1:03 PM. Three minutes past the deadline.

Of course, I waited for Ash to come over at one of the cafeteria's benches. I had just finished eating my food minutes ago, and what do you know, great food as usual. Emi is over there, talking about what she wants to do this semester, while Talan is reminding her that she should be careful. Next, Livio is going over plans for his next weapon, and Paz is amusing herself with a magic trick made of a single playing card.

Four seemingly different people, doing four different things, yet all inexplicably linked by a single soul. I wonder what would be different if I were just one of them. Or, if I wasn't them, what if I were another group of people? Red, white, black...

Enough reflecting, time to make conversation with myself.

"As I was saying," Livio said, "I want to build a sword-staff with a rifle built into it."

"Really?" asked Paz.

"Yes." He nodded. "It won't be easy, though. I've never had a knack for building guns; my uncle would always handle them instead."

"So your goal is to learn to build guns this year."

"Indeed."

Yes, yes, thrilling dialogue. I know.

Ash should be here any moment now, and for all I know, she's either dealing with her again, getting something or someone, or running late. Whichever it is, I may as well keep talking to myself since I'm (thankfully) getting better at that, so I did. And what do you know, Ash just arrived with her team—well, except Paisley.

Understandable, really.

"What is up, Paz?!" Ash exclaimed, waving towards Paz and her teammates.

"Oh, why, hello!" "Yo yo yo!" Paz and Emi waved back with their own greetings. "Afternoon," Livio simply said. Talan sighed.

"Looks like we both brought our entourage." Ash smiled. "Same ol' you after all these years, huh?"

Paz chuckled, then went up to Ash to give her a high-five, hell yeah! "Same old me. My final show was a few weeks ago, however."

"Well as they all say, 'old habits die hard,' but I, on the other hand, like to be different."

As Paz and Ash caught up with what happened between each other and Calfuray tried to talk herself up to an Emi who—ahahaha—can barely not crack up and laugh, Morley, Livio, and Talan stood around, trying to think of something to say. Oh, it's that part of talking to people again.

"So how's your day?" Morley asked me.

"It's mediocre," Talan began, "but that's still better than those last two days. What about you?"

"Other than breaking a personal record at the gym, all seems well."

"Which one?"

"How fast I can run a mile."

I mean, good for him..? Well, unless he was on something, or using a Semblance, it's still a rather formidable goal to run faster than the others out there, and without the help of your Semblance to boot. That said, I'm something of an acrobat myself, although Paz only really applies those skills. I'm sure Livio, Emi, and Talan can pull off those same feats if I work hard enough within an hour or so, assuming I successfully account for their physical differences.

"Not bad," Livio commented. "I'm not that fast of a runner, but I'm sure people would like to watch you run fast against others."

"Track and field, I assume."

"Yes."

Meanwhile over on Emi's side…

"All that standing on your shoe blades," Emi said, "and you're sure you can handle that?"

"Y–Yes!" Calfuray swore, her legs trembling in the process. Just as quickly as she answered, she resorted to leaning on one of the pillars. "I can assume this position, by the heavens!"

"Then can you handle a little push?" Emi held up her palm towards Calfuray's neck when Paz noticed what was going on.

"Hold on, Ms. Koler," she said, then walked over to Emi and tapped her on the shoulder. "Emi, what's going on here?"

"Nothin'." Emi smirked, hands behind her back.

Paz crossed her arms. "...Like the time you gave me a suplex while I was sleeping?"

"C'mon, it was just one time!" Emi chuckled. "I promise, I won't do that ever again."

"Exactly how would you define a... 'suplex'?" Calfuray was scratching her ear when everyone heard a whistle from, uh… oh, it's Zaffree again! And this time he's brought his whole team along with him! Right, I swore I heard their names before back at the initiation, er... was it Team PFST for "permafrost," Zaffree being the leader, with his teammates being Fion, Serah, Melati... pretty sure I got Ms. H's name wrong, but I got the others right!

"Sorry, I'm late," Zaffree began. "Had to bring my friends over."

"Woah!" Ash was surprised by the gathering crowd where we were. "Looks like we got ourselves a party!"

"Gooood afternoon!" Calfuray announced. "I don't believe we have ever met formally before, so I will go ahead and introduce myself real quick." Calfuray placed the palm of her right hand on her chest. "I'm Princess Sparkly Swan Charming III of the High Order, next in line to become the Queen!"

Zaffree's eyes were already lighting up as Calfuray bluffed her entire way through her introduction. Oh dear... who's gonna tell him?

"Oh, uh..." Zaffree frantically scratched the back of his head as he... scrambled to think of what to say, I think? "What should I call you?"

Calfuray triumphantly placed her hands on her hips. "You may refer to me as 'Her Royal Highness, Princess of Vale!'"

"Thank you–"

"Hold on," Seraphina began (oh, that's it!), getting in front of her. "Are you really a princess?"

"Why yes I–wah!" The so-called "princess" had tried to stand on her tippy-toes once again when she fell forward. Seraphina, the red-and-orange-haired girl, caught Calfuray by the shoulders as the latter breathed heavily.

"Need to lean on something?"

She shook her head and whispered something I couldn't make out, then stood straight again. "Pardon that," she said.

"So, where are we going?" Livio asked.

. . .

"Behold: Beacon Academy Sport and Fitness."

Wow... A whole sporting and fitness complex? Right within the residential area?

"There's room for just about everything:" Ash began, "the usual training equipment, plus areas for basketball, soccer, hockey, batting cages, cricket, tennis, volleyball, curling, and the like. Spars, too!"

"Bars?" Zaffree scratched his head. "Don't you need to be a certain age to—"

"Ah, silly you!" Ash chuckled. "That's a spar! We fight, not drink!"

"How do you—"

"Anyways, which sport do y'all wanna play first?"

"Soccer!" Emi blurted.

A couple others—Zaffree and Paz—echoed her sentiment, but others didn't; Fion and Melati countered their answers with tennis, but Morley and Ash wanted sparring, Calfuray, dancing, Livio, cricket, Seraphina, baseball, and Talan just abstained like the weirdo he is.

Not gonna lie, I just felt dirty voting for the same thing twice, but then again, it wasn't like I could just break character. I could come up with excuses, but come on, Paz did lots of things in her childhood! Would she want to abstain? At the very least, I wasn't clear what I wanted to do. I wanted cricket as well since the past few days were enough action as it was, but was I really doing all that much today before now?

Anyways, where are we? Right, so that's three votes for soccer out of every choice at the table. Sounds good; soccer it is. Only problem is, did we even bring our stuff?

"Welp, soccer it'll be," Ash said, shrugging. "Don't worry if you didn't bring anything, 'cuz the whole place's got free rentals!"

...Oh. Well, that solves our problem. Probably not for the more dedicated who want their own gear, but hey, better than nothing.

Thus, we went to dress out of our usual outfits. Gone were my magician tux, fabric and steel, leather, and pink sweater. (God, imagine all of this on a single person.) In were complete red-and-white soccer uniforms with the obligatory jerseys, shorts, knee-high socks, and cleats. Two others, Calfuray and Zaffree, were beside me, but the rest were getting dressed in what I would assume would be black-and-blue.

As I began wrapping bandages around Emi and Paz's fingers and palms, I witnessed what may possibly be the first time Calfuray's showing her true colors since the last time I saw her in Signal. She's frowning, she's fiddling with her fingers, and she just checked the watch on her wrist.

Wait, she has a watch?

"You ready?" Livio asked Calfuray, who looked at him.

She took a deep breath. "I don't know. It's just, their lineup compared to ours makes me..." She gulped.

"Hey, don't worry. We're here to play for fun."

"I know that, but I don't want to look bad."

Insecurity. Is that why Calfuray went to Beacon looking the way she did? I mean, I remember her wearing something different, like a flannel jacket, dark denim pants, a crop top, and sneakers. She also carried a crossbow with her and a couple bolts in a quiver, but she primarily danced her way to victory. Literally. I mean, if memory serves me right, this isn't the first time I've seen her look down. I think I saw her watch someone show off their scythe skills? Then she walked away, muttering to herself.

So. Calfuray being insecure about her public image? Well, I can see where she's coming from; her Signal look wouldn't have stood out, but a combat ballerina might've. Of course, the execution left... a lot to desire, but hey, I'm sure she'll grow out of this phase.

Alas, it was inevitable that Calfuray would realize what she was saying before she put her mask back on. "I–I was supposed to say, 'I've been made aware, however, I would not want to sully my good image!'"

"Think of it this way: we're here to play a game, not judge people's playing," Livio began. "All that will matter is that you got to play a game with us, and with that will come memories."

"But what if they're bad memories?"

"You won't find out until after the game."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Y'all ready?" Ash called out.

Calfuray took a deep breath. "Oh, I am ready!" she shouted, almost panickingly.

Team PLET stood up and left, but not before Livio held out his hand to Calfuray, who grabbed it and stood up. I swear, she might've held my hand tight, but then again, I've held tighter hands.

Indeed, Ash, Morley, Fion, Seraphina, and Melati were waiting out the door, ready to take us on, but there's just one problem...

Before anyone could speak up, Paz said "wait" as she briefly held up her hand. "We only have 11 people. That's six people on our side, but only five on yours."

Ash—

"I got this." Fion looked to his left and right, scouting for prospective players nearby when he spotted someone looking around.

I looked to see where he was facing and saw two people; one had green hair, a gray backpack with something in it, a yellow shirt, khaki shorts, a barely-visible pair of white socks, and a pair of somewhat ugly sneakers. The other had long blue hair, red eyes, a navy-blue pinafore dress with buttons at the middle which was layered over a honeydew dress shirt, black tights, and brown Mary Jane shoes.

"Psst! You two!" Fion called out. The two came over. "What're your names?"

"Tyron Strike." "Saphyr Honeydew." the two each replied.

"Tyron, Saphyr, nice to meet you." Fion shook hands with the two. "Fion Underwood. Would one of you like to join our game?"

. . .

"The rules are simple: you have 20 minutes. No hands or arms on the ball, except when you're the goalie in the penalty area."

Paz, Emi, and Calfuray stood on offense with Livio and Zaffree on defense, alongside Talan as a goalie. Paz is, of course, team captain. On the opposite side, Ash and Morley stood as offense and Fion, Seraphina, and... Tyron, whom the other team recruited, on defense. Melati is their goalie. Already can I see the difference in strategy: 3 attackers and 2 defenders against 2 attackers and 3 defenders.

Of course, being the multi-bodied person that I am, I can see my surroundings much better than everyone else here can, but that won't necessarily win us the game.

I have to actively outmaneuver the enemy team.

Indeed, I'm the one doing the kickoff since Ash flipped a coin and it landed in our favor. And I hate to admit it, but... we kind of have no plan.

Here we go.

I kicked the ball to Calfuray, who panicked, shrieked, and kicked the ball—straight at the goal at what speed?! B–Before anyone knew it, the ball had landed against the net of the goal! 0-to-1, and barely a second had passed!

Calfuray's staring, awestruck by what she'd just done, and Ash and everyone else on the other team was just as confused and, frankly, scared as I was...

Ash called for a break, which Saphyr granted, and so they scrambled to gather her teammates around and get into huddle formation. Calfuray, seemingly recovering quickly, began her religious-sounding waxing lyrical. "Come and see, for lo behold: here be the beginning of your several undoings!" She held out her hands to the sides, laughing.

As the enemy team huddled together, they started to whisper things that I couldn't overhear, but I could already tell they saw Calfuray as a problem just from their quick glances toward her. That's right, a... chuu, chunni? That's right, a chuuni sent them into a panic in a way she couldn't have possibly anticipated!

Never thought I'd see the day, but here we are.

But alas, not everything would last in our favor; pretty soon, they figured out how to take advantage of her lack of experience. Paz–wait, Emi tried to kick the ball and run for it, but Morley redirected it out of our reach; the winds suddenly blew on us as the ball went towards Ash, who ran with the ball juggling between her feet. Zaffree and I scrambled to stop her as defense, but alas, she blew past us, even me, the goalie.

19 minutes. 1-1.

. . .

19 seconds. 1-1.

I scrambled to catch my breath, having just barely stopped the ball from... yawn, from hitting the goal's net. Oh God, they're coming ever so close to winning, and I'm already tired! I need to hold it out for a little longer!

So what's going on here? Fion can absorb the velocity of certain objects at the cost of Aura. Seraphina can turn herself into a flaming ball to blaze past us. Melati can control Gravity. We all know Ash can create platforms that she can boost from and Morley can control flow. Tyron, meanwhile, can do electricity, just like I can as Madame Raging Bull.

I need to figure out something quick.

Can I change my "Semblances" on the fly? I'd hate to tell everyone, but I could. But... at this point, people expect Paz to perform magic, not suddenly shoot lightning from her fingertips.

Maybe in an emergency, though. I hope I won't ever have to resort to that.

The good news, though, is that Saphyr, who's acting as a referee, has granted us a break. The bad news is that it's the final one everyone here is granted. There's no breaks during a two minute overtime.

"Her Royal Highness, Zaf, come here," Talan said as our team gathered together in a huddle. He then whispered, "What do we do next?"

Calfuray gulped. Zaffree, on the other hand, opened his mouth to say something, but didn't.

"Well?"

"I don't know," Zaffree finally said, "I've never played this game before."

"Lady Luck would grant thee a better chance against the Grimm Child than for our rightful victory here." Calfuray shook her head.

Come on, come on! Think, Strings! Think! You can't just go back to the game without a plan, they'll crush you! But Strings, what if I can? I just have to come up with something!

I...just..!

"What if we were to all attack?" Paz aske–what?!

Okay, get it together, Strings! What did you say? Wait... Holy shit, it can work! With all the Semblances flying around, the established team composition is basically nonexistent, so I can make our team six attackers! Well, I could go with five attackers and one goalie so there's someone to defend our goal, but with barely any time left and victory on the line?

All. Bets. Are. Off.

"You want us to–" Before Zaffree blurted out our plan, I shushed him. Good thing I could still react just in time, or else we'd have doomed our own plan before it could even start.

"Quiet!" Talan glared at Zaffree. "Do you want them to hear us?"

"Wait, how do I whisper again?" (Oh dear...)

Emi chuckled. "You're whispering right now, silly."

"So, all in?" Paz asked.

Thus, they waited. Those two looked at Paz funny, but eventually, they all nodded along. Yeah, probably because we had no other choice.

"If this hoists us by our own petard–" Calfuray paused. "-then abandon all hope."

"Hey." Zaffree smiled. "I trust her. If she can keep us from being down 2-1, then she can lead this formation."

"Yeah!" Emi (almost) shouted. "If we can keep 'em from scoring, then we can crush them!"

Livio took a deep breath. "Well?"

Calfury nodded again. "Let us have at them."

. . .

Paz, Livio, Emi, Talan, Calfuray, and Zaffree all charged towards the goal with the ball in Paz's possession. I could have sworn I saw a new look of shock and awe on Morley's face as he rushed to try to kick the ball out of Paz's reach. Alas, she kicked it towards Emi, who kept the ball rolling even as Fion tried to stop it. Come on.

"Stop them!" Fion shouted, running towards Emi, who kicked it over to Livio. He stopped the ball's rolling, but even as Tyron kicked it towards Ash, Zaffree intercepted it just in time. By now, the entire defense had one person each blocking them from coming towards us, with two extra people standing by. Come on!

"Go, go, go!" Zaffree kicked the ball to Livio, who then passed it to Talan, who finally gave it to Calfuray. One small problem: she's paralyzed by fear. She's lost on what to do, and Melati's standing right there, already shifting the gravity in the goal box. Zaffree and I are holding the defense off, but even that won't last for long.

She looked at the game timer. Five seconds. Four. Three! COME ON!

Calfuray wildly kicked the ball into the net at an impossible speed. Melati missed.

"GOOOOOOOAL!" Zaffree announced. An audience of a dozen (wait, there's an audience?) jumped to their feet and shouted happily, their cheers surrounding our ears as I basked in the glory of our first soccer victory.

I didn't think we'd get to... yaaawn, my God, am I going to pass out. Where's those energy drinks when I need them?

"We did it!" Zaffree grabbed one of my hands and raised it into the air. "I can't believe we actually won!"

"Beginner's luck." Melati walked up to us with an encouraging smile on her face. "I didn't think there was such a thing as that until today."

"Melati!" Zaffree came up to her. "Did you see what Her Royal Highness did right there?!"

"Easy there." Melati chuckled. "I know this is your first soccer game, but don't get too cocky out here."

Seraphina stepped between the two. "Just let him enjoy his victory, alright?"

Welp. While they talked among each other, I went to buy my own four bodies energy drinks from a nearby vending machine. As I took the drinks, I went to sit down at a bench, making sure to sit down, lie down, hang my feet over an arm rest, and put a head against the other arm rest... wow.

I... The fact that I can do each of these all at once still wows me from time to time. I could be here playing hockey, and I could be over there, studying for four of my biggest tests. Meanwhile, I'd be down in Vale... City dancing my ass off in a nightclub, and then I'd be away for a field assignment in the far reaches of Mistral, slaying Grimm.

All that without missing a beat.

Of course, there's the obvious drawbacks like energy and having only a quarter of Aura for each, although I'd long since realized that and worked my hardest to increase it. There's also the fact that I have to put up a mask if I want people to not look at me weird. Well, four masks to be exact, but imagine if I just ran with those bodies as they were right away and creeped everyone out?

Yeesh.

Well then. I finished my drinks and rested for a little longer. Once I was done, I got back up from that bench and put those bottles in the recycling bin. (After making sure nobody's looking, of course.)

"Oh, there you are!" Paisley–oh no... "I was looking all over for you guys."

Team PLET turned around to face her. "H—Hey..." Emi waved towards her, smiling back. "We, uh, were busy with a game."

"A game?" Paisley asked. "That sounds very fun, when can I join you next time?"

"I..." Oh God, what do I say?! "I..."

"That's okay, take your time..."

"He-Hey there!" Zaffree called out as he, his team, and his brother came up to her. "You, um, missed a big game right here!"

Paisley sighed, then laughed. "What a shame," she said, "I would've liked to watch."

Wait, is Zaffree looking at her weird? Oh dear, he's gonna poke the bear, is–

"Alright, something's going on, I know it!" Zaffree... Oh God, what's he doing?

"What's wrong?"

Zaffree trembled in place as he prepared to point his finger, but he paused, looking at his brother for a brief moment. "I don't know, but the way you come across, I just..!"

"Maybe you're just not used to it." Paisley put one of her hands on her hips. "After all, it's the first time we've met." Paisley's eyes glowed as she started at Zaffree... but his eyes didn't in response.

"...What the hell was that?" Zaffree looked at Morley, his hands gestured towards him and Paisley. "D–Did you see her eyes for a moment?!"

As Zaffree talked with his brother, I paid attention to Paisley. She's standing there looking all casual and friendly, but her eyes...

Her pupils had shrunk.

Oh God. I know that look from when things don't go her way. I saw those eyes when she argued with Ash back in Alsius, I saw them that one time I passed by her, and now I'm seeing them here. If it means what I think it means, then Zaffree is about to suffer the same fate as Ash.

I have to break it up.

"Ahh, I'm pooped!" Emi stepped forward. "Victory was ours, but woof, it gets tiring!"

"...I mean, you put up a heck of a fight," Morley added, "but next time, we'll be the ones to take home the cup."

"Doubt it!"

"Doubt that."

"Well, I suppose we could all use a little rest," Paisley said, with subtle, but predictable venom in her voice. "Pretty busy day?"

"Pretty busy day, indeed." Morley went up to the vending machine and swiped his Lien. "But I'm gonna be here lifting."

"Suit yourself."

"...Well," Paz began, seeing Ash and her team—that's right, Ash's team, not Paisley's—walk out, "we're just gonna go on and maybe head down to the City with our friends so we can hopefully go shopping."

"Then see you later~"

As Paz left with Ash, the rest of her team followed, soon joined by Team PFST and Morley. Damn, this would've been a nearly flawless afternoon. I know she's not, like, "actively" up to no good, but those eyes alone told me all I know now about what she's trying to do. She's trying to force her way into power all over again so she can make people like her and then cast out those who don't. Is she out for more power? Is she out to get back at someone?

Who knows?

Well then, might as well prepare for war.


ATUHOR'S NOSE: Thanks once again to Myst66 for proofing this fic!