Duty Session 585: Crystal Lake

    Having been in the area around Eas for the Firefly Festival, Asuna has suggested that a few days extra in the place might be a nice break. You know how it is. Catch the sights, eat good food, enjoy the mountain view, dive into a lake infested with dangerous monsters.

    And so it is that little Taka was checked in to the local chapter of the Links for day care so her parents can go fight stuff! And in Asuna's case, dress the part. It's a cosplay run.

    And since it's a water-adjacent adventure, she's wearing a shell bikini top and rather odd pair of blue scale leggings. In short, she's Ariel from the Little Mermaid. It's a thing she just does at times!

    "I am thinking eels," she opines. "Eels and maybe... some kinda fresh water sharks or something?"

"Maybe. Then we could make unagi nigiri sushi and shark fin soup," Vertina replies, though she makes a bit of a face at the second one. It has a.. rough history, and some awkward implications in more recent times. In the real world. "Okay maybe not the latter one." Gives a shake of her head. "Just be on your guard, last time we came across some creepy ass stuff," she reaccounts from her previous time dealing with matters around Crystal Lake in a mostly non-spoiler manner. She gives her arms a good stretch. "Either way, I'm ready to go."

Now you see her... Now you don't.... Now you see her again!

The swift ninja Kotono arrives at the lake wearing a one piece swimsuit with a blue color scheme, similar to her usual attire. She gives a smirk and a wave before doing some stretches. "Fresh fishing, sounds like fun!" She says. "We can make our own sushi!"

A mountain getaway is always something to look forward to. The fresh mountain air, the amazing views, the lack of civilization that let you really take in nature's beauty? For anyone who grown up in cities their entire life, such a trip is always more memorable.

Hunting down fishmen who like to take a bite out of the fisherfolk? That's just a normal day for any Adventurer.

Klein was actually joining in on the cosplaying fun for once, not wanting a chance like this to leave him. Plus, his cosplay as Prince Eric was rather easy to pull off, you just need a flowing shirt and a tight pair of pants.

The headband and katana at his hip might ruin the look somewhat, but Klein considers it "dashing".

Still, the name of Crystal Lake seems to be tickling something in the ronin's head, but he's not sure why. "Oooh, shark fin soup sounds delicious, honestly. Maybe add a little bit of spice for a kick..." ...great, he's making himself hungry.

    Miyako steps out of Kotono's shadow. No, she wasn't there before. Yes, she's wearing a swimsuit. A daringly snug-fitting one-piece with numerous slits along each side to expose some extra skin. And a nice wrap-around sarong in a matching color. Cosplay will have to wait for later.

    (Yes. It's in her inventory waiting 'till after she's had her fun in the water.)

        Well it was Friday morn, when we set sail, and we were not far from the land
        When our Captain, she spied, a mermaid so far, with a comb and a glass in her hand
        And the ocean waves do roll do roll, and the stormy winds do blow,
        And we poor sailors are skippin' at the top, while the land-lubbers lie down below.

    Asuna looks around with a grin, "This is wonderful, everyone is totally prepared for the challenge! And I do love a good song, especially when I'm in character!" A pause and Asuna feels distracted. "Soup... a good soup to go with the bread. And maybe some salad. With a good red wine vinaigrette..."

    Asuna does have her weapon at her waist, of course. But she's more interested in hooking arms with Klein and getting lost in thought, as if this were a stroll in a garden. Which it is rather like, until, well, they get into the dungeon proper.

    The first beast that greets the Adventurers is not a Sahuagin at all. It s a hulking golem made of scales, bone, limestone, and malice. A crude '13' is etched into the largest torso rock serving as its core. It stands as a sentinel before the yawning cave behind it.

    While Asuna is here to fight, her first move in this battle is to let Klein's arm go so he can fight and race ahead to draw fire. By racing right past the enemy and into the cave beyond. It's not her usual move, but it is a new take on blink tanking, which is the big trend with her lately. Whether it was intentional or just a panic in the moment is impossible to tell. Or maybe she just can't stop thinking about food.

A sea golem? That's definitely not what Kotono is expecting. Nevertheless, Kotono knows it has to be dealt with, and that it's a bit on the big side too. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, but even then you have to know when to fight and when not to.

Kotono decides discretion is the better part of valor.

Kotono decides to utilize her agility to her advantage to dodge past the golem instead of risking getting hurt using her blades on her enemy.

Before the golem even knows what happens, Kotono has slipped past the golem without it noticing. "That was too close," She whispers to herself.

Oops. Vertina didn't mean to distract Asuna... but she comes up with good ideas with the mood she's in. "You know, a salad offering wouldn't hurt. It's not typical bar food, but not everyone wants to eat heavy in protien and carbs. Just like not everyone comes to the bar for booze."

Just like last time their first encounter is not with the fishmen, but with a coral golem the fishmen likely made. Or summoned. Or however that works. "Don't be intimidated, the thing is tough but pretty slow!" The Salamander runs right towards the monster it seems, only to drop down at the last moment and slide between it's legs, just to demonstrate it being cruel but cumbersome. As much as she likes to fight, she knows it's best to conserve your strength on missions like this too.

    Miyako continues singing as she dances along the sand, grinning and following in Kotono's wake. "Step we gaily on we go, heel for heel and toe for toe, arm in arm and row on row, all for Mhari's wedding!"

    When the golem takes a swing at her, she's just... not there. Hiding in the golem's own shadow to duck past its blows. That's just cheating, that is.....

Oops! He was hoping soup wasn't going to set Asuna off, but with her being in one of those strange moods involving cooking, he shouldn't have assumed as much. Thankfully he doesn't have to anything drastic like kissing her outright to break her out of it...though he might still do that just because.

What? He's just playing the part! And that's the excuse he's sticking to.

Taking Asuna's arm with hers, he takes the lead, and it's a good thing he does as they spot the rather crude golem blocking their path further down the road. Crude doesn't mean ineffective, however, and it looks like it can take a lot of punishment. "If you'll let me go first!" Letting go and breaking away from the group, Klein charges in, his katana flicking out of it's sheathe and landing some glancing blows on the construct. Not fully committing to his offense as an off-tank, Klein continuiously dodges the heavy blows aimed at him with careful sidesteps.

Thankfully, he doesn't have to wait long for everyone to catch up and...run right on by? Well, he can get in on this plan! "Sorry, but you're not my preferred dance partner. Later, lumpy!" With one last evasive sidestep, Klein breaks out into a sprint to catch up before he's left behind.

It wouldn't be the first time that's happened!

    "Well that went very well! Hmmm.. medium well. The perfect doneness is so important. Spices are critical, it's the very essence of Italian cooking, but if the meat isn't done right it's all lost. I have to keep Klein happy!"

    She blinks a few times. Then blushes a bit.

    "While that is true, I have to say that my lack of moderation in expressiveness is being influenced by one of those weird fits. I just can't stop thinking about pasta. And pizza. Noodles, Italian bread, sauce.. mmm.. the perfect sauces."

    She has to shake her head again just to clear her mind. "I've.. done it again, haven't I? Is anyone hungry?" A pause for a moment, "I mean, well.. perhaps later. I need some opinions."

    And then she's there and along with the rest of the group, confronting the worst of all things. A puzzle room.

    "Oh, this is no problem! I'm great with puzzles."

    Klein will probably be way too good a boyfriend to point out how totally NOT good Asuna is at puzzles.

    The legends about Water Temples being the worst are true. The door deeper in is immediately recognizable by a XIII on the keystone, an ornate aquian door, and a trident-shaped keyhole that bemoans further puzzle solving will be required to get access beyond it.

    Corridors lead away from the antechamber where Undine or excellent swimmers would not struggle to do the platforming necessary to obtain a piece of coral. The less aquatically inclined may struggle. The struggle bus continues on with the assembled pieces being fragments of the backup key that need to be assembled before it is used.

    Asuna is so not good at puzzles that she is looking at a bit of flotsam that obviously has nothing to do with anything. As for /why/ she is doing that, though...

    "I think this looks like pasta. You can see that it's got a squiggle to it, and this part here is clearly related to some kind of seaweed. Hm. This looks like crushed tomato, here. If I squint.. yes! This is definitely a pepper crusher.."

    Yeah, she's... totally lost to the world right now.

This is rather strange, but it looks interesting all the same. Perhaps Kotono could try to take a whack at figuring out what this whole strange thing means.

Or perhaps not.

"I should've read a book on this kind of thing before I came here," Kotono mutters with a sigh. "This is not good."

Vertina looks around the temple. "Welp." She shrugs. "Still nothing I can do here." She is well aware she has absolutely nothing to deal with the temple puzzle as it's not the first time she's been here to stare at it. ".. We best not linger on the spot too long, there's other mysteries to look into."

Asuna is certainly making an effort to keep her head in the dungeon, even as the alure of authentic pizza keeps trying to call her attention. He manages to resist the urge to raise his hand when she asks if anyone is hungry. Knowing Asuna, she likely had a portable kitchen in her inventory just begging to be used right now.

While Asuna is staring at some half-rotten wood, Klein at least has his mind in the right place! It doesn't take a genius to realize something's up with the door, but the scruffy samurai might be drawing the wrong conclusion. The XIII on the door matches what the golem had pressed on it's crystaline body... "Ugh...don't tell me we got to run back and kill it?" Groaning, Klein pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. Leave it to the devs to put a mandatory miniboss fight where the players can just avoid the entire battle.

    Ahhh, puzzles. Miyako remembers doing all sorts of logic puzzles back in the other world. But she didn't finish her song. So that comes first.

        Cheeks as white as rowans are, brighter far than any star
        Fairest of them all by far is my darling Ko-chan...

    She casts a glance at Asuna while she sings, but doesn't bother stopping. Pizza... mmm.

    Her stomach rumbles, and she finishes her song, shaking her head and shrugging. "Not a clue," she says. "I think Asuna's got it, though."

    "Err huh?"

    Asuna looks around in confusion. She was still looking at the little piece of wood. She'll send it to her inventory in a rush as the situation suddenly gets a whole lot worse! Now her first reaction (and she isn't proud of this) to what happens is to dart behind Klein. At least she doesn't cling to him. But what is she supposed to do?

    The time to open the Temple doors was more finite than expected. A muscular Sahuagin appears at the entrance wielding a trident with two of the prongs broken off. What is left of the metal spear has been honed down into a singular long blade. It does not wear armor except a dirty white mask that goes over its face. The hunter approaches the party in a slow, determined pace. With a lack of speed and armor it should be easy to defeat.

    The first attack against it shows how much health the Masked Hunter has. It is an aberration to fish kind! An inspect shows it as 'Jayson' and stats show him as a buffed up murderfish on two legs.

    Gathering her focus about her, Asuna is able to react appropriately. Eventually. Her head seems to have two major states. Either totally obsessed with Italian food or totally admiring Klein's cosplay. Not many people can pull off those pants. Okay, that totally can be read the wrong way.

    Asuna attacks! Yes. That's what she does. From a safe distance, too, letting fly with a magical strike that tears into the enemy. Whatever it is she's using, it involves some nasty looking thorns.

This is exactly why Vertina said they shouldn't linger. Because here comes the gilled freak in the mask. "Times up guys, move it! I know how to slow him down a bit." And she's more than fast enough to catch up afterwards.

Asuna unleashes several magical ranged attacks, and Vertina takes advantage of it as cover fire to run right up to 'Jayson'.... and slams a ki infused fist into his midsection! His HP bar only goes down a small notch. But that's not important. What's important that the divine energy strike is enough to make him stagger back a few steps, momentarily dazed.

After which Vertina turns on her heels and bolts back after the others. "Don't think about too much right now, just run!"

A Sahuagin.

Ugly.

Not one Kotono wants to know.

Kotono tries to avoid this ugly creature, but she's not quite successful...

She botches up a little on the dodging and trips.

The wet slaps of sahuagin footfalls is clear enough as everyone pauses to think on how to proceed. Frowning, Klein turns away from the door before freezing as he sees that dirty white mask. Mind racing, he quickly recalls a young boy having nightmares due to sneakily watching an American slasher film. In the modern day, however, a cold sweat suddenly breaks out down Klein's body as he finally pieces everything together. "But it's not the 13th!"

Whatever he might be rambling on, it doesn't stop Klein from trying to cut down the Sahuagin killer, but he noticeably pales as he sees just how much punishment it can take. Figures that the name isn't just for show. "Keep moving and don't stand still, I think this guy can really lay down the hurt!"

And, with almost perfect timing, Kotono trips up on a jagged tile.

Stopping himself from cursing, Klein tugs Kotono back with an arm around her waist, just barely avoiding a jab from that wicked, broken spear. "Whao, careful now! You okay?"

    Miyako pauses, breaking off from her song before the final verse, as 'Jayson' emerges. "Welp," she muses. "You know what this means, don't you?" She produces her war-fans and readies herself for a fight.

        It's beginning to look a lot like fish-men, everywhere I go
        From the minute I got to town, and started to look around,
        I thought these ill-bred peoples' gill-slits showed....

    And it's time to dance, again. Fortunately it's a dance she's good at. Even with her skill, though, luck isn't on her side, and she's distracting herself because she Just. Won't. Stop. Singing.

            ( OOC: https://i.imgur.com/6uwGn4f.png )

    Asuna gets away safe and sound. She does notice Klein dragging off Kotono and arches an eyebrow, then giggles a bit. Still, she's a bit displeased with something. Could she be... jealous?

    "I forget if sake goes well with white sauce," she grumbles. "I'll have to make a few variants to see. It's bothering me."

    Nope. Just crazy, not crazy jealous.

    In any case, the adventure continues!

    The world has creepy critters and that Hunter is one of them. Even after escaping there is this feeling that the party is being watched from the treeline and from the water. It provides the proper spooks feelings as the Adventurers regroup.

    Maybe this is the Sahuagin threat that the Hunter's Guild was talking about? They wouldn't have to wonder long before coming to a nearly abandoned campsite by the lake. There are enough placements at the site to fit a dozen campers, but only one Lander is still around and they are in a state of heightened fear. They, too, have run into the Hunter out here and survived to tell the tale.

    So naturally, dressed in a bikini made of shells and wearing well, the scale pants are at this point more like scale shorts. Oops. Anyway, dressed like this, Asuna talks to the Lander. She's great with people. Well, sometimes. Definitely not now.

    "Wow, you look really nervous, sir. And clearly you were with others. Can you tell me what..." And there's this tell. A little tic in the system. It bodes poorly. "... kind of spices you would use with grunty meatballs that best compliment a tomato sauce and spaghetti noodles?"

    This... does not help at ALL. The Lander seems even more scared to be confronted by this demented Adventurer.

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust,

Kotono will find it and find it she must.

Unless she can't find what she's searching for.

In which case she'll be left feeling sore.

        It's away and to the west'ard, is the place a man should go
        Where the fishin's always easy, and they got no ice nor snow
        But I'll haul down m' sails, where the bays run together
        Bide away m' days on the hills of Isle au Haut.

    Yes. Miyako *does* have a song for every occasion. And she's perfectly willing to keep it up through the night, as much as it takes to set the Landers at ease and let everyone relax and have some fun.

The group finds the camp. Vertina hmms softly. "Seen better days." She paces around a bit, picking up a little ping here and there from her less physical senses, but can't quite latch onto something like she did last time. But she has last time's experience. So maybe it's just a bit of looking around a bit more and getting lucky. She knows there is -something- here they can use....

After that rather close call, a hasty retreat from the water cave is in order. Jayson is a really tough customer, and it just tanks everything anyone can throw at it. Staying to fight in a battle like that is going to get someone killed in a short matter of time, so it's best if the Adventurers try a different approach.

While the campgrounds might give a sense of safety to some members of the party, it only puts Klein on edge even more. Mentally kicking himself in the head for not realizing the danger earlier, the scruffy samurai figures it's better if he leaves the calming down of the Lander to Asuna.

This may not have been the best idea ever, but in Klein's defense, he's currently worried about how close the Hunter is to it's source material.

Though, Klein isn't having much luck searching through the cabins for clues. A scruff of some wool is found under a destroyed bed, but there's no telling what it was once a part of. It likely has nothing to do with the creature, either. "Think, Klein, think..."

    Well, eventually, everything works out. It's what they call 'failing forward', in the biz. Speaking of biz, Asuna continues to interrogate the terrified Lander about cooking. It's clear from Asuna's expression that she's fully aware of just how bit a mess she's getting into here, but like a deer in the headlights, she can do nothing to save herself.

    Enough evidence is collected to point that this Hunter is part of the Sahuagin problem. It has been terrorizing Adventurers and Landers that travel in the area with relentless brutality. If the party can assemble the right combination of weapon and weakness against it, they should be able to counteract Jayson's monstrous health and slow, methodical attacks.

    Evidence suggests that Jayson has a weakness to party members wearing... sweaters? The party will need a tailor for that. Less weird is a weakness for axe-like weapons used on the trees near the lake. A smith can reforge a nearby felling axe into a combat variant. While the crafters get crafty, everyone can pitch in and look for where this frightening fish is and prepare their buffs for a beastly battle before them.

    Asuna's head slowly-and very temporarily-returns to the game. And the Lander just runs off to hide. Which is surely a safe bet considering the way these movies go.

    Asuna is focused on the axe. It makes her think of something. Something... stupid.

    "Chopsticks! They will never do. I need to have the very best silverware for the table. What kind of silly person would eat Italian with chopsticks?!"

    Her exclamation leads her to pull some food out of her menu and she turns to look for Klein. No doubt he's not really supposed to face an additional challenge at this point, but he does. He has Asuna holding out a plate of pasta and a fork to him.

    "Are you hungry?"

    What were they all doing again?

Kotono tries to use magic. She can do some spells here and there.

Of course that's when they work.

This time, nothing happens but a few wasted magic words.

It seems like things are hidden more than last time.... But eventually Vertina finds one of the discarded axes. "Meh. This is in terrible shape." She scraps the claws of her cestus up and down the edge a few times, still frowning. ".. I don't have time to properly sharpen this completely. But one of you weapon wielders might be able to make use of it."

In a rather bizarre stroke of luck, it seems that strip of scrap wool actually -is- important! Hearing from the Lander that Jayson had an aversion to sweaters causes Klein to facepalm and mumble something about 'momma boys', whatever that could mean. But at least they have an idea on how to weaken Jayson now!

Many people would be surprised to see it, but Klein knows his way around a needle and thread. After all, his famous headband is a Klein original! Reaching upwards, Klein plucks a single needle out of the knot at the back and scrolls through his inventory. "Hmmm...Cashmere? No, too fancy. Wool?...nah. Too hot for the season. Best stick to a light cotton." Materializing a ball of cotton yarn, Klein threads the needle and starts to craft a small sweater...

Only for him to jab himself hard enough to lose a point of HP as he jumps in fright. So focused on crafting the sweater, Klein failed to notice Asuna nearing him until the plate of pasta was thrust directly under his nose. A half finished sweater meeting Asuna's latest sauce causes it to shatter due to it still being under construction, and Klein stops himself from sighing. "...yeah. I could eat real quick!"

There's no way he's going to hold it against Asuna right now, she just can't help it.

    Miyako plays on through the night, taking all the time it needs to keep everyone calm and prevent panic. She has hundreds of songs, on all sorts of themes from sailing ships to fishing to surfing. It's only when Jayson emerges from the lake once more that she sets her guitar aside to take up her war-fans once more.

    The sand of the beach itself becomes her weapon, gathered by the wind from her fans and swirled until it becomes a drill of abrasive material. It definitely seems to inflict some damage, but not enough to stop the sahuagin... so it's time to run!

    Asuna is so happy that Klein will eat her cooking. She waits to watch him scarf it all down. She looks so expectant, so excited, so... completely silly considering how dangerous it is right now.

    Fortunately, her eyes turn and she notices Vertina's doing something. Wow, everyone is. Well, they are trying. After looking at Vertina's axe for a moment, Asuna snaps out of it. At least for a bit. "I'm not sure, but.. I guess we can try to use it, maybe." It doesn't exactly give her a lot of confidence. And her own utter failure does nothing to help, either. So they could fight, but, they aren't exactly well prepared!

    On the other hand, does the party want to go hunting down the thing that mopped the floor with them last time in hopes that they have a winning recipe of Fishman Kryptonite will remove what is protecting it from mortal peril?

    It is during that time that the party will notice there are curious fish out by the lake. They shine in brilliant silver and gold scales. Eyes glow a pale blue in the water. One even has something strange in its mouth as a bird snatches it from the water as a meal. The fish lands near the party during the struggle with avian kind as it flops around with an enigmatic fragment that bears further investigation. Somewhere else. Safer than here. A rustle in the treeline hints at Jayson's return.

    In these dire times there is only one thing to go. Grab your new friend and get the fish outta here.

    And Asuna does, of course, what she ought to do. She picks up the fish.

    "Flounder! I've been looking all over for you!" she exclaims.

    And with that, she does what this group does best. She races off! She is not afraid, really. She's more silly than serious, even though this is definitely NOT safe.

    "Hurry, Prince Eric! You have to kiss me before sunset!"

Vertina sighs softly. "I hate to say it guys, but I don't think we're in good shape to confront that masked freak. He was stupidly tough to put down last time, even with finding several advantages, and clearly he didn't -stay- down..."

But then there's a flap and a flop and a flyer with a fish that might hold a secret to future forays. "Someone grab that fish and let's scram!" She turns around and flings the axe she semi sharpened in the direction of the approaching rustling, but it's likely to not do much. So she turns to spring away with the others. "Maybe that thing can tip the scales and next time we can raise haddock!"

Despite the danger possibly lurking nearby, hiding in the bushes, Klein does take the time to eat Asuna's latest attempt of Italian cooking. Each attempt was even better than the last, but is now really the time to enjoy spaghetti. "...you know, if we were the Lady and the Tramp, I would share this with you~"

Even in the middle of mortal danger, Klein can't help but flirt just a little. Thank goodness he has eyes on only one woman.

Bushes rustle just as Klein finishes the last of the saucy noodles, and he does a desperate maneuver. He throws the plate directly at the rustling. It won't do anything, but at least he can say he sauced up Jayson! Leaping from his treestump stool, he advances in the opposite direction from the immediate, absolutely terrifying threat. And sweatdrops as his Little Mermaid picks up 'Flounder' on the run.

Klein groans softly upon hearing the fishy pun. Not because it's bad or anything, far from it. He's just mad he didn't think of it first! "We'll have to come back another day and 'fin'-ish the fight!"

Sometimes it pays not to be seen.

Rather than try to outright avoid the fish that are coming at them, Kotono attempts to hide out of sight and then escape when they're not looking.

It works, the stealthy approach proves to work well for her!

    Miyako's hands are sore from playing all night! It's time to tuck the guitar back in her inventory. And get the heck out of Crystal Lake! She has no hesitation whatsoever to delve into the most powerful of her magics to help the group make their escape. Trees seem to step out of the way, hills flatten before the fleeing adventurers only to rise into cliffs behind them, and tree-roots tangle the pursuer's feet! It's almost futile... but no! Sunlight! Freedom! They've made it!

    Racing away for dear life, Asuna is relieved to get away. But not too far away. She wants to stay near Klein. She feels safer. And frankly, she is not really safe on her own in dangerous situations. Left to her own devices, she's not terribly discerning right now. But she is rather emotional.

    So it is now. Very emotional. For her heart is set on trying to keep this fish alive. To save little Flounder. But she isn't sure how to do that, and it's clearly struggling in the air.

    Sadly, she doesn't need to wait long. Once the party has put a fair amount of distance between Jayson and themselves, the mysterious fish perishes. Others may not fret much, as it leaves behind a hefty amount of money and the odd fragment it was carrying. Scratch that, multiples of it. It appears the fish was eating them. It could be related to the odd happenings at Crystal Lake and the Hunter's Guild will be interested in hearing the development.

    As for 'Ariel'. She frets. She frets a lot when the fish simply bursts into pixels in her hands. It's a moment of complete lucidity as the strange mood is forgotten. She was looking right into its eyes.

    Asuna suddenly drops the gold, the icons, all of it and her face is frozen in terror. Frozen in a memory of another set of eyes that met hers in the moment of death. A Lander's eyes. For a second Asuna is silent. And then she puts her hands to her face and falls to her knees, crying.

Jokes were said, but it still goes unsaid that everyone felt like they just escaped a rather dangerous situation. And they kept running long after they needed to, just to play things safe. Maybe just a bit more, just to be sure! Especially if Jayson can also teleport...

Thankfully that doesn't appear to be the case for everyone of the party. Sure, they failed to take out the threat of the fishmen attacking at Crystal Lake or even progress any further into the temple, but no one was killed or seriously hurt. In Klein's humble opinion, he sees this as an absolute win!

Before the thought of missing out on a reward for at least investigating the Lake could pass anyone's mind, the odd fish shatters in Asuna's arms, dropping a rather impressive amount of gold for the party, as well as an odd shifting fragment. That's the last thing on his mind as Asuna suddenly breaks down crying.

Blinking in shock, Klein wonders if Asuna's strange mood was really making her play into the part of Ariel, then realization struck. Wincing as understanding washes over him, he wordlessly closes the distance between them and hugs Asuna tightly, rubbing her back with a hand and making soft calming noises.

Looking back up after a moment, he gives a look towards the others. "...I think we need to make a campfire, just to relax for a few minutes. We had a rough night."

Oh, that's not good. Sure, it was just a fish. But to have something right in your hands when it crosses that final berth is still... jarring. So Vertina can at least understand how Asuna feels even if she doesn't see it as such a big deal herself.

She walks over to give the gal a pat on the shoulder, but before she can get something reassuring to say out she's distracted by the type of shinies the fish actually dropped. "... Hold on here." She stoops down to pick one up, carefully, as to not bump it against any of the others in doing so. "... Shit, really, Enigmas? WHAT is at the bottom of that Lake?!"

She didn't forget about Asuna and the fish. This is just... possibly more severe...

    It's a hard moment. But with comfort from friends and Klein holding her, she does calm down again. She's a sniffly mess, admittedly, but she's getting better.

    "I'm sorry," she manages at last. "It just... I remembered Taka's mother. How she was looking in that moment. Again, I should have been faster. More careful. If I had known how to heal then. I thought. But I can heal now and I still failed."

    She looks suddenly resolute. "I have to find something better. So I can protect our daughter, Klein. So this cannot happen to her. I will not just remain helpless."

    And she definitely feels that way. She couldn't even keep the fish alive. Granted, oxygen bottle is probably not the best thing to heal a fish with in any case! But she's not letting herself off the hook so easily.

    Looking to Vertina, "What is it, anyway? What makes it so special?"

After all is said and done, Kotono's glad to be out of the water and back on dry land again.

"Well, that was an experience I could've handled better," the Spriggan says with a sigh. "Maybe I'll know better for next time." She looks to Miyako. "Let's dry off and then find some way to relax."

"Because things like this," Vertina replies as she holds the Enigma up between two fingers, "Tend to turn up when something is fucking with the natural order of this world." A beat pause. "Also because you get too many in one place and that Tri-Edge shows up. And he's even creepier and more implaccible than that Jayson was... You'd have to ask the Doc or one of the other big brains for a more elaborate description."

    Miyako nods and throws an arm around Kotono's shoulders. "Hey, at least we didn't get our good clothing wet. Just our swimsuits." Not even her guitar got touched. Although her fingers are a bit bruised from playing for so long. "I could use some hot food, too."

    "Tri-Edge," whispers Asuna.

    She's heard, clearly.

    "Near here?! We need to get Taka and get out of here! I'm not going to wait an instant!"

    She will drag Klein, but it's not like he needs much coaxing, either. They have to get their little girl and get the heck out of this place. Even if they have to travel by night, the road is safe. Honestly the road is kind of legendary for its quality, but all that matters right now is that Tomoe can race full speed on it and darkness, oddly enough, is her speciality. No shadows to startled her, you see.

    "Sorry everyone! We have to go. Family to protect. Thank you and be safe! Ummm, come to Tolbana and I'll be sure to give you a meal to remember!"