Singing in the Hotspring

Celeste shot down into the hotspring area, reforming into her slender figure are the cherry blossoms swirled around and found their place. She had arrived near where the entrance to the changing room was, and head inside. Noticing that it was empty, she quickly stepped out of her robes and put on her bikini. It was quite a contrast to her ceremonial looking robes, being a hot pink string bikini with black strings and outlining. She smiled, happy to be able to change privately.

Walking over to the hotspring, she slowly slid into a secluded corner, making sure to keep an eye out for other people in the area.

"Hey Leon, I'm done in the square. No one memorable really... maybe next time I'll find someone interesting."

"Yeah, that really is too bad. I'm sorry it didn't work out better for you Celeste." Leon looked down at the PET, only to see that the area was covered in what looked like thick fog. "Um, Celeste? Why is it so foggy in the square?"

"Hahaha~ I'm in the hotsprings now, silly. That;s why it's so foggy."

"Ah, I see. Well, enjoy your time there. I'm still reading my book on the ocarina in ACDC. No luck finding anyone either... Here's to our finding people to hang out with."

With their conversation over, Celeste sank into the hotspring and relaxed, hoping at the same time someone interesting would happen upon her so she could chat with another navi.

Celeste was happily enjoying her time relaxing in the hotspring. So happy, in fact, that she began to sing. While it wasn't loud, the power of her voice to travel was impressive. It had been one of the many things that Leon had tinkered with for days, until getting just right.

She was singing a song, the words were in an ancient and dead language, but you could easily tell that it was meant as a happy song. She became unaware of her surroundings as she sit in the hotsprings and sing, and soon found herself not worrying about singing quietly.

Trailing the strange scent, Frag was surprised when he stumbled upon a voice, delicate and light, not unlike the first sprouts of spring... But in all this steam, he couldn't pinpoint the origin of the two trails...

Splash. He looked down, his foot in a deep puddle. Was this... was this the famed Onsen?

Celeste jumped at the sound of the splash, hitting a sour note as she did. She stopped singing after that, partly because she was embarrassed of hitting a sour note, but mostly because she wasn't sure who was there.

"Hello? Is someone there?" she asked happily. "Sorry for going off key, you caught me offguard~"

"Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit--" Frag whispered, as he judged the voice to be a mere few feet away. Think, think, think! He chided himself, as he considered his situation. If this is the Onsen, then people are probably bathing. And if... SHITSHITSHIT!

Twisting around in the complete opposite direction, Frag tugged his foot out of the puddle and tried to sneak away as fast as he could--

"Frag, what the hell are you doing?" Joseph's voice rang through the awkward silence.

In surprise, Frag tripped.

What happens when a dinosaur belly-flops?

Celeste looked over into the fog as she heard another voice. Just as she did, she was greeted with what looked like a monster diving right at her!

"Oh craaaa-" she started, only to be cut off by the 'monster' hitting the water and sending a giant splash everywhere. This effectively made Celeste look like a wet cat, her hair now completely soaked and plastered to her skin in thick strands. -ap, she ended, rather monotone and slightly displeased with the outcome. She peeled her hair off of her face, and tossed it backwards to try and keep it off.

"Well, hello there... whoever you are. That was quite an entrance you made.

Stars. Comets. Lights danced around Frag's giant head, as his eyes focused and unfocused.

The trip had been more of a slip--he had fallen backwards, slamming the back of his head on the rocky surface. A blur, something stood out amongst the mist. The voice, again--Frag struggled to stay aloft, but he felt so tired...

"Mommy... but... I don't want to go to school today..." He mumbled incoherently, as he rocked to and fro on his back.

Joseph slapped his head in disbelief and went to get something to drink. Frag had gotten himself in this mess, he would have to learn how to get himself out.

The image began to clear, Frag tried to figure out what he was seeing--what was that long light blue vine around that Navi? "Snake? Snake? SNAAAAAKE?!" He screamed, as he thrashed around, trying to get back up.

((Yes. He's mistaked the hair for a snake. :P))

"A snake? In here?" she asked him as she turned around to look behind herself at where she thought he was looking. Unable to find anything, she turned back around, tilting her head to the side and resting her cheek in her palm. "I don't see any snake, I'm afraid..." she said confused.

She then thought that the other person might not have been staring behind, but at her. "Just what are you looking at when you say snake, anyways?"

Frag continued thrashing around, stuck in his panic about the long light blue tendril. Nonsense streams from his mouth, occasional mutters of "blue", "long", and "SNAAAAAAKE" being the only things that Celeste can make out.

His tail catching on the ground, Frag threw himself onto his feet and began backing up, his eyes still fuzzy from the collision--

"Not to sound like an old western, but I believe this guy might have swap fever or semothing..." she thought to herself. Standing up, she squeezed some of the water out of her hair and tossed it behind her.

However, with no end in sight, she decided a bit more of a drastic measure was in order. She walked towards the large monster and reached her hand out to her side, bringing swiftly cross of her in a mean looking slap.

"Now, if you're done calling me medusa..."

[[ Sorry for the delay Demon. I've had a fever since sunday. This winter's been pretty damn shitty for me actually. Seems like I get sick every couple weeks. x_x ]]

With the slap, Frag's red head spun like a top, his features becoming a blur as the force of the blow, compounded with his panic, literally shook him up.

With a F'TAAAAANG, Frag's head shot off his body, flying into a nearby pool of water. His neck continued swiveling, as his body, temporarily without a direct line of command, sat down noisily in the water.

"I knew this would happen." A sullen voice sighed from Frag's tail, as it coiled over his headless body. "Would it kill you to shut up?" Another voice, from the center of Frag's torso, growled.

"I'm over here--" the head garbled in the water, as the body suddenly shuddered. The tail swung back down, as the head levitated out of the water, floating slowly towards its perch--

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!! Celeste shrieked as her slap sent the head flying into the water nearby. Freaked out by whatever this thing in front of her was, she took a shaky step backwards, only to realized that it... was arguing with itself still? "W-what are you?" she asked in her clearly unsettled voice, as the head began to float back towards the body.

With a calm hiss of escaping air, the red block slid back into its position, the pair of eyes popping open again.

"What do you mean?" Frag growled, as he shook his head slightly, trying to clear the sense of nausea--that slap... jeez, that really was something!

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You think he's realized it yet? In a deep corner of Frag's mind, the voice that had stirred earlier whispered.
The new core? The way he's carrying on, I bet he doesn't remember "his" head flying off.
How long before we reveal ourselves, anyways? Waiting like this is pissing me off...
Shut up. You got to influence him--
Yay! I want a new friend!
I don't like him. Too cowardly, too hesitant. He's going to get us killed, at this rate.
WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE?!
No, Green. We're not going to die. Now, everyone shut the hell up. Any louder, and he'll notice--and freak out even more. During his next Upgrade, we'll decide what to do. Just keep observing for now.

"I am..." Frag gathered his thoughts--there was some strange buzzing in the back of his mind, but he shook his head again and it cleared somewhat. "...not a what, but a who. Or if you really wanted to know the obvious, I am a NetNavi."

"And the name is Frag--wait, why are you staring at me like that?" Frag eyeballed Celeste. "I'm not missing any pieces, am I?" He examined himself--

"W-why!? I-I just slapped your head off! That's not normal!" She took a deep breath and put her hand on her forehead. Maybe I was in the water too long and I'm hallucinating or something...

"Anyways, um... I'm Celeste... nice to meet you... I think..." she replied, nodding her head slightly.

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Shit.

"What do you mean?" Frag craned around, his head securely in place. "I don't recall my head flying off..."

An awkward silence followed, as Frag was again stricken by the realization that he was in a Hotspring. With a female Navi. Oh well, at least none of us are in a compromising position...

"Anyways, were you the one that was singing?"

I must've slapped him a lot harder than I had thought... he doesn't even remember it. Or maybe I was just seeing things. But I'm pretty sure I wasn't...

"Oh, er, yes. I was the one singing. I hope it didn't disturb you. I get carried away sometimes..." she said, bowing slightly in an apologetic manner. She wasn't sure what to do next, so... she just stood there, waiting to see what would happen next in this weird meeting

"Oh, good." Frag sounded relieved, as he sat down noisily. "C-could you sing some more, then?" He asked, a little nervous.

"I guess I could," Celeste replied coolly, "but you'll have to make sure you don't splash me in the middle of it. Nothing worse than getting water in your mouth while trying to sing."

Celeste stood and walked to the middle of the onsen, sitting down and leaning against a rock that was relatively centered. Took a second to stretch her neck and sing through the scales once, before starting to sing her song.

She decided to since a Classical Japanese sounding piece, as the onsen reminded her of as good a place as any to sing something with an Asian flavor.

Frag listened intently, losing himself in the notes, floating mentally amongst the cadences--

At that time, Joseph returned. And as it turned out, the coffee was shitty as hell at Yoka.

"I'm back, F--Oh, for fuck's sake, what are you doing?!" He yelled, as he saw his Navi just dosing off. "I leave you for two minutes, and you're--"

Celeste trailed off the song and ended it early. "Well, it seems like someone has their boxers in a bunch..." she said in a flat and meant to provoke type of way. "Seems like its time for you to go, dino."