[SP-PT-F25] We're All Mad Here | <<Down the Rabbit Hole>>

[Morningstar 0]

                                                                                                                                                                         Part I
                                                                                                                            Home is Where the Heart is

"So," Willow flipped her hair behind her ears. "What do you think?"

Star squinted, humming as if to think. "You know, I kind of miss red." She frowned, and he recognized immediately that it was his cue to end the joke. "Kidding. You look beautiful." He pulled her into a hug, both welcoming her inside and saving her from the heat of the beach.

"Really? You don't think black looks silly?" She asked, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

"Not even a little bit. I think it's silly that you walked here in a sweater."

"You're wearing one too!"

"Yeah, but I'm inside. It's cool inside."

After a dramatic eye roll and a gentle punch to his shoulder, she wandered off to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Star plopped himself down at his table, eyeing the latest rumor he had come across. He wasn't sure how it had ended up on his desk, but when he showed up to work the day before, all the details were there, scrawled on a scrap of paper. Bistro knew nothing about it, nor did the others who were around at the time. His best guess was that it was Cardinal's attempt at an anonymous tip. That, or someone had actually broken into his office to give him a severely wrinkled sheet of paper with poorly handwritten scribbles all over it. Messages existed for a reason, he thought; the former was more believable to him. It wasn't the first time he had encountered a physical message delivery. Magdalyn Manor came to mind—the escape room he had found himself trapped in shortly after Floor Twenty-Seven was cleared. Maybe he should stop checking the mail so much.

Willow took a seat opposite him, carefully sipping from her mug as she squatted down. "Whatcha reading?" She asked.

"Mmm. Tell me what you think of this," Star slid the paper across the table to her.

"Seems... peculiar."

"Peculiar, huh? I was thinking that it sounds like a bad idea. I like peculiar more, though."

"You're going to go scouting, then?"

"Why? Want to come?"

"Where did it say you were going?"

"Floor Twenty-Five."

"Ooh. The Endless Maze. How romantic."

"Is that a yes?"

"Fine. I'll grab my gear."

"It's a date," Star smirked, snatching up the sheet of paper and shoving it in his pocket.

Willow stood, leaving behind her drink. She kissed Star on the cheek and raced up the stairs to his bedroom.

"Fifteen minutes!" He called after her, a sarcastic smile plastered on his face. He sat behind, his eyes trailing the warm steam rising from her coffee.

 

| MORNINGSTAR  | Lv. 68 >> P. 35, Lv. 33  | Status: [ date night: endless maze edition ]  Notes:  //

Hide contents Morningstar | HP: 943/943 | EN: 118/118 | DMG: 22 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 2 | BH: 43 | LD: 9 | REC: 8 | FLN: 16 | AA | PARA-V | HB: 40 | FIREPROOF | PARA-IMM equipped Dying Sun FLN II, AA, PAR VEN Inner Focus EVA II, REC II Koga's Wallet HB II, FP, P.IMM battle-ready inventory Magdalyn's Cuckoo skills   Hide contents mod count: 4/5 STRAIGHT SWORD | RANK 5/5 precision, stamina, ferocity shift: aoe MARTIAL ARTS | RANK 5/5 precision COMBAT MASTERY: DMG | RANK 3/3 SEARCHING | RANK 4/5 (5) night vision, detect, tracking, reveal BATTLE HEALING | RANK 5/5 UNHINDERED ENERGIST CHARGE extra (active) SURVIVAL PHOTOSYNTHESIZE LADY LUCK DISGUISE data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== buffs   Hide contents statue # | # consumables grumbleberries | LD II shadows withal | OH III paragon Lv. 5 | Gain additional col equivalent to 15% of EXP earned in that thread. Lv. 10 | +1 LD to looting. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== sword arts   Hide contents en cost matches multiplier unless stated otherwise. shift underlined. ST | x12 -> x15 | x20 AOE | x15 -> x18 TECH-A | x12 | STUN | 13EN TECH-B | x12 | DELAY TECH-D | x12 | SHATTER TECH-F | x12 | AOE STUN TECH-G | x12 | BURN data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== misc/housing buffs   Hide contents Dimensional Backpack | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat. Squeaky Clean | The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down). Filling | Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30. Tasty | Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread. Relaxed | Increases out-of-combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. Multipurpose | Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll. Skylight (Searching) | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill.  fishing # data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==   data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==

 

[Morningstar 0]

Star no longer left Lite’tara without a prayer from a shaman. Did they work? Star couldn’t say, but he thought it was better to be safe than sorry. One lost week in the labyrinth was enough for a lifetime. The system didn’t translate the language of the elder orc; Star simply replied with polite thanks and went on his way.

“Do you feel blessed?” Willow teased.

“Like I could walk on water,” Star said back.

Eyeing the humble tents and cabins that filled the valley, Willow tossed another question his way. “What do you expect to find?”

He hadn’t thought about it. He tried not to; his expectations were usually far off anyway. “The letter was vague.” He tried to recite it in his head from memory. “Something to do with the Shrine of Shadows. Heard of it?”

“Nope.”

“Weird place. Never been myself, but the shamans say it whispers to you.”

“Like ASMR?”

“What?”

“Nevermind. Continue.”

“Anyway, it’s a safezone. Monsters don’t spawn there. Once we cross through, I don’t expect we’ll run into any danger.”

“Sounds like a quick and easy rumor to solve. Hi there,” she said as they approached the edge of town.

An old minotaur grunted, standing watch over the labyrinth’s gateway. “Chalk?”

“Yes, please,” smiled Willow.

He handed each of them a stick of chalk, both large enough for a day's trip into the maze. It was more than they needed, but less than Star felt comfortable with. “Could we—”

“One each,” interrupted the minotaur.

Star didn’t argue, instead nodding awkwardly as he and Willow entered the maze.

[Morningstar 0]

Willow drove her fist into the belly of an Umbral Giant. The speed boost from Charge sent it staggering, struggling to keep its footing. Winded, it teetered, flailing for balance until finally crashing to the ground. She climbed on top of the beast, and with three swift jabs to its chest, she purged it from the world. Meanwhile, Star was caught in the middle of a swarm of flesh-hungry goblins. The wargs they rode snapped at him, their snarls drowned out by the flames that spat from his blade—his only defense from being torn apart. He swung with precision, just as he’d trained, and in a single sweeping arc, he scorched through the horde. Bright red particles drifted off his arm, and he brushed them away with a thumb.

“You okay?” Willow asked, dusting off her light armor, unscathed.

“Just a scratch. I’ll live.”

As they rounded the next corner, the labyrinth shifted. Walls moved, and a long corridor stretched out, opening to a clearing covered in dead grass and sharp rocks. At the center stood a glowing monolith, its light drawing inward, glowing brightest at the core. There was no doubt in Morningstar’s mind—this was the place. The orb of light shot out from the shrine, humming as it circled the players. Along the edges of the clearing, shadows danced. They moved as if physical in form, flowing into carved sigils along the rocks and the shrine; all the while, the orb continued to spin. Star reached out to touch it, only for it to fly out of reach.

“Do you think it’s like the thing from Zelda?” Willow asked.

“The fairy?”

“Yeah.”

Star grabbed at it once more, with no luck. “Maybe.”

Something whispered to them. Whether the shrine, the shadows, or the orb were the cause, they could not say. It was as described by the shamans: unintelligible. The words were on the tip of his tongue, as if the system was working hard to translate an old, forgotten language, but falling short of recreating the words in his dialect.

“Stephen?”

Through gibberish, he discerned its call. It was cold, yet welcoming. The orb’s light grew brighter with every step he took. It followed closely beside him, neutral in all aspects. His eyes stuck to the shrine, but he could feel the ball’s presence close by. Its warmth enveloped him, a contrast to the monolith’s own aura.

“Hey—something weird is happening with the shadows.”

Captivated by the voice, he could not hear her. Unconsciously, he moved within arm’s reach of the shrine. Shadows crept up the rocks, swirling in the middle, where the orb once was. They glitched like broken sprites. Star reached for them, and his body malfunctioned as well. The closer he moved his hand, the louder the voice became.

“Stephen, wait!”

He planted his palm against the bugged shadows. Alongside the labyrinth, Star and Willow vanished.

 

-> Endless Maze: 234812: CD 7
-> Shrine of Shadows: LD 13+9=22