.hackBARON
The World had changed so much since he had first logged into the server. No longer did it appear to be a pixelated Playstation-esque atmophere but it actually looked realistic. It was almost as if he could feel the breeze past his face. Almost as if he actually had to squint when the sun blinded his view.
The graphics were so good these days, it seemed the only reason people came was to see the scenery. He had hoped this new flow of members were ones who actually wanted to roleplay. The last flow of people were those who only liked to take up space and scramble the server. Not to mention annoy the regular players who were serious about the game.
Looking down at the village of Baron he smiled, seeing all the new people who decided to come to this server. It wasn't very popular among the World Servers but did get alot of new members recently. Even though most of these accounts were neglected and unused, he was happy to meet new people.
Behind him in the shadows a figure crossed its arms and leaned against the doorframe.
"I personally hate all these newbies coming to Baron. This place is going to become a spam-server with all those annoying advertizements and what-not. It's going to be the fall of Baron for sure this time."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." he said, not turning around. He knew who it was standing behind him. A pessimist he called his brother.
"How would you know?" the figure emerged from the shadows.
"You know just as well as I that the new stream just means new opportunities, regardless of how many spammers there are. This sort of thing has happened many times before and this place is still standing firm. Have you no faith at all?"
"I guess that's why you were always the better Paladin." He said, turning around, flicking blond hair over his shoulder as he walked off.
"And you the dark knight, Golbez." Cecil said looking down.
.b.o.s.s.m.o.n.s.t.e.r.
"Man, this really bites." Celestial Being whined as she walked with her elbows up above her head, and her hands behind her neck. "No real challenge for atleast two days. Do you really think we should head back to the village or what?"
"Nah, something should show up." Ace tried encouraging her, "I promise you, it will."
"Maybe we should try a different battlefield, rather than just walking out in the open. With as many monsters as we've defeated, we've probably scared off all the good ones." Rose inferred.
Rydia looked around, feeling as though she wouldn't be much of any help since she was new to the world. As her eyes scanned the area surrounding them, finding a beautiful waterfall and a few patches of forest. She gazed a few more moments at the entrance of the forest, finding something scurrying around, then disappearing behind the trees.
"How about over there," she suggested, "In the forest?"
"And kick imp ass?!" Celes jumped up with joy, "HELL YEAH!"
"Now wait a minute! What about the rest of us?" Ace frowned, "Shouldn't we all have a say in this?"
"Well we have a better chance of leveling up in there than we do out here. I say we go." Rose replied.
"All right," Ace grumbled, getting up from his seat. "Let's go!"
"Oh man," Celestial Being said with a shakey voice, "this gives me the creeps."
"Don't tell me you're scared," Rose said cooly. The group walked through the forest, the sun shining down at the entrance floor. Rydia looked around wide-eyed, surprised at how details the trees were compared to the outside of the field. The graphics were really good, she thought. The light and shadows between the leaves were evenly made and the shading was awesome. When she looked up at a space between the leaves and the light she literally had to block the light from her eyes. It was that real.
"Wow," she said, "I've never been in a forest before."
"In the World or in real life?" Ace asked, looking around as well.
"If she hadn't in real life, she must've grown up on a farm!" Celes beemed, trying to hide her fear.
Rydia felt a little self conscious as they walked along. She decided not to answer that. Her companion would've come up with another smart answer to hide her real emotions. She walked along side of the group, bumping into Rose. Slightly blushing she looked up at her, trying to hide her embarrassment. Koyie's eyes softened as she smiled down at her, then looked toward the path, her cold face returning. Rydia's eyes returned to the ground, thinking that Rose wasn't as mean as she thought she was. Just something new she found out about her companions today. After this thought she noticed a beautiful flower on a log that had fallen over. It was covered with moss, but the flower was large and red. It stood out among everything green in the forest.
Eventually they forgot about Rydia's comment about the forest and continued on. They were half way through the forest when they found a small opening between the trees.
"Save point," Ace commented, "If anyone wants to save, now's the time. In the meantime, I'll be right back." He walked toward the save point, turned around and froze in place. Rydia gasped, looking at the others.
"What if a monster attacks us? Won't we need our entire party to fight?"
"If you're at a save point monsters won't attack you." Rose replied.
"What if they cheat?"
"Cheat?! Ha! Like
non-playable characters can cheat!" Celes laughed, "I didn't think
you were that dumb when it came to RPGs, Rydia."
With that she walked toward the save point.
"Coming, Mama!" She yelled, the character's lips not moving. Rydia appeared surprised. She looked up at Rose questioningly.
"Why don't you go ahead and save? Go potty or get something to eat. I'll still be here."
"Um.. Okay." Rydia nodded, walking toward her companions. She stood next to Ace and blinked, wondering how it worked. She stood there for a moment, and crossed her arms. With that, she started tapping her foot.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked.
"..I forgot how to save. I can save my stats and stuff, but I can't save in a certain spot. So whenever I log back in I end up at the beginning of the server."
Rose chuckled and explained.
Later, after they all saved, they continued their journey deeper into the forest.
"So what exactly can you summon?" Celes asked curiously.
"Only up to level three monsters.." Rydia admitted, noticing a giant red flower exactly like the one she'd seen earlier.
"Wow, what kind?" she pryed, walking quickly beside her. The other two just remained quiet, walking down the path with them.
"Um.. Chocobo, Titan. . .Ramuh and Shiva?"
"Ooh! Shiva? You can summon Shiva already with what level you're at?"
"It kinda goes with her character." Ace interrupted.
"What do you mean, character?"
"You've never played the old school Final Fantasies?"
"No.. I've only played seven. Why?"
"Kids.." Rose commented, "Can't enjoy anything but 3-D crap."
"Why??"
"You know how King Cecil became a Paladin without leveling up a whole lot?"
"Yeah?"
"Well that's how his
character was at the end of Final Fantasy IV."
"Rydia doesn't have to level up alot to get her skills either." Rose added.
"Kind of like Rose from Legend of Dragoon?" Rydia questioned. Koyie got a stress mark as she gritted her teeth.
"It's just a name.." she grumbled.
"I wouldn't say anything about that to Rose. Her character's original. She just liked the name. You know, like the flower?"
"Ooh.."
As they neared the end of the forest they came across a dead end. Rydia looked around as Celestial Being stomped her feet angrily. Rose sighed as Ace turned around and looked at the path they had taken there.
"Could we be walking around in circles?"
"It's a possibility. Look." Rydia said, pointing at a large red flower. "I've seen this flower atleast twice now. This is the third."
"Then why didn't you say anything the second time you saw it?!" Celes jumped, sounding very angry about now.
"I thought it was just a coincidence the first time.. Now I'm sure we're going in circles."
Celestial Being gave an annoyed sigh and sat down on the log next to the flower.
"Now what do we do?" She whined, her face in her hands and her elbows on her knees. Rydia frowned and looked away ashamed. She'd let her party down. She didn't feel like talking to anyone, so she found her own little spot near the group to sit.
"Damn newbie.."
"Oh come on, Celes." Ace consoled, "We would've been walking in circles with or without her. We're just lucky she found the flower when she did or we would've been walking aimlessly like this all night. And besides, if it weren't for her we wouldn't have found a new place to level up."
"So quit your bitching," Rose scolded.
"I should've joined Golby's party . . ." Celes whimpered.
"Is that why you have such a grudge against new people?"
Rydia just sat in her corner, listening. She tried to disappear herself so they wouldn't add her to the argument. But maybe if she learned something about this 'Golby' she would understand why people were mean to her on this server.
"Well, atleast with Golbez I can find people who know what RPG really means!"
Golbez? Rydia has heard that name before. Wasn't he originally one of the villains in Final Fantasy? Who would have the audacity to come to a server with that screen name? Wouldn't that automatically make him a bad guy?
"Golbez is a good man, and he knows a good RPG when he sees one. And this certainly isn't one! Not with all these newbies swarming the servers!"
"Just because he became a Paladin doesn't mean his character's any good. Can't you listen to yourself? You act as though you don't have a single thought of your own in that head of yours."
"You know, Ace is right." Rose added.
"Just shut up, okay? You're on Cecil's side and that's why you're speaking that way. I do think for myself, and that's why I choose to have my thinking similar to Golby's!"
"Side!?" Ace's face became twisted with anger, "I don't know where your mind is little girl, but I will tell you there is no "side" in Baron. We're all equal and we're all on the same "side". You have to live with us and the newbs, whether you like it or not. Has no one ever taught you to be kind to foreigners? It's not like they're going to overthrow us. What power would they have to do so, anyway?"
With that, Celestial Being stayed silent, though the rebellious aura still about her. Rydia just sat there and listened. What did she think she was getting into, staying on this server? Perhaps she should wait it out, and see what these people could actually do to these 'newbies'. When she, herself, wasn't a newbie anymore she would make sure something would be done about the anti-newb protests. She would do this as peacefully as she could, she promised herself. But if war broke out, what would she do?
Rose jerked her out of her thoughts by gently grabbing onto her arm. "C'mon. We need to go back to Baron and settle this there. We can't stop this on our own. We have no power. We'll ask the advice of King Cecil and let things go from there."
"Not if I have anything to say about it." a deep voice said from behind them. They each jerked their heads in that direction finding a figure of a man. He wore a business suit and stood tall above them. He appeared muscular under the suit and stood about 6''5.
"Who are you?" Rydia asked without thinking.
"You're not with Golbez are you?" Celestial Being asked hopefully.
"Golbez? Who's that?" Then his flesh bursted out into several directions, stabbing into the nearest living forms they could find. Ace leaped out of the way as one of the tentacles hit the ground. Beneath the giant figure was blood spreading out from its shadow. It was bleeding profusely, dripping all over the forest floor and onto the trees and other plants. Everything it touched sizzled and steamed causing a giant poison cloud above it.
"Be careful!" Rose warned the two girls, "Its blood is acidic, so don't touch it."
It made a muffled, high pitched roar as its fleshy mass began to mold into the forest around it. Rose slipped on a nose and mouth mask as she jumped onto a log then onto a low branch. The mask was to prevent her from inhaling the poisonous gases excreted from the monster. She leaped into the air and flung several daggers at a tentacle coming her way. Flipping around in mid-air, her hands began to glow as she summoned several bolts of thick lightening to strike the enemy. The bolts came crackling down, severing into the flesh of the beast, only to heal soon after.
With a joyous roar, the same bolts of electricity were flung back up at Rose, surrounding her. They made several laps around her body as she screamed.
"Aaargh!" She fell to the ground harshly as her back sizzled from the burns.
"Rose!" Celes yelled as she ran over to her companion. Coming her way was a large tentacle. Taking the quickest action possible, Rydia cast Ice2, freezing the monster's body extension. But to their surprise, it was still flying at her. Celes jerked her head towards the ice-ridden tentacle. Her eyes widened as it came closer. Before she knew it, she was carried into the air. Ace had her in one arm as he landed on a branch. Letting her down, Celes yelled to Rydia.
"Look out, Rydia!" The tentacle hit the ground and shattered like glass. With a monsterous scream, he pulled his arm back. The blood was flung everywhere, burning anything it touched.
"Rose!" Rydia kneeled down beside her without watching anything else. She cast Wall to protect her and Rose from the electrical attacks. She couldn't do anything about protecting them from the physical ones. Water swelled up into her eyes and began dripping down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry Rose, I'm so sorry.."
The injured tentacle still swung around wildly, splattering its blood everywhere. Rydia held Rose up in her arms as she cried, unable to do anything to protect her. Ace jumped down from the branch to continue the fight and protect Rydia and Rose. Half-way down, a crimson film had sloshed against his chest, causing him to lost his footing. He fell on his front, cringing with pain.
"Aaaugh...!" he groaned, having a fear-stricken Celes follow behind him.
"Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh." she said, casting a cure spell. "Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh!"
"Aagh.."
"It didn't work! Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh...Heal!"
"I don't think spells are going to work.." Rose commented, holding herself up from the ground. "It isn't an ordinary injury. Can't you smell it?"
"Smell what?" Rydia asked, the tentacles flying around wildly behind her in the background.
"The blood. That isn't the blood of a normal monster. It must be of Lunarian species.."
"Aaaarrugh!!" Screamed the monster, "Damn you! When I find you, I'm going to KILL YOU!"
"I think we should get out of here, and soon.." Rose suggested.
"Yeah, before he finds us.." Rydia answered.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh...!" Celestial Being started to cry, covering her face.
Rydia helped Rose over to the other two and lied her on her back. She held up her hands as they began to glow.
"..I haven't used this one yet, so I'm not sure it's going to work. Cross your fingers guys.."
The glowing snapped as their surroundings started swirling together in a giant mass. The colours began to fade as everything turned black. Rydia's head became light and the last thing she heard was the thud of her own body.
