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.
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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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[ah, Minako looks around, and she notices too. normally, she wouldn't care, because this is Usagi! they're very close! but the fact that the other is concerned makes her aware of how weird it must look to outsiders.
she laughs loudly, hand behind her head]
Y-Yeah... you're probably right! I wanna get this gunk offa me anyway.
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[Usagi was almost finished anyway and just had to wash her hair. Though of course, with her hair being so long she may well still end up taking about the same amount of time as Minako would with her shower anyway. It's not so much that Usagi is concerned, she was just aware that others were confused and figured this probably wasn't quite the time to catch up, especially when Minako would want to wash off all that mud.]
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[Because obviously, Minako has a better idea on the location of....pretty much everything in comparison. So Usagi would just follow the other's lead there.
So she resists the temptation to wander after finishing with her hair, waiting for Minako to get out of her shower and show her the way to their rooms. Though really, she shouldn't be too surprised if they had already somewhat arranged accommodation together. They are friends, and besides, they were all senshi and aware of each other's secrets.]
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whatever. they're not important! so once Minako comes out and sees Usagi again, she rushes over to her, pressing her cheek against the other girl's affectionately]
Hehe! Hi! ♥
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Minako-chan! ♥
[There's a laugh. But really, even from as little as what Usagi recalls, it was obvious they were rather similar in personality, in spite of Minako's initial attempts at being serious, playing the role of the princess in Usagi's place, as their leader.]
Shall we?
[Offering an arm, anticipating for Minako to lead the way.]
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she's still wondering why Usagi looks younger than she's used to, but decides against saying anything for now. it seems kind of rude, honestly, and Minako doesn't want to be rude. not now. there would be plenty of time for that later]
I think you'll like this place. Rei-chan bought it, and it's big enough for all of us. She and I got rooms ready for Ami-chan, Mako-chan, and you, depending on who showed up.
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The whole time thing is a bit of a mess, and of course Usagi herself has noted the other seems taller and older in comparison. It's just not something she's actually really sure how to ask about or bring up, exactly. So she concentrates on what Minako says about the rooms.]
Mako-chan....she's the only one not here, right? Ami-chan found me in the ViVid and told me you and Rei-chan were here.
[Truthfully, Usagi's a bit down at that. It's not quite the same if they aren't all together. And she misses Luna. But even so, it's lucky that she has the other three at all. She knows she should be grateful for that, for all the dangers of this place and the ViVid.]
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Yeah, Mako-chan is the only one, now. [her smile fades a bit, but not completely. she moves her hand so that she can squeeze Usagi's, trying to comfort her] But that's okay! We'll find her, eventually. If CERES can bring all of us, surely it can bring the others! [Mamoru-san and Chibiusa-chan, too!]
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[Dammit CERES, she just got her boyfriend back and now this mess. Though Minako probably isn't so surprised by Usagi's up and down mood as she thinks of those back home, and potentially seeing them again.
Still. She's not completely alone. Having the three friends here she does is reassuring in and of itself, and Usagi finds herself easily leaning to them for support and reassurance in this.]
But...but I got a doll of Mamo-chan! I found it with the ViVid.
[It's. Something. Aside from the locket, anyway.]
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A doll? [h-hmm... Minako looks a bit wary. she'd seen the doll too, but it was of someone else] Did you keep it?
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[Which sucks. But it doesn't meant there's any less chance of the real Mamoru showing up, or her figuring someone to make another doll. Maybe one of Tuxedo Mask, even.
She shouldn't be so stupidly sentimental that she already misses that doll. But she kind of does. She would have kept it if ViVid let her. At least she still has the locket.]
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[here comes the train! they're always so fast. and Minako can see how disappointed Usagi looks. she sighs and squeezes her hand again]
But we can make you another one! A cuter one, that doesn't get hurt. ♥
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[It was probably harder to tell, given Usagi was trying to take good care of doll-Mamoru. That and he wasn't actually there to show any sign of anything happening to the doll, exactly. But she can't help smiling at that idea as she gives a nod, following Minako on to the train.]
Another doll Mamo-chan....I'd like that!
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Yeah, I think so. I dropped mine a couple times. [once accidentally, then once on purpose, to make sure] And then I saw images of the person the doll represented getting hurt.
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[Mamoru had already surely been through more than enough, after being kidnapped and brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom and all. He didn't need to suffer for Usagi's clumsiness on top of that.
Minako might be used to the people around, but Usagi isn't. She just might be staring a bit at some of the aliens and andriods.]
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