“I-I just don’t understand! Why would someone do something like that?!” “Everything will be alright, fair maiden. On my honor as the Flagbearer of Miracles and as a Champion of the Twinned Goddesses of the Mind and the Festival, I swear that I, alongside my companions, shall bring the swift hammer of justice upon this chocolate thieving fiend.” And with those vaunted words, the quest was accepted, the contract signed, the mission began. … It was the morning of St. Valentine’s Day in Stokbon, and the town was alive with romantic energies, estrogen and testosterone mixing into a slurry of hormonal lust in all districts. Bards lesser than himself were singing odes to the Archer of Love, while flower girls were making a killing selling roses. Bakeries burned at full power in order to meet the ridiculous demand for sweets, and the parks were clogged with hundreds of couples, both PCs and NPCs. If it were any other day, Cain would have joined in the festivities, singing his own songs and enjoying some chocolate dipped strawberries, but he was a man on a mission of love, and time was ticking away much too quickly. Though one may claim that Valentine’s ended with the clock struck twelve, the tradition of giving away chocolates often ended at a much earlier time, no later than early evening. It was to allow for what happens after a confession of love, after all, whether it be doing dirty, dirty things or drinking one’s sorrows away in a Singles Only tavern. And so, for that fair, nameless maiden who had her masterpiece chocolate whisked away by some fiend in the night, there was only eight hours left. Too little time for a single adventurer to search every dastardly den of evil in the great capital of Falderen alone. But definitely enough time if two others sought to sacrifice their own romantic possibilities in order to bring a smile to a tear stained face. On his right, the rust haired tinkering madman, the electronic musician in a lightless realm, @Emerath Katou ! On his left, the enigmatic, mysterious Lady, the exhibitionist braver of the blizzarding storm, @Lady N ! With a deadly trio such as this, there was no doubt in his mind at all that they would be able to solve…the Case of the Missing Chocolate.
Emerath rubbed the bridge of his nose as he stood next to Cain. "We have basically nothing to go off of here. No leads. You didn't even get the girl's name." Emerath explained, exasperated by the man. He had worked with Cain a few times in events, a bard with much more skill in the harmonic magics than his own budding forays into the craft. But still, he hardly knew the man. All he did know was that he tended to be theatrical and extravagant. He certainly didn't disappoint with his reply to the 'fair maiden' they were now tasked to help. "You're lucky that I seriously don't care about this stupid holiday, and that I actually enjoy helping people. So I hope you have a plan for this, o fearless leader," Emerath said, his arms folded across his chest. "There are literally hundreds of chocolates being passed around in this town. Do you even know what this chocolate looks like? Or are we just supposed to believe that it is the most beautiful chocolate we have ever laid eyes upon, and that we'll know it when we see it? Is the woman a master chocolatier? I have so many questions and not enough answers, Cain!" Emerath was already done with all this and they hadn't even started. He wondered if the Mysterious Lady N would offer any other semblance of sanity to this absurd situation. But knowing his luck, she'd just end up making it more absurd. He was in for a long St. Valentines Day.
Chelsea, or rather' Lady N', had her eyes closed and her arms folded loosely. In nearly any other scenario she would have never wasted time on this. Finding missing chocolate in some silly video game. Yeesh. This was however, a chance to practice and also to spread the name of her incredible mysteriousness over the game world. If this silly thing was going to be a fill in hobby for the girl, then she would like to actually have the reputation she preferred rather than... uh... whatever she had right now. Ironically the men she was standing with were two of the ones that bothered her most. Emerath the tinkerer who quite frankly made her look like a extra during their dungeon crawl in Lost Arcadia and Cain... Cain the totally, absolutely, most perverse and lacking of respect man she had ever met in her entire life! Well... It was not like she was all that old or that he was really THAT bad but still! "More questions than answers describes a lot of things. Hmph." She snubbed them both as she began to work out this 'mystery'. "For all we know she stole them herself or her boyfriend did as a joke and will show up right before the clock strikes twelve. Cain, you're lucky I even came considering your previous...you know! Hmph!" She opened her eyes and glared at them from behind for a second before closing them and continuing to try and figure things out for herself. Surely she was not going to have to search a entire city for a box of chocolate?! There must be a better way. @Cain Darlite @Emerath Katou
Oof, the city was filled with romance and amour, a festive mood in every which direction, and yet, here these two were, a bunch of Negative Nancies who couldn’t enjoy the moment at all, because they were too busy being sour about everything. Geez, what sort of traumatizing event did THEY go through, to play a game but only be salty about the quest they were actually going to take up? Tsk tsk, no wonder they were newbies! The Mysterious Lady N and the Tinkering Musician Emerath clearly never spent a good six hours wandering around a forest in search of a proverbial needle in the haystack before! Compared to the difficulty of that particularly annoying quest, this was so, so, sooo much easier! Laughing off the questions and concerns of his companions, Cain wagged his finger from side to side, as smug and overly confident as can be. “More questions than answers does indeed describe a lot of things, but definitely not this thing, Mysterious Lady N,” the midnight haired muse began, “So let’s check our answers slowly and carefully.” They slipped out of the main street, where the couples were most present. “Now, first off, Sir Emerath, let’s talk about the form of the chocolate. There are indeed hundreds of chocolates being passed around, but the form of this particular chocolate is unique enough that it would cause a fair maiden such as our client immense distress at its disappearance. Perhaps it’s a statue? Perhaps its diamond studded? No matter, it would indeed be uniquely irreplaceable.” They crossed the side streets, the shadows of the buildings becoming longer as the festivities behind them quieted down with distance. “However, it is clear that she is no master. Chocolate is a rarity, after all, and it is an honor amongst the aristocracy to be able to live without doing work. No doubt, that single piece of chocolate is the result of her pouring all her effort into it. Unique it may be, but it is no doubt hand-made, amateurish, even.” They were reaching the outskirts now, the buildings becoming a little more ragged, the people on the streets single and down-trodden. The detritus of Valentine’s Day. “And why on earth would any man wish to cause his beloved so much grief and sorrow? It defeats the purpose of the holiday to sabotage her own secret endeavors, after all. Instead, friends, allow me to elucidate you on the underbelly of this amorous holiday.” He stopped at an unassuming door. “The Illicit Hand Crafted Chocolate Black Market.” And, rearing one foot back, Cain Darlite, Flagbearer of Miracles, Protector of Maidenly Smiles, Champion of the Saint’s Holiday, kicked the door down, unveiling the immoral horrors within. Huddled in the miscreant shadows were groups of men, eyes wide like deers caught in headlights. The dealer was a muscled fiend, scars and tattoos crisscrossing his half naked body, while his customers were the lonely and disenfranchised, a collection of the fat, the ugly, and the fugly, gold pieces sliding out of their hands in exchange for ill begotten sweets. The sign in the back of the room said it all. “Made by Maidens: Chocolates Full of Love and Fluff! 1 out of 3 chance of having blood or saliva mixed in! Buy now and enjoy the love!” Truly, a fathomless cesspool of humanity’s most heinous.
Despite how things had seemed, Emerath was actually incredibly impressed with the logic that Cain had presented. Though N had initially been on his side, Emerath found himself shifting sides as Cain discussed his thoughts and breakdown on the matter. Though, nothing could have really prepared him for the sight that he took in once Cain kicked the door down to the seedy underbelly of... chocolate deals. Emerath scowled as he looked into the room, and he crossed his arms. "Is this where chocolate goes to die? Sure feels like it. You know, I've never really been one to celebrate this holiday, but this is just disgusting. How desperate does one have to be to go to these lengths?" Emerath muttered to his companions. That wasn't even beginning to mention the information printed on the sign in front of him. "One in three... ew," Emerath commented after catching what the sign said, before continuing, "Are these men doing what is basically the chocolate equivalent of sniffing a girl's panties?" he asked Cain, while also simultaneously having to willfully hold back the desire to throw up at his own comment. "Hold on, I think I need a moment," Emerath admitted, before he managed to regain his composure, gulping hard and trying to clear the disgusting thought. Once he had managed to pass that delightful thought, he put a finger to his temple, and opened up his Investigation Mode, and activated his Investgation Vocation to try to glean any useful information from the scene in front of him. Pieces of logic floated around the room, detailing what Emerath presumed was information that all lead to, "So, this is where all the stolen chocolates end up, right Cain? And once we find something unique, we're on the right track, I assume. But what if there are multiple unique chocolates, as there are sure to be on a day such as this?"
Chelsea's everyday mask of stoic let out a sigh of displeasure. Only to follow by a larger sigh of disgust at what awaited her inside the... Chocolate Black Market? "..." She saw Emerath speak about panties right in front of her and then saw he regretted the thought. How about regretting saying it in front of a lady? At least a apology would be expected before this was over. Yeesh... “Made by Maidens... Chocolates Full of Love and Fluff. One out of three chances... of having...b-b-blood or s-saliva mixed in. Buy now and enjoy the love.” She finished reading it as she too used investigation mode. Chelsea glared at the man that was selling these. Then the people that were buying such things. Ewww, this was not just boo. It was a mockery of what Valentine's Day should be about. "..tch. This is wrong." The desire to do a Lady N act of sudden heroism came to her. After all, Lady N was a mysterious hero that would set things right with her technological advancements and leave those behind in wonder. That was her role play anyway. Maybe it was a bad character considering how much more important realistic issues were for her. She was bored and lonely. Running around a game wasn't helping. Still this disturbed her more than fighting a giant goblin. It was ugly humanity in here. Chelsea pulled up her sleeve. Her N Slicer prototype gleamed in the dim lighting of the secret lair of chocolate craving perverts. "This place is getting closed down. Right now. Stay put or you'll be sorry. Don't even try to run." She made a example as she fired and the disk ejected and took one of the men's toupée right off his head before returning to her wrist. "Go interrogate or search already! It's not like this bothers me or anything." @Cain Darlite @Emerath Katou
“Haha, well, if they’re stolen, then as long as their unique, we should be trying to get all of them back to their owners, right?” Cain replied lightheartedly, cradling the back of his head with his hands. “After all, though we may be employed by a single fair maiden in grief, she is no doubt representative of many more weeping souls within this callous city.” The disgust in the eyes of his compatriots was a bit extreme, considering how his own reaction to this had been more akin to amusement. Stolen chocolate, sold on the black market for lonely hearts? That sounded like something straight out of a comedy, but it was clear by Emerath’s revulsion and Lady N’s cold disdain that the two thought they were staring in the most putrid example of humanity’s ugliness and filth. He felt a bit sorry for those misguided fellows, really. …well, perhaps it was a good thing his teammates’ views on the world were innocent enough that they could be righteously furious at such low level criminal activity. On the other hand, to the three in the room, it was clearer that the trio of adventurers were naught but meddlesome brats that never understood the crippling darkness that came with not receiving any chocolate on Valentines Day except from their mother. Indeed, in the face of Lady N’s sudden proposal, the bald man, bulkiest and no doubt the merchant of such wares, immediately stood up. He had no toupee to get sliced off, after all, and in his hands was a big, thick stick. “Hey!” he called out, “You can’t just barge in and do that! Who the hell are you anyways? Goddamn, you undying twinks and midgets just not nothing better to do than to ruin other people’s livelihoods, huh? Get the hell out of my store before I t-” Before the man could finish his sentence however, the portly dude that had his toupee taken off suddenly moved, charging Lady N. It was an act of bravery that surprised even the Flagbearer of Miracles, and Cain was too late to stop him before he dove down, prostrating before the Mysterious Lady. “O-o-ooooooooh,” he moaned, speaking to the dirt on the floor, ears flushed red, “A goddess! I c-can’t believe it! Please, don’t let it just end here! Step on me! Berate me! What a blessed day, what a wonderful miracle! Such an EX-rank sadist loli!” At such an aberrant display, even the muscled stick-wielder was grossed out, his scarred face screwing up at just how fucked up that was, right there. And during that distraction, the spindly, wart-scarred customer turned his shifty gaze towards the traumatized quartet, seeing a golden chance. Snatching a handful of delicately-wrapped, handmade chocolates, he tried to make a break for it, arching around Emerath. Things certainly became a mess super fast, didn’t it? @Emerath Katou @Lady N
"W-W-W-W-WWHAAAAAAT?" Sadist loli?! Sadist............. Loli? Chelsea was so repulsed and offended that she lost herself. This game was made by sickos. Evidence found, sentence set, case closed. She took a step back and leaned back in horror. A face of bright red and a quivering mouth was all that was left of her stoic expression. The threat of the large man and his big stick went over her head right now. She was just so done with all of this... this.... nasty stuff! "Y-Y-YOU! SA-...I CAN'T EVEN SAY IT?! URRRRRGH STUPIDGROSSSCUMMYPERVERTLOSER!!!!" She immediately began to kick the man over and over with her non bladed boot. Screaming in a fury that was extremely rare for the calm and quiet girl. This was just beyond her though and it triggered a good deal of pent up stress she was dealing with in real life too. She wasn't even a loli! She was 5 feet tall and going on 17 years old! How dare he call her a fetish for sick perves who never leave their basements! Oh yeah... that was this guy pretty much wasn't it? STILL! "TAKE THAT AND THAT AND THAT....and that.... and... and.... *huff*... ....yeesh..." It looked like someone escaped with chocolate. Honestly, she wasn't sure how much she cared right now. If Cain and Emerath went after him, she would follow while barely able to catch her breath. Chelsea was not the most athletic even in this game. If not for her bladed boot and the gadget on her arm. She would just be some loli.... URGH damn it, never mind! @Cain Darlite @Emerath Katou
Screams of fury and a litany of insults and a flurry of blows rained down upon the prostrate man, but instead of getting the agonized cries of regret that she thought, the pudgy man seemed to absorb the impact of the blows with his many folds of fat instead. The moans that escaped from him was more pleasure than pain as he squealed like a pig, enjoying every one of her ineffectual kicks. “Oooooh! Buhiiii kick me harder mistress! Y-your feet feel so good! Please, please imprint yourself onto me! Oh my lord, oh my goddess, oh Mistress Uene! This is the best Valentine’s e-” A thrum of strings, and the fat man’s head went slack, smacking into the ground as heavy snores sounded throughout the cesspool of chocolate and human loneliness. Letting out a low whistle, Cain prodded the drooling, blissful pervert’s face with the tip of his shoe, before confirming that he was indeed completely asleep, no doubt dreaming of abusive lolis trying their best to break his bones without any Martial Arts mastery. Emerath had already ran off in pursuit of the chocolate dasher, leaving only the muscled chocolate racketeer in the room. Dark eyes flickered to Lady N and her disheveled appearance, before Cain turned his attention to the other man. “W-wait, you know magic? Oh blazes, don’t do this, I’ll just sur-” Another thrum of his strings, and the muscled thug also fell asleep, Master class Harmonics making short work of their consciousness. Now, there was naught but two sleeping deviants and two adventurers with varying degrees of revulsion. Looking at them, Cain scratched the back of his head, before dragged Fatty and Muscle Boi off, tossing them together into a closet like he was playing Hitman, and then turned to the treasure trove of chocolate before them. Most were standard heart-shaped chocolates, wrapped up in a variety of colorful boxes. A few looked somewhat outstanding, but as far as he could tell, nothing truly struck him as ‘SO UNIQUE THAT THEY WOULD HIRE ADVENTURERS TO RETRIEVE IT’. There were more things to be concerned about though, and after his cursory glance failed to bring up anything worth investigating, the midnight haired muse turned his attention once more to the Mysterious Lady. “Hey, you alright?” Cain asked, a soft smile cresting his features, “Dunno what that guy saw, but the woman before me right now is certainly a mysterious lady with curious gadgets. Don’t let it get to you, Lady N. Those types live in a world of self delusion, after all.” @Lady N
"Huff huff huff.... huh?" Chelsea quickly looked away as Cain spoke. He had put everyone to sleep. Yeesh... could have done that a bit sooner! That was so disgusting and wow, she really did let herself go there for a second. Maybe she should log out for the day. Not much to do here but deal with these bozos. Although... was Cain actually being nice? That was a new development. Chelsea was pretty sure he was just a idiot pervert himself. Honestly, she appreciated him trying to make her feel better. But heck no was she going to say that! "...Well at least they are not being so gross now. Hmph!" Her words may have betrayed the small split second smile on her face. Returning to a cold expression as she passed by Cain and looked around before turning back to him. Her look of disinterest through the roof. Although.. maybe it was actually keeping her mind off her troubles in it's own disgusting way. "So what now? We still don't have the chocolate do we? This quest is has just... been a unpleasant experience." She waited for him to take charge since this was so much more interesting for him it seemed. Why she hung around... she had no idea. Really. @Cain Darlite
“Yeah, it has,” Cain said, lying through his teeth, “But a job is a job, and as adventurers and allies of justice, we must be the ones to wade through the decrepit cesspool so that common folk don’t have to, no? Stay stalwart and advance, Lady N, we st-” As he rummaged through the chocolates, a moment of curiosity pulled the midnight haired muse’s attention away from the multitude of same-faced chocolate cookies to the signboard that had stayed upright the entire time. More importantly, to the fine print that had been etched onto the corner. Cain leaned in, squinted, frowned, and read… ‘This product is meant for comedic purposes only and are not actually made by maidens. Purchasers’ discretion is advised.’ What did Emerath call it again? ‘Where chocolate goes to die?’ And if one was to follow that line of thought, then… Chocolate was in high demand on the days preceding Valentine’s Day. Demand spikes downwards on the day of, and any days after. If stores had excess supply then, they would naturally enter liquidation mode in order to sell all the stock they have accidentally accumulated. If a racketeer was to take advantage of that and buy those chocolates en masse, before deceiving wretched loners of their origins… …he’d no doubt make a tidy profit, wouldn’t he? All without the risk of actually having to steal homemade chocolates from unsuspecting waifs. The gears clicked, the facts aligned, the truth unveiled, Cain realized that, no matter how scummy and morally gray this business of the skinhead club-wielder was, it was still a legitimate one. It may cater to perverse sinners, and it may rely on willful self-deception, but ultimately, the only ones in the wrong here was the trio of adventurers. Ho boi, this was superrrrr awkward now. He had come in expecting his random hypothesises to get an actual lead, but instead... The Flagbearer of Miracles, the Double Blessed of Idna and Iedi, the Dunce of Investigations and Deductions sighed, before breaking out into a shamelessly bright smile. Lady N, more occupied with looking at the ceiling rather than the sign itself, seemed not to have noticed yet, and, under the guise of mere curiosity, Cain spoke up. “By the way, just as a thought experiment, if we were to hypothetically not find the chocolate here, how else do you think the chocolate may have been stolen, Mysterious Lady N? Please, illuminate your thought process to me.” She totally did not know yet. "Yup, just a low stress hypothetical thought experiment." @Lady N
Chelsea had nothing to say at Cain's bemused inquiry. In fact this whole thing was tiresome and annoying. Cain's face was met with a small lean forward and a a glare from Chelsea. This was something she usually did when at her wits end with foolishness or otherwise wastes of time. "I am not interested in your thought experiment, Cain Darlite." She pulled away and turned with a small huff. They weren't finding anything and she had to deal with these disgusting 'people'. It was time to ditch this and go back to her real life again. Boo, that was going to be fun too. It was rude to just up and leave though. "Just tell me what's going on here so I can leave. I am starting to think we won't even get payed. Yeesh, I'm not wealthy enough here to do free work." The accidental revealing that she was probably someone of wealth or status in the real world slipped but she didn't catch herself before or after. Opening her UI she prepared to hit log out and get out of here. She was going to be sure to remove her avatar as well. Heck no would she leave it in this place... bits of data or not. It was still her form and she would probably come back into the game at some point or another. Once or if Cian told her the anything. She would hit the button. "Logging out..." @Cain Darlite
Too pissed to continue, hm? “Wellllll, if the chocolate isn’t here,” Cain began, “Then it has to be somewhere else. And if it’s somewhere else…” A shrug. He feigned nonchalance with an easy smile, before backing off a little from the irritable twintailed girl. “Then we’ll have to re-establish the whole investigation, no? Of course, if you’re willing to give up so quickly, or if you have better things to do, or if this experience has you eating sour grapes, well, it’s really nothing I can’t handle myself.” Terrasphere was just a game, after all, and a quest like this was more for the experience than the reward. Even if he had no real idea WHAT Lady N was stocking up her money for, the flagbearer reckoned that it wasn’t really all that important. After all, going by this little escapade alone, it was clear that an S-rank sadistic loli, if willing to dive into more unscrupulous tasks, could make herself a pretty tidy sum of gold fairly quickly. What was her name again…Kadea? Yeah, that was one of the veteran adventurers who N could squeeze a ton of cash out of, hm? Oof. Totally wasn’t in the spirit of Valentine’s Day to do that though. Shaking off those darker thoughts, the midnight haired muse flourished, a shallow bow for the girl who was about to log off. “Though it was short and somewhat unsavory, it was still nice, meeting you in a more proper adventuring scenario, Lady N,” he finished, smiling, “I can finish this myself. Enjoy your hot shower or whatever you plan on doing.” Well, he still had no idea what to do, but Cain was used to this. If he wandered around enough, a plot significant event would trigger itself sooner or later, right? @Lady N
