downhill

location: floor 54

location: a hotel on 52

location: fiona’s mount ranch 

location: unity guild main hall

She couldn’t argue with her. It made complete sense, wasn’t that how life was anyway. There are always going to be people in the world, real or virtual, that wouldn’t listen to you. That had their own idea and views on things but at the end of the day. Even if they don’t hear you out, at least you know what they are thinking, what their goal is and that gave you a leg up because at least you knew what to prepare for. You had the knowledge something you wouldn’t have gotten if you just played shit by ear. Killmongur smiled at her, nodding her head as she pondered her words, 

“ I get it.. I don’t like it but you’re right. It starts with each individual. Trust is earned but we have to be willing to give it too and closing ourself off doesn’t  allow for trust but more distrust.  Damn, way to keep me on my toes Fiona.” she chuckled 

Knowledge was power, that was something Killmongur needed. Especially if she wanted to find her friend. So it begged the question, when was enough, enough? Killmongur blinked at the woman, she hadn’t expected her to offer her help. Killmongur didn’t know if she should take it after all, one of her guild members had killed one of Fiona’s. Still, Fiona didn’t seem like the type to shit talk. If she said something Killmongur had a strong feeling she meant it. “Thank you, we … I didn’t think you would be so kind. I… mean… you know,” she shrugged clearing her throat. “ -I don’t want to bother you with my shit.” 

“you seem to be perfectly on your toes already,” she teased, and took a moment to survey the room. she knew not everyone was crazy about this idea, but she thought that david and luna had come to a pretty good agreement. “and you’re right. that’s a lesson i have to work on myself,” she admitted, because she’d been guilty herself for preaching of trust but not holding others to the same standards. 

location: floor fifty-seven, the white maze. player(s): hela + open.

with the scrape of her teeth, hela had finally made it to floor fifty-seven. fifty-six had been long, tiring but mostly terrifying. to begin with the halloween vibes left her in awe, it was one of her favourite annual holidays which she celebrated with friends, families and even neighbours. then it caused a pang of pain to hit her chest, the feeling of homesickness returning as these memories flooded back to her; every step triggering a new one. but soon she came face to face with the first scarecrow, she had been warned about them but never really believed just how truly frightening they appeared. the same fear was felt whenever someone mentioned erebus was around. 

mazes were the most frustrating yet intriguing setting, it allowed her to wander with caution but managed to shed her hair with stress at each turn. entering this new floor almost blinded her, it was like she had come face to face with the sun when she jumped back, hand lifting to cover her eyes as she gradually took a few steps in. her breath was heavy, heart pounding as her arm lowered to reveal nothing but a sea of white. the floor almost marble-looking which tempted her to tap her foot against the floor, scared that it would break under her weight. 

she tiptoed further into the maze, hand raising to scratch the back of her neck. “another maze? fuck sake.” she huffed, pursing lips together as she debated which direction to turn. hela had always been indecisive, she was never really one to follow her own initiative but these newly opened floors were testing her. she decided to turn right first, fingers grazing the walls as she examined the surroundings. then all of a sudden a laser shot from a diagonal direction at her from the wall, she yelped; her elbow smashing against the wall as another fired from the opposite direction.

both of them shooting at the same time caused her to think on her toes, she took a few steps back then took a run up, sliding on her side, while holding her elbow, through the centre of the two just before they crossed. her eyes were shut unsure whether she’d made the correct choice but she had, she was alive. just. but with her attention averted over her shoulder to watch the lasers while brushing her skirt down to rid of the dust. before she knew it she had walked into another player which had watched the whole charade go down. “oh shit, sorry.” 

players: noir & open. location: floor 58 ; the garden maze

          although it hadn’t really come up in the game until now, bugs were one of abby’s biggest fears back in the real world. she’d scream at the sight of a cockroach, sleepon the couch if she found a moth in her bedroom, and luke had to kill more spiders for her than she could count. all this to say that noir wasn’t QUITE sure why she had chosen to go to floor 58, perhaps to prove something to herself. and although she went in with good intentions, noir didn’t hesitate to squeal upon encountering her first monster relatively early on in the maze, a four foot tall wasp.

          she was quick to slice the demon bug’s wings off before decapitating it and having it pixelate into nothingness. although she made quick work of the insect, it still managed to bleed, wasp blood splattered over her face and armor which caused the blonde to groan to herself, trying not to scream in disgust. she heard footsteps coming up behind her, causing noir to spin around, wiping the blood off her cheek. she attempted to look unfazed, now that someone else could see her. she tossed her hair behind her shoulder easily, “ that was really gross… ”

elektra knows what the responsibilities are as a guild master. she knows the task of guild meetings, settling disputes — all the boring parts of the job. she had to admit: this town hall could be… much worse. but as optimistic as she tries to be, elektra still isn’t completely sold on the idea of everyone working together; that this many personalities who still mostly hide by the armor of their avatar would be able to cooperate and dialogue. regardless, she just wants out at this point and she’s down to work with anyone or anything to unlock these damn mazes faster. & yeah — there’s that. we can never forget about this girl’s streak of impatience either. “i guess punching through the mazes is out of the question, huh?”

A smart ass comment danced on the tip of her tongue before she saw who it was. “I was bound to have one sooner or later,”she chuckled nervously. Killmongur had seen Fiona in passing, usually when she was with Lily and some of the other kids at the orphanage. She could count on one hand the people that intimated her and Fiona was it. She reminded Killmongur of her mother. Not in looks but the way she carried herself. Her wisdom, the silent strength she wielded so skillfully. Fuck,  she didn’t need that kind of pressure in her life. 

She huffed,“-What’s the point when people do what they want. No one trust anyone, Maybe my idea is good but how many people are honestly going to want to follow the idea that came from a Revenant member? No one.”

Dark eyes looked down at the kitten that played at her feet. Wicca was fierce, like her mama Eclipse. The thought of her missing friend caused her to frown and take a drag from her cig. “Careful, that’s how she gets ya. She makes you think she’s all cute and innocent, then she’s ruining your skirts.”. Picking up Wicca and placed her on her shoulder. “She’s been a little sad lately, she lost someone one special to her didn’t you Wicca.” in response the black cat purred softy nuzzling herself into the crook of Killmongur’s neck. “she’s normally not the shy type.” 

“i know, trust is hard to come by these days,” she agreed. because while she liked the idea of a town hall and found it absolutely necessary, she could see where killmongur came from. it was easy to feel let down by everything that had happened, and even easier to become jaded. but a ‘why bother’ attitude didn’t help anyone, especially the person who said it. “but trust is earned, so what better place to start? from everyone.” herself included. even if unity had a very positive reputation, she didn’t consider herself above the trust pool. if she wanted people’s respect, and if they wanted hers, she would have to put in the effort for it. “and if they choose not to accept a good idea because you’re a revenant, then at least they know of the idea. so if we decide to go forward with it, they’ll understand what’s happening. to me, these sort of things are more about everyone being on the same page, and less about agreeing what’s on the page...if that makes sense.”

Player: Thanatos Location: Town Hall Meeting

Jal’s features scrunch as she listens to one of the people speaking against the idea of the guilds uniting to get to floor 61. The possible downsides they listed were: People withholding information (resolved by…. working together), People hurting each other (resolved by….. working together, not against each other), People breaking their promise (literally anyone can do that?) - mostly just people. Was this person even in a guild? They seemed to be more skeptical of other players than anything else. While normally Jal would side with them, this wasn’t the time or place. They didn’t want to be here all day.

This whole mini-truce called on by Achilles seemed a bit fake. Was this just some sort of show, to puff out their chests and get a better rap than “friendship bracelet clique”? Sure, sometimes guilds would call for a plan, but unlike the boats thing Jupiter called for, this was all about getting people’s input - what a mistake. She knew what happened when everyone with an opinion got into a room. It turned into yelling. 

It was only a matter of time before Mercutio or Radish stood up to talk and pissed someone off, setting off a whole new reason for the guilds to hate each other. Regardless, they came here like any other good information broker would. Someone was bound to say something smart, right? Their notebook was open and they were taking notes, marking down who spoke, if any guilds were particularly lively or aligned - just in case. 

Her final report on the information she gathered would go to either the highest bidder or most compelling guild leader. She did consider, however, just talking with other information brokers and seeing what they could come up with collectively. After all, she couldn’t be the only one here.

fiona was also taking notes, but for far less interesting purposes. she simply wanted to catalogue what had been suggested, to have a sort of minutes-like transcript of the issue at hand. she’d always been an excellent note-taker, and today was no exception. she scribbled down the various plans and input as simply as she could, in a short hand that she understood. she’d write out a full report later, for any of her unity members who hadn’t been able to make it and wanted to know what was happening. 

Location: The Atrium - Town hall Meeting Players: open 

This was  pointless. All of them sitting here, arguing about this shit instead of actually doing something. Killmongur had come to the town hall meeting to show her support since Luna was one of the players who came up with the idea. Now, she was wishing she hadn’t made the effort. Opinions were like assholes: everyone had one and everyones stunk. Too many people allowed to speak and no real plan was set. If they kept this up the mazes would never be solved. 

Pulling out one of her blueberry cigarettes, Killmongur stood in the shadows at the back of the hall. Taking a long drag before blowing the slightly blue tinted smoke away. Wicca, lightly pawing at her skirts apparently just as bored as she was. 

“ Can’t we just send people in with string; every path that is a dead end you secure the thread,  go back to the start and a mage changes the color to red or something. Why are we waisting time with town meetings.” 

“that’s a good idea,” she said, and was in a surprisingly chipper mood. she really liked the idea of a town meeting, mostly because she valued being on the same page as everyone else. to her, making sure people were communicating properly was the only way any of them were going to make it out. “and the reason we need the town meeting is so people can hear it and do it.” 

Padme couldn’t help but grin now. Fiona–as nervous as she might make her–also had a way of putting her (and it seemed everyone who met her) at ease. “Thank you,” she said, pushing back a loose curl from her eyes. “Well, my legs are falling asleep.” She kicked a bit–not that Fiona would notice–then leaned her elbows on the windowsill in an attempt to settle down comfortably. “But otherwise, I’m pretty good. The food is really nice, huh? Probably poisoned–we will probably alll die tonight, part of the game, but sure is a nice way to go out.” 

          after her tense interaction with erebus, minnie knocked back what was probably too many shots, and was enjoying hanging out with a group of unity members at the bar. she was allowing herself to relax, ignoring the feeling of impending doom hovering over their heads, and letting loose for once. at the sound of fiona’s voice, she spun around in her chair and let out a squeal (that she would vehemently deny later) of glee at the sight of her guild leader. “ fiona! “ she leaped out of her chair, rushing forward to catch her boss in a hug. it was a little awkward, with how short minnie compared to the other woman, even in heels, but she ignored that fact to instead hold the other woman close. “ are you having a good night? “

Wow, Unity really was pushing the envelope today weren’t they? Now even their leader decided to have the audacity to give Erebus attitude, and it became the final straw. If she wasn’t wearing a mask it wouldn’t have been been hard to see the twitch in her eye at the mention of Seraph’s demise. Wasn’t Unity supposed to be the guild that was all about peace and prosperity? Not stuck up arses who didn’t know when to say thank you. Instead she was met with, oh you’re having a temper tantrum, oh typical of Circus to have a scandal inside their own guild, fuck Circus blah blah blah. She deserved the same amount of respect any of the other guild masters received, hell maybe even more for saving all their asses on floor 55. Yet here she was, dealing with these shit hole people and their ungrateful blind judgement. Erebus stared Fiona right in the eyes as she stepped forward, the woman had just lit a canon and it was about to explode right in her face. “Right because I should be all cheery and glad after my second in command died to make sure one of your own members was able to safely escape. Because I should be happy that I am now being disrespected by said guild’s leader instead of getting a thank you for making sure no lives had to be spared in order to beat the last floor.” She was barely a few inches from Fiona now, and with a sneer Erebus spat out. “Don’t give me your high and mighty shit, try to fucking humble yourselves like Unity says they do and just say those two words and don’t say anything else. You think you can do that? Is it so hard to even just say thanks and shut your goddamn mouth?”

she didn’t flinch or move when the woman stepped forward towards her. she wasn’t afraid of erebus. she was a beast she knew, a person that she believed she had figured out. someone who held her command through violence and fear was not someone she was about to be intimidated by. she’d heard how she handled her rebellion. public execution? what the hell was that? were they now in a world where that kind of behavior was okay? had this person before her regressed so far that now she was out here serving up whatever eye for an eye justice she saw fit? “is that what you want? a thank you? for what, going behind my and everyone else’s back and enacting a plan that you couldn’t know would work for sure?” that was the heart of it, really. because the last two boss battles had been, in her opinion, handled so recklessly and immaturely. and for what? recognition? that was certainly what it seemed like. “i’m not like the others in this game, i’m not the sort who wants to open floors no matter what the cost. if you’ve suddenly had a change of heart, then you’ll get my thanks when you work with me rather than deciding you’re so good that you don’t need to convene with a single guild about your plan. maybe it worked out this time by sheer luck, but next time, it could be far worse. if you want my respect, then work with me. i do not need you to step up and save the day, and you won’t get it from me by intimidation and aggression.”

Padme quite wished that the wall had absorbed her completely. Being eaten by some sort of building monsters–with stucco skin and wooden beams for teeth–had to be better than being caught like this by Fiona of all people. She looked so nice in her (very tight) dress, and as always, Padme felt her cheeks warming at the very presence of the older woman. “Thank you,” she said glumly, taking one of the cookies and chewing away her sorrow. “You look very nice. I don’t want to keep you from the party. I’m sure you have lots of dancing and wowing to do.” 

location: velia prom at that sweet sweet bar