[PP-05] <<Arabian Nights: First Night>> w/ MISERY

[Cordelia 0]

Aha! She had finally done it! She had woken up before Oscar. Ah, good job, Cordelia. Thank you, Cordelia. Ah, you're very welcome, Cordelia. She stifled down a small laugh before leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss against his forehead. 

She smiled like a lovesick schoolgirl and proceeded to leave the room and then out of the house she would never really get used to. 

After making her way down the slopes and valleys, she had found herself back at the town of Nimbus. T'was a great town, but it felt much too gloomy for her.

[FLOOR 05:]

The girl hopped off of the platform, her platinum locks lifting briefly before falling back down with her.

"Alright. . .  I shouldn't need any buffs for this quest. It's pretty simple. . . and with the stats Hynes showed me, I should have it in the bag," she exclaimed under her breath as she selected Haunted Verdict from her menu, the weapon materializing in her hand before she placed the sheathe between her belt. 

"Alright, time to go kill some bandits!"

@MISERY

[MISERY 1]

"You should go and get him yourself," MISERY responded coldly, uninterested in the plight of the man who had approached him.

"I cannot! They will kill me, for sure!" Ali responded, exasperated.

"And what makes you believe I would be any different?" MISERY inquired.

"There will be a reward in it for you if you succeed. A heap of col. Can you really say you're not interested?" Ali replied.

"Fine. But don't expect good news," shot MISERY, before standing and departing from the bar.

But how did he plan to slay the bandits? Surely their level was too high. MISERY had no place being on the floor to begin with. Perhaps he would abandon the quest altogether.

"Alright, time to go kill some bandits!"

Oh? How interesting. Perhaps he could use her.

"I couldn't help but overhear, given the volume of your voice," his heavily modulated voice teased from beneath his bloodied cloak. "Killing bandits, is it? Perhaps I could tag along?"

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia jumped. What in the world--he 

Her lips pursed. He looked sketchy, considering that she couldn't see any human parts about it. The guy was completely covered in clothes, head to toe. The girl gave him a blank look. He sounded like her mother, a thought that freaked her out more than it really should've.

"I suppose you could, sure," she uttered, flashing him a reluctant look before nodding her head over to the town's exit. "Let's start heading out. I want to be done with it as soon as possible," she murmured, taking a few steps forward before looking back at him.

Once the two were on their way to the bandit's hideout, she looked over at the player, hesitance clearly in her eyes before she sighed. "Alright. I'm assuming you already know how this quest is supposed to play out, right?" She asked, placing a strand of her ivory hair behind her ear as she faced forward again. "I'll just go in an kill the bandits, and then we'll go and find Ali's brother, and bring him back alive, okay?" 

She wasn't sure what this man was hiding or scheming, but she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

[MISERY 1]

"Alive," MISERY echoed. "Yes, I suppose. If we must."

He hadn't even checked the quest details. In all actuality, he didn't care if the brother lived or died, or what he got if either happened. He needed capital to acquire the equipment necessary to move forward. If he could get someone else to do all of the work for him, all the better.

He could have made small talk on the way to their destination. But he didn't. He had no illusions about the chemistry between them, or the lack thereof. She was skeptical of him, but intrigued just enough to follow through with this facade of a mission. So long as MISERY could toe this line long enough to see the end of the quest, he cared not what happened afterward. Sparing breath on someone like that wsa a wasted effort.

"I think that's them, up ahead," came is modulated warning, an appendage comprised purely of bone protruding from beyond the veil of blood and toward the maw of the cave. There stood a collection of masked men, all with red cursors, guarding the entrance. "There are many. Are you sure you won't struggle against them?"

[Cordelia 0]

"Yeah, don't worry about it, it'll be a breeze," Cordelia murmured, giving an unexplainable look at his bony limb before tilting her head upward, where she watched a familiar raven soar by. "That's my cue," she sighed, unsheathing her katana to reveal a long silver blade engraved in symbols not even she could understand. 

"Don't do anything behind my back," Cordelia whispered almost dangerously as she looked over her shoulder at the masked figure, her eyes now a bright red-- kudos to her familiar, of course.

The platinum-haired player clicked her tongue and charged forward, her katana closely in front of her as she swerved her way around the bandits, chopping her way through them until her katana began to glow a bright white. 

"Oh, now you activate, huh?" She muttered under her breath as she locked eyes with the closest bandit. Wasting no time, she darted over to him, raising the blade above her head before slamming it down on the NPCs head, slicing right through him like a hot knife to butter. The thiet let out an ear piercing scream before he too fell to the fate of vaporizing into the air, leaving a cloud of blue polygons in his wake.

Cordelia flinched when she felt one of the other thieves stab her in the back-- quite literally. She looked over her shoulder and gave him a blank look before the cloth on her armor began to hum. The humming got louder and louder and louder. . . until eventually white hot sparks of electricity poured out of her body, travelling up to the bandit before enveloping him in static electricity. 

"Bitch."

☆-☆

ID: 135820
BD: 3+3=6, Hit 14x8=112-25=87 DMG
CD: 6, +4 EN

ID: 135821
BD: 10, [+6 DMG] 14+6+20x8=160-25=135 DMG

ID: 135822
BD: 5+3=8, Hit 14x8=112-25=87 DMG

ID: 135823
BD: 4+3=7, Hit 14x8=112-25=87 DMG

Cordelia: HP: 808/820 | EN: 69/80 | 14 DMG | 8 MIT | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM [DF] | 2 REC | 4 HLY

Thief #1: Health: 48/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 ID: 135824 BD: 4-2=2, Miss
Thief #2: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 
Thief #3: Health: 48/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 ID: 135825 [Meant to put thief #3] BD: 10 2x10=20-12=8 DMG [PARA VNM ACT: PARALYZED]
Thief #4: Health: 48/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 ID: 135826 BD: 6-2=4, Miss

[MISERY 1]

As the fight broke out, MISERY became very quickly and acutely aware of how under leveled he was for an exchange such as this. Luckily, it seemed his more experienced counterpart had things handled. If he took advantage of the situation now, while they were distracted, he could slink past the grouping of thieves and make his way into the cave.

In accordance with this, his viscous body began to morph. He became a puddle on the floor, quite literally, and began to slither along. Like a shadow with a mask, he snaked his way between the feet of their adversaries and past. Despite how elusive MISERY was, it seemed that one of the mobs managed to notice the bizarre spectacle, his visage crossing with confusion and fear as his paralyzed frame shook in an effort to avoid the black mass that was approaching him. Then, a sigh of relief as MISERY slid beyond.

MISERY knew that he would still need to slip out of that mob's site before he could fully continue, at least if he didn't want anyone following him into the cave. But it was a good start, and the other mobs seemed none the wiser.

Stealth IDs: 135845, 135847, 135848
LDs: 20, 5, 13
Results: Success, Failure, Success
MD: Paralyzed

[Cordelia 0]

"I hate you," she muttered to her katana like an absolute crazy person just as she struck down another thief. "First, you constantly miss with Baldur, and now you're blasting your holy everywhere! Seriously why are you so bipolar?!" She seethed, hold the blade up to her face with a frown. 

Oh God, she was going crazy.

She was talking to her sword-- and what next? Going out on a murder spree? Sure, it might sound funny but she was genuinely scared that this katana was going to make her do that. Maybe it was cursed for a reason.

Maybe.

Like the little rats they were, the thieves came charging back at her-- at least one at a time. Seriously, was this some kind of action movie or something? It was seriously inefficient. 

Gasp.

Was she James Bond now? Should she be happy about that? She felt kind of happy, but should she be happy?

Her questions weren't ready for the world-- or more, the world wasn't ready for her questions.

---

ID: 135850
BD: 10, Hit

Cordelia: HP: 808/820 | EN: 64/80 | 14 DMG | 8 MIT | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM [DF] | 2 REC | 4 HLY

Thief #1: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 
Thief #2: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 
Thief #3: Health: 48/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 ID: 135851 BD: 8-3=5, Miss
Thief #4: Health: 48/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 ID: 135852 BD: 6-3=3, Miss

[MISERY 1]

No matter which way he undulated, shimmered, or crawled, the thief's attention remained steadfast on MISERY. Was it because he was still paralyzed that he could divert such acute attention to the viscous shape shifter? The true answer eluded MISERY. But as another of the thieves fell, he felt competent that his new "partner" would free him up soon enough.

She hadn't even seemed to notice that he'd slithered past them. Too wrapped up in combat, perhaps? Not that it mattered. It was better this way. If MISERY could get to the end of the cave and kill Cassim before she arrived, he could simply tell her that he'd found the man that way. Then they could each go on their merry way and never think about each other ever again.

That was the hope, at least. Only time would tell how this whole situation would play out, and whether MISERY could acquire the treasure of his desires.

Stealth IDs: 135853
LD: 3
Result: Failure
MD: Paralyzed

[Cordelia 0]

"God damnit!" She hissed, pummeling another thief with her katana. "Why do you do this to me?!" She screamed, holding her katana in front of her face once again. "I swear it's like you hate me or something. Tell me, Haunted Verdict. Tell me why you loathe me so! I killed a whopping hundred zombies for you and this is how you repay me?!" The girl cried, tempting to just throw the damn thing on the ground, again.

She looked over to the last remaining thief like a maniac.

She probably looked like one too.

No literally, she looked like she went feral. Her hair was probably everywhere and she was pretty sure her left eye was twitching. Add the unusual red glow to her irises and bam, you got yourself a lunatic. 

She was pretty sure she could also smell the fear the thief had, and honestly, she didn't blame him. She'd be scared if she was facing a maniac with red eyes who talked to their katana, too.

---

ID: 135854
BD: 9

Cordelia: HP: 808/820 | EN: 59/80 | 14 DMG | 8 MIT | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM [DF] | 2 REC | 4 HLY

Thief #1: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 
Thief #2: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 
Thief #3: Health: 48/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 ID: 135855 BD: 6-3=3, Miss
Thief #4: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1

[MISERY 1]

At long last, he'd managed to get away. It was helpful that Cordelia had eradicated the rest of the poor whelps, forcing him to turn his attention to his soon-to-be assailant. It gave MISERY the opportunity he needed to slink away.

The cave was a rather long one, multiple branching paths splintering off from the main corridor. MISERY was assured that these were distractions for the completionist, rather than a guessing game of which tunnel to follow to find Cassim, by the torches that lit the main walkway. Because of its impressive length, it was a bit of a journey, but MISERY didn't mind. A leisurely stroll before a cold murder always felt nice.

Speaking of, that looked like the end of the tunnel up ahead. MISERY hadn't spotted Cassim yet, but he knew he was closing the distance. Very soon, he would have the object of his wicked desires in the palm of his hand.

Stealth IDs: 135862
LD: 17
Result: Success

[Cordelia 0]

At long last, her katana had finally stopped glowing, which was something she never really thought she would be grateful for. 

Watching as the last bandit exploded into a cloud of polygons, a dawning realization suddenly came upon her. 

"Ah, frick," she muttered, looking back at the spot where she had once left the player she had never gotten the name of. Where the hell did he go? She turned her head to the depths of the cave and squinted. He could have possibly gone ahead of her and went to go find Cassin himself. . . but somehow after only knowing him for a few minutes, she was sure that he wasn't the type of person to do that. 

She muttered curse under her breath before sheathing her katana and dashing deeper into the cave. He couldn't have gone very far, especially with the type of gear she had seen him have. 

---

ID: 135863
BD: 8, Hit

Thief #1: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 
Thief #2: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 
Thief #3: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1
Thief #4: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1

[MISERY 1]

Caged like an animal, he found Cassim at the end of the tunnel.

"Oh, thank God! I knew someone would come for me!" the imprisoned man exclaimed as he rose to his feet and clutched the iron bars. "I promise, you won't regret this! We have coin, and much of it!'

MISERY remained silent as he strode past the cell and to a ring of keys hanging on an adjacent wall, a bony appendage protruding from beyond his bloody veil and scooping them up before retracting back and out of sight.

"What is your name?" Cassim beckoned. "Please, I must know who it is that has saved me."

There was no response. MISERY approached the cage, unlocked it, and allowed the crooked door of the cell to slowly roll open of its own accord. Cassim started to move to exit his cell, but stopped and issued a perplexed look to MISERY as he stood in the way, unmoving. His eyes widened as the reality of the situation dawned on him and, in a swift gleam, found a talon of pure bone. It sank deep into his stomach, and in a flash, his health was depleted. Before his body disintegrated, a real hand, pale and sickly, extended from beyond the cloak of blood, snatching the ring that rode Cassim's finger. Then, he scattered as the verdant of MISERY's cursor shifted to a deep tangerine.

It was a few minutes longer before Cordelia arrived. It was plenty of time for the azure fractals of Cassim's body to fully evaporate, MISERY to hide the ring, and use a unique consumable that hid the fresh orange of his new cursor. To the trained eye, one might see the occasion flicker of orange beyond the green mask, but they would be none the wiser if they weren't looking for it.

Finally, she arrived.

"Either he escaped, or they killed him already," MISERY explained, lying through his teeth. "I won't lie, I would have loved the opportunity to slay him myself. But it seems as though that opportunity, too, has slipped through my fingers." A pause. "Do you think Ali will still pay us?"

[Cordelia 0]

"What do you mean?" Cordelia pressed as she arrived at the scene, and thank God that MISERY was here. . . because having the death of a stranger wasn't something she particularly wanted.

"That's not supposed to be apart of the quest," she sputtered, furrowing her brows as she looked around. "Are you sure he's here?" She pressed again, walking over to him suspiciously. His explanation seemed. . . somewhat valid, but still, she couldn't help but get suspicious around this guy.

Her fingers found their way to her temple as she let out a sigh. "I don't know," she muttered, shaking her head. "I suppose there's only one way to find out though. Let's just hurry up and get out of here," she uttered under her breath, giving the cave a onceover before shaking her head. She was simply not in the mood to deal with this kind of [doo-doo] at the moment. After everything that happened with the thieves, she. . . she just wanted to go home.

[MISERY 1]

"Certainly. I'll let you lead the way," he replied, crooked grin hidden behind his mask. It seemed that, for now at least, his rouse had been successful. Now they just needed to make their way out of the cave and back to Ali. They'd collect their rewards, part ways, and never speak of this again. Hopefully.

The trek back to the entrance of the cave took about as long as the trek inward had taken. No words were shared between the pair as they marched back. No words needed to be shared. MISERY could feel Cordelia's discomfort and skepticism. But from what he had gleaned in the small time they had known each other, he knew that she wouldn't attack him outright without an evidence. They just needed to part ways before his vanity shield for his cursor expired.

Easier said than done. There were thieves patrolling up ahead. "Looks like we've got company. Would you like to do the honors?" MISERY inquired, gesturing toward the mobs with a bob of his head.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia gave him a blank stare. Something was incredibly off with this man. Aside from just looking and sounding creepy, she couldn't pin point what exactly was giving her chills about this guy.

As the two ventured out of the cave, Cordelia let out a slight groan. Of course.

"I guess I have to," she mumbled, unsheathing her katana once more. Nothing about this quest was even fun anymore. She didn't even know if this quest would be even considered completed. 

It's alright. After this, you can go home. God, that felt like such a faraway thought.

At this point, she just wanted to let out her anger on something, and that something was these stupid thieves. She activated San Ge-- which was totally overkill-- and charged in to the closest thief she could spot, quite literally obliterating him on impact. 

She swore she was going to cry. "God, dang it!" She screeched, finally having enough of her katana. She raised the stupid sword above her head before throwing it at the ground-- which was kind of anticlimactic if you asked her. "Why couldn't you have done this when my life was literally in danger?!" The girl screamed, giving the sword the finger. 

---

Cordelia: HP: 756/820 | EN: 40/80 | 14 DMG | 8 MIT | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM [DF] | 2 REC | 4 HLY

ID: 135865
BD: 9, Hit

Thief #1: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 
Thief #2: Health: 135/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 ID: 135866 BD: 8-2=6, Hit CD: 11 MD: 8 6x9=64-12=52

[MISERY 1]

It seemed that MISERY had underestimated just how unstable this woman was. Was she talking to her sword? And flipping it off? MISERY had seen many strange things in his life, both inside and outside Aincrad, but seldom did he come across a character so mentally disjointed. Even as a killer, he felt his mind was more intact than hers. And that was saying something.

She'd only killed one of the bandits, though, and another waited in the wings. MISERY certainly wasn't going to fight it. No, it would chop him into bite-sized morsels in an instant. It would be best to wait until she'd dispatched it herself. "Missed a spot," he gibed, gesturing toward the remaining mob. He had no doubt that this would anger his partner, but perhaps she could redirect the energy from that rage into their final foe so they could move onward.

In the meantime, he idly thumbed the ring he had acquired beneath the veil, out of sight. It wasn't a nervous tick, though he was nervous. He didn't have much longer until his orange cursor revealed itself. But keeping his hand steady on his prize made stomaching the unease a bit easier.

[Cordelia 0]

She looked over her shoulder and gave the man the deadest look she could possibly muster. 

"Screw you!" She replied, giving him the birdie as well before turning back to the final thief. 

As if sensing that she was about to go after enemy, her katana began to glow a bright white. Again. 

She was going to go crazy. No, she is going crazy. She let out an indescribable laugh before picking up her katana and dashing towards the last bandit. She was pretty sure he had just witnessed his life flash before his eyes. Guy probably had a wife and kids. Maybe that's why they needed the money.

Did she care at the moment? No, not really. All she really cared about at the moment was making sure this guy was wiped from existence. 

And wiped him from existence was what she did.

Twenty-eight stabs wounds. 

Poor guy didn't know what was coming to him. 

Cordelia lifted her head before quickly sheathing her katana. She wanted sleep and she wanted sleep now. She looked over to MISERY with a blank face before shrugging her shoulders as if to say 'what?'. 

---

ID: 135867
BD: 10. you anger me rngesus

Thief #1: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1 
Thief #2: Health: 0/135 / Damage Mitigation: 25 / Accuracy: 1 / Savvy: 1

[MISERY 1]

She shrugged at him and scowled, though MISERY knew that she couldn't possibly discern his expression. He simply stood on, motionless, before issuing a curt nod. "Looks like we're done here," he stated flatly before taking steps forward and past her. "I thank you for your help. I couldn't have done it without you. But..." He stopped. "I'm on a time crunch. I hope you understand."

They made their way back to the tavern in relative silence. Ali's face lit up when he saw them enter, but the smile faltered as he realized it was them, and only them. Had MISERY the heart of a typical person, he'd find it gripped and wrenched by the expression. Even more so, knowing he was the reason. But beneath his mask, where he knew no prying eyes could see, he grinned. Crookedly, heinously. He knew the pain he had caused. And though Ali was nothing more than a packet of data, that expression of guilt and dread and mourning brought serendipity and happiness and glee to MISERY's.

Oh, what a monster he'd become.

"We found evidence that they held him, but he was gone by the time we got there," MISERY informed Ali. "Like I said. You shouldn't have expected good news."

[Cordelia 0]

"I know," she muttered, rolling her eyes before she followed after him. 

Cordelia rubbed her neck, her expression faltering when she watched Ali's face fall. She hated it. Seriously, it wasn't like he was real but she hated it. 

Cordelia suddenly spoke up, giving MISERY a glance from the corner of her eye before she turned to Ali. "There's still a chance he's alive, though. He could've escaped or. . . something." She ran a frustrated hand through her hair before she sighed. That part still confused her. This wasn't supposed to happen. Was it something the developers had put in? Was it an oversight? God, the thought made her head hurt. 

A tired sigh escaped from her before she gave Ali a hardened glare. "Pay up."

It might've seemed cruel at first, but she was not going empty handed. She had endured too much [doo-doo] today to go home empty handed.

[MISERY 1]

Reluctantly, Ali obliged. After taking a moment to ruffle through his pack, he produced two sacks of gold and placed them into the hands of his hired mercenaries. It looked as though he had something to say, but instead, he turned and began walking toward the door. At its threshold he stopped, turned and looked back at the pair, then shook his head and departed.

"That's the end of that," stated MISERY. He turned to face her. "And the end of this, I suppose. Thank you, again. And goodbye."

It was time for him to depart as well. He followed the same path that Ali had taken to exit the tavern, not bothering to look back at Cordelia. He, in all likelihood, probably only had seconds before the mirage surrounding his cursor broke. So he stepped outside, produced a crystal. Whisked away on the breeze, and left Cordelia alone to ponder the outcome of their journey.