Suguha in ALO

The Village of the Damned

Leafa laughed so hard milk flew from her nostrils.

She was sitting at a table in one of the two inns with Recon in a seat across from her, his awkward innocence making her laugh her head off once again. She regained her composure and quickly took care of the mess, glaring then at Recon.

"Are you serious?"

"Hu?!" he stammered, waving his arms pathetically, "O-of course I'm serious! The name of this town is The Damned Village!" He cringed as Leafa laughed out loud again.

"Let's go to the Damn Village! Oh, I hate that guy from that Damn Village!" She eventually found her breath again and relaxed in her seat, finishing her milk with a sigh. "This world is weird."

"Uhhh," he answered awkwardly, paying more attention to the faces staring at them than hers. She sighed again and cleared her throat to get his attention. He started and she giggled. "Well then, maybe since you know so many weird facts, you can tell me why it's named The Damned Village?"

"Ah, well," he said, folding his hands in his lap, hunching his shoulders and looking down as he always did when reciting from memory, "it's just a legend, really. There's a lot of mythology in Alfheim Online, and most of it based on the Norse mythos. But some is completely unique to the game as it's own urban legend type stuff, like here. This town is said to be cursed with a tragic destiny. Some day, when the time is right, a monster is supposed to appear and destroy this town, leaving nothing and no one behind. The weird thing is, this monster isn't a boss, and it isn't a quest, and it's said that the NPCs it kills never revive, nor does the town ever rebuild."

Leafa leaned in, her curiosity piqued. Recon continued. "There are some players who truly believe this fate will come to pass, so they come and live here to protect the village, becoming merchants or just raiding nearby only."

"So that's why there were so many non-NPC street vendors and houses for players here," she concluded, and he nodded, his brow very serious.

"Exactly. So if this legend happens to be true, almost the entire town will rise up to defeat the evil monster! It's pretty cool if you ask me."

She smirked at his still very serious look and poked him, snapping him out of his mood and making him flinch so hard he toppled out of his chair with a yelp. She put a hand to her mouth to hide a giggle and got up, helping him stand again and apologizing to the bartender. "You're hilarious," she grinned, and he grumbled helplessly.

They went to their separate rooms, ready to log off for the evening. Leafa received an awkward goodnight in the hall from a very nervous Recon, which made her laugh again, then waved him off and shut the door to her room. She sighed deeply as her soft figure landed flat onto the bed, her hands grasping tiredly at the silky sheets. What a day...

She was about to log out, but something felt off; like the day wasn't quite finished yet. She exited out of the menu and got up, feeling like she should walk outside for a bit. She closed the door to her room quietly in case Recon was still online, and inched her way through the hall, down the stairs, and out into the cool night air.

The lights of the town had dimmed a little, and the only noises were the faint dealings of a late-night merchant and a nice breeze, making the roof above her wave slightly. Leafa breathed in the night air, her hand to her chest as it rose and fell, then looked around. As soon as her eyes landed on the trees behind her, she started forward, immediately drawn towards them. She stood for a moment at the edge, looking into the deep dark of the forest as a strange longing washed over her, then plunged in.

She walked slowly, looking at her surroundings with no thought or sound. As she went deeper, the trees, the ground, and everything became overgrown with a thick, light green moss which muted her footsteps altogether. There were no birds, no voices, even the breeze seemed to die down to almost nothing. It was utterly silent, but not frightening. Instead, she was relaxed, and her breathing was almost stilled as she absorbed the pureness of the quiet forest.

She noticed that as she walked, there was an atmospheric light that seemed to follow her. She stopped for a moment and looked at the ground, then smiled with delight. There were the smallest periwinkle flowers dotted everywhere in the moss both above and below and to either side, giving off a faint glow. Their glow individually was small, but they were so numerous that they lit up the forest in a soft light. She continued on, and the little lights would dim behind her and light up as she drew near. Her path was constantly illumined with a sourceless light, her joy and wonderment overflowing into her step, making her laugh quietly as she twirled and danced a little. She spread out her arms and did a cartwheel over the moss, the lights brightening cheerfully wherever she went.

Finally, she spied something in the distance. As she neared, the lights of the flowers started to dim, then disappeared all together. Something is prevented them from growing here... she thought. There was a curtain of ivy ahead of her, a green aura shining through it, but what the ivy hung from and the forest beyond the ivy she couldn't see, like there was a wall of darkness cutting the forest asunder.

She stepped through the ivy curtain, pushing it aside with her hand, and stepped into a clearing of sorts. Above her, the canopy was still closed, but now it was dark and oppressive to her in contrast to the forest behind her. The trees looked menacing and reaching, the green-hued light making her surroundings look sickly. The moss was all but gone, and in its place was old bark and wizened grass. In the middle of the clearing was a stump, a HUGE stump. It was so large she could have laid fifteen full grown Sylphs vertically and they wouldn't have touched both ends.

She couldn't help but move towards it, and stepped lightly onto it. Walking over to the middle, she looked down and caught her breath silently, now afraid to disturb the intimidating stillness. Jutting from very center of the stump was a dark, spear-like root. It looked like it had been frozen just as it was jabbing at something, and skewered on its tip was small scroll.

Her hands reached forward of their own accord and grabbed the scroll. She recoiled with a withheld squeal, her hands nearly frozen cold as they got near the dark root. She stepped backward a couple paces, then looked at the scroll in her hand. The breeze came back but with a bit more force, the trees swaying and groaning, leaves whirling about her.

Without a second thought, Leafa unfurled the scroll, but the words were written in a different language she couldn't understand. The wind suddenly picked up, blowing her blonde hair wildly, and from the scroll came a voice. It was deep, rough and cold, snaking its way into her head like an evil weed.

"The village sleeps, the forest nature keeps, and all the world is at ease."

Leafa gritted her teeth, her head pounding with every word.

"But from the ground comes a mighty sound that will bring the Damned to their knees."

She fell to her knees on the stump, barely able to notice the ice creeping from the center of the stump up her legs as she held her throbbing head.

"Arise, ground breaker. Arise earth shaker, and let the ice come forth."

Her eyes widened as she noticed the ice swiftly immobilizing her. She reached her hand up shakily, bringing up the menu as fast as she could.

"Let it be known through the forest and town that I shall wake once more!"

The ground began to shake, the ice reaching up her arm. With that last word from the voice, a large, dark root erupted from the stump, cracking it and tearing the branches overhead to shreds. Leafa screamed as the ground shook violently beneath her, and with a final effort, reached with her fingers for the Log Out button.