Complete 18+ Main Story (Red Fever) The Aftermath

[Cleo Looker]

It had been a blur of motion, @Vina Skysong having tried to tug at her wrist, before the explosion had set everything to hell. She could briefly notice that @Hanno Futaba had set something up to protect her and the rest of the little impromptu group that he'd gathered, before the rush of deafending noise and force and heat washed over the entire battlefield and beyond. Cleo could only fling herself into the dirt with her hands pressed over her ears, trying to mentally count the seconds until she felt that incredible crushing pressure fade away.

And then she looked up, seeing devastation, the ringing in her ears everpresent as she looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them, before realizing that she was alive. Everything hurt, but somehow she'd made it through okay. She'd even managed to get the cannons working for the fight.

She'd helped...

A small, manic, almost broken chuckle escaped the spear thrower as her Evoke form faded away, dress shrinking and condensing around her body until she was back in that body suit that looked like she had been vacuum sealed in leather, stumbling around as her damaged ears threw off her sense of balance.

Hanno! Thanks man! But I have to find her!

She could only throw the shielder that had saved her a thankful smile and a shout of gratitude, one that might not even be heard, before she was scrambling into a sprint, looking for those fox ears that she needed to see, to know her friend was alright.

And when she spotted them, she felt like weeping.

She didn't though. Instead, she raced towards Vina, who had found @Fina Drago in the aftermath, before throwing her arms around the fox girl.

Thank god you're alright!

And with that, she slammed her lips into Vina's, her hands cupping the vixen's tear stained face as she pressed their lips together hungrily.

She was just thankful they were both still alive.

 

[Bonnie Bonbon]

Her vision bore holes into the death counter.
She dared not to log out.

Long gone was the starlight brilliance that ended her life, replaced with naught but darkness all around. Bonnie dared not to log out, indeed, for her sister had certainly gone through this before — as a matter of fact, at least three times. She wanted to grit her teeth, to scream, to do something, but the umbral cradle denied all of her attempts. Bonnie felt nothing.

She could not move.
Could not hear the ongoing battle.
Nothing.

What was she thinking? Playing this game even though she hated this world. She should’ve known better. This was the game that had claimed the lives of not just her sister, but many others as well. This… was it. Bonnie would log out, delete the client, and move on with her life. She wasn’t delusional to the point of giving up her life in the actual real world for this, whatever this thing was. It wasn't worth it.

The expressionless, weeping visage of @Shane flashed into her mind.

…

No.

Three.

…

She had a reason to play this game beyond self-fulfilling fantasies.

Two.

She would find Shane and Nai in the respawn point, and they’d have a talk.

One.

And someday, she would find her sister as well.

Zero.

As the countdown reached the end, the darkness slowly faded away into white, and soon enough the world had blessed her eyesight with numerous shades of colors, giving depth and vibrancy to the temple. A relieved sigh escaped her lips when she opened her palm menu, confirming that she still had access to her user interface. She still had a chance at this. Now then, to find the other two —

The first one that appeared within her view was Nai. Of course, someone who had built such a large character like that would surely… Be easier… to spot, yeah. Her blue orbs glanced back and forth, exploring every corner available to her eyes. Bonnie could not find the third piece of the puzzle. A chill ran down her spine as the realization of what truly had transpired spread across her consciousness like a virulent truth she wanted no business with.

@Shane was one of them.

As the words of Nai reached her ears, her blood boiled. Right. She remembered it now. In that very final moment, the horned woman couldn’t even bring herself to blow the whistle. With a swift and precise (if brutal) motion, the strands of hair were gone from Nai’s hand, safely stored away in her storage via user interface. She hopped off of the altar, and glaring azures faced the blonde before she turned to leave, silent all the same.

Her steps come to a halt, however, as she turned sideways to face the horned woman once again.

‘Ya ain’t mindin’ a kick in the head in a death game, but ya can’t bring yerself to blow a tootin’ whistle? The fuck’s yer business, bushwacker?’ without waiting for a proper response from the other party, Bonnie tossed a whistle at her feet and moved on. The arcane construction flickered blue in random intervals, and on the sides of its barrel-shaped chambers it had a name engraved,

@Nai

 

[Kat Otsu]

Kat sat on the edge of the crater. She hadn't bothered to go back to camp. Why would she? She didn't know anyone there. She knew none of the NPCs, none of the other players. No one but Ryou, her girlfriend that she had dragged into a dangerous situation in a frighteningly real game, and for what? Kat knew the secret that Ryou didn't. Three deaths and that's it. Would Kat tell Ryou? Could Kat tell Ryou?

Kat wanted to know this world. Wanted to know the people here and the reason for it all. How it ticked and why. It felt so visceral, so real, and so alive. Kat spent every day basically stealing from businessmen and using it to fund a lavish lifestyle for her and her girlfriend, and her girlfriend had long since stopped trying to question it. But was that really a great life to lead? It was borderline criminal. This was evident by the legal battle that they had to fight to be wearing the very VR adapters that they were wearing right now.

Kat had wanted to log out. She had thought so many times about doing so, but here she was, watching the sunrise at the edge of the crater, half deaf from the explosion that rocked the world. Her heart had long since stopped racing and she was pretty sure Ryou, as beaten up as she was, had fallen asleep in her lap. But Kat couldn't sleep. Or power down, or whatever it was Magia did. Her energy reserves were low, but they seemed to be fairly stable as long as she didn't move, and perhaps from the latent magic energy that permeated the area. Or, perhaps from the giant electric shock she had received at the time of sticking her arm in the golem. It was hard to tell.

Kat stroked Ryou's hair as she lay in her lap, she didn't want to disturb her, but whenever she got up, she'd log out with her, and they would go back to their normal lives. At least for now. Kat hoped that Ryou would try the game again, but she wouldn't blame her if she didn't. Kat was terrified of what else this game world had in store. But after meeting people like Azzy, Regan, and Kaede, she knew that there were others she could find friendships and fun with. If she tried to, at least.

But what was most important was her Ryou. Kat felt like she had betrayed her. Tears fell lightly down her face and onto Ryou's hair. She didn't know when she started crying, just that she had. Lingering effects of the Red Fever? No, just regular sadness. She had never wanted to put Ryou in danger. Ryou always protected her, and here Kat was doing the same old shit she did in real life, just with giant bug monsters instead of angry men trapping her in a bathroom or something stupid like that.

"I'm so sorry, Ryou. I promise we can do things on your terms, from now on. I... I don't ever want to lose you. Not because of my stupidity." Kat admitted as the tears continued to fall. Soon they would log out, and go back to regular life. And Kat wanted nothing more than to forget about all of this.

@Ryoubai

 

[Ryoubai]

Ryou laid there limply, barely able to hear anything besides ringing and the muffled sound of people clamoring around to get the hell out of this area. She felt exhausted. She was sure once she took of the adapters, she would feel all of what she just experienced hit her all at once. She wasn't sure what else to do besides count her and Kat lucky that they made it through this harrowing experience. She had only logged on about three times prior to this, and now here they were, wounded and trying to scrape together the last of their sanity. It was not a good first impression.

She didn't want to play the game this way. She didn't know anyone besides Kat. Of course she felt sad for the people that had died, but she didn't know them at all. It didn't hit her the same way it did for the others. There was so much she didn't know about the game, and she didn't particularly want to find out if this was what she got. The more she laid there, the more she thought about all of the little grievances she had. Yet again, Kat had dragged them both into something completely dangerous without little regard for what Ryou would have thought. Anything Ryou did say went in one ear and right out the other. It wouldn't have even mattered if she warned her. She left her alone in that cart and went off to jump right into the next crazy thing she could find without so much as a word to her. She needed a break from this wretched place. She got off of Kat and sat up, her icy blue eyes piercing into her.

"Kat, I know you're sorry. I don't want to play anymore today. I need to log off." She said briefly before standing and walking to the camp. She had learned her lesson from logging out in the cart earlier. She didn't want to be left behind again, but who knew? The camp could just be gone by the time she decided to log in again. In a haze, she made it to the camp and grabbed a bed before lying down. She wasn't sure if she would log in ever again. She supposed it would depend on what Kat decided to say to her in person. She logged off.

@Kat Otsu

 

[Schilva Flasch]

"What- where-??"

Looking around wildly on the spot after landing, as if that would magically unmelt his sword, Schilva clutches the pathetic remains of his katana's hilt, dumbstruck in disbelief by the (virtual) reality of the situation. Seems like trying to cut concentrated orbs of lethal magical energy with shoddy steel wasn't a very good idea.

Moreover, where was his other sword!? His hand clapped down on an empty space where his second katana was supposed to be, but was in fact not. A strange sense of deja-vu overcame him for but a moment, and he saw in his mind's eye his part in a desperate last stand against a horrific foe not unlike the one the expedition faced now, though clearly angelic instead of insectoid.

The thought vanished as the Queen breathed its last, the rallying cry to withdraw from the area snapping Schilva out of his bizarre reverie. With no time to mourn further in confusion, he swivels to verify the state of the slain foe and gets an eyeful of what appears to be the re-manifestation of the demon that it ate bursting through its corpse.

Backing away slowly, step by step at first, Schilva notes the pace of everyone fleeing around him and spins about to break into a sprint.
"Nope, nope, nope, nope, don't want that, nope, nope, uh-uh, nope."
If there was one thing that Schilva was good at, it would have to be running away. Or, well, demonstrating the value of discretion as the better part of valor. It's very important for any hero worth his salt to know when to exercise due caution!

Schilva exercises that caution so well that, despite starting a bit later than everyone else, he manages to outrun the explosion entirely. While others are struck deaf and dumb by what sounds like a thermonuclear bomb going off at the epicenter of the basin, Schilva rushes up the steppes so quickly and dives behind cover while screaming with such promptness that one could easily match his conduct to the instructions found in a blast survival manual.

Ears ringing but nonetheless functional, Schilva wobbles to his feet and looks around with a thoroughly harrowed countenance. To nobody in particular, he muses;
"That...that was bloody insane."
Then, to someone in particular that he recognizes among the survivors;
"Oh, hey, you made it out."

Gesturing to @Harukami with a haggard smile, Schilva reaches out to take his now-redundant sheathe and mirror back, but looks up as he hears a whizzing noise whistling through the air.
"The heck is tha-"

THUNK

A flying sword - thankfully still in its scabbard - nails him right on the forehead and sends him tumbling over with an indignant, clearly confused yell of 'what did I do to deserve this'. Scrambling upright again with a slight concussion and clearly not enough sense to keep low after that, Schilva is about to toss the offending projectile aside and let loose a string of colourful language before he takes a good look at what gave him said concussion.

"Wait, this is...how did you get here?"
His demeanor instantly changes as he cradles the suddenly familiar weapon in his hands, securing it tightly back on his belt where it belonged with a sigh that visibly relaxes his tight-strung body.
"Whew. Well, thank whatever gods are out there for that."

Slightly dented bravado more or less repaired by that spectacular recovery, Schilva returns to the conversation at hand with renewed spirits.
"Thanks for taking care of my stuff - uh, Harukami, was it?"
Scratching his hair and pulling bits of insect corpse out of it, Schilva gestures towards the direction in which most of their fellow adventurers were now departing.
"Back to camp it is now, I suppose. You know, I actually can't use that scabbard anymore, on account of my sword kind of having been melted, but that's not a problem! In fact, quite the opposite, I think; it's a memento now, you know, like a trophy..."

Rambling away without having learned a thing about the sinister undercurrent of Terrasphere, all Schilva is presently occupied by are thoughts of the grand boasts he can now make about truly having crossed swords against a deadly boss foe.

As they say, all's well that ends well, though maybe not for those who sooner or later will hear his spiels at camp.

 

[Asch]

Hidden Lore Unlocked

You have taken a glimpse behind the veil. When you looked into the darkness, the darkness looked back.

@Ludmilla Orphys has lost the battle of the mind. She will resign to her fate.

Special demon-ruined DA Unlocked (Will-variant).

Red Gluttony
Destroy. Consume. Rejoice. Like Pavlov's dogs, you salivate when exposed to the color red. There is a joyous pride when you can taste the red dancing on your tongue, wetting your throat, and igniting your stomach. However, you are like a moth drawn to flame, you cannot help but be drawn to the color blue despite how it disturbs every fiber in your body. They scream in anger and cry out in terror. Vengeance will be had.

The thought consumes your mind when hunger beckons: "Destroy. Consume. Vengeance. Rejoice."

Ludmilla's post has been canonized.