xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tent House, 7:18 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Putting on her clothes, consisting of a yellow tank top, a red short button-up with the sleeves rolled over it, a dark blue miniskirt and her boots, Camilla looked in the mirror as she prepared for the day ahead. Grabbing a hair tie and a few accessories consisting of a pair of matching black bracelets and a small string necklace with a green pendant, she pulled up her hair into a ponytail whilst stretching out her arms.
"That looks good..." Camilla thought as she made a satisfied smile as she admired her own appearance before turning around and sighing. "Now if only someone would stop sulking..." She thought as she walked towards the exit of her and Bernard's home.
Stepping outside into the sunlight, Camilla looked over at a nearby tree and spotted her roommate, hunched over on his knees facing the trees with Corvus and Vulp nearby, staring at him. With his beanie off his head on his hands and dressed in all black, Bernard had tears in his eyes as Camilla, Corvus and Vulp could only look on as he was kneeling in front of a makeshift tombstone made from a plank of wood that read "here lies Formosa, may it shoot laser beams on the other side" in black pen.
"Guh... Nrgh..." Bernard grunted in an upset tone.
"Do we seriously need to be out here...?" Corvus thought with him and Vulp looking at their master with annoyance before Camilla walked over to where Bernard was.
Forming a barrier orb over her fist, Camilla proceeded to punch Bernard on the top of his head, causing him to recoil as the tears of sadness turns into ones of pain as he dropped his beanie to clutch at the top of his head. Angry, Bernard looked back to spot Camilla standing over him, her hands on her hips with an equally displeased face before he put his beanie back on.
"It's been four days." Camilla said in a blunt manner.
"It's called "grieving!" Have you ever heard of it?!" Bernard loudly retorted as he got to his feet to confront his girlfriend.
"Kinda agree with the hottie, kid." Corvus said, catching the wizard's attention with Vulp nodding in agreeance to what Corvus said. "A bit too much just for that thing." He continued.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Bernard exclaimed. "Formosa was a member of the team, it was the strongest creature I had!" He said.
"...I'm a little insulted by that..." Corvus said as him and Vulp just looked at Bernard with frustration.
"It leeched off the magic in your pacemaker and just happened to follow your orders." Camilla said as she caught Bernard's attention. "It probably didn't even know your name." She said as she folded her arms under her chest.
"Giving Formosa a proper burial was the right thing to do!" Bernard shouted as he shifted his arms in the direction of the tombstone.
'"You slopped up some of that thing, put it in a thermos and buried it next to the tent."' Camilla and Corvus thought with judgmental expressions.
"Pretty much every time I was in a fight, that gigantic slime demon was the only reason me and the other pets survived... And now thanks to stupid Warwick, I'm down one monster from the show idea I had! It took forever to come up with an act for Formosa after I came up with the "Parade Float" mode!" Bernard mentally complained. "Here's a question; why are you not upset?!" He asked towards Camilla.
"What do you mean? I am upset that you lost a pet but I'm not waking up every morning and praying towards a dead pile of once-living sludge for almost two hours." Camilla replied with an apathetic tone as she pointed at Formosa's tombstone.
"That slime was the reason our first date ever ended well!" Bernard said with an agitated glare towards his girlfriend as he remembered when he and Camilla went to the spa village of Hosenka, the spot of their first official date.
"You could've just brought me along when you two were getting cozy that day. I could have zapped those two mercenaries so you two could get on with "business."' Corvus said with a smug tone and a shrug of his shoulders as Vulp looked at him with half-closed eyes.
"I told all of you to stay back in the room while we spent time together that night." Camilla said as she turned back towards the Celestial Spirits. "And besides, the last thing I wanted was to pass out from a nosebleed in the buff in front of Bernard and that ended up happening anyway... Would've been worse if that pervy bird saw that himself..." She thought, remembering the more embarrassing elements of that day.
"You should show a bit of respect to what's left of Formosa." Bernard said towards Camilla as she turned to look at him.
'"Respect?"' Camilla reiterated with her eyes squinting. "Funny, coming from a guy who spent the last four days just letting Daphne run rampant while he moped around the guildhall." She said with a slowly rising anger in her voice as Bernard's eye twitched. "I've been cleaning up the messes she's been causing left and right." Camilla thought.
"I gave her lists of stuff to do while I dealt with the death, didn't I?" Bernard said in response.
"That four eyed idiot was multitasking..." Corvus muttered as Bernard looked at the crow with Vulp nodding once more. "She made the cat plush dudes work overtime the past few nights when the guildhall was closed because she thinks it will increase her pay." He continued as Bernard raised an eyebrow.
"We don't need to clean overnight and I'm not giving her a raise... She keeps arguing that the individual cat plush men should be counted as part of her salary, and she should be paid in the amounts they've been working by connection... When she's also been pickpocketing from the merchandise till and asking that I pay her for the individual Capture Pins..." Bernard thought as he recalled Daphne trying to gouge her employer.
"Daphne also gave Abel his Mr. Cursey doll back after you took it away from him for abusing Kain all the time." Camilla said. "She said it was to help Kain with getting more practice for the show, but I fail to see how making a guy do back arches for an entire day is going to help with preparations." She said with a bothered expression forming.
"I don't like how that big guy keeps trying to raid the upstairs pantry we now have and eating all the bagged popcorn... But I'm not going to force him to break his own back..." Bernard thought in response.
"She pissed off the bearded lady by trying to trim some of her hairs without permission thinking it would help." Corvus said as Bernard's eyes widened.
"You should never try to cut Harriet's beard! She will literally form a noose out of it and hang you off it!" Bernard thought, bewildered.
"That one security girl with the cat ear headband has also been given permission to make people shit themselves for fun. The four-eyed idiot thought it might help with morale if people saw someone crap their pants." Corvus said as Vulp continually rolled his eyes, finding Daphne to be obnoxious.
"I managed to stop Mary from taking it too far." Camilla said as she spoke up. "All it was doing was making people worried that they'd suddenly need to go the bathroom." She continued. "And force her cat plush things to unclog the toilets over and over." Camilla thought, annoyed.
"Well... That's one issue sorted..." Bernard thought as he bit his lip. "This girl used to operate a hotel... Hard to believe..." He said aloud to himself.
"She's completely hopeless without you directing her. Left to her own devices, she'll try and start acting like she's the person in charge." Camilla said towards Bernards as he scratched his face. "Pietro even told me that she was looking for Master Barnum's office somewhere in the guildhall so she can make some suggestions for-" She continued until Bernard cut her off.
"Alright! Alright!" Bernard exclaimed with his hands up. "I'll say something to her, okay?" He continued. "Knowing my father though, his office door is impossible to find so it'll just be one big time waster." Bernard thought with annoyance.
"Hey!" A familiar female voice said as Bernard, Camilla and the Celestial Spirits turned their heads.
Approaching the group was another recently added member of Psycho Circus, a voluptuous young woman with dark skin and long silver hair that had parts standing up on top to form bunny ear-like protrusions, dressed in long white gloves, a loincloth-like black dress, an armored breastplate, a black tiara, a yellow scarf around her neck and overly shiny armored leg guards on her legs.
"Good morning." The young woman said with a welcoming tone.
"Hey Swan." Camilla replied.
"Morning." Bernard said with a tired tone as Corvus looked at her armored chest. "...Will you stop ogling her?" He said towards his Celestial Spirit ally as he noticed his perverse action.
"I can't help it, look at her." Corvus smugly said in response before he and Vulp turned into light particles and disappeared into Bernard's pacemaker Lacrima.
"Funny, that's actually why I walked over here." Swan said as she looked at Bernard and Camilla.
"Hmm?" Camilla muttered.
"Something happen?" Bernard asked. "I swear... If anyone made a peephole in the bathrooms or the hot springs area..." He thought with a twitch in his eye, expecting the worst.
"Well, actually it's more of something "not" happening." Swan said, causing Bernard and Camilla look at each other in confusion. "I'm kinda used to the idea that all the men in the guild and in this town have been staring at me in a certain way." She said with a flip of her hair in a boisterous manner. "Can't blame them, I've become a top earner in such a short time and I'm quite the "catch," if you know what I mean." Swan continued with a self-absorbed smile.
"She's been part of the final act for the past two shows. Now she's gotten a massive ego." Camilla thought as she looked at Swan with an exasperated look. "..."All the men," huh?" She said as she glanced at Bernard with judging eyes.
"Not true!" Bernard angrily shouted in defiance of that statement. "...Well... Technically speaking, I watch her, Marlene and Gigantia dance for their routine in the show but I'm not gawking at them like a lech!" He thought, sheepishly.
"However, I have noticed the past couple of days, a certain someone hasn't really been looking my way." Swan said as Bernard and Camilla listened to her.
"As in, you actively noticed and still letting it occur?" Bernard questioned.
"Like I said, I don't mind the admiring eyes." Swan said with a smug tone. "The person in question though is someone close to you both so I figured I'd ask if you knew anything." She continued.
'"Someone we're close to?"' Bernard said as he looked at Camilla.
"...Wait... Do you mean Anatoli?" Camilla said, realizing who Swan was referring to.
"Yes, the shirtless monkey with abs for days." Swan said as she pointed at Camilla. "I've noticed a surprising lack of flirting from him. Normally it's almost a daily thing but lately, not so much." She said as she put her hands on her hips.
"Hmmmm..." Bernard muttered as he looked away from everyone. "He's still upset about the loss to Warwick...?" He thought.
"Surprised you care considering you've been turning him down for a date repeatedly. Do you suddenly feel interested?" Camilla asked.
"Oh no, as if." Swan said with an honest tone and a wave of her hand, surprising Bernard and Camilla. "I'm way out of his league, I just enjoy turning him down repeatedly and seeing him keep trying, hahaha." She said with a haughty laugh as Bernard and Camilla could only stare at her.
"She's concerned about him because she wants to keep leading him on..." Bernard thought with bizarre eyes.
"What an ugly personality trait..." Camilla thought in similar disbelief.
"So, do you have any idea what's wrong with him?" Swan asked, getting back on topic.
"There was a thing on that trip me and some of the others went on..." Bernard said as Camilla looked at him. "I don't want to go into too much detail aside from the fact it involved the guilds usual S-rank fight..." He said as Swan looked at Bernard before shrugging.
"Then I won't pry. Was just curious." Swan said as she put her hands up. "By the way, the S-rank fight you mentioned. All you have to do is win a fair fight against one of the guilds S-class wizards and then you'll be considered one of the top ranked members, yeah?" She said with a smirk as she eyeballed Camilla, causing the head of security to raise an eyebrow in response. "...Sounds like fun." Swan said.
"...That a challenge?" Camilla said as a smile formed on her face. "She fights mostly with her legs... Seems like my kind of opponent." She thought with interest as a yellow aura of magic appeared around her body.
"No... Just something to consider... Hehe." Swan said with a chuckle as a light purple aura also appeared around herself, Bernard's eyes shifting back and forth as he looked at the two girls sizing each other up.
"This conversation... Uhhhh... Took a bit of a tense turn..." Bernard thought as he felt like a third wheel before Swan walked away towards the guild, the girls' auras now disappearing. "Guess I should get to work-" He said before Camilla grabbed his shoulder to stop him from moving.
"First, change out of the "all black" clothes." Camilla said with a stern tone as she pointed for Bernard to go back inside and change, her boyfriend sighing in frustration.
"Fine..." Bernard said while rolling his eyes as he and Camilla parted ways.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus guild, 9:14 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After changing clothes into a dark blue long sleeve shirt with a hood, dark green cargo pants, black and white sneakers and his signature beanie and monster containing accessories, Bernard was under one of the tables in the guildhall with one of Daphne's green stitched cat plush men on one knee with chewed gum on its face, watching his boss using a chisel to remove other wads of gum from the underside. Placing the last of the gum in a small bucket, Bernard got out from underneath and stood up with the cat plush man following suit, the young man starting to remove some of the gum from the face of the living man-sized plushie.
"Now, I shouldn't have to tell you how annoying this is but recommendation, don't be directly under where the gum will fall off when you scrape it." Bernard said, giving instructions to the cat plush man who was nodding multiple times in a rather grateful manner. "There's two tables left over there with gum still stuck to it. Go clean those and then head upstairs to dust with that one." He said before pointing up to one of the upper floors towards a blue stitched cat plush man, dusting the walls with a feather duster, the green cat plush man nodding once more in compliance as Bernard placed the scraper into its hand.
As the members of Psycho Circus were all going about their day, Bernard looked around for any signs of Anatoli, scratching his face as he failed to see him or his large ball that he normally sat on. Looking over at the bar, Camilla and Harriet were hard at work making drinks for the guildmembers as Daphne came by with a serving platter, the two women behind the bar placing drinks on it as Daphne went off to deliver them to a nearby table.
"Camilla, Harriet." Bernard said as he walked over to the bar, greeting the two female wizards.
"Not right now, Bernard. Everyone keeps asking for cocktails and shots today." Camilla said as she started to quickly clean drink glasses.
"So, if you're asking for a drink, make it a simple one." Harriet said as she held up two bottles of alcohol in a pair of hairy hands formed by her beard.
"No, I'm good. I was going to ask about something." Bernard said. "Have either of you seen Anatoli at all?" He asked with a concerned tone.
"Nah." Harriet replied. "You?" She said towards Camilla.
"Haven't seen him either." Camilla said. "Maybe he took a job off the request board?" She said as she looked over at the signboard in the guildhall for jobs.
"No, I would've noticed him taking one off there." Bernard thought as he looked at the girls bartending before walking away. "If he was acting normal, he would be hanging out with some of the other members." He mentally pondered as he scanned the guildhall with his eyes, still not seeing a single sign of Anatoli. "Maybe..." Bernard said quietly to himself, formulating a possible location of his friend.
Walking away, Bernard headed for the practice room of the guild, heading down the hall in one of the pillar tents of the big top. Entering into the large open space that had several tightropes above it, ladders along the wall and random crates, Bernard raised an eyebrow as he finally found who he was looking for.
"Yaigh!" Anatoli exclaimed as he spun his arm around in a quick circular motion with his ball off in the corner.
Emerging from his arm was a tornado of wind, directly launched at a bullseye that was propped atop a box as the Wind Magic attack struck the target, knocking it backwards and onto the ground. Making a face of aggravation, Anatoli walked over to the collapsed bullseye and propped it back up on the box, walking back to his position but stopping upon locking eyes with Bernard.
"He-hey..." Bernard awkwardly said as he waved his hand at him.
Making a bothered expression and not saying a word, Anatoli didn't reply to Bernard as he moved to the position he was at earlier and begun to spin his arm again, forming a tornado of wind around it. Firing off another tornado attack, the same thing as before had occurred as the target fell off the box.
"God damn it!" Anatoli screamed as he stomped his foot in anger.
"Whoa!" Bernard muttered as he walked over to his agitated friend, standing next to him. "What's up? I don't normally see you in here training your magic like this." He asked in a concern tone.
"...Leave me alone." Anatoli said with a frustrated tone and not looking Bernard in the eye.
"...Come on man." Bernard said in response as Anatoli's eyes shifted around. "If this is about Wa-" He said until Anatoli spoke up, cutting him off.
"Shut up!" Anatoli said as he turned towards him, finally looking Bernard in the eyes. "I-I don't want to talk about it... Okay?" He said as he brushed past Bernard, bumping into his shoulder.
"What the hell man?!" Bernard said, starting to get angry as well as Anatoli moved over to where his Stellanium soft metal ball was in the practice area. "Look, I get-" He said until getting cut off once more.
"Bernie, shut up." Anatoli said with furrowed brows as he turned back to look at the beanie sporting wizard. "Just... Shut up. I'm not in the mood, this doesn't concern you." He said with a clearly upset tone as he sat on his ball, using his magic to make it levitate.
Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Bernard glared at Anatoli as he started to float out of the room before Bernard grabbed the shirtless monkey-like man by his left forearm, pulling him off his ball and onto his back on the ground. Jumping back to his feet, Anatoli made a confrontational expression as he got in Bernard's face, the beanie sporting wizard surprised at the level of rage in his eyes. Wiping his eyes with his left hand, Anatoli proceeded to walk away from Bernard, exiting the practice area into the main guildhall.
'"Doesn't concern me?" You know what, screw that!" Bernard thought as his face twitched, quickly following after Anatoli. "Hey! Asshole!" He loudly shouted towards Anatoli as a bunch of the other members of the guild turned to look, the shirtless monkey-like man stopping in place.
"What did you just call me?!" Anatoli said with a hostile tone.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Camilla exclaimed from the other side of the room, behind the bar. "Kawazu! Mary!" She said as Kawazu and Mary got up from a nearby table and rushed over to where Bernard and Anatoli were to stop a fight from possibly breaking out.
"I called you an "asshole!" Want me to say it louder?!" Bernard shouted as Mary put her hands on Bernards chest and pacemaker.
"Hey! Stop it!" Mary said, trying to keep Bernard from agitating Anatoli further as Camilla moved out from behind the bar.
"Calm down man!" Kawazu said as he put his hands on Anatoli's shoulders from behind.
"Piss off, chicken man!" Anatoli grunted as he raised his elbow back, striking Kawazu in the beak.
"Guh!" Kawazu grunted as he recoiled in pain, putting a hand on his face.
"You want me to crush your stupid- burgh!" Anatoli said until Camilla approached her fellow guildmembers, opening her hand and smacking Anatoli in the face.
"That's- rguh!" Bernard said as Camilla turned towards him and did the same thing, hard slapping her boyfriend's face and causing Mary to back away.
"Arugh!" Anatoli grunted in pain as he was hunched over.
"Ow! Yrgh..." Bernard groaned in similar soreness.
"Enough! You idiots are friends! You've known each other since you were in single digits!" Camilla loudly exclaimed as she looked at the two of them.
"He started it!" Anatoli shouted as he pointed at Bernard.
"Me?! You're the one acting like a total dick!" Bernard replied.
"You're both total dicks." Camilla thought, not willing to hear the two of them talk. "Both of you. Follow me." She said as she walked over to the request board.
Glaring at each other for a brief moment, the pair of agitated young men followed the S-class head of security over to the board as Camilla looked at the sheets of paper that listed job requests. Taking a flyer off the board, Camilla walked over to Anatoli and shoved it into his chest.
"Wha-" Anatoli muttered, confused as he looked at the flyer.
"Both of you. I don't want to see either of you moping around this place any longer so go on a job." Camilla said with a stern tone.
'"Find the treasure in Boundary Forest?"' Bernard said, reading off the paper. '"Twenty thousand Jewels and split of the treasure with client?"' He thought, continuing to examine the job.
"I don't want to go on a job right now!" Anatoli said with a defiant tone.
"Yeah, me neither." Bernard said while folding his arms.
"...Oh?" Camilla muttered while squinting her eyes in slowly rising anger. "...Is that so?" She said as she raised both of her hands and placed her left one on Anatoli's neck and her right on Bernard's neck.
"Glurgh!" Bernard grunted as he put his hands on her forearm, trying to stop Camilla from applying pressure to his throat.
"Mablgh!" Anatoli mumbled from the same painful sensation on his neck with only one hand on her other forearm.
"If you both don't leave on a job right this second, I'm going to make a barrier box around both of your skulls and you'll know what it's like to have all of your oxygen cut off..." Camilla said, threatening the boys as they both began to nervously sweat.
'"Okay... Fine..."' Bernard and Anatoli said simultaneously as Camilla released her grip, causing them to fall on their butts.
"Urgh..." Anatoli said as he rubbed his throat.
"Grugh..." Bernard coughed, also rubbing his neck.
With a harsh look in her eyes, Camilla walked away from Bernard and Anatoli so she can get back to work at the bar, the two guys looking on as some of the acrobat and clown members backed away from Camilla, avoiding bumping into her. Shifting their faces towards one another, Anatoli and Bernard could only wince in frustration and bother as they were now forced to go on a job together.
Haven't been to a good funeral in a while, they usually have the best after service meals. It's especially good when it's a service for non-relatives, there's zero guilt involved when you're eating baked ziti and tuna casserole. We're a couple days gone from the death of Bernard's pet slime and he's still reeling from the loss... And might be the only one at this rate. Checking in on Anatoli, the shirtless wizard was also dealing with his own personal issues after his tragic defeat at the hands of Warwick. After butting heads in the midst of their depressed agitation, Camilla pushed the two guys out of the guild to go on a job together to sort out their problems. Will they succeed on the job and get themselves in better places mentally? Let's wait and see on the next chapter of Menagerie II!