[OP-F22-GUILD+] Clash of Cold and Passions

[Eruda 0]

Eruda was not speaking because she was taking everything in. She wanted to see what Raidou had to say about everything and she was unsure that anything she would say would make a difference at this point. Glancing to Mari and Freyd that had now arrived after Chase had vanished, it was clear that he didn't want to listen. She wanted to know why Chase became a tank in the first place. "It seemed like Chase felt it a burden to protect the weak and that he needed something back from them. I became a tank to do one thing. To protect the ones I love and help the other players through this game. To give them reassurance that there was someone was there to protect them when they needed me the most, that they were and are not alone in this world." She turns to Mari now. 

"I have not had the pleasure of meeting you and I am sorry that it isn't under better circumstances. I am Eruda." Sipping the tea that Raidou handed her earlier. Taking a deep slow breath before continuing. "Chase only heard what he wanted. It's almost like he couldn't hear in full what was being said and that alone bothers me. I feel like he means well but because his mind is stuck on one thing and one thought... It is difficult for him to fully understand what is really going on. Mari, Chase cares deeply for you and with everything that I have heard it sounds like you care about him to." Eruda sits next to Raidou now crossing her legs together. 

"I am truly sorry that you had to be drug back into this but the two stories do not match up completely." Glancing to Freyd then to where Chase stood once. "Chase feels that you were hurt by Freyd that day. Freyd's Gemini did what he felt needed to be done. So I am asking you now Mari, what are you feeling about all of this. Please clear up what Freyd and Chase could not." Eruda knew very well that females for some reason thought differently when it came to emotions like these. She didn't ask if she was okay because she already knew that answer. She wanted to know what she was feeling and her thoughts on this matter hoping that she could bring to light something that the boys could not.   

[Freyd 0]

Reaching up, slowly to avoid unwanted provocation, Freyd pulled back his cowl and looked Gaius in the eye.  It was a deliberate action to allow the same to happen in reverse.  Red eyes and pale skin exposed, Freyd's unruly mop of mousy brown hair fluttered a bit in a light breeze.  This entire debacle was finally reaching the conclusion he had long expected, and him without any desire to gloat about it.  ChaseR had been butting heads with Freyd since the two first met.  Strangely, the boy never realized that Freyd had never once butted back.  His words had been honest, though occasionally blunt.  Somehow that had been enough to make him the villain, in ChaseR's eyes.

"ChaseR is angry at me for what he thinks I did to Mari.  The problem is that I didn't, at least not directly or on purpose, so far as the actual events.  Unfortunately, he's turned this into a vendetta on someone else's behalf, and he can't step back from it without losing face."  His eyes drifted to gaze at Mari as he spoke, not that there should be any doubt who he meant, by this point.  "He's so angry and absolute in his convictions that he won't even listen to the facts.  In his mind, the only possible version of events is that I'm somehow the mustache-twirling villain.  Anything else would require him to face truths he can't handle right now.  I wish that I knew why, but this whole mess has become irrational.  I'd really hoped to avoid this outcome, but the guild had to be warned, and by the looks of it you all now understand why."

Crossing his arms before him, Freyd's face was calm, if seemingly disappointed.  He'd done his best to give Chase a fair chance, though it was doubtful if blue boi could even recognize that.  The best he could do was let the last of this play out, and sit on the sidelines as a spectator.  They'd ask him questions, if there were any left, and he'd give them forthright replies.

"Thank you for coming, Mari.  I have no role to play here, save to ensure that you made it safely and back again when required."  He raised a hand to avoid the likely counter.  "I know that you're perfectly capable of doing it on your own.  And I also wanted to thank you again for showing up in the caverns.  This could have ended even worse than it has if you hadn't."  Red eyes flashed over an orange icon, not wanting to dwell or insult.

"I, uh... I'll just be over there."

Finding a comfortable and suitably inconspicuous spot, Freyd sat himself down, shut his trap and stared at the floor with a gaze that might etch its stone surface by sheer intensity.  Fingers splayed and pressed against their opposites, the supple leather cladding them creaked as he pressed one side against the other; how a propos.  He didn't want this to be any harder for anyone than it already was.

[Mari 1]

All eyes were on her.

Great. yup. This is exactly what Mari wanted. To be the center of attention, oh boy howdy does she thrive off it!  The mighty Pker, bane to the players of Aincrad! Fear here as she....stands there looking like she had crawled across a forest floor. Twigs in her unkempt hair. Eyes lined with dark circles, and more baggage than the most sorrow stricken anime protagonist. Mari tugged on her scarf and cleared her throat. She wanted to be anywhere, but here. 

"Not just the meeting, the guild completely. I just...don't fuckin' get it."

Mari got it. Chaser was a teenager, right? Thrown into this world, being messed around - having people he thought he trusted turn on him, feeling like the world was against him. Yeh she got it. "Is it really that much of a loss?" Mari asked, it was a rhetorical question, so she continued without pause. "I get what ya'll are doing..." She gestured to the group of them. "Here - but this sort of setup would kinda get on anyones nerves, let alone some teenager who just feels frustrated."  Granted, Mari didn't really approve of how much Chaser was going out of his way for her - and on her behalf, but - she'd be lying if she didn't say she thought it was...kinda nice, in an extremely tiring way. He keeps calling her Ma - which just goes to show what kind of impression Mari must have left on him.

It was Eruda's turn to talk now, Eruda.... why did that name sound familiar? 

Mari stared at the blonde for a few moments before it clicked.

Oh

That was the message she deleted earlier. Right. Right. It was probably an invitation to this...whatever this gathering was. Mari cleared her throat, best not tell the girl that she had deleted the message without a second thought. Mari really, really didn't want to bother with retelling stuff she'd rather leave behind. "Look. I really can't be bothered going into detail about it all, again." Mari started as she continued to tug on her scarf. "And if I'm being honest, I kinda hate the wording ya used 'did what he felt needed to be done'-" Mari paused, she didn't want to go on the attack here. She knew she was short fused - and that rarely, if ever - did her words actually connect correctly. Something about being blunt and an asshole. 'You're engineering your own oblivion'   Right. Freyd himself had said that hadn't he? Mari sighed and closed her eyes.

Thankfully, before Mari could shove her foot any further into her mouth Freyd spoke up. "I think Chaser has a lot to process." Mari shifted gears after Freyd's insight. "Leave him be, I told Freyd that Chaser would be under my protection if need be.  ya wanna know what I'm feeling? Bloody tired. I feel like there is no real need for me to be here. I came here to make sure Chaser didn't do anything too outta line, and to make sure he didn't feel like he was being ganged up on - but he's not here now soo..."  Mari shrugged. So - was there a real point to her being here?

She sighed as she saw she had a message from Chaser; she had to admit she kinda agreed with him, this felt like a waste of time - but if she could help clear his name, even a little - would that be worth it?
Mari quietly responded to him, in her typical very short fashion.
---

To: @ChaseR
From: Mari
I came to make sure you were okay. you had left.
We should catch up soon.
--

 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Mari

[ChaseR 0]

It had been a while and if anything, Chase was trying to spend his time making his day better, not worse. He got the message and opened it right away, as soon as he realised it was from Mari. Reading through it, it was... well, enough to make him smile a bit and relax for once. He told her not to, but the fact she still did meant a fair bit. He agreed though. They seemed to have some catching up to do after all this mess.

With his company noticing that he was a tad bit distracted, he gave a low chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, uh. Just a sec.". He quickly opened up his inbox and began to type away. By the time that he was done, he sent the message with no second thoughts and got back to getting his mind off of whatever had just happened a few hours prior. No need to stick to bad memories, especially when he was sitting with two of the people in Aincrad he felt safest with. The third would probably be Mari, right there with Shay as a close fourth.

ChaseR: Don't worry. I'm fine, and everybody else seemed alright with me leaving. Please, rest for now. We'll catch up, I promise.

 

[Raidou 1]

A soft exhale as he placed the tea down to his left side, a slow and intense blink. To stem the rising tide that played a projection in front of his eyes, as he reached for the pair of lenses at his side and fixed them to the bridge of his nose. In that reflection the faces of Zelrius and Daeron. One of the Azure Brigade hoping to lead others into their deaths acting as a tank, and the other under his own watch as the captain of Firm Anima's assault division. The world had forgotten this little tidbit.

But he hadn't

Raidou had seen this behavior before, and seen it go awry in a darkened twist. He didn't want to believe it was the same, and optimism may be clouding his judgment. It was once these images past through without finding purchase and his glasses were put into place that he would begin to speak. "It is, but not for the guild." he put it bluntly and down almost quietly. "I fail to see the problem that everyone has to order, with routine and with an honest effort to push the bar. To help those that are struggling to help themselves, feeling trapped and desperate in here. Alone. Chase is convinced that this world owes him, that he doesn't need anyone's help. That he shouldn't help others either. I've been on that road before." A signature pause and with it he looks to his hand, moving his gaze from Mari before he'd punch a hole clean through her with its intensity.

It wasn't something you could succeed, just lose less

The veil peels back just a bit, as he was recalling that vast sea of memory and time that blurred past in all but a blink of an eye. "Four long years, Three of them in isolation. I know I don't need to preach this to you Mari. It's a difficult world out there." He'd usher to the field that pretended a paradise. "The gemini issue is but a small chip off the ice, if it wasn't them it would be a golem or a dragon. Who knows what creature we will end up facing next. You know what the frontlines look like don't you? Or worse, they feel so defeated that they just give up. I did." The honesty burned, and within the present company there were those who knew none of this. But it was spoken all the same.

There was another pause, that intensity was present and thick like a hearing. "I hope for his sake that I am mistaken, that he has someone to watch his back. With him making the choice he has, spinning away from open arms that were looking to be that safety. For what? Because he wished you, to uphold your honor and protect you from something that never existed. The select few here that were brought were to hear him, as we heard the others without overwhelming him. He mistook that the others being here, but remaining silent was that they did not care. But that silence proved that they did, He was given a chance to talk. From what I heard, he was not willing to even see a different point of view. There will be no changing his mind from us, and the guild will leave him to you. We can do nothing more for him."

"I am sorry Mari, but his life is now in your hands."

With that final word spoken, Raidou hoped that he had not just sealed the boy's fate.

[Freyd 0]

An overloud slurp echoes in the aftermath of Raidou's words, red eyes looking as surprised as everyone else from behind a mug of white, both hands wrapped around it as they sought to warm themselves.  Mari lived in the at cold, and ChaseR was running headlong towards it.  Freyd wasn't surprised by any of this, though he truly wished he were.  Every scene had played out precisely as predicted: another engineered oblivion for them both.   The guild lost a potential friend and ally.  ChaseR pushed everyone away with blind rage.  Raidou's idealism suffered another blow.  Mari mothered another wayward child, when she could barely take care of herself, and was too stubborn to admit it, believing that it absolved her of her sins. She was trying, right?  Hollow words, meant to salve a broken soul.

Disappointment was poorly concealed behind Freyd's eyes, taking a conscious exertion of will to keep from sighing.  Everyone's natures had simply played out, right?  All was true to form and self.  Yeah.  That had turned out well, hadn't it?  Why should he even care?

Looking askance at the small group present, he was reminded of his promise to Raidou.  It seemed hollow and pointless?  Why bother to give try giving them hope when they repeatedly dash themselves against the rocks like ships determined to be wrecked?  Gaius, of all people, was the rare one to have shown growth.  The others?  Meh.  He worried for their sanity and survival if their patterns were so firmly set on rails.

"I am sorry Mari, but his life is now in your hands."

"No, it isn't."  Freyd finally said, having stayed out it as long as he could.  "His life is in his own hands, as it should be.  He's made his choices, and everyone else is trying to absolve him of self-inflicted consequences.  If you make bad choices, you live with what follows.  Right Mari?"  His gaze drifted upwards to the icon floating over her head.  "He's been given every benefit of the doubt, including by me, yet keeps throwing it back into everyone else's faces as if he's some kind of self-anointed, infallible saint.  I'm done with it.  Even if he is tired, it's what he's choosing for himself."  The double-meaning was spread thick.  Mari would likely respond with anger or an attempt to obfuscate.  It was her pattern.  Someone needed to call her bluff before it was made, and his words carried no malice.  From Freyd's perspective, he'd been straightforward and honest throughout this series of misadventure, granting others repeated benefit of the doubt and having it shoved back in his face at every turn.  Roads were paved with, blah, blah, blah...  He'd reached his limit.

Let them wallow in it, if that's what they want.  Hopefully, there will still be players here to listen when they finally get a clue, and they'll live long enough to realize it.  I just hope she's spared some pain.  She deserves credit for her efforts.  Something kept the words inside, unspoken, though barely.  Freyd's face was an inscrutable mask that broadcast only that it bore no one here any ill-will.

"Treat him like the grown-up he believes himself to be, and let him fall on his own pride.  That seems to be his wish.  He's not hearing any of us, anyway.  I'll spend my time and effort on those who try."  At that, he gave Mari a nod.  She'd earned his respect for making it this far, though he now suspected that her strength was exhausted, and she could go no farther.  Something inside her also refused help, and recoiled at every attempt at aid.  She doesn't think she deserves it, yet doesn't know what she wants or needs for herself.  Freyd just shook his head.

Sad.

***

2.6 Thread Summary:
(not sure if paragon rewards apply to 2.6 thread closures after 3.0 release)

Raidou, ChaseR, Freyd, Mari, Gaius and Eruda each receive:

928 EXP (232*4 [11,609/50=232] Word count)

Spoiler

66 col (400 [1 page])

Edited May 23, 2021 by Freyd