Fandom MMOstuck [Skaian Route] [Chapter 7]

Alaross · Sep 29, 2015

Ross wakes up in the team's room, alone (in body, that is). The past day was emotionally draining, in more ways than one, but a good sleep managed to relieve most of what he was feeling. No doubt it'd all come rushing back when he saw Riv and Devona though...

Thankfully, he was spared from riding that train of thought by the pop-up of a new message, from the Admin. Just great. The majority of it seems like more pointless threats and promises, just like Ross had expected. However, the Admin coming clean about everything was a bit surprising. If he was going to reveal all of this information anyway, why keep it a secret in the first place? What had changed? If it was the breakout, then why wait so long? Ross gets a suspicion that, as usual, the Admin is hiding secrets again.

But, he's thankful for the re-alignment of his stats, and immediately gets to work changing them to suit him better.

Strength: 18 ==> 37

Intelligence: 40 ==> 37

Agility: 18 ==> 21

Willpower: 35 ==> 35

Vitality: 40 ==> 43

Luck: 18 ==> 20

With Strength and Intelligence at even stats, he didn't have to rely on a single stat for attacking anymore. If one of them was crippled, he could merely switch to the other and still be at usual strength. The rest was merely buffing up what was lacking.

Now, with that out of the way...what was there to do? No one had contacted him yet, so he took it as them deciding to take the day for themselves. With a shrug, he decides to head back to LOMAD, and have a little sparring session with Adie, and maybe Hemera, if she was there. If some other people were there, he might hang out with them for a bit. Besides, if anyone did need him today, they could always send him a PM, or just call him.

AnimaDisciple · Sep 30, 2015

EXTRA INFO:

Guys, I forgot to add a couple of facts to the previous post that you WILL find very useful.

First, training. Before, when your character spent time with someone who had knowledge and skill in a certain area, they usually gained a Talent level. From now on, however, this will be changed for more...quirky Skills. If you remember Eloise's new Skill, you will remember a couple of them had HUGE potential in terms of utility, such as monitoring Doomed timelines. Now, not only are the most outlandish of these Skills meant for her to get LATER, they are meant to be acquired in a special way. Skill Upgrade won't be able to make everything. Almost all of the Skills it gives are short-term in their effects, and most of the time immediate.

But what if you want something that's bigger but still somehow balanced in terms of usage limitations? What if you want something not meant for combat? What if you want something that falls out of your Role area, or that's meant for specific scenarios? Well, then you get someone's help, like you did before with Talents.

Let's take Nadira for example. She's shooting for Knight of Blood. Her powers will be able to be classified into 3 main categories: body morphing (Weaponizing the body), ability to train others (A Knight's a passive Class that fights FOR others) and weapon smithing (Again, passive Class. Weaponizing for others). Now, going by the usual Skill Upgrade norms, Nadira would usually get self-buffs, buffs for allies and a special Crafting Skill. But this doesn't seem too ideal to her. She doesn't want something so...Support oriented. Yes, she's a Passive class, but she's also a Combat role. So how to fix this?

Well, step 1 would be to go study under Vladimir to learn how to morph her body in more drastic ways. She wouldn't get the usual quick-use self-buffs or situational boosts, but rather more stable and permanent body modifications, if a bit less powerful (such as gaining a second pair of arms). What about the ability to train others? Can she 'take squires' under her wing in ways beyond 'hey, here's a 5 Turn buff, hope you enjoy it'? YES. How? Hemera. Learn how to train from the mistress of body building herself and apply that to your Role, and you get the Skill to train others in order to increase their physical performance. Less drastic than a buff, but much more permanent. For example, training under Nadira would allow the STR cap to increase beyond 100!

And what about smithing? Can Nadira weaponize history beyond simply wielding a sword that has been used a lot? Yes. Go take lessons from Hephaestus himself and Nadira gets the ability to weaponsmith Legendary weapons, which she can then give to her Allies. She's weaponizing both history and her own body, and applying all of that to the support of others in accordance to her Passive Class. Maybe she doesn't have quick use boosts that can give an Ally and edge in the middle of combat like a Sylph, but she has the ability to provoke lost-lasting positive effects on her Allies that helps them prepare better for battle.

Now let's look at Ross. When he goes to train with Psyche and Coco, he will gain new Skills. Maybe Coco will help him evolve his Chariot Skill into her Time Acceleration buff. And when he goes train in swords with Adie, she may be able to teach him a sword Skill that would have been hard to get through Skill Upgrade. And maybe Hemera can help him develop a passive. Who knows.

Just know that getting your hands on Skills that are less battle oriented and more...apply your powers over a larger scale (of both time and space) than it would usually be allowed. Maybe you want to change the weather of a Land over a few days. Valid with the proper help and training, and maybe with the clause of being unable to manipulate it directly once it gets going. Example: you make a tornado appear! Wow! But hey, you're now in danger too because you can't make it stop or control it's path. After all, we do need some balance.

Or maybe you want an 11th hour superpower for a one-time event. Again, possible! With the proper research and preparation, you can invest time into getting a once-in-X-days power up. There's many possibilities, and you're free to choose yours as you see fit. Maybe you want all your Skills to be quick to take effect and focused in battle. Maybe you want your build to be less action-oriented and more 'wait and prepare'. Both are valid and possible tactics, and I invite you to find yours.

But I'm rambling now. Next, Quests!

Now, the way Quests work in SBURB MMO in case your forgot the original explanation, is that the current Admin-corrupted Skaia is the one that designs the Quests. Some are programmed into the system as a script, such as Derse's Quest. Others are customized by Skaia on the spot by using its knowledge of what's to come and of alternate timelines. When the characters are about to do a mission or endeavor worthy of being labelled a Quest, even if it isn't, Skaia will design it for them. Which was why that after the Prospitians lifted the Admin's control over you when you met PM, you began receiving Quests that clearly went against the Admin's wishes, such as waking Nagi. Skaia is able to be manipulated by the Admin, yes, but it's not loyal to it nor does it even comprehend the concept of loyalty. Skaia doesn't care if the Quest it's designing goes after the spirit of the Game. These characters are about to beat an end-game level Boss and they deserve a reward god dammit!

So there you go! This...hey, wait. That above explains why you got some Rebel Quests after your departure from the system, but what about NOW? Eirwin added you back into the system by the Admin's orders, didn't she? So why do you still have these...rebellious Quests? Can't the Admin see them? Can't he erase them?

More contradictions and more plots! BECAUSE WE CLEARLY DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH OF THOSE AROUND HERE!!!

Have fun ^_^

/

Current Quest list:

The Kraken's Treasure: Beat the Raid Boss! Here's the doc with its attack patterns if you needed them ==>

Rewards: Treasure, Accessory/Armor/Weapon Pirate set

Terraform I: Get the Master Gem from the Mermaid Palace to the Forge in LOHAW. How you do this is up to you.

Rewards: Weather related items, Changes in LOHAW's and LOCAR's landscape and Underlings, an Equipment Upgrader, Master Gem Shard, Restoration of the Time Denizen's lair, Light Symbol, Space Symbol

Terraform II: Head into LOBAG's [soul Pit] to find out what Finn's up to in there.

Rewards: Soul related items, Changes in LOBAG's Underlings, Rage Symbol, Heart Symbol, Judgement Core Shard, Cherub Extract

#Ring of Secrets III: The Condesce's up to something on Earth. FInd out what!

Rewards: Dubious Syringe, Royal Syringe, ???

#Saviour of the Dreaming Heir: Head into the Dreambubbles either via Hugo or some other method. Find Nagi's dreamself and retrieve him. Only he can lift the memory block from the entire Session.

Rewards: Void Symbol, Grimdark Extract, Soul Gems

Saviour of the Imprisoned Thief: Head into LOBAG's Denizen Lair, and find Mary. And Sussies.

Rewards: Doom Symbol, Accessory/Armor/Weapon Necromancer set, Grimdark Extract, Lock(s) of Mary's Hair, Space Symbol (if you free her)

Engage: Unlock and endure Trickster Mode! (Shauna only)

Rewards: New Skill, Accessory/Armor/Weapon Jester set, Accessory/Armor/Weapon Trickster set, Cherub Extract

NOTES: The Quests with (#) have a time limit. The Earth Quest is 3 days, the Heir Quest is until you do the Terraform II Quest. ALL rewards include Exp and Dollars, but additions and substractions might be applied to the other rewards in case of certain events (such as pissing off the one meant to reward you, or killing them and looting them).

AnimaDisciple · Oct 3, 2015

MORE EXTRA INFO:

SO! Time for more stuff just so we are all on the same page. ^_^

Here's a list of all plot points that you have learned of thus far and might wanna look into:

MR, her whereabouts, and the Black Prince and Princess. (and the White ones).
Derse politics, the Mayor, the Midnight Crew, and the Admin's Quest to bring it down.
Coco's Dreamself in Derse's core. Also, Coco in general. Both Coco's.
The PKers, their whereabouts, and Nadira's report (Only Ross knows this last one).
Prospit, its politics, and the situation between the ressurected Players and the Prospitians.
The overall situation with the Players and their reactions to the announcement.
Gungal, the stuff Aslin charged him with (Only Aslin knows),Oberon and the memory helmet (Aslin and Shauna).
Dana's realself and Sarah's reports of Dana's 'Uncle' visiting at times (Aslin).
Cetus and her instructions to bring the Admin down (Riven).
The Diary.
Finding the rest of the Old Heroes and Denizens.
Nadira going solo.
Marco, Eloise, Boye and Helene.
Dmitry and whatever he's up to.
Sapphira feeling off.
Mary and Leah.
Sussie wants to go home.

I know this might LOOK like a lot, but that's because this is a GREAT chunk of everything you can do. And again, I made this RP so that you have to choose what to prioritize. I hope this doesn't intimidate anyone.

On other topics, today IC: It will be a non-Plot day as in Plot won't be initiated by anyone but you. The next day you will all get PM's but, until then, you're free to do as you please. Though, if you ARE planning to visit Earth, you might wanna keep in mind you will have to leave either tomorrow or the next day. So make sure to leave no unfinished stuff for until your return.

Hummusman · Oct 3, 2015

Riven wakes up groggily to find she had slept in a little. She rubs her eyes and dully takes note of the announcement waiting for her.

Wait... Announcement? This can't be good...

Well shit. Looks like she'd have to think long and hard about making a plan. She was never good with long term plans. No, hang on. That anxiety can wait. Riven had to focus on more immediate matters.

Unfortunately, it looks like she wouldn't be able to rely on Dreamtide or DoT stacks anymore. But thankfully your versatile stuff remains relatively untouched. She'd have to work on capitalizing that part later. But for now, it's time to focus on the rebuild from here. Going forward comes later.

STR: 48

INT: 0

AGI: 32

WIL: 30

VIT: 25

LCK: 58

Medicine 1

Strategy 2

Meditation 2

Research 2

Mathematics 2

Okay. That looks good. Stats didn't change much, but that's okay. Now she had the talent build fixed, though, which was nice knowing she wouldn't have to do that later.

All right. With that done, she had to make a plan for the day. First things first: she'd need to speak to Cetus and find out what's next.

Dudemaster47 · Oct 4, 2015

> . . .

A return to where it all began...

---

> Shauna: Get stuff done!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gMugb8try7icBpF7d9xVvO_pUFkL4K3cJGmA04XjjH4/edit

Well that got everybody up to speed.

> MORE!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NUgFP68qBO8mtQ3WRsDrywMowUtdf8IrFhcq0pLxLTw/edit

An important promise is kept!

> EVEN MORE!

Two cool kids hang out and thread some needles!

> AND THEN!

Shauna and Aslin have a heart to heart!

> AND AT THE END OF THE DAY AFTER TWO MORE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED!

Shauna and Riven hash things out about talking to Katrina Brant on Earth!

> BUT PRIOR TO THAT

Adventure to the Origin of Hope!

> AND AFTER THAT BUT STILL BEFORE TALKING TO RIVEN

Sapphira's Surgery

Tessle · Dec 13, 2015

After the announcement had taken its toll, Aslin went to find Sarah, and wound up doing a lot more.

[...]

Well. That was certainly a thing. Running the diagnostics would take a while, so Aslin decided to contact Shauna to share some of the information he had learned...but only a some, of course.

[...]

Shauna's words stuck in Aslin's mind. Eirwin was absolutely dangerous. She was a tryhard, but she was a tryhard that was willing to do what it took. He couldn't help but be worried about that. After all, he was the same. After an hour or so of planning and plotting, Aslin headed off to Derse to do exactly what Shauna told him not to. How rude.

[...]

The new knowledge with Sapphira weighed heavily on Aslin's mind as he initially struggled to sleep. Eventually, however, he was overtaken. Tomorrow would be a very important day. The day they all get the last of their things ready for the big trip to Earth. Aslin was admittedly very anxious about it. It was dangerous in far more ways than the granted and obvious ones, and the idea that they could come in contact with their real selves unnerved him big time. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, warning him. Restlessness seemed to nearly keep its hold on his consciousness, but finally, time became the victor.

It is time.

Tomorrow is the key.

Our path will finally converge.

A new world will soon bloom.

We will fight our hardest for it.

For us.

For them.

For him.

Skill obtained: [Karvilta]

Hummusman · Dec 13, 2015

Riven: New day, new quests

After checking in with Cetus, Riven decides to get Ross's help to go into the dreambubbles. After all, as the void hero, It might help to talk to him.

Then there's that quest Shauna wanted help with. Something about derse. Which is good, because that's where Nagi agreed to meet her.

After that, does a little shopping. Cleaning out some old inventory, and getting a few new toys. She consolidates Forejudgement and Deciet into one skill, gets Mana leak, Immersion, Senses Seal, and an interesting combo skill with Aslin called The Gate. She sells Recoil and the Damping Bracelet, and gets a Dream Catcher in it's place.

And finally, you go and meet with Nagi. After rescuing him, she feels like there's a lot he can teach her about void.

Dudemaster47 · Dec 28, 2015

As Shauna dreamed, she found herself once again experiencing the life of her counterpart on Earth.

As she woke up in the early morning once more, she felt her head. Dog ears. Yup, this was the game...she felt a twinge of something she hadn't felt in a few weeks again. Homesickness. It'll be good to go to Earth, even if she couldn't go see her family again...

Shauna pulled herself from the bed and stretched, quickly going through her usual morning routine and dressing herself for the day. What did she have lined up again? Get MR out of jail, talk to the Black Prince to convince him to go to Earth with them, pet sit for Hugo, and go find Sussie and Mary for a lock of hair as well as...well, perhaps she may want to get a bit of advice on how to proceed with the Mary situation.

Was it worth bothering Kimiko over this? She knew her girlfriend wasn't too concerned about Mary getting out and that's why they hadn't made an effort to retrieve her. And Shauna knew the possibility of releasing Mary, either accidentally or intentionally, was looming over them...dangerously, because Mary getting out could seriously endanger all of the anti-Admin efforts. Sure it was wrong, but...they didn't have a way of cutting the Admin's leash yet. Or at all. And Kimiko may not be the best person to talk about this subject with...

Shauna thought for a moment that it may not be the wisest decision to bring Aslin along thanks to the loaded situation with Mary, but she needed his help negotiating with the new Doom denizen. Plus, she knew she had Devona and probably Riven coming along to help out at least...the three of them were strong enough to physically restrain the boy if he tried anything stupid, at the very least. And the denizen herself, Shauna knew she wasn't fond of her current state. That meant she could be reasoned with, perhaps even turned to their cause. Judging by the Admin's reaction to Sussie's act of rebellion several days ago, she might actually be able to actively rebel with sufficient motivation.

Then of course, there was the situation with Elpis! Hemera said she'd need a day to locate her, and Shauna probably should let her know about her leaving for Earth for a while so she can set something up. But maybe they'd have the opportunity to handle a few things prior to actually leaving?

Shauna grimaced. Why did this stuff have to be so hard? Sometimes she wish she had someone else to give her the answers-

...Well, that was why she wanted to secure Angel Communion in the first place, right?

For now, Shauna looked around. The most important thing at the moment was that Sapphira had come home safely and to make sure she was here and not lost in the woods.

Alaross · Jan 9, 2016

==>Ross: Finally get to actually doing stuff!

After meeting with the Midnight Crew(and dealing with some kiss and AIDS-related embarrassment), Ross heads over to the house the party was held in, ready to train with some people. Like most times, he needed an outlet, something to take his mind off of the stuff. So Eirwin was actually just a persona conjured up by a lonely girl who liked murderers. That...was hard to believe. But it did make sense, in some really weird way. But he could have some time to wonder on why people had such a fascination with killers. For now, he needed to get a better understanding of how everything worked in terms of the new battle system.

Training With Friends!

After the training, Ross heads back to the inn room, sitting down at the table and getting prepared to decode not two, not three, but ONE diary entries! With this, he should placate Kimiko and her want for all the decoding for a bit. Not that he didn't agree and think she was right in doing this, but still.

With some time left, he decides to head to LOTAS and play a little treasure hunting game; one involving smacking Imps with a shovel and bombs. The game nets him some decent loot, but also some...meh: a dead squid(ew), a storytelling spider toy, a yoga mat that floats, two Useables that sap Impulsiveness as AoE, a Tick Tock Fetch Modus, an item that grants a permanent Impulsiveness increase, something that looks like a police speed gun that, after scanning vehicles, brings them to you, and another chest.

That's not all he gets though. Inside the chest is another location on the Land. Going there, Ross finds a Consort who tells him about the Prince of Rage's secret weapon. According to him(her? It?), Kato had a super-powerful weapon he planned to use against someone, but didn't have the chance. Rather than let it fall into the wrong hands, Kato sent it to Earth to someone. The consort doesn't remember the person's name, but they do remember the name of the place that's related to them. The Great Anansi. Ross faintly recalls something about a spider, but that's it. He'll need some time to think on it, but that can wait until he goes to Earth.

AnimaDisciple · Jan 14, 2016

Diary Entry number 7 ==>

Let us continue...

A new day has come; the last one before you head off to Earth tomorrow. 2 days before the Australian convention occurs on July 7th, as well as whatever will go down there. You should start getting everything you will need ready. Where to stay, how to move around, etc. You have an airship, but it could use some repairs and fuel. You might also want to find a disguise for Shauna’s ears and tail, since you will be on Earth among normal people. Companions are also an important factor, since Aslin knows that at least Gungal is going to Earth to...for some reason; as are Eloise and Marco. Who you bring along (if any) will likely matter when shit inevitably goes down. Finally, you must secure a way in and out of the Session safely. You have your portal, though you have yet to determine where it will transport you to, as well as Gungal’s method (whatever it is). Blaire might also have a way to get you to Earth, if you wanna try that option. Not to forget, of course, that you might want to find a way back in.

As if on cue, the party receives an array of PM’s. Firstly, Sapphira. It seems she’s feeling as down as she was when Shauna saw her last night, and has thus decided to spend the day with Sarah and (surprisingly) Dmitry, who will be around Alfheim should any of you wish to see them. You can still call on her if you need her, and Gungal has already explained her role in the Earth trip to her, so she will be preparing for it too.

Secondly, Ross and Shauna receive PM’s from Kimiko, asking them to come talk to her so they can finally settle matters of the Earth trip; specifically, how to handle the time and place of arrival and departure, as well as trip provisions and all that jazz.

Thirdly, Aslin gets a PM from Gungal. He would like to use the helmet on Dana today before they part towards Earth the next day, to leave Dana in the hands of Oberon while they’re away. They still need to find a way to free her from her house, but her dreamself is free. Gungal suspects using the helmet on one self will also affect the other. Whatever the result, though, Gungal would like to know if Aslin will be present for the ‘return’ of the Sylph of Mind.

And finally, Riven receives a...something. Not a PM, but a letter. Curiously, she would find that she’s the only one that can see and touch the envelope. Unsurprisingly, though, since it turns out Nagi wrote it and sent it to her. It seems he’s making use of the Void to ensure only Riven will read the message: Nyx came to him last night, and asked to see Riven if she has time. Nagi asks Riven to come to his house if she does, and not to if she doesn’t. He also adds that he’s a bit crept out by Nyx. He says she looks...upset.

Well, things are back in motion, and you also have your own personal tasks and Quests to do today, such as pet sitting. Bright side is, though, you have 5 fully prepared Support Parties to help you out and delegate stuff to. If you don’t give them instructions for today (or for when you’re gone, if you don’t bring them along) they will do whatever they please; save for the Money team, who will keep scamming the Consorts.

On that note, they send over 519 Dollars, with a note claiming the next payment should be in 2 days and be much larger. The shop clerk Shauna has a deal with send over 276 Dollars, with a note reminding you to send her stuff.

With all of this in your plate, you feel like the entire world will leave you behind if you take a break. But hey, Level 10 is on sight. Almost there…

[Chapter 5: Towering Shadow]

Dudemaster47 · Feb 4, 2016

Once Shauna had finished thinking about the day ahead, she looked at her messages. Sapphira was with Sarah and Dmitry for now, she figured that was...safe enough. As for the other one...Kimiko's message seemed urgent. And she did need to talk to her...she got Ross and they headed over to talk to Kimiko and Devona.

After that...bombshell, Shauna was a bit worried...although she didn't stop Ross from heading out to see Dana with Aslin. Instead, she called up the various teams and asked around for anyone who could drive her ship to transport non-players.

As a side note, she also made a request to the Scouting and Intel teams if they could seek out the homes Margaret, the Witch of Breath, and Boye, the Seer of Hope when they had the time.

The yellow Troll girl from yesterday answered her message about flying almost immediately with a yes, and volunteered to fly her around for a bit. The two of them set out to gather MR and DD to bring them to the BPs.

Well, that went surprisingly well. Letting the troll girl off to do her own thing with her party, Shauna went back to the Inn to gather Aslin and Riven for Pet Sitting.

Well, that had been fun. She got to ride a goat! She also ended up talking to the trolls who showed up after she had left, and found out they were one of the teams they were commanding, the battle team.

She asked them if they wanted to go to Earth with her team.

Three of the trolls seemed uneasy and said they'd think about it, but the purple girl was pretty enthusiastic about joining, so at least there was that. Shauna figured that was good enough, and left them to their devices, sending a message to the Medic team to assist Devona with her work and to do whatever she requests of them; the girl needed a few extra hands around, clearly.

All that was left was to gather her cell phone back and finally get herself up to speed on her abilities...she felt like she'd been left a bit behind aspect-wise by everyone else. So she stopped off at a skill shop and upgraded her skills...

Mega Team Cheer -> [Pure Grit]. Active. 33 SP, 5 Round Cooldown. For one round, all party members will add their WIL to whatever stat they are using for their actions. Attacking? WIL + [Attack Stat] for damage. Defending? WIL + VIT. Fleeing? WIL + AGI, etc. etc. If WIL is the stat in question, it will stack on itself (ie WIL x 2). 305 Boondollars.

Chrono Lock -> [Reverse Causality]. Active. 8 SP. When a chosen ally decides on an action, it will occur instantly before they can enact it, ensuring success. They may then choose a different action, but must do the originally intended action within a few rounds to prevent paradox. 172 Boondollars.

Morale -> [Overflowing Spirit]. Active. 20 SP. Fill an ally with a major surge of determination, confidence and grit, giving them the mental fortitude to push through any doubt and the strength of will to do what they believe is right and just, regardless of what others may think of them for it.

This surge of pure willpower temporarily grants the recipient the ability overpay SP for skills and abilities for 4 Rounds, allowing them to amplify the effects and bypass normal limits up to 3 times normal SP cost, as well as the capacity to use more SP than they actually have available. However, when it wears off they will not be able to regain SP for a certain period of time, and using excessive SP will leave you with a negative amount that recovers half as fast as usual. Until your SP is restored to positive amounts, you cannot use any SP-related abilities. No, this skill can't be used on someone with less than 0 SP.

Negative SP doesn't reset after battle, or even after any given period of hours or days. You're stuck with it for however long it takes to get your SP back to positives. 230 Boondollars.

Shauna then sells off some of her old skills to get rid of the clutter in her menu...

Mega Team Cheer, Chrono Lock, Barrier, Karma, Carbon Skin, Tip-Off, and Dancer's Reflex. Sold them for 578 Boondollars back. Eyyyy, so she spent only 129 overall!

After that, she sent a PM to Aslin after realizing he'd gone alchemizing, requesting he make her a weapon called the "Black Hole Bomb" out of the Hell Rifle, Bronze Armor, Science Gear, and Star Cape (figuring it'd cost about 182 boons), then saying he should also sell her Hazard Wrap (and that she figured he'd get 653 boons back for it). And also to pick her up a hot pink and stylish purse with the proceeds while he's out. Somebody probably sells those.

She sent the Gift of Madness, the Slaver's Reins, the Blood Pact, and all of their Ice Cream to her merchant contact, because let's face it they were never going to be able to get rid of 40 buckets of ice cream. It's just too much.

When she got back to the Inn, finally, she blessed...

[Reverse Causality] into , a Hope variant that ensured that whatever the recipient did would succeed (...so long as it was impossible),

[super Cheer] into [supercharge], another Hope skill. Believe in an ally as hard as you can, and through your power of belief, empower them to believe in themselves. The sheer hope power supercharges them and their preferred Aspect, granting a 200% aspect boost to their next few actions. If they don't have existing aspect affinity boosts or charges, this effect will be added to their next action, even modifying it or adding aspect effects if necessary. However, this will lock them into using their preferred aspect, and will not work if the recipient doesn’t have a preferred aspect.

All that was left was to wait for the call to go and get them, as well as to get her yellowblood transport friend again.

Hummusman · Feb 5, 2016

Riven turned the letter over in her hands. Had Nagi delivered it personally? She had been sure she locked her bedroom door last night, but... Ah, it didn't matter. Reading the letter, she decides to put something off until later.

First on the agenda for today, Riven decided to take Kimiko up on her offer. There are some things she wanted to talk about.

That went rather well, Riven got some answers, and perhaps Kimiko likes her a little more now.

But before anything else, Riven has a talk with Aslin about how to handle things.

Next up, was being dragged to pet sitting by Shauna. Riven's talk with Devona was reassuring, if nothing else.

Third, it's time to deal with that letter. So of course, Riven goes to see Nyx. (Yesterday's Nagi training included)

And of course, that was strange. Still no indication of any ability to trust her on not.

And finally, some trinket alchemy and blessings, including making a black cell phone that can make and recieve calls without being detected, a glove that carries similar properties to the emotion orb given to Riven by Blaire, and a flashlight that reveals things people don't want riven to see.

And with that, it's time to settle in and wait for tomorrow. Things will start moving tomorrow, for Riven at least. Hopefully all things go well. Her team will go to earth, leaving her free to go nuts on her own plans.

Before going to bed, though, she had an idea.

She hastily sends a PM to Devona:

Subject: Meeting

I was thinking about what you said earlier. If you still want to try to meet with Marco and Eloise, PM me when you do it. I can come along invisibly just in case anything happens. Might help to ask Kimiko to come too, if she isn't busy. If M&E try anything, we'll be there to back you up, or worst case scenario, help you get away.

Tessle · Feb 8, 2016

Aslin quickly left to go meet Gungal and witness the return of the sylph.

[...]

He was becoming wary of Ross. Someone else was in him. What if it really was Finn, and he was spying on them through manipulating Ross? Aslin couldn't help but be paranoid. He just couldn't.

Putting that aside, it was time to go pet setting.

Afterwards, Aslin went by the alchemy center to make a new armor: Aath Kacavh, and Shauna's new Black Hole Bomb, made a purse, and sold the Hazard Wrap.

[...]

As soon as it was time to go, Aslin left to go meet Ross for the Terraform quest.

[...]

Once Vlad came by to fix Aslin and restore everything he lost, it was time to see out someone to help him with his idea for maintenance. And so. Aslin sought out Good Finn...

[...]

Knowing he would miss the dungeon, Aslin had to quickly assess his priorities for what would be more important. Besides, he was already level 8. All it would take now is for Gungal to get ahold of Ambidextrous and Limitless, and make alchemy stones off of them so Aslin could use the skills and really shine.

After the night came and went, Aslin eventually became too tired to stay awake; as if something was tugging at him to sleep. Once his head hit that pillow, he could feel himself pull away, to the wonderful rest that awaited him from such a long, exhausting, and draining day...

Alaross · Feb 8, 2016

Ross's day consists of...not much, really. At least, not much else that hasn't been said. He starts off going to see Kimiko and Devona with Shauna, learning a bit about time travel that Coco might have explained with a lot more emoticons.

Soon after, Aslin invites him to go soul-diving into Leah's soul. If nothing else, it's nice to have the practice. It's nice to know that Dana feels the same way about Finn as he does. Aslin trying to interrogate him was a little weird, and Ross felt bad that he had to hide the truth, but it had to be done.

The adventure after that is still more emotionally taxing, from watching Aslin mutate into some sort of spooky skeleton to learning that Hugo was torturing the souls of the dead by showing all the ways they could die. Thankfully, no one he knew was in there, but it was horrifying to learn. Combine that with how close he came to death, and the sickliness of Hugo's Grimdark...he just had to have himself a little bit of an emotional breakdown.

Thankfully, he had someone he could talk to about feelings. Going back home, he shut himselfup in his room, talking to Psyche and Coco. After that, it's off to sleep for him, dreams plauged by thoughts of what exactly Hugo could do.

AnimaDisciple · Feb 20, 2016

Diary Entry Number 8 ==>

...

...

...

Somewhere else...

Gungal typed on his computer. He wasn't doing anything important; no schemes, no chats or memos, no games. He was just browsing the internet while letting the sound of his clicking keyboard calm him down.

That day had been an intense one, and it was about to become even more so.

Mere minutes before the arrival of midnight, Gungal sat alone in the dark, waiting for the Admin to show up.

It was eerily silent; a rare occurrence for the Land; and the knowledge of just who he was about to have a talk with had made him nervous enough that he had taken out his husktop and began doing whatever even though he knew he should be setting up precautions and escape routes.

Well, if his assumptions on the Admin were correct, having those at hand wouldn't really matter. He doubted things would even escalate that far anyways.

Eventually his thoughts turned reflective, and he couldn't help but look back on the day's events.

Gungal had made many mistakes in his life. Some small, some huge; and they had all influenced his present habit of having flexible plans. To an outsider, Gungal's actions seemed to refer to some sort of overly convoluted, super complex master plan he had been working on for sweeps. Truthfully speaking, though, things were the complete opposite. His goal was simple, as was his plan: wait for Finn to make his move, then use him as a stepping stone to ensure his success. That amounted to about 10% of his preparations. The other 90% were precautions, back up plans, and bathroom breaks. If it looked like he was working on something much bigger, it was only because he wanted to make sure to account for as much variables as possible. Gungal was the kind of guy who preferred to pay an arm and a leg to prepare a back up plan he ended up not needing, to someone who was caught off guard and lost much more.

But this time, he had made too many mistakes.

Not with Finn, obviously. When it came to his main plan, things still progressed smoothly. It was everything else; the multiple outside factors that might or might not interfere; that gave him pause.

For starters, there was Aslin. Gungal had never been delusional enough to think he could be turned into a minion like Oberon, but since he was someone whose actions he could generally predict, he had been an useful third party to be on good terms with. Many would describe the young man with glasses as 'unpredictable', but Gungal disagreed. Not to deny his instances of recklessness, and in fact the troll was convinced Aslin himself didn't know what he was going to do half the time. But if he were to describe Aslin's habits through game terms, then he would refer to the guy as someone who took the least popular choice. If life asked him to choose between A B and C, and A was what 90% of the people regarded as the obvious right answer, Aslin was someone who saw merit in the road less traveled.

Once you understood that, no longer being taken off guard by his latest stunt became an easy task.

But that was no more.

Aslin was getting more impulsive and unhinged, but most importantly, he was getting the resources needed to turn those two things into something bigger and less self-centered. The first sign had been his emotion empathy link. It had been annoying, especially since Gungal was the type to mess with a scan rather than prevent it, but in the end he had decided to put up with it. His experience with Finn had left him with enough experience to handle it anyways.

But then came the news of him having Psyche's box, and that talk about the Cherub. Gungal honestly didn't think Aslin knew just what that item did, or how closely related it was to the Cherub. He remembered their universe's version being hidden by Finn, and had determined that the effort and resources needed to track it down and recover it wasn't worth its effectiveness on that asshole. So he had simply focused on other alternatives, but kept an eye out in case anyone found it. And Aslin had, even if it wasn't their version of it.

So now Gungal had to go find the bloody thing. He couldn't predict when or even if it would be successfully used, mainly because it wasn't exclusively on Aslin's possession, so for the sake of precautions the native version was needed. One use to apply the effects, two to reverse them. If it came down to it, having it at hand to undo things could be the difference between success and defeat.

But further than that, Aslin in general was starting to worry him. He knew he had his issues, but had always assumed they would mostly affect him while everyone else dealt with whatever spilled out. Now though, he had the feeling they would start getting dragged into it, for no other reason than him gaining more and more power, and becoming less reactive and more proactive.

If he was honest, Gungal had been punched many times before, not a few of which had been from trolls he had called friends. So he wasn't upset at Aslin personally, despite his resolution to keep his guard up around him from now on. After all, he absolutely couldn't let him see.

Other than that, there was the matter of his decision over Leah a few days ago. In hindsight, it had been a really stupid thing to do. It had all but guaranteed his Finn's defeat, but in turn, it had also made Gungal's victory less likely. He had always kept in mind the possibility of them detecting something was off, and even of Aslin trying to look into it. But he had been confident in the AI girl's unwavering loyalty, so it hadn't been much of an issue. Now, tough, he no longer had that kind of sway on her, and the way things were going it was only a matter of time before she went and confessed everything despite the delays he had put up.

In this sort of situation, a tactical retreat was the best option; one Gungal would've carried out already, were it not for the convention. With it being so near, he couldn't hastily burn that bridge. He had initially been confident that it would proceed as planned by Finn, even if a party of two tried to confront him. But this being Aslin and, more importantly, Aslin with the bloody box, he couldn't just write off Finn's defeat as an unlikely scenario. He had to go in prepared for the party's victory.

And then there was Marco and Eloise. He had never put much stock on them; their aptitude as agents and spies was pretty low after all. But having them around as options had been simple enough and had carried no downside. But now, they had been discovered, and were thoroughly unaware of it. Even if they stood in the way of Aslin's party, Gungal could already see their defeat.

No, compared to them, Eirwin was of much higher concern. He had been sure (and happy) about the girl's departure, and had expected to never cross paths with her again. But against his wishes and predictions, not only had she not been paradoxed out of existence, she was back. And she had plans he couldn't figure out.

"I figured it out. Skaia's true nature, that is."

She had said that to him half in mockery and half as a brag, hours after her chat with Aslin in Prospit. She had then left for Earth without giving any indication of a lie or a bluff. If there was anyone out there Gungal would genuinely call unpredictable, it was that girl.

Between her and Aslin, anything could go down at the convention.

So, he would attend, wait, and choose based on what happened. If Finn was defeated, then he would have no need to hold on to the asset gained at Leah's house. He could trade it back with Finn, or even Aslin, and get to work on fixing the Sapphira issue. If Finn, however, not only won but beat Aslin's party, he would do nothing. And if neither one fell, he would carry out the retreat.

And sadly, that whole bunch wasn't the last of his problems. With how things were going, rather than leave her in the Session, Gungal would have to bring the AI along. That meant leaving Qwentyn and Sarah without her assistance, but he was sure Dmitry would lend them one of his while he was away. But therein lied the problem. Gungal wasn't so stupid that he hadn't figured out what Dmitry was doing, even if he didn't know the end goal yet, and him leaving with her would only open the window for the juggalo to gain even more influence on Sarah and Qwentyn than he already had.

It wouldn't be so bad if Sarah hadn't come down with a case of STUFF, named as such on account of Gungal having no clue what the deal with her was. Ever since the winter party she had been strange, both mentally and emotionally, and he honestly had no idea what it meant, what was provoking it or how to stop it (or even if he should stop it). He would probably find out if he used the helmet on her, but Gungal knew when not to push it. Qwentyn would have his head on a spike if he so much as brought it up.

Still, not everything was going badly. Oberon was still following his instructions, and Dana was finally on his side (even if she didn't know it). PM was inside his capacity to reach at any time, and so was the royal lusus. While not trust, he was also certain Kimiko was willing to compromise on having him around, and he was proud on how he had handled her. Blaire was becoming more and more independent from the Heiress, Devona was busy, and Anna had no initiative. Even with everything else going on, his major worries were still not coming to pass.

Save for one, that is.

Gungal's biggest mistake had been to disregard the Admin's identity as unimportant. 'No matter who they are, the nature of their experiment didn't change'. So he had thought back then, and time had only proven him right. Even now, having gone through Dana's diary and memories, he could confidently claim SBURB MMO was still the gamble he had once described as. And the Admin could still only alter the rules, but not directly interact with the Players; they still weren't always watching every move made by them.

No, his error laid not in having thought the Admin's actions wouldn't amount to anything he couldn't deal with, but rather, in thinking that their presence would change nothing. His mistake had been in thinking the Admin could only interact with Players in a proactive manner.

And after going through the pains of framing Finn as the Admin and stealing pages from Dana's diary; after sitting down and considering what it all meant; Gungal finally saw how the Admin's identity changed things.

It put everything in perspective.

And they knew Gungal had discovered the truth. And true to his predictions, Gungal had yet to be killed. In fact, he was 99% sure he wouldn't be killed or punished. Instead the Admin would come here, talk to him, and make an offer. They would ensure secrecy would be maintained, without the need of disposing of a test subject.

And as relieved as Gungal felt, now that he knew who they were, he couldn't help but be certain they already knew how the meeting would transpire. Even if it was within his calculations, knowing he was dancing to someone else's tune was a big issue for him.

At that moment, the sound of a door creaking open snapped Gungal from his thoughts. The clock struck midnight, and didn't move forward. Within the thirteenth hour, they made their entry.

Before Gungal, watching him with blood red eyes, stood the Admin of SBURB MMO.

Just like he thought, the face didn't match the title. At all.

Dudemaster47 · Feb 27, 2016

The events of the final meeting took place, and while Shauna was discouraged, she had time to think. She had already asked the battle team, but she hadn't asked the info team yet...

That yellowblood girl was part of them, though. She managed to strike up a conversation with the girl she had entrusted the ship with on the trip back to the Inn, and after convincing her to have her team join them on Earth, they talked about what the girl and her team all specialized in.

That gave her the idea to do the very same with the rest of their support teams.

The next few hours before Shauna went to bed were spent rapidly responding to 5 different memos at once as she got a basic idea of what each of their allies were good at and how capable they were in various areas. Musicians, cons, performers, chemists, treasure hunters, martial artists...they all had a lot to offer...

Finally, she fell asleep.

When she woke up, she knew what needed to be done.

Before she could head out, Shauna sent out instructions to the Battle and Intel teams. Telling them that, aside from just picking up disguises, they would have more specific roles. Both would be sent to LOPAN; the Battle team (or, those who weren't joining the dungeon run) being PM'd the coordinates to Finn's house specifically. Their task? To raid Finn's house for his sound and audio equipment; Finn was a successful singer, he no doubt had his own recording studio they could steal from somewhere.

The Intel team? They were simply going to pick up electronics and supplies from the stores; as much as they could carry. Networking equipment, wi-fi transmitters, wiring, AV equipment, all sorts of odds and ends in line with their plans.

As for the other teams...Shauna sent a message to the Ariana girl specifically asking her if she wanted to join, but to await further instruction from Riven if she did. Other than that, the Money team was told to keep doing what they're doing, the Medicine team to keep aiding Devona in her research, and the Scouting team to aid Riven whenever it was necessary, as well as to look into finding Boye's home and a Hope Symbol for her when they had the chance.

Now it was for the real meat of it.

-To Sarah-

Sender Username: Serena Castle

Purpose: Sapphira

Message: Hey! Thanks for watching over Sapphira for us yesterday. Um, we're all really busy today so we can't come to pick her up, but if you could drop her off at the Black Temple with a carapacian girl called MR before lunch time at noon, it would be a huge favor and you'd have like, my eternal gratitude and a return favor at some point in the future, too. Also, can you tell Dmitry that I said 'thanks'?

Delivery: None.

-To Aslin-

Sender Username: Serena Castle

Purpose: Attached recording contains confidential information. Do not listen to in public, delete immediately.

Attachment: recording3.wav

Message: Wherever you are, if you're not showing up for the dungeon run...whatever. We're disembarking (oh, just remembered that word!) from the Black Temple in a few hours, so be there around noonish. I'll fill you in on the bigger details once we're away from prying ears.

Delivery: None.

-To Kimiko-

Sender Username: Serena Castle

Purpose: Attached recording contains confidential information. Do not listen to in public, delete immediately.

Attachment: recording3.wav

Message: Hey there, I know this is sudden (as it always is :I) I figured if anyone could offer a few tips on pulling off Hero-fighting gambits, it'd be you, right? Oh, and if you want to see us off, um...we'll be leaving from the Black Temple. Around noonish, soo...

On a mildly related note, I need to borrow the White Scepter for a bit to uh. Make a deal for a friend's freedom. With the Midnight Crew.

I swear on my immortal soul that we'll get it back before they can do anything awful with it. And/or somehow prevent them from actually getting it, because DD seems really insistent on coming with us to Earth anyway even though the deal changed a lot???

OH.

Secondary thing, but uh...bring Dana if you come to see us off. I have reason to believe Gungal left a few nasty surprises in her brain when he de-amnesia'd her and I want to try something to see if I can fix it.

Delivery: None.

-To Blaire-

Sender Username: Serena Castle

Purpose: Attached recording contains confidential information. Do not listen to in public, delete immediately.

Attachment: recording3.wav

Message: Hey Blaire, I know we aren't like, super best friends or anything, but I figured the circumstances with this whole concert conspiracy thing warranted filling the super secret agent guy in on it. You know, since you might be privvy to some sort of like, really important intel thanks to your connections? I dunno.

Mainly because uh, I might need a bit of help either setting up this plan or making sure me and my friends get out of this alive. So I was hoping...maybe you could give me a way to get in contact with someone on the Earth side of your agency's operations to help fight the good fight and all that, and put in some sort of word that "a rag-tag band of freedom fighters from the game are coming to save Earth from an alien queen and could use your help, maybe?" or something along that line.

Preferably something involving airlifting with helicopters. That would kick huge amounts of butt.

...But all that stuff aside, I really need those documents we found when we raided the Crocker HQ here in the game. ...You still have them, right? Can you send them over to me via PM? Thanks, I need to go over them again.

Delivery: None.

With all those PMs sent, it was time to head out. And after deleting the recording herself, Shauna crossed her fingers as she selected the location of the dungeon on her menu, praying that her plan would work out and that everyone would come through the next few days no worse for wear.

Hummusman · Apr 5, 2016

Riven: Oh boy what a day.

You wake up feeling rested for once. Things seem to be going as smoothly as they can for you, but of course you're still worried.

No sooner had you gotten dressed and stepped out of the room when you run into Shauna, who calls a party meeting. Things go downhill from there. Not only does she force you to spill some secrets that kind of needed to be kept, but she also threatened to cut you out of the party. She's just so... pushy. It's annoying. And in this case, possibly fatal.

But fine, whatever. You spend a few minutes preparing yourself and then head out with Shauna to find the horrorterror denizen. With luck, you can score a few points with the rest of the horrorterrors. But of course no such luck. The quest merely adds to your list of growing concerns. Not only do you have to think of a way to free Sussie now, but there's also Dmitry. He's going to be tough to handle, no matter what strategy you use. And on top of that, your presence in the dungeon was almost entirely irrelevant. That bothers you. A lot.

As you head back, you stop by Ross's room for A Private Farewell. Despite how things have changed between you, he's still a good person. You respect that a lot. Except... Maybe things have changed more than you thought. Not that you can blame him.

Next up, you stop in to see the concotionist of the item team, Ariana, and meet with Coily and Co. to set up Project Derse. The code names are silly, but at least you have everything set up, and there haven't been any fatal mistakes yet.

So finally, you go to the black temple to see your party off. Now things can really begin moving for you-- Oh, hell.

Of course, just when you were starting to take control, everything falls apart. It's enough to make you have an aneurysm. Pulling yourself together you try to salvage things as best you can before they get worse.

After the others leave, you go back to your room at the inn. Once you've left a good-sized hole in the wall, you take a deep breath, and calm down, albeit slightly. There are still plans you haven't made yet. So you sit down and use the pendant to contact Green. Which goes... Exactly the way you expected. No information gained whatsoever. You still have no idea if you can really trust them.

They used to say you shouldn't go to bed angry. After that day, you're so mad you can't sleep. So you just sit there instead, mind racing a mile a minute. Your thoughts carry you back, all the way to when all of this began...

Alaross · Apr 18, 2016

==> Ross: Get some stuff done.

When you wake up that morning, you have a little chat with Riven. Except that it goes horribly wrong in the worst way when your evil side skill goes off and you...well, you were brutally honest with her. It's a pretty...well, bad time.

To get your mind off it, you invite Nadira to do some shopping. You admit that you used to have a crush on her way back when, even though it might have been obvious. She helps you with what you're feeling now, which...seems like it'll take a while.

Anyway, once that's over and done with, you pop a couple of Dersite Coffees and reach 100 in your Wil stat, unlocking the Liminality quest. There's some time before you leave, so maybe there's time for a quick little mission. Except it has some reprecussions. Later, when you checked, you'd be missing a few skills, but you never really used them, so it's alright, you guess. Besides, for all his...well, not good parts, your other self is a decent person. You're glad to see The Shadow gone, honestly. With all that done, it's time to head off to Earth and get ready for your showdown with Finn.

Dudemaster47 · May 15, 2016

Day 1 of Earth...

We Venture Forth!

Into The Vast Familiar Homeworld!

But Tragedy Strikes...

And as one chapter ends, a new one begins...

Shauna returns to the hotel room, exhausted after a long day. She decides that the best thing she can do is bless a few skills to prepare for the coming days.

She also receives a phone call from the item team she put together (Lokuss and Ariana) advising her to look into some sort of Breath ability to confine an area in a gale.

She gets an idea.

Before she goes to bed, she blesses three skills...

[Heavy Barrier] into [Wind Sphere (Support)] with a Breath blessing.

[Moonlit Waltz] into [unyielding] with a Hope blessing.

[Repair Girl] into [Mythic Empowerment] with a Hope blessing.

She also decides to send a bunch of stuff to the shop clerk to clear out the inventory.

She sends...

Ice Cream Buckets (x40), Snake Fangs, Slime, Wailing Gas (x2), Antivenin (x5), Ritalin (x4), Gadgets (x5), Black Wine, Gift of Madness (x2), Bronze Armor, Warding Amulet, Soothing Amulet, Blood Pact, Rage Pact, Slaver's Reins, Squid Belt (x1), Wind Hood (x1).

Everything handled, Shauna falls into bed and drifts off to sleep... (-> doc: Shauna's Dream, Serena's Trip. Req. Ross and Anima for it tho; it's their chat during the plane ride)

Tessle · May 16, 2016

The Ultimatum

...

The next day comes.

Alaross · May 18, 2016

==>Ross: Take a step back.

Before all the things happened on Earth, you take some time to yourself. Namely, doing some training with Psyche for a while, but you also take the time to decode a diary entry. Then, of course, the whole tragedy with Aslin strikes. You won't lie: this...didn't hit you nearly as hard as it should have. You weren't all that close to him. If you were, maybe you'd feel worse than you do. Sure, you're going to miss him, but it isn't like you didn't care. Aslin did a lot of things, some of which wouldn't have been possible without.

It's just...hard to really say the two of you were close. Especially after some of the things he said and did. Still. You plan to honor his memory as best you can, and...well, keep moving forward. Seems to be a lot of that these days. You spend a little time working on a back-up plan against Finn, namely a new partner in your head. It's getting a little more...crowded in there. But it's like having some people you can always talk to. After that, you can finally take some time to rest, and sleep.

Tessle · Aug 16, 2016

With the new day, an investigation springs over the event that occurred last night. With this new day, comes a new yet also not new face.

And so, this new face began his new day. And after some time was taken to adjust, he began the rest of his day, soon finding himself in quite an interesting position. Quite an interesting position. He does manage to learn what he primarily needs, though, and sets off to prepare for tomorrow.

==>Rhys: Reflect.

You cannot reflect just yet, as there is unfinished business with Aslin first...

AnimaDisciple · Aug 16, 2016

That night, in Prospit:

...

Blaire

He couldn’t pretend like he cared about the news. In fact, he wouldn’t pretend he gave much of a fuck. It would be an insult (and undeserved compliment) to both Aslin and himself to act like they were something other than annoyances to each other. Had it been him to kick the bucket, he liked to image Aslin wouldn’t give much of a fuck either; or if he did, not for reasons Blaire would have found agreeable.

No, Aslin to him was only a walking mess-maker. The good he did didn’t really make Blaire give praise; it was his opinion that Devona’s “breakthrough” wouldn’t be so big of a deal if she actually did the smart thing and left the damn game to the professionals and emotionally stable folk. In the same vein, the bad he had caused had never really bothered Blaire. Prospit wasn’t that important to him. It was important to Kimiko though, and like it or not she was his boss for the time being. And she had put him in charge of cleaning up the mess it was at after the raid, which was why he had been so determined to pester Aslin with it.

But now that he was gone for good, it felt easy to let it go. That wasn’t to say he was happy or relieved per se; he was an asshole, not a bastard. Blaire mostly didn’t give a fuck, one way or another. Aslin, to him, was a guy who had come, earned Blaire a lot of extra unpaid work, and then left without really messing with his actual plans. Without the cause around anymore, he didn’t feel there was much of a point to holding on to his pissed-offness from those hours of his life he had wasted doing damage control.

If he had to say something good about him, it would be that he had accelerated Kimiko’s inevitable freak out. Which to her was bad but to him it meant an earlier than expected freedom to execute his plans. And if he had to list one good thing about his death, it would be that he wasn’t around to meet his agency or Miss Observer. Not due to worry, mind you; the idea of any of these morons posing a threat to his agency was laughable. But he felt that if Aslin had learned about the Unique nature of the Admin or the convergence of timelines, something would have happened that would have ended with him calling quits, taking Anastasia out of the timeline and then watching it collapse from a safe distance.

Which he didn’t want to happen, of course. Blaire didn’t have enough of an opportunity to be around after all.

So yeah. Aslin was gone.

In summary: “Meh”.

Kimiko

She felt relief, plain and simple.

Call her heartless if you want to. Kimiko didn’t care. She was justified in feeling that way.

She had sincerely, genuinely tried with him; within reason, of course. She didn’t feel proud about her outburst back on Derse, but she felt it had been as much of his fault as it had been hers. Threatening to use Mary; who he had claimed to be his friend of all things, how shameless; as a glorified bomb wasn’t something you did when trying to convince Kimiko the Prospit mess had been a) unintended and b) a one-time thing.

She didn’t care how scared or whatever else he had felt. She wasn’t a mind reader and wasn’t about to bend over backwards to try to understand someone who didn’t care how she felt or what kind of traumas she had. Kimiko was about to cause him a seizure? Well, he had made her have flashbacks to the Consort massacre at LORAF. And guess what? She had yet to use that as an excuse for a terrorist threat; bluff or otherwise.

So shut up and spare her the bullshit!

But even so, even with all that, she had still tried. Yes, before Derse, she had used his party as bait; even though they had decided to not give her the Diary. But afterwards, he had been free to do whatever he chose. And he did, even going so far as to side with the Admin. But even then she had tried. She had been blunt but civil when he came back during the Zombie Event, even though he wasn’t even going to help against Hugo. She had agreed to his request with Boye and Helene, because it wasn’t that big a deal to her and she was trying to at least put out the fire in the metaphorical bridge. She had let him invade the mind of an unconscious and non-consenting Devona (she wanted to hear him equate mental invasion to sexual molestation again after that episode), desperate or otherwise, and even agreed to risk her Lusus for a secret meeting with him.

And how had he repaid her? By being an obsessive meddler, that’s how. When she hadn’t given him what he wanted up front, he had tried going behind her back and getting it from her mother figure. She didn’t know what she found more insulting: that he had used the PK threat (which she genuinely worried for them over because of) as a bait to make her agree, that he had done it to try and infringe upon her privacy, or that he thought so little of her relationship with Echidna that he actually thought she would keep secret anything that might possibly be a threat to Kimiko.

No. Fuck all that with a stick. Fuck him and his fake peace offering at the Winter Party. She wasn’t about to let him have his cake and eat it to. If he had wanted true conciliation, he shouldn’t have taken her “No” as a “Go on. Try to dig deeper about my history behind my back mate. You get a prize if you do!”

She had been justified back then. And 100% correct too. Aslin was a gamble not worth taking. Even if he had been sincere, for all she knew he could still end up trying to kill her or Devona at any point. Maybe because of something he learned, something he saw, something he suspected, or theorized, or was paranoid about. Maybe about whatever he had had inside him that Devona was lamenting over. Or maybe because he might have never ceased working for the Admin.

Whatever. It didn’t matter. He had offered too little to merit the huge risk he was. If not cutting himself had almost made him explode, who knew what else might have.

So she was relieved she was gone.

She was.

She was.

She didn’t care if she was called heartless. Hypocrite. Exaggerator or slanderer. She didn’t care if there was something better in him she hadn’t tried to see. She didn’t care if she had somehow caused this result.

She. Did not. Care.

She would tell herself that until her very blood turned purple if need be. She wasn’t going to allow herself to feel anything but relief. She wasn’t going to allow herself to mourn.

She wasn’t going to allow Valiet to mourn.

Anastasia

She felt…sad, honestly. Disappointed, in both him and herself. She felt like she wanted to make things better, even when she knew it was too late.

Anna didn’t remember her first meeting with Aslin. She didn’t even know if they had had one. All she knew about him was what she had heard her party say. The criticisms from Kimiko, the insults from Blaire and the pleas from Devona that he was better than they claimed. That he had just been scared.

Anna had been scared too. She had been scared when they had killed her family. She had been terrified when they had locked her up in that cold little room. She had cried when that Troll had handed her a gun and told her to fight back; told her that only she could rescue herself.

She still remembered pointing the barrel at the begging man. She still remembered refusing to shoot.

Anastasia still kept that conviction, even today. Even under the influence of the Admin, and against that disgusting Player Killer who had claimed so many lives…she refused to kill. She refused to take a life, and she refused to use lethal force. That’s why she used her boxes and containers. She would disable, capture, incapacitate, maybe even cripple or maim if she could heal them later. But never kill someone.

To her, that was the worst anyone could do. It was the definite end to everything a person had. The loss of all chance of change. The inability to repair the wrong they had done or to spread more good.

That wasn’t to say she was blind to reality. Anna knew how most people behaved under stressful situations. She saw how often the world worked in harsh ways. But that’s why she had joined the agency; why she decided to follow that yellow blood Troll. Why she followed Blaire’s orders on his command.

Because she was tired of all the killing, and wanted to help. At the very least, she wanted to offer a third choice. She hated to see Skaia killing. She loathed to see the Admin killing. And she had been angry to hear of Aslin killing; respawn mechanic or otherwise.

But she knew the dangers of prioritizing oneself over the mission or circumstances. She wasn’t going to dash off and put everyone at risk by trying to negotiate with the Admin when she didn’t have enough leverage to ensure a possible mistake wouldn’t doom her party.

So she had hoped and waited. Hoped for him to approach her, for whatever reason. She had hoped for a talk with him, and maybe even the opportunity to help him reach his goals without taking another life.

She regretted not doing so at the Winter Party. She had been freshly de-brainwashed, and still didn’t feel much confidence in breaching the topic with him. Plus, that was meant to be a time to let go of serious matters and simply relax. She had hoped to see him again when he came to repay Kimiko his debt and give her those 5000. But…now she wouldn’t.

Anastasia had lost her chance, and she wouldn’t get it again. And all she could do was sigh in regret.

She was careless when she needed to be careful, and cautious when she needed to be daring.

But…that was all she could do.

She hoped next time, it will suffice.

Devona

Looking back on it, that had been a mistake.

Devona shouldn’t have done things that way with Sussie. It wasn’t…

She should have thought better of the situation.

Yes, putting her emotional recovery in the hands of such a being had been dumb. But now she realized that trying to do it all by herself had been dumb as well. She thought that if she didn’t choose to depend entirely on the tool, that she should put it away; she never considered going for the middle ground.

She had never thought time would run out like this.

But it had. Before Devona had felt ready to help him, Aslin had taken his own life. It…it felt like she should have done something. She would have done something, at the concert he was asking her to help organize, but that would never come. She had just assumed Aslin would stick around until then.

Maybe she had had too little faith in him. Devona had felt compelled to reach out earlier. To…ask him what was really going on with him. She could form a picture in her head of what that might have been, but she wasn’t sure if it was correct. And most of all, she had felt afraid. Afraid to ask, or to share what she thought was going through his head. Because she feared he would get angry at her, or try to lie or deflect attention, or feel insulted because does she really think he would do that? After everything she had seen?

It was a pressure. After everything within his memories, it felt as if she shouldn’t have to ask. As if she should already know what the problem was.

But…she didn’t. She hadn’t. And because of that, Aslin was dead.

Or perhaps, she had had too much faith in him. Maybe she had thought that he would be able to endure; that he at least would try, even if he felt down, because he seemed like the type of guy to do something just because he didn’t want to prove certain people right. She thought he would have things worth going on for. She thought that he was trying to change into something better; and whatever his definition of that was, she didn’t think it included suicide.

She thought that he would never want her to hurt this much.

Maybe he hadn’t, actually. Think that she would hurt, that is. Maybe he thought she would mourn him briefly, but eventually move on and forget him. Maybe he was right; she didn’t know, because right now, at the bottom of this pit of self-loathing she found herself in, she couldn’t picture any future where she didn’t think of Aslin killing himself and hate it. Or hate herself.

At the very least, she wasn’t going to forget him. She hoped that he at least knew that. Even if it would make her even angrier than she was right now, she hoped he at least knew she would hurt for him, and cry for him, and mourn for him.

And that she wouldn’t know what to do. Because if the person that helped her out of the misery Finn locked her in had…done that…then had she really changed at all? Had she really started down the road of recovery? Would Adeline end up like him, too?

She…she di-

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Devona paused sobbing, but mostly out of surprise. Many people didn’t know where her quarters were, and those of them who did had told her they would give her some time alone. Then who was this at the door?

“…K-Kimiko?”

“Open up, please. I must speak with you.”

Devona blinked. Of all people, why her?

Hesitantly, she moved to open the door just a sliver. She was curious, yes, but still very much hoping to be left alone-

!!!

Dana forced open the door the rest of the way, marching herself in despite Devona’s protest. At that moment, the mutant wished her door had a chain in addition to the automatic door.

The girl looked around the room; or rather, the mess that was her room. She contemplated it for what seemed like an eternity, and Devona felt self-conscious. She didn’t look her best. Nothing right now looked its best, and yet here was this girl with that cold look of hers, and Devona just felt like curling up in that corner because she didn’t want to be seen and-!

“I know what you’re going through.” Dana suddenly said, and Devona was once again surprised. She hadn’t spent much time with the girl after they had restored her memories, mostly due to fear Gungal might have done something (and most likely, he had). And even though she had expected someone to tell her that, she didn’t think it would be her. Particularly not intoned in that voice that seem understanding but bereft of kindness or pity.

“And I mean that not in the ‘I feel sorry for you and I want to say something to make you feel better’ way, but in the sense that I have been right there where you are right now.” She said, turning to look at her in full. Although all of Devona was a mess and she was still flinching away, Dana's eyes didn’t move from Devona’s own.

Before she could voice a retort, she continued. “You’re a Sylph hoping to help others. You went around trying to talk and connect with people. Trying to analyze them to figure out what was going on with them and how you could help. But you didn’t do it for yourself or for the sake of your recovery. No, you did it for other people.

“For me, it was Leah. For you, it was Kimiko. And Aslin. And Finn. The first two, you didn’t want to let down. After all they have done for you, you hoped to repay them somehow by trying to be what you think they wanted you to become. As for Finn, you wanted him to hurt like you did. Or acknowledge that you did hurt. You wanted him to see you as a threat, or as someone that survived his trials. You wanted him to be anything but indifferent towards you and what he made you go through.

“And because of that, you were blind. People died while you weren’t looking. People who you thought would be fine without you at their side, because they seemed fine last time you saw them, and hadn’t you already figured things out? Only life isn’t a sitcom and things don’t get fixed in 22 minutes, even when you know what’s damaged. And because you couldn’t understand them, they acted in ways that you never thought they would, and caused one huge mess you can’t help but look at and feel empty and miserable because of.

“You put your faith in a project. For me, the Cherub. For you, the research with Vlad. Because you felt like it would help, and be the first step towards a better future. Only now it doesn’t look like enough. Now, nothing looks like it will ever be enough.

“You have a wealth of power, but you hesitate to use it. Because you feel like it’s cheating. Or brainwashing. Using your powers to heal in an instant. It feels like it wouldn’t be right. Like the patient would be left with sequels somehow. Only you know how Skaia works. You know that the right way also wasn’t perfect. And you can’t help but wonder if things would be different if you had healed his history through glowing Blood powers rather than by friendship and dialogue. Because subjectively, he might hate you, and feel like you didn’t actually help, and that you were a bloody fool for even trying. But objectively you know that front, at least on that, he would be alright now. At most, it would be denial of recovery on his part. And he might hate you now, but he might be still alive.

“You hate yourself for not being enough. You hate them for making you feel like you had to fill up shoes you never asked to wear. You hate them for not cooperating with your attempts. You hate them for suddenly making all your progress, and history, and friendship be for nothing with a simple well placed nail.

“You hate him for leaving you behind, not knowing what was wrong, what you could have done, or what you could do in the future to prevent a repetition. And you hate yourself because you know that deep down you’re the same, and you were just pretending, because changing for the better seemed like the right thing to do.

“You hate yourself because in the end you’re not enough for anyone.”

…

The girl stopped talking, and Devona was left quiet.

What could she even say?

She had never felt so naked before.

Everything the girl had said had been accurate.

So what could she even say, other than…?

“And now, I will tell you what you can do to change that.”

She raised her eyes at those words, having previously aimed them at the floor.

“And I know you will listen, because despite everything I just said, after hearing it come from anyone else that isn’t yourself, you have this feeling. This small but itching feeling that you want to prove me wrong.”

…

“You are here for a purpose, Devona. And there’s one important role you have yet to play.

“There is someone who you can help still. Someone who you must help, at any cost.

“And you must do it alone.”

Dana took a step forward, and held out her hand for Devona to take.

“Will you listen to what I have to say?” The girl asked, dressed in her golden nightgown.

For some reason, Devona knew something huge was being asked of her.

‘Oh…I get it now…’

‘All along…this was meant to be my Choice.’

She thought of a girl always looking so tall and mighty behind her mask.

She thought of a boy under a clear sky, with the smell of lavender around him.

She thought of a monster, laughing as the blood of her friends dripped down her hands.

They still felt slick even now, as she grasped the Sylph’s offer.

“Ok…”

Alaross · Aug 16, 2016

==>Allr, do stuff!

While your...original? Nah, let's just go with counterpart. The Yin to your Yang, and all that dramatic stuff. While Ross does his stuff on Earth, you get down to work back inside of the game.

You get called to Prospit by Kimiko to play a little bit of defense. Once you're finished with kicking multiple asses (in all fairness, they were warned), you spend some time sprucing up your lackluster loadout. You started with simple stuff compared to the others, but not for long. Rather than focusing on a theme or idea (or ideas), you settle on making your build around your equipment. Skills are nice and all, but after too much, you can get a bit reliant on them, and have one that you use too much. For starters, you make a simple pair of Light and Dark Swords. One charges up based on the level of brightness, the other does so based on darkness. It also ties into the whole "good Ross bad Ross" idea.

The next day, you get the news that Aslin died. Not just that, but killed himself. It's...some serious stuff there. You could make some snarky quip, but that's too far, even for you. With that news, you head over to see a certain someone and deliver your condolences. It gets really awkward really quick, let's just leave it at that. More defense, this time by fighting some cultists. It's more fun than it sounds, especially when you take into account all the ways you get lucky. After that is a quick trip over to the dark moon Derse. You do some more ass-kicking involving your least favorite person and get stuff done. All in all, a good day.

AnimaDisciple · Aug 20, 2016

SO HE IS GONE

VERY WELL

IF HE DOESN’T WANT HIS PIECES I WILL MOVE THEM FOR HIM

EVERYTHING IS BETTER THIS WAY

THINGS WOULD HAVE BECOME TOO COMPLICATED HAD THAT ENTITY MANAGED TO MANIFEST

BUT HE PLAYED HIS ROLE AND ENABLED SEVERAL KEY EVENTS TO TAKE PLACE

NOW IT’S MY TURN TO GIVE THE FINISHING TOUCHES

Eloise & Marco

Eloise didn’t think there was much point in thinking about Aslin anymore. She had pretty much gone through her own…(calling it mourning wouldn’t feel right)…process back when she discovered the body. She wasn’t about to claim to have felt something beyond the expected pity for the guy. Yeah, she had all but shared his last moments, but with her chosen Mythological Role one couldn’t help but develop a kind of detachment to these kind of situations.

If she didn’t make it clear to herself that she and Aslin were different people and that his feelings weren’t hers, the despair would crush her. So it didn’t matter what should be done in that kind of situation; she couldn’t offer empathy beyond that a normal Troll should be able to give.

Aslin…he was weird. Eloise thought that had she known him better, he wouldn’t have liked him, even if their last interactions had made her reconsider that. But either way, he had died before much (or anything, for that matter) had come out of it and Eloise wasn’t the type to dwell on what-if’s. She had done that enough with Helene and it got her nowhere.

So instead she just had to sigh, shake her head and move on from a sad event. Marco needed her, after all.

He had been high strung these last couple of days. If she had to name one thing she would always remember Aslin for, it was how he pretty much caused them to go ask Nico about Finn’s real actions in the Troll Session. Given the woman’s nature they would have rather avoided it; you could never tell when she was lying to further her agenda. But with several conflicting reports on the matter they eventually had to ask her and for whatever reason (call it a sixth sense, Seer powers or Lusus’s instinct) Eloise didn’t think she was lying.

It wasn’t possible for her to confirm it, but she didn’t think Nico had much to gain from hiding the truth. That was, in fact, the very same reason she had been willing to believe Finn hadn’t done what he turned out to have actually done.

That wasn’t to say she thought him a good man. Quite the contrary, she was thoroughly of the opinion he was a total ass. But he had a logic to his deeds, wicked as they may be, and at the time Eloise hadn’t seen any logic in killing all the Trolls save for her sister when there we other ways to doom a Session.

She still couldn’t see it. She had a feeling she didn’t want to.

And of course that wasn’t to say she wasn’t furious. Seething with sheer rage didn’t even begin to describe it, in fact. But, she had to keep herself in check, and remember her goals. She wasn’t here to beat Nico or get Finn to taste some revenge in the form of a knife to the mouth.

No. Her sister was still alive, even if only in body. And once her mind was back, she and Marco could get away from this cursed timeline and just live peacefully the three of them. They could figure out something afterwards.

But if she was honest, right now Eloise was deeply worried about her matesprit.

Aslin’s death had hit him hard; less due to any feelings for the young man in particular and more due to indignation at the whole game his mother liked to play. The infiltration the following death with hidden bombs and hurt civilians hadn’t bettered his mood any, and she was being witness to the side of Marco which only came out once things finally began breaking through his tolerance.

She had just managed to convince him to leave the bombs where they had been placed in case Shauna had use for them. Even if it looked suspicious as all hell, the Troll didn’t think Shauna of all people would be planning something malicious, and she didn’t want to risk upsetting what might be the last person willing to side with them.

Eloise could really use her help with Helene after all.

Marco though had only agreed after using his powers to make the bombs effectively useless until he gave his consent, which worried Eloise. She would prefer he not exert himself at all outside of the Game, but they didn't have a personal AI anymore and running the program would only attract undue attention, so she had to bow down and accept his measures.

She really hoped things managed to fix themselves up a bit for Marco’s sake, however. She feared what he might do if he finally lost it and went to pick a fight with someone he couldn’t beat. It had happened before and Eloise had no intention of watching her matesprit die for a useless cause. Not to mention, it would be a betrayal to her.

They had made an oath, after all. Unless things aligned (and Eloise really hoped they didn’t) they wouldn’t try to play hero. They would just live and fight for one another, for their own sake and no one else’s (save for Helene).

Eloise, however, feared Aslin’s death might have brought an end to that…

Oberon

He was angry. Plain and simple.

Hearing the news from someone like Gungal certainly didn’t help. It seemed the Troll was incapable of starting a conversation; even a delicate one; without his brand of jokes or smartass comments. However, it wasn't truly the Troll’s fault. Oberon knew where he was coming from.

Aslin however, was a different matter. Oberon had no idea where half of what he did had come from, and now he would never do. Oberon was furious at that.

But mostly, scared.

He still remembered when Aslin had confessed to him (if it had been genuine) that he was scared of Oberon. To this day the boy had no idea why anyone would fear him, except for maybe his looks. He actively tried not to get angry; and when he did, not to let it colour his behaviour. And he never fought to the death or injury. Mostly, he tried to disable the opponent.

No, Oberon wasn’t someone you should be afraid of. Not if he continued to keep Kato’s weapon in check.

True fear would come the day he felt to do that.

Which was his main gripe with Aslin. Even if he had managed to keep himself from seeking revenge against what was essentially his killer, resurrection or otherwise, Oberon still couldn’t help being upset. Not so much at his actions but rather his logic; if there was any to him.

No matter how many times he replayed his meeting with him in LOFAY in his head, Oberon couldn’t figure out how anything he said or did would be considered such a threat he had to have been killed before he got people killed. As far as he knew he had yet to cause anyone’s death.

And things had only gotten worse from there. His confession, his accident at the training he and Gungal had held with him, the repetition at the party…every time he met Aslin, he came out more and more confused, and more and more upset.

Oberon had been deeply afraid Aslin would be the one to push him past his patience.

Which was why he had been so hopeful for a rematch. Even if fighting wouldn’t technically solve anything, Oberon liked to think it would at least help him come to terms with Aslin. At the very least, help him beat his fears. But he wasn’t able to seek it out for himself. He couldn’t. If he did, it would be too much like revenge. Besides, Oberon liked to think it was pretty obvious he wanted a rematch. Aslin would’ve picked on that, and accepted his challenge when he saw it fit.

Only he hadn’t, and Oberon was left without closure and with fear inside of him. Fear he didn’t want to see spiral out of control.

Honestly, as things stood right now, Oberon saw little option other than going with Gungal’s emergency plan. He would rather not do it, but it was the only way he currently saw as being both helpful in the long run and a way to let him release his inner demons in a controlled environment.

Kato’s weapon had to be used after all, one way or another. It was designed to be used against the Admin after all. And as long as her plan continued to become more and more possible to execute, the more he felt it stirring up from inside, asking for only a target.

As shameful as he felt for doing so, Oberon could only curse at Aslin for leaving him like this.

He couldn’t even punch something.

He feared even that would be too much…

Nadira

She was sad. What else could be said about it?

Nadira was sad and upset at the news. She hadn’t been too close with Aslin, but she generally liked him. Rocky first impressions and minor off-putting details could easily be ignored for the sake of mourning for a guy she might have even called a friend, had he let her.

Nadira sort of prided herself in trying to stay neutral. Some might call her a coward because of it, but she thought it took real bravery. Hers was an unpopular view, after all. Many hated the game, and the Admin, and while Nadira could fully agree they were awful, she couldn’t deny the deep gratitude she held for them.

She would pick this life, short life expectancy and all, over her hellhole of an Earth life any day.

But such convictions came at a price. She saw no problem befriending people either supporting or opposed to the Admin, but she couldn’t really join them without forcing herself to; and she had no intention of fighting without sincerity behind it. As a result though, she wasn’t there when things both good and bad happened to people she cared about.

It was scary. And upsetting. And sad. And painful.

But, such was the nature of Saṃsāra.

It might sound weird for anyone to cling to religion of all things in Nadira’s current situation. She herself had always been indifferent to the idea at best. But despite seeming like the Game would be an environment that would challenge religious views, she only found hers strengthened.

Seeing Skaia, and researching the lore and what its role was in the multiverse had been both humbling and enlightening to Nadira. She hadn’t particularly been interested in Buddhism before then; it certainly wasn’t her homeland’s main ideology. But right now the concepts of a cycling universe, rebirth and karma seemed to just click for her.

Nadira felt that was both her silver lining and her rusty shackles.

Pain, suffering and yearning was the nature of Saṃsāra, which was what drove her to reach for liberation from the cycle. Her Nirvana at the end of the eightfold path.

Nadira felt Aslin might have understood something about that. Call it a hunch if you would, but the kid had given off that vibe.

As it stood though, she might have to wait before finding out. Because despite how overly optimistic it might seem, Nadira didn’t think Aslin was gone. And she didn’t mean that in the sense of him living on in spirit; no. She believed in karma, and a cycle of death and rebirth. Aslin did not seem to reach liberation from what she heard. Thus, she didn’t think he was gone.

Just like she didn’t believe they came from nothing and went back to nothing, Nadira was sure Aslin; their Aslin; had not yet unchained himself from the wheel. Even if she didn’t see him again, she was sure he would keep on going on, somewhere else.

Call it faith, if you would.

As for her? She still had a long path to travel through.

Qwentyn

It all came back to Sarah.

Everything did. It was no exaggeration to say that Qwentyn’s life revolved around his little sister. It wasn’t something he was proud of, mind you. He knew that desire to live for her came mainly from dark places. But it was sincere.

Sarah was the only thing worth doing in his life even before the game.

Any other option had been destroyed by Qwentyn himself early on in his youth.

And now, Aslin’s death seemed like a warning. So far he had stuck by Sarah’s decision to help in the fight against the Admin. Something that sent his nerves to the nearest fryer but which couldn’t be helped. It was honestly more dangerous to be a lower level than a higher one, and Sarah seemed to have used her heroic pursuits as a coping mechanism. Combined with the fact whatever missions they got were relatively low risk thaks to the Heiress’s mistrust of Gungal, and there had been not much of a question.

Back then. But now?

Both Avla and Aslin, the two people who had inspired Sarah in her darkest hours, were dead; one by his own hand at that. Sarah’s own motivation seemed to have been snuffed by whatever thing Gungal had dared do to her mind. And the whole situation seemed to be progressively getting worse by the day.

Qwentyn currently tolerated Dmitry only out of a feeling of mutual desire for Sarah’s wellbeing. Love matters aside, the Troll seemed genuinely invested in her safety, and like it or not it was still important they keep playing the Game. By this point Qwentyn was all but sure they had to Awaken. In case Devona’s project with Vladimir didn’t pan out he wanted a second option to getting back their usual longevities.

Which made this whole decision a lot harder.

On one hand he could just let Dmitry keep doing as he wished. The Troll obviously had a plan; it was a matter of deciding if it benefitted Sarah more than it risked her, and how high of a priority her life and future were when compared to Dmitry’s other goals.

On the other he could accept this offer he had been sent, and essentially make history repeat itself.

He would once again commit something unspeakable, though now for someone else’s sake rather than his.

Qwentyn honestly didn’t know what to choose, but he had to make a decision soon. Otherwise, the bulk of other people’s plots would sweep him away and his chance at a future beyond this mess for his sister would be gone.

And so, he had no time to dwell on Aslin’s death beyond that. He was both mad and relieved; mad at it for making him see how bleak a situation his position was becoming, and relieved for it becoming so clear this early.

He felt pity for the boy. He truly did. And he would prefer he not have died, if he be given the chance to alter history.

But Qwentyn had no such luxuries. Mourning could come later. Right now, he had other people depending on him…

Fandom MMOstuck [Skaian Route] [Chapter 7]

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