[PP-F7] No Laughing Matter (Aereth)

[Hidden 1]

It had been two days since her capture, and she was beginning to lose her wit. Many times a day, seemingly hundreds, men questioned, attacked, and berated the uncloaked girl. Her shirt and pants were torn to shreds, held only together by the filters of the game. While parts of her undergarments were visible, they wouldn't push any farther. so far though, she had yet to give any help or information in the search for Aereth. Her face now showed her exhaustion, her eyes having lost the fire she had in the beginning. They knew they were beginning to break her, they knew they jsut had to push her over the edge now. 

She had yet to pick up any information of her actual whereabouts, all she knew she was in a lowlighted warehouse, the only light coming from windows high up in the building. She was bound to a cross, unarmed and unable to move. The ground was  a hard concrete and the atmosphere was cold and damp. The previous day it had stormed a bunch, letting her know that they were not in a floor such as  Four, Five, Ten or Twenty-one. for the first time in a while, her original captor stepped up to her. Her seemed to be an older man, about the age of forty. He chuckled as he stepped forward, seeming way to happy for her not giving him what he wanted. "You know where we first met, Shadow Walker?" Hidden glared at the man. "We have never met, i assure you" He leaned his head back and let out a great laugh. "Forgotten already? It was early on, I was in a guild dubbed the Poison Arrow. You dispatched one of my men and saved a woman that I was beginning to execute. Later the next day, i was removed from my guild for my cruel ways" Hidden's eyes widened. What he spoke was true. "And that mean's  you're..." The man nodded his head. "That I'm Gray. Glad you remember. Now, Shadow Walker, I've done a lot of research just for you. I bet you feel loads of special. I understand you have a connection to a White-Haired chef. Im not sure of the extent yet, but I can assure you he will be put to rest if you don't cooperate" 

Her heart skipped a beat. He knew about Sey. It was over. She let out a sob, tears flooding into her eyes. Her one weak point had been reached. Her achilles heel. The love of her life was now in danger because of her. "PLEASE" she begged. "I'll help you, just leave him out of this!" The man chuckled, reaching his hand forward to wipe a tear from her cheek with his thumb. Normally she would spit in his face for this, but she was afraid. Sey was strong, but with his lax nature lately, he could be outpowered by these guys easily. "Let's get to work then, Shadow Walker. Try anything, and he dies" He thrust the spike of his hammer into the rope holding down her left hand. "It's time to send a message to our friend, the Demon King" 

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

Aereth quickly finished writing a message after receiving quest information from some NPC outside of Lazaro. He was pretty lucky to get his hands on said quest, because usually the Quest NPC is staying insides of the main settlement, but thankfully he was able to kindly ask a small group of players to lure the quest NPC out. And asking kindly consisted of Aereth giving all of the three players some Col, in oder to get this sh*t done for him. "I also could have threatened them until they'd have done it for me...." Aereth rumbled before slowly making his way to a shabby and f*cked up inn outsides of the safe zone.

Slamming the door behind him, and immediately locking it, Aereth let himself fall on the old bed and closed his eyes. "Why do all the inns outside of safe zones have to be so f*cked up...." he thought before pulling himself up again and removing his cloak, sword and shirt.

[Hidden 1]

Within five minutes, the plan had been explained partly to her. Her instructions were to send a message to Aereth to lure him to her exact location. If she made any hints or notes that she needed help or to warn him away, they would kill Sey. "What are you going to do to Aereth?" Gray looked at her, a shadow in his eyes. "That's really none of your concern. He is not the one you're worried about in this situation right?" The man chuckled before snapping his fingers. Motioning for her to begin her job and a man to watch behind her. She typed the message through tears. She didn't want to bring Aereth into any trouble, but she didn't want to lead to Sey's demise. Gray's  plan was practically flawless. Aereth would be drawn here without a clue of what was going on, and they would jump him. He would instantly be trapped inside as only someone with the Acrobatics mod could scale up to the windows. He  wouldn't have the chance to even look for the lever that raised and lowered the doors. Instantly about ten people would be on him. Two of them were actually around his level if not higher than his. she finished her message allowed the man behind her to review it before sending it. "I've sent it, now will you let me go?" The man chuckled. He  retied the rope around her freed message hand and replied, "For me to earn the spot I want, I'm going to destroy the biggest problem this guild has yet to see. Aereth. Letting you go or live would be problematic. Your execution will take place just before Aereth's. I want to watch the fear in his eyes when he realizes that he is going to die. We gave him his chance, and second chances aren't given" The man turned and chuckled, snapping his fingers once more. A man behind her then shoved a gag in her mouth, tying it tightly to the pull. Her head was completely constrained along with the rest of her body. 

Quote

To: Aereth
From: Hidden

Subject: You've got some explaining to do
Body: Just yesterday, I was attacked by some guys from Laughing Coffin. I managed to escape after fighting for my life and they have yet to have found me again. They said they were looking for the Demon King and I had to tell him where he was. I've managed to hide in a abandoned Warehouse on the far edges of the Seventh Floor. Meet me there and we can talk about what the hell is going on. trouble is fine as long as you keep me the hell out of it. 

Here's the exact coordinates of where i am at. 
X: 6397 Y: 5078

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

And just as he had removed his gear, a message from no one other than Hidden. And after reading through it it was clear that it was too early for him to simply discard his armor for today. Though he decided not to use his usual armor for this. Too flashy. And if the Laughing Coffin really had something to do with this they would immediately notice him because of the unique armor and sword. "Nightingale it is then..." he mumbled before equipping the black in black armor.

Fast forward about 40 minutes and Aereth was at the spot specified in the message. The warehouse looked pretty rundown and emitted an uncomfortable aura. Pulling back the hood of his armor, Aereth stepped inside, eyes glowing from his searching skill. "Don't hide from when you are expecting somebody. Didn't anybody tell you that this was rude?" he asked as he managed to see a player in an unusual high spot close to the ceiling. But it was already too late...

[Hidden 1]

The girl sat in silence, eyes watering from the gag covering her mouth. Even though she had prevented bringing in Sey, she could have brought one of her allies to his unneeded death. From what she could see, nobody  stood around anymore. They were all in hiding, the rafters above were filled with about ten players. Two players were near the lever, prepared to trap Aereth. Her post was at the far end of the warehouse, in sight of the door, but her position was able to be glanced over easily if one wasn't looking thoroughly. 

When the time came, she seen a figure dressed in a dark cloak step into the doorway. His form was rather relaed and as he entered he laughed as he told her it was rude to hide when meeting somebody. His body tightened as he seemed to realize what was happening. Within the next second, a metal gate came crashing down, preventing any exit available to Aereth. Players dive bombed down to the floor, landing before attacking. The rookies in the Laughing Coffin squad landed wobbly and were the first to attack Aereth. Their attacks were rather slow and their cursors usually green. From what she had heard of the plan, Laughing Coffin believed that Aereth had two major weaknesses that could be exploited by throwing weaker men at him first. He got ahead of himself when not given a challenge. Secondly, he easily became flustered when focusing on too many things at once. The martial artist users that had taken her down were in wait for the right time. They planned to take Aereth out without losing any of the elites in their squad. 

(You may RP fighting weaker men. Yes, they should fight like trash compared to your character, providing very little challenge)

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

It all happened way too fast for him to react accordingly. The doors fell shut and players dropped all around him preparing to attack him. Only driven by his instincts and reflexes, the brunette grabbed the hilt of his katana and unleashed a devastating area of effect sword art. Four of the players got hit by the strong attack and were either smacked to the ground or left standing on even shakier feet than before. 

"Laughing Coffin... A trap..." he hissed as he noticed their appearances. The other thing he noticed was that his opponents were moving slow and uncoordinated. Very differently from what he knew the Laughing Coffin fighting style. 90% of the time they moved as a perfect unit taking out even much stronger opponents through perfect teamwork and coordination. These guys were only rookies. The could be his chance, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that it would be that easy. 

As soon as his post motion cooldown was gone, Aereth parried a strike from a player that didn't get hit by his AoE, before disengaging and ducking under another attack. His blade shot forward piercing the armor of that player effortlessly....

@Hidden feel free to overwhelm him in your next post.

[Hidden 1]

Hidden watched helplessly as Aereth was trapped like a mouse. The door closed behind him, preventing escape. He was immidiately then barraged with lower leveled players, which he made easy work with. While it didn't seem he had managed to kill any, he had brought many to low health and shaking knees. He maneuvered around many uncoordinated attacks and thrust his Katana into a player and pierced through his armor, making a rapid and steady drop of HP. As it happened, two figures dropped from rafters above, one right next to Aereth, the other a was back. 

The first of the Martiallis Pair landed right behind the player getting stabbed and slammed his fist into the rookie player, effectively killing him. Without a second of hesitation or thought, he would block an incoming blow with the metal covered back of his hand before bringing his other hand to slam into Aereth's chest sending him flying back. The brunette would then be stopped by a punch from the other member of the pair. With quick movement, Aereth's weapon would be knocked from his hand and taken away by one of the rookies. The first of the pair would then place a kick to the face of Aereth, making him slide across the floor. Aereth would then be hoisted up and quickly have his wrists and legs bound together. Afterwards, the chaos would begin to settle. Aereth would then be dragged over and tied up to a post, fifteen feet away from Hidden and straight across so they were facing eachother. a man would walk between them, a man Hidden knew as Gray, but Aereth wouldn't know. 

"And at long last we have successfully captured the Demon King" 

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

Aereth didn't even attempt to fight back once the second wave, the elite group, came clashing down on him. Though he could probably go toe to toe with them in single combat, he knew when he was outnumbered. His virtual body flew through the warehouse like a punching bag before they hoisted him up, restraining his movements with ropes. After he got tied to the pole he was able to see Hidden for the first time since his arrival. He had never ever seen the girl like this. Fear and horror were  clearly evident on her face and he felt sorry for the poor girl. It was also the first time he realized that behind her sharp tongue, all those sarcastic comments, she was still that. A helpless girl. The brunette sighed, raising his gaze to the top of the warehouse, ignoring the figure that stepped in between them.

Long moments passed before the brunette would speak again. "You... Didn't capture me." he answered finally locking eyes with the man. "She did." his gaze moved past him to Hidden. "All you did was capture and terrorize a girl until she would sell out an ally. You guys could never find me if I didn't let you find me. Let me guess... You told her to hurt somebody she likes and promised to let her go once she lured me in here?" he took a breath and chuckled shortly. "And still... Here we both are. So what do you want?"

@Hidden

[Hidden 1]

With horror, Hidden watched as Aereth lost the battle, unable to defeat the masses of the enemy players. He was tied to a post across from her, and she attempted a small smile, but it was lost to worry. Gray stepped forward, proclaiming that they had finally caught Aereth. 

Gray listened to Aereth's retorts, becoming a bit angered by the words. Within a  minute, he had managed to mock his entire plan which he also detailed out perfectly. "It appears my higher ups were correct about a few things with you. You have a tongue as sharp as your weapon and more intellectual then you seem. Either you've faced the same treatment  or have done it to others to get people to do as you will. Your words were exactly what has happened but here's a shocker to both of you. Neither of you are getting released!" He bellowed his laughter and looked to Aereth once more. "What do I want?  Nothing a pathetic worm like you could manage to give me. I am a man of power, and there is only one thing man like me want. More power. You see, when I took power within the Laughing Coffin, my first personal goal was to climb to the top. To do that, I will eliminate the biggest threats to the guild. By capturing you, my promotion is secured by now. With a strategist like myself at the helm of the guild, Aincrad will be mine to do with as I please. Money, women and henchman will be nothing but mere possessions to me!" 

He chuckled, grabbing Aereth's katana from the rookie and thrust it into Hidden's leg, causing her to wince as the minor pain entered  her leg. Leaving the weapon in her leg, he turned back to Aereth. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I will summon my soon to be equals  to deliver your death sentence. As a major threat that has caused much damage to our plans they want to say a few thins before we kill you. Since I have a personal grudge against her, I will kill her right before you die so you can watch her die while I watch the fear in your eyes grow. By tommorow, you will be dead and I will hold a seat of one of the highest positions of the Laughing Coffin!" 

Hidden looked down as  she realized that she would also be dying tommorow. A few months ago, she wouldn't have cared. She had nothing to live for. Now, she  had a loving fiancee at home who might just kill himself if she were to leave Aincrad. Struggling against her bonds to become free, she managed to shake the weapon lodged in her leg out, her health stoppin its steady dropped. She was in the yellow zone and a tear dropped down her face. She spit the gag out of her mouth and let out a sob to Aereth. "I... I'm sorry I got you caught up into this. The reason you and I are gonna die is because I let them break me down. The last two days have been hell, but they might've just killed  me instead of both of us if I had just stayed strong or sent you a warning!" tears flooded  down the side of her face. Her strength and steeled will had abandoned her. 

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

After Gray finished the first part of his little speech, the brunette PKKer quietly mouthed "Surprise." as his captor laughed like a stupid maniac. The greed for more power made this man blind. "Just one or two times. I usually don't count. But hey, you might wanna reconsider your perfect plan." Aereth replied calmly. "Girly over there has some powerful friends in some powerful guilds. Disposing her like that could lead to.... let's say "Tensions" between your guild and some others." He sighed. The Laughing Coffin hadn't been bothering him at all lately, so this sudden move was kinda surprising to him. Sure, he knew that he was a constant thorn in the side of that guild, but as he explained it to himself, it seemed like he and the LC came to an silent agreement some time ago. Back in the day when they still sent skilled assassins his way, they almost never made it back to the guild, tearing big gaps in their mid to high tier strike force. When this stopped, he simply assumed that they saw him as something like a initiation test for the rookies. If they managed to get caught by him they weren't worthy of the guild anyways. But if the rookies managed to go under his radar, that meant that only the best of the best would still remain in the guild. It seemed like Aereth turned from a constant pain in the a**, more into kind of a quality control for LC. But he didn't know for sure of course. 

"It could very well mean that guilds like the Celestial Ascendants, Knights of the Bloodoath, could be on your heels, hell I've even heard that they have connections to the Ultramarine Knight himself. Hmmmm." he paused, looking down on the man with a smile. "That's three unique skill wielders where one is the strongest player in the game... And that may or may not be a thing your 'superiors' would want, think about it, before you go and report to them like the good puppy you are." Only five minutes. That was all it took Aereth to completely understand how that man worked. He was having a major superiority complex, constantly trying to impress his higher ups, like a dog begging for attention. "If he hits me and storms off, my idea is correct..." he thought, still wearing a smug grin.

Once everybody was gone, meaning Hidden and Aereth were alone. The girl was broken. She was crying and begging him for forgiveness. "Hidden" His strong and strict voice cut through the air. "You need to down. We need to keep a cool head if we want to survive. Can you do that for me?" he asked, his voice steadily growing softer with every word he spoke. "Tell me how they got you, and how long you have been here."

@Hidden

[Hidden 1]

Hidden watched as Gray's face turned from overconfident to a analytical frown. Receiving information over the potiental threat in killing Hidden seemed to be a problem. The man would wave his hand to Aereth before leaving and reply, "Her death is not done by the Laughing Coffin, it will be done by me personally. Also, I doubt some stupid little girl that waves a dagger around and keeps to herself all of the time is going to have much influence on guilds like that. The only guild I have a problem with is yours"" With his final words, he left. 

After her bout of sobbing, Aereth spoke firmly and told her to pull herself together. She stopped crying, looking at her captured comarade with surprise. He then began to interrogate her, asking her questions. As the question was asked, she winced, ready to be hit or stabbed or something. It had been nonstop for the last couple of days. She would probably have died from the pain if it weren't for the games pain absorbers. It only prevented about 90% of pain though, making her being able to feel some of it. If 100% of pain absorbers were used, there would be no touch to the game. 

The girl jerked violently on her restraints, trying to free herself one more, just wanting the questions to stop. "I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she shrieked at random. Her breathing quickened. She ended up hyperventalating. She had never been through worse experiences than the last two days. She would take back her negligent father and life of being constantly haunted over there. a voice brought her back into the loop, a calm voice from Aereth saying, "We need to keep a calm head if we are going to survive. Can you do that for me?" She nodded her head, the tears stopping their constant flow. He then asked his first question. "Tell me how they got you and how long you've been here" 

She began to form the words in her head, carefully putting them out. "I-I-I was running from them a few days before they got me. They first attacked after I completed the Gemini  quest and I went on the run, thinking I could handle it without help. A few days after, I went into a local pub that was for thieves and scouts and information brokers hoping to find out if there were active search parties or anybody they knew that were looking so I could stay away. There were apparently Laughing Coffin people there trying to find out where I was there and they attacked me then and there. Hikoru stepped in and gave me shelter for the night, but when I left they somehow knew I ventured to the fifth floor and captured me as soon as i completed the Arabian Nights quest which is how I got my orange cursor. Two men who fought with martial arts attacked me together and made quick work of me. I think its been a week since I've been captured though. The date was June Twentieth when I left that morning to do Arabian Nights. They stopped me from any accessing of my HUD, so I don't know what date it is exactly. They only let me open my messenger to message you" 

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

"Yeah, great idea placing a target mark on yourself. Go ahead and f*ck yourself..." the brunette murmured sly grin still intact, as Gray left the room. 

Now it was time to focus on Hidden. Aereth didn't even flinch a bit as she shrieked at him. He carefully listened to her story, taking in every detail she decided to share with him. "Stupid." he thought. "You should messaged me or Dom immediately...." But it wasn't the time to lecture her. What was done was done and no scolding could reverse it. In the end pride and overconfidence was the thing that had cost her. "Two days." the brunette answered. "Today is the 22nd." After that followed some moments of silence before Aereth would attempt once again to calm her down. "Everything will be alright. I'm promising you to get you out of here. If they simply wanted to kill us, they would have done so as soon as they got me. But here we are." he paused again, thinking about his own words. They already got everything they needed from Hidden. So they could have gotten rid of her immediately. Which meant.... "They need something from me. And I will give it to them to buy your freedom. I know... As crazy as it sounds, the leaders of the guild aren't just lunatics. They are very intelligent and if I'm lucky I might manage to get you out of here."

@Hidden

[Hidden 1]

Aereth began to slowly tell her some of the details and flaws of what she was saying. As he said it was the Twenty-second she opened her eyes widely. "It's only been two days since my capture? I expected that it was much longer. I can only thank game mechanics for my protection. The things they would have done to me..." She sniffled and shook slightly at the mere thought of what would have happened had not for the ethics code. Aereth promised to get her out of there, but it wasn't coming off as reassuring. He informed her they wanted something from him which he would trade for her being let go. She shook her head. "Its no use. Gray actually has something against me from a while back. Even if I get let go, he'd keep coming back for me as long as he was certain he could get me without being in danger. Either way, even if they actually aren't here to kill us, I don't think they would let us go. They could beat me away until im just a crazy killing machine, forced to kill whomever they desire dead" 

She looked to the window a the top of the building. It was the only entrance and exit, but only reachable for a player with acrobatics. "Hopeless" she said quietly, damning herself as dead. A tear dripped down the side of her face. 

---------
Time Skip

Nicholas Blackshade huffed as he burst open the shop door. This was Domarus's shop. As he looked forward, at the counter, probably surprised was the servant of Domarus. As his eyes met Keres's he bowed to her. "My name is Nicholas Blackshade, personal servant to Hidden. I must speak with Domarus immidiately and directly" He would remained bowed, and whether she would take him to Domarus or Domarus would come out from hearing his name, he would tell the man, "Hidden has been captured by members of the Laughing coffin. Please help me to get her back! Im sorry for causing trouble, but its urgent. If you don't she will probably die!" 

@Domarus
@Hikoru - You have to RP Rex to get involved!