trans_9 | Emo Corner: Open for Business!

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Emo Corner: Open for Business!

Ever since the last podpop, there seemed to be a new addition to the obs deck. Nearly once a day, a certain brunette could be found huddled on one of the meatcouches and staring sadly in the general direction that all new arrivals came from.

She didn't know why she was still clinging to this.

Ophelia had explored the ship a little, but a combination of overwhelming unfamiliarity and a nagging feeling always drew her back to the same place on the obs deck to wait. She knew Eddie wasn't here, because he would have made his presence known by now if he was. She hadn't seen anyone else she knew yet, either. From what she had gathered, though, she knew there was a good chance all of her loved ones (and Lita) were in those... pod things, like she had been, and the ship seemed to let them out erratically. She also knew that they came from that huge cavern to this huge room.

What she didn't know was how often the ship let them out. She was pretty sure it wasn't every day, or even every week, since it seemed like a big event to the people who were already awake. But maybe there were some stragglers? Maybe today there would be more?

Maybe she was fooling herself because she didn't want to consider the alternative.

((OOC NOTE: Hi there. I meant to post this forever ago, but RL happened. So this can be bendytimed to any time since the last podpop I guess. 8D))

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If Zetta could tell such things, he didn't give any indication. (He couldn't. That sort of thing isn't on the status screen.)

"You're pretty hardcore for a normal human," Zetta said. "Even with that stuff I can't quite figure out." Damn you, useless description text! "So I'm tying to figure out what's with the moping. But you keep dodging that question! So it's time to apply my Overlord-level powers of deduction to this case."

He appraised Ophelia thoughtfully, then the direction she'd been looking. Then Ophelia. Then the direction she'd been looking.

Something around a minute passed.

"Ah ha! You're waiting for someone to come out of the pods!" Zetta deduced, quite proud of himself. The Ovelord, ladies and gentleman. Stare in wonder and amazement.

((herp I should not post when I am tired))

Ophelia was so confused. It had to be some kind of magic. It was a large book, after all. A spell book, perhaps.

"Uh, I am, I... I was told they were in there." She stammered.

"Okay. Let's charitably assume that's true, and said person is in there," Zetta said. "Is sitting here waiting really the most productive use of your time? Every second that passes that this person doesn't show up, you just feel worse." Subtle and diplomatic, there, Zetta. Your strong points. "And the time sure as hell doesn't pass."

It was probably what Ophelia needed to hear, even though she didn't exactly want to hear it. "What else can I do? They're all I have left. Everything else is gone. You understand, don't you? You lost everything, too."

"Lost everything? Hell yeah I lost everything." Zetta said this practically casually, though there's a relatively mild edge to the words. "My castle, my brothers, my Netherworld, even my body. I think I've got one up on you there. But you know what? That's actually not everything."

The book drew itself up proudly (and you can just have fun imagining THAT). "I've got my soul, I've got my life, and even as a book I'm still the most badass freakin' Overlord in the cosmos! And THIS Overlord isn't going to roll over and play dead for anyone, Ohm or Ampere or Watt, just because they screwed around with my stuff! I'm gonna kick their asses so hard their butt cheeks will bulge out of their eye sockets, body or no!"

Then the book looked down on Ophelia, which it could only do because she was on the couch and it was being help up. "I don't have any idea what power you have, but you've got SOMEthing, right? You've got your body, your soul, and whatever made you YOU. And you've got an enemy to beat and a world to get back. So get the hell up and get to it!"

If anyone asked Zetta why he was attempting to give some random human girl a pep-talk, he'd say it wasn't a pep-talk, he was chewing her out. And it irritated the hell out of him to see someone who lost less than he did moping about it. And she'd make a better minion than one of his mindless constructs. These are also the things he told himself right now, mid-rant. He believed them.

"You could sit here and wait the rest of your life, and whoever you're waiting for may or may not come out. Who the hell knows how this stuff works? Or you can get up off your butt, kick Ohm ass, and get everything back to the way it was. And figure that whoever you're waiting for will be looking for YOU as soon they pop out."

Ophelia just kind of stared at the book for a minute. She was being lectured at by a book. Just when she thought things couldn't get any more bizarre. She had half a mind to stand up and swat it out of that kid's arms, but then it said something that caused her to snap to attention and her eyes went wide.

"If we defeat the Ohm, everything will go back to the way it was?"

She hadn't heard that part yet. She had been too concerned with locating her loved ones. It seemed impossible, that he was just pulling her leg, but then again, she had already experienced so many strange things since waking up here. Case in point: talking book.

"You're not just messing with me, are you?"

"You honestly think I have nothing better to do than yank the chains of random people?" Zetta asked, a little indignant. "I'm a freakin' Overlord! I yank the chains of galaxies!"

The book opened for just a moment, enough to reveal the contents of a pair of pages in the middle: nothing. Blank, untouched paper. "This book is the Sacred Tome," it said, snapping shut so the face on it could look at her again. "It's the center and keystone of my Netherworld, which means that if you write your wish in the Sacred Tome, it'll be granted. IF you have the mana to do it."

Zetta let out a very quiet sigh he would never admit to. "No one on this ship has anywhere near enough mana to wish back my Netherworld or my body. Except me, but obviously I can't write it. But, if we defeat the Ohm, whoever lands the killing blow will have enough mana to wish things back."

Of course that's how it works. Defeat the bad guy, get the good ending. (Assuming you didn't get too many ally kills during the course of the adventure.)

"It won't be easy, obviously," Zetta said. "It'll take a lot of level grinding and possibly even a new game plus. But I'm assuming that whoever you're waiting for is important enough to fight for."

At some point, Ophelia is going to find out that Zetta is a demon, and then things will really get awkward, won't they.

Ophelia didn't know what level grinding or a new game plus was, but after listening to the book's words she figured she would just have to learn. If this was a chance to return things to the way they were, she would be crazy not to take it. The book was absolutely correct. Eddie, her friends, her home- they were all important enough.

"I'll do it, then." She said. "If it will set everything right again I'll do anything."

And yes, it would get very awkward when she learned that her ticket back home was a demon.

"Heh, tell me it doesn't feel better to have a purpose." The book grinned. "Hyaaa ha ha ha!

"So... Now that I've gone to this effort to wake you up a little, tell me what's up." The minion plunked the book down on its lower edge. It was thick enough to balance easily, so long as nothing went pushing it over or the like. "If there's one thing I've discovered since I got here, it's that no two people seem to be alike."

Ophelia scooted over a little to make room... or to put a little more distance between herself and the weird talking book, take your pick. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk about home, afraid that she might just sink back into the pit of despair, but the book had helped her, so she owed it that much, at least.

"All right, what do you want to know?"

The book couldn't exactly sit. Even if it was propped on the couch, the balance would quickly have it toppling over. It was okay plunked on the floor, though, so there it choose to remain.

"Well... to start with, I should probably ask your name." He already knew it, having checked her status screen, but people just didn't understand that, so best to go through the formalities. "Then... I'm curious about the power I sense in you. Abilities I don't recognize. "

"My name? My name is Ophelia." She replied. "And I..."

She really didn't want to speak of her powers. They were gone, and no one here needed to know about them, or what she did with them. But she couldn't lie to the book. "I shouldn't have any power. I lost it, and I am better for it."

Zetta lifted an eyebrow, but having lapsed into an internal monologue, was unaware of the fact.

No power? Or rather, lost power? That was possible -- and it implied she'd had more in the past. But there was still something inherent in her. Had she been more badass once upon a time? Was she losing mana, like -- like NO ONE ZETTA HAD EVER HEARD OF OR POSSIBLY SOMEONE THAT WAS DEAD TO HIM.

No, that didn't make sense. Maybe --

"Terminology!" he said out loud. "That's it! Power, Ophelia, means... you can do something your average muckity-muck level-one human can't do. It doesn't seem to be abnormal here. I met a girl who could fly not long ago. That's power. It doesn't have to be Overlord-level to be useful."

Huh. Maybe it wasn't terminology. Maybe she didn't recognize whatever her power was as unique. Maybe everyone on her world had it. Zetta appraised her again, thoughtfully. He had a sense that if he named her power to her she'd grow suspicious and distrustful -- since he was guessing the ability to read status screens wasn't particularly common outside of the netherworlds.

Why couldn't it have been? This whole business would be so much easier if people could just check his level, mana power, and title!

"Okay, let's attack this from behind and decrease its miss percentage. What ARE your skills? What do you do, and what do you call it?"

Ophelia continued to watch the book curiously as it thought to itself and aloud. It was starting to amuse her.

"I am a warrior." She said when it finally started saying things she could understand again. "I've spent my entire life fighting for the freedom of my people. Is that what you meant?"

She could deal if all he could sense was that she was a fighter, and nothing about magic songs, or building cars, or commanding armies.

No, no, it's listed pretty overtly on her status screen: Power of Rock.

But he's still not certain if she's just beating around the bush or is sincerely clueless. If he wasn't a book, or she were a more equal foe, he'd have challenged her to a battle about two iterations of this conversation ago. But hey: no sense pissing off the reasonably capable woman.

"You know what, we'll run with that. So, a lifetime warrior, huh?" Zetta sounded at least a little respectful. Anyone who said that (and seemed reasonably truthful about it) was worth at least a little regard, no matter their absolute power level. "Freeing your people? If it helps, you can think of this as more of the same. I'd like to see what you can do."

Zetta is the sort of guy you can't really take seriously even if he's in the middle of a fight with you. It's not because he's a book... it's because he's the sort of guy who'd get his soul confined to a book in the first place.

Damn.

"The whole point of freeing my people was so we wouldn't have to do this again. At least, not so soon." Ophelia said, then raised an eyebrow at the book's request. "Show you what I can do? Here? Now?"

Of course it had to be immensely powerful if it really was an overlord, but she couldn't believe that herself against a book would at all be a fair fight.

"That's how it goes, when you're awesome," Zetta said with an affectation of boredom, and arrogance that was in no way affected. "If you're not out there finding asses to kick, you get found at home by people who want to kick your ass. Still beats being walked all over because you got nothin', right?"

Wait... why was she eyeing him like that? She didn't mean...! "H-hey! Not on ME!" Damn! It's good that she recognizes she can't beat a freakin' Overlord, but why would I wanna get beaten?! "In general! We'll find a combat dummy or something if you need one to really show off. I'm interested in seeing your weapons, moves, speed and power. So far," he continued, a little more calmly, "I haven't found a lot of people who really knew how to fight."

"I guess..." Ophelia wasn't entirely convinced. She would have been happy to never fight again, but unfortunately fate had other plans.

"Oh. All right, then. If we find a place to practice, I'd be glad to show you what I'm capable of." She said. "I find it hard to believe you haven't met many warriors, though. Aren't we all here to fight a war?"

"Hyaa ha ha ha! Excellent!" At least Zetta was easy to please, right? She might not want to fight, but given its presumed inevitability in Zetta's eyes, he certainly planned to enjoy it when it came.

"As for warriors, I'm saying literal in-your-face kidney-carvin' ass-kickers. Sure, everyone has a role to play, but some are medics, some are supports, some are artillery. All well and good, but I was beginning to think we lacked a front line."

Zetta... actually sounded just a little bit more regretful than he intended, there. After all, where else would he normally be but that front line?

"Well, now you've found one." Ophelia said, though she wasn't so sure about the kidney-carving bit. She did catch the change in the book's tone. "Does that not please you?"

"Not please me? I'm thrilled! About time we got some muscle in this group," Zetta said, back to normal. "But you'd be surprised how much you miss things like arms when you lose 'em."

Ophelia studied the book curiously. "Is there any way for you to, um, not be a book anymore?"

She hadn't considered it until then, but it probably wasn't the most convenient form to take.

Well that's the understatement of the year, and this is coming from Zetta. The book just gave her a kind-of-wry look, then drew back to its bold bluster once again. "My body was lost along with my Netherworld. So when I get my Netherworld back, my body should come back to normal too."

"O-oh. I'm so sorry." Ophelia said sheepishly. She figured it had been a sensitive subject, but she hadn't considered that. "I guess I'm better off than I thought." She had hands, for starters.

"Sorry?" The book hadn't even considered someone might feel that way. (It certainly hadn't been a common thread in his other interactions.) "Nothing to be sorry about. Sure, it sucks. But I'm not going to feel sorry for myself." There's a moment pause before the next sentence came out in something of a roar. "I'm going to MAKE the creatures responsible for this curse the cruel evolutionary forces that gave them the ability to feel pain! And then I am going to get my damn body and my damn Netherworld back!"

He gnashed his teeth in a really overblown display of furor for a moment, but since the Ohm weren't here to wail on and Ophelia hadn't been the one to make him mad, he calmed down fairly quickly.

"Better to be angry than mopey," Zetta said. "Better to DO something about the damn problem. There's nothing the damn Ohm or anything can throw at me that I can't handle."

Zetta let that sentence hang for a moment before he muttered, "Even if I have to get some help for the whole 'arms' thing."

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Emo Corner: Open for Business!

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hi i can't read lolz

I figured not admitting to mopey was Ophelia-ish anyway!

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