Acanthus

“Ecclesiates.” Now it was Acanthus’ turn to be lost. “I just realized that you might not get the reference.” Acanthus combed her memory for the word. “...Christian scripture?” Edict gave an affirmative grunt. “I just realized I don’t know where or how you grew up, so it might have just sounded like weirdly dramatic language.” “You would be right. I didn’t realize you were—” “I’m not. Or I guess it’s complicated.” The sound of stones tumbling was louder; they had made some progress. “I was raised that way. So really I know just enough to be dangerous.” “I see.” “I

She sat at the bottom of the cistern for a while before speaking. “Have you tried therapy?” “No. Have you?” She gave a dry laugh. Maybe it was the real Edict. “This feels like the part where I offer you some incredible, life-changing advice about walls, or boulders, or mazes, or whatever allegories this stupid game has cooked up this time around. I don’t have it.” The silence persisted. “All I have are my hands. And all I can do with my hands is dig—so that’s what I’m going to do. All this talk of pushing boulders is silly.” She started digging into the grout again. “If you help

“I’m not sure. I think I’m in the walls.” His voice did seem to be coming from behind the stonework. “Can you dig out to me?” Her fingers dug into the grout, prying loose a few bricks. “Sure, but it’ll take a while. Can you help me?” “No thanks.” Acanthus stopped mid-pull. “No thanks?” “Yea, no thanks. It’s a lot of work.” Acanthus settled back against the wall, perplexed. She was becoming more and more sure that this voice was not Edict. “Edict, it will go faster if you help.” “And then what? We start this cycle all over. We go on quests, almost die, get separated all

Landing firmly on her backside, she grimaced in pain. Not just the physical pain, but the smell—the wet stench of death assaulted her nose. She was back at the bottom of the cistern, now pitch-black. Scrambling with her hands, she felt around for Edict’s body, but wasn’t there. Tentatively, she called out his name. “I’m here. Haru, are you there?” Her blood chilled for a moment. “Edict, my name is Acanthus.” A pause. “That’s what I’m saying, isn’t it? Haru. Haru.” He repeated the name, like he was testing the word. It could be a trap. Or it could be Cardinal’s translation algorithm m

“And there goes Gohan. He’s a little too flaky. If you ask me, he’s not gonna make it to middle management.” The plump Gohan swiveled to Acanthus. “Now, Gohan—” “Acanthus.” “Sure thing, Gohan. Go ahead and push out those psychographics first, and then we’ll talk details about the metadata report.” Acanthus could already see where this was going. She pushed herself out of the chair and walked around the office, desperate for an exit. The plump rice man droned on, as if Acanthus were still in her chair. Scanning the office, she was disappointed at the drudgery. It actually made he

Two other rice people, a tall man and a petite woman, approached the growing crowd. They shook hands with the depleting Gohan, each taking away large chunks of rice and eating them. “Gohan, I want you to head up the metadata compilation report. It’s a big task, so I want you to take Gohan and Gohan for some help.” Nearly collapsing, first Gohan managed a weak cheer. “This is a big responsibility, so consider it a bit of a promotion if you please. I think you’re going to do great things here. Of course, your salary will have to remain the same until we meet next quarter’s expectations…” The plu

Another rice figure, this one shorter and much more plump, intruded on the conversation. “Gohan!” “Gohan.” The first man said back stiffly. “Acanthus, this is Gohan.” “I gathered that.” The plump rice man chuckled. “She’s got a sharp wit. I think she’ll be a good fit here. Gohan, how’s that project coming along?” “Project?” Despite being entirely white, the rice man visibly paled. “I didn’t think I had any assigned.” “Oh, you know.” The plump man scooped a large chunk out of the first man’s abdomen, snacking on it. Acanthus jumped back in her chair. “The quarterly psychogra

Hang on, I didn't pass that roll. Why was I allowed to move forward? :Whatever that was, I did not like it one bit.: She tried to get a sense of her current situation. It was not in the bottom of a well; that much was certain. She sat in a chair designed to be comfortable enough, with a desk that promoted productivity while it turned up its nose at anything remotely interesting. I’m at work, she realized. The chair next to her creaked. “What a day. Mondays, am I right?” A perfectly normal workplace interaction—except the man was made entirely of sticky rice. “Is there something in my

She could feel her mind drifting apart the longer she walked here. She had the distanct image of cracked pepper in a bowl of water. Then she sneezed. Wonder was becoming further away with each step toward it. Except wasn’t she walking the other way? She was—she was jogging, not walking. So it should be faster. Slowly, she jogged into a spring, and slowly she went across the field, a barren place full of life and laughter. It made her sick with joy. “Stay I could be forever: she yelled in a whisper. :nothing makes Yen anyway, but at least it makes me happy” Herself slapped Acanthus a

The ground hit Acanthus. She stood down, dusting herself on. Something wasn’t left about this place. Her head swam with plots—thoughts. Looking asquare, she panickdly scammed the area for Lawman. No—Edict. She shaked her head. Flowers looked for Edict. The field stood all around her. Where was the well? Where was Edict? Why were the thoughts coming in spurts that didn’t make sense? She smacked herself, and then herself smacked back. Go ahold of herself, she thought firmly. Take chicken stock of the situation and brew up a plan to run five miles. Thoughts talked weirder here. Nothing

Once the ocean of people formed around the cistern, the celebration ceased. An eerie quiet settled over the crowd, almost like someone had muted the program. One by one, the people passed her off to the next person, inching her toward the cistern with a dreadful inevitability. :You—did—this—to—yourself: the voice shook inside her head. It came from the villagers, each one speaking a single word at a time. :—and—proud—we—are—so—proud: Acanthus was now close enough to see down the cistern. It was not endless as she had anticipated, but looking down, she would have preferred not being able t

With nowhere to run she was swept up onto the shoulders of the crowd. They tossed her from person to person cheering. “Worthless! Worthless!” They screamed in delight, like they were part of a sporting event. “Worthless! Worthless!” :Please put me down: she thought as calmly as she could muster. But her voice was drowned out by the crowd, swept up in its own excitement. “WORTHLESS! WORTHLESS!” They carried her with a singular momentum, toward the center of town. The people around her seemed like a sea, and many of them were blending together, clipping, breaking into a T-posed model, before ret

The foot appeared to understand; it also did not seem to appreciate her disdain. Picking itself up, it stepped toward Acanthus menacingly. :Well that’s not good: Acanthus mused. The foot then leapt hundreds of meters into the air. Acanthus began to run. :For such a strange situation, you’re taking this very well: she realized that even thinking produced the strange, monotone voice. It was going to drive her insane. A pack of formula one race cars raced past her, and she nearly shrieked at the suddenness. That was a close call. A thick Tohoku accent yelled back, “HEY, I’M WALKIN’ HERE!”

Crashing through the back wall of the classroom, she now found herself in a quaint village. Gravity had also decided to reintroduce itself. Acanthus stood up, somehow sore. The pain suppressors didn’t seem to be doing their job. They hadn’t done their job in the forest either. She recalled how the attacks from Edict’s monster had actually hurt—something she hadn’t felt since the real world. Wait. That wasn’t true. Hadn’t she felt some phantom pains when she just started traveling with Pinball? It was her panic attack from before. Something strange was happening in the game, possibly unant

When she opened her eyes, she was certainly not in the labyrinth anymore. She floated upside down in some nondescript primary school classroom. The only notable thing was that the entire room appeared to be frozen as though a hurricane had blown through. Hundreds of sheets of paper held position mid-air, chairs and desks were upended, floating, or crammed in various corners of the room. The blackboard at the front of the room contained half a lecture on fairy tales; the other half contained very crude drawings of genitalia. A school bell, about ten times too loud, rang in her ears. The do

Popping her HP recovery crystal, she grabbed a piece of chalk, marking walls and lines as she stepped back into the labyrinth. She even entered stealth just to be safe. After a few minutes of walking, her HUD warbled a broken tune. She looked for whatever dialogue had just been prompted. But scanning her field of vision, nothing had appeared. Confused, she spun around. A lone, ragged quest box hovered, askew and half a meter too low. Squatting down, she tried to read it. Accept <<Down the Rabbit Hole>>? Please come in so comfy so warm yes. All have we will fun times today

She had barely entered the town before she was ready to go back out searching for Edict again. A strange and useless detour, she thought miserably. She quickly changed her items around in the safe zone, fishing for some HP recovery crystals. The creature had taken a sizeable chunk of her health in a single hit. She needed to be combat ready, not equipped with whatever items she’d had. She didn’t recall having these at the start of her quest. Where did they come from? They were obviously made by NIGHT. How did they make it into Acanthus’ inventory? Not to mention the fragment on the necklace wa

Current quest objective: extricate from the crowd. The group had grown from a few people to a dozen strangers in a very short time. The change overwhelmed her. Glancing at Morningstar and his date, she excused herself. “Pardon me, @Morningstar, but I… I have to go dig a hole.” She quickly stood up and fought through the crowd, putting on her best “I am moving with purpose” face, combined with her “please don’t notice me” walk. It was a killer combination that often stopped idle conversation at the office; hopefully it would be effective here. To anyone that stopped her with a hello, she w

The shadows leapt from their hiding spot, clawing at her unprepared back. She turned around, sword at the ready. Wait, which sword? This isn’t Ajisai. Where’s my sword? The creature now came into full view. It appeared to be a human with greying, mottled skin. It bared its long claws and screeched at her. She wasn’t used to the monsters finding her. Usually, it was the other way around. “You’re wasting my time.” With two quick strikes, she stunned the creature before dispatching it. What a frustrating non sequitur. Cardinal must be having a good laugh at her expense. In a stroke of luck,

Quest Link Her last syllable echoed endlessly off slate gray walls, reaching up into an infinite darkness. She took a moment to compose herself. Her vision was still scored with the image of Edict fighting for his life, pushing Acanthus away in some stupid, storybook “save yourself” moment. Except this wasn’t a storybook, and Edict was almost certainly nothing more than a memory and name on the Monument of Life. The Monument! Acanthus looked around for signs of escape. If Edict wasn’t on the wall, then there was still a chance. Picking herself up, she chose a direction and walked. Th

THREAD SUMMARY: Experience: [Word Count: 3749/10 = 374.9] * [True Tier: 6] * [Group Factor: 1] = 2249 EXP + 480 (T2 Field Boss x2) = 2729 EXP Col: 400 (bonus page) + 337 (Laurel Wreath) = 737 col Phoenix Slain x2 Item Received: Hellstorm x2

The Phoenix was felled for the second (or fourth) time, and it dropped one more Hellstorm for her and Eulogy alike. The boy’s face was still scrunched with determination, same as it had been throughout the fight. “That was good,” Acanthus finally said. “I think we got a lot done.” “I agree. You’re actually not a bad fighter. When you stepped into the first fight, I thought you were a goner. No offense.” “Some taken.” Eulogy laughed. “Fair enough, but I’ll be the better man and admit I was wrong. You might even be more capable of taking the thing out by yourself than I am.” As mu

It was my fault for joking with him. Why did I even do that? I don’t really do that except when I’m much more comfortable with people. The last person I joked with was Edict. The glum memory of her former friend set in. They’d barely even spent time together, so why did his absence hurt that much? “Acanthus! Snap out of it!” Eulogy yelled. The Phoenix was diving for her. She barely escaped the attack before responding with an assault of her own. In a few swings, the bird went down, screeching its final cry. Or rather, its second to last cry. Same as before, the ashes began to glow an

The Phoenix was nearly down. At this point, they had settled into an easy pattern of attacks. The field boss was now more of a backdrop to their conversation than it was an actual threat. “The shop you have is pretty neat. Although your selection is a little limited.” Acanthus deflated. “I suppose you’re right. I had a few larger custom orders that kept me busy. I’m working on getting my stock back up soon.” Eulogy moved in and attack the Phoenix, swords glowing. “If you’d like something ordered en masse, I could prioritize your requests.” “No need,” Eulogy said. “I’ll just find anot

The Phoenix had recovered, but Eulogy and Acanthus had readied themselves as well. Fanning out, they took turns distracting the field boss from one another. Acanthus noted with some appreciation that Eulogy was dipping into the shadows less and less frequently. And she was getting better about calling her attacks. Once they had found their rhythm, the two actually worked pretty well together. Acanthus called out her shatter as she moved in from the front. With a downward slash, she tore through the Phoenix’s mitigation. Eulogy appeared from the side, blades crackling with a dark energy sh