EDIT: 9/3/2015


Having fun in Regalo?


Author's Corner!

Here's another chapter! I'll upload the other chapters for the other fanfics during the next few days ~

R&R Read On!


Legend: ' ' are thoughts, " " are characters speaking, *bold* are actions done by characters and sfx, italics represent past events, memories, emphasis and foreign language, and bold italics time skips.

WARNING: May contain OOC, various point-of-view, and possible lemons!


III : Piccolino


*kachink*creak*

The door opens slowly to reveal the youngest of Felicità's three maids.

"Mariella and Donatella are so mean. I know that I'm the one who forgot to check if all the doors were locked, but they could have come with me- Ah!" she stopped mid-rant as she heard a sound come from the kitchen.

"Who's there? Is someone there?" she called out. Stepping away from the door to the hallway, she walks towards the kitchen doors.

*scratch*scratch*

Isabella gasps and steps back, gulping. Mustering whatever courage she had in her, she continued towards the doors. Putting her hand on the doorknob, she inhales, closes her eyes and opens the door.

"Show yourself, intruder-! *gasp*"

"KYAAAAAAAA!"


The Next Morning

"A ghost in the kitchen?" I ask.

"How ridiculous. I'm sure she was just tired and was seeing things," Nova says.

"But Isabella said she saw one," Felicità insists. "She said she had long hair and was wearing a white dress."

"She only thought that because she was scared. If she would regularly train her mental state so little things wouldn't scare her..."

"So you say. I bet you're just scared, aren't you?" Libertà teases. "Libertà," I say his name whilst glancing at him as I stood beside Nova. "I'm not scared."

"Really now? Wanna bet?"

Boys...


"It's not showing up..." Libertà mutters.

"Shut up," Nova tells him.

We were at the entrance to the hallway. Libertà and I were crouching down while Felicità and Nova were standing. That is... until Felicità crouched down with us, leaning onto Libertà. I glance at the two and notice Libertà turn a bright pink. 'Pervert...'

"Agh!" he jumps up. "Eh?"

"Ssh!"

"Ah," he blurts out. "What's the matter?!" Felicità asks him. "Oh, uh, it's nothing..." he tells her, accidentally touching her breasts.

One shocked Nova.

One flustered Arianna.

One dead Libertà.

And one pissed off Felicità.

Way to start off the day, really.

Felictà starts throwing kicks at Libertà as he dodges them. "It's a misunderstanding! I didn't mean- hah... Wh-White?" She takes out her knives as he backs into a wall(?). "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look!" His apologies remain futile as she kicks him and the door down. "Ow.."

Nova walks towards them, leaving me to look at the two who were standing at the door. "Hm? What's wrong?" I ask as I walk up to them. Looking into the room, I see...

...a white doll?

"AAAHHHHHH!" I cringe as they scream next to me.

That's when Luca showed up.


"A Pace repellent?" we ask as he pours us tea. "Yes, however I didn't mean to scare everyone."

"So this is the ghost's true identity. How ridiculous," Nova says. "Even so, you did tag along," I tell him. He glared at me in return.

"I wanted it to look real, so I also used some alchemy. I didn't expect you to be so surprised," Luca says.

"But why is there a Pace repellent? Though, I guess it's pretty obvious," Libertà says. "Yes. I still haven't overcome the fear I felt that day..." Luca trails off into memory.

Luca was making some baked goods when...

"Give them to me..."

Turning around, he asks, "Who's there?"

"Dolce...Dolce..."

"Pace?" he asks while looking at his friend. "I want to eat...Hand 'em over...Dolce...!"

"AAHHHH!"

"So a sleepwalking Pace at all of the dolce?" Libertà asks while laughing.

"It's no laughing matter! Thanks to him, I was awake all night. So, I set up that trap so he can't bother me this time," Luca explains."If that's the case, you should have told us prior. How troublesome," Nova says. "That's right, Luca. Just think of poor Isabella," I scold him.

"I'm very sorry, Arianna-sama."

"But, Luca, what are you going to do with all these sweets you've made?" Felicità asks. "Now that you mention it..." I trail off, curiously waiting for Luca to answer the question.

"I'm taking them to the piccolino."

"Piccolino?" we both ask.

"Oh, that's right. Milady and Arianna-sama have yet to know about it. The piccolino is an event for children that the family holds," he explains. "We invite all the kids from Regalo and entertain them. We put on shows and play calcio. It's a lot of fun!" Libertà adds. "Oh yeah! You should come, too, Ojou! Hime! It's the day after tomorrow. You will, won't you?" he asks us.

"Mm," she nods then looks to me. "How about you, Arianna?"

"A-Ah, sorry. I promised Mama I'd do something that day," I say with an apologetic smile. We then look to Nova, "Oh... How about you Nova? You're going, too, right?"

"He skips out every time," Libertà tells us while pointing at him.

"I'm busy," Nova retorts.

"So you say. But the truth is that you, yourself, are short and can't handle kids, right?" he teases. Nova doesn't reply to his antics. "So, Ojou. It'll be the day after tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Hmph," I heard from Nova. I look at him once more. 'Is he really that bad with kids?' I wonder.


Piccolino at the Church

"And now, if I can have everyone's attention. What I'm about to show you is the most secretive of secret techniques!" Luca says as he claps his hands together in concentration. "Hoh..." Libertà blurts out as he leans forward a bit.

"A dove will now appear." The top of his hat opened as a dove came out of it. "Amazing!" Libertà shouts as he stands up to applaud, but...

No one else was amused.

"Uh... Huh?"

"Alright, time to change players," Debito says as he pushes Luca off the "stage". "No one's impressed with doves anymore, Luca-chan."

"What?!" Libertà and Luca blurt out.

"Let's try something different, shall we? Having fun is all about the excitement and thrill. Do you want to hear a scary story?"

"All right! Debito's the best!" "Eh? But it's scary!"

"Actually, the scary moon demon, Diavolo, lives here on Regalo. It all happened one stormy night. An orphaned child came to this church in search of help. It was there, that the child met Diavolo. But the child, being a child, didn't really think that he was a demon. How unfortunate. The child's soul was severed in two. One half became the demon's minion, Belzebu, who resides in the darkness, hiding."

"What about the other half?" a little girl asks.

"The other half wasn't able to go to Heaven or Hell. It's said that the ghost still haunts this church, looking for someone to play with. Speaking of which, it's right over there!" he yells as Fukulota flies through the church, adding effect to his "scary story".

"AHH!" the kids freaked out as Debito laughed at the reaction. "Hey, now, don't freak out too much. Fukulota, your timing was more than impeccable."

"It seems it was a little too intense, huh?" he says as he walks up to the girl who asked about the other half. He bends down and pats her head, "Hey, now, don't look so sad. You'll ruin your beautiful face."

"Heh...So Debito likes children," Felicità says. "A bit unexpected."

"Despite how he comes off as, he's good at taking care of others," Pace tells her. "Indeed. He has always been nicer to younger kids," Luca adds.

"Have you two known Debito for a while?" Felicità asks them.

"Yeah, the three of us are childhood friends. We often played in this church, too." "How nostalgic."

A young Luca looks around while walking down the aisle. *grrrrowl* As he heard that, he immediately walks towards where it came from. "You can't hide a sound that comes from your stomach, Pace."

"Man.." he pouts in return to being caught. "Where's Debito?" he asks. "I still haven't found him," Luca tells him.

"If there's one thing he's good at, it's hiding."

The two walk off in separate directions to look for their friend. Luca walks towards the altar, finding something behind the podium. "Pace," he calls out. Pace turns around to see Luca gesturing him to come over. Luca bends, hands on his knees as he looks at what he found. As soon as Pace comes over, he says, "Ah! We found Debito!" "Ssh!"

A sleeping Debito was found, hiding under the podium.

"The look on Debito's face as he was sleeping was like that of an angel," Luca comments. "Even now, I'm still an angel of love, right? Bambina?" Debito asks the girl as he somehow appeared behind them. "Just when did he become into such a terrible adult," Luca cries.

"Hah? You want to tell me exactly what's so terrible about me?"

"Now, now. Adults don't fight-"

*grrrrrowl*

"Ehehehe...Luca-chan, could you please?" Pace asks.


"Thank you for the food!"

"Those idiots are on the same level as the kids," Debito comments as Pace and "the fool" pig out with the kids.

"Milady, the dessert for today is baci di dama. It means "kiss from a lady," Luca says as he serves us. "It looks delicious!" Felicità says as she looks at the dessert.

"Kiss from a lady, huh? I'd say a kiss from Bambina is much sweeter."

"Debito, step away from her!" Luca yells at him. "And stop trying to seduce Milady!"

"Seduce? This is just a greeting."

"Your greetings are improper," Luca tells him. "And yet you call yourself a man of Regalo?!" Debito yells back. The two continue to argue behind Felicità as she continues to eat her share of the food.

"You're too stiff, you stuffed shirt! You're not a kid so shut your mouth!"

After they finished their little dispute...

"Now then, since we're done eating, I guess it's time for this," Debito says while holding up a ball.

"All right!" "It's time for calcio!"

Pace ran past the kids, ball at his feet. "Out of the way, out of the way!" Debito stops him. "Why the hell are you being so serious playing against children?"

"Naive!" Pace blurts out, kicking the ball up and past Debito. "Tch. You better stop him, Libertà!"

"Got it!"

"You think you can stop me, Regalo's mangostano?!" He kicks the ball. Hard.

"Milady-" the ball hits Luca square in the face, surprising me as he was about to serve us more tea.

"Whoops." "Jackpot, huh, Luca-chan?"

"Are you trying to kill me, Pace?!" Luca yells at him, recovering from the hit. "Sorry, sorry," he apologizes. "What do you mean "sorry"?! What if that shot had hit Milady or the children?! Not to mention that the piccolino is an event to entertain the children! The adults' entertainment comes after that!" Luca continues to scold him.

"You okay, Ojou?" Libertà asks as he walks up to her. "Mhm," she replies. Suddenly, a breeze came by.

"The wind..."

"Hm? What about the wind?" she ask him. "Oh, no. It's nothing."

"Oi! Let's hurry up and continue the game!" a kid calls out to him. "Yeah, I'll be right there!" Libertà calls back and leaves.


Meanwhile...Back at the Mansion

I remained in Nova's office to keep him company. Not that he needed it. I was quiet the entire time to let him focus on his work. The window started to shake a bit as the wind became a bit harsher.

'A storm...' I trail off in thought as I stared outside the window. Nova, who had stopped writing to look at the window as well, muttered "How stupid" before going back to work, causing me to look at him.

*knock*knock*knock*

"May I come in?" I look towards the door as it opened.

"Mama."

We sat at the table as Mama served us green tea. "I came here to scold you today."

Nova looks at her as she continues, "You didn't go to the piccolino again."

"I have work I need to do," he tells her. I quietly take the cup of tea, stirring it a bit before drinking. "Hm?" I hear Mama hum.

Looking away, Nova says, "I don't know how to interact with children." This made me set my cup back down onto the table. "To think of nothing and just have fun with them. It's easier said than done for me," he clenches his fist. Mama notices and takes his hand in hers.

"Nova."


Nova had been playing the piano as the storm began to become stronger. 'I hope they're alright...' He stopped as the thunder roared more loudly than the last one.

"Why don't you go?" Mama asks. I turn my head to look at them from where I sat. "You're worried about the children at the church, aren't you? It's written all over your face." He looks away again. "The three higher-ups, Luca and that idiot are all there with them. I'm not worried..."

"You really are kind. Nova, kindness is nothing to be ashamed of."

"But it is a form of weakness."

I remain silent, watching them at a distance. Mama walks behind him and places a hand on his shoulder. "You're wrong. To be kind. To be weak. They both hold great power. And yet you have confined that within a hard armor... But, we are the reason that happened." I sat up from where I stood and walked towards them.

"Mama, that kind of talk..."

"The responsibility that I and Mondo have for taking away your precious childhood is rather heavy. However, let me say this despite knowing that. As long as you wear that armor, you won't be able to grow any more than this. You should relax more, Nova. Stop being scared of hurting others or being hurt, yourself. That may be the hardest thing for you, but, you see...I want you to enjoy your life." She takes her hand away from his shoulder as he turns to look at us, as I had been standing beside Mama the entire time she lectured him.

"The way your heart desires..."

As soon as she says that, Nova runs out of the room.

I take a few steps towards the open door, staring at his retreating figure. "It was that hard on him?" I ask her. She nods, walking towards me and giving me a back-hug. "I'm afraid so..."

Turning me around, she takes hold of my shoulders. "Arianna, I have a favor to ask of you."


What is your Tarocco?


CLIFFHANGER! Just what did Mama ask of Arianna?! Will we ever know?! Heck, I don't even know! Anyway, I got my net back, so I upload dis chapter along with some other shtuff. P.S the order of Arianna's kimono's being worn starts with red, then green, then blue until she finally wears her "uniform" or "suit" or whatever.

R&R? Tell me what you think? Contribute your ideas! I'll take 'em all ~Well?

Enjoy your stay at Regalo Island.


ffxshilayt aka Shila -