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[formidable]

MUSELIST This a post where I'll RP anything with you! Got a scenario in mind? I'LL DO IT. If you wanna chat IDEAS.GIF, contact me at maiscribbles or my Discord (Maiscribbles#6780). Have at it! ➢ Cool Mood Music No. 1 ➤ Cool Mood Music No. 2

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[emotive]

It's making me a bit warm.

[Her cheeks are almost immediately flushed for instance.]

But that's normal for alcohol, isn't it?

[What isn't normal is the wooden cask in front of them disappearing now that they partook in the wine and they're now free to move forward.]

Oh, thank goodness. I thought we'd have to drink the whole cask!

[supersoldier]

I suppose it’s normal for someone whose threshold for alcohol is staggeringly low.

[Said with the faintest arch of a brow — yes, she definitely is already tinged red — but soon his attention is stolen by the disappearing barrels of wine.

He takes up Masamune again, frowning down their new path.]

Don’t thank anything just yet. If this is how we’re supposed to progress, you might be drinking a lot more than you realize.

[emotive]

On the bright side, it'll all be different liquors and it'll taste great!

[Ever the optimist! She retrieves her lantern pole again and waits for Sephiroth to go down the cleared path first.]

Now if only we had meat...

[supersoldier]

[Holding Masamune behind him, it’s time to trudge forward.]

Why would there be meat here?

[Yes, he heard that.]

[emotive]

...

...

[Indignant noises behind Sephiroth ensue.]

You heard nothing!

[supersoldier]

No, I heard everything.

[He knows what he heard!]

And I'm guessing you're hungry. Drinking on an empty stomach will definitely qualify as an adventure for you.

["""Adventure""". He's already starting to doubt her capacity.]

[emotive]

[sephiroth will soon learn the dark truth about how ai upkeeps her stomach... soon...]

I-I think I did eat something before I found myself here! I wasn't thinking about food then! With how tasty the drink was, I was just thinking it was a shame we didn't have any food around and... And...!

... I might be a little hungry.

[She's covering her face with one hand as if to shield herself from his judgment.]

I'll still do my part ok? I mean, we don't have to drink a whole lot at least.

[supersoldier]

[Never one for gregarious comfort, nor aware of just how… intense Ai's hunger runs, Sephiroth’s words are blunt and to-the-point, as usual.]

You may have to make do with an empty stomach for now. We can’t assume there will be anything to eat for the entire time we’re here.

[At least she’s still willing to do her part, as she says, and he can only hope that hunger won’t work against her.]

[emotive]

Well, this place is huge! There's got to be something for us to munch on at some point.

[And so the optimism resumes as does their delving into this alcohol-laden floor of the maze. Each casket is the same as the last. One of them or both takes a drink and it disappears for them to explore the branch they've partaken. They also have to contend with the thick and intoxicating air around them.

Ai surprisingly lasts longer than expected, but not by a whole lot. By the sixth or seventh casket, her head is bobbing back and forth and she even develops a bit of a hiccup. Also...]

Kìa con bướm vàng
Kìa con bướm vàng
Xòe đôi cánh
Xòe đôi cánh
Tung cánh bay năm ba vòng
Tung cánh bay năm ba vòng.
Em ngồi xem
Em ngồi xem.

[yes, drunken singing oops]

[supersoldier]

[Six or seven casks in, paired with the intoxicating air, only causes a faint warm tinge to blossom along his skin. His body, like it oft does, adjusts — much like it staves off injury with resilience and fast healing, it processes any trace of alcohol in his system just as fervently, eradicating it through the wringer of his metabolism. If there’s ever a buzz trying to strong-arm its way into his cognizant mind, it’s banished as soon as it begins to appear.

The result is a Sephiroth just as stolid as before, focused forward, with enough lucidity to wonder at the sudden song behind him.]

...You’re drunk already.

[She’s definitely drunk. The melody echoes in the corridor, couched in a language unfamiliar to him.]

Do we need to take a break so you can recover?

[emotive]

[She holds up a palm to object.]

Nuh. Nuh-uh. We keep going. We're doing good.

[Ai gives him a thumbs-up gesture while balancing the lantern pole on her shoulder.]

Teamwork! Good job!

[supersoldier]

[The sidelong glance he gives her is both assessing and dubious. Though they’ve not run into anything dangerous in this maze, that doesn’t mean it won’t happen, and Ai in a state like this? He isn’t sure if how much of her own weight she’d be able to pull.

Not that all this drinking is much of her own fault, this maze requiring a system of progression obviously... unflattering to someone who can’t hold their alcohol.]

Let me take the next few drinks. I don’t want to have to carry you through the rest of this.

[emotive]

If you say so.

[Rubbing her nose with one hand, Ai nods in agreement. Even in her inebriated state, she's not going to be so foolish as to prolong her stubbornness.]

Uh, if you don't mind telling me... How red do I look?

[Answer: Very.]

[supersoldier]

You look like a tomato.

[She asked.]

[emotive]

[There is silence. And then there is a drunken accusatory pointing at his face.]

You... you look like...

A cherry tomato!

[Not Even Close.]

[supersoldier]

[Wow. He closes his eyes briefly, shaking his head.]

...You really are a lost cause right now. I hope this doesn’t last long, for your sake.

[One more cask ahead.]

Your insults could use work.

[emotive]

[She's sulking like a child and mutters darkly under her breath.]

Your hair could use work.

[supersoldier]

[Excuse u

Sephiroth is not vain, not really, but his hair is the one thing about his appearance that he actively takes care of, keeps well-tended. He looks at her from over his shoulder.]

I heard that too.

[emotive]

[She innocently glances to the side as she pokes her fingers together.]

I mean, it's not that bad. Not a lot of men can full off long hair.

[Apparently when Ai gets drunk she has extra lip, who knew. They're finally at the last wine cask and it's blocking a room which can only be described as a boss level. There are no other branches to explore from that point and it's also where the alcoholic fumes are the thickest. The fog is so thick, Ai is fanning herself with one hand as sweat drips down the sides of her face.]

It's so humid! Just like home, but probably worse.

[supersoldier]

[Well, seems to be the last cask they will have to deal with, if the way forward means anything -- a large room with no more winding corridors, which is honestly suspicious in its own right.

But Sephiroth steps forward without any sort of hesitation. By now, the routine is simple enough; grab the ladle, remove the top, skim some off from the top of the liquid's surface, and take a drink.

He does so, not allowing her a chance to join. It burns on the way down.]

Last one. [He says, frowning, ignoring the humid air that surrounds them. He assumes they'll find out why that is soon enough.]

[emotive]

[The second Sephiroth finishes the wine the sound of drums begin to fill the room and the alcoholic fog begins to thicken in the room to the point where they can't see in front of them and Ai can barely make out her maze companion.]

Ah!

[Ai realizes that they're being separated and in her less-than-sober state, that only spells danger. The drumming beat reverberates throughout the room and a low sound between a moan and a growl penetrates the fog which signals the further danger they're both going to be in.]

[supersoldier]

[Immediately, Sephiroth is brandishing his sword, falling into a defensive stance with his weight pushed to the balls of his boots. His eyes narrow, trying to pierce through the haze, but even his vision is obscured with the endless humidity, this opaque thickness.]

Ai?

[He’s lost track of her, too, but for all he knows, she could still be near.]

[emotive]

[Ai audibly gulps and grips the handle of her lantern tightly. Her head is spinning and her vision is hazy, multiplied by the fog. She squeezes her eyes shut trying to think, trying to focus. They're not alone in this room, they haven't faced any monsters up until now... Where was that moaning coming from?

Her physical senses may be dulled, but her innate sixth sense... She's hearing and sensing something...]

Sephiroth! Above you!

[In the ceiling there's the sound of feet and hands crawling its way quickly over to where the SOLDIER is. Ai on her part tries to hone in on where he is and to the best of her ability, judge where she should stand so he can get the monster before it can get them.]

[supersoldier]

[Ai’s warning is all he needs.

It centers his focus above, sharp and direct, and the SOLDIER becomes cognizant of the scuttling noises overhead. He, too, can judge the generalized area of where the threat might be, and far be it for him to hesitate.

So he doesn’t. He leaps up — high, too high for a normal human — and takes action, slicing Masamune in a wide horizontal sweep to catch any monster above in its silver arc.]

[emotive]

[Whatever is up in the ceiling drops to the floor in front of Sephiroth. It had dodged, but not completely. This was a courtesan doll wearing slightly different robes from its other counterparts and instead of weapons, it holds several sake dishes in each of its hands that slosh with the liquid.

The haze noticeably thins around them after Sephiroth damages the doll, but it quickly gets back up and with its spider-like movements it consumes more sake rice wine and jerking its neck to screech at the man. From its mouth is smoke; well, we know where the fog was coming from now.

Ai was thankfully able to catch a glimpse of the sake wielding doll and its drinking vessels before both it and Sephiroth disappear from her sight. She calls over to him after coughing from the newly revived fog.]

I-I'll disarm it from here! You can take it on, right?