i feel so bad for saying this but i assume that both the moved midterms result and meeting Shizuka and Karen are meant to be May 19 right? The 18th is a Sunday so we couldn't be in school to see the results and the threadmark puts PLANT 2 on the 19th (and Hiyori tells them it should all be over tomorrow which would imply this meeting is on the 19th as well). Though thankfully that's just two quick edits and not an actual time paradox I think.
If we are going with a total combat overhaul, I'd recommend getting inspiration from something like FATE or another more narrative RPG system. All the fan Persona RPGs commit the sin of being too close to the Persona games. Meaning they forget that as a video game, the Persona games can offload a mountain of arithmetic, dice rolls, and basic algebra onto the computer. When you have to do all the bookkeeping by hand, complexity becomes a much bigger problem.
You know I first picked dice pools cause on my last quest people weren't happy with how swingy things are. But I've noticed with dice pools it's really hard to estimate actual probabilities...
When I cobbled the system together what I was trying to do was to encourage write-ins by including a built in system to give bonuses for cool options (ie Advantage/Disadvantage). But then I was also trying to avoid these epileptic tree plans where there's a contingency for a contingency in place, so I used Determination as a cost for write ins...
But then I failed to consider the Determination meta would just be banking it all to use on extra actions, which in hindsight sounds SUPER OBVIOUS, but somehow it didn't occur to me when planning the mechanics. I don't want a pure narrative resolution system: that to me is very dangerous when the metaphysical conflict of the quest is literally all about battles of the mind. There's no "you didn't consider flanking the foe" or anything when you're fighting with essentially Alicization-level combat. Also I find it meta in a very satisfying way that you're using mechanics to literally win in a fictional video game.
Long story short, I do think I want to continue with the current dice system. But I will do some changes. Tentatively?
Smirk and Once More are gone. All these "win harder" things are getting axed, even if it means sliding away from Persona references.
Write Ins will be free. Making them cost Determination was dumb and discouraged people from doing what I wanted them to do!
More abilities will be explicitly narrative in nature.
I will try to encourage more narrative actions as well.
For the numbers part:
Defense is now changed to roll BOTH dice, with "exclusions" based on narrative or weaponry. In case I wasn't being heavy handed enough, next arc is GGO, in which gun combat features heavily. So if you're mobile and on guard against gunfire you roll both VIT + AGI. If you're caught off guard you only roll VIT. If you're hit within a rifle calibur's effective range you only roll AGI. (If you're a dirty lucksack cheater with a 4 foot tall avatar you get to roll AGI + CHT) Etc, etc.
STR determines the type of guns you can wield.
MAG remains the same, except with the caveat that the GGO SEED actively resists overt displays of magic.
VIT now raises max HP.
AGI now determines turn order.
CHT remains CHT.
Most higher tier skills instead of rolling more dice (ie becoming more powerful and more accurate) will simply be changed to offer Damage bonuses (just more powerful).
I plan on doing something very, very special to guns mechanically in order to make it work in a Persona like setting.
Anyways I haven't detailed it all out yet. None of the above applies for the OBERON battle.
But TL;DR mechanics are hard. ;_;
If that's the case then purposefully upgrading stats like strength and magic is much better than relying on chance with Arcana Roulette and Maneki-Neko's specials.
AN: Interlude chapter, no vote at the end, so the UPGRADE PLAN vote will continue until the next update. First part of the interlude takes place after canon Morning Dew Girl, second part is present day.
FIRST STAR - November 4th, 2024
23:15 AINCRAD STANDARD TIME
You see the rise and fall of his chest, hear the pounding of his heart, and feel the warmth in his hands. He's still a bit stiff, bashful even, but he certainly isn't backing away from your touch.
It's a beautiful night, and the stars dance across the sky in a waltz of strange, alien patterns. The night sky you shouldn't even be able to see in the center of an iron castle, but somehow the logic of the game twists reality so that no matter where you were in Aincrad, everyone gazed up at the same sky.
You don't even remember the stars. In Tokyo, you had better odds of seeing a UFO than a real star, and even your grandparents' home was too close to Sendai City for naught but the brightest stars to be visible.
"Think there are any up there?"
He says after a while, the two of you lying on a hill just gazing up at a false sky.
"Hmm? Any what?"
"Uh... aliens. Like space civilizations, huge spaceships, maybe even giant killer space monsters spawning up there. Considering it's still gonna be SAO's spawn tables, maybe big tentacle meatball things with human teeth."
You can't help but giggle a little. This is what he worried about? "I don't think the system is simulating that much, Kirito."
"I just think it's kind of a waste. After two whole years of this, I'm kinda bored with the fantasy kitsch aesthetic. Think Kayaba was planning to bring space cowboys, or cyberpunks, or something else in down the line?"
"Kirito, no. Please don't tempt fate like that."
He chuckles a bit, and the two of you continue chattering throughout the night. Neither of you felt particularly tired and the preponderance of teenagers in SAO served to shift the prime time of player activity into the afternoon and evenings. It's one of the rare treats of being trapped in this death game, no alarm clocks, no rush for public transit, nor any early class.
...No mom telling you you were late for breakfast again.
"Hey, Asuna?"
You pause at the mention of your name. You're starting to parse Kirito's mood by his tone. And this time, he's worried. The type of worry you can't conquer by smashing it with a sword.
"Do you think we have a chance?"
At clearing the game. That part goes unsaid.
It's strange to have hope that Kayaba's death game could ever be cleared. Back in those early days, when floor progress was measured in months and hundreds of lives, it seemed impossible. Insurmountable.
You almost died. A hundred times and more, but you remember so very little of those times. The stress, the adrenaline, all blurred details. Someone would pull you out of the way of a stray arrow or stand guard over your prone form as you recovered from a status effect. One close call bled into a thousand. Lives saved and lost in such frequency you no longer remember who you had to thank and who owed you thanks.
But for the last year, it's just been... standard. In the end, SAO for all its idiosyncrasies was just a game. People started wising up to the horde traps, the anti-teleport mazes, and the small signs of an enemy ambush. The clearers had developed operational procedures, some of which you helped write, others that were naturally in place by sheer weight of repetition.
It was a startling change in perspective. SAO was ultimately designed as a consumer product, and Kayaba Akihiko couldn't have personally designed every single monster. People were recognizing the patterns: mechanics that were rehashed from earlier fights, universal tells, and assumptions that could be safely taken just by looking at a monster's shape.
Deaths grew farther and farther apart. There was even a 6-floor no-death streak that everyone was hoping they could carry through to the finish. Then the «Gleam Eyes» woke you up from that illusion.
You tell yourself that if the Army didn't charge in like some band of hotheaded samurai, things would've been alright. A fully equipped raid party with all the top members... they would've slaughtered the boss like all the rest. But you know that the «Anti-Crystal Zone» changed everything. Ironically you and Kirito charging in likely saved lives, the lack of healing crystals would've vaporized the defensive core of the frontlines. A boss that was better dealt with in a duel than an organized raid.
If that becomes the norm? SAO taking the one healing resource you had and then ripping it away? You're no longer sure if you have a chance. But as the Vice Commander of the «Knights of Blood», you don't have the luxury of not believing in victory.
"Yeah, I thought so," Kirito says, getting his answer from your silence.
"Why are you asking this on our honeymoon?" You poke him in the cheek, eliciting another blush.
"Hey, stop it, that tickles..."
"Hehe, that so? But it's so squishy! See, still babyfaced."
"Haha, come on, enough!" He giggles, trying to roll away in futility.
You get one more poke before reluctantly letting go, Kirito having gotten safely over being a flustered wreck at the physical affection.
"It's nothing, really." He replies eventually, laying back down on the grass. "It's just well... just worried about the future. And... Yui."
Your daughter. The girl whose heart hung around your neck, once warm and full of life and now silent and cold. She will live again, you believe that with all your heart. "She's still alive. Once we're out, we'll find her. Together."
The girl who entered your life and then left it just as quickly. She called herself a Mental Health Counseling Program, a subroutine of «Cardinal», the system running SAO. The closest thing Aincrad had to a god outside of Kayaba Akihiko. The god that deleted her the moment it realized Yui helped you.
Kirito managed to save her, she was now in the pendant you wear around your neck. Just another reason you needed to see this nightmare end.
"It's that... GM console. Down at the bottom of the «Black Iron Palace»..." Kirito begins, unsure how to articulate what he has to say. "I accessed it in the heat of the moment and I'm happy it worked but..."
"Hmm? It worked out, didn't it? Why are you so worried?" The details didn't matter. Yui was safe.
"Yeah, and I'm happy she is. But just... I'm still in school. Or I was before all this started."
Ah, you finally get what he is hinting at. You didn't know his real age, but he couldn't have been that much different from you. "So you're not sure how you pulled it off? You could've just let me think you were a super tech wizard, you know. That way you'd really get along with your brother-in-law."
"B-brother-in-law!?" Kirito blurts out. "You have a brother!?"
"Well yes!" you confirm, putting your hands on your hips. "I do plan on introducing you to my family! And you have to try your best to make a positive first impression."
"Uh- Uhm, I..." he stutters, flustered out of his brains. "I mean, in-laws, oh boy..."
"...Just one word at a time, Kirito," you gently remind him as he gathers his thoughts.
"W-well since we're sharing, I do have a sister, sorta. It's kinda complicated."
Wasn't every family?
"So it seems," you nod. He doesn't speak very much of his life outside of SAO. Beyond the important things, there was little talk of specifics. Family wasn't high on his list.
"But... yeah. The console. Like, I can work my way around a command line, sure. I can even code." He makes a meaningful pause. "But I'm... a hobbyist. And it's not like I've had a chance to practice in the last two years. I'm not even sure what programming language SAO is coded in!"
"Wait..." you slowly ask, caressing Yui's heart around your neck, "but what did you even do?"
"Umm..." He sounds like he is grasping for an answer. "Inspiration, I guess? I felt... the way forward. It's not like there was a voice in my head, but I felt like someone was there with me, guiding my actions, kind of."
Was it Yui, trying to save herself? The Cardinal system?
...
Or was Kayaba Akihiko involved?
...
"There's a flower on the 47th floor," Kirito says, almost absently. "On this little dungeon almost nobody ever goes to."
The plant and flower floor. You barely spent half a week in it before the frontline blazed right on past. Beyond a vague poison pool mechanic that was trivial to plan around, it was in the running for the easiest floor boss in all of SAO.
"I have this... friend..." Hmm, Kirito seems awfully evasive...
"Uh-huh. Gonna introduce me to this 'friend' of yours?"
"Wh- oh, no, it's not like that!" Kirito laughs awkwardly. "But that's not the important part! There's an item there called a «Pneuma Flower» that can revive tamed pets."
What?
It... it wasn't going to be that easy, was it?
"Wait... what? But Yui isn't a pet! It's not going to be that simple!"
"I know, I know," Kirito says, calming you down. "But just the fact that something like that—" He jabs his finger at Yui's Heart, "is allowed to exist as a wearable item raises a lot of questions. I... I'm still not sure who it was that helped me. But if I had to guess, and I really hate to be presumptuous about it, but..."
This silence is deafening. The very world seems to hold its breath, waiting for the answer.
Kirito sighs. "I think that someone, maybe Kayaba, maybe Cardinal itself. Someone helped me save Yui and I think if we climb high enough we'll find it. Another dungeon, another rare item, something... like the «Pneuma Flower». Something to bring her back. It just... it just feels like some kind of quest now."
Because Yui was never part of the system. But Yui's Heart? That was created by SAO. It's an item you're wearing right now, something that can be even be stored in your inventory, moved between players...
An item that can be lost or destroyed. An item that was now part of the game.
"And when we find that item, when we revive Yui, what..." you say, looking around the log cabin you now call home. You can't find the words. What... exactly happens next?
Today you met a man who simply didn't care about clearing SAO. An older man who chooses to live out his days fishing instead of risking his life chasing some phantom promise of freedom. It was an almost impossible ordeal to keep track of all the deaths in SAO, considering the monument didn't list causes, but as far as you were aware there weren't any deaths from real-life sickness or forced disconnection since the early days.
Aincrad just seemed... unmoored from reality.
This may be a game but it's not something you play. The words of Kayaba Akihiko.
"Do you think... we could live a life just like this? Us and Yui..." Kirito speaks softly, unable to meet you in the eyes. A life just like this, surrounded by nature and the people you love. Could you get that in the real world?
The two of you lean into each other, wrapping your arms together while the stars shine on overhead.
"Would you..." you whisper, not fully daring to contemplate what you're about to say. "Be okay staying like this forever?"
If the «Gleam Eyes» was any indication things were only getting more dangerous. The next floor was rumored to be a bottleneck of the highest degree. By Floor 100 how many people would be left would be able to fight? How many would be willing?
Already things were changing on the lower floors. Dungeons the Clearers flat-out ignored were being mapped, new quest lines were being generated, and people were organized into guilds, businesses, and even families.
You've even heard rumors of players falling in love with NPCs. And strangely, with Yui, you were now one of them.
When you committed to becoming a Clearer you had nothing left. No reason to stay in Aincrad one second longer than you had to. A family you needed to get back to, a life you needed to get back to!
And now... you can't bear to see Kirito hurt. And for the first time in years, you're scared.
You don't want to die. You don't want to see Kirito at the edge of an assassin's blade ever again. You don't want to log out and never see Yui ever again.
"It's not just about survival anymore," Kirito says, holding your head against his chest. You hear his heart beating. It's not real, there's no true blood beneath, and it's nothing but a simulation. But you hear it regardless. It feels as real as anything you've ever touched. "This... isn't enough for me. I want to get to know you, Asuna. All of you. «The Flash», sure, but also who you were before. I want to hold you with my real hands... I want Yui to see the world outside with her own eyes."
"That's awfully greedy of you, Kirito." You feel tears building in your eyes even as you feel your lips form a smile. "Is that the attitude of a «Beater» who wants everything for himself?"
"A-Asuna, hey, don't call me that here..." Kirito blushes at the nickname.
"Don't agonize too long over it, because I've already decided too," you confirm, smiling through the tears. "We're getting out of here... together."
Kirito, Yui... all of you.
It's a promise you make beneath the starry sky.
tysdagr - 20th of Harpa
Afternoon
You didn't think much of the man when you first met him. Unassuming, but polite. At first, he reminded you of Dad, especially after he hit it off so well with Koichiro. He was always a gentleman, but you saw the way he looked at you. It made your spine shiver. You chalked that up to the age gap, a reflexive response to the simple knowledge that the man is over a decade older than you.
Mom said it was essential for the business. Dad was getting old and had some recent business failings. The shareholders were clamoring for a successor. Koichiro was still inexperienced, and it was likely going to be a full decade before he would be ready to inherit the company.
Mom said they needed someone they could trust. A man to carry the torch until Koichiro was ready, a man to bring into the family so that RECT would remain controlled by the Yuuki family. He was even going to take your name and become Yuuki Nobuyuki.
...Two yukis. It didn't exactly roll off the tongue, though your Dad found the coincidence hilarious.
Just an arranged marriage. A common thing. Nothing to complain about.
...You even wanted to help.
...
Once you had simple worries. When you and Kirito escaped, how would you explain things to Mom? And you didn't hate Sugou. He was nobody to you. A person who sat next to you at company dinners and awkwardly tried to ask you about your school life. A stranger you were slated to marry in some uncertain future. You were going to leave SAO, apologize to him, and wish him all the best with his life.
...
When Kayaba's sword was moments away from shattering Kirito, you had no thoughts to spare for Sugou.
If only the same could be true in reverse.
"Titania, my sweet, sweet, Titania..."
He looks the same. A shallow painting of a face, perfectly symmetrical, looking in every way like a male idol. There's a light that radiates out from Sugou, an effortless accent only possible in the virtual world. There's no blemish, no hint that this creature was anything more than a moving sculpture.
And he's alone.
There are two women on either side of him. They have your face, your cheeks, your hair... they're not real. Victims that he's brushed over with some facsimile of your visage. They're elves, slender, graceful, and nearly nude, with silvery silk wrapped around their neck that just barely covers up their bodies. Your body.
"Dear, please. Let's go back to the castle..." the one on the left coos with your voice.
"OBERON, she's nothing, a dumb little waif who isn't worth your time..." the one on the right sings.
They're entangled together, the dolls grasping at OBERON like babies looking for their blanket.
And he just stands there, smiling at you. So absolute in his belief that you'll come around.
You almost miss how he used to be.
Manipulative. Angry.
Reminding you of your obligations to your father.
Screaming that without him you'll be nothing.
Demanding that you accept your fate.
Offering you power, riches...
But that was Sugou. And you haven't talked with Sugou in a very, very long time.
"Such environs are beneath you, my dear." OBERON spreads his arms as if gifting his palace to you. "Surely you can see that by now, yes? My dear wife, there is no need to deny yourself the pleasures that are owed to the queen of all fairies."
Responding to OBERON is about as useful as screaming at a wall.
"Why deny yourself?"
"Come have some fun with us!"
His victims hang around him like two snakes on either side. Two playthings, perfect replicas for OBERON to use and abuse as he wills.
"Sugou." The one word is all you get out.
The golden man pounces forward, spittle flying out of his mouth as he lunges for you. The two dolls next to them are knocked brashly off the side, and you can't help but notice the effect it has on them.
The moment they leave his view, the moment the slightest inclination that OBERON no longer needs them is made apparent... they collapse like puppets with their strings cut. His toys, perfect recreations of yourself, reduced to trash in the merest heartbeat. The man's eyes never leave yours.
He throws both his hands in front of him, gripping the bars of your cage. Usually, this was about the time he would attack you, but today it seemed he was unnaturally lucid.
"You were to be my GODDESS! I WOULD GRANT YOU EVERYTHING! EVERY DESIRE, EVERY DESPOIL! You are my precious queen and I am your HUSBAND! You will show me the respect I AM OWED!" he screams, shaking his head as more flecks of saliva are spat onto your face, just barely bouncing off the purple barrier that pops up in your defense. It almost looked like his eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets.
"I. AM. THE. GOD. OF. THIS. WORLD." he pronounces, almost hyperventilating with each breath.
You don't know what made him like this. You don't know what possessed a man you once thought nothing of to do this. To imprison himself into an animal so twisted that this all seems normal to him.
"I pity you," you say honestly, looking your captor straight in the eyes. It's the only feeling you have left for the man who was to be your fiancée.
It is almost comical how he freezes in place like you've thrown a bucket of water on him. The hands holding the bars clench and unclench like they're unsure whether to hug you or strangle you. It's the only reaction you've been able to get out of him. Now he'll scream, fruitlessly attack you, then retire back to whatever den he crawled out of.
But today, it's different. Today he's not responding in the usual fashion.
"Hehehehe... HYAYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the man laughs uproariously, drawing back a half-step. OBERON is still smiling. Still confident.
"No, nonononononNONONONONONONONONONO! YOU have it all wrong my DEAR TITANIA!"
With his outstretched palm, a screen appears in midair in front of OBERON. A bright kaleidoscope of flickering lights, utter nonsense that means nothing to you, but evidently means the world to him. Within that sphere of flickering lights, you sense something... familiar. It reminds you of the stars, encompassing the night sky.
"It's almost complete! Just a few more days and the analysis will be complete. I have the measure of all of your souls! Every last one of you within my domain! AND I WONDER WHO THAT INCLUDES!? Hehehehe, and my dear Titania... it's been sooo, sooo long..."
He beckons you closer, licking his lips like a hungry predator.
"How long have you been here, dear Titania? Hmm? A week? A month, more!? I've been watching you. Every minute of every day, I've studied you. I can change you. I can create you. We'll soon have all the time in the world! We shall ASCEND! You will cast aside your pathetic, stunted mind and ascend to a higher being. To the true TITANIA! Hehehehehehehe..."
"What are you talking about Sugou?" you say, taking a step away. Sugou just leans forward.
"Soon, soon, my dear, we will leave this crooked world. And then THAT MAN's little leftover barrier won't work anymore. You can let go. You can join me mind, body, and soul! My... beautiful, delicate Titania."
The fluctuating lights on the screen mesmerize you. Staring at it reminds you of staring into a mirror.
"I will wash away your blemishes. I will make you as perfect, inside and out, as I am! We shall be flawless, ideal, indestructible. We will have no doubts, no worries, no shame. We will have one sole purpose, and that is to be perfect!"
Finally, he steps away and holds his head up high. He spins around with his arms open like a dancer, laughing like it's his first time tasting air.
"OBERON AND TITANIA! TOGETHER AGAIN!"
Mercifully, he finally flies away, the echoing braying of his delusions retreating into the distance.
Day after day, the same insane rants. Yet these conversations stood as the sole form of human interaction you were afforded. You've been counting. The number of fairies has decreased significantly. It should be a blessing. But now, nobody talks to you anymore...
...
"I can't take much more of this..." you mutter to yourself, sitting back on your bed. Every day he seemed to become more and more unhinged. Sometimes he even comes more than once, so he couldn't even serve as an effective timekeeper. Instead, you've been counting the passage of the moon and stars, trying to remember the sunrises.
But you're tired, so very tired.
Tired of this prison.
Tired of hearing the words coming out of his mouth.
And tired of being able to do nothing about it.
You eye the soft sheets, and the sharp blade hidden beneath. Under the surface, beneath the veneer of Titania, you can sense parts of your SAO avatar still transferred through to the Titania body. Once you were out of this cage and the restrictions placed on it, you could access your SAO inventory again, and finally get out of this hideous gown.
And finally cut out OBERON's throat.
tysdagr - 20th of Harpa Ragnarök
You blink the sleep out of your eyes. You've grown to treasure naps, anything to cut away at the constant, incessant boredom. If you had a choice you preferred to remain awake at night, at least then you could admire the stars, artificial as they were.
It's still light out, though more of a faded orange.
The sun's setting. Was it today? Or tomorrow?
But then OBERON can do whatever he wants. Did it matter what time the sun rises and sets here?
From day to night. As if a switch were flipped, the searing light of Alfheim melts away into a gray pallor. You clutch the pillows, sprinting towards the edge of the cage, anything to get a better look at the sky.
You can scarcely believe what you're seeing.
It's night.
A starless night.
The moon, the sun, the stars. All gone.
You've never seen anything like it, in Aincrad or ALO. A truly starless night.
"This is it," you speak under your breath.
All of a sudden the world seems to tilt in on itself. The «World Tree» comes alive, as hundreds of fairies normally naught but decorations suddenly fill the skies, all converging towards OBERON's palace.
Then a bolt of energy, lightning emanating from the earth, streaking in the opposite direction cuts through the silence. The bark beneath you shakes and suddenly you realize that a bone-deep chill has overtaken your cage. In the mere seconds since you've noticed this, frost has already started caking the once pristine flowers of OBERON's garden.
Fire and ice spill forth from the horizon. The roar of a distant dragon cuts through the air like a trumpet, accenting the drumbeat pounding in your chest, getting louder and louder with each second.
They're... words.
BLOOD AND ICE!
BLOOD AND ICE!
BLOOD AND ICE!
Those... players who came up here. They said they had a rescue plan. Something about a raid. Was this it?
What kind of rescue plan was this? What the hell was going on!?
You dive under your bed, plunging your arm under the mattress and retrieving «Excalibur». Despite the limited mobility granted to you by your dress, you find the weapon light and easy to wield. No need for a Sword Skill, a simple horizontal swing of the blade would be enough to cut you free!
"Please don't do that. I worked quite hard on that cage." A mundane, almost bored voice, sounds out just behind you.
You twist the blade, resting the flat of the weapon in line with your outstretched arm. It wasn't a rapier, but it was long and had a pointy end you could jam into your enemies. You had nothing more to hide, you're going to enjoy skewering this... this...
What the hell is this thing?
"Yuuki Asuna-san. A pleasure, I'm sure. Now again, things will become very awkward if you were to break that cage. I did rig it with many alarms."
In the distance, OBERON howls. The sounds of war break out behind you, but the strange purple slime simply inches closer, the motes of light from its teleportation still clinging to it like the frost now surrounding the cage.
"I've been trapped for over 2 years. You aren't stopping me."
"Oh, on the contrary!" The purple slime wiggles, its antennae waving in anticipation. You've seen this creature before, but this is the first time you've ever talked to it. "Allow me, please. It's the least I can do."
A slimy appendage touches the golden bars. The moment the two make contact, a sickly purple glow saturates the bars, rapidly spreading to encompass the whole cage. In the blink of an eye, it's all gone in a cloud of purple dust. Everything hits you all at once, the augmented senses you've grown dependent on in SAO suddenly invading your perception.
A faint pressure at the back of your mind, something the senses of Titania tell you is magic. The frost is intensifying, and you feel the light you've come to associate with OBERON flashing like a strobe. He's too busy to deal with you right now. Rather... does he even know you've escaped? And this strange thing was to thank for that...
"Who are you!?" You lunge forward, the tip of the blade piercing a layer of the creature's slime. The creature simply blinks, unaffected, wagging one long pointy appendage at you.
"Impressive speed, but completely wasted effort. Were you trying to give me a better look? Certainly, you seem to be to Sugou's tastes, but... meh. I've seen better." The slime's eyestalks wiggle around, ogling at you from multiple angles. You ram your makeshift blade in one cm deeper. It's like cutting into a block of tofu, and there's no indication you're doing any damage.
"I'm quite short on time so I will be blunt, Yuuki-san. You cannot hurt me. And really, is this how you treat your saviors? While I'm at it, why today, of all days!? I should've known, thought it was weird the SEED insisted on a Double EXP event on a random Tuesday..." The slime grumbles, blabbering some nonsense about schedules and timers, your ears focusing instead on the explosions shaking the very roots of the world tree.
"I knew of your little escape plan, though I had no idea your associates would be pulling it off this soon! I would very much like to discuss the specifics with them, certainly they must have some truly unique insights into the nature of the world. And that... Persona... mhm, fascinating, simply fascinating! But alas, that ship has sailed, and so I must make do with my very, very distant second choice."
You don't have time for this. If he wasn't going to fight you need to go to where you're needed. You turn around, only to discover that your feet have been grappled by the purple slime. It takes but a heartbeat to sever them with your sword.
"Why the rush?" the slime smiles, trembling at the lost of its limbs. A disgusting display. "I did orchestrate your release, albeit rather indirectly. All I ask in exchange is one simple request."
"Fine! What is it!?" Whatever it takes to get it out of your way!
"I do find it most curious that this whole thing was started by a simple picture of Titania. Amazing how powerful a simple image can be..." The slime raises its eyestalks high, a screen flickering in between them. He flips it around, showing you the contents. "Don't you also find that ironic, Yuuki-san?"
It's a simple still shot, framed like the pictures of sports stars standing on podiums. Mundane, simplistic. Just a normal, slightly blurry picture of what could be an everyday scene.
There's a coliseum, almost copied and pasted from the one in «Collinia».
There's a blonde boy, smiling at his friend, fist held out in celebration.
There's...
A black-haired boy, confidently celebrating his victory. Still a little baby-faced, but he seems older. A bit taller.
He looks healthy. He looks happy.
"KIRITO!?"
You reach out, your sword dropping to the ground in your panic to hold the picture, to try and solidify the illusion. Your hands simply phase through the UI interface, as the hideous jelly undulates in amusement.
"I see you've noticed him as well!"
"WHERE IS HE!?"
The monster tilts forward inhumanly, the same appendage used to transport its gelatinous body forward morphing and changing until it vaguely resembles a hand that it promptly waves in apathy. "At this precise moment? Heaven only knows. That's quite an old photo and time is strange in that place. It could've been hours, it could've been years..."
"STOP SPEAKING IN RIDDLES!"
You want to strangle this... thing, but you can't even see an HP bar. You reach into your inventory and pull out «Lambent Light», but the rapier fails to do anything but cause his flesh to jiggle.
"Feisty. I like it. Now you have nothing to worry about, I dare say our mutual friend here is having the time of his life! Literally, all things considered. Anyways, as the world is ending around us, I find I am in no position to negotiate. So I will simply make you an offer, Yuuki-san. You may take it or leave it at your discretion."
Like a child on a playground, the slime ignores your swinging blade. Kirito was... safe, right? Lux said he wasn't here, that he was alive...
"Yuuki-san? May we proceed?"
"Fine!"
"Then I need something very simple from you. I am quite incapable of harming, carrying or even touching Sugou due to certain technical limitations." From within the depths of his body, a black keycard is ejected out of its frontal orifice. A tentacle shoves it into your hand.
It's cold, slimy, and thrumming with energy.
"Within OBERON's palace is an... important item. We call it a SEED, and as you have been trapped under a rock for the last two years I must inform you that it appears like a... golden egg. No doubt your associates will quickly realize that destroying it is the key to breaking this world."
The SEED... a golden egg... "You want me to... stop Lux?"
"Oh, nono, please, perish the thought! I couldn't care less what happens to this idiot's little playpen. I simply have need of Sugou-san's... let's call it... his brain. Unless you happen to know what a Fluctlight is? No? Right. Two years behind the times..."
Something screeches behind you. Something metallic. The sounds of combat rise in the distance, the slime sighing in annoyance.
"Reach the SEED in OBERON's palace. Incapacitate Sugou in whatever manner you see fit, the man is quite stupid and without my help I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out. You and the whole cavalry you called. Simply insert the keycard into the SEED and then throw Sugou into the portal that appears. I assure you that if you do as I say, you'll never have to deal with him ever again, in this world or the next."
You touch the little plastic piece of plastic, it's still cold. Lux was given a keycard too, one granted to her by this slime...
"Why... should I listen to you..." you seethe out, trying to tell if the slime was lying. If it was threatening Kirito...
"You don't have to! Why, I'm helping you here, Yuuki-san! It's quite simple really. Throw in Sugou and then jump in after him. That portal will take you to, let's call it... the underworld, hmm? It is, after all, where Kirito is currently residing. I even have some connections who would be very, very eager to assist you in tracking him down!"
The thing lurches back and forth, waving the picture of Kirito into your face.
"Everyone wins! Your associates get to free the SAO survivors, you get reunited with your young hero, and I... well. I will be rewarded very, very richly for this." You can sense perverse excitement, the creature bubbling with anticipation.
"Y-you were working with Sugou... h-how can I trust you?"
"Don't trust me! See if I care, I certainly can't be blamed for failing to predict magical hackers. But Yuuki-san, I trust you must know that this is your only chance— to ever see Kirito ever again."
He doesn't wait for your answer. The Slime simply melts into wisps of light, its putrid body dissolving into polygons. As the last vestiges of it disperse you hear one last message echoing in the darkness. "Oh and before I forget! Don't let those lunatics kill Sugou! He is diving using a NerveGear after all."
He laughs again, the logout finalizing, leaving you alone with your thoughts.
You're free. In the technical sense of the word. Never mind the new shackles that creature just placed on you.
Kirito is alive. You know that.
He's... just not here. Not in the real world. He's somewhere else, that slime thing confirmed it. He's left you with the picture and that plain black keycard... your very own deal with the devil.
...They were coming to save you. They were coming to stop Sugou, to stop this whole ridiculous nightmare. These strangers who you've only spoken to but didn't know the first thing about. Cayna. Lux. An entire team, a party full of players, and with the weight of what sounds like an apocalypse behind them. They were all here, ready to come to your rescue.
Could you afford to betray them?
...Could you afford not to?
AN: No vote, the previous upgrade vote is still open.
Since this isn't Asunaquest, there's no vote. She is currently keeping her options open, pending the... circumstances of the OBERON fight.
...And I'm done. I've finally finished all the setup for a fight I had imagined half a goddamn year ago. Here we fucking go!
It's the 'discovery' I had penned to the break into his office option. You actually would've found him in a FullDive sensory deprivation chamber. He's been logged in for a very, very long time.
Hmm, hopefully we can talk Asuna out of this - but that may be somewhat out of our control. It's canon-based speculation but assuming Yanai is working with Administrator then presumably he and his "associates" would welcome Asuna going to UW because they could use her as leverage over Kirito who may or may not have attracted attention from Administrator and the Integrity Knights already. If we get the chance to talk with her we can tell her that that we figured out (and Argo confirmed) he's at RATH and while Argo doesn't like us, Asuna herself would probably have a better chance at getting more info out of The Rat directly.
Hell, given our dealings with ETTEILLA we could do our best to explain HEAVENs as we know them to her and that that sounds like where Kirito is and that whether we like it or not it sounds like we're probably going to find ourselves there eventually though holding that kind of conversation in the middle of Ragnarok is probably beyond us and we'd have to hope she goes for, "I swear we'll explain what we know after we get out of this."
As for Yanai wanting Sugou's Fluctlight. Could be a similar motive that Sugou himself had for the SAO players. Sugou was looking for a way to mold people into whatever he wanted. In Sugou's Fluctlight though there may be data for Administrator/Kayaba/Yanai/whoever to see how a person can be made to fully accept and embrace a HEAVEN and leave "reality" because by all accounts Sugou has done so all on his own.
We'll see how things go but I'm currently of a mind that we should aim to defeat (but not kill) Sugou and keep Asuna from handing over his Fluctlight and jumping into UW. For Sugou it's a matter of making him be forced to face his crimes (think Ann and Kamoshida at the conclusion of the Palace fight) and for Asuna I feel it's self-explanatory. But whether Gwen or even Asuna herself feel the same when the moment comes, IDK.
Given how Aincrad was a proto-HEAVEN and Kayaba made Kirito the main character there probably would have been a quest made to revive Yui, It's also probably why Kirito's use of the GM console worked, a perfect main character moment.
Still, Asuna and Kirito's temptation to stay shows how being a 'main character' in a HEAVEN is a completely different experience compared to having to be a mob like Lux was.
Given that Yanai doesn't know about Persona I consider not meeting him to be a major win now. I do not want that info getting back to his boss.
For bringing Sugou to justice I think there's a bunch of pragmatic reasons as well. If Sugou goes into a coma or dies it will blunt the impact of how dangerous all this VR stuff is. At this point, Sugou comes off as a drug addict and completely dragging that insanity into the light of day will raise awareness of how dangerous the SEED and VR Psychosis is which could help limit the growth of new HEAVENs through anti-VR laws being passed or more restrictions being put on use of the SEED.
From day to night. As if a switch were flipped, the searing light of Alfheim melts away into a gray pallor. You clutch the pillows, sprinting towards the edge of the cage, anything to get a better look at the sky.
Oh this is neat. I wasn't sure what pulling the sun and moon would be like. It reminds me of the end of book 1 of Avatar: the Last Airbender. Everything in gray with the only color being illumination from fire and energies.
"Are you ready?" Agil asks, for the tenth time today, as he fiddles with the monitors scattered across the floor.
"Yes, yes, double yes! You aren't even diving so stop whining!" The sight of a 12-year-old girl shouting orders at a man three times her age and five times her size will never fail to seem extremely out of place. But then nothing about this was 'normal'.
Because today? Everyone was here. Nothing was to be left to chance. And Agil, being the owner the only person with a property large enough to hold all of you, has been forced into the role of unwitting host.
It's still shocking how large your conspiracy has gotten.
Agil, who's always given you a place to dive.
Karatachi Nijika, running in after work, still in her maid outfit.
Shirogane Kei, fiddling with a high-tech monitoring equipment setup.
Even Nanairo-sensei was here, ostensibly to keep an eye on her sister. She gave you the stink eye the moment she walked through the door. But she was the only person in the whole room who actually knew anything about cognitive psience.
And even outside of this room, you had no shortage of allies.
Meimi was finally strong enough to walk, but she couldn't take two steps outside of her family's compound without being tailed by a team of bodyguards. She's diving in from a FullDive Sensory Deprivation Chamber from home. Yuuki and Cayna would be joining you from the hospital, alongside the whole «Sleeping Knights» guild, diving in from all across the country.
Asuna, who was awaiting your rescue on top of the «World Tree». Hosaka, who was on standby with her ministry employers, waiting for an excuse to pounce on Sugou. A full-blown conspiracy in every sense of the term.
Shirogane's voice rings out through the room, "Let's review, one last time." The plan was heavy on speculation and light on detail, which was fitting for the slapshot sequence of events that brought you to this point.
"We're expecting heavy resistance, especially since we opted for a... not-so-subtle approach. With Dorz'l on our side, we should encounter no resistance in riding «Naglfar» straight to the top. The enemy will see us coming, but that doesn't mean they expect us. That doesn't mean they're ready for us."
Nijika interjects, "There's still going to be about 200 SAO players still trapped up there. If we assume half male test subjects and the other half are OBERON's slaves, that's still potentially 100 players we'll have to deal with..."
"Yes, very likely." Shirogane concedes. "But we vastly outnumber them, especially since the «Frost Giants» aren't individual soldiers. They're mobs. If they die the system will make more to replace them, at least in theory."
OBERON's harem... they weren't going to sit there idly. You'll need to assign personnel to hold them back or you'll be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. "I know it's not comfortable, but... I want to talk about... how we deal with the SAO players."
Nijika raises an eyebrow. Shirogane simply nods, "We'll defer to your opinion here. You're the one that's been freeing them."
"I've fought OBERON's victims before. One important thing to understand is that they look nothing like SAO players or normal people at all." You hesitate, struggling to think of the right words. "They seem like... dolls. And when they fight they can take on strange forms, like monsters..."
"Like your Persona thingy?" cuts in Nijika.
"Y-yeah, that's not a bad comparison. But if they're transformed, or clearly wearing some kind of... fetish wear, then it's safe to attack them. Once you get to the SAO player underneath, the logout function that's been queued in them since SAO was completed should finally trigger. Just don't attack anyone who looks like they're in SAO gear."
<Just kill anyone who isn't wearing pants!> Cuts in Meimi from the phone. Problem. Thrym isn't wearing any pants.
<The biggest problem is OBERON. He can... make you believe things that aren't real. Change your memories. Make... you... into his trophy...>
"Meimi..."
<It's fine. Today we put an end to it. Now from what Hiyori found out, he can likely do that to some extent to anyone who's spent a significant amount of time in ALO, which means all of us. Hiyori thinks she might have a few tricks to counter that, but she has to be protected. Seriously, you've got a Swiss army knife of superpowers here, if someone gets hammered by OBERON you're the only one who can wake them up.>
Shirogane sighs, "I wish we had more to go on here. I would presume OBERON would have magic powers, sword abilities, something beyond mind manipulation. We'll have to play it by ear. And I want to say this as a general piece of advice..."
He takes off his glasses and starts wiping the lens. "We're depending a lot on the SEED's AI systems to keep us protected. So far it's stopped us from being banned and let everything we've done stay persistent. But the SEED is not our friend. We're here to stop Sugou, but the SEED likely only wants Ragnarok to be as bombastic as possible. There's every chance it could even power up OBERON if it senses we're winning too easily."
"So... what exactly?" Nijika asks.
"It might not come naturally to some of us but... play it up. We're the «Fangs of Fenris». We're here to destroy the world. We have to accomplish our objectives while acting like evil conquerors. The SEED thinks we're there to destroy the world, and to some extent we certainly are. But don't forget the true objective. We need to save the SAO survivors. We can do that by crushing OBERON and accessing his dev console. Or we can just run around and bleed them one by one."
<Phff. Hiyori practically collapsed after logging out a third of them. 200 is just too much, even with all the monsters on our side. The simplest thing is to kill OBERON and just log everyone out through the console.>
"I'm inclined to agree," Shirogane finishes, "But I'm just outlining our options. Dividing our forces is going to be necessary to some extent. Let us not forget that our enemy is ostensibly a GM that we will be fighting on his home turf. Expect the unexpected, as they say."
Ya'll are overthinking shit. Is there anything we even want to keep up in the tree? Seriously, if we're logging out everyone by beating the shit out of them anyways, and the princess already plans on escaping, what's the point of planning? Just go apeshit.
You stand up. 20 minutes from now, the command you planted into the SEED will fire. Ragnarok will begin.
It's a ridiculous scene. Agil, fiddling with dials while a 12-year-old girl screams orders like a true micromanaging researcher. A college student, a high schooler, and a part-time maid secure clunky headsets to their temples with the solemnity of a SWAT team gearing up.
Elsewhere, a former victim enters her vat to confront her nightmare once more. And two dying girls risk what little life they have left saving people who they likely would never meet.
"Everyone ready?" Agil asks.
A chorus of confirmations.
"Diving in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."
You close your eyes and prepare to enter a new world. Hopefully for the last time.
"Link Start!"
tysdagr - 20th of Harpa
Afternoon
"So. Care to explain?"
"Hiyaa Luuuuxxx... Cayna caught me...."
Cayna's holding Yuuki by the cuff of her jacket, dangling her in front of you like a coat on a rack. Yuuki's wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses and a wide-brimmed sun hat in some facsimile of a disguise, her teammate none too pleased to see her at the muster point. "I thought you were going to stop her from coming."
Urgh, Cayna's got disappointed glare down to a science. "It wasn't right. Not when it's her choice to make."
Cayna's eye twitches. "That's why I expected you to convince her. So that she doesn't make a mistake that could cost her everything!"
"H-hey! Cayna, I'll be fine! Seriously, how long have we been raiding? This is just like that, except this time the cool monsters are on our side!"
"You could DIE!"
"Cayna..." Yuuki says, craning her head up to look at her friend. "We all know that already. We've always known that. But this... this is our chance to be remembered. For the «Sleeping Knights» to do some real good."
...
Cayna sighs, finally setting Yuuki down on the floor of the ice palace. The imp promptly gives you a half-hearted salute before running over to join the rest of the «Sleeping Knights».
"Hey, can I have a word with you? Over here." Cayna drags you a dozen feet away from the others, then turns to face you with her hands on her hips. "I told you everything! You know what's at stake here!"
This again? "Cayna, I don't even trust this RATH company. And I appreciate you worrying about her. But..."
"But what?!"
"But she wants this. She truly, truly wants this. And neither of us has the right to stop her."
Cayna stares at you with a blank, unamused expression. "This is your operation. You brought her into this. She's now at risk, and indirectly all of us are at risk because of it."
"That's... that's not wrong. But Cayna, if you're mad at anyone, you should be mad at me. Not her."
"Tsk." Cayna clicks her tongue. "It's... damn it, this would've been so much easier without her..."
She walks a few steps away from you, looking out across at the veritable horde of monsters and players crowding the foyer "Fine. It's too late to argue. But I will protect Yuuki. That has to be my priority, above all else. If she dies... if something happens to her mind again..." She shudders, her body tensing up, "It might be all of us who pay the price."
...
"I'm... sorry. This isn't the time for a lecture." She backs off, gripping her staff tightly. "I know you're doing a good thing here. I want this to succeed, really. But I don't want to lose what little I have left."
She doesn't want to lose her friend. But she also doesn't want to lose her ticket, the one person she's praying can save her very soul. It's a friendship that can't help but be tainted by simple self-interest. "Cayna. We'll protect her, together. And Yuuki... she's strong. She might not need any protecting."
The Sylph shakes her head, "I'm going to need something better than that, Lux. I doubt I'd be able to catch you in a lie but I still need to hear you promise me..."
...Has Cayna been talking with Rain?
"That everything is secondary to her safety. Do you understand? Throw me in front, let OBERON rip out every last drop of my memories, control me, lobotomize me, I don't care. So long as he doesn't get his claws in Yuuki. Please, Lux. I don't have any leverage, I can't make any threats. All I can do is beg."
She bows. It's not the gesture of politeness you're used to giving. It's not some reflex engrained by force of habit.
It's a deep bow, bent at the waist. A woman begging someone years her junior because she knows she lacks the power to do so herself.
"Please. Keep her safe. It's the only thing I can ask."
"CAN YOU HEAR THE SOUNDS? THE SCREAMS OF TERROR! THE GRIZZLY CHORUS THAT PRECEDES RUIN AND DESTRUCTION!"
The baritone voice booms across the entire landscape, loud enough that the ground quakes beneath your feet as Thrym's voice echoes through the endless snow. Unfortunately, the only voice you can hear right now is his. All 200 decibels of it.
You're willing to do anything to make this plan a success. But that doesn't mean you enjoy everything you do. Some things, like giving a pep talk to a giant ice monster who doesn't technically exist? That was something you know you don't plan on enjoying. Is he trying to look majestic? Cause he's more Santa Claus than Killer Ice King.
"I AM THRYM, KING OF NIFLHEIMR! CONQUERER OF JOTUNHEIMR! AND I AM THE FUTURE KING OF ALL REALMS!"
He's probably reading from a script. Some poor sod in RECT wrote his lines, and he's just been waiting for an excuse to use them. He's... probably speaking to his frost giants? But considering you're the only player up here above the ice palace with him, it feels more like he's shouting his speech just for your benefit.
"That's, uh. Great. I'm happy for you."
"HMMMM...." The giant king turns, seeing you approach. He sets his body down, the ground quivering as he sits upon the ice. "THE FANGS OF FENRIS.... LUX. YOU HAVE BEEN TRUE TO YOUR WORD. TO EVEN SUBVERT THE GREAT SERPENT OF THE WORLD TREE TO OUR CAUSE..."
You nod, "We march in the same direction «Thrym». Dorz'l's master was a prisoner of OBERON, and by freeing her I have secured the loyalty of his guard dog."
"SO YOU DID."
He looks down at you as if trying to come to a decision. From his perspective this must've been terribly confusing. His plan of tricking the fairies of Alfheim into doing his dirty work paid off so well, that he literally had nothing left to do but sit and wait. It's not like he's some big Shakespearean figure. He's a big dumb program that's meant to be beaten by bored teenagers.
It strikes you that for all your manipulations, you've never had the chance to sit down and just... talk to an NPC. ALO was supposedly the best in the business, their generated NPCS so lifelike you might as well be talking to a real person. You're sorely, sorely tempted into telling the thing it was just a program just to see how it reacts.
"YOU ARE OF A KIND WITH OBERON. BUT YOU SEEK HIS DESTRUCTION. YOU HAVE ALREADY DESPOILED HIS REALM, FOILING HIS PLOTS AND VANQUISHING HIS ALLIES. YOU DID THIS BEFORE YOU EVEN KNEW OF ME. WHY?"
Because you had people to save. Because you Meimi needed closure.
Because you needed closure.
You shake your head, "My motivations are simple. I want OBERON dead." And what you don't want to do is justify yourself to a thing that won't exist an hour from now.
It's not hard to guess what Thrym's plan was. Everywhere he goes the world is drowned in ice, and his frost giants spawn in droves. He would turn every inch of every realm into an icy reflection of his own domain. A fitting motive, for a creature designed to die in a climactic quest chain.
You may surprise him. You may even... pity him. There could be common ground between you... but you could never change his directives. In the end, you were going to betray him too, because once you were finished there won't be a world left for this creature to rule.
"And what of you? What is your reason for doing all of this?"
The king smiles. "BECAUSE IT IS MINE. FREYJA, MIDGARD, ALL THE REALMS. THEY ARE MINE BY RIGHT. OBERON THOUGHT HIMSELF ABOVE THE GODS, BUT HE SHALL PERISH IN THE SNOW. MY SNOW."
The giant rises, his massive form casting a shadow across your body. He points one massive finger into the distance, at the sky itself.
"HOW MUCH LONGER?"
"About 10 minutes," you answer.
"GOOD. GOOD. IT IS TIME. I MUST SEE TO MY SOLDIERS."
The giant walks and the ground shakes with every footfall. He reaches the staircase to the palace and begins the slow descent, each step sending a wave through the ice below. He pauses at the precipice, turning towards you.
"YOU... ARE USEFUL. THERE ARE REALMS HIGHER STILL, MY CONQUEST IS NOT EVEN HALFWAY OVER. I COULD USE A SERVANT SUCH AS YOURSELF."
Higher realms...
"Conquering the nine realms? Sounds like it'd be a lot of fun. It'd be my pleasure, Lord Thrym."
The giant grins, retreating back to his throne room, leaving you alone in the ceiling of «Naglfar». The air is crisp, and you can see the faint twinkle of starlight through the clouds. Thrym probably means the other Norse realms. But they wouldn't be surviving Ragnarok.
Still, in one detail he was correct. There are higher realms. The SEED creates thousands of worlds, each one a separate, unique reality. The game itself, ALO, is but one of them. And there was something fundamental... under it all. A final layer. ETTEILLA did not seek you out to stop a single man from creating a living fantasy. You had yet to scratch the surface of the truth, but you're beginning to see the shape of it. But that was a problem for another time.
The tree itself is no less beautiful for all the frost cracking its trunk. From the roots down up to the branches you've traversed every last inch of this thing. This strange, man-made facsimile of divinity has haunted your every waking moment since the day you arrived in Tokyo.
You think it's the last view of Alfheim you'll ever have. The once verdant and peaceful fields around the world «World Tree» have given away to ice-filled wastelands, every inch of the once bustling town of «Alne» now looking more like the desolate fields of «Jötunheimr».
Your legs dangle over the edge of «Naglfar», preparing to plunder the richest jewel in all the realm. Just a few minutes left.
"Thought I'd find you up here. Finally finished up with Frosty?"
You turn around.
"Here, catch!"
A piece of rock candy is thrown your way. You barely have enough time to react and snatch it out of the air before it goes careening into the ocean of frost. You roll it around in your mouth... yuck. Sour, of course, but also with a horrible texture. "More rock than candy now..."
"Eh, it's the damn weather. What can you do?" Gwen says through a mouthful of her own supply. "Any minute now, right? Figure there'd be more of an audience."
This close to the ice palace itself, the spawn rates for the Frost Giants were unreasonably quick. The Double EXP event brought more players to the game but they were off in the corners of ALO farming. At the foot of the tree, it was eerily quiet. Your own conspiracy was inside, busying themselves with the final preparations. Shiroe could handle the details for you.
How did you end up here?
There were other paths. Maybe you'd be marching towards glory behind a crowd of cheering Salmanders. Or an organized expedition under the purview of a grand alliance. Or a mosh pit of VR tourists and trolls crushing their way to the top through sheer overwhelming numbers.
"It... really makes us feel like villains, doesn't it?" You mumble, staring down into the distance. "Nobody to cheer us on."
"Oh? Rather be the hero departing to a crowd of cheering fans?"
You smile. It just doesn't seem to fit you. You were a traitor and a spy in another world once, and in some ways, you've fallen straight back into the same role. "It's funny," you say.
"What is?"
"All this running around playing spy, sabotaging quests, tricking everyone we can..."
Gwen raises an eyebrow, "Like the ol' LC days?"
"Exactly. But this time it's..." you wave your hands, trying to conjure up the word.
"Fun! That's the word you're looking for!" Gwen laughs, "See? I knew we'd make a proper criminal out of you someday! Just needed to give you a nice excuse first."
Having fun... destroying a world?
"Ah, should've scouted you into my guild before the coffins snatched you. We would've been a real force to reckon with!"
You snort, "Don't think you could've convinced me to go orange, no matter what your pitch."
Gwen sticks out her tongue, "Well I can be super convincing when I want to be! Don't even have to throw money at it!" The sky was parting. The sun, barely visible between the perpetually overcast and storming skies, was breaking through. The first thing to go were the clouds. "You know what I've realized? I've been out of rehab for like, weeks! And you haven't come by to visit, like once!"
You cross your arms, pouting. "I've been busy. Also, I was afraid your bodyguards would kill me."
She rolls her eyes, "Just don't show up unannounced, and you'll be fine. They're not that jumpy. Really, if you don't waste your time looking for them it's like they aren't even there." The sun, this artificial light, flickers in the sky. Second by second a shadow slowly spreads across its surface, a dark eclipse in the shape of wolf's teeth.
"Then let's change that. After this is over, let's go hit the town." You smile at your friend. "Nothing virtual!"
Gwen's face lights up. She gives a toothy grin and a thumbs up, "Hehe, let's go paint the town red! And if our jelly legs get tired we can get the ninjas to carry us! Dad still has an old Palanquin he doesn't use!"
The two of you share a laugh, and a moment passes. Gwen stares at the sky. The sun is almost entirely eclipsed now, and the stars are starting to shine.
...
"Lux, I know you probably have a plan. A strategy. All that stuff. All those different Personas..." She takes a breath. "But, I... need to know. I need to know if I can do this."
She holds up a finger, a look of the utmost seriousness on her face. "He had my soul in his hands for months. I was a puppet on strings. And for a long, long time, I believed I loved him. He knows everything about me. Anything he wants to know he can read it from my SAO data... and... I've spent so much time talking with. Telling him my secrets. Sharing my feelings."
You want to tell her she can do it. That you're sure she'll win. But you can't help but remember that 300 souls have already lost to OBERON.
Gwen turns toward you. "So I just need to know that I can do this alone. Not the fight... but I need to know that I don't need him. To reject everything he's told me. Reject all his lies. I want to be able to hate OBERON and actually mean it."
She's asking you to not interfere if OBERON tries to affect her mind. She wants to resist with as much force as she can. And if she succumbs? She wants to throw it off under her own power.
"Do you think I can do that, Lux?"
...
"I think... belief is the only thing we have. The Persona, this entire Ragnarok business. It's all just based on belief. If you believe you can resist, you can. And if that's not enough, then I'll believe for you."
She grins. "Hah. Alright. Then that's the plan. And if I fail..."
"Then I'll be there to drag you out. No matter what it takes."
She punches your arm. "Damn, already planning for failure? Heh, there's something to be said for flying by the seat of your pants! It's all gonna work out just fine, we've even got a freaking dragon behind us!"
And then it's gone. The sun, the moon, the stars, and the entire night sky. A bleak featureless plane, the color of a dull slate, replaces the once starry expanse above.
"Alright, looks like it's go time! Wanna say the line Lux? C'mon, I know you want to!"
God only knows you've heard it enough times by now. LC was many things, and ironically boy's club was near the top of that list.
But «Laughing Coffin» was gone. Yesterday's news.
And now, months away from it all, without the fear of the guillotine over your head...
"Honestly Gwen? PoH looked like what, 40? And he's still shouting out catchphrases ripped out of some bad anime." It's the first time you can think back to those days and... laugh. "Haha... I thought it was... really cringe."
You were hardly any better, but you were in middle school at the time! PoH didn't have an excuse!
"Ouch, way to hit a guy where it hurts. Guess some things are too chuuni even for the «Edge Punisher»."
"That was a spur-of-the-moment thing! And you know what? I think it sounds cool!"
Gwen rolls her eyes, and pointing at the sky, "Well, let's take advantage of your stellar naming sensibility one last time. The apocalypse is starting, and I refuse to start this off with anything less than a one-liner. Think you can do better than ol' Poncho man? Now's the time to prove it!"
AN: Before the combat starts you need to respond to the two major requests being made of you by your party members.
Do you honor Gwen's request?
[ ] Yes, you believe in her. Gwen will be unaffected by any buffs or effects that provide status effect resistance or immunity. (Uwakaja, various Release Recollections, etc)
You may still cure her from status effects, but she strongly prefers to shake it off herself.
[ ] You... believe but just want to be sure... Gwen will be affected by your powers as normal.
Do you honor Cayna's request?
[ ] Yes, I will not let her be harmed. Cayna will be unshackled from Yuuki and they may be assigned to different teams/roles. Cayna will obey your orders.
Yuuki will be free to do Yuuki things.
Yuuki's health will be your responsibility. If Yuuki is allowed to reach HP = 0 or becomes affected by a mind-altering status effect, Cayna will hate you.
[ ] Just... protect her as best as you can. Cayna will not leave Yuuki's side, and her actions will largely be determined by the QM. You may offer suggestions.
Yuuki will be annoyed at the smothering.
Yuuki's health will be Cayna's responsibility. If Yuuki is allowed to reach HP = 0 or becomes affected by a mind-altering status effect, Cayna will hate herself.
Give me a one liner!
[ ] Write-ins only.
No need for PLAN format. A warning that the mental state of your party members will determine how strongly they resist OBERON during the fight itself.
[X] Yes, you believe in her. Gwen will be unaffected by any buffs or effects that provide status effect resistance or immunity. (Uwakaja, various Release Recollections, etc)
You may still cure her from status effects, but she strongly prefers to shake it off herself.
[X] Yes, I will not let her be harmed. Cayna will be unshackled from Yuuki and they may be assigned to different teams/roles. Cayna will obey your orders.
Yuuki will be free to do Yuuki things.
Yuuki's health will be your responsibility. If Yuuki is allowed to reach HP = 0 or becomes affected by a mind-altering status effect, Cayna will hate you Give me a one liner!
[X] What was Poh's old catchprase again...Oh right, It's Showtime!
[ ] Yes, I will not let her be harmed. Cayna will be unshackled from Yuuki and they may be assigned to different teams/roles. Cayna will obey your orders.
Yuuki will be free to do Yuuki things.
Yuuki's health will be your responsibility. If Yuuki is allowed to reach HP = 0 or becomes affected by a mind-altering status effect, Cayna will hate you.
We could lie about this. We might even intend it in the moment and end up a liar through no fault of our own but arrogance. But we'd have to deal with the consequences.
I guess when the fight begins with OBERON we could start with Urvashi's Jewel (that Cayna could protect, but I don't know how that works) and then spam Alice's Megido or something to attract the enemies attention.
Or just attack and spend SP in healing or dealing with status effects.
The bonuses of fulfilling a great number of Ragnarok's conditions are supposed to help mechanically but I'm not sure how, I will have to see what happens.
Cayna's holding Yuuki by the cuff of her jacket, dangling her in front of you like a coat on a rack. Yuuki's wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses and a wide-brimmed sun hat in some facsimile of a disguise
[X] Yes, you believe in her.
[X] Yes, I will not let her be harmed.
[X] Let punishment be done, through HEAVENS fall.
You know, for the longest time I actually agreed with Gwen that if there was ever a time to bust out "It's Showtime" it was right here... but now they killed the vibe! We can't use it after just dissing it! And I'm no good at one liners.
[x] Yes, you believe in her.
[x] Yes, I will not let her be harmed.
[] Are you ready everyone? There's punishment to be made!
[] Let's bring his session to a close!
[X] Let punishment be done, through HEAVENS fall.
Thinking on this some more, based on the other time Hiyori came up with a one-liner on her own it was "It's time to receive your punishment!" so in keeping in line with how she tried to work in the Edge Punisher angle, something like...
"Ready for your punishment?" or "Today's punishment? End of Service!"
Personally my own brand/preference of chuuni is way on the tryhard end of the scale (so closer to PoH, but we're talking like Steins;Gate level with me lol) so I'd be trying to work in like references to HEAVENs and stuff but that doesn't feel like Hiyori's style.
I was not expecting Putana's Arcana Roulette to go so hard...looks like she's a backup physical specialist now. Anything neutral or weak to blunt damage shall feel her wrath!
Also, nuts to what Simon Magus got, but RNG giveth, and RNG taketh away...(although it might be the reverse in this case)
[X] Yes, you believe in her.
[X] Yes, I will not let her be harmed.
[X] Oberon! Today, your false paradise comes to an end...along with your masculinity!
You know, for the longest time I actually agreed with Gwen that if there was ever a time to bust out "It's Showtime" it was right here... but now they killed the vibe! We can't use it after just dissing it! And I'm no good at one liners.
"YOU... ARE USEFUL. THERE ARE REALMS HIGHER STILL, MY CONQUEST IS NOT EVEN HALFWAY OVER. I COULD USE A SERVANT SUCH AS YOURSELF."
Higher realms...
"Conquering the nine realms? Sounds like it'd be a lot of fun. It'd be my pleasure, Lord Thrym."
The giant grins, retreating back to his throne room, leaving you alone in the ceiling of «Naglfar». The air is crisp, and you can see the faint twinkle of starlight through the clouds. Thrym probably means the other Norse realms. But they wouldn't be surviving Ragnarok.
Still, in one detail he was correct. There are higher realms. The SEED creates thousands of worlds, each one a separate, unique reality. The game itself, ALO, is but one of them. And there was something fundamental... under it all. A final layer. ETTEILLA did not seek you out to stop a single man from creating a living fantasy. You had yet to scratch the surface of the truth, but you're beginning to see the shape of it. But that was a problem for another time.
Makes me wonder if Thrym does mean Norse stuff or does he mean other HEAVENs? Another big flaw of the HEAVEN plan is even if you have it all a selfish bastard will want more as seen with Sugou himself and Yanai's boss. It also raises the question that if a HEAVEN grows enough or supplants reality a newly sentient cognitive being could loathe their master and even overthrow god.
[X] Yes, you believe in her.
[X] Yes, I will not let her be harmed.
[X] Let punishment be done, through HEAVENS fall.
A chuunier ripoff Fiat justitia ruat caelum or let justice be done though the heavens fall which I think fits our whole VR world-destroying gimmick. It could even more our catchphrase each time we destroy a HEAVEN like a Cosmos Denial!
