Hey there! This is a Valentine's Special Story which is co-authored by CrossKeys DarkHime! Give her a cheer 'cause all of the terminologies here came from her brilliant mind! Also, this story has a setting similar to SAO so there's that. Hope you'll enjoy the story! :)
Toothache.
That will be the state of her teeth if she won't stop eating the assorted candies and chocolates in the prism-like jar. The thought made her hesitated for a fraction of a minute – her fingers grazing the aurum-colored wrapper of the last sweet that the container held. She fidgeted her hand in apprehension, testing her tolerance and when she pulled back her hand from the sugary delight, she felt that she had won. But a millisecond passed and her resilience crumbled as she grabbed the treat, removed the wrapping and stuff treat into her drooling mouth.
"Fine, I think you may have realized this but you've just already eaten four jars of candies and chocolate…" Rein scolded her with a judging glance at her way as she moved her fingers around the holographic screen that was showing her homework.
The red-haired girl grinned – not a cloud of regret upon her action. As long as her stomach is satisfied, Fine would be happy as a bee, "Well, what else am I suppose to do as you finish your assignment there?"
Rein shook her head though there was a wrinkle of a smile in her pretty face, "Just a little longer Fine… I'm almost done," she assured as she swiped over the air-borne screen, revealing the next page and started typing out an answer.
"You've saying that for the past hour!" Fine wailed as she tossed her hand on the air.
"This time I mean it," Rein replied, "I'm completing this task as best and as fast as I could."
Fine started to open her mouth in protest and pester her into hurrying it up (just as she did for the previous uneventful hours) but she knew it was pointless. Looking at her studious sister, she saw how the screen's light reflected in her sea green eyes with inversed mirrors of the data and sparks appearing in her irises. Consciously, she checked her own homework by double tapping a notebook icon in her view display. At once, her own holographic screen popped up and she was comforted by the fact that she didn't have any pressing schoolwork to do for that day (…that could honestly be done later on that week).
She closed the application and proceeded into watching the feeds on her friend's accounts. Fine watched videos that Lione posted and there was even one feature video about spicy foods (she needed to try that at least once in her life). Afterwards she looked at Mirlo's paintings and art that was in this social media called 'Crafty'. And then she viewed Chiffon's tutorials in advanced algebra (that was a wrong move because she got a headache afterwards). Nonetheless, when she finally got bored and decided to close her screen, Rein was still not yet done with her grueling assignment.
"I'm on the last part now," Rein said as if sensing her distress.
Fine groaned under her pillow and rolled on her bed out of frustration. If this continues, she was tempted to get a fifth jar in the kitchen. Suddenly, she straightens her posture, realizing a way to help her sister. The girl tapped her sister's home profile in their household connection, drifted some tabs and two and not a moment later, she was viewing Rein's output.
"W-What's this?" Fine voiced out her confusion as she tried to understand the questions before her.
"Aw, Fine~" Rein cooed, "Were you planning to help me out in answering my homework?"
"Y-Yeah…"
Fine saw that the last question was typed out neatly with terminologies she has no idea what meant and then the 'send' button was touched. A series of virtual papers mashed into an envelope while it was slowly moving forward with a loading bar directly below it. Finally, the envelope got a green check on it indicating that it was already submitted to the teacher.
Rein hugged her from the side and nuzzled her cheeks to Fine's.
"You can't answer those since we applied at two different type of academic track, remember? But I do appreciate the thought and your patience."
"Then…"
"Yup!" Rein giggled as she got two Amuspheres from their desk.
The Amusphere is a circular nuero-sensitive device that is worn over the head and with it's darkened lens over the eyes. It has the ability to process the brain's network to connect an individual in a virtual reality. Its functions cover a wide range of area such as helping psychiatric patients in the medical community, create none-border classes all across the earth so students from different races could interact with each other and simulate events that could be dangerous if practiced in the real world which is one of the training in the military.
However, Amusphere's popular achievement is to bring players to any kind of game that could be downloaded into its memory. An example of such would be one of the biggest MMORPG to date – DreamScape.
Placing the device over her sister's head and pushing the 'on' button, Rein grinned. After this, Fine did the same thing to her and together they laid down on the bed, got comfortable and finally faced each other.
"Ready to 'dive'?" fine excitedly exclaimed.
"Ready!" Rein shouted in glee and even though the lens weren't see-through, Fine felt that she had winked, "See you soon 'sis."
They closed their eyes, clasped their hands together, smiled at the warmth that it had brought them and with two pitches becoming one tone, they commanded, "DreamScape – Logging In."
'DreamScape – Logging In,' a voice echoed their request. It was a voice that cannot be determined whether it came from the device or it was the science of the neurons in the brain but this opens up the gateway in entering the virtual game.
And even though Fine dived in plenty of times, she still cannot control the panic that surged through her when the comforting touch of Rein was lost in the blackness. She then felt the familiar sensation that her body was entangling and mixing with the data, leaving only her mind in there. The next perception that she had recognized was the strange awareness that she couldn't feel herself – this wasn't the state of being numb but just realizing that there is nothing and nowhere for a moment. This terrifying event would only last for a few microseconds but every player could feel and eventually be accustomed to this phase of oblivion. But Fine couldn't shake the stories she'd read and overheard about the players who were lost in this blank slate – though this was just a hoax, as the creators have assured in the past.
Loading Dreamscape
Time progressed and Fine found her bearing again as part by part, her body was reconstructed. She stretched her fingers, curled her toes and yet there was still that miniscule comprehension that it these were not her real fingers and toes… They were not whole as if they are lacking something fundamental that makes them a part of her. Some say it would be the authenticity of life that no one could ever copy but this would always be a mystery to her.
As she lay there bare, she gently opened her eyes. It wasn't dark anymore; figures, letters and symbols run through the area – the codes of the game. They were merging and separating and dashing to and fro.
Remember to save your file before exiting
…
Do quests to boost your level
…
Meet new friends in DayDream
Tips and reminders continued to flash in there with the voice as its companion while Fine floated at the sea of codes.
Welcome, Ross.
As her username appeared, clothes wrapped her body – gauntlets fixed themselves on her hands, leather boots snuggled her feet, black shorts hugged her waist while a pale green blouse covered her upper body. She also had a cloak draped on her shoulders, a gray band around her neck and an olive bandana over her pink twin-tailed hair. Finally, her collection of knives appeared on her side and other smart tools hidden in her costume. Her attire alone could tell that in DreamScape, her main class is a thief.
Then, with a glowing set of blood red eyes her Character Menu appeared before her. Fine grinned and waved a hand, leaving a trail of rose-colored path.
Opening Gateway
She bit her lips from anticipation and then the light came, shrouding the blackness… and then she was falling.
The thrills of delight resounded as Rein fell from the sky.
Her gloved hand was holding her magician's hat to her head and the other one was securing her Celestial Staff. Her dark blue cape was billowing with the wind and her dress was fluttering with it. The virtual sun casted a glint on her charm pins that was in her hair and the azure pearl that she wore over her neck.
Below her, the city where they last played could be seen in view. The vast untamed woods were there accompanied by the ever-changing hills. The main town was situated at the center of these woods and it formed a big star from above.
Rein was close to the ground now and just then, a glowing circular platform was all she could see and the moment she was about to splat like an egg, her feet found the barrier of the circle and she alighted. The platform disappeared as soon as she landed and around her, more appeared catching, transporting and bringing the players to safety.
"Rein~!"
The girl looked up to see her twin and just like the other players, the circular platform emerged. Her fall slowed down once her feet touched the light coming from it and yet she hadn't even reached the cobblestone when Rein tackled her into a hug.
"Miss me already?" Fine said in between her laughter.
"You couldn't blame your sister you know," Rein replied, helping Fine to stand up, "After that incident where you dived in the previous location than the ones where we are, I had to spend my gold to buy a Portal Stone to fetch you. Those are expensive!"
Fine scratched the back of her head, feeling embarrassed, "That was my mistake… But I already promised you that I wouldn't do it again! And we could've had more gold if you don't go around and buy an extensive amount of clothing!"
"Those are important! Our defenses rises up, we'll be more comfortable and not to mention we'll be killing off monsters in style. I think the real reason why our gold stock is low is because of your appetite that could size up to an elephant's!"
They pretended to glare at each other before going into another fit of laughter.
"Hey, hey, are those – ?" a player asked as he saw the two of girls.
"W-Whoa! I can't believe it!" another player exclaimed.
"Those are the best players in Zone 36!"
"One of the highest leveled players in DreamScape…"
"Ross and Lazuli!"
Their names were whispered with awe but the twins were oblivious to it. After all, the real reason why they started the game was just to have fun.
"Puuuumo!" Poomo, a fairy pet that they have acquired from an earlier quest appeared. The creature have been with them through nearly all of their adventures in DreamScape and although they have other pet monsters more sinister and powerful in their inventory, Poomo was special for them. He's more of a friend than a pet.
"Welcome back masters-pumo," he greeted.
The red-haired girl flinched, "Can't we really change the way he talks? It's bothering me."
"You're bothered by the 'pumo' at the end? I think it's cute."
"No, not that. The way he speaks… He always addresses us as 'princess' or 'Your Highness' and never fails to use the honorifics."
Rein tapped her chin with her finger and tried changing Poomo's settings.
"Eh? I can't undo it."
"Huh? Why?"
The blue-haired twin dropped her fist over her palm, "Maybe it's got to do with his background. Remember that we got him in the Prominence Quest? According to the story, he served the princesses that were in line to the throne."
Poomo puffed his chest out, clearly proud of his noble duty, "And I'll make sure you two become the best princesses-pumo!"
This time, both of the twins flinched in horror and laughed awkwardly.
"No, no, no, no," they said as they waved their hand.
"I mean, it would be lovely to be a princess," Rein started, "But I'm more suited to be what I am here, Lazuli who is currently a magician."
"That's right! That's right! And besides, we'll be weird princesses. Maybe we'll be even named as the most unprincess like princess in the whole history!" Fine even joked.
The fairy shot them an angry expression, "Being a magician and a thief is by no means greater than being a princess-pumo!"
"Why is Poomo always angry at us?" Fine whispered to Rein.
"Yeah… and compared to the other pets in this game, he always seem to have the appropriate response to us."
"That's because the Poomo Fairy is one of the few pets that have an artificial intelligence program installed in them," a boy answered their question.
Turning around, the twins saw a friend.
"Riot!" they shouted the player's name.
The boy who was shorter than them beamed. He had a pair of cat ears on his pale blonde hair. He was in a fierce warrior attire but his tail was jutting out, playfully swishing here and there. On his back, two swords were rested – one had a flame-designed scabbard with a red hilt and the other, a black one with a dragon handle. On his side was his trusty pet Thunderbolt – a dog with two blazing tails.
"Hi! I finally got to see you, the–"
He was cut off by a sweet airy voice, "Lazuli! Ross! Riot!"
"That's Aria!" Rein called out to the girl, waving her hand in a hello.
The girl who called out to them had fluffy but drooping dog-ears on her bluish-green hair and on top of it was a light purple triangular hat. She wore a long dress with violet frills and patterns of the wind. She has a pair of long white gloves and wields a Windmill Scepter. Her current class is a magician just like Rein.
"Ah! And is that Chon-kun?" Fine asked, referring to the boy that Aria was dragging with her.
The said boy had a white sheepskin over his shoulders, a tunic underneath and a trousers with boots. He had a flop of hair with a shade of light pink and pairs of baby blue eyes. Chon, the bard, has a violin and lute as his main weapon. As Aria continued to pull him closer, Rein noticed how he glanced on her sister's way.
"Why, long time no see guys," Aria greeted once she was with them.
"Then we should go and do another quest sometime," Riot suggested.
"Ah! Remember that time we got to do the 'Limerick's Code'?" Fine prompted, jumping up and down on her place because of uncontainable happiness, "That was so awesome! Isn't that right, Chon-kun?!"
Chon-chon nodded, smiling at her, "U-Uh – huh."
"I see you're still timid as ever!" Fine laughed as she patted his back as little more forcefully.
"Omf!" poor Chon-chon coughed at her strength and was momentarily out of balance. Luckily, Fine firmed a hand on his shoulder so he wouldn't fall.
"And he's still uncoordinated as ever!" Aria commented cheerfully.
"And a crybaby," Riot added good-naturedly.
The blue-haired magician smiled fondly of her friends. It was good to have company – great comrades who despite the long distance between them in the real world, found DreamScape where they have connected. They were one of among the first friends the twins had encountered in the game and Aria, Riot and Chon were still the happy bunch they had met a long time ago. She guessed some things never change.
"B-By the way, Ross, Lazuli; have you decided to join a guild yet?" the bard asked as he stumbled to show them the insignia of the guild he had recently joined, "O-Our guild master personally asked for you. Here, I'm sending you his letter."
"Hold on a sec!" Riot shouted, "Lazuli and Ross should come to our guild – the Blazing Knights!"
"B-But – !"
"They'll instantly love it there!"
"No they won't!" the bard tried to shouted back, although he choked.
They started bickering about whose guild is better and the twins tried to interject between them when Aria helped them in her own way.
"Oh come on fellows. You both know Ross and Lazuli play as a team. Besides, no guild could handle their recklessness and destructive impulses!"
Imaginary arrows pierced Fine and Rein as they were shocked by her statement. Admittedly, they do have the weird instincts to make them do out-of-this world shenanigans but without that they wouldn't accomplish the stature that they have today. Also, if it wasn't for this habit, they wouldn't enjoy the whole experience in playing DreamScape.
And they have learn from their mistakes: Do not battle a sleeping Horned Ox; do not pick the pink ivy because no matter how pretty it is, it's actually poisonous; do not stand on top of the Voiceless Hills or you'll lose your voice (duh) and then you'll have to retrieve it to the resident witch of the hills. By all these experiences and side hurdles, the twins finally struck life's lesson that following your heart isn't enough. They learned that and had been careful whenever they could handle their excitement.
"Thanks, Aria…" Fine said, not sure what else to say.
Rein nodded slowly, "That was…"
"Definitely accurate-pumo!" the fairy yelled, "This is why you should learn your princess duties-pumo! A princess should never – mmhfmmm!"
The sisters muffled his sermon.
"Yes, Poomo. We know, we know," they answered dismissively.
Their friends chuckled at the scene but then Aria's face contorted into a controversial smile, "So Lazuli, have you found that secret admirer that keeps sending you gifts?"
Rein's character opened her mouth in surprise then shook her head, "No…"
"For all we know it could be Riot~" Aria said.
"Huh?" the boy asked, dumbfounded.
But Aria found another victim, "Or maybe little shy Chon-chon here!"
"What! No! I wouldn't… I mean… uh…"
Rein hid her smile behind her staff. She was very amused at the musician's reaction. The blue-haired girl knew that if Chon would give anyone a gift it wouldn't be her.
"No, it wouldn't be Chon-kun. He haven't got the guts of a man to do that!" Riot reasoned.
"E-Exactly!... I can't believe I just said that…" the bard said, stealing a glance at Fine's direction. When Fine caught him staring, he looked back at Rein, "A-Anyway, the real question here is how could he send you anonymous gifts in the game? We could only accept presents when a player is in another player's Friend's List."
"Maybe it's a glitch?" Fine suggested.
"If it was a glitch then the items that I have received should've been defected," Rein pointed out, "But they're not."
"A hacker?" Riot implied.
"Whoever could infiltrate the security walls of DreamScape?" Aria countered.
"Maybe it's got to do with a card-pumo," Poomo said who have successfully escaped the grip of the twins and have been silently listening at their conversation.
The five players gawked at the fairy.
"Ohhh…" they said.
"That would make a lot more sense," Rein agreed.
"If it's a card then it must be super rare and very crafty since it can grant you access to give a stranger a gift…" Chon continued the thought.
Aria pitched in, "How sure are we that the card could only be used as giving certain items?"
"What do you mean?" Riot asked.
"The card could probably have the potential to see any player's personal information-pumo. This could explain why the holder of the card specifically chose Lazuli-sama out of all the hundred of players-pumo."
Fine stuck her tongue out, "No way! That's…"
"Creepy," the three girls said in unison.
"But this is an isolated event," Chon dived in deeper in the topic, "No other player have experienced this. No one ever discussed this in the forum which means –"
" Which means that whoever it is who sends Lazuli these gifts, must have a card that the other DreamScape players don't know," Riot finished.
"He's sounding like a villain here," Aria commented carelessly, "And that's gotta irk the players that you know… what do we call them again? The ones obsessed in gathering all the cards?" she snapped her fingers, "Ah! The Card Collectors…"
"Guild," Fine added.
"Hm?"
"You forgot the 'guild' at the end," Rein clarified, "It's actually the Card Collectors Guild."
"I didn't know that," Aria confessed.
"Bet'cha didn't know that today, the game admins are gonna open the official Valentine's Event," Riot guessed.
"Oh no…" Rein gasped.
"What is it?" Chon asked.
"The event…" Fine muttered.
"We're going to miss the announcement!" they wailed.
Poomo wasted no time to scold them again because of their tardiness as Rein quickly retrieved a Portal Stone in her satchel.
"Aren't you coming with us?" she asked their friends.
"They're going to release some new items in this event," Fine informed them.
Thunderbolt then pulled Riot's tail and began barking up at him.
"Ow! Not my tail! I know we're running out of time!" he faced the twins, "I need to pass this one, guys. I still have some duties at my guild so I can't participate but have fun for me, will you?"
"We will," the magician said, "How about you Aria?"
"As much as I would have love to get another rare item, I'm on a quest to gather twenty-five Poppy Pillowick Plants. They're very hard to find and they only grow on a certain mountain in the Lucid Zone."
"Good luck then," Fine encouraged her, "Chon-kun?"
The musician visibly blushed and mindlessly played on the thread on his shirt – unable to meet Fine's eyes.
"I'm sorry… I-I too have a quest to finish – it's the Songtress' Request and if I do any side quests I'll be automatically cursed by her."
Fine sighed, clearly sad but Rein clamped her shoulder and silently beckoned her to go. Their friends have other matters to attend to. The thief was assured by her sister's touch and then she activated the Portal Stone by tossing it to the air.
The item accelerated into the heavens and then it stopped directly above the twins. It made a tic-tic-tic sound before expanding. A proper portal now hung in the sky with a swirling combination of colors on its entrance and four pairs of metallic wings supporting it. The two slowly started to ascend together with their fairy.
"Bye-bye!" they both shouted at their friends.
"See you again~" Aria replied as she waved her sceptre.
"Give me an item from your loot as a gift okay?!" Riot shouted back.
"T-Take care!" Chon added.
"I'm serious when I said let's play another quest together!" Fine reminded them.
"Be ready 'cause once we finish this event, we're going to call you to make you come with us on a quest or dungeon raid! And when that time comes, we are not taking no for an answer!" Rein warned them.
Riot, Aria and Chon laughed at their declaration. But then the bard suddenly realized something, "Lazuli! Ross! There's two new rookies on the area that's making a noise! They're beating up your old records! Maybe they've got to have some connection with the card that we were discussing! Always take care of yourselves!"
But before Rein and Fine could reply, they were already swallowed up by the portal.
Kjaerlighet – the city of love.
This is where the official announcement would be held. The place was gorgeous with its pure white crystals as the material of the buildings with tints of blue, red and green. There were plenty of parks surrounding the area with snoozy nooks where lovers could cuddle. The clouds were pink hearts (as if the hearts displayed in the city isn't enough) and even the local birds were humming love songs.
Here, public display of affection is absolutely allowed and even encouraged. If the players decided to do more than that, then there were plenty of hotels to choose from.
Right now, it was filled with players on the plaza. All of which are awaiting the game admins to start the event. Even Rein and Fine were in the crowd (yes, they made it on time).
People glanced at their direction, obviously seeing them as a competition. Luckily for them, the special and main events in DreamScape let's all the other players play on a clean slate – a fair game. Sometimes, it would permit lower leveled characters to start the event earlier than others. Some quests wouldn't be unlocked unless all the remaining players would be there. There was even a time that in an event long ago, all the participating players were set on level one (of course, during the duration of the event). The Valentine's Event would be no exception.
Suddenly, all the murmurs fell when a cloud of smoke gathered around the stage. Everyone stood on the ecstasy of anticipation and everyone could feel it in the atmosphere. The big screen on the stage and around the city simultaneously turned on as the smoke disappeared – revealing two persons on the platform.
The first one was a girl with an apple-colored hair and striking rosequartz eyes. She wore a white hoodie and a set of headphones paired with leggings and casual shoes. The girl shifted where she was standing – obviously not liking the hundred of faces looking at her.
Besides her was a boy who was clearly older than her. His hair was the color of evergreens and his eyes were a pair of emeralds. Like his counterpart, he was just wearing a set of ordinary clothes – running shoes, ripped pants and a black sweater.
They both have a semi-halo above their heads indicating that they were the game admins of DreamScape – Scarlet and Viridian.
Nobody applauded or cheered – everyone was focused on what they had to say.
"Hello, hello~!" Viridian, the boy, said.
"Hi," Scarlet greeted.
Viridian put his hand above his eyes and looked at the people gathered, "Whoa~ I wonder why so many players are here? Is there something going on –"
"They're here for the Valentine's Event, right?" Scarlet asked.
"Aww Scarlet! I knew that, you adorable little muffin! I was just building the momentum!" the boy said as he pinched her cheeks.
"Stop that please," Scarlet said, "Or else I'm going to lock you up with a monitor replaying all the scary movies in history."
Viridian let go of her cheeks, visibly sweating, "Stopping it."
"Could we just announce the event?"
"Could we?"
"I don't know…"
"Of course we would! That's our job after all!"
"Then…"
"So tell them what to do, Scarlet!"
"W-Why me?"
"Come on~ I know you can do it! Go Scarlet! Go Scarlet! Make papa proud!"
The girl rolled her eyes at her companion and then took a deep breath before addressing the crowd, "Greetings, players of DreamScape. We will now commence the Valentine's Event."
Before all of the players, their personal screen appeared asking them the same question:
Would you like to join the Valentine's Event?
Below it was a 'Yes' and 'No' option.
When all of the players submitted their answers, Scarlet's semi-halo radiated a crimson glow – sending the data across her own screen. Her hand then produced a three-dimensional hexagon forming a heart inside a transparent box. Slowly, the lid of the box opened by the use of the data collected from the answers of the players. The heart floated and in a flash, it rocketed towards the sky casting out a series of fireworks upon its release. The event have officially started.
-END OF CHAPTER ONE-