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 Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:11 pm
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The murky waters made it difficult to see. As far as Tsuyuna could tell, she could be anywhere in under the lake. But where she wanted to be was under the church. She swam in the direction where she thought the church was. "That person better be right," she grumbled. For a while, she was nothing but water as she continued to descend further into its depths. Two minutes passed. Five minutes. Still nothing but water all around. Tsuyuna began to panic. "I should be deep enough to see somethin' underneath the church now." she thought. Turning on her backside, she glanced up. Nothing but utter blackness. Not even sunlight could be seen filtering through the water.
Her lungs were now near bursting. In a rush of fear, she began to swim to what she thought was the surface. Instead, she only went deeper and deeper. She felt her legs and arms beginning to give out. "No! I'm going to...die." Tsuyuna never thought that "dying" in The World would frighten her so much. Suddenly, a vortex of swirling water came into view in front of her. Water spun around in a cyclone, heading for the depths. She noticed this and tried desperately to make it to the surface that she could not see. Blurriness came into her vision. Then a strange notion came into her mind. Maybe, she was supposed to go into the vortex. Another part of her mind, the more sensible one, said otherwise. But then, Tsuyuna realized soon she would have no choice. Trancelike, she stopped her body's movement and just allowed herself to be pulled by the water's current towards the vortex. She felt the vortex's cycle begin to draw her in, thrashing her around and pulling her with a stronger force than a full-grown man. Instantly what little air was left in her lungs was ripped from it and water poured in through her open mouth. Weakness and pain consumed her...and she blacked out.
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 12:07 am
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:14 am
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:34 am
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:05 pm
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Tsuyuna felt light. Pain and water no longer covered every part of her. Slowly, she awoke. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. All she knew was that time did pass. Opening her eyes, she glanced around warily. Colors of light splashed from above her. Below her she felt a hard, stony floor. Blinking in the light, she sat up, feeling around her as she did so. "Where- ?" she mumbled. Suddenly she noticed the rows of stained glass windows looking down on her. A wooden ceiling rested above her and a pedestal from behind. Gasping, she instantly realized where she was. "The church! How in the heck did I get in here from down there?" she wondered. Tsuyuna rose to her feet, looking around in disappointment. "This is what I came all the way here for?" she thought.
Suddenly she heard the sound of footsteps. Or were they...pawsteps? She felt something rub against the back of her leg. Quickly she spun around and held the Mystec at ready. "Bring it on!" she challenged. Tsuyuna was surprised when she noticed a black cat standing casually at her feet. Grumbling, she withdrew her staff and looked to the cat in agitation. "Never knew they had these in the game," she muttered. The cat gazed intently at her with its green eyes. She shuddered involuntarily. "What d'ya want?" Tsuyuna asked, though she was sure it would not answer. Blatantly the cat yawned and then began purring. It weaved its way in and out of her legs. Giggling, she smiled at the cat, "Ya know, I've always wanted a cat. But gramps wouldn't let me have one jus' because the ol' hoot was allergic to them." Absentmindedly, she stroked the black cats back. It arched and leaned into her head, purring even more incessantly.
But Tsuyuna's moment of idle happiness was short lived. At that moment, many auras of light appeared around her. She glanced around in shock as she noticed that each one of them had player-like structures. They floated at the front of the church, all seeming to ignore her. Tsuyuna shivered in horror, "Crap! No one mentioned that there were ghosts here!" Suddenly one of the "ghosts", a small girl with a pale, saddened face and aqua eyes, turned to her. She froze. The girl then began to glide slowly towards her -the other "ghosts" turned and followed behind her in a mass. Tsuyuna could only watch in fright as they approached her; her legs and arms would not move, though her mind desperately told them to do so. Finally, they were looming right in front of her face. The girl looked at her with expectant, translucent eyes. In fear, Tsuyuna picked up the black cat and tried to sprint away. But everywhere she turned, the girl was ahead of her, waiting. Eventually Tsuyuna collapsed on the ground with the black cat in her arms. The floating girl approached her with the rest of the floating figures in tow. Desperate, Tsuyuna held the cat out in front of her. "Leave me alone!" she screamed, "Please don't hurt me! If the cat is yours, you can take it. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be here...someone sent me a message tellin' me to come. I'm sorry! Jus' please don't hurt me!"
The girl halted in midair. She looked closely at Tsuyuna. An expression of remorse and compassion came on her features. though Tsuyuna did not notice it because she had closed her eyes. The other "ghosts" began to withdraw, going towards the front of the church. They disappeared into the reflections of the stained glass. After a few seconds, Tsuyuna opened her eyes carefully. To her horror the girl figure was still there. She cringed as the girl drew closer. The girl then raised her hand and, unexpectedly, petted the cat. Tsuyuna watched with a confused look on her face. The girl suddenly looked at her eyes and then, without speaking, began to float backwards. Her face a canvas of innocence, the girl too then disappeared into the stained glass reflections. For what felt like hours, Tsuyuna sat there motionless -unable to move, unable to react, unable to think.
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 2:23 pm
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 6:48 pm
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Eventually, Tsuyuna once again found herself able to move again, though she was shaking. "What...the hell...was that?" she stuttered. The black cat continued to purr in her arms. It had done so the entire time. Tsuyuna looked at the cat in puzzlement. "I guess they didn't hurt me 'cause I had you," she mused as she put the cat down on the floor. That was as much as her logic could delve from that situation. Stuff like that never happened in The World. At least...it did not normally occur in it. She looked at the cat's expectant eyes and spoke to it as if it were a person, "Do you know those 'ghosts,' kitty? If you did, it would have been at least kinder to warn me." The cat merely began licking its paw, ignoring her. Suddenly, Tsuyuna noticed a small piece of parchment lying on the floor. Without thinking she walked over to it and picked it up. The writing was elegant and neatly printed. "What kind of person uses these now-a-days?" she thought, rolling her eyes. It read:
"Please help me, stranger. I need you to find a certain person of interest for me -his name is Edin. If you can locate him, I will give you an answer in return to any question you have about The World.
P.S. What is your name?"
She stared at the note curiously. "What?" she exclaimed in shock, "Who in the heck is 'Edin'? Who is this person? And what do they mean by 'What is your name'?" This note certainly posed many questions for Tsuyuna. One, why did they not use a simple PM or text? Two, why did they want to know her name? Many other questions flooded through her mind the more and more she read the letter. "I shouldn't be dealin' with this crap!" she growled as she threw it on the ground. Walking to the door, she was about to step out of the church when a text message appeared and automatically opened on her screen.
Flashmail to Tsuyuna I thought that you were the adventurer? Would you turn down this chance to get what you wanted? After all, she offered you a reward for finding someone.
Tsuyuna's eyes widened in shock. "You again!" she gasped. "How come you always send me these messages at the most random intervals?" she grumbled. She knew that whoever the entity was that they could obviously see and hear her. "Who're you?" she asked in aggravation. Another message appeared.
Flashmail to Tsuyuna I am one. Now you must tell her who you are.
She could not believe what she was reading. One? What was that supposed to mean? But she realized something else -this person referred to the person who wrote the note as "her". That meant that they knew whoever had written the letter. "They must have some sort of connection," she thought. It then occurred to her that she might be at the raw end of a practical joke. Glaring at the air, she asked, "Are you both involved in this?" No reply came. No text message. Heaving an agitated sigh, Tsuyuna glanced down at the cat who was looking up at her with a rather amused look on its face. Its tail swished rapidly from side to side. She groaned, "You think this is hilarious, don't ya?"
Turning back to the door, she pushed the bars. But she abruptly stopped herself in midway. An indecisive expression came on her features and she glanced back at the note on the floor. She then breathed and spoke loudly into the air. "My name's Tsuyuna. Remember that!" she stated. With that she stalked out of the building, gating out soon afterwards.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 2:37 am
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 3:52 pm
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 6:46 pm
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:19 am
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:34 am
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:28 pm
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Inoue sat in front of her computer, dumbfounded. She had encountered various firewalls, codes, and equations, but each and every one of them was an obstacle that was easily passed. But a simple quest to search for someone had her at a standstill. Inwardly, she was still debating on whether it was the real name of character name of the person. Outwardly, she wanted to get on and be done with the whole ordeal. Her head ached and she was hungry -due to the fact that she was busily trying to find a solution to her dilemma, she had forgotten to eat breakfast and lunch. With her stomach grumbling urgently, she decided to pick one option and go with it. "Leave it up to luck," she thought.
Using her expert hacking abilities, she came into the username main frame of The World. "Better work quick," she breathed, "I only have a minute...tops." Quickly she typed in "Edin" and scrolled down through the list of 108 matches. Edin1896, Black Edin, -Edin-...The list was longer than she thought. Inoue smacked her keyboard in frustration, "Dammit, I just want 'Edin'! How hard is it to get just the word 'Edin'?" Suddenly with the reverberations, her mouse moved slightly and scrolled down farther than she had wanted. She was about to scroll back up when suddenly she noticed the name that was highlighted under the cursor.
Edin
Inoue blinked in shock. There it was! The username she had been diligently searching for. Quickly, she clicked on it and looked into the records. According to the status report, he was currently in Mac Anu. She had read this not a moment too soon, for just then her computer was automatically shut down. The administered had caught her. Luckily, she had systems on her computer that made her signature code near untraceable. "Guess lady luck's on my side," Inoue stated with a satisfied smiled. Swiftly she began to reboot her computer. She knew she had to login and find Edin fast, before his character gated out and was once again out of reach. As soon as her computer was on, she logged in.
Tsuyuna awoke to find herself in Mac Anu, where she had been last. Hurriedly she began sprinting through the town looking desperately for "Edin." She asked various players and each time came up with the same answer: No, I do not know him. No one seemed to know who or where this "Edin" person was. Poor Tsuyuna soon find herself on the outskirts of the root town. Depressed, hungry, and overly exhausted, she plodded on in an almost zombie-like state. "Lady luck hates my guts!" she thought in agony. Apparently her luck was at an end.
Slowly she turned down into an alleyway. To her surprise, someone else was present there. His blue hair...Tsuyuna gasped. This was the same character she had seen the last time she had come to Mac Anu. What was he still doing here? Had he even left? For some odd reason, Tsuyuna felt her heart begin to pound in her chest. She did not understand why, though -there was no adrenaline, no fighting, not even getting sucked up into a water vortex. It was just him. Pivoting around on her heel, she then had the strange notion to run. But then she remembered her quest, the very reason she was in Mac Anu in the first place. Ignoring the loud thumping coming from inside her, she walked casually over to him. Tapping his shoulder, she asked in an unexpectedly timid tone, "Umm...Excuse me, sir. But do you know a character by the name of 'Edin'?"
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