Seems you guys are excited for this chapter. Believe me, that's an appropriate response.
Enjoy!
"Okay," Michael said. "I understand perfectly why we came here, I get it."
"Then what the hell are you complaining about?" Keita asked. Michael made a face at his shirtless partner before looking out over the changing room.
"Was there really any reason for everyone to come?"
He was, of course, referring to Blue Pegasus Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, and Quatro Cerberus.
He didn't even really know how they'd heard that Nashi had invited them all to Ryuzetsu Land, but they had and had met them there. Why though, Michael had no idea. He really didn't even know half of them, let alone on a friendly basis. Maybe that was Nashi's plan? For them all to be friends? Possibly. Although he kind of figured that if that was her plan that she might have mentioned it at some point.
"Does it really matter?" Keita asked. "They're here, might as well not dwell on it." Michael shrugged at this and turned to follow Keita out of the changing room, leaving his regular clothes inside now that he'd changed into his swimsuit. Once they were outside, the Michael was greeted by a full view of the inside water park.
Michael was no stranger to the name. Ryuzetsu Land was easily one of the most renowned water parks in the country. Both for it's size and rides, he expected nothing less than the many water slides he wasn't even sure he could ride, and the pools that littered the area. Something that did surprise him though, was that the park did not seem relatively full. He could see the occasional family here and there, but for the most part he didn't see many people. All the better. The others and himself were still pretty relevant in the public eye after the Games, so the less attention the better.
"Anyone seek the girls anywhere?" Michael turned his head slightly to see it was Ken who had said this. He too turned around to look, but couldn't see any of the girls that he felt he'd recognize immediately.
"Must still be getting changed." Keita answered.
"Figures." Jackson muttered. "They're taking their time as usual." Michael shrugged. No big deal.
"Should we just find something to do, then?" Taro.
"Water slides anyone?" Akio asked, a smile on his face. The very thought made Michael shudder. He watched as all the other guys ran ahead, leaving himself, Drake, Simon, Damien and Keita behind. behind. Ken turned to look at them.
"You guys not coming?" He asked. Michael shook his head.
"Nah." He answered. "Water slides involve motion." Drake laughed at this.
"Yeah, so we'll pass thanks." He said. Ken shrugged and took off after everyone else, leaving the five of them to themselves.
"They're sure excited." Damien said, smiling.
"Why don't you and Simon go?" Michael asked. "You guys aren't motion sick." Simon shrugged.
"Don't want to wrestle with them over when I get to ride a water slide." He answered. Damien made a face.
"Besides, even if I did I know for a fact she'd find me." Michael raised an eyebrow.
"She?" He asked. Damien frowned, which made Simon and Drake laugh.
"She's just doing it because you're bothered by it." Drake said flatly. Damien shrugged.
"I know. But..." Michael jumped a bit as Damien went flying forwards, having been tackled. He followed as Damien and his attacker rolled across the ground before coming to a stop five feet ahead.
Bella Realight sat up, straddling Damien.
"Hey." She said, greeting him. Damien just glared up at her.
"Can you not?" Damien asked. "You're bikini doesn't cover up enough for me to be comfortable with this." Damien's comment caused Michael's eyes to drift downwards. He was right after all. Bella was only two bits of baby blue cloth away from stark naked. This caused the girl to laugh and get off of him.
"Sorry babe." She said, offering a hand. Damien shoved her away and got up on his own, making her pout. "Wow, grouchy."
"Are you kidding me?" Damien hissed. "Are you trying to get a rise out of me?" Bella smirked.
"Not a rise out of you, specifically." She said. Damien raised an eyebrow, but Bella's eyes flickering downwards told him enough, it seemed. Michael knew damn well that if he'd been subjected to that Bella would have succeeded immeasurably. Or maybe Damien was too good at hiding it. He was not keen on asking. Once it seemed she got enough of antagonizing Damien, she turned to them. At this, Michael felt the urge to remind himself she could start to seduce any one of them at any point. She'd done it to him before.
"Where are the others girls, Bella?" Drake asked. Bella shrugged.
"I don't know." She said. "I ran ahead of most of them. So probably right behind you." At this, Michael turned to see if she was correct in that assumption.
He immediately realized she was.
Michael did his best to refrain from staring, but it was pretty damn difficult given what he saw. Moving towards them was the rest of the teams from the Games, which made Michael realize he hung out with some really hot girls.
"Why don't you take a picture, Michael?" Juno snapped as they got closer. "It might last longer."
"I should have." Michael said, smirking at her. "That way I could have the image of you not yelling at me etched in my head." Juno huffed and turned away from him at this, making him laugh.
"Wait," Simon said, making a face. "We're missing three."
"Nashi and Ultear went with Steph." Elise said. "She was so excited to come she forgot she didn't have anything to put on, so they went to get her a swimsuit." Michael made a face at this. The perverted half of him was disappointed, yet at the same time pretty excited.
"Where's everyone else?" Nami asked. "There's only five of you."
"Ran off to find water slides, I think." Keita answered.
"Of course they did." Terra said, frowning. "Well we're here, so let's make the most of it."
"Of course." Winter agreed. "We have all day after all. Let's get to it!"
Michael sat up against the edge of the pool and watched everyone enjoy themselves. He'd spent the last twenty or so minutes doing the same, but he took a step back to appreciate it. Everyone seemed to be having fun. Everyone was doing what seemed to be races to splash fights to the occasionally friend of there's landing in the pool from a water slide, causing a wave to crash into everyone and usually someone losing their temper over it.
Mostly, though, he was happy that his friends seemed happy.
Juno, Keita and Rina were laughing and having fun with everyone else. That was good. After the whole ordeal with Blake, he was happy that they could smile and laugh.
At this though, Michael frowned. He looked over his shoulder and looked at Kyoko, who was sitting at a table a ways away from everyone. She just stared down at the table, the same look on her face that she'd had for the past few days.
"Everything alright?" Michael jumped and turned to his side to find Drake there, also up against the wall. Michael nodded.
"Uh, yeah, just fine." He answered. Drake looked past him at Kyoko.
"She okay?" He asked. Michael looked back at Kyoko, unsure as to what to say.
Her goodbye to Blake flashed through his mind. He sighed.
"I don't know." He said. "She hasn't been the same since..."
"Since Blake?" Michael turned back to Drake.
"How did you...?" Drake simply tapped his ears, and it made Michael remember.
"Oh, yeah. Probably heard it." He looked down at the water, unsure as to what to say. "She...I don't know. She hasn't really said anything, at least to me, since he left. I want to help her but I don't know how I'm supposed to do that." Drake made a face at this.
"I'd listen to her, but I feel like that'd be intruding on something I shouldn't be."
"Agreed." Michael said. "I guess we just have to give her time. She'll bounce back."
"I guess."
"What're you guys talking about?" Michael knew this voice that came from behind himself and Drake. He turned, fully knowing who would be standing there.
What he was not expecting, though, was for his brain to stop working for a moment.
He wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to feel. Nashi in no way wore baggy clothes usually, So how in the hell did she hide the figure he was currently getting a full frontal view of? It didn't make any sense.
"Uh..." Was the only thing Michael was capable of saying. He was elbowed under the water by Drake, thank God, and it jump started his common sense that he was staring. "N-Nothing." He said, smiling weakly. Nashi made a face.
"Didn't look like nothing." She said.
"Don't worry about it." Drake told her. "You were gone a while. Did it really take you that long to find Steph a swimsuit?" Nashi frowned and groaned.
"She's waaay too modest." Nashi complained. "It took forever to convince her she looked amazing." At this, Nashi looked over her shoulder, smirking. "See? Look how cute she is!" Michael craned his neck to get a look at Steph, who was being pushed towards the pool by Ultear (who also looked amazing). He had to admit, the yellow and black bikini she was in did make her look good. Even if she looked absolutely flustered to be in it.
"Looking good, Steph!" Drake called, making her go ever redder.
"Shut up, Drake!" She shouted, arms crossed over her chest. "I knew this was a bad idea."
"You look great." Ultear hissed. "Stop complaining."
"Coming from the girl with the stripper as a dad!" Ultear seemed to ignore this and pushed Steph forward, causing her to flail around and land in the water. Michael shielded his face from this, and when Steph resurfaced she looked pretty pissed off. Regardless of this, she turned and swam towards her brother, leaving them.
"Well, she looks happy to be here."
"She is." Ultear said. "She's just not very comfortable wearing something so revealing. She'll be fine."
"I guess." Michael agreed. "Well, whatever. Everyone's here now, what should we do?"
"Water slides!" Michael found it odd that Nashi of all people had suggested water slides. He stared at the girl in confusion for second, unsure if she was serious.
"Nashi..." He started.
"Oh don't worry about it! I asked some guy who works here and he said they've had stabilizing lacrima installed on the rides for a while now! We can go on any of them!" This made Michael smile.
"Really now? I'll have to get Keita, then. This sounds like fun." Drake nodded.
"It's kind of strange being so excited for a simple water slide but fuck it, let's go!" Drake jumped out of the water, and Nashi gave him a look.
"Go get Elise." She said. "I bet she wants to ride them too." Drake made a face at her.
"You do it." He said. Nashi looked ready to retaliate, but Drake was smirking.
In one swift movement, Drake grabbed Nashi around her midsection and tossed her into the air and into the water. Michael watched her flail before she landed hard in the water. She struggled to surface for a bit, but once she did she looked livid.
"Drake!" She whined, making Drake laugh. "Not funny!"
"I thought it was." Drake said. "What do you think, Michael?" Michael looked up at Drake. "Was that funny or what?" Michael grinned.
"It was pretty funny." He said, looking over at Nashi. "Only thing that might have made it better was if you yelped helplessly on the way." Even Ultear crackled a smile at this, and Nashi pouted.
"Whatever. Guess I'll go and find Elise..." Nashi turned and waded through the water towards Elise, and Michael followed suit to find Keita, once they were a fair distance away, he saw Nashi rubbing where Drake had smacked her. He smirked.
"Did it hurt?" He asked jokingly. Nashi turned with an extremely unimpressed look on her face.
"Yes." She said. "He threw me in."
"Was it that bad?" He asked. "No big deal. Can't be the worst thing he's done to you." Nashi nodded.
"That's way more true than you could possibly imagine..."
"Like what?"
"Never you mind!" Nashi shouted, brandishing a finger at Michael's face, her own pretty red. "It's not important."
"Sounds like it..."
"What?"
"Nothing, let's find the others."
Ultear watched the two swim off before she turned to Drake.
"Smooth." She commented. This made him laugh.
"Sorry. Couldn't help it." Ultear rolled her eyes.
"It was a pretty decent throw. She got like five feet in the air." Drake grinned.
"I thought so." Ultear looked around at everyone having fun. From what she could tell, their plan for Sabertooth to cheer up was working relatively well. Everyone seemed happy. That was, until, she noticed Kyoko was not anywhere around the pool they were near.
"Where's Kyoko?" She asked. "She came, didn't she?" Drake frowned and jabbed his thumb behind them. Ultear turned and found the girl in question sitting by herself, staring down at the table she was at. She was in casual clothes, no swimsuit.
"She's been over there for a while now." Drake told her. "Not even Michael knows what to do." Ultear watched the girl, who looked pretty upset despite where they were. Sighing, Ultear looked over at Drake.
"I'm going to go talk to her." She said. "Have fun not getting sick on slides."
"Trust me, I will. Good luck." Ultear nodded and turned away, walking towards Kyoko. once she got close, Kyoko seemed to sense her approach and looked up. Ultear smiled widely.
"Hey." She greeted, standing opposite Kyoko with her hands behind her back. "What're you doing over here by yourself?" Kyoko just watched Ultear for a moment before she sighed and looked back down at the table.
"Don't feel like swimming." She replied quietly. Ultear frowned.
"You came, didn't you?"
"Juno and Rina said it'd be good for me. I didn't want to." Ultear wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. Kyoko wasn't exactly making it easy.
"Well, you should try and have fun." She tried, her smile faltering a bit. "I'm sure you'd enjoy yourself. There's a lot to do here, so..."
"If Juno or Rina sent you, tell them I don't have to put up with this. I came, that doesn't mean I want to do anything." Ultear frowned.
"I came by myself. No one sent me." Kyoko sighed, but didn't say anything more.
Ultear wasn't just going to walk away.
She pulled the seat opposite Kyoko out and sat down, watching the girl quietly. Neither said anything for a long time, listening to the sounds of the others in the group talking and laughing, and splashes here and there.
"I heard Blake left." Ultear finally said. "Is that what's wrong? Do you miss him?" Kyoko didn't say anything. "Come on, Kyoko. Tell me what's the matter. I'm trying to help you." Again, no response. "Please?" Silence. After a few more minutes, Ultear sighed and stood. "Fine. I won't push you. Open up when you're ready." With this, she turned to leave.
"Wait." Ultear stopped and looked back to find Kyoko looking up, eyes teary. "I...I'll tell you what happened." Ultear nodded with a smile and sat back down, and waited for Kyoko, who played with her hands in her lap.
"Take your time." Ultear said. "I can wait." Kyoko laughed harshly.
"No point in taking my time." She said. "...I love him." Ultear stared at Kyoko for a moment, unsure if she'd heard that correctly.
"S-Sorry?" Ultear asked. "W-what did you say? I could've sworn I heard you say..."
"You heard me." Kyoko replied. "I love him." Ultear didn't know what to say to this. She was stunned into silence. Somehow the thought of Kyoko having an interest in Blake had totally escaped her mind. Now she didn't know how to react.
"O-Oh..." Was all she could manage. Kyoko chuckled weakly.
"Suppose I caught you off guard with that, huh? Not surprising, I'm pretty sure not even Juno or Rina know."
"You haven't told anyone?"
"No one except for you and Blake himself. When he left..." Kyoko trailed off at this, her face scrunched up angrily. "I told him when he left. I had to...I might never see him again. I had to get it out."
"I don't blame you." Ultear said. "I'd feel the same. How did he react?"
"He didn't really. Although I didn't really face him long enough to know." Ultear could guess part of the problem was her not knowing how he felt. "I couldn't have a thing for Michael or Keita, no no...I had to fall for him." Ultear didn't say anything at this. "I had to feel this way for so long...Only for him to walk out because he got the boot from the guild for something no one blames him for..." Ultear noted that tears had started to fall into Kyoko's lap. "This is so fucking stupid...I hate feeling this way but I...I can't help it."
"Kyoko, do you want to know something?" Ultear asked, causing the girl to look up a bit. "The reason we're here is...Blake came to talk to Nashi." Kyoko's eyes widened at this.
"W-What?"
"I don't know what they talked about, they were gone for a while." Ultear smiled. "But I do know that Blake asked for us to come and try to cheer you guys up. That he didn't want to see you all sad because he had to leave. He wanted you to be happy even though he was gone." Kyoko stared at Ultear for a while before she laughed weakly and sniffled, looking down again.
"That sounds like him, fucking dick..." She murmured. Ultear nodded.
"He wants you to be happy. All of you. That's why we went to see you, and Nashi suggested this. We're doing this for him, and for you. We're friends now, remember?"
"I know..."
"So, maybe instead of sulking over here, you try to have fun?" Ultear suggested. "I know your feelings for him must make this worse, but...your friends are sad too. And they're trying to have fun. Why don't we join them? Anything in particular you want to do?" Kyoko shrugged.
"Not really, no. But I'll go change just in case. I know Juno brought my swimsuit with her." Kyoko stood, and wiped her eyes with her arm. "I"ll be back."
"Take your time." Ultear replied. Kyoko started to walk in the direction of the changing rooms, before she stopped. "Kyoko?"
"...Do you have someone dear to you, Ultear?"
"E-Eh?" Kyoko looked over her shoulder at Ultear, face serious now.
"Do you have a thing for anybody?" Ultear shook her head.
"Not really." She answered, ignoring the red mane flashing in her subconscious. Kyoko nodded, and turned her head around again.
"Well, if you do, please don't do what I did. Tell them as soon as you feel able. Because..." Kyoko took a shaky breath. "Some alternatives are fair worse." Ultear watched the girl before she nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind if I ever fall in love."
Simon watched Juno and Rina have a friendly fight in the pool, smiling. It looked as though coming here had been a great idea. As far as he could tell, everyone was enjoying themselves. It also seemed bringing along the other teams was a good idea. He'd seen various other teams talking and laughing with Sabertooth, which was all the better. As long as they stopped thinking about Blake for now.
"Simon!" He turned as Nashi called him, turning to find all the Dragon Slayers there.
"What's up?" He asked.
"We're going to go and ride every ride!" Nashi said, looking pretty excited for something as simple as that. Granted though, without those stabilizing lacrima she wouldn't have been able too normally. Seemed justified. "Want to come?" Simon gave it some thought. It sounded like fun, but he wanted to stay near Juno and Rina to make sure they stayed happy.
"I'll pass for now." He said. "Maybe later."
"Your loss." Drake said. "Let's go, guys!"
"I'll beat you there!" Michael shouted at Drake, who smirked.
"You're on!" Together the two sprinted off into the distance, leaving Nashi. Elise and Keita in the dust.
"Since when are they best friends?" Elise asked, an eyebrow raised. "And where the hell are they racing to?"
"Probably since they learned they have a similar sense of humor back in Halsey's office." Keita replied. "They're very similar, those two." Simon had to agree. Even though he hadn't known Michael very long, the boy seemed very similar to Drake in many ways. Humor obviously the biggest offender.
"Whatever, let's go." Nashi said, walking in the same direction Drake and Michael had ran off in. "See you, Simon."
"See ya." He called, the other three also walking away. Once they were gone, Simon returned his eyes to the pool and got a wave right to the face, knocking him off balance. He could hear Juno and Rina laughing at this.
"Got him!" Rina shouted.
"Why don't you come in, Simon?" Juno asked. "You've just been creeping around!"
"I was not creeping around!" Simon replied, cheeks growing red. He had been, sort of, but not just to do so. He'd been keeping an eye on them.
"Whatever you say." Juno replied, a knowing look on her face. Simon rolled his eyes at this. He was about to fire back when he noticed Juno and Rina looking elsewhere. He followed their gaze to see Kyoko and Ultear walking up to them. As oppose to before, Kyoko looked like she had perked up a bit.
"Hey guys." Ultear greeted.
"Hey," Juno greeted. "You alright, Kyoko?" Kyoko looked up st this and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay." She answered. "Just needed some time by myself."
"If you say so." Rina said. "Anything you want to do, specifically?"
"Not really." Simon frowned at this. Although Kyoko was giving off the impression she was fine, Simon could tell she'd been crying. Her eyes gave it away. His gaze drifted off towards Ultear, who simply nodded curtly at him. He returned the motion and broke out into a smile.
"I heard there's an awesome aquarium here." He said. "How about we go?" Kyoko seemed indifferent, so Simon cast a glance towards Juno and Rina, who picked up on what he was asking quite quickly.
"That sounds like it could be fun." Juno said. "We should go and check that out."
"I'm game." Rina agreed. "How about it, Kyoko?" Kyoko shrugged.
"I suppose we could." She agreed, smiling weakly. Juno and Rina got out of the pool and dried off, and then the group went on their way to the aquarium. Simon fell back with Ultear while Juno and Rina went ahead with Kyoko.
"Did you talk to her?" He asked.
"Yeah." She said. "I did."
"What was wrong?" Simon didn't get a response, so he looked over to find Ultear staring at her feet, deep in thought. He watched her do this for a moment before she sighed.
"It's nothing." She replied. "It's not my place to say."
"Oh. Okay." Simon decided to leave it there. If Ultear didn't feel comfortable telling him, then he didn't need to know. Maybe Kyoko wanted it to be a secret.
Despite this, he couldn't help but feel curious as to what exactly had made Kyoko so despondent.
"Onii-chan, have you see the others?" Damien looked up from his chair to find Steph standing beside him.
"Nope." he answered, shutting his eyes again. "Haven't seen em." Steph made a sound.
"They disappeared so quickly. That was weird."
"If it helps any I saw every Dragon Slayer run off that way, and Simon and Ul went with Juno, Rina and Kyoko over that way." Damien said, pointing around to make his point. Steph frowned.
"Well if they've got every member of Sabertooth distracted, I suppose we're left with nothing to do."
"There was two extra people." He said. "So I guess that's you and me."
"I guess." Damien leaned back in his seat and yawned. Despite agreeing to come, every member of Sabertooth being distracted left him very little to do.
"Very interesting vacation, Damien." Damien looked up to find Xisplate standing next to him.
"Oh, hey." Damien greeted. Xisplate smiled.
"What's with the warm welcome?" He asked. "Usually you ask what I want in an angry tone." Damien frowned.
"I'm not mad at you anymore, so what's the point?" He asked. "No reason to hold a grudge."
"Onii...Chan?" Damien looked over to Steph, who was giving him a confused look. "Who are you talking to?" Damien laughed weakly.
"Aha...What do you mean?"
Fuck, Xisplate! Make yourself visible to her at least!
"You're talking to someone." Damien really had no answer to his sisters question. She seemed to be rather curious, and he had nothing to say.
"Well, uh...uh..."
"Damien!" Damien gasped in surprise as a body tackled him out of his chair and onto the ground. And yet, before he even looked up, he knew what the problem was.
"Bella." He greeted, making a face, Bella frowned down at him and got even closer.
"What's the look for? You said you weren't mad at me anymore."
"Huh?" Damien asked, looking up at her. "What are you...?" Bella winked and her eyes flashed up towards Steph. Damien grasped the situation immediately.
"You said you weren't mad." Bella repeated, voice still sweet as ever. She was covering for Damien talking to himself. Or Xisplate. Whatever.
"I'm not." He said. "Although I get the feeling I won't stay that way." Bella laughed and got off of him, allowing Damien to get up. Once he did, he could see Xisplate chuckling to himself.
Bella, however, didn't miss a beat.
"Ah, Steph!" She said, clapping her hands together. "You look amazing in that bikini! That body is to die for!" This made Steph look incredibly embarrassed.
"R-Really?" She asked.
"Oh, absolutely! I'm almost jealous." Damien withheld a snort. Like hell she was. She was just distracting Steph even more. Steph, however, smiled.
"T-Thanks! I wasn't sure about it but it does look good, I guess."
"Amazing, really." Now that Steph seemed to be both very happy with herself and not focused on why Damien was talking to himself, Bella turned to Damien. "You're whole family is attractive, Damien. It isn't fair." Damien smirked.
"I'm sure you jealous." He said. She smiled.
"Of course I am." She said. "So what are you guys doing?"
"Sitting around, for now." Steph said. "I was going to look for Nashi and the others, have you seen them? Onii-chan is boring me." Damien ignored that as Bella made a face.
"Hm, yeah. I saw Drake and Michael racing towards a water slide over there. So that'd be a place to look for them. I'd hurry though, they won't be getting motion sick so they'll be moving on pretty fast"
"Okay, thanks." Steph said, moving in that direction. "See you later, Onii-chan."
"I'll be here, being boring." He replied, making her laugh as she walked off in the direction Bella told her. Once Steph was gone, Bella whirled on Damien with a smirk on her face.
"Dummy." She said. Damien rolled his eyes.
"I wasn't thinking." Bella laughed.
"If you're going to talk to Xissy," She said, jabbing a thumb at the Demon Lord who had watched the entire ordeal. The nickname made him choke. "Then at least whisper. "
"Wait, you can see him?" Damien asked, looking at Xisplate, who nodded.
"She can." He confirmed. "She's a Demon Lord takeover wizard. I can't be invisible to her." Bella nodded.
"Yep!"
"And why did you call me Xissy?" Xisplate demanded at Bella, who frowned.
"Meridia said you preferred that."
"She...what?" At this, a sharp female laugh sounded around them.
"Of course I did Xissy!" It said. Damien turned, and immediately became awestruck. The most gorgeous redheaded women he'd ever met was standing behind them in a black dress that oddly matched Xisplate's suit. She walked up and laughed again as Xisplate fumed.
"Vantros tell you about that?" He asked. She nodded.
"I think it's cute!" She said. "It's like a pet name"
"This is why every Lord despises you."
"What's that supposed to mean? Quinxotic and I are basically besties!"
"And yet Mortavius threatened to crack your skull open."
"Oh Mortavius is a sweetheart, you know that."
"He's nine feet tall and wears the bones of his fallen foes as armor, that's not someone I'd describe as..."
"Did you guys forget we're right here?" Bella asked, raising her hand slightly. This seemed to remind both Lords of just that.
"Oh, sorry Bella hun. I forgot to introduce myself." Damien watched, growing ever redder as the Lord walked up to him and smiled dazzlingly at him. "Hello there, you're Xissy's takeover wizard, yes?"
"U-Uh, yeah I am." Damien felt like he could barely function. He knew the feeling as the seduction, but he felt so turned on he couldn't help but feel stupid. She smiled eve wider.
"I'm Meridia, Bella's Lord. It's a pleasure."
"That's exactly what I was thinking." Damien said, face still red. Meridia laughed and turned to Bella.
"Nice pick, Bella." She said, making Bella roll her eyes. Meridia shrugged and moved away from Damien, allowing his brain to operate a bit faster. "I won't bother you on your vacation Bella, so I'll talk to you later."
"Thanks. Later." Meridia nodded and with that, she disappeared. Xisplate watched her go and sighed. Damien, however, felt like he was coming off of the best high of his life.
"You okay?" Damien turned weakly to Bella, who was watching him warily.
"I-I think so." He replied. "W-What...?" Bella sighed.
"Residual magical energy." She said. "Meridia constantly leaks magic power, seducing any man near her who isn't a Demon Lord. Even in my eyes she overdoes it."
"Quite sickly, actually." Xisplate agreed. "Perhaps I should go to. Mortavius might make good on his promise." With this, Xisplate was gone as well. Damien still felt quite dizzy, so Bella straightened him as he began to fall over.
"You know what'll help you?" She asked.
"What?" He asked. Bella grinned. Or was it a smirk? Damien was too light headed to tell.
"There's a huge water slide in her. The biggest in the park. Wanna go on it?" Damien made a face.
"Why would I want to do that?" Bella shrugged.
"It'll clear your head." Bella's eyes flicked downwards. "And maybe return the blood to where it needs to be."
"Aw, shit!"
Ultear stared at the tropical fish in the tank as they swam up and down. They had an incredible amount of pretty fish in the aquarium, which made it quite the interesting trip.
"These things are cool, huh?" Ultear looked to her right to find Juno standing next to her. The others must've been looking at something else.
"Uh, yeah." Ultear agreed. "They're pretty." There was silence between the two as kids and their parents ran around, happily enjoying their vacation. Ultear should've guessed most people would be in here, but it had barely crossed her mind.
"She said she loved him, didn't she?" These words spoken by Juno tossed Ultear back into the conversation, and she made a face.
"H-Huh?" She asked, startled by the question. Juno sighed and looked at her out of the corner of her eye.
"Kyoko. She said she loved Blake, didn't she?" Ultear was still a bit taken aback by the bluntness of the question, but she slowly nodded and returned her gaze to the fish swimming around behind the glass.
"Yeah." She said quietly. "That's what she said." Juno nodded and looked back at the fish as well.
"I should have known." She said. "Kyoko...She said goodbye in an odd fashion. It only really occurred to me then."
"She must have been good at hiding it, then." Ultear said. Juno nodded.
"She was. I always made the assumption it was Blake who liked her, cause he was always going with her. Be it training, food run, or whatever. I never guessed it was her..." Ultear really had no idea how Kyoko must have felt. Losing someone you loved...Must have been very hard on her. "Kyoko needed this trip far more than anyone else, so I'm glad you managed to convince her to come along." Ultear smiled weakly.
"You're welcome." She said. "I just wanted to help."
"Well in that case, thank you."
"Guys!" Both girls turned to find Rina standing there, looking pissed. "I'm really bored in here." Kyoko, who was beside her, laughed.
"She's been complaining for the last ten minutes." Kyoko said. "We'd better make our way out before she electrocutes the fish." Simon rejoined them at this.
"Well, we are at a water park." He said. "Maybe we should do something other than wander around here."
As Nashi broke the surface of the water once she landed, a laugh escaped her. She was having way to much fun. For the past fifteen or so minutes, she and the others had been running around going on every single water slide and other ride they could find. She's never moved so much by something other than a living creature or her own feet and not gotten sick. It was incredible. he turned and watched as Michael catapulted out of the slide as well and landed near her, splashing her. He surfaced and laughed.
"This is awesome!" He shouted, moving his hair out of his eyes.
"Right?" Nashi asked. "We have to go find another one!" The two swam towards the edge of the landing pool as Drake, Elise and Keita soon launched off the slide as well. Once they were all out of the water, the five looked around for another ride they had yet to go on.
"So, where to now?" Drake asked.
"Who cares? Let's find another one!" Elise said. Nashi smiled, It was good that she seemed happy. The trip was good for Elise just as it was for Sabertooth.
"Let's just walk around and look for one." Keita said. "I'm sure we'll run into one eventually." No one seemed to contest this, so that's what they did. They weaved in and out of other people and rides, looking for one that caught their eye.
"Hey look, it's the Dragon Slayers." Nashi stopped and turned to find the majority of the group that they had come to the park with standing there.
"Hey guys." Nashi greeted as the two groups met up. "You've been running around this whole time, huh?" Taro nodded.
"Hell yeah we have. Just having fun." He said. "You guys?"
"Same thing." Drake said. "With the stabilizing lacrima on these rides, we can actually ride them." Nami smirked.
"You guys want to ride the best ride in this place?" She asked.
"Is that even a question?" Michael asked. "What is it?" Nami smirked.
"Is way over there." She said. "You'll find it if you go up there." Several people made a face.
"Uh, Nami..." Winter started, and then got shot a look. She shut up after that.
"Over where?" Keita asked, and Nami pointed to the left. Over there, Nashi could see a huge slide. She grinned.
"We have to go and ride that! Let's go!" The others nodded, and they ran off towards the water slide without a second thought.
"Smooth, Nami." Nami grinned at this.
"Whatever do you mean, Terra?" She asked, looking at the girl in question, Terra, although she was trying to look stern, had a smirk on her face.
"You know damn well you just sent them towards the Love Love Slider. That ride for couples." Nami laughed and shrugged.
"Oh well. They'll find out once they get there."
"You did it to fuck with Keita, didn't you?"
"Maybe."
Nashi ran ahead of the others as they reached what appeared to be the bottom of the gigantic ride. She smiled up at it as she ran, and looked back at the others.
"It's this way, guys!" She said, everyone close behind. Nashi rounded a corner and had to put on the brakes to avoid slamming into Damien and Bella, who were walking in the same direction.
"Jeez Nashi, watch where you're going." Bella said, smiling.
"Sorry!" Nashi said. "I'm just excited to ride that water slide over there!"
"The huge one?" Nashi nodded. Bella looked like she was about to speak up, but she neglected to do so. Nashi looked at Damien, who looked kind of pale and out of it.
"What's up with him?" Bella laughed.
"He's a bit out of it right now. He'll be okay once the wind from the ride hits him." Damien didn't contest this, so Nashi didn't really think anything of it.
"What're we waiting for?" Drake demanded. "Let's go!" They all agreed and were about to run off in the direction of the slide, but Nashi stopped. Over in the distance, she could see Simon, Ultear, Juno, Rina and Kyoko coming out of what appeared to be some other place she'd have to look into later.
"Guys!" She shouted. "Over here!" They looked over as they ran up to them.
"What's up, Nashi?" Simon asked.
"There's this huge water slide over here! You guys have to come on it, it'll be awesome!"
"That sounds like fun." Ultear said, smiling. "We should do that."
"Totally." Juno said, looking towards Kyoko. "Are you gonna come Kyoko?" Kyoko looked up at the ride, and made a face. After a second, she smirked.
"No." She said. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll see you guys later." With this, the girl walked off.
"Why was she smirking?" Keita asked.
"Who cares?" Elise asked. "Come on!"
Something about the line of people for the ride made Drake wary. They all seemed to be couples. At first he thought nothing of it, but as they got closer and closer to getting to go on, it made him confused. Maybe it was just popular with couples? That was obvious.
"Almost there!" Nashi said, first in line, followed by Michael and then Drake. Drake, however, looked around them. Nothing about the ride seemed to catch his eye as odd, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Another couple went down, and that meant Nashi was next. She smiled as she went towards the slide, Michael and Drake, followed by everyone else, close behind.
Looking behind him, Drake noticed a couple talking. One of them said water slide, and Drake's curiosity got the better of him. he decided a little listen wasn't so bad.
"I'm so excited for this ride!"
"Me too. It's the best of it's kind."
"But it was hard to find. It's not labeled very well."
"I know. If you didn't know any better, you'd never know this was the Love Love Slider, the most romantic slide in all of Fiore! Enchanted to but the lovers in each others embrace..."
...
Uh oh.
"Uh, guys?" Drake asked weakly, stomach turning for the first time all day. "We've got a problem!" Drake turned to address Nashi and Michael, to warn them about the slide.
"Oops, it's slippery on this floor!" Drake barely had time to register Bella's words before her hands connected with his back, and he was sent flying forwards. Michael turned just in time to see him, and together the two careened into Nashi as well.
And all three of them landed on the slide.
Instantaneously, Drake's arms wrapped around Nashi's body from the front, and Michael did so from the back.
"What the hell is this?!" Nashi asked as they picked up speed.
"We're so fucking dumb..." Drake hissed. "This is a couples slide! It's enchanted to put us like this!"
"So we sandwiched Nashi?" Michael asked. "What kind of couples have a third wheel?!"
"How should I know?!"
"We're never speaking of this again, got it?!" Nashi demanded, face incredibly red. Drake felt himself getting a bit embarrassed as well.
"That seems fair." Michael agreed. "Look at the bright side, at least Drake and I didn't land on it by ourselves." Drake, too, felt relieved by this.
"That's way to true." He hissed.
Bella grinned as she watched the three careen downwards. She'd probably get shit for this, but it was way to good of a possibility to pass up. She turned and grinned at Damien.
"Ready, hun?" She asked. Damien nodded.
"Yep." Without another word, the entranced Damien made a grab for the others, tossing them forwards. Now at a loss of balance, Bella laughed uncontrollably as Simon and Ultear, Keita and Elise, and Rina and Juno respectively were tossed onto the slide, the enchantment making them stick together like glue. Bella grinned and looked over at Damien.
"Ready?" She asked. He nodded and picked her up like a princess, making her giggle. He was going to hate her for this.
"Let's do this." With this, Damien too jumped onto the slide, making Bella cling to him like glue. She smiled and rest her head on Damien's chest.
"I'm going to get reprimanded for this so badly. Totally worth it."
"We're never to speak of this again, got it?!" Keita made a face and looked off to his side.
"I could not agree with you more." He muttered, his arms pinning Elise to the water slide. The enchantment of the slide had put them in this position, and now they were stuck like that. Their foreheads were touching too, which made it hard for Keita to look anywhere but at Elise's flustered features.
"If we're going to be stuck like this, at least man up and look at me." Elise muttered. Keita raised an eyebrow and looked back at her. She was blushing uncontrollably, he had no doubt he was too, but he held her gaze.
"Never again." He told her. She nodded.
"No. Never." As they slid down the water, a thought occurred to Keita.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked. "This isn't exactly...You know...triggering anything for you, is it?" Elise raised an eyebrow, but before long she seemed to realize what he was inferring. She puffed up her cheeks and looked away.
"It's you, so I suppose I'm okay..."
"What the fuck does that mean?!"
"So...We're killing Bella for this, right?"
"Oh absolutely." Simon agreed, feeling light headed. "I'll never forgive her for this." Bella, perhaps planning it all along, had tossed everyone onto the slide that was for couples, and now Simon found himself with Ultear sitting in his lap. Neither of them had looked at each other since the ride started, which was probably for the best.
"This is so stupid...Kyoko probably knew we were headed here. That's why she didn't come with us."
"She could've warned us." Simon agreed. "Now we'll never live this down."
"It could be worse." Simon made a face and looked at Ultear to find her looking away still.
"Please enlighten me how this could be worse." He said. Ultear still didn't look at him, cheeks red.
"I'm just saying it could be worse..."
"Bwahahahaha! Did you see the looks on their faces?!"
"I did! Man not telling them this was the Love Love Slider was so worth it!" Both Juno and now her slide partner Rina had known the second they arrived at the ride what it was, they'd heard about it before. But, for shits and giggles, they decided not to say anything. If Juno had learned anything about Bella from the time she'd known her, then what had come to pass was more than expected. But it was still worth it.
"They're going to be so mad." Rina said, smirking. The girl was on top of Juno, who was too busy laughing to really care. "I can't wait to see how unrecognizable Bella is once they kill her."
"They'll probably be to busy ignoring each other to do much about this."
Kyoko waited at the exit pool for the Love Love Slider, a massive grin on her face. She'd been here for a while now, so the others would be flying down it in each others embrace any second now.
"Kyoko!" Kyoko turned to find Steph running up to her. "Have you seen the others? I can't find them anywhere." Kyoko smiled.
"Wait here with me, Steph." She said. "You'll see them in a second or two." Steph made face at this, but soon the shouting could be heard. Kyoko turned just in time to see Drake, Nashi and Michael, all wrapped around each other, catapult off the slide and into the water, creating a huge splash. Kyoko burst out laughing as they were soon followed by Elise and Keita, Ultear and Simon, and then Juno and Rina, who were also laughing. As each pair surfaced they immediately distanced themselves from each other, red faced and stuttering messes. Kyoko nearly fell down from the laughter, and finally Damien and Bella flew out as well. As soon as the girl surfaced, she was being glared at something fierce. She laughed awkwardly and snapped her fingers, making Damien blink a few times before he glared at Bella.
"What did you make me do?" He demanded. Looks like he figured things out fast. Bella giggled.
"Promise you won't be mad?"
"No."
Nashi ignored everything as she shoveled more food into her mouth, trying desperately to forget what had happened. Riding down that slide stuck between Drake and Michael was bad enough, but the fact that both of them thought it was the funniest thing ever and were cracking jokes about. It seemed to lighten the mood about the incident, which helped.
"You okay?" Nashi choked on her sandwich and turned in her seat to find Michael leaning up against the counter she was eating at, and she felt her face going red.
"T-Totally!" She managed, face red. "Why?"
"You're blushing." Nashi frowned and looked away from him.
"What do you expect? That was embarrassing..."
"I thought it was funny."
"So I've heard. You and Drake haven't sopped laughing since it stopped..." Michael laughed and hopped into the seat next to her. Silence ensued, before he sighed.
"Thank you, Nashi." He said. She made a face and turned to him, seeing he was smiling at her.
"Huh?"
"Thanks for dragging us here. I haven't seen the others smile this much in...Forever. So thanks for cheering us up." Nashi smiled back at him.
"You're welcome." She contemplated her next words for a moment, and decided she'd speak up. "Blake came to talk to me." This caught Michael's attention, and Nashi smiled sadly down at her lap. "He wanted me to try and cheer you guys up now that he was gone...That's why we're here. I wanted to help you guy through this."
"Nashi..."
"Sorry I didn't started with that, but I thought maybe you wouldn't come if you knew." Michael stared at her before he chuckled and wiped at his eyes.
"Typical." He muttered. "Asshole cares more about us than his life, which is endangered..." After Michael gathered himself, he looked back at Nashi. "Anything else he mention?" Nashi frowned at this and returned her gaze to her food.
"I don't know what it is they have planned, but it's not too far away now. And you're too heavily involved in their plans for you not to know they're probably closing in, so keep an eye out."
"...It's coming." She said. Hearing Michael make a confused sound, she looked back at him. "The battle. With them. It's coming. They're coming. He told me that." Michael's expression grew dead serious.
"Let me guess. He also said to keep us out of it?"
"How did you...?"
"Because fuck that." Nashi stared at Michael's expression, one of determined ferocity. "I will not stay out of that battle. You have my word. You see everyone who's here?" Michael gestured around at this, and Nashi looked around at every friend who had come here with them. "We're all in this with you. Don't forget that, okay?"
"...He knew you'd be like this." She said. "So i guess there's nothing I can do to change your mind?"
"Not a fucking chance."
"Well alright then. We'll see what happens." The pair went quiet at this, and Michael coughed.
"Anyway, I was thinking that after this, maybe sometime later, we could hang out again." Nashi looked at him with a confused face.
"Sure, I'll ask the others about..."
"No no, I was...I meant you and me." Nashi felt her face reddening.
"O-Oh..."
Zeus stared out the window of his office, watching the rain pelt the mountain. Soon enough, he heard the door open. He turned to find Hades standing there, grinning as always.
"What's up, old man?" He asked, crossing his arms. "Athena said you wanted to talk to me."
"I did." Zeus replied, turning to face him. "I've decided that we have no choice. We must use your plan." Hades smile actually faded for a moment, but soon he smiled.
"I figured as much, you old bastard." He said. "I'll tell Hephaestus about it. You sure?"
"...Yes. Start it up. It's the only way without wasting more time" Hades nodded and turned.
"Yeah yeah, the mountain, the satellite, lure them here...I got it. Don't worry, old man. I got it under control." Zeus frowned as the man left his office.
"I don't like it, but we have no choice...He's in control of the hunt now."
Longest. Chapter. Ever. I worked a while on this one guys, so I really hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!