So... We're criminals now.
Snowflakes swirled around the field, drifting towards the earth to cover it in a blanket of white. A cold wind threw the flakes off course sporadically, blowing in half-hearted gusts as the moon rose in the night sky. It was a full moon, one that sparkled off of the snow giving the place a rather surreal feeling.
I hope everyone else is alright. I haven't seen Mommy since the arena, and Jeri might not have heard the news yet... I know the others will be alright, they know what's going on.
A player reclined under the single tree resting on the edge of a cliff. It's branches were bare, and it was heavily covered in snow. The mage that reclined under its branches had also gathered a light dusting, though he hadn't been there nearly as long as the tree.
So what're you going to do, pup? Are you going to go into hiding as well?
"Hiding? It would probably be the safest thing to do..."
Well, we could get up with the others, maybe--
"...but then again, I've never been known for making safe decisions. No, I'm not the sort to hide. It'd feel wrong."
The player's wolf ears twitched in irritation at the thought, and as he shifted, some of the snow fell off of him onto the ground.
...Augh. I hate you so much sometimes. What is it with you and danger?
"Heh. Things do happen when I'm around, don't they? No, I'm not going to hide. CC Corp will know of Xantos Bardock by the time this is over. I'm going to fight."
Xantos picked himself up off the ground, and brushed off the remaining snow. He glanced around for the Chaos Gate, and set off towards it.
...You're serious about this, aren't you?
"Yep. Life as usual is the call of the day."
What happens when the administrators come? You know they will. It's only a matter of time.
"Well," the mage spoke aloud, "I guess we'll burn that bridge when the time comes. If we spend today worrying about tomorrow, then we've wasted two days instead of one. The City of Water! Mac Anu!" Xantos raised his staff to the Chaos Gate as he shouted out the words, and with a bright golden flash, the field was silent once more.
**** [ROOT] The City of Water, Mac Anu [TOWN] ****
A flash of light deposited Xantos in the bustling hub of The World. Without a sideways glance he strode off towards the town square. "I heard there was a tournament coming up some time soon. Wonder if I've gotten better at combat at all... I ought to register."
...So now you're not only provoking the inevitable, you're walking right up to them and saying "Kill me please!"
"Well Ranji, if you'd rather me be horribly ineffective when the time for combat comes, I won't. I figured either way, win or lose, it'd be a good learning experience."
Hmph. Your funeral, pup. Don't forget what happened in the arena.
Xantos glanced at the inside of his left arm. There was a small black 'hole' on it, with green 1s and 0s floating around inside it, like something had gone wrong with the texture or model. It seemed very unnatural, especially as far as how he'd gotten it.
He'd manage to bite the dust in one of the more recent events, although he'd been expecting to. He'd been vastly out classed and out leveled, it was only a matter of time. Though when he had hit the floor, instead of his body turning gray as per the norm, it had begun to dissolve. He'd never seen anyone dissolve before. Once he'd been resurrected, there was a hole in his arm. He'd been trying to figure out what it was for the past week or two, but he hadn't managed to scrounge up anything on the BBS of people having similar problems, and he wasn't about to start posting on it. Not with the way things were currently. For the time being he'd begun wearing an orange armband with flame decor on it to cover the hole, since most people would shrug it off as something neat looking, not thinking there was anything underneath. Besides, leaving it uncovered would raise uncomfortable questions.
The center of town was buiser than ever, with the tournament coming up soon. Players were lined up to register for it, with others placing bets on the competitors or wishing the fighters luck. It looked like there were even a few last minute trades going on, people bargaining for a better chance at a fight.
Xantos took a place at the back of the line, and glanced at the competition. It looked like there were a few players that he knew signing up, but more that he'd never met. Wow... The World keeps getting bigger every day, he mused. Was Mac Anu this busy when I started? I'd swear it seems like the town keeps getting smaller every day. I suppose I ought to try and keep a low profile in the tournament.
Hey... What happened at the end of that other quest? With Nevermore and the Wimp Patrol?
Ranji! They're clan mates for crying out loud! Though... You're right. We fell in the river, and the last thing I remember is someone grabbing onto me. Then it gets all fuzzy... I... I can't remember. It's like the rest of it never happened. Hey, looks like it's our turn.
Xantos stepped up to the pedestal with the registration book. It was a little electronic dealy that seemed more like a computer than a book. It was open, with a view screen on either page. The left one listed the players that had already registered for the event, and the right one was flashing "PLEASE ENTER CHARACTER NAME AND CLASS:_"
The lupine mage spent a moment trying to figure out how to accomplish such a feat, seeing as there was no obvious method of doing so. Deciding on the easiest method, he spoke "Xantos, Wavemaster". This seemed to satisfy the display in the book, as small black boxes flew diagonally across the screen transitioning the text to "SEARCHING FOR ENTRANT... SEARCHING... SEARCHING... SEARCHING..."
"ENTRANT DOES NOT EXIST. PLEASE TRY AGAIN." The book made an error noise as it flashed the message across the right view screen.
"...What?" Xantos blinked, confused. He was standing right here, what was the thing talking about? Perhaps he had stuttered the first time. "Xantos, Wavemaster" he reinstated.
"SEARCHING FOR ENTRANT... SEARCHING... SEARCHING... SEARCHING..."
"ENTRANT DOES NOT EXIST. PLEASE TRY AGAIN."
"Hey! What the hell is taking so long, y'damn furry?!" "What's the hold up? I wanna register!" "Move your slow ass, n00b!"
"I.. B-But... Huh? Xantos, Wavemaster"
"SEARCHING... ENTRANT DOES NOT EXIST. PLEASE TRY AGAIN."
Suddenly a large burly Heavy Axe stepped up to him. "If'n yous ain't gonna move on yer own, oi'll 'elp ya' move!" Xantos soon found himself hoisted unceremoniously into the air, and tossed aside to a chorus of cheers. Standing up, he glanced curiously back at the book, the ghost of its words flashing before his eyes once more.
"ENTRANT DOES NOT EXIST"
"NOT EXIST"
"But... I'm right... here," he muttered to no one in particular, unconsciously pinching his arm. "Ow, yeah, I'm totally here. Mmph. So uh, options. I guess I can't really contact an Admin... So I'll have to figure this out on my own, huh. So much for th--" Xantos paused. He thought he'd seen something in the crowd. Yes! There it was again! There was no mistaking those black fox ears. Or those goggles. But she didn't seem to realize that being around town was dangerous. Sure, he did it, but that was a different story entirely. He didn't care, so long as the others were safe. Threading his way through the crowd, he managed to get close enough to her to tackle her.
"Hi Mommy!" he shouted as he leaped at the Heavy Blade. "Where have you beeeeeen?!"
It was a fine day for a tournament. Or at least, to sign up for one. The tournament was probably tomorrow, or maybe the next day, but since it didn't seem to be a particularly huge undertaking, Lyra doubted it was more than a "24 hours from now" type of deal. No, those usually had invitations sent out to prior winners, and had some sort of gynormous list of entrants, and at least a post on the BBS. This was more of an improptu "The Admins need something to do!" type of occasion as far as she could tell, though she was going to have to ask Arpeggio about it to be sure.
After she signed up, of course, because nothing except entrance fees ever deterred her from tournaments.
And so the fox found herself wandering along the line, in search of the end, absentmindedly counting the combatants. If there were more than 100 or so in line, there was no point to jumping in, as she'd probably be stuck waiting in line for nothing.
"Hi Mommy!"
She smiled a bit, hearing some player call out for his mother, either surrogate or real. Ah, how sweet. It reminded her of own son, Xanny... Actually, it sounded a lot like him, too. Excessively so. Almost as if-
Oh. Oh shit.
Her head turned just in time to see a pair of silver ears bobbing their way towards her, weaving through the crowd. For a moment she was torn between running away and risking hurting the boy's feelings, or staying and risking him being deleted.
Oh wait, the latter was ten times more likely. Right.
She turned to run, but Xantos had obviously used a speed charm or something, because before she could duck away, he had already caught up with her and was sailing through the air towards Lyra, arms outstretched. As he made contact, her balance failed her, sending the fox crashing to the ground with her mutt of a son clinging happily to her. "Where have you beeeeeeen?!"
Great. Did she tell him the truth and hope he ran, did she just hit the damned power button on her computer and hope that saved him, or did she just act as if nothing was wrong?
"Around," she sighed, patting him on the head and trying to sit back up. "I've been dealing with stuff. Things. Training and stuff." She frowned, knowing the cryptic words wouldn't please the boy at all, but she didn't really care. "I actually can't stay and chat... I was just finishing up signing up for the tournament, then I've got homework to do until it starts..."
"I can help with training!" Xantos grabbed Lyra's arm and ran off towards the Chaos Gate. "People are always telling me I give them a workout! C'mon!"
"I really don't have the time right now, Xanny..." she sighed, pulling her arm free and looking down the line. "I've got a lot of stuff to take care of." She sighed, scratching her head. How could she tell him? Could she tell him? How COULDN'T she tell him, since he was in GRAVE FREAKING DANGER just by hanging around her.
"Bah, nonsense. We've totally got time for a quickie. Let's go hit up some monsters!" He grabbed his mother's arm once more and dragged her off towards the Chaos Gate. This time, he wouldn't be taking no for an answer.
**** [EXPLORABLE] Ancient Moonlit Den [AREA] ****
For once, the keywords actually weren't too unrelated to the field. Or at least, they were generic enough to be accurate. Sometimes it was difficult to tell with that sort of thing. The place was rather rocky, with large boulders and pillars scattered around the field, and occasionally a destroyed building here and there. The thing that really drew attention was the large cave, silhouetted against the crescent moon. Which was strange, since the moon had been full not two hours ago. Not to mention that it was slightly odd when there was a cave in the middle of what looked like it used to be a town.
"Yar, let's kill stuff!" The mage's infamous 'crazy grin' spread across his face, although anyone looking closely could tell it was forced. His eyes were focused on his mother. She'd seemed distracted lately, whenever he'd bang into her, and then there was the phone call several months ago. She'd sounded quite serious, but he'd figured she'd just been overloaded by school at the time or something. Now she'd started yelling at him about PMing her, although he couldn't figure out a reason for that one. But the little things had got him thinking.
Recently he'd been wondering if it wasn't something far more serious than school. She'd never been the paranoid type, but lately the word seemed to fit her to a tee. He could have sworn he'd seen the strangest expression on her face when he'd tackled her in town. Almost as if she was terrified of what she'd seen. And sometimes he'd catch her glancing furtively around, as if keeping an eye out for something. Either way, she was probably the only person he knew that would be able to help him with what he'd taken to calling the 'data hole'. Or at least know who would be able to help. So he'd have to catch hold of her one way or another.
His eyes drifted to his newest accessory, his grinning facade slipping. An orange armband decorated with flames encircled his left forearm, most people wouldn't even give it a second glance, especially those that knew him. However, underneath it was a... well, a 'gap' on the inside of his arm. He'd never quite figured out what it was, (or how to describe it) but it was a small black hole in his arm, with green 1s and 0s floating around in it, like those that came off of a deleted monster. He couldn't see the other side of his arm through it, and there wasn't any flesh or blood or bone in it either. The latter fact was strange since he knew the artists had done the inside of people too from his close encounter in the invasion event. It was like the texture had 'exploded' or something. Or was it the alpha map? The wolf had never been very good with modeling.
Regardless of what it was, it was extremely unnerving to Xantos. He could tell that this was one of those things that Were Not Supposed to Happen. Corpses normally didn't dissolve either, like he had at the arena, which only reinforced the bad vibes he was getting from it. So he'd taken to hiding the hole. Especially since he was already an illegal character, the administrators would probably throw a wobbly if they saw it and it tended to cause awkward questions in conversation. An armband was generally less awkward than a rip in the character itself.
Gazing off at the moon in the distance, the mage's words were soft and serious when they finally came. "I'll do whatever I can to help." It was more a hunch than anything, to catch Lyra off guard, but he was also being quite sincere. If whatever-it-was was big enough to try and get her to vanish off the face of the earth, that seemed pretty big. Especially since she still seemed to be trying. "Although it would be nice if you didn't vanish on me again. I.. Well... I'm in a bit of a bind myself, and you're the only person I know of who might know about this sort of thing." He turned his head to look over at his mother, waiting for a reply.
=================
EDIT: Due to this quest moving so slowly and doubt that it will finish, I would request that this quest be no rewards, and the rewards be claimed instead on Act I: Home. If not possible, then ignore this.
