[SP-17] Finding a voice - (Challenge of Olympus)

[Shiina 0]

Asleep on her shop table with small snores coming from her mouth. Moments laters her eyes flutter open. Removing her face from the table slowly as her body doesn’t know how to function yet. Sitting on the edge of the table with her feet dangling off swaying back and forth slowly. Shiina’s eyes have a hard time functioning with her vision still a bit blurry, putting a hand to the face. Realizing she had a paper stuck to the face, Shiina peels it off with a tear. Tossing the paper from her hands, it hovers back and forth in the air toward the ground. Rubbing her eyes with a small yawn, hopping off the table and begins looking around the shop. Finding a small pink crystal set aside on her table top, Shiina walks to a blank spot on her floor and sits criss cross holding the crystal in both hands.

Spoiler

Shiina, Resonant Valkyrie:

Level: 5

HP: 100/100

EN: 10/10

Equipment:

Armor: Wings of the Valkyrie - Origin [Heavy Armor] (T1/Perfect) +27 Miti

Misc: Sapphire Hair Clips [Trinket] (T1/Perfect) +3 LD

Damage Mitigation: 27

Loot Dice: +3

Skills:

First Aid: Rank 1

Concentration [Extra]: +1 Accuracy on next attack, Cool down 3 turns

Battle Ready Inv:

N/a

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Shiina

[Shiina 0]

Holding the crystal up to her mouth, she begins humming “No that’s not right” as she clears her throat and starts again. Humming another melody, Shiina closes her eyes as her body begins to sway with the music that is coming from her mouth. After a few minutes, the music ends and Shiina opens her eyes with a smile, watching the crystal glow with a low chiming sound before returning to normal. “That’s what I mean to do in the first place” saying as a message pops up in front of her eyes.

[Quest Available!]
The goddess Apollo wishes to test your skills as a Performer. Failing means your voice is not pristine. Succeeding means your voice is heavenly to other's ears and will greatly aid those you care for. The reward for your talents will be grand, life-changing for you and every one that shall depend on your voice for help. Shall you accept my challenge or forever be a failure in others' eyes. 
[Quest Location: Floor 17]
[Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]

Shiina’s cheeks pucker up a bit before saying “This is how I can help book boy” as one hand comes off the crystal to press the exception of this quest. Stuffing the crystal in her bag saying “Now where did I put that armor of mine” looking around not seeing it anywhere. “Oh duh. It’s in my inventory” as Shiina opens her hud and equips all the equipment she has.
 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Shiina

[Shiina 0]

Closing out her hud after equipping everything, Shiina reopens her hud to view the quest details. “Floor.... 17… Okay got it. Just need to find the teleport thingy to get there.” saying as she walks toward the door of her shop to exit. Closing the door behind her, beginning to roam and observing the reflective properties of items around her shop as Shiina starts walking toward the town with the teleportation circle. After a few minutes and distractions, Shiina finally finds herself in the town. “Now where is that shiny teleport pad…” asking herself as she wonders the town trying to remember where it was placed. Shiina stumbles across it randomly walking through town, stepping onto the teleportation circle saying “Floor 17 please” as her body suddenly feels like a feather and disappears into data. Landing onto Floor 17, Shiina is breathless for seconds but for some reason feels out of breath.

[Shiina 0]

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that” saying with her hands on her knees attempting to recover what she lost. Moments pass before Shiina sees another message pop into her vision. Welcome to floor 17, the town of Spartaia. Looking around this town seeing the red tiles reflect with a glow from the sun above, Shiina smiles. Eyes glance to the buildings that also shine against the sun's light. “Now this is very pretty looking” as Shiina eyes gleam at the beauty around her. Minutes pass as the only thing she can focus on right now is the reflections and sparkling around her. With a small shake of the head and a rub of the eyes, Shiina opens her hud once again to get the location of this quest she was given by this mysterious entity. Now tracking the quest, closing her hud, Shiina begins to walk the trail that is presented in front of her.

[Shiina 0]

Heading toward the exit of the town still looking around at the building around her in awe. Wondering what kind of material everything is made from causing the glow to each tile on the ground and each brick attached to the buildings. Finally reaching the exit, Shiin’s eyes follow the trail to where the marker is located. Eyes widen as she realizes that it leads to a very large mountain. “I hope I’m not climbing that mountain. It would take me forever…” Pausing for a moment following the trail again saying “This trail to the mountain will take me forever...uuugggggghhhh” Shiina complains. With a pouty face painted across her face, Shiina begins to walk the long trail as feet drag against the ground at every movement. “I know I agreed to do all these quests when they came up but doing them alone is just plain boring...Doing it when I just woke up too” as Shiina’s tummy grumbles.

[Shiina 0]

Holding her stomach with both hands saying “Maybe I should have eaten something first…” looking back to the city behind her. “Nah! I am sure I can find something on the way to eat.” Continuing on the path given to her she began looking for anything she could possibly eat so she didn’t starve. Being in the game Shiin didn’t know if starving in here was even possible but she didn’t want to take that chance. Tummy rumbles again as Shiina glances at a herb patch in the distance. Running to the red patch of herbs saying “I don’t know what these are used for but I guess it’s better than nothing” as she picks one-off it at the stem. All of them looked and felt the same to her so the once red herb in her hands seemed just fine to her. Putting her nose to this herb smelling it… as to her, it smelt like nothing.

[Shiina 0]

Shiina sticks her tongue out and with the tip, she puts it against the herb ever so slightly. Making a weird face expecting it to taste funky but to her, it tasted like nothing. “Okay then” as she chomps on the red herb taking a bite out of it. “This tastes like nothing but it has a crunchy texture to it” speaking with her mouth full as it would sound like gibberish to anyone else. Swallowing with a big gulp, Shiina's face begins to fluster as the heat begins to build up inside her body like a volcano ready to burst. “BAD IDEA BAD IDEA BAD IDEA... “ yelling as she gets to her feet looking around for some form of a watering hole. Not finding anything of the sort around her saying “No more eating weird things from the ground” with a small whine to her voice. Opening the hud, Shiina sends Raidou a message.

[Shiina 0]

“I ate a red herb because I was hungry and forgot to eat before doing this Olympus quest. How do I get rid of this weird feeling?” Plopping to her butt waiting for a response hoping there was a solution.

After a while of waiting a reply pops up saying “You don’t. It won’t hurt you. Finish the quest and sleep it off.” as the words rung through her head as though he was speaking directly to her, she could feel the scolding through the prompt.

Staring at his reply, Shiina’s face puffs up before saying “That sorta helpful I guess knowing I am not dying…” Beginning to walk again toward her destination she waves her hands in front of her face as if she was trying to cool herself off. Humming starts to come from her mouth, then the small humming becomes an all-out melody from a song that Shiina used to listen to back home in the real world. As Shiina walks her body starts to dance a little with the music coming from her.

[Shiina 0]

After the melody is over, a different song starts. It was something that her mother loved and would hum her to sleep when Shiina was younger. This is what Shiina hummed for the remainder of the walk to the mountainside. A few hours pass as Shiina stops realizing that the base of the mountain was in front of her now. Eyes follow the green line as it seems to lead up a small path that climbs through the mountain. “Why….this is so boring and I’m soooo hot” as she starts waving her hands in front of her face again. Shiina looks up the path “This thing better be worth the walk...and they better have food any water wherever this dumb quest is leading me to.” With a frown across her face, Shiina starts walking up the steep path heading up the mountain. With a huff and pucker of her face, she walks.

[Shiina 0]

Another hour or so passes before Shiina gets to the halfway point of this path, practically crawling now. Shiina’s hand touches something, taken back for a moment but then places both hands on this thing that was sorta fuzzy as Shiina in excitement screams “FOOD” and as her face begins to reach for what she thinks if edible and voice followed by a hand grabbing the back of her armor startling her. Shiina is lifted up from the back of her armor into the air, making her get a better look at what the fuzzy thing was attached to. Looking up and down at the creature that she attempted to devour, now realizing still in the air it was 4 times her size. Shiina starts to freak out and squirm screaming with her eyes closed, swinging her arms around in front of her trying to get out of its grip.

[Shiina 0]

“PLEASE BIG FUZZY THING DON'T EAT ME. I DIDN’T MEAN TO TRY EATING YOUR FOOT”. With a large sigh, the Minotaur speaks in a calm voice saying “Calm down little one. I’m no threat to you now or ever will be. If I set you down are you going to take a breather?” The Minotaur lifts her up further to look at Shiina’s face as he says this to her. Shiina goes limp in his hand now looking at the Minotaurs face now. The Minotaur puts Shiina back to the ground, Shiina looks up at his face and says “You are huge...What are you?” The Minotaur pulls out an apple from his cloth pocket, extending it out to her as he says “I am a minotaur. I am the assistant of Apollo, the god that has requested your presence. Eat up and come with me. I will lead you the rest of the way up this mountain for the challenge that you seek.”

[Shiina 0]

Shiina takes the apple and begins to eat it as the Minotaur turns around to start walking up the remainder of this path. More focused on eating the apple then following, she starts to walk behind but with a great distance between her and the big guy. Shiina hears him say “Keep up little one. There is still a while before we get to the top and these parts of the mountain are the most dangerous so watch your footing.” Shiina runs to catch up now, not taking these words lightly saying with her mouth full “You say danger...are we going to be attacked or something?” The Minotaur puts a hand to his face with a small nod as Shiina didn’t understand what she was told. Moments later saying “Nothing will attack you upward except the boulders that fall from the sides of these mountains. Keep up and watch where you step so you do not trip.”

[Shiina 0]

The Minotaur tries to say this as easy as humanly possible to try making her understand. All that was left in Shiina’s hand was the core of an apple. Tossing it behind her, the core rolls down the trail, Shiina speeds up just a bit but considers it a bit tricky to do so due to her small stature. After another hour of falling behind and running to catch up, Shiina calls out “Are we almost there? I am soooo bored.” The Minotaur stops, looking around for a moment before glancing over his shoulder to Shiina saying “Just a second more child” with a smirk. He disappears around a corner. Shiina runs toward him and turns the corner as well and stops in awwed from what her eyes were seeing. Standing tall in front of Shiina was a very large white building with large metal doors. Shiina walks a bit closer trying to get a better look.

[Shiina 0]

“Welcome to Mt. Olympus” the minotaur says looking back at Shiina. “The inside is much more amusing than this young one” saying as he walks to the large doors. Placing his large hands against the doors and pushes with little effort, the doors swing open with a creak and a slam against the walls that echo throughout the building. From inside the building, Shiina hears “Well, where is the dude? I have been waiting for too long.” Hearing this, Shiina walks slowly behind the Minotaurs leg, head tilted to see inside the building. What Shiina eyes see is a large roomy area with multiple large windows covering inches apart from each other on the interior of the walls. The tiles of white that cover the floors and a very large rectangular table with chairs placed feet apart from one another. In each chair around the table, there sits a shadow figure, each shape of the bodies different from the other next to it.

[Shiina 0]

Every seat sits a shadow except for one which moments later speaks saying “Ah, come in Shiina. I have been waiting for a while. Are you ready to embrace your talents and show me what your voice is made of?” Shiina walks a little more inside with a slight sign of confusing plastered across his face saying “Your Apollo, I know your name because of him” as she points to the Minotaur “But how do you know my name and how do you know my name and that I use my voice and not a musical instrument?” Shiina takes a deep breath as though she said all this really fast and had to catch her breath. Apollo smiles as he gets to his feet and starts walking toward Shiina saying “I am a God young one. I can know anything or anyone I want and you intrigue me because you don’t use anything but your voice to aid your allies.”

[Shiina 0]

Shiina clears her throat saying “Fair enough. This challenge is to test my talents, so test me. What do you want from me, pretty boy” Shiina is trying to sound confident but really every inch of her body is screaming from the inside out. Apollo, noticing this chuckles a bit says “There is no reason to be almighty with me Shiina. Okay, let's get to why you are here.” With a small wave of his hands to the left a table with 3 large already recorded crystals appear on the top. “I want you to match your voice to all 3 of these crystals. Each has a different voice, different melody that you have to match your voice to. When the matchup is complete the crystal will glow a different color. Show me that your voice can be used in these ways and only then will you complete this challenge.”

[Shiina 0]

“Sounds easy and straight to the point. Let's see if I can do this.” Shiina walks to the table of recording crystals, picking the first one up. Smiling Shiina rubs the crystal-like a magic eight ball and the recording activates. Listening to each bit of music coming from this, Shiina clears her throat once again to attempt to mimic exactly. After the music stops coming from the crystal, Shiina closes her eyes and begins humming the beginning of this melody with her voice. Apollo walks to his chair and takes a seat, watching Shiina with little to no effort to mimic with the tones in his own voice, the recording from this first crystal. Upon completion of this music, Shiina smiles as the crystal glows a bright blue. “That wasn’t so hard,” Shiina says, setting it back down on the table, picking the second one up. Doing the same as before, the recording starts to play. 

[Shiina 0]

This one sounded more high pitched than before. The voice echoes throughout the room. Shiina smiles as she listens carefully to each jump in the voice. With each downward spiral of tune, Shiina moves her body slightly to the music. The recording finishes and again with ease, Shiina begins to mimic perfectly what she hears in the crystal. Apollo sits upright in his chair moving his hand to Shiina as there seems to be no flaw or imperfection in her voice. Shiina’s voice fills the room with each tone emanating from the walls, causing each up and down note to echo with a force of magnificent sound. After a few more moments her voice stops, as the recording crystal glows once again. Shiina smiles once more watching this happen and looks to Apollo. Seeming to be in an awed state of mind, Shiina sets this crystal back on the table and takes the last one in her hands.

[Shiina 0]

Once again, Shiina rubs the crystal as it begins to make a sound. This recording seems to be longer than the other two. It also seems to sound more difficult: as in more ups and downs, long-held out notes, and shortened notes that quickly go into the next section of the music provided. After a few minutes, the crystal lays silent. Shiina takes a deep slow breath in then out and clears her throat for her next performance. Closing her eyes to focus, Shiina’s voice begins to mimic perfectly what she just heard. Shiina’s voice echoes throughout the halls but this time a blue light begins to pulse out from her. The floors begin to rumble with each pulse. Apollo stands from his seat and begins to walk toward Shiina once again with a clap of his hands. “No flaws in the voice, it is nothing but perfect” saying in a whisper. Apollo leans against the table and closes his eyes listening to the music and feeling each vibration.

[Shiina 0]

Shiina’s voice stops, opening her eyes just in time to see the crystal glow bright blue like the ones before it. Setting it back on the table with a smile painted across her face, Shiina looks to Apollo still leaning against the table with his eyes shut. “Well, how was that mister god boy dude thing?” Waiting for a response with a grin plastered on her mouth, Shiina walks to stand in front of Apollo with both hands to her sides. Apollo smiles wide and pushes himself from the table holding out his hand toward Shiina. Taking his hand Apollo finally speaks “It has been a great deal of time since I have heard someone as talented as you Shiina. Thank you for this magnificent performance you gave to me. With this, I give you the gift that I promised. I have no doubt that your friends will be safe fighting to you're tune.” A golden glow releases from Apollo’s hand to Shiina’s body bestowing on the girl his boon: Apollo's Lyre.