[F04-SP] Levitating -- <<Essence of Steel>>

[NIGHT 0]

"Well? C'mon." Their arms were held out in a beckon, the entity beaming back in earnest. "You can make it this far, can't you?"

Long story short: NIGHT couldn't. Not even a hint of progress was made when her footing gave way.

DAY snickered as they slid over to the collapsed mess against the frost, the woman rolling over onto her back; the expression on her face already betraying the multitudes of shame, regret and embarrassment from having set out on this journey in the first place. "Okay," her double started, bending downwards to offer their other to rise. "Maybe I'd misjudged this whole learning process for you players a little too early."

"Y'think...?"

Her disdain had been quiet, a chide mostly to herself than her teacher. And as she took the hand offered to her, the player practiced her technique, only to find herself slipping the moment she'd lifted her second foot up -- again.

[NIGHT 0]

"Fuck...!"

"Hey-- be careful!"

Good thing she had support nearby. NIGHT wouldn't even have attempted the whole ice-skating thing without someone else to lead her. She found herself pulled in close to the blonde this time, though, her breath hitched from the sudden closeness once again. An audible groan squeezed itself past her lips. The player was trying. Desperately so.

DAY blinked back at her, amusement faltering and giving way instead to concern. "You'll get the hang of it, NIGHT. I'm sure."

Another wriggly grumble of annoyance, now excused from her throat. Could they tell how fast her pulse was racing from the grip of her wrist and proximity alone? NIGHT felt her mouth run dry as she tried inching her body away from her companion's, her voice tight and loosening something akin to a squeal. "Are-- Were you trying to make this a living hell for me...?"

"Not-- Not on purpose…?"

“A likely story,” NIGHT slipped. Maybe the boots'll work fine enough...

[NIGHT 0]

"I mean..."

As the player placed some distance between them, DAY mulled over her insinuation, eyes distant as they locked onto the ice below. "I really didn't think picking up skating would be that difficult..."

"Yeah, well; aren't you privileged."

The entity's grip remained on NIGHT's forearms, sights raised slightly upwards to watch the woman's legs trembling, the player herself unable to keep steady. "T-things like these take time," she explained, shifting herself forward by a hair, only to find her footing coming apart once again. Her doppel's firm hold made sure she wouldn't reach the floor once more, but NIGHT groaned anyway, a mix of broken emotions tied up on her face.

"Ugh..."

She took a moment to reassemble herself, swearing under her breaths at the knives attached to her feet. "I really don't get how I'm supposed to figure this out," the player muttered. "Maybe there's a better way to navigate the ice...?"

[NIGHT 0]

DAY slid their fingers down her arms to meet the player's hands in a gentle clasp. "Or you could stick with what we've got." Their gaze fell upon their gloves from NIGHT's face, thumb gently circling the back of her digits. The movements were calming, yet invigorating -- NIGHT felt her breath slow just as much as her heart did race. "It'll... just take more practice."

She fell silent, watching her double trace across the gaps with each rotation. "Why not give it a shot? A handful of days up in Snowfrost, just the two of us..."

Her grip tightened around DAY's own digits, startled. The makings of an incessant throbbing lodged itself right at her throat, the woman starting to take notice of the crisp chill that stung at her ears more so than before. Did the air seem to turn much more frosty when she hadn't realized it?

Or was she finding herself much more sensitive due to the nature of the proposition at hand?

[NIGHT 0]

She'd barely had a moment to herself when the entity matched their blues with her indigos. NIGHT nearly choked at the eye contact. What could she even expect from a getaway to spend 'quality time' with the Gemini? Her doppelganger, lest she reminded herself; her mirror, her shadow, the system agent playing miscreant just by their appearance alone.

But if she had to guess, to hope--

"What do you think?"

"I..."

 

 

She'd hate every second of it. 

She wanted to know what that would feel like.

 

 

"You can say no if you don't want to."

"I-- Just--" A harsh blink and a shake of her head. The woman's lips were pressed in a thin line as she recollected herself. "Look," she expelled, a forced scowl masked over her visage, hoping her exasperated tone would work to overshadow her eagerness. "Just get me through this day and I'll see how I feel. A-Alright?"

[NIGHT 0]

The entity tilted their head in a casual manner. "Sure. Then--"

NIGHT hadn't expected her doppel to be this cordial, if she were to be truthful. She felt the other's hands reach out towards her arms once more, a glance thrown to their back as they started to back off. 

"Here. Let me guide you through." 

The player was all but helpless in her situation; asked to follow, but only barely capable of moving. "Baby steps," DAY ordered. "Wiggles, if you can't take a step." 

The trainee pressed herself forward, skates jostling and scraping up shaved ice.

"You know of simple physics, am I right? Find your center of gravity first, I believe. It should help to keep you stable."

"Yeah, I know." The woman didn't need a re-education of how balance worked, especially not from a construct; not when the last thing on her mind about her survival was secondary-level science. "And--"

[NIGHT 0]

As though Aincrad was meant to spite her, however, she had skid herself too far forth, a physical trip from her thoughts. NIGHT nearly fell upon her Gemini again, and she would've cursed herself inwardly had she made it all the way to the floor. Caught by a calculated harsh grip and a quick drop of the player to her knees, the woman kept close to the ground, shakily returning a clarification. "--And lower myself if I can't find it. Or if I start to fall."

"Yeah, exactly." The entity watched her mirror ascend back to a stand; practiced motions, NIGHT slowly learning her routine. They entertained the fierce pressure briefly exerted upon their arms, stalwart and unbothered, perfect structure and stance maintained. The player gave a huff in resumption, and when DAY could see their original might've been ready, they perked their head to the side, giving their other an inviting blink. "You up for another go?"

A gulp, before her voice steeled with conviction.

"... As many as it takes."

[NIGHT 0]

*

It'd been a few hours of training. Slipping, sliding -- scabbing, if their realm hadn't been virtual. The skies were flooded with a vibrant shade of orange, laced with faint smoky clouds, the floor beneath it painted in a mix of harsh greys and powerful chiaroscuro. What white remained of the snow had long been stolen away by the setting sun, the stark blot of radiance drifting down the horizon in the far distance. Against the backdrop of a forest and a large winter wasteland, the sleepy scene shadowed over by the evening hour, there still rested a dark, supple presence dancing upon the frozen lake; arms stretched out, locks catching gold in the wind, dipping in and out of the fading, receding light.

Trek a mere few meters away, and there sat NIGHT, the tired contemplative woman. Her sights drifted between the outlines of the wavering, unstill stars, quiet distilled in her vicinity save for the player’s hushed, dry breathing.

[NIGHT 0]

"I'm beat..." She had said. Her back was sprawled across the ice as her eyes met the honeyed sky. Its hues were starting to be washed over by fire, the white streaking into the orange and reds like brush strokes, dithering at their edges. Purposeful, masterful. An extravagant art piece to end the day's efforts with.

"We can pick things up again some other time. How about it?"

She'd wanted to shift her eyes away from the heavens, but the light of the sun was far too great. Instead, she urged a small nod in response, feeling a frost numbing her scalp as she'd rubbed it against the cold.

"...Yeah."

It was a whisper, the secret murmured in selfish admission of wanting. And NIGHT couldn't put a finger down on if it was a rosy hue reflected upon her cheeks or the biting of the environment trying to chase her home. Her gaze tracked away from the blaze up above, skittering towards the fading clouds on the horizon. 

"I'd be cool with it."

[NIGHT 0]

"Hey."

Like an echo piercing through the dense and distant quiet, the player understood the swallowing sounds of her other rising from their fallen position on the ground. Through the ice, it reverberated, a gentle melody of metal and cloth. When NIGHT was certain it was nearly to end, she finally spoke up, voice crackling over with exhaustion.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for giving my idea a shot. And for putting your trust in me."

Was she ever to expect anything less than courtesy from her doppel on these occasions?

The player wondered -- one moment, it was to the extent she was supposed to have faith in the system construct. In another, her thoughts bounced towards the other's sudden gratefulness, how it deviated much from their everyday overconfidence spilling over their conversations and actions in copious amounts.

What had gotten into her Gemini to have connected an appreciation into this?

"Hey," DAY whispered back her way once more, after a moment's pause. "You good over there?"

[NIGHT 0]

And where would she be if she had to say no? A bit of a guilty pleasure there; the want to point out DAY's sudden sentimentality, or the urgency she'd get to stir up just on the fact that the day's events had been...

For the lack of a better word; exhilarating.

But the bite on her tongue as she took a breath of air was enough to sting her decision back otherwise. Cardinal knew she was much more of a mess of emotions than a handful of code; as a fragile, mortal beast, there was no need to go throwing stones in a glass house.

"... Thank-- thank you..."

She hadn't expected her speech to have shaken up this much, in that minor admission of gratefulness. But in her hopes that DAY would let the words slip by them in grace, as NIGHT's eyes continued to outline the stretches across the skies, it seemed as though her volume had failed to match her heartfelt, persona unraveling demeanor.

"What was that?"

"I--I..."

[NIGHT 0]

So of course, she'd have to repeat it again.

"Just--"

NIGHT swallowed, taking in yet another hazy breath. "You teaching me today. I-- I really appreciate it."

And it was quiet. For a good long few beats. NIGHT had thought it to be too silent for her to bear.

"Even if it was something as stupid as ice-skating."

A few more moments, and yet still nothing. The player pulled herself up from the lake's surface, trembling with the anticipation of a response. As her hands wrapped around her knees, she paused in her clamber. Why was she so scared, so nervous, so timid all of a sudden?  And that chill from earlier, upon the tip of her ears--

--It never went away.

"So... thank you."

As violet eyes darted around the slow-growing monochromes of the field, so too did she watch their hues burn over with soft and supple amber, tinting their light in a warm and gentle caress. She hoped DAY wouldn't see the signs. Nothing she could read from her back turned to the entity had told her of the possibility that the Gemini might've been doing so.

[NIGHT 0]

And it seemed as though she was in the clear.

"No problem," she returned -- there was an unmistakable pep in her voice there, NIGHT noticed. The player beat back a gulp, attempting to recover from her nerves still dancing upon a dangerous precipice. "Are we ready to head back yet?"

... We...?

It was now her turn to stew the void, but the ringing of chimes as she pulled up her menus were her signature of non-stasis to her companion. "Sort of," the player had announced the moment she felt that she had recovered, pouring over the messages between herself and her info broker. "I would be, but I'd told someone I'd knock something out for them while I was still here."

"Knock something out?"

"A quick hunt or another," NIGHT elaborated. "Nothing too worrisome to begin with."

Her fingers skipped over the buttons of her interface, quickly dropping the menus from her vision. With a clear of her throat, the player glanced back towards DAY, hoping the look of indifference she'd gathered had managed to hold fast. "It'll be quick, if you want to tag along."

The tilt of their head and that light smile had nearly sent shudders through NIGHT's form once again.

"Sure."

[NIGHT 0]

That was the last of their agenda then, that wander into the great wastelands beyond the lake. A moment of respite for the Gemini, the skating beneath the setting sun, and by the time the duo had started to move again, it was clear that visibility was likely to be an issue. NIGHT could barely map out where Avalanche's home was as she stepped into the twilight fallen field, footsteps barely being echoed by her shadow's own treading in tow.

At least, in the dark, they would get to share a tinge of connection again. Two pinkies held in link to each other; one out of void, the other clean, of light.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find," the player started, prowling as best she could with her feet sinking deep into the snow. Her voice was low, and her pace was diminished; a subtle paranoia of loss in the wilderness under the cloak of nightfall plagued her every thoughtful stride.

[NIGHT 0]

"The boss should be glowing a crystalline blue, too. Keep your eyes peeled."

"Right."

Even when her Gemini were to reply to her instruction, their quiet movements were unnoticeable in the abyss. It was enough to have the woman's lilac gaze shift between their frontier and her rear, making sure that her parallel's own mirror blue were still resting on her or their horizon, still searching for any signs of their fleeting target.

"Found anything?"

"Nothing I can see yet."

Gentle shuffling, once NIGHT had gotten used to the weight of the snow against her legs. The blanket was thick, heavy; occasionally her eyes went to the skies with the high hopes that it, clear of clouds, would not impose of them the fate of having to sort through falling dust that would obstruct their search even further.

Cardinal seemed pleased that day. And it was her hitched breath and anxious-ridden form that would keep her from pressing her luck on the system, continuing to venture through the empty, lawless grey.

[NIGHT 0]

Further. Further into the nothingness, until DAY piped up with a finding of their own. "Over there," they gestured, towards a slope in the distance; a faint cold light of warm blue hues lit up the umbral plains and beckoned curious onlookers to come forth.

Their tiny hold soon let go, instead grabbing onto their player's wrist tightly, beginning to shoot forth in earnest towards the grand prix. It was a miracle how NIGHT hadn't stumbled in her shift and chase after-- a warble in her voice as she hounded after the gliding star, feet shifting faster and harder upon the slippery dirt than her mind could register how and why.

--it all came crashing upon her once again. the feeling of falling, the heart pounding pressure in the middle of the night--

There it was, as the conifers parted. The supposed creature to be slumbering now awake and walking on all metallic fours. How it had strayed from its habitat in the occasions before was left unanswered by Cardinal, but its return was a welcome treat to the Gemini and her experience-gaining double.

Spoiler

ID: 173371 | BD: 2 +1 = 3 | <<Galaxy Destroyer>> vs Frost Beast.
The attack missed! (-2 EN)

---

ID: 173372 | MD: 2 | Frost Beast attacks!
The attack missed!

NIGHT | HP: 1305/1305 | EN: 124/126 (-2) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 99 | BH: 65 | THORNS: 54 | HM: 6 | LM: 2

Frost Beast | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 160 | PARTIAL PHASE: 24 DMG

[NIGHT 0]

They would have to get past the trees first.

"Should I get in a head start?"

DAY's clandestine foresight broke through the rush of snow by the duo's feet. NIGHT had barely paid attention at all, and still their voice pulled through the mess and chaos to her focus.

"No," the player ordered, eyes sharpening upon the spilling flames of their target. Though the creature had been nothing but rock solid ice, there still lived a flicker in its emanating force; a spark of life, an irony of the wrong element living inside the mythical creature. A paradox that would soon be put to rest. "All it takes is one hit from either of us to finish it off."

The shrug from the entity from the corner of her eye was enough of an indication of confusion. The grapple on her arm then softened, just as their golden streaks started to part from the player's view.

"I'll leave you to it then."

Spoiler

ID: 173373 | BD: 3 +3 = 6 | <<Galaxy Destroyer>> vs Frost Beast.
The strike lands! (-9 EN)
25 * 13 = 325 DMG

NIGHT | HP: 1305/1305 | EN: 116/126 (+1, -9) | ACC: 1 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 99 | BH: 65 | THORNS: 54 | HM: 6 | LM: 2

Frost Beast | HP: -75/250 (-325) | DMG: 160 | PARTIAL PHASE: 24 DMG

[NIGHT 0]

"Right."

And it would be of little trouble to the high-leveled player, waving a blade from the ether and sprinting forth towards the mark's location. Her edge caught the glint of the beast's characteristic hues first; it merged and melded with the activation of an art, a deadly slice that would cut through the creature's torso in one, splitting tear.

Two halves, completely made whole. No signs of wavering from the swordswoman's strike, just as the portions of the beast fell apart and shattered into tiny pieces.

Just like glass.

The flame seemed to stick around though, as the field around them was populated with the scatter of auxiliary fragments. NIGHT waded through the ocean, approaching the strange deviation in her kill, reaching out an open palm to collect the remains of her hunt.

A new item obtained, one she hadn't yet seen before. The Essence of Steel.

NIGHT doubted that she would actually find an occasion to use it, briefly scanning over its properties with a hum.

[NIGHT 0]

And just as the light faded, darkness having stolen the sun from the sky, so too did the star reappear from behind her, announcing their approach with a padding of steps into deep snow.

"--What'd you get?"

The woman turned around, the small cylindrical piece of metal the only evidence of their target's existence sitting in her palm, and a soft reach of her arm towards their path offered the Gemini a quick look at the fresh item.

"Nothing of too much value," NIGHT returned. "It was more for the boost in my gauge, really."

They'd stopped just short of inspecting distance. A murmur, before they returned to look at their player. "All this way just for the experience, then?"

"Yeah."

A withdrawal of her keep.

DAY hummed thoughtfully for a second, before raising her gaze towards the drifting lights spiraling towards the sky. A myriad of like minded galaxies bore down towards them; the fourth's ceiling, their castle's sky.

"I didn't expect us to be out so late," DAY admitted.

"Neither did I."

[NIGHT 0]

The player lifted her sights, taking in the view; one of the only few times she'd been outside when the world was starting to fall asleep. And in what was once a period of danger and hesitancy, now there was an emotion of fullness as the woman continued to stare up into the speckled cosmos above. Like the world belonged to her, somehow. Somewhere in the vast beyond, something had told her that.

Like the world belonged to them, it echoed. And for a moment NIGHT listened to it, humoring their words but for a second.

Her doppel offered out their hand to the player. NIGHT's eyes fell upon it just as they'd grinned. "Well then," the mirror began, their gentle voice all too sweet to be true, "shall we get started on our way back?"

It would be slow, their journey heading home. But they were strong enough to be safe. Allowed to take their time.

"Mm."

She took their two main digits into her own this time. Her curl was tight, mixed with a hitched breath. In that moment, in the dark, that which made the world so fuzzy around them, she felt the weight of the stars egging her on behind her back just as she took the lead from them in her step.

In that moment, she decided to close her eyes.

 

On their journey back, she believed that it was true.