[PP-F11] Mewls & Mistletoe

[Telrenya 0]

The feeling of Jomei's hand upon her back worked wonders to quell the fear that had caused her heart to beat rapidly inside of her chest. The Irishman was quick to place himself between her and the Forgotten that had startled her, along with the half-dozen others that slowly began to make themselves visible past the ruins and rubble of the ancient city. She got to her feet as quickly as she could manage, Celestial Dawn still gripped tightly in her right hand as Jomei worked to fight off the creatures that shambled towards them one-by-one.

As if these new arrivals weren't enough of an obstacle, it looked as though the stream of monsters was far from complete. Telrenya whipped around and her chocolate eyes were quick to find several more lifeless pairs staring back at her--some still a generous distance away or working their way through worn buildings and fallen supports, but others were closing the distance at an alarming rate. Were they really surrounded? Telrenya's chest grew tight with the onset of panic, her eyes and mind working as quickly as possible to figure their way out of this. 'Could we really fight them all off? C-can I handle more than one or two at a time?' Her thoughts were interrupted when Jomei called out to her, instructing her to run. The blonde blinked in disbelief, turning her gaze on him for a brief second before motion in the corner of her eye forced her attention elsewhere.

She took in a sharp breath of air as she managed to sidestep the swing of a monster's blade just before it came down on her right shoulder, and she worked to continue evading the attacks aimed at her. 'No, no no...' She scanned the battlefield. There had to be something, some way for them to get out of this. She didn't want to leave Jomei while he kept himself in danger. She wouldn't. "We'll get through this together." The words were only a whisper past her lips.

Finally, her eyes fell on an archway in the distance that led into what little remained of a large structure. She stole as many glances as she could in between dodging and deflecting the swipes and swinging blades that came at her, trying to confirm one thing. She didn't see any creatures in that entire area. With how hesitant and clumsy she used to be in battle, with all the times she'd gotten in over her head as Erin, Telrenya had only felt this type of fear once before. She was about to take a risk, and it wasn't just her life that would be in danger anymore. She slipped past the jagged blades of the Forgotten that continued to overwhelm them, her avatar already sporting several more small slashes from the attacks she could not manage to outmaneuver. She quickly moved back to Jomei's side, taking the man's free hand in her own just as he had subdued his latest attacker. "This way!" She urged, pulling him along.

[Jomei 0]

Planting the foot that had kicked one of the oncoming Forgotten back on the ground, Jomei turned his attention on another two of the creatures. The ginger worked quickly to block the alternating attacks of each of the Forgotten, deflecting their obsidian tipped blades back as they continuously swiped at him. Another of his attackers moved faster than the others, by passing Jomei's defenses and digging his sword deep into Jomei's side, leaving a deep red gash in Jomei's hip as he tore through the man. The ginger staggered to the side with a loud grunt, raising his blade up to block another combined downward strike from the two Forgotten, though this time, Jomei's strength began to falter. They should have ran as soon as they saw more arrive, rather than trying to play the hero. Now, not only did it look like he was at the possibility of dying, but he had put Telrenya in danger too. Stepping back, the man let the two oncoming swords slide off of his blade, one cutting his cheek, the other slicing through his thigh. 

With heavy breaths, Jomei could feel all of the damage done to him by these Forgotten, not sure how much longer he could handle without really overdoing himself. But before he could even consider fighting back, he felt a frantic hand grab his, before being lead off away from their attackers. As the two players worked to disengage, one of the Forgotten that had been attacking Telrenya quickly spun around, its sword cutting all the way down Jomei's back, from shoulder to hip. "Sh*t!" Jomei cursed out in a pained grunt, trying not to stumble as he ran with Telrenya towards a large, mostly ruined building. Without looking back, Jomei held onto Telrenya's hand tighter than he ever had before, as his legs worked to match her speed and run just behind her. 

The two players rushed through a broken wall in the side of the building that served as an entrance of sorts, leading them to what seemed to be a second floor -- hinted by the grand staircase off to the left side of the room that lead down to the open first floor. Before the two players had time to slow down, or even react, the ground at their feet began to rumble and crack until it finally gave out under their weight. Jomei's body tumbled to the side as it hit the ground, pieces of the stone walkway they once stood on crashing to the ground beside him. Despite the damage he took, and the stiffness of his body, Jomei still pushed himself up, and rushed to Telrenya's side to help her. "Estelle! Are you okay?!"

[Telrenya 0]

The already frantic pounding of her heart in her chest came to a momentary stop when the sensation of falling overtook her. Her hold on Jomei's hand was lost as the two players dropped alongside the pieces of broken path, and the blonde's knees buckled when she hit the lower floor, leaving her arms to catch the rest of her weight. The clang of metal rang out as her grip on Celestial Dawn had loosened as well and the golden rapier crashed to the ground a few feet away from its owner.

With ragged breaths, Telrenya pushed herself up to her knees just as Jomei appeared at her side. "Y-yeah, I'm alright. And you?" She managed to get out, her eyes quickly running over both the Irishman's damaged avatar and the pair of colored health bars that hovered in the upper corner of her vision. For a moment, only the sound of their heavy breathing bounced off of the stone structures around them. And as that moment passed, chocolate brown eyes trailed over the room while her features remained attentive. She looked up to what little remained of the walkway that they had stood upon when entering the building, then to the top of the grand staircase at the other side of the room. When no movement nor other sounds caught her attention, she spoke up again in a hopeful whisper. "Did we lose them?"

As the tension of their daring escape slowly died down and the couple were allowed precious time to catch their breath as well as regenerate their HP, Telrenya regained the ability to crack a smile. "Well... We definitely found those monsters." She chuckled softly in reference to their earlier expectations on what they might find hidden away in the ruined city. After pushing herself back up to her feet, her whole body turned as she looked over the overgrown structure they had landed in. "Is this...a church?" She thought aloud, catching sight of torn, dust-covered tapestries and sun-bleaced fragments of what used to be stained-glass windows. Her attention focused on more immediate surroundings as she turned to the side, and she faltered for a moment as she registered the large stone slabs and crosses coated in dirt and vines. "O-or a graveyard...?"

[Jomei 0]

"Thank God.." Jomei said under his breath, lowering himself to a knee next to the blonde. The man could not help but frown at the various markings of battle the woman wore across her body, the bar representing her health matching her wounds. The green color of her health meter had turned yellow, and was borderline going into the dangerously low red zone. Jomei's own health, just a bout matched, if not for a little bit higher from his heightened level. Jomei's eyes focused on the woman, his brows knit with concern that he had been so careless as to put her in such a situation. 

As Telrenya rose to her feet, Jomei did the same, his olive gaze now fixated on the ground in front of him. Telrenya's words had bypassed him, as the man did not even fully acknowledge her questioning about the strange ruins they had stumbled into. As she finished her last thought, Jomei immediately spoke. "Estelle.. I'm sorry." he apologized through a heavy sigh. His eyes closed, as his head shook side to side, "The moment I saw them coming out from the ruins we should have ran.. I.. I was reckless. I forgot that we were on one of the highest unlocked floors and I put you in danger.. I could have gotten you killed because I wanted to play a hero and fight them off." 

Finally forgiving himself, Jomei's eyes reopened and rose to look across at Telrenya, a hopeful smile breaking from the frown he wore. "I'm just happy that we are okay." he admitted with a small chuckle, "And you held your own out there.. it was really impressive.." a hand rose to the girl's cheek, "So much for the girl who couldn't put a dent in a Wind Wasp." After their small moment, Jomei soon began to take notice of their predicament. The ginger's gaze turned from Telrenya and looked around the ruined structure they stood in. "It looks like it was once some kind of cathedral... though the tombstones really don't sit well with me." Looking up towards where they fell for a moment, he turned back to Telrenya, "There has to be another exit of some sort.. I'd prefer not to fight through the large crowd of Forgotten back the way we came." he chuckled, before taking notice of what once was the front door. The ceiling above had caved in, completely covering the wall that marked one of their means of escapes. "Well, maybe theres another exit..."

[Telrenya 0]

The sound of her name, paired with the concern and regret in Jomei's voice, snapped her attention back on him. "Nick..." Her brows were turned up in her own concern, voice small as she took a step closer to the man and placed her right hand gently against his arm. She took on a reassuring smile, wanting to keep the man from being too hard on himself over the whole ordeal. Her eyes closed for a moment and she shook her head softly before returning her gaze to meet his. "Don't be sorry. I got caught up in the fight, too." She admitted, the rush of an exciting battle between just the first Forgotten or two coming back to her. "If there didn't end up being so many of them, it would've been a lot cooler." The small chuckle she let out held a hint of nervousness before she would pull herself back on track.

She brightened a bit when Jomei's expression shifted, and the cheek that his hand then rested on burned a soft pink with his compliment. Her free hand pulled up and rested atop his for a moment, leaning into his touch slightly before he would eventually pull away. She picked herself up to the balls of her feet, pushing forward to plant a short kiss against his cheek. "Mm, I'm glad too. And as long as we're a bit more careful with monsters around, I'm sure it'll be fine." She kept her optimism high. "If we're lucky, maybe we can find a happy medium between one bad guy, and a whole army." She chuckled.

Their attention would turn to their surroundings, and she silently agreed with how unsettling the moss-ridden slabs of stone felt at the sight of them. She looked back to the top of the staircase where Jomei pointed out the lack of an obvious exit, then began to drift around the overgrown remains of the cathedral in search of some kind of clue or path they might unveil. Past the scattered tombstones, against what remained of the back wall of the building, Telrenya would eventually pull back at a tattered, dusty marroon cloth that hung down from a tall mantle. "Woah..." She breathed out after revealing the stone surface underneath. A small mural looked to be painted over the bricks, worn with time but still clear enough to make out its details. "Nick, take a look at this." She called over her shoulder, pulling back the worn material further to give both of them a clearer view. An earthen-toned figure was depicted, the upper half of her profile stretching nearly the entire height of the wall. Hair that resembles long vines flowed freely behind her, with a multitude of autumn-colored leaves covering her body in the shape of a simple garment. An outstretched hand reached across the stone bricks, where an index finger pointed down at two much smaller figures--a person, and an animal. Perhaps the latter was a deer, or some other kind of horned beast, but Telrenya couldn't quite make out that much detail. She studied the painting for several long seconds before her eyes drifted back to Jomei. "What do you think all this is?"

[Jomei 0]

The search for another path out of the ruins led the two to opposite sides of the caved in cathedral. The sound of Jomei's boots tapping against the stone floor with each slow step echoed through out the broken walls. His path stopped just before the grand staircase, which was deemed mostly unusable without a bit of climbing over the fallen debris. At the stop of the first set of stairs, before forking off in either direction, was a large statue. Its features had been aged and eroded beyond recognition, but it left the ginger wondering just what purpose this structure once held for the ancient city. 

Telrenya's soft voice on the other side of the foyer called his attention, and with quick steps, the man journeyed back to her position to help investigate. Pushing a large, tattered tapestry out of the way, the woman revealed a strange mural painted directly onto the wall of the cathedral. Its depiction was of some sort of humanoid woman, her features stretching high above the two's heads along the wall. The Irishman took a couple of steps back to get a better view of the piece of art in its entirety, quickly taking note of the colors that were used to create the woman. "Could be some sort of deity that this place was dedicated to... her skin and hair.. almost resemble the monsters from earlier." 

His feet carried him closer to the mural yet again, looking at the two smaller figures that stood under the depicted woman. A person, more presumably human, and some sort of horned animal. Each of them seemed in their natural state, rather than engulfed in darkness as the Forgotten were. "What if.." Jomei began, looking back up at the woman that stood over them, "What if this mural depicts how the Forgotten were created... if this was painted to tell the story of the curse that fell over this city." Jomei's eyes turned back towards the rest of the ruined structure, "But then that just opens up more questions of what the hell this place is.. If this was some sort of church, and that was the goddess they worshiped, then what the hell did they do to get this curse put on them. Could be why the painting was covered.. those that lived here felt betrayed by their Goddess.." Of course, all the questions he asked were about lore, and not an actual event that took place in the game. Most likely, all of these events had been predetermined upon the game's start. 

Looking back to Telrenya to see what her thoughts on Jomei's conjecture about the scene depicted upon the stone wall, his gaze caught something just off in the corner near them. Walking past Telrenya into the darkened corner, he noticed that one of the walls that were built up seemed a bit different-- some of the stones were of various shades of grey that did not match, and they did not seem cemented together as others were. "I wonder why this looks different..." the ginger said under his breath as he placed his hand upon the wall, one of the bricks giving a bit behind his weight. "Oh?" he questioned, before placing both palms on the wall and leaning into it. The stones collapsed backwards, revealing an open doorway that led to a dark hallway with a door at the end. "Hey, looks like we found the way to go." 

 

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya leaned back, stretching her arm in order to continue holding the dusty tapestry aside while she craned her neck to try to take a look at the mural as Jomei inspected it from a short distance. "Hmm..." She hummed lightly in thought while listening to his theory. Images of the Forgotten, along with the glimpses of the mutated wildlife that they had spotted and passed by on their journey to the forgotten city came back to mind, and her eyes then studied the two smaller figures standing across from the woman inspired by nature. She nodded, "Yeah, maybe... If there's supposed to be some story about how the city got like this, and where those creepy monsters came from, it looks like we found a big hint." She agreed.

"I wonder if there's more to it, or if we just found some kind of hidden decorations." She wondered aloud, taking a couple of steps back across the massive foyer in order to let the dark fabric hang back as it was, being mindful to avoid kicking up a rain of dust and debris as she let go. Her eyes drifted to Jomei as he walked past her, his interest caught by something farther along the wall. Or rather, the wall itself seemed to draw his attention. She cocked a curious brow while her head gave a small tilt to one side, and she watched in patient silence before the ginger seemed to find some sort of hidden passageway. Her opposite eyebrow followed suit and raised, her lips curling into a satisfied smile a second later. "Looks like this city's full of surprises." She chuckled, stepping forward to Jomei's side and tilting her chin to cast him a sidelong glance after her gaze had lingered on the dark hall. Telrenya's left hand reached with a familiar motion, slipping its fingers into the spaces between his and she gave his hand a small squeeze. "Shall we?"

[Jomei 0]

While olive eyes lingered on the newly revealed passage in front of him, the familiar feeling of Telrenya's palm sliding against his as she took his hand in hers spawned a soft smile on his face, despite the two's obvious dilemma. Chin turning slightly, Jomei returned the glance the blonde was shining him before nodding in agreement. Taking caution to not trip over any of the now downed blocks of stone that lay scattered on the ground, Jomei and Telrenya entered the darkened hallway. The corridor did not hold much, and would have remained pitch black if not for the light seeping in from the gaping hole behind them. The point of interest that the two moved towards, however, was a single wrought iron door at the end of the hall that did not match the eroded, yet still ornate, style of the rest of the cathedral. "What do you think is in there?" Jomei spoke, his voice bouncing off of the stone walls next to them and echoing.

The ginger reached out an arm to grab the knob of the door to reveal just what part of this worn down church they were going to be entering next. As the tips of his fingers tapped the knob, however, the iron slab slowly opened itself, creaking loudly as it swung on its hinges. The contents of the next room were not apparent to Jomei, as the only source of light from before was barely enough to illuminate the ground before his feet. Stepping through the doorway, Jomei caught glimpse of an unlit torch laying on the floor in front of him, just out of the light's reach. "This should help" Jomei said with a small sigh of relief, lowering himself to a knee to pick it up. Tapping on the object with a free hand, the man was able to bring a bright flame to the top of the torch with the help of the Cardinal system -- though at this point, the Irishman was almost hoping that he did not see what the darkness hid. 

Man made tunnels carved right of the stone of Aincrad, splitting off in multiple directions like some sort of maze. The thicker walls had slots cut out of them, which housed small wooden coffins filled with bony remains. Some of the caskets were scattered upon the floor, what remained of the corpses inside of them scattered about the floor. "... lovely.." Jomei said, shaking his head. "Looks like we're going to have to move through the catacombs to find our way out.." 

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya couldn't help but wince when the sound of the rusty hinges grinding against themselves reached her ears. She kept her grip on the Irishman's hand beside her while he worked to illuminate their path. The light from the salvaged torch was both welcomed and regretable as her brown eyes ran over what it revealed of their surroundings. The usual color in her cheeks faded slightly, and her reaction to swallow felt more difficult than normal. "More caves..." She said simply in a small voice. Forcing more words out, she thought back to their adventures in the winding tunnels of the twenty-first floor a few weeks ago. Though their path now was much less natural and riddled with many more corpses, she wouldn't put it past the game to give it plenty of its own surprises. "Wonder if we'll run into any more puzzles, or cultists." She thought aloud, the corner of her mouth picking up into a small smile at the memory of their adventures past.

The couple worked their way slowly down the winding path, hesitating on occasion when they would reach one of the many splits in the network of tunnels before they decided with route to take. Besides how morbid and unsettling the area was, they had yet to run into any surprises for several minutes of walking. At the same time, it was also beginning to feel as though they weren't really getting anywhere in their exploration. Telrenya frowned at the thought, and the blonde took a quick glance over her shoulder, peeking back at the dimly-lit passage for what little she could see. In an attempt to combat a stiff silence, the woman let her thoughts slip out into the air once more. "Maybe it's some kind of labyrinth? It'd be nice if we found something, like treas--"

Before her sentence was finished, Telrenya went rigid at the sound that echoed and bounced off of the rocky walls. A clanging, almost like a piece of metal had fallen and crashed to the ground. The fact that they had been left in silence when the air wasn't filled with their own footsteps or idle conversation, however, immediately led her to believe that they were no longer alone. Her hold on Jomei's hand had instinctively tightened, but she urged herself to relax in order to stay calm. She had unwittingly held her breath for a few moments, straining to hear anything else carried down the catacomb walls.

Edited June 5, 2018 by Telrenya

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's slender fingers instinctively clenched the hand he was holding a bit more as Tel's soft voice broke the eerie silence of the cathedral's catacombs. Her comment about puzzles and cultists spawned a smirk of his own. "I think I'd rather a few deranged, dragon worshipers than whatever the hell we ran into before.." the man chuckled, turning to look at the girl's face coated in orange and yellows from the blazing flame atop the torch he held, "As long as I get to see you knock one in the face again." His nerves slightly quelled with their talk of past adventures, the couple continued on, following whichever path they deemed best... despite all of them looking exactly the same, rotting corpses and all. 

Despite his weary legs feeling as though they had made a great distance since entering the dark caverns, the surroundings made it seem as if they had not. Slowing his pace to a halt, the man used the torch to scan the surrounding walls, looking for anything that would give them an idea of where they were going, and how close they were to getting out of here. Telrenya's hopes of finding something broke the silence yet again, ridding his worries for a few short moments. That is, until the sound of something crashing to the floor pierced their ears. The ginger took a sharp breath in as Telrenya's grasp on his hand strengthened. Olive eyes looked off into the darkness, searching for anything that could have made that sound, before checking their own feet to see if anything had fallen. Of course, both of their weapons and any items the two carried on their persons were still in place. "Great..." Jomei thought to himself, before looking over at Tel, "Stel.. be ready. I don't think we are alone down here.."

The thought of just who, or what, would be down their with them filled his mind. Could the fallen somehow have found another way into the innards of the cathedral, leaving the two trapped from escaping? Or maybe some already lurked in the darkness down here. Closing his eyes, Jomei slowly let the breath he had been holding pass through his slightly parted lips. "Lets find a way out of here.. fast." 

[Telrenya 0]

"M-mm, right..." Telrenya's agreeance came quickly and nervously, with a small nod of her head. The pair willed themselves to continue moving through the dark and dreary tunnels in search for a way out while she tried incredibly hard not to think about how she couldn't remember all of the turns and the direction of each fork they had taken in order up to this point. Unless Jomei had an impressive memory, or he had been marking their way somehow without her noticing, heading back the way they came wasn't looking like a reliable option. So, forward they pressed on. They were more cautious now, and Telrenya's eyes scanned the walls and strained against the darkness ahead of them even moreso than they were before.

When a couple of minutes passed without any other alarming sounds or tells of their supposed company in the network of tunnels, Telrenya's brows began to knit. A mixture of confusion and growing impatience as their continued paces didn't seem to carry them any closer toward an obvious exit or goal. Just more dead things scattered over the uneven floors. The corner that they turned next was almost identical to several splits they had taken before, and so Telrenya thought nothing of what might lie around the sharp turn. Her soles scraped against the ground as she skidded to a stop, her body reacting on impulse to just how not-empty the corridor actually was. Her eyes widened as they fell on the gangly humanoid figure in front of them, and she let out a short, involuntary scream from her shock. Her right hand moved to the hilt of her rapier at her hip after her instincts kicked in, though the action was far from smooth. She had only managed to find her grip after a couple of precious seconds, and her slight stumble backwards to catch her balance didn't much help.

The stranger, surprisingly, had a very similar reaction to the blonde across from him. Not quite a man, but not exactly a monster, the creature's arm extended out to one side to catch himself as his own small yelp echoed against the cave walls. A face of mixed flesh and stone that initially bore shock and confusion quickly turned to panic as he registered the players' reactions and steel was sure to catch the torch's light. "W-w-wait!" He hurriedly croaked, the voice that left his throat hoarse and rough. He took a couple of steps back to try and distance himself from the threat of impalement, holding an open palm out towards them as if to ask them to hold their blades. "I'm--not..." He tried to form a sentence with more strained words before one of them would run him through. Having finally freed her weapon from its scabbard, Telrenya's brows furrowed slightly as she was able to take in the sight of the creature. "Oh," They raised again a second later, and the woman reached out to Jomei's arm with her free hand. "Wait, your cursor..." She spoke quietly while her frame slowly but surely relaxed as she stared at the yellow-tinted cursor that twirled above the creature's head.

Edited June 5, 2018 by Telrenya

[Jomei 0]

It had been a long couple of minutes and another multiple turns through the catacombs as they seemingly moved forward towards something, anything. Hell, even finding the door that led them here would have been better than wandering around with cold, eyeless skulls staring at them as they passed. With one hand holding onto Telrenya, the other held the torch forward that lit their path. Jomei wondered if there even was another door that would lead them out of the catacombs, or if they were simply wandering in circles until they stumbled upon their initial entrance. The man's mind had nearly wiped the thought of whatever else was down here from his mind and the sound it caused. Turning one last corner, however, he was reminded very quickly that they were not alone.

A humanoid figure stumbled forward, the same moment the couple took a step towards it. It's body half of human flesh, and half weathered stone, just as the accursed Fallen they had ran into above ground. Its steps were heavy, as its legs were blackened and had already made the transformation. He moved forward like a young child learning to walk, still getting used to the new legs made of stone. Only one of his arms were made of the same substance, and was being used to hold him up by pressing into the wall. His exposed chest and other arm were still pale, though any visible veins seemed darker as the black curse of the Fallen ran through his blood. Half of his face had also been corrupted, one of his eyes shut and completely stoned over, while the other was only beginning the process; an opaque grey film over his still human eye, which frantically moved between the two players who stood in front of him, shocked at his appearance. The sight of the Fallen's strange antlers poked through both sides of his head, the transformation looking much more painful, seeing them jutting out of the skin of his forehead.

Telrenya's short start was quickly followed by the drawing of her rapier. Jomei, on the other hand, did not think to react as quickly to pull out his weapon. Jomei quickly clenched a fist and pulled it back, his gloved hand glowing a gold hue as he readied a Martial Arts attack. Though the half transformed man's reaction caused the ginger to falter and not attack, for this one was not looking to attack either of the players, and was just as shocked at their sudden appearance as they were of him. Telrenya seemed to back down as well, noticing the yellow cursor that hovered over his head, rather than the red ones associated with monsters. "Who are you? What.. happened?" Jomei asked, lowering his hand back to his side

[Telrenya 0]

Just as Jomei lowered his tightened fist, Telrenya's rapier dropped as well. She held the blade loosely at her side, its tip now pointing toward the dark cavern floor as she wore an expression of mixed confusion and concern. Chocolate eyes shifted between the man at her side and the half-human that stood before them as the former was the first to start asking questions. A moment of silence allowed the tension in the air to begin to settle, each passing second indicating that the players had less and less intention of slaughtering him. The figure straightened up, pushing against the cave wall to help stabilize himself, and appeared more calm before forcing a voice past his altered throat again.

"...Come. I wo--n't, hurt you." He managed, giving the players a short wave as he beckoned them along. The man had turned back the way he came, hobbling down the path with clumsy but practiced steps, as if he was used to the inconvenience of his staggered walk and half-stone limbs. With a sideways glance to Jomei, Telrenya exchanged a look with him that said she didn't mind to follow after him as she brought the tip of her rapier back to its sheathe at her hip. Concealing her blade, the two would follow after the strange NPC down more winding tunnels filled with just as much death and decay as every path they'd taken thus far. A few haggard paces ahead of them, the man didn't seem bothered that the light from their torch stretched barely a few feet ahead of them, leaving Telrenya to wonder if his sight in the dark tunnels were better than theirs, or he was simply programmed to follow a specific route regardless of having a light source.

After a few minutes, they were led to a clearing of sorts--the mouth of a small cave that broke the repetitive cycle of one narrow passageway after another. This one was devoid of corpses, skeletons, and occupied coffers. Whether the area was generated without them, or the 'decor' had simply been moved away, Telrenya couldn't tell. Along the walls, clusters of softly-glowing crystals served as a new light, and a single withering plant caught the woman's attention in the corner of the room, clinging to the wall and floor of the cave just as tightly as it clung to the last of its life. The man continued moving, working to revive a small campfire in the center of the space. Finally, he knelt down beside the wilted plant and hesitated a second before plucking one of two sizeable fruits from its vine. He held the object, with swirls of green and yellow hues coating its skin, above his nose before giving it a quick squeeze. Its outer layer broke, and he brought the brightly-colored juices that flowed to his lips.

Seconds later, he would discard the dried remains to the edge of the cave's floor and bring himself over to the campfire, lowering down and crossing his legs. He carried himself a bit differently, Telreyna could see. His balance was more stable, and even his half-turned skin looked a bit healthier in the dim light of the crystals. As he faced the two players, she could see the haze of his right eye lessened, though it still lacked the brown color of his left. The corners of his mouth picked up into an obviously-forced smile, and the voice that left him sounded much less strained, as he no longer croaked out his words. "I used to be called a 'Saint', hundreds of years ago now. But, you can just call me Vaughn." He took in a sharp inhale, leaning forward as he propped his elbows onto his knees, and laced his fingers together in front of his face. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and I have nothing better to do. So, go ahead. But be specific." He tacked on.

Edited June 12, 2018 by Telrenya

[Jomei 0]

The figure beckoned for the two players to follow it forward into the darkness that the torch Jomei held did not reach. The man gnawed at the skin inside of his cheek, before he felt Telrenya's soft eyes casting him a glance from beside him. Turning his chin slightly, he could see that she seemed alright with following the half-man to see where he would lead them. After all, the crystal above the figure's head revealed them to be an NPC, rather than a monster.. and a monster would have attacked the two of them by now. This man still seemed to be in somewhat control of his body, despite more than half of him being turned to that strange stone-like substance found on the Forgotten above ground. With a small nod in Telrenya's direction, and his hand lowering to let his finger's intertwine with the blonde's, the man took cautious strides forward to follow the NPC into the darkness.

The catacombs the group traversed through eventually led out into a small clearing, free of any skeletal remains or other eerie sights. The cave's walls held small bunches of crystals that gave off light, similar to some of the cavernous floors below. The center of the room sat a circle of stones, scorched sticks set up like a small pyramid. The ginger turned himself to face Telrenya, to try and gauge how she was feeling about their predicament. She did not seem nervous, and her attention was locked on an object on the other side of the room. Following her gaze, Jomei noticed a small plant growing out of the cracks in the stone floor and wall, bearing strange, grape sized fruits. 

With the fire slowly beginning to come back to life, the man retreated to the plant, consuming the juices of one of the fruits he plucked from the withering stem. Almost immediately, the man seemed to improve from his half-stone state; what was left of his skin looked much healthier, and even the film over his eye faded slightly. Moving back to where Jomei and Telrenya stood, even his motions seemed a bit more natural. He introduced himself as Vaughn, a man who was once known as a Saint 'hundreds of years ago.' "Hundreds of years..?" Jomei mirrored with wide eyes, shocked that this man had lived so long. "What happened to you? How have you kept the curse from taking you over for so long?"

[Telrenya 0]

The man smirked slightly, as if any question that Jomei might have asked him would have been one that he expected, and already knew how to answer. "You've seen the ones up there, yes?" He asked, pointing an index finger up to the cave's ceiling as he referred to the Forgotten that roamed the remnants of the city, to which Telrenya gave a small nod of confirmation aside Jomei. After his prompt was responded to, he continued. "It's sunlight that progresses the curse. Or at least, that's the only thing I can believe without testing it out myself." He grimaced at the thought, weaving his fingers back together in front of his chin. He frowned, letting out a small sigh and shaking his head side to side. "You've heard it all before; men that are greedy and always wanting for more, overstepping the boundaries of those that provide for them. Our Goddess cursed us all with the very 'drug' that we longed for." He explained vaguely. "I fled into these catacombs with a handful of others before it had fully taken us, and the caves seemed to stop the process, or at least delay it. But, we were still human...mostly. Still growing tired, and hungry. Eventually they left to find food, or grew mad from the underground, or simply gave up. And, well... I haven't seen them since, so you can put the pieces together." The attitude of a bitter old man seemed to slip from him as he scoffed at his own predicament.

Across from him, with the dim light of the fire dancing across her cheeks, Telrenya's brows knit together in concern, a mixture of sympathy and pity written clearly on the woman's face. "That's...terrible." She forced the words out, unable to bring any others forward that might lessen the bleakness of his story. With Jomei's palm once again resting against hers, Telrenya gave his hand a small squeeze as she perked to attention, a new expectation in her voice. "Is there anything we can do? Is there a way to break the curse, that you need help with?" An odd sort of rationality had kicked in within the girl's mind. As they were the players, and he an NPC, surely his sad story was the set-up for some kind of hidden quest. If they could simply complete some sort of task, they could cure the man's curse.

But her naivete was only met with a dry chuckle. "Ah, if there was any kind of salvation from this Hell that the Goddess cast us into, it'd be the first I've heard about it."

[Jomei 0]

The darkness of Vaughn's half stone skin blended in with the cavern walls behind him, his pale, human features illuminated by the fire that flickered to life between them. He explained his tale of woe to the Irishman and Telrenya the same, a story of an angry goddess smiting her subjects with this curse, turning them all to mindless stone savages.The once Saint deduced that it was the sun itself that sped up the transformation, so he and a few others had escaped the sun's rays by hiding out in the catacombs of this cathedral. Over the years, however, it sounded as though the others that came down with him were not able to keep their sanity, leaving Vaughn alone. The ginger frowned at Vaughn's story, and by Telrenya's reassuring squeeze of his hand, he knew she had felt the same way about it. 

After expressing Tel's own curiosity to reverse this curse, the man in front of them regrettably informed them that he was not sure of any way to save himself from the inevitable transformation. Jomei's olive eyes shied away from looking at the man, wishing there was more they could do to help him. That was when he remembered the plant on the other side of the room, and the effects that consuming the fruit did to regress the progress a bit. 

"Wait." Jomei spoke out, "What about those fruits? When you ate the one.. it looked like it healed a little bit of the curse." The man looked back at the plant again, realizing its withered state and lack of fruit. "I mean.. I know it looks like that one plant looks a little rough around the edges, but maybe we could find more? Maybe a large enough batch of it could help to heal you."

[Telrenya 0]

"Just a by-product of what started this whole mess." Vaughn growled, another hint of bitterness in his voice after Jomei suggested using the mysterious plant's fruit to cure him. He shook his head at the idea that he had been healed, continuing to clarify. "No, it's just temporary. I'd give it... I don't know, probably less than an hour, and I'll be back to tripping over my own feet and croaking out my words." He seemed both annoyed and dismayed at the prospect of reverting back to the state the players had found him in, but only lingered after the topic for a second or two, crossing his arms over his chest. "Regardless, you'd be damned to try and find any more of those plants actually alive down here. As far as I know, this is the last one left. As far as what lies on the surface... Well, you'd have a much better idea than me at this point." He admitted with a shake of his head, not bothering to delve into his recollection of the land above from so many years ago. "I can get you out of these catacombs, if you need, but that is all I can do for you."

While Telrenya's expression seemed to be cemented in one of sympathy and disheartenment, she was surprised to see a menu appear in front of her and Jomei alike. Cardinal's familiar font informed her that the prompt was for the acceptance or denial of a quest, which further surprised her as she had all but counted out the possibility of Vaughn as a quest-giver. At most, she was beginning to think he was simply designed for the purposes of story-telling; some little easter egg chock full of lore in the event that a player stumbled upon these catacombs as they had. The main section of the semi-transparent screen held only two words, which Telrenya stared at for several long seconds before her hopeful gaze turned up to meet Jomei's.

"Help Vaughn."

She stopped herself from blindly accepting the oddly vague quest, wordlessly expressing her desire to give it a shot despite their lack of information. Although confident that Jomei was of the same mind, she still waited for his confirmation before she would pull an index finger towards the circular blue button.

Edited June 14, 2018 by Telrenya

[Jomei 0]

The ginger hummed in defeat at Vaughn's response, using the fruit to heal the damage that had been done to his body did seem too good to be true. Then again, it did not seem as though he had tried to consume the fruit in a large enough amount to do anything, let alone been able to find a plant that bore enough of it to even try it. Reversing the curse of a goddess seemed nearly impossible now, especially taking into account the mindless creature he would turn into. Those Forgotten on the surface, they seemed to have no ties to their past humanity.. it made Jomei sick to his stomach to know that those him and Tel had struck down were once citizens of this very village. Men, woman, and children cursed by a spiteful deity, to live forever as mindless, stone zombies. His shoulder's trembled as he rose a palm to his lips, taking in a deep breath through his nostrils as he tried to rid the thought. With everything going on.. and how real SAO is.. you really forget that this is just a game and not real..

Jomei's eyes snapped to a small, grey screen that appeared in front of his person. A quest invitation, that would only calm his nerves a bit more about striking down monsters that were once human. Its vague contents only gave the two players two words, Help Vaughn. The man's gaze met brown eyes, looking for confirmation if this was what they wanted to do. Hesitant at first, Jomei could not help but force out a small smirk, before confidently nodding and pressing the small circular button that would accept the quest. "Alright Vaughn, we will see what we can do about helping you. I'd hate to see you turn into one of those things above that tried to kill us." 

The ginger took a few short steps to the other side of the cavern, where the plant grew from the wall. With gentle fingers, Jomei observed the plant and the environment it grew in. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, for the walls were carved the same as they were in the catacombs, save for the skeletal remains and open spots for coffins. A hand rose to his chin as he touched the base of the stem that just poked from the cracks in the floor. To his surprise, it was slightly damp, not much, but enough to barely keep it alive. "Vaughn, have you been watering the plant to keep it alive.. or-" Jomei's sentence was cut short as a thick droplet of water pushed out from the crack in the wall, slowly trickling into the similar crack in the floor. A small leak, coming from an unknown water source, was providing just enough water to eventually erode the stone and barely sustain the life of the plant. "I don't know where that water is coming from.. but maybe if we can find the source, there could be more plants there.." 

The attention was drawn back to their new companion, as he rose to his feet, pressing a palm into the side of his head and groaning. "V-Vaughn, whats wrong?" Jomei questioned in a concerned voice. "The.. fruit's effects are.. wearing off and.. and I think the curse is getting worse." The man stumbled into an adjacent wall once he got to his feet. "Come on.. you can fight it..." he said to himself in a desperate voice before letting out a loud growl. "Get the hell out of my head!!" he shouted before punched the wall with his stoned over fist. The strike against the stone wall caused the walls to shudder, and the sequential strikes made it even worse. "Stop you're going to-" the rumbling continued without the man's strikes, and before they could react, the wall and ceiling above them crumpled and caved in on them. Jomei caught one last glimpse of fearful, brown eyes before they were separated by a wall of debris "Estelle!!" Jomei shouted out, but it was too late, the cave in had separated them. "Dammit!" Jomei growled, trying to pull pieces of rock from in front of them, only for another to fall and take its place. "Stel, are you okay?!" Jomei shouted from the other side of the wall, hoping that she had not been caught under the rocks. The girl's health bar that lingered in the corner of his vision revealed she had not been hurt, but the ginger could still not help but worry. 

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya continued to sit around the lightly-crackling fire as the two players accepted the quest. As Jomei broke off from the trio to inspect the mysterious plant that might hold the answers to some of their unresolved questions, she tapped a knuckle against her chin while she wracked her own brain for ideas. "Maybe if we head back to the surface, we can find out more about this Goddess, and get some more clues about the curse? Or... If there are any other hidden places in the catacombs that Vaughn knows about..." Her chocolate eyes were fixated on the dancing flames as she mumbled her thoughts aloud, more to herself than those in her company. The half-transformed man's stumbling didn't catch her attention at first, but when his broken speech reached her ears and soon registered, she picked up her gaze to fill with concern at the state of the NPC. She pushed herself up from the ground, standing slowly before she would flinch at Vaughn's outburst.

"Nick!" Telrenya had called her lover's name just the same after the hunks of rock and rubble descended. The dust that kicked up caused her to wrench her eyes shut, holding her arms in front of her face to shield her until the cave-in settled. The sound of Jomei's distressed voice had her hurrying the couple of steps forward to the new wall of rock and packed dirt that stood between them, her fingers gingerly pressing against the uneven surfaces. "I-I'm fine!" The rate of her heartbeat and the adrenaline pumping through her made a falter in her speech nearly impossible, but she was quick to recover as she gave her surroundings a brief survey. Her head turned, and she spun slowly in a circle before calling back to the man on the other side of the barrier. "It... It looks like the room got cut in half, more or less." She surmised, spotting the tunnel that led back the way the came from following Vaughn after their initial meeting, and assuming that the other end that they had yet to traverse still lay accessible on Jomei's side. "What about you?" Just the same, she voiced her concern despite the full health bar that sat nestled in the top corner of her vision. And, as the memory of their company's condition sprang back to mind, the worry in her voice only increased. "A-and Vaughn? Is he with you, is he...okay?" She struggled for the right choice of words in a hurry, brows narrowed as she recalled the clear expression on the man's face as he was fighting back the curse.

On the other side of the wall, Vaughn continued to clutch the side of his head with his human-most hand, eyes held tightly shut as he breathed heavily. He seemed more in pain than aggressive in that moment, and at the sound of his name his eyes blinked open. His state had clearly reverted to resemble the half-man they had first encountered in the catacombs, and it would have been hard to tell just how much worse the horns protruding from his forehead or the rocky complexion of his skin had become. "Sorr--ry." He choked out as he seemed to realize the damage that his lashing out had caused. His eyes met Jomei, and despite the strain in his expression, he pulled his hand away with a shake of his head. "Fine. I'm, fine." He seemed impatient all of a sudden, turning his head until he spotted the only passageway left available to them. "Come, we must get you...to the surface." He managed, his hand shifting to the cavernous wall beside him as a kind of support as he began to carry himself forward.

[Jomei 0]

Telrenya’s voice called out in return, which sent a large wave of relief through Jomei’s body. He feared that she might have gotten caught under the fallen rocks and dirt. “Thank God..” he said to himself under his breath. “I’m alright, Vaughn is fine too.. I’m going to try and find a way around this.. stay -“ Jomei almost requested the girl stay put while he go and rescue her. That would have been the old Telrenya.. the one he saw fend off the waves of Forgotten just as he did proved that she had grown in strength. “Stay safe, love” he said in a slightly softer voice, just loud enough for her to hear.

The ginger stepped back from the wall of rock and dirt to Vaughn’s position, where he struggled to stand with his uncooperative cursed appendages. Crouching next to him, Jomei helped the NPC to his feet. Vaughn was not hesitant to finding a way out for Jomei, and began to lead the player in the direction of the exit. “Not without Tel.” Jomei said back in a demanding voice. “We are going to find Tel first, and the we are going to find a way to help you.” 

The once Saint bore his teeth at Jomei’s stubborness, “I... told you. This curse is.. is not reversible... theres nothing you can do to help.” The Irishman crossed his arms and took a step towards the half-man, “We won’t know unless we try.” Jomei’s continued stubborness left Vaughn lost for words, and after searching for a moment, he simply chuckled and shook his head. “Lets just.. get moving.. before this gets... worse.” Jomei could feel beads of sweat form on his temple, how much worse could this curse progress while down here? Looking to the plant on the wall, he saw that it had been knocked over by the rubble, its few fruits scattered on the floor. Picking them up, Jomei placed them in his coat pocket. “If that curse gets any worse, you’re gonna need these” 

The duo began to slowly make their way through the empty catacombs, their path unknown to Jomei, but Vaughn seemed fairly knowledged in where they were headed. “Theres... a few paths that.. lead back to.. the other side of that room... hopefully.. your girlfriend doesn’t.. go the opposite way.” Jomei kept silent, but responded with a nod. He needed to be cautious of Vaughn’s outbreaks, so he kept a cautious eye on the NPC. He was just happy that he did not get stuck with Tel, in case anything bad happened.