Dissonant Sacrifices | Page 2

She recognized that look in @Lycia's face, had seen it often enough since their birth to already be attuned in such a way that Milah already knew it was coming before her sister's face finally showed it. Warm eyes stared back at her twin, an apologetic look overtaking them that was reserved only for her other half, before a sheepish smile was given tot he blonde. Her twin might be upset, but at least she was alive and looked well enough even after technically being digested by a monster.

Shhh, it's alright. We're both okay...

Milah's arms had already stretched out to receive her sister, anticipating the move her sibling would make, before she soothed the other Felis with soft whispers. However her hug was strong, betraying the otherwise masked nervousness and frustration that the Felis felt but didn't show in her face. Lycia was safe, but most importantly her twin was still here with her... and that was really all that truly mattered in the end.

Still it wasn't like they hadn't died doing something stupid--they had died and sacrificed feeling a little bit of pain to save the life of those NPCs that couldn't just revive like they were doing right now--and Milah couldn't let her sister forget that. Slowly she allowed Lycia to move away, her hands reaching to cup her twin's face between them before she pressed their foreheads together softly--the tips of their noses touching.

Not dying sounds like a pretty good idea to me... In fact Milah was quite sure she'd have no complains to neither of them ever dying, again, if at all possible. But we're princesses after all, and sometimes princesses have to take the hard choices for the sake of their people right?

Little by little the usual upbeat and bubbly attitude of her twin was returning, a comforting and welcomed sight for Milah as she looked around the place both girls had been re-spawned to. Amazing was definitely a good word to describe the place as Milah's eyes drunk in all the available details.

It really is amazing... enough to forget that it's just a game sometimes.

This whole VR thing was still quite overwhelming for Milah, unused to games as she was, and a part of the teen was fearful to ever try any other game that wasn't TerraSphere... she felt this game had already set the bar up quite high, and anything less would nothing short of a disappointment. Carefully she stood, a hand still holding onto her sister's even as Lycia used the other to... poke at her own leg? A chuckle left Milah at the sight, shaking her head softly in response.

C'mon Lycia, if we were ghosts or something you would have passed right through me a few moments ago.

She was glad that they weren't ghosts or spirits or anything immaterial along those lines, Milah enjoyed being able to find the comfort that could only be conveyed by touch with no words. It was no surprise then, really, that her sister was the first to notice the gathering of people--Milah's own mind still focused more on making sure that her twin was indeed there with her and not just a figment of her imagination from dying in this game.

I dunno... but I'm pretty sure you're still gonna try and pet him.

Carefully the teen stretched, attempting to chase away the pin-prickling feeling that still clung to her limbs as the muscles awakened once more--how long had it been since they had died after all, and how long had they been just lying there until waking up?

We can go see the dog after we're not wobbling around like Bambi though...

 

There's this sudden painful sensation, like your whole soul forcibly pushed into the small heart of your body. Corvella woke up on the ground on the temple, gasping loudly on arrival. The memories of their last assault against TItanius was still clear as day, playing on a loop like it's permanently imprinted on the fallen knight's head.

Make it stop.

Please make it stop.

Time and time again, Haru sacrificed himself to deal a tremendous damage to the gigantic abomination. Time and time again, Bradwynne got pierced in the heart by a stray tendril. Time and time again, Iván was killed by a tremendous tentacle while scat singing. Time and time again, Majolica used the last of her life force to cast a grand magic. Also time and time again, she was still awake, lying on the ground to witness her teammates getting slaughtered while dying from the blood loss.

Is death always this painful?

Loud reverb from people speaking around her snapped the illusion away, leaving her wide awake. "Where is this?" She looked around, finding the adventurers that fought Titanius before. This is a temple, that means she was killed in that battle, she concluded. But have they defeated Titanius? How much time has passed since then? So many unknowns, yet so little answers. Trying to move her body and get up, Corvella felt numbing sensation all over her body, like it haven't moved in forever. Slowly, she made her way into the surface of water that rejuvenates and brought back the color of her skin, along with the massive surge of energy pumping into every blood vessel in the artificial body of hers.

"WITCH OPS, ASSEMBLE!"

That familiar voice must be Majolica, the commander of the Witch Ops. The light-haired knight stood up to search for the source of the voice. She found @Grand Witch Majolica beside one corner of the massive room. "Commander!" Corvella called out while approaching her. "Looks like this is the temple. We died on the last assault on Titanius." She muttered in her breath "If only I was a bit stronger."

Witch Ops were gathered to do for this one thing; to protect Astorea, Terrasphere and all its inhabitant from the evil; to fight the battles that no one else should. But, at this state, they don't even know if they saved the world or not; they all perished before the climax. What kind of heroes are they?

"Janet."

There's still one person she didn't see perish. Rated R. She touched the Witch Ops sticker on her lower back of her armor, magic flowing through her hand causing it to glow purplish. She tried to locate her fellow operative to no avail; the only thing she knew was that @Janet Reilly is alive and well. That means their mission to eliminate Titanius was a success.

Even with the costs of lives of those who bravely fought.

"Commander, I think Rated R is still alive." Now that they are a bit sure that Titanius was defeated, now they have to find out where are they. If this is a temple, there should be a priest here, but there's no signs of them. Suddenly a Gandalf-looking druid came into sight with his wolf companion. Apparently, they revived in a temple near Naryu canyon. That's not too far from the last battle's location, but right now there's no use coming back there. Corvella would prefer to go back with Ornson and wait for the news from the expedition team.

She glanced at Majolica, unsure if she wanted to leave this place with her right now or wait for the rest of the team to regroup.

 

The nightmare most would experience turned into bliss for a ever-prepared Comet. She planned her death, and accepted it. Accepted herself for who she was. No shame ever arrived for the choice made as others headed through the portal without even thinking things through, or after pondering what decision to make. Only darkness flooded her senses. Engulfed her body. Instead of being like the Core's shadows full of a looming dread and evil this sort of black ink consumed her soul welcoming. All warm, fuzzy, new; an experience that hardly bothered her peaceful state of mind. Fluttering, thickly-lashed lids opened with extreme reluctance. Comet desired a longer slumber so long as she continued to feel one with herself.

Yet that wouldn't be allowed. She was brought back from the dead with a violent jerk. In suit, her limbs trembled enough for the involuntary action to become a visible flaw. Emerald eyes inspected every crevice of the surroundings. Or rather, attempted to. Unfortunately the darkness hindered a excellent sense of sight thus the young woman relied on the expertise of the other four to get around the mysterious location. A quick pace picked up her once slowed heartbeat. Drowsiness turned to immediate alert. Heavy breathing filled attentive ears, while black-bagged eyes strained to see what dangers might lay ahead. Only comfort settled around in the atmosphere. Brought her back a relaxed form, conscience, and soul.

The pink-haired woman pushed long, sweaty locks behind perked ears. She wiped her cold forehead of the droplets sliding down its smooth surface. Her milky skin glowed like never before. Comet made way through the temple as relief washed over, and seeped through a thick shell encasing her soul. Everything seemed at ease despite what'd been going on not so long ago. Fairly easily she put two and two together though believing life after death so suddenly, and without consequence, seemed more of an impossible miracle inside a relentless game like Terrasphere.

"Before the body collapsed," she commented, shuffling near @Shangri La and @Feryn Crozier, to further dig into their journey against Dissonance's form for the pleasure of their listener. "some of us had to fight the core in order for the entire monster to die. It was... very disturbing, actually. Dissonance is a dark force that enjoys when corruption ensues, and when innocent lives are taken. I will assume that, at least, from what I've seen. Star Maiden Des Weiss and Guardian Angel Saya - not very well known legends, but legends all the same - helped my teammates and I destroy the core. The soul world." information relayed from the experience seemed almost robotic as memories played in Comet's mind. Though she wasn't entirely fond of Weiss after their last encounter, she still had to give credit. Plus the two angel-like ladies gave a good story to tell in the end. Her mind hadn't drifted from the element of horror while fighting but focusing on that wouldn't do any good in a moment of bliss.

"To make a long story short? We kicked ass."

@Raid Master @Zero

 

Bradwynne heard a constant dripping of water somewhere within his vicinity. He did not know from where it was originating, but he knew what happened before he heard that sound.

He was killed within the belly of that monster called Titanius... no, from what he had heard in the core of the monster, it should have been called Titania. But whatever the name was, he died in that battle, when the King of Astorea exhorted everyone to give the monster everything they got. And so he then moved towards the group where he could deal greater damage than he could do alone: the Witch Ops. He knew that by teaming up and synergizing with them they as a group could inflict much more damage to the insides of Titania, and so he read every actions of his teammates, seeking where he could hit the creature best. But what he had watched was contrary to what the group attack would look like in anime and cartoons that he had watched. He witnessed every death of his comrades as they tried to attack what they assumed was the weakest point of Titania: @Haru crumpled to the ground after that final summoning of Headwind to charge towards the eye, @Corvella, having been stabbed earlier with multiple tendrils on her back, charged with her shield towards the eye, until she had lost all strength and fell after some minutes, and @Grand Witch Majolica, after casting a massive spell imbued with all the energies of the Witch Ops present in the area, suddenly was swallowed by the massive power of the spell and died. Fueled with fury with what he saw, he then pushed through, with the help of his angels that he summoned. With a kick of his foot, he then charged towards the eye, cutting through swaths of tendrils that were barring his way. But as he was about to reach the eye, a tendril came down and plunged through his heart. Although he felt it on his chest, he tried to push through, but tendril after tendril plunged through his body, rendering him unable to move, until another tendril split his skull open. As his senses fade to black, he was hearing somebody scat-singing from a distance, and then another splat. He recognized that voice; it was the voice of a longtime companion, @Iván Carl. So their final stretch to attack that monster failed, huh...

A drop of water then fell on Bradwynne's half awake eye, but that drop only mingled with the tears on his eyes. He just witnessed the death of almost the whole Witch Ops in that battle, and he could only watch them while on that miserable position being pierced by numerous tendrils. He could not utter a word to heal them as he was suffering an unspeakable agony, both due to the physical trauma of having been stabbed at the heart and other portions of his body, and the mental imprints of someone dying before him. The only he could do was to cry. Cry because he failed everyone. He was supposed to be the one who would be their beacon of strength, as he could be considered the strongest among all others, barring the Grand Witch herself. And here he was, too weak to save all of them from their deaths, and putting their UIs at risk. He continued crying for a length of time until he could not cry anymore. At that juncture he thought that he should not continue to be in this miserable state. If he continued to be this weak, at that rate he could not save everyone in the near future. And so needed to be stronger. Stronger than what he was before.

Wiping tears off his eyes, he then stood up from where he was standing, scanning the area before him. To be sure, this was not the place where he had once spawned after dying: that area in Brisshal where new people were spawning as well. This area was like the insides of a building, which he never knew what it is, as he was quite knew to the place. Thinking that his UI might be compromised because of the death he had received from Titanius, he tried to open it, and fortunately his UI was still intact. He then realized that that time he was lucky, but he knew that that luck would never happen again. After changing his clothes to replace the one that was tattered, he then walked around the area looking for clues on where he was right now.

 

She looked up when a familiar voice drew close. That was... @Seigi. She, yeah. She remembered Seigi, from the quest in the mountainous lands surrounding Liega, from the discussion in the Roland's mansion, and most recently, from the battle to destroy Titanius's soul. But, last she saw, Seigi had been revived by Mizuki as the unstable plane began to deteriorate. And if Seigi was here... that meant that she died. Again.

Belatedly, Ashiore realized that she was still half-sprawled out on the ground as the younger girl approached her. Seigi looked all right. For the most part. But, there was... something off about Seigi.

Stupid, she berated herself. Of course there was something off about all this. Seigi had died, died again. Nobody could really be the same after that.

She still hadn't answered Seigi. Ashiore swallowed, and then struggled back to her feet. "Seigi. I'm fine," she forced out eventually, despite feeling anything but. It was kind of useless to try to hide her appearance, seeing as how Seigi had already noticed her, but Ashiore kept her head tilted slightly downwards anyway, not quite making eye contact.

"It's okay, I don't- I don't need a hug," she continued--lied. She was lying a lot now, it seemed. In truth, she wanted a hug, any kind of simple, human contact, any touch at all that would reaffirm that she was here, whole, still able to feel. But she could just imagine the twist of revulsion on anyone's face as they came in close enough to Ashiore to be hit by the full extent of her body's decay: the smell, the disgusting colors, the unnaturally soft texture. That'd hurt more than the lack of contact. So. Yeah.

"Are you okay?" she asked instead, ignoring the trembling of her clenched fists as she fought the urge to bury herself in any kind of comfort that Seigi was willing to give. "I didn't see you after the, uh, the soul plane began collapsing. Is everything okay?"

 

Without direction, aim nor form floated a single man in the vast deep of oblivion. The man stood out in the featureless black as the sole speck of shining light. It did not make him stand out in this place like a shining beacon- quite the opposite. In this place where the dead lie he only seemed an insignificant speck on this canvas, not unlike a dead pixel in the middle of a computer monitor. Unsightly and obnoxious and in no way belonging in a place like this. It was a good thing for him that he was floating upwards, far away from this place.

Slowly yet surely rises Haru's consciousness from the bottom of the pool upwards, like a breath of air trapped in a fragile bubble. He would be free from this place, yet he was weighted in this pool. Feelings of failure, disappointment and such were palpable on his mind. As if they were made physical ropes they strangled and choked and pulled him down back into the unforgiving black. If he fell down there again, he thinks, he would not be coming back up. He didn't even feel that bad about himself, did he? So why was it so hard to go back into the light of life..?

Haru awakes as a jolt surges through his body and a warm hand yanks him up to reality again. A dream..? That could explain it. All the insecurities weighing him down felt so trivial once again as he allows himself to finally calm down. He was in... a temple, it seemed. The sounds that greeted his ears gave him note that he was floating in a pool long forgotten in this place. The water was cold yet paled to the chill of death that seeped from him into the miniature waves. He only wished that whatever stain he felt in his soul would wash away with it. And the chill, too. Why was it so cold?

No really, it was cold. An ice cube runs down Haru's shirt and he sucks in a sharp breath in shock. His head whips around behind him down to the pool he was just lying back in.
Calling it a pool would do it injustice. It was more like a kiddie pool, if you were measuring the size in pools. More importantly there were chunks of ice stranded along in it, which his reflection bore witness to- were those icicles in his hair?!

After furiously brushing the frost off his person he was greeted by his UI. "So I still have this, huh..?" That was a relief. It's not that he would have minded staying in this game forever as he was already on life support, but not having a disability was better than having one, right? It's not like he had anything to do in the real world anymore, anyway. Now it was just him and Headwind travelling this mysterious world-

-Oh. Right. Haru's mood deflates like a soggy balloon. He knew very well that this was coming, but it still hurt. It hurt a lot. He'd barely even known that damn stubborn deer and yet he still encompassed almost every memory that Haru had in Terrasphere.
He could hear the members of Witch Ops calling for an assembly, but he decided that right now he would be lonely. Ignoring them, he made his way far out of the ruins and into the landscape beyond. He just wanted to be alone for a while.

 

Little by little they continued to regain feeling and control over their bodies and limbs, the tickling sensation of numb muscles ebbing away at last as Milah stretched as best as she could. Her attention then turned to her sister, making sure @Lycia was alright too, before complying with her twin's wish as they moved clsoer tot he NPC and his wolf.

C'mon Lycia, we should probably check back with Autumn too. I didn't see her on the fight, but did you told her we were gonna participate? If so she might be worried.

Once she was sure the blonde had enough time to interact with the wolf in any way she chose, hopefully one that didn't involve the canine lashing back, Milah prodded her sister carefully. Already some of the players were starting to move, guided by the NPC, and as pretty as the place was Milah wanted to get back to a more familiar area so they could log out and stretch their limbs IRL too.

 

The blonde colour she saw, did not belong to him, but to someone else. The glimmer of gold was not him. The red eyes were in the wrong face. The laughter was off, similar but wrong, it was not him. Ilusa looked through the gathered players, searching for the familiar silhouette. To no avail.

‘He’s not here.’

Her heart beat, her emotions ran high and she moved through the players faster, barely not running. Her wide eyes were looking, left, right, down, up through the still sleeping players, for him. The sleeping peacefully players were many and yet, none were him.

‘He’s not here!’ The felis, nay the person behind the avatar was starting to slide into something approaching panic. After the latest revelations, after the latest experience in the game, the line between reality and virtual game became blurred. The spiritual wounds were freshly gouged open, the pain echoed inside her and a yawning emptiness of the loss was almost all-consuming. The mental equilibrium was affected.

Two sets of ‘last words’ echoed inside her memory, blending and mixing. Two men, so vastly different and yet both dear if both in different way. They both said those words and those words even now were like a chain around her, weigthing her down, dragging her down.

Tears gathered in the red eyes, lips were bitten and the shoulders were starting to shake from suspended sobs. Of course she was not the only one who was emotional. There were players crying, cursing, angry, happy. She was but one of them. And she kept searching, through the waking up players.

‘Why he’s not here?!’ A shout inside her mind, barely held back as when she scoured the whole area.. There was no sight of him. None. He was…

Gone.

Coldness spread through her body, her mental state made her feel so. The gaping maw of darkness seemed to swallow her. Gone. Gone. Gone.

“No.” Ilusa sharply hissed, slapping both of her cheeks. The stinging pain bringing bit of rationality. “Calm down me. This is a game.” Thus Nadia started to thing, not feel. She pulled out the cold, ruthless logic. Knowledge of the game, of the real world. Slowly, she remembered what the usual method of resurrection was. True, she had not experienced it herself, but she had heard a lot about it. It was completely possible that he had resurrected elsewhere.

Slowly, bit by bit the emotions were held back, slowly, the calm returned. With calm, came the ease of analysis and she noticed that there were in fact few others missing.. And she had seen for sure them dying.

The calm restored, she sent few inquiring messages to Astor and then… Moved back to the druid, listening onto questions of others and his answers.

She did learn for example that this place had been in fact blessed by her patron Goddess.. In the distant past. The felis nodded to herself few times and then checked the messages…. She did not get anything back from him, yet. But perhaps he simply had not checked it yet… He probably had much more to think on with the whole thing where he was made to betray them.

In order to further relax, she decided to check the temple and investigate it. Religion was after all one of her vocations.. But now that she thought about it perhaps she should try to learn another one.. Or two.

Thus, Ilusa went to investigate the temple.