[SP-F6] <<Calming the Soul>> Nikki Styx - Complete -

[Nikki Styx 0]

The Water Fall

Mood Music

"There is a waterfall to the North. Find it and you will face your most difficult opponent. Defeat it and you will receive your greatest reward." She repeated these words over and over again a few times in her head. Nikki had been searching for hours for the waterfall that an information broker had told her about. It was something new, something many people had not come across yet. She wanted to be one of the first ones to see it, and beat it.

The path in front of her was overgrown and hazardous. Everywhere rocks reached out of the dirt trying to trip would be travelers, and vines hung down trying to tangle any who came into reach. No wonder this was a relatively un heard of place, no one could get there. The strange thing though was not the vines, or rocks, or overgrown path. No instead the strange part was the lack of creature MoBs around here. Since venturing out on this path she had encountered very few, if any.

Nikki had been looking for what seemed like hours, pressing through brush, and generally fighting with the over growth just to earn a few feet of victory. Finally though, after hours she discovered a clearing, one with a waterfall. There were also several bodies of water, some appearing to be very deep, while others were shallow enough to see the bottoms. "This has to be it." Nikki thought triumphantly.

[Nikki Styx 0]

She pressed her way through the last bit of brush and entered into the majestic looking clearing. Aside from the water bodies there were several stones laying face up, all of which were large, flat and very smooth. They looked as though they were unnaturally buffed and polished, this was no doubt the way they were programmed to look. Nikki let out a relieved sigh, having actually found the place in question before moving to the first available water body. She hadn't seen any monsters here, or any sort of opponent, but her assumption was that she would need to activate that some how. First however she was going to have a drink.

Nikki knelt down by the nearest pool and cupped her hands under the cool water bringing it too her lips. It tasted sweet and pure, and it was cold and refreshing. She took several long drinks and stood up again to look around. "Now all I have to do is find this foe n that's it." She said in a cocky manner.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki began to scour the area rather methodically looking for anything that might activate the quest. She knew the trigger could be anything at all, though she assumed it would start by walking over a specific area. Back and forth she went, tracing first a vertical pattern across the clearing, and then circling it and working her way inward. She even tried swimming in the various water bodies, and yet after stepping on what she deemed as every inch of the clearing several times, she had come no closer to her objective.It had been tiring, and frustrating. She had wanted to bring other to help, to guarantee success and then have everyone pop the quest off one after the other, but the quest will only activate when you are alone. That's probably why so few people had found it so far.

After what seemed like hours Nikki decided to take a rest. She sat down on a rather large smooth stone at the waters edge. The water itself was calm, surprisingly so, considering the waterfall pouring into it. This was not something she took notice of though, instead she relaxed herself a bit, fixing her gaze on the point where the falling water finally met the bottom.

[Nikki Styx 0]

The time seemed to go by without Nikki noticing. She was transfixed by the falling waterfall, it was like nothing else existed. She hadn't even noticed a thick low fog roll in around her, all she could see was the waterfall, and she thought of nothing else. The fog continued to thicken around her, filling up the clearing until finally she lost sight of the waterfall. That's when she returned to her senses. Suddenly she was hit with a rush of awareness, here she was, in the same place only it looked so different. Like she was in a cloud. She rose to her feet cautiously now, trying to pierce the walls of mist with her gaze, but they were far too thick to see through. For a few moments she could even still here the waterfall, but that soon faded out, as if it had not been there to begin with.

Now it was her, her alone on this rock, nothing around. She was alone, and not even sure if she was in the same place anymore. Without a second thought she equipped her spear, shield and armor, no doubt this was the encounter she had been looking for earlier. "Hello... Where are you?" She called out into the fog.

[Nikki Styx 0]

There was no response that Nikki could discern. No sound at all in fact. It was as if she was entirely cut off from existence. She wondered now if she would even be able to escape from here if things went bad, after all she had no teleport crystals on hand.

"What are you doing?"

A disembodied voice passed from behind her over right shoulder and gone. Nikki turned sharply in response trying to catch sight of source of the whisper, but found nothing. She was back in silence again, silence and a wall of fog. At this point she couldn't even tell what direction she was facing, she was becoming disoriented with a lack of visual references. She stopped again to pull up her map only to find it no longer worked.

"Are you lost?"

The voice swooped by again whispering off into the fog.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki spun again sharply, pointing her spear at where she thought the voice had went, still there was nothing there. This was getting insane now, there was clearly something here, and it was clearly able to move much better than she had anticipated. This was now a time to change the plan, she knew she was standing on a rock, that left her limited space to work with, so her first step would be to get back onto the solid ground away from the waters edge. She took a look off one side of the rock and saw the calm reflective pool, that meant she was still here in the clearing, it also meant that the ground was on the other side. She turned again and went to look, only to find that there was water here too. She looked back over the remaining sides, and even circled her stone only to find she was surrounded on all sides by water.

"Something wrong?"

'The voice whispered again before dissolving in the mist. Nikki was in trouble now, and she needed to do something to figure this out. And that's what she would have done if she wasn't already looking off the side of her stone into a clear patch of water. Underneath she could see a woman, or at least what she thought was a woman. Was she a player or a monster? Was it possible she was even a player? was there some way that it had been one of the people trying this quest, and that the unfortunate end of failure was to be suspended in this game purgatory?

"Don't look so confused?"

The whisper passed by again, but Nikki continued to ignore it as she knelt down peering into the woman's face. It was strange, it looked like her own, though her hair was black.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki continued to stare into the woman s face. She had to know what was going on, who this woman is, and why she was here. Slowly she reached out towards the water s surface, she couldn't explain it, but she had the urge to touch it, to reach in, to see if this woman was real. Naturally the smarter idea would have been to poke the surface with her spear, but that thought had eluded her in this moment of curiosity. Slowly her hand crept foreword till it was nearly at the waters surface.

"I wouldn't do that"

The disembodied whisper slipped by her again and Nikki backed up from the waters edge raising her spear."Why? What's this about? What have you done to her?" she called out into the fog. Only to receive no response. She hesitated now, being on guard and ready to fight. Something told her that this thing was hostile, whatever it was, and that it was keeping the other woman prisoner. She took another second to look around, before putting her spear down and heading back to the waters edge. Again like before she reached out to touch the water.

"You can't handle this little one. Don't do it."

Nikki ignored the voice, there was nothing she couldn't handle, she was Nikki Styx one of the best gamers in the world, There had not been a game made that she couldn't beat.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki hesitated one last moment and then broke the waters surface with her finger tips. Suddenly the air was filled with a blood curdling scream, and she jumped back as the woman in the water had suddenly opened her eyes. They were red as blood. The screaming continued and Nikki picked up her spear and stood up, a wave of panic shooting through her. She turned around trying to see on all sides of her. The fog had begun to lift now, leaving nothing but water all around her, as far as she could see in any direction, still flat water.

"I told you you were not ready for this. Now I will have to deal with you."

Nikki's heart began to race. Who was the voice talking about, The woman in the water, but she was still there, no threat. She peered over the side to prove to herself that it was ok, but the woman was gone. This was too weird.

"What's going on. I demand that you show yerself." Despite everything her voice was strong and steady as she called out again.

"I'm over here"

The voice called out again behind her and Nikki spun sharply on the spot, presenting her shield in front of her for protection. She was shocked to see the woman from the water standing 30 feet away, on the surface of the water with a spear and shield of her own. Suddenly she realized that her opponent had been in the water the whole time, though it was strange that she had spear and shield as well. "Challenge Accepted" Nikki yelled out to the woman.

NIKKI STYX -VS- XYTS IKKIN

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki wasn't sure what to do at this point. Here she was stuck on this rock, and accepting a challenge to fight. This was not a great idea at all, she knew nothing of her opponent and had no where to run to if things went bad. Of course now that she had accepted the challenge in such a grand fashion she had no choice but to follow through with it. She took a step foreword, still remaining on her rock, and as she did so she slammed her spear into her shield, causing a loud bang to echo across the still waters.

The woman at the other end only smiled and took another step towards her. "You can't beat me." Nikki called out to her aggressively. As she did she noticed something peculiar, the woman was standing on the water, and below her was her was no reflection, almost like it wasn't water at all but instead a solid floor. Was it possible that whatever had instigated this quest was also keeping the water solid? Nikki needed to know now before the woman got here. She took another look over the side, the water was black and had a slight ripple through it from the woman's steps. She couldn't see a bottom at all, and couldn't see anything to support the idea that it was solid. Still she had to know. She looked up to see those red eyes looking back, closer than they had been, it was now or never.

Nikki took a deep breath, holding it before jumping foreword off her rock and onto the waters surface. It felt like glass, it was solid beneath her feet. She looked down to see that same black depth that had been seen from her rocky island not seconds before. Every step she took rippled out, but in appearance only, there were no actual physical effects, much like tracing your finger over a plasma screen. A smile now crept across her lips as she returned her gaze to the Red eyes woman drawing nearer. "Yer in a lot of trouble now..." She taunted as she began to walk briskly towards her.

"Dear child you can't win. I am a foe you cannot beat." The woman hissed almost affectionately.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki continued to step as lightly as she could as if she expected the entire surface to simply give out under her. Naturally that was a silly thought, and it was something that never happened. She was drawing nearer the Red eyes woman. Close enough now that a health bar and name had appeared for her. It was Xyts Ikkin. She stopped now in shock realizing that the woman's name was her own backwards. This was weird now, because not only did they look the same, aside from the hair and eyes, and choice of clothing, but there names were the same just reversed. "Who are you?" She asked cautiously raising her spear to point at the woman's heart.

Xyts only laughed as she continued to draw closer until the pair were standing only a few inches apart. She took a second to look up and down Nikki, as if sizing her up. After a moment she let out another laugh and pushed Nikki's spear aside with her own. The like a shot she attacked swinging her own shield hard and fast at Nikki. "Im you... only better... Both in skill and looks" She laughed again and lunged foreword with her own spear in an attempt to pierce Nikki.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki only had a moment to respond as the shield came swinging at her face. Her reaction was to quickly raise her own twisting to meet the impact head on. The resulting sound from the collision was a deafening bang that echoed out across the quiet stillness. She took a few steps back as she recovered her composure. Xyts had taunted her with claims of superiority and then launched another attack, this time with her spear. Nikki responded just as she had before, raising her shield though this time at an angle so she could deflect the attack off her side and move in for her own. Before she could launch her own attack she was struck, Xyts had attacked again with her shield, following through from her jab, and landing that second crucial hit.

Xyts Shield struck Nikki in the ribs sending her crashing to the surface of the water with loud thud. She blinked here eyes a few moments, dazed by the impact before actually looking at her health bar, it hadn't changed. The attack had done no damage, but it had surprisingly hurt far more than she expected. "Is that what I've been doing to people?" She asked still dazed as she rolled over trying to get to her feet.

"You still don't get it? I'm you. You can't attack me because I know what you will do. You can't beat me because I'm better than you."

[Nikki Styx 0]

This was not going to happen like this. Nikki couldn't lose, not here not ever. Moments later she was faced with another attack as Xyts struck out again with her spear forcing Nikki to roll backwards to evade the strike. She was in luck though, as she finished her roll landing on her feet. A moment later and she sprung foreword slamming into the Red eyed woman with her shield. The attack landed and Xyts was forced back, staggering from the impact. "You underestimate me. If you are me you should know that I'm full of surprises."

Xyts quickly recovered from the attack and struck out again, this time lunging towards Nikki with the spear. Nikki blocked it with her shield, but as she did she felt the sweep of something hitting her legs knocking her to the ground again. The other woman had used the spear as a distraction, and as Nikki blocked, she had swept her legs with a well placed kick. Still no damage had been done to either player. "How long do you think you can keep this up? I can do this all day. You will eventually fail to yer own limitations." she taunted taking a few steps back and raising her own shield again.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki knew that if the fight dragged on as long as Xyts implied then she would eventually lose, however this was not something she would let happen. She got back to her feet and raised her own shield to match her opponent. This was the first time she really took notice of the equipment her opponent was using. While both shields were rounded, Xyts had several intricate patterns etched into the steel. There spears were similar, though her opponents tip looked much crueler, almost like it was designed to bleed a person rather than kill them. Xyts also seemed to be wearing less armor, though her rating was the same. It was pretty clear, this person, or monster, or whatever it was was meant to be the opposite of Nikki.

Nikki charged her now slamming into her so that they were locked up shield to shield. She had been losing in speed, now was a test of strength as the pair engaged in a pushing match. Xyts only laughed as she braced herself into the attack, and pressed back against Nikki. "You think pushing me around is the right way to go?" Again she taunted as she pressed harder causing Nikki to slide back along the smooth surface of the water. Try as she might Nikki was not able to out muscle the Red Eyed woman. "I'm Going to kill you you know?"

[Nikki Styx 0]

A sudden wave of panic shot through Nikki at the woman's words. There were many reasons to be afraid here, but the thing that really got her was the way the woman spoke, it was like a real player, like a PK'er. That truly was the opposite of Nikki, as she would never kill someone, not in this game, not in real life. At the same time she didn't want to die either. Was it even possible for her to win this fight? suddenly she lost her balance as she was pushed back further. She fell back hard again, landing harshly on the waters surface. Before she could look up she felt a stab into her side as sh was pierced by Xyts spear. Her health now began to drop.

"If its any consolation to you, ill be sending yer friends to join you. Lord knows if you cant beat me They will be easy pickings."

Several tears welled up in Nikki's eyes as she began to fear that she would not win. Since joining SAO this was the first real fight that she felt like she couldn't win at. She wanted to beg, to cry out, to try and bargain for her life. She was scared now, truly afraid. She didn't want to die, not here not like this, not alone. Her thoughts drifted back to her friends, the ones she made while she was here.

[Nikki Styx 0]

She felt the spear pull free of her body and she rolled over raising her shield to hide behind it. She could hear the other woman laughing at her. Her thoughts however had slipped back to others, her family outside the game, and how disappointed they would be for losing to a quest like this. To her guild mates who would not be able to depend on her, who might think her weak. To swift and her wedding, she wanted to get married too, to be a bride like that, it wouldn't happen now if she lost. And finally to Axel, she had just found someone, she didn't want to lose now, not like this.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an impact against her shield. Xyts was playing with her now, toying and taunting, slamming her spear into Nikki's shield in an attempt to scare her. "Had enough? Already?... What ya doin under there?" Her voice was cold and sharp, yet full of delight.

Nikki had to do something, she couldn't sit here and die like this. Another impact just about rolled her over. She had to move, do something. She noticed the next strike coming and tried to roll away, she had been too slow however and felt the sting of the spear on the back of her half. She did however manage to get onto her feet and raised her own weapon to fight back.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki's confidence was beginning to fade very quickly now as she launched another attack of her own. She had tried to jab the woman, only to have her spear sail wide and receive a shield to the stomach in return. She knew she couldn't feel pain, but she still staggered back holding her abdomen as if she could. Her confidence had suffered so much that she was starting to believe she was in pain, and that she would die. She hadn't even realized that she hadn't actually take any damage yet, her defense was just to high to be hurt. "Why are you doing this?"

Xyts only laughed harder. She was clearly winning and there was no way around it. "You made it this far, and for you.. that's pretty good. But yer weak. My job is to eliminate the weak." She attacked again knocking Nikki to the ground so that she could stand over her."Yer really nothing here. Nothing special anywhere. Frankly I don't know how you made it this far. Like I said, you'll never beat me."

[Nikki Styx 0]

"Fine.. Then I cant beat you..."This had to be it, this was the end. Nikki closed her eyes preparing for that final strike but it never came. She waited, and waited and nothing. Several moments went by and still nothing. She opened her eyes a bit half expecting to witness the strike. Instead however Xyts was just standing over her smiling. It was both confusing and terrifying for her to see this. She wanted the end to be quick, not drawn out. "Hurry up and beat me already.. I'm ready" Nikki shouted through tears.

Xyts smile widened as she took a few steps back. She pointed her spear at Nikki's health bar. "You haven't noticed? I have not hurt you once. This is all in yer head. As much as you cant hurt me, I can't hurt you." Her smile widened and she struck at Nikki again, and still no damage occurred. "You don't understand... I hoped you might... You may not be able to win. But it doesn't mean you cant survive. Its not about winning."

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki looked up to see her own health bar, still in perfect condition. Had she really been blinded by her own fear this whole time? had the shock value of her opponent really blinded her to the truth? She wiped her eyes clear and stood up. Why was this happening, what was the point of this? "But if I cant win what's the point?" She had always done these things to win, why play if you weren't the best that's why she had her job, because she was the best. Despite the absurdity of her question things were starting to make a little sense. First off she knew that she could not beat Xyts, and now that Xyts could not beat her. They were at a stand still.

Xyts only stood there smiling, she couldn't give all the answers, that defeated the purpose of the quest. rather than answer she simply turned her head as if suddenly interested in something else. This was an empty room though, there was nothing else.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Things were not making sense yet, But Nikki could see that she hadn't been hurt. Her defense was too high that meant right? or maybe it was the actual effects of this creature, that it tried to overwhelm you and push you into despair so that another could defeat you? She didn't know for sure but she knew now that she had no reason to give up. "You cant beat me..." She called out to it her own voice still shaking slightly. Xyts looked back to her, a sharp gaze of disapproval in her eyes. But Nikki held strong."You cant win... not on yer own. All I have to do is survive." Nikki's voice began to sound a little more confident again. Suddenly hearing herself say those words struck a cord and her resolve strengthened.

Xyts began to look furious as she started walking towards Nikki again. "Now yer understanding, but will it be enough to save yerself?" She hissed as she sung her spear at the blue haired girl again. Nikki was fast and managed to block the attack. sweeping at the red eyed womans legs with her own spear, causing her to fall over.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki followed through attacking the woman again, this time jabbing her own spear into her side. She held it in place for a moment before pulling it free and backing up. Still no damage was done, this clearly meant that the pair had similar defenses. "I may not win... But I will not fall today" She yelled at Xyts. She was determined now, all she had to do was find away out of this purgatory, get back to the clearing, and walk away. The red eyed woman would never be able to hurt her. Not now, not ever.

Xyts let out a laugh, not like before, instead this one seemed happy, almost triumphant. She got to her feet, and as she did her spear and shield disappeared. Nikki was confused now as to what was happening, so she held her own defensive posture now while the red eyed woman dusted herself off.

Xyts began walking towards Nikki, and as she did Nikki's own items vanished unexpectedly. "There.. was that so hard? All you had to do was realize that you don't have to win." As she got closer she opened her arms and went to embrace Nikki in a hug.