004 {DELTA} dog dancing bird grammar night grass

[hazardgear]

Xion's first thought is, I don't know how to play a Heavy Blade... What if I get killed just looking for Targetlock?

Her second thought: Did he just pick keywords to make this thing stupidly long?

Third: Does it have to be so... so creepy?

The field seems to be grass, judging by the sound Axel's character makes when he walks and the random patches of green here and there, but for the most part, it was dark, as if it was blood-soaked. Xion blanches. Why would Axel be friends with someone who has a meeting place like this?

She doesn't know where she's supposed to be looking, or what Targetlock's character looks like. Xion swallows her fear and grips her controller tighter. Come on, Xion... Calm down. It's just a game. There isn't anything this guy can do to hurt you. You just need to find him and then he'll tell you what you want to know. Simple as that.

... Right?

Comments

[ceilingwave]

Character idle animations are amusing to a degree, but Braig's has been looping for who knows how long now. An hour? Two hours? More than that? He lost count after a while. It had been about half an hour since he'd entertained himself by throwing paper balls at Xehanort's head, and even now he was throwing darts at a nearby dartboard waiting for some sign.

Finally, his field monitor chirps at him and he perks up. Someone else has entered the field, finally! Even if it's not her, it could be potential business. It's his lucky day though, and his waiting is over.

Now of course, it's a matter of her finding him. He's not too far out of the way, and he hasn't altered the monster level to keep out people... yet. She's so fresh she doesn't even know how to use her character logs, he's been told...

She's close. He can hear the sound of footsteps in the grass. His character is stretching, staff behind its head.

He wonders if she's ready to pay his price.

[daegesege]

Nothing... No one... Not even a wandering monster. It's making Xion a little nervous.

And then she turns a corner and sees a burst of color that doesn't fit in with the scenery, and she literally jumps in her seat. "Waah -- " Thank goodness she isn't using her microphone right now. She figured that was the best option, since she knows she has no chance of imitating Axel's voice well enough to actually fool anyone, especially someone Axel already knows.

She takes a deep breath through her nose, exhales, and reaches for the keyboard.

"Hey. Sorry for being slow."

[ceilingwave]

Even if she's a complete clueless newbie she's smart enough to know not to use voice. She probably doesn't expect him to know anything about her at all... his advantage. With what Saix told him, and the brief description of Xehanort's encounter with her, he has enough of a picture of the person masquerading in his former comrade's character.

"Don't worry about it. You should have said you didn't know how to look it up," he teases, pointedly, wondering if she'll take the bait or try to continue to act the part.

[daegesege]

"Wha -- "

He knows?! But how? Does it matter? He knows. What does she do now? Can she fake it good enough to be convincing? Or would he think she's stupid for trying? He doesn't seem angry she's been lying. But why did he decide to meet with her, if he already knew she wasn't Axel? Maybe he wants to know why she's on his character. But sharing passwords is illegal, and if this account gets shut down for it, too, this character that Axel left for her...

Xion's mouth sets in a grim line before she starts typing again.

"You just would've made fun of me."

[ceilingwave]

"What else is new?" He snorts loudly. Even if he didn't know this wasn't Axel, that removes all doubts. There was always some degree of snark between them... that was more or less how Xehanort's organization worked when not mobilized (and even then...) "You're clearly not Axel, you're not making fun of me back."

[daegesege]

Xion flinches. There's something about the way he says that... It stings. It isn't an accusation, not quite. It's the calling of her bluff, straight to her face. It takes her a moment before she can reply.

"You know his real name?" She wasn't expecting that. She thought this person would just be someone Axel knew online. Maybe one of his friends from school? But he sounds too old for that...

[ceilingwave]

"Of course I do. I know everything. Lea isn't a mystery." If nothing else, that should remove all doubts. She knows his group name... that's odd in and of itself. He gives out his group name even less than his real name, preferring to stick with his username. Then again, Axel did give her his password... how much did he tell her, that was the real question.

"How much do you think you know about him."

[daegesege]

Lea. It feels like her heart is burning. Her fingers twitch. She can feel a pain in her legs, but she knows that pain isn't real. She hasn't been able to feel anything in her legs since... since. And the pain in her head, it's a tension headache.

"Enough." The response comes surprisingly quick, especially for the pace she's set thus far. "What do you know about this virus?"

[ceilingwave]

Braig triggers a shrugging response in his character, the brightly-dressed mage spreading his arms wide. She's going straight to the point... his remarks have hit home.

"That's not something that'll come cheap, poppet. What do you have to offer for that particular information?"

[daegesege]

She spends that night devising her plan, looking up what she needs to know, and trawling through areas and dungeons. She needs to find each item in order to make this work...

That morning, she returns to the blood-soaked field and the spot where she met Targetlock the first time. He isn't there, but that's okay. She waits.

He'll find her asleep at the monitor.

[ceilingwave]

He actually forgot about her. Sorry, Xion. Instead, he goes to his weekly shooting practice, hangs out with some friends, comes back to eat whatever's left over in the kitchen from when Xehanort made supper, checks to see if his roommate is still awake and what's going on (if he needs to do anything), and then sits down with a nice cold one before he checks his field monitor.

Well, what do you know. She's back already? That was fast.

He logs in and heads over to check on her. Her terminal's reporting idle, so he stands around waiting a little bit and fighting off any monsters that approach.

[daegesege]

The sounds of combat jolt her awake. Her movement jars the controller, accidentally moving her into the path of a monster's attack.

"Waugh!"

Well, she might as well help while she's here, right? She activates a Moon card (purchased while hunting down her "box lunch") on the one whose path she stumbled into before moving in to cut it down. She still isn't entirely used to using Axel's character yet, but running around finding her ingredients has at least gotten her more familiar with it.

Once the field is clear, she leans back in her chair and sighs in relief before typing. "Sorry about that. I was afk."

[ceilingwave]

If they needed any more proof that this wasn't Axel, it was obvious in how unconfident this user's playing style was compared to their former contemporary. Of course, at this point there was little reason to rub salt into an already well-agitated wound.

At least she has some signs of strategy, using status cards and such.

As for his own efforts, the modifications to his character are made rather clear: he doesn't call spells the way most other Wavemasters do, they are fired like bullets that go off in the spell's effect. His weapon is a staff that when wielded almost seems to resemble a gun...

When the monsters have been taken care of, he turns back to the impostor. "Didn't mean to keep you waiting. I wasn't expecting you so soon. It's not an easy item to get at your level."

[daegesege]

At your level. At her playing ability, not her character level. Xion's ears burn, but she manages to bite back any defensive comment that rose up.

But she stills at his phrasing. Item? Not items? Is he pulling her leg? Xion pushes down her immediate instinct to run, to log out. No, stop being silly, she tells herself. I've got it, right?

"Well... Are you ready to trade?"

[ceilingwave]

"Sure, poppet," he says, giving her an amused look. "I even researched what the going trade level for a box lunch is. You'll be getting something pretty nice for it."

He waited, letting her set up the trade as she saw fit. He was mildly curious, though... how had she gotten the item? Had she traded up to it? That was often what people did, but... she was supposed to be fairly clueless. Perhaps she used Axel's items, or money to buy it.

[daegesege]

> Root Vegetable x1
> Mandragora x1
> Immature Egg x1
> Bear Cat Egg x1
> Piney Apple x1
> Oh No Melon x1
> White Cherry x1
> La Pumpkin x1

After selecting all of her items and confirming, Xion settles back in her chair to wait for Targetlock to fill in his side.

[ceilingwave]

There was going to be a sizeable wait, as he simply stared at what he saw before him. What was she doing... did she really...

Finally, he cancelled the trade. "Do you even know what a box lunch is?" he asked. "That's a lot of Grunty food, and the theme is sort of there, but... that's not what I asked for."

[daegesege]

It is now day eight since the Grunty Food Incident.

But she's back. She's back and she actually has it and she got it all by herself, no trading involved.

Even... if... that area was...

...

Well, the fact that it's day eight is very telling, let's just leave it at that. She's trying very hard to put all that behind her. Heavy Blades are very different from Twin Blades, she quickly learned, but it took her longer to really get a hang of using Axel's character. She's glad that not a lot of people visited that dungeon, because she's fully aware that she made a fool out of herself more than once.

But she has it. She did it. And now she has a better handle on using this character. As frustrating as this whole experience has been, she feels... not quite proud, no. But she feels ready.

... which makes her uneasy. The fact that she feels ready means that she isn't at all. That's something else that this whole... thing has taught her.

[ceilingwave]

Luckily for her, Braig attends business fairly often. He's just finishing up with someone who he has partied with so they can whisper the information they're trading back and forth.

It doesn't take long for the transaction to complete, and soon enough the other person leaves. Pleased, Braig whistles a little to himself, making his character twirl his staff.

He's surprised to see Axel's character there again. He had figured she'd given up by now, since neither he nor Xehanort had heard anything from her since her last email. He waves a little to her, beckoning her over.

"Back again, poppet?"

[daegesege]

"You sound surprised." Axel's character puts his hands on his hips.

To be honest, though, Xion doesn't know how she feels about that. She did better than he expected? But he didn't expect much from her to begin with? But then, well... Would she expect much from her?

[ceilingwave]

"Wasn't sure if I should be expecting you or not, that's all." There's no harm in being honest. If she's here again, she no doubt means business. "You're determined to see this through, huh."

[daegesege]

"Of course I am. I wouldn't have bothered with any of this if I wasn't." On her side of the screen, Xion scowls. "I have your stupid box lunch."

[ceilingwave]

"Must be really important, if you're using someone else's character and making a deal like this." He's not going to start wheedling with her yet, but there has to be a way to break the ice with her.

[daegesege]

"Do you want your dumb item or not?"

[ceilingwave]

"Now, now, if I say no it negates everything you've done for over a week. Temper, temper, poppet."