Private Lies Don't Travel Far

[Magnolia]

Astorea, Path to Finnweald
Early Afternoon
Partially Cloudy

"Really man, you look so out of place. Why did you pick up a robot, out of all things?! It is fantasy world! Pick magic, big swords with super hero strength or something. A robot you can create in a lab, or you can just go to a factory to see one."

"Let this go already! So annoying!"

The boy protested, but his voice hinted as much playfulness as the girl's. It was just like two newbies in the world of Terrasphere, that probably had just got into it in one of the worst time possible. The caravans they were in, were well guarded, an effort from the Lions Pride to attempt to create a safe method of travel to transport people between Astorea and Falderen with as much protection as possible.

The world had turned upside down, with outlaws taking opportunity of the great immigration from Astoreans to Falderen to ambush them, and extremist groups seeking to destroy magias, that unfortunately involved some players, including newbies that didn't even know what was happening in this game.

In one of these caravans, Magnolia, a maid, was focused on reading a small book that rested on her lap, attempting to ignore the voice of the other two players. She could only pray that at some point they would remain as quiet and serene as the red head woman, @Cleo Looker, that was just next to her.

"If you are going to call me out for being out of place. Look at that player, she is playing as a maid."

Magnolia sighed internally, closing the book on her lap and raising her gaze to lock on the magia boy's. Unfortunately that prompted her to finally say something, since her expressions wouldn't be able to convey (or pretend) confusion or show she was weirded out. "Player..? Playing as a maid? This is my job, sir. My apologies for my rudeness, but please, refrain from undermining my job." She responded with her typically emotionless voice, even if her choice of words hinted some annoyance.

"Look at what you did, you've triggered a NPC."

The mage-like girl scolded, shaking her head.

"I hope this doesn't ruin our reputation with the... uh... Kingdom of Astorea? Does this game have a reputation mechanic?"

Magnolia half opened her mouth, pursing for a moment, and taking it as a good excuse to open the tiny window of the caravan, easing her sense of claustrophobia, and allowing air to slip in while letting her look away to the greenery landscape, muttering- "These travelers... They know no boundaries."

Now, she could stay quiet, though her reading had been interrupted, and the duo didn't stop talking.

A shame.

 

[Cleo Looker]

God damn.

Why the hell were people so loud? Cleo rolled her eyes, laid back on a bench in the back of a wagon, having hopped on a caravan for the chance to avoid needing to walk between destinations. All legal and paid for, of course, but for the detective, it should have been a chance to relax and take it easy. And it would have been, were it not for one universal fact that she'd forgotten about until just now.

Gamers were obnoxious as hell.

They were also stupid. The idea that they still treated things like a game when Terrasphere had proven to kill people, that the NPCs in Terrasphere had proven to be capable of acting and reacting like true people did, was simply absurd. Perhaps humanity was going to be better off without people like these kids, but that wasn't her place to say.

God I wish they would shut the fuck up...

She muttered to herself, annoyed, as she flicked a toothpick in her mouth with her tongue. A simple red spear, shrunken down to toothpick proportions, anyway. One that she'd created with her own Arcanamancy abilities, just to keep herself sharp and occupied. It wasn't all that detectable, nor did she really care if it was detected anyway.

She had nothing to hide. Not even her irritation.

One of the nuisances was unluckier than his female counterpart, too. Had he picked Magia before all of the issues with them had been brought to light, or had he made the unfortunate or ill-informed choice of selecting it after it all? He was going to be in for a rude awakening when he reached another town, or if any Landers came across him.

She'd have to warn him in private, wouldn't she...?

Cleo sighed, rolling her eyes as the carriage rocked and bounced underneath her.

@Magnolia

 

[Magnolia]

Being next to the red haired, even the loudness of the gamer duo in front of them didn't stop Magnolia to notice @Cleo Looker's annoyed muttering. Even if she couldn't quite pick up what were the words, her expressions and body language yelled what she was thinking- Or at least Magnolia thought she knew what she was thinking.

The caravan ahead, however, suddenly halted, interrupting Magnolia's thoughts while the group could hear the rider hissing an insult- "Tsk, a bloody trunk..."

"What is it, what is it? An area event?"

The mage girl opened her window, poking her head out, and Magnolia quickly reached for her collar, pulling her back in and quickly shutting the window again, following to close her own.

"It is probably a trap." Magnolia announced. "The guards even instructed us to not leave the caravan before we parted from Honeyhome, so don't just put your head out."

"S-So it is an event!"

The boy sounded too chirpy about it, but it wasn't impossible to feel a hint of nervousness in his voice.

His conclusion, however, brought a sigh out of Magnolia's lips, and she looked at who seemed to be the only player that at least seemed to be serious about it. "Can you see anything through your window?" She asked, just as she averted her eyes peeked through her own window.

There was no sight of immediate threat, and the only movement they saw were of a couple guards trying to inspect a fallen trunk in the middle of the road, while another couple remained closer to the other caravan, just in front of the one the four of them were.

 

[Cleo Looker]

The caravan came to a halt, the voice of the rider hissing something that Cleo didn't catch. It still caused her to sigh, her teeth gripping down on the tiny arcane spear that she had in her mouth as a toothpick, rolling her eyes as the players immediately began asking if it was some kind of event. Of course they would ask that kind of thing. Why wouldn't they? It was a game, after all, so that meant that if something was happening, it obviously had to be scripted by the developers.

Had they even read anything about this game online? Info was still there, if they went searching for it. The VRSA couldn't wipe all mentions of it from existence.

She should know, they'd certainly tried their best...

The sound of the other female voice, coming from the maid, made Cleo blink and sit up for a moment. She turned, looking out of the window that was closest to her and frowned when she saw the scene. A few caravan guards inspecting a fallen tree trunk. Cleo had seen enough to know where this was going. It was a tactic that had never fallen out of fashion, evolving with the times.

If it wasn't a fallen tree trunk blocking a path, it was a parked car or van blocking a road.

Typical.

Fallen tree trunk. Not dealt with by the looks of it. Pretty odd for a trade route like this one.

She knew an attack was probably coming. This sort of thing was all too common for this to be a coincidence. She turned to face the two players, her features stern.

You two, shut up and pay attention. Keep your ears sharp.

@Magnolia

 

[Magnolia]

"Tch-! What's wrong with you?!"

The mage girl hissed at @Cleo Looker and Magnolia, and the magia boy paused for a moment, looking at the seriousness of the situation, and feeling a tension crawling in him as he sealed to her side, whispering.

"Jane, this... This isn't looking that good... Maybe we should've ranked up before trying an event like this-"

While Magnolia felt a hint of relief that at least one of those two had finally started picking up that this wasn't a normal situation, she couldn't help but nearly click her tongue as it would be impossible to get rid of the 'game mindset' of these two so quickly. Especially having to keep up the Lander facade.

"Sounds like the typical bandit ambush." Magnolia muttered at Cleo's words, and tried another glance. "Why they would attempt it against a guarded caravan though."

Unless they were particularly bold bandits, they would generally go for easier targets. Which perhaps was the reason they hadn't shown themselves yet... Or at least, was what Magnolia had thought at first... Until a sudden impact could be felt on wagon, followed by the sound of cracking glass... And a very strong alchemical smell.

Magnolia's nose wrinkled, with the other two becoming startled for a moment, before she looked outside and saw a brim between the treeline... Was it... Fire?

"... Get out, right now!" She rushed, forcing the door open, and a couple fiery arrows rapidly approached their caravan.

 

[Cleo Looker]

Why did she have to be trapped in a caravan with two dumb kids and a maid, of all things? At the very least, the Magia boy could tell that something wasn't right, though by this point Cleo was annoyed enough with both of them that it wasn't much of a saving grace at all. And they were STILL insisting that it was some kind of scripted event that they'd somehow managed to stumble their way onto. The real world didn't come with a level cap for these things. But more importantly...

It's not an event. It's random and it's happening.

She drawled, rolling her eyes. There was very much a chance that it wasn't random and this caravan was being hit for a particular reason. She could think of a few, especially when her gaze rolled over the boy and his unfortunate choice of race. At the very least, the maid was on board with the idea that this was pretty typical bandit behaviour. The fact that they were hitting a guarded caravan even told Cleo that there was something on board that the bandits wanted. If they were even bandits at all.

Her gaze flicked to the boy again.

She didn't have a chance to actually say anything, though, as the sound of glass breaking was followed by a strange smell, just before the maid forced the door of the caravan open.

She flew into action. Pushing herself up and into a roll, a pair of arcane spears manifested in the air, launching to intercept the fiery arrows mid-flight. Teeth grit as she tossed herself out of the caravan, Cleo's eyes scanned the treeline, starting to pintpoint each attacker.

For every attacker she spotted, an arcane spear formed in the air behind her, tip pointing at their destined target.

You all have one chance to surrender. I won't be taking prisoners if you choose to engage!

She called her one warning into the forest, face grim and heavy. Ready to kill.

@Magnolia

 

[Magnolia]

"Randomly generated or not, an event is an event... This stinks though."

The mage insisted, stubborningly, and reaching for her staff while @Cleo Looker, the maid, and the boy were already out, spotting the enemies.

"L-Let's just leave the caravan, Jane!"

The boy insisted, but Magnolia, who had her patience ran thin by now even if her face didn't show, simply thrusted her hand to grab the girl's collar, pulling her out abruptly.

"Do you want to die?" She asked rhetorically. "Immortals..." Her eyes barely rolled, locking on the other cadavan.

And the reason soon became clear, as one of the arrows slipped unspotted, aiming for the other caravan- and as soon as it connected with the liquid, fire engulfed it nearly immediately, roaring while the passagers in it screamed in horror, desperately forcing their way out of it, running and trying to escape from the fire.

Magnolia looked at the running passagers, wincing and noticing how chaotically they were running in the attack. "I will try to guide them away... Can you cover us, travelers?" She asked, looking at the duo, and the experienced red haired.

The enemies and ambushers lacked greed in their eyes. Cleo's threats had fallen into either deaf or completely mad ears, as they didn't back off.

They charged instead, some with blades, while others remained far with bows and crossbows. Pure hatred is all one could see on them.

It wasn't a robbery, it was a mass murder attempt.

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well at the very least, the maid was taking this seriously. And as a bonus, the Magia boy was starting to figure out that this probably wasn't the kind of fun event he had in mind when it had first started. She didn't see the maid pluck the girl, named Jane, out of the caravan by her collar, since her attention was focused on the attackers and intercepting whatever arrows that she could, but she did overhear the rhetorical question, before her attention was stolen again by another caravan being impacted by a flaming arrow and bursting into a raging fire.

She drew her lips into a thin line and glared at the attacking ambushers.

Go and look after them. Try not to let any of them watch what comes next, either.

Her tone grim, a spear manifested in each of her hands, fingers wrapped loosely around them as more appeared in the air around her, which seemed to hum with arcane energy. The approaching attackers seemed almost rabid from hate and disdain. That was good, Cleo figured. Craning her neck slightly to look at the two that had been left behind, she sighed.

Kill them or they'll kill you. Should be easy enough to kill a bunch of 'NPCs' right?

She scoffed, before she began her own barrage. A wall of ten spears manifested in front of her, each one pointing at a different attacker, starting with the ones armed with bows and crossbows. With a mental command, each one of them launched like they had been shot out of a cannon.

The lucky ones dodged, or felt the blades of the spears cut through their side. The unlucky ones were picked up off of their feet by the force, pinned to trees by crimson arcane spears. And then, in the blink of an eye, a new wall of spears was in front of Cleo, ready to fire again.

Chronomancy was so easily abused...

@Magnolia

 

[Magnolia]

The mage adjusted her clothes back as Magnolia had finished pulling her away from the cart, huffing and looking at the maid.

"Right, right- Go already, we are going to screw these bitches."

Her smile grew viciously as she saw @Cleo Looker eliminate many of the ambushers with one-shots, while others were quite wounded, enough for her to go for some 'kill stealing'.

"Thank you-" Magnolia nodded briefly at the players, rushing for the other cart, and rapidly trying to rescue some of them. Some were quick to recover from the fire, casting spells and powers to reinforce themselves and fight back... A couple of them were magias as well, and soon it was easy to put the pieces together.

They weren't looking for greed. They were looking for them.

Her concern for the magia players didn't last long, however, with her priority quickly shifting as she noticed one of the passagers were a woman that was certainly a lander, lacking weapons or impressive skills, the woman was mostly escared and shocked by the sudden attack.

"Come... Let's get out of here." She held the woman's hand tightly, embracing her protectively with her free arm and trying to lead her away from the crossfire, while the travelers and guards continued to fight on-

"Gotta respect your level, gal, but leave some exp for us too! Fire against FIRE!"

Mumbling a magical chanting, that escaped her lips automatically through the auto-assist, magical circles hovered in front of her staff, and soon enough, fire bolts erupted from it, showering the remaining ambushers with fire-- Though as a beginner, her raw power wasn't sufficient to bring all of them down, and even then, more ambushers appeared, with arrows and bolts whistling from behind as well.

"W-Watch out- AAAH!"

Before the magia boy could warn, the projectiles had pierced one of his arms, while the others went for the mage, sinking into her back and throwing her to her knees.

"Grraahh- Noah?! Are you okay? Put up that stupid force shield of yours already!"

"I-I will, I will!"

Circling his hands together, a magitech orb suddenly summoned itself, with a magical barrier forming to protect their rear- Giving them room to notice the ambushers approaching from behind, not only at the trio, but at the other cart as well, and with some ambushers aiming at Magnolia and the lander she tried to lead away.

With her escape route suddenly interrupted, Magnolia tried to pull the lander woman away, that screamed in fear when an armed man tried to swing his blade to slash them down.

"Die, you freak-lovers!" The man roared, enraged, but Magnolia, seeing herself cornered, swiftly drew a blade from her skirt, using her free hand while pulling the lander behind her back, parrying the attack with a dagger and deflecting the man away.

Her tongue clicked, and she tried to force her way in, thrusting her dagger into his stomach and twisting it, forcing a yelp out of her target before pushing him away with a kick, and keeping her dagger and arm in front of the lander protectively. "Stay behind me, I don't think we will be able to run away that easily..."

 

[Cleo Looker]

The two children that were supposed to be helping her really weren't much assistance at all. They fired off some weak flame spells at the crowd, mumbled spellcrafting coming from the system's auto assist, failing to really bring anybody down, before the returned fire began to pepper them. Cleo herself was protected from flaming arrows or molotov cocktails by manifested spears, walls of them appearing in front of her to intercept whatever was sent her way.

The two children were not as lucky. The girl took some arrows to the back, whilst the boy was made to suffer an arrow, or perhaps a crossbow bolt, through one of his arms. They moved closer together, the boy establishing some kind of shield or barrier to their rear, whilst Cleo's eyes flicked rapidly back and forth, identifying threats as they came.

And noticing the way the 'maid' was engaging an attacker in combat, quickly gaining the better of the man with her dagger and landing on him a wound that was pretty assuredly lethal, if he wasn't treated soon. Sadly, if they continued to deal with this attack one person at a time, they would be here all day.

Enough...

She snarled, crimson particles of arcane magic clinging to every inch of her body, shrouding her from view. They slowly bled, until they became a more lavender color, where they spread out, revealing Cleo in her Evoke form. She pushed off of the ground, jumping up and landing on a floating arcane platform above the battlefield, looking down at the attackers in contemp.

You've worn away my patience. I will no longer fight you. This has become an extermination. Feel free to take your own lives to save me the trouble.

Players were being hurt, so the time for kindness and restraint had long since passed. In their dozens, spears began to fill the sky, printing and appearing at such an alarming rate that soon thousands filled the air, casting a shadow above the ambush site.

And then they fell, like a crimson rain. A wave of red crashing down to the earth, with just a few pockets of safety, surrounding the children, the other Landers and that mysterious maid.

@Magnolia

 

[Magnolia]

Ready to continue fighting, Magnolia was soon forced to fend off another ambusher, that charged at her direction as it prompted another panicked scream from the lander woman that the maid was protecting. Determined, she didn't allow harm to come to the innocent, not that she was a righteous person, but if it was within her capabilities to protect them, she would.

With a sharp counter attack, she ducked her slashed her dagger against the man's ribcage, following with an upward strike with the pommel of the weapon against his chin as he was curling in pain, sending him into the ground unconscious.

It wouldn't take long for them to get swarmed, however- "Back off- We are surrounded-" Magnolia gave up escaping, they had to fight, they had to find a way out somehow...

But it was when hell descended to land.

Sharp scarlet magic reaped the ones who dared to approach too much, and sent a very clear message to those that were lucky to be far enough to not be caught by the armageddon of power that emanated from @Cleo Looker.

Magnolia opened her eyes widely, in a mix of startle and relief seeing that their ambushers, or at least those who remained, ran with yells echoing-

"Bastards!" "It isn't worth it... Let's go!" "Tch- Defending these beasts!"

A sigh escaped from Magnolia's gritted teeth, and with a quick glance at the surroundings, she slid her dagger back into her skirt, turning to look at the lander lady, that was pale and still in shock. "Are you alright, madam?" There was no response, however, aside from a shaky gaze.

The maid took the lady to her arms, guiding her back to the only wagonthat was still intact thanks to the magic spears that deflected the alchemical projectiles, while the other wagon was receiving blasts of hydromancy magic, attempting to set down the fire.

As Magnolia guided the woman to take a seat, the other two players reacted-

"What the heck! That AoE is too OP! What's your build?!"

The mage chirped, and the magia tried to hold her still, using the magitech orb to 'spray' a healing gas.

"Stand still..! I can't just press a button to heal you, I need to target your wounds!"

He scolded.

 

[Cleo Looker]

Her barrage had quickly drawn the fight out of the remaining attackers, as the rain of crimson spears had fallen to the ground, ending many lives and breaking the morale of the ones that managed to avoid her attack. A good number had managed to avoid being killed, but even they had lost the will to fight on. It was for the best. As apathetic as she was to the lives of Landers, Cleo didn't exactly enjoy or relish having to cut them down in their dozens.

Still, to protect real people, it was a price she was more than willing to pay. Really, it wasn't even much of a price. It was an exertion.

She let out a breath, lowering herself to the ground and slipping out of her evoke form, her outfit breaking apart and reforming, back into its normal state. She didn't need to waste the energy it took to hang onto that form when she wasn't using it anymore.

And rather than waste time with the players, she shook her head and shot them a glance.

Stay still and let your friend heal you. I need to go and tend to any wounded.

She broke off from them, approaching the 'maid' who was accompanying a woman to the untouched wagon.

Are either of you wounded? Do you know if anybody else here is? I can tend to their wounds if they are.

@Magnolia

 

[Magnolia]

Eventually, the mage girl stopped moving, letting her friend properly take care of her. One less problem for the pile of issues they had to fix, and Magnolia appreciated it. Especially when there was someone in need.

She didn't have much to offer at the moment, not if she wanted to keep as much low profile as she could at the moment. She being forced to defend the lander after such a fluke was already plenty of red flags all over, she didn't need to make things worse.

Especially when @Cleo Looker was approaching.

"She may need." Magnolia said, taking a soft hold of the lander woman's wrist, and pulling it closer for the red-haired to see. Shocked, the lander didn't even flinch, but her forearm was quite damaged by the burns. It wasn't immensely serious, but it was just a step away from being a second degree burn.

Her eyes then shifted to the other wagon.

"The others may need as well, but they look like travelers. Or at the very least, capable mages." Her eyes returned to the red-haired. "Thank you, madam. We were really surrounded, I don't think we would escape alive if the ambush kept escalating."

 

[Cleo Looker]

The maid directed her attention to another Lander woman, who didn't flinch even though her arm was covered in burns. It was quite the thing to see, though she had seen worse in her time. They probably stung like hell, so that made Cleo guess that the woman was flooded with adrenaline and such at that moment. Enough that she didn't complain about the handling, at any rate. Cleo clicked her tongue, looking the burn over for a moment, before she extended a hand.

Alright, this should only take a moment or two, so stand still.

And like a VHS tape being played in reverse, the burns seemed to crawl across the woman's arm until they had vanished entirely, as if they had never happened. Once she'd rewound them out of existence, Cleo smirked and tapped the woman on the arm, before gesturing to the gathering crowd of displaced Landers from the two wagons.

It gave Cleo a moment to turn to the maid, looking her up and down for a moment.

You handle yourself quite well for a maid, of all things. Thank you for looking out for the others whilst I was fighting.

She extended a hand for the woman to shake.

My name is Cleo. Nice to meet you...?

@Magnolia

 

[Magnolia]

The lack of response from the lander was indeed concerning, and Magnolia couldn't help but pity her, whatever had made her have such a shock, must have been a unbearble trauma. Magnolia tilted her head to look closer at the woman, with her elf ear peeking out of her hair as she sighed, giving the lander a comforting rub on her back as @Cleo Looker finished healing her.

"Sorrow is within her, but she just doesn't move."

And she trully didn't, not until Cleo was done with the aid. The lander woman was still shaken, looking up at the red haired and the maid with a quivering lips and empty eyes. But soon, a guard seemed to approach, questioning about her estate before Magnolia briefly summarized what happened.

The guard nodded to Cleo, in a grateful way, before taking the lander to a quieter spot.

Magnolia sighed, looking back at the red haired, that gave her a througful look. Of course, she had noticed what happened even within the chaos of the situation. "Thank you, madam, but it was pure luck. The ambusher, inexperienced, must have been startled by the dagger my master gave me for self defense." She tried to play it off.

When the hand was offered, Magnolia tilted her head very so slightly, to not be rude with her 'confusion', then carefully resting both of her hands on Cleo's. "It is a pleasure to meet you, madam Cleo." Releasing her hands, the maid bowed politely.

"My name is Magnolia. Maid of master Trevor, albeit I am enjoying of a free time for now..."

 

[Cleo Looker]

Sorrow? Was the NPC feeling down or something? Had it had a friend that had been caught in the chaos or something? Cleo wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, though it had the warning signs of trauma and PTSD if she'd ever seen them before. Reminded her sometimes of witnesses she'd meet and interview during her time as a detective. It was at least a decent mimicry of trauma, even if none of this was truly real.

She only watched as a guard approached, inquired as to what had happened, before taking his leave with the female lander who had been traumatized thus. Her attention was still mostly fixated on the battle maid and the introduction that was shared, full of bullshit as it was.

I'm sure he was very startled by the fact that you parried his sword with a dagger. The textbook stab and shove didn't hurt his startlement either, I bet.

She snorted, shaking her head and fixing the maid with a look that spoke of how amused she was at the paltry lie.

Please, if you're going to tell lies to me at least make it an entertaining lie. I've seen enough knife violence to know when somebody has inflicted it before in the past.

@Magnolia

 

[Magnolia]

Magnolia watched @Cleo Looker as she voiced her clear disbelief to any attempt of the maid to try to sound like she was a mere maid... And honestly, it was only as she expected. Magnolia had been forced to act, and she didn't discard the possibility of someone noticing it. The most she could do now was trying to damage control with half-truths and drawing the attention to other topics.

Her gaze narrowed, and her hand reached for her chest with faintly frowned lips.

"My apologies if my attempts to trying to keep some discretion had insulted you, madam..." She said, with her eyes focusing on Cleo's, and her voice quietening as she continued.

"Truly, I am skilled at the art of self-defense... Since I am not only a maid, but a guard for my master." Magnolia explained, and it was when she allowed her voice to raise once again. "I never leave his side, but I wished to pay a visit to Astorea, after everything that has happened. It intrigues me."