xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus guildhall, 4:41 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Hayia!" Camilla exclaimed as she raised her right leg slightly to kick Alfana with the fortune telling show manager blocking it with her cattle prod-like cane, the impact sending an electric surge into Camilla. "Gugh." She grunted in pain from the sudden shock before jumping with a spin.
While in midair, Camilla attempted to reverse kick Alfana in the head with her heel, but Alfana brought up her sword and cattle prod in both her hands and blocked it with Camilla landing back on her feet. Transitioning to another attack, the S-class head of security jumped at Alfana with her knee extended for a strike with Alfana shifting to the side to avoid it.
"Got you!" Alfana thought as she swung her cattle prod-like cane at Camilla's back, striking her as the Lightning Magic generated at the tip of the cane proceeded to zap her in the spine.
"Gaagh!" Camilla exclaimed in pain as she flopped onto her front.
"Ow, that had to hurt..." Anatoli commented as he and other Psycho Circus wizards looked on, some worried over the pair's wellbeing during the fight and others cheering loudly from the entertaining intensity.
"No time... To nap!" Alfana said as she casually walked over towards Camilla on the ground and flipped her cattle prod-like cane around to have the tip facing downward.
Thrusting the weapon down, Alfana pressed the shocking prongs directly on Camilla's spine before activating the Lightning Magic attack generated from the Lacrima along the cane. The surge coursing through her body, Camilla's eyes widened in pain as she felt her whole body get shocked from the cattle prod-like cane.
"Ahhh!" Camilla screamed from the torturous feeling. "You... Crazy old bat!" She thought before flipping over onto her backside, swatting away the prongs in the process.
Lifting her legs upward, Camilla proceeded to wrap them around the arm that was holding the cattle prod and then took her hands and clutched tightly at Alfana's wrist. Caught by surprise by this, Alfana made a bewildered expression before Camilla proceeded to shift her weight to the side and forcibly flipped the fortune telling show manager onto her back.
"Guh!" Alfana exclaimed from the impact before trying to get back to her feet, using her cane weapons for support as Camilla quickly got back up.
"A nice toss." Harriet commented.
'"Get her Camilla!"' Nole and Andy shouted in unison.
"Don't stop now!" A clown guildmember screamed.
"I'm not going to last much longer with how much those shocks took out of me..." Camilla thought as she started to breathe heavily.
"Wouldn't call myself old... But I'm definitely not as spry as I used to be..." Alfana thought as she got back to a standing position.
Locking eyes briefly before preparing to continue their fight, Alfana decided to strike first as she rushed at Camilla. Swinging her sword in one hand, Alfana tried to swipe at Camilla with her backstepping to dodge with the fortune telling show manager following up with an attempt to poke her with the cattle prod once more, the S-class head of security for Psycho Circus continually making distance to dodge.
"Hold still!" Alfana screamed out as she swung her sword again with Camilla backing up to where she was now standing directly in front of one of the table barricades for the makeshift arena they were in.
Dodging rolling to the side, Alfana's katana-style blade cut directly through the table, slicing it in half before attempting to hit Camilla with the cattle prod-like cane again with a large swing with Camilla backing up once again. Lifting both of her weapons overhead, Alfana tried to downward strike Camilla, but the S-class head of security continued to dodge by rolling away.
"I can't keep dodging; it's time I brought her down to my level!" Camilla thought as she got to her feet following the roll with Alfana now attempting to hit Camilla with a spinning slash with her sword.
With her body coated in a magical protective layer, Camilla swung her left fist down into the wrist of the hand Alfana was using to hold her sword, causing her to wince in pain for a brief moment. While she was distracted from the hit, Camilla took the opportunity she was given to raise her foot and kicked Alfana's hand, causing her sword to fly out and hit the floor away from the women. Only one weapon left at her disposal, Alfana swung her cattle prod-like cane at Camilla in an attempt to strike her with Lightning Magic, but Camilla lifted both of her hands and caught the cane while the prongs continued to give off electrical energy.
"...You're... Open!" Camilla said as she looked at Alfana as she held her weapon.
"Huh?" Alfana muttered in confusion.
With Alfana close enough to allow her to get a hit in, Camilla lifted her leg and extended it into the back of Alfana's knee and back calf muscle, causing her to lose her balance. While Alfana was distracted from the blow, Camilla spun around and raised her leg high, landing a reverse roundhouse kick with the heel of her boot hitting Alfana directly in the face.
"Blargh!" Alfana exclaimed in anguish from the hard hit, causing her to lose her grip on her cane with it falling to the ground.
"She's unarmed now!" Anatoli commented.
"Now's her chance!" Marlene said.
"How will she follow up...?" Pietro said as he rubbed his chin.
"Game over!" Camilla thought as she started to radiate magic from her body before making a hand sign with her left hand.
Appearing behind Alfana was a long rectangular panel made from Camilla's Barrier Magic, floating horizontally in the air. Turning back with a confused expression and unsure why Camilla would conjure a barrier in such a way, Alfana failed to notice Camilla approaching her.
"Wha!?" Alfana exclaimed in surprise as Camilla bent forward and lifted up Alfana with her now carrying the fortune telling show manager over her shoulder.
Lowering her hands down towards Alfana's ankles, Camilla proceeded to forward slam Alfana in the direction of the horizontal panel. Smashing through the barrier like it was a glass table that shattered into pieces back first, Alfana hit the ground hard with Camilla standing over her, the impact leaving an indent in the floor.
"Haa... Haa..." Camilla muttered in exhaustion as Alfana recoiled from the slam, the guildmembers all falling silent from the attack Camilla used.
"Arrrrggggh..." Alfana moaned out as she clutched at her backside.
"Had... Enough...?" Camilla said slowly as Alfana turned her attention back towards her opponent whilst on the floor.
Sitting up, Alfana started to slowly get herself back to her feet with Camilla stepping back slightly to make some space. Now standing once more, Alfana slowly approached Camilla before raising her left hand and putting it on Camilla's right shoulder.
"She's not seriously going to keep fighting, is she?" Camilla thought as she locked eyes with her boyfriend's mother.
Unexpectedly, Alfana lowered her left hand off of Camilla's right shoulder and grabbed her right wrist, a smile forming on her face. Like a referee declaring a winner, Alfana raised Camilla's arm overhead as everyone looked on in surprise.
"Ladies and gentlemen..." Barnum said as the other members of the guild looked at their guild master. "Your winner! Ms. Camilla Hagen!" He said as he jumped to his feet in his chair, knocking away his bucket of popcorn and beginning to clap his hands.
With Camilla looking at Alfana with a bewildered expression, the guildhall suddenly erupted into loud cheers as the pair of formerly combative wizards looked around at everyone's visibly impressed faces. Using his Carnival Tricks Magic, Barnum waved his hands through the air as the tables and stools began to reset to their original positions before the fighting occurred with even the sliced-in-half table Alfana cut being repaired.
"Wh-what's going on...?" Camilla said with confusion as Alfana lowered her arm. "Ow..." She muttered in pain.
"I give... You beat me, fair and square." Alfana said slowly while putting a hand on her head. "...Think I got a concussion from that last kick you gave me..." She said while also grunting in agony.
"Oh no, both of you!" Marlene said as she, Anatoli and Pietro approached them. "Infirmary, now!" She said with a stern voice.
"Barney... Give everyone in the guild a free shot from the bar. On me." Alfana said with a smile on her face as Pietro lifted up Alfana into a princess carry and Anatoli lifted Camilla's arm over his shoulder to support her.
"Harriet, Daphne. If you would be so kind." Barnum said with a jovial look on his face towards the bearded lady and bespectacled saleswoman.
"S-sure." Harriet replied as she started walking towards the bar.
"Do I have to? Especially given that she can make more than a few arms with her- argh!" Daphne said in defiance before Harriet stretched her beard hair using her Hair Magic over towards Daphne and wrapped it around her neck, cutting her off from speaking.
"Making shots is simple and easy, girlie. Don't be a slacker." Harriet said with an annoyed tone towards Alfana's personal assistant as the group heading to the infirmary went up the stairs.
A few minutes after arriving in the infirmary and Marlene giving Alfana and Camilla proper treatment for their wounds, the fortune telling show manager sat cross-legged on her bed as Camilla was laying with her head on the pillow in the bed adjacent to hers, both sporting bandages over different parts of their bodies. In the room with them was Marlene, standing in the space between the two beds they were on with Pietro and Anatoli nearby, with the former sitting in a chair and the latter atop his Stellanium soft metal ball.
"What the heck were you two thinking!? Starting a brawl like that!" Marlene said with a scolding tone towards the two higher ranked members of Psycho Circus.
"Don't look at me..." Camilla replied. "I wasn't the one who decided to make the whole argument we were having a big spectacle." She said while turning her head towards Alfana.
"Alfana, care to explain what that was about?" Pietro asked as Alfana looked at him.
"The tension in my office was getting so thick, I could have cut it with one of my cane weapons. I felt the best way to calm this one down was to have her let it all out." Alfana said as she looked at Camilla with a smile. "You feel better now, right?" She asked as Camilla stared at her boyfriend's mother.
"...For the most part..." Camilla replied before sitting up.
"Can we make "Psycho Circus Fight Club" a recurring thing?" Anatoli said as he spoke up. "Because that was awesome." He said with a smirk.
"Anatoli, shut up!" Marlene said with a frustrated voice. "You have any idea how busy I'll be if more and more guildmembers get sent in here from injuries if we have more fights?" She continued as Anatoli pouted in annoyance.
"Not to mention, it would make the Magic Council start to get more interested in keeping an eye on us." Pietro said as Alfana turned over, shifting her legs off the bed while still sitting.
"I don't think we need a fight club in here, if I'm being honest." Alfana said as Camilla looked at her.
"...Whether or not I won that little battle we had." Camilla said, catching Alfana's attention. "Nothing's changed." She said with a serious look in her eyes.
"Oh..." Anatoli muttered as he, Marlene and Pietro looked at Alfana.
"...That is correct, Bernard isn't the Ultimate Carnival show manager or the guildhall operator anymore." Alfana said with a serious voice as Camilla glared at her. "And I know most of you overheard my reasons with your eavesdropping earlier." She said as she looked at her fellow guildmembers.
"Kind of hard not to want to listen in..." Anatoli replied.
"It was quite the shock..." Marlene said.
"...If I may." Pietro said, catching everyone's attention. "You know Bernard cares deeply about the job of running the show for the guild and the work that comes with it. Surely, there has to be more to this than just punishing him for the way he ran it." He said while Alfana looked him.
"True, there is more to it." Alfana said. '"Punishment" is not the word I would use for taking the job away from him." She said as she stretched her arms from the soreness caused by the fight.
"Then why?" Camilla asked.
"I'd say it's because there's no person in this world that I care about more than my own flesh and blood." Alfana said as everyone looked at her with faces of uncertainty. "Ever since he was a teenage boy, I watched him learn the ins and outs of how to run our kind of guild. I should be happier about that but in all honesty, he made sacrifices no one at such a young age should make and it all falls back to that rock in his chest... Do you know what they say about "rocks?"' She asked towards the group as they all stared at her. "They're what holds the foundation together..." Alfana said.
"Bernard's helped hold this guild together for a very long time..." Camilla thought.
"...That still doesn't answer our question though." Pietro said, catching everyone's attention before Alfana reached into her pocket, pulling out the Ram 10 card that Bernard pulled in their game of Barendkoff from the other day.
"I came back here for two reasons..." Alfana said as she stood up from her bed. "And those reasons are tied to this." She said as everyone looked at the card in her hand.
"That's from that board game you made, right?" Anatoli questioned as he hopped off his ball and walked over to Alfana, grabbing the card from her hand.
"Correct." Alfana said. "That card is the ram. All of the creatures on the cards represent a fate." She continued.
"Bernard told me about the session you guys played..." Camilla said. "He also mentioned the fates he was locked into." She said as Alfana looked at her son's girlfriend.
"A sudden phobia, a fate that's not going to happen, no sudden wealth and... Good luck with girls." Pietro said as he listed what Bernards fates were before glancing at Camilla and Marlene, the both of them looking away from each other with blushes on their faces.
"...If other women show up in his life, I'm expecting the both of you to step up..." Alfana said with a stern voice as Camilla and Marlene turned towards the fortune teller with surprised expressions.
"Wh-wha-what?!" Marlene exclaimed in confusion.
"The heck's that supposed to mean- owww!" Camilla shouted until she strained one of her injuries and moaned in pain.
"Hehehe..." Anatoli chuckled, finding their reactions humorous.
"I won't accept my son having a harem of any kind..." Alfana thought with a twitch in her eye as Pietro rubbed his head in a bothered manner.
"Lil Bern's life certainly isn't without some kind of hardship..." Pietro thought.
"He said it was a five-round game." Anatoli said, catching everyone's attention. "That was only four." He said, noticing one missing fate.
"...That card in your hand was his last fate." Alfana said as she stood up and took the card out of Anatoli's hand, looking at it.
"What's the ram represent in your board game?" Marlene said as Alfana took a deep breath before sitting back down on the bed.
"...Before I say, I want to ask you all something." Alfana said as everyone looked at her.
"This sounds serious, even for her..." Camilla thought quietly.
"How do you all feel about my son?" Alfana asked with an earnest tone to the surprise of everyone.
"Alfana?" Pietro said with confusion.
"Just answer my question, please." Alfana said as she looked at the mustachioed strongman.
"Well..." Anatoli said, speaking up first. "The guy has had my back ever since I was a munchkin... I'd go so far as to call him my best friend." He said with an honest tone and a smirk.
"...I..." Marlene said as she glanced at Camilla with the S-class head of security simply smiling at her before motioning for the lizard-like girl to speak her mind. "I... Deeply admire your son. He's one of the few people I know I could trust." She continued as a smile formed on her face before Alfana looked at Pietro.
"I didn't know what to expect all those years ago when I let a teenage boy give me instructions on how to entertain people for the guild but after all those years, he's proven himself to me. Ever since then, I consider him someone respectable that I would gladly help." Pietro said with a small smile forming behind his mustache.
"...And you?" Alfana asked towards Camilla.
"...Do I even need to answer that question?" Camilla said with a smile on her face. "I beat up his own mom just out of anger for his firing. I obviously care about him." She thought.
"Don't need to read a crystal ball to tell that these people are deeply connected to him. Even well into future, they'll stick by him..." Alfana thought as she looked at the others. "Very well then... I'm more than satisfied with your answers." She said.
"So, what's the ram represent?" Camilla questioned.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hemlock, 4:59 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
With the rain still coming down hard throughout the town, Bernard and his pets consisting of Corvus, Vulp and the cat plushie servants were scrambling along the street, looking for the face made of coal and the wooden limbs that they saw heading downstream when they were at Mr. Pavernact's ramen restaurant earlier.
"Heeeeeelllpp-" The face said before the coals all separated, disassembling it.
"I-I got one of the lumps!" Corvus exclaimed as he grabbed one of the coals with his talons while Bernard grabbed the wooden legs.
"I got the weird feet!" Bernard said as the cat plush men started lunging at the ground to prevent more of the coal from separating.
Tackling into each other and causing them to slide down the road atop of one another, the cat plushie men slammed their bodies into a nearby bench, destroying it as the carrot, stick arms and more of the coal flowed right past them with one of the cat plush men reaching out their arms to stop them to no avail.
"Will you bozos quit goofing around?!" Corvus shouted at the cat plush men as the rain continued to hit everyone.
"Vulp!" Bernard said as he ran with Vulp next to him. "Grab what you can with your tail!" He ordered as Vulp nodded in compliance.
Stretching his tail and separating it into multiple tendrils, Vulp reached for the items heading down the road as Vulp managed to grab the carrot, the arms and only one more of the coals before the remainder proceeded to go towards a storm drain and fell in. Noticing this, Bernard rushed to the drain and bent forward to look inside, the darkness preventing him from seeing anything.
"See anything?" Corvus asked as Bernard looked around. "Or worse, anyone?" The crow thought.
"No- achoo!" Bernard said until suddenly sneezing. "Damn it, being out in this rain is starting to give me a cold..." He thought before the cat plush men caught up to their master and his Celestial Spirit comrades.
"You three were completely useless!" Corvus angrily shouted towards the cat plush servants as he flew down and handed his coal over to Bernard, the beanie sporting wizard now holding the wooden webbed feet and one of the coals.
"Vulp, hand me the other coal." Bernard ordered as Vulp gave his benefactor the other coal. "I couldn't find your mouth but... At least, I got your eyes?" He said with an apologetic tone. "I'm talking to two rocks, I don't even know if this thing is even alive anymore..." Bernard thought in frustration as the three cat plushie men hung their heads in shame.
"Look, I get the kid doesn't have the job anymore but you three agreed to be workers for him, what kind of shoddy showing was that?!" Corvus said, continuing to scold the plushie men.
"Corvus, enough." Bernard said as the crow looked at him. "You three, come on back." He said as he pointed at his belt, prompting the cat plush men to shrink back to their carrying forms as Vulp stretched a portion of his tail over and picked them up before placing them on Bernard's belt.
"So, what do we do now with these things?" Corvus questioned.
"I have no ide-" Bernard said until two people approached him.
"Hey, you there!" A tall and lanky man with a thin pin-like head and an overbite, dressed in a red button up shirt, black pants and black shoes with tall spiky blonde hair, said as he approached Bernard.
"Did you see a snowman come through here?!" A short and pudgy man with a round nose, dressed in a purple button up shirt and blue pants with black shoes with tall spiky red hair. said as he stood next to the other male.
'"A snowman?"' Bernard and Corvus said in unison as they and Vulp looked at the pile of items they were holding.
Moments after meeting the two oddly shaped men, Bernard and his Celestial Spirit companions were led to a shop in town called "We Make Craft." Sitting in a chair while his nose was running, Bernard had a blanket over his shoulders as Corvus and Vulp watched him with the two men from earlier were standing on both sides of a counter, looking at the objects Bernard and his pets had grabbed.
"This is bad, Need. Really bad." The thin headed man said with a worried look on his face.
"Yeah, for you, Pin!" The pudgy man said with an agitated tone.
"What?! Why just me, you helped me make that snowman!" Need said with a defensive tone.
"You're the one who put that spell on it!" Pin said in response with his arms folded.
"Uh, hello?" Bernard said with a quiet tone while the Celestial Spirits looked at the two males.
"What's the boss going to think when he comes in later?" Need said as he picked up the carrot.
"Probably that someone in this place is going to be fired... And it's the one that weighs less than two hundred and forty-five pounds." Pin said with a smug expression.
"Oh, screw you!" Need said as he put the carrot down.
"Uhhh, hey..." Bernard said, speaking up again to no avail.
"Do not get me started, man!" Need said as he reached over the counter, grabbing and putting on a pair of massive beige gloves that covered the entirety of his arms with a gear-like symbol on the back of the hands.
"Guess we'll settle this the old-fashioned way then!" Pin said as he grabbed a similar pair of gloves and put them on.
"Yo, idiots!" Corvus exclaimed to grab their attention.
''What!?"' Pin and Need said as they turned to look at Bernard and his pets.
"Can we get a bit of an explanation for what the heck that thing was we picked up for you guys?" Bernard questioned as the pair of odd fellows looked at each other for a moment.
"Sure, uhhhh..." Pin said until he tapped the counter to get Needs attention. "Need, tell him what you did." He said while looking away.
"Dude- oh, forget it." Need said until locking eyes with Bernard. "We're apprentice crafters." He said. "We're from a crafting village north of here." Need continued.
"Ahhhh, okay. That explains a bit." Bernard said with a tone of understanding.
"Any different from normal craftsmen?" Corvus said as he and Vulp looked at Bernard.
"Sorta. Crafters are people who work with making dolls and golems out of different materials. They sell them to people for either leisure purposes or for protection." Bernard replied as he looked around at the shop and noticed several short figures that were roughly the same height as Corvus. "Stone, wood, clay... And snow apparently." He said as he looked at the Celestial Spirits.
"...Got bad memories of clay..." Corvus commented as Vulp looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't give orders very often but don't bring that up, please..." Bernard said with a bothered look on his face. "So, the snowman?" He asked, looking for more information.
"Yeah... This twit decided he wanted to experiment with Personification Magic." Pin said, criticizing Need.
"I said it might help if we put some personality into some of these golems to make more sales! I didn't think the thing would run out of the place because of the thunder outside!" Need said in his defense.
"You used magic to graft a personality onto a golem?" Bernard said with a raised eyebrow. "The snowman must have melted from the rainfall..." He thought.
"Where'd you get the snow?" Corvus questioned.
"Mt. Hakobe." Need replied.
"Place that snows all year long." Bernard thought.
"The snow there has tons of Ethernano particles coursing through it, so they don't melt too quickly when placed inside of containers and removed from colder climates." Pin explained.
"Aside from the usual materials, our boss wanted us to try and sell some living dolls with snow as the base." Need continued.
"Is there any business this town doesn't have?" Corvus commented as Vulp nodded in similar intrigue.
'"A butcher shop that sells lamb."' Bernard, Need and Pin said in unison to the confusion of the Celestial Spirits.
"That's... Specific..." Corvus said as he and Vulp made weird faces in response.
"There's a bridesmaid rental service, a store that exclusively sells variety toilet paper and a place that turns stuff that's round into a pentagonal shape in this town... But not a single butcher that sells lambs meat... I don't get it either." Bernard thought with a headshake.
"So, this personality you put on this snowman. What was it?" Bernard asked as he pointed at the remains of the snowman on the counter.
"Dummy here decided to put a child personality on the snowman." Pin said as Need looked at him with annoyance. "Thought that making it as "kid friendly" as possible would help sell the thing." He said.
"Make some sense. A kid would probably lose their brains over a friendly snowman with the same mentality... Hold on a minute, these guys are crafters..." Bernard thought, thinking about the logic behind the idea the pair had until something clicked in his brain. "Hey... You mentioned your boss earlier." He asked towards the crafters.
"Soon to be "former boss."' Pin said towards Need as the lankier of the pair started glaring at his fellow crafter in anger.
"If you say anything to Mr. Nygmus, I am going to take tree bark and-" Need exclaimed until Bernard spoke up.
"Ah!" Bernard said as he caught the attention of the crafters and the Celestial Spirits. "Then this is the place!" He said further as the pair looked at each other with confusion.
"What's up?" Need said with confusion.
"Can either of you answer me this? Do you know the kind of deal made in this place by Barnum O'Halloran with your boss?" Bernard asked in curiosity.
'"Deal?"' Need reiterated.
"We don't know nothing." Pin said as Bernard looked at the Celestial Spirits for a brief moment.
"Crap, guess the details are between Mr. Nygmus and my dad." Bernard thought as he took off the blanket over his shoulders and placed them on the counter. "Well, alright then, forget it. I'll just come back some other time." He said as he motioned for the Celestial Spirits to follow him as he prepared to leave the store.
"Whoa, whoa." Need said as he got in front of Bernard and the Celestial Spirits. "One moment." He said as put his hands up before glancing at Pin. "Opportunity knocks." Need thought.
"What's he- oh!" Pin thought until realizing what his fellow crafter was intending. "Before you go, might we make a bit of a suggestion?" He said with a smile forming on his face.
"Hmm?" Corvus muttered as he, Vulp and Bernard raised their eyebrows in confusion.
"Since you're here... Might we interest you in a personalized golem?" Need said as he spun Bernard around and started to lightly push him.
"Hey!" Bernard said in protest.
"Whoa!" Corvus complained as he and Vulp were nudged out of the way with Pin moving out from behind the counter.
"What might meet your fancy? I picture you an iron kind of guy!" Pin said as he started rubbing his hands.
'"Is this a sales pitch?!"' Bernard and Corvus thought in annoyance.
"No, no, no! Don't be ridiculous! He's obviously a straw man! Look at his arms" Need said loudly as Bernard made an offended expression from the comment about his non-muscular arms.
Aggravated by their behavior, Corvus and Vulp approached the two crafters bothering Bernard from behind with Vulp turning his tail into a large hand and Corvus sparking up electricity around his right wing. Swinging back his hand-shaped tail, Vulp slapped Need in the back of the head and Corvus tapped Pin in the back of the knee, zapping him.
"Ow!" Pin grunted in pain.
"Yeouch!" Need moaned in similar sentiment.
"Leave him alone, you discount quality vendors!" Corvus said with an agitated look on his face as Vulp gritted his teeth at them.
"Uh!" Pin said with a slightly scared tone.
"So-sorry!" Need said, mildly concerned for his safety.
"Hey, calm... Be calm..." Bernard said towards the Celestial Spirits. "Twice now today I've had to tell them to back down... Maybe they're just as riled up as I should be." He thought as Corvus and Vulp settled down slightly. "You two..." Bernard said, catching the crafters attention once again.
'"Yes?"' Pin and Need said in unison with raised eyebrows.
"...I'm guessing you want to sell me something, huh?" Bernard said with half-closed eyes. "Thanks to Daphne, I'm wise enough on the bullshit pitching lingo..." He thought as he folded his arms.
"We lost a golem, figured we could make up for it with a sale..." Need said as Pin looked at him with a bewildered expression.
'"We?!"' Pin exclaimed.
"Yes, "we!"' Need replied with annoyance back.
"Ugh, whatever..." Pin said with a headshake.
"...All things considered; I was looking to come here to help with anything going on, but it looks like helping the economy is the only choice I got." Bernard thought as he reached into his pocket and started checking what money he had on hand.
"Don't tell me you're seriously considering buying something from these guys?" Corvus said.
"Considering I didn't waste all the money I have left at Kiernan's; this could at least be a practical purchase." Bernard said as Corvus closed his beak. "I got... nine thousand Jewels on hand. What does that get me?" He asked as the pair of crafters looked at each other.
"That's not much..." Pin said quietly towards Need.
"Cheapest doll we sell goes for twenty-five thousand." Need whispered back.
Turning around, the crafters looked at Corvus and Vulp who were giving hostile glares in the direction of the pair, causing them to swallow spit in worry.
'"...We could give you a discount..."' Pin and Need said in unison while simultaneously sweating.
"...Okay..." Bernard said as he looked at the Celestial Spirits and seeing what they were doing. "Was that necessary...?" He thought with exasperation.
"Just helping..." Corvus thought as he and Vulp locked eyes with their magical benefactor.
"So, what kind of doll or golem would you be interested in?" Pin asked once again.
"Well... I guess "shopping locally" is a way to get a new pet... Hmmmmmm..." Bernard thought until he glanced over at the counter where the remains of the snowman golem were. "Actually..." He said as he walked over to the counter, passing by the crafters and his Celestial Spirit companions. "You think you can give me what this was supposed to be?" Bernard asked as the crafters looked at each other.
"Really?" Need replied. "...That... Actually, that would help make up for the lost golem if we rebuilt it and sold it." He continued.
"You know, that would also be our first official sale of a snow golem." Pin said with a mildly interested tone. "Mr. Nygmus would be seriously pleased with us." He said.
"And there's the favor I gave to this place of business..." Bernard thought.
"You want us to use Personification Magic on it too?" Need said as he rubbed his gloved hands.
"I said "what it was supposed to be." That would include a personality." Bernard said with his hands in his pockets with Corvus and Vulp approaching him.
"Guess it's your lucky day, kid." Corvus said towards the beanie sporting wizard as Bernard took a deep breath.
"I don't even know why I am paying for a snowman of all things when I'm not even involved with the guild show anymore..." Bernard thought as he looked away towards the windows as the rain was still coming down.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus guildhall, 5:42 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"And there you have it..." Alfana said as she sat on her bed, looking at the group of Camilla, Anatoli, Marlene and Pietro as they all made serious faces in her direction.
"...That's..." Anatoli said.
"A lot to take in." Marlene said with a worried tone as Camilla was holding the ram card from Barendkoff in her hand.
"So... That's Lil' Berns fate now, huh?" Pietro said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Like I said, I came back to the guild for two very specific reasons." Alfana said.
"One reason was to oversee Bernard's successorship to the guild master position." Marlene said in response.
"That's going to be a tall order with how he has been about taking the position. Considering you also took away his job, he might be more confrontational than ever." Pietro thought as he looked at Alfana.
"And the second reason..." Alfana said as she looked around the room.
"To make sure he's got all the support he needs with this future he's fated to have." Camilla thought as she stared at her boyfriend's mother before Anatoli walked over and took the card from Camilla's hand.
"It sounds like a tall order but at this point, I trust all of you..." Alfana said as everyone looked at her. "Be there for him like he's always been there for all of you." She said.
"...I can do that..." Pietro thought as he scratched his chin.
"...You can count on me..." Marlene thought with a determined look on her face.
"...Like I wasn't going to be by side..." Camilla thought with as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Got it..." Anatoli thought. "So, quick question: how does a ram signify "continuous heroic deeds?"' He questioned as everyone looked at Alfana with her turning her head away from everyone.
"...In the context of Barendkoff, that's what it means..." Alfana said with an annoyed expression on her face. "Maybe I should have picked the creatures in the card game to be more accurately symbolic..." She thought, taking umbrage with people's inability to gloss over the animals on the cards not being perfectly representative of what they entail.
Who had their money on Camilla, because you owe me some cash, you half-baked twits! Ha! Knew she was going to win that fight, go pound some sand, losers! Anyway, Camilla and Alfana's brawl has finally concluded with Camilla standing tall over her boyfriend's mother in a close quarters brawl- wow, that's an odd sentence to say aloud. With the new show manager and Bernard's friends in the infirmary, Alfana laid her (tarot) cards on the table to Camilla, Marlene, Anatoli and Pietro that Bernard's ram card has earned him a fate of "heroism" in the future. Meanwhile, the beanie sporting pacemaker needer has found the remains of a snowman that was made at the crafting store in town connected to his father's loans by a pair of apprentice crafters who seemed to be playing around with adding personalities to their products. After a bit of a failed pitching, Bernard has agreed to acquire a snowman golem from the duo. Where will things go from here? Find out next time on Menagerie II!
Author's Note: (Got this up before the new year! Hah!)