[PP-PT-F01] Forsaken Penance

[Mari 1]

Day had set well into the night; and rain poured from the heavens above - pelting a barely conscious Mari as she lay sprawled out amidst the mud and debris in front of the cemetery. She had tried...lords she had tried. It took years to get to this point. Mari thought she had been prepared. Mari thought she had everything she'd need to truly attempt to take it on. But she was so sorely mistaken. It's mitigation too high - her energy too low. Maybe...she should have rested more beforehand? No...she'd not be able to sleep properly knowing this was looming on the horizon. Even if she had, the outcome would have been the same. With her current build...her current skill set...even with all her upgraded armor, her levels...Mari was still one of the strongest in all of Aincrad... she still failed. So why?

It was impossible...

Mari should have known. There was a reason why there were no known accounts of people successfully completing redemption. It wasn't made to redeem anyone. It was made to kill. It was made to completely annihilate any with an orange cursor who dared to tread the path of penance. It forsook them. Dangled hope in front of them, only to cut the cancer out. If Mari continued...she knew she would have died. In the past Mari would have accepted such a fate - her name would finally join all the others that she had written upon that monument. Fitting. But she couldn't. She had too much to live for now.

At first, its hits didn't strike hard, she'd hurt herself more against its armor than its weak attack, but that was just to lull her into a sense of false security, its attacks growing more and more violent as the battle progressed. Its health bar barely dwindled even after her strongest attacks. The burning venom of her weapon did nothing to it.

A slight ringing in her ears, from messages going unanswered. From who, she was not sure. Mari had many contingencies in place - and it had been an entire day since she initially messaged people to let them know what she was doing. It was only natural people would worry. Right? Blurriness tinged the edges of Mari's vision as she struggled to lift her head up from the ground. Her entire body ached. A dull thrum of pain that dragged across her nervous system and set deep in her bones. Mari lifted a hand to open up her messaging system before it fell to the floor. Darkness took over her vision as the exhausted woman passed out.

There she lie, face down in the mud. The angry souls of the lives Mari took, high up in heaven pelting her in an unrelenting downpour. Each drop adding to the ruthless and stinging chill that set deeper and deeper into her tiny form.



Redemption, was no longer in the cards for Mari.


Mari | HP: 35/35 | EN: 25/25 | DMG: 12 | MIT:77 | ACC:4 | AA  | FL.AURA: 2 | BH:2 | BRN: 14 | ENV-O: 8 | PARA-V | LD:5  | True Tier 14                                                                                                                         

Edited 2 hours ago by Mari

[Oscar 0]

Heavy footfalls squelched in the mud as Oscar approached Mari’s prone form. She was a pitiful sigh, face down in the grime with the remnants of her battle lingering on her frame. Oscar had been twice-notified. Once by Mari herself, once by his hounds. His hounds lingered still, at the fringes, out of sight. Redemption was a wall that stood between Orange Players and their hopes of rejoining society. To put their past behind them and move forward. It was, quite literally, the jailer of the damned. Their final arbiter.

But Redemption had a fatal flaw. It equated might with righteousness. There were many who had been spared Oscar’s blade that could not quite pass muster when it came to this boss. They retained the symbol of their sin, even if they had moved past the person they were before. Forever afflicted with their stigmata. Never to be forgiven.

Oscar approached Mari as she lay prone. He wondered what was going through her head. He squatted down, his hands hanging limply between his knees.

“You lost,” Oscar said, deliberately pouring salt in the wound. “Happens.”

Redemption had tested her might. Oscar would test her conviction. Of the two, only one mattered.

“You gonna cry about it? That doesn’t sound like the Mari I know.”

He let his words linger in the air, remained silent so that the daggers could truly sink in. Oscar was not one to kick someone while they were down. But -

“Do you really think you belong here?”

There was one situation where he would.

“Face-down, sucking mud, looking like a pathetic sack?”

Sometimes, people just needed a kick in the pants.

“When are you gonna get mad about it?”

And sometimes, it didn’t matter if they were already down.

“On your feet, Mari. You’re better than this.”

 

Spoiler

"Name: Oscar
True Tier: 11
Level: 35
Paragon Level: 69
HP: 1020/1020
EN: 134/134

Stats:
Damage: 24
Mitigation: 127
Accuracy: 3
Evasion: 1
Battle Healing: 56
Loot Die: 5
Stealth Rating: -5
AA 
PHASEVAMP-O: 168
REC: 4

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - <<Kyūketsuki>> T4 KATANA//ABS.ACC/PHASE/VAMP2                                                                                                                                         
Armor/Trinket: 
  - <<TACTICAL UNDER ARMOR>> T4 HEAVY ARMOR//MIT/MIT/MIT/REC
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - <<IVORY GOLD LEAF RING>> T1 TRINKET//ACC/ACC/EVA/EVA

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - AOE Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - squabble up. 

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

Extra Skills:
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Meditation
  - Parry
  - Survival

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
  - Ferocity
  - Focused Howl
  - Iron Skin
  - Precision
  - Reveal
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Detect
  - Impetus
  - Night Vision
  - Tracking

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - <<CRYSTAL OF DIVINE LIGHT>> ID: 236066 x1
  - <<DARK SERAPHIM>> T4 HEAVY ARMOR - VAMP.D2/HOLY BLESSING 2 x
  - <<DIVINE RANCOR>> T4 KATANA - HOLY/HOLY/PHASE/BLIGHT x
  - <<GLOVES OF CAERUS>> T1 LIGHT ARMOR//3 LD x
  - <<IMUGI'S INSPIRATION>> MASS HEAL x
  - <<RHINO'S HORN>> ID: 236068 x
  - <<SANCTITY'S RUIN>> T4 KATANA - FROSTBITE/BLEED/BLIGHT/BURN x
  - <<TELEPORTATION CRYSTAL>> x
  - <<TIGER'S BALM>> ANTIDOTE x

Housing Buffs:
  - 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
  - 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)
  - 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.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:
  - Kumatetsu
Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:
"                                                                                                                            

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Oscar

[Mari 1]

Who knows how long the unconscious woman had been there like that, alone - pelted by a rain that slowly began to relent. Having dealt its icy blows - the storm satiated. Hours, maybe. Enough time for her health to tick back to full. Enough time for the sun to set to night. Enough time for another to find her. Mari barely heard the footsteps approach, the squelch of heavy boot in mud as his feet sunk deep into the earth. Mari groaned - hardly conscious as she heard his voice, reiterating that she had lost. Mari lifted a tired hand in an attempt to wave him away. Much like a child who wanted to sleep in would to a parent. It fell to the earth with a splat. Mari wasn't going to cry about it, if anything, Mari felt oddly at peace with the whole ordeal. "Oscar..." Mari mumbled. She was surprised to see him here. Well, hear him. Granted she had messaged him to let him know she may have to high tail it to his store - but when Mari used her crystal, shouting the Town of Beginnings - she was thrown here. Face first into the muck and grime of countless sinners before her. 

It took a great deal of effort to push herself away from the mud, rolling onto her back. Rain still speckled lightly against her face, trickles of dirt and grime washing away. At least the weather was slowly easing up. "M'tired." she muttered as she lifted an arm to sit over her forehead in a weak attempt to shield her face from the rain. More words were thrown at her. Not spat, but spoken with a still bluntness. Almost the kind of chastising a teacher would give their student. "Cry?" She asked, weariness dragging her voice low. "No." Cerulean eyes shifted over to meet his own. There was a heavy set weariness behind them, but she didn't feel defeated. Annoyed? Maybe.  "I'm just ...tired..." She hadn't allowed herself to rest, to sleep. Always fighting, always pushing forward. Bringing others up like Corvo and Reytac so they could handle the frontlines. Reigning in the fiery fury of her husband. Lurking around the Laughing Coffin to ensure they kept away from what was most precious to her. Amassing col, and materials. Not only for herself but for her guild. It was all so much. 

"I'm worth far more than the mud." Mari finally said after several long minutes of silence. She believed it too. In the past, she'd never say such things. Mari groaned as she sat up, almost slipping in the mud, she had to readjust herself. Falling forward and balancing her weight on the palms of her hands. Mari blinked away the blurriness that continued to ebb at the corner of her vision. "The old me woulda gotten mad." Mari said as she lifted her head up to meet Oscars steeled gaze. "The old me would have let myself die back there. Thinking it a sound and just fate. But...the old me died in that prison. Now...."

Now....

"The colour of the crystal that floats above my head doesn't define me. You can't take that away, nor can Redemptions wrath. The only who can - is me. So..." Mari attempted to push herself to her feet, her legs buckled beneath her - and the woman collapsed back into the mud. "Fuck" She'd say under her breath, before trying a second, then a third. Finally - Mari managed to do just that, barely pulling her body to a standing position. One, then two steps forward and Mari was leaning on Oscars shoulder for support. His words may have been cold, or cruel to some. But Mari understood the intention behind them, and appreciated his candor.

"What brings you here? I had told you I'd escape to your store but..." Her gaze shifted back to the entrance of the cemetery. "I didn't expect to be thrown here." Mari's eyes shifted to shadows unseen beyond her vision. Was it Freyd's watchdogs? Did Oscar have his own network keeping an eye on her? Or did he simply know to come here after waiting to hear from her all day.

"Boy do we have a lot to catch up on." Mari managed as she gave his shoulder a few gentle pats. So much to tell him, to update him on. Although....Mari began to wonder how much he already knew. Mari managed to offer him a small smile to reassure him but it faded just as quickly as it came. Mari was tired. Redemption, in the literal sense of the quest was out of her reach. But realistically....Mari had redeemed herself a long time ago.