Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 80 of the story! And the 10th chapter of the year of our lord, 2024! The weather in the area where I live as been acting crazy currently. In one minute, its raining heavily with thunders and all, but on the next one, its already sun shinning and blue sky. Is nature doing a speedrun of all seasons or what? That or is Aoko doing some Fifth Magic shennanigan.
Also, R.I.P to Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball's creator and the main influencer and inspiration to many anime/manga that would show up in future generations. The entire industry has lost one of its main pillars with this. I think that there will rarely be another anime character that can unite and be loved by all the people around the world in the way Goku was and Dragon Ball in general. It's one of those things that you know it will happen someday, but you're still caught off guard when it does happen. I had literally posted the previous chapter on the previous week and went to bed, scrolled on Twitter a bit and went to sleep when I think the moment of his death was first announced. So the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning of the next day and go to my phone, is that Toriyama died. It felt...surreal.
May your soul rest in heaven Toriyama, and that you can be proud of the entertainment industry you helped building and growing so much, being the gateway to many of us foreigners to the medium.
With that said, let's start the chapter.
DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author
"I want to be part of the group that will assassinate the queen." Peko expressed his desire, gaining an absolute silence from the entire party who all stared at him, not counting with the boy making such fast decision after hearing about the parade the Celtic Empire would do on their headquarters.
"Peko..." Ritsuka saw that by the look in his face and tone of his voice, Peko was dead serious about it. Not even joking.
"I'm aware of what I'm saying. And I'm fully convinced I wanna do it!" Peko reinforced his statement, showing that he wasn't hesitating in his choice.
"But Peko, that's-..." Mash tried to speak with him, only to see Nala walk torwards him.
The girl hadn't said a word, silently heading torwards her brother. The eyes covered by her hair as her lips grafted a neutral expression on her face. That changed however, the moment both her hands grabbed Peko by the collar and Nala stared at him with a vivd, angry stare in her eyes. "Are you retarded?!"
The agressiveness and yell behind the question made the group recoil a bit in shock. Peko even flinched his body instinctively before facing his sister's glare with his own eyes.
"I-I'm not!" He responded, not backing down on his declaration.
"Then why are you saying stupid things now?" Nala asked angrily, shoving Peko as she freed him from her grasp, with the boy stumbling a bit backwards. "When did you started getting dumber? Because someone with a brain wouldn't be saying that nonsense!"
"And what if I really mean it? What if I want to go to the enemy's homebase and kill their leader?" Peko argued back. "I don't see a problem in that!"
"You moron! You want to die?!" Nala raised her voice at him, not accepting what her brother was saying.
"I won't!" Peko also raised his voice, the quarrel between the two about to heat up. "I've decided that I'm doing this! Are you going to try and stop me?"
Nala stepped forward, her angerness increasing by seeing her sibling's stubborness not going down. "If it means you are alive, you can bet that I will!"
Thankfully, Tesla and Nightingale intervened before the twins disagreement could get physical.
"That's enough of you two!" Nightingale exclaimed. "Instigating a bad environment on the group over this is of an amateur experience!"
"I know you are children, but this isn't a proper situation to begin bickering about! If we want to debate this, it will be with the head in place!" Tesla told to the two, appeasing their mood. "Is that understood?"
Having been scolded by the two servants, Peko calmed down, staring to the ground. "Yes..."
Nala did the same, altough she was still upset with Peko's statement. "Fine."
Ritsuka." She turned around to stare at her leader and friend. "Talk some sense into him. He doesn't know what he's talking about."
"I am!" Peko said, also looking to Ritsuka. "I know that it's risky for me to do a mission like that, but I promise I'm ready for any dangers that will come with it! You have to trust me Ritsuka!"
"What's your decision on this, master?" Mash asked him, unable to pick a side here.
"Fou! Fou!"
"I'm..." Ritsuka was also splitted about this. He viewed and understood each motive behind Peko and Nala's reasonings. He comprehended why one wanted a thing and the other the complete opposite. Why they were arguing over it. Choosing a sibling's side would be a letdown for the other one. He was having an hard time to decide, with Tesla noticing it, choosing to stay silent about it. The words wouldn't come out from Ritsuka's mouth, being stuck inside of it. "I'm..." He wasn't able to take the decision as of right now. "I think it's too early to be deciding the groups already. We should give it more time and thought." He said, delaying the decision.
"Hm?"
"More thought?"
Both the twins stared at Ritsuka, not very satisfied with the answer.
"I also tend to agree here." Geronimo speaked up, supporting Ritsuka's proposition and also taking some pressure out of his shoulders. "We've come to know about the parade and Sita's location literally just now. We need to plan this and the groups carefully if we want to achieve both these things. And with the battle we had against one of the Celtic Empire's warriors and the miles walked, I think we should get a rest for now and decide later."
With that said, Peko and Nala came to agree with the native man and leader of the Resistance.
"Sounds reasonable. I think we can wait to have a better reflection about it." Peko commented.
"Yeah, no problem in that." Nala said with a bit of discontent, starting to walk away. "Gonna explore a bit of this town to see if there's anything useful to us." She said, giving a last look back at Peko who was now talking with the other servants from the party. "How do you want me to protect you, if you put yourself in harm's way, Peko?"
"..." Mash catched the sad look on the younger girl's face as she went to stroll around the area, feeling bad for her friend.
Robin also observed it. "Jeez, are those two always like this?" The archer thief asked to Mash.
"It's a siblings thing I believe." Mash replied. "You never had one, did you Robin?"
"Nope. Never had any family really. And I prefer it that way. Getting angry or dissapointing relatives is a thing that I don't wish to experience." Robin told her, before Billy coming to hang on his shoulder.
"What?! Ya don't consider ya pal Bill 'ere as a brother to you? And after everythin' we've been through." He said with a sad frown.
"Only if you mean by brothers in arms." Robin said a bit bothered by the gunslinger. However, he still smiled at his companion. "But to be honest, I think you are the closest thing I've ever had to a sibling."
"And what about me puppy?" Elizabeth asked to Robin, rubbing on his other shoulder. "Do you also consider me to be a relative of yours?"
"I literally just met you some few hours ago." Robin said to her with a poker face. "Altough...I have this strange sensation I've seen your face already before. And I don't know if that's me developing a fear of you in my subconscious or anything alike."
"I think you are more of a bug. An annoying mosquito that annoys people." Nero barged into the conversation again, teasing Elizabeth. "Whereas I'm a majestic butterfly that graces all with her imperial wings. Umu!"
"Butterflies don't live that long! So you can expect your fame to die very soon idiot!" Elizabeth replied, taunting the artistic roman emperor, who did not took those words kindly.
"Oh yeah? Well, mosquitoes live even less! So by the time I lose relevancy, you'll be begging for money on the streets!" Nero told, clashing her forhead with the lizard girl idol.
"You wish! You'll be the one living on the streets while I get to enjoy a big mansion all to myself!" Elizabeth replied.
"Girls, girls, can'tcha two just do somethin' else other than insultin' each other?" Billy asked them, stopping the conflict. "I fear it may become repetitive at this point."
"If it already doesn't feel like it..." Ritsuka muttered, hoping that both Elizabeth and Nero wouldn't be on this during all day.
"And since you two are now on the same side, perhaps it's time you start to get along." Mash suggested to both idols, who looked at Mash as if she was speaking some gibberish to them. However, they decided to took some reconsideration with it.
"Hummm...I think we do can tolerate a temporary partnership for a while." Elizabeth said.
Nero nodded in agreement. "I too shall accept it, umu! But under the terms that I stay as this group's main star!" She revealed, much to Elizabeth's inconvenience.
"Oi, oi! Have you forgotten who arrived here first? I'm the main star here! Not you!" Elizabeth told to Nero, who gracefully put an hand on her own chest.
"Then consider replaced as a managerial relegation! I'll be the one getting the brightest spotlight from here on out."
"No you won't!"
"Yes I will!"
"No you won't!"
"Yes I will!"
"Something tells me this two will never have a normal conversation between each other..." Robin, like the rest of the party, was getting tired of seeing the two newest additions to the party squabling at each other yet again, wondering why did they had to let the two join in the first place.
Peko moved onto other topics. "What are we going to do now? I understand we need time to think about forming the groups, but we need to to something in the meantime, right?"
"Yes. I think this town is now safe enough to be explorable." Geronimo speaked up. "I think you should do like your sister is already doing and collect any items of value that you might find scattered around the area. I'll be here planning on this very important steps of our next operations of rescuing Sita and assassinating Queen Medb."
"Okay. I think we can do that." Ritsuka replied, accepting the job Geronimo handed to them.
"With some luck, we might find an intact building to spend the night in." Peko said, looking around the town that was now entirely damage due to their fight with Fergus. "Better looking at it, I doubt we will find any intact building here..."
"That's a wonderful idea. I in the meantime will be checking on Rama's wounds." Nightingale said, seating next to Rama on a small table outside, taking his body out of the bag to verify his injuries.
"Nngh! H-Hey..." Rama growned in pain for a bit, still feeling the hurt inside his body.
"Stay calm and cooperative please." Nightingale advised the indian king, her soft gloves touching his skin. "I'll start doing an approximate analysis on you, thank you."
"I think me and Bill will stay on lookout on the outskirts then." Robin also shared what he and Billy would be doing in the meantime.
"That way, we can warn ya if a group of enemies or monsters are nearby!" The gunslinger added.
"Do you think there is room for one more?" Nero asked to the two archer servants. "An an artistic emperor, I'd love to admire the view to this so great american landscape if possible!"
"See if there's space for another one as well!" Elizabeth demanded, wanting to keep a close tabs on her rival, much to Robin and Billy's displeasure.
"W-we'll see it." Robin replied, trying to hide his nervous smile. "There's no way these two will let us alone, will they?"
"It must be a curse at this point!" Billy told to himself.
"I see everyone will be doing something." Geronimo happily commented on it. "But what about you Tesla? What will you be doing?"
Being asked that question, the inventor did nothing more but to smirk. "I prefer to not reveal it. It's a surprise."
"A surprise?" Ritsuka asked with curiosity as well as everyone else as Tesla begun to walk away.
"Eh, so surprise that mister mechanic won't let us take a lil' peep at it?" Billy asked to Tesla, wanting to get some information on what it was.
The inventor on the other hand just kept smiling. "Geniuses tend to work in silence. Their creations can only come to public once they are finished." He simply said before leaving the center zone of the town.
"Fou..."
"What do you guys think Tesla is pretending on building here?" Mash asked to both Ritsuka and Peko.
"I don't know and he certainly won't let us see even a glimpse." Peko replied to the shielder.
"Better let Tesla be and show it to us later. For now, let's join Nala on doing some search in this town." Ritsuka said to the two, sharing on what they'd be doing next.
"Understood master!"
"Roger that Ritsuka!"
With the sun going down and the moon up, the daytime had already passed as Ritsuka was about to put an end to his search around the town, believing that the team spliting would allow for them to cover the entire area much faster.
"Looks like I didn't found anything of worth mentioning." Ritsuka sighed, coming to the conclusion that their exploration of the town happened to be not very useful or intresting. "Might see how did it went with the others." He begun to walk before coming to a stop, having heard some noises to his right. "Huh?" Approaching to the entrance of a narrow alley, Ritsuka took cover behind a pile of wodden boxes, spotting Nala on the alley, slashing her sword against a wall. "What is she doing?"
Inazuma Eleven OST- Fighting Spirit
"That dumbass..." Nala panted a bit, swiping her hand on the face. "Thinks he can say anything that goes on his head now!" The girl slashed the wall again, adding another one of several cuts to it, seemingly doing a sort of training. Nala was still thinking about the entire argument she and Peko had earlier this day. "That it won't happen again or worse!"
"..." Ritsuka stayed silent, continuing to hear Nala venting on herself.
"If he ends up stumbling upon Cú Alter again I..." Repressing that awful thought, Nala slashed the wall again. "...I can only blame myself for letting him go." She said sorrowfuly, believing she had to prevent such destiny from happening to Peko. "If anything, I have to go on his place instead! I can't allow him to take such risk!" She made another cut on the wall, walking a bit from left to right. "Or perhaps I could accompany him. But even then...we together couldn't defeat such monster like him. What are the chances of beating him on a second try?"
"Nala..." Ritsuka once again saw the girl's vulnerabilities. A side she wouldn't let be shown too often to everyone while in public.
Nala shook her head instantly. "Gah! What am I even saying?! Focus Nala! You can't be a downer now!" She slapped her face a bit, conflicting with her emotions. "They count on you just like you count on them! I'm sure Peko will understand the thing he said was stupid. Hard times can't affect your thinking! If I continue to cheer all of them up and smiling, I'm sure we can surpass it! We must stay positive! With moral up in the high!" She said, making a bigger cut on the wall with a more powerful swing of her sword.
"Hmm..." Ritsuka couldn't help but feel that just like him, Nala was carrying a lot of weight on her shoulders with all of this mission to save humanity. They all were.
Putting a hand on the wall she sliced severly, Nala seemed satisfied with the last cut she made. "Hmmmm,yeah! It's good enough!" She smiled, unsommuning her sword. "With all of this I even forgot the notion of the time." She said, looking up to the night sky. "Welp, better find the others before they think I've went missing!" She said, starting to run to the exit of the alley.
"EH?! W-WAIT-" Having been hidden till now, Ritsuka tried to make his presence known to Nala, who didn't saw him, ending up bumping onto him and the pile of wodden boxes at the exit.
"Waaaaaah!" Nala exclaimed surprise, falling to the ground alongside Ritsuka. "R-Ritsuka!? You where behind those boxes?!" She got up, staring confusedly at him. "Were you spying on me?!"
"N-No! I wasn't!" Ritsuka defended himself of the accusation. "I just happened to pass by the moment you runned into me." He explained to Nala, getting up from the ground. "Anyways have you found anything of valuable around here?"
"Not a single thing. This town is as empty as a vacuum." Nala responded. "How about you?"
"Nothing either." Ritsuka told her.
"Ritsuka! Nala!"
Looking to the front, the two saw Peko and Mash approaching them, having also searched the area.
"Hey, how did your exploration went?" Ritsuka asked them.
"Found nothing." Peko replied.
"How about you?" Mash asked to Ritsuka and Nala in return.
"Same here." Ritsuka said with Nala nodding.
"We should head back to the others then." Mash suggested, with the rest of the team agreeing.
"Right." Ritsuka said, with the four about to head torwards the place where the rest of the party was mainly located.
"Hey, Peko." Nala called her brother out, standing a bit behind him.
Peko stopped walking to turn around and stare at his sister. "What is it Nala?"
Standing silent for some seconds, Nala stared to Peko's eyes, trying to tell him what she wanted to tell. "...Nothing. You got something on your face." She said, not being able to bring herself to say it.
Peko gave her a puzzled look. "Hm? Something...in my face?" He touched his own forhead, trying to see what it was, only to be tapped in it by Nala's finger. "Ow!"
"Hehehe! Got you!" She smiled, having played a prank on Peko while running away.
"E-Eh?! Oh you..!" Peko went immediatly after his sister, with both catching up with Ritsuka and Mash before reaching to the town's center.
Having arrived to the area, the chaldeans saw that the servants were all there, apparently making them the last ones to return to the place.
"Welcome back guys!" Geronimo greeted them. "How did the search go?"
"Nothing of worth mentioning." Ritsuka told to the native man.
"How the time went for you?" Peko asked to the servants in general.
"Good news! No enemies to bother us in sight!" Billy reported.
"We can rest easy this night." Robin added.
"That's nice to hear." Nala replied. "And how are you, Rama?" She asked to the hindu servant, next to Nightingale.
"Still surviving." Rama answered. "It might just be pure optimism for having known about Sita's whereabouts, but I'm feeling slightly better than before. Perhaps tomorrow I can afford to start walking again."
"That's out of question." Nightingale told him. "I'm sorry but being emotionally better won't make the physical pain dissapear. You're still staying in the bag until full recovery and that's final!" The nurse exclaimed, not giving chance for debate.
"Could I at least get ouf of this bag to stretch my body a bit?" Rama asked her, trying to convince Nightingale to change her opinion, which by the look on her face, was in vain.
Tesla approached the chaldeans. "So there really isn't a building left intact for us to stay here during the night?" He wanted to reconfirm.
"Unfortunately no." Mash replied. "I think we will have to pass the night out here in the open."
"Sleeping on dirt? Ew, not very elegant." Elizabeth commented, and surprisingly, Nero agreed with her.
"Absolutely! A great artist should sleep on a great and immaculate bed and room! Umu!"
"You two are servants. You don't need sleep." Ritsuka pointed out to the two idols.
"Still, we need a proper form of repose after a long day of fighting." Elizabeth replied back.
"Unless we do find the less damaged building on the area and try to at least make it serviceable for the night, I'm not possibly seeing how we're going to get a proper shelter." Peko speaked.
But as it looked there was no better option, they all noticed a little smile on Tesla's face.
"Why are you smiling Tesla?" Ritsuka asked to his servant.
"Oh, this? It's of no concern master." He said, staring at Geronimo who was also smiling.
"Why for the smile chief?" Billy asked Geronimo.
"You'll see it soon why." The native man told him.
"See what?" Robin questioned. "What are you two hiding from us?"
Tesla didn't hesitated in responding to that. "I'm happy to announce that I've finished my creation! And I invite all of you to see it's presentation firsthand." The inventor revealed before beginning to walk to an area behind the damaged construction they where in front of. "Follow me."
Doing as he said, the entire party was led by Tesla to the area where his invention was,having an igloo-shape form, covered by a huge black mantle.
"What's this?" Riitsuka's curiosity was as high as everybody else's.
Tesla stared to them, showing a gratifying smile. "I present to you, my latest invention!" He declared, removing the black mantle from his creation, revealing a metallic grey and golden dome with electric lights on the exterior and a big antenna releasing some electricity on the top.
"Wooow..." Ritsuka said geniunely impressed.
"That's..." Peko's excitment took over him as his eyes shinned brightly like stars, the same thing with Ritsuka. "A futuristic scientist's lair?! How cool!"
"It looks straight out of a sci-fi movie!" Ritsuka also exclaimed overjoyed.
"It's amazing..." Mash said, also in awe.
"That sure must have took the time." Nala commented.
Tesla's smile enlarged a bit in pridefulness. "By no means actually. It did took some hours but nothing of difficult magnitude. I had this in mind for a situation like this. I'm happy for the positive reaction of yours. But then again, I always make sure my works are the best of the best!" He laughed, taking kindly the praises. He then gestured to the entrance. "Now, how about we see the inte-"
"Don't mind us if we do!"
"I'm sure the designs must be top-notch inside!"
Nero and Elizabeth interrupted Tesla, with both barging into the entrance door, much to Tesla's indignation.
"Hey! Learn some proper manners when entering a property!" He rebuked the two. "For idols, you do sure love to taint your reputations!" He sighed, putting that anger aside to look at the rest of the group. "Well, feel free to check the interior."
Inside the dome, the group witnessed the well manufactured furniture of the building. A giant dinner table in the middle, with comfortable looking beds alligned on one side of the room and some vintage machinery on the other. A nice tailored wooden floor and a orange lightbulb on the ceilling to give a relaxing ambiance to the place, iluminating the area.
"The place sure look cozy. Reminds me of home. Apart from all the gizmo stuff." Billy commented, taking a liking to the place.
"And it's well spacious." Mash added.
"Did you took safety measures while building this, mister Tesla?" Nightingale asked him.
"W-Well, I did took some altough I admit I also made some risks when crafting the place." Tesla answered, not having expected such question.
"Then you're telling me you put your own physical condition in danger, consciously ignoring safety regulations." Nightingale stared at the inventor with a look of disapproval. "For a self-proclaimed genius like you, I expected more wisdom when it comes to follow basic guidelines that can prevent one's injury. You could have lost an arm or a leg because of such foolish rationality."
Tesla reacted with some embaressment, understanding Nightingale's basic concern for his safety despite thinking she shouldn't pay mind to it. "T-That would never happen! I took that in consideration and was careful enough..."
"That ain't enough!" Nightingale raised her voice, moving her body, affecting Rama who was once again strapped to the nurse's back.
"H-Hey!"
"From now on, you should be wearing an helmet when constructing things in order to decrease the risk of suffering accidents and possible head injuries and traumas." The nurse adviced Tesla, who was thinking that her reaction to this was exaggerated but kept silent.
"Does this woman has to be so strict about anything health related?" Tesla said to himself before giving a side look to Elizabeth and Nero who where near the machinery.
"Uh, all this equipment would do wonders in my concerts!" Elizabeth begun to press the buttons randomly.
"My movie's filming quality would certainly increase with some of these! Umu!" Nero also starting to touch on the instruments.
"Stop with that!" Tesla yelled. "Those things aren't toys!" He went there to drag the two out of his machines.
"Does this also works as a sort of bunker?" Ritsuka asked, looking to the surroundings.
"Precisely!" Tesla answered, shoving Elizabeth and Nero away from his machinery. "This dome was built with a defense mechanism implanted on its system. It can detect enemies on a two-mile radius and attack if they get to close. In other words, we shall have a peaceful night inside here."
"At this point, I don't know if this is more of a science thing rather than magecraft." Robin commented.
"Perhaps a mixture of both?" Nala pondered. "All the technological stuff reminds me of Chaldea a bit."
"It sure does." Rituska replied before hearing a rumbling noise coming from Peko's stomach.
"Guess this is a signal. And right on time at that." Peko said, yearning for food while putting a weak face. "Can we have dinner right now?"
"I was also feeling that we were getting close to that hour." Mash replied. "I think there is no more proper time to eat than this one now that we found a shelter from any monsters outside."
"Fou! Fou!"
Nala closed her eyes, pensitive. "Hmmm, I sure could eat some dishes now..."
"I guess it's decided then." Geronimo speaked. "Let's pick up some of the food at the back of the caravan and set the table for dinner." He instructed to the group.
And having passed about half an hour, the entire party was now sitting on the large table, all eating the food while chatting to each other. It was quite noisy, with talks happening on each point of the table simultaneously, this being the largest party group the chaldeans were a part of ever since their mission to restore humanity begun. It did made the place feel lively however.
"Open your mouth please." Nightingale requested to Rama, holding a spoon with food in front of him.
Rama blushed a bit in shame. "Thanks, but I think I can at least use my arms to feed myself."
"With that huge wound in your chest? We can't risk it to reopen." Nightingale argued, not accepting Rama's luck.
"Aap gambheer hai?" Rama said.
Tesla and Geronimo were also talking to one another.
"And me and my brothers would always bath on the river during the summer, refreshing our bodies from the sun. We'd consider that a blessing from the water spirits that would came in the form of a shoal." Geronimo was telling the stories of his early life to the inventor.
Tesla was hugely intrested in it. "Hmm, and to think I was oblivious to such aspects of this America culture."
And Robin, Billy, Elizabeht and Nero were all talking into a group.
"Eh? You'd steal horses and cows for a living?" Elizabeth listened surprise to Billy's short life story as an outlaw.
"Life was rough back then. And those sort of business would rent way more than a normal borin' job on the ranch." Billy explained to her. "It isn't like I hated every single aspect of it. It's just the lifestyle of a free cowboy was more appealin' to me."
"You commited crimes only for your own benefit then?" Nero asked him.
"Yep! Pretty much that!" Billy responded, taking a bite off of his plate.
"Well, can't say that you aren't honest." Robin told him. "Whatever needs to be done to survive right?"
"Honour and honesty among thieves pal! Ain't that right?" Billy smiled to him.
"Eh, in every sense of the word." Robin smiled at him, onserving Nero trying to reach out for the gunslinger's revolver.
Billy ended up noticing. "Oi! Get ya hands off from my gun!"
"Could I at least use it as a feature in my movie? Such cool weapon need to be included in it! Umu!" Nero told him. "I could even get you a nice contract to starr in it!"
"You stupid! Why would you use a real gun in a movie when you can just have a prop?" Elizabeth told Nero, thinking the emperor's idea to be stupid. "Altough, using a gun in a concert of mine would surely innovative and groundbreaking."
"No thanks." Billy told to Nero, guarding his revolver. "My gun is only used for combat or shootin' tournaments."
Nero still tried to negotiate. "Then how about I add a shooting tournament scene to my movie? Will you partake in it then?"
"What is this movie of yours even about?" Robin asked to Nero, asking to himself if the emperor had a concrete idea of her movie's plot at all.
Ritsuka and Mash observed the entirety of it.
"Wow...we really got a lot of people in our side this time around." Ritsuka commented.
"I wasn't expecting that much when we first landed on this Singularity." Mash replied. "But I'm glad I was proven wrong in this case."
"You say it!" Nala speaked to the older girl, chewing her food. "With a group this large, there's no way we can lose this!"
"I think the same." Ritsuka replied, briefly remembering of the moment he catched Nala venting to herself alone. He then stared to Peko who was sitting on her side, his eyes rather looking way too focused on the food of his plate, being partially silent. "Thinking about something Peko?"
Peko moved his head by instinct, having his inner thoughts broken by Ritsuka "O-Oh? Me? Nothing really. Just observing the state of the food."
"What are you now, a food inspector?" Nala joked.
"I have the right to judge my food, don't I?" Peko replied back.
"As long as you don't stare to long at it before it gets cold." Mash told to the boy.
"Not planning to." Peko told her with a smile.
"Oi, Fujimaru." Geronimo called Ritsuka out.
"What is it Geronimo?" Ritsuka asked, staring back at the native man.
"I have to share with you about the planning of the two groups." Geronimo told him. "We need to discuss this."
"Mhmm..." Ritsuka didn't respond for a few seconds. "I know." He put down his knife and fork. He still had that dilemma poking him in the back of his mind. "Could I...just take a minute to think?"
"By all means." Geronimo replied, comprehensibly. "Spend it by forming the groups in your mind and then come back to talk with me so that we can define them properly." He smiled to the master of humanity.
"Got it." Ritsuka replied, getting up from the table, gaining everyone's look of surprise.
"M-master?" Mash looked up to him.
"Ritsuka?" Nala stared confused.
"What's the matter?" Peko asked.
"Fou fou?"
"If you don't mind...I'll go think about it outside." Ritsuka said to everyone at the table. "My head works better in fresh air." He said, politely excusing himself and walking to the exit of the dome, with everyone's glares still following him, specially Tesla's, who was already theorizing why is master behaved like that suddenly.
On the outside, Ritsuka sat on the stairs to the entrance of a small broken town hall building. He put both his hands on his head, resting his elbows on his own legs as he lowered his head. His mind just couldn't made up. Not even the absolute silence could make this decision easier to rationalize for him. "What do I choose here?"
"Is everything alright master?" Mash voice was heard, with the shielder appearing from his left side, walking torwards him.
"M-Mash? What are you doing here outside?" Ritsuka questioned her.
"I wanted to make sure if you were feeling fine master." Mash told him, sitting on the same stairs as him. "Is something troubling you?"
Fate Grand Order OST- Corridor of Memories
Looking into her eyes for a moment, Ritsuka moved his sight away from her. "Kinda..." He jointed his hands. "That fight against Fergus. It made me rethink about my performance as a leader. It showed me that I can't still be a full competent leader." Ritsuka admited. "That perhaps I'm not well-suited enough for it and it was pure luck who brought us this far."
"Senpai..." Mash knew what he was talking about, having seen it for herself in the chaldeans fight against the celtic servant. The way he stood paralyzed, unable to think. Unable to act. How useless he must have felt in that moment and damaged his self-confidence. "And now, you also can't take a decision on wether Peko should go to the Celtic Empire headquarters or not, is that it?"
"Yeah." Ritsuka replied. "And Nala doesn't want that. She's cares more deeply for Peko than any of us. But at the same time, I do can understand why he wants to go. Peko wants to keep proving himself, looking to make up for the defeat he and Nala suffered against Cú Alter when we first arrived to this Singularity." Ritsuka lifted up his head, staring to the destroyed scenario in front of him. "Deep down, this is a barrier he needs to confront in order to surpass it."
"That must be why he freezed at the end against Fergus." Mash said, now having the justification for why the boy stood still at the end of their previous battle. "The image of Cú Alter must be taunting his mind ever since that fight."
"And, I somewhat feel scared about it Mash..." Ritsuka told her, staring to his own hands slightly trembling, remembering the image of both Peko and Nala all wounded and bandaged up. "I fear that Peko might not come back if he goes there to have a rematch. Nala fears it too. And if he ends up dying..." Ritsuka's voice was full of pain, fighting some tears to appear on his eyes. "The blame will be on me as a leader! And I'd hate myself for that!"
"S-Senpai..." Mash stared at her master with a profound consolation.
Ritsuka quickly brushed his tears away, aware of the figure he was doing. "S-Sorry Mash! I didn't want you to see me like this." He told her, smiling a bit. "Now you'll get the image that I'm some incapable lose-huh?!" Astonished, Ritsuka look to his side to see Mash hug his arm tightly.
"Please Senpai. That was enough. Stop lying." Mash stared to him. "Those things you said just now...none of them are true and you know it!" She exclaimed. "If we reached this far, is also thanks to you! An incompetent leader and master wouldn't have went as far as you did! So stop being so dishonest with yourself!" The shielder pushed for him, comforting her master.
"Mash..." Ritsuka gazed at her.
"Everyone has bad days Senpai. We want you to be a good leader. No one said you have to be perfect." Mash told to him gently, putting her face to his shoulder. "But most importantly, to be yourself. You showed me how even those who are deemed to be 'weak' can be important and capable to a group. The things you do and have done, go beyond of what I would consider to be a useless leader. I can see it." She smiled warmly to him. "And I want you to see those things too, Senpai."
Ritsuka saw in her smile, a familiar one. A smile that brought him happier memories. A time from some years ago when things in his life were simple. It made the master of humanity feel at ease, alleviated by Mash's presence. If she and the others believed in him, he also needed to start believing in himself. "Eh, thank you Mash." Ritsuka smiled back at her. "I will." He stared at her wrist. "How's the wound by the way?"
Mash touched it softly. "Slowly making progress."
"Ritsuka!"
"Mash!"
Both Peko and Nala came running torwards them, with Fou hanging on Peko's head.
"Hm? Why are you two looking worried?" Ritsuka asked to the twins.
"Did something bad happened inside the dome?" Mash quickly got up from the stairs.
"No. Not at all." Peko clarified. "We went outside to check on you. We thought you could have been attacked by a servant or a monster."
"And seeing Ritsuka getting out with that face really concerned us." Nala added. "Like, you could be feeling ill, or perhaps suffering from a deadly food poisoning! Let me tell you that possibilty triggered some people."
Ritsuka chuckled at them. "I appreciate your concern for me and Mash but we're alright. I really just needed some time to feel the breeze on the outside." He explained to the two, who were now relieved for seeing that nothing of bad happened to their friends.
"Thank goodness..." Nala said before smiling all happily. "Welp, guess that means the food is consumable!"
"What a nice priority to have." Peko commented. "Geronimo said that the groups will separate and travel to each location tomorrow. He decided to be the leader of the group that will go to the parade to assassinate the queen of the Celtic Empire."
"He did?" Mash reacted to the information. "So that means..."
"I will be the one leading the group to the Alcatraz prison where Sita is." Ritsuka concluded.
"Since the mission of assassinating the queen is of higher danger, he doesn't want to envolve you in it, wanting you to survive till the end of this Singularity." Nala told Ritsuka. "He thinks that if you die, so does the chances of saving America."
"I see..." Ritsuka replied. "I don't exactly oppose to it. But does that means the groups are already defined?"
"Not yet. Geronimo still wants to consult with you about that." Peko told him, crossing his arms. "This next two missions will be important. If we succeed on both of them, then this Singularity will be close to be resolved. The margin of failing must be non-existent."
"Wow, wasn't expecting for you to speak this seriously about it." Nala commented on her brother's words.
"Did I?" Peko asked his sister, genuinely. "Well, it wasn't my intention too sound THAT serious. I just want us to do well in this." Peko rubbed the back of his head. "As a member of Chaldea, I know that the future of humanity depends on us. We have a lot of people counting on us. Counting on me. We can't let them down."
"You spoke well Peko." Mash told him.
"Like a true royal prince." Ritsuka bantered a bit. "And we shall grant your orders as your loyal servants."
"H-Hey, I thought we were done with that joke." Peko blushed a bit, smiling nervously. "Plus, you are the one with the contracts and the servants and everything! Not me!"
"It doesn't let to be funny however." Ritsuka told him.
Mash noticed a serious pensative look on Nala's face. "What are you thinking about, Nala?"
"About a little detail." Nala replied. "I couldn't help but observe how not a single enemy on this Singularity so far as called me and Peko of 'Royal Twins' like the ones in London." She brought that up, making a good point on the rest of the team's minds.
"That's...actually true." Ritsuka said, remembering of how neither Fergus nor Diarmuid and Fionn mentioned or speaked about the 'Royal Twins', not desiring to capture Peko and Nala unlike the enemy servants of the previous Singularity.
"I wonder why." Peko put a thumb under his chin. "It's really suspicious how our foes in London were so insisting in wanting to take us captive to now the ones in this Singularity not even showing a slight of intrest in us. Why is that?"
"Could it be due to Solomon lack of interference here?" Mash thought. "It always seemed that our opponents in London had some kind of closer ties to him. That mage Zolgen was pretty much working for him. Solomon most likely passed the information about you two to the servants of that Singularity, whereas in this one it seems he hasn't interacted with the servants at all."
"Perhaps he is expecting our enemies to kill Peko and Nala without having to lift a finger himself." Ritsuka reflected about it. "He wouldn't have to make such an effort that way."
"So he wants others to do his dirty work for him." Nala said, a bit upset about it. "What a coward! If he really wants to eliminate us, he should be appearing here in front of us right now!"
As she finished saying that, some static noise sounded in the air shortly before the hologram of Doctor Romani appearing in front of him. "Hi guys! How are you? Everything in check?"
"Everything doc." Ritsuka answered. "It's nice to see you again."
Peko went to speak with him. "Does the doctor knows about-"
"The assassination plans you have for the queen of the Celtic Empire as well as rescuing Sita from the infamous Alcatraz prison? Yep, I've heard it all." Romani responded before Peko could even finish the question.
"Eavesdropper." Nala accused him.
"Fou! Fou!"
"C'mon now, just because my hologram doesn't show up, doesn't mean I don't detect nor record the conversations you have had until now." Romani explained himself to them. "But anyways, I came here to contact you about another thing instead."
"What is it?" Mash asked to the doctor.
"We found out a leyline in the area of the town you are currently located in." Da Vinci appeared, revealing it to team. "You know what that means, right?"
"Establish a connection with it." Peko answered.
"Correct! But you don't have to do it right now. You can sleep and save it for tomorrow morning instead." Da Vinci told them, sparing them of doing that job during the night.
"It isn't like it will dissapear or anything. First, think about assigning the groups for tomorrow and sleep this night." Romani adviced them. "We will patrol the area alongside Tesla's sistem in the meantime."
"Understood doctor!" Ritsuka replied, looking to his team. "Guess that means our next destiny will be the beds."
"I sure couldn't wait for it any longer." Nala said, ready to have some rest. "Altough I think you still have to be wake up for some more time." She smirked at Ritsuka.
"Dammit! That's true..." Ritsuka cursed, remembering of the planning he still had to do with Geronimo. "But it has to be done. Let's just head back to the dome before the rest think we all went missing." He said to his team, with all beggining to walk to the dome.
"Psst! Oi, master."
"Hm? Who is-!?" Looking to the side, Ritsuka was startled when he spotted Tesla hidding right next to him. "T-Tesla!? What are you-"
"Keep it down please!" Tesla asked to his master, not wanting the others who kept walking to hear him. "I need to have a private talk with you, if you will."
"You want to be part of the group that will assassinate the queen just to guarantee that Peko gets to be safe?" Ritsuka asked to his servant, with the two being on an isolated area, hidden from the others.
"It is my request to you, master." Tesla told him, having shared his intentions with Ritsuka.
"But why?" Ritsuka questioned, wanting to know the motive.
"You can't hide it from attentive observers like me master. I know how the decision to let the boy go or not is proving to be of an hard choice for you." Tesla revealed. "On one hand, you want to keep him protected as a leader. But on the other, you want to give him a vote of confidence as a teammate."
"That's..." Ritsuka tried to made stuff up, unable to come with something.
"That's what's going on, isn't it?" Tesla said, figuring out pretty easily.
"Yeah. You got me." Ritsuka admited to his servant.
"Then, as your servant, let me get ridden of that burden of yours." Tesla told him. "Give it the order that I'll obey willingly. That way, I bet your conscious can at least be calmer about this issue."
"I think so." Ritsuka replied, not fully sure. "However, what makes you wanna go with this?"
"Because I can see it. The way he looks up to you." Tesla responded. "How much you inspire him to go forward. Don't you grasp it too master? Peko desires to help you out in any means possible by expanding his abilities." Putting his hands on his hips, Tesla looked up to the starry sky with a smile. "He also does kinda reminds me of myself in some sort of way."
Now that did surprised Ritsuka. "How exactly?"
"I too had people I looked up to and wanted to impress when younger. Anyone has at one point basically." Tesla said, sitting on some of the wreckage around them. "Those other great minds of my time were the reason why I wanted to be a genius too. Exactly like them. A motivation for me to keep pushing the limits and find new ways to bind and control this mystical element of nature and spread it to everyone else." The inventor opened his mechanical hand, releasing some small electricity current. "And as much as it may cost me to say this in the present, Edison was also one of those people."
"What?!" Ritsuka exclaimed in shock.
"Not in terms of being a figure I looked up to!" Tesla explained to Ritsuka before he could get the wrong impression of it. "But more of someone who I can't deny that helped my understanding and crafting reach to where it is now." He speaked well of his rival, perhaps one of the rarest things Ritsuka would never expect to see. "Do not get me wrong. He was kinda of an asshole back then and still is one now. But, hell if he wasn't a person who'd push greatly for his coworkers, emboldening them to do the very best. Always someone who'd want the mood and moral of his staff to be way up high. Such behaviour and charisma would be worthy of some praise at minimum. If it wasn't for the fact he is such a fraudster, I'd probably would have worked for him until the end."
"Okay. The fact you speaked well of him must be a rarer occurrence than being strucked by lightning." Ritsuka told to his servant.
"Hm! There is a first time for everything. Isn't it?" Tesla got up. "Listen, master. If let to fully explore his own potential, that boy can be a genius and reach to far greater heights. The way of challenging oneself is also of improvement. I'm confident that he wants to take this leap in order to grow. And he shall do it because you motivate him to. You are the genius that galvanizes Peko."
"I...am I really that to him?" Ritsuka asked, being a bit overwhelmed with Tesla's words.
"Believe me when I say it master. After all, us geniuses hardly get mistaken." Tesla gave a prideful smile to him.
Thinking for a bit, thanks to the talk with Tesla, it gave the push Ritsuka's mind needed to finally decide. "Tesla, hear me." He lifted the hand with the Command Seals, showing them to the servant. "By this Command Seal, I order you to protect Peko at all costs, making sure that no harm comes to him and that he gets out of this conflict alive!" And so, Ritsuka bounded his wish spell to the Spirit Core of Tesla. A side of him didn't really wanted to use them on a servant who he had full trust in already. But Ritsuka also felt that Tesla would insist for him to use it on the inventor.
"Thank you my master." Tesla slightly bowed politely to Ritsuka. "I'll make sure to carry on your wish till my very dying breath." He said, stretching his arm to Ritsuka. "Let's just not tell this to Peko, okay? I think he wouldn't like to know the reason of my company with his group." He said, smiling to his master.
In return, Ritsuka smiled back to Tesla, accepting the handshake. "My lips are sealed!"
"Stabilization to the leylines concluded. All systems operationable." Mash reported to the Chaldea base as she stared at her shield on the ground making contact with the leylines of this Singularity. She and the rest of the team were surrounding it, standing on the outside of a new day, this being one of the first things they did in the morning.
The hologramic image of Da Vinci was accompanying the whole process. "You'd be surprise on how unusual leylines can be found in America. Due to being a recent country in history, its land isn't as rich in magecraft backstory as some older countries that have existed long before." Da Vinci said, teaching them about the topic. "If you were to make a comparison, the United States lacks in overall mana usage."
"But what about the native tribes like Geronimo's?" Peko asked her. "Wouldn't they be an exception?"
"The native tribes may have been familiarized with the ways of magecraft long before the modern residents of this country, but their communities were still too small and used magic in a rudimentary way to properly adapt its full potential unlike larger communities and civilizations. American culture overall has only recently touched such subjects." Da Vinci glossed it to the boy. "But it does makes it look ironic."
"In what way?" Ritsuka asked the italian artist.
"That the United States are seen as a country of modern times, with their lens aimed at future evolution and wanting to jump-start humanity into a new age. Their a bastion of the current century. Yet, now they decide to look back and explore about topics that existed way before their birth in human history. Kinda of a way to take one step back in order to take two steps forward." Da Vinci told them, her head viewing other things. "I'd wager they would even be crazy enough to start a Holy Grail War as means of development to their country's magecraft. In another world, who knows?"
"Heyyy, guys!" Nero called the team out, heading torwards them. "Geronimo is wanting everyone reunited!"
The team all looked at her as Mash picked up her shield from the ground, finishing the work with the leylines.
"Guess it's time." Nala said, knowing what this was about just like the rest of her team.
Standing on the outside of the town, the party has been divided into two groups. The one who would go to Washington D.C., the Celtic Empire's headquarters, to assassinate Queen Medb during her parade: Geronimo, Peko, Tesla, Robin, Billy and Nero.
And on the other group, the ones who would travel all the way to the West, California, to rescue Sita from the Alcatraz prison: Ritsuka, Mash, Nala, Nightingale, Rama and Elizabeth.
These were the two groups defination. No turning back now. No last minute changes available as the two groups stared at each other, about to say their farwells.
"Good luck on your mission. Hope everything turns out well for you." Ritsuka said, him and Geronimo looking to one another and stepping up as each group's respective leaders.
"I say the same to you, master of Chaldea. May the good spirits be with you." Geronimo said in return, with the two doing an handshake.
Mash handed to the group who was going east some earpieces. "Take this with you please. They will help us keep up in contact with each other as per Doctor Romani and Da Vinci." She said, seeing them take the small objects from her hands.
"You sure you yourselves won't need a vehicle to reach faster to Washington D.C.?" Nightingale asked them. "Altough your travel might be shorter than ours, you still have to walk some long miles to reach the city."
"That ain't a problem. Geronimo knows some shortcuts on the way there. We must be able to arrive just before the parade starts." Tesla replied to the nurse. "You will need the caravan more than us. Besides, I hope you don't mind the alterations I applied on it."
"What alterations?" Nala asked him.
"I replaced the horses for an actual engine and tied some electric cables to the wheels. Now the vehicle will be able to go faster than before." Tesla told them.
"Wow! That will help us a lot. Appreciate it." Rama replied to the inventor.
"Does that means you worked overnight instead of resting?" Nightingale asked him.
"Yes, I did." Tesla told her.
"You know that isn't healthy right? Working over long periods of time can cause extreme fatigue and weakness of the muscles. You should take care more of yourself honestly." Nightingale rebuked him again.
"But we're servants. We don't get that tired over such things. Plus, I think it's just in my nature to work on building new things." Tesla justified, smiling to the nurse.
"I see..." She said, turning around. "Your illness is a stubborn one."
"Eh, if you say so." Tesla replied, staring to the rest of the group that would go to Alcatraz. "Good luck to you all."
"Same goes for you." Ritsuka told to his servant, putting a fist on Tesla's chest. "I'm counting on you!"
Initially surprised, Tesla smiled back to his master, knowing what he meant by that. "I'll make sure to not fail you, master."
"Waah! Why does goodbyes always have to be bittersweet to downright sad!?" Elizabeth complained, feeling bad about having to separate from half the party. "Now who will be my puppy?" She stared at Robin with teary eyes. "You promise we will see each other again, right?"
"Eeeh...I'll do my best." Robin replied to her before being instantly hugged by her.
"Aaaah! I'm gonna miss you so much!" Elizabeth cried. "What will I do without half of my staff team?"
"H-Hey, no need for that. I promise to be fine." Robin tried to comfort her. "Thank god I'm actually going to spent some time away from her. My sanity was needing it!"
"Rest easy lass!" Billy told to Elizabeth, tapping Robin in the shoulder. "I'm gonna be sure that this chum 'ere won' bite the dust so soon."
"And the same goes for you!" Nero said to Elizabeth. "Our rivalry might be in pause right now, but that doesn't mean I will let you surpass me as the greatest artist who has ever lived! Umu!"
"Hm, likewise!" Elizabeth responded. "We still need to dispute that title. Until then, you better not chicken out and dissapear!" The lizard girl idol told, having an idea. "Hey, how about me and you cooperate this time and celebrate this farewell by singing together to cheer everyone up?"
Altough that idea sounded terrifying for everyone, it was amusing to Nero. "Oh, but of course! I also am an amazing singer y'know? I couldn't think of a better way to rally our side!"
Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "Yep! Let's start singing then!" She grabbed a microphone alongside Nero. "And one-"
"SHUT UP!"
The entire group yelled to the two, showing clearly their collective desire of not wanting their ears to bare such torture.
"Rude."
"Rude."
Both Elizabeth and Nero said.
And now, there was only one left to say goodbye.
"Well, this is it." Peko looked at the ground for a bit before looking at Nala in front of him. "Wish me luck!"
"..." Nala didn't respond, not even looking at her brother, opting to stay silent.
Peko didn't tried to make her talk, his mind knowing why she was giving him the cold shoulder. It made him sad, altough he tried to ignore it. Ritsuka and Mash could also sense the girl's disregard for Peko. "Okay..." Peko lowered his head, scratching it. "I better be-!?"
Sonic Unleashed OST- A New Journey
Having made no warning, Peko was astounded when Nala went to hug him all of a sudden. A tight, embracing hug, one of a sibling's love for the other. The boy could feel how almost crushing it was as he saw his sister, burying her face in his chest. She cared. She cared so much for him. And in return, Peko hugged her as tightly, appreciating every second as if it was the last one. The two stayed in that position for what it felt like hours, neither wanting to break it apart.
"Take care, will you?" Nala said to her brother, looking at him with a caring smile as they undid the hug.
Such thing ached Peko's chest, with some tears appearing on his eyes. But he made sure to clean them off quickly. Peko had already decided what he wanted to do despite his heart speaking loud. Now it wasn't time for regrets. He had to confront what came next in front of him, going forward. "I will!" Peko smiled back to his sister.
Ritsuka and Mash approached the two.
"Be brave Peko. Always keep being strong." Mash told him, headpatting his head. "I know you can do this!"
"Fou!" Fou also came out to cheer him.
"Remember. This only ends with all of us here." Ritsuka smiled to him, putting his fist in front of Peko. "Take care, my friend."
"Sure thing." Peko replied, doing the fist bump with Ritsuka.
"I think that was all." Geronimo speaked, approuching the group. "We shall be going now."
"You fellas go and rescue Rama's lady!" Billy told to the Alcatraz group. "For America and the entire world!"
"Eh, couldn't have said it better." Robin replied, putting his fist next to Ritsuka's and Peko's. "For America and the world!"
"For America and the world." Tesla joined in, also putting his fist close to the others.
Mash, Nala, Nightingale, Geronimo, Rama, Billy, Elizabeth, Nero and even Fou all joined in, with the group standing in a circle, united one last time.
"Everyone! Are you all ready?" Ritsuka speaked to the entire party.
"YEAH!"
They exclaimed in unison. And so, the two groups went to each their separate ways, with Ritsuka's group heading to the caravan.
"Mash." Ritsuka called the shielder. "How's the engine?"
Mash took a look at it. "In a splendid state master." She said. "With this, we can arrive to- huh? What's wrong Nala?"
Hearing that, Ritsuka stared to his side, seeing Nala with her head down with a huge sorrowful expression. "Nala, are you-..."
"Emotions can be a real harmful thing." Nightingale commented. "Such is the way that makes us living beings."
Elizabeth slightly bowed down to look at Nala's face. "Is that a tear I spot?"
"No." Nala replied, wipping them off from her face. "You're just imagining things." She told to Elizabeth, rising up her head and smiling. "We should get on the road now!" She told to her group, moving her head to look at Peko and his group walking into the other direction, happily interacting with the servants. "Go ahead and do it, Peko!"
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 80!
And oh boy! This was quite the chapter to explore our main group of characters. And I think you guys figured it out what is Ritsuka's own character arc here in this saga. Managing to be a proper leader and master. Which you could say that was already his arc in the first part of the game, but Ritsuka in there had the personality and characteristcs of a tissue paper to really notice a development on his character at all.
So he isn't having a 'oh no! I'm killing innocent people!' type of suffering that you see later in the Lostbelts but instead a 'oh no! Am I doing a good job as a leader?' type of suffering. And it makes sense. After all Ritsuka here is still young and rookie, and the fact he is not only master of Mash but also leader of Peko and Nala makes this problem flow better than if he was just master of Mash. After all, it's more difficult to be a leader of a group than of just a person. All in all, it's growing pains that our dear mc is suffering here. It's only natural for his development later on.
But oh well, that was all I wanted to say and see you next time on chapter 81! Peace!
P.S:
Peko (Standing in front of a wealthy restaurant, working as a host): Eeeeeh, it's so hot out here. But I can't exit from my position. I have to pay the rent. Guess this is my punishment for having messed up the things in the kitchen
Kid Gilgamesh (Appears): Oh hi there Peko!
Peko (Straights out his body): G-Gil?! What are you doing here?
Kid Gilgamesh: It has been quite some time since we last met, hasn't it?
Peko: Y-Yeah...
Kid Gilgamesh: I think it was when I accidentaly ended up throwing that ball way further than you and steal all the attention from you, hahaha! That was quite the day!
Peko (Trying to maintain his smile): It sure was ahaha! I sware if it wasn't for the fact you are cool and chill I'd probably hate you!
Kid Gilgamesh (Coughs): Anyways! I've come here to make a reservation.
Peko (Grabs pen and board): Sure. Is in your name or of someone else?
Kid Gilgamesh: I want to make a reservation of your sister. I've decided she's gonna be my future wife.
Peko: Pfff-