[SP-F1] <<Earning A Living>> Oh, the Song of Loreley Charms the Moon Right From the Sky~ [Complete]

[Loreley 0]

Loreley practically skipped through town, deftly weaving in and out of players as they ran this way and that, doing this or that. It made no matter to Loreley. She had one plan, and one goal. If she was going to survive in Aincrad, she had to find a way to make money. During her time on the streets, there were types of people who survived. Stubborn panhandlers like her father, and performers. She respected performers, because they could actually do something, and weren't lazy like her father was. She giggled a bit to herself at the thought. She had never had to turn to either, but she had also been a lost, lonely little girl. She could still play that, certainly, but she thought it might be time for a change in her life anyway. This was a second chance after all. A second chance to live the life she never got to lead away from her father, and performing was just the change she needed.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Loreley

[Loreley 0]

As Loreley skipped through town, humming to herself a little tune, she pulled up her menu. She poked at a few buttons, not really knowing what any of them did, until she finally managed to pull up a map of the Town of Beginnings. Ah, there we go.... now then, how do I do a quest.... she thought to herself as she skipped along. Despite that she appeared to be paying absolutely no attention, she deftly dodged people in the street, causing a few incoming people to freak out and let out cries as they stepped or even dove out of the way. Loreley simply giggled at them as she continued to skip along, looking for an icon that made sense for a performer. A guitar... a flute... a musical note... something... the thoughts rolled around her head, before she turned and skipped down a corner, only to hear the faint sounds of what sounded like beautiful music. Loreley grinned to herself as she suddenly stopped, before pushing away her menu with a, "Go away map, you were useless," and beginning to skip towards the lovely sounds.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Loreley

[Loreley 0]

As Loreley reached the performer, the sounds of music grew louder and louder, and she found her skips landing in time with the rhythm. The clicks of her feet against the cobblestones began to create an added layer to the already beautiful song, and it wasn't long before Loreley found herself purposefully tapping her feet against the hard stones. No longer skipping, but instead dancing, Loreley danced her way up to the NPC, flashed him a mischievous smile, and then grabbed the nearest person and began to dance with them. The girl cared not if the person went along with it, though to her delight, they did, and before she knew it, there was a crowd forming as the performer seemed to begin playing with a renewed vigor. Loreley spun the person she was dancing with away, as they stumbled and looked back at her dazed and confused. Loreley just kept dancing, and motioned with her hand, inviting the next person to dance with her.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Loreley

[Loreley 0]

Before Loreley knew it, she had gone from partner to partner, dancing in time with the performer's song, who knew his craft well enough to take a simple song and extend it into a beautiful toe tapping rhythm that just kept going, and going. Suddenly, a flash mob had formed around the performer and his dancing companion, and Loreley danced and danced, finding herself getting more and more extravagant with each passing partner, to the point that she was leaping over some, flipping over others, and even picking up one or two other girls who had joined in the dancing and spinning them around. Loreley didn't care, these people were all putty in her hands, all because of her dancing and the performer's song, and that was exactly where she had wanted them.

[Loreley 0]

It wasn't long before Loreley found herself absolutely surrounded, people growing more and more willing to dance with her, as they began to swarm her and her dancing. Loreley simply chuckled, and before anyone else knew it she was up in the air, and deftly dancing along the shoulders and heads of the crowd, hopping from person to person in line with the music, even causing the "Oof!"s and "Ahh!"s and "Watch it!"s to match up in time with the music, which gave Loreley an odd bit of glee. As she reached the edge of the crowd, she leapt off the last person up to a nearby balcony, smoothly pulling herself up and slithering over the edge, and standing to look down at the crowd that had formed, all of them looking up at her. Even the performer had stopped at this point to watch her. Loreley simply grinned, "Know this! You have just gotten your first taste of Loreley, the greatest performer in Aincrad! Don't forget the name, because one day you'll be able to say you knew a legend!"

Edited December 2, 2015 by Loreley

[Loreley 0]

The crowd simply stared up at the girl dumbfounded, and Loreley gave a sigh, Mindless cattle... give them a show and they flock to it, and then don't even understand what just happened... Loreley simply waved her hands and said, "Shoo then! Show's over! I need to get down from this balcony and unless you want me to land on your heads again, I suggest you move on!" Finally the crowd began to look at one another and murmur amongst themselves as people began to filter out and back to whatever it was they had been doing. When there was enough clear space, Loreley finally gave an annoyed sigh at the slowness of all the people and hopped down next to the performer, who of course remained. He looked Loreley over and smiled, "You seem to know your stuff." Loreley waved off his pathetic attempt at a compliment and said, "Yes, yes, I'm assuming that you're not just here to play music and poorly attempt to flatter pretty girls. Give me a quest so I can learn your craft and be rid of you."

[Loreley 0]

At Loreley's flippancy, the NPC gave a frown, as if computer code could actually have hurt feelings. Finally, a quest popped up in front of her, and she skimmed over the information in the box, Something something performer... something something create a song... something something perform the song.... She sighed and just hit the okay button, deciding to just figure it out as she went. She had no patience for this type of thing. Loreley began to walk off, not another word to the NPC who seemed to be expecting further dialogue. She wouldn't give the coded man the pleasure. She simply smiled and began to hum the tune she had begun earlier, thinking of how to form an actual song to further impress the mindless masses.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Loreley

[Loreley 0]

Loreley thought back to where she had found the performer, and how she had been able to perform a beat using her feet tapping against the stone. She continued to hum as she began to click her feet against the hard stones once more, creating a combined rhythm between the two. But it wasn't enough. She needed something to keep time. She got glances from people as she skipped along, click clacking a tune in time with herself, but she found that many had been caught with genuine interest. This made her smile, her charms were working once again, and this time, in favor of an actual goal. Slowly, she began to clap, finding the right tempo, before her clapping sped up and she began to click clack her heels into the stones faster, continuing to skip along through the streets.

[Loreley 0]

Steadily Loreley continued to dance along, creating a song, creating a rhythm. Clap clap, click clack, and then to top it all off, Loreley stopped her humming and actually began to sing: "Merrily we sailed along, though the waves were plenty strong, down the twisting river Rhine, following a song~" As she began to sing, her voice honey amongst the din of the city, causing many people to stop what they were doing and stare at her. The girl needed no instrument. Her and herself were the instrument, all she needed was her voice and her body. As if going along with the song, many people broke their routines or adventures to follow the girl through the streets, and Loreley just continued to skip along, a smile on her lips.

[Loreley 0]

Continuing her song, Loreley began the next line, more and more people beginning to follow her, some even beginning to clap along with her. So she sang: "Legend's faded storyline, tried to warn us all, oh, they called her, 'Loreley', careful or you'll fall~" Was it wrong to create a song about herself? Loreley didn't think so. She was going to make a name for herself in Aincrad, and how better to do it than to create a legendary ballad about oneself? She turned to the crowd and smiled at them, skipping backwards while continuing to tap her feet and clapping, and began to encourage many to join her in the act, and in doing so many did. She continued to sing: "And the winds would cry, and many men would die, and all the waves would bow down, to the Loreley~"

[Loreley 0]

Loreley watched her parade of sorts as it swelled behind her, and it was all she could do to not only keep time and rhythm with her song, but keep ahead of the crowd and their fervor for her ongoing song. The song had gone from one little girl singing and clapping along to a dozen people clapping along, as she turned the last line into a chorus, singing along, "And the winds would cry, and many men would die, and all the waves would bow down, to the Loreley~" She sang this verse twice more, and the crowd began to pick it up as her chorus, joining in as they continued down the street, adding more and more people to the melody. Yet another flash mob was forming. I could get used to this... Loreley thought to herself as she continued along.

[Loreley 0]

With the fact that she had managed to charm the growing parade behind her, the next set of words came to her lips, breaking chorus for the line: "You would not believe your eyes, how a voice could hypnotize, promises are only lies, from Loreley~" She repeated this once more, letting the words sink into the crowd, and then returning to the chorus with a giggle as the crowd quickly picked back up the familiar part of the song. The crowd had almost grown to the point that Loreley could have stopped skipping and singing and the song would've continued, but that rather defeated the purpose didn't it? Instead, Loreley raised her voice to beat the choir, her honeyed words carrying over the area, leading the song as it floated off into the sky for all to hear.

[Loreley 0]

As Loreley danced along, singing her chorus, she thought about how oblivious these idiots were to what she was singing as she tried to form the next custom lines of the song. She was practically talking about Loreley as a legendary killing machine, and the girl didn't even mind one bit. She had made them believe exactly what she wanted them to believe, and all it took was some adorable skipping, clapping, and the sound of her voice to make them believe it. Loreley wondered if she could use all her songs to brainwash people, and couldn't help but giggle at the thought. Better yet, why not just people? Could she make NPCs and monsters bend to her will too, with only the sound of her voice? Oh what a thought, as the chorus continued on: "And the winds would cry, and many men would die, and all the waves would bow down, to the Loreley~"

[Loreley 0]

Everything lined up perfectly with her song, her previous thoughts forming the next lines, repeated for good measure, just to make sure the crowd understood and let it sink in. After the din of the chorus, it was almost eerie when Loreley motioned for silence of all but the clapping and began to sing a new line, all her onlookers and followers listening intently to the lines, but still bobbing their head to the music that had formed. She continued along, basking in the sudden attention as she sang: "Oh, the song of Loreley, charms the moon right from the sky, she will get inside your mind, lovely Loreley~"

[Loreley 0]

As Loreley finished her last line, the crowd seemed to start into the chorus again, but Loreley quickly cut them off. This was not their song, they would not make assumptions. This was her song, and she would begin the chorus when it was time for that again. Instead, Loreley sang along, as the crowd simply continued to follow along and listen: "When she cries, 'Be with me, until the end of time', you know you will ever be, with your Loreley~" Again, she sang this verse a few times, pushing these thoughts into the minds of the mindless cattle, who seemed to be getting ever more patient with the song and its message. They truly don't know any better do they? Ah, people are such a simple bunch....

[Loreley 0]

Loreley let the masses return to their chorus, satisfied that her message had been delivered, and she would ride out this storm until either people got bored or she got herself back to the NPC to show him the fruits of her labor. What a farce... she thought to herself, continuing her song and dance, almost on autopilot at this point, Where that silly little NPC needed an instrument to create beautiful music, I needed nothing. You put an instrument in my hand and I'll be the greatest performer Aincrad has ever seen, simply by default! And still she kept on, listening for the familiar notes of the NPC playing his music. She wondered if NPCs could be surprised, and if he would be when she came dancing up with yet another flash mob in tow.

[Loreley 0]

Suddenly, Loreley had an idea, as she suddenly put a stop to the entire crowd, and spun around. They all looked at her rather dumbfounded as they couldn't even properly stop when asked and some even ended up running into one another. Loreley rolled her eyes, before calling out, "Alright, listen up, and listen good! We're taking this from the top so that I can show this NPC just how a true performer performs in Aincrad! You're all going to help me get this quest done! Got it? Good!" Loreley began to tap her feet again, and clap, waiting for the crowd to slowly understand what she was doing again and she smiled at their willingness, before she turned and began to skip off again. She began the song from the top, hearing the light sounds of counter music coming from the NPC she sought in the distance.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Loreley

[Loreley 0]

"Merrily we sailed along, though the waves were plenty strong, down the twisting river Rhine, following a song~" she began, enjoying the sounds of the clapping and clacking behind her, beginning to drown out the music of the NPC. "Legend's faded storyline, tried to warn us all, oh, they called her, 'Loreley', careful or you'll fall~" She could hear the NPC trying to drown out the song that competed against his, but it was to no avail, their approach signaled the quest's defeat, whether he liked it or not. "And the winds would cry, and many men would die, and all the waves would bow down, to the Loreley~"

[Loreley 0]

"And the winds would cry, and many men would die, and all the waves would bow down, to the Loreley~" At this point, the NPC had given up, and Loreley could see him as she danced along, simply standing there staring at the group as they approached. He didn't seem surprised, though to be fair Loreley hadn't really expected him to be. He was just code after all. "You would not believe your eyes, how a voice could hypnotize, promises are only lies, from Loreley~" The NPC seemed content to wait at this point, and before she knew it, Loreley was in front of him, singing and dancing along to the rest of her song. "And the winds would cry, and many men would die, and all the waves would bow down, to the Loreley~"

[Loreley 0]

"And the winds would cry, and many men would die, and all the waves would bow down, to the Loreley~" At this point, Loreley was finally content to let the crowd do the work, as she grabbed the nearest person in the crowd, a thinner, homely looking girl, and began to dance with her. "Oh, the song of Loreley, charms the moon right from the sky, she will get inside your mind, lovely Loreley~" She still sang, but she relied on the crowd to carry the instrumental tune of claps and taps as she danced with the girl, putting her final flourish on things, just for the NPC, oh wasn't he special? "When she cries, 'Be with me, until the end of time', you know you will ever be, with your Loreley~" Loreley sang this last bit, leaning in close to the girl, causing a blush to form on the girl's cheeks as Loreley leaned her backwards, letting the crowd continue to carry the tune. Loreley gave the unwitting girl a mischievous grin and simply dropped the girl onto the ground and went back to her own claps and taps, singing the chorus with the crowd one more time, "And the winds would cry, and many men would die, and all the waves would bow down, to the Loreley~"