º....Snipet....º
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"Wow..is that what I think it is?"
"If you were about to say a bunch of poorly written words on a rock, then yes..it is what you think it is.."
"Shush you Signora.., just live a little."
"I would....if instead of dragging me through a cavern Archons know where you would have me in a shopping trip....like NORMAL people.."
"Right...sorry, anyway, lets see what it is.."
.
I weaken all men
for hours each day.
I show you strange visions
while you are away.
I take you by night
by day take you back.
None suffer to have me
but do from my lack.
"Oh, its a riddle.... I did not know there were those in Teyvat. Hey Sig...do you have an idea of what it could b-"
"Its sex.."
"......WHAT?"
"Its sex..."
"W-w-what its wrong with you!? Its clearly sleep..!"
Signora did not seem bothered by her outburst, in fact the smirk on her lips grew all the more sinful. "It can have multiple interpretations, all great literature does....and most of them are about sex.."
"And what kind of sex are you having that is making you hallucinate..?"
"Good sex, obviously~~~..."
One of her eyes started to twitch while she felt her face burn up with what she really wished was embarrassment and not something less...pure.
This was going to be a long day
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Speech = "....."
Thoughts = [......]
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"I thought that you said that you would stay here tonight.." The voice of young woman that could have been considered beautiful at any other given time chastised him rather harshly. Though not as hard as he already had himself.
He sighed, his shoulders slumping down a little.
"I know.."
His wife did not bit her lip, did not frown, but the way her feet were tapping the ground in earnest, energetically that was so much like her when she was pissed off told him that the berating was far from over.
"That you would come back early tonight.."
"I know.." He sighed again, rubbing his face with his hand, swatting away the cold sweat sliding down his forehead with a dispassionate grunt. The tapping just grew more furious..
"That you would not go back in your word.."
"I...know..."
Far from satisfied his wife rouse her arms over her head. "Its always work, work, work with you...isn't it..!?"
"You should have known that when you married a member of the Gardes.." He finally protested back, putting some bite into his words. Yes..he had screwed up and he knew it, but chewing him up was not going to fix it either.
It was only when he realized that he had spoken perhaps a bit to loud that he regretted his choice. He was about to apologize for it...but he found himself stopped by a hand on his shoulder. The touch warm and gentle...
"I know.." His wife said, her tone no longer angry or disappointed, just...tired before he pulled away her touch and let her hand fall to her side. "Still you could have tried to ask for short leave instead of jumping for double time..we see you barely as it is..and you are going to have to work at night too now?"
"Its just one time.."
"It always starts at one.."
"What do you want me to do...Marla?" He muttered with exasperation bleeding into his words even though..he knew very well what she was going to say next. They already had this dance so many times before that it almost felt tradition.
"Learn to say no.."
And there it was...
Sadly, the answer to her plead would always be the same.
"I cant do that.."
"Even if its for your own health?"
"And leave the streets around Fleuve Cendre with one less Garde? Things may not look well, but I am not going to throw more work on the shoulders of the poor devils that got the short end of the stick like me. You know better than I how bad things tend to go there by norm..and with most of the members as security for the act I would rather not take my chances"
"Perhaps...., but that doesn't make it right. Also, overworking yourself to death does not sound a clever way to keep your edge on the cases..."
"I....true.."
"But you are not going to heed my advice, aren't you?"
..
"My dear..."
"No..."
Donatello muttered through his teeth, not in anger...but tired. It was a weak reply..and he knew it. One so hollow and shallow that he could not help but bit his lip as a result but not much more, one that he had already repeated to nausea time and time again a conversation like this happened each and every time his already scant free time was strained further.
But it was the most he could do.
After a few more tense seconds of silent judgment Marla's glare softened at last, though the disappointment in her eyes still did not abate even as she sighed through her lips with a halfway smile.
"Of all the men I could marry in Fontaine...and I end up with the one with the worst sleep schedule among the Gardes...what are the odds?"
Donatello did not know why, but he found a pang of amusement in her words, a low chuckle slipping through his lips.
"I am sorry.., I will make it up to you.."
A pained expression warped on Marlas face. "Its not me who you should be apologizing..."
For a moment Donatello stares at his wife with a quizzical expression, not really understanding what she meant by that. Until he sensed a pair of eyes stare at him from behind the corner to his back, a pair of lilac eyes that he belonged to a certain girl that he knew all to well.
A cold lump of spit got stuck on Donatellos throat.
Of all days luck could throw a wrench at him in the worst way possible...it could not wait itself had to be in his daughters birthday
"Chevreuse I-"
That was as far as he would manage to say before the girl ducked out of sight, the sound of her feet dimming rapidly as she ran away towards her room until the loud, blasting sound of a door been slammed down closed reached him.
"Hah....dammit.."
"I will take care of her darling, just try not to get blasted on your way back ok?"
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º-...Crucabena.....-º
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After her secret rendezvous with the Mirror maiden she had decided to take her own time to take a good look at the scenery around her without the presence of either Gerard or Noriko shadowing her all the time.
True, the main event was about to start in....what? Ten minutes top? More? Surely she would have enough time to peek around on some cool things on display here and be able to find a seat to land her rear. God knows that she would definitely hate it if she were to spend the entire ordeal up while wearing high heels.
Even though she was killing it now
Beginners luck perhaps..? Though now that she thought about it..perhaps they were eye catching or something with the way she caught people looking down "not" at her legs of course, but at the ground where she walked over.
Yeah..
Yikes...
The people of Fontaine were weird, though she should have known better when dealing with the god damn FRENCH!. Like..had they not seen a pair of high heels before or what..? Anyway, pushing those thoughts aside, that was the main reason as to why she had found her way into one of the many tents that littered the plaza.
One that was dirty
It stink
And...was filled with old, creepy, crappy stuff that she would have found in a shady basement
It was perfect.
..
..
What?
Don't look at me like that.., when all tents or food posts have the same identical vanilla ice doll like copied styled the one that was different than the norm was a welcoming sight. In a game setting it would mean that either the bad guys were here...or that the plot demanded her to be here.
So its not like she was into weird shit ok..
..
Well, she did went to that Korean Doujin shop once, but it was just ONE time ok? A girl has her needs and online dating did not pan out at the time ok!? Besides, it surely did not have to do with the fact that she felt like she had found a larpers dungeon.
"Oh, wow...this ship has everything a D fan heart's desires..."
She muttered as she took notice of the frog legs hanging from the sides, the human and animal skulls placed so neatly over barrels and the way someone had seemingly assaulted the forest to take dry and humid leafs in order for the lit candles to create a strange scenario for her to come across. The only thing it would need was a few pieces of medieval armor and religion motifs about the sun and then he would be well underway to a half-made tribute to Dark Souls.
Almost by reflex she put her hands in some sort of prayer
[Ah, praise the sun...]
Somewhere in Natlan a red haired girl with sun shaped eyes scratched the back of her head, confused...swearing for a brief moment that someone had called her.
"Its that so..?"
The voice came from her right, tilting her head in that direction her silver eyes were met with the presence of a spooky shopkeeper came out from behind a clearly set of curtains in a clearly not weird way. However when she got a good look at the man in question all thoughts halted on the spot.
All...but one.
[Wow....I knew that Count Dooku was, I did not know Saruman was working in Fontaine too? Neat. Its like they went to the inverse, double the fun, double crossovers..]
The case in point seeing that the man was almost the vivid representation of the long greasy white haired witzard that lived in a spiky tower in the middle of a forest for no good reason. Deep dark eyes in a very long face, a white beard that extended way below she could see...yet with that small patch of strands of black hair.
And had she said that he was carrying a staff with him..?
No?
Well, then now she had..
"I will warn you...every item here comes with a price.."
That rose an eyebrow from her, breaking her out of her immersion.
"Yeah? I know how shops work.."
The "wizard" took a step forward, coming more into the poor light of the flickering candles on the counter of his shop. "The price may be more than you expect to pay.."
Crucabena started to scratch the back of her head. "Yes, I know how U.S. taxes work too..."
Saruman.2 left eye started to twitch . "U.S wha-ehemm.....anyway, what I am trying to say is that you may have to give out your soul.."
She rose her hands in a placating manner. "No thanks, the place looks lovely but I am not planing to work here anytime soon..."
"Archon dammit woman and trying to tell you that I am evil and that I care not how much destruction I leave in my wake..!"
"Duh, I know how capitalism work too old-man..!"
That seemed the wrong thing to say as Saruman.2 banged his head against the counter several times before he started speaking gibberish in Tolkien and ventured deeper into his shop where she could not see him...but quite hear his grumbling.
He had a very vivid imagination...she would give him that.
"Well...that was something else.."
That guy was clearly weird. Clearly trying his best to larp his way to success with the creepy, dark vendor character that you would find in any kind of D game session. But downright weird..like..yes, she understood the desire to take pride in ones craft...but he was really confusing her with his choice of words.
[Oh well, what its life without a bit of surprise added to it...?]
"If flowers could feel envy they would surely wilt from it in your presence my lady..."
The voice of a different soul drew attention away from her own musings. The suddenness of its arrival should have jolt her out of her mind, but the playful, mischievous tone seemed to put...a block into that idea. She did not know why she had the feeling the voice was smirking at a joke only they knew.
Tilting her head, she looked for the source of said intrusion in her thoughts...and found a..particularly familiar bald man to her side. Dressed like a common butler...yet the look in his eyes and the Cheshire grin of his lips spoke of a playfulness that did not belong to a servant
The only thought that disturbed her was...that he was not blinking.
"Oh thank you...I guess?"
He waved at her in an easy going manner, as if it was no great deed. "No need for that Miss...., one its merely praising your efforts. For I see that the seeds are finally blooming..., oh I cant wait to see what will happen next.."
A comically large bead of sweat started to slid behind her scalp
[Is this....the famous crazy talk?]
Wasn't this supposed to happen just in anime..?
"No idea what you are talking about sir, but...if it makes you happy then its ok.."
The smile grew wider to an unsettling level, worse yet...he started leaning closer to her which prompted her to take a cautionary step back. There was something...wrong about him.
She just...could not guess what
"Oh please, there is no need to be so modest...believe in yourself a little more.." He said, his words went to be cheerful yet she could help but taste the sardonic hidden sense to them. However, just as she was to speak her mind.... he made a weird gesture in her direction, his teeth glinting like an anime character would when..before he went out of his way to make a heart shaped figure with his hands.
She blinked, once, then twice....but the sight would not leave her eyes.
[Did he just...pulled a wordless Niconico Ni..?]
It was so stupid..so unexpected...that she did not know what she was meant to say.
And just like that the tension melted away. Replaced by the urging desire that She had to fight the let she start groaning or pinching the bridge of her nose in order to quell the pain throbbing in her skull, this was....getting really weird.
Well, weirder than usual at least.
[The last thing I expected was a pep talk from a stranger imitating Might Guy thumbs up before going full Moe Moe...]
..
Wait...
Wait a moment...
"Something wrong..?"
"S- wait...aren't you the weird guy that sold me flowers a few days ago...?"
"Moi? Weird? Flowers..? Nein...though who wouldn't give flowers to such an interesting rose such as yourself..?"
She shook her head.
No, she was damn sure of what she was saying. The weirdness, the way he held himself...it had to be that flower guy from her fist day on Fontaine.
"No, you are definitely the bald guy..you sound just lik" She started to say, yet the presence of an intrusive gloved finger pressed against her lips silenced her.
"Shhhh....the spectators should not speak when in the midst of a show my dear.."
She was taken back by the boldness of the act, but one she recuperated quickly. With a scoff she slapped his hand aside, a small twitch in her eyes, one that was aggravated as her skull started to hurt again.
"Please, don't do that-where did he go?" She started to yell...only to find out he had..vanished? Looking to her left and then her right she was met with no sight of the man.
It was as if he had never existed.
..
She...had not hallucinated him, had she..?
"Where did I go? I am here..." Someone whispered into her ear.
"Jesus Christ!"
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º.....Somewhere not that far away...technically speaking....º
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"WhywhywhywhywhywhyWhywhywhywhywhywhyWhywhywhywhywhywhy did this need to happen to me...!"
Furina muttered in clear abject disappointment, frustration and sadness and pouting to herself rather than anyone else for that matter, all at the same time as she tried to move towards the location she had seen her hat so unceremoniously fly off without her consent.
At least...she thought she was.
A lot of people said that the classic chase was as simple as breathing, but it was pretty damn hard to guess between having to ran looking up to the skies and then down to not stumble onto someone else in the process. That was clearly something that was never included in those tales of breath taking chases, were they?
She closed her eyes with a sigh.
Honestly, it was so much work...work that she definitely did not need to be doing at all in the first place if things had gone her way..! Truly, why was fate always trying to murk and muddy her mood at the worst time ever? It was like it was like it was spiting her 24/7
Really...her work was such a thankless tedious little thing.
Luckily, she had managed to find an exemplar group of totally spendable and TOTALLY willing volunt-servants of the Law who would graciously aid her in her quest to get her hat in time. Which were good news, more people would help her get what she wanted in a far quicker way.
The bad news was that...
Well..
They were proving to be a bit...useless.
Yes, yes...I know, its not nice to say that to other people, especially when they were trying to help her. But having more hands on deck should be making her feel more relaxed, not MORE exasperated! Speaking of which...one of them was approaching her.
A young man that could not have been in the Gardes for a long time given the ridiculous shade of what she...guessed was meant to be a mustache? Yes, she did not know what sorry excuse of facial hair the m-boys choice was.
She was the GREAT and MARVELOUS goddess of justice.
Not an expert on male poor fashion decisions
"L-Lady Furina...please calm down.."
"Calm down...!? Me..?" She inquired, tilting her head to the side, her tear shaped eyes narrowing slightly with a frown.
"Y-yes...?"
"Oh..I am perfectly calm.." She said, with a practiced smile, one that she even felt strained against her lips.
"Oh, wait..really?"
One of her eyes started to twitch rather visibly as her shoulders slumped down in clear disappointment. Seriously..? Was he blind..? Could he not notice the several red flags that she was-
[Ah forget it..!]
Right now was not the best moment to ponder about things like these..
Especially when she did not have exactly a never ending amount of time to spare for it.
Tired and annoyed she pinched the bridge of her nose before she started wailing her arms around energetically, trying to com-bey the fact that she was Not calm in the slightest if anything she had said, done, or tried to point at during all this time.
Though.....it came out in a rather comically cartoonish way.
Play the fool a thousand times...you tend to act the fool on your own.
Not that she noticed.
"OF course not..! Do you have the slightest idea how terrible this is!? Of the importance of this moment..!?" She said as she started pulling from the mans sleeve in one moment before she started rolling on the ground the next. Comically large tears in her eyes.
"I-I..no?"
In an instant she jumped onto the mans face, non violently of course, just as close as she possibly could. Or as close as someone like her who...was a few inches too short to actually make the effect she was trying to make in a proper way.
Well..
It wasn't like she could not improvise, right..?
..
Right...she was... improvising
"See..? You don't! How am I suppose to fix things if you don't understand how important it is for me to retrieve what I am looking for before the speech finishes!"
"O-of course Lady Furina..but-"
"But what..?"
"But what are we even looking for..?"
[Eh..?] She blinked once, then twice...the gears in her mind seemingly crashing out into some sort of blue screen, however even when things started to run again....it did not mean that she understood more than she already did. Which was not much to begin with..
"What do you mean..that you don't know..?"
"Erh...well, that?"
Furina blinked for a second time.
Was he...was he serious?
"What this idiot its saying its that...you did not stop to explain things in detail." Another voice chimed out from the side, a woman this time with auburn hair and lilac eyes "Just that we had... to follow you to search something..I think..."
Wait...she..hadn't?
The idea that she had started a goose chase through the city without even giving "clear" instructions of what she wanted to be found was so ludicrous that she was baffled beyond belief that she was almost tempted to say that was nonsensical.
..
..
[Yet again....that...may have been what just happened, Teehee..?] She thought as she started to rub the back of her head. What? People can make mistakes...especially in such highly intensive and stressful situations. You really don't know how bad things are when you lose your favorite hat.
One among a dozen or more...but a precious hat nonetheless!
Yeah.
That's right..
She had not made a mistake...
It was that bloody wind's mistake to drag her here to do this....leg work!
"Is it a person Lady Furina..? The Chief Justice perhaps..?"
"No idiot, she said she needed to retrieve something, not a person.."
"Enough ramble from you two, I think we should let the Archon speak for herself, boys..." Said someone else.
However, it was after those were spoken Furina knew well that she was about to become the sole focus of attention of the entire troupe. And so, it should not have been that much of a surprise when several pairs of eyes gazed at her direction.
Feeling a bit self-conscious in that moment with all the attention been thrown at her direction...she...started to fidget with her fingers, her eyes finding a particular piece of cobblestone on the ground particularly interesting in that moment for no real reason.
"Ah.., well...about that..."
"Y-yes?"
"Its.... about my hat.."
..
..
..
"Wait...."
"Lady Furina.....are you saying that you are panicking because you lost....your hat?"
"M-me? P-panicking?" She said out-loud, obviously not panicking on the spot at been found out. It was so outrageous, so insulting, so very much true but well....it wasn't like she could ever admit to that right?
"How could you dare such a thing to your god..!?" She gasped both in embarrassment and outrage, wailing her arms up in protest.
"W-well I-"
"Not Well I or duh or Aha or even Hmm Sir! A god does not panic, ever, period!" She said as she jabbed an accusatory finger on the Gardes chest [Not in public at least...] She thought with a brief pang of bitterness as that lats thought reared its head.
Still, what could she say to explain her...actions of her ever increasing desire to find her lost head-wear without...sounding like it really was? It wasn't like she could just lie on the spot like it was nothi-......oh..? OHHHHH..! Sometimes she wondered whether she was a secret genius or a moron, nah, who was she lying to? It was clearly the former!
"Ah, well you see....a-all that you saw was.....was just me rehearsing for a role in an upcoming play at the Grand stage..., yeah, that was it.." She said puffing her chest out with as much pride and grandiose eloquence she could muster.
Not that it was a problem for her as Gods were perfect in all their aspects.. internally though...that was a bit of a different tale. [Please..., pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease just take my word....] She knew it was kinda weak for an excuse....but well, it was the best one she came up with in the moment.
Luckily for her....she would not need to worry about it for too long as nods of agreement were shared among the troupe.
"Oh...so she was...playing again? That sounds cool.."
"Ah, to think we would be chosen to help the Archon in another play at the stage as an aid..."
"Well, I guess it beats the boring empty market patrol we were..."
Furina did not know whether to pat herself in the back for a job well done....or scream internally at how gullible they were.
Oh...well
Just another lie to the pile-...
That bitter thought stopped midway when a voice seemed to reach her out...from somewhere and nowhere at the same time. Surprised and curious she could not help herself but turn around, her tear shaped eyes trying to find out who...or what had called her.
Only...to find.. nothing?
Puzzled, Furina tilts her head, confused about the lingering feeling in her chest. [How strange..., is it me or am I feeling a sort of dejavu..?]
"Something wrong Lady Furina..?"
Brought of her musings Furina merely shakes her head, was she day dreaming now?
"I.....no, it was nothing..." She said before she set forth to resume the search of her dearest hat before time ran out.
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º....Back to our lovely idiot....º
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You know the rules and you know what they say about surprises.
They are fun if not amusing to enjoy from afar, and not so much when you are the target of said things. Which she was pretty sure in some point in time she had already said a thing or two about. What had prompted that convenient thought to come back from memory lane?
Ah, nothing too important to be honest....just that the sudden, crass and ground breaking reacting that came afterwards someone gave her the heebie jeebies Jason style that really did not match her gentle demeanor and the way that it obviously drew the attention of anyone that wasn't half deaf at the time.
And it all started with something lik-
"FUCK..!"
"Language my lady.."
"Language, seriously asshole!? W-who are you Hodini..!?" She half gasped half accused as she turned around to meet the extremely unapologetic bald man of the hour. The sight making her growl in exasperation and dismay while her poor heart throbbed painfully in her chest.
How did he do that?
How did he sneaked on her like that?
And why on earth did she had to go through this.....again...!?
That particular memory from back in the day the man had tried to sell her flowers in the most weird way possible still fresh in her mind. Specially the fact that he had pulled the same trick back then.
"I am sure he was a nice fellow if you call me by that name.." The man said with a light bow, which made one of Crucabenas eyes started to twitch. How could he be so shameless!?
"Was? Not must b-you know what? Wrong point to focus on." She grunted as she started to rub the sides of her head, the skull induced migraine making things not easier in the slightest on her end "For the record that was not a compliment..."
"So harsh..."
[Dude...stop with the mocking or I will shove the Fountain right up your ass...]
It would be a terrible use of public infrastructure, but surely one the state of Fontaine would understand.... Hopefully With a sigh she took a step forward.
"What do you want..? Who are you...?"
"I believe I already introduced myself to you madam.."
"You know what I meant..."
"I am just a lover of the streams you make my dear, also I brought you a gift.."
Confused, bemused, annoyed or down right bamboozled to eternity....it was really hard to pin point really what she felt at that pressing moment. It wasn't like she could say that her disappointment was an-measurable and her day was ruined.
That did not mean that it was not down right an eccentric scene which she found herself in.
Anyway..., maybe the inner child inside of her won her over, because instead of stumping her heels on the floor and turn around, or just smacking some sense into the man, she ogled the now offered box the man was presenting to her.
She was really not going to ask how he had managed to hide a box behind his back when both his hands had been clearly free and not holding anything. With a raised eyebrow she asked what anyone in her position and with a sane mind would ask.
"What is in the box..?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
For a moment amusement crossed her lips before she remembered who she was talking with, prompting her to cross her arms.
"Yeeaaaah.....I would rather not. Movies with that line never end well..."
The Cheshire grin never left him. "Oh you party popper, where is the emotion, the enthusiasm? I promise it is nothing harmful....yet"
She rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Party popper? Really? What are you five?"
His only answer to her jab was a rather sardonic shrug.
"Fine, I am going to touch you-and not in a weird ok. But I warn you, if you put shit inside that box only for me to touch it...I am going to make you eat it.."
The man blinked, tilting his head, his face stuck between amusement and horror. "Where are you from that people make such horrendous and tasteless jokes with boxes?"
"Wouldn't you like to know.."
"Touche young lady, touche..."
With nothing left to be said he grabbed the box and pull it closer to her.
In all fairness...it was either empty or pretty lightweight. That or she was just that strong that it did not matter much if you stuffed the entire thing with rocks. Deciding to not waste more time on that she slid out the lid and took a look inside.
..
..
"Is that.."
"Yes"
"What I think it is.."
"Yep.."
"Your gift......is a bloody umbrella?"
"Quite the perceptive one aren't you...?"
Crucabena felt her cheeks heat up with a bit of embarrassment, pulling the box back as the intrusive thoughts of slamming the entire thing on the mans face rummaged in her head.
"Shuu you bald chaotic monkey..!"
"Now my dear, remember to duck your head when the sound of growling reaches your ears."
"The sound of...what?"
"You will know when you hear it...Auf Wiedersehen "
"Wait, you can not come here, shove me a box and give me a cryptic message like that and leave! You are not from a Fantasy setting nor you have knife ears..!"
But it was too late....he was gone just as fast as he had arrived, leaving her there to stew with the abrupt ending of their conversation..if it could be even call that. Like..what the hell? Also, was she going insane or had that been German what she had heard at the end?
No?
It was just her..?
Urgh, her head hurt so much know...better not to think about it too much. Though that left her with just one last thing to deal with. Like...what was she going to do with this surprise gift...? Her dress did not have pockets after all...
And no you perverts, she wasn't going to stick it down there either..
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º....Stage Preproom....º
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While the common citizen of Fontaine wondered with idle curiosity at what the spectacle if it could be call as such would take place on the yet empty stage as the hours passed and the intrigue of those who were far more wiser to what this event truly was gauged with expectancy when the main player would step up from where he was hiding to commence the speech.
However said man was not amused in the slightest as the clock ticked ever closer to the time limit he had for himself, it was such the bother that if the Archons were to permit he would have thrown the damn thing away if only to escape that never ending tick-tick-tick sound of its small gears.
A small, tired smirk crossed his lips as that thought dawned on his mind. Though one that did not live long as whatever mirth was quickly drained away by something else.
Strange...was it not?
Today was his day, or at the very least the moment he had fought to happen for quite a while...even before she left him. Days had turned to weeks, and weeks into months...all blurred toguether as he focused his mind in all and every duty he had before him, telling himself that this day would come sooner or later where the promise he had made to Clementine would soon stop been a promise...but a reality.
So why, why now that was about to happen did he not feel that enticed by the prospect of welcoming the masses if only for a moment of his own amusement and instead felt....tired? Surely it was not a matter of age, mature as he was he had yet a few more decades ahead of him before one could call him old huehuehue..!
Callas sighed, scratching the back of his head before he decided to put such annoying thoughts to rest. Perhaps he was just not fond of the theatrics the people were expecting of him. Especially when they had put a small podium for him to speak from, but instead built a bloody fucking grand stage from scratch.
Indeed..
They had done that...
To think of the monumental amount of waste that was...If that bloody idiot of Neuvillete thought he was doing him a favor by making this....then he would very much like to have a word or two with the stone faced immortal judge.
Though yet again...this could be just someone else fault and he was just throwing shade at the elf eared bastard for some other "thing". Fontaine was Fontaine after all...theatrics were so much part of life that you could find a drama start just by the color of someones damn soup!
Well..
It had been one time...
And it had not been entirely his fault either...ok?
..
..
Well, perhaps a little~~
Midway that point something else caught his attention...or better said, someone.
"Its getting quite noisy out there..."
The voice of one of his trusted men brought him out of his thoughts, tilting his head towards the sound he found Meluse pouring some tea into a cup. To his side was Silver, the much younger man was glancing at his senior with a halfway smirk while he fidgeted with the watch on his right wrist. Always checking and making sure things were as orderly and checked as possible unlike his senior who always left the chips fall down in their due time without a worry in the world.
A peculiar duo if there was one.
And even more surprising to see them work so well.
"Hmm, at this pace half of Fontaine will be here before the entire ordeal is done..."
"I did not know you could see through walls..Silver" He mused.
"Nothing so unrealistic as such Boss, its quite telling with the way the bloody floor shakes every now and then.." Was the deadpan, yet obviously amused-like reply.
Callas rose an eyebrow, amusement poking at the strands of his mustache as he viewed his long trusted aids while he leaned back against his seat, the entire thing creaking slightly as he tried to find another spot for comfort to his weary and "Not" old bones.
"Is that so...and here I thought that all that rabble I heard was because someone decided to flood the city with the baling of shrieking sheep.."
Silver rose a hand to cough, but he knew very well it was an attempt to hide a chuckle.
"I don't think there are that many sheep in the world Boss.."
"Well, if we were to grossly consider the sheep of Fontaine as rather well dressed of their kin then it surely would work..." Started to say Melus only for him to end on in some sort of cliffhanger when he then decided to pay more attention to the tea than the conversation.
Callas could not help himself but snort a little at that, truly why did he had to have that image come by into his mind? It would not leave him now.
"I see that you two still have your sense of humor intact if this entire racket its not making your heads throb like drums..."
"Don't worry sir, we have experience dealing with rackets..."
"You could say that they are our specialty..."
Amused yet a little bit stung by the jab Callas rose his hands up in surrender. He knew very well that as much as he loathed it to admit it, this was not a fight he had the time to go at it in length. Next time however, he would be ready...
"Alright alright, I get it...you two have made your point.." He mused as he stood up from his seat, picking up his old hat and placing it over his head "Still...its quite an awful lot.., more than I thought there would be..."
"And that its a problem, Boss?" Meluse inquired curious.
Callas...shook his head "I don't know..." He wasn't exactly lying, these sort of things were not exactly his kind of tea "Perhaps its just me overreacting, but I am sure more than two quarters of those outside are just curious about the entire circus the Chief Justice has.."
It was one of the many things he disliked about the way things worked in Fontaine. Everything had to be dramatized to such extent that the core of what one thing represented or meant was lost in order to satisfy some sort of desire of entertainment from the crowd.
That was why people made a fuss over nothing..
Why they acted and reacted so frivolously and so exaggeratedly to anything or anyone new they came across.
Why they had made the Justice system into nothing more than a never ending prop machine for Soap-operas, NO matter how much the Chief Justice may think or say otherwise. When your archon was a brat who lived for the stage....it was inevitable that a good chunk of the population would follow said example.
The thought that they would take this important day as just another distraction was not paranoia, it was dread from a potential future.
Though...perhaps it would not come to it... [Clementine did say I should have more faith in the people around me..] The memory of his late wife brought a glassy look in his eye, though one that he easily quelled away with the back of the sleeve of his jacket.
Right now was not the best time to reminisce about the past...
"Hmm...., maybe....but would that not also mean that double the people we expected has come for the chance to hear your words Boss..if albeit indirectly..?"
Slowly, Callas tilted his head up, an eyebrow rose with amusement.
"Tsk..indirectly you say? Pretty word to say by accident..." He laughed hardheartedly, not at all bothered...before a more serious expression warped on his face "However, hearing is one thing..., listening however is a different kind of beast"
"I am sure that you will do just fine boss..we all know that you like hearing yourself talk.." Mused Meluse, the folds of his face creasing for a moment before softening away as the old gentleman took a sip of his tea
"Nothing that you have not done before, it will be over in a flash..." Finished Silver as the man picked a cup of tea that Meluse was offering him.
Callas remaining eye started to twitch, his lips cracking into a halfway grin. "Why do I have the feeling that you two are making light of my situation...?"
His answer was merely the court yet shameless smiles of the two idiots he called friends.
Honestly...who wanted enemies when you had two like these...?
Still..
"But you two are right... life never waits for the indecisive..."
"What do you have in mind, Boss?"
He flashed a smirk at the two members of the Spina. "What else could it be? Lets give the people of Fontaine what they came to see for..." He said as he strode towards the main area of the stage.
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º.....Meanwhile.....º
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You know what they say about good things.
They make themselves wait
And wait they make one do
Like.... a lot
And that kinda suck you know? Well of course you know, you are a living breathing think-...yeah, lets not say a fallacy over here only to regret it later. It would be poor sport to lie to sweet, poor children.
Did that mean that it was fair game saying that the Queen of England was a vampire?
No..
Did anyone care?
Nop
..
..
Ok, we have lost course of what we were going for. What was it? Ah, right...it SUCKED to wait. Even when you damn well know when they are supposed to kick start the entire thing, the wait just feels like its dragging its feet all the way up to that very moment.
The more time you have the more your mind its left to wander...and wander it did, leading to that dreaded spiral of dark thoughts that would plague the rest of mankind for as long as the human race existed in this finite universe, and all it started with:
Did something happen..?
Why its my leg so scratchy..?
When its going to start..?
Why does the dude in front of me have such a big fucking head..?
Will it be delayed a bit more..?
Why does my rear itch so damn much..!?
..
..
Terrific, wasn't it?
At last, it was not all bad news...
In fact she had the gut feeling that this was not the same scenario as all those poor souls waiting for the Glorious, never released magnus opus that was so good that no one had talked about its release date in more than a decade in the form of GTA6
Now THAT is a never ending wait...
We would have another 9/11 before that game was released to the public.....as-well as three civil wars, one world war and an economy war to boot too between the penguins of Madagascar and the primates of Antartica...wait, that did not sound right, was it the other way around? But oh well, details...details.
Thankfully the reality of a Gatcha game turned reality was not hindered by such banalities.
And so...when the beautiful Hunk of a man-right, when the Glorious and clearly not overly attractive Chief justice appeared on the stage in all his inhuman glory and advised the people to be silent as the event was about to start did the entire rubble start to diminish.
Well, if you ignored the girls whistling before and after he left the stage. Good to know she wasn't the only girl stricken by natures needs...
Still...holy shit. About damn time in her opinion to be honest....like what was with those ten extra minutes..? It was nice she had not paid anything to get here to see this because in another life she would have said that this was a steal.
Anyway, now that everyone was coming to the front of the stage....did she notice something peculiar.
At one side was the typical npc: Women with dresses, men with suits, shirts, sailors, newspaper man and even children of different ages and sizes. Clearly brought here by their parents rather than any true interest on what would be discussed here.
To the other side was the....weird ones....and by that she meant the myriad of men and women dressed in black tuxedo suits and black fedora or bowling hats that made for at the very least a quarter of the entire crowd. Did someone died and no one had told her that this was going to be a funeral?
No?
Anyway, it took her a moment to realize who they actually were.
[Wait, are those....the Spina?]
It was hard to belief at first...but who else could be..? They may not look similar to their pirate Boss, but they surely look similar to their Game counterparts.
A small smirk crossed her lips.
This place was looking more and more like an idol concert and everyone here were the spectators. Well, only if they were made out of old men and women instead of the usual teenager...and all of them wearing Italian mafia outfits and sunglasses even when it was clearly night. The dedication to their boss was as adorable as it was commendable.
She tried to look for them.....but she did not find neither Meluse or Silver on the crowd of agents.
How strange..
"Maybe they are with their lovable pirate Boss-?"
"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN....!"
The thundering voice of a man through a pair of speakers interrupt her rather rudely from what she was about to say. A voice that belonged to someone she had known from a few tense and awkward moments.
Tilting her head up to the stage she took notice of the human sized disturbance that had just come out from behind the curtain of the stage, taking hold of the central podium a certain blond haired pirate was making its debut, and...much to her surprise the duo she had been trying to locate where right they were supposed to.
Fromm left to rights, Meluse and Silver stood tall and with pride, however it was easy to say that their presence was barely noticed as everyone on the area was very much more interested on the main start of the show being Callas himself. Herself included.
The blond man grasped the sides of the podium tightly, leaning a bit forward in the process while that lone blue eye of his gazed silently at the crowd before him. She bit her lip, curious of what he would say next, what he would do.
A belief that was probably shared by everyone around her as they stared in silence. His lips opened up, but barely any noise could be heard from it, or at the very least...not loud enough to be caught appropriately by the speakers. Puzzled and with her curiosity peaked she tried to lean forward.
However she would need to wait long as he rose his head almost with a snap, pushing himself away from the podium.....only to start scratching the back of his head like an old man does when they forget the day of their anniversary.
"Why do we have to do meetings like these so late in the day..?"
.
..
...
[Eh?]
Meluse and Silver seemed to try to keep their lips from forming a smirk, Callas however continued.
"Its so bloody late that I think anyone here with a modicum of sense would have preferred to do something more productive than to group up in such a small place..."
[Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....?!]
Neuvillete started to fake a cough while every spectator herself included felt a comical droplet of sweat slid behind their scalp. You know, when they had come here for the speech this was not what they had expected would happen.
Maybe they were hallucinating...
But since when a multitude could share the same delusions..?
Either unaware or willfully ignoring the baffle looks in their eyes, Callas continued on. The light of the stage making a mirage of the smirk on his lips as he slowly pulled down his bowling hait from the top of his head and gave it a graceful spin before letting it rest once more over his golden head.
"Well, is not like it matters much now does it? Though I must apologize to you all, I am sure you all lot were expecting a grand entrance followed by a magnificent speech. If you could tell me who can do both please tell me because in this stage I am afraid there is nothing of the sort..."
Confusion bled into a mild sense of general annoyance and amusement among the people congregated, a transition made all the more smoothly at the distant sound of someone laughing in the crowd.
It wasn't that much of a joke though...
"However after seeing the amount of backbreaking effort that our dear Chief Justice who surely did not do on his own given that I don't see a single speck of dust or grime in that suit of his....I thought that it would be in poor taste not to come and leave all of you down. So here I am..." The man let the words linger in the air, murmurs rollings through the crowd in voices of agreement.
A small thing at first..but growing.. and it wasn't just the neatly, sunglasses wearing mafia the only ones doing that.
Ignoring all that, she could not help but feel something else than amusement when looking at him. Yes, he was..raw on his methods, but there was a grace to them. Perhaps because he was not boring them and she felt that he was not going to bullshit them to death.
However her attention was mostly on the way Callas gaze moved across the crowd, slowly, deliberately...but not practiced. Her body automatically analyzing and sizing his posture and mannerism with some ease that she did not she did posses.
It was more like....like he was pulling shit up? No, that could be....she denied that realization because as far she knew he wasn't lying, it..did not felt that way to her. That did not mean much to the ever nagging feeling her guts tried to tell her.
Perhaps he was...he was improvising...?
It felt weird to think it that way with how smooth the entire thing had been...
But she did not have anything better
So that would do...
"We all have come here to celebrate an important day of our lives, however...before we continue with the fanfare...may I have the chance to ask one simple question?"
If they were expected to reply they would never know as he continued anyway, taking a step forward, but placing himself to the side of the podium in order to not be hidden behind it and be spotted completely by the multitude. Extending a gloved hand to towards the crowd, his palm facing upwards while his remaining hand pressed gently against his chest.
Luckily for them...he was not going to start singing
It would have been quite the novelty if he did though...
"It should not be secret that some of you know me, some have heard me....but all know who am I..."
He then clenched the offered hand into a fist, his face hardening with a melancholic expression
"But do you truly..?"
She did not understand what he meant, and neither did the people around her. Some stared at each other, their thoughts plain as daylight in their faces
"You are Callas" A voice from the crowd breaks the silence
Callas merely smiled faintly, however much to their surprise he shook his head "No, that's not who I am..."
"You are the Boss of the Spina Di Rasula.." Someone else spoke, who she did not know.
Callas shook his head once more. "Wrong again....."
"Are you a pirate..?"
A faint shadow of a smile passed on the blond man's lips, then fades as the voice of a child managed to be overheard among the murmuring of the crowd.
"Sadly only in my dreams, lad....and in the local pubs"
Callas mused through the speaker, making a few men chuckle at that, only to be chastised by their wives a second later. Something that prompt her to rub the back of her head with a pang of amusement.
[It seems that no matter the planet, somethings never change...]
"No, as much as you have said its true...and in some cases rather funny examples, its not who I really, because I.... am a man...." He answered at last, his voice now growing with weight "I....am a simple citizen of Fontaine, of this city we have come to grow and love, born and risen from men not so dissimilar to you and you my friends....
He clutched his chest tightly.
"I like you all... have worked and toiled to make a name for myself when I was nothing but a brat like we did when were young, we worked, we learned, we suffered...but we did not let that stop us, did we?
He shook his head just like so many others did in the crowd.
"NO, WE DID NOT! When things get tough, we don't bend, if we did this nation of ours would not be here. Those came before us knew, and so do we. We may not have as much money as the people of Liyuei, have the mystic nature like weather of Inazuma or the grand fields of grass and icy that Mondstat and Schenevaya posses...but we have something they don't, pride.."
Callas rose his fist up in the air, a quaint gesture among many and given the late time of the event his black gloved hand could have been missed by the myriads of eyes gazing at his direction. But right not it could not have glow any brighter.
"We are Fontainian....and that something to be proud..."
Murmurs of approval turned into full-blown conversations and whistles. However just as one thought that Callas was just about to ride the high he had made...he slammed his fist down into the podium, cracking the wooden structure in the process. The sound of the wood creaking in protest multiplied by the speakers and made painfully easier for everyone to hear.
"So why..., why do we separate our people? Why if we are so great do we look at those with lesser opportunities than us with distrust? With shame? Aren't they Fontainian too?"
There was anger..there was pain..there was disappointment. His voice bleeding with those emotions and more...raw and unrefined, but honest that made more than one think hard on what they had done. Of course there were others who were still YET to be convinced.
"They....stink?" A weak voice was heard among the crowd.
"Who stinks sir..?"
"T-the...people of Poisson..."
"So by that logic..... if you were to sweat buckets today under a very hot summer, would that give the rest of us the right to treat you unfairly?"
"That's..."
"Not fair, is it..."
"They... could be dangerous..." Someone else spoke out loud.
"I come from Poisson my friend...and yet our esteemed Chief Justice have allowed me to speak with you all tonight. Do you really distrust and discredit that much the very man veiling for the safety of the people you love...?"
That seemed to shut most people for good.
"I must admit, that as a patriot of our nation, it hurts to think that we don't care for our fellow citizens. Heck, other nations that we so much like to discredit for their flaws don't have this problem. We should not have this problem, so why is this happening?"
Men look to one another while women shifted on their feet, but silence was the only answer that he received.
And so...., he would release the awaited...yet dreaded answer.
"Because we have given up..."
The words were whispered softly against through clenched teeth, yet the microphone made the echo sound raspy, bittern, a sting that made many recoil from it. But not her...It was strange.....but.., for some reason she had the idea of what the man was doing.
"We have gave up on making the world a better place than we found it. In a better world we should not need to build bridges among those we have pushed away...but this is not a better world" Callas sighed, his hands clenching and then....slowly opening up "That's why we should not see the creation of the new Aquabus line as a mere new pastime...but a milestone in the growth of our city.."
He took a step forward, stretching a hand forward.
"We survived the Cataclysm, we survived the dreaded Dragon Elynass, we have survived centuries of nightmare induced fuel of paperwork...are we really going to allow an invisible wall to get the better of us..?"
Many voices rose up
Their pride incensed or their conviction touched by the words of the blond man.
"Why don't you all help me make a better world where there are no barriers between our people? Surely we are not going to let the money graving people of Liyuei to be better gentleman than us...? Lady Furina surely would not let us live that down any time soon.."
He half jested in the end, laughter now filling the square
Callas smirked at last, raising his fist into the air once more.
"Who is with me?"
Crucabena did not know whether it was blatant stupidity, a shrew man at work...or just someone who said the right things in the right moment that she found herself joining in the chants. It was a bit hard not to..pervert or not, Callas seemed like an ok guy....
Or perhaps it was that Game knowledge that had eased and push back the thought that this could be very much similar to how the typical politician won their public. After all, Callas was said to be Stubborn...not a cruel bastard.
Anyone that could father a cinnamon-roll like Navia surely could not be that bad.
"A pirate he may be....but it seems he has a golden beak attached as-well..."
And to think that she would need to be Isekaid to actually find herself liking someone making speech. Looking up, Callas was surely enjoying his well earned victory as the clamor of the people flooded the entire area. Either in earnest or just by a mild sense of obligation the citizens of Fontaine clapped their hands, cheering on in some cases, none louder and more emotion driven than the very members of the Spina present.
It was....
Impressive...
Beautiful...
And the festive like mood rather contagious as she managed to spot the Ludex Neuvillete join in the clapping, his expression stone faced like any other time, but the glint in his eyes spoke a different tale. Though it may had to do with the two Melusines to each side of the reincarnated Hydro Dragon that were jumping up into the air while clapping, perhaps thinking that it they were airborne for barely a few instances the sound of their clapping would reach further.
The ghost of a smile wrapped around her lips.
Yeah...
He was definitely a father looking with amusement at his adopted children do stupid shit...
The magic of the moment was shattered however when an oversize blue top hat that had been dangling under the mercy of the air for quite a while by now flew cumber-sly through the air only for it to land on Callas head from who knows where. Of course such a small thing would have been nothing to write about had it not for one, tiny, little bitty problem.
What is that you ask?
Well...nothing too serious or life threatening at the very least.
It was that it landed Just in that crucial moment when he was about to land his feet on the respective step, and either on purpose or by flawed design, it literally sunk into his head, obscuring his sight on the spot when it would have been very much needed to land his feet on the ground with accuracy. Prompting him... much to the dismay or surprise of all to miss his step and consequently fall down the stairs of the makeshift podium in-front of all of Fontaine to see.
..
..
Auch...
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A/N
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I really hate speeches, I dont even know if it was that good....I hope I dont have to work on more of them.