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⬣//SPREAD, CONTAMINATE, ERADICATE
You've had a chance to adapt to your new circumstances and make peace with what your life has become… hopefully. If you haven't, don't expect life to get any easier.
A few things have changed in recent days. Healing no longer works as effectively as it did in the past. If you're in the habit of behaving recklessly, don't expect one of Fragment's few healers to pick up the slack. Broken bones will now remain broken no matter how many healing spells are cast on your shattered limbs. Damage to organs can't be repaired with the wave of a wand.
What's more, HP and SP restoring items have gotten harder and harder to come by. Potions are no longer available for purchase at generic NPC shops and gatherable items needed for crafting have become fewer and fewer in number, limiting your item making options. If you've gotten into the bad habit of injuring yourself heedless of the consequences, it's time to rethink your lifestyle. Playtime is over.
Think of the three core memories that have formed and shaped the person you are today. Some will think back fondly on family and friends while others have been jaded by the ill treatment they've received from important figures in their lives. In any case, it's of little concern to you now. One of those three precious memories has vacated your mind, taking with it a vital piece of you that you can no longer get back.
You may choose one of the three key memories listed on your application to be taken away from your character. Choices are limited to the memories supplied in your application and additional memories submitted for the previous memshare event or not eligible for convenient plot-induced memory loss. Choose wisely, because you aren't getting it back.
And Sky Fish, and Disco Knives, and Evil Armors…
Has anyone noticed the monsters around town lately? Which town, you may ask? The answer is all of them.
Monsters have invaded Root Towns in large waves, attacking anything and everything in sight. Any lovingly crafted signs or other furnishings you've erected around town are easily torn to shreds and destroyed by the monsters who have come to roost in your once safe Root Towns. On the plus side, PvE and PvP has now been enabled in all Root Towns, which is excellent news for those who wish to combat the monster invasion and those who can't seem to help hurting themselves and others.
These monsters range in level from 50 to 75, and while many of them can be defeated with a bit of ingenuity and teamwork, some of them boast impenetrable shields that no regular attacks or spells can break through. They are also immune to status/potion/armor effects.
When in doubt, turn to your fellow players for support. There may be some among you who know how to deal with these impossibly strong monsters, but there's no guarantee that they'll want to help you.
A lilting, boyish voice sings to you in your sleep. His voice sounds familiar to you, tickling your heart like a call from an old friend, but this is no friend of yours.
"You had every chance to abandon this world and return to your own. What stopped you? Was it ego? Hubris? In any case, it's too late for regrets now.
They say the world is what you make of it. Doesn't the same hold true for reality?"
The voice will periodically visit you and your sleep, but the moral of his message never changes: you did this to yourself. You were trapped here because you chose to look the other way. If anyone is to blame for the current situation, it's you and you alone, but there is a̸̬̲͔̘͈͚̠̫̘̬̗̖̋͑̉̓̿͛̈́̋͐̃̾̈̕̕ͅń̵̩̱̠̫̖̬̲̻͉̝̈́̀̀̚͜͜o̴͍͎̣͔̤̝̲͍̺̿̒t̴̨͚͓͍̜̮̥͊͑̿̈́̉̂̐͜͠͝h̷̨̨̦͕͖̙̞͙̗̗͎̬͛̂̾̋̅͜͜͝ȩ̸͎̭̙̜̯͎̯̳̮̘̲͒ȑ̸̡̧̢͓̠̦͙͇͍͎̭͑̈́̓̿̓̅̑̅̌͑̈́̕͝͝ ̴̧̼͕̟̬̰̞̮̗͔͈̬̙͍̈́̀w̵̗̖̩̘͇͖̲̩̫̣̗̙̲̌͜a̷̛͎͋͑̃͛̆̈̋̑̋͠y̴̡̬͕͈̗̫̯̟̯͊͐̌̀̐͑͘͝͝.
Another h̶̦̘̤̘͐͑̿̂̏̎͋͝o̴̧͖͚̖̜͓͂̏́͒̑̈́͝͝p̶̡͙̏̉̿̎̀̑́̈̆͌̉e̷̡̡̦̣̯̘̺͍̟̰͍̤͛̀́̚͝͠. Will you heed that voice and call to it?
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... ]
They seem delicate, so I'd most likely break them.
[ He glances over at Matoba. He's not gonna burn himself, right?? ]
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[And so: Matoba delicately picks up one of the skewers from Hien's BBQ set, and loads a bunch of marshmallows onto it. It should be easier to just do a bunch at once, right??]
[He holds them over the fire for a while, but... Well, no one ever said that Matoba Seiji had the most patience. Or the greatest attention span. So once the front marshmallows start to melt, he tries to hover the next ones over the fire, but--]
Ah-- [The first set start melting and drooping into the fire pit. Matoba reaches forward at first to try and catch them, but yanks back when his sleeve almost trails into the flames. And now all of his other marshmallows are melting off!!]
[Help, Hieeennnnnn]
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Don't try to catch melting marshmallows with your hand. [ Yes, he saw that. ] You'll get burned.
[ He takes the skewer with all the melting marshmallows and slides them off onto several graham crackers, places the small chocolate bars with a second cracker at the top. Voila. S'mores. ]
This is hot too, so take care when you're eating them. Do you want me to show you how you roast a marshmallow properly?
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I know that, [Matoba mutters under his breath (you saw shit!!), but he gives over the skewer to Hien to allow him to prepare the s'mores properly. Everything is already lined up nicely in readiness to be melted with each drop of marshmallow, so Hien can easily just cascade them on and top them.]
[Matoba tugs over one of the small plates for himself, eager, and frowning again as he pauses at Hien's second warning.] I know. [Even though he was totally about to just take a big bite. Fine, he'll blow on it first!! Hmph.] What is "properly"? You just hold it over the fire.
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[ Hien absolutely has the potential to be the mom friend, but it's tossed into the wind now... Hien tells Matoba how to properly roast a marshmallow. You gotta time it and stuff!!
Either way, he puts the cooked meat on a different small plate so that Matoba can eat these before returning to the grill to cook some more meat. ]
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[He is a little spoiled, after all.]
[Just look at that, already has his dinner and his dessert. Matoba is satisfied as he settles in to eat, watching Hien go back to the grill to work at his own food.]
Where did you learn all this? [He mumbles through a chicken skewer.]
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[ He finishes more chicken skewers with touches of miso on them to give to Matoba before returning to the grill. ]
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[Matoba blows gently on his chicken and snarfs two pieces down off the stick.]
Vagrants tend to be some of the best informants we have. So it doesn't necessarily surprise me that you were able to sneak into such places. [Matoba cleans off his skewer, then picks up one of the s'mores.... It's so sticky that strings of marshmallow are left on his fingertips as he tries to stuff the whole thing into his face, crumbling and gooey mess everywhere. Ahh, but so delicious.......]
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[ He finishes cooking more pieces of meat and chicken skewers, so he turns the grill off and comes back with the rest of the food. Here you go, hubby. Hien even gets out a napkin to dab areas around Matoba's mouth to clean him. ]
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[It was attractive. And it reminded him, again, of an echo of something he can no longer remember.]
[It has him withdrawn and thoughtful for a moment before he blinks out of it by the surprise of Hien dabbing at his... face??] Wh't're you-- [Pfft. He can't help it. He turns his head away as he starts giggling.]
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[ There's no way Matoba is ticklish, right? Around the mouth?? Hien will shelf that thought for later... anyway, face cleaning take 2. ]
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[Matoba frowns with consternation as Hien grabs him again and just... lets him... If this is what makes Hien happy....]
...I'm just going to get it gooey again with the next one I eat.
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It's sweet.
But he settles into his own seat and starts eating chicken off the skewers. Yummy... ]
... What's it like to live in the mountains? Did you like the location?
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Mmm?? Boring, honestly, haha. [Answering around a crumble of graham cracker, Matoba licks his lips.] But that's a charm to it, too. Compared to the city...
Peace isn't something we ever really had. It was all false, protected on the backs of our family. But it was a nice illusion.
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[ He wouldn't think less of Matoba if he did, honestly. Sometimes you need a break. Hien has already done something like that--it's his entire experience here in Fragment. It's right now, even. While they have their little camping cookout in a dungeon void of monsters, the monsters continue to wreck havoc in root towns while people forget more and more of themselves--a little spot of reprieve from the apocalypse.. ]
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[Matoba doesn't look sad or regretful about it. He smiles, same as ever, accepting his fate as what it is.]
But understanding didn't diminish the peace entirely. I was glad just to have that time for what it was, knowing that it would come to an end when I went to the city. A limited freedom, but still an experience to cherish.
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[ Especially if it's tied with positive reactions, he thinks. ]
Like how you learn to be grateful for peace when there are conflicts all around you.
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[A private smile.] I can look back on it now and think so, I suppose.
[Even though he's forgotten why.]
[Even though there's that gaping hole in his memory where he knows something important is missing.]
[Why was that time so precious to him?? Just for the sake of it being peaceful? He doesn't think so. Peace on its own is worth nothing more than boredom.]
[He glances over to Hien, knowing what he's referring to. This place is...]
No. I don't want to run away from that. I just want to understand why I'm here.
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[ Hien looks at Matoba with a hint of concern on his face. ]
I don't know if you found your answer though.
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[He repeats it quietly, confirming it to himself. No, he hasn't forgotten her yet. Her terrifying smile, her coldness, her power-hungry nature.]
[An empty chuckle escapes him, face turning away from Hien as he picks up another s'mores finally, going cold, and raises its sticky sweetness to his lips.]
I've known for a little while now. I was never going to.
...Hien, I didn't really join that thing for that, no matter what it might have promised me.
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You didn't?
[ It seemed like it was so important to Matoba, so Hien thought that it would have been the reason. But of course, there were also business transactions to think of, but... of what exactly, that could top searching for his sister? ]
Then why?
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--It was why I met with him, at least at first. That much is true. [A gooey trail of marshmallow drips at Matoba's lip, and he swipes it into his mouth with his thumb.] But it was clear to me from our meeting that he had no intentions of holding up his end of our bargain.
No.... Rather, his intentions were clear to me from the start. [He shoves the rest of the s'more into his mouth and chews, graham cracker crumbs at the corner of his mouth, and waits to finish most of his mouthful before he finishes his thought- turning to glance Hien in the eye with a tiny smile.]
Because he's just like her.
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Mm. It only wants power over humans that it supposedly learned from. That thing couldn't make a good deal even if it tried. Maybe it's a good thing that it didn't learn that from you...?
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Yes. How fortunate. [Sarcasm?? Who can say.] ...Well, knowing that, I couldn't very well walk away and wash my hands of it, now could I?