WQ - (The Fade) The Living and the Dead

The vestiges of rot and decay burned through Alpha’s lungs like the press of burning coals. The small village, which laid on the western outskirts of the furthest parts of Astorea’s borders, would’ve been considered a typical, cookie-cutter community if not for the stench which wafted over the wooden graves and fresh cadavers which were flaunted off in the mortuary. Not even the aroma of the countless bouquets could mask the inherent miasma of death which haunted this fair village.

Many homes, made of hollowed timber, were in a state of disrepair. Few houses seemed to be occupied; it was a ghost town without equal. The most one could hope for was that the many residents who once called this place their own had long since left and migrated to other well-established settlements in an escape from this mysterious blight. The presence of untouched wealth, precious items, and property quickly dispelled this notion. “Aurgh,” Alpha groaned, stomping on an engorged rat as it skittered in plain sight. It was odd to see such stealthy creatures unafraid to run in broad daylight. It was also odd to see a sign of thriving life when many other beasts in the wild and people living in domesticity had fallen to plague and pestilence.

It shrieked as the back of Alpha’s foot crushed through its ribcage, snapping its tiny bones in half, and squashed its beating organs with the ease of a steel mallet hammering through a nut’s fragile shell. Of course, there were plenty of things that were wrong with that analogy: for one, nuts weren’t likely to leave as much of a mess as the bloody stain of flesh and fur that the rat had become. Hector, by her side as always, wasted no time in scarfing down the twitching body. His toothy grin, which wouldn’t be out of place on a shark’s face, was marred with red. His tail wagged behind him, content with his plump lunch.

Alpha stared at him for a moment before she gave him a light, playful slap across the muzzle. “Bleh,” she stuck her tongue out, face contorting in an odd mixture of glee and disgust. “You’re disgusting, Hector! At least cook it before you eat it! And use forks and spoons when you eat; you have the worst table manners ever!” she complained, more for the sake of normalcy rather than having been actually disgruntled by her dog’s lack of tact. “C’mon, we gotta investigate! Detective Alphabet Chocolate’s on duty, you mutt! We must save these poor people!” she threw her arms up in the air, gesturing to the crowd of bodies slowly melting from the sun, their bodies amateurishly uncovered and unprotected by the day’s heat.

She blinked. “Er, we gotta avenge these poor people! Pretty sure there’s still someone alive around here but, you know, can’t really revive the dead...unless we get Lucia in here, but that’s kinda creepy, don’t you think?”

Silence answered her.

"Y'know, Hector...this is not as fun as I thought it'd be."

She briefly wondered whether or not she should take a detour from the utter dullness of it all. Looking around, she noticed that there wasn't a single store that was open. Not a single place of hustle and bustle. It was quiet. And quiet was very, very boring.

She looked at the corpses once again. "You think their ghosts would mind if we have a tea party?" she pondered aloud. It's been awhile since she had a tea party (stuffed animals were rarer than stuffed dolls depicting the image of Astor Balthas and she'd rather let the earth implode in on itself than host a tea party with only the attendance of miniature Astor Balthas plushies) and the best guests would be the ones that just sat there and listened. "I mean, maybe we could interrogate them about what happened around here?"

Her reasoning sounded weak, even to herself. With Hector's deadpan face being her only response, Alpha couldn't help the rush of embarrassment that followed. Quickly, she huffed, pouted, and stomped her foot on the ground (her bunny slippers now dyed with the stench and colors of a dead rat). She crossed her arms and turned her head the other way. "I know, I know! It was just an idea! What else can we do? Wait for some guys to magically appear in this deserted heap? I swear, it's not like Seigi or someone's gonna parachute out of an airplane and land in front of us. And tea parties are a very, very important matter of business...it encourages critical thinking skills, promotes conversational and social abilities, and challenges your analytical and creative brain to find topics of discussion and good sugar cube brands!"

@Ashnor Ironth @Seigi

 

Even fallen from the Heaven's, some Stars don't lose their shine...

Seigi couldn't come up with any word that could describe the scenery in front of her. Disgusting? Surely, but not enough. A dog's barf was disgusting just the same but was ultimately just nasty. This? This was just horrible.

Part of her, still undecided what path she should take, wanted to turn away and run. What if she got whatever happened to this place? What if she died of a horrible... infection? "Tzch..."

Silly thoughts. She was a Player all the same. Nothing changed. Just a little bit more tact. With most of her belongings placed save some-place else, the girl only really carried one thing with her: A bottle of... weird looking alcohol? That she promptly took a sip from.

Käse des Abgrunds, or something, apparently, that should have given her nightmares. Yet, the crimson-hair came to appreciate the taste. It was so good in fact that she couldn't resist going for a- "No!" No, she could not. She was a little girl goddamn and not some heavy alcohol addict. Hmpf. Drinking was fine... yeah! As long as she kept it under control.

Putting it into her backpack again, the wannabe-Hero had to concentrate on the task at hand: Investigate and bury the corpses. Maybe she could find something out by burying them? Or just investigate the village itself. Meh, if only she could punch whatever made this happen, way easier...

Not even 10 meters further into this forsaken place, Seigi could hear a voice. A familiar one. "...?" No, this voice had been there quite a while, right? Just too far away, too silent, to notice. At least until the girl could swear she heard her own name.

Well, that was maybe some sort of lead? There was no use thinking any more ahead until she checked out the source of it anyways. Thus, quickening her footsteps, the soon-to-be-hero got closer and closer, the voice more and more clear until...

"Alphabet?!" In full glory. Bunny-slippers, hectors, and all that. "What are YOU doing here?" Her even sun-light absorbing, pitch-black, arms started to itch a bit. Yeah, she was still not used to have her entire arms bandaged up, after all.

@Ashnor Ironth @Alphabet Chocolate

 

This whole town was like some sort of bleak nightmare. Abandoned. Decrepit. Infested. As Ashnor made his way through the village houses, all he could find was lifeless buildings, husks of their former selves. Their late owner's belongings strewn about the place, either still where they left them or lying the floor after their houses had been ransacked. The only sort of life at all that Ashnor could find was vermin; mice and rats who fed upon what food that was left within these homes.

For the entire time he had been investigating this place and trying to figure out why this was happening to the people, the scowl on his face had never left. nothing about this situation brought him any joy, and it was made especially frustrating by his inability to find any sort of reason among these buildings as to what brought the fade.

Sighing, Ashnor opened the door to the house he was currently in and exited. it was then that he heard it, shout from somewhere in the village. And while he couldn't make out the words, it certainly sounded like a girl or a woman. Closing the door behind him, Ashnor moved quickly towards the sound of the voice, moving in between houses and through yards to get there.

Emerging finally from between two of the town's buildings, Ashnor spots the source... a young girl with vibrant red, who by the looks of it, was moving quickly towards... another, even younger -and oddly dressed- girl? This certainly wasn't the place for children to be hanging around. "Excuse me, young ladies, what do you think you are doing? I don't think you should be in this area."

@Alphabet Chocolate @Seigi

 

The sudden intrusion of one very familiar face (and one very old mug) did wonders to improve Alpha's morale amidst the sea of decay she found herself wading in. "Speak of the devil! Er, well, hero!" she grinned, Seigi's presence being a bane against the lingering dread which swirled around this village like a persistent curse. It was as if the Seigi was a literal beam of light which brightened up every shadowed alley and obscured corner through the small settlement, making the denizen's pit look somewhat habitable. Perhaps it was the mere appearance of another living being that made the town a little less gloomy or maybe it was because of Seigi's own spirited persona but, either way, she couldn't help but pull the other girl into a tight hug. "Oh you little cockroach, you!" Alpha laughed, showing that her words carried no ill-intent behind them despite how tactless they were. "I knew that some eldritch horror that may or may not be from another plane of existence would be able to vanquish my partner in crime! Me-ta-phor-ic-al-ly!"

Of course Seigi was, by disposition, never particularly inclined to the criminal lifestyle but that was just a phrase intending a sense of camaraderie between the two. Just so you know. There was a thing about magical girls (or, in Seigi's case, girls who used the magical power of friendship, heroism, and fists) that made them awfully dense in some aspects. It is best for both parties that this brief instance be described in utmost detail to ensure there were no hard feelings or incidences of miscommunication involved.

Hector nudged Seigi with his muzzle, his snout twisted into a toothy grin. His eyes practically screamed fight me but, before anything could escalate, she pulled Hector back by the scruff of his neck and flashed Seigi a charismatic smile. She stretched her arms up in preparation for an embrace and stared at Seigi expectantly.

"I'm just here to save the world, you know. Like I do every day! Haha, anyways, we have to get back to that place somewhere one day and avenge you! Bam! Boom! Bang! And, wait, what..." for the first time since the grand reunion with Seigi, she noticed something off about the girl. Something was wrong...but she couldn't place a finger on it yet. She tilted her head, bringing a finger to her lips. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes glazed over in a look of deep concentration. It took her a minute of serious rumination before she said another word. "Did you get a haircut?"

Alpha was genuine in her remark. "Wait, no, that's not it...hmm, you look different from the last time I saw you, Sherdock!"

Alpha took another look-over at the heroine's body, completely baffled. There was something, she just knew it, but she couldn't seem to detect the malicious, shadowed claws that were just barely hidden underneath bandage wraps. And then it clicked.

Alpha snapped her fingers, eyes brightening up as she preened, proud of herself from deciphering this puzzle that had irritated her so. "You look shorter than before!" she exclaimed, pointing at Seigi with elation and poorly contained excitement. "Oh that's so cool! Did you get hit by a shrink ray while facing your arch-enemy? Was there a witch that cast an evil spell on you? Did you have plastic surgery done on your height?!"

Before Alpha could finish her ramblings, however, the voice of a man interrupted her string of thoughts and theories. She tossed the green-haired man (who, despite his handsomeness, had a pretty nasty scowl that didn't particularly endear Alpha to him) a vicious pout. Could pouts get vicious, you may ask. Yes, they can. Imagine the face of an angry pug whose treat was taken away. You get the picture.

"Excusez-moi?!" Alpha did a quick z-snap, her other hand resting at her hips in a stereotypical Mean Girl pose. "I'll have you know that I, Detective Alphabet Chocolate, and my trusted companion..." she looked over at Hector. The wolf, oftentimes gruesome and just plain rude, was busy drooling on the floor with vacant eyes, staring at a squirrel that hung atop a tree branch. She stopped her current train of thought. "Anyways! I, Alpha, am super qualified! I have an online degree! I have an IQ of 194 that I got from this online IQ test! I beat every single level of Cuphead on hard mode! And I'm gonna figure out what's going on here, bro!" she spat the last word out with contempt. "So," she smiled. "Wanna join in?"

The mood whiplash was unexpected as any hostility she had shown seconds prior had vanished in an instant, replaced by amicability and an outstretched hand as she gestured over at Hector and Seigi. "That's Seigi! And that's Hector! We're gonna save the world! Wanna join? Oh, and we gotta avenge Seigi too, since she died and everything! First thing is saving the world, though. Priorities!"

@Ashnor Ironth @Seigi

 

Seigi Ling Ling was, honestly, simply surprised. This girl, Alphabet, who hugged her all of a sudden and seemed to have been genuinely worried, thought of Seigi quite highly? Like... friends? The affection Alphabet was showing, amidst her randomness, was truly touching for the red-hair.

Something Seigi desperately needed, heck, as she stood there quite dumb-footed, she actually had to fight back some tears. It was all so horrible. BUT... it was apparent that Alphabet Chocolate was simply a little, quirky, girl that meant no one any serious harm? She played the game for what it was: To have fun in its fullest. Seigi could appreciate that and clearly, she'd be the last to take that away from ABC.

Hugging Alpha just the same, she held her close for a few good seconds. Strong, but not heroic-might-I-break-your-back-strong. Ahhh... that felt good.

Right, she was here with a mission. Yeah, to save the world with Guts and Effort! Where Seigi was, usually, quite quirky, Alpha was just a bundle of random energy could easily infect someone. But that was good.

Giving the girl a genuine smile, Seigi pouted. "Me, smaller? Maybe you've become taller! Hmpf. So you're here to help? Great, me too! We should to-"

It was then that they got interrupted by an adult! Having some classic 'adult' lines about girls - actually, young ladies - not playing in such a place. The no-fun-allowed kind of adult! Though the situation was pretty grim, yeah.

As Alphabet pretty much retorted in her usual behavior, which seemed quite weird if one wasn't used to her, Seigi instead eyed Hector. "Nobody insulted your intelligence..." She murmured on the side. Hector was kinda fluffy and adorable, maybe she'd get a chance to pet him?

Nonetheless, as Alphabet finished, Seigi knew instinctively she had to follow suit. Making a silly Super Sentai pose. She was, after all... "Yeah! I am Seigi Ling Ling! Sunset Sage of Seven Strikes! HERO of Justice! Defender of those in Need! Soon-to-be-Slayer of Eldritch-kase-beings! My motto? With Guts and Efforts!" Ah, kinda nostalgic, kinda genuine. Actually quite a good feeling.

"So... wanna help us? " The crimson-hair needed company to keep her mind off things anyways. The more, the merrier.

@Alphabet Chocolate @Ashnor Ironth

 

Ashnor nods along with a skeptical look as the strangely dressed girl - Alphabet Chocolate apparently - put on a little display before introducing her self and informing Ashnor that she was looking for a reason behind the fade. The other girl - Seigi seemed to have quite a few titles as she introduced herself. Whether those were actual titles or things she had just made up, he didn't know. After standing there for a few seconds after they had finished speaking, Ashnor "I'm going to assume that you two are players, and that you're here to help investigate the fade."

Approaching the two girls, Ashnor continues speaking. "Well, I don't know about you, but I've already searched most of the village for any clue about what is going on. So unless you two know anything about why this is happening or have any idea of what to look for, we'll be out of luck once we're done searching the rest of the buildings." Ashnor was standing in front of the two now, and now with a grin on his face, extends hand for either of them to shake. "The name's Ashnor Ironth. I'd be happy to have some company while I continue looking though the place." Looking around at the abandoned buildings around them, Ashnor does not recognize them and adds "I don't think I've searched any of these houses, any place in particular you would like to go first."

@Seigi @Alphabet Chocolate

(@Pandora we are ready)

 

"Ash Iron, Ashy-Ash, what's my name? Alpha-fa? Alfalfa?" she rolled her eyes, nearly fed-up with all the silly names that everyone was coming up with. Really, Ashnor Ironth? That's almost as bad as Roland Rutledge and Alpha had to suppress a groan at this influx of terrible, cheesy, fantasy-based names. Now all they would need is a Gandalf in Astorea and then they'd be the laughingstock of Falderen and any other country around (although Falderen wouldn't have any pass to laugh at her friends' naming conventions considering that their princess was named Evangeline d'Falder, which sounded like she was some sort of princess from a rustic fantasy setting, which she was). Why couldn't anyone pick a sane, normal name? Alphabet Chocolate, for one, was a very common name that was held in very high esteem and was quite respectable compared to Astor Balthas (ha!). She was perfectly fine with lending others her name if that meant they didn't embarrass themselves with their own.

She didn't manage to get into a long winded spiel about the pressing concern (one day she'd probably meet a Player that went by the name of xXAznboiXx or something) before the ground shook below her and, stumbling from the suddenness of it all, plopped to the ground. "Ouch!" she cried as her backside was probably bruised somewhat. Hector, being as helpful as ever, merely nudged her with his nose and gave his own canine-version of mocking laughter that sounded more like he accidentally swallowed something too big for his throat to handle and was currently choking. She tossed him a nasty look. "What was that?" Alpha threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "I don't think houses caused that earthquake, unless there's a housing recession going on and they're angry. Or maybe they're offended that you didn't give them a handshake," she paused. A thoughtful look crossed her face. "Oh, maybe if we talk to the houses, they could tell us what's going on! Maybe they're trying to tell us something! Like, maybe there's some sort of human sacrifice ritual going on that's making these earthquakes! Like, maybe they accidentally sacrificed someone who wasn't a virgin to the earth spirits and so the earth spirits are angry so they're killing stuff and making earthquakes! And the houses are possessed by the earth spirits and they're trying to communicate with us!"

Alpha's eyes were bright and, as she finished the last word, she couldn't keep the proud grin off her face. "Oooh, I'm a genius! Yup, that's me! Alphabet Chocolate has figured this all out!"

But, before she could get much further in her self-praise, a rolling skull interrupted her thoughts. "Ew," she scrunched her nose as it continued to move until a carefully placed shoe stopped it in its tracks. At the sight of the sudden appearance of a fourth person, Alpha couldn't help but wonder if the blonde-haired woman was part of a professional soccer league or something. "Oh, hiya!" she waved, her face conveying a quizzical sort of look. "Player four has entered the match, I guess!"

It wasn't long for Alpha to warm up to her, though. "Nani?" the woman seemed particularly interested in Ashnor and Seigi by the looks of it but there was a sort of motherly aura that radiated off of her. That trait in particular drew Alpha closer, lips parted in wonder from the sense of warmth and peace she got from the woman's presence. "Uh," Alpha tripped over her words, confused as to why she was feeling this way. Dimly, she realized that she hadn't talked to her own mother for a very, very long time. She pushed that thought away. Her mother didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, what was the point of the sudden nostalgia? Her friends in Terrasphere were all she ever needed. Still, there was a part of her that yearned for the maternal care that Nani embodied.

"I dunno, my parents," she spat out the word like it was acid. Despite the anger that had overtaken her at the thought of that words, she couldn't help but notice a tinge of sadness that accompanied it. She waved it off. "They're a long way away, probably working or something."

There was no jest or smile and, for the first time in a long while, Alpha wasn't filled with that chaotic glee that seemed to fill every moment of her life. The string of sudden realizations gave her a headache. Her hand reached up to scratch behind her ear, where all the throbbing pain started. By the time she drew her hand back, the sudden migraine subsiding, she was surprised to see a single petal had been plucked out by her own hands. Oh well, it wasn't like it wouldn't grow back anyways.

"Ahh, what're we talking about? Oh yeah! Haha, no worries! I have a bunch of siblings, some of them are just brats, though!" the thought of Blank almost made her roll her eyes again but there was a bit of fondness there. "Anyways! Yuppers, my bestie gave me the flower! It's awesome, right?! One day, I'll have to get one for you too, Seigi!" she grinned, pointing a pair of finger-guns at the orange-haired hero. She failed to notice Nani's internal struggle as her attention shifted.

"Ah, thanks for the offer! Ashy and Seigi and me are gonna go interrogate the houses!" she didn't even spare Nani another look, completely engrossed in her one-sided dialogue with Ashnor and Seigi. "C'mon guys, we have a hundred suspects to question! Hi ho goes the merry oh!"

She gave a faux bow. "After you guys!"

@Seigi @Ashnor Ironth

 

Ashnor, huh? That name was definitely more serious than Alphabet Chocolate. Reluctant to take his hand, the red-hair instead sighed upon the black-hair's weird theories. Or maybe she was right? "I don't think weehhh-?!" It was hard to keep her balance, but not impossible.

While the crimson-hair herself did not fall to the ground, she actually did manage to drop her back-pack. Which in return made the creepy-looking bottle filled with some aqua-colored liquid roll out of it. At least it didn't break!

As the earthquake(?) stopped as swiftly as it came, Seigi didn't even seem fazed at the rolling human skull as she herself gathered her few belongings.

With that done, the hero-girl was now also paying attention to the newcomer. "Nani!?" She cried out. Kinda couldn't help her. An odd name indeed. It was to no surprise that their group wasn't the only one investigating and if all it took was search around this village, surely the problem would have been solved by now. Or at the very least they'd be a step closer.

Falling silent for a second as they talked about their family whatsoever, also kinda uncomfortable how Nani eyed her up and down, the girl now responded. "I still have your petal, Alphabet! Though it kinda changed colors." Gosh, when did become Seigi like that? She changed, yes, but at her core, she wanted to still be Seigi Ling Ling.

The answer to that was easy. As Alpha suggested to 'ask' the houses whatsoever, Seigi herself pointed her bandaged finger at Nani. "Wait for a second, Lady!" Full of energy, just like that.

First, however, the hero had to introduce herself. The short version though."The name's Seigi Ling Ling, and I'll -we are- gonna turn this situation around! If you just wanna go, then go. But it sounds like you know a lot..."

Seigi eyed Alphabet for a bit, directing this at her. "More than those houses could ever tell us!" Wouldn't the raven-haired girl have more fun interacting with a stranger anyway? "So how about you share what you know?!" The crimson hair demanded to know!

@Ashnor Ironth @Alphabet Chocolate

 

Not knowing what Alphabet was referring to, Ashnor decides to instead ignore her and focus on what the other girl - Seigi - said. What she was going to say was cut off it appeared, as the ground beneath the three of them began to shake. Ashnor tries his best to keep himself steady, but it sure isn't easy. as the quake continues on, some of the already worn buildings have pieces come off of them - bits of wall and roofing mostly.

The quakes stop as soon as they start, further adding to Ashnor's confusion. "What just happened...?" looking around, Ashnor spots the bloody skull as it rolls towards, a foot? Looking up at the new person, he instinctively put's his hand on the handle of his hammer. As he listens to what this person has to say, and Alphabet's awful idea for what they should do, he removes the hand from the handle "Uh yeah, could you tell us anything about this 'fade'?"

@Alphabet Chocolate @Seigi