Moonlight Note | Page 2

"Yes! No... Sort of." She nodded, shaking her head at the same time. Quite a conflicted message that she was attempting to convey. "I'm different now." Reaching back to rub the back of her neck, a mannerism she had not yet annihilated from her previous form, nor one from her manners in the real world. "I guess?"

How was one to convey that they had decided to reforge their own flesh into a new being, in an attempt to refine their identity? Perhaps the scrambling of her mind to come up with an appropriate response had made it all seem disingenuous, and that she was merely a liar, though she certainly hoped that this was not the case

Her conscious could not definitively agree. It was true that she was Eleanor, or at least once was Eleanor. But there were characteristics of Eleanor that Nalla now hoped to replace, so to continue accepting her previous identity would be to sacrifice her progress moving forwards with the fresh one. But if she refused the previous name, she would also perhaps be refusing the friend that she had once had. Which was more important to her, in that moment?

"Short answer, yes." She dismissed hesitation for her response. "It is good to see you... Again!" It had been since their meeting in the snow, where the thought of arcane snowballs had been configured. Still, speaking those words from a new mouth left a strange taste within it. Awkwardly attempting to shift the conversation topic back to the previous matter, she continued, "Sooo... Drowned Mermaid?"

@Claire Thalassa

 

"I can see that," Claire noted, getting a better look at Eleanor's new appearance. There were a few similarities...? But still, quite a change. It would take a while for Claire's own thoughts to adjust. "Right, then. So, if you've gone through all this, then I suppose you'll want to be called Nalla now."

Nalla. Nalla. She could get used to this. No problem.

Nodding slightly to herself, she looked back up towards E- Nalla. "Yes, indeed. It has been a while. You've been doing well, I hope?"

Nalla bringing the topic of conversation back to the earlier subject matter brought her attention to the fact that this was not quite the place for small talk. "Ah, right." Claire glanced around, not finding anything particularly out of place or anyone around to eavesdrop. Still, though, standing in a moonlit street was not the best place to be. "I've heard the name before. A tavern somewhere, though I'm not fully certain where it is, exactly. We could go looking for it together, in that case?"

@Nalla

 

Comet hardly if ever visited the Capital of Astorea since she much preferred the scattered villages of its forests, but felt a comfort inside the city. It's effort to rebuild once more gave her hope its future and the time she stepped upon the stairs to a castle, despite being in a disagreeable state, was akin to a magical experience. Her childish dreams were effortlessly thrown away in-game upon realizing Nobility had to be earned, and that hard work would be required, but a dim flame was lit that day with Corvella by her side. It changed the pink-haired woman's mind, direction, and goals as Comet. She began pursuing far more ambitious and greedy and leader-ish paths; paving them herself certainly sped up the process of succeeding.

The same emerald eyes that glowed with ambition - powers not quite reached serving as fuel - caught sight of the glimmering. It piqued her interest enough to have thin brows raise in suspicion and an observant nature had her scanning the surroundings. Sensitive ears picked up only silence. Therefore learned wariness allowed Comet to pass through the near pitch-black streets to figure out where the mysterious light led to or came from. Delicate senses aided the pink-haired woman in figuring her way around such darkness though the tight space of alleyways gave her something to work with. Rubbing the moldy note in disgust between her thumb and index finger, the message had her head tilting and eyes squinting to attempt and decipher whatever message may be hiding within the words. However once blurred vision adjusted to a lack of light the sloppily written note and fairly obvious code were pointed out by a confused and excited and willing Comet. "Drowned Mermaid... The Vigil Task Force..." she muttered underneath cold breath before deciding to follow her gut. Her loyalty to Astorea may have wavered the past few weeks or so, but it remained and somehow she would work to find out where the Drowned Mermaid could possibly be.

 

There was something interesting about being in Terrasphere during the night. Mizuki wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it helped her remain intrigued as she wandered through the streets of Vintergard. The renaming of the city had been something of a surprise, but she wasn't going to argue against the idea that with its renewal the city deserved a new name as well. It wasn't like she considered herself a loyal member of the Astorean nation anyway, so it wasn't her business. In other games you might object against that kind of thing regardless of whether it involved you personally or not, but this game was too real for that (well, for most people... some would argue about anything if given the opportunity).

As it was, she was wandering through the city with no specific purpose. Even though it was winter it was still a nice night to be out wandering, and she was enjoying the moonlight and the sounds of the city around her. It may not be quite the same as the silent beauty of the wilds, but there was something comforting about the sounds of civilization in this world, like a blanket which enveloped the city and made you feel like you were in a safe place. On Earth that pleasant sound had developed into an annoying cacophony, at least in the big cities. Terrasphere was different.

As she wandered Mizuki's own heterochromatic eyes wandered as well, scanning her surroundings idly as her leather-wrapped feet softly tapped against the stone pavement. Her tail swished idly behind her and she had a look of contentedness on her face, even as she turned a corner. However that was soon replaced by a look of curiosity as she noticed something reflecting the pale moonlight, and someone standing close to that reflecting object. Activating her Investigation Mode Mizuki quickly recognized Comet, and with the comfort of it being someone she knows she stepped forward and raised one hand in greeting, calling out to the pink-haired woman.

"Hey there. Comet, right? What did you find out here in the middle of the night?" Walking up to Comet Mizuki gave her a friendly nod and one of her usual slight but genuine smiles before turning towards the note. "What's it say?" She asked Comet even as she herself already began reading it.

@Comet

 

Joen had never been to the capital before, he had just arrived only a few hours ago and had spent so much time exploring that before he knew it the sun had gone down. His eyes twinkled with excitement at every sight, every sound as if he was a kid in a candy store. Lost in his excitement and wonder it took him a minute to notice that he had gotten himself completely lost, turning down a random street his attention was grabbed by a soft glittering of light in the darkness, slowly Joen made his way over to the source of the glittering and he found a note stuck into the wall by a silver pin.

Standing there he struggled slightly as he tried to read the note, it took him a minute with how little light there was but finally he succeeded in reading the note. Joen raised his brow slightly as he looked at the piece of paper "Vigil Task Force huh, wait there seems to be a hidden message here" Joen squinted his eyes slightly as if that would allow him to look at the piece of paper even harder A S T O R E A N I G H T, there were the letters that seemed to make up the hidden message contained within the note "Astorea Night, what exactly is that supposed to mean? Well I guess the only place I am going to find the answer to that question is....the Drowned Mermaid, how exactly does one drown a mermaid? Oh damn all these questions" and with that Joen turned and set out to look for the Drowned Mermaid to search for the answers to his many questions.

 

Putting a hand to her chest in surprise, Comet clutched the note in her hand defensively until realizing she knew who'd called her name. When relief washed over she found herself able to lose tension and move close to an equally as curious @Ueno Mizuki to give the Caenis a chance to read the mysterious note. "It has a hidden message, see? A-S-T-O-R-E-A-N-I-G-H-T... Should we investigate?" the pink-haired woman questioned with raised brows and confused gaze. If Mizuki found the clue to be worth chasing after then it'd certainly make Comet feel a lot better about the sketchy situation. Of course, the note was pretty straightforward and everything could lead to something related to it. Her mind's tendency to overthink had a reliance built to lean upon the Caenis woman who Comet knew to be fairly intelligent all on her own.

 

Mizuki ignored the surprised reaction @Comet gave to being called out, instead focusing on the note even as the pink-haired woman showed it to her. It was certainly a strange letter, especially since the contents didn't seem like the kind you'd encounter in some alley in the middle of the night. Cessia was a known name in Astorea, so it wasn't just some overly enthusiastic patriot planning something on their own accord without some kind of supervision. But even if this was supposed to be some kind of secret service... to recruit people by drawing the attention of people who happen to notice a scrap of paper while walking through the city at night? Either there was some kind of trick involved or Mizuki was missing something.

"So it does. Hmmm... Not really a difficult puzzle, so I think it's more meant to keep away people who show very little interest in puzzles or mysteries. Anyone who'd pay attention would probably spot it quite quickly." Of course not everyone was as quick with puzzles, but this one had all the available information laid out quite clearly without any need of a real hint beyond being told there was a puzzle to be solved in the first place. And if the puzzle of the letter was easy to solve... Mizuki didn't think one of the main organizers of the kingdom's day to day going ons would only select people based on whether they had enough curiosity to seek out the inn after solving this puzzle.

"I have to admit that I would rather avoid getting entangled in politics... But it might still be worth investigating. Although I'm guessing that once we're there they'll have another screening to ensure they only enlist those who can handle it, so if we're going we should be prepared for some kind of challenge." Mizuki tapped her chin as she considered it, glancing at the moon high up in the sky. Enough time left in the night that even if it was a goose chase there'd still be enough time left to get some sleep. "I believe we might as well. I'm not entirely sure I want to actually join, but maybe being part of the Vigil Task Force would have some benefits... and I've got to admit I've been made curious by this letter." She nodded at Comet to affirm her agreement to go investigate, then motioned towards the direction where she knew the Drowned Mermaid to be. "Shall we?"