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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apologies for the delay, had an emergency hiatus!
[Depending on what your definition of "long" was. He'd been here for almost a year, he knew that much, but he still had no clue what this place was or why it could keep people trapped as it does. All he knew was that it was fishier than an aquarium and was Not To Be Trusted]
I'm not from here, though. Quite a few people aren't. We all just end up here. Kinda like, um... [Ah, wait, he was speaking to a child here, he couldn't be saying scary things like mass-kidnappings] A lost-and-found place for people. Yeah. It's only temporary, mmhmm...
[He hoped]
it's okay! i've been super slow because of rl anyway
Like... an orphanage? Or a foster home? [... No, that doesn't sound quite right. Hm. Moving on.] This doesn't look like a lost-and-found, though... Nobody looks like they're waiting for something good to happen here.
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[Damn, sharp kid]
Well, not really. I mean, weird stuff happens here from time to time. [He paused, obviously debating over something for a long moment, before murmuring in a subdued tone;] ... sometimes it's harmless, but other times it can be really dangerous. So everyone's kind of on edge in case things like that happen again.
[Or at least, Kaz is. One of his friends had been killed during a previous event, and it had left him a paranoid bastard ever since. He felt hesitant telling the kid this, though he didn't know what withholding it from them would do. If the kid didn't know what to look for, then how could they protect themselves, huh? Or, know to find someone to protect them? Better forewarned, right?]
Sorry if I'm saying scary things here, but I thought you should know that much at least. This place isn't... it isn't a good place, okay? So make sure to stay on guard and with someone strong, alright?
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[Honestly... They'd rather not think about why they're used to it, though. Their friends might have forgotten all about it, but they haven't. They don't get that luxury. They don't deserve it.
They smile a little for this guy's sake, however, and squeeze his hand in what they hope is a reassuring manner.]
I'm good at taking care of myself, but... if it gets too bad, I'll find someone tough to stay with. Don't worry about me.
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Hmph. [Kazuya sniffed, finally looking away] Well, I'm gonna worry. So, you know what? If you do need to find someone tough, just look for me, alright? The name's Kaz, and I'll protect you from anything bad.
[It was probably a bit forward of Kaz to extend this offer, but it was typical of him. Back in his world, which had been a bit of a mess, with people being attacked and devoured by demons, Kaz was far too used to swooping in to try and save complete strangers. This kid: a complete stranger, didn't even know their name. But Cerealia was dangerous, and Kaz wouldn't be able to sleep at night if he just left them to their own devices without the knowledge that they were with someone, or somewhere safe]
That is an absolute promise. Ah. [The gym was finally in view. Hallelujah. The smell had been getting to him a little] There's the pool.
no subject
... Okay.
[No name offered back. Partially because they're finally at the gym. Mostly because they still haven't quite grasped the concept of introducing themselves without being asked first. Once the pool comes into view, though, they frown at it.]
Do I jump in, or...?
[Frisk, no......... Use the showers. Make things less gross for everyone.]
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[He almost said "don't be stupid" before remembering he was talking to a kid here, and just made some vague, grumbling noise in the back of his throat. He led them into the gym, feeling a little awkward because, uh, this was a place he rarely, if ever went to. Being a demon meant your physical prowess was purely natural, rather than through hard work]
This place has, like, changing rooms and stuff, and they've got showers. [A bit of minor exploration - where Kaz tried to make it seem like he knew exactly where he was going (he didn't) - they stopped at the changing rooms. Three doors: male, female, and... Kaz didn't know what the third one meant. Non-binary? Other?] So, here we are. Pick whichever and take a shower. I'm not a creep so I'm not gonna escort you in there and watch ya, so I'm gonna leave for like, ten or fifteen minutes to get you some clean clothes, okay?
[He paused and then pulled his hand away from Frisk, only to gently grasp the back of their shirt, trying to see a label of some kind] What size are you, anyway?