Aliquam: Academy of the Arts - Theater Hall

Trixie watched with puffed cheeks as Fabian took off, though she let out a loud, exasperated sigh before getting too carried away with her antagonism. The deed was done. The thieves were stopped before they could tear down the entire school, though the damages done were already hefty enough. Excluding the fact that they were getting away unapprehended, perhaps in this sense they had already won their share of the battle as well. Trixie shook her head wildly, tugging at her braided pigtails, as she plopped back onto the floor. No use dwelling on it.

“But that was… tiring. How is everyone? Is everyone okay?”

Amy had already started moving to the busted door hinges by then. "Perhaps." She opened the door to meet Lute on the floor, with Moira and Syed behind him and Estelle still lying beside the wall. The statue of a thief was no longer in sight.

Angel too noticed this. With all the thieves taking off, it seemed like most of the guilders, if not all of them, were within each other's sights now. However, despite his pain and their victory against the Masked Phantom, and despite the damages done, the aristocrat's worry was on something entirely different now. Angel staggered out from where he and Xandra had hidden, limping as he swiped up his die from the middle aisle and continued towards the door where Amy stood, which was not too far.

"Where's my sister?"

Amy twitched her mouth. "She's... fine."

"But where is she? Don't tell me, that she's alone out there."

Amy turned back from him and continued making her way out. There was no need to draw tension within the group now. "She has her communicator. You can speak with her if you like. I'm going back to see if I can assist her further, although..." She looked to the four guilders outside and their pained expressions before looking back to Angel behind her. "We should probably get some medics, if Aliquam has any - at least for Rose's sake. We've suffered enough casualties in this brawl, and I'm just one cleric."

It pained her that she couldn't assist everyone all at once, but if Rose was going to be moved somewhere safe anytime soon, Amy wanted to focus on ensuring that she would be able to be lifted without spikes of pain running through her ankle. She was grateful Rose was just a short walk away from the others, and she could only hope that any other injuries sustained were light enough to be able to sleep through overnight.

In the meantime Angel took Amy's word and stumbled towards the (non-broken) chair nearest to him. As long as his sister was okay... "Hey Dollie," he called, being within earshot of Dalia now. "You don't think the town's medics will kill us for asking for help at stupid o'clock, do you? Hahaha..." He slouched back even further into the chair, weakly chucking his die into the air and catching it. Well... at least he scored a date with a cute chick in the midst of all of this. Even if his stomach was probably ten shades of blue by now.

The Academy of the Arts - Outer Theatrical hall

"We did it..."

Moira remained standing still. She was numbly aware of someone calling behind her. But all that mattered was he was gone. He was gone.

"Tah... for backin' me up," she said, tilting her head towards Lute. With that her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed unconcious once more. She had pushed herself a lot more than she should have, today. Fought in a condition she shouldn't. She didn't have any energy left.

The others were still awake, so it'll be fine if she had a little sleep.

Syed meanwhile took the opportunity to scramble next to Estelle. "Don't move Estelle, don't move. I need you to follow my finger with your eyes, okay?" He watched her warily. He knew how much a blow from Moira hurt. Hell, it just showed how tough Estelle really was that she was still concious.

He looked up to Aria. "Alright might be stretching it," he said with a lop-sided smile. "But we're alive. That's the most important thing, I'd say."

Academy of the Arts: Performance Hall

"Hey, hey, on the bright side, they didn't take your academy." Lucien gave the furious Tobias a reassuring grin before he turned to face Dailia and Marcus. "Don't worry, he'll be fine, he's a guilder." The summoner grabbed one of Dylan's arms and swung it over his shoulder. "I never knew Dylan could be so amazing. Did he ever do something like this before?" Slowly, he made his way to one of the unbroken chairs and lowered Dylan onto it.

This had definitely been an interesting night. It was a shame the academy was in ruins, but at least everyone was alright.

Xan was glaring at the hole the thieves had used to escape, she didn't look very happy and Lucien figured it was because the bad guys had gotten away. Heh, at least they left empty handed. The others began talking about calling for medics and Lucien's eyes flitted across the room. They all looked a little worse for wear, but no one was bleeding to death on the ground, that was good. "Yep, yep!" He slammed a fist into his open hand, "we're alive and we chased those thieves away, hey Syed." He was peering out the door now, "are the leader and the boss alright?" He inced closer towards the door, what was his even asking? It was the boss and their leader, of course they were fine! "Oi, leader, they ran away with their tails between their legs!" He gave her two thumbs ups. "Dylan gave them a rock hard fist, maybe we can ask him to show us again next time."

Xan couldn't help but laugh a little. Well...Lucien sure was quick to recover and sometimes she wondered if he had a few screws lose. The metallurgist turned to face Aria and smiled. "Yeah, everyone should be fine after a good rest."

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts – Performance Hall, Exterior

The goodwill Mattis extended by picking Lute up and setting him on his feet was utterly wasted; the virtuoso simply crumbled back to the ground, the epitome of unconsciousness while his familiar threw a fit that actually might have stunned the thief if he heard its contents.

Everything that happened past that was gone for Lute.

“Blufufufufuwegh,” Something weird was in his mouth. It was grainy and salty. The virtuoso lifted his face from the ground and spat out tiny globules of dirt. “Oh Gods did I just…!? Eeeeew!” The last part of Lute’s late reaction was uttered in a high-pitched voice before he got up, struck by a memory of…?

Hey, where was Bunnyface anyway?

Lute yelped and covered his ears when Delilah’s voice exploded within his head. She had just about had it with his clumsiness! When usually it could come off as stupid but bearable, he just had to make a huge idiot of himself by tripping like that on a mission! “Ow ow ow ow, stop it! I’ll do better next time!” The virtuoso cried out just as Aria approached, which took Delilah’s attention away from his blunder.

Nobody seemed too hurt… As for the morale, he wasn’t too sure about how everybody felt about the thieves escaping, but he was fine with it. If they struck again, then the Pride could come over and stop them again. Lute shrugged and set himself to doing something more beneficial than fretting about the matter. He removed his jacket and stuffed it under Moira’s head as a makeshift pillow and fanned her as they waited for the Aliquam medics to arrive.

As per Angel’s suggestion, the medics of Aliquam arrived as quickly as Dalia could call. All of the town’s medical personnel descended upon the Academy to offer relief and assistance, not only to the Pride and Rose whom had suffered the worst injuries, but also the other members of the academy’s staff, the Priests and Priestesses that all of the thieves had knocked out (along with the two Empire soldiers, Biggs and Wedge). Thankfully, none of the injuries were too grievous… true, Rose had suffered a broken ankle, Moira had suffered an extensive list of injuries (of which she was past used to) and Estelle had an incredibly sore and numb head and pounding headache, but other then that, they were all safe and okay, and only in need of rest.

Outside, the Masked Phantom’s body was gone. In the thieves’ escape, they had carried him off with them, and fled into the night. Hopefully this would serve as a lesson to them to back off and stay far away from Aliquam, because as far as the building dedicated to the goddess Aislin’s inhabitants were concerned… Aliquam would not fall. Not now, and not ever.

The next day, the remainder of the staff would do a sweep throughout the Academy in search of the explosives charges the thieves had planted, safely dismantling all of them. It would take some time, but life and studies would gradually return to normal. Until then, the students took delight in being able to relax and enjoy a short break.

The Pride too, took a break and nursed their weary bodies back to health…

---

Three days later; Morning

Aliquam: Cervantés Mansion

“I feel fine, Dalia, honest,” Dylan replied with a sigh as he sat up in his bed, his diligent and faithful sister by his side, pouring him a glass of water and peeling for him an apple. She looked towards her younger brother with that all too familiar stern look of his, assuring him that despite his protestations she would take none of it. He would remain in bed a lot longer. After his stunt back in the Academy’s theatre, Dylan had passed out and slept for two days straight. The amount of magical stamina he had to use back then was absolutely draining, if not impossible. She still wasn’t sure how Dylan had managed to do that- he had never shown that much… power or strength before. He needed his rest.

“You may ‘feel fine’, Dylan, but that doesn’t mean you actually are. You’re still staying in bed for a little while longer. The doctors said so.” Dalia nodded. “You shouldn’t be reckless when it comes to matters like getting better.”

Dylan sighed and rolled his eyes, sinking back into his bed. “As you say, dear sister. To be honest… rest isn’t so bad. I guess I could… use it.” Dylan turned his head, to look at the window beside his bed, and the sun shining through the swaying trees outside. “Being a Guilder is such fine work. Exhilarating and rewarding but… I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was also really tiring.”

“Then maybe you should take a break?” Dalia asked. Dylan snapped his head towards her, and she rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that, Dylan. I wouldn’t dream of trying to convince you to abandon your friends. But taking a short break and vacation isn’t a bad idea, is it? Like you said, it’s tiring. And your body needs rest… so it might be nice to take a small absence. I heard from Estelle and Marcus about their mission and how important it is, searching for the Guild Leaders of Clockwork Town… and how they need to leave for their next destination tomorrow. But you could catch up to them, couldn’t you? Like your other friends. And in the meantime, just… have a rest. Catch up with your friends. And… well… me.”

“Dalia…”

Dalia sniffled, rubbing her eye. “I missed you, Dylan,” Dalia frowned. “Is it wrong to want to spend some more time with you before you leave again?”

Her brother sighed, and looked out of the window again, and the sparkling sunlight dripping through. He thought about his friends, about how awful it would be, to feel like he was abandoning them. But it was like Dalia said, he wouldn’t. Taking a small break wouldn’t mean anything… after all, he could never stay away from his friends. Just like Big Bro, Selan, Lisette and adorable little Kapi… he would come back. They couldn’t keep him away.

It would also mean possibly having to see Tobias some more. That, he didn't look forward to... but maybe he could do something about that. Get some closure. He needed it.

He finally looked back to Dalia and smiled. “Okay, Dalia. I think I could take a small break.”



Pressed against the wooden door to Dylan’s room, Estelle’s face was squashed on one side as she eavesdropped on the conversation inside intensely, having sneakily listened to every last word. She smiled. Being apart from Dylan, like all of her other friends, even for a little while, would suck. But it was okay, and she knew it was okay, because Dylan would definitely come back to them. And in the meantime, he’d be able to hang around his friends and his home a little bit longer. Thinking about that, she almost felt a bit homesick.

Estelle’s injuries had for the most part healed nicely. She had a bandage plastered to her cheek and a rather nasty bruise accompanying it, but she was back to her usual high spirits as always, after she ranted and screamed when she first woke up that the thieves had got away. Next time… next time they met any thieves, she was definitely going to take them down. No matter what.

“Leader… what are you doing?”

Estelle suddenly glanced up from her crouched position at the door, almost losing her balance entirely and falling into Dylan’s room. She caught and steadied herself, leaping to her feet and sheepishly laughing with one hand scratching the back of her head.

“Heh. Hehehe! Xandra! Just the person I was looking for!”



The Metallurgist raised a curious eyebrow at the redhead, and then back down at the door where Estelle was, frowning in confusion. “With your head against the door?”

“Never mind that!” Estelle grabbed Xandra’s shoulder and began leading her down one of the Cervantés Mansion’s sizeable interior corridors with several doors lining down the corridor for their guest rooms. “You have a date with Angél tonight, right? We need to get you ready… (｡+･`ω･´)”

Aliquam: Cervantés Mansion

Aria wandered down the hallway, a piece of toast with butter and jam in one hand and a plate of bacon and eggs in the other. The mansion was as gorgeous as she remembered, but unfortunately it also seemed to be a lot bigger than she remembered. The illusionist paused at a fork, eyes narrowed as she munched thoughtfully. She could've sworn her room was nearby but nothing looked familiar. She didn't want to loiter around for too long- Lulu was in his mother hen mode again, and while she enjoyed breakfast in bed as much as the other girl being fussed over needlessly wasn't too fun. Her injuries weren't even that bad, just some scrapes and bruises.

Luckily for her, the sound of faint voices traveled down the hall and she grinned, resuming in her little morning amble/escape.

"... have a date with Angél tonight, right? We need to get you ready…"

"Yes yes, we certainly do!" She popped around the corner, inwardly grinning when the two girls jumped. Estelle had mostly if not completely recovered and was looking as energetic as usual, while Xan just looked rather embarrassed. To think that her friend was finally going on a date- Aria resisted the urge to wipe away imaginary tears of joy and instead slung her arm around the girl's shoulders. "Look at you, all grown up. And you even managed to get quite the cutie, hm?" She poked the girl's cheek playfully. They were going to need to borrow some clothes if they were going to make a good impression. Perhaps they should go ask Rose if she had any extra dresses that might fit Xan?

Aliquam: Cervantés Mansion
Moira sat at the breakfast bar, munching away. A full fry up with extra meat and egg - a little later than her usual breakfast time, but she was resting so it was fine. She had her chin on her knuckles in thought. So Xan was going on a date! Moira hoped she had some good underwear. Nothing can save a spiralling date better than flashing your knickers at the man in question. Why people were so resistant to her offers to go shopping for some really nice undies, she didn't know.

To be honest... she wasn't even that mad the thieves got away. Well, she was, but not as much as she could have been. Towards the end, all she cared about was getting them the fuck away from everyone else before they hurt anyone anymore. That was it. Was... was that a good thing or not? She didn't know. It was a pretty alien feeling to not want to maim anyone at least. She wasn't sure she liked it.

She gazed over to her partner, who looked similarly lost in thought as he poured milk over his cereal. No doubt still beating himself up over... probably everything, knowing him. Especially with the way he kept anxiously knawing on his bottom lip.

"You're a fuckin' twat, you are."

"What?" his eyes suddenly focused as he turned to look at her. "Charming as ever. Why?"

Moira simply nodded to his bowl. He looked down, only to jump at the sight of milk pouring from the overflowing bowl and onto the table, the floor, everywhere. In his shock he actually made things worse, sloshing even more milk from the bottle. Idiot.

She turned away as he started fretting, flushing spectacularly as he tried to locate the kitchen towels - then failing to reach the kitchen towels thanks to their bond. Instead she continued to munch on her meal nonchalantly.

"You reckon we'll ever get to see those photos that guy took?"

Cervantes Mansion

Aah, he could get used to this. In a way it almost reminded Lucien of home, just fancier and without the bickering and scolding.

He wondered where the others were, but felt too lazy to get up and look. Lucien stifled a yawn then leaned back contentedly into the couch. A pile of books just an arm's length away, a mouthwatering plate of french toast, eggs, and bacon, and a glass of soda too. Hell yeah, these people sure knew how to spoil their guests.

He took a bite out of his piece of toast then pulled one of the books off the table. There was so much to read, it was shame they'd have to leave soon. Plus, Aliquam was grand and he definitely wanted to see more of the beautiful city. The summoner flipped open the book in his hand and was just about to start reading when he heard Syed and the boss talking. Oh, so that's where they were.

He balanced his plate of food in one hand then grabbed onto the books with his free hand. "Hey boss, hey Syed." He placed the books and his plate on the counter before his eyes landed to the milk on the floor.

He noticed that Syed was trying to grab at towels that were a little too out of reach, so the summoner grabbed them for him then joined them by the breakfast bar. "Sucks that we'll have to leave soon, yeah?" He tugged at his hair and sulked, "there's still a ton of things we haven't seen." Like Simon's pictures. He turned to grin at the boss, "AH! I wonder if Simon managed to snap some pictures of those girls we were with too." In no time at all he was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

---

Cervantes Mansion

Date? To be honest, Xan thought of the invitation to dinner as an opportunity to discuss preventive measures, in case something similar would ever happen again. The thieves had escaped after all, and there was a possibility they would linger around the area. Maybe they would even try to rob the academy again in the future. It'd be best to be prepared and a part of being prepared was coming up with a plan for those type of things.

The look on Aria's and Estelle's faces made her take a hesitant step back. "I was hoping I could talk to him about the possibility of the thieve's whereabouts." But before she could say another word Estelle began ushering her down the hall and Aria had an arm wrapped around her shoulders. The illusionist's comments made the girl flush and soon she had peeled herself away only to bump into their enthusiastic leader.

Well, there was no way she was going to escape Estelle's and Aria's forces combined. Xan let out an awkward laugh before deciding to just give up and play along, "well, it looks like my fate is in both your hands." She felt rather embarrassed but gave both her friends a smile.

It was time to turn the tables on her teammates. She tapped Estelle on the shoulder then pointed to Aria, "Estelle if you ever need any help with Marcus," she didn't know if there was anything between them, but they seemed really close. "You should ask Aria." She tried to put on her most serious expression but it was hard not to let a chuckle slip out. "She's good at this," Xan grinned. "or so she says."

Aliquam: Cervantes Mansion

Rest was for the clean.

Maybe Lute was being paranoid, but he swore he had developed an allergic reaction to the chemicals in that stink bomb. Delilah insisted that the sensation he had of a thin sheen of grime coating his entire body was nothing but his imagination at work, but the virtuoso knew it wouldn’t hurt to be sure. The past couple of days his skin felt itchy and because of this he tried to avoid skin contact with the other members of the Pride, and instead spent what felt like hours in the bath. On the third day, Delilah decided that enough was enough and told Lute he better pick his act up or she would, Gods help her, destroy the eardrums of any and every living creature within fifteen miles.

That was pretty much a lie, but he believed it anyways.

The cook shooed the virtuoso away from the kitchen and he had no choice but to wander aimlessly through the halls. He preferred doing something, but the household staff, albeit happy to have a bit of their workload shaved off, probably felt bad having a guest dig in on the chores…

“Ah wait, wait! Where are you bringing that?” Lute waylaid a maid who was carrying a platter of fruit and learned that she was headed for Rose’s room. Oh, yeah, that’s right! “I’ll do it!” Without actually listening to the servant’s protests, the virtuoso nabbed the plate away from her and marched off. During that night, he saw her being carried towards… This way? Or maybe that way…?

Fast forward a few minutes when Lute was finally pointed to the right direction. He balanced the tray on one hand and knocked, then poked his head in. “Good morning, miss Rose. I, uh, brought fruit,” As he said this, Lute tried to push the tray through the door to show what he was talking about, but the small gap couldn’t accommodate the size of the tray and he just ended up rapping his knuckles against the woodwork. Ugh. “Do you mind if I come in?”

Aliquam: La Mansion de Cervantés - Rose's Room

"So, sis. How do I look?"

"Same as always, Angel."

"No, I know that - I mean. My face. Do I look okay?"

"Do you want me to lie to you?"

The male aristocrat rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "Hah! I'm going to take that as a no."

Angel stood within the center of Rose's room, suited in his usual attire - a white button down shirt with black slacks, vest, and gloves to match. Even with casual and everyday events, he never dressed less than formal, though his unkempt (but highly attractive) chestnut hair spoke volumes otherwise. The only major difference between today and most days were how largely his injuries stood out. Around his head was a layer of bandage wraps, which not only covered a chunk of his face but parted his hair... something he wasn't entirely happy about. Not only that but with a bruised eye and cuts and bandages splayed all over his arms, it seemed only natural to come to Rose for approval on his appearance.

Whether she was helping him or not was a different question. Regardless of that, Angel was just relieved she was in good spirits today, despite her broken ankle. Truthfully it hurt him that she and Sebastian were injured at all - damn dirty thieves going after the vulnerable - but at least they were okay now.

Before either aristocrat could comment on Angel's appearance any further, the door creaked open, and a familiar face slid into the room. "Good morning, miss Rose. I, uh, brought fruit. Do you mind if I come in?"

"Oh! Looks like you've got your own date to settle, Rose. I'll leave you two." Angel snickered, opening the door to Lute's surprise and waltzing right out the room passed him. Without looking back, he made his way downstairs towards where Moira, Syed, and Lucien were, barely missing the ends of their discussion.

"Moira! Just the gal I wanted to see." He nearly smacked the beserker on her back like last time, but both of them knew that was a pretty bad idea. "If and whenever you come back to Aliquam, I'll have your commission all ready for you, free of charge of course. Just be sure to hit me up on what you want exactly before you head out."

He laughed again before taking a pained seat at the bar as well, looking towards the back porch. Seemed like the little girl was out there again splashing her legs in the water. Surprisingly enough, the older blonde chick was with her too, with her dress tugged back so as to not wet it from her calves also in the water. The littler one was nodding her head enthusiastically, probably yammering on about how excited she was for her friend's date tonight. The older one, not so much. Well... as long as they were getting their relaxation too.

Cervantés Mansion - Kitchen
Syed's face positively lit up at the sight of his closest friend, and soon the pair had their sleeves rolled up and were moping up the puddle to the best of their abilities. He was very much thankful of Lucien's help, even if he was better practiced at cleaning up spillages than his younger friend. While it was true the staff probably would have cleaned it up, it just didn't feel... right.

"Yeah, this place is nice," Syed agreed. "Although I'll never get used to big places like this no matter how many we visit." He turned back to look at Lucien with a smile. "Although I guess I now know why you always take it in your stride. I've never been Falone, but I've heard about it." He chose to leave it at that, for a fair few reasons.



Lucien moved the topic back to the photos, and Moira simply shoved another sausage in her mouth. Whole. "Weuh, I wa' fin'in' more pho'os of uf, bu' wha-efuh," she said, spraying pieces of sausage across the bar. Whatever that meant.

"Didn't Lute get one of the girls' number?" Syed added as he stood up back to his usual towering height, spillage cleaned up. "You could always ask him if he could get one of the others for you." He laughed a little. "It's probably less creepy than oggling photos of them without them knowing about it, and you could tell her some more of your brilliant jokes."

"How the hell did he even get some poor sod's number with you two sat at the table?!" Moira exclaimed, sausage now swallowed. "The boy has the odds against him enough what with the whole talking to himself thing..."

"Moira! Just the gal I wanted to see."

"You're still gonna do it?" Moira blinked a couple of times once the sculptor had extended his offer once more. Angel's injuries were pretty obvious - he wasn't a man who could take abuse that well. Nor did he have the experiance to be able to bear through it in the way even the less hardy of the Pride could. "I dunno if it feels right considerin' how beat up you and your sister got."

Syed followed Angel's gaze out the windows, similarly spotting Amy and Trixie by the pool. His expression softened a little at the sight of them, not that he realised it. The pool looked pretty nice right now, actually. He stood up and moved slightly closer to the window, munching at the last of his own breakfast now he wasn't throwing it across the floor.

"Is it alright if we go for a swim when we're done eating? I don't even remember the last time I swam in a proper pool."

Aliquam: Cervantes Mansion

“M-m-me and Marcus?” Estelle instantly blushed and took a step back out of recoil as she stared at Xandra and then Aria, before looking away, unable to make eye contact. She could suddenly feel her body growing much hotter and uncomfortable, and her cheeks felt like they were burning. “M-me and Marcus aren’t… er… like that… we’re just… really… good, um, friends… and… and…”

The bashful swordswoman then clenched her eyes shut and raised both her hands and voice into the air as she towered over Xandra. “No topic changing, Xan! We’ve gotta focus on you and your date! We need to make you super super pretty and wear a gorgeous outfit and knock Angel out, right Aria!?”

“C’mon, I think Rose should probably have some nice outfits! We could go ask her if you could borrow one, Xan!” Estelle smiled infectiously and grabbed the girl by her prosthetic hand, dragging her down the corridor, as her other clung beside Aria’s own. She leaned in close to the illusionist and whispered something very quiet and quick, too quick for Xandra to hear. “Er, Aria, I, um, wouldn’t mind some tips later… maybe… possibly…?”

She grew bright pink again and then sped up more quickly towards Rose’s room.

---

Aliquam: Cervantes Mansion: Rose’s room

“Ah… Lute. Hello. It’s good to see you,”

The Cervantés heiress smiled upon seeing the good natured swordsman appear at her door with a large tray of fruit at hand. She smiled somewhat deviously, not even noticing the dull or numb pain that accompanied her ankle anymore after seeing Lute again. She gestured with her hands for him to enter.

“I see you’ve finally decided to come out of our bathrooms. You were stuck in there for so long after these last few days… Angel thought you might have had a problem with your stomach. We have some medicine for that, actually, if you need any. How are you feeling, Lute? Are you okay?”

---

Aliquam: Cervantes Mansion: Pool

Outside, the sun was positively shining upon the two girls relaxing besides the Cervantes’ pristine and sparkling pool. Both Trixie and Amy relaxed with their legs dipped in the pool and sighed with relief at the gorgeous sensation they were flooded with. After all the running they had done a couple of days ago (Amy in particular, whilst not running, had done far too much walking in her high heels then one should ever have to be expected to), it was a nice relief to just sit and rest their feet.

Trixie’s face and upper body moved in wild, exaggerated motions as she spoke to Amy with unbridled enthusiasm, her legs even kicking the water up at the surface, as Amy just looked back nonplussed. Neither woman were aware… that they weren’t alone.

Dun dun

DUN DUN

Something in the pool’s deep end moved slowly closer, and closer, their sight firmly entrenched upon both girls.

DUN DUN

The water made things incredibly blurry, but he could still them both well enough. Especially the blonde woman, and how well she filled that gorgeous dress of hers out. The woman that was a goddess…

DUN DUN DUN DUN DUNDUNDUNDUN

With an almighty crash, a figure erupted from the pool, causing water to splash all over the startled Trixie and Amy. Each second of their reaction was captured by their attacker, on film, as Simon took photo after photo with his super handy waterproof camera!



“Say cheeeeese!!”

“WHAT?!” Trixie screamed. “CHEESE?! Where?!”

Aliquam: La Mansion de Cervantés - Pool

Despite Simon's hopes of snagging photos of a startled busty blonde, Amy merely watched with a deadpan expression as the pool basically erupted and slathered the two girls with water. Trixie did all the gasping and jumping and yelping enough for the both of them; she only stopped with a deflated sigh once she realized there wasn't any actual cheese anywhere. As the water settled again and Simon was back to snapping photos in the open, Amy's eyes narrowed even further.

CRACK!

A beam of light flashed out of nowhere. The photographer was not only blinded, but was immediately knocked out of the pool and into the tall wooden fence just beyond the nearest edge. The impact wasn't enough to send the wood crashing down, but considering the camera took a direct hit from Amy's light whip (along with the rest of his upper torso), it shattered upon impact. Once Amy retracted her whip back into the gem in her fist, she closed her eyes tight and let out a deep breath, trembling her fist.

Startled a second time, Trixie turned to her older companion. "Hey Ames! You hurt him so bad that his nose is bleeding! Shouldn't you fix it? Ames?" Amy completely ignored her and headed straight for the doors instead. She didn't even bother to wring out her drenched hair or dress. Trixie looked back to Simon, blinking, before retrieving her fallen toast and munching on it casually. Just staring at Simon. And eating soggy toast.



Angel shrugged in response to Moira's quizzical expression. He didn't bother hiding his pain; of those that needed the rest, next to his sister he was the one who slept in most. His injuries weren't as bad as being surrounded by shards of glass like Moira was - at least that's how he felt - but at least now he'd never take being able to walk without feeling like puking for granted again. "Hey, if you guys hadn't helped out, we'd be without a school at all. 's just one little extra sign of thanks I could offer. Besides, I'm not gonna be handicapped forever. If I wanted that, I'd join the army," he grinned, "or become a guilder."

Before Angel could turn his attention to Syed next, the sliding door suddenly and loudly flew open. In walked Amy, soaking wet, with her eyes still scrunched shut. She stormed straight passed them, up the stairs, into the nearest bathroom, and slammed the door. Like Moira and Trixie previously, Angel blinked in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. "Huh. She doesn't have a good temper, does she."

He then turned his attention to the back porch, shaking his head at the sight of Simon. "Pinche idiota. He's lucky that wasn't my sister again. Oh hey Lucien, he might still have those photos on him actually~"

At the mention of Falone, the summoner made a sour face. "Eh, it's okay. Pretty boring though and it's filled with snooty people like Boris." He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, because, what was so great about racing horses and hunting geese anyways? "Hey, hey, if we ever pass by, I should take you to my favorite restaurant. And the library too, it's probably the best thing about the place."

He lit up a little, it wasn't the best place, but yeah, it was still home. "Heh, I'm glad I left, travelling with you guys is the best thing that's ever happened to me." The Pride was special, because where else could people find superheroes with great hair and women who could probably punch through monster's chest? Ha, nowhere but with the Pride.

Maybe he could ask the boss for punching tips.

"How the hell did he even get some poor sod's number with you two sat at the table?!"

Ouch. "EH!" Syed's suggestion was pretty much drowned out by the boss' painful comment. He popped up behind Syed and stared at Moira incredulously. "What are you talking about? Syed's got that tall dark and handsome vibe and I'm the cool one." Lucien elbowed Syed in the ribs and grinned. "One of the girls even called him exotic." Oh, he would have rambled on and on if not for Angel's sudden entrance and Moira's suggestion to swim.

"That sounds good! Hey, Angel. Simon's out there, right? Maybe I'll go ask him then." Lucien nodded at the thought but froze when his eyes landed on Amy. She could be really scary sometimes. "Um, yeah, I'll head out and join Simon. I'll be waiting by the pool for you guys." And with that, Lucien disappeared to join a bleeding Simon and shrieking Trixie.

He blinked at the scene then waved in Simon's direction. "Erm, are you okay?"

---

Estelle's reaction was priceless. "Don't worry leader," by now the metallurgist was laughing, "your secret is safe with us." To be honest though, it didn't seem like much of a secret. Trixie had teased their leader at the ball, and Estelle seemed very much bothered by the thought of Marcus dancing with another woman.

Then their leader exploded and Xan tossed a knowing smile at Aria. "Alright , it's the leader's orders, so I guess I can't argue." Their leader's cheer was very contagious and before she could say more, the girl grabbed them both by the arms and began dragging them down the hallway. "You two are really excited, huh?" She arched an eyebrow at both her friends, It was kind of silly, but then again, Xan really appreciated the help.

Still, the thought of disturbing Rose while she was resting didn't exactly sound good. "We should probably make sure Rose is up before we knock, alright? We don't want to disturb her if she's asleep." They reached the door and the sound of muffled voices reached them. It looked like Rose was awake, but she seemed to be talking to someone. Xan hoped Estelle and Aria wouldn't randomly burst in.

Aliquam: Cervantes Mansion

Hmm, which date was Angel talking about? The virtuoso racked his brain to find the answer to that question, feeling as if there was something most everyone was hyped up about recently… Ah!

“Oh, er, good luck! Not that you need it, but… Good luck! Have fun!” Lute managed to stammer out as the aristocrat passed by. Maybe… Maybe later he would ask Angel how it went. Or, more specifically, what he did. ‘I mean, how do you entertain someone for that span of time? With conversation? I suck at that. With food? Well, sure I can cook but… Am I supposed to dance?’ The virtuoso thought, then shook his head and turned his attention back to Rose.

“I see you’ve finally decided to come out of our bathrooms. You were stuck in there for so long after these last few days… Angel thought you might have had a problem with your stomach. We have some medicine for that, actually, if you need any. How are you feeling, Lute? Are you okay?”

She mentioned medicine for an upset stomach and he blushed brightly as he set down the tray on the bedside table. Ah, so they noticed that? So that was why the staff eyed him whenever he walked through the hallways.

“I’m fine, thank you for the concern. I just… That kid and his stink bombs…” Lute sighed and shook his head, “Anyways. Your injury’s healing nicely, isn’t it? I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything back then.” After a moment’s thought, the virtuoso added, “I think… You’ll probably go back to help supervise at the Academy once you've healed, right? Please don’t wear yourself out.”

Just then, the doors were thrown open and three girls appeared. Lute turned around, shocked, and awkwardly raised a hand. “Ah, hello…?” He muttered out. Great timing, girls. Really appreciate it.

Aliquam: Cervantés Mansion

The illusionist couldn't help the grin as she was tugged down the hall towards Rose's room. Their leader was way too adorable for her own good- Marcus had better step up his game before Estelle was snatched away by another guy. She couldn't help but wonder whether Marcus was just as clueless as a certain Lulu- she was quite sure that everybody in the Pride knew about the two.

Still, they were focusing on Xan for the moment. "We'll talk later," she whispered back with a wink. "And Xan, do you know where you and Angel are going yet? We'll have to dress you for the occasion after all- ah, this is the room?"

Xan barely had half her warning about checking to see Rose was awake first out before Aria flung open the door with a cheery greeting.

"Gooood morning Rose, how's your ankle- Oh hey, Lulu!" She hadn't expected to see the white-haired virtuoso here as well. She gave him a cheeky grin- was there another brewing date on the horizon? Perhaps she should stay here longer and see if she could bag a guy if even Lulu had managed to pick up girls, being the clueless little cutie he was.

"Hope we're not interrupting anything, but do you have any dresses we can borrow?" Aria addressed the woman again, giving Xan a cheerful pat on the back. "We were hoping you could lend us one since Xan's got a date coming up."

Aliquam: Cervantes Mansion

A warm smile crept upon Rose’s lips as she heard Lute speak. She was about to reply, and help clarify that Lute had indeed helped her more then he would give himself credit for- if it wasn’t for him, she and Sebastian would have been hurt even worse, and what else might have happened to the Academy without him and the Pride was even more horrible to imagine. She had a lot of respect, gratitude and affection for Lute, especially after the way he had fought to defend her honour… and the simple kindness he displayed, whether it be with accepting her dance or checking up on her to offer her fruit. It was a shame he didn’t seem to understand how decent of a man he was.

But as she was about to speak, the door to her room opened yet again, this time with more enthusiastic gusto then Lute’s own, and in came Aria, Estelle and Xandra. After a moment of brief bewilderment and surprise, Rose chuckled, and began laughing.



“A date, hmm? Yes, I’ve heard a lot about that,” Rose laughed. “Of course I have a lot of dresses you could wear. I’m sorry I can’t exactly get up to help you look but… there’s loads there in my closets that you’re more then welcome to borrow.”

Estelle, Aria, Xandra and Lute all followed the direction of Rose’s arm, and one by one their eyes widened and jaws fell in amazement at the ridiculous size of the closets lining the span of almost two walls. Rose had… an incredible amount of clothes. And were those doors to be opened, the girls would be greeted with a rainbow of various colours and fabrics and frocks of all styles and beauty. An interesting contrast to Angel’s typical rudimentary outfit.



“What’s going on in here…?” Asked Dalia, poking her head through the door with some amusement at seeing Estelle and Aria digging through Rose’s closets and pulling out and holding the dresses out in front of the nonplussed Xandra. They and Rose continued to laugh heartily, as Lute suddenly became reminded of his experiences at The Red Parasol. Girls seemed to really love clothes…

---

Aliquam: Cervantes Mansion: Pool

Lying in a crumpled heap at the foot of the wooden fence surrounding the Cervantés Mansion, Simon quietly smouldered by himself as Trixie watched with her feet lightly swaying in the pool and her teeth nibbling on her soggy toast. This man really was something. Simon meanwhile, in all of his pain, injury and anguish at the state of his camera, had only one thing lodged in his thoughts…

…and that was about how much of a hot beauty Amy was. For some incredible reason, that hit… that brief moment of intimate contact… was incredible. It sent shocks straight through his body. He was in love. <3

If only the Pride weren’t leaving so soon! He had a lot of juicy and incredible photographs of Rose and Miss Dalia… but this group were an entire bevy of babes! Perhaps he should tag along?

"Erm, are you okay?" Lucien waved from across the pool. Simon’s body however didn’t seem to move. Lucien frowned, and then looked down at Trixie. “You think he’s still alive?”

Then, the summoner became acutely aware of a large and ominous shadow surrounding him, blotting out the entire sun. His eyes bulged in fear and fright, and he quickly spun on the spot, even more amazed and afraid by what he saw.

The noble moustachioed steed Sebastian, looking right back at him, his face mere millimetres away from Lucien’s. He stuck his tongue out, and sloppily licked Lucien. “Ugh! Ew! Ahh!”

Lucien, sputtering and waving in front of his face, back stepped straight into the pool. The splash made Trixie’s soggy toast that much more soggier.

Cervantés Mansion
Moira spent most of the time as Lucien rabbited on staring at him in bewielderment. Wait, didn't Sy hate being called exotic? Yep, he did, the look on his face said it all. Still, she supposed out of those two Lucien was the cooler one. Although that really wasn't saying much at all in her books.

"Besides, I'm not gonna be handicapped forever. If I wanted that, I'd join the army," Angel grinned, "or become a guilder."

"Hey! Guilder should be first choice!" Moira protested, swallowing down the last bit of scrambled egg and slamming her hand on the bar. "We're loads better! The army has this whole better than you thing, while the Guild? They don't give a shit where you come from or what you look like or if you've got 'anger management issues'. They just want you to do a good job."

She suddenly became aware that she was standing up. Oh. She chose instead to put a hand on her hip and point into the air with the other, staring at Angel with those pale grey eyes. "I know we got this rep for being all like, hobos and wierdos and drunks, but that's only some of the time! But yeah. Maybe keep with your sculptures, you're really good at those."

She had an idea for a sculpture actually, one she would tell the aristrocrat before they left. And Moira being Moira, it wasn't particularly classy...


Meanwhile Syed stared as Amy stormed straight past them and off into the mansion. "Amy's... an enigma," he said finally in response to Angel's question. "And yeah, she's got a temper, but really the only way you can set it off is by being an idiot." He sighed, his eyes unfocusing. "I just wish I could get her to open up more. She's really fun to hang out with when she does. But... I don't know how. Not anymore."

He smiled almost sadly, if anything. He seemed to recover quickly enough though, turning back to them with a grin. "Come on, let's join them."

---

The pair arrived at the pool shortly later, decked out in their swimwear. Moira, being unable to swim herself, was of course intent on sitting in the dry and attempting to look fabulous. Syed meanwhile took in the scene with his head cocked to one side. Was it safe to have a horse so close to a pool? Was Simon okay? Was Trixie's toast okay?!

"He's alive, he's farting," Moira said all the sudden, once she had moved a little closer. "That's how you tell with guys," she added to Trixie, raising a finger to hammer home this important lesson. "It's more reliable than checkin' for breathin'."

"Are you sure it's not the ho-ARGH!" Syed started... only to slip on the now wet surface surrounding the pool, all long limbs as he fell in after Lucien. It was only by virtue of her strength that Moira wasn't pulled in after him, but it was very close.

That...horse was a freaking mastermind. At this point, Lucien wasn't even upset, just really amazed.

Sebastian had gotten the best of him twice in a row now, and he swore he'd have the last laugh, even if it was the last thing he did! The summoner began wading towards the edge of the pool only to have Sebastian blow out a puff of air and reveal rows of pearly white teeth.

"Yikes!" The summoner lurched back and brought two hands over his head. Maybe, he'd allow Sebastian to win. He had already lost his pride when the horse grabbed him by his boxers, losing a finger or toe was out of the question. "Y'know, maybe we should just call it a truce, yeah?"

He arched an eyebrow, but the serious expression didn't last and soon another person came crashing into the pool.

He found out it was Syed and began laughing at his friend. The electricity mage's expression was pretty priceless. "Now, now, wasn't that a shocking experience. Water you waiting for pal. Now that we're here, we might as well swim!" He was just about to pat his friend on the back, but then he remembered something. ELECTRICITY MAGE. Lucien began flailing as he attempted to hightail it out of the pool. "Syed, Syed, just relax, okay? Don't give me a shocking experience! I know you're an electrifying person, but I've got a life to live, ladies to meet, and more adventures to go on." He laughed a little before making as much room as he could between himself and his friend.

Aliquam: Cervantes Mansion

Lute sighed. As was usual with his interaction with girls, Aria seemed to be reading too much into the situation. “No, you’re not interrupting anything,” The virtuoso pleasantly replied as he got up from his seat, but as usual Delilah was of a different opinion. The familiar grumbled and whined about something he didn’t quite understand, and although he told her to calm down, Lute couldn’t deny that he would have preferred having at least a few more minutes of quiet conversation with Rose.

Ah, but… No big deal. The smile on his face was momentarily broken once he saw the vast expanse of space which was Rose’s closet, but was back to its usual cheerfulness before anyone could notice. T-that was one impressive wardrobe. Come to think of it, wasn’t the one in The Red Parasol just like that…? Wait, they’re not going to undress in front of him too, right? Lute’s brows knitted together and he turned towards Rose.

“I’ll leave now, thank you for the time,” The virtuoso smiled warmly at heiress and then left the room, almost bumping into Dahlia on the way out. He caught a sight of Xandra’s deadpan expression as he closed the door behind him, which made him laugh. She reminded him of how his sister Ruana looked whenever Robin or Lil took her shopping with them. Oh, speaking of... He should go write a letter to send to his sister... With that in mind, Lute hurried down the hall towards the guest rooms.