You know what everyone needs after rampant robotic attacks and another iteration of clone wars? A vacation! That’s right everyone, you deserve this. CERES understands what you need. CERES is here for you all the time, so never doubt that this is a pleasure colony, and they are here to look after all of your needs. Kick your feet up, relax, and let CERES Recreation and Activity Necessity Keepers (Team RANK, that is) set you up with your ideal getaway.
It’s as if you can sense the incoming relaxation and luxury before you even completely finish loading. There’s the warmth encompassing your entire body as your code gets transferred into this particular ViViD Level. A cool, refreshing breeze hits you. The sounds of waves gently lapping against the coast fill you with relaxation. The sun, the sand, the surfs, it’s all there – welcome to the beach, baby!
An echoing greeting message from the ocean comes next, if you can translate it.
 OOOOOOOOOOOOHMAHH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHD.
YOOOOOOOOOOOORRRALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOO KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT.
KYOOOOOOOOOOOT EEEENAAAAUUUUUUUF TOOOOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.
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PHASE I [ 08 00 ] That said, isn’t that breeze a little… too strong? It feels like it’s brushing up against all of you, if you know what I mean. When you open your eyes and look down, it becomes rather clear why. It seems that you’ve found yourself in some pretty interesting attire. Everyone. No exceptions. You appear to have two options – be overcome and scream like the Victorian maiden your heart says you are, or strut like a model in this stuff. Turn some heads! Work that up do!
But don’t worry, we’re also conscious about safety here at CERES! Therefore everyone’s also been provided a pair of super high-tech safety-tested appendage protection floatation devices (STAPFD for short.)
At least everyone around you is caught in the same sort of attire – and everyone around you also appears to be stuck inside a giant sand castle. It’s entirely malleable to what you want it to be! Want to see a fancy sand bidet? Feel like adding a sand statue in your honor? Think that wall should now be a door? Well, with enough perseverance, you can make it happen!
Just uh, be careful about getting sand in your… everywhere.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] Someone broke it. Not pointing any fingers, even though you sure do seem like a prime suspect, but someone broke it.
It almost starts like an earthquake with how the castle starts to rumble, the sand shaking right beneath your feet. And then the walls right next to you start to cave in followed promptly by the ceiling right… above your head. Oh dear. The sand starts to run and fall, losing its structure and shape. The hallway behind you starts to cave in, ceiling first and then the walls follow suit. Now the sand really is getting everywhere – but not just uncomfortable places. It’s in your hair, your eyes, your nose…. this sure doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to go!
Best to start running – there’s a trusty drawbridge to get over the moat (because what’s a sandcastle without a moat?) but who knows how long until that, too, is going to give way? Best to cross over it before it starts to shake and disappear too. Or if you don’t make it, hopefully you can land some pretty impressive airtime to make it to the other side!
If not, well...there'll be the sensation of sand crushing down upon you, filling your mouth and eyes, and you won't be able to breathe at all – and then you're alive again on the beach (but possibly in yet another new, uncomfortable, skimpy swimsuit). Honestly, be more careful, would you?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] However, once you do make it to the other side, it’s all smooth sailing from there! Or is it? Hah, as they say, life sure can be a beach.
Which is what this is.
Welcome to your Beach Episode, folks. Now that you’ve made it out of the collapsing sand castle, you’ve made it to the luxurious, picturesque golden coastline. Sure, you’re coughing up fine, luxurious, sand dust right now and you’ve definitely gotten sand in all of your crevices thanks to your swimsuit, but that’s okay! Go take a soak in the ocean or something or cool off with a smoothie. There’s a smoothie shack off into the distance, complete with a long chalkboard with… well, probably a few familiar names? And some unfamiliar ingredients. Sounds appetizing right?
That said, once you do ingest some of the smoothie with the name of a newcomer, you might suddenly find yourself feeling a bit… different. You’ll be taking on some of their traits, one of the most intense parts of their personality – or you might need to take a second to sit down because you’re suddenly seeing one of their memories. Whoa. What do they actually put in this stuff?
PHASE IV [ 1500 ] For the brave souls that venture out into the water, you have even more adventures waiting for you. Anyone who’s swimming around, wading in the water—hell, even looking at the water is getting scooped up and deposited in one of these giant orbs. But don’t take up too much room, because someone else is getting shoved right in there with you. Time to get cozy with your new friend, because it's only going to get worse as the waves begin to carry you out into this big, blue, virtual ocean. Hopefully the choppy waves don’t bounce you around too much or – well, you could always get really friendly with a stranger! Why not?
At least until it’s made very clear that fresh air does not make it back into these balls. That seems like a bit of a design flaw. Now what? Fight the other person who’s inhaling all your air? Suffer through it for swimsuit-clad fun? Or if you break it…. well, you sure are stranded out in the ocean. Or are you?
After enough flailing, you’ll be met by a giant, dumb-looking creature who will then eat you whole.
Everything goes dark. This is surely the end --
And then you're in Cerealia proper; it seems that was the exit to the level (but why there?) and you'll find yourself either in one of the fountains or the pond in the park. Either way, you'll be very, very well. And this time, that's not virtual. But hey, at least you'll have all of your stuff with you.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Do you hear that?
Anyone idle on the beach will hear a distant melody coming from further out into the ocean. It’s a beautiful, elegant song that automatically makes the listener stop what they’re doing and immediately wander toward the noise. It takes you a moment to recall – it takes a moment to think about anything now, really – but you remember hearing the smoothie shack owner say something about mermaids populating the beach. Could this be their song calling out to you? Whether you would normally abide by this kind of call or not, you find your feet walking further and further out into the water, the shallows lapping up to your ankles and up and up as you are drawn in by the song.
A rather classic song, though the usual instances of French are also replaced with the very enticing, enchanting nonsense promise of omelette du fromage........and then they try to drown you.
[ 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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[Now she can be introduced to Archer's sigh. It's patented, of course.]
Well, I won't complain if you follow behind any path I make but I'm not going out of my way to assist you.
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[Although he didn't say that directly, Felicia had certainly interpreted it that way...]
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[Nope. NO. Archer refuses to get pulled into that shounen word play!]
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[He really is, in so many more ways than one.]
Secondly, I said that I'd prefer to make something over looking for your lost weapons. Of course, I expect repayment and I doubt you have anything I want.
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[It was....about her only domestic skill.]
And why wouldn't one servant help another? We're both in the same industry, so we should look out for one another.
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[AT LEAST HE'S HONEST.]
Because something that might benefit you isn't proven to benefit me. Do you understand?
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I might not be the best maid out there, but I'm not completely useless! I've become better and stronger, like a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly, you know!
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[If Archer wasn't used to this already, he'd start getting frustrated.]
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[She paused for a moment.]
....Well, Corrin likes having Jakob around, and Sir Gunter taught him how to fight like he taught me. I guess that answers my question.
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[Especially in the harsh, corporate world known as Cerealia.]
That said, I don't have many friends and I prefer it that way. By not engendering a false sense of camaraderie with you, I'm being far more honest to you than those who would smile at your face while turning around to speak harshly of you.
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[She looked at him-- really looked at him-- and seemed to actually absorb his words.]
I take it back. You are nicer than Jakob. He never has anything nice to say, and doesn't even try.
...Even if you don't want to be friends, can I still call you one, Mister Archer?
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I can't control what words you use. So say what you wish.
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[S M I L E.
This was a sensible man who was speaking reasonable and wasn't irrationally afraid of magicians-- one of the first she had met that day, too. Why wouldn't she want to be friends?]
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And he makes four knives between his fingers and tosses them down at her feet.]
There. I'm sure you can survive with just that.
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[She looks down at the blades in surprise before looking back up at the man, a billion question fighting their way to her lips at once. Humming as she fought for words, Felicia finally found something coherent to say:]
Magic? But, I thought you said you were a blacksmith. Mister Archer...why?
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[What, the blacksmith hero is actually a giant fake?? Say it ain't so!!]
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[The more you know, etc, etc.]
Is there anything else or are we going to get out of here?
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I'll find a way to pay you back, [she said earnestly, not wanting Archer to feel like he had been done a disservice.] And then we can really be friends.
Let's go; I'll do my best to help as much as I can!
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Good. How cold can you make things?
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Well, I'm from the Ice Tribes, so pretty cold. My sister Flora once froze over an entire harbor...I'm not nearly that talented, but I can freeze things.
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[Frozen things are easier to shatter. And since it's hard to kick through sand without everything collapsing all over, what better option than to freeze it?]
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[And, unquestioning the man's judgement, she took a step forward and laid her hands lightly on the sandy wall. Brows furrowed in concentration, she closed her eyes and focused on the sand, on the bitter cold of the lands that she hailed from.
The ambient temperature around them dropped-- and frost steadily spread on the sand underneath her hands.]
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