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⬣//JUST AS A SEED TAKES ROOT.
A team of four courageous adventurers managed to unearth a secret Area unique from the others: the Hulle Granz Cathedral. Unlike other Areas, this one is lacking all the usual monsters, dungeons, and treasure. What might the purpose of this Area be, then...?
Well, if you’re feeling penitent or perhaps wish to hold a sermon of your own, head to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground and knock yourself out. What? Too soon?
Anyway, be not afraid! The cathedral is perfectly safe. Following Ganymede’s little incident in the cathedral, a timely email has been sent out to beta testers regarding health and safety that reads as follows:
To our beta team,
Please exercise caution when playing video games for extended periods of time. Take breaks every thirty minutes and do not sit in the same position for more than two hours at a time. Remember to stay hydrated and play in a well-lit environment.
Failing to take care of your health while gaming can result in a litany of health complications, including but not limited to eye strain, muscle fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and involuntary loss of consciousness and motor functions.
We take the health and safety of our beta testers very seriously. If you have any concerns, please contact us at cccorp.ccmail.com.
Thank you for your continued efforts,
CyberConnect Corporation of Japan.
Guilds have been patched into the current version of Fragment and are now available for players to create their own and join others. While some guilds have opted to go the private route, others are in need of players to fill their ranks!
The admins have kindly supplied those recruiting for their shiny new guilds with a number of goodies to aid in their player gathering efforts:⬣ A bundle of personalized flyers proudly displaying their guild logo and a description of the guild’s @ home and available amenities.
⬣ Party poppers and streamers. Nothing screams “join my guild!” like a face full of glitter, confetti, and colorful strips of ribbon.
⬣ A megaphone that lets your voice echo far and wide, even across Root Towns and Areas, but with great potential for abuse comes restrictions! The megaphone can only be used five times before it breaks. Use it wisely!
⬣ A unique recipe for a cocktail, latte, tea, or other type of beverage that can be blended up and served in little sample cups to court potential members. These drinks are unique to their guilds and, when consumed, have a special effect that reflects the leader of that guild. Is your guild leader a pretty cheerful guy? Drinking their special brew will make you feel happy too!
Whatever effect your guild’s drink has is up to the leader’s discretion, but if you so desire, drop a comment under the questions top level and we’ll brew one up for you.
Additionally, you may host a guild open house and invite potential guildies into your @ home to let them take a look around! Guild @ homes are typically locked to guild members & their guests only, so use this as your opportunity to put your best foot forward and impress the world with everything your guild has to offer.
Also arriving with the newest update are mountable Grunties! Aren’t they cute? ...Well, they’re someone’s definition of cute.
While the ability to ride around town and in Areas at 2x speed is certainly alluring, you can’t just walk up to the Grunty Ranch located in each Root Town and take one out for a stroll. If you want a mount of your very own, you’ve got to commit! Becoming a proud Grunty owner means you must first become a proud Grunty parent, and to do that, you’ll need to raise your Grunty from infancy into adulthood.
Just what kind of adult might your Grunty become? That depends on how you raise them and what you feed them. Those strange "foods" popping up all over Areas might not taste good to you, but they sure do to Grunties!
For more information on how to acquire a baby Grunty of your very own and raise it into a proper — or not so proper — member of Grunty society, head on over to the Grunty Ranch.
Mac Anu, the City of Twilight known for its gentle ocean breezes, has been uncharacteristically warm lately. Very, very warm. Its usual orange skies have been swapped out for vivid blues, the sun dwelling high in the sky and threatening to burn everything in its wake.
It won’t take much wandering to feel the effects of heat exhaustion sink in, and even after you log out for the day, those symptoms seem to linger. Do Hien and Zelkova know what the hell is going on? Of course not. Unusual occurrences are slowly becoming the norm in Fragment, it seems, but the point of a beta test is to work out any kinks. Report it and move on.
Lumina Cloth is similarly affected by unusual weather phenomena, but it’s much more pleasant and hospitable than poor Mac Anu. The sun hangs just above the horizon, bathing the strip in early evening light. It’s much cooler here too, and what’s more, it appears that a carnival has rolled into town. What fun!
All the usual carnival fare is here: greasy fried foods, drinks served in foot long glasses, and a litany of carnival games that are totally not rigged. Entry is free and so are the prizes, but some of them take a bit of legwork to win.
⬣ Successfully PK another player to win the carnival exclusive Thursday The 12th™ skin. PK’d players will receive an appropriately spooky ghost skin of their own!
⬣ Step on up to the dunk tank and get dunked on to win a sexy swimsuit skin! Both the dunkers and the dunkees will win this skin, but only those who successfully dunk the player in the tank will be rewarded with the chance to show off some skin. The appearance this skin takes is dependent on the player wearing it, so have fun and get creative with it!
⬣ Take a trip through the hall of mirrors with a friend and do some reflecting! Stare too long into the mirrors and you might recall a memory that doesn’t belong to you, but to the person venturing through the hall of mirrors with you. Did that really happen? Surely it’s all in your head. Memories available for memshare are limited to the ones listed on your application.
Additional rewards include giant plush monsters that can be used to decorate guild @ homes and private rooms (limit one per player!) and a pet goldfish that, unfortunately, will die a hero’s tragic death within a week. Womp womp.
We’ve had a busy week! It seems like there was a glitch that allowed players to equip other players as weapons, which resulted in a ten player chain, wielded by none other than our hardworking head administrator, Hien! I’ll have a talk with him about not doing this kind of thing in the future, I promise!
That wasn’t all, though. An unknown entity reached out to the players participating in the ten-player chain and issued them a special title: Good Friends Stick Together. Fragment’s not supposed to have titles. Well, at least not in the beta. But you can go ahead and add it to your name if you want to anyway, and it shouldn’t cause any problems! We still can’t pinpoint who sent those messages and how they overrode the permissions to create those titles in the first place, but... Hmm. I don’t want to start any rumors, so I’ll keep looking into it.
There are those armor sets too, which I didn’t know had been handed out to those of you that reached level 25. Oria brought it to our attention, thankfully! There’s not a whole lot we can do about it now, but we know that some of them are pretty invasive. But knowing is half the battle, right?
Our friend Ganymede suffered an accident recently that had him lying unconscious in the hospital for about a day. He seems to be feeling better now, thankfully. Ḩ̵̲̼͆̃͐̆ò̸̧̰͕̥̈́͒̕͜p̷̫͙̯͇̾̄͜ę̸̹̒f̷̠̭͉̱̅͘ǘ̴͎̙̥̭̈́̈́l̵͇̙͍̳̜̇̓̒l̷̬̲̀̆̈̅̂ͅỳ̵̧̻̖ ̷̠̫̭̰̦̋͗h̴̰͕̑͗e̸̦̼͇̾͘ ̴̡̢̝̺̳̊̎̎̔p̴̳̠̼̜͔̂̅̐à̵͕̹̟ͅỹ̴̡̛͝s̶͉̕ ̴̢͕̬̑̆̕͝b̸̹̲͗͒̊͑͠ē̶̛͖͠ṯ̸̻̺́͒͐t̶̻͕͎̑ĕ̶̖̀͗͛͋r̷͙̗̙̲͙̓̚͝ ̷̻̠͉̈́̚a̷̡̙̳̽́̀̋̔ẗ̴̢̨̛̬̺t̴͖̳͝ē̷͇̆͆̍̚ͅn̵̪̜͉͊̉̔̄͐t̵͕̼͈̓͋̈́̕î̷̬o̸͇̐͋͑͌n̶̟̫̟̽̑͒͐͘ ̷̜̈́̈̀̂̎t̶͙̂͛ô̸̠̜ ̶̫͎̎h̶͖̳͛i̸̗͖̖̅̂͆̄͛s̸͔̈́̇̍ ̸̩̗̻̕s̵̬̼̳̲̞͝ù̸̞̺̣͙̾͒͛ŗ̴̻̟̻̭̂̈́r̶̡͈̲̣̣͋̊͗̕o̶̥̝̮̓ų̴̻̯̬̊̑̑͌̉ͅn̶̢̙̦͔͖̈̒͝d̷̰̼̤̥̃̿͒̌̎i̸̯͑̾͊̑͝n̵̦͐g̸̪̾͝͝s̷̛̝͙̣̹̍͛͝ ̸͔̲̠̩͗̓̀͘a̷̛̼̓̈́͊ṅ̵̥͆̎ḑ̶̨̯̱͍̇ ̷̛̗̮̀̆ḧ̴̼̪́͗͝i̵͓̬̤͂͐͒s̶̮̎̿̃ ̴̛͔̋͗̽h̷̝͑ͅē̴̱ȃ̵̝͎ͅļ̷͍̀͐͊̊̽ẗ̸̼̺̟̥̼́̄͛h̶̥̹̬̮̽̅ ̷̟̖̮͛́̿t̸̢̤̤̂͒͋̍o̶̼̟̓ ̵̥̳͙̖̆̈́ả̶̛̳̱͙̖̩̿̽͘v̴͈͉͖͊͘ỏ̶̤͚̅͑͝i̴̱͈̩̳̳̿̇̕͠ḏ̵͙̮͗͆ ̶̯̭̝̹̯͊s̸͍̰͔̔̀͋͋̐u̷̟̠͑̔̏̚c̵̨͖͉͇̀͆͘ͅh̴̨̓͌̄̈ ̶̧̱̻̼̏̃̃i̷̱͉͈̿̎̋͒͜͝n̴̢͓͍̂͝͠c̷̢̢̛̹͚̑̓̅ͅi̶͕̟̻̘̫̾͌d̶͉͉̏̇e̵͉̱̩̯̤͐̎̉̾n̸̡̠̈͜ţ̴̇͑̈́͘s̵̩̼͔̙̙̉͘ ̵̮̯̞̮̾̈́͋̔̈h̵̡̗͉͉͈̉̐̅̚ȁ̵͖͚̖̾p̸̰̬͖̩̀̈́̆̓p̶̢̛̼̈́͆̒͘ͅe̷̟̘̩̲̻̾̊n̵̨̩̜̟͆͘i̵̙͉̺̮͠ͅṋ̷̆ġ̶͙͚ ̴̩̋à̷̄̑̂͝ͅǧ̵͖̜͍͕̒̑͒a̷̧̛̞͐̃̈́͘i̷̯͉̬̯̽̍n̷̘̝͓̽̅̕!̵̩͑
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Fai grins as he joins him, his shoulders growing twice their side in the reflection. ]
It does!
[ He continues to make different poses, but Fandaniel might notice a flash of red in one of the mirrors near him. It's a very particular shade of red, deep and dark, that might draw his attention. ]
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He leans in, brow furrowing as he peers into the mirror.
As for Fai, once he's been left with the mirror alone, there's a flicker of... something... in it. Movement, though undefined. ]
1/2
cw violence/blood, familial death
But an acrid, metallic smell hits the both of you almost immediately, and the two of you look at one another, identical expressions of fear and uncertainty. Your twin steels himself as he takes a step forward to call out for your parents, and it nudges you into action too as you shut the door behind the both of you and come face to face with your mom on the ground, surrounded by a pool of congealed blood.
...You only recognize her by the clothes she's wearing, and it takes your brother's hand on your shoulder to keep you from passing out. Choking back a sob, the two of you call out for your dad, but it doesn't take long to come across him behind the couch, face down in a pool of his own blood. Much like your mother, his clothes are the only real way you can be sure it's him.
"911, right? That's who we call?"
You nod as your vision starts to go blurry with tears, and your brother runs to the phone. It's impossible not to feel like the entire room is closing in on you, especially as you finally notice the evidence of a struggle that occured—a discarded fireplace poker near your mom, a chair or two upturned, droplets of blood on the carpet...
Deciding you can't take it anymore, you go to your brother to listen to him make the call. ]
cw car accidents, familial death, distress 1/2
Your head is ringing, you feel confused, and something sticky and red is dripping down your— no, not down, but up. You hang upside-down, a seatbelt keeping you trapped in your seat. You smell car exhaust and fire, and finally, finally, the screaming next to you cuts through the daze. A younger child — you can't be more than ten yourself — shrieks in terror and pain from next to you.
Meteion. Your little sister. You recall the screams of fear from the front seats, where your parents should have been, but that's been crushed in. You look, the gore forces your gaze away. Meteion, she's still alive, right? Right?!
Shaking, you struggle with the seatbelt, escaping it and falling with a painful thump while your sister screams and cries and calls for you, Amon, Amon, she needs your help, where are you, where are you?!
By the time you're scrabbling and pulling at the wreckage that cuts you off from her side, slicing up your fingers on it, even burning them when they dig at hot metal. By the time anyone arrives to pull you out and away, you're still trying, but the screaming has trailed off into whimpers, then, at last, silence... ]
2/2
The room is closing in. He can't breathe. He ends up clutching his head and falling to his knees, then doubling over, shaking. He won't scream or yell. He holds that in against gritted teeth, but the tears do come, blurring his own vision.
What the fuck? What the fuck?! ]
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In and out.
His gaze falls to the lamia plush as it lays on the floor. Fai has half a mind to pick it up, but the emptiness in him keeps him from being able to do so. It's what keeps any of the tears that should be forming from actually prickling at his eyes.
And besides, Fandaniel is more important anyway. He's doubled over, unable to respond, and Fai isn't sure what he saw. There's plenty to choose from between the two of them surely, and he can tell that it was nothing good. Fai takes the few steps over, crouching down on the ground and reaching out a hand. Should he touch him? Should he abstain? He isn't sure. ]
...I'm sorry.
[ For what he saw, for what Fandaniel saw, for coming in here in the first place. ]
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Who did it?! Who?! I'll kill them!
[ He would, too. If someone had murdered his family, he would have found them, he would have found them and done the same to them. A small blessing that the person who careened into his family car so long ago died, too, leaving him with no one at all to wreak vengeance on. ]
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My uncle. If you're willing to break into a prison, you're more than welcome to do so.
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He seethes a moment longer, fingers clenched into fists, every breath heaving with anger, but he breathes. Breathe in, breathe out, calm down, calm down. The hand on his should... helps, which surprises him.
Or should it? Hien did much of the same when he was freaking out about that horrible book of his.
In the end, he can't help but let out a sad little laugh over it all. ]
Heh... of course. Your uncle. People truly are disgusting.
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Aren't they? I wish I grew up with more hope in others, but I think it was dashed pretty quickly for me.
[ Discovering the bodies of your murdered parents will do that to you. ]
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I wonder why we even bother to keep going, then, if our only reward is dealing with more of them day in and day out.
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[ It's a valid and effective form of motivation. He huffs out a humorless laugh as he withdraws his hand. ]
Or a passion. That's why I've kept going.
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[ Oh well. Once Fai pulls his hand back, Fandaniel finally decides to stir from where he kneels on the floor and makes the slow, steady climb back to his feet. He'll dust himself off out of habit once he's up, though there's no dirt or dust to bother with marring his gear. ]
Why it would show me anything like that... [ Ah, though if he saw something, what about— it's a gutwrenching thought and he turns stiffly, only just enough to send Fai a sidelong look from the corner of his hood. ] Did you see anything?
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...I did.
[ By the look on Fai's face—downtrodden, his eyes momentarily averting Fandaniel's gaze—it's obvious what it was. ]
The both of us have dealt with quite a bit, haven't we?
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There's a quiet moment that comes and goes where Fandaniel merely watches Fai, noting that look, that reluctance to meet his gaze. Ah. ]
...that we have.
[ If only he felt like he could simply ignore this interaction and leave. Maybe Fai would agree to that. Just... pretend this didn't happen. Walk away. ]
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...But that's impossible now, isn't it? Something has irrevocably shifted between them, whether they want it to or not. As tempting as it is, that's why Fai doesn't run. Neither of them can run from this. ]
It's painful, witnessing your sibling in pain like that. I'm sorry.
[ But there's no pity in his words. He's sorry, sure, but he doesn't find Fandaniel pitiful for his past. ]
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He can't recall. ]
It matters naught now. I couldn't save her. I was too weak.
[ Though he isn't too weak now, after having a moment to recover, to reach down to retrieve the lamia assassin plush from the floor. ]
Both our miseries mean nothing to the sheer cruelty of the universe. People are killed every day, young, old, for no reason whatsoever.
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[ It makes all of it feel so inconsequential in the end, and it's a feeling Fai doesn't like very much. ]
Yet it still impacts those closest to the victims anyway. It's cruel, isn't it?
[ All of it. ]
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[ Busty Lamia Assassin™ now up off the floor and being dusted off, despite, again, there not actually being any dust that could have even gotten onto it. ]
Do you recall when I told you how I knew trying to recreate the people we've lost was a futile effort...?
[ How he knew cloning could never do that? It wasn't that long ago, just back at the opening party for the game. ]
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But Fandaniel's next words pull his mind away from that little reverie. He isn't particularly surprised that their conversation is going in this direction, given what they talked about at the party. ]
I do. Let me guess... you tried and it either plainly failed, or it didn't work in a way that satisfied you.
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[ Busty plush tucked back under one arm, he turns to offer Fai a wry smirk. ]
The saying is knowledge is power, isn't it? Bringing them back was a fleeting fancy of a young boy who buried himself in silly comics. Learning the reality of it swept that all away.
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...Did it devastate you?
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So, no, Fai wouldn't be wrong, technically. ]
Did it devastate me? [ He has to pause and consider his answer, thinking back to that time, years ago. ] I am not sure if devastate is the correct word. Disappointed, perhaps.
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[ He smiles, just a little, before reaching out and patting the head of Fandaniel's wife. ]
I do hope it's gotten easier to bear, at least for your sake.
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