Chapter 7: "Handy work"

"Wow, those folks just loved me!", Serra exclaimed at the Castle, while everyone was having breakfast. "And it couldn't have been any other way, having this celestial beauty at the microphone, with a heavenly voice"

Everyone rolled their eyes at that statement.

"I don't want to be rude, Serra, but who was the one who told you that?", Kent asked, picking a toast. He had to be really desperate to make a comment of that kind, because he always tried to evade that kind of topics.

"Someone who's deaf", Erk replied, grabbing his plate and sitting in the other point of the table, even further than what he was from Serra.

"Hmph! You say that because you are jealous of my popularity!", the pink haired cleric protested. "No one looked for you! Instead, everyone was paying attention to me when I was singing…"

"Wait a second!", Farina yelled, angrily. "We were the ones who had the worst part! You were just blocking us, so everyone would see you!"

"Yes, it wasn't funny at all", Priscilla joined in, annoyed. It had to be one of the first times where she spoke her mind so openly, puzzling more than one member, and especially Raven, who couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Wow, Priscilla! You are starting to change your style… ouch!", Eliwood started saying, but something (well, someone) kicked him below the table.

"Hey, leave something to eat, I'm really hungry!", Lowen moaned, sitting at the table after cooking. "You take cooking for granted, and then I have nothing to eat!"

"Oh, eat before it disappears!", Bartre yelled at him, looking for some fight. That long fringed cavalier could be a good match for him…

"What are those sounds?", Lyn asked, trying to listen to what happened outside.

The wind was blowing furiously, as they had never heard it, and it had just started raining, with some thunders and rays. All of a sudden, several windows fall down, torn into pieces, and part of the roof fall down away from them.

"Ahh!!! We are gonna die!", Rebecca screamed, hiding behind Wil's back.

"Just now that I was going to have breakfast…", Lowen mumbled resigned, grabbing his plate in case he would have to run.

"Oh, no! The rain's going to ruin my precious hair!", Serra whined, at the verge of tears.

"That's what you got for saying nonsense and false things!", Erk told her, glaring at her.

"Oh, shut up and take me to my room!", the pink haired cleric demanded, offended.

"He's right, Serra, so shut up!", Hector got into their chat, angrily. Erk sighed relieved, knowing that he had the support of "big Hector".

Just then, another part of the roof fall down, frightening them all, especially Karel and Bartre, who were below the table, hiding from the falling roof. Without thinking it twice, everybody rushed to their rooms, in panic…

"What's that?!?!?", Sonia asked annoyed when she heard the storm outside.

"It's raining outside", Lloyd replied seriously, raising an eyebrow.

"More than rain, it's a storm", Ursula corrected him.

"Whatever", Linus replied, yawning. "What's up with us, Sonia? I want to leave this place as soon as I can", he added, bored.

"So do I", his brother joined, indifferently. Ursula stayed silent, but she approved of that at heart.

"And do you ask it?", the low necked dressed woman asked them sarcastically. "Tell me what you got from that open party!"

"Well… it was something… fun, at least", Lloyd said, after thinking for a little while. "At least, that pink haired girl's performance was funny, because it was pathetic"

"You can't be serious!", Ursula said, scandalized. "I got a terrible headache just after that! I didn't know where I was standing!"

"And that's why you left with Uhai, uh?", Linus told him sarcastically, grinning mischievously.

"Hmph!", the violet haired reporter moaned, annoyed. For the Reed brothers, she was madly in love with Uhai, which wasn't true (or was that what she thought?)

"Enough of that! Give me the video tape!", Sonia demanded, loosing the minimal patience she had.

The three reporters looked at each other, acting innocently.

"What?!?", the pale skinned panelist asked, irritated.

"We had to record the party in a low quality mini-camera", Ursula said, handing it over to her boss. "We couldn't record everything, also. We had to wait until no one was at the door to get into there"

"Yeah, my camera didn't work", Lloyd lied, as he had forgotten to switch it on.

"You four are a bunch of incompetents!", Sonia shouted, now furious. Even if Uhai wasn't there, he got the punishment, also… "You can't do anything right!! Leave my sight, idiots!!", she yelled, opening the door for them.
Linus and Lloyd chuckled, irritating Sonia even more, and they left, leaving Ursula behind, who rushed to them as soon as she found herself alone with Sonia, who smashed the door as she left.

"Those idiots… I should convince Brendan to kick them out from here…"

"And so…? What's this week's activity, geniuses?", Pent asked the producers, reporter and cameramen team reunited in his office, anxiously.

"Look! It's raining heavily!", Alina pointed out, staring at the window. "I'm glad I have closed all the windows back at home"

"Oh, my! I left the door leading to the garden opened!", Renault commented, jumping from his chair abruptly, like he had received certain amount of electricity through his body. "My house will be flooded by when I'll return!"

Pent rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"Alright, it's raining, so what? Rain is a natural process that…", he started explaining, but he got interrupted once again.

"Look! The Castle will fall down!", Wallace exclaimed, pointing to the TV screens aligned one next to the other, over and below each other. "Something interesting happens, finally!"

"I wouldn't like to be on their shoes", Heath chuckled, thinking in how soaked the contestants would be.

"That's what we got for trusting in two bargain lovers", Isadora said, looking at both Wallace and Renault, who whistled innocently.

Instead, Pent grew pale, thinking in the mess he would have ahead. But he came with an idea.

"Alright!", he exclaimed, talking seriously. "Alina, when the rain stops, go and tell them that this week's activity is to repair the Castle, because we have no other place to put them in"

"If you say so…", the brownish-reddish haired reporter said, shrugging.

"What?! Pent, are you serious?", Isadora asked, worried. Another tactic like that could be the end of the show, now that they were starting to loose rating, and that "The Darkest Truth" was in a surprising uprising.

"Do you have another idea? I don't", the gray haired boss said, without waiting an answer.

"It could be fun", Wallace approved Pent's idea, nodding. "On the other hand, they didn't clean the disco, so I think this will be like a revenge"

"Don't mention that word again, please!", Alina begged, ashamed. Now that she was really aware of her odd behavior, she wanted to disappear from the world, but she had a contract with Pent, so she would have to wait until the show ended it's airing to travel to the most distant land in knowledge.

"Which word? Disco?", the bald producer asked, mischievously. "Disco, disco, disco, disco, disco…", he started repeating, teasing the young reporter.

"Arghh!! I'm in Hell!", Alina yelled, almost sobbing. She rushed to the door, almost in despair and opened it, with so bad luck that she ended up bumping into Uther, Hector's brother, even if no one knew what business brought him to the channel.

Alina looked up, blushing. Finding Uther looking at her oddly wasn't much of a relief…

"I'm… sorry", Alina mumbled, covering her face with the folder she had in her hands. At the next instant, she was running along the corridor, in her way to the bathroom, the only place where she could shout to calm herself.

"What's the matter with her?", Uther asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, nothing…", Isadora started explaining, trying to cover her friend. "Stress"

"If she's stressed, then I should be dead", Wallace pointed out, sarcastically.

Isadora glared at him, just to sigh at the next second.

"I partially agree with you, Wallace, but you work less than me, so the real stressed one here is me", Pent said, trying to lighten up more the spirit. "Well, Uther, welcome. What brings you here?", he added, politely.

"I wanted to talk with you about my brother's crazy participation in your show", the huge young man explained, seriously. "I can't believe how you accepted him"

Pent swallowed hard, feeling a bit frightened, for some odd reason.

"Well, let's discuss that at my office", he said, standing up from his chair. "Guys, the meeting's over"

"Yahoo!", Wallace shouted, happily. "Hey, Rath, Heath! I'll give you the materials for the Castle folks. You, Isadora, go and look for your friend. They are leaving now"

"Now, under this storm?", Rath asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes"

"Why?", the usually silent Sacaen cameraman asked, depressed.

"Because I say it", Wallace replied, pushing them forwards along the corridor.

"If I had any doubts about Wallace's hatred towards me, now they have melted away and become a fact", Alina said sarcastically, while they were on their way to the Castle. The storm was getting stronger with each second, and they were already thinking in how they would do to return safe and sound. Alina regretted that Fiora weren't there with her pegasus, but even if she were with her, the marvelous, flying creature would be useless because of the intense raining.

"Yup", Heath nodded, concentrated in driving. "He abuses of his role of producer too much. If I were on his place… maybe I would do the same, just with him", the odd haired boy daydreamed, thoughtfully. "It would be like some revenge, something just"

"I don't see why we can't have a revenge now", Rath said, surprising his mates even more, as he was saying all his phrases in row, and not with never ending silences in between. He sure had to be really angry and annoyed to be like that. "Maybe I could start practicing my archery skill with him… It's been a while since I don't do it"

"Do you know how to handle a bow?", Alina asked, hoping that he would keep on talking.
"……"

"Great, you became your silent self again", the reporter said resigned, sighing.

"Miracles are little events in life, not a continuos thing", Heath joked, almost sinking the van in a "new made" hole in the road.

"Great", Alina sighed, her body shacking because of that sudden change of velocity. "Are we so far away from the Castle?"

"Er… well…", Heath shrugged, resigned.

"Ah, never mind", the girl said, leaning against her seat, hoping that they would reach the Castle soon.

The Castle was in worse conditions than what she expected. It was already flooded when she could get into it with Rath, while Heath tried to put the van in some place where the water wouldn't damage it. Tables, chairs, sofas, everything around them was floating around, in a rather pathetic and somewhat funny way… and a bit far, in the first floor, the contestants were gathered, trying to escape from the water.

"Don't you think that this is a shame?", Lyn asked Alina, shouting. "You could at least try to find a better place!"

"I'm nothing but a reporter!", Alina defended herself, sitting in a table and using it as a boat, while Rath went on filming behind her with one hand, as well as using the remaining arm as a row, just like Alina did with her free arm. "Blame our stingy producers"

"And Pent", Erk added, casting Fire over Serra, who wanted him to carry all her stuff to some safe place.

"Whatever! I think you have come to move us to another place", Hector said coldly, tired of seeing water everywhere.

"I'm afraid that won't happen", Alina said, seriously. "In fact, this week's activity consists in fixing this mess when the rain stops… I hadn't come with this idea, folks"

"And who should we blame now?", Farina asked, getting a bit irritated.

"That… I can't tell", Alina said, shrugging. "Well, see you on Saturday. Remember that you have to nominate two people this time, and please do it, because we don't know what will happen if you go on avoiding this part. You'll find the materials to fix the Castle where the "Shrine" was. I think that the Shrine Master will return by the end of this week, so maybe you could talk to him if you need it. Guess it's all for now", she said, thoughtfully. "Well, Rath, let's return", she said, facing her silent comrade. "See you on Saturday, folks!", she waved at them with a hand, while she used her other arm as a row, again.

"What? Rath was the cameraman?!?", Serra asked, hysterically. "Come back! Come back!"

"Yes, come back right now!", Farina joined, enthusiastically.
"Do you happen to have a whistle?", Priscilla asked, shyly.

"Hey, you, return!!", Rebecca yelled at the runaways, almost desperate.

"Hell, I wish they would react like that for me", Sain mumbled, annoyed.

"And, Lyn? Could you see him better?", Serra asked her, blinking an eye.

The green haired girl shrugged, defeated.

"I couldn't", she admitted, puzzled. "That camera blocked his face entirely"

"But that body… what do you think about it!?!?", the pink haired cleric went on, desperate. "He sure is a nice catch!"

"Erhh… well… Kent blocked me, so I couldn't see his body", Lyn mumbled, blushing.

"What?!?!", Serra asked, angrily. "You will never get a boyfriend that way…", she said, walking to another direction, leaving the Sacaen girl behind with the rest of the gang.

"Finally, we arrived", Alina claimed triumphal, dropping herself in one of the sofas in the reception area of the channel, without caring if there was someone important near her. She just wanted a comfortable place to stay, before she decided to leave the building to return to her own home, but it was raining heavily, so she didn't know when she would be able to leave.

"Hi again", Isadora greeted them, not so happily.

"What's wrong?", Heath asked, sitting in another sofa. He took a look around him, noticing many people around. One was Fiora, who was looking anxiously at the window, wanting the rain to stop right now. The other one was a black haired and dressed young woman. He could tell that he had seen her before, but he didn't know where. In another room, he could hear Pent and Uther arguing, and Wallace and Renault were just rumbling through the corridors, bored.

"Well… you can't leave the channel", Isadora said, sighing. "Unless there's an extreme case, everyone should stay in a safe place until the rain stops. That's what the government suggests"

"It's really depressing", Fiora said, joining the chat. "Hi, Alina, I hadn't seen you before"

"Neither did I", the brown haired girl replied, waving at her. "So this means that we have to live here until that damn rain stops?", she asked, wishing that she had understood everything wrong, or that everything was a bad joke.

"I'm not kidding", Isadora went on, annoyed. "Pent told me to start arranging some of the rooms so they could be used like dorms… it's the only thing we can do now, as it's supposed to rain for two days more"

"This means I'll have to live with all of you?", Rath asked all of a sudden, making Isadora's jaw drop.

"Can you actually talk?", she asked, her eyes wide of the surprise.

"Hmph", protested Rath, embarrassed.

"Who are you?", Heath asked the black haired girl, evading the other chat. "I think I had seen you before somewhere"

"I was at the disco last Saturday", the girl said, naturally. "I came here to ask a place in the show. I really need to get close to some of the guys in there"

"I'm sorry, but if that were possible, I would be the first one to get in there permanently", Alina said, thinking in Kent.

"We are having a little problem with that topic", Isadora explained, sitting next to Alina, facing the newcomer. "We need to kick some people out from the Castle, but we have no nominations, and when we have them, we have no one to eliminate, as the people want them to stay"

"Don't be so mean! Let her in!", Wallace said, joining the conversation while he got into the room. "She's a pretty girl, and we need some more beauties. The rating would be over the clouds with her in. Or maybe we can hire her as the new reporter"

"What? Are you saying that because I'm too ugly or because I can't do the job right?", Alina asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Both reasons", the bald producer said, uninterested.

"Thanks for that, but I'll refuse", the girl said, politely. "You see… I have to get close to my brother, Karel…"

"What?!?!?", everyone at the room asked, astonished.

"You are Karel's sister?!?", Alina asked, fearful that the girl would react like her violent brother and would tear her throat into little pieces.

"I never thought he had a sister!", Isadora exclaimed, puzzled.
"I thought that he would have killed them long ago, in case he had been to come with any sibling", Fiora whispered, astonished.

"So I've seen you before at the disco?", heath asked, trying to remember. "Ah, yes! Now I remember"

"Glad you did", Karla replied back, sort of glaring at him, for some reason.

"Hey, she's in right now!!", Wallace yelled, almost throwing himself over her. "Unless you want to become my secretary. I'll treat you well and give you a good pay…"

"No, thank you", Karla declined, sighing, while she grabbed the hilt of the sword she had at her waist, just in case she should intimidate him a bit.

"Old pervert", Alina said lightly, looking at him by the corner of her eye, as well as Isadora and Fiora did.

"I can also be a good boss", Renault added, pushing Wallace aside, and puzzling everyone in there.

"Two old perverts", Fiora said this time, frowning. "Wait! Renault was a Bishop, wasn't him?!?"

"I'm retired", the always silent and absent green haired man replied back, seriously.

"I see", the greenish haired girl replied, still puzzled.

"Enough of this! Let's go and fix the rooms for us", Isadora commanded, sighing.

And so, the show got another member and everybody had to start working, again…

"And the promise will now be fulfilled!", Nergal introduced the topic in his gossip show, 'The Darkest Truth'. "In this tape I have in my hand", he said, shacking a video tape that he indeed had in his right hand, "we have the most embarrassing moments of the Big Emblem bar. I say embarrassing, but this tape makes me feel sorry for them"

"Indeed", Sonia and Limstella agreed, nodding seriously.

"I have a message from Lord Nergal…", Denning started chanting, but he was soon silenced by Nergal, who gave him the tape and the order to give it to Mr. Director, who would play it right away.

Soon, some images from the bar popped in the screen. Serra's music performance, Sain trying to date a girl, who run away at the next instant, Karel threatening some visitors –including his sister, but nobody knew that yet, apparently- Hector arguing with his famous and tidy brother, Lyn and Rebecca drunk, dancing over a table, Bartre trying to start a fight with some people there… even Alina rushing to the bathroom, pushing the people before her and avoiding a long queue.

"Kill me", Alina pleaded with a hammer on her hand when she saw that back at the channel.

"It'll be a pleasure", Wallace said, picking the hammer.

"Ahhh!! No, wait! It was a joke!!", the brownish-reddish reporter yelled, leaving the room they were adjusting as a bedroom quickly, running with all her strength. Unfortunately for her, Wallace went after her, with the hammer still on his hand, puzzling Pent and Uther, who were coming in.

"What's the matter?", Pent asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing", Isadora said, smiling lightly. "It's just that Alina had a little crisis after watching that gossip's show note about our bar. She asked someone to kill her, and Wallace seems eager to accomplish that task", she explained, shrugging.

"Had she ever tried a psychologist?", the grey haired man asked, puzzled.

"Yes, but he told her it would be a matter of time until she gets used to this area", Fiora added, leaning against a new made sailor bed.

"And why do you keep on watching that thing?", Uther asked, disapproving of that kind of show.

"Well, I basically don't know", the blue haired producer said, lost.

"What kind of report did they do this time?", Pent asked, sitting down and watching at the TV, just to find a debate about the bar.

"Someone got into the bar with a little video camera and recorded it", Renault said, bored. "That was all"

"But that's not ethical!", Pent cried, annoyed.

Everyone at the room looked at him oddly, even Wallace, who had just returned from his run with the hammer in his hand, intact.

"What?", the boss asked, shyly.

"Are you expecting some kind of ethic from there?", Renault asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's easier to believe in the spirit of Spring, in Santa or even in dragons before you can find some kind of ethic in those shows", Heath said, surprised of his boss incredulity.

"Weren't you a dragon rider?", Wallace asked him, thoughtfully.

"I was a WYVERN rider before working with animals was turned into an illegal activity!", Heath shouted, offended. "That's why I turned into a cameraman"

"Alright, alright, I see!", Wallace apologized. "I didn't remember it well"

"Back on topic", Uther said, "the only thing you can do is to initiate legal actions against them for using your people for your own benefit, and for getting into your show's activities without asking permission. I think it's the only thing you can do. Plus, you'll gain some money"

"Seems fair", Pent agreed, not thinking it much. "Can you handle that, Uther?"

"Of course! I'm a lawyer after all!", the huge built man replied. "But I'll take a good percentage of whatever you gain. I'll have to imprison Hector when he returns, and I'll need the money to build a good prison"

"Whatever you say", Pent gave in, puzzled.

Meanwhile, at the Castle…

"This is booooooooring!!!!", Serra yelled, sitting in a chair, floating in what once was the dining room.

"Do something, then", Farina replied annoyed, while changing some light bulbs from one of those big lamps with the help of Florina and Priscilla, who were like her ladder, as they grabbed her legs tightly while the blue haired girl tried to change the bulbs. "There are plenty of things to do. You can check the animals are safe, or you could go and help Lowen restore the kitchen. He's having some troubles with the oven and nobody knows how to repair it"

"I don't like that", the pink haired cleric said, polishing her nails.

"Then help Ninian and Nils. They are doing a list of all the things damaged, something like an inventory", Florina suggested, trying to resist her older sister's weight. "Eliwood, Hector, Lucius and Raven are trying to repair some roofs"

"Are Hector and Raven together?", Priscilla asked, almost dropping Farina to the water, as she almost let her go because of her surprise. However, Farina did fall on the water, getting all soaked.

"What's the matter with you?!?", the now soaked girl asked Priscilla, angry. "You were supposed to hold my leg tightly!"

"I'm sorry", the red haired chick apologized, blushing. "It just caught my attention that Raven and Hector were together"

"Don't worry, Lucius is still with Raven, and it seems that he will be with the mercenary until the end of the world… or until the roof fells down over our heads, which is the same", Farina said, standing over the floating table and making her way to the lamp again, with the two girls holding her legs tightly.

"You should try to be more stable, girls! And you, Farina, you have to be more balanced!", Serra yelled at them, pointing out some flaws in her activity.

"If you already know how to do it, then why don't you come and do it, instead of being there, coaching us?", Florina told her, really annoyed. Her soft spoken and silent nature had vanished for a second.

"Erhh… I think Lyn asked me for some help… I'll go for her", the pink haired girl turned down their offer, nervously. "Bye bye!", she greeted them, leaving the room the best way she could.

"Yeah, yeah… run away like a rat, you pink haired menace!", Farina yelled at her as reply, before she fall down for the second time in the day…

On the other side of the Castle, the small "investigation" team conformed by Eliwood, Hector, Raven and Lucius were also dealing with the water. They were in what once was the storage room, where they kept some food rations, unused items, and the sort of things that could come in handy in unusual times… but there was nothing they could use in case of flooding, ironically.

"Guess we have nothing else to do here", Eliwood commented, seeing everything. "The roof's ok, so we have nothing to do here"

"Guess you are right", Hector agreed, looking at the ceiling. "I don't think it will fall down. This Castle is old, but some of it's rooms have strong roofs… it's a shame that the worst one is the largest one, the living room's roof".

"Lord Raven… where have you gone?", Lucius asked under his breath, looking everywhere around him. However, he couldn't find the red haired mercenary.

"What's the matter, Lucius?", Eliwood asked, concerned.

"Ah… er, nothing", the blond haired monk said, covering Raven's disappearance. "I thought I saw something falling, but it was just me"

"Hey, where's your friend?", Hector asked, noticing that Raven was missing. "He was with us a second ago"

"What the Hell???", Eliwood cried, looking at the ceiling.

Just over them, especially over Hector, a package was falling down, ready to hit the blue haired young man. Quickly, they all moved, while the package smashed against the ground, letting go its contents: a pack of lanterns and a tool's box.
"Hey! This could be handy!", Eliwood exclaimed, grabbing everything. "Let's go to another room!"

"Wait! I want to know why it fall down!", Hector yelled, angrily. After all, if they hadn't seen that box before, he would have been hit by it, surely.

"Look", Lucius told him, pointing a line of boxes piled one over the other. "It must have fallen by its own weight from the top of that line"

"You may be right…", the blue haired Ostian guy replied, not so convinced.
"Are you both coming or not?!?!", Eliwood yelled at them from the corridor, angrily. "I can't carry this box by myself, you know!"

"That's because you are too skinny", Hector teased him, picking the box and carrying it over his shoulder without complaints.

"I'm not skinny! I'm a thin person!", Eliwood protested.

"Whatever!"

The three guys went on walking, while Raven got out from the storage room, cursing his bad luck…

"Supper time!!!!!", Fiora yelled from the small service kitchen at the channel, where all the "Big Emblem" staff got trapped due to the heavy storm. It was already night, and it was still raining in the city.

"Let's eat in our room, it will be much comfortable", Isadora suggested, picking a tray and putting some dishes on it. "It's too small in here"

"You are right", the green haired girl agreed smiling.

Soon, they were in the room, where Wallace, Renault, Heath, Rath, Karla and Alina were, doing nothing.

"Great! Food!", Wallace almost jumped over the green haired former pegasus knight, who was about to run away, scared of that sudden reaction. "What is it?"

"Hamburgers and french fries", Fiora replied, starting handing them over to all those in the room. "The only things available inside the building"

"I see", he said, inspecting his burger cautiously. "At least, this can't be badly cooked. You have to be a bad cook to spoil something simple like this"

Alina just whined for herself, embarrassed of her lack of cooking skill. Hopefully, no one noticed that, or at least she thought that, as no one made any remark on her behavior. Everybody else was much interested in eating. But who the Hell was she, that they should pay attention to every move she make?, she thought for herself, biting her hamburger.

"Are you already eating, you bad-mannered employees?", Pent joked, coming into the room with Lord Uther and Lord Athos, who happened to be in the building, despite no one had noticed that before.

"What?", the puzzled staff could only say that, while chewing their food. They thought that Pent and Uther had already eaten somewhere else. As for Lord Athos… well, no one expected the Archsage to be there.

"We hadn't eaten before, if that's what you are wondering", Pent said, sitting in one of the beds and handing a hamburger to each of the other newcomers. "It isn't that bad", he said, chewing his burger.

"Yes, but I wonder who was the beast that cooked the fries", Wallace said, leaving his fries on the ground. "They need more cooking!"

Indeed, they weren't entirely cooked, and Alina didn't know where to look, as she was the one who cooked them, in an attempt of helping poor busy Fiora.

"Whatever", Pent said, leaving his plate in the ground, too. "You'll be satying here until the rain stops, right?"

The crowd nodded, still eating.

"And what about you?", he asked, facing Karla.

"I just want to enter the contest", the black haired woman said. "I really have to"

"She's Karel's sister", Wallace explained, grabbing another burger.

Pent stared at her for a moment, his eyes wide opened.

"Is she Karel's sister!?!?", he asked, astonished. He calmed down at the next instant, looking as if nothing had ever happened. "Then she's in, without doubts!", he exclaimed.

"But… Pent! We need to get people outside the house, not to put more in!", Isadora protested.

"Oh, don't spoil everything, Isadora!", Wallace protested, pushing her backwards with so much luck that she ended up in the floor. "Alright, you'll stay with us until the storm stops, then we'll take you to the Castle on Saturday, when Alina goes to cover the nomination. Okay?"

"Yes, thanks you", Karla thanked, smiling.

The days passed, with some headaches both in the channel and in the Castle. The storm lasted two days more, and the Castle seemed like a wild river. On the channel, the environment was drier, but nobody could stand each other. Thankfully, Saturday night came quickly.

"And now, the moment everyone was waiting for: the nominations!", Louise introduced the topic smiling, while the camera switched to the Castle, where the contestants were all gathered above a table, and Alina was in a small plastic boat, trying not to loose her balance and end up in the water, wearing a yellow plastic raincoat. Heath and Rath were in two other boats, recording everything, while Isadora was with Karla in another, waiting the moment to introduce the new contestant.

"Hi, Alina!", the blonde hostess greeted her, cheerfully. "You are all soaked there, aren't you"

"Indeed, Louise, indeed", Alina agreed, trying to force her smile, but it was useless. It was far too obvious that she was in a bad mood.

"Had the brave ones come to an agreement?", Lord Athos asked.

"We'll know in just some moments", the brownish-reddish haired reporter said, turning to the contestants. "Well, you have just heard him. Who's out this time?", she asked, a bit annoyed. "Have mercy of us and nominate someone this time, will you?"

"Serra's one", Eliwood said, solemnly. He had taken the role of leader, apparently. "She wasn't of much help this week, saying things like 'The rain will spoil my hair' or 'It's too heavy for me', so that's why she's one of the nominees"

"Ha! Had you seen yourself!?!", the pink haired cleric yelled at him, annoyed. "You don't do anything if you don't have somebody else to support you! You are pathetic!"

"Ahem", the red haired youth coughed, as if he didn't care. "The other one is… uh…. Er… we hadn't discussed that yet…"

"Don't do this to me again!", Alina cried, irritated. "Nominate the first one that comes to your mind and let's finish this!"

"If so… well… I… er…"

"Oh, I got it", Hector interrupted him, also annoyed. "Raven. Because he was the first one I saw. That's all"

"Alright. Thanks for that quick election", Alina thanked him, nodding. "So, this week's nominees are Serra and Raven! Soon we'll give you the telephones you have to call to vote"

"Wow, a quaint election this time", Louise commented back at the studio.

"Indeed. And something quick, also", Athos added, nodding.

"But that's not all", Louise said. "We have another new contestant!"

The camera switched back to the Castle. Alina was now with Karla in the same boat, facing the other contestants. Karel was far too infuriated when he saw his sister there.

"Well, she's Karla, our new member", Alina introduced her to the audience. "Tell me, Karla, why do you want to enter this show?"

"I want to see how it is to be part of a reality show", the black haired girl replied, harshly. "Just that"

"I see", Alina said, sighing. "Well, all those are your new companions. Go and meet them", she said, while she got into Heath's boat with difficulty.

As Karla was riding the boat to the others, the camera returned to the studio, with Louise and Athos. It was time to end the transmission.

"Well, what will we have next week, Lord Athos?", Louise asked the Archsage curiously.
"I don't know. This show is like a box full of surprises…", Athos replied, smiling at the camera. "Or it's just like Pandora's box: full of bad things"

"Oh, don't say that, Archsage!", Louise replied, giggling. "Stay tuned, and see you next week!", she greeted the audience.

And so, the show was over for another week…

I suck. Definitely. I just couldn't end this chapter. I couldn't find good ideas, or motivation to write it. Or time. Anyway… I have planned everything to last for four chapters more (with a small epilogue), and I won't change my mind about that. I don't want to leave this without an ending (I don't like to leave my works unfinished, even if I have another FE fic completely abandoned in this same server), so that's why I'm speeding things up a bit.

Well, I have nothing else to say. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!