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 not like he's used to everyone keeping secrets, but the idea of the guys in charge deciding not to tell rather than "I'll tell you if you really, REALLY want to know" is kind of weird.]
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[Although there had been that one in Line City who actually cared and moved from her inner chambers to help Ryuuga fight. It was cute to see even if it hadn't been so frustrating. After all, she did provide far too much backup and gave the Knight needed rescuing in what could have been a critical time.]
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[He just raises an eyebrow and then huffs to himself before holding out a hand to the guy. Might as well be polite since he did point his sword at him. Sure, it was sheathed at the time, but manners as his wife would say. Besides, he might prove to be interesting.]
Come on, let's find out where you're suppose to be staying.
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How exactly does that work--is there a place we're supposed to be, or are we mostly on our own?
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[He shoved it back into his pocket and reached up to snag the blue butterfly and tug it free of his hair. It chimed in protest at the move and he opened his hand, puffing on the creature. It flew around them once, and then zig-zagged down the street, leaving a trail of tiny motes of light that faded in its wake.]
This is the Pleasure District. The apartments are in a different sector of the city.
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[Unfortunately, though, cute things distract him and the butterfly totally wins his attention. So have a huge smile coming your way.]
That's really cool! It's not a regular butterfly, though. Something like this?
[He holds out Tako, one of his candroids.]
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[Well, he is just a tad jealous about that. Jinga wished that he had someone like that instead of being stuck here with his enemy of all people.
He blinked at the weird creature and then shook his head.]
My wife uses them for delivering messages or scouting out the land. They're normally just a minor spell and not made to last long, but that one came with me to this place and seems to have gained a bit of a personality in the process. I suppose it might be similar though nothing of it is mechanical.
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You could say that. It's kind of complicated, but I think so, at least.
[At the description of the butterfly, though, he smiles softly.]
That's really lucky, that it stayed with you like that.
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[Like his marriage with Amily. Sure, they were Horrors and there was a thing about how Horrors don't normally work in pairs, but at the same time, he still felt something for her, and she felt something for him.]
I suppose... It's nice to have a reminder of my moon, at least.
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There has to be some subject that's safe.]
So, that place I was in--that was a game, right?
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He stepped around a billboard advertising the unworldly pleasures of St. Oalf's Pancake Emporium, shoving one hand into a pocket while trailing his fingers lightly against the print.]
The ViViD yes. It's a virtual game and one of the many ways to earn some extra money, but it is also as glitchy as hell. It doesn't help that CERES doesn't really get people and try to make things better without first making it worse.
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[He's rubbing at the stitches on his hand.]
It's just...I think I'm still kind of disoriented by everything.
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But as far as I know, whatever happens there is not fully translated to this reality. It doesn't mean that there isn't any transference, but it's not entirely bad either.
The real problem is this place itself.
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[He tips his head for a moment, trying to indicate everything around them. Too much time spent in a high school run by elder gods meant he wasn't too inclined to trust the powers that be at first glance.]
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[He shrugged, dropping his hand and stopping, toeing the broken piece of someone's robot, the expression on the faceplate frozen in a look of annoyance and rage.]
CERES thinks it's trying to help us. They will give us something that is considered nice and a help but it will go wrong. Other times, something bleeds into this place. There is a maze that harbors the restless dead and vengeful creatures on one end of this place. There is something wrong if you try to fly too high.
And through it all CERES insists that it saved us from the destruction of our worlds.
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That's better than I expected, honestly.
They've got to want something, though. Do you have any idea what?
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[To Jinga, this place wasn't as bad as Makai. At least here he had his own space and didn't have to deal with such things as other, stronger Horrors.]
No, I don't. There are theories... You can probably find out more at what they call The Sanctuary.
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Just before this, I was trapped in a school, Inugami. I don't know exactly what was going on there, but the staff was definitely okay with sacrificing us and running experiments.
The Sanctuary?
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[He thought of the alter in the center of the maze, now destroyed thanks to someone taking offense to it's 'decorations'. He had thought it was only placed there as a distraction, but maybe it meant something more.]
A place several people manage to create that CERES cannot get in.
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But he nods at the explanation of the Sanctuary, trying to tamp down his urge to panic.]
That sounds good. Safe.
[Obviously, but after the first part, he's still a bit shaken.]
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It is as safe as it could be, though there are still things that can get through. Like the added hardware behind your eyes.
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As if I didn't have enough to worry about with them.
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[The purple color might be odd but he wasn't going to comment on it. After all, he had a glowing blue butterfly that follows him around and comes from a society in which magic could make some impressive changes to a body. The eyes thing might have been fallout from his suit.]
Is there something wrong with them before you came here?
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[He starts off bitter, but his entire body sags. It's too fresh right now.]
I'm not sure exactly what he did. I blacked out when he brought the scalpel to my eyes. When I woke up a few days later, they felt grainy and they were purple. And that was the least of my problems.
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