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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no subject
I see. [ He doesn't. The response itself sounds incredibly dubious. Mostly because if it's shiny they want, why couldn't they have found something or someone else to harass? Having rats silently cooing at you is really...weird. ]
So if there's something of higher shine quality, they may potentially leave? [ He has his doubts. ]
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[She stood up, hand rising to her chin in sudden uncertainty.]
I...don't know for certain. [Two seconds away from apologizing for even daring to make the suggestion in the first place.] It was only a guess. Most animals I've come across seem to favor shiny objects, so I thought...
[It seemed a reasonable enough conclusion, but she didn't want to get anyone's hopes up.]
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It wasn't a stupid suggestion. [ Maybe not one he would've gone for first, but different viewpoints are helpful. Even if they come from someone who laughed about the dress. It's a nice gown??? ] Trying to divert their interest, though...
[ Could prove to be tough. But hey, isn't that what this bag of infinite things is for? Maybe not initially, but it's starting to look like a solution. Dropping the bag to the floor, he doesn't even peer in it as he sticks his hand in, fishing out whatever decides to come to hand first.
Which happens to be a tin of mints. Thanks bag, a real help. ]
no subject
[...she could accept that as a form of compliment.]
[Iris watched with renewed curiosity as the boy reached into his bag. He pulled out...she had to lean forward and squint a little to get a decent look at what he was holding...was that...a tin can of some kind? Tin was shiny, wasn't it? And it made noise whenever something equally hard came into contact with it.]
Do you think that might work?
no subject
No. It's not large enough to attract attention. [ The tin gets dropped to the floor with a loud rattle. One of the rats near his foot seems to startle for a moment before going back to adoring the sparkly hem of his dress. Ergh.
Sticking his hand back into the bag, he procures a small leather satchel with a drawstring. A bag in a bag? How witty. Curiously, he opens that, to find it full of marbles.
Well then, this could be useful.
With more precision than a young boy wearing a dress should have, he flicks one of the marbles at a rat further away. It makes a squeaking sound and goes to give chase. ]
Ah.
no subject
[But then, he pulled out something else. Even smaller than before, but as she got a better look, she realized it was a...pearl? No, a marble. What was he--?]
It worked!
[She smiled up at him, looking strangely pleased despite the fact that she had done nothing. Although...an idea came to her, and she reached into her own bag. After a moment of digging, she too pulled out a similar bag full of marbles. A small handful were dropped into her palm, and as she knelt down, she threw them across the way, drawing the attention of even more rats.]
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He's just starting to get a sinking feeling as he flicks marbles, stock running lower with every one he picks out of the bag, when one whizzes past his ankle. Surprised, he turns to see the previously laughing girl has her own set. An accomplice??? From an unlikely source, but okay, he'll take it. Steadily, he steps forward, rats dispersing away from him as the marbles go pinging off the walls of the cave.
Time to look for that exit again. ]
Here, this way.
no subject
I'll follow you.
[There should be little trouble in keeping up with him, at least; her current manner of dress was familiar enough that she could move swiftly in it. Even in the deepest trenches of snow up in the mountains; compared to that, a dark cave was little challenge.]
no subject
So, this is new. ]
Alright. I think the exit is up this way. It was, last time I went through here.
[ As long as she doesn't slack behind, this should be a good partnership for the time being. ]
no subject
[One thing Iris was immensely good at, though, was being incredibly light on her feet. Even with the hardened floors and cavern echoes around them, she barely made a sound as she moved along. Doing her best to keep pace with her newest companion.]
no subject
Of course, just as he's thinking that, they're outside. Oh.
Glancing over his shoulder, he makes sure the young girl is still with him. Satisfied that she's kept pace, he figures maybe...introductions are in order. ]
...I never got your name.
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[Oh, of course. She had nearly forgotten in the excitement of the moment.]
My name is Iris.
[A light bow of her head followed, in respectful greeting. From there, she waited for him to return the favor in whatever manner he saw fit.]
no subject
Trowa. [ He makes no such bow, nor does he even extend his hand. Shaking hands it's such a foreign thing, after all. But, to leave it at just a name feels so... empty. So, after a brief moment, he comes to resolution.
And curtsies. ]
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[...oh...oh, no...]
[She couldn't help herself. She giggled, soft and quick. A reflexive reaction to such a sight. Almost immediately after the laughter escaped her lips, however, she looked apologetic.]
I'm so sorry. I didn't mean...to laugh.
[Not that she was laughing at him...much... She was laughing in amusement. And slight embarrassment.]
no subject
It's fine. [ He's worked in a circus before, this is nothing. ] Nice to meet you, Iris.
no subject
[Iris was nearly positive she'd never met a boy quite like him before.]
You as well, Trowa.
[Now that introductions had been properly completed, she took a moment to glance around their newest surroundings. Had they found the exit? Did that mean they won...whatever strange game they had been volunteered to take part of?]
Do you know what we're supposed to do now?