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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[She's not sorry she missed that one]
Hey, that's kind of what I do! I'm a hero who help out people!
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( 'Sweet' makes sense, but being cute has absolutely nothing to do with heroism even if Soleil makes it a priority for herself. )
Oh, dang. I can't help be a little disappointed, though. That means if you're in danger I probably won't need to come to your rescue after all, huh?
( So much for that dashing rescue she had planned if another monster tries to eat Hajime. )
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Even heroes can get in trouble - we can be a team up!
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( She does get actual stat boosts by fighting alongside girls. She isn't exaggerating. )
Buuut, I think I'd rather we just have some juice and skip the whole 'trouble' thing altogether.
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[Now that's team work]
Right, let's see what they have!
[it's just a little bit before they're right in front of the shack, looking over the truly enormous blackboard of drinks.]
Hmm, wow, there's so many to choose from... don't these kind of sound like people's names?
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( Soleil works her way from the top and when she sees a few referencing people she knows, she immediately skips down to see if the two of them have anything named for them. Soleil finds her own, but her excitement turns to confusion. )
"Soleil-ollipop"? So-lay-olli-pop. That...doesn't really work. But it sounds good, so--
( And her confusion turns to disappointment and more confusion. What kind of weird joke is that price supposed to be? "Grandma's ashes"? So much for getting Hajime the drink named after Soleil... )
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They have a really weird sense of humor... when I arrived, they gave all the new people "nutrition facts" - they said I had about seven thousand calories of everything! [And if this was like that, it would explain why Hajime didn't have a drink up there]
Hmmm... [Looking up and down the list... she can't really find one with either a reasonable price or ingredients she'd want to drink, though a few come close] I don't see anything good, do you?
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Jeez. I wonder if we can order something not on the menu. Or...settle for water.
( She was so close. How dare this dumb shop ruin her chance of sharing a drink with a cute girl? The perfect day is a bit less perfect now. )
Sorry, we might need to wait until we get back for me to get you something decent to drink.
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[The man gives a Look but goes to get them a couple of glasses]
Hey, don't worry about it. It's the thought that counts, right?
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( Soleil is an endless supply of optimism, so she bounces back from the disappointment immediately. It's especially impossible for her to be down around someone as cheery as herself. She grabs her water, pulls Hajime to a table, and pulls a chair out. )
Here you go.
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[Hajime has just as much optimism, if not more. Grabbing her water and letting Soleil drag her along, she giggles as the seat's pulled out for her and sits down]
Thanks! You're really... chivalrous? Or well, nice!
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( She plops down into a seat herself and scoots it a little closer to Hajime. )
I like being nice to cute girls. You especially deserve it.
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[She grins and scoots close too - she's all about closeness]
So were you part of a group at home? You know, that you fought with?
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Yeah, that's right. I was in charge of my own little group I got together, but I joined my father's group when I ran into him. I had to keep him out of trouble, after all.
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Ohhh, you were a leader? That's pretty neat! What sort of place were you from? Were you from earth?
[She'd have known better if she saw her normal outfit, but ViViD had taken all their clothes so really, she could have been!]
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( Are there places besides 'earth'? What are 'planets'? She is a bit sheltered. )
I'm from the Kingdom of Nohr. My father serves the crown prince and I serve the crown crown prince. There are a lot of bullies and bandits, so we've got our hands full.
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The crown crown prince?
It does sound like a busy job!
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( Soleil furrows her brow and thinks for a moment. Something has just occurred to her. )
Huh. I wonder what I'm going to do while I'm here. It's not all deserts and beaches, right?
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( Is she wooing a schoolgirl? School must last longer than she is used to. )
Jobs...I wonder what kind of job I could get.
( She has yet to receive her suggestions, otherwise she would be bragging about them. )
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[Hajime folds her arms, looking Soleil over. If she were a less focused person, she might get embarrassed for staring at her in that skimpy swimsuit, but Hajime has jobs on the mind]
Maybe a fitness trainer? Or a coach! I dunno, what kind of hobbies do you have?
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Hmm. My way with girls probably wouldn't count. Not like you can get paid for that, right?
( Little does she know that is exactly the job she will get. )
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( Food? Water? She can sustain herself entirely off the awe she feels around cute girls. )
But maybe...hmm. I guess I'm a great mercenary, but I doubt anyone needs that around here.
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