They didn't order Alcohol. That drink impeded their judgement, and two of them were underage. So, three waters and a carrot juice later, the four somber warriors of the galaxy glumly stared at each other. Claude and Rena had already explained what'd happened, and they'd all taken it well. Well...except for...
"'Then we'll go and kick Indalacio's ass'. Isn't that what you said, Claude?"
Claude looked up. "How could we have ever known?"
"We were strong enough to take on Indalacio. We didn't need to waste our time coming here, and now Indalacio is even stronger? We could never beat him now. I think we inadvertently handed the universe to him." Chisato had said 'we', but Claude knew she meant it as a personal attack on him.
"Okay, Chisato, suppose we did fight Indalacio. Then Filia never would've been distracted by us, and Indalacio would've gotten to her faster. Then we would've been fighting a stronger-possibly much stronger-Wiseman, uninformed and unsupplied. We would've lost just as easily as we might, but now we have a much better chance of winning through being prepared."
Chisato reluctantly nodded and took a drink of her juice. "Regardless, the fact of the matter is that we're now officially too weak to win. We should go back to the battle simulator and train. We have information on the Wisemen now, so the battles should be more effective in training."
Ashton nodded solemnly. "So we'll have to leave early in the morning tomorrow. It's too late to go to Fun City tonight. We should get to bed early, and wake up an hour before sunrise."
It might've seemed early, but they all knew it was necessary. They couldn't waste any more time, too many people were depending on them. So they all stood and walked up the stairs, until Claude felt a tug on his shirt. Rena was gently pulling him back down the stairs, and he complied. The two of them walked side-by-side out the door and leaned against the steel fence. Claude shut his eyes.
"Claude...what if we don't make it? What if he's too strong for us?"
Claude put his hand on her shoulder. "We will win, Rena."
Rena put her hand on his and looked at him. "We have to win, Claude. We have to."
They sat near the fence for a short while, then walked up to their room for a restless night of sleep. Tomorrow was a big day for them.
~