(PP-F21) Trying to Forget

[Fae 0]

Fae had been doing her best to get to know everyone in the guild. She went out hunting with mister Hei, familiar scouting with miss Eatos, played in the snow with Thorsten, and went to the hot springs with Stryder. This whole guild was working great for Fae, and it was helping her stay positive. There was another person in the guild that Fae wanted to get to know better, Pinball. Fae had seen Pin before, and she thought that they were friends so far. Now, Fae wanted to get to know him one on one. The hot springs with Stryder worked out, so Fae decided that she would take Pin there as well. He seemed more of the shy type, so maybe hanging out with him just by themselves would be more comfortable for him. Fae was standing outside of the floor teleporter on floor 21, sitting on the same bench she sat on while waiting for Stryder. Fae opened her messages and scrolled down to Pinball. Hey mister Pin! Can you come up to the 21st floor please? Fae wants to hang out with you today! Fae sent the message, and then leaned back in the bench. All she had to do now was wait for him.

@Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Pinball's fingers gently slid along the wall of names, the only sound in the monument made by the echo of his footsteps. He had made it a point to avoid The Monument of Life thus far, but today was different. As of late, the shy fisherman had been facing up to the challenges presented to him by the game. Even now, though, despite this, he felt as though something was wrong, as if something was missing. Pinball internalized the feelings, putting them aside for another day. He knew it wasn't healthy, but burying emotions were better than dealing with them. But still, the melancholy that permeated his very being occasionally demanded attention, and so Pinball visited the most somber place he could think of to be alone with his thoughts. There were no players in the hall besides him, and another, stronger feeling made itself known to him; but he couldn't quite place his finger on it, so he again pushed it aside. Instead, he focused on taking in all the names. The players that were still alive (including himself) and especially the ones that were crossed out. 

As his eyes followed along the alphabetically ordered list, his heart stopped. A particular name had caught his eye, but it wasn't the name of a player; rather, it was the cause of death. "W-what?" 

<<Trixie>>

Player-Killed by Fae

Ping. An alert from his menu, notifying the boy he had recieved a message. Completely horrified,  Pinball brought down his fingers, opening the menu. Two taps, and the message was open... displaying the last thing Pinball wanted to see at that moment. Fae was the sender, and she wanted to meet up with him on the 21st floor. He stood at the menu for a good while, and he had to take a seat to steady himself. He suddenly felt very nauseous. He was tempted to ignore it, truthfully. But he couldn't. For some reason he himself couldn't comprehend, he responded. He sat there, trying to gather his thoughts before heading out. 

Message: 

To: @Fae

Will do. Be there in a bit.

[Fae 0]

Fae got excited when she saw that Pin had already responded to her message after a few minutes. "Maybe Pinny got caught up in something again. He was probably out fishing again." Fae said to herself as she opened the message with a quick two taps. Pin said that he was going to be there in a bit in the message, Fae nodded, despite Pin not actually being present. It was just a silly habit of hers. Fae wasn't really concerned if Pin was okay, since the message was short. If he was in trouble, it would be a long explanation, knowing Pin. Looking around the cavern, Fae was captivated by the crystal lights in the ceiling. Fae opened her messages again, and sent Pin another message. Bring a swimsuit too mister Pin! The hot springs don't provide them. Fae sent it, and then went back to swinging her legs back and forth and humming to herself on the bench.

@Pinball

[Pinball 1]

The fisherman's body materialized on the teleporter in a brief flash of blue light. So this is the 21st floor, the boy thought, taking a quick look around. He had never been to such a high floor before, but if they stayed out of the wilds, he hoped they'd be fine. She's a killer, a part of him thought, but his more sympathetic side quickly shut that down. You don't know how it happened. She's just a kid!  He couldn't pass judgement yet. Not until he knew the whole truth. His heart thumping in his chest, he took a few steps off the pedastal, looking around for the young girl. Just then, he received Fae's second message, asking him to bring a bathing suit. Whoops. He would feel very uncomfortable with having to wear a bathing suit, even if she was exceptionally young. Plus, he wasn't entirely comfortable with wearing so little clothing around a player-killer. A child, he corrected himself, accentuating the conflicting emotions he was experiencing. Armor would be overly-threatening for the hot springs, too. So, he settled on the next best thing; he had bought casual wear only a few days before, though he wasn't wearing it now. He would change when he needed to. For now, he had to find Fae. He looked around once more, not knowing if she was meeting him at the hot springs or at the teleporter...

[Fae 0]

Fae was about to send Pin a third message to ask if he was okay, but just before she could send it, Pin materialized from the floor teleporter and Fae hopped off of the bench she was sitting on. It was good to see him again, but something seemed off about Pin today, like he looked even more nervous than usual, as if something was bothering him. Fae ran up to Pin and gave him a big hug, looking up at him with her usual big smile. "Hi mister Pin! What's with the scary face? You look like you just watched someone die. Cheer up! We're here to have fun and relax!" Fae asked, before trying to comfort him a little bit. She grabbed his hand and nodded over in the direction that they were supposed to go to get to the hot springs. "You should stay on guard mister Pin, the NPCs on this floor are kinda meanies towards players." Fae warned, looking back at the town's NPCs closely, a bit worried.

[Pinball 1]

The girl hopped off the bench, excitedly explaining her plans to Pinball. He listened with a blank smile, shrugging. I didn't see someone die, but I know you did. He looked back at the NPCs, then back to Fae. "I'm sure it'll be fine," he said simply, avoiding eye contact. If I have to stay on guard around anybody, it'd be you... Shut up! She's a kid! He wiped his hand around his face, anxious and conflicted. Then, realizing how weird he was acting, he started walking with Fae towards the hotsprings. He gently pulled his hand away as they walked, playing it off as if he had to twist his entire body to look at something in the distance. "Hey, Fae," he murmured more to himself than anyone, "when's the last time you hung out with someone in the guild?" The question was honest enough, though it might seem a little strange so suddenly. Either way, it was a start for Pinball, who couldn't deal with direct confrontation... most of the time. His heart pounding in his chest, he looked towards what he believed to be the hot springs. "Uh, how do these hot springs work?" He had never been, and the hot springs' system of operating was foreign to the fisherman. 

[Fae 0]

Fae was still a little bit confused why Pin was acting more nervous than usual, but she just dismissed it as Pin being his usual nervous self and kept her cheery attitude up. Pin told her that it would be fine and Fae nodded. "As long as you're okay with it Pin." Fae said as she started to skip once Pin let go of her hand. Fae couldn't tell what he was looking at, but it was probably just something or someone he recognized, that's what Fae passed it off as. She wanted to ask questions, but she didn't want to make Pin more nervous than he already was.

Fae gave her answer to Pin immediately when he asked the last time she hung out with someone in the guild. "It was a couple days ago. Fae was looking for a familiar with mommy Eatos. We weren't too successful. Fae was gonna get a chinchilla named Trixie, but Fae never got to find one, maybe next time Fae will." Fae answered as they arrived at the hot springs. Pin asked how they worked, and Fae giggled a little bit. "They don't really 'work' a way. You just put on a towel or swimsuit and sit down in them. Let's take one of the empty pools." Fae explained as she opened her menu and changed into just a towel and led Pin over to one of the small springs and sat down inside. There were a few NPCs in the other springs, but there didn't seem to be any other players.

@Pinball

[Pinball 1]

He frantically went to cover his eyes as Fae changed outfits, waving his hand in front of his face for some reason. "Fae, no, what the hell?!" Pinball never changed in public. He was always too afraid of something glitching out and exposing his form beneath the clothing. Sure, it was a game, but their avatars were modeled after their real bodies... and Pinball wasn't entirely too confident about his. "H-hold on," he stuttered, finding a hiding place to change. Swiping open his menu, he put on the casual outfit he had bought before. He refused to bathe in the same area as someone else, even with a towel or a swimsuit on. 

Pinball wore a tan sweater over a plain white collared shirt. Of course, they were required to remove their weapons and armor, so Pinball leaned his weapon outside of the door. It wasn't as if anybody would manage to steal a cursed weapon. Upon entering, he saw an NPC shoot him a dirty look. "You can't wear clothes in here, you know?" Pinball shot them a look equally as scary, betraying his usual personality. "Yeah, and I'd like to see you do something about it," he shot back, his voice dripping with venom. The NPC grumbled something and pulled themselves out of the hotsprings, pushing past Pinball in a very aggravated manner. "What a little -" he stopped himself, realizing there was still a child in the room. Suddenly embarrassed, Pinball took a seat on the ground next to Fae, but outside of the spring itself. "Sorry about that," he mumbled.

[Fae 0]

Fae didn't really see anything too wrong with changing in public, but she could tell that Pin wasn't okay with it. "What's wrong Pin? It's not like you can see Fae when Fae is changing. The menu hides the no no places." Fae said as she waited for Pin to change. He was in his casual clothes, which looked better than armor at least for the springs. One of the NPCs still wasn't okay with it and even reminded him that he wasn't supposed to wear clothes. Fae got a bit nervous when Pin seemed more threatening when talking to the NPC. Fae giggled a little bit when Pin stopped himself, knowing he was about to swear. He apologized, and then sat down beside her, not getting in the spring. "C'mon Pin, don't you wanna relax? Or is somethin' bothering ya?" Fae asked, pattinf the seat beside her for him to sit down.

@Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Pinball shrugged, his face red. "No reason," was his reply. He hesitated, unsure about whether or not he should get in the water. He had snapped at an employee like a divorced mom at Target, and Pinball felt like it'd come back to bite him in the ass. You need to find out. He sighed. "Alright, alright, I'll relax," he conceded, stepping into the water clothes and all (with his shoes off, of course; he isn't an animal). He looked to Fae, wondering what was going through her head right now. He sunk into the water, then shot back up. "So!" Pinball leaned back, his head tilted upwards. "How have you been?" he asked pleasantly, looking at the ceiling. He couldn't stop thinking about the Monument of Life, and Fae's name under Trixie's. Cause of death. He sat up, now looking at the water. She had tried to get a familiar named Trixie. For some reason, he couldn't believe that those were the actions of the killer. Under normal circumstances, naming a pet after a person you killed would be creepy; however, somehow he couldn't make himself believe that it was a malicious thing to do. Especially not for one so young. "So, what have you been up to? Besides hanging out with Stryder and Eatos. Anything interesting?"

[Fae 0]

Fae still couldn't quite get why Pin was so nervous and uncomfortable, but asking about it was doing the opposite of helping, so Fae decided to just shut up about it as Pin got into the water. There wasn't too much of a height difference between Fae and Pin in the water, with it being only about a foot between them in height. Pin asked how Fae had been, and she answered quickly. "Fae has been doing great! Other than miss Embers and miss Trixie, Fae has made friends with everyone she has met! We're friends right Pin?" Fae asked, scooting a little bit closer to him. Pin also asked if Fae had been up to anything interesting lately, and Fae shrugged her shoulders. "Fae hasn't really been up to much. Fae is trying to stay out of trouble and be more like a big kid." Fae answered, crossing her arms.

[Pinball 1]

He bit his lip. He shouldn't be dancing around it. Pinball had the sinking feeling that Fae wouldn't open up without him prompting her. He took a deep breath, and prepared to do just that. "Fae," he began slowly. Rumble, rumble, rumble, BOOM! Pinball stood up in the water immediately, looking around the Hot Springs like a mad man. "Wha-?" His gaze finally met the entrance... or what used to be the entrance. There was a large rock, covering the door. "The hell?!" Pinball leapt out of the spring, water dripping from the clothes he had refused to take off. "Hey!" Pinball brought his fist down on the boulder, trying to hear what was going outside. "Let us out!" The faint sounds of voices and laughter could be heard from outside, but he couldn't clearly make them out. "What..." He took a step back from the blocked entrance, glancing back over to Fae. "Hurry. We need to try to find a different way out. I want to find who did this." 

[Fae 0]

Fae was a bit startled by the rumbling in the cave, the big rock blocking the entrance just getting Fae even more nervous. Pin leapt out of the hot springs, and Fae did the same, water dripping from her towel as well, with it sinking down to her waist. Fae ran up to the rock and pounded on it as well. "Let us out you meanies!" Fae shouted, but only laughter came back from the other side. Pin said they needed to hurry and try to find another way out of the hot springs, but Fae was entirely clueless. "Umm, Fae thought that was the only way out. Fae doesn't know what we can do Pin." Fae said as she paced back and forth with her hands on her hips. Fae kinda wanted to blame Pin for wearing clothes, but now was not a good time to say that.