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The golden haired man let out a loud yawn as the sun rose to its peak in the sky above him, forcing him to shield his eyes to look into the sky, and then immediately into his menu to check the time. It was just getting to be afternoon, and so far, Zelrius hadn't done a whole lot on this day, and to be quite honest didn't intend to. He had mastered Slashing recently, and then ranked up the only two other masteries in his arsenal that he cared about for the moment, and was content to maybe just hang around Stokbon today and have a quiet time here, and just experience Terrasphere common life for just a day. Between the Dark Harvest, all the Drinking he did, and his constant running around that began even before the war, the swordsman hadn't taken a whole lot of time to just sit and enjoy a moment; always searching for a goal, always searching for something to do, a skill to rank up, GP to be made. None of that this time, his pockets were full, he felt quite pleased with the progress he had made, and it was the first time in the last few days that he could log on without the game forcing a splitting headache from a hangover upon him. The man had spent the last few days in agony everytime he'd log on, any form of light seeming impossibly bright, and any noise being ear-crackingly loud. However, all of that seemed to subside, and for the first time in those few days, he was actually able to get this hydration bar to full, which probably immensely helped.

However, even with the physical pain caused by the afflictions of having drank so much, that's not what the golden haired man regretted most about the night. He was more concerned about the Maize Maze. See, at the time, he could hardly see, and it was even more difficult to walk straight, but looking back now, the memories were clear. He hadn't blacked out, he was just more impulsive, and it came off as him not having inhibitions to his more rude tendencies. He remembered covering someone's mouth with his bare hand just to shut them up. That person, once again looking back now, had to have been someone he knew. Right? Why would a random semi-skimpy dressed woman just come along with a drunk man to walk around in a dark place with lots of twists and turns? Seems dangerous, unless one of two things; Either, he was just that charming and attractive while drunk (Which Zelrius seriously doubted that either of those were heightened while intoxicated; infact, quite the opposite.) Or, it had to have been someone who knew him well enough to not only trust him while not right of mind, but also the fact that they dealt with his bullshit during the maze.

He recognized Red hair, his thoughts immediately going to Kaede Hoshi. Zelrius wasn't sure but it could have been her? She was known to dress... not so savory, but he definitely remembered his unknown Maze partner to be having a bit more class than his perverted now-enemy. And there was the real kicked why it couldn't be Kaede; he was pretty sure she hated his guts by now. Ilya? His mind wondered, not actually being friends with a whole lot of players who took on the crimson hair look. Though that was extremely vague, whoever it was had their face covered by some kind of mask, and now Zelrius searched in the back of those thoughts, trying to remember if he saw a tail or not. He didn't, not directly anyway, and wouldn't be able to recall such sightings. Time to take a shot in the dark, I guess. He opened up his menu and began to write a message

Zelrius

"Hey Eya? Wanted to know if you were in the area of Stokbon. I am at the Town Square now and was wondering if you had a moment to chat and catch up on some things. I might also have some extra information on Mudeflester. Just let me know if you're around and where you'd like to meet up if you're interested."

The part about Mudeflester was little more than a white lie, but Zelrius, being awkward as he always is, couldn't help but try to make it seem like a good idea to talk with him. Though he had already sent it, the golden haired man was already regretting the lie, and just hoping she wouldn't bring it up if they do end up meeting...

 

Emilia had only just gotten out of a meeting, having just turned back on her phone volume when she heard the annoying beeping sound of a new unread message in Terrasphere. Could it be Harveste? Or perhaps Claire? Emilia was unsure of who would be messaging her in the middle of the real world day in Boston. Might as well check and see who it is.. With a quick tap here and there on her phone screen, Emilia's eyes beheld the name of the sender.

A small banging noise sounded as Emilia dropped her phone out of pure surpise, He wants to.. meet up? Her mind was instantly filled with memories of the maize runner game, I hope he is no drunk like last time---- Emilia's eyes widened, Actually, I bet he is.. Why the hell would Zelrius message me otherwise..?

It did not take long for Emilia to check the time, and calculate she had no more work due that day. I suppose I can go and see what it is that has him sending me a message.. Besides, if there really is more information on Mudeflester, I better listen to it so that I can try to defeat him.. Emilia bent down to pick up her phone and walked briskly to her own room, away from the meeting room that was on the bottom floor of her huge castle-like home.

It had not taken long to enter the world of Terrasphere, the familiar soundtrack playing in her ears as she logged in. Good thing I logged out in Stokbon.. Emilia, now in the body of Ilya looked around her surroundings, Right. The town square is just a few minutes away... Ilya was already in fact, late as she had received the message while she was not online.

With the rowdy noise of chatter coming from the shops and buildings nearby, Ilya walked straight towards the town square, her tail and ears flicking with curiosity. It was not long before she spotted the familiar blonde tuft of hair, of her previous companion. "Zelrius.. Are you drunk?"

 

"Not this time, dearest Eya-Kitty." He started with to see her reaction to that. Again, he still had no idea whether or not she was actually the person who went with him through the maze. For all he knew, it could have just been someone who wanted to do it, and trusted a drunk man enough not to get grabby when no one was looking. And to be quite honest; the golden haired man surprised himself even, not quite remembering getting even moderately close with anyone during the night; in fact quite the opposite. It seemed that after about his 7th match of Ale King, people avoided direct contact with him like the plague, with the exception of people like Mizuki who insisted that they'd get him to a healer. Which to be honest, looking back now, Zelrius wasn't sure if he did ever make it to a healer or not. Though thinking about the last few days, that was definitely a no. He shook his head as he tried to erase those painful thoughts.

Onto the task at hand, as a grin formed on his face to tease the woman back. "Though you came so quickly; Are you drunk?" He still wasn't sure of Ilya's opinion of him. If his suspicions were right, and she was the one from the Maze, then it probably wasn't very high. He was rude to her, through and through, and then acted like a wimp in the face of the Imp. Heh, nice rhyme. He randomly giggled silently to himself, still getting weirdly distracted by stuff like that. "Come," He beckoned with his hand as he began to walk down the paved streets of Stokbon and toward the Eastern gate. "We might somewhere a bit quieter to talk. Not because what we're talking is secret, but because I fucking hate the noise." The profane language coming out so casually, something he never quite broke as a habit from real world to terra, always being so vulgar and descriptive with everything he did.

 

Ilya herself stayed quiet as Zelrius made his small comment, not taking the supposed bait he had laid out for her, she stayed silent, observing his behavior to figure for herself whether or not he was drunk. At his own question of her sanity, her tail lashed back and forth in a rather annoyed fashion. "No I am not drunk. Never have I been, and I probably never will be. I am after all, probably the best drinker around. I take pride in the fact that I am a heavyweight." Ilya thought back to not partaking in the game Ale King, I had actually been busy that whole night, and I probably could have won if I had actually partaken in the game.. In fact, Ilya had been on a quest for most of the festival itself, causing her to only be able to take part in the corn maze.. With the very man that now stood in front of her.

"Quieter.. hmm.. Trying to confess something to me, are you?" Ilya made an obvious gesture, a wink and took the lead. She had rather enjoyed the humor she found in his command, ignoring the second part of simply braking away because of the noise level. "In which case, I know the perfect place." As she kept walking in front of Zelrius, her tail flicking with each step and her ears up and attentive for any sort of foreign noise, she lead her partner towards the tavern she had been at with Harveste. It was a rather quieter spot, with much less people. With her walking, she lead Zelrius to the spot where she had almost been raped. A quiet and barely inhabited alley-way, the walls still crumbled from her own fight scene that had taken place.

 

No reaction to his bait, and now he doubted his assumptions more. Which was weird, because if there was anything he was good at it, it was remembering things, but he also supposed that was extremely hampered by something like Twenty matches of Ale King. Or atleast, it was definitely in that ball park. Which meant for One Hundred and sixty mugs of ale total. It was one of those moments where Zelrius was glad that it was just a video game, and even more glad that not only did he not die from that alcohol, even if he had died in the game like that small girl, Seigi did, it would mean nothing more than a simple revival in a temple. God, how weird would a game be that if you died in, you actually died? Still, not hint that she was the one. Perhaps a pretty girl (Or what he thought would be a pretty girl, afterall, he hadn't seen the person's face the whole time they were in the maze) just wanted to do the maze so badly, and was willing to with some random drunk asshole.

Maybe, maybe not, he'd have to keep prodding, not yet giving up on the notion that it was Ilya. "Heavyweight hmm? Were you at the Dark Harvest Festival at all? I spent a lot of time at the Ale King tent..." He stopped, now feeling dumb and embarrassed for admitting to that, feeling like it was a stupid game, and that she'd now probably see him as a stupid alcohol-enthusiast. "After all, that's a pretty cool Title, no?" He tried to use that as his own justification for being there, but, he knew that deep down, it was a nice escape from the stress and headache that not only plagued his own life, but also his Terra life. Between the Frogs, the Fort, the Megalomass, Snefrid, and the Angel, the golden haired man felt as though he had earned a bit of an escape. Perhaps he didn't earn it, but he convinced himself that he had.

He sneered at her comment, let out a huff of hair and turning away "No confessions.Takes more than one to win me over," His witty mind conjured up, even to his own surprise. But just as quickly as she had poked at him with that, she began to lead them somewhere, which caused his heart to leap just a bit, actually excited that she not only seemed interested in the conversation, but that she cared enough to actually find a location for it. Maybe she doesn't hate me? He thought to himself as the chatter of peasants going about their business slowly quieted to little more than a cart being pulled, or a small conversation being had here and there.

A few minutes and they were at an alley-way, Zelrius now making a joke to keep the situation light, though maybe the joke was in bad taste. "An alleyway? You trying to mug me? Or perhaps you want me to start stripping?" Of course, that was just his humor, though even now the golden haired man began to think that maybe that was a bit too dark for her taste.

 

It had not been long before Zelrius had rapidly made a witty comment about her own ignorance to his command. "Trust me, if you confessed to anything you would probably get a punch in the face." Yet somehow, on the inside Ilya was not sure whether it was true or not.. Her own mind had been trying to veer away from violence. "As for the festival, I actually did partake in it, however I had to deal with some rather.. Disturbing company." The normal chatter around them seemed to decrease in volume and amount as she kept walking to the alleyway. Upon arriving, as soon as she heard Zelrius' own reaction to the spot she had gone back to, she smirked, "We can save the mugging for another day. As for the stripping.." Ilya stopped her talk, as she played along with his own joke. Her tone of voice was one of a light mood, I really do hope he can hear the joking tone in my voice.. If not..... The air around them was practically silent apart from the slight far-off noise of the closed buildings nearby and the whistle of the cool-yet not too cold breeze.

 

"Who's saying I wouldn't slap you for confessing anything?" Though he knew he wouldn't, just probably make up an excuse through stutters and slowly skuttle away from her like a crab walking sideways along the beach. And now the game was back afoot, one that the golden haired man had forgotten about for just a moment. She reminded him of it with her mention of Disturbing Company, Which you can bet the golden haired man would prod more at. "Disturbing company? I'd say you're the most disturbing company I've ever had. But please, do tell." With the joke spliced in and now a dig for information, Zelrius had hoped to get some kind of hint as to where she was that night. And ironically enough, had hoped that he was the Disturbing Company in this instance.

Another short laugh and he fiddled with the cutlasses attached to either hip. "You're gonna have to get a lot stronger before I am letting you take any gold. Though if you give me the kitty eyes, you might be able to coax a few out of me," Another joke shot off the top of his head, God damn I am on fire today, He thought to himself, though being reminded that she had paid for everything in their last meeting. "Actually, I believe I owe you some food and an Inn room." He scanned the area emptily, pretending to look for a Tavern, but not actually finding one. (Despite the fact that one was particularly close by) And then she made her joke, and the colour drained from the man's face, as he stood there silent and wide-eyed.

He was never very good at social cues, atleast, not lately, and even less so when her voice sounded so genuine to the idea. Now he began to wonder who it was she wanted to strip; herself or him? And why? It's cold, he didn't want to do it, and it certainly wasn't what he had in mind for this meet up. Instinctively he turned his face away, blocking the sight of hers with his hands. "Eh, I quite uh, ehm," His articulate voice skattered back into his normal mumbling and stuttering "You might not want that," Was all he could come up with, hoping she'd drop what he meant to be as a joke.

 

"And who says I would be the one confessing something?" At the mention of her being disturbing company towards the golden haired man, she herself had her jaw drop down, "How am I disturbing?" She completely ignored his question, rather getting fired up with his ignorant complain about her nature, Am I disturbing? I think not! Ilya's eyes narrowed and she let out a 'hmph' her ears curving slightly in an annoyed manner and her tail lashing angrily.

~~~~~~(Two Separate points of our story, and two different emotions. Man this is weird)

Ilya could only help but burst out laughing, "You seriously.... Thought- I was.. was serious?" Her words came out through her short breaths, "Clearly you cannot read my t-tone of voice." Ilya let out another session of charming laughter as she continued to think, "I was-- only pla- playing along with your-- joke!" Ilya steadied her weight with a hand placed onto the crumbling wall, yet to her avail her laughing only got worse, her weight caused the wall to crumble and she found herself on her butt, on the ground. However, this only made Ilya laugh even harder as she realized she had fallen. "Oh man.. I crack myself up, even my writer is laughing.."

Ilya's expression gained a quite serious tone, "You owe me nothing of the sort."

 

"You're disturbing be-" He sentence was cut short by the silence that hung in the air for the moment, and the instant he tried to open his mouth to continue the thought, she seemingly nearly died of laughter. It caused him to lift his eyebrows in both concern and curiosity, a small grin forming on his face as he couldn't help but stifle a laugh; her own being extremely contagious. That, and a mixture of awkwardness making it hard for him to suppress a small chuckle in cohesion with her here and there. Writer? He questioned himself in his mind. Writer, answered his mind, though out his control. Weird.

"Owe nothing? Excuse me? I am a man of honor, and a lady paid for meal and bed, and that is just not right. Allow me to at the very least reciprocate!" His tone of voice took on a very mocking knight-ish one, though he was actually completely serious.

 

"The only way you can reciprocate is by taking off your clothes" Ilya winked lightly but then burst out laughing once more, "S Sorry! I could not help myself! It is so easy to make a joke out of things around you." Ilya took a deep breath and regained serious composure, "You not only have to pay me back for purchasing the meal and bed, but also for the drunk antics you acted out for me so nicely the fourth night of the festival."

Ilya grinned with amusement, "But you can pay me back later. What is this new information you have on Mudeflester?" Ilya was all too curious now, it was either that he lied to her and just made up that he had more information so that she would meet with him or the fact of the matter was that he really did have more information.

 

Aaannd just like that he was red again. Even after she had laughed and exclaimed it was another joke, it still made him more than uncomfortable, and it certainly wasn't what he was expecting. "Then you will remain unpaid." he joked flatly, but knew that it was never that easy.

And then she came out and confirmed his earlier suspicions, when he was least expecting it. The golden haired man had all but forgotten about the whole thing, and why he even invited her out here in the first place. "Tricky scoundrel, aren't you?" He whispered to himself, now a grin forming on his own face at just how clever she had been about it. "So, you were the one with me in the Maze that night? Now I am extra glad that drunk me didn't try anything a bit risque." His inflection was joking, but he definitely was happy that in his drunken state, he didn't try to get touchy with her.

"As for our boy Muddy. He's roaming around free again, just as always, but I had a thought," He now began to randomly stitch together information to make it seem as though he had a plan. "The Pirates of Druuk have harpoons for various sea creatures. The issue is, I don't know if it will go through Muddy's shell, But if we can find a way to effectively break the shell and not have it regenerate instantly, maybe we can shoot a harpoon shot through and drag him around a bit?" That plan was completely off the top of his head, but even Zelrius was surprised by how well that might actually work.

 

Ilya frowned lightly, "Oh? Does this tie into the fact of me being disturbing?" She had heard the flat tone of his voice, yet did not hear the humor tied in, instead taking heed to the fact that it seemed to be simply a retorting truth. Shrugging off the conversation entirely, she thought of his own new plan for Mudeflester, "That could work, but what we could also do is get the harpoons refined by a blacksmith with status buffs and everything. Plus once I get my new gear, I can do even more damage." Ilya smiled as she thought.. Next time for sure. Next time we will not retreat. Ilya's eyes widened slightly, "You do plan on fighting Mudeflester again with me, right? Not some other person???" Ilya knew that if Zelrius really did find her disturbing he would not message her, and he would definitely not want to fight Mudeflester again with her, so she bet on the fact that he did not find her disturbing at all, and in fact the opposite.

Upon thinking more on their new strategic plan for fighting the giant crab she same up with a bit of an addition herself, "I was thinking also.. Maybe if we can tie him down with the harpoons, like attach unbreakable cord to it, in order to tie him down. Or wrap up his pincers so he cannot attack.. That would work very well if you ask me.."

 

He placed his chin on in hand, now in deep thought as to her plan. He wasn't sure what kind of effort that would take to completely bind the being, and to be honest, it really wasn't the attacks of Muddy that the golden haired man was worried about, they just needed a way to deal enough consistent damage to outdo the healing of the giant crab, and make it so the fight wouldn't last a million years. "Maybe," was his response, maybe it would work, and to be honest, it was something he was willing to give a shot at just to make the fight that much easier.

"Of course I'd bring you along Eya-Kitty, I am sure the fact that Mudeflester must die means as much to you as it does to me." Why wouldn't he? Though Zelrius knew why she asked; it seemed like he was trying to constantly avoid her during that time spent along the Dunnstads. And to be honest, while he certainly didn't have disdain for her, the man really didn't feel like being bossed around again. "As long as," He started, another grin forming on his face, "You promise not to be disturbing"

 

"We should definitely use some sort of cord that is durable and that conducts electricity.. I have a trick up my sleeve.." A very mischievous appeared on Ilya's face as she kept her "trump card" a secret. Her own facial expressions were showing the devious side to her own personality, however her happy spirit was altered by one simple statement coming from Zelrius, as if to tag along with the running "joke".

Her voice turning into one of unsettlement, now her voice sounded soft.. Hurt in a sense.. "D-do you really find me disturbing?" No humor or happiness was laced through her voice, bringing her own feelings to the surface, Do I really care enough about him to care about his opinion of me? Ilya knew the answer to her own thoughts, her own mind said no, but the unstoppable words and feelings that surfaced said otherwise. She viewed him as one of her friends.. It made sense that him calling her disturbing so seriously would affect her..

Ilya turned away, "You should.. leave." Ilya kept facing away as her words regretfully appeared, Should I take it back..? Truth be told, the light joking around had really gotten into Ilya's mind. Her own weak side soaring into view, her own "easily-discouraged" personality taking shape into insecurity.

 

"Hm?" He asked curiously as she went on about something up her sleeve. That was weird, because he didn't expect her to think of it quite like that, but Zelrius supposed that a status effect like electrocution might actually be extremely effective against something that is armored, which, instead of making him play along with the joke, just sent him into a flurry of thoughts, now wondering if they could use things like Fire or Water to their advantage as well.

He was lost deep in thoughts only pulled out as Ilya spoke. For a moment he smiled politely and listened, but that curve of his lips quickly disappeared as the tone in her voice didn't exactly convey light-heartededness anymore. "Huh?" He asked not really understand what she was getting at. "Okay very funny, no need to take the joke that far." He laced his voice with small bits of laughter, assuming that she was just playing more games with him.

Though that was quickly defeated by her actions and following words. This clearly took him aback, now feeling compelled to move a step toward her and his voice going soft and soothing, just as it had when he told her to retreat back in the Cove. "Aw, Eya, don't be like that, I.." His voice trailed off, he didn't know what to say, or how to find the correct words. She was clearly shaken, and the man was far too insecure in himself to trust anything he'd say in an attempt to lighten her mood, so he stood in silence, watching her for a moment.