The thing about Cerealia is, there really isn't any nature to be found here. Sure, you can go outside the walls of the city and explore the land beyond but who wants to risk a terrible, horrible death just to sniff the flowers? Not you, that's who! CERES understands that, CERES sympathizes, and sometimes CERES decides to take action when such problems arise. As part of the company's current "Healthier and Happier YOU" initiative, they've decided to let everyone get back in touch with nature a little.
Via ViViD.
Of course, this being CERES, the nature they've sent everyone to is more of a swamp. The place is disgusting, a real marvel of ViViD ingenuity and it smells like the dead. There's strange rustling among the leaves from creatures that may or may not want to eat you, and random pits that open up right under your feet with the goal of sending you straight into the marsh. It's not really that fun. There's no welcome sign either, no nothing except for swamplands as far as the eye can see.
Welcome to ViViD!  This is Mosley. One of our programmers forgot to include a welcome greeting for the level this time. How incompetent can you get? He's been fired now, it's fine. Instead, I will greet you today. Lucky you! You've been invited today to participate in CERES's "Healthier and Happier YOU" level where we've combined both physical exercise and relaxing meditation into the ultimate ViViD experience. Isn't that fun? You can... go camping and stuff. Or whatever. I don't... know...
Honestly, I don't even care. Have fun.
|
PHASE I [ 6 00 ] Welcome to your new healthy living training ground! What does a swamp have to do with healthy living, you may ask? Absolutely nothing! To make up for it, CERES has outfitted all players with the proper equipment for their new healthy living lifestyle. They also may or may not have let you keep your shoes based on how benevolent the ViViD gods were being at the time. (Not very.)
Oh, and all newcomers will have something additional on their fancy new yoga shirt. It will be displayed loudly and proudly all over the front and back of it. And if you're one of the few not wearing a shirt, it will be on the back of your pants. As in, your butt. It will be on your butt.
What’s ViViD trying to say, anyway?
Regardless, it probably doesn’t matter as much as finding your way through the swamp. Some sort of dry land would be really nice right now, wouldn't it? You'll have to watch out for the mud that will suck you right down under the marsh, and the creatures with lots of teeth that will never surface from the mud but won't hesitate to snap up an unwary foot or two.
CERES is sure you'll be fine. Totally and completely fine.
PHASE II [ 800 ] Eventually, if you try really, really hard, you’ll make it to a house. Actually, it’s more of a shack, really. If you clamber your way out of the mud and the gunk and the marsh into said shack, you will find it to be empty aside from a table. A table hosting a huge pile of... well, health drinks. See, there's totally a health theme in this level. CERES would never make a ViViD level that wasn't thematically appropriate. Never! Health drinks of all sorts and types and sizes can be found here and there’s even a sign too; it simply says:
Take one.
Well, that seems safe.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to leave said shack until you do take one. And drink it. The door will lock shut and cover itself in more swamp until you do. Yay. Depending on your luck, the drink may do the following to you: ➟ Cause your ViViD experience to glitch. This may involve phasing through walls, seeing everything in 8-bit, or hearing really annoying old video game music everywhere you go.
➟ Cause status effects. This can include suddenly moving incredibly slowly, being turned to stone for a period of time, suddenly being on fire, suddenly being poisoned, etc etc.
➟ Be healthier. Mmm, kale and hummus smoothie. Taste those veggies. If you try to take more than one, that’s fine too, nobody will stop you, but you probably won’t get lucky more than once.
PHASE III [ 900 ] And back you go, out into the swampy wilderness. Don’t give up! Keep going! Eventually, you’ll find the end of this level. Probably.
Eventually, though, you may stumble across something in the mud and the muck. It’s... a little doll?
In fact, it’s a little doll of one of your most important people (or, alternatively, of someone you absolutely hate). It might be someone in Cerealia currently, or someone who isn’t, but either way, the doll is there and it’s clearly them (covered in mud and all). Be careful, though. If you toss it aside, you’ll suddenly see that important person being tossed aside. If you cut the doll, you'll suddenly see that person bleeding. Even if they aren’t present in Cerealia, whatever happens to that doll, you'll see it happening to them. Is it a hallucination or are they actually there? That's a little more up in the air.
And if they are present in Cerealia, well... doing things to that doll might very well hurt them too -- for real, this time, though.
Be careful! Or don't. You do you, as CERES would say.
PHASE IV [ 1200 ] And then, eventually you reach a quiet, swampy area. Not that the rest of the swamp isn't swampy, this area is just extra swampy.
There’s very little happening here in this swampy place; even the birds are no longer squawking. And for a long moment, everything will remain quiet and peaceful, a place of reprieve... until the swamp begins to bubble. Then suddenly, a new friend will burst out of the swamp, showering mud and gunk everywhere.
Without warning, that creature is going to try to grab for the nearest person (it might be you!) and let out a mighty roar when they have them. Then, they'll hold them up to... read the nutrition facts on their shirt? What?
Of course, it will try to gobble you or whoever else it grabs if it finds, say, the salt content to be acceptable (the monster is watching their carbs). If it's not, then they'll just fling you away and move onto the next snack. For those without a handy nutrition facts label on your shirt, well, it might just take a gamble and try to eat you anyway.
Great. A health-conscious monster. That's just what this level needed.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Finally, you’re free of the game. Without warning, you’re dumped into Cerealia properly and you’re able to scrub the mud and gunk from your clothing (wait why did that come back with you and where are your normal clothes?). You're able to then make your way to your new place of residence (or old) and...
There is a tiny tree there waiting for you. Isn’t it cute? And if you take care of this tiny tree, it will eventually bear fruit! Tiny fruit. Itty bitty fruit.
Depending on which tiny tree you get, it will be one of the following: a tiny dildo tree, a tiny bacon tree, a tiny kazoo tree, a tiny carolina reaper tree, or a (dumb) tiny hats tree.
Everything will, naturally, be tiny. Enjoy your new healthy CERES gift!
[ 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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mitsuru
She was as strong as ever. He was sure of that.
And once it's melted enough that he can form words again, he takes a long moment to shiver and try to contain as much of his body heat as he can. ]
Seriously, Mitsuru?
[ Little does he know that he played a part in these consequences. He just thinks Mitsuru mistook him for an enemy. Usually her senses are keener than that.
Still, he's glad to see her. Elsa's frozen palace and all. ]
no subject
...Where is your shirt?!
[ Dear god, Akihiko, do you have any sense of decency?
And while she's at it, when were you so...um.
Goodness.
She knows him better than most people (anyone, if you don't count Shinjiro), and even sometimes minute changes eventually make themselves known to her. But the fact that he's, uh, definitely grown a bit from the last time she saw him combined with the multitude of new scars littered across his torso (yes, she remembers those too, she's treated a few of them)--are those claw marks? ]
What on earth happened to you? Are you injured?
[ Other than the being frozen alive thing. ]
i bet his nips are so hard right now
Fortunately for Mitsuru, this isn't the first time he's been asked about his shirt (or lack thereof), so he immediately understands what she's getting at. Why is everyone so transfixed with his wardrobe? He sighs and looks down at himself. ]
They didn't give me one. [ Not that he was wearing one before he got the yoga pants anyway ] This makes it a lot easier to move around the level, anyway.
[ Now that he's able to focus on a bit more than the drop in temperature, his eyes widen when he looks at her again.
There's something different about her. Is it the hair? Is there something different about her stature? It's something he can't quite put his finger on. ]
What? I'm fine. [ His eyes flicker back down. ] I told you, I got this months ago. [ And it was so unlike her to forget anything.
He grins. ] Don't worry, the damage I did on that bear was much worse than this. [ But because she looks so concerned, his own eyes will widen in worry- ]
What about you? Are you doing okay?
[ More than okay if she was strong enough to execute his nips!!!! ]
does she need to warm them up?
No, in all seriousness, the discrepancies in his appearance are growing by the second. The fact that he's not wearing a shirt, while not a huge surprise, makes it difficult to ignore. The fact that CERES hasn't provided him with proper attire isn't all that surprise--she hardly feels fit for battle her own set of yoga pants and loose-fitting top. Really, what is she supposed to be able to accomplish?
Other than freezing the place, apparently.
But that's not what bothers her. ]
Months ago?
[ When they were in Tartarus? Surely she would have remembered if he'd sustained such damage in the final battle, although they had forgotten about it entirely for a while. ]
Bear?
[ They've faced shadows, but bears? Who is that insane? (Akihiko, obviously.) ]
I--I'm intact. [ That's the same thing, clearly. Mitsuru gives him a serious once over--notably not lingering any one place that would deem inappropriate. He's obviously...improved. In a record amount of time. Time...
Minato and Shinjiro, their presence alone indicates that passage of time is a factor in this place. The idea that people could only arrive post-death had been a theory for a short while, but the fact that other people seemed to know Mitsuru, indicating that she had somehow been there before, despite having no memory of it. Many unanswered questions. ]
Akihiko, was was the last thing you remember prior to finding yourself here?
ooh lala
Did she hit her head somewhere along the way here? Is that why she hadn't recognized him at first? His concern is growing more and more by the second, and her answer to his question doesn't help him feel any better. ]
That's not what I asked. If you need to log out, you should. [ His eyes narrow as he tries to follow her train of thought.
It's a good thing she thought to ask him about the discrepancy in their memories, because he still hasn't figured out just what is slightly different about her. ]
You called me-- told me you needed help with some Shadow Operatives business. Some precious cargo of yours had been stolen, and you asked me for help in retrieving it.
[ That's the basic gist, anyway. ]
Long story short, the last thing I did before being brought here was enter that weird TV world. [ ... ]
That... sounds a lot weirder than I thought it would.
she can give him a shirt
Mostly because she cares, partially because she likes being in control. But that's another story.
She shakes her head, hand at her temple. ]
No. I'm fine.
[ Has she been known to push herself past her limit? Yes, but there's something else here, something missing.
It only gets more confusing with what he says, and her expression, while guarded, does darken a bit as she thinks. Precious cargo? Shadow Operatives? She called him...?
...Enter into a TV world?
Weird only begins to describe it. Her eyes narrow as she settles her gaze on his face. There's a scar on the side of his head--she would definitely remember that. It's not fresh, nor are the others littered across his torso. There's an awkward heaviness in her chest, almost anticipating what his answer will be. But... ]
...Akihiko. What year is it?
ofc
There's no flicker of recognition in her eyes, no sound of acknowledgment-- nothing. ]
It's 2012. [ Something is really, seriously off about her. Something's wrong. ]
Hey... we should log out.
no subject
[ She repeats. Strangely, she's not entirely surprised. Shinjiro came from October, Minato...from just a few days prior than herself. The fact that someone could be from her future has always been a possibility. ]
Yes. We should.
[ Perhaps it's better to talk about this in person. ]
I take it you understand how?
no subject
[ As long as she's here, he's got a bit more peace of mind, and he's confident they can figure this out. ]
I'll bring snacks. [ In case it takes a while. ]
no subject
Mitsuru nods. ]
You'll be wearing a headset. Mimic the motions of removing it and you will reawaken at the colony.
[ Snacks?
Akihiko...Akihiko please.
But it is enough, despite the odd situation they're in, to bring a small smile to her lips as she shakes her head. ]
...As self-serving as it may sound given the circumstances you're about to become aware of...It's good to see you.
[ She reaches up as if to remove her own headset. ]
I will wait for you outside.
[ As for what she means by "outside", well, he'll figure that out.
And then her image fades out, as the swamp returns to what it was before her attack, seemingly taking the rest of the ice with her. ]
no subject
Sounds good. I'll contact you once I get back. We can go from there.
[ His smile widens a bit, glad to see that despite her usual strange behavior, she seems back to normal now. He even sighs in relief. ]
I'm glad to see you too, Mitsuru.
[ Even with the whole execution thing. ]