PHASE I [ 6 30 ] You really have arrived, finally.
Too bad the welcome isn’t so great.
Upon arrival, you will literally be dropped out of the sky.
You may land in the lake (watch out for the fish). You may land on the roofs of the buildings in the town (watch out for the spires). Or you may be unlucky, and fall all the way from the sky to the ground, at which point you die and lose a life already.
Don’t worry, you’ll respawn in the air and you can try again.
Good luck this time!
If you do manage to finally land in a way that doesn’t break your spine and/or drown you, you’ll find that if you’re a newcomer, you’ll have some strange words hovering over your head. They seem to be a set of your name, a level, a class and a quest, something like --
Ima Adventurerer Lv. 9000
Class: Dragon Slayer
Current Quest: Slay every dragon
-- but aside from existing, they don't seem to have any actual impact on your abilities or requirements. But you can do the quests if you really want to. Everyone will clap politely for you if you do. There might be confetti, even.
They would appear to coincide with a scroll or two posted up in the middle of town for everyone to see.
At least it’s easy to tell who’s new this round.
PHASE II [ 745 ] Once you’re safely on the ground (hopefully no broken bones!), it’s time to get a feel for the game. As free range as it seems to be, you have all sorts of choices in where to go and what to do. You could take on some quests! You could go hunt down monsters! You could...pick up that fancy looking armor over there!
Except you may not actually want to do so. As soon as you touch that armor, it will equip itself, no ifs, ands or buts. Of course, it isn’t so bad, at least, not for the ladies. For the men who equip the armor, they may find it to be a little breezy. In many different variations.
To make matters worse, be careful what you touch in your inventory, unless you want to equip a fish instead of your sword, or whatever the hell this is instead of your cool, awesome, special weapon. Good luck.
And the only way to unequip it is to find something else to equip. There’s motivation for some questing, at least.
PHASE III [ 1000 ] Eventually, you have to venture out of the town, however. There are NPCs ushering you to quest onwards, and there’s nothing in the town worth poking your nose into; none of the doors open, and all of the NPCs say the same, looping lines in a creepy monotone.
There are quests to be done outside of the town, they say, over and over.
So, off you go. However, the moment you step out of the town, you’re…somewhere else entirely. Look behind you, and the town is gone. Look around you, and there’s nothing but flowers, fields and the other people who have stepped out of the town themselves, looking equally confused. The bizarre armor is now gone, and you're back in your proper clothing; the strange floating titles and levels and the like are also gone. Otherwise, it is silent; there isn’t a single other soul. No bird song, no buzzing of bees -- just silence.
Of course, it won’t last. Soon, the monsters show up...but strangely, they seem to be monsters from your world, if your world had monsters. If your world had animals, they are those, or robots, or any number of combinations. But they seem...different. They’re meaner, larger, nastier, and all dark colors and bloody, dripping claws and fangs.
It seems everything’s been a little corrupted here -- even things from your own worlds.
PHASE IV [ 1400 ] If you persevere through the monster-infested fields, trampling your way through flowers which did nothing at all to you, you’ll eventually find yourself at a still, still lake. It’s a beautiful place, quiet and hushed and untouched, and totally monster-free; it might be a good place to take a breather.
But if you look into the lake, even for a brief moment, you’ll see whatever it is you want most in the world. Whether it’s a person (dead or alive), a thing, a title… it doesn’t matter; the lake will show it, tantalizing and right there, so close to being in your grasp.
If you don’t pull away immediately, you might find that it’s hypnotizing, in fact; you’ll feel the need to go closer and closer, even if it means wading into the lake to get closer to that goal. Just...don’t go too far. Something is waiting for you.
If you touch someone to try to help them, you’ll see what they are also seeing in the lake, for better or for worse. It might be a good chance to get to know them, if you weren’t, you know, in danger of being eaten.
Thankfully, with some perseverance and good friends, the hypnotism can be broken. You do have friends, right?
If you survive all of that, you can finally log out and join Cerealia proper -- hooray!
BONUS [ xxxx ] There sure are a lot of flowers in this field of flowers. There are flowers everywhere. Which isn’t a bad thing, unless you’re allergic to flowers (if you are allergic to flowers, CERES apologizes and suggests you take their special, patented ClariCERESclear to clear that right up). Except...the longer you’re in said field of flowers, the more you may notice that things are a little...strange.
Some of the pollen of the flowers has some strange effects on your bodies, it would seem. You could stumble across any of these (or none at all), and they could last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour or two, depending on how much of that pollen you breathe in.
The effects are as follows:
➟ The urge to princess-carry the nearest person
➟ The urge to serenade the nearest person, regardless of your singing ability
➟ An awakened urge to be really aggressive towards the nearest person, even to the point of fighting (it's time to pvp)
➟ Uncontrollable crying
➟ An uncontrollable urge to make flower crowns and place them on peoples' heads (which thus further spreads the other effects).
Don’t trust the flowers.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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iv!!! ;w;
And after how weird this place has been so far, he's happy to see someone familiar — and a very special one at that. His entire expression lights up, starting with his eyes and spreading to the rest of his face until he can't contain himself. ]
Mikleo!! [ That's loud enough to snap him out of whatever he's feeling, surely. ] Is that you?!
[ He's not even the slightest bit wary that this could be some weird trap laid out by CERES or something else bad — all he knows is that he sees the back of his best friend right there and he has to run to him.
Perfect timing, right? ]
cries forever
The water seraph takes a couple steps away from the lake.]
Took you long enough, Sorey! I was worried I wasn't going to see you anytime soon.
no crying only smiling. pretend the book is mikleo
But maybe Sorey's actions will give away just how long it's been for him. He doesn't normally greet Mikleo with a hug of all things, but this is definitely the time for those, seeing as he's gone two months (a.k.a. an eternity) without his best friend. So he'll make his way right up to him and without any warning whatsoever, wrap his arms around him in a fit of happiness. ]
That's my line!
i'm pretending so hard
Besides, it seems like the place is rather private, so it won't hurt anything if he hugs his friend back.]
Should've been faster to say it, then.
[Mikleo pauses for a moment.]
From what I've heard, you've been here a while, huh?
good. except he likes mikleo more than the celestial record. only a little tho
And he's about to say something before ... ah? Mikleo knows he's been here a while?
Pulling away from the hug, though he'll keep his hands lingering on Mikleo's arms. Call it him still trying to make sure Mikleo's real and there. And that he won't just disappear if he lets go. ]
I have, but ... how did you know that?
dang, Sorey, how charming of you.
Mikleo furrows his brows slightly in thought.]
It's a little hazy, but I met someone before I got here. A girl named Ruby?
more charming than prince charming
You met Ruby already? She's one of my friends here.
[ But that wording is a little weird. ]
What do you mean it's hazy?
[ And why the heck did she get to see him first, ugh no fair — ]
He's not so sure about that lol
It feels like it happened a while ago, and that I met other people besides Ruby. Actually, some of this setting is sort of familiar.
[He shakes his head, looking confused.]
Honestly, next thing I know, I'm looking at some presentation about the situation they're in. Though, I'm not so sure how much of what they've told us is true.
[Gosh, Sorey, jelly much?]
wow are you saying sorey isn't the most romantic prince charming of them all??
You probably shouldn't believe a lot of that. I'm not really sure myself what is and isn't true yet, but ... don't take anything they say as truth until you see it for yourself.
[ He heard this from quite a few people upon arriving here, and he's come to realize just how true that is through his own experiences. ]
he's an accidental romantic and they both know it.
My feelings exactly.
[Mikleo's glad that someone got to Sorey before those thoughts could take root. He can only imagine his friend feeling responsible for their world's supposed destruction.
Speaking of feelings, though....]
How are you holding up? And what did I miss?
.... shhhhhhh ....
I've been okay. But ... it's kind of a long story. [ Hahah ... ] A lot's happened. I can tell you about it when we get out of here.
[ In the middle of ViViD does not make a good setting for sitting down with stories. ]
point goes to moi
Fair enough, but I hope you don't leave anything out. The last thing I need is to underestimate how potentially dangerous this place is.
[Because Mikleo knows full well that Sorey is going to try to keep things from him. At least in this way, he'll know the danger even if his friend doesn't tell him the specifics.]
So...speaking of getting out, how do we even do that?
refuses to acknowledge it
[ Hopefully. Honestly there's some things he's kind of hesitant about, but ... he does know he should tell him for his own safety. Ahhh ...
But anyways — ]
Normally we can log out, but it hasn't been working. There's probably something we're supposed to do first.
[ Maybe related to that lake? Sorey himself hasn't checked it out yet, and he's not sure what Mikleo was doing earlier. He feels like he may have walked in on something. ]
Do you think it has to do with that lake?
gosh, now who's tsun?
[He'll let it go for the time being. Mikleo glances at the lake and shifts his weight on his feet with some slight nervous tension.]
I'm...not sure. It's certainly not a normal lake.
[The water seraph really isn't sold on taking another look at its surface, and he's definitely not going to let Sorey look at it by himself. It had been a scary moment, now that he's thinking clearly.]
The surface doesn't show you your reflection. It shows you something different. It...well, I don't know what it would look like for you, but the lake showed me something I wanted most.
w-wow no one! nothing! shh!!
So Sorey will take that into consideration, and tone down his own body language and speech to be a bit calmer, softer. ]
Something you wanted most? [ Honestly, he's a little curious about what Mikleo saw, but Sorey doesn't like to pry, so he'll leave that for Mikleo to keep for himself. ] Do you think it'd be okay if I looked in it, too?
[ He wants to see the surface of the lake for himself. ]
uh-huh
More time.
[With the way he's looking at his friend, it's clear that he means, "With you."
Mikleo hesitates. Then he relents. It's possible that knowing what he wanted most would be another step to becoming wiser. How can the water seraph deny his friend that kind of opportunity?]
Only if I've got a hold of you. The longer I looked at it, the more I wanted to get closer to it. I wouldn't be surprised if it would've drawn me deeper into the lake, and neither of us know what's actually living under the water.
[So. Good thing Sorey arrived when he did. Mikleo might have been tempted to take another look at its surface.]
;~;
[ Whatever happens in their own world's future, at least now they have each other here. And seeing as how he's already been here for two months, who knows how much longer they could be kept here?
But he can better see now why Mikleo was so concerned about the lake. It wasn't just that it shows you what you most want, it's that it tries to draw you in. That's ... awful, really. People's dreams shouldn't be exploited in that way. And while Sorey already has a clear head of what it is he wants, he still wants to see what the lake will do.
So he nods. ] Okay. You stay close, and I'll be careful.
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You have a point.
[Still, Mikleo feels that it's...selfish to want that as badly as he does. Sorey's only human, and eventually they'll have to say their goodbyes. Then again, it's in these moments that he reminds himself that's just all the more reason to cherish every moment. He doesn't want any of his human friends to become a regret to him, especially not Sorey.
He puts that guilt and selfishness aside for the time being. The water seraph nods and stands aside to let Sorey through, though he follows closely after him. This lake is not getting Sorey.]
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So he flashes a smile back at Mikleo, before he goes back to being a bit more serious and makes his way over to the lake. He doesn't look in immediately, first looking back to make sure Mikleo is right there, before he turns back towards the lake and exhales.
Aaand then he'll look down into its water, followed soon by a soft gasp as his eyes widen. Well, what Mikleo said is certainly true — he isn't seeing his reflection in that water. What Sorey wants the most isn't something so honed in on one specific thing, but more a certain world that he'd like to see. It's free of malevolence, but most importantly, humans and seraphim are together just like Sorey and Mikleo have always been. And while he doesn't know if he'd ever be around to see that kind of thing, this is what he wants, so it's a given that he'd happily be together with Mikleo in this sort of world.
Of course, he doesn't have any sort of reaction like "I can't have that" which would help him to pull away from this kind of vision — he wants to look at it longer, maybe even experience it personally for himself. It's what he's always wanted, isn't it? So ... despite Mikleo's previous warning, he can't bring himself to look away just yet. This is what he's wanted to see for so long. ]
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He looks in the lake on accident and he's very surprised that it's not what he had been shown. Rather, he's seeing what Sorey is seeing on its surface.
Mikleo really doesn't like how this body of water knows their hearts like this. Beautiful as the world Sorey envisions is, it's just using that vision to get at them for whatever reason.
The water seraph tugs at Sorey's arm.]
Sorey.
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And he snaps out of it with another gasp, and a moment of silence for his mind to come back to the real world. Ah, that was a powerful vision indeed ... He's read about times when that sort of world was possible, but it's a completely different story to be able to see it for himself, and inhabit it. He's ... kind of tempted to look back in, though he's not sure that's the best idea.
And he turns to his friend. ]
Mikleo ...
[ The look in his eyes certainly says clearly that he understands what Mikleo said before now. ]
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It shouldn't know people like that, but it does and that's what makes it so dangerous.
[His tone is gentle and kind, though. He understands his friend's feelings about it.]
Besides...we don't need a lake to tell us that the dream of humans and seraphim living together is one to strive for. We'll find a way to make it a reality.
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But he's curious about what he just said. ]
You know it showed me that?
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The moment I touched you and looked at the lake, I saw what it was showing you. Oddly enough, it didn't have that same affect on me.
[A stroke of good fortune for that. Then, Mikleo smiles slightly.]
Even if I hadn't, I was pretty sure that would be what it showed you. That or running around unexplored ruins.
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[ To even be able to reflect what someone else likes to a completely different person ... It really is a force to reckon with.
He smiles at that last bit, though. ]
Of course I want that, too! A world where humans live together with seraphim ... and there's unlimited new ruins to explore! We'd be busy our whole lives! [ Heheh. ] I wonder if I could get it to show me that, too, if I looked at it again.
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