have done that to you. You're always such the picture of strength and stability. But to have everything we all built up for come crashing down like that? Without a word? That was a shitty thing to do to you. I wanted to message you so many times over the years....but that prison - it blocked all messages, in or out."

 

[Baldur 0]

So many little nuggets dropped in what she had to say. He didn't know about Oikawa confessing to her. He thought Oikawa had confessed to Kiru too. It seemed more like the man was trying to find someone to latch onto, and he could see why he chose the two of them. Though Mari and Kiru had similarities, they were also two wildly different people. If he guessed it, he probably felt that Oikawa saw a kindred spirit in Mari, and someone whose pain and past was similar enough to his own that he felt he could confide in her, and that she would understand what he was going through. Still, Baldur shook his head softly in dismissal of her words, taking a sip as he thought.

"When we made this guild, we made four pillars for a reason. We all knew that people would step back for a time, so I expected this. Not everyone at once, mind you, but it was there because we knew that there is an ebb and flow to these things. We have good leaders now, and we will rebuild. We've already begun."

He set the cup down and poured some more, "but that was a shitty thing for Oikawa to do to you. I can't imagine the burden that put on you. I'm sorry you had to deal with it alone." He never said the words that she didn't have to. She had confessed her feelings to him, and he had to let her know they weren't reciprocated, and that undoubtedly would create distance between them and prevent him from being there for in the way that he wanted to.

With a gentle wave of his hand, he brushed her concerns aside about the guild aside, "If this is an apology, you don't need to make one. I hold no ill will, or even disappointment in anyone that takes a step back. What we do is difficult, and if Cal and Teayre want to try and have a life together... well, they've earned it, and that's not even something you have to earn. It's something we all deserve just because we're people."

He had told Mari before that fighting on the front was her penance for the lives she had taken, and he still felt that way, but only if she was seeking penance and redemption. If she decided that it broke her and she didn't want to be on the front, he couldn't make her want penance and redemption. He was not her judge.

"Even I take time, I believe I have just spent more time on the frontline than most, and so I have learned how to pace myself better. That's all."

She brought up the message blocking, and that was a curiosity for him.

"Why did you choose a prison? I had thought you put yourself under house arrest in your cottage... but if Raidou was involved, I somehow have the feeling it was more involved than that."

 

[Mari 1]

"When we made this guild, we made four pillars for a reason. We all knew that people would step back for a time, so I expected this. Not everyone at once, mind you, but it was there because we knew that there is an ebb and flow to these things. We have good leaders now, and we will rebuild. We've already begun."

"It's good that the guild's built back up. That new leaders were found." Mari closed her eyes. "In truth..." She started quietly. "I'm relieved. I don't think I could be a leader right now. I struggled back then. I kept having so much pressure thrown on me." It was hard to admit to Baldur, because he had always been so kind to her. She knew if she had just come to him with these problems in the first place maybe she wouldn't have been locked up. Mari stretched her legs, and one of her geta fell off her foot and plopped soundlessly onto the ground.

"but that was a shitty thing for Oikawa to do to you. I can't imagine the burden that put on you. I'm sorry you had to deal with it alone." 

Mari never really thought of it that way till now. "Hah..." She opened her eyes and finally sat back up, stretching her back as it popped. "You know what. You're right. I didn't really think of it that way till now. But who just does that?" Oikawa. That's who. A man who was desperately lonely. Wanted to find someone to be close with. Mari could relate. She really truly could relate. "If he didn't run away, maybe he could have had a chance." Mari said dismissively. That was long ago now. "His loss."  She had found someone better. Someone who would run to her instead of away from her. "Gods.... I think back about how I confessed to you. That took a lot. Still blame Shield. And I mean...things were awkward for a little while. But we're fine now. Sometimes you gotta face those things head on."

"If this is an apology, you don't need to make one. I hold no ill will, or even disappointment in anyone that takes a step back. What we do is difficult, and if Cal and Teayre want to try and have a life together... well, they've earned it, and that's not even something you have to earn. It's something we all deserve just because we're people."

"You know..." Mari said softly as she reached for more umeshu. "You have no idea how much those words mean right now. Most everyone here deserves that. They deserve a warm bed." She poured herself the glass and noticing his was empty, Mari leaned over and poured Baldur one too, emptying the small bottle. "A hot meal. A shower. Things I had denied myself for so long...such simple things. Is it so wrong to find someone you can share a bed with?" The question was rhetorical as Mari thought about Lancaster.

"Even I take time, I believe I have just spent more time on the frontline than most, and so I have learned how to pace myself better. That's all."

The frontlines... a topic Mari really needed to bring up with him. But she put a pin in that one for now - so she could answer his questions.

"Why did you choose a prison? I had thought you put yourself under house arrest in your cottage... but if Raidou was involved, I somehow have the feeling it was more involved than that."

"It wasn't entirely a choice. I was being hunted. A small group had even threatened the lives I cared about if I didn't turn myself in. I know Raidou is very resourceful." Far more than she had realized. "So I reached out to him to have him orchestrate my capture and imprisonment. It's something I couldn't ask anyone I was close with. That'd be too suspicious." Mari emptied her cup and started to roll it around in her hands. "The choice was to be there as long as I was."

Mari closed her eyes.

"That place was terrible Baldur. It was always so cold. I never saw the sun. Not once. For two years. What little sleep I had was always interrupted by screams. Monsters and men alike. I never knew if it was day or night. I never knew anything beside dry rations and water....did you know we can last almost a month without food?" Mari asked as she opened her eyes to stare at her fallen geta. Focusing on a small ant that was crawling up the side of it. This was always so hard to think about. To talk about.  "If I'm being honest...I hated it... I wanted someone to come and end my life. I keep telling myself it was good for me. That I needed it. That it made me better, and some of that is true but ...." Mari shook her head. "It was horrible...the only solace I had was Raidou visited me every day to make sure I was safe and sane. He was my warden, after all."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur closed his eyes to hold back tears. I would have to come to visit you. But he didn't say the words He couldn't say the words; they would just be more knives. In his minds eye, he could imagine her situation, the horrors of it. She had chosen to do this to herself? He felt furious with Raidou. The man should have known better; should have talked her out of this torture.

When he opened his eyes again to look at her, a small tear trailed down his face.

"It's called the rule of three." He croaked out, wiping the small tear away with sleeve of his yukata. "Three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food. But that's out there in the real. In here we can last forever without food, but the effects are... unpleasant."

He cleared his throat, then shot the entire cup of umechu at once. Not that the hit would do anything. He couldn't get drunk here, and that was not his intention. The splash of flavor grounded his senses, along with the feeling of the tatami beneath his feet.

"What you're describing isn't prison Mari, it's torture. All the time you were there, that is multiple forms of torture rolled into one. Even the worst criminals put into solitary confinement get better treatment then that."

He couldn't imagine what would have driven her to submit herself to that, and for that long. It certainly did feel like years, though that was impossible. Whatever happened to the passage of time in here, it was game time, not real life time. Most video games had a 15 minute day night cycle, or something similarly short. He was unable to understand what the true passage of time was, but there was definitely dilation going on. If they had been in the game as long as they had felt they had, they would all be long dead, or not have lives worth returning to. Either way, it was an unknown that could never be solved.

What do you say to someone whom chose torture over confiding in their friends that they needed help? Instead, he only felt the overwhelming, crushing weight of how much he had failed Mari. He moved his gaze out to the garden, watching an amber leaf float slowly down the waterway and over the waterfall. It was good, this simulation. Very convincing. But with the right eyes, with the right frame of mind, and with enough time, Baldur could notice that he had seen that exact same leaf take that exact same path many times before.

They were all in a prison, it was just that some people chose not to notice. And those people included him on some days.

"I had heard of the Aincrad PD. They seemed mostly harmless idiots. I'm sorry that I ignored them when I shouldn't have. People playing at sheriffs and robbers are still dangerous when their tools can kill and harm."

Baldur spun the flute in his hand in idle thought, thinking back to a Christmas day, the city covered in snow, and a masked Itzal running around feeling like he was self important. Baldur would have to look into missing people and see who else he had unjustly decided to take out his inner demons on.