p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f634070878be840ad18e040bd9c4a21e"Emi's POV:/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3b37f357f511e57987a921448d615c1a""What about this one Emi?" Lyla asked, holding a copy of Ultimate Mecha Strike III. "Aero suggested this. I think it's called Mega Strike."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="01ba30ae37b13c192140b52946c6e697"Resisiting the urge to roll my eyes, I took the game and placed it back on the display. "First, it's called 'Ultimate Mecha Strike III'. Second, Aero is both great at suggesting games and completely awful at it." I gestured to the display of games. "Yes, Ultimate Mecha Strike III is a awesome game. However, if your not into fighting or mecha games, it isn't for you." I grabbed a random game. "You should look at the game's cover to learn more about it and even look it up if your still unsure about it. This," I waved the game. "is a tactical rpg. Do I like them, kind of. Will I play them, only if some lets me borrow it. I don't enjoy them enough to warrant spending money on them."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c7b6d3643e8ba9f36c9aec36c25c0717""What's tactical rpg?" Lyla tiled her head and asked. "I know that rpg stands for 'role playing game'."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="40360bfa32cd678c9c59acf3dc0465fd"Pixxy giggled from inside my jacket. She's been doing that alot today. When Aira said 'someone' would be over, I expected it to be Devin or Sylive. Than I remembered, Sylive's been working on something with Calex and Devin's younger sister Rilie just moved back, so he'll be spending time with her. Floral was my next guess, other than that, no one else really comes to my place. Image my shock when Lyla knocked on the door. Not only she is not suppose to know where I live, but I've barely spoken to her at school, let alone outside of it. One of my bone headed friends must've asked her to hang out with me today. For some reason, everyone seems to think I shouldn't be left alone on my birthday. Would I prefer not to spend it alone? Yes. Do I want to spend it with someone I barely know as not to be alone? No./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="20c429bf0f6955f4f26fd498687550da""Nevermind." I placed the game back, than crossed my arms. "Tell me what interests you, we'll go from there." I can count on one han what I know about Lyla. She transferred into our class in the middle of the school year and she's lived in different places because of her parents' jobs. Now, just because she's traveled alot, doesn't mean she enjoy's it as much as her parents. But it also doesn't mean that she dislikes it either./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c0b41b36defd93a1e61debbdb33bd3cd"Lyla was quiet for a moment, than smiled. "I love Noble's music, well Ace's music." /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c4c818053abd2cc51a6f1a6afa045883"Expecting her to add more, I waited before giving a reply. Instead, she watched me with a smile. "Do you also like singing and dancing?" There are plenty of rythm games. Maybe she'll like one of them./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3efc24bd0b94e5240b78f8af1d9ab69b"Lyla fidget with her hands, than looked at the floor. "Mostly singing." A bright red blush covered her face. "I also enjoy gardening." She quickly added./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a98311956cad471936243059f17e37e2""There aren't many games that are sololy about gardening. But we've got alot of rythm and music games to chose from." I led her further into the gaming section. Back here, there's a testing area. Several games had been preloaded into various systems for customers to try before buying. One of them was a dancing station. Two mats were connected to a _. On the tv, two avatars danced on the preview screen./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c1a7fbb2848cc947f85597cb6c18eedf"I gestured for Lyla to step on the mat. "We can sample some games before buying them." I switched the game to a well known one. The title 'Mega Dance' appeared. Switching the game to two player, I brought up te character selection menus. "Pick a character."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e2cb6f89d5dacbf0c8f841d8716a5533"Lyla flipped through the small list of unlocked characters, selecting a female dressed as a dj. "Ready, now what?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e865a54af4f5dbb4b10ff637255a58c0""Now we dance." I quickly explained how the game works. The first round didn't even last two mintues. Lyla couldn't keep up with the rapid arrows and combie commands on the screen. Since we were playing a dual game, my stats alone weren't enough to keep going. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1e6f69ec6506fefda827b218c129db84""Can I pick the next song?" Lyla asked. "I haven't heard that song before. I think that's why I couldn't get into the beat."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2b81c1e1ff295603ef2d21f7028b773d""This one has alot of international songs." She doesn't seem to dislike these types of games. But they can be differcult to play if you don't know the song or can't get into the rythm. "Do you wanna try a game that has more local songs?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="62764f370eb7ef46b02ac43a59fb1cf6"Lyla scrolled through the song list, listening to the samples played. "I've heard a few of these before, but not enough to be able to play the game. Can we switch games?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3ffd2481e92b543c6272286998d772c4""I've got just the one." The next game I chose is called 'Ultra Dance Mania'. "EU Games created this one. There's a good mix of songs from around the wolrd in this one." We selected our avatars and a changlle mode. This time I had Lyla chose the song. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="32f1d60d5f5741cae06578780f9e2168"'Colorful Wave', the song title appeared on the screen. A low beat signaled the game's start. The first wave of commands came at a study pace. Lyla's body moved to the flow of the music. As the commands came increasingly faster, her eyes remained glued to the screen. Suddenly, the beat became icrattic. An unnatural rthym made predicting the path of the commands difficult./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="60d540b3b3e2779c0a15fe0814fd2389""Is it always that easy?" Lyla asked once the song ended. The screen revealed we'd passed the changelle with a B ranking. Not to bad, considering the difficult level of the song./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="560803b346a9dd090053a152a7cb9a2c""Easy?" While I'm gasping for breath, Lyla's breathing only slightly harder than normal. "Did you just say that was easy?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="60da60a3f68fb2ee87c70476a617b75a"She nodded, "Compared to the other game, this one's easier." She picked out another song. "What's Ultra mode?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7dc6217106b210e4ccd9f6408e59bc37"At some point, Pixxy made her way to the neck line of my jacket. She remained hidden under my hair since I'm wearing it down. "Looks like you've found the perfect game for her." The kwami whisphered into my ear. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d35c060de3b9964ccb79a5405787fc86""It's starting Emi!" Lyla bounced on her toes, appearing eager to continue playing./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c5f62923c68783595b11e1a1215e556e""I think I'll sit this one out." I paused the game to switch it back to one player. "I'm gonna head over to the electrions store." /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="ae865f0b05e6e5ffad8d8f2972273485""Mmh." Lyla replied. Her eyes are glued to the screen. Commands rapidly covered the screen, signaling to Lyla the game's start. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="496abbc760ac0deb3a1dd7a4fa8d0569"Leaving Lyla to her game, I left the store. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="87d4ae0bd32782157a20d574682fe230"***********************************************************************************************/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="13e80d262c15e8823532db109c8c4d5e""Are you going to ask Aira and Keyn for a new computer for your birthday?" Pixxy asked from under Emi's hair. She was glad Emi wore her hair down. It allowed Pixxy to be concealed, while still enjoying the sights. In the time she's been with Emi, Pixxy could only recall three other times Emi went to the mall. Each of those times where because someone else wanted to go./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="308705f3f5fea92ed7331ad8c0ee8e39""Aira just got me a new camara for Christmas. I think asking for a computer now would be to soon." Emi stopped outside of the electrions store to study the window display. "EU Games' newest gaming station is out!" What Emi really wanted was right before her. The gaming station was the ultimate setup for gamers. A comfortable chair that could be adjusted into different positions was connected to a desk with several built in shelves that could hold up to seven different systems. In the middle of the desk, an opening for a tv. "This station can hold more systems than the previous gaming stations! Plus there's a snack draw!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3a2e4eabc30e7eee0e9d6fd91d01754b"Pixxy brushed some of Emi hair to the side. "You don't even have many systems. What're you gonna use the extra space for?'/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c3e728f1a68898ee8b2394145d2033fa"Emi answered without hestation. "Photo ablums." /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="cb0ccbcfff63b388547659b506b4e385"The kwami giggled. "Between you and Calex, I think you're gonna need more room." She disappered beneath Emi's hair./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="600136d2a351a2b2a71a45f1c0910152"Emi made a mental note to discuss more storage options. Her collection of photos was starting to take up room in her closet. The boxes of photo ablums were beginning to hinder her morning routine. Maybe she could there were two other unused rooms on the third floor. Aira used one of the rooms for a home office and Emi's bedroom was the biggest room on the third floor. Other than Aira using the office, Emi had the third floor to herself. Something she, as Blue Jay, was thankful for. Emi rarely had to worry about one of her siblings over hearing her discussions with Pixxy or her returning home as Blue Jay./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="ecb7871b435631deafaf4f93f37282b9"Inside the electrions store, several TVs replayed footage from an akuma battle. Emi paid no mind to this, forcing more on shopping. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Why do I have such expensive hobbies?/em Between her parents and Aira, Emi had received several camaras over the years. She still used the older ones for fun, while her newer and more expensive ones were reserved for projects and jobs. These were the ones she used when working for Noble. Other than the new camaras, she'd been using Aira's old equipment. The quality of the photos weren't bad, but Emi knew she could produce better ones if she had new equipment. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="cbb9351136ead60eb6159e4db93284ee"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Would Aira buy this for my birthday present if I asked? /emEmi eyed the lense displayed behind a glass case. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"No, I already have some. /emShe moved away from the lenses towards the computers. As a video game creator, she was always on the look out for new updates and software. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"My current desktop should be good for another year. /emEmi paused by a gaming computer. She'd been wanting a new computer for two years, but hadn't asked for one. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I should've asked Gale to come. /emKeyn's college friend Gale was majoring in computer science. Emi went to him whenever her computers had issues or needed an upgrade. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"My skills truly do lay more in game creation than fixing computers./em Emi laughed to herself as she walked pass a computering building kit./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="33e547c7d2ffd3f7ab0669096ae5167c""You could as for more storage on your computer." Pixxy whisphered into Emi's ear. She was content sitting on Emi's shoulder and watching her surroundings. Hidding in clothing and bags was okay, but she wanted to explore the outside world. Not as much as a certain panda kwami would leaves his holder much to often. "Or separate on another system, if that's possblie." The world had changed alot since her last holder. Emi had helped her adapt, but there was still much to explore and learn about./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="8b40d3e34281a94a6f70deba44f6d470""That's a great idea Pixxy." Emi offered Pixxy a piece of the chocolate from her bag. "It's been difficult working on the updates because of the low amount of storage." First, she'd ahve to discuss with Gale what would be the best way to store extra data. She'd have to do it soon, otherwise Aira and Keyn would begin bugging her about what she wanted as a gift./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="760a0722f8e443044d3a7cc45880bae2""Emi?" At the sound of her name, Emi froze. The rest of her friends were busy, so only Lyla knew where she was. The voice was familiar, but Emi couldn't remember where she'd heard it from. "Emi." The voice sounded more confident./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="20d4a67f56a9f0b07e661eb8b28ca2f7"Emi fidgeted with her hair, completely cover her neck. Turning around, she saw a familiar blonde. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b7d4d75c5e3b73ee9495592584eb89dc"***********************************************************************************************/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f89ddbef985cc131945a9d1c0e053862""This was a bad idea Avery." Alexei whisphered from behind his menu. The resturtant was surpsingly empty for the lunch rush. Avery had chosen a place that was a ten mintue walk from Miracle Entertainment. Far enough so no one noticed they came from that building, but close enough to get back to in a hurry. "Can we just get our order to go?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b17a03b2b9f0f1a91f6340734ab02e29"Avery stared at Alexei, who was looking sheepish. "Relax A, everything's fine. Besides, you hiding behind a menu is having the opposite effect of what you want." He gestured to the table beside them where two small children were staring at Alexei. "Your gonna have to get use to this 'persona' and the attention that comes with it."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="adb794203afcfda0e58690e415c2ae4d"Realizing that he'd look ridiculous trying to eat in his current position, he placed the menu neatly on the table. "That's just it, I don't want to get to this." He took his irritation out on his potatoes. "I want to help, but from the background. There's a reason I don't do public appearances." After the workout they called 'dance pratice', Alexei had been craving food. If he'd known they'd been going out for lunch, he'd have suggested his classmate's family resturant. Illya's father worked as a chef for Calex's parents. This meant Alexei got to eat resturtant quailty food often. Always eating all that decilous food, he was surpised he hadn't gained any weight. All the more reason to skip the afternoon workout session./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="24bed0ad4d897e83d4878c8b0e2f47f0""You've shared this with me, I know you and Illya have discussed this, and you've even talked to Lilie about it." Avery pointed his fork at Alexei. "Ever thought of telling Liam this? He is your manager." He resumed eating, letting his words sink in./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a754de11adf1cba6444f5cacc445dba7"Alexei was quiet the remainder of the meal. He didn't want to think about this problem. There was no point in talking to Liam, the decision has been made. Whether he wanted to or not, Ace would be making his debut soon. br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /"Alexei." A tiny voice drew Alexei's attention to his lap. Popp had managed to sneak out of his jacket. Popp held up Alexei's cell phone. "Illya's been trying to contact you."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c2f33cd7a19743b31ee4a3c73215b649"Alexei took the phone to see several missed calls and texts from Illya./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1b9c8766fd25c1ca2bef9f7b3aa954ec"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Your probably still in pratice if your not answering./span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="478bfc17fddd0542a9c0b2ce7fb9ef7a"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"The party's been moved up by an hour. It'll start at one p.m../span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="eb0a04b9a8c42257bfc857937e285242"Alexei checked his watch, it was twelve ten in the afternoon. He had less than an hour to figure out how to sneak away from Avery./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a96e1eaed01806f7940cf35d4c9b89dd"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Where are you?/span This text came five mintues ago./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b21c6f27e9a4d08e4b6b35f064653b84"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"I'm at lunch with Avery./span Alexei glanced up to see Avery ask for the check. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"He's paying now. We'll be back at the office in about ten mintues./span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e071ce11bac8d6a3ab6fd084eeb831b6"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Perfect. /spanIllya's one worded reply made Alexei curious. What was his best friend planning?/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e8d20708b3fe7919385dc09a7e4a22bd""Ready?" Avery's question startled Alexei./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="01822a3360b8f73b825543864467edc7""Yup." Quickly putting his cell away, Alexei also made sure Popp was inside his jacket. The tiny panda was in middle of munching on a tea leaf when he waved to Alexei. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="4cb1cb9b9d9bcee891f3517a4d439050""Great! Let's head back." Avery lead them out of the resturtant and back towards Mircale Entertainment. He checked his watch and noted the time, twelve fifteen. They were behind schulde by fifteen mintues. "We've got no time to waste. Once we get back, change and head straight for your workout." Avery ordered. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="86c6d46b65f98e951f509e8cb9c8d205"Alexei wasn't looking forward to a workout in his full Ace disguise. He'd have to have to resume his Ace persona. The persona wasn't to different from his normal self. In fact, Liam suggested against it. Nobles' personas needed to be different enough for people not to recongize them in their everyday lives. But not so different that it caused inconsists. Something Alexei was having differculty with. He wasn't sure how to present himself. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Everyone has their own ideal verison of Ace. How can I live up to that?/em Hearing his classmates and strangers discussing Noble could be a double edged sword. On the one hand, he enjoyed listening to people's opinions about Noble and their music. However, this also meant he heard everyone's different opinion about Ace. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Which Ace am I? The ones the fans want or the one I want?/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="dbb28a01475159206b87c11d797781b0""You've gotta be kidding me." Avery's groan drew Alexei away from his throughts. He stepped around Avery to see why they'd stopped. The enterance to Mircale Entertainment was blocked by a huge crowd. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1a714a2297d5675b5005305bce22a40d""Is that Jagged Stone and Royal?" Alexei started walking towards the building./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c097afd5722e310c910781973255fd39""Wait." Avery called to Alexei. "Let me find out what's going on." He pulled out his cell to find an email from Liam. 'A late mintue autograph signing has been set up in front of Mircale Entertainment.' Avery read the email out for Alexei to hear. 'Knight was unable and with Ace not having debuted yet, Royal was the only one available.'/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="ea95eac9373f73800db663418df080e2"Alexei peeked over Avery's shoulder to reread the email. "Looks like we're not getting into the building anytime soon." He said happily. "Guess we'll have to cancel the workout session."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="640b8434383bc7bc513c0738086a61b5"Avery shook his head, "There's more than one enterance into the building." He pulled out his staff badge. "Around back there's another enterance for staff only."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a1d0f07c8defb100776472847ea1166d"Alexei groaned, "How are you always so prepared?" He resist the urge to pull out his cell and text Illya. They both knew that Avery was a differcult person to fool. He hoped Illya had a backup plan. Or else, Alexei would be spending the afternoon sweating, instead of celebrating Emi's birthday./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="deaf29d8c5d0f0581c47a98c3b981641"Illya strolled over from the crowd. "Hey guys." He waved./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="0c023c2f724f110617b3fcff8a2a0b70"Avery glanced from Illya to Avery and back to Illya. Illya rarely came to the office on his days off, even when Alexei had meetings or worked in the studio. "What did you do?" Seeing Illya and the crowd around Miracle Entertainment, made Avery suspicious./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="097b3ba02ba5b5d64865317b4a3e8c08"Illya scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry Avery." He moved to stand by Illya. "WOW IT'S KNIGHT AND ACE!" Illya shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING ACROSS THE STREET FROM MIRCALE ENTERTAINMENT!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e83d9b96bfe4de91ce4204dce17031fd"It took Avery and Alexei a moment to realize what Illya did. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3477e59ba125f10c4ef0f913f8e576d9"The crowds attention was no longer solely on Jagged Stone and Royal. Part of the crowd began to stampede towards the three's location. Aware of what he'd done, Illya grabbed Alexei. Pulling his best friend, the two started away from the apporaching crowd. Avery tried to follow after the two, but was swarmed by Noble fans. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7d5ad60cb35ac614ae36c91d34077175""Ace, get back here!" Avery called, than cringed when he realized his mistake. The crowds' attention reforced in the direction of two retreating figures./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a049cb02f22e5a74c8aee3f9ba7eeed6"Illya glanced behind them to see part of the crowd now appoarching them. "This is going how I planned." He sighed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3d048674af3377c318da53188693af03""Unless you've got a plan Q, we're gonna be caught." Alexei knew he should've insisted on having lunch in the office. Lilie designed their Noble disguises to stand out, while drawing attention away from their face. While no one knew what Ace looked like, fans would recognize the similair style of Alexei's outfit./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="eba7cf8be333490de7196da565751a08"Illya dashed around a corner, than continued for another block. "I'll meet you at the party later." He pushed Alexei into an alley, than doubled back towards the crowd. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"The one time I wish I was Knight. That would've help made it easier to draw their attention. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a5c989467fd84a9a93d04806eb79cc35"***********************************************************************************************/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d4cf40c81e01458b9c27001072aa7342""Alright! Bouns points!" Lyla finished another round of 'Ultra Dance Mania'., when her cell rang. Pausing the game she answered. "Hey, Sylive."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="47ecd3a1edcdac489bc1104d6506b44c""Lyla, the party had to be moved up. We're starting at one p.m.." Sylive said. "Where are you and Emi?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="be91806bb8b15197d9b9b22704037e7e""We're in the ma-" Now that she wasn't playing the game, Lyla became aware of her surroundings. Surroundings that didn't include Emi. "Ummm..."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b04a372bd1ede501de990f841fe4580f"Sylive sighed, "You lose her, didn't you?" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="14c5f9197c51d4bf91f21883ce0f77be""Not expectly." Lyla drew out the words, trying to rememeber where Emi said she was going. "She told me where she was going, I just can't remember where that is."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b1f10927ebbc11a6e40963ec715ad4de"Sylive moved away from the others, not wanting Calex to overhear the converastion. "You've got less than an hour to find her before the party starts." She looked back to make sure Calex wasn't near. He was already fretting over the party. No need to add to his stress. "I'll make sure Calex doesn't find out. Call me once you've found her."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9d23d1b84e0bfafc459e315cbddb80a0""Don't worry, I'll make sure she arrives on time." Hanging up, Lyla went to search the store. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d38d91c6e45abc4bd90636c0712471a0"Over at the party, Sylive looked at her cell and sighed. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Lyla's not going to be able to find Emi on her own. /emShe glanced at the style="box-sizing: border-box;" Especially on a nice day like this. She's probably left the mall to take photos outside./em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3fcdfe7402a12fc3c14b1d149192fef6""Sylive, what's wrong?" Floral was helping Ania carry some boxes over from the resturtant. She stopped when she saw Sylive's concerned expression./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="bdc18d37aafee41eb3093971a63a1991""Don't tell Calex, but Lyla lost Emi." She explained./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="be3fc644bc2a4a95ddc9e01a5af5273f"Ania laughed. "That's not surpising. Emi tends to wonder off when she finds something to photograph." She couldn't count the number of times they've returned from the park, only to discover Emi wasn't with them. Back tracking to the last place they saw her usually revealed Emi in the middle of taking photos. "Calex won't be happy."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7bbf91de85d24a3a45a11679cc098ed9""Hence, why I said not to tell him." Sylive gestured to Calex who was discussing something with Sayri. "He's got enough to worry about. Our main problem now is finding Emi and bring her here in time, without letting her know about the party."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="135d33717354dc1178196958458c427d""Well, none of us can go looking for her." Ania announced. "She knows we're all busy todau."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="0eb9adf6b9648e3f61e9d8cabd062f74""Aero, Mason, and Devin are gonna be here soon as well." Sylive added. "Along with Illya. Alexei's probably not going to be able to make it reguardless. I think he's already got something planned."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f59a28e901440a691fdff71caeb55bc5"Floral thought for a moment, making a mental list of everyone they'd invited. "There's Issac and everyone from Alya's class."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="01aa5d84fdc3a10e5fb4fe155abc91d5""Minus Chole, Sabrina, and that brat Zoey." Ania didn't want them ruining the party. They'd spent to much time and effort to make Emi's birthday special./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2fffe99b2935c6859e22e99a39a2f26d""I'll send out the alert." em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Let the city wide Emi search begin./em Sylive created a group chat for everyone back Calex and Emi. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Hey guys, Emi's wondered off. We need your help finding her before the party./span She typed, than added. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aero, Mason, Devin, and Illya come help set up as planned. Emi will be suspicious if any of us show up. She know's that we're all 'busy', exepect for Issac. Issac, you help aid in the search./span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="878ac2c0cea41a4e2d03cc331c5bb3d6"Closing her cell, Sylive sighed. She really didn't want to begin a city wide search for Emi. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3b37f357f511e57987a921448d615c1a""What about this one Emi?" Lyla asked, holding a copy of Ultimate Mecha Strike III. "Aero suggested this. I think it's called Mega Strike."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="01ba30ae37b13c192140b52946c6e697"Resisiting the urge to roll my eyes, I took the game and placed it back on the display. "First, it's called 'Ultimate Mecha Strike III'. Second, Aero is both great at suggesting games and completely awful at it." I gestured to the display of games. "Yes, Ultimate Mecha Strike III is a awesome game. However, if your not into fighting or mecha games, it isn't for you." I grabbed a random game. "You should look at the game's cover to learn more about it and even look it up if your still unsure about it. This," I waved the game. "is a tactical rpg. Do I like them, kind of. Will I play them, only if some lets me borrow it. I don't enjoy them enough to warrant spending money on them."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c7b6d3643e8ba9f36c9aec36c25c0717""What's tactical rpg?" Lyla tiled her head and asked. "I know that rpg stands for 'role playing game'."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="40360bfa32cd678c9c59acf3dc0465fd"Pixxy giggled from inside my jacket. She's been doing that alot today. When Aira said 'someone' would be over, I expected it to be Devin or Sylive. Than I remembered, Sylive's been working on something with Calex and Devin's younger sister Rilie just moved back, so he'll be spending time with her. Floral was my next guess, other than that, no one else really comes to my place. Image my shock when Lyla knocked on the door. Not only she is not suppose to know where I live, but I've barely spoken to her at school, let alone outside of it. One of my bone headed friends must've asked her to hang out with me today. For some reason, everyone seems to think I shouldn't be left alone on my birthday. Would I prefer not to spend it alone? Yes. Do I want to spend it with someone I barely know as not to be alone? No./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="20c429bf0f6955f4f26fd498687550da""Nevermind." I placed the game back, than crossed my arms. "Tell me what interests you, we'll go from there." I can count on one han what I know about Lyla. She transferred into our class in the middle of the school year and she's lived in different places because of her parents' jobs. Now, just because she's traveled alot, doesn't mean she enjoy's it as much as her parents. But it also doesn't mean that she dislikes it either./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c0b41b36defd93a1e61debbdb33bd3cd"Lyla was quiet for a moment, than smiled. "I love Noble's music, well Ace's music." /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c4c818053abd2cc51a6f1a6afa045883"Expecting her to add more, I waited before giving a reply. Instead, she watched me with a smile. "Do you also like singing and dancing?" There are plenty of rythm games. Maybe she'll like one of them./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3efc24bd0b94e5240b78f8af1d9ab69b"Lyla fidget with her hands, than looked at the floor. "Mostly singing." A bright red blush covered her face. "I also enjoy gardening." She quickly added./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a98311956cad471936243059f17e37e2""There aren't many games that are sololy about gardening. But we've got alot of rythm and music games to chose from." I led her further into the gaming section. Back here, there's a testing area. Several games had been preloaded into various systems for customers to try before buying. One of them was a dancing station. Two mats were connected to a _. On the tv, two avatars danced on the preview screen./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c1a7fbb2848cc947f85597cb6c18eedf"I gestured for Lyla to step on the mat. "We can sample some games before buying them." I switched the game to a well known one. The title 'Mega Dance' appeared. Switching the game to two player, I brought up te character selection menus. "Pick a character."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e2cb6f89d5dacbf0c8f841d8716a5533"Lyla flipped through the small list of unlocked characters, selecting a female dressed as a dj. "Ready, now what?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e865a54af4f5dbb4b10ff637255a58c0""Now we dance." I quickly explained how the game works. The first round didn't even last two mintues. Lyla couldn't keep up with the rapid arrows and combie commands on the screen. Since we were playing a dual game, my stats alone weren't enough to keep going. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1e6f69ec6506fefda827b218c129db84""Can I pick the next song?" Lyla asked. "I haven't heard that song before. I think that's why I couldn't get into the beat."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2b81c1e1ff295603ef2d21f7028b773d""This one has alot of international songs." She doesn't seem to dislike these types of games. But they can be differcult to play if you don't know the song or can't get into the rythm. "Do you wanna try a game that has more local songs?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="62764f370eb7ef46b02ac43a59fb1cf6"Lyla scrolled through the song list, listening to the samples played. "I've heard a few of these before, but not enough to be able to play the game. Can we switch games?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3ffd2481e92b543c6272286998d772c4""I've got just the one." The next game I chose is called 'Ultra Dance Mania'. "EU Games created this one. There's a good mix of songs from around the wolrd in this one." We selected our avatars and a changlle mode. This time I had Lyla chose the song. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="32f1d60d5f5741cae06578780f9e2168"'Colorful Wave', the song title appeared on the screen. A low beat signaled the game's start. The first wave of commands came at a study pace. Lyla's body moved to the flow of the music. As the commands came increasingly faster, her eyes remained glued to the screen. Suddenly, the beat became icrattic. An unnatural rthym made predicting the path of the commands difficult./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="60d540b3b3e2779c0a15fe0814fd2389""Is it always that easy?" Lyla asked once the song ended. The screen revealed we'd passed the changelle with a B ranking. Not to bad, considering the difficult level of the song./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="560803b346a9dd090053a152a7cb9a2c""Easy?" While I'm gasping for breath, Lyla's breathing only slightly harder than normal. "Did you just say that was easy?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="60da60a3f68fb2ee87c70476a617b75a"She nodded, "Compared to the other game, this one's easier." She picked out another song. "What's Ultra mode?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7dc6217106b210e4ccd9f6408e59bc37"At some point, Pixxy made her way to the neck line of my jacket. She remained hidden under my hair since I'm wearing it down. "Looks like you've found the perfect game for her." The kwami whisphered into my ear. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d35c060de3b9964ccb79a5405787fc86""It's starting Emi!" Lyla bounced on her toes, appearing eager to continue playing./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c5f62923c68783595b11e1a1215e556e""I think I'll sit this one out." I paused the game to switch it back to one player. "I'm gonna head over to the electrions store." /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="ae865f0b05e6e5ffad8d8f2972273485""Mmh." Lyla replied. Her eyes are glued to the screen. Commands rapidly covered the screen, signaling to Lyla the game's start. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="496abbc760ac0deb3a1dd7a4fa8d0569"Leaving Lyla to her game, I left the store. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="87d4ae0bd32782157a20d574682fe230"***********************************************************************************************/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="13e80d262c15e8823532db109c8c4d5e""Are you going to ask Aira and Keyn for a new computer for your birthday?" Pixxy asked from under Emi's hair. She was glad Emi wore her hair down. It allowed Pixxy to be concealed, while still enjoying the sights. In the time she's been with Emi, Pixxy could only recall three other times Emi went to the mall. Each of those times where because someone else wanted to go./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="308705f3f5fea92ed7331ad8c0ee8e39""Aira just got me a new camara for Christmas. I think asking for a computer now would be to soon." Emi stopped outside of the electrions store to study the window display. "EU Games' newest gaming station is out!" What Emi really wanted was right before her. The gaming station was the ultimate setup for gamers. A comfortable chair that could be adjusted into different positions was connected to a desk with several built in shelves that could hold up to seven different systems. In the middle of the desk, an opening for a tv. "This station can hold more systems than the previous gaming stations! Plus there's a snack draw!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3a2e4eabc30e7eee0e9d6fd91d01754b"Pixxy brushed some of Emi hair to the side. "You don't even have many systems. What're you gonna use the extra space for?'/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c3e728f1a68898ee8b2394145d2033fa"Emi answered without hestation. "Photo ablums." /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="cb0ccbcfff63b388547659b506b4e385"The kwami giggled. "Between you and Calex, I think you're gonna need more room." She disappered beneath Emi's hair./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="600136d2a351a2b2a71a45f1c0910152"Emi made a mental note to discuss more storage options. Her collection of photos was starting to take up room in her closet. The boxes of photo ablums were beginning to hinder her morning routine. Maybe she could there were two other unused rooms on the third floor. Aira used one of the rooms for a home office and Emi's bedroom was the biggest room on the third floor. Other than Aira using the office, Emi had the third floor to herself. Something she, as Blue Jay, was thankful for. Emi rarely had to worry about one of her siblings over hearing her discussions with Pixxy or her returning home as Blue Jay./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="ecb7871b435631deafaf4f93f37282b9"Inside the electrions store, several TVs replayed footage from an akuma battle. Emi paid no mind to this, forcing more on shopping. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Why do I have such expensive hobbies?/em Between her parents and Aira, Emi had received several camaras over the years. She still used the older ones for fun, while her newer and more expensive ones were reserved for projects and jobs. These were the ones she used when working for Noble. Other than the new camaras, she'd been using Aira's old equipment. The quality of the photos weren't bad, but Emi knew she could produce better ones if she had new equipment. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="cbb9351136ead60eb6159e4db93284ee"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Would Aira buy this for my birthday present if I asked? /emEmi eyed the lense displayed behind a glass case. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"No, I already have some. /emShe moved away from the lenses towards the computers. As a video game creator, she was always on the look out for new updates and software. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"My current desktop should be good for another year. /emEmi paused by a gaming computer. She'd been wanting a new computer for two years, but hadn't asked for one. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I should've asked Gale to come. /emKeyn's college friend Gale was majoring in computer science. Emi went to him whenever her computers had issues or needed an upgrade. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"My skills truly do lay more in game creation than fixing computers./em Emi laughed to herself as she walked pass a computering building kit./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="33e547c7d2ffd3f7ab0669096ae5167c""You could as for more storage on your computer." Pixxy whisphered into Emi's ear. She was content sitting on Emi's shoulder and watching her surroundings. Hidding in clothing and bags was okay, but she wanted to explore the outside world. Not as much as a certain panda kwami would leaves his holder much to often. "Or separate on another system, if that's possblie." The world had changed alot since her last holder. Emi had helped her adapt, but there was still much to explore and learn about./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="8b40d3e34281a94a6f70deba44f6d470""That's a great idea Pixxy." Emi offered Pixxy a piece of the chocolate from her bag. "It's been difficult working on the updates because of the low amount of storage." First, she'd ahve to discuss with Gale what would be the best way to store extra data. She'd have to do it soon, otherwise Aira and Keyn would begin bugging her about what she wanted as a gift./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="760a0722f8e443044d3a7cc45880bae2""Emi?" At the sound of her name, Emi froze. The rest of her friends were busy, so only Lyla knew where she was. The voice was familiar, but Emi couldn't remember where she'd heard it from. "Emi." The voice sounded more confident./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="20d4a67f56a9f0b07e661eb8b28ca2f7"Emi fidgeted with her hair, completely cover her neck. Turning around, she saw a familiar blonde. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b7d4d75c5e3b73ee9495592584eb89dc"***********************************************************************************************/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f89ddbef985cc131945a9d1c0e053862""This was a bad idea Avery." Alexei whisphered from behind his menu. The resturtant was surpsingly empty for the lunch rush. Avery had chosen a place that was a ten mintue walk from Miracle Entertainment. Far enough so no one noticed they came from that building, but close enough to get back to in a hurry. "Can we just get our order to go?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b17a03b2b9f0f1a91f6340734ab02e29"Avery stared at Alexei, who was looking sheepish. "Relax A, everything's fine. Besides, you hiding behind a menu is having the opposite effect of what you want." He gestured to the table beside them where two small children were staring at Alexei. "Your gonna have to get use to this 'persona' and the attention that comes with it."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="adb794203afcfda0e58690e415c2ae4d"Realizing that he'd look ridiculous trying to eat in his current position, he placed the menu neatly on the table. "That's just it, I don't want to get to this." He took his irritation out on his potatoes. "I want to help, but from the background. There's a reason I don't do public appearances." After the workout they called 'dance pratice', Alexei had been craving food. If he'd known they'd been going out for lunch, he'd have suggested his classmate's family resturant. Illya's father worked as a chef for Calex's parents. This meant Alexei got to eat resturtant quailty food often. Always eating all that decilous food, he was surpised he hadn't gained any weight. All the more reason to skip the afternoon workout session./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="24bed0ad4d897e83d4878c8b0e2f47f0""You've shared this with me, I know you and Illya have discussed this, and you've even talked to Lilie about it." Avery pointed his fork at Alexei. "Ever thought of telling Liam this? He is your manager." He resumed eating, letting his words sink in./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a754de11adf1cba6444f5cacc445dba7"Alexei was quiet the remainder of the meal. He didn't want to think about this problem. There was no point in talking to Liam, the decision has been made. Whether he wanted to or not, Ace would be making his debut soon. br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /"Alexei." A tiny voice drew Alexei's attention to his lap. Popp had managed to sneak out of his jacket. Popp held up Alexei's cell phone. "Illya's been trying to contact you."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c2f33cd7a19743b31ee4a3c73215b649"Alexei took the phone to see several missed calls and texts from Illya./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1b9c8766fd25c1ca2bef9f7b3aa954ec"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Your probably still in pratice if your not answering./span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="478bfc17fddd0542a9c0b2ce7fb9ef7a"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"The party's been moved up by an hour. It'll start at one p.m../span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="eb0a04b9a8c42257bfc857937e285242"Alexei checked his watch, it was twelve ten in the afternoon. He had less than an hour to figure out how to sneak away from Avery./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a96e1eaed01806f7940cf35d4c9b89dd"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Where are you?/span This text came five mintues ago./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b21c6f27e9a4d08e4b6b35f064653b84"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"I'm at lunch with Avery./span Alexei glanced up to see Avery ask for the check. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"He's paying now. We'll be back at the office in about ten mintues./span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e071ce11bac8d6a3ab6fd084eeb831b6"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Perfect. /spanIllya's one worded reply made Alexei curious. What was his best friend planning?/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e8d20708b3fe7919385dc09a7e4a22bd""Ready?" Avery's question startled Alexei./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="01822a3360b8f73b825543864467edc7""Yup." Quickly putting his cell away, Alexei also made sure Popp was inside his jacket. The tiny panda was in middle of munching on a tea leaf when he waved to Alexei. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="4cb1cb9b9d9bcee891f3517a4d439050""Great! Let's head back." Avery lead them out of the resturtant and back towards Mircale Entertainment. He checked his watch and noted the time, twelve fifteen. They were behind schulde by fifteen mintues. "We've got no time to waste. Once we get back, change and head straight for your workout." Avery ordered. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="86c6d46b65f98e951f509e8cb9c8d205"Alexei wasn't looking forward to a workout in his full Ace disguise. He'd have to have to resume his Ace persona. The persona wasn't to different from his normal self. In fact, Liam suggested against it. Nobles' personas needed to be different enough for people not to recongize them in their everyday lives. But not so different that it caused inconsists. Something Alexei was having differculty with. He wasn't sure how to present himself. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Everyone has their own ideal verison of Ace. How can I live up to that?/em Hearing his classmates and strangers discussing Noble could be a double edged sword. On the one hand, he enjoyed listening to people's opinions about Noble and their music. However, this also meant he heard everyone's different opinion about Ace. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Which Ace am I? The ones the fans want or the one I want?/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="dbb28a01475159206b87c11d797781b0""You've gotta be kidding me." Avery's groan drew Alexei away from his throughts. He stepped around Avery to see why they'd stopped. The enterance to Mircale Entertainment was blocked by a huge crowd. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1a714a2297d5675b5005305bce22a40d""Is that Jagged Stone and Royal?" Alexei started walking towards the building./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c097afd5722e310c910781973255fd39""Wait." Avery called to Alexei. "Let me find out what's going on." He pulled out his cell to find an email from Liam. 'A late mintue autograph signing has been set up in front of Mircale Entertainment.' Avery read the email out for Alexei to hear. 'Knight was unable and with Ace not having debuted yet, Royal was the only one available.'/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="ea95eac9373f73800db663418df080e2"Alexei peeked over Avery's shoulder to reread the email. "Looks like we're not getting into the building anytime soon." He said happily. "Guess we'll have to cancel the workout session."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="640b8434383bc7bc513c0738086a61b5"Avery shook his head, "There's more than one enterance into the building." He pulled out his staff badge. "Around back there's another enterance for staff only."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a1d0f07c8defb100776472847ea1166d"Alexei groaned, "How are you always so prepared?" He resist the urge to pull out his cell and text Illya. They both knew that Avery was a differcult person to fool. He hoped Illya had a backup plan. Or else, Alexei would be spending the afternoon sweating, instead of celebrating Emi's birthday./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="deaf29d8c5d0f0581c47a98c3b981641"Illya strolled over from the crowd. "Hey guys." He waved./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="0c023c2f724f110617b3fcff8a2a0b70"Avery glanced from Illya to Avery and back to Illya. Illya rarely came to the office on his days off, even when Alexei had meetings or worked in the studio. "What did you do?" Seeing Illya and the crowd around Miracle Entertainment, made Avery suspicious./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="097b3ba02ba5b5d64865317b4a3e8c08"Illya scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry Avery." He moved to stand by Illya. "WOW IT'S KNIGHT AND ACE!" Illya shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING ACROSS THE STREET FROM MIRCALE ENTERTAINMENT!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e83d9b96bfe4de91ce4204dce17031fd"It took Avery and Alexei a moment to realize what Illya did. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3477e59ba125f10c4ef0f913f8e576d9"The crowds attention was no longer solely on Jagged Stone and Royal. Part of the crowd began to stampede towards the three's location. Aware of what he'd done, Illya grabbed Alexei. Pulling his best friend, the two started away from the apporaching crowd. Avery tried to follow after the two, but was swarmed by Noble fans. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7d5ad60cb35ac614ae36c91d34077175""Ace, get back here!" Avery called, than cringed when he realized his mistake. The crowds' attention reforced in the direction of two retreating figures./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a049cb02f22e5a74c8aee3f9ba7eeed6"Illya glanced behind them to see part of the crowd now appoarching them. "This is going how I planned." He sighed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3d048674af3377c318da53188693af03""Unless you've got a plan Q, we're gonna be caught." Alexei knew he should've insisted on having lunch in the office. Lilie designed their Noble disguises to stand out, while drawing attention away from their face. While no one knew what Ace looked like, fans would recognize the similair style of Alexei's outfit./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="eba7cf8be333490de7196da565751a08"Illya dashed around a corner, than continued for another block. "I'll meet you at the party later." He pushed Alexei into an alley, than doubled back towards the crowd. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"The one time I wish I was Knight. That would've help made it easier to draw their attention. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a5c989467fd84a9a93d04806eb79cc35"***********************************************************************************************/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d4cf40c81e01458b9c27001072aa7342""Alright! Bouns points!" Lyla finished another round of 'Ultra Dance Mania'., when her cell rang. Pausing the game she answered. "Hey, Sylive."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="47ecd3a1edcdac489bc1104d6506b44c""Lyla, the party had to be moved up. We're starting at one p.m.." Sylive said. "Where are you and Emi?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="be91806bb8b15197d9b9b22704037e7e""We're in the ma-" Now that she wasn't playing the game, Lyla became aware of her surroundings. Surroundings that didn't include Emi. "Ummm..."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b04a372bd1ede501de990f841fe4580f"Sylive sighed, "You lose her, didn't you?" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="14c5f9197c51d4bf91f21883ce0f77be""Not expectly." Lyla drew out the words, trying to rememeber where Emi said she was going. "She told me where she was going, I just can't remember where that is."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b1f10927ebbc11a6e40963ec715ad4de"Sylive moved away from the others, not wanting Calex to overhear the converastion. "You've got less than an hour to find her before the party starts." She looked back to make sure Calex wasn't near. He was already fretting over the party. No need to add to his stress. "I'll make sure Calex doesn't find out. Call me once you've found her."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9d23d1b84e0bfafc459e315cbddb80a0""Don't worry, I'll make sure she arrives on time." Hanging up, Lyla went to search the store. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d38d91c6e45abc4bd90636c0712471a0"Over at the party, Sylive looked at her cell and sighed. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Lyla's not going to be able to find Emi on her own. /emShe glanced at the style="box-sizing: border-box;" Especially on a nice day like this. She's probably left the mall to take photos outside./em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3fcdfe7402a12fc3c14b1d149192fef6""Sylive, what's wrong?" Floral was helping Ania carry some boxes over from the resturtant. She stopped when she saw Sylive's concerned expression./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="bdc18d37aafee41eb3093971a63a1991""Don't tell Calex, but Lyla lost Emi." She explained./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="be3fc644bc2a4a95ddc9e01a5af5273f"Ania laughed. "That's not surpising. Emi tends to wonder off when she finds something to photograph." She couldn't count the number of times they've returned from the park, only to discover Emi wasn't with them. Back tracking to the last place they saw her usually revealed Emi in the middle of taking photos. "Calex won't be happy."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7bbf91de85d24a3a45a11679cc098ed9""Hence, why I said not to tell him." Sylive gestured to Calex who was discussing something with Sayri. "He's got enough to worry about. Our main problem now is finding Emi and bring her here in time, without letting her know about the party."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="135d33717354dc1178196958458c427d""Well, none of us can go looking for her." Ania announced. "She knows we're all busy todau."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="0eb9adf6b9648e3f61e9d8cabd062f74""Aero, Mason, and Devin are gonna be here soon as well." Sylive added. "Along with Illya. Alexei's probably not going to be able to make it reguardless. I think he's already got something planned."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f59a28e901440a691fdff71caeb55bc5"Floral thought for a moment, making a mental list of everyone they'd invited. "There's Issac and everyone from Alya's class."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="01aa5d84fdc3a10e5fb4fe155abc91d5""Minus Chole, Sabrina, and that brat Zoey." Ania didn't want them ruining the party. They'd spent to much time and effort to make Emi's birthday special./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2fffe99b2935c6859e22e99a39a2f26d""I'll send out the alert." em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Let the city wide Emi search begin./em Sylive created a group chat for everyone back Calex and Emi. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Hey guys, Emi's wondered off. We need your help finding her before the party./span She typed, than added. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aero, Mason, Devin, and Illya come help set up as planned. Emi will be suspicious if any of us show up. She know's that we're all 'busy', exepect for Issac. Issac, you help aid in the search./span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="878ac2c0cea41a4e2d03cc331c5bb3d6"Closing her cell, Sylive sighed. She really didn't want to begin a city wide search for Emi. /p