Complete Private Western Brisshal God's Menu

[Lune]

"But if there's a chance to offer people their second, or even third chance." Her eyes softened as her gaze shifted slightly toward Ryujin while mentioning the ominous third chance at life. "I will try, just because."

If she was never offered a chance to rise into stardom, Dayeon Song would still be trapped in a hellhole, juggling part-time jobs. Perhaps that was where the sentiment came to etch itself inside her head.

Lines of code, actual people, where is the line drawn anyway? We're just lines of genetic codes ourselves anyway. "There are still a lot of Landers that look up to us. We gotta do better." She smiled slightly, referring to her purpose as the one to inspire people. "That's the job of a true idol, isn't it?"

As Luthien flipped through the books and examined the notes and scribbles inside, she finished her cup of tea just as the elf suddenly brought up that one conversation that the oreo-haired woman avoided again.

"You know I’ll assume it’s a yes unless you specifically state otherwise."

A soft sigh escaped.

"...I just felt like I was pretty undeserving of that," Slightly shaking her head, Lune adjusted her seating position. "As friends, we've been through a lot this past year. It challenged the relationship between us, Ari, and even Nico." Before quickly adding. "And as a long-lost sister just walking back to her brother's life after twenty years, that easy escape doesn't just seem right."

However, the woman still didn't explicitly say no, despite how easy it would be to say so if she truly didn't want it.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Unnie…" The word escaped her in a whine as the hand that had been supporting her chin and cheek shifted, now rubbing the side of her temple softly.

"Look, I’m not saying don’t help them over here, okay?" She wouldn’t even dream of suggesting it, Lúthien understood why her unnie cared for the Landers… and, quite frankly, it was almost impossible to think of them as just lines of codes after interacting with them this long. "But you need to be alive and well yourself if you wanna keep offering them second chances and more."

Her gaze fixed on the Oreo-haired woman, the worry and seriousness she felt towards this topic reflected inside the crimson pools that focused on Lune. "Lune, you can’t save someone if you're dead… and those you did save will die if you do." No, she wouldn’t stop her unnie, but if Lune insisted on going down this path she had to realize that her life wasn’t just hers anymore.

It was hard to tell if the quiet sigh that escaped Lune was related to her words, or the fact that Luth had brought up the offer once again. If the woman had taken a moment to look at the elf properly as she spoke she would’ve seen the way those delicate eyebrows had furrowed together, her lips forming a thin line as they pressed together.

A hand reached for Lune without warning, her middle finger harshly flicked against the forehead of her unnie. "Stop that." Despite all the words that had poured out of her unnie not a single one had been an actual no, and the fact didn’t escape her perceptive elven ears.

"That’s just the way things are, Dee." It was an inevitable part of life: sooner or later it would test the bonds you formed—willfully or not—with those closest to you.

"We’ll step on each other’s toes and get pissed off by the things we do or say." There would always be things to disagree about—and only a fool could think everything would be rainbows and roses and smooth sailing when you allowed others into your life.

”We’ll argue, and maybe even say things we don’t mean in the heat of the moment…" There was one way to avoid all those headaches entirely, of course, but that was a lonely existence she wouldn’t wish on anyone. ”… but we’ll find ways to overcome it when we care for others."

It wouldn’t always be easy… but it would be worth it.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"Hm," She sighed in defeat, not wanting to argue further. "Alright, I'll consider putting myself first and foremost." Luthien presented an undeniable point that it'll be all in vain if she dies.

The woman had two deaths already, one more step toward the grave and she'll permanently reside in this world, according to already proven information. The notion of a real-world death was definitely scary, but she didn't know when she became kind of numb toward the concept. Hanging around Yugam too much, perhaps.

But then she glanced toward the sleeping girl and quickly back at the elf, before realizing that she feared losing others more than losing herself. Or thinking how people would feel losing their loved ones, just like she felt before.

A flick towards her forehead caused both of her eyes to open wide. "Ow," she reacted, not in pain but in surprise. The longer she listened to the blonde, the more it became harder for her to refuse the offer. "Val, I..." The real name slipped as she stuttered, stuck in her own words as she ran out of excuses to push all of them away.

"... am afraid..." Lune cracked, and Dayeon began to show.

Her heart rate quickly rose, prompting her to calm herself by breathing slowly. She then met Luthien's crimson gaze with her own.

"I'm just afraid that one day... it'll be you to open the door to find my lifeless body."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

The initial matter was dropped without much of a fuss, though the faint curl in the corners of her mouth betrayed the relief Lúthien felt. She couldn’t change Lune’s actions, and she would never try to force her own will on her unnie or the others, but it gave her some peace of mind to know the older woman finally understood where Lúthien’s own concern came from.

"Val, I... am afraid..."

She listened as Lune finally voiced out her own fears, the very same ones that Lúthien often tried to stomp out and ignore. It was easy most of the time, she felt confident enough not just in her own abilities but those of her friends… until the World decided to remind them of the hidden dangers within that they knew next to nothing of.

"I k-know…" Logic dictated that the best way to avoid that scenario in its entirety would be to simply stop login into the death trap hidden behind pretty sceneries and amusing interactions… but that was something none of them, including herself, were willing to do. "I’m scared of that, too."

The possibility had inched closer after the underground events that lead to the official demise of Szofrit, and the birth of Emme. Yugam and Lune had both racked up their second deaths, while Ronja and Fiora had caught up to her own score.

"S-Still… I would prefer being close if that happens—" Val had never been a religious person, but she would willingly pray to any and all entities—within this game and out—if it meant the nightmares that haunted her at times never came to pass. "—than hundreds of miles away and unable to reach any of you quickly enough."

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"I know it was as simple as just to stop playing the game and move on, as I have told people again and again." It felt kind of ironic that the one who's advocating people to quit cannot quit the game herself. "But now that I have people that rely on me," Her left hand slowly found the sleeping Ryujin's hand, gripping it tightly.

"I can't just leave them. I can't leave her."

Silence filled the room as both of the women were stuck in an impasse, with the white-haired young girl's soft breathing noise occasionally breaking through the painful tranquility. There was no point in arguing further; she knew Luthien wanted the best for her, but in the end, it was also her who was going to be hurt the most.

"... Fine." A defeated sigh came out of the human, before continuing. "I feel that I'm not going to see the end of this until I say no, and I can't exactly say it." She could only hope that this would be the start of something better.

A small, but sincere smile formed on her lips. "Also, I reckon you'd be happier if I say yes."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

They might not be related by blood, but they were both stubborn as they came. Silene slowly trickled in once more as they reached an impasse, time that she used to reach for her water bottle and take a few sips to wash out the syrupy sweetness that still lingered in her mouth.

She didn’t dislike the aquarose tea… but it would probably serve best, for Lúthien at least, as a sweetener than an actual beverage.

"... Fine." The ranger did her best to suppress her delight upon hearing that word, pressing hard on sucked lips as a grin threatened to form. It only delayed the inevitable by a few seconds, the excitement behind those crimson eyes almost palpable as a wide smile finally broke through, before Lúthien tried to cover it up with a cough.

"Guilty as charged~" Hard to pretend otherwise when she’d pestered the woman again and again for an answer, and Lúthien wasn’t about to start lying and hiding her feelings from her unnie any time soon. "Ari will be happy to hear you said yes, too."

Coordinating it all would be a pain given that there were still some repairs and TLC the purchased building needed, but lucky for them all she didn’t mind coordinating such things. "I’ll keep you on the loop about the renos, they’ll give us time to figure out the logistics of moving both of our asses all the way to Cali."

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"Good thing I hadn't renovated my apartment's storeroom into a recording studio yet."

Seeing the grin, she couldn't help but smile herself while letting out a soft exhale. It was quite unlike Lune to let herself be persuaded. "That unit should be really easy to sell, there's a lot of demand around there."

Finishing her cup of tea, she set it to the side. "What were you two previously going to do with the rest of the rooms anyway? Rent them out?" Lune reached to grab the dirty plates along with the chopsticks from both sides and the clay pot, stacking them up on top of the flat cooking stone.

"I'll bring the plates to the back to wash. You can help if you want." With the fire and ember long gone, the stone pan was already cooled enough for her to detach and carry as the woman slowly stood up, trying not to disturb Ryujin who was now clutching the mochi donut paperbag while sleeping.

"Careful not to wake her up."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Oh, thank the Alfather." A relieved chuckle escaped her. Lúthien remembered her unnie speaking about those plans before, but the woman had never confirmed a date for those renos. "I’d been worried you might’ve already started those."

It was partly why she’d dropped the offer onto Dee before Ari and herself had even finished picking out a building; she hadn’t wanted her unnie to waste money on changes to her current place.

"Yeah, from what you showed me it’s a pretty cozy place—should fly off the market quickly." The same applied to her own home and, while a small part of her had been hesitant at first due to the memories it held, she knew in the end it’d be for the best.

"About that..." Her hands got to work when Lune began stacking things together, focusing on the smaller sauce plates and the tea cups while her unnie took their plates, chopsticks, the cooking stone, and now empty pot of tea. "We were thinking of letting Ronja and Fiora have the other floor... but I haven't asked them yet."

"I’ll have to bring more of those next time I visit." The crumpling sounds of a paper bag had brought her attention back to the sleeping Ryujin, a smile on her lips as the blonde shook her head softly before following Lune to the kitchen.

The kiddo was absolutely adorable, and she had definitely become endeared to Ryujin, but there was still a lot of her past that Luthien had questions about… and her unnie had stated she’d be truthful today, so maybe it’d be worth asking them now?

"You said she's from High March before, right?" Her voice gave way to a moment of silence, meant to give Lune a moment to figure out who she was talking about and also organize her own thoughts. From the way her unnie had described it back then Lúthien had thought the girl was just another Lander, similar to little Luna from Tranquil Falls, until…

"Wow… It's like... powers from anime..."​

"Unnie..." The echoes of Ryujin’s words were as clear in her memory as the day she’d spoken them, and Lúthien knew she hadn’t misheard the young girl. "... is Ryujin truly a Lander?"

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"Nico?"

The last time she was with either of them, their relationship was still kind of strained after all the Szofrit stuff. Never knew the actual cause of it, but considering Fiora's overprotectiveness towards Ronja, she could understand why it happened. Perhaps they have smoothed over things by now.

Or worse after the incident at MITHRA. Perhaps she should ask, perhaps she shouldn't. "Everything well with her recently?"

There was a simple wash basin, and to its side a barrel full of clean water and a dipper. The woman placed the utensils on the counter as a question from Luthien came. "Mm," She could guess where this was going.

"... is Ryujin truly a Lander?"

Grabbing one plate to wash, she dipped one finger in a container of soap before lathering it with foam. "See, she never said whether she was actually one." Keeping her voice low enough to make sure it wouldn't be easily heard even if the girl woke up, Lune explained. "We both know she wasn't. I noticed early on when she would say things that Landers shouldn't be able to; references to shows, music, and videogames."

Slightly sighing, she turned to Luthien, still slowly cleaning the plate they used. "But never a talk about her other life or anything. We can't judge; perhaps it's all still too painful for her." Judging by her younger appearance, perhaps Ryujin was one of the first people who got UI-locked.


"If she decides to open up, I'll be there for her. Until then, it's not something that I should press. "

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Nico?"
"Mm."

She didn’t say more on the matter, mostly because the blonde wasn’t even sure how it would all go. She was certain Ronja would be excited to find out they’d be living so close now and, while she would love to have the brunette in the same building, Lúthien knew the overprotective Lena might not approve about her friend moving into one of the building’s floors.

"That’s my hope at least, but…" She’d been thankful that Fiora hadn’t spedran her into a second death yet, and the greenette had been civil enough the last few times they’d been in the same place, but she wasn’t sure how Nico would react once the offer was extended. "I haven’t asked them yet."

Changing the topic had helped ease some of the nervousness that had begun to bubble inside her chest.

"She’s a good kiddo… and she has you watching over her now." The elf found a clean towel before standing beside her unnie, ready to take the soaked plates that Lune finished washing before diligently drying them off and stacking them on the counter. "I’m sure she’ll open up to you sooner rather than later."

It was both astounding and unnerving how near impossible it was to discern a Lander from a player—especially an UI locked one—within the game. "Not gonna lie though… had she not likened the marbles’ explosions to powers from anime the thought would’ve never crossed my mind."

@Lune

 

[Lune]

The way the elf answered the question made it quite clear that there was still complicated stuff around her and Fiora. Or Nico. "Don't worry, they'll say yes," Lune tried to encourage her with a light chuckle. "You managed to convince me, that's like, going through the final boss first."

Finished washing the plates, the woman was going to grab a towel before Luthien appeared to her side ready with one. "Yeah, hopefully," she said, handing off the plates that she had finished washing one by one. "The kid shouldn't keep all that to herself."

The marble mention sent her mind back to several months ago, where Ryujin let out a seemingly normal remark. "Oh, you found out because of that comment during the lesson." Of course the blonde wouldn't miss something like that with her ear.

"Sometimes she got some Japanese words mixed up, too. That's a pretty big hint." She handed off the rest of the chopsticks to dry and wipe. "One of these days, I might ask my friend to look for a matching profile in real life. She's really good at finding stuff." And as a matter of fact, Luthien would definitely know this one friend because she's such a big fan of Slime Girls.

"That's all the utensils done." She wiped her hand on her own robe, a habit that she has, before turning to reveal the stack of meat on the other side of the counter. "We still have a lot of pork cuts."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

She gave a soft smile as Lune reassured her, her unnie seemingly confident about how the outcome of it all would go. A soft chuckle escaped the blonde at the last comment, her head shaking softly as she continued to dry and carefully stack the varying plates together.

Still she was more than happy to let that conversation drop as they got busy, eventually replaced with their concerns and worries about the younger Ryujin. The girl was so small that it was hard to properly gauge how old she truly was, and if she was an UI locked player…

"Do you think she’s from the first version?" Part of her hoped that wasn’t the case, after all it had been so many years since TerraSphere had gone live for the first time, not to mention the wide gap between its disappearance and later resurfacing.

"Yeah, it didn’t fully click at the time…" Perhaps all the excitement of the lessons and the results of it, along with seeing Ryujin manage to form a marble of her own, had overshadowed it at first. "The thought kept nagging in the back of my mind though and, while it isn’t uncommon for Landers to sometimes pick up words from players, they use them wrong more often than not."

She nodded as Lune revealed more of what she’d noticed as well, before a slender eyebrow silently rose to the air in question at her unnie’s mention of an IRL friend. "Mmm you don’t say… that’s quite an interesting friend, unnie." With the last of the cutlery dried up she picked up the first stack of dishes, looking towards the ore haired woman for guidance on where they should be stored, before glancing at the remaining stacks of pork on the other side.

"Y’know, I’ve never butchered a whole pork before… " The most she’d done was get the pork belly slabs IRL from Costco, which were challenging enough on their own given their size and the slipperiness from the fat content held in them. Wild pigs usually weren't as huge as their domesticated counterparts, but that still didn't meant they weren't impressive. "One of them really has a looot of meat, huh?"

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"Not sure," Lune shook her head, "But the implication is pretty unsettling." If she had been UI-locked that early before all the Dragonship stuff, how old was she when it happened? Even looking at Freya's memories, it doesn't seem that the shielder had encountered the kid through the entirety of her journey—

An image flashed inside Lune's head. Flames, cries, the dragonship, and a white-haired silhouette. The woman winced as it happened but quickly brushed it off.

Definitely contacting Katya to look at this when she logs out.

"Neither did I before this, but Animancy makes it pretty easy." Never thought the power could come in handy for separating bones, skin, and organs from the meat. Placing the meat stacks on two boards, she then handed one to Luthien. "Let's bring these outside for the others."

They walked (or rather, tiptoed) past Ryujin, who was still deep in her sleep. Pushing the door to reveal the color of the setting sun shining outside, Lune called out to one of the settlers who was gathering wood, "It's for tonight's dinner. We can dry the other stack."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Mhmm... I hope that’s not the case." Otherwise she would've been quite young… and the thought of a little child running around any VR game was worrisome on its own, made worse still by the fact she’d picked the sole death trap among them.

"Oooh, that is a very creative use for that mastery…" Perhaps it wasn’t surprising that she’d missed the wince on her unnie’s face, distracted as she was by the unexpected usefulness of Animancy in the kitchen, and it was gone by the time Lúthien had turned to look back at the oreo-haired woman. "That’s definitely a handy trick when traveling around."

She followed Lune’s lead as they tiptoed out of the humble abode, neither one willing to wake up little Ryujin from a well deserved nap, to meet up with the handful of settlers that also called this place home. By the end of her stay she had learned quite a few other useful tips and tricks, the slow and relaxed pace of the settlement her unnie was slowly building up happily welcomed by the elf.

It was the little moments like this one, simple and mundane experiences in landscapes she could only dream of in the real world, that truly made it impossible for Lúthien to give up on TerraSphere despite the hidden dangers lurking just underneath its surface…

@Lune