[PP-F2] ' Unconventional Methods

[Mari 1]

Mari sighed, stopping in her tracks as Arc asked her if she would be ok. She turned her head; very slightly over her shoulder. Enough to acknowledge the sentiment. Her blue eyes, normally filled with a bitter coldness were half lidded. Tears had stung the corners of her eyes. Anguished blue orbs lingered on Arc's form, before she slowly blinked away the salty droplets. "Heh." The concern and sentiment seemed odd coming from him. Mari wasn't sure if he was being vindictive, or it was genuine. 

"Two people became Player Killers on this day. Myself." Mari began, as she headed to the nearest tree - her hand delicately gliding across it's smooth bark. "And Alkor." How long had it been since she said that name? It felt weird coming off her tongue. "I was tricked, in so few words - and my daughter died, by my own hands. If it weren't for him - I'd no longer be here. You want to know why I keep living? Why I am spiteful at the world around me? I watched a man fall from grace, become a Player Killer; and then die - and I did nothing. I promised, we would remove our Orange Cursor together. Call me foolish, idealistic." 

She paused, deftly pulling her dagger out of her inventory; to dig it into the bark of the tree nothing came out, she had failed to hit a sappy vein. "But I refuse to, if I have walk a path to hell - I shall do so with my head held high. Lest the fires burn away what little sanity remains."

 

Arc muttered something about Mari slowing him down. She gave a somewhat bitter laugh; "No, you need those crystals let's continue."

 

 

ID: 22404  LD: 7 + 2 = 9 FAIL

 

Base Stat Totals for thread

â—Š Damage Total: 10 â—Š Evasion Total: 2 â—Š Damage Mitigation Total: 5 â—Š Accuracy Total: 3 â—Š Charge Total: 4â—Š Loot Die Total: + 2

[Ashrah 0]

Tobias stopped cold when he heard the name.

Alkor.

Thom never expressed any interest in Sword Art Online to him in the sessions of gameplay leading up to launch day. Perhaps it was because Tobi never asked, more inclined to question how his best friend's poor old grandmother was doing with her dementia. Every day seemed to wear the other boy out, and Tobias often wondered if his selfless caregiving and work schedule would tear the other man apart.

The thought that Thom lived in this reality, this hell that he now found himself in- it did not sit well with Tobias. He understood the desire to disconnect from the painful reality they knew, but he never thought Thom would invest in a new addiction. It was too true to deny, though.

Alkor was the name he chose in everything. From the moment he woke in the day, Thom had always talked about the trials of Prince Al'kir and fall of his kingdom, all part of the world that the boy would never bring to life, now. Mari confirmed the death of the one person in the world who Tobias truly felt a kinship toward, and in the next moment, revealed she had some deep emotional connection with him.

"He was here," Arc sad in a soft, sad and distraught voice that creaked as his expression softened. "Oh god, Thom."

In the middle of a forest near a grave to Mari's child, Tobias sank to his knees. "You're gone," he rasped. "I was going to tell you everything when I got home. How I got trapped, and how I fought, and what it felt like to live in this world. I was going to tell you I finally understood why you felt such a bond with your grandmother, and that I would try to be a better son to my mother..."

His hands scraped at the grass as he tried to focus himself in vain. "All those dreams, dried up..."

Arc's face knitted in agony as he fought back the tears that threatened to burst forth. Dead. The word felt like a void where his stomach should have been. While he fought to stay alive, his best friend had lost that battle. "Why did you not tell me," Arc whispered, "why did you not say you were getting this game?"

He recalled in the few weeks before the game, Thom had become something of a recluse. His grandmother's condition fluctuated and worsened, then became better overnight. Countless doses of medicine to help her sleep through the night, to calm her nerves, and to stabilize her heart kept her alive more than air did anymore. Maybe that was what pushed Thom to become Alkor. Maybe that was why he ran.

Arc felt his burning gaze travel to Mari, but he felt powerless. "You watched him die?" he choked. "You just watched him die." He believed it. It was twisted and painful, and he felt the acidic hatred boil in his stomach, but Arc kept himself from voicing it. "Fine. I get it. You didn't know the guy. You didn't have to put your life on the line for him. I can't be mad about that."

He threw his hands up and sighed. "Let's just finish here. I don't have anything else to say," he turned his gaze from her and continued, "but if Alkor died to protect you, you damn well better stay alive. You owe that to him."

[Mari 1]

It was a whisper, such a soft whisper, but it was one all too familiar. A name that Mari had not mentioned; the face behind the facade that was Alkor. A cold, calculating man - intent on clearing the floors, a man feared, reviered by others. One who was crumbling behind a stout guise. Battle worn, weary. Mari's hand shook, this man...Arc.. Arc knew Alkor?

Of course...

She couldn't deny the similarities between the two, maybe - somewhere in her subconscious she saw it earlier , and it was why she treated the man with such distaste. Mari turned on her heel to watch as Arc sunk to his knees, and for the first time, in a very, very long time Mari felt compassion for another. Sympathy. It hurt, it hurt her to see him defeated like that. 

Arc went into despondent ramblings, clutching helplessly at the grass in front of him. Mari quickly breached the few steps.  Enclosing the gap between them. She fell to her knees, arms wrapping around the man's sturdy, shaking shoulders. Mari had to hold him tight, to stop her own hands from trembling. This man was her last link to Thom. A man she had loved, a man who kept her sane in an ever maddening world. 

He was racked with a visible grief that Mari was still fighting with, even to this day. "I'm sorry" She whispered, her words more than likely meant nothing to the man, she knew all too well that such words were meaningless during times of pain.

"Every god damned forsaken day in this hell - I wished it were me. Not him. He didn't die protecting me he died in a battle against a boss. The Hydra- his team mates failed to recover him, I was in a different formation - I only wished I had known how dire his health was...." She trailed off, as she heard the burning hatred in his voice. Broken with vile rage.

Mari let him go, and pulled away - eyes downcast. "I was fighting, to leave this game, in a foolish attempt to find her." If Arc had pieced two and two together - he would have realized that the her whom was mentioned earlier was Alkor's Grandmother. "Guess you can do that now." She muttered. "Since I don't know him."

She didn't need to be reminded of the monster she was. The guilt of his death, whose weight pressed harder onto her shoulders.

 

 

"We are done here." Mari mumbled, moving away from him. "I'll get what I need myself. You'll get your crystals."

[Ashrah 0]

It would have been so easy. I wish it had been you and not him, too. Every fiber of his being wanted to scream it in her face when she touched him, the same body that claimed to love his dearest friend in one breath and left him for dead in the next. He jolted from the closeness, but even more, he fought to prevent himself from brash action.

He understood the pain all too well. Despite his newfound anguish, Arc would never betray his desire to finish this game and put the sorrow behind him. There was too much driving him for any amount of loss to hold him back from that for long, but it would always linger in his mind. Thom was gone, a victim of one of the hellish boss battles he had only heard about.

When she let go, he rose slowly to his feet with eyes planted on the ground. Hair fell in front of his eyes as her words slammed into him and then melted away like ice. If Tobias felt the bite of her words, it did not show.

"You know what happens when you die in this world." His words were flat, unfeeling, but somber somehow. "I won't waste any amount of time seeking the dead. I know better. My best friend is gone. I'll never see him again."

His expression did not change as the wavering words left him. "But he would not want for me to give up, or lose who I am. So I won't. There's too much at stake, and I know exactly what he would say to me. 'You're giving up just because you couldn't change something? The whole world won't change for you every time you dislike something. Forget your vanity and focus on something you can change."

"You cared about him," Arc said with a shrug, "I can see that well enough. But if this is how you mourn him, how well did you actually know him?"

He sighed. "Nevermind. I'm just bitter because I wasn't there to save him, I guess. I don't have the right to judge."

He walked toward the edge of the grove and placed a hand on one of the trees. "I don't think so," he said to her assertion of finality. "You aren't getting rid of me until I see this through to the end. Every bit of sap, every flower. Then you never have to see me again."

He went to strike the nearest tree with his bastard sword, hastily drawn over his shoulder. With a hack, he drove the weapon deep into wood, and the forest seemed to tremble gently. "Damn," he muttered, hands trembling.

[iD: 22411, LD: 1/Fail]

[Mari 1]

"Don't treat me like an idiot. I know he won't come back." Mari muttered. biting her tongue, tears stinging her eyes. Mari was furious  with Arc. She was almost not going to say anything, but then - Arc - spoke so nonchalantly over Alkor's death. Shrugging, barb after barb aimed at her. Each one driving further and further into her heart. She was trying she was fighting so hard to move on - to pick up the tattered pieces of what she had left. But it was too much, with the Death of her daughter and Alkor in the same year? To have her few friends disappear? Assumed dead?

"You have no  f**king idea do you?" Mari snapped at him. "You didn't even know he was here and you claim to be his best friend? Where were YOU when he broke down? When he was scrambling to pick up the pieces? Pretending everything was all ok when he just wanted to run? Where were YOU when we were fighting the Hydra? Were you so busy cooped up in your own self f**king righteous plight?"

Arc turned to the tree, in an attempt to help her farm materials, Mari shook her head, grabbing the back of his collar and turning him to face her. "LOOK at ME!" She cried out, and it was in that moment that it was clear everything she tried to fight, the things she bottled up, the things she had long since forgotten. Her eyes were bloodshot, and the flow of tears showed know signs of stopping.  "LOOk at ME when I'm F**KING TALKING TO YOU!" She cried out, voice more pained than angry. 

 

[Ashrah 0]

"The guy withdrew from the world," Arc hissed as she twisted him around. He thrust his forearm up to her throat and pressed her away, though without unarmed ability the action carried no implications of harm. "He was socially destroyed by a broken family. His mother was abusive and he barely spoke two words to anyone he didn't know. That was on a good day."

He held her gaze in silence for several moments after revealing one of Thom's saddest memories to Mari. "When his grandmother started to go critical in condition, he couldn't cope with it. He locked himself in his room. I assumed he just played games and ignored people, except when he was alone with her. But they turned me away at the door, kept saying he wasn't home. I had no idea he went out and bought Sword Art Online to disappear into.

"It makes all the sense in the world, though."

Arc let her go and slapped her hand away from him. His body turned back toward his weapon and he tugged at it. "Anyway," he sighed. "Thom lived with his grandmother for most of his life. If you make it out alive, I'll tell you where she lives."

The bastard sword came free of the tree. He hefted it over his shoulder and slid it back into the sheathe. "You don't know a thing about me," he told her, "so don't you dare tell me I didn't care about my friend. Anyway, those crystals- I only need one. I'm not going to ask you to do me any other favors."

[Mari 1]

Arc hissed, stating that Alkor had withdrawn from the world. That much was obvious, he had done the same thing in Aincrad - leaving the Guardians of Aincrad, and even up and walking away from his friendship with Lessa. There were times he had left Mari too - but Mari, at the time had respected his space and distance, offering him small signs of comfort that Mari had hoped, somehow got through to him. Arc thrust his forearm into her throat - pushing her away, Mari whimpered, easing her grip on the material of his collar. Knees shaking she fell to the ground. 

Silently listening to his venomous hate-filled bile - his words - opened up parts of Thom's past, some she knew - others she did not. His words were spoken with such hatred, yet they were lined with such agony. Mari had long since lost someone she loved, but Arc? He had lost a friend he had known for years - for far longer, and much more intimate than Mari could ever dream. Parts of her were upset about that, envious of Arc's intimacy with Thom. Then - there was that fragment of her that was sad, sympathetic for him.

"I tried..." Mari finally said, her voice quiet. "I am trying." She stared at the ground through blurry, tear stained eyes. "I've distanced myself from others - focused on clearing floors. I landed the final strike on the Floor 11 boss - I have scouted and found the next boss room - I've trained, so much, just to keep fighting...I try..." Mari lowered her form further into the ground, in some sort of hopes that it would swallow her up into the depths of the fiery hell she belonged in. "It's just so hard sometimes..." 

 

[Ashrah 0]

"Hey," he spoke sternly as she fell, visibly torn by her sudden collapse. "Hey." He strode over to her when she began to gush about how much effort she put forth, how hard she was working. "He'd never want you to stop, especially if he loved you. He'd want you to keep doing your best, and he'd want you to live on."

Arc placed a hand on her forehead. "Thom was a quiet, depressed youth, but he cared so muchfor those who got into his guarded heart." His hand slipped away and returned to his side. "He'd want you to be happy, and I can see that you're not. But..."

He stopped. "I mean, I can't help you with that. You have to want it for yourself, and I understand mourning." He wouldn't admit it, but he would mourn Thom in his own way. He just didn't deal with things the same way others did. Maybe he would buy a drink in his friend's honor, or try to visit the site of his death. Maybe he would go to watch a sunset and talk for a while.

"Mari," he said softly, "maybe you should go get some rest. And... think about getting rid of your player killer status. He'd want you to be able to sleep restfully."

[Mari 1]

The fuelled hatred filled aura that surrounded Arc seemed to dissipate, just as quickly as it had bubbled forth. His barbs turned into torn words of comfort, Mari felt conflicted, and found it disconcerting, still she kept quiet. She didn't really have the energy to argue, or fight back with the man. His words were meant to comfort her, but Mari just wanted to snap a retort - that she knew all that - it was ridiculous to mourn and to throw yourself into a downward spiral. Suffice to say, it wasn't just his death to place her in this position, but it had been one of the catalysts.

 

As Arc placed a hand on her forehead she visibly flinched, fully expecting a slap to the face. Or worse still, a sword. He offered to help her with being happy, but Mari couldn't see how. He had similar mannerisms to Alkor and it both frustrated and upset Mari. It was like having a reminder of her past mistakes thrown into her face. "I don't see how..." She whispered.
 

Mari shook her head in a futile manner. "N..no. I can't. I made a promise." She forced a smile, as her tiny fists curled into the dirt. "He'd smile, and shake his head, telling me I was being stubborn and stupid. Heh.heh... but I don't care. It's stupid. But it's like...somewhat sentimental, in a grotesque... macabre way." Mari sighed, as she finally stood. Today, it was too much. "I'll do what I can with what few materials I have. You'll get at least one recovery crystal." She muttered, running a hand through her hair, voice cracked, drained...exhausted.... "Come to my shop to pick them up later today." She muttered. "Then, you don't have to see me again." 

Her words held no venom, no ill-will or hatred. They were reflective of her own expectations. To do business with someone and to have them disappear. That was the norm for Mari, and she wouldn't be surprised or bothered if it were the outcome of their exchange. 
 

[Ashrah 0]

"Right," Arc sad softly. "Your shop. Alright. I'll be there. Just... send me a message and tell me where to go, I guess." He flipped open his menu and slid down to the social tab, where he extended a friend request to the broken woman. That meant she could message him now, and it also meant that Arc no longer had an empty friend's list. It was a strange thing for him to do, but it made things easier.

"I have to go pick up those items for the people who paid me," he told her, "so I'm going to go, now. Thanks for your time." Arc bowed slightly, despite being obviously not Japanese. He picked up on the culture and it seemed like the sensible thing to do.

"Oh," he called back as he turned and headed back toward the trail. "And be safe, Mari. Not that I expect you to do anything else." With a slight nod, he turned his gaze from the pink-haired girl and began his long trek to the final destination.

The outer fringes of the second floor.

[Mari 1]

The friend request popped up in front of her; it was something she had grown almost accustomed to, the UI over her vision, still - when such things popped up she couldn't help but feel a little shaken. This is a game, yet it was beginning to feel more and more like a doomed reality. Mari sighed, as she accepted the friend request. It was the the most logical way to keep in contact. Mari's friend list was virtually empty. Even guild members had yet to land on it.

"I'll send you a message when I am done." She said.

The anger in the air had dissipated, and the two were no longer throwing toxic words at each other - both seemed tired. Arc, weary and distraught over the death of his best friend, Mari - exhausted from an emotional outburst she did not need. She watched as he turned, and departed from their encounter. Mari turned to the tree - one last ditch attempt at farming materials - she hit the bark of the tree but to no avial. Mari was too drained to bother with anything else today.

"May as well go back to my shop..." SHe muttered to herself.

She stood up, quickly departing from the forest, to return to a day of crafting.

 

 

ID: 23030 LD: 7+2=9 FAIL
Materials: 8
 

[Mari 1]

COMPLETE:


Mari: 200 Col + 1 Sp + 8 Materials
Arc: 200 Col + 1 SP