The malevolence in the wind was thicker than ever on the steppes neighboring the Naryu Canyon, and the foulness of it made Cain narrow his eyes. His hand briefly grazed the feather pinned in his hair, a static shock dispersing some of the weight on his shoulders, but the noose remained. A thousand futures where things could go horribly wrong, and they were expected to thread the needle and achieve that single good ending. He scratched at that invisible choker, and smiled in a tired, tired manner unsuitable for someone like himself. Same as always, wasn't it? The dark gaze continued to smoulder, searching in the artificial darkness for the foe that laid in its depths. @Seigi
"Yo!" An all too familiar voice gave @Cain Darlite a strong slap on the back as the shining Heroine appeared beside him! With a big, bright, smile she gave the midnight-haired muse a nod. It was unlike him to look so... not-him? This was exactly why Seigi didn't want Cain to know! Because of that. And now she hadn't talked with the Muse since the meeting. "You look kinda worried!" Seigi added, leading this conversation down a road to ruin. Even now she wanted to talk about anything but herself. How did one do that? Well, just keep talking. Immediately adding on. "You're supposed to have fun, you know! Playing a game and beating up big mean eldritch abominations and all! What? Think we're going to lose? That's sooooo unlike you, Cain! The second you let doubt into your heart you invite loss!" Seigi tried to keep her cheerful smile up, changing it into a light smug. "Hehehe, did the Student turn Mentor now?!" Considering the circumstances it was a rather pitiful attempt to talk about anything but that, but an attempt nonetheless! Maybe... she should just start singing with him?!
"Wow," Cain chuckled, some of the fatigue lifting from his eyes, "Pushing it real hard, aren't you?" He patted the ground beside him, motioning for Seigi to sit, before continuing, "Lying isn't very righteous, yah know?"
Urgh, she just couldn't get around it, huh? On top of that Cain said something quite offensive to the little Heroine. One of her core believes. "I, a Hero, NEVER lies!" The orange-hair said as she puffed up her chest a bit before sitting down. "Just, sometimes, not the entire truth. Hmpf." She sighed before adding. "Yeah, yeah, so, go ahead, and lecture me. Better to get it out now than mid-fight, or something!"
"Training to be a politician now?" Cain smirked, but not unkindly, "Not here for a lecture, Seigi. Just worried for you. This is the first time the two of us are going to be taking part in such a large fight, and for you..." "...are you alright? Dunno if you live alone or whatever, but have you gotten Roland to send word to your parents in the real world yet?"
"For me, it's just more of the same! Punching bad things for Justice! Some silly bug won't keep me from having fun..." Seigi kinda cut into Cain's words as she stared far into the endless Horizon, above the darkness that lingered above. "You know, I spend like two weeks absorbed in self-pity after I respawned. So I'm over it! Yeah. Just positive thinking! Good thing I have a rich and caring family, so I should be fine. You see, I have a best friend, who, funnily enough, also can't log out! But I saw her real body, the VR set keeps her alive, somehow. Don't know why they can't just remove it. It's like being in some silly anime! Before I met her in-game I didn't even know thou!" Oh hey, talking a bit your chest off was actually quite nice. "That said... I should have maybe told others, sooner, but I thought: Maybe it's just me and some damn bad luck. Why stop others from having fun? So, I kinda just kept silent. That said, I did tell Roland to get in touch with my family. I just hope he won't get into any problems, hehehe..." Her Last Laugh was kinda half-assed.
Damn. Damn. The midnight haired muse let out a breath, taking in more of the polluted air. "So you met Magi Heart."
"Yes! But... she seemed changed and then... some more..." Now she was Wendel, Das Ein Magia, but still Wendy! Hmpf. "I will absolutely, definitely, save her. So you met her too?!" Hey, they didn't talk about Seigi anymore at least! Good enough.
"Yeah, I did. Rose bitch truly is a bitch huh?" A pause, tentatively. "Hey, when you met her, was she with an albino swordsman with tanned skin?"
"Rose... bitch?" Seigi asked confused. She was way too innocent for such strong words! "N-No, I met her alone but... we got interrupted. By some noisy head-phone girl and... some other brawler... a really scary one. Wendy and I nearly beat up the headphone one!" Wait, could she even trust him?! She had to pick her allies careful but... it was Cain! Cain, whom she wanted to keep out of this for his own sake.
"The Resident of the Rose Garden, the one that pierces their bodies with such a malicious implement and corrupts their soul," Cain replied. There was a flicker of disappointment in his gaze as Seigi revealed that she knew nothing of Eldhi, before he shrugged. "Guess not all friendships are lost admist the scarlet haze," the flagbearer mused, before poking her in the arm, "Glad you haven't gone that way though, Seigi. Got enough edgy kids in Terrasphere as is." A pause. "Are you sure about joining the Core team though? If dying once did this to you, dying twice..." Darker memories surfaced. A second death after he revived her. A system error that denied him the fruits of his past efforts. He shook those off as well, looking at her expectantly.
"...dying twice won't do much different! Just... another chance? Somewhere? In my mind? Body? I suppose? It's part of the game and all but nothing lots of GUTS and EFFORT can't overcome!" Seigi gave him a thumbs up. She refused to think she'd die for real. That would be, like, totally silly! Dying in a video game? Hah! People didn't die when you killed them in video games. All just data. JUST. A. BUG. "I was thinking about using my riches and just take it easy and lay back but that's totally so not-Seigi! As if I'd let some stupid bug dictate what I gonna do and what not." Seigi didn't lose her brilliant smile while saying all this. "That said... my friend is way worse off than I am..." Could she... really? Maybe... he could always decline! "And doing it alone is kinda rough, even for a Heroic Hero..." Though there was Roland.
"Don't jump at the chance to die though," Cain warned, his tone serious, "You're treading unknown territory now, and in this case...better safe than sorry." Her smile was too bright for him to look at. Too similar to the ones he had seen before, the ones that he had lost before. So he turned his gaze to the canyon instead, absorbed in its depths again. "I don't want to lose you too, Seigi." It was like cyanide, the bitter almond aftertaste that clung to the roof of his mouth. "Because right now, you're not ok."
