Hinata is on the couch while distracting herself from the sounds in Luna's room, grumbling something along the lines of "I swear to the Gods, who let her cook???" The sounds are easily audible from the living room, though nowhere near as loud. Seems something in the hallway is muffling the sounds.
Spider steps into the living room. Their hands fall from where she was covering her ears as she spots Hinata, "has Luna taken up blacksmithing or summat?"
"Uhhhh, it's a long story, but she's been creating something for the past few days." Hinata shrugs. "She said a secret project, but it's not exactly secret when Krys and Luna are chatting about it in the public server"
Luna steps in, wiping some sweat off of her brow. Unlike her usual outfit, she's currently wearing a tanktop and shorts with something equipped to her hip. It seems like some kind of a rounded silvery metal handle with a hilt. Nothing seems to be at the end of it. "I've done it. I finally have a new toy to play with!" Luna pulls out the metal handle and with the flick of her wrist, a purply crystal longsword slides out of the hilt with an electronic sounding fwooom~. Inscribed on the blade itself is a full moon with a cat silhouette.
Hinata eyes glow a deeper green than usual, "Whoa."
With an impressed look on their face Spider says as Luna demonstrates, "you made that?"
"More or less, with tons of help from Krystal." Luna says as a purple orb of light travels from her left cat ear into her laptop.
As it's connected to the TV, Spider is able to hear a more masculine voice come from it. "I told her I could make it myself, I have the magical abilities for that. But she insisted on making it herself, so I just gave her the materials. It was fun." Krystal chuckles. The TV screen has a woman with black hair and ear and eyebrow piercings on it speaking.
Hinata waves to the screen, but since the TV doesn't have the webcam, Krystal doesn't see it. Spider's eyes follow the orb as she listens nodding along. She tenses when Krystal appears on the TV screen. then she recognises the voice, "..Since when could you do that?"
After closing her eyes for a couple moments, Krystal responds, "For a while now. It's one of my innate abilities, technological possession. It's the biggest reason why my soul is even able to be here now. Uhh are you okay?"
Luna shakes her head, "uh.. is something up Spider?" Luna is deep in thought trying to think of the circumstances.
Spider is quiet for a moment processing then she shrugs, "no it's fine ...it's fuzzy but last time that happened it wasn't good."
Luna tilts her head from side to side before her eyes widen from realization, "Waiiiiiiiiit... yeah uh Krystal can you please leave the TV. I don't like that."
"Yeah that's no problem. You're referring to when Abaddon did that shit right. Wasn’t Sparrow part of that too?" Krystal asks as the orb of light instantly transfers from the TV to the laptop. This time, her face doesn't appear.
Spider tenses again and quickly shakes their head, "Don't."
Krystal - This is referring to a bit of trauma involving the Meridian Apocalyptic Incident where the big bad there, Abaddon, possessed a television and proceeded to torture [The Kiss] for a whole night.
Luna - Please… I don’t want to remember that shit. It really fucking HURT. >.>
Krystal - Understood.
Krystal sighs, her now seemingly artificial-synthesized voice comes from the laptop,. It almost sounds like a text to speech program in this quality "Sorry."
"Right, uh so Spider, uhm... TV trauma aside, d-do you wanna spar with me? I need some time to test this sword, plus it's more capable of interacting with my mana." Luna asks, trying desperately to change the subject. "Plus I need to go to Sunshine Horizons to get some more crystal for Hinata's sword."
Hinata perks up on hearing that, "wait you're making me one too?"
"Yeah! I wanted to make you one out of yellow quartz." Luna smiles.
Hinata seems excited.
Spider ears prick up and she nods forcing herself to relax, "yeah, that sounds like a good distraction."
"Do you mind if we go to our sparring location in The Outskirts to do this? We can run to Sunshine Horizons right after too. It's a really cool store in my world." Luna asks.
"Oh and I wanna stop by Solaire too. Or..uh what's left of it. I cant imagine there's much left." Hinata sighs.
"It's your world, I'll just follow" Spider then looks over at Hinata, "you ok?"
Hinata goes quiet for a few moments, then with a pained voice she speaks up, "Just... after the Eclipse, I started to realize how important Solaire was to my life. And now that it's... most likely gone now, I'm worried. Right uh I'll meet you there Luna." Hinata disappears ahead of the other two. Luna looks down. The purple orb of light transfers from the computer back to Luna's left ear. "right, uh. Let's head over. Ready Spi?" Luna asks.
Spider nods, "I'll meet you there, I just need to grab something."
Luna nods as she vanishes.
Spider heads into the hallway then disappears.
[Location Tag - Solaire Ruins]
Hinata appears in front of where her creator once called home. What was once a large bustling area full of sunshine and hope is now a mess of stone, metal, and rubble with grey stormy skies even denying the little bit of sun shine on the area. Hinata walks around with tears in her eyes threatening to drop. Stepping where the entrance would’ve been, she kneels down on finding something odd. Hinata finds a single sunflower ripped from its stem and nearly dead. “This was Rebecca’s, wasn’t it?” Hinata exhales and places the broken flower into her Portal Bag.
As she steps away and heads towards the Outskirts to meet with Luna and Spider, she feels the presence of something watching her. It feels like a chill down her spine, a feeling of being watched by something or someone unknown. Looking around her general vicinity, Hinata doesn’t find it. She mutters to herself, “Ugh. I hate this feeling. Ever since I stepped down from being LEADER, I’ve felt this feeling. And it’s only getting worse as I’m away from Lu. I need to figure out why. I wonder… if she feels this too? If anyone is hearing me, please… leave me alone. I don’t ask much. I am sorry I couldn’t last as LEADER. I only wanted to be with her.”
After taking a deep breath, she rushes out of Solar Ruins and out towards their usual spot, one very reminiscent of the event that brought them closer to each other 18 years ago.
[Location Tag - The Outskirts]
Ever since the eclipse happened, the Outskirts became more and more overgrown than usual. The sheer density of the trees and plant life have turned the forest into a muggy mess of green. The sounds out in the Outskirts are a bit louder than usual, with more animals being active at this time of day and the running of deer, rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks being very common sights. Hinata is at the usual clearing, though even that is now covered in trees. In terms of a place to fight, it's rather ideal with lots of places to hide, places to climb, and soft ground to fight on. In the trees, translucent amethyst crystal protect the foliage from being set aflame, though even that seems to be worn down heavily.
Temperature is around the 70F mark, though muggy as was stated before.
Hinata is sitting on one of the stumps in the treeline sipping a beverage while waiting for the two to arrive. Luna appears in one of the trees, sitting back and relaxing, as was something rather common for her to do back in Meridian.
Spider appears, she's no longer wearing her jacket, showing off her arms for once. there's a knife sheath strapped to their thigh along with a bat holder that's been slung across her shoulders. Spider glances around the clearing their ears twitching as they take in the sights and sounds. The intense density is probably nostalgic for those who are used to spending times in forests. Many different kinds of plants of all kinds and colors populate the area, even with some of the plants seeming so odd or strange. Luna notices Spider arrive and she jumps down from her perch, putting her canteen away into her bag. "Hey welcome to The Outskirts."
Hinata smiles and waves to Spider.
Spider glances over at Luna already looking more relaxed, "it's nice, bit warm though."
Luna is still in a tank top and shorts. Her toned and heavily scarred arms are being shown off, "I'm not really feeling it personally. Definitely humid for sure though. Anyway, you ready to do this?" Luna pulls out her sword and with a flick of her wrist the sword is fully extended.
Hinata is typing on her phone. It's a wonder she's even getting reception out here. her ears perk up on hearing the sword sound, "coooooool!"
Spider smiles and shrugs the bag off her shoulder, they pull out a black baseball bat with green tape around the handle. She then dumps the bag and walk towards Luna, "ready."
Luna holds her sword like a baseball bat and rushes towards Spider, swinging it and targetting her side with a soft smile on her face, "catch me if you can!"
Above in the clouds, a soft ethereal howl can be heard, but it doesn't hurt to hear it. It's a pleasant sound, like something from the ocean, but it's in the sky.
Hinata smiles and lays back on the ground using the tree stump as a makeshift pillow. She's here to get some sun and that’s about it, now wearing a yellow bikini top, sunglasses, and short denim shorts.
Spider's ear twitches at the howl, the sound distracting them long enough to get clipped in the side by Luna's sword as they struggle to dodge.
However Spider recovers quickly and retaliates by aiming a swing at Luna's knees.
Thankfully Luna struck Spider with the blunt edge of the sword, so it doesn't hurt too much for her. Luna attempts to jump over the knee strike, but hearing the howl distracts her enough for them to get hit. Luna falls to the ground, growling. "Oh for fucks sake."
Another ethereal howl is heard, though this one is perhaps a bit more apologetic than the previous one? It's hard to tell.
Hinata chuckles. "That's Nautilus for ya."
"That's what?" Spider adjusts their grip on their bat then reaches down to help Luna up.
"Ah it's nothing." Luna is helped up. No it's definitely something. From the sky, the previously sunny skies become darkened ever so slightly, much to Hinata's bemusement. Another ethereal howl is heard as something huge begins to make its decent towards the ground.
==A CREATURE OF LEGEND HAS SPAWNED! COL-012 NAUTILUS THE DREAM WHALE==
A large humpback whale softly makes its way to Hinata. When it lands, it still seems to be floating ever so slightly and it gently butts its head at Hinata's shoulder, which causes her to pet it with a slight smile. Luna turns around with a bright smile, "Nautilus! Nice to see you old friend. Spider, this is Nautilus. My uh…” She pauses, worried how to word this, “erm. pet flying whale." Luna seems very nervous about this.
Spider instinctively takes a few steps away from the whale. her head tilts in confusion as they say, "..isn't that the one you flew in on? And why the hell do I remember that?"
Luna turns around to Spider, head tilting and confused, "wait... you r-remember that? Yeah it's the same one... uhm.. l-long story?? Point is! He told me in my dreams that he hated the name Bob Bingi. He doesn’t look like a Bob nor does he look like a Bingi???”
The whale makes gentle whale noises as Hinata continues to pet it.
"I don't blame him" Spider gives the whale a bemused look then lifts their bat up, "wanna continue?"
Luna nods, "hell yeah I was getting used to the balance on this thing. It's not perfect but it'll do."
Once more, Luna enters a stance with her sword held like a baseball bat. "Let's do this." Hinata climbs aboard Nautilus to watch and give it pets, then she lays back on Nautilus to continue sunning, now adding some sunglasses to her look. The skies, which were previously grey without much sun shining have become much more clear, perfect for getting a tan.
Spider adjusts their stance then rushes at Luna, aiming a light jab with the handle of their bat at her shoulder.
Realizing the weak shoulder is getting targetted, Luna backs up moving her shoulder out of the way from the jab. Spider might remember this shoulder being blown out a few times. Luna then beats at Spider's bat attempting to knock it out of her hands.
Spider decides to go with as the bat gets knocked out her hands. After balling their fists they lunge forward to aim a punch at the same shoulder.
The punch connects causing Luna to yelp in pain. She sees stars and is temporarily stunned. Hinata watches from Nautilus, concern growing.
Nautilus is vibing.
Spider pauses tilting her head in concern, "Luna?"
It takes her a couple moments, but then she responds, "Yes? I'm good."
Spider nods then goes to pick their bat up giving Luna an opening.
Luna takes a deep breath and mutters, "If this were a real fight, I would be dead." She then rushes Spider going for a slash combo on her torso and side. Her bravado has certainly diminished heavily from before, her slashes a lot slower and less powerful.
Spider yelps the slash tearing their shirt, dark blood starting to trickle slowly to trickle from the wound. Taking a deep breath they growl aiming a strike at Luna's side.
The strike lands successfully, causing Luna to stumble and gasp for air. Luna still seems stunned from before, so it takes her a bit to recover, falling to her knees in exhaustion.
Spider grumbles checking her wound then looks over at Luna, "..sure you're alright?"
Luna shakes her head as she gets up. On getting to her two feet, she seems woozy. "I'm-- okay.. just waiting for my mana to regenerate."
"Are you sure Luna? We should end the spar here." Hinata suggests
"Uh.. no no, i'm okay." She's not okay. Nautilus seems to pick up on something and gently pokes its head on Luna's other shoulder, as if asking her to stop. "...right. I'm sorry. Just that one hit really took it out of me."
"I could tell" Spider shakes her head, "take a break, it's fine."
Luna nods and jumps aboard Nautilus. Judging by the cadence of its whale sounds, it seems happy. "Do you have any questions about Nautilus? I imagine it's kind of a strange sight." Luna asks Spider.
"after everything I've seen? Not really ..if anything it makes a change." Spider muses as they reach over to heal their wound.
"Oh here Spi, do you need gauze and bandages?" Hinata tosses down a first aid kit from Nautilus to Spider.
"I'm glad then. Turns out when I allowed Nautilus to roam my world, it became something called a Creature of Legend. And I... might be only person in the whole world to have a Creature of Legend as a pet??" Luna laughs it off, realizing just how strange that all is. Nautilus makes whale noises simulating worried laughter.
Spider shakes their head lifting her hand away to reveal a barely viable scar, "I'm fine, and you've mentioned them before the legend creatures."
"I'm sure I have. Remember Chandra, dude that was all ash? Even he's technically a Creature of Legend. From what I've learned, it's not just mythical creatures but certain magic users are capable of it too. It's really annoying." Luna grumbles as she and Hinata hop down from Nautilus. "Right uh should we head out to Solar District? We got a couple things to do out there."
"technically?" Spider gestures for Luna to lead the way. She then goes to pick up her bat and bag sliding it back over their shoulder.
Nautilus flaps its fins and returns to the sky making joyous whale noises.
"Yeah. It's complicated. I'm not sure how it works either." Luna shrugs as they walk out of the Outskirts and over to Sunshine Horizons. Hinata puts her hoodie back on and follows behind, wishing she could’ve had 15 more minutes in the sun. Spider stretches and follows right behind.
Walking out of the Outskirts, the trio finds themselves right where Solaire Enterprises used to be. What was once the largest skyscraper in the whole city is now just a massive pile of rubble and broken dreams. Some people still crowd the scene of the former scientific capital looking for any items that may have fallen or some pay their respects. Thankfully, it seems the Destruction of the Sun didn't affect any of the other buildings in the area.
Speaking of the skyline, the FMS Chapel which could be seen from Solar District is no longer there either. The skyline is much more flat... if it weren't for a new massive skyscraper in the center of the town blocking sight of all of the other buildings in town.
Walking through the city, they walk past Sunny Smiles apartment complex, and down the street from there is Sunshine Horizons department store. This is a rather small building with a gigantic parking lot filled with cars. Luna then says, "So Spider, remember back how in Meridian there was the Infinite Walmart? Well… Uhh… welcome to Sunshine Horizons???”
Spider tears their gaze away from the skyline to look at Luna, "yeah, ..you weren't kidding when you said this place was destroyed."
Luna nods and mutters, "Indeed. The Eclipse Cannon destroyed both Solaire and FMS. Hell even our creators evacuated from here and are now living in Fairview."
"This sucks, but at least good ol capitalism survived???" Hinata shakes her head as they start to head inside. The other two follow right behind.
Entering the store they're greeted strange interior, one that's much larger on the inside than the outside. No longer does the store have a friendly sunshine aesthetic and instead is clad in green and crimson. Tired looking employees with Nova Heart logos on their nametags greet guests, much to Luna and Hinata's confusion.
Luna, "wait, where's the sun stuff?"
Hinata, "Uhhhh I guess with Solaire gone, the sun part is gone too?"
An employee greets them, "Correct. Nova Heart now owns Sunshine Horizons. I hope you have a great time shopping!" They have a smile plastered on their face, it seems rather unnatural and creepy. In fact, all of the employees have this look on their face, as if they cannot stop smiling.
Spider's ears perk up as they take in the shops interior and creepy employees. She shifts on her feet muttering, "let's do this quickly yeah?"
Luna nods, "yeah I just wanted to get some yellow quartz and citrine for Hinata's blade."
Hinata agrees, "please. I hate this place."
They grab a cart and a moment later, after Luna focuses on her needs, they're able to find an aisle with gemstones in bulk. Luna mutters, "lemme see here, some yellow quartz... citri-- oooh sunstone. Hey Hinata, want a sunstone mallet too?"
Hinata shakes her head, "Uhhh isn't Sunstone kind of soft? 6 on the Mohs."
"Oh right, good call. Hm. Okay, I think that's everything." In the cart are two small wooden crates with yellow quartz for crafting. They quickly walk to the checkouts, choosing to not dawdle.
Hinata asks, "Want anything Spider? I'm buying. You can get literally anything here, it’s my Creators’ design."
The other employees stare at the trio. It's really discomforting.
"..nah I'm alright, ta though" Spider stares back, tilting her head as she studies the employees.
They all have the same blank smile on their faces, it's almost like they're wearing masks, but fleshy... masks. They get to the checkouts as the cashier speaks to Hinata. "Wait, Hinata, is that you?" They ask. They have layered black and red hair and a wide shark-like smile.
"Maximillian??? What the fuck? What happened to the Adventurer's Guild??" Hinata asks, confused and a bit scared too.
The former Solaire ADMIN speaks with a monotone voice and the usual smile, "Oh that. It's in Nova's hands now! I love my work here! The Guild was going nowhere fast! The Estelle Family is showing me the light of my mistakes! Will this be cash or card Hinata? Will you drop everything you hold dear and join Nova Heart?"
"Come again?" Spider's ear twitches as they turn to look at the cashier.
Maximillian turns to Spider and slows down their speech, enunciating every word as clearly as they can, "Will you forget everything and join Nova Heart? Our family is always looking for new members. Always. Looking." His stare turns cold, sending chills down Spider's spine.
"I fucking hate this. I just want to leave. Forget the rocks Lu!" Hinata pleads.
Luna nods and opens her Portal Bag, "Agreed. This place is creepy as fuck."
Spider bites back a growl matching Maximillian's gaze, "and what does that involve?"
Without breaking the stare, Maximillian responds, just as slowly and clearly, "Sacrifice. Leaving all of your desires behind. A lifetime of faith. And accepting Nova's truth."
The other employees chant, "Accept Nova's Truth. Accept Nova's Truth." over and over again.
Hinata and Luna get grabbed by employees behind them but they fight them off rushing towards the exit. "Get off of me you creeps!" Luna snarls with her claws out. No longer does she have fingernails, but long sharp claws instead. Her face is decidedly much more furry than usual, with long whiskers, sharp fangs, and soft light purple fur covering her previous skin. Her bright blue eyes could pierce the darkness considering how much she’s glaring at the employees. Hinata double takes towards Luna and has a pocket knife readied, "Don't come any closer, I'll fucking murder you!"
Spider grumbles as they pull their bat out and jog for the exit, making sure to keep Luna and Hinata ahead of them.
The three rush towards the exit, Luna knocks employees out of the way and Hinata holds the door open. "Go go go!" Luna runs out to the streets. Oddly enough none of the employees give chase to those who escape. Those who even get close get knocked back into the store. Spider rushes out, and Hinata shuts the door behind her.
Luna runs out and catches her breath.
Spider jogs out keeping their bat to hand while they stare at the door to the supermarket, "..why is it always a sodding cult?"
"Cuz the Gods above are laughing at us." Luna groans, "But on the bright side, look!" Luna opens her Portal Bag to reveal the crate of yellow gemstones, "I got the yellow quartz!"
Hinata doesn’t even pay attention to Luna, still confused about her sudden change in looks. "Man screw the Gods above. Why can't they be original for once?" Hinata groans and flips off the sky.
Luna giggles.
"Screw the gods?" Spider chuckles bitterly, "more like screw life."
HInata... exhales deeply, "Honestly? I agree. I'm tired of this shit. I'm heading back home, see y'all there." Hinata disappears.
Luna shakes her head as it morphs back to its usual state. Her hands have returned to normal as well, donning dark purple nail polish painted fingernails instead of claws, "...I don't blame her, but at the same time, fucking hell what a mess. I've been here for less than 5 hours and I already hate what Nova Heart's done to Capital City. Anyway, I'm gonna head back unless there's something else you wanna do?" Luna asks
Spider shakes their head her voice still retaining its mildly bitter tone, "there's a few things but I don't fancy heading back in there today, ..for what it's worth it's shit that this keeps happening."
"I agree. I'm so done with this crap. Still not sure how I did that though? I thought I lost my Sloth form." Luna sighs before disappearing.
Spider gives the building a dark look then disappears in a small shower of green sparks.