[SP-17] Thawing of Ice with Valor's Flame (Challenge)

[Setsuna 0]

Setsuna sits in the darkest corner of the guild hall, knees to the chest with her arms wrapped around them holding them together. Sitting there, watching Raidou from a distance working on something that she can’t see from her angle and distance. Every now again, watching another guild member run up the stairs and back down moment later. Walking in the other door littered around the main hall. Setsuna keeps quiet, not knowing anyone here yet, choosing to keep her distance from everyone. As eyes dart from person to person walking by a pop up shows up in front of her face. 

[Quest Available!]
The goddess Aphrodite wishes to test your skills as a Tailor. Succeed and your reward will be worth the time spent. Fail and you will be greatly disappointed. Do you accept my Challenge? 
[Quest Location: Floor 17]
[Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]

Reading the details carefully, standing in the dark corner accepting the quest. As soon the last person walks out she darts to Raidou’s side saying “I’ll be back later” and before he can respond, Setsuna is already at the door glancing back at Raidou. With a nod toward her, Setsuna exits the Firm Anima Guild Hall.
 

Spoiler

Setsuna, Creature of the Mist:

Level: 5

HP: 100/100

EN: 10/10

Damage: 3

Evasion: 3

Accuracy: 1

Equipment:

Weapon: Devil's Tongue (T1/Rare) +1 Damage, +1 Accuracy

Armor: Web Retrieving Gloves (T1/Uncommon/Clothing) +1 Loot Dice

Misc: Silver Covetous Serpent (T1/Rare/Trinket) +2 Loot Dice

Skills:

1H Curved Sword: Rank 1

Disguise [Extra]: +1 Evasion until next turn, 3 turn cool down

Battle Ready Inventory:

Cold Fabric Kunoichi Wear (T1/Perfect/LA) +3 Evasion

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Setsuna

[Setsuna 0]

As soon as Setsuna leaves the guildhall, she makes her way toward the town with the teleportation circle. After little effort, finding herself at the front gates, she begins darting through the shadow making sure not to be seen. As soon as the circle is in line of sight, Setsuna quickly runs to it with a whisper saying “Floor 17.” Before anyone would notice that there was someone standing there, she was gone.

<<Welcome to floor 17, Spartaia>> appears in her view

Setsuna ignores it, darting her eyes to the map. After seeing the green icon, Setsuna moves quickly out of prying eyes behind some builds near her. Moving through the shadows and around the building she makes her way toward the exit of the town. Exiting the walls of Spartaia and seeing the large field before her with mountains littered all around Setsuna frowns. Without any more thought, she begins running toward the destination.

[Setsuna 0]

After a couple of hours of running, Setsuna found herself standing at the base of a large mountain. Glancing up the mountain and around where she stood, not seeing any form of life around, her mind starts thinking why? Seeing a long drawn out trail up the mountain in a zig-zag fashion, eyes follow the trail that seems to lead to nothing. Knowing this is what Raidou wanted her to do, Setsuna starts running as quickly as she can up this mountainside trying to get this over with. After running, running and more running she finds herself sliding the a halt with her hand on her blade as she is breathing hard from not resting. The Minotaur's hands spring up in front of him seeing the little girl's hands on her blade. “Now hold it young one. I am just doing what I’m told. My lord, Aphrodite, asked me to escort you the rest of the way.”

[Setsuna 0]

As soon as Setsuna sees no threat, her hands raise off the blade and stand there staring at the thing 3 times her size. “Now that we understand each other, come with me. I’ll take you to Mt. Olympus for the challenge you seek” saying as he turns and starts walking up the path. With no expression on her face, she walks at a distance behind, watching his every move. Walking in dead silence for what seemed like hours they finally stopped in front of a large building. Setsuna seems a bit confused because when she looked before, nothing was seen from the bottom of the mountain. The minotaur walks to the giant metal doors. In a completely sarcastic way, he says “Well this should be fun” as he pushes the door open. Setsuna steps slowing up the stairs to peer into the building as she finds her hand holding her blade again in caution.

[Setsuna 0]

“Oh deary, there is no need for that. No harm will come to you here” as voice chimes throughout the building. Standing inside the doorway Setsuna sees the large open area with windows littered about on all sides of the walls. In the center of the room there lays a large round table with chairs set all around it. In all these chairs except one, rests shadowed figures with no real features to them but gender. Sitting in this last chair is a lady wearing a long light blue dress that almost sparkles under the lighting in the room. Still shown with no emotions on her face, Setsuna stands there staring at this female. “I can see that you are not really the talking type. Okay then, that’s fine. Just listen then.” With a wave of her hand toward the blank area in the Cathedral, a flaming sword inside a rock covered in ashes appears.

[Setsuna 0]

“This sword is special. It can’t be wielded by any human hand…” Aphrodite walks to the sword and runs her fingers against the hilt of the sword. “It cannot be wielded useless you Setsuna, make me a pair of gloves. A special pair that will not burn or frey at the touch of the hilt of this blade” saying as she glances toward Setsuna with a smile. Moments later another sway of the hand a few feet away, a table appears with 4 bundles of fabric and 4 bundles of silk. The fabrics are of various colors, being dark green, light purple, black, and light blue. Each piece of the silk matches the colors of the fabrics being presented. Setsuna walks to the table looking at each fabric and silk very carefully. “You have 3 attempts before I give up on you and your craft. Tread carefully my dear” saying the last few words with a small giggle as she glides to her seat.

[Setsuna 0]

Without hesitation, Setsuna gets started. Pulling out her Mythril needle and glancing at each fabric she picks up the green one first. Taking the scissors sitting to the side she starts cutting the fabric into a glove shape. Setsuna decides to make a thick pair thinking it might help protect the hands from the flames. Making the fabric for the back of the hand she takes the corresponding color silk and starts cutting the same shape. After the cutting is done she picks up the dark green bolt of thread provided. Pulling a large piece of thread from the bolt, cutting the thread after she has the length needed. Focusing on the thread and needle she gently pushes the end of the thread through the hole and pulls it through. Setsuna ties the 2 ends of the thread, double knotted, together and evens the needle out to the middle of the thread.

[Setsuna 0]

Setsuna starts carefully sowing the silk and cloth glove pieces together with the fabric being on the outside and the silk being on the inside. After full concentration and precise hand movement with the needle, Setsuna finishes the left glove. Realizing that another set needs to be made, she repeats the process to make the right glove. Cutting the outline in both the fabric and the silk. Sowing together with soft movements of her hands. Every hole made with the needle quick but precise and almost perfect motion. On completion of both gloves, right and left, Setsuna looks to the flaming sword followed by a glance to the god. “You don’t expect me to try them do you? I am not human. It will be up to you little one to test your crafts.” Setsuna with a nod puts on the gloves and walks to the sword. Without hesitation, putting her hand toward the hilt but quickly pulls back.

[Setsuna 0]

Thinking to herself It's no good, Setsuna takes the pair of gloves off and throws them to the ground and runs back to the table to work on another set. Taking the black fabric and silk, pushing the others to the side she starts to make another pair. Cutting through each piece of fabric carefully, she makes double of each outlining one intending to be for the right glove and one for the right. Having a right and left pieces of a glove in fabric and silk sitting in front of her now she begins the sowing process. Same pattern as before, the silk on the inside and the fabric on the outside figuring that the silk would withstand the heat better than the fabric. After sowing halfway through the first glove she realizes that she was sowing the wrong two pieces together. With a very faint huff, she cuts the thread of the needle.

[Setsuna 0]

Also realizing that she was using the wrong color thread, Setsuna frowns. Grabbing the black thread from the other side of the table, Setsuna tries pulling the thread from the mess up she caused. After some time she was able to carefully remove the thread from the set of gloves. Making sure that each set of fabric and silk was with the right corresponding pieces this time, Setsuna turns her focus on the needle again. Gently pushing the thread through to hole and double knotting the two ends together, pulling the needle to the opposite side of the knot she attempts again. Sowing the fabric right piece and the silk right piece together with soft strokes. Not having her hands in the right position though, Setsuna pricks her finger with the needles as it comes through the other side of the hole. With a small winch, she continues trying to complete this set of gloves.

[Setsuna 0]

Finishing the right pair of gloves, knotting the thread and cutting the string. Noticing that there wasn’t much thread left in the needle she gets another long piece of black and cuts it off the spool. Pushing it through the needle once more and double knotting the two ends, Setsuna begins again with the left glove pieces. Each stroke of the needle moving faster than the last. With a bit of speed, Setsuna completes this set of gloves. A black pair of gloves that seem to sparkle underneath the light. Without looking to the god this time, Setsuna puts these gloves on. They are bigger than the last pair. Her small hands swim inside, as she walks to the sword she finds herself pulling the gloves up her arm to keep them on her hands. With one last pull of both gauntlet like wraps up over her wrists, Setsuna tries touching the hilt once more.

[Setsuna 0]

Once again, the moment her hand gets close to the sword the flames become too hot and she pulls back quickly. Thinking to herself -Failed again, last chance- as her feet quickly skitter to the table again. Staring down at the two remaining colors with her hands to either side of her, the gloves slip off her hands and both fall to the floor. I’m missing something... What? Setsuna thinks as her eyes dart to each piece of fabric and silk. Purple and light blue are the colors that remain in front of her. “Last chance little one” with a small smirky laugh, Setsuna hears to the left of her as she was trying to focus. These words make Setsuna irritated a bit. Setsuna strikes a sharp glare toward Aphrodite before looking at the things littered across the table in front of her. Setsuna decides to walk to the sword again to look more carefully at it to make sure she wasn’t missing anything.

[Setsuna 0]

Inspecting the sword more carefully this time, walking around the sword and the flames that dance around it. Looking across every angle and watching every flame that comes off. Setsuna moves her hands around with the fire trying to get a feel of the mechanics. Touching a small flame and shaking her hand. Looking at the hilt closely and trying to understand why it isn’t on fire but the rest of the sword was, feeling the heat hit her face. Setsuna’s mind starts racing in thought fire is offset by water but ice is a cooling agent thinking through how this is going to work she walks to the table once more. Don’t want to put the fire out just need to keep it at bay while the sword is in my hands her mind trying to make sense of what she needs to do. Need something chilled, something cold to halt the heat, Something thick she thinks as she looks at everything on the table.

[Setsuna 0]

Setsuna picks the purple fabric up, unfolding it and stretching it out a bit. Shaking her head she tosses it to the floor and picks up the purple silk. Doing the same to this as she did with the fabric, shaking her head and tossing that to the ground as well. The moment her fingers touch the light blue fabric she just knew. At contact, the fabric is cold as ice. A small smile forming across Setsuna’s face, picking the silk up with the same ice-cold feeling as the fabric. Knowing that the right material is picked now she starts working. Taking more time than her other crafts this time, Setsuna takes a pen that was sitting on the other side of the table and begins to trace her left hand against the fabric. Doing the same for her right then switching to the silk. Setting the silk across the table and starts tracing her left hand against that.

[Setsuna 0]

After tracing her left against the silk, she outlines her right. After tracing both hands on both materials, Setsuna takes scissors in her hand and begins to cut the handprints. At the last minute when she gets to the wrist part, Setsuna makes the wrists section longer as intended for medium long gloves to be made. Tossing the black thread from the needle and the purple spool to the ground, Setsuna picks the light blue thread up. Taking a large piece of string from this spool and cutting it off, disconnecting it she focuses on the needle for the last time. Pushing the thread through the hole and double knots the 2 ends. With that, she starts working once more. Making sure each glove piece matches with its corresponding pieces, Setsuna begins sowing. Starting from the wrist part that is longer than the other two, she starts making closer stitches just having a feeling that these were the right pair.

[Setsuna 0]

Wanting these pairs of gloves to be perfectly crafted, Setsuna takes a great deal of time making this right glove. Each stitch is close to one another, for she doesn't want any form of gab or whole. Making sure she stays close to the edge, pulling the needle through, each time making sure the thread holds tight. With time and concentration, Setsuna finishes the right glove and with the same process as the last, starting on the left glove. Not paying any attention to her surrounding just the task at hand, Aphrodite grins and gets from her chair walking to Setsuna’s back, watching as she completes that last bit of the glove. More time passes, Setsuna clips the string after trying it and making sure it wouldn't become undone. Setsuna raises her head to look at the work that she did. With a small grin taking her mouth, she began putting the pair of gloves on her hands.

[Setsuna 0]

Setsuna makes an unusual move as shivers shake down her spine. Glancing at the gloves after experiencing this that same crosses her mind, knowing that this pair was the right pair. Eyes darting to the sword as her feet begin walking around the table. Aphrodite walks close behind Setsuna. Knowing that Setsuna actually created these gloves she watches Setsuna see if they do what they are intended to. Standing in front of the flaming sword, looking down at the glove and feeling the cool air from them against her face. Looking back at the word she puts a hand out toward the flames. Setsuna feels not heat through the gloves and with that she reaches for the hilt. A large smile crosses over Aphrodite's face as the suspense is killing her. Grabbing the hilt of the sword, the gloves glow with bluish light. Gripping tighter, Setsuna began to pull on the sword.

[Setsuna 0]

Pulling on the sword with little effort, the sword comes loose and is now in Setsuna’s grasp. Standing there in silence looking at the flaming sword in her hands now, a small smile forms across her face. Looking to Aphrodite now but she wasn’t in her chair. “Well done” hearing from behind her Setsuna quickly turns as the flames of the sword dance in the air around at the swift movement. Sword now pointing unintentional at Aphrodite she puts her hand in front of her. “You intrigue me, little one. In spite of your craft, you do seem like you can handle your own.” Aphrodite takes the sword from Setsuna, who is a bit reluctant to part with it but it didn't suit her as she begins taking the gloves off her hands. Handing them toward the god, Setsuna stands there looking at her waiting. With a sigh Aphrodite says “Well as promised” as she takes the gloves from Setsuna’s hands, placing the sword back on its pedestal.

[Setsuna 0]

With a wave of Aphrodite’s hand toward Setsuna, her body turns to gold for a few seconds before nothing. Confusion sweeps over Setsuna’s face as this happens but chooses not to care much knowing that completing the quest was all she was asked to do from her guild master. The feeling of exhaustion runs through her and Setsuna gets really tired all of a sudden. “Run along now little one. I have other things to attend to” she says as she points to the giant metal doors. Seeing the doors slowly opening with a crash to the interior of the walls of the building, Setsuna starts walking to the doors. Looking back she sees Aphrodite wave her hand again and causing a chest to appear. Opening the chest she places the ice-cold gloves that Setsuna just made inside, waving her hand once more causing the box to vanish. Ushering the child to her, Aphrodite passes her a small totem to place within the confines of her shop. A boon given as Setsuna takes just a few steps out the doorway watching this the doors shut.

[Setsuna 0]

Setsuna decides before heading down the mountain trail she was going to take a short rest first. Walking down the steps and sitting on the last step. Her eyes start to close the moment she sits down. Fighting to keep them open she finally just lets them shut. What feels like a few minutes pass before her mind slips into a dream state. “No Setsuna you have to keep running. I will keep him off you but you have to keep running” Shiroe says to Setsuna as tears fall down her face. “RUN” she yells to her again and Setsuna wakes up. Eyes flash open and tears are trailing down her cheeks. Breathing hard and holding her head between her hands. “Shiroe,” she says in a whisper before taking a deep breath to calm her emotions. After a while, she wipes the drops of water away from her eyes and gets to her feet.