Cerejeira Wants To Hang Out

October 14th, 2015

"Another Saint Graph recorded…" muttered a woman, her cool eyes running through the report on the screen in front of her, "Came in contact with an aberration emerging from…"

The woman continued her reading, her voice trailing off and coming back into focus as she enunciated particularly important sections. She only required a single reading, her eidetic memory was at least useful for this task.

Cerejeira Elron was a Mage…technically. She was born to a Mage family, with Magic Circuits, and was capable of at least the basics of Magecraft. Under ordinary circumstances, that would be enough to conclude that someone would naturally be a Magus. Her parents, however, were heretics; by that, they had given up on pursuing the Root. Under the Clock Tower definition, Cerejeira would be closer to a Magecraft-User than a Mage.

"There, I think that concludes this report," said Cerejeira, putting down her pen.

Handwritten reports took longer compared to typing; there was a reason why humanity advanced to typing machines and keyboards after all. Still, by inscribing the motions upon herself, by writing it properly with pen and paper, Cerejeira won't ever forget it. Even if Chaldea were to fall into enemy hands and Romani or Da Vinci had to destroy all their electronic records to keep it out of nefarious hands, Cerejeira would remember it all. It was her role in Chaldea, Record Keeper. It wasn't glamorous, but Cerejeira didn't need it to be.

"Ah," whispered Cerejera, looking over her nails, "I should go get a manicure after I get out…"

It wasn't vanity, she assured herself. There was a very specific aesthetic she appreciated for her nails; the lilac nail polish on her right pointer finger was beginning to chip, and it'd ruin the look. It absolutely wasn't the fact she hadn't had a boyfriend in two years, seven months, and nineteen days. She remembered that day perfectly (of course); her nails were badly chipped due to the makeup store she normally visited going out of business at an inopportune time; her hair was in a horrid condition from the weatherman mispredicting the humidity for that day (a 0.156% chance of occurring); her nylons were torn from her stretching them just a bit too tight, a consequence from waking up 24 minutes earlier than usual…

So, naturally, it was important to fix this issue as soon as possible, thought Cerejeira. Would her boyfriend have broken up with her if the above issues did not occur all at the same time on that day? The moody woman tried not to think about the possibility, but it always weighed on her mind. The issue with perfect memory is that memories are sometimes better imperfect…

"So, are we finished? Ms. Elron?" asked Ritsuka, sitting patiently in a chair.

Cerejeira refocused her attention to the present. She had no need to reread the report, she already knew its contents absolutely, thus the only thing left was…

"Yes, I believe we've finished. I'll take this to the Acting Director to look over, so you should return to your station with Mashu." replied Cerejeira, holding the journal in her pale hands.

"It's called a rec center, Ms. Elron. You should drop by, we'd love to see you!" replied Ritsuka, "There's even a big jenga tower with your name on it!"

The woman blushed slightly, a twinge of embarrassment running through her face.

"It was referred to as the 'Non-Essential Entertainment Station' by the late Director Animusphere…" said Cerejeira, "Besides, I'm not decent…"

Ritsuka was caught off guard by Cerejeira's response. The woman looked glamorous all the time, he honestly couldn't see anything about her appearance that would be unsuitable for a rec center.

"It's not a haute-couture type of place, you know?" explained Ritsuka.

"Haute-couture?" Cerejeira asked playfully. "Your caretaker gave you quite the education."

Ritsuka's posture stiffened for a moment, clearly in slight discomfort at her words. The male Master soon cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure."A-anyway, most of us don't even wear our uniforms, so you can wear whatever you want if you feel like it."

"Hrmm…" thought Cerejeira, "Very well, I suppose I could drop by after I deliver my record to the Acting Director."

The woman smiled slightly, entertaining the idea of wearing her casual clothes for once. She waved off Ritsuka, and turned around to trek to the Director's Office.

Sitting at his desk, staring intently at his laptop, was Acting Director Romani. His eyes were widened, his pupils dilated, and a trace amount of drool was leaking from the corner of his mouth. As soon as he became aware of Cerejeira's presence, he immediately snapped to attention, projecting the image of the wise and responsible Doctor he had cultivated amongst the staff.

"Director, are you okay?" asked Cerejeira, her eyes immediately tracking all the abnormalities she detected.

There were red blooms on his cheeks, a thin sheen of sweat on his temples, and his chest was rising at a faster rate than usual. Cerejeira knew of at least 14 poisons that could cause such issues, and immediately ran over to check the Director.

"Ahh, Ms. Elron, i-it's nothing!" cried out Romani, quickly closing his laptop from her prying eyes.

Ignoring his protests, Cerejeira grabbed his wrist to inspect him further. There were red marks in his flesh, and his pulse was abnormal even from a cursory palpation.

"Director, I must ask that you swallow this immediately! If we're fast enough, we can still save your life, though your reproductive capabilities might be hindered…" demanded Cerejeira as she took out a tiny, dark-red, rock from her pocket.

Despite her parents giving up on the Root and no longer having the capacity to call themselves Magi, they had instilled the paranoia of Magi in her. She was required to keep an antidote to most common poisons on her person at all times.

"Thank you SOOO much~" came a soft voice from Romani's laptop, "I'm so sorry, but I must leave you all now. Still, don't forget to send me your love! Preferably in the form of easily-redeemed gift cards and traveler's checks!"

The woman blinked, the words processing through her mind. Over the other man's protests, she opened up the laptop to confirm her suspicion.

On the screen was an adorable girl with snow white hair and deep purple eyes. She was standing on a stone chapel, with countless flowers blooming at her feet, and her hands outspread in a gesture of love. The most bizarre thing, to Cerejeira at least, was her familiarity.

The proportions of her face, the style of clothing, the texture filament ratio of her hair…it was all identical to tiny Fou. It was preposterous, and the chances of it being a coincidence was 1 to 15448 by Cerejeira's calculations. Before she could begin that train of thought, however, she was rattled by the Director.

"Haha, I'm not poisoned, Ms. Elron!" claimed Romani, embarrassed at the record keeper catching him streaming instead of working, "I just decided to take an…impromptu morale break!"

"I see…" said Cerejeira, realizing that explanation tracked with her observations, "I'm sorry for disturbing your break then, Sir. I completed transcribing Ritsuka's report on the Fuyuki Singularity in 1994, I shall leave it here when you resume your duties."

"Oh? Thank you so much! We're finally caught up on all of our work then! I now have time to catch Magi*Mari's next stream!" said Romani, elated at the woman's hard work.

"Indeed. If I may then…" replied Cerejeira, returning to her room.

She saw Da Vinci on the way back to her assigned room, looking quite cross for some reason…the woman and Ritsuka tried to hide their amused smiles as the Caster closed the door behind them, and a sudden shaking rumbled from the floors.

"So, about that game of Jenga!" Ritsuka said, trying to steer the conversation away from the pure carnage coming from the room behind them. "Have you ever played before?"

"Yes, once when I was 2, and again when I was 14," answered Cerejeira, her face serious and competitive, "I lost both times, sadly, but I have spent time studying the optimal strategies!"

"Who did you play with?"

Cerejeira's serious expression softened a bit, a small smile appearing on her face. "The first time it was with just my mother and father. They absolutely loved the game. The second time it was with them and most of my siblings."

"Most?" Ritsuka asked. "Wait, how many siblings do you have?"

"I'm the eldest of eight."

Ritsuka's eyes widened in disbelief. "That is…..quite a lot."

"My mother and father are pretty happily married, if that number is any indication."

"Clearly." Ritsuka muttered. "But it must have been quite a chaotic household with all the family secrets and what not…."

"No, it really wasn't chaotic in that sense." Cerejeira countered. "In fact, we all love each other to bits. In fact, you're around the same age as the third oldest among us, my younger brother André."

"Really? What was he like?" Ritsuka asked.

Cerejaira's face brightened a bit. "André was always an eager adventurer. Wanting to explore the world, find lost civilizations…..but also stubborn in his ways. You'd really have to coax him to change his mind."

Ritsuka let out a small laugh. "Sounds like he'd be the perfect apprentice for Da Vinci."

"I thought the same thing!" Cerejeira said, eyes beaming now in glee.

"And what of your parents?" Ritsuka asked. "What would they think of everyone here?"

"They wouldn't mind having so many non-mages here." Cerejaira said. "I'd say the only issues they'd have would be with the former Director Marisbury, and of course Lev Lainur."

The Chaldean Master raised an eyebrow. "They'd hate both of them?"

Cerejeira nodded. "I never met him, but going by how acting Director Roman and Henry talk about him, they'd see Marisbury as too manipulative and be creeped out. And my mother is quite the intuitive one, and would probably have figured out that Lainur, or Flauros was gaslighting Director Olga the entire time…"

"Just like how Tatsuko didn't trust him either!" Ritsuka chimed, his eyes widened in realization.

"Correct. I guess it doesn't run in the family so well if I didn't notice…."

"Hey to be fair, I didn't see it either." Ritsuka countered. "And I….well, if I had…..maybe she would have….."

Cerejeira glanced at the boy for a few moments, trying to read his face. Whether she struck a nerve in the Chaldean Master, she did not know, but she felt compelled to try and find a way to not cause any awkwardness to take root. "Well, in any event, I kept in touch with my family whenever I could since coming here."

"Well that's sweet." Ritsuka said. "Now I'm wondering what they'd think of Diego."

Cerejeira stared at the boy in confusion. "What are you trying to imply?"

Ritsuka grinned mischievously. "I saw how you looked at him last week. You like him."

Cerejeira blushed and gasped at the accusation. How did he manage to figure out one of her greatest secrets?! Oh this was incredibly embarrassing, and if he knew….. Perhaps Diego knew too. No..no no, if he did, then it'd have come up in conversation, wouldn't it? Though Cerejeira couldn't help but think of the irony of the situation. Ritsuka was able to pick up on her feelings on the security guard, and yet he couldn't pick up on how a certain lilac haired girl felt about him… Ritsuka reminded her of André even more now…

"When we start Jenga," Cerejeira said, leaning in closer as if to whisper in Ritsuka's ear. "It shall be war."

Ritsuka grinned as the woman leaned back as they got closer to the rec room. He couldn't believe she took his bait. Now she's going to be off her game, giving him an advantage. A small part of him felt off about resorting to such cheap tricks, thinking this wasn't like him at all. However, another part of him seemed to enjoy playing these mind games, as if it felt natural. Perhaps he's been learning from Waver a little too much…

The boy shrugged off those thoughts immediately and when they saw the door to the rec room, Ritsuka opened them and like any gentleman would, held them open for Cerejeira so she could enter first. Everyone seemed surprised to see Cerejeira there, but made room for her as Ritsuka explained the situation. It would be here that one of the greatest gaming battles in Chaldea's rec room would commence….

(A couple hours later)

Cerejeira panted heavily as she wiped the sweat from her brow. After that intense game of Jenga, she had a desire to head to the gym, and after changing into her sleeveless gym shirt and her tight gym pants, the woman finished her run on the treadmill, and went to the weights to begin her squats. Cerejeira took a deep breath before starting her first reps, trying to focus on the task at hand.

"Oh there you are, Cere." A familiar voice rang out. "I thought you weren't gonna show up today."

Cerejeira turned to see Iris in a green sleeveless top and green gym pants walking towards her, joining her in doing some squats. "Well, I thought it would be good for me to do it today after that game of Jenga."

"I heard about that from Emiya. He said that was one hell of a game."

"Sim….." Cerejeira panted as she felt her calves starting to ache from the strain. "Well, in any case, it's over now, and I can focus on my routine."

"Aye, I just got done with some potions, and thought that coming here would clear my head."

Cerejeira shuddered. "I swear if you made some aphrodisiacs like last time…."

"Hey hey, that was only one time!" The Irish woman countered. "And it was only for Maria and Issac!"

"And yet they didn't leave that hotel down there for three days." Cerejeira said. "God, I can still smell it all….."

Iris shuddered. "Don't remind me…..that was a bloody mess."

"And quite the big one if I recall!" Mata Hari said playfully from the treadmills.

"Mata Hari!" Cerejeira shouted with a blush on her cheeks. The Assassin giggled and left the two girls alone to their conversation. Cerejeira and Iris continued to do their squats, trying to beat their previous record. "So, I heard you're playing some kind of board game weekly with the Trio?"

"Dungeons and Dragons? Aye, and Marie and Antonio play too." Iris answered.

"Sounds pretty chaotic with so many people." Cerejeira said as she squatted down, her shapely legs starting to feel the burn.

"Well, we managed." Iris answered. "Our real campaign begins later tonight anyway."

"I see…..so, I take it you're having fun?" Cerejeira asked. "I know you prefer to tend to your garden over interacting with others."

Iris smiled. "Aye, it was much more entertaining than I anticipated. And Teach was a very good story teller."

"I see. Though I guess Sylvia must be jealous, knowing her best friend is getting stolen."

Iris couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, I made it up to her by making her favorite cake."

"Well that would do it." Cerejeira said. "I haven't had your cake since we all joined Chaldea."

"Damn, you're right!" Iris said. "The three of us came to Chaldea together, and yet we haven't hung out together as a trio in so long."

Cerejeira took a deep breath and heaved her weights above her head. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"Then how about we get together tomorrow and have a girls' day to ourselves, just the three of us?" Iris asked as she squatted down, her shapely legs starting to shake a bit under the strain. "So what would you like to do for tomorrow?"

"I don't really know…." Cerejeira said. She hadn't really had much time to hang out with many people before. The only real friends she could say she had were Sylvia and Iris, and she rarely had time to talk to them due to work….. "Maybe get our nails done?"

"Sounds good to me." Iris said. "I was thinking about getting mine done soon too.

"You? Getting your nails done?" Cerejeira asked with a raised eyebrow. The multi-colored haired woman stared at the Irish woman in slight surprise. In all the years she knew Iris, which was 3 years ago, 26 six days and 2 hours, Iris never seemed to care about her appearances, and did the bare minimum for that. So why would she….

"Are you trying to grab a guy's attention?" Cerejeira asked eventually.

"Nah, just thought I'd try it out." Iris said as she stopped doing her reps to get a drink of water. "I mean, it's what regular girls would do right?"

"I guess. I was just asking, given that's what girls do, right?"

Iris smiled. "Beats me, I usually snark at my potential lovers."

Cerejeira couldn't help but snicker, causing Iris to grin in triumph. "Hah, got you to laugh, I won!"

Cerejeira blushed and returned to doing her squats. The multi-haired woman panted and did her reps quickly and efficiently, trying to hide her embarrassment, but Iris remained amused. "So, how's the progress with Diego?"

Cerejeira looked at the green haired Irish woman in shock. "N-not you too….."

"Hey, I'm only asking." Iris said as she returned to her squats. "You know, you could always ask Dustin again for some advice. He's been here since near the beginning if I recall. Or you could ask Henry for tips."

Cerejeira stared at the green haired woman for a few moments, her eyes blinking rapidly. It was true she could ask for help, but Dustin might not give the right advice, and to ask Henry to help her with wooing his direct subordinate would be most appropriate…However, she couldn't help but feel like asking for advice might be in her best interests, but what would she ask? She's never dated anyone who wasn't a mage before. She didn't know what regular men would like…..

"I'll keep that in mind." Cerejeira muttered. "How are you able to be so aware of stuff like this? I remember you being the least social out of our little trio."

Iris shrugged. "Well you remember how Sylvia was when we first came here, and with your…..condition, I had to step up a bit. Now it seems I'm the most social of us all."

"Oh the irony." Cerejeira snarked. "I wished I could have been more observant of that development…."

"Don't beat yourself over it too much." Iris said. "The moment we came here, we just got carried away with our jobs."

"I guess." Cerejeira muttered. The bright haired woman sighed a moment as she finally finished her squats alongside Iris, and both women took a drink of water from their bottles. "So, what's your type?"

"Huh?"

"You know…your type of guy?" Cerejeira replied silently.

"Ohhhh, that's easy," Iris said. The green haired woman smiled playfully as she lowered her bottle. "I prefer men with muscles."

"R-really?"

"Aye, it's always been a weakness of mine." Iris answered.

"So people like Heracles, Iskander and Spartacus are in your radar?"

Iris went pale and shivered. "Too much muscle for the latter two, and for Heracles, I think I'd die if I went for him!"

"Then what about them?" Cerejeira said while pointing at the benches. Iris turned around and saw Antonio lifting some weights, with Perseus and Siegfried spotting for him. The young man wore a bright gray tank top, dripping with sweat as he continued his reps with his two spotters giving him encouragement. Cerejeira noted the young man's physique and raised an eyebrow. When he first joined, he never had much muscle in him, but now he seemed to be getting some results for his efforts, showing some muscle from what she could see. She turned to see Iris grinning in approval as she saw the young man working out, making the multi-colored haired woman grin right at her. "So, I take it you like what you see?"

Iris gasped quietly before regaining her composure. "W-well, he's been working hard. It's nice to see his efforts pay off."

"Of course."

Iris rolled her eyes and sighed. "Let's just get back to our workouts…."

Cerejeira shrugged and decided to work on her lunges, while Iris, due to trying to take care of her old leg injury, decided to simply do some stretches alongside a big yoga ball. "So, how's Connor doing?"

"That crazy cat's doing fine," Iris answered. "Though he seems to be getting more full of himself lately."

"He's a cat, of course he'd be full of himself." Cerejeira countered.

"I've half a mind to introduce him to Fou, just so Chaldea's little mascot can knock some sense into him." Iris replied as she stretched her back on the yoga ball.

A small smile crept on Cerejeira's face. "I'd pay good money to see that."

Iris chuckled. "Martha said something similar."

"Did she now?"

"Aye, she said something about how it would be good to see Fou use his skills to keep others from straying off the path as she put it."

"I can see that happening. Though we'd need to motivate Fou with bacon to do that." Cerejeira said. "Particularly freshly cooked and crispy bacon or fine and fatty bacon jerky."

"I thought he'd be down for any kind of bacon." Iris said. "Now you're saying he has a preference?"

"Yes, I have seen him in the cafeteria staring at all the bacon over the years, yet his pupils dilate and his mouth salivates whenever it's those particular types of bacon that he sees."

"That's…interesting." Iris muttered. "I never noticed that before."

"Come on Fou, you got this!"

The two women stopped their exercises and turned around to see the most amusing sight. Fou was running on his infamous hamster wheel, very happily and enthusiastically as Cerejeira noticed, seeing his tail wag and how his feet moved across the wheel. Beside Fou giving him encouragement was Issac and Eric, cheering him on as the little critter chirped happily at their praises. The multi-colored haired woman raised an eyebrow as she noticed Mashu wasn't there, which was odd because every time Fou came to the gym, Mashu would come with him to exercise as well. She soon buried her thoughts as she stared on with a happy smile seeing Fou so excited though. She remembered how that little hamster wheel came to be as well. It was two weeks ago today when Ritsuka and Mashu both agreed that making Fou exercise would be good for him, and Fou was incredibly happy with the idea as it meant he could spend more time with Mashu. She remembered how Da Vinci spent two days, four hours and three minutes on the dot making the wheel, and how happy Fou was with the final product. Ever since then, Fou would be running on that wheel once or twice a week as a form of fun and entertainment while Mashu would do her own exercises. The two women smiled as Fou kept running, his eyes widened in delight as he chirped his name, and Iris could have sworn he would be wagging his tail if there was room.

"He's so cute running on that thing." Cerejeira said.

"Aye, I just wished I could understand what he's saying." Iris replied.

"To be fair, the Trio just learned how to understand him just recently," Cerejeira countered. "Give it some time and you probably will too."

"Fair enough, it'd make our DnD sessions much easier for all of us, that's for sure." Iris said. "He is our boss, after all."

The two women couldn't help but giggle as they returned their attention to Fou, watching in satisfaction as he continued his laps on the hamster wheel.

A couple hours after her workout with Iris, the two women parted ways and promised to meet up the next day to get their nails done with Sylvia. Now Cerejeira was by herself in the cafeteria eating a nice, warm turkey sandwich, cooked to perfection at the best temperature courtesy of Boudicca. The multi-colored haired woman hummed to herself in bliss as she tasted the delightful food, remembering how she'd enjoy such moments with her family back in Portugal. She could remember it all, just like them, given they also had the same eidetic memory like her. She remembered how every week they'd go on picnics at their local park under the same dark oak tree, how her youngest siblings would run around and play, with her occasionally joining in to play hide and seek with them. She remembered one time when her mother and father announced to her and her younger brother Rodrigo that they were pregnant with André, and how excited she was to have another little brother to play with.

She remembered how her younger (and first) sister Adriana found an injured orange tabby cat, it being incredibly thin and weak, and how the rest of the family immediately stepped in to help take care of it and bring it back to full health….only for him to have grown on the family to the point that they adopted him and gave him the adorable name of Tomás. She remembered how clingy that little cat was to Adriana, and her as well, always cuddling with her and making her feel better after a stressful day. She really missed that goofy cat….

Cerejeira tried to take a bite of her sandwich, but her distracted mind made her unaware that she finished it not long ago, and she bit nothing but air. The light haired woman sighed, got up from her seat, and headed back to get more food. After grabbing some mashed potatoes, baked chicken and spinach, she headed back to her seat, only for her thoughts to wander again, but quickly come back as she ran into someone, her food spilling over their uniform. Before she could open her mouth to apologize, her eyes widened as she looked at the figure in front of her. He was tall with tanned skin, black hair and his face clean shaven. He wore the uniform of Chaldea's security team, and his sharp gray eyes made him stand out from the rest.

"O-oh, Diego! I am so sorry!" Cerejeira said with a blush. "I should have paid more attention!"

The stony facade of Diego's crumbled, and in its place was an embarrassed face not unlike Cerejeira's own. "N-no, I'm the one who should be apologizing! I was looking at the menu when I should have been looking straight in front and….."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, both of them blushing in embarrassment, but soon their faces twisted into amusement, and then they both laughed it off at how silly they were being. Their amusement of the situation gave them an audience, but they didn't bother noticing.

"I guess we both can be blind to what's in front of us." Diego said in amusement.

"I guess so." Cerejeira replied. "I still feel bad about ruining your uniform….."

"Hey, it's no big deal. I can get this washed off later."

"But won't it be distracting?"

Diego laughed. "Not really. Besides, it's not like Olson's in charge of security anymore. With Henry in charge now, we don't have to worry about getting admonished over every little thing."

Cerejeira shivered at the name. Olson was the security chief before the bombings in Chaldea's command room. She remembered him being a cold, unfeeling jerk, always trying to find fault in each of his guards, and was apparently one of Marisbury's bootlickers. When the director died, he was lucky that Director Olga didn't relieve him of command due to his confrontational nature, but that wasn't important. What's important is that with him gone, Henry managed to take control, and boosted morale within the security team, and even made Diego the guard at Chaldea's doors, which was considered one of the most important positions in the entire base. Cerejeira soon broke out her trance and stared at Diego in confusion. "Wait a minute, why aren't you guarding the doors right now?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Diego asked, his tone becoming sterner as if he were being accused of something.

"This isn't your usual schedule." Cerejeira said calmly. "Your break is usually around an hour later than this, and it takes you about five minutes and thirteen seconds to get here to order your favorite lunch, a roast beef sandwich with oregano, pepper, and mushrooms, alongside warm green tea and biscuits."

"You've been keeping track of all that?" Diego asked in slight surprise.

Cerejeira's face grew red in embarrassment, her heart quickened as she stammered to try and find a response. "W-well, I just observed whenever we were in the cafeteria at the same time that you got the same thing and I….I swear I'm not creeping on you!"

Diego stared at her for a few moments before laughing off the comment. "I believe you, don't worry."

Cerejeira breathed a sigh of relief. "A-anyway, I was just wondering why you'd be here early."

"Ah, well Jonas told me that Henry told him to relieve me of my watch for the day." Diego said. "So I decided to come here and get some food."

"I-I see."

Diego soon looked down and remembered the mess they made, and blushed as he returned his gaze back to Cerejeira. He wouldn't lie to himself, he had always had an eye for her when he first locked eyes, but he was always too nervous to say anything to one of Chaldea's cool beauties. There may have been some other beautiful women who arrived after her, but to him, Cerejeira was perfect, and the only one he had eyes for. But maybe now would be the perfect time to try and get to know her a little better. "W-well, since I ruined your meal, how about I make it up to you and buy you another meal, and we just call it even?"

"Of course!" Cerejeira said. The multi-colored haired woman blushed as she realized how energetic that was, cleared her throat to recompose herself. "I think that shall suffice."

"Okay, I'll get the food, and you get the seats?"

"Sounds good to me."

Diego smiled as he walked towards the line and got a couple of plates for them. Cerejeira settled back down at her previous table, smiling like a schoolgirl and internally screaming in joy. She was finally able to talk to her crush without feeling that hitch in her throat. She felt some eyes on her, and she saw Henry and Dustin sitting together, smiling at her knowingly. Cerejeira soon blushed again, trying not to meet their gaze, thinking they were going to tease her for this whole ordeal.

Henry and Dustin noted her behavior and chuckled to themselves.

"Looks like the plan worked even better than we thought." Dustin said.

"That it did." Henry replied. "I just wished we had thought of this sooner."

Dustin shrugged. "Well, we managed to get them this far, so now let's sit back and watch how things play out."

"Well at least this way a romance can actually happen in Chaldea." Henry replied. "It's been years since anyone actually hooked up in this place."

"Indeed." With that, the two men high fived in amusement as they watched Diego sit down across from Cerejeira. The two men soon watched as the two of them talked, and noted how much brighter Cerejeira seemed at that moment.

Cerejeira simply allowed Diego to talk first, smiling at him as she listened to every word. For all of her reservations of her eidetic memory, she can at least feel blessed to have it in these types of moments. She could commit everything Diego said into her memories, and she would always have these little moments to cherish.

OC (Looks at Yatsu staring at Cerejeira with a grin): Hey man, I know you like Cerejaira, but keep it together!

Y: She is very beautiful; her very careful and measured use of makeup is indicative of a woman who knows how to apply every bit to maximize her appeal. The careful application towards aesthetics (gradients in her nails from purple to pink, the star patterns on under her eyes, the cool, wisteria-esque eyeshadow) hints at a somewhat self-conscious young woman. Very very appealing; and as shown from Redrop's art, she has wonderfully curvy thighs; very very sexy! Plus the alt-rock-punk girl aesthetic has always been very pleasing; combine it with a girl like that, and you have the sort of woman that could stop a man's heart with a single glance.

So yeah, she cute

OC: Okay, you got me there. And to our dear audience, we wanted to show our appreciation for this wonderful Chaldean operative by giving her her own chapter dedicated to her, and how she handles herself in Chaldea. Yatsu and I both agreed that having this chapter happen alongside last weeks was for the best, but we were figuring out which one to do first, but at the end of the day, we chose to do last week's chapter first, and have this one be done right after. And I must say, the more I learn about this woman, the more I like her!

Y: She is very easy to love, yes. She provides a very human perspective to the events unfolding without being turned into a clown like Meuniere. Plus her having her own crush adds to the sense that stuff is happening even when the players aren't around to see it; the world shouldn't revolve around a single character after all. It's a massive shame she wasn't introduced earlier since her feedback would be appreciated; particularly given…certain later events…

OC: Yeah… well in other news, we delved more into her family life, and we both agreed that her having a very loving and close relationship with all her family members would be better narratively given her family's Magecraft isn't suited for going into the Root, and therefore they have no need to try and backstab each other. And her being the eldest of 8 siblings should be an indicator of how she seems to be so calm and collected. She had to endure being the eldest sibling lol.

Y: It's also fitting for her to join up with Chaldea. If her family and herself have already given up the pursuit to the Root, then a place like Chaldea would be right up their alley as far as practical applications go. She'd come off as a lot more 'normal' outside of her own predilections caused by her perfect memory. As Oblivion Correction points out, most people's memories are imperfect and 'soften' over time; if you can't help but remember something perfectly, then you don't get that benefit at all. Poor Cerejeira (my beloved).

OC: True….poor girl. In any event we also delved more into when she came to Chaldea as well, with her joining around the same time as Iris and Sylvia showing those three were somewhat friends for the past three years but didn't get to hang out due to work getting in the way, and also their own issues. But thankfully they're able to do that now!

Y: Friend groups are good to have. Gonna make a certain story chapter hurt pretty hard though…

OC: Indeed…..but we also did something very interesting. We made a character that's both OC, and yet also canon. So for those of you in the loop, Cerejeira had a mutual crush on a certain guy who went unnamed when she was introduced, so we don't know anything about him aside from his death. So Vlad and I decided to actually expand on him a bit, but it's with Yatsu that we truly got the ball rolling with him, and made him his own person. And that person is none other than Diego. So he's not an OC character, but is at the same time if that makes any sense…

Y: I believe 'detero-canon' fits the bill well here. Just like Star Wars has retroactively established the old rebel commando troop in Return of the Jedi as being an elderly (sort of) Captain Rex from Clone Wars and Rebels. Well, it's being overseen and approved by Disney, so not entirely 1 to 1, but close enough. Regardless, good enough for these standards; glad to give names to the Chaldea staff.

OC: It's one of the most satisfying things about writing this fic. Coming up with more characters and their own motivations and backstories to truly make the organization feel alive. But in other news, we have an announcement! Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be starting another event Singularity next chapter, and how fitting it is that it will be the Halloween event! Yatsu and I were discussing it earlier this year on how to handle it, and he came up with his own spins, with me also making my own. And with it being October, we finally start an event correlating to its associated month!

Y: October…its name is related to the number 8, but it's the tenth month of the year. Truly a trolling move. Well, Halloween event sounds very fun.

OC: Indeed. And playing through the most recent Halloween event in the NA server is really interesting so far. But for now, we have to settle with…..hang on….something isn't right. Hey Yatsu, have you seen one of our Grail's lying around? I think we're missing one.

Y: Hrmm, well, I didn't eat udon yesterday, so it's not in the kitchen. Amakusa is also in the bondage basement, so he can't have stolen it either…

OC: Oh no, no no no, this isn't good. I have to notify the boss! (OC gets his phone out and dials the number) H-hey boss? We might have a problem….One of our Grails went missing. Wait what's that? You knew already and gave permission for it to be taken? Why? Oh, so you were bored and wanted to make this Halloween event more interesting? That's….an interesting way of putting it...but who took the Grail?

Oh…oh no….boss what have you done?! You gave the Grail to that thing?! Oh dear….this is gonna be more frightening than we anticipated…..

Y: I'll get the tinned fish ready…

OC: It's not us I'm worried about…its the Chaldeans…they'll have to face…..it

Y: Perhaps their most terrifying foe yet…

OC: Well….at least if they get lucky they might get out with their lives…..

Y: Let's roll the dice and take bets. I'll even get the marshmallows and chocolate ready for when the flames appear.

OC: Oh that does sound good. Especially now that I need to up my calorie count to stay in shape! And with that, we are out of time. Thank you all for stopping by for this latest installment of Chaldean Chronicles! Please stay tuned for the next chapter, and the first seasonal event for Chaldean Chronicles. Owen Chaser and Yatsu, signing off!

Y: Bye everyone!