[F01 - PP] <<Scents of the Wild: Keepers of Nature>>

[Bahr 0]

Spoiler

STATS
LEVEL - 31
PARAGON LEVEL - 51
HP - 820
EN - 120
DMG - 23
MIT - 44
ACC - 2
EVA - 4
FALLEN - 8
HOLY - 16
LD - 6
STEALTH DETECTION - 5
HOLY BLESSING - 16
BATTLE HEALING - 41
PHASE

HOME BUFFS
» WELL RESTED
     ➥ -1 EN FOR THE FIRST THREE TURNS OF COMBAT
» RELAXED
     ➥ +20 TO OUT OF COMBAT HP REGENERATION
     ➥ FULL ENERGY REGENERATION AFTER TWO POSTS OUT OF COMBAT
» SQUEAKY CLEAN
     ➥ REDUCE INCOMING DOT DAMAGE BY 25% FOR FIRST INCOMING DOT INFLICTED IN THREAD
» FILLING
     ➥ INCREASE EFFECTIVENESS OF A SINGLE CONSUMED FOOD ITEM IN A THREAD BY +1 T1 SLOT
» ITEM STASH
     ➥ +1 BATTLE-READY INVENTORY SLOT
» DELICIOUS
     ➥ COMBINE 3 IDENTICAL FOOD ITEMS INTO A FEAST ONCE PER THREAD
» PRACTICED ANGLER
     ➥ +2 GATHERING EXP PER ATTEMPT
     ➥ +1 LD & CD TO GATHERING ATTEMPTS
» GREEN THUMB
     ➥ +2 FISHING EXP PER ATTEMPT
     ➥ +1 LD & CD TO FISHING ATTEMPTS
» MULTIPURPOSE
     ➥ GAIN +1 TO LD, STEALTH RATING, STEALTH DETECTION, OR PROSPERITY TO ONE POST IN A THREAD
     ➥ CAN BE APPLIED AFTER THE ROLL
» DECOR: <<SPOOKY AMENITY>>
     ➥ REDUCE INCOMING DOT DAMAGE BY 5% FOR FIRST INCOMING DOT INFLICTED IN THREAD

SKILLS

UTILITY SKILLS
» LOCK PICKING R3
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +3 LD WHEN PICKING LOCKS ON CHESTS
          ➥ DISMANTLING ADDON: +2 LD WHEN OPENING A TREASURE CHEST
» SEARCHING R5
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +5 LD
     ➥ +5 STEALTH DETECTION

COMBAT SKILLS
» BATTLE HEALING R5
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ WHILE IN COMBAT, USER HEALS FOR 5% (41 HP) OF THEIR MAX HP EACH TURNTURNS
» ENERGIST
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +20 EN

EXTRA SKILLS
» CONCENTRATION
     ➥ FREE ACTION
     ➥ GAIN ABSOLUTE ACCURACY ON NEXT ATTACK
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 5 TURNS
» DISGUISE
     ➥ FREE ACTION
     ➥ +1 EVA UNTIL START OF YOUR NEXT TURN
     ➥ MINOR CRITICALS DO NOT AUTOHIT DURING DURATION
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 5 TURNS
» MEDITATION
     ➥ POST ACTION
     ➥ RECOVER AN ADDITIONAL 16 ENERGY
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 3 TURNS
» FORGOTTEN KING'S AUTHORITY
     ➥ FREE ACTION
     ➥ DISPEL ANY DISABLING EFFECTS ON THE USER
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 7 TURNS
          ➥ COST: 5 EN
» PHOTOSYNTHESIZE
     ➥ FREE ACTION
     ➥ IMPROVE THE EFFECTS OF ANY HEALING THE USER DOES (DISREGARDING PASSIVE) UNTIL START OF NEXT TURN BY 20%
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 5 TURNS
          ➥ COST: 5 EN
» ASSAULT MODE
     ➥ FREE ACTION
     ➥ SWITCH ACCURACY AND EVASION VALUES UNTIL START OF NEXT TURN
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 4 TURNS
          ➥ COST: 5 EN
» FROZEN HIDE
     ➥ FREE ACTION
     ➥ APPLY ONE SLOT OF FROST AURA AND ONE SLOT OF FROST THORNS EQUAL TO TIER OF USER UNTIL START OF NEXT TURN
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 4 TURNS
          ➥ COST: 5 EN
» PARRY
     ➥ POST ACTION
     ➥ REDUCE FINAL DAMAGE OF NEXT ATTACK AGAINST YOU BY 50% (ROUNDED DOWN) AND NEGATES STUN/PARALYSIS EFFECT OF THAT ATTACK
     ➥ PARRY STATUS LASTS 3 TURNS
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 3 TURNS (UPON ACTIVATION, UNLESS HIT, AT WHICH POINT COOLDOWN IS REFRESHED)
          ➥ COST: 9 EN (UPON PROC, NOT ACTIVATION)

COMBAT MASTERY
» DAMAGE R3
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +12 DMG

WEAPON SKILLS
» WARHAMMER R5
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +7 DMG WHEN WARHAMMER IS EQUIPPED

ARMOR SKILLS
» CLOTH ARMOR R5
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +20 MIT
          ➥ NIMBLE ADDON: +1 EVA AND +1 LD WHEN WEARING LIGHT ARMOR

MODS
» CLOTH ARMOR MOD: ATHLETICS
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +1 DMG WHEN WEARING LIGHT ARMOR
» WEAPON MOD: WARHAMMER FEROCITY
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +2 DMG WHEN USING WARHAMMER SWORD ARTS
» WEAPON MOD: STAMINA
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ REDUCES THE EN COST OF ALL ATTACKS BY 2

EQUIPMENT

WEAPON
» [EQUIPPED] "DAWN'S DEMISE" - WARHAMMER (T4 - DEMONIC)
     ➥ HOLY 2
          ➥ +12 TO BASE DAMAGE ON NATURAL ROLLS OF 9 OR HIGHER
     ➥ FALLEN
          ➥ +6 TO BASE DAMAGE ON NATURAL ROLLS OF 6-8
     ➥ PHASE
          ➥ IGNORES 50% OF MIT ON NATURAL ROLLS OF 9 OR HIGHER

ARMOR
» [EQUIPPED] "BLOODSTAINED COAT" - LIGHT ARMOR (T4 - DEMONIC)
     ➥ +24 MIT
     ➥ +1 EVA
     ➥ HOLY BLESSING
          ➥ AFTER TAKING DAMAGE, USER HEALS 2% (16 HP) OF MAX HP AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FOLLOWING TURN
     ➥ RISKY
          ➥ AFTER TAKING DAMAGE, USER GAINS 4 BASE DMG UNTIL NEXT SUCCESSFUL ATTACK

TRINKET
» [EQUIPPED] "EAGLE'S EYE" - TRINKET (T1 - DEMONIC)
     ➥ +2 EVA
     ➥ +2 ACC

FAMILIAR
» [EQUIPPED] SWINE BAJESUS - SCOUTING FAMILIAR
     ➥ +2 LD TO SEARCHES FOR SUB-DUNGEONS OR LABYRINTHS, AND WHEN OPENING TREASURE CHESTS

BATTLE-READY INVENTORY

» TELEPORT CRYSTAL (5)
     ➥ ALLOWS USER TO BYPASS ROLL DURING FLEE
» HYPNOSIS 2 INSTANT CRYSTAL (3)
     ➥ -2 ACC TO SINGLE TARGET
» LULLABY 2 INSTANT CRYSTAL (1)
     ➥ -2 EVA TO SINGLE TARGET
» MISPERCEPTION INSTANT CRYSTAL (3)
     ➥ REDUCE FINAL DAMAGE OF SINGLE TARGET BY 10%
» SELF HEAL RECOVERY ELIXIR COMPOUND (5)
     ➥ HEALS 15% (123 HP) OF MAX HP

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 820/820 | EN: 120/120 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 44 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 4 | FLN: 8 | HLY: 16 | BH: 41 | HB: 16 | LD: 6 | PHASE

Eyelids snapped open as though the mismatched eyes hidden beyond were attempting an escape. In a frenzy, they scanned the surrounding area. It was dark, so he couldn't see much; but of the features that he could make out, the familiar shape of his room slowly melted into focus. The raspy breaths that forced their way from his lungs filled the cool space with a translucent vapor, though the wisps weren't nearly as apparent as the sound of those gasps filling the chamber. The last thing he'd remembered was the darkness consuming them all, just as it had (supposedly) the whole of Castle Aincrad.

After a few moments, a panel populated about a foot from his face. The jarring luminosity of the object caused Bahr to flinch reflexively, a sharp wince interrupting the ragged breaths that still had yet to steady. It heralded a message of some sort - a declaration of a system update of some sort, giving him brief overview of the changes that had been implemented and prompting him to reallocate his Skill Points. In his frenetic state, he hardly even gave it a cursory glance. Something far more pressing was on his mind.

"Alyssa."

He practically flung the screen out of his way and leapt from the bed, catapulting himself by his arms forward and onto the hardwood floor with a thunderous thump. No sooner had he taken a single step forward than the panel appeared again, stopping him dead in his tracks. With a bothered snarl, he dismissed the menu once more and started forward again. Before he could even make it to the door exiting his bedroom, it was there again, taunting him with its unrelenting tenacity.

"Fuck's sake."

As hastily as his fingers could carry him, he navigated through the various screens that popped up, clicking through the options without hardly even looking at them. There were more than a couple of misclicks, but he didn't care - he needed to get this damned screen out of his face so he could make his way to her. See if she was alright. See for himself if the Shadow's threats had been only that.

Finally, it was finished. 

He flew through the door, down the stairs, into the yard, and toward the nearest town. Had he been this fast before? He felt... lighter. But whether or not that was a consequence of the system update or a symptom of his surging adrenaline, he couldn't be sure. Whatever the case, he made it back to town in record time, teleported to the twenty-second floor, and resumed his sprint. And while he'd always appreciated the property upon which Lessa had settled Manderly, he found himself cursing its distance from his point of arrival in this instance. Sure, he'd been excited to get there before, but this was a completely different sensation. He was driven by pure, unadulterated fear, and no matter how swiftly the earth beneath his feet disappeared behind him, it wasn't fast enough.

There it was. He could see the twinkle of its various homely lights peaking through the leaves up ahead, and the stack of smoke that billowed from the maw of its chimney. Only a few seconds longer and he would be there. Just a little further. Almost there.

Knock knock knock!

His knuckles rapped against the door like a wooden bat against a tree.

"Alyssa! Open up!"

[Lessa 1]

Spoiler

Lessa | HP: 800/800 | EN: 112/112 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 122 | ACC: 2 | BH: 40 | H.M.: 8 | HLY: 8 | REC: 3 | THRNS: 36

Lessa, The Empress
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 34
HP: 800/800
EN: 112/112

Stats:
Damage: 23
Mitigation: 122
Accuracy: 2
Battle Healing: 40
H.M.: 8
HLY: 8
REC: 3
THRNS: 36

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Arcael's Might (T4 THSS - DMG DMG DMG HLY)
Armor: Empress Armor (T4 HA - HM HM THNS)
Misc: Neutron Star Necklace (T3 TRINKET - ACC ACC REC)

Skills:
2HSS R5
Heavy Armor R5
Battle Healing R5
Energist
Fighting Spirit
Charge

Active Mods:
Impetus
Iron Skin
Ferocity
Stamina
Vengeful Riposte
Emergency Recovery

Active Extra Skills:
Parry

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal: 2

She woke to a tongue on her face.

"Stoppp," Lessa murmured groggily, though a small, coy smile curled across her chapped lips. If he wanted to wake her up with sloppy kisses, who was she to refuse? It was only when Bahr began to whimper in a strangely animalistic way that the woman finally blinked open her eyes. Even through the sleep gunk, she managed to make out the hairy face of, not Bahr, but Riker. Eyes like crushed stars bore into her, swirling with an oddly intense concern. With each heavy pant, he blasted her with hot breath and spittle.

Disgust and disappointment crashed through the sleepiness as she shoved the wolf back. "Seriously dude? Come on. Boundaries, remember? Personal space." Tugging down the sleeves of her shirt, she dragged the soft fabric over her damp face. Then, more to herself than her familiar, she muttered, "Must have been some dream I was having."

Yet even as the words left her lips to fill her spacious bedroom, a weird thought occurred to her. Had she been dreaming? As someone who always remembered those unconscious adventures, the fact that Lessa could not quite put the pieces together irked her. A hand slowly moved to her forehead, a cold palm pressing to warm skin before her fingers raked through her hair. If she were in the real world, she might have chalked it up to alcohol. Here in Aincrad, she did not have that conclusion to jump to.

Riker whimpered again, a sound more anxious than anything she had heard from him before. In fact, the noise startled Lessa out of her annoyance. "Hey," she cooed, now opening her arms to her companion. "Come here. Are you okay? What's wrong?" As Riker stepped into her embrace, and plunged his damp nose into the crook of her neck, a window populated before Lessa's eyes.

"Update complete?" she questioned aloud, running her left hand over Riker's back as her right accepted the pop-up. A series of follow-ups prompted her to reallocate her SP, and briefly explained that a number of changes had been made to the world she'd called home for over half a decade. Unsure of exactly how to proceed, the Guardian recreated the build she had come to know and trust. Only when the task was done, and her HUD was again empty, did she bury her face in the wolf's rough coat. She stayed there, breathing in his familiar scent, as she thought it over. Why would the game have such a significant update now, after so many years of complete silence from the developers? Was it because they had reached some sort of milestone? Had the Frontliners managed to beat the Floor Twenty Five boss? Bahr had gone to fight, and -

Bahr.
Waiting on the seventh floor for him to come back from the fight.
The storm.
The screams.
The terror.
The shadows.
Bahr.

It returned with the force of the waves that had consumed all of Aincrad. In a heartbeat, Lessa had thrown herself out of her bed and toward the bedroom door. Bare feet slapped the sleek wood floor as she barreled down the hall and into her living room. A fire crackled cheerfully in the hearth - had she left going? - and sunlight poured through the walls of glass - how long had she been out? - but those things only registered peripherally. Instead, her entire focus remained on the front door, and the man whom she would find beyond it.

Of course, Lessa had no way of knowing just how literal that thought was. At the same time as she grasped the handle, a frantic pounding and terrified voice exploded into the foyer.

"Apollo!" she cried out, even as she whipped open the door and tumbled through it.

[Bahr 0]

In a blur and only seconds after he'd reached the door, it was flung open from the other side, revealing the attractive blonde who lived within as she stumbled through the threshold toward him. He caught her slimmer frame between his arms and righted her, his fingers curling around her tightly as though to hold her securely as well as make sure she was real. Those mismatched eyes, wide with worry, studied her features in a frenzy. First, to ensure that she was, indeed, Lessa. Second, that ensure she was okay. Excitement and bewilderment and fear all rode on his visage as he inspected her, instinctively pulling her closer until she'd been tugged into an full embrace, a palm cradling her neck pushing her cheek against his chest. For the first time since he'd woke, his breathing started to steady.

"Oh thank god," finally made it past his lips, held back for fear that seeing her had only been an illusion of some trick of the mind. "It said it killed you."

Before he had time to explain himself, and before she had time to respond, he tugged her away from his torso and planted his lips against hers. The long, drawn out kiss was not so soft as their usual exchanges. This was harsh, swift, and desperate. A plea to feel her essence within him as he did now around him. To be consumed by that feeling like he had been the tides of dark. And no matter how much he got, it seemed he wouldn't get his fill. Eventually, he had to force himself to withdraw and take a breath.

"Did it hurt you?" he questioned, eyes looking her over once more. There didn't appear to be a scratch on her. "The Shadow, I mean. It said it killed you. Did it hurt you?"

[Lessa 1]

He was there, and the relief that exploded from her lips came on a hard sigh as her body crashed into his. Tremors racked through her, and though her legs went to jell-o, the snowy-haired swordsman supported her. Just as he always does.

The hand he pressed to her neck was cool, a welcome relief to the hot sweat that had broken out over her flushed skin. She focused on it, and the force with which he possessively held her against him. She focused on the rapid-fire beat of his racing heart as she screwed her eyes closed. She focused on the familiar smell of him, and the sensation of his cotton t-shirt against her cheek. Not the usual crimson coat she had come to expect, though. Had he run all this way in his pajamas? The absurdity of it tugged a choppy laugh from her, and then another, in quick succession. It wasn't until the fifth laugh that she felt the damp spot on his shirt, and became aware of the tears streaming down her face. Somewhere along the line, the laughter had given way to sobs.

Bahr eased her away from him, and at the sudden absence of his body heat, her eyes flew open. At the same moment, his lips collided with hers. Lessa felt a hunger in the kiss that she had rarely experienced, and an urgency that seemed to roll from him in hot waves. It took only seconds for her to succumb to it, and soon, her shaking hands slowly stilled. Finally, her brain, and her heart, understood what her body already realized - that Bahr was safe.

"It's okay," she assured him, not entirely unlike how she had comforted her familiar only moments before. It didn't matter if the statement answered his question or not, she just kept repeating it. "I'm okay." She lifted her hands, cupping his face as her gaze shifted between each mismatched eye. "It's okay. I'm not hurt now. I'm fine." She gave him a crooked smile, splitting the tears still drying on her cheeks. "Everything's fine."

Then, his demands finally registered. In her rush to calm him, she misunderstood his question. "Yeah, the shadows did kill me," she answered hastily, "like they killed everyone else. But now we're okay."

[Bahr 0]

"Yeah, the shadows did kill me."

Hearing the utterance sent a chill throughout his entire body in protest against the logical conclusion that she was obviously there, right in front of him, safe and sound. While he consciously knew it, there was something so unnerving in the most primal sense, hearing that proclamation. He could feel his eyes widen and his breathing hitch as the words rolled around in his head, conflicting everything he could see and feel and hear. For whatever reason, she had died. And lived. And now here she was, in front of him, saying as much like it was a simple matter of fact. Just another consequence of living in this damned prison they'd come to call home.

And, in a certain sense, he supposed it was.

"I don't... understand," he finally admitted, cocking his head to the side a tad while his eyebrows furrowed with worry. "None of it makes sense. I always knew that the Floor Bosses were a force to be reckoned with, but I had no idea their influence could extend beyond the confines of their chamber." Though, perhaps it was his own foolishness, or lack of foresight, which had tricked him into believing so. "The entire situation feels foggy, and confusing, and wrong."

But she was alive. And he was thankful for that.

With the revelation finally sinking in that they were both somehow okay, he allowed himself to let loose that breath he'd been holding back, and do what he could to steady his mind and body. He wasn't even sure what he could do, or say, that would make the situation feel more right. But as long as they were both there, breathing, it was about as right as it could get in Aincrad.

"I'm so happy you're okay."

[Lessa 1]

Red-rimmed eyes went wide as Bahr spoke, then narrowed again. This time, it was Lessa's turn to be confused. "I- what?" Given all of the muddled thoughts splashing about in her brain, that was honestly the best she could come up with. Shaking her head slowly for a few seconds allowed her time to sort her thoughts, but in the end, it didn't do much good. "The confines of the boss' chamber?" Did he really not know what had gone on outside of that boss room?

"Uh, hey," she began suddenly, shifting a bit to draw further away from him. "Would you mind if we went inside? We could grab something warm to drink or something. Because it's kind of chilly out here, and, I'm, uh," a quick cough, and a downward glance at her boxer shorts preceded the words, "not wearing actual pants." Apparently, it was only once the shock of seeing Bahr finally wore off that she noticed the goosebumps dotting her exposed skin.

Together, they found their feet, then made their way into the log cabin. The fire still popped and sizzled, and Lessa found herself appreciating it's warmth as she moved into the adjoining kitchen. She also found herself appreciating the few additional minutes to think things over that the journey allowed her. "It does feel wrong," she agreed finally, forgetting her missing pants as the words came to her. Turning to face him, she added, "And fuzzy, and confusing. I guess we both have a lot of catching up to do. And with this update, I don't really know the state of things, or what any of it means for us. The pop-up said things have changed, but how, and in what way? Is there a big list somewhere, or do we just have to find out for ourselves?"

Funny, she went from speechless to rambling in record time.

So she brought both hands to her face, and scrubbed it for a few seconds. "Sorry," she murmured through her fingers. "Getting ahead of myself." Once she dropped her hands to her sides again, she offered Bahr a small smile. "First thing's first. Since you're here, can I assume you guys beat the boss?"

[Bahr 0]

"Uh, hey. Would you mind if we went inside? We could grab something warm to drink or something. Because it's kind of chilly out here, and, I'm, uh, not wearing actual pants."

As though on cue, Bahr's mismatched eyes flickered down to her exposed appendages, where they lingered a tad longer than most would consider polite. Whether clothed or not, he couldn't help but appreciate her features. Though, once he'd found the good sense to actually respond, he did so with but a short nod and an awkward, affirming grunt of some sort. My, how articulate he'd been this entire encounter.

He followed those slender snacks as they led him through the foyer of Manderly, his eyes only leaving them when he missed the doorknob twice in his attempts to close the door. And no sooner had he found success than she started up again.

"It does feel wrong. And fuzzy, and confusing. I guess we both have a lot of catching up to do. And with this update..."

Right. The update.

Bahr could feel the color draining from his visage as Lessa reminded him of that wretched screen and its incessant intrusion earlier that morning. In his haste, he'd fumbled through the menus like an unwelcome fever dream. He was certain he'd tapped on the wrong options more than once, but he hadn't cared at the time. Lessa was his priority. But as the anxiety of her death waned in her presence, a new anxiety took its place. In just what ways had he royally screwed his build? It could be weeks before he were ready to attempt fighting monsters or exploring the new floor in earnest.

"First thing's first. Since you're here, can I assume you guys beat the boss?"

It was the first thing she'd said that had actually registered with him since she mentioned the update, and even then, it wasn't until a few seconds after the inquiry was issued that any semblance of recognition graced his features.

"Ah- right, that. Yes. I mean- I think so." Instinctively, he reached one of his gloved hands back and ran it through his snow-white hair, still damp and slick from his endeavor to reach her. "Like I said, it's all still sort of hazy. I distinctly remember most of the fight, but it's hard to recall how it ended, or how I ended up back at home." And as he scrambled to mentally assemble the pieces of that encounter, which somehow felt like a distant memory as opposed to something that had basically happened literally an hour prior, he felt the features of his face gradually becoming harder. "God, I sucked, Alyssa. I mean really sucked. I looked like a total amateur out there. I kicked my own ass for months to be prepared for something like that and totally bombed it."

Eventually, he recalled enough that he could answer more confidently.

"Yeah, we beat it," he concluded, though in a deflated tone. "As far as I remember, zero Player fatalities. Everyone did their best and we made it out alive. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if most of us are licking the wounds to our psyche and ego."

[Lessa 1]

With mixed emotions, Lessa studied Bahr's crumpled face. The completion of the floor boss raid, and the fact that no one died, was cause for celebration. Yet nothing about Bahr's tone, posture, or expression spoke of joy. Instead, she found only annoyance. This was not an unusual mood for Bahr - he had a habit of holding himself to lofty standards, and was often too hard on himself - but it felt so out of place here. In her clean, cozy kitchen, warmed by the crackling fire and the midday sun, she always found positivity. One more thing that just feels off today.

"I guess that's something to be thankful for," she finally answered, choosing each word carefully. Glossing over Bahr's concerns was not something she meant to do, but it still deserved saying. "Any boss fight where everyone makes it out alive is a good one."

With that out of the way, she stepped up to him and gently placed both hands on his forearms. Tilting her face up to his, she let her gaze shift between his ruby and emerald eyes. "But I can understand the frustration, too. I'm so sorry. You really busted ass to get ready for this fight, so to have it not play out like you hoped..." Her voice trailed, and she gave his arms a slight squeeze. "We'll just have to shift our focus to the next boss, and keep working hard. The next one will be better. I'll be there with you to make sure of it."

Her palms slid down his arms, her fingers finding his and interlacing as she gently tugged him toward the couch. "Are you up for sitting for a minute? I think I need to sit." Was now the appropriate time to tell him about her experiences? Was it ever a good time to discuss chaos, horror, and death on a massive scale? Probably not, but she couldn't keep it from him. She had to let it out, and there was no one else she would rather unload on.

Lessa folded herself onto the couch, tucking her legs beneath her, and dragging a comically fuzzy blanket across her lap. "So," she began slowly, "you know how everyone made it out of the boss fight alive? That's not how it happened out here. While you guys were fighting, this huge storm totally destroyed the seventh floor. There was thunder, lightning, these crazy sci-fi monsters, and black rain that looked like tar. And when it touched you, it was so cold that you were just paralyzed." Her fingers nervously picked at the yarn on the blanket, her eyes wide and glossy as they stared into the flames. Even though she sat beside him on the couch, Lessa was a million miles away. "There was this insane flash flood, and the water just kept rising. We ran up the mountain, but we just weren't fast enough. I think- I think it got everyone and everything on the entire floor. When it got me, everything just went dark. I woke up in my own bed." Finally, she shifted to look at him, a strained smile twisting her face. "The shadows killed all of us. I don't know why. Maybe it was a part of this update. But it was awful, and I'm glad you didn't have to go through it."

[Bahr 0]

"I guess that's something to be thankful for. Any boss fight where everyone makes it out alive is a good one."

Which was true. And yet, somehow, it made him feel even more foolish. Here he was, lamenting in his poor performance, when the fact that they had cleared the floor at all, and with zero fatalities, no less, should have been cause for celebration. They should have been joining hands with the rest of the Players in the Town of Beginnings, giving thanks to Cardinal for its ever-fortuitous mercy, that everyone was alive. That they hadn't all just been swallowed whole by an unexplainable amalgam no more than a quarter of the way through the castle. He should have wanted to, as well. Instead, he was making it about him.

So much growth, he'd undergone. But, in many ways, he was still the child he'd been upon entering this place.

"But I can understand the frustration, too. I'm so sorry. You really busted ass to get ready for this fight, so to have it not play out like you hoped... We'll just have to shift our focus to the next boss, and keep working hard. The next one will be better. I'll be there with you to make sure of it."

The platitudes. He appreciated them, but knew they only escaped her lips for his sake. Surely the absurdity of his chagrin was not lost on her.

Silently, he followed her along to the couch, trying his best not to look like a pouting brat as he sat beside her. And try as he might, he couldn't hold his expression back from souring as she explained what she and the others had experienced on the seventh floor. The cause was twofold; first, he was completely appalled by what they had been forced to endure; second, he felt even more foolish than he had only minutes before. Everyone died. Yet, miraculously, here they all were. Unscathed. Physically, anyways. It made his embarrassment over his performance in the raid all the more trivial and laughable. And as he grappled with this realization, so too did he grapple with the fact that, even as he sat there feeling like an idiot for having made it about himself, he was still making it about himself.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Seconds of silence culminated into what felt like minutes in swift order. The window of time within which a response wouldn't seem awkward had long since passed, which become more evident as Lessa's expression slowly contorted into one of confusion - which he assumed was spurred from his lack of response. He suddenly felt so tired. Of all of it. As though the reality of their situation was finally settling it. The prison they found themselves in had been gnawing at their sanity for years, and it was now that Bahr truly began to experience that ever deepening sink-hole in his brain where logic and reason should have been.

It was as though he was going mad. A different 'madness' than the kind he had grown accustomed to. It wasn't the sort of blind, raging fury that had carried him through so many of his fights. That was a simple, clean, and understandable madness. A defense mechanism, almost - the sort that gave him the gas he needed to make it through to the other end of a typically fatal scenario. What he felt now was more complicated. More unnerving. Like nothing was right, and that it hadn't been for a long time. And that, upon realizing this, he wondered how it was possible that now, upon the veneer evaporating, and the truth of their situation being laid bare for him to witness with no obstruction, that he felt that he was going mad. Wouldn't he have had to have been mad before, to have normalized and accepted this existence? To have even liked it, and tried to convince his love that she should, too? Why was it that now, as he felt himself spiraling, and the world was almost certainly spinning, and everything that had been right had turned wrong, and everything that had been wrong seemed right, he felt as though he'd gone insane?

He couldn't respond to her. He couldn't even keep his thoughts straight. What she and the others had been through was outright horrifying, and deserved at least some sort of response. But instead he sat silent, eyes boring seemingly straight into hers, slightly widened, as he felt his heart bursting in his ears, and his breathing run ragged. Unable to speak, he placed a hand on her thigh near the knee in an attempt to console her at least somewhat. But rather than a light grip, his fingers squeezed into her flesh in an almost frantic, frenzy-like manner. In a hasty overcorrection, he released his grasp, hand freezing in the air, slightly shaking. Now he didn't know what to do with it, and that realization somehow exacerbated the incredible discomfort he now felt wriggling its way through his entire body. Everything tingled, and itched, and burned, and he wasn't getting enough air, and his hand wouldn't quit shaking, and he was still just staring directly into her eyes.

And then, suddenly, with a couple of blinks of his mismatched eyes, all of it subsided.

His hands found both of her shoulders, gently this time, and held them as though to ground her. Though, it was probably he himself who needed to be grounded more than anyone. "I'm not okay," he finally admitted, still unable to comprehend whatever the hell it was he'd just been through. "I don't think any of us are."

It was somewhat unusual for him to present himself as so vulnerable - though, he supposed Lessa had seen him in similar such states before. Hell, they'd met while he'd been having a meltdown. But this felt different. An admission of a long-kept secret, the truth of which he'd hidden even from himself. The ultimate revelation. He had always wanted to be rock for her, or at the very least a positive influence on her life. But now, he felt helpless. Everything was wrong. Lessa - Alyssa, may have been the only thing that was right.

"I wish you hadn't needed to go through any of that. It's a miracle you're here. Or any of us are. I'm... honestly just grateful you're okay."

There was no way she wouldn't have noticed what had just happened, but he had a hope that, at the very least, she could overlook or ignore it for now. The last thing he wanted in that moment was to be the center of attention. What had happened with the raid wasn't about him. What had happened to Lessa and the others on Floor 7 wasn't about him. None of it was. And he didn't deserve a sliver of special treatment regarding any of it. He'd only sucked in a fight. She had literally died. There was no room in a conversation like this for him to be losing it like this.

"What should we do with a second chance like this?" he questioned quietly, hastily, trying to shift the attention and the scope of the conversation to something else. Something external. "If you could do anything today, what would it be?"

[Lessa 1]

Lessa wasn't entirely sure what she had been expecting. Learning that she, along with the entirety of Aincrad, had died... well, it couldn't be easy for anyone to come to terms with. She thought maybe he might blow up, cursing the game, its creator, and the harsh reality they never seemed to have any control over. She had seen this anger in him many times before, and knew that it still bubbled just beneath the surface. Try as she may, she had never succeeded in permanently cooling the man's temper. She had prepared herself for the explosion, and the impossibly hot flames that she sometimes still feared might graze her. She had been burned before, that night in Sanctuary, but she tried desperately to forget it. If he gets mad now, she cautioned herself, it won't be with me. He won't be angry with me.

But the madness never came, nor did the sadness, the confusion, or the fear. In fact, Bahr's expression remained completely neutral, even seconds after she had shared her story. Concern tightened around her heart, and a moment later, it had spread across her entire chest. Swallowing around a newly formed lump in her throat, Lessa's blue eyes shifted expectantly between Bahr's mismatched ones. Usually, they revealed so much about what raced through the his mind. This time, she might have been looking into a black, starless sky. 

"Hey," she finally breathed, reaching a trembling hand toward the man she loved. Her fingertips gently kissed his flushed forehead, drawing the white hair back from his eyes before trailing down the side of his face. She cupped his cheek, her thumb stroking soft half-moons against his warm skin. "Bahr?" The word did not appear to reach him, wherever he had gone. Distress lanced through her, a sudden and overpowering need to draw him back to her. "Apollo? Are you okay?"

Her entire body flinched when he suddenly came back to life. She turned to look at his hand on her shoulder, and when she swung her gaze back to meet his, the pain still lingered. But she forced a small, tight-lipped smile for his benefit. Then, knowing that he read her like an open book, she let her body fall into his. With her face pressed to the soft fabric of his sleep shirt, he wouldn't be able to see how she drew in long, slow breaths, her eyes screwed closed, her jaw clenched tightly. 

When he finally spoke, and she replied, she prayed her voice would be steadier than she was.

"This isn't too bad right here," she told him. But somehow, they both knew they couldn't spend the day wrapped up in each other. Too much had happened. And if we don't do something soon, he might go away again.

So she sat up, careful not to dig an elbow into him as she shifted on the overstuffed couch. Her hair, a bit disheveled from cuddling up to him, fell over her shoulder. She made no move to brush it back as it tumbled like a curtain across half her face. "I guess maybe go for a walk? Get out and enjoy the nice day?"