[PP-10] <<Wail of the Banshee>>

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia bit her lip as she reread the message she had typed out again.

Maybe like the. . . tenth time?

“No, this is dumb,” she mumbled, her hand reaching up to delete the message but because of otherworldly forces, she someone hit the send button.

She chuckled. “I’m in danger.”

Spoiler

To: @Oscar

Hey, hey, hey! It’s me! Again! What to hang out and do a quest with me? I’ll be on floor ten near the teleport gate!

Cordelia abruptly stood up, and then immediately face planted into the ground. 

One could light and muffled laughing, or was it faint sobs? Maybe both? Probably both.

Life as she knew it was over. Over, I tell you! Man, that was just dandy. Hah. . . Hah. Must life be like this? That message was so. . . corny. What was wrong with her!? When did she become like this!? Why had she become like this!?

She felt like a protagonist in some kind of stupid anime plot.

Life is great.

Spoiler

LVL: 28 | HP: 560/560 | EN: 56/56 | 12 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM | 2 KEEN | 4 HLY

INVENTORY: 

☆ T2 Katana | Haunted Verdict: [Cursed] 1 HLY, 2 DMG
☆ T1 Light Armor | Bastille’s Resistance: +2 EVA, +1 PARA VNM
☆ T1 Jewelry | Aura Sensors: +1 EVA, +2 KEEN

BATTLE READY:

[5] Standard Healing Potions [Heals 50 HP]

CONSUMED:

N/A

SKILLS:

☆ R3 Accuracy Familiar Mastery: 3 ACC
☆ Disguise: [Gain +1 EVA until the start of your next turn]
☆ Survival: [Increases out of combat health regeneration to (15 * Tier) per post. Grants immunity to most damage dealing environmental
attacks/effects.]
☆ R1 Curved Sword Skill 
☆ R5 Katana Skill [+7 DMG/+1 BASE]

 

[Oscar 0]

It had been a while since Oscar had received a message from Cordelia. Upon reading it, he wondered whether she'd been kidnapped or something and was trying to send a message through code. It didn't sound like her. He quickly grabbed his coat and axe and ushered his Familiar out the door. Less than five minutes later, he was stepping off the platform on Floor Ten. He scanned the crowd, hoping that he would find her there instead of some shady dude with a ransom note. He was panting for breath, having sprinted the three-quarters of a mile from his house to Deepedge's Teleport Plaza. He clocked her long silver hair from a mile away. He inhaled slowly, trying to catch his breath. He could relax now at least. He was still a bit leery about approaching her. If she did indeed send a message like that... Well, it was cause for concern as well. Was she high? Could someone even get high in Aincrad. And if they could, would she be willing to share? Finally, he caught his breath and approached, throwing up his hand into a light wave. "You rang?"

Spoiler

Oscar - Lvl 40
800 HP
80 Energy
2 Accuracy (+1 Weapon +1 Precision)
3 Evasion
14 Base Damage - (1 Base +7 Skill +1 Ferocity +6 Familiar +1 Athletics)
48 Mitigation 

Items
Chaos Eater ............ // Bleed, Bleed, ACC
Librarium Overcoat ................. // +3 EVA
Plated Azure Tights ............... // +36 MIT, +3 Recovery

Leeroy & Jenkins - Familiar ............. // +3*Tier DMG

Battle Ready Inventory
Teleportation Crystal .............. // 
Empty Inventory Slot   ............ // 
Empty Inventory Slot ............ // 
Empty Inventory Slot ............. // 
Empty inventory slot ............ //
Empty inventory slot ............ //

Buffs
Rested ........................... // -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat.
Filling .......................... // Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed .......................... // Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.

Skills
2HBA                      | Rank 5: +8 Damage
Light Armor                | Rank 3: +12 Damage Mitigation
Concentration                   | +1 to your BD (3 turn cooldown)
Survival                   | Heal 15*Tier HP when out of battle

Skill Mods
Ferocity                   | Increases Base Damage by 1
Athletics                  | Increases Base Damage by 1, Max HP by 10*tier
Precision                 | Increases Accuracy by 1
 

 

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia immediately jumped up at the sound of his voice.

She laughed. She laughed hard. This laugh was in a new category of it's own. It wasn't happy, it wasn't sarcastic, it wasn't nervous. Like, she was honestly a bit scared of her own laugh. Did that make sense?

Yeah, it made sense.

"Y-yes!" She cried once her laughing had settled down. "Yes, I did ring!" She repeated, her hands poking together as she gave him a nervous smile.

"I-I was wondering if you wanted to do the banshee quest. . ." she mumbled feverishly. "Or not! Whatever is fine to you or whatever!" She said abruptly, covering her face as she felt it heat up.

Man, she felt like an idiot. A real [no-no word]-ing idiot. Since when had she acted like a love struck schoolgirl in some anime plot? Answer her universe! When. Did. This. Happen?!

"I swear that I won't charge in head on like last time," she mumbled meekly, remembering the last time she had invited him over for a quest. . . let's just say that wasn't very fun in the end. In the beginning? Maybe, but in the end. . ? Heh, no.

[Oscar 0]

"Cordelia. You're acting like a spazz. You wanna get something off your chest?"

Oscar cut straight to the quick of it with a simple question. It wasn't like her to be this ditzy. She had to have been deflecting something. He'd never heard her laugh like that. Not that he was complaining. She should know by now that Oscar was always down to do a quest with her. They both knew she didn't need to ask. But what was concerning was this sudden change in demeanor. "I recall back when we did Absolute Zero, you had something that you wanted to talk to me about. We never did get around to it. Does that have something to do with this?" He shot her a concerned look. He'd be worried about any one of his friends whose personalities had suddenly done a 180 like this. He was about to press her further but then he stopped. He recalled what happened the last time they'd had a serious conversation before they went out on a quest. He definitely didn't want a repeat of that. But, that said, he was a little taken aback by her behavior. He couldn't help himself from wondering what it was all about.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia paused, her hands dropping to her sides as she let out a small sigh. "I suppose it can't be helped, then," she murmured like a little kid as a small smile embraced her features. "You've always been good with reading people."

"You remember that?" She asked, looking up at him with a surprised expression. "I-I mean, yes, I did have something I wanted to want to talk to you about. . . and it might have the to do with this," she mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck with a reddened face. 

She felt like an utter idiot. She had rejected him not even a few months ago, and now she expects him to have the same feelings for her? Again, after she flat out rejected him?

What if his feelings for her had passed? What if she was the one that was rejected this time? Somehow, the thought of that made her chest tighten and made her want to cry on the spot. 

"This isn't fair to you," she sniffed, closing her palms over her eyes as she chuckled bitterly. "I had just rejected you a few months ago and now I expect you to have the same feelings," she whispered weekly, feeling her mouth quiver. "I'm so sorry."

[Oscar 0]

"You know, that's a real dick move there, Cordelia. I was almost over you."

His gaze had become cold and steely as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. His face was devoid of emotion. Sadness, anger, joy. He was completely inscrutable. After all, if he didn't know how he was feeling, how could anyone else. If he were being honest with himself, he was happy she'd finally come around. But then again, she'd crushed him. Of course, Oscar was still a sucker. If it ended badly, it ended badly. After a long pause, he finally cracked a smile and leaned in close.

"Almost."

Oscar kissed her gently on the forehead and then turned on his heels, heading for the gate. When he noticed that she wasn't following along, he craned his head backwards and tilted it slightly. "So we gonna go kill this banshee or what?"

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia flinched. His words were harsher than she had expected.

But what did she really expect?

For him to actually like her back? She could totally get over this. . . right? Oh, how she desperately wanted to kick him where the sun don't shine, but. . . one, it wouldn't work because video games, and it would be unfair to him. . . mostly that first one, though. She was just. . . ready to dig herself a hole and hop into it. 

She was just about to whisper a meek reply before her breath hitched in her throat, feeling him kiss her forehead. She felt her hands tingle. Well, that was weird. 

She turn her head to look at him, her mouth slightly ajar as she took in the situation. He-- almost? 

She pressed her lips together tightly, tears nearly brimming on the corners of her eyes as she nodded her head. "Yeah. . . yeah, let's go," she whispered, rushing after him.

[Oscar 0]

Oscar slowed his pace a bit, letting Cordelia catch up to him. When she did, he looked down at her. Perhaps he'd taken his joke just a little too far. But turnabout being fair play, she seemed to have been taking it all in stride. Even so, he felt bad for stringing her along, even for a few moments. As they walked together, Oscar flipped through his menus, eventually producing an item from the ether. A small diamond snowflake - the Hoya of Minos. He held it out to her, suddenly unwilling to meet her gaze.

"I kept this safe for you. I figured... Well I hoped I'd need it later. It's still yours, if you want it."

It was a silly little thing, that pendant. But even so, it symbolized something. As much as he wanted to put his feelings for her to bed, he'd still held out a small glimmer of hope. Truly, if he ever found himself moving past the feelings he had for her, he would have just thrown it out. There would have been no reason to keep it around.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia flushed as she took the pendant in her hands.

She hadn't expected him to actually keep it all this time. . . Especially since the last time she had seen this wasn't necessarily a happy time.

"Really? I thought you had gotten rid of it by now. . ." she murmured softly, a small smiling finding itself on her face as she clutched the Hoya of Minos in her hands. 

She stared at the mesmerizing designs on the snowflake and sighed. "I'm sorry that you had to bother with this," she mumbled irritably. "If I had realized it sooner, we wouldn't have to go through this hassle. . ." Cordelia sighed, rubbing her wrists. "You wouldn't have to feel so sad. . . and our relationship wouldn't have to have been so awkward."

She sighed again as she looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry," she echoed, her lips pursing as she gripped the pendent harder and harder.

"It's all my fault."

[Oscar 0]

"None of that now," Oscar stated. He gave her a gentle pat on the head, reassuring her that all was well. "There's no blame to be given out here, Cordelia. Yeah, it stung. It sucked. If you really want to make it up to me, start by forgiving yourself. I forgave you a long time ago." There had really been nothing to forgive. What was he going to do? Hate her? That would fly straight in the face of everything he'd felt for her to begin with. After a beat, he let out a heavy sigh. The town was far behind them now. They really had covered a ton of distance. He supposed it was time to look for the Banshee's Lair. To that end, he slipped on his Gloves of Caerus and ate a hot dog to boost his luck just a bit more. Despite his best efforts and his copious luck boosts, he couldn't find any trace of the cave.

"I just wish our first date wasn't somewhere so depressing." He clicked his tongue. "C'est la vie."

<<Librarium Overcoat>> Unequipped
<<Gloves of Caerus>> Equipped [+3 LD]
<<Ultra Lucky Hot Dog>> Consumed [+3 LD]

Spoiler

ID: 132543 LD3+6 Fail

 

[Cordelia 0]

“Thank you, Oscar. It means a lot,” she said softly, transferring the pendent into her inventory before she gave him a small side hug. “. . . and I’ll try to forgive myself. I think it’ll be a bit hard, though.”

Cordelia looked around as they entered the lair. It certainly didn’t look very happy. In fact, it looked like the complete opposite of happy. It was depressing. Very depressing.

”This is a date?” She squeaked, her face reddening a little bit. 

Cordelia covered her face with her hands in embarrassment as she shuffled around, trying to distract herself by looking for the entrance.

”Hey, do you want to-“ she was cut off when she tripped over a large rock, and right into a cobbled wall, which, as soon as she touch it, crumbled beneath her, revealing a gaping joke in the wall.

”I meant to do that.”

ID: 132548

LD: 17, Found

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar 820/820 HP | 70/80 EN | 16 DMG | 2 ACC | 0 EVA | REC | BLD | 6 LD

Trample Act vs Undead Guardian Zombie1 ID: 132565 BD8 Deal 95 DMG
Trample Act vs Undead Guardian Zombie2 ID: 132566 BD3 Miss
Trample Act vs Undead Guardian Zombie3 ID: 132567 BD7 Deal 81 DMG
Trample Act vs Undead Guardian Zombie4 ID: 132568 BD1 Miss

Banshee 250/250 HP | 200 DMG | 2 EVA
Undead Guardian Zombie1 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT
Undead Guardian Zombie2 40/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT
Undead Guardian Zombie3 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT
Undead Guardian Zombie4 40/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT

Oscar had to actively stop himself from laughing as Cordelia rammed straight into a wall. The fact that it, surprisingly, crumbled away on impact left was a welcome distraction. Oscar peered inside and saw a wide open chamber lined with torches. A boss arena if he ever saw one. Inside he saw the Banshee, flanked by several enemies. Oscar figured the best thing to do would be to get the minions out of the way first so that they would be able to more easily focus on the boss. "I'll take care of the little guys!" Oscar yelled as he ran into the room. They didn't seem to have a large amount of health. So he could get away with relying on a weaker sword art to dispatch them. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten to buff his accuracy. This caused him to miss half of his targets. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and hopped back to allow Cordelia room to work.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia nodded her head as she unsheathed her katana from its hold. Pacco came swooping in from nowhere-- which was very typical at this point-- and blessed her with his sight. Yes. Blessed. Because that is what Pacco does.

She saw that he had already struck down two of the zombies, which was great! Less work for her! 

She darted in between Oscar and the remaining two zombies with her katana in front of her and a determined smirk on her face. "I killed zombies for this katana therefor I am going to slay zombies with this katana!" She declared, activating her strongest AOE sword art. She wove between the two zombies like a ballerina dancer on her toes, swirling her katana around as she struck the two zombies over and over again with repeating spinning cuts.

"I got these two, go take care of that Banshee!" She called, craning her head to give Oscar a small smile just as she finished the two zombies off.

Spoiler

 

Oscar: 820/820 HP | 70/80 EN | 16 DMG | 2 ACC | 0 EVA | REC | BLD | 6 LD
Cordelia: HP: 560/560 | EN: 45/56 | 12 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM | 2 KEEN | 4 HLY

ID: 132569
BD: 4+3=7 Hit

ID: 132570
BD: 6, Hit

12x8=96-15= 81

ID: 132571
MD: 4, Miss

Banshee 250/250 HP | 200 DMG | 2 EVA
Undead Guardian Zombie1 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT
Undead Guardian Zombie2 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT
Undead Guardian Zombie3 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT
Undead Guardian Zombie4 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT

 

 

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar: 820/820 HP | 57/80 EN | 16 DMG | 2 ACC | 0 EVA | REC | BLD | 6 LD
Cordelia: HP: 560/560 | EN: 45/56 | 12 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM | 2 KEEN | 4 HLY

Explode Catapult vs Banshee ID: 132572 BD9 Deal 238 + 24 BLD DMG

Banshee 0/250 HP | 200 DMG | 2 EVA
Undead Guardian Zombie1 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT
Undead Guardian Zombie2 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT
Undead Guardian Zombie3 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT
Undead Guardian Zombie4 0/40 HP | 120 DMG | 15 MIT

"Got it!"

Oscar wasn't running a million buffs deep like he normally was. As such, he wouldn't exactly be able to deal the level of damage that either of them were perhaps accustomed to. His only hope was a crit into a Bleed proc. As he activated Explode Catapult, he was surprised to see that exactly that had happened. His axe found its mark against the elusive specter, carving a bloody gash through its form. He dealt heavy damage just as a result of his attack. But then the Bleed proc activated and the single tick brought the creature's health down to zero. The banshee faded away to reveal an old lady. She mumbled something about it being a trap and there was no Col reward. Oscar wasn't even aware that Col had been offered. Without even bothering to listen to the rest of her dialogue, he flung his arm around Cordelia and headed for the exit. "Well that was certainly easier than the last boss."

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia’s flushes lightly as she chuckled and nodded her head. “Yeah, I didn’t think that we would get it down in only two turns. . . Especially since this time the thing had evasion,” she mumbled, scratching her chin. “I guess we got lucky, huh.”

”So. . .” She trailed off, poking her two fingers together. “What do we do now? I thought that we would spend a lot more time killing the banshee. . . I didn’t plan on doing anything after it, sorry.” 

”We could go hunting for some Col or Materials,” she offered, flashing him a small smile. “Or-or-or we could get something to eat or drink?” She suggested soon after. “Or really anything else! I’d be okay with it.”

There were many things Cordelia was bad at. Being in a relationship was probably the first thing on the list. And I mean the very, very, very first thing. 

Can you really blame the girl, though? 

[Oscar 0]

"We could go hang out at my place. You know that you're like the only one of my friends who has never seen where I live."

Oscar shrugged. He didn't really care what they did so long as they did it together. He knew his house was a bit of a sore subject for Cordelia, but he hoped that, like her opinion on dating him, that might have changed as well. "I suppose 'friends' isn't quite accurate anymore is it? Who gets to be the girlfriend in this situation? Is it me? Do I get to be the girlfriend? I don't really think I'm cute enough for that." He chuckled at his own joke and poked her cheek playfully. Would it be accurate to call her his girlfriend? Definitely not. They hadn't even finished getting through their date yet. No, this was more his way of scoping how where her mind was at. Whether she considered them a formal "item." Oscar felt it might be a bit premature, but hey. Who was he to argue with her?

[Cordelia 0]

"Really?" She asked, tilting her head at him. "Not even Bahr has seen where you've lived?" 

She didn't really expect that, huh. 

"I mean, I'd love that! It just surprised me a bit, that's all."

"D'awee," she cooed, reaching up to ruffle is hair. "You're plenty cute, you hear?" She demanded, holding his face in her hands with a brief sweat drop. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. . . except me, of course," she giggled, letting go of him. "I guess that makes me the boyfriend, then!" She declared, placing her hands on her hips as she puffed out her chest like a true man. "I'd be the best boyfriend of all, of course!" She said-- though, mostly to reassure herself. She was probably going to need quite a lot of reassurance. 

She deadpanned.

"What do boyfriends do exactly?" She asked, a nervous expression forming over her once determined face as her shoulders sagged slightly. 

 

[Oscar 0]

"You misunderstand. Everyone but you has seen where I live."

He chuckled as he hugged her a bit closer. He knew that she had a problem with large houses, which probably fueled her desire to avoid his home like the plague. He'd alluded to the fact that he had managed to get his hands on one of the larger estate plots. He didn't want to bring up any bad memories of the real world, but she'd need to know where he lived eventually. Came with the territory and all that.

"Well, for starters, the boyfriend is responsible for all of the piggyback rides. I think we might need to swap roles because something tells me you're not gonna be able to do that. I'm a whole two feet taller than you." As much as Oscar would have loved to have some company while he farmed mobs, something about that didn't sit right with him. It wasn't exactly a date activity. But Cordelia wasn't your ordinary girl. Maybe it was worth some thought.

"So, how much damage can you dish out on an AoE?"

[Cordelia 0]

“Oh, oh,” she blanked out, mentally [female doggo] slapping herself for being an idiot. “I-I must be thinking of someone else, then,” she replied sheepishly as she scratched her cheek.

“You underestimate me, good sir,” she replied curtly, only to break out into a small smile, and then into a frown. “Wait a minute, you’re not that much taller than me. . . okay, maybe you are,” she mumbled. “But— but, not a whole two feet!”

Cordelia huffed. “It doesn’t matter. I wanted to be the girlfriend all along,” she chuckled. 

Girlfriend.

She honestly never thought there would be a day where she would actually be a girlfriend. Just look at her!

”I expect a piggyback ride, though.”

Cordelia tapped her finger against her him in thought. “Uh, a moderate amount. . ?” She frowned, crossing her arms over each other. “As you know, a katana isn’t necessarily a great AoE weapon,” she said with a small chuckle.

[Oscar 0]

"Honey, I know," Oscar said.

There was a reason why he had switched to a battle axe. The overall damage was just better. Yeah, the Katana had the stun and the high single-target damage. But Oscar could carve through hordes of enemies like a 500 degree knife through a coke bottle. But then it dawned on him that he'd just called her honey. Was he skipping to pet names already? You bet your ass he was. There were no breaks on the relationship train. "Well, if you want a piggyback ride honey, I suppose I'm contractually obligated to provide. Hop on, but mind the axe."

They were still a fair distance away from town. Did Oscar have the back strength to carry her that far? Of course he did. And no one could tell him otherwise. It wasn't like he was going to throw his back out in a video game. Wait. Could that happen? Oscar wasn't so sure about this plan now that he thought about it. But he'd already offered, so there wasn't any going back now. He just had to pray that it would all work out.