[F22 - PP] <<What We Fight For>> Shield & Calypso - The Sound of Nothing

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

Floor 22
<<What We Fight For>>

Recommended Level: Any
Non-Repeatable unless taken as a secondary party member. Secondary party members to not receive quest rewards
 Party Limit: 2
Credit: @Hestia

Rewards:

•  A framed picture containing the player(s) most missed memory from the real world.

Requirements:

• At least 1 page of RP content (20+ Posts)
• Must roll LD: 17+ to find the memory Chamber

Summary:

Within the Forest of Memories, there have been hazy anomalies all throughout the forest that provide a feeling of familiarity. If the player would travel deeper into the forest, they will discover a set of stairs that lead down into the ground. The stairs eventually level out into a simple stone chamber, the doors creaking as they close behind them. The walls of the chamber soon reveal to be lined with reflective mirrors that show the player what they miss most from the real world. If the person has a strong connection with this desire, a scene pertaining to that memory will show itself upon the mirror they look into. After that the player will then receive a picture of the thing they miss most about the real world.

The twenty second floor had been quiet for a long time. With the front lines having pushed beyond into the next floor and with the travel boom waning, the fields were no longer dotted with front liners gathering materials and searching for quests. The real fights were to be had higher up, and the safest farming spots were lower. This often found Shield by himself, searching for something of note. It felt like they were missing something, but he couldn't figure out where it might be. He slumped down on a hill beside one of the lesser lakes, leaning back on his hands. Blades of grass tickled his fingers, disturbed by a lazy breeze.

"This is not the most exciting of trips," he sighed, feeling for a few blades and pinching them between his thumb and forefinger. He rolled the blades between his fingers and with a sigh, he leaned forward once more. "If I'm going to be up here, I might as well have some company." His fingers released the blades of grass and traced an invisible line downward through the air, sounding the soft chime and summoning his main menu. Navigating through his contacts, he scrolled through them. Towards the top was a name that had been gathering a surprising amount of dust. "Calypso?" He chewed a little on the inside of his cheek. It was not that he did not want to see her. He actually missed spending time guiding her through quests. However, her attitude in recent months had been cold, and at times even spiky. At first, he thought he had imagined it, but soon it became taxing to be around her. His finger continued to scroll, but paused before her name left the screen. He was not happy with the way things were with them, but if they didn't spend time together, it was very likely they would not get past whatever was wrong, and things would only become more distant. Gritting his teeth, he opened a dialogue window.

Quote

"Hey,

It's been a little bit. I'm up on the twenty second floor doing some exploring. I wouldn't mind some company. I'll send my coordinates in case you want to join.

-Shield"

@Calypso

Edited July 18, 2018 by Shield

[Calypso 0]

Kicking her feet as they dangled in the open air below her, Callie sat atop one of the cliffsides that lined the edge of the plains on the seventh floor. She found herself in the mountainous area more than anywhere else as of late, often using the excuse that the level of Aincrad was Danesh's favorite, and therefore she was there for him more than herself. Whether or not that was completely true, she hadn't given much thought to. She had been up on her perch long enough for the anxiety she had felt around the tall ledge to fade away, and she instead focused on the impressive view that stood before her. "Still not used to how thin the air gets, but it's still pretty nice. Right?" One would think she was talking to herself before her eyes dropped to the familiar that was curled up on her lap. She smiled softly, when the small creature flicked its long tail similar to a cat's in a lazy response.

Her tranquility was interrupted by the chiming sound that rang in her ears, alerting her of a new message. "Hm?" She mumbled, wondering about its contents while her hand worked to reveal the mystery. Callie frowned. Not because of any bad news, and not because she was not fond of the message's sender, but rather because she noticed something in Shield's invitation. His open-ended phrasing was typical, but it seemed even moreso this time. His messages would usually indicate that she had no obligation to attend, but this time it was almost as if he expected her not to. Or, at least, he truly didn't expect her to show up. In a moment of reflection, she could hardly blame him. Things had been awkward between them, to say the least. "Ever since..." She had to stop and think about it. Ever since she saw him acting terribly strangely at that masquerade ball. Since that day, she'd indirectly prodded into his life for reasons she couldn't produce an answer to. Going so far as to show up to a wedding she wasn't invited to, only to leave before the ceremony's completion. Was she mad at Shield? No, not if she was the one giving that answer. But she was unmistakably irritated, or maybe just frustrated, with something.

Callie sighed. It wasn't fair to avoid him, and that's not what she wanted to do anyway. Scooping Danesh up from her lap and guiding the sleepy familiar onto her shoulders, she swung her legs back atop the cliffside to pick herself up. Opting to follow the coordinates offered to her without the forewarning of a return message, she carried herself back to Nimbus. From there, to the city of Coral, to the grassy meadows sprinkled with trees, flowers, and other greenery on the iconically peaceful floor. She swallowed and lightly cleared her throat when she spotted Shield's profile relaxing out in the open, more to prepare herself for speech than any kind of attempt to draw his attention. That came when she walked herself over, folding her legs to take a seat beside him and look out over the top of a sparkling lake far off in the distance. "Hey again," She started, the greeting flimsy without any planned follow-up. "Taking the day off, or something?"

[Shield 0]

Shield gave a wry little smirk. "Have you ever known me to take a day off?" It was not a cold response. Despite the oddities of their previous encounters, he had no reason to bear her any ill will. "It's good to see you," he added, not actually turning to look. Lilith, on the other hand, poked her scaly viper head out of his sleeve and flicked her tongue in the direction of Danesh. She slid out of her refuge and invited herself up onto Callie's arm, coiling the folds of her body over like an accordion along the length of her forearm to try to investigate her friend. "Lilith, no, that's-" he sighed, reaching out to retrieve the eager bush viper, only to hesitate as his hand came closer to Callie's arm. She had not seemed talkative at all at any time in recent weeks. He doubted he would be particularly welcome invading her personal space. Instead, he turned his palm face up. "You can give her here if you like. She just missed Danesh."

As he reached out, he faced her properly. She did not seem physically closed off, but then again, closing herself off intentionally seemed like something that she would consider petty and beneath her. He had seen her return rudeness with cold words of her own back when they had first met, rebuffing and later challenging a player far higher than her own level. Still, Shield was not actively provoking her or belittling her, so he doubted that she would act as such now regardless of whether or not she actually wanted to be there. Shield knew there was practicality to their adventures, and she definitely had a practical side to her. He contented himself with the thought that she at least found enough value in that to show up this time around, and decided not to worry about the rest.

"How have you been? It's been a little bit since we saw each other." It was hard to find ways to say that. In the wrong light, it could very much be accusatory. Still, Shield had always excelled at keeping his expressions under control, so hopefully keeping impassive would keep the words from being misconstrued as such. The wind picked up for a moment and died back down, overall having very little effect on Shield's typically half-tidy hair. If nothing else, it was at least very pleasant outside. However, Shield hoped to god that the conversation would not turn to the weather.

[Calypso 0]

It didn't seem to be out of the ordinary for Lilith to do what she wanted, especially when it came to inviting herself over for a play date. It was always rather heartwarming to see how readily the little viper always climbed onto Danesh's back, but the feeling of her scaled body coiling around her arm was a terribly unfamiliar one. Callie tensed up until she realized the source of the odd sensation, her head turning just in time to see Shield offer her a hand to take the familiar back if she wished. She couldn't help a small smile when Lilith reached her goal, slinking and settling on top of her companion. Callie's golden eyes moving to the side, she could spot her thin tongue flicking at the air past the grey hairs of the small dragon's mane.

"Ah, she's fine." Callie responded with a breathy chuckle, the direction of her words shifting more towards the viper herself. "Sorry to keep you two apart, then." Her lips pursed into a wry smile. Their friendship was rather cute, but the fact that the programmed pets even had the capability to do more than brainlessly follow their owners and play their respective roles in combat still managed to surprise her.

"Hm, not bad." Callie turned her head back forward, eyes easily settling on the large lake in the distance that seemed to sparkle with the sun's rays that bounced off of its surface. In the short seconds that followed and left her answer falling flat, questions began to surface in her head. Perhaps she was being too impatient, but there hadn't yet been mention of a quest, a treasure hunt, or any other sort of objective for this meeting of theirs. This was different, just exchanging pleasantries in peaceful nature, and she couldn't decide if that was good or bad. "I think this is the nicest floor I've seen so far, by most people's standards." She threw out, looking out over the woods on the other side of the lake, the patches of color where wildflowers grew several feet from where they sat, and the cozy-looking buildings of Coral that she had passed by after arriving in the main settlement. "Is it always like this, or did you just catch it at a good time?" The corner of her mouth picked up, and she silently wondered if the awkward feeling in the air felt as thick for Shield as she nudged the conversation along.

[Shield 0]

It wasn't specifically a mention of the weather. Shield internally breathed a silent sigh of relief. Things had been strange enough between them without a literal 'Nice weather we're having' moment. He decided it was best not to drop the metaphorical ball she had handed him and took it. "It's pretty serene up here," he said, though there was no real sense of bliss in his tone as might normally accompany such a statement. "Even the mobs on this floor are more forgiving towards lower leveled players. It's like this whole floor of Aincrad was designed to be a vacation spot with very little else. It's not an impossible concept, I suppose, but still..." he trailed off. He was not entirely sure where to take that statement. It was not a thought he had completely refined himself. Something just seemed off. Finally, he bookended the subject with the most concrete thought he had managed to attach to it. "Something feels off," adding in, "we're all missing something up here."

It had not escaped him how reaching out towards her had made her react. His hand had already been retracted, and he turned now to take his gaze off of her, hoping it may relieve some of the discomfort for her. "In any case, I'm glad you're doing well," he blundered on. He was relieved for the company, but now that she was here, the actuality of just how uncertain things had been between them was much more present. The problems that he had faced so far with women and how to relate to them had mostly consisted of dealing with his ex wife, who was always very explicit about how she felt and what was going on in her head, even to a fault, and his daughters, who had back then only presented him with the simplest of issues. Scraped knees and owies had very little nuance regarding how to handle them. Being who he was, Shield only knew how to handle the subject one way, and it was not in a subtle way. "Because I was worried something was wrong. You haven't seemed yourself for a long time, so I didn't know what that meant."

'What that meant?'

Even he did not know why that came out the way it did. Still, hopefully the bull-headed approach would at least give him something to go off of, even if he later needed to back-pedal to make up for being so direct. Meanwhile, over Callie's shoulder, Lilith had taken to resting her head on Danesh's forehead, looking more like a headdress or decorative garment but for the still flickering tongue.

'At least one of us knows how to make friends like a normal person. Then again, the fact that I'm the one that's the actual human, I'm not sure that's actually any comfort.'

[Calypso 0]

Callie felt a pang of something she couldn't quite label at Shield's mention of how she had been acting. Mostly guilt, as the feeling was nostalgic of a child who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. She must have put more effort into avoiding the man entirely than disguising her unease during their few interactions since Valentine's. She had a few options in how to respond, but most were easily identifiable as unwise at best. He knew something was bothering her, so there was no point in denying or playing it off, and after how much they had seen of each other up to this point it would just be rude to shut him out entirely. It would have been easy to claim that whatever was bothering her was personal, or she'd rather not talk about it, but those deflections were only half-true.

Her lips pressed together slightly as she fought the next battle of finding where to begin. The thought of broaching a topic that couldn't be classified as small talk, and digging past the surface of either of their lives, was beyond weird. Not necessarily bad, but she was suddenly concerned with his reactions, his thoughts, and his feelings that she did not suspect would be easy to gauge. But, maybe the subject matter would allow her more tells than he might otherwise give. "Ahh, really?" She started, still feigning a shred of ignorance while her far hand pulled away from her lap to slide over the back of her neck. "I guess I haven't gotten out much since that masquerade ball." That was a lie. She had been out and about plenty since then, though her escapades of questing and grinding levels had naturally taken a backseat to peaceful exploration while her adventuring partner had been kept at arm's reach. Still, it was a lie that got them on the topic of the first event that she could pinpoint as a source of her distress. "You and...Beat, was it?" Of course she knew his username. "Did you have a good time? I hadn't been to an event like that before, so it was a little intimidating."

[Shield 0]

"What are you doing, Callie?" he said, no longer stuck in his head but very much in the moment. Everything about her body language was exactly what he had most been afraid of encountering. He stood up and dusted himself off. She was not being sincere, and if there was still that distance between him and someone he considered a friend - even while in person - then Shield was not going to keep playing games. He was going to rip off band-aids until he found whatever wound it was Callie was nursing. "I haven't seen you this guarded since that asshole from when we first met, and I'm pretty sure I'm one of your closer contacts here in this garbage heap of a game. What the hell is going on? Did I do something? Is someone hurting you? What?" He crossed his arms over his chest. It was like standing over his oldest as she sulked beside a broken vase. Still, a child would only see an angry parent. There simply wasn't enough maturity to see beyond the emotional reactions of the situation. Shield had to hope that Callie would know better.

Lilith raised her head. She had not seen Shield react so sternly in some time now, and as if she were somehow bound to him, she was no longer relaxed and fluid in Danesh's coat. She was coiled, almost in fight or flight mode. He waved his hand at Lilith to signify that there was no danger. She relaxed, but only slightly, her curious tongue now tasting at the electricity in the air around the players. He had thrown Callie a curve ball, and intentionally so. If he allowed her an escape, it might be too easy to take it. His face was not impassive. For once, he was very intentional to let his emotions bleed through. His mouth was twisted in slight irritation, but his dark eyes remained calm and steady. There was legitimate concern in them despite his frustration. If anything, it was because of that concern that he was frustrated in the first place. "I thought we were better friends than this."

[Calypso 0]

The weird, mixed feeling of guilt came back, hitting her even harder this time. He was calling her out, her dancing around the topic that he bothered to bring up in such a straight-forward manner clearly rubbing him the wrong way. And he was right to be insulted, especially in the way that he worded his response. But at this point she wasn't sure what frustrated her the most--the fact that she still didn't really know how to confront whatever it was that bothered her, or that it had sparked the closest thing to an argument they had encountered thus far.

Regardless of the whole ordeal blowing up in their faces being more her fault than his in this moment, Callie would not sit idly while she was pushed into a corner. Picking herself up from their tranquil spot in the expansive meadows, her chest naturally puffed a bit as she stood to face Shield proper. The nearly half-foot difference in their height still left her far from intimidating, but she no longer felt quite so small and vulnerable under his gaze. She frowned as he brought their friendship into question, something that she should have caught herself thinking about more often lately. A flare of temper caused a lapse in judgement, and she defensively blurted out the first thing that came to mind at his challenge. "And I thought friends would be invited to each other's weddings!"

She didn't exactly regret the accusation, as it was at least one source of hurt and confusion between them. But she knew her delivery was childish, and reacting like that wasn't going to do much more than drag the problems through the dirt. Callie paused, the recognition clear on her face before her shoulders and gaze fell slightly with the release of a small sigh. "Sorry, that..." The apology came out halfway before she stopped and cleared her throat. "Alright, yes, something is bothering me." She admitted, looking up at Shield again. "But hopefully you can understand if I say the subject wasn't exactly easy to bring up." She was still speaking defensively, but far less hostile. It might have been a little cheap to hide behind the lack of a wedding invitation as the sole cause of her discomfort towards him, but it wasn't untrue as something that bothered her, and if she was lucky it would give her the opportunity to chip away at the status of the relationship in question.

[Shield 0]

"The wedding?" Shield blustered, not angrily, but out of surprise. The subject was so far out of left field that Callie might as well have just thrown a concealed handkerchief in his face instead of answering and it would have warranted a nearly identical reaction. "What does... That wedding..." He stammered for a moment, leaning his head slightly forward and squinting incredulously. "Did... have you been mad about that this whole time?" He did not have the wherewithal to track the timelines to recall if that was really the moment things became strange between them, but at a surface glance, it checked out.

"You... thought that wedding was real?" Shield hung his head and sighed, placing a hand on either of Calypso's shoulders. He sat, half-forcing her to take a seat in front of him. He crossed his legs and leaned on one knee, his posture now slouched out of relief. "Callie, the wedding mechanic in this game is a goldmine of buffs and benefits. I mean, did you look at the combat effects of eating that wedding food? Why else do you think we only invited players who would be fighting in the upcoming boss raid? Even this-" he said, reaching across himself to yank his ring off, lifting the heavy serpentine wedding band in front of her eyes, its black opal stone glinting with flecks of green and red in the daylight, "-this is a combat bonus! One of the few things that I could have added to my build to boost my defenses. Hell, even the Valentine's ball - which was a nightmare, by the way," he added, hanging his head in his hands, refusing to look up as he pressed his fingers to his eyelids to shut out the residual humiliation, "Even that was to snag some items that would have given me some extra hit points."

He took a moment to recover before opening his eyes again and slipping his ring back on. "I know we tried to pass the relationship off as real to win that couples' contest, but I didn't think you took it so seriously. No, I wouldn't get married for real without making sure you were involved." Lilith's tongue flicked out of her mouth and she settled her snout back down onto Danesh's forehead.

Edited September 12, 2018 by Shield

[Calypso 0]

Callie didn't know how to process his reaction for a moment. She cheeks grew rather warm, a faint scarlet color appearing on her skin after he asked if that of all things was the cause for her distress. The most truthful answer would have been something like, 'yes and no', but she had no bravado left to try and defend her thought process. Instead, Shield thankfully took the lead while she stared back with a kind of dumbfounded expression. She followed his physical guidance without fuss, her legs and feet tucking beneath the rest of her until she was sitting on her ankles. She remained quiet throughout his explanation, denouncing both his participation in the 'Best Couple' contest and his betrothal to the overly-enthusiastic Beat with a line of reasoning that made absolute sense. For a moment, she was left to wonder why such an explanation had never occurred to her as a possibility before Shield had to sit her down and spell it out for her.

By the end of his reassurance, she was lucky that her face already displayed a fair amount of embarrassment. It might have been the way he worded that last sentiment, but something about it left her positively flustered. If her cheeks weren't already tinted pink, they would have flushed from the simulation of blood flow. Her hand picked up from where it had settled atop the other in her lap, and Callie loosely wrapped her fingers around her mouth in a poor attempt to bury her feelings. She thought about forcing out a thought, tacking something on to confirm that everything he said was true. But a "Wait, really?" or an "I had no idea" would just make her feel more silly. At this point she was thankful that he had confirmed his and Beat's romantic relationship was just a farce without her having to bring it into question more directly. But that still didn't explain one last thing: why in the world was she so concerned with it in the first place? 'It couldn't be something like... No. Obviously not.'

As the color began to gradually drain from her face, Callie's eyes traveled back up to meet Shield's again. A short breeze picked up, tousling her long bangs and prompting her hand to move from her face to draw the locks of hair behind her ear. A couple of seconds passed, and it was right about then that she realized the rate of her virtual heart beating inside of her chest. She cleared her throat, and finally spoke up. "Right, well, sorry for the misunderstanding. Ohh man, I feel so stupid now." The last bit escaped her with a breathy exhale while she looked away, and the corner of her mouth turned up into a wry smile at her own foolishness. She hoped that this was the part where they laughed it off and things would just go back to normal.

[Shield 0]

The once palpable tension in the air changed as Shield's explanation settled in. The fire had left Calypso, though it took a while for the color to drain from her face. Shield didn't realize how personally she must take certain things. In particular, he had underestimated her reaction to things that, to him at least, had seemed so trivial. It ythat she had a sentimental side that he had not anticipated in her. Then again, from how she reacted to confrontation and the flares that occasionally came along with it, Shield wondered whether she was fully aware of that side either.

As he thought about this, he glanced over at their familiars. Danesh's head, though his eyes were still glazed, was erect and following the conversation very closely. However, with a new calm settling in, he rested his furry chin back down on Callie's shoulder. On his forehead, Lilith's head rested like a crown jewel, her slitted eyes still looking at Shield's own dark ones. The look she gave him was not an unfamiliar one. It brought to mind a certain disagreement he had had with Lilith up on the twenty first floor by a certain subterranean lake. Shield looked away, his own tan face momentarily a slightly darker hue.

'Smart-ass snake.'

With that, Shield took back to his feet, dusting off for what he hoped to be the last time. "Well, there's a lot of floor to explore," he said, offering Callie a hand up. "Should we get moving?"

Edited September 13, 2018 by Shield

[Calypso 0]

Relief washed over her, and the dispersal of any residual tension caused her to let out a small chuckle. She accepted his offer of help, pulling herself up to plant her feet flat on the ground once again. The weird, inexplicable fluttering feeling in her chest died down, and when her hand fell back to her side she silently worked to dispel any remaining delusions of jealousy. 'Of course not, that's completely unrealistic.' She thought, grasping at whichever words sounded definitive enough to put the whole matter behind her.

"Let's." She affirmed at his suggestion, taking a quick look at their surroundings. After picking a direction, the two eventually made their way into a sparsely-populated forest that was much less troublesome to navigate than many another she had traversed in the past. There was plenty of space between the heavy bark of each tall tree, and the ground beneath them was not covered with as many loose leaves, debris, and gnarled roots as she would have expected. While there was generous space overhead for the sun's rays to peek through the lush, full branches towering above, the light still noticeably dimmed from the sunshine that had caused the lake's surface to sparkle and glisten.

At her shoulder, Danesh's mouth stretched open in a wide yawn, the tiny, razor-sharp canines that lined his jaw fully visible for a moment. He lifted his head again while beady onyx eyes blinked, and on her other side his long tail flicked gently against her arm to express his interest. "Go on then. She smiled, shrugging one shoulder to urge the familiar to his stout feet. He gave a light shake, clearly trying not to disturb his partner after a short stretch. He gave a small hop off of his perch, and his long body naturally snaked through the air between the two players. Callie kept herself alert enough, glancing over the terrain as they walked. Somehow, she began to feel something she couldn't quite place. Not unease, and not quite nostalgia. She paused for just a second when she thought she saw movement from the corner of her eye, but their pace was slow enough that her momentary falter was hardly noticeable. "Is it just me, or does this place manage to strike strangely between peaceful and creepy?"

[Shield 0]

Shield glanced around, one eyebrow raised as he investigated the feeling that Calypso reported "Hmm," he thought aloud, trying to place whatever feeling it was she had mentioned. "I don't know exactly. Nothing seems out of place to me. Then again, I practically lived in the empty mines of the floor below for months on end." He gave the forest one more scan before giving up for the moment. "It may be I'm the wrong person to ask." As they walked though, something more obtrusive began manifesting in the back of Shield's mind. He had not yet been this way, and yet he felt as if he had.

Out of the corner of his eye, there came a fluttering of wings as a nearby crow took to the air, braying out into the still air of the woods. Shield whipped his head in the direction of the movement, and when he registered the dark form of the bird, he felt something heavy in his chest, as if he had expected to see someone he knew and had been disappointed. "Okay," he said slowly. "It might just be because you said something, but I feel it now. It feels..." he tried to find a word other than 'familiar.' It was overused and didn't quite capture how concrete the feeling was. He shook his head lightly, unable to come up with the right word. It did not feel like he had been somewhere similar. It felt like he had been right there, and not just once. Several times.

'But I haven't.'

Edited September 13, 2018 by Shield

[Calypso 0]

"Whoops." Callie's voice was quiet, but carried clearly with her response, as if she really had implanted the odd feeling by accident. She knew for a fact that she'd never been on this floor before today, but for one reason or another she couldn't wave off Aincrad's forest areas as all looking the same. Yet, she had never walked through such terrain in the real world, so wasn't that the only explanation left? Her head was going to start hurting at this rate.

Another flicker of motion that caused her head to turn, but where she could have sworn she caught a glimpse of a figure, there was nothing. Callie frowned, but perked up a moment later as an idea sprung to mind. "Oh, have you ever seen anything like, a ghost-type monster? Maybe it's some kind of, spirited forest." She took a blind guess, using the conversation partly as a means to keep herself from getting too jumpy in the silence.

"Caroline?"

The feminine voice was small, scarcely louder than a whisper. She stopped, turning around fully this time to look behind her and run her eyes across the foliage that they had passed by. No rustling bushes, nobody peeking out behind a tree trunk. But still, her brows narrowed in confusion. A quick glance over her shoulder back to Shield and his expression told her that he must not have heard what she was convinced she had. Her lips pressed together and she went back to walking beside him. It was a voice she knew, but couldn't bring herself to place. And with her traveling companion at her side being the only one who knew and called her by her befitting, real-world nickname, she started to wonder if the game was just trying to play tricks on them now. Somehow. "Speaking of... Do you believe in them? Ghosts, the supernatural?"

[Shield 0]

Quote

ID# 105867 results: Loot: 10+8=18 - Memory Chamber found!

"There have been instances here and there," he said, looking back on his experiences thus far in Aincrad. "I for sure fought a banshee once, I've fought liches as well, though they have physical forms for sure. I believe I've encountered specters and such in labyrinths..." he counted things off in his gauntleted fingers. He came up short, looking at the ground where wisps of mist began to lick around his ankles. He glanced over to Calypso, a look of legitimate confusion on his face. Not only had the forest air been completely clear a moment ago, but the mist was not coming from ahead. The earring on his right side erupted in silent blinding light, shedding out golden incandescence in the slight dimness of the forest. He whipped around. There, not ten feet behind them, gaping up out of the silent ground, was a stone staircase leading down into the forest floor. The mist crept silently up the stairs and crawled along the ground, spreading out from the opening slowly and stealthily.

"How did-" Shield did not even know how to begin to put a question to his confusion. They had stood on that very spot mere moments ago, and yet there was the opening down into the earth. There had been no mist either, and yet here the ground was blanketed in the thin fog that stretched out from the forest's new navel. Shield felt his hackles rise, and he instinctively put out his shield arm a little ways even though there was no shield equipped. "I take it back," he said to her just below his normal speaking voice. "There is no longer anything normal about this situation, and logic has failed us entirely, so I do not doubt your instincts one little bit."

This whole situation made him uncomfortable, not least of which how the feeling of familiarity seemed to be seeping into his ankles through the mist that was pooling around them, which almost certainly meant that the source was down below, where the mist came from. However, discomfort aside, this was the very reason that he had come. "You don't have to follow me, but I'm going down there."

Edited September 14, 2018 by Shield

[Calypso 0]

It was creepy, but not quite threatening. "A dungeon or something?" She wondered aloud, not expecting an answer as she stared at the same doorway that must have sprung up from the floor they'd just walked over. She had been hoping for something a little more peaceful. Sightseeing that didn't involved dungeon delving or spelunking. The serenity of the lakes and meadows visible outside of Coral were promising, but it seemed the game always had at least one way to pull the rug out from under them. She nodded. "Might as well check it out." Callie wasn't afraid of much lately. Rather, she hadn't gotten herself into any situations she considered dangerous since their last encounter with that pack of goblins on the fourth floor. And that was primarily due to her own bad reaction to a simple trap mechanic. They drew closer, and her palm pressed hesitantly against the stone surface when she didn't find any sort of handle to grab onto.

Giving a firm push, the door flew open to reveal a clean-cut staircase that descended into the ground beneath. Callie cocked a brow, exchanged another glance with Shield, and took cautious steps forward. They reached the bottom of where the floor evened out into a smooth marble. A wide corridor didn't quite allow them enough room to walk comfortably beside each other, and neatly-placed lights hung from the stone ceiling, the soft white color bouncing off of the thin layer of fog that still coated the ground and licked at their ankles. On either side of them, seamless mirrors stood to serve as the corridor's walls. They stretched far, and through a squint Callie couldn't make out what might lay at the other end. She felt herself swallow, pushing her legs to carry her farther forward in the name of exploration.

She kept glancing to the side. Looking at the reflection of herself that matched her pace in the mirror. It wasn't long before a realization made her stop, and she turned to face the wall properly. What was she wearing? A look of confusion took over her as she looked down at the white-and-lilac top and solid black shorts decorating her avatar. Her chin picked back up to 'other' her, dressed more professionally in an outfit that she vaguely recognized as one she would wear to work years ago. At her side, someone else approached her, causing Callie to whip her head to the side where she expected to see an owner to the reflection. Yet only Shield stood beside her in the corridor, and so she turned her attention back to the mirror. It was a woman she recognized--a younger girl with a blonde bob. An old coworker she only ever knew on a surface level. The girl smiled at her mirror-self, and was met with a wave. She brought her hands up in front of her, moving them without confidence as she signed a greeting. Caroline's smile grew a bit wider, and she turned, now engaged in a conversation that quickly fell apart. The girl look flustered, and her mouth moved in an apology. Caroline simply waved it off, leaning over a nearby table to write something down.

All the while, Callie watched in an eerie silence. She was just about to ask Shield if he was seeing the same thing as she, but a different voice had her head quickly turn the other way. "Callie!?" This time, she could place the voice without a doubt. "Cameron?!" She called back, her eyes straining against the distance. Acting on instinct, she moved forward again, her pace quickly picking up into a run.

[Shield 0]

Shield looked around as Callie's head whipped toward him, trying to see what it was that had drawn her focus. It was only then that he really stopped to look at the reflection. "So these don't show us our actual reflectio-" he watched Mirror-Callie's hands and furrowed his brow slightly. "I didn't know you knew sign. Hmm." He did not push the matter, rather watching the uncoordinated responses of the coworker. At first glance, he had wondered whether she had learned it to blend in with the coworker, but it soon became clear that not only was the short-haired woman much less proficient with sign language than Callie, but she eventually fell back on verbal speech that Callie seemingly understood.

"Callie... what-" he couldn't make sense of the image. "Is this something that actually happened? Are y-" This time, Shield noticed what Calypso noticed. A voice called out to her down the passage. His head whipped in the same direction, but as she took off running, he felt panic rise in his chest. He grabbed for her hand, but his fingers closed on virtual air. Growling a curse under his breath, he took off after Calypso. "Dammit, I don't care what you thought you just heard," he puffed, pulling in fresh air into his lungs as he tried to scold on the run, "but running off without me has 'bad idea' written all over it! I feel like we've already learned this lesson about being cautious in dungeons!" His heavy feet pounded down the hall after Calypso. Out of the corners of his eyes, he caught sight of other flashes of sea foam hair in the mirrors on either side, many of the images appearing younger, or even much younger than the form running just ahead of him.

[Calypso 0]

The farther they moved down the stretching pathway, the further into Callie's past they dived. She almost wanted to stop to get a better look--as she moved, she caught glimpses of her younger self. Her mortified expression when she shorted out her gaming keyboard with spilt coffee. A look of boredom when she would stay late at her first job, flipping through a large stack of paperwork. Her teenage self, failing to fight back tears as she bitterly worked to remove all traces of her first heartbreak from her bedroom. Even younger, clasping tightly onto the hands of her mother on one side and a smaller boy on the other as the trio walked together down a bustling city street.

"Sorry! But this is something I'm not taking a chance on." She called over her shoulder. She was aware that she was being reckless, but the pull of her brother's voice was too strong to stop her. The odds were slim, but it wasn't impossible. She slowed and came to a stop where her path finally ended. The corridor opened up into a massive circular room, lined with the same seamless mirrors. These ones already had a scene playing out--one that caused Callie to tense up as she reached the middle of the chamber.

"Callie!" The same voice echoed her name. A young man with untidy platinum-blonde hair, perhaps a college student by his looks, rushed to the side of a hospital bed. In it, Callie sat curled up and sniffling, hugging her knees and only picking her head up to face her brother once his hand gingerly made contact with her shoulder. The hair that she messily pushed behind her ear fell past her shoulders at this point in her life, but rested noticeably shorter than the length of her avatar's. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but after a moment the only sound to escape her was a choked breath, and she bit down on her lip as her sobs continued. Cameron was quick to place an arm around her and pull her into his chest, doing his best to comfort her with gentle strokes against the side of her head. "They told me what happened. Oh God, I'm so sorry."

"It'll be okay. You'll be okay." With the memory drawing to a close in Cameron's soft words, Callie stood staring with her palm pressed against her mouth. She was clearing holding back tears, but her efforts didn't hold up for long. As she began to cry, the large room played out a handful of other memories, all more recent and more brief than the last, and each one featuring her and her younger brother. She had forgotten just how much their roles had reversed since then. Through her blurry vision, she watched him grin and lead her into a bright cafe that contrasted with her gloomy expression. He raised an eyebrow in exaggerated confusion as he signed something to her, and she smiled softly and corrected his mistake.

It took her a while to realize again that she wasn't alone. With a sniffle, she hurriedly tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. "What--" She choked out. "What kind of place is this? That's, a pretty dirty trick." She put whatever words came to mind out into the air. Her jaw clenched, and frustration bled in. It wasn't just a painful memory. For the most part, she had moved past it. She wouldn't have been ashamed to admit she'd lost her voice in the real world, to most people. But to Shield, there had been something inside of her that wanted to keep it a secret from him. "If--if you were going to find out, I didn't want it to be like this." She said, her voice small and defeated.

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

***NSFW - Gratuitous hand-holding****

Shield stood behind Calypso as the scene played out, remaining stoic and unmoving even after the scenes faded away. Even as the looking glass cleared, the hospital scene began playing anew, apparently looping endlessly on the mirrors, encapsulating moments from the real world that still had a profound impact on Calypso, even deep inside the prison of the nerve gear. Shield reached out and took hold of Callie's hand, tugging gently and steering her away from the mirror, taking her back to the entrance of the chamber. Even over their shoulders, there were still echoes of her brother's voice. It was a little uncomfortable holding onto her hand at first, but as he thought back to crosswalks on first days of school and walks in the park, suddenly it was not an invasive gesture. It was merely guiding someone who needed guiding. He gave her hand a steady squeeze.

As they stood outside of the chamber, Shield kept his hold of her. It seemed cruel to release now. "Why does it matter how I found out?" he finally asked, his voice calm and steady, as though kneeling over a fresh cut with the stinging antiseptic. "For that matter, why does it even matter that I know? So you can't speak in the real world. Or at least not out loud. So what? All this means is that I got the advantage of getting to know you first without the extra challenge of communication barriers." There were still intruding noises from the memory chamber nearby, but getting away from it would mean journeying all the way back to the entrance where the heavy stone doors had sealed tightly behind them. There was nowhere to go but forward. "Look, just... forget about your damn pride, alright? I think I've seen that put you in danger more than anything else has since I've met you. It's alright. This doesn't change anything."

Shield didn't quite feel like he was parenting her. He felt like he was treating her as an equal. Still, the situation had a certain uncomfortable serenity to it that parenting sometimes did. It was the feeling of being the strong one in a situation and letting someone lean for support. Because of her pride, he did not feel like she would accept other gestures of comfort besides the contact with his hand. He did not know if he would feel comfortable offering them even if she did. There was still that barrier. He wondered whether anyone had been on the other side of it until he remembered the scenes he had just watched. Aside from the sounds of her brother's voice behind them and the sounds of their own breathing, the air was still.

Edited September 14, 2018 by Shield

[Calypso 0]

She hadn't expected Shield's guidance away from the mirrors in the form of his hand taking hold of hers, but it was not unwelcome. He gave her an anchor, something to hold onto that kept her from losing herself down this quite literal memory lane, and the words he next offered her pushed the notion that she cared far more about keeping anything a secret than he did. Her free hand rubbed at her cheeks while she recovered, the flow of tears rather short-lived. "Isn't this better, though? That's why I don't want to go back. I'm one of those people who doesn't want to clear the game." She admitted. "I would rather stay here. I would rather have my voice back!" A moment of silence, and she couldn't bring herself to maintain eye contact. "Or, I did... I don't know anymore." She said weakly as her head fell. There, on the smooth marble floor in between their feet, sat a single photograph. It certainly hadn't been there before, but with how much this game liked to spring things on them, she wasn't phased by its sudden discovery. She bent down, using her free hand to retrieve the stiff piece of paper.

The photo featured none other than Cameron, grinning triumphantly at the camera as if he'd just won something. He was older, his hair a bit longer than the memory of him that played in the hospital and the aftermath thereof, and staring at the image made a sad smile appear on Callie's face. "I can't believe I forgot about him..." She said, half to herself in a small voice. She spoke up a bit after sniffling one last time, "Cameron, my little brother. He did so much for me after the surgery, I don't think I would've moved past it all without his help."

She wanted to provide some kind of explanation, an excuse, or anything to give a reason as to why she wanted to keep her disability a secret from him. But try as she might with her scrambled thoughts, even she couldn't come up with a rational response. She hadn't expected him to look down on her for it--he wasn't so superficial. The only relevant word she could pull to describe her secrecy was that, in her mind, it made her real-world self less desirable. A flaw that was just so prominent, most did not want to bother with all the nuances that surrounded it. She suddenly remembered why she gave up on dating for a while. But what did that matter? 'It's not like I think of him as anything more than a friend... Right?' Her eyes flickered from the photograph she held in between them back up to his. She was suddenly aware of their hands still holding onto one another all over again. On cue, her heartbeat quickened, and once again she averted her gaze. A realization was finally beginning to seep through past her denial, and at the worst possible time.