Los Paraísos: Water Park

Gay… gay… gay…

Josette’s world crumbled all around her. Her brow twitched. And then her foot was raised back, shooting out, to make Dylan’s world crumble next.

It happened in the blink of an eye. A powerful shockwave erupted, blowing back everyone around her, as her foot collided straight into Dylan’s prize jewels, a very loud and audible crack being heard and felt by everyone in the Water Park. Every male, even the unconscious Don, screwed their eyes tight and winced. And Dylan, the poor Matter Artist, was sent flying into the air, a spiralling trail of dust left behind in his wake. The poor man vanished, blinking in the far sky above.

A week later:

Josette was lying on her deckchair, sunbathing again. Annoyingly enough, her peace was disrupted again by that loud mouthed, red haired bitch and her pack of friends, who all came back to relax at the water park after accomplishing whatever mission they had. For once, Estelle was quiet, or at least, was leaving her alone. The group seemed to be glad that their mission went well, but it was a shame that Dylan went missing. And then… an shrill scream pierced the sky.

Turning their attention into the air, they saw a small dot grow rapidly bigger, and bigger, and bigger. A body, somersaulting through the air, screaming at the top of his lungs, emerged into full view… and then crashed straight into the pool, sending the water spurting up straight into the sky like a fountain. Dylan finally returned.

At least, that was the first instinct Josette felt after hearing the unhealthily pretty man’s response. But her body reigned in its reaction, as devastated as she was. Even if he was gay, she couldn’t hurt a beautiful prince like Dylan, she just couldn’t. She’d just have to… ungay him instead!

Lisette’s question drew Josette back to reality, and with it the blue haired woman managed to calm down, especially once she saw the adorable creature squirming in the pig tailed girl’s hands.

"So what are you doing here, Josette?" Lisette asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Josette winked, hopping from Dylan to Lisette and stroking Kapi’s chin with one hand. Her other arm was stretched out in front of Lisette for her to admire. “I’m getting a tan!”



“After the castle, Big Sis wanted to come here because it’s warmer,” Jerry spoke up from behind, his face drenched with sobbing tears – equal parts sadness from his Big Bro’s condition, and equal parts happiness just from seeing his Big Bro again. “So we and the rest of our bros all got jobs here!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got a job too just to make ends meet. But I'm here to get a tan and because who wouldn't be? Sadly these annoying monkeys keep following me everywhere I go though...” Josette added through gritted teeth. “And I wish they’d stop fucking calling me that! Anyway… who are you?” Josette asked, smiling towards Lisette, and eyeing Xandra at the same time, both of the women being total strangers to her. “Plus who’s this cute little guy?”

Josette continued to stroke and groom Kapi’s fur, idolising him in the exact same way a certain other person did…



Estelle said nothing, just silently watching and glaring at Josette with a burning fire raging in her eyes.

Quickly turning to look at Dylan again, Josette had been caught with curiosity at what the man had also said earlier… especially if it was something that her brother was meant to be doing as well. She had a million questions about that.

“And what’s this mission you guys are doing?”

Los Paraísos: The Water Park

He tensed up as he saw her eyes flash, fearing the absolute wrath that the girl was about to lay on him. But suddenly she stopped herself, turning instead to address Lisette’s question. “Oh thank the gods!” he gasped. Oh look, Josette appeared to be enamored of Kapi. The little guy was a life-saver - that really had been a close one.

He gave the capybara a significant look, promising to shower him in veggies later.

“And what’s this mission you guys are doing?” Josette asked, turning back to him.

“Oh, Aislin!” he said, startled. The girl was just all over the place, wasn’t she? “Just a little thing,” he began, not knowing how much he should really be telling her, “a delivery, nothing important. So you’re related to Big Bro then? Tell me, was he always so...suave?”

Los Paraisos: Beach
“I’ve only seen other people play it before. It was probably just beginner’s luck that I managed to hit the ball at all, especially since I can’t move as I normally could because of the sand. It’s probably why it was so hard to reach the ball, if we were on firmer land I’m sure we could’ve trounced them!”

Yeah, yeah, that was why he sucked so much. The sand! Yep, that was it... oh who was he kidding. He sucked at most sports regardless of location. If someone was to make a montage of all the times he failed at sports in school, the thing would probably last for an hour or so. Tripping on hurdles, letting go of bats mid-swing, getting knocked out by footballs to the head. You name it, he had done it.

Still, he laughed along with her anyway. The gesture was nice enough, and he found her quite easy to talk to. She patted him on the back, which was a gesture he wouldn't usually mind in the slightest if it weren't for the sound of a loud slap occuring at exactly the same time. It threw him out for a split-second, the noise not matching up for what he felt, until he realised the sound was actually from elsewhere.

Ohhh of course, Amy. As if it could be anyone else, slapping was practically her signature move. With the man falling to the floor and her shout of "don't touch me!" it was fairly clear what probably just happened. But the look she gave Lucien...! What did he do?!

“I’m going to assume interfering right now would be a bad idea?”

"Yeah, you don't mess with Amy," Syed nodded, his voice low and his eyes locked on the cleric uneasily. "When she gets angry she gets pretty scary, we'll probably end up with matching slap marks. Although... you'd probably have better luck talking to her than I would." He shrugged, before looking back to Aria. "To be honest I didn't even catch why she's mad at him, did you?"

Lucien's reply was hilariously bad. Whatever the reason for Amy's anger, a joke probably wasn't the best response. Unless her "don't you fuckin' dare" was a don't you dare tell another joke, in which case he was screwed all the way to Artar's capital city. As such it probably wasn't the best idea to laugh at it.

He couldn't help it though. He tried, he really tried, but it was pointless. Lucien was a comedic genius as far as he was concerned, what choice did he have? He soon found himself once more breaking down into hysterical laughter, bending over double to support himself on his knees. Pork chop! Oh geez! "No, no, I shouldn't be laughing...!" he gasped, as he tried to get a hold of himself again. Nope, nope, okay. Okay he had it. Yeah. He took a deep breath, then a couple more. Okay he was good again now. Just don't think about it. Yeah.



Meanwhile Moira remained oblivious throughout. Most of the guys by now had lost interest in her, although she didn't really care either way. There was still one guy left, and the pair had now taken to comparing muscle sizes. Well as much as they could, considering Moira's weight was more than just muscle.

Los Paraisos: Beach

Silent as death. Well, except for Syed and Aria muttering to each other about the show Amy was stirring up. To which she yelled "I heard that!" towards the duo - without taking her eyes off Lucien however - once Syed made his comment about her being scary when angry. A part of her smiled inside knowing she's still got the intimidation in her. But no wait she was supposed to be irritated. The stupid pigs, the stupid volleyball game, her stupid inability to participate in any sports whatsoever, the stupid pigs again. Things were just stacking, and now it was down to Lucien.

Poor, poor Lucien. Surely he was not used to women being angry with him for no reason - or maybe he was. One minute he was proving himself the manliest man to have ever walked the beach; the next he found himself choked by the cleric's fierce emerald glare. Guilty by association. He held his hands up, surrendering to her powers - but not without sputtering out his last words, accompanied by a nervous laugh. Truly a comedian that knowingly bit off more than he could chew, but swallowed it anyway.

"W-What do you, uh, get when you cross a martial artist and a pig. Uh, a pork chop."

Silence. Like death.

Amy's hand loosened along with her frown. Ha. Haha. Cuz they're - they're pigs. And she could... chop them up. Haha. Get it. Double entendre. Haha. It was like some telepathy went on between Amy's subconscious and Lucien's telling of his dumbass joke.

But then Syed started to cackle. Shit, wait, no, she couldn't embarrass herself like that again, so she forced her scowl even further and retained her narrowed eyes at the summoner for just a moment longer. Until...

"Gods. Stupid! Men are so stupid!" She stormed off the makeshift volleyball court, swiping up her dress with her claw as she made her way back towards the bar.

---

Los Paraisos: Water Park

Anyone else who would have offered to team up with the Pride after witnessing the loud and feisty turn of events would have questioned their own sobriety by this point. Teenage girls screamed at something or other left and right, and even as things seemed to be calming down, there was no telling whether some drama would sprout again just from any one wrong word. Especially after Josette nearly drowned her own brother. But Xandra instead chuckled, entirely amused by this chain of events.

Trixie, still gripping onto Jerry's shoulders, jerked her head to face the metallurgist as she called out and reassured her of Don's saved life. "Huh?" She turned to look at exactly what the lady was talking about. Sure enough, Don's chest was indeed heaving steadily. He gave another weak thumbs up. The prankster gasped and beamed in response before hopping to her feet and skipping back over to the others.

"Wow lady, I didn't know that. Thanks for lettin' me know, S... Z... Sa... ...m...?"

Ahem. Uh. To save herself from embarrassment, Trixie whirled around to see Estelle, who watched Josette in absolute silence. Except that wasn't just any watching. Trixie knew those eyes from Amy... which, if that n00b-butt was their friend now, was not a good expression to have at all. "Hey, hey Supersis, you okay? Lookin' a bit..." Angry, was the word, but somethin' about calling out the obvious always seemed to worsen the situation.

Los Paraísos: Water Park

Lisette perked up with relief once she saw that Josette might actually be a pretty nice person -- still kind of scary, but she had such a pretty smile, one that may as well glint in the same manner as her older brother's. Yes, she could definitely see the resemblance now! And Kapi wasn't freaking out too much at being pet by her, which was a good sign.

"He's Kapi, he's just a baby," Lisette cooed, wrinkling her lightly freckled nose in happiness as Kapi relaxed a little more. "We're both really glad to meet you Josette!" she said cheerfully, nearly forgetting about the girl's fearsome temper already.

"So you’re related to Big Bro then?" Dylan asked, changing the subject. "Tell me, was he always so...suave?”

"Oh yes, I want to know what Don was like when he was little! Are you two close?" Lisette added. "I'm so jealous, I don't have any brothers or sisters..."

---

Los Paraísos: Beach



Selan was ready to go back to lying down on the beach chair when one of the men approached and grabbed her wrist to stop her, hoping to ask her for a date now that their game had finally ended.

She looked back at him, and he nearly melted; that sultry, yet vulnerable look in her eyes! The way her hair was ever so slightly messy, and the sun reflecting off her porcelain skin...

In actuality, that look in her eyes was one of general unwellness; Selan had just gotten several times more nauseous, and the physical activity was beginning to catch up to her mildly intoxicated brain. Something turned in her stomach, and the man's obvious advances didn't help much either. Especially coming from someone so forward -- who did he think he was? He spent half the game taunting them!

"E-excuse me...!" Selan tore her hand away and dashed off toward the small building near the edge of the beach, which had restrooms and showers. On her way past the beach chairs, she snatched up her bag with her cover-up and shoes.

"Dudes, I think she liked me!"

Los Paraisos - The Beach

The guy beside him froze, he was just as terrified as Lucien. "Dude, what did we do? Geez, lady...you're smoking, literally smokin'." Her red hand, the smoldering look in her eyes, all Amy lacked was smoke coming out of her ears. Then Syed suddenly burst into laughter and Lucien winced...they were going to be murdered weren't they? Amy wasn't affected by his joke at all and now they were going to die.

Amy yelled at Syed then gave him a glare that made him wince. Maybe he could make a run for it and leave the other dude to fend her off. Haha, yeah, running sounded very appealing. However, the hit never came and Amy marched off yelling about how men were stupid and Lucien deflated looking like a confused and lost kid.

"Dude, you're horrible with the ladies." Lucien wanted to turn into a puddle. The muscular man frowned then left to follow after Amy like some love struck puppy ready to play knight in shining armor. Lucien could only hope he wouldn't be killed and he remained speechless as he watched the guy walk away.

"Miss, hey, pretty blonde lady." He gave her what was his most dashing smile. "I've got better jokes," he called out as he watched her walk away. "And I could buy you a drink."

The summoner buried his face in his hands. "Good luck," he simply mumbled, before he spun around to look at Syed and Aria. "Where did I go wrong?" He squeezed his eyes shut and feigned a sob. "I almost made an impression." He frowned, crossing both hands over his chest like a defiant child. "Syed," he whined, "How could I fail?" Lucien stared at the heavens with his arms opened wide before he began to sulk.



Los Paraisos - The Water Park

Don gave them a shaky thumbs up and Trixie seemed convinced that he would live.

"Xan," she stated with a kind smile before shifting her attention to Josette. The woman was less aggressive now and was even showing fondness for the little animal in Lisette's arms. The girl was friendlier with Lisette than with the others, but she seemed to dislike Estelle a lot, and judging by the redhead's glare, their feelings of hatred were mutual.

Then Josette stared at both Lisette and her, asking them who they were.

Xan gave a polite salute then pulled out her guilder ID. She always tried to be professional and polite. "Was assigned to help them with the mission." She stated rather seriously before pocketing her ID away. Anger issues aside, she didn't look like a suspicious person. The others began bombarding her with questions about Don. Oh...he was still on the ground wasn't he? She walked away from the others and tapped Don softly with her foot. "Let's get you up," Xan stated sympathetically as she offered the former-bandit-now-G-rank-guilder a helping hand.

Los Parisos: Water Park

“Oh, Aislin!” Dylan responded to Josette’s question. “Just a little thing, a delivery, nothing important. So you’re related to Big Bro then? Tell me, was he always so...suave?”

“A delivery…?” Josette’s eyes perked up as her hand continued to stroke Kapi’s fur. “…and you people trust this idiot to do a delivery? What on Ddaear are you guys delivering? Nothing important I hope… wait. Wait, what did you just call him?”

"Oh yes, I want to know what Don was like when he was little! Are you two close?" Lisette added. "I'm so jealous, I don't have any brothers or sisters..."

“Cl-close?” Josette stuttered, taken aback by the sheer… niceness of Lisette’s attitude and question. “Er… I… guess we’re close. He’s… my brother… but-”




“Big Sis loves Big Bro very much!!” Jerry suddenly intercepted, shouting loudly with his fist clenched. “Their family bond is like… like a thing of beauty! It’s magical! Wonderful! Inspirational!!”

“Shut up, idiot!!”

“She kicks Big Bro and us a lot, but they’re kicks full of love!!”

“I’ll send you into orbit in a minute!!!!” Josette fumed, stamping her foot on the ground and causing several cracks to run along the floor’s surface. “An-anyway. Yeah… Don’s an idiot but… he looked out for me when our dad was…” Then she suddenly blinked, back to attention of what exactly she was talking about. “Th-that’s none of your business! He’s an idiot! A stupid, stupid idiot!”

Everyone just stared in wonderment and disbelief at the sudden shift in Josette’s attitude.

After she calmed Trixie’s screaming hysterics down, Xandra bent down to help extend a hand out towards Don, who seemed to slowly, but surely, begin to recover his senses. "Let's get you up," She stated sympathetically. Don’s hand shakily reached out by instinct, and with both Xan and Jerry’s help, the man was lifted up, onto Jerry’s shoulders, and he started to lead the group to the water park’s infirmary for him to rest. Lying in the middle of the park like this was doing no favours other then drawing errant stares from the vacationers around. The group could continue their discussion on the trip there.



Estelle followed behind, quietly, as Josette drew the attention of Lisette and Dylan on her. She was approached by Trixie, who was automatically concerned for her Supersis.

"Hey, hey Supersis, you okay? Lookin' a bit..."

Estelle turned to Trixie, her face filled with the bubbling anger she had been festering so far. Until she saw her friend’s face, and the concern etched upon it. It was completely unintended, but just seeing Trixie, and the worry she had towards Estelle… was enough to calm her down considerably. She didn’t want to worry or upset Trixie, and none of the others either. Even if she didn’t like Josette one iota.

But she’d have to get over it, wouldn’t she? Afterall, she was Don’s sister…

…she was still a bitch though.

She was glad Marcus wasn’t here at least… otherwise this would have all been a lot, lot worse…

“I’m okay, Trix,” Estelle smiled, grabbing Trixie by the shoulder and forcing her into an tight hug as they walked. “Just didn’t expect to see her here. First Thunderjerk, then her… not to mention all the missing women… even though we knew we’d have a mission, I thought it’d be a lot more… relaxing then this. Siiiigh…”

“Huh?” Josette suddenly turned around. “Missing girls?” She suddenly narrowed her eyes and looked towards everyone with suspicion, remembering what Dylan had said earlier. These people didn't look like the kind of people who would, but... why would they know about that, unless...? “What is it that you guys are delivering…?”

Los Paraisos: Beach
"Gods. Stupid! Men are so stupid!"

And with that, disaster was averted. Syed watched Amy nervously as she angrily walked away, although his eyebrows lowered at the sight of the man Lucien was talking to chasing after her. He pulled a face. Sure, she had gotten a lot of attention when she went out drinking with Moira and the like, but never quite a relentlessly as this. Amy had made herself perfectly clear, anybody with two braincells to rub together could figure out she didn't want them near her. Although that might still be asking too much for these guys.

"Hey!" he shouted, trying to get the man's attention. He made a couple of steps forward until he was right on the edge of the makeshift court lines, his bond to Moira as always teathering him and stopping him from going any further. "HEY!"

He wasn't listening. Syed ran his fingers through his hair with fustration. Of course, like usual, he couldn't do anything. Of course. What was it with these guys? He gave Aria a concerned look. Not that he really needed to worry too much, as the second guy was soon sent flying to the floor by another of Amy's signature slaps before she continued on her way to the bar furiously. It seemed her patience, or at least what little of it she posessed, was well and truely gone.

Lucien then proceeded to be very dramatic to the point of being silly. Geez, he really was a joker, huh? "Syed," he whined, "How could I fail?"

Syed's expression mellowed again when he focused back on his friend. He glanced around to make sure none of the men were in too close. "Nah, you haven't failed anything," he said quietly, patting Lucien on the back. "I wouldn't worry about impressing anyone either. You've got lots of friends already just being your normal self, you know?" He flashed the summoner a broad smile. "Friends who don't spend hours flexing in front of a mirror." His eyes unfocused a little. "...Well... Don spends a lot of time in front of the mirror, doesn't he? I don't think it's hours though... and that's more his hair..."


Little did he know that Amy wasn't the only one being pretty much harassed - Selan was too. Moira, on the other hand, did notice. Bloody hell, this guy was pretty forceful about it. As much as Moira liked her men a little forceful, Selan didn't look best comfortable about it. Or was that because she looked kind of queasy? Still, Selan excused herself and pulled herself free, which the man seemed to find promising??? Moira didn't know what planet he was from, but she wasn't the brightest person out there and even she knew that was bullshit.

"Don't kid yourself," she growled, folding her arms. "She's way outta your league." Narrowing her eyes, she gave the man a look that even he couldn't mistake. "Trust me."

The man stared, his expression offended but his voice slightly shakey with nerves. "Hey, lady, I thought you were cool! what's your problem?"

Moira clicked her tongue and crossed her arms. She glowered at him for a second, before something clicked. Luckily, she was a decent enough actor when she felt like it. Which wasn't often. "Well, I ain't gonna just let her run off with any guy, what with all these rumours going about," she rolled her eyes skywards, putting a firm hand on her hip. "Girls gotta stick together."

Los Paraísos: Water Park

Lisette held her free palm up defensively and laughed nervously. "S-sorry for asking..."

“I’m okay, Trix, just didn’t expect to see her here. First Thunderjerk, then her… not to mention all the missing women… even though we knew we’d have a mission, I thought it’d be a lot more… relaxing then this. Siiiigh…”

“Huh? Missing girls? What is it that you guys are delivering…?”

"Mm, we're supposed to be delivering a le-- mmmph!"

Dylan suddenly sucked in air and pressed his hand over Lisette's mouth. "Nothing! It's nothing~" he tried to cover. Between all of them, they had let far too much slip.

Lisette patted Dylan's hand until he let go, and they both looked to Estelle to figure out what to say to the woman.

Kapi, whose memory was still much better than his owner's, decided to try what tended to work on Estelle and leapt into Josette's arms to try and distract her. He nuzzled against Josette's bare stomach and rolled onto his back, kicking his legs in the air.

---

Los Paraísos: Beach

In the restroom, Selan pushed her bangs out of her face and dabbed at her forehead with a damp, cool paper towel. She remembered one of the several reasons why she disliked drinking, but it wasn't helping that her stomach contents were doing backflips and somersaults.

She returned soon after, wearing her cover dress and wedges again and looking almost grim. She caught the tail end of a conversation:

"Hey hey, we don't know anything about any rumors!"

"Yeah, do we look like we've lost any girls lately?"

"Dude, shut up, don't tell them that!"

Selan sighed. "Playtime's over, gentleman. It's been fun." she said, leaving the men flabbergasted. Save for Aria, the guys found the seemingly-haughty attitudes of the beautiful women quite offputting, and with Selan's final rejection, they decided it wasn't worth it, and assumed they were just being paranoid.

Selan watched them shuffle off before turning to the group. "I have a small request, but hopefully no one will mind... I think I need something to eat to settle my stomach, so would anyone mind getting a small bite to eat? I'd love for us to get to know you a little more properly, Aria." she said to the woman with an apologetic expression. "And just as important, we might be able to establish a pattern. I know we aren't supposed to be working just yet, but there might be a bartender or waiter who could tell us if he'd seen anyone suspicious chatting up the kidnapped victims."

"So what do you say?" she asked the group, brushing her hair from her face.

Some time later...

Los Paraísos: Ddaear Café

They had passed several establishments, even steering clear of a Grungy's. Eventually they settled upon an unassuming diner, the concept of which was different cultural foods from all of the surrounding countries. No open bar, but the owners happily kept refilling Moira's stein with different regional ales as long as they kept eating, although Moira had asked for it before the menus even touched their table.

Selan immediately tried to ask the couple running the restaurant if they knew anything about missing women, only to be shushed immediately; apparently, it wasn't good for business to mention anything about crime, which gave Selan the impression that it was rampant on the tourist-infested island.

Slightly disappointed by the failed attempt, she returned to their table; two tables and benches had to be pushed together to fit the six of them.

"No luck..." she sighed, picking up her menu. It was unfortunate, but surely the blow would be softened by the arrival of their lunch.

Los Paraísos: The Water Park

"Mm, we're supposed to be delivering a le-- mmmph!"

Dylan suddenly sucked in air and pressed his hand over Lisette's mouth. "Nothing! It's nothing~" he tried to cover. Between all of them, they had let far too much slip. Lisette patted Dylan's hand until he let go, and they both looked to Estelle to figure out what to say to the woman.

It seemed like Kapi, though, was being the best distraction of all. Bless that little cabybara! He would never go without the freshest of veggies while Dylan was around!

Ducking back, he walked over to Don. “Wow, Big Bro, your sister is quite the...um...energetic one, isn’t she? Guess the energy runs in the family, haha!” He laughed awkwardly, throwing a quick glance back at the girls. This vacation sure was tiring. “Anyway, why don’t we go find Marcus, hit the bar, have some real bro-time? That sound good?”

Los Parisos: Water Park

Dylan’s suggestion to his weak big bro was met with a shaky thumbs-up, the best that Don could at the time muster, as the group continued to walk towards the infirmary to let him rest. Josette continued to walk with the group, interested and unconvinced with Lisette and Dylan’s response with regards their mission, and knowing full well she wouldn’t get an answer from Estelle or Trixie. Asking Don later seemed to be the only recourse, and now that she met him again, even despite her… irritation by him, she couldn’t just abandon their reunion quite so quickly, even if she did prefer to be working on her tan. She had to find out what made these doofuses so special that he’d tag along with them… other then the fact that he too was a doofus. She let it slide, content with having the baby capybara Kapi in her arms, for now.

Estelle meanwhile, shouldered her ‘younger sister’. She wished she could continue to enjoy the excitement of the water park, but after meeting Josette and with a couple of their group unable to properly appreciate the area as much as her, they’d just have to come back later with the others after their mission was complete. Estelle promised Trixie they’d get the floaty doughnuts then.

Dylan made the suggestion of finding Marcus and for them and Don to have some ‘bro-time’. And whilst Estelle wasn’t against that, she didn’t want to be left alone with Josette at all. And Josette… she probably wouldn’t leave Don, Dylan, or Marcus alone once she saw him. No no, they’d have to stick as a group. It wasn’t safe otherwise.

Less then an hour later, the man was right as rain again, and the party were bouncing along the strip again, Don dancing and spiralling around with pure unbridled happiness at seeing his sister again. And this time, not being kicked.



“My baby sis! It’s been so long! You’re still so cute!” Don skipped, trying to hold his sister’s hand but having the blue haired woman slap it away every time.

“Shut up, Don! Tell me! What’s going on! Why are you with these people!?”

“It’s a long story, lil’Sis!” Don laughed and wagged his finger. “I’ve been on so many adventures! I’ll tell you all about it later… but for now, just hang out with us!! You and Big Sis will love each other, I’m sure!”

Josette and Estelle both tensed up at the same time, looking at each other and silently shooting daggers.

“Big Sis, huh?” Josette spoke with a wry venom.

“Lil Sis, huh?” Estelle replied back.

Behind them, Jerry’s waving form disappeared in the distance, with Lisette enthusiastically waving back. The lifeguard was still on duty, but he made a promise to his Big Bro to meet up again. Dylan, Trixie and Xandra trailed behind happily enough, although Trixie was still filled with cautious concern for Estelle and how she saw Josette.

“So where’s Marcus then, Estelle?” Dylan asked. “I don’t think he went with the others to the beach?”

“He stayed at the hotel,” Estelle replied, filled with relief at someone breaking the fragile tension in the group and it not being an inanely stupid comment by Don, who was still twirling around and dancing, this time trying to pick Josette up and carry her over her shoulders to yet more swatting hands. “He said he wanted to check out the casino. He thought he’d get some information from there…”

“Magebro likes his alone time, huh?” Don raised his brow, before grinning. “Let’s crash it!”

“Yeah! Yeah!” Trixie chirped up at the thought of pranking Marmar. But what was a casino?

“Casino? What hotel are you guys staying at?” Josette asked.

“The Pellagio.” Xandra replied simply.

“…ah.” Josette couldn’t quite believe it. “That’s where I work!”

---

Los Paraisos: The Pellagio

Moments later, the group were back at the Pellagio, taking a brief break to change clothes, if they so desired, before they all started to follow Josette who led them to a series of grand steps descending down underground…

…and none of the group were quite prepared for the sight that was going to greet them.

“Holy heck!!” Don shouted, who had changed his Hawaiian shirt and easygoing shorts and flipflops for a bedazzling crisp and white suit, his hair now looking perfectly suave and measured. To his side was Josette, who had changed out of her revealing swimwear into something slightly more discreet and casual, but still revealing bare arms and thighs. “How are we going to find Magebro here?!” He exclaimed.



Winner Winner!
The casino was extraordinarily huge, and seemed to stretch forever and ever. The place glittered and glowed, emblazoned with gold almost all around. The high fever pitch of slot machine beeps and boops, and the sound of people playing and shuffling filled the room all around. The Pellagio was the biggest, more glamorous hotel of the entire island, so it only stood to reason that their casino was as well. But they didn’t expect the casino to almost be like a city unto itself.

“This… could take a while…” Estelle pondered, before suddenly realising Don was already running to partake of the casino’s excitement.

This was the answer to his debt problem prayers!!

Los Paraisos: Ddaear Cafe
"No luck..."

Moira snorted. Yeah, they really were having no luck today. Asking people up front seemed to cause them to shrink back, while lying to them and pretending to be concerned just offended them. She rested her chin on her palm with a scowl, bringing up her bottle to her lips as she thought. Bloody stubborn, the lot of them.

Syed was staring at his menu, although he wasn't really focusing on it. To be honest, he wasn't all that suprised, but that was probably his pessimism talking there. If Thunderhawk on his own couldn't find anything out, what hope did they have as a group? At best, they'd be intimidating, at worst suspicious. Still, it did leave him wondering if the other group had any better luck. A waterpark was probably not the best place to get information, but at least they probably would have fit in better there.

He wasn't really hungry yet either to be honest, although he certainly appreciated this break from the heat and the masses of people outside. He was sure Moira appreciated the break from the sunburn too, the stint in swimwear probably didn't help much. Still, it looked like this place had a good selection of teas. He felt he needed one, he needed to relax a bit.

"Well, I'm not really hungry, so I think I'll just get a-"

DOOOOOOONG!

He jumped in his seat, a spark of electricity jumping from his temples. What the-!

Moira span on her seat so fast she actually managed to crick her neck. She winced, rubbing at her neck as she craned a look out of the window. There was nothing out there! Nothing but the sound of wooping and cheering and almost chaotic music in the distance. Moira snorted. Whatever that was.

DOOOOOOOOOOONG!

The noise was getting louder. It was definately getting louder. In fact, was it getting closer? She could hear another sound now, one that took her a couple of seconds to figure out. Was... was that the stomping of feet? Lots and lots of feet.

And suddenly, the scene outside was absolute chaos.

Many, many people danced down the street, dressed in vibrant colours and outlandish headdresses. Some even wore full on costumes, including a couple of people dressed up as a horse. Some played instruments, everything from drums to trumpets to triangles, one person even wheeling along a gong. They were throwing confetti and dragging along several huge balloons as they went. It was in fact one of Los Paraisos's famous parades, world renowned thanks to the resort's status as a sort of melting pot of cultures from across the globe.

Moira stared as what looked like a huge pair of legs walked by, the person using them out of sight above the window. She was so preoccupied, in fact, that she initially didn't notice a girl had entered the diner. She rotated her hands in fluid movements and shook her hips as she stood by the doorway, the coins attached to the silken sashes around her hips jingling as she went.

When she finally stopped, a broad smile spreading across her lips. "Come!" she said breathlessly, gesturing towards the door and the chaos outside. "Dance!"

Moira stared for a moment, before looking down at her bottle again. Booze and a meal, or absolute mayhem. It was a hard choice...

But she was on holiday. Well. Sorta. This was somewhere she had dreamed of visiting since she was small. No reason to waste it.

"You know what, yeah!" she stood up suddenly and started shaking her hips back, nearly knocking one of the tables in the process. She downed her drink, grabbed Syed's wrist with one hand and Amy's by the other, and pulled the pair of them out the shop, regardless of any protesting.

The girl cheered, before turning back to the others hopefully. "Get a hat?" she offered, gesturing to her headdress to really hammer the point home. For what she lacked in fluency, she made up for in sheer enthusiasm. The diner's owner looked ready to kick her out.



Los Paraisos: Streets
Meanwhile outside, Moira finally released both her partner and her friend. Mostly through amazement. Oh my gods... she turned with excitement to Amy. "Come on, let's have fun," she grinned.

Even Syed found himself being taken away by the sheer energy of it all, and soon enough began to dance along with them all in his own, somewhat dorky way. Something which he was quickly rewarded by someone offering him a simple paper headdress, which he quite readily accepted and plonked over his unruly head of hair.

"Heh, I guess you're right, thanks." He gave Syed a grin then stared at the sea. They probably wouldn't have enough time to surf, so he decided to save if for after the mission. Not long after that Selan suggested they grab a bite to eat and Lucien cheered up significantly, yes, they hadn't tried Los Paraisos' food yet and he was betting it'd be awesome. He gave Selan two thumbs up. "That sounds like a grand idea." Before he knew it they were headed to the Ddaear Café.

The cafe was filled with all sorts of food, something he was looking forward to, but it wasn't the best place to go digging for information. The couple who ran the place didn't want to speak much about the disappearances. In fact, no one really wanted to talk about it. They had come to Los Paraisos to enjoy themselves, not fret about villains and kidnappings.

"No luck..." Selan stated and Lucien just deflated in chair, waiting for his order to arrive.

Not long after a waitress arrived with a plate of prawns and some mayonnaise dip. He took a bite out of the crunchy shrimp only to realize it had been stuffed with something very delicious. He spent a few moments on cloud nine before the loud ringing of gong's filled the cafe. He stared at the door curiously before the stomping of feet reached his ears and the scene outside turned chaotic. Soon, a woman was by the door asking them to join her. Moira yanked Amy and Syed with her and joined in on all the chaotic dancing.

The summoner winced. Dancing wasn't his things, but that didn't look half bad and they looked like they were enjoying themselves. He looked at Selan a grin spreading across his face. "Shall we join them?" He gave a polite little bow, the kind that was used in more formal dances then made his way towards the chaotic dances.

"Ey, Ey, can we have one of those silly hats to--oh, thanks." Before he could say anything else at hat was placed onto his head. The woman who had placed a hat on his head then approached Selan. She smiled childishly as she placed the hat on the songstress' head, after that she ran back into the streets and joined in on the dancing. Lucien laughed, the enery was definitely contagious "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"



“Big Sis loves Big Bro very much!! She kicks Big Bro and us a lot, but they’re kicks full of love!!”

These people were very confusing, but she nodded as if she understood just to be polite. "That's a very interesting relationship."

The siblings began squabbling and she stared, partly concerned, partly amused. How was Aria faring with her group? Were they just as energetic and...perhaps crazy? She assisted Jerry in getting Don up before the man was lifted onto his big brother's shoulders. Things were looking a lot more calm, though Estelle didn't look as happy as she had been before they ran into Don's little sister. Josette asked them all about their delivery, and she stayed silent as she trailed behind them.

Thanks to the little animal Josette looked a lot happier and less violent, so Xan she gave the Cabybara an approving nod and made a mental note to ask Lisette if she could buy him a treat.

Then the others decided to find Marcus and they hit the casino's. She didn't know if Aria had been here already, but she hadn't and the site before her made her stare in amazement. How rich was the owner of this place? "Wow...this will be like finding a needle in a haystack. Do you think we should split up? What's the strategy?" She looked to Estelle, awaiting some sort of order, or would they just wander around till they found him?

Los Paraísos: The Pellagio

Dylan raced down the hotel stairs, having gone up to his room for a quick rise off and a change of clothes. Despite the tropical weather it was rather nice to put on his usually fare - though he had forgone the jacket due to the heat - a classic look that never would go out of style. Sidling up to Don, he noted that while he would never be as flashy as his big bro he wasn’t too shabby.

He had also picked up his slate and chalk. He had felt so naked without them at the Water Park, even if it had made sense to leave it behind. It’s not like chalk worked well when wet.

Soon Josette was leading them all to the casino, having stopped to change herself as well, and by the Gods was it impressive. He had never seen the like of it before, and the bright lights and noises of it were all overwhelming.

“This… could take a while…” Estelle pondered.

"Wow...this will be like finding a needle in a haystack,” Xan added. “Do you think we should split up? What's the strategy?"

“Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure that’s not it,” Dylan said as Don headed straight for one of the poker tables. “Damn, we should probably stop him. It’s not like he’s the wisest with his glad under normal circumstances. Be right back!” Moving quickly, he dashed after Don. “Hold up, Big Bro!”

Catching up to the man, he slid in front of him. “Hey, Don, maybe we should find Marcus before you hit the tables, okay? Don’t want to get distracted from our mission so quickly, eh?”

Los Paraísos: The Beach

The small crowd that had gathered earlier had dispersed soon after the volleyball had burst, and Aria watched as the volleyball net was quickly dismantled by the men who were dismissed by Selan, a few looking rather disgruntled at not being able to get a date but shuffling off anyways. After they were out of sight, Selan addressed their small group, with Aria nodding thoughtfully at the woman’s proposal.

“I think that would be a great idea,” She grinned “I would love to get to know you all better, and bars are always a good place to find information.” Not to mention that she was feeling slightly peckish herself with all the jumping around in the sun. “So, where should we go?”

Los Paraísos: Ddaear Café

Aria tapped the side of her cup with a finger as she watched Selan slide back into her chair. So the owners of this establishment weren’t willing to talk about the incidents about the missing women either then. The illusionist leaned back on the bench. So there were no leads here either then? It was slightly disappointing but not unexpected; they had known it was an unwelcome topic from the briefing they had gotten from Chirps earlier in the day. Hopefully the other group was having more luck than they did.

DOOOOONG!

Suddenly jerked out of her thoughts she bolted upright, wondering where that sound had come from. Every person in the restaurant had been startled into silence save for a few people whispering rather excitedly, allowing the lows tones of what sounded suspiciously like loud music and cheering to be heard, quickly increasingly in volume. And was the ground shaking slightly?

Before she could realize what was going on the scene outside the windows exploded into showers of confetti and people in colorful costumes swarming the street, the loud cheery music exploding into the quiet restaurant as a woman in a dancer’s outfit burst in the doors of the restaurant to invite the patrons to join in their festivities. Aria laughed as Moira jumped out of her seat and flew out the door with Syed and Amy in tow- This must be one of the resort’s famous parades that happen once in a while. She hadn’t had the chance to join in one since she got here, and thus quickly followed after Lucien and Selan, taking care to grab on to the back of Lucien’s shirt before she could get swept away by the throngs of colorful costumes and people jumping to and fro with the beat of the music. A grin involuntarily lit her face at the exuberant energy coming from the masses of people around her, yet she couldn’t help but worry slightly about not being able to spot Moira or the two she had dragged away with her in the throngs- then again, if the crowd was all going in one direction there was no way they could get lost, right?

Los Paraisos: Ddaear Café

"Oh what now?"

Amy just wanted to sit. Just to sit down, out of the sun, away from beefy musclebags, and to enjoy the calm before the inevitable drunken storm from their future barhopping. But no. Noooo. A parade had to literally march their way into the guilders' lives just to remind them that even they needed a pure break from their mission. A break that was much louder than she would ever have hoped.

Being in a group of social butterflies like the Pride, however, should have destroyed any hope of that from the start. Amy was quickly yanked from her seat by the much more powerful berserker and brought outside into the wild. Her protesting stopped immediately once the trio reached the parade itself, and she too was lost in amazement just as the other two were. As Moira turned with a spark in her eye to the cleric, the latter pressed her arm tightly against the side of her body, holding onto the strapped clutch even tighter. This was definitely not a place to leave behind any valuables.

But now she was conflicted. She really just wanted to sit down by this point. Yet the time of their lives beckoned them at every turn.

Not that she had much time to think about it regardless, since suddenly her world went dark.

"What the--?"

"Live a little, blondie!" she felt a slap across her shoulder. "Quickly, you must join our dance~" Then with some inhuman laughter, the perpetrator spun and pirouetted off back into a group of similar freaks performing some improv choreography.

After scrunching and reopening her eyes, Amy allowed her vision to settle. Her head heavy and her vision limited, she had definitely been forced into some sort of mask - the head of a giant cartoony dragon, which went damn well with her green dress. Almost toppling over, the cleric turned towards Moira. Luckily her eyes and reddening face were shielded from view. "Moira. Moira what on Ddaear am I wearing. Moira, please help get out of this, I'm about to fall over."

In an instant the perpetrator returned, wearing a giant dragon head-mask as well along with a yellow floral dress that dragged along the pavement. In her hands this time was yet another mask, this time sporting color schemes of both Moira's hair and maxi dress, although meshed together in such a goofy fashion. She extended the mask towards the berserker, her feet and hips in constant movement all the while.

---

Los Paraisos: Casino

As the others debated on their plan of action for locating Marcus, with Don already hitting one of the poker tables and Dylan quickly following suit, Trixie had indeed already taken off on her own as well. Finally, someone of her size easily managed to slip into a place she shouldn't even be allowed in! It's all thanks to its crowded city-like structure and the billions of people that could squish her at any second. Man, the longer they were at Los Paraisos, the more at home the prankster began to feel.

Trixie squeezed through the aisles, nudging against folks standing along some of those weird spinny tables or seated along giant gold slot machines. So many loud noises and dings and dongs and horrible music. But that didn't deter her from doing her mission!

Wait what was it again? Oh yeah. Finding Marcus. So she poked and prodded the backside of any visitors with messy silver hair. "Marcus? Is that you? Oh I'm sorry. Hey Marcus! Whoops, that's not you. Hey, hey, Marcus, it's me, Tri--never mind."

It felt a little too weird not to be booted out right away. She'd never been in a 'casino' before; Amy always talked about them but said there were never any around wherever they went together - and that she'd be kicked out of them anyway. Being in one now she couldn't understand at all why she'd be kicked out - it was loud and colorful just like her! And the palace was crowded enough that she could easily slip away from anyone who dared to intrude on her fun as well... hue hue hue.

"Merrr. Whatever!" she squeed, losing herself deeper and deeper into the golden abyss.

Los Paraísos: The Pellagio

Lisette changed out of her wet swimsuit and into a cerulean blue t-shirt dress, fitted ankle-length white pants, and ankle boots. She didn't have time to tame her poofy, frizzy pigtails, but luckily, it wasn't all that noticeable.

"Brrrgh..." she shivered, hugging Kapi close. Unlike the rest of the island, the casino was quite cool; she wasn't surprised that there were so many people just milling around in addition to the ones hovering over the machines.

She wasn't too thrilled about exploring the casino. She didn't like noisy places like this, and people were allowed to smoke inside, not to mention the fact that she had no need whatsoever to gamble. The sooner they found Marcus, the sooner they could leave, so Lisette made sure to keep her eyes peeled.

But then Trixie decided to run off, and still having their mission in mind, she rushed into the fray after the trickster, determined to keep them all together...

... And found herself separated as well.

"Hey, sweetheart, a hurricane for a big shot? I've been waiting for one of you girls for over five minutes!"

Lisette didn't even look remotely similar to the women passing drinks to the gamblers, but the man wasn't looking up from his machine at all.

"Umm, yeah, okay..." Lisette stammered and jogged back in the direction she came from. She didn't even know what a hurricane was.

"'Ay babay, very pretty, maybe wife? Give you Rolas, become wife?" another man slurred, leaning his profusely sweaty forehead on the cool metal of the machine.

Lisette kept jogging and abruptly ran into a cloud of freshly-exhaled cigarette smoke.

Where did everyone go!? Lisette thought frantically, turning around a corner and hoping she'd either find the others or Marcus, and soon.

---

Los Paraísos: Beach

Selan had barely finished her light lunch before being pulled outside with the others, and all she could think was, Well, this might as well happen. A woman covered by little more than sashes with coins attached approached her and placed a headdress atop Selan's head. The songstress was experiencing quite the culture shock, but it was such a vibrant and energetic affair that it was simply hard to resist.

At least dancing and parties were much more up Selan's alley compared to drunken impromptu volleyball matches, and by this point, she was feeling much better than she had been all day. Like Lucien, she felt herself being influenced by the sheer, almost electric energy of the festivities, and less than a minute after the hat touched her head, she was watching the other dancers, trying to imitate their movements.

She caught on quickly, and she smiled at the summoner, encouraging him to give it a try as well. She swiveled her hips and moved her hands around in a circle above her head just as the woman with the hats did, without any trace of awkwardness or embarassment. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Amy, who was struggling to keep her balance with the mask atop her ahead.

Los Paraísos: Pellagio Casino

No sooner had the Pride stepped into Los Paraisos’ lustrous casino in search of Marcus did all bedlam break loose with their own group splitting in a mad dash to explore and find the missing Mage. Don had already darted off to partake in the casino’s revelry with Dylan chasing behind, whilst Trixie had disappeared in the other direction, and Lisette haplessly tried to follow behind before losing sight of the prankster as well, leaving only Estelle, Josette and Xandra behind on the grand exquisite balcony that overlooked the sprawling casino floor.

“Well…” Josette blinked rapidly. “That didn’t take long at all. I’m not surprised about my brother… but I’d have thought some of your other friends might have been a bit more… co-ordinated?”

Josette’s comment was ignored, as Estelle blissfully became deaf to her rival’s words and instead focused her attention on Xandra, who looked to Estelle for her orders on how to proceed. Estelle wasted no time in puffing up her chest and looking all knowledgeable and mighty towards Xandra’s query.

"Wow...this will be like finding a needle in a haystack. Do you think we should split up? What's the strategy?"

“I think some of us splitting up like this is… good, with Don and Dylan together, and Trixie and Lisette too… but I think we should stick together, huh Xan?” Estelle grinned, excited at the opportunity of making a new friend. A new friend with an amazing laser firing cannon arm. “As for how to find Marcus, well… hehehe… that’s easy.”

“MARCUSSSSSS!!!” The red haired girl suddenly bellowed loudly, turning and hopping over the side of the balcony to land on the main floor below. She then cupped her hands together and started screaming some more as she wandered ahead, hoping for Xandra to follow behind. “MARCUSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!”

“Good grief…” Josette facepalmed, turning ahead and with a shake of her head beginning her own exploration. No way would she let Estelle find that beautiful, beautiful man before her!!

---

“Big Bro!!” Dylan screamed, racing after Don as quickly as he could with the hopes of stopping the man before he got lost again. “Hold up, Big Bro!!”

Catching up to the man, he slid in front of him. “Hey, Don, maybe we should find Marcus before you hit the tables, okay? Don’t want to get distracted from our mission so quickly, eh?” Dylan suggested, hoping to calm the man down and get him to return towards the others. Separating wouldn’t help to find Marcus, if anything it’d only cause more problems in trying to find everyone else! And whilst hide and seek could be fun, he wasn’t sure they should be playing it right this second.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk!” A dismissive sound emitted from Don’s throat, and a finger wagged side to side in front of the pretty man’s face. Dylan’s focus shifted from it, focusing back on the full man himself, to see Don assuming a righteously cool pose with his arms folded over his chest, a smug grin and sparkling smile turned towards his friend. “Lil’ Bro, you have so much to learn!” He laughed.

“…huh?”

“What does a man do when they’re in a casino? They gamble! It’s an unwritten law. There’s no stopping it, it just is.” Don began to lecture. “So us not gambling would be like… would be like… messing with the law of fizzsticks. Besides, you wanted to hang out bro style, right?” Don then shifted his stance, elaborately explaining to the Matter Artist an incredible plan that only a man like Don could create.

“This casino’s too big to be just looking for Magebro in. So… why not hit two stones with one bird!!” Don thumbsupped. He started walking forwards, patting Dylan’s shoulder and leading him forward besides him, guiding him towards one of the many tables, and plonking his rear atop the stool. Dylan turned around, to look for the others and hope they’d be able to come and assist him… but already the rest of his companions had disappeared. Oh my.



“Good afternoon, sirs, welcome to Blackjack.” The card dealer at the other side of the table smiled, effortlessly shuffling a deck of cards within her hands and making them fly back and forth. “Please, place your bets.”

Don reached into his suit’s jacket, extending some money to the dealer, who quickly exchanged it for some chips in a variety of denominations and colours. Don grabbed a blue chip, and flicked it onto the felt table, smiling with his traditional cocky smile at the card dealer and winning a smile and blush.

“Big Bro? I don’t understand.” Dylan looked uneasy.

“It’s simple!” Don laughed. “We’re going to win, and win big!, and draw all the crowds to us, including Magebro! We won’t have to find him, he’ll find us!!”

A pair of cards were dealt across the table. The first card landing in front of Don was a King.

“It’s genius!!” He continued to laugh.

Dylan’s expression said it all, as a ten slid it’s way to Don’s side too, his cards adding up to twenty.

“Hit me!” Don thumbsupped.

“WHAT?” Dylan’s eyes bulged.

“Sir…?” Serena raised one eyebrow first at Don, and then to Dylan.

Don shook his head and tsked again. “I said hit me!”

Dylan shielded his eyes. Whether or not he already knew it, Don couldn’t count, and barely understood the rules of Blackjack at all. There was no way a man could play on blind luck like this at all, could he...?

Despite all odds an Ace hit the two cards in front of Don, and a massive sigh escaped Dylan’s lips. This… this was going to be insane. Don’s smile widened, and his eyes started twinkling.

“C'mon Lil’bro, the fun’s just begun! Let's play!" Don laughed, before turning back towards Serena. "Hit me again!”

Los Paraísos: The Pellagio

“C'mon Lil’bro, the fun’s just begun! Let's play!" Don laughed, before turning back towards Serena. "Hit me again!”

“Oh gods no.” It was a disaster and there was nothing Dylan could stop it. Even the card dealer looked stunned.

“Are you sure?” she asked, knowing full well that she probably shouldn’t. It would be better for the casino if she just hit him again, guaranteeing a bust, but the poor man just seemed so simple.

“HIT ME!” Don whooped.

“If you insist...” Serena laid down another card - this one a 3 - but it enough to do it. Everyone else at the table started laughing.

“Big Bro,” Dylan began, exasperated, “do you even know the rules of the game?”

Los Paraisos: Parade
"Moira. Moira what on Ddaear am I wearing. Moira, please help get out of this, I'm about to fall over."

"Haha!" Moira cackled, a somewhat scary smirk on her face. "I dunno, it matches your dress really well." Still, she reached out past the people pushing by to help Amy remove the giant head thing. It did make her look rediculously top-heavy, to be fair. Just as she began to pull, however, the culprit returned with another of the giant mask things. This one was black, white and red, and was really quite striking. Wait, was this one for her?

She forgot about Amy. A terrible friend indeed. "OH FUCK YES I'M HAVING IN ON THIS," she practically bellowed, snatching the mask and shoving it onto her own head. Unlike Amy, she had no difficulty wearing it. It wobbled around a bit but that was all. Oh yeeeeeah she looked fantastic she was sure. Dragons are awesome. First thing on the agenda? Scare the shit out of Syed.

"BLEUAAAAAAAARGH!" she bellowed loudly, leaping towards him. Syed (who was at the time dancing and clapping away quite happily) span his head around, wide eyed with terror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he screamed, his body instantly electrifying all over for a second as an instintive act of self defense. He froze, staring at her like she had just kicked a kitten or something, before relaxing again. Oh, it was Moira. He couldn't mistake her for anyone, regardless of the giant thing obscuring her head. "You're a dick!"

"You're welcome, darlin'!" Moira replied, blowing him a kiss.

Syed's eyes glanced around for Amy, not able to initially see her in the masses of people without those golden locks so visible. He spotted her quickly enough though, taking notice of the familiar green dress clad hourglass figure. Ah, there she was, wearing one of the rediculous masks too. And she seemed to be struggling a bit with it. She might have been okay if they were stationary, but considering how the parade was constantly moving... "Amy, you need a hand?" he called out over the sound of someone throwing fire magic into the air. Moira blinked a couple of times behind her mask. Oh, oh right yeah. Amy asked for help.

And with that Moira finally helped Amy get that mask off. She sure took her time. Moira then proceeded to dance too, still holding the mask in her hands like some grizzly decapitated dancing partner. All this thing was missing was booze!

"Oh. You do not like?"

The yellow girl had returned once more, still dancing away. While she moved her body with almost effortless fluidity, her masked head was facing straight towards Amy. It was pretty much impossible to tell what she was thinking with her face obscured.

"It's too big," Syed explained, shaking the confetti gathering out of his hair. "She was having trouble with it. Do you have anything smaller?" he pointed to his own headdress.

"Pah! Fine. Can be hard to get used to," the girl waved her hand dismissively, although she at least seemed to take that as an acceptable answer. "Shame, you make good dragon. I get something better for you."

Within moments she had returned, this time with another smaller headdress and some long floaty fabric strips. Syed held one of the fabric strips in front of him, a confused expression on his face. "What are we supposed to do with these?"