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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[ Well, they better think fast because right now they're becoming a human-sized ping pong ball in the ocean, the waves are throwing them everywhere trying to shove them underwater. From the looks of it, the material of the hamster ball is starting to wear out too from all the harsh waves crashing against it. And of course, the ear-grating whale song is getting much...much louder. (what is this.. an aquatic sea creature horror movie?!)
Another crash of a harsh wave and— yep, that hamster ball broke open. They're met with another wave to crash over them and potentially split them. Seems like they'll be swimming after all! (or drowning) ]
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He scrambles to get a grip on Caramia-- did he even get his name? -- but ultimately loses the chance as he feels himself slipping and crashing and ow his tail and wow did he hit solid ground?
Well, he's still wet and still in water, but he can feel cement under him and the surface of the water above. He sits up almost immediately, gasping in air before shaking his head, not unlike a dog, to get rid of the excess water.
Once that's done though, he looks around, confused for a moment, before panic sets in. After all, there's still one issue that's unresolved.]
Buddy? Friend? Are you still here? Hey, are you alive?
[It's a weird sight, but he's kind of overly concerned right now, you know?]
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Ouch, he'd be lying if he said everything wasn't a little sore right now. That's the least of his concerns, though, he's soaking wet in layers and layers of clothing! You can probably tell why he hates getting wet like this too.
But as reality sinks back in he notices his new furry friend causing quite the fuss. ]
Huh...I'm alive, probably. I might have sprained something, though. Ah— more importantly are you okay, mister...(oh, he doesn't know his name, right.) You haven't been injured, have you?
[ He's used to injuries more than he'd like to admit so the fact that his everything was killing him and the fact that he has a few open cuts here and there don't really bother him. Of course, he doesn't know if it's the same for Kaden so he can't help but be concerned. ]
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[He says, easily grinning happily when he sees he's indeed clothed and in one piece. He had to pause for a moment to make sure he's also clothed, before he starts wagging his tail to get rid of the excess water. It's gross in fur and he shudders because it's everywhere, but eventually he just laughs and offers a hand to him to help him up.]
I'm glad you're okay! I thought we were goners there.
[Eaten and all, though judging by their surroundings...]
Where are we anyway?
[On the plus side, it looks like he has his clothes and his stuff again.]
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[ While he's sure Kaden is a fox, he can't help being reminded of a golden retriever? It's strange to see and it makes him laugh, but he seems to be okay so he's glad. He takes Kadens hand as support to get up from the water with a: ] Grazie
This looks like a park? (and they sure were in a fountain..) Weren't we just eaten, though? I wasn't dreaming that, and hold on weren't we at a beach?
[ Caramia shivers with a sneeze followed after. His clothes are super heavy soaked like this. ] Maybe we should try to dry off first? (or find a proper change of clothes before they both get sick) [ He says that with a sheepish laugh. ] We can find out where this place is after
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[Even if his age is questionable. You can never tell with shapeshifters. Grazie isn't a word he's heard, at least, so that earns Caramia a curious look.
...Not that it lasts long with that statement and that sneeze. He nods, waddling out so that he can jump out of the water, before he reached over to get their stuff from the edge of the fountain. He knows that kit anywhere, and most importantly he has his beaststone with him.]
Okay, sounds like a plan. I wonder who we can ask though?
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Hm? You've never heard it before? It just means thank you. I'm surprised to meet someone who doesn't know that. [ excerpts of Italian are pretty common from where he's from, but he's never realized it may not be the same in other places. (obviously, other universes are a whole new ball game as well!) ]
Hm...maybe a civilian nearby? [ Considering they're being stared at by a couple dozen people that happened to be in the area, appearing out of nowhere in a fountain isn't exactly normal. Surely someone would be able to answer their inquiries. He can feel eyes staring at the back of his head as he grabs his belongings.
Trying to ignore the stares, for now, he seems to be interested in that beast-stone it's something he's definitely never seen before. ] It's pretty—
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[He only knows Nohr and Hoshido, and that's not really all that diverse a language pool for him to dive in. What are Italians? He has no idea.
Civilians though. He beams at the suggestion, about to say it's a great idea (and perhaps run off and get himself lost, because it's what he does best when he forgets to stop with the favor passing) when Caramia says something else that catches his attention more.
His ears twitch, curiosity coloring his features as he lifts the stone.]
Oh, this? This is the stone I was talking about-- Actually! Now's a great time to show you what I mean. You know, about being a shapeshifter.