PHASE I [ 9 00 ] You open your eyes, and there is a chicken pecking at your face. It's not a very happy chicken, either, but if you can manage to fend it off, then it will be clear that you are in a village. It is... medieval-esque, in that video game sort of way; the details don’t seem too clear, but if you look to your left, there’s a cow! And to your right, a well! Ignore the clear evidence of modern technology in the buildings such as lights, gas, and 21st century plumbing; CERES is dedicated to authenticity.
Looks like the new ViViD level has finally been released, and everyone is invited to play, whether they want to or not.
The game (because this time, that's surely what it is) will start simple. Everyone begins in the same place and every NPC villager will say the same thing: to get out of here, you have to go through the caves. They’ll shove a stick at you (“take this, it’s dangerous to go alone”) and off you go, into the caves… !
Which are full of tiny rats and more chickens. They will try to fight you, but it’s really not very effective when they’re perfectly small and average (especially when everyone still has their typical powers and abilities -- CERES didn't mess with those at all this time). The caves are winding and circular and maze-like, and to make matters even worse, the only ones around are the other poor saps stuck in this situation.
But if you kill enough of the rats, you’ll get to hear the satisfying level up jingle. Congratulations! You are now level 2. It's probably satisfying just for a minute or so until you finally find your way out of those maze like caves and -- You're back in the village again. Great.
PHASE II [ 930 ] You’re carrying a bag. No matter what you do, you can’t take it off, either; it’s stuck with you through thick and thin. But it is awfully heavy. Maybe you should actually open it and see what’s inside?
The problem is, it’s going to take a while.
The bag has clearly tapped into its true hammerspace nature; there are items for days in there, and they’re all very, very strange. You might end up covered in hats of all sorts, buried in logs as you pull out one after another, or look like you have an odd fetish for pickaxes.
Maybe there’s 1/3rd of an evil turnip, half a piece of pie and an egg.
Geez, what in the world are you supposed to do with all of that?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] Eventually, you make it out of the caves the right way despite the harassment of the rats and chickens and the fact you'll keep perpetually getting lost. Hooray! You come out into a large, peaceful, scenic meadow, with a small river bubbling off to one side, and a house.
You'll immediately notice that there’s a bridge to cross the river, but there’s someone standing in the way of that bridge. When you approach to go past him, no matter what you try to do, you won't be able to. Asking him why he won't move will only get one thing in response -- “Bring me a fish. Cooked.”
Then he’ll shove a fishing rod at you and expect you to get to it. You can’t attack him, you can’t get past him -- looks like the only thing to do is to catch and cook that fish. Time to sit back, relax, and get to work. Or maybe you’ll team up with someone else and be the person in the house making sure that the fish gets cooked properly. For some reason, if you leave it too long it turns right into a pile of ashes.
Weirdly though, no matter how good you are at cooking or fishing usually, it’s as if you’re right back at the metaphorical level one. Any sort of seasoning or effort to cook it faster falls flat and in the end you'll only be able to place the fish in the pan and set it on the stove, whole. This may take awhile.
And if you try to cross the river itself, well... no, really, don’t try to cross the river.
At least if you get eaten, you’ll just respawn back in the village, but do have fun traveling through the caves again!
PHASE IV [ 1430 ] You made it through the caves. You made it across the river (with a slightly burnt fish). You’ve made it to the wide open world, and you can finally adventure to your heart’s content. You take a step forward on the road and --
A message pops up, bright red and in your face.
[ Restricted Area: Members Only ]
No matter what you do, you can’t go past that point. In fact, if you’re not careful and you’re going too fast, you might run face-first into it like it’s an invisible wall (which it is).
Then, just like that, you're back in the village. Again. Only this time, there's a nice, blinking message -- Pay a small subscription fee to access member's content. Oh well. No big deal, you can just start again.
Except then you see a cool sword and when you try to pick it up, you'll get that same message, and end up transported back to the village yet again. And again, with some shiny new armor. And again, with that attention-grabbing NPC over there. Looks like you're caught in an infinite loop here but no matter how much you inspect the pop up, there's no... actual way to pay the subscription fee (and why would you want to?). But at least you have company, because you can't be the only person who thought that sword was cool.
(It was really, really cool.)
BONUS [ xxxx ] What’s that on the ground in front of you? It looks like… some bunny ears? Or maybe it’s a chicken head, or a pumpkin head. Either way, the moment you touch it, you have a strong need to put it on your head -- and once it’s on, it’s not coming off.
To make matters worse, each hat has an effect associated with it; the bunny ears will, in fact, randomly turn you into a cute fluffy bunny for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour before you pop right back to yourself, whereas the pumpkin hat will, in a complete reversal, turn you into Cinderella for a bit -- complete with beautiful ball gown and the ability to talk to all of those cute fluffy bunnies.
Also the rats will love you, so maybe you should go back to the caves again.
Meanwhile, the chicken hat won't transform you into any odd creature, but it will inspire in the people wearing them a very real, persistent desire to build a nest. This will involve picking up twigs, trash, shiny things and whatever else catches your eye to try to build a nest out of it. You'll also try to pick up whatever food you find on the ground to eat, have the weirdest desire to lay an egg, and basically have all sorts of odd chicken-like instincts inflicted upon you.
At least you look festive!
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Yagami Hikari | Digimon 02
[She had a feeling she wasn't in the Digital World any longer.]
[The 11-year-old girl stood still for a long moment. Staring. There were no signs of fear on her face. Confusion, perhaps, but not for the usual reasons. After all, she'd been traveling between worlds since she was eight, and encountering large creatures before then.]
[So when a Giant Chicken hobbled by, rubbing around as if it's head had been cut off...well...]
[Calmly, she looked down at Tailmon, who was wearing a similarly bewildered expression.]
Friend of yours, Tailmon?
I've never seen a Digimon like that before in my life. Thankfully.
Phase II
[To her credit, she tried not to laugh. Tailmon had done her best, after all, and it wasn't as if Hikari could have fared any better. The fishing rod she'd been given had already snapped in half, after getting both herself and her partner tangled in the line. With few other options, it had been left to the feline Digimon to ford the river in search of the very fish they needed to cook in order to be granted access.]
[So when she surfaced a few minutes later with an extremely deadpan expression, and fur that looked both slightly chewed on as well as dripping wet...Hikari tried not to laugh at the sight, really.]
I don't want to talk about it.
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[They had picked the pumpkin up together. Each sharing the weight equally as partners.]
[...so of course whatever strange influence it carried had affected them both, leaving both Hikari and Tailmon standing in matching blue dresses. And, judging from the sudden lack of balance on Tailmon's end, high heeled slippers.]
That's strange.
The Digital World never changed my clothes before.
[Hikari, of course, was far too busy inspecting her new dress to notice that poor Tailmon was now laying nearly flat on the ground, glass slipped paws sticking up in the air thanks to the poof of her dress' skirt.]
I wonder why this world suddenly did?
Wow this is late, Phase I
He does not want any memories of being squished by a tetris block! Although, the more he wandered around the area, he couldn't help but see someone rather familiar in the distance.
...Could it be...?]
Hikari-chan? ....Hikari-chan, Tailmon, I didn't know you were here! We're over here!
[He shouted as he and Patamon rushed toward them as fast as they could! But when they finally got there...?]
...When did you get so tall?
and yet so worth the wait!
[Very down.]
Takeru-kun? [She must have been seeing things; it had been more than three years since she'd last seen the top of her best friend's head. Oh. Right. That's what it looked like.] ...when did you get so small?
\o
I've always been this way but that's not fair! I want to know how you got so tall so quickly!
It's not nice to not tell your friends!
[Especially to a kid who wants to grow up!]
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[Curious, she knelt down until they were nearly eye level.]
It wasn't quickly; it took me a few years. Just like you.
The last time I saw you, Takeru-kun, you were even taller than me!
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A few years huh? But the last time I saw you, you were small like me! How many years has it been though? It's still not fair that you get to go to the future!
[But it did make him happy to know that he was growing taller!]
Or maybe better yet, what was I like in the future? I want to know if I did anything cool!
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[It's a cornucopia of confusing concepts.]
[Like how to explain to a chibi!Takeru-kun what the Takeru-kun she'd come to know over those few years without risking any damage to the time stream. Or was that even an issue? He'd already seen her. How much could she tell him? How much was she willing to tell him?]
Well...
[She thought for a second. Out of everything, what about him stood out most in her mind?]
...you saved me.
[Not for the first time, either.]
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Would his mom and dad be back together again? Would he be able to see Yamato a lot more often? He just got to know!!
So as he stared at her with his big round eyes?]
...Saved you? What did I save you from?
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Something bad. [To put it mildly.] I was taken...nobody knew where I was. I didn't know where I was. But, somehow, you found me, and helped me get back home again.
I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help.
[It had taken that whole ordeal for her to realize that, too. How long had she spent clinging to Taichi? The idea that she needed him in order to be strong. Except there were other people around her she could rely on too. Tailmon. Takeru.]
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Then that's good! Because I really don't want you to get hurt! I'm glad that I was able to find you and that everything was okay!
[Although, in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder exactly what that place was. What was that place Hikari needed to be rescued anyway?]
I know I wouldn't want you to go back to wherever that place was, Hikari-chan! [Pause] ...Or would that be Hikari-san now?
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[Except for one thing...]
You've always called me Hikari-chan. I don't see any reason to stop now.
[Even with the unexpected, sudden age difference...it didn't sound right having him call her -san.]
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[The boy giggled before Patamon started flying straight up to Tailmon and circling around the both of them a bit.
As he kept on studying them, Takeru suddenly ad a thought!]
By the way, since you're new here, you never played the ViViD have you? I don't know how much you played here but if you need any help, let me know though!
I don't really know what's going on either but I'll try my best?
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[It was, perhaps, one of the rare times she almost felt shy. Since the day she first found Hikari.]
...ViViD? [Hikari, meanwhile, was a little more turned into the fact that Takeru seemed more familiar with their surroundings than she.] Is that the name of this World?
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So...I guess it must be nice in the future right? Is everything okay there?
[And let the awkward sink in...
But it seemed like Takeru was going to have a lot of explaining to do didn't he?]
No, that's Cerealia! ViViD is what you call whenever you play a game here! Like it looks really real but it's not! I guess it's kind of like going to the Digital World? Except it's not real?
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[So Tailmon decided to risk step two and scamper a little closer to her good friend.]
Umm...
[Speaking of awkward. Hikari shared down at him sheepishly for a moment, lightly scratching at her cheek.]
Sort of? It's kind of a long story.
[Where oh where to begin? The Digimon Kaizer...the Dark Rings...Tailmon having lost her holy ring--something which Patmon may or may not pick up on when he got close enough to the feline digimon--and she and the others being unable to digivolve in the presence of Dark Towers....]
Then ViViD is more like a...digital Digital World, then.
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Man, doesn't he feel guilty. Both he and Takeru were 3 years behind and they got a lot of catching up to do!
And yet...]
Well, we got time! I don't think the ViViD will kick us out of the game any time soon! We can leave any time we want!
[Unless you were being eaten by a giant PacMan or being squished by a Tetris block but that was for another story! Right now though?]
You can say something like that! Just without really giant monsters that can come and really attack you! I don't want you or Tailmon to get hurt here!
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[Although Patamon's hesitation, though hardly harboring any ill will behind it, certainly gave Tailmon reason to pause. She considered him for a moment before politely sitting back down on the ground. Ring-less tail swishing behind her. She glanced back at Hikari and the little Takeru, who seemed to be conversing in a similarly awkward manner.]
[Well...she supposed if they could deal with it...she could too.]
Not getting attacked sounds nice.
[Inadvertently revealing a little more of the Digital World as she currently knew it to be. Whoops.]
But...I suppose, if we have time, I could tell you a few things. Shall we find somewhere to sit?
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Hey, what happened to your ring? You didn't get hurt did you?
[But now, he couldn't help but wonder if something bad might have happened. Whatever the future might hold, Patamon wasn't sure if he wanted to know!
But as Takeru listened to the older girl, he just gave a small frown.' Not being attacked would be nice'? What was that suppose to mean?]
Yeah, we can do that! How about over there? We can sit under those trees and we can talk about the future!
[And yet, there was this nagging feeling in the back of his mind if he was suppose to know about it or not.]
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I lost it. [Her whiskers twiched.] During a fight.
[Meanwhile, Hikari took up Takeru's suggestion with a warm smile, and proceeded to head over to the nearest cluster of trees. It wasn't overly warm out, but the shade was pleasant. On top of that, it felt good to rest her feet for a little while, and she waited for him to sit next to her so they could continue their conversation.]
[All the while wondering what she should say. And how. It was ironic; of anybody--and that quite possibly included Taichi--Takeru knew her the best. He'd seen her at her absolute worst, knew what frightened her, and had a knack for reading what she was thinking without her ever having to say anything. Ever since they were small. So for there to suddenly be so many necessary words left unsaid...not to mention, things she might not be able to tell him...]
[Before she knew it, a frown had appeared at the thought.]
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Bonus
This man, this youth, he gives a serious nod.]
Many unusual things happen here, young lady! It seems this might be the effect of a pumpkin "power-up"!
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[
Granted, Etemon had been before her time...but she'd heard stories.]You don't look like a pumpkin to me.
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[Speaking of the latter, the young kitten digimon was still eyeing the newcomer with wary eyes. Forever protective of her Chosen partner, but refraining until acting unless Hikari expressed either fear or signs of being in any danger.]
Does this sort of thing happen often around here?
[He seemed strangely cal--well, no, definitely not calm, but certainly not panicking over the idea of wearing a dress. Like it was an everyday occurrence for him.]
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But, a number of unusual effects do happen to us from time to time! Especially here in ViViD! We must be ready for anything...! [His only true problem is that it's hard to train in this.]
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What else can happen around here?
[So she can already start mentally bracing herself.]