This is a work of fanfiction. All characters (except Emerald) belong to Aphmau / Jessica Bravura.

Cover Art belongs to Aphmau / Jessica Bravura.

Please don't sue me.


The group of seven stood at the entrance to the Midway, looking around at all the various sights. Ava had already lost her balloon, absorbed in the excitement of the event and quietly squealing in happiness to herself.

Emerald waved her hand in front of the shorter woman's face, to no avail. "Welp, looks like Ava's checked out for now." She turned to the Daemos. "Is there anything you guys want to know?"

"I'm rather confused on what this event is," Rhys confessed.

Pierce nodded. "Indeed."

"Hey look! They're drowning humans!" Leif pointed to a nearby Apple Bobbing stand. A man held his hands behind his back as he dipped his face forward into the water, a woman and little girl watching on from the side.

"They... willingly drown themselves?" Asch didn't seem to enthusiastic about the concept.

Rhys appeared lost in thought. "That would make torture far more easier. Almost... unnecessary."

"I don't get it. Where's the fun in that?" Leif seemed more confused than ever.

Emerald stared between the two of them. "Why am I not surprised your people would regularly engage in torture?" she sighed. "It's a game, called 'bobbing for apples.' You have to get an apple out of the barrel of water without using your hands."

The spectacled Daemos shook his head. "Why not just pick it up?"

"Because it wouldn't be a very interesting game." She sighed. "You know, not everything has to have some serious meaning or purpose. Sometimes, it's nice to just do things for fun, you know?"

"Fun?"

"Prisoners! Explain - "

"Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoa!" Ava chose that particular moment to snap out of her joy-induced trance, running over and slapping her hands over Asch's mouth just as two women were walking by. They gave the short woman strange looks, but continued on their way without making a comment.

As soon as they were far enough away, Ava lowered her hands. "Asch, you can't call us 'prisoner' out in public. Besides, why aren't you calling me 'princess' or Em 'dame'?"

"He has forgotten his manners," Pierce said solemnly, shaking his head.

Noi nodded. "Yeah, Asch does sometimes."

"Hey!" the Daemos prince cried out indignantly.

Emerald cut him off. "Well here, Asch, you need to remember them. I don't care if you call us 'prisoner' or whatever when we're at home, but outside you guys just call us Ava and Emerald or Em if you really feel the need."

Pierce looked confused. "Or... Princess Ava and Dame Emerald?"

The veteran shook her head. "I'd prefer we don't use the titles outside, okay?" She gave them all a serious look. "And don't call me Emmy."

"But Mrs. Oates - " Rhys began.

"Mrs. Oates has known my family for a really long time. She's also old and set in her ways, so it doesn't matter what I tell her at this point." She took a deep breath before continuing on, her tone of voice less serious. "Now here, I want you guys to let go of any bad thoughts you may have about humans." A smile. "Here, it's all about fun."

Rhys cocked his head at her. "What do you mean by 'fun'?"

"You know, the thing you guys have been having since... well, I assume since you've gotten here. Like, when Leif locked the door to Ava's bathroom and played with the boat. Or when we all went to the movies." She met his gaze. "Or when you eat ice cream. Things like that."

"We're just completing the mission," Leif interrupted, sounding a bit smug. "That's all."

"Really now?" Emerald cocked an eyebrow at him. "Okay then: your mission for today is to enjoy the carnival."

"You guys have been on Earth for pretty much a month or so now," Ava broke in confidently. "You should know nothing here will hurt you."

"It's actually been about twenty-three days, but I guess that's close enough," the veteran murmured under her breath.

"And if something does?" Asch cut in.

Rhys sighed. "Asch, you do have to admit, since we've been here nothing aside from Princess Ava and Dame Emerald has threatened us."

The shorter woman glared at him. "It's just Ava or Em."

"Perhaps... letting our guard down for one moment might not hurt," Pierce cut in thoughtfully.

"Fine," Asch agreed sulkily.

"Good." Ava nodded. "Now you guys wait here one second." Without waiting for a response, she ran off towards the attraction ticket booth.

As soon as she was a good ways off, Emerald turned back to the Daemos. "All right, before we keep going, you guys have to promise me you won't threaten anyone or use magic. I already know you guys are banned from it, but you must 100% promise to not even think about using it."

Rhys studied her closely. "Why?"

"Because we're in a public place. I'm positive there will be people who know Ava or her dads, so if we're going to be seen with you guys, I need to know you'll be on your best behavior." She sighed in resignation. "I know none of you care, but it'll definitely make my job a lot easier if y'all just cooperate."

"Then you have our word."

Before any of the other Daemos could respond, Ava came running back up to the group. "All right! Here are your tickets." She began handing out stacks of small, numbered tickets to the others. "You guys can use them here at the festival."

Emerald stared at her own stack apprehensively. "How did you pay for these?"

"Oh, the Ticketmaster here is a good friend of my dads, so he gives me tickets for free. Just... don't tell anyone," she finished mysteriously, giggling.

"Ava!" The veteran scowled at her. "The whole point of me being stuck with you is to teach you some freaking independence. How the hell is using your parents' connections in any way equivalent to standing on your own two feet?!"

"Come on, it's not that big a deal! It's just a couple of carnival tickets. It's not like I'm doing something questionable to pay rent or anything like that."

"... not like you pay your part of the rent now though, is it?" Emerald crossed her arms over her chest, staring the shorter woman down. "I mean it, Ava: you need to start taking this seriously. I'm not going to be around to hold your hand forever. You have to - "

"Oh, don't be a killjoy, Em!" Ava turned to the Daemos. "Let's go play some games. Then... we may do some rides later." She ran off, leaving the Daemos looking with confusion between her and the veteran, who was still glaring at her retreating form.


"What... is this?" Rhys seemed just as lost as ever.

Ava grinned at him confidently. "These are called 'carnival games'. They're crazy hard to play."

Noi cocked his head. "What does that mean?"

"Well, each of these tables has a game you can play. The rules vary based on the game, but if you win the game, you get a stuffed animal!"

"What does the stuffed animal do?" Leif spoke up.

"It's just for decoration, really. Or some people give it to their boyfriends or girlfriends."

Asch stared at her. "What's that?"

"Uh... I'm sure you know about that. Hasn't Socky told you about it, maybe?"

Emerald burst out laughing. "Ava, Socky is a show designed for teaching younger kids about life skills. I guarantee it's not going to talk about relationships like that... unless preschoolers have changed drastically in the last decade and I didn't notice."

Leif lit up excitedly. "Oh, I know what she's talking about! On the show I watch about catching the murderers, there was this boyfriend who stabbed his girl - "

"Don't listen to Leif!" Ava sighed. "Look, I'll just tell you: basically, boyfriend and/or girlfriend is the status you need to achieve before marriage here on Ee-urth."

"Earth." Noi spoke up. When she looked at him in confusion, he continued. "Isn't it pronounced 'Earth'?"

"Wow... you actually got it right?"

"I learned it from the TV!"

"They've been saying it correctly for the past week or so." Emerald cocked an eyebrow. "You've just been holed up in your room and didn't notice."

Sensing another argument was about to break out, Rhys interrupted softly. "Go on about this boyfriend-girlfriend thing."

The veteran pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's essentially two people who are actively courting each other. If someone wins a stuffed animal from one of these games, they'd give it to their love interest and it would help strengthen the relationship because the person receiving the gift would think the gesture was romantic."

"Does that make the marriage happen faster?" Asch asked, almost hungrily.

"Maybe... it really depends on the person."

"I mean, I'd find it romantic to get a stuffed animal from someone I liked, since no one aside from my dads have ever gotten me one before." Ava trailed off, sounding a little bitter.

Now Pierce was staring at the shorter woman intently. "Will you marry whoever brings you a stuffed animal?"

"That's a brilliant observation, Pierce!" Asch was practically giddy with excitement.

"I'm going to be the one to get the stuffed animal first!" Leif shouted, the words almost running together.

"Whoa, time out." Emerald made a T-shape with her hands. "You guys don't even know how to play the games."

Rhys turned back towards them. "This sign says we need to give the people at the games a certain amount of tickets to play!"

"That's... not what I was talking about - "

"Since when can you fully read our language?!" Ava interrupted, staring at the Daemos in shock.

"I've been giving them my books to read since a few days after they first got here. I guess at least Rhys has been taking it seriously."

"Hey, we have tickets!" Now Noi was getting swept up in the excitement.

"Guys, wait! I - " Ava cut herself off as all the Daemos ran off in different directions, each of them obsessed with being the first to win a stuffed animal for their "princess."

... well, almost all of them. Emerald turned to Rhys, who was still nearby. "You aren't bolting off?"

"Hmpf," he snorted. "My style when it comes to things of strategy is to play it cool."

"Oh really?" The veteran gave him a challenging smirk, pointing at a nearby Bottle Ring Toss game. "Well then, why don't you show me what you can do?"

"Watch." He led the way to the game, Emerald following closely behind.

Ava scoffed. "Yeah, right. I've seen you panic before," she muttered under her breath as she watched Rhys saunter off. She was about to follow after them when she heard a soft voice call out her name.

"Oh, Mr. Dracula! Good to see you here." She smiled as the elder man approached, stopping just in front of her.

"Do you think you can help me find my daughter and her friend? I've been looking for a while around here and I can't seem to find them."

Ava grew worried. "Are they okay?"

"Oh, of course," he chuckled. "They normally run around perfectly fine. I'm just getting older and need help seeing and getting around, is all."

"Uh, sure, I don't mind helping you out. I'm planning on being here for a while, anyway."

"Oh, bless your soul, Ava. You're always so kind to us old people."

"You mean 'senior citizen'?"

"Oh, don't try to make it sound nice, dear. I'm old and I'm loving it!" He chuckled a bit before turning to leave. "Now, let's go find those scamps."

Ava glanced over her shoulder at where Emerald and Rhys were, both fully engaged in conversation. 'I'm gonna trust the others to be alone. Besides, Em is there and has her phone, so she'll let me know if anything happens.' She frowned to herself as she followed after Mr. Dracula. 'Plus, we have to stop holding their hand everywhere. They've been on Earth long enough to be left alone for a little bit.'


"Toss a ring! Get it on the bottle! Win a stuffed animal!" The game attendant pointed his hook for retrieving the prizes at Rhys and Emerald. "You wanna try? One ticket equals one throw!"

"Hmm... a game about precision. Now this I can do." The Daemos smirked. "Especially now with my glasses."

Emerald let out a light chuckle. "These games aren't easy. You might want to rein in your confidence a touch." She paused a moment. "Why don't I take a turn first? That way, you can see how the game is played."

He nodded after a moment of thought. "Let's see what you can do."

The veteran gave a ticket to the carny and received the ring. She held the ring between her thumb and index finger, like a mini frisbee. After carefully studying the bottles, she flicked her wrist quickly, sending the ring soaring...

... right around the top of one of the bottles.

"And we have a winner!" the carny shouted enthusiastically, studying her for a moment before reaching up with his hook and pulling down a small stuffed dragon. "A pretty prize for a pretty lady." He winked at Rhys as he handed it to Emerald. "You're not gonna let the lady do all the work, are you?"

For some reason, the Daemos felt vaguely insulted by his words. He immediately pulled out one of his tickets and handed it over. "One game, please."

The carny grinned as he took the ticket and handed over the ring, no doubt sensing an easy mark. "Here you are, sir. Best of luck!"

Rhys held the ring up to his eye, gauging the distance to the target he intended to hit. He tested his aim a few times before tossing it out...

... and watching it bounce off the lip of the bottle.

"What?! My aim was flawless!"

"Oho! Sorry, bud." The carny grinned as Rhys immediately pulled out another ticket.

"No. Give me one more chance."

Emerald shook her head, smiling softly. She was pretty sure the spectacled Daemos was going to blow through all of his tickets, but at least he was having fun and wasn't getting into trouble.

Speaking of trouble, Leif chose that moment to sidle up. He looked between the two of them before settling on Rhys. "What are you doing?"

"Focusing... " he answered.

"Oh... "

The other three Daemos walked up as well. "What's going on?" Asch tilted his head in confusion.

Rhys narrowed his eyes more. "Focusing... "

Emerald turned to them. "Did you guys get anything?"

"We ran out of tickets!" Pierce sounded frustrated, unusually animated in his response.

Noi nodded sadly. "The game we played was hard."

"Which one was it?" The veteran followed the line of where they were pointing before letting out a disbelieving chuckle. "Well, no wonder you didn't have any luck. That's one of the hardest games here. If you had any tickets left, I'd suggest you try a different game." She looked over at Leif. "Speaking of which, what about you? Did you go with them?"

The former assassin shook his head. "No. Everyone was scared of me, so I haven't even gotten to play anything yet."

Before anyone could answer, Rhys threw his ring and was rewarded by the short *ting* of it catching on the lip of the bottle.

"And we have a winner!" the carny shouted, although with considerable less enthusiasm than earlier.

"I did it!"

A chorus of frustrated exclamations came from the others, most notably Pierce who only stated "this is terrible".

"Here you go, sir. A stuffed poodle, just for you." As he handed the toy over, Emerald caught the look on his face and knew they should probably move on to another game.

"Okay, let's go see if there's another game you guys can play. Right, Ava?" The veteran turned to look at the shorter woman, only to stop short when she realized she wasn't nearby.

The Daemos looked around in considerable panic. "Where... where did she go?!" Asch looked scared.

Noi's eyes went wide. "I-I wasn't watching!"

"Princess Ava?" Pierce called, his voice more emotive than usual.

Leif furrowed his eyebrows. "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

"Guys, it's fine." Emerald pulled out her phone. "I'll just text her and see where she ran off to. No big deal." She texted a quick message, frowning when a progress bar appeared after she hit Send. "Huh, that's weird... "

"Where is Princess Ava?" The Daemos Prince had moved right next to her, peering over her shoulder.

"Jesus, Asch!" The veteran jumped back a bit, shaking slightly. "Don't do that." She took a deep breath, then looked at her phone again. "Ah, crap. I forgot the reception at these things can really suck. Let me try - "

"Split up and find her!" Asch ordered his knights, all of them scattering into the carnival.

"No, wait! Don't - " Emerald watched as all the Daemos immediately got lost in the crowds. "... run off." She took another deep breath, looking back down at her phone. She vaguely noticed her hands were beginning to shake a bit more as she tried texting Ava again.

C'mon Ava, answer me. The guys are starting to freak out and I don't know how much longer I can keep them together.

Once the text was sent, Emerald looked around to try and start wrangling the Daemos back in. She pointedly ignored the tight feeling beginning to build in her chest and started off towards the snack area.


It took a few minutes, but Emerald finally managed to get all five Daemos gathered together behind the giant jack-o-lantern near the front of the festival grounds. They weren't taking Ava's disappearance very well... which, by extension, was stressing Emerald out to no end.

"No sign of her!" Noi sounded like he was about to cry.

Rhys shook his head. "I looked all nearby."

"Why would she leave us?!"

"Sh-she wouldn't... she wouldn't leave us alone out around everyone would she?" Asch's eyes darted around as he chuckled nervously.

"Guys, calm down." Emerald took a deep breath, trying to force down her own rising panic over how out-of-control the situation was turning. "You aren't alone. I'm right here. The Fall Festival is perfectly safe."

"She must be really lost," Leif murmured, apparently not hearing what the veteran had said.

"How could we have let this happen?" Rhys looked between all the Daemos guiltily, but settled his gaze on the veteran. "Are... are you all right, Dame Emerald?"

"I'm fine. It's fine. Everything's fine." She closed her eyes, trying to take a few deep breaths. For some reason, it didn't make her feel any better: just a little dizzy.

"I'm glad we found them, Mr. Dracula," came Ava's voice from not too far away.

"Wait... over there!" Pierce pointed, but none of them dared to move.


"See you later," Ava chirped happily, waving goodbye to the group.

"Thanks again, Ava." Mr. Dracula herded his daughter and her friend off towards the rides, giving a nod to the short woman as he passed by.

She watched them go, then headed back towards the Midway. She was surprised to be almost immediately enveloped in a hug by Em as she came around the corner. "What the - ?!"

"Why didn't you answer my texts?!" the veteran whispered fiercely in her ear. Ava could feel the taller woman shaking.

"Why did you leave us?!" Asch spoke up, sounding worried.

"Huh? Oh, I needed to help Mr. Dracula for a moment." She smiled at them sheepishly as Em released her grip. "Sorry about that. I - "

"What if something happened to you?!" Noi cried.

Leif nodded, sounding oddly subdued. "We wouldn't've been there."

"Please don't go off like that." Pierce pleaded.

Ava furrowed her eyebrows at them all. "Wh... what are you guys - ?"

"They've been freaking out and we had no idea where you were!" Em closed her eyes as she took another shaky breath. "I know you have your phone on you, but the reception here is shit. I had no way of getting ahold of you."

Ava's phone *dinged* at that moment, showing the texts from almost ten minutes ago.

"We were just sca - " Rhys cut himself off, clearing his throat. "...um, afraid you might have gotten lost."

"I'm fine, though." Ava let out a nervous chuckle, aware of how all of them were staring at her.

"Please... just don't leave us like that again. Okay?" Asch sounded like he was about to cry.

"I'm sorry, I should've said something. I'll make sure you all know next time."

Her response earned a relieved smile from all the Daemos... and an oddly subdued nod from Em.

"So... anything cool happen while I was gone?"

"Oh, right!" Rhys grinned widely. "Princess Ava? Here." He held out the purple poodle for her to take.

Ava immediately blushed. "Oh, Rhys!" She reached out to take the toy, snuggling it close. "Thank you!"

"We tried to win some, too," Asch cut in.

"But we ran out of tickets!" Noi finished with a whine.

Pierce looked at her seriously. "Does this mean you're going to marry Rhys?"

"Ugh, the marriage thing again?" Ava groaned. "Look, how about I get us some more tickets and then we'll decide what to do about that later. Okay?"

"Yes!" Asch shouted.

Leif grinned wickedly. "REDEMPTION!"

Rhys scoffed. "I'll still win."

"Hey, I'm gonna play this time, too." Ava smiled confidently. "See if you guys can beat me."


As they all headed towards the ticket booth and Midway, Pierce followed along near the back. He had noticed Emerald was acting... strange.

She shuffled along behind the group, squeezing the small stuffed dragon she'd won earlier so tightly her knuckles were turning white. Her steps were shorter than the ones she normally took, her usual confidence gone. Even as he watched her, the veteran took several shaky breaths, closing her eyes for a brief moment as she trudged along.

Pierce leaned in close. "Are you feeling unwell again?" he asked softly, making sure only she could hear him.

Emerald's eyes shot open in surprise: she obviously hadn't expected anyone to notice. "Oh! N-no. I'm fine." She gave him an unconvincing grin that didn't make it all the way to her eyes as they both stopped walking.

The former general paused, searching for words. "I know I'm not as... good at conversations as the others. But I am here if you need to talk about anything."

The veteran's grin gained just the slightest bit of strength, her death grip on the plush loosening ever so slightly. When she took another deep breath, it was steadier than before. "Is... is it okay if I hold on to you? Just for a little bit?"

Pierce nodded, holding his left arm out. She snaked her hand around his bicep, leaning her head on his shoulder. For some reason, the Daemos felt himself blushing slightly at the sudden contact.

Emerald immediately lifted her head as she felt his arm stiffen. "I'm sorry! I can - "

He patted her head with his right hand. "No, it's okay." He couldn't hide the grin in his voice. "I did not expect you to be so... cuddly."

She huffed out a chuckle as she settled back in, noticing they'd fallen a bit behind the group. "It's just until we get more tickets."

For some reason, that statement made Pierce feel... disappointed.