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.
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it's cool. we'll get there when we get there. WE both have a general idea.
There isn't any say for sure what Ishtar thought about the whole situation but right now she was peacefully sleeping. As he's peeling the sheets from the sleeping princess, he could indeed see Ishtar's familiar peaceful face buried in the pillow to her side, while her hair was wildly covering a good portion of her body and the well the T-shirt she totally stole from his closet.
Her breaths were still even as she continued to sleep. ]
1/?
...............
[ Ishtar... when had she.... his vision blurs as tears begin fill his eyes reflecting the ache in his heart at the sudden realization that they had brought her back. Uprooted her from her home. How many times would she need to suffer places like these. First the Doctors had taken them then this place that gave them some lie about coding and through all that she had endured it, and finally... when she finally got to leave this nightmare... They brought her back... Again. And he...
He swallows thickly. For a moment, he had felt comfort in her presence. His fingers tighten into fists as tears slid down his cheek. What kind of monster was he that he'd find any sort of satisfaction from her being back in this hell hole! He couldn't---]
2/?
[ His eyes snap down when two small paws land on his chest as the cat purrs into his neck licking his cheek of the salty residue. Zero stares down in awe as the cat curls up in his lap to take a nap. ]
...........
3/4
Bells. [ A name said softly in the dead of night. He wouldn't let his emotions consume and spiral out of control. Isthar didn't need that, not right now. He'd done enough to make her worry in the past already, he wouldn't add anymore to it.
He wipes his eyes and slowly reaches down to run his hand through the soft coat. ] I'm sorry I woke you up. [ He apologizes. ] I'll let you both sleep.
4/4 | He's a sucker for animals /shrugs
You're loud.
[ He tells him and gets angry squeaks in return, which earn a smile more genuine than before. ]
Don't say I didn't warn you.
[ He tells him as he gets off the the bed and slips out of the room with the bat in two. He slides the door closed and sets himself up in the living room to let Ishtar rest more placidly. In the morning, while the girl sleeps in late as usual, Zero gets up early to make breakfast. ]
1/2 ; he really is such a sucker for them.
Of course, she didn't really do anything more than keep to herself as she heard the sounds. She heard the squeaking of her bat and a lot of cat meowls. Of course, it was hard to pretend like your sleeping at some point so she had to put her acting in play as she kept herself as even as possible, and motionless. She could only imagine what was happening.
Was... he crying?! His presence was well known with her since she got used to having him hover over her or be near enough where she could figure out from a certain distance who it was. Of course, she'd only make the situation worse if she woke up right now, so she's going to force herself to 'sleep' as much as she could before the presence left the room with her squeaking animals. Ishtar's brows furrowed together in worry and guilt.
She didn't think that her presence was that painful to not have around, though she should have expected it since Takeru was so upset when he saw her. He was so relieved and happy after all of it that he just clung to her. Ishtar remembered his warmth and the sobs along with his angry words. She bit her lips as she pulled the blanket back over her head, trying to stop herself from breaking out in tears as well. It's not like she could do anything right now. The princess was going to have to face it in the morning. Whatever it is.
With that she silently as carefully as she could cried herself to sleep again. ]
2/2; next morning ~
Being modest was never really her forte, so she's going to rub as much of those dried tears as possible and made her way into the living room. She scoped the area for the familiar giant with silver hair that she was used to seeing and spotting him almost immediately while he was making breakfast in the kitchen. It was pretty late in the afternoon and she was surprised that it was okay to even be sleeping that late. Needless to say, she sort of tackled the other from behind, Never mind what he's doing. She immediately starts crying quietly once she made contact. ]
1/2
2/2
..........
[ He stilled in her grasp, breathing in a quiet breath before shifting to settle a hand on top of her head. ]
Cere's made a mistake. You'll be back with your people soon.
no subject
Of course, he's the same as ever, setting his hand on top of her head and helping her calm down. That sort of weird action that he does always somehow calms her down in these situations. ]
That's-- That's not why I'm crying you big lug!
[ She sort of raised her voice between hiccups of sobs. She felt unbearably guilty for the past two months. She didn't even recall if she was sent home or not. Everything was a huge haze until she ended up in the same place again. That was when everything came back. What people? As much as she missed them, her connection to them was barely a sliver of what she had here. ]
1/2
It was these thoughts that dulled the pain making it bearable. If it meant her happiness, he'd gladly endure anything that was asked of him. He wouldn't break down, not again. It'd only worry her if he did, so he clung to his duty as a vampire hunter and accepted the lonely path that had always lay waiting for him up ahead. ]
2/2
It's okay. [ He tells her instead. ] Whatever the reason. It's fine if you cry.
no subject
Especially last night when she was crying herself to sleep at that thought. He was a kind person, and a caring person. He may have put up a pretty stiff front with her but she knew he was too kind for his own good. He probably suffered terribly when she was gone without a trace, without a word. He nearly tore his hair out when she went missing for three days. It was almost as if it were deja vu. She buried her face in his chest, the crying stopped probably.
She didn't know if she could cry anymore. She was always crying right? It was weird that she was able to do that in front of him but he was someone like her family and she was okay showing that weakness from time to time. ]
...Last night...You...
[ She mumbled. She knew he wasn't going to ask but it would be weird to avoid the topic. She squeezed him some more. ]
Were you crying?
[ Her voice was soft, but she held back the guilt that she felt when she asked the question. Ishtar wasn't good at beating around the bush sometimes. She didn't meant to speak so bluntly, but getting answers from him was hard. She wondered if he was going to even tell her. ]
no subject
..........
ooc