[NYL-PP-F11] Of Following One's Fortunes

[Arabelle 0]

Arabelle was a good Catholic girl.

(Not really.)

But at the very least, most likely due to her traditional upbringing, she thought anything that had to do with tarot cards and fortune telling was bogus. A big fat sack of lies. They feed people pretty promises about the future for money and they keep their predictions general enough that mistakes were far and few. Or on the other side of the coin, they were also works of the devil. Acts motivated by malicious intent and black magic, acts that were meant to lull the gullible into a false sense of security -- thus, leading them to forget god...

"I believe you've suffered a severe change in the past."

A white world, just as devoid -- just as empty as the hole in her chest. Wandering, wandering, wandering. The walls were white, the ground and the sky were white, there were no shadows; her only guide was the memories of her past -- and Godshehatedthatf-ckingforsakenhellholeofahousewhywhywhywasitmakingherthinkofitagain. And she sat in her old room... anything and everything had been superficial, no matter how many things changed, she was still dead; too hollow to live, too afraid to die.

Because bad girls went to Hell, right...?

Then someone came to play.

"Hello there, Little Red Riding Hood." And a shrill, delighted laugh spilled from her lips. She leaned back, tilted her head, and looked down on them with a lopsided smile. "Came straight into the Wolf's den, have you?"

And hatred and contempt burned in their golden eyes. It was b e a u t i f u l.

[...]

"So let's make a little bet. This'll go the exact same way as those stories do. You've already taken the deep dive. Straight into a maiden's heart even, you pervert. So I'm going to open this door and we're going to sit and watch as it spills all my dirtiest secrets -- cause apparently, that's the only way out here. 

"And you'll reason everything out yourself.

"No, you'll forgive me. For everything.

"And you'll fall back in love with me. Slowly. Like the hopeless romantic you are."

"But since the change was so sudden and unexpected, you don't trust people."

Ah, just kidding. She was about to say -- when the world imploded in on itself in the end.

"I haven't forgiven you.

"But I didn't win my side of the bet either."

Her lips curled into a genuine smile.

"You would believe in someone like me?"

What.

An.

Idiot.

"I advise you start trusting people more, or search info about them so that you won't have a reason to doubt."

My, my. Was that so-called sage really that perceptive? Had she been that readable? Perhaps it was her mind instantly drawing from the small pool of memories she actually liked to think back to from time to time. Fortune telling did that to you -- drawing general enough conclusions about a person that could probably apply to the specifics of their life. And when it was all over, they held nothing but amazement at the teller's knowledge. Arabelle... still didn't buy it. But the part about wanting more people to notice her?

She was Tier 2 now.

She didn't have any special goals before, but now, she wanted to be... more. Than just a random player in a small guild. Than just one of many aspiring to reach the frontlines. But... it was a festive time! Arabelle wasn't too big on Christmas, but this didn't feel like the time to be thinking of too many serious things. So perhaps she could just start off by making a few friends outside of her little circle. She needed to branch out more, it seems; despite the fact that the players in here were forming their little groups, she had no one to approach with her guildmates not being present. And this festival was the perfect opportunity.

Wandering down the line of stalls with a newly-bought cup of hot chocolate, it wasn't long before she spotted a familiar face. Not too familiar, she had only seen the pretty blonde once, but she left a strong impression.

"Hello," she greeted with a friendly smile. Arabelle stopped in front of the woman and tilted her head. "I think I've seen you before. From the Halloween event, right? You did wonderfully. My name's Arabelle, I was there too -- the player in the other team with the scythe."

[tag: @Cordelia]

Edited January 25, 2020 by Arabelle

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia hummed to herself just as she finished the message she was going to send to Oscar. She hadn’t seen him in a while. . . well, not after the fiasco that occurred on the fourth floor. . .

That was something.

Her finger hovered over the send button before she eventually pressed on it, sending the direct message to him immediately.

Spoiler

To: @Oscar

Hey! Do you want to hang out during those Christmas event? I’m around the stalls!

Cordelia bit on her fingernails nervously. What if he didn’t want to hang out? Maybe he was still down? Was he still down? Was she still down? God, she didn’t even know anymore.

Cordelia almost screamed out loud when a slightly familiar voice rang through the air.

”O-oh! Hello,” she said with a sheepish expression, clasping her hands behind her back as she gave the girl a small smile.

”Oh? You were at the Halloween event?” She asked out loud, scratching her chin as she inspected her face further. “Ah, right! I remember now! With the scythe, yes.” She beamed, nodding her head enthusiastically. “You did quite well during that time, too. How have you been since then?” She asked, tilting her head.

[Oscar 0]

Oscar, having been thoroughly disappointed by the ring toss, wandered about after meeting up with Bahr. It was then that a message came through. Upon opening it, Oscar found that Cordelia had requested his presence. Odd. They still weren't on the best of terms. Even after the events of their outing to defeat Absolute Zero, they still weren't exactly back to where they used to be. But, they'd never get back to that if Oscar didn't at least put in some effort. So he decided to answer her call. Immediately regretting it, Oscar had to weave in and out of the dense crowd until he was able to lay eyes on her flowing silver locks. Which was more difficult than one would think considering the ground was covered with freshly-fallen powder. But, find her he did. She was in the company of another female. Oscar supposed it was best to have a third person along, lest his interaction with Cordelia descend into another fresh bout of awkward silence.

The girl was a bit familiar. Oscar wasn't the best with faces, but he could've sworn he'd seen her somewhere. As he approached, the epiphany hit him. She was in the tent during the Halloween event. One of the Tier 1 players, if he remembered correctly. They had been off fighting their own zombies, their own boss. The chance of their crossing paths then had been infinitesimally small, but he remembered spying her through the melee. Now both she and Cordelia were fresh Tier 2's. Oscar, on the other hand, had blitzed past Cordelia, furthering the gap between them. But he was still Tier 2 and if there was a boss to be fought during this event, he imagined that he would be grouped with them this time. He couldn't hang back like a creeper forever though. He had to engage at some point. And so he did.

"Hey Cordelia! Who's your friend?" Oscar greeted them with the same chipper demeanor he'd come to be known for in his own circles. He offered his hand out to the woman with the rose-colored hair. "I'm Oscar. I remember seeing you briefly during the Halloween event. It's a good thing we didn't have a repeat of that today, huh?"

[Arabelle 0]

From the woman's enthusiasm, the katana user probably did not remember the exhausted and very angry Arabelle's unladylike taunts during the boss battle. Or she was keeping quiet about it.

...Arabelle was never going to do that again. 

"Well, the usual," she responded with a smile. "Quests, crafting,--" That one time she and her kind-of boyfriend and also The Other Girl, for some reason, hunted down his brother's killer. "--and the occasional gathering. Though I don't know if it's just me, or everything else just feels like a breeze after that event."

Definitely the usual.

She noticed that the blonde didn't introduce herself -- was that any indication of a lack of interest? Arabelle wondered, but she eventually dismissed the possibility -- but a friend of her approached and did all of that unintentionally. Cordelia? Surprisingly unfamiliar for a player who would probably have earned the 'best DPS' title in their event boss fight, if there was one. But they had been Tier 1 and, just like Arabelle, there were simply too many Tier 1s to keep track of other than the ones who had somehow established themselves already.

"Arabelle," she repeated her introduction for the newcomer as she shook his hand. The small purple-haired girl tilted her head and giggled at his remark. "Well, on one hand, we didn't get scammed into having to outlast a zombie invasion, but on the other hand, the rewards aren't as cool. Can't have everything, I guess~." She shrugged with a careless smile. "But hey, maybe we should look around this event and see if there's something more worthwhile than that disc throwing stall."

[Cordelia 0]

"Ah, really?" She mused, laughing to herself. "I guess you could say that. . . I mean, I did get a huge step-up in armor and weapons, so maybe that's why?" She asked, tilting her head.

Cordelia almost jumped when her name was called out.

Hey. . . she knew that voice!

She turned her head and beamed. "Hey, Oscar," she chirped, nodding to him as she turned back to Arabelle. "Yeah, we were fighting the same boss during the event, oh, sorry," she sweat dropped, realizing that she had yet to introduce to herself to the girl, though she probably heard Oscar call it out already. "My name is Cordelia, sorry for not telling you earlier."

She nodded her head and sniffed. "Maybe you're right. There can't be just this, right?" She mumbled, scratching her chin. "It'd be quite disappointing it was, but maybe Kayaba wanted to actually spare us the burden of having to deal with anything else on Christmas," she noted before shrugging. "I dunno."

[Oscar 0]

As the pink-haired girl - Arabelle - and Cordelia bemoaned the lack of activity that accompanied this event, Oscar was rather grateful. After all, Christmas wasn't a time to busy oneself with myriad distractions. It was a time for closeness and fondness with people you cared about. Specifically people you cared about. No sense surrounding yourself with people you would prefer were better strangers. In any case, the reality of the situation was that there simply wasn't much to do. He was all for disconnecting during the holidays and spending meaningful time with people, but he would prefer to spend his time in an actual enjoyable manner. If everyone was simply standing around bored, then all the holiday spirit would peter out. To compound the issue, they were on Floor 11. It was a rather bland floor in and of itself.

And then Arabelle mentioned the discs. A point of ever-growing fury for Oscar. He was about to launch into a rant about how awful the game was when he stopped himself. He collected his composure and nodded in agreement.

"Hell, maybe we can ask Father Wuotan for some actual fun party games?"

[Arabelle 0]

The small purple-haired girl brought a gloved hand to her mouth and giggled. "So he gave us a Christmas vacation. How cute," she hummed with a wry smile. Arabelle... did mind, honestly. She saw the bunches of people who walked about the festival with smiles on their faces, their worries temporarily pushed to the back of their head, but their lack of progression didn't bode well with her. Christmas was important! Even moreso for someone of her religion. But Christmas parties could be held by just about anyone, game administrator or not, and the main draw of these events were the rewards rather than the experience.

Wow.

Arabelle couldn't believe she actually thought that.

"I was thinking checking out each individual stall to see if they're actually hiding something special. But that sounds more efficient!" Arabelle clapped her hands together enthusiastically and smiled. Now where, oh where, could this game's version of Santa Claus be? The girl put a finger to her lips. "He wasn't at the place where he made his speech though, I checked. So I guess we'll have to look."

Easier said than done -- she thought, looking at all the players milling about here.

"Let's walk around. First person to spot him gets to make a wish first?"

Edited January 1, 2020 by Arabelle

[Father Wuotan 0]

"I believe you were looking for me?" With a mischievous smile, and good-natured humor dancing in his gray eyes, Father Wuotan materialized before the trio. It appeared as if he'd been formed of swirling snowflakes, as he certainly had not been standing there a moment before. Furthermore, there were no footprints in the light dusting of snow that blanketed the ground. "I must admit," he continued with a small shrug, "it is always fascinating to meet someone who knows of my reputation without my having to explain myself." His smile grew beneath his bushy mustache. "It certainly saves time."

Despite the crowd, no one else seemed to pay the tall bearded man any attention. It was as if his presence was reserved for only the three players of his choosing. He motioned with a single hand to Oscar. "I believe I already have your request. New holiday themed games should not be too difficult a task." With a wink toward the young man, he turned his attention on Cordelia and Arabelle. "Is there something that I might do for you both?"

@Oscar @Cordelia @Arabelle

 

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia laughed softly to herself. "What, do you want some kind of carnival game or something?" She asked with a smile. "Maybe he can give me a goldfish for tossing a ping pong ball in a cup," she muttered, shaking her head before abandoning the idea. Oh she was actually serious. . . okay, not really, but a goldfish at the moment actually seemed kinda of fun. 

She almost screamed bloody murder when she felt the man, the myth, the legend appear in front of the three. "Oh God, I wasn't serious, please don't give me goldfish," she whispered. 

She was pretty sure he didn't hear her. Pretty sure.

The girl chuckled under her breath when the man mentioned Oscar's previous comment about the party games before asking both her and Arabelle.

"Uh, well maybe a goldfish item that could possibly change and enhancement on my weapon to a new one?" She asked hesitantly. "One that could change it to a unique enhancement would be really cool, but if that's too much, I'm okay with getting one that could just change it to a regular enhancement," she mumbled, rubbing her arms up and down with a sheepish laugh.

[Oscar 0]

When Father Wuotan himself suddenly appeared, Oscar was quite surprised that one such as he would seek them out instead of the other way around. He was surprised in equal measure that he had heard Oscar's request for new party games. With egg on his face and much crow to eat, Oscar shifted uncomfortably and turned his gaze down to the ground. He hadn't meant to sound ungrateful, but the stark reality was that there wasn't much in the way of entertainment. But, of course, Oscar wasn't about to explain that to Father Wuotan. No, best to just let the issue die and move on. With Wuotan's attention on Cordelia and Arabelle, Oscar waited on bated breath for the pair of them to make their requests. Oscar himself didn't really want anything. He had a comfortable level of wealth, his equipment was perfectly fine. The only thing he'd really want was to make his reward from the Halloween event more useful.

It seemed that Cordelia was of a similar mind. She had requested an item that would allow one to alter an enhancement on a weapon. A good idea and Oscar had his suspicions that she wanted to get rid of that god-awful Cursed enhancement. Arabelle would soon come next, hopefully. Oscar would merely stand back and wait for the pair to make their requests.

[Arabelle 0]

Santa Claus!

No, really. Just as soon as she mentioned him, the event NPC literally appeared out of nowhere. No sleigh bells jingling or any of "Santa Claus"'s usual sneaking about, but Arabelle still lit up like a little kid who'd just received the toy they had been nagging their parents about. The smiling man in front of them bore a striking resemblance to the jolly red-caped bearded figure of Christmas (it was the long white beard. definitely the beard), and he was there to grant their wishes!

Anything?

Oscar's holiday-themed games had been a simple request, so all of a sudden, asking for anything more than a vanity item felt like overkill. Arabelle knew what she wanted the most though. Like many mid-leveled players, she wanted to become strong enough to reach the frontlines and if Father Wonton something had a gift that could help, she would definitely try to sn-tch that up. However, she wasn't completely sure what the NPC was willing to give away. 

She looked to Cordelia for some inspiration and wasn't disappointed.

"I want to be a better DPS for Christmas!" the small girl declared cheerfully. "So an item like the one Cordelia asked for would be really helpful. Ah, but if that won't do, I'm fine with receiving something like an SP scroll."

Edited January 13, 2020 by Arabelle

[Father Wuotan 0]

Father Wuotan's lips quirked into a quick smile as Cordelia muttered about her goldfish wish. "I'm afraid I'm all out of fish," he told her, feigning disappointment. "But I may have something else that might interest you." He reached into his cloak, rustling around a bit, before drawing forth a piece of paper. He offered it to her. "Be sure you don't abuse this," he told her. "There are few like it, and this one is yours alone."

Next, the man turned to Oscar. "So you wish to be stronger?" He nodded, the bells braided into his beard jingling. "That's a noble pursuit, and I am indeed able to help." As he motioned to the the blonde, a popup appeared. 

Quest Be strong. But not stronger than Lessa.     O           X

Finally, there was Arabelle. "A better, err... what was it you said? 'DSP?' I'm afraid I have trouble keeping up with the slang, these days," he admitted with a hearty chuckle. "How interesting. Yes, I believe I have something that could help you with that. Let's see, here..." Once again his weathered hands delved within the confines of his cloak, coaxing out a small slip of paper. He handed it to the tiny woman with an outstretched arm and a smile on his face. "This should serve you well. Beware, however. The expiration date is very... strict."

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

Once Arabelle accepts the voucher, it binds to her. It cannot be transferred to anyone else for any reason.
It is only valid to change one slot of Accuracy to a normal enhancement of choice in Amaterasu.
Voucher expires June 1st, 2020 at 9:37AM PST.
(Please link back to this post for your records.)

Spoiler

Once Cordelia accepts the voucher, it binds to her. It cannot be transferred to anyone else for any reason.
It is only valid to change Cursed to Phase in Haunted Verdict.
Must be used immediately after Cordelia reaches T3, or it is rendered null and void. 
(Please link back to this post for your records.)

Spoiler

Upon acceptance of the quest, which immediately disappears from the log, Oscar receives the following:
5 SP
(Please link back to this post for your records.)

[Cordelia 0]

"Oh thank God," she whispered under her breath at the mention of fish. Her ears perked when she saw him pull out a piece of paper from his cloak. She blinked at him before she extended her hand to receive it.

Cordelia grasped the paper between her fingers as she looked up at Father Wuotan, a small smile blooming on her face as she nodded her head in appreciation. "Thank you!" She beamed, transferring the piece of paper into her inventory. 

She turned to Oscar and raised a brow. So what exactly was her going to get from Santa Claus 2.0? She looked over his shoulder-- which was actually a lot harder than she imagined it to be so she just opted to. . . y'know move around him so she could see. A quest? Well, she wasn't really expecting that. Interesting. "That's pretty cool," she said excitedly, grinning at Oscar as she finished looking at the honestly pretty bland pop up window.

+Voucher Thing

[Oscar 0]

Without skipping a beat, Oscar tapped the green circle with his right index finger. The SP that resulted from Father Wuotan's boon was more than sufficient enough to push Oscar up one level. Oscar was perfectly content with that. He found himself just a touch jealous of the neat items that Arabelle and Cordelia had been granted. It would have been nice to make his Halloween event weapon more useful. But, there was always next year. The only reason he would have to roll off the Cursed enhancement would be to gift the weapon to someone else anyway. He wasn't particularly fond of Holy, unique as it was. Chaos Eater was evidence of that. He nodded his thanks to Wuotan for this generous gift of SP and then turned to Cordelia. "All I wanted was a level or so. This was the perfect gift. Might have been in poor taste to wish to go home. Don't think the good Father would be able to make that one happen. Even if he could, I would merely be beside myself worrying about all the new friends I've made still trapped in here."

+5 SP to thread

[Arabelle 0]

Most NPCs don't understand foreign game terms, she remembered. Even though this one was out pulling unique items and... quests? from the system to grant their wishes, it still remained comfortably within the mold. It wasn't every day she came across an NPC like this; perhaps providing better context would be to her benefit. "A damage dealer," Arabelle explained. Then she pursed her lips in thought and simplified even more, "Like, a person whose fighting style relies almost completely on being on the offensive."

Father Wuotan smiled, and -- in what the game probably deemed more magical and elegant than having the old geezer lug around a sack -- manifested her requested item from the confines of his cloak: one voucher to replace one of those horrid ACC enhancements into something more befitting of a weapon. Lovely. Arabelle accepted it with a grateful smile. "It's more than enough," she acknowledged, dropping the slip into her inventory. "Thank you for this. I hope you have a Merry Christmas!"

Well, that was surely different from what she had expected. 

"Was I the only one who thought he was going to try and duel us?" the small purple-haired girl would ask after the NPC left. She spun around and mimed a typical cartoonish villain's over-exuberant gestures, making a sweeping motion with her hand. "'Santa only gives gifts to good children! So have you been naughty or nice this Christmas? This battle shall be your judge!' ...or something like that. Must have been all the video games." As she admitted that, Arabelle tucked her hands behind her back and smiled. "Right?

"And that was a rather sweet thing to say, Oscar, though I think he would have just reacted the same way he did with mine. He wouldn't understand. The people here treat us like adventurers who are just stronger than most. Probably for them, this is the only world that exists." Mindless existences with hardly a smidgen of their concerns. Sometimes they were... enviable. "Well, I don't think I would wish for that even if it was possible either. Everyone's been working hard. It's just outright unfair to skip past everything without having to shoulder a single one of the burdens that are about to come."

Spoiler

RECEIVING

• Christmas Voucher

 

[Cordelia 0]

She hummed softly, nodding her head. "Yeah, I don't think even he could grant a wish like that," she mumbled, shaking her head before she gave Oscar a thumbs up. "It's great that you got some good experience! I would've asked for the same thing, but ever since I got this weapon with the cursed enhancement, I had been planning to somehow get rid of it once I reach tier three, so this event was a perfect perfect for it."

Cordelia chuckled to herself as she nodded her head. "Honestly, yeah. I thought the Christmas event this year would have to do with going against and event boss especially since we didn't get one last year, but I guess it was a good call since there had been numerous event bosses in the past few months. It's a nice change of pace, though," Cordelia said softly, smiling cheerfully. As much as she loved going stab-stab with her katana, it was nice to take a break every once in a while and chill out. 

[Oscar 0]

Oscar nodded in agreement with Arabelle's observation. Surely if Oscar wished to go home, he would find himself transported to his manor on Floor Seven. The NPCs of this game were certainly life-like, but it was doubtful that they would know what Oscar meant by "home." There's always the risk of being killed if the NPC attempted to forcibly log me out. A rather morbid observation. One he quickly cast aside. Trapped though he was, it was still Christmas. This was no time to be thinking about death and dying. He draped his arms around Cordelia and Arabelle's shoulders. No small feat considering their difference in heights. "C'mon ladies. I noticed there was eggnog floating around. Eggnog means rum. We're getting drunk tonight." Doubtful. Oscar didn't even like eggnog. But this quest for inebriation would inevitably lead them on a journey together in which they could enjoy the festivities and be filled with the holiday spirit. And then, just for one night, they could forget they were prisoners in this game.

@Arabelle@Cordelia

[Arabelle 0]

Arabelle smiled, silently following the conversation. They seemed close. Without reading too much into it, they naturally turned to see each other's reaction first: a habit unlikely to occur with mere acquaintances. Though they were accommodating, it was enough for her -- mostly a stranger -- to feel the divide. It was just an observation really, a natural occurrence that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Hey..." Oscar was friendly though. She wasn't protesting but she gave an uncharacteristically embarrassed grin as the tall handsome blond suddenly slung his arm over her and Cordelia's shoulders. It was an offer she wouldn't mind agreeing with. "Why not a proper pub? Don't want people passing by and seeing us drunk on a random bench. The rumors go around faster than you think!"

She slipped out of the hold once he loosened it and tapped a finger to her lips with a small smile. 

"I know the place. Follow me."

It wasn't far from the Christmas fair. Walking with her hands tucked behind her back and the usual skip in her step, she remained a pace ahead of them as she led them down a path much frequented by other players. "Popular place. They're serving eggnog as a holiday special, of course," she informed them, pulling her parka tighter around herself to stave off the winter chill brought by the occasional passing breeze. "But I'm counting on everyone being drawn to the event. Like I said, word spreads fast and those sorts of places fill up real quick on the first days. No one wants to miss out."

They walked, shoes crunching in the thin layers of snow that covered the streets. It was approaching night time and one by one, the street lights blinked on to illuminate the dimming streets. She stopped in front of a wide, well-embellished stone building and entered after giving a friendly, inviting tilt of her head to the other two.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia exclaimed a small oof under her breath as Oscar slung an arm around her shoulder as well as Arabelle's. She laughed briefly before she sighed. "If we could get drunk, I would've drank my pain away already," she muttered sarcastically, shaking her head before she smiled softly. 

That was a joke, please don't think I would do that--

She scratched her cheek. Didn't she have plans to meet with someone. . ? By the time she had already realized her plans, she had somehow already found herself at the entrance of an unfamiliar building. She turned to Arabelle and sweatdropped, scratching the back of her neck with a sheepish expression.

"Eheh. . . I actually had plans to meet up with someone, I wouldn't want to him waiting," she bowed apologetically to the two. "Sorry, I totally lost track of time, I'll make it up to you guys later though, definitely!" She said awkwardly, giving Oscar and Arabelle a wave goodbye before she skittered off.

[Oscar 0]

But will the eggnog get me drunk?

An important question. The eggnog was less important than what was actually in the eggnog. The rum was the most important part. As they arrived at the tavern, the decided lack of drunken patrons stumbling out of the bar told him all he needed to know. And thus, his excitement was almost immediately dashed upon the rocks. Mmm. On the rocks. Oscar pushed the intrusive thought away and shook his head. Before he knew it, Cordelia was scurrying off, citing some previously-made plans with a friend of hers. So Oscar was left with someone he'd just met in a bar stocked with non-alcoholic beverages. He sighed heavily and shook his head. "Yeah I'm gonna take off too. It's been nice hanging with you, but I was so looking forward to actually getting drunk for once here." He waved his farewell and headed off to do... something.

 

Spoiler

Thread Summary
Arabelle
1 SP
Christmas Voucher
134 Col

Cordelia
1 SP
Christmas Voucher
133 Col

Oscar
6 SP
133 Col

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by Oscar