If you lack cash, give me anything else that has something worthwhile to it. Something powerful, something rare, something worth treasuring. I'll assess what you can get out of the shop if you've got anything good to give up.
[ ok he has literally nothing on him and he's not selling his soul egg for a sword, so he makes a show of thinking about it ]
Might have something. Nothing I'd be dumb enough to carry on me while walking around this shithole, though. How long you open?
[ can cloud do a fetch quest in this length of time where he lucks into finding a rare item on the mountain or beach or something to trade for a sword????? this is just how jrpgs work it could happen???? ]
[ soul egg could fetch a pretty penny think about it ]
Just admit you ain't got nothing, buddy.
[ the deman SIGHS before he seems to remember something. his clawed little fingers stroke down his own chin in thought, a grin spreading across his lips. ]
How about this.... I'll let you borrow the sword, and you can earn it if you do me a little favor. There's some debts that I need collecting, and you seem like an eager guy who's got something to prove. How about it?
but also, while he hates being described as eager and ready to prove, this is the exact kind of work he is good at. yes, perfect. a quest popped up. everything's coming up broke bitches ]
Depends. How do you want those debts collected?
[ this is just a yes disguised in give me the deets. quest go brrrr ]
Or both, if you're feeling excited. But if it's blood, bring my wares back to me. That's all.
[ it sure is the demon's way of doing things. he'll shift back then, going to pick up a set of photographs. he sifts through them, before eventually pulling out photos of two youngladies. they're images captured from what looks old, surveillance footage. nona picking out a bow and arrow, while laudna is pondering over a rather ornate pair of scissors ]
They should still be around this island somewhere.
[ taking the pictures to look at them with the same bland expression. aaah. yes. hmmm. yes. he is not doing that. ]
Can do. [ he lies ] So what? They steal from you?
[ cloud thinking about how he can just take the sword and the job and not... come back... but continuing to ask questions like he is definitely doing this job yes sir ]
[ he goes to pick up the claymore because it's the cheaper sword i'm sorry cloud you have to do so many fetch quests to get the zappy guy, and intentionally runs his finger along the sharp edge of it. demon blood glistens along the metal of it, radiating a dark aura before disappearing.
you can have the sword now, cloud. do you take it? you haggled so long for it. it's so tempting now. it seems to be calling his name, in encouraging little whispers that sound like his loved ones. they want him to take this. ]
[ calm down whispers he didn't need that much of an incentive, he'll take the cursed-ass sword. this isn't even the first time he takes a quest to kill a teenage girl he will just find a way around it!!!! this will NEVER backfire!!!! ]
[ this will NEVER backfire! the whispers only get stronger when cloud takes the sword though, which i'm sure does great with all the other voices in his head.
he'll find that the sword is heavier than he's used to... but the longer that he holds onto it, the longer that he's away from the merchant that it belongs to without completing his end of the deal—the bloodthirstier he gets. insurance. love it. for now, it starts with a little kick to his step at the idea of picking a fight. ]
[ "the voices in your head are bloodthirsty and make you want to pick a fight" how is this new in any way.
off he goes to try to find friends to NICELY GET THEIR STUFF. how heavy is heavier than he's used to. can he still twirl it dramatically. does it just fatigue him easier. anyway he's gonna go check out the beach first to see if he can find either of the girls. also because the 5% part of him that is sane is saying they can always just yeet the damn sword into the ocean and grab a beach umbrella like last time, why are we doing this
shut up 5% part of his brain that is sane he can have his cake and eat it too. maybe he can pick a fight with unrelated demons. ]
[ cloud your brain soup is truly fucking crazy. off to the beach he goes though!! it'd actually be a nice beach if this weren't some insane demon tournament island.
but because this is a cyoa, it's not terribly hard to find either of the girls. they're toward a series of rock formations more than on the beach properly, the two of them conversing with each other as laudna tries to embue some of nona's arrows with a mystical dnd magic (i can't read up on every canon it's fine) ]
[ don't look at his brain soup, it's boiling right now with the like 4 different effects he's under. it's fine. it's also fine not to google for nona and laudna, because i don't know their canons.
anyway cloud has fucking, magnets on his back or something, sword goes on the back as he heads over to the girls. that's how it stays up. i'm letting this happen. he knows them and they are (maybe?) (probably) not real, as the voice in his head keeps repeating, nothing is real kill everyone burn it all down blablaBLA, but that does not mean he currently wants to kill them, so. just approaching friendly thinking about how he wants a fight but he doesn't want to fight either of them. partially because laudna has a strength stat of 2, it wouldn't even be fun.
thinks very strongly about whether this stupid heavy sword is worth it ]
[ the two of them startle when approached and immediately move defensively—i wonder what they've been through—before some realization strikes in their eyes. nona moves forward first, eager as always ]
What are you doing here? [ his team is the only human team or something, that was part of the lore of this tournament, and they looked afraid and he's actually such a sap that girl in trouble does ping him in his sanity. ] You got on someone's bad side pretty quick.
We needed to get something to defend ourselves with... We were able to hand some stuff over for a trade, but were trying to figure out how to get money for the rest of the payment.
[ nona is a good girl who would still try to pay the demons...
meanwhile, laudna is watching cloud, wary. still not approaching as she wears a puzzled expression on her face that has traces of... nervousness ]
[ no my laudna don't be wary 🥺 i say as he is literally carrying a cursed sword to murder them ]
Yeah. I heard about that. Demon's pretty impatient--he wants payment right away. [ hmmm. hmmmmmm. ] How much do you owe him?
[ the demon did not say and cloud is like. calculating something. you know how he wants a fight and is feeling a lil bloodthirsty and whatever. and this sword is lame. not as good as the zappy sword.
cloud is now immediately considering if he can go back and give the demon back his payment by stabbing him that seems the well thought-out course of action here ]
[ oh. for specific cr reasons this is actually very hurtful coming from laudna, probably more than it would be coming from nearly anyone else, and there's a flash of that in cloud's expression. there's a flash of it in the whispers in his head, too. of course she thinks so, cloud. you're the same as i am. she knows that more than anyone, doesn't she? she's seen it. you don't care about them. you'll cut them down when they're in your way. not that it matters, does it? they're not even real.
shut up. shut up, shut up. shut up. he's not. he wants to fight but it's himself, now. or the voices inside himself.]
... I wouldn't.
[ it feels like a weak plea. he kind of hates that too. he takes a step back, trying to show he's not dangerous to them.
(you are, though) ]
I'm asking because you're in danger. He hired me to get it back. He's not planning to wait for you guys to pony up. But if you don't have the money, we can find another way.
[ he wants to go back to haggling with zero money this sucks actually. his hand flexes. okay, well. it's fine. it would've been easier to get them out of trouble if he knew more about the situation, and it's. annoying and not at all hurtful that that's apparently not an option, but he had a plan b anyway. it's a very valid plan b where he tries to see if he can return the sword personally to its owner via stabbing. again absolutely NOTHING can backfire in doing a public marketplace murder ]
... Do what you want. I'll deal with it myself. [ he wants to fight, it boils and bubbles under his skin, but he doesn't want to fight them like this. with the fear. (doesn't want to fight them in general, keep it together.) ] If they've signed you up for that tournament--withdraw. You won't make it.
[ maybe that's not why they wanted the weapons. maybe it was just in general. but just in case? sure. whatever. anyway about to make a real good life decision by turning around to head back to the marketplace with his brain full of angry bees ]
[ surely nothing can go wrong here!! laudna will continue to keep nona close to her—and the trepidation is obvious in her eyes. did she do the right thing? was it wrong to turn down cloud's help? she's not sure but... she has to stuck with her gut.
she turns away, but keeps her hand on nona's shoulder to prevent her from running forward again. nona speaks up ]
Thanks for the vote of confidence... [ a little dry. mostly just sad. ] ... be careful too, Cloud...
[ she looks between cloud and laudna before trying to mouth to cloud 'i'll fix it' before letting herself be led away ]
[ a little curt but that is what he would say no matter what. he's FINE nothing needs FIXING who needs EMOTIONS ANYWAY.
he is going back to the sword shop!!! depending on this demon's greeting he is probably getting a sword straight to the body but maybe cloud will do a cool quip before hand who knows but i have not been kidding the voices in his head are telling him this is his best idea today ]
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Might have something. Nothing I'd be dumb enough to carry on me while walking around this shithole, though. How long you open?
[ can cloud do a fetch quest in this length of time where he lucks into finding a rare item on the mountain or beach or something to trade for a sword????? this is just how jrpgs work it could happen???? ]
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Just admit you ain't got nothing, buddy.
[ the deman SIGHS before he seems to remember something. his clawed little fingers stroke down his own chin in thought, a grin spreading across his lips. ]
How about this.... I'll let you borrow the sword, and you can earn it if you do me a little favor. There's some debts that I need collecting, and you seem like an eager guy who's got something to prove. How about it?
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but also, while he hates being described as eager and ready to prove, this is the exact kind of work he is good at. yes, perfect. a quest popped up. everything's coming up broke bitches ]
Depends. How do you want those debts collected?
[ this is just a yes disguised in give me the deets. quest go brrrr ]
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Or both, if you're feeling excited. But if it's blood, bring my wares back to me. That's all.
[ it sure is the demon's way of doing things. he'll shift back then, going to pick up a set of photographs. he sifts through them, before eventually pulling out photos of two young ladies. they're images captured from what looks old, surveillance footage. nona picking out a bow and arrow, while laudna is pondering over a rather ornate pair of scissors ]
They should still be around this island somewhere.
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Can do. [ he lies ] So what? They steal from you?
[ cloud thinking about how he can just take the sword and the job and not... come back... but continuing to ask questions like he is definitely doing this job yes sir ]
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[ he goes to pick up the claymore because it's the cheaper sword i'm sorry cloud you have to do so many fetch quests to get the zappy guy, and intentionally runs his finger along the sharp edge of it. demon blood glistens along the metal of it, radiating a dark aura before disappearing.
he'll offer the claymore out for cloud to take. ]
You have until sundown, big guy.
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What's that do?
[ nodding towards the fucking evil demon blood HE CAN GUESS BUT LOOK ]
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[ that's all
you can have the sword now, cloud. do you take it? you haggled so long for it. it's so tempting now. it seems to be calling his name, in encouraging little whispers that sound like his loved ones. they want him to take this. ]
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Guess we've got a deal.
[ yay! he's gonna stab someone with this ]
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he'll find that the sword is heavier than he's used to... but the longer that he holds onto it, the longer that he's away from the merchant that it belongs to without completing his end of the deal—the bloodthirstier he gets. insurance. love it. for now, it starts with a little kick to his step at the idea of picking a fight. ]
Off you go then.
[ woohoo time to go kill some friends cloud ]
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off he goes to try to find friends to NICELY GET THEIR STUFF. how heavy is heavier than he's used to. can he still twirl it dramatically. does it just fatigue him easier. anyway he's gonna go check out the beach first to see if he can find either of the girls. also because the 5% part of him that is sane is saying they can always just yeet the damn sword into the ocean and grab a beach umbrella like last time, why are we doing this
shut up 5% part of his brain that is sane he can have his cake and eat it too. maybe he can pick a fight with unrelated demons. ]
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but because this is a cyoa, it's not terribly hard to find either of the girls. they're toward a series of rock formations more than on the beach properly, the two of them conversing with each other as laudna tries to embue some of nona's arrows with a mystical dnd magic (i can't read up on every canon it's fine) ]
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anyway cloud has fucking, magnets on his back or something, sword goes on the back as he heads over to the girls. that's how it stays up. i'm letting this happen. he knows them and they are (maybe?) (probably) not real, as the voice in his head keeps repeating, nothing is real kill everyone burn it all down blablaBLA, but that does not mean he currently wants to kill them, so. just approaching friendly thinking about how he wants a fight but he doesn't want to fight either of them. partially because laudna has a strength stat of 2, it wouldn't even be fun.
thinks very strongly about whether this stupid heavy sword is worth it ]
Hey. You guys got a minute?
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Cloud? You're here too—did you get a new sword?
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[ he is observing them with a frown ]
What are you doing here? [ his team is the only human team or something, that was part of the lore of this tournament, and they looked afraid and he's actually such a sap that girl in trouble does ping him in his sanity. ] You got on someone's bad side pretty quick.
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[ nona is a good girl who would still try to pay the demons...
meanwhile, laudna is watching cloud, wary. still not approaching as she wears a puzzled expression on her face that has traces of... nervousness ]
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Yeah. I heard about that. Demon's pretty impatient--he wants payment right away. [ hmmm. hmmmmmm. ] How much do you owe him?
[ the demon did not say and cloud is like. calculating something. you know how he wants a fight and is feeling a lil bloodthirsty and whatever. and this sword is lame. not as good as the zappy sword.
cloud is now immediately considering if he can go back and give the demon back his payment by stabbing him that seems the well thought-out course of action here ]
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For both of ours? Maybe about—
Nona, get back here.
[ laudna interrupts her, surprising nona as laudna continues to watch cloud with an uncertain, cautious expression ]
He could hurt us.
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shut up. shut up, shut up. shut up. he's not. he wants to fight but it's himself, now. or the voices inside himself.]
... I wouldn't.
[ it feels like a weak plea. he kind of hates that too. he takes a step back, trying to show he's not dangerous to them.
(you are, though) ]
I'm asking because you're in danger. He hired me to get it back. He's not planning to wait for you guys to pony up. But if you don't have the money, we can find another way.
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W-Wait Cloud, I'm sure there's a way we can—
[ laudna's movement is more abrupt. desperate. she grabs onto nona's hand and yanks her back before she can reach cloud. ]
Nona! Something's wrong. We can't trust him. Not—not right now.
[ she looks upon him with an emotion that can only be called fear. and yet, there is guilt there, too. she wants to trust him. but.
she can't. she can't let nona trust him either. ]
We can figure this out on our own. Without him.
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... Do what you want. I'll deal with it myself. [ he wants to fight, it boils and bubbles under his skin, but he doesn't want to fight them like this. with the fear. (doesn't want to fight them in general, keep it together.) ] If they've signed you up for that tournament--withdraw. You won't make it.
[ maybe that's not why they wanted the weapons. maybe it was just in general. but just in case? sure. whatever. anyway about to make a real good life decision by turning around to head back to the marketplace with his brain full of angry bees ]
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she turns away, but keeps her hand on nona's shoulder to prevent her from running forward again. nona speaks up ]
Thanks for the vote of confidence... [ a little dry. mostly just sad. ] ... be careful too, Cloud...
[ she looks between cloud and laudna before trying to mouth to cloud 'i'll fix it' before letting herself be led away ]
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[ a little curt but that is what he would say no matter what. he's FINE nothing needs FIXING who needs EMOTIONS ANYWAY.
he is going back to the sword shop!!! depending on this demon's greeting he is probably getting a sword straight to the body but maybe cloud will do a cool quip before hand who knows but i have not been kidding the voices in his head are telling him this is his best idea today ]
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in a slightly more toned down version from rihanna's classic hit: ]
Brat, do you have my money?
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