[PP-F10] Why Don't You Love Me? (Complete)

[Azide 0]

Soft light bled gently through the darkness, coaxing him to open his weary eyes just a little bit wider. On this particular floor, their brown was made indistinguishable from the inevitable black that enveloped them.

A turn of his head revealed the culprit- the lanterns of Yomi. The same ghostly shimmers seemed to call out to him every so often, and on more than one occasion he had likened their role to that of the sirens of lore; temptresses that made every attempt to entice him towards what he yearned for so desperately. 

But time and time again, his answer had always been a simple "no." No lengthy internal monologues or misguided intellectualizations. Just a shake of the head and a quiet, mumbled, "no." 

To tell the truth, the sight of them reminded him faintly of the twinkle that lived constantly at the very edge of his sight. He'd fallen asleep to the methodical blinking on many a night, wondering whether or not he should finally give in and answer those messages. But he never did.

As he turned away from the meager view, the familiar sensation seemed to grip him once more. The desperate cries of a world rejected bit at him like jets of icy winter, and filled him with a shadow of regret. He understood the pleas, of course.

More than anything else, they resembled those of the child who discovers his father at long last, only to be cast aside like an old flame.

"Why don't you love me?" asked the light.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Azide

[Calrex 0]

After completing yet another exploration run of the tenth floor, Calrex returned back to the settlement of Yomi, giving a small sigh of relief as he entered back through the zone's guarded gates, "Alright, I think that's enough exploring for a while. I still don't really prefer being on this floor very often, but at least it helps get me familiarized with any potential AI strategies and tactics the upper floors might use."

He looked up to see his familiar, the blue peregrine falcon Roc, fly overhead back into the settlement's boundary as he gave a nod of approval, "Nice work, go ahead and take a break for now. I'll summon you should something happen."

As his familiar vanished in a flash of blue light he swiped on his menu, trading out the full-body armor of the Grand Chariot for the unenhanced Grand Dragoon armor. As his casual combat clothing replaced the deep-sea blue metal, the pauldrons, poleyns, and single gauntlet fit on top as he moved some of his blue hair out of the way. He adjusted the Grand Blade, which was sitting on the back of his hip before continuing further into the settlement.

"Alright, I wonder if anyone is...wait a minute..."

Looking down in surprise he saw a name that he had not seen for quite some time. The last time he saw the player was back when he was still significantly lower in level, back when he was starting to gain some renown was a fast-progressing player, "Azide...he's here?!"

Calrex quickly turned on his tracker as his <<Reveal>> skill activated, using his <<Sprint>> skill to quickly close the distance. At the same time he swiped on his menu to send a message off to Oikawa, whom he remembered was formerly a member of Azide's now disbanded guild, Square One, hoping to see if the blonde might be able to catch him in time. As Azide came into view he slid to a stop as he caught his breath, "Geezes...it's certainly been a while Azide."

[Rebekah 0]

As luck with have it, she had also noticed something different on her friend's list. Azide was on again, and just the other day Oikawa had showed up for the first time in a long time. Without much thought Rebekah saw that he was on floor 10, and made her way out of her shop, through the snow to the teleportation gate on Snowfrost Town. It had been a long time since he had virtually disappeared and left the guild to basically her and Oikawa, before both of them deciding to shut it down as the number of members were dwindling. Since his disappearance, she had been waiting to return that promise, those healing potions, or at least what was left of that stockpile was to return them. They were useful in the boss raid, largely due to the boy's inability to be reliable.

The moment she arrived on floor 10, she knew that it was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack, but that did not stop her from trying. What she should have done was to use her friend list to locate him, however the girl was not thinking straight, and decided to walk down a main street in the town. Maybe he is around here somewhere, as Rebekah began to search, but without much luck. The streets were rather busy today with people staying inside the towns rather than out with some new updates that have happened just recently. That surely made it a lot harder, but at least it was not as crowded as that first day on starting city, where the ten thousand people was concentrated in one town square.

[Azide 0]

There was that question again: "why?" A three-letter word worthy of a million in return. 

Of the five W's, its answers were never quite as simple as its brethren. He could easily describe who he was- Nouel Navarre in the other world, and in this one: Azide. What he doing was admittedly a bit trickier, but ultimately could be summed up as some impromptu soul-searching. The where tended to change, but these days the answer increasingly drifted towards this very floor. How he'd managed to keep to himself consisted mostly of boring technicalities; the gist of it was that he'd kept his distance from any and all figures, whether they happened to be human or AI.

It was a humble existence, to say the least. "Lonely, even."

So why did he do it? The lack of an adequate answer left his fingers to curl inward tighter and tighter, until his entire arm began to tremble.

The sudden sound of approaching footsteps did little to relieve his tension. How could he be caught so unprepared after all of this time? How long had he been at it? 

His hand darted to the sheathed blade at his hip. The movement was not nearly as crisp as it had been in past encounters, but what it lacked in finesse was made up for in haste. A turn of his heels left him with the sight of a familiar face, and yet he did not lower his blade. 

Azide opened his mouth to speak,  but the words felt clumsy and heavy in his chest, and instead he stood there wordlessly. After  a moment of hesitation, he whipped himself around and ran.

Edited September 9, 2015 by Azide

[Calrex 0]

Calrex felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head as he saw his old acquaintance whip around, hand poised to draw his blade as if the man had been spotted by an enemy, "Well...I certainly was not expecting a casual encounter, but he does remember we can't fight in a sa..."

Before he could finish his thought the man across from him turned and ran, snapping Calrex out of his stunned daze, "Wha-oi!"

He quickly activated his <<Reveal>> skill once again as he followed after a slightly slower pace to not make it seem like he was aggressively pursuing the man. That act could be interpreted as hostile. Calrex gave a sigh as he looked above, "Sorry Roc, I'm going to need your help again."

The blue peregrine falcon reappeared in a flash of light as Calrex motioned over to the escaping player, Roc immediately understanding the situation as he flew above Azide while Calrex jogged after him, "Darn it, how in the world am I going to snap him out of that?"

"I hope Oikawa gets my message soon. I could definitely use a hand in this."

As his eyes scanned the area he looked to see that further up ahead was another familiar face, Rebekah. "I'm probably going to look like an idiot doing this..."

Figuring at the moment he didn't have many options Calrex began to signal to the blonde further down the road to alert her to the man running in her direction.

[Rebekah 0]

Wait was that someone trying to signal at me? The blonde thought she had saw something in the distance, but she could barely make out the outline of the person. But one thing was for sure, that was not Azide. Rebekah stood for a second to contemplate what her options were. Should she continue looking for Azide or respond to someone who was trying to grab her attention. This was a dilemma, but she figured finding Azide can wait. Besides he must be around here somewhere.

As Rebekah made her way towards the new location, she started to have an idea who it was because she had saw a rather familiar blue falcon. As she looked closely, it was that boy in blue. What was his name again? Cal... Was it Calrex? She decided not to take the gamble, and decided to leave out his name until she got a lot closer, as she was bad at recognizing people at times. When she got close enough, she realized it was none other than him.

She waited for him to speak but decided to speak first since she was in a hurry. "I'm in a bit of hurry, looking for someone. So, what do you need?" The blonde was trying to be as polite as possible, but she was in a rush at the moment.

[Azide 0]

Labored breaths sang into the night air like a frantic one-man choir. Heavy leather struck the earth briskly on end, providing a percussive allegro which complemented the fruitless flight. There was no telling where he was going; there was just going. Into the night, like a bad dream.

Amidst the turmoil, the flutter of wings drew his eyes to the false-skies above. Hidden amidst the darkness, the shimmering form of a bird-like creature was made clear to him. And there it hung, ready to swoop down at any moment.

Yet the idea of relenting failed to cross his mind, and he plunged further into the heart of the underground cave as the airborne creature gave chase in a persistent glide. Even in his present state, it did not elude him that the bird would be night impossible to shake off by running alone. 

A solemn hiss alerted him of a literal familiar presence as Lucifer slithered out from the comfort of the coat pocket it called home. It crept its way up his jacket before draping its slender self across his shoulders. The scaly creature flicked its tongue before weaving its head towards some far off direction. 

Azide gave a cursory glance over his shoulder and caught sight of a second individual in the distance- a girl, though she didn't seem to be aware of him. More importantly, the lights of Yomi had long faded from view. He pressed his back closely to an earthen wall, taking advantage of the low-lying shelf that would obscure his feathered friend's line of sight. 

Lucifer hissed softly a second time, nudging gently against his neck as he continued to travel beneath the cover of the rocky outcrop.
 

Edited September 10, 2015 by Azide

[Calrex 0]

"Darn it..."

Calrex gave a small sigh as he saw Azide rush out of normal view, giving a calming breath as he activated both his <<Night Vision>> and <<Reveal>> skills to try and keep him in view as he went over to Rebekah, "I guess at the least Roc has an idea of his location, so I can follow his locator."

With that he looked over at Rebekah, giving a nod, "Sorry Rebekah, didn't mean to interrupt your schedule. There's a player by the name of Azide that just ran by. He's been missing from the settlements for quite a while, so I was trying to catch up to him. If you've got a quick second would you be able to lend me a hand?"

"Two heads are better than one. But still...he seems really on guard. Plus I think he ran out of the settlement, meaning that we don't have the protection of the safe zone should things happen to go south. I wouldn't worry about either of us falling into danger, but I'd like to avoid a confrontation if possible."

[Rebekah 0]

Did Calrex notice the exact same thing that she did? That he too have notice Azide's return? It seem as if there was a second player who had also noticed the same thing, but for some reason she did not want to say that she knew already. "What exactly did you mean by a player named Azide that ran by? Did you see him?" Rebekah asked. She knew that she had been slow to the race, and if she had gotten there a few minutes earlier maybe she would have seen where he went. Now, he could be anywhere, and the blonde did not have the best tracking skills in the world. The girl spun her head around, but could not see anyone even remotely resembling Azide in sight. "Did he leave the settlement, or do you still think he is still around?" Such a task was not impossible, as the strict requirements to enter this floor prevented a lot of players from visiting, but it was still somewhat crowded nevertheless.

She waited a second before continuing, "So, how do you reckon we find him, or more importantly, what can I do to help?" as she was fully aware that she did not have a single tracking skill at all, and Calrex has that and his falcon to assist his search.

[Azide 0]

Calm was becoming a fragile thing these days; in a way, it always should have been, really. Although some might finding gaming to be therapeutic in some capacities, he somehow doubted that this particular game did much in the way of calming nerves. 

Even then, they had all made the transition at some point- the epiphany that this world was no different from the one in which they'd come from: death is death.

True, it wasn't exactly commonplace to die at the hands of a boar on the other side, or to be crushed beneath the claws of Molten Hydra. Yet people had still met their fates all the same, whether it was at the end of a smoking barrel or from a predisposition towards tuberculosis. So in this way, dying was not a revolutionary concept, but rather  an old and grizzly foe. In time, calm was restored amongst the general population as they went on their merry ways in the safe zones of major cities and towns.

Azide inched slowly forward, keeping himself flat against the face of the wall and under the formation's rocky guise. He wiped away the sweat from his brow, paying no attention as each drop burst into an assortment of particles against the otherwise barren ground. 

Whispers teased his ears like soft kisses as he pressed on, growing more corporeal and less faint with every step. He nodded and muttered indiscernible phrases under his breath while the snake looked on in a manner reminiscent of a parent upon being told that absolutely nothing was wrong. 

Up ahead, a sprawling field of emptiness awaited him.

[Calrex 0]

"Well, the main problem is that when I first approached him, he seemed to react as if I was some kind of enemy at first. He might still be in some kind of alert state, which is probably why he took off almost immediately afterwards."

Calrex gave a small sigh as he continued to discern Roc's general location with his combined vision skills, "From what I can see he's definitely left the settlement and is now in the field zone outside of Yomi, but he's still not too far. We should be able to catch up fairly quick with our Sprint skills. The main problem is how we're going to get through to him."

"From what I remember, Rebekah was someone Oikawa had mentioned as also being formerly a part of Square One, so maybe since she was a guild member she might be able to get through to him. I knew Azide, but judging from his reaction I didn't leave much of a lasting impression. Heh."

"I think maybe if you tried talking to him he might come out of his distraught state. It's a long shot, but anything might help."

[Oikawa 1]

Ping! 

Wonder who that could be? Rolling over, the blonde sat up and brought his messenger into full view. Glancing over the perfectly aligned letters, he almost didn't catch the one thing that should've of stuck out the most. Azide?!?! No way... The imprint left from his spot on the couch seemed exceedingly fresh as he bolted from here and headed straight for the door. His new outfit instantly became visible as he materialized from the shop door on the lowest of floors, Floor 1.

<Sprinting> to the teleportation gate, he quickly barked the command for being sent to Floor 10. As he shimmered into existence, the familiar surroundings of near absolute darkness welcomed him. Ignoring the fact that he could hardly see, he brought up his menu and checked his friend list. Sure enough, Calrex, Azide, and Rebekah seemed to make an appearance on the floor. They seemed to be outside the settlement with Calrex and Rebekah being the closest to him. Taking a deep breath, the Faint surged forward and trailed his companions.

[Rebekah 0]

"Well, I suppose I might be able to help, but have you tried Oikawa? They were a lot closer than I was in that guild," the girl spoke. Rebekah was one of the later members to join the guild, and at the time, she was by far the strongest player in the guild before everyone else had surpassed her and become a lot more stronger. Besides, she joined after Lessa had disbanded the Guardians the second time. Rebekah had joined for fun as it felt as it was an up and coming guild that could use another strong player to assist in their credibility as a top guild. "I was only part of that guild for a very short time, shorter than being a guardian or an azure member. That said, I will give it my best shot, but I do not think it will work very well," the blonde continued. Maybe it will work - sort of? She started thinking about it, but so far she has not seen him yet, so she did not even know if his appearance had changed slightly, as she was bad with tracking people down.

[Azide 0]

If he hadn't known any better, Azide would have thought this place to be the very edge of the world. Despite the poetic repercussions of that theory, he knew very well that Aincrad in fact had edges all around due to its nature as a floating, circular castle. Each and every edge simply presented one with the view of a never ending sea of skies. What existed here held a deeper, more sinister sort of a beauty.

As he entered the forsaken field, he stood in humble awe of the enigma that lay at the very center of desolation. The full effect of this cosmic tear had not been lost on him. Once more, he felt the same magnetic force reeling him in; the call of the void remained as powerful as ever.

He could feel his body resigning itself to the calm dread which had begun to overtake him, making every step feel heavier than the one that preceded it. And yet he shuffled onward.

"When does it end?" Azide murmured. 

"Never," whispered a voice. Within moments, a thousand others rose up with a thousand different answers. It was hard to make sense of anything, and he swore many of the statements actually conflicted.

Not knowing what to make of the situation, he stood wide-eyed and still until the mutters ceased entirely. Again, the first of the voices addressed him.

"Never."

Edited September 10, 2015 by Azide

[Calrex 0]

"Yeah, it's worth a...speak of the devil!"

Before Calrex could respond he looked back to see a familiar face making his way over to the him and Rebekah, at least from what he could see with his combined <<Reveal>> and <<Night Vision>> skills, "Looks like Oikawa's is heading our way. I guess that means he got my message. That's good."

He gave a calming breath before looked back over to where Roc was hovering, seeing that the falcon had only moved a few paces further away, "Just what in the world is Azide heading towards. That's not in the direction of any particular landmark on this floor..."

Once he saw Oikawa get close enough he would give a nod, "Well, good to see you got the message heh. Roc's flying overhead where Azide's located, not too far off. I'll take point for now, since it's easy for me to navigate this floor, but let's hurry. He doesn't seem to be exactly himself, so we'd best approach with caution."

With that he would activate his <<Sprint>> ability once again to quickly cover the distance to Azide before nodding to Oikawa, "I tried talking to him earlier, but it didn't seem to go well, so maybe you'll have some better luck."

[Oikawa 1]

The light, or lack there of, didn't help in the least for tracking his comrades. The blanket of darkness snugly wrapped its surroundings and all those within it. I think Calrex invested in Night Vision and even if he didn't, his Reveal skill should be making this easier on him. I wonder if Rebekah has Night Vision? I guess neither answer helps me find them any sooner. A gloved finger quickly dashed about through the air as his friend tracker activated once again. Judging by the pointers, he was fairly close. Peering into the darkness, he searched for signs of movement. 

At first there was nothing. Looking down again, he saw that they should be just up ahead. Calling out, he listened for their response. "Calrex?!?! Rebekah?! You guys out there?"

[Rebekah 0]

The girl felt blindsided by the darkness. It was still bright a moment ago, but the darkness made it impossible to see. She did not have the night vision skill, as that was the critical skill that was requested for the last floor raid. Rebekah continue forward, and after hearing Oikawa yell, she knew which direction to walk towards. It was going to make things a lot more interesting and harder trying to find someone in then dark. It took her another good half a minute before she had reached Oikawa once again, as it was easy to be lost just themselves. "No I do not have night vision, but we might as well split up. There is no way we can cover a huge area staying in one big group," she replied.

[Azide 0]

Azide shot a cautious glance at the time; he almost didn't want to look, but he'd really had no choice. In the end, reluctance gave way to conscience, and he stared at the numbers long and hard. The time itself wasn't so important- what mattered was that there was still time- that he was here early. The scheduled raid against Yamato no Orochi had not yet occurred. A sigh of mixed relief escaped his lips, and in that moment, a childhood scene flickered in his mind's eye like an old-fashioned movie reel.

-------------------------------------------------------------

There he was, fidgeting in the moonlight before the ancient double doors that stood at the front of the manor. His heart was beating faster than he could ever remember, and he wondered what his friends would think if they found out he'd died at the ripe old age of seven-and-a-half. Would they remember him as being funny, or maybe even cool? He'd certainly hoped so, but at the moment, he had to stay focused and calm.

A small beige envelope pushed its way through the mail slot, and he nearly dove to the ground trying to catch it. After a quick fumble, he stood up with the humble parcel grasped gingerly between his fingers and swept the hallways with his eyes. Only after a very quiet five minutes did he dare to drop his guard, and he now felt relatively certain that nobody had overheard his stumbling around at midnight.

He eyed the envelope with suspicion, as if it might explode at any moment. But with the last of his resolve pulling through, he opened the envelope and unfolded the sheet of parchment within it.

Dearest Napoleon Nouel Broussard,

It is with my sincerest regards that I inform you of this most wonderful news; I'll have to keep this letter short, as the details are still being worked out, but I'll cut to the part you would have skipped to anyways (but keep in mind that you should always read the fine print, young man). The answer is yes, Nouel. In a few weeks' time, you will officially be Napoleon Nouel Navarre. Mister and misses Navarre absolutely adored you, to say the least. They feel you would make a most excellent addition to their family, and hope that you will grow to think of their house as a home. 
 

But in the meantime, go back to bed, Nouel (this old man knows you better than you think). Don't stay up late reading, or it'll damage your eyes.

Sincerely, 

- Osenkowski

For a while, he just stared. Then at last, he began to sob until the well had been drained well past dry. Finally, as he slipped the damp page back into its envelope, a sigh of mixed relief escaped his lips. It would be a little scary, leaving the children's home- but it was a relief all the same.

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A roar of some far off creature made him jump, and served to snap him out of his trance before he'd missed the raid entirely. In the past, it was hard to imagine something like that giving him a scare- but truth be told, he could feel something changing as the fateful battle drew nearer. It was something he found so deeply unpleasant, but he had trouble putting a name to the face. He rubbed once at his chin before nodding solemnly to himself. Ah yes, he believed the word for it was 'fear'.

Edited September 14, 2015 by Azide

[Calrex 0]

"Dangit did I lose them already?"

Calrex looked back, both of his vision skills active to allow him to quickly discern where Rebekah and Oikawa were located, giving a small jog over to reach them. It seemed that neither of his companions had taken the <<Night Vision>> skill, which could possibly pose a problem should they fall under attack, as the tenth floor was covered in darkness powerful enough to hinder their attacks, "For now splitting up might be a good idea, but keep an eye out for enemies. If neither of you have the Night Vision skill it's likely that fighting monsters will pose a serious nuisance."

He quickly turned and combined his vision skills once again, being able to see Azide a few meters away, "It looks like Azide is fairly close by..."

Pointing over in the direction of the former guild head Calrex nodded to the two, "I'll approach from the far left, if you two want to take middle and right we should be able to reach him without providing a possible escape path."

[Oikawa 1]

Two figures emerged from the depths of darkness. It was almost as if deceit itself had come forth and shown him glimpses of what he wanted to see. However, deceit is was not. His two comrades were there, in flesh. A wave of relief passed through him as Rebekah responded to something he only just been wondering moments before. His gaze shifted subjects as Calrex offered them advice before pinpointing the brunette's location.

As a course of action became established, Oikawa nodded to the two before taking off to the right, leaving Rebekah with the task of taking middle. His legs quickly carried him across the fields as he neared who he assumed was Azide. The silhouette of man teetered in and out of sight as he pushed ever closer. Materializing his sword just in case, the blonde latched the blade to his back before skittering to a halt just yards away from the person he hadn't seen in months.

"Azide?"