"That was exhausting…" Arle said to herself while holding her hand over a nasty bruise. "Why do my friends also have to be my enemies?"
"Gu gugu, gu. Gu gugu gu."
"You're right, we're almost there."
It's been a long road but the Dark Prince's tower was finally in front of her. Arle took it easy, just casually walking the front gate.
It's never as easy as that, is it? "Stop right there!"
"You." Arle said coldly. She didn't need to look, she knew exactly who got her blood boiling. This time she wouldn't be able to hide her anger against her. Everything went so well so far…
"I don't have time for this, scram." Arle told off her doppelgänger.
"Well, too bad. If you didn't lock me up in a box and take my life and Carby away you wouldn't have to deal with me now. We could've talked things out…"
"Gu? Gugugu gugugu?"
"Don't listen Carby. The faker's playing mind games with you!"
"No, I'm not!" The doppelgänger bursted out, her voice cracking. Doppelganger Arle got on her knees. "You gotta believe me, Carby. It's really me." Her nose got a bit runny.
Carbuncle wasn't so sure. He did take some steps toward the kneeled one.
"No, Carby, don't leave me!" Arle yelled. Carbuncle got scared and he hid behind Doppelganger Arle. "Mrgrgr! Fine I'll show you fakey-fake, that I'M THE REAL ARLE!" Arle then challenged her blue-clad clone to Puyo Puyo!
Chapter 12: Volleybawl
It's beach time! All of the Primp Magic School students were there. Swimming, playing ball, sand castles, collecting seashells and relaxing. Sil wanted it to take easy, she didn't get enough sleep again. And the Ocean Shrimp took Sig again, so following him meandering around is out of the question. She lay in a foldable beach bed, wearing some sunglasses, underneath the nice shade of a parasol.
"Aren't you going to join in, Miss Silvana?" Sil did not move.
"I'd like to, but I fear the water might tear off my mask."
"What about volleyball?"
"Maybe later."
"Okay. I really like your shirt." The imp referred to Sil's buttoned-up light blue Hawaiian shirt with four-leaf clovers and red flowers. But that's all the clothing I'm describing for this chapter, because frankly, I feel uncomfortable describing swimwear, for any age group.
"Thanks, I guess."
"Your taste in clothing is wretched as ever, Miss Lidelle." Raffine commented as she walked by. Sil didn't listen. Raffine and Lidelle kept talking, they may have Puyo'd.
The lack of sleep caught up to Sil, she wasn't sure how much she lost to begin with. 'I'd better not doze off. People might tug off my mask. Why are school trips to fun places mandatory?'
"Hey, Sil!"
"HWAAH!" Sil jumped out of her seat, Amitie jumped a bit too. Checking her face, Silvana found the mask was still there. Judging by the sun she guessed she slept for an hour. "D-Did someone look at my face?"
"Dunno. I didn't even know you were asleep."
"…What do you want, Am?"
"Well, you see, I was taking a break from swimming, when I reached for the beach I tripped over a pretty seashell, so I went seashell collecting. Then tripped over this pretty purple pearl buried in the sand." Amitie signaled that it was one and a half centimeters smaller than a bowling ball. "But then it got everyone's attention, and then Raffine wanted it, and then Klug, his Oceanness wanted it too. And now there's a volleyball tournament fighting over it."
'There is never a dull moment in Primp, huh.' "So? What was your question?"
"I need a volleyball partner!" Sil took her sunglasses off and started twirling with her hand.
"But what if I wanted the pearl for myself?"
"Um… We Puyo over it?"
"Fufufufu, I don't need it. It sounds like an Amethyst Pearl. I found a cave full of them when I was a kid back in my world. I still have some at home."
"Get real, really?"
"I am real. They look nice and are mine. But you can have one."
"I wanna get back my Pearl."
"I'll hel- Is Sig competing?"
"Yeah."
"Is Sig taken?"
"Teams were chosen ten minutes ago. You slept through it."
"I'll help. It'll help me keep awake."
"Wicked! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"Don't mention it. Not so loudly, anyway."
Sil winched.
*Volleyball Tournament*
The Ocean Prince's butler, Otomo, was on the edge of his seat. The game hasn't even started yet. Popoi was next to him relaxing.
The first game was Team Amitie VS Team Prince. The latter consisted of the Ocean Prince and Sig. "What did the Shrimp offer to pay you this time?" Sil ignored the protests of the fish and his butler of her calling him a shrimp.
"I'll get longer naps." Sig smiled.
"You've got to be kidding…" Sil silently muttered.
Silvana and Sig were evenly matched. Because Sil is tired, and Sig is Sig.
The Prince is a formidable opponent, he volleyed and spiked like nobody else. His downside is the lack of reach. He tired himself out little by little waddling about.
Amitie was really good at this, barely missing a beat. Of course, her clumsiness showed but didn't hinder her at all. If anything it helped them win.
The score was 2-1 in favor of Team Amitie.
"How could I have lost? I really would've liked a third Amethyst Pearl one to add to my marvelous collection!"
"Let me take you to bed, you need to rest, my sweet prince!" The Prince hightailed it out of here, as his butler gave chase.
The next match was against Team No Name (Raffine and Klug) VS Team Waltz (Lidelle and Ms. Accord). Team No Name lost. "Mrrrrrgh! This is your fault that I won't have that pearl!"
"It's not just your loss!" Klug was out of breath. "I wanted to study it thoroughly! The fault is clearly your's and Lidelle's. And of course, Ms. Accord is just phenomenally good at this game!"
"I highly doubt that you have too much muscle in your brain! You need to sport more!" They Puyo'd.
"I hope we win so we can donate it to the museum." Lidelle told herself.
Team Amitie VS Team Waltz.
"I must warn you kiddies. When I was your age I was known for my volleyball." Ms. Accord let her opponents know.
Team Amitie gulped. Both Ms. Accord and Lidelle trashed Team No Name with 4-0. This did not bode well.
Turns out they were completely right. 3-1. I blame it on Sil being tired. Or Ms. Accord and Lidelle were just that good.
Team Waltz cheered amongst themselves. "Good job, Miss Lidelle. Once I'm done with a pearl for a small experiment. Then we'll donate it." Lidelle nodded.
"Aw, Phooey." Amitie was dejected. She did recall something earlier today as she looked at her partner. "Can I have one of yours, Sil?"
"*Yaaawn*" "No." Silvana replied as blunt as possible.
"C'mon why not? You said I could have one."
"Did you see… how badly everyone wanted it, Am?" Amitie nodded.
"Don't think it'll end *Yawn* well for me. If they knew."
"I won't tell anybody."
"No."
"Oh, okay…"
"May I go home, Ms. Accord?" "Hmm… Very well Miss Silvana. Get some rest." "And go to bed early." Popoi belatedly followed up. He couldn't shoehorn a pun in. "I ALWAYS GO TO BED EARLY!" The sleep-deprived clown yelled.
*Later that night, at the Museum Library*
"Hmm…" Ms. Accord searched through an encyclopedia for the entry on Amethyst Pearls. "Ah, here it is. 'A source of fuel for ancient magical artifacts.'" "Myam I thinking
of what you're thinking on myeosing it on?" "Perhaps, I need to think this over."
Author's Notes:
I can't be the only when I write/say "faker" that I try to resist quoting SA2. I could've used "Phoney" and such but that doesn't sound as nice.
If Compile still had Puyo Puyo I'm sure they would make a volleyball spin-off one day.
Note to self: Avoid writing competitions, I think you're bad at it. Maybe add some conflict between teammates. Unless you aren't telling me something. Also mom said you're bad influence on me. I'm typing at a frequency mom can't read at. Meet me in the morning and stop being loony.
I looked for an english translation of Puyo 1 after finally finding one for Tsu with the character interactions. I found one of the NES version, didn't even know it was a thing. It didn't have story mode, played very well though. I'm still terrible at the game. Once the next Puyo game comes out I'll practice and there'll be no Tetris to distract me.
I kept notes relatively short this time. I'm celebrating with a nap.
Next up: Some more circus stuff
