Katze Plains
Lone Pasture

Face had been facing a naked Lord DoShit who had been stripped down to his human drawers and was holding his last max upgraded and enchanted weapon, a great axe that looked like it was ripped from hell. The Obsidian Great Axe was completely black and bathed in fire—almost like those sometimes cool-sometimes ridiculous weapon skins they sold in the cash shop. The assassin was seated in the grass, gazing at the time on his interface. The server should have been shutting down any moment.

“The server is gonna shut down any minute now,” Face informed.

“I don’t care, noob!”

“Seeing you like this is pathetic. You don’t even have any decent gear. I don’t know how you even made it this far in the game. I guess with money there doesn’t need to be a logical explanation.”

“Shut the fuck up! I’m gonna own you until the end!”

“Ok; yeah; sure, buddy because you’re on quite the owning streak already.”

The game started to flicker. Looks like it’s finally happening. Thank God.

The graphics blurred just as the War Lord activated a burning charge toward him. Everything blurred into a smear of incomprehensible details before his eyes, and when the game started to focus—no, it was more like his eyes started to focus. He could feel cool air on his skin, smell fresh grass, and hear the atmosphere breathing about him. Everything focused and no longer was he in a field with lesser slimes hopping around.

“AGH! AAAH! OH GOD! OH FUCK!”

The screams startled him, causing him to jerk away from the direction the pained shrieks came from. He saw the war lord on his back in the grass, grasping his side that was spurting with blood. Those screams hadn’t been programmed into the game before. The sound was unlike anything he had ever heard. The screams sounded real and the human’s face was contorted with terror and agony.

“Mein Gott…” his voice left him slightly muffled. As though he were speaking through a gas mask. Glancing down at his hands, he saw his dark-grey slender fingers wrapped about the handle of a kusarigama, the sanguine blade dripping with fresh blood. He could smell the copper. The metallic smell made his free hand rise to his face to grasp a smooth rounded shape. His fingers passed into the three holes in his skull curiously, finding no nose, eyes, or mouth. “Ich bin der Doppelgänger!”

“WHAT IS HAPPENING!? HELP ME! PLEASE GOD!” the war lord cried.

Face rushed over to the man, shaking in fear. Had he done this? Had he cut him? It must have happened before the server crash. The server did crash right? His hands were trembling as he raised them over the war lord’s body, unsure what to do. Where were the commands? Where was anything!?

“Do you have any more health potions?”

“I DO! I-I CAN’T ACCESS THEM! NOTHING IS WORKING HELP!”

“The…The bleeding should stop in 10 seconds.”

The excessive bleeding would stop but nothing was going to close that gaping wound in his side. There was so much blood. It was pooling in the grass. Face glanced around at his surroundings, seeing a bunch of fluffy lambs hopping about. Eying their wool, Face reassured the war lord, “I’ll be back. Wait one second.”

Face rose from his crouched position and raced over to one of the bouncing sheep. He grappled one within his arms, the creature bahing and bucking and tore a puffy handful of its wool free. Releasing the creature, Face momentarily gazed down at the wool in his hands. It was spongy, warm, and rough, but its pillowy texture would help. He raced back over to the war lord and pressed the wool clump against his wound.

“Press this against your wound for a moment. I am going to see if I can figure out my inventory. I’m sure I have a health potion I could give you.”

Lord DoThis pressed the wool desperately against his side as he continued to groan on the ground. Face reached a hand into one of his pouches at his belt, and his conscience seemed to expand. He could see the items. There. One health potion. Drawing the item from his pouch, he held the vial up before his nonexistent eyes and swirled the red liquid around. It was fascinating to see an actual health potion. Seriously, what was going on with the game? He knelt next to Lord DoThis and slid his hands beneath his armpits to prop his torso up against him. Tugging the cork free, Face brought the potion to the war lord’s lips to help him drink. The warrior drank hurriedly, pausing for a minute to grimace over the taste, “Guh! What is this? It’s so bitter!”

“Drink it, you idiot!” Face growled.

As the human continued to drink, red sparkles started to rise off his body and the gash at his side started to slowly close. Face watched the healing potion work its magic in relief until an odd sensation befell his conscience. Two red spheres appeared within the holes in his face. His vision became red. Everything around him was crimson, and for a moment, he felt distant. As though he wasn’t himself. He watched his hands begin to act on their own, dropping the health potion and grasping the kusarigama.

“Hey! I wasn’t finished!” Lord DoThis exclaimed in protest.

Face’s arm crossed over the war lord’s throat and swiftly uncrossed, dragging the red sickle across his throat and parting its flesh like paper. Blood tumbled from Lord DoThis’s lips and his head tipped back against the dopplegänger, further than any human head was supposed to go. Blood shot in streams into the assassin’s face. He could feel it. Warm and cooling by the second in the air. It ran down his smooth face and seeped into his top. The red vision faded as color rushed back to his eyes and so had his conscience. Face stared in horrified silence at the dead man whose lifeless eyes were gazing up at him. His body was limp and heavy in his lap. Had…Had he killed him? What? How? He didn’t push anything to trigger the execution. He didn’t do anything! How did this happen?

The dopplegänger fearfully screamed and crawled backwards across the grass away from the body.

“Was zur Hölle! Was habe ich getan?! Nein! Das habe ich nicht gemacht!” (What the hell? What did I do? No! I didn’t do this!) Face cried. He crawled further away from the body until his back met the fluffy backside of a lamb who was carelessly munching on grass. He whirled on the creature in fright, his sudden motion scaring the creature into bouncing away. The assassin felt so on edge. “Was ist passiert?” (What has happened?)

The assassin collapsed on his side and curled into a ball. His lengthy hands covered his face as he wept without tears. Ich wollte ihn nicht töten! (I didn’t mean to kill him!) After a good fifteen minutes of grief, the dopplegänger continued to lay there in the grass surrounded by sheep. He gazed across the field at the body that some crows had found and started to eat. In the quiet, he felt…alone. Alone, but not entirely confused.

“I am the Greater Dopplegänger,” he accepted. My character was a master assassin, and I was aligned with evil. Could my body still be aligned with evil despite what I believe?

He continued to watch the crows devour the human. I wonder if Lord DoThis is actually dead or is he free from this hell? I am in the game. I am inside my character. If I don’t learn how to interact with the interface, then I won’t be able to log out. Or I may end up like Lord DoThis (is he dead?).

Face grasped his face, and he would be closing his eyes if he had any. Am I evil? I watched myself kill him. Could I have stopped it? If my character was evil, does that make me evil?

His thoughts depressed him. I can’t stay here moping forever. I have to learn everything again or else I won’t make it. Yggdrasil is still a PVP world. I have to learn to survive it with this body.

Face pulled himself off the lawn and rose to his feet. His slender frame stood like a scarecrow over the white fluffballs that dotted the field. Dropping the heavy claw upon the grass with a thump, Face faced the herd of sheep, gripping the black chain of the weapon within his hands. He twirled the bladed end, twirling it until it became a red disk. He released the blade, sending it flying into the body of one of the sheep.

Bah! a sheep screamed as it was impaled. Face threw his shoulders toward the creature, the world around him became a blur as his agility carried him swiftly toward the herbivore. He gathered the creature within his arms and drew his blade out of its body. Holding the writhing creature, his heart sank a little in his chest—weighed down by disturbance by how real the creature in its dying moments felt.

That’s right. I gave my assassin an agility build. I might be able to get lamb meat from this.

Face continued to practice the techniques he remembered across the field, performing the moves as he remembered how they looked.

A human shepherd was stirred from his nap by the pungent smell of blood. Upon waking, he was startled by the blood, wool, and lamb corpses that covered the field.

“M-my sheep!” the shepherd NPC exclaimed. His face paled. Was there a single one alive? What sort of creature would do this?

Like a white rose in a field of red, he saw in the distance a single lamb that was standing in the field. The shepherd NPC rushed over to the creature.

“Thank heavens there’s one left!” he said before he reached down to pet the creature’s head. “You poor thing. You’re the only survivor. I’m sorry. I fell asleep!”

The lamb burst into white smoke in front of the shepherd’s face, causing him to recoil in a coughing fit. “Gak! What the-! GRK!”

A red blade split his chest. The shepherd’s back arched and head snapped back, eyes bulging up at the sky. Behind him, obscured by the dissipating smokescreen was the silhouette of an assassin. The shepherd in his dying moments heard the rattle of a chain before the blade slid from his chest to allow his body to join the lambs on the crimson field.

Whipping the blade of his kusarigama to the side to get rid of the blood, Face chuckled in exhilaration as he gazed upon the field. He was going to survive. He could remember his moves. He would soon be out of this stupid game!

“I declare this land Crimson Fields…” said the assassin ominously.

Face quickly fled from the pasture, sprinting northeast toward the Baharuth Empire.

He shook his head and walked to the window, looking out at what will be the last moments of a dying world. But a thought occured to him. Death required life. So Kallahar turned around to look at the assembled individuals that had come together to witness and share the end of the world.

---

The Death Knight stumbled as if the ground had moved beneath them. Was this it? Was it the end? Several more moments passed and nothing happened. Things seemed more vivid, more... Alive.

"Blasphemy!"

Kallahar shouted but the voice was not the one that he was used to, the rasping, menacing, masculine voice that belonged to Kallahar. It still possessed the rasping, menacing quality but was somehow just wrong. She clamped her mouth shut behind the helmet, the mind behind the avatar spinning. This could be dealt with. Obviously something unexpected had happened, something fantastic. She shouted again, choosing to take things in stride.

"I have been cheated of my reward."

Something had to die, and soon. Suddenly debris bounced off of her armour and she whipped her sword out of its sheath. Amidst the noise and chaos the knights mind became focused on a single target.

"Profane Aura: Unholy Strikes, Etherfloat, Deathwind."

A menacing darkness began to emanate from her armour and she began to float from the ground as an unseen wind pushed agaisnt the monster.

She moved towards the beholder with a single gliding step that took her far beyond the length of the stride and left a streak of blackness in the air. Kallahar swung the blade, feeling pain as the blade made contact with a burst of black energy and Bloodbane ate into her health even as it bolstered her strength. As the swing hit home the swords own effect took over and the freshly opened wounds under her armour sealed shut.

@Lugubrious@Lord Zee@Hammerman@Rune_Alchemist@BurningDaisies@drewccapp
^{I think I got everyone involved in the fight.}

As December desperately thought about wanting to speak and question her surroundings, she felt the muscles in her throat writhe, contort, and give way to accommodate a few rapidly growing nodules. She coughed with a deep, husky voice that she knew was her own, but was still altogether alien and strange to her.

Looking down at the two girls she was talking with before, and her divine construct kneeling in reverence, she began to realize her predicament. "Lexus?!" She turned to the other two girls. "What's going on?!" The alarm in her voice unintentionally sounded more like barely contained anger, as the predatory rumble in her throat pounded the air. She could scarcely control her own body as it reacted to her thoughts and mood.

"Sorry, sorry...Heh, I'm suddenly feeling a tad bit excited." Senna managed to calm herself down a tad bit, tearing her eyes away from the fight with the beholder. "I don't know what happened, but it seems perhaps this game just became much, much more real." That was the only conclusion she could come too, at least.

Selena reflectively jumped out of her seat, pushing the chair she was down to the floor with a loud crash, and drew her knife when she saw the beast sitting where December should've been. When the knight made his appearance and bowed down to the creature, saying things like "punishing the mortals" and the like, Selena became even more suspicious on the creature. Only after the creature spoke that she understood that it was December all along.

"D-December, i-is that you? W-what happened?"

When Selena drew her knife Lexus Dominiel immediately stood up and pounded the haft of its warhammer, Punish the Guilty, into the ground with a resounding boom and mild tremor as a warning, but the small villager girl's aggression immediately stopped after her realization, so Lexus Dominiel relented. After all, it wouldn't do for Lexus Dominiel to really challenge one of December's fellow gods, and it was perfectly understandable, December had transformed suddenly.

But December's question caused a moment of doubt to cross Lexus Dominiel's mechanical mind, how could December, the All-Knowing, show uncertainty? Lexus Dominiel chastised itself for even allowing that thought. Obviously December was demanding a report from Lexus Dominiel on the status of the Apocalypse, to confirm that things were going smoothly. "The creature that the 'flesh demon god' summoned is in the process of destroying the world, as you planned. However, many of your fellow gods have begun attacking it. If you demand so, I can stop them, but if it is your will to allow them to continue, then I will not interfere."

Lexus turned to the two nearby to address their concerns, wondering what the horned demon meant by 'game'. "My Lady, the Gracious and Just, has taken on a most frightening countenance in order to participate in the Apocalypse and strike fear into the hearts of the unworthy."

Looking around, many of the other gods seemed stunned or confused. This made sense to Lexus Dominiel, invoking the Apocalypse even had an affect on the lesser Gods, only December, who was supreme and untouchable, and Lexus Dominiel, who was unswervingly faithful and completely accepting and obedient of December's every decree, would be unaffected by the Doom of the World.
@Lugubrious

The battle against the noisome amalgam, fresh from reality's conflux, continues...

---

With all eyes on the many-eyed one, nobody noticed -or if so, deigned to help deal with- the debris falling from the ceiling in steadily increasing quantities. A chunk of masonry, robbed of its support as the wall that held it aloft melted like candlewax beneath the Beholder's ruby-red glare, cracked against Emile's hunched-over back just shy of terminal altitude. Although the pain and surprise tore a half-cry, half-swear from his beak, he was surprised to discover that the piece of stone didn't in fact kill him. After a moment's thought he came to the conclusion that the ample protection of his gear in Yggdrasil had also somehow transitioned along with the clothing itself, making it sturdier than should be possible for a fancified overcoat. Of course, he didn't waste much time thinking about bricks and clothes. The not-so-small matter of Liana's rampant monstrosity floated just overhead.

As one might expect, the other occupants of the guild hall did not stand idle. First into the fray sprinted Revenmar, completely unburdened by the sudden change that so profoundly perturbed the assembled lesser gods, as the complacent archangel Lexus might put it. His tremendous shield bash pushed the floating aberration into the wall, its weight hastening the destruction of Apocalypse Now's entire left side, and from its body three of the characteristic eye-stalks plummeted to the tiled floor.

The malformed tentacles dislodged by blunt force alone, however, parted ways with the Beholder's body in the same way as dead stalks might a garden plant: their pruning left only the functional ones intact. However, another moment was fated to pass before the beast might put them to use; scarcely had it bounced back from its sudden introduction to the wall than another dashing figure shot up from below to assail it. A gush of pigs' blood sprayed from the gaping wound Sapphire put in its back, prompting from the fleshy freak an otherworldly scream before it once more projected its beam of annihilation, angling it as fast as possible to evaporate its new attacker. Far faster than her quarry could turn, the pristine lodestar buried her signature weapon in its repulsive hide. Just as quickly she departed, a final few parting shots tearing slabs of meat from its exterior.

By that time, the pain had galvanized the hovering horror into action. With its main eye recovering from a pair of arrows as ordinary as they were well-aimed, it explored an alternate form of attack. From each of the eye clusters in the remaining stalks a colored ray burst forth, thinner but of comparable magical might. In addition to the crimson-red heat ray, it blasted forth a yellow paralyzing ray and blue energetic ray that caused delayed explosions. These smaller rays spewed in every direction, each stalk whirling around violently like a high-pressure hose dropped on the ground. In an matter of seconds, the scene had transformed into a lethal disco.

Before the hideous thing could whip its lasers through the entire building, however, a magic miasma surrounded it. The unassuming village girl, having instantly figured out how to use her magic, lambasted it with debilitating hexes. One after another the effects piled up, and with the majority being crowd-control conditions like Stun, Daze, Heavy, Blind, Stupor, and Sleep, the Beholder's movement slowed to a crawl. Its blazing beams traced alarming but now laughably slow paths across and through the walls, taking a few seconds to bisect even normal-sized tables and sofas.

Having regained his senses, along with a surge of energy, Emile felt now was a good chance. He reached around to his belt, grabbed the Galecycler -which he'd only just remembered he possessed- and aimed upward. "Here goes nothin'." The Beholder's unprotected underside made for an easy shot, and a simple pull on the trigger released a volley of art bolts to puncture it before exploding. Had the strigiforme still been wearing his helmet, his visor's right eye could have told him that the meat monster's condition was 'critical'. No matter how formidable, a creature could take only so much punishment from beings with twice its power, particularly when weakened by dark hexes.

Perhaps sensing the aberration's condition, an ominous figure clad in black plate drew her dread claymore and moved in for the coup de grâce. A vile, malefic corona surrounded Kallahar, hard to look at for everyone present but indiscriminately oppressive to all those near her, and in a black flash she darted toward the Beholder. As she bore down on its eye, the scarlet beam burst forth once again to wash over the Dread Knight, but it was too late. Her sword split the flesh construct's great eye as easy as an axe might split a watermelon, and with a final scream the eyes of the unholy wretch popped in explosions of viscera.

The bulk of its corpse, plummeting while Kallahar floated thanks to her Etherfloat, hurtled down toward Emile, Liana, Senna, December, Lexus, and Selena. Already looking upward, the Comet Chaser sprang into action. "Go!" Holding his niece close with his one free hand, Emile leaped out of the way, and for an instant a burst of aether surrounded him to propel him out of harm's way. The remainder of the group standing near the bar, over which the Beholder had been floating, would have to deal with the disgusting mass for themselves.

Those directly beneath the newly-dispatched nightmare's body were not, however, the only ones in danger. Begun by the Beholder's original beam and hastened by the spray of its stalks' lasers, the guild hall's destruction was drawing dangerously close. The telltale sounds of crumbling stone and splintering wood suggested that everyone within protect themselves or flee, and indeed, pieces were already falling from the ceiling as the walls crumbled beneath it. Enough time remained for everyone to grab only one of Apocalypse Now's random items before the room's collapse destroyed everything else.

For his part, Emile could very well see that the roof was about to cave. He stood to his feet, Liana following suit, and without needing to communicate the two rushed toward an opening in the wall to escape outside. The chaos of the situation drove Liana to move almost without realizing it, her lack of proper legs forgotten for the moment. As he sprinted by with his niece on his heels, Emile bent down and scooped up his helmet from where it lay on the floor, slightly dented from a fallen brick but otherwise none the worse for wear.

The next moment, he and Liana were outside, but with hearts pounding they continued to run for about twenty-five feet before coming to a dead stop at the edge of a dead drop. ”Whoa! When the hell'd we get on a mountain!?” Emile blinked, staring off into the night. The moonlight lit up a beautiful and unfamiliar landscape, stretching as far as the eye could see.

A crash from behind forced the two to turn around. Remembering the gear in his hands, Emile put on his helmet and put away the Galecycler as he watched the guild hall fall apart. In between pangs of sheer astonishment and disbelief at the current turn of events, he hoped that everyone had made it out alright; of course, everyone was probably powerful enough that even a roof caving in on their heads didn't count as serious injury. He made his way along the edge of the cliff toward the front of the building, where there was a good amount of open ground to stand on, with Liana following in numb silence. Perhaps everyone would gather there, away from the ruined building's choking dust. Emile hoped so. We gotta put our heads together and make sense of this situation. Things happening too fast. Has this fantasy world really become...? It hurt to think about it, even if he given the idea preliminary acceptance.

What. The. Flock.

How did my very normal life turn into a disaster of epic proportions? I was just curious on what's going to happen if I stayed within the game after the shutdown, but I am in no way prepared on what's going to happen next. I feel like I'm one of the players who really jumped out of their seat when the whole "game-turned-reality" happened.

I look around me with eyes full of fear and surprise, players who vary in shape, skin, sizes, and species. There's a woman in a slutty dress, a giant freaking Gundam, and a red-eyed tentacle beast. At first I was thinking about whatever these people are thinking about when they were making their characters but meh, who am I to judge when I look like Big Bird's Asian daughter. Then suddenly there is a fight going on and the whole place becomes chaotic. There's just so much stuff going on that it's really hard to swallow all at once so I did the only reasonable thing one can do in the given situation: fly away.

I crash through the nearby window ignoring what the others will think of me, spread my wings and with my eyes closed I soar higher and higher and higher. When I opened my eyes, I saw the moon in all its mystical beauty, a sea of puffy, white clouds beneath me, and a sea of bright stars above me. I was awestruck by the view that I realized it was at this moment that I can proudly tell to myself that I am truly alive! I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life!

I also began to feel certain differences on me like the feathers growing on my body, the satisfying emotion that I get with every flap of my wings, the feeling of the winds embracing me, and the sudden urge to pee. I fly in place and look back on the direction where I came from but everywhere I turn my eyes on are clouds, clouds, and more clouds. I am beginning to think if I should fly back to the guild and I start to feel guilty about leaving the other players there but my body reminds me I'm about to burst any minute now. I fly downwards and a dense forest came into my view. I fly straight at the nearest tree, careful of my speed so I won't awaken whatever monstrous nastiness is sleeping in the area, and did my business.

After I did the thing, I hear a rustle of leaves to my left. It's late at night and the only source of light is the moon and the stars, but thanks to my passive, Eagle Eyes, I am still able to see my surroundings better. My mind automatically goes into panic mode. If this is a big, ol' hairy monster, I swear to the gods above I will wreck this place up. Because I'm such a smart lady-bird instead of flying away I decided to stay in my place, my senses on full alert and fully determined to defend myself. There's a rustle again and this time the monster came directly into view. All my fears melted away as I saw a harmless doe, probably curious and wondering what the heck I am and what the heck I'm doing here. But unlike the doe in the normal world, this one has freaking silver-colored fur. Again, this place never ceases to amaze and surprise me.

I begin to relax and look in the doe's eyes to try to convince it that I mean no harm. After a few moments, it slowly approaches me and I began to stretch out my hand to pet it until I realized that I no longer have any hands. Still, it didn't stop me from petting the doe with my wings. Besides, it seems to me that it likes being pet with wings very much.

After the petting session, it folds one of its forelegs and dips its head towards the ground. What the heck, is this doe bowing? Without knowing what else to do, I curtsy in return because I'm a well-mannered young lady and also to express my thanks in letting me make my very first friend in this world. The doe turns away and runs, probably going back to its home. I took this as a cue to leave the forest and fly back to the guild. I just hope I'm not too late.

@13org

Jack only put his hand up to wave goodbye to the two as the final moments of the game were ending. He looked at the timer and waited to finally be kicked off so he could head to bed with his wife. Sadly that didn't come. As the clock hit 00:00 a bright light struck Jack. He put his arm to cover it, but it didn't help. Then a loud ring appeared in his head, it was god awful. Making Jack feel motion sickness with a mix of whiplash. The pain was excruciating, but died down in just a few seconds. Jack opened his eyes, unknowingly transforming into Spooky...

What lied in front of him was strange. A beautiful forest surrounded him. He could hear the wildlife around him, which was strange. It wasn't the same usual soundtrack ran when Players entered these types of Biomes. It sounded, real. Too real. Spooky shook his head in annoyance. He was done with the game, he was logging off. He paid his debts and it was long time to leave. He pressed the air in front of him opening the console. Instead, the console didn't appear. Spooky furiously began to stab the air around him, trying with all his might to make it appear. Before the shock could set in, a large snapping noise caught his attention. The sound resembled wood succumbing to it's weight above it. It didn't take long for Spooky to finally notice he has teleported to a branch high up in the air. It took less time to feel the thick branch snap from under him. Spooky tried his best to jump, but his massive weight didn't allow more than an inch off the branch before he came tumbling down.

His body smashed into the ground beneath him like a Meteor falling from orbit. Dust and dirt were flung high in the air, leaving a brown cloud around the man made crater that Spooky now occupied. "What was that feeling.." he thought. "Pain?". Spooky raised his head from the ground, dirt stuffed in every open crevice his skull contained. Looking around him in the now quiet forest he responded with one phrase that embodied his current feelings, echoing loud throughout the Forest.

~Senna~

@Hammerman@BurningDaisies

---

Unlike the rest of the guildhall, Senna tried to keep her mind off the fighting. On one hand, she wanted nothing to do with it. On the other, the intoxicating sound of battle was getting to her. Clashing of swords, smell of blood...it was intoxicating. She couldn't actually remember feeling like this before, at all. So she downed the last of the alcohol she could get her hands on, ignoring Selena's asking for help. The others had it, and she might get a tad bit...unfocused if she joined in now.

She had never felt like this before, why? It was a euphoric feeling, really. Something she wanted more of but that would be a bad idea in every sense of the word.

It was then that something rather expected happened. The guildhall creaked, its foundations not withstanding the damage dealt to it during the fight. It was crashing down around them rather fast. With reflexes that would make a cat jealous, Senna pounced on Selena, tackling her out of the way of the floating beholder. She landed easily on her feet just on the opposite side of the human, quickly pulling her to her feet.

"Probably should get outta here." Having just enough time to collect her sword, Senna bolted out of the quickly crumbling guildhall.


@drewccapp@Spanner

---

"A-ack! Traitor you traitor I thought what we had was-" Before she could finish that sentence she was yanked by her wings back into Lena's grasp. "-special." She squeaked out as she was once again brought face to face with a quite displeased elvish undead. "Lena I'm serious something is wrong here."

"The only thing wrong here is your behavior my lady," The elf sighed. "But very well, I will humor you like I always do, what is the matter, Tania?" Before she could say anything else, the Fey struggled out of Lena's hands, taking a few minutes to seemingly fumble with her spells before her body began to grow to its normal size. The child like fairy frowned, looking over to Vander then to the new demon gracing them with his presence.

"A lot of things! like...everything! Y-you aren't supposed to be like this - not that I mind or anything but still!" Truthfully, the fairy was incredibly nervous, somewhat scared and a little overwhelmed. She was not equipped to deal with something like this! Emotionally, she meant. Oh sure she liked the game but she liked her boring office life too! This was just a pleasant distraction! She didn't know what happened but being a tiny little fairy in a world full of big giant monsters wasn't something she was looking forward to being in!

"Ah, uhm...I just..." Tania's expression drooped for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I have no idea. I'm Tania, by the way. This is Lena...she's uh, an NPC i created but it seems like she's got a bit more spunk to her now though."

"...I am unsure what you mean, Lady Tania. I have always been like this?" The Elf narrowed her eyes, obviously not entirely understanding what was happening or what the three players were discussing.

"The game was supposed to shut down, wasn't it? But it seems like something else has happened instead." Tania turned her head towards the demon. "Haaa....I had a big work day ahead of me tomorrow...this is gonna suck if I'm late. Boss is going to kill me." There was the sound of heavy fighting and crashing coming from the guild hall as well."Oh, and I'm pretty sure the guildhall has pretty much been destroyed by some idiots so we don't even have some place left to return to because they're a bunch of morons. Bravo, really." If her sarcasm wasn't obvious the roll of her eyes and mocking tone she used should have at least been some indication.

---

"There isn't such a spell, the ability to teleport fixed guildhalls would break quite a few rules of the game to start with." Cain - Since he now highly doubted that he could still call himseld by the name his original body used - impatiently fiddled with his right hand as he sp9k, clearly displaying how he was perplexed by the situation as he curled a lock of hair around his finger.

"Even if there was a possibility of this being an in-game event, it wouldn't make sense for our sensory nervous system capable of working so perfectly. The company responsible for YGGDRASIL simply doesn't have the tecnhlogy to do this..." He couldn't help but shiver a little before completing his conjectures. "No entrainment company has the technology to do this. Hell, not even military simulations are as realistic as this!" He momentaneously couldn't contain his anxiety, with his whole body shivering as he voiced his conclusion - His position as the brother of someone who was in the highest echelons of a huge conglomerate gave him almost full access to the new technologies as long as he was interested by them, and he clearly knew that YGGDRASIL being updated into a simulation with such an absurd degree of realism was simply impossible. The only plausible possibility he could think of was that it wasn't a DMRPG or simulation at all: The game has turned real.

"I-I'm sorry. My emotions took a hold of me for a second." He immediately apologized right after the sudden exclamation, somehow managing to stabilize his mentality in the span of a few seconds, unconsciously fixing his posture as he once more focused in making the situation less... Crazy, ignoring his own moment of weakness and introducing himself to the group. "I'm Ar-.. Cain and it's a pleasure to meet you and your... Guard, Miss Tania. The same is valid for you, archer-elf-bro whoose name I don't know. It's a pleasure to be completely clueless and stuck in a messed up world with the three of you." He said while demonstrating his best attempt of making a playful smile - though the insecurity he felt was still visible on it.

"Well, it was a provisory guildhall anyway. We can just recover our important itens and then I - or any other high-leveled mage with an appropriated build who may be stuck in here together with us - can create a shelter using "Create Fortress". It will not be difficult now that we know that magic works here." He thoughtlessly muttered when faced with the fae's bitter comment, half-answering her and half voicing his own thoughts to make them more conclusive. After all, even if he ended up being the only mage in the group capable of using this not-so-popular 10th class spell he didn't see any problem in letting others know that - After all the worst that could happen would be using a bit more of MP to cast this spell a few more times if the group was too large. He did end up voicing a small unsatisfied mutter right after the end of his previous sentence though: "I'm not really sure about grouping with the guys who managed to bring down their own freaking guild hall though. MP doesn't grow in trees."

---

@Rune_Alchemist@drewccapp

---

Everything seemed to go on an autopilot blur for Selena.

There was that strange sensation of everything being so much more real. Then, her newfound friend turning into a beast. Then, a knight of some sort appeared, speaking nonsense about serving her friend and smiting the other "gods", which he probably meant the other players. Then there was the beholder, where nearly every player in the room ganged up on, including her. And now, she could see how their guild hall was crumbling.

And before she knew it, the beholder exploded, sending one of it's chunky mess towards her.

She readied herself to dodge but her demoness friend's reaction was faster and she tackled her out of the way before she could jump away on her own.

"T-thanks," she said awkwardly, not having any time to tell Senna that her help wasn't really needed. The guild hall was crumbling right around her, and Senna was right to say that she should probably get out of here right away.

Only, a big chunk of rock from the ceiling landed right on top of her before she could do anything.

"Oww..." Selena said as she rubbed her head, feeling quite a bump up there. The rock that had crashed onto her had split into two when it came in contact with her head. Pain was something new for the girl as the old Yggdrasil certainly didn't have anything like that. This also proved that they kept their old endurance from the game however, so if she was right...

"Hiyaaa!"

With a kick, she destroyed the rubble standing in front of her way.

Just as she thought, she was just as strong as before so mere rubbles like these wouldn't pose a threat on her or any of the other players for that matter. No sense in worrying at all.

Ooh, I've always wanted to do this!

And so Selena decided to make her exit by dramatically walking, dodging and crushing any of the incoming rubble. She put on a cool and calm smile like this was nothing to her.

@Rune_Alchemist

The fighting erupted around Revenmar when he boldly declared his intentions to the Beholder. As the guildhall began to crash down around him, he saw with great joy, the God's go to work upon the aberration of flesh. During this time of heated combat, Revenmar paid little head to the ongoing conversations surrounding him as the Gods began to realize what was happening to the guildhall. The tall black Paladin was keenly aware of only the battle, and nothing else.

His white, fluffy cape billowed in winds created by the attacks of those superior to him. Soon enough, and before he could even get close to the Beholder, it began to arch its tentacles in a firing position, its giant eye turning red with raw power. Then it slowed, by some unseen magic, the monster began to move at an abysmally slow pace. Only then was the doom of the creature sealed, Lady Deathknight Kallahar launched herself at the Beholder and dealt the killing blow. It was a spectacular display for one such as Revenmar to bare witness too. The Gods, his Gods, they were beautiful creatures indeed, and he was blessed to be among them.

With the Beholder dead, his small goal to protect his lords and ladies was complete but the danger would never truly go away. As debris began to fall on him, Revenmar realized that it was in his best interests to leave the guildhall and follow his God's, which ever they might do with him, he was ready. Confident that those inside would not be crippled by mere stone and wood, Revenmar took his leave from the hall. Taking nothing and not looking back, it wasn't really his home anyways.

Revenmar readied himself before erupting from a wall, his shield taking the brunt of the rubble. He landed, skidding a ways before coming to a stop. He looked back at the guildhall, watching it crumble away. It was shoddy workmanship to say the least, but a now ruined relic of YGGDRASIL. His Shield of Divinity went on his back once more and he sheathed Dominion Aspect, his sword before looking around for his Gods. Revenmar found them at the front of the collapsing Guildhall, the very place he was tasked with guarding earlier but on the inside. Without really knowing what else to do, the large Paladin sank to his knees and took off his helmet, placing it in front of himself. His face was nothing out of the ordinary, just what the creator had envisioned him to look like. Brown hair in a default hairstyle, with green eyes and a large beefy neck. His jawline was chiseled and he had a little stubble growing.

Revenmar however, bowed his head in reverence, waiting to be addressed or commanded.

@Rune_Alchemist@Spanner

Vander could not help but laugh as the fairy protested after being ousted. The comedy of the situation was much needed in spite of the oddity of the suddenly lively NPC.

"You know I think this is much better anyways."

His expression quickly turned serious as he scanned the mountain range as soon as the clouds passed by. Cain made some very good points. He did not much appreciate the damage the guild hall took from the beholder, although no one could have guessed something like that would have happened. Taking a few shots at it as he left had been somewhat satisfying as well, but this guild had simply been a placeholder for him in what was supposed to be the last moments of the game.

Now he had no idea what to do. He could tell Tania was actually quite nervous about the entire situation. He certainly felt some chills and could not tell if it was excitement or fear. He had his own job to get to in the morning as well.

He took a deep breath of the cold mountain air which turned out to be quite a soothing sensation. He had always imagined that breathing in such air would feel so refreshing, but he never had the time or energy to make his way to such a location in real life. He began to toy with the thought that this was now in fact real life, and that this was something of a reincarnation without actual physical death.

The Watcher looked right at Talia with a calm gaze and smiled. "We can figure things out. Right now we need to figure out where we are,
because this is no part of YGGDRASIL that I know of and I know all of the world." He then glanced over to Cain. "We also need to find a better base of operations than this tossed-together guild hall. I imagine things are about to get hectic, and we are going to need a plan of action to move forward. For those of us that want or need to get back, we will need to find a place to figure things out and take the time needed to do so."

Personally, if this actually turned out to be a new reality he had absolutely no problem fully embracing his role as the Watcher in this new home. "Will it be just the four of us, or do you guys think we should bring more along as we explore?" He fully stepped out of the building and faced north while wind whipped his hair to the side. "I say we should move straight north until we find some sort of sign of civilization. What do you folks say?"

---

The confusion settled quickly as December stared idly at Lexus. All of her senses told her it was real. No matter how much she might have liked to reject this reality, writing it off as some kind of mass hallucination, but with her senses being persistently assaulted in every possible way, she couldn't refute it.

This is real isn't it?

As she watched the surreal events unfolding around her, she briefly wondered if her old life was a dream all along. That the family she thought she had was as fictional as she believed YGGDRASIL to be.

The thought alone made her expression grim and distant.

Even as the beholder was dispatched and her newfound friends fled for safety, she sat quietly. She looked up, her gaze was trained on the ceiling, and watched as jagged lines snaked their way through several columns and archways, all of which trembled dangerously as the hall fell to pieces. Rubble and debris hailed down from above while exquisitely carved reliefs and statues crumbled. She moved not an inch as massive chunks of marble and stone burst against her tough hide like clumps of loose dirt.

In that moment, she half-wished the building would collapse and kill her. She knew she would survive, but it seemed somehow easier to be spared the trouble of dealing with this new reality. However, some part of her still ached to makes things right and return home--the same part that was determined to see her son again. It filled her with unwavering resolve and a singular focus. She knew exactly what she had to do. The only question now was how to do it?

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way." She turned to face Lexus. Her voice was sullen, but resolute. "This isn't the apocalypse I wanted."

The supports finally collapsed and the vaulted ceiling began to cave in. With a few powerful beats of her peregrine wings, she soared upwards, and unleashed a pulverizing sonic roar at the falling debris. Destructive waves of sound blasted a hole in the stone allowing her to escape into the sky above.

---

@Stern Algorithm

As the guild hall collapsed around Lexus Dominiel and December, Lexus Dominiel was at first tempted to try to shield her from the debris. While knowing that Almighty God could not be harmed by such trivialities, Lexus Dominiel saw it as an affront to let December be sullied in any way. Yet her brooding silence and lack of response to Lexus Dominiel's report compelled Lexus Dominiel to stand at attention in silence, awaiting December's commands. Perhaps December wished to immerse herself in the destruction, to let the apocalypse wash over her, to feel, for one last time, the remnants and dust of this world.

@Hammerman @Rune_Alchemist

Lexus Dominiel, of course, didn't give a rat's ass about whether or not Senna and Selena could weather the storm of crumbling guild hall, though it did note with some respect the ease with which their frail-seeming bodies survived effortlessly.

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way." December turned to face Lexus. Her voice was sullen, but resolute. "This isn't the apocalypse I wanted."

The supports finally collapsed and the vaulted ceiling began to cave in. With a few powerful beats of her peregrine wings, she soared upwards, and unleashed a pulverizing sonic roar at the falling debris. Destructive waves of sound blasted a hole in the stone allowing her to escape into the sky above.

Lexus Dominiel fell to its knees in reverence, but lifted its face towards December with a mechanical, grinding fury, driven by a maddening sense of failed duty. God was not pleased. Lexus Dominiel cast 'Amnesty' to temporarily release itself from the restraints of gravity, and opened its large intricately machined wings to take flight, following its Lord towards the sky. "It is well that the beast of destruction has been stopped then," Lexus Dominiel declared, coming to the conclusion that the beholder being destroyed was all part of December's divine plan. "But then, are the beings of this world forgiven, or do you desire a different end? Or perhaps do you wish to have the beings of this world relearn you Name and your Laws? Shall I call the other gods together to hear your commands?" Lexus Dominiel placed the head of its hammer towards its chest and lowered its gaze in a floating bow of reverence.

---

Selena escaped practically without a scratch. Exception being the little bump on her head. She suspected that if she had been more of a defensive character, even that wouldn't leave a mark. The impact of a rubble falling on top of her was similar to an attack from a low-level monster. Absolutely insignificant to a lv 80 character like her.

When Selena came out, the others would see her yawning and stretching herself, raising her hands above her head. Then, she happily skipped to where they gathered and said, "That was one way to end our farewell party. Nice update, if I say so myself!"

And then, it hit her. An urge that should never exist in a game like this.

The urge to relieve herself.

Her face turned beet red as she scurried off to the nearest bushes. So much for her cool exit, she thought.

After she did her deed, a thought crossed her mind. No game would ever add something like this as it's feature. Combined with how she can no longer access her menu...

Could it be? That somehow... This game had become reality?

...No, that's nonsense! This is not one of those novels she liked to read.

But if it's really real, then...

She looked down at herself before making a couple of twirls like a ballerina.

Graceful. And beautiful. The person she was now was her ideal, pretty self.

Serena smiled. Her wish had become true.

---

SilverCoffee noticed that the whole place was somehow teleported into a new world. The eerie darkness of that night would never escape SilverCoffee's memory. Even that he visited many countries for the past few years this was one of the best views he saw in his exploring days. It felt like a pitch-black curtain has draped over the sky, and there were those twisted, warped shapes that the stars made against the blackness. The milky speckles twirled and danced along the sky in various patterns, tugging at the corners of SilverCoffee's lips in a way that almost made him smile. The mountains around the guild hall were pristine and white, even the dark green of the pine trees was mostly coated in the white snow. SilverCoffee could just stand there watching it all in, listening to the silence that hangs so thickly in the frigid air.

But it was still hard to shove aside the worries corrupting his mind after all he was trapped in a world that he had no clue of. What will happen to him when he dies? Will there be any civilization in this "new world"? What about the powers or abilities of his "character"?

SilverCoffee hoped that the players will have some sort of answer about what all of this was about. Maybe at least a theory will still be enough. SilverCoffee walked slowly towards the indoor of the guild hall as he was still not used to this big and heavy Minotaur body, not to mention that there was that equipment he was carrying and wielding. He was able to walk steadily after only a few seconds of adaptation to his new body.

When SilverCoffee reached the guild hall, he thought that he will find the answer that he needed. But instead of an answer, he finds chaos and more confusion. Some of them inside the guild hall tried to flee from the scene, while some of them were busy fighting off a beholder. SilverCoffee was puzzled by everything that he saw as he felt like that there were twenty things going on simultaneously in his mind.

Right before SilverCoffee snapped out from the confusion and tried to go in and help, the whole place somehow started to collapse. The lights swung violently from the ceiling. Cracks appeared from the ground beneath. Fear and panic ensued as the ground shook up and down as if the entire place suddenly fell from the sky and struck the earth with a mighty impact. All of them scrambled up to their feet but most immediately lost balance and were reduced to crawling as they fled outdoors.

Well, it seems like the only choice SilverCoffee have at the moment was to go and explore the new world to find the answer.

She stood in place temporarily, her body tight in the aftermath of the melee. Dripping with viscera, she walked to one of the tapestries, tore it from the wall, and used it to wipe the blade clean before sheathing it. Kallahars exit was unhurried, a show of fear would be unsightly.

That was invigorating and so much more realistic than even a more cutting edge game than Yggdrasil should have been capable of. Rather than disgusted by the graphic violence she felt energized. Fulfilled by having brought death to even an unthinking monster.

The knight exited the guild hall, using the tapestry to wipe off the gore she had been covered in, taking special care with the helmet decoration that had taken no less than a hundred dye packs to get the exact shade.

"Profane Aura, remove."

The fell aura faded and her next step brought her down onto solid ground. It appeared that the group was in the process of deciding their next steps. It seemed that they were no longer in the guilds original location, or anywhere at all that she recognized.

They couldn't exactly stay in the ruined guild hall. After a look around the death knight made her decision.

"I shall head south, to sooner be out of these mountains. It would be agreeable to have some company."

~Senna~

---

It wasn't difficult for someone with her level of agility and strength to leave the former guildhall. Dodging falling debris or just outright plowing through it. It was quite funny, really. Exhilarating, even. Thankfully she didn't have to watch Selene too much - seemed like the girl could handle herself. She leaped out of the crumbling building, giving everyone a rather impressive display of aerial acrobatics before landing on all fours, taking a moment to observe her surroundings.

Everything just felt so much more...vivid. It was still a bit concerning...but perhaps it was because she had essentially become this character, this avatar, she couldn't really bring herself to overly care so much.

"Whew," She grinned, standing up and stretching. "Now that was a nice work out." Before anyone got any ideas though - she needed to go retrieve her armor from that wreckage. Leaving Selena to do as she wished, the demoness walked back to the now ruined guild hall, not entirely concerned with hurting herself. Judging from the layout, where she had exited from and where her armor had been stashed on display...it should be right around here!

The demon easily moved the heavy rubble with an impressive display of physical strength, tossing it aside like it was rubble. Low and behold, the armor she had taken so many pains to attain was laying on the floor in perfect condition as she left it, not even a scratch from the battle. Digging the rest of it out, she took the next few minutes to don the light armor. Couldn't be too careful. Didn't want to be caught unaware...

Boy, she was feeling so very energetic right now.

...ahh, she wondered if there were any monsters around here that needed to be dealt with? She could use a good brawl after this entire thing.

So she started walking, taking note of Selena in the distance doing a little ballerina Twirl. Eh, she'd be fine. No need for her to babysit her. The girl seemed to be able to take care of herself, easily enough.

Now...where was the nearest city? She wanted some...information, among other things.


@drewccapp@Spanner

---

"E-eh!? Much better! What'dya mean, punk!?" The fairy replied, giving The Watcher a shocked expression as Cain introduced himself. She got the distinct feeling she was being made fun of here, and that was bad. No bully the fairy! That was just mean! Before she could ask too much else about what he meant though, Lena interrupted.

"I agree, Sir Cain." Lena replied. "I am not entirely certain what is happening myself, but...blatantly destroying the guildhall is a little...excessive." The elf shook her head, sighing quietly. "I am Lena, personal guard to the Fairy Queen Tania - "

"That's me!" Tania quickly interjected, earning a small frown from the Elf.

" - A pleasure to make your Acquaintance, though I do wish we could have met under a bit more...optimal circumstances."

"Eeeh...I actually had a Friend in the guildhall, but it seems she's done skedaddled elsewhere." Tania replied, a bit more seriously to Vander. "But yeeah, I don't wanna stick around those morons that just destroyed the place either. Talk about rude. I mean, destroying someone else's place of residence is fine and all but ya gotta have a bit of class. Destroying your own house is just bad taste!" She giggled. Seemingly feeling a bit better about the whole thing, the Fairy shrank back to her smaller size, taking up residence on Lena's head once again. "I'm all for heading north! Not like we got anything better to do around here, and I wanna find me a nice place to nap and steal cookies from people."

"My lady please refrain from saying such things openly..." The elf sighed, shaking her head before turning her attention to Cain and Vander again. "At any rate...indeed, it seems as though traveling with you two would be beneficial. You have my shield, so long as Lady Tania permits it."

---

Cain couldn't help but chuckle after watching the girl who entitled herself as "Fairy Queen" violently reacting to the watcher's comment in a ridiculously comical way - or at least so it seemed due to her lacking the height and appearance of someone who could possibly be threatening. "Well, I can't deny that suddenly being transported into a world where I can feeely use magic isn't exactly the worst situation I can think of." He casually replied when faced by the watcher's comment, moving his right hand to hold his chin before continuing with a joke. "Centainly better than the alternative: Waking up and getting beaten by my best friend's spouse due to being late for the commemorative dinner."

"I'm also delighted to meet you, Miss Lena, but I highly doubt that it would be pleasant for you to meet me in any other circumstance." He chuckled as he unconciously entered in the character, letting his new identity take over his own as he talked with the former NPC. "The bodyguard of the Fairy Queen having a friendly conversation with the Devil King on itself is already quite the miracle after all - the kind of thing that would hardly be viable in a different setting." He couldn't help but feel an overwhelming urge to laugh at the thought, going as far as covering his mouth to desperately hold the laughter that threatned to escape from his mouth - the bizarreness of the situation was just too much for his immature mentality to handle after he considered how divergent their character's background was.

"A-anyway... I don't have anything against going North." He managed to say after recovering some of his composure, once more straightening his posture as he faced the other players. "But I ain't sure about whether finding civilization would be a good idea or not. We have absolutely no intel about this world's power levels and I'm pretty sure that I'll immediately be hunted as soon as I step in a human city." He nonchalantly pointed to his horn as he messed around with the bang of hair that covered part of his face, curling his finger around it as he explained his circumstances. "I mean, I ain't sure about how this will work here but - according to my racial description at least - I seem to have an aura that makes humans direct some kind of natural hostility towards me or something."

---

@Rune_Alchemist@drewccapp

The menagerie of outsiders attend the impromptu meeting, tensions high and answers few

---

@Rune_Alchemist @Spanner @Hammerman @Lord Zee @drewccapp @TheFake

As he might have expected, Emile wasn't the first to leave the guild hall's rapidly-deteriorating confines. After traveling a short way around the ex-structure's perimeter, he came upon a group already assembling out front. Relieved as he was for the chance to meet up and talk with the others, he couldn't suppress a twinge of pragmatism that ran through his head. Almost without meaning to he began to size the three individuals up, just as he'd done in the game. In a world like Yggdrasil, where PKing could happen anywhere and everywhere, it paid to be cautious and regard each player as a potential threat. Here, he felt somewhat bad for feeling compelled to do the same, but nevertheless he examined each in turn.

The first, and perhaps least remarkable, was a lean man in earth-toned armor that managed to be stylish and intricate without even being conspicuous, let along garish. His bow distinguished him immediately as an archer, and given the rather high average player level in the flashfire guild Apocalypse Now, in this world the man was no doubt analogous to a legendary Bowlord. Emile caught himself and shook his head a touch; was the situation already so mundane that he'd accepted this impossible shift and started to let his imagination run wild? Even if this ordeal seemed straight out of a dream, he needed to keep his head on straight. Accepting this as reality was step one, and not losing himself in it would be a long road.

With that in mind he scrutinized the other three. One girl, who appeared to be some sort of fairy, grew to full size before his eyes before vocalizing her attempt to cope with the situation. Emile stifled a commiserate laugh. I'm with you there, kid. His attention turned to her attendant, an elf lady in armor, who appeared to be the straight man of their two-part act. What caught his attention about her, aside from an odd aura of light, was that Tania introduced her as an NPC. This caught Emile by surprise. He knew the term, of course, and that players could essentially create extra characters controlled by AIs to follow them around or whatever, but to see one just as lifelike as the player characters around her...she gave every indication of having a mind of her own. Well, why not? Emile shrugged after a moment. NPCs coming to life makes as much sense as any of this madness. He turned his attention on the final person present -a classy, almost foppish-looking demon fellow whose robe suggested he was a mage- only to catch a few choice words from the fairy.

With a voice full of scorn, Tania ridiculed those responsible for destroying the guild hall. Behind his helmet, Emile frowned. He hadn't expected such a sudden change of tune. Had she really not been aware of the Beholder's rampage? Nobody had used excessive force in dispatching the creature during the chaos; every ounce of blame lay square on its tentacled head. Maybe, he reasoned, she's simply venting fried nerves on the first targets that present themselves. I can't really blame her...but it's still awfully immature. He glanced sideways to see if Liana had heard the insults, but she didn't seem to give much of a reaction. On the other side of the coin, meanwhile, the long-haired demon mage struggled with a surge of emotion threatening to overflow, but he reigned himself in with laudably little effort and regained his composure. Out of everyone present, Emile concluded, the sorcerer in blue appeared to be behaving the most normally. When he introduced himself as Cain, Emile gave a nod of acknowledgment, but didn't have time to return the formality before more people began to appear.

Through the clearing dust from the ruins, a handful of others arrived one by one. A paladin-looking man in fall armor plowed through a wall, made his way over, and kneeling in what looked to Emile like meditation. He said nothing and gave no hint of any insecurity, but rather acted with the poise of a loyal retainer. Huh. The strigiforme's focus flew apart as some sort of beast ascended into the sky from the building's wreckage, an angel right behind. Sooner or later, Emile suspected, he would get used to seeing such strange things in such striking detail. At about that time, the archer from the original group began talking again. He suggested putting together a plan and going somewhere as a group, which sounded just fine to Emile. That said, he wondered how the archer planned to figure out which direction was north without using the absent sun.

After that came a distraction—the black knight who'd put an end to the wild Beholder, still eking out that repellent arclight. Emile winced until she dismissed it, and waited until she happened to glance his way before giving a nod of thanks. The thought struck him that he'd be able to convey his emotions better without the helmet on, but then again, how exactly did one smile and so forth with an owl head? Still, he pulled off his helmet and tucked it beneath his arm as Kallahar touched the ground near everyone else. She too had a plan, and funnily enough it diverged a solid one hundred and eighty degrees from the archer's, though obviously she hadn't been around yet to hear his idea. With two groups taking shape, Emile wondered where he'd choose to go. Compared to the faceless metal revenent, the archer's merry band seemed a lot more personable, but Kallahar's tone hadn't been disagreeable either. Then, naturally, he could choose to strike out on his own, but he knew he had to watch out for Liana. For the second time Emile glanced her way, worry writ on his owlish features. She wasn't just vulnerable mentally; if strength carried over from Yggdrasil, which by all accounts it had, she was the weakest person here.

When Tania opened her mouth with venom on her tongue a second time, Liana did take notice. Full of guilt for causing so much trouble even accidentally and stung by the fairy's insults, she clasped her hand and hung her head, staring at the ground. The sight deepened Emile's misgivings about her. Guess I might've misjudged you. Not a poor soul trying to cope with the situation, but a brat who enjoys putting down others. Liana was already in a sorry spot, full of confusion and disgust with herself, courtesy of her new form. Added to that her blatant declaration of petty intentions, and he couldn't stay silent any longer. “Now hold on a minute, miss. No need for callin' names. It was the Beholder that did all the destroyin', and nobody else.”

He cleared his throat, and held up his free hand with the palm upward. His gaze swept across the assembled group as he addressed them. ”As for me, I think it'd be better to get to know you all. My name's Emile, and this is L-”

”Lenore.” His niece interrupted him, gliding forward a few steps. Clearly her extreme discomfort with herself remained, but all of a sudden it looked like she'd decided to step up. The thought gratified Emile, making him think that standing up for her had helped her out a little. Her decision to introduce herself with her in-game name, however, made him curious. Well, the two could sort that out later.

Giving a nod, Emile continued. ”We're from Scotland. Findin' someplace to go and sort things out sounds like a great idea. Most important thing to me seems like figurin' out the lay of the land, so to speak. Chances are there's a whole country of places and people we need to learn about. Just...you know, bargin' in seems like a bad idea.” His golden eyes gave Tania a somewhat pointed look before he put a hand on his niece's shoulder. ”I'm thinkin' we might go south. That okay with you, er, 'Lenore'?” She nodded, and Emile turned to look at Kallahar. ”We can be your company then, if you don't mind.”

As Nyna got to the forest, she had to stop running for a second. The amount of information getting to her brain thanks to her enhanced senses was still a bit overwhelming, especially now that she was in a forest. All those subtle sounds, the smells... It would take a while for her to get used to all that, but it wasn't particularly uncomfortable, only a bit strange to her.

"Uh-oh... I need to find something to eat..." she said to herself, after her stomach growled once more, interrupting her thoughts.

It was time to test what her new body could do, regarding her new senses. Apparently, it wouldn't take much effort. She could hear the sound of many small animals living nearby. She could easily get one, maybe eat it with some mushrooms if she was able to find it. Sniffing the air, she started to follow one of these sounds, but was interrupted by a much more strong scent, a sweet fragrance, impossible to ignore. It wasn't coming from an animal... what was that?!

"I-it's coming from somewhere around here..." She thought to herself, almost drooling as she got nearer the source of the smell.
After searching a bit for it, she found where that smell was coming from. A small bush, replete with small wild berries of some various kinds. Some were slightly bigger than others, and had a deep purple, almost black color, others were smaller, with a lighter, blue tone. They all were extremely soft and the second she pressed one of them against her fingers the sweet, almost intoxicating smell was too strong for her to resist.

Nyna immediately started to pick them up, eating them one after another. They were so sweet and so... so tasty!
If she had paid more attention on her surroundings, she would notice that the only type of berries she wasn't eating were the small, deep red ones. She wasn't aware of that fact herself, but anyone who knew even a little bit of plants, would know that they were extremely poisonous. But before she could continue eating, a very loud sound of something crashing on the ground interrupted her, making her jump, alarmed.

a voice echoed through the forest, making her look around, confused.

"W-who is there?" She asked, walking towards the voice. It was coming from just behind a thick brush, separating her and a clearing in the forest. For some reason, it was incredibly dusty there, almost like something had fallen on the ground with a big impact...
Jumping over the brush, still holding a bunch of berries on her arms, she saw the cause of all that commotion. It was an undead, which had literally fallen from one of the highest trees around, opening a rather big crater on the ground.

"Hey! You look a lot like the undead I met a while ago!" Nyna said, getting near from the crater created by the undead, inspecting it and the undead himself, taking small pauses to throw one of the berries she was holding on her arms on her mouth.
"A while...? Maybe I should have said a day ago... after I was transported here?" She thought to herself, still uncertain about the circumstances which led her where she was right now.
"Did you come from... Yggdrasil as well?" she asked, looking to him curiously, her mouth still red thanks to the berries she was eating.
"If you haven't then I must be sounding very strange to you right now, right?" Nyna said, with an awkward smile.
But the second she considered that he was just an undead coming from this new world, something clicked on her mind.
"Wait... You won't try to eat me... right?" She asked, giving a few steps back.
"Being an undead and everything..." She said, eating one more berry without taking her eyes off him.

@Thecrash20

---

Yasha quietly watched as the group fought against the beholder. They were certainly a very interesting bunch, all of them were strong, but more importantly, they used skills and spells from Yggdrasil. If she measured her strength using Yggdrasil's standards, they were certainly high level, probably fully geared. They dealt with the beholder without much problem. Sadly, the same couldn't be said about the building, which now was in ruins thanks to the beholder's attack.
"Maybe it's time for me to introduce myself..." Yasha thought to herself, getting up and casting the fly magic once more.
"The spells and skills they used... They are from Yggdrasil, without a doubt. They're probably on the same situation as I am." she thought to herself, as she flew towards the group, using the trees to conceal her arrival.

It was quite the distance from the mountain Yasha was to the one they were, but thanks to her 'Fly' spell, it was incredibly easy, taking only a few moments. Sure, she kept watching them over the Target Acquiring Spell, just to make sure they wouldn't try anything or if they wouldn't simply walk away. They seemed to be talking with each other. That was expected, after all, they were as confused as she was. Flying there was pretty easy, especially with the Perfect Unknowable spell activated and using the trees to cover her, so they didn't hear or see her coming. Sure it took a little longer than just flying straight to them, but Yasha still didn't know if they could be trusted. They were indeed using Yggdrasil spells and skills, but on Yggdrasil, there were a lot of different people, including those who would kill other players just for the pleasure of doing so. She needed to know if that was the case... If it was... As a Blade of the Darkmoon, she would have to do something. Yes, she knew that this time, it was real. She was talking about real lives, including hers, but the oath she took a few years ago wasn't something to be taken lightly. The world would be a better place without those type of people. She landed a good few meters away from them, behind some trees, silently hearing them with the Requiem Aeternam on her hands. As she started hearing them though, it became clear that it was that wasn't the case. They were rather relaxed, talking about what to do and where to go.
"It's probably for the best. I'm already in a tough situation. Making more enemies right now would be suicide."

"Please, I mean no harm, I wish only to help." Yasha said, appearing from behind the trees, resting her rifle on her shoulders, much more relaxed than a few moments ago.
"I couldn't help but to hear part of your conversation. And I think I can be of some use to you guys." Yasha said, with a gentle and swift gesture, she conjured the Target Acquiring Spell again, showing an aerial view of their current location, including the big city after the valley and a bunch of other information such as wind speed, directions, coordinates & etc.

"You guys... Also came from Yggdrasil, right? The spells and skills you used while fighting the beholder... I am in the same situation as you all. I'm Yasha, it's a pleasure to meet you." Yasha said, with a slight bow.
"I would have helped you, but from where I was I didn't have a clear line of sight of the beholder, and if I tried to shoot it, the chances of hitting one of you were pretty high. I was watching you fight from over there." She said, pointing towards the other mountain, a good distance away from the one they were right now.
"Do you see that big city just after the plains, northwest of our position? It might be a good place to gather some information regarding this new world and it's inhabitants. It's probably the best course of action right now. Especially because we are not all 'humans' and we don't know how the natives will react to that." she said, giving a quick glance to the strigiform, the demon and the others who weren't exactly human.

"I'm heading towards that city, so if anyone wants to come with me, I won't prevent you from doing so. We are all in the same situation after all... And if you guys haven't realized it yet... we actually feel pain here... This might not be just a game anymore." Yasha said, with a serious expression.
"But as long as we are careful about what we do, we will be fine. Especially because if this isn't a game anymore, NPCs are not just programs, and will react to our actions accordingly..." Yasha said, with a mischievous smile.
"Remember that we are dealing with real lives now. Including our own." She said, looking to the group, studying their reactions.
"Oh, I'm sorry for that, I don't want to sound gloomy or pressure you guys. Believe-me, I'm exactly in the same situation as you guys. It doesn't matter how exciting and interesting it may sound, we are still alone in a strange land." She said, looking around, thinking about the situation.

@Rune_Alchemist @Spanner @Hammerman @Lord Zee @drewccapp @TheFake